December 2011

The Joy of One Hour Photos

Sometimes the best and most memorable photos were the ones that came out wrong.

Today’s children will never understand the joy of one hour photos. I woke up a few days ago and the movie One Hour Photo was on TV. It got me thinking about the excitement I used to get when I was a teenager and my mom gave me money to go get my disposable camera developed at a one hour photo place.

Taking pictures was always a fun activity. Getting the photos developed and seeing what came out was always another adventure. When using a camera with film, as opposed to a digital camera, you never knew what would pop up. Did the pictures come out well? Did you capture something funny in the background of a picture by accident? Each shot was a surprise.

Dinosaurs: A Show Ahead of Its Time

The show puts its own satirical spin on some very serious issues.

Do you remember the show Dinosaurs from the 90s?  Many people who did not watch the show assume it is some sort of silly, puppet comedy. A true fan, however, knows that the show is much more and was very advanced for its time.

While the show does have many funny moments, the show also puts its own satirical spin on some very serious issues. The show did episodes that addressed homosexuality, euthanasia, racism, religion, prejudice, drug use and more. Some other shows of the early 90s were afraid to push the envelope with some of these topics. Since the show’s characters were dinosaurs as opposed to people, it made it easier to tap into some of these subjects.

Goodbye Human Voices, Hello Technology

Phone calls were not long ago considered a modern luxury, but they are quickly becoming a dinosaur like form of communication.

The days of knocking on someone’s door when you need to tell them something has been gone for some time.  But what about the phone call? How often do you really use your phone anymore? Phone calls were not long ago considered a modern luxury, but they are quickly becoming a dinosaur like form of communication.

Some people are too lazy to pick up the phone (cellular or a landline) to tell someone something, especially short things such as asking a loved one to pick up a carton of milk or finding out from a friend what time dinner is on Friday night. A lot of people are addicted to text messages when it comes to communicating with the regular people in their lives. Those who spend a lot of time on the computer may bypass a phone completely and write these kinds of things on a friend’s Facebook wall.

Prescription Drugs to Eliminate Human Frailties

"People need to take a step back and examine what’s going on."

We have come a long way as a species in developing ways to combat the many dangerous and invisible menaces that plague (literally) our bodies.  Antibiotics and other such wonders have saved countless lives in the relatively brief span of history that they have been around.  Now, however, we seem to think we can do the same thing with every mental affliction that a human could suffer.  This is leading to a society that is steadily becoming more and more self-medicated and less human.

Some things never change

Technology has affected most aspects of life, but not all.

It seems like the world is changing so quickly. A few years ago, we didn’t have iPads or iPhones, Facebook statuses or Tweets, constant connectivity and speed-of-light news. We are rushing and rushing to get life moving faster and faster, but really where is that getting us?

Some technological advances happen so quickly that if you forget to update for a few years, your old cell phone or computer looks like some kind of relic. Big celebrities change so quickly, it’s impossible to know which food stuff-named rapper the kids are listening to these days. But some things never change. Here are some great things that will be cool no matter what technology and the information superhighway bring our way:

Remember Those Paper Things We Used to Read?

"While Kindle books are fantastic, they lack the intimacy of a printed book."

Books have long been an integral part of our lives.  Spreading the written word is so important that scribes would spend countless hours handwriting a copy of a book to pass on.  The printing press allowed those words to spread even more quickly, and today a book can be in the hands of millions in just a few hours if marketed properly.