When it was announced that Saturday Night Live would be expanding to the UK, my immediate thought was, Aren’t we suffering enough? I can’t remember the last time I watched an episode of the American version and laughed even once. Possibly not since the Gosling UFO bit. Generally speaking, SNL is unfunny because it is mostly toothless, safe comedy that tries to walk a ‘bi-partisan’ line.

Yet the UK version is proving to be everything that the American original has lost. Weekend Update is biting and smart—the recent mockery of Ed Sheeran and Robert Kraft is better than any of the Colin Jost and Michael Che reviews in some time. It wasn’t overly aggressive; it just wasn’t scared of offending a conservative audience.

The thing about the liberal idea of ‘playing it safe’ in entertainment as to not offend anyone in a right-wing country is that the moderate position on speech—and, well, everything else—increasingly moves toward conservatism if it isn’t pushed back against. American values have always leaned into white supremacy, but waving Nazi flags at public events doesn’t even make the news—though it would have been nationally admonished not 20 years ago.

The result is self-described independents running for office who largely represent conservative values, but from an earlier, 20th century vision. Less obvious racism, but no ambition for social policy that would help the underclass—and certainly no criticism of modern American foreign policy and the nature of being a superpower.

Shows like SNL are reflective of where the United States is at, because like liberal politicians, it still attempts to attract a large swath of the country, no matter how disgusting their values might be. So it should not be a surprise when there is a barbarically stupid monologue by a talentless oaf kicking off the show, because they’re trying to appeal to the demographic that defends the Cornell rapists.

Some might argue that the content of a 50-year-old comedy show and the current state of extremist right-wing politics are disproportionate in importance, and I agree there—but that doesn’t mean they aren’t connected. The way we represent ourselves, the dialogue that occurs within the context of media that can stir a national conversation, can absolutely steer public opinion.

Governance, like comedy, is trending toward punching down, focusing hatred on women and minorities, appealing to the worst stains of ideas within the greater social fabric, and represents a national embarrasment as representative of a dying empire and its influence both politically and culturally remains steep in decline.

Parking at The Grove

An interesting thing I notice: the majority of people who park at The Grove drive around the mini-maze of turns to find a space as close to the escalators as possible. It’s sort of normal human behavior. But the way this particular garage is designed, the path to the exit ramp is across the garage from the escalators and so it takes a few minutes to drive.

The other option is by where I park. It’s just after the entry ramp and before the exit—making me walk an extra half-length of the garage, but not having to drive around for parking initially or driving through the winding path toward the exit after. It’s an extra 30 seconds of walking that saves a few minutes of a crawl of a drive.

It’s just an example of behavior, but I do wonder how many people actually think about where they park in these situations. Granted, some parking garages solve this by design, but in this particular one, it’s kind of funny to me that everyone spends so much time finding a way to have the shortest walk possible, no longer how much extra time it takes in their car. The American spirit of competition knows no bounds.

Alvarado

Pico and Hoover

Glassellland

Hope

A few from driving around lately.

Santa Claus is coming to town. At The Home Depot, save up on getting ready for the season …

That’s all I heard. It was 11:32 PM, I was driving on the 110 and the first ad for the Christmas season was on the radio. In the span of ten seconds, I checked the time, tried to clock the date (at first I couldn’t remember if it was still September because this was so surreal), and, after waiting to see if this was actually a real ad and not just some late-night joke by a DJ, I changed the station immediately.

I don’t even know what to write about this. Just that it’s October 10 and to be hearing Christmas promotions on the radio—for Home Depot, no less?—just feels wrong. I couldn’t tell you why. Maybe it’s because this feels like further evidence that nothing really matters anymore. All of life in the US has just become some sliver of existence between an advertisement and abject violence. And Christmas, apparently.

Charlamagne Palestine at The Brick Annex

Body/Head at Zebulon

I’ve seen a couple avant-garde musical acts in the past couple days that, while sonically couldn’t be more different, seemed keyed in to the same door of utilizing sound to connect to something greater in the universe. Charlamagne Palestine used intense repetition and tonal improvisation on the piano while Body/Head was a nonstop barrage of distorted guitar with various effects layering a collage of pummeling sound.

The similarities between the two acts was striking, however. They both used long-form, anti-format performances to keep the music in the moment. Seeing your regular band at a show becomes predictable if you’re familiar with their songs—you know what parts are coming up, and they might have a slight variation, but for the most part, you’re getting a louder version of an album cut. These works were very much like, This is how the room feels right now, and there’s something inherently special about that.

It seemed very telling that the two were also helmed by musicians in their 70s. Charlamagne couldn’t even remember the year he was born when giving a brief introduction to his work. Kim Gordon is 73, although you wouldn’t know it from the noise she makes (as well as how generally youthful she appeared on stage). They are both obvious masters of their craft and respective instruments and, while giving into the moment, always seemed to have almost complete control over what was happening with the sound in the room.

Being able to walk that kind of tightrope in the arts is the type of great mastery we can all only aspire to. It’s also why, when AI executives claim making music is not enjoyable or some other bullshit, they obviously have no clue what they are talking about. These sounds were extensions of the human experience, reaching beyond what our physical bodies can feel and sense, into a place that requires a guide to go. That’s what great art is, and what the best technology will never be able to replicate.