Sadly this will likely be the death knell for the mix-tape as well.  And what am I going to do with my 80′s Metal cassettes??

June 1 2009 - the new groundhog day?

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) has announced the Great Recession is over!  Apparently the experts have decided it began in December 2007 and ended in June 2009.  I don’t know what to say other than “what??”.

Kurt Cobain - February 20, 1967 - April 5, 1994

Here is another interesting article from our friend JenX67 regarding a new exhibit at the Seattle Art Museum

When the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) announced the selection of Michael Darling as its new chief curator, they did so on Twitter. Apparently, one of Darling’s strengths is his ability to attract “a whole new audience”. Audience development is one of the biggest issues facing arts organizations far and wide. Whether opera, contemporary art or ballet, much has been written about how the arts are currently struggling to engage Gen X and Gen Y audiences. Darling, a Gen Xer, comes to MCA from the Seattle Art Museum where his final exhibit is a look at how Kurt Cobain impacted a generation. “This exhibition asks viewers to question how and why Kurt came to mean so much to a generation,” Darling says.

jenx67.com, jenX67 | are you there God? it’s me, generation x,

You should read the whole article and check out this link to a slideshow from the exhibit.  And if you’re in the neighborhood swing by the exhibit!

From "We Blog Cartoons"

Alright, I admit it.  I have iPad envy… and its not because my iPhone is small.  Well, maybe it is.  Anyway, I was out the other night chilling with the family having some sushi and the table next to me of college kids had a new iPad and were showing it off.  And damn!  It is as cool as it looks on TV.  I haven’t actually had the chance to hold one and play with it but it does look seriously cool.

One thing that can go away is the constant media attention to it.  I can’t turn on the TV or radio without someone talking about iPad this or iPad that.  Its everywhere! Which is probably why they have sold 500k of them already.

Does everyone who writes and article or has a blog feel compelled to write about the thing?  Oh wait.  Anyway, I don’t think I will be able to get a P.O. from the wife to get one anytime soon so I will have to learn to live with envy.

And my iPhone is not small.

Here's to you MTV!

Well, its official.  MTV has announced their focus on Millennials, casting aside Generation X… the generation that made MTV.  Sad news indeed.  I’d like to give a big FU to MTV.  Not just for this recent admission, but for the crap they have been broadcasting for the past 20 years.  There was a time when MTV was about music television.  It was certainly a revolutionary, but simple, concept that changed music forever.  Play popular music but with supporting video.  It changed everything.  No longer were we sitting by the radio listening to music while doing something else.  Now we were completely focused on the music as a total sensory experience.  And when I say focused, I mean sitting like a zombie starring at the TV, one music video after another… completely enthralled.  It was a perfect formula and our generation shaped it.

Then something along the way happened.  Something terrible.  MTV changed focus from what made them great, music television, to a soap opera channel.  I blame the Real World and it was all down hill from there, recently culminating with Jersey Shore.  While this metamorphosis was occurring, MTV did still try to retain the Generation X market via MTV2.  This worked for a while but ultimately failed.  I want my MTV!

As I mentioned, we shaped MTV, but in a way it shaped us as well.  It changed how we absorbed music and how we responded to it on a social level.  Do you remember going into school on Monday after seeing the latest and greatest new MTV Video over the weekend???  MTV Network President Van Toffler said “Millennials are really about authentic reality and family” and that MTV “played up the camaraderie and famliy elements on Jersey Shore to appeal to them”.  What???  Has he seen Jersey Shore???  If this is any reflection on what Millennials are about, or if they are at all being shaped by MTV’s content… God help us all.

Certainly on some level I can understand MTV now focusing on Millennials.   They spend the most time in front of the television and apparently care far less about music than our generation had.  I wonder though, would Gen-Xers spend some of our prime time viewing hours watching MTV if there were still something that appealed to us?  Its hard to say because, despite their recent admission, MTV cast us aside many years ago.  So, again MTV… FU.  How’s that for cynical?

~cg

Now, once we admit to ourselves its not about a lot we have to look at that. Its not about a lot. Is that disaffection I smell? So what is it about? Well, its about our experiences. As a group of people who were born in the 60’s & 70’s we all have some similar experiences. We all went to grade school and suffered through the same lousy curriculum and some of us even picked up the “new math” along the way. But more importantly, in my humble opinion, its about the history we lived through and how we experienced those events.

As a child I remember our TV having 13 channels and even remember the day my father brought home a betamax and we watched Star Wars and Young Frankenstein in the comfort of our shag carpet home. We were the first generation of Sesame Street fans and the first generation exposed to the 24 hour news cycle CNN brought us. We lived through some seriously significant and historic events. As kids we saw Reagan shot and the Space Shuttle blown into pieces. We had MTV and Lollapalooza and Al Gore gave us the Internet.

As GenXers we’re considered flannel wearing slackers with no interests or motivation? Yes, I like my grunge and flannel. I miss Nirvana. I’m often cynical and definitely unmotivated at times. I am without question anti-establishment and definitely don’t want to take any crap from Baby Boomers. Oooh they make me so mad with their rules and expectations! Are they all retired yet?? And Generation Y?? Come on.

So, now what? Well, we’re all at an age where responsibility rears its ugly head and keeps us from partaking in the indiscretions of our youth which we would otherwise jump head first in. We are pressured to act as adults but still feel like 16. Should we portrait ourselves as role models to our kids or nieces and nephews or whoever, when we know deep down we did the all the stuff the generation before us warned about and would probably do it again if we could get away with it. Generation X doesn’t play by the rules, so should we tell others to? Heck no. We are anti-establishment! Fight the man! Unless of course that is going to take a lot of effort, because then I’m not so into it. I think this is what Generation X is.

Oh, and by the way… Barak Obama is a Gen Xer. But then again, so is Woody Harrelson. Take from that what you will. ~cg

<Please give it a listen: TSF1: The Slacker Revolution Begins!>

Shareholders

9-5 (which is today is more like 8-6)

Corporate Downsizing – Another effort to placate shareholders by ruining the lives of others in the name of the almighty dollar.

Team Building – Forcing people to spend more time with each other than they already do in their 8-6 work day.

Executives – People who have climbed their way up the corporate ladder by leveraging nepotism to become filthy wealthy.

Meal Allowances – The challenge of finding a way to manage 3 square meals on $25/day

Special Projects/Assignments – The way corporations attempt to get more hours out of your day while trying to make you feel special.

Economy Class Seats – Fitting 15yrs of sitting at a desk ass into a seat the size of a cat carrier for 8hrs and 3 connecting flights.

Forced Charity – The way the corporation tries to justify the means and buy some karma by guilting their workforce into giving to the charity of the company’s choice.

Service Anniversary’s – rewarding employees for sucking it up for X number of years and presenting them with a clock to remind them of how much time they’ve wasted.

~cg