Saturday, November 30, 2002
The James Bond Die Another Day product tie-ins are getting a little extreme. I can understand things like cars and sunglasses, but the "Philishave Sensotec: James Bond's Shaver of Choice"? What's next? "James Bond and Viagra: Hard as Steel." "Vanilla Coke: Reward Your License to Kill." It's bad enough basing an ad campaign on a fictitious movie character; it's even worse suggesting that person would use a product not actually featured in the movie. (An electric shaver is used in the Bond film for a few seconds, but it's not clear what make and model it is. Did Philishave win the bid to claim the mystery shaver as its own?) If companies can do that, then I think Walther should be able to bombard the airwaves with commercials.
posted by media_dystopia @ 12:25 [ link | top | home ]
I hate home improvement activities. Pouring concrete. Holding up beams. Drilling. Hammering. Pretty much anything involving power tools and lumber is a major turnoff. Put me in a room with Tim Allen and only one of us would make it out alive. And yet, I love watching home improvement shows on TLC: Hometime, Bob Vila's Home Again, How2 Crew -- I love them all. They're very soothing and relaxing -- better than staring at an aquarium.
posted by media_dystopia @ 11:45 [ link | top | home ]
Many thanks to the City of Toronto for calling its Christmas tree a "holiday tree," and the Royal Canadian Mint for calling its Christmas ad campaign the "12 days of giving." Both examples of political correctness masquerading as multicultural inclusiveness have been lampooned by the American news media. Apparently they saw it as yet another reason to dislike Canada -- although the frustrated beaver and his deranged caribou sidekick in the Mint's television commercials are reason enough for that.
posted by media_dystopia @ 03:08 [ link | top | home ]
Friday, November 29, 2002
I think rock stars who trash hotel rooms should be publicly flogged. That kind of arrogance and condescension in the name of image is unacceptable.
posted by media_dystopia @ 01:03 [ link | top | home ]
Wednesday, November 27, 2002
Further to the previous post: Fox News Channel in the U.S. is a special case. Owned by billionaire conservative Rupert Murdoch, the all-news channel has a distinctly conservative, pro-Republican bias, much to the chagrin of Democrats. It's obvious that the producers and journalists share this bias and that their first loyalty is to conservative citizens. It would be easy to see this as negative corporate influence, but given the channel's high ratings (often beating CNN and MSNBC) and visceral public support, it's clear that the channel fills a niche, making its bias a brilliant business decision on the part of Murdoch's News Corporation. The problem I have with it is that it masquerades as legitimate objective news under the slogans "fair and balanced" and "we report, you decide." It uses its powerful voice to deride left-wing thought -- in particular, the views of the Democratic Party -- and to counteract a perceived liberal media bias. That's when I get a chill down my spine.
posted by media_dystopia @ 11:08 [ link | top | home ]
CanWest Global and Bell Globemedia, major owners in the Canadian media market, are on Parliament Hill to argue that Canadians benefit from convergence. Unlike the folks at Media Empire Project and MediaChannel.org, I've never been terribly concerned about large media corporations, mega-mergers, and cross-ownership. I'm a pragmatist about corporate news media. My only concern is the independence of journalists; corporate ownership cannot be allowed to influence their work. Journalism's "first loyalty is to citizens," wrote Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenthiel in The Elements of Journalism. When a journalist, publisher, editor, producer, or anyone else responsible for creating content for public consumption is controlled negatively by a corporate master -- or in case of the CBC, a crown corporation beholden to the Canadian government -- then there is a problem. Yes, the news media are businesses like any other and profit is the overriding goal of business -- but in any free society, journalism has obligations which go beyond corporate needs.
posted by media_dystopia @ 10:35 [ link | top | home ]
Tuesday, November 26, 2002
Morongate update: As expected, the shut-off valve on the hot air hasn't kicked-in yet. With the words "She's outta there!!!" below him, bombastic conservative blowhard Robert "Wienies" Novak of CNN's Crossfire suggested that the prime minister had seen the previous night's broadcast and changed his mind about accepting his communications director's resignation as a result. "What a government, what a country!" he said with a look of disgust. "What they did was unacceptable, and what has happened here was simple justice," said a gloating Pat "Soviet Canuckistan" Buchanan. Ever get the feeling that Françoise Ducros should have called some other people morons instead? To paraphrase comedian George Carlin, people are either stupid, full of shit, or fucking nuts. Sometimes -- as in the case of Novak, Buchanan, and their right-wing ilk -- they're all three.
posted by media_dystopia @ 23:20 [ link | top | home ]
Further to the October 7 post: I have a confirmed sighting of the Home Depot tiling woman in a LeapFrog ad. This is a follow-up to her appearance in a Fannie Mae commercial.
posted by media_dystopia @ 14:33 [ link | top | home ]
Morongate update: Prime Minister Jean Chrétien has finally done the right thing and accepted the resignation of his communications director, Françoise Ducros. Speaking your mind is perfectly fine; doing so within earshot of a reporter has far-reaching consequences, as she found out. Hopefully conservative mouthpieces south of the border, like Robert "Wienies" Novak and Pat "Soviet Canuckistan" Buchanan, will now cut off the flow of hot air on the subject.
posted by media_dystopia @ 14:26 [ link | top | home ]
Further to the November 4 post: When the head of Fox News Channel sends personal notes to the White House, you know that "fair and balanced" is a euphemism. Despite CNN and MSNBC's negative coverage of the story, Fox News viewers were strongly supportive. In America, the battle lines have been drawn; skirmishes between the liberal and conservative news media will only intensify after the Republican election sweep. This highlights another major difference between Canada and the U.S.: truly centrist news media who take their jobs as government watchdogs very seriously. Can you imagine CBC and CTV throwing mud at each another instead of at the government?
posted by media_dystopia @ 10:45 [ link | top | home ]
Further to yesterday's post: I was wrong; the FBI probe into possible Saudi, 9-11 money ties hasn't distracted American pundits enough to stop debating whether or not Canada can be trusted.
posted by media_dystopia @ 01:27 [ link | top | home ]
Morongate update: I don't mention the bluster of Canadian opposition members because it's their job to say black whenever the government says white. They can rant and rave about it all they want and it doesn't mean a thing to me. Right-wing pundits in the U.S., on the other hand, represent the views of the soon-to-be Republican-controlled government. Their words carry a great deal of weight with conservative voters and party strategists. Therefore, I tend to pay more attention to them -- much to my chagrin at times.
posted by media_dystopia @ 01:17 [ link | top | home ]
Morongate update: The story has gotten just plain bizarre. Now that Saddam Hussein has added the moron comment to his propaganda machine -- pointing out that even Canada thinks that of President Bush -- gasoline has been thrown on the burning embers. Conservative blowhards like Robert "Wienies" Novak won't let the issue go; on CNN's Crossfire, he asked "Can we trust Canada?" and interviewed professional Canuck-basher Jonah "Bomb Canada" Goldberg (of "Wimps!" article fame). Apparently there is nothing else in the world worth their right-wing hot air. Even the yentas on ABC's The View think it's gone on long enough. "Thousands of people in this country call President Bush a moron on a daily basis," said co-host Meredith Vieira. "Now they do it in Canada and it's a huge deal." CTV News reporter Roger Smith said the debate on American television is "hilarious, it's so misinformed." Looks like conservative talking heads are good at beating the wrong dead horse.
posted by media_dystopia @ 00:12 [ link | top | home ]
Sunday, November 24, 2002
I'm hoping the FBI probe into possible Saudi, 9-11 money ties will make Canada look a whole lot better to the U.S. We subsidize softwood lumber and hockey teams, not terrorists and religious fanatics; they have to appreciate that about us, right?
posted by media_dystopia @ 18:38 [ link | top | home ]
Saturday, November 23, 2002
Further to the September 19 post: Anyone want to see a stoned teenage girl promoting a Mac? Ellen Feiss, the now-infamous "It" girl, has broken her silence after becoming a net celebrity because of the Apple Switch campaign ad. She had attracted attention from network talk-shows, filmmakers, and T-shirt manufacturers, but kept mum until doing an interview with a college newspaper.
posted by media_dystopia @ 10:29 [ link | top | home ]
Friday, November 22, 2002
Morongate update: I do have to remind American conservative pundits that one aide does not constitute the Canadian government, and that one person does not speak for 31 million -- however much they would like that to be.
posted by media_dystopia @ 22:27 [ link | top | home ]
Morongate update: Pat "Soviet Canuckistan" Buchanan has added his two cents, but he's a moron himself so I don't need to pay him any heed. Does anyone else picture Buchanan racing down the road on a horse yelling, "The Canadian liberal socialists are coming! The Canadian liberal socialists are coming!"
posted by media_dystopia @ 22:12 [ link | top | home ]
Morongate update: It's top of the news on CBC's The National. And CTV News. Let's face it, it's top of the news in Canada -- period.
posted by media_dystopia @ 22:04 [ link | top | home ]
Morongate update: CBC has wade into the fray, albeit indirectly, by replacing a scheduled program at the last minute with a special encore presentation of Rick Mercer's Talking to Americans. The sardonic comedian takes a trip south to expose America's indifference and ignorance towards Canada. That's a polite way of saying that he uses ambush journalism on passers-by to prove the obvious fact that Americans don't know about Canada. To me, the program's concept is extremely rude and insulting. The fact is, Canada is saturated with American media and culture; it's impossible for us to not know about them. The reverse is not true, and there's nothing shocking about that. My American friends -- all intelligent, educated individuals -- are the first to admit that they hear nothing about Canada in school or in the media. I don't fault them for it because I understand their culture. And yet, these are the people that Rick Mercer targets -- and that's what I find distasteful about it. Even more distasteful is CBC's overt political statement by adding it to tonight's lineup after this week's Canada-U.S. roller coaster ride. Now is not the time to enjoy our pastime of marveling at America's ignorance.
posted by media_dystopia @ 21:49 [ link | top | home ]
Morongate update: Prime Minister Chrétien refused the resignation of his communications director who called President Bush "a moron." I accept the fact that people make mistakes and deserve second chances, but in the world of high-stakes diplomacy where words are paramount, opening your mouth at inopportune moments has to have consequences, especially when it affects Canada-U.S. relations. Can we at least make her sit in the corner of the House of Commons with a dunce cap and let the opposition write "moron" all over it?
posted by media_dystopia @ 16:56 [ link | top | home ]
Speaking of freedom of choice, people have the right to choose whether or not they go to McDonald's to stuff their faces with high-fat food. What part of fries cooking in vats of oil and patties frying in their own fat is not understood by the parents suing the fast-food company for their children's obesity? Look up "blinding glimpse of the obvious" and you'll see Ronald McDonald waving back at you.
posted by media_dystopia @ 16:52 [ link | top | home ]
Given all that goes on in the world and all the trash on television, prudish viewers and the FCC debating whether or not Wednesday's night Victoria Secret fashion show was obscene seems so banal. The only thing obscene about it is how it makes young women feel about their bodies -- and they, like everyone else, have an easy recourse: using the remote control to change the channel. That's called freedom of choice. (You want obscene? Go watch ABC's The Bachelor.)
posted by media_dystopia @ 16:39 [ link | top | home ]
Democratic senator Tom Daschle is lashing out at conservative talk-show host Rush Limbaugh, calling him "shrill" and likening him to religious fundamentalists. This after Daschle and his family received threats -- details of which have not been provided -- after he was called an "obstructionist." The first thing that came to mind after hearing this were the words "sore" and "loser." If his party hadn't lost power in the Senate in the recent elections and if he wasn't about to lose his job as Senate majority leader, then I suspect his reaction would have been a lot different. When you're reminded of how much of a loser (politically speaking) you are on a daily basis -- something conservative talk radio excels at -- eventually you get frustrated and speak your mind. "I know my words have consequences, Senator Daschle," the ever-modest Limbaugh told CNN. "After all, we won and you lost on Election Day in large part because my words do have consequences!"
posted by media_dystopia @ 16:27 [ link | top | home ]
My Nirvana and Alice in Chains CDs are sitting idle these days. For some reason I have a hard time listening to dead singers.
posted by media_dystopia @ 15:15 [ link | top | home ]
News item: Krispy Kreme's profit has risen 55 percent. Meanwhile, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say obesity in the U.S. has risen at an epidemic rate. Duh.
posted by media_dystopia @ 12:01 [ link | top | home ]
Morongate update: The truth of the comment is not the issue here -- even Martin Sheen of NBC's The West Wing thinks President Bush is a moron -- the sheer lack of diplomatic common sense is. In my opinion, given the damage that will result, the communications director has to be sacrificed for the good of Canada-U.S. relations. An apology just won't cut it, even though the remark is being downplayed by both sides. "I just dismiss it as from somebody who obviously doesn't speak for the Canadian government," said White House spokesman Ari Fleischer. "He's not a moron at all, he's a friend. My personal relations with the president are extremely good," said Prime Minister Jean Chrétien.
posted by media_dystopia @ 00:57 [ link | top | home ]
Morongate update: My American friends dismissed Pat Buchanan's anti-Canadian comments as coming from someone extremely right-wing who doesn't speak on behalf of the U.S. How exactly do I explain to these friends that the prime minister's communications director doesn't speak on behalf of Canada? I just can't stop shaking my head at this person's stunningly and embarrassingly idiotic and poorly timed remark.
posted by media_dystopia @ 00:26 [ link | top | home ]
Thursday, November 21, 2002
Here's the question of the day: If you're the Canadian prime minister's communications director, just how stupid do you have to be to call the president of the United States "a moron" within earshot of reporters at a NATO summit? And, more importantly, just how fast should you lose your job for helping flush the already-precarious Canada-U.S. relationship down the toilet? In addition to becoming the top news item in Canada and the hot topic on Parliament Hill, the insulting remark has caught the attention of American pundits with wide audiences. On CNN's Crossfire, conservative Robert Novak called Canadians "wienies" -- talk about painting with broad strokes -- who should be ashamed of the comment. "No apology yet," he said tonight. Bad timing contributes to the senior aide's diplomatic faux-pas; the gaffe comes on the heels of comments by Canada's defence minister critical of American complaints about low military spending. (Today's Ottawa Citizen headline reads: "Canada to U.S.: Mind your business. Don't tell us how to run our military, defence minister admonishes U.S. president.") Just when I think Canada-U.S. relations can't get any worse, someone in the government comes along to douse the flames with gasoline.
posted by media_dystopia @ 23:37 [ link | top | home ]
Wednesday, November 20, 2002
Liza Minelli and her husband are upset that their Osbournes-style "reality TV" show was cancelled by VH1 before it hit the air. They are scheduled to appear on tonight's Larry King Live on CNN to discuss the controversy. If I had a chance to call in, I would ask them what drug-addled VH1 executive thought it was a swell idea to give those two oddballs their own television show in the first place.
posted by media_dystopia @ 06:45 [ link | top | home ]
Apparently driving a car is a moral choice. According to the Evangelical Environmental Network's What Would Jesus Drive? campaign, "the Risen Lord Jesus is concerned about the kinds of cars we drive because they affect his people and his creation." Being the atheistic iconoclast and heathen that I am, I keep picturing a rabbi driving a gas-guzzling Buick with Jesus strapped to the hood like a dead deer.
posted by media_dystopia @ 06:34 [ link | top | home ]
I used to go about my business thinking that my local rock station was unique in style, attitude, and image. Then I found out that the local cable big-wig owns a twin station on the other side of the country. Everything is interchangeable except for the frequency and DJs. I was so disappointed. Corporate synergy now means stamping out carbon copies of radio stations across the country. Can't a town have its own unique station without there being some simulacrum out there?
posted by media_dystopia @ 04:33 [ link | top | home ]
I was going to write something about Michael Jackson dangling his baby off of a balcony, then I remembered that he's the freakiest human being -- I use that in the broadest sense possible -- on the planet and that I shouldn't be surprised by anything he does.
posted by media_dystopia @ 04:14 [ link | top | home ]
Talk about a Leap Frog blitzkrieg! The company is bombarding the airwaves with ads for its line of interactive techno-gizmo educational products. It just seems that if it's electronic and a child can learn from it, it's one of theirs. Looks like I just proved the effectiveness of the ad campaign.
posted by media_dystopia @ 03:54 [ link | top | home ]
Further to the November 17 post: Another potential Anna Bocci sighting, this time in a JC Penney holiday sale commercial. A bit part mind you; sadly, she's been sent down to the minors.
posted by media_dystopia @ 03:32 [ link | top | home ]
Why do the plastic and cotton industries need to curry favor with the public using television ad campaigns? In modern western society it is impossible to not use cotton and plastic, so why remind us to use them? It's superfluous, kind of like having a commercial for oxygen -- "It's in the air you breathe."
posted by media_dystopia @ 03:13 [ link | top | home ]
Further to the November 11 post: It's ironic that the conservative media in the U.S. is criticizing Canada, and yet the Republican-controlled White House is requesting a Canadian contribution to the upcoming war with Iraq. It would seem to me that those two concepts are mutually exclusive. "After we kick them to the ground, we'll ask for their help." That makes a lot of sense.
posted by media_dystopia @ 01:36 [ link | top | home ]
Further to yesterday's post: The biggest difference between Canadians and Americans is that the former understands the latter, but the latter doesn't understand the former. (That and the metric system, which is probably why the U.S. loves Britain so much.)
posted by media_dystopia @ 01:25 [ link | top | home ]
Tuesday, November 19, 2002
Why hire a journalism grad when a Survivor contestant will do? I'll be sure to include the line "voted off the island" on my résumé from now on.
posted by media_dystopia @ 08:50 [ link | top | home ]
The November 25 edition of Maclean's has some interesting articles about Canadian culture and the differences between the U.S. and it's northern neighbor: "We like to Watch", "America Lite: Is that our future?," and "Strong and Free". By the way, anyone who thinks that Canadians and Americans are the same obviously hasn't been interrogated by the INS at the border. Speaking of the 49th parallel's never-ending cultural quagmire, I still want to see Don Cherry of Coach's Corner pummel Jonah "Bomb Canada" Goldberg into a stupor. (The other November 11 posts will help make sense of that one.)
posted by media_dystopia @ 08:00 [ link | top | home ]
The thing that bothers me about NBC's Third Watch is overwhelming sense of quiet desperation emanating from the characters. It leaves me with a feeling of hopelessness seeing these people so trapped by circumstance. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy the show; it just leaves me unsettled at times.
posted by media_dystopia @ 02:58 [ link | top | home ]
I hate self-referential music. Singers and bands who refer to themselves in the third person in their songs are just plain annoying. "I'm Crack Daddy and I'm here to crack you up, blah blah blah..." Even worse, when they become self-aggrandizing and pompous, talking about themselves like they're the greatest thing since sliced bread. Kid Rock's a good example of that. (Wiping his ass with Radiohead toilet paper in a video was a nice touch. Arrogant jerk.) It really pleases me when artists like that get flushed down the toilet after their 15 minutes are up.
posted by media_dystopia @ 02:50 [ link | top | home ]
Monday, November 18, 2002
People wonder why I dislike newspapers. There are many reasons why I focus on electronic media -- television, radio, and Internet -- instead. First of all, I find newspapers to be one of the single greatest wastes of natural resources. Just how much paper, ink, and electricity is required to produce an out-of-date and quickly discarded news product? By the time I get my hands on a paper the news stories have already evolved, often drastically. I want to know what's going on now, not what was going on at the time of publication. Whatever "context" newspapers are supposed to provide can be gleaned from up-to-date electronic sources. A radio I can listen to while driving or exercising; a television I can have on in the background while working on the computer. A newspaper, on the other hand, is big and bulky -- ever try to fold one on a crowded bus? -- and requires my total concentration, precluding any form of multitasking. Whatever is in a paper can be published to the Internet in a logical structure -- no jumping from page A1 to C6 then back to A1 -- and in a easily transferable and replicable format. The Internet, unlike paper and ink -- which, by the way, ends up on your fingers -- also offers interactivity and multimedia; background information and video clips are a click away. If you subscribe to a newspaper you are limited to what that news organization has to say, whereas with the Internet I have literally thousands of news sources to choose from, with personalized delivery. Newspapers are, for the most part, community-centric and cannot provide the international access Internet and television can. To me, newspapers are archaic news products that I have little interest in as a consumer.
posted by media_dystopia @ 01:01 [ link | top | home ]
News item: Archaeologists go to Roswell, New Mexico, to investigate alleged UFO crash site for the Sci Fi Channel. No comment, but lots of eye rolling.
posted by media_dystopia @ 00:25 [ link | top | home ]
You know 9-11 affected the news business when a Naked News anchor -- who strips while reporting the news -- has to take a sabbatical after the attacks.
posted by media_dystopia @ 00:21 [ link | top | home ]
Sunday, November 17, 2002
Further to the October 26 post: You know what would make me happy? Aaron, aka the bachelor on the ABC show of the same name, catching gonorrhea from the one of the women he passed over. Throw in some crabs and I'd be ecstatic. That show is a demeaning, insulting pile of bovine excrement -- and you can quote me on that.
posted by media_dystopia @ 02:22 [ link | top | home ]
Further to the September 14 post: I think I spotted Anna Bocci in an Extra gum commercial on TV. Why ever did they replace her with Teresa Strasser on TLC's While You Were Out? Strasser's nice and does a great job as host, but she's no Anna Bocci.
posted by media_dystopia @ 02:04 [ link | top | home ]
Saturday, November 16, 2002
Concordia University in Montreal obtained a court injunction to prevent a Mideast event on campus. For the last 24 hours I've been debating what to say about this. Should I say that universities have become hotbeds for tunnel-vision activism and radicalism, often infecting the student press with bias and narrow-mindedness? Should I say that the university's actions were logical in light of violent protests a few months ago when a former Israeli prime minister was slated to speak there? Should I say that scheduled speaker Svend Robinson, member of parliament and left-wing rabble-rouser, had suggested the latest event to challenge the school's moratorium on Mideast events, and thus make a political statement? I was stumped until I realized that it was a non-issue for me -- unlike the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms issue Robinson is attempting to make out of it -- and that I didn't need to formulate any focused opinion on the matter.
posted by media_dystopia @ 23:42 [ link | top | home ]
Further to the November 14 post: Do People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals members really think that outlandish stunts help their cause? In their latest bid for publicity, PETA protesters rushed the stage at a Victoria Secret fashion show with placards denouncing a spokesmodel for a fur maker. No real fur was worn at the show, mind you; the only objectionable content was Gisele Bundchen, one of the models on the catwalk, who happened to have taken a job with a furrier. Therefore, no matter how you look at it, they had no business crashing an event that in and of itself had nothing to do with their cause. (Animals? What animals?) So, the question is, does it work? Does that kind of loud and grotesque display of one's personal politics actually achieve results? Personally, my first instinct is to do the exact opposite just to offend these people. Protesters who rely on rational rhetoric earn my respect; those who employ guerrilla media tactics do not.
posted by media_dystopia @ 06:19 [ link | top | home ]
Friday, November 15, 2002
If after spending billions of dollars, creating the juggernaut Department of Homeland Security, and turning the world's largest undefended border into Fortress America (Prison Canada?), the United States still can't distinguish between good guys and bad guys at Canadian border crossings, they're going to lose the "treasured relationship" Colin Powell speaks so highly of. And no, I'm not referring to the case of Michel Jalbert, the Quebec man detained in Maine for illegally entering the U.S. Anyone with a criminal record (no matter how minor) who crosses the border with a hunting rifle -- around the time a sniper is running around the D.C. area no less -- deserves what's coming to him. I'm talking about people with clean records, no firearms, and legitimate reasons (other than buying cheap gas) to be in the States. What exactly is the purpose of harassing those people at the border? What possible good can it do other than to force the Canadian government to complain and incur the wrath of American conservatives? Last time Ottawa said anything we were called whiners and freeloaders. The entire border issue has become an enormous catch-22 for Canada.
posted by media_dystopia @ 01:05 [ link | top | home ]
Thursday, November 14, 2002
I think PETA should change its name from "People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals" to "Protesters for Egregious and Tasteless Advertising." Given that they can capitalize on the brutal deaths of women in British Columbia to promote their cause, I think the name change would be appropriate.
posted by media_dystopia @ 00:17 [ link | top | home ]
Wednesday, November 13, 2002
Apparently we're doing something right. Canada has been singled out as a target of al-Qaeda in the latest Osama bin Laden audio tape. Along with Great Britain, France, Italy, Germany, and Australia, we are accused of supporting "the White House gang of butchers." You would think that our "whiny and weak anti-Americanism," as Jonah "Bomb Canada" Goldberg put it, would preclude being lumped in with "real" friends of America. Nevertheless, I think Canada should feel proud; at least someone out there -- maybe Osama; there's no absolute proof that he's alive or that it's his voice on the tape -- thinks we're on the pro-U.S. bandwagon (the Republicans certainly don't).
posted by media_dystopia @ 02:29 [ link | top | home ]
Monday, November 11, 2002
Just a reminder to check out what the folks at Canada Kicks Ass have to say about Jonah "Bomb Canada" Goldberg's article. A great Canadian site like that helps bolster our cultural defenses.
posted by media_dystopia @ 21:45 [ link | top | home ]
Remembrance Day. Lest we forget.
posted by media_dystopia @ 17:41 [ link | top | home ]
Further to the November 4 post: I picture the anchors and pundits at Fox News Network wearing chain mail and red-crossed tunics slaughtering their way to the Holy Land. President Bush must be happy that the flag-waving cable channel is crusading for him and the Republicans these days. "Fair and balanced," indeed.
posted by media_dystopia @ 06:22 [ link | top | home ]
I was considering e-mailing a portion of the previous post to Jonah Goldberg, the author of the article, then I realized I didn't want to give him the satisfaction. Like all journalists, he wants feedback -- good or bad -- for his work. Tough. He's not getting any from me. Besides, I'm not disputing the factual elements of the article -- let's face it, many of the things he says are the truth -- I'm just finding it hard to swallow that the American conservatives (soon to be in power after last week's elections) chose this time of looming war with Iraq, during the ongoing war on terror, to criticize an ally. It takes a big man to pick on a wimpy country, and an even bigger man to blow its soldiers to smithereens in Afghanistan. (Does Jonah Goldberg consider that a preemptive strike against Canada? Just wondering.) Speaking of which, the mother of one those dead soldiers will be laying a wreath in Ottawa as part of the Remembrance Day ceremonies. I suppose I should complain about the timing of the article vis-à-vis November 11, but what do American conservatives care about 100,000 dead Canadian soldiers anyway?
posted by media_dystopia @ 05:19 [ link | top | home ]
Apparently, Jonah Goldberg of the National Review thinks Canada should be bombed for its own good. The latest edition of the American conservative magazine takes a tongue-in-cheek look at "Canada's whiny and weak anti-Americanism" in an article offensively titled, "Bomb Canada: The case for war." It's very rare that I read something which makes me sick to my stomach -- but this did. Some of us are aficionados of American culture and history, and go to great lengths to show our neighbors to the south understanding and support, particularly after 9-11. We don't have knee-jerk reactions to gun-toting NRA members, inner-city race riots, right-wing anti-abortionists in power, surgical strikes from the air, Geraldo Rivera in body-armor, and everything else overtly American. Instead, we stand back and gaze upon these things with an analytical eye in order to figure out what makes America tick. When I read things like this, including recent comments from Pat Buchanan, it makes me think that ignorance and arrogance are at the root of the American psyche -- and that makes me sad. As a fan of the U.S., it leaves me with a sense of betrayal.
posted by media_dystopia @ 04:39 [ link | top | home ]
Sunday, November 10, 2002
Given recent anti-Canada remarks by Pat Buchanan and others -- as well as increased border security and distrust shown the United States' neighbor, friend, and ally -- I thought it would be appropriate to forward the following (which I wrote) to my American friends:
Dr. John McRae, a surgeon attached to the Canadian 1st Field Artillery Brigade, survived 17 days of bloodshed at the second battle of Ypres in the spring of 1915. Following the death of a friend and former student, Maj. McRae sat in contemplation within sight of wild poppies (flowers which, sadly and ironically, only bloom when everything around is dead). He took out a notebook and vented his anguish with the following words:
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
Over 1,500,000 Canadians served overseas in the First World War (1914-1918), Second World War (1939-1945), and Korean War (1950-1953). More than 100,000 died. Many more struggled with physical and mental wounds. On November 11, Remembrance Day, please remember their sacrifice.
posted by media_dystopia @ 19:07 [ link | top | home ]
Here's something that drives me up the wall: TV commercials for movies featuring a single scene, as if no others are worth mentioning. A perfect example these days is the Sandra Bullock movie Murder By Numbers. Now that it has been released on Pay-Per-View, the local cable company is featuring the movie in ads for its digital service, and each one -- without exception, which is the real crime here -- shows Bullock's character saying, "The profile doesn't fit the profile!" If I hear that bit of dialogue one more time, I will put the movie on my black list and no one -- not the cable company, not the studio, no one -- will be getting my money.
posted by media_dystopia @ 01:14 [ link | top | home ]
Saturday, November 09, 2002
I'm addicted to TLC's Trading Spaces -- and While You Were Out is my methadone. Some days I have the broadcasts, then the rebroadcasts, then the repeats of the rebroadcasts on in the background while working on the computer. To me, those shows are soothing white noise.
posted by media_dystopia @ 03:27 [ link | top | home ]
Friday, November 08, 2002
After every U.S. election there is much discourse about the lack of voter turnout. Some blame the media to some degree. Others, like The New York Times' William Safire blame voters themselves. "We are lazy and do not want to take the trouble to fulfill our civic responsibilities," said Safire. "Too many of us would rather kvetch than vote." Personally, I tend towards the latter rather than the former. (NOTE: nytimes.com requires a one-time registration to view articles.)
posted by media_dystopia @ 01:36 [ link | top | home ]
The woman in the Bissel vacuum cleaner ad says, "A bond between woman and machine -- that's pretty special." Does anyone else have a hard time keeping a straight face when they hear that? Maybe it's just me.
posted by media_dystopia @ 00:59 [ link | top | home ]
Wednesday, November 06, 2002
Election update: Democracy is fleeting; live coverage has switched to the Winona Ryder trial verdict. No comment.
posted by media_dystopia @ 14:14 [ link | top | home ]
Election update: It's currently 226 to 204 in the House and 51 to 46 in the Senate, both for the Republicans. It should be interesting to see how this changes American politics.
posted by media_dystopia @ 14:00 [ link | top | home ]
Election update: It looks like the GOP win is even more in the bag with the party leading 50 to 46 in the Senate and 226 to 201 in the House, with several races still undecided. I'll stick with CNN's coverage until I pass out from exhaustion.
posted by media_dystopia @ 03:58 [ link | top | home ]
Tuesday, November 05, 2002
Election update: Back to watching CNN and the CNN.com Election 2002 Web site. It looks like the Republicans will control the House, Senate, and presidency -- unless this is all Florida-esque reporting at this point.
posted by media_dystopia @ 23:54 [ link | top | home ]
Election update: I'm currently getting my results from The Daily Show with Jon Stewart's live "Indecision 2002" coverage.
posted by media_dystopia @ 23:31 [ link | top | home ]
Election update: I realize people have a thirst for information, but wouldn't it better to not report the results until the votes are counted? The talking heads can banter about it all they want; just not call races based on obscure exit-poll data. Then someone can come out after double-checking all the results and announce them live on TV. Who am I kidding? That's no fun!
posted by media_dystopia @ 23:23 [ link | top | home ]
Election update: A Democratic congresswoman was not able to pull a lever to vote for herself at a polling station. Electronic optical readers didn't work at another station. Touch-screens confused older voters at other stations. Sometimes simplicity -- pencil and paper to vote; people to tally -- is the best way to go. The nice thing about a pencil is that if it breaks, you get a new pencil.
posted by media_dystopia @ 23:07 [ link | top | home ]
Election update: Given that the Voter News Service, the network news election consortium, doesn't trust its exit polling -- they said Al Gore won in Florida, didn't they? -- and the networks will be instead relying on actual vote data (go figure) from selected counties and states, the "accurate" results will be coming in later than expected. That means I will be watching my usual Tuesday-night shows and catching the live coverage later on. Even though CNN has begun projecting winners and losers, it's expecting a late night of coverage, especially for the close races.
posted by media_dystopia @ 18:59 [ link | top | home ]
Election update: Watching the live election coverage, you really get sense of just how complex American democracy is. In Canada, no matter where you live, you go to a polling station, identify yourself, go behind a cardboard screen, pick up a pencil, mark an "X" next to your choice -- for an election, the name of the person you want to represent your federal or provincial riding; for a referendum, a yes or no -- fold up the piece of paper, drop it in a large cardboard box, and walk away. That's it, that's all. In the U.S., each county in each state can have its own voting system -- ages-old gadgets with levers, new-fangled electronic touch-screens, large paper booklets -- and election laws. Citizens vote for so many political offices and on so many issues that election committees recommend taking home the voting booklets beforehand to read up on the choices. You know your democracy is complex when you have homework before the vote.
posted by media_dystopia @ 18:55 [ link | top | home ]
Election day! Let the live coverage begin!
posted by media_dystopia @ 15:58 [ link | top | home ]
Whenever I see American political pundits on news programs, I'm always struck by how much of an ideological straitjacket the U.S. two-party system is. It's as if being a true pragmatic centrist just isn't feasible -- you're either a Republican or Democrat. You can be a liberal or conservative within each, but you can't stray from your party affiliation, especially in punditry. Strangely, the same political spectrum exists in the news world; where an organization falls on it depends entirely on the consumer. To many people, CNN, MSNBC, and the big networks appear centrist, while Fox News Network leans to the right. Meanwhile, to Fox viewers and conservatives who look upon Bernard Goldberg's Bias: A CBS Insider Exposes How the Media Distort the News as the ultimate guide to bashing liberal bias in the press, those same networks are rife with anti-conservatism and lean as far left as humanly possible. Coming from Canada -- with publicly funded media, entrenched bilingualism and multiculturalism, and a dynamic multi-party political system -- all this is extremely fascinating.
posted by media_dystopia @ 00:38 [ link | top | home ]
Monday, November 04, 2002
Last week's court ruling has allowed Microsoft to dodge a bullet in its antitrust suit. However, given Enron, Worldcom, and other corporate miscreants, is bundling a Web browser with an operating system really all that bad? I don't see Internet Explorer pilfering employee retirement funds. Windows hasn't misstated its earnings and robbed investors of millions. In retrospect, aren't we all glad the U.S. Department of Justice spent all that time and money fighting the evil Bill Gates instead of real criminals?
posted by media_dystopia @ 19:55 [ link | top | home ]
Fox News Channel calling itself "fair and balanced" is kind of like a country with the word "democratic" or "people's" (or both) in its name -- usually it's anything but.
posted by media_dystopia @ 16:55 [ link | top | home ]
Further to the November 2 post: I've been praying to the sky spirits that they drop a 500-pound bomb on Pat Buchanan's head. Kind of like what U.S. planes did to those soldiers of "Soviet Canuckistan" in Afghanistan.
posted by media_dystopia @ 16:42 [ link | top | home ]
I fell asleep with CNN on again. I had President Bush's stump speeches in my dreams. Reminder: T minus one day to mid-term elections and live coverage utopia!
posted by media_dystopia @ 16:34 [ link | top | home ]
On CNN's Reliable Sources, the host and namesake of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart said that the sniper coverage was "media's finest hour." Added Stewart: "...by watching the 24-hour news networks, I learned that the sniper was an olive-skinned, white-black male -- men -- with ties to Son of Sam, al Qaeda, and was a military kid, playing video games, white, 17, maybe 40." Amen.
posted by media_dystopia @ 00:22 [ link | top | home ]
Sunday, November 03, 2002
CDW's motto in its television ads is: "Dealing with technology is hard." This is somewhat inaccurate. Given the schmucks in the commercial, it should be: "Dealing with technologically challenged, common sense-impaired imbeciles at work is hard."
posted by media_dystopia @ 02:41 [ link | top | home ]
Saturday, November 02, 2002
My apologies for the critical tone. Some days rational objectivity is just too hard to strive for. I prefer ironic musings from afar, but sometimes I feel the need to be a little more direct with my comments as a means of venting my frustrations.
posted by media_dystopia @ 04:38 [ link | top | home ]
Further to the previous post: Nice timing on the release of the documentary, Mike. Not trying to prey on dim-witted Americans shortly before a mid-term election are we?
posted by media_dystopia @ 04:31 [ link | top | home ]
Speaking of whiners, how's about Michael Moore's latest opus, Bowling for Columbine? This time Pat Buchanan's nemesis is tackling the issue of guns -- because it really does take a genius to poke fun at obvious American idiosyncrasies easily understood by anyone with an ounce of knowledge of the country's history and culture. A typical Canadian reaction to making fun of gun nuts: "Duh!"
posted by media_dystopia @ 04:24 [ link | top | home ]
If Pat Buchanan ever crosses the border into Canada he's going find out what happens when "a nation of whiners and freeloaders" gets upset. We citizens of "Soviet Canuckistan" like seeing loud-mouthed, ignorant, right-wing morons used as pucks in hockey games. Buchanan's organization, The American Cause, is based in Falls Church, Virginia. Too bad the snipers didn't do the gene pool a favor while they were in the area. Perhaps that's too harsh. Maybe they could have just shot out his vocal chords instead. Don't mind me, Pat -- just a little more "juvenile whining" from Canada. (Warning: sarcasm alert.)
Follow-up: A year and a half later, I replaced the Toronto Star's broken link with canada.com's. (There's simply no point in linking to that newspaper, is there?)
posted by media_dystopia @ 03:51 [ link | top | home ]
Friday, November 01, 2002
Further to the September 26 post: I'm going to launch a campaign against European-style ads on television. This evil trend must be stopped once and for all.
posted by media_dystopia @ 15:55 [ link | top | home ]
The world, including the media, makes a whole lot more sense when cognitive dissonance kicks in. Pragmatism doesn't hurt, either.
posted by media_dystopia @ 15:50 [ link | top | home ]
Further to the previous post: It really annoys me when those who read long magazine articles and newspaper features look down on those who don't. We live in the age of the media buffet. It's completely up to the consumer, and consuming is based on need and desire. Sometimes you want fresh egg rolls; sometimes you want pizza slices from under the heat lamp. Some people like long-form magazine narrative; other people like staccato screen crawl. It should be a judgment of taste and not of intelligence.
posted by media_dystopia @ 03:51 [ link | top | home ]
Ever wonder why the long-form narrative of many magazines is falling out of favor with a sizeable demographic? Walk into a large magazine store, stand in the middle, and slowly rotate. Then try counting the number of titles you would be interested in reading. Then multiply part of the number by 12, the rest by 52. Then ask yourself that question again.
posted by media_dystopia @ 03:18 [ link | top | home ]
I'm not sure I want to dial 9-1-1 and have the Kellogg's™ Fruit Loops™ police cruiser respond. Or a Depends™ S.W.A.T. van. Or a hostage negotiator in a Zoloft™ sedan. There's something inherently bizarre about having NASCAR-style ads on police cars. What's next? Cops with Dunkin' Donuts™ badges on their uniforms?
posted by media_dystopia @ 02:13 [ link | top | home ]