And finally, I'd like to thank the Academy for these amazing birthday wishes

Much of my ramblings have been observations of social media behavior. It's a new world, rife with opportunity for humorous commentary. With social media, anyone who wants to can become a "celebrity." A misguided one perhaps, but nevertheless, there is a captive audience in social media land, and people like to take advantage of that (myself included). And when the ol' birthday comes around, you are a celebrity who just won an Oscar. Now, me myself, I've removed birthday information from my profile because I want to avoid birthday wall at all costs -- as well as being the butt of my own joke -- but I still partake in the posting of happy birthdays for other people at times. It takes little brain function and two seconds of my time, but man, the ripple effects from dozens of happy birthdays on someone's wall can really be something else. The day after is what I fondly call: the Birthday Oscar Speech. And it goes a little something like this:

I'd like to thank my fans-- I mean fellow Facebookers for their support and love and all the birthday "wishes." You like me! Right now, you really like me! I'd like to thank Mark Zuckerberg for creating the tool that enables the birthday wishing. (holds out Oscar pointing over to Zuck in spirit and puts hand on heart). Without Zuck, we would NEVER remember each other's birthdays and we could never get the outpouring of birthday wishing we see today. Facebook truly is a game changer in birthday wishing technology. Before you, Zuck, maybe five to ten people would call, email or text me for my birthday, meaning, only the people who actually gave a shit about me. Not so today. There is no deprivation of birthday specialness for me on this holiest of days. And finally, I'd like to thank Mom and Dad for conceiving and raising me. I would never have made it without you guys. Literally. 

On Stuff

As time goes by, I am getting more depressed by rampant consumerism. Not to sound cliche, or communist, it's just that my whole being feels completely saturated with "stuff," there's no more room for me to care about the stuff that's getting sold in the world (that is, the American world). I know that someone somewhere is buying this... stuff, and I understand that in order to have a healthy economy, people need to buy shit. I get that, but there is so much useless crap that gets marketed and sold in America, that I just can't be alone in feeling this way -- because let's face it, I'm not that special. Maybe we can just make a friendly, non dictatorial decision that your products and services should be truly useful to society. In my view, there are two layers of products and services that we truly need. The ones that are necessary for our primary needs, and the ones that are society game changers. I also include anything artistic THAT's GOOD (NOT CRAPPY ART) because I'm of the mind that art is of true value to society. The first layer seems pretty obvious. The second layer is a little more gray. But I would say that the following inventions qualify as game changers: commercial banks, aviation, home appliances, the telephone, the computer, the internet, the cellphone, the iPhone and the iPad... and that's about it for now. Everything in between, the knick knacks, the patty whacks, the thingamabobs, the whozits and whatsits galore, let's just do away with those.   

A Celebration of Britain

For the past couple months, I've been engaged in a number of British television programs and films that have heightened my appreciation for the place and the people. In fact, the cumulative effect of watching such programs has been that of minor fascination. I think fascination occurs when you learn as much as you can about something (a lifestyle, a country, a movement, a part of history for example) or someone (someone you might admire greatly, not necessarily a celebrity), but you will never be truly part of that "thing" or person. You can get as close as you possibly can without being able to grasp it. Fascination cannot occur without an insurmontable obstacle. For instance, I have encountered many Francophiles in my life; people who aren't French but love everything about France and its culture. And they can only be that way because they aren't French. But I have more intimate knowledge of the place. It is part of who I am even though I don't live there anymore or go back very often, and so I see its qualities but I also see its faults and this balances my point of view and tempers my opinion. And because I'm inherently part of France, by blood and culture, there is no insurmontable mystery to me. 

So here is a list of awesome British shit that I've seen as of late. 

1) House of Cards

 I've mentioned this before. Fictional British series that chronicles the brilliantly Machiavellian power plays of of Sir Francis Urquart (F.U. for short) in the British parliament. One of the best shows I've seen on television. 

2) Prime Suspect

A British television series centered around Helen Mirren, a police detective who solves murders in a very male dominated environment. It's a little like a Law & Order type except each episode is 2 hours and it stars Helen Mirren who is the bomb. I'd say more Homeland than Law & Order. 

3) 24 Hour Party People

About the music scene in Manchester in the early 80s to early 90s. Tony Wilson, the British TV host, is at the center of the film and narrates how Joy Division, New Order and Happy Mondays got their start through his Factory Records "experiment". Also, the start of rave culture. He's an upper middle classer who loves Manchester, which is one of his biggest motivators. I mean, who knew you could love that dreary old place so much?

4) The Filth & The Fury

A Documentary about the rise and fall of the Sex Pistols as told by its surviving members. Johnny Rotten is a visionary and the soul of that band.

What all these shows have in common is a deep love that flows for Britain despite its rain and fog and class wars and, actually, probably because of all these things. God Save the Queen (she ain't no human being). The relationship the English have with their beloved country can be summed up in that simple yet complex lyric, in my opinion. 

In Memoriam

When it comes to the death of a friend, I am no more stoic than anyone else. In the past two months, two friends have died. One was a very close family friend I had seen a week earlier, and the other one, my age, I hadn't seen in years. In fact, the last time I saw him was at his wedding. But I do recall it as one of the best weddings I've been to. And I'm not just saying that because of the circumstances. 

I am so very sad for both of these losses because they were genuinely great people. But more than that, they were the best of people. And what I've noticed is that untimely death seems to happen most often to those best of people for some reason, those who don't seem to live with much fear but embrace life, those we admire the most of all. Those who really show up. We see them as leaders or patriarchs or matriarchs, people we can't imagine life without that when they do exit the world, as quickly as they were willing to show up fot it, they leave behind a huge void and the sole question Why? I wonder why that is. But I do remember a conversation I had with my mom regarding my paternal grandmother and the fact that she was probably going to outlive us all. She said "la mechancete, ca preserve." In other words, meanness preserves you (it sounds so much better and more poetic in French. My mom is writer, she has a knack for coming up with ready-made proverbs). And that struck me as very true because my ninety something year old grandmother lives in such fear of death that she will probably live until past 100. This is not meant as a condemnation of my grandmother, but just a simple observation about the irony of life and death, and if I were a more religious person, I'd think it was all by design.

Rest In Peace.

Some Updates

1) All this political talk is giving me a headache. It's true what a friend of mine said the other night, people who post on Facebook trying to convince other people to "see the light and join their side" are total idiots because it goes against basic human nature to just concede to other people's opinions. On the contrary, those posted to will go out of their way to look for opposing arguments. Unless you have the title of "expert", you've written an extensive political analysis on something that was well researched or you've actually worked in politics, no one is going to listen to or care about your fake-ass punditry. I'll admit that sometimes I can't help but respond to people's idiocies, but I know it will fall on deaf ears. The problem with Facebook and Twitter is that they've given people the impression that they actually have an audience. But they don't... really. True audiences need to be earned and built up the hard way and should comprise of more than just your friends and acquaintances (who will humor you if you're lucky). The other side of that debate is that this is the point of social media, that it has allowed people to express their views and generally "share" with others, and I don't have a counter-argument to that (except that some people are dumber than others and some information is more shareable than other). I mean, yeah, that's what social media has done and by having a blog and posting statuses on Facebook, I am subjecting myself to my own criticism. But I know that I have few readers and I don't really care about gaining more. Part of the reason for this blog is purely a writing exercise, to keep my brain sharp as I get older. No, seriously, it is. And it's a lot of fun to go back and look at some of the funny things and idiocies I've written.

2) I'd like to revise my previous statement regarding my imminent demise should I manage to survive an apocalyptic event based on my recent "Sandy" storm experience, in other words, I didn't feel a thing. First of all, I'll probably survive because I live on the upper east side of Manhattan, Michael Bloomberg's neighborhood, geographically one of the wider hoods in the borough, halfway between the East River and Central Park and on the 15th floor. Second, I'd say I have a small edge over people who live downtown, Staten Island, the Rockaways, the burbs or New Jersey when the post-apocalypse period comes. I'm assuming my headstart will be erased at some point, when gangs start to form and invade my building, but there will be lots of chaos in the beginning so just maybe I can organize myself and make it. Better start making some friends now.*

3) There seems to be an inability for many people to accept the existence of a "gray area" in most facets in life. I don't know if this has a direct correlation with a lack of empathy, or the inability to grasp nuance, but I've noticed in the press, in social media and online that the views expressed are always pretty extreme, one way or the other. Perhaps it's because extreme people are the ones making their voices heard and the news only makes money when the story is sensationalized. Obviously, the most recent example is the election, but I've also noticed this with other big news stories. The vilification of human beings is incredible. I'm not saying that some don't deserve it (Sandusky, perhaps), but for the most part, I do try to see different aspects of a story and understand where the villain is coming from and what their psychological and physiological state is before I come down hard on anyone. After all, we know that the press has a tendency to misquote, over-simplify and pull things way out of context. With that said, for some reason, I can't seem to exercise a shred of empathy when it comes to Lance Armstrong. I have no sympathy for the guy, even though I know that part of him used his evil for good purposes. Even that is shady in my opinion. Have you ever heard of the pedophile strategy of ingratiating yourself with a community in order to mask your true intentions (i.e. Sandusky), well, this is also the case with some serial killers and other evil doers (e.g. Bernie Madoff). Therefore, it can really be applied to many instances of wrong doing (in other words, Lance Armstrong). I guess it started with me not liking him in the first place. He's just such a douche in general, I always had a bad feeling about him. Then, when I read the Floyd Landis interview a while back in which he heavily implicated Lance Armstrong in the doping scandal (riveting stuff by the way), I couldn't help but believe Landis. Perhaps his credibility had been undermined, but the way he was talking just sounded like the truth (my gut feeling). This was a guy who had nothing left to lose. Now that it's out in the open and Armstrong's seven titles are being revoked, I don't feel a bit sorry for him, which is very strange for me. 

* This does not really apply in the event of a nuclear wipe-out