Browsing: Points of View

Ever since my first CD and first concert (it was DCTalk, and yeah, I’ll admit it,) I’ve been a self-prescribed music critic. Whether or not my tastes are good at any point in time is completely subjective, but I’ve heard and seen a lot, maybe just enough to at least know what is pleasing to the ears.

I had a column due this week. And when I sat down to write this particular column I could not think of anything. I sat at my desk, head slightly down, starring at the screen and my fingers tapping the keyboard impatiently, waiting for a piece of opinion to miraculously fill my head. Waiting to feel passion for a particular topic so that I could beat out my anger on my computer and shout it, figuratively, for the entire world to see (or at least all those who pick up the Lariat and read the opinion page).

It is no surprise that the American public takes guilty pleasure in celebrity happenings, from their plush lifestyles to their frequent tangles with the law, alcohol, drugs and extramarital affairs. Tabloids and gossip blogs are not bereft of juicy material with big names like Christina Aguilera, Charlie Sheen and the infamous Lindsey Lohan stumbling down the streets of Hollywood this year.

I don’t remember the last time I got a piece of information from AOL. When I think AOL, I think two things: “You’ve got mail!” and screeching beeps coupled with a long waiting period until you can use your dial-up Internet. I don’t think of AOL as a major news provider — and recent events tell me that I never will.

If you were unaware that folks were poking fun at the former hosts of NBC’s “Today” show, you are likely also unaware of a video making the rounds online. The clip, which dates from January 1994, shows Couric and Gumbel attempting to understand this new thing called … the “Internet.”

In these times of technological progression and the social networking explosion, friends become enemies and vice versa easily. Without body language, intonation of voice or the ability to quickly speak your mind, relationships are built and just as effortlessly destroyed.

Recently, I was watching television and a commercial came on the screen. Pictured were mothers watching a television screen of the video game being played. They expressed their disgust at the horrific nature of the game.