Status Update

Well, I’m still in Hull, though the internet situation has changed.  I managed to find a wireless network connection somewhere in the neighborhood so I have teh nets. Yay!  Only problem is if I move it a little to the left or a little to the right, it goes haywire and decides that it can’t pick up the connection.  Ehn, well.  Such is life.

Anyways, I’m just chilling here with my family.  It’s kind of dumb, but I didn’t realize just how much I missed everybody until I was back here.  I mean it feels so goddamn great to be back here…

I went to see The Dark Knight earlier this evening, and all I can say is… WOW.  Seriously, it is the best film to come out of the US in the past ten years.  Even though I knew the basic plotline and a few of the twists, it blew me away, so much so that I intend to go back and watch it again next week.  Heath Ledger delivered an absolutely stunning performance as the psychotic Joker, and the supporting cast was awesome (yes, Bale pretty much WAS the supporting cast member in this one).  Only down side I can think of is Maggie-fucking-Gyllenhal.  God that woman can’t act.

Unfortunately, my great-grandma took a turn for the worst this week.  She has Alzheimers and has become aggressive and confused, so much so that my great-grandfather was obliged to take her to the hospital, because he simply can’t cope.  I can’t imagine what he’s going through, it must be terrible when your own wife can’t recognize you.  While I haven’t seen either of them in quite a while, I really hope that she will take a turn for the better.  It’s very sad to see someone you love have something like that to happen to you.

My grandmother’s husband is also having a leg amputated later on in the year, due to complications he received from an ulcer. Joy.  While we’re not on the best of terms, I do sympathize with him.

In other news, I managed to pick up a rather nifty Ramones T-shirt a few days ago.  Und tomorrow wir haben Film Night; wee!

Oh, if you’re looking for something funny, check out the earlier post “Dostoyevsky’s Morality” for a side-splittingly misguided post by the Reverend Don Spitz-Not-Swallows.  He completely missed the point of the post.  Fucking troll.

See you later, Space Cowboy.

P.S., GO SEE THE DARK KNIGHT!

-James

Dostoyevsky’s Morality

Crime?  What crime? … My killing a loathsome, harmful louse, a filthy old moneylender woman … and you call that a crime?

Crime and Punishment is one of the all-time masterpieces of Russian realist literature.  More accessible than War and Peace and more invigorating than Dead Souls.

One of the things that makes it the most interesting 19th century novels out there is the twisted morality behind the main character Raskolnikov’s murdering the old moneylender woman.  The concept that was put forward by Dostoyevsky has been used and re-hashed by such litterary greats as Friedrich Nietzsche and more recently, in the stylings of the Marvel Comics vigilante The Punisher.

Raskolnikov kills the old woman because he views the act as a favour to society.  He explicitly states that he does not consider the act itself to be a crime (see above quote).  This is where Dostoyevsky puts forth the concept further expanded by Nietzsche; that of the “Superman”.  Raskolnikov puts forth the theory that some people are morally superior to others, therefore enabling them to commit murder on the ‘undesireable’ people without feeling guilt or reproach.

Since the theory came out, variations of it have been used to justify various actions.  One of the most interesting uses is in the various religions, especially Christianity and Islam.  Of course, when I single these two out, I realize that not all Christians and Muslims want to kill everyone they don’t agree with.  98% of Christians and Muslims are decent, kind people who don’t believe in violence.  But for every majority there are always a bunch of crazy bastards who have to spoil the party.

Christians who bomb abortion clinics, for example, believe they are doing right because according to them abortion violates one of the 10 commandments: thou shalt not kill.  Of course, bombing abortion clinics also goes against verses from Matthew 7:1 and Luke 6:37: “Judge not, and ye shall not be judged”.  This is one of the most hypocritical statements in the Bible, as man is unable to stop judging others according to their own standards and morals.

So anyway, Christians who bomb abortion clinics do so because they believe they are acting through God, thus taking away all culpability for their acts.  They therefore think that they have the moral right to do this, because they’re helping lots of unborn babies and society in general.  Sound familiar?

The same can be applied to radical muslims who wage Jihad against their enemies.  They’re doing it because they believe Allah gives them absolution from the responsibility.

So why don’t these people see murder for what it really is?

Please tell me and I’ll give you a red balloon

-James

Sum peepol r speshul

The internet is brewing with a surprising number of special people.  Especially Youtube.  What the fuck is wrong with that?  In fact, I would be prepared to say that there is an abundance of speshul peepol on Youtube.

Like this guy, Suttsteve.  Here’s a little instructional video teaching us all how to eat Oreos. Harmless, right?

Woah, fuck!  Maybe not.  First of all, the guy comes across as a lobotomy patient.  Second of all, I have never, and I repeat never regarded eating an oreo as some sort of crazy sado-masochistic ritual.  Nor have I ever met anyone who considers it so.  Apparently, he does though.

To give Suttsteve some credit, he did post this video just to clear things up a bit.

Ah, so… Okay, that creepy Oreo guy was just a character.  Say, this guy’s actually pretty norm… waitasec…  Ah, shit no! He’s going all apeshit again! Goddamnit!…

Why the fuck do I even try?

-James

Quiet time

If you’re reading this, I’ve travelled up to Kingston Upon Hull for a few weeks to visit family.  I may or may not have access to teh internetz, so I won’t be able ot post as often.

Anyways, I’ll see you when I get back.  In the mean time, if you’re a fan of World music, you should check out Habib Koite, he’s a malinese musician and does some really good music.

Peace!

James

But, sir… I am looking forward to death!

It’s kinda strange, the name of my blog “Forward to Death” describes the exact opposite of what I’m feeling.  Nah, the title comes from a Dead Kennedys song.  I suppose I’m using it in the same way as they are; purely ironically .

But yeah, flashback to a year.  I was going through a severe case of teenage angst, though at the time I thought it was a clinical depression sort of thing.  I tend to be a bit of a hypochondriac at times.  But it was really just my extreme cynicism coupled with hormones raging and alla that.  Now I’m top of the world, so to speak.

But anyways, Forward to Death was a song by the legendary punk band the Dead Kennedys.  The lyrics kind of relay what I was thinking at the time I was going through my “depression”.  They are as follows:

I dont need your way of life
I cant stand your attitudes
I can do without your strife
I dont need this fucking world
I dont need this fucking world

This world brings me down
Gag with every breath
This world brings me down
Im looking forward to death

It seems so unreal to me
So much hate and so mouch pity
I cant take another day
Its such a bore
It gets me really sore
I dont need this fucking world
I dont need this fucking world
This world brings me down
Gag with every breath
This world brings me down
Im looking forward to death
Looking forward to death

But for me it’s not really the lyrics that made me choose the title for my blog, it was a tale that one of the Dead Kennedy band members told in an interview.  While I can’t quote it exactly (I don’t have the interview at hand), it goes something like this:

The band were pretty stoked because they had a meeting with a record executive to discuss their debut album.  The exec was pretty positive about the album, saying it had a good sound and would appeal to a lot of kids.  He had one problem though: “The title, you know… Forward to Death… It’s a little pessimistic, isn’t it?” to which Klaus Floride replied meekly “But, sir, I am looking forward to death”.  A stunned silence filled the room.

But it shows just how things have changed since then.  Who would have thought that punks would slowly seep into mainstream society and become “cool”?  And who would have thought it would only take thirty years for that to happen?

A lot of stuff can change if you just give it time.