The Smithian

May 16th, 2013

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…for a previous generation of television viewers—not so long ago—the most terrifying thing they had ever seen (and for many it induced enduring fears) was the shower scene in “Psycho.” That’s so much “Captain Kangaroo” compared to what we can watch today, and if there were ever any question that what one sees on a screen has before-and-after consequences, consider these videos from the world’s killing grounds. If you want to see what someone looks like as he is stabbed, as he is told he is about to die, as he is beaten to death, or cut into pieces, it is all just a click away.

more.

…for a previous generation of television viewers—not so long ago—the most terrifying thing they had ever seen (and for many it induced enduring fears) was the shower scene in “Psycho.” That’s so much “Captain Kangaroo” compared to what we can watch today, and if there were ever any question that what one sees on a screen has before-and-after consequences, consider these videos from the world’s killing grounds. If you want to see what someone looks like as he is stabbed, as he is told he is about to die, as he is beaten to death, or cut into pieces, it is all just a click away.

more.

May 9th, 2013

thesmithian

April 30th, 2013

thesmithian

“It’s tough to be young these days—the economic concerns are very great, and a lot of what you hear out of Washington is not addressing those concerns. There are a lot of questions: Does either party really have my best interest at heart? And I think the answer to that is, ‘No.’”

That cynicism is coupled with a deepening partisan divide.

April 18th, 2013

thesmithian

…such contradictions must constantly be negotiated: public versus private, virtual versus real, active versus passive. On one hand, millennials consume so much media they can’t concentrate, torn as they are between texting, posting on Facebook, and watching YouTube. And yet they also have an astonishing ability to focus on elaborate videogame play for six-hour stretches or to watch complex, multistranded television dramas in binge sessions that can swallow a weekend. They are experts in driving games like Gran Turismo 5, but they’re not that interested in actual driving.

Jerry Adler, at Wired

April 18th, 2013

thesmithian

Zoom

[meaningful glance]

April 12th, 2013

thesmithian

…the old stuff doesn’t work any more. And that’s why I want to hire people who are trying and creating new things. But…I am not the Grinch looking to steal cheap labor. In today’s environment, everyone is measured on our added value to the enterprise. I think the Great Recession graduates will do better than their parents on every economic level over the next 10 years because they are willing to take more risks on the front end. And for that, for being more entrepreneurial, they will be—and should be—rewarded for taking that additional risk, with both raises and equity.

Cliff Oxford, founder, Oxford Center for Entrepreneurs.

March 29th, 2013

thesmithian

'Families have been sharing physical newspapers and televisions for years, of course, but when my parents’ generation left home for college and then grad school or jobs, they had to call up their local newspaper or cable or phone providers if they wanted any of these services. Now, there’s less incentive than ever to leave Mom and Dad’s family cell phone plan, and it seems that for many...the same applies to digital subscriptions to newspapers, magazines, and cable subscriptions.'

March 26th, 2013

thesmithian

'The millennials’ relationship with money seems quite simple. They do not have a lot of it, and what they do have, they seem reluctant to spend. Millennials are buying fewer cars and houses, and despite their immersion in consumer culture, particularly electronics, they are not really spending beyond their limited means. Their credit-card debt has declined, most likely because many millennials cannot get a credit card, and in part because they know they cannot afford to spend now and pay back later. “They have this risk aversion that we’ve seen with millennials since they were teenagers...It’s declining alcohol use, declining drug use. I mean, declining sex.”'

March 16th, 2013

thesmithian

'Ironically, millennials, to whom the burden of monitoring late-night social media or e-mail frequently falls, may be underestimating the value of such work. Their habits of consuming culture free of charge on the Internet, he suggested, have “carried over into the world of work, so they’re more willing to accept barter or in-kind payment,” like free lunches. And their primary payment is building “cultural capital,” as opposed to “capital capital.”'

March 12th, 2013

thesmithian

Zoom

Throughout the history of American theater, the desire for a separate Black theater tradition has raised challenges and contradictions. Over the past decade, as many Black Theater institutions have stumbled and failed, revived and evolved, the question has arisen far too often, “Do we still need ethnically specific theaters?” Manifesto after manifesto has been written; critics, scholars and artists have debated; headlines have declaimed the question. Now at the new millennium for a new generation, we still wrestle with issues of cultural identity, political correctness, ethnic and gender politics all in an effort to correct the history of bigotry, oppression and segregation that has led generation after generation to this quandary in the first place.

more.
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art: Negro Unit of the Works Progress Administration. Lafayette Theatre, New York, 1936

Throughout the history of American theater, the desire for a separate Black theater tradition has raised challenges and contradictions. Over the past decade, as many Black Theater institutions have stumbled and failed, revived and evolved, the question has arisen far too often, “Do we still need ethnically specific theaters?” Manifesto after manifesto has been written; critics, scholars and artists have debated; headlines have declaimed the question. Now at the new millennium for a new generation, we still wrestle with issues of cultural identity, political correctness, ethnic and gender politics all in an effort to correct the history of bigotry, oppression and segregation that has led generation after generation to this quandary in the first place.

more.

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art: Negro Unit of the Works Progress Administration. Lafayette Theatre, New York, 1936

March 2nd, 2013

thesmithian

'We live in a time of political and media demagoguery unparalleled since the 19th century. Many of our most important public figures have gained their influence and power by inciting and exploiting the ugliest of passions—by manipulating fears and prejudices—by serving up falsehoods as reported truth. In time these figures will one by one die. What are we to say of this cohort, this group, this generation? That their mothers loved them? That their families are bereaved? That their fans admired them and their employees treated generously by them? Public figures are inescapably judged by their public actions. When those public actions are poisonous, the obituary cannot be pleasant reading.'

February 28th, 2013

thesmithian

'...Ask Millennials which piece of technology they could least live without, and it turns out they'd more happily part with their cars than their computers or cell phones.'

February 27th, 2013

thesmithian

For the next 50 years, probably…Until this generation of people dies out. I hate to say it, but it’s true. This generation of people who have some affiliation with what the South used to be. The younger generation, I truly feel, will go beyond race.

Dr. Brenda Williams, of South Carolina, when asked “how long she thought Section 5 [of the Voting Rights Act] needed to remain in place”