Borrowed from BT Internet Rangers

I was talking with a buddy of mine who reads the Slacker Factor and he commented that he enjoys the blog and podcast, but he said he thought I was a bit negative at times.  Maybe even bordering on angry on occasion. I certainly don’t view myself as angry.  In fact I know for certain that today the sun came up, a puppy was born, and a baby took his first steps.  So, life is great!

Unfortunately, Glenn Beck still sucks.

Mmmm...capitalism.

The new earth friendly pigs can now produce excrement without damaging the environment! Yaaay, we’re all saved by science!

…Since when the F@#$ have animals craping been BAD FOR THE ENVIRONMENT!!

p.s.  as you might have guessed, in reality, the only environment being damaged are the confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs), which is a creepy story unto itself. 

It seems to me like another finger in the dam of profit-streamlining living things AKA our food supply.

This has been an angry moment with-
Joe
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~pp

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.

Brian Masterson?

Some think it’s all fun and games when traveling for business.  Movies are made about it (Up in the Air, Airplane, the list goes on), books are written about it, and hundreds of stories are told at businesses all over the world. Different cities, different countries, new faces, new adventures.  To be fair, I have traveled more than my share in my short time of business travel, and have visited hundreds of cities and towns around the world. I have visited friends halfway around the world, eaten interesting cuisine, seen some amazing things, and had my share of fun. Someday, I hope my children can experience the same things I have been able to experience.

There is another side of business travel that most either do not know about, or care to think about.  The DARK SIDE of business travel.  From sitting next to and meaninglessly chatting with the nameless (and sometimes smelly) faces on airplanes, to eating dinner on your own (again), getting lost because the GPS you rented is not working, driving through snow/ice, it’s not always glamorous as some folks think it is.  Think about it in these terms – for a normal week long business trip, it takes about 6-8 hrs of preparation –  setting up appointments, booking flights, finding hotels close to the meetings, booking car rentals, figuring out directions to each appointment.  The list goes on.  And this is PRIOR to you even leaving.

So the night before, you pack up, confirm your itinerary, send it to loved ones, recheck it, go to bed.  Next morning, you wake early and head off to the airport.  There of course, you encounter long lines, crying babies, tons of people that are not “frequent travelers” and confused on where they should be, go, do.  Wait in line for your ticket, wait in line to get through security, get patted down because you look like you might be bad news, wait in line to get some food for the plane (because we all know how good(not) and cheap (NOT) the food can be on planes).  Then of course, you get to wait in line to get onto the plane.  Just too much fun.

So you get there, rent your car, take your train, get picked up, whatever your means of transportation may be for this leg of the trip.  Head to the hotel, first meeting, and so on and so forth.  This of course assumes the airline has not lost your luggage. This goes on for days and in some cases a couple of weeks.  No sleep in the hotel, wake up early to construction; eat a crappy FREE meal at the hotel, and the days starts again.  Honestly, there have been trips where I literally forgot not only what room number I was in, but what HOTEL I was staying at.  At the end of the day you eat alone or sit at a bar and talk with some stranger that is in the same situation as you.  Small talk, blah blah blah.  Gets old, you know?

As I mentioned initially, frequent travelers may say they have their share of fun on the road.  However, each trip is not just a joy ride.  Live one day in another man’s shoes, they say, and you will truly have your eyes opened to a whole new world.

It’s what we do, and we love it.

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

The "Smells Like Teen Spirit" Single Artwork

Considering The Slacker Factor is a podcast and webspace targeted directly at Generation X, whose musical apex is squarely planted in early 90s grunge, what I’m about to say will no doubt offend some and may even be considered downright sacrilegious. So, let me just come right out and say it…

I never need to hear Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” again. That’s right, the GenX anthem that epitomizes all things slacker is not aging well in my eyes. In fact, the second I hear those opening power chords, I instinctually reach for the dial or digital preset button to find just about anything else (within reason, of course… I’m not about to choose any American Idol reject over the voice of our generation (I think, anyway).

It’s not really Kurt’s fault though. In 1991, when Nevermind was released unto the unsuspecting public, it was all I needed to puff out my chest and get all angsty. After all, this was the theme song to many a drunken slam dance, late night rally to plan our world domination, or solo introspective moment. But just three years later, after Kurt Cobain’s untimely death in 1994, the song sank into nostalgia. Hearing it then, we’d take a second to imagine what could of been, what still might be, and what contributions our generation was making (or not making) to the world. But now, it’s lost all that sense of nostalgia, emotional connection, and is just plain tired.

I blame radio. I’ve just heard it too many damn times. Back in the day when “alternative music” really started to affect the mainstream population, it felt like Generation X was poised to bring slacker culture to the whole world. You could tune into just about any radio station format – from “Modern Rock” to “Top 40″ and hear the evidence of how deep “Teen Spirit” had penetrated society. The video was aired every 10 minutes on MTV, which meant you couldn’t escape it no matter where you were. It was ubiquitous angst. But, there is a fixed limit on many times you can repeatedly feel those strong emotions when a song comes on. There are only so many times that that melody, those driving drums, that distorted guitar, and the gruff vocals can penetrate your heart.

Unfortunately, I think this fall from grace is inevitable. Just think of all that cutting edge rock and roll from the 60s and 70s – Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Jimmy Hendrix, The Doors. They changed the face of music and lead a cultural revolution. But now, 40 years later, the whole genre is relegated to the dusty corners of the radio, ipods, and vinyl albums with not a record player in sight. And I’m sure that even our parents, who were there for the birth of “freedom rock”, aren’t going out and getting stoned, practicing free love and “imagining world peace”, when “Dazed and Confused” makes it’s 55 thousand, 227th appearance in their ears.

So, by no means am I debasing or marginalizing “Smells Like Teen Sprit.” I just don’t think there is any way to avoid this slide into staleness. Music should always evoke that same passion we all felt in 1991. And if the songs of our youth are no longer able to arouse those feelings, maybe we should move on and explore new music that sing about our current struggles like, I don’t know, the trappings of corporate America, the unending demands on our time from the kids and their all-encompassing social lives to the responsibilities of supporting household in a down economy, the unpaid bills and the fears of being trivialized as a generation. Actually that sounds like god-awful music. So barring that, maybe we can at least tap into some of Nirvana’s deeper album cuts or smaller hits yet still amazing songs like “All Apologies” or “Rape Me.” Or maybe I’ll just go listen to Pearl Jam instead – at least they’re still putting out new music.

- Robert LaFrance

Ok, I admit it.  I am not a winter person.  Not even a little bit.  And since my wife and kids are sick of hearing me bitch about it, I thought I would share with the world!

1. It starts getting dark around lunch.
2. Its friggin cold outside!
3. Its friggin cold inside!
4. Snow!  Shoveling it, idiots driving in it, its ability to find its way down the back of my neck.  Pretty much everything to do with it.

5. Will my nose ever stop running?
6. If one more kid throws a snowball at me I am getting a shotgun.
7. Finding, untangling, and hanging Christmas lights when its 20 degrees.
8. Dragging out the Christmas tree in January and looking forward to pulling pine needles out of my feet for the next 3 months.
9. My car will never be clean again.
10. Chapped bleeding lips that give me just one more reason not to smile.
11. Having to listen to people who try too hard to like winter.

I do enjoy the holidays with friends and family though. (I’m not a complete crab!)  ~cg

Faux Hawk – Don’t be a tool.

Shirt tucked in to Sweatpants – it means you’re crazy.

New Balance Sneakers – We know! They’re good for your feet…but, they’re not good for your sex life.

All of one color.

Skulls – you’re not 13 any more.

Shoes go with Socks – You wouldn’t walk around with just your socks on, would you?

We don’t care what team you like.

Scarves on Guys – Unless it’s attached to a ceiling fan.

L.L. Bean

Guys in Spandex – We know you’re crazy; you don’t have to show us your nuts.

Bluetooth Headset – We hope it rains and you electrocute your head.

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Sedrick and Moses are friends with Patty, and she forced them into creating this list on a lazy Sunday.  They told me, “We don’t dress very well, but we know what looks stupid”.

When she has to repeat the salad dressing choices for the fourth time, because you didn’t listen to her when she said them the first time for the person sitting on your right, the second time for the person sitting across from you, and the third time for the person who is sitting immediately to your left.

When you’re the last party in the restaurant, they’ve been cleaning up for an hour around you, and you have the nerve to order a cappuccino.

When you’re Michael Bolton and you don’t like anything on the menu and you want pasta with none of the sauces the restaurant offers – oh, and it is a SEAFOOD restaurant, by the way, Bolton…… – and you treat her like she should call a special pow-wow with the chefs to magically invent something yummy for you and your group, because, you know, you’re Michael Bolton.

When you’ve doused yourself with that stinky, cloyingly strong perfume. (Everybody hates that about you, actually.)

When restaurant is packed and you ask specifically for olive oil, or pink pepper, or white vinegar, or tarragon, or some other hard-to-obtain-from-the-kitchen condiment to adorn your $4 side salad.

When you won’t stop talking long enough to taste the small wine test pour, so he can actually pour big glasses wine for the rest of your obviously-board dinner companions who are eager to get sauced so they can better tolerate you.

When you ask for 100 refills on your water.

When you’re with a big group and everyone says “No.” when the waitperson says “Does anyone else need a straw or want anything else from the kitchen?” and when he brings back the straw suddenly someone wants something else and, again, the waitperson has to go back and get it, and it keeps happening until he winds up running back-and-fourth-and-back-and-forth more than Curly Neal.

When you spill something of such great liquid volume that it far exceeds the absorbability of your napkin.

When he reads out all of the 12 different kinds of soda they serve, and you ask “Don’t you have Diet Black Cherry Shasta?”

When she’s run around all evening to meet your every dining pleasure and you grab both copies of your credit card receipt when you leave the restaurant, so she gets stiffed on the tip.

1. It’s much easier to roll over.
2. It’s not getting done just because someone told me to do it.
3. Bacon.  It really doesn’t have much to do with anything, but I love it so much.
4. Because there are 10 other things I need to do that aren’t getting done either.
5. It conflicts with my nap.
6. Two words for you… Tequila
7. Time is money, and I’m broke.
8. I dunno, but it ain’t getting done.
9. Do I really need a reason not to do something?
10. Because if you’re going to do something, do it right.
11. Could you pass me the remote?