The Thought Collective

Everyone can calm down...

2006-07-22T00:34:00.000-05:00

Paramount made it official today at ComicCon, Peter Cullen will be the voice of Optimus Prime in the Transformers movie next year. I think we can all say "Thank God" to that.

Go get some groovy wallpaper.

-Matt

Buzz Aldrin vs. Random Moonbat

2006-07-21T03:21:00.000-05:00

Lesson for the day: Don't fuck with astronauts.

Anywho, I'm attempting to psych myself up to get my online crap together ... so, hopefully, in the next few days some stuff will start showing up here. Or not. Who knows?

(the shadow knows)

I swear that never gets old.

-Matt

The Resurgence of Cool

2006-04-26T04:43:00.000-05:00

Things look bad, I‘ll admit. President Bush’s approval rating is at something like 33%, Democrats are crowing about taking back the House and Senate in ‘06 and the Presidency in ‘08, the mainstream media is not even attempting to hide it’s partisan attacks, nearly every day there is a new attack piece on Iraq and/or the administration from some celebrity (of course, we all know the Juilliard has a fantastic poli-sci program) … so on and so forth.

So, admit it, you’re scared the dirty, unwashed masses are going to get brainwashed into restoring a Democrat majority and locking the conservatives in a cellar for fifty years. Scary prospect, I know. But, I’m here to let you know it is totally unfounded.

Hating Bush has become mainstream. In fact, it has become very mainstream. So much so that even liberals are getting tired of hearing the same collection of half-truths, misrepresentations and outright unfounded attacks. I’m predicting that very soon the backlash will begin.

It might be a movie star that starts it. Some superstar has a movie that’s not projected to do well on opening weekend. We all know controversy sells. You want to increase your box office overnight … come out in support of Bush and everything he’s done, call out radical Islam on the violence it perpetrates and praise W for doing all he can to strip the terror network of its power. Same goes for music stars, TV hosts, whatever.

How about someone on CNN or MSNBC or, hell, even Katie “The Hammer” Kouric, herself. Tanking ratings are a great motivator for change. Do you think Chris Matthews ratings wouldn’t double if he suddenly became an administration shill. Do you think he doesn’t know that?

Cool goes in cycles. Ever since Fahrenheit 9/11, Bush bashing has been very cool. At the moment, it still is. That moment is about to pass. Here are a few reasons why:

First, there is a rapidly rising tide of anti- “radical Islam” that will soon sweep over mainstream media. People are getting real sick and tired of being told that terrorists are people, too. The movie “United 93” is going to set off a fresh new debate about this among the general populace. The terrorists help by continuing to blow people up all over the globe. Iran helps by steadily going off the deep end. Every bomb, every statement makes it more difficult for the average American to say cleaning up the Middle East is a bad thing.

Second, it’s getting quite difficult to ignore strengthening economy. I know I’ve seen more and more references to it in mainstream media as time goes by. The gas price debate will play heavily into this, as well. Republicans have a can’t miss public relations issue there and I’m sure the ‘06 campaign advertisements will bring that into sharp focus.

Third, illegal immigration. Bush is going to win big here, despite what all the pundits are saying. A fence is going to be built and the illegals already here will be naturalized in some way. The American people are demanding that something be done and quite frankly that is the only way anything can be done. Bush was on it from the beginning. A couple photo ops and strong statements about the nature of what it is to be an American and he’ll get back out in front of this issue.

Those points, I want to emphasize, will only serve as a sparks. They will not be the reason for the upswing in popularity of George W. Bush (and, by proxy, the Republican party). No, the real reason is much simpler and more basic.

Hating Bush is just about to jump the shark. Like the overplayed sickeningly sweet pop song that makes you change the radio, it’s been overdone to the point that it can’t help but be replaced by the new cool … Loving the Bush. It’s inevitable. It’s a basic rule of sociology. It can’t help but happen.

So relax, conservatives. The tide will turn … soon. The Hollywood Theory of Resurgence of Cool is in effect. By the ‘06 elections, Bush will be back to a low 40’s approval rating By ‘08, put me down for over 50%. And, don’t call it a comeback, because he never left.

Are you a libertarian?

2006-03-03T01:20:00.000-06:00

http://www.theadvocates.org/quiz.html

You should be.

Other political news:

Left-wing media bias is running wild at the AP. Two degrees of Dan Rather, it seems. I knew that story felt wrong when I saw it on the cover of USA Today this evening.

Iraq.

Katrina.

Still don't know what to think about the Dubai ports deal. Was all in favor of it, at first. But, now, I'm going back to undecided and waiting for details to come from Congress's investigation. Hopefully, they will actually look for facts instead of mud-slinging over semantics. Yeah, I know ... fat chance.

I'm going to bed.

-Matt

Hark, the Revolution is nigh...

2006-02-25T01:23:00.000-06:00

A friend of mine picked up a Motorola RAZR this week. Another friend has a video iPod. I used to have a Tivo.

I say the true form of the information age is now upon us ... instant access to anything, anywhere.

Television stations, FM/AM radio stations, record labels, movie studios, newspapers are practically obsolete in terms of potential for growth. Think about it. Whatever you want to see, hear or read can now be sent directly to your cellphone, you can carry a library of your favorite movies, tv shows, albums in your back pocket on your iPod, Tivo has erased all linearity of television and effectively removed the "television commercial" from being able to go on as it is.

Creative people were in a funnel before. Lots of middlemen and people selling advertising have been standing between the audience and the artists. That no longer is the case. A journalist doesn't have to work for a newspaper anymore. A cartoonist doesn't have sign a deal with FOX. A writer doesn't have to sell books.

Start a website, be good at what you do, sell your own product direct to the consumer, sell your own advertising, constantly network and from new partnerships. Instant access to anything, anwhere has removed all the walls, all the boundaries and all the middlemen that exist in practically every form of creative pursuit.

It's time for those of like mind to join together and start taking over the world.

We stand on the brink of a fundamental change in our existence ... there is money to be made. I've got a lot of big ideas, I'm sure you do as well. Things are wide open right now, those that make their move will have the ability to shape the future of how the internet is used in our lives.

I'm a writer, so I'm gonna write. The idea is that people start reading it and they don't stop and they mention it to their friends and so on. Advertising is to be sold with a talk-radio strategy, I figure that's gonna be the only way to ever sell advertising again (more on that some other time). My potential audience as a writer is infinite now that wireless internet access is basically available everywhere.

And you understand it now works exactly like that for every creative profession.

-Matt

Friends, Romans, Countrymen...

2006-02-21T01:27:00.000-06:00

This is an open letter, to everyone I know.

I owe you more than I have given. Through the course of my life, I've met many amazing people and I've allowed just as many amazing people to slide out of contact. That's gonna end, right now.

I've learned a lot about myself over these past ten or so years. I've made plenty of bad decisions and this letter is me telling the world that I choose not do so anymore. I do not regret anything I've done before, just as I don't regret the consequences I've suffered. I think maybe I've grown up. I think this letter is my last step in being able to think of myself as an adult. Perhaps that's why it is has taken so long to write.

I want you to know that while I have no regrets and am thankful for the life I have led, I do bitterly regret the pain I have caused some and the money I have costed others. Particularly, I feel awful about the combined pain/cost of having me as a son. Mom, Dad ... I know I haven't always been the "perfect" son, but I hope you'll consider it an investment. I've got big plans and as you see me work towards their completion, I know I'll make you proud.

My one other huge regret is allowing so many people that I have considered friends just lapse into the ether. I have come to believe there's nothing more important in this world to one's soul than friendship. I am rather looking forward to rekindling all of my lost friendships. There's a lot of catching up to do. I hope you'll be gracious enough to give me the chance.

Here's the rub...

I looked up last year and realized that I was about to turn 25, flat-broke and generally unhappy with my station in life. I was in a dead-end job that was just another in a long-string of dead-end jobs. I looked around and saw friends of mine publishing books, getting law degrees, getting medical degrees, getting record deals, starting their own businesses, starting their own families, working for the big publications in town, getting their own radio shows...

The list does go on.

It goes on for quite awhile, actually.

I knew it was time to devote my life to something, I just didn't know what. I saw what great works my friends had accomplished and knew it was time for me to do the same. I admired all of your many successes, generally from afar. You inspired me to make a drastic change in my life, to get things on the proper track. Even if you choose not to respond to this letter, please accept my thanks for the positive impact that you've made on my life. I cannot call someone a friend if I don't have the highest respect for them and with me that does not wain, whether I've spoken to you in the past decade or not.

So, I thought about it. It's now a year later. I'm still broke and much farther in the hole with my parents. I'm unemployed. I'm out of my apartment and back in my old bedroom at the folk's house.

But, finally, I have a plan.

The contents of the plan are not really essential to what I'm trying to say in this letter, though. Suffice to say, I feel my true natural talent -and most comfortable form of expression- is writing. It is where I've had my greatest successes and it's what I revert to when the words are hard to muster. It is why I am saying this in a letter and not in a phone call. The written word, I feel, is infinitely more powerful than the spoken. It's permanent and meaningful in a way that spoken word alone could never surpass. In making this letter open to the world beyond it's intended audience, I hope to add gravity to my words. This letter, more than anything, is a pact with myself.

It states that today is the day I move forward in this world of ours. I come to make a mark. I lay down the gauntlet for myself to make the right decisions, to work hard at my goals, to make my parents proud of me and to cement the bonds of friendship with those I call my friends.

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

-Matt