Proof that People Don't Change
…and nerdy, awkward people stay nerdy and awkward…
(in case you don’t recognize “Twitchy”…here’s his IMDB bio.)
ps. he should’ve kept the last name Boring.
Archived entries for
The Internet: Democracy’s Defence?
“In an age where participatory democracy is seen to be in decline, the emergence of the internet as a tool for communication seems variously to be an agency for that breakdown of democracy, yet also a vehicle for mass communication and political participation on a scale exceeding anything our governments have yet been able to achieve. The internet is a medium which requires significant financial and intellectual investment, yet it is also without centralised control.”
The Internet and Democracy by Joanne Jacobs
The world is at a tipping point. Democracies are being challenged. Philosophies are being criticised. Politicians are becoming the scapegoats of societies. In a world that has become a mass of failure and controversy, what role does the Internet have to play in restoring faith in Democracy?
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There is great interest in the potential for the Internet to invest its focus on democratic processes and the continued development of a ’self-regulating structure of information’ (Self-Regulation of the Internet).
Proponents of this view include Howard Rheingold who argues that “virtual communities could help citizens revitalise democracy, or they could be luring us into an attractively packaged substitute for democratic discourse.”
The argument has both positives and negatives. Rheingold suggests that those with access to hardware can, in essence, revitalise democracy. He also suggests that we, as a community, have the potential to create a version of democracy.
Which is better; the revitalisation of democracy or the development of a systematic government based on democratic governance?
[mix tape] A Promised Song List
An Essex Green song list – to be listened to when reading this post.
plus two more songs: “Julia” and “Penny & Jack”
Anyone Preggers – This Song's For You
It’s Much Nicer When Delivered in a Song
Thank you Fucked in Park Slope and BuzzFeed for introducing us to this tune.
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For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?
Things have been looking grim lately. The global economic meltdown. Swine flu outbreaks. Can things get any worse?
Yes, yes they can. Much worse. I never thought it would come to this, but there’s no denying it. Our worst fears have been realized. Truly, we are damned.
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Funny Headline T-shirts from The Onion, America’s Finest News Source:
KITTEN THINKS OF NOTHING BUT MURDER ALL DAY
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Trimming Pubes
Thankfully, one of the Madisonians we follow on Twitter tweeted a link to a Gawker review of this video.
Gawker seems to think the ad is representative of the death of the ad metaphor (think: the downfall of the Absolut ad). Our buddy on twitter seems to think the ad lacks subtlety.
Well, that’s fine and dandy but let’s talk about the genius in the ad:
1. If anyone should gently insinuate that I should mow the lawn, I’d much prefer it be in the tune of a catchy, girl-twee song.
2. Gender roles, 1950s suburbia, and musical. My brain is thinking this is spoof advertising, but this is very real. Its blunt directive is probably more real than the TV commercial for the same product. (Boring!)
3. It got a few sites – Stylist (“…gotta say, I totally heart it.”), AdFreak (“you have to appreciate an ad like this Schick Quattro for Women spot, which doesn’t really beat around the bush. Yeah, I said it.”), Gawker, YouTube – talking and it got us buying.
And, well, isn’t that the point of advertising?
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[casting call] Paused…Sorta
Earlier this year, we published our intention to open registration around the 21st of each month in order to seek new talent to contribute to nonpretentious.
What happened, however, is that people would register for the site but then never publish anything. At least, that’s what happened in January, February, and March.
Don’t get me wrong. We can understand writer’s block. We can understand busy schedules. We can even understand voyeurism. Most of all, we can understand the natural tendency for people to think in WIIFM terms when it comes to managing their time and sharing their talents.
But there’s only so much feeling-like-a-douche a nonpretentious website can take. There’s only so many times we can welcome talented contributors with open arms and standing ovations, only to be met with silence.
(Actually, scratch that. We didn’t even know if the new contributors would be talented. We didn’t judge their writing. Seriously, how stupid could we be if we wanted to be taken seriously?)
Therefore, around the beginning of April, we decided to try something else. Mix it up a little. Do that whole A/B comparison thing.
Although many of us are contrarians by nature, we decided to give regular, inside-the-box thinking a chance. I mean, if everyone else is doing it, we may as well try. So, we went to this website where you can post to find the things you are seeking – talented writers, the cute girl on the subway, a job, an apartment, take your pick. We posted our gig at nonpretentious, clicked off our computer, and waited.
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(We put an ad in there to represent our wait.)
Who first said, “when in need of talent, do as others in need of talent do?” Was that common knowledge? I’m almost positive it is common knowledge who claims good things come to those who wait. Point is: common knowledge may actually have something going for it.
Less than 24-hours after our post, we received some wonderful inquiries from writers who want to write, contributors who want to contribute! What a miracle!
Not wanting to get hoodwinked again, we picked our favorites, made them endure hours of interviews, and long, arduous training.
To test their writing skills, we grilled them on the order of a QWERTY keyboard.
To test their stamina, they had to swim across leech infested waters.
To test their wit, we picked them up in a stolen taxi – properly adorned with flashing strobe lights – and made them guess what show inspired us.
Needless to say, a few passed with flying colors. And, to those few – true heroes, in our eyes – we gave our password.
So, for now, we’re going to pause the open registration. We’ll still have a casting call but to make sure we’re all not wasting time, for now, we’re going to require the whole let’s-hear-from-you-see-your-writing-find-out-if-you-are-serious-etc.
We’ll even let you ask us about our most embarrassing moments. Heck, we’ll even play two truths and a lie or never have I ever, if your writing tickles our fancy. This way, you get to know us. We get to know you.
Talking to Strangers
In one of my favorite dialogue exchanges within the movie Ghost World, Enid (Thora Birch) visits her friend Rebecca (the much-hyped Scarlett Johansson) at work in a hopping mainstream café, ala Starbucks. Rebecca is behind the counter, taking coffee orders from the no-nonsense snobs who are vehemently opposed to being offered biscotti. “God, how can you stand all of these assholes,” Enid asks. To which Rebecca replies, “I don’t know some people are okay, but mostly I feel like poisoning everybody…You’ll see…you get totally sick of all of the creeps and losers and weirdos.”
I chuckle throughout the movie, but it is the true to life observational humor that gets me thinking just how accurate this dialogue really is when it comes to retail work and all of the weirdos that come with it. In the nine years I have been employed at a local supermarket, I have collected a cult following of strange characters. Conspiracy theorists, organic obsessed shoppers who want to trade tofu recipes, fifty-something men who find me (or judging by their lack of eye contact, my chest) just “charming.” I don’t know how exactly these encounters came to be. And furthermore, I don’t know these people have come to confide in me, just a stranger in the supermarket helping them find their groceries.
Usually I try to indulge these characters in conversation, for the sake of their own sanity. But more often than not, this means twenty minutes of my time lost to rambling nonsense… followed by utter confusion… with a heaping side order of splitting headache. But there is one illusive stranger who, for nine long years, I’ve longed to speak with. To my knowledge he has never actually set foot in the store. I’ve only ever seen him outside. Digging through the trash cans. Drinking the found contents of disposed beverages. Sadly, I can’t say this is atypical….say, for a homeless inner city soul searching for nourishment. But I also can’t say that I’ve ever seen the events narrated, in the third-person by a man in neatly pressed tux.
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The GaGa and The Big Day
I am *in love* with this song and it will be totally played at my wedding, even if the old folks are still enjoying the party. who knows…they might love it to. probably not.
oh..and did I mention that the big day is in 41 days. i am still pretty sane, which is helpful to the soon to be hubs, I suppose. I could be quite annoying to live with, if I fell off the rocker now. I guess if he has not run screaming in the past almost 6 years, it is not going to happen now.
