Thursday, May 15, 2008
Talent Shows
I recently attended a business seminar about the changing workforce. Labour shortages, much younger and less experienced workforce, clash of cultures, yada yada. The presenter noted that old Boomer / Gen X employers might have difficulty dealing with the egalitarian attitudes of the so-called Gen Y workers. Gen Y, after all, is the "special" generation: from birth they have been drilled on the mantra that everyone is special, everyone's talents are equally valued and, at the end of the game, everybody gets a trophy for participating.
I saw a particularly painful example of this at my kids' school's annual talent night. It was an inclusive, unauditioned "talent" show that lasted two and a half hours. Fortunately, I had a good excuse not to stay until the end, but what I saw and heard about afterwards was bad enough.
Here are my observations:
- all parents think their kids are extremely talented. That's our job. Objectively, though, it's not true. Today's parents need to get a better grip on reality. Building self-esteem is one thing; building self-delusion is quite another.
- all such shows should come with a violins warning. Amateur violin playing surely must be the music of hell.
- for the record, Tae Kwon Do routines are not a talent.
- air guitar is not a talent.
- if you have a girl in dance classes or such like, go out and rent Little Miss Sunshine. Watch it. Twice. Think about it.
- skipping rope to Hannah Montana music also is not a talent, especially if you're not good at skipping rope. Plus, if there's anything that could give amateur violins a run for their money as the official theme music of hell, it's Hannah Montana music.
- did I mention that air guitar is not a talent?
I could go on, but I'm sure I'm coming across as too much of a bitter killjoy as it is.
Comments?
posted by Mentok @ 2:25 PM,
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Monday, May 12, 2008
Salt in the wound
Used Tilley Donations
The Leader-Post
Published: Monday, May 12, 2008The Art of Travel is accepting gently used Tilley clothing this week for donation to less-fortunate residents...
(emphasis mine)
Haven't these people suffered enough?
posted by Mentok @ 12:07 PM,
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Monday, May 05, 2008
Iron Man
Maybe it's due to my life-long affection for comic book culture, but I believe that you can tell a great deal about a civilization from its pop culture.
Way back when, in Film Studies class, they used to tell us that you could track the evolution of the Japanese mind through the Godzilla series. Unlike the American edit of the film (which just came across as campy), the original Japanese version of the first Godzilla film is said to be much more like Cloverfield in that it focused less on the action and violence, more on the shock and despair of the average people. All in all, Godzilla was a pretty transparent symbol of the Japanese nation's horror and humiliation at it's nuclear defeat in WWII. But as the series evolved, Godzilla became more like a superhero, protecting Japan from invaders, thereby symbolizing Japan's growing confidence and economic might.
So much for Godzilla.
On the weekend, my boys and I saw Iron Man. It struck me that there is a distinct trend going on in superhero movies these days. Instead of fighting criminals or terrorists as in the past, America's heroes are fighting evil versions of themselves: Spiderman vs. Venom; Hulk vs. The Abomination; Iron Man vs. Iron Monger.
Yes, there is a terrorism sub-plot in Iron Man, but (without giving anything away) it all turns out to be a smoke-and-mirrors distraction from the main plot.
The implication of these films is that America is a country that feels at war with itself. Certainly, there's lots on CNN to validate this. My sense, as a foreigner, is that the partisan divide has never been greater in the US. On top of that, you have the Democrats squabbling amongst themselves. So is it any wonder that Americans today connect with films about people battling their own demons?
As a foreigner, I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, it's not so bad to see Americans involved in self-reflection because when Yanks are over-confident they are, well, hard to take, shall we say. On the other hand, there comes a point where self-reflection becomes unproductive navel-gazing.
The Tony Stark character in this movie goes through a similar transformation. Suffering from post-traumatic shock, decadent and self-indulgent, he starts his first few days back from captivity simply rejecting everything in his past life, hiding away, not caring.
But by and by he concludes that his purpose in life is to be a more people-focused superhero.
One last symbolic aspect of this movie stuck in my mind. Stark is a fundamentally lonely guy who has no real friends, only employees. I stand to be corrected, but I'm guessing Americans as a country feel a bit like that too.
Back when the British ran the world, they were arrogant bastards just like the Yanks, but they had (and still have) the benefit of family. They had children, obedient and rebellious, scattered all over the globe who, to this day, pay obeisance to some degree or another to the motherland.
America, on the other hand, has usually been content to live its national life in relative isolation, cultivating allies of convenience but not friends. That's too bad, really, and it's not what the times call for. As our Western world and way of life comes more and more under threat, our countries are going to have to treat one another more like blood-brothers. The Tony Stark character realizes this and makes a few feeble efforts at connecting to the people around him, with some success.
Well, enough pretentious over-analysis, eh? Anyone else have thoughts on the subject?
posted by Mentok @ 9:28 AM,
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Monday, April 21, 2008
The Tables Have Turned
Records, I'm told, are cool again.
So I am informed by my musically-inclined teenage son. As young men are wont to do, he occasionally hangs out with a group of other musically-inclined youths who, hilariously, refer to themselves as a "band", despite having no name, repertoire, rehearsal schedule or adequate equipment.
Lately, the "band" members seem to be on a grumpy-old-men style quest to out-retro each other. First, they reached a consensus that they would ditch their MP3 players and switch to portable CD players because MP3s are "anti-artist". Next, one of the gang lit on that tired, old, highly illogical refrain that the vinyl format is "way better." Doods, it's a chunk of plastic with scratches on it!
Anyway, now my son wants to listen to all my old LPs and no father in his right mind would pass on an opportunity to have his son regard his old junk as cool. So, this past weekend I hooked up my old turntable.
Let me take a moment to reinforce the old saw that you get what you pay for. Back in the 80s, when I went off to college, I wanted to distance myself from my parents' crappy old sound equipment and compete with my snooty older brother's system. I ended up blowing far more of my summer-job savings than I could really afford on a kick-ass, nothing-but-the-best system: Bang & Olufsen tuner, Technics turntable, Mission speakers, etc. Every piece of that system delivered high quality until it had to be retired; the Mission speakers are still in use. And even after more than a decade in cold storage, the turntable is in perfect working order.
Another surprise for me was the physical condition of my records. I've never claimed to be an audiophile and, back in the day, I remember often reproving myself for not looking after my records well enough. In the clouded lens of my memory, all my records were dirty, scratchy messes. Yet, this weekend my son and I pulled out one well-loved album after another and found them all to be in totally pristine condition.
Once we got everything hooked up, I had to give sonny boy a quick lesson on how to use the antique.
"Remember to use the Cue switch before moving the needle to the next track," I instructed.
"How can you tell the tracks?" he asked.
I blinked in astonishment until I realized he would have no frame of reference on even this simple matter. "Uh, they're separated by lighter, smooth areas on the record."
He peered at George Thorogood album we had loaded up. "Whoa, you mean they could only get six tracks on an album back then?"
"Um, then you flip it over and there's another six tracks."
"Double sided? Cool!"
Fine, whatever he wants to think. It's hard enough for fathers to connect to teenage boys, so I'm going to milk this schtick for all its worth. But really, seriously: records aren't cool. They're silly, in this day and age. MP3 players are cool and a million times more practical. Personally, I feel no desire to switch back to some obsolete technology.
What do you think?
posted by Mentok @ 9:10 AM,
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Monday, April 14, 2008
This and That
Well, that "Hypocrisy" business was fun, wasn't it? Makes me almost wish I had a politics blog going somewhere.
A couple of assorted notes from the weekend: first, for those of you who have been following along, I finally captured Rasputin the evil Russian squirrel. Except I have now renamed the creature: Katherine the Great, as in great with child; a pregnant female, as it turns out. We finally set out a big cage trap and had her snagged within a couple of hours.
Dealing with her afterwards was a poser. Ethically, I couldn't kill her or countenance her being killed, but squirrels are so fiercely territorial that, if released into the wild, they can find their way back to their home neighbourhood over great distances.
I finally opted to release her to the care of a teenager we know who is said to have an "interest" in wildlife. The nature of this interest sounds ominous but I opted to take a 'don't ask - don't tell' attitude to it. I only asked that the animal be treated in a humane manner, and left it at that.
***************
On another topic, I got a good laugh out of this story from the weekend papers:
"British physicist Peter Higgs said on Monday it should soon be possible to prove the existence of a force which gives mass to the universe and makes life possible -- as he first argued 40 years ago.Higgs said he believes a particle named the "Higgs boson", which originates from the force, will be found when a vast particle collider at the CERN research centre on the Franco-Swiss border begins operating fully early next year....
Scientists at the centre hope the process will produce clear signs of the boson, dubbed the "God particle" by some, to the displeasure of Higgs, an atheist."
Source: Reuters, April 7, 2008
No matter what your definition of irony, you have to find it ironic that an atheist could end up discovering an all-pervasive cosmic force that makes life possible. It's like a teetotaler discovering wine is good for you.
posted by Mentok @ 9:45 AM,
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Wednesday, April 09, 2008
Hypocrisy
I've been trying to think of something new to write - something happy and positive - but lately my mind has been too preoccupied by this news story.
Canadian readers will already be familiar with it. A brief summary for American readers: a recently uncovered tape from 1991 that shows a night of partying at a campaign headquarters also catches a future politician using that derogatory "f" word about gays and lesbians. This politician's opponents are, of course, calling for blood.
First, I have to declare a bias. The politician in question is a friend of mine and a former colleague, so I know him as a whole person and not just as a two-dimensional character on some grainy old tape.
I know that he's a guy who's is steadfastly loyal to his friends, moderate and compassionate in his policy views and an active community volunteer who has raised tens of thousands, maybe even hundreds of thousands of dollars for worthy causes over his life. I know that he is a diligent politician who makes probably ten times as much effort as most of his peers to keep in touch with his constituents. In fact, when people in other nearby constituencies can't get action from their own MP, they often turn to Tom, who always tries to help no matter what the situation.
He is, in short, one of the best politicians I know. That he is being subjected to this ongoing humiliation is a complete travesty.
What chokes me most about this situation is how blithely the media, opposition parties and interest groups ignore some of the most elementary basics of civil society, things like "there but for the grace of god go I", or "let he who is without sin cast the first stone" or "people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones".
I've been at long, late, drunken parties with members of the media and NDP and Liberal politicians. There is a rather chummy, all-party, old boys club type piss-up held every year at the provincial legislature at the end of the legislative sitting. I can tell you for a fact that every single one of those bastards have said and done things as bad if not worse when liquored up. The only difference is that no one (yet) has found a tape of them. The hypocrisy of this group, descending on Tom like a pack of hyenas, really is too much to bear.
Watching the tape, knowing Tom, it's clear to me that he was just making a very lame attempt at shock-jock style humour. He was trying to get a laugh out of listeners by saying something he knew was wildly inappropriate. I don't think he meant it then and I know for sure he wouldn't say or even think such a thing now.
None of this of course justifies his long-ago comment, and Tom hasn't sought to justify or make excuses. But, finally, there must come a point where we have to allow our politicians to be humans, who can make mistakes, recognize them and apologize for them without being drawn and quartered in the public forum.
Ultimately, this matter damages all political parties. How much harder will it be now to recruit good candidates in Canada, for any party? Any potential candidate now has to sit back and think "Have I ever said anything inappropriate? Was anyone taping it? Did anyone overhear it who might have an axe to grind with me?" What sort of ridiculous standard of perfection are we setting?
OK, there, I've vented. Enough now. I promise to have something more cheerful to talk about next week.
posted by Mentok @ 10:00 AM,
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Monday, March 31, 2008
Quality Matters?
Here's my question of the week:
Why do porn rental stores still exist?
I mean, I understand why record stores and regular DVD rental places still exist in the digital high-speed age. Arguments can be made one way or the other about quality of formats. Some like the sense of physical ownership. Others like all the extras - the liner notes, the special features and what not - that you get with the physical copy.
But for the life of me I can't see how any of that would translate into porn. I mean, is there some porn connoisseur out there sniffing "Oh yes I tried some of those Internet downloads, but the quality was so poor that it just ruined the whole experience for me. And those pay-per-views - well, all I can say is that they're fine if you're happy with boring cookie-cutter mainstream offerings, but some of us have higher standards."
Special features? The director's commentary, perhaps? Correct me if I'm wrong but, if a person is in the mood for such business, patience and critical assessment are probably going to be in pretty short supply.
Maybe it's the French/Spanish translation features: "Ah! Ah! Bueno! Con mas fuerza!" Yeah, I can see where those subtleties would be lost if you didn't hear them in your own language.
If anyone else has any theories, I'd love to hear them.
posted by Mentok @ 9:40 AM,
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