codgerly ranting
Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2005, 6:20 PM
QUOTE OF THE DAY:
"Senators do not have to encounter the city's myriad problems, of course; they get chauffeured to the job, and they work in this imaginary world of marble and crisply saluting guards and innumerable oil paintings of men in britches shaking hands. It's a wonderful theme park. It's the only one in the country where the clowns think they're the management." ~ James Lileks
Chris Livingston over at Not My Desk blogged about the "Toy Boat" E-Bay commercial, and how it makes him all choked up and emotional. I dislike that commercial. It makes me feel a little angry--I guess because I think people nowadays are way too attached to their childhoods. And there is a huge industry making millions supporting them in that. E-bay is creating the illusion that you can buy back your childhood, and that's just wrong.
I see that middle-aged guy in that commercial as a loser who needs to suck it up, grow the "eff" up, and move on.
What the fuck happened between my childhood and my adulthood? Can somebody tell me, please? When I was a kid, the grownups had all the money, authority, power. Kids wanted to grow up, so they could tap into those things!
But at approximately the same time as I was crossing over the line, all the money, authority and power passed by me in the opposite direction. Now being a grown-up has nothing to offer, because of the empowered youth cult in this country. And why grow up, when there is no percentage in it?
The fact that VH1 has a "nostalgia" show about shit that happened only 5 to15 years ago is a good example of this trend. Schwinn re-introducing the Sting Ray is another. And pathetic, immature wussies who spend all their money on old junk are the worst.
Since I'm from the last of the "3-TV-Channels" generation, I'll admit that I still get a little kick from being able to own movies. I'm certainly a bit nostalgic for certain things from my youth. But I'd never spend all my time and money trying to build a wall of things around me, like some kind of playhouse club with "no grownups allowed".
Maybe it's that they picked the trailer scenes to play up the American casting angles, but I'm concerned that the Hitch-hiker movie will be insufficiently British for my taste. With Ford, Trillian, and Zaphod played by Americans, it could happen. My only hope is that Alan Rickman, Stephen Fry, and Bill Nighy will "bloke" it back up.
Not a whole lot to say about today...worked hard, worked out hard--that's about it.
GYM REPORT:30.00 minutes
1.62 miles
215 calories
Why, yes...quite pleased.
Reading: "The Murder Room", by P.D. James.
Listening: XM Radio--"Fred", vintage punk/alt/new wave.
Beading: I want to, if I can find the time...