Category Archives: Philosophizin'
Siblings
Sibling relationships can be truly bizarre things. People talk all the time about how a certain friend is like a brother or sister to them, meaning that their affection and closeness rivals the ties of blood. In many cases, these same people have actual brothers or sisters that they aren’t particularly close to, or don’t care for, or actively dislike. I know many people who talk shit about their siblings constantly, only to vociferously defend the siblings to others who do the same. It’s weird.
The Power of the Media
I’ve read two articles recently that struck me, both illustrating the power of the media to distort truth and damage lives. Growing up, I seem to remember thinking the news was pretty impartial, stating facts and pretty much leaving it at that. The editorials section of the paper had some opiniated pieces, sure, but on the whole, the facts were presented with the reader left to conclude what it meant. Now, it seems all we have are editorialists, and we tune into Fox or MSNBC to get the slant we most generally agree with. Maybe I’m wrong, and the “golden age” of impartial journalism never existed.
A lot of us know about Ben Roethlisberger’s idiotic drunken escapade. We’ve heard the story about that night. But what most of us didn’t know the first story, the one that came out the night of the incident:
“13. THE ACCUSER HERSELF WAS UNCERTAIN ABOUT THE MATTER. When the officer on the spot said “I need to talk to the alleged victim, not [the sorority sisters],” he asked the accuser if Roethlisberger had raped her. She said:
(A). “No.” (DA news conference; PART 2, starts 2:42, key point: about 4:10: http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/video/index.html [also at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vaRGdYizw7g])
(B) When asked if the two had sex, she said “well, I’m not sure.” (DA interview, PART 2, starts 2:42, key point: about 4:20: http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/video/index.html [also at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vaRGdYizw7g]).
- (Blash also said she seemed inebriated, incoherent, “nonchalant,” and at times seemed to to want to tell someone that “y’all did whatever.”)”
Feelings, and Why Men Don’t Know What To Do With Them
It’s often extremely difficult for a male to express their feelings, which isn’t exactly a news flash by any stretch. Much has been made over the last few decades about the reticence of men to discuss how they feel about anything or to express their emotions. Women’s magazines lament about it; men’s magazines glorify it; TV and movies mock it while propping up the practice. A lot of women will profess that they wish their man, or their prospective one, would be more open about their feelings. Unfortunately, society conspires against men and prevents them from doing just that.
The Second Coming
I have a friend that I used to work with. Unlike me, he was a very religious person in the best meaning of the word (in my own opinion). His faith was strong, but he wasn’t a preacher or evangelist or pusher. Whenever I had a question or observation about the Christian faith, I’d sit down and talk to him. He was always open and patient and never took offense to the blasphemous questions or arguments I posed to him, and would always answer me honestly, expressing his beliefs as just that, never judging or condemning. He is a good man, who just happens to be quite religious. I wish I still worked with him, so I could ask him about something I started thinking about last night.
Art is Crap
The other day, Lady Aravan asked me if I thought people who came to our house thought our art choices were weird. I responded that I didn’t think so, and essentially that I didn’t care too much if they did think that way, since we liked them. The more I’ve thought about it, though, the more I have come to realize that art, of pretty much every sort, is total crap.
Football Karma
Karma is an interesting concept. My intention is not to discuss the wide-ranging philosophical implications of karma and what it means to different people and blah blah blah. No, I’m merely interested in the applications of karma to professional football.
Oy
Reminders that you’re getting older are never fun. Like when you’re talking to someone about a song or TV show, and then you realize that they weren’t even born when you were listening/watching…in high school. Or when you’re standing in line to buy the new Xbox 360 game and realizing the people ahead of you and behind you buying the same thing are all 20+ years younger than you. Today, my reminder is dealing with being at a bar until closing time during the week.
Mother-in-Law
My mother-in-law left yesterday after a relatively brief visit. In one sense, it was fine. There was no real melodrama, no real fighting, no anger issues to deal with. On the surface, everything seemed fine. In retrospect, however, the visit served to showcase exactly what’s wrong with her. The woman has problems, severe ones. Her worldview is…skewed, I guess is the best word for it. Reality that doesn’t fit her desired perception is changed to accomodate her and her desire to leave her head in the sand.
Where Do We Go From Here?
According to Wikipedia, the United States is the world’s largest producer of corn and soybeans. Although it doesn’t say, I am beginning to believe that we also lead the world in producing outrage. I don’t mean that we make more people in the world angry than anyone else, which may be possible, but that the average American produces more outrage than anyone else. Getting outraged is what we do. It’s the new national pastime, which is fine because baseball is so horribly dull anyway. What I wonder, though, is how much more polarized and outraged our society may become. Will it get better, or will it only get worse?
Random Thoughts
I didn’t have enough on my mind on any single subject to do anything in depth, but I did want to at least post something this week. Here are some random thoughts on subjects that had occured to me this week.
Celebrity Deaths. I was saddened to hear about Farrah Fawcet’s death. Part of me knew it was inevitable, due to her condition, and yet it was still incredibly disheartening when it happened. Michael Jackson’s death, however, was just the opposite – strange and out of nowhere. It got me thinking, though, about celebrities, and especially music artists, who die early. Many of them are venerated far above where they had been in life, like Kurt Cobain, as if their death gave them the ability to be less suseptible to criticisms like how overrated their bands and sound were. With Jackson, I had the feeling that, if he could have known in advance how and when he would die, he might have chosen to die younger, before the child molestation scandals, before the pure-drenched weirdness that his life became. It’s a shame really, to fly so high and yet fall so low. But like someone said about Icarus, “at least he flew.”
Winter in Derenemyn 