Mac Miller

 Recently there has been a disturbing in the music industry: substance abuse. It's nothing new; Elvis is the most famous example of death by substance abuse (I thought people were joking as a kid when they said Elvis died on the toilet, but he actually did......because of a heart attack caused by drugs). Mac Miller was a young rapper who died in 2018 because of a long history of substance abuse........at age 26. Really sad, just a kid and already exposed to so many different substances that affect your body, when your brain hasn't even fully developed or just finished developing. Recently one of the former members of One Direction, Liam Payne, died after taking too much drugs and jumping off the balcony to his death. It feels like something to do with the music industry that propels singers to substance abuse, or it's substance abuse that makes their music so great....kind of a chicken-or-the-egg scenario. I'd like to see some studies done to see if the drugs do actually help creativity and artists come up with better songs (it anecdotally did help the Beatles create the White Album and especially songs like "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds") or that's more of just an excuse to dabble in the nose candies/ succumb to temptation. It's sad.... a lot of the deaths that went unexplained in my youth can now be attriuted to drugs, especially those of younger people who didn't really have any chronic medical conditions or didn't have a tragic accident. A lot of the "drowning accidents" not just of celebrities but of people you hear about are often due to some drug-induced incident, like Whitney Houston dying in the bathtub due to drowning caused by a heart attach caused by cocaine use (I know, kind of a lot of steps to get to the drowning, but that's what happened to a relatively healthy 48-year-old. Mac Miller is just this generation's Jim Morrison, or Amy Winehouse. Take care of yourselves! Just like a famous Mac Miller song, "Stay," we want you to stay, and not just end up a Jeopardy clue about "this alliterative deceased rapper." 

I don't think my body could handle drugs. Heck, I could barely handle a few beers at the tailgate to the Chicago Bears- Washington Commanders game this past weekend. An epic ending to a pretty disappointing game: The Bears didn't score a point until late in the 3rd quarter, and Washington's offense wasn't much better. As a skeptical sports fan, it's become harder and harder for me to understand why the sports mania runs so deep, filling up stadiums across the country at a time when you can watch the games at home with better camera angles, don't have to be stuck at designated seats next to fans of the opposing team, for a team that is literally there to make money off of you. I understand the allegiance to a college team because your formative years made you remember all the great afternoons watching the game with college friends, but pro football teams are purely just of your own choosing. Why pay upwards of 200-300 dollars for a ticket to sit in traffic to get into a stadium, root for a team that doesn't care about you and only want your money, doesn't pay you dividends or anything (unless you own a share of the team, which no regular person does), just bragging rights, and you have to go out and spend $100+ on the latest jersey (I thought about shelling out on a Caleb Williams jersey to wear to the game but predictably cheaped out and got the $20 generic Bears shirt) and get the "privilege" of paying through the nose for beers and special "crab fries" that are extra salted and extra fatty to ruin your diet? I'm suddenly in the anti-sports camp I guess; I think a much better investment in Sunday afternoons, a precious time of not going to work and spending time with family, is personal investment, spending time with each other (just not at a football game). Like there were families who went there with their 3-year-olds or newborn babies! Is that necessary? Are you giving your kids memories of football games (unlikely) or just showing your allegiance to a fandom by even getting your kids indoctrinated to the religion of sports? Too harsh? 

Happy Halloween and Happy Election! The next week or so is going to be.... hectic.