At the Corner of Central and Prime

Let us make you a meal..Pic courtesy of Central Market

Today

Today is a bright, 50 degree Sunday afternoon -- brisk and beautiful. Have already had my invigorating walk at White Rock. I had a cool blog topic about a Netflix movie, but a month went by and I’ve lost the impetus not to mention the relevant details on that. So today will be a combo of recent TV, streaming entertainment deals, and dining out. Probably enough to constitute a blog.

Golden Globes

I was annoyed by the Golden Globes last week.. Ricky Gervais was a bit of an ungracious arse in his insults toward Mel Gibson and Ben Affleck among others. I don’t see the point of creating antagonism where there was none before. You can be abrasive and fun without being a total snark.

Golden Globes also annoyed me by giving awards almost pointedly to new, unheard-of shows (Mozart in the Jungle, Wolf Hall, The Affair etc). I decided to watch some of these unknowns to see how well they deserved their Globes. It just happens that Showtime is offering a freebie special on Hulu-- first episode of several hit series for free. I took the bait and watched episode 1 of The Affair. I must say -- the Globes probably nailed it on this one.

The Affair

I watched episode 1 of The Affair this morning -- it’s about two married people cheating on their respective spouses. I figured it would be a one-dimensional soap, but it quickly unfolded into a neo-noir mystery. The story is in flashback form .. the man and woman are at a police station, separately giving their versions of something that happened. Their stories differ noticeably and the viewer is all agape -- what brought them to a police station? What happened? I’m on edge now to find out. It seems clear from their stories that they are no longer lovers or even friends to each other.

Amazon Prime

I have to say, we are in an age of entertainment overload. We have Time Warner, iTunes, Netflix, Hulu, Crackle, Vudu, etc, etc ad infintum. Now we can add Amazon Prime to that mix .. they have several exclusive offerings like Transparent and Mozart in the Jungle. This week they’re offering a year of Prime for only $76 (normally $99). A full season of a hit show can run $24 on Apple or non-prime Amazon. One movie rental is $5.99.. I figured it wouldn’t take much to run it up to $76. I’m now on Amazon Prime, God help my television addicted soul. I better watch my $76 worth.

Neighborhood Walmart and Central Market

About a year ago I praised the Neighborhood Walmart on Lower Greenville Avenue in Dallas. I thought it was a great remodel and a good alternative to pricier groceries in the area. Alas, I spoke too soon.. the store is being closed in 2 weeks. Apparently it underperformed. Am sorry to see that -- I liked their $4.99 deli chicken among other things. Some Greenville area snobs are glad to see Walmart go -- that attitude is also unfortunate. Now we lose tax base, local employment and we get a boarded up vacant building for weeks to come. Sounds like a lose-lose to me.

I decided to try out Central Market and see if they could address the void created by Walmart. My trial items were Starbucks Frappuccino 4-packs and 4-Way Nasal spray. Central Market carries mostly homeopathic type meds -- no 4-Way. They had only store-ground coffee and fancy specialty brands -- no Folgers or Starbucks. I was bummed that they couldn’t help on that, but decided to try their gourmet kitchen and cafe for lunch as a consolation for the failed scavenger hunt.

They offer weekly lunch specials in the 7-10 dollar range -- all prepared while you watch. They have a variety of items -- shrimp salad, ciabatta sandwiches and grilled pork. I had the ciabatta salami sandwich and fries -- while seated in their bright, modern sunlit cafe. I see why Central Market has been such a mainstay for these 15 years.. the experience was very enjoyable. I’ll be back.

Conclusion

I’ve stumbled upon some new things this past week, and am sorry to be losing Walmart. On the whole, it’s a week of positive discoveries. I have a show to binge watch, a cafe to frequent and $76 worth of benefits to squeeze from Amazon Prime. It could be better -- it could be a lot worse.

© 2016 Snillor Productions

The Holy Trinity of Hipster Capitalism

We keep coming back.. Picture courtesy of Wikipedia

TODAY

I’m in mourning that my two week Christmas vacation is over.. I love the time to be lazy and reflective. Today we have 55 chilly degrees under a bright blue sky – very invigorating. I’m sitting in new the Lakewood Starbucks, admiring the relaxed ambience. What a perfect segue to today’s topic..

THE TRIFECTA

If you think of “hipster capitalism”, many things spring to mind: Google, Facebook, Uber, Tesla.. and so forth and so on. The 3 companies I have in mind are noteworthy for being among the first of the hipsters and cementing themselves as part of our national identity and culture: Starbucks, Apple and Whole Foods Market. In 2015, I’d like to examine what we love now, what we loved then and if the dream is still alive. Let’s stroll thru our hipster places one by one...

Starbucks

EST: 1970
CLOSEST 1970 COMPETITOR: Dunkin Doughnuts

Starbucks had a slow build towards frenzied, Frappuccino success. Prior to Starbucks, coffee shops were more along the lines of greasy spoon hovels – with dirty ash trays and waitresses scuttling you along. Mavis needed to turn the tables. Starbucks gave us a trendy living room with comfy chairs and mood music. It brought unique coffee beverages into a pub-like atmosphere of convivial socializing. Who would’ve imagined? It wasn’t revolutionary per se, but revolutionary in the elements combined.

Apple

EST: 1976
CLOSEST 1976 COMPETITOR: Radio Shack

Computers for hobbyists had just been invented when Apple came along. They were hardly user friendly – they called for an engineering genius to put the pieces together and feed it programming instructions. For all its clunkiness, the Apple I gave the world an easy-to-use home computer. Osborn, IBM, Atari and others were asleep at the wheel. By the time they entered the market with their offerings, Apple had already entrenched itself with artists and educators. Macintosh was pretty far along on the drawing board.

WHOLE FOODS MARKET

EST: 1980
Closest 1980 competitor: Local delis, ethnic food marts

Whole Foods took food consciousness to a new level – with an emphasis on organics, purity of ingredients, local farm-sourcing and other wholesome factors. All of this was brought into a supermarket chain paradigm – one that gave customers a consistent feel-good experience from one store and city to the next. People seeking a special green tea didn’t have to do mail order or drive to Korea Town anymore – they could just go to a nearby Whole Foods Market. As with Starbucks, it wasn’t a revolution per se, but it was revolutionary presentation. This brings us now to a 2015 check-up... What have these guys done for us lately?

.. WHAT ABOUT NOW?

Starbucks has many competitors now.. The $4 Latte was too great of a boondoggle for others to ignore. Starbucks has hit a couple of bumps in an otherwise smooth ride. They closed a number of stores in the 2008 Recession and a few years later they made stores less luxuriant in an effort to turn tables faster. Some slackers were settling into the comfy chairs for an all-day visit. Overall, Starbucks is still true to its original concept: good coffee, good music, tolerable bench-like seating (now).

Apple has had an amazing trajectory. It was having a near-death experience in 1997 when Steve Jobs returned and brought his evangelical techno-wizardry back to the forefront. Apple is still riding high but with a couple of caveats (hinted at in a Simpson’s spoof)... It has a cult-like aspect both with employees and customers. A product's success should be based on intrinsic merit, not purely hipness or brand allegiance. There also appears to be an “Apple tax” paid for devices and accessories which is a monetary concern for people on a budget. Not surprisingly Samsung and Microsoft have wooed some people away with Galaxies and Surface Pro’s – you can’t sell to all of the people all of the time.

Whole Foods probably registers the biggest change from my own observations. Whole Foods Market was a fun, counterculture, quasi-hippie divergence in years gone by. Its parking lot had VW vans and cars plastered with provocative bumper stickers (“Eat brown rice” “Uppity Women Unite”). The whole shopping trip was like a reefer run to a hippie commune, or to an Austin health food emporium. It was fun and somewhat subversive. Stick it to the Man and buy cool stuff at the same time.

Whole Foods is now a snobby, pretentious experience – a gluten-free, cage-free, wine tasting affair with major appeal to law partners, CPA’s and soccer moms. The parking lot has mostly Mercedes, Porsche, and Lexus cars with a couple of reserved spaces for “eco-friendly” electric cars. Whole Foods’ 1980 concern over the ecosystem played well into the 2015 boomer fixation around global warming, recycling and carbon footprints. An obnoxious PwC Sr. Manager can assuage his capitalist conscience by knowing he just ate cage-free chicken and purchased a greeting card made from 100% recycled paper. Absolution never came so easily.

I might be judging these things in a harsh light and maybe not. I still patronize all these places in 2015. For Whole Foods, it might just be more of a people watching experience – but I must admit that their chocolate-toffee wafer cookies keep me coming back too.

© 2016 Snillor Productions

Rescuing the Dukes

Southern folk we like .. Poster courtesy of Wikipedia

by Trebor Snillor
Today

We actually have a “heat dome” over North Texas and sunny blue skies. Now that the heat is unrelenting I’m wondering if I wouldn’t like some cloud cover after all. I’m going for a walk in Las Colinas with a friend this afternoon so I need to double up on the SPF.

Miscellaneous other

I was appalled that Donald Trump led in the GOP polls for the last week.. The man is truly a train wreck and even many of his fellow Republicans can see that. Yesterday he essentially insulted all veterans by saying that John McCain was not a war hero. Let’s hope that one comment is enough to end his juggernaut. His die hard supporters should be ashamed of Trump’s pettiness and move their support to a serious contender.

Sanitizing the South?

Since the huge brouhaha around the Confederate Flag, the Legions of Political Correctness have taken aim at everything Confederate or Southern. There is talk in Dallas of renaming Robert E Lee Park and Stonewall Jackson Elementary. The Lee statue (dedicated by FDR in 1937) has even been vandalized. I have some comments about all the wrongness here. First of all, vigilantism and vandalism are never a good approach. If you don’t like the statue you should work through government – don’t turn yourself into a graffiti artist.

I’m also reminded of a local movement to remove the word “nigger” from school editions of Tom Sawyer. This kind of literary cleansing actually does something opposite of its intent – it takes away race as a relevant topic. It imposes a cloak of silence over what should be very much reviewed, discussed and understood. It’s a close relative to book burning.

I’m reminded of ISIS tearing down ancient “pagan” statues or Soviet GOSPLAN members renaming St. Petersburg to Leningrad. Such arrogant cultural cleansings do way more harm than good.. they create fissures and resentments that invite a future reckoning. We should never try to pave over things that are troubling or divisive in our collective past – we should remember where we came from.

Baby versus Bathwater

And where does the denial stop? There are many Old South symbols – Aunt Jemima Pancakes, mint julips, Tara-style mansions, and even expressions like “Lawd have mercy”. I’m of southern heritage and I indulge frequently in my Southern peccadillos. I also vote Democratic and I’m decidedly left of center. Don’t anyone deny me of a “Dukes of Hazard” episode or a pecan pie while figuring out which Southern tropes and symbols to stomp on. Some of it like “Dukes of Hazard” has a self-knowing parody at work anyway. They aren’t writing a Boss Hogg recommendation.

Everyone get a grip – listen to “That’s What I Like about the South”. We are keeping the magnolias and the azaleas along with sweet tea, Tex Mex and chicken fried steak. Resident Yankees should know where the EXIT door is if they want to squelch everything Confederate. Surprise – I can make all the relevant distinctions thank you.

© 2015 Snillor Productions

The Best of Times and the Best of Times

Finding a pot of gold .. .. Picture courtesy of Wikipedia

by Trebor Snillor
I’m shocked that my 3-day July 4th weekend is almost over. The sky was overcast most of the 3 days and rain was threatened but never delivered. This is our summer of weirdness with cloudy skies and temps about 10 degrees below normal. I think for the sake of consistency we should return to blue skies and 100+ degree temperatures.

LAST WEEK OF JUNE

The last week of June is one that will live in infamy with staunch conservatives. The confederate flag took a hit for being (possibly) a symbol of racism. And then Obamacare and same-sex marriage were upheld by the Supreme Court. Adding to the overall excitement, Donald Trump implied with a broad brush that Mexicans are rapists and drug dealers. As it stands, the Hispanic Voter’s alliance has requested clarification from the GOP Chairman as well as other candidates to see if they all feel the same way. We know that Ted Cruz has chimed in as agreeing with Trump.

When blacks were integrated into white school districts 60 years ago, it released the furies of white southern indignation. Eisenhower had to send the National Guard so a little girl could attend school in Little Rock. Governor George Wallace tried to physically block a school entrance being approached by black students. The times were changing but the guardians of Southern status quo could not cope or concede.

I’ve sensed a similar vibe with Attorney General Ken Paxton and Governor Greg Abbott here in Texas of 2015. They would like to take arms against the onslaught of same-sex marriage and Obamacare. The "Sound and Fury" will proceed as it did before. Racism didn't end with judicial progress -- neither will homophobia or health care scare tactics.

OBAMACARE

I have a particular nit to pick about Obamacare. Given this situation – an 8 year old girl is diagnosed with a form of leukemia that is treatable but only with expensive, state-of-the-art medical equipment and drugs. It shouldn’t matter if the little girl is white and from University Park or black and from Oak Cliff. Even a “Rockefeller” Republican will concede that an uninsured girl should still get tax-funded treatment at a state-affiliated hospital.

Aye but there’s the rub. When we make it distant, vague and lacking specifics, Republicans have a smug certitude (based on history) that the girl at the county hospital will actually be given third-rate care. She may die in the waiting room with a four hour wait. She may finally see a less well-compensated, overbooked doctor who misdiagnoses her condition. Another doctor at the same hospital might despairingly give inadequate service knowing that expensive treatments are off-limits.

The “horrific” thing that Obamacare does is take vagueness out of the equation. The Oak Cliff girl will now have insurance that mandates an appointment with a “good” doctor in a non-emergency setting. No county hospital needed. If she needs $100K in high tech imaging, Blue Cross will pay for that as they would for any paying customer.

Part of giving people their dignity is telling them that their lives matter. Surviving leukemia shouldn’t be something that goes to the highest bidder like oil paintings at a Sotheby’s auction.

Symbols of racism coming down, gay people marrying and everyone getting quality medical care – what’s the world coming to?? Next we’ll have medical marijuana and animal rights. Conservatives everywhere – take a cue from Rush Limbaugh and find your OxyContin pain pills.

© 2015 Snillor Productions

Roundabout with H-1B

Are we being underbid? - Pic courtesy of Wikipedia

by Trebor Snillor

Today I’m in Starbucks, during a holiday week. The temperature is plummeting outside and the throng has moved indoors.. I’m composing this in an easy chair next to the front door. Burrr! Today’s blog topic is one I’ve touched on in other blog entries (“Oink!”, “Stratus World”). I’m speaking specifically this time of the controversy surrounding H-1B visas granted to immigrants in the United States. Most of such immigrants come from India and China though many other countries also indulge. H-1B visas were conceived as a way to fill specialty US jobs (in science, medicine, engineering, accounting) with foreign brain power. The idea was that the jobs were unfilled – why not answer the call with 3-year visas?

This Road to Hell was paved with good intentions; limits were placed on duration and number of people. Politicians didn’t want to horn in on American jobs did they? (Or did they have something else in mind?).. The law is now a labyrinth of codas, exceptions and dangling participles – it makes the tax code look simple. The Fortune 500 companies of America were smitten with this mother lode of cheap white collar labor – how could they not exploit it? The issue has been conflated into a political issue, but I have to say it’s one that mostly pits populist Republicans (anti H-1B) against rich, patrician Republicans who are vested in the Fortune 500 (pro H-1B).

LOSE-LOSE SITUATION

Note -- the following discussion uses software engineering as an example, but it is equally applicable to accounting, medicine and other areas.

I have a good friend in human resources at a large accounting firm. He tells me that a newly minted American computer science graduate programming java commands $90K/year nowadays. That same job can be filled by H-1B Outsourcing firms for $65K/year. Software engineering isn’t controlled by organized labor – it responds directly to market pressures. Indians and Pakistanis have effectively underbid Americans for the same work assignments.

The cost to American citizens: We shrink the “specialty employment” pool dramatically. The only American grads commanding $90K will be the top 2% of the class. Otherwise the form letter reads “all jobs are filled at this time – thank you for your interest”. A question to Americans might be: have we bid the price too high for what we do?

The cost to employers: In treating software design as a generic commodity you get high turnover, buggy code and a serious lack of standards or continuity in your whole operation. A permanent employee can better understand history, strategy, business rules and overall company direction. A contractor is less likely to feel like a stake holder when a 3-year egg timer ticking away in the background. Throw in some language and cultural barriers – you have a situation that evokes the Neiman Marcus slogan: “Quality is remembered long after price is forgotten”..

The cost to the United States of America: The list of “specialty fields” has expanded to include basically any middle class occupation that is heavily dependent on computers or internet connections. Doctors’ jobs are even at risk as it becomes easier to farm out tests and x-rays to a Pakistani clinic halfway around the world. America’s middle class is hit by a wrecking ball of “friendly” outsourcing.

Where do we go from here? Some of the same people vehemently opposed to H-1B are also free market apostles who would be mortified by wage controls, hiring restrictions or unionization. Politicians tend to engage in double-talk and leave the status as quo.

CONCLUSION

If we do nothing, we will end up with an odd sort of America. Sanjay and Priya will make $65K a year which is still enough to live a middle class lifestyle. They will have a new Toyota Camry and a nice starter home. American-born John and Karen will be struggling to drive a used Yaris and will live in a dumpy apartment. It seems they can only find work as a car wash manager and a restaurant hostess. The America I describe isn’t so far away or ridiculous – it’s already under way. Something needs to be done, the question is “what?”

© 2014 Snillor Productions

Material Girl

I'll take one in every color - Pic courtesy of Wikipedia

by Trebor Snillor

Hunky’s
Today I’m writing from Hunky’s Café on Cedar Springs. I wanted a change of scenery and wi-fi is available here. We’re having a late October heat wave, so I won’t be baking in their sidewalk seating area. It’s sunny and festive inside here – we have the ambience of a 50’s diner. I love the atmosphere except for the loud foursome behind me.

Film Noir for Moi
I just watched 1944’s Double Indemnity on Netflix. Directed by Billy Wilder it is possibly the best film noir ever made. Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck were at their peaks and I barely paused the TV while watching it. It has a couple of interesting twists which I forgot about. Hard to believe that Walter Neff was later the genial father on My Three Sons.

Queen of Versailles
Last week I watched a documentary about the wealthy Siegel family in Orlando Florida. David Siegel owns the largest timeshare corporation in America. I figured it would be like a fun Donald and Ivana Trump special – wasn’t quite expecting what I saw. Queen of Versailles actually focuses more on David’s wife Jackie. The ex-1993 Miss America is shown indulging their 8 children in extravagant toys and making plans for their new, 90,000 square foot Versailles knock-off (largest house in America).

The movie is a documentary that began filming circa 2007 before the financial crisis. The producer had access to the Siegel’s and their home for extensive interviews. What struck me immediately was the question “How much is enough?”. Mr. Siegel is quoted as saying, “I’m not materialistic”. Jackie belies this by declaring that their 26,000 square foot mansion is “bursting at the seams” and they need 90,000 square feet. Jackie clearly feels that if a dollop is good a truckload is way better. She has @ 10 white Pomeranian lap dogs gracing every scene. The maids are shown picking up dog poop while the boy actually steps in some. Every commissioned oil painting of the couple shows Mr. Siegel dressed as a knight or a king. Nothing low-key here.

The 2008 crisis hits and the Siegel’s are seriously affected. It seems the timeshare business needs plentiful, cheap loan money. They must suspend construction on Versailles and lay off thousands of employees. David at one point says that his kids may have to apply for student loans – I’m wondering if one of their gaudy lamps couldn’t pay for at least a year in Harvard for one kid. They lay off all but four maids, who are still needed to push 5 loaded shopping carts out of a local toy store at Christmas. A new bicycle has to fight for space in a garage already overflowing with bikes and sports gear. Jackie visits an old high school friend – she’s shocked that her Avis rent car doesn’t come with a driver. David tells her to cut back, but at no point does it seem like it looms large in her mind.

My impression from all this is not that the Siegel’s are terrible, bad people. Jackie is a friendly people person with a lot of exuberance for life. I think she seems more like an addictive-personality who doesn’t know how to apply the brakes on the materialism gravy train. She just has more enabling than your average hoarder or shop-a-holic. Even one of the teenage children says that enough is never really enough.

Recovery
Since 2008, the timeshare industry recovered and the Siegel’s are back in the saddle. Mr. Siegel restarted construction on Versailles. The Siegel’s filed a lawsuit against the producers of Queen of Versailles.. They felt the portrayal was defamatory. The case was decided in the producer’s favor although more litigation could follow. I’m still at Hunky’s and a schizophrenic man has started talking either to himself or me – not sure. Will take that as a cue to wrap this up and enjoy what remains of this extremely hot afternoon.

© 2014 Snillor Productions

The World According to Dude

We all need to chill - Pic courtesy of Wikipedia

by Trebor Snillor
This Weekend
This is Labor Day weekend and I’ve managed to stay pretty occupied. Just refurnished my bedroom with contemporary-style furniture and am getting new linens to go with it. No trouble saying goodbye to the bulky furniture it replaces. Quite a few other things are going on with family and work as well..

Steve
My brother Steve is 61 – not a great deal older than me. He was recently hospitalized for heart palpitations and is having to now take a series of heart meds. His doctor has urged him to slow things down and reduce stress. I’ve barely digested the recent deaths of parents, aunts and uncles so I’m totally unprepared to deal with mortality in a sibling. The need for relaxation is an easy sell to me.

Zen, Epicurus and Dudeism
I’ve touched on this topic before – reflection, introspection and savoring the small details of life. We live in a fast-paced material world and it sometimes swallows us whole. We’re in a mad rush to really nowhere I might add.

Yesterday I drove on the Dallas Tollway to IKEA in Frisco. I drove at 65mph in the center lane – I was given dirty looks by drivers hurtling past me, left and right. A 30-something man in a new, red Tahoe was easily doing 80mph, weaving in and out to keep his “lead” in the fast lane. This was even on a curvy section of the Tollway. I couldn’t help wondering what his urgency was on a Sunday afternoon. Was it worth dying for? Once I reached IKEA, I was almost mowed down in the pedestrian crosswalk by a person impatient to shop. We have a need for immediate proximity and also immediate communication..

Comedian Patton Oswalt just wrote an essay for TIME magazine – it seems he logged off of Twitter and Facebook for 3 summer months. He did it for quality time with his daughter and to reestablish eye contact with friends and associates. He pointed out that the American middle class now has an iPhone or an Android acting as an arm appendage. We glue ourselves to a glass pane for instant communication, while driving our cars lead-footed and manically. Speed and immediacy beget more of the same. We seem to be caught in some type of technology vortex and have no ability to save ourselves from ourselves.

Chill
I’d like to channel the spirits of Epicurus and Dude. Here are my ideas about how to approach the Tollway, smart phones and other evils of the modern world..

- There are no hurries. Unless someone is giving birth or has a severed finger there is no need ever to drive like a maniac. Ever.
- Your cell phone should not even be on or within reach while driving. The call should be deferred until you park or pull aside. Even a hands-free phone causes distracted driving.
- You should occasionally have 1960’s day – you can’t use anything invented after 1969. That still leaves you lots of great things. It gives you an afternoon of theater or a good book. It gives you conversation and even still leaves you TV. It rips you away from computers, smart phones and gaming devices that turn you into a walking-dead, isolated idiot.
- You should savor the world about you – become a bit of a foodie, wine enthusiast or musical buff. Walk in the park are have a BBQ in the back yard. Figure a way to enjoy this beautiful world and the enhancements afforded by chefs, artists, musicians and actors. But do it all away from the glaring screen of an iPhone or an iPad.

My brother’s health issue was an eye opener and so was my trip to IKEA. Too many of us are in a big friggin’ hurry – myself included. It's time for us to chill and appreciate what low technology has to offer.

© 2014 Snillor Productions

Porno Paradox

Sex Oddity? - Pic courtesy of Wikipedia

by Trebor Snillor
Caution: Today’s blog entry is fairly explicit and covers an adult topic (albeit an unusual topic). Proceed at your own risk! 

Buck Angel is a 42 year old man who might provoke no interest or curiosity were you to see him on the street. He has a shaved head, reddish beard, tattoos, and a compact, muscular build. You might figure he has an “alternative” life style due to a pierced nipple and profuse body ink, but you wouldn’t guess that he’s a star of adult videos. He’s even brought home several awards including one for “Most Outrageous Scene”.

Want some more surprises? Buck is a genetic female and still has a vagina. He underwent top reassignment to remove his breasts in 1992, but explains that a prosthetic penis would be unsatisfactory for his purposes. He considers himself to be a man in every sense and sees his clitoris (abnormally enlarged by years of testosterone injections) as a surrogate penis. Buck is married to a heterosexual female, Elayne, a nationally known body piercing expert. They live happily together in a Spanish style, middle income neighborhood – in a house with a pool and 5 dogs.

Buck grew up in a normal home – with an outdoorsy father, a mom and a sister. His father played football with Buck and liked having a tomboy daughter. Buck’s dad later had trouble accepting Buck as a transgender and faulted himself for playing so many rough-and-tumble games with Buck when Buck was young. (More recently, Buck said that this was nonsense – the football games were not a relevant factor in his gender identity). As a teen, Buck came out as a gay woman to his parents – but his gender odyssey was just beginning.

Buck was actually a pretty 19 year old woman and had a brief (2 year) modeling career as a glam, beautiful woman. He spiraled into drug and alcohol abuse during this phase. The modeling only created an internal schism and made Buck hate himself more – enough so that he started cutting himself. The substance abuse took Buck to another phase where he was unemployed and lived on the street.

Literally lying in the gutter, Buck decided to address his gender crisis by coming out as a transgender man. He quit drinking and simultaneously underwent breast removal. The rest of his story is like a really strange Horatio Alger success story. He became a porno icon – known as “the man with a pussy”. He’s acted with men and women. He’s also broadened his domain into public service and transgender counseling. He has appeared on TV Shows (eg, Tyra) and was also a panelist on Sex Week at Yale University.

I have to say I was reluctant to watch Mr. Angel – the documentary of his life. I was certain to be horrified by what was “down there” among other things. Buck’s voice is a little bit high for a man, but not so much that he can’t still pass as a man. His eyes are larger and more expressive than a macho man would normally have, but again it’s something fairly minor. If you saw him on the street, you’d think nothing about it and assume he was a man. Of course -- it would be another story at a nude beach.

I was somewhat flummoxed years ago when Cher’s daughter Chastity went from a pretty blonde to a stocky, portly Italiano man. It seems like an extreme measure to take one’s body to a “chop shop”. Even more extreme to do like Buck and step from there into porn. I won’t pretend to have the answers or know the wherefores. To borrow from the Kink’s song Lola, it’s a mixed up world. If you want to see how mixed it can all be, watch Mr. Angel on Netflix. You might not change your mind about anything, but you’ll have expanded your awareness of what can possibly occur in our mixed up world.


© 2014 Snillor Productions

A Crazy Little Thing..

Mercurial rhapsodist ... - Pic courtesy of Wikipedia

by Trebor Snillor
When I was in my teens, it was the wild and wacky decade of the 1970’s. The “Me” decade was characterized by silly excess, particularly in the arena of Rock ‘n Roll. We saw Elton in giant platform heels, David Bowie with blue thunderbolts on his face and Ozzie Ozborn biting the heads off of bats. Edgar Winter creeped us out with his “only coming out at night” album and KISS requested that someone lick it up. It would be hard to stand out in this era of glam-rock showmanship and yet Freddie Mercury of Queen did just that.

Mercury was born Farrokh Bulsara and spent much of his youth growing up in India. He attended elite English boarding schools, learning to play piano at age 7. His family fled to Middlesex, England when it looked like the Zanzibar Revolution would threaten their safety. Mercury completed an Art degree at a Polytechnic school, but music was his passion. He sang for two groups, Ibex and Smile, before forming his own band -- a little group called Queen. He changed his name to Freddie Mercury about this time; he claims no intended second meanings of the group’s name, Queen. He just thought it was dramatic.

Dramatic is the word for Mercury. If I had to categorize his music I would say: rock, rockabilly, classical, opera and then Spanish soap opera. He delivered his music in 4 octaves and crossed every conceivable genre imaginable. In one interview he said he liked to keep inventing new sounds. I remember hearing the lyrics:

“Mama, I just killed a man -- put a gun up to his head…pulled the trigger now he's dead.”

I was shocked, a little bit outraged and then busted out laughing. This was pretty much a universal reaction. His songs were campy and outrageous across the board. It’s interesting that a gay man in tights scripted the lyrics, "We will rock you" and “We are the champions”, still today sung by macho sports enthusiasts around the world.

Mercury died from AIDS in 1991 at age 45. He had been in a 6 year relationship with an HIV positive man named Jim Hutton at the time. For such a flamboyant man fronting a group called Queen, Mercury was coy about his sexuality when talking to reporters or biographers. He claimed Mary Austin, a woman he lived with early on, was the love of his life. He described sex between men (early on in his life) as “schoolboy pranks”. The reticence surrounding that might be understandable given the judgmental nastiness that was still being heaped on AIDS victims in 1991.

Regardless of HIV, sex preference or genre-defying music, Freddie Mercury was a musical force of nature. Rolling Stone rated him the 18th greatest singer of all time, and BBC placed him in their top 100. His music plays constantly now around the world. Even in death, he brings energy to the planet -- and smiles everywhere. Mercury was indeed a champion and we’re enriched by his outrageous sense of fun.

© 2014 Snillor Productions

Dream Deferred

Not a universal dream? - Pic courtesy of Wikipedia

by blogSpotter
CABIN FEVER

Dallas has had a bizarre ice storm across the last 3 days -- we’ve been dealing with downed trees and power outages. Today is Sunday and we’re blessed with a 38 degree heat wave. There are still plenty of ice patches to avoid but the major streets are driveable. The whole city has come alive at 3PM, as we discover it’s OK to come back outdoors. Now that I’ve made it out, I’ll tackle today’s topic -- the middle class American Dream.

PLEASANT VALLEY SUNDAY

There is a popular myth about the free market economy -- probably as old as Adam Smith. It certainly was entrenched by the time Hoover’s 1928 campaign promised “a chicken in every pot and a car in every garage”.. The notion is very appealing -- it says that anyone with energy, gumption and a little dose of the protestant work ethic should be able to achieve a middle class lifestyle. It’s the American Dream -- we've had it dangled before us by parents, teachers, Madison Avenue or cable TV. We even have whole government infrastructures in place (Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac) to ensure that hard-working people everywhere can have a cozy bungalow with a picket fence.

No matter if you’re low on the economic totem pole -- hard work and perseverance will carry you forward to your manifest, material happiness. You might not achieve a mansion but you’ll have a humble home and maybe a car. This idea stuck with me for so many years until I looked around and realized how far off the mark it is. It makes sweeping assumptions about the human condition -- assumptions that are mistaken. The resounding optimism of it (most frequently voiced by affluent conservatives and uber-politically correct liberals) should be tempered by the reality at hand.

I have a concept of people who in virtually any society (socialist, capitalist) would be renting a property or otherwise living in in quarters that are not owned personally. I'll dub it the "Mobile" class..

MOBILE CLASS

o Artists and artisans -- People who make jewelry or paint watercolors as an avocation. This may be unrealistic to a bean counter, but there are people who pour heart and soul into something that doesn't pay a livable wage.
o Financially unfortunate people who have made unlucky investments or lost their money.
o People who don’t want to work. There are people who truly do not conform to a work or office ethic. They're happy to live sparingly and not work for "the man". Labor cannot be forced.
o People of earnest good intentions who are learning disabled -- They aren’t lazy but have diminished capacities.
o Mentally ill / seriously disabled / incarcerated -- These people will have a dependency on overseers and care givers -- They will live in institutions or relatives' homes. Some mentally ill may even be homeless.

There are also hermits and iconoclasts -- people who want to live simply, live in communes or live off the land. This might include religious sects that are separatist or minimalist. They may not even be enough a part of the mainstream to rent a residence, but neither do they pursue the American Way.

The above categories include people who might have trouble scraping by even with food stamps and housing subsidies. The boomers among us were steeped in a consumer society offering material rewards. I'm in that subset, which frequently sees success in life as something that is monetized and certifiable with stuff. But there are so many other people who by choice or happenstance do not measure their lives that way. Young millennials are one group which by choice sees another passage to fulfillment -- a passage that embraces relationships and time spent with travels or self-discovery.

Universal, middle class capitalism is a myth. Much like extreme feminism and communism (blog topics for another day), the middle class myth arises out of misconceptions about who we actually are. I have a friend who falls somewhat into the inactive, indolent category. I thought I was doing him a favor by telling him about job training, Pocket Quicken, and cheap tuition. The irritation in his eyes suggested that my neo-Republican pearls of wisdom were not welcome. My ideas fell onto the floor -- like shattered pieces of home-finance platitudes. My friend doesn’t mind living in a down-scale area, driving an old car and accepting money from his relatives. I was attempting to fix what wasn’t broken.

And there we have it -- a whole band of people who don’t want the "American Dream". Maybe everybody’s dreams aren’t concentric. Whatever the case may be, there will always be a broad category of people for whom Hoover’s 1928 promise remains unfulfilled, even unsought. And for so many of them, it’s not a big deal, it just is how it is.

© 2013 blogSpotter

The Village of Cool

Cool duds for cool dudes - Pic courtesy of Wikipedia

by blogSpotter
VACATION WEEK

I took all of Halloween week as a vacation week. I was bummed about the overcast, rainy skies but still managed to work in three birthday dinners, giving out candy to trick-or-treaters and overseeing two carpentry repairs to my house. In hindsight, it was actually a good, productive week. I could use some more of those.

COMEDY OF ERRORS

The Comedy of Errors is Shakespeare's comedy involving the mistaken identities of twins. It’s considered one of Shakespeare’s less inspired works. I think the Obamacare debacle is a comedy of errors, and it couldn’t be any less inspired as it turns out.

Kathleen Sebelius was skewered on Saturday Night Live, as well she should have been. SNL joked that healthcare.gov could only handle 6 users at a time. In an incredible instance of life imitating art it turns out that only 6 Americans were able to sign up through healthcare.gov on October 1st.

The entire top tier of the health and human services department should be fired for such astounding incompetence. Insiders note that Sebelius can’t be fired -- she has a sort of political immunity. A replacement would call for contentious, drawn-out Congressional hearings that would do more damage than good. She has zero credibility at this point, and should probably quit being the public face of her department. The administration has brought in a big honcho from Verizon to fix the system. It’s probably not a good omen that the site still went down for a day one week after he was brought in.

Everyone, keep your fingers crossed. Affordable health care shouldn’t have been entrusted to Larry, Darryl and Darryl. Let’s hope that someone finally gets it figured out.

COOL DUDES

I’m in Starbucks looking at all the cool dudes around me. They variously have cool buzz cuts, tattoos, designer jeans and Samsung Galaxy smart phones. These guys glom together in each other’s reflective coolness. I was never really cool a day in my life.. having just turned 56 it’s looking less likely. Gray hair and jowls are not good from a modeling standpoint. I go for comfort as a primary focus -- thus to explain my loose fit Levis, Sketcher loafers and XL sized tee from Target.

There was a time in my 20’s where I would’ve sold my soul to be cool -- nobody was in the market for my soul. I was crushed if my roommate was invited to an A-List party and I was not. I was mortified if my socks didn’t match or my shirt had the wrong emblem. In spite of my best, albeit clumsy efforts I never made it to the A List. In fact, my social ineptitude got me somewhere on the E List (not even on par with Kathy Griffin).

At 56, I don’t get looks anymore -- in fact I may be the Invisible Man. I’m relieved if I don’t have to make an appearance at a stiff social function, and I shop for comfort way more than fashion. A few years back, my brother said (tongue slightly in cheek) that we’d adapt well to old age. Even then, we both liked:

o Elevator music
o American cars with velour seating
o Dining at Luby’s cafeteria

I’ve entered an arena where I can embrace all of those things if I so desire -- to heck with what anyone thinks. Cool dudes -- would it make a difference if I listened to Enya, drove a Mercedes and ate at Parigi? Would it fit the picture any better? It’s a ridiculous "if” because I would never choose things which to me seem stuffy and kind of phony. You’ll have to invite this guy who wears a Fossil watch, drives a Ford and eats at Taco Cabana. That guy also has a receded hairline and a few wrinkles.

One wrinkle I don’t have is unrealistic expectations about myself. I’m a bit like my Sketcher loafers -- well-travelled, comfortable and practical. I do allow some luxuries here and there but nothing Donald Trump would ever envy. I’ve been accused of having a lot of Apple toys, but that actually puts me way further from the Village of Cool.

That village is in my rearview mirror and it’s skyline is becoming an impressionistic gray blur. I’m OK with the growing distance between us.

© 2013 blogSpotter

Stratus World

Must-drive SUV - Pic courtesy of Wikipedia

by blogSpotter
SHUT-DOWN REDUX

Ex-senator Kay Bailey Hutchison was asked this week what she thought about the government shut-down and threat of default we just experienced. She praised the Senate for giving adult guidance in a situation fraught with childish impulses. Hutchison didn’t mention Ted Cruz by name but his name was fairly implied. I think Mr. Cruz did an act of economic vandalism on the American people by his bullying, hot-headed, ego-driven behavior. Am hoping that he is duly chastised by the GOP and I hope that the Tea Party learns to act more with dignity and restraint. Their ideas may not go away, but their strategies could stand a huge overhaul.

SPOTLIGHT ON TEXAS

This week’s TIME cover story gives praise to Texas -- it has a vibrant economy, low taxes, low unemployment and something like 5 of the 10 fastest growing cities in the nation. The author is a self-admitted Libertarian and he showered mostly praise on the free-wheeling aspects of the Lone Star state. He didn’t mention that Texas just closed all but a handful of abortion clinics, disallows gay marriage, turned down Medicaid and elected Ted Cruz as one of its senators. The author’s economic analysis was pretty accurate and credit should be given where it’s due even if a wild band of GOP wingnuts oversees it.

One interesting fact of the Texas economy is that we’re adding jobs -- at the upper and lower ends of the salary spectrum. We’re adding lots of jobs in service, construction, retail and other hourly-wage areas. We’re also adding to the list of millionaires and billionaires. What seems to be suffering are the middle class white-collar jobs that are supposed to be the backbone of a healthy, unified society. Texas is not unique here -- the middle class evaporation is everywhere; it’s more noticeable here because of our job volume.

NEW WORLD

We’re entering into a strange “Stratus” world where a large group of blue collar tradesmen bolster a small cadre of rich people. Globalization, automation and the Internet have all made it so. When I was in high school, it would’ve been unthinkable for me to turn down college. I was an honor student and tuitions were low. Nowadays there’s nearly a reversal -- young adults may opt to stay home, serve yogurt or walk dogs. And their parents hardly argue the point; they don’t want to hollow out their savings for exorbitant tuition. Even a Dean’s List graduate may face a long slog finding a job so what’s the point?

Stirring the pot even more is that we’ve fallen back into the “gotta have it” materialism of the 1950’s -- where we long for high style condos, Range Rovers, designer clothes and 5 star hotels. Our craving for material bling has oddly peaked in a period of lesser financial fitness. How might young people making $10/hour pimp and prostrate themselves to drive an Audi or wear Prada shoes? I don’t have a ready answer for that, although I see such incongruities around me. With lower interest rates, there might be a lot of credit card debt to explain it. I don't think we've fallen so far into the chasm that we sell our bodies but I wouldn't rule it out in a dystopian future.

“In my day” to sound like an old granddad, we bought our clothes at JCPenney or Beall’s. We drove Chevy Impalas and wore Timex watches. Our kitchens had formica - not granite counters. Somehow we survived and even managed to have self-esteem. I wish that the world would return to simpler objectives and less pretentious ways. It would probably smooth things a bit for our coming Stratus World where middle class values could help the newly enlarged service class -- that “swirling mass of gray and black and white” to keep their heads above water financially.

© 2013 blogSpotter

You're Entitled

Are entitlements a bad thing? - Pic courtesy of Wikipedia

by blogSpotter
Back in the 1980’s, liberal was a perfectly acceptable word, one with a noble political history. In short order, the word was gutted and destroyed -- by Reagan/Bush operatives and a passive press. It came to mean “uber politically correct, welfare-loving communist”. The patrician Kennedy family who gave us the Peace Corps and the Roosevelts who gave us FDIC were relegated to an evil subclass of dare I say ...liberals. President Bush #1 described Bill Clinton derisively as a “damn liberal!”. The media and liberals themselves gave into this word bias and moved ever so quietly to the term progressive.

Now in the 2010’s, I’m seeing a similar hatchet job done to the word entitlement. Dictionary.com defines entitlement as “the right to guaranteed benefits under a government program”. This doesn't seem so inherently evil or bad. There are a litany of entitlements that Republicans revere and respect:

Republican-approved Entitlements:

o Modern highways, free of toll charges
o Military protection from unrest or invasion
o Police and fire protection
o A free public education
o Space advancement and exploration
o Farm subsidies
o National parks
o Voting for people with ID’s
o Government grants for health initiatives and research

These are all expensive programs which have been deemed generally beneficial and necessary. They are noble enough in their intent -- we don’t have to question whether they need to be canceled, scuttled or privatized (for the most part).

Now here are the mid-century Democratic Entitlements which still incur the wrath of “Old Guard” GOP:

o Social Security -- Government guaranteed pension for widows, orphans, disabled and those advanced in age
o Minimum wage -- a minimum wage rate for jobs, providing a livable baseline for people in low-skill entry level jobs
o Medicare/Medicaid -- Government health subsidies for poor, indigent and aged Americans

Note that the revocation of the three above items would take us back to the age of poor houses, flophouses and debtors’ prisons. To object to specifics of these programs might merely make you a fiscal conservative. To hate them without qualification makes you somewhat a heartless Simon Legree who would tie a penniless mother to a railroad track.

Affordable Health Care which comes on-line this October 1st has exacted perhaps the greatest, most protracted temper tantrum from the Old Guard GOP. The absolute outrage -- that 1 of 3 Texans now uninsured might finally be covered with health insurance. Oh, the humanity! Angry, nasty volleys have been directed using many new word games. “Obamacare” replaces “Affordable Care”. Entitlement is snarled like a word more foul than a cuss word. Republicans be aware -- entitlement refers also to the fire hydrant on the street and the police officer watching your neighborhood. Yes, those are entitlements. They are reasonable social and government expectations. The same type of reasonable assertion that says a black child from Oak Cliff with cancer should have access to the same advanced treatment as a white child in University Park. We have in our country’s charter the concept of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness -- good health is a cornerstone of that. Yes, we are entitled to it.

© 2013 blogSpotter

Dude Where's my Karma?

The Symbol for Dudeist Thinking - Pic courtesy of Wikipedia

by blogSpotter
This week, I’ve been confronted with my inherent lack of inspired goal-setting. Some might even call it laziness... A recently retired coworker in his late 40’s is working on two venture capital investment projects, even being paid in stock for his contributions. Another coworker in his early 30’s is going to night school, studying genetic engineering. Night school might be a challenge to me if I were studying basket weaving -- my mind could not grasp anything approaching genes or nucleic acids. I’m impressed by the mojo of my friends and equally impressed by my own apparent indolence.

My leisure time activities are somewhat epicurean … I like good healthy food, music and entertainment, aromatherapy, long naps, shopping, and movies. I actually shouldn’t limit my list to hedonistic indulgences -- I also like to read nonfiction, tinker with gadgets, and work out four times a week. If you drive near White Rock Lake, you might see me taking one of my 3-mile trail hikes.

As far as advancing my finances -- I’ve tackled it with the ferocity of a slug. I log on to look at my 401K account maybe twice a year; I’m a financial couch potato with a couch potato fund mixture. My investments are conservative and boring (a lot of bonds, CD’s, and index funds). I’d rather have a low maintenance mix with less of the roller coaster effect. My 50-something heart can no longer take the excitement of a financial thrill ride. Slow and steady works just fine for me.

I’ve actually thought about going back to school, but not to make a million or start a second career. I’d like to take some Fun Ed type courses: Spanish 101, Creative Writing, Radio-TV-Film and Architectural History. I’d enjoy taking a lot of the Liberal Arts fluff that seemed so terribly impractical in college -- when my course load was determined by an all-consuming lust for a rocket-to-the-moon techie career. For all that I now move slowly, I’d like to take a giant chill pill and slow down even more. To borrow from the cliche line, I’d like to stop and smell the roses.

DUDEISM

This leads me to declare my allegiance to Dudeism, a 21st century, American reinterpretation of the ancient Chinese Taoist philosophy. Founded in 2005 by journalist Oliver Benjamin, Dudeism borrows from Taoism and bases much of its overriding attitude on Dude, the laid back, hippie character in 1997’s “The Big Lebowski” (played by Jeff Bridges). A couple of the major premises of Dudeism is that we bring out the very worst in ourselves when we overemphasize career ambition and material excess. According to Dudeism, every day pleasures like bathing, bowling and hanging out with friends are far better tickets to spiritual fulfillment.

Dudeism started out as something of a gag, but now has thousands of followers -- in fact several thousand Dudeist priests have been ordained. Oliver Benjamin is a latter day Buddha, writing a series of Tao books to advance his Dude philosophy.

Is there anything likely to shake me loose from my Dudeist leanings? It’s highly doubtful in this 4th quarter of my life. Like the proverbial dog who catches the car, I’m not sure what I’d do with it if I caught it. I’m pretty sure I could use some conversational Spanish and I could express myself with some bad poetry. If you get the chance, watch “The Big Lebowski” and see why it has a cult following. And if life’s pressures are giving you ulcers and resentments it might be time to consider a Dudeist adjustment to your own routine.

© 2013 blogSpotter

An IKEA State of Mind

The Swedish-inspired shopping paradise - Pic courtesy of Wikipedia

by blogSpotter
Today I drove 25 miles to Frisco, TX to indulge one of my shopping habits -- I shopped at IKEA. Most people are familiar with the home furnishing megastore in blue and yellow (the national colors of Sweden). Like the lemming shoppers around me, I followed the arrows which guided me through an upstairs showroom and then through a downstairs market section. I love contemporary furnishings and bargain prices -- this store is a double jackpot for me. I’m not too crazy about the arrows since I might get stalled behind a baby carriage or slow people. In those moments I take the store’s shortcuts to get my my next destination.

If you watch late night TV, you’ve heard jokes about the difficulty of IKEA assembly instructions. They usually are printed in 7 languages, in faint, tiny font. Then, the diagrams might challenge a mechanical engineer from MIT -- that’s if you can get past the tiny print. I bought a plastic milk crate that required assembly and somehow managed to muck it up. I pressed tab “A” into hole “C”... unfortunately the pressing was irrevocable! The crate still functions, but looks like someone’s learning disabled teen put it together. Lesson learned -- only buy things that are small, modular and pretty much ready to use.

The first IKEA store as we know them opened way back in 1958 in Sweden. The stores gained popularity across the decades, but didn’t reach the “explosive” pace until the 2000’s. As of 2011, IKEA had 332 stores in 38 countries, and sold $23.1 billion in goods. IKEA is the world’s third largest consumer of wood after Lowe’s and Home Depot. I thought the store in Frisco was large, but apparently there are some much larger -- I can only figure you’d need hiking shorts and a walkie talkies to tackle one of those.

The name IKEA is an acronym of its founder (name and home town: Ingvar Kamprad of Elmtaryd, Agunnaryd). The chain was long since sold to a Dutch company, but the Dutch have maintained IKEA’s Scandinavian mystique, not wishing to disturb their Swedish-inspired cash cow. Things you might not know about IKEA:

o They once were protested for selling items with things like PVC and formaldehyde (many years ago). They’ve now gone the other extreme of supporting Green Technology and building stores that run completely off renewable energy.
o They give to charities worldwide, including UNICEF, American Forests, and Save the Children.
o They’ve attempted small stores, boutique stores and other formats -- nothing has worked as well as the blue/yellow megastores with arrows that we all know and love.
o In Europe, they’ve branched out into IKEA hotels and IKEA modular homes.

Americans are fairly chauvinistic; we figure that we’ve conquered the world with KFC, McDonald’s, Apple and Starbucks. We certainly have done that, and there’s no need to diminish those super-Capitalistic achievements. BUT let it be known -- a blue/yellow leviathan has been unleashed from the Northern reaches of Europe. It doesn’t stop with a food court or a cup of coffee -- it seeks to furnish all our dorm rooms and apartments. And I myself need to go back to IKEA just to get the multicolor LED lights I saw today. My only complaint is a minor one -- IKEA please build a store in Dallas proper. Save me that 25 mile round trip on the tollway. That probably won’t happen because part of IKEA’s strategy is to develop suburban sites where the land is cheap. So be it -- I’ll drive the drive to get my Swedish shopping fix.

© 2013 blogSpotter

Time Capsule Television

TV from a golden age .. - Pic courtesy of Wikipedia

by blogSpotter
I’m enjoying a week of vacation -- just a “me” week. My usual travel companions are otherwise occupied so I decided to catch up around the house. “Me” week calls to mind my latest guilty pleasure -- MeTV on channel 24. MeTV gives me these great oldies all in a row: Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie, Mary Tyler Moore, Bob Newhart and The Odd Couple. In 2.5 hours we progress from 60’s gimmick shows to 70’s sophistication.

MeTV takes me on an excursion to my teenage years -- an era of bell bottoms, fall colors, pimped out cars and resigning Presidents. Another station that I watch a lot of is TV Land on channel 66. This gives us more recent retro with Cosby, Raymond, King of Queens and The Golden Girls. At 55, some would say I’m pretty golden myself -- my viewing habits are age appropriate. Rue McClanahan was only @ 51 at the start of Golden Girls.

What all these shows have over current TV is that they are scripted, well-crafted stories. Each one is a slice of Americana that tells us a lot about who we were at the time. The alternatives now on broadcast TV are shows like The Voice, Idol, America’s Got Talent and Bachelorette. It makes me sad that TV has devolved to this point … talent discovery shows like Star Search and The Gong Show were considered the dregs of TV back in the day. They were mindless filler for non-prime viewing hours.

APP WORLD

In a related pop culture arena, famous author Stephen King was recently asked by Entertainment Weekly what he thought about the reading habits of young adults. He said, essentially that we’re a smart phone, sound bite society -- young people don’t really read anymore. Too much competes for young people’s attention. LOL and ROFL round out the new vocabulary. I can’t help but think that the same short attention span keeps young people from watching a TV show or movie that calls for maybe a 60 minute time commitment. Complex plot lines and cultural references might seem too much like homework in a world where book reports are Wikipedia cut-and-paste jobs … a world where conversations are a hastily thumb-typed “As if!”. More words fly by, but they are vacuous monosyllabic words.

There is hope actually -- a ray of light that breaks through the clouds of this dull, intellectual laziness. Not everyone is a fan of reality TV -- some very noteworthy Hollywood denizens (eg, Seth MacFarlane of Family Guy) would like to put reality TV out to pasture. TV Land, mentioned above, is also giving us some great new scripted shows like Hot in Cleveland and Happily Divorced. These shows are hardly intellectual exercises, but they have just enough wit, relevance, continuity and structure -- they seem like War and Peace next to The Voice.

Karl Marx once said that religion is the opiate of the masses. It turns out he was wrong about that … XBox, Wii and smart phones are the opiates that have turned so many Americans into distracted zombies.

Steering back to the TV Land topic, I’d like to briefly discuss my new, old favorite ...

GOLDEN AGE

Golden Girls ran from 1985 through 1992. I liked the show, but was put off by Betty White’s Rose character at first -- I wanted back the tart nastiness of Sue Ann Nivens from Mary Tyler Moore. But I got past that quivel and started to enjoy the centered qualities of Dorothy and Southern-style trampiness of Blanche. I figure that Dorothy was fairly close to Bea Arthur’s real personality. The show went off the air 21 years ago and continues to be hilarious. Even the Reagan jokes seem fresh from when I saw the shows originally. You don’t have to be senior or female to think the Girls are great.

IN CONCLUSION

There will always be a small subset of people who can rise above sexting and tweeting. Those young people who can go beyond that adolescent fixation will have the world in the palm of their hands. Maybe we’ve lowered the bar too much, to make that a standard for intellectual leadership. It could serve as a minimum requirement.

In the meantime, if you are a 50+ dinosaur like me check out MeTV and TV Land. Look at where we’ve been and where we might go again if we’re lucky.

© 2013 blogSpotter

Newsies

We are what we read .. - Screenshot by blogSpotter

by blogSpotter
Before diving into today’s topic, I’d like to mention my day’s activity. I visited the George W. Bush Library at SMU. The parking was overflow and that should have clued me in... the line for exhibits was a mile long, wrapping all the way around the main lobby. The facility is beautiful; the “lantern” section has a 90 foot ceiling with an LED mural. You can look at the public area and the museum shop without paying admission. I’ll come back on a less crowded day. To my liberal brethren, I’d like to say this museum can be fascinating to those of any political bent. In fact, if you dislike Number 43, you might find the exhibits interesting from the standpoint of how the exhibitors did spin and damage control.

Everyone’s a Newsy

When I was 7, I required adult supervision. Left to my own devices food-wise, I would’ve had M&M’s, fudge brownies, BBQ potato chips and ice cream for dinner. I would’ve considered the chips my veggie for the day. What! ... you (the presumed adult) say that diet lacks balance. There are no vegetables, no fiber. There’s nothing redeeming about it.

Now let’s flash forward to 2013. I live alone, but time has given me insight into my dietary needs. I get spinach, asparagus and vitamins daily. My adult sensibilities have even given me an affinity for these things. In an oddly similar way, we all need to be sustained with an “information” diet. We get our daily news mostly from TV and the Internet. A few of us dinosaurs still read Time and the Dallas Morning News. A friend my age laughs derisively at “dead tree” media. “Time’s stories are a week stale, the day it comes to your mailbox”, he says. Likewise, DMN is rehashing the CNN headlines you already saw last night on your iPad.

I won’t argue his points, but I have a couple of ideas to add..

1) I read the paper for Op Ed and essays as much as anything. An informed opinion about reasonably current events doesn’t grow stale like day old bread.

2) I read “mainstream” venues to get the other guy’s opinion even if I don’t love him or her. I’ve read many articles by Mark Davis, Pat Buchanan, George Will and even Ann Coulter. The Morning News offers guest opinions from opposing sides. I like to know what the “enemy camp” is thinking -- what arguments do I need to counter.

3) I read the dead tree media because my eyes will by happenstance land on ideas, issues and events I might otherwise tune out. I’m made aware of the Dallas City Council positions and Mayor Rawling’s GrowSouth initiative. Not everything is the substance of Firing Line but it’s worth knowing nonetheless.

My friend is conservative -- he reads web sites with names like “National Review” and “American Patriot”. He devours FOXNews.com as well as FOX news on TV. Liberals have their equivalent sites -- Huffington Post and Daily Kos. What I see happening is a segregating, silo effect. You and I may be next door neighbors and yet have such differing grips on reality. Our take on everything is slanted and possibly backwards. Then because maybe we both canceled the daily paper, we’re not even aware of a local election or fund drive.

Pandemonium

One web site that I like has a conservative label but it serves up liberal Op Eds as well: RealClearPolitics.com. You’ll find the offerings of Ann Coulter right next to Maureen Dowd. Liberal economist Paul Krugman will follow right after NeoCon Bill Kristol. It’s pandemonium in a way, but a good pandemonium.

What I’d like the reader to carry away is that news should annoy you -- when you see what the other guy thinks. It might also fill you with concern, obligation and sometimes remorse. There is a yin and yang to knowledge and knowing. If all you eat is M&M’s you’ll become a fat, complacent diabetic porker. Better to take in the roughage and variety that makes us mindful, sentient, sometimes disturbed but always hoping to have a better world. Sometimes the greatest insights come from the storm clouds of reasoned debate -- and we benefit when lightning strikes.

© 2013 blogSpotter

Font of All Knowledge

The ultimate source - Pic courtesy of Wikipedia

by blogSpotter

There is a highly regarded book of collected wisdom which illuminates our world and helps in our intellectual pursuits. It has the combined wisdom of scribes and prophets throughout the developed world. I speak not of the Bible, but rather Wikipedia. Wikipedia is the free Internet encyclopedia which gives us 4.1 million English language articles and has 100,000 contributors. Wikipedia is also available in @ 284 other languages. It is free to use, and is funded though donations. Article content is unpaid, and delivered primarily as a "labor of love" by interested academicians. Who would give so freely of their time? Unmarried males, age 30-50 with some level of college education are the primary authors – according to statistics. (Why does Sheldon Cooper from Big Bang Theory spring to mind?).

Wikipedia has incurred the wrath of commercial encyclopedias like Britannica – big surprise. It has been variously described as amoral, flawed and irresponsible by various other parties. Usually the critics are people who stand to lose speaking engagements, writing assignments and license fees as the general public flocks to Wikipedia, aka, the Font of All Knowledge.

It is true that Wikipedia has some inaccuracies, bias and inconsistent quality. Nature magazine found that these deficiencies also exist in other "unimpeachable" commercial tomes – and at the same rate of error. I myself found an inaccuracy when researching the RMS Titanic – one article quoted two different death statistics in different paragraphs. I figure there were different authors at work and they didn’t qualify their numbers unambiguously. But overall, I find the Wikipedia articles to be accurate and credible. If I were going to bet the farm or do delicate surgery based on research results, I’d probably look more deeply into expert testimony. If I’m shooting the breeze and want to know the date of Lincoln’s passing, Wikipedia fills the bill.

Now, Wikipedia serves up some more offerings that Compton’s and Encyclopedia utterly fail to deliver.. it has articles about commercial products (e.g., iPod Touch, Shelby Mustang) as well as topics that would be considered "improper" or "inane" like belly button lint. Wikipedia has a main page which beckons you with new and various topics of the day – a "nerdvana" for aspiring Jeopardy contestants. Wikipedia drives home a couple of very important ideas:

* Learning is a happy excursion, not a dull assignment.
* Academic topics can cross all boundaries and need not pass a censor’s standard for appropriateness.

Whatever silly thought or mind blip enters your head – it is likely to have a Wikipedia entry. Someone has subjected your silly notion to a thoughtful and intellectual, albeit nerdy, expansion of details, history and related links. So Wikipedia is sublime and sometimes ridiculous – it is a learning expedition for the likes of you, me and anyone else who loves to indulge in thought. We indulge not necessarily because a term paper is due or a job requires it. We indulge because we have active, curious minds and we care about knowledge in general.    

Addendum -- 3/8/2013

I was going to leave a comment but as the blog author, thought it would be better to just add to the text.  Traditional, published encyclopedias have been known for center-right political orientation and total avoidance of controversial or difficult topics.  Wikipedia recognizes that the world of knowledge doesn't fit readily into a rectangular shirt box -- some topics very worthy of discussion give off the angry hum of opposing viewpoints.  Such things as abortion, pornography and animal rights (and many, many other topics) fall into this category.  Wikipedia encourages these debates with discussion areas.  It also mitigates the overstep of opinionated authors by allowing dissent.  Such articles will say "The neutrality of this section is disputed" and members will arbitrate how to present the material.   

Wikipedia isn't exactly the firebrand, left-wing tool that some have suggested.  Wikipedia is more center-center than center-left.. it is much more informative than provocative. Wikipedia is also not a "slam book" -- it avoids gossip and unsubstantiated smears against individuals.  On the whole, Wikipedia is a reasonable source of data and a great induction into the thought world -- a place that can be untidy, scary and invigorating all at the same time.      

© 2013 blogSpotter

Working Mom

Season One -- pic courtesy of ABC
by blogSpotter

The late 1980’s gave Americans some television that told it like it is, with over-the-top satire. The Bundies on Married With Children gave us Peg the housewife and Al the put-upon shoe salesman. Their teen kids were dull (but cute) slackers before slacker was the word du jour. The Simpsons was a cartoon series giving us insight into the loud, buffoonish Homer, long-suffering wife Marge, brat Bart (a deliberate anagram?), nerd Lisa and infant Maggie. Both of these shows steered miles away from the saccharine, dumbed-down formula ‘80’s shows like Charles in Charge or Mr. Belvedere.

Clever as these new shows were, they didn’t have the heart and earnest passion of Roseanne, another new show of the era which sought to give us a similar family dysfunction in a style that was pragmatic and realistic – not especially campy or silly. Roseanne centered on the working class Conner family in the fictional town of Lanford, Illinois. The show gave us Roseanne and Dan Conner – stout, working parents raising two teenage girls and a little boy. The show leveraged off the feminist, in-your-face stand-up comedy Roseanne had already made her trademark. Many women liked the show because it showed women (most notably Roseanne and her sister Jackie) matching male bravado with their own brand of female bravado. The message was welcomed and empowering at the time.

Overall, in the first three seasons, Roseanne dealt with some fairly common issues – coming of age, economic need, aging and other typical family topics. The personalities portrayed were at turns sweet, believable, feisty and honest. I watched the show regularly myself and could understand its high ranking in the Nielson top 10. I especially enjoyed watching the tomboyish Darlene evolve into a hilariously witty, Goth-looking young adult.

But (you saw it coming), Roseanne became a victim of its own success midway thru the series. Roseanne the actress began a relationship with actor-comedian Tom Arnold, and started reshaping her face with plastic surgery. Our pleasant, jocular Lanford Mom started to more resemble a pouty lipped Elvira with blue-black hair. The show became a “cool” venue for established actor cameos and so we had strangely convoluted plotlines to accommodate the likes of Joan Collins, Tim Curry and Shelley Winters.

Worst of all, the show seemed to become Roseanne’s chosen venue for exploring and working out her personal issues – the kind of issues others might take to a private analysis session. The actress in real life was “recovering” memories of parent-child abuse, a concept which I find as questionable now as then. She let those types of topics and attitudes seep into the show; her TV mom played by Estelle Parsons was vilified as a witch from beyond the pale. Every male on the show was a castrati, recipient to Roseanne’s withering put-downs. Where the first seasons had nuance and thoughtfulness, the later seasons became a battle of the sexes enlarged into a paranoid battle of Roseanne versus the world.

Her relationship with Tom Arnold started to deteriorate at which point the show itself imploded. Tabloids regularly ran stories about the terrors of the Roseanne set. In its 8th and 9th seasons, the show “jumped the shark” so spectacularly that you might not even recognize the characters or the backdrop from the 1st couple of seasons. My overall impression, as I wind down on this “forensic review” is that TV projects do better as a cooperative venture and not as a bully pulpit for egomaniacal stars. Many other TV shows have taken strange turns or run out gas – Roseanne would’ve been well served to run out of gas a lot sooner than it did.

© 2012 blogSpotter

A Retro Gallery

by blogSpotter
Welcome to my pop culture photo gallery. These are four favorite, iconic images from the 1960’s (Although the Hey Jude album cover might technically qualify as 1970). I’m in my mid-50’s and probably trapped in a time warp of decades past. But as I look with weary boredom at our boxy, blandified, silver-gray Twitter/Tweet world I long for a past where we were heroically bold and beautiful. Let me share my 4 objets d'art and say why I like each. There may be some critical remarks that contrast these images to the world of 2012...

Marilyn, the Last Sitting
This picture was taken by Bert Stern in June 1962. It captures "latter day" Marilyn who was probably more grounded by life events at this point. She was trying to project sexuality for the photographer but sadness and an inner light came through instead. To people who think that Marilyn consisted mostly of blonde hair and red lips, you've missed the essentials completely. Nobody has captured her essence since her passing... a beautiful soul is difficult to mimic cosmetically.

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, the Movie
This movie about the 1880 outlaws was primarily a work of fiction, featuring two of the most fabulous actors in their prime -- created by an "outlaw" pop culture which was also arguably in its late-60's prime. The ultimate cool of this pairing is hard to describe -- it's the intersection of machismo, humor and bromance. If I had to think of a modern comparison I might summon Robert Downey and Jude Law in the Sherlock Holmes series. But it's not the same -- the moment has lost some of its historically-based magic.

The Beatles, Hey Jude album cover
I absolutely love this picture, taken shortly before the Beatles disbanded. In their early 30's, they weren't trying to fit a marketing image or be cute in any way. They were counterculture heroes making a quiet transition from the day-glo uniforms of Sergeant Pepper or the hippie nehru jackets worn for an Indian guru. Their new look in this picture is one that is timelessly awesome, unselfconscious and a little bit Ralph Waldo Emerson. I challenge any one of us and three friends to look this iconoclastically good.

Pontiac GTO, 1969
Who said I can't mix in some apples with my oranges? I think that 1968-1969 was the pinnacle of American car style. As I look at the current econo-boxes that we drive in silver and black, I long for the days when cars had style and energy. Cars of today have the excitement of a kitchen appliance or a toaster oven. Yes -- they are safe, ecological and have On-Star. They also will bore the socks of someone like me who remembers the bad old days.

There is my gallery, very briefly. It could really have a thousand more pictures -- I left out the Rolling Stones and Olds Cutlass. If you're under 30, you'd probably beg to differ, you might even suggest that I didn't finish my prune danish this morning. What about Justin Beiber, One Direction, Ford Focus and Gwen Stefani? Well, they all seem kind of derivative next to the awesome originals from that awesome decade that inspired all of it. But it is probably a matter of age and vantage point. I will finish the prune danish, and continue to revere the images above.
© 2012 blogSpotter