I recently came across an anthology of writing on “New Media”, and was struck by how the editor explained the conceptual basis of the content through references to Western philosophers, namely Socrates, Kant, Hegel, Marx, and Adorno. To readers schooled in Western philosophy, this sounds quite reasonable. But given the nature of the topic, i.e. “New Media”, why should he assume that his audience is Western? Read »
At my job, we are producing a pilot for a reality TV program that teaches the art and the science of dating to those who are utterly clueless. Meanwhile, I have also been reading a series of articles about how to effectively market a creative business. Interestingly enough, I could not help noticing startling parallels between business and dating. Read »
“Quality of life” is an elusive idea. Many equate it with having money, but it does not address everything we want in our lives such as our physical and mental health. By providing us with ways to control the uncertainties of Mother Nature, technology has certainly allowed us to increase the quality of our lives in terms of survival in the practical sense of the term (subsistence). But, beyond that, what has technology done for us? I would argue that it has not done much. One of the few exceptions, I would further argue, is online dating. Read »
The other day, Robert Roth was lamenting about the increasing difficulty of selling his print magazine, “And Then”. I asked him what he thought the reason was. He then gave me this article to read which he had written back in 1998. After reading it, I was quite convinced that it is the Internet that diminished the interest in independent print publishing. In the early 90s, I remember seeing at local bookstores a lot of so-called “zines” which were printed using Xerox machines. No one publishes them anymore. Read »
Where Have all the Babies Gone? Boris Kortiak explores this modern phenomenon, and gives advice to those who are waiting and waiting to have kids. Read »
I am not Jewish or Christian. I do not subscribe to any organized forms of religions. I am not an atheist either since I could not say, or would not say, for sure that God does not exist. In fact, I tend more towards the idea that God does exist. I do not favor or incline towards Judaism or Christianity. I find them both intriguing, but when it comes to the holiday season, I prefer Christmas over Hanukkah. And, as offensive as it may sound to Jewish people, I hold Hanukkah responsible for tainting Christmas. I hope my readers would understand that criticizing an aspect of Jewish culture does not constitute anti-Semitism. Read »
TruthLaidBear.com provides an interesting snapshot of how Internet traffic is distributed among Weblogs. Website traffic is a closely guarded secret for most businesses, and no one has an accurate picture of how Internet traffic is distributed. Only the site owners with access to the Web server logs have the truth of the traffic they receive, but since they do not have access to the logs of their competitors, they do not know how their numbers stack up against others. The number alone with nothing to compare against is just an arbitrary number, and means very little. What you want to know is where you are in the spectrum of popularity. Are you a nobody, an average Joe, or a superstar? Read »
There is now much talk about how “real” reality TV programs are. Sometimes we become hung up on word usage, which in turn make us blind to seeing something for what it is. This paper argues that expectation of “real” as something absolute is the source of this trouble. It uses as an example NBC’s reality TV series “The Restaurant”. Read »
It all started from talking about a film called “Half Cocked”. I described the film as a representation of the Grunge era. My co-worker, Steve, flatly rejected my claim and asserted that it was about “Indie Rock”, or “Indie” in general. Read »
The popular phenomenon on the Internet, weblog, has a deceptive purpose for the writer/publishers. It isn’t so much having something to say that drives them to create weblogs, but getting others to talk about them is the real incentive behind the effort. In this sense, weblog is passive entertainment like watching TV. Read »
As you get older, the nature of your relationships with others gradually changes. You do not relate to your friends in the same way you used to. On one hand, your friendships seem to get shallower because of the time you spend with your family or your significant other, but on the other, they become more enjoyable in many ways. In general, your relationships with others become more reasonable, natural, and sustainable. Read »
Yesterday I finally had a chance to see the first installment of “The Lord of the Rings”, “The Fellowship of the Ring.” I knew very little about the trilogy and about the writer J. R. R. Tolkien before I saw the movie. Afterwards, I did some research on the history and the background of the book and its author. In short, it was one of the most impressively produced films I’ve seen, and at the same time was one of the most thoroughly boring films I’ve ever sat through for over 3 hours. Read »
Last night, Steve and I went to the new Olive Garden on 22nd and 6th Avenue, in the same building where my gym is located. It was the opening night of this branch. I had been waiting for it for over a month. I imagined that it would be empty since this particular neighborhood is not popular among non-residents, tourists and suburbanites, which make up the majority of their clientele. When we arrived there around 7PM, the place was nearly full. The cherry wood decor is decidedly fancier than that of the Times Square branch. It is probably twice as large as the average restaurants in Manhattan, and the tables and the booths are generously spaced to meet the suburban standards. A host with a newly trained smile showed us to a booth for two. Read »
“Shallow Hal” is a movie about a man who was conditioned by his own father to believe that the ultimate goal in life is to score the best looking woman possible. Hal himself is a chubby, below-average looking man, but he tries in vain to seduce a series of impeccable bombshells. One day, he gets trapped in an elevator with the famous motivational speaker, Tony Robbins. While they are stuck in it, the latter gives him a lecture of his life. Hal is re-programmed to see the “inner beauty” reflected externally, but he is not aware of this perceptual change. He falls in love with a morbidly obese woman thinking that she is the most beautiful woman he has ever seen. Read »
Nietzsche thought music was the best form of art because it is the most abstract. Another form of art that is just as abstract, if not more, is dance. It is interesting to note that dancing is often perceived as a feminine form of art. There is even a stereotype which assumes that most male dancers are gay. Gene Kelly even had a propaganda to promote dancing as a manly thing to do. Read »
Men can focus solely on their productive lives, and if they succeed, everything else will follow. On the other hand, with women, their value in the career market is a separate issue from their value in the marketplace of mating, so they must pay attention to both independently. Ironically, for most women, paying more attention to the latter is more effective in achieving a “happy” life in a banal sense of the word. This type of banal happiness is often dismissed by those who see themselves to be beyond it, but it is for most of us a prerequisite for all other types of happiness. This is reflected in the recent trend of online dating services where people are willing to pay over 20 dollars a month for the service, which most other online services can only dream of. Read »
In the past 10 years or so, I have been noticing a gradual increase in the number of over-the-counter services asking for tips. I first encountered this practice at Katz’s Deli here in New York. It happened to be the first time I had gone there, even though I have been walking by there almost every day for over 10 years. They have a unique system for ordering which involves taking a ticket at the entrance. This confused me a bit, but I eventually managed to get to the counter, behind which there were about 10 guys slicing, grilling, slapping, and wrapping all kinds of meat. I asked for a pastrami sandwich. Read »
Star Wars seems to suffer from the same misunderstanding that afflicts Dostoevsky’s “Crime and Punishment”. Star Wars is a story of Anakin Skywalker, his spiritual quest and transformation, told in a form of science fiction. Dostoevsky explored the same theme in a form of crime/suspense fiction. Somehow many viewers and readers fail to see this central theme of their work. Read »
There is a new show on Food Network called “A Cook’s Tour” in which Anthony Bourdain, the executive chef of Les Halles in New York, travels around the world experiencing exotic local cuisines. Until I saw this program, I had never heard of Anthony Bourdain. He seemed like an interesting guy, so I looked further into who he was. He became famous for his book “Kitchen Confidential” which comically describes what it is like to be part of the restaurant culture in New York. He had published two fictional books prior to it, but they did not achieve the same kind of success that “Kitchen Confidential” enjoyed. Read »
Is it just me or have you noticed it too? I now see a lot more couples where the man is Asian and the woman is white. This started happening about 3 years ago, especially among late teens and early twenties. Read »
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