T-shirt #284 - Doctor Whisky!

T-shirt #284 - Doctor Whisky! via WarrenEllis.com


Nothing like whisky for breakfast.


Hey, isn't that the name of a local band and a song?


Our kitchen may look dark as night, and it was dark outside, but these photos were taken early this morning, December the 30th of 2013 by my dear wife Liesel, who also gifted me this shirt for Christmas as originally seen in T-shirt #278 - Three wise men? Be serious.

It is due to the morning hour that there's so little whisky in the glass. The picture was taken at 6:45 a.m. after all.

Today's blog post is about whisky but not all about whisky as I will exhaust the subject of this divine beverage rather quickly. I have a whisky category (see sidebar), though there are only four posts in it -- T-shirt #77, T-shirt #108, T-shirt #82, and today's -- there has been more whisky than that in my life these last nine months.

I plan to round out today's blog with a little blog recap and some reviews of books, movies, and comic books, though nothing like the extended and seriously overlong post on The Uncanny X-Force from Saturday's blog. I have a schedule to maintain after all.

In the post for T-shirt #82, you will find Warren Ellis Twitter diatribe on the excellence of single malt scotch and how it is "uisge beatha, the water of life." Find there the difference betwee "whisky" and "whiskey" as well as bourbon, which I like very much more than he seems to.


In the post for T-shirt #108, I share a toast for my Robert Burns scotch, gifted to me by my wife as I am named for the great Scottish poet: My dad is actually Robert Burns Tower and I am Christopher Burns Tower.

And lastly, in the post for T-shirt #77, in which I first revealed on these pages that I had prostate cancer and how this diagnosis prompted the blog into being, I shared a little of the Glenmorangie, seen in the photo above, which I bought immediately after my doctor's appointment in which I scheduled my surgery.

Those who know me via social media have seen me call in prescriptions from Doctor Whisky on many occasions. This is borrowed with credit from Warren Ellis, who coined the phrase, and thus has created and sells the shirt seen in the photos. I also have a Warren Ellis category as he's one of my favorite authors. He calls for prescriptions from Doctor Whisky all the time.

Wikipedia is not a bad place to start to educate yourself about whisky (or whiskey) if such is your desire.

The Whisky entry is valuable as is the Scotch Whisky entry and there are many more pages accessible from those two.

I have not been a lifelong whisky drinker. This is a relatively new thing. I preferred vodka and gin in my college days and for my period of drowning in my cups from around 2000 through 2005, a time during which I favored the flavored vodkas and 7Up or Sprite as a nightly beverage, something my doctor urged me to cease and desist when it seemed like I was destroying my liver.

this text appears on the
back of today's shirt
near the collar

Whisky hit my radar because of Warren Ellis and his frequent prescriptions from Doctor Whisky sent via Twitter and/or posted to his website, WARREN ELLIS. It is fitting that my wife gifts my whisky because there's history to our whisky sharing. In our first outing, after her then boyfriend John's improvisation group performance -- Some Kind of Pretty Woman -- we all set to drinking at Kalamazoo's London Grille pub. We shared a whisky flight, a sampler of several single malt scotches assembled by good friend Jeremiah "Miah" Newhouse, who was the manager at the time and a serious whisky connoisseur. This is not the first date for Liesel and me, but it was our first sharing of uisge beatha, the water of life. I began sampling scotch more often, and now it's my alcohol drink of choice along with Irish Whiskey and Bourbon.

Though I plan to share some reviews of movies, books, and comic books today, I am not going to share much in the way of whisky reviews. I do not feel qualified to write about the tastes, and even if I did, I am not home at the moment where I can sample them all. Plus, in the picture above, four of the bottles are finished: Glengoyne, Pig's Nose, McClelland's Lowland, and McClelland's Speyside. Of the scotches, I like the Glenmorangie the best. It was recommended to me by my friend and ultimate teammate Ian T. Smith just two days before I scheduled my surgery and then bought myself a bottle. It's smooth and delicious. I gifted a bottle to my father from Christmas as seen in T-shirt #280. My friend Ed Kenny recommended the Lagavulin, which I like, but its taste is sharper and more medicinal than the Glenmorangie. I bought the Isle of Sky at my father's suggestion, but I prefer the Robert Burns over it, though it is a blend, Of the finished bottles, the GlenGoyne is definitely my favorite, and I will have to get another bottle sometime. I did leave out my bottle of Buffalo Trace bourbon, and some others, like Bulleit bourbon, I finished an recycled.



I feel like I am connecting with my Scottish ancestry by drinking scotch, and of course, the pure single malts are the very cream of the scotch crop.

I love that scotch whisky has a legal definition, which I think bears repeating from the Wiki entry.

Legal definition

As of 23 November 2009, the Scotch Whisky Regulations 2009 (SWR) define and regulate the production, labeling, packaging as well as the advertising of Scotch whisky in the United Kingdom. They replace previous regulations that focused solely on production. International trade agreements have the effect of making some provisions of the SWR apply in various other countries as well as in the UK. The SWR define "Scotch whisky" as whisky that is:

• Produced at a distillery in Scotland from water and malted barley (to which only whole grains of other cereals may be added) all of which have been:
• Processed at that distillery into a mash
• Converted at that distillery to a fermentable substrate only by endogenous enzyme systems
• Fermented at that distillery only by adding yeast
• Distilled at an alcoholic strength by volume of less than 94.8% (190 US proof)
• Wholly matured in an excise warehouse in Scotland in oak casks of a capacity not exceeding 700 litres (185 US gal; 154 imp gal) for at least three years
• Retaining the colour, aroma, and taste of the raw materials used in, and the method of, its production and maturation
• Containing no added substances, other than water and plain (E150A) caramel colouring
• Comprising a minimum alcoholic strength by volume of 40% (80 US proof)

Historically, Scotch whisky evolved from a Scottish drink called uisge beatha, which means "lively water" or "water of life." The earliest record of distillation in Scotland occurred as long ago as 1494. Distillation was well-established by the late 15th century (as cribbed from the Wiki entry).

These words are true.

Try scotch. Keep a bottle or twelve on hand. Sample frequently. Drinking scotch is health-smart. This advice would be an addition to the Rules of Chris. Heed the prescriptions of Doctor Whisky. DRINK SCOTCH.

A TASTY BIT OF BLOG RECAP

As a point of order, I wan to share with you my list of other Blogger blogs that I follow, soon to contain one more as a friend of mine, who shall remain anonymous until I have his permission to reveal his work, is creating his own blog and claims to be inspired by me, for which I am very honored. Here's the list of blogs I follow on Blogger in case you care to investigate:

adrian tomine news
Bully Says: Comics Oughta Be Fun!
DAMN Good Coffee...and HOT!
Diversions of the Groovy Kind
I Am Walter
lieseltower
life and opinions of andrew rilstone
Linda Dick's Inkblot365
Lit and Life
Maira's Books
No Hurry in J.C.
Pencil Ink comic book artists blog 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s
Pulp Sunday
Retreat To Write - A Writer's Retreat
That'll Do
The Aquaman Shrine
To Read it? Or NOT!

As for my own blog, my page views have spiked near 100 or over three times in the last week. Thank you for your interest. The Hogwart's and thirtysomething posts are neck and neck for most popular this week followed by the posts from Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and the various Marvel heroes post (though so far no one has helped identify the heroes on the t-shirt). The volcano post continues to be the top post for the month, and though I copied similar content from the overview for Spamalot to see if I could replicate the results, the latter is not generating as many page hits. There's something in the volcano post, which I could identify it. The Spamalot post comes in second, followed by the Serenity/Firefly post, the Starman post, and just now, the Hogwart's post. The all time list remains the same since the last time I reported.

The Blog Journey goes ever onward as I discover new things about myself, reconnect with old things, and clarify those things that are important to me, like whisky, comic books, and the love of my wife and family. If the blog has done nothing else, and it has done a great deal and so many things, it has helped me to define who I am, who I have always been, who I was at different times and have given away those masks and identities, and who I will be going forward. There's still more work to do on my process of individuation, but with good whisky, good books, good comic books, and great love, I will figure it all out and report with WAY TOO MUCH text about on these pages. As always, thank you for reading.

REVIEWS

I always have such ambitions, and then I just cannot meet my own expectations. Still I want to jot down some quickie reviews, but there's more in my stack, and I won't get to everything, so check back throughout the week.

Pick and choose as you will because all my reviews contain spoilers. Beware and skip if you do not want plot surprises spoiled.

First up, my review of Dune Messiah. I read this long ago, while in high school, and I copied my entire page with the review from Good Reads (seen below). I re-read the book via the audio edition narrated By Scott Brick, Katherine Kellgren, Euan Morton, and Simon Vance and running a brief 8 hours and 57 minutes. I am now on the version of A Christmas Carol narrated by famed Harry Potter audio book narrator Jim Dale. I passed over many versions (Patrick Stewart, Tim Curry) for Jim Dale, who I find excellent but also familiar and comforting as I have listened to the Harry Potter books so many times. I will move on to the third Dune book, Children of Dune, some time soon, though I was not wholly enthusiastic about Dune Messiah.

MOVIES - Liesel and I did something unusual, for us at least, Friday and Saturday just passed (December 27th and 28th), we went to two movies, one each day, trying Kalamazoo's new Alamo Drafthouse. We saw The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug and American Hustle. As movies go, despite my love for Tolkien, I think the latter is a better movie. I really enjoyed the Hobbit, and I am eager to see it again and see the first one again as well, but American Hustle is a better movie in terms of acting, directing, and as an organic whole. Or maybe I just think this because I did not know what was going to happen, where with the Hobbit, despite the additions, I knew the story very well.



I know that many geek purists do not like the changes to The Hobbit, but I do like them. Tauriel is a great character and a much needed female character. The use of the orcs in pursuit of the dwarven party is a good addition as are Legolas and Tauriel to aid the dwarves. The pursuing orcs, which were not pursuing in the novel, also tie in well with Gandalf's investigations of the Necromancer and Dol Goldur in the south, a story told in the Lord of the Rings as happening around the time The Hobbit takes place. So to see all of this dramatized is very gratifying for Tolkien fans or at least this one.

I expected this Hobbit movie to end before Smaug's death, saving the slaying of the dragon and the last big battle, which is resolved very quickly in the book, for the third movie.

American Hustle is a great story of con artists in the late 1970s disco era with excellent performances by a high octane cast as seen in the poster above and left. I did not even recognize Jennifer Lawrence until half way through the film. Fantastic story, fantastic acting, great directing, and a wonderful twist ending. The story is plausible and true to the time period. It is also suitably long clocking in at a little over two and a half hours.

It's also wonderful to see movies at the Alamo Drafthouse. Not only are we supporting local, downtown Kalamazoo business, but I like being able to eat and drink good food and beverages while watching a movie in relative comfort. I also like the attention to detail in the pre-film trailers and clips from vintage film and television as well as the obvious love of the ownership for movies as a genre. There's some nice paintings with homages to classic films in the lobby, some old movie posters, and a giant Barbarella display.

The next two reviews are from Good Reads.

EAST OF WEST volume one review

Once again, I fall prey to the recommendations of the employees of Fanfare. This one from Andrew Boehme. I really liked it, but I hesitate to give it five stars. It's good, but it's not great. There's something missing, and it will take more thought on my part to figure out what is missing. But it's very good stuff. Great writing (Hickman), great art (Dragotta/Martin). I highly recommend it for people who like apocalyptic, Judeo-Christian tweaked alternate histories. Back story. Character. Premise. There's elements missing in these aspects. In a comic book, like a novel, but more forgivable due to its genre, these completions and connections may be forthcoming in future issues. This is an enjoyable read, but I am left a teensy-bit dissatisfied.

NOTE: I was going to deliver an extended review of East of West here, explaining many of the comments I make in the text above, but my content is growing over long. Expect more on East of West, The Hive, and God is Dead in future blogs, possibly as soon as tomorrow.

THE HIVE REVIEW

Charles Burns is a genius. Black Hole ranks highly on my list of favorite comics. Apparently, I got a bit turned around as I just read this volume because Liesel gave it to me for Christmas without reading the first volume Xed Out. Still, Burns is amazing in his merging of story lines, fantasy and reality, creepy and sweet. If anything captures the spirit of a nightmare, which is more complex than being simply horrific, it's this volume.

I included a couple of pages below. ADULT MATERIAL! :-) But then I figure that most if not all of my readers are adults.

Burns' renderings of the girl, Sarah, are very lovely. But even in the "normal" sequences, there's a strange nightmarish quality. Notice the other pedestrians, especially panel #5 of the page below, which is an odd shot between other people with non-story characters in the foreground. This comic is very much worth reading as is Black Hole.

GOD IS DEAD

Read this last night and loved it. More to come in a future blog.

Jonathan Hickman Talks Infinity, Thanos And God Is Dead




COUNTDOWN TO END OF THE BLOG YEAR - 81 shirts remaining

- chris tower - 1312.30 - 14:05

T-shirt #108: Powers Division

T-shirt #108: Police Athletics: Powers Division: Grilling and more

Here again in Blog Central, things are changing and always in flux. After two days (July 4th and 5th) of going completely nuts with long, drum solo, "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" -style, lengthy blog entries, I am trying to dial it back. Yesterday, I sketched out the next week's worth of blog entries (#s 108-113), but then things happened, such as grilling some steaks: change of plan.

This picture comes from yesterday about 19:30. Piper's friends from college are here to celebrate her birthday. Adding her boyfriend and Ivan's girlfriend to our group, I was grilling for eight people. Piper and Olivia were handling potatoes and zucchini indoors, so I was grilling on the deck, while listening to the Detroit Tigers pound the Cleveland Indians 9-4. Now, as I compose today's blog entry, I am watching Andy Murray play (and I hope beat) Novak Djokovic in a live TV broadcast from Wimbeldon. GO MURRAY!

This shirt is one of those fictional creations for what would be available to the characters if the Powers Police Division actually existed and provided employees who work out with Athletics shirts. I am rather fond of these faux Athletics Division type shirts, so expect to see others. However, I am not as crazy about this comic or this shirt, so it's perfect for grilling. I don't care if it gets soiled.


Powers is a fine comic by Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Avon Oeming published as part of Marvel Comics' Icon imprint after leaving Image Comics. It was launched in 2000 and has published around 70 issues so far. I bought some of the collected editions and enjoyed the "Who Killed Retro Girl" storyline and some of the other stories. But it's just not one of my most highly rated comic books even though many others love it.

The dinner was very successful. After grilling these round steaks, which do look a little pale, I grilled chicken drumsticks. The grill did well with fewer flare ups than in the past, though as you can see I have the water bottle handy. Also, in this shot (above), you can see the "Official Tower Grilling Table" given to me by my Dad, the Big Guy. There are grilling implements on the table and on the deck below is the box in which I keep them and the corner of a Frisbee that I use to keep them covered and dry. This is only my second time grilling this year. I am not as proficient as my father, but I did manage to grill without burning anything to a crisp.


After dinner and cleaning up, Liesel and I watched Identity (2003)  with John Cusak, Ray Liotta, Amanda Peet, and more. It's a good twist on the slasher type film and was a good and relatively short end to the day.

RANDOM THOUGHTS

Closing today with various random thoughts.

A friend of Liesel's brought us yummy pumpkin bread yesterday in exchange for a gift. Piper also made yummy cookies in the middle of the night. Luckily, we are running our bedroom fans on high for plenty of white noise.

I find that I am noticing other people's T-shirts more and more as I am out shopping. On two different occasions yesterday, I was tempted to ask strangers if I could ask them about their T-shirts and maybe take a picture. One kid had a "Sub Rosa" T-shirt. Was this for a game? A brand? Or was it for the concept itself ("under the rose")?

I realized after finishing yesterday's set of lists that I had not provided a list of comics I would recommend and have enjoyed recently. But then, I probably write about comic books too much, and you are all sick of hearing about them. When I was in Fanfare yesterday, I sung the praises of Green Arrow (which I have sung here), Captain America (ditto), and others that I have not praised here or not praised at length, such as Hawkeye, Daredevil, Aquaman, Iron Man, and Thor. The Matt Fraction and Aja Hawkeye is freaking brilliant, especially the most recent "Pizza Dog" story. As a new dog person, I loved that story especially. I also noted to the employees that I was distracting from work with chat that I had just caught up on Detective Comics recently and found it to be much better than I expected.

As of right now, I have T-shirts 108 (today) through #115 (next Sunday) planned and drafted. I am tempted to make a "Coming Soon on 365 T-shirts" list, but since I keep changing my mind (as I did by inserting today's shirt) and I think that the unexpected nature of the blog is better, I will refrain.

But you tell me. I am always whoring myself out for comments and attention.

Previews or no previews?

Another hesitation I have for previews is that I have had an entry in the works for about 20 days, and I keep pushing it back. It's currently scheduled for #114, if I do not push it back again. I have mentioned that it is upcoming twice already if you need further hints as to its identity.

My page views are on the rise. I peaked at near fifty views twice last week. Granted several of these views are blog-rating bots, but still, they are views. I know that most of my readers come from Facebook and Twitter, and yet my top traffic sources are blogsrating, vampirestat.com, and google.


I really want Murray to win Wimbeldon.

I want to see the Tigers sweep the Indians. I am ecstatic that after some recent losing struggles, the Tigers have exploded for 40 runs during the recent five-game winning streak. I hope I did not just jinx them with these hopes.

I just finished reading the first issue of Comic Book Creator magazine with great articles about Jack Kirby (which I have mentioned before), Alex Ross, Kurt Busiek, and an interview with the legendary Dennis O'Neill and Neal Adams. I think I may subscribe.

I want to see the Superman movie. That may have to happen today.

I may grill again today. I had a beer and a mixed bourbon drink yesterday. Today may need to be whisky, single malt, straight. My wife bought me a nifty Robert Burns branded whisky (though a blend) for Father's Day. It is very yummy. I do not discriminate against blends. It is pictured here from the day I chose to sample it for the first time: June 30th, 2013 (two days after I received it).

This is my wish for all of you as well: drink scotch, single-malt whisky.

- chris tower - 1307.07 - 10:29

T-shirt #82: Cerebus for Dictator

T-shirt #82: Cerebus for Dictator

"Everybody wants to Rule the World": 

Would the country be better off if we had a single dictator who made all the decisions? Do countries under a dictatorship prosper more effectively than those with other forms of government?

I am not a political scientist, so I do not know the answer to this question. Since dictatorships tend to be totalitarian and oppressive, I am not seriously advocating that fascism (as often dictatorships are also fascist governments) is my favored form of government or that I would prefer to live under such a regime.

And so, the shirt is meant to be funny. Ironic, even, if you subscribe to a more broad definition of irony.


This is my second Cerebus shirt. I only own two, so this is for Cerebus features. I already featured Cerebus as "Pope" in my blog entry for T-shirt #24.

This shirt features another idea that is common among people, and I have heard it come out of the mouths of many friends and associates: "The world would be a much better place if I was in charge."

Could we live in a new world order made to serve your agenda or my self-interest-based agenda?

Would a world with my agenda be any better than a world with your agenda?

Do we already live in such a world dictated by an Illuminati-like cartel of churches, heads of state, corporate executives, and assorted special interest groups?

ELIMINATE IT: THE ATOMIC PILGRIMAGE: If Cerebus were the dictator, in the version of the character featured in today's T-shirt image, he would just hack and slash whatever got in his way, whatever he didn't like. Ruling the world through elimination of whatever does not fit like a glove into your New World Order is a very appealing option. My friends (see T-shirt #81) invented the idea of the Atomic Pilgrimage, in which all the undesirables are marched into the desert and blown to smithereens with nuclear weapons. Marching to their doom would be all the rapists and other heinous criminals, religious zealots, all the power hungry and excessively greedy, all those deemed too "stupid" to continue to live, and so on. We rule the world. We choose who lives and who makes a date with a nuke. This idea is firmly rooted in misanthropy, which I explored in T-shirt #40. There is quite a bit of misanthropy in Cerebus (also explored  to some extent in T-shirt #24). I have tried to cast off my misanthropy, which seems unnecessarily arrogant and an unwise reaction the universe. If we are all connected, then the better reaction to the universe is love. But judgment comes easy; love is hard.

Also, I explored these ideas in T-shirt #64: Embrace Uncertainty.


SURVEILLANCE SOCIETY: Ruling the world through might and force is no longer necessary because technology has changed the game. Armies used to be the route to great power. (This idea was mentioned in last night's GAME OF THRONES, season three finale.) Knowledge and resources also played a role, but these could both be secured and defended with armies. Now, armies still defend possession of the means of control, but those who control technology control the world. Love the machine; fear the machine. Noticed all the cameras staring down at you from dozens, maybe hundreds of vantage points that you pass each day? More and more cameras all the time. RFID tags in your clothes, food, auto parts, and soon maybe underneath your skin. Computers tracking your purchases, web page views, personal data, habits, vices, all while running your face through facial recognition software and using MRI scans to identify how your brain lights up in reaction to different stimuli.

Scared yet? The virtual Panopticon has arrived. Want to rule the world? Want to run a computer program that scans millions of data streams: camera video, RFID information, data based repositories of consumer markets? We are being watched, our data analyzed, and complex plans are being hatched to keep us controlled, fat, and complacent.

There are many, many books on the rise of surveillance society, living off the grid, and the issues of privacy and freedom. Three of my favorites are No Place to Hide by Robert O'Harrow, The novels of John Twelve Hawks starting with The Traveler, and Welcome to the Machine by Derrick Jensen and George Draffan.

Though I should mention Cory Doctorow, also, as I am currently reading Homeland, a very good sequel to the excellent Little Brother.

How prophetic was Pink Floyd's frightening, slow, dirge-like "Welcome to the Machine"?

So what? What does all this have to do with Cerebus?

Nothing and everything.

Ruling the world, control through the machine, and how we cope in the end: DOCTOR WHISKY. Cerebus used to booze it up quite a bit as a means of coping with the disastrous ruin of his life created by the choices he had made. My favorite author Warren Ellis (whom I have blogged about in T-shirt #75 and T-shirt #22) often sends Twitter prescriptions from "Doctor Whisky." In 2008, he held court from a pub near London on Twitter with his thoughts on whisky, whiskey, and bourbon. With due credit, I want to enter his thoughts into the permanent record here beyond the jump because these Twitter messages are what made me a whisky lover.

As for this edition of 365 T-shirts, that's a wrap.

"Hey, you, get off of my cloud" kind of sums it up.

- chris tower - date - time

T-shirt #77: Narcissism

T-shirt #77: Narcissism

Yesterday, my wife was reading a Time Magazine article, and she asked me if I thought that the "Millenial Generation" was more narcissistic, entitled, privileged, self-absorbed than our generation. I said no, despite the data presented in the Time Magazine article, which has its portal here (though the full article is only accessible to subscribers): "The Me Me Me Generation."

Of what Time Magazine allows us to see, one can read the following: "The incidence of narcissistic personality disorder is nearly three times as high for people in their 20s as for the generation that's now 65 or older, according to the National Institutes of Health; 58% more college students scored higher on a narcissism scale in..." (Stein, 2013).

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2143001,00.html#ixzz2VLHHSkzk

I left in the the "Read more" link because when I copied just the text from Time Magazine, the site automatically appended the text with the Read more blurb and URL. Tricksy Tricksy.

Though I am not disputing that Narcissistic Personality Disorder is a very real and very destructive force of psyche, I would like to question the data and how the National Institute of Health arrived at those statistics.

The modern world breeds conditions like Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) and Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD). It's no wonder that both entered into serious study around the 1970s. Again, ADD is a very real thing, but it's also very prevalent with almost everyone in our modern world to some degree, especially among people who use various forms of technology to interact with and consume media and who engage actively in social media outlets. Because of the very nature of media, social media, and all the access technologies, everyone involved is a little (and some quite a bit more than a little) narcissistic and ADD (used in the common vernacular as an adjective for someone displaying the symptoms of ADD). But there's a significant difference between showing signs and symptoms and having a disorder. Are we a little quick to slap a "disorder" label on basic human reactions to our complex, modern world?

When I read the definition of  NPD, I find that it does not universally apply to those in my life whom I may label as narcissists or when I find that I am labeling myself as narcissistic. "Narcissistic Personality Disorder involves arrogant behavior, a lack of empathy for other people, and a need for admiration-all of which must be consistently evident at work and in relationships. People who are narcissistic are frequently described as cocky, self-centered, manipulative, and demanding. Narcissists may concentrate on unlikely personal outcomes (e.g., fame) and may be convinced that they deserve special treatment ("Psychology Today," 2013). This list features seriously damaging personality traits, such as lack of empathy and manipulations.

So back to the discussion with my wife, are the children of today any more entitled, manipulative, or privileged than we were? No. I don't think so. Granted, those of us who grew up in the 1960s and 1970s (and to some extent those from the 1980s) can grouse and complain about how much MORE the children of today have: more television channels, more product choices, more technology, just MORE. I am sure I am not the only person from my age group who has said that my smartphone has ten times the computer power and capacity of my first three computers combined. I am sure I am not the only one who has discussed with his peers how different our lives would have been if had we been plugged in the way the kids of today are plugged in with all the choices and fun games and access to media that we have today. (In fact, both these themes have appeared already in this blog and will recur as often re-visited themes.)

It's a new and different world today than the one of my childhood, and with the next singularity (or singularities) approaching as described by Ray Kurzweil (see trailer and link elsewhere on this page), the changes we have seen so far are just the beginning of changes so transformative that our culture of the near future may well be indistinguishable from the world of the 1970s in just a few years.

Not on Netflix. Not via Amazon. Buy it? Here.

And yet, are we fostering and enabling a generation of NPDs?