Fresh out of Ideas

Is it me or are we fresh out of ideas? How many versions of the same show
must we watch? Have you ever seen "that episode where one neighbor finds out
that there property line encompasses their next door neighbor's property?" I
was heartbroken to see That 70's Show do such a lame and reused plot line.
It is almost as bad as "that season where the main couple are broken up."
You know that one.

Do you ever get a great idea, but there is no computer, pen, or voice
recorder near by? I think the worst thing in the world is to have that
thought jump into your mind and then jump out just quick enough for you to
remember that you had that thought. You know...that perfect thought, the one
that if you could hold it long enough to write down, it would be gold. You
know that the thought could end world hunger, bring peace to the middle
East, get Kerry elected, do the impossible. What is so terrible about that?
You can't remember the thought if your life depended on it. It's gone,
nowhere to be found; all you have left is that memory of what the thought
was about.

You see, you need to break everything down to its molecular level. Take
reality television, for example. You have these shows: American Idol, Making
The Band, and Americas Most Talented Teen [Thank God that didn't get
renewed]. These comprise the "Beauty Pageant" reality genre. Fear Factor,
Survivor, Temptation Island...these are your "Cops" genre, where we want to
see someone drunk or tired make an ass out of themselves. Then you have The
Apprentice to add to the "Real World" genre. Why is it that race always
seems to play a part in this genre? They can knock off ten white people, but
when they get to an African American all of the sudden it's racism. Put it
to rest, please. The Real World already beat the race card to death. In the
beauty pageant genre you have shows that try to trump the previous shows,
like The Swan. For those of you who haven't seen it, they take ugly girls
who are insecure about their looks, give them cosmetic surgery, and then put
them in a beauty contest where they're judged by their looks. So, if they
don't win they'll still be insecure about their looks even after the
surgery. Now if that show is not the sickest concept, then I don't know what
is.

These shows have become more like professional wrestling that even
professional wrestling. It is all the same idea kicked around and
repackaged. There is nothing original to it. Even Star Wars was just Cowboys
and Indians in Space. It seems that all these ideas are regurgitated
thoughts of corporate executives. We are constantly remaking old shows into
movies, reusing code, repurposing engines. I mean, I have played many games
on the Quake 3 engine. When is the Quake 4 engine coming out? Are we happy
with the same game play, just with different buildings and maps?

When will that next great thought that we so desperately need come? Can we
see past all this bullshit and recognize it when it comes? Or will it just
be blurted out by some random stranger when nobody is listening and be lost
forever?

Friday will be National Hawaiian Shirt and Two Different Shoes Day. It
doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out how to celebrate it, so I will
leave it up to you to learn how to best honor the day.

If there is a subject that you want me to cover please feel free to e-mail me the topic.

Thanks for reading,
Vincent