Off Topic: The Refrigerator Door

On the right is a (partial) picture of my very cluttered and busy refrigerator door.

Maybe yours looks a little something like that too - unless you have one of those shiny stainless steel refrigerators that don't like to cooperate with 'fridge magnets, then chances are there are at least a few things pinned up on the door. click for ginormous view

According to researcher and co-author of Life at Home in the Twenty-First Century Anthony Graesch, families with small children at home have on average about 50 magnets and items tacked up on the refrigerator, (you can see more from Prof. Graesch in a recent interview that aired on CBS Sunday Morning, hat tip to Trish for sending me the link to the video).

That number of 50 seemed pretty high to me, until I began counting up all the stuff I have up on my 'fridge door, mostly mementos from trips or events or airports I have passed through in the last few years.

One funny side note about my door, when I mentioned to my 13 year old that I was going to post something on the blog about refrigerator doors and magnets, he took a closer look at the door and asked, "Why do you still have a picture of you and that MetLife dog up there?"

I replied, "Do you mean Snoopy? That is the dog's name, he isn't 'The MetLife Dog'. He was in Peanuts for about 50 years. You know Snoopy, right?"

"Whatever, Dad. I know him as the MetLife dog."

Welcome to 2014, when stainless steel refrigerators, smartphones, and social networks are eroding the power and majesty of the well-decorated refrigerator door.

And where a generation of kids only knows Snoopy as "The MetLife dog."

Note: I am heading to Vegas for the next four days with most of The 8 Man Rotation crew to soak up a little NBA Summer League action, so the blog will probably be dark until next week.

Off Topic: Store bought cookies, ranked

Your definitive ranking of store-bought cookies. And yes, I know that 'Home baked cookies are better!', that is not what this ranking is about.

Here goes:

99. Animal Crackers

98 - 16. Every other cookie that you have ever heard of

15. Lorna Doone

14. Famous Amos Chocolate Chip

13. Archway Oatmeal Raisin

12. Pecan Sandies

11. Teddy Grahams Honey

10. Fig Newtons

9. Nilla Wafers

8. Nutter Butter

7. Vienna Fingers

6. Chips Deluxe

5. Milano

4. Fudge Stripes

3. Oreo (original)

2. Oreo (Double Stuf)

1. Chips Ahoy (original)

Tell me where I'm wrong and have a great weekend!

The Culture Trap

Short post today - just a call out for you to take a few minutes today or over the weekend to check out a fascinating piece by Ryan on the anthropology blog Savage Minds titled 'When Culture Erases History'.

While on the surface an essay about anthropological field work in the Baja, California region, (interesting in its own right), the piece's essential question, or perhaps more accurately challenge to us is this: Are we too often  confusing 'culture', complex, long-developing, and ever-evolving, with much more practical and visible characteristics of a people or place, (and I'd argue a corporation), like politics, history, land ownership, and economic power?Jasper Johns, Spring, 1986

An excerpt from the article:

This use–or misuse–of the idea of culture is quite common, and I think it’s a clear case that calls for some more anthropological engagement.  Because culture is, after all, one of our bread and butter concepts–even if it has run a bit wild on us (all the more reason to get back into the game, no?).  In the end, I think one role for cultural anthropology–in this specific case and other related instances–is to point out when culture is a viable, meaningful explanatory factor, and, just as importantly, when it’s not.  Granted, sometimes culture can tell us a lot about human differences.  Sometimes culture is the answer.  But when culture is used to make an end run around history (and politics), well, maybe it’s time to take a closer look.

If you're interested at all the the interplay between culture and power and money and the ways that people do or do not get along in an ecosystem, then like I said check out the Savage Minds article for if not the answers to some of these problems, at least for a way to frame the questions and discussions in a useful way.

Sometimes culture is the answer, in anthropology certainly, and once in a great while, in business too,(although I'd submit in the corporate world it's far less a factor than what seems to be currently fashionable to suggest). 

But other times, and maybe most of the time, behaviors and characteristics we think might have some kind of deep-seated or inherent cultural influence turn out to be much more practical and even mundane.

If we don't get along, it could be because of some deep-seated, thousands of years to develop and almost inherent cultural difference between your people and my people. It could be that. Or it could be that you will not stop posting pictures of everything you eat on Instagram.  That probably is the reason, actually.

Hmm. Maybe too heavy for a Friday, especially after this week.

Have a great weekend!