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The Alpha Male
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: People
- Hits: 2274
He's got that Willy Loman "Death of a Salesman" air of desperation about him, short, obviously dyed brown hair combed over in thin wisps, pointy features, thick glasses...maybe my age but somehow seems older, bad tweed suit, solid gold version of a cheap wristwatch, elbow patches, ...
He's J***'s protege, the vice president of his 100,000,000$ per annum + national company....
You look at him, maybe 5'2", badly dressed, 95 lbs soaking wet, not at all an Alpha Male, I know, we get a lot of CEO's, Presidents, Vice Presidents, Etc. in the restaurant. They fit the stereotypes, Elon Musk, Richard Branson, the successful types...larger than average, muscular, handsome, socially fluent...
He's definitely not one. But he's an old schoolyard chum of J***'s, and sometimes that's all it takes...
You look at him, you think of a Chihuahua, he's got the same general look, the general excitable disposition, he's analyzing the company's staff with J*** and he's describing them all as "Fraggles" or "Muppets..."....
He's the sad caricature of a sad, worn out little man, selected not so much for his vision or competence as his ability to say "Yes" or "No" as J*** requires. He's the pathetic little axe-man.
Imagine a less cool and shorter father of Marty in "Back to the Future"....I wonder how he found him, in his Zen like reveries, watching the Chihuahua being run to the ground by a pack of wolves and mistaking the prey for the leader, thinking to himself "That's the man I want...if he can lead those wolves, he can run my company...".
You'd have to be there...
Consensual Reality
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Ideas & Questions
- Hits: 2376
Consensual Reality, the idea that reality is somehow the aggregate of individual opinions, where we agree we define reality. If an individual goes against the collective agreement they are generally presumed to be either enlightened, or insane/mad. Psychology and Psychiatry implicitly depend upon this model. Where cultures and nations differ in Consensual Reality we often reach "agreement" through such means as war, or cultural imperialism, having triumphed and persuaded our new subjects we've expanded our "Consensual Reality" and use our victory as proof of the validity of our system...
An interesting idea, in that it implies that there is no one objective reality, rather reality is fluid and changing with the agreed perceptions of the viewers.
And, like any conclusion arrived at through mass experience or opinion or perception, it's entirely likely / probably / Certainly even wrong. Consider all the beliefs humanity has had in the past, and consider how few hold up today, we feel free to mock them, deride them, yet in our shared belief system or agreement as to what constitutes reality we are making the exact same errors...
Curious, too, how fluidly we bring others on board our reality - whether it be liquor or drugs, those who don't partake are never part of the shared experience of those who do ... for this they are labelled as "Sticks in the mud" or "Party Poopers", because they are not sharing in the same state of mind. Even when, for example the midst of a coke/ether/LSD binge the shared reality is entirely questionable if not obviously wrong. For those groups not imbibing there exists a very discernible line between the shared reality of one group and the shared reality of another.
And note how well media, news, advertising and corporations shape and define our reality, their perpetually broadcast messages creating hidden agreements and alternate realities that go unquestioned...
A gold mine of thought there. A link to a better explanation of the notion of Consensual Reality below.
Lo and Behold: Reveries of the Connected World
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Ideas & Questions
- Hits: 2232
...Still, always something new to look forward to. Lo and Behold: Reveries of the Connected World might just be the redemption, Werner Herzog's investigation of technology and the connected world.
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"Beautiful. Do you love it?"...
I share his optimism...
Anomalisa
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Film
- Hits: 2093
And finally saw this, much anticipated, even more disappointed.
Not that it was bad, it was slow, yes, the theme of disconnect was well achieved through the use of the same voice for all characters, the confusion between the internal/external, monologue, dialogue, the themes of alienation, inability to connect in a meaningful way certainly resonated. And Kaufman, nothing he does is less than great or brilliant, but really, I just needed a happier film...
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