The Brilliance of Jon Stewart

I've been slipping lately. To make up for it ,here's a Jon Stewart standup bit from 96.

Absurd Link of the Week, The People Making Bad Choices Edition

Have fallen behind in the 40 posts in 40 days challenege I clearly need to double up.

In other news, what do you do when your significant other physically abuses you for the whole world to see? Well, if you're Rihanna you clearly get back together with him. According to People Magazine, they have gotten back together after 3 weeks of being separated. Way to set an example to millions of girls. If your boyfriend beats you, it's probably something you did. Thank you for perpetuating the subjugation of women and justifying domestic abuse . Here's how I imagine the conversation they had:

Chris Brown: Hey babe, happy birthday.
Rihanna: who is this?
CB: It's me, Chris Brown, just wanted to call and wish you a happy birthday
Rihanna: oh, uh....thanks.
CB: And I also wanted to apologize for that....you know, whole beating you up deal. I'm sorry, I truly am, but sometimes you just make me so mad, and you're so pretty that I don't want to lose you. You know how it is in the rap world. I need to build up my cred, and I can't have my bitch disrespecting me in public. I had to make an example out of you. It hurts me more than it hurts you. So what do you say, you forgive me?
Rihanna: Oh Chris, your'e such a romantic.

And, end scene. Yup, our world's going down the toilet.

T.O.R.N. No. 2- The "T" Edition

Haven't updated in a while. No excuse. Straight up laziness. Figured I'd write another TORN. Writing in short sentences. Whoops! Sorry, couldn't help it. I recently re-read the Watchmen graphic novel and really dug Rorschach's style of journal entries. It was no-bullshit, straight up facts style of writing. Anyway, today's TORN edition features things that start with the letter T. Without further ado, here we go:

1. Twilight: Can people just get the fuck over this dumb bullshit craze already? For fucking real, I can't get away from it. A lot of comparisons have been made between this franchise and the Harry Potter one, and while these associations are legitimate, I’d have to say that Twilight takes the “If one of you piece of shit motherfuckers brings this up again, I will shoot you in the face” Award. Yes, the HP series was ridiculous in terms of how many people obsessed over mediocre CHILDREN’S books, and unfortunately the HP wave is still not done with 2 or 3 movies still waiting to be released/made. Yes, it did warm my heart when people drove around in their cars spoiling the ending of the last book to loser fans who waited all day in line for the midnight release of the last book in the series. BUT, I guess the one redeeming quality of the series is that ultimately it got a lot of kids to read. Granted, it was trite and unimaginative. Hell, even Harold Bloom, the great literary critic felt compelled to knock Rowling off her pedestal. Still it got kids to read. Twilight, however, doesn’t really have much of a redeemable quality. The same arguments employed to justify and legitimize the HP series aren’t really in play here. First of all, the books are meant for young adults. Well, young tweens and teenage girls. I seriously doubt many teenage boys are reading this filth. Unfortunately, the readership of this quasi-literary trash is much greater than that. Not a day goes by without one of the secretaries at work raving about the books. The most common expression I hear is “I never read and you wouldn’t catch me dead with a book, but Twilight has changed my life. I’m like a big reader now. I can’t put it down”. Really? Is that admission you really want to make public? What is wrong with you fucking people?? Shit, even the actors who will star in your movie think it’s bullshit! Ugh, alright, I’m done with this. I’m going to get an ulcer. Moving on.

2. The Big Three Bailout: Big Business Bailouts need to stop. I find it appalling that the major automotive company—companies that have been on the forefront of mismanagement and lack of innovation—are asking for a hand out. It’s absurd that a company that bleeds out money is asking for public funds. I don’t understand how anyone could possibly justify this. Their refusal to make any concessions in terms of pay and perks—such as flying their private jets to a meeting-- as they make their demands is a slap to the face to anyone who has ever paid taxes. There are other alternatives than to just throw money at a problem and hope it goes away. There was a very good opinion piece by Mitt Romney in the NY Times op-ed section yesterday where he suggested that we allow these companies to go bankrupt. Filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy is probably the only solution to this problem. It would force these companies to restructure, something these behemoths sorely need.

3. Tony Romo: I have a man crush on Tony Romo. It’s not because he’s the quarterback for my favorite team. Hell, if that were the case, my stomach wouldn’t turn every time someone mentioned the Quincy Carter era in Dallas, or as I like to call it the Dark Ages. No, my heterosexual and platonic infatuation with Tony Romo goes beyond his performance on the gridiron. I think it’s the manner in which he carries himself on and off the field. On the field, he exemplifies the ‘for the love of the game’ mentality. His demeanor is the on-field representation of what being a fan is. When they score, he jumps for joy, just as we jump for joy. Even in tragedy his actions are a manifestation of the fans’. There is no better example of this than the 2006 NFC Wild Card game between the Cowboys and the Seahawks (Romo’s first season). The game ended what could’ve been a game winning field goal being botched, and Romo picking up the ball only to be stopped short of the end zone. After this, a crushed Romo just sat on the field holding his helmet. That image will remain with me for a long time. It’s definitely up there along with the Steve Bartman ruining the Cubs’ chance to go to the World Series in 90+ years. What makes Tony Romo so damn likeable is he appears to be such a grounded guy. I truly believe that he considers himself to be a very lucky person, and this realization is something that keeps him humble. Beyond this, he also seems like a respectable human being. In this football season alone, Romo has been in the headlines for acts of kindness towards others. The first is helping to change a couple’s tire at 2:30 am after a game. That’s class. There was a similar feel good story in the papers today. I mean how can you not like the guy? I have friends who root for the Cowboys now because they love Tony Romo. That’s amazing.

4. The Game: The Yale-Harvard Game is this Saturday. I wish I could be there. It’s so much fun. Drinking heavily the night before, sleeping for a handful of hours, waking up and shotgunning a beer to stave off the morning hangover, followed by more indulging in alcohol and food. Some of my best college memories happened at the Yale-Harvard game. Plus, it's always amusing making fun of Harvard kids and their lame ass ways. This year ends my 6 year streak of being there. Thankfully, it’s always one of the few Ivy League games that’s aired on television. GO ELIS!

Alright, I think this is it for now. I'm going to go to lunch after not working for 3 1/2 hours.

Thoughts, Observations, Ruminations, and News (or TORN No. 1)

Morning folks. First off, the end of daylight savings times is a wonderful thing. Not only do we get back an hour of sleep, but for me personally it feels like I got up earlier and have been getting more things done this morning than I have in the last couple of weekends. For that reason, I felt it was pertinent for me to update this blog. As always, I will try to not talk about me personally because, honestly, I think the difference between a blog and a journal is just that. Journals are self-indulgent masturbatory writing sessions, while blogging is hoping someone else intellectually masturbates you by your incisive comments. Now, moving on!

1) I think the most pertinent thing on the agenda right now is the upcoming election. I have this uneasy feeling that Obama will be robbed of the election and people will do nothing about it. So, first thing's first. GO VOTE! Despite the fact that this has been a record breaking year in terms of new voters registered and early voting, young people (from the ages of 18-35) have disproportionately been underperforming in comparison to other demographics. This is a big fucking deal! Historically, of course, young people always have a poor showing when it comes to voting. But this shouldn't be the case. I think this election is important because it will prove to be a generational shift. My friend Greg and I have spent so much time talking about the election and how important it will be in defining America's future. At one point we were discussing writing an op-ed together, but our busy schedules didn't permit us to do so and so that idea fizzled out. Some of the most interesting point was the role this election will play in determining how the world will perceive us as a country. This is important because 1) we live in a global society. Nationalism each day means less and less, and 2) if this trend continues, we will no longer be the superpower. I think two things can be said about the political climate of this country from the last 10 years or so ,and those two things are:

a) The Bush Administration is best summed up by a Simpsons' episode entitled "Trash of the Titans" It's quite brilliant. Yes, I do realize that employing pop cultural references is symptomatic of our generation, but alas, we use the tools we can to make sense of a nonsensical world. In the episode, Homer decides to run for Sanitary Commissioner of Springfield because of a personal vendetta. Homer insults the garbage men, which results in his trash pick up service being discontinued. The matter can be easily resolved with a simple apology, but instead Homer decides to take over a position which he's clearly not qualified for. Sound familiar, anyone? Now, in a rational scenario, Homer would've lost hands down, but then again Springfield, much like our country, is anything but rational. Anything can happen. Needless to say Homer wins the election because of the brilliance and simplicity of his campaign platform: "Can't Someone Else Do It?". In the end, Homer screws up royally and when they try to replace the new regime with the previous administration-- an efficient and functional one-- Ray Patterson, the dethroned Sanitary Commissioner rejects his old job saying that he was content watching Springfield "wallowing in the mess that [they've] made." This is exactly a perfect summation of what the last ten years have been, only it's not as funny because....well, because this is our reality.

b) The importance of this upcoming Tuesday cannot be overstated. At the risk of sounding like an alarmist, this really is a generation-defining election. It falls under a curious time in history where one generation is on it’s way out whereas the other is up on the stage, front and center. It’s the baby boomers versus the Millenials. I say versus because, yes, unfortunately we are at odds with one another. Ours is the generation of racial tolerance and equality (though they’re the ones who fought for it, we are the ones that are living it). I’m not trying to sound ungrateful, because I’m not. The opportunities that I've been given in my lifetime were a direct result of the fights of the past generation. However, we need to take into consideration that the cultural and political landscape has changed dramatically in that time span and quite frankly the baby boomers need to fucking go. Fuck it. Go. If we as a society are going to fuck up this country even more, then shit, at least let us do it. You guys already fucked our shit up so much. Go retire to Florida. Go golfing. I don't care. Just get the fuck out of our way. We're called the Slacker generation ,but shit, I mean how can we not feel disillusioned if you've been in power for so long. Which brings me to Item No. 2.

2) In the last week I've read two interesting blogs about generational differences (you guys recognize a pattern here?) and felt compelled to talk about them. The first is Don't Mistake Ambition for Entitlement. Every week I seem to have a conversation (usually with a coworker) in which I have to defend my generation, and quite frankly after a while, it gets old. We are not slackers, dammit! Ok, we are, but that doesn't mean that we don't want to better ourselves. We refuse to achieve our goals in the same fashion as you guys. How's that working out for you, by the way? How's your 401k right now? Was it worth it, to hold on to ideals meant for a society that no longer really exists? Granted, not everyone is ambitious, but I think it's ridiculous to write an entire generation off simply because we refuse to follow in your footsteps. I'm not saying we're not going to fuck shit up, but at least give us the opportunity to do so. With that said,

3) The other link is titled The Shallowest Generation. The main argument is that alot of social/environmental/economic woes can be attributed to the Boomers. Because really, who else is to blame? In the last 40 years what has been accomplished? Granted, one of their biggest accomplishments was attaining a greater sense of racial equality, but in that time span the socioeconomic gap has grown so much it looks like the Grand Canyon. Economic inequality is the new issue that needs to be addressed. We cannot afford to leave this issue go unattended.

4) The Longhorns lost. Maybe I'm an asshole, but it made me happy. The highlight of the evening was hearing from several people how the Texas Tech fans were classless for storming the field. Isn't that what jubilant sports fans do after a immense victory over a big rival? Also, how dare these people call other fans classless when one of their cheers is 'Make them eat shit'. For real.

Alright, I think this is it right now. Plus, football is on.

Thoughts and comments on "Hipster: The Dead End of Western Civilization

http://www.adbusters.org/magazine/79/hipster.html#comment-5671

First and foremost, I'll be the first to admit that the title the article is more than likely very hyperbolic. The author's argument provides us with a very interesting topic worth looking at despite the fact that the article itself lacks any concrete and substantive evidence for his claim. The "countercultural movement" of the hipsters (is it really a movement when there doesn't seem to be any forward progress/motion? Or countercultural for that matter when it shares the same basic principles from that which it tries to distinguish itself from) has had a negative effect on cultural development by recycling the past while at the same time refusing to define its identity, by embracing consumerism, and by co-opting from others while at the same time cheapening its significance and value.

The problem with calling hipsters countercultural is that they don't reject the elements of the status quo but instead they embrace them. The tenets of mainstream culture and society--capitalism, mass consumerism, social climbing, etc.-- are very present within the hipster circle. These, of course operate under different guises. Perhaps the best manner to observe hipsters is by placing them in a sociological context, and I can think of no other person whose work better applies than Thornstein Veblen. In his book, "The Theory of the Leisure Class", Veblen presents the argument that people within a certain social structure try to mirror those higher up in their respective heirarchy in order to obtain more status for themselves. Hipsters still play the proverbial rat race.

"The moment a trend, band, sound, style or feeling gains too much exposure, it
is suddenly looked upon with disdain. Hipsters cannot afford to maintain any
cultural loyalites or affiliations for fear they will lose relevance"

In order to stay at the forefront of cultural relevance within the hipster social structure, they must constantly be on the look out for the next big thing, and like vultures they rush to it and eat it up until there is nothing left to consume. As a result, culture is commodified and is stripped of its value, thus leaving nothing more than cultural nihilism. They are not the creators, they are the users. Culture for them is meant to be used and consumed. It's no surprise that the two biggest time periods that hipsters embrace are the post-WWII and 1980s culture. These, after all, are the periods in which mass consumption was more prominent.

Another thing that should be of great concern is the manner in which other cultures are being appropriated to satisfy this endless hunger. The article mentions that part of the hipster uniform is the keffiyeh, which was "initially sported by Jewish students and Western protesters to express solidarity with Palestinians" but it now has lost its political and symbolic meaning as a result of this co-option. Hipster culture then is not only vapid and superficial, but it has adverse effects on what is indeed culturally relevant.

Hipster culture is definitely hard to define. What is real and what did they take from other people? In a sense, defining what's hipster is similar to the way Clarence Thomas once defined porn, "I'll know it when I see it". I strive not to be an alarmist, but if this (anti-) cultural trend continues, we're in real trouble.

Absurd Link of the Week

9 year old Boy Banned from Little League for Being Too good

from the linked ESPN.com article:

League attorney Peter Noble says the only factor in banning Jericho from the mound is his pitches are just too fast.

"He is a very skilled player, a very hard thrower," Noble said. "There are a lot of beginners. This is not a high-powered league. This is a developmental league whose main purpose is to promote the sport."

Noble acknowledged that Jericho had not beaned any batters in the co-ed league of 8- to 10-year-olds, but say parents expressed safety concerns.

There are two things that are emblematic in describing the idealized vision of the American way of life. Equal opportunity and a strong spirit of competition. While these two don’t exactly characterize and fully describe what being an American is, there is enough of a presence in our society to say that these are somewhat accurate characteristics. These two, I believe, play off of each other and often co-exist peacefully. Once in a while, however, people (dumb fucking people who should be sterilized) are so concerned with keeping things on an even keel that not only does it hinder the notion of competitiveness, but completely squashes it.
I think the right to equal opportunity (for the most part) is what makes this a great country. However, egalitarianism and equality can sometimes be a double-edged sword in which more harm than good is done. Of course, the same can be said about competition being taken to the extreme. I can recall a personal experience in which a kid I played little league with was instructed by the coach—who also happened to be his dad—to purposefully bean the opposing team’s best batter just to give our team an advantage. However, this happens with less frequency and is usually attributed to people being complete assholes. In contrast, this story is symptomatic of a deteriorating culture.
The problem extends beyond the realm of sports and competition. Our society is concerned with equality in other aspects of daily life, such as our education system. A notable example of this is the implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.Similarly, general distrust for those who are better has become the norm. This can be seen in politics where candidates have much more success if they are better at portraying themselves as regular blue-collar folk. This same mentality is the reason why Obama’s perception of an elitist had a negative effect on his poll numbers.
This kind of behavior not only punishes those who strive to be better but also rewards and promotes mediocrity. It further propagates the argument that we live in a country where entitlement is rampant. Why would anyone try harder to maximize their potential when its as rewarding to strive for mediocrity? As alarmist as this might sound, if this trend continues our future will be that of a dystopia not unlike the world the characters in Kurt Vonnegut’s short story “Harrison Bergeron”. Quite frankly, that’s not a world I want to live in. So yeah, fuck it, let the kid play. Let him pitch his no-hitters.

Previous piece of writing

The Dark Knight, IMDB, populism, and egalitarianism on the web

I don't think there was any doubt in anyone's mind--at least not in mine-- that 'The Dark Knight' was going to break box office records. How could it not? It had one of the most extensive viral campaigns for any movie. It reached a point where you couldn't turn anywhere without seeing something for this movie. Add to the mix the death of Heath Ledger; there was most definitely going to be a certain aura surrounding the film, which would eventually lead to huge profits for the studio. Even I bought into the hype.I saw the film on Friday night, and it would be a lie to say that I was not caught up in the excitement. I, along with hundreds of people, were in a line that had extended to outside the theater. Needless to say, every seat in the room was filled. I should mention that I liked the movie. I can’t decide whether I loved it or whether I just though it was pretty good, but I know that I liked it enough that I am willing to go see it a second time. The acting was outstanding—particularly Heath Ledger playing a very demented Joker—and the direction was impressive. The writing did everyone a favor by wanting to recreate the dark Batman of the 1980s.With that said, The Dark Knight is NOT the best film ever made, and to say so is both ludicrous and appalling. IMDB users, however, overwhelmingly disagree with me. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0468569/ratingsAs of right now, 69,135 people who voted gave the movie an average of 9.6 out of 10, with 54,224 people giving it a 10. That’s roughly 78.4% of total voters that think that The Dark Knight was flawless (or as close to perfection as you can get), that it far surpasses anything ever made both in storytelling and narrative, technical filmmaking, editing, acting, etc. The people have spoken!Obviously I’m being very tongue in cheek, but I think what’s at hand here is the negative effects of the internet, and its egalitarian nature. Anyone with an internet connection can give their two cents and their opinion, unfortunately, counts just as much as the discriminating expert.A couple of months ago I read a very interesting book titled ‘The Cult of the Amateur: How Today's Internet is Killing Our Culture written by Andrew Keen. In his book, he writes that the internet "worships the creative amateur: the self-taught filmmaker, the dorm-room musician, the unpublished writer. It suggests that everyone — even the most poorly educated and inarticulate amongst us — can and should use digital media to express and realize themselves. Web 2.0 'empowers' our creativity, it 'democratizes' media, it 'levels the playing field' between experts and amateurs. The enemy of Web 2.0 is 'elitist' traditional media." At the risk of coming off as an elitist, I think Mr. Keen touches upon a very interesting point. I don’t agree with him entirely, as I do feel that the internet is a great opportunity for people who actually have something of value to contribute to society .However, I think that as a society we mustn’t water down culture and its production. Culture is essential for a society and a civilization to exist and survive, and thus a certain set of standards must be set in place and maintained. After all, just because I have access to a medical book doesn’t mean that I am qualified to give out any medical advice.