Thursday, July 27, 2006

A View Of Hedonism - And It's Aftermath


As I was surfing the web this afternoon, I came across a story that reminded me how entertaining hedonism could be. I also found a story that reminded me of what the aftermath of hedonism is, and one that showed what happens if you try to save a hedonist in a manner that's outside of the box - so to speak.

Let's start with the good stuff, shall we? Management at a radio station in Fresno, California decided it was time to change the station's format from its fare of Christian music and scripture. After some thought and consideration, they decided the best format to adapt was the most obvious one - "Porn Radio." The station is playing a loop of songs with suggestive lyrics and titles and advises listeners under 21 not to tune in. They even go so far as to "heat up" songs that aren't spicy enough with canned moans and groans. This tickled me to no end, but I am an incurable atheist after all. Can you imagine some poor Fresno native with a bit more faith turning on the radio this morning expecting to hear "Marching Up The Heavenly Road," and hearing "Why Don't We Do It in the Road," instead? Just picturing the look on that person's face makes me giggle. The speculation is that this is a publicity stunt designed to stir up buzz before the station settles on its final, official format. (Update - 7/28/06: Click here to see the first porn video ever posted on VFTT, if you dare.)

Okay, I realize my finding the humor in this may mean to some of you that I need some salvation. You may be right, it's not nice to laugh at the suffering or discomfort of others. I'll repent with this story I found on the Buzzle website about XXXchurch.com, an anti-pornography ministry in Corona, California ("The #1 Christian Porn site!" according to the site's home page) who wanted 10,000 customized Bibles to hand out at conventions. They placed an order with the American Bible Society, a non-profit publishing company that's licensed to publish Scriptures. Upon receiving the order, the ABS contacted the ministry's founders, Mike Foster and Craig Gross, and informed them the company would not accept the order. Why? Because ABS felt the customization XXXchurch.com requested, a cover that read, "Jesus Loves Porn Stars" would be "misleading and appropriate" on such a publication.

Can't win for losing, I suppose. Needless to say, Foster & Gross were not happy. They posted a statement on their website proclaiming their efforts were (ahem) pure at heart and not a case of shock value to sell a mission - Jesus loves the porn stars, they said, and not the porn. The group also has a MySpace profile and a companion arm is being developed in the United Kingdom in case you're interested.

All this talk of porn, recorded moans, and sexuality is enough to make one want to run off to, say, the Hedonism resort for a quick one. Vacation, that is. If you are like the average American, chances are you'll take Blackberry with you (on vibrate, I hope) on your quest for paradise. According to a report I found on the MSNBC website, more Americans than ever are combining business with pleasure, with 43% of us working during our vacations - compared to 23% in 1995. Moreover, more of us are hot and bothered on our vacation, with 10% of us unable to relax until we worked it out. Our workload that is, not other tensions. The poll conducted by Steelcase, an office furniture and design company, also found that the 41% of folks on vacation run their fingers across their laptops instead of through their vacation partner's hair.

Remember what they said about all work and no play, folks. More to come later, after I kick back and relax.

2 Comments:

Blogger Moderator said...

You are sick. You deviant!

11:32 AM  
Blogger TEM said...

How nice of you to notice.

2:13 PM  

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