How could I forget Booberexia?
March 26, 2007 
I just wanted to comment on the notion of Pamela Anderson being the “norm” for the feamle body, and behavioral expectations….I thought she was the bionic woman, the new age Frankenstein, assembled weekly with quality GM parts….
Ok so thats a little harsh but really, when did a woman with more plastic surgeries than parts we can identify in the atom become the norm? She has got to be one of the least natural entities on the earth, how did synthetic boobs and face lifts become seen as natural processes?
Porn gone horribly wrong…..
March 26, 2007 
I still cant get over that documentary “American Porn”. Shocking, espescially the rape porn. That disturbed me in way I still cant explain, because its being produced, there must be a market for it. There should be a disclaimer on these movies recommedeing psychiatric examination.
Porn in and of itself isnt bad or evil per se, poeple watch it and thats cool …but who allows these death/rape tapes to be produced, isnt there something inherently strange, creepy and immoral about this?
Oh My God I’m a Computer F***er
March 21, 2007 
My computer died on me last night, I figured it would nt be that big of a deal take it in, pray that the computer geek can fix it and retrieve all my files and keep rockin in the free world…..
I missed it, I actually stared at its little place on my desk this morning wondering what to do without my morning MSN/email fix and cup of tea…..
I can t believe it
I wish I’d put up my hand
And since I didnt I thought Id post a few videos just in case any one wants to listen….enjoy
Cheers to all you blues hounds
Manufacturing conset, necessary illusions and thought control in a democratic society…
Well personally I like Chomsky, I always have. I suppose I bonded with him over the fact that were both out of sympathy with the prevailing social currents. Many of the ideas in the movie I was trying to get at in my blog “wheres our revolution?” . We all know institutions marginalize the minority and are illegitamate in many ways so the question remains….how do we challenge the legitamacy of authority, the domination and coersion? Most importantly how do we create social action for the greater good?
The Internet…it really isn’t like finding something in the fridge
I left class tonight thinking about a multitude of different ideas. I’m by no means an advocate for the internet…when it first came out I thought it would cause the end of the world as we know it…maybe it will ..maybe it won’t, but as far as making a judgement on whether it is good or bad..it isn’t like finding something in the fridge from last semester.
The reality is it isn;t an entity in its own right and is therefore neither intrinsically bad or good. Interactions happen in a context and each individual approaches the internet and online communities with a certain intent and that is the threshold for judgement. We aren’t at anymore risk on the internet than we are in the “real world”. Young girls should always be taught to look out for themselves and not just on the internet or just on the street or in their homes…the same principles apply everywhere…. Don’t take a ride from a stranger….ect
How many people would respond to someone who says “how old are you …I think I could teach you a few things…” in real life or on the internet?
Although I advocated for face to face contact in my previous blog I have to clarify that it was in regards to the domination of online communities and as Paul said this internet medium can actually enhance outstanding “real life friendships”. It is also important to note on the topic of online predators that sociopathic individuals are most likely white males, in their 20’s or 30’s who are attractive, well spoken, perceived as trustworthy and often charasmatic..just the thing girls are looking for on a saturday night and hey myself included. So despite the fact that psychologists have discovered mechanisms that we use to detect cheaters how good are they? and where are we putting ourselves at the most risk….drunk in a bar, walking home from the store, at a catholic church, in a mosque, at the gym, on the internet or out in the wilderness?
Bad things happen sometimes and good things happen sometimes. How often do we forget such a simple truth? How true is it?How in control of our lives are we?
Are we victims of the very world we live in…predtermined by some omnipotent force?
Or are we ultimatly in control and can we take responsibility for the actions that either create us oppertunity, or result in our failure?
To Mothers and Fathers
Well Paul like you my mom and dad read my blog. How wonderful. I thought I’d dedicate a little blog just to them for their everlasting support and encouragement as I move trough the university experience. Unlike most of you my parents are far more technologically advanced than I am so I’ve learned a lot from them about how to navigate through the world wide web and well the whole wide world too.
So thanks Mom for reading and commenting and thanks Dad for taking my persistent and never ending “what the hell do I do!!!???”phone calls .
Love you both and miss you terribly
Can’t wait to rip some turns with you at Castle and get the complimentary daughter ski pass, lunch and dinner. Ode to the perks of being an only child!
Did we judge God when he died?
I’ve just finished Karen Evans paper on the significance of virtual communities and while interesting it raised some fundamental questions about human interaction.
First and farmost is the question of wether online communities will come to dominate social interaction. I certainly hope not. We are social beings and I dont think that text is enough to form a significant relationship. I know people will argue this to death because after all online dating is quite prevalent these days, families and friends seperated by geographical disitance stay “connected” but the context and reality of the individual has already been defined..so when does a relationship become significant and what defines it as such? Can it happen between wires?
Touch, smell, sight, sound, taste… each was and is fundamental to our survival as a species, and each can be tantalized by various stimuli. We need physical contact right from the moment we are born. It actually decreases the amount of corticosteroids (various stress hormones) in infants (and adults) to be held and coddled. Being physically close to people is how we become who we are, it allows us to be inculturated into our society. Having said that, we must also consider that the world around us (namely the technology) has changed so quickly that evolutionarily we havent had a chance to change with it. We can be a little bit greedier now as individuals as we no longer live in the tight nit social communities of the past. Thus the move towards individualism.
Is online communication so free of predjudice, discrimination, ethnocentric ideals and judgements? I have to conclude no. In all rational terms we set the parameters for this interaction to occur and we are human and fallable. Can we assumes that it is only ideas that can oppress and exclude others from various social communities and activities? Ideas, in this context become powerless.
Evans discussed how physical barriers are crossed allowing individuals to be free of constraint in their interactions with eachother, however even if the physical barriers are crossed we still interpret the aesthetics of the page, the quality of the writting and a host of other subtle nuances. The reality is that we need to be able to judge people and situations, human altruism demands it. You can change the medium but that doesn’t change the fundamental characteristics of the individual who is operating and navigating through the internets wild ride. So while I hail the internet for its easy access to people and things, nothing will ever be more spectacular to me than waking up in a dusky cabin far from the omniscent presence and hum of electricity,and going for a long ski on a champagne day. You can’t get that on the internet.
Where was John Rawls?
Is there a categorical imperitive?
Or does thic code of ethics crumbled under utilitarian confounds?
There is no universal code to fallow so what expectations should we have of the media?
Is it not our responsibility to know that all information gathered, sorted and published in one form or another in undoubtably biased by the human hand. Should we not interpret it accordingly? Are we asking the media to present us with something acceptible and entertaining or something real?
Why chase affirmation at your own cost?
Have you ever watched someone else watch tv?
Its atrocious, I’m ashamed of myself…do I really spend my time slumped over, gazing endlessly at a flashing screen void of any spontaneous delight? At least when I read a use more brain cells than when I’m asleep…
So I’ll conclude this short blog with THANK GOD FOR ICONOCLASTS like Mike Moore and Al Gore. Keep us thinking about the human condition and the nonesensicle rationalizions that flow from the core of its essence. Not all media is bad, but hell most of it isn’t good.
