| GREG-STRANGE.COM |
"If you haven't found something strange during the
day, it hasn't been much of a day." -- John A. Wheeler
day, it hasn't been much of a day." -- John A. Wheeler
PROVIDING SUBSTANTIVE COMMENTARY ON THE
PEOPLE, POLITICS, EVENTS AND ABSURDITIES OF
OUR TIME. SERVED UP WITH ACERBIC WIT, YOU
SHOULD FIND IT QUITE SATISFYING.
PEOPLE, POLITICS, EVENTS AND ABSURDITIES OF
OUR TIME. SERVED UP WITH ACERBIC WIT, YOU
SHOULD FIND IT QUITE SATISFYING.
Blithering Idiocy Still A Way Of Life
"I think it's an indictment to the soullessness of modern
man that we get a kick out of witnessing a magnificent creature
reduced to a blithering hopeless idiot."
Wow. Who would have thought that Ted Nugent, the gonzo,
hard rock guitar player who fancies himself the "Motor City
Madman" could spontaneously put together such an intricate
and complex string of verbiage? Actually, the guy's quite
articulate as has been evidenced in his recent whirlwind tour of
television shows in support of his latest book "Kill It and Grill
It."
But who was he referring to in the quote above? None other
than America's newest, and unlikliest, media darling, Ozzy
Osbourne. For those of you who are either too unhip or simply
too fossilized to know who Ozzy is, he is a mumbling,
stumbling, drug-and-alcohol-addled, 53-year-old veteran of
that plodding and dreary subgenre of rock music known as
heavy metal.
Having been a cult hero to unrepentant metalheads for the
last thirty years, he has only recently achieved something
approaching mainstream success and visibility thanks to a
television reality show which airs on MTV and stars him and
his wacky, foul-mouthed family as they live their unorthodox
lives in their Beverly Hills mansion. Since the huge success of
his show, he has been showing up everywhere from "The
Tonight Show" to a White House Correspondence Dinner to
The Weather Channel's 20th anniversary special. If "Mr.
Roger's Neighborhood" was still on, he'd probably show up
there, too.
What accounts for the wild success of his show? According
to Ted Nugent, it's that "everyone wants to see a train wreck. . ."
There certainly is no denying that Ozzy is a walking, talking
(barely) poster boy for why people ought not abuse drugs and
alcohol, but why is Nugent spouting off about Ozzy in the first
place?
Only because he was asked what he thought about Ozzy's tv
show in an interview with the New York Post. Ozzy's wife, the
now famous Sharon, took great umbrage with Nugent's
comments and immediately stood up for her man, telling
reporters she would "cut his [penis] off" if she ever met Nugent.
The trash talk notwithstanding, it wouldn't be
unreasonable for her to ask if Nugent really has that much
room to criticize. He may not be a blithering idiot himself in
the sense that he is fully cognizant of his surroundings and
apparently has the capacity to reason, but he's always done a
fair impersonation of one. Swinging Tarzan-like onto stage by
a rope while wearing nothing but a skimpy loincloth and
knee-high boots, along with all the inane macho posturing and
gonzo guitar playing, doesn't exactly constitute intelligent
behavior.
His musical catalogue, which consists almost exclusively of
screeching, dunderheaded anthems like "Cat Scratch Fever,"
"Wang Dang Sweet Poontang" and "Wango Tango," certainly
qualifies as blithering idiocy. This ain't stuff that anybody's
going to be studying in the music appreciation classes of the
future.
And while his anti-drug stand is, and always has been,
admirable, he wasn't exactly giving anti-drug lectures at his
concerts. In fact, his gonzo, no-holds-barred music is exactly
the kind that so many hard dopin', hard drinkin' rock-n-roll
drones love to get stoned to. Ted may not have abused drugs
and alcohol himself, but his entire musical career has provided
a soundtrack for millions who have. One could almost say he
might as well have been pouring the drugs and booze down
their throats for them.
But why is any of this important? It's not, except to point
out that if you thought that 9/11 spelled the end to our
culture's fascination with the inane, the vulgar and the stupid,
you were dead wrong.
Because of terrorism, we are faced with what may be the
biggest threat ever to our way of life. If that's not enough,
possible nuclear war between India and Pakistan looms. But
guess what? We're still enthralled by "The Osbournes," and the
feud between Ozzy and Ted, and what Sharon said she will do
to Ted if she ever sees him, not to mention "Survivor," "Fear
Factor," "Celebrity Boxing" and all the other drivel that
constitutes a popular culture of--what else?--blithering idiocy.
But hey, enjoy it all today, for who knows what disaster may
befall us tomorrow?
"I think it's an indictment to the soullessness of modern
man that we get a kick out of witnessing a magnificent creature
reduced to a blithering hopeless idiot."
Wow. Who would have thought that Ted Nugent, the gonzo,
hard rock guitar player who fancies himself the "Motor City
Madman" could spontaneously put together such an intricate
and complex string of verbiage? Actually, the guy's quite
articulate as has been evidenced in his recent whirlwind tour of
television shows in support of his latest book "Kill It and Grill
It."
But who was he referring to in the quote above? None other
than America's newest, and unlikliest, media darling, Ozzy
Osbourne. For those of you who are either too unhip or simply
too fossilized to know who Ozzy is, he is a mumbling,
stumbling, drug-and-alcohol-addled, 53-year-old veteran of
that plodding and dreary subgenre of rock music known as
heavy metal.
Having been a cult hero to unrepentant metalheads for the
last thirty years, he has only recently achieved something
approaching mainstream success and visibility thanks to a
television reality show which airs on MTV and stars him and
his wacky, foul-mouthed family as they live their unorthodox
lives in their Beverly Hills mansion. Since the huge success of
his show, he has been showing up everywhere from "The
Tonight Show" to a White House Correspondence Dinner to
The Weather Channel's 20th anniversary special. If "Mr.
Roger's Neighborhood" was still on, he'd probably show up
there, too.
What accounts for the wild success of his show? According
to Ted Nugent, it's that "everyone wants to see a train wreck. . ."
There certainly is no denying that Ozzy is a walking, talking
(barely) poster boy for why people ought not abuse drugs and
alcohol, but why is Nugent spouting off about Ozzy in the first
place?
Only because he was asked what he thought about Ozzy's tv
show in an interview with the New York Post. Ozzy's wife, the
now famous Sharon, took great umbrage with Nugent's
comments and immediately stood up for her man, telling
reporters she would "cut his [penis] off" if she ever met Nugent.
The trash talk notwithstanding, it wouldn't be
unreasonable for her to ask if Nugent really has that much
room to criticize. He may not be a blithering idiot himself in
the sense that he is fully cognizant of his surroundings and
apparently has the capacity to reason, but he's always done a
fair impersonation of one. Swinging Tarzan-like onto stage by
a rope while wearing nothing but a skimpy loincloth and
knee-high boots, along with all the inane macho posturing and
gonzo guitar playing, doesn't exactly constitute intelligent
behavior.
His musical catalogue, which consists almost exclusively of
screeching, dunderheaded anthems like "Cat Scratch Fever,"
"Wang Dang Sweet Poontang" and "Wango Tango," certainly
qualifies as blithering idiocy. This ain't stuff that anybody's
going to be studying in the music appreciation classes of the
future.
And while his anti-drug stand is, and always has been,
admirable, he wasn't exactly giving anti-drug lectures at his
concerts. In fact, his gonzo, no-holds-barred music is exactly
the kind that so many hard dopin', hard drinkin' rock-n-roll
drones love to get stoned to. Ted may not have abused drugs
and alcohol himself, but his entire musical career has provided
a soundtrack for millions who have. One could almost say he
might as well have been pouring the drugs and booze down
their throats for them.
But why is any of this important? It's not, except to point
out that if you thought that 9/11 spelled the end to our
culture's fascination with the inane, the vulgar and the stupid,
you were dead wrong.
Because of terrorism, we are faced with what may be the
biggest threat ever to our way of life. If that's not enough,
possible nuclear war between India and Pakistan looms. But
guess what? We're still enthralled by "The Osbournes," and the
feud between Ozzy and Ted, and what Sharon said she will do
to Ted if she ever sees him, not to mention "Survivor," "Fear
Factor," "Celebrity Boxing" and all the other drivel that
constitutes a popular culture of--what else?--blithering idiocy.
But hey, enjoy it all today, for who knows what disaster may
befall us tomorrow?