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hybrid crap teevee
Saturday, October 3 1998
Mission Valley from Normal Heights, looking toward the cloudy ocean this morning. The intersection below is where I-805 meets I-8.
I guess you know you need a ZIP drive when you find yourself using your FTP space as interim media between computers. I was setting up my new Pentium for most of today and dealing with floppy disks got to be something of a drag.
Like most young geeks, I once wanted to be the one who figured out the grand unified theory of Physics. Now I wonder why anyone cares. To care at all, I learn, is a feature of our present Physics paradigm. Kuhn continues to fascinate me.
In the evening the most provocative teevee show was Martial Law, an interesting hybrid: a weak excuse for a me-too Southern California police drama propelling a traditional martial-arts action show (complete with the rhythmic fight scenes typical of that genre). Even the theme music is a hybrid of this sort, going back and forth between an oriental deedle deedle deet doo deet deet doo and big haired California beach band guitar solos. Every character in the show, even the most humble of extras, knows martial arts. Even the bubble-headed blond chick, though she's also full of culturally-insensitive comments. "Did you learn that in China?" she asks the oriental master at one point. "No," he responds, "I lunned it on the Discovelly Tchannel." The show is poorly written and absurd, of course, but the fact that it is a unique hybrid has a certain fascinating quality.
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