My writing group and I are having a long, e-mail discussion about the nature of selling out, commercialism and art. All that fun stuff. At one point, I said that it's all a fine line and that I'd know what's selling out or going totally cheesy when I see it, but that there's no hard and fast rules governing it.

For example, there is Creed. Creed is a band, one of the biggest one's in the world right now. I am neutral about them as part of me thinks I should have them, part of me gives them credit for having the balls to be what they are, and part of me finds it annoying that I can't get their new song out of my head. Creed has pretty obviously made it apparent that they want to be the biggest band in the world and are trying really hard to do so.

During the Cowboys/Broncos Thanksgiving Day football game, Creed did the half-time show. Now, it is impossible to retain any sort of dignity or maintain any hints of "cred" if you are doing a football half-time show involving lip-synching your biggest hits, hundreds of choerographed dancers dancing to them, men in skimpy outfits flying around on strings, and fireworks galore. Just forget it. Ain't happenin. Forget it Scott Stapp. There is nothing rock n' roll about football halftime shows. Whatever that little line is, they just crossed over it by a mile

And speaking of Creed, I saw Scott interviewed on MTV (am I a little weird for being 33 and still watching MTV?) and he was comparing their lack of critical respect to Led Zeppelin and how Zeppelin never got any respect until their fourth album. The whole time I'm watching the interview, I'm going "uh-oh, bad move, there buddy." My feelings were confirmed by the cut-back to the MTV Veejay, or newsguy or whoever it is who appears on screen, who had a look of utter disbelief on his face. Now, these are people who are paid to pretend that the latest O-Town release is a big deal and major cultural event, but even he couldn't take it.

In other words, goodbye Creed.