The Virtual Biographer's Blog

This Blog is Slowly, But Surely, Transitioning to Lifeca.st ( <<< Yes, that's a URL ;-)

2009-10-02T13:44:00Z

...so please excuse the silence around here. Once http://Lifeca.st is up and running, fresh content will be slapped on there on the reg - no doubt about it.

Wurd =)

Parasocial Relationships May Seem Fake, But They're Actually Very Real

2009-08-25T14:16:52Z

Scientific American recently released an article about how parasocial relationships - one sided pseudo-relationships we develop over time with people or characters we experience on TV or in the movies - are able to alleviate feelings of loneliness.

Well, if Virtual Biographies™ were mainstream by now, they, too, would be included in that list of parasocial mediums which are able to cure the uncomfortableness of feeling companionless.

From Scientific American's article, "Imaginary Friends:"

"...just as a friendship evolves through spending time together and sharing personal thoughts and opinions, parasocial relationships evolve by watching characters on our favorite TV shows, and becoming involved with their personal lives, idiosyncrasies, and experiences as if they were those of a friend."

This is exactly what happens via the social strengths of a Virtual Biography. People tune-in to a public figure's ever-expanding virtual media empire of content about their life, on a daily basis, and eventually begin to feel as if they have an illusory relationship with the individual. Obviously, these people can't jump into their car and drive over to their favorite celebrity's house to hang out and play Madden, so they have to settle for the second-best social experience, which is to enjoy participating in their idol's life from afar.

Even though there's an obvious physical disconnection between the celebrity and their fans in the faux-relationship that a Virtual Biography manifests, the energy of the relationship doesn't feel fake in any way. Essentially, the subject of the Virtual Biography is living their life out loud online in a manner that makes their virtual life feel just as healthy and vibrant as their physical life is. In other words, when you're absorbing the individual's content that's delivered by their virtual identity, it doesn't feel as if a digital stranger is interacting with you, it feels like a good friend is sharing theirself with another good friend (You).

So if those silly scientists think their little study on parasocial relationships in relation to fictional entertainment characters was a winner, just wait until their nerdy little minds wrap themselves around the genuine intimacy a public figure's Virtual Biography provides their fans. Their glass flutes and petri dishes will shatter into a billion pieces from the overwhelming results their studies uncover. (Wow... that was a bit dramatic. Sorry ;-)

Entertaining the Subconscious with Art

2009-08-18T13:55:22Z

"There's SOMETHING about that program I REALLY like. I can't quite put my finger on what that something is, but DAMN... I can't seem to get enough of it!"

There are two types of entertainment programs: those which simply entertain and those which feel like a pleasurable piece of art. The ones that feel like they deserve to be the Museum of Artistic Entertainment (I made that up - duh) seem that way because they're designed to impact you in a more emotional way than shows like - random television reference coming in 3, 2, 1... - The Adventures of Pete and Pete do (remember that one? Yeah ya do! ;-)

But what exactly is the approach of Hollywood/Web programs that are able to push you into believing that there's a mysterious element of its makeup that's able to get you love-drunk on its artistic design?

They know how to entertain your subconscious.

Sure, the plot lines of a program can trigger your interests, but it's the seemingly insignificant elements of an entertainment production that are often responsible for making you feel an intimate connection to its creation. It's moments like these, when an entertainment production can naturally merge itself into the design of your own life, without you even knowing it, that there's obviously some under-the-radar forces within your favorite programming that are hard at work massaging your subconscious.

Many would say - myself being one of them - that your subconscious is the mouth and mind of your Soul; so when a piece of art is able to aim itself upon this centerpiece of your inner-self, there stands a grand chance that a deeply emotional response will be set off - most of the time, without you consciously noticing its effects. But, no matter whether you directly recognize the impact it's having on you or not, it cannot be denied that there's still a tremendous force embedded within the production that's strengthening the degree to which you value it.

AMC's (American Movie Channel) Mad Men is a television program that many people consider to be a work of art. Sure, the story lines are brilliantly crafted, but there's also a tremendous amount Soul-candy that's sweetening the interests of the audience's subconscious. The level of cultural detail the director, Matthew Weiner, injects into his show is mesmerizing. And it's this discrete degree of detail that causes fans to subconsciously feel that the program is a work of art.

From Bruce Handy's Vanity Fair article about Mad Men:

"“Matt wants real,” said Charlie Collier, president of AMC. For Weiner, Collier continued, “it’s not television; it’s a world.” Perhaps the only other producer as committed to the rules of his imagined universe is George Lucas. “Perfectionism” is a word the show’s writers tossed around when I asked a group of them about working with Weiner. “Fetishism” was another. Alan Taylor, who has directed four episodes of Mad Men, labeled Weiner’s attention to detail “maniacal.” Call it what they will, it is a charge that is largely embraced. “We’re all a little bit touched with the O.C.D.,” Robin Veith, one of the writers, told me, describing how she and her colleagues have researched actual street names and businesses in Ossining, the suburb where Don and Betty live; checked old commuter-train schedules, so that they know precisely which train Don would take to the city; pored over vintage maps to learn which highways he would drive on."

It's these "maniacal" details within the show that cause the subconcsious to perk up and take notice of the program's artistry. People who lived during the Mad Men era, or even people who merely imagine living within it, unknowingly appreciate the show's accuracy towards old commuter-train schedules and immediately link their emotional attraction towards the decade's culture to their deep desire to actually live amongst it. Obviously, at first glance, this degree of detail doesn't seem very important to our unevolved mind; but, to the subconscious, which is always able to value the simple things in life, these "frivolous" features of the program transform the production into something that's much more emotionally satisfying, thanks to it's natural talent of being able to transform simple entertainment into Soul-stimulating works of art.

Your Virtual Life Never Dies

2009-08-01T13:15:28Z

"All of us are going to live forever, right? We're indestructible! Tomorrow's guaranteed! There's no reason to sweat the infinite silence that could creep up on us at anytime - that kind of thought is for the paranoid!"

At first glance, the seemingly naive notions in the thoughts above sound as if they're coming from some sorta delusional ditz. But ya know what? Thanks to the time-capsule that is the Internet, there's actually some truth embedded in the idea that all of us can be invincible - well, at least, digitally invincible.

Have you ever lost a loved one who was a dedicated Facebooker or MySpacer? It's likely that while they were alive, you would follow every one of their digital days to find out what they've been up to. Why? Because it was fun; it was engaging; you felt closer to them, even though many miles often separated the two of you.

But then they died. Suddenly, their real-time status updates were gone; new blog posts were gone; the fresh-faced pictures that reminded you they were still alive were gone...

Never again would your relationship with your loved one be the same as it was before.

But even though that relationship felt different didn't mean you had lost it forever. After all, their spirit was still full of life. And with the right mindset, you could always figure out new ways to imagine the presence of their personality, even in their death.

"Hmm... how can I bond with my bud, today? Yesterday, I hung out with some friends at the bar we used to have so much fun at. The day before, I worked out to that dumb ass song he/she wouldn't stop playing two years ago at the beach. But what can I do to bring the flame back, today?"

Suddenly, you hear a ding on your computer notifying you that you've just received an message from your friend's Facebook account!

You open it up, somewhat disappointed, to find that it was your friend's mother who was sending the message...

"I've been tinkering around with the idea of deleting their Facebook account. I can't imagine there being any need for it to still be active. What do you think I should do?"

Immediately, you reply back, as quickly as you can, in an effort to hopefully catch her before she unnecessarily murders the only remaining connection you have to your best friend's long lost life...

"Don't do it! That profile has never before been as meaningful as it is today! I, along with all of their friends and family, would like to forever be able to visit their page! It's one the of the last physical reminders of how things used to be!"

Their mother agrees. The profile stays. Energy of your relationship remains and can be revisited forever more.

Your friend's virtual life never dies, and neither does anyone else's...

----------------------

Coming soon, on The Virtual Biographer's Blog...

Your virtual life never dies thanks to each of your digital days being documented in pixels and bytes. But some don't like the idea of their death bringing an abrupt ending to their Internet identity. They want the final chapter of their Virtual Biography™ to both serve as closure to the end of an amazing life, as well as a new beginning to an afterlife that can engage their friends and family beyond their passing. In the next webisode, I'll show you how.

Links of interest...

MyDeathSpace.com - My Death Space publishes stories about how people died and then link to their personal MySpace page where, via the energy of the profile, you can clearly recognize the moment their life came to an end. Some profiles are sweet remembrances of a life loved and lost, where as others are full of anger over the recent tragedy. The whole site is just SO surreal.

The Web is Burning Books One Biography at a Time

2009-07-16T12:05:20Z

Bye-bye, 943 page books about the storied lives of well-known individuals - the Net says your days are numbered.

Traditional book-format autobiographies and biographies are slowly burning from the brightness of your computer screen's monitor, as public figures begin to move to the Web to tell the stories behind their thoughts and experiences, in real-time. No longer will we have to endure five-year intervals between updated versions of a celebrity's literary life story to learn the "truths" of what their moments away from the spotlight have been like, because these famed individuals will be taking advantage of the Net's collection of storytelling services and tools to dish out the details of their days, as they happen.

Obviously, people like Abraham Lincoln, Walt Disney, Babe Ruth, Marilyn Monroe, etc. didn't have at their famous fingertips the social strengths of the Web to bare all and share all. They had the antiquated antiques of paper and ink - tools our current generation of youth know nothing about - to pen their life's portrait. And when they didn't draft their own depictions, they'd hire biographers to sweat it out to dish it out. One way or another, their life would be revealed; but, unfortunately, we had to wait a lifetime to learn about it.

Thanks to the Web's mansion of multimedia platforms, today's public figures have available to them a wide array of storytelling tool sets to broadcast an incredibly comprehensive illustration of what's going down throughout their days. Literary content, video content, audio content, photographic content, interactive content, promotional content, etc. can all be collectively woven together to transmit a three-dimensional representation of what it's like to live in their $2,000 shoes - which is, obviously, a much more entertaining and engaging approach to telling life stories than printed words painted within a paperback. Books simply can't hang with the bang of the Net.

Yet even though the Web currently offers an infinite array of storytelling tools that could be used to create a virtual media empire around a public figure's personal brand, these idolized individuals, nor their management teams, still aren't taking advantage of the fan addictions they could be pushing around their popular personalities. Instead of turning on a modest level of transparency in an effort to satisfy their audience's hunger to gain more insight into their life, they're using lazy applications like Twitter to spit out substanceless nonsense about how they just sent their assistant to the Piggly Wiggly to pick up some fresh double A's for their remote control. If this degree of fan interaction continues for much longer, not only will the need to write a book about their life be unneeded, but so will the simple idea that they have any business being publicly adored in the first place.

For the past eleventy billion years, only a handful of public figures have been fortunate enough to have a book written about them. Not only did you have to be fantastically famous to earn such an honor, but you also had to rely on a publisher to put the bound presentation in bookstores. But now, with the ability to instantly allow access into your life via the Internet, with a multimedia production that would put bio-films to shame, there's no reason why every person who lives in the public eye shouldn't have their own online, day-to-day, reality production (as in, REAL reality) about what it's like to live in their celebrity skin.

Just because book-bounded autobiographies and biographies are wrapping up their final chapters doesn't mean that the genres themselves have also met their maker. Never before has the future of the formats been as promising as they are right now, as certain visionaries (wink and a smile ;-) are not only changing the approach to revealing public figure's thoughts and experiences, but are also creating a brand new dynamic within celebrity culture that will quickly make all of us forget how much we miss the printed words that previously presented us with insight into the lives we're all so fascinated by.

NOTE: This webisode is part one of a two part mini-series about the pending deaths of book-bound autobiographies and biographies. Part two will examine what the format's passing means to the biographers who who help public figures turn their lives into public information and entertainment.

Who Sucked The Soul Out Of Musical Artistry?

2009-07-14T14:34:01Z

There once was a time when you simply listened to musicians for their music. An album was purchased, thrown on the turntable and then the artist was judged by their musical talents alone.

Things don't work like that anymore.

Today, there are so many factors that come into play when a person is determining whether or not they're going to become a fan of a musician, and rarely do any those factors have anything to do with whether or not their music is of quality.

No, our current version of mainstream society (I like to call it "Generation 1.DUMB") "astutely" critiques musicians on the following "high-brow" criteria...

They take a look at the artist's face and ask themselves... "Is it hot, or NOT hot?"
They peruse gossip sites that report on their personal lives and ask themselves... "Would I totally party with them, or would I totally NOT party with them?"
They watch interviews with performers and ask themselves... "Are they douchie, or NOT douchie?"

...The list of ridiculous reasons why a person would prefer one performer over another could fill an idiot box to its brim.

How did our culture reach this realm of such incredible superficialness over a musical medium that, over the course of its storied history, never intended to excite any senses other that what the listener heard with their ears, instead of saw with their eyes?

Many would say MTV is at fault.

While I would agree that MTV has definitely accelerated the dumbing-down of youth culture through its increasingly idiotic and irresponsible programming, I can't solely place the blame on them for scarring the world's appreciation of musical sounds. It wasn't the channel that put a face on the performers, it was the medium in which those mugs were scrutinized that turned many of us into shallow music critics: Television.

During the tipping point of when cable television started to become an entertainment medium everyone was able to enjoy on a daily basis, our culture slowly began to become a panel of celebrity judges. We picked apart every characteristic of an performer's craft to such a detailed degree that an entertainer's actual artistic talents were a by-product of what we really cared about: their looks and personality.

As our superficialness picked up steam, the media then began to realize that their audiences cared more about the personalities of performers instead of their artistry. Once this happened, the shallow shit really hit the fan as entertainment news programs turned our culture's vulture volume up to eleven. Rarely were topics about an artist's actual art ever discussed. Alternatively, during every evening's dinner time, we were force fed reasons to continue being critics of celebrity character, instead of their entertaining compositions. Since then, the mean media machine has never stopped accelerating it's ability to turn many of us into artificial asshats.

It's now painfully obvious that today's mainstream artists are manufactured to be perceived as attractive, personality-filled and, last and certainly least importantly, talented performers - and for this, MTV can definitely be considered the firestarter of so much of our culture's superficial frenzies. But, with that said, we gotta remember that it was television who initially killed the ability to simply be an artist who doesn't also have to worry about being a spectacle. The medium certainly didn't purposely mean to murder the appreciation of artistry, but, when a broadcast engine as influential as TV comes along, our human hands can't help but wrap themselves around the neck of an art-fueled money machine and wrestle out every drop of Soulful substance it previously had in an effort to satisfy the superficial masses.

Fame, Fortune & Philanthropy - How Icons Inspire Activism

2009-07-09T12:35:11Z

To be famous is one thing, but to be deemed an "icon" is the ultimate achievement in the world of entertainment.

But what is it that typically transforms your typical celebrity into an International icon?

To find out, let's run through a list of public figures who are known as being iconic: John Lennon, Madonna, Brad Pitt, Babe Ruth, Audrey Hepburn, Bruce Springsteen, Bono, Muhammad Ali, Oprah, etc.. The list could go on and on...

What do all of these celebrity icons have in common with one another?

Each of them have used their influence as a celebrity to try and make the world a better place to live in.

Sure, we all dig lovin' on celebrities for their talented contributions to the entertainment we enjoy, but, subconsciously, we begin to idolize these public figures once we perceive them as being Soulful human beings who have a heart for healing. This pure perception of people who are typically viewed as being larger-than-life - almost fictional - characters, cause us to sympathize with them as we realize they're real human beings who's personal purposes in life are driven by their heart more than their art.

It's natural for us to flock towards the do-gooders of society. Whether we, as average persons of society, use our time on earth to contribute to it's enlightened evolution or not, we feel as if we are a part of particular movements when we support the celebrity Souls who are out there getting their hands dirty to clean the world's wounds. And even though we aren't the ones who are traveling to troubled nations and underprivileged communities, we are able to contribute to the strength of celebrity's efforts through our collective support of their saintly services.

We live in a new world now, as life isn't as simple as it used to be. Sure, many of us feel powerless to contribute directly to the betterment of our global backyard, but these people need to realize that the force of simply supporting a cause from afar has an impact on the energy of other people's direct efforts to a tremendous degree. This is why we tend to idolize otherwise average celebrities for their dedication to undoing the traumas of our modern times - it makes us feels like we stand for something significant, even though we can't stand side by side with the superstars who are working to secure a stronger tomorrow.

So even though we can't all just push ourselves away from our duties we have at our work desks and rush over to turn around all the tragedies of our global community like many public figures can, we should still embrace the truth that, just like the celebrities we idolize, we are all icons in our own way. After all, the healing of the world's heartaches requires more than just the collective force of physical labor, it requires the collective force of our inspired energy to want to see the world be a better place. And we can thank, in large part, the celebrated icons who move us to support them as they march out to mend the misfortunes that could potentially corrupt the fearless future we all want.

What If 'The Beatles' Were On Twitter?

2009-07-06T13:04:11Z

Let's say you're famous and blessed with a world of devoted fans who love and support you to a degree few people in our society ever get to experience. You've earned your fame by being someone who's able to move people's emotions with your talents, to the point that they share their admiration of you with whoever will be patient enough to listen to them praise you like you're they're own personal Jesus.

As a celebrity, how does this constant wave of adoration make you feel? ...Makes ya feel kinda special, doesn't it? You might even feel a little embarrassed for little ole' you being such an important figure in so many people's lives.

So how do you reciprocate the love your fans have given you, back to them?

According to Travis D'arby, who produces a blog on Open Salon, "celebrities owe us their best work, and nothing more."

I gotta disagree.

More from Travis D'arby's Open Salon blog, titled "What Do Writers, Bloggers and Celebrities Owe Their Fans?"...

"Would the Beatles recorded legacy have been so enduring if they had spent their time on the road pleasing fans and attempting to be heard above the din of screaming concert-goers instead of perfecting their craft in the studio?"

In my opinion, yes, it would have. Actually, their recorded legacy probably would have been even more enduring, because if the band had worked to manifest a more intimate relationship with their fans, they probably would have felt more compelled to stick together, for their supporter's sake, during their times of turmoil.

Had The Beatles never achieved their legendary status, they most definitely would have benefited from sharing more of themselves with the modest amount of fans that they would have had. By doing so, they would have created a level of intimacy between themselves and their fans that would have left them feeling confident that they'd always have a devoted fanbase who would forever love them, unconditionally.

I know it might sound unbelievable, but, as a result of their transparent outreach, Beatle fans would have continued to be rabid supporters even when they put out a crap record. Hell... the Fab Four could have put out an album of them singing to the beat of their own farts and people still would have dug'm.

I really do believe that public figures should be ready and willing to put some effort into forging more meaningful relationships with their fans, especially when we live in an age where it's so easy to do so. Even though I hate, hate, hate the brainless and substanceless platform that is Twitter, it's a damn-near effortless way for celebrities to humor their fans with at least small doses of dirt about their days. And now with the services of a Virtual Biographer, there's really no excuse for public figures to not embrace their second life on the Web.

Imagine if The Beatles were able to fully embrace the social strengths of the Net in an effort to share more information about their incredible lives as rock stars...

Let's say they had social networking profiles, personally contributed content to sites around the Internet, and had a website that included literary, video, audio, photographic, interactive and promotional content that delivered incredible insight into their day-to-day lives...

To put it bluntly... fans would instantly flip their shit. For years they were only able to embrace their favorite band through their music and the stories the media brought them, but now John, Paul, George and Ringo would be living out loud on the Net, discussing their music and revealing the thoughts and experiences of their lives, which ultimately inspire their art form.

This level of transparency from the band would create a frenzy of support around them. Yes, they were already the most famous rock outfit, EVAR, but by embracing their virtual lives, they would actually become more famous than they already were. Before the creation of their virtual identities, fans only new what The Beatles were like as super-human rock stars, but now, as a result of their online revelations, the guys would feel more like real human beings, just like them. And once this perception is created, there's no turning back to the fame of yesterday, because now that fans see them as being human equals, who just so happen to live extraordinary lives, they would feel like they're friends of the band, instead of just emotionally disconnected fans who listen to their music in moments when they simply wanna rock out.

If The Beatles, or any other public figure for that matter, would find a way to mirror their thoughts and experiences within the physical realm onto the Net, they would enjoy a life with twice as many fortunes, both professionally and, most importantly, personally. If life has proven one thing to us throughout our existence, it's that people benefit from having as many meaningful relationships as possible. And for this, celebrities are, without a doubt, a fortunate group of people who could, if they allowed themselves to, have the entire world truly love them for Soulful reasons that go beyond their gifted talents.

Unfortunately, for these public figures, and us as fans, none of them have come out of their cozy celebrity closets to play with us yet. But have no fear, the same culture that made them the stars they are will eventually force them into taking care of the most important responsibility they have as a public figure: the responsibility of making their fans feel like they're friends of theirs.

How The Rich & Famous Made Us Poor & Miserable

2009-07-02T12:34:16Z

We're currently experiencing the awful after-effects of living lives of excess. During the late 90's and early to mid 2000's, we bought luxury cars, expensive jewelry, outrageous toys we never needed in the first place and homes that were too pricey for our pocketbooks.

What on earth made us feel like we could live so lavishly?

Celebrity culture should definitely take some of the blame.

That 186-inch TV in your living room is a powerful influencer. What we see on the tube and at the theater feels so real while we're watching it that our minds begin to imagine that our own lives could and SHOULD mirror the experiences that are being had on camera. So immediately after the credits roll at the conclusion of a program about livin' large, we began to scheme about how we, too, could live the lavish life we just vicariously enjoyed so much from the comfort of our cashmere wrapped LoveSac that was purchased with last week's grocery money.

With the late 90's and early 2000's being defined as a time when you were publicly defined by what you owned, instead of who you were as a person, the programming in the media inspired us to go out and spend, spend, spend. Everyday it was "dolla, dolla bills y'all!" - even when you didn't have any to begin with - until the shops shut down in the evening. We threw cash at whatever made us smile, even though we knew the credit card was reaching its max. And we did this partly because we wanted to live like the celebrities who were featured on shows like MTV's Cribs.

What our financial meltdown has proved, in relation to the media's previous years of exaggerating how easy it was to make yourself appear like you're wealthy, is that people needed to get out of the house more often to experience what real-life was like: an environment of mostly blue collar individuals who don't have any business owning a fridge full of Cristal champagne that they drink in the company of their pet tiger. But, instead, we watched the glitz and glamour that was being portrayed on TV and grew to be so delusional that we thought that we, too, could have a Hummer, that's rolling on dubs and is parked in the driveway of our own personal Neverland.

So yeah... look at us now... we're a world that's in financial ruins. Yes, there were factors other than celebrity lifestyles that played a part in making our money drip out of our hands so easily, but it sure as hell can't be ruled out as being a prominent suspect in the case of "Who done it?"

The Dumbing-Down Of Society - Why Our Culture Is Obsessed With Celeb-retards

2009-07-01T12:31:24Z

People, for the most part, are all sheeple (people who tag along and simply follow the course of others). Under most circumstances, this is a perfectly fine way to operate - after all, we've all been "that person" before. You're in a pack of sheeple when you visit the latest hot spot in your city or when you go buy the album the rest of the world has deemed "amazing."

But is it okay to join the sheeple when it comes to trying to emulate the lifestyles of the rich and famous?

In certain instances, yes. If that celebrity is an upstanding individual who seems to do no wrong as they march through their life sharing positivity throughout society, then knock yourself out and follow their lead in an effort to better your own life.

But what about the bad celebrity seeds - the ones who are famous for being fock-ups? Should you join the sheeple in their support of the public figure who doesn't deserve to be one in the first place?

The sad answer is this...

Most of today's celebrity obsessed culture flock to these people who became famous for being infamous.

Take Kim Kardashian, for instance... she became famous flopping out her big fat ass in a perno.

Really!? REALLY!? And we idolize her - and now her entire family - WHY?

There are more and more stupid celebrities surfacing into our society's consciousness by the minute. And the sheeple are ready to pounce on them, but for what reason!?

Because they see how fabulous their life is and instantly begin dreaming of how they can "make it big" on "Fame Planet."

This is an instance when becoming one of the sheeple is a VERY BAD THING. As more and more dreamers (don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with being a dreamer) begin looking for inspiration in an effort to better their own life, they look up to the people who have seemingly achieved their level of fame with least amount of effort possible. As more and more people begin to take this approach to reaching their dreams, society as a whole begins to become dumbed-down, because noone seems to want to contribute anything truly substantial to society through their life's efforts.

Secretly, we all want to be noticed in our lives - this is the reason we dream of becoming popular, whether it be among our circle of friends or a circle of society. But while we try to reach our dreams, let's make sure to try and follow the celebrities who are making positive footprints in the sands of society, instead of those who are fueling our culture's collapse into crazy town.

I don't believe our society has yet reached the tipping point of where people begin to admire the do-gooders of Hollywood, instead of the spoiled rotten pot of people who became famous for gettin' kinky on camera. We need to start focusing most of our attention on upstanding celebrities, so that we can start to become a upstanding society of sheeple. Famous people are way too influential for us to allow the infamous to sculpt our society. We have to push them out by tuning them out.

So if you're guilty of providing Rock of Love or - Gawd help me - Keeping Up With The Kardashians, with the ridiculous ratings they're getting, then please... throw your TV's out the window! All you're doing is encouraging the world towards wicked ways with your support of such dumbed-down entertainment. Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to tell you what to watch, I'm just trying to tell you who you should not want to emulate. It's for your own good, and for my own confidence in our society.