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To Hell With Sexy

Posted: 05/20/2007 06:44 PM | permaLink

Tags: humor soapbox pop-culture

I read this article on CNN.com the other day, and it really pissed me off.

To paraphrase the article, apparently talent is just not enough for women to be successful as entertainers - now, they have to be "sexy" too. A music industry executive (a woman, no less) is quoted in the article as saying:

"The music is not about just music anymore, it's about the look, the 'it' factor if you will ... it's marketing."

Is there anything more harmful music than to put more stock in how a musician looks than how he or she sounds? I don't think so. For one thing, professional musicians now must have to devote time and energy to maintaining their "perfect" physiques, which could only eat into the creative process. Should a talented musician have to endure withering comments from fashion critics? Should an extremely talented musician lose out on a recording contract because they just didn't have this year's 'it' look?

To hell with the record industry, the beautiful people, and those that support them. They are the Great and Shallow, and their legacy will be the corrosion of the musical arts in America.

They can keep their shitty Pussycat Dolls, and American Idols, and blonde, brainless lip-synchers galore. I don't want any.

They can keep their lame, quasi-sensitive poor excuses for rockers, too. Those guys aren't fooling anyone (with a brain anyway). Weakness!

Music can change lives. It's capable of awakening and inspiring people. If the trend of valuing phyiscal beauty and style above talent continues, however, music will cease to be a powerful force in our lives.

It's up to us, as consumers, to demand substance and to ignore fluff. So turn off American Idol or whatever, and crank some REAL MUSIC!!


A Sense of Humility

Posted: 11/04/2005 06:20 PM | permaLink

Tags: css design soapbox

In the IT Industry, and web development/design in general, I think it is really important to maintain a strong sense of humility.

In the aftermath of the November 1st CSS reboot, I will say that my horizons have broadened dramatically by being able to see SO MUCH good web design in one place. And I noticed this: on October 31st, I went to bed thinking I was a pretty kick-ass web guy. On November 1st, after looking over many, many web pages, I felt like a little kid on the 1st day of kindergarten.

To be an internet professional is to be a perpetual student. The field changes so rapidly that you can literally learn something new every single day, and new techniques are deprecated within months as they are replaced by newer techniques.... and so on. And no matter how much you know... or how much experience you have... there is always room for improvement.

What does it all mean, Homer? The Point is: there is much to be learned from your fellow geeks. New approaches to old problems. New techniques to help you break out of your current box. But you must be able to swallow your pride in order to learn the lessons that are out there.

And to the CSS Rebooters who are in a tizzy over the whole vote thing: Forget about the site ratings. Pretend they don't Exist. Instead, spend your time looking at the other Rebooters' sites. Appreciate. Learn. Grow. And have Fun, Dammit!

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