The Opinionated Man

Extension of my Grammy rant on Twitter

Check @chicorican for the Timeline

Why is it every year we fall into the trap/hype/illusion of the Grammys? Its gotten to the point where most of the awards are not even televised which in effect devalues the music it is meant to recognize. We all watch hoping to see a celebration of music and we end up with the “What the Hell??” look on our faces.

The point of the Grammy awards show is to celebrate the music that was made in the past year. Usually the eligibility period is from one September to the next in a calender year. Musicians look to the Grammy Awards to recognize their work & present it to a huge audience. So why are we watching “Good Vibrations” and “Rhinestone Cowboy” in 2012?!

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Peter Parker is Dead*….. Long Live Spider-Man!

* Ultimate version that is. Amazing Peter Parker is alive & well.

The New Ultimate Spider-Man….Miles Morales

I grew up on Spider-Man. I grew with Spider-Man. I identified myself through Peter Parker tho. And seeing this new version gives me hope that for some young kids this will do the same for them that it did for me.

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We are losing more than just money and jobs.

I saw this comic strip a week ago had a laugh & then I started thinkin….

Now the easy statement is how advancements in technology are replacing some of the jobs people used to rely on. But that’s nothing new, that’s what it always does. Building cars replaced raising horses. Using the telephone replaced the telegraph. In those cases and many more the replacing industry added or sustained the amount of workers effected from the loss of the dying industry. But that is not the case anymore.

A dozen programmers can replace thousands of workers with software that doesn’t ask for days off, raises or promotions. And its not changing one industry, it’s changing all industries. We have an understanding how this is effecting us right now when we look at unemployment numbers and economic forecasts. But what other ways is it effecting us?

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Want to have the owners negotiate fairly? Generate a Counter-Offer!

So the first big ripple in the NBA lockout hit this week with news that Deron Williams would play in Turkey should the start of the regular season be cancelled. He is the highest profile player to sign overseas. That same Turkish team is now openly courting Kobe Bryant to join as well. But every player is not going to have this option available.

Another idea thrown out there is a barnstorming tour. A tour of All Stars playing each other in different cities & countries. The line of thinking is that if the players are playing and making money while the owners are losing out they’ll be more likely to negotiate a deal. But their best negotiation tactic they have is to generate competition for their services. 

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This Week in Self-Destruction

Netflix announces 60% price increase. People take to Twitter, Facebook and every social media outlet in disgust & to defend their inalienable right to low priced entertainment. Meanwhile politicians are still debating over debt limits and the elimination of pell grants. And public education still sucks too. What’s important again?

Ownership vs Access: Is being able to access anything worth losing the right to own it?

Netflix. Pandora. Amazon. Spotify. Apps. Mobile. Hulu. Facebook. Google. Digital Downloads. E-Books. XBOX Live. Online Passes. THE CLOUD!!! There is a business paradigm shift in process and it looks a little like a Chinese buffet. All you can consume for $x.xx. Difference is now your paying to access it instead of owning it.

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The Future is Now - Just Not Here

http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/south-korean-school-textbooks-will-be-all-digital-by-2015/

South Korea Ranks 1st in the world in reading & math. Third in science. Overall 1st in the world in education. Now they continue to set the bar even higher. By embracing technology that will allow their children to learn at an even faster pace. While over here in the USA we have kids sharing books that are sometimes 20 yrs old. But at least they are learning how to defeat evil pigs with birds.

Lets take a look at why this is happeneing.

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Celebratin A Tribe Called Quest