Gary Hart

Gary Hart, of Monkey Business fame, has a new book out that is being called a jeremiad on American politics, titled "The Republic of Conscience". Maybe he really is a thinker and likes to write, and he wasn't just posing. Presumably he no longer harbors any real presidential ambitions. Maybe it is a dream that still bothers him from time to time - what might have been - but he is 78 years old now. Life is past. I know the feeling.

[Source: "The Millions" tumblr]

Borgia

Desperate for something to watch with my meal, I was browsing through Netflix and discovered that there was another version of Showtime's "The Borgias", a show about the dirty papal politics of Renaissance Italy. It is a European production that puts a little more oomph into its hour. Googling for some discussion about what is the deal with having two shows shadowing each other, I came across an interesting piece at Daily Kos. The writer shares my frustration with America's bland offerings.

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And for some reason, even on premium cable networks, either Americans don't want to see that or the people who rule over our media don't want us to see it. Maybe both. Maybe we have a culture of anesthesia, reflected in our increasingly sense-dulling "music," mindless alpha-wave TV programming, and dopamine-amped food. Maybe we desire to turn pleasure into a button to push rather than an experience to undergo. Or maybe that's just what the people who sell us this crap want for us, because robots make a more reliable consumer base, and people whose emotions have been degraded to a handful of basic behavioral triggers without all that messy thought and feeling surrounding them are easier to predict and control.

But I can't, and don't, buy that it's a coincidence that every time similar content is approached in two different ways for Americans and for international audiences, the people designing it for US consumption choose to dumb everything down, rob sex of its sexuality, and turn violence into a cheap visual gag reel because some formula says that you need a fight scene in act so-and-so.

-- Troubadour at Daily Kos

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The New e-Life

I used to complain a lot about having to log in to too many websites. Now that I am off LiveJournal, I only have to open up one account. I don't even need to bother signing into my e-mail account, since nothing is sent there anymore. That is kind of nice - easy and quiet. But I am reminded that you can have too much of a good thing.

Cheers!