19 posts tagged “rant”
OK, I have to preface this rant by saying that I love the concept of virtual worlds & I love gaming. I spent the late 80s/early 90s in MUDs and MOOs; I was a fan & follower of Mark Pesce in the heady days of VRML discussions & I was ready to build my own virtual reality Web site; I've been a sci-fi fan since grade school (Ray Bradbury) and later Neuromancer changed the way I perceived computers and life; I've played video games for eons, starting with Space Invaders and Asteroids; kicked ass and spent all my laundry quarters in college on Gallaga. Love arcades, love Web-based Flash games, so this stuff is not new to me.
Last night I tried out Second Life because I've heard about, read about it in the news, and then someone twittered about it the other day. I downloaded the software, told my husband about it, and thought I'd show him how virtual worlds work. I had picked my basic avatar already - "The Girl Next Door" - and as soon as I arrived, my avatar began forming, naked at first, then jeans and a long sleeve t-shirt appeared on a thin form.
The first thing I did was figure out how to change my appearance. I made my avatar shorter and thicker, darkened her hair and eyes, lightened her skin. As I was doing this, I became aware of a male avatar hovering around me. At first I figured he was new, too, and we were all just fumbling around. But he kept bumping up against my avatar.
I ignored him for a while as I began taking the tests in the orientation level to move forward in the game/world. This guy avatar was still there everywhere I went. I made my avatar walk to the opposite end of the island. He followed. I read through the instructions quickly so I could figure out how to communicate. And the first thing I said on my first day in Second Life was "Buzz off!"
Hey, I lived in the city for 13 years. I can handle assholes who harass me on the street. I've taken self defense classes. I know how to set boundaries. I've been online since 1987 - I know how to "be safe" - and in all the years I've never had any real problems, even when I really put myself and my true identity out there in cyberspace. Of course, back in the early 90s, I was the one advising women to use gender-neutral names and avatars to avoid this very kind of childish bullying from cowardice jerks who get off on being aggressive in virtual worlds because of some deficiency in their real-world life.
So I'm trying to ignore this jerk, and meanwhile my husband is starting to read what the guy is saying to my avatar - to me... - in chat.
"Nice ass. I could F--- your ass all night long."
OK, this is my husband reading what some other guy (I'm assuming it was a guy) was saying to me (right, my avatar that looks more and more like me as I keep altering its appearance). In the real world, my husband would have decked this guy. One quick martial arts move and a broken nose later, this guy would be wimpering for mercy. But here's my husband - who isn't really into the Internet and doesn't understand why people would talk to strangers online much less spend their time frequenting a virtual world - totally helpless as he watches his wife's avatar (in his mind, his wife) getting sexually harassed and practically molested online.
Once I realized ignoring this guy was futile and that my entire first experience on Second Life was quickly going down the toilet, I looked up how to report abuse on the system, found the form, filled it out in graphic detail and submitted it. I had already told the jerk if he kept harassing me, I'd file an abuse report. That did not deter him in the least as his avatar rubbed up against mine, felt her up, chatted obscenities, chased her across the island, stood in her way and blocked her path.
I have to say at no time did I panic or get angry, just mildly annoyed. And in no way am I comparing this form of harassment in any way to the horrible stuff going on with a female blogger right now - real-world harassment - but I'm just sickened that my first experience with Second Life had to be so disgusting. And even more disheartened that it happened in front of my husband who was already thinking this whole Twitter thing was bad and that Second Life could only be worse - much worse.
His greatest fears were realized as he watched some guy feel up his wife. He could not separate avatar from person, virtual from real, because in his mind it was one and the same.
I shut down the game. Now I was angry. Why did this have to happen in front of my husband? If I had tried it out first and it had happened, I'd have reported it and then moved on. I want to try it again. I don't want to give assholes the power to keep women off Second Life by creating a hostile environment for them. But it can be very disempowering to encounter that kind of treatment when you first arrive in a new space, virtual or otherwise.
And I'm ashamed to say that while the harassment was going on, I found myself returning again and again to change my appearance and make my avatar even shorter, wider, cover up more skin with the tshirt, anything to make her appear less attractive, less of a target. I don't think men have any idea what this feels like, what this can do to a person. Even though it is technically "make believe." Or is it?
I'd jump back in the fray without hesitation if it wasn't for my husband's feelings. He is very hurt by what happened - angry, frustrated, confused. And I feel like if I were to go back to the game, he'd feel somehow betrayed by me.
My first time on Second Life sucked, that's for sure. But I really don't want this brief experience last night to define my entire experience with the game - or change my views of virtual worlds.
The irony of all of this is that Friday night I lectured about how the Internet is the same today as it was 12 years ago in many ways. I opened my talk by saying that "The Internet is Like a Gun." Guns aren't inherently bad but there are bad people who use guns in bad ways. The Internet is not inherently bad. But there are bad people who use the cloak of anonymity afforded by the Internet to do bad things. Should this stop us from using it? No, of course not. But does it make you think twice and do the virtual equivalent of looking over your shoulder? Sure. There are bad people out there doing bad things. And last night, I found one of them on Second Life.
Technorati Tags: second life avatar virtual world gaming women harassment
Let's face it - I'm a total has been. I know that this was kindly pointed out by Steve Baldwin last year but I am finally feeling it.
Just stopped by Dooce's blog which is everything that my blogs are not - funny, prolific, high-profile.
Okay, so maybe I have just a wee bit of blog envy, but I do think she is terrific. Her latest entry "Snaggletooth and Soledad" (as in Soledad O'Brien), has a link to a CNN Roundtable featuring some of the top bloggers and Web personalities discussing Time magazine's Person of the Year.
In addition to Heather of Dooce, there was handsome-without-his-dreadlocks Omar Wasow of BlackPlanet.com and MSNBC/NBC Internet commentator fame. And leading the discussion was the aforementioned Soledad. And yes, pathetic little ol' me thought "I should have been there." Who me? Who am I anyway? Nobody anymore or so it seems.
I feel like wading in the shallow pool of semi-fame that I experienced back in the mid-90s, just for a little while. Ah, those were the days. I was limo'd out to CNBC as an Internet expert, featured on Lou Dobb's CNN show and CBS Evening News with Dan Rather (although never met the man - the producer of the segment was Karen Raffensperger).
I was the only woman invited to participate on a USA Today panel of heavy weight technology and media titans including Michael Dell and Comcast president Brian Roberts. Like Dooce, I remember being completely unable to say anything relevant but at least got a laugh when I jumped on someone mentioning "shopping" in regards to new technology developments and I said something to the effect of "I'm so glad I wasn't the one to bring up shopping." My favorite business writer Kevin Maney from USA Today made some sympathetic comments about my being a little out of my league there. But I digress...
So there leading the CNN Roundtable was Soledad O'Brien who I think is smart and talented and very savvy to have leveraged her newspaper gig into a TV stint on an early Internet-related cable show called "The Site." She interviewed me on that show sometime in 1997, I think it was. I was nursing a bad cold and laryngitis and she was incredibly sweet, bringing me some tea before the interview. She seemed so nervous on camera, but she and I had a nice conversation and stayed in touch. We had dinner one night in Manhattan after she started working for MSNBC news. She was so down-to-earth and talked openly about her marriage and personal life as well as business. I was excited to see her not only go from MSNBC and NBC to CNN but also to see her pregnant several times. She was birthing babies while I was miscarrying. She was moving up the television ranks as I wandered the country in an old RV then settled into obscurity in Wyoming.
Anyway, there at the CNN Roundtable discussion was Omar Wasow who actually got his start at MSNBC because I, like an idiot nincompoop, turned down an invitation to be part of the first group of "talking heads" experts for a brand new channel called MSNBC when it first launched. They wanted more women and minorities who could speak about technology, the Internet and even current events. I thought (stupidly) that it was better that I devoted my time to Cybergrrl, Inc., the company I founded. The producer at CNN asked if I knew any other women or minority who would look great on camera and fit the bill.
I recommended Omar and contacted him to see if he was interested. He was so I made the connection to MSNBC for him. He wisely leveraged his occasional role into a full-fledged position as an Internet expert, appearing on the Today Show frequently. The irony is that I tried so hard in those early years to position myself as the Internet expert on a morning show and was working with Al Berman at "CBS This Morning" before Brian Gumbal came back and turned it into "The Early Show" and fired a lot of people. Al was testing me out to be their on-air Internet expert and then everything changed over there. I think he went on to co-produce "Survivor."
At one point, I was in discussions with "Oprah's people" to come onto her show and teach her how to use the Internet because, back then, Oprah had no idea how to get online. The Oprah Show had approached me and they thought having a woman teaching Oprah would be so much better than a man. Then, they dropped me like a hot potato and instead went with Omar. I don't blame them - besides being smart and talented, he's was a hot-looking dreadlocked young black man.
Remembering where I was going in those days and seeing where I am now, I have mixed feelings. I am incredibly happy in my life now with a wonderful husband, a beautiful baby girl and a little house in Alaska, but I sometimes wonder why I took the road to career oblivion instead of the road to career success? I made some decisions based on what I felt was right at the time, based on what I perceived was integrity, but in hindsight was just fear of success or fear of failure and an incredibly powerful deep seated insecurity, a ferocious lack of self-esteem.
I think Heather, Omar and Soledad deserve their high profiles and don't want this to come off like I'm disparaging them in any way. I am no longer funny or prolific or on the cutting edge. Living so far removed from "that world," having a baby, struggling with miscarriages and now post partum depression - it all adds up to a whole lot of nothing in terms of my career. I've lost my identity. I walked away from the company I founded, Cybergrrl, Inc., with nothing but the right to refer to myself as "The Original Cybergrrl." And you know what is pathetic? I still use that reference now and then. Loser.
Today, my struggles with identity come from realizing that becoming a mother isn't what I thought it would be and has somehow replaced all the other things I thought I was. My addled brain has no room or energy for anything other than trying to get through each day. I can sometimes get a brain spark and blog a bit like this post, but what I really should be doing is working on my latest work-for-hire book (because I'm too freaking pathetic to get my own book deal these days). Deadline is fast approaching. And somebody has got to do it.
Well, after the James Frey book debacle, I was wondering what would be the next author scandal.
I've been trying to follow what is happening with Kaavya Viswanathan, author (?) of How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild and Got a Life.
When I heard her book contained passages similar to passages from two other best selling books, I suddenly had a flashback to my days in high school when I was dreaming of writing a best selling novel. I have to admit that I had more than a fleeting thought about taking some of my favorite best selling contemporary novels and trying to figure out the structure of them - i.e. what was the formula for their success?
Then I thought "Why don't I just take an actual best seller and go line by line, changing the subject matter and characters but keeping the structure of the book. Would it also be a best seller?
Alas, I didn't have the time to do this, but apparently I wasn't the only young writer thinking of the same tactic. I mean, do you really believe that she just picked up these phrases and scenes and somehow mistook them as her own creations?
Excerpts:
Examples of Similar Passages Between Viswanathan's Book and McCafferty's Two Novels
I mean come on! These aren't "oops I goofed" mistakes - these are "oh, no, I didn't hide the fact that I lifted passages from best selling novels well enough to get away with it."
A recent issue of Entertainment Weekly reports that the books are being pulled from the shelf, the publisher is not going for a second book with the author, the Dreamworks developmental deal may be shelved...I'm just waiting for them to ask for their $500,000 advance back due to breach of contract.
Am I sounding too heartless? Should she be forgiven for plagiarising? What about all the students who get kicked out of school and universities for doing the same? What about the rest of us authors out here who are NOT plagiarising but struggle to get our feet in the literary doors to get our fiction published?
Now, if Kaavya is not to blame - if somehow it was someone at her book packager - they should just fess up, take the heat and let this poor girl get on with her life. But if she did it, she shouldn't be reaping the rewards of briliance and creativity when she cheated.
Maybe I'm just getting really ornery in my 40s. Hate to sound bitter, but if you cheat, you really shouldn't win. That's just my thought.
In case you have been living under rocks, here are links to the various angles of this story.
Student’s Novel Faces Plagiarism Controversy
Kaavya Viswanathan admits to plagiarism
Indian writer apologises for plagiarism
Knives out for Harvard’s lit-chick
Nilanjana S Roy: Kaavya Viswanathan: Sloppy Seconds
In Defense (?) of...
Rachel Pine: Is Kaavya Viswanathan an Innocent Bystander?
In defence of Kaavya Viswanathan
And the Satire...
Kaavya Viswanathan's Secret Stash
Laurel Touby Takes On Kaavya Viswanathan
And the Gossip...
There is a new book of essays out by a woman who supposedly talks about everything that is wrong with feminism - mostly prompted after she was diagnosed with breast cancer and decided to stay home with her kids. I don't even want to mention her name because I don't want you going to run out and get her book. I'm only bringing it up because it made me once again realize how "feminism" has been turned into such a dirty word.
I'm not going to name names or even point fingers as to who is doing this and why. Suffice it to say that anyone who thinks that feminism is a bad thing is sadly misinformed - especially if you think Feminism Equals:
1. Lesbians - I'm sure many lesbians are feminists but most feminists are not lesbians.
2.Male-Bashers - How we got from "feminism" to "male-bashers" or "man-haters" is so frightening. Feminists do not hate men. But we do speak out about the injustices perpetrated against women by, mostly, men - and on a large social scale in our society, by, mostly, white men. I think the easiest way for men to diffuse a woman's justifiable anger at injustices and inequities is to label her a "man-basher" instead of what it is: "injustice-bashing."
3. Hairy Leg and Armpits - Okay, I admit that I let my leg hair and pit hair grow out when I am just too darned lazy to shave. Body hair on women is not a political statement or a sign that she has dangerous ideas about being female.
4. Bra-Burner - This one would crack me up if it wasn't so absolutely wrong and based on zero facts. How a complete falsehood can be turned into a rally cry of those who do not agree with a feminist point of view is a farce.
As far as I can tell, there was a protest in the late 60s where women marched outside a Miss America pageant, protesting the pageant as degrading to women. Some of the women removed their bras and threw them - along with girdles, nylons and other "womenly" clothing contraptions - into garbage cans.
Their actions were meant to point out how the culture of beauty in our society devalues women, focusing on their looks instead of their selves. Somehow, that action was stretched into burning bras and the image of an angry woman burning her bra has been the ridiculous caricature of "feminism" ever since.
5. Housewife-Bashing - Feminists don't bash women for wanting to stay home with the children. Feminists proudly show that women have a choice. The real pressures against staying home come from the workplace where women are systematically shut out of the upper echelons of corporations because they do opt to stay home and then find out they not only do not have the same job when they get back but they are labeled as "not invested" in the company so are passed over for future raises and promotions.
I'm planning to stay home once my baby is born. I never gave it a second thought. My feminism gave me the courage to know that I could do that and still be okay as a woman, as a contributor to my household income, and as a member of society and even the workplace.
6. Baby Killers - This falsehood scares the hell out of me more than any of the others I've mentioned. The whole Pro Choice/Pro Life debate is a frightening example of how our society is as backwards, if not moreso, than many of the countries Americans criticize for being so dangerously repressed. If men had babies, there would never be the same kind of debate because there is no man in this country who would ever allow the government to invade his personal choices, especially in terms of what kind of medical treatments he could have.
If the government stepped in right now, for example, and took Viagra off the market or said that it was against the law, you better believe men would band together to get the law changed instantly. But that will never happen because men are at the decision makeing positions over major issues such as what medicines are available to men and women. Why do you think men can get Viagra and the like on their medical insurance yet women cannot get the Pill? Men can have anything that will make it easier for them to impregnate women, but women cannot have any protection - like the Morning After Pill - to help her in case she gets pregnant from said man and decides not to have a baby at that time. (Don't get me started about not making the Morning After Pill available to women who are raped.)
I had an abortion in 1992. I am not proud of it. I did it because the man I was dating at the time convinced me that it was the right thing to do - that we needed to spend more time together and to get to know each other better before having a child. We had been dating for almost a year at that point. I wanted the relationship to continue and was terrified with the thought of having a baby on my own. So I conceded.
To say I regret that decision is putting it mildly. We both talked about it years later and he even began to cry, saying it was one of the greatest regrets of his entire life. I am still haunted by the decision - and even moreso by the memory of walking down the hall with the nurse, protesting "Please don't let me do this. I don't want to do it." And she just shushed me soothingly and said everything would be alright.
But no matter how much making that choice has torn me up inside, no matter how much I regret it (and it, too, is one of the few things in my entire life that I regret), I am grateful that I had the choice and that I could get the procedure done in a safe environment.
Would I do it again given the choice? Yes, there are circumstances where I would do it again, no matter how difficult the choice would be. Having the choice is essential to my right not as a woman but as a human being. Taking that choice away would be criminal.
WHAT HAVE I LEARNED...
I have learned a lot from feminism, and I don't think I'm the only woman who has, however, most women of my generation and younger seem to avoid the word "feminist" like the plague.
Here is what I have learned from feminism.
1. That I deserve to make the same amount of money and have the same career opportunities as my male contemporaries if I have comparable education, experience and skills.
Ah, but of course you do, you say. Well, I can point to several experiences in my career where this just wasn't so.
For example, from 1987 to 1989, I worked at a major music booking agency as an agent's assistant. Most of the agent's assistants at the time were female. The males, however, were the only ones allowed to take part in the "agent in training program" to become an agent in their own right. Even the guys in the mailroom were allowed to enter the "agent in training program," but when I asked about joining, I was told it wasn't available to women. Toward the end of my tenure there, the president of the department gave his assistant - a young woman - the opportunity to become an agent. This caused a huge uproar although I heard that within a few years, other women were finally given the opportunity as well.
From 1989 to 1994, I worked for a music management for some very loud, successful heavy metal and hair metal bands. During that time, I worked my way up from receptionist to "artist liaison" in a matter of months. I just saw a need and filled it. I also began scouting for bands, hoping to learn the ropes of managing bands. I brought several bands to my bosses for consideration - including Corrosion of Conformity, Rage Against the Machine and The Black Crowes - but was turned down every time.
There were two guys in the office, both who started around the same time as I did (one had been working on the road for some of the company's bands, the other came from a record label). Each time they brought a band up for consideration, they were given the go ahead to manage them. The bands they managed included White Trash and the Pleasure Bombs (yes, who?).
Then I found out that that both guys made 6 figure salaries. I was stuck at $50,000 a year. I know what you're thinking - even today that is a good salary and this was back in the late 80s/early 90s. But of course, it was New York City. I'm not saying that I had to make 6 figures - but there was no reason in the world that the two men in the office made literally twice as much as I did.
When I brought this up to my bosses, they actually told me that I was only earning half because the men "had families, houses, cars - expenses and responsibilities." I was "single, renting an apartment, I didn't have the same responsibilities." I was cheap labor because I was single and female.
I kid you not.
Want another more recent example? After September 11th, I moved to Cheyenne, Wyoming from New York City and took a job for 2 years with the State of Wyoming. I needed stability in my life at that point. My title was "Manager of Marketing and Public Relations," and I headed up the entire department, overseeing the PR needs of about a half a dozen other departments including Agribusiness, Business Development and Community Development. The position was originally a Director position but I was told that they decided to make it a Manager position instead so the hiearchy was clear (?!).
Now I know I'm a bad negotiator, so when they offered me $50,000 (yes, in the Fall of 2001 I was being offered exactly what I was making in 1989), I countered with $60,000. Oh no, I was told, the budget for this job was $50,000 and not a penny more.
I was terrified that I wouldn't get the job and getting the job was critical to moving to Cheyenne. "$55,000?" I countered. No, $50,000 is all we have budgeted. I finally accepted the $50,000 salary.
On my first day, as I was filling out the usual employee paperwork, the woman in human resources said "So salary is $55,000..."
"What?" I asked in a state of shock.
"$55,000 - that is what the position was budgeted for."
I had to admit to her that I had accepted an offer of $50K. In hindsight, I should have just played along to see what would happen, but I wasn't that brave.
Later, I found out that not only were male "Managers" making $5000 to $10,000 more than me. I also eventually realized that the reason they moved the position from "Director" to "Manager" was to save an additional $20,000 in salary. Once again, I was cheap labor solely because I was female.
Thank God I work for myself now. I left the state job and started my own consulting gig, easily earning $20,000 more in my first year of business than I was making as a "Manager."
2. That I deserve to be treated with respect, just like my male counterparts.
I have so many stories about being a woman in the new media industry in New York City when the Internet boom was just a twinkle in somebody's eye. Some of them are positive stories, but many more were like this early experience.
Here I was, president of my own company - the first woman-owned Internet company. I spent the first few months in business doing a traveling road show around the city, explaining to people what the Internet was and how the Web could be beneficial to their businesses or organizations. I met with the Learning Annex, the Lincoln Center and eventually got a meeting with the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA).
At the time, I hadn't yet splurged for a lap top computer so I had to lug a desktop computer, CPU and all, to each meeting. I asked a male friend to help me with the load for the MOMA meeting. He walked in with the computer equipment which I then proceeded to hook up and start up in front of the some of the people I would be presenting to.
The rest of the group came into the room, and I made my presentation. My friend sat in a far corner of the room, waiting for the meeting to finish so that he could help me lug the equipment back out.
When I was finished, I asked if there were any questions. Then, one by one, each person who had a question turned away from me to face my friend and to pose their question to him.
He, being the funny guy that he was, didn't miss a beat and responded with "I think I'll defer that one to Aliza. Aliza, could you respond to that?"
I was furious. Instead of admitting that he was a personal trainer and a friend who was there to help me with carrying equipment, he played the role of "boss" allowing me to respond. He knew nothing about computers at that time, but in everyone's mind, he was in charge and I was his assistant.
I didn't say anything at the time although I should have. I just dutifully responded to the questions, knowing full well that I was the only one who knew the answers.
I'm sure most of the people in that group were not trying to be disrespectful to me - but it was shocking how prevalent the perception was then - and in later meetings - that a woman could not possibly know anything about the Internet, and that if there was a male in the room, clearly he was the boss.
I can't count how many times I answered my company phone because my whole staff shared phone duties, and I was immediately asked to speak with the head of the company.
"I am the head of the company," I'd say, wanting to add, "What? Did you think I was 'just the receptionist' because I'm female and answering the phone??" but again, I didn't say anything.
Hey, I said that feminism taught me some things - but it didn't always give me the courage I needed to speak up when people were being ignorant or jerks or both.
3. That what I was experiencing was not only wrong but also, in some cases, against the law.
I have to admit that before I read my first copy of MS. magazine, I didn't know about some of the principles of feminism, much less the ins and outs of discrimination or sexual harrassment, even though I was experiencing both - especially in my years in the music business.
I remember the first issue of MS. that I purchased - I was only attracted to it because it said in bold headlines something about the magainze "containing no ads." No ads? What kind of women's magazine contains no ads? I was intrigued. I read the issue cover to cover and soon realized that what I had been experiencing in my music business jobs were not so subtle and probably very illegal discrimination because of my sex.
Did I take action then? No, of course not. Because I was a young woman in a male-dominated field during a time where misogyny ran rampant (does anyone remember the album cover with a partially naked woman being inserted into a meat grinder???) and where I knew I'd be blacklisted if I spoke up. This was my job, my career, I didn't want to draw negative attention to myself so I stayed silent.
And then, years later, older and wiser, I still didn't point out the salary inequities of my state job. I should have known something was amiss when I was told by the men who hired me that I should "tone down my feminist activities" because they didn't really work well in Wyoming.
Well, I met a lot of phenomenal feminists in Wyoming and a lot of awesome men who truly respected women and treated me very well in business. Still, there was the perpetual Old Boys Club there, like everywhere, and a fair share of men who did their best to undermine me because I was just a little too "uppity" for their tastes.
The irony about Wyoming is that they tout it as the "Equality State" because it was the first state to give women the right to vote. But they never mention that the only reason they did this was not because the men were early feminists but because the state had such a small population that without women voting (as their husbands' dictated, of course), there would not have been enough votes to make Wyoming a state!
Ah feminism, oh feminism. How did you get such a bad rap? I am grateful to feminism and feminists everywhere for paving the way to better opportunities for women, for giving us choices.
And I call myself a blogger? There was a time - only a few months ago - when I was deftly juggling 8 blogs on a variety of topics, making the time to post regularly, if not daily, in all of them.
Then, shit happened.
1. Pregnancy stuck (after 4 miscarriages) causing morning sickness.
2. Beloved dog died.
3. Finally signed some consulting clients after 6 months in a new town.
4. Pregnancy forced me to reprioritize my life.
And now, impending birth in about 8 weeks. Time flies when you're living life.
So blogging has taken a back burner. I have dreams (delusions) of being able to revive my blogs once the baby is born, but if anything, I'll just make a new blog to celebrate the daily baby moments.
Right now, most of my blog time and energy, limited as it is, goes to my babyfruit blog about miscarriage and pregnancy.
My blog book comes out in July so I will have to get my Everything Blogging Book blog cranked up if I know what's good for me (my career).
But having a baby really changes what you think is important, doesn't it? Career, schmeer. I'm going to be a mother.
I can't believe Commander in Chief is on hiatus already! News reports say they won't be back on the air until March. Why do we have to wait so long?
In the meanwhile, get your fix of the show at Madameprez.com.
And you can download episodes onto your iPod at iTunes.
Darn, I didn't get an iPod for Xmas!
I am so wrapped up in finishing the book on blogging that I'm missing out on major blog developments in the world.
Like how in the world could I have missed BlogDay?!?
I happened upon the Wiki site for BlogDay the day AFTER it happened and then life got in the way of blogging so I am now finally dragging myself to my blog to flog myself publicly for such an oversight.
I also missed the Hurricane Katrina: Blog for Relief Weekend.
At least I wasn't totally out of the blog loop with Blogathon 2005 but that was only because a blog in Alaska was participating. Still, I fell asleep and forgot to participate in it.
I am so far away from everything and everyone. I am a Blog Exile.
Link: Burger King's Coq Roq Site Stirs Pot. But Will It Sell Greasy Chicken Fries?.
I'm less interested in the Coq Roq story now and am actually more thrilled that I've finally learned what TrackBack is and how to make it work.
Well, admittedly, I still am finding this mini-advertising controversy quite fascinating.
Link: Random Culture: New Burger King Viral.
Another blog post on the CoqRoq campaign. The blogs are talking...
Just found out about a new advertising
campaign Burger King, or "BK" as they are known
in their desperate attempt at hipness, has launched
a campaign for their new chicken-finger-like "fries."
I won't even justify the campaign site with a link.
Suffice it to say it is unbelievably offensive
that a "family-oriented" company like this has
created and is promoting a mock rock band called
COQ ROQ. Yes, we can only imagine the sophmoric
ad agency guys and corporate marketing wonks
guffawing over this double entendre.
The site glorifies and promotes the "hard rock
band" lifestyle which, I have to admit, I have witnessed
first hand as a young woman working in the music
business with Metallica and Def Leppard in the hey
day of Heavy Metal. It is not a pretty place for women.
On the ad campaign web site, hey display lovely
images on their web site such as this one:
Hmmm..."Groupies Love the Coq" - tacky isn't a
strong enough word to convey my thoughts on
this one. Disgusting, offensive, embarrassing,
and insulting to women, especially young women,
is closer to what I'm thinking.
We as individuals with buying power need to
decide where we draw the line between
acceptable and offensive. Too often we
are complacent and just let ad agencies,
corporations and the "powers that be" feed
us junk food, junk media, junk ads with
little thought to the impact of this negativity.
As a society, we too often tolerate demeaning
behavior, negative attitudes and stereotyping
as just "par for the course." Where will we
draw the line?
Any self respecting woman should boycott
Burger King until they publically apologize
for this offensive marketing fiasco. Of course,
we all should boycott them anyway because
fast food is horrifyingly bad for us.
But if I can't convince you to give up fast food
in general, consider going to Wendy's or
Taco Bell right now instead of Burger King.
And let that misguided corporation eat Coq.
