It Seems Farther Than Ever Before

Is this what it feels like to be old, out of touch, and in the dark? A few weeks ago my sister mentioned that I should watch a YouTube video portraying my alma mater's President doing the "Soulja Boy" dance.

Shockingly enough, my first thought was not "Dr. Money dancing?!?" but was instead "What in the name of all that is good and holy is Soulja Boy?" Apparently due to the fact that I currently live in the midst of the sensory blackout that is Baylor Law School I have missed out on what will eventually be remembered as the hip-hop answer to the "Macarena".

Thanks to the recent breakthrough on this thing called "The Internet" (thanks Al Gore!), I began to do some research on this phenomenon that is passing into irrelevancy faster than the "Cavemen" series on ABC.

Here's what I have determined at this point: The man behind the Soulja Boy furor, is appropriately named "Soulja Boy Tell 'Em" and has been derided by critics as the "Nickelback" of hip-hop music. With lyrics like "Soulja Boy up in this hoe,Watch Me Crank It,Watch Me Roll, Watch Me Crank Dat Soulja Boy", no one is going to be comparing him to Thomas Pynchon anytime in the near future.

In Mr. Tell 'Em's defense I should say that he is only 17. Six long years ago at 17, I was trying to learn how to drive a standard transmission car, navigating my way through high school economics, and hitting on cheerleaders, so perhaps I'm not in the best position to be calling people out for not reaching the highest levels of achievement.

Despite the fact that more college students can probably do the "Soulja Boy" dance at this point than can tell you who Pervez Musharraf and Benazir Bhutto are, the United States seems to be headed in a good direction. Well, if by good direction I mean the path that the Exxon Valdez took through Prince William Sound. Pop culture, it's fannnnnnnnntastic!