Tori Amos Sells Out Something Other Than A Show

How is it possible that the woman who wrote 'Crucify' is parading a newly plasticized visage on a website where people spend thousands of dollars wallowing in the purchases of "discounted" luxury goods?

Every finger in the room
Is pointing at me
I wanna spit in their faces
Then I get afraid of what that could bring
I got a bowling ball in my stomach
I got a desert in my mouth
Figures that my courage would choose to sell our now
[...]
Why do we
Crucify ourselves
Every day
I crucify myself
Nothing I do is good enough for you
Crucify myself
Every day
And my heart is sick of being in chains

At the heart of 'Crucify' is, arguably, a rejection of the guilt we feel for wanting to resist any number of the forces of conformity. She wants to say "F you," but cowers, and then wonders why in the world she bowed to this, why she sacrifices and martyrs herself for a society that will never be pleased with her, that will continue to badger her unrelentingly, telling her exactly how and why she is inferior, until her final submission is rendered via her becoming the perfect doll society wants, with her still feeling imperfect even when the transformation is complete. (See also Pedro Almodóvar's 2011 film The Skin I Live In.)

How is it, then, that the woman who wrote about resisting ethically unfounded societal pressures is giving in to the consumerist machine? As if her doll-approximating new face weren't enough, our once-hero goes on to expound exactly how and why spending money on meaningless scraps is relevant in her life. 

Has Tori filed for bankruptcy? Is she trying to "reinvent" herself? (And if so, why?) Is she really in need of work that badly? Or is this the simple result of the pernicious and merciless assault on the vanity of women of all ages, particularly those in their 40s?

People buy overpriced goods to assert that they, too, exist and do meaningful things in a world that has distanced itself from (if it hasn't lost completely) any real meaning: we are distant from the production of our food, from the building of our dwellings, from the education of our children, from the connection with our families and communities. Ironically, material culture of some civilizations is the only proof of their existence.

The Tori Debacle has great implications for Naomi Wolf's Beauty Myth and Betty Friedan's Feminine Mystique. To be continued.

Desert Storm Phases of Invasion (expand for best view)

Fascinating: A summary of the Operation Desert Storm ground offensive, February 24–28, 1991, by phase of invasion (expand for best view).

Courtesy of wikipedia.org
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e0/DesertStormMap_v2.svg

Correlation vs. Causation (expand for best view)

Although he didn't author it, Mark Twain famously wrote,

"There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics."

I saw the below awesome graphic on Reddit a couple days ago. Boy, was Twain right: if you do it right, you can prove just about anything with numbers. Just imagine the possibilities!

Oh wait...you don't have to imagine. It's campaign season!

Courtesy of reddit.com

http://www.reddit.com/r/geek/comments/120duu/correlation_vs_causation/

The Bible Defines Marriage As... (expand for best view)

Marriage is NOT just between a man and a woman, for the Bible tells me so.

Courtesy of Gawker

http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/17m7ymo0bc12hjpg/original.jpg

Lesson #1: Filesharing vs. Piracy

Economists Say "Revenge of the Nerds" Is a Lie

Reposted from The Atlantic Wire

"There's a study out there by the National Bureau of Economic Research which should strike fear in the heart of any dweeb patiently waiting for his Count of Monte Cristo moment. The study says those popular kids, like that no-good prom king who may or may not have made your high school life awful, will actually out-earn you because they're so freaking likable.

"We estimate that moving from the 20th to 80th percentile of the high-school popularity distribution yields a 10 percent wage premium nearly 40 years later," reads the abstract to the work of Gabriela Conti (University of Chicago), Gerrit Mueller (Institute of Employment Research), Andrea Gaeotti (University of Essex) and Stephen Pudney (University of Essex). Simply put, being popular pays dividends.

What these economic research nerds looked at was Wisconsin's Longitudinal Study, which surveyed one-third of Wisconsin's high school seniors (around 10,000 people), and the then-called friendship nominations—essentially the scientific version of voting for prom royalty, where you're supposed to name your three closest friends—for patterns 35 years later."

Continue reading at the Atlantic Wire.

Street Campaign Trades Free Shoes for Instagram Photos

Reposted from http://mashable.com/2012/10/22/aldo-instagram-shoes-israel-video/

"Montreal-based footwear brand Aldo staged a charming out-of-home campaign in Israel, inviting passersby to snap a photo of their shoes, upload the photo to Instagram with their shoe size and the hashtag #aldo, and ring a bell. In two minutes, a large, rolling present box then appeared, containing — as you might have expected — a new pair of Aldo shoes in their size.

The bell was rung more than 450 times and 500 photos were uploaded to Instagram, producing nearly 800,000 interactions, the Israeli creative agency who produced it, Smoyz, says.

The stunt was reminiscent of those produced by Coca-Cola as part of its Open Happiness Project. Over the past few years, the beverage brand has deployed a variety of vending machines and other vehicles that give away free cokes and other prizes in exchange for smiles, hugs and other positive interactions."