Captain Digital

Random musings on politics, society, and pop culture from the Internet's marketing curmudgeon.

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Thoughts on TV.

Law & Order & Profit

 

"Half of everything on TV is crap. But then, half of everything is crap. "
– Anonymous

 

I’d love to know who first said that. Looked around Google and a couple of other places. Couldn’t find it. Oh well.

I was checking the news this morning, and came across a couple of items:

  • The West Wing has been canceled.
  • Emily’s Reasons Why Not (Heather Graham’s new show) was canceled after only one episode.
  • Law & Order (NBC) has been moved from it’s time slot to be opposite Lost (ABC) on the schedule.

Let’s think about this for a second. The West Wing was, at one time, an interesting show, but had long since "jumped the shark." I think that happened with Martin Sheen & Co. said "the Hell with doing a drama…now that we’ve got an audience, let’s push our liberal agenda message!"

[Read more…] about Thoughts on TV.

Insane-O!

Calypso Harry!Why is anybody taking this guy seriously?

If this country had any cojones left, we’d either put him in a home for the mentally unstable, or we’d be prosecuting him for treason. But noooooo…he marched with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He was a pal of Paul Robeson. He Speaks Out For the Oppressed!

Give me strength. And while you’re at it, gimme a couple of aspirin… [Read more…] about Insane-O!

God versus the MSM.

I can relate to the way Saul of Tarsus must have felt, once he “got it.” In his experience, scales literally fell from his eyes, and he could see. My scales were not literal, but my experience going from “blind” to “got it” is certainly a similar experience. Only my blindness had to do with the way the mainstream media portrays religion, God, Christianity, and what used to be lumped together into one umbrella term called “family values.” [Read more…] about God versus the MSM.

Loyalty…and Honor.

One of my favorite sayings is “ya dance with the one that brung ya.” I’ve always believed that. Even if you have an opportunity to “trade up” or cut a better deal, when you make a deal, you stick with it.

Throughout my years in business, I’ve found that these words have served me well. And I’ve seen problems – BIG problems crop up when those words were ignored.

Loyalty, you see, is closely tied to honor. Sticking to your word when times are good is no challenge. Much like faith, however, when the going gets tough, you find out who honors commitments – and who doesn’t.

[Read more…] about Loyalty…and Honor.

Devaluing Entertainment.

I watched a little bit of Dr. No on TV tonight.

That, in and of itself, is certainly unremarkable. But stay with me for a sec. I think I’m on to something.

When I was a kid, there were three channels on the (black and white) TV. There were, I think, two or three movie theatres in my hometown (Shreveport, LA) and probably a bunch of drive-ins. If you wanted to see a movie, you waited until it was released in your area, then you went to the theatre to see it. You probably went right after it opened, because there was no way to know how long a flick would play at the local (single-screen) theatre. If you didn’t catch it in the theatre, you MIGHT be able to see it at a drive-in – they largely subsisted on second-run and B-movie fare. [Read more…] about Devaluing Entertainment.

SEX. (Now that I have your attention…)

slut-puppy-BarbieI had to go on a casting call for a client a week or so ago. We were casting for a female role in an online tutorial. Through a mis-communication with the talent agency, instead of 30- and 40-year-old women showing up for the call, we saw teenagers and 20-year-olds. Now understand, I’m a 40-something-year-old (very) married male. We saw model after model show up that looked as if they were in their 20’s. When I asked about their age and experience (auditions are possibly the only profession where you can legitimately ask a woman her age without violating a social taboo), I heard things like “Oh, I’m 17 years old, and I’ve been modeling for…oh…two months.”

Pause with me for a nanosecond.

[Read more…] about SEX. (Now that I have your attention…)

Read All About It.

A dying breed.(With appologies to J. Peterman.)

I’m a marketing guy. But before I was a marketing guy, I was a newspaper guy. Started early. I was about 13 when I threw my first paper route. Back in the days when there was still an afternoon paper, and you could watch anything you wanted on TV as long as it was on CBS, NBC, or ABC. Grew up reading the paper. Eventually did a lot of writing, a good bit of which ended up in a paper or two. Still read the paper every day. By the hardest. Get most of my news from (drum roll, please) the Internet. Not the full-goose-Bozo, commie-pinko-junkie, don’t-let-the-facts-get-in-the-way-of-a-good-rant sites. No sir. The usual: MSN, FoxNews, CNN, Bloomberg, et cetera. Newspapers now deliver “yesterday’s news, today.” Aside from local stories, there’s nothing in there I didn’t read the night – or day – before. Sad, really. Doesn’t have to be that way.

[Read more…] about Read All About It.

A Captive Audience.

This is the FBI. We're here to annoy you. I don’t watch a lot of movies any more. I used to. There was a time that I’d go see 10 or 12 movies in a month, if I could. It would be easy to explain away my change in habit…I’m married, I’ve got a young daughter, my wife doesn’t like theatres (she doesn’t like the volume cranked up), theatre audiences are rude, tickets are too expensive, and on and on. But None of that explains why I don’t rent a lot of movies. No, I don’t have HBO, Skinemax, or Stars at home. In fact, I’ve got the equivalent of “expanded basic” on my satelite dish. Nope, the reason is the way movie studios choose to burn their DVDs. Strange, you say? Read on… [Read more…] about A Captive Audience.

On Smoking.

No smoking.Much has been written about smoking. Smokers (and I know many and count them as friends) cite how it helps them to relax, keep their weight down, et cetera. Me? I’m a lifelong non-smoker. Hate it. I’m allergic to cigarette smoke. Can’t stand it. Given that a number of people I care a lot about are smokers, I’d like to explain a couple of things about smoking and my outlook on the practice.

Kissing someone who smokes is like licking a dirty ashtray.
Yup. And it really doesn’t matter if you take one puff or smoke an entire pack. When you draw the smoke into your lungs, it’s gonna make your breath smell bad. REALLY bad. And no amount of tooth-brushing or mouthwash is going to change that. Unless you decide to suck the mouthwash into your lungs.

Smoking makes you reek.
[Read more…] about On Smoking.