Late Night Rant

The problem with Democracy is that every viewpoint must be heard, regardless of its value. It doesn’t matter how many opposing viewpoints there are; stupidity breeds ignorance breeds stupidity.

From an article in Wired:

During a heated question-and-answer session, one board member accuses the scientists of posturing for me, the only reporter in the audience. Michael Cochran challenges the scientists to cite any testimony that the board hadn’t already heard “ad infinitum.” Another board member, Deborah Owens-Fink, declares the issue already closed. “We’ve listened to experts on both sides of this for three years,” she says. “Ultimately, the question of what students should learn “is decided in a democracy, not by any one group of experts.”

The notion is noble enough: In a democracy, every idea gets heard. But in science, not all theories are equal. Those that survive decades - centuries - of scientific scrutiny end up in classrooms, and those that don’t are discarded. The intelligent design movement is using scientific rhetoric to bypass scientific scrutiny. And when science education is decided by charm and stage presence, the Discovery Institute wins.

This is from an article which discusses recent moves in Ohio to get Intelligent Design into the curriculum in public schools. Please go read it at www.wired.com and then tell me I’m wrong for thirsting for Meritocracy.

Regardless of the problems of Darwinism at the atomic level, we should not — we MUST not — start teaching creationism.

If we realize that flight mechanics are more complicated at the atomic level - that we don’t understand the true physics of flight completely — does that mean that United Airlines flight 227 from Boston to London is actually soaring on the shoulders of Zeus?

Epilogue

Before I post my modest rewrite of the Declaration of Independence, I just thought I’d share this link:

http://www.koreus.com/files/200407/mariobros_piano.html

For those that don’t know, it’s a medley of the Super Mario Bros. themes, played on piano by a true fan.

Oh, and stay till the end. He’s fast.

****

Message from Brianna (friend of Tess), to Jim:

(Paraphrased)

Hey, I’m so sorry we didn’t make it to your show. When are you going to be in Dublin? I’d really like to come watch. Here’s my email addy: $%*@&#^($^.com

Message from Tess, to Jim:

I hope Heather doesn’t hate me.

Frustrations and Conversations.

Let’s see if I can make a rational post out of the enraging conversation I had tonight with one of the most close-minded girls I’ve ever spoken to.

Tess.

Tess is an Anthropology major from Ohio State who works in Civil Service. She likes to help out the poor, the uneducated, and the mentally handicapped. She came to the show tonight and then came up to talk to me about work and life. She wanted to flirt with the girl in the red vest.

Tess thinks video games are “pathetic” and “induce violence.”

Tess loves Michael Moore and Bowling For Columbine.

There’s your preface.

So, Tess from Ohio State asked me what I did for fun. I responded, “I read. I walk. I watch movies. I play a lot of video games.” Tess responded that Video Games are really worthless wastes of time; that “all video gamers are potheads.” Even after telling Tess that I play video games and smoke no pot, Tess maintained that “video gamers are all wasting time.”

I asked Tess, “Do you know Pot Head Videogamers?”

She said yes.

I asked Tess, “If one Black Person steals something, are all Black People Thieves?”

She said, “That’s different. Video Gamers are all mostly pot heads.”

I said, “According to a few major urban studies, (and I think, The Bell Curve), Black People are mostly under intelligent.”

She said I was racist.

I said, “What is pathetic about Video Games?”

“It’s all for profit”

I asked, “Has Michael Moore not made a profit from Bowling For Columbine? Did you have to pay to get into the theater?”

She said, “But video games don’t cost as much money to make.”

I said, “Video games don’t cost as much as an independent documentary? Despite their international casts and design teams?”

She said that “It’s not real” and that “You can be doing something else.”

I said, “What’s real about A Tale of Two Cities? Or any great fiction? What’s Real about Hamlet?”

She said it was written by real writers.

I said “64 million lines of text in Final Fantasy. Who wrote it?”

She said, “Not a real writer.”

I said, “A composer whose video game compositions are performed by the LA Philharmonic and the Tokyo Philharmonic. Is he a real composer?”

She said yes.

I said, “What if those compositions are from a video game?”

She said that its an exception.

I asked her if Hamlet was the exception to fiction. That most fiction is Daniel Steele and that Shakespeare is the exception which en-values fiction. And that, furthermore, people who are vapid and read only shitty pulp are the same as people who are vapid and only play Twisted Metal.

She said, “No. Video games are all pathetic.”

I then said, “You have to make a choice, Tess. Because you’re providing a blanket judgment to something I’m passionate about, something which you have no experience in. Either -

A) I am an intelligent and conscious being who is engaged in video games because I find worthwhile themes and values within them; that I believe they are the culmination of many artists who collectively produce a piece of media that is a valuable citation in the bibliography of human achievement.

B) I am a marginally successful comedian who wastes all of her time during the day playing games when I could be doing something else more valid.

She said, “Video Games are Pathetic. There’s always something else you could be doing, that you should be thinking about doing.”

I put on my Atari Jacket and said, “During this conversation, I’ve been thinking that instead of receiving an inarticulate judgment on medium, I could be playing video games.”

Before I left, she yelled, “Can I still get into the show for free tomorrow?”

***
I think that she’s forfeited her right to vote Democrat.
***

Burning Music (and Fishing Recollections)

If the music industry wants people to obtain songs legally, then they should do everything in their power to make the user experience simple and clean.

This week, after downloading Media Player 10, I decided to give the Microsoft Music Store a shot. Getting replacement albums through them is cheaper than purchasing the CD used from the store, and you get a flawless variable bit rate transfer to play on your stereo. No scratches, no shopping. Just get the track and there you go.

I have an iRiver H-120 (20 Gig iPod Killer) and it’s one of my greatest treasures. So far, it’s filled with home-made mp3s/wmas, burned from my CD collection. There are a few KaZaA snatches, too, numbering in the lower 10s. I am, for most intents and purposes, a legal music fan, friend to the RIAA.

However.

After purchasing Bjork’s Homogenic from the MSN Music Store, I was HORRIFIED to discover that I was not allowed to transfer the songs to my iRiver. Apparently, iRiver H120 is not supported by Windows Media Player. There is a solution available, but in order to get the necessary technical support, I have to pay Microsoft 35 dollars. What’s worse: if I spend 35 bucks on the tech support, I have no guarantee that they will provide the solution.

So now I have 11 MP3s that I can’t do a damn thing with. I don’t know how to transfer the license into my iRiver, or even if it’s possible at all.

I signed onto Kazaa and downloaded the same tracks again, illegally (?). And while I was there, I grabbed a copy of 2 other Bjork albums.

What I want is to send my money to the artist. I believe in it. I don’t want people watching Boom Shows through the window, and I don’t want Bjork to have the same uncompensated experience, either. I’ve purchased her albums repeatedly, so on this level I don’t feel guilty. But fuck Microsoft/Napster/Emusic for not allowing me to *listen* to my music. That’s hideous and I won’t be spending another dime on a legal mp3 until they provide a solution to me free of charge. It’s frustrating; I want to obey the law, even if it means sending Bjork 3 cents and sending Universal Music 14.99. But if I can’t hear the song I bought, then I might as well just delete the Mp3s from my Hard Drive.

****

In other news, I went fishing this week, a short distance north of Centraal Station on Ken Schaafle’s boat. We caught 4 fish, but threw them back.

I wasn’t expecting to be bothered by it, but I was. In my romanticized version of the night’s events, we would catch the fish and then eat them. Throwing them back was barbaric … and anticlimactic. I’m not a hunter for sport. I want to hunt for the consumption; the primal feast and the grounding fulfillment it brings. There I was, taking photos of the sunset and dangling my bamboo pole in the water, leisurely waxing on the nature of homelessness and begging … it was wonderful, but truly disheartening. I think I’ve been depressed since.

Also, while I’m here, I should note that everyone who was debating with me about convenience and the violent plight of modern America — know that I didn’t abandon your responses; they’re all very smart and valid. I figure I’ll be touching on it all again in the future, but today I had something different to say. Thanks to everyone for being passionate!

It is ironic that I’m lamenting the lack of instant gratification in this post after celebrating it in the last one.

But I also know that when I get my mp3 player to recognize those files, I will treasure them more than if I had been spoiled by their accessibility earlier.