Spacehamster’s Blog

While watching an episode of ‘The West Wing’, I heard they mention Guacamole. “They make the guacamole right in front of you.” quipped President Bartlet. I normally go to the Carlton Cafe to buy my breakfast if I’m running late in the morning. This time I went to Subways and ordered a muffin. Much to my surprise, they also cook the egg right in front of you when you go to Subways for breakfast. Not as glamorous as guacamole, but I’m a simple man who takes pleasures from the small things in life. Not to mention you get fresh bacon and egg.

Five years ago when I was living in Melbourne, I probably would’ve been one of the first in line to buy the iPhone. When you’re a newcomer to a big city like Melbourne or Sydney, it can be incredibly hard to form personal connections to other people. Spending money on gadgets was a way of assuaging that sense of social isolation. Now that I’ve returned to Tasmania, I no longer feel that sense of social disconnection. So this article really interested me:

In avid consumer societies, connecting a gadget, brand or product with happiness - a true, lasting sense of wellbeing - has become the stock in trade of modern advertising. No doubt Apple will be trying to forge that link again in the coming media and advertising blitz. (Just look at its hipster ad campaign for the shrewdly marketed iPod: all those technicolour swingers jiving ecstatically away.) The underlying message (consume and be content) is perfectly clear.

Looking back on it, I don’t think buying consumer gadgets is a good replacement for the company of family and friends. Instead of buying a $300 mobile phone, I’d much rather spend $100 and take my friends and family out for a meal instead. We humans need social interaction in order to keep us sane.

The moral of this story? Buying consumer gadgets can bring you short-lived satisfaction. The real fun is in spending time with people that you like.

I stopped watching The West Wing after Aaron Sorkin left the show at the end of its Fourth year. I recently borrowed the boxsets from my local video library, and fell in love with this show all over again. There have been plenty of words written about what makes this show great. For me, it’s the sparkling witty dialogue, an awesome ensemble cast. But above and beyond that, it’s the premise that we can and should do better. That although even the President may be fallible, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t stop reaching for the stars.

The next 3 seasons go in a completely different direction. Characters make odd choices. Would Sorkin’s Toby ever betray the President? Would Sorkin’s CJ become Chief of Staff? Or Will Bailey defect to the Vice President? There’s a sparkle, spontaneity and fun that’s missing from seasons 5-7. Even though I still like watching the show, I don’t love it anymore.

Nevertheless, the first four seasons are genuinely classic television. I strongly recommend the first four seasons to anyone looking for intelligently written television.

Due to the problems with the Linksys Wireless adapter I’ve been unable to install Service Pack 2, and therefore install Visual Studio 2005. So I decided to create a dual-boot system - WinXP Home and WinXP Professional. Disable all network devices in the WinXP Pro partition and install VS2005. I then have a Developers-only environment that I can program in to my hearts content. Hopefully it’ll work.