Saw a coon in the parking lot. It, and the waves of insects, represents refugees from the fire…
(0)Monthly Archive for August, 2009
It’s hilarious when r.c calls. The girl on the phone hesitatingly called my company “oh sacred?” and ole Vivan’s last name “van vacator” wow
(0)Very close to releasing something awesome and useful on the world…. Stay tuned….
(0)The mandatory evacuation that was going on to the NorthWest of me has been lifted as of this morning. The fire isn’t heading this way.
(0)VOA News – Japan Enters New Era in Crushing Election Rebuke of Ruling Party
Unprecedented. Will this be the end to denial of World War II atrocities (which, admittedly, is rampant in the West, where we insist we did nothing because we were the “good guys”), ama kurari, corporatism (a mix of evil mercantilism with just enough capitalism to shut up all the people who should really oppose it), environmental destruction and unequal rights? Japanese people have a love for nature that is beyond what we typically see in the West, yet the admittedly strong environmentalist movement hasn’t had enough affect on the actual political institutions.
I would love to see an opinion poll on this, but I have yet to see any, but when I went around interviewing young Japanese people, they all seemed to be for gay marriage and even ridiculed us Americans for letting religion into politics (which they don’t do, even though the Sokka Gakkai has its own party). Of course, they were stumped when I asked them why they don’t have gay marriage.. well, with an openly post-op transsexual congresswoman who has been reelected, the progressive party (relatively speaking, which unfortunately doesn’t say much… at least one of the parties under their fold are progressive) in power, and a long tradition of not being morally opposed to homosexuality, I think Japan may do what many of my Japanese friends and my wife insist are impossible any time soon and legalize gay marriage.
There is also the issue of Ama Kudari (天下り), where corrupt politicians funnel public funds into some pointless project that makes some company a lot of money, then retire from politics to have a “job” at that company where they do nothing and get the kickback for their “service” to the company. Is not this corporatism at it’s ugliest, a perfect example of the “parasitic” class? Well, this is one practice the Democratic Party promised to put an end to. Here’s hoping this puts an end to Japan’s stagnation. No political party or alliance should hold on power as long as the LDP has, its results being obvious.
Look at all the fancy folk of La Cañada Flintridge worrying about their expensive homes in the foothills. Yes, the cost of proximity to the forest is the very wildness that draws them – nature, in her sheer spontaneity may bring bright flames just as well as she might bring songbirds, but I cannot say that they are taking the good with the bad. The good and the bad are the same substance. To love nature is to love her for all her “faults”, for you couldn’t love only the parts of her that aren’t so destructive anymore than you could only love certain parts of your friend or lover. If you only love parts, you have no relationship to the whole. I like Lewis Black’s comedy, but that doesn’t mean I like him as a person, for I do not know the person except through the comedy itself.
Okay, great, so the wealthy fools really just love greenery and hummingbirds sipping at their invasive backyard plants. They also like coyotes and cougars (when they keep their distance) and rivers and steep terrain. How could they like so many things that spring from nature and not nature herself? No, they must have an admiration for nature (the biophilia we all have in us), for I even see them admiring the same fire that even still threatens their homes. Part of them may see the fires as a mistake – a threat to the stasis that doesn’t exist they erroneously equate with the “balance of nature” and a threat to their investments – but at the same times I see them walking along foothill with cameras. The spectacle of the fire is beautiful in itself, even as it destroys so much beauty. Even as it may hurt people and destroy houses. Even as it surely is bringing countless forest creatures to a twisting, agonizing end, their only crime being being at the wrong place, time.
My ambivalence towards forest fires is a reflection of the paradox (not struggle nor contradiction) of when we materialists try to be spiritual. There is a sense of awe one can get from the natural world, but at the same time, there is also surely a sense that the world is deficient (surely it isn’t made with us in mind). Both sides of this coin are very eloquently and hilariously, respectively, pronounced by negro Carl Sagan, a.k.a. Niel DeGrasse Tyson:
a final “sermon” on cosmic perspectives
stupid design
I heard that 3 homes burnt down that were “deep in the … forest.” I wonder what it’s like to have such a home. I would love to have a cabin in the woods. The cost of such would be the possibility of having to build it again if a fire goes through. I surely wouldn’t be foolish enough to put more possessions I care about in it than I could fit in my Corolla. Actually, being required to keep it simple sounds fun. Hmmm…
Oh, lastly, here’s a crappy view of the fire that’s currently blazing near my place. Psh.
It seems the likes of Urban Outfitters and Hot Topic have a pretty foolproof formula – sell things that remind people in their 20s of their childhood and they’ll think it’s “cool” and buy it up. Actually, this music video is kinda cool, but I almost feel like they didn’t come up with the idea of making music using NES’s sound chip (probably..) and representing pixels with Legos. Rather, the idea was just floating in the air already (you know, like all of my “original” ideas).
“Cats and Comets are a lot alike, they both have tails and do whatever they want”
(0)I’m sick and tired of these mother-fucking ants on my mother-fucking desk!
(0)@lithiumwithdraw Seek warm love. If it ends, it’ll still be cool.
(0)Template Monster is evil. This css should be punishable by death: * { margin:0; padding:0;}
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