Sunday, April 30, 2017

APRIL - EPISODE IV: SPRING 2017


WISDOM OF THE SAGES
EPISODE IV: SPRING 2017
Hello People of the World;

Welp, the turn of the earth keeps on surprising us. It is just to fast that we are always, some how, caught the fuck off-guard to the ever-changing weather. Aww, nice out suddenly? Now, it’s chilly? It’s fucking spring idiots! The world is spinning. I am going out on a limb and guessing you will all be mad it gets hot in the summer. Just a guess, based on prior experiences.

Here we are in the fourth month of the 2017. Easter and, well, whatever else this month is associated with. People have been asking why I am not barking about all the changes in the United States that have been happening since January, and most especially, last November (If you see what they are getting at.) To that I say, anyone who can see, saw that this was the logical progression on our collective apathy and withering ideologies. Plain and simple. I know what your next reaction will be. Don’t worry… Anyways.

All right, let’s get going:

1:[ You had probably forgotten this, because, hey, why would you even care to remember, but a couple of months ago, a ton of YouTube Advertisers begin pulling ads from certain YouTube Channels due to the opinions made by some of those content creators. I report went out that many advertisers’ ads were being randomly placed with what many contend to be “extremist” videos.

This also seems to be the latest affront to YouTuber Creator Self-entitlements. In the end, they want the money, or else they would not ask you to not ad block them and why they are raising such a stink. They want money, plain and simple. When YouTube first started to gain popularity, creators just uploaded without a care before the monetization of videos. It was about it being a  open market of idea exchange. Now, everyone is a fucking sellout and they all pretend not to be. Yet, you still have to support hem on Patreon, right? Which is why most older YouTubers barely do anything now, mainly because they saw it would become a wasteland of people just uploading for money rather than content and the most eye-catching, sellout dribble, the better, I mean, reaction videos, really?

Also, many longtime YouTubers, have really fallen off in consistent materials, mainly due to audience expectations: Community Channel, AgentXP and others cannot really grow into their own anymore without conforming to what a “paying” audience wants. So, make a slight change in content, you lose viewers, revenue. So many just don’t bother to consistently upload any more I’ve noticed.

Look, I never cared or ever watched PewDiePie. Mainly because, who gives a shit what he thinks, I mean, at all? Any of them. He, like many others, just bought into his own hype and tried to push being provocative to a point that he got himself in trouble and now his fandom is up in arms over his opinions. But, he just, simply, bought into his own hype. It happens more often than you think. They all think that their shit is sooo good and provocative that, of course, of course they should get all the money and be allowed to say what they want. Yeah, I support them getting to say what they want, but that goes the other way too. People have the right to say what they want about their content and not give them the money. Why is that so hard to get?

What do I know? I’m a nameless nobody and if this sounds like a jumble of nonsensical ideological posturing over nothing, that will never change, you understand my view of this whole stupid thing after all….


2:[ Because I really like the film and its message, I attended a screening of “13th” at the Evanston Public Library. It was to be followed by a discussion of local action the community could take to make the changes necessary to prevent our furthering this complex problem of high incarceration rates among the African-American community along. It is s stunning film, very dedicated to its premise and providing enough information and enough emotional managing to get its point across. It is a very powerful and eye-opening film.

Why is it whenever a film such as this screens, an old white guy has to stand up immediately after and make their declarations that have nothing to do with the film? This guy, after stating he was a life-long Democrat, began a huge, rambling Election spiel. I wanted to hear the post-discussion but during his rant, a lot of people walked out, turned off by this guy. Which is probably what he wanted. I don’t know. But this happens so much at other things that deal with race….


3:[ I HAVE AN IDEA #1: I have a recycling idea that I think would work for folks who are moving or move a lot.

Buildings should put a "Have a Box, Leave a Box/Need a Box, Take a Box" bin in their basements so people can get rid of their moving boxes and let other tenants reuse their cardboard boxes. Such as folks that are moving in, can open up their living spaces by getting rid of their cardboard moving boxes and help a neighbor out, who may be moving, by allowing them to reuse their old boxes.

I think it would bring tenants together and form a sense of community, and it would be good to not throw old moving (and other) boxes out after a move….


4:[ Though I have never watched this new Archie Comics-based teen mystery-drama “Riverdale”, I suspect that all of it is simply a multi-season lead-up to this specific line of dialogue: “The Archie’s just haven’t been the same since Jughead died.”


5:[ "When we look at the world, we see the commercialization of arts. People use objects in order to sell their talents. As with the nut and the flower, the nut has become less important than the flower. In this manner, the Way of Strategy, both among the teachers and among the students, has become a show of technique, out of their desire to rush the blooming of the flower. They speak about "this Dojo" or "that Dojo". They seek profit. It was once said, that "undeveloped strategy is cause for grief." This saying is true."

MIYAMATO MUSHASHI, ca. 1645, Japan
The Book of Five Rings
The Earth Book, "The Way of Strategy"

This guy got it, and also got it over 400 years ago too.


6:[ MY TALKS WITH BONN: MOVIE AS EVENTS & THE DISNEY VAULT
Talking with Bonn the other day, I said that I don’t really go to movies on opening day anymore because movies are not the events they used to be because I know, it will be on home video in about three months. While I still love seeing films on the big screen, I mainly do so at my own discretion rather than being dictated to by a movie studio’s arbitrary day of opening. Besides, it will be on DVD or Netflix in a couple on months. With streaming and binge-watching becoming a thing as well, it now takes some effort to see a movie in a theater. All these new blockbusters coming out are now quickly forgotten in a few weeks anyway.

Bonn then mention how much we would rush to buy the newest Disney release because of the so-called “Disney Vault” promotional, that, “if you don’t buy it now, you’ll miss out because we are tossing it in a vault forever!” Which of course, they never did. We ended up buying so many different versions of “Sleeping Beauty” or something because we thought we would never see it on home video again. Of course, every five years they release another “Anniversary Deluxe Edition”. Man, we’re suckers….


7:[ “GET OFF MY BANDWAGON!” A New WOS Feature
Or, Being an Old Coot about Maintream Pop Culture.

EPISODE 1: New 11th Season MST3K Reactions
It seems is if, suddenly, everyone is a “long-time” fan of “Mystery Science Theater 3000”. Sheeeee-it, if there were this many fans back when it was airing, it would have never left Comedy Central. That is one of the many the downsides of this whole “nostalgia” thing happening in media. Those suckers, who had nothing to do with such shows and movies to begin with, suddenly get a chance to latch on, like some leech, just because the thing is kind of popular again.

But making something popular and acting like you were always a fan, (when most know you really weren’t) doesn’t make that thing cool either. MST3K was never “cool”. It was just a cowtown puppet show that everyone ignored. With the new Eleventh Season shows, you can always tell a phony fan because they will always, always question the shows narrative logic, when the show always tells to not too. Then, there are those fans that buy into their own hype of being a fan of the show by always seeking out references to the old versions of the show, like that matters.

It doesn’t make you a “nerd” either. You are just claiming the falsity of faux-intellect. That’s all. Since nerds are associated with being intelligent, you think latching onto something like MST3K will make you a nerd, so you don’t have to actually crack a fucking science book open and make your brain do some work to be smart. Now, get off my lawn!


8:[ There is a liquor store in my neighborhood which displays a sign that reads: "No Shirt, No Shoes, No Pets, No Bicycles, NO SERVICE!"

Wow, what an odd combination of things you need bring into the store just to buy a bottle of schnapps.


9:[ So I went to this panel discussion on “Reparation for Native American and Japanese American Cultures”. Ironically, almost hypocritically, there were no Native Americans on a panel dedicated to reparations. I hope the Anlgo person on the panel didn’t hyper-extend their arm patting themselves on the back for how bad they felt about what happened to Natives.


That is it for this month, nothing really new to pass on. Though my UWP class will be ending soon. It was a good run. I hope I am able to return. I’ll tell you more about it in next month’s edition. It looks like, for the second month in a row, I have bent my own rule and have gotten quasi-political for some reason. I’ll do better next time and bring you my thoughts on things that seem to only interest me. Okay?

As always, I invite you to comment, correct, or contradict anything I write here. I am open to a critical debate. Thanks for taking the time to check out what I write here and I will see you in a month.

Until next time, remember “I try to show the schemers how pathetic their attempts to control everything really are.”

2017 Ernest M Whiteman III

No comments: