"No man, I felt like an idiot so I'm reading up on this while Iraq war situation..." JD from Scrubs

“Whatever you do don’t mention the war, I think I may have said something but I’m think I got away with it…” John Cleese as Basil Fawlty on Fawlty Towers. While these words were spoken by John Cleese nearly 30 years ago, they are still very relevant to today, only this time we are talking about the war on Iraq and Afghanistan particularly through the media.
Now the military has more say as to what goes to air on what is happening in the war zones, in the war on Iraq one the images were more like a video game, now we have embedded journalists with battalions and commanders have veto rights on what is “published”. Does anyone actually know what is happening in the war zones? For months we had action shots and images like Saddam Hussein statues toppling, but recently all that we know about is when an Australian is injured or killed in the war zone.

While this does seem like we are being kept in the dark, who really wants to see these disturbing images of war, so long as it does affect us in everyday life are we really worried. So long as we don’t have to see images of dead bodies of children or bloody figures running from soldiers we are quite happy to live our lives. This has a two fold effect though, because as long as we are not seeing the devastating effects of the war, popular opinion does not go against the war. When the true images of the Vietnam War came home the public turned against the war and we saw mass protests against the war. Now instead of protests we have popular commentators discussing their thoughts on the war but we are able to either tune in or tune out depending on how we are feeling.

The media when it comes to war has a lot of responsibility when reporting, we don’t want to see the Falklands War repeated; when it was reported that the enemies missiles were not shooting straight, while this seems interesting to the public it had a devastating effect of the British army losing two ships the next day. Information is much more accessible to anyone in the world now; militaries have to be conscious of the enemy looking up media reports from around the world. At the end of the day we have to protect our troops who believe in what they are fighting for, but war will always cause divides friends and work colleagues no matter what, unless you’re like JD from scrubs…

"You're Black Puh-leaze" Dr Cox to Turk

National identity- what the hell is National Identity- is it the country you were born in? The country you choose to spend you life in or the country that you escape to? While some argue that it is the country that you are born in I disagree. While I am born an Australian, my mother is English and while she has chosen to adopt the Australian National Identity, I have in fact chosen the British Nationality- I have dual citizenship and plan on living the majority of my life in the Queens Country.

But what about those who have become displaced through no choice of their own? The refugees who leave everything behind, should they give up their nationality and cultural ideas just because of something they had no choice in? This is no longer such a problem, with the internet now offering ways for people all over the world to continually connect with their cultural counterparts. With Hindu sites and Islamic sites offering connections for these people to feel comfortable no matter where they are in the world (well so long as they have a computer near by that is!).

But is this starting to blur national identities- if a person can be a Kazakhstanian (think Borat if you are confused) in America does this then blur the lines between an American National Identity and a Kazakhstan National Identity, does it then in fact develop into a whole new national identity- perhaps Kazakhamerica or Amrekhatanian? Confused? I know I am, I think it all boils down to this- National Identity is no longer bound by border (you can thank airline travel for that- Thanks Mr Branson!), it is now the cultural group with which you identify with and the internet now offers this ability to one and all (well one and all who have internet connections). I still like to think of myself as a British citizen just born in the wrong country!!! Just like in today’s clip we see Turk identify with being an African American yet as Dr Cox clearly points out he is in fact not!

I'm fairly sure that if they took all the porn off the Internet, there'd only be 1 website left, and it would be called Bring Back The Porn.” Dr Cox

Well today’s quote comes from Dr Cox’s Perry’s Perspective the first is that if someone cannot make up their mind as to what coffee they want in the time it took them to get to the front of the line he should be allowed to kill them (I definitely agree with this) and finally every man is an island. I definitely agree with the first two on that one. Porn is the life blood of the internet and it is what has led to many improvements on the internet (well why else would guys want faster downloads other than to look at naked women- it wasn’t so they can read the latest bible reading I’ll tell you that much!).

But how much of it is real sex? I mean they are invent stimulating machines so that people can (pardon the expression) get off while chatting (having cyber sex) online. What happened to the good old days of doing things the old fashioned ways? Don’t get me wrong cyber sex definitely has a lot less consequences than real sex (no chance of pregnancy, no chance of STDs and little chance of anyone you know in the real world finding out), but what kind of impact is this having on our relationships with people, how will the population grow if people are just having simulated sex. Yes it is sex people so yes you are cheating on your spouse when you do it, but what kind of impact is this going to have when you take someone to court for divorce and the reason is unfaithfulness to someone overseas! Thank goodness we now have no fault divorce.

It also makes you wonder how young people looking on the internet to learn about sex are going to deal with the real thing when it happens because here is a news flash people real sex is messy, nobody has that perfect a body and not all positions are comfortable for everyone- no matter how much that girl looks like she is enjoying it I can give you a hot tip- SHE IS GETTING PAID to pull that face and look like she is enjoying it!!!!!

But at least the internet does offer options for the older folk among us, apparently as we get older our sex drive doesn’t diminish and while a lot of us do not want to think about it they do have needs as well. But in the end everyone should be allowed to have some fun- but as Dr Cox points out is it all there really is on the internet? If so what does it say about us as a society?

“Turk, you just schooled on black rap by the two white girls in America!” Carla

I am a happy Caucasian female and while I live in a very multicultural society even I can experience some form of racism- more because I have been into places where I am actually the minority and have feared for my life. But I still feel sickened when I discover that extreme groups exist in our world that promotes racism and white superiority. In fact looking at the website the Intelligence Project http://www.splcenter.org/intel/map/hate.jsp that shows how many hate groups exist in each state in America. The most are found in Texas (66) and that turns my stomach.

It is also through the internet that we are starting to see the spread of this kind of diseased form of thinking- even in Australia we have the Australian First Party http://ausfirst.alphalink.com.au/ which seems safe at first but when you start actually looking at the beliefs of these groups that you realise how deranged these people really are. I know the internet is a form of free speech and I’m fairly sure these groups would have a problem with what I think but seriously people it is now the 21st Century can’t we leave the whole categorising people based on their race behind in the 20th century? I mean in this day and age we are all so mixed up it is even harder to define what we really are and who we identify with in our community.

What is even more interesting in our world today away from the extremist groups is taking the political corrected ness way too far that we now always have to have the token black guy in advertising everything from schools to hospitals. We have taken such a swing from discrimating against other “races” to wanting them in our world so much to show we are non- discriminatory that we end up marginalising those we want to feel a part of the group. Confused? Just watch this weeks scrubs moment and it will all become a lot clearer…

"I'm gonna tell you the same thing I told my new gardener; no way, Jose. His name is actually Jose, that's why I hired him" Dr Bob Kelso

Last year I turned 25, while this may not seem like such a big milestone it was cause for a mini quarter life crisis. I was informed that I was officially 1/3 of the way through my life. While according to my licence and the world I have been an adult for seven years in my head I am still 15, I watch people around me buying houses and getting married and having kids and I think I’m still too young for that. What is really freaking me out now is that people younger than me are now getting married and having kids and entering “the real world” and leaving the fun of youth behind.

But what is it about the Youth culture that attracts adults to still their ideas- in years gone by the youth culture was looked down on and dismissed as being young and idealistic. Rebellious teens of the 1950s, mods of the 1960s and the free-loving hippies of the 1970s are now the leaders of the world- they are our parents and grandparents. But just because they grew up and had to take over leadership of the world does that mean they should give up the dreams they had as young people? Why should the Youth (and what really defines a youth- age or mentality?) have all the fun and be able to have the coolness that just automatically comes with being cool? We no longer have the true separation that existed 30 years ago between different identities (hippies vs punks) now it is totally cool to be whatever you feel like being and whoever you feel like being. Lets face it, it is because of the oldies that we now have those freedoms in our lives so why shouldn’t they enjoy it as well- the youth really can’t appreciate it because that is all they have ever known.

So what does all of this mean? Well the most interesting people I know are still young at heart and even though they may be grandparents they still act like teenagers and still have no idea what they want to do with their lives- that is how I want to be in my life because lets face it youth is wasted on the young!!!! I may be getting older but I’m proud to still think like a 15 year old and probably will for a long time to come!

To conclude here is this weeks scrubs clip- It shows people can still have fun as adults- my dream is to be forever like JD and Turk, well maybe Elliot and Dr Cox and Bob Kelso...oh lets face it I will be happy being like any of them when I grow up!
(the video does go for a while but I promise you will be laughing so hard you will not even notice!)

“I would love to help you but I’m literally shaking with rage” Carla from Scrubs

I come from a strange household, we have never had a gaming console- in fact it wasn’t until DVD players came in that we actually got a VCR. Even to this day I still do not have a gaming console in my house. I have little appreciation for video games- literally the only games I have ever played were Sonic the hedgehog when I was ten (and no I did not get past the first level) and then burnout on xbox ten years later (hey I got to crash cars without getting in trouble). That is the extent of my gaming experience. Yes I have watched friends play halo and war games but truth be told I never really saw the enjoyment in playing these games- they were overly violent and graphic.

But now this is all changing, females are now playing video games just as much as guys now- and surprise surprise it’s not just the nerds any more (don’t tell me you didn’t automatically think of comic shop guy from the Simpsons when you saw this blog was about games

What is even more shocking is that now games are being considered art with Costikyan (2001:8) (would you like to buy a vowel with that name) claiming that games are the art form to the 21st Century what films were to the 20th century and what books are to the 19th Century. I’m sorry but I cannot agree with this claim- while graphics of games have improved a hundred old in the past 15 years and the idea that we are able to control the story is appealing. Are we really able to control the story? Yes we interact and become that person within the game whether it be Lara Croft or the solider in Halo but I do wonder how much we actually control the game- there is always a path to follow and a certain amount of things to achieve before being able to move to the next level. This has changed in recent years with games like AFL live and World Cup soccer in which you can control the game and even now with Wii, but what happened to actually getting out and playing tennis or boxing or even bowling?

I can appreciate the graphics in games and sometimes can appreciate how these games can bring people together. I can even appreciate the fact that games are now user friendly for females and no longer have the stereotypical stigma and yes if they ever come out with a Scrubs video game I may actually have to get my act together and purchase a gaming console- but then comes the tough and arduous decision of which console do I go with- Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii or Sony PlayStation? Agrrh I can’t face the decision so I will stick with my VCR and hope that one day I actually get a DVD player!

However in honor of video games todays scrubs clip sums up just exactly how I feel about video games- in this I agree with the Janitor (freaky I know), Carla and Bob Kelso and their thoughts on the video game Turk is playing…

"Listen please, I don't care about any of your problems, I have no answers for any of you" Dr Cox

I had interesting reaction to an ad on TV last night, I was watching it on a projector while eating pizza- something was said on the screen that I didn't like so I threw the pizza at him. This did confuse my mate as he only saw it as me throwing food at his wall rather than reacting to what was on the screen. Have you ever felt the need to scream out against an ad on the radio or throw food at the TV at something that you don't agree with- maybe you have seen a billboard on your way to work that really gets on your nerves?

Well there are people out there fighting against the marketing we are bombarded with everyday- maybe you have seen some of the ads that adbusters have changed over recent years-

As you can see they have taken a spoof on the Absolut Vodka ad, this form of culture jamming is legal and funny- you will often get them in your emails to brighten up your day. But there are other forms that are often illegal forms- vandalising the billboards that we see out and about everyday- this is probably found more in America than here in Australia, but it is still always fun to see what they can do to bring down the man! Here is one from the Billboard Liberation Front of Australia- although maybe it is a positive ad for Kevin Rudd...

But what about the real victims of this phenomenon of culture jamming- those poor marketiers that spend millions of dollars every year to make sure their product is right there in front of your face. Hours and hours of strategizing, researching, brainstorming and attending hard-care corporate retreats in the Maldives can be thwarted by a group of gorilla culture jammers to bring it all to it's knees and destroy the image of the company they work so hard to build up. How dare these people bring to light the truth behind the brands that we know and love, brands that we have grown up with yet have no idea about the corruption and decimation that exists in these companies!

At the end of the day (and yes that is now four cliches) who really cares any more I mean really we will all passively sit there and be told how to think and what to say in the future- I say embrace the non-thought method of interacting with the media, at the very least my friend's wall would then be safe from flying pizza! Hopefully the culture jammers will take out the marketiers and the world will be safe again but until that time arrive I'm going to let Dr Cox finish my thoughts on this one in his rant -things I could care less about...