I watched some VH1 and MTV this morning, unable to sleep and unwilling to sit at the computer. The Monkees were on and were enjoyably loopy as only a 60's tv show can be. I watched about 50,000 repetitions of the Wallflowers' current video and yet I cannot recall the song at all. Therefore, I will not be buying their album and instead will probably go find the group whose song is stuck in my head after one hearing. All I can remember is that they had three words in the band title. I think they're on the top of the modern rock charts this week, so everyone in a real city probably knows who they are.
While I was watching tv, VH1 ran their groovy Pop Up Videos number where all the videos shown have little balloons with extra info about the artists, the particular video, and anything far-fetched but related to something mentioned or shown. For instance, while John Mellencamp's 'Jack and Diane' video played, I learned the hands clapping onscreen were the video producer's, and that a certain number of people in the U.S. catch the "clap" every year. Boy, is that knowledge I needed. Still, it's a cute schtick, and I like the information they throw in about where stuff is filmed, and what processes were added after the shooting to make it look the way it does in the final edit.
I was actually hoping to run across something like reruns of Hawaii 5-0, one of my all time favorite shows. Jack Lord was really rather awful but he looked so cool with his hair curling onto his forehead, and his unflappable pursuit of the bad guys, no matter how improbable the situation, was comforting when I was filled with teenage angst. Also, I spent some time in Hawaii as a kid since my folks had a condo there. I missed it desperately when I wasn't there. Lucky Jack Lord got to live there and chase Wo Fat in screeching cars.
The funny thing is that Jack Lord and his wife were (and probably still are) Christian Scientists, like my family. I had a very hard time reconciling this with the tough cop image, since I associated being religious with being a pacifist. Ha ha, silly me. Yes, I was an idealistic and naive youth, naive being the operative word. It turns out the show is being rerun at night, so I'll have to catch it one of these evenings.
Saturday morning is kind of a weird time to watch tv if you don't like cartoons. I don't like cartoons. I loved them when I was a kid, and I don't like them at all now. Sometimes I feel guilty for not liking them because a lot of people still do, and I'm still prone to being sensitive about how different I am from other people. I don't think Animaniacs are funny at all. I can't stand the Tiny Toons. Et cetera. I hate loud, stupid, vaudevillian humor. The stuff that makes me shake with laughter is the perfectly chosen word, the delightfully sly placement, the exquisitely timed bon mot. Since this sort of entertainment is in short supply on Saturday mornings, I settled for watching the music videos.
I'll say this for the Wallflowers. Bob Dylan's son Jakob is really cute, and he can sing. Pity I can't remember the song.
