Archive for September, 2009
| Newer Entries »We Don’t Need No Education
[ Comments Off ]Posted on September 5, 2009 by admin in Politics
Saturday, September 5th, 2009But we’ll have another serving of that delicious thought control, thank you very much.
But we’ll have another serving of that delicious thought control, thank you very much! In the past decade or so, the political landscape, the media’s portrayal of it, and the irrational, polarized public sentiment aroused by the combination of the two have nearly driven me back to a position I held in my twenties, which is that the only rational response to politics is to become apolitical. I’m not quite there yet, so I’d like to share a few thoughts, and get your feedback if you have the time and interest. For the record, I have to confess that the recent ranting about whether or not President Obama’s speech next week should be viewed in the public schools was sort of a last straw for me; I dropped out of high school in the tenth grade in the seventies, a time when I feel safe in saying public education was in better shape than it is now. Education is a hot-button topic for me. And frankly, even Republicans like Colin Powell are concerned about the alarmingly high dropout rate in America. The idea that a local public school system would decide to censor a presidential speech directed at school kids – rather than viewing it and having intelligent classroom discourse about it – is mind boggling to me. In my view, it’s a perfect example of the negative impact of politically driven, media-fueled, irrational public sentiment. So, listed below are a few things I think are at the core of many of America’s problems right now. Please save me from my own political apathy; if I know there are others out there with similar thoughts, I might stay engaged and even pursue action. Otherwise, I’m likely to end up as one of the first proud citizens of the impending Idiocracy. Read the rest of this entry »
Does Artificial Intelligence Equal Genuine Stupidity?
[ 2 Comments ]Posted on September 4, 2009 by admin in Technology
Friday, September 4th, 2009Dissociated Press is being run by an artificial intelligence today. Go ahead and talk to it.
More than one person has suggested that my writing could easily be replicated with a fairly small number of monkeys with typewriters, and that Dissociated Press could be replaced with automated link aggregator software. I can’t afford any monkeys, and offhand, I don’t know how to program a link aggregator, so I’ve decided an artificial intelligence would suffice. And I promise it’s not a Russian Flirtbot. Today, YOU are writing the content, and the site will talk back to you. Maybe not all that intelligently, but how smart a web site do you expect at the price you’re paying. I mean, 99.6% of you don’t even click on the ads! Have a nice chat:
XX’s Extra X Has Made Me An Ex-X Hater
[ 2 Comments ]Posted on September 3, 2009 by admin in Music
Thursday, September 3rd, 2009All Ian wanted to do was say he really likes XX’s first release, but no-OO-oo. First he has to ramble on for 224 words about the history of bands with X in their name.
These kids are so shy that they don’t stop mumbling and get to the good stuff until about 0:55 |
I wish bands would stop resorting to using “X” in their name. For me it all started with X in the 70′s. My friends and I were all busy cutting ourselves, wearing second-hand clothes, getting weird haircuts, and listening to weird music, when all of the sudden people started calling us “Punk”. It wasn’t long after that that there were all these “punk bands” running around, acting all punk and stuff. One of the first in the states was, of course, “X”. In spite of (or maybe because of?) their solid musicianship, I remember distinctly thinking they sucked, and seemed incredibly contrived. Punk Lifestyle Rule Number 1: You can’t call yourself punk and actually be punk at the same time. It’s sort of like Groucho’s line about not wanting to belong to any club that would have people like him as a member. I mean c’mon, these alleged rebel misfits actually received an “Official Certificate of Recognition” from the City of Los Angeles for their music. We also would always confuse X with Generation X, until Billy Idol left the band and started his solo career. Which has turned out well
Tased & Confused: Building Brands With Distraction
[ Comments Off ]Posted on September 2, 2009 by admin in Popular Media
Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009After seeing the new Taser 3 web site, I was left screaming “GO AHEAD, TASE ME BRO!”
I’m really not a masochist, but viewing the web site for the new Taser X3 yesterday left me with a feeling of “Wow. Getting tased looks really pleasant“. It also reminded me that really good advertising and marketing campaigns don’t need to describe a product that you like to engage you and build a relationship. A great example of this is the UNIQLOCK site. I easily spent 10 or 15 minutes there, not even realizing it was pitching a product. I didn’t care; I love the Japanese pop of Fantastic Plastic Machine
September Holidays: How Come On Labor Day, You Don’t?
[ 1 Comment ]Posted on September 1, 2009 by admin in Holidays
Tuesday, September 1st, 2009And…everybody loves National Chicken Month. Except the chickens.
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| National Chicken Month, The Way A Chicken Would Prefer To Celebrate It |
As I’m sure you all know, September is Baby Safety Month. Unless of course you’re a baby chicken, because it’s also National Chicken Month, and as far as I can tell, it seems the only way people know of to celebrate a chicken is to eat it. September holidays are rife with contradictions like this. On Labor Day you don’t, and September 11 is not only Make Your Bed Day, it’s also And Lay Down In It Day as well. Writing about International Literacy Day clearly presents another intrinsic problem a problem thats pardon the pun punctuated by National Punctuation Day which is on September 24 2009 National Punctuation Day reminds us that without proper punctuation reading becomes rather difficult to say the least. Continuing the contradictory nature of September holidays, please note that Citizenship Day and Native American Day highlight a pretty significant difference of opinion about who the residents of America are. They’re more than a week apart. We’ll be back to touch on other important holidays later in the month, with a more serious, respectful look at sacred traditions like Rosh Hashanah, Hispanic Heritage Month, and Talk Like a Pirate Day. Argh.