Tuesday, March 29, 2011

News Junkie, virtue or addiction?

I was on holiday in Cebu, initially, intentionally avoiding my daily diet of cyber-socializing. Yet the very first solace I found was the hypnotic hum of cable-news in air-conditioned rooms. And then the final clincher, a devastating earthquake in my home nation, Japan. It was then I wish I had my own computer, and hung-tense on the remote, clicking between BBC, Singapore News, and CNN.  There was absolutely little I could do, yet still, I stared blankly fixed on the TV monitor, poolside in paradise.

Since, I have returned to my 27" iMac, Facebook, and the labyrinth of connectivity in my home. I can only question both the soothing rub of inter-connectedness, with friends and family, and the obvious futility of simply knowing what has happen, but, in fact, doing so very little.

There has been a blanket of benefits, all of us donating in a myriad of ways, yet in the end we all dangle on our own bootstraps. So, like my neighbors, I prepare for work, check on friends and family, and fall back into the routine. In our own immediate world, we are still alive, still connected, still well enough to login one more time.

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

John Galliano formerly of Dior

John Galliano is a British designer who has recently undermined his career, when a cellular phone recorded his racist remarks at a Paris bar. His comments, though extremely distasteful from a man who specializes in extreme tastefulness, among drunks is rather common banter, and why I do not like hanging out with heavy drinkers. He will now suffer the slings and arrows for both his political incorrectness and his inability to deal constructively with his angry inner child.


The curious variable here for me is the discovery of his website... a truly brilliant piece of online theater. Apparently brilliance does not necessarily make one consistently clever. One more celebrity has fed the hungry ghost of public pulp and will again verify the adage any publicity is good publicity. Now discover his website and confirm the adage.