I kinda dig the smell of skunk - from a distance. We drove by a skunk spray the other day and I mentioned this to Lisa. She said nothing for a moment and then quietly said "You know, there are a lot of things wrong with you."
Published writer, compulsive reader, Old School Whovian, Match Game enthusiast, NKOTB fan, data hoarder, and - surprisingly, given that list - married with four kids. Welcome to my take on life, fatherhood, entertainment, and whatever strikes my fancy. Enjoy!
Monday, February 1, 2010
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Season Premiere
Watching the season premiere of the Duggars on "19 Kids and Counting" and juggling my DVR schedule to accommodate the return of Lost.
Ghost of Girlfriends Past
Came home from work and watched 'Ghost of Girlfriends Past' w/ Matthew McConaughey, Jennifer Garner, Lacey Chabert and Michael Douglas. MUCH better than I feared. It's a fun romantic comedy and very enjoyable. Well worth the rental.
Our Oven
Lousy day, lousy mood. Among other things our oven now refuses to heat up. Sha-it.
Now my oven isn't working, because I needed just one more fricken thing! ugh! - Lisa
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Charlie Brooker - How to Report the News
Just to tie in with my recent rant about television news: watch this Youtube video. In less than two minutes time the cliched structure of any and all TV reporting is identified and skewered. It's more sad than funny, when you think of how many people
gobble up TV news as their primary source of information.
h/t Badger Blogger.
gobble up TV news as their primary source of information.
h/t Badger Blogger.
Mardi Gras Dance
Lisa took the girls to their Mardi Gras dance last night, coming home at 10:30 on an adrenaline high. L and I then watched 'This is It'. Commercialization of MJ's death? U betcha. But seeing his obsession to detail and the pure grace of his moves was worth it. And his voice . . . Sh*t. If MJ's voice wasn't a gift from God nothing is.
Friday, January 29, 2010
Grrr
This being Doppelganger week, I asked Lisa what celebrity I resembled. "Dante from Clerks," she said. Duh - I was even called Dante for a bit when the movie was big, and neither one of us has a chin. "That, or a really, really fat Ben Affleck."
I"m Sure it Doesn't Mean *That*
Today's random, taken out of context, overheard conversation, this time at a local restaurant: "Just shut up and put your meat in the hole".
Party at the Fed! - Hayek vs Keynes
Ladies and gentlemen, and variations thereupon, F.A. Hayek vs John Maynard Kenyes - the ultimate rap battle.
Practical men, who believe themselves to be quite exempt from any intellectual influence, are usually the slaves of some defunct economist
- Keynes
Complete Lyrics:
We’ve been going back and forth for a century
[Keynes] I want to steer markets,
[Hayek] I want them set free
There’s a boom and bust cycle and good reason to fear it
[Hayek] Blame low interest rates.
[Keynes] No… it’s the animal spirits
[Keynes Sings:]
John Maynard Keynes, wrote the book on modern macro
The man you need when the economy’s off track, [whoa]
Depression, recession now your question’s in session
Have a seat and I’ll school you in one simple lesson
BOOM, 1929 the big crash
We didn’t bounce back—economy’s in the trash
Persistent unemployment, the result of sticky wages
Waiting for recovery? Seriously? That’s outrageous!
I had a real plan any fool can understand
The advice, real simple—boost aggregate demand!
C, I, G, all together gets to Y
Make sure the total’s growing, watch the economy fly
We’ve been going back and forth for a century
[Keynes] I want to steer markets,
[Hayek] I want them set free
There’s a boom and bust cycle and good reason to fear it
[Hayek] Blame low interest rates.
[Keynes] No… it’s the animal spirits
You see it’s all about spending, hear the register cha-ching
Circular flow, the dough is everything
So if that flow is getting low, doesn’t matter the reason
We need more government spending, now it’s stimulus season
So forget about saving, get it straight out of your head
Like I said, in the long run—we’re all dead
Savings is destruction, that’s the paradox of thrift
Don’t keep money in your pocket, or that growth will never lift…
because…
Business is driven by the animal spirits
The bull and the bear, and there’s reason to fear its
Effects on capital investment, income and growth
That’s why the state should fill the gap with stimulus both…
The monetary and the fiscal, they’re equally correct
Public works, digging ditches, war has the same effect
Even a broken window helps the glass man have some wealth
The multiplier driving higher the economy’s health
And if the Central Bank’s interest rate policy tanks
A liquidity trap, that new money’s stuck in the banks!
Deficits could be the cure, you been looking for
Let the spending soar, now that you know the score
My General Theory’s made quite an impression
[a revolution] I transformed the econ profession
You know me, modesty, still I’m taking a bow
Say it loud, say it proud, we’re all Keynesians now
We’ve been goin’ back n forth for a century
[Keynes] I want to steer markets,
[Hayek] I want them set free
There’s a boom and bust cycle and good reason to fear it
[Keynes] I made my case, Freddie H
Listen up , Can you hear it?
Hayek sings:
I’ll begin in broad strokes, just like my friend Keynes
His theory conceals the mechanics of change,
That simple equation, too much aggregation
Ignores human action and motivation
And yet it continues as a justification
For bailouts and payoffs by pols with machinations
You provide them with cover to sell us a free lunch
Then all that we’re left with is debt, and a bunch
If you’re living high on that cheap credit hog
Don’t look for cure from the hair of the dog
Real savings come first if you want to invest
The market coordinates time with interest
Your focus on spending is pushing on thread
In the long run, my friend, it’s your theory that’s dead
So sorry there, buddy, if that sounds like invective
Prepare to get schooled in my Austrian perspective
We’ve been going back and forth for a century
[Keynes] I want to steer markets,
[Hayek] I want them set free
There’s a boom and bust cycle and good reason to fear it
[Hayek] Blame low interest rates.
[Keynes] No… it’s the animal spirits
The place you should study isn’t the bust
It’s the boom that should make you feel leery, that’s the thrust
Of my theory, the capital structure is key.
Malinvestments wreck the economy
The boom gets started with an expansion of credit
The Fed sets rates low, are you starting to get it?
That new money is confused for real loanable funds
But it’s just inflation that’s driving the ones
Who invest in new projects like housing construction
The boom plants the seeds for its future destruction
The savings aren’t real, consumption’s up too
And the grasping for resources reveals there’s too few
So the boom turns to bust as the interest rates rise
With the costs of production, price signals were lies
The boom was a binge that’s a matter of fact
Now its devalued capital that makes up the slack.
Whether it’s the late twenties or two thousand and five
Booming bad investments, seems like they’d thrive
You must save to invest, don’t use the printing press
Or a bust will surely follow, an economy depressed
Your so-called “stimulus” will make things even worse
It’s just more of the same, more incentives perversed
And that credit crunch ain’t a liquidity trap
Just a broke banking system, I’m done, that’s a wrap.
We’ve been goin’ back n forth for a century
[Keynes] I want to steer markets,
[Hayek] I want them set free
There’s a boom and bust cycle and good reason to fear it
[Hayek] Blame low interest rates.
[Keynes] No it’s the animal spirits
Practical men, who believe themselves to be quite exempt from any intellectual influence, are usually the slaves of some defunct economist
- Keynes
Complete Lyrics:
We’ve been going back and forth for a century
[Keynes] I want to steer markets,
[Hayek] I want them set free
There’s a boom and bust cycle and good reason to fear it
[Hayek] Blame low interest rates.
[Keynes] No… it’s the animal spirits
[Keynes Sings:]
John Maynard Keynes, wrote the book on modern macro
The man you need when the economy’s off track, [whoa]
Depression, recession now your question’s in session
Have a seat and I’ll school you in one simple lesson
BOOM, 1929 the big crash
We didn’t bounce back—economy’s in the trash
Persistent unemployment, the result of sticky wages
Waiting for recovery? Seriously? That’s outrageous!
I had a real plan any fool can understand
The advice, real simple—boost aggregate demand!
C, I, G, all together gets to Y
Make sure the total’s growing, watch the economy fly
We’ve been going back and forth for a century
[Keynes] I want to steer markets,
[Hayek] I want them set free
There’s a boom and bust cycle and good reason to fear it
[Hayek] Blame low interest rates.
[Keynes] No… it’s the animal spirits
You see it’s all about spending, hear the register cha-ching
Circular flow, the dough is everything
So if that flow is getting low, doesn’t matter the reason
We need more government spending, now it’s stimulus season
So forget about saving, get it straight out of your head
Like I said, in the long run—we’re all dead
Savings is destruction, that’s the paradox of thrift
Don’t keep money in your pocket, or that growth will never lift…
because…
Business is driven by the animal spirits
The bull and the bear, and there’s reason to fear its
Effects on capital investment, income and growth
That’s why the state should fill the gap with stimulus both…
The monetary and the fiscal, they’re equally correct
Public works, digging ditches, war has the same effect
Even a broken window helps the glass man have some wealth
The multiplier driving higher the economy’s health
And if the Central Bank’s interest rate policy tanks
A liquidity trap, that new money’s stuck in the banks!
Deficits could be the cure, you been looking for
Let the spending soar, now that you know the score
My General Theory’s made quite an impression
[a revolution] I transformed the econ profession
You know me, modesty, still I’m taking a bow
Say it loud, say it proud, we’re all Keynesians now
We’ve been goin’ back n forth for a century
[Keynes] I want to steer markets,
[Hayek] I want them set free
There’s a boom and bust cycle and good reason to fear it
[Keynes] I made my case, Freddie H
Listen up , Can you hear it?
Hayek sings:
I’ll begin in broad strokes, just like my friend Keynes
His theory conceals the mechanics of change,
That simple equation, too much aggregation
Ignores human action and motivation
And yet it continues as a justification
For bailouts and payoffs by pols with machinations
You provide them with cover to sell us a free lunch
Then all that we’re left with is debt, and a bunch
If you’re living high on that cheap credit hog
Don’t look for cure from the hair of the dog
Real savings come first if you want to invest
The market coordinates time with interest
Your focus on spending is pushing on thread
In the long run, my friend, it’s your theory that’s dead
So sorry there, buddy, if that sounds like invective
Prepare to get schooled in my Austrian perspective
We’ve been going back and forth for a century
[Keynes] I want to steer markets,
[Hayek] I want them set free
There’s a boom and bust cycle and good reason to fear it
[Hayek] Blame low interest rates.
[Keynes] No… it’s the animal spirits
The place you should study isn’t the bust
It’s the boom that should make you feel leery, that’s the thrust
Of my theory, the capital structure is key.
Malinvestments wreck the economy
The boom gets started with an expansion of credit
The Fed sets rates low, are you starting to get it?
That new money is confused for real loanable funds
But it’s just inflation that’s driving the ones
Who invest in new projects like housing construction
The boom plants the seeds for its future destruction
The savings aren’t real, consumption’s up too
And the grasping for resources reveals there’s too few
So the boom turns to bust as the interest rates rise
With the costs of production, price signals were lies
The boom was a binge that’s a matter of fact
Now its devalued capital that makes up the slack.
Whether it’s the late twenties or two thousand and five
Booming bad investments, seems like they’d thrive
You must save to invest, don’t use the printing press
Or a bust will surely follow, an economy depressed
Your so-called “stimulus” will make things even worse
It’s just more of the same, more incentives perversed
And that credit crunch ain’t a liquidity trap
Just a broke banking system, I’m done, that’s a wrap.
We’ve been goin’ back n forth for a century
[Keynes] I want to steer markets,
[Hayek] I want them set free
There’s a boom and bust cycle and good reason to fear it
[Hayek] Blame low interest rates.
[Keynes] No it’s the animal spirits
Thursday, January 28, 2010
'Rasslin Lessons
This afternoon I laid down for a short nap with Smiley and woke up to some odd news when Lisa announced she would be taking Smiley and LuLu wrestling that evening.
Wrestling? WTH? For several minutes there I actually thought I was in a dream, but no, it was true. Their school offers wrestling classes at a nearby high school, but turnout has been so low that one of the parents called us and asked the kids to volunteer.
A chance to do something different, learn a new skill, and get some physical activity on a day that featured bitter cold and a harsh wind? Okeedokee.
So at 5:30, Lisa took them down the road and let loose. Smiley was terrified beforehand, while Lu was eager for a fight. Go figure. By the time they got there both were gung-ho.
Mind you, Smiley isn't ready for the WWE quite yet. He was pinned during one game they used in training and promptly stood up, teary-eyed, and announced that the other boys were "all mean".
LuLu was matched up against a very good friend, a girl who just happens to be the daughter of an ex-wrestling coach.
LuLu did her best to pin her . . .
But that ended poorly - and quickly too!
When they returned LuLu had a headache and claimed she didn't want to do it again, and Smiley claimed he had a good time but was done for a lifetime. Nuh-uh. They're going back next week, and YaYa will be joining them too.
Anyway, for now - good job!
Wrestling? WTH? For several minutes there I actually thought I was in a dream, but no, it was true. Their school offers wrestling classes at a nearby high school, but turnout has been so low that one of the parents called us and asked the kids to volunteer.
A chance to do something different, learn a new skill, and get some physical activity on a day that featured bitter cold and a harsh wind? Okeedokee.
So at 5:30, Lisa took them down the road and let loose. Smiley was terrified beforehand, while Lu was eager for a fight. Go figure. By the time they got there both were gung-ho.
Mind you, Smiley isn't ready for the WWE quite yet. He was pinned during one game they used in training and promptly stood up, teary-eyed, and announced that the other boys were "all mean".
LuLu was matched up against a very good friend, a girl who just happens to be the daughter of an ex-wrestling coach.
LuLu did her best to pin her . . .
But that ended poorly - and quickly too!
When they returned LuLu had a headache and claimed she didn't want to do it again, and Smiley claimed he had a good time but was done for a lifetime. Nuh-uh. They're going back next week, and YaYa will be joining them too.
Anyway, for now - good job!
And now, our guest blogger - YaYa :)
This was the story I wrote for the Expo at my school. I hand wrote it in a hardcover book and drew pictures on each page and on the cover. I got an A (98%) and my teacher wrote:
"[YaYa] Your book is very neat. I can tell you worked hard on this and cared about your story. Maybe you'll be a famous writer someday!! :)"
* * *
"Ivana and the Blizzard"
About the Author: [ ] was born on ---. She loves animals and reading. Her Dad always tells her how you can be safe in an emergency. That is why I wrote this story.
* * *
"Are we there yet?" Ivana said.
"Almost!" her Mom said. Ivana, her little sister Eve, and their Mom were going to their Uncle Rob's house for a Christmas party.
"It is going to snow hard" Eve said.
"It sure is," Ivana said.
Then suddenly there was a big thump and the car stoppped. "Is everyone OK?" Ivana's Mother said. "Yeah" Eve and Ivana said together. "I bettter get out" Ivana's Mom said, getting out.
"Nothing is wrong with the tires," said Ivana's Mother, "Maybe the alternator is dead!".
"Better call Uncle Rob," Ivana said.
"Great. My cellphone is dead!" her Mom said.
"Are we going to miss the Christmas party?" Ivana said, looking up from her book.
"We will wait awhile and see if anyone comes" Ivana's Mom said.
Hours went by. "Mom I don't think anyone will come" Eve said. Just then, a car came down the street. "Sir!" Ivana's Mom called, but the car did not stop.
"Let's go in the car," Ivana said. "Maybe someone will come."
"Well for now, why not play a game," Ivana's Mom said. "Like In Gramma's Attic."
"OK, I'll start," Ivana said.
A long time passed. "This game is getting boring," Eve said. "It's so cold in here," said Ivana. After awhile, their Mom said, "Now we're out of gas." "It will get very cold fast," said their Mom. "Maybe if we walk for awhile there will be someone."
They started walking. It was very cold. Their teeth chattered. Then a house came into shape. "Maybe that's Uncle Rob!" Ivana said. "No," Ivana's Mom said. "I dont' think we're close to where he lives, but we can ask the person there for help."
When they were on the porch Eve went to ring the doorbell. A man answered. "Hello," he said. "Hi Eve, Ivana and Kate."
"Uncle Rob!" all of them shouted.
"Come join the party," Uncle Rob said. "Hi Ivana," their cousin Macy said.
The girls told their Uncle Rob all about what happened. "But why didn't you just walk here earlier?" he said.
"I thought you lived on Arthur Ave, not Elm" Ivana's Mom said.
"I do, this is Arthur Ave, you must have made a wrong turn!"
They all laughed. "Merry Christmas!" Ivana said.
THE END.
--
Posted By PrincessYaYa to The Monkey House at 1/28/2010 04:36:00 PM
"[YaYa] Your book is very neat. I can tell you worked hard on this and cared about your story. Maybe you'll be a famous writer someday!! :)"
* * *
"Ivana and the Blizzard"
About the Author: [ ] was born on ---. She loves animals and reading. Her Dad always tells her how you can be safe in an emergency. That is why I wrote this story.
* * *
"Are we there yet?" Ivana said.
"Almost!" her Mom said. Ivana, her little sister Eve, and their Mom were going to their Uncle Rob's house for a Christmas party.
"It is going to snow hard" Eve said.
"It sure is," Ivana said.
Then suddenly there was a big thump and the car stoppped. "Is everyone OK?" Ivana's Mother said. "Yeah" Eve and Ivana said together. "I bettter get out" Ivana's Mom said, getting out.
"Nothing is wrong with the tires," said Ivana's Mother, "Maybe the alternator is dead!".
"Better call Uncle Rob," Ivana said.
"Great. My cellphone is dead!" her Mom said.
"Are we going to miss the Christmas party?" Ivana said, looking up from her book.
"We will wait awhile and see if anyone comes" Ivana's Mom said.
Hours went by. "Mom I don't think anyone will come" Eve said. Just then, a car came down the street. "Sir!" Ivana's Mom called, but the car did not stop.
"Let's go in the car," Ivana said. "Maybe someone will come."
"Well for now, why not play a game," Ivana's Mom said. "Like In Gramma's Attic."
"OK, I'll start," Ivana said.
A long time passed. "This game is getting boring," Eve said. "It's so cold in here," said Ivana. After awhile, their Mom said, "Now we're out of gas." "It will get very cold fast," said their Mom. "Maybe if we walk for awhile there will be someone."
They started walking. It was very cold. Their teeth chattered. Then a house came into shape. "Maybe that's Uncle Rob!" Ivana said. "No," Ivana's Mom said. "I dont' think we're close to where he lives, but we can ask the person there for help."
When they were on the porch Eve went to ring the doorbell. A man answered. "Hello," he said. "Hi Eve, Ivana and Kate."
"Uncle Rob!" all of them shouted.
"Come join the party," Uncle Rob said. "Hi Ivana," their cousin Macy said.
The girls told their Uncle Rob all about what happened. "But why didn't you just walk here earlier?" he said.
"I thought you lived on Arthur Ave, not Elm" Ivana's Mom said.
"I do, this is Arthur Ave, you must have made a wrong turn!"
They all laughed. "Merry Christmas!" Ivana said.
THE END.
--
Posted By PrincessYaYa to The Monkey House at 1/28/2010 04:36:00 PM
No Thanks
My sister just called to say Jay Leno's on Oprah, doing an "aw shucks, I didn't mean to screw over anyone" schtick, perfected circa 1992. Never fear Jay, your AARP audience will stand by you. I thanked her for the info, but I've got no interest in boosting Oprah's ratings.
The humor . . .it's an acquired taste
How to be a Bad Parent to an 8 yr old: After school, YaYa was ecstatic. "Dad, I got a hundred on my math test!" she said. To which I immediately responded: "How?? Did you cheat?!"
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
A Question
Clear something up for me Kei$ha. Everybody gettin crunk crunk, boys trying to touch ur junk junk, now the dudes are lining up cuz they heard u got swagger, but u kick em to the curb unless they look like Mick Jagger. Have u looked in a mirror girl? Why would YOU waste your time on a Jagger look-a-like?
Quote
"Not ironic?? This is like O. Henry and Alanis Morissette had a baby and named it This Exact Situation!” - Archer
Family Night and American Idol
Family Night went as planned (for once!) and all was well.
My take on AI: Avril was an immature brat and a waste of airtime, Katy Perry was stunning, headstrong, and should be invited back, and this show is doomed once Simon leaves. BTW, "This isn't a Lifetime movie" (Perry) was one of the best lines I've ever heard from an AI judge not named Simon.
No More Diapers!!!!
EIGHT years of diapers has come to an end!!!!!! I can officially say my last baby is potty trained! Nights and naps not so much, but daytime I'm confident in outings out and her letting me know consistently, yippeee!!! 4 down, and no more to go!! Who is up for a NO MORE DIAPERS party? No kiddies allowed, lol.... - Lisa
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
She Reached the Cookie Sale Goal!
Quoting Lisa's FB: [YaYa]has reached her goal of selling 150 boxes of Girl Scout cookies! I feel redeemed for a pitiful showing last year (we didn't sell any!). She told the last house "I only have 3 more to sell and then I can go home!"....and the lady bought it! (it was the truth, but part of me thought, why didn't we think about that line earlier!)
Family Night
Plans for Family Night: BBQ chicken with a baked potato bar (salsa, sour cream, bacon bits, etc), followed by either a card game or door-to-door for Girl Scouts. Later, AI. Right now tho' Lisa is volunteering at YaYa's play practice for the 1st time, and I expect some rookie hazing. I give YaYa a 50/50 chance of NOT forcing Lisa to give her up for adoption.
By the way, I finally (!) found a new tank for the turtle, dang near a month after his old one shattered. It's as big as his old tank/smaller than his temp. digs, but he seems happy. Smiley and I found it at Goodwill for $5, and stopped to get Franklin a 'welcome home' meal of live crickets as a treat.
A Truth
Here's a rule of life as true as any in physics. No matter how long your ride - 10 min, 30, eight hours- you can count on a radio station playing a great 7 or 8 minute opus when - and ONLY WHEN - you are 2 min or less from your destination. I haven't heard the end to Bohemian Rhapsody or LA Woman in years.
My take on the Nightly News - an unpublished (read: rejected) column
Here's an odd personality quirk of mine – one of many, but who's counting? I'm a news junkie, one who combs the Internet daily for obscure stories from around the globe. Politics, sports, science, crime – you name the story and chances are I've linked to it on my Facebook account.
But at least once a week a friend will try to discuss something they saw on a local newscast and I won't have a clue about what they're talking about. That's my fault. I tend to avoid TV news whenever possible. Madison could gift me a million dollars, and if the announcement was exclusive to TV, I'd march off to work the next day counting my pennies.
I'm not proud of this admission. I'm not a intellectual twit who turns up his nose at the TV (my DVR is a very dear friend), or a Luddite who prefers his news delivered on parchment. No, I'm afraid that in my gut I just agree with the perception that TV news amounts to a blistering montage of the worst of human nature. Murder, rape, abuse, shooting and theft, repeated for half an hour.
Interrupted, of course, by sports, weather, and a series of commercial breaks.
This aversion started when, as a teenager during Operation Desert Shield, the distinctive ABC Nightly News jingle became a harbinger of grim news. I agree, I was a bit on the wimpy side back in the day, but the damage was done. Later, as an adult, I just decided TV news was too focused on the dark for my liking.
It's not that newspapers and their online equivalents favor rainbows and unicorns. There's plenty of murder and mayhem, and the lead stories are usually tales of woe. But there's also space – space to discuss a dozen of mankind's darkest tales, but with room left over for an interview or two, a few inches on the latest scientific discoveries, and the human interest piece about the little old lady with the world's largest porcelain cat collection.
Then again, sometimes I'm reassured that we're all still so fascinated by the ghastly and the bizarre. After all, news is only news because it's something unusual, a break from the routine. You don't call someone each and every day at 6 o'clock and tell them about how you woke up, brushed your teeth, had breakfast, etc – unless, of course, you happen to be my mother-in-law. No, you call them to share the break from the routine, the spice, good or bad, that makes 'this' day different from all the rest that came before.
When an experience saturates our existence, we grow oblivious to it. It's human nature. Drunk driving arrests are so numerous here in Wisconsin that individual cases rarely deserve headlines. Childhood obesity is a major concern now, but it managed to stay under the radar until it was epidemic. No telecast or newspaper will ever trumpet news of an everyday citizen cited for pot possession, any more than they'd report on the sun rising in the east.
Bad things are always going to happen in this world, but when they become so commonplace as to go unnoticed and unreported, then we've truly got a problem. I guess, when you look at it that way, I should be grateful that the nightly news iss so morbid. It's a sign that our everyday life isn't as dark as it sometimes appears.
But at least once a week a friend will try to discuss something they saw on a local newscast and I won't have a clue about what they're talking about. That's my fault. I tend to avoid TV news whenever possible. Madison could gift me a million dollars, and if the announcement was exclusive to TV, I'd march off to work the next day counting my pennies.
I'm not proud of this admission. I'm not a intellectual twit who turns up his nose at the TV (my DVR is a very dear friend), or a Luddite who prefers his news delivered on parchment. No, I'm afraid that in my gut I just agree with the perception that TV news amounts to a blistering montage of the worst of human nature. Murder, rape, abuse, shooting and theft, repeated for half an hour.
Interrupted, of course, by sports, weather, and a series of commercial breaks.
This aversion started when, as a teenager during Operation Desert Shield, the distinctive ABC Nightly News jingle became a harbinger of grim news. I agree, I was a bit on the wimpy side back in the day, but the damage was done. Later, as an adult, I just decided TV news was too focused on the dark for my liking.
It's not that newspapers and their online equivalents favor rainbows and unicorns. There's plenty of murder and mayhem, and the lead stories are usually tales of woe. But there's also space – space to discuss a dozen of mankind's darkest tales, but with room left over for an interview or two, a few inches on the latest scientific discoveries, and the human interest piece about the little old lady with the world's largest porcelain cat collection.
Then again, sometimes I'm reassured that we're all still so fascinated by the ghastly and the bizarre. After all, news is only news because it's something unusual, a break from the routine. You don't call someone each and every day at 6 o'clock and tell them about how you woke up, brushed your teeth, had breakfast, etc – unless, of course, you happen to be my mother-in-law. No, you call them to share the break from the routine, the spice, good or bad, that makes 'this' day different from all the rest that came before.
When an experience saturates our existence, we grow oblivious to it. It's human nature. Drunk driving arrests are so numerous here in Wisconsin that individual cases rarely deserve headlines. Childhood obesity is a major concern now, but it managed to stay under the radar until it was epidemic. No telecast or newspaper will ever trumpet news of an everyday citizen cited for pot possession, any more than they'd report on the sun rising in the east.
Bad things are always going to happen in this world, but when they become so commonplace as to go unnoticed and unreported, then we've truly got a problem. I guess, when you look at it that way, I should be grateful that the nightly news iss so morbid. It's a sign that our everyday life isn't as dark as it sometimes appears.
Monday, January 25, 2010
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