Beyond Passing Time

Dove's Real Beauty Sketches and Ironic Marketing of Shame

2013-05-02T18:06:00.003-04:00

Have you seen the Dove's Real Beauty Sketches video?

I first came across this when my friends were sharing it on social media, talking about how powerful it was, that women should watch it. I also saw some posts in my social network feeds about what's wrong with it and I made my own observations, too.

1. Women aren't their own worst critics, as the video suggests. Society is.

Yes, many, if not most women, are very hard on themselves about how they look, but that comes from somewhere.

It comes from the media who bombard us with Photoshopped images of a very narrow perception of beauty: thin, curvy, pale skin, etc. It comes from companies that profit from making us insecure, constantly tells us to diet, to eliminate our wrinkles, to dye our grey hair, to push up our breasts, erase our acne, so we can be happy and successful.

It comes from companies that like sell products like Axe, which objectifies women in commercials to sell shit. And you know who makes Axe products? Unilever, the company that makes Dove products. Unilever also produces skin lightening products in "countries like India."

2. The commercial wants us to think: "See! You look young!" and dispel other testimony from the portrait subjects, like they are qualities to be ashamed of. Looking youthful or not is irrelevant to healthy body image. What matters is what you think of face shape or age or eye colour, and what society thinks of these and others. And look again at the sketches that are based on the portrait subjects. They aren't ugly at all! They just don't conform to our society's perception of beauty. The sketches based on the subjects' friends' testimony produces socially acceptable images of beauty. The message here is that, if you feel better about yourself, you'll identify conventionally beautiful characteristics in your appearance.

3. "Out of 6:36 minutes of footage, people of color are onscreen for less than 10 seconds. " I think that says it all. There were also no older women in the video. For a social experiment, this commercial is very socially exclusive.

4. This commercial ironically reinforces the high value our society places on external beauty. Why is the solution to women's insecurities always to make her feel and look or beautiful on the outside? And these women's insecurities (If they're even real... There is obviously some serious coercion in this commercial) aren't even about external beauty, if you think about it. It's about perceived worth. You don't think you are ugly unless someone has put you down. Insecurity is always socially constructed. It breaks my heart that we're supposed to be moved by the fact that, at the end of the commercial, the portrait subjects are moved to see that others perceive them as conventionally beautiful. It's supposed to be (and is) a relief. It's supposed to be (and is) the solution to unhappiness.
Dove hasn't changed a thing. I'm glad so many people have seen through it, but frustrated that this commercial exists and that many people did buy it. That sad background music probably didn't help.
Dove's Real Beauty Sketches reminds me of other backhanded, supposedly positive examples of beauty marketing. I wrote a post a while back about why I hate beauty counters in department stores.

For Men

2013-04-27T16:11:00.000-04:00

In the latest heteronormative campaign that made my jaw drop, there was the expected stereotypical real men stuff: stag head mounted on the wall above the toilet, a warrior narrative; the host is NFL reporter Tony Sigarusa. He shows the other a guy Depends information on a TV sports style TV score image.

The products for manhood are called "Guards" and "Shields." It's obviously supposed to be a silly, fun campaign. It's supposed to be stereotypical, while making real men comfortable -- even proud to use the product. Because, joke or not, the images and narrative presented still represent classic understandings of manhood. Can you guess what the campaign is for?

Incontinence products for men from Depends. In other words, the penis machine of health products.

The web and TV campaign is called .... Wait for it... "Guard your manhood."

I interpreted two meanings in this phrase: protect your dignity and protect your genitals -- not just from physical incontinence issues, but from jerks who will try to steal your junk or poke them or laugh at their shape if the product can't support such substantial weight properly.

Now, I don't have a penis or testicles and I am not familiar with male-specific incontinence issues, if there are any, so maybe I don't really get it, but I don't think there's anything dignified about this campaign. It seems inspired by men's socially constructed insecurities about manhood. I can imagine the first marketing meeting:

Marketing Man 1: Incontinence is a girly, wimpy condition. Our leaky men out there know this and aren't going to buy our delicate design that we've marketed to women. Unless! We put a print of lumberjacks and fisherman on the product.

Marketing Man 2: No, no, no. A print of pick-up trucks!

Marketing Man 3: No! Don't you see? Prints are for children! What we need is a product that has a built-in holster.

Marketing Man 4: NO! We need to be practical. We need to send the message that we understand the medical, comfort needs of the men.

Marketing Man 5: Right. I've got it! Incontinence is a medical problem, so why don't we medicalize it? Surely, illness won't be interpreted as a girly experience, right?

Marketing Man 3: Of course illness is girly!! But you know what isn't? War.

Marketing Man 1: You can't say that anymore. The army lets in women now.

(The marketing men shake their heads, sigh, grunt and scratch their crotches.)

Marketing Man 3: Right. Well, then. Let's harken back to the days when war was tough and there were no women. You know, when they used shields.

Marketing Man 4: That's genius, Marketing Man 4! (Or whatever his name is.) We'll call them Shields. And we can also offer a higher level of protection with another manly name.

Marketing Man 2: How about Guards? Women can play man sports now, but they don't need Guards!

And so manly incontinence products were born. (Maybe that's not how it happened.)

After you watch the video, check out the Guard Your Manhood website. It's also hilariously heteronormative. There's a guy in the middle of the page, posing like a football coach, with a Depends logo on his chest and a whistle hanging from his neck. Fortunately, most of the rest of the website is respectful and informative.

Occupational Therapy Magazine Piece!

2013-04-15T12:24:00.000-04:00

Check out the Spring 2013 issue of Rehab Matters for a piece I wrote about my personal experiences with occupational therapy and my suggestions to optimize the practice. This magazine is for members of VRA Canada, vocational rehabilitation professionals, so I am thrilled that my insight may influence their practices.

In this piece, I wrote about the potential of occupational therapy to empower patients, and writing this for the VRA audience also empowered me. I used to blog about my health in this blog to empower myself by educating my readers. Occupational therapy has been a positive experience for me, but the intermittent, often invisible nature of my symptoms, and their variability based on activity, environment and my health status, has proven to be quite a barrier for me to get effective treatment and respect. The piece in this issue about invisible disability and employment illustrates how stigma and preconceived notions hurt affected people.

MIT Invisible Motion Program and Reporting Unethical

2013-03-13T11:45:00.001-04:00

The New York Times Blog recently featured a post about a project from MIT that uncovers invisible movement in video and explores how this technology can unobtrusively evaluate health. As you'll see in this video, the technology, called Eulerian Video Magnification, makes respiration and pulse rate visible.

I find it peculiar and unsettling that the author of this post and the creators of this video did not explore the ethical problems with this technology, not even after explaining that the code required to enable the technology was posted online, available to "anyone who wanted to use it," (who had the necessary skills to run it).

How would you like it if someone could film you, or even apply the technology to existing film of you, and see how fast your heart is beating, without your permission. It even happened in this video! (Presumably, Christian Bale didn't permit this dude to use this technology on him, then release it online.)

Some people argued that this technology is unethical because it could enable a police state or people could incorrectly or illogically assume things by evaluating heart rate. You can't tell why the person has a rapid heartbeat. It's seldom active now thanks to medication, but I have a mild condition that makes my heart race inappropriately.

This technology doesn't just present privacy issues because of the objectives of people who use it and because heart rate can measure emotions.

Why should anyone be allowed to evaluate my heart rate without my knowledge or permission, for any reason? It's private. It's inside of me, so it belongs to me and me alone.

Yes, private even if I have nothing to be anxious about, even if I've done nothing wrong. It's private even if I do have something to be anxious about, have done something wrong. It's private if I'm aware I'm being examined by video in this way and also if I'm not. It's private even if I'm totally calm. It's private even if heart rate wasn't impacted by emotions. It's private if the motives of people using this technology are good (up for debate!). It'd be private even if I didn't have a heart issue. It's private, even though I do.

I am repeatedly baffled by how many scientists, journalists, politicians justify new technologies/uses and fail to explore, at least not adequately, the ethical issues. I think this technology would only be ethical if used with people's permission, for medical reasons only, and their permission is optional, no recourse if you say no. MIT can restrict this technology (as you remember, they chose not to), but even MIT did, hackers and others could get a hold of it.

What do you think of this program by MIT and how it was reported?

What have I been up to?

2013-03-08T14:25:00.000-05:00

What a great week!

I had a wonderful time interviewing folk-jazz musician Jessica Stuart about filming her latest music video, for Winter Warm, on the Scarborough Bluffs, a gorgeous location. I had an almost even better time writing about it! It felt so good to get back to my journalism roots and this experience has taught me that I need to get back to it, somehow. I love researching people's backgrounds and work and infusing the knowledge I gain into my approach to interviewing, and the questions themselves. I love stringing the information in my notes into a narrative.

Speaking of music, space blues musician Delta Will had an amazing concert last night to promote his debut ep "Transcendental Visits." His performance was, as usual, amazing and a lot of people came. I was happy for Charles and also very proud of myself because I helped him promote the show and his ep with Toronto blogger relations and a buzz marketing campaign. I was thrilled when he thanked me, among some really great people I know, after his set and, as I discovered this morning, in the album sleeve!

I also met with a really nice job recruiter and it looks like I will get an interview for a really cool paid public relations internship for a wonderful non-profit organization (not through recruiter).

I am so glad I identified these great opportunities to not only exercise my creative muscle, but to support causes and artists I really believe in.

This really makes up for last week. I slipped and fell on the ice twice in three days! I'm still sore.

Having Trouble Handwriting? Get a Grip!

2013-02-25T15:33:00.001-05:00

If you suffer from hand fatigue, pain or fine motor skill issues while you write or you have an awkward grip, I highly recommend triangle pen/pencil grips. I have had all of these issues with writing, albeit fairly mildly, ever since I learned to write. It can be upsetting when your mind has ideas, saying "Yes!" but your hand says, "No," or "I'd rather not." (Yes my hand can talk.)

I recently bought these triangle pen grips to help. They provide me with handwriting comfort and control. I adjust the placement of the grip based on how much control I need, plus, I find the silicone in this brand much more comfortable than the material used in other triangle grips. I do wish these grips were longer, though. It would be better if the grip was as long as my hand grip.

Merangue Silicone Pencil Grips

I'd used triangle grips for years when I was a kid, but stopped for some reason. As I grew up I wanted to do things without help and I didn't even like the idea of needing or taking help. How silly is that? They're just grips!

I also used soft pencil grips, which I didn't find aided an awkward hand grip or assisted fine motor control issues, but the cushioning can ease discomfort, pressure and fatigue. These are ideal for someone who is prone to finger callouses.

Charles Leonard Inc. Soft Cushioned Pencil Grips

Pens themselves can really assist with handwriting issues. I have fallen in love with Dr. Grip again! It's not just a great writing aid; it's beautiful!

Dr. Grip

How Bell Let's Talk Stands Out from Other Corporate Awareness Campaigns

2013-02-12T15:18:00.001-05:00

Right now, Bell Canada is holding Bell Let's Talk, a huge cause marketing campaign to raise awareness about mental illness and raise funds for mental health initiatives ... And Bell, of Course. Bell donates 5 cents for every Tweet, text and long distance call, etc. to mental health initiatives. Regular readers of my blog may anticipate that I have a problem with the business objectives of the campaign, or that I may be skeptical about the level of awareness this campaign has created.

Actually, I don't. I'm not.

There is clear information in Bell's marketing, Bell's supporters and others touched by mental illness. The goal of the campaign is to foster discourse, thereby reducing still highly prevalent stigma. It's working. People are sharing their stories, disclosing their own challenges with anxiety or depression. It's opening doors. It's helping people going through similar things connect with each other, providing a safe and supportive climate to disclose their issues and get help.

This campaign, unlike many cause marketing campaigns, makes sense. Bell is a communication company. Let's Talk participants aren't participating by buying products branded pink, to support breast cancer, as claimed by the brands. Products that infantalize women, offer no support. There is a product marketed in the Let's Talk cause: Bell services. But using Bell services can actually help. Texting a friend about about your experience with mental illness. Calling your mom long distance to disclose your illness to her.

The Bell Let's Talk website provides important information and statistics, personal stories on mental illness and makes it very easy to disseminate this information with social media sharing buttons. The website also includes a great Toolkit zip download of many informative resources about mental health you can read, share at the workplace, schools, etc.

I often get the sense from cause marketing that many or most participants don't understand or even care about the cause. Last Movember, I noted that it fostered no discourse from participants about prostate cancer, only about moustaches, and didn't further any awareness. Even companies participating barely even mentioned prostate cancer and at most, only shared redundant, controversial health advice. It seemed to me that the campaign's trivial nature and disconnection from the cause itself prevented this discourse.

Let's Talk is totally different. The campaign, by its very nature, promotes discourse. And corporate and individual participants are talking. Support will be the legacy of Let's Talk. Any campaign that successfully supports awareness AND funds is on the right track, I think. It will be interesting to see where the money goes and how it will help.

Bjork Textures

2013-02-03T00:13:00.001-05:00

Have you ever noticed that musicians' interests, inspirations and skills become evident through their non-music behaviour?

Check out this 1986 interview of Bjork in support of her band The Sugarcubes. The host/interviewer hands her a long plastic tube filled with popcorn and she presses it gently, looks at it intently periodically throughout the interview, whenever she speaks. Then she stops each time the interviewer speaks. The sensory stimulation of the popcorn bag seems to aid her social, creative and thought processes.

I've always had a sense of Bjork's appreciation of texture in her solo music. There are so many textures from crunchy to smooth, from hard to soft. Listening to Bjork is like petting a fluffy lap dog while a bag of corn pops inside it.

Analyzing "Never Broke a Bone" by Kira May

2013-01-25T01:48:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, Toronto vocal and visual artist Kira May released Never Broke a Bone, the gorgeous first track from her upcoming debut EP.

In the song, the narrator reveals that she missed important, normal, healthy childhood experiences, presumably because of lifelong fear, but it is not clear if she was unaware that these experiences were available to her, or at least to other kids, or clear if she is aware of their importance to her development and happiness, or if she was denied these experiences or discouraged from participating in them.

She examines the impact of her fear by recalling and reflecting on these physical experiences: absence of the injuries of healthy childhood activities “Never broke a bone”; the symptoms that accompany her fear, trauma, regret and desire to make life fulfilling choices; her compulsion to escape her body to eliminate her fear, “If I run faster, I’ll release me”; her perception of physical experiences as the cause of her fear and perceived limitations, or independent of them, instead of her physical experiences being a symptom of it.

Subconsciously, it seems, the character is interpreting health as a message from the body and also interprets her body as a solution. Singing and other vocalizations become an act of agency. She relies on herself, her body mostly, to express – and communicate -- emotion. This isn’t just an act of catharsis. She is reaching out, sharing, and beginning a healing process by using her body.

The lyrics reveal her belief her body is weak, possibly permanently, pathologically and disablingly so. The strength of her voice, the clarity of her breathing and the stamina of her performance starkly contradict this. Her physical performance suggests she has already begun to heal, but her lyrics suggest she is not conscious of this, is perhaps in denial, or not (yet) ready to face her issues.

Kira's vocals and her slow, steady, gentle heartbeat drum also contrast her character's expression of weakness and fear. Her rhythmic breathing throughout the song is similar to a breathing exercise for anxiety or childbirth. suggesting a concerted, learned effort. There is strength and calmness here, in equal measure.

The physicality of Kira's performance itself serves as testimony of her character's fear, loss and healing.

As the song progresses, more layers of Kira’s voice emerge. A choir of Kiras all contributing different perspectives and emotions. Her character is conversing with herself, revealing to herself the many facets of her complicated psychology in a vocal introspection so deep that you can almost swim through it.

Never Broke A Bone by Kira May

Kira May will perform at the Big Smoke Music Festival on January 25, 2013 at 8 pm at the Tall Boys - Craft Beer House in downtown Toronto.

TTC Strollers: A Menace to Your Commute or a Symptom of a Social Issue?

2013-01-22T18:36:00.000-05:00

Reduce Stroller Access On The TTC buses, part of Toronto's public transit service? I don't think so!

A woman proposed this recently, annoyed with the inconvenience strollers pose when they crowd buses. It's a hot news item in the city right now and Twitter and comment sections of news articles are lit up with passionate discourse. These are the main arguments for limiting strollers:

The congestion is the parents' fault. Parents should wait for a bus with one or no strollers on it because with all of those people it's hard to get by.
Yes. it's parents' fault that TTC buses are not designed properly to accommodate mobility devices and service is inadequate, thus causing crowding.

Strollers are too big these days. Why can't parents use those cute strollers. Parents can fold them up and carry the child.
Oh, you mean the ones that support a child with a piece of fabric? What if the parent has things to carry? What if the parent has a physical disability that makes this difficult, dangerous or impossible? What if the parent has more than one child? How do you maneuver those adorable strollers up hills and on rugged terrain?

Parents should just wait for a less crowded bus, one with no or only one other stroller, or pay a fee.
Great idea! I'm sure parents don't have to get anywhere for a specific time. It's only fair that they pay a little extra for accessibility. If they can afford those SUV strollers, they can afford an extra fare, no problem. It's not like parents encounter any other accessibility issues on the TTC.

I guess my opinion is clear: reducing TTC access to stroller users or anyone with a mobility device or other disability is discrimination and socially irresponsible. The blame for the issue of congestion should be directed to the TTC, not to innocent TTC users who are just trying to get where they need to go like everyone else.

Redefine Accessibility

2013-01-02T21:37:00.001-05:00

Many, if not most, built environments labeled accessible are never entirely so.

GO Transit, a public transportation system that serves the General Toronto Area, in regards to backlash from a man using a wheelchair who couldn't get off a train because the station wasn't fully accessible, advised him to contact GO beforehand to see if his station was accessible.

Seriously? A company can't be "fully committed to accessibility" if the people who need it can't access everything they need to; everything able bodied users can; if it creates extra steps for users who require accessibility like calling ahead first or making alternate, expensive plans if they need to go to a station that isn't accessible.

Partial accessibility is a common issue in Toronto, well, probably everywhere. The TTC streetcars, which are the only method of public transportation (unless you apply for the Wheel Trans service and order it in advance of a trip) for much of downtown, are completely inaccessible, although fortunately a new accessible light rail system is being built. Only some TTC subway stations have elevators. The washrooms in the vast majority of bars in the city are located in the basements, with no accessible alternative to the stairs.

I am aware that creating accessibility costs money, but there must be more to it than that, a wider social issue. The need for accessibility is bigger than you may think.

Gender Issues of Pinktober and Movember

2012-12-08T23:42:00.002-05:00

With pinktober and Movember behind us, I've been reflecting on some interesting similarities, correlations and themes between them. Most of these revolve around gender.

While researching both of these, I noticed many argue that Movember was the time to focus on men's health, as October was all about women: "You have pinktober; we have Movember." When women complained that Movember was exclusionary because women can't grow moustaches, male defenders of Movember argued: "We didn't protest against pinktober."

There's this idea that if you are against either campaign, you are against the gender it purports to serve and all for the other campaign. Kind of ironic when you consider that many people against Movember are socially conscious and so, of course hate pinktober for the same reasons they hate Movember.

Each campaign is very exclusionary to the opposite sex, perhaps intended to create a collective experience for each of the sexes. I don't necessarily object to that, though I think this animosity between the sexes bred by these campaigns is counter productive to the causes participants claim to support. I object to the gender roles perpetuated by each of the causes.

Pinktober attempts to create solidarity for women by objectifying them, encouraging them to shop, to maintain a socially acceptable appearance and to only look at the positive side of breast cancer. Classic sexism. I summarized these issues in an October post.

This article from The Scavenger explains why Movember is heteronormative and sexist. A sample:

"Mo Fact Cards (from the Movember organization) promote heteronormativity with statements such as ‘Women are more attracted to men with Mo’s,’ and use ableist language in jokes such as ‘Beards are for the weak and lame.’" - Bastian Fox Phelan, The Scavenger, November 14, 2010

That's a common message in pinktober and Movember from official related organizations and participants. Strong men and women participate; weak ones don't. It's a guilt trip. Peer pressure. Neither of these tactics foster true awareness and genuine care for a cause. They do the opposite.

Movember also oversimplifies awareness, much like pinktober does. Discourses in both campaigns not only include very little information, but the information that is included is misleading, redundant and unfounded. This Health Beat article explains how Movember contradicts evidence and oversimplifies the facts.

"Nary a mention is made of the debate surrounding the value of the yearly physical exam. Nor is there discussion about the risks vs. the benefits of prostate cancer screening, an issue that’s of considerable controversy amongst the medical and scientific community, or how men can weigh the evidence to make appropriate, informed decisions."

Here is another great post noting the lack of evidence behind much of the awareness Movember promotes. Of course, as I've written before, most Movember discourse from participants includes zero discourse about prostate cancer. Not sure which is worse.

Going back to the gender turf war I referred to early in this post, in Movember, many men and women Tweeted rude, gender normative jokes about facial hair. And still do.

I think someone should tell that lady that #Movember is over and she can shave now. #awkward
— Lyle Hatton (@LyleHatton) December 8, 2012

What's with all the hate? The put downs? What does this have to do with awareness? What do you hope to accomplish by putting down a woman for not conforming to your narrow perception of femininity? Any objective surely has nothing to do with the cause of prostate cancer. I would hope that Lyle wouldn't claim otherwise. He and all the others like him use Movember as a tool to hurt people, to reinforce socialized rules for gender appearances.

Pinktober does something similar, only I haven't noticed any hate discourse. Pinktober is all about preserving and restoring women's socially acceptable appearances and behaviour.

Another big problem with Movember is that many prostate cancer patients are physically unable to participate because they can't grow facial, among other reasons.

Check out my other posts on Movember and Pinktober.

Best Facebook Awareness Campaign Ever!

2012-11-10T21:54:00.001-05:00

I created this image to satirize the slacktivism "I bet 99% of you won't repost this" Facebook awareness campaigns. If you want to stop slacktivism and encourage real awareness, you'll share this. Don't worry; I'm trying to be ironic.

I think it would be hilarious if people thought this was serious. Or if it went viral for any reason. I saved this image to the Beyond Passing Time Facebook Page, so maybe!

A Letter to Movember Participants

2012-11-01T18:24:00.000-04:00

Movember is upon us and I couldn't help but notice an even more disturbing trend:

There is no discourse about prostate cancer in any of the participation I have found in my Facebook feed or in Twitter search.

So I searched Google, under a variety of keywords and phrases. Same result. Well, some of these at least used the word "awareness," so I guess that counts, right?
Read more »

The Talk Ladies Go Natural: What Does it Mean to Wear Makeup?

2012-10-25T19:43:00.002-04:00

The women of The Talk recently appeared on their show with no makeup, with their hair not done, wearing terrycloth robes. Their audience and guests did the same.

Here is a clip from the show. This one is my favourite because it features a discussion about the women's insecurities that surfaced in their preparation for the show and their plans to compensate. Would the women have ever become as conscious of these insecurities if they hadn't done this show? I don't know. What do you think?
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Ann Coulter and the Prevalence of Bigotry

2012-10-23T18:00:00.001-04:00

You may have read that Ann Coulter called Obama a "retard" on Twitter.

I'm shocked by the amount of blog comments and Tweets I've read defending Ann, because they hate Obama and/or because they think "retard" is an accurate, acceptable term.

It isn't. It's hate speech. It's a slur. You're right, "retard" isn't a bad word. But it is in the context of equating disability with something undesirable. Something insult worthy.

But, for me, Ann Coulter's use of this term, and her supporters' defence of it, is not really the main issue.
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Pinktober Exploits Women with Breast Cancer

2012-10-17T00:47:00.002-04:00

If you read my blog, it's probably no surprise to you that I vehemently oppose pink breast cancer marketing, where products, services and NFL games are decked out in pink, supposedly to support women with breast cancer, but the barrage of pink is actually just a marketing tool to support the companies who use it.

I have read countless blog posts, news stories, Tweets, Facebook posts and even a book called "Pink Ribbon Blues" about this infiltration of pink and how it hurts women. I studied pink culture a bit in university. A popular documentary called "Pink Ribbons Inc. was released earlier this year, coincidentally (or not?) around the same time as the Komen/Planned Parenthood scandal.

Delta Will EP Released

2012-09-25T19:18:00.000-04:00

Toronto musician Delta Will (AKA Charles Tilden of Parks and Rec) released his fantastic EP Transcendental Visits online today. I don't know quite how to describe it. It reminds me of a busker playing the blues at the bottom of the ocean, with fish swimming around him to the beat and a few sharks floating nearby, watching. But as Delta uses electronic elements in his work, this is impossible, if not very dangerous. Also, you can't really sing underwater and sound won't really transmit through.... Just listen to it, okay?

You can catch Delta Will on tour in Canada this October. See his website for details. He is really awesome live.

You can find Delta Will on Facebook and Twitter.

Transcendental Visits by Delta Will

Does anyone else still buy CDs?

2012-09-17T22:12:00.001-04:00

Since buying music with iTunes gift cards and recently buying an ep from a band's Bandcamp site, it hit me:

I have no reason to buy CDs. I've given up my perception that I notice a difference in quality. There might be some difference, but perhaps not detectable by human hearing, certainly not mine. Bandcamp actually provides maximum quality versions, recommending them to "audiophiles." I guess I sort of am one. I have amazing hearing and I can also distinguish layers and textures in music.

If the sound quality of the recording or the speakers is sub-optimal or poor, you really miss out on how the music is supposed to sound. You don't get the full experience and you may, perhaps subconsciously, play the music louder to hear all the layers. It may not sound that loud to you, so there is a greater risk of damage to your hearing.

But I've never had an issue with sound quality from music downloads. Nope. Never. I seldom even play my CDs anymore. I usually play the versions I imported to iTunes to put on my iPod. It's so much easier! I can make playlists; I don't have to switch CDs or wait for my 5-CD player to switch to the next CD. It's all in one list on my screen.

But there is something special about opening a jewel case, popping the CD out (and really feeling the pop) and then inserting it into the machine. I get a twinge of excitement when I hear the reader kick in! Because it's much more of a physical experience than clicking a song on a computer, it feels like a more active experience. I feel like I'm bringing music to life. I sometimes miss using my portable CD player too. Very much alive, the disc spinning inside feels like a heart beating. A CD player feels more mortal too, when the battery dies. My old Discman is resting on one of my speakers, literally collecting dust. I have no human metaphor for that. The dust does make it feel sort of lonely, though. Ah, screw it. My iPod is super cute and it doesn't even need a heartbeat. It's magical! Immortal! Take that, old school technology.

Ouch.

2012-09-09T20:15:00.000-04:00

My world is crashing around me. This week I found out that strawberry kiwi Jell-O, my favourite flavour, was discontinued. And this week I found out that Twinkies may be too. This is a travesty. What's next? Bacon? My word.
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Signing an Online Petition is NOT Slacktivism

2012-08-16T21:03:00.001-04:00

Yesterday I wrote this comment on a blog post called Stop Calling Them Slacktivists that argued that slacktivism can create change.

I don’t consider signing an online petition an example of slacktivism. Just because it is easy and quick, that doesn’t mean it’s slacktivism. We can’t paint all social media campaigns with the same brush. A lot of people do and this hurts the reputation of the good social media campaigns.

Familiar Review

2012-08-12T01:37:00.003-04:00

Dodd (Centre) with his daughter (Left) and wife (Right)

Do you ever watch a film classified under "horror" and wonder, "Is this really supposed to be scary?"

Familiar (2012) is the sequel to the even more hilarious Worm (2010). These films, both written and directed by Richard Powell for Fatal Pictures, follow the life of John Dodd (his name is Geoffrey Dodd in Worm), a man whose sinister inner thoughts contrast his pleasant, caring demeanor.
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Volunteer to Work

2012-08-06T21:26:00.001-04:00

So, in your search to find a job, you're browsing through job ads. After ages of searching, you find an ad that you know you are totally cut out for. You believe in the company; you're qualified to do the work; you like the location. But there's one thing:
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Eeeeew Shave Your Pits

2012-07-30T21:03:00.001-04:00

A few months ago I wrote a guest post for my blogging friend Alexandra Naughton over at the Tsaritsa Sez. In it, I mocked the uproar that followed Julia Roberts' attendance to the Notting Hill premiere with (gasp!) unshaven underarms! The scandal! Check out her amazing post on her pride for her unplucked eyebrows too.
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Why I Probably Won't Stop at Your Makeup Counter

2012-07-17T21:00:00.000-04:00

1. You tell me my skin is oily and needs your treatment.

2. You pressure me to buy things I've told you I can't afford and don't want.

3. You tell me something is a bargain when it really isn't.

4. Your counter makes my nose itch.

5. I can't support an industry whose main marketing tactic is to make women feel self conscious.
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