Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy thanksgiving to all y'all and don't miss the cnn heroes show.

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends

Every now and then I like to let my mind wander, helped along of course by several authors, film directors and an overactive imagination. So without much fanfare, presenting a list of events; past, future, fictional and others that I would like or have liked to be a part of.

1. Armageddon


Hollywood has served up this scenario of earth's ultimate fate several times, most notably the 1998 blockbuster "Armageddon" starring Bruce Willis and Billy Bob Thornton. The idea is simple; there's so much junk leftover from the bing bang and cosmic collisions that one day we'll experience the cosmic equivalent of slipping on a banana peel. Apparently the dinosaurs suffered a similar fate and it's long overdue.

If we put aside the fact that it would probably be curtains for mankind, imagine what it would feel and look like. The visual effects would be amazing, and the knowing that everything will be wrapped up momentarily (assuming it's predicted early enough) would be enough to humble even the greatest ego.

2.Contact!

There is life out there. OK, you've probably realised by now that I'm a science fiction buff, but seriously there's life out there. Intelligent life at that and one day, in some distant future or hopefully sooner, we'll stumble upon it or it us. I imagine it would change a whole lot of things; religions would crumble overnight, economic systems, etc.

3. One step closer to nowhere!















"That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." Immortal words uttered by Neil Armstrong. Imagine what it feels like to walk on the surface of the moon. To look up and see the earth thousands of kilometers away. To walk in the void, in the nothingness that is everything...aaah! the wonder!

Although overshadowed by cold war ideologies and painted as the "race to the moon", it portrays a significant human trait lauded in a TV series of the same decade: "To boldly go where no man has gone before"

4. When in the course of human events...

The American declaration of independence is one of the most beautiful documents ever penned. Written by Thomas Jefferson it was a formal explanation of why the US continental congress had voted to declare independence from Great Britain. If I had lived then, I would not have hesitated to take arms and rise up.

"When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness..."

....to be continued


Tuesday, September 09, 2008

Number 13

13. There are fewer things more peaceful than having a child fall asleep in your arms.

Friday, August 22, 2008

I fleet..I float..I cannot tell a lie....

Um where was I?..oh yes..things I have learnt over the years..

11. Honesty is a double edged sword and if you must lie, do it by omission.
I have a strange compulsion to be honest in my social dealings...It's ended my relationships twice. I don't want to say I have a strong moral compass but I believe in the end it's good to be honest. However it's inevitable that at one time or another you have to tell a lie perhaps a white one, do it by omission and if u can't then abandon the facade.

12. There are fewer things more important in life than the friends we make.
To quote Alan Shore quoting Ralph Waldo Emerson " A friend may well be reckoned the masterpiece of nature."


Tuesday, March 25, 2008

you're breaking the speed of the sound of loneliness

There's something about a beautiful voice singing a sad song. It sinks deep inside you. Like a diver hunting for treasure, it brings all sorts of feelings and memories to the surface. Yet there's something more to it, Brenda was telling me yesterday that it's amazing how it can make you feel happy and sad at the same time. It makes you remember and feel sad moments, makes you imagine how the person who wrote it felt and makes you realise that you're not the only one who has ever known such sadness. It makes you believe there's a kindred soul out there....just waiting to be chanced upon...like a treasure chest in the ocean...you find hope...and you dream once more.

Take me back to Anona street
Fill my glass again
With a bittersweet
Cause I don't wanna see
The life I have
Thought the next time around
Wouldn't be so bad

Same mistake that I made before
I'll be waking up
On the kinlin' floor
While the bells are ringing
So low and sad
Thought the next time around
Wouldn't be so bad

Same mistake that I made before
I'll be waking up
On the kinlin' floor
I remember how
I made you mad
Thought the next time around
Wouldn't be so bad

I Thought the next time around
Wouldn't be so bad
Thought the next time around
Wouldn't be so bad
-------------------------Alison Krauss

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

....in the end, only kindness matters

8. I have been lucky to experience the kindness of strangers
There are fewer things more amazing than the kindness of strangers. I am not talking about that pocket change you give to the beggar or that donation to the children's fund you gave last year. I'm talking about "come into my home, share my roof, my food.." kindness. I have been fortunate to know it and I can't think of a better way to repay it than to if possible pay it back but always "PAY IT FORWARD".

9. Everyone has a right to bear arms (after a psych evaluation)

10.
He who sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed
Some crimes are only punishable by death.

Monday, March 10, 2008

...in the pale light of the moon, I play a game of you.

6. I do Believe in love

They say we never landed on the moon
There's no wind there, they assume
I guess conspiracies are nothing new
But I'm sure i've been there with you

And I don't believe that in space
The only life is here on earth
How could we be the only race
That loves and hates 'til death from birth

But I do believe in love
Though I should never rely on love
Nothing else excites me
But loving you

Is it true a politician's heart
Can rust away and fall apart
I guess it must be hard
It must be hard
To know what's good
And to know what's easy

You might think it's strange
For all my wild ideas
But I do not believe that change
Can ever happen without tears

But I do believe in love
Though I should never rely on love
Nothing else excites me
But loving you
But loving you


7. The Sandman is the best graphic novel ever penned+drawn. Most people I know wouldn't touch it bse it looks like a kids comic but trust me it's anything but.


Tuesday, March 04, 2008

...looking on the bright side of life!

So I kicked year #26 out the backdoor today and made a deal with #27 to have a bit of meaning and then some. I have learnt a few things over the years and whether you like it or not, I'm going to share a few with you. So without further delay, presenting...."26 Things Raymond Believes"

1. Religion is outdated
I have always been of the view that we as human beings have an innate sense of morality and I guess we've arrived at this point by way of evolution with a few unsuccessful deviations by the wayside. Ultimately we've come to the point where do not need a 2000 year old interpretation of our lives.

You see, as human beings we have 2 strong urges or needs if I may call them that. One is the need to lay blame. So when things are going from bad to worse, when we fuck up or when life becomes a proverbial bitch, we get the irresistible urge to point the finger. The second need is the desire to give up, throw in the towel, call it quits, whatever cliche you like but there's no denying the fact that we love to give up. Granted there's a few of us who have evolved beyond this but most of us would rather lie down and let someone else do the heavy lifting. Anyway, the point of all that talk is that human beings invented religion to satisfy two basic needs
  • The need to lay blame (Devil)
  • The need to give up (God)
But enough with that crap I say, you and you alone are responsible for the shit you do.

2. The End Is Nigh!
Probably not, but I've always wanted to say that. Mankind will eventually do itself in, it's almost inevitable that out there somewhere is some mad and deluded mind that will one day push that button and we'll call it a day; barring that, there's bound to be a rock out there with our number on it. Yes, that's our future, extinction!

3. There Is Intelligent Life Out There! Probably back home.
To quote Douglas Adams, "Space is big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind- bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts to space."

Every star you see in the night sky is actually a sun in a solar system and galaxy far far away. Now consider that there are as many stars as there are grains of sand on the beaches of the earth, by even the most conservative of estimates, the chances that intelligent life exists out there are pretty good. In fact having had even the most minor of brushes with the science of probability, you'll know that if a certain phenomenon is very likely to occur....

There is another reason I believe this though, one cannot fail to see that mankind was not meant for this planet. Let's face it, we can't deny our overwhelming ability to multiply irrespective of the availability of resources. We overpopulate the planet and then start squabbling over land, food and oil until some deadly disease comes along and regulates things. Hence I subscribe to the idea that we came from some far flung corner of the cosmos, hitched a ride on some comet (probably the one that did the dinosaurs in) and after things had quietened down, we crawled out of the seas to see where we had landed. Ergo, there's always home.

4. When in the course of human events...
I think the American Declaration of Independence is a masterpiece of political writing, in fact of writing period! It was a call to arms for the people of the colonies and a statement to the rest of the world that America was a sovereign nation with no political ties to the British crown.

5. We never stop silently loving those we once loved out loud...

....to be cont'd