Your Reality is Showing

 Here's some stuff written around some quotes I found on the internet that I thought were pretty great.  I have no idea if they are accurately quoted or attributed, and I don't much care.  Also, it has been pointed out that if I handed this in to a grade school teacher, they would chastise me for having too many quotes and not enough substance.  I hated school.

“The television, that insidious beast, that Medusa which freezes a billion people to stone every night, staring fixedly, that Siren which called and sang and promised so much and gave, after all, so little.” - Ray Bradbury, 'The Golden Apples of the Sun'

When television was invented, it was a big deal. Everybody had grand visions of its seemingly infinite possibilities. What an enormous step in the annals of humanity!

“Philo began laying out his vision for what television could become. Above all else... television would become the world's greatest teaching tool. Illiteracy would be wiped out. The immediacy of television was the key. As news happened viewers would watch it unfold live; no longer would we have to rely on people interpreting and distorting the news for us. We would be watching sporting events and symphony orchestras. Instead of going to the movies, the movies would come to us. Television would also bring about world peace. If we were able to see people in other countries and learn about our differences, why would there be any misunderstandings? War would be a thing of the past.” - Evan I. Schwartz, The Last Lone Inventor

Philo was none other than Philo T. Farnsworth, ostensibly the inventor of television. His high hopes were subsequently dashed, however, as demonstrated by his policy on television in his home as summated by his son, Kent: "There’s nothing on it worthwhile, and we’re not going to watch it in this household, and I don’t want it in your intellectual diet."

&%$#@!

I swear like a motherfucker. At least, I presume a motherfucker would swear quite a bit. What's he got to lose? Certainly not his dignity or social standing (Cue angry letters pointing out sensitive origin of the term). All right, more like a trucker. Or sailor (Cue indignant responses from legions of wholesome truckers and sailors). Anyway, I swear a fuck of a lot, and I don't understand why people give a shit. Well, not being a complete idiot, I understand the arguments. I just don't buy them. Except, perhaps, the one that points out that the more you swear, the less power those words will hold. Which brings me to my point: These words should not hold the power to shock anyone.