From: GBurch1@aol.com
Date: Sun Jun 18 2000 - 11:23:28 MDT
In a message dated 6/17/00 2:09:26 PM Central Daylight Time,
zero_powers@hotmail.com writes:
> What I forgot to mention is that we still have and use our VCR and DVD
> players and a very well used Blockbuster Video account. You don't need
> cable to watch movies at home. And, as I remember, the cable channels
> rarely showed the movies I wanted to see; and when they did the would
replay
> it over and over as if I really wanted to watch the same movie 5 times
> within the same week.
We recently got digital-cable-enabled in our neighborhood and I sprang for
the whole shebang on a trial basis. The selection is now significantly
enhanced, such that we usually find more than one excellent offering
available at any one time. As has been predicted, in fact, the diversity of
choices available has been somewhat daunting.
Also, as pretty avid cinemaphiles, Anthea and I tend to watch the movies we
find the most interesting quite a few times. I'm sure you'd agree that a
great director or actor can create a work that can't really be grasped in
depth until it is experienced more than once. Except for his last movie,
I've seen all of Kubrik's films MANY times (don't even ask how many times
I've seen "2001")
> >Oh - and fashion can be fun, too, you know. It's nice to get dressed up
> >and
> >put on a show every once in a while. We are monkey-men, after all, and
> >display and pageantry are also important means of expression. Those great
> >Texas philosophers, ZZ Top, were on to something, I think.
>
> To each his own. I was thrilled the day I walked out of my office job,
> leaving my suits hanging in the closet at home. They rarely get use
> anymore, and that "suits" me just fine. My idea of fashion is comfort,
> read: jeans, T-shirts and running shoes.
I have mixed feelings about this for myself. "Business casual" is now
getting to be the norm even in stuffy "big firms" like mine. We tend to
"suit up" only for actual courtroom work these days. As social primates,
we're exquisitely tuned to send and receive visual signals among ourselves.
Complete "casualization" of our culture's wardrobe serves to decrease the
repertoire of available visual vocabulary, I think.
I think there's some merit in having specialized wardrobes for specific
social functions, since it can serve to reinforce appropriate values for the
particular task at hand. Thus, when an airline pilot puts on her uniform, I
think she's more likely to both perceive the importance of her own actions as
a pilot and also sends a signal to the passengers that she's a professional,
something I appreciate as a passenger. I don't know if I'd like to board a
777 for a transatlantic flight and catch a glimpse of the pilot in cut-offs
and a t-shirt.
Greg Burch <GBurch1@aol.com>----<gburch@lockeliddell.com>
Attorney ::: Vice President, Extropy Institute ::: Wilderness Guide
http://users.aol.com/gburch1 -or- http://members.aol.com/gburch1
ICQ # 61112550
"We never stop investigating. We are never satisfied that we know
enough to get by. Every question we answer leads on to another
question. This has become the greatest survival trick of our species."
-- Desmond Morris
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