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dancerjodiThe weekend is kind of a blur. Its been relaxing, productive and fun. Movies and friends Friday, trooping (raised $320 for http://www.wrinstitute.org/) in Danvers, and meeting a kid named Anakin (!), seeing Jess and Tim, and hitting Erin's cookout on Saturday. We caught up on some netflix (Mothman Prophecies and Wargames). I had forgotton how much I loved Wargames. I think its the best, and most realistic hacker movie I've seen (from a technology standpoint i.e. how he did what he did). Also, it reminds one of the nuclear issue and its massiveness in the 80's. Matthew Broderick and Ally Sheedy were so young, and so cute! I definitely want to pick up this DVD at some point for myself.
We did some cleaning, gardening and yard lounging. Our massive 'Vader tree' area is all weeded, mulched, and we put all of the tacky law ornaments that we've received as gifts over the years around it (including the pink flamingos that Amavia and her Monkey left on my front yard on my birthday). I can't believe how much nicer it all looks! Pics to come later once we have them. We finally fired up the outdoor fireplace that Andy bought years ago and toasted some marshmellos over it in the dark. We visited with the fam, and had a generally good time. I've finished my book (review below) and will start "Make Love the Bruce Campbell Way" later today. That's after making some curried chicken salad for the cookout in Rockport, and switching the laundry over.
I'm finding less and less needs to be said here. I'm enjoying time away from the computer. I've got to work on striking a balance between living life and checking in here to keep up with people. I much prefer seeing people face to face :)
Now, my book
First off, here's the link: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/006074586X/qid=1120483060/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_ur_1/002-2057425-1998445?v=glance&s=books&n=507846
This book was thought provoking to me in many ways. Its very Canada-centered (seeing how the authors are Canadian) but I could see many parallels to my own life, or friend's lives. The scenarios in this book could apply to anyone in an urban area, that's an environmentalist, yuppie, scenester, whatever.
The basic idea of this book is that the counterculture "has helped create the very consumer socieity radicals oppose.". The authors describe countercultures over time, their creation, functions, forms and how they always end up feeding consumerism and industry. There's great discussion about what's cool, how cool is diminished as more people are interested in a particular thing, and therefore the cool need to find something else to be elite with/about. He describes it as a fight to keep up with the Joneses that's fruitless, because the other side will always get equal or more then you. Hence in the end you just all spend more $ but get no progress/reward from it all. He equates it to the cold war efforts between the US and USSR with both nations stockpiling weapons, only to have no advantage to show over the other after all of that spending and fear (heh, speaking of "Wargames") :)
They don't seem to find anything wrong with the counterculture or consumerism. The book seems to be mainly trying to poke a hole in people's perceptions, making them see things how the authors argue they really are. They repeatedly tell stories of their own punk rock, bike riding, pro environment days. They argue that the fruitlessness of these pursuits was silly. Want to make a real difference? Get out there and volunteer your time doing something (rather than wearing something to make a statement). If you're spending $ on a certain thing for a certain reason, acknowledge that you're still consuming. Also, acknowledge the repercussions of what would happen if everyone did what you did. One example is of people suggesting using only natural materials (wood) for heating their homes. That's fine and dandy for one house in the woods. What if everone in Boston had a wood stove? What kind of pollution would result? How many forests would be wiped out? What would happen to the price of wood with such demand (all in the pursuit of being more "natural", safe or conservative).
It was tough for me to get through this book. They jump around quite a bit, and I'm not used to reading texts by Economists so the theories presented were very much new to me (it differs some from Sociological or Psychological work, which I prefer). Still, I'm glad I got through it. Its made me look at my purchases or product decisions more objectively (I did before, but I think I wasn't seeing the whole picture).
So that's it. I don't see myself keeping this book though I bought it because I couldn't find in a library anywhere. Does anyone want it to read next? From there, I'd love for you to pass it on to someone else, since I don't have a need to read it again. Otherwise its going to end up at Salvation Army at some point.
We did some cleaning, gardening and yard lounging. Our massive 'Vader tree' area is all weeded, mulched, and we put all of the tacky law ornaments that we've received as gifts over the years around it (including the pink flamingos that Amavia and her Monkey left on my front yard on my birthday). I can't believe how much nicer it all looks! Pics to come later once we have them. We finally fired up the outdoor fireplace that Andy bought years ago and toasted some marshmellos over it in the dark. We visited with the fam, and had a generally good time. I've finished my book (review below) and will start "Make Love the Bruce Campbell Way" later today. That's after making some curried chicken salad for the cookout in Rockport, and switching the laundry over.
I'm finding less and less needs to be said here. I'm enjoying time away from the computer. I've got to work on striking a balance between living life and checking in here to keep up with people. I much prefer seeing people face to face :)
Now, my book
First off, here's the link: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/006074586X/qid=1120483060/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_ur_1/002-2057425-1998445?v=glance&s=books&n=507846
This book was thought provoking to me in many ways. Its very Canada-centered (seeing how the authors are Canadian) but I could see many parallels to my own life, or friend's lives. The scenarios in this book could apply to anyone in an urban area, that's an environmentalist, yuppie, scenester, whatever.
The basic idea of this book is that the counterculture "has helped create the very consumer socieity radicals oppose.". The authors describe countercultures over time, their creation, functions, forms and how they always end up feeding consumerism and industry. There's great discussion about what's cool, how cool is diminished as more people are interested in a particular thing, and therefore the cool need to find something else to be elite with/about. He describes it as a fight to keep up with the Joneses that's fruitless, because the other side will always get equal or more then you. Hence in the end you just all spend more $ but get no progress/reward from it all. He equates it to the cold war efforts between the US and USSR with both nations stockpiling weapons, only to have no advantage to show over the other after all of that spending and fear (heh, speaking of "Wargames") :)
They don't seem to find anything wrong with the counterculture or consumerism. The book seems to be mainly trying to poke a hole in people's perceptions, making them see things how the authors argue they really are. They repeatedly tell stories of their own punk rock, bike riding, pro environment days. They argue that the fruitlessness of these pursuits was silly. Want to make a real difference? Get out there and volunteer your time doing something (rather than wearing something to make a statement). If you're spending $ on a certain thing for a certain reason, acknowledge that you're still consuming. Also, acknowledge the repercussions of what would happen if everyone did what you did. One example is of people suggesting using only natural materials (wood) for heating their homes. That's fine and dandy for one house in the woods. What if everone in Boston had a wood stove? What kind of pollution would result? How many forests would be wiped out? What would happen to the price of wood with such demand (all in the pursuit of being more "natural", safe or conservative).
It was tough for me to get through this book. They jump around quite a bit, and I'm not used to reading texts by Economists so the theories presented were very much new to me (it differs some from Sociological or Psychological work, which I prefer). Still, I'm glad I got through it. Its made me look at my purchases or product decisions more objectively (I did before, but I think I wasn't seeing the whole picture).
So that's it. I don't see myself keeping this book though I bought it because I couldn't find in a library anywhere. Does anyone want it to read next? From there, I'd love for you to pass it on to someone else, since I don't have a need to read it again. Otherwise its going to end up at Salvation Army at some point.
