The continuing chronicle of Wesley's quest to be published; plus comments on popular culture, family life, and whatever else falls out of his head.

Saturday, March 11, 2006

Regarding New Zealand

We're a week into our three-week stay in New Zealand. So far, the most surprising thing about life here is how dissimilar it is to life in the states. New Zealand is actually a lot like south Florida. Just like in south Florida:

Have a different accent
Have different stores selling the same things
Drive on the other side of the road.

Thursday, March 02, 2006

Simon is Right

Yeah, I know, I know... I said I wasn't planning on posting anymore until at least another couple of days, after we got to New Zealand, if then. But there's something I have to get off my chest.

I blame my wife for this.

I never wanted to watch American Idol. I saw part of one episode back in the first season, and thought it was embarrassing. I have a hard time watching people humiliate themselves (that's part of the reason why it's so difficult watching Saturday Night Live anymore).

But one evening at the beginning of the year, Carrie asked if we could have one of the audition shows on in the background as we worked. While I still had a hard time stomaching some of the clips that were edited to truly humiliate the auditioners, I found myself really impressed by some of the performers, and rooting for them.

I had to tune in for the next episode, and both me and Carrie were hooked.

Now, I said all that to say this: I can't speak for earlier seasons, but we haven't missed an episode this season, and I think I've gotten a feel for how the show works and the interaction between the contestants, the host and the judges.

And I've discovered that I agree with Simon 90% of the time.

Randy Jackson and Paula Abdul root for their favorites and tend to gloss over the rough spots in their performances. Simon just doesn't care. If Simon thinks you sucked, he'll respect you enough to tell you to your face. If a contestant chooses a fun, upbeat song that gets the audience on their feet, but doesn't do the song justice, he'll by God tell you. I can appreciate that. I know that, for myself, I would much rather have an unvarnished opinion than someone who's afraid of hurting my feelings.