Six random thoughts that crossed the noggin during the Rusted Root House of Blues Orlando show:
The male tramp stamp?
What’s the male equivalent of a tramp stamp? It’s gotta be the arm band that sticks out just below the sleeve. If the tramp stamp signifies a little wild side underneath “normal” clothing, the arm band says the same thing.
The 75 percent rule. In a band of four persons of more, there’s a 75 percent chance that the chubbiest one plays bass. I don’t know why, it’s just so. (for the record, if I was in a band, there’d be a 90 percent chance I’d play bass. Two of them.) Conversely, there’s a 32 percent chance the drummer is the skinniest member of the band.
Bless the hearts of people who can dance with wild abandon (usually at the risk of life and limb of those around them). Sure they get on the nerves, but I could never so that, even if I wanted. I’m too self aware. Painfully so.
We’re a sports crazy nation. Between songs, the band kept the audience up to date with the Stanley Cup game 7. The fact that sports are on their minds and of interest to the audience seems to signify its centrality in American life.
We love technology (thank you Neil Postman, the patron theorist of the ramble). After hearing hockey updates, I can’t tell you how many people whipped out their smart phones and checked the web for the score. I mean, it was almost second nature. Plus, the rise of quality camera phones has changed concert-going experience, memorabilia and the concert photography business.
What’s the point of an encore? Just once, I’d like to see a band play long enough and with enough passion to make an encore worthless.
While it may seem like the mind wandered, a night out watching live music is usually better than a night spent watching television.
This is my son’s favorite Pingu at the moment. He gets such a big kick out of Robbie (that’s the seal, by the way) pulling the fishing line. I think it was his first big belly laugh, when he “got” why the scene was funny. Nothing warms the heart more than a child’s laugh.
Well, Bright House pulled this episode from its on-demand roster. We thought we were out of luck until the other day as he and I were online (headed to Playhouse Disney, of course).
The “play” computer is a slow-as-molasses iMac graphite. It works well, but, being about sex years old, the graphics are a little slow. Many of the graphic-rich websites designed for children run (very) slowly on this computer. So, I decided to test out YouTube. And, lo and behold, it worked pretty well. And we found this episode. I was the big hero. All is right with the world.
But it also got me to thinking (which brings me to a point [hopefully]).
For my son, watching Pingu on the computer – and watching what he wants when he wants – is second nature. It’s something that will be as normal to him as getting a newspaper delivered every day is to me.
But that’s because I can remember when there were only three channels.
One day my son will say, “I remember when I watched television on a computer” in a nostalgic way. Which leads the question: what will his children believe is “normal”?
Was thinking a little more about Batman and Iron Man this morning. That’s the beauty of a 50-minute commute.
While the two super heroes share many similarities (as outlined in this previous post), I think there is a fundamental difference when it comes to how each sees the world, which is actually how the creators of each have seen the world. It could also be a difference in the DC and Marvel franchises.
Batman seems to take a dim view of mankind. When reading (yes, reading), as well as watching, Batman works to solve crime in a world that is on the brink of destruction that is man’s doing. So a man has to stand in the way and stave off that destruction, keeping the world tottering along, still on its destructive path
Iron Man works with a world on the brink of destruction, too, but more from a technological destruction. Iron Man s that he saves the world through his use of technology. Technology, created with superior intellect, will always triumph over technology created through a flawed intellect. Technology saves the day.
So, whereas Batman views man as flawed and hell-bent, Iron Man seems to promote a belief that technology can overcome man’s flaws, making the world a better place.
Iron Man, then, seems to stem from a technological determinist view. Technology drives societal change. This naturally leads to another question: who is a well-known technological determinist, yet points out the flaws that new technology brings to us?
Neil Postman, of course (I knew I could work him in).
In the mean time, here’s another one of those Batman/Iron Man commercials from youtube.
I love The Onion. I love that it’s so funny by taking itself so seriously (in a tongue-and-cheek manner, of course). This is why the majority of people who love Airplane (and The Naked Gun), love Airplane and the Naked Gun. The writing is tight and I have used the Onion — in all its forms — in news writing classes as good examples.
The other day, this video popped up and I didn’t laugh as much. I was trying to figure out why, and then it hit me: it’s too true. Move the story away from the developing world and replace the portable sewing machine with either a laptop or a smart phone and you may not laugh either.
We are slowly becoming slaves to our machines. And the owners who freely give us the “freedom” to enjoy the products we clog our lives with.
I tried to relay this to a class the other day, but most of them were too busy texting to get it.
