They know more from the television box

I was back in Portland this weekend for a bridal shower. After the shower festivities were completed, I headed to my brother's house where there was a birthday party for my little nephew, Everett. Everett is six. This I didn't know for sure before I looked at the cake and read the "Happy 6th Birthday, Everett" message. Don't think I am a bad aunt, because I am not. It is just hard to keep track of how old they are because they are much larger than normal children. Everett could be a seven or eight year old. His brother Alex is only 14 and he is about 6'2. The daughter Emily is actually of normal child size, I think, at 9 years old.

Over dinner, which consisted of BBQ hamburgers and chicken, I sat around the table with my mother, stepfather, brother, and two of my uncles on my dad's side. I was tired so I wasn't in the mood to lead the table talk, so I just decided to observe my family unit to see where they'd go conversationally.

The talk turned toward television, of which I have absolutely no clue about. I am familiar with the names of some of today's popular shows, and perhaps even about their concepts, but I have not watched a television show regularly since late '04. I have no idea who is on television nowadays and I have an shadier idea of what networks feature what programs.

People were going around the table admitting their television weakness. My brother sheepishly admitted to loving American Idol and that he feels it is ok since he is also a musician. This set the table off. Apparently, everyone there is a big fan of American Idol. All these people are 55+ excluding my brother, who is 37.

Soon a debate began to form, my mother citing an objection to one contestant she considered to be a rapper, although I am sure his identity is actually more nuanced than she afforded him. My stepfather then chimed in making a comment about one fo the female contestants and provided some illustrative aspects about her visual appearance over the last several weeks. He apparently approves of her physically but feels her range is limited. My brother then began to advocate on behalf of someone named Katharine McPhee. The name caught my ear because I am a fan of the writer John McPhee, but I soon surmised they are probably unrelated.

All this is kind of boring but here I am writing about it. The question remains: Do I have an objection about my mother, uncles, stepdad and brother being dedicated fans of AI? Should I have suggested they tune into something like Frontline instead? Don't my parents realize that this show is unlikely to turn out anyone who will really CHANGE or have an IMPACT on music today? After all, all of these contestants are vying to become a mainstream musical breakthrough. The last I looked, Kelly Clarkson was playing at some place in Reno and then a couple back to backs in Fresno. It might be me, but I don't consider these places where many musical breakthroughs happen at all, if ever.