Tag: Halftime Show

  • The Super Bowl Happened

    For me, the biggest thing that happened on Sunday was that my daughter wanted to watch the game with me. I know part of it was to see Taylor Swift (she’s a huge fan of her) and part of it was the commercials, but I will take away that the kid wanted to hang out with me on the couch.

    The older I get, the less and less I enjoy the Super Bowl. The game, most of the time, is enjoyable to watch, mainly because it’s two very good teams competing, which inherently is a compelling dramatic spectacle to watch. But everything else, just reminds me that I and the rest of America, are nothing but consumers and marks for corporations. Which I guess does make it truly an American Holiday.

    That all having been said, I had my money on Kansas City winning. My public reason was that you cannot count out Mahomes, as I do think his is one of the best to play quarterback. My private reason was that I despise the Philadelphia Eagles. Yes, I am a Cowboys fan, and for that reason, I can never support the Eagles. Little did I know that no one on the Chiefs showed up to play. Mahomes wasn’t a factor – no one was a factor on KC – which made the game dull, boring, and my worst nightmare.

    Even the commercials, the last respite of a useless Super Bowl, were also dull and boring. The best thing I saw was the Nike women’s athlete ad, which had a good message, my daughter loved it, but I didn’t feel like it was breaking new ground so much as having to remind everyone that women’s sports are a force now and shouldn’t be underestimated. Yet, seriously, are there still people (men) out there who don’t know that?

    And that leaves Kendrick Lamar. I dug it, thought it was cool, and will also admit that I am very late to the Kendrick Lamar party. Thought it had a message, a point you know, he did the song everyone was expecting, and the American Flag chorography was spot on perfect. Can’t go wrong with Sam Jackson either.

    All in all, kind’a a letdown. But I got to experience it with my kid.

  • Super Bowl Reflections

    I like football, and I also happen to be the worst kind of football fan; a Dallas Cowboys fan. So, for those two reasons, I watched the Super Bowl, but didn’t enjoy it. (In fact, the real Super Bowl was Kansas City v. Buffalo. Am I right?) Good for LA, but if it went the other way, I would be saying good for Cincinnati, right now.

    The only thing that made this Super Bowl memorable was that my daughter was excited about it. Not that she cares about football, though she did try to sit through a quarter for the purpose of trying to understand how to play the game. Her conclusion; too many rules.

    Now, what the kid was really excited about was the gluttony, commercials and the halftime show. The gluttony part made sense because Thanksgiving is our family’s favorite holiday. We made guacamole, and queso with Ro-Tel and Velveeta. We had hot wings, nachos, and mozzarella sticks. The kid was not impressed with any of the commercials, and I have to agree. They used to seem inventive, but the commercials feel predicable; the “surprise” celebrity cameo, the quirky comedy, and ya-da ya-da. As for the halftime show, the kid thought it was cool, and I agree with that. What I took away from the show was that rap and hip-hop are now embedded in American mainstream culture.

    And when it was all said and done, it was just okay. I know a good part of that had to do with not having a team to root for, but the other side of it was that the whole thing felt removed from what is happening around this country. Like it was living in another fantasy world where everything was normal. I am aware that was what the NFL was trying to sell everyone, but it also felt a little hollow. Maybe that’s what makes the Super Bowl such an American holiday; it’s fun if you don’t look too hard at it.

  • ODDS and ENDS: Job Hunting, St. Ann’s Puppet Lab, and Super Bowl Halftime Show

    (Stuff and other stuff.)

    This morning as I was doing the Alt Side Parking Dance, waiting for the sweeper to go by, on a whim, I decided to see if there are any theatre job openings in the City. For the past year, anytime I looked for a theatre admin job, it just ended up turning my stomach. But, I also know that we are just getting by financially, and getting ahead would be a better situation to be in. Hence why, on a whim, I decided to see what was out here. And I saw something that didn’t turn my stomach, and was also kind’a right up my alley. I’m now thinking about submitting my resume. If I did get the job, it would mean a huge change to the life we have been leading for the past two years. But, getting out of debt would be nice. I don’t know yet. I’ll take the weekend to think it over.

    One thing that I do need to get on top of is figuring out if I can make it to St. Ann’s Warehouse for Puppet Lab next weekend, 2/17 to 2/20. I got friends who run it, and I also got friends who are in it. That right there makes it totally worth going. Then, there is the fact that I haven’t seen a live show in three years, which I would like to remedy. A long, long time ago, I took part in a piece in the Puppet Lab – I think it was the first theatre gig I got when I moved to NYC – so I have a soft spot for this series. The Puppet Lab is a two-year program where puppet artists create and develop work with support from the people in the program, as well as St. Ann’s Warehouse. The performances are the culmination of this long process, and showcases inventively creative and experimental puppet works. Shows like this I find exceptionally inspiring.

    And this year, we will introduce our daughter to the world of nachos and hot wings, commercials and halftime shows. But most importantly, she will learn that Prince’s halftime show was the greatest halftime show of all time. It’s a fact.