Communication

As humans, we have many ways to communicate our feelings, wishes, thoughts and emotions to one another. Almost all fit neatly into two basic categories, sight and sound.

By sight, I mean we can see the communication. These include body language (including sign language), the written word, and the arts. Sound is anything we can hear, such as speech, music or even noise.

Some communication crosses over to include both categories, such as television and movies. They use both sight and sound to convey their message. But others cross over in more subtle ways. The written word or a painting may bring the illusion of sound to mind. Just as music may fill the mind with sights and images.

Two of the lesser ways to communicate are tactile and smell. Tactile, or touch is used in some forms of art to convey a message where mere words or sounds could never completely describe. You also communicate when you touch someone, a gentle caress or a slap on the face. Either way, you know the meaning. Smell can tell a mountain of information in seconds when words could take hours. When I called these two lesser, I did not mean they had a diminished impact, but that they are not used as much.

The last form of communication is taste. Yes, we can communicate to one another by way of taste. If you have any doubt, consider a special meal prepared by a loved one. The taste of the food conveys a full range of communication.

If, by now, you have figured out that I have been talking about our five senses, you’re right. Each and every day we communicate with the people around us using our senses. And you thought they were only for your use. The next time you see, hear, feel, taste or smell something, remember someone is talking to you. The message may sit just under the surface, but it’s there. Look for it!

On that note, a couple web sites I’d like to share with you convey many messages that can help you search your mind.

http://www.acidplanet.com/artist.asp?AID=29136&T=1670

http://www.digitalblasphemy.com/

http://www.celticmp3s.com/


Okay, so it’s more than a couple, so sue me. Anyway, I hope you check them out and enjoy them. They can only deal with sight or sound on the web, but I think it’s worth it. At least it’s an escape from the world surrounding us, if only for a short time.

I also know this is one of my shorter essays and far less in detail. There is a reason for this. Some have commented in the past that I am very wordy and never write anything shorter than several pages long. Just don’t get use to it, I’m still wordy and have a lot to say.

Ed Williams

The Next Generation

Over the years, we have seen the evolution of American ‘primetime’ television. We have lived through the all phases of the standard format programs. We’ve traveled in space and the old west. Solved crimes with doctors, scientist and detectives, both private and the police. Fought criminals with superheroes. Laughed at the antics in comedies of both sitcoms and variety shows. Walked with angels and seen the mishaps of aliens living in this world. We have even seen romance in exotic places and wishes fulfilled. Traveled in the underworld of crime and spies. Lived the grind in everything from a hospital to a taxi driver. Tagged along with combat troops in war. Matched wits with contestants on ‘game’ shows. We have gone to out-of-the way places to view ‘reality’ programs. We have ‘lived’ history and seen a future both positive and negative in nature. So where do we go from here?

Just what will the next generation of television programming give us. What can the purveyors of entertainment come up with to peak our interest? Haven’t we seen it all?

I remember the days when all the new programs started in September, just after Labor Day and continued until the end of May, around Memorial Day. The only interruption was when there was a national event or at the holidays. Within an hour program, we had about twelve minutes of commercials, just enough time to go to the bathroom or get a snack. Oh, how times have changed!

I remember when a four letter word on television was ‘love’, ‘hate’, ‘work’ or ‘dang’ and the very extreme ‘damn’. Oh, how times have changed! But then you didn’t hear much more on the streets, in public. We can’t say that now.

Do you remember the ‘three second’ kiss? Or when married couples always slept in separate twin beds? When you could see more bare skin in a ‘National Geographic’ than on the television screen? Oh how times and society have changed.

Those were the days of an ‘innocent’ nation. A time when the public pretended not to know the other side of life. Look back at the shows of the 1950’s and 1960’s, to many, they seem corny and out of touch. They seem surreal and out of place by today’s standards. The programming didn’t hold the grit and realism of today’s shows. Was this what the public wanted or what the government forced upon us? That is a debate yet unresolved.

The programming of today, is it what the public wants or what Hollywood thinks we want? That is a question, as yet, unanswered and barely asked. So, what will the next generation of television bring us?

We have seen the ‘game’ show evolve into the ‘reality’ shows where eating something grotesque is the mainstay. The crime drama where the heroes almost always solve the crime, too bad that’s not the way it really is. We have seen the airways covered by ‘news magazines’, now slowly going by the wayside. So too, will be the ‘reality’ shows. The comedy shows have evolved into an insipid myriad of not funny pranks and jokes. They too shall fade away. The variety shows once covered every network, only to fall into disfavor and say ‘good night and good bye’. Will we see a return? Only time will tell.

The American public can be fickled. We seem to want something new and inventive, yet crave realism and fantasy. All at the same time. We want laughter, drama and escapism. That is a tall order to fill. We are a diverse nation and everyone wants something different, yet we all want entertained.

Here are a couple ideas Hollywood may want to look at. One: Bring back a new and improved variety show. Find an ‘MC’ who can relate to the public with personality and comedy, yet have a serious side. Have the show include comedy skits, stand up jokes and routines, and showcase new singing talent. Throw in dance and interviews with sports and entertainment celebrities and maybe a political figure on occasions. Add to it a look it history as it was and how it could have been. Touch on new inventions that could change our daily lives. Talk just a little about events in the world over the past week or things coming up. Roll all this into one show and see what the public thinks. This could be a variety show people would watch, they could even call it something like “The All American entertainment show”.

Next, have a show set in a city, which is exotic to most, say New Orleans. I can’t thing of a show set there, on television now. Have it deal with not only the ‘lead’ characters but also the lives of everyone they deal with. This could include the hospital, police, EMS, fire department, private detectives, etc. Take an event, a crime if you will, and follow the leads to the end. Show how the system really works, step by step. Not just in a murder, but deal with crime in general. Show the first responders, the leads they get and where it takes them, on and on until the resolution. The trick would be to keep it real and not be able to solve every crime. The grit in the show could fulfill the public needs, yet give them an escape from their daily lives with the color and flavor of someplace different. It could be called “The Big Easy, Hard”.

With the right mix of comedy and reality, these two shows could reach the public in ways no other show is doing today. Add to it, a full schedule from September to May and the public would be hooked. Also, limit the commercial breaks back to around twelve minutes to give more storyline. I know a way they can still get the advertisers to support the show without the ads interfering. It is a trick used in the past and even now. There has been talk of adding consumer products into the show and including them in the program. If it is done with taste and subtle, the public would not be offended and the story not interfered with. In addition, with a cast revolving in and out, there would not be the high salary problems programmers’ deal with today.

The next generation of television programming could be an evolution to look forward to and not just tolerate. Now all we have to do, is get the programmers to come around and give us something new. Will they listen?

Ideas are everywhere, the problem with programming is direction and scripts. Find new directors with an inventive eye, add to it writers not stuck in the pit of standards set today and wonders can happen. Talented actors abound, with a changing cast, more could be put in the lime light, if only a short time. This would open up the field on the ‘big screen’ as well.

‘Cable’ channels are pushing the envelope on new shows, leaving the networks in their dust. Can we let the ‘old’ industrial standby, the networks, go by the wayside? Unless something is done, it could well happen.

Ed Williams
©

A Farce

One of the biggest debacles in the world today dwells in the world of medicine. Doctors and scientists claim to know so much and profess to learning more everyday. Yet, they truly have learned very little and know even less!

What is considered fact and gospel one day is refuted the next. They don’t know enough to weigh their findings until all the evidence is conclusive. This see-saw effect drives the public in circles.

The field of medicine is very complex and competitive. When a new fact surfaces, the race is on to make it public. This leads to misinformation! Later, when the fact is refuted or found to be an anomaly, again the race is on.

Almost every facet of human life is under a microscope. This narrow, tunnel vision limits the field of view, therefore skewing the findings. Life and the human condition is not limited to one area at a time. Many factors need to be considered before a claim should be made.

Fat is good, fat is bad. Meat is good, then meat is bad. Cholesterol levels good, next bad or too high. Overweight, underweight, which is better? Exercise good or bad, we may never know for sure. The circle continues, unending. Good one day, bad the next then good once more. When will it end?

There is a movement which has been growing over the past few decades, the movement toward banning meat. It is touted a vegetarian diet is as healthy as one including meat. One fact is being side stepped. According to science, the human brain began to grow and develop when humans became meat eaters. But even setting that aside, the bible talks about eating meat. When the bible and science agree, why should anyone argue the point?

Over time, our perception of what is fact or fable changes. Fads come and go, leaving nothing but a faint memory in the human psyche. Why fall prey to this never ending cycle? Your body knows what it needs and lets you know. All you have to do is; listen and heed the message.

I have known many people from a diverse cross section of the human race. Some overweight, underweight, with high cholesterol or low. Meat eaters and vegetarians alike. Many who fell into the ranks of the “high risk” category lived to be a good age and died of natural causes or are still alive today. Some who followed all the guidelines the doctors and scientists spouted have died or are dying because of disease or body dysfunction.

In short, this all tell me to live life the best way you can. Be as happy as you can and everything will work out. If you are to have a healthy life, you will. If not, nothing you do is going to change it. What good is a long and healthy life if you are unhappy? Moderation in all things except joy. Excess in few things for a prolonged period is good. Forget the worry of things you cannot change or have no control over. Do things that make you happy, as long as they don’t infringe on another.


Life is a journey to enjoy until you arrive at the destination.

Ed Williams
©

Life’s Wisdom

Life is a journey from the womb to the grave. This is not a journey where the destination is the goal, the trip is. The sum of a person’s life is not that they made the journey but the events which make it up. Life is more than the sum of the elements which made it. Each day a new event or person may enter your life, embrace them!

Ed Williams
©

Half staff

I have a bone to pick with our government, but then what’s new.

Over the past several days all of the flags on federal property have been flown at half mast. Many civilian flags have also been displayed this way. I understand the reason for this is because of the death of the leader of the Catholic Church, Pope John Paul II.

Though the Pope’s death is a loss to the religious community, it has no place in the affairs of this country. The rules for our flag give no provision for such a display for anyone other than a head of state.

Yes, the Pope is the head of the church and they do have massive political power, but they are NOT a sovereign nation. This country has been in a battle over the display of generic religious symbols. Why would our government condone the display for one religion?

What will be next? Will we give the same display for the head Rabbi of Israel, the head of the Church of England or the Dali lama?

The Ten Commandments do have a place in our government, they are the foundations of our laws. This nation was not founded for the betterment or further glorification of one religion or religious group. That was one of the reasons for the separation of church and state. No one religious institution has a place in our governmental mind, they all do.

As a general rule, all religions support the betterment of human kind and most hold the same basic principles as truths. To set one up as a standard this way is to try and nullify all others.

I do morn the loss of the Pope as I do any religious leader. The whole world will feel the loss in one form or another, but that does not mean our government should accord this honor on his behalf.

Ed Williams
©

Wisdom for Today

To please all is an impossible aim, and to escape some criticism is an unattainable goal.

- M. Ibn Ezra, "Shirat Yisrael"
Reprinted from 'A Treasury of Jewish Quotations,' edited by Joseph L. Baron, Jason Aronson Inc.