Things I Think…
1. We have reached the nadir of public intelligence when people think they are morally superior to others based on which halftime show they chose to watch…
2. I don’t expect to enjoy any halftime show…I’m old and out of touch with current musical trends…but if you enjoyed it, I’m happy for you…which is my way of saying I could care less about the whole thing…
3. If Kid Rock now represents faith and family, the new family has multiple partners and a drinking problem while the kids pray someone else will adopt them…
4. I spent the weekend in the ER watching the health care system collapse in real time while most of the country was engaged in dispute over a man with the last name of “Bunny”… glad we have our priorities straight…
5. We are training ourselves in the trivial and banal like an athlete trains for the Olympics…
6. After the first shot of Dilaudid I could laugh at the notion that Jesus was invested in the halftime show of a football game…when they added fentanyl I discovered that I too can rap…
7. Here’s another unpopular opinion…I think those AI created vignettes about cats are wonderful…It’s a little late in life for me to become an art snob…
8. Scientists are resigning from AI companies in protest over what they perceive as existential threats to humanity from the technology…which I think is a warning worth hearing…but it can’t be heard over Christians shrieking about “woke”…
9. I don’t care what they make…nurses are underpaid…
10. Should we survive all that Trump hath wrought…we will still have to reckon with what he revealed…we are a deeply sick and sinful people…
Michael, I hope you are doing better now and are recovering okay.
KevinH,
Thanks!
I’m ok…it’s going to be uncomfortable for a couple of months as I have more surgery ahead, but I’ll get there.
I actually tried to watch both shows, BB and KR, so here are my thoughts.
I have never been a fan of the Kid Rock style of music and his show did not change my thoughts. What I was impressed about KR is when asked in an interview what he thought about the BB performance he was actually pretty polite. He treated BB and the SB performance as a fellow music artist and restrained himself from being overly political about it.
The Bad Bunny performance was videoed and directed very well for the TV audience and I found it enjoyable. However, not so much, in fact quite poorly for those who spent thousands of $$ for their Super Bowl stadium seats. I personally would have felt cheated by the management had I gone to the football show.
The BB music was catchy, however knowing the lyrics were really about a young man taking advantage of others for his own personal pleasure ruins it for me. That is also the reason I have never liked Rap music, extremely selfish and narcissistic in nature.
Money wise; I don’t know if tis is true, an interview reported that it was actually Apple who, through the year, spent over a 100 million $$ with the NFL and influenced the BB choice to promote music downloads world wide. Yes this is bigger than the USA.
The interesting part is within the USA Kid Rock’s downloads were #1 and Bad Bunny #3 after the Super Bowl performances. Resulting in both, Kid Rock and Bad Bunny (throw in Apple and the NFL to that list) made major sales and $$ from all the controversies.
In the end we are the tools being manipulated by those who want the power and $$ regardless of the political and cultural ideas they claim to represent.
James Cameron warned about the rise of AI back in 1984…
“I am looking for Sarah Connor…”
The last decent Superbowl half-time shows were back when artists like The Who, Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty, The Rolling Stones, etc. performed.
Yes I am getting old.
FYI,
Here is a link with a List of the Superbowl Halftime show artists over the years:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Super_Bowl_halftime_shows
Wow, such a kerfuffle about halftime entertainment. I can only speak for myself but, why should I waste a second of my energy engaged in debate over such trivial nonsense? It’s a football game, and then between halves, it is entertainment. No entertainer is going to appeal to everyone. So, it’s over, it is history, lives go on, so I should just walk away. I am both amused and disturbed by the intensity of the vitriol on both sides. I like football, I like baseball, I have my favorite teams, and it is the respective sports that I enjoy. All of the external trappings are frivolous. But I think that the “controversy” surrounding the halftime entertainment is indicative of how deeply our culture has plunged into the abyss of the absurd. And in our democracy, it starts at the top.
DavidM,
Well said!
I watch the game…halftime is for bathroom use and restocking my supply of Coke and snacks…
(#6) Word.
The fact that we have 2 Super Bowl shows is a societal failure.
May I weigh in that I found this year’s Clydesdale commercial lacking in originality compared to past years?
I live about 10 miles from Levi Stadium. Friends who live in the neighborhood can hardly leave their homes for a week, people try to park in their driveways, and helicopters are always flying overhead. Even though ICE stayed away, the place was still like an armed camp. There’s just too much hype as the whole country stops to argue as a ball gets tossed back and forth.
The fact that we have a Super Bowl is a societal failure.
Robert F-I’m not anti -superbowl, but people get so hyped up and offended over things that don’t seem to be that important. Said things dominate the headlines , cause upset in churches…One of my friends made the mistake of posting on Facebook that Bad Bunny isn’t her thing but she watched it to see why other people like him so much. Big condemnation from people reply posting. Meanwhile, the world continues to implode.
#1 – well said Michael!
I learned something new today. Ever heard of “grave soaking”? I’d never heard of this before, but supposedly some people are advocating this. Bethel Redding is usually blamed for this, but their leadership denies it.
The idea is that you go to the grave of a deceased Christian leader whom you feel had a special anointing during their lifetime, and lie down on their grave, hoping the Holy Spirit will see fit to let some of the unused anointing flow from the corpse into you.
What do I say to something like that? “Make your own application”?
I have heard of “grave soaking” and yes, always in connection with Bethel in Redding. Ugh. Creepy, dark, and cryptic.
John AZ ,
This is what you can say to any grave soaker: I’m going to pray to the Virgin Mary for her intercession for you to be liberated from occult practices.
This grave soaking is the kind of thing that happens when traditional sacraments and sacramentalism are rejected in the practice of Christianity. An attempt to reinvent the wheel inevitably happens, and inevitably the reinvented wheel doesn’t roll.
I thought Grave Soaker was a monster truck.
I’m working hard to resist the gravitational pull into reels, AI generated ‘stuff,’ and endless facebook postings. It’s exhausting being pulled like salt water taffy in multiple directions. Fortunately, I’m directing more and more of my time into writing and research and the teeter totter is slowly inching the other direction.
Great list of musings for our consideration this week. Glad you are on the mend.
“What do I say to something like that? “Make your own application”?”
Here’s the applications from the text – “For you are dust, And to dust you shall return.”
While there are many Christian and other religious traditions about the body after death, the cold hard simple truth of the text is this, the body returns to the dirt from which it was made. Unless one intervenes with preservatives all living things eventually become fertilizer and dirt.
Now what happens to the spirit of man? Again that varies based on traditions.
The whole “grave soaking” thing is just another example of someone coming up with an idea which will give them some notoriety and influence over others. It is also an attempt to short cut the real work it takes to live life.
Wow this one made my morning amazement and shows how gullible we humans are when temped by the devils. Yes those teaching this stuff are devils.
“When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.”
Trump is just some guy building golden statues. God is doing the work. Imo, I think a winnowing rod is separating some things and people out.
The commercial that tens of millions singing along to Karaoke was brilliant. Simple and brilliant. Too bad the company was so forgettable…. !
Grave soaking is the most metal thing I’ve read about this year. Not my cup of tea, but wow.
Isn’t this what Benny Hinn did at Kathryn Kuhlman’s gravesite 40-50 years ago?
As is said, truly nothing new under the sun.