Monday 28 November 2011

The Place Where Dreams Come True

Hey Guys,
Frank Sinatra once sang that life went in Cycles, that always there's laughter and then the tears. Life has a habit of not letting you go smooth, always hiding something else around the corner.



The song always made a lot of sense to me. I mean it is a pretty simple sentiment. Life comes and goes, we all exist in a larger scheme. Listening to it tonight, it kind of struck me. I go through cycles myself. I'm kind of in the middle of one now, and that is perfectly normal for me it would seem. As normal as eating 6 Mars bars in a row on a whim. But hey that happens I guess.

I am going somewhere with this, I promise.

After that I started to think about how we all look at things differently. I recently had one of my colleagues (I know right, I'm employable! who woulda thought it) called me bipolar to some extent. I understood what they meant by that so I disn't really take it as an insult. But what it got me thinking was this:

Why do we need to label people in such a way?

I know it was a completely innocent comment, but at the same time it was a clear observation that I acted in some way different from that person. And for that reason I was assigned a label, a title, a name, a derogative term even. It's as though as a race we can't stop ourselves from differentaiting all the different people until we are little more than bricks in a wall, numbers in a machine.



I know it may seem a bit funny that I should react so strongly to a harmless comment as such, but it really angers me in principle. As people we have a society that accepts everyone, but makes sure they are labeled and filed accordingly. We're constantly referring to people as gay, straighr, ugly, pretty, crazy, free-spirited, wasted and so many other terms, it seems to me that we spend far too long trying to file people away, and not enough time getting out what they have to say.

The other thing I wanna talk about is a pretty major story I guess. I'm sure you've all heard about the death of Gary Speed on Sunday.
If not:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/15910648.stm

Now I don't really wanna add too much to what has already been said, other than his loss is a tragedy to football and his family, and my thoughts are with them at this time. The point I wanna make is to do with how no-one knew what was going on with him.

Obviously we don't and may never know the exact reason that Gary Speed took his own life. It's also clear that no one expected or knew anything about it. This asks the question, how does a person hide so well?

In our society, that we habitually, pigeon hole and number people, we still can't identify those vulnerable to themselves. I find that quite shocking. I find it a disgrace in fact, that we as humans, find it easy to criticize and make fun of difference. Yet we struggle to acknowledge those who are different, those who need help and those in need of a label to help them cope.

The point I'm trying to get at is that we all spend so much time interacting with each other, judging each other, labeling each other. In this period, where we have an all time high of suicides, especially in the young male demographic, can't we as a race start to look out for each other?

What we lost in Gary Speed, I can only attribute to one factor. That no one noticed. And that is the real tragedy, that we as people have forgotten to notice each others existence anymore.

Why have we let it get that way?
Peace out

Monday 21 November 2011

Funny thoughts that I've just been thinking

Hey guys...
I gonna start by saying that I'm gonna be a bit sporadi with this one. I have a lot on my mind and I just kind of wanna spurt it all out there. No wait. Not spurt, that sounds wrong. I just wanna express it all. Yeah. That sounds middle class enough.

So yesterday night I had a bit of a mini movie marathon. That is, I watched 2 movies back to back. Firstly I watched Remember the Titans, following it up with Field of Dreams. Now I'm sure a lot of you have watched Remember the Titans, and some of you Field of Dreams. In fact a lot of people haven't even heard of Field of Dreams. Now that is a shame, since it is a brilliant, cheesy, emotive and over the top film. I love it to bits for a couple of personal reasons as well as a genuine love for the American Sports Drama. It is the kind of film with just inspirational, lovely, infinitely quotable lines about self belief and glory that really stand the test of time.

Well as I was watching Field of Dreams, it kind of struck me, why aren't there as many of these films anymore?
That is, why aren't there as many feel good, all-american, family sports orientated dramas? Why is it, that I can no longer go to the cinema and watch a non-comedy knowing that it will leave me with a smile on my face and a warm fuzzy feeling in my heart? The only film I've seen this year that generated that feeling for me this year, was Real Steel, a film mocked by one of my friends as being "cheesy american shite".
The thing is, its not as though we as cinema goers have all become miserable old farts; comedies are doing better than ever. In particular, R-rated, or adult comedies, are taking a much larger share of the bocx office than ever. The all-american sports drama is dying. And it is being killed by a brand of cinema, that is in no way as beautiful or emotive of the American Dream.

That's right, Dance movies.
Basically, Hollywood is killing the great American Sports Drama, in order to be more "street". Now I guess that is ok if they are sending the same messages. The Mighty Ducks for example, taught me that you can't erase the past. But you can become better then that and redeem yourself. You Got Served taught me..... not to sleep with my best mates sister. Ok another example, Rocky taught me that it ain't over till it's over, that every dog will have its day and most crucially that somewhere, deep inside Sylvester Stallone, there was once a half decent actor. Step Up taught me.... how not to make a movie.
Maybe its me, but I just cannot get the same universal values from a movie about a bunch of kids dancing like freaks, that I do from underdog tales of people given up on and downtrodden. They inspire and guide me, and they give me hope above all things. A great bit of cinema hits home in your emotional gut, not just you cerebral cortex. If anything, I just think its a shame that Hollywood seems to be forgeting about heart, and focusing on body popping and connecting with the youth.

The main other thing I've been thinking about is time. Not so much in terms of how it runs out or the like, but more how its all relative. For example, recently I was in an emotionally active period with someone(paha how amibgous is that?). At the time I should have acted. But I didn't, and I didn't even realise I should have done for 26 hours, upon with point my reaction was such:

What it got me thinking is, that if I had made that descision, which in retrospect, was definately the right decision, the events of that moment and all those after would have been, to some extent, completely different. For one, I wouldn't have been banging my head against the wall.
In that same respect, how much of our lives come down to these kind of twitch reactions and decisions? The reality of it is, that as einstein said, to each action there is a reaction. So by that, we can say that everything has consequences, fairly simply. What I want you guys to take from that is this:
Life has a habit of throwing a million options to you, yet you only see a few at any one time. Why not take a different one for once, and see where you end up?

Peace out

Monday 14 November 2011

I love you baby!!

Hi guys,
So recently I was thinking, why is it that some people just replace their stuff without any due regard to it.
I know that I can't even get an upgrade without going all misty eyed and wistful. I was practically bawling the day that my Playstation one (the small one) died on me. All that came flooding back were all the many games that I had completed and the major achievements I had managed on it. The device was a part of my memories and I loved it.
But at the same time, I can give you so many examples of when people just dispose of things with no regard for it. It's just an item, it has no meaning to its owner. Like when my neighbour crashed his car, his first question was what courtesey car was he getting. Didn't he for one second think of the car that had been carrying him around since he passed his driving test, 4 years prior, and how it was being treated?

I feel like this might be me flogging a dead horse, so I think I'll give you another example. Actually a horse is a good example. Imagine you had a horse. A relaible work horse. The kind of horse that would carry you from A to B, pick up C and shift it to D. And one day that horse just died. Doesn't matter how it died or where. It just died. You'd be heart broken,, devastated even. But you wouldn't do the same for a combine harvester if it broke.
The point I'm trying to make is this. What difference does a bit of flesh and blood make? Is it such that a portion of society can't love their tech?

Let me tell you another story( a regular Scherezenade tonight aren't I?). I had a car before. It was a 2001 plate Skoda Fabia, with a dodgy power steering motor. It took ages to heat up, was kind of cramped, and it had dents all over it from my erratic driving.
Her name was Faith.
The fact that I named her was key to me I think. As much as she had problems, she was my car, my friend, my loyal accomplice. In fact I hardly think I can say she had problems. She had flaws, and and fallicies. She was an imperfect car. And in that respect she had character. I knew what to expect from her, and she gave me all that and more. In fact, she was an unbelieveably reliable, fun to drive car. She had a chirpy spirit that I enjoyed so much, she gave and gave and never asked for anything back.
To be honest, I loved that car because I allowed myself to. It because I trusted that car, I believed in that car, I loved that car. Because I allowed myself to, I gave that car a name, a character, a soul. If anything, because of my own demeanour, I fell in love with a mechanical beast.

Why don't more of us do that?

Monday 7 November 2011

Why don't you just work.......

Hey,
So recently I had a job interview. Well actually I had two.
Well I had two interviews for he same job. I got the job cos I'm awesome but then I turned it down cos I'm a bit wrong in the head.
Believe it or not, there is a point to this post and it is coming soon.
Out of the two interviews I intended to go by public transport on both occasions. The location was within the congestion charge zone so I didn't want to pay those costs by driving in. Take the bus I thought, make it cheap and cheerful. Well for my first interview I left my house 45 minutes early, for a 20 minute journey, a long time before the afternoon rush hour.
I spent 20 minutes waiting for a bus, after which the only one that went by, was so packed, it didn't even slow down let alone stop. At that point I realized I was at risk of running late. I made a judgement call and drove in, paid the congestion charge and did well in the interview.
I did so well in that interview, they invited me back that Friday for 9AM.
Now this time I was prepared for a slog, since I was heading into the rush hour. Leave like an hour early or something for it, take no risks and that.
So I left my house just after 7.30 in the morning, heading into the buisness sector of London. Little was I to know that the city was against me in every sense.

I think at this point I should point out, I don't exactly live in the sticks of London. By driving, I can be in the City within 10 minutes. Of course it takes a bit longer by public transport, but that is given.

My overall commute into the city on that fateful day was an eventful one. It began, in the rain. No less than three of my required buses, simply ignored the temporal reality of the bus stop I was waiting at. At this stage I made a judgement. I'm not gonna make it am I? I chose then, lets take a detour. So I take the bus to the nearest tube station, a solid move, surely.
Alas, I was unable to board a total of 4 trains due to overpacking. And when I did get on one, I got sweated on by a rather lovely hairy Greek bloke, whose economy my taxes were probably rescuing. For the whole 20 minutes of sweaty, rocky and sticky travel, I asked myself, why is it like this?

London Transport is one of the largest drains on taxpayers money. On top of that, it drains from fuel duty, congestion charge, and even pension funds. Out of all this flootsam and jetsam, how have we ended up with a system that invariably, ceases to work two times a day? You might argue with this sentiment, but it's true.
What if, for example, your car decided to stop working or work at 20% of it's capacity when you most needed it? Or what if, your taps decided to stop working when everyone was making a cup of tea during the X Factor? We wouldn't accept it in so many other mediums if something stopped working when its busy, so why do we accept it with something as expensieve as public transport?
Sadly, i don't really have many answers. We do need a better underground service overall, and I can accept that it is on its way. The thing that really irks me however , is the bus service. What the bus service needs to be doing is taking a long hard look at it's routes and timings, and deciding which are really neccesary. I understand why there are lots of the bus that take me to the station, but why are there so few of the bus that takes me right to the city first thing in the morning?
On top of that, some of the routes are wholeheartedly pointless. Arriva and Stagecoach each run a route that starts in Whitechapel, East London. Despite their differing ending points, they actually share 70% of their route. At what point did TFL make the decision that they were both neccesary?

Well anyway, after I got out of the train I realised I had 5 minutes to travel 15 minutes on a bus. So I decided to do the first smart thing I had done all morning: I got a cab. And needless to say it was mighty comfortable and I arrived at my destination in comfort and style. I went on to thrill the life out of my interviewers adn dazzle them with my skills.
Also, they shared my love of kittens.
Peace out

Wednesday 2 November 2011

Cameras that could end the world!!!!

So I recently got my hands on the new Nikon J1 compact system camera. And I created an opinion on it. It feels nice, that is all.

That's all I can say I like about it, it feels nice to hold in the hand. The layout of buttons is nice and it has a nice weight to it. Other than that, it strikes a question. 
Who or what consumer market is this damn thing aimed at?

The reason I say this is that everything seems just so...... Half arsed. There's a dedicated video button, which only works in video mode....
It can shoot 60fps full res...... For about half a second......
It can do super duper slo mo video..... In unwatchable quality.

All of this points to me that Nikon wanted to do something a bit different with their first mirror less system camera. They seemed to want to create a camera that looked like it could do nothing, act like it could do a lot, but overall not really do anything.
So essentially, Nikon have created a device that is aimed at no one, designed for everyone and will be used by..... Someone?

Cos it comes back to the first point I made I guess. The device is a sexy bit of kit. It is, and this is the key thing I guess, iPod sexy. That means that despite its obvious shortcomings, it will sell. It will probably, have an initial hardcore following, saying it is the future and that all other devices are inferior and that it is the bees knees so to speak. 

The problem is that the device doesn't really do anything new or exciting. It simply puts its sub par features in a nice shell, that may dominate the market. If you may recall, a device dominating a market leads to stagnation in the market. So let's face it, the problem this camera poses, it may strangle the market.

And strangling markets, like strangling kittens, is just not cool.