There really is something wrong when...

For the longest time I've been a fan of the Daily show, for those who don't know it is a comedy show that takes a funny take on politics and news in the US. Though up in Canada we've had Air Farce and This hour has 22 minutes were comedy gold well before Jon Stewart, but anyway...
I became a fan of the show mainly because it ... is darn funny, with excellent writing and comedy at it's finest... though at times also just plain silly as well.

However starting with this CNN crossfire interview I really started to question how people saw the show worldwide and in the USA in particular. In the interview Stewart himself said that there is something wrong when news networks look to a comedy show for journalistic integrity. Some pollsters have shown that more and more people are tuning into the Daily show for news than the news stations themselves or seem to trust the information they get from Stewart more than the 'respected' news anchors.

More recently there has been a big brouhaha over a piece DS did about CNBC and their seeming complicity in the current financial crisis. I'll admit it was interesting though as per usual it wasn't really anything I didn't know before... it was just packaged nicely and present in a way I could laugh at instead of banging my head against a wall.
However it really has struck a cord within the media itself and people are taking it more seriously than I thought possible... which I find really disturbing.
Now first one should really should Watch this , seriously. It was partially disturbing to see the show being about the full complacency of media with the economic crisis... but that Jon Stewart was actually doing a serious interview... I kept waiting for a punch line in the middle but it was a serious interview without the combative argumentative bullshit that passes for debate.
Why... why does one have to look to a comedy show for a serious look at what is happening in the world?
The answer is actually a damning statement against the current mainstream media. The responsibility of illuminating truth has turned into more of an exercise in earning advertising revenue and not upsetting the powers that be (who often happen to pay for 'adversing'). As other bloggers and commentors on the whole scenario have stated it does seem that these major news networks and sources who claim to have respectablility and access ... really don't use it effectively and are more afraid of giving offence than publishing what boils down to propoganda.

I wish I could write a bit more but time for work, and again to avoid the draft will just publish this entry as is. One last word about the media though... for all the stupity I see coming from major news and media outlets, it really is only a reflection of the regular person, people don't want the truth or justice... for the most part they just want to be entertained.

Adventures in shaving,

Well this might be an odd topic but felt it would be nice to try writing about. I'm sure most people can relate to shaving at least some part of their body for 'whatever' reason at one time or another, being a guy who could grow a full beard at the age of 14 it is something I've become quite used too.

Eventually I also started shaving my head as well, or to quote a colourful character "God shaved part of my head, I just decided to finish the job". In any event this means that whether I like it or not shaving is nearly a daily chore though keeping a beard allows me to slack off every other day or so (longer if I want a mean grunge look). What this all leads up to is the choice of shaving utensil, a razor, electric razor or some latest 5 blade power EXXXTREME razor than dispenses magical healing liquid and smells like mint - oh and also vibrates.

Anyway for the longest time I've settled on the Mach 3 razor which is quite comfortable though the cost of the replacement blades are a bit pricey. I've tried electric razors and they really are uncomfortable no matter how 'hi-tech' they become - plus they never seem to do quite the job that blades are able to. So while I use Mach 3 what I really want to use are good ol'fashion straight razors, of course would probably end up like Scarface but with a little practice it would be a nifty skill to pick up. Unfortunately finding these razors is not an easy task, plus one needs an assortment of equipment to maintain it: strop, brush, mug and a few other terms I forget.

Well since I was down to my last replacement Mach 3 blade decided to pick up a new razor and on impulse got the tried and true single blade razor with those iconic honest to goodness razor blades (the friends of emos since... whenever that fad become popular). I would have liked a straight razor but as I said it was on impulse and they don't seem to carry straight razors at the local stores.

The first time using the archetype of safety razors proved ... interesting. It was a little nerve racking to use an untested blade on ones throat but it was surprisingly clean to shave with. I actually completed most of my morning ritual with a couple of minor nicks (well within acceptable tolerances) until I reached the back of my head.
Now I am fairly used to head shaving so I don't use a mirror unless defining my beard (it is a sweet beard) so just went about as normal feeling for rough areas when a pass of the razor seemd to burn just a little.
I didn't think anything of it until I felt an a wet area on back of my head... yeah.
I actually managed to take a picture of my bleeding skull but fortunately for you it has been lost on my computer amoung countless pictures of random objects and various politicians (they're just so sexy).

Though now have got used to the blade and actually enjoy using it more than the Mach 3... I think there is something about the ritual of shaving that makes me appreciate the older shaving methods than the gosh darn fancy technological stuff. Maybe it is the concentration that is needed to safely use a very sharp blade or a Zen-like trance one goes into when shaving but while I wouldn't say shaving is an enjoyable experience it is one of those multitude of little rituals one has to do throughout the day that is actually not altogether unpleasant. Though I think being able to use a straight razor would be totally bad ass, it's almost like telling someone you use a gun to plant seeds... hmm, maybe not quite that stupid but I think you get the idea.

Fascination with Fail...


Well the above picture is more for the sake of humour than any meaningful representation about what I'm going to blog about today... at least I couldn't thing of a way to do it with extreme leaps of logic.
Anyway I guess a lot of things are happening in life again... it always seems that the universe conspires to lull one into a false sense of security and then hit you with the biggest sh... storm you ever had the imagination to think of, turn into a Hollywood script and have the resulting movie lead played by Helen Hunt (she was a famous actress... so I've been told).
Hmm, that might be a bit inaccurate, I think the way I see things in my life right now is like a large intersection... right now, it's pretty empty and quiet, maybe a few cars go by. In the distance it seems a couple of trains are coming, there also appears to be a few buses and trucks loaded with flammables heading down the road.
So I really should start planning how to switch the tracks for the trains and which bus to stop before they all collide together in a beautiful fubar fireball... or get a stick and some marshmallows and wait a bit.

Hmm, I guess what I'm trying to get at in a round about way is I have a lot of decisions to make, and no matter what I choose some people aren't going to be happy. Oh well, that's life I guess...

Another thing that has been weighing heavily on my mind is how seriously I take myself... quite often I make effort to downplay my abilities or appear foolish as a way of lowering expectations. Though I think people just begin to assume I'm a little nuts which works out just as well - since I really don't like getting involved too deeply in things, too troublesome.
I've started changing a bit, maybe it's just waking and thinking I guess I'll do what is necessary today, or maybe just thinking it would be nice to rage against the dying of the light.

Meh, whatever... either way as long as it stays interesting it's something to look forward too. I've also decided I really should make more of an effort to keep in contact with people. Someone passes away and you're left thinking 'I really wish I knew them' because honestly if you don't then it's hard to know how to feel. For all that I try to understand the world and how people act it is quite sobering to find out that one doesn't really know much about the people who should be closest.

So have a lot of stuff to work on inside and out so to speak... it's funny, I've stopped wishing for life to be simpler or easier... in fact, I think at this point I really do want something to rage against, to fight with all my strength even if failure is a foregone conclusion. What's that ol sports saying... "it's not whether you win or lose, it's how you play the game".

I've been thinking a lot recently... hmm, perhaps a better way to say is I've been thinking more than I usually do. Most of the time it isn't productive, just the usual mix of introspective and 'nature of the universe' stuff, but even that gets tiring so switched it up with some more analytical thought on things around me, people, environment, politics, censorship, accuracy of information etc.

Oddly enough I've never tried sharing about 95% of what I think mainly because I believe that I don't have enough information to make a conclusion, to do otherwise is just pure speculation.

However I've realized that most people really have no clue either... there really isn't any way to be completely sure about anything. Though it breaks down into two categories, the first knows their information is incomplete but makes decisions based on them leaving room for change if anything new is brought to light. The second takes what little information they get and then staunchly defend it without even considering that it could be wrong - to the point that they will fight against any contradicting information.

It surprises me how many people fall into the second category, or more accurately how many people fall into the second category only for certain subjects. This may be opening a can of worms but let's look at Religion and Politics. People may question a lot of things, but if it is put forward through a religious or political light then they will eagerly accept and defend it.

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I was going to continue with the previous thought but realized it would be more than I really want to get into. Actually it's just that it would take more time than I have to write the full scope of what I wanted so instead of saving as a draft (a mark of death for my blog posts) figured I'd shift gears with the smoothness of an elephant performing Swan Lake and talk about something completely different - organization!

Organization is a fancy way of saying... hmm, I'm not sure, where is my dictionary... damn, can't find it, I really should be more organized. Anyway it is something that is really really hard to do. That's it... oh and "I like turtles"