The Unconvention Trailer December 23, 2008

Filed under: "True"Stories, Notes from the Management, Podcast, politics, video — Chris @ 3:08 pm

 

What if they gave a convention and nobody came… September 12, 2008

Filed under: MN, On Culture, On Media, politics — Chris @ 6:34 am

What if they gave a convention and no one came,
Well ok a lot of people came, and then they left.
Damn Hurricane Gustav, and by hurricane I mean the hurricane formerly known as Gustav now just a tropical depression.

I had a tropical depression once, it was in Key West, I cured it by getting drunk at strip clubs…. of course that might not work in this case.

So

No Chenney
No Bush at least not in person,
Surprisingly little McCain

A lot of journalists with an overly tapped story,
A lot of protestors looking for something to protest.

You did get Fred Thompson, which was nice; He’s my favorite actor/ politician now that guy who played Gopher on the Love Boat is no longer in the game

And somewhere Sarah Palin is drooling of a map of the Alaskan oil preserve while a campaign worker cobbles away at her wikkipedia entry

Meanwhile the news media keeps talking about “Anarchists” and their secret cabal, and all their organizations, aren’t anarchists by definition going to have a problem with. You know organizing….

Since when did we fear anarchists anyway, it’s been at least 100 years since anarchists held any sort of serious social status, I always figure modern day anarchy to be like socialism was in the 80’s You did it for a week or two till you moved onto the next youth trend for me it was “Frankie Goes to Hollywood”.

Maybe if the called them aging hippies, and punk kids who work at Co-op’s they wouldn’t be so frightening, or then again maybe they would.

Thing is the anarchists are scared: they think their world is going to hell and they need to do something about it. So they make signs and chant, and some of them get out of hand and do something stupid

The cops are scared they think their world is going to hell and they need to do something about it so they work proactively to keep the peace and some of them get out of hand and do something stupid

The city is scared they think their world is going look bad on TV and they need to do something about it so they work extra hard to maintain order and some of them get out of hand and do something stupid

Joe public is scared they think their world is going to hell because they see anarchist antics, and   police fierceness and they don’t need to do anything about it because it will just work itself out so they watch “CSI Somethingorother” until the whole stupid thing is over.

It’s seems to me that fear is a lousy method of making choices.
It is all very divisive, but isn’t that the point. It’s hard to win when you have no one to be against.

Of course in life you can’t  “win” anything, the reward comes in the playing.

Sort of like slot machines, where statistically you’re guaranteed to lose 15%, yet people keep playing, absolutely convinced they are winning.

Guess it’s a matter of perspective.

Given that we live on a globe, left, eventually becomes right and vice-versa, perspective can be hard to attain or for that matter maintain.

Anyway I should go, CSI is starting in a minute,

Xo

c

 

I Approve this Massage. September 11, 2008

Filed under: On Culture, politics — Chris @ 6:18 am

Editor’s Note: This is the piece that runs at the end of Episode one of Unconvention.tv. Part of the Walker’s “I Approve this Message” campagin.  Transcribed here for your reading pleasure…

Republicans, Democrats, Elks, Shriners, Dentists, a convention is a convention- a gathering for a large group to discuss their ideas, build strategies, and of course have sex with hookers, and generally make an ass of themselves.  The question I have to ask: is it news? If this was just a really big gathering of knights of Columbus would some 14,000 journalists be on our doorstep?

Think about it what is really getting accomplished here? At least in the “big story sense”, is the rousing speech from the head of the Idaho delegation, shouting his support for the candidate really news? Who is that going to surprise? I am sure newsworthy stories happen at both conventions- we just don’t hear about them till years after their prison sentences and pardons when they write the tell all biography for a high six figure deal from Random House.

People talk about conventions like they change the world, but no one has ever explained how. They whoop and holler in the most expensive pep rally in the world.  Sure it brings in tens of millions for the local economy and that’s great, but what if instead of using it as the prize in a financial lottery we used it to say…help wipe out Aids in Africa, or use it so subsidize wind fueled power generators. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good party, it just seems like we could do something better then hiring Sammy Hagar to sing loudly that ”he can’t drive 55”

The argument is that all the various party elite can get together to discuss things, but they have a place to do that already, it’s called congress. If they can’t get it together there does anyone really think that talking it over a piece of pie at Mickey’s will foster a better dialogue?

At the end of the day it seems Shakespeare said it best,”: it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.”

My name is Chris Strouth, I am a citizen of these United States, and I approve this message.

 

Unconvention.tv September 10, 2008

Filed under: "True"Stories, MN, On Culture, On Media, On Music, Podcast, politics, video — Chris @ 3:14 pm

The RNC is over  and the Unconvention is at a close at least for me, however the shows are done. the question remains is what next. While I ponder that here are three of the four episodes (the first one has some good moments but it’s really not all that and a bag of chips…so ) here they are

Episode 2

Episode 3


Episode 4

 

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