Too much technology is becoming the defining tribulation of our times. Although the easy constant access to technology has some very convincing supporters, it also has its share of vehement opposition. I belong to neither of these groups.
"Everything in moderation" is my motto. I think the most worrisome concern is our children, they spend far too much time on devices and in front of computer screens. They are less physically active then our generation, they tend to socialize digitally instead of actual face to face encounters, they also use technology as an escape from the real life often avoiding stressful situations or conversations. No matter how painful or awkward social interactions might get, they are also the learning opportunities our children are deprived of as they forge friendships and relationships digitally.
It is easier for them to express feelings, ideas or points of view remotely sitting behind a laptop or device. They don't see the reaction on people's face, or the emotions their statement might arise in others. That also means they can be more aggressive, ruthless, right out hurtful without ever seeing or facing the consequences of their words, at least not right away. Many a times they also can make up a persona online which may be nothing like their real selves, hence making it highly unlikely that they will ever physically and actually meet the individuals with whom they are putting up this pretension. All these thing lead to further physical isolation in the real world.
The prevalent social media frenzy is also promoting voyeurism in an insidious and disturbingly sneaky way , the urge to peek into others' personal lives can be instantly satisfied by going through anyone's social media profile and photos. On top of that the 'sharing' concept is becoming like force-feeding. Our children are being fed these unrealistic images and news of how life is, could be, should be... Leaving very little room for originality and initiative. Anything that does not fit into the realm of hip and cool isn't worth posting about or mentioning.
The effects of these significant changes in socializing, living and experiencing life may not be seen immediately but I fear they will surface when this generation of techno-hooked children will grow up and be forced to deal with real life and have no escape from it but will have little experience to go on.
Friday, November 7, 2014
Wednesday, March 12, 2014
A song for posterity by Bob Dylan: Forever Young
Nowadays if we actually listen to most songs, we realize that few mean anything. There is often a lack of depth and actual meaning to the words, mostly dwelling upon love, breakups, love and some more breakups.... That is why when I read the lyrics of 'Forever Young' by Bob Dylan I was mesmerized by each beauty of each line. The more I listen to it the more I realized that this song said everything that I would wish upon my sons but said with such gentleness and sincerity. It encompasses not just good luck and good fortunes but hopes for good judgement, good morals, principles, and good deeds.
It is just the perfect song to dedicated to our children and their children and their children and so on..May God bless them all.
FOREVER YOUNG (Bob Dylan)
May God bless and keep you always,
May your wishes all come true,
May you always do for others
And let others do for you.
May you build a ladder to the stars
And climb on every rung,
May you stay forever young,
Forever young, forever young,
May you stay forever young.
May you grow up to be righteous,
May you grow up to be true,
May you always know the truth
And see the lights surrounding you.
May you always be courageous,
Stand upright and be strong,
May you stay forever young,
Forever young, forever young,
May you stay forever young.
May your hands always be busy,
May your feet always be swift,
May you have a strong foundation
When the winds of changes shift.
May your heart always be joyful,
May your song always be sung,
May you stay forever young,
Forever young, forever young,
May you stay forever young.
Here is a lovely cover of the song by Audra Mae & The Forest Rangers
)
It is just the perfect song to dedicated to our children and their children and their children and so on..May God bless them all.
FOREVER YOUNG (Bob Dylan)
May God bless and keep you always,
May your wishes all come true,
May you always do for others
And let others do for you.
May you build a ladder to the stars
And climb on every rung,
May you stay forever young,
Forever young, forever young,
May you stay forever young.
May you grow up to be righteous,
May you grow up to be true,
May you always know the truth
And see the lights surrounding you.
May you always be courageous,
Stand upright and be strong,
May you stay forever young,
Forever young, forever young,
May you stay forever young.
May your hands always be busy,
May your feet always be swift,
May you have a strong foundation
When the winds of changes shift.
May your heart always be joyful,
May your song always be sung,
May you stay forever young,
Forever young, forever young,
May you stay forever young.
Here is a lovely cover of the song by Audra Mae & The Forest Rangers
)
Monday, February 10, 2014
How to spot the opportunist versus the victim in the celebrity world?
The world of movies, television or music has supplied the world with an insurmountable amount of entertainment. Over the years that entertainment has expanded into real life. The obsessive fixation of the media on the personal lives of all those professionals of Hollywood starting with actors, actresses and on to directors, producers is starting to drive everyone crazy!
I for one am sick and tired of hearing about Miley Cyrus' twerk, or Amanda Bynes' psychiatric problems, Lindsay Lohan's endless rehab stints, or now Shia LeBeouf weird and unsettling behavior. Why would we want to read about total strangers' life crises and their grimy unsavory and often obscene details? Are these news bites meant to be life lessons for the ordinary people? Doubt it, the regular folk are too busy tackling inflation and unemployment!
This kind of media stalking has become so common, that after seeing young Hollywood icons toppled over one after the other, their hiccups and misfortunes appear premeditated, orchestrated and so remote that no one takes them seriously anymore. It is only when some of them end up dying of drug overdose as in the case of Cory Monteith, or Amy Winehouse, that we realize maybe they were not really into that media madness and crying out for help. Ironically it is also then that the media right away takes on the role of the sympathizer. After hounding those poor souls for years and presenting them as drug crazed and irresponsible, now the media suddenly sees them as victims. Yes they probably can be categorized as victims as some level, but whose victim? The emphatic answer: THE MEDIA!!!
Unfortunately, some celebs use this scandal mongering to their advantage, best example Miley Cyrus, Paris Hilton, and now Shia LaBoeuf. The theory there is ' if I can be dramatic enough, stupid enough or just obscene enough I will make the front page!' And sadly enough it works out for them. These desperate antic are totally tiresome.
As long as the media gobbles up everything fed to them and keeps bombarding us with it without any sense of responsibility or filtering, it is highly likely that we never will be able to recognize the victim from the opportunist?
I for one am sick and tired of hearing about Miley Cyrus' twerk, or Amanda Bynes' psychiatric problems, Lindsay Lohan's endless rehab stints, or now Shia LeBeouf weird and unsettling behavior. Why would we want to read about total strangers' life crises and their grimy unsavory and often obscene details? Are these news bites meant to be life lessons for the ordinary people? Doubt it, the regular folk are too busy tackling inflation and unemployment!
This kind of media stalking has become so common, that after seeing young Hollywood icons toppled over one after the other, their hiccups and misfortunes appear premeditated, orchestrated and so remote that no one takes them seriously anymore. It is only when some of them end up dying of drug overdose as in the case of Cory Monteith, or Amy Winehouse, that we realize maybe they were not really into that media madness and crying out for help. Ironically it is also then that the media right away takes on the role of the sympathizer. After hounding those poor souls for years and presenting them as drug crazed and irresponsible, now the media suddenly sees them as victims. Yes they probably can be categorized as victims as some level, but whose victim? The emphatic answer: THE MEDIA!!!
Unfortunately, some celebs use this scandal mongering to their advantage, best example Miley Cyrus, Paris Hilton, and now Shia LaBoeuf. The theory there is ' if I can be dramatic enough, stupid enough or just obscene enough I will make the front page!' And sadly enough it works out for them. These desperate antic are totally tiresome.
As long as the media gobbles up everything fed to them and keeps bombarding us with it without any sense of responsibility or filtering, it is highly likely that we never will be able to recognize the victim from the opportunist?
Friday, January 3, 2014
No more New Year Resolutions for me!!
Every year end everyone I meet starts asking me about my New Year
Resolutions!!! What the hell are new year resolutions? Why do I need
them at the end of a year I just wasted trying to stick to last year's
resolutions? In the past, every new year as instructed by the media and
world, I would promise myself huge changes in my life, a new career, a
new slim body to go with it, a new attitude towards everyone with no
more trying to be Miss Nice incarnate! Resolve to conquer every fear and
just go for whatever I want to do in life, not care what others think,
not allow anyone to dissuade me from my goals. I would Nike style 'Just
Do It'!
Well after all those crazy resolutions, I am still not into a career I love actually I am not into any career at all, I am still just there to take care of my family with not much gratefulness or appreciation, I am still putting my needs at the bottom of every 'to do' list and still never get to them in the end, I am still trying to go back to my pre-kids slim tight body and am far from it. I am still taking shit from my family and burying it and moving on not matter how they are weighing me down.... Basically I have achieved nothing with these flimsy dreamy wishful resolutions!!!!
Why I didn't succeed?
Firstly, I put so much thought into it only made me aware of all the roadblocks I'd have to overcome to get to my goal, of all the issues that might come up with changing dynamic at home and of all the difficulties that might pop up in my kids daily routine when I wouldn't be there 24/7 ensuring their smooth sailing. All those 'what ifs' and 'Hows' just stopped me in my tracks.
On rare occasions I did overcome those fears, but then I made another fatal mistake. I got excited and all psyched to the point of announcing it to my mom and siblings and sometimes a friend or two. Now talking about it has never borne any fruit for me, the pressure that comes with expectations of the informed individuals just leads me to freeze. I couldn't do anything without wondering what would they say or think of it, I would worry if my idea of achievement was worth something to them? I would obsess over whether they'd be disappointed behind my back because I fell short of their hopes for me. And on and on and on...... All these questions that grow in my head only take away any fun or joy in doing it. Hence I don't do it and give up!
In fact, the only times I have done anything concrete over the past decade it is when I didn't plan it long and hard, I just did it!
So this December when a friend suggested making new year resolutions together, I just plain refused. No more resolutions for me, I just am not going to add another disappointment to my list of 'Not Done Yet'(NDY) and my list of 'Will Never Get Done'(WNGD). No I am not going to make up resolutions just to stick with the crowd, I am going to live life , one day at a time, just go with the flow. Do whatever inspires me whenever it inspires me. I will do it quietly and persevere because that is the only way I can actually get anything done. And no more announcing my big idea, they will find out when they will find out, no need to expedite it.
So Happy New Year to you all, but don't you dare ask me what I'll be doing this year, I am not saying! :)
Well after all those crazy resolutions, I am still not into a career I love actually I am not into any career at all, I am still just there to take care of my family with not much gratefulness or appreciation, I am still putting my needs at the bottom of every 'to do' list and still never get to them in the end, I am still trying to go back to my pre-kids slim tight body and am far from it. I am still taking shit from my family and burying it and moving on not matter how they are weighing me down.... Basically I have achieved nothing with these flimsy dreamy wishful resolutions!!!!
Why I didn't succeed?
Firstly, I put so much thought into it only made me aware of all the roadblocks I'd have to overcome to get to my goal, of all the issues that might come up with changing dynamic at home and of all the difficulties that might pop up in my kids daily routine when I wouldn't be there 24/7 ensuring their smooth sailing. All those 'what ifs' and 'Hows' just stopped me in my tracks.
On rare occasions I did overcome those fears, but then I made another fatal mistake. I got excited and all psyched to the point of announcing it to my mom and siblings and sometimes a friend or two. Now talking about it has never borne any fruit for me, the pressure that comes with expectations of the informed individuals just leads me to freeze. I couldn't do anything without wondering what would they say or think of it, I would worry if my idea of achievement was worth something to them? I would obsess over whether they'd be disappointed behind my back because I fell short of their hopes for me. And on and on and on...... All these questions that grow in my head only take away any fun or joy in doing it. Hence I don't do it and give up!
In fact, the only times I have done anything concrete over the past decade it is when I didn't plan it long and hard, I just did it!
So this December when a friend suggested making new year resolutions together, I just plain refused. No more resolutions for me, I just am not going to add another disappointment to my list of 'Not Done Yet'(NDY) and my list of 'Will Never Get Done'(WNGD). No I am not going to make up resolutions just to stick with the crowd, I am going to live life , one day at a time, just go with the flow. Do whatever inspires me whenever it inspires me. I will do it quietly and persevere because that is the only way I can actually get anything done. And no more announcing my big idea, they will find out when they will find out, no need to expedite it.
So Happy New Year to you all, but don't you dare ask me what I'll be doing this year, I am not saying! :)
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Thank you Zach Sobiech!
As 2013 comes to a close, every television channel is coming up with
all kinds of lists of the best, the worst, the coolest, the most impressive,
etc... Of all the lists I have so far seen, Zach Sobiech from Minnesota stood out as the most inspiring.
Zach Sobiech was diagnosed with osteosarcoma at age 14 in 2009. Osteosarcoma is an aggressive form of bone cancer that affects mostly children. As he went through a long series of surgeries and several rounds of chemotherapy, Zach chose to deal with this stressful period by writing songs, singing and making a band 'A Firm Handshake' with friends.
In May 2012, Zach's osteosarcoma was found to have spread further and doctors informed him and his family that he had just about an year to live. It is during that time he wrote this beautiful song called 'Clouds'. With the help of their local radio station KS95 Zach was able to record the song and make a video of it, which was put on Youtube in December 2012. The sincere poignancy of the lyrics and the sweet catchy tune of the song very quickly captured the hearts of so many viewers that the video had more then 3 million views when Zach passed away on May 20th 2013, two weeks after his eighteenth birthday.
In his short yet purposeful life, not only Zach showed patience, strength and optimism, but he also dedicated efforts to set up 'The Zach Sobiech Osteosarcoma Fund at Children’s Cancer Research Fund. He had proceeds from his music and fundraisers in his honor to the fund, so that other children may have a better fighting chance against osteosarcoma.
Here is his song 'Clouds'
In the end, I would like to thank Zach for reminding all of us how foolish it is to let petty little problems in our daily life bring us down when there so much to bring us up up up!
Rest In Peace dear Zach Sobiech.
P.S:
Zach Sobiech Osteosarcoma Fun ( Children's Research Fund)
Transcript: Zach Sobiech on CNN's 'Extraordinary People'
Zach Sobiech was diagnosed with osteosarcoma at age 14 in 2009. Osteosarcoma is an aggressive form of bone cancer that affects mostly children. As he went through a long series of surgeries and several rounds of chemotherapy, Zach chose to deal with this stressful period by writing songs, singing and making a band 'A Firm Handshake' with friends.
In May 2012, Zach's osteosarcoma was found to have spread further and doctors informed him and his family that he had just about an year to live. It is during that time he wrote this beautiful song called 'Clouds'. With the help of their local radio station KS95 Zach was able to record the song and make a video of it, which was put on Youtube in December 2012. The sincere poignancy of the lyrics and the sweet catchy tune of the song very quickly captured the hearts of so many viewers that the video had more then 3 million views when Zach passed away on May 20th 2013, two weeks after his eighteenth birthday.
In his short yet purposeful life, not only Zach showed patience, strength and optimism, but he also dedicated efforts to set up 'The Zach Sobiech Osteosarcoma Fund at Children’s Cancer Research Fund. He had proceeds from his music and fundraisers in his honor to the fund, so that other children may have a better fighting chance against osteosarcoma.
Here is his song 'Clouds'
In the end, I would like to thank Zach for reminding all of us how foolish it is to let petty little problems in our daily life bring us down when there so much to bring us up up up!
Rest In Peace dear Zach Sobiech.
P.S:
Zach Sobiech Osteosarcoma Fun ( Children's Research Fund)
Transcript: Zach Sobiech on CNN's 'Extraordinary People'
Saturday, November 30, 2013
We must break free from Black Friday!!
So every year millions of Americans celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday. Although the roots of Thanksgiving can be traced to religious and cultural traditions, in the United States it has taken the form of a secular celebration of family, friends, abundance of food, health and good fortune. Most people travel across the country to get together with family and friends and get a chance to create rich memories together. They enjoy a nice long weekend together and cherish the opportunity to leave their daily rut behind and just relax together with loved ones. It is a chance to stop and smell the roses and be grateful for all that is good in life.
But slowly yet surely corporate America has hijacked this beautiful and graceful holiday and converted it into a weekend of shopping frenzy and madness. The media bombards the public with promises of unearthly deals never to be seen again, unbelievable prizes to early shoppers, the more you spend the more you save and so on.... The pressure of shopping on Black Friday is so intense that even children have started to believe that shopping on Friday is part and parcel of the Thanksgiving Holiday. Thus like zombies with no thought process of their own, majority of Americans rush through their Thanksgiving feast and head out to line up outside stores of choice. They forget that eating together as a big family and enjoying the food and real family time was the initial purpose of Thanksgiving! That purpose has been lost, now the purpose as dictated by corporate America's supercharged marketing and advertising is shopping for things you don't really need and spending money you don't really have!
It is a sad state of affairs, considering the fact that millions of Americans are still reeling from the recent economic depression, many have no jobs yet, many are in debt up to their necks yet they will go to the mall and spend and spend and spend, all the while thinking they are saving!! But saving what? If you spend $30 and save $10 on it, you still paid the $20 which you didn't really need to. It is scary to see how bad most Americans are at seeing the real truth. We do not have to buy something just so we can say we have it, we should buy what we really are in need of to sustain a healthy and safe life, everything else is luxury.
But I guess children born in the once land of plenty wouldn't know that , would they? Unfortunately no one has told them and nor have they realized it for themselves that the US is no longer the land of plenty in the real sense. It is time to educate the American public to make money wise decision and not allow big corporations and designer labels tell them what they need to buy or own, instead it is time for them to make their own decision and take control of their financial mess.
P.S: I wrote this post after reading news about the violence seen this Black Friday and also reading an article on BBC World "The Dark Side of Black Friday". Here are links to both;
Black Friday shopping in US marred by violence
The dark side of Black Friday
But slowly yet surely corporate America has hijacked this beautiful and graceful holiday and converted it into a weekend of shopping frenzy and madness. The media bombards the public with promises of unearthly deals never to be seen again, unbelievable prizes to early shoppers, the more you spend the more you save and so on.... The pressure of shopping on Black Friday is so intense that even children have started to believe that shopping on Friday is part and parcel of the Thanksgiving Holiday. Thus like zombies with no thought process of their own, majority of Americans rush through their Thanksgiving feast and head out to line up outside stores of choice. They forget that eating together as a big family and enjoying the food and real family time was the initial purpose of Thanksgiving! That purpose has been lost, now the purpose as dictated by corporate America's supercharged marketing and advertising is shopping for things you don't really need and spending money you don't really have!
It is a sad state of affairs, considering the fact that millions of Americans are still reeling from the recent economic depression, many have no jobs yet, many are in debt up to their necks yet they will go to the mall and spend and spend and spend, all the while thinking they are saving!! But saving what? If you spend $30 and save $10 on it, you still paid the $20 which you didn't really need to. It is scary to see how bad most Americans are at seeing the real truth. We do not have to buy something just so we can say we have it, we should buy what we really are in need of to sustain a healthy and safe life, everything else is luxury.
But I guess children born in the once land of plenty wouldn't know that , would they? Unfortunately no one has told them and nor have they realized it for themselves that the US is no longer the land of plenty in the real sense. It is time to educate the American public to make money wise decision and not allow big corporations and designer labels tell them what they need to buy or own, instead it is time for them to make their own decision and take control of their financial mess.
P.S: I wrote this post after reading news about the violence seen this Black Friday and also reading an article on BBC World "The Dark Side of Black Friday". Here are links to both;
Black Friday shopping in US marred by violence
The dark side of Black Friday
Monday, November 25, 2013
Lady Gaga's Dilemma....
We all know that shocking the US television audience is the way to notoriety and fame. There was a time when pure musical talent and skill got you rich and famous but that doesn't work as well anymore. The more risqué and inappropriate according to norm the more likely it will get you the attention and boost your career needs, specially if you are lacking in real talent!
In the 1980s Madonna understood that, she broke all rules of public decency and propriety with 'Like a virgin', she pushed limits of acceptable display of sexuality and nudity to kickstart her career, everytime she felt ignored she went one step further towards obscenity and got success and fame as a result.
Her legacy has been kept alive by various desperate starlets over the years like Jennifer Lopez, Britney Spears, Rihanna to name a few. They used the same tactics and it worked for most of them. All they needed was to put on a shocking sexually charged performance and their faces hit the front pages. Many more tried the same tricks, some were successful while others failed miserably, remember Janet Jackson's wardrobe malfunction for example.
Then in 2008 came Lady Gaga, she took Madonna's shock system to a whole new level! She decided to hide her face behind ghastly masks while showing pretty much every thing else at first. So it was sexuality presented with a touch of intrigue, leading to her fast climb to fame and fortune. She regularly put on extravagant and disturbingly weird performances on all award shows, keeping her audience hooked. She reinforced the drama by wearing the strangest and skimpiest outfits whenever and wherever possible. It was working superbly for her. She was probably planning to ride that wave for while. She seemed to know exactly how to gradually push the envelope on propriety and yet get away with it, she was in control.
But suddenly Miley Cyrus happened. Yes the same young country singer pushed to the forefront of teen music with a nice big nudge from dad Billy Ray Cyrus. Unfortunately it appears that nudge was way too much for her to handle, leading to the total disintegration of the teen darling and her transformation into the sex crazed industry rebel. Starting off at the MTV music awards 2013 gyrating with tacky old Robin Thicke on the stage and sticking out her disturbingly long tongue made her the 'twerking' sensation of the world! If anyone thought that was it, they were in for a huge surprise, yes I am talking about the video to her new single 'Wrecking ball'. After seeing her swinging buck naked on a wrecking ball, there is little left to imagination.
That is where I see Lady Gaga facing a huge dilemma, what to do next? Once all of the clothes have come off, what is left to show or shock the world?
No wonder actual artists like Annie Lennox have spoken up and called these acts pornographic.
Here is an excerpt of her post on her Facebook page "I have to say that I'm disturbed and dismayed by the recent spate of overtly sexualised performances and videos," she wrote. "You know the ones I'm talking about. It seems obvious that certain record companies are peddling highly styled pornography with musical accompaniment …
"It's depressing to see how these performers are so eager to push this new level of low. Their assumption seems to be that misogyny – utilised and displayed through oneself – is totally fine, as long as you are the one creating it. As if it's all justified by how many millions of dollars and YouTube hits you get from behaving like pimp and prostitute at the same time. It's a glorified and monetised form of self harm."
So far Lady Gaga is dabbling in different cheap versions of her trashy and obscene performances to date, and it might be it unless of course the FCC decides to just drop the laws on Obscene, Indecent and Profane Broadcasts, which are pretty much ignored anyway.
P.S: I was going to post pics to go along with the post, but decided against it. Just didn't feel right.
FCC Federal Communication Commission (Laws on Obscene, Indecent and Profane Broadcasts)
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