Sunday, Sunday, Sunday...

Dear Mark: Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs

Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs
By Chuck Klosterman.

I just finished reading Klosterman's Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs. Ok, that's a lie. I finished reading SDCP a couple weeks ago but I was in no mood to read anything new just to write about something I didn't really care about.

These past few weeks have been a wonderful reminder of the academic roller coaster. I did not blog about an article last week because I had other things on my plate, such as an essay, a proposal, photo assignment and a Vancouver Canuck game. The point is, I have not had much time to read a dry clip from the Economist.

Klosterman is entertaining. His style of writing is easy to follow and his tone is wonderful. You learn a lot about his character through the numerous essays published in his book.

However, as the book progressed I often questioned why I enjoyed his work. I never really found a solid answer.

Klostermans humour is almost like the Fox hit Family Guy. Once you've watched a couple episodes, or read a couple chapters, you know what to expect. There were no twists in the plot or ground breaking revelations. There is just humour at the expense of pop-culture references.

Klosterman writes to an audience that had spent much of their youth idolizing characters from the TV, movies and music. These people, now much older and wiser, are able to look back at their pop-culture driven past and realize that they wasted much of their youth gathering useless information on reality TV show characters, one-hit-wonders and other trends that managed to fade in to obscurity.

Klosterman talks to these people like no one else has ever done before. He knows his audience because he is just like them.

Beyond the pop-culture references and the crack shots at celebrities the message of his writing is practically useless to society.

Klosterman really has nothing to say but at the same time he manages to touch on interesting parallels of art imitating life... or life imitating art...

Either way, I will eventually read something else by Klosterman but I hope it's not like the aimless bullshit I had read before.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy bullshit every now and then but there is a line that can be crossed... and besides, you are what you read...

...princess on the steeple and all the pretty people they're drinkin' and thinkin' that they got it made...

I'm sorry, but things have been rather helter skelter lately.

I guess I could make a little time at 2:39 AM to write down some of my thoughts. When you are wide awake with nothing to do, the worst thing you can do is nothing at all.

I'm reminded of one sleepless night when I was in the Swiss alps... I ate a lot of these little red berries that are usually accompanied by a couple scoops of ice-cream.

At first, the little berries had an offensive bitter taste but for some odd unknown reason I kept eating them. It seems as though I am attracted to bitter things like those Swiss berries.

I can think of numerous things in my life that I throughly enjoy even though I initially thought that they were garbage.

So the hot topic this week seems to be the Mass Comm. essay. I spent most of last night working on the essay up at the Simon Fraser library.

My friend and I decided to take a little drive up to the peak of Burnaby Mountain to engage in a little research for our upcoming projects.

It felt good to be back up at that fortress of a school. I have often thought of how spectacular it would be if there was battle between SFU and UBC... Both universitites have their pros and cons...

SFU is situated on the top of a forested mountain with only two points of access. If we hired BCIT to construct a giant cannon I think we would have a decent chance at winning the fight.

I have also been thinking about my all time SFU snow fantasy... back when I was going to school at SFU I would periodically wonder what it would be like if I were to get off of class on a snowy day, strap on a pair of skis, jump out of a window on the fifth floor of the Academic Quadrangle and ski all the way down the mountain to the SkyTrain station...

and if I had time I could even take the next 145 bus up and do it all over again....

Alas, I never got the chance to fulfil that dream, which is strange because it snows nearly everyday during the winter months... unfortunately it hardly ever sticks....

However, there was this one time when we, the students and I, were nearly stuck on the mountain. There was a snow blitz that took us by storm... an electronic message was sent out to all students telling us that the school was shutting down early due to the storm. The problem was that most of the students were in class when the e-mail was sent so there were a lot of us scrambling after class to find a way off the snow covered wonderland...

As I waited in an endless line up for the struggling busses, a woman came up to me and asked if I would like a ride down the mountain... Of course I said yes... Rides from strangers are the only way to go...

Some people may tell you that there are no free rides in life... or they might say that there is no such thing as a free lunch... this is somewhat true...

BUT... the moment someone offers you anything free or at a reduced price you should jump on this oppertunity because it is the only way to find out if what everyone says is true or not...

So kids, don't eat those Swiss berries, or drink venti Pike Place milds, unless you plan on writing bullshit to help fall asleep at three in the morning....

Dear Thaddeus, Thank you for your comment....

Thank you Thaddeus (http://www.blogger.com/profile/06042991973787500263)for your interest in this (my) tacky post and for your RAW&REAL constructive criticism...

Thaddeus said...
This was an article written by Mary J. Blige in "Rolling Stones" 100 Greatest Singers of All Time List...This (your) post is very tacky with no source & clueless as to why Mary Blige even wrote this...smh.
October 25, 2009 2:17 PM

Why would someone (you) say that there is no source for this article. I believe... No, I know I put a link to the website of Blige's publication. And I do believe I answered the "Why" portion sufficiently; (a) this is a class assignment and (b) I have no interest in Blige or her work.

The article is about Aretha Franklin and her effect on artists and musicians.

However, I understand that interpretation can lead even the brightest of minds (i.e. 3rd year Political Science/Pre-Law major) away from the author's intended message.

Once again Thaddeus, thank you for giving me something new to write about. Unlike you, I can stand 'moronic mentality' because it keeps my passion for the internet alive. This time I actually feel good about posting, something I haven't felt for quite some time.

Adios Amigo and good luck in the forth year,
m.j.v

p.s. What does 'smh' mean?

Dear Mark: Vancouver's Golden Age of Neon

"Vintage Neon Fades to Black"
by John Mackie

During the 1960s, Vancouver use to have over 19,000 neon signs illuminating the streets and promoting local business in and around downtown.

Vancouver quickly immersed itself within the world of neon. There was something magical about glowing neon signs with Vancouver's wet environment. Neon lights gave off stunning reflections along rain drenched boulevards and small ponds of puddles.

The neon nights would not last because many of the shops went out of business and the new owners did not want to have someone else's sing hanging above their store. Also, during the late '60s the Vancouver council enacted laws that restricted any new neon signs from being installed.

Now there are only a couple neon signs left in Vancouver and the city council had a change of heart. The creation of new neon signs are encouraged to be erected along Granville Street but there is also the question of what will the city do with old signs like the 43 W. Hastings "Save-On-Meats" sign.

"Everything had a neon sign hanging over the door," said Norman Young, a UBC professor who was witness to the golden age of neon. "They always tried to be different, without being really wild."

John Mackie suggests that the city should hold on to the classic neon signs and put them on display, preferably on the Sears building, so people can bask in the retro neon glow.

After the closure of Helen's Children Ware, the city of Burnaby rebuilt the sign and reinstalled it on municipal property.

Saving Vancouver's vintage neon sings and putting them on display would make the city's image grittier and welcomed, at least by myself.

Bathroom Art....

There's something alluring about the mystery of bathroom graffiti. Graffiti speaks to people with a certain conviction and presents a higher sense of understanding from the bowels of philosophy.

I will be getting down and dirty trying to find creative bathroom art to stuff into a glossy book and sell for $50...

Dear Mark: Vancouver: Life on the edge

Vancouver: Life on the edge

By Arlene Gregorius
BBC News, Vancouver

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8255205.stm

Who: Arlene Gregorius, a reporter for the BBC, writes about Vancouver's homeless. The article does not focus on a 'who.' Instead, Gregorius reports on the deplorable conditions of the Downtown Eastside and who is affected by Canada's most visible slum. Gregorius interviews numerous people to present an accurate understanding of the DTES.

"It's a sewer of human misery," says Dr Rob Gordon, director of the School of Criminology at the Simon Fraser University in nearby Burnaby in Greater Vancouver.

"I've never seen it this bad. I didn't use to have to step over bodies," says Ms Kwan, MLA. "I used to have to look under bushes to find homeless people, now I step over them."

What: Gregorius's article is divided up into four topics concerning the DTES's problems.

"Enclave of Deprivation" provides some history to the DTES and looks at the basic facts one needs to know in order to understand the Vancouver's homeless problem.

"We have a homelessness crisis in this community...people with mental health issues, people who are very, very poor. Some suffered tremendous childhood traumas," she says.

Many of the residents struggle with several of these problems all at once.

"Solutions" is a brief section that states the B.C. government and the city of Vancouver has been working hard to find solutions to help the homeless.

The next section, "Injection Site," talks about one of the trial solutions the government has been testing the area for almost five years.

Gregorius writes, "drug addiction is another big challenge. The city has a four-pronged strategy to try to deal with it: law enforcement, treatment, prevention and harm reduction (such as minimising the spread of HIV/Aids)."

And the final section is "Olympic Legacy." Gregorius interviews a couple of people to present an accurate guess to how the Vancouver Winter Olympics will impact the DTES.

"My feeling is that there will be some noisy demonstrations during the Games," says Professor Laquian, "but when they end, the problems in the DTES will continue as they have done in the past."

When: The article was published Sept. 18, 2009, but Vancouver's homelessness is a problem that has been present for a long time. With the Olympics coming up and the endless poles that rank Vancouver as one of the nicest, most liveable cities in the world, the homeless problem is receiving a lot of international attention.

Where: The article focuses on Vancouver's Downtown Eastside because that is where the most recognizable problem areas for the homeless.

Why: Gregorius' article comes at an interesting time because the Olympics is almost 100 days away.

International media coverage of social and cultural problems in hosting cities has been a standard practice for the press. Vancouver is not the only city that had a problem with homelessness prior to the Olympic Games. Both Atlanta and Sydney were exposed as having a noticeable homeless problem in their cities.

The international coverage of these issues is important and it forces the hosting city to take their social problems seriously. It is a reminder that the world is watching Vancouver and all actions are accountable.