I have a question

I always do. This question is about reading. People's ability to read and, more importantly, the ability to comprehend what one reads and attach the appropriate relevance to that material.

If I've already lost you, I understand. Click off my blog and go watch some porn, I hear it's free. For those of you still with me, let me explain what got me started thinking about this. Some middleaged model, I forget her name, can still 'rock' a bikini (by the way I though she looked emaciated), several other pop stars, models, actresses have also rocked their looks' in similar articles. Supposed news sites are rife with these stories. The other side of that coin is that they 'flop' or 'disappoint' in whatever they're wearing. How can I possibly be disappointed in what some Hollywood starlet is wearing? I can be disappointed tha I'm not the guy in the tux beside her, but in either case, I really don't care what she wears. Also, what exactly is 'rocking' one's appearance? Overworked, that's what it is, a horribly overworked phrase.

Someone must want to read these things, though, otherwise they would evenutally stop posting them. The same is true for all the little entertainment blurbs that are happening on MSN and Yahoo and such outlets, where some gossipy little wench is just gushing for a chance to just 'dish' about whatever some celebrity said or did or whoever they kissed or whatever they wore (the females are just as bad). It's even too much work for them to spell out celebrity, it's just celeb. Oddly enough, celebrity is rooted in the word celebrate, as in someone who is significant enough to us that we celebrate their life. Uh-oh, my list just got a lot shorter.

Of course, back in the days when we had coffee percolators in our kitchens, Wile E. Coyote on TV and pterodactyls coasting over our heads as we ran and dodged our way to school, the equivalent of these 'news' outlets was the checkout stand at the store. They're still there, by the way, but who wants to get ink stains on their fingers or pay $1.99 to find out that Oprah's an alien or that Justin Bieber is actually a clone of the real Justin or whatever, when the information is free online. My bigger question about all of it is who cares? and, why do they continue to put this stuff out?  Why worry about the ink stains on your hands, they'll wash off; better to worry about the stains being left on your mind.

The truth is for many it is mind candy. Oh yes it is, some people are to junk news like a sugar addict is to a candy store. They'll consume until they're ready to puke it back up then come back for more. Further with this example; just like with food, if you fill up on crap you have no appetite for anything substantial. People like to stare into the lives of the famous because it gives them something to either a) criticize, or b) fantasize about. Either way, it takes their minds off their own lives briefly. This is also a fairly clear explanation for the morbid fascination with reality television. This is great news for three disparate but all relatively important groups of people.

The first group is the people who write, produce,edit, host and publish or broadcast this stuff. If people weren't paying attention, advertisers wouldn't advertise with them and they would be unemployed. Trust me, you don't want to know how much money some of these people make. Of the three groups I am referencing, this group is, to me, the least relevant.

The second group of people remain largely silent on the subject because they're the people making real news. I don't mean the people writing or reporting real news stories. They are all painfully aware that whatever they have to tell the public is second to whatver Kim K said to Pink at the Peoples Choice Awards. They've accepted it. I'm referring to the people that newspeople want to report on. In a world where some people don't get to eat as well as their political leaders housepets, the people that could do something about it don't want you to think about it. That's just one example, why bother going on with more? There are thousands. The reality is, people with power want to hold on to that power with the least resistance necessary. The less the general population pays attention, the less they complain. I mean really, who wants to watch a televised plea for 'adopting' a child in a third world country when one can watch reruns of Family Guy instead? It's the same concept, although reading does give one that opportunity to slow down and analyse the information one is receiving.

The third group for whom this is great news? The consumers of course. The ninety plus percent of western society who want to go through life feeling strangely secure that whatever is wrong in the world, someone will look after it for them. Pardon me if I am appearing to be on my high horse here as well, I haven't done a heck of a lot to improve anyone's lot in life recently, either. Mea culpa. Nevertheless, let's congratulate ourselves on knowing all about Justin and Selena's breakup while we can't really say how many people died of dysetnery while we were reading this. One day that world will arrive on our doorsteps and we will have been warned. There's a little thing people can click underneath these postings to reply;almost no one ever does. I've thrown what I think are some pretty good quotes up on this blog with some of my articles. Here's one from my childhood:

"Yonder stands your orphan with his gun, crying like a fire in the sun
Strike another match, go start anew
It sure is all over, Baby Blue" --Bob Dylan

What's on your reading table?