Raging On: MTV's coverage of Live8

Hello all, and welcome to a special edition of Raging On: Today finds me in a rather foul mood. And if you read the title, then you know why. So let's cut to the chase and get with the raging.

Alright, so Live8 was billed as the largest concert ever that's goal is to raise awareness about the poverty crisis in Africa. It just so happens that this concert occurred almost 20 years to the day that Live Aid, the largest CHARITY concert, happened. For a background on Live Aid and Live8, google it, for this isn't a source for history.

Anyway, Live8 is essentially the biggest event in music history. Everything that involves music had its sights set on this event, and everyone with an inkling of care (or music) was interested. MTV Networks agreed to be the carriers of this event, showcasing the event in each country that they are in that participated. America, being the country MTV came from, set itself apart as the network to try and showcase the event as a whole, showing us what was going down in each show all while helping raise awareness about poverty in Africa and what we can do to help. Well, as you can imagine, MTV (and its sister station, VH-1) jumped on the opportunity to make this a once-in-a-lifetime affair....and failed miserably. I didn't watch the event on television (I will get to that in a minute) save for 1 band's performance...a reunited Pink Floyd. And this is the catalyst for my ire, this is the reason why I am writing to you now.

If you search online for people's reactions to MTV Network's coverage of Live8, you will hear the same thing over and over....MTV fucked it up. They had a chance to regain their music-world credibility they gained in '85 with Live Aid by staying on the action the whole time, minimally breaking for commercials and interviews...and they fucked that up. Throughout the day's coverage, the "veejays" were seen interrupting performances to talk to celebrities about their roles in the Live8 festivities, audience reactions to how poverty in Africa affects them, and their relentless need to pay the bills. Like I said, I didn't watch on TV all but 1 performance, and it was the blasphemous exploits of the network that did me in. Pink Floyd, who acrimoniously split in the early 80's with Roger Waters on one side and Nick Mason and David Gilmore on the other, decided to chuck their decades of bickering and bad-mouthing to help raise awareness. They did something extremely selfless, pushed aside years of strife and tension, and reunited in song for the masses. And what a performance it was. Save for Mason's slower-than-usual drumming (he's pushing 60, so I won't bitch too much), the band's performance ranked as one of the most wonderful experiences I have ever witnessed (and I saw it from my couch so imagine how those in attendance felt). They played a 4-song set that was Dark Side of the Moon-heavy (Breathe morphed into the Breathe Reprise, followed by Money...all from DSotM, Wish You Were Here, and closed the set with an amazing performance of Comfortably Numb). This garnered the attention of MTV and they switched live from their Philly broadcast to London to witness it. Everything was going great...until the second-half of Comfortably Numb, when all of a sudden the veejay cut in to talk about what was going on and then to alert the unsuspecting viewer that they were cutting to a commercial. Surely they wouldn't cut the most-anticipated performance of the whole show to make some money. Oh, you bet they did. So I quickly changed the channel to VH-1, assuming that they would take the reins from MTV and continue to air while MTV took a break....nope. They were running the exact same fucking feed. Tell me, why would 2 stations run the same feed when their audience is the exact same. There isn't a single cable or satellite company in all of America that airs ONLY 1 of the channels and not the other. What the fuck? And why would they run the same commercials...its not like their double-charging the customer for 1 feed worth. That's crazy. So, I lost the final solo of Comfortably Numb and the euphoria of watching this amazing reunion. As you can imagine, I was totally pissed off. MTV Networks has gotten a barrage of emails from irrate fans of all the bands they did this shit to. Come on, they were only playing 15-30 minute sets, surely you can wait until the end to cut to a commercial or a face interview with Jimmy Fallon....Jimmy FUCKING Fallon...give me a fucking break. Assholes. You've missed the boat on this. You should change your names to CTV because you stand more for corporate politics and needs than music. But, there is a silver lining to this dark cloud...and oddly enough...its AOL.

That's right. For all the things that AOL does wrong, they were completely vindicated by airing, uninterrupted, all the concerts that were going on. And the quality was excellent, given its just internet streams. I noticed no lag at all (considering 150,000 other people were watching it online at the same time, that's an amazing feat), and that's saying something. AOL, the corporate behemoth that has become as much a joke as a major player in the ISP world, showed us a glimpse of what we have to look forward to in the future. Partnering with Microsoft (WindowsXP was the sponsor), they were able to provide a totally free, all-encompassing experience that, while not on par with television in picture quality or sound reproduction, gave it a tremendous run for its money and showed that IPTV will be the future. I see future endeavors being run even more efficiently. The whole world will have AOL to thank because they showed that this can be a huge success.

And where MTV can be falted for failure, so can commercial radio. Premiere Radio Network was the radio-side of this event, and in numerous markets (the Indianapolis market included), it wasn't even carried. But, the alternative to commercial radio, XM (much like the internet is the alternative to TV), owned the show, broadcasting everything, uninterrupted.

This will serve as a wake-up call to the major corporations of TV and radio. Your stranglehold on the information market is loosening. The internet has finally shown its worth when it comes to real-time delivery of this type, and XM showed that the $12.95/month is well worth it.

I say down with MTV. Fuck you. For far too long you've pushed yourselves away from the music artists and into the arms of reality shit. Hell, I am going to say right now that AOL has much respect from me, and I hope to see other companies do similar endeavors in the future. Fuck you, MTV. Kiss my ass.

This has been Raging On, have a wonderful, rage-filled day. Please visit Relevant Irreverence, a new internet destination for all things artistic, musical, and disturbing.

Raging On: The U.S. Government's inability to prioritize

Welcome to another rousing edition of Raging On: I have something here that I want to rage on about that should stike into the hearts of those around me. The American people as a whole should be screaming at the politicians about this....their total inability to prioritize their agenda. Read this to see where I'm going.

Can you believe it? The government is spending $50-million dollars to help combat piracy when we have a huge deficit, $2.10+ gas prices, rapidly-increasing healthcare costs, and an unpopular war that is costing us unnecessary losses to soldiers' lives. What the fuck are you thinking, democratically-elected representatives o' mine? Is this really what matters? Saving Bill Gates' ass from losing a couple million because I can download a copy of WinXP Pro from a Bittorrent server instead of plunking down $300 for his overrated piece of bloatware? Since when did illegal copies of Miss Congeniality 2 start taking precedent over skyrocketing gas prices? And to think, we, the people of the United States, actually tossed votes to this large group of governing morons. I am shocked and apalled that they are wasting this much cash on piracy. Why don't the companies that are suffering from piracy do something smart like, say, lowering the price of their "crucial" software so that it no longer looks lucrative and enticing to risk being caught stealing it. You know, I work for a pharmaceutical company that makes diagnostic equipment and sells it on the cheap. Why? Because they know they got your repeat business and can make back the difference by purchasing the product that the equipment needs to run. Come on, its not rocket science. And for our government to use our tax dollars on anything other than revamping healthcare, lowering fuel costs, and repairing roads and infrastructure is nothing short of criminal and I am getting tired of this shit. You know, Canada is really starting to look good from here. Think about it, cleaner air, nicer people, free healthcare, and they levee a small tax on all things that can "foster" piracy (1-3% surcharge on CD/DVD burners, CD/DVD-R and RWs, mp3 players, cassette tapes, etc). They know its a problem, but they don't spend all their time and money on it. Stupid asshole politicians trying to make corporate America happy, and then look the other way while these businesses outsource their processes to India where Jugdish, a middle-aged Indian with little English skills and even less computer knowledge, will answer my call when my pricey piece of software goes on the blink and I need some assistance. Man, anarchy sounds nice right about now.

This has been Raging On, have a wonderful, rage-filled day. Please visit Relevant Irreverence, a new internet destination for all things artistic, musical, and disturbing.

Raging On: My procrastination and laziness

Hello all, and welcome to another edition of Raging On: Today's diatribe is a personal one. I am tackling an issue that is near and dear to me and must be eradicated. I'm talking about my blatant laziness and procrastination. If you notice, its been almost 2 months since my last post, and that was just me commenting on being another year older. What the hell? How hard is it to write about something that's pissing me off? Well, in this case, pretty fucking hard. My mind has been on fast-forward for so long now that I can't lock onto a single thought that can be put into words. Couple that with work and things going on in my life, and I just can't be bothered with worrying about making sure people are reading this. Its really sad and pathetic when you think about it. Its just me typing, its not that bad. And I swear to you all that I am going to try to make this at least a weekly post. I know no one cares whether or not I do this, but I do know there are a select few that are counting on me to say a few things that piss me off so that they can go on with their day knowing that someone said something they were thinking/feeling. I push the proverbial envelope, I test the waters of decency, its what I do. So please, forgive me for my lack of drive to bitch about this, that, and the other...I am just a lazy asshole with nothing better to do.

This has been Raging On, have a wonderful, rage-filled day. Please visit Relevant Irreverence, a new internet destination for all things artistic, musical, and disturbing.