"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...