SFGate parodies the new format of Rolling Stone that is designed to appeal to the latest generation of illiterate, attention-deficit, MTV-addled teens. I used to read Rolling Stone regularly when it actually featured well-written, incisive articles, and the pieces on pop culture and music were an added bonus rather than just another bullet in a vapid magazine of fluff. I must admit that I haven’t read Rolling Stone recently, but if it has deteriorated this far I guess I’m not missing much :-(.

According to the Drudge Report, “a Rupert Murdoch TV game show that may choose the outcome of the next White House race” is in the works for the FX network. Once again, unimaginative, smarmy television executives are trying to take a formula that worked and apply it to something else in the hopes of cashing in. However, this is a new low, and that is really saying something! I almost didn’t post this for fear that it was a prank, but I couldn’t pass up this opportunity to rail against such a travesty even if this turns out to be a bad joke. First of all, trying to reduce a presidential election to a popularity contest is just plain wrong. I’m not trying to be naive; I know that for all intensive purposes it often ends up that way. However, using the formula of American Idol and Survivor to choose a candidate for Leader Of The Free World just strikes me as particularly offensive, totally undemocratic, and probably unconstitutional to boot. Second of all, if you think that the Florida voting scandal was bad in the previous presidential election, imagine how bad it will be if there is a repeat of the recent phone-in voting controversy for American Idol.

I really hope that this is just a joke, but then again I really wouldn’t be surprised to see executives put something this asinine on the air. I just hope the viewing audience refuses to watch and demonstrates itself to be smarter than it is assumed to be, although I suppose I shouldn’t hold my breath on that count either. Pity.

Rolling Stone’s article “Don’t blame CD sales woes on the Internet” succinctly points out what I’ve been saying for a while now. Yeah, people are downloading music from the Internet. And maybe they are still buying CDs, maybe not. The fact that the industry is so shortsighted about all of this and is trying to stop file-sharing at all costs shows that they are unwilling to use technology to their advantage. Many people (myself included) would pay a small, fair fee to get quality downloads from the Internet. However, none of the attempts that I’ve seen has come up with a way to do this that allows me to manage the resulting download in an equitable way. Until record executives work with the Internet community rather than against it, the mere fact that “we’re fighting the Man” will be enough rebellious incentive to continue thumbing our noses at their authoritarian actions and lame attempts of conciliation.

Science fiction author David Brin wrote an interesting review of Star Wars I: The Phantom Menace and has recently followed that up with one on The Attack Of The Clones. Both are incisive, although perhaps dwelling a little too long in critiquing the pseudo-Campbellian mythology inherent in Lucas’ vision. Many of the annoying plot disparities and outright illogicalities are cited, although he does admit that the special effects and music were dazzling. Still, he echoes my thoughts about Episode 3:

Despite every flaw, there IS a way that Lucas could weave all the threads together and pull a miracle of cinematic legerdemain, causing it all to make magnificent sense.

I’d wager my house that he won’t do it.

Last night I decided to watch FOX’s new undercover cop drama “Fastlane”. I am willing to give any show with Tiffani-Amber Thiessen a chance ;-). I want that hour back FOX! Almost everything about this show was bad. FOX must have started with “Miami Vice"as a model for the show. Instead of drugs these trendy cops (one black and one white) are hot on the trail of something much less interesting… Exotic Car Fencing! Apparently the writers thought the dialog wasn’t bad enough, so they jammed some racially astereotypical scenes in there. (ie. black guy country line dancing and white guy gambling and talking smack in jail with the black inmates). The special effects weren’t even believable. (e.g. bullet holes in a windshield minutes before the shots were fired). To finish the Miami Vice rip-off, the song "In the Air Tonight” by Phil Collins was used during the show. The producer chose to use it awkwardly and out of place. It was forced into a beach scene in bright California sunlight with no dialog. I wanted to cry. Anyway, I really felt like panning this show because… well, it just sucked. I am certain that the 12-16 year old crowd might feel differently (lots of fast cars and action), but I think that FOX should rename this show “Trainwreck” and dump it quickly. BRING BACK “FAMILY GUY” in it’s place!

-Matt

Cusack For PresidentJoin the Cusack For President campaign! I saw this a long time ago, well before I started blogging, but I spotted it on another page today and thought it was worth spreading the word, for whatever good it will do.

Pulp Simpsons is a collection of Simpsons sketches of Pulp Fiction scenes allegedly done by real Simpsons animators. The sketches look authentic enough, but remember that this is Pulp Fiction, so it could be NSFW.

Congress yet again showed its ignorance in passing the Children’s Internet Protection Act, which went into effect last year. While ostensibly a measure to protect children from pornographic and offensive content, the technology to “filter” inappropriate sites is far from mature, causing many unrelated and totally innocuous sites to be blocked. Although many teachers and administrators are aware of this reality, schools can lose millions of dollars in federal money if they do not comply with this act by installing filters. Apparently the extension of this law to public libraries is pending an appeal, but it has never been challenged as it pertains to schools. As an example mentioned in the article, I think it’s a crying shame that a student looking up information on Red Hat Software would need to get the site approved by a “community-based review committee” because it was mistakenly blocked. I do applaud one school district in Oregon for refusing the money rather than submitting to these constraints, but not many schools can afford to turn down these kinds of grants.