The writer rants about writing....

Dear Congressman,

While scanning my newsreader, netvibes, I came across the following story from the Northern Kentucky Times,

Woman dies after car hits deer.
A 30-year-old driver was killed Saturday night when she struck a deer on U.S. 25 in Corinth.
Kentucky State Police said Trisha Sullivan of Corinth was driving a 2002 Toyota south when she hit the deer in the road.She was pronounced dead at the scene. Two juvenile passengers weren’t injured. Alcohol is not believed to be a factor.
The crash was reported at about 8:17 p.m.

A couple of things here. It occurred to me that whoever wrote this story was not at the scene. In fact, based on the language used and the curt nature of the article, I would venture to say that this was written word for word from the police report that was filed after the incident. It contains all the generic factual statements that are the non-committal statement of facts that all officers are taught to use to describe events in a police report.

The one that is incorrect however, is the fourth sentence in the story. I would venture to guess that the two uni-sex juveniles in the car, were most likely related to Ms. Sullivan and while demonstrating no physical injuries, are actually extremely injured by the accident, and have a high probability of developing a form of post traumatic stress disorder after witnessing the death of a close relative. Whereas alcohol was not deemed a factor in the crash, it will most likely become a factor in the life of the two uninjured juveniles at some point.

A little blip in newsprint will be forgotten by most within an hour of reading it. It will be a lifetime for the uninjured.

I only say this to point out that, at a minimum, the reporter who filed this story had a moral obligation to make a phone call or two to provide some "color" in regards to Ms. Sullivan and her two juveniles. This story doesn't have the glamor of a Middle-Eastern revolution or an Asian disaster, but it is a mini-tragedy in itself, and deserved more than this.

More decline of Western Civilization

Dear Congressman,

I recently ranted about a song I enjoyed in my youth. That song is "Trampled Under Foot" by dinosaur aged rockers Led Zeppelin. I had a long standing love of the beat and riffs that are associated with the song, but never really took the time to listen to the lyrics. Imagine my horror when I googled them and found the following:

Greasy, slicked down body, groovy leather trim
I like the way you hold the road, mama, it ain't no sin

Ooh, trouble-free transmission, helps your oils flow
Mama, let me pump your gas, mama, let me do it all

Dig that heavy metal underneath your hood
Baby, I can work all night, believe I got the perfect tools

Now, I will never be confused with Bill Shakespeare, but this is some seriously lame songwriting. I don't expect Led Zep to produce anything along the lines of Robert Frost or Lord Byron, but I can't help but wonder that they couldn't put just a tad more effort into coming up with some lines that could have been composed in an 8th grade English class.

Let's face it, a 13 year old girl could write better lyrics than that!!!!

Or so I thought...

Meet the latest Youtube sensation Rebecca Black. I have attached the link to her new video, "Friday".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CD2LRROpph0

Did you make it all the way through? I know I didn't. Just for fun, here are some highlights of the lyrics from this gem.

Seven a.m., waking up in the morning
Gotta be fresh, gotta go downstairs
Gotta have my bowl, gotta have cereal
Seein' everything, the time is goin'
Tickin' on and on, everybody's rushin'
Gotta get down to the bus stop
Gotta catch my bus, I see my friends

Yup, makes Eminem seem like a Rhodes Scholar to me. Here another example of Miss Black's wonder of modern music:

Yesterday was Thursday, Thursday
Today i-is Friday, Friday (Partyin')
We-we-we so excited
We so excited
We gonna have a ball today

Tomorrow is Saturday
And Sunday comes after ... wards
I don't want this weekend to end

I am speechless. I keep hearing artists claiming that they smoke dope to be more creative. In these cases, I would have gladly passed around the hat to get a dime bag to help the helpless compose a sentence or two, rather than have the dribble listed above unleashed on an unsuspecting public.

Sigh....