April 26, 2008

the new me

A lot of that astrology mumbo-jumbo found in zines or newspapers or anywhere really, are usually pretty loaded with a bunch of crap. You know the type: "The second half of the month a new opportunity will open itself to you in your workplace and a you will also win many wonderful things if you take chances." They are usually so generic, open-ended and non-true whatsoever, that really, I don't know why I or anybody bothers reading them. But today's Pisces scripture in Vue Weekly referred to a shrink who advised to his patient that, "If you don't articulate your conscious desires, your unconscious patterns will come true." It goes on to recommend a week of "intense contemplation" of this psychotherapist's advice.

After a lifetime of contemplating my actions, my words, the actions and responses from the people around me, I have come to realize that a few undesirable patterns of behaviour have become apparent. This is going to be solved. Well according to the Good Doc anyways; because I plan on being much more articulate on my desires. No more goofin' around. Know what I want, and let it be known, then go out and get it. I doubt that I will be able to undo much of the unconscious (unfavourable?) patterns that make me so .... me, but at the same time, I have done a lot of this personality meyers-briggs analysis stuff over the past few years anyways, so I already know who I am, how I behave, what I am capable of, and how my behavior affects others. If anything, I might be able to consciously say that I am going to focus on some of my *behaviour* that might seem a little bit...off, according to sane people's standards...

So sooooo long filthy habits (unconscious patterns), and hellllll-o (ladies!)...wait, no that's not quite what I meant. From this point on though, be sure that I am going to be saying what I mean and meaning what I say. No more tom-foolery or shenanigans. Except on Fridays.

April 12, 2008

The Show of The Summer

kkkkkkkkkkkkay.


God life is so GAH! sometimes!!

or ARGH!!!!

or just plain: oooooooooooooooooooooy.

it's enough to drive a person absolutely bonkers.



i mean, you would think that
a guy that just so happens
to be teetering on the brink as it is
would get a break
sometimes.



just kidding. i'm really actually pretty stable.

i swear.



But to be a little less non-specific,

let's seeeee...how can i put it:

yowza.





yeah that's about as much as I can get out right now about everything that's going on in my head, except that today i found out that The Tragically Hip, Matthew Good, City & Colour, The Constantines, The New Pornographers, and even Ten Second Epic want to put on a show for me in cowtown on June 22. I think this is going to have to replace my annual trip to warped tour, since, I am after all soo mature and grown up and past that punk-rocker lifestyle @ this ripe old age of a hundred and fifty-two. The tickets are not cheap, but they are going to sell out fast. I sure hope someone can find it in their pocketbook & gosh-darn busy lifestyle that they can get to calgary with me for this day.


bOnK3Rs

April 9, 2008

The Evolution of "HA"

flipper was a name of a hardcore band in the eighties. they came out with a song called "ha ha ha". unimaginably incredible lyrics are associated with this tune and i totally recommend checking them out. but the funniest thing has happened over the years since this band used this word so explicitly. namely msn and/or facebook.

HA! has become one of those incredibly overused words in languages all around the world. It is mostly commonly used as a way to respond verbally to funny things we witness. Other times it's used as a way to act conceited and say "So There! I told you so -- so HA!" But don't ever be confused with the alternative use of "ahhh!" which has an entirely other set of possible situations where it could be used to describe a sense of relief/enjoyment/enlightened understanding; or the abbreviated version: "Ah!" as in The Count's "Ah! Ah! Ah!" after counting from one to fourteen. HA! could never be used in this way shape or form.

The thing that gets me the most though is how web tools like chatting online or writing on walls, or even blogging has drastically change how much more people emphasize the sound of that word when they are actually saying it!

Just listen. People around you at work. School. Your family. Yourself. The enunciation of the "heh" and "ah" sound are unlike anything we've been hearing ever before. I used to joke how Canadians say "eh" while Americans say "huh?" (because they sound pretty clueless about most things) but now it seems The Whole World is just saying HA!

After all. Everything is pretty funny. That, plus thanks to the realization global warming, the know-it-all conceited Al Gores of the world are saying to us all: "We knew you were heading for a disaster like this, So HA! The joke's on YOU!!"

What can we do to end this overuse of this word? Perhaps invent a new word like "mraw!" or start using that Fozzie the Bear's "wakka wakka wakka!" Maybe we can all just choose to go offline. No more networking sites, no more being silly in emails, no more chatting on msn.

Maybe this is all just me, because all of the time I spend and idiotic things I say online. But I couldn't be easily convinced because in addition to this new emphasis on this damn' 2-letter word, I have noticed that people are starting to express them self as the do-er of an action. What I mean is that facebook's status updates are causing people to think in a way that they must now present them self as the new subject which is now doing some verb on some noun. I'd sure like to do some verb on some noun, but refuse to publish Just What That May Be online... So even off of facebook (which is actually seeing less of me these days), I find that people present themselves as explicitly doing something more and more often.

Well now that I have proven to myself how neurotic I in fact truly am, it's time to go update my facebook status. So HA!


This blog has been brought to you today by the letter S and the number 6.




April 6, 2008

Hakuna Matata

"Sometimes in life bad things happen, and you can't do anything about it right?"
"Right."
"WRONG! When the world turns its back on you - you turn your back on the world!!!"
"That's not what I was told"

"Well then maybe you need a new lesson!"


Hakuna Matata: the ultimate nonsensical disney-derived phrase, competing with such words as
supercalifragiliticexpialadocious,
bibbity bobbity boo, and
zip-a-dee-do-dah.

The fact of matter is that Hakuna Matata has become not only a goofy disney catch-phrase, but has also become an underlying philosophy in the way that people are responding to any mishaps that affects them directly, or major problems in the world around them, which will impact them indirectly.

Simba "finally got some sense knocked into him - and the bump to prove it", but there are many young, non-lion species all around the world that are choosing (or are forced to choose) to live by this laxidasical manner in their every day lives. The "No worries" philosophy seems to be today's solution to every problem, every mistake.

The mistakes
It's hard to get through an entire day without saying or doing something that may have potentially offended someone. When you stop to correct your mere misstep, the person usually responds "No Worries!" before you even have the chance to clarify or apologize for whatever faux pas you said or did in the first place. This could includes the the mistake of bumping somebody's foot in the desk next to you, brushing your bag against them when getting off of the bus, taking the last nacho or finishing the last of the jug of beer without consulting your mates first.

Since these are very small infractions for the most part, this Hakuna Matata attitude isn't really a big deal. I mean, forgive and forget, right? Or Shit Happens, as Gump might say. But at the same time, maybe more due dilligence or consideration is required from each of us and as a result, these thoughtless mishaps would happen less.

Using due dilligence, or shall we say..."Giving A Damn' " can be a hard thing to do for a largely apathetic population of youngsters facing a vast amount of challenging problems in their future. But the one thing I have going for me now in continuing to actually care and resisting apathy is that society is more aware now than ever of the enormity of the issues that need addressing. Also, 30, 60, 100, 1000 years ago there were still people out there trying to solve some of these problems, who did not just put there head in the sand. I think that getting used to accepting the "shit happens" ideology for incidental things like when we are mistakenly charged an extra $2 in bank fees one month, then we are not far off from accepting this attitude for bigger issues that are out there.

The problems
Timon and Pumbaa showed that really, life can be a beautiful thing if you go through it with a "problem-free philosophy", and just go through life looking for your next "grub".

This "grub" is a symbol of the human necessity of satisfying our needs despite how slimy the path may be in achieving them. We let things go unsaid, we turn blind eyes, we find that path of least resistance, we ask no questions and seek no answers. Our decisions to put it on auto-pilot and let the days drive themselves, believing that we, as individuals, have negligible impact on the world is sad, unavoidable, yet increasing at higher rates than ever, thanks to popular culture dictating what we need to be happy.


So instead, we say to ourselves that when something goes wrong, it will work itself out eventually.
no worries


The next thing you know, you're living in a city facing an obesity epidemic in which water or energy privatization has left you cold and in the dark and murder rates are the highest in the country. Well maybe Edmonton doesn't meet one of these criteria, but with time & continual inaction of an apathetic electorate, it certainly won't take long to meet the other few.

Many of us are just surviving paycheque to paycheque, and feel no duty to look out for anything more than our immediate family's well-being. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this, in its own right. The problem lies in the fact that out of the 6.6 billion people on earth, nearly 3 billion people live on less than $2/day. That's a lot of people. There is not very much that a family of 4 living on one income can do in their day-to-day lives that would help change the lives of that family of 4 living 3000 miles or 30 miles away after all, right?

Maybe we could vote for a different government (aka: that body that is supposed to regulate the well-being of society's helpless) But with 42% of the population making up the popular vote, this will not likely have any impact, especially if those who really need the help are the one's that aren't even able to get to polling stations on election day to vote for the help they need. But Hakuna Matata right? Instead corporate money buys governments and dictates where money will be spent. These big multi-nationals will take their tax break or subsidy then boast at improving the economies and livelihoods of those poorest in the world, despite their continual exploitation of millions of people worlds away. So apathy is hard to avoid for even the biggest optimist, knowing that there are people that Just Don't Care - Hakuna Matata - and knowing that money buys governments.

So Get Angry, Kids. I mean, seriously. This apathetic and impassive attitude of human beings is really starting to piss me off. Our fear of upsetting people, our apathetic attitudes, and our blissful ignorance of world issues has led us to tip-toe around every moral or social issue there is. If I had it my way, I would higher more baboons to knock us all on the head with a stick. Maybe then we would wake up & fight for what's right!

"The Arid Torpor of Our Inaction Will Lead Us To Our Demise"
-bad religion, 2002

April 3, 2008

late last night, when we were all in bed
old lady leary lit a lantern in the shed
and when the cow kicked it over
she winked her eye and said
it's gonna be a hot time
in the old town
tonight.

Fire! Fire! Fire!

April 1, 2008

Wavelength

Lamda. MS Word --> Font--> Symbol (or Greek). The eleventh letter in the Greek alphabet. Speed over frequency. Whatever way you think of it, this little squiggle that looks like a wishbone is one of the most key elements for a person's ability to achieve a steady state of mind with respect to how they portray themselves interacting with other people.

Waves, as you may recall, can have positive or destructive interference. They may travel in or out of phase. Crests and troughs are the high and low points and half the distance between them is the amplitude.

These parameters mimic real life. Interactions between people are often in or out of phase. They are getting along great one minute, the next: well, someone drops their end of the slinky. When relationships between people are in phase, life is just hunky-dory. Sometimes you know when you are perfectly in phase with the other person. You can say anything to them and they could not only complete your thought, but also return some quick witty banter right back (that is hopefully relevant to the conversation at hand, and not something like "... well that's what your MOM said!"). Being in sync with another person can be one of the most enjoyable relationships ever for as long as it can remain steady. Sometimes I think that the waves are travelling at ever-so-slightly different speeds though, and the second that this is realized, one person will be grasping for the aspirin, the other for a bottle. Sometimes these little remedies are enough to get the relationship back in check, or the waves back in phase, but other times the waves get farther and farther apart, and people grow tired of trying to find that constant period. It is during these times that when a new wave oscillating at the same frequency as the one that you are becomes especially intriguing; and your wave diverges from your partner's wave even faster. The amplitude of energy associated with this new wave is boosting your very own energy. It is possible, after all, for two waves to be travelling with the same frequency, but having different amplitudes from eachother.

It's not uncommon to hear about relationships that get so far out of phase from another (one person's crest is the other's trough), that they begin to converge to that same sized wavelength they were once on before. Perhaps this time, given that adversity has been overcome, the wavelengths will be shorter such that the frequency will be higher and the energy maintained in the relationship will be proportionately greater.

When two in-phase waves travelling towards eachother create positive interference, an overwhelming generation of emotion occurs. Sometimes this emotion goes over the top when you see your auntie doing cartwheels in the kitchen because she's a little over-excited for your uncle's 60th birthday. But in most occasions, this new amplitude of emotion is just a wonderful feeling and you wish that you could remain in this state with whoever it is forever. Sometimes these waves do hold out, even though they were heading in opposite directions. A standing wave equation could defend this mathematically.

Opposing waves that are out of sync will create destructive interference when they meet. Usually the lack of energy generated in this situations makes the people happy enough to just bypass eachother and not show any more emotion than perhaps a nod of the head, if eye contact is met.

I see myself as a pretty high energy ~ high frequency wave guy in most circumstances. Sure, dips in the curve are inevitable, I know, but I think that with the right person around, these dips become shallower as a result of positive interference. In return, the other person will also benefit from this high frequency (low wavelength) energy. In the end, a positive amplitude will endure through most of the wave's existence, or propogation.

Physics 20 Rocks.