Category Archives: Daily Life

Hot Peppers, Stupid Humans, Culture Clash, and Textual Russian Roulette

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This entry is part 74 of 100 in the series Today's Tidbits

Two fascinating culture articles in today’s feed. One about the perception of lowbrow, midbrow, and highbrow cultural norms and another about a “game” called Damage Control that the kids these days seem to be playing.

The ideas, ideals, and realities of socioeconomic and cultural class systems fascinate me. How one level looks at the others, what anyone in a given class aspires to be, how divergent reality often is (sometimes despite the “best” efforts of society to have rigid separations). It always seems to me that those stratifications are made by people who want to, in some way or another, be able to easily identify themselves as elite.

Using things like art and clothing to lord over others who may simply have different tastes is a time-honored recipe for separation instead of synthesis. And in today’s world of ascendant “geek culture” all the classic “low brow” entertainment (i.e. comic books) is suddenly gaining traction and it’s now acceptable, if not a sign of a certain “elite” class, to actually be a geek.

Of course, all of that would likely still be considered, at best, midbrow by anyone who considers themselves highbrow.

The other cultural article is about a “game” called Damage Control, wherein people (often when drunk) hand over their phones to friends (or “friends,” depending on how things go) who then proceed to send some sort of off-the-wall/offensive/sexual text to someone (anyone–there are no rules limiting who) in the phone’s address book. People have lost friends, jobs, and tons of sleep as a result of this game.

I see it as not much less than classic Russian Roulette. Instead of risking physical death for the rush of “winning,” these people are putting their social standing and professional opportunities on the line to get the same sort of rush.

That seems to say something about what’s considered valuable and important to those who play. It also likely says something about how much they don’t feel a sense of fulfillment from what they’re doing. If you’re willing to risk everything on a random text, that strikes me as kind of call for some sort of fate to change circumstances you feel unable (or are otherwise unwilling) to change on your own.

Makes much more sense to me to just identify what you’re unhappy about and actually work to change it… instead of relying on utter randomness to maybe make life better.

So, definitely check those article out… they provide a lot to think on.

Here’s the full feed…

Politics, SciFi, Comics, Comedy, and, well, Pretty Much a Little of Everything

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This entry is part 73 of 100 in the series Today's Tidbits

I’ve really got get back on track to do posts on Fridays… or any of the times over the weekend that I think “Gee, I should probably post something to my actual blog…”

Because by the time Monday night rolls around, I’m usually doing so many other things that I put this off until the last minute and then find myself at a loss for something even vaguely meaningful to yammer on about. (Which is likely why I don’t do videos.)

Instead, as usual, I’ll just say there’s a lot that went into the feed since Friday morning. Some of it sparked some really good discussions, some of it is just really awesome in and of itself, and some of it has likely gone completely unseen–so you could be the first to discover it! (Or, uh, something like that.)

Anyway… here’s the feed…

https://www.facebook.com/kierduros/activity/10152191008695981

Life Imitating Art, Remixing Art, Art Imitating Life, and Remixing Life

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This entry is part 72 of 100 in the series Today's Tidbits

Aside from the sad (but expected) death of Dick Smith, one of the greatest special effects makeup artists of all time, there’s a lot of creative stuff going on in the feed today. Not all of it is what I’d call “good” creative–that new Sprint plan that kind of steps all over the idea of Net Neutrality is definitely creative–but all of it does show some very different ways of thinking and how much really buying into those patterns can change things.

For better or worse.

On the “better” side are “The Four Agreements.” If you’re not familiar, they’re four relatively simple precepts to live one’s life by. They focus on understanding the power we can let others have over us and just how much autonomy we can assert over ourselves. I first heard about them decades ago, when the book first came out (even though I never bought it or read it).

Good stuff, highly recommended for anyone seeking to feel a bit more fulfilled.

On the “questionable but probably awesome” side, we have a group of fans who’ve taken it upon themselves to remix Akira by redrawing all six volumes of the original manga using Simpsons characters. It’s… odd. Especially since each artist (there are hundreds) is only doing five pages and there’s not a lot of coordination going on–so motorcycles and bicycles keep switching back and forth in the beginning and art style varies wildly. It is, however, utterly creative and wild.

And then, on the “bad” side (other than that Sprint thing) there’s the continued consolidation and homogenization of media outlets. In particular the demise of FearNET as its assets are folded into NBC/Universal (which already has a horror-themed outlet in Chiller). FearNET was a bit of a wild and spunky upstart–a bunch of horror fans who really wanted to give their fandom somewhere to thrive. Through tenacity and a lot of hard work, they built a nice little niche that grew into a cable channel, a website, and some pretty solid original content. I haven’t been anywhere near as impressed with what I’ve seen from Chiller. And it doesn’t look like that’s going to change, as most of the creative staff from FearNET appears to be free to pursue other career options.

Even though it has Chiller and SyFy, NBC/Universal seems determined to make this once vibrant and different channels into the most generic things possible. All the creativity is being applied to figuring out how to appeal to the lowest common denominator so the most money can be pulled in as quickly as possible. This leads to low-quality (but annoyingly popular) fare like Sharknado.

Such is life, I guess.

Thankfully, for now, we still have the wild and brilliant denizens of the Internet to keep things interesting and disruptive.

Here’s hoping that keeps up for a long time.

On with the feed…

Self-Image, Coffee is for Closers, An Economic Last Stand, Whiskey Lies, and Other Things

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This entry is part 71 of 100 in the series Today's Tidbits

The big non-shock in the feed today is that every level of Comcast is all about sales.

This hot on the heels of an 8+ minute recording of someone trying to cancel their cable service.

All that sales, of course, came at the cost of actual customer service–something cable companies are notoriously bad at to begin with.

Now current and former employees and customers are more or less coming out of the woodwork with their own horror stories from both sides of the phone. It’s utterly terrifying and completely expected.

If we think that Comcast is the only big business doing something like this, we’re wearing blinders. Profit above all else seems to be the modus operandi of the economic powerhouses. I guess it’s served them well enough. It was certainly glorified in the Gordon Gecko era of the 80s, when it certainly seemed good for everyone.

But now the disparity between the top and bottom has grown to historic proportions and the middle class has been squeezed right on out of the equation. All those years of being told it’s good for the rich to keep getting richer–and the general population swallowing that lie (often sweetend with the pie-in-the-sky dream of hitting it big themselves, somehow… the lottery is not a business plan)–is starting to fall apart as the super rich are now on their way to making their own rules.

And that quest for eternal profit continues at the cost of everyone who’s helped supply it.

While Comcast is trying to sell to people who just want to be left alone (or, alternately, annoy and confuse them enough that they give up trying to leave), the workers and customers of Market Basket are fighting for the company to keep on with the business practices that have made it a favorite in the regions that it severs.

Market Basket has actually provided solid service, it seems. Both to its employees (who have been known to willingly and happily stick around for decades) and to its customers. But now in-fighting among the family members that own and operate the corporation is threatening to tear it all apart.

It would seem that the issue at hand is the amount of profit to be made. While the business appears to be profitable to continue comfortably–despite the fact that it pays out profit sharing and other bonuses to it’s employees who are already compensated at an above-average rate and it maintains cheaper prices than it’s competition–one faction of the family seems more interested in a quick jump in profits for themselves.

According to what I’ve seen, they’re interested in getting out of the business altogether by selling it off to one of the huge conglomerates. (None of whom are particularly well known for how they treat their employees and who Market Basket is currently beating in most price categories, too.) Through some semi-questionable maneuvering, they’ve managed to oust the CEO who’s been behind the last few decades of sustained business and good-will.

This, of course, has employees and customers livid. Neither group wants to lose the benefits they have–benefits that don’t seem to be hurting the sustainability of Market Basket’s business model.

They’re doing what few can sensibly do against questionable corporate action–they’re standing up to it.

They can do it because the corporation in question is comparatively small and there are many other options for the goods they provide.

There is serious ability to vote with your dollars.

This is not the case with Comcast, which already controls nearly a third of the country’s cable and Internet service and is poised to merge with Time-Warner Cable, the second biggest cable and Internet provider.

It would take millions of people to stand up to just one of those companies. Tens of millions to really make a difference. And the only other real options in most areas for solid Internet service (let alone television service) are generally rated just as bad and engage in the same practices (former phone companies like Verizon and AT&T).

That’s not a market that a small population can have an impact on. Not without destroying their own lives in the process.

And so, unless there’s government intervention of some sort (this would be the importance of the FCC supporting Net Neutrality, among other reforms and safeguards), the people are just stuck with whatever the not-quite-monopolies feel like handing out.

So that’s kind of the state of things and it annoys the hell out of me.

Mostly because I have no real solution that can be implemented.

Anyway, all that and more in the feed below…

Sounds of Space, Questionable Business, Questionable Politics, and Some Movie Stuff

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This entry is part 70 of 100 in the series Today's Tidbits

With Comic Con passed, there are a lot of movie announcements floating around out there now.

Sequels, reboots, spin offs, and even some original properties that all sound really interesting.

The problem, of course, is that most of them are a year or more away.

I remember the “good old days” when you wouldn’t hear about a movie being made until maybe a few months before it came out. Rarely was something even rumored (let alone hyped) for two years (and, these days, sometimes two years before filming even begins).

The publicity machine is kind of insane.

And I can’t tell you how many times I’ve checked the upcoming releases list and thought, “Wait… didn’t that already come out, like, a year ago?” Nope. I’ve just been hearing about it for so long that it seemed like it had already been here and gone.

That strikes me as a little counter-productive.

But it’s not just movies that do it.

We’ve seen that kind of creep in politics, too.

Now, almost as soon as a Presidential election is over, the “news” outlets start speculating on who’ll be running in the next one–even before the President-elect takes his oath of office. And then the actual race for any given position more or less starts two years before the actual vote will take place.

That’s two years where politicians are doing more campaigning and image building than actual thoughtful governing. (Though these days, I wonder if they ever spend any time doing that.)

Then there’s also the inevitable “Christmas Creep”… where those trees show up earlier and earlier in the stores every year. Last year I saw stuff in regular stores (not craft stores, I understand them getting stuff out there early–people need time to actually make stuff) in early September.

And, back at the beginning of July, everyone was already talking about Back to School shopping. School just got out in mid-June. Has summer break been reduced down to roughly two weeks?

Why are we always pushing so hard to speed up the recognition of these things? Why can’t we enjoy not knowing what’s on the movie schedule two years from now? Why do we have to start pushing Christmas before October even begins? Why can’t we let politicians do something other than just plan their next campaign? And, perhaps most importantly, why can’t our kids get more time to just be kids during a lazy summer?

I don’t know. But I do know I haven’t much cared for that compression and acceleration for a long time now. I think it’s part of a larger problem and the root of a good number of troublesome things…

Anyway, here’s the feed…