It's an attention whore, in a sink

What makes a video "viral"? Is it filming something extreme, odd or funny? Is it filming something, posting it online and experiencing repercussions from your actions?

Well, regardless of the definition, this guy's video went semi-viral (and I can't believe I am aiding this douchebag).



It's obvious during his interview (below) that he posted it for attention (claiming it was for his "fans") and he is apparently a member of a band.



Normally, I'd recommend not quiting your day job but this guy got himself fired for getting some attention. My best guess is that the world will forget about him in about 8 days and he'll be working at McDonald's inside of a month because nobody will remember his name.

Is gaining that type of fame really worth it?

Hey, some forms of publicity are fine, take MinnPics for example. It's good, no, great because it's lousy with stunning photos from across the state from Minnesota's best lens jockeys.

Would you bare all?

Let's ponder for a moment what you would do if you were in a hostage situation. Put aside the fact that you'd likely have a huge knot in your stomach and had probably soiled yourself a few minutes in. Forget, too, that the police have every intention of taking this dude out because, let's face it, something isn't entirely right upstairs. Sure, there's usually some underlying reason as to why a person takes others as hostages. Maybe this guy is desperate, he's recently lost his job, his life is falling apart, his wife bailed on him for someone who can actually hold down a job and both his car and house get repossessed tomorrow. That's a lot of crap to have dumped on you in a couple days. Still, it's no reason to walk in to a bank and threaten the lives of a dozen or so innocent folks just going about their day's business.

But, maybe this guy has a heart. He knows that these hostages don't deserve to be sucked in to his craptastic life and his wagon load of problems. What the hell, he's going to let them go. But he'll let the hostages go with one tiny catch. When they leave, they have to be stark naked. Would you listen to this mad man who may very well be a pervert as well? It's your life at stake here so it's either strip down or hang out with a sweaty, gun-wielding psycho who has no exit plan. Think of all the news cameras outside taping the event for posterity. CNN just picked up the feed from a local TV station and your only way out is to walk naked into the focus of a dozen or so TV cameras, journalists with high quality cameras and a hundred or so dumbass rubberneckers with cell phones chck full or cameras and video cameras all looking to post this footage on YouTube and their blogs. Your nudity to save your own life would live on for all of time.

What would you do?

Hey, there's no gun-wielding psychos but there are tons of camera-toting geniuses at MinnPics who capture Minnesota through their camera's lens with expert quality and are showcased daily.

Can we conserve enough to make a difference?

Being led by a lame-duck president whose best idea is to drill the miniscule 1,000,000 barrels of oil under the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge (by the way, 1,000,000 barrels of oil was used in the Twin Cities in the time it took me to write this first sentence), a guy has to wonder what could be done to conserve energy is the mast energy hungry country in the entire world.

Would you willingly commit to a four-day workweek if the tradeoff meant working 10-hour days? If so, it would weed out an entire day of commuting and alot of offices could shut down for an extra day each week saving on electricity to run all of those computers and lights and air conditioners. Sure, it's a nice thought but if anything, we are heading towards a 7 day work week so you can dream about four but it's only a dream. As for that extra day tacked on to the weekend, it would only lead to Americans using more gas to tool around onthe weekends. Scratch this one.

Would you give up your SUVs? Think about it, at one time in our past, we survived with only sedans and station wagons, why have SUVs (which rarely get used for either the 'S' or the 'U') become both so dominant and hated yet deemed as a necessity? Do we need to pack for a two week trip for a day at the beach? DO you ever actually use all that shit you pack in the cargo area of the Trailblazer? Wouldn't the same stuff all fit in the trunk of a Mazda6? Alright, SUVs can actually carry plenty of stuff but modern station wagons have fold flat seats which equal the same amount of cargo space. Justify your SUV and I'll admit defeat on this one.

How about a government-funded incentive to encourage the installation of solar panels on the roofs of our McMansions? Why not? Hell, our government borrowed a few billion dollars from China to stimulate our economy tot he tune of $600 per taxpayer; what's another $1,000 per household if this money actually solved something? Sure, it's not a 100% fix but at this point, realistically, I don't think there is and there won't be until our nation's elected officials realize that they are paid and elected to represent the citizens and not the businesses/persons who give them gifts.

We had our first wake-up call about an impending energy crunch 30 years ago and what has happened in those 30 years? More sprawl as too many want to live on five acres in a 4,000 sq. ft. home while still working in a thriving metropolitan downtown whcih pays for that extravagant home 40-50 miles away. I've accepted the fact that it won't change because, as a country, our drive to innovate and solve problems died 40-plus years ago.

Thus ends my one slightly political statement for the month. Am I way off base or am I eerily dead on?

Are we dumb?

My early apologies to MPR's Bob Collins whose post and subsequent update on The Current prompted me to write this and blatantly steal the title from his News Cut blog. I had to do it but I aslo had to think for myself about the question "are we dumb?" because there are varying levels of dumb that many of us see on a daily basis. Hell, even I partake in the dumb from time to time because it's a release. A person can't always be "on" and has to be allowed to just chill.

The bigger question I had is this: Is being smart, well-read, educated or even prone to thinking, doing, living or acting outside of the mainstream being viewed by the majority as elitist? I mean that to say that if you are "different", well-spoken or cringe at the style or manner in how others talk, write or act does that make you elite? I tend to think elitism is viewing yourself as better than others. Cringing at the slaughtering of correct language, punctuation or proper grammar is something which we were supposedly taught in elementary school.

Unfortunately (maybe) those stringent rules which were supposedly instilled in us by our teachers with their tightly-pulled buns and glasses perched on the tips of their noses become increasingly lax as the years progress. We glean language from the sources we witness on a daily basis whether those be television, music, movies, radio, newspapers, magazines or the conversation with others. I tend to think that those sources contribute to the greater good and create a more rounded person.

The biggest downfall, though, is simply forgetting those lessons we learned in school. I can say that I basically glided through school. I rarely (if ever) took homework home which made that homework simply work. On the flip side (again, maybe) I didn't want to spend an eternity in college. In all honesty I wish I had attended longer but I finished with the degree and education I wanted at the time and sprinted in to the job market.

I'm not here to brag that I am better than anyone else because I know damn well that I'm not. I do have that nagging question in the back of my head that wonders if we are becoming simply dumb. I see it in television as I've watched shows with simple or no plot at all succeed wildly while those with in-depth plots struggle to succeed. Is it a matter of attention span? Did people centuries ago nod off at the mere mention of one of Shakespeare's plays? Will language devolve to the point that txt msg spk (text message speak if you didn't catch it) is widely accepted?

America continues to sink

Sometimes the strength, or in this case the lack of strength, of a country can be solely based on one small item.

Yes, that's right. Sunday night's premiere of "American Gladiators" was not only the most watched program of that particular evening but also the highest-rated premiere of a series on NBC during the 2007-08 television season thus far.

Yes, Americans are that damn stupid.

I fail to see the entertainment value in watching a bunch of jacked-up wanna-bes and has-beens pummel each other with various specially-made items in the gladiator ball or the gladiator cube or even the gladiator sphere. Jesus tap-dancing Christ, if this is what passes as entertainment in a world without television and screen writers, we should all hit our knees because the need for quality entertainment, while miniscule in the grand scheme of things, is a need none the less.

If you do, however, have the stomach to turn on a TV tonight, you'll hear alot about the New Hampshire presidential primaries. Pay attention to what the candidates are saying as well as what they aren't saying. As much as politics grates against my nerves at times, the future of our country is truly in the hands of voters. 2008 is an opportunity to truly make a change and there is an opportunity to make history with who is ultimately elected in November. Pay attention so that when your respective turn in the primaries or caucuses comes, or should you choose to wait, the general election this November; you can make an informed choice based on positions and facts.

And if you can't stomach the ultra-early election news, Discovery Channel's "Dirty Jobs" returns tonight at 9 PM EST for its fourth season. Hey, it's ALOT better than watching the gladiators (one of whom is a former gay porn star...)