Listening from the edge of town,
The iron curtain, frozen frowns;
The crack of guns and bombs and screams,
It seems the men have picked their teams.
The prejudice, how far and wide;
An obvious tip to those that tried,
To rid the world of evils past,
This virus found a place to last;
To waste away the years of good,
To keep asleep the ones that would,
Find solace in the victims pain,
Would sit and laugh as they went insane.
War is the day in human head,
When reason is put to sleep in bed,
When kindness is put second too,
The violence men enjoy to do,
Through a misled sense of staying free;
Unnecessary necessity.
Men dream that one day life will be,
A world of happy harmony,
Yet they find war in trivial cause;
Some evil urge to break the laws.
Maybe one day men will see,
To fight wars does not make them free,
But peace will always keep the mind,
Clear and open, free to find,
The truth that life is far from blind.
No single person can be right,
So keep the peace, avoid the fight;
And man will reach a brand-new height.
Friday, February 26, 2010
Thursday, February 25, 2010
If I were to make my first solo album: the songs it would include
1. Be If This Were
2. The Darkness
3. Maggie
4. Don't Say
5. Here's To You
6. Semper Fidelis
7. These Fields, They Move
8. Today
9. Lost Radiance
10. The Single Reality
11. Freedom
12. Stupid Little Things
2. The Darkness
3. Maggie
4. Don't Say
5. Here's To You
6. Semper Fidelis
7. These Fields, They Move
8. Today
9. Lost Radiance
10. The Single Reality
11. Freedom
12. Stupid Little Things
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Deep and Shallow: Today's Social Paradox
I've noticed something quite distinct and unique about today's youth, a strange paradox that occurs within today's young social patterns: youth today, if you generalize them based on the majority, are both deep, fulfilled, progressive, and enlightened, as well as shallow, both at the same time (once again, in general, not in entirety).
We're deep in the sense that we wish to know much more about everything than previous generations would have been, searching for higher purposes and better detail in anything, and we demonstrate this quality quite prominently; we're fulfilled in the sense that we understand there is much more to life to come, and that we're going to take that initiative to do so, most likely once our schooling is complete; we're progressive in the sense that we implement a degree of social justice in our daily lives, and treat anyone with at least general respect, regardless of perceived social stance; and we're enlightened in the sense that we are aware of arbitrary stances and events that have taken place in the past, and have learned from the mistakes of previous generations and are sure not to re-implement the conditions that lead to such mistakes, as well as the fact that we're always looking for higher experiences.
But on the other side of things, we're shallow. How so?
Some of us still do reject people based on perceived social stance, not responding to them in an entire manner as would be expected to do for someone else, thus, in some cases, causing emotional pain; some of us have decided it's much better to ignore other peoples problems, which is fine if they're constantly over-dramatic or always negative, but some don't even wish to help out friends, let alone acquaintances, with personally large occurrences, such as helping them through a break-up, being disowned as a friend by an individual or group, losing a loved one or a close friend, or other such personal tragedies. Some decide it's better that they sit back and act as if they don't care, whether they do or don't, for their own personal reasons.
Others decide they'd rather go home and sit on the internet or watch TV after they're done at school or work then spend time with friends who really want, or need to spend time with a peer for different possible reasons, and those that do spend time with peers after work or school hours, do tend to, like most of the rest of this generation, spend hours upon hours on Facebook, MySpace, Tagged, or some other alternative social networking website, or an IM chat platform like Windows Live Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger, or Skype.
That's not to say that these social networks are bad; it's to say that they're bad in the large doses that today's young society uses them.
Alongside over-usage of the internet, a big majority of (not only) my generation spend hours upon hours watching TV, doing nothing active or productive, instead opting to find out what's next on Lost, Grey's Anatomy, or UFC. Once again, that's not to say that these are all bad in small doses, but they are life-numbing at the rate at which people these days enjoy them.
We're deep in the sense that we wish to know much more about everything than previous generations would have been, searching for higher purposes and better detail in anything, and we demonstrate this quality quite prominently; we're fulfilled in the sense that we understand there is much more to life to come, and that we're going to take that initiative to do so, most likely once our schooling is complete; we're progressive in the sense that we implement a degree of social justice in our daily lives, and treat anyone with at least general respect, regardless of perceived social stance; and we're enlightened in the sense that we are aware of arbitrary stances and events that have taken place in the past, and have learned from the mistakes of previous generations and are sure not to re-implement the conditions that lead to such mistakes, as well as the fact that we're always looking for higher experiences.
But on the other side of things, we're shallow. How so?
Some of us still do reject people based on perceived social stance, not responding to them in an entire manner as would be expected to do for someone else, thus, in some cases, causing emotional pain; some of us have decided it's much better to ignore other peoples problems, which is fine if they're constantly over-dramatic or always negative, but some don't even wish to help out friends, let alone acquaintances, with personally large occurrences, such as helping them through a break-up, being disowned as a friend by an individual or group, losing a loved one or a close friend, or other such personal tragedies. Some decide it's better that they sit back and act as if they don't care, whether they do or don't, for their own personal reasons.
Others decide they'd rather go home and sit on the internet or watch TV after they're done at school or work then spend time with friends who really want, or need to spend time with a peer for different possible reasons, and those that do spend time with peers after work or school hours, do tend to, like most of the rest of this generation, spend hours upon hours on Facebook, MySpace, Tagged, or some other alternative social networking website, or an IM chat platform like Windows Live Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger, or Skype.
That's not to say that these social networks are bad; it's to say that they're bad in the large doses that today's young society uses them.
Alongside over-usage of the internet, a big majority of (not only) my generation spend hours upon hours watching TV, doing nothing active or productive, instead opting to find out what's next on Lost, Grey's Anatomy, or UFC. Once again, that's not to say that these are all bad in small doses, but they are life-numbing at the rate at which people these days enjoy them.
Monday, February 22, 2010
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Rules were meant to be broken
Is an incorrect analysis; rules were meant to keep order, attempt to guide people to what the rule-maker(s) see as what's best for them.
That doesn't mean I don't create my own outcome, or destiny as some might call it.
It's not that I don't like working by a schedule, even for things such as school; it's just that I like having the option of not having to follow it if I so wish; I really don't see why I'm so obliged to be present at school every day they want me to be, although I do understand why I do, indeed, need to be present at school in general, and am indeed thankful for the privilege of education which was dictated upon me from the age of 4 onwards (and I'm not being sarcastic).
One thing I'm afraid of about myself is the fact that I may subconsciously become comfortable with skipping class so often that it could potentially lead to an unwanted outcome, and I'm going to need to commandeer as much of my subconscious being as possible to avoid such a comfort, and still be alright with ditching class every once in a while for multiple reasons, some of which include: spending time with old friends, suddenly becoming sick, over-weariness, going on a vacation of some sort, deciding it's better to fall asleep in a beach-side meadow under the sun than to sit in Film & TV class for the third time that week and listen to the more popular people in the group talk about their great vacation plans for the near-future, as well as the simple desire for a time off from the hectic social sphere, as well as school work sphere, of my life.
I'm aware that many see this as wrong, and will call me lazy, and/or endangering my future success; while others simply don't take opinion on the matter, as they may do it from time to time, and others agree with me for many different reasons of their own, which can't really be characterized by what I've got written down here.
In terms of a job schedule, I'd take it much more seriously then I do the schedule at school, due to the fact that I'd be getting paid a decent amount per hour to do the job, as well as the fact that it'd be much easier then having to sit in a classroom for 6 hours and 15 minutes a day and realize I'm getting nothing out of the teacher's lesson on how to count the amount of clauses in a given sentence, or sit in guitar class and be unable to hear the teacher yell what chords to play over the sound of everyone else; although I will admit, I need to start practicing the warm-ups he's been teaching us that I'm really having trouble wrapping my head around, and watch in slightly annoyed, yet humble disbelief at the novices as they pick it up much quicker then I do.
I'm not going to lie; I write this article to you right now at my home, when I'm supposed to be sitting in English class doing God knows what, whether I'd enjoy it or not.
This morning, I decided I wanted to sleep in and not go to my Digital Media class, as it's a quite laid-back class, and I have the same teacher for Film & TV which I do indeed plan to attend today, giving me the chance to do whatever it is he wanted me to do in Digital Media during the slow brainstorming period of my Film class. I ended up waking up and 9:40 AM, and showered as quick as I could as to attempt to make it to English in time; as I was attempting to make my breakfast, the toaster appeared to stop working properly, so I was fooling around with it in a vein attempt to make it keep the toast down instead of popping it right back up as soon as I moved my hand away, to no avail. When I looked at my watch, it was 5 minutes until my English class started, and I knew that, no matter what, I was going to be at least about 20 minutes late. Finally, I made the half-toasted toast, and ate it anyways, quickly moving on to drink my coffee there-after. By this time, my class had started about 5 minutes ago, and I began to debate in my mind whether I should just not go anyways, and make sure I don't skip many more of the same class due to it being my only real academic for the semester.
Finally, I decided I'd just leave for school just prior to the lunch-break period, and promised to myself that if I skip any class, I can't skip more than 1 class of it per week, except for English, where I can't skip more than 1 class per every 3 weeks (unless I'm legitimately sick or something), and must make sure to get caught up quickly on what I missed the following day.
Along which such ground-rules I've laid down in my head, I also decided to add that I could only miss English if I happened to be sick, going on a family vacation, was already so late I didn't think it was worth going at all for the day, or I knew their was nothing important at all going on that particular day, and decided I wanted to use my 'once every 3 weeks' day; in which I promise myself I won't miss any other class for the remainder of that week.
I think that's a fair psychological system to work off of. Disagree? You must be one parents then. If not, and you disagree for separate reasons, please, leave a constructive comment on why you disagree; who knows? Maybe you'll change my thinking.
If you agree with me, but feel you want to add to, or subtract from what I've said, once again; I encourage you to leave a constructive comment as well.
That doesn't mean I don't create my own outcome, or destiny as some might call it.
It's not that I don't like working by a schedule, even for things such as school; it's just that I like having the option of not having to follow it if I so wish; I really don't see why I'm so obliged to be present at school every day they want me to be, although I do understand why I do, indeed, need to be present at school in general, and am indeed thankful for the privilege of education which was dictated upon me from the age of 4 onwards (and I'm not being sarcastic).
One thing I'm afraid of about myself is the fact that I may subconsciously become comfortable with skipping class so often that it could potentially lead to an unwanted outcome, and I'm going to need to commandeer as much of my subconscious being as possible to avoid such a comfort, and still be alright with ditching class every once in a while for multiple reasons, some of which include: spending time with old friends, suddenly becoming sick, over-weariness, going on a vacation of some sort, deciding it's better to fall asleep in a beach-side meadow under the sun than to sit in Film & TV class for the third time that week and listen to the more popular people in the group talk about their great vacation plans for the near-future, as well as the simple desire for a time off from the hectic social sphere, as well as school work sphere, of my life.
I'm aware that many see this as wrong, and will call me lazy, and/or endangering my future success; while others simply don't take opinion on the matter, as they may do it from time to time, and others agree with me for many different reasons of their own, which can't really be characterized by what I've got written down here.
In terms of a job schedule, I'd take it much more seriously then I do the schedule at school, due to the fact that I'd be getting paid a decent amount per hour to do the job, as well as the fact that it'd be much easier then having to sit in a classroom for 6 hours and 15 minutes a day and realize I'm getting nothing out of the teacher's lesson on how to count the amount of clauses in a given sentence, or sit in guitar class and be unable to hear the teacher yell what chords to play over the sound of everyone else; although I will admit, I need to start practicing the warm-ups he's been teaching us that I'm really having trouble wrapping my head around, and watch in slightly annoyed, yet humble disbelief at the novices as they pick it up much quicker then I do.
I'm not going to lie; I write this article to you right now at my home, when I'm supposed to be sitting in English class doing God knows what, whether I'd enjoy it or not.
This morning, I decided I wanted to sleep in and not go to my Digital Media class, as it's a quite laid-back class, and I have the same teacher for Film & TV which I do indeed plan to attend today, giving me the chance to do whatever it is he wanted me to do in Digital Media during the slow brainstorming period of my Film class. I ended up waking up and 9:40 AM, and showered as quick as I could as to attempt to make it to English in time; as I was attempting to make my breakfast, the toaster appeared to stop working properly, so I was fooling around with it in a vein attempt to make it keep the toast down instead of popping it right back up as soon as I moved my hand away, to no avail. When I looked at my watch, it was 5 minutes until my English class started, and I knew that, no matter what, I was going to be at least about 20 minutes late. Finally, I made the half-toasted toast, and ate it anyways, quickly moving on to drink my coffee there-after. By this time, my class had started about 5 minutes ago, and I began to debate in my mind whether I should just not go anyways, and make sure I don't skip many more of the same class due to it being my only real academic for the semester.
Finally, I decided I'd just leave for school just prior to the lunch-break period, and promised to myself that if I skip any class, I can't skip more than 1 class of it per week, except for English, where I can't skip more than 1 class per every 3 weeks (unless I'm legitimately sick or something), and must make sure to get caught up quickly on what I missed the following day.
Along which such ground-rules I've laid down in my head, I also decided to add that I could only miss English if I happened to be sick, going on a family vacation, was already so late I didn't think it was worth going at all for the day, or I knew their was nothing important at all going on that particular day, and decided I wanted to use my 'once every 3 weeks' day; in which I promise myself I won't miss any other class for the remainder of that week.
I think that's a fair psychological system to work off of. Disagree? You must be one parents then. If not, and you disagree for separate reasons, please, leave a constructive comment on why you disagree; who knows? Maybe you'll change my thinking.
If you agree with me, but feel you want to add to, or subtract from what I've said, once again; I encourage you to leave a constructive comment as well.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Be If This Were.
Planets built upon nothing but sand,
And a slight hint of stone;
Please pick up the phone.
London bright-lights and an island-nations dreams,
Slip straight out the door;
And leak onto the floor.
The decay under cupboard hinges,
The place you can't clean,
Does that not sound serene?
That state of mind where other people seem so distant,
That you forget who you are,
As if you've been replaced with tar.
The world you knew,
It's not so blue;
In anything but color and looks;
The land you sail,
Is not from that where you hail;
Your chasing the worlds tail.
The car exhaust,
Just as marring the cost,
The short drive of calm and of something so lost.
The broken soul,
At the fast food restaurants toll,
Sped this world up only slightly before.
The systems flash blue,
Giving me permission too,
Find the pedal,
Hit the gas,
No more sitting back and allow pass.
Blind cyclops are the former depth perceptions grasp,
Cus life is just one long time lapse;
Tell me things, I'll ignore,
I know it'll open some kind of door.
I know somewhere, someone has,
Tripped on mental signals and,
Can't get back up to find their way,
Or tell the world what they got to say.
Please leave,
The virtual world alone,
Please let,
Me finish my snow cone,
Please fall,
Into the waters calm,
Please call,
If you wish to read my palm;
My palm.
And a slight hint of stone;
Please pick up the phone.
London bright-lights and an island-nations dreams,
Slip straight out the door;
And leak onto the floor.
The decay under cupboard hinges,
The place you can't clean,
Does that not sound serene?
That state of mind where other people seem so distant,
That you forget who you are,
As if you've been replaced with tar.
The world you knew,
It's not so blue;
In anything but color and looks;
The land you sail,
Is not from that where you hail;
Your chasing the worlds tail.
The car exhaust,
Just as marring the cost,
The short drive of calm and of something so lost.
The broken soul,
At the fast food restaurants toll,
Sped this world up only slightly before.
The systems flash blue,
Giving me permission too,
Find the pedal,
Hit the gas,
No more sitting back and allow pass.
Blind cyclops are the former depth perceptions grasp,
Cus life is just one long time lapse;
Tell me things, I'll ignore,
I know it'll open some kind of door.
I know somewhere, someone has,
Tripped on mental signals and,
Can't get back up to find their way,
Or tell the world what they got to say.
Please leave,
The virtual world alone,
Please let,
Me finish my snow cone,
Please fall,
Into the waters calm,
Please call,
If you wish to read my palm;
My palm.
Maggie didn't know the answer to the question. Maggie didn't understand the question, because Maggie didn't understand life. Maggie understood enough to understand, that no one really understands anything.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Self-Analysis
I took a 'Global Personality Test,' as it's called, which I discovered via StumbleUpon, and I'd like to share my personal analysis of my results:
"Stability results were medium which suggests you are moderately relaxed, calm, secure, and optimistic." I'd have to say that's ultimately true; I don't really have any objection to this part of the results, or reinterpretations. This is pretty true to life.
"Orderliness results were low which suggests you are overly flexible, improvised, and fun seeking at the expense too often of reliability, work ethic, and long term accomplishment."
Whether most or all of those are pros or cons, I'll let you decide; but I'd also have to agree with this. I'd like to start working on my work ethic, but as this test has proven, I need more work ethic if I'm to do so.
"Extraversion results were moderately high which suggests you are, at times, overly talkative, outgoing, sociable and interacting at the expense of developing your own individual interests and internally based identity." Once again, yet another ultimately true-to-life interpretation. I have noticed, usually after the fact, that I may have scared off potential friends by being just a tad over-talkative with them; but how can I help it? I've got so much to say, and only so many people to say it too. And yes, I can be quite outgoing, usually providing it's something that really interests me such as history or political science.
As for my internally based identity? Yea, that's definitely vulnerable to major upheaval providing the right social conditions are presented.
My trait snapshots are: "messy, disorganized, not rule conscious, rebellious, rash, weird, ambivalent about chaos, likes bizarre things, anti-authority, not good at saving money, not a perfectionist, leaves many things unfinished, low self control, strange, desires more attention, romantic daydreamer, abstract, impractical, unproductive, leisurely, likes the unknown."
Once again, quite true to life; and once again, maybe I should start abit of an internal revolution.
"Stability results were medium which suggests you are moderately relaxed, calm, secure, and optimistic." I'd have to say that's ultimately true; I don't really have any objection to this part of the results, or reinterpretations. This is pretty true to life.
"Orderliness results were low which suggests you are overly flexible, improvised, and fun seeking at the expense too often of reliability, work ethic, and long term accomplishment."
Whether most or all of those are pros or cons, I'll let you decide; but I'd also have to agree with this. I'd like to start working on my work ethic, but as this test has proven, I need more work ethic if I'm to do so.
"Extraversion results were moderately high which suggests you are, at times, overly talkative, outgoing, sociable and interacting at the expense of developing your own individual interests and internally based identity." Once again, yet another ultimately true-to-life interpretation. I have noticed, usually after the fact, that I may have scared off potential friends by being just a tad over-talkative with them; but how can I help it? I've got so much to say, and only so many people to say it too. And yes, I can be quite outgoing, usually providing it's something that really interests me such as history or political science.
As for my internally based identity? Yea, that's definitely vulnerable to major upheaval providing the right social conditions are presented.
My trait snapshots are: "messy, disorganized, not rule conscious, rebellious, rash, weird, ambivalent about chaos, likes bizarre things, anti-authority, not good at saving money, not a perfectionist, leaves many things unfinished, low self control, strange, desires more attention, romantic daydreamer, abstract, impractical, unproductive, leisurely, likes the unknown."
Once again, quite true to life; and once again, maybe I should start abit of an internal revolution.
Monday, February 15, 2010
Relationships.
Well, despite there already being a previous post for today, I'd like to give everyone a quick update on my personal life and personal situation at the time being, just to help me get a bit off of my chest.
If I never did tell my loyal readers, I'm telling you now: I had a girlfriend, to whom I dated for about a month, maybe a month and a half; I lost track when everything began to go downhill.
I broke up with her recently for reasons I don't really wish to publicize (not that it's inappropriate, just that I feel like I'd be insulting her or breaching her privacy or something if I did, which wouldn't be very fair to either of us). I don't at all regret doing it, and I don't feel bad about it, due to the fact as I see it I had solid reason, and that theirs no point in brooding over something that's already over, but certain friends (not all of them), have become angry or upset with me for doing so. Although I can slightly understand one due to her being my ex's best friend, I don't understand the other few; I mean, is it really anyone's business or problem how our relationship went? It's not like I was rude or cruel when I did end it. If I had been, I can totally understand some social backlash, but I totally wasn't. I did it for good reason, and whether that opinion differs with other people shouldn't affect my friendship with them because it honestly is none of their business in the slightest.
The only way I get involved in someone elses relationship is if one or both are being treated badly, and one is being stepped all over by the other without doing anything about it; even then, it's not really my business. I only suggest to them what I would do in such a situation, and assist them in certain things regarding the relationship if truly need be. Outside of that, the outcome is not for me or anyone else to decide, and if I'm friends with both of the people in the relationship, I don't let it damage my friendship with either. So why would people get involved in my relationships, especially after everything is said and done?
Alongside that, I've also had one of those days where I feel society is rejecting me, albeit slightly, when I'm already slightly vulnerable. It hasn't taken me down too much.
If I never did tell my loyal readers, I'm telling you now: I had a girlfriend, to whom I dated for about a month, maybe a month and a half; I lost track when everything began to go downhill.
I broke up with her recently for reasons I don't really wish to publicize (not that it's inappropriate, just that I feel like I'd be insulting her or breaching her privacy or something if I did, which wouldn't be very fair to either of us). I don't at all regret doing it, and I don't feel bad about it, due to the fact as I see it I had solid reason, and that theirs no point in brooding over something that's already over, but certain friends (not all of them), have become angry or upset with me for doing so. Although I can slightly understand one due to her being my ex's best friend, I don't understand the other few; I mean, is it really anyone's business or problem how our relationship went? It's not like I was rude or cruel when I did end it. If I had been, I can totally understand some social backlash, but I totally wasn't. I did it for good reason, and whether that opinion differs with other people shouldn't affect my friendship with them because it honestly is none of their business in the slightest.
The only way I get involved in someone elses relationship is if one or both are being treated badly, and one is being stepped all over by the other without doing anything about it; even then, it's not really my business. I only suggest to them what I would do in such a situation, and assist them in certain things regarding the relationship if truly need be. Outside of that, the outcome is not for me or anyone else to decide, and if I'm friends with both of the people in the relationship, I don't let it damage my friendship with either. So why would people get involved in my relationships, especially after everything is said and done?
Alongside that, I've also had one of those days where I feel society is rejecting me, albeit slightly, when I'm already slightly vulnerable. It hasn't taken me down too much.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
The Issue of Intellectual Property and the Free Download of Not-So Free Media
Well, I'd like to start with an initial point: when you create something as an artwork, you shouldn't be doing it with the motivation of income; if such a bonus does come, then congratulations, you've got an extra source of income, but don't forget that when you make music, paint paintings, draw drawings or the like, you do it to express yourself, and to share that expression with the world, which shouldn't be done with any sort of ulterior motive aside from the love of doing it.
Do you think I look for money or popularity when I write posts on my blog? If so, far from it; I share this with no cost to me, and with no gain for me, aside from the knowledge that someone somewhere out there is enjoying the act of reading my work as much as I enjoy writing it.
Those huge corporate megalomaniacs out for nothing but an insane amount of cash in their pockets who copyright something as quizzical as the 'Happy Birthday' song should be resisted with as much force as an entire community of artists can muster. That's not to say that original artists shouldn't get credit for their work, it's to say that they shouldn't be awarded 5 cents every time someone uses their work in a separate piece of art.
When DJ's mix a number of different songs practically past the point of them being individually recognizable, then it should be considered an entirely separate piece of art without any credit needing to be given to the original artists. Why? Because as I see it, theirs a point in which the instrumental sounds in a recording become nothing but the sounds of individual instruments, chopped to bits and mashed into a single, brand-new entity by another external artist, in which they can be considered nothing but the sound of a guitar being played, as opposed to a guitar being played in a certain style by someone such as Bob Dylan or Michael Franti, which makes it, by default, the original work of the external artist.
On the other hand, however, if the entirety (or even a chunk) of a song is played with only very slight modifications made by an external artist with the song still being recognizable as the original, then the original artist should get credit, but should by no means gain any profit out of the use of the song aside from the satisfaction being felt in recognizing that someone thinks the music is good enough to be used to make a modified version of the masterpiece.
As a parallel issue to artists who make art only for individual profit, theirs the fact that most of the money made by the work of art doesn't even go to the artist themselves, it goes to the corporation or organization that distributes the work. For example: if a band makes an album which is sold for $12 per CD, the band would receive only $5 dollars per album sold, and in most cases, theirs about 4 or 5, sometimes 6 members in a band, which averages out to about a dollar to each band member per every album sold, while the rest goes directly to the company which is distributing.
That's not to say that the distribution company shouldn't gain any profit for the job of distributing the work, it's to say that they shouldn't gain as much as they do; at least not the majority of the profit. I think the artist(s) should receive a majority of the money made, if any at all, which once again ties in with the idea that they should be doing it for the privileged ability to share their work with the world as opposed to doing it for profit.
Do you think I look for money or popularity when I write posts on my blog? If so, far from it; I share this with no cost to me, and with no gain for me, aside from the knowledge that someone somewhere out there is enjoying the act of reading my work as much as I enjoy writing it.
Those huge corporate megalomaniacs out for nothing but an insane amount of cash in their pockets who copyright something as quizzical as the 'Happy Birthday' song should be resisted with as much force as an entire community of artists can muster. That's not to say that original artists shouldn't get credit for their work, it's to say that they shouldn't be awarded 5 cents every time someone uses their work in a separate piece of art.
When DJ's mix a number of different songs practically past the point of them being individually recognizable, then it should be considered an entirely separate piece of art without any credit needing to be given to the original artists. Why? Because as I see it, theirs a point in which the instrumental sounds in a recording become nothing but the sounds of individual instruments, chopped to bits and mashed into a single, brand-new entity by another external artist, in which they can be considered nothing but the sound of a guitar being played, as opposed to a guitar being played in a certain style by someone such as Bob Dylan or Michael Franti, which makes it, by default, the original work of the external artist.
On the other hand, however, if the entirety (or even a chunk) of a song is played with only very slight modifications made by an external artist with the song still being recognizable as the original, then the original artist should get credit, but should by no means gain any profit out of the use of the song aside from the satisfaction being felt in recognizing that someone thinks the music is good enough to be used to make a modified version of the masterpiece.
As a parallel issue to artists who make art only for individual profit, theirs the fact that most of the money made by the work of art doesn't even go to the artist themselves, it goes to the corporation or organization that distributes the work. For example: if a band makes an album which is sold for $12 per CD, the band would receive only $5 dollars per album sold, and in most cases, theirs about 4 or 5, sometimes 6 members in a band, which averages out to about a dollar to each band member per every album sold, while the rest goes directly to the company which is distributing.
That's not to say that the distribution company shouldn't gain any profit for the job of distributing the work, it's to say that they shouldn't gain as much as they do; at least not the majority of the profit. I think the artist(s) should receive a majority of the money made, if any at all, which once again ties in with the idea that they should be doing it for the privileged ability to share their work with the world as opposed to doing it for profit.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Sing This City to Sleep.
The time?
Well, it's late at night.
If this time ain't right,
Well, then there ain't no right in sight.
The date?
Well, it's not to late,
To ditch belief in fate,
And not believe in hate.
The year?
No, it ain't no different here.
The east got the front,
The west holds the rear.
The who?
The who, yea he know you too,
And the words he chew,
They just old, not new.
The where?
Well, why the fuck I care?
As long as I got you there,
Nothing need be fair.
CHORUS:
Sing this city to sleep,
Under the feet of the walking tall;
Sing this city to sleep,
Don't you find a reason to fall; Sing this city to sleep,
Don't you heed their blank false-call;
Sing this city to sleep, At night.
The city does shine,
Through the distant o'rama.
The continent glow,
Cus hey guess what, it's Obama.
The teens in town avoid eye-shut for none,
Cus for some reason, everything seem much more fun.
I rock-in, I roll-in, I Stumble, it's Nolan.
I sing sick to the beat,
Moving all 4 of my feet.
It ain't the name of the game,
And hey name it: we cheat.
And baby,
My obsession yea,
It's growing large now,
I feel my head burst,
It shatters all my conscious thought away,
Until there's nothing left but day,
Just a delirious caffeine-induced haze.
And I see,
Your picture,
Plastered digital, you're looking quite migital,
On Facebook, not MySpace,
Oh what a waste,
No don't worry yes I volunteer.
CHORUS:
Sing this city to sleep,
Under the feet of the walking tall;
Sing this city to sleep,
Don't you find a reason to fall;
Sing this city to sleep,
Don't you heed their blank false-call;
Sing this city to sleep, At night.
Sit still now,
Don't turn 'round,
It ain't so pretty when the city look so shitty,
So just lay your brain down,
Loosen up that frown,
Let the TV paint you a brand new town.
An old friend;
He higher now,
He the sire now,
You make idle conversation and he turns,
His head left,
Sighs quite a large heft,
Your self-esteem sink;
What the fuck do others like him think?
One says hi,
The other walks by,
You making comedy and then the conversation dies;
You wonder; what if all this,
All of these words of comfort and support,
Are all lies, there ain't no high-fives;
This head is, no resort;
It distort, every single retort;
Come packing, the report,
That electrode sent from the ears into the brain;
It's such a chain,
I go insane.
CHORUS:
Sing this city to sleep,
Under the feet of the walking tall;
Sing this city to sleep,
Don't you find a reason to fall;
Sing this city to sleep,
Don't you heed their blank false-call;
Sing this city to sleep,
At night.
Well, it's late at night.
If this time ain't right,
Well, then there ain't no right in sight.
The date?
Well, it's not to late,
To ditch belief in fate,
And not believe in hate.
The year?
No, it ain't no different here.
The east got the front,
The west holds the rear.
The who?
The who, yea he know you too,
And the words he chew,
They just old, not new.
The where?
Well, why the fuck I care?
As long as I got you there,
Nothing need be fair.
CHORUS:
Sing this city to sleep,
Under the feet of the walking tall;
Sing this city to sleep,
Don't you find a reason to fall; Sing this city to sleep,
Don't you heed their blank false-call;
Sing this city to sleep, At night.
The city does shine,
Through the distant o'rama.
The continent glow,
Cus hey guess what, it's Obama.
The teens in town avoid eye-shut for none,
Cus for some reason, everything seem much more fun.
I rock-in, I roll-in, I Stumble, it's Nolan.
I sing sick to the beat,
Moving all 4 of my feet.
It ain't the name of the game,
And hey name it: we cheat.
And baby,
My obsession yea,
It's growing large now,
I feel my head burst,
It shatters all my conscious thought away,
Until there's nothing left but day,
Just a delirious caffeine-induced haze.
And I see,
Your picture,
Plastered digital, you're looking quite migital,
On Facebook, not MySpace,
Oh what a waste,
No don't worry yes I volunteer.
CHORUS:
Sing this city to sleep,
Under the feet of the walking tall;
Sing this city to sleep,
Don't you find a reason to fall;
Sing this city to sleep,
Don't you heed their blank false-call;
Sing this city to sleep, At night.
Sit still now,
Don't turn 'round,
It ain't so pretty when the city look so shitty,
So just lay your brain down,
Loosen up that frown,
Let the TV paint you a brand new town.
An old friend;
He higher now,
He the sire now,
You make idle conversation and he turns,
His head left,
Sighs quite a large heft,
Your self-esteem sink;
What the fuck do others like him think?
One says hi,
The other walks by,
You making comedy and then the conversation dies;
You wonder; what if all this,
All of these words of comfort and support,
Are all lies, there ain't no high-fives;
This head is, no resort;
It distort, every single retort;
Come packing, the report,
That electrode sent from the ears into the brain;
It's such a chain,
I go insane.
CHORUS:
Sing this city to sleep,
Under the feet of the walking tall;
Sing this city to sleep,
Don't you find a reason to fall;
Sing this city to sleep,
Don't you heed their blank false-call;
Sing this city to sleep,
At night.
Monday, February 8, 2010
How do you be yourself; authentic; every second, of every single day, in a world that wants you to conform to a set of beliefs; a set of rules?
This question crawls underneath the skin of everyone in the world; it's a question that can destroy some, frustrate others, and create or resurrect others.
Years ago, the only thing you truly could be was yourself, because there was no real alternative presented by mind-numbing television, world-enveloping internet, or glossy fashion magazines.
Some have realized that resistance to the question can present one of the many answers, albeit not an inherently correct one, while resistance to the answer brings yet another set of conclusions which can only be deemed correct by the individual.
Life, like any other system in nature, isn't governed by any set of predetermined principles; as humanity has proven, nature is also incapable of governing itself, or in the least suppressing a renegade species that decides to go further. The entire facade of religion and, in a broad generality, belief in itself, has attempted to prove that their is indeed a predetermined set of rules that lay the game out for the species put on the continental playing fields, but have yet to truly convince the worlds population in its entirety due to the resistance of a few, which slowly grew into the resistance of many.
To identify as a separate individual from the commercial, corporate, and societal mainstream is indisputably one of the bravest forms of resistance there is, proving their is no way to completely suppress any group or society; there will always be people above the manipulation, lies, and stereotypes that will be brave enough to stand up for what they know is right.
One of the greatest flaws of humanity as a whole is the belief that if a large majority of a/the population believe something to be true, then in the least their needs to be some truth to it, right?
Wrong. Someone could spiel out a load of total bullshit and successfully convert an entire nation to a set of misguided principles and lies, and that wouldn't make it correct by default; for example: look at Hitler's Nazi Germany, or white supremacists in the Southern United States.
As far as I see it, if your willing to conform to a certain set of beliefs out of fear, then you're no better then either of the latter notable mentions, whether that set of beliefs is something as pure and innocent as Buddhism, or the ideas shared by a fitness group, anything taken from fear is automatically subject to doubt and scrutinizing with good reason.
The ability to dismiss a fear as nothing but yet another emotion that will pass in time is probably the wisest thing to do in a time of crisis. If you face death, look death in the eyes and accept that if their is no choice, nothing that can be done, then their is absolutely nothing to fear.
The cliche that states the 'only thing to fear, is fear itself' seems to ring quite true in this framework of thought.
That's yet another subject to address: frameworks of thought. It's a hard one to address, albeit quite fascinating: is it correct to set yourself with a framework of thought? Doesn't that mean conforming in some sense? Yes, it does mean conforming in some sense, but only to what you chose to conform too. When conforming to a framework of thought, it's a good idea to leave many doors open to reform, and be ready to accept any complete renovation to that frame if that's the ball life throws at you, without dogmatically clinging onto any thought you may doubt when an abstract, yet perceptionally correct alternative properly presents itself.
Chances are, if theirs a voice inside your head telling you either parts of the thought or the thought as a whole seems correct or acceptable, it's probably best to listen with an open mind.
An observation I've made in the hectic world of today is that resistance to the mainstream seems to be growing at an alarming rate, with people finally realizing what it is to be an individual, what it is to be oneself without having to listen to an ancient book, or a cassette tape telling you how to get rich. Humanity has finally reached a point where morals are simply common sense, as opposed to what they appeared to be during the apparent time of Christ or prior; it's come to a point where people need not be governed by the word of a deity or deities to be good, or even incredible people. They no longer due good out of fear of retribution if they were to do bad; they do good simply for the sake of doing good.
Alongside humanities maturing there is the obvious blurring of the line which tells us what's inherently wrong and what's inherently right. Until around 200 years ago, it was considered inherently wrong not to have an automatic belief in God; that line, as is obvious in today's society, has been blurred beyond recognition, being twisted every which way until it's nothing but scribbles when showcased as a chart statistic.
I believe this day and age is, in some sense, a second Renaissance. Whether it's the beginning, middle, or end is for future humanity checking in hindsight to decide.
Years ago, the only thing you truly could be was yourself, because there was no real alternative presented by mind-numbing television, world-enveloping internet, or glossy fashion magazines.
Some have realized that resistance to the question can present one of the many answers, albeit not an inherently correct one, while resistance to the answer brings yet another set of conclusions which can only be deemed correct by the individual.
Life, like any other system in nature, isn't governed by any set of predetermined principles; as humanity has proven, nature is also incapable of governing itself, or in the least suppressing a renegade species that decides to go further. The entire facade of religion and, in a broad generality, belief in itself, has attempted to prove that their is indeed a predetermined set of rules that lay the game out for the species put on the continental playing fields, but have yet to truly convince the worlds population in its entirety due to the resistance of a few, which slowly grew into the resistance of many.
To identify as a separate individual from the commercial, corporate, and societal mainstream is indisputably one of the bravest forms of resistance there is, proving their is no way to completely suppress any group or society; there will always be people above the manipulation, lies, and stereotypes that will be brave enough to stand up for what they know is right.
One of the greatest flaws of humanity as a whole is the belief that if a large majority of a/the population believe something to be true, then in the least their needs to be some truth to it, right?
Wrong. Someone could spiel out a load of total bullshit and successfully convert an entire nation to a set of misguided principles and lies, and that wouldn't make it correct by default; for example: look at Hitler's Nazi Germany, or white supremacists in the Southern United States.
As far as I see it, if your willing to conform to a certain set of beliefs out of fear, then you're no better then either of the latter notable mentions, whether that set of beliefs is something as pure and innocent as Buddhism, or the ideas shared by a fitness group, anything taken from fear is automatically subject to doubt and scrutinizing with good reason.
The ability to dismiss a fear as nothing but yet another emotion that will pass in time is probably the wisest thing to do in a time of crisis. If you face death, look death in the eyes and accept that if their is no choice, nothing that can be done, then their is absolutely nothing to fear.
The cliche that states the 'only thing to fear, is fear itself' seems to ring quite true in this framework of thought.
That's yet another subject to address: frameworks of thought. It's a hard one to address, albeit quite fascinating: is it correct to set yourself with a framework of thought? Doesn't that mean conforming in some sense? Yes, it does mean conforming in some sense, but only to what you chose to conform too. When conforming to a framework of thought, it's a good idea to leave many doors open to reform, and be ready to accept any complete renovation to that frame if that's the ball life throws at you, without dogmatically clinging onto any thought you may doubt when an abstract, yet perceptionally correct alternative properly presents itself.
Chances are, if theirs a voice inside your head telling you either parts of the thought or the thought as a whole seems correct or acceptable, it's probably best to listen with an open mind.
An observation I've made in the hectic world of today is that resistance to the mainstream seems to be growing at an alarming rate, with people finally realizing what it is to be an individual, what it is to be oneself without having to listen to an ancient book, or a cassette tape telling you how to get rich. Humanity has finally reached a point where morals are simply common sense, as opposed to what they appeared to be during the apparent time of Christ or prior; it's come to a point where people need not be governed by the word of a deity or deities to be good, or even incredible people. They no longer due good out of fear of retribution if they were to do bad; they do good simply for the sake of doing good.
Alongside humanities maturing there is the obvious blurring of the line which tells us what's inherently wrong and what's inherently right. Until around 200 years ago, it was considered inherently wrong not to have an automatic belief in God; that line, as is obvious in today's society, has been blurred beyond recognition, being twisted every which way until it's nothing but scribbles when showcased as a chart statistic.
I believe this day and age is, in some sense, a second Renaissance. Whether it's the beginning, middle, or end is for future humanity checking in hindsight to decide.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
That Slightly Akward First Week
Well, Semester 2 of my school year began yesterday at exactly 9 AM sharp, and I have to admit I'm pretty stoked for the remainder of the school year, as I've got indisputably the easiest, most entertaining, and probably one of the most enlightening school semesters I've ever had, and ever will have from here on in. From now until June, I'll be going to school to attend the classes of English (my only academic course for the remainder of the year, and one of the few academic courses I'm truly good at), Guitar, Film & TV, and Digital Media (known in the abbreviated form of 'Digimed' or simply 'Digital' to some).
Along with the beginning of this semester, one of my long-ignored self-observations seems to be confirmed, whether my perception of it all is correct or not: it seems to me, that at the beginning of almost every new semester, I seem to lose a well-established network of acquaintances and/or strictly in-school friends; not entirely or anything, but it seems as if our interactions become less than partial.
Along with, and possibly in-part because of this, I gain a slight sense of social isolation and awkward social individualism, which in turn causes me to partially withdraw from constant interaction with what could be considered my connections in the schools perceived 'upper-class' individuals; or to put it quite bluntly: the popular and semi-popular kids.
That's not to say that they've denounced me as a social outcast or the likes, and in all likelihood this is all probably quite temporary as everyone is trying to re-integrate themselves back into a similar mindset to the one held in the prior semester: one of social and self-security, as well as overall comfort with the atmosphere at school.
It'll most likely pass within the first month, and I'll be sure to keep everyone who reads my blog updated on how it goes.
Along with the beginning of this semester, one of my long-ignored self-observations seems to be confirmed, whether my perception of it all is correct or not: it seems to me, that at the beginning of almost every new semester, I seem to lose a well-established network of acquaintances and/or strictly in-school friends; not entirely or anything, but it seems as if our interactions become less than partial.
Along with, and possibly in-part because of this, I gain a slight sense of social isolation and awkward social individualism, which in turn causes me to partially withdraw from constant interaction with what could be considered my connections in the schools perceived 'upper-class' individuals; or to put it quite bluntly: the popular and semi-popular kids.
That's not to say that they've denounced me as a social outcast or the likes, and in all likelihood this is all probably quite temporary as everyone is trying to re-integrate themselves back into a similar mindset to the one held in the prior semester: one of social and self-security, as well as overall comfort with the atmosphere at school.
It'll most likely pass within the first month, and I'll be sure to keep everyone who reads my blog updated on how it goes.
My mind was just blown.
I've been contemplating, surprisingly only for the past hour and a half or so, some deep philosophy. I've also been reading up on some incredible (currently) theoretical science regarding things such as the uploading of an individuals brain into the mainframe of a robotic body or computer network, and other strange proposed phenomena. Let me give you a pretty straight-forward example of how complex some of the stuff I was reading is:
A Far Edge Party addresses one of the main problems regarding the theoretical human exploration of the stellar systems of a galaxy at some point in the future, here, I'll quote it for you:
FAR EDGE PARTY: One of the main problems of exploring the stellar systems of the galaxy even for very advanced civilizations is that a serial journey even at the speed of light would take so long time that most of the stars would have died during the journey. One solution is to parallelize the problem: the explorer travels to a new system, creates a number of copies of himself and sends them to other systems, while he remains behind exploring the system. After around 10 million years, when all of the galaxy has been explored, the explorers gather together at a prearranged place, and exchange or merge their memories ("The Far Edge Party"). This was proposed by Keith Henson as a possible method for a single individual to visit all of the galaxy within a reasonable time.
A Far Edge Party addresses one of the main problems regarding the theoretical human exploration of the stellar systems of a galaxy at some point in the future, here, I'll quote it for you:
FAR EDGE PARTY: One of the main problems of exploring the stellar systems of the galaxy even for very advanced civilizations is that a serial journey even at the speed of light would take so long time that most of the stars would have died during the journey. One solution is to parallelize the problem: the explorer travels to a new system, creates a number of copies of himself and sends them to other systems, while he remains behind exploring the system. After around 10 million years, when all of the galaxy has been explored, the explorers gather together at a prearranged place, and exchange or merge their memories ("The Far Edge Party"). This was proposed by Keith Henson as a possible method for a single individual to visit all of the galaxy within a reasonable time.
(Note: the above italicized text is not my own. It's not stated who the individual author of the page or definition is, and as such, I'll give you this link as to prove I have not taken credit for the text, as well as send you to the website which I have derived the information from. I hope that, if you choose to check it out, that you're just as pulled-in by it as I was: www.aleph.se/Trans/Individual/Mental/rules.html).
Monday, February 1, 2010
Don't Say (Lyrics)
Don’t say,
Everything is artificial,
‘Til you’ve practiced it; fo shizzle, then you can.
Don’t say,
That nothing can be figured out,
Cus that’s a lie.
Don’t say,
That everything’s kinda distant when you go,
That’ll make it true,
And I don’t want it to be, so.
I don’t know what to say,
When I’ve stepped in your way;
Do I move?
Or do I grab onto you, and do I stay?
Do I find a grand piano,
Give it the nickname ‘Life’?
Do I find the world outside is kinda distant?
As it was one full of strife.
The painting on the wall,
Reflects nothing that I can feel;
It’s so unreal.
I know when you,
Freefall all the memories inside,
It’s alright.
Don’t scream,
From the window,
And the window’s sheen,
Lysine, gasoline.
Blue coats,
Magistrates mock people in the courts,
And caught singing:
No, no no no no.
Don’t you go,
Go, go go go.
No, no no no,
Don’t you go.
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