fills up, selected entries will also be highlighted here.MEDIA BASHING PAGE
This is purely self-indulgence, a collection of tirades on whatever medium is being a pain that day. All too often, conversation about "the media" arrives at the conclusion that it is biased in some way. Favorite sources of this bias include being "in bed with" big corporations (probably true, look at CNN) or government (look at the Canadian Broadcorping Castration). Well D'UH. How, pray tell, is it unbiased, this media? Is objectivity really possible, given the fact that reporter's mandates are often to cover a particular aspect of a story. Starving Masses, Union Bashers, Cults, Unpopular Government Policies (rarely covered, you'll notice)....or Hurricane Katrina, which, despite obvious physical evidence, seemed not to wreck New Orleans.
So, as time passes, this page will be
salted with dated anecdotes. And, oh yes, biased anecdotes.
Objectivity? It might occur from time to time. As (or if) the
fills up, selected entries will also be highlighted here.
January 20 2007
GE Nighthawk Headlamps. Another commercial couched in important-sounding terminology. Here we have GE pointing out it's "ordinary" headlights, and comparing them to its new Nighthawk Headlamps, as if a few juicy-sounding syllables will allow the depicted driver to avoid hitting the deer standing on the road, while negotiating a blind corner and hilltop on the wrong side of the road, with his, er, her foot hard on the accelerator pedal. D'uh. Just what I want to encounter, is Jill D'oh hauling ass through the virtual forest yakking on her Blackberry while forgetting to dim her 40%-brighter lights. Unfortunately, the depiction is not 40% brighter than the more realistic view that one should just slow down while driving at night. Have any of these people actually hit a deer? It's pretty ugly.
October 25 2006
Ok, Peter, be nice now, even though she is really a turncoat, and a canine, you just can't SAY so where anyone is likely to hear it. After all, Jack Layton needs a target, OK? And all the ParliaGirls need a rallying point, even though she proves to be a bimbo deluxe. I mean, let's face it. She's bright enough to know she can sashay into Parliament, recognize a tenuous balance of power, and cross the floor to the losing side! And, of course, our ever-thirsting Press Corps needs something, anything, to report, and, of course, we need to watch our elected officials debate whether a disgruntled Ex can grumble, er, growl about it...while forgetting that Wuffie's accomplishments in the public eye are, in fact, nothing, right?
August 19 2006
Many thanks to Discovery Civilization Channel for their program "It Takes a Thief"....basically a how-to manual for thieves. Astounding footage of reformed scumbags trashing someone's house, while the hapless residents watch on CCTV. I have a question to the mavens of reality TV: What the HELL are you thinking? Have you ever been broken into? Do you know what it feels like? This program caters to those who may be able to afford the recommended security upgrades to their home...while leaving the rest of us paranoid about what is out there lurking, awaiting the opportunity to trash our lives. Sort of the "Canadian Idol" of burglary. A cheap offshoot of an already abysmally awful offshoot. You might be wise to cancel this crap before someone sues your ass for affording some creep the video instruction manual to ruin my house or someone else's. What a cheap escapade.
June 15 2006
Another commercial! This time, a designer fragrance from Hugo Boss, depicting a greasy little pretty boy covered with menacing tattoos deciding to knock down barriers...by his own rules. He's a thug, and now he stinks like a pimp. Believe me, if he ran through my business establishment like that, I'd kneecap him with a bottle of Aqua Velva. If I saw him vaulting a wall with that facial expression, there'd be a 2x4 going the other way. The depiction suggests that home invasion is cool, and, well, my response is predictable.
May 18 2006 
Mount St. Helen's blew up 26 years ago. A real attention-getter. Not so for this series of Burger King commercials featuring the rather menacing-looking plastic King handing out BK products to surprised denizens of laundries, bicycle paths and bedrooms...I think BK might do well to find a new mascot, rather than one apparently purchased at a flea market. The image of a vacant-staring grinning plastic King with a size 20 head twirling some guy's underwear is truly, umm, inspiring. I'm going to rush right down and get one of those breakfast sandwiches with "meat" and "cheese" on it. Yum! Maybe I can hang out with that lurking Royal and feel good, too!
May 13 2006
Oh brother, it seems to be getting worse by the day. What is it with the seemingly broad obsession with this da Vinci Code stuff? Collections of Hebrew Scholars and Widget Scientists, all clearly infatuated with their smug views....all telling us with a straight face that the code can only predict what has already happened. Things from the Beltway Snipers to God knows what else. Real credibilty-reinforcing stuff, like the already-perfect series about Canada's Worst Handyman. If this be the trend of InfoTainment, then what, exactly, constitutes a true information source any more? TLC? The Laughable Channel. The wHosestory Channel. The Dyscovery Channel. The National Geolaughic Channel. Sadly, all are becoming increasingly guilty of Dumb Science. Oh yes, A-Lie-ance Atlantis. The entertainment conglomerate named after a myth of biblical proportions.
What's doubly troubling is that people sit around and debate this stuff as being, well, fact....or at least something of useful interest. Talk about opiate of the masses.
May 4 2006
It is amazing how afraid anyone is to take a stand and join Newfoundland in banning cell phone use while driving. The latest accident in the public eye was the death of a cyclist in Chilliwack BC, killed by a teenaged cellular user. People, distraction is just that. Teenagers aren't any more or less prone to distraction. Try divorce, alcohol, depression, vanity, or just plain blatant disregard for safety...practiced mostly by "adults". Almost every instance of cell use behind the wheel can be observed by the physical behavior of the car being driven. Failure to hold a good line within a lane. Inconsistent or very high speed on the highway. No signals. Stopping at greens and running reds. The chickenshit regulators are just too afraid to take a stand. So congratulations to Newfoundland...at least there is a fighting chance there.
April 15 2006
The poor couple in Surrey BC whose house was raided and their children hauled off...they were mistaken as suspects in a recent kidnapping. Now they are being told that their house is unlivable because of the chemicals used in the forensic examination of the dwelling. They have been put up in a hotel by the RCMP, but only until Monday, then they are on their own. Seems to me the Mounties might be liable, having botched their intelligence...oh! Right! Officialdom (Officialdumb) makes no mistakes, and if they do, they don't have to be responsible. OK, Mr. Law-and-Order Harper, open your books on this one! Oh yes, CTV Newsnet, have you no opinion? It's so funny listening to your promo announcer describing the importance of some story, with a voice that sounds like he is squeezing out a fart the whole time. "C-T-Vayy, Canada's best network".....Says who? Not that CBC is a contender. Like a bad AM announcer. People don't really talk that way, by the way.
April 15 2006
Oh boy, now the Catholics in Montreal are all chafed about a hair salon that advertised images of Jesus' family with modern punk'd hairdos. C'mon, I dare ya, let's see Osama Bin Laden in a Mohawk!!!
February 2006: It's a CARTOON, people. Not an invitation to Jihad, or excuse for unbridled megalomania.
January 2004 The Virtual Museum of Canada.
Another condescending commercial from the Government of Canada, advertising the Virtual Museum. A virtual Cabin, perched on a Virtual Cliff above a Virtual Arctic Landscape. The website it advertises is, well, Virtual. Now let's total it up. How much does the TV commercial cost per airing? And what, really, is it advertising? Go visit the site and answer that question for yourself. Notice that the commercial's cabin is appropriately low-income, and probably very poorly insulated, despite its bucolic setting.