So I tried watching the Grammys last week.  It's still sitting on my PVR.  PVRs eventually start feeling like homework.  I still have a documentary from August sitting on it that I hope I'll get to eventually, and "The Queen of Versailles."  (I suddenly notice that they're both documentaries, but honestly, while I enjoy docs, sometimes it's just easier to watch "Broad City" or "Key and Peele.")

The point is this:  I heard Kanye West nearly interrupted Beck at the Grammys and now everyone's yelling about Kanye again.  (White) people are outraged!  Outraged!  I must needs ask, when did it get to the point that rock 'n' roll stars (I use the term rock 'n' roll, I guess, to denote music from the second half of the 20th century to the present that was influenced by rhythm and blues, blues, gospel, and country or any combination thereof--which I guess is the same as the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's definition--but I digress)... Where was I?  When did we get to the point that our rock 'n' roll stars were required to have good manners?  Wasn't there a time when rock stars did stuff like destroy hotel rooms, do copious amounts of drugs and have sex with anything or anything?

Perhaps it's apocryphal, but I read in a David Mamet collection of essays, (it might have been elsewhere, so I apologize if I'm wrong), that there was a time when people feared actors!  I can't remember why, but the idea of becoming someone else, holding a mirror up to nature, seeing the heights and depths of our collective humanity, etc.....

So Kanye West interrupts Taylor Swift at the MTV VMAs a number of years ago, and he's suddenly vilified?  We should all be storming the stage for the ludicrous music Taylor Swift makes and for not living up to being the new Joni Mitchell we thought she was when she came to our attention at the age of 16.

Anyway, I was watching CBC News Network last week, the morning after the Grammys (Monday morning), and the entertainment news reporter (this term should be an oxymoron for more than one reason) said that Kanye interrupted Taylor Swift at the Grammys a few years ago.  Now, I was pretty sure, and it turns out I was right, that Kanye interrupted Taylor at the MTV VMAs, not the Grammys.
A number of things here (actually just a couple):  1)  The VMAs were always meant to be a looser cousin to the Grammys, so it's probably entirely appropriate for Kanye to interrupt someone there,(remember when Eminem got mad at that hand puppet dog, Triumph?) and 2) is it too much to ask for the CBC News Network reporter to know a bit about her supposed expertise or do a simple Google search before going on the air?

The point is this:  people should be aware of their information before making pop culture references.

I was in an elevator the day after 9/11.  It was an elevator that has the TV screen in the front showing little text stories of news items.  On September 12, 2001, the screen news noted that a number of tourist attractions closed on September 11, including Disney World.  One guy, whom I had seen around my office and fancies himself pretty cool, turned to the woman with whom he had gone for coffee and scoffed, "Please, as if they would attack Magic Mountain!"

Now, first off, it was a crazy day and no one really knew what was going on, so I cut a lot of slack for every tourist attraction, airport, theatre, etc.  Second, Disney World's main park is called "Magic Kingdom."  One of their more famous rides is Space Mountain, an in-the-dark roller coaster that I loved as a kid.  He was probably conflating the two.

My point is simply this:  if you are going to make pop culture references, make sure you have them right, or you sound like a pompous, ill-informed, snooty jerk.  That's for both my office mate and the CBC.  Thanks.