January 2012
What's In A Year
At this time of the annum one finds himself drowned in a sea of sentimentality and one that can swiftly descend into boredom. So much of our concepts of measurement are rather arbitrary, with no objective basis in nature. Units such as feet, centimeters, newtons, pounds, kilograms and volts, to name a few, are simple man-made creations to render assistance, clarity and uniformity in our ongoing...
Chasm
Such cool as winter’s frigid air Has replaced the warmth we use to share We laid in bed with legs entangled My feelings flowed from lips un-strangled I laughed, you cried, we cuddled, we slept Then the bells rang and from the chamber we leapt Into the outside world we ran and drove Searching for joys as though they hid in a treasure trove Then home you went, we bade farewell And I...
“We all await Nothingness….”
December 2011
U + Ur Hand (Bimbo Jones Remix), Pink
Dreams, The Mind and Other Related Musings
Steve Jobs, whenever he could, never failed to tell those around him that taking LSD was the best thing he ever did in terms of opening his mind. He seemed to say that it sparked a creative instinct in him by altering his mind and in some regards, freeing it. it goes without saying that the mind is a wondrous entity and perhaps fair to say that at this point in human evolution, it is very much...
“So long as man remains free he strives for nothing so incessantly and so...”
– The Brothers Karamazov, Fyodor Dostoevsky
Newton Gingrich was apparently crying in Iowa today, discussing his late mother and her bout with brain cancer. At the very least, it displayed a shared humanity and one that exists even between ideological opponents of non-overlapping beliefs. However, that’s the only mild comment I will make on the subject of his tears. How many mothers has he brought pain to through his staunch opposition...
“Hesitation, anxiety, the struggle between belief and disbelief—all that is...”
– The Brothers Karamazov, Fyodor Dostoevsky
Even though this seems quite familiar to Albert Camus’ statement in The Myth of Sissyphus, that the only serious question in life is whether to commit suicide or not, Dostoevsky penned these words long before. One must not be astonished that both men...
How can one go about writing convincingly and perhaps, even persuasively? Well, Christopher Hitchens used to opine to his students and all who would ask him about a life dedicated to letter writing, that if one can talk, then one can write. Even more though, does one enjoy the pleasure of an rapt and interested audience? These are points that must be pondered in any assessment.
A slight quibble I...
Party To Damascus, Wyclef Jean ft. Missy Elliot
“Horrible things happen to her. And she wanders home. And she sits there. She...”
– David Fincher, on Lisbeth Salander
Corn has grown ubiquitous in the America diet. I have known that for a while but the documentary film “King Corn” really brings that fact into clear focus. Everything we eat has corn in it. From cereals to bread, cookies to candy. You might be rapaciously gnashing your teeth on something sweet and quite naturally conclude that the sweetness is a result of simple sugar. That would be...
“I can’t be the only one who finds Andy Warhol immensely over-rated; and...”
It occurred to me last night, while in bed, that a brief critique of the Multiverse Hypoetheses would be - for there to be multiple universes, and ones in which, when totalled, “every possible eventuality that could exists, does exist”, there would have to be an infinite number of universes. As one more universe is introduced, the possible eventualities would not just increase but...
Newton Gingrich managed to describe himself, without once bursting into laughter, or indeed, no one else around him giggling even slightly, as an intellectual and mortal threat to the President of the United States, were they to contend for the presidency in the general election of 2012. Now, however accurate or inaccurate that statement might be, it duly highlights a critical and fundamental...
Albert Camus, in discussing the nature of the absurd in his philosophical essay, The Myth of Sissyphus, declared that upon man’s recognition of the ultimate meaninglessness of life, the absence of eternal truths, clarity, unity and god along with them, the only serious question then becomes, should one commit suicide or not.
I have allowed myself to recognize the truth or semblance of it...
I sometimes wonder what sort of world Ayn Rand would have had us all inhabit. The kind in which one is solely concerned about one’s self? One in which altruism is dead? I take it that would mean no volunteers and firefighters for instance, or is that a gross misunderstanding on my part? Clearly, the woman’s world was utterly theoretic, or so one would hope.
That’s The Way Love Goes, Janet Jackson
“The lady doth protest too much…”
– Hamlet, William Shakespeare.
Or maybe she protests just enough, or perhaps, a little more is even warranted….justified.
Immigrant Song, Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross...
Salander in Film
I saw David Fincher’s The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and loved every moment of it. Fincher made a brilliant film and one that is good on several levels. Aesthetically, it is quite lovely, with a cinematography that defines the grim yet hopeful tone of the story. The script was well written, or at the very least, wonderfully performed, with dialogues that even cause one to grin a bit despite...
“If only falling out, is as easy as falling in……….from holes...”
I Don’t Wanna Miss A Thing, Aerosmith
“I find that perhaps I write with the use of too many commas and can rely on a...”
From Life to The Absence of It....How
I have had this thought now for a long while, but it hit me with a certain force and urgency yesterday, and it is this - what separates the living body from the dead one? I have attended more than a few funerals before and every time I lay my eyes upon the remains, draped in a fitting attire, I can’t restrain my mind from wondering just what processes, be they physical or metaphysical, are...
“How terrible it is that we have so many more desires than opportunities.”
– Christopher Hitchens
Predictions
I find this year to have been one of the most lamentable in terms of sheer excitement in cinema. oddly enough though, I probably saw more films this year than any other previous annum. The fact remains though, it wasn’t a terribly exciting one and that is even made symbolic by the fact that as of 5 more days till the year expires, I can hardly name five nominees for each of the acting...
Medicine As a Product
In the United States, there is a growing and seemingly inescapable commercialization of medical pills, and it is a most troubling phenomenon. You can’t go through a commercial break while watching the tube without coming across an advertisement that is asking you if you suffer the slightest ache and if so, try this product. One also hears the rather ridiculous fib that goes like this: when...
Christopher Hitchens on Women and Humor →
The author’s thesis is a rather simple one. Most men are ill-equipped by nature in the attractiveness department and are thus, simply gross and even grotesque. Therefore, only humor, and perhaps one or two other attributes can sufficiently enable a man to come across as satisfactory in the eyes of a woman. Members of the fairer sex on the other hand, do not suffer this problem, as we men...
“If you take no stock in the main Christian festival of Easter, or if you are a...”
– Christopher Hitchens, Forced Merriment: The True Spirit of Christmas
“Could the term ‘Christmas’ have originated from, or better yet, be a...”
Waka Waka, Shakira ft. Freshlyground
A Brief Note on the Written Word
Exams are now out of the way, as is school, for the next month at least. So, it is now on to my novels and indeed, books of all stripes. My first bouts with literature were strictly confined to book of fiction. Then, I gradually began veering towards an interest, perhaps even love?, for history, politics and current events and that spurred the shift towards non-fiction. I must add, from...
“In accordance with Christopher’s wishes, his body was donated to medical...”
– Steve Wasserman, Literary Agent for Christopher Hitchens.
One last contribution made by The Hitch to the causes of humanism, science and the advancement of knowledge. Knowledge that could lead to the saving of lives, even though his could not have been. I should not have expected anything less from...
An astrologer of a London tabloid was once fired by means of a letter from his editor which began, “As you will no doubt have foreseen.”
“Nietzche and Hitchens differed on the former’s maxim which states -...”
