Wonderful World of Widgets

For some months, I couldn’t really define “widget.” I clearly knew what one was, but somehow I just couldn’t really explain it to anyone else without saying “it’s this thing that does that thing, which links it to this other thing.” Yet, since I prefaced this definition with such enthusiasm, the receiving parties usually expected something more artful to pour from my lips. Now, I often reference the wikipedia definition of the word with such frequency that I definitely have it memorized, maybe.

In any case, widgets are becoming like the hippest thing on the web. They are like your personal web thumbprint. They can have so much personality and identity and they help drive web traffic. Let’s take Obama’s “O” widget, for example, which directs the user right where Obama wants he/she to go– to some important information on his website (i.e. donate here). Ah, clever.

Yahoo! has a site that allows you play with existing widgets and you can create your own widgets, as well. Yet, many companies have already jumped on this bandwagon and there are many sites out there for users to create their own unique widgets such as Grazr, Wigitize, Buzzfeed, and many more.

Oh and of course, there’s the Google Gadget which likely tops all the others I mentioned. I mean hell, it’s Google…

And the current King of Widgets? Well, Facebook of course daarlin’! All those (sometimes annoying) little thingamabobs all over the pages are widgets.

The widget is becoming a standard, really. Rock the Vote is even making creative use of the widget, as well.

And to think, not too long ago most of us used to associate the widget with the thingamabob, the whatchamacallit, and the gizmo.

Obama Protects His Kids from the Media Storm

And the award goes to–drum roll, please–Barack Obama! 

 Michelle, we’ll talk about the Best Mom Award later, but FYI, you’re competing with Brangelina.

–

After a candid family interview with Access Hollywood’s Maria Menounos, Barack Obama said that he didn’t think the media attention on his daughters was healthy and that his family wouldn’t be doing interviews of that sort in the future. Now, why would Mr. Obama say a thing like that?

It’s not like media stalks children of public figures. It’s not like the media would take pictures of his children without his permission. It’s not like the media’s obsession with him would trickle down to his children, at all. I mean geez, the media is way more respectful than that. Duh! The media just wants a few pictures and a few candid interviews, that’s all. They just want to ask if daddy wears boxers or briefs, that’s all. They just want to find out what daddy’s little secrets are, what daddy’s morning breath is like, and how daddy punishes little girls when they’ve been bad. They just want to know if daddy is “normal” that’s all, because more than 10% of Americans still think he was raised a Muslim. The media just wants to get to know the Obama children so that they can tell America why she should vote for him in November. So, please, just give the media as many pictures and the interviews as they’d like. Please. It’s for the good of all. (?)

Things to think about…

• According to someone (i.e. a narrator on Access Hollywood–maybe it was Maria, but I don’t know), Obama should allow the media more access to his children because children can be great assets to campaigns. 
• Sorry, I couldn’t think of a good bullet #2. I’m still thinking about how dumb bullet #1 is.

–

Let me take a deep breath and woo-sah a little bit. This is how I think it happened…

In the storm that is the lifestyle of the Obama’s, the Obama’s just forgot that Access Hollywood was showing up that day. It was their daughter’s birthday and kids were just running all over the place–if you haven’t been around a kid on their birthday, you won’t get this. Any way, some media shows up to the occasion and–oh sh** it’s Access Hollywood! At this point, everything is moving real fast. In one corner there were make-up artists trying to make everyone pretty, and in the other corner there were technicians trying to set up label microphones on Michelle and Barack. Then, all of sudden, Sasha and Malia ran to their parents. Crap! The technicians started pinning microphones on the kids. Michelle and Barack looked at one another. It was the oh s** look, and rightfully so. Did they know that…

• the Access Hollywood interview would be a four-part AH mini-series?
• the syndication of the show would boast 30,000+ views on Youtube?
• every major news network would talk about the AH series?

Obama wins the Best Dad Award for thinking, What the hell we were thinking allowing the media to spotlight our kids like that?   He even said that they won’t be doing interviews like that in future. Obsessive media + young people (especially of parents who are public figures) is not a good mix. Just ask young Hollywood starlets. I don’t even have to name them. Malia and Sasha are under 11! If anyone thinks that obsessing (i.e. more media coverage) over Obama’s children is a good thing, then we should be afraid of them…

 

The New Yorker Obama Cartoon Succeeds at Forcing Us to Think…

Images are powerful.

Look at the picture below.

Now, take your position. 

Here’s mine…

This is a bad joke. No, really, it is. Think about it…

E.D. Hill gets fired for saying “terrorist fist jab” and The New Yorker is allowed to paint this detailed mental picture for us. Is that fair? Maybe it is, but there are consequences to every action, even if we are allowed to tout our free-speech-in-America badges. E.D. Hill might go down in history for being an ass at the wrong moment, but this cover–this vivid portrait–will likely go down in history for being one of the most controversial magazine covers in American history. Sorry E.D., you coined the phrase and everyone else just darn capitalized on it. 

Many of us could have only imagined a picture such as the cartoon above, but damnit we didn’t draw it–but then of course, we are not The New Yorker. Yes, the cartoon is a true expression of free speech, but quite frankly, it just doesn’t get passed a pity chuckle for me. My hearty laugh awards still goes to Angry Kid.

I’m with CNN’s Roland Martin on this one. What is the joke? Where is the headline that’s supposed to tell us “HA! HA! (insert relative, funny phrase here)”?  Did anyone notice that an American flag is burning in the fireplace? So not cool, dude. I think I’m crying instead of laughing. Is Michelle Obama supposed to be a Black Panther in U.S. military camouflage bottoms? Hmm…something about this just doesn’t feel funny, and I’m a fan of political cartoons. Are loyal fans of The New Yorker really going to abandon their beloved magazine because of a cartoon cover that pushed the envelope of satire? Who even freakin’ cares about this cartoon?! Sigh. We are all forced to care. We are all forced to take another look at what, why, and how we challenge and defend our interpretations and perspectives. We are are also forced to ask ourselves: who is responsible for helping us shape these notions?

Can you look at this cartoon again and respond to it objectively?

–

As a read through the headlines of various articles, I read such headlines as:

Obama Slams New Yorker…

Obama is Outraged by New Yorker…

Obama Rejects New Yorker Cover…

As I read thoroughly through articles, I noticed that Barack Obama, himself, did not want to comment much about the cartoon because “he didn’t want to elevate it’s importance“. He actually declined to comment about the cartoon on multiple occasions. I mean, he has been speaking a lot lately. I guess he just can’t comment on everything. Gee, that’s wise. In any case, Obama isn’t “outraged” or “slamming” anything outside the realm of that which could be a true detriment to his presidential candidacy.

The cartoon that made us think…

Thanks

…To everyone who told me how jacked up my blog has been for the past week.

I’m still getting used to this Mac thing.