Due to technical difficulties caused by Mama Nature and exacerbated by my bad attitude, I have only just now (5:00 PM ET) fixed those problems and don't have time tonight to write a proper post. Please excuse me as I still have a lot more tweaking to do to be running a stable ship, as it were.
So, consider this an open thread. Please talk to me about the direction you'd like to see R&BLers take in the near future. Publishing houses need to meet the wants of their readers and cater to the desires of their writers to remain vibrant and vital. I'd like to hear from you your ideas. With a new Admin in house, I've got to find something for Ellid to do. She doesn't seem to be as busy around here as her talents indicate.
Please turn the page.
Special Announcement
Because R&BLers has such generous Admins, aravir stepped into the breach and had a replacement diary queued up and ready to go if I couldn't make it in time with this one. I'm asking him to publish that diary one week from tonight, because the topic is so good, no R&BLer will want to miss it!
Many thanks, aravir!
I would be no one if I weren't an agitator. So, tonight I've chosen this pot to stir: It turns out there is an accounting for taste. Cambridge University researchers completed a study (abstract) of three population groups: 2,000 University of Texas undergraduates; 736 residents of the Eugene-Springfield, Ore., area; and 545 people recruited on the Internet that indicates "a person’s entertainment choices tend to share certain basic characteristics, which may or may not be immediately obvious."
One's brow is either high or low, and remains consistent over one's entertainment choices. Books we read, what we watch on TV and at the movies, and the music we listen to seem to appeal to a base aesthetic that holds across the spectrum of diversions.
According to Peter Jason Rentfrow. . .
“Individuals prefer genres that share similar content, irrespective of the medium through which it is conveyed,” he and his colleagues write in the Journal of Personality. “Entertainment preferences are more a function of substance than style.”
The highbrow/lowbrow split, which has dominated cultural criticism for the past century or so, remains alive and well: The researchers report most people gravitate toward one dimension or the other. But Rentfrow and his colleagues also identified an area of common ground. Miller-McCune
There are 5 categories. Which sounds most like you?
Aesthetic: includes classical music, art films and poetry
Cerebral: current events, documentaries
Communal: romantic comedies, pop music, daytime talk shows
Dark: heavy metal music, horror movies
Thrilling: action-adventure films, thrillers, science fiction
Prefer the first two? Your brows are up there. More a fan of the last three? Brows descendant. Turns out people stay in either the first camp or the last two and meet in the middle at Communal -- that's Oprah territory. Factors such as age, gender and education levels are important, but basic personality traits also play a major role. So before you categorize your brow level, maybe you should think about them and determine which sounds most like you.
For instance, “individuals who enjoy the aesthetic entertainment factor, which may be regarded as abstract, dense and demanding, tend to be creative, calm, introspective and in touch with their emotions,” they write. Those who are drawn to dark entertainment genres tended to rate high on intellect and extraversion, but low on conscientiousness and agreeableness; they “may generally see themselves as defiant, reckless and immodest.”
In contrast, “It appears as though the psychological characteristics most central to individuals who prefer the communal entertainment factor are rather similar to the defining characteristics of that factor: pleasant, lighthearted, unadventurous, uncomplicated and relationship-oriented,” the researchers add.
How fortunate for Madison Avenue and computer tracked sales of books, music, and tickets to be able to tailor and target advertising straight at your tastes -- the best way into your wallet.
Have fun figuring out what your brows may be doing. Remember, dear readers (especially R&BLers), you probably fit in two categories -- maybe more -- but we can all find common ground in community whether our brows soar skyward or earthward. That's where family TV and reality shows reside. [GAK! Must I confess my TV habits?]
Readers & Book Lovers Series Schedule
DAY |
TIME (EST/EDT) |
Series Name |
Editor(s) |
SUN |
3:00 PM (intermittent) |
The Magic Theater |
ArkDem14 |
SUN |
6:00 PM |
Young Reader's Pavilion |
The Book Bear |
SUN |
9:30 PM |
SciFi/Fantasy Book Club |
quarkstomper |
MON |
11:00 AM |
Songs of Ice and Fire |
Floja Roja |
MON |
8:00 PM |
My Favorite Books & Authors |
?? |
TUE |
8:00 PM |
Readers & Book Lovers Newsletter |
Limelite |
WED |
7:30 AM |
WAYR? |
plf515 |
WED |
8:00 PM |
Bookflurries: Bookchat |
cfk |
THU |
2:00 PM (bi-weekly) |
eReaders & Book Lovers Club |
Limelite |
THU |
8:00 PM |
Write On! |
SensibleShoes |
FRI |
9:00 AM |
Books That Changed My Life |
etbnc, aravir |
FRI |
10:00 PM (first of month) |
Monthly Bookposts |
AdmiralNaismith |
SAT |
9:00 PM |
Books So Bad They're Good |
Ellid |
NOTE: Though not part of R&BLers Weekly Magazine Series, please look for "Indigo Kalliope: Poems From the Left" by various authors republished here every WED NOON by
aravir. Also look for "The Mad Logophile" by
Purple Priestess that appears intermittently, when the spirit moves her.
Other than that, nothing's happening.