I May Not Know Art, But I Know What I Like
February 23rd, 2008
Usually at this blog I don’t bother with a whole lot of talk. I feel it isn’t what this blog is about. By the same token, I feel kinda dirty for blogging without blogging. 
I do have opinions and commentary on the stuff I post here and it is generally a far sight more than the one or two line shots I take.
Often I think about making a companion blog for this one where I just waffle on about my lame little thoughts like a blogger is expected to.
I quickly come to terms with two facts that stop me though.
The first is I have absolutely no skill or education in properly critiquing literature or video… ever see Beavis and Butt-head comment on music videos? That would be me… “heh, heh, heh, stoves are cool!”
The second is I just don’t have the time to even pretend to do it right.
This blog is pure and simple just a banal trip through time wasting. If any of the content linked from here moves you in a deeper way and enlightens you I certainly deserve no credit for the work done by real artists. Just as the conductor gets no real credit for getting passengers to their destination, I am just here to point the way to your seats and try and make the ride smooth.
That said, some of the stuff linked from here is truly brilliant art that is beyond merely wasting time.
The Shield is not just another cop show.
The Shield is actually pretty high art which is amazing since it is from Fox. Generally Fox has about as noble of a job as I do and wouldn’t recognize good entertainment if it paid in cash.
Should you enjoy The Shield as much as I do and want to get into some of the deeper literary thoughts behind the show, this commentary site on The Shield should amuse your gray matter a bit more than my words.
One bit of personal commentary I would like to make before I end this out of character treatise is to say in my personal belief system, a cop like Vic should never ever be tolerated. Yes, he gets the job done, but if you look at most of what causes his job you will find it isn’t the criminals causing his reaction, but the politicians and the police themselves.
If the foolish and immoral war and drugs was not a reality, the majority of the crimes that are exhibited on the Shield would vanish. Most of the murders and truly horrid things would be pointless… and most of the corruption would not be based on what it is.
No, I am not saying crime would stop. I am saying though that it would shift from based on the outright silliness that it is to something else. (This was also the point made in The Wire’s Hamsterdam story arc… when I find The Wire en toto on the web I will link from this site. I can’t advocate that show enough as a criticism on American crime and politics.)
Without the war on drugs, there would still be murder, still be rape, and still be horror. The things would just be based on something else and it would make it a lot clearer to make moral arguments about what a wretch Vic really is…. course, before you get all uptight with me for Vic bashing, do recall that Aceveda really did force Vic to become Vic. (Season 2, Episode 9 “Day One”)
I can’t get all worked up over Vic telling a child rapist, “good cop and bad cop left for the day, I am a different kind of cop.”
Maybe that is just because I am morally ambiguous…. or maybe it’s the drugs I haven’t been doing.
For those of you that made it to this line, I apologize for wasting your time in a most not entertaining way… I will keep it down to a minimum here.
Please take your seats and enjoy the videos on your trip through life.
Commentary full length video The ShieldPopularity: 2% [?]