Sarasota Livin'

I spoke at the Sarasota City Commission meeting Thursday Dec 15th asking them to help "stamp out" slum properties in Sarasota. I was sincere in my desires for those less fortunate to have at least a minimum level of housing quality -- meeting the codes. See these previous posts on the topic here and here

I was very happy to see the City Commission strongly pushing the Code Compliance department to find better ways to ensure the minimum standards are meet. Anything less is unfair to the tenants and their neighbors.

I got enough personal satisfaction from this meeting to "pay for" my 2005 volunteer efforts with CCNA. (assuming there will be some real follow through…) Thank you to everyone that helped with this effort ….

TOPIC 2 PROPAGANDA

Another speaker at the meeting used some "rhetoric" that made me uncomfortable as he is prone to do. So I have been thinking about the different meanings and uses a phase can have.

"Ethnic Cleansing" - to me is about as evil a phase as there can be. I think of murder / rape / torture - done because someone is different than me. To someone without my frame of reference (Serbia / Sudan) at the other extreme I guess it could mean -- just based on the words ... a group of Italian people taking a shower.

While "surfing the blogosphere" this morning I found myself at the "Obey the Giant" website – Manufacturing Quality Dissent Since 1989 – Propaganda Engineering -- Click to read their full "manifesto"

...
The OBEY sticker attempts to stimulate curiosity and bring people to question both the sticker and their relationship with their surroundings. Because people are not used to seeing advertisements or propaganda for which the product or motive is not obvious, frequent and novel encounters with the sticker provoke thought and possible frustration, nevertheless revitalizing the viewer's perception and attention to detail. The sticker has no meaning but exists only to cause people to react, to contemplate and search for meaning in the sticker. Because OBEY has no actual meaning, the various reactions and interpretations of those who view it reflect their personality and the nature of their sensibilities.
...

Certainly during the Christmas Season we get more "propaganda" / advertisements then any time of the year. We are used to that - we understand how it affects use and our kids -- "I want that" based only on the image from TV. This is all a very subtle business that we ignore most of the time – but it still works on us – we are all somewhat "brand" conscious.

Just some thoughts ... Maybe something smart to say is that the "consumer" of any communication "understands" the "message" using the context / culture with which they grew up

Hope you all enjoy the holidays - I will be taking a few days off