Brief Thoughts On: Dan Brown's Super Secret Project

I discovered a video in my subscription box yesterday from Roxanne, a web friend who attended VidCon (a video making conference set up by Hank Green of the Vlogbrothers), that showed Dan Brown talking about his life-changing idea. I watched it ... and it got me thinking ...
Before you go on, if you haven't seen the video about Dan Brown's Super Secret Project, here you go.


Now, I have three qualms about this whole project.

Qualm the First: Now, my main qualm is this: what about free will? For a year, Dan is giving control of his life to hundreds, thousands, millions of people, a good majority of whom don't know him. From what I can surmise, it seems that Dan won't be able to do things HE actually WANTS to do during the duration of this project. But we'll see how things will turn out.

Qualm the Second: Another one of my qualms is he dropped out of college for his. Sure, he can continue his education at a later date, but interrupting your pursuit of a possibly useful degree to let people control your actions for a year? It doesn't settle well with me. Yes, Youtube has become his main source of income. Yes, he has garnered a large audience, one that I'm a small part of. But ... he seems to have become a larger-than-life person ... and I would rather watch a regular Dan going through his day and living his life and talking about interesting topics than other people telling Dan how to live his life for a year. Does this mean I'm going to unsubscribe? I don't know. Maybe in the future at some point. But I'd like to see how things turn out.

Qualm the Third: As the project is based on idea submissions and voting ... what if asinine suggestions make it to the top? What if Dan doesn't like or care for the top-voted idea on a certain day? What if he doesn't like ... I don't know, the breakfast choice voted number one for the day? What if it is one brand of cereal for a week straight in the mornings? Now, I like cereal, but I don't have it every morning. I might have it two mornings in a row and then I'll have eggs or a bagel or toast the next day to change things up. So ... what if the submissions become rigged? Yes, it'll make for amusing or potentially humiliating videos ... but that doesn't mean that the videos will be engaging to the community, like a good number of John and Hank's videos, like when John ate toilet paper while discussing the political situation in Nepal. ... Just do a search for that video.

My discussion with Ruth on the matter.

So ... what are your thoughts on the matter? By the by, I'd suggest checking the comments on the video for some interesting discussion.

Allons-y!

Generational Gaps (Slight Spoiler Alert)

Ah, generational gaps ... also known as "Hey, Mom! We need to show Grandma how to use the computer!" or "Dad, MTV stopped playing music videos AGES ago!" or "Mom and Dad, I'm dating someone from England ..." ... or something along those lines.
As of late, I've seen two movies (one for the second time and clips of one) that do an excellent job of looking at and exploring the gap between the younger and older generations ... Generation X and Y, perhaps? Or are there different generation names now? Never mind that.
Let's start with the classic "The Graduate" ... the one I still have to see all of ... ANYWAY! From the clips we watched in my Cinema class, it clearly shows how different Benjamin (Dustin Hoffman) and his parents are. His parents want him to socialize with their friends when he'd rather sit up in his room and ruminate over things. They dress him up in a scuba suit which they got him as a graduation gift and they parade him around the backyard in it, much to their amusement and the amusement of their friends. Needless to say, he finds solace on the bottom of the pool. He is cut from a different cloth, so to speak. He doesn't want to be a part of their suburban cookie cutter lifestyle.
Now, let's look at a more modern and recent flick: "Up in the Air". Seeing it the first time, I noticed the generational gaps outlined, and viewing it for a second time solidified the divide between those gaps. Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) is a man who is set in his ways and is slowly becoming antiquated. He fires people in the flesh. He talks with people and develops relationships in the flesh. Natalie Keener (Anna Kendrick), on the other hand, is the plugged-in woman of the future. She creates a new method of firing people: via webcam. It's personal, yet impersonal at the same time. While on the road with Ryan to gain experience at actually firing people in real life, she talks with her boyfriend via what is most likely Skype. Something happens between them and she ends up being dumped via a text. Whatever happened to a call or a face-to-face breakup? ... ANYWAY! She ends up getting her new-fangled creation up and running, but Bingham's boss, Craig Gregory (Jason Bateman), pulls the plug after one of the people Ryan and Natalie fired in Detroit kills herself. Natalie quits her job via text message. Again, what happened to a call or a face-to-face resignation? ... Where was I? Oh! Yes! Generational gaps!
So, "The Graduate" and "Up in the Air" present you with two different generations: the older "set in their way" generation and the younger "movers and shakers/apathetic" generation. The question: which do you choose? Which do you want to be associated with? ... Albeit, the generations are portrayed differently in both films. ... Let's look at this through the lens of "Up in the Air": would you rather be the personable guy who is somewhat old-fashioned and set in his ways, yet can still function well in the modern world or would you rather be the impersonal guy who is up on the current technology and other such things? Me? ... Honestly ... there's nothing wrong with being old-fashioned.

Allons-y, Alonso.

- Jason

Worst Parents of the Year?

Well ... considering all the news about families being on or trying to get on reality TV these days, I decided to compile a little list of the top 3 worst parents that are in the news for one reason or another.

3) Octomom

Okay, Nadya Suleman. You already have 6 kids, all through In Vitro Fertilization. You decide, "Oh, hey, I have 6 frozen embryos left, so I'll have them implanted at the same time!" You did. One of those eggs split in two. 9 months later, despite the fact that you're looking like Violet Beauregarde after her unfortunate gum chewing accident, you give birth to 8 surprisingly healthy babies. What's worse is that you don't have a regular source of income. So ... how the eff are you going to care for these kids? Can anyone say ... REALITY SHOW?

But seriously, thanks for contributing to the re-population of the world! Now ... can you find some good childcare? Thanks.

2) Jon and Kate Gosselin

Hey, Jon and Kate. You've had kids through In Vitro Fertilization, before Octomom made it popular! But Jon, you can't seem to control that little guy in your pants, so off you go with someone who's not Kate and the tabloids go nuts! And now you're getting divorced! Oh, and guess what? You're off the show, Jon! ... And you now want your kids OFF TV?! *facepalm* So ... first, you and your wife want your life and your kids lives broadcast on cable TV and after a little boinking with someone other than your wife and a divorce and a re-branding of what used to be your show, you want your kids OFF TV? ... JON! GOD!

But at least you two provide for good distracting TV. ... So, what's going on with that care bill thingy?

1) Richard and Mayumi Heene

Okay, Richard! You and your wife want a reality show to talk about your possibly nutjob theories about the world being run by lizard people (you haven't been obsessing over the 1980s show V, have you?). How do you drum up buzz for your reality show? Oh, I know! Go on a hunt for UFOs? ... No, not good enough. Hrm ... viral marketing campaign? No, too cliché. Oh! Perfect! Release a giant saucer shaped weather balloon and claim that your son accidentally crawled inside it and he's stuck in the balloon! Oh, you know what would be even better? Call the media BEFORE calling the proper authorities to report the incident! And guess what's next? After a wild goose chase after the balloon, your son, aptly named Falcon, isn't in the balloon, but inside a box in your attic!

And what in the world could happen next? During an interview on CNN, your son goes ahead and says, "I thought it was for the show." ... FOR THE SHOW?!?! YOU DID THIS FOR A SHOW?!?! You stole the attention of the media from important things like healthcare reform for a hoax story to drum up interest in your soon-to-be reality show?! ... And you even came up with a theme song ... A FREAKIN' THEME SONG?!?!

*sigh*

*******

Okay. Your thoughts. Got any more names for the list of Worst Parents of the Year? Leave names and stories/evidence in the comments.

A Rant: Get My Kids Off of TV! And We Don't Want the Olympics In America!

Okay ... 2 topics. Let's go!

First off, Jon Gosselin. Jon, now that you're off the show, you want your kids off the air because it isn't good for them, in your opinion?! ... Well, why didn't you say so in the first place?! AS IN BEFORE YOU SIGNED YOUR LIFE OVER TO TLC!

*phew* That's one bit of steam.

Secondly, CONSERVATIVES! Yeah, Rush, Glenn, Bill-O, Hannity, Americans for Prosperity, and people from Fox News! Don't you realize that by bashing Obama for going over to Copenhagen to try to get the Olympics in Chicago (which IS in America, if you didn't realize that), you're bashing America! You guys are always talking about "America this," and "America that," and "Hey, we're America! We'll do what we want! We'll invade foreign nations to find fictional weapons of mass destruction and to get oil ... and to take down a dictator. Yeah. That too." Should you be all for having the Olympics in the US? ... I don't expect Glenn to notice it. He's usually out of his mind, so I don't see how he'd notice that.

*phew* I'm feeling better already!

Have a nice day, classholes!