I was at a party recently and a friend was gushing over the show “Britain's Got talent” and the hope that singer Susan Boyle would win. She was astonished when I told her that of course Boyle was sure to win, it’s already decided. The reason she came in second to a dance group was because she beginning to crack under the public pressure and the producers thought it a good idea to let her off the publicity hook. This was confirmed by the judges sympathetic statement afterwards and desire to manage her career.
I was blunt with my friends naiveté- reality shows are fake. They are dressed up games shows where the outcome is pretty much decided before hand. Why? Because producers want excitement, tension and control of the content. With television there is no such thing as spontaneity. Unless it’s a live news broadcast and a reporter blurts out an expletive when a near by explosion goes off.
Everything is contrived, the people and situations carefully orchestrated for maximum artificial effect. Anyone who thinks the judges were truly surprised when Susan Boyle opened her mouth and sang are suckers. Of course they knew she was talented before, their astonishment was for the benefit of the audience and ratings.
I explained to the crestfallen friend that producers like to manipulate situations to their liking. They cater to our desire for the underdog to win, the down and out to conquer the odds and shamelessly play with our emotions in the process. All to get us to buy more junk.
Friday, June 26
Sunday, June 21
Open for contemplation
The Tea House of the Spirit is officially open for moments of clarity and being one with yourself. I had a dedication complete with the blessing of a Buddhist Monk to celebrate the (near) completion of the project.
I had plenty of friends over to nosh and ooh and ahh at the little building. Everyone was impressed, most of all me for having it presentable in time. I spent yesterday building a temporary track for the shoji. The weather was cool and cloudy and just before the festivities were to start it rained, getting seat cushions a table cloth wet. It didn't DARE rain again until everyone left two hours later.
A friend asked me quite seriously what effect the project had on me. It didn't really change me but I learned the extent of my carpentry skills and was the only thing keeping me sane during a long period of depression. Now I have a place to go when I feel overwhelmed and need to meditate or just escape.
Like my life, it's not done but I can enjoy improving on it.
Friday, June 19
Shopping Cart Adventures
I was biking home from the grocery store today when I spotted a shopping cart parked against a pole at the corner. I recognized the model from a distant store not the nearby one and wondered at how it had traveled so far.
What a brave little cart. I have seen others that weren’t so lucky. A rusted one in a ditch, some adopted by the homeless only to carry far more than they ever did in the store. Some that only make it as far as the end of the grocery parking lot; a wheel stuck in the dirt- unable to cross the unpaved divide to freedom.
They don’t get far when they are caught by the dreaded shopping cart bounties. I’ve seen these fellows in their pick up trucks with the extra high canopy on the back to accommodate the carts. I wonder how much they get for them? A high price I suspect. It’s an easy job as most carts are docile creatures. They just long to escape the endless circling of the store, burdened with groceries, screaming kids kicking them, and the final indignity of being shoved together with the other carts.
No, I don’t begrudge them their attempts to flee to a secret place unknown to us, like the mythic Elephant cemetery where the grieving herd deposits the tusks of the deceased.
As I passed the lone cart in the darkness, I wondered if it had paused in it’s flight to get it’s bearing and revel in the taste of freedom before attempting to cross the busy intersection. Whatever it’s destiny I silently wished it luck. Go cart, go.
What a brave little cart. I have seen others that weren’t so lucky. A rusted one in a ditch, some adopted by the homeless only to carry far more than they ever did in the store. Some that only make it as far as the end of the grocery parking lot; a wheel stuck in the dirt- unable to cross the unpaved divide to freedom.
They don’t get far when they are caught by the dreaded shopping cart bounties. I’ve seen these fellows in their pick up trucks with the extra high canopy on the back to accommodate the carts. I wonder how much they get for them? A high price I suspect. It’s an easy job as most carts are docile creatures. They just long to escape the endless circling of the store, burdened with groceries, screaming kids kicking them, and the final indignity of being shoved together with the other carts.
No, I don’t begrudge them their attempts to flee to a secret place unknown to us, like the mythic Elephant cemetery where the grieving herd deposits the tusks of the deceased.
As I passed the lone cart in the darkness, I wondered if it had paused in it’s flight to get it’s bearing and revel in the taste of freedom before attempting to cross the busy intersection. Whatever it’s destiny I silently wished it luck. Go cart, go.
Tuesday, June 16
What The F---?
Today in the news 6/16/09
CNN.com reports that an airline wants employees to work UNPAID for a month, a football player will spend 30 DAYS in jail for DUI manslaughter , a senator admitted to having an AFFAIR with a staffer and record breaking slugger, tested positive for STEROIDS in 2003.
Well, in the popular slang of the texting generation WTF?!!
Let’s see, British Airways actually thinks it’s employees will work for nothing because they - a large corporation is having financial problems and will probably fail. Unlike the high paid executives, the average worker can’t afford to go unpaid for a month. These people aren’t working for FUN. They are trying to earn a living. The gall.
NFL wide receiver Donte Stallworth got an extremely light sentence for vehicular manslaughter “Stallworth reached an "amicable" financial settlement with the Reyes family, his lawyer, Chris Lyons, told CNN sister network HLN. He would not disclose the amount, but said the short jail term "had nothing to do with Donte Stallworth being a celebrity, a professional football player or money." .” Sure, right and if it were you or I it would be a very different story.
I won’t even bother with the republicans’ dalliance except to say that sex scandals are not just for democrats.
Sammy Sosa is a big time hitter and like his fellow record breaker Mark McGwire tested for steroids. Wait a minute- that was SIX years ago and they are finally admitting to it now?
So if you want to get away with manslaughter, adultery, and illegal drug use become a politician or a pro ball player.
Forget about working at British Airlines for free, we have to draw the line somewhere.
CNN.com reports that an airline wants employees to work UNPAID for a month, a football player will spend 30 DAYS in jail for DUI manslaughter , a senator admitted to having an AFFAIR with a staffer and record breaking slugger, tested positive for STEROIDS in 2003.
Well, in the popular slang of the texting generation WTF?!!
Let’s see, British Airways actually thinks it’s employees will work for nothing because they - a large corporation is having financial problems and will probably fail. Unlike the high paid executives, the average worker can’t afford to go unpaid for a month. These people aren’t working for FUN. They are trying to earn a living. The gall.
NFL wide receiver Donte Stallworth got an extremely light sentence for vehicular manslaughter “Stallworth reached an "amicable" financial settlement with the Reyes family, his lawyer, Chris Lyons, told CNN sister network HLN. He would not disclose the amount, but said the short jail term "had nothing to do with Donte Stallworth being a celebrity, a professional football player or money." .” Sure, right and if it were you or I it would be a very different story.
I won’t even bother with the republicans’ dalliance except to say that sex scandals are not just for democrats.
Sammy Sosa is a big time hitter and like his fellow record breaker Mark McGwire tested for steroids. Wait a minute- that was SIX years ago and they are finally admitting to it now?
So if you want to get away with manslaughter, adultery, and illegal drug use become a politician or a pro ball player.
Forget about working at British Airlines for free, we have to draw the line somewhere.
Friday, June 12
The Poverty of Porn
Porn is everywhere, fairly cheap and big business, a 13 billion dollar a year business. I can watch it in the privacy of my home and without shame. There’s just one problem with all this sexuality liberating largesse.
It’s boring. A genre in assembly line production: cheap, formalistic and plastic. It’s banal and utterly lacking in originality or humor. Well, intentional humor. You don’t have to watch a lot of it to see it glaring shortcomings.
First of all the women are the largest collection of Barbi dolls imaginable. They are big busted models for Fredricks of Hollywood line of lingerie. Why in God names must they all wear those high heeled “stripper” shoes? They are completely impractical not to mention dangerous. God forbid she should be anywhere near a waterbed. (The men in gay porn don’t wear the silly shoes but are inclined to keep their socks on.)
The stage names are always good for laughs: Kandy Kane, Daisy Chain, Lucky Thai, and my favorite Candy Apples. The men are less original but Justin Side and Lance Gear are pretty funny. The men for all their hard work (pun intended) are bored, since they are merely props for the female stars. This boredom is especially evident in gay porn where they are not only silent, but about as excited as waiting in line at the grocery store.
In the old days porn was shoot on 8 or 16 mm film. Now with technical advancements in video any dweeb with a digital camera can make a porn film. I got into a debate with someone who insisted, when it comes to porn, no one cares about lighting, editing or camera work. Well he doesn’t apparently, but poor attention to these trivial matters can ruin any fantasy you are trying to create. Most directors think enough light means everything looks like it was shot in an aisle at Walmart. (this might explain all the overtime employees are forced to do).
In one particularly hilarious vignette the producers went to the trouble of creating a more or less realistic bedroom set complete with a window, a comfortable looking bed and coordinated colors but ruined it with a high angled shot that revealed a board nailed across the two walls and a drop ceiling with florescent lighting. Obviously MILF Productions was shooting in the office after hours.
In a effort to be clever and arty the cameraman will lurch about or tilt the camera at a angle that makes one dizzy. For God Sake, spare us the shot, where the camera is so close it almost becomes a threesome. ( the reason for the lurching is because the cameraman’s suffered a concession after a colliding with someone’s butt.) Unless you are appealing to a gynecologist, we don’t need to see a close up of the genitalia at work. It’s not erotic, it’s clinical.
Who is this formalistic drivel appealing to? The days of the lonely horndaddy buying porn to get his rocks off are over. Forty percent of consumers are women and the demand for porn geared to couples, lesbian and gay viewer ship is increasing.
One of the biggest complaints among viewers and industry is the lack of imagination in story line
(story? what story?). The problem is that porn is geared to the viewers’ hand, not their imagination. Some may say it doesn’t matter how bad the actors, production and directing is, that’s not what people are looking at. That’s exactly the poor reasoning that keeps this genre and industry from being taken seriously.
It’s boring. A genre in assembly line production: cheap, formalistic and plastic. It’s banal and utterly lacking in originality or humor. Well, intentional humor. You don’t have to watch a lot of it to see it glaring shortcomings.
First of all the women are the largest collection of Barbi dolls imaginable. They are big busted models for Fredricks of Hollywood line of lingerie. Why in God names must they all wear those high heeled “stripper” shoes? They are completely impractical not to mention dangerous. God forbid she should be anywhere near a waterbed. (The men in gay porn don’t wear the silly shoes but are inclined to keep their socks on.)
The stage names are always good for laughs: Kandy Kane, Daisy Chain, Lucky Thai, and my favorite Candy Apples. The men are less original but Justin Side and Lance Gear are pretty funny. The men for all their hard work (pun intended) are bored, since they are merely props for the female stars. This boredom is especially evident in gay porn where they are not only silent, but about as excited as waiting in line at the grocery store.
In the old days porn was shoot on 8 or 16 mm film. Now with technical advancements in video any dweeb with a digital camera can make a porn film. I got into a debate with someone who insisted, when it comes to porn, no one cares about lighting, editing or camera work. Well he doesn’t apparently, but poor attention to these trivial matters can ruin any fantasy you are trying to create. Most directors think enough light means everything looks like it was shot in an aisle at Walmart. (this might explain all the overtime employees are forced to do).
In one particularly hilarious vignette the producers went to the trouble of creating a more or less realistic bedroom set complete with a window, a comfortable looking bed and coordinated colors but ruined it with a high angled shot that revealed a board nailed across the two walls and a drop ceiling with florescent lighting. Obviously MILF Productions was shooting in the office after hours.
In a effort to be clever and arty the cameraman will lurch about or tilt the camera at a angle that makes one dizzy. For God Sake, spare us the shot, where the camera is so close it almost becomes a threesome. ( the reason for the lurching is because the cameraman’s suffered a concession after a colliding with someone’s butt.) Unless you are appealing to a gynecologist, we don’t need to see a close up of the genitalia at work. It’s not erotic, it’s clinical.
Who is this formalistic drivel appealing to? The days of the lonely horndaddy buying porn to get his rocks off are over. Forty percent of consumers are women and the demand for porn geared to couples, lesbian and gay viewer ship is increasing.
One of the biggest complaints among viewers and industry is the lack of imagination in story line
(story? what story?). The problem is that porn is geared to the viewers’ hand, not their imagination. Some may say it doesn’t matter how bad the actors, production and directing is, that’s not what people are looking at. That’s exactly the poor reasoning that keeps this genre and industry from being taken seriously.
Friday, June 5
We're on the Road to Nowhere
During WWII the American Army came to Germany and saw the Autobahn with it’s many miles of concrete and asphalt which could move people and troops from one place to another quickly and thought “Whoa this is great, we got have this too”.
And so after the war the US Government encouraged state and local authorities to build roads by giving them 90 cents on the dollar in federal grants- for construction of the great interstate hiways. This spawned more traveling which spawned more cars which spawned urban sprawl. Never mind the pollution, lose of whole neighborhoods and the dramatic social changes it brought. More is better right? We got all these cool roads cheap.
But now times have changed. We don’t move armies by road anymore. We need relief from suburban blight and mini malls, the overwhelming number of cars and the burden on the environment. Absolutely right, said the Government,, we’re on it. They claim they want to be free of the dependence on foreign oil like a junkie trying to kick the habit.
So people developed lots of plans for light rail, mass transit, pedestrian and bicycle friendly roads like the ones in European cities and guess what? The government said sorry state and local people you’re on your own with limited budgets and rising transportation costs but hey we’ll still give you 90 cents on the dollar to build more roads.
No wonder Mother Nature is pissed.
And so after the war the US Government encouraged state and local authorities to build roads by giving them 90 cents on the dollar in federal grants- for construction of the great interstate hiways. This spawned more traveling which spawned more cars which spawned urban sprawl. Never mind the pollution, lose of whole neighborhoods and the dramatic social changes it brought. More is better right? We got all these cool roads cheap.
But now times have changed. We don’t move armies by road anymore. We need relief from suburban blight and mini malls, the overwhelming number of cars and the burden on the environment. Absolutely right, said the Government,, we’re on it. They claim they want to be free of the dependence on foreign oil like a junkie trying to kick the habit.
So people developed lots of plans for light rail, mass transit, pedestrian and bicycle friendly roads like the ones in European cities and guess what? The government said sorry state and local people you’re on your own with limited budgets and rising transportation costs but hey we’ll still give you 90 cents on the dollar to build more roads.
No wonder Mother Nature is pissed.
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