Sunday, October 17, 2010
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
2010: The Year in Review
This year we saw a lot of changes... and reasons for hope... Barack Obama was elected president. Michael Jackson died. (Was that just another example of the quirky way the universe balances things out?)
This year marks the end of the decade...
...a decade where television actually became an art form, and the union T.V. writers actually went on strike to prove it.
...a decade where we saw the Internet become a tool for anonymity, then come full circle to become a tool where no one is anonymous, all accounts are consolidated, and everyone knows everything about you-- or if they don't, they have the information at their fingertips, and they most certainly can find out, with a very minor amount of persistence. Now all of our accounts are connected: YouTube, Gmail, Blogger, Flickr, Facebook, Twitter... Where does it all end? Do we really need to be this in touch and networked? I am frightened to see how all of this information sharing, "transparency", and "social" networking may backfire. It may happen sooner than later, but for now, I have apprehensively decided to embrace it.
This same decade is the one where we saw eight years of rule by a madman named George W. Bush. Unfortunately, most of this decade will be known for the wars he waged, and the rights he and Dick Cheney decided to take away from the average citizen, under the heading of The Patriot Act. If even the name sounds ominous, that's great, because it should. Privacy and the Bill of Rights, all normal procedure and protocol... abandoned in the name of Nationalism and Patriotism. After all we need protection from "the big bad" which has been marketed this last decade as "The War on Terror". Are there terrorists in the world? YES! Absolutely. I am not denying that fact, or trying to play down the importance of it. (Just the other day we had another attempted terrorist attack on a flight to the U.S. by some nutty radical Nigerian.) I am just admitting that George W. Bush is also a terrorist of sorts, and that we have a lot of blood on our hands as a Nation. It's going to take more than just 8 years of Obama, if we should be that lucky, to wash it off.
But politics aside, what else can I say about the Aught-Naughts? We finally saw the invention of hybrid electric/gas cars, or at least finally saw the popularisation of the idea, and watched it come into the mass-consumer market. There has apparently been quite the conspiracy to keep them off the market and to suppress progress in this field, but despite that, we are seeing the cars rise to popularity at last. Hopefully, their popularity will only grow, as humanity sees the benefits of the invention. If nothing else, if we all began driving them, we would probably see another fall in gas prices eventually, as the demand drops. Of course, the flip side of that coin has people worried about the implications of falling demands for petroleum, since our entire economy seems to be so heavily based on a strong demand for it. Now I find myself talking economics, and this is treading on the fringe of politics again, so I will stop there.
Obviously, a lot more happened in The Aughts, and I can't really begin to even summarize it here in a blog page. But I felt the need to write something about it, before 2010 begins. The writing experience has always been a cathartic one for me, and it almos always feels a bit like self-indulgence... a guilty pleasure, if you will.
Oddly, the movie 2010 was not too far off from what is actually possible now! Hopefully we will see some great new semi-prophetic sci-fi in the decade to follow. I just hope it's not the post-apocolyptic model that slowly becomes reality.
This year marks the end of the decade...
...a decade where television actually became an art form, and the union T.V. writers actually went on strike to prove it.
...a decade where we saw the Internet become a tool for anonymity, then come full circle to become a tool where no one is anonymous, all accounts are consolidated, and everyone knows everything about you-- or if they don't, they have the information at their fingertips, and they most certainly can find out, with a very minor amount of persistence. Now all of our accounts are connected: YouTube, Gmail, Blogger, Flickr, Facebook, Twitter... Where does it all end? Do we really need to be this in touch and networked? I am frightened to see how all of this information sharing, "transparency", and "social" networking may backfire. It may happen sooner than later, but for now, I have apprehensively decided to embrace it.
This same decade is the one where we saw eight years of rule by a madman named George W. Bush. Unfortunately, most of this decade will be known for the wars he waged, and the rights he and Dick Cheney decided to take away from the average citizen, under the heading of The Patriot Act. If even the name sounds ominous, that's great, because it should. Privacy and the Bill of Rights, all normal procedure and protocol... abandoned in the name of Nationalism and Patriotism. After all we need protection from "the big bad" which has been marketed this last decade as "The War on Terror". Are there terrorists in the world? YES! Absolutely. I am not denying that fact, or trying to play down the importance of it. (Just the other day we had another attempted terrorist attack on a flight to the U.S. by some nutty radical Nigerian.) I am just admitting that George W. Bush is also a terrorist of sorts, and that we have a lot of blood on our hands as a Nation. It's going to take more than just 8 years of Obama, if we should be that lucky, to wash it off.
But politics aside, what else can I say about the Aught-Naughts? We finally saw the invention of hybrid electric/gas cars, or at least finally saw the popularisation of the idea, and watched it come into the mass-consumer market. There has apparently been quite the conspiracy to keep them off the market and to suppress progress in this field, but despite that, we are seeing the cars rise to popularity at last. Hopefully, their popularity will only grow, as humanity sees the benefits of the invention. If nothing else, if we all began driving them, we would probably see another fall in gas prices eventually, as the demand drops. Of course, the flip side of that coin has people worried about the implications of falling demands for petroleum, since our entire economy seems to be so heavily based on a strong demand for it. Now I find myself talking economics, and this is treading on the fringe of politics again, so I will stop there.
Obviously, a lot more happened in The Aughts, and I can't really begin to even summarize it here in a blog page. But I felt the need to write something about it, before 2010 begins. The writing experience has always been a cathartic one for me, and it almos always feels a bit like self-indulgence... a guilty pleasure, if you will.
Oddly, the movie 2010 was not too far off from what is actually possible now! Hopefully we will see some great new semi-prophetic sci-fi in the decade to follow. I just hope it's not the post-apocolyptic model that slowly becomes reality.
Sunday, March 2, 2008
rambling...with a point...sort of...(revised)
To refer back to a previous entry, the physical does matter, but it's not everything. It definitely matters, though. So "soul mate" in the literal since, cannot be possible. Today I was forced at gunpoint to watch The Truth About Cats and Dogs, and though the film itself left a long list of things to be desired, it made me think. If it's possible to fall in love with people, regardless of what they look like or what they own, how come it doesn't happen more often. Occasionally you see mismatched people, but it's rare. And if you don't know what I mean yet, have you ever fallen in love with someone who had no money? Well I was on the no money side once, but the relationship didn't last quite as long as the money situation. Money is married to the physical, and even if you find someone who doesn't care what you look like at all, it's hard to take someone out without money. Unfortunately, human creativity and romance are often reduced to the limitations imposed by the means available to people (i.e. money). Creative activities and romantic dates and gifts often cost money. Not to mention, a "survivor", usually perceived as a provider, in the old-school Darwinian since, is now obsolete. Survival is the availability of well paying jobs in today's society. Able employees with strong backs and even skills that were once "marketable" now find themselves faced with the desolation of stagnant economy and a near non-existent job market.
(So vote pro labor, and anywhere left of W and his party.) No one ever says "I can't afford to fall in love!" It just happens. So why do so many people divorce and break up over money issues?
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All of this seems like non-sense after re-reading it again. Oh well...
1:13 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove
(So vote pro labor, and anywhere left of W and his party.) No one ever says "I can't afford to fall in love!" It just happens. So why do so many people divorce and break up over money issues?
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All of this seems like non-sense after re-reading it again. Oh well...
1:13 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove
The Old Man and the Sea
Monday, July 19, 2004
The other day I saw a man on the boardwalk by the Brooklyn Bridge fishing and sipping a beer and he actually caught a few I guess. It reminded me of Hemingway and what he said about fishing, fighting, and what was the other thing? Was it fucking? Or wait, maybe that was G.G. Allen. Drink, Fight, and Fuck... Anyway, the whole point was that he said if he couldn't drink, and he couldn't fight, and he couldn't fuck then he was too old and he didn't see any point in living past that age, whatever it happened to be. Those were the things that were fun to him and made him happy. So in that sense, his message is not so far off from the Dali Lama's Art of Happiness. Though, the Dali Lama would probably replace the fighting and fucking with exerciseing compassion or something of that nature. OK, so it's a stretch. But it's not like anyone reads these. Or if they do they don't post any comments. Even the occasional "You suck, quit writng those damned awful blogs" would be more interesting than no response at all. So what? Are you reading this stupid thing? What do you think? Be honest! Even if you just tell me to fuck off, I want to know who reads these. If you leave a comment on mine, I'll re-read yours and make a comment on it.
The other day I saw a man on the boardwalk by the Brooklyn Bridge fishing and sipping a beer and he actually caught a few I guess. It reminded me of Hemingway and what he said about fishing, fighting, and what was the other thing? Was it fucking? Or wait, maybe that was G.G. Allen. Drink, Fight, and Fuck... Anyway, the whole point was that he said if he couldn't drink, and he couldn't fight, and he couldn't fuck then he was too old and he didn't see any point in living past that age, whatever it happened to be. Those were the things that were fun to him and made him happy. So in that sense, his message is not so far off from the Dali Lama's Art of Happiness. Though, the Dali Lama would probably replace the fighting and fucking with exerciseing compassion or something of that nature. OK, so it's a stretch. But it's not like anyone reads these. Or if they do they don't post any comments. Even the occasional "You suck, quit writng those damned awful blogs" would be more interesting than no response at all. So what? Are you reading this stupid thing? What do you think? Be honest! Even if you just tell me to fuck off, I want to know who reads these. If you leave a comment on mine, I'll re-read yours and make a comment on it.
Saturday, February 2, 2008
The End of the First TX chapter...
All of the things experienced and neglected, not written but remembered, and my friends in Texas will be missed. However, watching people get shot in broad daylight, getting my fingers chopped up, and working my ass off in the sweltering TX summer sun will not be missed at all. Hopefully, there are many more adventures and experiences waiting for me here in NYC. Now; no more truck driving, motorcycle riding, and no more redneck speedfreaks hanging about. Also, there are no more stars in the sky... the visible ones you can count on one hand. Hello subway trains and Taxis to everywhere, goodbye auto insurance payments and $2 gallons of gasoline. Goodbye to 2AM last call in Denton, hello 4AM last call in Manhattan. Goodbye roadtrips through Austin to Mexico, hello bus rides to Canada and Niagra Falls. Maybe someday I'll make it to Cali. Maybe someday I'll make it to Paris. But until then, I'll see you in Brooklyn.
Saturday, April 10, 2004 - Mexico City Blues
Anyone want to drop everything and split for Mexico? I'll drive! C'mon let's go, go, GO!
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