<![CDATA[Acoustic Words]]>

<![CDATA[Acoustic Words]]> Freewebs http://acousticwords.webs.com/myblog.htm <![CDATA[Commercials I detest -- part 1]]> I was hoping they’d abandon the approach after the first commercial. Even though I know enough about advertising to know that big companies aren’t going to spend megabucks with big advertising firms and then change their minds, I was still hoping.

But they continue their onslaught.

VISA has a current series of commercials under their "Life takes VISA" campaign touting the alleged evils of using cash instead of their card. And I hate them.

I think this would be the appropriate spot to include a disclaimer that I have a VISA debit/credit card. But I also have to point out that this is what our bank gave us. I would not personally have chosen any credit card. And while we’ve used the credit side of it on occasion, those occasions are rare. Now, back to what I was saying.

The "Life takes VISA" campaign really irritates me on two levels. The most superficial level is the implication that cash is unwelcome in today’s society. This is a message that cannot be ignored in these commercials. Activity in the deli or donut shop or marketplace or wherever these little dramas are set swirls on with the smoothness of well-oiled machinery (the overhead shots even resemble the twirling of the gears) as people make their purchases and swipe their cards and dance merrily on to their lives - until someone actually has the temerity to pull out cash at the register. The machinery immediately breaks down. Irritated consumers pile up behind the offender like cars in a multi-vehicle accident. The friendly cashier glares at the person who would dare make her/him take the time to make change. And the Neanderthal with that abominable cash looks properly cowed. You can be he/she won’t make that mistake again, and will immediately go out and get a bit of enlightened plastic!

But that message is based on a lies couched in droll terms. Cash will always be welcome - just ask any retailer whether they would prefer the simplicity of dealing with cash or the hassle of dealing with credit companies. Yes, there are a few who like the plastic, but a lot would rather not bother with credit checks and computer glitches, if they could get away with it. The only thing that they like about credit cards is when they can get a customer to get a store credit card, since the interest fees can go to them and not to some place like VISA.

Then there’s the lie that using a card is faster and easier than cash. Anyone who’s had a card or been stuck behind someone using a card knows that you rarely just flash your card at some reader and go. Most of the time you have to swipe it, then enter a number (if you’re using a debit card, which VISA also supports), or at least wait while your account is being verified. Then you have to wait for the receipt to be printed, and then you have to sign the receipt and wait for your copy of it. And really - how many people do you know who have their cards already out and waiting at the end of the line? You’ll find just as many people fumbling in their wallets and purses for their cards as for cash, and just as many standing around at the checkout fumbling their cards back into their wallets and purses as putting away change. That giant well-oiled machine? It doesn’t exist!

But there’s a deeper level of irritation to these commercials. VISA, like all the other credit card companies, would like you to think that they’re only trying to make life easier for you. Bull! They want profit, pure and simple. They don’t care about you or me as persons. You got yourself into massive debt using their card? Tough. That’s your problem, not ours. So pay up, or we’ll take you to court.

Oh, and there’s the implication that we’re all just too busy with our important lives to be bothered with taking a few extra seconds to deal with cash (even though it’s a lie that a card will make things quicker). Frankly, if you’re too busy to take a few extra seconds for anything, you’re too busy. Period. And chances are, you’re also a little too full of yourself.

A much more accurate commercial would show those consumers not as parts of a well-oiled machine, but sheep being herded to financial slaughter. But that wouldn’t get quite as many people to use credit cards, would it? No, truth doesn’t put money in the corporate pockets. So just let the dumb sheep keep thinking they’re somehow essential to the smooth working of society. If we appeal to their vanity long enough, maybe they won’t notice what we really think of them.

So I will continue to use cash, and I will continue to stay out of debt, and I urge you to do the same. Show the financial slaughterhouses that we’re on to them, and that we’re not going to just trot along meekly for their benefits.

Currently Listening To:
Where Do We Go from Here
Pillar
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Currently Reading:
My Life and Adventures : A Novel
Castle, Jr. Freeman
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Currently Watching:
Miss Potter
Renée Zellweger, Ewan McGregor, Emily Watson, Bill Paterson, et al.
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]]> http://acousticwords.webs.com/myblog.htm?blogentryid=1635516 2007-6-25T00:41:00-0100 <![CDATA[The Ballad of Beauty]]> She has been behind bars for 13 years.

She didn't do anything wrong; she was injured and could no longer fly, so Beauty the bald eagle was given a home at a small local zoo.

Here she was joined by a male bald eagle, Mathata, who had also been permanently disabled. They lived together for over a decade, drawing admiring crowds who would probably never have another chance to see one of these awe-inspiring birds up close.

This spring, they had another visitor.

For the first time since they had been moved into their enclosure, a wild bald eagle stopped in his migratory flight to investigate the two. Zoo officials speculated that the visitor was male, attracted by Beauty's cries as she built a nest.

Bald eagles are usually very shy around humans, so it was highly unusual for a wild eagle to stop in the center of a small city. It was even more unusual for him to stick around, but he did -- from Tuesday morning, April 24, until Friday, April 27. That day, he vanished, leaving behind something of a mystery.

Some time Tuesday or Wednesday, Beauty laid an egg in her nest, the first she had produced in the 13 years of her captivity. Then, on Friday, she laid a second egg.

The first question that came up was, how had she mated? Eagles engage in a complex mating ritual that includes an aerial ballet in which the two birds intertwine in midair, remaining together as they plunge toward the earth, separating before they strike the ground. The actual union, however, takes place on their perches. This brings up the second question -- who was the father? Mathata is missing a wing, making it difficult for him to balance on a perch and mate with Beauty. But although the visiting male had access to Beauty -- the enclosure has no roof, since neither Beauty nor Mathata can fly -- it's unlikely he would have overcome his fear of humans and entered the enclosure. Still, "difficult" and "unlikely" are not "impossible". And it's also possible that the eggs are not fertile at all, but that Beauty laid them out of a natural reaction to the wild male's proximity.

For a brief time, it was uncertain whether the zoo would be able to keep the eggs. It's illegal to breed eagles in captivity. However, as the zoo superintendent observed, it's not like they could have told the eagles, "let's have none of that here, you two!"

The U.S. government, however, was quick to assure the zoo that they could allow Beauty to tend her eggs as long as they were viable. And the general speculation is that, unlikely though it may be, they probably are, indeed fertile.

Unfortunately, the story took another bizarre twist on May 18 when one of the eggs disappeared without a trace. Speculation has ranged from a raccoon -- although it's unlikely that a raccoon would be willing to face down two highly protective eagles, and even if it did, that it would be able to scale an 8-foot enclosure without dropping the egg, and no shards were found -- to a human (the arguments against the raccoon could also be used against a human thief).

Still, that leaves one egg that, should all go well, and should it indeed be fertile, will most likely hatch over the Memorial Day weekend.

I tried to catch a glimpse of the visiting eagle myself, but it had already left by the time I could get down there.

You can see the unfolding story as well as pictures and video footage here.

Currently Reading:
Brief Interviews with Hideous Men
David Foster Wallace
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Currently Listening To:
Endless Highway - The Music Of The Band
Various Artists
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]]> http://acousticwords.webs.com/myblog.htm?blogentryid=1525481 2007-5-23T00:14:00-0100 <![CDATA[Thoughts on Fighting Homophobia -- Part 9 (last part)]]> Dr. Jeffrey Chernin's "Q Health" column, "Pride '06: Fighting Homophobia in Your Midst" (Prairie Flame, June, 2006), offered its gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered readers advice on how to respond to perceived homophobic comments and attitudes. The results were rather mixed. It had some very good suggestions and some valid points; however, these were liberally sprinkled with reverse prejudice and recommended responses that were potentially no less offensive than the attitudes they sought to confront. Ultimately, the column demonstrated that "fighting homophobia" requires much more from both sides than a self-righteous attitude and a few snappy comebacks.

The first thing that is necessary, after finding a mutually acceptable definition of "homophobia" -- or perhaps dropping that word altogether (see my last entry) -- is to stop seeing the "other side" as some kind of enemy. We are all just people trying to understand ourselves and our places in life. We are trying to reconcile what we feel and what we believe with what we see around us, with our society, and with the whole spiritual side of our existence. With certain exceptions, neither side is intent on evil.

Then, those on each side must look into their own hearts and search for the anger, the bitterness, and the desire to control others and eliminate these as best they can. And these things are there, even when we think they're not. It's especially essential that Christians examine their own hearts and minds and eradicate any baser motives, since they are supposed to know better. (Yes, I realize that there are plenty of people who disagree with or disapprove of homosexuality who do not consider themselves Christians, or at least not in the same category as fundamentalists or evangelicals, but it's the fundamentalist and evangelical Christians who tend to be the most outspoken against homosexuality. I will, therefore, be addressing most of my remarks to the Christian community. Others may adapt these remarks as they wish.)

I'm not saying that all disagreement must stop. Disagreement is not bad in and of itself. Nor is a desire to change someone else's mind bad. Neither is a desire to introduce another person to whatever it is that has given you joy and a fullness of life. The problem is that each side must respect the right of other to hold a different view. That view may be wrong. If the views are mutually exclusive, one of them likely is wrong. But no one has ever come to a lasting change of mind at the point of a sword. Both sides may have to put aside their personal offense in order to achieve any kind of communication.

Having said that, it must be recognized that certain forms of expression are, by their very nature, deeply offensive to others. At the very least, they make it difficult for the opposite party to hear what is actually being said. Men or women riding nude on floats in gay pride parades, engaging in simulated sex acts, may be trying to make a point about societal standards, but who's going to be willing to listen, aside from those who already agree with them? Christians who stand on street corners condemning homosexuals to hell with wild rhetoric and strident screams may be stating a biblical truth, but again, who's going to listen? Such tactics do nothing more than deepen the rift between the opposing camps.

Both sides must also understand that not everyone within their own camps are in agreement with one another. There are conservative homosexuals who are horrified at the thought of public expressions of flamboyance and who cringe at the mention of bathhouses and drag shows. Meanwhile, there are drag queens and kings who are hurt and angered by those who wish to quietly blend in with the rest of society, fully convinced that they have sold out the movement.

Christians, likewise, are divided. Some are convinced that, among sins, homosexuality ranks near the top. They need to be aware that there are other Christians, equally passionate in their love for God and Christ, who firmly believe that the injunctions against homosexuality in Scripture refer specifically to the use of homosexual sex in idol worship, and not to the expression of love in a committed relationship between two gay or lesbian Christians. Each side has to be prepared to defend their own beliefs with love and humility, being fully aware of the Scriptural and cultural contexts of the verses they're quoting, and each side must be prepared to rethink and refine their own positions if necessary.

There are no easy solutions to either the debate over homosexuality, or to true homophobia. Any attempt at any solution will require all parties to abandon their pride, not embrace it, and seek instead humility and an attitude of openness toward those with whom you disagree. It will mean going against everything that human nature and our society have built into our psyches. It will mean listening when we want to shout, being gentle and humble when we want to be sarcastic and cutting, treating each other with respect when we want to force our agendas on each other. It will mean having to recognize when we're wrong -- and there are many on both sides who are wrong -- and be willing to admit it to ourselves and others and to change.

Are you up to it?

Currently Listening To:
Salvaging the Past
Dean De Benedictis
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]]> http://acousticwords.webs.com/myblog.htm?blogentryid=911428 2006-10-22T19:45:00-0100