Pink

Have you ever really liked a song or an artist and then looked up the lyrics to one of their songs and been suprised at their content? Take this song for example; In The Flesh:

So ya thought ya might like to go to the show.
To feel the warm thrill of confusion, that space cadet glow.
I got me some bad news for you, Sunshine.
Pink isn't well, he stayed back at the hotel,
And he sent us along as a surrugate band.
We're gonna find out where you fans really stand.
Are there any queers in the theatre tonight?
Get 'em up against the wall. -- 'Gainst the wall!
And that one in the spotlight, he don't look right to me.
Get him up against the wall. -- 'Gainst the wall!
And that one looks Jewish, and that one's a coon.
Who let all this riffraff into the room?
There's one smoking a joint, and another with spots!
If I had my way I'd have all of ya shot.


Well I actually like Pink Floyd very much, and to tell the truth it doesn't really bother me to like a song that has strong racist undertones, because my liking the song has nothing to do with lyrics (and I have found a suitable excuse to justify my liking it) : For context's sake, THE WALL is a story about "Pink", and in a series of songs sung from his own point of view, he imagines himself in a hallucination to be a facist dictator, and orders his fans to go into neighboring villages to slaughter "indesirables".  This series includes songs like In The Flesh, Run Like Hell, Waiting for the Worms, Stop. The album producer alledgedly hired real skinheads for the shooting, which apparently nearly got out of hand.

...

Google and wikipedia have become my lifelines to knowledge. I've been exposed to more random and not so random information in this past month than in all of last year! (though that might be due to me travelling around the world on a tall ship...) And to be honest, when it's about such small things its not important that they be ultra true and accurate.

I found a good website for explosives, but you have to pay to access all of the e-books they have. So that's that.

My Camera Is Bigger Than Yours

This picture comes from thursday. That night I headed out to the other side of the Yukon river to take pictures - I was inspired by an explanation by Charles about meshing twin photographs with different exposures... And have been trying to get to the site since that class a week and a half ago. Finally, I dragged myself out there on thursday, clear skies and all - and it was so cold, I set up the thing, aimed the camera and decided to take a low exposure one first, snapped the shot - and nothing happened. So I packed up and spent a half hour trying to get the attention of the ferry with whistling and Flashlight S.O.S. codes. I had to wait till a car came, in the end. But to be honest, I didn't care at that point. Frozen stiff, I dragged my way back to SOVA and thawed out before heading on home

I'd also like to say that I've made my very first hamburger and fries from scratch today, it was fun and delicious... Lettuce, Tomato, partially fried onions and partially fried mushrooms (they were slimy since they're a week old, I'll make stir fry tomorrow) and orange pepper. And pan fried potato cubes. I shoulda put salt in there for next time. And I'd like to secure some of that orange spicyness they use at the downtown... Maybe Rosie knows about it.

Here's to the two most superflous posts ever!

Cheese

Do you see this? The plastic container in the middle? It's *a fuckload* of feta. And I still have it!!! 10$! 10$ for half a kilo of feta and I still haven't used it since that first day! What the hell do I do with it now!?

Dust

I stumbled across this very interesting essay; it touches on the portrayal of women in graphic novels and more specifically, on the western prejudice, stereotypes and lack of understanding of Muslim culture through a Marvel X-Men character called "Dust".

http://brokenmystic.wordpress.com/2008/07/07/female-muslim-and-mutant-a-critique-of-muslim-women-in-comic-books-–-part-1-of-2/

To Mr. Inoue Takehiko

Dear Mr Inoue

I'm hoping that you can read english. This is a letter of thanks. I discovered you as a manga artist because of the title "Vagabond" which sounded interesting. Plus it was about a person I've heard about, so it piqued my interest. I admire your ability to exploit themes in your stories, because they are themes that everyone can relate to and yet everyone pulls their own meanings from them. I won't talk about those meanings, because you know them all better than I do. However, I will say one thing; I have a handicapped twin brother, and one of the things I've pulled from REAL is a deeper understanding of what my brother might feel like. But that's not what I'm thankful for, of course.

You see, I like stories, and I like drawing. I'm average at drawing and not very good at writing stories. It's easier to make a drawing than write a story, I suppose. Not too long ago, I liked reading shonen manga, and then I read Ichigo 100%. The ending piqued my interest for stories that make the reader think about his or her own life or appreciate a different take on life, like yours. I decided that those were the kind of stories I wanted to pass on, be it through manga or something else. I'm in art school, right now, in the far north of canada, and a chapter I read at 2am reminded me of my dream. So thank you, for making comics that are meaningful. And for reminding me. You don't have to answer. This page won't show up if you type in japanese. But maybe, for some reason, you'll come across this post and smile in the corner of your mouth. Perhaps your goal was to draw stories that make people think about themselves, too. I'd like to think that.

Gab

The Amputee's Dilemma and the Disabled' Resolve

Following is an exerpt from REAL, by the genius Inoue Takehiko;


I've always got these thoughts racing through my head... "Why did this happen" "Did I do something wrong""How could I have avoided this?""What could have happened to keep them from cutting off my legs?""Was it the doctor's fault?" "The doctor who said it was overwork!" "Couldn't I have prevented it?" Was it fate? If it was all preordained, then the time I spent in my life... All the feeling I poured into running... Was it meaningless?
Aren't you afraid, Yamaguchi-kun? You know you're going to die in a few years... How can you be so strong and brave?

... Have you ever been on a roller-coaster? You're only riding it for a few minutes, right? If you spent the entire ride thinking "only a few minutes" "only so many seconds left until this ride is over..." then what was the point of riding it in the first place?
Nobody knows why we're alive. We don't have the time to bother.
www.onemanga.com/real/22/16

The other cool part of this volume of the manga is chapter 24. Kogawa meets a tatoo artist/wheekchair basketball player with the same rotation plasty surgery as he does, and that man lets him see the path to self acceptance, which is a huge milestone for a person who became disabled. I realize that I play the father's part in my story... But for Kogawa, there is the final step, the most beautiful moment in a while, and it comes on these two pages:
http://www.onemanga.com/Real/24/28/
http://www.onemanga.com/Real/24/29/

... I think I understand my brother a bit more now... but his problem was from before he remembers... he's never walked normally, so he has no memories to miss, nothing to compare to. If it was preordained that he would be handicapped to his feet and hand, then I can only be thankful that he grew up as the handicap developped. That way, I think, is less painful for him who can't use a wheelchair properly, or not as well, since he only has one good hand.

But that too might be foolishness on my part. Perhaps, if he had wanted it badly enough, he would have been able to learn. It's his fault he didn't I know, but I can't help but wonder about my own role in all of this. In retrospect, none of us ever had much faith in him, did we?

...

I always thought the disabled didn't fight. It was convenient for me to think that.
http://www.onemanga.com/Real/38/10/

Social Experiment

Earlier this year I made an interesting discovery: You're walking down an empty street, and since it's Dawson, you walk in the street. That's irrelevant, but its the setting. Anyway, the idea is that if someone, or in my case, a couple, walk along the street in the opposite direction, you might be tempted to look away as they pass by. As I told myself this, we walked closer and I promised myself that I would not look away. But for some reason, our brains do not allow us to look straight ahead unless we are purposefully ignoring the others around me.
Back to the social experiment. I'm walking down the street, promising myself that I won't pretend to occupy myself with some uninteresting object as I pass the unknown couple. Just before we pass each other, both the man and the woman look to my left, pretending to have noticed something interesting on the far side of the road. Despite myself, I glance to the right.

I leave it up to you to assess the significance of this behavior.

Tektonik

Is a relatively new french street dance danced to electro based on techno, hip-hop and rave styles, it started in 2000 in the clubs of southern France, mainly from Club Metropolis. It has become known through online videos like Youtube, but it is still a relatively small movement (author's decision). I, like many others, discovered it through one particular Tektonik video, one of the first good ones...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqRR10Xy3GU
It's a remix of the song "C'est a cause des garcons" (Because of the Boys) by french electropop singer/songwriter YellE (the feminized version of YEL, for You Enjoy Life)

The clothes these guys wear are ridiculous and way too tight, but prejudice aside I  think it's a quite interesting way to dance, having never been exposed to any of this before. It's pretty cool the way they kinda glide at the beginning- !!!
...
I just remembered how badly I danced in senegal... crap. I really dislike these walks down memory lane, and there are so many of them. Say what you want.

Some Assembly Required

Most of my posts are creative responses in and of themselves. But just that is not enough. There is an sign on the wall in our house, that says "snowman" and has a few items of winter clothing underneath it. I laughed when I saw it, and thinking of the man who apparently sold canadian snow to people in Arabia (That must have been a story, because I can't imagine anyone buying something while it is in the process of disappearing with no intention of stopping, nor have I pondered on the meaning of such a story.) imagined an interesting scenario.

Anyway, I went to France, explaining how funny it would be to see a package labeled "Snowman Kit" with the hat, the buttons, eyes, mouth, nose and scarf inside... Some assembly required, of course.

She said to make that a creative response to "winter, or something". Wouldn't it be the creative response to seeing the decoration?

Tilt-Shift

Is a photographic style that makes real life picture appear as tough they were miniature models. The technique involves using a very high aperture setting to create an effect similar to the MACRO shot mode, but with life sized objects. To tell the truth, I'm not exactly sure how that would make it work, but a similar effect can be achieved with photoshop or specially made tilt-shift lenses. You also have to take the shot from above, to make it as if you were looking down at a model.

This link explains in further detail:
[Edit:] The link no longer directs to the site I found


Anyway, here are some pictures to compensate:
And I don't think that last one worked well. It's too far from the subject.

Le Bonheur

Pis la la... le pigeon y'est v'nu m'voir avec son p'tit sourire de pigeon...
Y m'a dis "Tse Patrick, desfois on cherche trop loin.
Le bonheur, dans'l fond, c'est comme du sucre a creme:
Quand t'en veux, t'en fais.

Patrick Groulx

It's a culturally restricted thing; most people don't know how to make "sucre a la creme." So the only way to get some is to make it yourself.

For archiving purposes, here's a recipie... we do have a lot of meets at the residence, after all...
http://www.recettes.qc.ca/recettes/recette.php?id=441&rdj=&pub=

Sucre a la creme... there's nothing like it. although this one has some kind of nut in it...

Justice

As far as Seinen manga go, SIDOOH episode 0 is pretty hard on. It paints a feudal japan just after the americans have made contact, a world of suffering and disease and death.

http://www.onemanga.com/Sidooh/0/02/ And this is my creative response to it.
[Edit:] I guess it's like the half filled glass of water. 

The mother of the protagonists is sick with cholera. A priest persuades her to use her last energy to speak to her sons. She tells them: "This world is unfair. If' you're weak, you die." She's right of course. In the world of men past and current, the weak die, crushed under the powerful, the wealthy, the strong. But her statement is incorrect. In her place I would argue that the world is unforgiving, and that if you are weak, you die. But there is a certain justice in the inescapability of death. All die. Rich, poor, wise and foolish, arrogant and humble, generous and cruel, none can overcome death, postponing it is the most one can hope for.  This justice is universal, but, like she says, it is also universally unfair. (an interesting concept, unfair justice, and not one that we are unaccustomed to, but that's another story.) Death feels for no one, spares no one, no matter how much you try to fight it, or how far you run. It kills the pure and innocent newborn just as easily as the murderer, or the athlete about to reach the highlight of his life.

Hmm... life is like a tunnel, or a dungeon. One way in, one way out.

So is death mostly just or mostly unjust? Not everyone gets to live but everyone gets to die. Conversely, Not everyone deserves to live but everyone gets to die. Remove the invariables, and your answer is this: not all live that should and not all that should live.

That's the definition of injustice. Or at least, inconsistent justice. Another oxymoron that we're more than familiar with.

My Art School

What is it about KIAC SOVA that makes it great?

Hmmm, first off there's only 15 students, 8 of them live in the residence, which is a two story bed n' breakfast rented out by the school. Because of my personal adventures, I think the res is pretty big. But I lived on a boat, so maybe my opinion of things is distorted.

There's the fact that it's located in Dawson City, Yukon. This place is tiny by any standards, but it's more active than a town ten times its size, like the place I come from, Hawkesbury. It's magical here, and pretty removed from the world at large, and everyone sticks together. Many of the people that I've met here are travelers, and a lot of tourists come through. This town is a great place for an arts school; it's very supportive of arts. There's a very active cultural center, they have shows and exhibitions, movie viewings and art lecturers, there's the Artist in Residence program which allows for two pro artists to stay in town for a while, and they showcase art here... Our art class meets at one of the bars on fridays for a Drinking-Drawing club, we have brunches at the residence sometimes, and we watch movies at school. The feel of Dawson is very friendly, there's plenty of things to do, indoor soccer, swimming, hockey, etc...

And then there's the school itself. There's only 4 staff, and that's kind of scary when you see it from the website. But when you get here, it feels pretty natural. The school is small, but it is ridiculously well equipped. Only 1 program is offered, the Foundation Year Art Program, which is entry level fine-arts standard 1st year course across the country. The school is partnered with OCAD, ACAD, Emily-Carr and NSCAD, all pretty big art schools in canada, and any SOVA grad automatically gets advance standing when transfering into them...  but I don't care about that. The fact that the school is open until midnight, the fact that the teachers encourage a very loose, crazy and off-the-charts kind of creativity (compared to some other schools which have a defined line between success and failure) and the fact that we have top-of-the-line equipment and resources (both online and physical) are big pluses.

But really, I just like it here because it feels like home. You can be whatever you want here. Some students are musicians. One girl volunteered for a radio show, one wears crazy and strange things to school. One is really into photography, one likes collage. One guy is a First Nations artist looking to refine his techniques. There's an upper level soccer player who also happens to be good at art. One girl was a broke wanderer in Australia. A couple kids from whitehorse, a few more from the prairies, one from New-Brunswick. I'm an ex-sailor who's into manga and storytelling. Some kids like cooking, some kids like partying, going out to the bars in the week. I like to stay in the residence. No one looks at me twice.

The scenery is awesome too. And then there's the opportunity to learn more about Canada and the First Nations. All our assignments have some kind of cultural context that relates to what went on here. Not just the gold rush, what was there before, and what's been there since, too.

If those aren't good reasons to go to school here, well then there's the adventure, I guess. This place is remote, but it's not disconnected. We have internet, phones, and everyone speaks english, which is a nice  break for me. On top of whatever other language they've learned elsewhere.

... hey if you want some info on the school, don't be afraid to write me an e-mail, my adress is:
stdenis_gab@live.ca   I check it from time to time, but at least once a week.

Speak My Mind

class today talked about the benefits of oral memorizing, and oral culture. As it were, stories told and recounted are both permanent and changing, they are constantly modified and still always stay the same. Much in the same way that the reader ascribes his own meanings to whatever it is he is reading, (and this imagination changes depending on simple things like mood, past experiences, train of though, and culture,) the orator will never tell the same story the same way. Subtle variations of tone, pauses, as well as lighting, the mood of the audience will make every experience unique. Reading a book twice, we notice different things.

Still, it's funny to think of how in this day and age, we are still unable to consider the realities of cultures other than our own. Oral culture is, as today's reading illustrates, valuable and valid. It involves a different way of thinking, but it is not necessarily inferior. Still, these people are referred to as being "illiterate"and there are thus the modern equivalent of missionaries out to "enlighten" them. Their intentions are good, but aren't they just trying to fill out the White Man's Burden? Forcibly elevating someone only destroys what they have themselves achieved.

My Dream of Being a King

I had a dream, just now, in my hot dry room where the humidity evaporated because of the heaters.

I was a series of kings, first the son, and then his father. We were in canada, somewhere, and we had a fort and people to protect, and Indians to fight against. I think we had guns, but also swords, and my army had a medeival-ish look, I think. We were camped out in front of what I believe was the enemy settlment, and the father was readying his troops for battle. As the son I wandered into enemy territory and took back my woman. It was a stroke of genius and there was no massive battle. But I heard rumours that maybe I'd killed off the entire enemy army by myself. I say army because I'm not exactly sure what we were fighting against, and one of the characters later was an indian, and we treated him like an enemy...

As the father I marched home with my troops. They debated and complained, but I was resolute and firm. I explained to those soldiers who asked what I thought. Interestingly, I had some kind of a wife, and she was running further along with the army up front. The father was a strong man, a decisive and wise person, and he claimed that he was not very smart. The son was very smart, however, and both were righteous and different from what you'd expect. Both seemed to believe in something similar to world peace, and both were against fighting. I played the son as were just across the river from our home base. There was an Indian on the ice, he was holding something. My men made a fuss of it, but I did not.  Our scout told us that he had given us a drum, (although it seemed rolled up into a manuscript) and while we were talking, me and the scout, one of my men tried to shoot the man on the ice.

He failed, and I chastised, or he succeeded, killing the man, I immediately rushed out onto the water to tend to the man, and warriors came forth from the forest. I picked up the body with the intention of making amends, and the warriors rushed towards me. If the soldier didn't shoot the man on the Ice, then our army started to cross the ice not far from where the Indian was, and we returned home. While the soldiers passed to my right, we sat on the ice, the Indian man and I. We could not speak the same language, but I tried to be friendly. I tried telling him that he would have to learn our language to survive. He would have to understand our culture, or we would annihilate them. I realize that must have sounded like a threat. One of my men spat on the man. I halted the line and chastise him, and I thought that I wanted to change the way this army works. (Then I dreamt the scenario where one of my soldiers kills the man) and the scene went back to speaking with the  Indian, only this time it was not a warning, but basic communication. I tried to get him to understand me. He could not.

My rank then dropped. I asked Britain to remove some of my soldiers, as they were not useful. I tried to demilitarize my army, and establish a contact with the natives. I was still trying to avoid confrontations like the ones in history. Just now, I'm thinking that I would have done well to write down my initial intentions lest I begin to see them in a new light after being next to them for so long. I think that If the First Nations had spoken english from the get-go, they would have been equals.

This dream explains how difficult keeping to peace must have been. Even as a king, I am still doubted by my followers. The roots to this racism run deep, and it was a miracle that I didn't think the same  way after living with people that though like that. I also realized that the cultural barrier was so great that speaking of complicated things like culture was far down the list of priorities, even if I did want to talk about it. And then there are the misconceptions of different cultures about the other, fears and beliefs, and the difficulty of overcoming them. I can see that it was easier to think the First Nations were inferior, and that they should be enlightened. It gives me insight on the why's that I asked for but could not receive an answer to. I am thankful for this dream, and regret any part that I may have forgotten by the time I sat down to write about it.

Cultural Context

Here's a link to a nurse site that summarizes canadian culture - by which they mean european descent canada.

http://www.registered-nurse-canada.com/canadian_culture.html

I found it while researching "Reparations to Canadian First Nations" for a VCS essay.

Isn't it hilarious? I always wanted to know what others think of us. It's so positive. How nice. I guess they don't know about the corrupt government officials, condescending politicians, the crush of small businesses, lack of interest in preserving our natural ecosystems and *Gasp* the tradition of a multitude of immigrant sub-cultures vying for recognition of their rights at the expense of others' (And of course, the constitutional loopholes that allows them to do so). And many more...

And then finally, a bit on the first nations cultural genocide, waxed over with a glossy sheen. Lovely country, ain't it?

But on the other hand, we don't have child soldiers, and we have a sound public service system. The country isn't ruled by gun-toting gangsters, and we have enough food and water to fill our bellies and then our fridges and still throw some out and pollute the waters.

PSE** PDD**

I believe that's what they're called.

Anyway, I managed to complete my first photoshopped drawing this morning: Cell Shading was impossible at first because the brush type was on Pin Light, but I finally figured it out.

The character is Revan - Sora, my version of the PC from the first KoTOR game.  I was playing around with the idea to make a comic book based in the video game, but expanding in areas I would have liked to see, and cutting content at other places.

Anyway, the character spends many weeks on the second planet, which is why he has long hair. The original head design is an acutal model in the game, although it was designed from memory, and then made into a cartoon, so this head bears no resemblance to the original Bioware design. Also, since it was scanned from a sketch that had no ground or surrounding, and because I was really out of it by the time I was done, the ground is poorly described. Whatever. This was a test run to see what could be done with cell shading, and it is a success.

All Paths, take me to the END

Edward Burtynsky states at the end of Manufactured Landscapes that if he had put this into a more politicized environment then people would be inclined to either agree or disagree. His choice was to focus on engaging people in thinking about what we are doing to our world. Burtynsky states, “many of us are in an uncomfortable spot of not wanting to give up what we have but realizing that we are creating problems that run deep … it’s not a simple right or wrong… it needs a whole new way of thinking.”

What is this new way of thinking? I used to think that if everyone came together and did the small things, over and over, the world would become a better place. So we used to think about cooperation; that if everyone put in two cents, we would get somewhere. But, thing is, small things are forever small. I'm starting to think that just doing your own part is a very self-absorbed way of seeing things. We are "one crew" of the earth. Just pulling our own weight and blaming failure on the ones that did not is not enough. If one fails, all fail. So to succeed, all must succeed. That is the challenge that lies ahead.

Colin, though, asks if perhaps we have the wrong questions. We cannot go back to how things were. Time and life only flow in one direction. There is no right or wrong path. There's just the path. He's right, of course, from a historian's point of view.

Perhaps, instead of being shocked at our current situation and wanting to "fix" the horrors of the world, make them go away, we have to acknowledge and accept them, and go forward. Tomorrow will be new and fearsome, but the world as it was yesterday is history. If you cannot go back, go forwards. That's how it goes in video games, right?

Except you respawn in video games. But hey, there's a lot more players in real life.

Better Together

So this morning we had a Jam sesh at the Ram... with food! I don't know the name of the dish I made but it involved a crazy amount of whipping...

Isn't it always better when we're together?

And as it happens, I'm listening to the song "COME TOGETHER" by the Beatles, of course. Although I don't know how to upload music.

...

Snowfall. Gently flutter to the ground in the afternoon breeze. Echoes of cars rolling off in the distance. Everything is still on this chilly saturday, each reflecting on the time that has come to pass since the last  coming of the long nights. The valley welcomes the new season in silence. No songs are sung.

Mating Rituals of the Human Species, Part I

Today, I must have done at least 6 drawings; too much to scan and show, but my best - that's doable. I have a decent marker sketch of Kirsty, a few drawings of Dawson's landscape, with conte and graphite pencil - and I somehow managed to lose my graphite pencil between the school, KIAC and the residence. My best piece of the day is a mechanical pencil drawing (a return to the roots, perhaps?) of Rian sketching.

[Edit:] I have just noticed inconsistencies in this sketch, and will have to fix them ASAP


[Edit:] Did I say six? I did 9. Many of them are finished, too.

I pondered the meaning of a painting of a mounty receiving a blowjob behind a bar, and also realized that Yukon Gold beer has a really bitter taste, even for beer. My final observation of the night involved three guys who came to chat up two of the Ram girls after the others had all gone, and I got a front row seat to their clumsy and oh-so-obvious mating advances. Not being able to recall ever being in their position (or perhaps once, but I knew at the time that I did not fit in the role well enough to be successful, so knowing myself, I probably gave up early on. Needless to say, I found it quite amusing to be just a bystander to the first, second (the second was denied and more or less managed to save face by going to dance with a lively woman) and third attempts. I cannot see the advantages of having these flies come buzzing to your ear, one per girl, and attempt to have their mating call heard over the band's loud blasts of music. But then, I am not a girl, and I do not feel the need to have foreign objects inserted more or less violently into my privates. However, I would like to document these mating advances in full, with a tape recorder and notes. This time, I was drawing, but I could pretend to draw while taking notes in my sketchbook. Male-Female sexual advances, human species in their canon short-term partner meeting environment, the bar (which, incidentally, features loud music and sense altering refreshments, )neither of which are the most convenient for the purpose of selecting (and slashing) suitable mates.

I feel the sudden urge to bring a video camera into the bar and make discovery channel-like comments on an edited version of this scenario.

Done. Next time, I'll set that up.
It'll be hilarious, I think.

I think it would more convenient if the two people that go to the bar for the same reason, or end up thinking the same way, skipped the pointless introductory phase (I am sure that girls know within 30 seconds whether or not they want to have sex with a given partner, and I know that males require about 5 - 10 seconds to make that decision. There is definitely time to be saved here, if only the interested parties were less attached to the formal introductions.

Los Adultos

Santiago Sierra; a controversial photographer and performance artist, known for pieces like taking a starving dog off the streets and tying him up on display in a gallery, and leaving him to starve in plain sight.

One of his other pieces involved ultrasounds - and more importantly, the behavior of people who were subjected to them. Youngsters, you've known this before; the shrill and oh so annoying sound that televisions, computer screens and dog whistles make, the sound that drives us mad when mom is watching t.v. after our bedtime... They think that because they can't hear it, it doesn't exist, but they're wrong!

http://www.santiago-sierra.com/200713_1024.php

Which brings forth an interesting point: Adults can't hear it, see it? Why should that mean that it doesn't exist? Should you not believe your children? Adults have bad hearing? They have no imagination, either.

In the Name of Science

Eternal Sabbath is the story of a genetically engineered man - a man who just so happens to have the ability to feel and manipulate minds. He was created by accident by scientists trying to unravel the mysteries of old age and death - he has a lifespan of 200 years. He was patient ES00. The laboratory wanted to conduct experiments, but they were unwilling to dissect their only sample, and so, ten years later, they managed to create another. Born as a clone to the first, he possessed the same supernatural abilities, but was kept in incubation until mature enough. He was called Isaac, and he was created to be sacrificed in the name of science. His powers allowed both to escape. Isaac, having never been raised, but taught through his mind-reading that life, or at least his own, is expendable, develops a nasty but realistic personality. In fact, the whole story dips heavily into medical science.

One of the key issues that Isaac, the sociopath, brings up, is this:
http://www.onemanga.com/Eternal_Sabbath/24/14/

Excluding the obvious "cruel" side to Isaac, he makes a good villain. He is manipulative, cares little for the lives of others, and he has some humanity in him; he is also a pitiable figure.

This manga questions the presumptuous nature of scientists - indeed, to them, life born in a lab has little value, although as Koujou, the female protagonist demonstrates, she does not feel the same way about her friend, whom Isaac persuaded to commit suicide over her guilt and unhappiness. Scientists are hypocrites, portrayed through her as being totally obsessed by their work and unable to carry their personal values with them in their laboratories.

This paints a pretty negative image of humans, no? Somewhere, out there, there is perhaps an incredible human, born in a perti glass, just to be killed and analyzed by those who brought him into the world. Perhaps it is rather an incredible animal? We do that already. It seems that humans, in playing god, forget all about the miracle of life. What purpose does a mystery have once it is broken? Perhaps life loses it's meaning once it is created at whim. Perhaps that will be our undoing. Creating something as its master, blind to the viewpoint of others... Is this the world as seen by our so flaunted god?

[Edit]: Hmmm... It seems as though I spoke too soon; this sentence summarizes this post.
http://www.onemanga.com/Eternal_Sabbath/25/16/

This is a good idea. A world where humans  have been bio-engineered to become workers, or soilders, inferior beings, born into a world of slavery, unable to become acknowledged by those who created them... the original species. Clashes in a time where the main character remembers the times before the artificial race... Or a time long after when the paradise of true men has been created... and a harbinger of destruction appears to free the slaves, and rebel against their masters...

The Second Renaissance... eh?