Steve and I are going back and forth now on our upcoming post #1,000. This one is #996, so we get to do three more of no consequence, and then have to deliver profundity. I suggested that we do something on this TV phenomenon called The Hills, but Steve says it is “painfully shallow.”
Who knew? I presumed that pop culture would contain elements of self awareness and would embed a deeper message, perhaps satirizing our consumer-driven wealth-crazed existence.
Not so. It’s just a show. The actresses are simple, stupid, pretty people. Totally.
Here’s something interesting I learned from that: It turns out that beautiful people don’t have to work as hard for success as the rest of us, and so end up in professions like modeling and acting, where looks trump everything else. So people in those professions tend to be shallow.
But that makes me wonder – I like this TV show called “House”, but can’t help but notice that everyone involved in that show is stunning and beautiful. At our local hospital, nurses tend to be a little frumpy and stressed – the medical profession in general attracts people who work very hard. Pretty people can make a living without working hard. So most doctors and nurses are pretty ordinary looking.
Could it be that TV is peddling a fake bill of goods? Could it be that ordinary people lacking in extraordinary beauty and charm are worthy too? Could it be that Jennifer Aniston will never marry again, and that it will not matter? Could it be that Brad and Angelina are really just very shallow and self-absorbed people, so much so that they think their own public ‘caring’ for others is just another form a narcissism?
I’m leaving #1,000 to Steve. I’m out of ideas. I don’t know what is profound, what is shallow. I mean, if Brad Pitt is just another pretty boy, if George Clooney is not really a deep thinker, if Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon are just paper mache, then all I have left to guide my thoughts is Jon Stewart. And when I listen to him when he is not scripted, he doesn’t seem to know very much.
I am lost. Where to go for guidance? How to know what to think? I’m calling on Steve now to use post #1,000 to help me out. It will be a doozy – maybe the best blog post ever. No pressure.
Piece of Mindful 
You asked for it – It’s gotta be the Octomom lady.
LikeLike
Consider the new military robot they dub “BigDog.” I call it Tarmantula given its human GUI interface and multiple legs.
LikeLike
BigDog Tarmantula: http://www.livescience.com/technology/060409_robot_sherpa.html
Imagine one of these doing mountain rescue with a jug of hooch.
LikeLike
That’s some kind of dog. However, military advances are not a strong point here, since we are generally opposed to the military advancing its cause.
LikeLike
Dude, Battlemechs. How can you not love ’em?
LikeLike
I like dogs, and cats. And rabbits and horses. I’m weak. But mechanical dogs ain’t my thing.
LikeLike
Mark, I was thinking about it more philosophically as we continue to distance ourselves from the consequences of our actions.
LikeLike
But I think that is just our way. We never take responsibility for our actions. I always tried to blame things on my brother. Steve’s sisters always blamed things on him, but he did not object.
In the meantime, the object of advances in war technology is to distance ourselves from victims. That’s why it’s considered grotesque to shoot people in a market square, but to blow up those same people with an F-16 is OK.
LikeLike
Tarmantula is some what of a metaphor for the cyborg we call modern government. Both are meant to serve their master creators but end up destroying them.
But then again, Wulfgar is right. Battlemechs are cool. Good luck with #1000.
LikeLike
The same metaphor might apply to the “free market”, and isn’t that what life is about – a balancing act?
LikeLike
Yes, and sometimes the balance weight to ideological rigidity is reasoned hypocrisy.
LikeLike
And it defines the struggle within.
LikeLike
Wooooah! That sounds profound. Whoosh!
LikeLike
Mark, what I had in mind were positions on issues like the death penalty. Someone might say they support the death penalty, but then look beyond that position to accept many exceptions. Or take abortion. Someone’s position might be that it is a woman’s right period!, but then support efforts to oppose partial birth procedures. That form of hypocrisy that allows us to rise above differences and pull together as a society.
LikeLike
OK – I get that. Very worthy thought.
Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. … Moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.
I agree – Goldwater was wrong.
LikeLike
How about 21st Century “cave man.” Survival, not portfolio strength, could be our future. Can we, how can we, survive if global ‘capitalism’ leaves only a trail snail slime in its wake? No offense to snails. Obama’s White House garden may ultimately be his greatest accomplishment.
LikeLike
Here’s a topic that has substance.
Governmental run healthcare and brain dead actresses.
http://www.nypost.com/seven/03262009/postopinion/opedcolumnists/canadacare_may_have_killed_natasha_161372.htm
Recycling too.
LikeLike
Yes – she’s rich, and therefore would have qualified for our health care system. We do a really good job of taking care of insiders.
Odd – the rest of the world has better health care than us, but you are sure they are unhappy. The fourth greatest Canadian ever to have lived, according to a poll taken by the CBC, was Tommy Douglas, founder of the health care system – the guy who kicked the insurance companies out.
LikeLike