Via Grinding
27/11/2008
26/11/2008
BBC Journalist Get Pissed
This is last years news. Actually, more than last year I think, but it's still interesting to see. It's a part from BBC Panoramas investigation of Scientology. John Sweeney gets pissed and starts shouting, after the Scientologists interrupts interviews, confronts him at his hotel, have people follow him, and other nice and friendly things. It's mainly the same guy over and over, and John finally gets pissed enough to shout at him. I'd probably have ended up punching him myself.
There's also good examples of the "Fair Game" tactics the so-called Church denies.
23/11/2008
22/11/2008
20/11/2008
The Problem with Views
Everyone has views on practically everything. And while some might say that all views are vaild, I'd say that just wishful thinking on their part. Just like saying that everyone is special. Sure, it's true on genetically, and although I'd never go so far as to say that two people are identical, I'd never say their completely different either. Because no matter what, we're all human.
And, since we're humans, and since humans have this ridiculously big brain that we don't seem to use as much as we should, we have views and opinions on everything as soon as we've heard about it for the first time.
Obviously that isn't really a good thing, since when we first have heard about something, it's probably from a source we trust in some way. Like a friend, a nice news site, a blog, etc. We assume, that since we like this/that/them, that they're right.
When was the last time you really doubted something someone you like said?
But just by checking things up a bit on your own you'll probably discover a lot that got lost in the translation. Or that what you heard was wrong. Sometimes it's even right! Just like the news really.
The news is interesting, because the purpose of most forms of news is to sell. Exaggerating things, leaving something out to make it more dramatic, and so on. These are all signs of a bad news. Entertainment news are usually bad for instance. Because people don't really care about getting informed about the entertainment, they care about being entertained be reading about the entertainment.
Always being critical gets annoying in the long run though, so it's a good idea to take a day of once in a while. Take it easy, watch some stupid action or comedy movie, take a bath, cook something nice. Relax. Let your brain rest and absorb the information it's received lately. It needs to do that once in a while. Usually at night, but it's probably a good idea to take a day off from time to time, just in case. Plus, it feels good to do nothing from time to time.
But this is just filler. An appetizer if you so wish.
What I really wanted to talk about is views. I know, I've mentioned them a bit, bitched about them a lot, and generally been a bit too cryptic for my own good.
But, what I wanted to say is this: If you can't question your own views, they suck.
In case the reason for this isn't obvious, I'll tell you: If you can't question what you think, and listen to other ideas and views, your censoring yourself and the world. You're shrinking the world from the viewpoint of your mind.
Which, despite what you may think, isn't a good idea. We've discovered how huge the world is, the billions of things within it, and now we don't want them to be there anymore? Sounds like devolving to me. The sound of the spreading of stupidity and ignorance. How does it sound? Like the wind speeding by maybe?
But sure, if something you've questioned does seem to still hold afterwards, it's probably not a worthless thought at least. If you find something that can take a lot of questioning and still kinda makes sense, then you've got yourself a keeper.
And I'm not talking about personal questioning of your views here. You need to get into the head of whoever objects to your view. If you're a Christian, you need to know and understand what Richards Dawkins thinks, and why. If you're Richard Dawkins, you need to understand Christianity.
But, here it gets tricky. Dawkins is a scientist. He can't just beliveve things. He needs some sort of reason. Belife for the sake of belife isn't gonna fly with any athesist. If you say that you find comfort and brotherhood in Church, a Athesist could possibly say that you take comfort in the notion that there is a meaning with life, other than life itself. A pshycological effect in other words. Just as the shared belife also gives a sense of comfort. Safety in numbers. Safety in belonging to a clan of likeminded. A tribe, in a way.
This could also be a danger with modern society, at least in my mind.
Since we can usually find likeminded, we don't have to change out minds. We don't get challanged by other ideas and views if we just stay in our own little tribe.
I'm running out of thoughts now, but remember that many of the great truths of today where so radical that some of their proponents ended up dead back in the day.
Radical thoughts change our world, which is the same as changing the world, since our view of the world becomes part of it. While fundamentalism will keeps things static and simple, and by doing so prevent change, and keep the world small.
And, since we're humans, and since humans have this ridiculously big brain that we don't seem to use as much as we should, we have views and opinions on everything as soon as we've heard about it for the first time.
Obviously that isn't really a good thing, since when we first have heard about something, it's probably from a source we trust in some way. Like a friend, a nice news site, a blog, etc. We assume, that since we like this/that/them, that they're right.
When was the last time you really doubted something someone you like said?
But just by checking things up a bit on your own you'll probably discover a lot that got lost in the translation. Or that what you heard was wrong. Sometimes it's even right! Just like the news really.
The news is interesting, because the purpose of most forms of news is to sell. Exaggerating things, leaving something out to make it more dramatic, and so on. These are all signs of a bad news. Entertainment news are usually bad for instance. Because people don't really care about getting informed about the entertainment, they care about being entertained be reading about the entertainment.
Always being critical gets annoying in the long run though, so it's a good idea to take a day of once in a while. Take it easy, watch some stupid action or comedy movie, take a bath, cook something nice. Relax. Let your brain rest and absorb the information it's received lately. It needs to do that once in a while. Usually at night, but it's probably a good idea to take a day off from time to time, just in case. Plus, it feels good to do nothing from time to time.
But this is just filler. An appetizer if you so wish.
What I really wanted to talk about is views. I know, I've mentioned them a bit, bitched about them a lot, and generally been a bit too cryptic for my own good.
But, what I wanted to say is this: If you can't question your own views, they suck.
In case the reason for this isn't obvious, I'll tell you: If you can't question what you think, and listen to other ideas and views, your censoring yourself and the world. You're shrinking the world from the viewpoint of your mind.
Which, despite what you may think, isn't a good idea. We've discovered how huge the world is, the billions of things within it, and now we don't want them to be there anymore? Sounds like devolving to me. The sound of the spreading of stupidity and ignorance. How does it sound? Like the wind speeding by maybe?
But sure, if something you've questioned does seem to still hold afterwards, it's probably not a worthless thought at least. If you find something that can take a lot of questioning and still kinda makes sense, then you've got yourself a keeper.
And I'm not talking about personal questioning of your views here. You need to get into the head of whoever objects to your view. If you're a Christian, you need to know and understand what Richards Dawkins thinks, and why. If you're Richard Dawkins, you need to understand Christianity.
But, here it gets tricky. Dawkins is a scientist. He can't just beliveve things. He needs some sort of reason. Belife for the sake of belife isn't gonna fly with any athesist. If you say that you find comfort and brotherhood in Church, a Athesist could possibly say that you take comfort in the notion that there is a meaning with life, other than life itself. A pshycological effect in other words. Just as the shared belife also gives a sense of comfort. Safety in numbers. Safety in belonging to a clan of likeminded. A tribe, in a way.
This could also be a danger with modern society, at least in my mind.
Since we can usually find likeminded, we don't have to change out minds. We don't get challanged by other ideas and views if we just stay in our own little tribe.
I'm running out of thoughts now, but remember that many of the great truths of today where so radical that some of their proponents ended up dead back in the day.
Radical thoughts change our world, which is the same as changing the world, since our view of the world becomes part of it. While fundamentalism will keeps things static and simple, and by doing so prevent change, and keep the world small.
13/11/2008
Some Parkour Vids
I'm posting a lot of videos recently, which I find a bit disturbing, since it takes longer to post a bunch of videos than writing a page. You have to watch the videos, think about the quality, if there's somewhere else you can embed from that's got better quality, etc.
But one thing you should know is that I love le parkour.
I've been doing it on and off for around 2 years now, and even if I've just gotten going again after a month or two of just being lazy, it just feels so great doing it that I wonder why I didn't do it sooner.
It's a form of self discovery really. You get to know yourself while you cling to walls, jump over rails, land on ledges, and a few hundreds if not thousand other things. It's of course very physical, but also very mental. Your mind works constantly, judging distances, relaxing and tightening muscles, gripping concrete and iron pipes. And then there's the mental blocks to process. Why can't I do this? Is it the hight? The surface that looks wrong? Too little space to land on?
All traceurs have had blocks, some easy to get rid of, some hard. It takes discipline both to train parkour, to overcoming obstacles, and with overcoming obstacles of the mind, mental blocks.
Here's a video about just that, a mental block:
But of course if you haven't done parkour it's really hard to know what it feels like to throw yourself over a wall and hit the ground running.
Unless you have a headcam, that is:
Or you could always go buy Mirrors Edge I suppose:
There of course also a lot of thoughts behind parkour. Just jumping around trying to look cool does not cut it, and isn't even close to parkour in any way that matters. There's a awesome documentary about parkour called Project Pilgrimage that I'd recommend for anyone wanting to know where it comes from, what's influenced it, what the philosophy is, and these sort of things.
Here's a short chat with Dan Edwards about it:
Or at least parts of it anyway.
It's, just like they say in the video, the videos rarely show the training behind these amazing things the traceurs do. Most have trained hard for years. Not necessarily training parkour, but those that are really good usually have some sort of background in acrobatics, dancing, martial arts, or something along those lines. But that doesn't really matter if keep training. Because after a training parkour for a while you develop your balance, reflexes, strength, flexibility, stamina, psyche, self control, risk awareness, and a few other things. Like I said before, you get to know yourself intimately.
But let's round things of with a very orange vid:
11/11/2008
Horrible News and Movie Industry Hate
Really! It's news, and it's horrible/disturbing!
Or how about Nigerian Baby Farms?
Or The Woman Whiteout A Face, who's been roaming parts of Europe for 15 years, leaving a trail of deaths, robberies and burglaries behind?
Via Warren Ellis.
In other news, Hollywood has given up creativity and are now focusing mainly on destroying classics, and anything not made in the US.
Remakes of:
Old Boy (by Spielberg and Will Smith),
Let The Right One In (by that guy who made Felicity and Cloverfield),
Akira (Leonardo Dicaprio),
Ghost in the Shell(Spielberg again),
Cowboy Bebop (Keanu Reeves as Spike),
Conan (some dude I've never heard of),
Death at a Funeral (by Chris Rock),
Battle Angel Alita (James Cameron),
Ninja Scroll (thanks to Dicaprio),
Attack of the Killer Tomatoes (...huh?)
Fame,
The Birds (Clooney),
and probably a bunch of other I've missed are being planned, discussed or produced as I type this, and as you read it. Capital over creativity, yey!
Keep in mind though that some of these are not confirmed, so we might still be spared mental rape if we're lucky.
I'd recomend Twitch for those of you who like movies and have realized that IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes are completly worthless, and are only good if you'd like to argue with people, or lern some basic trolling.
Alright, Rotten Tomatoes have some revives that actually have something with movies to do and are not just opinion. They're the minority though. And I'm not even gonna mention IMDB. Alright, it's a good place to check out some specs on movies, opening dates, actors, and things like that. As long as you ignore any lists, message boards, or ratings you'll manage.
Alright, I'm gonna stop ranting about my growing hatred for the comercial movie industry now.
I'm actually writting on a movie myself. I'm looking forward to when I can get furious over the disaster of a remake it will inevitably lead to.
Cheers!
Or how about Nigerian Baby Farms?
Or The Woman Whiteout A Face, who's been roaming parts of Europe for 15 years, leaving a trail of deaths, robberies and burglaries behind?
Via Warren Ellis.
In other news, Hollywood has given up creativity and are now focusing mainly on destroying classics, and anything not made in the US.
Remakes of:
Old Boy (by Spielberg and Will Smith),
Let The Right One In (by that guy who made Felicity and Cloverfield),
Akira (Leonardo Dicaprio),
Ghost in the Shell(Spielberg again),
Cowboy Bebop (Keanu Reeves as Spike),
Conan (some dude I've never heard of),
Death at a Funeral (by Chris Rock),
Battle Angel Alita (James Cameron),
Ninja Scroll (thanks to Dicaprio),
Attack of the Killer Tomatoes (...huh?)
Fame,
The Birds (Clooney),
and probably a bunch of other I've missed are being planned, discussed or produced as I type this, and as you read it. Capital over creativity, yey!
Keep in mind though that some of these are not confirmed, so we might still be spared mental rape if we're lucky.
I'd recomend Twitch for those of you who like movies and have realized that IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes are completly worthless, and are only good if you'd like to argue with people, or lern some basic trolling.
Alright, Rotten Tomatoes have some revives that actually have something with movies to do and are not just opinion. They're the minority though. And I'm not even gonna mention IMDB. Alright, it's a good place to check out some specs on movies, opening dates, actors, and things like that. As long as you ignore any lists, message boards, or ratings you'll manage.
Alright, I'm gonna stop ranting about my growing hatred for the comercial movie industry now.
I'm actually writting on a movie myself. I'm looking forward to when I can get furious over the disaster of a remake it will inevitably lead to.
Cheers!
This Makes Me Giggle Like a Schoolgirl:
And I'm even quite sure I haven't gone mad yet. It's only Tuesday dammit. I don't go mad until Thursday earliest.
Via Twitch Film.
08/11/2008
I'm going to keep posting hip hop until you like it.
Seriously. People who don't like hip hop listen too much on the crap being played in commercial radio and television. And no, popularity does not equal quality. If that where the case Titanic would be considered the worlds greatest movie.
Anyway, over to what this is really about: the beats and lyrics forming these tunes. Ladies and gentlemen, brought to you by the utmost crappy quality that is YouYube, it's Soul Position!
If that doesn't do it, go buy their CD or something?
Anyway, over to what this is really about: the beats and lyrics forming these tunes. Ladies and gentlemen, brought to you by the utmost crappy quality that is YouYube, it's Soul Position!
If that doesn't do it, go buy their CD or something?
06/11/2008
Bad Mom = No kids
I'm talking about a draft bill being considered in the Netherlands at the moment, and although the odds of it passing seem low, the mere fact that anyone propositioned such a bill is scary in itself.
If you've been deemed to be a unfit mother by the state you're gonna have to ensure you wont get pregnant for the following 2 years. If you do the child will be taken away by the state.
Needless to say I do not approve.
More details here.
Via Technoccult.
If you've been deemed to be a unfit mother by the state you're gonna have to ensure you wont get pregnant for the following 2 years. If you do the child will be taken away by the state.
Needless to say I do not approve.
More details here.
Via Technoccult.
Some Awesome Ladies You've Probably Never Heard Of
Sylvia Pankhurst may have gotten called too radical by Marx, but I was thinking something a bit more contemporary. In this case: female vocalists, rappers, MCs, or whatever you wanna call it. Ladies making music. That the gist of it.
I accidentally stumbled upon something called Girl Powder on MySpace. Girl Powder is a project (or something) where a group of female musicians get together. Alright, so I didn't pay too much attention there...
Anyway, there was a lot of awesome music that was a part of this little thing. Here's 3 artists I managed to find on the horrible quality video site we all know as YouTube:
This is Donzelle. She apparently makes her videos into a little instructional of sorts. So it's not technically a music video, but it's cool. Unfortunately for me I don't speak any French, though that this song has something to do with sex wasn't really hard to get. It's called Libido Macro, for one.
GoldieLocks. British MC/rapper/singer/producer. She a forth Swede too, which makes me love her even more. Unfortunately this was the best I found on YouTube. No video, and the sound ain't too good. The music and lyrics, however, is.
Has also made an awesome refix of NERDs ´Provider´ that can be enjoyed on her MySpace.
Giselle Numba One. If there where 3 sisters in Cocorosie, she would probably be the third. Not that all her music sounds like Cocorosie or anything, but there is a strong resemblance in some cases so it's a comparison that has to be made.
She's a bit more energetic though, and also has some more pure rap tunes.
Hell, I've started so I might as well keep going:
De Tropix. Another cool band making music that at least makes me wanna get busy on the dance floor. Cherry B, the singer and dancer of the duo I think makes up De Tropix is/was a dancer for M.I.A. I got the feeling they're friends or something, but I might be wrong there so don't put any money on it.
Ok, there was a few other good one's that I couldn't find any good videos for.
Miss Odd Kidd and L'amour est la Guerre.
I did find one for Bunny Rabbit and Black Cracker though:
They're very solid live it seems, and considering this was a gig here in Sweden I'm really sad I missed it. Sure, I probably hadn't heard about them at the time, but you don't need much of a reason to get sad over these things I've noticed.
Enjoy the mad energy these two seem to overflow with.
Finally, something I think a few of you might have heard already. Hyper Crush:
This video makes me incredibly happy. It's about video games, arcades, beating high scores, and all the good things in life.
It's some sort of electro clash or something. I'm not sure. Other awesome songs include Pop and Lock, Sex and Drugs, and other such joys of song naming.
Seriously. This is party music. This, Electric Six, M.I.A, and maybe something more. Throw in some stimulants of your choice, a few friends and assorted chums, and you've got yourself a good time.
Well, that's it for this time. I'm off to bed now. It's an hour after I had decided to go to bed, which is really good for me. That's assuming I get to bed anytime soon though...
I accidentally stumbled upon something called Girl Powder on MySpace. Girl Powder is a project (or something) where a group of female musicians get together. Alright, so I didn't pay too much attention there...
Anyway, there was a lot of awesome music that was a part of this little thing. Here's 3 artists I managed to find on the horrible quality video site we all know as YouTube:
This is Donzelle. She apparently makes her videos into a little instructional of sorts. So it's not technically a music video, but it's cool. Unfortunately for me I don't speak any French, though that this song has something to do with sex wasn't really hard to get. It's called Libido Macro, for one.
GoldieLocks. British MC/rapper/singer/producer. She a forth Swede too, which makes me love her even more. Unfortunately this was the best I found on YouTube. No video, and the sound ain't too good. The music and lyrics, however, is.
Has also made an awesome refix of NERDs ´Provider´ that can be enjoyed on her MySpace.
Giselle Numba One. If there where 3 sisters in Cocorosie, she would probably be the third. Not that all her music sounds like Cocorosie or anything, but there is a strong resemblance in some cases so it's a comparison that has to be made.
She's a bit more energetic though, and also has some more pure rap tunes.
Hell, I've started so I might as well keep going:
De Tropix. Another cool band making music that at least makes me wanna get busy on the dance floor. Cherry B, the singer and dancer of the duo I think makes up De Tropix is/was a dancer for M.I.A. I got the feeling they're friends or something, but I might be wrong there so don't put any money on it.
Ok, there was a few other good one's that I couldn't find any good videos for.
Miss Odd Kidd and L'amour est la Guerre.
I did find one for Bunny Rabbit and Black Cracker though:
They're very solid live it seems, and considering this was a gig here in Sweden I'm really sad I missed it. Sure, I probably hadn't heard about them at the time, but you don't need much of a reason to get sad over these things I've noticed.
Enjoy the mad energy these two seem to overflow with.
Finally, something I think a few of you might have heard already. Hyper Crush:
This video makes me incredibly happy. It's about video games, arcades, beating high scores, and all the good things in life.
It's some sort of electro clash or something. I'm not sure. Other awesome songs include Pop and Lock, Sex and Drugs, and other such joys of song naming.
Seriously. This is party music. This, Electric Six, M.I.A, and maybe something more. Throw in some stimulants of your choice, a few friends and assorted chums, and you've got yourself a good time.
Well, that's it for this time. I'm off to bed now. It's an hour after I had decided to go to bed, which is really good for me. That's assuming I get to bed anytime soon though...
04/11/2008
The Story of Stuff
Amazing that I haven't seen this yet. Everyone should see this at least once, and then have a thinker or discussion about it with someone.
The Story of Stuff homepage. With better video!
51 Years
That's how long ago Laika became the first living creature from our planet to go into space.
Trentemöller has dedicated one of their videos to her, and it's quite the thing of beauty:
Trentemöller has dedicated one of their videos to her, and it's quite the thing of beauty:
27/10/2008
Quick News Update
Gordon Brown is a cunt because he decided to freeze Icelandic assets under the anti-terror law. The reason apparently was "economic terrorism" which is of course a lie. Why not freeze American assets instead? They were the once who caused the current economic crisis after all.
Oh, that right... Britain is Americas bitch.
And I suppose Iceland was a good fall guy. They don't even have an army, so maybe it's time to bomb them a bit too? That'd teach them not to engage in any "economic terrorism" in the future!
According to Greg Palast: "The U.S. Civil Rights Commission found that the chances of an African-American voter losing their vote is 900% higher than a white voter. Hispanic votes vanished at a rate 500% higher than Anglo votes."
Racism: I'm lovin' it!
Oh, that right... Britain is Americas bitch.
And I suppose Iceland was a good fall guy. They don't even have an army, so maybe it's time to bomb them a bit too? That'd teach them not to engage in any "economic terrorism" in the future!
According to Greg Palast: "The U.S. Civil Rights Commission found that the chances of an African-American voter losing their vote is 900% higher than a white voter. Hispanic votes vanished at a rate 500% higher than Anglo votes."
Racism: I'm lovin' it!
26/10/2008
My Drinking Masterpiece
Alright, lets see. I'm gonna try and describe what I've heard was my
worst. I don't remember hardly anything except glimpses after the 2
first tequilas, until 5 hours or so later when I'm standing in the
hallways, and another drunk friends decides to push me because I look
unstable while putting on my shoes.
But, in no particular order:
Made a list of girls I liked.
Danced on my knees since I couldn't stand properly.
Drove
a moped, crashed, got a concussion and wrecked the moped (it was mine
luckily). Got either led or carried inside, with road rash on my face,
bleeding a little from the head, and with puke on my jacket.
Decided
that jumping a hedge that was almost as tall as me was a good idea when
you're not able to take two steps in the same direction. I crashed
trough the hedge, scratched my belly, and got grass stains on my face
as well. This might have been before or after crashing the moped. I
have no idea really.
Despite heavy objections from the host, threw
myself in his little brothers bed, with puke stains, gravel and so on
still on my persona. Needless to say, he was not pleased at the time.
Though the day after, when I came to collect what used to be a nice
vintage moped, he didn't seem to mind.
On the way home to one of my
friends, me, him and another friend stole 2 bikes outside a party a few
houses away. One had a cart, which the least drunk of us got to ride.
I'm surprised we actually made it back whiteout crashing even once.
Even making it back was an achievement to me at the time.
Then the
following morning, with my two friends saying "shit!" "What the hell
did you do?" and other things like that about the appearance my face,
with a severe hangover and a concussion, the first thing I do is stand
up, only to bang my head with incredible force into a 5 kilos speaker
that's mounted to the wall with iron bolts or something.
It's
amazing how much of this I've managed to piece together, considering
that I brought about a liter of strong spirits with me, drank that in
about two hours, got several shots of tequila, some beer, some
moonshine, some wine, and so on. Considering I hardly never drink, that was a bit much I've realized.
I went to the hospital the day
after, after realizing that my head felt like it was stuffed with
cotton instead of in severe pain. That's how I know I had a concussion.
Oh
yeah, and I also lay passed out in a bathtub with vomit, booze and
things on me, with a shower curtain pulled to hide the sight of the
thing I had become. This meant that as soon as I made a sound, which
was most likely slurred speak, grunts or moans, I scared the hell out
of whoever was using the toilet.
That's my worst so far. It lacks sex with animals and drugs, but other than that I think I covered most of it.
Might have pissed myself, though neither me or anyone else noticed in that case.
worst. I don't remember hardly anything except glimpses after the 2
first tequilas, until 5 hours or so later when I'm standing in the
hallways, and another drunk friends decides to push me because I look
unstable while putting on my shoes.
But, in no particular order:
Made a list of girls I liked.
Danced on my knees since I couldn't stand properly.
Drove
a moped, crashed, got a concussion and wrecked the moped (it was mine
luckily). Got either led or carried inside, with road rash on my face,
bleeding a little from the head, and with puke on my jacket.
Decided
that jumping a hedge that was almost as tall as me was a good idea when
you're not able to take two steps in the same direction. I crashed
trough the hedge, scratched my belly, and got grass stains on my face
as well. This might have been before or after crashing the moped. I
have no idea really.
Despite heavy objections from the host, threw
myself in his little brothers bed, with puke stains, gravel and so on
still on my persona. Needless to say, he was not pleased at the time.
Though the day after, when I came to collect what used to be a nice
vintage moped, he didn't seem to mind.
On the way home to one of my
friends, me, him and another friend stole 2 bikes outside a party a few
houses away. One had a cart, which the least drunk of us got to ride.
I'm surprised we actually made it back whiteout crashing even once.
Even making it back was an achievement to me at the time.
Then the
following morning, with my two friends saying "shit!" "What the hell
did you do?" and other things like that about the appearance my face,
with a severe hangover and a concussion, the first thing I do is stand
up, only to bang my head with incredible force into a 5 kilos speaker
that's mounted to the wall with iron bolts or something.
It's
amazing how much of this I've managed to piece together, considering
that I brought about a liter of strong spirits with me, drank that in
about two hours, got several shots of tequila, some beer, some
moonshine, some wine, and so on. Considering I hardly never drink, that was a bit much I've realized.
I went to the hospital the day
after, after realizing that my head felt like it was stuffed with
cotton instead of in severe pain. That's how I know I had a concussion.
Oh
yeah, and I also lay passed out in a bathtub with vomit, booze and
things on me, with a shower curtain pulled to hide the sight of the
thing I had become. This meant that as soon as I made a sound, which
was most likely slurred speak, grunts or moans, I scared the hell out
of whoever was using the toilet.
That's my worst so far. It lacks sex with animals and drugs, but other than that I think I covered most of it.
Might have pissed myself, though neither me or anyone else noticed in that case.
25/10/2008
24/10/2008
23/10/2008
A Reason to Like Obama
I've finally found one, other than that he's not McCain that is...
"The biggest problem with our energy policy has been to lurch from crisis to trance. And what we need is a sustained, serious effort. [...] I was just reading an article in the New York Times by Michael Pollen about food and the fact that our entire agricultural system is built on cheap oil. As a consequence, our agriculture sector actually is contributing more greenhouse gases than our transportation sector. And in the mean time, it's creating monocultures that are vulnerable to national security threats, are now vulnerable to sky-high food prices or crashes in food prices, huge swings in commodity prices, and are partly responsible for the explosion in our healthcare costs because they're contributing to type 2 diabetes, stroke and heart disease, obesity, all the things that are driving our huge explosion in healthcare costs. That's just one sector of the economy. You think about the same thing is true on transportation. The same thing is true on how we construct our buildings. The same is true across the board.
"The biggest problem with our energy policy has been to lurch from crisis to trance. And what we need is a sustained, serious effort. [...] I was just reading an article in the New York Times by Michael Pollen about food and the fact that our entire agricultural system is built on cheap oil. As a consequence, our agriculture sector actually is contributing more greenhouse gases than our transportation sector. And in the mean time, it's creating monocultures that are vulnerable to national security threats, are now vulnerable to sky-high food prices or crashes in food prices, huge swings in commodity prices, and are partly responsible for the explosion in our healthcare costs because they're contributing to type 2 diabetes, stroke and heart disease, obesity, all the things that are driving our huge explosion in healthcare costs. That's just one sector of the economy. You think about the same thing is true on transportation. The same thing is true on how we construct our buildings. The same is true across the board.
For us to say we are just going to completely revamp how we use energy in a way that deals with climate change, deals with national security and drives our economy, that's going to be my number one priority when I get into office, assuming, obviously, that we have done enough to just stabilize the immediate economic situation."
Other than the fact that Obama seems to be the kind of guy you could have a serious discussion with, highly intelligent, and a few other good qualities that'd I personally like to see in the leader of one the biggest and most influential countries on the planet, my personal preference for Obama come from two things that has nothing to with this:
First of, he is not "just another rich white guy with corporate interests, and religious views that influence his actions". Not really fair, I know. But that's what large part of the world seem to think these day. Considering the view of many people, especially the youth in the Middle East, Europe, and probably a few other places, seem to amount to this, although in some cases a lot less polite, having Obama elected would shut all of us up. We can't use our "American President-stereotype" anymore, and are forced to re-evaluate our opinions somewhat. (At least that's what I hope.) So, in other words, better foreign relations. I know, you might object that since it's mainly the youth that are angry at the US it doesn't really matter. But this youth will grow up, and if there hasn't been any real change, why would their opinions change? And furthermore, angry youth tend to make their opinions heard. This means that older people will hear them no matter what they do. Some might tag along just because they usually do that, just as some of the youth have, some might agree, and very few of those that disagree will voice their opinion.
I'm not saying that's the case in all of Europe, but I think it's at least a not all that faulty description of the situation in Sweden. (Which, if Obama is a socialist, I'm quite sure could also be said to be a Communist dreamland...)
And, as if that is not enough, I think the chances of terrorist attacks on the US might decrease a bit. Both because of the fact that Obama is not the "typical American President", but also because he actually knows something about Islam. Plus, the fact that he doesn't have the same military background as McCain, which I'm hoping means he's less likely to start any wars.
The Time Article, via Open the Future.
17/10/2008
Wall of Text: About bloging, evolution, information, and such.
So, there's some of you that's been reading this blog that probably wonder who the hell I am, and why anything that I say should be listened to. Not that it would come as a surprise to anyone even a bit familiar with the so called blogosphere.
No one will agree with everything you say, just as you wont agree with everything someone says. This goes for identical twins, and in extension also clones.
So, why did I start bloging in the first place? Attention? Fame? Anger? Boredom? All valid reasons to start spewing your metaphysical guts out over the Internet, even though their content might not always be the best.
One thing I think we can all agree on is this: we like to express ourselves. Communication is a vast part of humanity after all, one of the fundamentals of society if you so will.
So that was of course part of it for me. I wanted to make my voice heard. I have no idea if I've succeeded, since none of you bastards ever write anything, but that's ok. I didn't want attention or fame.
I probably felt a bit lonely, needed a good output for emotions. And what I've realized after over a year of sporadic bursts of anger, excitement, sometimes clever phrasing, sometimes pubertal anger. What I've realized is that it focuses my mind. It's like my on-line scheduling system, where I shape my thoughts and opinions into clear crystals so that other will see, whiteout the light getting dimmed.
And that's just part of it.
I'm a idealist. I belive that humanity can do great things if we decide to. Yet I would never call myself unselfish. It's easy to fall into that trap, because it's a quality that takes on an almost... biblical tone. It's a word that people like to connect to idealism I suppose. Which is fine, but I'd never admit to being one.
Mainly because that'd make me a hypocrite asshole, and secondly, I don't think any human being, that could still be counted as a human being, would be totally unselfish.
Let me clarify: I'd love to be totally unselfish. It's a good thing. It's, what I'd call, a sign that we're still evolving. We ignore our survival instinct and work for the better of humanity, even if we have to suffer for it.
It's not gonna happen any time soon with how society looks, unless we drastically alter our lifestyle, even our view of life, personal ideals, and a lot of other things.
Part of the problem, at least in my eyes, is a system based on capitalism. The accumulation of wealth and property trough the production of more property to exchange for wealth.
This is encouraged, even though we don't need a lot of it. Hell, most could easily survive on less than half of what they make. For those of us who've been, and are students (that wasn't spoiled by our parents) know how little you can survive on. Noodles, hard bread, rice, pasta and ketchup. You can easily live like that. I'm quite sure you can also be happy like that if you just ignore all the things you should have. Who says you need a big tv, a car, air conditioning and so on?
I could probably get rid of most of my things, except for a matress and my laptop, and I'd be happy like that. The books I feel I need to read could be borrowed from the library. Food would be pretty cheap if you keep it basic. Rice, pasta, the things I mentioned. In fact, after a while you'd begin to enjoy it.
I know I somtimes do. Sure, it sucks not being able to have a beer or two with your friends, but you know what I'd like to think would happen if they tried it?
You'd end up having conversations for hours. You'd need to discuss things, just because there nothing else to do. No tv, no radio, no video games.
The thing is: What would you discuss if you didn't have anything to discuss? No movies, shows, something on the news. You'd have to think up things yourself, right?
Or, as I'd probably prefer, you activly work to accumulate information.
See, I've been thinking about evolution lately. The purpose of evolution is adapting to the enviroment, right? How do you do that?
By doing two things:
One. You adapt the old fashioned way, trough random mutations that spreads trough the race, in some cases proving beneficial, in some they kill you. Mostly, the bad ones makes sure the individual die, or their offspring die.
Two. We gather information about the world around us, so that we can adapt ourselves and our eviorment using our knowledge. This goes a lot quicker than what you might call classical evolution.
I'd like to belivie that it's this informational evolution that is the basis of our current existant. That we, as a race will spread our ideas, values, discoveries, and all the other things we learn, until we force ourselves to evolve.
By forcing ourselves to evolve I don't mean that we genetically alter our bodies or minds, although that will probably be a reality at some point in time. I mean that we force our minds to evolve to deal with the massive flow of information that will sooner or later become neccesary for us to absorb.
What happens when the worlds history is so long that it would take years to learn just the most basic parts of it? Should we just ignore the parts we deem least important? Who will decide what is least important, and what if it turns out one of these things has an effect on the then present, now future, time?
Of course, this also assumes we haven't decided to let a few develop new technology that the rest of us have no idea how it works. The ideal would be that everyone knew a little about almost everything, and specialised in a few things. Then we'd be able to expand this knowledge to others when they need it.
All of this builds on the thought that information and communication is the cornerstones of human life and civilazation, something I can't say for sure is fact.
I think there's definetly something to it, but there could be something I've overlooked I suppose. I'm still only human, after all.
No one will agree with everything you say, just as you wont agree with everything someone says. This goes for identical twins, and in extension also clones.
So, why did I start bloging in the first place? Attention? Fame? Anger? Boredom? All valid reasons to start spewing your metaphysical guts out over the Internet, even though their content might not always be the best.
One thing I think we can all agree on is this: we like to express ourselves. Communication is a vast part of humanity after all, one of the fundamentals of society if you so will.
So that was of course part of it for me. I wanted to make my voice heard. I have no idea if I've succeeded, since none of you bastards ever write anything, but that's ok. I didn't want attention or fame.
I probably felt a bit lonely, needed a good output for emotions. And what I've realized after over a year of sporadic bursts of anger, excitement, sometimes clever phrasing, sometimes pubertal anger. What I've realized is that it focuses my mind. It's like my on-line scheduling system, where I shape my thoughts and opinions into clear crystals so that other will see, whiteout the light getting dimmed.
And that's just part of it.
I'm a idealist. I belive that humanity can do great things if we decide to. Yet I would never call myself unselfish. It's easy to fall into that trap, because it's a quality that takes on an almost... biblical tone. It's a word that people like to connect to idealism I suppose. Which is fine, but I'd never admit to being one.
Mainly because that'd make me a hypocrite asshole, and secondly, I don't think any human being, that could still be counted as a human being, would be totally unselfish.
Let me clarify: I'd love to be totally unselfish. It's a good thing. It's, what I'd call, a sign that we're still evolving. We ignore our survival instinct and work for the better of humanity, even if we have to suffer for it.
It's not gonna happen any time soon with how society looks, unless we drastically alter our lifestyle, even our view of life, personal ideals, and a lot of other things.
Part of the problem, at least in my eyes, is a system based on capitalism. The accumulation of wealth and property trough the production of more property to exchange for wealth.
This is encouraged, even though we don't need a lot of it. Hell, most could easily survive on less than half of what they make. For those of us who've been, and are students (that wasn't spoiled by our parents) know how little you can survive on. Noodles, hard bread, rice, pasta and ketchup. You can easily live like that. I'm quite sure you can also be happy like that if you just ignore all the things you should have. Who says you need a big tv, a car, air conditioning and so on?
I could probably get rid of most of my things, except for a matress and my laptop, and I'd be happy like that. The books I feel I need to read could be borrowed from the library. Food would be pretty cheap if you keep it basic. Rice, pasta, the things I mentioned. In fact, after a while you'd begin to enjoy it.
I know I somtimes do. Sure, it sucks not being able to have a beer or two with your friends, but you know what I'd like to think would happen if they tried it?
You'd end up having conversations for hours. You'd need to discuss things, just because there nothing else to do. No tv, no radio, no video games.
The thing is: What would you discuss if you didn't have anything to discuss? No movies, shows, something on the news. You'd have to think up things yourself, right?
Or, as I'd probably prefer, you activly work to accumulate information.
See, I've been thinking about evolution lately. The purpose of evolution is adapting to the enviroment, right? How do you do that?
By doing two things:
One. You adapt the old fashioned way, trough random mutations that spreads trough the race, in some cases proving beneficial, in some they kill you. Mostly, the bad ones makes sure the individual die, or their offspring die.
Two. We gather information about the world around us, so that we can adapt ourselves and our eviorment using our knowledge. This goes a lot quicker than what you might call classical evolution.
I'd like to belivie that it's this informational evolution that is the basis of our current existant. That we, as a race will spread our ideas, values, discoveries, and all the other things we learn, until we force ourselves to evolve.
By forcing ourselves to evolve I don't mean that we genetically alter our bodies or minds, although that will probably be a reality at some point in time. I mean that we force our minds to evolve to deal with the massive flow of information that will sooner or later become neccesary for us to absorb.
What happens when the worlds history is so long that it would take years to learn just the most basic parts of it? Should we just ignore the parts we deem least important? Who will decide what is least important, and what if it turns out one of these things has an effect on the then present, now future, time?
Of course, this also assumes we haven't decided to let a few develop new technology that the rest of us have no idea how it works. The ideal would be that everyone knew a little about almost everything, and specialised in a few things. Then we'd be able to expand this knowledge to others when they need it.
All of this builds on the thought that information and communication is the cornerstones of human life and civilazation, something I can't say for sure is fact.
I think there's definetly something to it, but there could be something I've overlooked I suppose. I'm still only human, after all.
Secret Service loves McCain/Palin?
At least according to this piece, the Secret Service is preventing journalists from leaving the press area to talk to those attending campaign meetings. Censoring the press is not what I'd call democratic, but then again, making sure you can actually vote, is even more important.
Or maybe they're so ashamed that they're trying to hide the problem? Who knows.
Via Think Progress.
Or maybe they're so ashamed that they're trying to hide the problem? Who knows.
Via Think Progress.
15/10/2008
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