22/12/2008

A Musical Interlude

There will be no singing by your truly. Not that I can't sing, but my throat would probably collapse if I did the least bit tricky. Still got a bit of a cough left too. But instead I come bearing gifts! I didn't make them, and I certainly didn't pay for them, but I did spend time on the Internet looking them up at least. If you get allergies from YouTube you might as well disregard this entire post, cause there's gonna be tubes aplenty I'm afraid. Let's get going then, shall we? Wax Tailor is mostly ambient trip-hop, but sometimes they collaborate with some great vocalists and the result is often quite hypnotic:
And that's that. But there's no wonder I love Wax Tailor, trip-hop is one of my favorite types of music, along with some hip-hop and bebop I could probably get by for the rest of my life on it. Anyway, personal trivia besides, we journey onwards!
Sean Price, who's really good, has made this little tune that goes by the name of Onion Head. It's at the moment one of my favorite songs. Heavy cursing ensues. Be warned. I might as well keep going with the hip-hop now, here's Madvillain:
But things take a turn towards the abstract when J Dilla grabs the mic:
Anyway, enough hip-hop for today. Time for some GoldieLocks instead. You might remember the name from a previous post, but this time she has a real video, and it's also quite interesting. It contains her disembodied head, arm, a gray miniature dancing version of herself, some nice, although erratic colors... Yeah, you get the idea I think. It reminds me somewhat of Santogold, which is not a bad things I suppose. Unless she gets upset and comes and stabs me over it. Or it turns out she and Lykke Li are in fact clones that are taking over the world...
Alright, I might have scared some of my young readers with my talk of clones, so here's something lighthearted about kittens from SoKo to cheer you up:
SoKo is mostly famous for her song "I'll Kill Her" which you have here, although in a unplugged version from the back of a cloth store or something. It's awesome either way:
Dammit, I know everyone has already heard Lykke Li, but I just have to post this video that is actually quite a good depiction her live performances. Weird little dances, cocky, baggy outfits. No wonder I love her. Plus the video is crazy fun:
Last stop on this railway trough my musical taste is a remix by Flying Lotus, which I discovered trough a friend recently. Mia Doi Todd's "My Room Is White" becomes something else entirely. Or at least I think so. Haven't heard to original actually, so I have no idea really. But it would be a quite stupid remix if it's almost the same as the original, so let's just assume I'm never wrong, shall we?
The End.

The Flu

Turns out that's what making my head dysfunctional. I'm getting better, but today is the first day since the start of last week my head feels somewhat clear. I've got loads to post though, so I might as well get started. First of it turns out Peyote isn't actually dangerous. At all. In fact it seems it might even improve some mental processes. Since the study is funded by the American "War on Drugs", I'd say it's quite reliable. More at Dose Nation. But you can't just throw down some mescaline and take a nap. You need some music that will melt your brain and re-furnish your face. Enter Lightning Bolt:
If drugs and chaotic music isn't really your thing, I can instead offer you the following arrangement: How Television Works:
Really informative, and kinda scary. And while we're at it, here's how the News Work:
This one goes mostly for people in North America, but I'm quite sure it's more or less the same in other parts of the world. The exception would be some state-owned channels, but this also depends on how much they push their own political agenda on the viewers. Some manage to do what they're supposed, some just sounds like preachers. There, that's some of what I wanted to post. I might update more during the day. I've got one or two things I wanted to preach about myself. Luckily, you don't have to agree. In fact I expect you to disagree with some of the things I say, and would love to argue about it a bit from time to time.

17/12/2008

16/12/2008

Todays Observations

Our personality is subjective. This means that you are a different person depending on who you're spending time with. This is because we think others expect a certain behavior from us. We have become who others think we should be, and we don't even know for sure what they want us to be. Identity is a lot more complicated once you start thinking about it, which leads me to my next thought. Someone has crammed the entire history of Bollywood inside my head. I have a few million people singing, and the resonance is shattering my skull from inside my head. It might also explode, which hopefully results in someone getting impaled by my spinal column. Or maybe my brain is trying to stab my face from the inside? It might also be both, and my brain is trying to escape by desperately clawing it's way out of my face to die like a fish on land once outside. Death by Bollywood. Sometimes I even scare myself. There are falus shaped things originally from China exploding outside and raining down a burst of brightly colored stars on the cold grass below. I suspect witches, and must go fetch my pitchfork. I also have a huge guillotine shaped piece of glass from a broken picture frame that I will make a mirror out of. I'm not sure how to make a mirror, but it is going to involve dark paint and serious tape somehow. I'll probably end up with a peg-leg though. But the loss of a limb will make me forget the headache at least. The brain isn't too good at perceiving pain from different areas of the body, apparently. This is all. I will have to read a few chapters today as well, and spend some time editing my rough start of an essay. But only if my brain gets somewhat normal. If it doesn't I would like some LSD or something to teach the bastard a lesson.

13/12/2008

02/12/2008

Letter from God by Dan Le Sac and Scroobius Pip

The video is fan-made. There is a ordinary one, but it's easier to keep up with the lyrics in this one. If you're not a fast reader you're kinda fucked either way though. I agree to parts of the message, but not all of it. It's still good, and gives you things to think about.

Obama! Give America Better Sex!

"
       Dear President Obama:

For months, I’ve been predicting that when you win, nothing will change regarding sex. I’ve said you won’t stop the government’s War On Sex; you won’t demand respect for sexual rights as human rights; you won’t prevent religious fanatics from controlling non-believers’ sex lives.

You now have your big chance: prove me wrong. Here’s what you need to do:

* End funding for abstinence-only training in public schools.

* End the Department of Justice’s war on adult entertainment. Keep the war on child porn. Make it clear they’re two different things. [[Regina's Note: Notice Marty's semantics here - adult entertainment vs child porn. Absolutely right to use different words for two very, very different things. Go Marty!]]

* Decriminalize all consensual sex that teens have with other teens. Decriminalize teens sharing photos of themselves having sex. [[Regina's Note: Tech enables us to extend our sexual behavior, as well as create "new" sexual behaviors. I agree with Marty that teens sharing photos with their peers is not a criminal act -- and that their lives should not be forever wrecked for the "crime" of being young and hormonal. Besides, sharing pics is robably the quickest, most effective way to learn discretion and to think about one's own limits and the limits of one's friends. No need to send them to jail. Their peers will teach them the lesson more deeply than the adults ever could.]]

* Increase financial support for Planned Parenthood, an investment proven to reduce poverty and domestic violence. [[Regina's Note: Several of my adult friends, unmarried and married, go to PP for STD screenings and birth control, because they are young working adults who don't have health insurance. It has nothing to do with politics, abortion, feminism or any other "issue" -- except the desire not to bring issue into the world before the women are ready for them.]]

* Take the moral leadership to decrease abortion–by funding contraception services and comprehensive sex education, not by criminalizing abortion.[[Regina's Note: Duh.]]

* Require all sex education programs to be scientifically accurate. Isn’t that required by the policies of car manufacturers, meat-packing plants, and toothpaste makers?

* Require all municipalities that want to restrict commercial sexual expression (strip clubs, adult bookstores, swing clubs, etc.) to actually demonstrate a need to do so, rather than simply claim “effects like crime, disease, and blight are well-established.” Because they’re not.

* Require all federal judges to take a Continuing Education course about sexuality. Healthy sexuality, not “sex addiction” or child molestation. Make this education mandatory for anyone aspiring to be a judge.[[Regina's Note: This is my soapbox as well. So much of what we write, research or study about sex starts with the "something's wrong" -- but what about what's not wrong?]]

* Get the FCC out of the censorship business. Let Americans use the “off” and “change channel” buttons on their TV remotes whenever they want; it’s good practice for voting.

* Remove the blocking software from every federally-funded computer in America–libraries, universities, airports. Start with the computers in the White House and Congress.[[Regina's Note: There's a scene in Cordelia's Honor, by Lois McMaster Bujuold, in which it comes out that the lowest standard of living Cordelia can imagine is not having a comconsole and full network access in a home, much less in the village. When the Barrayarans express astonishment at this naive worldview, Cordelia, a Betan, explains that it's the first item on the Beta Colony constitution: the right to information access shall not be abridged.]]

I’ve said in dozens of lectures this year that you won’t make a difference in America’s War On Sex.

Please, prove me wrong. "

I see nothing wrong with any of this. Then again I am an ungodly Anarchist Swede. Westbro Baptist hates me, yey! Westbro sounds very Scandinavian by the way...

From SexRev 2.0, via Technoccult.

The Liberal Middle East?

There are interesting things going on there.
And I'm not talking about Iraq.
Iran will soon have a majority of young people insides it's borders. As you'll know if you drop by here once in a while, the Iranian blogosphere is crackling with activity.
Saudi Arabia is also heading towards a more open society for women.
The all-girl rock band The AccoLade is a underground hit, as most newsreaders probably know by now. The current King is also positive towards women helping the society, and women are also allowed to have an ID-card now.
So, is this the start of a new, more liberal, middle east? I, for one, hope so.
If Iran and Saudi Arabia (arguably two of the most conservative nations in the middle east at the moment) become more Liberal in their politics, it would probably do a lot to change the entire region.

01/12/2008

This is not the Indentity you're looking for

As usual when reading dear Penny's latest stabbing of all that is well and normal (according to people that think they're normal), I want to jump up, run all the way to the nearest McDonald's, light my pants on fire and use them as a slingshot to propel me laptop trough the front window. Preferably after I've filled it with thermite and nitroglycerin. As it burns and crackles like those burning sticks people like to play with around Christmas, I'd casually walk away with my jacket tied around my hips as a makeshift skirt. If I ever did I'd probably freeze my balls off, but it would be worth it. Being done with my usual plunge into imagination, the part that really made me go "Fuck yeah!" was this: "But conformity is safe. No matter how much time and effort you put in to making yourself acceptable and well-behaved, never doubt that it’s the easy option. I never feel more alive, or more free, than days like today when I stamp into work in big boots, a baggy black hoodie covered with slogans, a bobble hat and no make-up. But it takes courage. Courage to step outside the cosy cage of automatic approval and be your own, real person, without rules." Being somewhat of a gypsy myself (on my fathers side), I relate to this. It makes me feel warm and really alive inside to know that there are people that will disregard what others think and go with what they, and only they, feel is right. No wonder people aren't satisfied with their lives, they're trying to get approval from everyone else. I especially remember a girl I went to elementary with. One day she didn't wear any makeup. The funny thing is, we didn't notice. ("We" being a few guys.) I don't know if the girls did. If I remember correctly her voice was trembling a bit when she told us. I suspect she was feeling uncomfortable, and a bit afraid of what our reaction would be. We told her that we didn't really see any difference. Well, maybe a little if we looked closely. I don't really know what happened. But she ended up putting makeup on after a while. If she felt uncomfortable because she didn't wear it, because of something someone said, peer pressure, or anything else I don't know. What I do remember is feeling incredibly impressed by her courage. Not that I know how much perceived psychological strength a woman find in her makeup, but I can imagine that it's quite a lot. Now that I think about it I should probably have told her just how impressed I was with her. But that was 5-6 years ago now. If anything I've found that I grow weirder and weirder the older I get. I've recently become interested in Anarchism, the Riot Grrl movement (especially the music), memetics (which I'm writing 50 pages about for school), drugs (moderately, since it dry-humps my brain into oblivion. I need my brain, dammit). I've almost stopped drinking completely. I'm actually interested in politics, and followed the American Presidential election feverishly. I suspect I knew more about it than quite a few Americans. Hell, an American even told me so. All of it is obviously me to some degree. But how much? We're once again back to that damned question: "Who am I?" Sure, I could throw up some memetic theory here now. About humanity being a construction the ideas we are exposed to, how they react to the ideas that already infect us, and all of that. I suppose we could just say that we are what we think we are, but this isn't necessarily true either. We are not who we think we should be, at least. That much we can probably agree on. Unless you're the kind of person that can disregard what everyone thinks at all times. Good for you. Not really helping us that are stuck with being social human beings though. We're stuck being influenced by society you might say, so the only thing we can do if that pisses us off is to try and influence it back, destroy it, or create a new one.

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