Monday MTV

Week two of solitude. It's unseasonably cool this morning, 60 F as of this writing. A decent night of sleep. We hit the gym yesterday and did the machines. Treadmill (training session faster on a1incline), rowing, rope pulley, stair master, bike. Felt great. We barbequed a couple of sirloins last night. So far, so good on the gout front.

What Will's Watching, Monsters: Two people trek across alien infested northern Mexico. This film is about alienation and coming together. Monsters is loaded with well executed atmosphere. Director Gareth Edwards did a great job with visual effects, putting aliens, jets, warships in the background. Our characters pass monster carcasses, wrecked aircraft and tanks, giving the film scope. This blog loves scope. 3/4

Thank you, Canada, for defeating US Women's Soccer 1-nill. Thank you. Skanks. Okay, Alex Morgan is totally hot. We'll be having a pint of Molson tonight.

So 40 years ago yesterday MTV was born. There's really no getting across to the younger generation what a big deal that was. My family got cable in 1982. Again, there's really no getting across to the younger generation what a big deal that was. The very day cable was installed, our older sister put on MTV. We still remember the first videos we saw. Stray Cats' Sexy and Seventeen, Spandau Ballet's True.

Rock was pretty dull by the early 80's, and MTV saved it. The videos breathed new life in the genre. MTV also re-launched Metal, all that denim and leather was just perfect for the video format. MTV helped set the tone for the decade. Miami Vice, which did so much for 80's style and mood, began because NBC wanted a show about 'MTV cops'. 

But while people are memeing MTV, and Generation X is getting downright Boomer in reminiscing, everyone's forgetting one thing. At first MTV sucked. Tons of cable companies didn't even carry it. I want my MTV was no joke. The network had a library of a few hundred videos, mostly 70's era promotional videos and concert clips. Anyone like REO Speedwagon, Christopher Cross? And it was a while before record companies grasped the importance of the medium. Ever wonder, youngsters, why original MTV videos are so fuzzy and poppy? Back then, the execs just didn't want to spend a lot of money on them. Tons of videos were shot on cheap tape rather than film. Duran Duran was probably the first band to really spend a ton on their videos. 

MTV meant so much more to us than radio. We perceived pop music through 1800-DIAL-MTV and the MTV top 20 Video Countdown. To this day we still learn that songs we thought were a big deal, really weren't big hits because they got a lot of DIAL MTV air time, but not radio time. 

Anyway, it's MTV week all week here at Stroock's Books. To begin, what's your favorite video?

Your Friday Sports and Collusion Roundup

Oh look, we're colluding with the KGB again: 'To watch broadcast television in America during the summer of 2021 is to be bombarded by Covid-19 advertisements. The commercials usually come in two forms. First, corporations tell Americans that, ‘We all came through the pandemic together’ and also, ‘We’re here for you now.’ This is a sentimental advertising ploy designed to pull the heartstrings...'Click, to continue colluding.

At this point, we really don't have much else to ad about the ninnies at Nightingale Russia and their accusations against us. We will say this, large swaths of the Democrat Party are compromised by China. We'd rather be compromised by Russia. Admit it, Nightingale Russia, Putin is cool AF. We lay down in a pool of our own blood and whisper, 'The kompromat...the kompromat....'*

This has been floating around the internet for a few days:

Look at those lovely young ladies, accomplished athletes. No, they'll never be rolling in cash the way that purple haired misanthrope will be. Still they can look forward to careers in futball, and when they're ready, a family and home. Which would you choose? Pride of a nation. 

What Will's Watching: We admit to enjoying the Olympics in a detached sort of way.  Maybe we're just having fun with the Daughters. The games are going to be a miasma of Woke human interest stories, aren't they? Sure, NBC always pours it on, every athlete has a major struggle to overcome. This year it's going to be even worse. Must be hard to be a millionaire celebrity athlete. Just ask Megan Rapinoe. You're no Jessie Owens. Yes, we are actively rooting against Woke US athletes. 

Below, your Friday Flag, Sydney 2000. Pride of the USA:

*Reference