I'm going to make my mark, maybe in surveys

[vovat]

bethje and I watched Ginger Snaps last night. It was a werewolf movie that I'd never heard of until recently, and I found it interesting and rather disturbing.

On a totally unrelated note, I've probably brought this up before, but is anyone else really bothered when people act like the time we're in is somehow different from any other? You know, like how some people insist that people nowadays are less moral than they ever were, or crime is worse now than ever, and things were so much different back in the day. Doomsday preachers seem to be particularly bad in this respect, but they're hardly the only ones. It also happens from the opposite perspective, when people act like things are so much better now than they ever were, and we're living in some age of great enlightenment and technological progress. There are probably some ways in which both sides are right. It's certainly a better time to be, say, a woman or a black person than it was a few decades ago. And maybe some things are worse now than they were last century. Overall, though, aren't things pretty much the same as they always have been? There have always been stupid people, violent criminals, dishonest politicians, disobedient kids, natural disasters, and whatnot. And societal mores and technology are constantly changing. So why is the present so special? Just because we happen to live in it?

As you've probably noticed, I've been taking a lot of surveys recently, and I decided it might be fun to create my own. I'm hoping it'll spread like wildfire, but it'll probably just be a minor flicker, if that.


1. How old are you?
2. Are you satisfied with that age?
3. What's the last book you read, and what did you think of it?
4. What's the last movie you saw, and what did you think of it?
5. Do you usually get enough sleep?
6. What's your opinion on peaches?
7. If you had to be stranded on a desert island with some kind of undead, what kind would it be?
8. If it were possible, would you want to go into space?
9. How about becoming immortal?
10. If you could have one magical power, what would it be?
11. If you suddenly were to become filthy, stinking rich, would you still work?
12. What would be the ultimate mode of transportation?
13. How much money do you think you're worth?
14. If you were the patron deity (or saint, or fairy, or whatever) of something, what would it be?
15. If you were to record an album, what would you call it? (If you already HAVE recorded an album, and you named it yourself, what was it called?)
16. If you had your own country, what would you call it?
17. What form of government would it have?
18. And what would be the national anthem?
19. And what would be on the flag?
20. How much longer do you think the United States will last?
21. How about the world?
22. Do you think robots will ever take over the planet?
23. Do you think there's life on other planets?
24. A train leaves Chicago bound for San Francisco at 2 PM, carrying 105 passengers. The train is travelling at 75 miles per hour, and it costs $3.50 to buy a sandwich in the dining car. Suddenly, three miles from the station in Miami, a cow is seen on the tracks. The engineer notices the animal in time, and brings the train to an abrupt stop. It takes thirty minutes to remove the cow from the tracks. Once it's left the tracks, though, it reveals to you that it's actually a long-lost prince, turned into a cow by an evil wizard. The only way to break the spell is to hold the cow's tail while standing in a cornfield at midnight and reciting the Aramaic alphabet backwards. You go ahead and do this, and the disenchanted prince decides to thank you by giving you some kind of magical talisman. It turns out that the only kind of magical talisman available in his country is a whistle that summons a forest nymph, who will grant one request. What would you request of the nymph?
25. Why would a train going from Chicago to San Francisco be making a station stop in Miami, anyway?
26. What's your favorite kind of cheese?
27. What's one program that you think should receive more government funding?
28. What program do you think should receive LESS government funding?
29. If you could have a mythological being as a pet, what kind would you choose?
30. What do you think of this survey so far?

And now for some of those "Which one do you prefer?" questions:

1. Vanilla or black raspberry?
2. Chocolate or the Complete Works of William Shakespeare?
3. Pepsi or the floating disembodied head of Colonel Sanders?
4. Walt Disney World or the Black Hole of Calcutta?
5. Pornography or oceanography?
6. Geopolitics or deer ticks?
7. Peach pie or the Taj Mahal?
8. Blueberry muffins or fiscal policy?
9. Air conditioning or potato chips?
10. Chevrolet or candied yams?
11. The history of Egypt or fake noses?
12. Slurpees or riding lawnmowers?
13. Spider-Man or box kites?
14. New York or the Noble Truths of the Buddha?
15. This survey or a swift kick in the butt?

I don't think I'm going to take this myself. You should take it, though. Now! {g}

Comments

[rockinlibrarian.livejournal.com]

The survey rocks! I will take it for you! But then again, you know me with surveys (or at least you do if you've been reading my lj).

Ai, people's opinions on the state of the world. That's another reason why I'm so drawn to storytelling-- the old folktales and things, having been passed on from the beginning, you see how MUCH people stay the same. I mean, human nature has not changed one iota from the very beginning. In some ways, that's bad, it means we'll always have jerks and crime and idiocy, but it's nice too. It grounds us in reality, when we realize how regardless of how cultures and history and technology and whatnot changes, PEOPLE REMAIN CONSTANT. Interesting. Anyway.

[arfies.livejournal.com]

AMEN. I think about the same thing a lot.

You know how people say, "When I was your age, there was so much less crime. We we able to go out in the neighborhood and play." Actually, crime rates have been going DOWN for 30 years. The only thing keeping people shut up in their houses is fear, and how much more often the media (and government) reports how "Unsafe" things are "now."

Fear sells. Saying, "It's fine for your older kids to play unsupervised" does not.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

I think a lot of people have a rose-tinted view of the past, or think that their own experiences were shared by everyone else in their time. The myth of the Golden Age has been around since time immemorial (and I'll bet things were a lot better back in time immemorial {g}).

[revme.livejournal.com]

Heh, I pretty much wrote a rant about it at todcra disguised as a long rant about how much I hate the Judds' song "Grandpa (Tell Me About The Good Old Days)".

[k1cup.livejournal.com]

Re: your rant

I have to agree that human nature never changes. Have the circumstances under which such nature is allowed to manifest itself changed? That's a "yes". Bottom line for me is that just like there's conservation of energy, there's conservation of goodness (or badness). Action vs. Reaction. Meaning, that if one issue is better, something else gives.

[revme.livejournal.com]

Sorry! I didn't see this the first time! Mwomp mwomp! Anyways:
1. How old are you?
25.
2. Are you satisfied with that age?
As satisfied as I ever am with any age.

3. What's the last book you read, and what did you think of it?
Well, the last thing I read was an issue of the Believer, which is basically like a book, density-wise, and I really enjoyed it a lot. The last actual book I read, I think, anyway, was The R. Crumb Handbook, which I liked OK, but I got it more for the Free CD. The Book was pretty good, though I tend to find Crumb the guy more interesting than Crumb the Cartoonist. Though there was some pretty righteous crankpot ranting in that one.

4. What's the last movie you saw, and what did you think of it?
Hm, unfinished: Gates of Heaven, which just didn't click with me, and I'm not really sure why. I got this sort of weird vibe from it, and it also made me sad, because it made me think of my cats dying, which I don't like thinkin' about. Finished: Broken Flowers, I think, which I did enjoy very much, much more than I was expecting, actually.

5. Do you usually get enough sleep?
Hm, typically. At least close enough.

6. What's your opinion on peaches?
Not really a fan.

7. If you had to be stranded on a desert island with some kind of undead, what kind would it be?
Hm. I'd guess a vampire, because you'd get the whole immorality thing, and you could maybe fly away under nightfall. This only stands if, say, there's shade on said desert island. Like a cave or something.

8. If it were possible, would you want to go into space?
Yeah, but I'd probably be kind of terrified. I figure it'd be the same thing as my fear of submarines.

9. How about becoming immortal?
That would be wicked awesome.

10. If you could have one magical power, what would it be?
Hm, the ability to stop time, like in Out Of This World.

11. If you suddenly were to become filthy, stinking rich, would you still work?
Depends on what you mean by work: If by going to a 8 hour a day type job? No. But I would use that money to make films and suchlike, and work in that sense.

12. What would be the ultimate mode of transportation?
Big, fast, padded bumper cars. So you could go real fast, but wouldn't h ave to worry about crashes.

13. How much money do you think you're worth?
Hm. Well, there's always the $1.98 in chemicals figure. But I've got a lot of stuff. So, like, 2.98.

14. If you were the patron deity (or saint, or fairy, or whatever) of something, what would it be?
Reuben Sandwiches.

15. If you were to record an album, what would you call it? (If you already HAVE recorded an album, and you named it yourself, what was it called?)
I've done tons, but my next one would/will be The Important Sound of Things Falling Apart/For My Crushed Right Eye.

16. If you had your own country, what would you call it?
In Nation States, I was Rbeefpain, I think. I had the Rwandan flag, just because I like flags with letters.

17. What form of government would it have?
Very liberal; not quite socialist, but with some aspects. Probably closest to Scandahoovia.

18. And what would be the national anthem?
"This Must Be The Place" - Talking Heads.

19. And what would be on the flag?
Probably some letters. And maybe random objects, like, oh man, what's the flag with the, like, plowshare and rifle? I think it's an african one. I love that kind of aesthetic.

[revme.livejournal.com]

20. How much longer do you think the United States will last?
Probably quite a while.

21. How about the world?
Also quite a while, but probably quite a bit longer.

22. Do you think robots will ever take over the planet?
Hm, probably not.,

23. Do you think there's life on other planets?
I think it's a very good possibility; though I doubt there are, you know, the whole UFO probings and all that kind of thing.

24. A train leaves Chicago bound for San Francisco at 2 PM, carrying 105 passengers. The train is travelling at 75 miles per hour, and it costs $3.50 to buy a sandwich in the dining car. Suddenly, three miles from the station in Miami, a cow is seen on the tracks. The engineer notices the animal in time, and brings the train to an abrupt stop. It takes thirty minutes to remove the cow from the tracks. Once it's left the tracks, though, it reveals to you that it's actually a long-lost prince, turned into a cow by an evil wizard. The only way to break the spell is to hold the cow's tail while standing in a cornfield at midnight and reciting the Aramaic alphabet backwards. You go ahead and do this, and the disenchanted prince decides to thank you by giving you some kind of magical talisman. It turns out that the only kind of magical talisman available in his country is a whistle that summons a forest nymph, who will grant one request. What would you request of the nymph?
Money would probably be nice. I don't know! I'm not good at spot decisions.

25. Why would a train going from Chicago to San Francisco be making a station stop in Miami, anyway?
Hijackers.

Who are very, very good at planning ahead.

26. What's your favorite kind of cheese?
Hm, Mozzarella or Swiss.

27. What's one program that you think should receive more government funding?
Education.

28. What program do you think should receive LESS government funding?
Military.

(so predictable answers)

29. If you could have a mythological being as a pet, what kind would you choose?
Um, the ESQUILAX!

30. What do you think of this survey so far?
S'alright! Sorry I missed it before!

And now for some of those "Which one do you prefer?" questions:

1. Vanilla or black raspberry?
Vanilla

2. Chocolate or the Complete Works of William Shakespeare?
Chocolate (I have some block in my brain that keeps me from digging Shakespeare)

3. Pepsi or the floating disembodied head of Colonel Sanders?
Sanders.

4. Walt Disney World or the Black Hole of Calcutta?
Black Hole.

5. Pornography or oceanography?
Hm. Tough call. Oceanography has octopi. Porn sometimes does, too, but it's much more disturbing when it does.

6. Geopolitics or deer ticks?
Geopolitics.

7. Peach pie or the Taj Mahal?
Taj Mahal.

8. Blueberry muffins or fiscal policy?
Fiscal Policy.

9. Air conditioning or potato chips?
A/C

10. Chevrolet or candied yams?
Chevrolet.

11. The history of Egypt or fake noses?
Noses.

12. Slurpees or riding lawnmowers?
Lawnmowers. (tough one, though).

13. Spider-Man or box kites?
Spiderman.

14. New York or the Noble Truths of the Buddha?
New York.

15. This survey or a swift kick in the butt?
Survey.