I can tell I'm pushing 40, because try as I might, I can't help but roll my eyes over "how lousy everything is nowadays, compared to how it was back in the day . . ."

I've watched over the past decade and a half as music videos have been replaced by a mind-numbing collection of contrived "reality" shows, product placement, and (damn you to the blood-spewing pus-filled pits of hell,VH1) instant nostalgia . . .

I mean, 'I Love the '80s' . . . sure, I can see that argument. But 'The Best Week Ever'?? WTF. It was LAST WEEK, for crying out loud. Perhaps it was that MTV-induced attention span my parents warned me about in 1982, now coming home to roost.

I'm not so foolish to think that my favorite music videos weren't ever about promoting products. Of course they were -- I've got the record collection to prove it.

Simply put, I miss tuning in to music videos when I want to. Any music videos. Anything-- even the stale party favors cranked out by today's Top 40 posers.

But here's something for the folks in marketing to think about. I can have quicker, easier and cheaper (i.e., my budget won't allow for MTV2 anytime soon) access to a variety of music videos via Winamp 5 internet TV (thanks Lenka) anytime I want. And so do my internet-savvy children. Kids who prefer broadband over cable TV any day of the week.

Ahh, who am I kidding? Viacom owns an ass-load of online product too.

What can I say?

"I want my MTV."

Where are you, Buggles? The world needs you now more than ever.