Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Culture and Philosophy

Started thinking about a theme to develop throughout this blog, since its never quite had one.  The notion of culture and philosophy led me to  popularcultureandphilosophy.com what a snooze fest!  Who knew popular culture could be so boring.  I guess that what makes things culture or philosophy also makes them, well, dead.  It takes so long for things to develop into culture, that by the time they're actually cultural they're certainly not popular anymore, nor are they trending.  How does something get from trending, to popular to culture?  Is it inherent in the philosphy of culture to ask this question?  Is there a difference between popular culture and culture? When does it become history?  Well at least there is always a wiki for this sort of thing.  Zombie Americans

 Revaluation of mass culture in the 1970s and 1980s has revealed significant problems with the traditional view of mass culture as degraded and elite culture as uplifting. Divisions between high and low culture have been increasingly seen as political distinctions rather than defensible aesthetic or intellectual ones.[1]

I really like the line that mass culture is degraded and elite culture is uplifting.  You might actually be able to argure the opposite.  I'd say elite culture tends to be a bunch of crap, but I certainly agree that these are political distinctions rather that aesthetic or intellectual.  America is devoid of intellectualism.  When is the last time there was a coherent arguement on television.  Oh, wait there's the Daily Show , which may be the last bastien of hope for Americans with brains  (Side Note: Can we enact the American's With Brains Bill?).  Unfortunately, the only actual intellectualism that takes place on the airwaves these days is seen as satire.  Oh the irony!  Americans are so stuck on being brainwashed that the only thing that might make them think about anything is perceived as a joke.  

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Ridley Swift

This is my son.  His name is Ridley Swift Thomas, and he is my first.  I'm trying to get back into posting to this blog after many years of not paying any attention to it.  This blog has no theme, although when I was regularly posting it seemed to be a bit more cohesive.  I have not posted any photos of Ridley on the internet, at least not for the public.  I am not a social butterfly, but there are probably some photos of me on the internet.  I never really considered it to be much of an issue, but when you have a child everything changes.  You begin to realize that every cliche is right, and everything that everyone tells you is correct and yet a terrific lie all at the same time.  You'll hear, "It goes so fast", and "Just wait til you get to 'that' phase".  You quickly begin to piece all of these sound bites together, and it becomes culture.  Culture is terrifying!  It makes you want to move far far away into the mountains, never to be seen or heard from again.  It's the belly of the beast, but it only becomes important, it only exists for you when it suddenly has nothing to do with you and everything to do with your child.  Your child is what you become, and he becomes the inheritence of your culture.  So, here is my son, for the public to see, as a reminder that what people say and do matters.  The blog may not have a theme, but it may develop an impact.  

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Inspiration for my next next tattoo.

Mobile post test

I think I need a sandwich

bored post

hey, remember you've got this blog....#notetoself