Monday, March 16, 2009

Pomp Obsessions - Brawl Street

Okay so admittedly a little late, I finally got to watch Jon Stewart use Jim Cramer as his own personal punching bag and it was... kind of disappointing. It seemed unreasonable to have Cramer justify the big business problem of this country, and why the media never really questions authority when it should. I mean, this guy has a show called Mad Money, which I know because he upped the Bluths to a don't sell in an episode of Arrested Development. CNBC is owned by mega-corp General Electric, and the real problem is how in-bed all media is with conglomerates. The only way out is to be Ad Busters or to be... us. People with no affiliations to anyone except to the people. That's how it should be with journalists and media in general, but it isn't and hasn't been. I also admit the reason I know all this is because the Daily Show has hammered it into me; to find out my own information, figure out truth for myself and not blindly listen to media or anyone else. It would just be sad to see Jon Stewart go the way of Oprah: power-hungry and attacking those cogs, who are not even turning the wheel, just stuck in it.

Stewart veered clear of heartless bastard by checking himself occasionally, and reminding Cramer that "Wealth is work." I took this to very simply mean, money doesn't and shouldn't come to us any other way. Through all this doom and gloom there is a message between the lines: this financial crisis is an opportunity for all you ass-kickers out there to get to fucking work, and show the lazy thieving bastards what true, long-term success means.



On to obsessions.

Jet Blue is the travel hub for the young and the broke (not to mention restless). It also displays a certain marketing joi de vivre among other things. It reminds me of the most intuitive business lesson I've learned: treat people well... that is all.



This is the reason American Apparel is still in business (besides not using sweatshops of course.)



I know I shouldn't, but I want one! Mustache Parties!

Friends we Love bring us another hot pick. Feminist role models with reason in their minds and hope in their hearts are soooo effing hot. Having technical difficulties so I'll just put up a link to the 2 minute video of Thembisa S. Mshaka Friends We Love Project

I also love cooking websites and an old college buddy just started one which I'm really excited about. Yummy recipes will ensue here

What are your obsessions? And do you, like my sister, think I'm being too hard on Mr. Stewart?

-Kastoory

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

mustache parties are more fun with real hair fake mustaches shoved onto your face. i don't know about the stewart thing, need to watch it myself.

Anonymous said...

You guys and Friends We Love should be proud for giving Thembisa some credit, that woman is a very positive role model. Unlike some of the people you talk about in the fake news posts.

Anonymous said...

It was a little hard to watch but what Jon Stewart did was completely necessary and he held himself back from blaming Cramer completely by saying how it was unfair that Cramer had to be the face of this issue. I mean, yeah, big business is the big problem here but people need to speak up against it more often.

Anonymous said...

you have to remember that cramer also took issue with stewart calling out cnbc as a whole. he asked for it.

Anonymous said...

Isn't it better to share blame than to point fingers? Feels too easy for Stewart, does cable syndication vindicate him?

Anonymous said...

actually i'm pretty sure comedy central is also owned by another big corporation, but it doesn't stop stewart from calling them out.

Anonymous said...

is scary Rupert Murdoch pulling all the strings? ahhhhhh!!!!!!!!

hmla2599 said...

I'm still obsessed with Ava Luna (http://www.myspace.com/avalunaband), especially "Four Five (I Will Survive)."

Also, the word "finagle." Especially in the context of "finagle a bagel." Yeah.

Aside: Those mustache sweatshirts irk me. I think it's because something loses it's humor when it's mass produced.

And those people with the ironic mustaches tattooed on their hands so they can hold them up? I don't even want to get into that.

Royal Young said...

I'm obsessed with having a picnic, tons of booze Spring things fuck yes

Unknown said...

ghost stories and picnics in the cemeteries... blueberries and champy and everything vampy?

Anonymous said...

i'm actually obsessed with mad money. he's made as many wrong decisions as he's made right ones and it is really interesting because i think he's a big part of the cog. he's friends with these ceo's so he doesn't question them, as a whole he doesn't seem to question integrity in finance at all, just calls things "shenanigans" as a way to explain it away. but the whole thing is much more intricate, and as a whole this country needs to get to the bottom of things. no more AIG finance packages or government plans, but a free and fair market not based off debt and conglomerating.

Royal Young said...

That sounds amazing, do ghosts do outdoor brunch?

Megan Marie Metzger Preston Esquire said...

It was other cable news shows (Fox n Friends, Morning Joe, etc) that made this out to be an actual brawl, which Jon Stewart found ridiculous and expressed as much in the broadcasts leading up to the interview.

Jon Stewart couldn't help but best Jim Cramer because he's the smarter and an all-round better human. Cramer spend the whole time with his tail between his legs, and frankly was acting like a little bitch. He didn't fight back.

If you wanna see Stewart be a real intellectual bully, go back to the famous smackdown he laid on Tucker Carlson.

Anonymous said...

"In reaction to those who proclaim the market can cure all ills, we resist efforts to use market principles to tackle pressing problems...We lose elections and hope for courts to foil Republican plans. We lose courts and wait for a White House scandal...I am convinced that whenever we exaggerate or demonize, oversimplify or overstate our case, we lose. Whenever we dumb down the political debate, we lose."
-Barack Obama, The Audacity of Hope

Unknown said...

that tucker carlson beatdown i had absolutely no problem with, especially because he [tucker] tried desperately to fight back and had - nothing.