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9/27/2005 Unfinished ThoughtsLimiting Progress
Why is there such a constant movement in our society today to stop progress? If our society today cannot deal with the differences between races, gender, sexuality, religion, and so on, how are we to deal with future societies when there are robots, cyborgs, intelligent life other than humans, longer living humans, people who have adopted really advanced technology, or people discovering and founding a major religion? The politicians and writers are attacking the wrong areas of life. Too Idealistic
Apparently, I'm a hippy. Not in the 1960s' sense, with flowing bell-bottom pants and tie-dyed colours covering me from head to toe, but in the sense that I'm wanting to live in a better world. I've always thought that the way to live life was to live for improvement of the human species, but the rest of the world doesn't seem to be living that way at all. It's no wonder I'm constantly being confused with where my life is going. Where I want it to go is not welcome in this world at all.
This surprises me for several reasons. For one, the world is full of examples of progress towards a better human or society. Popular religions, technology, education, hospitals, social welfare programs, etc. I would hate to believe that all of these various institutions are moving not in the direction of progress but have alterior motives within them. It depresses me to think that this world is focused on power and money, and institutions that should be helping are deceiving the people that use them. With all the corruption that's happening around us, why should I shut up and accept it? Is the purpose of my life to go out and get the most money I can to ensure that my children and their grandchildren can live comfortably, or should I be working towards a better world for them to be living in? The one thing I don't get is how come all the various militias of the developing world are killing the poor citizens? I would think they would want to work together with those citizens, win them over to the cause to take down the corrupt governments that are ruling them. It seems kind of backwards to kill off the people that may want to support these groups and help them defeat their collective enemies. 9/14/2005 PassionMy one big flaw as a person is passion. I'm just too passionate of a
person to exist in this world. You would think this would be a good thing, not a
bad thing, but all it brings me is trouble. I get myself into trouble because
some people don't care about things at the same level as I do, so I get upset at
them. I care so much about some things that I'd go at lengths to protect them,
no matter what the cost- and sometimes that cost is illegal or immoral. I find
myself getting drawn to people more easily than I should, because I get attached
to certain aspects of their character. Or I construct my feelings in such a way
that I begin to think I'm in love with someone and care for them on a much
deeper level than they would ever think of me. I get frustrated with myself
because I can't express the feelings I have for these people. Either they're
involved with someone else, or I've known them too short of a time period, or
the manner in which we met is socially undesireable so it could be viewed as
threatening to express myself that way. Apart from the short-comings of my own personal character, passion gets me into trouble with how I view the world and life. I am easily riled up by someoone or something continually failing in a task or doing something that should be perceived to be wrong. For example, a lot of people with power are concerned only with the economic play-out of Hurricane Katrina - meaning, can they earn money off of this. Innocent lives perishing can be viewed as a good thing if it improves the lives of others, no matter how local or distant they are to the situation. Any premature death is a waste in my mind, especially if they said person doesn't have a fighting chance to survive. So whereas if someone dies while climbing a mountain is a waste, they put themselves into that position to risk death (which is probably a part of the reason for climbing the mountain), but the people drowning in the nursery home in New Orleans didn't have the option to escape. So many deaths in the world are not necessarily the fault of the person who died, but rather the community and species as a whole. Too many people are pulling themselves away from these situations so they no longer have to think about it. The tragedies of life happen over there, not here. We are all guilty of having these thoughts, but I feel like I'm aware of what is going on in my mind. That sounds silly, but what I mean is I can sense myself pulling away from a situation while watching it happen on television. Most people tend to see something on television then click the remote to another channel and forget about it. These things are always lingering on my mind and the only reason why I push them away is because they are on my mind so much. I would never get anything done if I kept thinking about what's going on in the world. That's probably why I'm not doing anything, too. After my contract ended in June, I've had over three months without work. All that spare time has been spent reading and watching news events unfold, or reading commentary about historical events that are similar to what is happening in the present. The passion within my chest has kept me locked onto these findings so that they never escape my mind. A lot of people have asked me what I'm planning on doing with my life post-Syracuse. My answer to them feels like a lie, while still being the truth. I want to go to graduate school, or I want to continue working in theatre, but right now that feels so ... selfish and insignificant. I want to play a part in this world, not be merely a living citizen on it. So my mind wanders to the possibility of working for an organization like the Red Cross or Salvation Army, etc. But that also feels wrong to me. All of these relief agencies are just a band-aid for a larger problem in this world. All the money in the world being pumped through these organizations isn't going to end poverty, disease, slavery, the use of children in war, or rape, etc. What's needed is a larger political shift, a new revolution to counter the so-called revolution known as a capitalist-democracy. It cannot be the answer if our world continues to have these problems after centuries of capitalist thought and practice, and the continuing re-invention of democracy. But how can I solve this problem while working in a non-profit organization? How am I helping the world if I work in technical theatre the rest of my life? Is that all life is worth - work with fun on the side for personal pursuits? Doesn't that seem rather dumb when our world and our minds have the potential for greater things? Or is my mind a sham? Are the passions taking me too far with my ideas and taking me off the beaten path of both reality and idealism? Am I no better than the raving idiots on the conservative talk radio or Osama bin Laden, Hitler, Napoleon, Ghengis Khan, etc? Will my mind never rest and give me a clear answer for where I should be going? Please, help me if you can. 7/27/2005 Open Source TheatreI had an idea today while walking home after delivering some books to a used bookstore. Just wanted to jot it down quickly before I ended up forgetting about it. Open Source Theatre would allow a community to come together and write a script to be performed. This task would be completed over a period of time, say a month or two. People would come to the theatre, and have to attend a one hour workshop (perhaps longer) that would involve the director of the piece, possibly designers, and actors. They would have a discussion about the project, what an open source project is, why they're doing it, and what is to be expected. There would be a talk about the play they're working on, why it was chosen and what kind of style they may after. After taking part in the workshop, the people could go into a computer lab or sorts at the theatre and work on the script. There would be at least four terminals at first, perhaps expanding to include more if there was a great demand. There would be no time limit for how long they could work, as long as there was sort of respect if the place was busy. Each terminal would ideally be running a Linux distro to keep the open-source theme constant throughout the entire process. It would also lower costs, since Linux is free and there are more than enough computers available cheaply for word processing. I would like to have it so the word processor (most likely OpenOffice.org) wouldn't allow the deletion of text, only the movement of it around the pages. This is to prevent someone from erasing the entire document (backups would be made, of course) or typing crass language continually. Defeats the purpose of the task at hand. Lines could shift between characters, or characters be given long monologues, and so forth. When the deadline has been reached for the text, a play reading would be given. No actions or movement allowed, just vocalizing the words on the script. There would be discussion afterwards about the worthiness of the script, whether it fit into the whole plan of the project, or if parts didn't make sense, etc. A period of editing would happen, then another reading. Perhaps this process would continue for three or four drafts. For the rehearsal period, all rehearsals would be open to the public so they could see the play in development. Suggestions would be listened to during intervals, just to ensure there was progress in the actual rehearsal and it didn't become a large discussion about the play again. This would continue for two months, minimum, to allow for plenty of time for experimentation, suggestion, progress, etc. At the same time, a set would be designed. A set designer would supply a basic design that could be flexible to manipulate into other sets. A series of building blocks to be added, subtracted, shifted, placed on top, in different locations, etc. They would also design a palette of paint to be used, to make sure the design was coherent and not plain ugly. Again, volunteers from the public would paint the set the way they wanted it to look. There would be edits to it, repainting over old work, or a few basic additions to it. Costumes would be handled in a similar way. We would supply magazines and catalogues, letting people cut out the shapes of clothing they would like to see and begin making collages of the characters. This would continue until everyone was happy, then the clothes would be made or bought. After each performance, there would be a discussion about how to improve upon the acting, the blocking, or the delivery of the text. A month after the final performance, the text would be archived on a webserver in various formats for people to print off and read. There would also be a streaming video on the website for people to watch. Possibly, earlier drafts of the script or video from rehearsals would be published for people to see the evolution of the piece. It's an ambitious project that would depend greatly on the organizers to keep things moving smoothly and quickly, as well as an enthusiastic public willing to play with a creation that would be unique to their community. 7/16/2005 LanguageThis sort of pertains to me, but not really considering how I grew up in Canada- but I was raised by American parents. I was curious to see where I would fall in the world of American language. The results:
Makes a lot sense since my grandparents and parents grew up in Wisconsin, Ohio and spent time in New York and Conneticutt. Not sure how the Dixie and Midwestern comes in (possibly from Saskatchewan?) but still kind of interesting. If only they made a Canadian one, eh? 7/7/2005 BeliefWhat is the nature of trust and belief?
I'm wondering if evolution has changed how humans think of trust/belief and how we ultimately decide whether we do trust someone or not. In my mind, the beginnings of trust and belief belonged with witnessing the leader of your tribe do an action (like killing an animal for food). The tribesmen would view this action and decide on their own that the leader should continue be the leader. The leader did not need to prove his worth to the others except through his actions, or inactions. The system was basic and had very little room for a wrong decision, at least, on the end of the tribesmen. The leader still had the pressure on their shoulders to provide, but they were able to focus on that goal.
In our modern world, I feel like this trust and belief has been muddied and twisted into a whole other contraption. We no longer get to witness our leaders in action and get to make up our mind about that person. Today, we are fed a constant stream of images, of words, of stories from a large number of sources. The arguments for and against the leader(s) is a "he said, she said" deal, rather than obversation from the tribesmen. Whereas in the past, it was the action that was significant and the telling of that action memorable (the story), today it is the opposite: the story is more significant and the action becomes more memorable.
Here's a few crude examples to prove my point, first from the past, then from the present.
Story A:
Charlie goes up to Bob, in front of a dozen spectators, and stabs him with a knife. Bob dies in front of the dozen people, who bow down in fear of Charlie. They know he can kill people and is powerful. They write stories so we can remember how Charlie behaved that day and worship him. The stories evolve so the action seems even larger than life, that it was destiny, or an act of God that did this to Bob. In the recent future, they will see Charlie and remember that day's events; the future will remember the stories and preserve Charlie's history that way.
Story B:
Charlie goes up to Bob, in front of a dozen spectators, and stabs him with a knife. Bob dies in front of the dozen people, who know surround Charlie to get his response to the death of Bob. What his reasoning was, what his future plans are now, etc. They no longer fear Charlie, but want to understand Charlie so they can better place their trust in him. They turn away and tell their stories to the people. People begin to forget that Charlie killed a man, but remember Charlie killed Bob because Bob was a ruthless rapist in the past, and it was his destiny to die at the hand of Charlie. The recent future and the further future forget that Charlie killed Bob in front of all those people, but rather it was a justified murder by Charlie, and that Charlie would never kill again. They remember the layers of information built up on top of the action, not the action itself.
In case you didnt' pick up the distinction between the two, in Story A, it was the observers who created the stories; in Story B, it was Charlie creating his own story to sell to the people, despite there having been witneses. In the past, the general population took a story and let it grow amongst them, while in the present, the people involved are doing the work for them. The exaggeration of a story comes from the people involved, and not in the people just hearing it wrong.
Here's a more complex and relevent example:
Action we can indirectly observe through cameras and photographs: thousands of American and international soldiers being at war in Iraq.
The layers: Bush says Saddam Hussein has weapons of mass destruction, we can't trust him, is a major threat to the world, is harboring terrorists, we went to war to bring democracy to the middle east, to give people a better life, etc.
When we remember this war, or for that matter any war, we will never remember it solely as Bush going to war against Iraq. We will remember it as Bush going to war against Iraq to bring democracy there, or protecting the world from an evil dictator. We'll remember how much corruption exists in the country, how long it took to accomplish, how much death was lost, but in the end it was a good thing to happen. We're going to believe that the war was necessary and completely forget the fact that it was a fucking war. No matter what happens in the future, we'll always remember the layering stories on top of this action and forget what it really was.
Now, why would we allow this to happen in our society? The power structures evolved and grew larger. What was once a tribe leader and tribespeople, has become a king/president, a senate, a parliament/congress, and the people way down at the bottom. The people could no longer see the events that were taking place by their leaders. If the leaders had told the people plainly that, "We attacked a country and won," the people will start to have visions of what that invasion looked like, felt, and create their own reasons for why it happened, just like in the past - the story growing to support the action. Except, the problem was the people couldn't see the action so their stories were highly inaccurate and possibly damaging to the leaders/government, etc.
The solution to this was to create a media, a way to get the leader/government's message out to the people to describe what happened, why it happened, how it happened, etc. The government, in corporation with the media, took away the power of controlling the stories from the people and put it into their own hands. The stories they told were elaborate, and the media supported them, so over time the people became to believe in them.
Gone were the days of deciding whether an action was good or bad. That decision was now being told directly to us and we either believed it, or we went against the government. The government could protect themselves from this dissent by calling out to the rebels that they were aligning themselves with the devil, because they were going against the grain, standing up against the good of the people.
Since this system was to believed in at the higher levels of government, it made sense to the people to accept it at the lower level as well. We could no longer lead by example. We had to explain our actions to everyone around us to protect ourselves, and the others, so people could agree that what we were doing was good. It wasn't an option to do things on our own and let people make their own decisions. We now had to conform to the higher ideals that were being placed upon our society by government.
Somewhere in this journey, the feeling of doubt was created. Relying on our gut instincts was useless in the modern world, because we were now told to compare the actions to a higher level, an abstract rule. When witnessing an event, or hearing it through the media, we now had to decide whether this action was agreeable to this abstract idea or not. When something happened that involved the leader, you had to rely on the information they provided you. The more information they dump on you, the more likely it becomes that it may not be true or just. You start to have doubts that it is right, but you can't clearly say "It is wrong" or "it is right," because you lack critical information (witnessing the event) and you have to compare it to something that isn't concrete. How can you condemn something if you're not even entirely sure of the guiding principles yourself? You can't play the role of god, so you get comfortable with the feeling of doubt and let the world correct itself.
... to be continued.
7/4/2005 Britney SpearsWhat the fuck, eh?
No, seriously. Check this drawing out: Britney Spears
Incredibly good stuff.
Found here: Poisoned Rose RevolutionI came across this lovely and intelligent blog: SpeakYourPeace
I found myself responding to quite a few posts already, and I've only been reading for 30 mins. I thought, I should just post them up here, as well.
Addendum... Jean-Michel JarreIf there ever was a saviour for music, I think I discovered him. Jean-Michel Jarre is just astounding to listen to. His music is composed mainly on synths, so has a late 70s-80s feel to it, but it doesn't sound cheesy at all. I was quite relieved to start listening to some of his music and be able to get into a serious groove with him. The music varies between being very melodic and soothing, to music that could easily fit into a DJ's line-up at a rave.
Jarre's latest album is the first to be recorded completely in Dolby 5.1 surround sound. Unfortunately, I don't have a surround sound system to play it on, but the effects in the headphones are pretty neat. Usually the sound comes out pretty steadily to both ears in a lot of music you hear on the radio or rock CDs, and such. With this CD, you feel like you're dancing in music. I felt such weightlessness listening to this CD- sounds coming at you in any direction, a melody bouncing between the left and right side, a low rumbling starting off on the left then building to a large beat in the right, and so forth. It's like listening to music on LSD - or, at least, what I would imagine listening to music would be like on LSD...
One of the best parts of the album are all the scenes between the main tracks. They act like the entre-acts of musicals, echoing the previous track and preparing you for the next one. They're all quite simple sounds, but constructed in a complex way that impressed this listener. For instance, you could hear a few loud knocks on the door to your left, and then it progresses into footsteps walking through the room tracking towards the right. The knocking on the door actually caught me off guard, because it sounded like something hitting my window. I felt like a fool when I realized it was actually in the headphones. Normally, I can distinguish between the sounds in the headphones and outside, but not with this CD. These scenes were a nice touch to the CD. My favourites involved the slamming of a car door. You'll have to listen to find out why, but it was such a simple idea that was executed perfectly.
Finishing this off, this CD is a must have for any electronica lover. With the variety of genres built into this disc, it's sure to please anyone who listens to it. With the subtle bass lines, to the airy melodies, and the jazz-influenced saxaphone sounds, it's perfect to listen to after a night of dancing. It will surely pick up the person who's in a down mood, and if you're already in a down mood, it'll just finish off your night that much better. Be sure to check out his site and buy this CD the next time you're in a music store.
Jean-Michel Jarre's official website.
JarreUK - a fansite in the UK.
Aero - the CD I was listening to tonight. 7/2/2005 Open Letter to America, pt IIDear America:
Independence Day is nearly upon us. Usually, it is a time of celebration, going on picnics with friends, hitting the beach, watching the fireworks. After a drunken booze fest weekend, we all go back to work and carry on with our normal American lives. It is one of the only weekends of comraderie, but then it disintergrates- at least, in the larger cities. Because of this, I'm issueing a challenge to all of America for the following year, starting July 5th, and not January 1st.
A) Fraternite'
Whatever happened to building a community and neighbourhood? Is it really necessary for people to live for themselves, or just their family members, when there is so much pain and suffering happening within a few miles of them? As I mentioned in an earlier post, people have become jaded to the term "9/11" now, and just like that event, people are seeing but not seeing so many other issues happening around them.
One example of this is the poor, but an even more obvious one is the environment. As difficult as it is to give a stranger money, sometimes, you just don't have the money on you, but there is no excuse for dropping garbage on the side of the road. There are streams of garbage in any city of any size. There's garbage in small communities of a few hundred. Thousands of years have gone by and along with all our civilizations' problems, one of the main ones that never goes away is garbage. Why is it that we can solve polio, and have computers at home, and get to the moon, but we can't be bothered to find a solution to the bits of plastic we keep creating?
Imagine for a moment a time when all citizens are required to report for garbage duty, like jury duty. Every citizen in a city devotes one or two workdays a year to picking up garbage off the side of a road. If this happened just one day a week through the summer months, and maybe once a month in winter, the city would be so much cleaner. Groups like the Boy Scouts will go clean up garbage along the edge of a highway, but we completely ignore our backyards. Five hours out of the year is not much to ask for, and maybe if people are confronted with the problem directly, maybe, just maybe, we could change how we live.
Another aspect of community is how we get to work. I don't need to get into the problems that our current modes of transportation give us, but imagine instead the communal ride to work. Streams of workers getting onto buses and avoiding their cars altogether. The commute to work would be people talking together, forming larger networks, and be able to relax. I highly doubt anyone is truly productive on the subway or train trying to do work before they get into the office. Let a job stay a job at the office, and don't start your day any earlier than you have to. Communities build safer, stronger, smarter cities. I challenge anyone out there to pose to me the problems that would exist in a united community centre.
B) Egalite'
This goes hand-in-hand with the first item, but deserves expanding. There are hundreds, thousands, millions of different points of view in the world. I don't agree with all of them, and I probably shouldn't either. Agreeing with a statement/ideology may be too much, too extreme to handle. But the opposite of agreeing, denouncing it, is not proper either. What we need is a society who accept the fact that other ideas exist and encourages the expansion of thought in the world. The collective thoughtpool of our species is what has allowed us to survive for so long, so we should embrace ideas and not steer ourselves towards a monothought civilization.
The most dramatic acceptance of thought is how we are gathered together as a people, the political and sociological thought. I wrote another post about this, so I won't delve into it again. The second, and possibly even more important, is through how we treat our morals and what is dear to us. This net I'm casting covers everything from gay marriage, legalizing marijuana, whether eating an animal is right/wrong, whether eating a dog or cat is tasty/disgusting, or whether right-handed people are smarter than left-handers.
It is not wise to become too comfortable in this environment, especially in the modern age where ideas that used to belong solely inside an individual are becoming more known through blogs, webpages, podcasts, cellphones, etc. The thoughtpool is a volatile place, constantly shifting, adding pieces to it, taking away, etc. Always evolving, the thoughtpool is a place to explore and play. People may call space or deep underseas the last great frontier, but those spaces have nothing on the thoughtpool. Unlike its finite cousins, the thoughtpool can go on forever if it so wishes and nothing short of killing every single computer on the earth will stop it. It's an impossible task.
Like our ancestors who refused to change to their world when it changed with the Ice ages, or were unwilling to try a new animal as a source of energy, the human who becomes conservative in their mindset will soon be extinct, left behind for an era that we humans have surpassed. The way forward is acceptance; the way backwards is ignorance.
I want America to explore this thoughtpool with an open eye and arms spread wide in an embrace. There is only one way to get into the thoughtpool, and that is to immerse yourself in it. Talk with people of different backgrounds, read authors outside of pop culture, surf the internet and read different websites, listen to different kinds of music. Get involved with different activities and you, and America, will benefit. You will ensure the survival of the human species.
C) Liberte'
Because the lack of acceptance in the great nation of America, thousands of men and women are in trouble. Our society is too swift to knockdown a voice of dissent, and America goes all out in its punishment of these people, short of execution. Perhaps execution is on the horizon if we continue in our ways, but these individuals are publically humiliated on a large national front, books become banned/unpublished, maybe prison. The United States has become one of the conservative regimes of the Middle East that we have despised for so long.
A cleaning of the slate is needed. Allow the free thinkers to go free and be the people they are meant to be. Humiliate and punish the people who initially harassed these great minds. Crack down on the people who throw weak insults and excuses at these people, and only allow credible, intelligent discussions to happen about the ideas presented. The slandering of ideas is not only unproductive, it is a dangerous activity to be undertaking. Promoting inner-conflict to separate the people destroys our society and all the energy that went into creating it. Clubbing people with words and not ideas is such a primitive thing to do.
The solution to this problem is much more difficult than the previous two problems proposed. It's going to require the solving of the other two issues before you can adequately tackle this major issue. To solve it is going to involve the complete and utter upheaval of society to embrace original thought and condemn the attitudes of people who do not appreciate those ideas. We need to get rid of the businesses that feed upon people's misfortunes or plant a revolution inside them. Newspapers will need to change to present ideas and not rely so much on nonsense "news." Television stations will have to adapt to have roundtables and more townhalls where serious thought can be exchanged between people and create a new idea. Television will turn from supporting one main idea to the development of more ideas and the exploration of current trends around the world. Gone will be the days of guests coming on the show and preaching to the public about their cause without hearing the other side at all. Politicians will have debates that are constructive and not the rehashment of old ideas. Society will be dumped on its head but when it turns back up, the world will be much brighter and more brilliant than ever.
There is much more to add to this letter, but I shall end it now. Three steps to a better society, and towards a better world. Are you up to the challenge, America? Let me hear your response if you are.
7/1/2005 Kodak DX6490, How I love thee...I am becoming obsessed with my digital camera this past month. I bought the camera last year, around this time, actually, as a graduation gift for myself. I figured after six years of going to school at Univeristy, working fulltime the past three years, and a total of 18 years in school, including elementary through to highschool graduation, I deserved something.
After a bit of browsing online, and scanning through eBay, I found my new best friend. It certainly wasn't cheap, but it offered everything I wanted without me purchasing a real professional camera. I couldn't afford the latest and best thing, so I settled for a little below that.
All of the pictures on this site were taking with the camera. except for the giant starfish sent to me by my brother. Today, I wanted to see how well the zoom could go, so I was playing with taking shots farther away than I would've liked and trying to pick up objects. It worked quite well. I was getting some nice pics of guys playing cricket (yes, cricket) on campus, and could pick up some couples walking along the sidewalk. I don't want to publish those though- that's a bit creepy. So instead, I'm going to include a few pics I took today.
Now, this demonstration is quite simple. One pic is a close-up, the other isn't. If you look closely at the broad shot, you'll see the small buildings I focused on for the close-up.
Let me know what you think of the quality of them.
[Edit]
After posting, I realized it's pretty impossible to see the point where I meant, so I added another pic with a convenient label of "Over here." Open it up in a new window and you should be able to see what I meant. |
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