The Mallard Duck of Freedom

So, I'm watching the World Series on FOX (because nothing else is on). As part of the pre-game, they brought John Mellencamp out to shill his new album by singing a song from it. It's that sickly saccharine Our Country song he already whored to Chevy (in fact the commercial ran right after). The performance was... meh.

However, what was priceless was the FOX cameras panning for reaction shots. Almost every person they focused on had an expression that is best described as bored disinterest. Some even looked downright hostile -- as in "start the damn game, already!" hostile.

It also had this weird montage that lasted all of 5 seconds before FOX pulled the stoned control board operator out of the trailer. The typical "Yay, America" pictures complete with the Amber Waves, Golden Gate Bridge... and a close up of a mallard duck at sunset (sunrise?). WTF? Of all the things that represent this country, a mallard duck is probably number 10,452 on the list. It was surreal. And I wish the montage would have gone on. It was much better than the closeups of the "we're f-ing cold, get this goon off the field and start the game" people in the stands.

Now, I've got nothing against John Mellencamp. But I've really got nothing for him either. I will extend my appreciation to him for giving me a good chuckle.

Anita Baker did a bang-up job National Anthem. That's a difficult song to do with instrumentation, but she pulled it off a capella. She was visibly excited at the end, and that was kinda cool.