rob

day three hundred and fifty-one: the marks we make

2012-01-25T09:41:00.000+02:00

I'm sitting here this morning, with the two books my daughter was given as part of her educational program, under my desk. These two books, unlike the rest are pristine and unused. They are her art books. I had a quick glance through them before writing this blog post, to see the content and relevance. My inquiry to my daughter came after a discussion we had over lunch the previous day. On occasion I ask her how she is doing in her art class. Many a time, she replies we drew a picture or coloured a photocopy in. She is eleven years old and been going to school for some seven years. The things she does in her art class are rudimentary and at a stage that is compliant with kindergarden activities, and basically have not evolved from this point; no instruction and no learning takes place in these lessons. My daughter stated that the last teacher was better, as they did one whole lesson on Picasso. My daughter also, was willing to defend her teachers, saying that they weren't artists, and didn't know how to draw. I rebuffed this by saying, they aren't mathematicians nor scientists, but they teach you maths and science.

As the dawn of man came upon us, and we strived to evolve into the simian being we are today, our first attempt at communication was by making marks. We drew in sand, on stone, etc, and made iconic forms that would dictate the narrative to what we wished to purvey. This ability is built within all of us. It is an instinctual form of communication. All kids become familiar to the task of creative mark making as they grow from infancy. Many of their parents have little or no aesthetic skills, but they are still able to translate observational aspects of their life and put them on paper, in whatever medium it be. This is before schooling and without instruction. The fact that what occurs after this, is detrimental to the free thinking of the child, and the mandatory need to be educated in an out-dated school system seems to destroy this natural aspect to creativity.

After watching an interesting TED talk two days ago about the "The Divided Brain" by Iain McGilchrist, I am more aware that the reason behind this inhibition to creative and aesthetic matters is due to the further training of the brain toward left-side control over the right. The noted medical fact that the corpus callosum has in fact proportionally decreased in ration to the rest of the brain is an enormous detrimental factor in many aspects of the methods of free-thinking, and therefore aesthetic activity (I want to add at this point that I will refer to the term aesthetic quite a lot in this post, knowing now that it is from the Greek; touching the senses). What is occurring in our evolution is the the part of the brain that allows for more open thinking and expression is getting smaller. Therefore the actions and it's control is getting weaker. In combination to this, the functions of human society are such that our development of culture has made commerce a more pragmatic concern than allowing free expression and thinking.

We are sent to school, to be "clone" taught activities that some seldom use in later life, but are there simply to train us for the mega-machine of the corporate world. We are funnelled into the money making machine. Education itself, as told by Sir Ken Robinson, is badly structured in a way that actually destroys the notions of creativity. And why is this? Well, in a slight tangent to this discourse, there was a recent bill going through the American government called SOPA. A weakly disguised attempt to allow governments to block, eradicate and null out any site they deemed inappropriate. It is banded under the 'protective' guise of 'piracy', however the bill will basically allow the ability of higher officials to delete any site, and strangely enough; creative sites. This combined with the still omnipresent Orphan Works Bill, are two ways to but a leash on the only real functioning outlet for free thinking; the internet.

Based on the premise that the internet is free (still), unless you live in such countries as China, then this is a big concern for Governments, and therefore puppeteering money-makers. As was the planned subversive affects of the OWB, to enforce registration of art, or loose copyright status, so the SOPA bill is there to block and neutralise any forms of free-thinking activities that may also be against "the machine". This is the future status that all creative are working their passion towards. A control mechanism that makes life as a creative and aesthetic person almost unbearable. There is too much of this around already, with (money grabbing) stock sites making art a cheap commodity that aesthetic minded people either get in line or pay the consequences. There is already a lack of respect toward mass community art. So much so, that art is becoming a greater elitism than ever, and a possible reason for the lack of educational input.

Now coming on full circle to the educational aspect, and those two books my daughter handed to me this morning. Several things are of note as I flicked through them. Many of the activities that have bee avoided, are based on material usage. As much as I can remember when I was a kid. Making clay animals and figures, or paper mache forms, or collage or whatever it was, it takes more than what can be fed to children from a printed text book. If we look at it, it is one of the more expensive activities in school, but nevertheless one of the more essential, and forgotten. The world is an ugly place, in many ways (as build by man), and nothing is done to help form a generation that could aid in beautifying it.

As an educator, I see and hear the remarks of my students, who are scared to draw a shape on paper with a simple pencil.

This has nothing to do with the actions of producing such marks, it is an inhibition built from a mind-control from a system that is ineffective and in staunch opposition to any aesthetic ability of children. It is a strange fact that a synonym of the word 'single-minded' is in fact "artless". This seems to be the goal of government in this evolution and current epoch of man. To be focused and determined to make money makers a minority at the expense and cost of natural expression from the masses. It was stated by Sir Ken Robinson in one of his talks, that in a test, more pre-school children were better aware of geography than those who had entered the school system. It seems a little ironic that in an society that has "planned" obsolesces built into many of the products that are destroying natural resources, etc. that the one main obsolete thing we have to contend with (education) has not yet been thrown out and replaced with a better model.

day three hundred and fifty: Spin the Fan - part 2!

2012-01-16T08:05:00.001+02:00

Just wanted to give an additional follow up with another angle to provide. Was informed about a website that builds Facebook Tab applications that offers two free apps per page, which in turn, allow for Social Network streaming. The site is called Involver. You can visit the site here!

Homepage of Involver

To use these two free apps, you don't even need to register. Simply hit "Get Apps". This will take you to this page:

Application page

Depending on what stream you want to provide, you can add these apps by clicking "Install". Follow the instructions and then see them in the tab menu on your FanPage. It is recommended to add "Twitter" and "Youtube" if you have streams, as they are the most popular, plus if you are like me, and do video tutorials, can help promote them.

More to come, as I am looking into the Facebook Ads section. As I have been told it's Pay Per Click.

day three hundred and forty-nine: Spin the Fan!

2012-01-12T19:12:00.000+02:00

Just wanted to write a post to explain a little on how to boost your reach on Facebook Fan Pages. Before I start, I will warn you, that this is not an easy activity. So, if you think it's a quick fix to ailing numbers, it's not. It does take some effort. However, the payoff could be rewarding. First of all, I will show you an image of my Fan Page before and after the facelift.

before on the left (click to see in detail)

So, there I was, some three years in from having a fan page. I originally set it up to help promote my freelance service. As to date, I have had six commissions based on the fact they contacted me due to my fan page. I am hoping for more in the future, and this is why I decided to look into this a little better. To help put this across better, I will write the explanation in points. But to start the ball rolling, and to do some blatant networking here, I will make a list of what I used to increase my fan reach 100 in four days.

a) A LinkedIn Account

b) A BeHance Account (only useful if you are a creative)

c) A Facebook profile

d) A Society6 Account (not really necessary, but you'll see why I mentioned it)

e) A ShortStack Account

f) A MailChimp Account

Also, as I am a creative I generated all the graphics by myself, using professional tools.

1) Best get the hard bit out the way to start with. Saying that it's not hard, just time consuming. There is something to be said for all this networking. I have had a many connections on sites like LinkedIn and BeHance, but only ever added my friends to them. Much the same as the Fan Page. When you think about it, the chances of your friends hiring you via these media are quite slim. They will more likely email, phone or talk to you. So, over the past six months I have been building my network and therefore reach.

I have added artists to my friends list on Facebook. Some of which are connections on Society6, and then cross add them on other places such as LinkedIn.

Now, there is something to know about LinkedIn.

I managed to get my connections past the 500 mark, which means this appears.

It is also a good thing, whilst here to mention that building the recommendations section is a good plan too. The more professional you look, the better.

Now, the funny thing about LinkedIn, is that you can't add contacts unless you know their email. This is not entirely true, but there is a way around this.

If you go to your inbox, and select the tab that says "Invitations"

At the base of the Invitations window, if you have no outstanding invitations (under the list of photos), is a link that says "See more people you may know >>". If you select this, you get a long list of possible contacts, much the same as the other list previous, but this time, if you press connect, you just send an invite. Not need to express where you know the person. Look for people in the list in your field, and add them slowly.

This process needs to be done on any platform that can build connections. I have done this on Society6, BeHance, which are both good for my type of work.

One extra thing I was told about LinkedIn however, and it can apply to BeHance also, is the need to join professional groups.

Some of the groups I have joined recently.

Not only does this just help for work, but you getter a better reach and can post networking links here too. More of that later.

2) So, I have slowly built up my network. Now I need to sell myself.
The term 'Fan Page' is a little misleading, as it gives the idea of an activity based following, rather than professional network. Anyway, that is just semantics. What you need to do, is to create a professionalism about the way you put yourself across. There is some real estate on the page that can be utilised, and the better your appearance the more chance of gaining fans and work. So if you look at my two versions again, you will see, that the first one even though serving the purpose was weak in it's visual impact. It had a copy of my business card in the profile image and some of my works that are tagged in the five windows. Now, just visually the one on the right has more impact. Regardless of if you appreciate the aesthetics. So, I set about developing a better appearance. Now I am not going to take all the credit here. I did get the tip from "10,000 Fans", but basically you need to make a set of icons that go in the top that sell your service in a more graphic method. Either like mine, or like an advert. Pictures on there own are too small to read, and can seem like just snap shots (not professional)
I use a Mac, so luckily I found a free texture over the summer, which was of their linen background effect. Also, as my logo was a parody of the PS CS3 splash logo, I thought it good to extend the feel in the five icons on top. I spent a day making these and perfecting. The best resolution is 720x720. However, keep the information small in the centre if its a graphic. See mine.

The actual icon area is just inside the available view space. If you look at the actual icon...

As you can see. The cropping takes away from a lot of the image. Just keep this in mind when doing the action. Also, you may also have images there already. What you need to do is to click the little (x) in the corner of each image. It will ask to not show here again, and that is all OK. Once you have done this, and made your five icons, you upload them and then tag them to the page. They will then appear in the spaces provided.

Inside the description you should then also add some relevant info as a title. Adding links also helps.

3) Now we have a prettified Fan Page. What we need to do is to capture people's attention more. Now, by default Facebook sets the Wall as the main landing page. You can change this in settings, but your choice is only limited to what Facebook offers (Photos/Links/Info). What you want is a 'sexy' opening page (like you've seen on other pages). This is where the Landing Page iFrame comes in. Now I could mention all possible applications, and hand-written coding, but this is how I did my page, so I will mention what I used. I saw a site that was nice and directed myself to ShortStack. After setting up a free account, which seems only to be limited to 2,000 fans max, I spent some time looking at the widgets and figuring it out.

Landing Page for Non-Fans

I finally ended up with this design, and configure it to allow an image change when you become a fan.

The nice thing I found about using the image is that I could add the image map tag inside the widget and link all the social icons at the base, as well as the examples of work.

I also generated a contact page and an invite friends widget. The nice thing about ShortStack is that you can make separate tabs and have what you want on each tab. Also, if you have more than one page, you can create tabs for different pages you administrate.

4) So, built an external network, made the site a little prettier, how to help get the fans. Again, I have read several techniques, but if you are looking for free methods, then these can help. I am not guaranteeing number increases, but I have had 100+ in four days. Which is not bad , as I had 400 fans total over four years!

So, what I did, was I made a generic statement (like a comment, or short post) and went to LinkedIn.

I opened each group in a new tab and basically copy/pasted the statement, with a link to my new landing page in these groups. I have about 46 groups with a sizeable reach. And to give you the statistical low-down. I have had more new fans from LinkedIn groups than anywhere else.

I did the same to BeHance, and sent to my circle and followers, all the same generic message. On Society6 I did a little different, as you can add a picture in a post there.

Society6 Post section

5) So with all that done, and my numbers rising, I read up some more about how to make this work. One of the things you can do in your fan page is use it as the controller of the site, instead of visiting it as the profile user going to their fan page. This is useful for one purpose.

When you make posts on your fan page it tags it as the page rather than the owner. So, it looks like the organisation is in control. However, if you continue to explore Facebook and make a "Like" on a page, it will do it as the owner and not the page. Now, it's important to start liking associated pages related to your work, as the page and not the owner. These appear in the left column, and you can actually select the five you wish to be permanent. This is a small thing, but can help to paint a better image of your company. It also helps in the next part.

6) Like a blog or website, you want to keep your fan page up-to-date. Now, it is one thing just adding new work, or comments, etc, but why not use these updates in your favour. One thing I read today, is that comments have a two way mechanism for aiding people to your site. Again, not guaranteed, but it's free, so what's the harm. First method, and in both cases, the need for the 'Likes' on other Pages, is to use the @ symbol in comments. Look at my example.

The Comment is just mentioning about a competition at Derwent Pencils. Now, if I didn't write it as "@Derwent Pencils" it would just be a normal link, but if I include the @ it gives you a list of pages your Fan Page is a fan of (not you).

Why is that important? Well, the way the mechanism works, is that the tag duplicates the post and it appears on Derwent Pencils page as well. So you get their audience knowing about you as well. Another way to do the same sort of thing, is to visit the page you are a fan of, and there on their wall, make a comment.

The best approach for this is to not just say "visit my page", but to include some mention of the page you are on. This way, it's not blatant and is polite. The actual poster tag is enough to get you noticed, and people will visit, based on what you write.

So, there are some tips on how to get better reach on Facebook. They are not all of the possible ones, but basically some of the better free ones. As I discover more I will make a new post, but any questions, add a comment or visit my pages and leave comments there.

As a final note, and as it is what this is all about, if you could visit my main site here and like it there too, then I would appreciate it.

www.robsnow.org

day three hundred and forty-eight: MMXII

2011-12-30T16:42:00.000+02:00

As is customary I get a chance at the end of one year, to spout out the good and badness, and then to promote some worthwhile chants in the form of resolutions that will hopefully stay me till the end of the fore-coming year. Maybe funny, as seeing some Inca or Nostradamus fellow predicted the end of the world next year, which was quickly snapped up by some Hollywood franchise, seems maybe a little pointless trying to redeem oneself for the end of life as we know it. However, I am perched on my trusty laptop, looking at the greyness, that is winter these days, outside my window, thinking of the past twelve months. Thinking what would be worthy of being penned in this tribute to all that has happened in my zone, my space, my connections.

Getting older, and nearly hitting the half century, I have found it easy to become more open and willing to spout the truths as I see them, rather than coyly, and more so, blandly tell tales of this, that and the other that have no real flavour. Then again, does my life have any flavour. I think being an creative as such, it does. My waking hours are always being stimulated with the prancing on my senses. I spend a many good hour, enveloped in the totality that I call aesthetics. Enjoying, analysing, part-taking or creating, the pleasures fill my hours. So, most of this year has been a tribute to that, or simple thanks for another annual salvation from a demise without art.

The year started off, not perfect, but well. Had an income of work and it looked promising. I was healthy, and after a previous year of monthly voyages up the mountain of my dreams, I had many a plan to go as often this year. In reflection now, it was hard to think of the one factor that changed everything, and I am sure that some spiritual yogi type, somewhere, would say that the winds of life are changed by the karma that we exude. Whether that is totally true or not is another debate. What seems to be the case is (as I am reading a lot with other creatives on FB) that many creative souls are constantly being taken for the proverbial ride, not for any other reason, other than the fact that they can. The economy of the world these days makes it possible for some Joe to believe a creative talent can conjure a masterpiece, do several revisions and then deliver this work in several formats in two days at the cost of some fee that contravenes all minimum wage rates. So although the year seems to start out with promise. The reward was based on many hours and many headaches of "clients from hell" based scenarios. Something that is common practice anyway, but is a hope not to happen on the taking of every new commission. This will be the perfect commission, the one that goes the way you want it! That is the cranky divide between dream and reality, unfortunately.

One good thing that occurred was my artist side took on a muse. A lovely object of desire that could give me inspiration and hope. Make me smile, know what is beautiful and enjoyable in those moments of artistic downs. I still hold onto the thought of this muse, even to this day, but the reality of it again has been stained to the drudge that melancholy days bring forth. I am lucky I guess (as I preach to my students) that I can have the passion to draw and creative on any given day. Doesn't matter how the day is, I can always find something to do. So, on that note it it worth marking that the drugs do in fact work!

Not to prattle on in depth and discourse of every day in this past year, the events turned to the worst. Not that I am someone good at predicting things, but I saw on the horizon in the early part of the year, trouble with finance. Little did I know it was with the global economy. Not that the delivery of renumeration on my part was ever too forthcoming. I slogged on. My birthday, once again was a distraction that took me to my favourite place, and a jolly good time on a high (literally). Snow covered peaks and balloons-a-popping at 2,100m. There is something remarkable about that hostel, and also that mountain, that never gets me bored of it. Countless trips to the hills and the sheer silence and majesty is enough to cure all the woes of the world. And like any excursion, the sadness on leaving is just as high. More so now I realise that the mountain could only draw me twice this year. The second visit however, was a return to Mytikas, and a jolly good trip with a band of brothers, taking it easy and stead to the top.

The summer was a hot, steaming haze to me. Working to get jobs done, to pay the rent, and a single trip to the beach was the marking of my vacation. It was a wonderful day, and one I will remember greatly. But seemed to also mark the start of a period in Greece's history, that has turned people against government, and more so, government away from their duties to serve. The Eurozone collapsed and the people in power (vague term) have been trying to hold on to the notion of capitalism, by destroying the good people of this planet. Working on the bread line has become a common aspect to life. And the countless trips into town only highlight this by one after another vacant shops popping up. The victims are not the guilty. They get away scot free, under their own legislation and egoism. Marches and parades and protests come and go, and still the people are shown no hope, only another bill.

Life here in Greece has become a good education is austerity, for no fault than the corruption of the rich. The sad thing is that the youth (my daughter included) don't really understand, and there is a sadness in my heart as I try to explain the need to cutback. With the worse of it happening this Christmas. It didn't seem the same. Hanging the decoration lost it's sparkle. The tunes played a different note and the half bare dinning table was a sign of maybe more hardship in the coming year. But I have wealth in my wonderful child. A lucky factor that truly keeps me alive.

Since the summer however, my health has not been 100%, and this has taken me into the cold period with some doubts. I am resilient however, and the new year will bring some analysis on these issues, and I hope the coming birthday will see me once again on the mountain.

So, as this is nearly the final day of 2011, what can I say to summarise the whole event. Shambles? Success? Well, I can express myself as I have always felt, and have always been taught, that small things matter. By October-November I was down. Didn't see much point in all this struggle. Then I had one of those small breaks that put some light back in the fire. I got asked to do a Christmas cover for a well-known magazine. Maybe not much, but next to the petty commission I receive here, it was a crowning achievement in a year of struggle. Output next to reward was waining to the former this year and something needed to happen to rally the troops. And this seemed to be it. A great deal of my aesthetic effort is about risk. Hoping to get noticed; hoping to get bought. This time it paid off.

So, 2012 around the corner, I hope for more of the same. Hoping for a greater recognition for what I do. Hoping to increase aesthetic work to draw away from my teaching, and to have people know who I am. My resolutions for the year? Never really been a superstitious fellow. Black cats, and walking beneath ladders never really made an affect. Nor even the breaking of an ex's mirror had much toward seven years of hardship. My life as an artist is a constant one of those, but I would not change it for the world. My 2012 will be much the same. Work hard and hope for the best. I will think hard for my friends, and hope too that their dreams will be fulfilled, also. So, here's to a new marking on the calendar and maybe some mystical enchantment, that will cast a 'good' spell on the people of the planet and make us see the qualities in life. If 2012 is to be the end (which I doubt), we need to shake off the bad and rejoice in the wonder that is life. Happy 2012!!!!

day three hundred and forty-seven: keeping the myth alive!

2011-12-07T09:07:00.001+02:00

It's quite easy being an atheist to see through the lies. Especially at this time of year, looking at the glitter and sparkle that decorates the commercial parade of money grabbing outlets that line our street at 'this time of year'. All perpetuated by the two greatest myths that ever existed, and to this day, maintain a degree of order in what we have deemed to be civilisation; money and religion. It's quite ironic really that the message religion (especially 'at this time of year') is peace and harmony, but the simple fact is that religion has caused the greatest amount of conflict known to man, and money now supports the greatest amount of conflicts that happen in our world. So what is it? What makes people suck up to these myths?

What we have to understand is the history of it all. The two myths have been played out for so long. And been twisted with the same absurd failings that 'chinese whispers' also constitutes as an amusing game of misunderstanding. With growing populations, there is a need to control them. What greater way to control the masses than to 'drug' them into believing in certain values. This is how the woven myth of both religion and money were evolved. I guess it would be a terrible thought to think that this was in fact part of some great plan. However, the feeling that both of these myths, today, do not uphold their own fundamental value is totally detrimental their intrinsic value.

Religion evolved from a developing mind incapable of distinguishing what was in it's imagination and what was real. The magnitude of Earth's power was therefore assigned to 'deity' like creatures. This simply occurred, also, due to the egoistic nature that is present in mankind. It was unlikely, in analysis, that anything that created "all this" could not want to fashion the grand human form in their own liking. Hence the iconifying of deity objects in the shape of man's own form. Plus, in a maybe simplistic process, icons were easier to fashion with easy to copy reference that was all around.

Money (credit) was evolved from the need to trade. Simply, a sheep farmer could not live wholly on sheep. Unlike what nomadic prehistoric man would do, and one reason that Native American culture was/is so pure, is that communities were developed to use and provide from all the resources available to them from their surrounding environment. When mankind stopped being nomadic they slowly started to become focused on specific skills. This obviously created a dilemma. In those times a sheep would be traded for a piece of furniture or clothing, or whatever was required at the time. This worked well and was never dependant on the credit system.

As trades evolved into laborious activities (an issue of the modern education system) and people's work patterns turned from self-preserving skills to labour for others, then this is where credit was born. When activities could not be bartered and traded upon, then a form of payment had to be introduced. Credit came into being. However, cutting a long story short, money does not actually exist (in the same sense that God doesn't exist). Unlike a sheep being valued at the same worth as a new set of clothes, for example, in no comparable, realistic analysis can a $5 bill be equated to anything. Why? Because simply the actual physical entity in itself is not worth $5 literally! Nor is it's barter value.

At this time of year it is easy to write such argumentative discourse. Mainly as to a seeing eye, the evidence is all around. A few days ago a young girl in one of my classes stated "Don't you just love Christmas?" The kind of rhetorical question that is spouted out at this time of year. I said, in all honesty, "No!" She, and several other people looked a little shocked or bemused. I said I can't really enjoy a system based on capitalistic manipulation of a fake deity worship system set up to control and corrupt good people into believing that spending a great deal of their money of over-priced commodities, in order to mask their unhappiness was something worth 'loving'. There was no answer to that.

It's always an argumentative comparison to what values are presented and what really need to be present. Many examples abound. For the countless 'religious' folk who I encounter on a daily basis, who in some degree or another 'believe' in a faith they have been socially indoctrinated into, that rudely ignore and selfishly choose not to uphold some of the key and basic Christian' values, I find abhorrent. These however are not 'Christian' values, and religion has no hold or franchise on them. It takes no effort to be kind, considerate or caring to others. It takes a great degree of ignorance to live that lie.

In what purpose do folks go to church anyway? To fuel a belief in a faith that is invisible. Like money, has no tangible value. Like, go to church every sunday and build up your credit with 'God', and what? In some aspects it a archaic sister act to finance. To maintain the religion of money, we need to keep the institutes going. How do we do this? We borrow money to spend on such things that have no real value in connection to this money. We buy a house that (let's say) cost $2,000 to make in designated material value, and is sold for $10,000. The transaction has instantly conditioned us into being in debt in two aspects. The house isn't actually worth the amount of money we paid for it, and the money we borrowed to pay for it, even though doesn't exist, needs to be given back. So, we are controlled.

Christmas is a control mechanism also. Children are the easiest element of society to manipulate. You see it everywhere. All shining and glittery aspects of a 'so-called' religious event that was born from simplicity and humble beginnings. Money has taken over the old religion and put it up for sale. As you walk around, breathing in the Christmas spirit. Whether chestnuts on street vendor stalls, or tinsel twinkling on trees, and myriad of lights blinding us to a festive truth. None of this is actually significant to the actual 'Christian' faith. At most it relates back to the Pagan celebration. And the 'happiness' doctrine that has encapsulated us all as well.

I'm writing this as we are in a crisis. Many folk look to support devices in a crisis to get them a feeling of reassurance. Today, the two biggest support mechanism are being slowly revealed as falsehoods that have no value. To extend what the young lady continued to say; "But I like Christmas because of the cookies I eat." It was my turn to be bemused. I stated back; "Why don't you just enjoy these cookies in August, and still be happy." Like, the show of Christmas is meant to make them seem (taste) better. I will end by adding the lyrics of my favourite Christmas song (not hypocrisy at work). If you read these lyrics they have been crafted to tell a little truth of what it's really all about. The sad truth, like the effects of money and religion has on people, is that many only hear the surface, and rarely look at the detail. Nice song though!!

"They said there'll be snow at christmas They said there'll be peace on earth But instead it just kept on raining A veil of tears for the virgin's birth I remember one christmas morning A winters light and a distant choir And the peal of a bell and that christmas tree smell And their eyes full of tinsel and fire
They sold me a dream of christmas They sold me a silent night And they told me a fairy story 'till I believed in the israelite And I believed in father christmas And I looked at the sky with excited eyes 'till I woke with a yawn in the first light of dawn And I saw him and through his disguise
I wish you a hopeful christmas I wish you a brave new year All anguish pain and sadness Leave your heart and let your road be clear They said there'll be snow at christmas They said there'll be peace on earth Hallelujah noel be it heaven or hell The christmas you get you deserve"

Happy Palindromic O'Clock!!!

2011-11-11T11:10:00.001+02:00

11.11 11.11.11

day three hundred and forty-six: Looking back ten years from now!

2011-11-10T09:42:00.002+02:00

They say a week in politics is a long time. This maybe true, but must matter is the resulting affect of that week. The previous week in Greek governmental history has gone down and will be written in the sands of time, as the farcical mismanagement of this Greek government. There is no need anymore to enquire on the people's thoughts on the subject. They openly show their embarrassment at the situation. One moment the people had hope as the Papandreou led administration called for a referendum. But this was quickly quashed, and cancelled, due to the negativity it brought to the conditions of their bailout, and to the dismay of the people. The following day say a circus like performance of resignation threats from the big man himself. Which again was a bluff and "clever" play (on their part) to stamp out any inner party revolutions. And now that all the deals are struck and agreements seem to be as firm as the handshakes that are our only evidence on the television screen, Papandreou has decided to leave and has called for a successor. A simple task one would believe. No! Several attempts have resulted in total shambles in the administration. As I write this, they have to present a new government at ten this morning, but as yet have no clue how to get people to organise a working coalition party.

The main reason for this is a basic principle of not wanting to go down with the sinking ship. However, due to the persistent attacks from the government on their people during these austerity cuts, the people don't care too much for the captain of this ship. They really care little for the process of government even. Every day here seems another drawn out "waiting room" drama to see how much the government can screw their people in order to save their own necks. An analysis of these measures, struck by the 'elected' government, show no concern towards helping the people that this government was elected to do, nor does it show any sign of provisions in growth matters. One economist stated that Greece may only have as little as ten years before it implodes due to economic strife. Looking out of the bus window each morning on my trip to town, there is visual evidence of this with the number of 'rental' signs on the windows of vacant shops higher than those that are in fact open for business.

Greece's main economy boost is it's tourism, but in the growing global market has been several neglected in the sense of diversion and growth, that it needs to compete in the market. Sun and sand are now no longer sustainable entities in a global environment that has concerns on global warming, sporadic climate change and strong neighbourly competition from Turkey. As for the other great economic hick-up in the Greek economic system; the civil service, there is a realisation that the "job for life" lure that most bit at on during their career selection has now (like in the UK) disappeared. Many have lost their jobs, or will as the cuts continue, or have reduced salaries (upto 40%), or are placed in conditions totally absurd in the sense of being able to work the job that, those left with work, can manage to do.

The biggest noticeable position that can be observed from a foreign angle, is the people reaction to all this. Recalling a talk on the RSA about the affects of how people transfer communication on such subjects, then the people here have really become 'armchair' revolutionists. Unlike days of old when there was no television or media affect, people gathered. They talked in large numbers, and when that discussion was heated enough, they did something about it. These days people sit at home in their nuclear lifestyles happy to shout at the newscaster, who bares bad news, but never willing to walk the streets and gather. Maybe the evolution of tactical government has made it easier to corral their subjects into the havens of their homes, but the anger is definitely there. How it could manifest in the new age is hard to see. Being on some of the protest marches and seeing such low numbers, it is despairing to think that even the most down-trodden of civilians are still willing to 'grin-and-bare' the worst that this pathetic government throws at them.

How will we look back on all this crisis in ten years? When the sands of time have etched away a monumental hole that was suppose to be the pillar of democracy. We should look and learn from Iceland. A people that were ashamed of their system, believe little of the definition of democracy spouted by their government and took action in their own hands. Not a blooded revolution, like the days of France and Russia, but nevertheless a great indication that people in fact do have the power. It may fail, it hopefully will succeed. What needs to happen though, more than anything, if for others to follow suit. To know that the days of politicians are done. Done so, more has their continuous stream of lies and twisted words do nothing for what their position is meant to hold; to represent the people. Good luck to Iceland (12 points from me)! If Greece has only ten years and nothing but old style system management is played out in these days, then it will be a dark trek to that tenth year of finalisation. Already many Greeks leave this country. Will Greece eventually become the first 'ghost country' on the planet. The motherland of democracy become a disrespected shrine to the principle equality and freedom for all. The zeitgeist movies lay it out very simply and clearly, its hard to believe that people don't just see it. Ten years is a long way and the week in politics today will deliver a new blow I am sure. Let's see!

day three hundred and forty-five: Ελλάδα ~ 21st Century Fascism!

2011-09-12T07:42:00.000+02:00

To say it's a "dog's life" here in Greece these days, is an understatement. Everyday a new law, tax or austerity measure that throw the real people into the gutter. In little over a month it will be "Οχι" day. The day that is celebrated as the day the Greek nation threw out the Fascist regime of the Italian, under the tyranny of Hilter's plan. Seems ironic that such a country, that builds it pride around such moments in history would in fact be the new temple of 21st century fascism.

This weekend (9th September - 11th September) saw the opening of the annual National Expo in Thessaloniki. That has, as it's keynote performance, the speech of the prime minister. This, for as many years I can recall, is then countered by anarchic young protesting and hiding in the sanctuary of the nearby University grounds. However, this year the protest took a new form, that seemed to be fuelled by the consistent austerity protests that have been going on for some months now in this country.

To counter this action, or mass demonstration, the Government drafted in the more experienced anti-riot police from Athens. The centre was almost completely cutoff to avoid trouble, but protests had their say, and the petrol bombs ignited the streets once more. However, it was not just youthful anarchists this year. Thousands of taxi drivers from around the country were also seen throwing stones in defiance of the Government's slow return to it's former dictatorship.

Returning from a trip on sunday, I found each and every corner of the city centre, near the Limani, full of stationed anti-riot police officers on motorcycles and donned in Robocop style protective gear. The sight wasn't frightening, just a little sad. It seems that the home of democracy, and the voice of pride against fascism was in turn controlling the rights of it's own people in strong fascist ways. I am sure they had a view that the speech of Papandreou was not going to be taken in good light by the people of this country.

The sad truth of many voices I hear here in Greece see Papandreou's own father as the culprit to many of the country's financial woes in the first place. Building a corrupt government that lined their own pockets and abused the system to build a get-rich-quick plan for themselves. Lying about the financial status to Europe to gain wrongful entry into the European arena, and now suffering the consequences as they get close to default.

In a pathetic attempt to make the people feel sympathetic, and in some strangely reflective scenario to that of Thatcher's budget minister Lawson, who decided to go on the dole for one month to experience the poverty of the people, Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos announced that the elected government officials will have a one month abstinence of their wages, to help the rising debt. In return they threw a "whammy" at the people again, by announcing a property tax that will mean that every household will have to pay a €8 per metre charge for (well basically) nothing. This tax will come through the electricity bill, and so can't be avoided unless you wish to be cut-off from the power supply.

The sad truth however, is that day in and day out the government squeeze their own people to find capital to pay for their financial "fuck ups", and the legacy of George's fathers regime. These drastic measures only go to do one of two things; deteriorate the empathy of the people of this country to trust and believe in any government, and slowly form a fascist ideology to protect themselves against the growing hatred the people have to their higher ranks, and secondly allows the Government the chance to save face and wipe a little of that egg stain away. After all, their created the problems, not the people. The people should not suffer for the ignorance and ego of a lame and useless elective system that can't deal with it's own economic structure.

The easiest thing to do, and I have said this many times is to tax the church in the country (which would raise a great deal of revenue) and make more equal tax applications according to the economic status the citizen holds. This is easy to say, in a country that thrives on corrupt, money grabbing, short-sighted people, who on one hand will stand and salute the democracy the country defined thousands of years ago, but in the other will "fuck" over their own mother if it means they can take a little more 'black' money for their own nest-egg.

The new fascism of the world is being built on economics. Making people so poor that they can't even eat bread, and controlling their passion for life, by making them disillusioned by life itself. Greece, when I first came, was a cafe society that was about being seen, enjoying good food and drinks at wonderful locations at a low cost and with good air. Today, with a 23% tax addition to food prices, this has gone, as much as the tavernas and cafes are also gone, like a ghost town growing. The government doesn't care. Doesn't care for small business and personal growth. It is concerned about saving it's neck and face from the humility of the whole world seeing the faults this country has created in the history of it's own fascist development against it's own people. I hope democracy prevails and the people of this country take back what is rightfully theirs. It would be a shame to see that the home of civilisation and democracy would eventually become the test bed to a new financial fascist approach to keep the rich rich and the poor downtrodden.

day three hundred and forty-four: A conversation with myself at 5.45am

2011-07-18T06:49:00.000+02:00

Arranged the usual place: the balcony. Coffee was served and the sun had been ordered, and was on it's way. Slowly adding a little colour to this long day that seemed to already be in existence. The first sip of this dark black liquid kicked in the first question of the day. "Where did it all start?" An odd question I thought to my self, not because of the actual question, but by it's simplicity. The over simplification of English has made the whole process awfully contextual. I knew that the question was regarding my existence, but in a strange way my mind wandered to the thoughts that the question could mean about everything. I mean, the big bang. Primordial soup, one-celled amoebae, the ice age, big reptiles, Tunguska, etc, etc and even Kentucky Fried Chicken secret recipes. But as the second sip was taken in, and more importantly kicked in, I dropped analytical hat on the table and looked at the point at hand.

Four years the fifty will come along. A half century and nothing in comparison to the cretaceous period, but to myself, the ageing fool, quite a long stretch. Fifty years ago, people were dancing and singing to the flower power. The ideal of free thinking and a little liberty, to what seemed to be a strict and hash regime; called government. Nineteen Eighty Four had already been written and read, but actually converged with it's actual date-sake. I am convinced that my parents were not long-haired, grass blowing liberalists. One reason was that my current lack of hair can be genetically attributed to my father. Skinheads were some way off, and I never thought that the idea of a bald hippie would be a wild child affair. So I was born, to a typical family. Two popped out instead of one, but it seemed that is as far as the oddity occurred at the time.

The sun was now up, and the coffee tasted good. Even though instant. Noises started to permeate the air, from sweet bird song there came a transcendence to the annoyance of city life. Garbage trucks and coughing pedestrians, addicted to the cancer sticks. Trying to make it to work. trying to get through the day. And so the conversation grew. It was a big leap from "Where did it all start", to "Where are you know", but I guess the coffee cup was limited and peering in over it's rim, it appeared to be half gone. So time was catching up on me. Where can I see myself. Trying best to be contextual again, rather than the abruptly obvious answer; which was the balcony. The thing I realised, as I surmised an answer in my mind, was the factual evidence was better an answer than the psychological tennis that was being played out in my mind.

Where was I? In a lot of shit! Happy being an artist? In a transgression between my past and my future? Well, as I said, the coffee was now getting cold, and the train of thought was beginning to leave it's station. I am here. I am drawing each day, being the person that some forty years ago, picked up a pencil and found some fascination in it. Found some reason to grasp on to it and hold it like a fear of death would prevail if I let it go. Sensing that through all this roller-coaster of life-long experience some sense of pride, arrogance, stupidity...call it what you will. Has got me to this stage. None the wiser, none the richer, but still the same enriched creative that one could be. Unable to explain in words the internal paradox that art is a joyous existence. That the world inside, is a daily trip into fantasy and delight, and the evil barrier that has denied this feeling to osmotically emerge into the world can only be called reality.

"Boy", I thought. I can see why people need a coffee first thing in the morning. So, time ticked by, as in any life. The monday morning feeling started to kick in, like the blue pills taking us to some perverse reality. For a moment there was a pregnant pause. As I gazed up from the coffee and reached into the sky to trap myself away from the reality and see swallows cutting the sky up into the patterns that nature wished them to design. Clang! The reality kicked back in, as did the coffee. Noisy rubbish men, never with concern to the sleeping souls around, made their presence known. Question three? Quick, before my imagination runs away with me, and I am left an empty shell. What could question three be? Was that a question in itself? Will this now be a long string of questions based on being an answer to the previous? No! There I stopped it before it begun. I seemed to desire music. The coffee had awoken my senses and I seemed to hear that there was more silence now than delightful noise. Not that mountain silence that I enjoy; swim in. But the 'waiting-for-the-the-next-noise' type silence. And it does often than not come. A crack, a bark, a bang. Nothing that makes city life worth living. But here we are. caged in concrete blocks, and tied down to the regulation that Nineteen Eighty Four seemed to have penned about all those years back. So, I guess the past and the present had been covered. The only fitting question would be the future..."Where would you like to be?"

One could only chuckle to this collection of words. Apart from having a myriad of fortune cookie type answers, that all seemed to deliver an answer heavier than the deepest fantasy one could imagine, one seemed to be lost. Lost even to not knowing were home is Sitting on this freaking balcony, staring out to space (well at least the concrete block opposite) and, and, well what? Knowing where I'm going. Knowing what will happen. Hoping my dreams will self-assemble into something better than an IKEA pre-packed furniture combination, that could house a 48" plasma surround sound tv. Knowing that to some this is what the week's dream is. Some amount of something that will make the days seem worthwhile. That makes living bearable. That gives value to their pointless parade of daily grind. "Where would I like to be?" kept ringing in my mind. It started to form a dichotomy in my head. I'd like to be far away from all these troubles, but at the same time I want to be right here. So, as the last sip of coffee was taken in and the day and begun, I had to conclude the conversation by saying "Here!" I need to try, I need to fail or succeed. I need to laugh and cry. I need to foolish and at the same time responsible. I need to jump with excitement and at the same time be calm. I need to dream through reality. All these things are here. Maybe not on this balcony, nor even this place I call 'home'. Nor this street, this city, this country! But here, in me. I am the only thing that makes all the difference in my world. So am lived my life 'here', in this place and one day I will die in 'this' place. I look at each day, with either weary eyes or glowing dreams and know that 'this' place; whatever an atheist can call it, is the safe place to grow me.

Educational Paradigm

2011-07-11T07:41:00.000+02:00

After some 200 years (plus) of Educational process, the early twenty-first century calls for a new educational paradigm. The existing educational model is built on a flawed system. This system is flawed due to one main attribute; the fact it is outdated. Can you imagine that the process by which children are being taught today is much the same as when the education process was created in the industrial revolution? The three 'R' we call it in the English system (Reading, wRiting, aRithmetic). Which in itself is a joke. Not getting good marks in the spelling 'pop' quiz with that one I would say. The two hundred year old system was born out of a need to educate the masses in the (low end) process of industry. Mainly operating machinery, menial cleric work, etc. Give them enough knowledge to be able to think they are independent and smart, and you have a work force. A work force that will do labour that is not appealing, is not fulfilling, is not purposeful. Except to one goal; making someone else richer.

With the industrial revolution can one other big step for mankind; commerce. The values of which are now seen in the system, through capitalism. Money speaks, and morals do not. The simply fact that that paradigm itself has made it that the educational paradigm has become a farce, is a legacy of the influence of this new religion. All become dependant and hungry on the power of money that, in the case of education, the values of this system are put in jeopardy. Like many processes in modern mechanised systems, the educational system went from a craft-based structure (father-to-son) approach, to a more economically viable system, of pushing them through the mill (to use an expression). Many ways to describe this process have been defined by more apt scholars on the subject, but the basic value is that of 'parrot' teaching.

The most cost effective way to get a large mass of people semi-educated is to make a system of study, with a commonality of subjects, and to spout it out to the young minds and get the poor little darlings to repeat it, until they believe they have learnt something. When in fact all they have learnt is how to repeat something! It was reported that pre-school children under the age of five, where more capable of geographic based learning and study than early school children. One argument with that is that the children were not being taught the right thing. this was due to the fact that the system was out-dated and biased. The other argument was that many pre-school kids have a different approach to study. The socio-reflective approach to their upbringing means they have a more one-on-one connection with a parent or minder. When in school the children are then quickly forced to partake in a process by which educational markers are met. This does not account for many factors. One of which, and most importantly, is the simple fact that children don't learn at the same rate, don't enjoy the same subjects, have different interests. This is simply forgotten, why? Because it is not economically viable to give such individual attention to a large mass of kids.

An example of a small girl who was distracted in class, was aired by the protagonist of the modern education system, Sir Ken Robinson, and gave light to a big issue indeed. The girl was doing very well at school, was taken to her head's office. There, there was a discussion with her mother about the issues at hand. It was advised that she will be observed and reported back on this issue. A later meeting, the girl was asked to stay in the head's office while the mother was taken outside for a private conversation. Before leaving the office the head switched on her radio, to occupy the girl. The mother was not given any talk on her daughter's progress, outside the office. Instead she was asked to watch through the window. The daughter was engaged by the music. Seemed to be alert and interested. The head said that her daughter was not bad at school, she just wasn't stimulated by the subjects. So she was placed in an arts school. The same girl went on to become a leading choreographer and set the choreography for the broadway show 'Cats'.

What is one example explains very clearly is that young minds are not all the same. Their purposes are not all the same. But unfortunately, they are all pushed through the same system. All told that they must learn to write, read and do science based subjects. Why? Because industry needs robots like this. The one stigma that the creative world often gets is that they are 'irresponsible drop-outs'. That they don't fit into society. Well, one of the key things that has been evident in the archaic education paradigm is that arts have never been a part of the process Why? Very obvious! The arts and ability to be artistic is about the freedom of thinking. The ability to use one's mind for it's real purpose; to explore. This is against the model for a commercial world. And as an attack on this ability to fre-think what does the capitalist society do? It values art, makes it commercial and regulates it.

This is one of the biggest and saddest approaches to a system out of control. When you can't control the masses, control what they enjoy. The music industry for example is big business now. A form of free-expression has been degraded to sales, chart positions, popularity. And to an extent that even the creativity of such forms are moulded and manufactured to fit into the money-making model. If you do something a little different the you will not succeed. You don't have the capitalist 'X' factor. And even more damning is the notation of worth on a painting. Record values on masterpieces. This is a condemnation of the reason they exist in the first place. It was about free-form again. Even though some art was delivered at a cost (artist have to survive in the capitalist machine as well), their art is about the one thing politics cannot control; their spirit.

So, can there be a new educational paradigm? Not when there are performance tables to be adhered to. Not when people pay for education. Not as long as the ancient process of the three 'R' populates school halls. Maybe it is a little amusing to hear this, but one of the greatest geniuses of our time, who was removed from the modern education process (due to lack of stimulus) quoted on education as such:

“Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything he learned in school.”
~ Albert Einstein

The capitalist system and the industrial (technological) revolution that created it's pillars are dead. A new approach has to be made. A new system to allow creative minds to ability to find creative solutions to the problems that all mankind face, needs to be discovered. It is evident after 200 years of misnomer on the education system, that nobody has been educated in the correct manner to our current predicament. Now, you see rare examples of genius popping out and delivery sheer brilliance in problem solving. What has to happen, is the money-makers themselves have to be educated in knowing that this genius is for the good of man, not the benefit of their pockets. The world has changed. The education system has not. Without finding a way to make the new young minds look at the ever growing issues of this planet and see them with a new perspective and fresh mind, then the system is doomed.

It is a little ironic that the word educate comes from the latin origin; "to lead out", and more of a joke that the modern education system is only leading these young minds by dangling a rotten carrot in front of them.

day three hundred and forty-four: 300,000 years

2011-07-01T08:00:00.001+02:00

Was watching the reactions to these monetary cuts via the news the other evening. Surprisingly not over a cup of coffee. However, now I am sitting here, after completing the ritual of early morning revitalisation, and reliving something that occurred thereafter. It was a tragedy. Not due to the locality of this situation and the continued misuse of the parody of the term, but simply because the people have no voice anymore. All they have is their frustration. And this was being shown very clearly in the capital the other day. The methods by which a simple term; democracy, has been misplaced in the annals of time, and will be written in history in its founding land, as a term of abuse in our modern society is evident all around.

When a man stands up to these principles and is released from his office in which he serves. From serving the people that believed in him. Who believed in the system. Believed that marking a piece of paper with a cross was enough to guarantee the promise of hope in the minds of the masses, and the protection of their fellow countrymen by the elected representatives, was lost. I asked my daughter, on seeing all this chaos, can you thing of another species of animal on this planet that can cause so much mess? Being a young and still naive girl, my daughter replied: a lion!

I asked her to explain why she things a lion could be in an equal position as humans in the state of despair that we see all around us? She didn't answer. She then said I just thought I'd say that. I said I will explain why we, humans, are the solitary beasts we are. I had to find a way to get her to understand. And knowing that I am constantly scorned for my approach to honesty with my daughter, but juxtaposed by my desire to get a little of this anger out, I set forth to say what was on my mind.

This is what I said:

"300,000 years ago some bright thing thought it was a great idea to climb out of the trees, and even later to get up off it's ass and walk around. (Evolutionary wise the later has now been proven to be a mistake and is actually one reason the largest medical complaint in most doctor's offices is back problems. Simply the spine is designed to carry weight via equal distribution over the four limbs, not two, which compresses the vertebrae.) I then told her, that these bright sparks in turn discovered the bright spark that made fire. (Fire being a turning point in our evolution. Mainly for two reason. First reason, and scientific evidence has shown this now, is that eating cooked meat rather than raw meat actually allows the brain to develop. Mainly because more energy is used digesting raw meat.) The second reason, was that as our brains were still acutely under-developed we had no perception of where these elements came from. (The starting point of deity worship and later the foundation by which religion was created).

As we evolved (technical term), we developed many aspects to our lives, which through these 300,000 years have either become instruments of manipulation or instruments of social change. Language came from art. we could not speak, so we drew images on the walls. From this ideograms and then characters were formed. Our grunts became recognisable sounds, and this then led to communication. Whether this was a good thing or a bad thing is up for discussion, however, I said to my daughter that most animals have a social structure that has not changed through their entire existence on this planet, and they are able to function as the planet intended. We however, have taken this communication and have used it in a disruptive and corruptive way.

The biggest of these being Religion. Being an atheist I can't say God exists. I have thought strong and hard about it, and there is not one iota of evidence to back up the vague chance there is a higher being. However, what has come out of this notion is an institution that, believe that through it's promotion of such a being, has been given the right to confuse, manipulate, murder and control the population of the planet. All, as they say; "under the will of God". What modern politics has done, is allowed the open-minded to see that the disciples of religion have simple evolved out of a progressive process of power-mongering individuals, that have of recent become overthrown by the new religion; economics. I said to my daughter that some many years ago, some clever person invented religion, and this is when everything went wrong (this is a bigger debate).

Based on this progressive evolutionary track, we grew as a species, but it seemed that our outlook did not. Our mental focus seemed to isolate itself into the concerns of the human race as a factor outside that of the rest of the planet. Only today, some wise people (I can't say that may of these sit in positions of power or government) have seen that the human growth rate is becoming exponentially incorrect to the planets own survival. And why hasn't anyone really done anything about it? Well, in my daughter's ten minute education plan, I stated that another clever person invented something called money. On watching the section of Zeitgeist's addendum concerned with the fallacy of money, it is plain to see that this is the next process of control. In the beginning the church was the law. So much so that in today's society the it is frowned upon to argue against the indoctrination int this society. That "this is the way it is" and there should never be considered an alternative. As Dawkin's writes though; "We are born unto Christian (religious) parents, not born Christian." This is because there is a defined path created to control, not that it is so. Marx also mentioned the opium of the people. If you control the people you hold power.

This kind of draws us back to today. Money and purchasing became the new drug and religion of the masses. Even the simple fact that a great deal of the growing shopping malls in this country are influenced by the fact that they are built on church land, and that the church understand the ability to become part of this new religion. Let us ask a simple question; "Why does the most lucrative business in the world ask a donation for a prayers candle, instead of providing them to their devoted addicts? Simple, people believe that if you pay for something you will get something in return. You buy a candle and "God" needs to answer your prayers. As much as the betting of a euro on the lottery gives a false hope of wealth, instead of the more complex passage of working hard at something.

The money structure, whether through evidence and revelations, has now been shown to be fraudulent. Money doesn't not really exist. Money is a promise that someone somewhere we redeem a debt. If people are placed in debt, they can be controlled. You have a mortgage, so you have to work to pay off that mortgage. So you are controlled. Look at animals. No enslaved mechanism to keep them producing wealth for a minority. What makes this all worth while? Well, the mechanism by which you feel freely part of (capitalism), also gives you a carrot to chase. Basically, if we are enslaved and we no we are enslaved, they there will eventually be despair. So what do you do to stop this, you create a socially blinding mechanism to make people believe they are not slaves. Look at the metaphor visualisation that occurred in the Matrix. It's a paradox in itself. Why? Because the Hollywood system is part of the glossy facade that maintains the illusion that we are all happy.

So, to reiterate what I noted to my daughter, and to conclude. We have become a lie unto ourselves. The frustrations of the enslaved masses is starting to show. The capitalist screen of money has come to a point that religion faced some centuries back, when a small group realised that this is not the only path. Change can be made. It wont be made by the people in power, because they are not fools. That 1% want maintain there 40% hold on power and money. People make the change. If they are not aware that this change should, could and needs to be made then the market forces of capitalism has won, and humanity will be lost.

The rest of this planet is created out of a very clever and well formed eco-system. Each element of which evolved or dies based on the demand of the environment and the process of life. Man has become a wart on that system. Maybe a natural part of it, but not a liked or necessary part. So, after saying all that, my daughter switched on the TV and became infused back into the system. I, I finished my coffee this morning and looked at the street. The concrete, the silent groans of the people who want to communicate there displeasure, their anger, but are locked into that mechanism. Once upon a time, 300,000 years ago one of our ancestors stood up! Maybe today, we should all stand up!!!!

day three hundred and forty-three: Is it a revolution?

2011-06-28T12:55:00.000+02:00

Sleepless nights and strong coffee today. The sun created a glowing yellow light cast on the opposite building as the day revolved into action. Too many thoughts cross my mind. Especially with such an intoxicating brew as fresh filter coffee. One of which was the constant images of people at the Syntagma, in Athens. The strangely juxtaposed historical image that comes to mind of the people of France outside the Royal palace demanding bread. As they had no money, no future, no life in the poverty of regal france. Countered by the bourgeoisie and their money and lifestyle and inflated heights of arrogance, eloquently mimicked by their tall hair pieces.

In those days, the people did something about it. They didn't wish to suffer the humiliation of cake, so they brought down the culprits and had their heads. Some time later, the people of the Russian states were subjected to much the same deal of dividing class structures. A wealthy people governing the people in an unrighteous way, to support their desire for a lifestyle not many have and get to see. So, those people stopped being the addicted to an opium and did something about it; they made change. Now, the sadness that came from these actions was corrupted by the greed of individuals. In an Orwellian quote; "All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others." we have seen the status on now only human life, but the Earth's foundation disrupted by the selfish few.

A quote I read yesterday: "Government should ONLY be the instrument *OF* the people, designed by the people to guarantee and protect the Liberties of the people and to ensure the Rule of Law for each individual, whether or not that individual is in the majority, so that each individual can expect and can receive justice and fairness."

Government has ceased being anything more than a club for power-mongers. For a small elite set of individuals who use a system to better their own good, in order to control the masses. When marx talked of the opium of the people, he was in reference to the damnation of religious doctrine. Today, the addiction to wealth through the capitalist ideal has become the new religion and therefore, the new opium of the people. The people of power have cleverly deceived the people they are suppose to represent and protect in order to make a nest to protect their golden egg. Money has no value. Money is a level by which people can be manipulated. It has resulted in the corruption of people's sensibility.

People are killed over a dollar! And that dollar is not in fact worth one iota; and definitely not worth the true cost of a life. Industries have been created to draw wealth to the elite and to government's plans. We are willing to promote death in tobacco at the cost of an income. We are willing to deny health and education to the deserved because of the price tag that most can't afford. And the worst of all. The might of the war machine, that sells and buys expensive and dangerous toys to what? Promote the idea of the t-shirt slogan "peace"! The planet is made of many earthlings, many species, many elements. We as humans are also individuals and even so have a voice. The people don't feel threatened by the enemy behind ay conjured iron curtain. It now feels threatened by the fabric of it's own government. A machine that stands to represent, but in fact works to control. The laws that have been made to protect are now the laws that sadden and give great disillusionment to those who were willing to put their cross to what they believed was going to be a better future.

Ask the common man! Ask them what they wish for their future. Is it tanks and bombs, and big fat rich pigs of industry? No, what they want is a future. A world where they feel that they can have the promise of what life was meant to instil. We were all born, but never asked!! This doesn't mean we don't have a right. Centuries of deceit and corruption from cold-blooded men have made a society that even by it's own fabric is a lie unto itself. We have become robotic in our lives to the small powerful group who sit on the mountain they have made. And in the literal translation of this Russian word; we are slaves. No liberty to even feel a patriot in our own country.

The sadness that exists in knowing that as people gather in their city squares and stand and shout and hope for change, there is an enormous deaf ear behind those closed doors They don't listen to the voices of their people anymore, they listen to the clink of the coffers piling up. And so, today, what will trigger our change. Do we eat cake and get on with our day? Do we freeze outside in the cold of political control, with only warm hearts. What will happen? What is the future of the people? Each day, life becomes a humorous dichotomy of a human race that has or has not! So is this a revolution? Only time will tell. Do the people demand it? I am sure deep down they do. Will the governments do anything about it? They will sit in their mansions and fortify their walls and legislate to blinker themselves to the real needs of their people, as they straighten their silk suits and orate some bullshit that really does make sense to people who just want to be happy.

I hope the best for the human race. As for the rats that have infiltrated these people, I do hope that they one day extinguish themselves on their own poison, to allow true democracy to prevail.

Coffee finished!!

day three hundred and forty-two: Ten Years in the Sun!

2011-06-26T07:13:00.000+02:00

When I first came to Greece, over ten years ago, I have to say it was a shock. Being English and living an English lifestyle for so many years, the way and lifestyle of the people here was hard to fathom. So much so that I wrote some blogs about it:

http://rob-p.blogspot.com/2007/05/day-two-my-greeks-and-other-animals.html

This was in a way a homage to Gerald Durrell. Who lived and was brought up on Corfu island. On visiting that island I can only imagine the amazing surrounds that existed when he was a boy. However, this seems to be the crux of the situation and the need to express myself today. I was just watching Mikis Theodorakis declare a need for the people of this country to go on a revolution. It was very touching and he talked of his past. Fighting in wars to free his homeland, and to see it slowly erode to the state in which he found it today.

My ten year spell in Greece was initiated by sun and pleasantness. Life under the sun and drachma was a wonderful time. The first year I was here there was hardly a cloud in the sky, you could dine out under the deep blue sky almost every day at little cost and in total security of mind and spirit. Ten years later, there is a dark stained reflection of the UK. Rising costs, unemployment, and crime all sadly counted by lowering standards of living and poverty. The happy faces under the sun are now turning grey as the sky, and they are trapped, feel trapped, and have no life.

There used to be a time that one could leave all your windows open and doors and take a sleep or a quick trip to the shop and there was no worry in the return to your castle. Today, the evolution of our animal society has made security doors weak, barred windows a fashion accessory, and many concern about walking the streets. Nothing seems safe anymore. The people have just argument in the cost they have to pay, in order to simply exist. And today, we find banks are closing their doors. The stability of the economy has become unstable and crumbles under the marbled foundation that made this country strong.

The country has become passive, with only a few willing to fight. The government remains the blind liars that all conducive voters expect from them. And the corruption saves nobody apart from those with the deep pockets and circle of friends. Ten years ago, it was where do we go. Today, it's where are we going? The paradigm in the sad future of a country that enjoys too much it's coffee-paraleia lifestyle and only lives for the moment and not the future; that seems to be in demise unless it changes.

Ten years ago I came to Greece for something different. I can't say I am scared by the thought of seeing the collapse; watching the country implode. It just seems sad that the values it seemed to hold strong. That Mikis talked of, are words floating in the wind and the once glorious beaches and seas of this tourist haven will in fact turn the sands of time and denote the failing of simple action. Every day is a new tragedy. Whether the aptness of this being Greece is never more black when it is about the people. The people who suffer.

As Mikis seems to scream; People do have the power!

day three hundred and forty-one: monkey see, monkey do!

2011-06-02T08:30:00.000+02:00

Fascinating documentary on Skai TV, here in Greece, last night called "Human Ape". The premise of which was to define the characteristic differences between our closest relatives and ourselves. Although the documentary went to great lengths to determine that the 2% DNA variation that exists between our simian cousins and ourselves was a great benefit to us, and the key to our extraordinary development, it left me thinking that somewhere down the line the cognitive ability that we have evolved with has in fact become little more than a negative hinderance in our development.

The programme set forth to define tests that determine whether we are in fact better than apes. First of all, in some kind of humorous reflection, how would apes deal with such a pointless observationally task? After all, do apes need to do test after test to determine that we are related? The overtone of the whole analysis seems to be to need to extend the gap of this 2% difference and put us apart from our evolutionary cousins. The programme seems assert in wanting to define man's crowning glories; such as fire, space flight, technology and other grand aspects to an otherwise similar path. However, several things were mentioned in the programme that left doubt to whether in fact these were the beneficial paths that make us the dominant race.

In a great deal of man's arrogance we tend to feel that we are the masters of this planet. Even in some delusional, cognitive misstep into religious definitions, we even believe that Earth was created for our pleasure. However, if you have ever watched "Earthlings", "Home 2009" and the Zeitgeist trilogy then you will be all too aware that we are a simple cog in this track of a greater existence that is this planet, this galaxy and this cosmos! Apes have many characteristics with us simply because we are the same creature. Only some way down the evolutionary track that Charles Darwin so kindly unveiled to us some centuries back, Australopithecus decided that standing up and developing out of trees was the best approach. The biological fact is that in fact standing upright for a simian is a negative development plan. Mainly as 80% of most common ailments in doctor's offices can be associated to bad posture and back ailments. We are designed to walk on all fours and spread the weight of our body such to avoid the compression of our spine. So that is reason one not to feel that evolution took the right turn.

To highlight what was a beneficial aspect in this 2% of development, the programme's test with some bias, determined that long-term memory and advanced problem solving were the key points to why man has now been able to use science as his main keystone to improved development. When you watch the programme and listen to the other aspects that make us commonly associated to our simian cousins we can see our development into cognitive sciences is nothing more than a step back in any empathetic aspect to life and development. Every other aspect to the test carried out either showed commonality between us, or that apes in fact carried our the test in a better fashion. This has been highlighted in other programmes and articles, where chimpanzees have been shown to hold community-like aspects to their survival. Fashioning tools and sharing these tools to aid their group. That injured group members can be cared for and are obviously recognised. That, the path by which all creatures function is common to all and that humans show no extra advancement in many of the aspects that keep life moving forward. And in some aspects even create detrimental values that make us less communal than any of our closest relatives.

Knowing that humans have a cognitive state of mind, that allows us to analyse and evaluate situations has led us to become less compassionate. Not wholly due to this ability to think, but the way that all the other notable aspects of evolution have twisted the compassion that is evident in our ape cousins. One noted development of mankind that was stated in the programme was that of creating nuclear energy. And crazily being shown in the form of an atomic explosion. Maybe I am wrong, but nuclear power and the misuse of nuclear power in the decades that followed Oppenheimer's detrimental opening comment; "What have I done!" has not been a crowning achievement. It has in fact been a destructive aspect to our nature and our development. It has put us on a path to also destroy a planet that is here for our survival.

Evolution is evolution. I am sure Darwin would also state that determination is based on the survival of the fittest. Looking at the documentary yesterday, I saw that the aspects that made us common: compassion, survival, community and traditional development were common in both aspects the analytical groups. In these aspects were were not any better off than our ape counterparts. The only aspects where the apes were marked with a 'X' in the evolutionary path were in those areas that were noted to being our crowning achievements. That of 'science' based development and 'technological' problem solving. Now maybe if I was at the helm of steam development a century ago or seeing the uses of medicine in these times then maybe I could see the positive, sitting here in this day and age looking at how technology has created mass unemployment, and a global crisis simple due to a greed aspect (that by-the-way, apes do not posses) and seeing how medicine and science have done little more than sterilise us away from a natural process of survival. And in fact destroyed many form of other life in a selfish need to protect our own viral method of maintaining that notion of grandeur among the animal kingdom.

Man should in many ways be ashamed of associating himself with apes. Apes live their lives in the natural order than nature has defined as the laws of existence. Everything that I saw in this documentary did not indicate that they had any worse a life than humans. The only difference is that, due to evolution, they did not cook meat and develop a larger brain mass. In hindsight maybe that is a good thing for them, and a bad thing for us. With all the capabilities that we hold in our conscious and capable state of mind, all we can celebrate are aspects to our development that has made us the nemesis of planet Earth. Technology has not made us any better, it tends to mask our lifestyle to make us believe it is better. We feel more conveniently satisfied we have a mobile phone, a microwave, internet banking, a car, washing machine, etc, however, these are masks to hide the state of our development. To conclude this on a fun state of thinking; after watching the programme yesterday, if I had been given the choice of cracking nuts open in a true community of 'primitive' apes (based on the evidence of the documentary) or sit here tapping away on my laptop, looking at the bills and the day ahead in some unnatural view of community, which do you you think seems the more promising?

day three hundred and forty: everything!

2011-05-10T09:17:00.000+02:00

Some time back there was nothing, or so history states. Then again history states that history began for us in an enormous implosion of a collapsing universe. Some wish to believe that some divine force made the structure that we now scientifically call the universe. A being sitting in the stars, able to construct, deconstruct and function and fathom the processes that are the mechanics of life. What we are (and everything else is) are a bunch of protons and electrons spinning around a nucleus in some manner (whether designed, ordered or chaotic) that makes wood wood, skin skin and life simply that. They generate the air we breath that draws existence into the method by which we exist. Many years later that same atom was taken by a wise minded ground of scientists and split in such a way, that ultimately put us on the path of destruction. Combined with this were several events that also in hindsight were not such a good part of any greater plan. This is the life in which we exist.

Evolution determined that things come and go, live and die. Due to the nature of the ever changing environment a period in Earth's history killed off the prehistoric phase and the layers of the planet covered and crushed them in a way that, in our lifetime created one of the most dangerous elements that ever existed in the nature of this planet. The crushing and heating of all this decomposing matter created oil. Today, oil is responsible for the majority of most elements that we now use in our convenient lifestyle and determines the destruction of our way of life, the planet and life as we know it. How can something that was part of some natural order and process now become such an artificial and damning element to the future of the planet.

One thing that occurred was that the simple process that the now walking ape in it's development discovered fire, and it's many practical uses. Due to this simple elementary force, man was able to cook food and hence divert energy from the process of survival into that of figuring out the many answers to the many puzzles in the crazy universe. Some of the understands, like why does the sun come up there and go down there, seemed to perplexed mankind. Much as; "what are those streaking lines of white light that come from above and hurt so much". In our infinite wisdom, and with a lack of scientific apparatus we decided to nominate higher beings to the cause and affect. Rather than believing that this planet had it's own way of doing things. and that we were simply a small part in all that.

So, God worshipping was formed. Now, it seems apparent that it wasn't a case that the deities existed and we simply discovered them. It was more a case that man constructed the Gods to give reason to things. So, God is a man-made construct. Furthering to this is the simple arrogance that we determine that the construct actually fashioned us in their likeness, that revolves upon itself to mean, we made a higher being that we say made us to look like them but in fact we made them to look like us, to denote our importance on this planet. And the status that we should feel obliged to believe that this planet was in fact made for our pleasures. And was here to do what we will, with it. And if one would feel a desire not to be part of this lie of worship, the power mongers that promoted this kind, forgiving and thoughtful creator would punish you to death.

So the masses were controlled; Believe or die! Next came the double whammy. Instead of trying to evolve co-exist, the powers that be (not heavenly, but arrogantly) determined that the freely and plentiful resources that this planet holds were worth something. And that the rarer these elements were, the more they were worth. And to make it worse, the fact that these elements and are the free wealth of the planet, that exists freely on free land that is planet Earth should in some way actually be possessed. That territorial definition should be staked around anything that is deemed worthwhile and valuable. We then determined a monetary system. A credit system that gives fictional value to something that really isn't worth anything. This monetary system then was placed in a market form so that people had to make money to then spend it on goods that were really not worth anything. Unfortunately, the commodity of oil was pushed into this market and all hell broke loose.

Oil, through it's engineering became big business. The crux of that business venture is that it is finite and based on immediate resolve to instant demands. Whether it is plastic wrap to preserve food, to chemical to kill insects that are part of the life cycle, or to propel a vehicle so that we can get from A to B a little bit faster. This one simple product has created a vast market of products, service and wealth, but to counter that has created a vaster amount of destruction, pollution and greed. It has turned the twentieth century into a domain of spontaneity that makes culture except even more trite than than the plastic produce it manufacturers.

All this argument has come about from watching several and potent documentary films. The latest was 'Zeitgeist III'. Not only does this film give a clear notion to the problem, but give a plausible solution to that same problem. Whether the issue lies is simply too fold. People are not willing to do anything about it. Not because of a case that they don't want to, but they are uneducated, unable or controlled too much to do so. The fact that the environment of the monetary system has made a draconian methodology to life itself means that living has simply been redefined as existing. That rich get richer and poor get poorer. That the cycle of life repeats and if our own history has anything to reflect on, the future doesn't look that bright. In all the diplomacy of the world there is no amount of humanity that can defend against the greed and power of the few.

Everything is determined by all things on this planet, not a simple handful of arrogant narrow-minded individuals. People who are willing to lie and corrupt the system. A system that has been determined to be for the good of all, but in fact is a lie unto itself as it simple protects the elite individuals who have taken it upon themselves to see that they must be the new order of gods and that all else is a playground. Is there any hope? After watching the 160 minutes of this latest truth trip I was left a little shocked, depressed and in disbelief that unless change happens tomorrow (literally), the planet will suffer a fate at the hands of this virus we call mankind, and that our children's future will be short lived. However, to shine a light of optimism on this dark arena, there are people who care, who try, who design, invent and try to fathom out this more utopian existence. They simply need to grow.

day three hundred and forty: Blogging; the new democracy?

2011-04-28T11:03:00.000+02:00

I do a great deal of blogging. Most of the posts I make are support posts to aid in understanding of technical issues in applications on the computer, or art based blogs. I do however, blog on my own work, mainly to have as an addition form of advertising, but also to show development of my work style. This blog I have though is different. I run it, and have tried to run it in an attempt to say things. Things that I notice (whether in the newspapers, on TV, the internet or even in the street as I pass), and I use it as a sounding board to present issues, deliver ideas or just make a complaint about something. So I was eager to watch this RSA talk I saw yesterday:

What has occurred to me for sometime is something that was mentioned in this talk. The notion that internet freedom has two angles. The first is that it does give people the arena to say things. This is a tremendously good value, as it can deliver new ideas, change opinions, develop view points, etc. A multitude of positive aspects that people otherwise would not have been given. The power to the people as they say. The negative side to this is the cause of concern. How much of what you say is recorded and put on record? Is there a secret file with all your activity placed on it. Does your Facebook activity work for and/or against you. There are stories that company's management have released their staff due to activity on their Facebook accounts. On some levels this is a low key next to the possibility that Governments actually track and record your live on the internet. There is something to be said for the expression; "nothing is completely free!"

Should we worry about what we say? It seems that the liberty of the freedom of expression should allow us to say what we like, but the truth is that we are monitored. Big Brother is watching. It is known that the internet has sensitive "flagged" words that if mentioned in a chat, email or any type of internet communication are recorded against your name. There was a report of an English man put in prison because he 'Twittered' his complains about an airport closure. He was instantly arrested on terrorism charges (Here is the Guardian news feed). It is also claimed that Jodrell bank has the capability to receive and record all UK mobile phone conversations. Many believe (especially in Government) that this is a safeguard to protect the citizens of the country. That all surveillance is there to protect and not eaves drop on peoples public life. Take a look at this short informational film and see what you think:

All in all what research has shown is that there is a great deal of apathy in the method by which people interact with the internet. The actions of users can be defined in two groups, passive and active. The passive users are the majority. And spend a great deal of time using the internet and can share and 'like' many things that they see. They collect friends on Facebook, but never really interact with them. The active users are the bloggers, the twitters, the minority. They have things to say, they have causes and want to promote the things that are on their mind. What occurs though is they end up battling the majority. Without responsive interaction there is no value in the debate that is initiated. Just 'liking' something on Facebook' or even Blogger, does not maintain the interest in the given thread. To make the process work, the passive need to air their opinion too. If this process is avoided due to any given determinant then true discourse is lost. Democracy is not just being given the right to say something. It is then the interaction that follows that makes change for the better of mankind.

Maybe not all blogs have something good to say. However, the point is that they are an opinion in many cases, and if an individual out there has no real concern to develop their own opinion the best approach is to comment on another person's opinion. And from there a discussion is made. Something happened in China some months back, after an earthquake brought down a small school. Killing many of the pupils inside. People in China started to Twitter this tragedy, and then it became a global event. It was the highest ranking event on Twitter. There was a global outcry. And the reason this became important? Well, sadly it increased the Chinese governments awareness to tighten their amazing firewall security, and the story was squashed. However, the fact that this gained attention from the Chinese government proved that speaking one's mind in any given public arena can affect opinion. The double edged affect of this can unfortunately, in today's society turn potential revolution into a "t-shirt design".

Personally, I like blogging. I find that when I have something to say it can help release the opinion I have inside that I know the 'egocentric' Governments listen to with deaf ears on ballot day. So really, if Governments are just global pawns in some global secret group set out to protect the elite, then people need to have their say. People need to have a power. Is there reason to fear the 'Big Brother', well its simply a case of ease for the watchers in the sky. The secret files on individuals have been around for years, and it's not just a case of being an internet invention. This just makes the tracking more acute and viewable. I would recommend people all set up a blog and get things off their chest. It may not change the world, but then again it might.

day three hundred and thirty-nine: socially networking in easy steps

2011-03-20T09:33:00.000+02:00

a.k.a ~ the shameless advertising of all my websites in one blog!

Is there any real value to social networking? What is the point to having a Facebook account, Twitter, MySpace, and so on? Does it really help in anything other than wasting a great deal of time? Well, the real point behind social networking has a two prong attack. First is the subtle and passive recreation of getting oneself known. Whether that is for mere friendship or any other reason. The second, is more proactive means and that is to grow a network of people, that could in future develop interests and advantageous connections. After all, it is the famous statement that; "it's not what you know, but who you know." Having the choice of hundreds of social network outlets is confusing and also time consuming to set up and maintain. However, the point about the later aspect of social networking is not really the interaction, but the presence. This can help increase Google ranking, and even the simplicity of having a visual presence. Not posting something is not as proactive as posting something (obviously), but also regardless if you post something that somebody likes or dislikes, they will see your name spread around the net. And this is how patterns are formed in people's minds.

I did a little research on Google ratings and other forms of social networking development and found the following method by which you can simple make the simplest of contributions, but get seen in several places. And therefore, get more coverage. In a work sense this can help and be crucial to increase inquiries and contact coverage. I have been blogging for some four years and noticed that I wasn't getting many visits or comments. I found this out via Google Analytics (a free service). So, after the research in getting know, I also noticed that people didn't visit my personal work website very often either; Rob Snow. This can be discussed in a different blog, but it basically comes down to how people interact on the internet. Most internet users are passive. The effort involved in even pressing the 'Like' button can be a great effort to some. So, what you have to achieve is two things: easy access to a common forum and easy recognition of your contribution.

So, in a challenge to make things work for myself I did the following. I set up several blogs (Rob, Rob's Art Blog, Creative Thinking, One Stop Creative Cafe, and so on). What this does in the first place, is to allow me to add a linking chain to all my other blogs in their side panel. Why is that important? Well, this can give greater coverage in the Google system, and the new method by which Google lists websites (via popularity) means the more listings of your site on other sites is better value to you in a Google search attempt. This can be confirmed via the use of Google Webmaster Tools.

Having increased linking aids in getting known. The next stage was more complex to initiate, but in the end has meant that I write one blog, one tweet, or like one video on YouTube and it gets spread. Now, if you want to use this networking seriously for gaining work attention, you need to use a proper identity, and maintain the look and feel of that identity across the board. People flick quickly through websites and refer to images quicker than words. So if they see your image on several sites they will see the connection. So, next was to set up several social network pages. These included; Facebook, MySpace, Windows Live, LinkedIn, Twitter, Tumblr, etc.

When I started these were all stand alone sites that allowed social interaction, but now, due to the popularity of Facebook, they have all found that syndication can aid in popularity of their own site. So, what you can do, is search through the preferences of many of these sites and find an option to connect to several of the sites. Not all link to all the sites, but the point is to make sure that all the sites are covered via at least one of the connections.

This image is the syndication panel for Windows Live, for example. Now, this is the good part. If you write blogs and you want to get the same post seen in several arenas then you can do the following thing.

There is an application on Facebook and a standalone website called NetworkedBlog. What this does is distribute your blogs via your chosen social media arenas. There is an option to allow syndication to Facebook pages and to Twitter. What this means is when you write a blog, it appears on Twitter and any given Facebook page. I personally have made several fan pages for my work, and other activities. So, when I make a blog on blogger, it appears on these chosen pages and my profile. Now, that is the first stop. Because you have linked your other pages to Facebook and/or Twitter what ever appears in those feeds also appears in the new feeds for the other social networking arenas. Below are the examples from my MySpace and Windows Live streams. I rarely visit these sites, but you can see that they are populated with content.

That is basically it. You make some simple set up in several place and with a small amount of effort (for example, this blog will appear in 6 streams and I write it once) and you get your work, passion or hobby noticed a little more. Being viral is a new method to be proactive toward work, but can also be a simple way to promote causes, activities and things of interest. It may not be for everyone, but if you are in need of a little promotion, then it can't hurt. I can positively say that since I started this, I have had several interested work enquiries. So, is there any harm in a little promotion? After all, in this climate, nobody is going to do it for you.

day three hundred and thirty-eight: hiding behind a smile

2011-03-04T09:35:00.000+02:00

Two thoughts. First people say that you should write about what you know. Second, in conversation with a great deal of my Greek friends, they constantly tell me that the richness of their language means that the word "love" has many forms, and therefore many meanings. I can't tell with any great certainty how other people feel. The process of emotion is hard to determine sometimes as people can so easily hide behind a smile. What I have discovered through my adventures in this thing called life is that what can be felt at one particular moment in time can change, but on the other hand another feeling can stay with you forever. The subject of love is such a case that it has perplexed people for their lifetime. Being an artist and a father I have found I have two very strong unconditional loves in my life. First came my love of art, and I will point out here, that in English we use the word 'love' in many occasions, and to many they have different values and forms. I can see this in many occasions, but with regard to my art and life, as a creative, I feel such a strong internal feeling, of pain and joy most of the time that it would be hard to define it as anything other than love. Second came my daughter. Unless you have been there, the feelings that seem to shake you from ups to downs in the turbulent world of parenting, are unique and over-powering. I still remember the day when my eyes first caught glimpse of her. It seems like a tap was released inside that portrayed an indescribable feeling that has and will always live with me.

I have written a few blogs about emotions, romance, love, the opposite sex and have done it from a perspective that I hope sees it from a neutral aspect. What I probably should do, and maybe this is a confession to my sins (smiling), is to declare things how I see it. To tell how my stomach churns, how butterflies set sail in flight in my stomach, how heart beats jump into my throat, and so forth. So here goes. I recently was deleting some photos from my Facebook account when I came across one, of myself. I was going to delete it, but then I read the comment that a special person had written there. Now, this comment three years ago was ubiquitous at the time. Mainly as this person and myself had not really found a connection. As my finger hovered over the delete button, something changed me. I still have this image and more so it fuelled a sense of emotions this week that has me waking at 5am, not eating, has me floating around in space.

My time on this planet has been spent in many a moment that in one way of another either defines a memory or is forgotten. I am not special, I am like everyone else. I think personally, if I talked of my emotions what I would like to think is special about me is my self-worth in my definitions of how I deal with my outlook on the subject of emotions. This is a long debate. I am a twin. I had a thought the other day that this has defined a paradoxical emotional divide between my brother and I, in the sense that I have retained more of the sensitive side of feelings. I am a very sensitive person, and try to portray a great deal of that in the way I deal with things. Sometimes, as like all people, I have to be hard. I try to mask my soft side as much as I can, but it gets the better of me. I have many a fault thrown at me due to my horoscope sign of 'Gemini', and for a great truth I every rarely lie, but in return am accused of such things, simply from my honesty.

That is me. My encounters with many others of the fairer sex have like all, been about the biological and the emotional. Like the great notions of romance, the release of hormones and attractants gives rise to the idea that 'love is in the air'. This is then tended to be extended of drops in that classic 'honeymoon' period phrase. Where reality kicks in and then images of the true relationship determine whether or not there is in fact love among the sheets. For me, knowing what I feel about my passion for my creative side, I feel that I can explore the feelings I have for my emotion needs too. However, so many times I have encountered that what occurs is a juxtaposition of values. The reason I wrote the article about romance, to be true, is that its a big lie. People don't know what romance is. It is a construct determined by unreal values. The idyllic knight in shining armour, the candle lit diner in a moonlit sanctum where there is not one moment of fault. It is good to believe this could be what is desired, but in reality, and as I told my muse, the truth is about dealing with the smelly socks.

I remember seeing my grandparents dancing together at a wedding once, looking at each other deeply like the rest of the world didn't exist. It was very beautiful. Would I define that as love. Of course it was love, but it was love that had been through a war. Many people in this world want 'instant' delivery. Like everything else in their lives it's part of the market plan. What the fault is, is they expect the traditional values that go along with this. I have to interrupt at this point, as with many things in life, they become connected. My reason to write this s about how I feel toward someone, and that someone just popped in and started a talk. Like always, I realise that the sensation I feel. The natural feeling is more important than the cognitive state. The simple feeling of her communicating made those butterflies fly again. Made the heart beat a little faster, made many a sensation override the other thoughts. Now, I can't tell if this is that magic word we seek definition for. All I know is it doesn't happen very often, and now that it does it has defined what I am feeling these days.

Maybe I am fallible to my traits, my history, my gender, my experiences, but I always feel that I need to try hard to counter them with this sense of feeling. I have had feelings for many women. Many of these feelings have become lost in the moments in time as it seems that it was capricious, was never mutual, or I never declared these emotions. As I get older I tend to feel that my emotional bounds should become harder. That the beating of my heart should not fluctuate so easily on the simplest of chance moments. I have also noticed recently (as to be honest, I live in a country full of the most beautiful women) that I have become amazingly critical of what makes me fall in love. Beauty is, to use a cliche, more than skin deep. My encounters with the fairer sex have made me realise that the perfection in skin is not what this definition of 'love' is. I recently have become aware of great feelings. I understand many of the faults with it, but however I maintain that feeling of hope about the simple, and undeniable truth, that for the past six months, I have realised getting to know the depths of someone is what makes the sense of feeling grow. Not the outward expressions of emotions.

Maybe I am a fool, maybe my present, and probably last experience in this matter is just another lesson. I hope its not. This past week has been a big eye opener to my feelings on such matter of the heart. What has, in every simple case in point, become apparent is that there is (again a cliche) a understanding that it takes two to tango. I think I want and need to discover that love that your hear about in great stories of tragic romance. That two people try, two people feel, and two people make the connection. Maybe it is a myth. I say maybe, as I want to try. I am getting too old to wander around looking for something, if it doesn't exist. I can watch films, read books, hear the words in many a song, but the truth is clear. The value of that define this crazy word called 'love', is self-defined. No two people will ever feel exactly the same things, and maybe there is a crazy motive behind it all too. What must be seen is the little things that make it happen and grow.

Flicks of the hair is one thing, and the pouting look another. This is not love, this is attraction. And knowing that the photo I wanted to delete is in fact a point of one person's attraction, I want to seek the deeper reason to knowing this person. I spend my days many miles away from my muse wondering if this would be forever, if I am a fool to feel these things. Am I even right in having such feelings. All I know is they are there, they are strong and to be honest I don't want them to go. I was asked by my muse to define love. I wrote it as a poem, as I find the complexity in needing to find the exact simplistic expressions that are need to form a poem of such strength truly important. I share it here again. I hope that maybe it will be read and understood by a special person, as it was written for a special person.

I want to kiss the air you breath,
So to be intoxicated by your presence.
Caress the emptiness in space,
Where once your body would alight.
To make the rivers in your tears,
passages upon which draw happiness.
Finding 'woman' in a templed body,
that flesh holds such curiosity.
To swim in eyes of diamond pools,
with clarity that reveals your reason.
Make on a path for where it might lead,
and seek entrance to this garden.
And dance on fertile joy in such bloom,
holding colour in life lit by glowing smile.
To pause in a place of utter silence,
knowing the safety that you are there.
Having pleasure to be graced with many things,
that all in all make only you.
To hold you when you are not there,
and to know embrace in pure emotions.
And at such end not to seek response upon,
the knowledge of loving you; to know it true.

day three hundred and thirty-seven: the total sum of nothing

2011-02-24T23:44:00.000+02:00

Was just sitting in the bath listening to this beautiful aria from Lakme, by Delibes, thinking of the paradox involved in my other thoughts on the total banality of the way our lives are turning out at present. This was started off by a conversation by several students and myself yesterday, during a Creative Thinking lesson, and many countless bus journeys into town. Countless faces that over the time I have spent in this country, have changed like the climate. From sunny and fresh faces to dreary and gloomy expressions.

To take a step back. The conversation yesterday was about the total fundamental uselessness of our existence; in the sense that man has devised themselves this existence by which we actually live. As I am a big fan of connectivity and related subjects, the debate actually started talking about one of the greats, Albert Einstein. The students have been given the task of doing a project based on three moments in time. Whether or not I am an expressive character in these lessons I don't know, but I do feel a little passion about a few things. On this occasion I was talking about the meagre mayfly. A little, nearly insignificant creature that for one day, one single day, has the chance to change the world. To emerge from it's cocoon and avoid being eaten, avoid many other obstacles, find a mate, reproduce, and whatever else it takes to prolong the life of the species; one day.

What this started, with Einstein, was a discussion about what time actually is. That, like most things in our world, the concept of time is in fact a man-made construct. That is meant to mean that the actual measurement of time is not in fact real. It has been made by man. Seconds don't exist, or didn't until man invented them. To prolong the argument, it was extended to the understanding that the year that we exist in is not in fact the actual year of our existence. It was a man-made construct based on the birth of a single person in history. Humans have been around for over 300,000 years. So why calculate our year as 2011? What is a second? Do other creatures do activities by the setting of time related moments. They can tell by season, and the sun. As much as the pagans once did. But the sun is not a mathematical instrument, and the planets rotation around the sun is not an exact science. So why should time be defined as such.

The main reason is that humans have devised control. They have constructed time, constructed names for all things, they even created Gods. Then further down the line, they created money and then worth, and then social conditions based on these values. everything that we live for is a simple construct. Almost like it was devised that way. Those unhappy faces on the bus are unhappy because the machine that was created to control them is in fact at fault. The values held in many of the films and books and articles I have read, such as Zeitgeist, Home, Earthlings are all pointing to a corruption that doesn't uphold any of the true values of humanity and civilisation, and more so do not hold up the values to which the created religion preaches.

Why does it all fail? Simply because we are human. We cannot be godly enough to presume the role of such personality. In our creation of gods we tried to allow for these weaknesses and failings in our nature, but what it did instead was to feed these weaknesses. The greatest sin of mankind is the corruption inset into greed. It is promoted by the natural instinct of survival, but nevertheless it creates the basis for our modern society. One of the reasons that communism failed, and so well captured in the literary caricatured creatures of Orwell's "Animal Farm": 'All animals are equal; some animals are more equal than others.' What this achieves is the ideal that we are all in fact humans, when in fact some aspire to be god like. They twist the man-made laws to achieve greater aspirations for themselves. The process in itself began many, many years ago. This was the beginning of the end. Every step we have taken has been taken to get us to this moment.

A time when the world is falling apart. When less that 3% of the population holds more than 90% of the wealth. When companies exploit the capitalist notion when people die feeding it in order to survive. We have taken an enormous step out of the evolutionary tracks of our ancestors, and very little in the strides to become anymore different than them. Research in wildlife sociology has shown that our closest relative, the chimpanzees, can in their "limited" capacity be more social than they were previously thought to be. They can also fashion tools in such a way that gives them a cognitive sense of understanding, and even without the mighty opposing thumb, they have also shown compassion to fellows, that in our modern society seems to be very simply lacking.

I was explaining the other day, after a 26 hour weekend shift painting a mural on a wall, that our lives have ended up being governed by a rule that we must work to make money so that we can afford the things we want, but then never have the time to enjoy them. Capitalist forces empower commerce in such a way that they have free reign to set the cost of our existence, but the workers that go to turn the wheels of this greedy industry have no longer go such power. No strength in force, in heart or in voice to make the reason for their existence in fact worth anything. We educate to feel that we can achieve, but the truth is it becomes worthless as soon as the certificate adorns the walls. We hope for a better life, that is perpetuated by celebrity and tantalising desire, when all it does is keep us a little happier in our misery. What has occurred is that we are fed enough of some magic line of hope that keeps us going, but edged with enough dark distain that we seek solace in our own created higher beings. Whether it be the gods in our churches, the new or latest idol in their fancy mansion, or the pot of gold in next weeks lottery. they have all become the carrot that we dangle in front of ourselves to stop us realising that the nothing we are is the future of mankind.

We used to have revolutions in times of despair. We used to strike in a fashion that would bring countries to their knees. We would create heros from the working class that we could follow and would unite nations to make change. Now? Now, we make gestures to a blind political system that can only see us as perpetrators rather than victims. The laws that were created by this man, to protect this man are now against this man. There is no security in life anymore. No real satisfaction that we have made a good life for ourselves. I look at one old lady and listen to her stories of her past, like she was wanting to get to a place of dignity, and now she talks of asking the neighbours to borrow enough coinage to buy a candle. Hoping that this would bring salvation to her lost dreams. There is too much illusion in this world. Too much greed, and back stabbing, and hurt and unnecessary loss of seeing what is right.

But on conclusion and after listening to the final chilling calls of the flower duet, I see there is a great deal of beauty around. whether this beauty actually brings us salvation is hard to tell, or whether it simply blankets the grey melancholy that has become a routine to many of us. Life is a beautiful thing indeed. Its just a shame that some humans got in the way of making it eternally so. But as the countless pagans believe, the rising of the sun was the indication of a new birth. A new beginning, and hope for all.

As far as the original conversation goes, well, it did seem unanimous that time was pointless. So, unable to be godlike myself, and knowing that eternity is a word in the dictionary more than a reality, I will wake tomorrow and strive to see the good in most and work hard to achieve that aim. For the rest, well, looking back at our 300,000 year existence and then looking forward, I can only say with some trepidation, maybe we need to forgive ourselves for our mistakes, not to generate some higher scape goat entity and make all the changes needed to ensure that tomorrow is not only just the next day, but for many more to come; for all!

day three hundred and thirty-six: evolution of togetherness

2011-02-03T12:52:00.001+02:00

A little over one hundred years ago, women would be introduced into a relationship (marriage) via the process of selecting viable candidates. This tended to be based on the man's status, wealth and blood line (family). The point being, that the female in the relationship need to have securities in place to allow them to take the roll of the housekeeper, or house wife as she would become. Money to provide, status to retain the respect of the lady entering the marriage, and blood line to secure the future off-spring. This all seemed logical and correct, as the need for any species to evolve and regenerate is to have strong foundations by which to make the next generation. Females being the stronger element in the coupling of a pair in a relationship therefore needs to have good grounds to risk their life and the lives of their children.

Then what happened is the system changed. There was an equalisation, of sorts. And the woman was given the vote. Before any more discussion is made on this subject, it should be pointed out that the previous example is idealistic. This was the method for the people in the higher class system. People existing in the lower classes were subject to the rigours of finding a more basic path to relationship building. In many respects it was based on the close similarity of natural instincts and the desire for procreation. So, the status of women was turned to become more independent. Able to now work and vote and not be so reliant on the male population so much, the evolution of a relationship took a softer twist. The basic change was there was no need to seek viable candidates. The female was able to explore the male population in a more romantic way, instead of a social planner way.

It however wasn't uncommon that couples would still get married for a reason away from that of romance. And in America in the 50's many couples became married through practicality of children, and even sometimes tax purposes. With many not feeling love and sharing separate beds. It wasn't that there wasn't any respect, but the fact there was a social etiquette still being performed and the courtship was subject to some strict and controlling methodologies. The blog was started because of the way a thought popped into my mind about something that my mother discussed years back. When I first became interested in women. My mother explained once the process by which she became involved and eventually married to my father. She said that the courtship was based on the process of meeting on a sunny afternoon. Walking the length of a country lane. Talking and exploring commonalities and then after several meeting, an engagement was made.

This sort of reminded me of the story of Tony Benn, and how he became involved with his wife. Meeting her by accident on a park bench, and then after some hours proposing to her. This is the basis of a relationship formed in love, however be it spontaneous.

Today, relationships are formed from the evolution of how sexuality has modified, and the position in the political arena of the two genders. What has occurred, since the burning of the bra, is the transformation of the definition of what relationships can be. The independence of the genders allows the definition of relationships to become very casual. Both in fact and in translation. There is no real need to be fully involved these days. Mainly as status is based on position these days, and many are equal in status. The restrictions of society doesn't even require people to be involved to have children. There are less stigmas involved in this too. So, with both sexes having incomes, having abilities to create monocular lives and feel comfortable in that, relationships become a commodity or an accessory. And the real truth of what people are looking for has been lost. It seems that younger people are more willing to experiment, because the strength in the commitment has been lost in the new translation.

From a time when a relationship was for life and a commitment for better values, it has come down to a process of by which lists are created. These lists being personal criteria by which a person makes a relationship seem viable. The issue is then, that man of these lists have become near impossible to make work. Maybe this is why marriages don't last long, why relationships that do start die quickly. Because the method by which the relationship structure is defined in modern society is not based on the good of the togetherness, but the needs of the individual. And if this is so, then there is every reason to expect relationships to fail. With divorce become a hobby these days and single parents being single before marriage, old fashion values have changed the notion of relationships. However, love as an emotion still exists. How it finds a path to create a necessary lasting bond, in todays helter-skelter methodology of need is hard to discover, but there it is. Not evolving like society does, but instead being; waiting, ready and expectant of the myth of romance. And then begs the question, where does it go from here?

day three hundred and thirty-five: plank of wood

2011-01-29T15:14:00.000+02:00

My father retired at the age of 64. He did so because he had a genetic illness and work was hard for him. So he took early retirement to hopefully get something out of his life, and do all those things that work tends to stop you doing. Less than a year later, he was dead. His garden that he loved so much, now unkept. However, I do remember as a child going into his garage and the work area he kept, with old tools passed down from his father to him, and seeing a set of shelves. Unmounted to the wall, and just sitting there. One day the curiosity took me to query and I asked why the shelves were always there. It was something that he had to get around to doing. Was the reply. Like all the loose screws. The bulb that never gets replaced. The squeaky hinges on so many doors. And then time ran out. The shelves were never put up. He died and the shelves lost their purpose.

day three hundred and thirty-four: 2010 - 2011

2010-12-31T09:18:00.001+02:00

As John Lennon said, "Another year over, and a new one just begun". I'm sure if you ask many people they will tell you that 2010 wasn't the best of years. So, in that dark cloud, is there anything really left to say about the year that threw many people into fear and crisis?

Many years start as many do, with folks gathering around an omnipresent television set, looking at the last few moments of time ticking away into the celebratory rejoice of the New Year. From that point in time, many promises are made and many resolutions are falsely begun, but on the whole the enthusiasm of the year is fresh and with hope that, as usual, it will be better than the previous one. Man is a strange creature. It is he himself that made the construct of time. It is he that used the movement of the Earth around the sun to denote Gods that controlled the destiny of his own egotism. It is man that wrote the rule of existence by which all things live. It is man that names the whole and all its minor and minuscule

components that make up this thing we have called the universe. But it is man who has forgotten how to be.

When the construct of midnight chimes on this day, it wont really be midnight on Friday 31st January, 2010. That is what has been written by man. It is simply just another moment of existence. A possible turning point, or a possible decline in a path that puts us through our own existence. We are born, and eventually we die, and our time is part of the greater picture of the continuation of a greater force that is not for us to define or even want to perceive. We are and have always been, a mere speck in this massive process called life. Planet Earth itself is an oasis by which this process has found a home. Billions of stars with trillions of planets floating about in this galaxy, and here we sit. We sit on our blue and green rock with the arrogance that defines man, to believe that this has been set up all for our pleasure, our greed, our comfort and our gain.

So will the following moments after those new year chimes be any different? Will man change? Will the world change? Will the future be more than a continuation, more than doom and gloom. The nature of man is that of optimism. Like all creatures man needs to survive. It is the drive inside. The natural instinct that all living things are defined by. A year in the existence of any life form is nothing more that a moment, and to us, that moment seems even more special and intense as the last chime of the hour turns us from one year to another. We will laugh, we will cry and we will reflect, but more importantly we will maintain false promise in changing the future for the better. Too much holds us back from the destiny we desire, and this past year the true reflection has been on money. Money, as they say, is the root to all evil, and as the the world is wholly controlled by an elite few with their hands on all the purse strings then the nature of human emotion is destined to be melancholic until a time that wealth is given a new definition with the terms of happiness and good nature.

So, as one of the individuals that inhabit this cosmos of points of light and spinning rocks, and magnetic forces and atomic sub-levels, I look at the new year with the two faces that seem to define the drama that it has become. The dark side that has to frown on the injustice and suffering of the people. People who work hard and dream of better times, but are controlled by forces that are not human. And the opposite side. The bright smile of hope and prosperity to each and everyone of us. The simple thought that happiness has no cost to anyone, and that each and every moment should, and must, be enjoyed and rejoiced. Here's to a great and wonderful start to whatever denomination to place on this new phase of mankind. Call it 2011, or 44.8441746. Its just numbers! The important thing is the feeling! Be happy and above all be human!!

Happy 2011!

day three hundred and thirty-three: the female form

2010-12-04T09:08:00.000+02:00

Now I have to be careful here! Being a guy I guess I could walk into a few traps in this posting, so I do tred cautiously. This post was just triggered from a conversation with an American friend. The lady in question sent me this image (we were talking about well designed femme fatales in cartoon form). About the reaction they have. So it got me thinking. It's basically a drawing. Why should such a form be used to describe sexual aspects of the female of the species, and where does this go in the gamut of the whole aspect of sexism, respect and so forth toward the female half of the human species.

Biologically women and men are different. There are reasons for this. The external differences have in modern times been heightened to promote a stylish nature that women are objects, and even more damaging, that women are objects of desire. Many conversation have linked this type of discussion together, and many are based on the talks with women. Recently I had a conversation with a young lady. I noticed that she had turned up wearing a dress. Most of the time she appears in jeans and casual dress. This time, and to her own admission, she said she wanted to look good. So, I asked, for what purpose did you want to look good? The reply was "for myself". I asked a little further, why making an external statement was about herself, when the world can see it. The conversation continued and basically it does come across that females have been programmed in modern society to be conscious of their looks.

This has been made more acute through will the more open sense of sexuality. But has also become a damning aspect when the process of time makes women feel they have to compete with younger, more attractive models (as my friend put it). The notion of the peacock comes to mind here. However, like almost every natural species, the male of that species is the more attractive. Why is it that with primates, and more so humans, the female of the species is the sexual hook. What is it also about the female form that makes variant reactions in both sexes? I remember writing a blog post some time back and places a very artist shot of a naked female body as the keystone image. Being aesthetically minded I was very aware of the importance between it being art and porn. So, what happens? Another American friend sent me an email of shock that I would place such an image of a woman in a blog. I was quite surprised as I took many moments to seek out (what I thought) an inoffensive image. What I guess this comes down to is a case of social conditioning to.

Hundreds of years ago women were not allowed to show their skin so openly. Even on the beach they wore full length suits. In the progression of time this has changed to a view of near nudity in some clothing lines, but it is more that just the look. I was trying to explain this once, using the famous Toscani image used for the Benetton clothing ads, of a naked new born baby. I explained that we are all born this way, but through socio-reflective learning we are driven to dislike open nudity, even though this is our natural state. That we can wear minimal bathing costumes on a beach, but in the city this would be deemed offensive attire. There are psychological reasons why women look the way they do, and even emphasis their form. What does become confusing is the role reversal, and the degree by which it occurs.

Being taught some Freud at University it was made evident that males are not in control. In fact, and as my American friend just stated, women in the sex game are the gate-keepers. What man has done however, has made them objectified entities to force a type of control on them. This combined with the some aspects of animal instincts has made the notion that 'sex sells' very prominent and potentially dangerous. Desmond Morris explained once that the relationship to lipstick and our primate relatives was potentially an attempt to mimic the natural process of readiness. That female chimpanzees when in heat develop an inflamed bottom and fleshy area, that turns a strong reddish pink. It was inferred that women apply lipstick in strong reds to emulate this too. Mainly as clothing has covered the sexual organs of a woman. Also, that breasts are seen as a promotional devise to women's form, as (again through Desmond Morris) this represents the inflammation of the buttocks to show mating status.

What is interesting for me, is the way women themselves see the same sex. My friend in reply said that women look at the sexuality of other women as much as looking at the male form. Almost like checking out the competition. That this has also now been heightened with fashion, sexual openness and the struggle of men's other preoccupation; power and money. That the weakness in longevity in the beauty status (as a social condition) means that young women gain the attention of rich, powerful men (regardless of their looks) more so than mature women. Like the female form has a "expiration date" and that the social constraints of looks and sexuality is the arena to play in. The sad truth, is this is in fact just a game. A game that it seems most people participate in, regardless of conscious or subconscious behaviour. Regardless of gender or age. The whole notion that sex sells is obvious and apparent in this modern world, but it also generates a negative state. Sociological and psychological challenges to compete. And if an individual is incapable of competing? Well, this create (unlike nature) pathological ailments. Women can get depressed with the "size 4" pressure. Men can get aggressive at the sexual over-stimulous in the mating game.

At the end of all this debate, there is the simplest of questions. Have we gone too far? A male peacock fluffs his feathers, and tries to impress the female. Its done with a natural code of conduct. If he fails, he moves on to the next female, if he succeeds, well its because nature decided that. As for the human state of the two sexes. Through social development, pressure or simple perverse evolution we have made a culture that sees form as the wrong type of tool. It takes the notion of "sex sells" too far into the wrong market. Appreciation of the opposite sex should be about the individual connection. The pheromones and the natural connection of whatever powers that decide this. Not size 6 and 38DD and skirts that can be mistaken for belts. Like many products in the market place, we have made the wrapper more inviting than the product. Every human comes in two states. Their internal self and their external self. Respecting the former over the later is a dangerous desire to fit into a false paradigm. This conversation is very long and has many aspects that can be argued in both directions, so its hard to know how to end the post. I will say that personally, as I have grown older, I have begun to see and appreciate the more natural aspects of what makes the female form so wonderful; and that is when it is combined with the human being inside.

Is this the reason?

2010-11-30T11:48:00.001+02:00

day three hundred and thirty-two: welcome to planet design

2010-11-21T09:32:00.000+02:00

Welcome to a world where everything is beautiful. Where time and consideration has been spent to make all the things around you be full of aesthetic charm. A place where the main aim of existence is to promote beauty in form. Is it a dream? Well, let us take a look. The thing about opinions is that everyone is entitled to one. What gives a person a greater strength in their opinion is an amount of credibility in the area of concern. I get the impression that I will get a lot of negative feedback for this post, but I am going to state my opinion anyway, as I think that working in the field of design gives me some insight, even if not a great expert. I will also see if I can use examples to explain the affect of what I am also saying, without the detriment of the creators concerned. This initially creates a strange starting position. Maybe, because people don't mind others stating positive aspects to their work (like the image above; an amazing image that I thought was beautiful to look at), but when someone tries to point out some negativity in the process then all hell breaks loose. I remember a post I made on my 'Creative Thinking' blog, here, where I tried to point out the values of aesthetic values based on experience, and the amount of aggressive feedback I gained from it.

I will start by showing a short animated expression of what many graphic designers feel is an issue, but love that someone has been able to denote it in a very clever and humorous way.

Some time back a change occurred in the method of operation to many working people. It was called the industrial revolution. This came out of the period of enlightenment. When science took a foothold against religion and created the need to educate the planet to some better goal. Before this period, Planet Design almost almost existed in the process that we now refer to as the 'Craft Movement'. This was a period when individuals were concerned at hand manufacturing artefacts, and in the process created things with individuality and passion. Objects were limited to production and locality and hence were of some value. Even if it was a hand-made axe. The mechanism approach destroyed the personal connection that craft provided and therefore negated the connection the user had with their product. The notion of value was placed on an object through it's cost rather than it's aesthetic value. If you pay a fortune for something, it most be perfect! Well, that is never the case. Art through aesthetic denotation is always divided in debate via means of opinion. 'One man's junk is another man's treasure' is a good expression to give value to this argument. Aesthetics is derived from our instincts to define what is attractive to us. Primarily it was seen as a courtship process, as much as a peacock has bright feathers. Recently a TED video by Denis Dutton, on Darwinian theories of beauty (here) makes a case that our tools we crafted were even used in a primitive method by which to gain attention of our worth.

Now what could be classed as bad design in order to know what good design is? I use this example to show the principle of what I consider bad design.

Now, in it's self the image is great. The actual weapon itself has some interest in it's aesthetic appeal. What I am trying to define here, is the metaphoric concern that bad design is something that just doesn't work. How can we know when something doesn't work? Well, this seems to be a point that makes a need for Planet Design. Another self-motivated example, was a recent trip to a design agency, in which I was asked to visualise new designs for a milk carton casing. I thought of eleven. On presentation, in a meeting room of six people (five designers and one executive) a funny thing occurred. My understanding of what this is all about came to be highlighted in a moment when we were all asked to choose our favourite from the eleven possible designs. We all chose the same design apart from the executive. To which the executive then stated; "I can't see what you see in that design, it must be a designer thing!" And I guess that is the crux of what this is all about really. The people who have the power; the executive, the consumer or the customer although are right in their concerns to having what they want, are also wrong in the fact that aesthetically they are not always right.

Like almost anything that we do, many of us can show aptitude in a given activity. I also believe that away from talent, this aptitude is an instinctual aspect to what makes us good at; being a mechanic, a salesperson, and of course a designer. Now, where this is an arrogant statement, I don't thing every individual has the scope to understand what is good design. This again is a bigger argument, based on saturation of popular form and commercial productivity. If the market gives us pink polkadot overcoats and nothing else, then the dictating forces will make it an acceptable design eventually. That however, is the point; 'acceptable design' is not necessarily 'good design'. What has occurred recently, with the invention of two nemeses: internet and computers, is the approach that anyone can be an artist. Well the good news is that this is in fact true. The negative side to this also is that due to the nature of the beast that is free market, this approach to wanting to be a designer is given over to any soul who wants to attempt the process. Now, I am not saying that it's about education, position, or even experience in the field. It's funny however, if you look at the aspects of how a mechanic or a plumber or a carpenter do their work. It can be reflected in people attempting their own do-it-yourself approach to this in their own homes. They can have varying degrees of success even. Many of them however, never then take this attribute onto the open market. Selling themselves as such. Now art is a different matter.

Art is an aesthetic. This is derived from the Greek that basically means to stimulate the senses. As this, and the combination of emotive force come into play, people feel able to creative. Originally we were segregated into those who were allowed to form aesthetic communication and those who were not. The shaman of the cave dwellers are said to be the authority in the group that were allowed to communicate on the walls. Not all were given this position. Now, millions of years into the future and many mind-boggling steps of evolution one thing has come to play in this process of defining what is good design. The ability to transfer the thought into reality. I believe, personally, that if you cannot transfer the idea of what you see inside via the simplest form possible (i.e. a pencil) then there is something lacking in your ability to transfer this function. Relying simply of technological gadgets to make polished artefacts is not enough to retain the aesthetic form.

I was recently at an exhibition of Henri Toulouse-Lautrec's work. Although is was a fascinating array of work, I could not help but be fascinated by the miniature sketches that were dotted around the room. Close inspection made them come alive with there detail and line. And in most cases I find artist's sketches the heart to their talent and ability. Look at the work of Glenn Keene for example. This has aesthetic style and form. What I wanted to get back too, was a recent commission I was give. The client (like in many cases) has seen something on the internet (usually, and in this case, via a stock site) and printed it and had come to the meeting to state that this is what he wanted. Now, I think I would be a bad designer myself, if I didn't use the knowledge I have learnt, the advise I have been given and the simple instinctive viewpoint I posses in such a way as to try and convince him, even against my own style and taste and try to explain the reasons why the design he liked was bad. Here enters the values of why a client isn't always right. Not everything out there is good design (and let me make the point that not all I do I would consider good design), and simply seeing an example of something and presenting it as the driving force to make a replicated form to their needs is, I think wrong. I have managed to achieve a compromise in the design I have created. Myself being more abstract, and the client understanding that my style and work should be developed in an individual fashion, not to copy mass production artwork.

To draw this to a close. Society is now faced with "MASS" everything. The mechanics of the industrial revolution even though beneficial in many respects have also destroyed the fabric of aesthetic value. This has almost died as much as craftsmanship has almost died. Being replaced by the values of commerce. A good design should be firstly designed for it's integrity as a art form and then set a value, not vice versa. When the need to make money over all else drives a design incentive then all that can really come of it is bad design. This can really simply be expressed in a paradigm of synonyms: Nature designs things not for their value, but for their worth. I will end on a quote from a great designer and one of his sayings that I try to instil into my students.

“Computers are to design as microwaves are to cooking.”
~ Milton Glaser

day three hundred and thirty-one: Farewell to democracy!

2010-11-05T10:16:00.009+02:00

Although Greece was the founding land of democracy, thousands of years ago, America has been seen as an iconic representation of what should be considered as being democratic. The simple irony in both cases is that democracy was and is not a realistic entity in the process by which the theory has been put into practice. The Greek invention of democracy, was a theoretical delivery that existed in a one party state. Not the best nurturing grounds for the process of equality for all. Modern democracy also, has it's flaws. In the UK, there is a democratic value in place. However, the country is also under rule of a monarchy, which in it's primary state is derived "from Greek monarkhia ‘the rule of one.’" Again, hardly the great starting points of democratic rule. The first definition of this misused term states "a system of government by the whole population" and has the origins again in the Greek language; "from Greek dēmokratia, from dēmos ‘the people’ + -kratia ‘power, rule.’ ".

So, have we every had democracy? If you communicate to people in this modern world about the processes of representation of an elected person or body then many a sceptical viewpoint comes across. Even though many still march themselves down, under social obligation, to cast their vote; their one chance to make a true democratic mark, they still feel let down, mis-represented and even cheated by the falsehoods by which those candidates get to power. It is a fading joke these days when you listen to the humour in this pun; Q: "How can you tell when a politician is lying?" A: "They move their lips!" There is so much mistrust in the position of representation these days, that nobody believes any given body would do any better than the other. Simply by fact that there is the paradigm of the expression; "Lesser of two evils."

Today, in the UK marks the 5th of November. To most in the world, just another normal day, and on this day, just another friday. However, to the English, in 1605 a group of (what is strangely termed as anarchists) attempted to blow up the Houses of Parliament in what is referred to as "The Gunpowder Plot". Not in fact a democratic act, as it involved a small group of objectors who decided to do something about the governing power. However, to the people, one should think if this kind of action is what democracy is about. If your voice isn't heard, what in fact do you do? If your vote in true reality places a power crazy liar into power then has the values of democracy been served, or in fact ever existed. A student of mine, this morning, on seeing my sentiment on my Facebook page, about Guy Fawkes stated about the patronising reflection that Greek parliamentary representatives throw back into the faces of their voters;

"we all took the money that is missing from Greece, not just the politicians! Me and you, and you, yes and the granny that is starving over there!"

Not a great vote of confidence to the people who seek guidance, reassurance and above all, leadership in this crazed world, that seems to be more about financial gain and corruption than about the people who live within it. I started writing this based on the reading of a piece of information about a 'new' law, called the "The Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act (COICA)". Now I am not condoning illegal activity. But two points to be made. First, who governs the illegal actions of the law makers. It is obvious to many that they are not angels in the eyes of the law, but at the same time seem to be able to rise above it. Secondly, how this law seems to be set up, and will act is as such (quoted from the site I found the information);

If passed, this law will allow the government, under the command of the media companies, to censor the internet as they see fit, like China and Iran do, with the difference that the sites they decide to censor will be completely removed from the internet and not just in the US.

What this seems to do is to allow for illegal material to disappear off the net. What it will do, is to control the small elements (the people) in having a little amount of freedom. If it were to be enforced correctly, Facebook would have to be closed down, as would Google and Youtube. However, this will not happen as they hold a strong economic stake in the market. Individuals don't directly increase the GNP, so they are not of value. This is in light again, of the proposed law to allow the discontinuation of copyright as we know it. It will however, be twisted into a commercial agency based commodity. So, it takes away from the notion of a law set up to protect the individual, to become a law designed to make money for the machine of commerce. How did it come about? It was devised by an associate of a member of congress. The manipulation of the elected position of power, in order to develop nepotism to economic gain.

So, say farewell to democracy! If in fact it really existed. Say farewell to the notion or dream of democracy. As I found on an image from Google yesterday. The sentiment of many is that Government is about control, not about representation.

I am sure if you talk to most about politics (if you can get past that taboo of even mentioning it), most people just want to have a little bit of honesty. Someone who, in all tense and purpose, stands up for the people and gets the job done. Looking a little deeper into the machine of power one realises that the dark areas, deep in the stomach of this mighty machine are all twisted and bent and will never work again, properly! To end on a quote from a great leader, of the great nation, that took the notion of all people being equal; a notion put into place after this one nation decided to eradicate the indigenous race based on their lack of equality and differences, and now in such present times tends to feel free to enforce this notion of liberty, equality and democracy in ways they refer to as peace keeping, that some may call invasion, control or even acts of aggression all in the name of democracy! Democracy is dead! Long live democracy!

“You may fool all the people some of the time, you can even fool some of the people all of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all the time.”
Abraham Lincoln

day three hundred and thirty: declining values that also lead nowhere

2010-10-24T08:33:00.000+02:00

Being a father I have to think about the future of my child. I want to provide and educate my child and prepare them for the possible events that will occur and mould them as adults, in the years to come. However, as Sir Ken Robinson stated, we try to educate our children for a world that we have no idea of. We are very seldom aware of what the world will be like in a matter of one year, let alone the ten it will be when my child will have to think about work and a new life. What is also damning is the fact that the one thing that is suppose to protect her in this chaos that lies ahead of her, is her education. This education however, is built and set up from another age. An age that started to show signs of prosperity and economic grow; it was the industrial revolution. It was also an age set two hundred more years in the past.

Now, as I keep reiterating, I am a great believer in all things being connected. Saying this, it sort of surprises me when several things then slip together like an answer to a puzzle. This sort of occurred the other day. Maybe two weeks back I had taken my daughter to her school bus, for her pick up, and commented on the fact that someone had actually graffitied a pane of glass in a shop window. The shop was still in use, but nevertheless the vandal thought it OK to put out someone else's day, by marking the place of lively hood in this fashion. Now, it is common in Greece to see a great deal of vandalism in graffiti around the streets. It seems also, that this seems to be an acceptable approach to a social structure. Nobody ever seems to complain, or make comments on it. It is either covered over, for the next vandal to reapply, or left and marked over or added to. Now, it stuck in my mind for some time, especially when I saw a reoccurrence of the same method on a bus window, which was passing by.

I am not saying I condone graffiti, I do think there is a place for it. Like on disused buildings, etc. However, destroying people's homes and work places is totally unacceptable. The additional thing I noticed is that this seems to occur in cities in a greater amount than in the outer lying villages. The cities are the dying remains of industrial growth. What occurred was these now large gathering points were the accommodation zones for workers and business owners alike. And expanded according to the growth of the flourishing industry. Unlike natural occurrences, where changes in situation allow a given community the ability to expand or contract, human's have set their failings in solid concrete. Only in small instances do man give up and make ghost towns of their former strongholds. Cities become tombs and epitaphs to economic decline.

So, some weeks pasted and I then came across an RSA animated video, again by Sir Ken Robinson (see it here) on the need to change the paradigms of the 21st century. Even though the entire video was an amazing insight and education into many issues developed in this world, there were several points that stood out, to which seem to re-enforce the thoughts that crossed my mind on seeing the graffiti on the window. The first and most important is the idea that we have the wrong idea about education. That the whole process was devised and affected in a time that made it correct to teach in that way. Today however, the social conditions are different and have no need for such structure as that defined in this educational programme. In some way this also shows the second point to be a reaction to this. That the youth of today, and some of the subsequent past generations, have no hope.

There are many points that could be discussed on this issue, like the influence of technology of life, the psycho-babble that is intended to aid, but hinders the development of society, and so forth. However, the simple fact is that young people today are not guaranteed a future, therefore don't build for their future, they live in the anarchy of their now. Why live by the laws that a redundant age has defined for them? Why do well at school? Why aim for a career that doesn't exist, or might not exist or be competitive in some years to come? In a great amount of ways you can't blame the youth of today to react like this. But what is the answer? Well, as Sir Ken states. We should restructure the educational methodology in order to teach for the genius in individuals. See how they shine in areas at pre-school age and the introduce them to a semi-individual model by which they are encouraged to flourish in that area. Avoid the mechanised system by which we deliver automated workers for an old fashion industrial system. Give them hope that the world they will live in can be changed by them, for them.

Understanding the way in which young people live their lives today, also helps understand their nature to the world, and the future. They live life fast. In a technological bombardment of non-information. The art of debate has died, and the need to understand things has been reduced to function keys and and wiki information. What needs to be a key is to get interest in things. And not simply superficial interest, but to explore, understand and self-educate oneself to a degree that an individuals future is surely in their own hands. Without the consideration of the people whole will be in the future and develop this future then the world will ultimately fall apart. We cannot carry on living in the past, and the reactions of the youth today is a statement of their own despair in knowing that it is going nowhere.

day three hundred and twenty-nine: social networking and art

2010-10-15T08:54:00.001+02:00

Since I returned to Greek, and more over, when I was asked to redesign the Star Fm website some years back, I engaged in research into social networking sites. My first port of call was MySpace. It was the biggest at the time. Then, reluctantly I chose Facebook (which was in it's infancy at the time) and Hi5. The process was to research the way they work in order to make a community site for Star FM. Anyway, over the years these sites have come and gone, and become popular, less popular and so forth. I have made some good friends via some of the sites. I have ventured farther a field with networking tools and have added myself to Flickr, BeHance, LinkedIn, Tumblr, Twitter, etc. All this on top of my blogs and my own personally designed website. Why have I done it? Well the easy answer is so that I can get know. There is not much use being an artist, especially a graphic freelance artist, if nobody knows you exist. But is it effective? Does social networking really work?

Up until maybe a few weeks back I would have strongly said "no", but the funny thing is life changes in ways you never really consider. I have had three interests in doing work via some social networking sites. The funny thing being, is that the sites are not really geared to be for networking for work. However, as art is a visual thing, I have made an attempt to set up pages that display my work, and therefore advertise myself. I have had many a discussion with other users of sites like LinkedIn, which is aimed at getting business networking together. However, what seems to occur is you end up building a network of people you already know. As these people tend not to hire you in real life, then the social networking connection does little more than create an additional presence on the web.

Art is a strange creature too. More so, because of the simple fact of the way that plagiarism and copyright laws are so lapse and misused on the web. With the Orphans Work law slowly coming to a reality, and Google attempting to ease copyright on the web, then the tool to advertise oneself is also a noose around one's neck, as it gives many people to view of good ideas and copying abilities that it would not normally have. The double edged knife aspect of this media form is that without putting yourself out, you will loose money, and putting your work out means you can end up loosing money, through copying. So, social networking has advantages and disadvantages. It has taken some time for myself to reach a point of getting returns from the form of work promotion. Not to the extent I would like, but it has done one thing of greater importance than mere money alone. It has got me known in the USA, and several other countries that simply posting one sheets out would not have reached.

In a global market, the picture you have to paint of yourself can either reach across waters to new lands, or isolate yourself in your residential place. Social networking has an ability to connect people. That is the fundamental purpose of the form. What it does to art is it can aid and hinder the artist in his a quest for remuneration. Many a time I have reluctantly engaged in work on spec, and had the result of not being paid or even knowing if the work has been used. This is the hidden side of telecommunication that spells danger to an artist living in an economic crisis. Need to work, but do you take the risk. Luckily, the 'ready-to-wear' graphic stock sites can hold a salvation to this unused art. And a return, even if small can be gained from such reuse of works that end up on the proverbial shelf.

Social networking is here to stay. What is necessary for the creative of the world to figure out, is how to use this connection in an effective way, and a way that gains the respect of their work and not make the world wide web one big scrapbook of bits and bobs that have no value. For this small artist, working in a country that delivers little creative outlet, the internet and social networking forums are a way to make some of the ends meet, if not all.

day three hundred and twenty-eight: labels

2010-09-16T08:00:00.000+02:00

Spent one hour of my life yesterday (not much really), watching and being captivated by the pilgrimage of three buddhist monks. Their journey was to take them 2,500 kilometres to reach their journey's end at Jokhang Temple, in Lhasa. Not only was their journey to cover mountains, rivers and busy roads, but they achieved it by moving three paces forward and then, with wooden paddles on their hands, they were to slide forward and lie prone on the ground, making a symbolic hand gesture and touching the ground with their forehead. They repeated this for their entire journey. This was a representation of the custom that most worshippers perform at the temple itself. However, for these three monks it was a calling to take the entire journey as such. I was fascinated. I will say that I was so fascinated by their journey that at times it bought me to tears. Why? Simply because of their conviction, dedication and faith in their cause. Nothing stopped their path. Ice, snow, water, fences, rock faces where all charged and confronted with the same gentle and calm attitude as the more simple grasslands and roads. They had smiles on their face and never seemed tired or disgruntled by their mission. Being an atheist and having many a conversation on western religion, I made a point to my daughter that if she wanted to learn something about faith, then she should watch this and learn something of such matters. She smiled in her youthful, naive way and said she thought they were a little crazy.

This made me think as I woke this morning about these such things we do to others, and tend to dislike others doing to us; those of marking each other with 'labels'. I guess we are all victims of this from both angles: giving and receiving the categorising. Why we do it? I guess that it secures us in our own lifestyle and belief on matters. Maybe, it is part of the ego structure and cultural identity of most of us, to believe that the correct path or way of life is that which we have chosen. The funny thing is, that maybe for the person involved, it could well be. But to label someone against that lifestyle because they enjoy a different way of living is not productive. Modern living has aided greatly in this mental boxing of people. The more we are made to analyse our own interaction in this great maelstrom of life, the more we need to protect ourself from it's conclusion. These monks were happy in their task. Like many other happy persons we see around us, they get on in their own way of living, not too worried by these 'labels' that people apply.

It almost gets the state of determination that, for example, if you walk down the road and smile and say 'good morning' to every sole you encounter, people will apply the 'label'; 'crazy', upon you. Or they think you 'weird' if you listen to a certain type of music, or 'odd' for mixing colours that you choose to wear in the morning. To you, it's a definition of your individuality. A signature that states your place in society. But to those who apply a 'label' it is a method by which they justify their own existence in mediocrity. The terrifying issue, and something I see being a designer, is that most things around us are made to be safe. To give an almost subduing, narcotic approach to even a slight 'revolutionary' thought about how to make the world a better place; even if on a micro level. Most 'shocking' fashion is that were society's rules are set aside to create an eclectic statement. People mixing and matching elements that most 'normal' people would consider not to be right. The whole aspect of fine art, is a labelled contradiction to social norms. Unless this is controlled by academic acceptability in the form of the 'blue lady' or kitsch poster art, and landscapes and object study.

The issue here is that by making statements about 'labels' one ends up re-affirming other labels in the argument. What society does however, is strongly work 'labels' against the minority that seem to stand out. Saying to someone; "you seem like a normal person for your opinion" doesn't have the same degree of derogatory bite as expressing that "you are a little crazy for saying that!" Watching the "Think Different" commercial aired for Apple computers some years back, it also makes a point be saying that the ones we call "crazy", are one ones that end up making change. You can't deny people the position to live the life they wish. However, what occurs with great underlying strength is the social control, by whatever protagonist set there to make the status quo fit to some global label; which funnily enough is remarked and called "normal".

These Buddhist monks are normal. They just have achieved an extraordinary feat, that makes them stand out from other. Ultimately the extraordinariness in their task can be made less extraordinary by understanding. This is not in anyway to take the respect away from such a beautiful and pure conviction to something. By knowing the reason to something the 'labels' can be dropped. Maybe in a bright future, if all of us learnt to see each other as a person getting on with their life and some of us finding ways to enjoy that life through expression, then maybe things would be better on this planet. The other day I was walking through a market, having to step aside almost every step. Mainly because each and every shopper in that market was self-absorbed in their direction. As I walked among them I thought of ants. The visual of all these scuttling people reminded me of the times I have seen ants on their communal food gathering trails. The difference being that ants are 'communal' (if I can label them). They are aware of every other ant on that path and interact with it according to the fact that they all have the same instinctual goal. For the humans in the market, there was a great disparity afoot. Not one of these humans, living in their 'community' was being at all 'communal'.

Maybe labels are added to me, and maybe I place them on others likewise, however, what my aim is is to be more tolerant of people's differences. One thing I tend to find, is the more remote they are from the chaos of modern living, the more at ease I am in accepting these ways of living. So much so, that there is never any conflict in understanding them. Too much can be learnt from these folk that are often labelled 'simple folk', but simple truth is, the reason their life is such, is maybe it is just perfect for the way they want to live it.

day three hundred and twenty-seven: touched me

2010-09-02T07:18:00.001+02:00

Many a time of travelling up the mountain, even though you feel one with nature, walking in its beauty, there is still that obvious divide between the human that you are and the nature around you. More so this is apparent as you and the many other travellers on the mountain only walk the walk. That single path to the summit, or the refuge, and never truly take in the nature close up. The views of course are amazing. The colours are breathtaking. The silence is calming, and so on and so on, in one of the country's most amazing places. But the micro level is never very often drawn into the macro. We, as trekkers walk past so much that is also wonderful and beautiful that it can seem like the trip was wasted if this beauty was highlighted in hindsight.

On this journey, a truly amazing thing happened to me that brought a true sense of wonder to me. It was a simple thing, but it was a moment that touched me and brought conversation and contemplation still. We set off, as normal, and the pace was good and steady. I was ahead some what, and occasionally paused for a breath on the tougher sections. Near the lower parts after a few of the rocky steps that can test your muscles, I stopped on a corner. Instantly a small lizard caught my eye. It perched itself on the sun soaked rock in order to warm its blood for its morning chores. And as I moved a little closer, ever so slowly, I noticed that it was in fact taking in a few of the little grubs and insects around it. I was more interested. Mainly because of one point. This little creature, like many of the others I do glimpse on the trail was not in flight. It did not scuttle off and hide under rock, or in some dark corner of vegetation. He just sat there. With his dark mottled skin, and looked back.

Being a little more risky, and truly believing that it would dart off on sight of my hand, I moved my index finger toward it. Still he sat there. This four inches of cold flesh. Looking back at me, as he probably did with all the tourist trekkers on his mountain. But my finger got closer and closer, until I was able to start stroking his back . Again, I thought the touch must be enough to dart him into cover, but no. He simply let me continue to stroke his sides and back. So I moved my finger to his head, and then the little creature made the connection. His little tongue popped from his mouth, and in true reptile fashion licked the end of my giant finger. He repeated it two times, at which point I drew away in amazement at the closeness I was getting to the fragile little animal. He scuttled a little to another rock, and I repeated the stroking for my travelling companion, Steve to see in more detail. We were both amazed by his friendliness. At which point I decide to see if I could capture in a photo. At which point the attention was too much for the little critter and he was gone.

It was a great moment for me after four years of amazing weather phenomenons and good company, to actually have a great moment with one of the members of fauna in this beautiful place. It will stay as a memory, but as I have been told that is the best way for it to be. A moment it time when a giant was touched by a small part of this crazy planet. A moment that touched me.

day three hundred and twenty-six: why they build mountains

2010-08-28T08:00:00.000+02:00

This year, 2010, I am attempting to visit the mountain of Olympus every month. Many reasons for this. However, for the simplicity of things, I really do just want to go and see it in the different colours of the different months. And a good fact is that on each of my visits I do take photographic evidence of these events. Luckily, I still (in my opinion) have the best month ahead of me for colour and beauty. I did visit the mountain once before in October, and the colours I saw then were the best of golds, reds and ochres. Mainly from the falling leaves of Autumn.

One of the main reasons, for more psychological purpose, was to conquer a fear. I went up the mountain four years previously, with three of my friends and work colleagues. After reaching Skala, and then attempting the walk across to the slope rising to Mytikas, I was the only one of the four in the party that turned back. some part of me regretted this, and I have attempted the trip across several times since, but not until Friday 13th this year (four years later) have I managed to make it to the peak. Now, on doing so I feel I have accomplished something. Beaten this nervous twitch inside that has always looked upon that daunting piece of rock as an unbeatable challenge. However, now that has come and gone and I wear the t-shirt with some pride now, I still want to go to the mountain.

The mountain can hold some mystery. Not in a mythological sense, or even superstitious sense, but through the magic it manages to produce on each and every trip. Saying that, this last trip I took, our group was joined on the descent by a kindly man, of the name Kostas, and as he engaged in our conversations and we got to know each other, he did tell me, before we parted company; "Rob, you should live your life like the way I have gotten to know you on the mountain". I smiled. Mainly as I knew what he meant, but also in the back of my mind several people have commented on my change of character as I step foot on this piece of rock. I did want to use a quote about a "well-trodden path", however this Volaire quote is a great negative toward the human race. I must say that from my experiences on the mountain, I have only (on the whole) only ever met kindly, engaging and happy people on the mountain.

One of the most memorable of this encounters was the group of Czech trekkers, who on stopping to chat, and then finding it was my birthday, persisted in celebrating the event in a timely fashion that still to this day brings goose bumps and an occasional tear to my eye. The remarkable thing about all this, or more so, the unremarkable thing that you notice on returning to city life, is how much of this hospitality is lost in the grind of any given concrete jungle. These encounters, small or large do touch you and realise in this thing we call humanity. If all folk were the same as the folk I have met on that path to Zolota and beyond, then maybe this chaos we called life would be so much more tolerable. But the mountain isn't just about people. I made a photo album once and named it; "Why they build mountain!" Mainly it was from a thought about many peoples reactions to why I want to go up there, why I do it so many times and why they think its a joy for me to put so much effort into a struggle to climb two miles. I don't know if this photos says something about that reason, but when I look at it, it spells out a great deal of the feeling I think others and myself may feel about such an activity.

It's kind of appropriate, as this was taken from my first visit, as I waited for my friends to come back from Mytikas. I took it on meeting two American students (in the photo) on top of Skolio. It is almost kind of symbolic of two things. The fact that you feel that you are on top of the world (or at least Greece), and that you feel some how that you have grown like a giant in such a great achievement. It would be wrong to force people to go to this or any other mountain if their heart wasn't in it; and maybe that is the key. Maybe that is the reason for the smiling faces, and countless conversations and camaraderie seen on the mountain. It is because their hearts are in the right place. The funny thing is, that at the end of September I will be acting as a guide for the first time. Taking some guests up who say they trust me enough to get them to Mytikas. The funny conclusion to this is that as I have only ever been to Mytikas once, and the fear on some moments of that trip put chills through me, doesn't seem to qualify me to be such a guide. However, again I will add a comment that many who have no climbed this mountain say to me, which is: "Do you ever fear falling or dying?"

If the mountain has at all changed me, or at least my outlook on life, it has taught me one thing. If I had a choice to do something that makes me so happy that my life was at risk and I could ultimately perish from it, so be it. I would rather die happy doing such a thing than in bed or as man a story you hear, or mundane passings. This past year of month trips has tested me a great deal. Not in spirit, luckily, but the physical aspects of different weather conditions, and the climbs up the variant kilometre paths. but I put my mind to it, and I have achieved almost all that I have set out to do. But after all, what I have set out to do, is be happy. And that is why they build mountains, for me.

day three hundred and twenty-five: Snails in Pendalofos

2010-08-17T07:12:00.002+02:00

DSC01963, originally uploaded by Rob Snow.

Taken on a cooling trip to the mountain village of Pendalofos. Where a group of snails were found slinking around the courtyard of one of the village houses.
They were amazing to watch, and some time was spent taking advantageous images of them.

day three hundred and twenty-five: counting numbers to Mytikas

2010-08-15T07:34:00.004+02:00

It was booked. The day was set. The piece of rock I so often visit was sitting there; waiting. But it was all about numbers. I sat and waited for the hour of departure. The number that indicated the beginning of this terrific adventure. And so we drove all those numbers distance to our starting point destination. A little gravelled car park called 'Prionia'.

Three of us stood and talked of these three days ahead of us and the thrill that the morrow would draw in the dooms day for many a superstitious mind. For the day after we began our ascent would be friday the 13th. On our way to the rest place of Zolota we debated the values of such myth and worries, but the time pasted in a cooling air and as the night sky painted itself over this warm day, we reached the hostel and the many smiling faces that always welcome the weary travellers.

Beds made and our hearty meals tucked away inside our bodies, we sat and talked and debated the phenomenon that was about to strike us. For we had decided to travel to the highest place in this country of Greece on the evening of the spectacular light show of the Perseids meteor shower. There was a hum and chitter chatter awaiting the ten o'clock lights out. And then the 'Awe' of seeing the sky alight with millions of stars. So clear and perfect in their constellations and the chromatic colours to which they shone, it became a heavenly place. Venus sat low, but our eyes were scanning high. The conversations continued, aided with a little red wine. Then the show began. Random flicks of light dancing on the outer limits of our world. A silence came as we watched, and even though few of these dancing stars made their way across our path, the day, the night, the sky and the company were perfect. And the morrow awaited.

A lazy start to the morning and some nourishment didn't distract from that number thirteen. We looked up from the refuge vantage point, as the sun coloured the peak in the early morning glory. The challenge was before us. And for myself, seventeenth time on the mountain and no count to Mytikas. Would friday the thirteenth be the lucky day? We set of, and soon saw the heat of the day upon us, but with some humour found an offering to the gods in the form of a waylaid loaf of bread. We discussed its reason, but sometimes this mountain avoids reason and gives only natural value. And the numbers continued to surprise us, as on the ascent to Skala we were pleasantly surprised to see twenty prancing mountain goats enjoying the coolness of the remaining ice field down below. They hopped and jumped as we looked on, knowing the metres lay ahead. With some uncounted minutes after we arrived at Skala, to the same array of smiling souls that perch themselves there. Weary, but amazed by this magnificent of surroundings. And in front of us; Mytikas.

After a few moments of rest bite and a single deep breath, we set of to reach 2,918 metres. To be on top of Greece on this lucky/unlucky day. The path across was blown by a gentle chilling breeze, but in the warming sun was pleasant enough. And then I reached the furthered previous point; the throne of Zeus. My number was up. Do I continue or do I return. My now reaction was that I didn't really think about it. I had to get to Mytikas. Why? Well, hundreds of reasons really, but the one that was deeply planted into my noggins was the fact that some way ahead was Kostas. He had reached Skala a little ahead of us and was delighting us all of his birthday celebration; at the age of 50. And I was thinking about being on Mytikas to enjoy the cake he had told us he ha carried from his original departure point in Athens. So cake in mind, I carried on.

The sheer angle of the next section was not countered with a dangerous approach, but the fear remained. Glancing every so often, it reminded me of that 1,000 metre drop. But then we reached the turning point. A single wire thread gave comfort in this moment of personal terror. It passed however, and we continued on. The smiling faces that already perched themselves on the summit looked on. The only pause was a stabbing cramp in my left leg that held me in place on this awesome vertex for ten minutes. But a few leg swings later we were there. Looking at the Greek flag and many a happy face. The book was signed and the birthday chorus was sung, and the 12 pieces of cake were dispatched with an amazing euphoria of both Kostas' half century and the succession of our rise to 2,918 metres. Photographs and congratulations complete we took our time to return. Looking at each step with as much caution as our arrival at the peak. However, the difference was the drug like feel that this achievement brought. To say that we were on high was the truest of statements to describe this amazing adventure. A fear was concurred and club was joined. And so we returned, floating like mountain butterflies all the way. And the final day, more sadness to leave this mountain that I have become so familiar with. Until next time.

day three hundred and twenty-four: the democratic value of choice

2010-07-28T08:49:00.000+02:00

Well, I actually chose to watch the TED talk this morning, as much as I chose to get up at the unearth hour of six and cycle 12kms. I chose to have coffee on the balcony and I am now choosing to write this blog about the strange definition of what seems to be everyone's right of choice. After watching the TED talk (found here!), it was reenforced the notions I had about several aspects of human nature that seem to give choice, but actually do not. It also, in a low key humorous way reminds me of a scene in "Parenthood", where Gil has been fired and his wife is pregnant, and they are in an argument about responsibility and Gil's wife retorts back at a stupid comment by saying "OK, I choose not to be pregnant!" In all fact, the process of rearing children is not a given choice when we look deeper. More of that later.

Let's start with the notion of democratic right. Well, being in the country of the origin of democracy it has always seemed ironic that this system of free choice has never really existed. Even on its inception in ancient Greece it was made a practicing theory in a one party state. But also, being English and having the concept of democracy existing in those green and pleasant lands, it also seems absurd that in a greater sense of definition there cannot be total democracy in a state that has monarchy. The two are opposing powers. Further to this is the simple fact that what is defined as democracy is in fact a set of rules defined by another. If choice totally existed then there would be no rules to define the confines of choice. However, what in sense they do do is to define moral standards and conditions by which we should live. The funny thing is (and no condoning deviants here), but what deviants do is determine their own choices based on what they feel is their correct choice and not the restrictive process of some governing society. So who has the greater choice. As a funny example, and again an observation of living here in Greece, it seems even though rules have been made to define the direction to which a car moves down a given street, it has been taken upon by individuals to select by choice if they wish to go up or down the road. In a true democratic state there is nothing wrong with this. What is wrong, is that it affects others; hence laws and rules.

Also, being a non-believer and knowing a little about the historical process of worship, I also find it fun to see that defining oneself as an atheist is a given choice. However, due to the way that society has developed and the simple fact that two hundred plus years ago being a non-believer was not a choice (unless you wished to be cruelly dispatched for taking this choice), the choice is frowned upon as a misnomer. I get the feeling that most of society believes still that there is only one choice (counter productive), and that is there is a God. Anything else is just a bunch of reactionists trying to upset the apple cart. This is the process of social conditioning. It happens everywhere, but is basically the process by having something recur so many times that people believe that this is the correct path, state, option, whatever.

Mentioned in the talk also, was the idea of cultural difference. This is a barrier to choice. However, it is also based on the fact that true choice is not available as we have to respect others again. Not only in our own locality, but around the world. This has then been expanding to a point of confusion in the expansion of the internet. As sentient beings the fact is we must think to conclusively come to an answer on any given path. If we look back a little at what Gladwell was saying in his book 'Blink' then the can also understand that our ID, as defined by Freud, can also determine choices. However, with this subconscious method, these choice are made more from 'gut feeling'. What feels right, what is the sense of natural influencers that can draw to such a decision. This is interesting, as the choices we feel we have in this modern 'defined' world are not really choices. More given options. Referring back to the state of parenting. Well, this is a hard one when talking of choice. As sentient forms we are given choice about whether we become parents, however deep down we have this natural urge to reproduce. This is our role on this planet according to Darwin. To continue the species.

It has always been a 'chuckle' factor to me when I see the statement "multiple choice". Or when we see a talent show or award competition. If the truth be known. If we were to have the total freedom of choice then all options should be available. What has been defined is what people choose to offer as the choices. It was interesting, as said in the talk, about the American ideal of choice is key to people's democratic right. If you want to walk into Starbucks and order a mochochino light, with whipped goat milk and cinnamon flavour and a cherry on top, then they should serve the customer's choice to preference. What is the case, even with this openness to choice, is the fact that if we had total choice, we should be able to go into whichever coffee shop and order our preference and be served. So, like the above options, we are really being given limitation to choice, based on who is offering the freedom of choice. The Best Film of 2010. What it is, is the best film of 2010 as restricted by the board of Academy members. All this is basically funnelling us down a defined path. In the classic Henry Ford style of choice, we can all have whatever colour car we want, as long as it's black. This actually leads me onto this fantastic clip from 'The Simpsons' that really defines choice.

What choice is, in this day an age, is the ability to be offered a variety of things, that makes us feel we have choice. As said in the talk, to Americans, the massive range of Cola brands is choice, to some other cultural view, it is the choice of soda! Brand is not the choice, it is the mask to believe we have choice. A rose is a rose by any other name, after all. So, what is defined here is the restrictive choice to what is available to us. My bike ride this morning was only a choice based on time. I couldn't choose the city, the bike, the weather, etc. So, in some respects these choices are not total. Would the world be a better place if total choice was available. Well, as sentient beings, no! As we have to consider others. Also, in a phantasmagoria like state, if we had a bottle with a genie inside, the fact would be that our dreams would quickly dry up, and the choices we make would not really be making us live a different life. To end, as stated in the talk, when you are standing looking at the amazing array of mustard choices available to you in the hyper-store, just remember that at the end of the day, they are all mustards. The choices are only somewhat apparent.

day three hundred and twenty-three: we can't make anything

2010-07-23T07:17:00.000+02:00

Was watching a very interesting talk about the development of ideas. As part of this talk the speaker was making the good argument that as modern people we are totally incapable of making anything. He did go further to explain that what he was referring to was the totality of making something. In the speech he used the example of a stone tool from prehistoric man and a computer mouse. The argument being is that nobody knew how to make a mouse, but thousands of years ago man was reliant on being self preserving. He had to go look for a piece of stone to fit his needs, then fashion that stone into a tool that could be used for whatever purpose, and that that tool was in fact his. He made his own utilitarian system. Today, due to the nature of our co-existence and our population growth we are incapable of fashioning our own tools. Our process of living has become so complex, and the tools we use are so complex that we do not have the access to resources, the time and the ability to make even a computer mouse. The speaker broke it down to the finite, that it needs a person to drill the oil, to take the oil to the refinery and then another to make it into plastic, to then pass to another to make the form, that has come from a mould that another has created, etc. etc. The list of creators is very long in that analysis.

This may come across as a negative aspect to modern living, but the speaker then explained that the nature of mankind was toward communal interaction, and this ability to draw all this resource together to create a tool of such complex development was due to the fact that we are communal in this interaction. If mould makers were selfish and only made moulds for their own needs, then the mouse would not theoretically exist. As an important stage in the process was cut out. It happens in any walk of life. Even something like cooking a fresh meal nowadays relies on someone somewhere growing the ingredient parts. Thousands of years ago we became agricultural, and grew on our own demands. And this is where this communal aspect took hold. As agriculture became more productive, so surplus was created. So the need to be totally self sufficient was lost, as excess food supplies could be traded. And not only for different food types, but also for other products and utilities. It was proven in this speech that what then occurred was a time saving methodology that enabled progress. An axe maker who couldn't make hammers as fast, could trade with the hammer maker, who likewise didn't know how to make axes. This is how modern society has formed.

There are of course a few exceptions to this process. One thing that sprung out of the agricultural revolution was the craft movement. The art in which fashioning objects, tools and utilities for personal use was made more creative. Maybe because of the time saving sharing of labour. The craft movement lost out to a great deal to the industrial revolution. Automated mechanical processes that sped the process even further and removed the handcrafting. However, still today craftsmen still exist. They take great pleasure in timely fashioning items of great beauty and form by hand, and to the most total degree possible in modern society, from start to finish. However, the speaker did mention that even the process of making a simple pencil was unknown by a single sole. Explained here by Milton Friedman. Based on the literature of Leonard E. Read who describes the family tree of a pencil, which can be found here in pdf form.

What comes from this is free market and world piece they say. What really comes from it is a lacking in knowledge toward a unity to what people do. Would a person feel any better toward their function in life, if ever single part of what is required in that life needed to be fashioned by them, grown by them, formed by them? Hard to tell. As previously stated that era of self sufficiency has gone. Without the capitalist free market, there would not be a thousand more people waking up to go make coffee, made by another thousand people, to let them go to work, in cars, made by thousands of other people, so that they can make a computer mouse that I use. Could I make it myself? Of course not! Progress relies on many people, so in the end the ways forward for mankind are about working together. Having ideas together. Because if we don't work in this fashion and society crumbles, or at east recedes back to some pre-agricultural revolution process of self preservation, then what we have today will just be waste product. So, to conclude. "We can't make anything?" Well we can, we make a difference in a larger, changing world. I am off to read 'I, Pencil' in full, and explore how we now live.

day three hundred and twenty-two: super

2010-07-21T07:20:00.001+02:00

Time for another blog? Anyway, was watching the first part of a very interesting documentary on Greek Skai TV on monday night, and the premise of what it was saying has stuck in my head. So, in good blogger fashion, I thought I'd add it as a note here. The programmes main theme was about the notion that there are a select number of human beings in the world that carry some special genetic variation that gives them a special ability. Unlike the caricatured Superman figure who has almost every known special ability that any given situation deems necessary. These people have found their abilities by chance, or have had them occur via an accident or environmental change. The three examples I can remember from the show were; the man who could bare extreme cold, the man who could do complex calculus in seconds and the lady who can see colour with sounds and taste.

With the same kind of 'wake-up' call the recipients in the TV show "Heroes" faced, is that they had no choice of their abilities, and that for many of them it was a simple case of waking up one morning, to find the super power existing. However, the programme continued to explain away, that although these powers seem supernatural, they are in fact occurrences of genetic phenomenons. What also was mentioned in the programme was the fact that most of these derive from the brain and that they may have laid dormant until the moment of discovery. That because of some random happening, the trigger only set them off, not actually bestowed these abilities. And that genetically there could be a possibility that all humans could possess such abilities and are only held back by the fact that our brain has become evolved to suppress these abilities.

The man of calculus was involved in an accident, and there after was able to make these extraordinary mathematical sums. This is, as scientists explained, due to the probability that the man in question had become what they define as a 'instant' savant. Many savants having extraordinary abilities from birth, due to the genetic abnormality in their brain make-up. We all remember 'Rainman'? Which, by the way, is actually based on a real life person, Kim Peek, (who sadly died in 2009). Who was able to read whole books in detail, picture numeric variations and recall, and many other features. There is also the case of Stephen Wiltshire, who incredibly can recall places and picture them in drawings with the most amazing accuracy. Again, another savant. If you are interested in seeing his work, you can see it here!

None of the people mentioned in the programme where actually diagnosed as being savant, but the indication was that the connection between brain inhibitors and the release of these abilities are connected to the same genetic changes seen in savants. Chinese scientists are at present manipulating stem cells in order to see if traits in different animals can be implemented into some form of chimera like offspring. That holds abilities that are beneficial in each of the two parenting species. If this is successful, they plan to think of the potential of creating super humans. Taking traits from these 'hero' type humans and building them into one human form. However, saying that, the people who where portrayed in the programme on monday where all melancholic with their abilities. They felt different (as much as Superman did I guess), but also isolated from other people. The lady who had the ability to colour sound received a phone call during the programme, from an Oxford scientist. On hearing the news that she could possibly meet others with the same ability, her face lit up. She did explain that although having the ability to see a rainbow of colour on each and every rain storm, it was also saddening to know that others could not share it also.

Does the world need super heroes? Does the human brain need to be played with? Would a world of super phenomenon based anthropoids just one day become again the norm. That the fact that these people are rare, is the reason that they are special. Superman had to take on an Atlas type burden as the world was on his shoulder and expected great things from him. These real heroes don't seek the spotlight, don't don capes and wear their underwear over their trousers, to be recognised as a soldier of good. Why? Because, I guess if you ask them the question; "Would you like this ability?" I think deep down they would prefer not. So much like Superman, they just want to be normal. Unlike many savants though, these individuals are normally coherent in their daily lives, which again makes them face a daily challenge with full cognition. So is the world ready for heroes? Maybe its better to ask if the heroes are ready for the world?

day three hundred and twenty-one: connections

2010-07-04T09:02:00.002+02:00

Was just sitting on my balcony. Looking at a lovely pepper plant that someone had given me. Looking at the beauty involved in how the flowers are turned into the fruits of the peppers, and so forth. Thinking about a poem that had just popped into my head, and the idea of a Haiku poem might sit on a t-shirt design. Thinking of humans and their nature to dispense all the crap that seems to be messing up the world as well as the good of mankind. Thinking about the taste of my coffee. Whether that stain of flavour that sits in my mouth is actually anything that relates to goodness or if in fact I need this drug, first thing in the morning. Thinking that it is the fourth of July. Was thinking I had to get on the computer and tap out "happy fourth of July" to all my 100+ American friends. Thinking of the War of Independence. Thinking it was sunday. Was thinking of you!

All this was an instance in connections that seems to infinitely circle around and draw on connections that don't seem to be there, until they find a link. How is that so. Well, it seems that at present, I am typing this blog post, after I had sent my greetings to my wonderful American friends (tongue in cheek, seems odd for an English man to greet Americans on the day they basically kicked us out of that land), but there I was. And one of my friends, James Garcia, wrote back instantly. His comment was double edged. A statement of how a great nation such as American with the standing and propriety to declare the notion of democracy was denying such a liberty to its own people after coming from a person, who lived in a country who originally set the state of play to this great philosophy.

So the thoughts went on. Thinking of the Gulf. Thinking of the nature that has been affected by the translucent concept of what money is and therefore the notions of capitalism. Thinking of how man is worthless in the eyes of money-mongers, and so too, to even a lesser degree, the poor creatures that were co-existing on this tiny gem of a planet. Am still thinking who to tell. Thinking of my trip on tuesday to the mountain, and the folks that step on that sacred soul. Thinking of the gods that have been conjured to give reason, when there is no reason. When human's do unto others the most despicable of things. And in the name of nothing more than economic self-protection. Thinking that last night I was downloading "the Origin of Species" by Charles Darwin to my iBook app, on my iPhone, and thinking of the great desire to read it. To see if the great man was right. The thought that we are perpetually self-destructive. That nature is feudal to man's greed.

So the connections are there. Sought or not, the sunday morning started off with the thought of blue skies and a simple breath of fresh air. And through infinite connections has turned into a procession of maelstrom like spikes of thinking matter, that although fascinating and evoking, are also reflective in a matter of need for change. Thinking that millions of people watched Argentina get kicked out of the World Cup and never realise the circus of media hype they are in. Never think of the consequences of being trapped in the advertising cycle. Never think of the underpaid labour that made it possible. And probably, most definitely don't think about the Gulf. Don't think about the sea turtles and dolphins, that this planet NEEDS, that are being washed up; being eliminated, so a company can have a graph with an incline rather than decline on their profit margins.

Is it important to have these thoughts on a sunday morning? Would the world be any different if all of us have these thoughts? I hope so. Without hope, without numbers, without even doing the simple thing by telling people of those elements that make you think those thoughts, nobody will know and nobody will share. So, I said Happy Fourth of July to James, and now I am trying to say to everyone else, what his reply was. Thanks James to do this. I am sure my day will be spent thinking on many numerous other things. I will think about the washing up. I will think about the clothes to wear. I will think about why people shout on digital networks on mobile phones. I will think about this person, that person, etc. There will be an infinite number of thoughts whizzing through my skull on this sunday. The ones that count are the ones I hopefully act on. I add the link that James sent, so you can read the news.

Off to think happy thoughts, sad thoughts and all the grey in between. Hope things will change when all minds think to the greater good of all concerned.

day three hundred and twenty: could you imagine a world...

2010-06-21T06:55:00.004+02:00

My design lecturer at college showed me a variation on this image some many years back, and at the time it made me chuckle. Maybe for two reasons; firstly I was not yet engaged in the constant daily foray to convince clients that design is important, and secondly I was simply naive to the actual realities that do make this visual comment a more saddened reflection than pun. I guess I have decided that today be the day that I air this comment, mainly because I have just finished reading an email about a website I took over one year to design and programme, that has simply been raped and redesigned for the sake of functionality. And their it is, the dreaded word to a designer. A word that is banded and pushed into the spotlight when anything that mixes technology and design (almost everything when you come to think of it) together. I have spent some time recently looking into and researching the notions of three great revolutions that have destroyed the design industry. Inspired mainly, by the word of many a creative person themselves.

One says that when an action is repeated enough it becomes a habit, and habits repeated enough probably form characteristics. This has become true of the involvement of these three revolutions, and especially the latter two; the industrial and the technological revolutions. Before entering into the melee of argument about these two double edged swords, I would like you to contemplate the world that could exist if the notions of "what is possible" are replaced by the aspirations of "anything is possible". We look at create people such as Jules Verne through to Syd Mead and see the wonder in what they create as a flight of fancy. A trip to a brave new world. Then crash down as the scientist, engineer or mechanic puts onto to us rules and regulations to what is capable. There are a great deal of reasons why this occurs, and the most objectionable is that of cost control. So, due to the trappings of global monetary scenarios we are resigned to live in an ugly world because it costs too much to live in a pretty one. But what other costs do we face in we continue on this path?

It is not that designers and practitioners are at loggerheads with each other. A constant battle to have what is aesthetically pleasing over functional, and vice versa. What it is about is the reluctance that design and art have been given second stage, due to this habit forming nature of these revolutions. I have spoke of this so many times, that the industrial revolution has not only made mass production a way of life now, but also affected the structure of the education system, as stated by Sir Ken Robinson in his two marvellous TED talks. Art is degraded in schools and many a time ignored as a non-essential education programme. Even at the art college in which I work, the structure is not to teach drawing, but to provide the students with new technology. Teach them to us industry standard programs, but not how to be creative with them.

Several aspects have occurred in the arts industries that have tried to make a statement about this; the punk music movement and the pop art movement both had an attempt to shake up the attention of the styles in the era in which they were formed. With the pop art industry almost defining the notion that everything is almost 'copy-paste' these days, and that there is a failing that nothing is ever new in a idealess society. Obviously, this is not true and there are some great designers out there and some fantastic notions of what could be, but again, looking at a TED talk the other day, there was a statement to note that the only way to become successful these days is to figure how to fit into the market. Is has become a fact that has reverted back from the first real revolution that did provide one good aspect for design; the craft movement.

How many of us look at William Morris wallpapers and wonder at the beauty and design, and how many who are moved by it are then drawn to find a mass produced variant of it? Probably most. Not at a fault of themselves, but because craft is being lost to the industrial techniques that make cost effective products. What has occurred in society is an acceptance to replication which has then devalued the whole basis of aesthetics. Which then generates a class like divide in the design world. Have a name and you can add a value. Twenty-two million for a Van Gogh, Cartier and Ferrari, etc, etc. And people will pay for them. Mainly as it reflects peoples aspirations in their respected social structure. Objects of value denote wealth and hence status. The funny thing to consider at this point though is that if Van Gogh was around today, and was asked, did you paint these sunflowers so that some rich socialite could hang them in his private collection to serve no value other than to boost his standing? I'm sure the answer would be 'no'. I'm sure that he would have stated that he painted them because of what he felt at the time, because of the beauty in them, and the feeling he felt. Every thing after that became inconsequential.

Back to the crux. Acceptance of anything without good reason is a crime. Bad design has no excuse. I try to infer to my students that when something is bad it is obviously noticeable, when something is good it tends to become part of the peripheral vision. However, it seems to become more of an alternate statement these days and in reverse. That anything that is bad is become a sublime part of our social way of thinking. No more evident in the country I live in; Greece. Concrete buildings designed with no beauty, with a concern for safety in an earthquake zone. Take a look at Japan. Worse earthquake zone, many a beautiful and interesting building designed there. So, what is the issue? Again, its about human nature. when the seed of development is flawed at the beginning (through education or other development processes) then the social structure becomes tolerant to this flaw. Companies like Apple who are constantly hounded for putting design, at least, on the same level as the technology, try to change this view in society, but is ultimately washed out to a degree by the acceptance that a computer should be a functional beige box rather than a beautiful creation that is functional.

Maybe in time design will change and become in the forefront of people concerns on how they live their lives. However, education needs to change first and take away from developing engineers, scientists and money mongers. We evolved along with this planet, but sadly have lost the race as far as beauty in design goes. Nature has succeeded where we failed, to develop but design and functionality on the same level. Why? Because there is no price tag incurred in evolution.

day three hundred and twenty: two types

2010-06-05T07:24:00.003+02:00

It became apparent to me in a conversation some time back that there are two distinct types of people. These can be defined as 'enablers' and 'disablers'. The term disabler is probably a little strong for the definition, but is a literal opposite of the positive aspect, so seems appropriate. Now, how this comes to be a definition has nothing to do with the nature of the person; in the sense of who they are in their character. It has to do with how they interact within the maelstrom of human society. After all, we are communal creatures that originated in pack or groups; like our ape cousins. What seems to be more and more evident is the subconscious approach by people to define acceptable interaction with other humans within their social field. There are so many different variables that can trigger and contribute to this interaction stream, but wholly can be defined, as above, as enablers and disablers.

One could talk a while on many aspects of what builds human nature. Whether there are spiritual aspects that make a person good or bad, or whether their nature/nurture median was contributory to their way of thinking. Whether if they wear green instead of blue on a friday it can determine something that is also reflected in the rising of venus in some astrological constellation. What it boils down t though, is how people end up acting around each other. Being an educator, it is easy to see some of the disparities between these two states. Educators are in fact a definition of enablers. Their practice is to enable learning. It has also in my witness been a factor that pushes educators to put more effort that maybe deemed necessary to aid in this enabling. With the result that more effort is given in the promotion of a certain action than is reciprocated. This occurs a great deal in life and happens on all levels of human nature. A simple example would be when a person calls another and that receiver states that they will be in contact. The fact is that that contact is not made. And that disables the interaction between the two. What this is, is something based on a number of variables, but can be amounted to inaction. Maybe someone forgot, maybe someone didn't care, maybe someone couldn't be bothered. Whatever reason that action's initiator was it resulted in a negative state. People are funny creatures. As they make promise of positive action and fail to live up to it. As previously stated, this could be done with absence of malice, but at the end of the day, it is the result that counts.

Whatever the sociological or psychological aspects are of this type of enabling/disabling the end result is that the disablers tend to see to have a life based on a minor amount of selfish nature and the enablers the opposite; selfless. I am sure that if you look at a person such as Mother Teresa, even her name instills the notion of selflessness and the power of enabling goodness. Where this falls into more mundane, everyday life is how people participate in interacting with others. As an observational point, people use interaction on two levels it seems: what they can gain from the interaction, and how much effort they are willing to add to that connection. These levels are based on their selfish nature. Not to define selfish as a grand negative expression, but more to do with self-preservation or self-interest. So how this plays out in social environment is determining the conditions by which relationships are made, maintained and denoted as interactivity. All interaction by its simple definition requires a two way path. When this moves more in one direction than the other, then it falls to the strength of the enabler and not that of the disabler. Because a great deal of the time the enabling is not reciprocated via the disabler and therefore seems to be wasted effort.

Life needs enablers, and seemingly tolerates disablers. The structure of human nature seems to warrant the need for positive enabling of effort between each other. In the sense of the common expression of the term; "You scratch my back and I'll scratch yours." However, even that statement also defines that there is some payoff to the need to aid others. Being able to offer assistance to others should never have a price, but the common respectful return is to reciprocate this or at least have some sense of appreciation in the effort spent by one in this task. Whether the world is built from a yin-yang array of folks its hard to say. but human nature and genetics doesn't select the difference between good and bad motivators and much as it doesn't define good and bad generally. The effectors of human nature can be common elements such as economics, familiar aspects, work, locality, etc, etc. What seems to be noticeable is that once in the fold of that way of acting it becomes hard to escape on either end of the wave. Constantly helping or constantly excusing oneself.

The simple reason to write this post, is a great wonder in thinking that as the world is failing in environmental, economic and social aspects, that if everyone pulled together and helped each other; as much as they could, or the planet or whatever needs assistance, would the world be better, would it heal, or is it the fate of humankind to plague itself with self-destruction?

day three hundred and twenty: it's all a game

2010-04-29T08:41:00.005+02:00

Just watched a TED talk by a Games creator called Jesse Schell. If you'd like to watch it you can find it here! At the start it seemed to be quite dull and repetitive and to be honest, somewhat nerdy in it's delivery. But then, just past the half way point something happened. It started projecting an idea that is abundantly clear in todays society, of a world that is an amalgam of all that is wrong in modern society in these days.

There is a view that people react to things based on their reward in that given activity, but also because it is reflecting the delivery of any given game structure that a great deal of individuals get wrapped up in. As Jesse crescendoed the analysis to a point that electronic sensors will indicate when you have brushed your teeth and rewarded you to having Google tattoo ads on your skin giving cash delivery on visible delivery, that is when it all became scary. Not because of the methods by which this could be introduced, but by the fact that it is slowly happening. And as Pinker points out in his book "How the Mind Works", the belief that humans, like any other creature on this planet, are here for any other reason that self gain is absurd. Their internal genetic structure is based on the theoretical notions of Darwin. The strongest will survive.

What humanity has done, which is out of context (and unnatural, if you can call it that), is to devise a set of rules and conditions that are only apparently useful in a manufactured and artificial existence. In some senses, real life is just a blue print for the game of "the Sims". All wandering automatons to a bigger social construct, being offered titbits in order to make our pleasure emoticons smile rather than sag. Man developed God in order to give us hope, man invented money in order to give us ambition and worth, man created distraction in order to make us blind to the realities of our existence. All this combined can make johnny a happy 'chappy', but when these values all get messed up, just like in "the Sims" things go spiral.

What we have all around us or tricks and devises that are there to mask the truth. Computer games that make real life a little less "wow" so that we distract ourselves from them in order to play a version that reflects life, but adds some candy coating on top of it. Drive fast cars, travel in space, get the girl, rob from the rich, control empires and play at war, but come back alive. All is a great trip out of reality, and it is there in order for not to see reality. I say this as I have seen the affects of people asking to be a neighbour in the latest Sim game, because they can't expand unless I do. Its like that is more important than even getting to know the real neighbours. but the scary point, as Jesse Schell points out, is that the devises that were deployed in games are beginning to enter real life. So there is now a reversal of the mirroring affect. Games don't reflect life, life is beginning to reflect games. Almost on the same argument of life imitating movies, and the ensuing issues that draws. But we are now tempted with bonus points for doing this an that, and credit here to be green there. Indicators that show when we are being a good citizen, or are being green enough to save the planet. Where will it stop?

Looking on at the latest destructive path of the latest economic crisis, it is easy to see the issues that face humanity. They are truly living up to the values of Darwinian man. Earning their right to be self-destructive and cruel. Life can be as much a reflection of any game that exists. All seem to be about the gratification of trying to beat another opponent. Even the masterful and challenging values of chess are a designated instructional devise to teach the strategy of war. Nothing that has gone before in the process of game design has even succeeding in the delivery of co-existence. To educate for a better world for all. To seek answers to the bigger problems that face man (whether in a game or in a real-world situation). Why do some games succeed over others? The same reason why we are all equal, but some are more equal than others.

day three hundred and nineteen: almost famous

2010-04-22T06:52:00.002+02:00

What is reality? Well, if we look this term up in the Oxford Dictionary, it states the following claim:

1 the world or the state of things as they actually exist, as opposed to an idealistic or notional idea of them

Now, in my mind, when one turns on the TV (which is something I must admit I try to avoid these days, due to the abundance of such programmes) we have a bombardment of such shows that are all thrown under the umbrella of 'Reality' TV. Now, maybe I am a little too cynical on this note, but when has reality ever been a reflection of what happens in any of these shows. The simple fact of adding a camera into the recipe of someone's life is enough to change the attitude of such a person and the way in which they present themselves to the viewing audience. However there seems to be two types of these shows. One tries to make an attempt to make someone something they are not; these are the talent shows (let's say). Then there are the observational shows; trying to resolve a problem or just looking at people's problems as a fly on the wall (if a crew of three to five humans with camera, sound, etc, can constitutive a fly).

Anyway, I was enduring some of these shows the other night, as I have family members who seem to find them a blast. Which is another point to mention. The need for some voyeuristic audience member needing to see the trials and tribulations of would-be's, no-hopers, and upstarts, is a strange comment on the good will and humanity of people in the first place. Anyway, what I seemed to have noticed, which is a cross programme phenomenon, is the euphoric nature by which people dive at this type of reality. It is not in fact reality, but people wanting their Andy Warhol moment. Their 15 minutes of fame. And it seems, are quite willing to do anything for it. From admitting their status as a dysfunctional family and having 'super' nannies coming to try and convince the nature of children to a more 'reasonable' way of being, and people who are willing to show the dereliction of their homestead in order to get charity from a television channel, in order to get a new look home (which they can not obviously afford) through to talentless dweebs walking on stage (merely due to the fact that there would be a television camera pointing at them) in order to do the most ridiculous of things in the vane hope that it may lead to them getting some celebrity.

The sad truth on the last point is that some people actually do achieve this. Many a person now in positions of celebrity have come via becoming popular due to an attempt at doing a role in one of these reality shows. Which shows the inane state of people's mental capacity to actual process anything that is close to being mental stimulus if all they can 'enjoy' are idiots trying to sing, skinny women trying to be models, and every other variation on thinking life should be handed to them on a platter, simply because a camera is present.

What the point I really want to make about this. Especially after seeing an amazing documentary about the migration path of humpback whales, is how many of these people would chase this so-called dream if TV didn't present them a ridiculous outlet to try and prove this. After all, time after time people step on the stage with a hope and state that this is their dream. Maybe, if the television cameras weren't there, they would chase that dream. But how many of them wouldn't. Is it the voyeuristic nature that achieves this need for notoriety in people. They believe talent or fame is about spotlight attention over actual hard work and dedication to something. Maybe this is one reason that there is such a blow out rate in such circles. People chase their dream, find it isn't the dream it seemed to be and get catch in the trappings or fall victim to the true reality.

The sadness seems to turn to the "more-closer-to-home" reality shows that exist. What would drive someone to allow three women and a camera crew into their homes for a week to try and convince them to be a bride for their bachelor son? Well this is one of the programmes on TV at the moment. How could this possibly be a way to find your partner? The saddest truth is in the consequences of these shows. The 'what happens after' the camera stops rolling. Its all about entertainment to most. Funny as it maybe. But then these people are left with other people's lives in their hands. Again, the true reality of how things are. No cameras, no experts to advise, just REALITY!

What overwhelms me with all this is the seemingly addicted nature that most of the audience put on this type of show. After all, reality should be more interesting. I mentioned to a student of mine, that on Earth Day, I decided to turn off all the lights, TV and all, and sit and talk to my daughter. At first she was upset that she would miss her favourite 'reality' show, but after the extended hour of talking about the funny stories of my cats and childhood, my daughter hugged me and thanked me for a great time. Now surely that is great realty!!! Priceless!!!!!

day three hundred and eighteen: stupid is as stupid does

2010-04-17T08:27:00.003+02:00

Doh! Another blog about thinking! Or maybe the lack of thinking. Well, as most of my blogs transpire from things that occur in the connected life I have, then this blog is again stimulated from a continuous stream of statements and questions bombarding me about...well, let us create a bracket of terms here; about ability, lethargy, stupidity, effort, ease, laziness, learning. And the list goes on. I am going to make this a shorter blog as I only really have a simple thing to say on this subject. Maybe I will continue it more on my Lateral Thinking blog, with a little more insight. However, when we are born, we are have the same amount of propensity for study. Not that this should wholly include the process of going to school. Life is an education as well. The shocking report on TED about the amount of time people take participating in entertainment based computer game interaction was an eye-opener. Especially as this was equated as being the same amount of time actually taken doing normal academic study, seems to be a great insight into the nature of people's states of mind.

More people are spending time socially interacting on Facebook, Twitter, and countless internet based games than the time they participated in some of the more "deemed" necessary academia. This might seem to be a sign of a disintegrating society, but there is hope. The report states that this time of interaction can actually aid in the development of greater social interaction. There is however, a down side. One person's ability enables another person's lethargy. I notice this constantly at college. Students being moulded in the parrot fashion approach to teaching then move through life in much the same fashion. Going to college, sitting there, expecting to be told what to do. Believing that all instruction for their entire path of higher education can be met in a single classroom interaction.

What the issue is, is that many aspects of the process of learning, and therefore intelligence, is thrown to one side. Not because one is stupid and not because one doesn't want to know. But through the simple action of letting the social arena determine the motivation involved in any given activity. After all, its a great deal easier to watch some reality TV show or go for a drink with a mate, than think of the needs of working out why a job doesn't happen or this doesn't meet that requirement. Because they is a guy that will fix it, sort it, work it out. Not because they are stupid enough to do it for the lazy ones, but because they are motivated enough to challenge themselves. Kind of reminds me of the Yoda quote; "Do or do not! There is no try!!" And as intelligence is marked by an indication of solving problems, then attempting to understand any given task is a reason to challenge one's own intelligence. Giving the problem over to an able person only maintains a level of stupidity or mental inactivity in the mind of the person willing to make such a call.

In the famous lines of Forest Gump; "Stupid is as stupid does!" Very profound statement. However, society doesn't promote stupidity, but instead promotes apathy, which in turn is a cause of many a social affect that is again another big blog. The best way to see all this is when the next time someone asks you a question, such as "Why do spend so much time doing that task?", then don't give them some explanation of the reason for your interest. Ask the question back; "Why don't you spend so much time doing that task?" See what they say. Best way to judge a person is in a response like that. Seems like the world is full of two types of people, in this respect, the people who do and the people who don't!!!

day three hundred and seventeen: economics of life

2010-04-15T07:26:00.004+02:00

Once upon a time we started cooking meat. Why is that significant? Why should this be a key factor to the current situation of mankind. Well, strangely enough this one simply move turned us from near animals with a small brain to a thinking creature. As funny as it sounds, there is more effort involved in digesting raw meat than cooked, and therefore in the days of caveman, much more concern inside the body was taken up to gaining nutrition and digesting it. Therefore, not a lot of time was spent evolving other organs in the body; such as the brain. Once man had discovered fire and found that meat was not only more tasty cooked, but also more energy efficient, the actions of developing the brain could be put into place.

How this affects us is by the fact that the process of thinking is what has put us where we are to day. Or ironically, not thinking (of our consequences) has created the current environment that we are in. This is based on the sociological status of mankind, but also his environmental concern as part of this greater picture of planet Earth. Man's thinking has evolved global catastrophe on unprecedented tangents such as the creation of the most deadly weapon, in the atomic bomb, the devastation of mass areas of forest due to economic gain, slaughter of ethnical diversity in our make-up. Our thinking has had concern to the mistreatment of other Earthlings on this planet, as well as creating one of the greatest deceptions on such a globally brainwashing magnitude, that almost all humans are convinced of a hereafter and greater being.

This thinking has rarely in the modern world ever been put to good use, and if so, usually at the cost of economic gain. The complexities our mind has deal with major issues and problem solving tasks is immense, but instead we tend to put our mind to concerns of the economics of living instead of the qualities of living. Innovation in any walk comes at a factor based on the monetary worth of its aim and implementation. Never at its real value, of making the world a better place. The planet is full of opportunity and gain, but we as creatures are not exploring this connection, this need to be symbiotic with the planet we are part of. We think for our own greed, need and better self preservation more than the future; for today rather than tomorrow. We think with ego instead of humility and this is the ironic affects of eating too much meat: an aggressive nature.

Where do we go from here? Well the planet (in respect of humankind) is overcrowded. It's life is focussed on the value of a valueless commodity called money. A substance, again man made and at the root of the evils of modern living. We tend to also give it more concern than the quality of life that we tend to juggle in order to make the pittance that many of us can scrap together to live under the authority of the select few. In all, we have come to a crux (another irony based on the deceit of religious history) in our own history. To say the truth is out there, is a near humorous parody on the dream that there is a real higher life floating in our galactic existence. But if we are alone, we have truly shot ourselves in the foot. One day that bright spark ignited some vegetation and from that day forth our brain increased in size. Whether it was a good thing or bad is a question that is in some ways reinforced by the Darwinian sense of natural selection. And in some senses countered by the notion, are we supposed to be here, are we a massive virus set out to destroy the planet; the only gem in this sea of stars?

Well if having a greater brain mass is what has brought us to this result today, then maybe, just maybe cooked meat has a lot to answer to. If not meat, the result of its pathogenic affect of our common sense in a great mess.

day three hundred and sixteen: sound of silence

2010-03-26T08:04:00.004+02:00

As I was marking one of the video selections on YouTube as a favourite I decided to read some of the comments that were there. One of which stood out and made me think a great deal about the nature of our existence relating to the sounds around us. This is mainly due to the fact that for the past four years I have been suffering from tinitus and so have a constant ringing in my ears. However, that is another story. What the comment remarked on was the fact that the commenter's mother was really into "The Mammas and the Pappas" (it was Monday, Monday I was favouring on YouTube), and that she was constantly playing those sounds during his pregnancy. So, what was I thinking relating to this notation about a classic 60s song. In classic Rob style I try to find a connection in everything, and what I saw was a bridge in connection to the music format of that day to this, and the change in social nature and attitude. This is never a fixed and qualified assumption, but was something I was thinking about as I sat in a break of my all day teaching at the art college and was over hearing the noise (can't really call it anything else) that the students were omitting from YouTube videos.

What I was thinking is, is there a connection to the type of music that you are introduced to in your mother's womb, to the type of person that you become when you finally emerge into society. It is obvious that there are many other aspects to society that can govern the development of an individual. However, what if the subconscious influence of auditory stimulation in the womb is a starting point to the way we eventually accept things, mould ourselves and even react to what is around us. It was only a point of consideration as looking at the comments that more youthful listeners add to more music it seems a stronger aggressive reaction to saying things and even reacting to what others say. The stream of comments on "The Mammas and Pappas" thread were all polite and gentle expressions of appreciation or simple observations. Nothing aggressive or damning to others words. In comparison I see so many rude and attacking notes applied to the sounds of today. Maybe, however, instead of the type of music played to gestating offspring it is more about the quantity of noise being thrown in its developing state. Society has become more and more noisy over the years and even with the use of microwaves and other low level sound waves, there is so much attack from all angles. It is hard to know if this is a real affect on a developing child.

I have seen so many articles and stories of playing Mozart to plants helps them grow, that it seems a little odd that if this is true and proven through experiment, then the fact that playing music or even influencing music to an unborn child doesn't also affect it, is hard to believe. I am not aware of what music my parents played, if at all, during my gestation, but if it was anything like the music they played during my childhood I think it has a lot to answer for. That is a humorous comment about my dislike for the music my parent made me endure and now have great dislike towards, but has an obvious relationship to childhood memories. I am not saying that we are plants or that we can be influenced, but maybe the state by which society has deteriorated can be accompanied by some external influence other than finance, politics or any other social affecter. Yesterday I spent some time listening to Native American music and find the whole ambience of this music so rewarding to my state of mind that I find it hard to note that all music does not have some affect on how we feel. Maybe some of this can be a trigger from a pre-birth experience.

Music, like most other art forms is constantly around us, and influences us consciously as well as subconsciously, but in many respects is never understood to the deeper values it contains in influencing our lives. Mozart is not for me, but then again I am not some sprouting flora needing to stem into a growing tree. I do know though that when I am needing inspiration a good bit of Carmina Burana works wonders. If I am feeling a little low then a good piece of opera also does the trick. Music can be seen as a great accompaniment to emotional states, but why is it never seen as the promotor of that emotional state. After all, the beat the melody the words all have a value and can push us to follow the rhythm, dance, sing, move our hips or whatever. So, can it change the world? Well, that would be one great piece of music. As much as the National Anthems of the worlds countries are supposed to move us to patriotic acts, the sounds of "The Mammas and the Pappas" may just make us softer, kinder people. Just a thought looking into these extremely violent times.

day three hundred and fifteen: too much to cope with?

2010-03-11T08:56:00.003+02:00

I was very in the fact that I was part of a degree course that included film studies. Lucky, as I got the opportunity the see films such as Metropolis, Battleship Potenkin, Wild Strawberries, Gilda and many more, but also one that now resides in my collection, that I adore for the simple truth behind it's storytelling. It has made Lasse Hallstrom and international directorial star now, and deservedly so. The film is "My Life as a Dog". There are two things a love about this film; the first is the simple story of the coming of age of a Swedish boy in a dysfunctional family, and the second is it simple production values. Recently I have begun to explore the cinema again. My first venture out was to the blockbuster "Avatar". As much that can be said in favour of the amazing special effects, one could also negatively state about the fact that the film had no real depth in the story. It was a little shallow, even though the principle of what it was trying to say was deep, it seemed more concern was thrown at the amazing 3D special effects.

Made me think, and a comment I actually made at the time, on leaving the cinema, was I wonder what the people who ran from the Lumiere Brothers first showing of the steam train advancing toward the camera would have thought of seeing "Avatar"? Maybe a few coronary mishaps among a larger stampede. Anyway, this tends to show and slow, but progressive trend in filling the screen with tricks to trap the viewer. These days however, with 'Avatar', '2012' and 'Alice in Wonderland', etc. the tricks seem to be playing the key part in reason to draw the audience in. same stories, with a more effective polish of visual effects. I watched "My Life as a Dog" again the other day, when it arrived on DVD. I still marvelled on the amazing story it held about this boy. It isn't the best cinematographically example, but the story was just spot on. Maybe a reason that it won the awards it did. Now, looking at the Oscars this year, you find that 'Avatar', a film that everyone stated that is a must see, won only effects based awards. This tends to be a common trend as well, that these awards stigmatise the fact that to win an acclaimed effects award almost signifies that it lacks the other qualities in the production.

Has the art of good storytelling died with the invention of these tremendous effects? Not at all. What it seems to have done is made a concern for ticket paying audiences to be more in need of much more dramatic visual stimulus, rather than mere storytelling. These could be a result of the society that we live in. The invention of computer technology, electronic games and faster this and that has almost addicted us the process of visual stimulus on the same level. It is very noticeable in young people, that their attention span has dropped in certain social areas; one of which is in the art of communication. Again, trying to explain the wonderful depths of such films as that of Hitchcock, who was a great believer in having the mind play a great part in competing the inner eyes perception of what the audience could see, but where implied to see. This was his trade mark in true horror. And even today some of the best horror films are the ones he made; such as "Pyscho".

What is the future of this medium? Can we expect a plethora of visual, eye-catching 'storyless' entities that have nothing to say? Well we have sort of always had it: pulp fiction, soap operas, reality shows. These are all about low-level mental stimulus and high level entertainment. And as McLuhan pointed out, visual stimulus is very easy to deal with than cerebral cognition, this method of entertainment is an easy to please process to numb the speed hungry society. As for the makers? Well it is a challenge. Like an itch you just can't scratch. How do you make the earth fall apart and make it convincing (2012). Well, it was kind of effective, but sew into that maelstrom of disaster was the need for a very vague storyline of survival of the meek. If we took away the spectacle would the story be able to hold water? Probably not. I am not condemning effects films. I guess more that 50% of my DVD collection is based on this type of film, but what you seem to be left with is a high that drops quite quickly as its on visual interaction that no longer exists. The great films leave you thinking of amazing weaving of stories and plots and characters and never a need to explain a visual queue or moment. This is great film making and is being lost behind a green screen or two.

day three hundred and fourteen: word!

2010-02-27T20:09:00.006+02:00

How confusing do you find it all? Really? I mean where do all those words go? Anyway, I haven't had time to do a humorous post in some time and I was reminded of the statement a wise man once told me (Wow! That kind of sounded like some snippet from some Kung Fu episode), about the use of words. He said, whilst rapping me across the knuckles with a school rule, not to implement words that you don't know the meaning of. Mainly for self protection reasons I guess, as you could end up embarrassing yourself by not being able to disclose the true determination of such vocabulary in intellectual intercourse. This obviously can in crease in time, as there is also the notion floating around that people become wiser with age. A think that has two marks really. The first is that there is such a thing called common sense (the way of the life path, for those ultra buddhist want-a-be's) and the idea that wisdom can pertain to that. All I can really say on that level is thank 'silicon valley' for spell check! The second mark is based on the thought that as one travels through the heights of academia, you are able (not required, though I didn't actually read the small print on this matter) to extend the magnitude of your own lexicon some ten fold or more, simply by hanging around with like-minded nerds and scholarly types. Not sure if it was through some osmosis or other strange neuro-biological encounter, but anyway there it is. Education makes you smart, so they say.

My brother, bless him, would continually defend his choice to leave school at the proletarian age of sixteen to pursue a career and extending his vocabulary to include the word 'snoot' when referring to my ability to use words that he had to look up in a dictionary. This would constantly extend to very vicious attacks during extended Trivial Pursuit campaigns, where the idea was that we should all lower are level of stored words to accommodate for the less fortunate, or word challenged as the politically correct process would define. The point there is that it shouldn't be a crime nor a curse to want to elevate one's knowledge or hunger for words to make dialogue a little more colourful; but it seems it does. Also, thinking on such things, is the use of such dialogue and better than simply saying what you want to say? What does it mean by saying a four syllable word with a Greek/Latin derivation when it can be said in a just-as-effective four letter word.

I can guess that seven letter attempts and becoming a stronger victor in scrabble or being able to actually spend longer durations doing The Guardian crossword, and making people believe you are in fact the human thesaurus and have synonyms extruding from many a polite orifice has it's advantages, whilst on long train journeys. But something I have noticed is that learning the language that many of these oh-so useful words have found their translated way from, is that it has made the entire affair of communicating in this complex language a lot easier. After all, knowing that the synonym of one commonly used word is a word that is almost the same as the Greek original makes a strong path to success in become bilingual. But the reversed negative affect is that you hang around (or associate yourself) with people who with no fault of their own, or yours come to think of it, don't simply know the plethora of words available out of the most common Oxford dictionary, is that conversations can become more of a trial rather than a pleasurable interaction. Not at all wanting to develop a class divide through words, but it is a point to note that our evolutionary tract of the semantic values of such a diverse use of the common human tongue has left even our common relatives; the American making faux pars regarding the simple process of spelling.

If you have reached this far down the page, and are not in the process of scribing hate correspondence or other such revengeful actions, I wanted to just point out I say much of this tongue in cheek. Mainly as I spend a great deal of time putting down ideas, thoughts and observations in these blogs in an attempt to say something of note. It never discourages me that I seldom am returned the pleasurable comments and replies that some blogs on Brittany Spear's pubic hair seem to gain, but there you are. All this is about is saying something! Life gets to be too short. More shorter the longer you leave those values things; words, lying unused and redundant away from their true direction. Say something: it could change someone's day, life, focus, direction, aim or feelings, or worst it might put a smile on their face.

day three hundred and thirteen: eat up!

2010-02-25T09:09:00.003+02:00

I hate brussel sprouts!! I have a strong inbuilt aversion to them ever since my mother sat me down at the dinner table and placed them in front of me and told me that I must eat them all, because they are good for me. Still to this day, I can't understand the logic in that. Forcing someone to eat something that they find abhorrent in order for them to be nutritionally fulfilled. Then recently I saw a programme that was quite interesting, and again last night saw another programme that linked the subject in a funny way. The later programme introduced the history of the digestive tract of animals and it's evolutionary path to aid digest the foods, not what we like, but need to survive.

The simple fact is, this crazy thing called life has two angles, and even the actions we do to maintain that survival are intertwined with each and everything's own aspect of survival. The first angle is that notion of survival itself. All creatures have an inbuilt desire to survive. That is the aspect to why life goes on. Even though Darwin defined that for life on this planet to be forever evolving, life has to have a degree of self-destructiveness, it is important that the self ideology is that of survival. What we, as 'thinking' creatures, never consider is that all life, or Earthlings, hold this same desire to survive. After all, unless you fall prey to the notion that this planet is a grassy eden placed here to serve man's requirements, you can see that all living things hold a very strong position in the ecosystem and continuation of this planet. So, if we take steps to look at all this, we will see, and that is the reason for the initial notation about sprouts, is that everything has a way to protect itself.

I was sitting at the dining table with my daughter the other day, trying very hard to convince her to try a food type that I found very enjoyable. She, as I did when I was a child, refused on the basis that she didn't like the taste. Well, there are two reasons for this. The first is that a child's needs in a nutritional sense are different to an adults. They require body building material to make them stronger and reinforce their frame. So the taste buds at an early age have been adapted to make it more palatable to seek these necessary foods. This obviously changes as you grow; or in fact stop growing. But the key point is that our tongue still does in fact find the variation in tastes distinctive. We still can judge sweet from bitter and salty food, alike. On a modern level this allows us to define our own likings for food. On an evolutionary level it helps as a warning to us that the foods are not in fact palatable to use. And this is where the interesting thing arises that was mentioned in the first programme, arises.

Has it ever occurred to anyone that the good old common brussels sprout doesn't actually want to be eaten. That it isn't actually there as a parcel to deliver a green side piece to meat and potatoes. It is in fact a fruiting device for the actual plant. In order for it to continue it's own evolutionary tract. Hence the bad taste is a defence mechanism. It is meant to taste vile in order to stop creatures wanting to eat it. Else if it was such a nice addition to a diet it would be extinct. Think about it, the whole process of any creature is to find nutrition to fuel their body, and on top of that to find enough. But nature is good at self controlling, if all food was edible by all, then all hunter/gatherers would flourish and the food source would simply die away. What the programme about the digestive track also added to this fascinating story of life, was that even though we have adjusted our taste to accept the flavour, our actual digestive tracks are then not designed to use this food in an appropriate way.

Basically, we have to rely on microbiological elements to actually do the job of breaking down these different food types. These micro-organisms sit inside our gut and are design to attack fibres and proteins and other relatively undigestible elements that all food types have in them. It was said that the great thing about evolution is that it adapts. An example of this was the common cow. It cannot digest grass, even though it only eats grass. This may seem ironic. However, evolution has made it's design work in such a way that it has made itself four stomachs. The first and largest is full of micro-bacterial there for the simple task of breaking down cellulose. If that was not present then cows would not be in existence, as grass did not in fact design itself to be eaten by cows, so a solution needed to be sought.

So, now looking back on my childhood and now life of tasteful delights all around me, I realise that there is in fact a reason why my eyes squint and I shudder violently when a sprout enters my mouth. It is not just a preference thing. Even though my frontal lobe reminds me of the childhood nightmares and the taste buds tell me that this just doesn't taste good, what is in fact happening is that the whole gamut of evolution is trying to protect sprouts from being extinct and defining me as a species that, if I can't adapt to finding something other than sprouts to eat, I will in fact become extinct myself. Phew! Luckily for me sprouts and cabbage are not the only food source on the planet and human's through some amazing ignorance to their body's own warning system have adapted quite well to eating things that we should not actually in fact eat. So, next time you sit and look down at the old piece of porcelain and those morsels looking back up at you, remember that they are in fact trying to kill you; even from their grave.

day three hundred and twelve: declining value

2010-02-01T17:18:00.003+02:00

This post is a little bit of a continuation of the previous blog posting in a sense. I was walking for my first lesson at college today, and was reflecting on this point that was being made by several people, in several conversations. That point being that the function and process of creativity is not an inherent skill, but something that is gained over the course of, to put it simply, the task of grasping knowledge from trying to be creative. I firstly have to disagree with that notion, but a funny point was made in the class today. There was a notion being bantered around, that if someone is happy, they are more likely in a better state of mind to be creative. I argued that if I grabbed any joe off the street with a smile on their face, would they be able to be creative and design something radical. I am guessing the answer would be no. The whole principle of enthusiasm with dealing with aesthetic fervour can be knocked out the window when discussing such greats as Van Gogh, Pollock, Kandinski, and many more know artists as they were all more creative, or at least at their peak, in the midst of their depressions. So, it is not an over-riding state of mind of happiness that generates the actual ability of happiness. Instead, there is a natural aptitude that is set in mind to be a creative.

Walking around the backstreets on the way to the college today I was looking closely at hoardings and signs and posters and anything that could hold an essence of creativity. Which, when you think about it, is almost everything. Everything has been designed. However, not everything has been designed by a competent designer. That may be a rather derogatory statement to express, but I would like to make the point that when you are born and have risen through the levels of the education system, and reached that magnificent moment of having to make a career choice, I do believe there is a little inherent swaying in one's mind that deters you away from being a brain surgeon, civil engineer, air force pilot, deep sea diver, etc. if there is not that natural, in-built empathy to the given offerings. After all, and a key factor I guess. Everyone would be a brain surgeon and rake in six figure salaries if it was simply about doing the course. However, it is not just about gaining knowledge, it is about having the knack. Saying that, and coming back to the signage on the street, it does seem that design and art is an ability that many people believe that can be acquired.

My experience of seeing many of my students learning or showing the efforts of their drawing abilities seems to show that it seems to be more than just a great deal of sweat. Even though practice makes perfect, I do see a great divide in how these youngsters look in their eyes when being challenged with the thought of drawing, next to the how I get the sense of how I feel. This seems to be echoed in the art work (or design) that is sprayed out into society. I feel that there is a great difference in designing something as it has the need to have non-aesthetic attributes, next to something being designed simply because the person has no skill. So many of the new style art of this young generation seems to be formed via that randomised creative process that is derived from the "I can't be bothered" school, or the "I don't know how to do that" school, or even the "but I don't have any ideas school of thought. Much of this comes from the fact that society has delivered a tool that has taken over as a process rather than the aid it is meant to be. Too many young designers see the 'computer' as the answer, rather than a step. Too many would-be designers sit at home believing that because they have photoshop and a computer they have in fact inherited the skill of being a graphic designer. It is a hard position to be in in to righteously state that this is not the case.

Computer don't equal design skills. I'm lucky in the fact that I know many people (some friends) that have that ability. That (I don't want to use the word talent) inbuilt sense of awareness that has made them stronger at being creative than that joe on the street. This is not in any way meant to make people loose creative insight. But lets face it, the art world has the bad bridging divide that has amateurs on one side and professionals on the other. Maybe that is arrogance, however, it is also a safeguard. as stated before in a connected notion, the Darwin theory of natural selection makes us all self-destructive as a species and therefore it is only natural to want to protect your territory. For creative people that territory is being eroded too much by many aspects of how art stands in society, who is in reach of art, what is classed as a creative product and so many other things that it could be a post in itself to even just list them. At the end of the line though, genetics or not, the more I view and experience the development of art, the more I do believe that it is a feeling; an inbuilt sense. the more you have it, the more you are creative. No amount of external influence can aid or improve or change that initial passion for the process of being aesthetically minded.

day three hundred and eleven: who decides

2010-01-28T08:13:00.003+02:00

Another one of those connective occurrences happened to me over the past few days. I was having coffee with a friend the other day ad something that seemed to be niggling them was a point that seemed to have a little connection to a sequence I saw in the film "2012". Which again, then was reinforced with a status comment made by someone on facebook. All these three things had the value about the matter of who is right in the subject of making the correct choice, and/or evaluation.

It started off with this coffee conversation about social value. Why do some people believe they are better than others? Does the process of higher education or even social inclusion into this world give people the right to look down on others? f course it doesn't, but unfortunately it does happen. This is mainly due to the fact of the crux in social deviation away from our natural path; the introduction of the notion or worth. Money can't buy you happiness they say, but it sure gives people the idea that it can buy them privilege. The main point about the film "2012", is the simple fact that if you have money you can survive. There is a minor scene in addition to the scene that is the main point, where a group of individuals is embarking on the arks and a comment is made that these people have been chosen for their genetic viability to reproduce a healthy future for mankind. At which point a wealthy sheik walks by, and the comment of the wallet also being a key factor was mentioned. Again, this was also reflected in a scene in Doctor Zhivago, where the proletarian were demonstrating outside a fancy restaurant. To which a patron remarks on the reason for their need to change their position in society.

Money seems to be a key issue in society in any aspect, but to fact that it revolves around the notion that a human can only be deemed to be of worth simply due to his status is absurd. The point being made by the coffee discussion was that the quality of one's education gives the benefit of social ranking and that anyone with a lesser status should feel privileged to be around such "brainy" characters. Where this notion fails and was mentioned in the discussion, is that many of these people become channeled in their intellectual position. Only knowing their subject field and very rarely knowing the common facts that make the world really tick. Positions of education should never be used as a leverage in a social power struggle, mainly because it was a choice to educate oneself and for some that choice is not given, and therefore should not be held against them. But also, to believe a doctor or lawyer, or celebrity even, have rights to neglect their fellow man simply due to the size of their wallet or ego is a detriment to what society should actually stand for. A machine requires cogs of many sizes to turn, remove the small cogs and the whole thing fails. So all elements of a society should have equal worth in order for that society to turn.

As for the main point in "2012", there was a scene in which art was valued. Where some paintings were saved over others, due to their cultural value, as it was put. However, why was the Mona Lisa saved? What or who puts the value on this painting above all to be the antipathy of aesthetic and cultural value? It seems that the paintings that were mentioned, again had monetary value over true aesthetic value. Is it their aesthetic perfection that warrants their value? I think not. As added in the discussion in the film, what devalues a cheap novel that was only sold six hundred times next to the mona lisa? Well, actually nothing should. All art is a personal expression that is put out into society. The fact that it is out there gives it value. It's audience number or commercial value should not define how it should be determined in a social monetary aspect. And therefore if it has the right to be saved in such dire situation. I know if it were my choice I don't think I would have placed the 'mona lisa' on the "let's take with us" list. So again, some non-human criteria has been put into place to evaluate somethings worth over another thing.

The final comment was based on a facebook status, which although humorous is a point to note about how people deem themselves among others. A very pretty model (matter of opinion determining that I guess) added that she was always disappointed in her relationships, as, as she put it her princes always turn out to be frogs. This seems also to devalue the human heart as a secondary character in the search for a socially visual character that could be acceptable as a partner. The notation that a frog has no value in the romance aspect seems to be detrimental to the idea that the process of feelings is an inner thing. This again, categories people into who is and who isn't. You do here stories of people falling in love over the phone and even via letters and succeeding where spontaneous lusting has left people misguided in their search for an ideal partner. However, this model and many other people may be defining their range of potential dates, or even friends, like the educated fellow, based simply on what they deem as being acceptable. There is a whole plethora of human spirits out their. Every single one of them has as much right to have a worth more than the next person. What holds them back? Not their spirit or determination to prove anything, but the invisible barriers that people put up in order to make themselves seem better and someone else. What we must remember after all, is that we all have blood running through our veins and a heart and a mind. We all come out into this world as naked as each other and that climb and struggle into our role in society is not of any earthly determination, and therefore respect is evaluated into or contribution in this world.