Who do I still think I am??

This one's about the values of group efforts.

30DBC PROMPT: "If a cataclysmic event wiped out 90% of the world population (equal proportions of all races are wiped out and all races have some surviving representatives), would humans be better off in the long run (having the opportunity for a fresh start) or would the state of the world remain much the same as it is today?"

Hello, and what is up? Welcome to another episode of "Who do I still think I am??" ...I'm your host, and I'm perhaps just as confounded by the possibilities within all the words of this prompt as you are.

I'm gonna begin attacking this prompt with a hard look at the numbers. The chances of me being in that 10% of survivors is one of two things: A) unlikely, because odds of good things like that don't usually work out in my favor; or B) extraordinary, because the planet will for all intents and purposes be barely habitable and I haven't suffered enough when the world was pretty functioning.

Along that line of thinking, maybe I should be asking a bigger question: How does the world lose 90% of its population and still manage to be livable? To say something "cataclysmic" happened is to note that it's violent in nature, which I equate with some kind of destruction (as opposed to your run-of-the-mill epidemic or pandemic, in which case all you have to worry about is how to dispose of the many diseased and dead bodies). I think you almost have to assume from the get-go that you're starting everything over from scratch, because how much of everything left behind in this near-decimation of the world is actually gonna be worth salvaging?

And how well can you trust everyone else who's been left behind to pick up the pieces? Of those 90% removed from existence, what if they were the brightest and most resourceful ones? What if you lived in California, and the only other people you had to build a new society with were related to Kardashians?

You know that this situation would totally, no matter who or what was involved, devolve into some Lord Of The Flies-type stuff, even with our advancements in fields of science, technology and communication (such as, but not limited to, nobody ever saying anything like "Sucks to your asth-mar" pretty much ever after the book or the movie(s) came out). I understand that this sentiment isn't one of the options outlined by the prompt, but look me in the sockets and tell me under the worst-case scenario we wouldn't revert to a time when everybody thinking they were in charge meant no one was in charge? War would be about the only dominant activity, because it's so much easier to do than try to plan out a positive means of rebuilding with everyone on the same page. All it takes is for one upstart to get a little hacked off at someone else over too much perceived power, and all the sudden we're dealing with third-world versions of Republicans and Democrats squaring off in CNN-like debates on tv sets made of cardboard boxes and rubble. Then a few jokers start painting their faces with leaves and the blood of the 10% of animals that didn't make it to the promised land on a fictional ark, and tribes sprout up to gain footholds in newfangled "communities", and everyone's pissed that they forgot to bring their cameras with them and fire can't charge cell phone batteries. There's just no way this whole thing doesn't end badly.

There is a plus side though. Nobody has to know you did/watched/enjoyed this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaMcsKtBDwE (and I'm not believing for one second that wireless microphones existed back then).

BCF PROMPT: "What do you think is the most economical way to get work done? Do it yourself? Barter? Hire someone? If you've done a project recently could you give us some ideas to help us tackle our own future projects easier."

Well, I am somewhat partial toward the barter system...unfortunately, there aren't many others around who are. Now if only we could be a part of some kind of cataclysmic event that would return the transactions of the world to the hands of trade....

Seriously, I'm all for a "divide and conquer" approach if a group effort is required to get things done. The only problem with that are my pesky little trust issues, which prevent me from believing that people can accomplish whatever it is they say they're gonna do without me having to constantly double- and triple-check on them. I suppose then that makes me a "do it yourselfer", which is surprising considering my lack often of self-motivation. I mean, there are days I don't even bother putting pants on, so it's amazing I've managed to maintain the usage of my opposable thumbs without falling completely into a fetal position or seriously injuring someone.

I could start spouting all the cliches..."If you wanna do something right, do it yourself", "Too many cooks spoil the soup", "You just can't trust felons to make a decent license plate these days"...but honestly, how often have you been satisfied with group work over something you could proudly put your name on and know that you and you alone are the one who has to live with the success or failure of a project? Nobody left to blame, and no one else to share the reward with. Maybe it's easier to divvy up tasks, but is it always more satisfying? Ok, now I'm starting to talk myself outta this one a little.

Do it yourself. And then later blame everyone else for not being smart enough to insist that you should've had some helping hands. And that's one to grow on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVBxQNfooMk.

MUSICAL BREAK!!

There may not be an "i" in "team", but there are in "win", "victory" and "championship".

THE DAILY BOX SCORE:

2736: I hope I'm not giving away too much here, but I'm a numbers and stats kind of guy...2,736 is the combined number of WDC Community Points for the eight challengers remaining in "Invalid Item"  after Round One (unofficially...the actual results won't be announced I believe until after midnight tonight and I'll probably be asleep by then). That's an average of 342 per member, which means to me it's a pretty veteran, decorated group of some talented individuals. If the next round is anything like the start to the contest, it's gonna be tight and anything can happen. I wanna thank everyone who's entered and supported the Blog Off so far, and I hope those that didn't get to go on will still compete in the bonus activities.

Turns out there's an "i" in team after all...

I don't believe I'd ever heard the word "cataclysmic" before until today, yet about 5.7 trillion videos come up for it when you search it on YouTube. And all of them are probably about as dorky as you'd imagine.

Ever notice in the movies whenever there's any kind of "End Of Days" situation playing out, the male characters suddenly look as though they haven't shaved in a few weeks, even though the storyline has only aged a day or so?

It used to be the only thing worse than being a Buffalo sports fan was being a Cleveland sports fan...until today. The Browns have poached inked the Bills' defensive coordinator to be their next head coach, and for one day it's pretty great to be a Browns fan because Mike Pettine did a great job with the Bills' defense this year. But all is not lost, because the Browns' front office is still a joke and their ownership is gonna be in a world of hurt soon enough (http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/9791018/hot-read-haslam-family-fortunes). That said, I'm not sure I'll ever forgive the Cleveland football franchise for all that has transpired in regards to this hire.

Finally, some fun news...this interview (http://www.nme.com/blogs/nme-blogs/colin-greenwood-qa-on-radioheads-first-gig-in...) from Britain's NME about the early days of Radiohead, which includes a video of one of their songs from when they were known as "On A Friday". Sadly, that article and clip aren't nearly as entertaining as this ten minute romp (http://jezebel.com/noel-gallaghers-commentary-on-old-oasis-videos-is-glor-150699...) with Oasis' Noel Gallagher, or as poignant as the major headline of the day (again from Jezebel), http://jezebel.com/canadians-please-come-pick-up-justin-bieber-and-take-h-150762... (if you only click that last link for the .gif that combines Bieber with Miley Cyrus in the comments, that alone should make your day).

Well, I think I've done enough damage around WDC for another evening. I'm setting the over/under on waking up tomorrow at 9:15am, even though technically I don't have to get out of bed until 1:45pm at the latest...we'll see how that works out. Peace, this love affair can't wait, and GOODNIGHT NOW!!