Subtle Senses

I went to watch The Golden Compass today. I read the His Dark Materials trilogy quite some time back, so the memories are rather fuzzy about the exact details of the original books. However, I really missed the part about the armored ice bears. Frankly, that all reminded me of the Narnia film, what with the Queen and her polar bears.

Anyway, thoughts of The Subtle Knife made me think about the subtle senses. The use of subtle senses is apparently best without conscious control. Or perhaps it may be more accurately termed as logical control. Interestingly enough, intuitive things by definition do not work when logic is pulled in. That is because hard logic plays no part in the control of these aspects. It's sort of like how you can logically think about how to lift your arm through control of the muscles, but no amount of logic will actually move your arm.

Communal Celebrations

Watching the mindless masses swarming around the Christmas season leaves one to wonder at the sensibility of these communal celebrations. Sure, some call them holidays or holy days or even seasons of joy. Many regard these celebrations as having a "festive mood" and thus worthy of the attention.

However, this is all quite senseless, really. For one, people like being individuals yet adore throwing their individuality away just so they can indulge in a bit of sinful herd mentality. Also, time just passes and pretty much ignores whatever people try to slap onto it. A New Year's day or Christmas would really be quite arbitrary. You don't technically get a "new year" after Dec 31st. You just get another sunrise.

Perhaps all this is just to prevent people from feeling like dumbasses for tossing their dignity to the wind and letting their hair down at an arbitrary time. Big whoop, let's rave like there's no 2008 on Dec 21 because I felt like it! Given the nature of straitlaced modern adult society, such activity would be quite frowned upon or deemed silly. It's just too bad that people love to tie themselves in knots over self-made rules.

Watching Your Levels

In aesthetics, there is a great emphasis placed on horizons to be leveled (especially when there isn't an intention to unsettle the image somewhat). On the surface, this sounds perfectly reasonable. The human perceptions are reputedly so fine-tuned that humans are able to perceive when a photo is tilted.

This is all well and good until you realize that the human idea of level is not so much a perfectly horizontal true horizon, but a perceptual imaginary horizon that is drawn even when the picture isn't leveled. All in all, it is probably an evolutionary step to allow humans to be able to stand upright with reference to that imaginary horizon. It's terrible in other contexts, especially when you know that you didn't tilt anything, but everyone else insists that something is tilted in a shot.

Life's Tapestry

There is the comfort of comfort. Comfort is the opiate of the masses. It could take the form of religion, achievement, an ideal or any other lie cooked up to conjure meaning out of life. How true is conjured meaning? It may be a construct made to deceive ourselves into believing that we are enlightened.

Life is a tapestry of many threads, and we need to weave the threads into a coherent whole. It would be foolish to cling to a few threads and call it a tapestry. Much as doing so would be comforting, it does little to hold reality together. Besides, anyone with half an eye would be able to see that it is merely a conjured illusion to deceive oneself.

Of course, weaving is hard work. That is why some prefer to bank everything on a single thread. Yet without the variety of the other threads, a single thread breaking would be devastating to the coherence of the life in question. What would happen, then?

True Nature

I can preach about courage, but why do I hide my true nature? Am I alive? Have I truly lived? It is hard to live a half-life, being un-dead for having no life yet not being actually dead. A strange sort of limbo, and something that most would do their utmost to avoid.

What happens when one cuts loose, however. Does one lose the illusory self and become what one truly is? Many believe that it is to be avoided, for in doing so one is no longer oneself. But it could be far worse to become the mask, losing one's self in the process as well. Of course, there comes that need for self-control so as not to alarm everyone else to the extent that it becomes difficult to do anything without people fleeing in terror...

It's Obvious

Ok right, so someone cooks up a really odd theory about the presidents Lincoln and Kennedy. http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylc=X3oDMTFtMXI2N3ZvBF9TAzI3MTYxNDkEX3MDMzk2NTQ1MTAzBHNlYwNmcm9udCBwYWdlBHNsawNGUC1Ub2RheUludA--?qid=20060718102928AADth6z&fr=hp
Maybe I'm odd or a conspiracy theorist, but it seems that nobody is willing to come up with an explanation for these weird happenings. Me? I don't really believe in coincidences. And when there are too many coincidences, it really should ring a bell in someone's head.

That much should be obvious: These two presidents are the same person! In fact, they could well be a variety of daywalking vampire. It all fits. Clearly, they have much in common. It is a common joke amongst immortals having little references to past discarded identities. I mean, these two presidents did come back and the loose ends were neatly tied in with assassins...who were likely accomplices! So yeah. If anyone really wants to see a significance in all this, they need only look towards vampire lore.

Guns 'n Surveillance

There can be few things as disturbing as knowing that humans really are animals that are incapable of disciplining themselves. Give them the right to bear arms and we wind up with shooting sprees in school (not that I disapprove, of course. It reduces the human population, after all) So in comes tighter controls and surveillance.

In a technologically advanced society, surveillance can go a whole lot further than it used to. Besides the classic spying on others with real spies, it is a breeze to use night vision equipment, telephoto lenses and even tiny unmanned drones to do all that. There are tagging technologies and magic eyes in the skies.

Despite all this, it must be noted that humans are animals incapable of disciplining themselves. The common peasants have proven this. However, what makes the elected leaders of these unwashed masses so certain that they are entitled to legitimate uses of violence? What makes the commoners so sure that their leaders will not be using their authority for personal gain? Bah. Humans.

If you meet the Buddha...

I suppose that since this koan preaches about killing, I'll just go with it. Sounds like fun to kill Buddhas. Of course, this would probably apply to just about every religion that preaches against idol worship. Like the Buddhas, the idols can be internal and external. They could be a golden calf or even that random false prophet that comes along and claims that God has changed Her mind. I don't really understand how one would really want to worship a golden cow or believe that their God is fickle, but I suppose I've been fooled by stranger things.

Anyway the whole point is that everyone forms false expectations. They hear hands clapping
and assume that one hand clapping has to sound somewhat similar. They see a gay person and assume that he would go around trying to seduce all men. Perhaps it is time to kill all these false Buddhas and at least work towards some level of enlightenment.

Break It!

There are rules to be broken, regulations to flout! So why are you sitting around on your law-abiding butt? Of course, some would balk at being anti-establishment. After all, there are always penalties to flouting rules. Still, nobody ever seems to question why rules are there in the first place. They are not just "there for a reason". It would be far better to know exactly which reason that was and whether that reason was valid in the first place. Hence, I think it is unwise for one to dismiss anti-establishment people offhand as troublemakers. After all, they may well be performing everyone a valuable service...

Koff Koff

Perhaps people have no common decency. Of course, since I have this wonderful absolute faith in the innate goodness of humanity, I shall have to assume that it is my poor fortune that has led me to have a bunch of humans coughing at me and around me...without covering their snotty gobs. Clearly, it is their gobs that cause the most trouble since it has the largest aperture and smell a whole lot worse than their porcine snouts. Then again, I have recently recalled that I did not, after all, have any real faith in the innate goodness of humanity or their pathetic plagues so I say: Cover up when you sneeze and cough!

Hidden Ovulation

There's this odd assertion that the ovulation of women is "hidden". Understandably, women do not develop all sorts of odd symptoms like swollen red butts when it's around that-time-of-the-month. However, it would be too hasty to assume that ovulation is hidden just because humans (mainly men) are incapable of sensing its coming. I think even a human would be able to scent the difference when someone is about to ovulate. If not only the sense of smell, then perhaps the weird feelings that pop out of nowhere when you're actually experiencing it? Or the heightened senses and certain friskiness? Well, perhaps some are just unwilling to admit it to themselves...

Cows Are Zen

Yes. Cows are zen. In fact, they are so zen that everyone thinks they're dumb. For any skeptic out there, one need only hear what the cows have to say to everything. Yes, that's right. They say Mu. For the uninitiated, Mu is also Japanese for void or nothingness. The cows have understood the ultimate meaninglessness of life and chosen to accept it for what it is. That is why cows have yet to organize themselves into a massive uprising to overthrow humanity: They understand that even if they succeed, it is all meaningless. Enjoy your steaks.

Idol Worship

Idol worship is a terrible, terrible sin. It is a sin of sheer stupidity. It is so stupid it just has to be a sin. Anyway, the whole idea is this: You make something, then you fall to your knees and kowtow to it. So maybe I'm a weirdo, but the thought of bowing to my own creation is a bit odd. I mean, shouldn't my creation be bowing to me? It kind of defeats the purpose, having myself take the effort to make 100 items, only to be bowing to them in turn. It would be marginally more meaningful to bow to a rock or a tree, though. At least you didn't have to take the trouble to make them...

A Creepy Moment

Sometimes, things just happen at night. Perhaps it's a bit of the third eye popping open at an inopportune time or something. Anyway, I was brushing my fangs at night and caught a mind's eye glimpse of a rather grotesque face. Now, that's usually a sign that something's up. That's especially so when the glimpse was that vivid. Then when I got back to my room and picked my handkerchief off the floor, it was covered in ants. Apparently, it picked up a potato chip that was swarming with the lil creatures. Creepy, perhaps. I've had worse when ants swarmed out of one of my containers a'la Stephen King.

Of course, it's the same sort of weirdness as having a drop of water fall on your lap when there was nothing on the ceiling, along with water dropping and falling in the shape of a rather interesting sign. Ah, the wonders of being where I am. heh. Of course, negotiation is much preferred to intimidation. Feeding off fear is one thing...but I feed off fear too. Doesn't work too well for some, does it?

Pink Everything!

How odd, that pink is chosen as the color of the gay community. No, it is not quite the community
that chose it so much as the power hegemony that opted to label gays with "pink". It's pink everything nowadays, apparently. Pink dollars, pink photography for gay marriages et cetera. My question would be: Why pink! I mean, if there's a color, perhaps we could always go with purple.

Purple is the land between red and blue. Red being females, blue being males. (don't ask me which dumbass came up with that color categorization). Pink, though? Pink is a rather feminine color, and probably would look more at home on the shoulders of lesbians. Then again, a goodly number of lesbians would not be too happy with that as well. Could it be that gay men like to wear pink? I suppose that would be odd, but it would imply that gay men are intrinsically feminine. Strange...I could've sworn that most gay men I've seen in real life aren't quite feminine...

Bimbo No More

The archetype of the bimbo is not far from that of the prostitute. A bimbo is thought of as a stupid attractive woman of questionable morals. That is, she uses her sexuality to get ahead, much the way a prostitute "sells" her sexuality to get economically ahead.

I see a problem here. The problem is not that intellect is something that one should flaunt. Presented with that idea, I would simply propose that women are on average smarter than men because men think about sex more and thus are less capable of focusing on the important intellectual things. Of course, that would sound downright misandrist and somewhat questionable. Not that it is a far cry from the things leveled against women that are taken as "fact".

The problem is that sexuality has become something that is deemed by our society to need to be closely guarded. Virginity is highly prized. Selling of the "body" (really merely selling sexual favours unless one is unfortunate enough to feel attachment) is met with scorn. Getting ahead with one's natural sexual attractiveness is somehow inferior to getting ahead with one's intellect. All this is a proposition to keep the female "self" for the male. Sexual and relational commitment must be reserved for one's husband, and virginity should never be lost before marriage. The "right" way to get ahead in life is through one's skills and not one's sexuality.

Perhaps some will not see a problem in basically being told to keep one natural aspect of the self shackled simply because others said so. And it is not necessarily a "natural" aspect that is brutal like going out there and killing things. I am for commitment and sexual fidelity, of course. The problem is that sexual fidelity works both ways. How strange, then, that a man who is a virgin up till the day of marriage is...not highly respected. A woman's intellect that is automatically discredited due to her gender becomes a commonplace thing.

It was found that an identical resume slapped with a female name would lose credibility in the eyes of recruiters. How, then, is a woman to use intellect properly in the face of opposition such as this? In the absence of due respect for a woman's intellect, what more is there left for a bimbo to get ahead with? Oh heaven forbid it to be her sexuality...

The Subtle Self

Most humans have difficulty seeing the subtle self. I felt that disability when walking around one day. I was dressed casually, in a t-shirt and jeans. Not something a rich kid would be wearing. I carried my pack as was usual, along with a sling bag. In my pack was a rather expensive laptop and a tripod, with a professional camera in the sling bag. To the untrained eye, I was just another passer by. To my wallet, I was lugging thousands of dollars of equipment. Were I to turn up at a posh restaurant, I would probably have looked out of place and rather shabby.

It is the same with the subtle self, that cannot be seen with physical eyes. It takes a certain amount of empathy and awareness to be able to spot what lies below the veneer of human likeness. How strange, then, that many are content to stare ceaselessly at that veneer, and deem it to be all there is to a person.

Housewife

What's wrong with being a housewife? Patriarchal society seems to have devalued domestic (women's) work so successfully that the very thought of a woman aspiring to be a housewife is...rather weird. The association of non-domestic work with "success" and ambition has led to scorn being reserved for such worthy aspirations as wanting to be a housewife.

If one considers being a mother and a housewife as unremarkable, unambitious work, one has clearly never considered where the population came from. It is the mothers who brought up the children, often in the absence of active involvement by the father. The houses need to be kept relatively neat for a safe environment that is disease-free. There is much that rests on the shoulders of a housewife.

Despite all this, I do not see awards or rewards for being a great housewife. Nothing noteworthy about finding a use for lemon juice on carpet stains. That much should be under the purview of the (likely male) chemists. Are you going to turn lemon juice into carpet cleaning fluid? It is this preoccupation with productive (money-earning) work that problematizes domestic work. After all, was it not patriarchy that decreed that the man support the house and the wife do domestic work without pay? Isn't the definition of slavery forced labour without pay?

Malthus Revisited

I've long suspected that Malthus was right, in that growth is likely unsustainable. I look at the fisheries and their massive hauls. I see the massive waste of fish that nobody will buy before it rots. I look at the supermarkets heaped to the ceilings with goods, and wonder at how much would be bought before the sell-by date.

The issue of unsustainability is not merely that of human needs growing faster than what the environment can provide. It is also a matter of massive inefficiency and the irrationality of human *wants*. Humans want more than they would likely ever need. In wanting money and to drive "progress", they rape the world's resources and overconsume what they steal. All this...to drive productivity of goods that people may never actually consume. How ironic that, in the pursuit of competitiveness, humans are succeeding at business and at killing themselves. They will not last very much longer. Of course, that is not the concern of the world. The world goes on.

Thou Thinkst Overly Much

I feel Asians think too much. With every action, there is an interesting preoccupation with "face" and what others would think about that action. Sometimes, it's even about having a thought. I mean, it's nice to be considerate of others' feelings but there's a line between paranoia and consideration.

I like the idea of thinking in terms of the self first. What one should first do is ensure that one can live with one's actions. If one's actions do not satisfy oneself, there is no point in trying to satisfy others while one is at it. I do not think there is meaning to exclusively pleasing others. What would concern me is that can those Asians think in terms of themselves as well as in relation to others? After all, they do seem to have a thing for balance and compromise. This would be a good thing to have, compromising between self-centeredness and being collectivistically satisfying.

Life's Puzzle

I feel like I'm living a puzzle. I have the pieces from here and there, but I have yet to find a way to put them all together. It is strange, since there is probably something coming that will call for my use of the full puzzle. A piece of learning here, a bit of lore there. I guess everything will come together with time.

Earning Game Money

It seems that economies based on money tend to go in certain ways. This can be seen in online games where players need to have money to buy stuff. Due to scarcity, some of the rarer and more desirable items will cost more. Of course, players would like to have that item. Often, those prices are so steep that no regular player would typically have that much money on them. What do they do? They wind up killing monsters to get money, or items that can be sold for money.

Strangely enough, that is precisely what many people are doing. Most people have real goods they wish to purchase, and go out there to earn money so they can purchase it. It's like farming for money, except in a non-game context.

Then some would ask why this is so, since playing games is fun and slaying monsters is not really work. Well...perhaps that is so for them. It would be like people getting paid for their hobbies. For most people, however? They do not work to gain skills (or "level up")...they're just repeatedly farming gold so they can buy the next best item...

I Forgot

Sometimes one can forget things. Sometimes those forgotten things can be once in a lifetime opportunities that cannot be regained. Ever wondered what that feels like? Strangely enough, when one actually manages to forget that, the pain does not hit immediately. I mean, if it's so important, it's quite unlikely that you'd forget in the first place.

Then comes the crunch, perhaps sometime in the distant future when you look back at what you've lost because of your forgetfulness. But for now? It's a sort of...non-feeling, and perhaps that of liberation. Knowing that even though an opportunity has passed you on, its passing allows you to pick and choose from others that you may ignore when you were busy clinging to the first. I forgot. And it doesn't hurt. Yet.

Double Standards

Humans love to establish double standards. The only thing they like more than establishing double standards would be to make them up to suit whatever they strongly believe. An example is human free will and sexuality. Nature? Nurture?

Clearly, humans have free will. They choose to believe it, anyway. They can make rational choices, and are obviously able to make hard choices at will. Humans are clearly not slaves to their urges. Even if a man is violent, the man can obviously choose to not hurt others. This is how free will comes in.

It all sounds very coherent until natureis considered. After all, it is the natural order of things for sexually reproducing species like humans to be heterosexual. How else do babies come along? Now, the only logical thing would be to follow these heterosexual urges and leave it at that. It is the natural thing, after all. Where did free will go? Suddenly, it becomes "right" to follow nature and thus free will becomes irrelevant in the face of this "right" sexual orientation.

Now, now...if people "choose" to turn gay, they obviously won't reproduce. Aren't all you Darwinians out there glad that nobody is sullying your gene pool?

Skill Spamming

From what I know, working in the "real world" is remarkably like skill spamming. That is, repeatedly using skills x, y and z over and over again, because work simply does not require you to use skills a through w very much. Strange, but true. They can teach you a thousand skills in school, yet only a few ever turn out to be really useful out there.

For me, it looks remarkably like someone trying to play an entire symphony with a limited range of notes. I do not think great symphonies should or would use a fraction of the musical scale to achieve its aims. Sure...maybe that would work for novelty pieces. But I think the truly great symphonies simply will not stoop to skill spamming...

Occult Symbols

There are many things written about the "real" use of occult symbols. Perhaps the pentacle is used to summon the devil, or that it represents the five prime elements. Whatever the symbol or its alleged use, it must be remembered that a symbol is what it is: A construct made by humans to represent something. The pentacle can mean whatever its user intends it to mean. As can an ankh, or the Star of David. What matters is the faith of the user. That very strong belief that the symbol can and will do what the user believes that it will. Therein lies the power of symbols.

Advertising Stress

Almost everyone knows that the models in adverts are unrealistic. That is, they simply do not represent average people in reality. In fact, the models as pictured in ads may not exist at all. Strangely enough, this knowledge does not seem to stop impressionable young minds from taking these unrealistic standards as the very picture of perfection that is to be striven towards.

It is probably a matter of the unattainable being the most desirable. Still, it is a terrible thing how people can believe visual media to the extent that they become distressed over not being able to be like these virtual goddesses and gods. Perhaps it is the impact of a photograph, and the implicit belief that photographs reflect reality. Cameras can, do and will continue to lie. It should be time that people wised up and quit believing what they know to be lies.

The Siege Mentality

There is a problem when things cause the siege mentality to emerge in people. Take for example a moving standard by which you are gauged. That standard moves by the quality of your peers. Ordinarily, that would not be an issue. It is fair, since you are evaluated in relation to your peers.

Now put this in the context of a job interview. 5 candidates, 1 opening. Clearly, something has to give. For the purposes of this discussion, the assumption would be that the 5 candidates all want the opening and are unwilling to cede it to anyone else. Naturally, the response would be to engage the siege mentality. That is, assume that everyone will do their best to get that job opening.

The act of fighting for the opening causes quality inflation. All 5 candidates will try to put their best foot forward to best one another. Now, assuming that there will be 1 candidate selected regardless their quality, the best thing for everyone to do would be to put in as little effort as it takes to get in. After all, if everyone is of uniformly poor quality, they would be equally matched as they would if they were all of uniformly excellent quality.

This does not happen, of course. Everyone strives for excellence, creating an artificial constant of stress. Yes, this would improve quality. However, quality at what cost? What will society become, given that it is driven by such ceaselessly shifting measures?

It's...Very Hard

Few things can be as intimidating as something that is said to be "very hard" to do. I worry less when someone tells me that something is impossible. It just means the person who told me that is entirely inept, or it's truly impossible to accomplish. Something "very hard" just pretty much throws it in my face that I would have to put in an incredible amount of effort over an extended period of time to achieve what I want to. Were it said to be impossible, I could just declare it bunk and go ahead to achieve it anyway. I'd get an ego boost in the bargain. Either that, or I could convince myself that it cannot be done, and put my legs up for the entire duration. But if it's very hard? Oh crap...People seldom exaggerate things that way. For some reason, that thing has a very good chance of turning out to be quite true.

What Ethics?

There can be few things as irritating as ethical people. No, not the sort that are against genocides and gender discrimination (those would be moral rather than ethical, I feel). I'm talking about those who just love to set up rules to bind themselves, just so they can fulfill some strange code of ethics that make sense only to themselves. I think it is horribly inefficient to come up with self-imposed restrictions that do not add value to the project at hand. I note this is especially common amongst those who read between the lines when it comes to instructions: If instruction A is there, it implies that it also requires B and C and D. For me, I'd much prefer to do things above and beyond the requirement in order to add value to everything that falls within the bounds of instruction A. I mean...who's against a bit of padding to make things look good...

Women's Money

Strangely, women being unable to earn as much as men has been taken as evidence that women should stay in the domestic sphere than as a clear injustice that must be dealt with. Female power has historicallybeen slipping at every turn in classic patriarchal societies. In the absence of apparent superior choices, it is inevitable that women choose a steady level of reduced rights than a slim chance of full rights as citizens. This could be due to a focus on the dominance of one sex over the other, than as the drive towards giving both sexes equal weightage.

I think complacency is perhaps the biggest threat to human rights in general. This is not only concerning women's money, but the rights to freedom of speech, expression and even common behaviour. When things are horribly oppressive, everyone starts coming up in arms against perceived injustices. Then someone bows to these demands, people feel comfortable and they start resting on their laurels. No wonder dictatorships can arise under the guise of democracy...

Housework

I hate housework. C'mon...someone tell me they actually like that. Housework is the precise thing that has practically zero productivity and seems to be self-regenerating. Anyone who says that housework can ever be finished either doesn't do housework, is lying or simply doesn't have anyone living in the house. My mere presence is enough to make kipple and housework appear out of nowhere. I tidy the room like mad, drop a book where it is convenient and I find myself seeding the growth of yet another horrible mess.

So the question would be...how much would I pay for someone to do my housework, if any? The answer is that I probably wouldn't. Well...that or minimum wage. Then again, if one considers that I would never want to work for a minimum wage, it is illogical to expect me to do housework professionally. What happens, then, to those poor domestic helpers and engineers? Clearly, they are under-appreciated! If anything, they should at least be paid a significant portion of the opportunity cost of working professionally. And don't get me started on childcare...

Governments, Not Mushrooms

Good, qualified governments do not pop up like mushrooms after continued rainfall. This seems to be the apparent belief of some people who think toppling an authoritarian regime by protests for democracy will automagically result in the formation of a new democratic government. In any country larger than a city, such an outcome is highly unlikely.

However, it must also be understood that the capacity of human endurance is incredible. In the absence of agents of change, a move towards more humane conditions for the citizens of a country can take centuries or even longer. History will attest to the propensity to the ability of humans to tolerate authoritarian regimes for hundreds or even thousands of years as long as their lives are afforded some modicum of peace and stability.

Still, it should be made clear that no amount of generalizing will help what goes on in the real world. This is not a matter of democratic, asian, western, authoritarian or any number of value systems and ideologies out there. In just about any modern government, the authorities hold significant power by virtue of their office, and it is as likely to be an "asian" value as it is a personal value.

I believe it is a personal value, given that claiming to represent christian or democratic or asian values is a gross oversimplification and is likely to be no more than subverting a categorical group's credibility as your own. An immense number of atrocities have been committed under the banner of higher morals or ideals.

So, when a situation emerges that requires a government to step up atop an existing one that is making the people in general suffer? It becomes a matter of whether the people feel they are suffering, which is not something that can be viewed under the lens of ideology. And when those people feel that they need a new leadership, it matters little how much pain and suffering will result. This will be a move for the future generations. Good governance simply does not pop up like a mushroom, allowing the current generation to enjoy its heady shade.

Those Crazy Monks!

I am so amazed and extremely proud of these monks. http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/F649F281-F993-41BD-AF9F-11C1552CCACB.htm Myanmar is probably one of the worst countries on earth to have a march like this, especially since they are moving for a change in the political regime. I think this is perhaps one of the best calculated and beautifully orchestrated pro-democracy event I've seen in a long time.

Myanmar is a largely Buddhist country, resulting in great respect for the monks. This means the monks already have popular support. Monks also have a reputation for non-violence. Were people like myself to march on the streets, the government could easily put us down as violent or potentially violent protesters. Unarmed monks? That would cause not only a huge uproar locally, but would also create an internationally recognizable human and civil rights violation.

There is also the shock value to such a move. Monks are perhaps not expected to be politically motivated. I personally did not think they had it in them. At worst, the Burmese government may label them as radicals and not monks since they have given up their religious inclinations in favour of political motivations. I don't think many would buy such an excuse, tho. Overall, I think their rallying call is powerful and the people finally do have a precedent for a movement against the oppressive leadership. It is my hope that others living under similar regimes all over the world to do likewise, should they feel that their leadership does more harm than good.

Eating What You Kill

This just reminds me about how far humans have been removed from nature and their food sources. http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070916/hl_nm/locavore_dc. It is one thing to say that meat is just meat. The separation between meat and killing has made many humans rather callous about just how the meat comes about. What? Kill animals for food? That's just cruel. But thank goodness I get my meat from a supermarket.

I think it's sad when people say to me that they're thankful that they have someone else to kill the animals so they can have the meat. It's a certain sort of disconnect whereby the guilt is transferred to the butchers and there is no longer any sense of responsibility for the life that was sacrificed to bring meat to the table.

Still, all of this isn't nearly as bad as humans who kill for sport. That is hardly sporting, and really rather wasteful. I'm not saying that pests can't be killed to protect one's crops. It's just that one really shouldn't go around filling random animals with lead just for the heck of it, or just 'coz someone wants another stuffed head in the cabin.

Loneliness In The City

I cannot help but conclude that loneliness in urban environments is self-inflicted. Modern big cities have an incredible population density per square mile, with enough people within a stone's throw to completely invalidate any argument of "loneliness". Yes, you can hit at least a hundred people within a stone's throw, even if you throw like a girl.

What is it about cities that makes people feel lonely? There are millions of people rushing about at any one time, with apparently nobody feeling the urge to stop and chat. Does this imply that the lack of small talk with random people is what causes loneliness? I think small talk is perhaps one of the biggest time wasters in the social context. Yet if one feels sufficiently inclined to crawl out of the self-inflicted morass of loneliness, one only has to grab the neighbour on the train or bus and irk the poor fella with small talk. Loneliness in a crowd of thousands? I hardly think so.

Urban Machismo

Some things really make me pity urban men and their machismo. One of them would be the “macho” field trip. First, they try to be rough and tough, climbing (and thus conquering) tall mountains. Of course, this would have been particularly heroic (and quite foolhardy) if they were to go it alone and carry their equipment while they were at it.

The reality is quite different, though. Those macho, macho men will find themselves shrugging those incredibly heavy equipment off to sherpa "guides". I think perhaps those urban dwellers should realize that the guides are merely there to keep the men from hurting and/or embarrassing themselves. It's one thing to carry comparatively light equipment up a mountain while being decked out in all sorts of fancy mountaineering gear. It's quite something else to be able to trudge up the mountain in ordinary kit while carrying the tents and stuff of the urban dwellers. So...who's macho, again?

A Loss

I am slightly upset over losing a necklace today. Granted, it didn't cost me very much. However, I hate losing stuff and especially the only black cord accessory I have. Of course, this is also an excuse for me to go jewelery shopping. Still...if anything of mine decides to leave, I guess I'll have to respect its wishes. Even companions go away from time to time, I guess...

My Night Visitor

I managed to catch a glimpse of the night visitor as it decided to pose for me in midair. Those things are fast! Aaaanyway, the bat turned out to be a fruit bat, and not of the vampire variety. What a pity. I would've thought one of my friends decided to drop by. Still, this flying furball decided that the bananas we hung up near the window were yummy and good for her tummy, so we regularly had half-eaten bananas in our bunch.

I suppose I blinded the poor thing with my camera's flashes, seeing as how the bat was in a terrible panic, flying all over the apartment. Well...I can't help it if someone invades my sanctum, dear =p

Going Batty

It's especially interesting to have bats fluttering into your apartment...two nights in a row. I was watching TV this evening when the bat flew past me and then back out the kitchen window. Mom noticed, too, and told me that a bat did the exact same thing in the middle of last night, except it beat its wings against the window in an effort to get out. This would be odd, since my apartment also happens to be on the 12th floor, and bats aren't terribly inclined to get into my nice, dark, dank place. Oh wait...perhaps that's why...

Besides, that could've simply been one of my vampire friends, so I'm not about to complain. Perhaps they'd stop by for tea this time, or something.

As a side note, I felt something I didn't feel for some time: My animal side emerging some. It's just that time period where awareness is enhanced, every sense just seems to come alive, and suddenly being around humans becomes something alien. It's a bit like walking amongst potential threats, having to be on edge at all times. Interesting feel, that.

The Scope

Another piece of the puzzle: A scope for the E510. Its specs are nice enough. Actually, I was agonizing over whether to get this one, or the newer kit lens with the same focal length range. I settled on this after finding out that it had a full f-stop of aperture above and beyond that of the new kit. I later realized that it had a metal mount, weighed nearly twice as much and was Made In Japan. Now, I fully understand that products made in China can potentially be every bit as good as one made in Japan, but cost of production is higher there and overall I feel that I got better value for money with this item. I mean, it's new after all and what more can I want for my current budget (short of them risky second hand stuff).

I really needed a zoom because there are some things that I just can't reach with an 84mm lens. That's especially so if I'm trying to hit something that isn't right in front of me. There are just some things that are pretty necessary 'coz you'd lack the capabilities without them, and there are other things that are "nice to have". A macro lens would be nice-to-have, but hardly something a student with my pathetic skill level would really need. I feel that quality macro shots are really quite gimmicky, specialized and have requirements for equipment beyond what I have and would get on a student's budget. For near-essentials, the final thing I'd need is a proper flash unit. That is, when I exhaust the capabilities of the body flash. I suspect the body flash can be pushed beyond its current limits were I to fit it with a suitable diffuser or a reflector. Experimentation time.

Lost

Despite having a syllabus that looks positively kickass this semester, I feel strangely lost. Or perhaps it's a lack of drive. I'm not entirely sure. I think there's just so much I can do with my time, and no amount of work I do within the day can amount to what I expect of myself. I know this sounds silly, but the feeling was only reinforced when I missed a lecture today. It's like...I may not pay attention during the lecture, but I feel that I have achieved *something*. That something which I do not have when doing research for this and that. Time to buck up, strap myself in and be antisocial?

The Martian

I got myself a Martian...tripod, that is. The new tripod is a Velbon Ultra Luxi-F. I think it suits my purposes just fine. The tripod is light (1.38kg), folds down small enough to fit in my regular backpack, can extend to reach at least my eye level, highly flexible and is quite sturdy. Then again, my entire camera rig is only 500g and tripod is rated for 2kg so I presume it will hold up. Of course, it also cost me, and I've probably run out of cash for the month.

But of course, this is probably the only tripod I am willing to lug about. Frankly, I feel like a dumbass dragging a huge tripod around exclusively because I'm on a photo expedition. With a tripod that fits in my pack, I can basically go everywhere with it and deploy whenever I feel it's necessary to make a great shot.

I especially like the pan head, even though it is frowned upon by some photographers. I feel it is nice to be able to selectively swivel the camera while locking the tilt. Of course, since everything's so light, I can just lift the whole thing and sprint to the next location if I spot a good shot nearby. That's something I wouldn't do with a heavier, more cumbersome tripod.

Finally, I wound up forking out twice as much as I would for the Manfrotto 485. But then the deal-breakers for the 485 were that I heard the lever locks broke easily, flimsy-feel, not having the ability to work at low angles and the low height of the overall tripod. Moreover, it was rated for less weight than the Luxi. It was a pity, since I really loved the pistol grip adjustment ball head on the 485. Then again, that was a fixed head and I couldn't change it even if I wanted to. Basically, I was getting what I paid for. So here's hoping that it all works out =p

A New Accessory?

Ok, now that I have my E510, the first accessory I'd really need would be a tripod. I sorta have my eye on the Manfrotto 785 SHB. I know it's hardly the pro's choice and probably not the most durable of tripods, but I'm on a budget and intend to lug it along when I'm moving about. So yeah. Here's to a backpack tripod. heh. I should probably get a heavier pod for more serious work. But that's another concern for another day. I hardly have the lenses to justify the purchase, and I can hardly work with a tripod I'm not feeling willing to carry around.

A New Toy

Right. I settled on the Olympus E510 for my personal cam, that doubles up as a project making tool in school. So far, I think it's a pretty nifty device. I'm still getting used to the functions and settings on a dSLR, of course. But since I migrated from digi point-n-shoot cameras, it isn't that hard to figure out the non-manual controls. It's just a matter of adjusting the settings so that practically every shot turns out exactly as good as I intend it to look. This is essential, since the preview screen is hardly the best way to assess how a shot really looks.

Anyway, the features that sealed the deal included the image stabilizer, effective dust removal and the live view. Actually, I don't use the live view much, but it's nice to have grid lines for reference and leveling shots when hand-holding the camera. Not to mention stabilization helps with hand-holding, too. Well, the pics so far seem decent enough. I like the colors on the daylight shots. Now it's all up to me to learn the ins and outs of shooting in low light, overcast and indoor conditions.

On Guilt

I guess it’s a thing that many females get caught up in. Yanou, the weird guilt thing. As if everything’s somehow your fault, even when that does not make logical sense. Hell, it may not even be a real situation. I don’t know why people feel that way, and I’d probably brush such sentiments off were someone else to say the exact same thing to me. Anyway, the thing is that I just feel bad about spending my mother’s money. I suppose the feelings are a result of just wanting to avoid hurting mom in any way. I don’t know why I feel so protective of mom, but I do. For some reason, I subconsciously believe spending that money is also a way of hurting her. This is strange, since we’re not actually running short of money as a result of my actions. Moreover, I hardly think I’m splurging by purchasing things at inflated prices. Perhaps this is because of the absolute value of the expenditures? So much to learn, so little time.

The Myth Of The Impartial Journalist

It is common enough in handbooks on proper journalism that the ideal journalist must be neutral in her approach. Facts are facts, and should be presented in an objective manner. However, it is also impossible for a human raised in a human society to be perfectly objective. In fact, any sort of objectivity is quite impossible. After all, the facts are there for the journalist to analyze in any way she sees fit. There are also factors to consider, like the financial interests of the publication,
political pressures and even the personal biases of the journalists and her editors. Thus, the idea of a real impartial journalist can be far fetched indeed.

The Hijab And Freedom

In the Western media, it is common to see the Hijab, or Arabic dress that women wear, is portrayed as a symbol of female oppression. I used to have the same opinion, as forcing women to dress in a certain manner and thus conceal their bodies seems terribly patriarchal. It basically says that women cause men to sin, and thus women have to conceal their desirability to avoid leading men into sin. I really hate the way such an interpretation makes it seem that women are at fault for being desirable and thus lead men to do stupid things. It fails to take into account the weakness in men that only men can overcome, instead of semi-metaphorically sweeping the problem under a carpet.


After some time observing how other women lead their lives, I am beginning to wonder if there is some merit to the Hijab. In many non-Muslim countries, women are portrayed as free and pretty. They are liberated in acknowledging their sexuality and expressing it. This is the rosy interpretation of contemporary female fashion. It seems to be an improvement on how women had to wear skirts and dresses and keep their hair long back in the Victorian days. Women's rights and norms of behaviour are a separate issue here.

However, the same does not apply to just any woman. Not every woman feels the ability or compulsion to dress in a manner that enhances their appearance in a way that is similar to stereotypical models in a Hollywood ad. Some have bodies that hardly resemble that of any model. Others perhaps have no fashion sense whatsoever and are derided for dressing in an inappropriate manner. Simply put, these women are being oppressed by the contemporary norms of fashion in very much the same way the Hijab supposedly oppresses Arabic women.

In fact, the application of Hijab-style fashion is a powerful leveling instrument. It frees women to worry less about their appearances and dress sense, and more towards cultivating themselves as females. Self-actualization becomes possible without reference to the context of fashion or beauty as popular culture portrays it. There will be fewer concerns about whether my butt looks fat today, or whether that dress fits me well.

Of course, such an ideal situation would only be possible through universal acceptance of the Hijab itself and what it represents. Surely some shapelier women will bemoan the plainness of the Hijab preventing them from using their inborn feminine beauty to help personal relations. Seduction is, after all, a natural advantage that some women have raised to an art form. There will also be those who scream about men oppressing women all over again. Or perhaps the apparent uniformity of the dress.

I think the issue here is not so much about freedom, as there are many ways to freedom. I would not feel free in a prison, though an impoverished citizen unable to secure regular meals and in constant danger on the streets may actually feel liberated through incarceration. The issue is the startling imbalance in the application of the Hijab, with men blaming women for being seductresses and imposing the restrictions on them, yet not imposing the same on themselves. After all, are not particularly beautiful men in danger of seducing women, leading them to sin?

Letraset Vs Schmincke

Right. This is more of a reminder to myself than anything else. I'm currently using two types of fixatives on my inkjet prints. (Un?)fortunately, I'm using gloss paper. Anyway, Letraset killed my gloss. I'm not sure exactly what solvent it is that did the trick (there's no ingredients list on the can), but now I have a nice matt finish on my piece. Schmincke's is alcohol-based, but preserved most of the glossy look after a light coat. And that's even though Schmincke's doesn't claim to be a gloss spray (most are matt by default). Hence...Schmincke. Remember that, Fenris.

On Rings And Faith

The sequence of encountering things can make a huge impact on how you perceive them. I, for one, have played the game Dreamfall before I watched the movie The Ring. (Yes, Ragnar, I think I know where Faith came from... =p) The incredible resemblance between Faith and Samara made me half-expect Samara to turn to the screen and ask me to find and save April Ryan. In fact, the feelings (pity, sadness) I had for Faith colored my expectations so much so that I did not feel any fear when Samara showed up. Of course, the ending to The Ring was significantly different from the ending to Dreamfall, and that's where the similarities fell apart.

Still, I cannot help but see the parallels between these two characters. Both are young girls, abused and ostracized in some way, subjected to experiments/scrutiny and ultimately died. It's a sad, lonely sort of death. Most interestingly, both girls caused some sort of chaos, death and destruction after they supposedly died, yet maintained a presence in the living world. Yes, lingering dead things aren't really that funny =p

You're Not My Hero

I do not have heroes, apart from myself. Yeah, I know that sounds egotistical. Still, heroes are typically not-me people. I do not see why people would want to grow up to be exactly like not-them people. Sure, one can admire a particular attribute of someone else, such as courage under fire, grace in anger or maybe even simple politeness. I hardly think one has to shape oneself into a virtual clone of someone else just to attain those attributes. I'm sure it isn't a healthy prospect as the probability of success would be low in this case. The failure to attain clone-status would also be potentially devastating on one's self-esteem. Anyway, so there. You're NOT my hero. I am, because I live my own life.

Pandas And The Human Breeding Program

Even pandas are being victimized by the humans' psychologically-inbred ideas of how sexes should go. It never ceases to amaze me how humans can rigidly attempt to force even their own intersexed young into the two sexual categories that they came up with. In the case of pandas, it seems radical, but perhaps is important for the survival of the pandas since they are an endangered species. Already, this was done (presumably =p) without the consent of the panda concerned.

This reminds me of what's being done to children who are born intersexed. While it may not be socially necessary for pandas to have sexually-congruent bits, this is a major issue for the children. Well-meaning parents and medical professionals may want to "correct" something to allow the children to lead "normal" lives. Ordinarily, this wouldn't be a problem if the child is accepting of her/his lot.

However, there are also the issues of ethics and the child's opinion. For one, it is the decision of parents regarding their children's lives, with complete and total disregard for their opinions. In fact, it has traditionally been accepted that parents can make decisions for their children until such time that the children have reached the age of reason. I'm not so sure that it is acceptable to make such irreversible decisions on the behalf of the children, though. Being raised cross-gendered is one thing. Being surgically altered to be cross-gendered is something else.

Quit Sabotaging Yourself

It is not always that one understands what one truly feels. These unacknowledged feelings wind up somewhere in the subconscious, just waiting to trip one up. A fine example of this is when one finds oneself mysteriously sabotaging what one is trying to achieve. Like repeatedly saying stupid things at an interview, for example. Ordinarily, this should trigger some soul-searching when one is mysteriously setting oneself up for failure. However, sometimes it doesn't, which becomes problematic when the subconscious unwillingness to engage in an activity leads to a spreading internalized feeling of being an overall failure. Hence, be aware of this, and quit sabotaging yourself!

Pain Of Existence

People do not live in a vacuum. People have different ideas and beliefs. Yet it is bizarre how people within the same belief systems can actually have such strong, violent reactions against the out-groups. There are those who preach mercy yet refuse to come to the aid of those they disagree with, even though they are overtly marching under the same banner. It is understandable if those come from an entirely different background and induce irrational xenophobia in the paranoid bunch. What is unpardonable is that they would turn upon one another like ravening dogs should they disagree on a single point. (Pardon my lack of an equivalent metaphor, my canine friends)

Such is the pain of existence: The existence of others is a pain. Yet it is so that many try to declare themselves able to tolerate the existence of others...so long as nobody thinks any differently. So much for thinly veiled hypocrisy.

Moby

There are times when I feel like a whale. That is, I wander aimlessly about, wind up beached somewhere and then require people to bail my blubber from the sand. I suppose if there is indeed a leading force around, that force would feel that I'm this horrible blind slow-learner that needs to be dragged about. Otherwise, I'd just walk in circles in that endless wilderness...

Reality's Rainbow

What are the higher planes of existence? I don't mean physically up in outer space. Granted, it's a big reality out there and there's probably lots to explore. I'm really talking about the ones that exist just next door that we walk clean through most of the time. Some call it heaven, paradise, elysian fields and many more. All I can say is...those things aren't really "up there". Sometimes, there are cracks in reality that are readily perceptible. A shimmer here, something that shouldn't be there but is, and all those random quirks of reality that most do not pay attention to. Perhaps there are cracks forming in the veil that hides the mysteries. I'm not entirely sure what it is, but when a wall seems to fade into nothingness for that split second, reality's rainbow shows itself.

The Blessed And The Unfortunate

The blessed walk among us, and we don’t realize it. Sometimes life can seem so gawdawful, yet there are people who also have it hard in different ways. Worst of all are those who are under the heels of others, without anyone else knowing. Thinking of the "unfortunates" will perhaps conjure up images of orphans, people with handicaps, the poor and other "unfortunate" people. However, few ever think of those otherwise physically normal who are ostracized from society. Few ever consider the lower wage earners who are barely able to survive despite earning their less-than-minimum wage.

Also, there are those who seem more privileged than anyone has a right to be. People who are too pretty for their own good, too rich to comprehend or perhaps having descendants reaching from shore to shore. Nobody ever seems to stop to consider if they are truly happy, on the whole, with their lives.

Of course, there are also those blessed in life. Perhaps they are rich, poor, pretty or ugly. But what they have in common is being at peace with who they are, and what they have. Ironically enough, some of them may well be in the category of "unfortunates" for most people.

Irrational Laws

If I set a law upon you which is clearly irrational, what am I asking? Am I being oppressive and demanding that people follow my rules merely because I said so? Or am I giving people the opportunity to exercise their minds and come up with some way to obey my laws while not making life unbearable for themselves? Clearly, irrational laws cannot be given to people who merely ask for the reason for the laws with an intention to break them if they seem irrational for any reason. These laws also cannot be given to a people who are incapable of rational thought and will thus strangle themselves upon them.

Spider Pig

Spider pig, spider pig. Does whatever a spider pig does.

Now that's one line that will haunt me for sometime. As expected, the Simpsons Movie was every bit as funny as the TV series was meant to be. I do like the cheeky way in which they made references to IP rights while jabbing at how people are suckered into paying for content that would otherwise be available at no extra cost. The Simpsons has consistently been a mirror of sorts through which we see our own twisted society. I say it does a bang up job about it!

Moreover, it's noteworthy that they managed to incorporate a family theme into the movie, albeit in classic dysfunctional Simpsonian fashion. Nothing like the spectre of environmental devastation and destruction of Springfield to bring the Simpsons back together.

Great Friends

Sometimes, help can come from the most unexpected of places. I seem to be guided at every turn. Some friend mentions a particular event and suddenly I check and find that there's a fatal error in one of my plans. Or perhaps another friend pops out of the woodwork and then I'm like whoa! I haven't seen you in like *ages!*

One of the things I feel blessed with is having great friends. Friends who accept me for who I am, rather than what I am in relation to internalized social expectations. Nobody's perfect, and they aren't pretending to themselves that I am and that I am somehow obligated to stick to those ideals. I guess that's why they became friends in the first place. Then again, I tend to attract those who were misfits at some time, and for various reasons. While this may sound like a motley crew, and not quite glamorous, misfits are forced not to take for granted the acceptance of people in general. It probably fosters the ability to empathize with how bad things can get when one is in a very real danger of being spat on at every turn. Anyway, Thanks, Guys!

My Long Weekend

The hols are ending. I call the hols my long weekend because...they are essentially one massive long weekend! There is precious little we can remember achieving in life, precisely because we do not take note of what we have achieved. It seems so much more tangible to have that bunch of A's at the end of the semester, or the $2000 paycheck at the end of the month. It is harder to accurately recall that you had breakfast at 9am, chatted online till 10am, played a game till 12, had lunch and so on. If you threw 50 hours into drawing classes and never produced a masterpiece you kept or an "graduation" certificate, it seems to others that, perhaps, it never really happened.

Hence, I shall keep an event log for the next big hol. I want a full accounting of what I have done, and what I have not. For this one, I did lots of reading (titles, Fenris?) writing (where's the full work?) chatting (that's a given) but haven't learned how to play the keyboard (yes, yes...since a year back). Now, I wonder...was that really all I did? (Yeah, Fenris. Was it?)

The Burden Of Knowledge

At the moment, genetic testing is not a valid way to segregate people. This is because genetic markers are not reliably confirmed. However, once these genetic markers are able to be reliably verified, some have expressed concern that the markers would be used to discriminate against people in work, insurance and other relevant areas. Of course, there are the ever-present optimists who believe that the goodness in humanity would prevail and people would not be discriminated against because of something they were born into rather than something that is within their ability to change.

I would be more skeptical on possible goodness coming from the burden of knowledge. After all, people discriminating against others on the basis of something that's not within their control? One need only look towards the cases where people were born into slavery, a certain race or even into a certain sex. Yes, it may seem hardly fair, but massive discrimination may follow on the heels of the cure for cancer.

Being Sick

Sickness hits me in weird ways. Last night, I was developing one helluva problem. Head felt like there was a rock concert going on inside, fever brewing and generally felt weak all over. Not to mention an infernal stuffed up feeling and ringing in the ears. So I took the vitamins, some headache meds and then went to pass out early. Turns out I feel right as rain today. Seems my body has a habit of getting sick for a day and leaving things at that.

Death Of A Fish

Wet markets are one thing. Seeing fish jumping at a supermarket is another. Now, it's interesting to watch the fishmonger at the supermarket catching fish with a net and dumping them on the ice. It's something else watching hypothermia and asphyxia set in. At first, the first is flapping on the ice, apparently short of breath and struggling a bit. After some time, if the fishmonger hasn't already stunned or cut it up, it starts to lie still. Hypothermia sets in, triggering a violent convulsion. The fish curls up in a spasm, tail rapidly flicking against the ice. Sometimes, it's possible to see the life literally leave the fish, as the body slowly lies still once more.

Of course, the other alternative isn't much better. While the fish is still struggling to breathe, the fishmonger cheerfully brings a cleaver to its gills and tears into its insides. After finding the nice delicate bits, the fishmonger yanked them out and chopped them off. Then water is poured over the fish to rinse off the excess blood and innards. Yummy.

An Emptiness In My Sawdust

Sometimes I feel a hollowness in my self. It's like being a doll that does not have enough stuffing. Why would someone feel incomplete when there is nothing to complete? After all, if one knows one's limitations and what one never had, one should cease to desire it. It's impossible to obtain. Still, one cannot help but know there will be something out there to fill the emptiness to overflowing.

A Broken Nipple

I was puzzled at why one of the keys on my keyboard seemed to have sunk in. Worst of all, it was my spacebar. After lifting the key from the keyboard, everything appeared to be in order. I could not discern any missing parts and such. It was only upon close examination that I found that the silicone nipple under the spacebar had broken and thus lost a significant bit of elasticity. I then set about thinking about how I could get a replacement. It seemed terrible to send the keyboard in for servicing: It'd take days at least. Sending it to the shop seemed a poor choice, since it would only cost me a sum to service. After teetering at the brink of deciding to buy myself a new keyboard, I realized that I could simply replace the nipple with another one from one of the keys. But which one? A quick mental check revealed the most likely candidate: The scroll lock key. I prised it from the keyboard and did the swap. Thanks to you, scroll lock, I am able to type this today. Your sacrifice was not in vain.

Sex And Ethics

On the surface, "Eastern" people are conservative and not very open about sex. "Western" people are open-minded and liberal about sex. How does this correlate to the birth rate and population? Clearly, people who are "conservative" like sex more. They have more babies. Perhaps it is just more exciting to do stuff in secret, knowing well and good that it's just horribly taboo. I guess it excites some people. It obviously excited those Easterners enough for them to reproduce like rabbits.

A Rolling Furball

I was enroute to the bus stop today when I came across this black cat. She saw me approach, then promptly flopped on her side and started rolling around. I found this interesting, but walked on since I was trying to get to an event. However, I remembered that I had my camera with me and wanted to film her in action. After she saw me returning, she did the whole rolling over thing again, but got suspicious when I started reaching in my pack for the camera. It's a pity, or I'd have yet another vid to remember her by.

Black And White 2

B&W 2 is a strange game. It is both something I hate and love. For one, I adore city building. It's nice watching a city grow from its very beginning. But then it's not terribly nice having to raise armies to fight off this attack and that while enduring some fairly meaningless quests just so you can unlock buildings. I know it makes the game feel more substantial, but it certainly adds a nice spadeful of tedium to the overall process. Something can be done about this, methinks.

Aged Activism

It would seem strange that people gradually lose their urge to change the world. I think it is somewhere around the 30's, when some sort of switch is flicked. I cannot be sure whether it is because of a perceived "adult" responsibility to the inner circle, or whether people just lose their drive. Perhaps it is a combination of both. Yet there are some who do manage to raise families whilst doing their bit for what they believe in. And yes, something that does not revolve around selves or families. I guess it is naivety, that some still believe that they can change things as individuals. Yet I cannot help but feel that it is perhaps the naive assumption of disempowerment that really keeps everything at the status quo, nasty though it may be

Labour And Machines

Perhaps that is how the world of tomorrow would be: Machines doing all the work that people shouldn't be forced to do. Automated logging and movement of goods. Taxis without drivers. All the people have to do is think up ways to make better machines that handle more of the work. But as the prophets of yesteryear have failed to predict, that has never and would probably never come to pass.

Humans are a blend of logic and emotion. It is probably this blend that keeps them human. Too much logic and some claim that they become mechanical, almost like the machines. Too much emotion and they become animals, ruled entirely by their feelings and urges. So, in a world where logic reigns supreme, perhaps it is not a stretch to think that labour is being performed by automatons. What is surprising would be that the automatons were once human.

Dreamfall And Lain

I just completed Dreamfall, and can't help but love the tracks by Magnet... They really made me cry, given how apt they were to certain really touching scenes in the game. I know that on principle the game isn't exactly the greatest. I mean it's short and the navigation isn't exactly very good. However, it appeals to me at every turn. It's got sci fi and fantasy. It's got a lonely girl who's able to shift between realities of sorts. It's got an overall tragic ending. It's got a crow.

And that's where Lain comes in. Most who have watched Lain would already understand the significance of the crow. Lain's ending is pretty much bittersweet just as is Dreamfall's. Shifting between realities is a central theme in both. Lonely girl is a character I can relate to and both protagonists aren't exactly very social. Of course, being able to blend both sci-fi and fantasy in a single package is great. Pity Lain didn't really get into that.

Dreamfall reminds me of the fine lines between dreams and reality, and how "dreams" may affect reality at some fundamental level. Pretty much like how Lain's presence on the Wired ("dream" world) is affecting reality just as Zoe's affecting the real world by presence on the dreamscape and the static on the Wire. Two very technologically advanced societies! Strangely enough, both Lain and Zoe don't really know who their mothers are, and there's the distinct possibility that they're sort of artificial constructs produced by megacorps. Interesting. Moreover, there's a girl that died and got stuck on the Wire(d) in both stories...

Of course, accessing the dreams also reminds me of something I've lost, or feel that I've lost. It feels like I have lost the ability to "shift", metaphorically speaking. Not at will anyway. I guess these are some things that really make me gravitate to things like Lain and Dreamfall.

On Dreamfall

The thing about Dreamfall is that it is annoying linear. That is, there are those sneak around scenes that just break the flow of the game, seeing as you can't really fight to defeat the enemies and you don't actually get anything if you can and do. Moreover, I miss the freedom to go around exploring, playing with stuff and doing subquests.

Strangely enough, that is precisely what is appealing about the game. They've eliminated the possibility of getting lost, having to cleave through countless enemies and having to be a rare weapons collector just to stay alive longer. Truly, it's nice to play a game that does not revolve
around combat for a change. Actually, the combat pretty much feels out of place,
given how they're all easy and simplistic. It'd probably be better to automate the
tussles, but that would make players feel that they have no real stake in the action.

Ume Wine

Ume wine is an interesting sort of alcohol. While it may have 15% alcohol (that's stronger than most grape wines), it does not have the nasty aftertaste or bitterness of just about every other alcoholic beverage I've tried so far. Of course, it's nice having those umes in the wine as well. I care not whether they grant it any sort of improved flavour, but they sure taste good steeped in alky.

The Worlds

Perhaps there is a reason for the ancient
worlds to look so odd. It is precisely
because they are ancient, or rather that
they are new. Worlds that have been
around for times start changing, becoming
more orderly, in a fashion. I guess worlds
look like that when they are through the
Destruction, yet are again able to support life.

In the beginning, there was chance. Out of nothingness, choices were made. From choices there became possibilities. Thus formed the varied realities. Each reality springing forth from a single origin, and every reality as real as any other. However, it was such that the realities were made unreal to one another, that they would not intermingle.

The Dreamfall Dream Diary

Sometimes, dreams can be so similar to real-life experiences that one can't help but wonder. I was looking at this particular dream diary entry from some time back, and noticed that it seemed remarkably like a scene in early game Dreamfall. Then again, it's probably a cliched scene in the movie world. The part where a girl gets in the way of some no-nonsense guards who're demanding that she put her hands up, and then they shoot her when she goes "Wait...wha?" And after that, she winds up in interrogation. It just has to be in connection with her boyfriend, ex, or would-be boyfriend. That's essentially it. So the lesson of the day: Make sure you have a boyfriend, because he'd either guarantee you an adventure, pull you out of the adventure he led you into, and often both.

Earthworms!

Yes, I know I'm growing plants in pots. But it just so occurs to me that those plants would probably need earthworms. Actually, I'm not entirely sure that earthworms are the solution, since ants would likely want to visit and the earthworms could possibly suffer from those visits. But still, it's a nice idea. I've got a little composting experiment going on outside my window. Tossing any manner of bio trash out there, such as orange peels, banana skins, apple cores and the like. Still, I think that pile could do with some wormies. As for the seedlings, well...I just wish they would grow up faster. I note that larger seeds tend to beget healthier seedlings faster. Perhaps quality should precede quantity. Yup.

Playing Online

Started playing online. I know I'm slow, but better late than never, eh?

Still, it never ceases to irritate me how people always see intentions in what other people do. Someone sees a fine example of bad journalism and suddenly it's all attributed to a journalist's malicious intent. I mean, it's probably a perfectly good example of journalistic ignorance. That's unacceptable in good journalism, of course, but not every journalist is as good as the paper thinks they are.

The Purpose Of Sterotypes

Sometimes, it seems impossible to do away with stereotyping. Sure, most would want to get rid of stereotypes since it puts everyone in little boxes that have none of the intricacies of individual personalities. (Un?)fortunately, there are times when they are convenient, or even desirable. Strangely enough, some get a kick out of fitting in. And you need stereotypes to fit into groups. That's true even if you're trying to fit into a group of misfits.

Rebels With Causes

When one rebels, someone should feel good about it, and someone should feel bad about exactly the same thing. Well, that, or at least find it somewhat disagreeable. That may include damaging someone else's property, of course. Now, what happens when that very same act becomes sanctioned within a certain framework. We'd have...say...walls that can be "vandalized", for example (we shan't debate over how it can be vandalism when it's actually allowed). And of course, we'd have the big rock concerts some people call wars.

On a side note, my experiment with windowsill appears to be starting up again...it failed initially because I was on holiday and everything dried out. I tried again with some proper agricultural potting mix and peat moss. Strangely enough, what wouldn't sprout for 2 weeks in organic fertilizer appears to be merrily sprouting in another sort...within 3 days. Is that a seedling or are you just happy to have new soil... Anyway, I'm currently using metal mini-pots from IKEA. Dang are these things cute.

Aspie?

Perhaps being aspie is more a propensity than an affliction. Some people cannot understand why anyone would prefer to live in a world of words, living in books and peering at computer screens. They cannot understand how one can do without the intricacies of human expression and emotion, the sights and sounds and feel of being in physical proximity to other human beings. It never seems to occur to them that someone may actually like life that way, and it’s not out of a fear of social rejection or otherwise ineptness. Sometimes there is more to see than just humans and interact with them. There are perfectly good environments to explore, and nice stories to visualize in your mind.

888: Seek And Ye Shall Find

Yes. Seek. I was at the library seeking a book I’ve been tracking for a few days already. While browsing, I couldn’t find it, and wound up leaving my umbrella behind at the library. After shopping in the area for a time, I had to visit the toilet, but there were massive queues in the building. This meant I had to go through the rain. It was then that I realized that something was missing… After backtracking to the library, I thought it worthwhile to check whether the book was there. Amazingly enough, it was shelved and ready for me to pick up. I then went off to the nearby art supplies shop, and found inkjet fixative! Now that’s something I had been looking for for the longest time. I also saw willow charcoal, which I figured would be interesting to fiddle with. Not a bad shopping day =p

This would be unremarkable except that I was on the verge of leaving the umbrella behind because I was having cramps and I wasn’t entirely sure that it’d be still there even if I remembered where I left it. I hate making mistakes, and something this fundamental was quite unacceptable. Anyway, I spotted the inkjet fixative at the store, but it was the matte variety. I asked the worker whether they stocked gloss, but he said that they didn’t. After some in-depth reading of labels, I found the gloss fixative, albeit under a different brand. Understandably, the staff was a bit embarrassed when I waggled it before him, and he said that he didn’t know that fixatives came in gloss. Well…I didn’t expect him to know everything the store stocked, so I guess it’s pardonable.

The lesson of the day: With sufficient determination, seek and ye shalt find. An interesting thing to note, though: My transport pass had $8.88 on it at the time.

Silver Surfer Vs Pirates Of The Caribbean

In the battle of pirates against ninjas, it’s inevitable that the pirates win…if Jack Sparrow were anywhere near the battle. Silver Surfer? Not a chance. Now, I would say that the animation of the Surfer was rather nice. That’s probably the best part of the show. Apart from it not being true to the source material (which is acceptable to an extent in movies), the story was not terribly dramatic in a superhero battle sort of way. Typically, superhero flicks have a unique selling point: The climatic battle at the end. The final scene just lacked the sort of dramatic tension that should involve global devastation or the death of our superheroes…preferably both. It seemed lacking in that aspect.

And usually, that battle has to at least be partly fought by the superheroes. It’s all a part of what it means to be superheroic.

Besides, the title is “Rise” of the Silver Surfer. Watch the movie and tell me where the “rise” comes in. I mean, we don’t see the origins of the Surfer and how he became the herald of Galactus, after all. We didn’t even get to see how Galactus was personally putting the world in peril. The ending just didn’t feel triumphant enough either.

Of course, since there was such a glaring blooper, I just had to talk about it: Why was the tail rotor of Doom’s chopper not spinning? Anyway, C+ for this flick. If I don’t remember most of it, it wasn’t terribly good.

Now on to Pirates 3. What can I say? It was a barrel of laughs, though a tad less cheesy than Pirates 2. It gets an A- from me. Why? Because it is dramatic in the right places, lessens the tension a little with some mistimed humor, and it has Depp on the cast. The – came from Orlando Bloom. Blame him. Oh, and they killed a big character I liked. Guess whom…hint: Many tentacles, and isn’t Davey Jones.

There’s just a charm to watching the Flying Dutchman in action, Jack Sparrow wisecracking while fighting and having a wedding aboard a pirate ship. It’s just so much more appealing when it all happens at once.

Nothing much I can say about the movie that isn’t known, and isn’t a major spoiler. All I can say is that I laughed. A lot. And that’s a very good thing. Pirates win =p

That's Gross

The concept of grossness is a product of one's perceptions, learning and experiences, and is often perfectly illogical. For example, chewing your food, spitting it on the plate, then taking the chewed up muck back in your mouth would be gross to many people. Logically...that came from your own mouth, and a short time out of the mouth would not make the mush any more bacteria-infested. There are other times when the assessment of a situation is judged more by its "grossness" than by its real disadvantages.

Still, some things are still nasty, no matter how much scientific fact one has to the contrary. For example, the 5-second rule. Sure, you could pick up and eat candies that fell to the ground and laid there for a couple seconds. Most probably wouldn't, because it'd be nasty. Same with escargot. I wouldn't eat snail by any name...simply because it's gross!

On Fallen Angels

Have you ever felt like a fallen angel? I know I have. No, not demonic horned things with leathery wings. That's probably what they look like in Hollywood. No, it's more of a feeling. The feeling of having touched something so infinite, seeing so many things and then suddenly being unable to do that anymore. The feeling of being able to reach out and do whatever the imagination permits, and then reaching out with the will and finding it gone. There are times when I feel this inexplicable hatred against all of creation, and how it should be utterly destroyed in a slow manner that would please me. Yet during others it is like touching a tree, feeling its lifeblood slowly rising to the leaves and thinking about how beautiful creation really is. You can touch something and know more about it than should be possible through a simple touch. You can perceive things that the simple, crude senses should not be able to perceive. All in all, it is the nagging knowledge that there are so many things to perceive and so much knowledge already had, but it's all stuffed away somewhere. I guess that's how fallen angels feel.

If We Can Hate Communism, So Can You!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070614/ap_on_re_as/china_bush_memorial

Someone professes to hate communism, and someone's upset about it. Of course, "communist" regimes and victims of the same are bound to take issue whether the memorial is set up or no. I suppose it would be normal to take issue with a regime that "allows no political dissent", but then again, which one does? I don't think it's really an issue with "allowing" political dissent so much as openly not disallowing it. When it comes to national security, it's pretty common to implicitly disallow dissent. They won't say it out loud: They'd just drag people off to interrogations.

A Laser To Hate

Adults hate lasers. I'm not talking about pilots or other vehicle drivers. I mean people peacefully watching TV in their living rooms. I learned that when I first got my laser and had fun shining it into other peoples' living rooms. Some guy dropped by to tell my parents to prevent it from happening again. Just now, the same thing happened. Except it was some other kids having fun with their new laser pointers.

Sometimes I wonder why kids can't be allowed to have a spot of fun. It's not as if a split-second flash from a low-yield laser would do any real damage to the retina. Besides, they'd either tire of it or run out of batteries eventually. I guess people take things way too seriously sometimes. I mean, if nobody looks up when you're zapping their area with a laser, they'd not find it terribly exciting.

The Potential Of D'oh

Sometimes there are recipes. Sort of like simple instructions to prepare the perfect item. An item, such as a cookie. Now, cookies are usually baked from cookie dough. That's really interesting. Dough is potential. It could just stay as dough. It could also become that wonderfully crisp and perfectly browned cookie. All you have to do is follow that perfect recipe. Of course, everyone believes that the "perfect" recipe really isn't, and wind up preparing all sorts of half-baked and burnt cookies. There's something worse than not using your potential. It's using your potential and turning out half baked. How could a cookie possibly go so wrong...

Stingy Guys

I hate to generalize, really. But empirical evidence seems to support it. Most guys I know (who regard themselves as guys) are unwilling to part with their money under any circumstances except to procure hardware, get a gal or to make more money. Apparently, spending a bit more on a printer is undesirable (it's not ego hardware). Taking a short trip on a taxi is a waste of money. And yes, if you can walk the distance with a heavy pack, there's no need to take the bus. But if it's a health product they're obesessed about, or a hi-fi system, price is never an issue. I hear that it's coz their priorities differ, though. Perhaps there's some weight to that theory. Still, I'll go with the stingy hypothesis till I can find something conclusive.

On Fundamental Attribution Error

Sure, it’s a biatch. And it’s never more obvious than when one deals with parents. I can stand there to yawn and stretch, and suddenly I’m conveying that I am too free. I obviously am slacking, have nothing better to do and certainly don’t intend to do anything worthwhile. Interesting how one can be doing stuff, tell someone to wait when there’s a request to do something inconvenient, then be perceived as being selfish or lazy. Oh come on, I am *not* going to cross a room to make a phone call for someone else when I’m snacking. I mean, you’re the one next to the phone and it’s not in my job description to make that call. Maybe it’d be bad if I’m a phone operator, which I’m not. Anyhoo, this is in the context of moms, dads and hotel rooms.

Gripe time about dad: He wants everything done 5 minutes ago, and with curt and unintelligible instructions. Guess what? Not happening. Besides, parents never seem to see when kids do things right. Slip up once and oops…someone’s being lazy and all again.

Anyway, ‘nuff of the bitchin’. I’m back and all that.

Freedom?

There is never any true freedom no matter how one tries to feel free. Machines are programmed to do their tasks. Animals are programmed to survive, reproduce and so on. Even though some humans may try to feel liberated by not obeying the rules set by their (likely retarded) brethren, they are unlikely to be free from the urges of their humanity and limitations of their minds and bodies.

So you think you're a conservative because they appeal to your logic...

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,227124,00.html

Back From Vacation

Right, back from vacation and I guess I'll be putting some backdated posts up when I finally go thro0ugh the gazillion pics I've taken there. Anyhoo, just finished Company of Heroes. Just another of those WWII games, set in RTS for a change. Frankly, I wonder why people just wana relive that horrible stretch over and over again.

Selfishness And Selflessness

There is a tension between selfishness and selflessness. The very act of following rules is a selfless act, submitting to the will (presumably) of the people around you. It can get irritating when you do have to follow those rules, yet it is also irritating when someone does not and winds up offending or adversely affecting you. I suppose it's the self-centred thinking that gets people this way. Someone else just has to be selfless so I can be selfish.

Then again, why must selfishness be taken as a bad thing. There should not be anything wrong with caring only for oneself, when most people do that. After all, pure collectivism is regarded with quite some hostility. I guess humans will just never be satisfied.

The Nose Knows

Melons do not typically foam and ooze fluids. This one does. While I was visiting the kitchen, I wondered why the air smelled especially foul. The sweaty scent of decay, really. I thought it was some leftover food, but it didn't seem to come from the dining table. Anyway, I followed my nose, and then I heard a weird wet-sounding hiss. By the gods, the melon was quietly and merrily decaying in my kitchen! Anyway, here's a pic as a keepsake, and a reminder to mind your melons.

Strange Warrior

I am a strange warrior. There are times when I live in blood and chaos, demanding to be bombarded with endless complications, trials and tribulations to vanquish. And indeed I do, when they come. Yet there are times when I wonder and long for peace and a straight road. Still, what bugs me most is that the outcome of even the victories are never perfect enough. Even the best laid plans fall apart on the field, and yet I persist on insisting on perfection. These can only be the desires of a strange warrior, or a mad one.

The Chalice

A chalice lies empty,
A hole at its base.
Never to be filled,
Hollow, unrealized grace.

Though gatekeeper permit,
No keymaster may pass.
The sealed dawn's lips,
A shadowed, sealed lass.

No fresh blood of spring,
Nor vibrancy of summer.
Only a lingering autumn,
To an eternal winter.

Potting In Plastic

I'm doing what they learned in high school: Potting things in waste plastic. Yeah, so I cut off some of my candy containers and filled them with sterilized organic fertilizer, put a bit of water in them and all that. They're currently sitting on my window sill, which is the sunniest place I've got around here anyway. The initial experiment was successful, and I had a very healthy strand of wheat grass growing in my sill pot whilst an entire crop perished from lack of sunlight in a larger pot.

Currently experimenting with mint and chives. Hope those things like my window!

Spidey...3!

I watched Spiderman 3 on the big screen yesterday. What can I say? It's Spidey! Then again, I think the pacing of the movie was rather bad. I do agree with my friend that the show seemed draggy. However, that was probably due to the contrast between the fast early action scenes, the long lull in-between and then another build up to another burst of action leading to the climax. I guess it just doesn't flow well. Moreover, there were some plot holes that depended on the audience's knowledge of the backstory, some of the characters were well...out of charater. My major gripe would be that they dwelt way too much on the sordid details of the breakup with MJ.

However, for an average movie that has the usual bit of eye candy and lots of action, I suppose it's fulfilled its purpose. There's the lingering feeling of the movie trying to do too much in too little time. I mean, it's a number of issues (in comic terms) to cover Goblin, Sandman, Venom AND the MJ breakup. I suppose it's understandable that the film feels like a bit too much of a jack of all trades.

Guys And Love

Right, this might be a generalization, but I figure I just had to get it off my back sometime. Tweener would understand. While I was watching Spiderman 3, the guys in the cinema were laughing out loud at the death scenes. Then when we got down to the scene where Osborne's butler said something like "I loved your father", the guys laughed out loud again, my guy friend included.

It's sorta funny to observe, how guys react to the word "love". When a guy says it to another guy, it's automagically a gay thing. But gals are immune to that, thank goodness. Makes one think just how crappy it'd be to be a guy, whot, with love being such a distant thing.

Living The Dead

Here's a video link about people, apparently civilians, getting gunned down at a military checkpoint. The rocket at the end seems a wee bit excessive, and poorly aimed.

Some people get upset when others die. Others don't. The reality is that they don't really care about the fact that the people died, but that there would be grieving relatives. After all, nobody really gives a hoot after they're gone. Or maybe my opinion's just colored by the fact that I don't value my life overly much and feel that everyone else should feel relief when removed from this dirtball.

Still, I think the grieving is left to the living. I don't think dead people mourn much. I mean if they're immortal they'd just watch their loved ones live and then go belly up just to join them. If they go to some sort of hell they'd be too busy suffering. And if they wind up disspating I doubt they're in a position to care anyway. So who's left? Just the bunch of living people thinking that it's a horrible tragedy that someone's gone. Well that, or there's sympathy for the people who have lost loved ones.

Anyway, I think the only real issue here is the ready use of excessive force and the apparent joy of being able to use it. I really couldn't care less if everyone died one day. But I'd care a whole lot if a bunny got tortured to death by some sick human just because he felt like it.

Progress And Carbon

So you wish to save the world. Sure, we could reduce carbon output and *prevent* global warming. You know, the global warming that's already out there. It's nasty, just in case anyone's wondering. Then again, nobody's really dying from it. I mean, dying in the hundreds of millions. There's no reason to panic, precisely because it isn't a disaster yet. In fact, nobody would do anything about it until it becomes a right and proper disaster, with irreversible effects.

So...what keeps everyone from doing something about anything? Probably progress. The newly industrialized countries need their carbon. In fact, they'd need more carbon in the near future. But then the developed countries need their carbon, too. They suck electricity like...well...you know. They can soak the losses, but they won't. Doing so would mean *economic* disaster for them. The sort that allows developing and newly industrialized countries to catch up and possibly become viable competitors. We do not want competition. Carbon pumps will stay.

It Works!

Well, actually, it endures. My computer used to have this weird problem whereby it would absolutely clog up within 3 days, and no program would load. I would be unable to so much as save an existing document. I figure now that it's because of a memory leak in some program. After uninstalling a whole bunch of stuff on a whim (including a legacy scanner driver and scanner program), my computer has passed its 7th day of operation and is still going strong. Seems like a fairly good indication that things have taken a turn for the better.

Arty Inks

I was feeling arty today, so I headed down to the art market. I bought myself a Nakabayashi NRC-A4 trimmer. It would help with my upcoming photo projects. I also got myself a set of waterproof pigment inks (3rd party) for my old printer. I am frankly rather impressed at the quality of modern 3rd party inks. Of course, I wouldn't trust them for fine art (I have a printer just for that), but they would do fine for schoolwork or other brute force printing. Oh, and I now have a set of sprays that will help keep my archival prints safe from sticky fingers, long nails and just about everything that commonly afflicts my pieces.

Ok so I was in a shopping mood. I think just maybe I spent a wee bit too much. But I do tell myself that these are durables and I won't be buying these things again anytime soon. I hope.

Intimacy And Separation

Sometimes, one can read another's blog and feel that one knows the blogger so well. It is a form of intimacy because of the way the blogger's life story plays out and how every update feels like a one-sided confessional. But after being so used to the blogger's presence, it can feel like a sort of breakup when the blogger eventually stops writing and the blog ceases to be accessible. It's like a friend of a couple years just decided to stop speaking to you. I'm sure the blogger will not feel the same way about it, since the blogger doesn't even personally know most of the readers!

Race And Gun Violence

Sometimes, few people realize how much of a blanket term "asian" can be. Say "asian", and I think of people from the far east. They could be indian, korean, japanese or even iranian. I mean, the term refers to just about everyone from the asian subcontinent, including Russians! It is a huge place by the traditional definition. Even the Persians (now Iranians) from the movie 300 are actually asian.

So in light of the recent school massacre, one may be led to believe that people of the mongoloid races like chinese and japanese are pretty much all there is to being asian. Still, it is interesting that nobody seems to really regard indian as asian.

This makes for an interesting scenario. Would those of the mongoloid races be defending themselves against potential backlash from this tragedy, or would asians in general be worried about what may happen?

In fact, why would a particular race or ethnic category be worried about being blamed, associated or become the victim of a hate crime as a result of what another member of that group did? This merely spreads the crime of one person to a crime that involves an entire subsection of humanity. Sure, you can wipe out every member of a race that committed murder before. But then what if the murders persist? No humans, no problem. Still, prevention is better than cure. And I suppose nobody's really willing to cure the problem of humanity.

So this begs the question: How would we prevent these massacres in the future? Some suggest that the *citizens* be disarmed. This is all well and good, and is a great opportunity for the armed "authorities" to simply stomp all over the poor unarmed peasants and readily exert their authority at every turn.

I think it is far better to abolish guns altogether, if people are so horrified by gun crimes. After all, wars are merely gun violence at a national level.

Reduce gun-related deaths? Sure. Stop glamorizing guns and their usage in the popular media. Quit making gunfire synonymous with "patriotism". There seems to be little honour in going to a foreign land to shoot people just because someone said so, or you're hired to do so. It makes one little different from a hired assassin. The same applies to violence sponsored by any other "cause" and with any other weapon. I can kill with a club just as I can kill with a gun, after all.

I somehow doubt the contemporary bunch would find that solution particularly acceptable. Then again, one simply can't have the cake and eat it. Gun violence can never be eradicated unless people simply no longer have guns.