1 - I vividly remember when I was 18 years old, driving home from football practice one evening, listening to a newish radio station, hearing Oleander - "Why I'm Here" and thinking to myself that I'd never get to the point where I wasn't familiar with popular music. I thought of my folks, people who probably couldn't name you five current Top 40 songs. Couldn't give you a popular current rock band. Back in 1999, I just couldn't envision myself getting to that point. I thought, "How could I not know who these musicians are? I listen to the radio, I watch MTV. I watch TV shows and movies with these artists. I go to concerts. My friends like most the tunes I like. It won't be possible".
Fast forward a decade.
I just checked the Billboard Top 100. Songs I recognize:
Orianthi - According to You
Taylor Swift - You Belong With Me
Kelly Clarkson - Already Gone
Kings of Leon - Use Somebody
Michael Buble - Haven't Met You Yet (just got sent the link five minutes ago)
Miley Cyrus - Party in the USA
That's it. Six songs. Two of which I heard only because I was sent youtube links. Not only that, but I can honestly say I've never heard of the majority of these people.
Maybe once a month I'll flip to an FM station and take a quick listen to what's new. Then I turn it off. I just don't understand how some of this shit gets played. Who the hell can listen to anything by 'Lil Wayne? I remember him as the retarded one in the Hot Boyz group ten years ago. Now he's the biggest name in hip hop? How did this freak show suddenly become the Madonna of her generation? The Jonas Bros, a band I can honestly say I've never listened to, not once, is causing some debate as to whether or not they're better than The Beatles. Seriously. Run that search in Google and you get 200,000,000 hits.
It's gotten to the point where new music by bands I liked in college amount to the only current stuff I can tolerate. Maybe twice a year some new artist slips through the cracks.
But I can't listen to this shit. I mean, my god.
1a - Something I could listen to?
How about this:
That is, somehow, Lady Gaga.
I don't get it. That's music from an artist I could dig.
2 - New technique to pass along to my fellow developers and designers. You've all gotten requests from clients that make you roll your eyes, swear to yourself, punch babies, etc. Maybe it's something that would look awful. Or it's a completely useless or superfluous component. Maybe it's just a request you don't want to do, for any reason.
If that's the case, bust out the word, "Unprofessional". No client likes hearing that what they're asking for is going to make their site look amateur.
For example. this week I got a request from a client. They wanted a Flash component I built to be modified. It would have required a couple hours of development time I didn't have. I also loved the current version of what I created and didn't want it messed with. I responded in an email. I told them they could certainly have that done. I did add this, though, "But, personally, I don't think the effect is as professional. That's just my opinion as a developer that has made [the component] both ways."
He got back to me five minutes later. "Let's stick with the original".
That's it. That's all it takes. I've used this three times and it's never failed me. Are there going to be clients who think they know better and stubbornly refuse to budge? Sure. But if you plant some seed of doubt in their heads with regards to how their site is going to be perceived, most will trust your opinion as a professional.
3 - I didn't write a post-Viking game blog. I wanted to. I had a lot to get down.
Unfortunately, I've got a large amount of friends in The Cities and I'm fairly certain that I would be excommunicated from the group in a hurry if they knew what I wanted to say.
3b - I will say this, though. That game is exactly why you watch sports. I'm a fan of neither the Vikings or the Saints. But I had an obvious rooting interest and I couldn't look away. At the end of the game my heart was racing a mile a minute. I was yelling at the TV. I was in the lowest depths of depression one minute and on top of the motherfucking world the next.
So I ask you this: what else compares? Can I get a list? I'm totally serious. I feel as if people that don't care about sports are missing out on this essential part of being alive.
3c - Example. I thought this was just one of the coolest videos I've seen in a long time.
I know just how they felt. I remember being at the final Brewer game of the regular season, the one in which they clinched a playoff birth. People were yelling, jumping up and down, hugging total strangers. It was euphoric.
4 - So the iPad came out. In the end, it's exactly what I expected.
I've got six computers, including four laptops. I've also got an iPod Touch and an iPhone. Do I need another mobile device? No, absolutely not. Will I be picking an iPad up? Ya, probably.
I went back and forth on it. It's really just a large iPod Touch.
That said, there's been times when I've been at home and wished I had a bigger version of my iPhone. When I'm in the kitchen and I'm cooking something up and I'm constantly reading directions, texting and listening to music on the same device. I think it would be rather awesome to have a dock on my counter, be able to watch a flick or listen to tunes and read recipes on a nice, big screen.
Now, can a laptop do that for me? Of course. Again, is this thing a need? Nope.
4b - But this gets me to what I think will be the selling point: the App Store.
The iPad has been a popular target since it was unveiled last week, namely from people who want to compare it to tablet PCs and Netbooks. They talk about the hardware and tech specs. No USB. No Flash. iPhone OS. No multitasking.
OK. Fair point.
But my response to those criticisms would be this: does your Netbook or tablet have the app store? The thing that makes the iPhone so remarkable? I saw Jobs demo the MLB app. Not gonna lie, I was borderline aroused.
The possibilities are sort of endless. Once developers start building iPad native apps you're going to see some amazing things.
4c - It was Mark Cuban that hit home why this thing will succeed.
4d - I had a conversation with a friend regarding these possibilities. I can see, sometime in the next decade, all print media going the way of the dodo. As someone who loves a good book to nuzzle up to, she was horrified by the notion.
But think of the money saved if publishers adopted reader devices like the Kindle or iPad as their primary means of distribution? Think of the overhead that's saved. Think of prices you could see if Publishers don't have to worry about printing. New York Times best sellers are already going for $9.99 on the Kindle. Could they go lower?
It's not just books, too. The newspaper industry is already toast. It won't be too long before they're entirely digital. But magazines, too. Digital versions of magazines, subsidized by advertisers. Want to read an article? Click an ad first.
I could see the same thing happening with digital libraries. Imagine that you could rent a novel. You pay something like $0.99 for say for a week or two weeks or a weekend. Whatever. You download this novel but before every chapter you see a short 30 second advertisement for Toyota. Or NBC's new TV series. Or fucking viagra. Who knows.
Wouldn't you prefer that to laying $30 down on the next novel by your favorite author? Or having to wait four weeks because the book you want is checked out?
The mind wanders...
5 - If you're one of my readers who does so from work, be careful. This could have been you.
6 - In another music related item, we are the world is getting remade. Not sure I know how I feel about that.
I believe the money raised is going to Haiti. That's good. What's bad is 90% of those singing this song.
I took a look at the list of people performing. I'm not seeing a Bob Dylan or Michael Jackson in there. Who the hell is Justin Bieber and what is he doing singing a classic I grew up to?
6b - What is Drago's wife doing singing in this thing? Were they that desperate to get a Russian in We Are the World?
7 - The Tim Tebow ad thing. Wow.
OK, this is sort of one where it's tough for me to take my stand without coming off like a hypocrite. Truth be told, I don't even know what my stance is anymore.
If you don't know what I'm talking about, you're either living in a cave or.... actually, that's it. You must be living in a cave. The controversy caused by this situation is amazing and I don't know how you avoid it.
But I'll give the ten cents on a dime version anyway.
Tim Tebow is the biggest name in college athletics. He won the Heisman as a sophomore. He won two national championships. He's a good looking, seemingly All-American quarterback. He's on the verge of starting his professional career, one that is largely in doubt because while he's a winner and has off the charts intangibles, he also can't throw the damn ball. I love the quote from the new GM of the Cleveland Browns, "Everything besides actually playing the position, he's got it all". That was supposed to be a compliment. I'm reminded of something about damning with faint praise....
Anyway, that's Tim Tebow the athlete. What has people going bat-shit crazy is Tim Tebow, the spokesman.
You see, Timmy is also the newly crowned prince of the (far) right-wing. He's incredibly religious. He's done work as a missionary. He's also celibate. That's all fine and good in the eyes of many (though the missionary thing bothers the fuck out of me). But it's when you go on TV during the Super Bowl and shill a Pro-Life stance to hundreds of millions of people around the globe that things, um, turn.
Tim's mom gave birth to him in a 3rd world. There were complications with the pregnancy and doctors recommended an abortion. She didn't have one. Instead she got drugged up, had the kid and twenty years later there's a Heisman trophy winner in the family.
That's essentially what the ad is going to say. It's Tim and his mom giving the story of his birth and the result. The message is this, "Look what happens when you chose life! You could one day have a superstar in the family". Fuck what the doctor says. Fuck science. Fuck circumstances. Just pop that little future Hall of Famer from your uterus. Don't worry about it. Everything will be fine.
I have a problem with his 'work' in 3rd world countries. I have a problem with his belief that I'm going to hell. That if you don't practice Christianity that you're going to burn in hell. I have problem with the notion that women don't deserve to have control of what they do with their bodies. I have a problem with his belief that homosexuality is an abomination. I have a problem with his literal interpretations of a book that is largely fiction.
I certainly have a problem with the group that's sponsoring this advertisement. Focus on the Family ponied up $2.5 million for the right to air this message. Their founder, James Dobson, is a radical, world class asshole of dangerous influence. He believes in child abuse. Animal abuse. That gays will destroy the world. He's a hateful bigot and he's wasting air, right now. And this is who the Tebows are aligning with.
Now...the hypocrite thing...
The thing is, this advertisement...I don't know if I can say it shouldn't be shown. Or that Tebow shouldn't do this if he believes in what he's saying. Or that the Tebows shouldn't use their fame and influence in this manner. Or that CBS shouldn't have taken this hateful group's money. I just don't know.
My first inclination is to say that this whole thing is a travesty and shameful. Upon further reflection, I consider the music I listen to. The shows I watch. If you've read this blog you obviously know about my love for The West Wing. Well, in the very first episode the President absolutely bitch-slaps leaders from the Religious Right. Throughout the show they portray the far Right as radical nutjobs. This was a show on NBC prime-time, and they're constantly throwing jabs at a large portion of the country. It led to the monicker, "The Left Wing".
Or what about Penn and Teller: Bullshit? I absolutely love it and the two stars. But on their show they've taken a hammer to creationism, the Bible, family values, signs from heaven, abstinence, the apocalypse and the motherfucking Vatican.
My point is that it's not as if the Left hasn't used the television medium to influence and promote their agenda, too. In the end it's simply a matter of if you don't like what you're seeing, turn the channel. I hate to say it, but that's where I'm coming down on the matter.
7b - That said, there is some awesome reading on this subject.
Jeff Pearlman took an eye-opening stance that has gotten an incredible response, from both sides. Have you ever read something from a professional and gone, "Holy shit. That's balls". This was one of those times for me. Jeff's stance largely reflected mine. But I'm not an author and I don't have Sports Illustrated helping to pay my bills.
Tim Keown of ESPN wrote more rational and politically correct presented op-ed piece. It gives you some background on Focus on the Family (fuckers).
The Slate has this one covered, too. Again, good reading.
7c - By the way, if you think I'm overestimating his influence, I think you're a little naive. You have people that don't give two shits about Football all but making him their messiah. I checked out a Facebook group, one of a shit-load. 32,000 members.
Here was a brief copy and paste of the recent wall msgs:
Zachary Aaron Moore Tim, I am a Tennessee Vols fan but I am a HUGE fan of yours! It doesn't matter what team you play for I root for you, and anyone else who has character and faith like you. God Bless you brother and keep fighting for the faith! --Don't let anyone tell you not to air your commercial! GO FOR IT! ...Psalm 37:4
Donna Hayes Bramell Thank you for letting God work through you. Thank you for letting him use you and keep up the good fight!!
Spencer Brown I live in the West and have never been a Gator fan but I have a TON of respect and admiration for Tim Tebow for his courage in standing up for the truth. Thank you Tim! The world is a better place because of you.
Cindy Deroy signed the position. if we don't stand for the innocent babies who will.
Hayden Maxey heyy tebow you are my favorite quarterback, dont listen to all the ppl that all talk about you because you are a great player and you cant measure the size of someones heart, keep God first and he will pave the way for you.
Janice Shiver Terrell Tim, praise the Lord for your testimony. Keep it up and stay strong. So thankful for your proclaiming your faith. Gator '66
Redenvelopeday Campaign Tim, what a model of character and strength you are! You have so many reasons not to promote these commercials - yet you do for the unborn! God Bless you and we are all behind you!
Toni Mihalik-Esposito Can't wait for next Sunday. Thank you for being such a good role model. I teach the "Choose Life" program in the Catholic Schools and I love to share your story with them. God Bless
Bruce Dougherty In 1985, Tim Tebow’s mother Pam was advised to abort her child. She decided against it, citing her Christian faith as a source of hope that her son, Tim, would be OK. Thank you, Mrs. Tebow, and thank God!
Shirley Harbaugh Shelite Tim--Just want to encourage you to give your pro-life message! God Bless you!
Arlen Del Pino Hill God bless Tebow & his family for standing up for what they believe in, the truth, and being a light in this world!!!
As for trying to understand or comprehend the ones against his
Superbowl ad....YET they are ok with alcohol ads, sexual innuendo ads
that affect the youth of today, cigarette smoking ads (even though it
KILL...S you),...etc....(we could go on & on)
Lets just reflect on what he Lord tells us...
Ephesians 4:18 (NIV)
They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of
God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of
their hearts.
Ted Fiorito Tim - I hope you always remain sober minded and focused on the gifts the Lord has blessed you with. Whether in the NFL or the plains of Africa I trust you will do your best as a Servant/Leader.
8 - I'm probably not looking too good in the eyes of my Christian pals at the moment. I totally understand. But I would like them to know I don't judge 'em. I never have. If you believe in a higher power, if you have that kind of faith, I have nothing but respect for you. I think it's admirable, always have. I've dated a lot of girls who spend their Sundays in a church. My best friends in college were practicing Christians. I don't start debates with them or think they're silly. I'm tolerant of their beliefs. I hope they're tolerant of mine. Do I believe in a woman's right to choose? Sure. Equal rights for all humans? Absolutely. Am I going to ever press those views or values on anyone? Not a chance. My views on religion and social policy are my own. I can understand the irony, this being a platform where I'm expressing my views. That's fine. But I'm not forcing anyone to read this. I'm not engaging someone on the street or even starting a conversation in my living room. I'm just writing a blog.
Like the Tebow ad, you can simply chose not to view it.
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