A preamble to something worthwhile

A thanks to the ABC show Wipeout: Since the first time I saw you, I simply couldn’t look away. Your mindless entertainment has sapped my mind of any thoughtful ideas more profound then “I wonder how hard it would be to run over the Big Balls?” and for that I thank you. The relaxation that comes from being an armchair critic of someone who is trying to outmaneuver a wall of punching fists, while simply awful for productivity, does instill an odd peace. I’m entertained, there must be more to this, there has to be some redeeming observation that we can gain from people subjecting themselves to humiliating yet hilarious physical challenges, all in the name of overcoming the Wipeout Zone and pocketing $50,000. Would it be something about a reflection of where we’ve come as a culture? Maybe, but it’s hard when it’s just so entertaining to watch someone get their clock cleaned with a giant rotating metal bat.

And I wonder how much information the contestants actually receive when it comes to what they actually will face. I think I like the idea of the courses being sight unseen, for perhaps then we can say that the courses are just a metaphor to life? Seems reasonable – as we progress toward our goal we overcome more and more absurd obstacles against a smaller number of more capable opponents and in the end if we are truly best we will take home the prize.

It might be true, but it’s not particularly interesting – it doesn’t take a whole lot to see overcoming obstacles in just about every show that has ever been. Which m…and now the producers are smattering the contestants with paint as they try to cross a hydraulic and a-rhythmically moving series of steps, classy…

And somewhere in oppressive heat, the Domino’s commercial and the wail of the passing fire truck I realize that sometimes there is just nothing particularly useful to say. But how to make that nothing interesting? Mindlessly entertaining television, mindlessly nostalgic sounds, mindlessly thinking with only half a brain because the other half just can’t get enough of…new episode Thursday? That’s fantastic, now I know!

But I do wonder, why are we so entertained by media that’s devoid of content? I know absolutely that this show is a waste of my time, but to be quite honest sometimes there’s just nothing that I would rather do. I know absolutely I could be doing something better, anything really. Truly, I think that watching the humidity condense on the walls would be a better use of time: easier on the eyes, more connected to the state of my apartment, and probably also a meditation of the inherent emptiness. It could be all of that, sure. I could be having a moment my wall and instead I’m having a moment with the Gut Buster and the Sinister Stairs.

And luckily for everyone who may have contact with these words, Wipeout ends; the winner having taken home victory by about 4 minutes (or about twice as fast as the runner up) and the channel surfing begins. TV, just like reading, music, silence, search overload or even atonal jabber or spastic movement all inspire ideas, from where will the next come?

Thank you ESPN, at least I have taken the leap to “Narco Soccer”. Thanks to the World Cup I sit in the blissful month every four years where television pretends to care about futbol long enough to give me my fix. At least now I get to something with a bit more meat –the story of Andres Escobar, the footballer murdered after his own goal gave the US a improbable upset in the 1994 Olympics and kept Colombia from advancing in its first World Cup in 28 years (http://www.nj.com/soccer-news/index.ssf/2010/06/andres_escobars_own_goal_murde.html for the full tale).

These two options could not be more diametrically opposed. “The Two Escobars” paints a tale of the cruel effects that gambling and cartel activity…telling now about the million dollar bets that Pablo Escobar with make with a friendly rival, players of hand picked teams flown onto Pablo’s estate for a high stakes game…one show about players willing to humiliate themselves for 50K, the other a tale of people laundering and betting millions simply for something to so. One hosted by the former host of Talk Soup and an ESPN broadcaster (there’s the connection!), the other the connection between two men with the same surname yet very different effects on their cultures.

How quickly our thoughts can change, how smoothly we can shift gears. Not even particularly sure why today is a good day to be that obnoxious writer playing the “this is what I was doing today” card; honestly my only defense is that sometimes it is the discussion of inspiration that can itself inspire inspiration. Or so I hope, perhaps the combination of a summer cold, a long day and…Carlos Valderama explains how soccer brings war torn countries together, mentioning that the paramilitary and the guerillas watching a game together thanks to the power of sport…perhaps that’s why soccer is so slow to catch on, its unifying power is confusing to a country so steeped in territorial division. Perhaps it’s the snappy editing and footage exemplifying exactly what a feelgood story is all about, but there’s such inspiration in this tale…

…”not only with soccer, but with exceptional personality, we will be ambassadors to the us…we’re all working for a common cause, to be representatives in the USA”…in those words it’s hard not to see that there is good in evil and evil in good. This team, an inspiration for a country that had little to look forward to, was built by drug money and cartel actions. Pablo himself both supported the poor, built schools and was moved by the issues that plague the unfortunate while at the same time achieving his ends through horribly inhumane action. Andres, so full of light (at least from the documentary’s standpoint and I have no reason to argue) only achieved his fame and assistance through the support of other Escobar.

My apologies, but this is it for me today – the documentary is too fascinating, and I hope to be in bed by the time that it’s over. If there’s one thing to take away it’s this: in any affair, there will be much more to the truth then what you will initially think - so look and look and look again. I’ll probably spend a full post devoted to what I’ve found in the past hour, but 1,000 words is 1,000 words and tomorrow is a new day. Take care, and right on.