Musitorial - I didn’t know it was prescient!

 

Musitorial, noun, a mashup of musics, musings and editorials: music and song that evoke thought and commentary.

I was sure it was funny, but I didn’t know it was prescient!

My latest book, Ideas for Sale (May 2026), riffs on the idea of digital versions of things and on rendering their reality redundant. So, a picture of a fancy lakeside house is adequate substitute for the real thing. I called that surrealestate.

A digital picture of the latest mail-order kitchen appliance is a satisfactory substitute for the appliance itself, which can be shipped directly to your storage locker where it would have ended up anyway.

I won’t go into more detail here (you should buy the book), but CBC.ca today reposted an August 2026 story (linked below) about “simulated shopping” that tells me I was on to something.

Imagine – “The cart is full. The items have been picked. The checkout button is waiting. You click ‘place order’ — and then nothing happens. There’s no delivery driver on the way. No charge to your credit card. No package waiting at your door. And that’s the point. A new wave of mock shopping websites is giving people the thrill of shopping without the bill, as younger, budget-conscious consumers look to curb compulsive spending.”

According to the trend identified in the article, this is ‘shopping therapy’ in the digital age. It dispenses with the shame of ‘buyer’s remorse’ by simulating the activity but not the stimulation of shopping.

Now, I’m not suggesting that it was my idea first but, when taken with all the other ideas in Ideas for Sale, my version is funnier – honest.

Today’s music selection is “The Cover of the Rolling Stone” by Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show (Ron Haffkine, prod., Columbia). Enjoy!

=30=

Link to CBC News article on fake shopping: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/fake-shopping-website-app-dopamine-9.7313588

Link to foodnevercomes.com as highlighted by the CBC piece: https://foodnevercomes.com/

Link to the Amazon.ca entry for Ideas for Sale, by Mike R Hunter: https://tinyurl.com/3auf6wex

Link to Wikipedia entry on the song, The Cover of the Rolling Stone, by Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show (1972): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cover_of_%22Rolling_Stone%22

Link to Genius.com for lyrics and a “play” link of “The Cover of the Rolling Stone” by Dr. Hook: https://genius.com/Dr-hook-the-cover-of-the-rolling-stone-lyrics