The Slacker Factor ::: The Voice of Generation X: Podcasts, Blogs, World Domination

MTV Pushing out ‘cynical’ Generation X

Posted on February 24, 2010 | By Christian | No Comments

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. Read more

The death of icons, A Meandering Rant from TSF5

Posted on February 2, 2010 | By Christian | 1 Comment

Through history people have paid tribute to those who affected them most.  In the past it was high placed political powers such as monarchs or statesmen,  but since the advent of television this adoration has broadened to include celebrities.  The availability of electronic media provided a platform but tabloids and the internet brought it to extreme levels.

When Elvis died it was obviously a big story and deserved “news” coverage.  The same can be said for John Lennon, Michael Jackson, etc largely in part to their untimely deaths.  But where does the media draw the line as to what is worth “breaking news coverage”?  Are D list celebrities worthy of such coverage.  Do we need to know that a Reality TV contestant died?  Or a TV shill?  Where is the line drawn?  Do we need a cable station devoted to death much like the Weather Channel?

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Gen X and retirement

Posted on January 8, 2010 | By Christian | 1 Comment

The Philadelphia Inquirer recently ran a mini-series of articles about Generation X and Retirement written by Maria Panaritis. I know what you are thinking, we are still way too young to really worry about retirement.  So many things can happen that are out of our control between now and retirement, there isn’t much sense sweating it too much.  Well, if you haven’t been thinking about retirement, its time to start.   Now, I don’t want to bring you down but… reading this may.

Between making less overall than our parents did (accounting for inflation etc), the housing market just plain sucks, Baby Boomers taking forever to retire and eating up social security and basically sucking the life out of the economy, and don’t forget the cost of health care; Maria points out we are pretty much SOL.  And lets not forget about the melting polar ice caps, but that’s for another bitch session.

Maybe it is time to just roll over and accept the fact that we are screwed on so many levels?  Never!  If Generation X knows anything, its that we can expect the worst and there isn’t much we can do about any of it.  But don’t give up hope, somehow we always persevere.  ~cg

Dust on the Ceiling, a Meandering Rant from TSF0

Posted on November 26, 2009 | By Patty Pino | No Comments

So, did you ever have one of those days where you wake up and you don’t know what to do with yourself so you just lay in bed and stare up and think about how dust gets trapped on the ceiling, of all places, and how it is probably falling on you while you sleep and maybe that is why your hair is so dry and you flip on your computer-radio-TV and witness the same old blather-blather about pop star addictions, and lying politicians… Read more

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