I don't watch much regular TV. I have cable so I'm usually flipping way past anything on regular network TV, watching stuff on Discovery (Deadliest Catch), Food Network (Iron Chef), a LOT of ESPN, Comedy Central (South Park) or maybe some crap on VH1 (The 100 craziest rock star moments..?). So, in my manly state of hitting the channel button on the remote I have to pass by other crap. The Girls Next Door comes to mind. I wonder how hard Hef had to look to find 3 women, who combined, don't have more sense than a jar of molasses. I don't understand the 'reality' show buzz, because for a majority of those shows, nothing could be further from the truth. There are a few good ones that are mildly entertaining, but for the most part these shows try to get to the lowest part of humanity so we can all sit back in our couches and say 'Holy Fuck am I glad I'm not an idiot like that dumbshit!'. Of course, I'm sure some of you say 'Whoa.. that's just like me! I should be a reality TV star!'. If it was that easy we'd all be porn stars fucking the shit out of big titted blondes and getting paid for it, and no one would ever yell 'CUT! Don't come yet!'
So, the other night I'm perusing the channels and I run across Celebrity Rehab. Now, this is one train wreck of a show. The only redeeming quality of it is Dr. Drew, who I've been listening to since my younger days on Loveline, which I think is still on KROQ out in Los Angeles, where I grew up. I remember seeing the show a few times during season one, where Jeff Conaway (Grease, Taxi) was just out of his mind. I'm watching this with morbid fascination, wondering how people go from doing very well, stars actually, and then fuck it all up because of drugs. Now, I'm no straight edge. I did my fair share of drugs in my youth, but I never let them control me. At some point during those phases, I saw where I was headed, and was able to pull myself out. When I ran across the show the other night, I'm listening to Drew talk about how fucked up Gary Busey's brain is after his motorcycle accident, and there's a strange long haired blonde guy acting a little strange, and I'm wondering 'Who the fuck is that?' I only ask myself that because most of the rest I already know. In my curiosity I ask Google who is on the show this year, and fuck if it isn't Steven Adler, the original drummer from Guns 'n Roses. I was a huge GNR fan. Saw them play the Whiskey in LA when they were nothing but an up and coming rock band on the strip like so many others (Jetboy, LA Guns, Pretty Boy Floyd, etc). Saw them at Monsters of Rock at the LA Coliseum. When the whole GNR thing went south, I never gave second thoughts to what happened to those who dropped off the planet (namely Izzy and Adler). Duff and Slash moved on, Axl just finally released Chinese Conspiracy (which I haven't heard yet but it seems to be getting decent reviews). He looks like hell, and after catching up on how he's totally fucked himself up over the last 10-15yrs, it's a wonder he's even alive, and didn't take the Robbin Crosby ticket out of town. There's probably no real point to this post, other than it just amazes me how people can so totally wreck their good fortune, and let drugs be the cause of it.
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