Deepayan/Uberhero/Confidence Man/Cleo/Eric/other personalities to be added later
Saturday, July 29, 2006
Playboy
Your skin,
oh yeah, your skin and bones
Turn into something beautiful
I was watching a Coldplay concert yesterday (small venue in which the band was quite interactive with the audience; looked quite fun) in which Chris Martin was saying that the inspiration for the title of "Yellow" was the yellow pages, because while writing the song, he looked up and it was the first book he saw. And then he said "In an alternate Universe, this song would be called Playboy" Hence the title of this blog.
In other news; John Irving, a noted American author, said in an interview that he is saving Dickens' famous novel, Our Mutual Friend, as the last thing he reads before he dies. (Fans of Lost will recognize Desmond as having the same intention with the same book; Lost's writers have credited Irving with the idea) This idea has intrigued me; it would make for something to look forward to when you die, perhaps dulling the pain if it is a long and/or painful one. At any rate, it would be interesting to see if this is a viable idea; after all, rarely is one sure when they're going to die. And if you died without reading the book you planned to read, that would, I assume, make you quite a restless spirit. Also, if the book was sub-par, you'd die dissapointed and/or pissed. But the notion is original, nonetheless.
Moving along; I recently discovered that Rogers had bumped the Golf Channel in favor of MTV. Seeing as how MuchMusic has been sub-par, I decided to give MTV a try. Oddly enough, however, in roughly a week of watching it, I have yet to see MTV playing a single music video. For a TV station whose full name is Music TeleVision, they seem to find a remarkable plethora of talk shows, gossip shows and reality shows to play in place of music. One program in particular stood out to me; it seemed to be a program where mothers spent time with a guy, and the guy would assess, from the mother, whether he'd want to date her daughter or not. Putting aside the diluted arranged marriage that this essentially is, and the glorified pimping that it seems to be as well, the daughters are all hot. Not beautiful, but hot. (The difference being beautiful women are romanced over a period of time, and hot women are one-night stand-worthy) I find it nearly impossible to believe that these so-called daughters would be unable to get a date just by going clubbing any given night. Of course, this was my opinion on watching the program in mute. Upon turning the sound on, I discovered that the women--3 mothers and 3 daughters--had a combined IQ of 3.14 and an intelligence level of preschool, maybe less. The moral of the story? Women are always better on mute :P
Well, that ends my ramblings for today. Tune in later for more (or maybe I'll go for a serious post again; who knows? Tune in to find out :P ) ¶ 8:09 AM 4 Comments
oh yeah, your skin and bones
Turn into something beautiful
- Yellow, Coldplay
I was watching a Coldplay concert yesterday (small venue in which the band was quite interactive with the audience; looked quite fun) in which Chris Martin was saying that the inspiration for the title of "Yellow" was the yellow pages, because while writing the song, he looked up and it was the first book he saw. And then he said "In an alternate Universe, this song would be called Playboy" Hence the title of this blog.
In other news; John Irving, a noted American author, said in an interview that he is saving Dickens' famous novel, Our Mutual Friend, as the last thing he reads before he dies. (Fans of Lost will recognize Desmond as having the same intention with the same book; Lost's writers have credited Irving with the idea) This idea has intrigued me; it would make for something to look forward to when you die, perhaps dulling the pain if it is a long and/or painful one. At any rate, it would be interesting to see if this is a viable idea; after all, rarely is one sure when they're going to die. And if you died without reading the book you planned to read, that would, I assume, make you quite a restless spirit. Also, if the book was sub-par, you'd die dissapointed and/or pissed. But the notion is original, nonetheless.
Moving along; I recently discovered that Rogers had bumped the Golf Channel in favor of MTV. Seeing as how MuchMusic has been sub-par, I decided to give MTV a try. Oddly enough, however, in roughly a week of watching it, I have yet to see MTV playing a single music video. For a TV station whose full name is Music TeleVision, they seem to find a remarkable plethora of talk shows, gossip shows and reality shows to play in place of music. One program in particular stood out to me; it seemed to be a program where mothers spent time with a guy, and the guy would assess, from the mother, whether he'd want to date her daughter or not. Putting aside the diluted arranged marriage that this essentially is, and the glorified pimping that it seems to be as well, the daughters are all hot. Not beautiful, but hot. (The difference being beautiful women are romanced over a period of time, and hot women are one-night stand-worthy) I find it nearly impossible to believe that these so-called daughters would be unable to get a date just by going clubbing any given night. Of course, this was my opinion on watching the program in mute. Upon turning the sound on, I discovered that the women--3 mothers and 3 daughters--had a combined IQ of 3.14 and an intelligence level of preschool, maybe less. The moral of the story? Women are always better on mute :P
Well, that ends my ramblings for today. Tune in later for more (or maybe I'll go for a serious post again; who knows? Tune in to find out :P ) ¶ 8:09 AM 4 Comments
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
K'Naan
http://www.cbc.ca/arts/music/knaan.html
Intelligent piece in CBC on a bright young rapper from Toronto who has smart lyrics and down-to-Earth beats. Defintiely an artist worth checking out.
For some of his full-length songs
http://www.myspace.com/knaanmusic ¶ 6:19 PM 0 Comments
Intelligent piece in CBC on a bright young rapper from Toronto who has smart lyrics and down-to-Earth beats. Defintiely an artist worth checking out.
For some of his full-length songs
http://www.myspace.com/knaanmusic ¶ 6:19 PM 0 Comments
Monday, July 17, 2006
Perspective
Dialogue from LOST; Season 2, Episode 3, titled Orientation
---
---
FRANCINE: My mother stole again from me this week. I don't even keep money in my purse anymore. I've been hiding it. But when she wants a drink -- she stole 30 dollars. I know it may not seem like a lot of money to some of you, but it's a lot to me. And I want it back.
[Locke sort of chuckles.]
MODERATOR: Something you want to say? [Locke gestures to indicate no.] John, you've been coming here for a month now...
LOCKE: I just don't think 30 dollars is worth getting angry about.
MODERATOR: Well, Francine feels like 30 dollars...
LOCKE: Francine feels a little too much, if you ask me. You all do. I mean, seriously -- so-and-so never called me back -- my mother stole 30 dollars from me. I never even knew who my parents were. A couple of years ago my birth mother found me, and uh, she told me I was special. And through her I met my real father. Great news, right? Well, he pretended to love me just long enough to steal my kidney because he had to have a transplant. And then he dropped me back in the world like a piece of trash -- just like he did on the day that I was born. You want your damned 30 dollars back? I want my kidney back!
---
Thanks to www.lost-tv.com for the transcript
Saturday, July 15, 2006
Yippie-ki-yay, mother...lover
Women cannot complain about men anymore until they start getting better taste in them.
Well, this post is dedicated to the Rammer, because she dedicated one to me, although I guess that means I'll have to dedicate one to you too, cuz. Next one, maybe. Maybe :P
- Bill Maher
Well, this post is dedicated to the Rammer, because she dedicated one to me, although I guess that means I'll have to dedicate one to you too, cuz. Next one, maybe. Maybe :P
The headbutt has become my new most favorite method of resolving issues, courtesy Zidane. I did feel sorry for him, as it was his last game, and that was a crappy way for him to go. In fact, almost all the players who retired at this world cup went out badly; Raul went out against France in a game that everyone expected Spain to win, and nobody realized until the next day that it was actually Raul's last match. Beckham went out with an injured knee, and Ronaldo had just one game with flashes of his old self. Figo and Kahn both went out gracefully, if nto heroically, but that's about it. However, seeing the next crop of "stars"; Wayne "I'm a sodding football God, even though I've done nothing to prove it" Rooney and Christiano "I was unable to make the Olympic diving team, so I practice on the football pitch instead" Ronaldo, makes me hope that some of these players decide to come back for one last hurrah. Lionel Messi from Argentina was the only one who lived somewhat up to the hype. Even Ronaldinho dissapointed.
In other news, I recently saw The Believer. It's an indie flick, starring Ryan Gosling, about a Jewish Neo-Nazi. The premise was interesting, but the ending was a bit of a cop-out in my opinion. I'm currently watching The Motorcycle Diaries, a movie purportedly based on the memoirs of one Ernesto Guevera de la Serna, better known as the Cuban revolutionary/militant Che Guevera. The movie chronicles his pre-world changing life, or a part of it. As shocking as it may sound to those of you reading this blog, I have yet to watch Superman Returns. Circumstances don't look good for me to catch it in theatres, so I shall wait for it to come on DVD, secure in the knowledge that I could probably get it right now at Pacific Mall if I so desired.
What else? Well, class is going smoothly, as hoped. I always liked summer classes better than regular year ones, because of the more relaxed profs and TAs. Of course, the final will be a bitch and I'll be singing a different tune. But until then, I <3 summer courses. Which is just as well, considering my ROSI start time is a glorious 3:15 pm. But I've adjusted accordingly, and the inclusion of waitlists definitely can't hurt. People tend to complain a lot about ROSI, and justifiably so, but I find it almost entertaining trying to land a course; of course, as long as it doesn't threaten my degree in any way.
Well, that's all I can think of tonight. More to come* later at some point.
*Coming not guaranteed. If you have problems with coming, see your doctor. Side effects may include blindness, nausea, diarrhaea, death, paralysis, a hankering to see chick flicks if you're male, a hankering to see action flicks if you're female and so on.
¶ 1:48 PM 0 Comments
In other news, I recently saw The Believer. It's an indie flick, starring Ryan Gosling, about a Jewish Neo-Nazi. The premise was interesting, but the ending was a bit of a cop-out in my opinion. I'm currently watching The Motorcycle Diaries, a movie purportedly based on the memoirs of one Ernesto Guevera de la Serna, better known as the Cuban revolutionary/militant Che Guevera. The movie chronicles his pre-world changing life, or a part of it. As shocking as it may sound to those of you reading this blog, I have yet to watch Superman Returns. Circumstances don't look good for me to catch it in theatres, so I shall wait for it to come on DVD, secure in the knowledge that I could probably get it right now at Pacific Mall if I so desired.
What else? Well, class is going smoothly, as hoped. I always liked summer classes better than regular year ones, because of the more relaxed profs and TAs. Of course, the final will be a bitch and I'll be singing a different tune. But until then, I <3 summer courses. Which is just as well, considering my ROSI start time is a glorious 3:15 pm. But I've adjusted accordingly, and the inclusion of waitlists definitely can't hurt. People tend to complain a lot about ROSI, and justifiably so, but I find it almost entertaining trying to land a course; of course, as long as it doesn't threaten my degree in any way.
Well, that's all I can think of tonight. More to come* later at some point.
*Coming not guaranteed. If you have problems with coming, see your doctor. Side effects may include blindness, nausea, diarrhaea, death, paralysis, a hankering to see chick flicks if you're male, a hankering to see action flicks if you're female and so on.
Tuesday, July 04, 2006
Stereotyping 2: The sequel
You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty
Ethnocentrism is the idea of looking at every culture from the viewpoint that they are inferior to yours. Cultural relativism, on the other hand, is the idea that every culture should be viewed within its own context to be truly understood. These two are concepts I learned in ant100, but they are such fundamentally relevant ideas that I think they should be taught at an elementary level. For stereotypes are an exaggeration of ethnocentric viewpoints, so if children can be taught an alternative way of thinking at an early age, that may go a long way towards removing stereotypes.
It would be extremely difficult, however. Humans, as a whole, have divided themselves into meaningless cultures and sub-cultures; and each one perpetuates ethnocentrism; some, in fact survives on ethnocentrism. Take religion, for example; every major religion is split into tiny little factions that are all told they are the closest faction to God. The fact that the Vatican, a purely fundamentalist place that runs solely on Christianity, is an autonomous body is a testament to how far ethnocentrism can take an institution. And it is highly necessary for this ethnocentrism to survive, so that these institutions survive. The byproduct of stereotyping is, in all likelihood, considered more of a benefit.
The question is, would an attack on ethnocentrism be considered an attack on individuality and culture? Perhaps people consider stereotyping an essential ingredient, a necessary evil in maintaining diversity. People need to hate each other to a degree, among other things, otherwise we become a bland, uniform society, which is dangerous evolution-wise. But is this really true? And if it is, is this price worth paying? ¶ 5:43 PM 2 Comments
- Mahatma Gandhi
Ethnocentrism is the idea of looking at every culture from the viewpoint that they are inferior to yours. Cultural relativism, on the other hand, is the idea that every culture should be viewed within its own context to be truly understood. These two are concepts I learned in ant100, but they are such fundamentally relevant ideas that I think they should be taught at an elementary level. For stereotypes are an exaggeration of ethnocentric viewpoints, so if children can be taught an alternative way of thinking at an early age, that may go a long way towards removing stereotypes.
It would be extremely difficult, however. Humans, as a whole, have divided themselves into meaningless cultures and sub-cultures; and each one perpetuates ethnocentrism; some, in fact survives on ethnocentrism. Take religion, for example; every major religion is split into tiny little factions that are all told they are the closest faction to God. The fact that the Vatican, a purely fundamentalist place that runs solely on Christianity, is an autonomous body is a testament to how far ethnocentrism can take an institution. And it is highly necessary for this ethnocentrism to survive, so that these institutions survive. The byproduct of stereotyping is, in all likelihood, considered more of a benefit.
The question is, would an attack on ethnocentrism be considered an attack on individuality and culture? Perhaps people consider stereotyping an essential ingredient, a necessary evil in maintaining diversity. People need to hate each other to a degree, among other things, otherwise we become a bland, uniform society, which is dangerous evolution-wise. But is this really true? And if it is, is this price worth paying? ¶ 5:43 PM 2 Comments
