May 23, 2008
This morning I checked out the Wii Website, and found an answer to the question I had been looking for:
Why do I need Wii?
Wii is not just a gaming console, it’s a reason to get together with your friends and family and play today’s hottest games. Wii offers legendary Nintendo franchises like Mario, Zelda and Metroid, as well as all new classics like Wii Sports and Wii Play. Create your own Mii character to star in Wii games. Play friends online over Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection or use the Internet Channel to surf the net from your sofa. You can even download classic Nintendo games using the Wii Shop Channel. Take a look around and see why your TV is not complete without Wii.
The people at Wii know that keeping up with technology can be overwhelming; the atmosphere of their website minimalistic, uncluttered, and spa-like (the polar opposite of MySpace). I feel like I’m at IKEA with Feng Shui. The demonstration videos for the Wii Fit remind me of the scene in The Matrix where Morpheus trains Neo to live in the grid. However, Wii is not asking me to live in their world, but to reinvent my world with the Wii brand. Apparently, the future is now.
This change is not new. I remember eating my first TV Dinner in the early 70’s (a ready made dinner in an
aluminum tray that was shaped like a TV set). Our family moved out of the dining room and into the living room to eat dinner in front of the TV Set. You were supposed to eat TV Dinners on a TV Tray. TV Trays were sold in sets of four and each tray folded out in front of you on a little stand. Thanks in part to the invention of the TV Dinner, I literally grew up in front of television. My grandmother liked to cook big Sunday dinners for us at her house and she never understood why we didn’t enjoy “dinner conversation.” In her day, family members looked forward to the eventing meal to catch up on each others’ lives and share town gossip. I remember my grandfather loved Soul Train and my grandmother had a hard time getting him to turn off the TV and come to dinner. Despite owning a big RCA Television Console, She held on to family dinner by never buying a TV Dinner or a set of TV Trays.
Now the Nintendo Corporation is asking families to leave their individual TV sets and video consoles and
congregate together in front of the ole’ Family TV. Their motives are admirable, but do I need a Wii to have “quality family time?” Of course, sitting for hours in front of the TV is not good for you, so the makers of Wii have come up with the Wii Fit, so we all can stay active and remain together. I’m skeptical about the Wii Fit. Take a look at the Wii Fit Promo video vs. the Parody, and you’ll see why.
When I was little, we always had a bunch of neighborhood kids over at our house. Our backyard was small, but we had a sand box, a tree house, and something called a “whirli-gig.” We also shared a driveway with our next door neighbors so we could make a bike track out of chalk and ride around. We also had a kiddie pool which we set up as a bike wash. It seems that in order to have a house that kids want to come to, I need to own a Wii. A nearby park isn’t a gathering place anymore, and that makes me sad. My big Orwellian fear is that the outside world will become so undesirable, that Wii Fit is a necessity. I wonder if by purchasing a Wii, am I giving in to the possibility that I can’t think of anything else to do. Hopefully, there is a balanced middle ground. If I join the Wii/Mii Generation, I want it to be a positive change, and I welcome any of your stories and/or comments.
PJ
Leave a Comment » | 
advice, America, blogs, Critics, Debates, Family, History, insight, Mainstream Press, marriage, Media, News, opinion, parenting, parody, PJ Bottoms, Pop Culture, questions, Role Models, search terms, Teaching tools, Technology, Television, Television History, Uncategorized, United States of America, YouTube | Tagged: comments, demonstration video, dinner conversation, Early 70's, family members, Family TV, fear, Feng Shui, friends and family, Games, gathering place, grandfather, grandmother, IKEA, kids, mario, Metroid, Mii, Mii Generation, Morphious, My Space, neighborhood, Neo, Nintendo Franchises, Orwellian, parenting, parody, Soul Train, stories, Sunday dinners, Television, The Matrix, town gossip, TV, TV Dinner, TV set, TV Trays, Wii, Wii Fit, Wii Generation, Wii Play, Wii Sports | 
Permalink
Posted by pjbottoms
May 6, 2008
I’ve been watching Judge Judy on and off for 10 years, mainly to hear her one liners. I call them Judge Judy-isms. She reminds me of a grandmother, never short of opinions or old fashioned advice. I started writing a list:
1. Beauty fades; dumb is forever.
2. You have to put on your listening ears.
3. I am a truth-telling machine.
4. If you wallow around with pigs, you’re going to get dirty.
5. Where did you think you were coming, to a tea dance?
7. An 8 year old does not need a cell phone!!!
8. If you think that I believe anything you just said, then I’m 5’7″ and 42 years old. Don’t laugh.
9. ‘Uhhm’ is not an answer.
10. Do I look like I need any help from you?
PJ
3 Comments | advice, blogs, Comedy, Courtroom Television, Critics, Entertainment, Humor, Judge Judy, opinion, parenting, Pop Culture, Reality TV, Television, Uncategorized | Tagged: advice, beauty fades, courtroom, dumb is forever, Entertainment, grandmother, Judge Judy, old fashioned advice, opinion, Reality TV, Television, truth-telling machine, TV | Permalink
Posted by pjbottoms
Will Wii Fit get me into the Mii Generation?
May 23, 2008This morning I checked out the Wii Website, and found an answer to the question I had been looking for:
Why do I need Wii?
Wii is not just a gaming console, it’s a reason to get together with your friends and family and play today’s hottest games. Wii offers legendary Nintendo franchises like Mario, Zelda and Metroid, as well as all new classics like Wii Sports and Wii Play. Create your own Mii character to star in Wii games. Play friends online over Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection or use the Internet Channel to surf the net from your sofa. You can even download classic Nintendo games using the Wii Shop Channel. Take a look around and see why your TV is not complete without Wii.
The people at Wii know that keeping up with technology can be overwhelming; the atmosphere of their website minimalistic, uncluttered, and spa-like (the polar opposite of MySpace). I feel like I’m at IKEA with Feng Shui. The demonstration videos for the Wii Fit remind me of the scene in The Matrix where Morpheus trains Neo to live in the grid. However, Wii is not asking me to live in their world, but to reinvent my world with the Wii brand. Apparently, the future is now.
This change is not new. I remember eating my first TV Dinner in the early 70’s (a ready made dinner in an
aluminum tray that was shaped like a TV set). Our family moved out of the dining room and into the living room to eat dinner in front of the TV Set. You were supposed to eat TV Dinners on a TV Tray. TV Trays were sold in sets of four and each tray folded out in front of you on a little stand. Thanks in part to the invention of the TV Dinner, I literally grew up in front of television. My grandmother liked to cook big Sunday dinners for us at her house and she never understood why we didn’t enjoy “dinner conversation.” In her day, family members looked forward to the eventing meal to catch up on each others’ lives and share town gossip. I remember my grandfather loved Soul Train and my grandmother had a hard time getting him to turn off the TV and come to dinner. Despite owning a big RCA Television Console, She held on to family dinner by never buying a TV Dinner or a set of TV Trays.
Now the Nintendo Corporation is asking families to leave their individual TV sets and video consoles and
congregate together in front of the ole’ Family TV. Their motives are admirable, but do I need a Wii to have “quality family time?” Of course, sitting for hours in front of the TV is not good for you, so the makers of Wii have come up with the Wii Fit, so we all can stay active and remain together. I’m skeptical about the Wii Fit. Take a look at the Wii Fit Promo video vs. the Parody, and you’ll see why.
When I was little, we always had a bunch of neighborhood kids over at our house. Our backyard was small, but we had a sand box, a tree house, and something called a “whirli-gig.” We also shared a driveway with our next door neighbors so we could make a bike track out of chalk and ride around. We also had a kiddie pool which we set up as a bike wash. It seems that in order to have a house that kids want to come to, I need to own a Wii. A nearby park isn’t a gathering place anymore, and that makes me sad. My big Orwellian fear is that the outside world will become so undesirable, that Wii Fit is a necessity. I wonder if by purchasing a Wii, am I giving in to the possibility that I can’t think of anything else to do. Hopefully, there is a balanced middle ground. If I join the Wii/Mii Generation, I want it to be a positive change, and I welcome any of your stories and/or comments.
PJ
Rate this: