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Thursday, September 11, 2003

Regrets...
I've had a few.
But then again,
Too few to mention!
--"My Way",
written by Paul Anka
When I hear that song, I think of Frank Sinatra, and sometimes Elvis or Sid Vicious -- all of whom have been known to perform, in their own unique manner, that wonderful song. Wonderful because -- though I don't always enjoy hearing it, I've heard it so much -- the song is a wonderful personal anthem. That's something we all need: a personal anthem. A song that praises our individuality; a mark of devotion to oneself. After all, they say you're going to have a helluva time loving anyone else unless you've first learned to love yourself, right?

This is not to replace your love for your God, or your spouse, or your family. I'm simply saying that we all need to give ourselves a bit more self-love at this time of year. (No, not that type of self-love !) Too many of us beat up on ourselves throughout the year, and then nearly destroy ourselves at year's end. No wonder there are so many suicides during the Holidays; the messages bombarding us are to Buy Buy Buy and to Give Give Give -- but what if you have nothing to give but love? If you have a dearth of that good stuff, then you'll have a bitch of a time spreading it around to your neighbors.

So be good to yourself, whether you're Christian, Pagan, Wiccan, Athiest, Hindu, Islamic, Mormon, Podcastin, or otherwise. Don't take the pills, they won't do you or anyone else any good; you'll simply miss out on the Next Big Thing (which may turn out to be Your Next Big Thing). Just do things your own way, singing that little hymn as you do so:
For what is a man,
What has he got?
If not himself,
Then he has naught.
To say the things,
He truly feels,
And not the words,
Of one who kneels.
The record shows,
I took the blows
And did it my way!

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

I hadn’t realized television had decayed to the point of recycling the Battle of the Network Stars concept. The updated version, of course, is Battle of the Network Reality Stars. I discovered this while doing some research -- you know, your typical Google/Wikipedia search on some topic of passing interest. It probably began with reading a news article about an alleged criminal act performed by a former Reality series “star”...feeling like I recognized the name of said “star”...being irked that I’m not certain...bored and procrastinating...digging around online for more information in the attempt at satisfying that nagging feeling of recognition...I’m sure I know this guy, it’s on the tip of my tongue...my girlfriend exclaiming (“That’s him!”) her boss has a working relationship with the very same criminal person...sidetracking into other Wiki-information. Somewhere along the way, there it is: Battle of the Network Reality Stars.

Are you kidding me? Is television getting this desperate? I mean, I know this show wasn’t broadcast on the Networks, as it was in the old days -- this time around it was a Bravo production, which explains why I hadn’t known about it before (since I haven’t had cable or satellite service in years). But still...Is Bravo so desperate as to resort to this type of recycled programming? Apparently so.

It’s not simply that the concept is recycled. That’s not what bothers me; television has delivered plenty of recycled concepts I’ve enjoyed a-plenty. In fact, I recall really enjoying Battle of the Network Stars when I was a kid. Nothing like watching Tattoo and Mr. Rourke team up with the crew of The Love Boat in a tug-o-war against Eight is Enough. It’s a postmodern delight, genre-busting mischief that could only be enjoyed by true television aficionados.

I’m also not a Reality Hater. Really. I’m not one to duck Reality. (Well, for the most part.) So maybe it’s just a knee-jerk reaction, this nausea over Bravo’s attempt at entertainment. I suppose I might have really enjoyed watching Battle if I’d actually invested more television time to Big Brother and Apprentice and Average Joe and Amazing Race and America’s Next Top Model and American Idol and Real World. But I didn’t, so this Reality show and Reality stars just seems plain silly to me.


posted by Harold  3/11/2008 11:49:00 PM
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I once posted, in this space (this right column), the following:

If I had friends they would be listed here

That particular bit o' text, that silly and idiotic phrase, was repeated a dozen or two dozen or so times and was intended to be temporary. I had been working on a project -- a new layout for this blog -- and had intended for that text to be placeholder content. That is, the text was supposed to temporarily replace the content that had previously occupied this column (which was a list of links to friends -- that is, other blogs and web sites I linked to). I didn't know what content I was going to place into that (this) space, so I placed a bunch of duplicate phrases here as a placeholder so that I would remember to fill in this space again later.

At the same time, I thought I was being cute with the heading:

NEW & IMPROVED FRIENDS!

The fact remains: I still don't know what content to put here, in this column. Links again? Pictures? Video? Audio? Ads? Oh, hell no! It hasn't come to me yet, but I'm sure it will eventually, and when it does it'll come quick and (as usual) with consequences.