Who could forget Galileo? He was the great early Italian scientist who discovered the moons of Jupiter and was persecuted by the Roman Catholic Church for teaching that the Earth revolves around the Sun. It is not as well known that he was almost blind at the time of his death. This was because he focused his telescope on the Sun in order to learn more about it. We make great sacrifices to learn more about the world around us.
I have been, and always will be, a fan of the work of Michael Moore. I first discovered him in the summer of 1994 when, out of a lack of quality programming on TV, I watched an episode of TV Nation. I saw scathing social satire (the now infamous piece on the racism of taxi drivers in New York) mixed with more light-hearted pieces (what the least visited state in the USA – North Dakota – is doing to boost tourism). None of my local video stores had his first film, Roger & Me, but I was among the first to rent Canadian Bacon and The Big One. I watched every interview he did to promote his first book, Downsize This! His next book, Stupid White Men, was one of the ones I knew I had to bring with me to Japan. And when Bowling for Columbine came out in Kumagaya, I was first in line to see it.
OK, folks, we’ve got a little something different this week. What you are about to read is the first thing I’ve ever written that’s moved a person to tears.
I wrote this for my basic broadcast writing class. You know, how to write scripts and stuff. This was our first assignment for writing a basic format, 2-column television script. The topic we were given was a rant. Go on for 30 seconds about something that bugs you. Now, I’m a fairly easygoing guy. There’s very little that bugs me. I was having trouble coming up with a topic, so, the muse finally whispered in my ear, and I came up with this: Nothing bugs me. I hate that I don’t hate. I wrote it out and handed it in.
I’ve always been trying to develop the perfect mixed tape. Things just kind of got worse when my parents finally got a computer with a burner. Now, I’m constantly trying to develop the perfect mixed CD. I often find myself wishing for better Internet access, so I can crank up the file sharing services to full speed and track down all kinds of obscure songs. Being back in school and studying broadcasting, I’m starting to learn that this a common habit among my classmates. My parents just got a new printer, so I purchased the fancy CD labels so I can finally make proper liner notes for all of these projects. And, I’ve just about got all the right MP3s downloaded so I can make my next attempt at manufacturing the perfect compilation. With all this going on, I’m just thinking about this quite a bit lately. So, I thought I’d take a moment to reflect on all my previous attempts at making “the perfect CD.” Besides, it’s a great way to put off writing a real column.