Just a thought and different perpective. I admit that I enjoyed American Idol! It's stems from a conservative value that the best compete and a broad American spectrum decides who wins. The episode you watched was amaturish and didn't follow the usual format.

Other programing that illustrates this American value was last night's National Spelling Bee. Last year's winner came from my school district and this year, our student made it to the finals. Then there was the Olympics, a fine example of hard work to be the best..

There's a lot of trash on tv. American Idol, however, is the pursuit of someone's dreams through talent and hard work. Let me assure you that my conservative credentials are as middle right as they can be. Lighten up a little bit! Can 60,000,000 people really be that wrong? No offense, but some might say that going to the bars is not exactly a high IQ activity. Should we worry about America because of all the people who go there?

Hey, Carolyn, whatever happened to that shy buddy of mine who was in Girl Scouts with me? You've become assertive. Yeah! :) (I really missed not seeing you at the reunion!!) Anyway, I agree with you about American Idol. Does anyone remember Ted Mack's Amateur Hour? It was a talent search and the audience decided the winner by means of applause monitoring. I have fond memories of watching that with my family along with the Ed Sullivan Show. It was good, clean entertainment for the whole family. I know of many families who all gather around to watch American Idol, all different generations watching it together. They put in the weirdos and "hype" it up, probably so that those who aren't really interested in a talent search can have fun with it also. I do agree people need to read more, but we also have our senses of hearing and sight, and being selective (there's great stuff on the Discovery channel, History channel, AMC, PBS, etc.) is the key to being "balanced"...we need to control our television and COMPUTER choices, not let them control us. Hey, Iny, Sue, and all others who have recorded memories...I grew up in the neighborhood a block away from yours, and I've enjoyed immensely the memories about such things as the noon whistle, the sawmill whistle, & even you mentioning those mysterious grape vines lining the arched trellises by Gridley's Market. Can you tell me why they were "scary" to me as a child? Were we forbidden to walk through them or what????? (Oh, & Kathi, you're right about the phone numbers...in fact, mine was 678-W!!)

Greetings Betty!!
I remember that the Girl Scout cookies cost 50 cents a box, and there was only one flavor available! Also, there was a scary old man with a long white beard in the window of a house we approached at dusk. Perhaps it was just our imaginations running overtime, but we never walked close to that house again!
Ted Mack's Amateur Hour was fun to watch. There was some crazy talent on that show! And good old Ed Sullivan. He had a "really good show!"
Thanks for your response. We hope to make it to the next reunion. I hear I missed a good one!