Countdown to Santa

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Yippikia!

photo courtesy of ENTER-FLICKR-OWNER-NAME-HERE

Something happened yesterday…my television began to only project a black and white image.  Many would consider that a bad thing, but considering it hasn’t turned on consistently in over a month makes me feel like a blessed man.  We watched television in pre technicolor and it was glorious.

It reminded me that there are a tremendous amount of black and white movies that were made long ago.  We don’t think about them much, we are usually are only interested in movies with advanced cimeia tography and special affects.  Over half of the movies use special CGI and advanced affects to make their stories work.  I’m not gonna go into whether or not advancement in movies is good or bad, no I’m just gonna talk about a great movie, it just happens to be in black in white.  If you have the chance to watch it in color (thanks to

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Take Two of These

when

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How Many Fools Does It Take…

photo courtesy of ndot

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Get Out There and Learn Something

photo courtesy ofmarghe00

I love good science fiction.  Not just science fiction.  You can’t put a ray gun in someone’s hand and impress me, or blow up city with a hovering spacecraft and say this is science fiction.  Science fiction should make you think.  If done well the characters, storyline and themes should intertwine with our own reality and allow us to step aside and ask… could that really happen?

Last week I saw a movie that came out this year.  District 9.  It was a sleeper hit of the summer.  By the way, a sleeper hit refers to a movie that doesn’t have a lot of mainstream hype behind it, it doesn’t have a blockbuster lead actor, a conventional storyline or a major studio backing it up.

The plot follows a civil servant who is leading up a relocation of a site of aliens who’ve  for 20 years have set up a shabby neighborhood outside of Johannesburg, South Africa.  A lot of things happen in this movie, some things unexpected and I won’t doll out spoilers, but this movie made me think.  I can’t remember the last movie that stretched my mind like this one.  The reason behind this was that this story and the short film that started it all “Alive From Joburg” was inspired by  what the writer/director observed in South Africa during the 80’s and 90’s, particularly regarding the problem of apartheid.

Quick tutorial for those who don’t remember their global studies exam.

Wikipedia simply describes Apartheid—meaning separateness in Afrikaans (which is cognate to the English apart and -hood)—was a system of legal racial segregation enforced by the National Party government in South Africa between 1948 and early 1994.

I’m not going into the actual events during this time, things happened here that created an incredible ramification for history and our present.  Things are happening all over the world that we have little knowledge of.  At this moment as you read this there is a at least an 8 hour difference between you an people who do not speak the same language as you, do not have the same customs as you, and do not have the same economic situation as you.

And that is the point of today’s challenge.  I challenge you to look up something of value that is going on in the world today.   If you have no idea where to start click on the “world” section of Google News, or check out a specific country of your family origin.  Do it for a week, there has gotta be more important things going on in world than John & Kate Plus 8.  Also you may want to check out the BBC News.  There is something refreshing about looking at news stories about America that is broadcast by non Americans.

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Guard Your Taste

photo courtesy of -GoGap

I always loved the tale of the Trojan Horse from the Iliad.  The Iliad follows the epic battle of the Greeks verses the Trojans. After ten years of fighting at the wall of their enemies Odysseus figures out a plan to get his men over an  Trojan wall.  He devises the idea to build a large horse to place men inside and leave it for his enemies to take behind enemy lines.

I tell you this not just because I’m an English Geek but it reminded me yesterday how sinister gifts can be.  At work I noticed a coupon book to a local fast food restaurant.  I will refrain from mentioning the name of the establishment or it’s location.  I am not a fast food guy per say and pride myself with eating healthy most of the time, but I had a time crunch and a buy one get one free meal in my hand so I figured what’s the worst that can happen.  I didn’t know it but that innocent piece of paper was my own Trojan Horse.

I arrived with paper work in toe and figured I could dine in and get some work done, two birds, right… well things didn’t got as well as I hoped.  I ordered a burger with out a certain sauce on it and was starving by this point.  I sat down right in front of the counter and waited and waited.  I seven minutes into it I approached the counter and asked about the progress of my food… now if you know me you’d believe me when I exactly said, “I’d like to know about the progress of my food”  No anger use no, tone expressed.  I did direct my message to a manager, lets call him Jerry, who sprung into action.  I believe Jerry was embarrassed because I had been the only customer to have ordered in the dining room in the past ten minutes.  During this time Jerry tried to pacify me with a free dessert.   Honestly I was about to wolf down two burgers in a high speed car ride to my next appointment, I didn’t need more empty calories clogging my veins.  True to Jerry’s word, 30 seconds later two burgers were brought to me… and low and behold there was special sauce on each.  I’ll simply say that I got my refund and left politely after the Jerry got a refresher on how to open a register.

Here’s the thing, I was furious at this point, I was late to my next meeting, my belly was empty and I felt completely annoyed.  And I was reminded of two things, first it is best to be still and don’t overreact.  Many times in my life when people have treated me poorly in a spontaneous moment I have always cautioned on the side of calm.  This has won me over with students, family, stranger and my wife.  Flipping out at Jerry or the poor teenage girl that never checked on my order or the fry-guy who perhaps put my meal in a to-go bag won’t have done anything to make my full or satisfied at that moment.  There is a good scene from a great movie titled “You’ve Got Mail where the male lead who is sarcastic explains unknowingly to the woman of his dreams about speaking sarcastically, “I must warn you that when you finally have the pleasure of saying the thing you mean to say at the moment you mean to say it, remorse inevitably follows.”  Later in the movie she does exactly just that… which changes everything for her.

The second thing I remembered is that it served me right to go into a fast food joint and being disappointed.  When did it change, when did it happen, when did we give up on eating great quality food, I mean no offense to fast food chain… no I do mean to offend them all.  How dare they serve us cheap food and get away with it!  Well here is the thing, we let them.   We have allowed ourselves to just pick up quick meals here and there, on the go.  ”America runs on Dunkin”…”Make a run for the border”…”Your Way, Right Away”.  Fast food have been trying for decades to get you to take advantage of quick service in an absence of quality, nutrition and taste.  I could go on and on about how much healthier it is when you don’t eat a super-sized load of processed oil enriched potato.   Or I can compare the cost of buying a chicken breast and cooking it and getting the equivalent in nuggets at chain restaurant.  But we’ve heard it all before, if I can’t sell you on these points I need to at least remind you that you deserve quality food and service.  Don’t sell yourself short.

Some options to consider:

Plan ahead…keep a snack of your choice in your car.  If you have something that will keep without refrigeration, there is no shame in putting it in a ziplock bag.  (trail mix, granola or protein bars and some dried fruit). 

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Close Encounters of the 4th Kind

Post written by Patrick D’Ambrosio.

photo courtesy of Politicamente Incorrecto

For those of you who have seen the cherish Steven Spielberg movie you already know what the first second and third kind are.  I’m here to refer to you about the fourth kind… and sadly enough these beings are not currently not on another planet.  They are here, right now.  They’ve infiltrated our neighborhoods, they hold power in high offices of the land, they are hidden among those who teach our children and they serve you food on a nightly basis.  Be aware people… idiots walk among us.

Albert Einstein aptly states, “Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I’m not sure about the universe.”  He was a pretty smart guy so I’m gonna trust him on that point.  I think about this because just recently I had an encounter of my own.  I don’t want to go into too much detail but recently I was asked by a third party to go help a person do a job that this person had no experience or talent in.  With the limited about of time I had to prepare I asked for advice, devised a plan, ran it over with people who have experience and then began to put it into action.

Then I heard the music… da DA da der dum…my encounter begun.  This individual began to make choices that interfered with my plan and was extremely illogical.  I was torn with the decision to either go along with what I saw was happening or assert authority over the situation.  Since it was not a tremendous trouble to go along with this, I did.  Which leads me to some tips you want to consider when you are dealing with idots.

You need to know that unless you have access to probe these individuals and twist some brain synapses you will not be able to change these people.  You can try to help them learn your ways but do not expect results, this will only cause more frustration on your part.  If you can ignore the problem, I’m saying you should do this if this person is not hurting you or others around you.  On that point I want to bring up proximity… try to avoid any chance you can to not be near idiots, or under them.  When you must be near them, take this opportunity to observe their behavior for amusement, this is a great way to relieve any stress that can accumulate by watching such alien behavior.

Never, never be rude to an idiot, there is no such reason for it.  Many idiots will not take it in a positive tone that will help the situation.  Some idiots will not understand you, its just the way it is.  You must keep this in mind, at times you must remember that you too will be an idiot in a foreign land.   Don’t think it will ever happen to you, that’s idiotic.

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I Don’t Want to go Crazy

Post written by Patrick D’Ambrosio.

photo courtesy of little m:)

So this weekend I did something, I must confess, I’ve never done before.  It was the cause of immense stress and fear, moments leading up to this I was shifting my eyes from viewpoint to viewpoint, ideas of claustrophobia entered my mind, my heart was racing, I had people confronting me with questions I didn’t have answers to.  A ticking clock was staring back at me and there were a few things I could not control.  This weekend I was the MC and DJ for a wedding and it was the most exhilarating experience I’ve had in a great while.

A friend of mine was getting married and a month ago asked me to be is DJ.  This was a very quick engagement by an awesome couple who wanted to be married and didn’t have a ton of money to drop on a single day.  The groom knew I have some stage presence, acting experience and the desire to do anything for him to make his day the best it could be.  I didn’t hesitate when he asked me, I remember thinking to myself when my good friend Steve MC’d my wedding he and his wife went above and beyond to make our day incredible that I would one day do the same for someone else.  I didn’t think it would be in the same role, but fate does like to come full circle.

This got me thinking, how often do people do things that are out of their comfort zone.  Many people just do the same ol’ same ol’ their entire lives and never experience the road not taken.  What does that mean?  When I think of this I imagine a person who eats the same hamburger on Meat-Mondays for his entire life.

I’m not saying it can be scary.  For my honeymoon I agreed to go scuba diving with my bride in the Caribbean.  Something I’ve never had any interested in, oh yeah did I mention I can not swim.  I don’t have a fear of swimming, maybe when I was a kid but not now.  I’ve tried to take learn on different occasions and it is so difficult for me even to float.  But back to my death defying plunge in the water.  As I said I not afraid of the water, but at that moment I had a healthy fear of what could happened due to my limitations.  But I need to impress on you this was the coolest thing I’ve ever done.  Besides the breathtaking view of the ocean floor and marine life and exhilarating sensation it feels to breath in and out of a tube I earned the most incredible respect from my wife.  My wife, by the way, is an expert diver and lover of the water.

So this week and every week after that I want to send out a request for you.  I want you to go out and do something different.  Maybe your something different is checking out a different restaurant, or watching a foreign film.  Perhaps it means taking a different jogging route or making a new friend.  Your possibilities are endless.  You want to have a fruitful interesting life shake it up.  Remember the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

Tips to consider:

• Face your fears: nothing holds us back further than our fears
• Take baby steps: Don’t go overboard the first try.
• Make a fool of yourself
• Use your talents in unconventional ways
• Enjoy the unknown
• Find someone to experience this with-build confidence and
• Don’t confuse trying new things with being reckless

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Going Against the American Grain

photo courtesy of Daniel A. Norman

My wife and I needed a well deserved vacation.  Fortunately for us we got one this weekend.  We took a quick flight to NYC and stayed on Broadway. 

There is a list of many things we didn’t do, we see The Statue of Liberty, we didn’t take an elevator to the Empire State Building, we didn’t take a ferry ride around Manhattan, we didn’t stand in a crowd hoping to be on camera on Good Morning America, and we didn’t catch a Yankee game.   Some would say that our vacation was pretty lame.  Theses people would have missed out on something incredible.  My wife and I filled out entire trip walking, and NYC is a created for just that. 

 Don’t misread this and think that we are a pair of power walking fanatics. While walking we were able to see incredible sights, an array of people, wafts of ethnic cuisine at each corner, bustling of cars and yellow cabs, street performers, street venders and just enjoy the company of one other individual.    We went to Times Square and were in awe of the lights (during the date and night), the juxtaposition of people walking in masses where cars should be.  Someone had the incredible idea to designate part of the street for pedestrians, bicyclists, and rickshaws.   

 We only used transportation to come from JFK and to return.  Incase your have a future trip lined up and have the choice between arriving in JFK or LaGuardia, take JFK.  Six years ago JFK completed its Airtrain which can deliver you from any terminal to a convenient nearby subway station for only five bucks.  The other options were taking a $50 cab or shuttle ride that would also include tolls and a large amount of time we didn’t want to waste. 

 Walking is one of the most underrated exercises or activities there are… “Oh what did you do today?” “Me, oh I took a walk.”  Doesn’t sound so impressive.  Think again.  David Carradine did it on Kung Fu every episode.  Australian Aborigines so something called a walkabout which is a rite of passage.  Gandhi lead thousands to the sea to collect salt, think of the Million Man March.  People see walking as a way to clear your head, gain clarity, peace, get closer to God.

 I remember when my wife and I were first dating we would take walks together, quiet time we’d both stroll around the neighborhood.  It usually was the same route, nothing fancy.  It was just a simple way to enjoy time with each other after a meal or just to take in the sun on a great day.  It was during a walk when we first held hands.  We had discussions that revealed our compatibility and shared feelings for each other. 

 About two years ago my (no yet married)wife moved to a new neighborhood that didn’t promote a positive walking experience, her dog was getting older and we allowed the business of life to get the better of us.  That is going to change.  My wife for over a year now has harped about getting snow shoes to venture out in a nearby park during the next five dismal months that is Rochester’s winter… I think I will give in. 

 My second regret was that we didn’t take one of those pedometers with us to calculate how many miles we walked.  My first regret…we got the worst hot dog in the world from an anonymous street vender who never deviated from the conversation on his Bluetooth.  We had to remedy this and followed it up with the city’s best hotdog at Gray’s Papaya. 

 According to the Mayo Clinic some benefits of walking are

• Lower low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol (the “bad” cholesterol)
• Raise high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol (the “good” cholesterol)
• Lower your blood pressure
• Reduce your risk of or manage type 2 diabetes
• Manage your weight
• Improve your mood
• Stay strong and fit

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Grow Up, Eat Your Veggies

photo courtesy of Thomas Hawk

Imagine, for a moment, a 7 year old boy shuffling behind his mother.  He’s carrying a double bagged container of tomatoes.  They shuffle through a crowd as if they were salmon looking for the next bag to carry.  She is acting as his linebacker, deflecting off the swarm of people as he reluctantly hopes for an end to this drive.  He’s got a glazed look about him, bored beyond belief.  He’s wondering why can’t put this food in a cart and get a free cookie, like at the local supermarket.  But no this little fella is at a public market and by the way this obedient son is me. 

I had no idea what a gem public markets are.  I am in love with the Downtown Public Market in Rochester NY (incase you are reading this from somewhere else).  When I got out of college I moved to the city and ventured there every Saturday, I still trek it there since I moved to the outskirts of suburbia.  It’s an adventure, a time of tranquility for me, and the cheapest place to buy a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables.

Don’t let me limit your view to this grand place.  There are many things to buy at Rochester’s Downtown Public Market.  There are covered vendor areas and an indoor area.  In this poorly named “shed” there are fish, red meat, incense, paste, coffee, and herbs sold.  Also around are purses and livestock, cheese and deli meat, plants and flowers, jewelry and crafts, specialty foods and ethnic delicacies.  Also at times there are utensils and clothing and if you want to treat yourself there usually is a table of Amish homemade desserts and breads that will surpass most of what your mother can whip up.

As for entertainment value you can always look up special events at the market, they have cooking demonstrations, tastings, garage sales, Flower days, performing artist grace the area with their talent from time to time, and if you are lucky an unfortunate individual will be reminded that he illegally parked by the “wry” market office announcer. 

I could go into all the social conscious reasons you should go, buying locally, buying green, supporting the city, but really I enjoy it for all the benefits it gives me, the most powerful is bargains, I can’t find it cheaper.  I usually go alone, but I get very excited when I can introduce this to other people. 

Friends come in handy when you want to make a killing in buying items for cheep.  Sure you may not need 14 oranges but you and a few friends can split that and then buy a few other variety of fruit.  People watching is fun and in our fast pace texting society isn’t it nice to know you can go to a place where people are buying and selling items the same way as they have been doing for hundreds of years, without commercials, without fancy signs.

For a date, there is no better place to get comfortable with someone, you can take a stroll, observe colorful things.  If conversation is lacking you can easily talk about food.  There is less pressure to be interesting, you have the interesting all around you, just react.  If things are going well, there are flower vendors to top off the day.  If you want a bite you can enjoy many different inexpensive restaurants: Scott’s, The Empanada Stop (my personal favorite), Cherry’s European, Boulder Coffee.

This is a great place to bring kids.  For those who have little exposure to different cultures this is a great opportunity to see a rainbow of different people.  A child’s imagination can go wild.  Keep in mind the economy in the United States created the super market only about 50 years ago, before that there was the local grocery store.  What do you think the rest of the world does?  For years I would shop with friends who were refugees from Sudan, this was a place they got, with Wegmans there are too many rules too many things to consider- there are 11 brands of tomato soup! I’m all for convenience, but there is something to be said for simplicity.  Pick them up a honey stick (in the shed)  or some kettle when you get there.  Involved them here with conversation and choices about which foods to get. Get them to walk around, carry a bag or two, it build character.

Tips for going to the market

Arrive with time to spare:  This is not a “get in get out deal”, nor should it be. 

Find good parking:  The closest parking lot to the venders is off  Railroad Street.  You get there by driving on East Main by the corner of Goodman Street.  This parking lot can be crowded at times (peak hours between 10-1).  Crowded is an understatement, people are jockeying for position for a good amount of time.  If you are interested in saving time get creative with the parking.  I usually park on Hayward Street a neighboring street to the market.  There is also parking on North Union and paid parking (usually $2) on Railroad Street.  So you may have to walk a little more, in the sake of time it may save you a stitch or two.

Make a lap:  Unless you know exactly what you want and who to get it from you are gonna want to do a check of availability, quality and price (I do it every week to the dismay of my wife).  You may develop buyers regret when you pay one dollar for a head of lettuce when twenty yards away you could get it for 75 cents. 

Negotiate: Don’t be afraid to ask for a deal, but make sure it’s a deal you want.  Buying 2 bushels of apples may be cheaper than buying two individual ones but if your household won’t go through the amount in a week you are wasting money. (refer to friends paragraph)

Try going at different times of the day Rochester’s Public Market is open from 5-3 on Saturdays, and 6-1 on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  And yes they are open all year around

Go early to beat the crowds and get the freshest items

Go late and get a deal.  Near the end of the day there are venders who will rather sell off their perishable items for a loss than get go home with a total lost.  But be aware that you may miss out on variety.

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Two Words You Never Want to Say

Post written by Patrick D’Ambrosio.

photo courtesy of Joe Penniston

So I have not had a hand in social online prodigal. My first attempt at posting here I forgot to introduce myself.  With is the cardinal rule in writing, I never made the audience feel comfortable with me.  This is even after I was encouraged to do so.  Let me start here, I am a man who makes mistakes and then makes the same mistake again.  Before that I’m a Christian first and foremost.  I’m a newlywed, I’ve been married for one year and am beyond joyful to be expecting a baby with my incredible wife.  I’m an avid movie/television watcher/book reader, history enthusiast, a novice cook and all around imperfect human. And as I said, I am one who makes mistakes everyday.  Usually by the fourth or fifth time I get it right.  Right now I’m sorry.

I thought about this for a moment when I was watching a recent television program.  This is what I do I watch movies, film, plays, read books and I see great illustration about life from the characters and stories.  Well in this particular story a man who has wronged another finds out the old sage knowledge from listening to his daughter (an old story technique) confide in him about how her boyfriend was late for a date and then tried making excuses regarding it.  She then asks, “Why do boys do that”?  As well as it being a semi-sappy father daughter moment it was an epiphany for this one character who realized that he needed to apologize for his own action.

Then it got me thinking.  How easy is it so say you are sorry?  And I’m not talking about those empty words you were forced to say to your stupid little brother after you gave him an atomic wedgie.  I’m referring to the moment you come to the conclusion that you’ve said something or done something that you regret, because your actions have affected someone.  Feeling empathy for your fellow human being is one of the things that make us human.

Some people see that apologizing is a sign of weakness.  You can concede your higher ground if you let someone else know that you were in the wrong.  But is it worth it to be on the top when you are all alone.  Is it so bad to admit that you are human?  I know in my past year of marriage I could have stopped a few arguments if I just conceded in my mind that I did things that were wrong and then verbalized it to my wife.  Sure part of me thinks as a husband I need to be strong and in the right.  As a woman I can only imagine that you too don’t want to be overpowered by your spouse, so continuing to stand your ground may seem like a good idea, but at what cost.

There was a Jim Henson inspired live action  television show years ago named Dinosaurs (youtube it if you like) where all dinosaurs lived like humans with modern “Flintstone like” technology.   In one satire episode the dinosaurs from one land have a disagreement with another group of dinosaurs and they come up with the brand new idea of W.A.R. an acronym for WE ARE RIGHT.  Isn’t that the way we feel sometimes when we do things that we do.  We justify ourselves everyday.  Think about it, unless you self loath your existence you see yourself as the star of the movie of your life.  You imagine that you have insight into everything you do and it’s everyone else who doesn’t understand, isn’t doing it right, acting poorly.  Sure you may be the hero in your life but you may be the villain in everyone else’s.

You must also consider the fact that if you can’t apologize you have a weakness to you.  So show strength today, say you’re sorry.  And remember, saying your sorry doesn’t mean you will get an “apology accepted” back…this is not the point of it all.

Thinks to keep in mind when choosing to Apologize:

1) Do it quick-prolonging the moment you let someone know you are sorry will only make the situation worse.  Also you may miss your window of opportunity.

2) Admit what you did. (be clear don’t give a half truth)

3) Express your sorrow. Don’t fake it (even a sliver of uncertainty of the part of the victim will burn you).

4) Be sincere by speaking from the heart and feeling the victim’s pain.

5) Give your victim the opportunity to vent their feelings.  It’s a process and can benefit you both

6) Make up for the harm you’ve done by taking corrective action, offering compensation, or making restitution. If you steal a cookie, give a cookie back and you better make it a good cookie, not any of those dollar store generic cookies.  If you said something horrible, remember that the next time and every time you open your mouth.

7) Learn from the experience. Every moment can be a learning experience be better than you are today.

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Empty Calories and Curiosity

Post written by Patrick D’Ambrosio.

photo courtesy of Bcostin

I speed through my local grocery store every chance I get.  I’m not a leisure shopper, by any means.  If I am smart enough I will write a list down of essential items and not leave that said list in the passenger seat of my car.  I am a man who prefers to dash in and out with the nimbleness of a ninja.  So when I’m forced to wait in line with my 21 items (yes I’m a proud man who will not pretend to have 20 or less to get in an express line) I’m dismayed by what I have to look at.  The array of artificial rainbow colored candy on one side and recent publications of gossip on the other. 

Quite honestly I use the word publication lightly here.  I remember a time when it was the norm to have one magazine promoting the absurd.  They would inform the pubic who Big Foot was having a child with this week or the most recent UFO sighting or which dead president has turned into a zombie and that would be the end of it.  Now we are bombarded with a multitude of magazines where you will learn important issues like who just dumped Jennifer Anniston, the real reason John and Kate really split up and the newest diet the is sweeping the nation. 

Is it so necessary to fill our heads with these trivial semi factual pieces of information?  I wish I could say I was totally immune to such things.  I too am, as my high school English teacher would say, part of the fascination of the abomination.  It the reason we slow down on the highway to take notice of a crash or even to see the driver being ticketed by a state trooper.  We want to be “in the know”… to have the skinny. ..the one with goods.  But I gotta figure, what type of information are we allowing to enter in us   

Last week I was in a doctor’s office waiting room, as I filled out my numerous forms and glances over their selection of magazines (a step above the grocery store’s selection) I was also bombarded with a celebrity news program on the courtesy office television set. Apparently the office manager figured people who can zone out to junk TV won’t complain about sitting in a quasi comfortable chair for 27 minutes. Commentators on one “news” show were discussing the infamous John and Kate Plus Eight Couple.  Please bare with me since I’ve never watched this reality show. Honestly.  If you are like me, let me briefly recap this for you. 

 This is a reality show about a family – they have 8 kids.  The cameras follow their interactions as parents and with one another.  I can only imagine what crazy cute things these kids do to make this show attractive.  Fun games of hide and seek, potato sack races – real Brady Bunch stuff.  But in light of the demise of this couple’s marriage since the spring of this year, there has been a multitude of controversy, rumors of infidelity, lies, abuse…yadda yadda yadda.  Okay I can see the immediate attraction to doing such a show, in my head I can see the questions that might have arose, “Oh boy we have 8 kids, with the cost of living how will we afford the multiple strollers and tandem bikes.  How are we gonna feed all these kids?… What do you mean they’ll want to go to college some day?  Oh what someone wants to help pay me to just do all the things we do and show a little crazy once in awhile…while cameras are rolling, what and America will love us?…Did you bring the contract with you?  I’m not going to speculate that the show itself was the downfall of this poor couple’s marriage to do that I’d have to know more than what Wikipedia can tell me about them. 

Well back to the news coverage…after commenting on how depraved things are going the program asked viewers to text in either “yes” or “no” “Are John & Kate a couple you love to hate? Fortunately for me the nurse took my clipboard and invited me to begin my appointment, so I didn’t learn the outcome of this survey…it’s a miracle I was able to sleep that night.  

The short of it is this…if the majority of us ignore these types of shows, these forms of entertainment the powers that be will realize they are losing money.  It’s not like there are diehard producers in a board room saying, “I know nobody is watching this show, but gosh darn it it’s quality stuff and I got a feeling that people are going to come around and learn something”.  Shows are canceled all the time and magazines go bankrupt all the time, sad to say it not based on quality; it’s based on how popular it is.   

So make a conscience choice not to open such things in the grocery isle, pick up a Zagnut instead (we’ll talk about healthy eating another time) and when given the choice between searching something on the internet related to gossip or come across a channel that exploits these people chose to move on…

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