Wednesday, January 20, 2021

Insufficient Stimuli

... and no, I don't mean the latest round of trillions of dollars looted from grade schoolers and handed out with a pharisaical display of faux-compassion. I mean smartphones and TV.

Last night, one of our sons came over to do his laundry and eat fried chicken and biscuits in celebration of Robert E. Lee's birthday. After we had munched, we watched bad TV - Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! While we watched, we all played games or surfed social media sites on our phones. We commented on this to each other. The shows weren't enough to amuse us, we needed stimulation from our phones as well.

It is a credit to our devotion to asceticism that we did not hire nubile, Asian girls* to come to our house and massage us at the same time. Truly, it was like unto the trials of Job.

The Chicken

It was legs and thighs, bathed in plain buttermilk for a few hours. I read later that I should have seasoned the buttermilk first. The dredge was regular flour with a variety of seasonings - paprika, Slap Ya Mama, garlic powder, poultry seasoning and pepper. I fried them for 10-12 minutes at 315 and they were delicious. Mary says to keep the oil at such a low temperature to allow the chicken to cook while not burning the crust. She, of course, was right.

Without an egg wash and another layer of breading, the crust was light and delicate.

Smartphones

Like social media and politically-bent news, they're more addiction than tool. I try to put mine down as much as possible, but I'd be lying to say that I was even remotely successful at keeping it away from my face. We were recently watching a Tom Selleck Jesse Stone movie and I was playing my brick-breaker game. I could just imagine big Tom towering over me in my living room, asking why I was bothering to play his movie if I wasn't going to watch it. Those camera angles all had purposes and I wasn't appreciating the team's artistry.

Guilty as charged, Mr. Selleck.

Fooling Ourselves

My conclusion from all of this is that giving in to constant stimulation isn't as much of a generational thing as we'd like to pretend. Yes, our kids are more addicted, but we're well down that path as well. And no, we can't quit any time we want.

Fishes To The Rescue

I've been teleworking a lot lately. I'll confess that while I keep one monitor devoted to work, I would sometimes keep the other on Twitter. It was horrible. I've since switched over to explore.org's Underwater Manatee-Cam at Blue Spring State Park. That's much better and I would argue it improves, if not my productivity, certainly my mood and calmness. The fish are slow and soothing and the blue-green water provides a serene backdrop. Much better than the endless klaxons of social media.

Super Special Bonus: From time to time, a Hypostomus plecostomus ambles by the camera. I used to be a big tropical fish enthusiast and I always loved those armored creatures. You can see one in the center, left. He's the very dark fellow. It's wonderful to see them in their natural habitat. In fact, seeing one of those gives me a greater thrill than my brick-breaker game. Hmm.

* - It's a sign of the times that I fought with this phrase even though it immediately came to mind and provided exactly the imagery I wanted. Should I say "Asian?" How about "nubile?" When you read it, you know exactly what I mean - the kind of indulgence you might choose if you were one of our Tech Overlords or a highly-placed minion thereof.

It's a similar sign of the times that I tweeted a photo of the chicken and mentioned that we were celebrating Lee's birthday, but took it down a few hours later, fearing possible repercussions.

This isn't a Brave, New World, it's a Fearful, New World. I hate it already.

15 comments:

Mostly Nothing said...

So a few things on the phone. Yeah, I look at it way too much. I have some games on it that are supposed to be for a distraction when needed. But they are a compulsion. 3 of them have goals to do every day, and a daily challenge. MUST DO THEM. In one of them there was a 2048 game in 3D as an ad. In a moment of weakness, I downloaded it. I think it was late in the 2nd period or early in the 3rd of the Wild game. Played that stupid thing for the rest of the night. It wasn't hard, like the ad said, and it interrupted you way too often for ads. I only lost at the end of the night because, I wanted it to end. I had 3 4096 cubes at the time. Deleted that after wasting that time.
I did stop looking at twitter when the idiots had a mostly peaceful protest in DC. I knew I wouldn't be able to take the evil of twitter. I've only stayed on it for sports stuff. But sports has been infected with politics as well. I gave up facebook years ago.

psudrozz said...

Since I left twitter I catch myself looking at my phone vacantly much more than I am comfortable with.

And yes, during the breaks in hockey I watch speedruns on youtube.

K T Cat said...

So good to see you here, psudrozz!

One Brow said...

It's a similar sign of the times that I tweeted a photo of the chicken and mentioned that we were celebrating Lee's birthday, but took it down a few hours later, fearing possible repercussions.

What sort of repurcussions could you suffer from showing a photo of chicken or celebrating Lee's birthday? Criticism?

psudrozz said...

Reminds me of the old blogging days!

Foxfier said...

*laughs* I treat my phone almost exactly like a book-- because that's what I use it for... I'm working through Seeds of Blood again (second of Chancy's Dark Lives world series) and I honestly forget that it's not a book half the time.

*******

What sort of repurcussions could you suffer from showing a photo of chicken or celebrating Lee's birthday? Criticism?

My cousin had her house surrounded by a mob because of a rumor that the home-company she runs might consider a contract with the Border Patrol.
She wasn't home, but her little kids, and elderly mother, were. As screaming, chanting, hysterical twits surrounded their home.
That was years ago.

But based on your prior behavior, I'm quite sure that "criticism" is just fine with you. Anything that promotes your current goals.

One Brow said...

Foxfier,

My cousin had her house surrounded by a mob because of a rumor that the home-company she runs might consider a contract with the Border Patrol.

A mob of, let me guess, seven people? Fewer? After all, you're describing her as a pretty minor player.

But based on your prior behavior, I'm quite sure that "criticism" is just fine with you. Anything that promotes your current goals.

Based on your supposed belief in the Constitution, I'm sure it's fine with you, as well.

As for me, as long as no one is being shot outside back yard, I'm good.

Foxfier said...

Your biases are showing, again, One Brow.

It hit the news. Dozens. With loud-speakers.

And it's common enough that that I can tell you this without identifying myself.

Well, it's a bit of a tell that they didn't try to set the building on fire.....

The cruddy thing is, you think a half-dozen people at someone's house, shouting threats at a little old lady and two kids, is not even worthy of mention unless it's being mocked, because gosh someone who maybe lives there was accused of considering a contract with a federal agency!

Clearly, they deserved it.

One Brow said...

Foxfier
It hit the news. Dozens. With loud-speakers.

OK. Got a link for that? There are so many protests, who am I to know which one?

And it's common enough that that I can tell you this without identifying myself.

Fair enough, since I have no interest in your identity.

Well, it's a bit of a tell that they didn't try to set the building on fire.....

So, it was so minor and unimportant that no Bugaloos showed up to provoke things further?

The cruddy thing is, you think a half-dozen people at someone's house, shouting threats at a little old lady and two kids, is not even worthy of mention unless it's being mocked, because gosh someone who maybe lives there was accused of considering a contract with a federal agency!

Clearly, they deserved it.


Since when is this about who *deserves* something? Did children deserve to be de facto permanently separated from their parents? Or, is it that your people are supposed to get what they deserve, and others don't matter?

Your friend took a position where she earned money from the most cruel and vicious treatment the Administration felt they could legally make immigrants endure. She put the residents of her home in danger when she made that choice. If you disagree with that statement, then I'm sure you will also agree that the children of illegal immigrants also should not suffer for their parents choices.

Mostly Nothing said...

Wow, One Brow, up to now, you have made rational arguments that others may or may not agree with.
With this, you decided what was right without any actual knowledge of the incident and passed judgment.
As I recall, the protest was started because of a rumor.

Here in Minnesota, the right thinking people of St Paul just elected a violent racist to the legislature. He beat an effigy with a bat, verbally abused some teenage girls, and threatened to burn down a small town on the outskirts or the metro area.

One Brow said...

Mostly Nothing,

This guy?

https://www.twincities.com/2020/08/17/dfl-house-candidate-faces-backlash-for-his-angry-outburst-at-a-black-lives-matter-protest/

From the DFL:
“We expect our candidates and elected officials to live up to our highest values when they represent our DFL Party,” said DFL Party Chairman Ken Martin. “The Minnesota DFL does not condone any rhetoric which is violent, hateful, or inflammatory.”

From him:
“I became an activist and ran for the legislature to make a difference, to work diligently to fix our broken criminal justice system, dismantle institutional racism, and honor my friend, Philando Castile and become a symbolism of hope within our community,” he said. “I want to make a positive difference, and my comments on Saturday were not helpful. Inflammatory rhetoric is not how I want to address the important issues we’re facing, and I apologize.”

So, have a link to those protests you and Foxfier are discussing?

Mostly Nothing said...

I dont know anything but what was written in comments by foxier.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.kstp.com/articles/dfl-house-candidate-facing-backlash-for-blm-rally-behavior-5832022.html

The comment by the DFL that you put in was a non-apology apology that the put out after there was push back from having a fund raiser that included this guy.

The seat was in no danger of being lost y the DFL, they have ruled Minneapolis and St Paul for more than 50 years. There was a level headed guy that lost in the primary, that could have replaced him.

Ultimately, his violence was excused because of other violence. He's part of the problem, not the solution. There is no unity that Biden said he is for, with people like this.

One Brow said...

Mostly Nothing,

I agree there was no apology from the DFL. Would you agree that was a rebuke? I do see Thompson's statements as 1) acknowledging he was wrong (as opposed to saying other people were too sensitive or it was not his fault), and 2) owning up to his making of an error, so I see that as an apology from Thompson. Has he repeated this behavior since?

Perhaps Thompson could have been replaced, perhaps not. It's not like the politics of a hundred years ago, when the metaphorical smoke-filled rooms dominated.

Mostly Nothing said...

When the DFL dropped their fund raiser because of the out lash, his campaign ended and he has hidden. He has been completely out of any and all news.

His apology went up on facebook, and then was taken down and put back up every few hours for the first week, and then less frequently. This was to be able to delete the negative comments that came up. So I would submit, he didn't really own up to his horrible behavior.

And had Washington County had a Republican as the County Attorney would probably have been charged. Because politics. As it was, the Democrat in office barely had time to review the videos before declaring no crime was committed. I don't think that he could have been convicted, but a real investigation would have been appropriate.

I submit that the metaphorical smoke-filled room still exists, at least at the Presidential level. Hillary, Joe, and Kamala are evidence at that. I'm wondering what the betting line is on when Harris replaces Biden. The Republican's room is so poorly run that they couldn't control the primaries, and so we got Trump. And thus in 2016 America lost which ever way the vote went.

One Brow said...

Mostly Nothing,

I agree deleting critical comments shows a lack of remorse, but not having seen the actual comments, it's not clear to me if they were critical or abusive (the latter of which should be deleted). Likely there was a mixture.

I agree that at the Presidential level, there is a metaphorical smoke-filled room in that you need to get funding from the Adelsons (R) or Rockefellers (D) of the world. A lot of that funding, though, will come from winning early contests.