So for my cause of the day, I'll send you to a Guardian blog about The Coffee Party, a subject that intrigued me after hearing about it yesterday on Thom Hartmann's show (carried on our sister station 1450 AM, WVAX weekdays from noon-3pm). Not only is the Tea vs. Coffee Party subject an interesting one, but I think it's insightful to see how things are framed by media outside the U.S. (the Guardian is based in the UK).
And for my musical cause today, I'm going with hair metal. I had the chance recently to finally sit down and watch The Decline of Western Civilization, Part 2: The Metal Years. In both a funny and sad way, it took me back to the days of the late 80s when the rock scene had become a vast wasteland, until of course Nirvana came along and changed everything. I'm actually glad I grew up during this time, as frustrating as it was to come home from school every day, only to see ridiculous video after ridiculous video dominating MTV. It certainly made me appreciate all the more what grunge did in bringing "alternative music" to the mainstream, even if only for a few years. So for those too young to remember, and those not too old to be about to rock, I salute you by recommending this film...for those over 17 anyway, since it is R-rated, after all. Now that there have been 3 Decline of Western Civ movies done (one every 7-10 years), I would like to recommend the director tackle the following genres for Vol. 4 & 5: hip-hop and tween pop. Folks like Chuck D, Q-Tip, Ice-T and De La Soul would be perfect "golden age of hip-hop" counterparts to the role that Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Lemmy, Ozzy, Steven Tyler & Joe Perry played in the Metal Years film. Although for tween pop, American Idol already does a pretty good job of being a Decline of Western Civilization Vol. 4 every week via "reality TV!"
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