Just earlier today I was reminiscing with a couple of friends about the cartoons that we used to love to watch, and still do. Born smack dab in the middle of the '90s we were able to enjoy many of the wacky shows that aired back then such as Rockos Modern Life, Rocket Power, Catdog and plenty of others. As our conversation drifted into Spongebob Squarepants we talked about how the show eventually just became too out of control and crazy with weird, unrelated plot twists and zany new characters. It made me miss the old days when a Spongebob episode was simply about nematodes or a fancy new spatula, not about a time machine that converts Plankton into a gas who then attempts to steal the coveted "secret formula" yet again but gets blown back into the tree dome. You see what I mean?
It doesn't end with retro cartoons, oh no, far from it. Another thing that has been brought back to my attention recently is the radio. I recently have lost my iPod, tragic, I know, and this has forced me to listen to the radio on my daily ten minute commute to and from school. At first I selected one of my random pre-tuned stations and was immediately immersed in a montage of random pitches, squeals, and noises. Maybe it's just me, but it feels like pop music isn't hardly music at all, more of a conglomerate of random sounds, intricately and digitally enhanced until they somehow make Ke$ha's screaming sound like words and singing. Now, I simply tune into the jazz station and enjoy in a sophisticated solitude the simplicity of real instruments and musicians. It's strange how even music is becoming more complicated, how new genres like techno and dubstep and so deviated from the traditional sense of music that I would hesitate to even address them as such. I'm not opposed to change, it's just that THIS kind of change is just so...unnecesary. In my opinion, music should always at least attempt to envoke emotion or meaning, so I guess this is why I don't completely appreciate the new music era that we're in because I can't see what mainstream artists of today are trying to prove with all of the ridiculous clatter and techno that they feed into their music.
I feel like this entire topic, whether you be discussing cartoons or music, can be one huge metaphor for life. If you look back 50 years ago, people weren't nearly as stressed out about jobs or school or whatever else it may be. America was more American back then because life was more simplistic and the times were simpler. Sure everybody wanted a better education and that next promotion but we also knew what was important. Family values were more intact and there was more a focus on life outside the workplace and school. Now, we wander like lifeless drones, going through school to go to another school to possibly go to another school which can lead to a safe indoor environment that gives us steady pay and security. By WHY?? Why do we want this? What is our motivation, to earn lots of money? To become successful? Sure those things would be great but when your whole life has been a frantic scramble to achieve them, what do we do once we have them? Can we finally start living? I'm just worried that my life will start far too late.
It doesn't end with retro cartoons, oh no, far from it. Another thing that has been brought back to my attention recently is the radio. I recently have lost my iPod, tragic, I know, and this has forced me to listen to the radio on my daily ten minute commute to and from school. At first I selected one of my random pre-tuned stations and was immediately immersed in a montage of random pitches, squeals, and noises. Maybe it's just me, but it feels like pop music isn't hardly music at all, more of a conglomerate of random sounds, intricately and digitally enhanced until they somehow make Ke$ha's screaming sound like words and singing. Now, I simply tune into the jazz station and enjoy in a sophisticated solitude the simplicity of real instruments and musicians. It's strange how even music is becoming more complicated, how new genres like techno and dubstep and so deviated from the traditional sense of music that I would hesitate to even address them as such. I'm not opposed to change, it's just that THIS kind of change is just so...unnecesary. In my opinion, music should always at least attempt to envoke emotion or meaning, so I guess this is why I don't completely appreciate the new music era that we're in because I can't see what mainstream artists of today are trying to prove with all of the ridiculous clatter and techno that they feed into their music.
I feel like this entire topic, whether you be discussing cartoons or music, can be one huge metaphor for life. If you look back 50 years ago, people weren't nearly as stressed out about jobs or school or whatever else it may be. America was more American back then because life was more simplistic and the times were simpler. Sure everybody wanted a better education and that next promotion but we also knew what was important. Family values were more intact and there was more a focus on life outside the workplace and school. Now, we wander like lifeless drones, going through school to go to another school to possibly go to another school which can lead to a safe indoor environment that gives us steady pay and security. By WHY?? Why do we want this? What is our motivation, to earn lots of money? To become successful? Sure those things would be great but when your whole life has been a frantic scramble to achieve them, what do we do once we have them? Can we finally start living? I'm just worried that my life will start far too late.
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