American Idol

You'd think Billy Idol would be a natural for that show. He's British, so that's not helping his cause among over 50 Irish males who watch the show...both of them...but you'd think Simon would be on board.

I've read two recent quotes from Simon that I liked:
"you can't really be a rocker on American Idol"
Seems like a no-brainer. If you're singing pop tunes on a tv show while 15 year old girls phone in to see who wins....you're not rock n' roll.

"it's a variety show Paula, relax"
He was reacting to Paula breaking down in tears while muttering through her prescribed cocktail of painkillers and anti-anxiety pills "you are everything good about this competition"

I know he says stuff for shock value. I know he's known as the honest one. I know he wears shirts that Griff couldn't get into. I know he drives a car that cost over a quarter of a million dollars...and that would feed 695 kids for one year - but I buy stupid stuff for my income bracket too.

Makes me wonder. I saw his car on some show and just couldn't get over the fact that someone would pay so much for a car. A car. If I need to get to Target, I can do it just as quickly as Simon in his $250,000 car. I can listen to c.d.'s, the radio, have conditioned air, recline my seats...his are nicer....but $250,000?

His car can probably go 150 m.p.h. and mine might be able to go 100. How often do you need to go 150?

His looks nicer. That's one thing about me that isn't so guy...ish. I don't care at all about cars. They're utilitarian. They get you from here to there. They're a mode of transportation...not an expensive house.

But I wonder what someone living in a country, making 35 cents a day, living in a hut made of mud and bark, would think of how I spend my money. They make so much less than me....I spend money on jeans that look just like the other 7 pair of jeans I already own. That would feed a family of four for a month. I know people that are constantly harping on the rich for not giving more (as though they know how much those folks are really giving) and I continue to wonder how much of their income they waste on cable, cell phones, movies, clothes, shopping in general, eating out.... I guess we all live in glass houses.

I saw a kid pull Griffin into his group to play the other day. It was amazing to see someone love my little boy like that. It was literally like he was loving me by treating Griff that way. I think that's a bit like what Jesus means when he says, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

until I start living sacrificially...I guess I ought to keep quite about others...and start loving the "least of these..."