2011-01-24

I Declare War

I was making risotto earlier today with the TV on in the background. When I took a moment to look up, I saw a commercial for some show called 'The Kardashians Take New York' or some shit.

And shit it was.

It blows my mind the utter gunk garbage that gets on television these days.

In fact, not to be judgmental or anything, but there are waaaayyyy too many jerkjackoffs filling the tube making too much money. And guess what? They make it because people are actually watching.

I mean, who are the Kardashians exactly? I vaguely recall one being on a sex video tape and next thing we know she's "important?"

Fuck off.

It's the Paris Hilton disease.

***

So what's the solution, then?

Well, I'll tell you.

Lights Linus, please.

What we need is a good, old fashioned plague followed by a Dark Age to purge us of all the clowns who make it to the top including those taking important political and social decisions. I mean, I can't listen to the radio without someone making an asinine comment be it political, sports related or whatever else.

Once gone, and I'm afraid some good people will die too, humanity will benefit from bright minds who will take over and catapult mankind into another age of enlightenment.

Maybe then people will shrug their shoulders in disinterest when a "report" about Angelina Jolie makes it on the front page of a website or newspaper.

Thank you.

***

My biggest fear in life is having my daughter copy idiots on TV or sitting around listening to crappy music and watching programming that is specifically designed to destroy brain cells.

In order to prevent this I must play my part.

For example, I play a game called "Country, Continent or Planet?" with my daughter. I'll ask 20 questions like "Canada: Country, continent or planet?" And she has to guess which one.

She's pretty good at it now.

I realized the only way she'll have a fighting chance is if I take the time to teach her that learning is important. I want her to be able to critically assess, thinkand decide things for herself.

So today I decided to take the game up a notch. I spent $60 on - including a math-phonics-spelling-vocabulary book for first graders. She's in kindergarten - an Atlas and a book about maps for kids. In them, they discuss the planets, space, reading comprehension of maps and stuff like "Longitude and Latitude."

My wife takes care of cornerstone, bedrock, foundational things like reading, math and spelling since she's a teacher. I can offer other things. My interests lie in the stuff school is increasingly overlooking like geography and history. Slowly, I'm teaching her about basic financial concepts like "currency," "Saving," "bank accounts" and the like.

Geography in particular is losing its place in schools I reckon.

Alas, that won't happen here.

Slowly, she'll learn to appreciate knowledge for its own sake and this will lead to natural wisdom. After that, it's all up to her but at least I will have planted the seeds of curiosity in her.

I've declared my own private war on the Kardashian-Hilton scourge.

11 comments:

  1. Anonymous1/24/2011

    Want to fight this war? Be prepared for the changes and the risks.

    1) Welcome curiosity, your curiosity and that of others. There is a lot of good stuff out there to experience.

    2) Read widely, read to think. Be supportive of others who are reading, even if you think what they are reading is uninteresting or beneath you. You are probably wrong in your judgment.

    3) Fill the TV box with better things for your family to watch. Kardashian does not control your TV set.

    4) Listen to good music. Encourage others to do so even if you don't care for their tastes.

    You and I both share good stuff on our blogs.

    5) Don't be an enemy of pop-culture. Some of what is pop is pretty good, and it will one day be classic. Example below.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIAQWr34De0&feature=related

    6) Take the family to museums and art galleries regularly. The same goes for the park, the zoo, and into the company of smart, nice people.

    http://www.sciencetech.technomuses.ca/francais/collection/nocturnal_fr4.cfm

    7) Do all of these things better than I do.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Talking about how much you hate something or someone just plays into the whole thing. I mean, not that you're "part of the problem," so to speak, but pop culture relies on its unpopularity among the old in order to validate itself as being trendy. Not only do the old make somethign appear cool by deriding it, there's also the small matter that "no publicity is bad publicity."

    Sadly, I don't think a media blackout by TC will make them go away... which is a shame.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Bret, nice to see you didn't go off on a tangent about childish anti-conservative-anarchist-libertarian tirades and stayed on course.

    I see the classes and meds are helping from time to time.

    Sorry. You make it too easy for me.

    That being said, I agree but here's the thing. For once, I'd like for you to consult my entire body of work rather than setting a label based on a few posts you single out.

    I agree with what you said. However, this was my first post on such a topic since...2006!

    We do feed the beast but sometimes we have to talk about it to slay it.

    Zeus, great advice. I try my best - especially the last one. I hope to see someone do better than me and give still more advice.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Ma fille parle le francais avec un accent jolie.

    Les chanteuses francaise sont formidable.

    As for the second link, we used to take field trips to Ottawa. Funny you mention it, plan to take a drive out there this spring with my daughter.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Bret, join me in the blackout. Tell your friends.

    Even the ones in your head.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Re:Kardashians...

    But you watched it, didn't you? At least long enough to realize you were watching what I call "tabloid TV" and become reviled. I feel the same way about all of the so called "reality" programs.

    I change channels before one comes on or as soon as I notice what it is. Unfortunately, not enough of us do.

    ReplyDelete
  7. No, I didn't watch it. The tv happened to be on the channel carrying the show as I cut away at vegetables. It went something like this:

    Cutting fennel and onions with ancient like precision. Talk to the olive oil. Set my mind into pretending it IS the risotto. Take a break. Have a shot of Averna. In that second, eyes land on TV to which I see junk. Head goes back down nodding.

    Or something to that effect.

    Never ever watched ONE reality or tabloid show. Ever. Never had a Big Mac either.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Bret, nice to see you didn't go off on a tangent about childish anti-conservative-anarchist-libertarian tirades and stayed on course.

    Glad to see you can't even talk to me about an entertainment issue without you making it political.

    As for the rest of your comment... I'll just reference what I actually said and let it stand for itself:

    I mean, not that you're "part of the problem," so to speak, but pop culture relies on its unpopularity among the old in order to validate itself as being trendy.


    not that you're "part of the problem,"

    not that you

    not

    ReplyDelete
  9. "Glad to see you can't even talk to me about an entertainment issue without you making it political."

    Heh.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous1/25/2011

    "I'd like for you to consult my entire body of work rather than setting a label based on a few posts you single out."

    You're no fun!

    ReplyDelete
  11. What the heck. Go ahead.

    ReplyDelete

Mysterious and anonymous comments as well as those laced with cyanide and ad hominen attacks will be deleted. Thank you for your attention, chumps.