Charlie Sheen vs The Troops

Recently, while logged onto Facebook, I saw this status update featured on a friend's profile, almost assuredly a repost of someone else's original post many reposts ago:


"Charlie Sheen, 47, is all over the news because he's a celebrity drug addict and a self-centered egomaniac. Meanwhile, Andrew Wilfahrt, 31, Brian Taboda, 21, Rudolph Hizon, 22, Chauncy Mays, 25, David Fahey Jr., 23, and Christopher Gould, 25, are soldiers who gave their lives this past week with no media mention. Please honor them by posting this as your status for a little while."


Now, how can one find fault with such a seemingly noble post that apparently keeps things in perspective for us superficial Americans? Well, those who know me well know that I'm just the man for the job.


The post, rather than honoring the deceased soldiers, trivializes their sacrifice by using their deaths to make an obvious point about the media's fascination with celebrity. As a result, the focus shifts from the six who tragically lost their lives for an increasingly muddled cause to the allegedly profound insight of the poster. The poster, in making a point of how our society is distracted by celebrity, ironically distracts us from focusing on the deceased soldiers. It's significant that, of all the responses to the post, not one comment lamented the deaths of the soldiers and the pain and anguish their loved ones must have been going through. In fact, all the responses were overwhelmingly trivial, an inevitable response to triviality.


It's imposible to discern the motivation behind the original poster. A skeptic might claim the poster was either attempting to show how insightful and thoughtful they are, awaiting applause for their wonderfulness. Perhaps the poster did it for the pleasure of knowing that something they posted would be unthinkingly reposted by many. Or, possibly, the poster did it to feel good about themselves, being too busy to write a letter to their local congressman or congresswoman articulating disapproval of the shoddy treatment to which soldiers, veterans, and military widows are subjected as a matter of policy. Or, a combination of the three.


On the hypothetical possibility that the poster TRULY wanted to honor the deceased soldiers rather than make an obvious comment on society, this is what should have been stated: "Andrew Wilfahrt, 31, Brian Taboda, 21, Rudolph Hizon, 22, Chauncy Mays, 25, David Fahey Jr., 23, and Christopher Gould, 25, are soldiers who gave their lives this past week. Please honor them by posting this as your status for a little while." This post, instead of making the point for the reader, challenges the reader to come to their own conclusions (if any) and hones their focus where it should be, on the dead soldiers. The post, stripped of the pretensions of the original author, becomes more poignant and is much more likely to keep the troops and their families in our thoughts and prayers. It worked for me.

The Marriage of Movies and Music (originally posted to MySpace 2/2011)

Being a fan of 50's and 60's music exclusively puts one's musical preferences increasingly at odds with the majority of people you interact with. Therefore, when you do come across someone who appreciates and is well-versed in your music tastes, you tend to appreciate and want to discuss music with that person. A friend of mine, John J. Odbody (not his real name), and I discuss music quite a bit- the history of the genre and tidbits and legends of the music itself.

We also try to out-stump each other with obscure trivia, and also play musical games. One trip John and I are continually on (I have no idea who first came up with the idea- probably John) is to think of songs with the same title but different lyrics, with at least one of the two tracks being an oldie. For example, "Stairway to Heaven" has the same exact title, but Neil Sedaka's song and Led Zeppelin's are two totally different songs. Other examples: "Good Vibrations" (Beach Boys, Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch- it's almost sacrilegious to mention these two side-by-side) and "Let's Dance" (Chris Montez, David Bowie).

One day, out-of-the-blue, John e-mailed me at work by typing simply "Paul Revere and the Raiders of the Lost Ark" and, later, in the form of a trivia question to me, typed "the Dave Clark Five Easy Pieces." John's idea was to combine a movie title with a musical group, a totally silly concept. Of course, we both tried to come up with examples all day. Here's what we came up with on that day, and on another day months later:

Grateful Dead Poets Society (mine)

Twelve Angry Men Without Hats (mine- could also use Twelve Angry Men at Work, which is also funny)

Neil Diamonds are Forever (John's)

Jefferson Airplane II (both of ours, then I came up with an improvement: Jefferson Airplanes, Trains, and Automobiles.)

Beach Boyz in the Hood (my personal favorite- my creation)

Peter, Paul, and There's Something About Mary (mine)

Paul Butterfield Blues Band of Brothers (a lame stretch of mine)

Spanky and Our Gangs of New York (John's)

Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young Frankenstein (a mega-improvement of John's versus my very lame C, S, N, and Young at Heart...and the title is soooooooooooo appropriate!)

The Andrew Gold Rush (one of my other self-created favorites)

Regarding Henry Mancini (another one of John's. Guess he was on a Harrison Ford kick that day.)

The Trouble With Harry Chapin (I do not remember whose- probably John's, but I like it! An improvement over When Harry Chapin Met Sally, which is also acceptable.)

Gary Lewis and the Playboys of the Western World (another stretch from me)

Pretty in Pink Floyd (mine)

You, Me, and the Duprees (mine)

Joe Red Zone Cuba (mine)

Mike Nesmith and the First National Lampoon's Vacation Band (mine)

The Bobby Fuller Four Weddings and a Funeral (a morbid selection of mine)

Guess Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (John)

Ringo Starr Wars (John himself called this a stretch)

Three Dog Nightmare on Elm Street (John)

Rare Earth Girls Are Easy (John)

Strawberry Alarm Clockwork Orange (John)

Dr. Hook and the Medicine Showboat (John was really cooking at this point)

Deep Purple Rain (John)

And, finally, one of mine. It is, at first glance, outside the scope of the other choices, since it contains the name of a contemporary group, but really fits in quite snugly if you know who the Bonzo Dog Band is/are: Murder By Death Cab For Cutie.

I really have no life.