The Peep Diaries

Peep Glut in the News: Fitbit, the Greatest Generation and Pimping the Kids

2009-11-08T14:33:42+00:00

There’s so much Peep culture in the daily news, I can barely read it all, let alone blog about it. And yet I know I should be doing a way better job of getting everything that’s happening out there onto the blog. But I just can’t keep up. I need an intern. An assistant. A nanny. A secretary. All those things. But that’s not going to happen so I just have to struggle on through info overload. On Wednesday, November 4th, I woke up in Houston, Texas. At my hotel they were handing out the Wall Street Journal. I grabbed one to read on the flight home. (A rarity since I rarely read the print edition of any given newspaper.) In the section Personal Journal, I discovered not one, not two, but three Peep-related stories. First, the lead story on the page: How Tough Times Yield Model Children. This is basically a piece on how out of work parents are trying to land their kids modeling and acting jobs to make the family some money and, one suspects, give themselves a sense of purpose in the process. So let’s cut to the chase: the main source of employment for these kids (outside of modeling in clothing catalogues) are Reality TV shows. “Also contributing to the growing number of mini-models are reality-TV shows featuring children, agencies say. Such shows have transmitted the culture of fame-seeking; some shows—“Toddlers and Tiaras” and “Little Miss Perfect”—even follow the lives of child pageant contestants. Page Parkes Corp., a talent agency in Houston, Texas, is just one of the agencies seeing more interest from parents who want their children to be on television.” Uggh. What a loathsome trend. Children should not be on Reality TV. As I’ve argued in the book, they can’t possibly consent to having their everyday actions manipulated into entertainment. Putting them in that situation is disgusting. But with 10% of the population unemployed, and the perception that your life is just one more resource you can exploit to maintain your lifestyle, well, the allure of Peep culture continues to grow. Next I read a story called Fitbit Sees How You Run, Walk and Sleep This article introduced me to a whole array of devices I hadn’t heard of before. I’ll let the author of the article explain: “I’ve been testing Fitbit, a tiny $99 device with a motion-detecting sensor that, when worn, digitally records one’s distance (walking or running), calories burned and steps taken—as well as sleep patterns. The Fitbit wirelessly sends the data to its Web site, fitbit.com, for storing these minute-by-minute details. And the site has space where users add details like food and water consumption so it provides a more accurate picture of calories burned versus calories consumed.” Hopefully the connection to Peep is obvious: this is another way we can peep ourselves and, in cases where the sharing of your data profile is enabled, each other. What’s more entertaining then relentlessly tracking our every move, and comparing to others of similar age and physical condition? These kinds of devices are also another example of a new type of self-tracking device that conditions us to love surveillance. Another of the new location based devices that accumulates data about us in whole new ways, with our permission, but not necessarily with us fully coming to terms with the consequences of what we are doing. I know, I know, it’s just an exercise device — but it’s also fascinating data that employers, insurers, governments, and a wide range of corporations would kill to get their hands on. Our willingness to adopt these technologies is fascinating, frightening and very very Peep. Finally, the third article to appear in the Journal on that pretty regular day of November 2009. The article was called The Greatest Generation (of Networkers) and explored the problem of educators trying to slow the tide of online connectivity in schools. It starts out telling the story of a 17 year old kid at Millwood High School in Halifax, Nova Scotia who is sent to the principal’s office after being caught texting in class. While the principal is reprimanding the teenager, his fingers are surreptiously moving in his lap: the kid is texting! The article quotes the principal next, who says: “It was a subconscious act, young people today are connected socially from the moment they open their eyes in the morning until they close their eyes at night. It’s compulsive.” A fascinating observation and one that I believe is true: The desire to peep and be peeped — often described as online socializing — is compulsive and addictive. Almost a quarter of today’s teens check Facebook more than 10 times a day, according to a 2009 survey by Common Sense Media. We’re learning to love watching ourselves and each other so fast, I can barely keep up.

The Sandwich

2009-11-03T19:35:56+00:00

Last week, director Sally brought the film crew over the house to film a scene she’d come up with. The plan was to record me making a sandwich. No big deal for me. I’d already napped, urinated, played Scrabble, gotten drunk, wandered around half naked, made spaghetti and pretty much done everything else I normally do during the course of my life on camera for the Peep doc, so why not make a sandwich? But of course the sandwich wasn’t the point at all. Sally promptly informed me of two little tidbits: First, I should gather the phone numbers of everyone I knew on the planet. Why? I asked. Because, she told me, you are going to call each and everyone one of them and tell them you are making a sandwich. After that, Sally happily informed me, fifteen or so strangers are going to come over and hang out in your kitchen while you eat your sandwich. Oh-kay…I said, a bit put out that no one had bothered to consult me about this scheme. Sally’s vision became clear: a real life real time status update about the sandwich to everyone I knew, a kind of live action parody of the Twitter/Facebook paradigm that didn’t exist five years ago but is now considered the norm. Still, it was weird. I started slowly. I called Mom. Hi dear, she said. Hi Mom. I’m just calling to tell you about this sandwich I made. Oh that’s nice, she said. I’m glad you’re having a nice lunch. Mom then began to talk about other more pressing issues – her ongoing recovery from a recent surgery, my grandfather’s return to a Montreal emergency room. We’ll talk about that later, I said, cutting her off. I just called to talk to you about the sandwich. Oh, mom said. She hung up, offended. That went well, I said to Sally and the film crew. Keep dialing, Sally said. Next up, some friends of the family who have known me all their lives. This went much better. They weren’t at all surprised to have me call them and describe a sandwich. It’s a four meat sandwich, I explained, getting into the swing of the whole thing. Niagara prosciutto, farmer’s summer sausage, roast turkey and, just for the hell of it, some Hungarian salami. I decided to focus on people who were both Jewish and old friends. I figured that they would give me the least trouble. And it was true. Most of them took the phone call in stride. An exception was my pal Jonathan Goldstein who I hadn’t talked to in a good year and seemed kind of worried. Are you alright? he wanted to know. Later on in the day, he sent me an email asking if I was going through a manic phase. I was tearing through my list. No one answers the phone anymore. I had to go back upstairs and dig deeper. Who else did I know? Who else could I call? Desperate to please the scowling Sally, I started calling people I hadn’t talked to in 5 years or more – Hey, just, uh, wanted to let you know about this sandwich. I also called people more in the vein of associates and contacts then friends or family. The film director Peter Lynch seemed a bit nonplussed. The poet and musician John Samson took my call in stride, asking questions about the bread and the condiments. The ridiculousness of the whole thing came to a head when I started arguing with a friend of mine in Vermont about my use of mayonnaise. He seemed genuinely disappointed by the application of Hellman’s and I was like, who is he to tell me how to accessorize MY OWN sandwich. Then I again, I called him, not the other way around. Just another day in Peepvile. For the record: The sandwich!

Canzine: Festival of Zines and Underground Culture THIS SUNDAY

2009-10-30T20:15:21+00:00

THIS SUNDAY in DOWNTOWN TORONTO. Don’t Miss It! Canzine 2009Hundreds of zine creators sell their wares along with readings, workshops, art rooms, and more! Not to be missed. Complete info at http://www.brokenpencil.com/canzineSunday, November 1, 20091pm - 7pmThe Gladstone Hotel1214 Queen St. West (Queen just East of Dufferin)TorontoFeel the Burn! This Year’s Theme: Olympics!$5 admission comes with a free copy of the Fall issue of Broken Pencil Magazine - issue 45 - “Olympics”Here’s the lineup: 1-7pm Giant Zine Fair! Over 150 zines from across Canada on display and for sale!3:00-4:00pm - Canzine Olympics: Indie culture mavens will battle for the gold medal in underground creativity! Featuring: The Zine Lift, Speed Zining, Word Relay Race, and Competitive Speaking. 2-3 pm. The One-Two Punch Book Pitch. Live on our mainstage in front of a crowing crowd, you get two minutes to pitch your book to our panel of judges. They get one minute each to tell you why you’ll never get published in a million billion years (or why they want to see your manuscript asap!). With host/judge writer/BP fiction editor Hal Niedzviecki, plus judges literary agent Sam Hiyate (co-founder of the Rights Factory) and Coach House Books editor Alana Wilcox. 5:00-6:00pm Readings from Can’tLit – That’s right, it’s finally here: the long awaited anthology featuring the best fiction from the last 12 years of Broken Pencil Magazine. This event will feature writers from the anthology Joey Comeau, Jessica Faulds, and Greg Kearney. Introduced by the editor of the anthology, associate fiction editor Richard Rosenbaum. 1-7pm Hotel Room InstallationsCanada’s brightest and weirdest will be creating one day unique environments to explore in five of the Gladstone Hotel’s Rooms. Featuring: Jim’s Arcade: The Best of Indie Video Gaming as Selected by Jim Munroe, The Toronto Comic Jam Room (all day long sequential art), the City of Craft General Store (cool indie crafts), and The Lost Window: Toronto Mannequin Window Displays 1930-1950 (a provocative found-photo exhibit).4-5pm Workshop: Screen Printing for BeginnersLearn how to screen print your own t-shirts, posters, zine and book covers and more! A hands-on workshop led by Michael Morton, mastermind behind the screen-printing business Crime League. Hotel Canzine is made possible by grants from the Toronto Arts Council and the Ontario Arts Council and the Canada Council for the Arts. Hotel Canzine also is supported by the following most excellent sponsors: Open Book, Mint Records, Insomniac Books, Magazines Canada, Movieola, Book Ninja, CIUT 88.1, Now Magazine and the Gladstone Hotel.

Peep Comes to Guelph

2009-10-27T19:41:00+00:00

I’ll be speaking and signing copies of The Peep Diaries in Guelph, Ontario Thursday night! The event is free and open to all. Come on by if you can! Why We Like to Watch: Privacy in the Age of Peep Culture Thursday, October 29, 2009 7:00pm - 9:00pm Holiday Inn Guelph 601 SCOTTSDALE DR., Guelph, ON Citing phenomena as disparate yet connected as reality TV, Facebook, surveillance cameras, and Twitter, writer and culture commentator Hal Niedzviecki suggests that a well-established fascination with celebrities is gradually shifting toward a growing obsession with watching ourselves and our neighbors. As pop culture morphs into peep culture, what are the implications for individuals and communities? Niedzviecki will also address and take questions on how the rise of Peep Culture is effecting the business sector.This is a free event open to all. For advance admission, you can reserve your ticket online at http://guestlistapp.com/events/4791Organized and sponsored by ODScore

Extras Needed for Tomorrow

2009-10-27T19:36:32+00:00

Wanna be in the movie? We’re looking for some volunteers to come over to my place tomorrow (Wed.) and watch me eat a sandwich. It’ll be a scene in Peep Culture, the documentary in production to air on CBC TV. If you’re interested and are free tomorrow from 11 to 1 (lunch will be provided) please email Marissa at mcaldwell@chocboxent.com and let her know you want to come! She’ll hook you up with the details. I live in the Ossington/Queen area of downtown Toronto.

Peep Show is Tonight - in Person and Online

2009-10-23T15:47:30+00:00

Hi everyone. The interactive International Festival of Authors party “Peep Show” is tonight. I will be your host for this weird and wacky and, with your help, wonderful, event. Doors open at 9:30 at the Brigantine Room. If you don’t already have a ticket, you can get one at the door. So I hope to see as many of you as possible tonight. But if for some sad sad reason you can’t make it out, we will also be live broadcasting the event online starting at 10pm est. If you want to watch and participate from a cyber-distance, you can also tweet about what you are seeing and have those tweets be shown live as they come in on our big screen at the show. Just make sure you hashtag your tweet by typing #IFOAPEEP So see ya tonight! And make sure that iPhone is all charged up and ready to go. Hal.

Help Us Kill CanLit Tonight

2009-10-22T16:21:02+00:00

Tonight we kill CanLit. It’s the launch of Can’tLit: Fearless Fiction from Broken Pencil Magazine. http://ping.fm/TvpSW

Peep Night at the Toronto Festival of Authors

2009-10-22T15:58:46+00:00

Hey everyone, Peep Night at the International Festival of Authors is quickly coming up. It’s tomorrow night. Get complete info and buy your tickets here. It’s going to be awesome. It includes some talk by me, the band FoxFire jamming to weird YouTube vids, a round table discussion about how peep is changing writing and our attitude to writers (with Lauren Kirshner, Dani Couture and Jennifer Cowan), an audience participation moment with photographer Dean Baldwin, plus video testimonials by Yann Martel, Larry Gaudet, Karen Connelly, and more! Check out the Peep Show official IFOA trailer. Hope to see ya there! Hal.

Tweeting Secrets from the Banff Centre

2009-10-18T17:09:36+00:00

Hi everyone, I’ll be collecting secrets from the Vistas dining room during lunch hour at The Banff Centre for the Arts. The secrets will be shown on wide screen televisions to the four hundred people dining including a United Church conference, a gaggle of school kids at a dance retreat, all the artists at Banff and, of course, the attendees and participants at Calgary/Banff author’s festival WordFest. You can follow the action by following my twitter account or searching on twitter for comments hashtagged #wordfest. It’s rolling from 12 to 1:30 mountain time, 2 to 3:30 eastern time. I’m also doing a lecture – From Pop to Peep – at the Banff centre at 5pm as part of Wordfest. So if you’re in the area, come on by! Will try and let everyone know how it goes later on today or tomorrow.

Thoughts on the University of Western Ontario Arrest Video

2009-10-16T23:26:21+00:00

I’ve been thinking about the video recently posted to YouTube showing a young man being subdued and handcuffed by police in a University of Western Ontario campus building. The story has been getting widespread coverage in Canadian newspapers. I googled some key words and found it’s been reported everywhere from the CBC to the Winnipeg Free Press to The Medicine Hat News. Normally, a minor incident like this wouldn’t merit much or any coverage in, say, The Toronto Star or the Globe and Mail. But because there is video that they can embed in their various online editions, what would normally be no story is big news. But what’s the news? The papers don’t really know what to do with the story. They need to find some way to justify this story beyond “arrest of college student who is probably having some kind of mental breakdown and will hopefully get the help he needs and continue on with his life.” That doesn’t justify coverage. So for the Star, which has offered two pieces on this already, most recently “Violent campus arrest sparks YouTube furor”, the story is that the video is stirring up outrage and scandal. But the Star article, and other similar stories about this incident, provides very little concrete evidence to suggest that many people are actually upset about the actions of police. The Star quotes anonymous posts to YouTube. Guess what? On YouTube a video of a guy picking his nose can “spark a furor.” No named students are quoted complaining, no protests are noted, no family members are documented expressing their outrage and vowing to sue. The Star doesn’t even bother to quote the guy who posted the video who writes on his YouTube page “I posted this as a witness to the event, from the scene, not because of any agenda.” Better ignore that statement since the main note of protest that the papers seem to be relying on is the fact of the video itself. The feeling is obviously that because someone took a video and posted it to YouTube, and because that video shows the police using force on someone, the video must have been shot and posted in order to function as some kind of protest. Alas, there is no protest and the video is not particularly shocking, scandalous or revealing. The reason this is being reported nationally and even internationally is because there is a real video of real people in a real violent situation in an attention getting place (a college campus). That’s why the articles, like the Globe and Mail’s “Video of forceful arrest on campus sparks online debate”, don’t seem to be anything in particular. Because the real story is that there is a video of a “forceful arrest.” Beyond that, there’s no reason — from a journalistic, sociological or even a crime deferent point of view — to have this story be reported outside of the local area and campus media. The headlines elsewhere should basically read: “Here is a video of a violent struggle. Enjoy.”