Notes for a holiday blog.
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.” - Charles Dickens, 1859
“Charlie D. might have penned the single tightest description of the perpetual human condition, but this shit right here woulda scared the dickens outta him.” – Me, January 20, 2025
"These are the times that try men's souls."- Thomas Paine, The American Crisis, 1776
“Once singularly focused client partners, marketing agencies are forgoing their franchise to act as agents on behalf of clients. Instead, they will become marketing purveyors that operate across several business modes: vendors that execute programs; merchants that resell software and media; affiliates that contribute capabilities to larger, matrixed organizations....” Predictions 2026: “Marketing Agencies Resign Their Agency.” – Forrester, 2025
“Over 51% of internet traffic is now non-human. GenAI has flooded the web with machine-generated content.” — Adverteyes Creative Intelligence, 2025
“The crisis of creativity in modern culture is simply that we have become too efficient at eliminating boredom. We have smothered out every bump, filled every silence, and scrolled away every pause.” — Eaon Pritchard, “Chairman of the Bored,” 2025
“It’s about the struggle between individuals with jagged passion in their work and today’s faceless corporate committees, which claim to understand the needs of the mass audience, and are removing the idiosyncrasies, polishing the jags, creating a thought-free, passion-free, cultural mush that will not be hated nor loved by anyone.” Tibor Kalman, “Fuck Committees,” 1998
“Banner blindness, ad-skipping, and fast scrolling are not merely behavioural patterns, they are adaptive responses to stimuli that the mind has learned are irrelevant.” —Pritchard, op.cit., 2025
“We believe our offer will create a stronger Hollywood. It is in the best interests of the creative community, consumers and the movie theater industry.” – David Ellison, chairman, letter to Warner shareholders, Paramount, 2025
“Stephen Colbert asks why The Late Show was canceled if Paramount can offer Warner Bros. $108 billion.” – Entertainment, 2025
“When some political or ecclesiastical pamphlet, or novel, or poem, is making a great commotion, you should remember that he who writes for fools always finds a large audience.” — Arthur Schopenhauer, 1851
“A very sad thing happened last night in Hollywood. Rob Reiner, tortured and struggling, but once very talented move director and comedy star, has passed away, together with his wife, Michele, reportedly due to the anger he cause others through his massive, unyielding, and incurable affliction with a mind crippling disease known as Trump derangement syndrome, sometimes referred to as TDS.” – The President of the United States, 2025.
“Look down.” — Us, December 18, 2025.
