The Rage Diaries

If you must know, I consider the Creme de la Mer to be an educational expense

A key characteristic of luxury brands is that they serve to educate people. "People like to learn - from going on a luxury vacation or learning about coffee or looking at car magazines. I think that bodes well for future growth."

-- Mary Egan, quoted in "The Luxury Market: Trying to Hit a Moving Target," Knowledge@Wharton.

I'm rusty on my Thorston Veblen, but I thought that "educating the consumer" was code for "determining who's part of your cohort and who's not." In other words, you can tell if someone is One Of You if they have an opinion on Calphalon versus Viking Cookware -- and are ready to defend it. So long as we have the urge to exclude, so we shall have the urge to pay too much for something that comes with a side of esoterica.

(Earlier Rage Diaries entries on the way people try to convince you that you're buying luxury: here, here, here, and here.)

Exactly

I spend a lot of time thinking about where this weblog fits in the context of my personal and professional writing activities. The navel-gazing isn't something anyone would find too terribly interesting, but I thought this quote more or less summed up the ethos under which I operate.

[F]or every celebrity who is on TV or on op-ed pages issuing opinions, there are thousands of others in newsrooms who labor away under the traditional rules. They have opinions, of course. But a key part of their job description is to seek out all sides of a story, and to be fair.

What happens to this world if everyone discloses everything? If a member of your family was a victim of a horrible crime, does that disqualify you from reporting fairly on the law? If you were an alter[sic] boy and suddenly lost your faith, should you disclose this spiritual journey to readers before writing a news bulletin on the Pope? I think it's better--though far from perfect--for journalists to keep these personal stories to themselves, and for diligent editors to ferret out bias--and readers to call us on it.

-- "Should Journalists Link Their Work to Their Bios?" BusinessWeek, Jan 26, 05.

Although I've exercised some discretion in what I do and don't write on here  with an eye to how it might impact my work (I've interviewed sources who Googled me, so I'd be an idiot not to), the fact of the matter is, this is a hobby. It is not the same thing as my job. And I hope the difference is evident.

Out-of-area-code

As someone with a home phone number in the 310 and a cell phone in the 510, I thought this Wired News article, "Area Codes Blur Boundaries," (Jan 31, 05) on the growing dilemma facing businesses that historically target by area codes was great reading. Because I am the type of petty person who likes being able to occasionally confound the data profile assigned to me.

I grow old, I grow old ...

... I shall become a hectoring scold.

So the first forehead-smacking link today was the news that today's high-schoolers think the First Amendment is maybe a little too permissive, and the government should maybe approve what goes in newspapers. ("1 in 3 Teens Says First Amendment 'Goes Too Far,'" AP, Jan 31, 05). The second: college journalism students don't like reading newspapers. ("Non-reading Generation of Writers Needs 12-Step Program," Detroit News, Jan 30, 05).

Addressing the second article is easy: if you don't like to read, you're going to miss out on the opportunities to develop expertise in your beats. Also, I love how kids are now buying into the fallacy that MTV causes brain damage:

"My generation is very visually oriented," explains Ryan Schreiber, a U-M Dearborn junior from Dearborn who -- like most in the class -- is majoring in journalism but doesn't read much of it.

"My generation grew up watching MTV. We are used to short spurts of words, lots of images...We're used to immediate gratification."

Note to this generation: watching MTV is entirely optional. You, too, can engage in media that requires sustained periods of concentration and commensurate gratification.

As for the first article: the story mentioned that most of the kids surveyed had a dim conception of the Bill of Rights, period. That -- and not any nascent fascism among the Stridex set -- is what really ought to worry people. If we're not educating kids on their bedrock rights, how can you expect them to be good citizens as adults?

P.S. The final "Kids! How we loathe them" link of the day comes courtsy of the CSM, which reports "Today's Freshman Pursue 'Safe and Tried' Path to Success." A quick read of the story left me convinced a better headline would be "Youth Is Wasted On Today's Soulless College Androids."

And made me wonder: Edward Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz are returning with another show about navel-gazing yuppoisie with issues -- only this time, the protagonists are all in their mid-twenties ("Talkin' About Someone Else's Generation," NYT, Jan 30, 05). Will we have the inevitable plotline where someone's quarter-life crisis revolves around them realizing they never had time to become idealistic? And will they be in their Beamer during this moment of soul-crushing epiphany?

I can't help but think that Tom Wolfe's reading all these articles and cackling, "I told you so."

Then they'll wonder why right-wingers claim liberal hate America

From the "Missing the Point" files ...

HarperCollins signed a deal this week with two comedians from liberal radio network Air America to take on President Bush, the religious right and the mainstream media. Working title: America (The Nightmare), to be published in the fall.

"It's not a rip-off (of Stewart) but a homage with a little more invective on the side," says HarperCollins senior vice president David Hirshey. He calls the book a "humorous call to arms for dissatisfied Americans."

-- "After 'America,' A Liberal Dose of Popular Satire," USAT, Jan 26, 05.

So here's why I think that book is a hideous, self-defeating idea:

Speaking of payola ...

"It's like nothing I've ever seen," said an entertainment editor for a women's magazine, who declined to be identified because she was embarrassed by having taken the gifts. "I've seen it for celebrities, but I've never seen it for lowly members of the press. You're greeted by a 24-year-old saying, 'Hi, what's your bra size?' It made me feel revolting."

-- "Forget About All Those Films -- This Year, It's the Sundance Free Stuff Festival," NYT, Jan 28, 05

Well, sweetie, you were revolting. And, one would note, not revolted enough to pass on the free swag.

But Sharon Waxman's done us all a service by giving us a partial listing of the brand names we can be reasonably sure are appearing in magazines courtesy of their gift overtures: Philips, Fred Segal, Motorola, Sony, Kenneth Cole, Le Mystere and Yahoo.

Back in the old days, gift overtures didn't always work ("Holiday Gift Mania," Salon, Dec 1, 99). It might be too much to hope for now, so I'm living for the day when I flip open a magazine and see the Michael Bolton CD that Defamer featured in their coverage.

Paid hack hat trick!

This is so exciting: yet another syndicated columnist got payola from the administration. And this one, Michael McManus, writes on ethics and religion.

There go several nights of my life

So the Museum of Television and Radio is holding the William S. Paley Television Festival from March 2-March 16. If you've ever watched a show and wondered, "What on Earth were they thinking?" -- well, now's your chance to find out.

Some events are likely to be fairly well-attended, like the Desperate Housewives event ( 7 p.m., Tues, March 8, with: Marc Cherry and the Desperate Housewives. Wow, that would be an excellent band name.), the Lost night (7 p.m., Sat, March 12, with: J.J. Abrams and what appears to be everyone on the island except the polar bear) and the Veronica Mars night (Mon, March 14 with: Kristen Bell, Enrico Colantoni, Joel Silver, Rob Thomas. I have no jokes about this.).

Personally, I'm scoping out the Adult Swim event (7 p.m., Fri, March 4) and Michael Palin night (7 p.m., Fri, March 11), because I am just THAT MUCH of a cable-watching dork. Other cable-watching dorks may appreciate the L-Word event (7 p.m., Thurs, March 10) and the Deadwood event (7 p.m., Wed, March 16).

Each event costs $25 for museum members and $29 for non-members; tickets go on sale Feb 5 for members and Feb 11 for us unwashed masses*.

Three words you rarely hear from me ...

"Good one, Wal-Mart." Why the praise?

I am to please you, O Robin Givhan Googlers

All of you who got here by Googling "Robin Givhan" because you're DYING to wag your finger over her latest column ("Dick Cheney, Dressing Down," WaPo, Jan 28, 05), we can do this one of two ways. You can either head to my previous mentions of Givhan (here, here, here, here, here, here and here) and scatter your comments amongst those seven entries. Or you can just ... sound off below. Go ahead! I'm generously opening up space.

My personal take on his good Republican cloth parka: I'm sure everyone who's worked up at the inappropriateness of a fashion writer critiquing fashion during an image-rich ceremony is equally incensed at the superficiality of commentators who call Democrats ugly. Right?