June 20, 2003
FOUR FOR FRIDAY
Q: Do you watch any of the reality TV shows? If so, which ones and why? If not, why not?
MB's A: Yes. I watch MTV's The Real World and Road Rules, and CBS's Big Brother and The Amazing Race. I also try to tune in for the last five weeks or so of Survivor. Having lived and worked as an outdoor educator, where room and board are a significant part of the compensation package, I am able to identify with the struggles, hardships, and joys that exist in these short-term televised communities. Click Here for co-worker Phil's most excellent view of MTV's current edition of The Real World.
Q: Do you plan on reading "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix"? If so, will you rush out this weekend to buy it, or will you wait a little while to get your copy?
MB's A: I'm sure I'll eventually read it, but I won't be among the millions of people who attempt to get a hold of it right away (unless of course my sister tells that I have to buy it for my nephew!). As an acquisitions editor for a book publisher, I am hoping that the new Potter book sparks consumer's interest for buying books. It's been a pretty dark year thus far for book publishers.
Q: Have you ever been to a high school reunion (yours or someone else's)? If so, what was it like? If not, is it because you refuse to go to one? If so, why?
MB's A: I have never been to one (my own or anyone else's) but am dying to do so! I think it'd be a trip to see old friends and bullies alike. I keep surfing Classmates.com for notification of my reunions but nothing has appeared so far. If anyone's looking for someone to go with him or her to theirs, I'm available.
Q: Which country currently poses a bigger threat to the United States: Iran or North Korea
MB's A: Neither... the United States poses the bigger threat to itself than does any other nation.
Don't be shy... please click on the "Comments" link below to share your views
Posted by Mikal at June 20, 2003 12:28 AM
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Reality TV: I've been watching the Real World on MTV ever since Puck. It's the original reality show. I also like Trading Spaces, if you can consider that Reality TV.
Harry Potter: I will definitely read it but will probably wait to buy it until I'm done with this Master's class.
High School Reunion: No, but I plan on going next summer to my 13 year reunion!
Iran or Korea: Neither. We pose a bigger threat to ourselves. I think the United States will eventually destroy itself although I may never see it in my lifetime. Too much idealism and not enough reality in this country.
Mikal,
I am so glad to hear that a fellow 37(ish) year old still watches RW&RR....My problem is it does not stop there. Although I am happily dating, I cannot stop watching the dating train wreck they call "Blind Date". Blind Date marathons "rule".
I'm not really into reality tv because it's taxing enough to encounter real people & situations in person. The original Real World rocked as did the original Survivor, but the novelty has worn off. I mean, do I really care about the 20 somethings living in Paris for a publicity blitz for MTV in Europe? Not really. Christina - I like Trading Spaces, too. I won't buy Harry Potter (unless my nephews ask me), but I did buy Hillary's book the day it went on sale. No high school reunions for me yet, but I have been to college reunions.They can be quite something. I agree with Mikal that the US is our biggest threat, but I wouldn't be too quick to discount the actual threat of hegemonic rogue leaders and wanna-be leaders.
Reality TV: Ok, it took me 2 months to buy a TV in order to watch all my old VHS tapes. I *MAYBE* watch two shows on TV per week. They are BBC World News and The McLaughlin Group (by the way...none of you characters commented on my letter to the McLaughlin Group - Letter to the Moderator, 17 June). I'm just not a TV person. I used to be a HUGE sucker for Ed and West Wing, but now I work on Wednesday nights and I'm not interested enough to tape the shows.
Harry Potter: *gasp* I haven't read any of the Potter books. I'm looking for the economy of scale. When Rowling finally stops writing the series, I'll get the collection at a discount. Trust me, I can wait.
Reunion: I missed my 5 year because I was too busy working for Mikal at The Outdoor Network, and I couldn't afford to get home at the time. However, I likely wouldn't have gone to my 5 year...it was too soon. I am thrilled and anxious to make it to my 10 year. I'm just hoping for a little bit more bling, bling in my life...cause I really wanna roll up in a Bentley rollin on dubs. (Speaking of which, my friend's site, brayabbitt.com, mentioned the national debt and I figured out that the amount of the national debt was enough to buy about 26M Bentleys. He ran the numbers a different way and figured out that you could buy a Bentley every 2 mins for the next century.)
Threat: We pose a bigger threat to the world (ourselves included). We may be poor exporters of goods, but we do a great job of exporting our culture and businesses. As a result, we've seen the homogenization of the the global village. Now the global village has at least one Starbucks and likely 3 or 4 McDonalds. I'd love some social scientist to run the numbers and figure out how our coporations would be reprsented in that if-the-world-had-100-people scenario. And, if our government continues to forget their mandate for operation (the Constitution), then we will certainly implode.
I don't like watching reality tv shows, but I'm okay with having one or two for people who do like watching them. I'm just disturbed that every other show nowadays has been turned into reality tv.
O ye all Harry Potter fans...the entire transcript of the latest book is available online. The url is:http://ioftpd.phrk.nu/hp/
Most of the chapters are proof read while for the rest, the proofing is still going on. If you are not too bothered about delivery mediums et al, you can go ahead, read and enjoy yourself.
And Matt, there is really no excuse for not reading the books and I feel the economies of scale is a pretty lame excuse. The usual excuse I had before I started reading them was that they were kids' books, not up to my intellectual standard. If it is the same for you, I can assure you that they are of extremely high literary merit, as I found to my surprise and happiness.
I actually started reading under duress, when the CEO of my company asked me to jump out of the 4th floor window when I told him I hadn't read any Harry Potter. Now I am glad he 'pushed' me to read 'em.
Shantanu, I will read the series. But I will read it when it is complete. I will buy a set, rather than one-offs. I am well aware that the books have literary merit and I'm anxious to read them. However, I want a pretty little Harry Potter book holder that keeps my set together. I'm a consumer, I demand that product and I am willing to wait until supply catches up.
As for reading kids books...I read one just other day. I enjoy them for a short read when I need a little life lesson in 5 minutes with pretty pictures to cheer me up. You don't know this, but I have a slight thing for cows. For my birthday last year, my best friend and his wife found "The Cow Who Fell in the Canal" and gave it to me as a joke. I feel in love with the 35 page piece.
Kids books are a fantastic compliment to all the 'grown up' stuff that I read on a daily basis. I thank you for your assessment of my reasoning, but your wrong.
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