You know you are in trouble when the Evening News airs reruns.

[AFK]

RWHN:
> Have you seen any of the shit that is going on with the Anna Nicole deal?

no i haven't. and if it weren't for this messageboard it would have known nothing more than some remark by my gf "did you know annanicole died?" - "who?" - "some model" - "oh."

really people. the world is big enough without TV as it is already. just throw the damn thing out of the door if it's giving you so much pain.

then it's limited to the poor sods trying to tell you about inane bullshit news. and what do you do with poor sods telling you about inane bullshit news? that's right, you make fun of them.
last wednesday evening, some poor sod making some half-assed non-funny reference to some piece of corporate brainwashing: ".. or don't you know that advertisement jingle?", me irritated: "I don't watch advertisements" *glare*

Well, yes, except what I was trying to get at in my rant was TV as a symptom or as an electified mirror of society.  Exemplifying what a lot of empty people use to fill their lives.  Obviously, I can turn it off, or at least, ignore the things such as I talked about in my rant.  But that wasn't the point really.  Some may view that TV is dictating what people think about and value.  And I suppose to some degree that's true.  But, I also believe there is a huge component of TV showing the people what they want to see.  There's obiviously an insatiable thirst for the down and dirty on Dead Anna and the Motley Crue of Degenerates fighting to get their paws on her dough.  There's obviously an insatiable thirst for what Britney does to herself. 

No one talks about their "talents."  They don't focus on Britney's "music" or Anna's "whateverthefuckshedoes".  It's about their human wreckage.  People need this human wreckage so they can forget about their own.  TV is the most immediate medium to get it and that constant desire to have that diet of detritus assures that there is a constant resupply of the goods. It's there because "the customer is always right."  Even when they are just plain fucked-up wrong. 

RWHN:
> No one really ever teaches you how to use your imagination.

this is an interesting notion.

i do this often, try to get people loosen their mind a littlebit:

me: *something*
them: "but that's bullshit, simply not true"
me: "yes but imagine if it wasn't", *other funky bullshit example*
(if they take the bait, interesting discussion ensues)

important here that you don't go into mystical esoteric land btw. at least, not with people of which you aren't 100% sure have a healthy skeptical outlook on it. (unless you're out to make fun of them of course)

I'm more focused on my daughter when it comes to imagination.  Of course, kids naturally take to this so its not like she needs any encouragement.  But, just trying to let her know how cool it is that she explores her world her way.  It seems, as soon as you lose access to that, you stop making your own map and start following someone elses without ever stopping to consider its validity and reliability. 

[Cain]

Only marginally related, but http://news.independent.co.uk/media/article2303471.ece