Amazon Echo...and any other "smart speakers" sure to follow.
Innocuous enough on the surface, this device nevertheless contributes to the gross invasion of privacy permeating our society these days, by exploiting our desire to be connected, or more accurately, our belief that we must be, or that all this technology allows us to be.
Most disturbing, is the fact that I've been kind of curious about this. I've actually thought about getting one, lulled - by television commercials - dangerously close to the belief that "Alexa" will somehow make my life easier.
But naw...Amazon Echo doesn't bring anything new to the party. It only replicates what my phone can already do, thus is merely another opportunity to spend money needlessly. And I'm still perfectly capable of performing inane tasks myself. I don't need "Alexa" to order pizza for me.
Friday, May 26, 2017
Friday, May 19, 2017
Reason #43 to Live Nebulously
Motherfucking prescription drug commercials on television.
Seriously, that shit has to stop.
Who first thought pharmaceutical companies need to advertise at all?
And who decided it was okay that they do? Or that they do so in such a cynical, assaultive and exploitive manner?
The only time I ever need to hear the (ghastly) names of these drugs is if I'm unfortunate enough to have a doctor feel the need to say them to me.
They certainly don't need to interrupt the "Friends" marathon I've committed my afternoon to.
Of course, they themselves are sure to be interrupted by other commercials, notably the ones that start out, "If you, or a loved one, took XXXX and experienced illness or death, you might be entitled to a sizable cash settlement!"
Madness.
Seriously, that shit has to stop.
Who first thought pharmaceutical companies need to advertise at all?
And who decided it was okay that they do? Or that they do so in such a cynical, assaultive and exploitive manner?
The only time I ever need to hear the (ghastly) names of these drugs is if I'm unfortunate enough to have a doctor feel the need to say them to me.
They certainly don't need to interrupt the "Friends" marathon I've committed my afternoon to.
Of course, they themselves are sure to be interrupted by other commercials, notably the ones that start out, "If you, or a loved one, took XXXX and experienced illness or death, you might be entitled to a sizable cash settlement!"
Madness.
Friday, May 12, 2017
Yet ANOTHER Top 100 (or so) Songs I Absolutely Must Have With Me on 1/48/50
#251) "Miss You" by The Rolling Stones - I think when artists today sing about "moves like Jagger...", and all that that implies, they're referring to 1978's "Miss You". Quintessential Stones, I'd say, emblematic of the hedonistic Seventies too...and all that that implies.
Really, is there a more durably slick and sexy jam than this?
#252) "Just a Girl" by No Doubt - Even if this song weren't, for my money, the best example of what made No Doubt great, even if this song's lyrics weren't kind of important for young girls to take a moment to actually listen to, Gwen Stefani is still the hottest female artist to ever step onto a stage, so...yeah, she'll be coming along on 1/48/50.
Er, you know what I mean...;-)
"Take this pink ribbon off my eyes, I'm exposed, and it's no big surprise..."
Really, is there a more durably slick and sexy jam than this?
"I've been walking Central Park, singing after dark, people think I'm crazy..."
Er, you know what I mean...;-)
"Take this pink ribbon off my eyes, I'm exposed, and it's no big surprise..."
Friday, May 5, 2017
Yet ANOTHER Top 100 (or so) Songs I Absolutely Must Have With Me on 1/48/50
#249) "Lady" by Kenny Rogers - One of Lionel Richie's best songs, "Lady" has a true ethereal quality to it, due in part to Kenny Rogers' unique vocals, but also the sparse accompaniment, most notably the piano, which to me has always sounded like old drapes hanging in an abandoned house.
That may or may not be enough to warrant placing it on this list, but I have a strange (though not entirely unpleasant) memory associated with this song: I once moonbathed to it.
Seriously, I was seventeen, and like most teenagers, had a tendency to do weird things just because they weren't the same old-same old, and on a night that was just warm enough to be outside, I lay reclined on a lawn chair in front of the garage in our driveway, staring up at a bright full moon. There was a radio with me, I can't remember if it was the radio in my car (my big, rusty 1977 Chrysler Newport with a hood the size of Wyoming...how I miss her), or an actual radio, but music was coming from somewhere, and when "Lady" by Kenny Rogers started playing, I thought (and still do) it was a fitting accompaniment to lying in the dim, hazy light that was both silver and lime-green, and, for better or worse, a fitting accompaniment to the circumstances I found myself in. I was a junior in high school, facing the last summer of my childhood. And when summer was over, when I came back to school in the fall, I would be a father.
It was a heady time. Quite a thing...
"You have gone and made me such a fool..."
#250) "Strawberry Wine" by Deanna Carter - Perhaps no other song from 1990s country reminds me of being a deejay for a 100,000-watt powerhouse than "Strawberry Wine." Nothing overly dramatic going on here, and nothing that I personally can sink my teeth into in terms of what it's about...it's just a simple country ballad from a mostly one or two hit (though talented) wonder. But it was very popular in 1996, both nationally and in our market, making its way onto many "most requested" lists at our station for many weeks. And despite initially being dismissed by Nashville as - among other things - not memorable enough, it has since taken its place as a true country classic.
It's really quite a durable song, and totally memorable, actually, for its intimate (and suitably sullen) portrayal of a young woman's first romance with an older boy, and all the good and bad found there as she thinks back. Moving, I think, because she's not totally sure, so many years later, whether it was a good thing or a bad thing.
But it was definitely a thing. Quite a thing...
"I still remember when thirty was old..."
That may or may not be enough to warrant placing it on this list, but I have a strange (though not entirely unpleasant) memory associated with this song: I once moonbathed to it.
Seriously, I was seventeen, and like most teenagers, had a tendency to do weird things just because they weren't the same old-same old, and on a night that was just warm enough to be outside, I lay reclined on a lawn chair in front of the garage in our driveway, staring up at a bright full moon. There was a radio with me, I can't remember if it was the radio in my car (my big, rusty 1977 Chrysler Newport with a hood the size of Wyoming...how I miss her), or an actual radio, but music was coming from somewhere, and when "Lady" by Kenny Rogers started playing, I thought (and still do) it was a fitting accompaniment to lying in the dim, hazy light that was both silver and lime-green, and, for better or worse, a fitting accompaniment to the circumstances I found myself in. I was a junior in high school, facing the last summer of my childhood. And when summer was over, when I came back to school in the fall, I would be a father.
It was a heady time. Quite a thing...
"You have gone and made me such a fool..."
#250) "Strawberry Wine" by Deanna Carter - Perhaps no other song from 1990s country reminds me of being a deejay for a 100,000-watt powerhouse than "Strawberry Wine." Nothing overly dramatic going on here, and nothing that I personally can sink my teeth into in terms of what it's about...it's just a simple country ballad from a mostly one or two hit (though talented) wonder. But it was very popular in 1996, both nationally and in our market, making its way onto many "most requested" lists at our station for many weeks. And despite initially being dismissed by Nashville as - among other things - not memorable enough, it has since taken its place as a true country classic.
It's really quite a durable song, and totally memorable, actually, for its intimate (and suitably sullen) portrayal of a young woman's first romance with an older boy, and all the good and bad found there as she thinks back. Moving, I think, because she's not totally sure, so many years later, whether it was a good thing or a bad thing.
But it was definitely a thing. Quite a thing...
"I still remember when thirty was old..."
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