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Tag Archives: culture
It’s All The Same Inside The Matrix
An exercise in application of a line of thought.
From a recount of a study in the Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology (click through for full citation. Since I have no access to the actual journal I’m taking for granted the recount is accurately representing the study’s results).
258 US school girls and 171 female undergrads were… Read the rest
The Kite Runner
When I picked up The Kite Runner, upon seeing it was written by someone whose name I couldn’t pronounce, I was intrigued. Kahli-, no, Kahled Ho-, Hosen-, Hosseini? Like Houdini? Ckah-lead ho-see-knee. We’ll stick with that. And upon realizing that it was written by an Afghani, a nation that most Americans fear and hate for the “world-splitting” event of… Read the rest
Hope I Die Before I Get Old
It is of culturally historical importance when you have a show that spans years and still retains its same audience while upholding the “feel” that it started out with (Not jumping the shark and turning into a mess, etc.) The particular generation that grew up with that show infers many things about culture and “the times” from that show.… Read the rest
Star Wars: Attack of the Prequels
This is Plinkett, and he’s pretty angry about The Phantom Menace. His “review” mostly consists of an hour-and-a-half lambasting of George Lucas, Jar Jar Binks, and young Anikan’s crappy acting. The movie was released in 1999, and he’s still fuming. He’s not alone either. Multitudes of forty year old Star Wars fans share his hate of that “floppy eared… Read the rest
This is my brain. There are many like it, but this one’s mine…
This is an interesting video about how our largely inaccurate beliefs about brain structure have profoundly shaped our culture and society. The video is from RSAnimate, which is sort of like a British TED talk, but with less insufferable tech boosterism and more whiteboards.
The video debunks the popular misconception of the division of labor between the two hemispheres… Read the rest
The Labels that Define us
The human mind is an incredible processing machine, and like any good storage software, it structures and categorizes information.
We naturally love to label and define stuff. It’s a way to make sense of things. Whatever we read, think, and experience, we subconsciously categorize in our brains. The stuff on the foundational level of our thinking is what makes… Read the rest
Texas “Vampire” Arrest Sparks Lacking Discussion on Vampire Culture
Deborah Quinn Hensel of Reuters reports:
“The arrest of a Texas man who broke into a woman’s house, threw her against a wall and tried to suck her blood over the weekend has sparked discussion over the impact of vampire books and movies on U.S. youth culture.”
Although the article’s discussion seems lacking.
On the one hand, as… Read the rest
“Medium chill” is maximum wrong.
Add this to the ever-growing list of incredibly bad ideas. The article proposes a way of life called “the medium chill.” Medium chill is a lifestyle in which once you decide that you’ll never win the rat race, never get all the best stuff or even more than your neighbors, then there is no point in working hard,… Read the rest
A Sale of Indulgences
One worn-out memory: 11.99.
Finally being allowed to forget: priceless.
June 23, 2011
Tagged ads, advertising, branding, capitalism, culture, deconstruction, superego
6 Comments
What does it mean to be European?
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For Americans (and others), “Europe” is now the EU. Excuse me, the EU is Europe. There is a difference there. All of Europe is clearly not in the European Union; depending on how you slice it, the continent of Europe contains 50 countries but the EU is comprised of 27 member states. So no, “Europe” is not the EU.… Read the rest
Mr. Rowe Goes to Washington, and Made the World Special by Almost Being Himself
Mike Rowe of Dirty Jobs fame did his first dry run for public office by giving Congressional testimony a recently. He addressed the skilled labor gap before Congress.
That’s not bad– but it’s not the gold medal. That would go to someone else. I’ll explain that later.
In case you don’t know, Mike Rowe is the host of Dirty… Read the rest
Why can’t asian men get laid?
New York Magazine writes about the plight of Asians in America. Do you think New York Magazine cares about Asians? It doesn’t. The article isn’t about them.
A Refresher Course in Ideology
The function of ideology is to separate our perception and collective representation of social reality from the facts of that reality. In other words, ideology is a way to apprehend all of social reality within a single cohesive framework by implicitly or subconsciously making certain assumptions. These assumptions are usually false, and when questioned on them directly, we acknowledge… Read the rest
Lady Gaga’s “Judas”: Scandalizing Catholic Schoolgirls Everywhere
“JUDASVIDEO PREMIERE 5.5.11 on E! 7/6c + 11:30/10c. Motorcycle Fellini PopArt FantasyFilm + Haus Directorial Debut. ” – @ladygaga
When you read something that namechecks Fellini, you expect Fellini. Lady Gaga’s new video “Judas” is weak suace even for her. It’s Gaga without the weird costumes, without the nulled-gender, and without the weirdness. In other words it’s Madonna,… Read the rest
May 6, 2011
Tagged catholicism, culture, dio sucks, lady gaga, ladygaga, music, musicvideo, narcissism, religion, sex, women
15 Comments
Bills Paid on Time
This song and video plays very delicately with gender and sexuality. If you’ve ever read Robert Greene’s The Art of Seduction, you’ll recognize the seductive archetype of the dandy, one of the more interesting and powerful ones. A woman who dresses in a masculine fashion, who commands and leads, yet still retains her femininity. More common is the converse,… Read the rest
If Blankfein wants a bigger bonus, he should stock up on Ed Hardy.
About 10 years ago there was a debate in Canada about whether Canadian NHL teams should receive a subsidy to be able to compete with big-market American teams. As soon as somebody came up with the soundbite “no millions for millionaires”, the plan promptly died. This makes the phrase a remarkable innovation that you should keep handy in… Read the rest
April 14, 2011
Tagged culture, designer, economist, evolution, fashion, game theory, science, status, wealth
7 Comments
Muslim Veils Have No Place in the Surveillance Society
The ban on face veils in France is now being actively enforced, with two Muslim women being detained for wearing veils. The goverment’s rationale for the law is, as President Sarkozy put it, “to protect women from being forced to cover their faces and to uphold France’s secular values. So while the punishment for breaking the law… Read the rest
April 11, 2011
Tagged camera, culture, foucault, islam, media, minority, muslim, panopticon, postmodernism, power, rights, seeing, surveillance, women
22 Comments
Consequences? Bring ‘em on!
Today we’re looking at Ke$ha.
Typically, pop songs are well-crafted, well-sung. This one isn’t. Why? It’s all part of the message and the image. Kesha deliberately understates her looks, dresses down, and doesn’t bother auto-tuning the trailer park out of her voice.
But it’s still huge. There’s a reason it’s used in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid commercial,… Read the rest
Born Which Way?
I thought I’d have to listen to a lot of Lady Gaga to find something worthy of a piece. I was pleasantly surprised. Today we’re listening to Lady Gaga’s Born This Way.
To understand this video, you have to understand two things. First her core audience (for this video) of 12-18 year old girls. If you can’t put yourself… Read the rest
Heart in a Headlock
Today we’re going to listen to Imogen Heap’s Headlock. I love Imogen because she’s sooo fantastic at capturing the terrible, yet whimsical storms of femininity.
What is this song about? Let’s look at the elements. What’s in the video? Machines, lots of machines, strange and fanciful. White space. And Imogen herself, in colorful costume and dancing interpretively. Finally, you… Read the rest
