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What did I think of James Cameron's new movie avatar?
1. It's awesome. The visual elements are awesome, the world is compelling. Nothing wrong with CG in SciFi.
2. It's awesome. The storyline is classic and awesome.
3. It's awesome. Technology and the biology of Pandora are awesome and detailed enough to be believable.
4. The entire character and concept of the Colonel sucks but everything else about the characters is awesome.

This movie is so... omnipotent. The first half is very much a reflection of the avatar syndrome. It has mecha. It has a new, interesting world rendered in incredible detail that is still similar to earth - and so we connect with it.
It has floating rocks. Giant trees. Space travel. Advanced technology rendered in a realistic way - again far but not too far from where we are that it seems possible. Earth is not even depicted, only briefly referenced. It has action. Discovery. Cllicheed tough marine lines. It is not a "first contact" story. It is a super super recycled story- and I would even dare call it a classic.

Everything below this line is a complete and utter spoiler. Don't read it if you haven't seen the movie. Seriously. You'll regret it.

The story, I mean. There's a reason "Intruders come into a world looking for resources and in so doing crush a tribe of indigenous people in parallel with the classic "love against all odds" storyline culminating into a "victory to the underdog" ending in parallel with "Staying with the new world" has been done time and time again. Same as Pocahontas. Similar to Dance with the Wolves. Nearly exactly the same as Atlantis: A Lost Empire, except that that was a steampunk animation, not a sci fi.

The technology used in the movie is one of the key connecting factors; obscene development in genetics and biology, millitary weapons that look different but are similar enough that we can recognise them - a plot necessity, for if humans mastered fusion no amount of flying beasts could keep them from winning, and also because to do it star wars style with near magical technology makes it unrealistic. And the technology has actually been borrowed from other movies and stories, notably from Halo. But I disgress.

I love reading long reviews to shows I like, but I don't need to say much here. This story is a classic. You can tell right from the start how the story will end, but there are many suprising bits. The "Genocide" was so dark that I hadn't actually believed it would take place. Humans are so ugly in this story, and the immersion within Na'Vi culture is thourough enough for us to all want to stay and belong there. In fact most people don't care that the humans are ultra evil. We pretty much are anyway. The one concept I didn't like was that the villain was so inhumane that he lost any semblance of realism, which was intended and probably the entire reason why no one felt sorry for him, everyone wanted him to die, but still a deplorable conclusion. I would have preferred that Cameron explore the greed of humanity as the main villain, but that may have been impossible. Not with that budget, which was so massive that no one wouild want to take any risks. Stick to a storyline that works, pull the viewer into the world, make them feel the same emotions as the protagonists. Automatic hit.

This movie is grade A beef. I don't care what everyone says. Classics are remembered because they are classics. This is the best remake of that story I've ever seen.

On that same note, it takes the best from everything: Dance Among The Wolves, Pochahontas, and apparently Nausicaa and Princess Mononoke, combined with Hornets and Pelicans from Halo, realistic looking mecha that would probably actually be useful, the idea of having a real life avatar, similar enviroments and creatures as the ones on earth; hammerhead rhinos, tiger dogs, pheasant lions, pterodactyls, Bigger pterodactyls and a chosen one subplot.

It's seamless; there are no twists or suprises, we know that the guy will end up as his avatar, in fact we are told it'll work before the war starts. We are introduced to the badass dragon, then we are told that it has been ridden before, and that only a great hero can ride it. Then the hero finds it - using the all important regalia to rally everyone together - another classic move - KotOR's Kashyyyk storyline...

And yet I was suprised when they tore down the tree. I loved that part where he walks in the ashes. The hero swoops in at the end to fight the bad guy - plot no jutsu without a doubt, but not a moment too soon. The oh so sad and almost "a la Last Samurai" mowdown of the Na'Vi - And then the internet connected world - and it's spirit, which probably does exist if the whole world is one, ravaging the humans and their goddamn guns and their mecha - and the 10 foot Tuk-something - Kokoum kicking the shit out of tiny fuckers with machine guns, and I thought everyone would die. But of course the main character single handedly defeats the bomber and th flagship - whatever. He's the one with the dragon, and he also has a machine gun, he can do what he wants. And that's how I would defeat a giant thing anyway. Grenade in the jet intake. Instant Kill.

I also have to give out huge props to Cameron for doging bullets that accommpany cliched stories; the romance is crisp and clear, (thank god) the main character is not the perfectly trained, unshakeable marine he might have been, he cares and we care too so we believe him when he tells us he cares for the world. Kokoum doesn't die as a result of the romance subplot. Not everyone lives happily ever after. A handicapped main charachter that doesn't require any help to get around (Go handicapped people) Neytiri, unlike pocahontas, is not a perfect sexy woman, infact I would daresay that she is not sexualized whatsoever, which is super super great and will shut up the feminists. Also, she's practically topless the entire time but no one cares and I'd think it pretty wrong to get a hard on from a cat-woman (although in context she is pretty and it doesn't look weird) Because of the use of aliens, there is no concept of cultural "brownness" which is one of the big no noes in the traditional tellings of this story. [edit that's not actually true since the Na'Vi pretty much represent some First Nation culture or a meshing of them all. But that might be unavoidable.]There is no peaceful solution; the humans get their asses handed to tem by the planet itself, revenge is obtained, and the asses are cuffed and sent home. I think the list goes on, with the exception of the warmongering Ratcliffe-Colonel Douche, which was hit dead center.

Bottomline. The whole thing was satisfying. If there's a small mistake but you can forgive it, then there was no mistake after all. 10/10. Or 9.99ad infinitum/10

Ultimately, there is genius in taking all the good parts out of a bunch of stories and making another same old remake while trying to cut down on the weaknesses of each. Creating is recycling. New things are born from others. Probably the military is looking into mecha as we speak. Or Hornets.

Props Cam. And everyone else who made your ideas into reality.

Quote of the Day

If one does not know to which port one is sailing, no wind is favorable.

Communication Breakdown Syndrome

What does it mean when people misinterpret your intentions and you don't try to correct them?
Disappointment that they can't really understand what you're thinking?
When you feel like you should say something, but don't because you're unsure of whether or not they need space?
When they're still angry the next day because they read too much in your intentions?
Can you say "I don't know what you're talking about"?
Are you just afraid that they'll lash out at you? Or that they wouldn't believe you?
Does it mean that you're a coward?_

Know you place. If it has become habitual, anything else will seem out of character.

So trying to be nice is a bad thing?

If you've always kept your distance and suddenly you try to be a close friend, what kind of reaction do you expect?

... I felt pity? No, I transposed my own sadness and misread the original emotion.

You can't stand the feeling of being despised, but you believe that you shouldn't force people into arguments if they would rather avoid them. Are you really doing it for their sake?

Even if I'm the one who misread in the first place, is it all right for me to tell them that they were wrong? How do I prove that my words really had no double meaning?

Crewman's Log

Oh dear. A blast from the past. I totally described the secene, I can feel it so well. Making me nostalgic.

I’m sitting on the main staysail, a triangle sail currently all bundled up on top of the classroom, I’d been working for 10 minutes on POLS 2783, a daunting prospect. But hell, I’m sitting on a sail, on top of a classroom on a 180 foot tall twinmast sailing yacht. *Dinkle*’s soaked pants are still drying on the Foremast shrouds on portside, which makes me smile, or at least smile more then when they were hung up in the 9-man yesterday, and I had to take them down.

The Bosun is working with a staysail sheet, Aaron is on the bridge, drinking out of a Nalgene bottle with two hands, Algis is sitting on the stern stairs, keeping lookout. We’re on a Run, yards square, apparently still heading northwest on Starboard tack, towards Columbia.
Mike doesn’t mind me sitting here, he’s not going to set the sail yet. I can hear people chatting in Discovery B class through the open portholes, the sound is at least as loud as the waves crashing around me, it surrounds me, and for a moment I’m entranced in the noise.
The Forecourse was luffing just now, Morgan must have steered off course. Or it could be because of one of the buntlines, it’s stuck and too windy for us to fix it while the sail is set. The masts creak, pushed by the wind, and the blocks whine as they undulate under the constant rocking.
Hmm… The wind seems to have picked up. Or maybe I’m just imagining it, but it does look like the waves are just a bit bigger now. No- they definitely are, which means that helming must be a pain (helming on a run is always a pain, it’s like trying to balance a book on a sowing needle.)
This of course, reminds me of the time I went up the bowsprit while they were setting the outer, to unjam some rope that had gotten caught. On the way down, I nearly got ko-ed by a widowmaker, but a timely reflex made my hand catch it just before it connected with my face. Most fortunate.
The cook just called out. Looks like he caught a fish. If it’s big, we might have raw fish paste for breakfast; a tasty spread for toast, and that is good since the Nutella supply has run out.
I should really get back to work now though.
Feb 27th, 09
gab

The Endless Eight

In my opinion, is a stroke of genius.

But first, a resume: The Endless Eight is a story arc occuring in the second season to the infamous anime "The melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya" In this arc, which lasts 8 episodes, the characters realize that they have been trapped in a time loop that resets their world to the second half of august before september rolls around. The viewer is thus subjected to 8 consecutive episodes of the same storyline, until finally, after many failures, the main characters are finally able to break the cycle.

This arc elicited a violent reaction amongst anime fans, but, as I said, from the perspective of an art student, it is a stroke of genius. The "Endless Eight" has acheived a timeless infamy by doing something that no other series has or probably will ever dare do. Incidentally, some enraged fans have decided that this is a product of laziness or lack of ideas on the producer's part. As an art student, however, I believe  that this decision was premeditated and most likely very deliberate.

1.Every episode, though sharing the same plot, is entirely re-animated, the backgrounds are redone in many of the scenes, the voice acting presents subtle but noticeable differences in tone and speech, etc etc.
2.Nevertheless the Endless Eight is incredibly boring. It is a stroke of genius in the sense that no other anime that I know of has attempted to remove itself from the usual plot driven story to this extent. I do believe that the piece functions better as an art piece (with all it's strangeness) than as an anime. This is great, since the producers do not attempt to use recycled material to get away with working less.
3. Fans misunderstand that the studio was in fact, trying to make the E8 into an interesting retelling of the same story, but this has already been done. I believe that the original purpose was to create, within the viewer, a sense of expectancy - viewers half remembering the exact lines used by characters throughout the show, to the point that upon listening to the track of the 8th episode, they would be surprised when noticing that the story is written, in fact, very differently compared to the others.
4.The E8 also acts as a kind of social commentary, if one pays attention to the complaints of angry fans and to the general direction that the industry is has taken. Fans demand good series, and when they are dissapointed, they voice their opinions with ravenous, single-minded reasoning. But enough. The E8 proved to me that a large population of the anime fanbase has become, unwittingly, dependant on the manufactured stories that pollute the net. Not to say that originality does not receive praise - fans are particularly pleased when something new is well done -  but they will curse and swear and promise to abandon a series if something too new does not fit the accepted standard of normality.
5. In other words, fans operate on a parabolla which is more or less highest when something is moderately different and original and lowest when something is extreme. Manufactured anime. The problem is that most studios listen to their fans, and so if normalcy is what is expected, then the anime world is liable to go towards the mainstream and never return.
6.Of course, if E8 is a work of art, then I am the viewer, because I am viewing both the show and the reactions of others to the show, which is interesting in and of itself. However, I am deeply reconnassant of the production staff for not half assedly trying for 4 or 5 episodes of the same deal, and definitely not for 2. For E8 to function as a art piece, it must keep going until all but the insanest - and this is why I like the idea, anime fans are driven away by it's weirdness by industry standards. Art students, however, usually hate the concept of an industry standard, even when they themselves emulate it. Also, such a thing as deliberately inducing boredom and anger is incredibly interesting to witness and experience.

All things considered, I will never forget the E8. If a studio's purpose is to become known, in that case Haruhi does the very best in advertising itself - and in the media industry, it is known that negative advertising is still advertising. I never would have guessed though, that some fools would actually drop a show in a fit of revenge towards the producers. For my part, I'm streaming it online from the translated version, and so I'm not paying the producers didily squat. So I'll spare them the useless ranting. I think I'll go and buy it, because I like the idea and the shelves are likely still full, and because of it's value as an art piece. Obtaining documentation of actual performance art/ sound art/ video art is inredibly difficult or illegal, as often only a few copies are made.

The Real Folk Blues Part 1 and 2

These are the memorable lines from the finale of the wondrous Cowboy Bebop, directed by Shinichiro Watanabe and written by Keiko Nobumoto.

The Real Folk Blues (Part 1)

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          Vicious: Don't forget, a snake's venom poisons slowly after the bite.

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          Faye: It might be good to pair up with another woman. How about it? Wanna partner up?

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          Jet: Men only think of their past right before their death, as if they were searching frantically for proof that they were alive.

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Vicious: ... And you will shed tears of scarlet

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Jet: Hey Spike have you ever heard this story?

Spike: Huh?

Jet: There was a man who was injured on a hunt. The man had no means to treat the wounds and his leg began to rot and death approaches. In the last moments of his life a rescue helicopter picks him up and rushes him to the hospital. As the helicopter flies the man looks outside the window seeing white capped mountains glistening in the sunlight and he thought "That's where I was going" ... I hate that story. Men only think of their past right before their death, as if they were searching frantically for proof that they were alive.

The Real Folk Blues (Part 2)

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Vicious: 'You will shed tears of scarlet.' or 'You will shed crimson tears.'

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Spike: There once was a tiger striped cat. This cat died a million deaths, revived and lived a million lives, and he was owned by various people who he didn't really care for. The cat wasn't afraid to die. Then one day the cat became a stray cat, which meant he was free. He met a white female cat, and the two of them spent their days together happily. Well, years passed, and the white cat grew weak and died of old age. The tiger striped cat cried a million times, and then he died too. Except this time, he didn't come back to life.

Jet: Yeah. That's a good story.

Spike: I hate that story.

Jet: Huh?

Spike: I never liked cats, you know that.

Jet Oh yeah.

The two then laugh hysterically.

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Bull: Do not fear Death. Death is always at our side. When we show fear, it jumps at us faster than light. But, if we do not show fear, it casts its eye upon us gently and then guides us into infinity...

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Vicious: A beast that has lost its place. He has nowhere to return to now. He will come.

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Spike: Look at these eyes. One of them is a fake, because I lost it in an accident. Since then, I have seen the past in one eye, and the present in the other. I had believed that what I saw was not all of reality...

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Spike: I'm not going there to die. I'm going to see if I am really alive.

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Vicious: I told you before, Spike. I'm the only one who can kill you and set you free.

Spike: Those words apply to you as well, Vicious. Either way, it's going to end here.

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Spike: Julia is dead. Let's finish it now.

Vicious: As you wish.

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Spike: [Points his finger like a gun] Bang. [And finally, Spike falls, and farewell]

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Julia: [Dying] It's all a dream.

Spike: Yeah, just a bad dream.

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Ending: YOU'RE GONNA CARRY THAT WEIGHT.

So Think Globally Before You Decide It's Cool To Wear Nike

L
Long live corporations.
Here's more on Culture Jamming , which is what this ad does. And stop buying Nike shit. Nike is shit.

I've been having this inspiration to change the world, isn't that funny? Modestly, Passez-au-Suivant style. I'll bet anyone 100$ it'll work in the end. I'd also like to do a bunch of posters, adbusters style. But I'd label it as art. Ambitious things, like hacking some major website and modifying it to show some kind of anti-consumerist message. Do you know how many people go through google in 5 minutes? Or giant word art, like  "Private Property Created Crime", for everyone to see, defacing the name of these indestructible giants we live in the shadow of. Hahaha.

But man, has anyone thought about it? My name. It's so funny, that I decided on that penname, for a totally unrelated reason, because it sounded cool, and yet it relates so well to that. It's like it was made for this purpose, to spearhead some kind of change, and see where that goes. Hahaha. Dreams are nice. Believing in them and acting on those beliefs may be nicer still.

The Ways To Change A World Part 2

... You know, I became a vegetarian. Not a real one, no, I like meat, but I decided, after watching a presentation of a classmate on the horrors of the meat industry, both at the business, the worker and the stock level, to never again buy store bought beef and pork. And I haven't. Not once. I eat fish and eggs. You see, I've known for a long time about these problems, but they were always too distant for me to care, too immaterial in my eyes. I never questioned, never argued, because it was simpler to not think about where my meat came from, where my water comes from, where my gas came from. I never questioned. I NEVER CARED.

Well, now I do. I care because I've discovered a simple and undefeatable trick to make a difference. These companies, these governments, they are actually quite powerless against the united front of the citizens they serve. If we were to all look at them, simultaneously, and stare them down in silence, they would crumble. But because we don't, because we think them too big to be taken down, because we've never thought of all at once rising up in silent protest, we've been living in this dream world of comfort, and ease, eyes closed to the silent screams, ignoring reality like we we're actually in some kind of capitalist Matrix. Sadly, the world I see isn't far off from that.

So this is my undefeatable trick; I'll just reject them. Refuse to support conduct, attitudes and values that clash with my own. I'll boycott everything that pisses me off, everything I disagree with, everything I feel needs to change. I'll send back the flyers with a picture of my middle finger. What'll the corporate world do then, when the people decide to kill off the companies just like that ? I don't like how they make cheap meat, so I won't buy any. I don't like how they make Nike shoes, Wall-Marde clothes, how they shoot greenhouse gases and other kinds of shit in the atmosphere, the water. I don't like how they cut down forests and pretend to plant them, I don't like this decandence, how people go by ignorantly doing things the easy way, without a care in the world. I don't like how they hunt whales for sushi without a care in the world. They hunt them with rocket propelled crossbows. Rocket propelled crossbows.

You know, if every human being banned together in quiet rebellion, in a month we could make a company like Nike close down. A month of empty stores and full factories, 0 cents in sales worldwide and every employee on time for his shift and his salary. Like this, the trash could literally take itself out. Do you know why the world is as it is? Because we demanded cheap meat, cheap clothes, cheap toys, houses, etc. Because WE, the consumers, the ones with all the buying power, asked for it. Hunted down deals, bought things the easy way so we could save and have our comforts. Having no choice, the corporations complied, sacrificing whatever so that they could survive. And they became incredibly good at it, better than we could have thought. Well, what if now we demanded that they fix up? What would they do, when faced with bankruptcy? Would they change? They would have to, no? It's not like they would all just die - humans don't like dying, nor do their companies.

Too long have I lived with my eyes shut. 18 years. And I think that's enough. I'm not altruistic enough to go out of my way to find scandals to rebel against. I'll eat beef if someone else puts it on a table at a party. I'll take the clothes if its a present. But I'll make sure the person who gave it to me knows what I think. I don't think it's possible to convert others, but maybe they too will see that what I'm doing isn't far fetched, and they too will start to believe in something better. I won't say that I'm only going to do my share, but I won't say that it's my responsibility to take up everything myself either. I'm just one human being. And if I can't stop those old fools from doing what they're doing, that's fine too. Death will take us all just the same. But the old ways will fall and give way to the new, no matter how long it takes. I have faith, and that's enough of a reason for me to do what I can, and dream of a better world. Neil Gaiman writes that a mere 1000 dreamers can shape the world. I wonder... if a mere 1000 of us dreamed the same dream, all at once, what kind of solidarity could we conjure? What kind of change could we enact?

Maybe, we really could... change this world.

The Ways To Change A World Part 1

 I've been digging around in the trash for too long now. Way too long. There's so much trash, everywhere, and there's more and more as you go up.. It starts in the clothing industry, which practically employs slaves... well, This Jon Raymond guy says it better.

In china, they're paid from 6 cents to 14 cents an hour, work seven days a week, and are housed in dormitories and kept under 24 hour surveillance. In Haiti's assempbly plants, they earn 28 cents an hour, are harassed and raped by their male bosses and feed their babies with sugar water because they can't afford milk. In Guatemala's sweatshops, they're beaten to work faster, and everywhere they're fired or threatened with the loss of their jobs if they protest or try to organize a union.

And then, illegal dumping of biowaste in water. The japanese hunting endagered whales for high profit in the food industry. War in africa, ignored. Human trafficking, ignored. Child prostitution, ignored. Countries with shitty laws, left alone because of this fucking to-each-his-own system. World leaders with the right ideals but the wrong actions. The petrol industry buying out technological advancements in waste free energy to profit from gas sales. Mercenaries and rogue governments fighting equally corrupt rebels loose in central africa. Corrupt governance left alone because of political reasons - like Motubu, the CIA sponsored and now exiled leader of Congo, who eloped with 17 or something billion dollars in the 90s. The world trade, the IMF loaning money to countries like Congo, who have no means of ever repaying their debts. The IMF, sometimes handing out partial debt forgiveness, but always demanding ridiculously constraining reforms before they actually do anything, reforms that, like in Tanzania, do more bad than good for the common folk, forcing the country to take away public services like free education, and forcing them to up strict regimens and raise taxes so that the economic structure looks like that of a developped country, but without the infrastructure to support itself.

And then of course, if Tanzania has free education despite being an impoverished country crumbling under debt, why are we, fat and vain citizens of the West, not complaining? And where is our tax money, our efforts, going? Local businesses in hunt of profit close down and outsource to mexico where the work is cheap, leaving thousands unemployed. Harper siding with the MNC's and america, selling off our soil and implementing programs that help along the international corporations at the expense of small, local businesses, which in any and all industries, are crushed in the competition and have to close shop? WHAT-THE-FUCK-IS-GOING-ON?

One World

I always find people protesting against such and such an issue. I posted on some hollywood website about the live action version of Bleach

Posted by: King I always love the "Better cast asians" comments when most anime features what I call "white washing", IE huge blending of Western culture to Japanese features.
THERE ARE NO NATURALLY BLOND BIG BOOBED BLUE EYED BABES IN JAPAN
Yet there's a shinigami!
How pray tell, could she be portrayed "in real life" anymore than a Japanese girl trying REAL HARD to be caucasian?
If they adapt it to American culture. Magnificent Seven beautifully made the already Western influenced (Just like Bleach! Oh noes!) Seven Samurai. Take a look at the Departed, Martin Scorcese took a Korean film, perfected it, and won a damn Oscar. Cultures can ADAPT. I'm fine with that, if you're not, you're ironically quite a racist bigot. There's no way in America, nor is there a need, for a Japanese medium to be filmed in Japanese with Japanese actors in Japan. OTHERWISE IT'D JUST BE JAPANESE.
What's important is that they retain the core structure and action that has made the anime so popular, not going for a "How do we make this acceptable...FOR AMERICAN CASUAL MOVIE GOERS?"
People need to understand hollywood is ruled by money, even if the directors/producers want to be faitful. See the Cowboy Bebop budget forcing a rewrite upon the director.

I really like some of this guy's stronger arguments. He's forcing me to rethink myself. It's true that the casual movie goer doesn't want to get wrapped up in the yellowface argument, and just wants to watch a good live action of a comic they like. That's a decent stance, although it would be nicer if everyone could care and be proactive, but that's asking too much.

But I'm hell bent on the "global community" thing. I would like to eradicate thoughts like "I don't want it to be done by asian actors because I don't like asians" or stuff like that. Cultures can adapt, and they've already started to mesh, as this guy points out. And it's happening despite us. I would like to get to a point where a director would consider "should I cast all asians? ... Why not?" and for the public to accept it straight off like it was anything else. THAT would be a completely non-racist, non-prejudiced, globally aware response.  That's what I want. He's right, it doesn't need to be. But I'm tired of people that think that canadians live in igloos and that it's cold all the time. It's time to become aware of the world around us, we, the rich one billion people who can go around and see the others. 

This is a step towards a larger goal. If we can see the rest of the world, won't it be easier to sympathize with them? If we start to feel the tangibleness of it in our minds, then maybe we can start acting with a more global care. Maybe, individualism will fade into community. Maybe, if we understand and feel the tangible presence of others beside ourselves living on this planet we share, we won't be so gung ho about trying to kill them over some petty argument or a thing of the past. Maybe, we can move on. Maybe we can find some measure of peace.

Maybe.

"This too Shall Pass"

"This too shall pass"is a proverb indicating that all material conditions, positive or negative, are temporary. The phrase appears in the works of Persian Sufi poets, such as Sanai and Attar of Nishapur.^[1] Attar records the fable of a powerful king who asks assembled wise men to create a ring that will make him happy when he is sad, and vice versa. After deliberation the sages hand him a simple ring with the words "This too will pass" etched on it, which has the desired effect.^[1]

Genius, isn't it?

Infinite

This picture is apparently called "circular infinity" and is similar in process to a Cantor Set. The picture can be drawn by drawing an infinity of infinity symbols (8) within the others. Any universe theory centered around this concept immediately points to the existence of other realms of existence. If we operate within one of these circles, then there is the possibility of there being another or multiple other paralell realms of existence, as well as larger realms that include both our and our paralell realms, and other realms in other, indirectly parelell realms. This gets fairly intircate.

An example of this would help. If the planet "earth" is the human realm, then each of the planets in our solar system is a paralell realm, and our solar system is a larger realm, itsef belonging to a cluster which belongs to a larger cluster which belongs to the milky way which belongs to a galaxy cluster which belongs to the universe which belongs to <

As I have said in my previous post; There is no truth. This allows us to visually identify things that are relative, like size. It is impossible to determine how big a human actually is because in this concept, there is no "master size" with which all comparisons will yeild similar results. compared to a galazy, a human is less than an atom. But the galazy itself may be as small as an atom compared to the universe.

Also, this theory is exponential, if you hadn't realized it already.

Growth within Time, infinite and never ending.

I've realized something today. The minute you begin to believe in yourself, the minute you begin to place faith in some system, then you stop growing, learning. A few moments ago I didn't want to watch a documentary that a residence buddy suggested because I "believed that I was right, and I didn't want to listen to some guy telling me that I'm wrong" Of course, the issue here is not in refusing to believe in a credible source (credibility is relative, and there's nothing to say that I'm not rigth and he's wrong) the problem is that I refuse to see his opinion. It's like writing a paragraph on paper and cutting it up in 4 parts, and telling someone to reconstruct the writing with only 3 of the parts. How can you know that your deductions are right if you aren't looking at all the evidence?

This is where my latest theory comes from. If at any moment in time you think you hold all the pieces, or you actually do hold all the pieces, then for that moment and that moment only you are right. However, the next moment someone comes up with a different idea, and if you cling to the thought that you're correct, and disregard his opinion, then you are wrong.

However I believe that this process is natural. One needs a stable system to operate in, and that requires that one stops taking in all the new possibilities. This is the difference between adults and children. Children are meant to absorb, adults to impart. How can one impart if the knowledge that one posesses instantly becomes obsolete and incorrect? This "setting in" is probably necessary for evolution. Long story short, this is why the previous generation will always raise the next above their heads, why art movements become mainstream and then are pushed back, this is how most things have a definite lifespan. This is also why scientists are constantly looking for new ideas and solutions. They know that once they believe that they hold the truth, they will be missing out on other discoveries and thus won't actually hold the truth. In a way, every step towards knowledge fails to grasp it.

Thus, Perfection - the point unto which no further progress is necessary - does not exist. Perfection, Eternal Life, Peace and Truth, the four ultimates that I have thought of, are unacheivable within a system based on the passage of time. And life cannot exist outside of time, so: These ultimates do not exist. In fact any and all ultimates do not exist.

Shinigami

NO race ONLY human

I  inadvertedly coined this term discussing on facebook/racebending group front page.

Gabriel St-Denis: It's disappointing to see HOLLYWOOD pass up such an excellent opportunity to promote decent conduct and a No-Race-Only-Human attitude. I wonder, were they afraid that it would be negatively received if they had gone the other way? Are there even any good arguments against? I doubt it. "It's an american show so..." perhaps? If anything, they should have at least aimed for adapting the T.V. series as accurately as possible...

And so I made this poster as a creative response to that statement.

Whitewashing and the Movie Intustry

This post covers the issue of whitewashing in The Last Airbender, the live action retelling of the critically acclaimed show Avatar; The Last Airbender. First and foremost, let me start with a brief rundown of the Avatar universe: The world is divided into 4 nations, each of them representing a specific element (earth water fire and air) and drawing heavily on various asian and inuit cultures. The show was immensely popular with fans and created a massive uproar when it was revealed that all major roles would be covered by white actors. I won't get in too deep since there are many others who have written more extensively, but this issue is specifically labeled as Yellowface; and like many others I had no idea until now, and I'm not happy. Following are exerpts from http://www.moviecitynews.com/columnists/voynar/2009/090422.html

There was a similar controversy surrounding the casting of white American Justin Chatwin to play the lead part of Goku in Dragonball Evolution, which opened earlier this month, and last year blackjack drama 21 stirred accusations of white-washing for its casting  of white talent Jim Sturgess and Kate Bosworth in roles that in real-life were played by Asian-American males. The Last Airbender is the most recent example, but racial white-washing has been a part of  Hollywood since its beginning. Website Buns of Yogurt offers a pretty thorough visual history of the "yellowfacing" of Asian parts in film, noting Hollywood's long and storied history of casting white faces in Asian role, from Mary Pickford in Madame Butterfly way back in 1915, to Mickey Rooney in Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961) to Bruce Lee being shut out of playing the character in Kung Fu that he came up with, in favor of white actor David Carradine.

And it's not just in the casting of white actors in Asian roles that's a problem; this 2008 article for Asian Week by Philip W. Chung also points to films like Come See the Paradise (1990), which stuck a story about a white man in love with a Japanese woman in the middle of a story about interment of Japanese-Americans during WWII to make it more palatable, and True Believer (1989), which effectively erased the contributions of numerous Asian-Americans to the real-life story of the freeing of a Korean-American jailed for a crime he didn't commit. And even when Hollywood does cast actual Asians in Asian roles, they don't always get it right -- as in the controversial decision to cast Chinese actresses in the three lead roles in Memoirs of  a Geisha, which is set in Japan (oh, those darn Asians, they all look alike anyhow, who's going to notice, right?)

When it comes to casting white faces over Asian roles, especially for an adaptation of a manga or anime series, studios no doubt seek to sell beyond the demographic of the source material; some number-cruncher at the studio probably has spreadsheets and a nifty Powerpoint presentation that prove conclusively to the studio pockets that Asian faces don't open films or create crossover. But isn't that the same argument Hollywood's been using since time out of mind in casting white actors to play Asian parts? Hollywood's a tough business with an eagle eye on the box office bottom line, and the attitude toward race in casting decisions isn't likely to change until Asian-Americans band together to show Hollywood shirts the financial impact their united weight can bear by boycotting films they feel white-wash Asian parts, and supporting those that do cast Asian actors in lead roles.

It's 2009, folks. We have an African-American man in the highest elected office of our country. Can't we have an adaptation of an Asian-themed series with actual Asian actors playing the lead roles?

- by Kim Voynar 

For my part, I've joined the facebook group, at least. And I'm not going to go see that movie when it's out. Kim Voynar is right. The big wigs of any industry are not likely to enact more than surface (reparatory) changes unless there is a dramatic and tangible public response to the issue. In other words, until they realize that people might actually be angry enough not to buy the product. Which is exactly what I'm going to be doing this June, that and telling everyone I know what I think. It's unacceptable that any industry should make unethical decisions simply because the greater percentage of the population will not notice...

Requiem for the Lost Ones

Click on the images to make them larger. This is comic #3. Shitty visuals, I know, don't tell me, it was a school project, and I was sort-of rushed. They're still better than #2. The story's not that great either. but at least it's cohesive this time. At any rate, I tried, you know? And I plan to keep trying. "He who races not never will win." Every failure is one less failure yet to come before I reach my goal. Effort, luck and skill, in that order, will decided how many times I'll fall short.

Poems...

An illustrious retreat
though relaxing in itself
offers no peace from the world

Illusions of a distant planet
mysteries and wonders cloaked in darkeness
entertain our sombre existence

Life, though fleeting, lasts longer
than a thousand deaths, transcending time
One life since the beginning of our time

Hell that could be an art project

"Or will you smile with both eyes welded shut" when the world crumbles around you on judgment day?

I could graffiti that on some industry wall and take pictures and send it to a gallery. Or I could just be a comic book artist a graffiti artist who uses words, bit like "Private Property Created Crime"...


Ah the fruit of my stagnation: it is the 21st of march today.
Aah, am I in university?
Aah, did I forget all about the money?
What vacuous subspace do I dwell in?

Comfortably Numb

I don't like the past. I never did. Since I was young... And I didn't like the future, either. I tried to run away from the present... in books, toys, videogames, drawing, then anime, then manga....

I'm Numb. Comfortably numb. Deciding on a whim, pushing aside all responsibilities, never looking anywhere, so I wouldn't be rattled by what I'd seen... Thoughtlessly wasting away, not moving forwards, not learning from my mistakes, pretending to care while the console hums and I sit in the zone oblivious...

What did I do? What should I think of such and such bad call on my part? What shall I do from now on? Tomorrow? Next Year? What do I want to do? Shall I go on?

Whenever I start to realize that feeling of urgency,  I become inspired to draw, or I sit all night watching anime and reading comics. And I get angry or unnerved when I'm interrupted, because it forces me to remember that I'm wasting time.

I don't want to think of the past. There are too many sad and wonderful things for this kid to process. The future is scary. The present...

I met a person who doesn't care about the world. Is one selfish for wanting only one's own happiness? Or is that just being honest? Are such  modest, realistic goals to be applauded? I don't feel like doing any more than I have to to help the planet either. And at the same time, I want to make a difference. I do care about the world at large. I've seen it. Africa is a tangible place in my head. I know what pollution does, I understand it, more than before anyway. I understand the flawed thinking of men, I like to think. I can almost see the paths sometimes. I can't deny this weight. Perhaps I should have scolded her, but how can I judge others? What I think is the right thing isn't really the right thing. Can I really tell others to do what I think is right, just because to me, it feels right?

Perhaps it's better than the alternatives. I validated her, more or less. I should not have. People are entitled to their own foolish opinions, but to not hold up your own because someone else has a different one is just weakness. For the record, I think you're naive. The world is a big place, a tangible place. It's not just "the earth" it's our home. YOUR home. MY home. And the home of countless other people who don't know you nor care about you. But since we share the shelter, the food, the materials the earth provides us, and since you and I seem to have a bigger share than the rest, we should at least become aware of this weight we have to carry. Since we share, we gotta share the work too. I'm living in a dream world, treading slowly and growing slowly, but you're also denying reality. For your own convenience. You're comfortably numb. You ignorant, foolish dumbass.

Hey you, your way of thinking is outdated. Self-serving doesn't accomplish anything. Individualism kills the group.  Being content with one's own happiness is good, but we aren't living in a utopian system. This world is dying. If everyone just decided to look for their own happiness, sure we'd be happy, but...

And can you imagine the horror of waking up from such a dream? Would that be true happiness? Or would you run further, having no choice but to keep denying the reality you shun until finally it explodes in your face? This ignorance was the folly of the 20th century. Your way of thinking is archaic. Self-destructive. I will judge you, since you can't judge yourself. The fate of mankind is such: either man up and take your responsibilities at heart, or disappear into the wind as the times change but you sit still. In a way, I don't care for those who don't care for others. In more than one way. You're unneeded, and I feel a sudden rage at your lethargy. Probably because I'm similar. Definitely because I'm the same, but at the same time, I have these contradictory beliefs, they sometimes move me forward a great deal. But you... Useless things should be discarded. Dead weights, forsaken. Ignorants, fools and selfishly-minded relics from the past... Shot and fed to the worms. You're breathing my oxygen. Drinking my water. We'll need it in the future you try to ignore. Get lost or get going, you burden, you parasite, you waste of molecules.

Or will you smile with both eyes welded shut when the world crumbles around you on judgment day?

This is the rage I carry for my own tendency to stagnate. Of course, your type of person holds the blinds closed too strongly for me to force them open, make you or anyone acknowledge this truth which makes me feel superior at times. You'll just dismiss me and crawl back into your delusions. But hell, maybe I am superior. I can see my own flaws. And then, once in a while, I work up the courage to fight them, a bit. It's a small victory, but still light-years ahead of you.

Quote of the Day

Lying tears hurt others; Lying smiles hurt oneself.

- C.C, Code Geass
- unknown

Ghost in the Shell

The man theme of this movie revolves around the - aliveness -  of non biological intelligences. The "Ghost" refers to the essence, the human personality that exists in the cyborg brain of the characters. The "shell" Is their physical body, the machine in which they exist in the physical world.

This duality is akin to the perceived difference between the "body" and the "soul" in religion and 20th century thinking.

Only now do I understand the metaphorical meaning of the Ghost in the Shell when it comes to art. The Ghost denotes the meaning while the shell is the form. Many advertisements are empty because they lack meaning, they are comprised of only the form. Similarly, Ann Lee in "No Ghost Just A Shell" is just a vessel, a body through which foreign meanings are communicated; Ann Lee herself has no Ghost, no meaning, she is a Doll.

The movie itself is magnificent. Visually astounding, it pauses often to show stills of the environment, it has clear and fluid animation. The music score also deserves praise. The characters are smart and well fleshed out, the plot and setting is compelling and imaginative. Finally, the movie touches on philosophy, the science of evolution and politics in a manner that is both fully immersive and yet does not detract from the other points of the movie. Perhaps it is undeserving of a 5 star review; for my part, it comes pretty damn close.

The opening and subject matter of this anime feature film resurface as an inspiration to the Matrix. GITS was released 3 years prior, I believe. An excellent anime feature film, one of the best, and a huge hit in the West.

Jeet Kune Do

I have not invented a "new style," composite, modified or otherwise that is set within distinct form as apart from "this" method or "that" method. On the contrary, I hope to free my followers from clinging to styles, patterns, or molds. Remember that Jeet Kune Do is merely a name used, a mirror in which to see "ourselves". . . Jeet Kune Do is not an organized institution that one can be a member of. Either you understand or you don't, and that is that. There is no mystery about my style. My movements are simple, direct and non-classical. The extraordinary part of it lies in its simplicity. Every movement in Jeet Kune-Do is being so of itself. There is nothing artificial about it. I always believe that the easy way is the right way. Jeet Kune-Do is simply the direct expression of one's feelings with the minimum of movements and energy. The closer to the true way of Kung Fu, the less wastage of expression there is. Finally, a Jeet Kune Do man who says Jeet Kune Do is exclusively Jeet Kune Do is simply not with it. He is still hung up on his self-closing resistance, in this case anchored down to reactionary pattern, and naturally is still bound by another modified pattern and can move within its limits. He has not digested the simple fact that truth exists outside all molds; pattern and awareness is never exclusive. Again let me remind you Jeet Kune Do is just a name used, a boat to get one across, and once across it is to be discarded and not to be carried on one's back.

– Bruce Lee

Humility

I've just finished inking my second comic, and once more I experience humility. Indeed, in the face of all actual manga graphic novels or comics of any sort, including the badly drawn ones, I am nothing. Perhaps my nibs are subpar. No, I think it has more to do with the fact that I am rushing through the inking job to get it done, not taking my time. It also doesn't help that my rough is all sketchy. At the end of the day, I'm left with only the one fact: As I am now, I have less than zero percent chance of going pro.

To Do:
Create a few pages of manga exercising the utmost of my ability to see where my actual limit is.
Raise the limit. Practice practice practice.
Improve speed.
(and the rest. Tones, crosshatching techniques, fix pc to use photoshop & scanner)
Apply tones to isolated drawings first to get a hang of the techniques.
Practice until my fingers melt off and burn.

[Edit: It's just occurred to me that I might one day outgrow manga. Even though my comics are miserably bad, I have most of the basic skills. At this stage of the game I'm good enough to redraw almost any character in any style (given an image to work with) and on less complex styles (not josei or seinen) I can redraw them in other positions. If only I could master the correct folding of clothes and the pen nib, I would have mastered the basics. 

So what I really need to focus on is my background style, and patience. Alot myself more drawing time (ugh...) to make better art. Also, layouts and framing are a big weakness of mine.

So the new list: -Master clothing
-Master pen nib
-Master Layout style
-Master framing
-Master correct placement of dialogue.
-Master scene description panels.
-Master In/Out, Fades and Flashbacks
-Master Inking
-Master Tones and cross hatching
...Solution : Practice!]

[Edit: On a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being top tier pro and 0 being total n00b, I would say I'm about level 5. At level 7 I can enter the pro! world, maybe, if my stories are good, if I'm lucky, if, if, if...]

Quote of the Day

"The best things in life aren't things"
                            - Unknown

One Love

You know how songs bring up old memories?

Well I remember seeing the music video to that song on a bar's t.v. screen in... I don't know. But the song reminds me of Tobago's lush tropical forests, the green water, the white sand.

And that reminds me that me and... someone else I don't remember, went swimming where the charlotteville townsfolk cleaned out the fish... We could have gotten seriously sick... or was it me? I don't know. Help me someone, before I forget!

It's sad how some things we remember forever, others dissapear and some stay just beyond our grasp...

In Tobago I did a double shift, or stayed up late on purpose or something, and I missed the awesome Argyle Waterfall port program...

A Jack of All Trades

Is master of none.

The Push Man

 

Is part of a new genre among manga, called gekiga (and to me gekiga seems similar to the move from comics to graphic novels) which distinguishes iteself from the steroid packed, big eyed, big breasted, hacking, slashing stabbing, kicking, punching and spellcasting when not fanservicing mainstream manga titles these days.  Yoshihiro Tatsumi's work The Push Man depicts the lives of young worker class japanese as they live through life. The themes are quite repetitive of one another, as are the looks and characters of the main charachters (The Push Man is a series of shorts), but to me, a novice as of yet incapable of producing a serious body of work, the novel is inspiring. I can only see pluses in this series. (Or at least, compared to mine, The Push Man is a perfect 10)

So how does one make a cliche adventure story or an action without it looking like that other manga?

I've thought of many things, and there are some aspects of mainstream I wish I could half remove without taking out the core. My personal universe is a universe of magic, after all.

So I've come up with a list of to-do's:

DESTROY THE GIFTED YOUNG PROTAGONIST CONCEPT

Never learn to draw cute girls (at this point that is far from being a problem)

Portray death realistically - but make the theme seem darker if that is the case, otherwise the death sticks out like a sore thumb, (think Kekkaishi)

Utilize themes as well as character development (all good comics have both.)

Make elaborate backgrounds

Write less, draw more

Make fight scenes quick and deadly

Give all fight scenes a meaning, and avoid tedious explanations. Quick and cool is the way to go.

Have characters struggle through more than just fear or weakness or whether to kill or not kill.

Use hard subject matter (think FMA) and then use comedy as desired.

Use vibrant and interesting characters

Use some mysterious characters that you think you've figured out but can never be sure.

Let their actions speak louder than the words they say.

Kill the misogynist concept of the perfect wife omnipresent in many manga and anime.

Read more Graphic Novels

Write more stories.

Practice different styles

Learn to use tones

Never throw out a concept. Rewrite it.

Actually rewrite it.

Recognize that you don't have natural talent.

Work hard and long and care for what you do.

Make people believe in your work and your ability.

Always push for more and better.

Write what you like, like what you write.

Become a comic book artist.

Get good enough so others recognize you as a graphic novelist.

Tell them that you're not.

Friends of Passage

Was that a final farewell?

I had a felt a certain sense of home. "This is a place I can return to" Mais cette "place" a moi elle existe dans le temps, et dans l'espace. Dans quelques annees, mon dernier frere aura gradue et il ira a l'encontre de ses propres obstacles. Comment puis-je retourner dans le temps, a l'endroit de repos?

Truth is, I wander, but I don't really exist anywhere else. I've flown across the world like the shadow of a cloud, leaving next to nothing behind. All these places, it seems, would be just as foreign if I were to return. At times, the people I've met along the way seem little more than acquaintances, addresses on my contact list. People that I've met, that will remember me and who I was; if feels like to expect more is folly. Can I really say that I belong here? There? When I went home I remembered a great many things, that I don't have another place to call home.  I thought that that small town would stay the same forever, a kind of base where my roots are buried. I felt a sense of permanence here, that the people of this place had found it in themselves to accept my presence and my absences, that we would be bound somehow, because of where we had sprung from the ground, our roots mixed and matched as we moved around and spread out into the sky.

But... Were my friends just friends of passage? Everyone has their own road, and it may take them far, farther than I can see, and they may not return here. Is it that I severed my connection when I left, or that I abandoned my bonds to wither while I was away? It's certainly foolish to think that no matter how far I go, how little I think of home, these friends of mine would return to their hometown when I returned to mine, and we would all share stories and get along and part ways "until next time" forever. I may have changed too much to be recognized, and perhaps I can no longer understand when they speak of the old scars. Have I forgotten? Have I moved away from the me they knew, so much that to them I seem just as foreign as the faraway places I talk about? What was I to them? No, what were they to me, if I naively thought they would always welcome me home.

But soon, there will be little left of the home I speak of. Was our last meeting the final farewell, like a check up to see if "oh, you're doing good" to rest the conscience and turn the page? If that is so then my life is just an accumulation of impermanences, of forgotten friends with nothing to say to and eroded memories that have bee discarded or replaced. It's sad, really, to know so many people but have no one to talk to, no one that stays. To live like this... fleetingly... Everywhere and nowhere at once, like a frown or a sad sad smile. Loneliness awaits.

...
But why am I complaining? I chose this. I chose it myself, wholeheartedly. I put everything behind me and jumped into a new adventure again, pausing from time to time to record some insight on a old mystery. It's a lot less difficult to ignore the past and pretend that you've forgotten, but you end up losing yourself completely. Weigh the appeal of the unknown against the happiness of belonging. You already know how much you've gained, but you'll never know how much you've lost.

The Frame of Things

In this world every puzzle piece clicks into place. But as we know, all the pieces are human, and all humans can fail, do fail, and then feel the need to justify their embarassement.

"I should have done something" "I should have stopped them"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G63FEamhpA0&feature=related

And you know... I 'm glad I was born in this generation. Things might get pretty interesting. This guy was tasered because he was wearing a hat.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZ2R6nGR9-g&feature=related

I'm interested in his words. "This is like asking a king to remove his crown." It's like the same thing as cutting someone else's hair without their permission. Maybe he wouldn't have brought his hat, but not knowing, would rather fight that remove it because, and especially because of a forceful officer.

"We respect religion, but secular things, no." He's right, I feel. Religion is a grey area. It gets around where other's can't because religion can raise a fuss if it's attacked overtly, in this day and age. It's left alone because it is strong and broad and a pawn out of line is easily sacrificed when involved in some controversy "oppressing" religion. But some things are more important than religion. If there was something I believed in, some small freedom which is more valuable than anything. My grandfather's watch. I was undecided on whether or not I would jump from the boat if it fell into the sea. Knowing this, I took extra precautions.

But if someone wanted to confiscate it yes I would fight. Perhaps I would even oppose taking it off.

As he said, this is "control". It is a tight frame, but it's reach is broad. Even though I think his obstinence is kind of ridiculous, it is worthy of praise.

KAZEKAMI LV. Up!

So, finally, after a week and a half of sweat and restless nights, I finally "finished" my comic. Finished as it submitted it. I am going to keep working on it.

I was explaining to the teacher the joy of leveling up increasingly fast; whereas before I would like a specific piece for months, nowadays a week is all it takes for me to move on. This means that I  am progressing continuously, which is great. It also means that I cannot enjoy the satisfaction of a completed piece that I think is the best I could have done. Indeed, not 12 hrs after I submitted this comic, I have realized that the story is lacking - I knew beforehand tht the art was lacking, but I held on to the notion that perhaps the story would compensate; this is not the case.

Shall we start with a resume of KAZEKAMI? A soldier is given instructions to look for a "watergod" which may be hiding in the nearby village. His commander informs him that once he is found the army will move in and annihilate the village. The scene cuts to the village, where a blond haired man is talking with his landlady. The blond haired man is next seen wandering the town and the temple where he learns more about the watergods. Finally, he meets a young girl who talks his ear off with her problems while he gives her the classic (...) and then she reveals that she is the last watergod (that he is looking for.) The man returns to his room, wonders about the motivations behind the massacre of a village, if there is only one target. He sneaks into the priest's room and threatens him to reveal information.The priest then tells him about the truth behind the girl. The man realizes that she needs to stay alive and decides to run away from the town to make himself the focus and spare the defenseless village.

Now: critique. The concept sounded interesting at first, but it has been modified so many times that the original point seems to melt away. There is little or no character development. We are treated to Fuyu's train of thought as well as her brooding personality. Higen, however, remains a mistery even though he is a main character. It would be cool if he was mysterious, but in this comic he is simply all over the place. We have no idea what his reasons are, or if he even has any. His evolution from assassin to hero is never addressed regardless of how quickly it occurs. Instead he simply begins to work towards saving Fuyu.

On the whole, this comic seems... plastic. As soon as I began to rewrite parts of the script without hte script iteself, I lost the ability to consider the piece as a whole. Thankfully, before anyone reads this, i have become aware of it.

[edit: And I have realized that my body's ridiculous tiredness manifested itself in the impromptu naps that have been happening, out of my control (ex. sleeping at my work table, and making all the mistakes that I made originally)]

Sage

So you've gained a little introspective knowledge. A little wisdom to your points rack. Good Job. Is such perception enough to understand the world around you? If it isn't, then what have you accomplished?

Don't think so highly of yourself.

...Brat.

The Year Off Blues - Geoff Line

This is a piece of writing from a good friend of mine. To all the ex-travelers out there; this post is for you.

http://campusintel.com/blogs/travel-culture/2009/12/15/year-blues/?c=292
I don't know if he wrote it with us in mind, but I read it in that spirit. I'm glad that I found some words that can explain how I feel - but you know, that's to be expected, since it was the same for alll of us.

...
Geoff Line is one of the few people I really, really respect as writers. I would draw stories if he wrote them. Right now I can only think of 2 other people whom I'd team up with like that.

I'm just saying, though. Read the article.

Woman dies on Hospital Floor

This is the world that we live in. And no we can't go back.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lKUwBCIBzA

When there is a scandal, it is always "Some of our staff""Them" "The offendors were fired" Never us. Never me. This is the culture of America, of the Western world. And why is the attorney allowed to speak his mind, when the anchorman is not? There is no right, no wrong if the truth cannot be spoken freely. And if the truth cannot be spoken, then how can justice be served? Were we ever free? Why do we continue to accept living like this? Is it because we cannot imagine an alternative? Or are we truly afraid?

Aesthetics of Design

The reason designers exist is to design things. If they don't do their job correctly, it is just as good as a normal person doing the designs. A person that designs doors to say "Push" is such an unskilled professional. Well thought out things do not need interpretation; they simply "look" right so that a person will automatically know what to do. The following story indicates such a bad design, and the consequences it may entail when wielded by a dim individual. It's a long and dull story though.

Today I encountered a terrible design for a staple gun. It is done bacwards, so that the hand trigger opens on the "head side" of the gun. Observe this stapler gun here. One automatically knows how to fire it and where the stapes will come out of. Hoho, not so the school one. Not only is it done backwards but it invites you into thinking that the stapes will come out of the butt. To ascertain this, I tried to push a staple out of the gun. Naturally with the strength of one arm without using weigth (I was doing this in midair) this proved impossible and, motivated by the desire to press the gun and disregarding the intentions behind this, I place my hand on what I thought was the butt and, using force in both directions, easily manage to fire a staple.

Lo and Behold, poor designs used by stupid people create dumb accidents and I feel a strange and dimly painful sensation in my palm, and at first I believe it to be the shockwave of the gun, so convinced was I by the design. I remove my hand, and suprised, there is a staple lodged neatly in my flesh. The result appears somewhat humorous, so I smile and laugh nervously at myself, and also at the crude design, and also at the fact that with a staple in my hand I look that much more like a piece of wood.

I am surprised that blood doesn't come flowing out, so I grab a bandage and some precise handling pincers?, and remove the staple, which turns out to be jagged and sharp, and twice as long as I had imagined. Blood comes flowing out, naturally, and soaks the bandage before I have even finished applying it.

Then the instructor sees the stapler gun in its drawer and promplty removes it, noting that it is dangerous, and there's no telling what kind of retard would accientally staple themselves with it.

Truly Fleeting

She truly did go down with her captain, in the end.

So for all of you who didn't know, Concordia sank off the coast of Brazil yesterday. Dunno what happened. I remember that some time last year her long-time captian died of a heart attack. I didn't know him personally,  I hadn't sailed under him or anything, but Ol'Blue and him used to talk together quite a bit in the ports like Dublin that we visited together, so he was on our ship sometimes.
Here is additional information.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/nova-scotia/story/2010/02/19/ns-brazil-ship-sinks-students.html

I am glad to know that the crew and students and teachers are safe. That must be a traumatic experience, for the home you live on for 6 months vanishes into the sea with all your things and all your memories... and you're left alone in the middle of nowhere.

I'm also worried on the financial side, of course. I hope WIC can pull through. What unluckiness. The concordia was practically new, compared to chopin, anyway. And she was always so perfect looking, so pristine, so modern, and they did waay more drills than we ever  did...

But we had totally underestimated the strength of the sea. What foolishness. I remember one of my instructors telling me that I was a fool for wanting to see the sea's worst when we were on Chopin. I had acknowledged that she was right, but I always inwardly assumed that Chopin could take anything. This is a powerful experience for myself who hasn't even sailed on Concordia, but for those present, they really must have seen a whole different side of nature. "Bow, human, in the presence of raw elemental power." I wonder how long a series of misfortunes would have to be in order to sink that ship. I mean, it was a great ship, not as cool looking as Chopin but definitely established, been 'round Cape Horn and all...

I wonder what'll happen to them now....

Agony of Silence, Pt 2

I went back to the site listed previously, opened the READ ALL COMMENTS tab, and because they are posted backwards I was able to understand why the angry words, and also realized that a half-joke insult results in annoyed mockery which results in an acutal insult which causes serious mockery and hugely insulting insults.... which are then read by a passerby and insult said passerby. And the passerby is more than welcome to enter the fight and start off round two.

But because I entered the wrong date, I was not allowed to enter this world where everyone reveals, in a moment of anger, their dark ignorance. My anger has subsided, only disappointment remains. "Civility" seems a word unknown to the human race.

Lorraine would have been right.

Agony of Silence

A string of youtube comments on this post
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VR8dvs8Kees&feature=related

and we niggas wonder why we get the bad rap. Its because of niggers like that that think they can just do what they want ....well guess not

tegid699 (2 weeks ago)  

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not funny!!! wgy are the reporters laughing ?

blacksteve123 (2 weeks ago)  

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if his legs are fully functional.. why is he in a wheelchair?

twilson2821 (2 weeks ago)  

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@TENNSUMITSUMA seems to me like you're kind of a retard.

TENNSUMITSUMA (2 weeks ago)  

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@ twilson2821 seems to be like you can go fuck yourself

sirvegeta (3 weeks ago)  

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He is a murderer, and was trying to kick his attorney. taze the coon in the balls

RuralCoconut (3 weeks ago)  

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accused of robbing the catholic church?
well in that case, no crime has taken place after all! Next.

frogrfb (3 weeks ago)  

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He was NOT an invalid. He was in the wheelchair because he was supposedly injured (like the way most blacks scam their way onto disability when there's REALLY nothing wrong with them).

But he wasn't so "injured" that he couldn't kick hard with both his big legs. So SCREW that big punk! Your "sympathy card" expired when you tried to kick people in the courtroom. So you had to get NEUTRALIZED, punk! Screw you and all your sympathizers on this forum, punk!

flukes777 (1 month ago)  

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Yeah. Filthy cracker animals!

Robsshot (1 month ago)  

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ACAB from Germany

Senninha2000 (1 month ago)  

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loooooooooooooooool gf tazered his buddy whahahahahaha

AQWThatWeirdNoob (1 month ago)  

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Those damn white cops.

AirsoftWar121 (1 month ago)  

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holy crap he tazed the officer in the foot

TENNSUMITSUMA (1 month ago)  

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seems to me like he got tazered BEFORE he did anything wrong

ff621 (1 month ago)  

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He is on a wheelchair but he is not handicap and he is a big guy too Fu@# it tase him again hahaha

95flhtcu (1 month ago)  

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Filthy fucking animals.

SuperJaypea (1 month ago)  

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go fuck ur mama cowboy.

sarkenx (1 month ago)  

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Go fuck yourself with a chainsaw. Queer.

SuperJaypea (1 month ago)  

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i bet u would like that huh. ur into some fucked up shit over there buddy.

sarkenx (1 month ago)  

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Not my kinda thing, it's what I heard you UK fags do for fun.

I'm positively furious. These guys infuriate with their mean, ignorant comments towards black people and handicapped people. I'm so furious I tried to sign on to Youtube, but made a mistake and wrote today's date as my date of birth, and so the website blocked me.

I'm crumbling with silent rage. I don't care for the person in the video and whether he was at fault or not, but I hate these hateful comments with a passion. I've never encountered this before. And the worst part is everyone aggrees. They're not noticing that they're exhibiting the full extent of their foolishness, the fools.

And I will never jokingly sing that song and gloss over the word coon. Ever.
What would Lorraine say? Probably "Don't bother with those lowlifes." or something.
But can I do that? I'm sad, so sad and so angry...