Notes and Meditations

We've moved on. After several weeks in Indiana, we're back in New England. However, once again, I find myself with limited internet access. I'll try to keep the blog going even if it's only on a periodic basis until I get settled in a place where I can get to the 'net easily.

A British comapany has done a study that found young people are beginning to be turned off by sexually explicit advertising.

A company representative said, "Sexual imagery is becoming so mainstream ... such a regular part of their life that it doesn't break through any more. It's not shocking them and it's not clearly marking it [a brand] as youth-oriented or anti-conventional."

In the sexual utopia Boomer revolutionaries imagined, sex was supposed to offer a limitless panoply of delights. Now, a generation rushed into sexual experience by Boomers eager to reshape traditional sexual morality is turning away, no longer tittilated by promises that fail to deliver.

What's the next big thing then in a post-sex world? Toys, apparently.

The same article said, "The report found that play is having an increasingly strong impact on young people. People in their 20s and 30s are collecting toys, while fashion trends were becoming increasingly playful, incorporating cartoon imagery"

There is a longing for innocence in these genrations. Whether marketers can get free of the ideology of sexual revolution long enough to capitalize on it remains to be seen.

The last iMac redesign turned a bulky egg-ish shape into an object with real personality. The last iMac, with its round base, single swivel arm, movable screen, seemed like a cute, little lovable alien.

The new iMac looks like, well, a screen. That's it. It looks like a computer screen. The last iMac design was a step away from the boxy computer look. The new one is a step back toward the box. The box is smaller, but it still seems like a step backward, which is the wrong direction.

A while ago I blogged about re-seeing the Batman movies. As I recall, I said they were terrible, really silly and hokey.

Well, I just saw the trailer for the new one. I don't want to get my hopes up, but it definitely looks superior to the others.

If you've ever wished you could snatch a piece of masticated waste right out of Britney's mouth, you can now come close to fulfilling your fantasy, or at least imagining you are. In what will probably turn out to be a hoax, her used chewing gum is listed on ebay.

The AP reports, "Prices go as high as $14,000, but most are for significantly less. Though there is no way to verify the authenticity of the various wads, many postings include photos of a small piece of chewed gum, a copy of a ticket stub from the place of finding and a personal story of procurement."

Finally, I loved the last redesign of the iMac. I'm not so sure about the new one. I am sure, however, the promotional video Apple made to push it is set to the most annoying song in history.

For most of the last fifteen years, (just a little less than half my life now) I've been a devoted fan of MTV's The Real World. I remember huddling down to watch the second season in a friends spare basement apartment during college.

The show has had its ups and downs over the years, but keeps going. On the eve of its fifteenth season, USAToday has an extensive look at the show over the years. If you have any interest in the show, the article worth a read.

If pop and politics are going to mix, Bono does it well. Tonight on the O'Reilly show he spoke eloquently and very intelligently about the African AIDS crisis.

He said he no longer roots for anyone in American elections. He had good words for both the President and John Kerry. He came off balanced but passionate.

I was really impressed with his ability to articulate the connection between the African AIDS crisis and the War on Terror. His sophistication on this issue is embarassing to celebs like Natalie Maines whose Bush-bashing is just reflexive pandering to the elites she hopes to impress and betrays her obvious ignorance of the issues.

UPDATE: See a partial transcript of the interview here.

UPDATE II : Here's a link to DATA, Bono's AIDS fighting organization.

Springsteen has penned more than one of rock's greatest anthems. His tales of the downtrodden working man have garnered him a constant flood of well deserved praise.

Unfortunately, his lyrical genius does not typically translate into workable political philosophy. His constant stumping for the Democrats as if they were still the party of the working class is embarassing.

Given the booing the Kerry girls got at the MTV Video Music Awards, I guess I'm not the only one who doesn't want his pop and politics mixed.

Alice Cooper certainly doesn't. The aging, former shock rocker recently told the Canadian Press, ""To me, that's treason. I call it treason against rock 'n' roll because rock is the antithesis of politics. Rock should never be in bed with politics."

He's right, and like most people who say bold, sensible things, he's getting
flack.