Virtual Reality Insanity

You would never know this, but I have issues with reality television. Yes, I have watched my fair share of trash. I remember the year Karl and I were glued in front of the television to watch "I Want to Be a Hilton" and "Average Joe 3: The Joes Strike Back." Christi had me addicted to the first season of "The Apprentice." I also harbor the guilt of watching every show from the first season of "My Super Sweet 16" (this was a low point in my life physically, emotionally, educationally, and psychologically).

Of course, loosely relating to Kenneth Burke, what is "reality"? Our terministic screen messes with reality since it's perceived in so many facets. What really happened? Did it really happen? With reality television, the wonders of editing can make the sweetest person look like a bitch. My favorite editing snafu as of late was a BBC special on Queen Elizabeth II. The dear Queen was in a photo shoot with famed photographer Annie Leibowitz. The special shows the Queen leaving the shoot in quite a huff, appearing to be rather ticked with Leibowitz. The BBC apologized to the Queen for misrepresentation in editing. So what happened?

Anyway, back to the gripe of reality television. CBS will be airing a program called "Kid Nation." My primary gripe with this is that, at least in my silly brain, has a scary resemblance to "Lord of the Flies." My other weak question: what good can come of this? Will I totally misinterpret this show like I did with "Dancing with the Stars"? I was sure "Stars" was too absurd and bound to flop. Oh, how wrong am I, five seasons later?

Not yet a girl gone wild, not yet sedate

Ever since Karl and I established a land line, we've been getting telemarketing calls just like the rest of the world. Our cell phones still serve as the catch-and-release tags for our family members. On our land line, we've gotten the regular calls for steam cleaning (not our responsibility, living in an apartment), refinancing our mortgage (owning a house out here... we'd have to give up a few organs and then some for a down payment), and for vacations (stupid Redondo Beach hotel selling our information). The best call, though, came from the esteemed organization of Girls Gone Wild, asking to talk to Karl...

This takes me back to when Karl and I first met. One of our first dates was to a GameCube launch party in Atlanta. He failed to inform me that it was sponsored by Maxim. As we enter, there are scantily-clad girls draped over large-screen televisions. The tragedy of the situation was that they were receiving no attention. At all. All but two of the party attendees (being Heidi and myself) were addicted to playing preview games and talking about graphics.

But I'm still wondering about Girls Gone Wild... and being in Los Angeles, you never know...