Well hell, 3 weeks without a good post ider, and...

now I gots three of 'em and only time to linger over one!

(or do I. Hmmm...)

*ponders*

Mebby I can smush 'em all into one far reaching, yet easily digestible post saving me and you a ton of extra work. Mebby.

Well, it's worth a shot.

***Begin Transmission***

24 jumped the shark on Monday (if it hadn't already). I'll admit to not following very closely, but I did catch the first three episodes this season, (shown 2 episodes-back-to-back for the first two Monday's of the first two weeks) and had reasonable hopes for it to still be an entertaining show.

However, this last episode was enough to make me cringe in ways I haven't cringed from a televison series since I saw a season closer on "Gray's Anatomy" where Dr. Whoseisnuts with the long locks, saved Dr Gray from a watery death in Puget Sound after a horrible ferry accident! That was the end of any of my respect for Gray's Anatomy - which up till then, I thought was a slightly-better-than-average show that would pass the "I have nothing better to do tonight than watch this and I won't feel too bad about wasting this time as I'm already wasting it" test.

The reason for expressing my opinion about 24, is the fact that the plot revolved around a renegade group of a ficticious African nation's "special forces" taking over the White House, and holding the President and members of the executive staff hostage. Seriously, as I watched, I found the opening scene in X-Men 2 to be more realistic in Presidential security (where a teleporting super-powered mutant broke thru the White House secret service protection) than the stuff that was being shovelled out of my teevee from the 24 creators. Mebby the regular audience for the show will go along with that leap-of-faith, but this viewer can not. I'll leap over a lot of hurdles to stay with the (a) story, but not one that treats Presidential security with less realism than a super-hero movie from 2003.

But this shark-jumping thing is something I'm also considering in terms of something larger, something much much much larger! Yes, my friendly fjordlings, I'm considering labeling the internet as having done the same thing!!!

Look, I read political blogs because they're constantly updating their content...which is what I crave - new fjuckin' content. Yet, there's a moment in my morning where (as I peruse said political blogs) I know I'm just reading chatter. I use reddit like a fiend, and I dig my cursor into any new chunk of information or interesting headline like a shovel. But constantly, I'm being directed to content that is not only recycled, but more than a year-old! A year old in internet years is like dog years. It's like I'm seeing stuff from 2002...and I'm not sucking in the internet for nostalgia's sake (altho I do like reading history on demand from the web) I want new! I want cutting-edge information!! I want cutting-edge entertainment!!! I want super-uber-expert smart opinion on stuff!!!!

When it comes right down to it, I get no more of that stuff than what I'd get from media that's not the net. Sure, sometimes I get lucky and am rewarded, but not all that often- at least for the amount of time I spend looking for it.

And that's where I say, it's time for the internet to grow up. Yeah, you jumped the shark internet! And while it's cute to see LOL Cats every once in a while, it's the fjuckin' equivalent of a baby running his figers over it's lips making a "bubububa" sound. Sure it's cute when the kid is 2, but fer Gjod's sake, the innernet is like - getting close to/is already in PUBERTY! This baby-stuff that was fine before is now bordering on the mentally retarded.

The beauty of the internet medium is the potential to evolve into something we can't even imagine. It can (unlike teevee shows) easily re-invent itself past a shark-jumping moment, and into something far better, far more powerful, and far more illuminating than it is. I'm not at all claiming I have the talent or even the energy to change a tiny-tiny micro-small fraction of it. But I do have the critical skills to say, "It's about time this joint makes a great leap over the shark of its own irrelevance."

Perhaps I'll come up with some amazing idea that will take that last statement, and not only prove it can be done, but also inspire others to change the whole nature of the medium. Perhaps the internet, like humanity, will only ever be a mirror focused on itself with a miriad of weak distractions to banish any thought of irrelevance. Perhaps I'm already tired of pushing this very honerable idea as far as I have, (not very), to my audience of 3 loyal readers.

Nevertheless, I have no doubt, there's something in these words I've written you can agree with. I believe it went something like this...
1) Gray's Anatomy jumped the shark a long time ago. 24 just did.
2) Baby internet has clearly jumped the shark.
3) Baby internet is capable of jumping the shark and becoming something far better.
4) The internet needs to grow up.


I had three iders tonight to smoosh into one. I nailed two, but the other was on my list with the cryptic note "baby steps." Since after all these words and thoughts, I can't remember what "baby steps" was actually about, so I'm going to declare victory and forget I've just called for an internet revolution.

***End Transmission***