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November 09 Remember what? It's November 9... And everyone is flaunting their poppy pins. The only question I have is for how much longer? Seriously... WW1&2 were pretty brutal events. And yes many many good people died for the cause and for that they are "Heroes" to some extent but I mean really.... Can't we let it be yet? All I want to know is how much longer are we going to continue this charade of honoring things long past. Like are kids in fucking 2305 going to be sitting around on Nov.11 still singing the same broken record about Flanders field and all that? Shouldn't we be I dunno... putting our energies into something more important? Can't we just let the past be the past and not bring it up anymore? And it's not like anything new about those events is going to be uncovered, every year the same old ceremony, gun salutes and flag waving. ....Great, cause that's what will prevent WW3 from happening.... The whole Remembrance thing is so trivial and uneventful, if you want to remember those who gave their life for the cause then you should do so everyday because without them we'd be all fucked... or German or Jap. The whole thing is exactly like 9/11... how much longer is that shit going to be going on? It happened... sorry, but deal with it. we don't need to be sitting around singing Kumbaya for the next 50 years because it just happened..... Get over it already, live your damn life and just let it go. October 31 The Horror! The Horror! Since it's Halloween, I thought this would be fitting When was the last time you saw a scary movie? I mean really really saw a scary movie, not a movie that made you startled or jump but a movie that made you unable to sleep at night? Something that gave you a creepy uneasiness in your mind or soul? Was it "The Exorcist" or "Suspiria" maybe it was "Poltergeist" or "The Thing" maybe "It" or even "Paranormal Activity"? I want to first say that... scary movies is a dying art. I mean there are more than plenty but there are only very very few that actually scare. Scary movies now a days are about slashers, gore and a high body count.... or torture. OOOooooooOOOoooooo, I'm shaking in my boots.... I have only one word for scary movies of late and that's "lame". They just aren't scary at all. Maybe it is just me because I do know some people and I'm sure you do too, that are just unable to watch scary movies, some people can't even be in the same room as a scary movie playing on TV. But what really scares people? It's only a movie right? Most people seem to be afraid of things from their childhood. Some people I knew saw "Chucky" when they were kids and now are scared of dolls. Some people saw "It" and can't handle clowns anymore and that's cool, I mean whatever floats your boat. When I was about... around 8 years old, I saw "Hellraiser 2" with Pin head and all his pointy glory and gore, he rocked my world and I was hooked on scary movies unflinching and unphased. I was in a state of complete facination with the blood and violence. As I grew I began to see the "real" horrors and beyond with movie like "Cannibal Holocaust" or "Rosemary's baby" The last "scary" movie I watched was "To the Devil a Daughter" a classic movie made in '76 by Hammer Film Production. It starts slow but it's a fun movie, not scary but for its time it was definitely pushing the edge. It's very much like "Exorcist" by today's standards it's a hilarious movie but back in the day it was appalling to many. The last movie before that I saw was "Paranormal Activity"... wow.... zzzzZZZZZzzzzzZZZZzzzzzz, total sleeper. Blair witch meets... something really boring like knitting. The cinematic style of "POV" shaky hand camera is so 10 years ago. I watched it alone in the dark, trying to scare myself but instead I almost fell asleep, the movie is so predictable... it's... like the sun... it comes up every day. I have no idea how the hell people got scared of this movie or why people "demanded" it. It was booooooring. I even like ghosts and think they could be real yet this movie did nothing for me. The only horror movie I've seen in recent memory is... "Antichrist" and wow was it fucking spectacular. It might not be classified as a "horror" movie per say but it's definitely has horror elements in it. It was one of the most beautifully cinematically shot movies I've ever seen but also kind of disturbing. It wasn't overly gory like say... "Ichi the Killer" but it had it's squirmish moments and some real deep psychological/philosophical points to it and in fact I'm still not entirely sure what the movie was all about. I would definitly put Antichrist up there in the realm of "horror" movies. Anyways there has been a great evolution in horror cinema. From the original black and white horror/suspense/thriller to the new school of horror/gore/slasher films. Some where along the way the most crucial ingredient to horror films was lost or perhaps it was destroyed. Classic horror films have something horror films today don't.... and that's a good story. Modern horror films have something Classic films don't.... gore. Most young kids today cannot stand to watch black and white movies, hell some of them have probably never seen an entire black and white film which is very sad.. and in fact those kids will never need to watch the original as Hollywood keeps remaking the greats movies of old 'cept... somehow... shittier. Back the the point... old horror movies really built up the suspense and without CGI it made filming certain things impossible so they sometimes never showed you the "monster" but rather let your imagination run wild, the whole you can scare yourself better than any movie idea. Personally I think for the most part... the horror genre is done and dead. No one will ever make a scary movie again. I am one of many from the newer generation completely desensitised to everything and disenfranchised to care about anything. Movies play to your imagination but in the end they're only movies. The real noose of the "horror" genre is the internet. I've seen the most brutal and aweful things on the internet over the years and no movie will ever EVER come close to the horror I've seen on the internet. So without further adieu, gaze upon the horrors of the internet....if you dare... (not for the faint of heart)... actually I've decided against linking the videos or embedding them since... well... they are what they are so I'll just list a few 2girls1cup -----> Everyone's seen it, not a big shocker, gross but not scary, and you all know where to find it Curb stomp ----> as made famous by American history X, meh, it's ok... what actually scary is how many curb stomp videos there really are on the net, fucking kids these days... Iran ---> What happens on Iran on a daily basis let me see what else... Juba the sniper killings... people being shot to death by Juba the sniper in the Middle East, all on youtube or google videos umm.... BME Pain Olympics ----> brutal, extremely graphic.... just check out BME.com for some sick ass shit and I mean sick, twisted shit man fucked to death by horse.... i can't remember the link but the title says it all, it's on the internet somewhere just look hard enough Ever seen any good Beheading videos? I remember years and years ago maybe... 10 atleast 10 years ago when the internet was still kind of new, there was a great foreign (maybe russian?) beheading video in a forrest before all the Middle east beheading videos. Yes, some look fake but I'm fairly confident some are real. Just look at the search results Results 1 - 10 of about 1,160,000 for beheading video. statisically speaking at least 1 out of say 1,000,000 is real Ever been to the world of death? or have you ever wondered what a man's head looks like after being shot by a shotgun? Does anyone know how many ghost videos are out there? fuuuuuck me, there's 1000 "scarier" videos out there than that of "paranormal activity" What else does your sick and twisted mind crazy this Halloween??? What ever it is... it's on the internet The point is horror movies used to give people the unimaginable. The shit they've only ever heard whispered. Classic horror built up the suspense till you were on the edge of your seat.. kids these days are all OCD and can't keep their attention fixed on the woman who's slowly creeping towards the door, ever so slowly, the music matching the pace, then a shot of her feer, moving one step at a time, slow, rhytemic, then perhaps a facial expression, her hand slowly reaching, the door knob, the hand, the hand and the door knob on the same frame, her facial expression, her hand on the door knob, her slowly turning, watching the knob twist millimeter by millimeter..... and you're either capivated or sleeping by the time the door actually opens. Now with the over flow of information in this technological wonder of ours... nothing can scare me in a movie because I've seen it all before. Everything has been done to death as long as you have the balls to look. I once came across a picture of a man in the middle east who had just gotten shot in the head by a .50 caliber sniper rifle. his body was laying in the streets and what was left of his head was undescribable.... bits and pieces were all over the street. a large splatter of red blood and pieces of skull fragmented everywhere, one of the eye balls was still intact laying about 4 or 5 feet away from the body. I only rememer this because I stared at that image for at least 30-45 minutes examining every aspect of it because I was trying to decide if it was real or not and I decided it was pretty fucking real. 15 minutes later I open the picture back up because I'm not sure anymore...
August 23 Is justice blind? If laws are man made then is justice a natural concept? Is there such a thing as natural justice? or is justice just a philosophical term? Does justice exist outside of philosophy? Are laws created to resemble the public conception of what justice is? Is justice subjective, does everyone have their own sense of what is just? Can we safely say that justice is just another word for fair? That leads us to what is fair. If a man tries to kill you is it fair to kill them? If we remove law from the equation and measure a man by physical, social and moral standards then is anyone really equal? If a man is strong physically, has a high standing in society and strong moral values is put against a man of frail physical qualities, poor standing in society and no moral values, is such a match fair? Is justice only achievable between peoples of equal power? Let us put law back into the equation. If a rich man is able to afford a high powered lawyer with years of experience vs a poor man who gets legal aid from a lawyer who just started their career... is the trial really fair or does it only appear to be fair? Do the least powerful in our society always fall short of justice compared to that of the powerful in our society? Is law really just or is it just a veil of illusion resembling what is fair? If it's safe to say that justice if a form of fairness then is it also safe to assume an eye for an eye is a form of justice? But if justice is also a moral principle would killing a murderer be morally just? Is it acceptable to be immoral if serving the interest of justice? Now all these questions are purely philosophical in nature and excludes the idea of religious justice. Taking religious justice into mind then the terms law, justice and morality is usually defined by that which is divine. Virtues and sins are used to define what is acceptable and what is not. Which brings us to the Euthyphro Dilemma. "Is something right because God commands it or does God command it because it is right?" This inevitably leads us to a new debate of whether God is inherently good of if God is beyond such concepts as good and evil, right and wrong. This debate must be saved for another occasion. July 19 shoot the shit I'm just going to use this as a warm up for today. today I plan on trying to finish the majority of my third act in one of the feature films I'm trying to write. It's been in creation for I dunno.... several months now... or maybe I'll try to finish the second act in the other feature film I have.... maybe I should start a new one... maybe another short.... no, no, I need to complete a feature... I once wrote a feature length movie in a week.... it wasn't great by any means... at least in my opinion.... i thought it had an interesting concept but it never materialized into anything more... then I lost it.... and have no idea where it is anymore.... I think it might be lost on the internet in limbo... i certainly do not have a hard copy... that was stupid... now everything has a hard copy... I was listening to Aaron Sorkin talk about script writing and about the women in scripts and he said all writers try to write women they actually want to meet and fall in love with, only in the hope that the actress playing that part will go out with us. That's hilarious because in a way it's true. I think back to some of the female characters I've written and they all have something I wish I could meet a girl with... that's some very subconcious shit I think. A lot of "young" people like to bash some of the things I write.... I believe that's because they don't like to read. They expect 70min of explosions and CGI and 20 minutes of story. That's what I call a HACK! That's what Hollywood seems to be missing now a days. Good well written scripts. A good script is good dialogue, plain and simple. The Big Sleep Chinatown Shawshank Casablanca Vertigo A great movie is good dialogue delivered by a good actor shot by a good director. In my opinion that is the true equation for a good movie not.... male+female+tits+explosions+gore+CGI+beer=$$=good movie for an even simpler equation just know cost of production<gross of movie= good movie and I'm out March 15 Quality?I'm just gonna shoot the shit for a bit.
What a time to be alive. My mind races with a million thoughts, it's been ages, at least it feels like ages since my last write. Much has transpired since yet the same thoughts continue to race this infinite loop.
As of late the question that has plagued my mind is the true definition of the word or idea of "Quality".
It's nothing new, rather a philosophical corner stone.
What is Quality? Please define Quality.
Is quality something inherent to an object or thing? Or is Quality in the eye of the beholder?
Quality can't be measured in any scientific means so how do we know quality exists? I know we can't see for example Gravity or Oxygen but atleast we know the power and force of gravity to an extent and we know what molecules make oxygen, so is there say a molecule or particle that could be called Quality? I doubt it yet it exists. WE can all look at two things and say which is better, which has more quality but does it really?
Questions like this keep me up at night. In many ways it's a sad existance... being kept up by "Quality" but it's a kind of existence which could be considered....rightious?... no, maybejust a level of higher conciousness... no, would it be too bold as to say this life has "Quality"?
What would Nietzsche say? or Kierkegaard? Plato? Kant? Russell? Humbolt? Perhaps their existence in this era would have them all incapacitated, zombified by technological wonders or maybe minds like theirs are turly one of a kind... uncorruptible... like the untouchables.
There are so many things to comment on I can't put together a proper string of thought... with all the shit happening with Obama, the stimulis package, the economy... sigh... that's all I can say...sigh...
Sometimes I like to picture myself on the open road just me and the journey. A warm orange horizon in the distance marked by silhouettes of great oaks and pines, trees that have grown and have been watching, protecting the beauty and peace for generations before and for generations to come. I hear Jays and Robins chirp "Hello" but only when I really listen otherwise the roar of my engine and growl of my exhaust scare the nature right out of them, like when a hunter fires a shot in a dense forrest and flocks of birds scatter to the air. I sit up straight taking it all in, one hand on the throttle the other resting on my gas tank. I'm keeping a good pace feeling the air rush over me and watching that which is nature do its thing. As all the beauty of the country envelopes me into a state of zen. I feel at peace. My mind no longer races with impossible to answer questions but rather the realization that zen is not a destination, it's not a state of mind either but something inherent, something which lays dormant within ones own... dare I say soul? One doesn't meditate to reach zen, some metaphysical higher plain of existence. Rather they reach for the zen inherent to their own existence, whether it be only an inkling or the buddha. That's Quality. November 26 Pure GibberishThis air conditioned life has me gasping for some real conversation. I thought as you grew older, your conversations would get better in a way. As a child conversations aren't enlightening in any way. As teenagers conversations end up becoming gossip or angst with little or no value coming from it. Now I've had plenty of good conversations before but it takes some direction to get there.
When we were growing up, I think we all watched our parents read the newspaper so the question is why?
When does one come to the conclusion that current worldly events are worth reading? does it come with age or a certain mental 'click'?
Does reading the paper make you an 'Adult' or does becoming an 'adult' mean reading the paper?
Once you start reading the paper, does one find it important or is it just water cooler chatter?
For me, I'd say tragedy came early. I came from a small town... no, average town with little to do.
when I first went to college I thought I'd be able to find a small group of enlightened people to talk to and discuss worldly issues. Now only did I NOT find these people, the college was located in an even smaller town with even less to do than my average town. With literally no mental stimulation I walked the line of insanity and boredom.
What can I say? I'm an elitist prick.
After dropping outl, spiralling into a drug binge and not giving a fuck about anything or anyone I found myself searching for meaning, trying to re-evaluate my entire life, calculating the choices that had led me to this inevitable fall of sorts.
That's when I realized, "Someone would love to have my first world problems" the shit I was tied up on were meaningless in a sense compared to the greater picture. Up until that point I was just following the path society had laid out, go to school, graduate, go to college, find a girl, get a job, get a place, have kids, retire, die.
Needless to say people called me a fool for dropping out, telling me I'd have no future without a diploma/degree. To this day I have no furthur education past highschool. Do people still call me a failure? of course but do I call myself a failure? hell no. I call myself an intellectual, a writer, a philosopher, metaphysician, a human and a hundred other things but failure is not one of them. I've become both student and teacher, I've learned more and read more books in the past 3 years than I have in the last 5 years of school. Now i'm not saying school is useless, I'm just saying school isn't the only path. I turn to Kierkegaard and his 'ignoring the self is the only sin of the self' but even simpler Plato,
"The uneducated have no single aim in life to which their actions, public or private are to be directed; the intellectuals will take no practical action of their own accord, fancying themselves to be out of this world on some kind of earthly paradise."
In a sense we all live in Plato's cave, tied to illusion. Edward Bernay's really did a number on the average man, from the "american worker" overnight to the "american consumer". The sad thing is everyone has their own idea of what's really important in their life from money to family to luxury to love... it's all the same rat race. Not everyone dreams of world peace, ending hunger and disease or agrarian reform yet if they did think of these things than perhaps the idea of money, family, luxury, love and everything else would not matter as much or perhaps they'd become easier to attain for everyone. When one thinks of their life it's exactly that... THEIR life. Things like equality and phrases like "all men are created equal" don't even enter their minds. Some even have the audacity to believe "Greed is good" and depending on the context it can be. Greed for love and knowledge for example where as greed for power and money is evil, not totally evil but perhaps just misdirected.
Unfortunetly in this superficial materialistic world the latter rules the former. I've come to a point in my life of profound realization far beyond my years, at this rate I'll be having my mid life crisis befor eI'm 30. This brings me back to Plato. The uneducated have no single aim in which their actions are directed except for survival, they hold strong to their dreams to pull them through their daily dull routine. All they want is to live through this ugly world in hopes that they're one step closer to their dream. I could fit into this catagory but I don't.
The intellectuals take no practical action of their own accord fancying themselves to be out of this world. That's where I fit. As much as I care I rarely act because in a way I feel it's beneath me. I see all the problems with the world and I want to do something but at the same time I'm over encumbered by philosophical ideals beyond this world which brings us back to Kierkegaard.
'We exist as either one of two forms. infinite and finite. we must shed our finite form tied to external influences and vices to reveal our true infinite nature in which our subjective truths are all that matters. yes, i have mentioned this all before but I thought you all needed a reminder.
The end all and be all of these, of my philosophical endeavours must lie with Kierkegaard and my dear old friend, Nietzsche. Once we realize that 'ignoring the self is the only sin of the self' only then can we ever come close to becoming Nietzsche's superman.
"overcome, you higher men, the petty vices, the petty prudences, the sand-grain discretion, the ant-swarm insanity, miserable ease, the happiness of the greatest number and rather despair than submit" November 12 what?It was just Rememberance day so it seems like the appropriate time to reflect on this so called life. Many people don't take the time to examine their life or only do so once in a blue moon. I on the other hand over examine my life in spades.
First thing to get off my chest, Congrats to Obama. We've just witnessed what could be the greatest turning point in American history aside from the Civil war or the passing of the Federal Reserve Act. Anyways there's going to be much speculation ahead so keep your ear to the ground.
Another year has almost passed so what have I learned, what have I done, what still needs to be done? Am I still the same person I was a year ago? These are only a few of the philosophical issues which plague my mind. What of love? happiness? security? Am I still having fun in this life? Have I become a social outcast of sorts? Do I even care what others think? Am I using my talents and abilities or are they just wasting away? Will I... will WE ever get out of this rat race?
I feel too old for this body, too withered by this existence. I guess the scariest thing about this life, this path is the looming feeling of failure mixed with emotional and economic instability.
It's as if I've come to the fork in the road. One way goes left the other goes right but instead I continue forward through the trees, unable to see the real beauty that surrounds me. In the past year my social life has become non-existance. I haven't really met or done anything outside of work. Most of the things I do, I do on my own either because they're solo activities like reading or writing or because no one else has any interest what so ever in the things I do. It's all due to a mix of working nights and hating people in general, it takes a lot to impress me. I think back to highschool when it was easy to get a rep, hell it was easy to get anything back then.
The last year had a few milestones but all in all I feel my life has become stagnant for the most part, like I can see myself locked into this pattern for years and years to come... that might scare me the most. I can't quite put my finger on it but I know I'm missing something constantly overlooked. I'm just at the edge right now, ready to fall yet still holding on. Really though I feel as if I suffer from "Caulfield" syndrome, where one thinks everyone else is phony and in many ways, it's not too far from the truth. It's a superficial life for the most part and that might be what's killing us the most. Superficialness leads to materialism which breeds greedy which gives birth to envy. I guess what I'm trying to say is I'm just bored.
"My mind rebels at stagnation. Give me problems, give me work, give me the most abstruse cryptogram, or the most intricate analysis, and I am in my own proper atmosphere. I can dispense then with artificial stimulants. But I abhor the dull routine of existence. I crave for mental exaltation."
—Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Sign of Four, 1890 November 01 People are strange, when your a strangerSo here we go again, time just keeps on ticking. Nov.1/2008. Shiiiiit, year's almost over again.
I haven't been writing much here anyways, I've been heavy on script writing as of late but this place servers as a great way to get things off your chest.... put things into perspective and it's all about perspective.
So this life is as strange as can get, well it'd be stranger if zombies were around but that's besides the point. If you haven't figured I'm just shooting the breeze.
I was asked a question, "Is there such thing as cold?" and I obviously have to say, "yes" the reply is "No, there isn't such a thing as cold only an absence of heat"
I pause and I see the logic but know it's flawed logic. Of course there's such a thing as cold. There must be. For everything that exists there is an opposite. life, death, good, evil, love, hate, up, down, cold, hot, black, white. Everything must have an opposite... it's practically a rule of metaphysics.
People. I guess I got something to say about people now. It's odd how seeing some people from your past can bring about a feeling of dread. Sometimes I imagine of seeing someone I know somewhere and how excited I'd be to talk to them other times I imagine people I don't want to see and then end up seeing then not knowing what to do about them. "Did they see me?" "what's his name again?" "don't make eye contact, keep walking away" shit like that.
So what happens when people are no longer the people you remember or when the person is no longer the person you remember?
How much can a person change physically? how much can a person change mentally? Is there a difference between the two? Is the difference more than obvious?
what is change? Can change be guaged? Is change permanent? It's all surface and depth, surface and depth.
physical change is surface, mere appearance, a pale reflection of reality. mental change is depth, deceptive, unbeknown to the average looker. Anyone call look at someone they haven't seen in 5 years and know they've gained or lost 100 pounds or dyed their hair but you can't tell anything mentally about a person until you sit and talk to them. Although talk will not always provide the answers one seeks, talk is cheap and without asking the right questions one will never get the right answers.
The relationships we have with people are odd. Some people deserve more attention than others and some people command attention more than others. How strange how some things or even just a smell can remind you of someone. How certain people you can't pull out of your mind for the life of you. How sometimes you feel like calling someone just to hear their voice but then don't call them or do. How sometimes we alienate the ones we love for whatever the reasons be them selfish or not. The worst thing about people is their inability to change or their WANT for self change but their inability to will those changes.
Now those changes are both physical and mental and it seems only after extensive philosophical debate can one truely know how or what to change. The catch is after enough philosophical debate, you realize it's not about you, you gain perspective and again of course it's all about perspective. Then you become content with your life, ignore the bullshit. You know what you want, you know what you need, and you find out who you really are. Could I be more vague or cryptic? yes I could but that wouldn't help. Sometimes you just have to shoot the breeze awhile. It's the only way to escape that which is phony... which is just about everything. hahahaha!
Plato remarks that the descriptions that we give objects in our world are usually in some way relative to the context of presentation and he passes from this to the conclusion that reality consists of a world of eternal and unchanging entities, of which the world we know is merely a pale reflection.
So what's Plato getting at? Everything that we see and describe are relative to the context in which they are seen or described right? I think... but then he goes on to say everything we know is merely a pale reflection... I guess Plato was a pessimist? You know I've thought about what Plato said and I've over thought it completly. The phrase no longer makes sense to me, that's how much I've thought about it, that seems to be how much I think about everything now a days. Thinking of the philosophers of old helps put things into perspective, along with the new age philosophers after all this world just keeps getting more complicated than ever.
I just need a stiff drink... then maybe i'll discover the secrets of the universe floating in my drink.
August 17 Talking TrashNow i've constantly mentioned and asked, "Where are the real intellectuals of our day?" our philosopher kings if you will.
But is philosophy even still alive? Has philosophy died and if so who or what killed it?
Many people will say philosophy died with Nietzsche, and of course being a big Nietzscheian, I can buy that point of view but is it the truth?
It seems to me that the truth of the matter is science has killed philosophy. It's science that's considered an absolute truth, proved by theories and series of mathematic formulas. At the same time it's opened up brand new branchs of philosophy like "string theory" which can be considered the be all and end all of philosophy.
But really how much stock can we put into this new era of philosophy?
Doesn't mathmatic proofs limit or stagnate the ideal of philosophy? Or do the mathmatic proofs open more doors?
Isn't philosophy just an idea, a thought, a concept? in which cause could it really be dead if we still think? Are we in some kind of post or neo philosophical era?
Even the Matrix wasn't a "new" idea, although many believe the matrix has it's own "philosophical" endeavours, even though it's just a rehashed version of Rousseau's "how do we know what reality is?".... wait... or was that Descartes? ahhh, the point is there's no new ideas left under the sun.
Philosophy used to be about trying to ponder the truth of reality, now philosophy seems only to be about the "theory of everything" which is in essence trying to find the truth of our reality but using mathematic proofs and theories. Now a days it seems like truths are only true if the mathematics supports the theory, which seems kind of stupid... I mean where's the equation to prove or disprove God? Yes, in that one episode of the Simpsons where Homer gets smart by taking the crayon out of his nose he does find the mathematic proof that God does not exist... but could there really be such a proof?
Math does prove many things but at the same time doesn't. Math is like an objective truth, it only works because we made it work not becuase it IS the proof for truth. Think of the novel 1984 where BB issues that 2+2=5. Does it really? no, but if enough people believe it does, say 51% of the world population then well... 2+2 really is 5 isn't it? Hell there are barely any new political philosophies which don't include a "neo". all we have left now is philosophies on Quantum theories, human genomes, the mind and space as those are the only things left to prove as they're some what tangible unlike God... until that is we get some better technology.... like a really big fucking telescope.... shit, I mean we can put robots on Mars but can't find Osama? We can map the entire human Gnome but can't get to the bottom of the ocean? Thanks.... July 22 To be or not to be...I was having a drunken discussion last friday with a brother of mine, and we were discussing who's side is winning.
His side is the establishment
mine is the rebellion.
He asks me if I'm smart, I don't know. He says he's smart, he's done an IQ test. I say I think I'm smart and he says he thinks I am too.
I was telling him how awful and easily my side gets dominated by his.
He was trying to convince me that my side was better than that, he could not accept how badly my side is losing.
I told him how we give up easily, how his side beats us at a game of attrition.
My side can only play their game or not and their game is the path of least resistance. By the time you finish high school and get to university, you're on the fences. After university, your ass backwards in debt, 3-5 years older, give up the mohawk or baggy pants to pursue a career and by then you're indoctrinated into their system.
If you don't go to school, you end up working minimum wage, in jail or on the streets.
He tells me my side is stronger than I think and holds a powerful presence. He says people he works with, the high rolling business men are threatened by our presence.
I agree with that notion as I've seen it, I've felt it. When one of them gets on the bus or subway, they avoid people like me.
I ask why that is and he says because we represent everything they are not.
He makes a six figure salary, I make a low end five figures. He can afford the luxuries I only dream of. I say he's 100x better off than I am, financial security is one of the most imporatant things in the world.
He confesses that he hates what he does, that he feels he's sold his soul for money. I agree but don't push him about it.
He asks me who our last hero was and for once I'm speechless. I'm not sure. No one's ever asked that to me before. I take a moment to think then reply, MLK.
He laughs and says I'm not black. I agree with his statement as I am not. so he follows up with so then why MLK?
I say Malcom was all about reperations for blacks, but MLK was beyond that. MLK wasn't barking up the civil rights tree but rather he was barking up the human rights tree, which is beyond race and religion.
He says my side is full of soldiers, I agree, I am one of them and tell him that we need all the soldiers we can get. He goes on to say that soldiers won't help, what my side needs is leaders and I reply that our leaders get shot, discredited or shipped off to Guantanamo.
So he asks me why? why fight? take the path of least resistance. If i know my side cannot win why try? Switch sides.
I say it's not about winning or losing.
I confess not a day goes by I don't think about it, going back to school, take a few business courses and learn about Milton Friedman, the Chicago boys, Laissez-faire capitalism, the Fed, Micro and Macro, and quantitative methods of calculations. I think about the life I could have had, an easier life, a hallow life. In many ways I envy him and his financial freedom in this world where wealth dictates your status, in a world where wealth provides physical freedom. While I sit and struggle to pay off student loans for the next 5 years he's paid them off just after one year.
His life is so much easier in many ways but life is really dictated through philosophy and principles.
I tell him every morning I wake up and look at myself in the mirror and smile, how I can hold my head up high because of what I do, what I am, what I stand for. I wait for him to tell me the same but he doesn't. For all the security he has, he's still just a slave to corporate dress codes and conducts in which he cannot stray from. His grasp at an identity falls squarely on the way he gels his hair... I suddenly feel sorry for him.
I think of Plato's Symposium and recite my favourite passage for him,
"Whenever I discuss philosophy or listen to other do so, I enjoy it enormously but whenever I hear other discussions especially that of rich business men like yourself, I get bored and feel sorry for you and your friends, because you think you're doing something important, when you're not. Perhaps you regard me as a failure, and I think you are right. But I don't think you are a failure, I know you are."
He laughs and says, being a philosopher doesn't pay in this day and age and I agree so I tell him the only difference between him and I is our type of freedom.
He may have financial freedom but I have spiritual freedom and I give him Kierkegaard's metaphor of Adam and the tree of knowledge.
Doing what you must to prove that you are free even if it will destroy you. You must take a leap of faith and stop living as a reaction to circumstances and start living as a force for what you say should be.
In the end we agree that when he's rich, I'll be able to sleep on his couch. By this time it was almost 6am and we ended with the notion that this conversation will continue another time but also on the simple note that is, the truest philosophy is to each his own. June 27 Some one called the anti-defamation league on me!After reading the comment left by Dave there, I've decided I must say something...
As much as this should be listed under "news and politics" it's not. I will be calling upon factual information in which can be verified if you do the looking but also I'm going to be throwing out some philosophical ideas about why and what is going on in the Middle East.
Anyways I must say something so that some thing starts like this,
War in the Middle East could End... and quite frankly it should end... but obviously it won't.
I too have also studied the plight of the Israel/Palestine conflict. There is some very deep rooted hatred there, the most heaviest kind of hate in the world, it runs through the veins of every person involved and unfortunatly it's their blood that ends up running through the street.
Amazingly enough in my opinion the whole Israel/Palestine conflict runs parallel to the whole IRA/England conflict.
In both cases you have two nations. One which wants freedom, the other wants to rule.
Both sides are willing to use violence and both sides will not stop until they are victorious.
The Israel/Palestine conflict revolves essential around the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
I could get into the history of the whole conflict but I really don't want to, it's pretty depressing really.
Now i've talked to many Jews in my life time and I'm never afraid to bring up the whole Palestinian/Israeli thing, and to be honest most of the Jews I talk to say the exact same thing, "All those filthy sands need to be exterminated" Basically they all spout fairly Nazish statements. I've also talked to a few Palestinians, although not many... maybe a dozen or so and they all told me the same thing, "Just stop the violence" with an odd anti-semite remark here and there.
So I thought why such different opinions?
Well the fact of the matter is it all lies in the education of peoples.
First and foremost Israel arguably has one of the best military forces in the world, easily the best military force in the Middle East and some of the best military technology comes straight from Israel like those guns that can shoot around corners.
So when the Israeli forces come marching down the street there isn't much you can do but throw the rocks at your feet. Of course there are more militant Palestinian groups like Hamas who have Aks and RPGs and shit but that's a different story. For the most part all citizens of Israel have a mandatory military enlisting of 1 or 2 years, basically making the whole state a militarized one if need be.
I'm not sure of the Palestinian education system but I do know that the Israeli one does promote some biased propaganda to fuel the hatred towards Palestine. Now the universities have a more liberal approach but through grade school, they learn of conflicts and wars in which the facts are skewed to make Israel the hero, much like many history books from China, which skew facts to present a not so true reality.
To stop violence one could argue that education is the best weapon... when used properly. If used inproperly it can easily perpetuate the cycle of violence.
Do you want to know how to end the Israel/Palestine conflict? Plato's Republic.
That's fucking how it should be done. shit, I'm willing to do it! I will be their philosopher Ruler.
First we get a little spot of our own away from all their petty problems... give us Eilat or something out of the way like that.
Then we take all the children both Israeli and Palestinian 10 years old and younger. The rest of the population is no good to us, their minds already corrupted.
So we take those kids 10 and under and make them kids of the state, we grow them, teach them and love them not as individual children with individual parents and religions and creed but as a unified entity, as children of the state, nothing more nothing less.
We use Plato's class sytem not as a means of segregation but as a means of control. The children will be placed with an occupation that best suits their individual skills and merits. From there we continue to follow the methods of Plato and the Kids whether Israeli or Palestinian will grow up without any of that deep seeded hatred that has destroyed their former Parents and states. We teach that personal gain is pointless, we'll teach truth and knowledge as the ultimate good, wealth and gold are unneccesary as the Gold in our childrens hearts is all the gold they'll ever need, that the welfare of the state and its people are the primary concern of all.
And of course that would solve the whole bloody thing. It's all about the re-education of the children. Like Marvin Gaye saing, "Save the children"
"Who really cares? Who's willing to try to save a world, That's destined to die?
When I look at the world it fills me with sorrow, Little children today are really gonna suffer tomorrow
Oh what a shame, such a bad way to live, All who is to blame, we can't stop livin'
Live, live for life, But let live everybody, Live life for the children"
Obviously this is just a very crude example, but you get the point no? To really understand what I mean you'd have to familiarize yourself with Plato's Republic. But trust me it makes plenty of sense, It makes 1000000x times more sense then the Middle East does right now. The point really is that we can teach peace to kids whom have not already suffered the horrors of war. We grow them with compassion for their fellow brothers whether black, white, brown, yellow, or purple. It would be the dawn of a new great state, one which would closely resemble an "anarchist commune" which would live independantly from the world's socio-economics. It would be grand indeed. But of course most likely we'd be sabotaged by other countries as our... dare I say Utopia would surely upset the balance of power in the world.
But we can still dream right? "I just want to ask a question Who really cares? To save a world in despair?" Save the Children - Marvin GayeJune 16 And the livin's easy...A week off of work to enjoy life.
It was by all means brilliant. Although there's like 10 more things I wish I could have done and would have done weather permitting. But alas you can't always get what you want. So back into the salt mines if you will.... Been back at work for less than 4 hours and I'm already bored as fuck and ready to lose my mind... I mean there's only so much internet a guy can take at a time.
I don't have too much to say right now... Right now I'm reading Plato's Republic, it's a heavy book, not literally but mentally. It's sooo very much... simple yet complex. I wonder how much of Plato's philosophies still apply today or atleast are regarded as relevant.
What will be interesting is trying to compare Plato's Republic to Rousseau's Discourse on Inequality. Both of which can easily be considered an eloquent and challenge to contemporary and modern society even though they were written so long ago somehow they still stay relevent. I'm just entering part III: Education in the Republic, which I'm sure I'll find infinitly interesting as education is a vital aspect if our race is to survive. Everyone needs to read more books.
I've also been learning a lot about the Quran. Very interesting text indeed. Out of the big three religions being, First testement, second, and the Quran... I'm more inclined to put my faith into the Quran than the first or second testement. Things just happen to make more sense in the Quran. I for one am personally offended in this post 9/11 world where every Arab is a terrorist, and that the Quran is the root of evil.... what fucking bullshit.
For those of you who don't know the Quran is essentially the first and second testement, with only one big difference, the story of Abraham.
Aside from that it's the same old shit. Thou shalt not kill, love thy neighbour, thou shalt not steal, ect, ect. No where in the Quran does it mention "Jihads" or bombs.
Then you hear people screaming about giving women more rights in the Middle East.
Well most if not all of them wear the veil and full body dress and all that shit right? (sorry if there's a technical name which I don't know) 
And it's because of the religion they believe right? Suddenly there's outrage all over the world. "Islam women are being oppressed!"
BUT when a woman in another country say anywhere in North America wears a full nuns outfit covering her hair and body head to toe only exposing her face and hands in the name of her religion, it's called being modest and it's 100% accepted. 
Is that fucked up to anyone else or is it just me because quite frankly they LOOK THE FUCKING SAME!
Guru: Peace Brother Elijah
Elijah Shabazz: Hey peace Guru how you doin? Guru: I'm maintainin Just been thinkin though man about the situation for today's youth man the seeds man What's your opinion on that? Elijah Shabazz: Mmm that's strange I was thinkin the same thing Somethin I read in the holy Qu'ran how it says "Has thou seen him who belies religion? That is one who is rough, to the orphan." And no matter what we say our religion is whether it's Islam, Christianity Juddaism, Buddha-ism, Old School-ism or New School-ism If we're not schooling the youth WITH wisdom then the sins of the father will visit the children And that's not keepin it real... that's keepin it -- WRONG Robin Hood Theory - Gangstarr June 02 Ignoring the self is the only sin of the selfJust when I thought I was out, they dragged me back in... the story of my life with this constant internet/globalization fight. The fucking internet is just too bloody conveinent man, it's just too fucking easy to use to like not use it you know? So here I fucking am again.... 3....4.... 10th? "blog" I've had.... to be honest who the fuck really knows how man of these things I've bloody had.... it's a real fucking love/hate relationship I have going on here with the internet but I wouldn't have it any other way to be completly honest. The only reason I continually come back here is because I'm a glutton for pain I guess...lol...
So I've finished reading some Kierkegaard, the "father of existentialism" and he wrote something that reflects my life so perfectly.
He speaks of "Ignoring the 'self' is the only sin of the self"
"In Kierkegaards eyes my only sin as a human being aware of the cost of not benefiting from the advantages of being 'spirit' and in spite of this, being willing to sacrifice this opportunity to live as my true self in relation to the infinite, for the sake of a false identity that is entirely defined by the values of a finite worldly existance. The reason for ignoring one's potential selfhood becomes clearer if we use the analogy of "friendship".
Suppose I had only one honest friend (I'm the friend) whom I could always trust in a time of need, but this friend leads an existance characterized by personal commitment to the spiritual path and a lack of attachment to wordly pleasure. In addition, they see through my act, so in their presence my ego is undermined rather than boosted. Under such circumstances I might as well choose to turn my back on this friend (my true spiritual self) and instead spend time with my "fair weather" friends who praise my successes and love having fun (finite wordly existence). In other words I reject my spiritual self because this part of my being sees the shallowness of my finite wordly concerns and notices all my faults and negative behaviours"
Now that's some troubling shit, as I have in fact been in that exact situation. I used to have lots of friends but now not so much, rather aquantances now. Is it my choice? Yes, in many ways it is my choice, my freedom to pursue that which I find infinitly interesting and of great spiritual concern.
That in essence is the story... well current story of my life, in this moment of "becoming" very closely comparable to Plato's Cave, which should be no surprise we're back at. Shit, nobody told me the philosophers life was one of such.... unpleasant tastes...
Kierkegaard also pegged me as in a state of "Defiant Despair"
'Defiant despair arises when a person has genuinely realised that they are an independant individual with full freedom and responsibility of choice. However, they refuse to acknowledge that their existence is grounded in the power that founded it.'
Kierkegaard being Christian is refering to GOD as the power that founded my perceived freedom.
He also mentions,
'Defiant despair is typically seen in strong minded individuals who use their awareness of their unique individuality and personal freedom as a basis for shaping their very own conception of self. These types are offended by any sense of despair in themselves, and their passion for life turns to rage when problems or misfortune arrive. They would rather suffer increased hardship than lose their sense of self-reliance by asking God or anyone else for help'
Which are also very true remarks about my personality. My only quarrel with Kierkegaard is he's too fucking Christian, you know? God this and God that. Give me a fucking break.
ok, yes, perhaps religion is the only path to TRUE FAITH but I refuse to acknowledge such until such is proven to my true self. There's just too much Nietzsche in me to conceed to the notion of God... after all God is dead, we killed him.... all you Nietzsche heads out there know what I'm saying... or rather what Zarathustra said.
Kierkegaard does hit a point home with me in the sense that we exist in either one of two forms. Infinite or Finite. He also plays off Plato's objective truth but regards subjective truth as the only real truth. The point is we must shed our finite form tied to external influences and vices to reveal our true infinite nature in which our subjective truths are all that matters.
It's a philosophy that very closely mirrors that of REAL Hip-Hop. During the humble beginnings of hip hop, many people especially us poor ass mother fuckers (lol I talk as if I was there) were still trying to get our lives validated by main stream society. They had their personal well-being attached to an external source be it their car, house, degree, job, ect. BUT hip hop said, "Fuck your validation, fuck your standards. We as a culture, as a nation validate our own well being through WHO we are not WHAT we have."
Of course hip hop isn't like that anymore... sigh.... It's all about the bling and dollar dollar bill y'all!
And there you have it from 1813 Denmark to fucking 1970 Cedric Ave, South Bronx! South, south Bronx!
That's some fucking brilliant shit if I do say so myself, I didn't even expect for this to take such a turn.
I'm just droppin' some philosophy and history to feed your minds!
Next time.... I dunno... maybe some more tasteful...
OH and Fuck me before I forget...
A moment of silence for one of the late great guitarists of all time... well not greatest but definitly one of the most influencial... Bo Diddley
And if you don't know Bo then you don't know Diddley.... (actually that's a Bo Jackson joke)
anyways Bo Diddley coined the fucking Bo diddley rift!
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