Seeing Lane Smith’s lovely performance as the fictional science journalist Emmett Seaborn in the 1998 miniseries From the Earth to the Moon makes me wonder: where are such people today?

Not exposed in mass media. Instead, on the tube we see beautiful nobodies talk nonsense about nothing. We hear press releases from drug companies, think tanks, political groups, research nuggeteers. The parroted messages are decontextualized, intended to emote, not educate. I find myself barely bearing even radio these days. The “instant gratification culture” is cripplingly tangible to me: the dumbing down and chopping up of meaningful information into noise that fills airtime and satiates the tired and ignorant. ARGH. News is a waste of time. Chances are I’ll rant about this again some time in April 2006; others will write longer essays on the same topic.

There must be no shortage of material that speaks to me, but I have to invest volumes of time that modern ratracers/parents can little afford. The same way I try to justify my flying, I plan to continue reading history books, and seek out only thoughtful films, to help regain the youthful sharpness I feel being blunted by age and circumstance.