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Alan Wilson Watts was a philosopher, writer, speaker, and student of comparative religion. He was best known as an interpreter and popularizer of Asian philosophies for a Western audience. He wrote more than twenty-five books and numerous articles on subjects such as personal identity, the true nature of reality, higher consciousness, meaning of life, concepts and images of God and the pursuit of happiness, relating his experience to scientific knowledge and to the teachings of Eastern and Western religions or philosophies.

He was an amazing speaker and a holistic zen master.  There are many clips and sites dedicated to his speeches, but here I present a real gem that I found on You Tube.  Matt Stone and Trey Parker of Southpark fame created the following short animation to explain one of the most important of Watts’ ideas.  Ideas he understood rather than created, but still ones that he was a true genius at putting accross.

What is the meaning of life?  Click to find out!

I must say that I totally agree with him and for me this question is hereby answered.

Basho

When I was fresh out of University I moved down to live with my then girlfriend (now wife) Francesca in Southampton,England. Southampton is ugly city on the southern coast of England, a sort of sea parasite that has evolved into a city size and started to ooze itself out of the water trailing its port behind it. It grips the land like a limpet, munching on the ancient forest to its north and spitting at passing traffic.

I loved living there obviously.

Anyway, being a penniless ex-student, I was forced to do the decent thing and out and get a job. I had no idea about work, and having been a student (a student of Philosophy no less) I was under the very mistaken impression that I was going to somehow lounge around indefinitely. Finding work was for the lower orders, us high minded Philosophers subsided dear boy, and work was like kryptonite to a student. I quickly found that I was desperate to eat and thus would take any work were I would be paid for doing not very much.

Like all those in such a position I became a security guard.

My first (and last as you will hear!) assignment was to guard a yacht’s racing mast worth upwards of a million quid (2 million $) down at the docks overnight. This sounds easy enough as I would only have to check in once every hour and would be on my own to relax and see the wonderful sights of the endless sea.

More fool me.

Southampton docks at night are not wonderful. They are dirty, oily, unpleasantly quiet and probably crawling with murderers and rapists. Although they wouldn’t be able to get me as the fog had come in and I could barely see 10 meters in front of my face.

That’s the sea view out then, I thought.

Eventually I found the tiny little hut I was looking for and sure enough no insane mast thieves had yet made off with the bloody huge racing mast laying next to it on some sort of stanchion.

Once I opened the hut door I realised that it had:

No TV
No fridge
No running water
and most importantly it had no toilet

It was in fact a simple desk with a small lamp and a phone. A big old phone the like of which Commissionaire Gordon would use to call for Batman. The hut had a large set of windows on all sides and I could see the edge of the docks and long dark drop to the freezing ocean ahead. Charming.

I sat down and wrote and entry in today’s section of my diary. It simply said:

Bugger.

For me staying up late, all night in fact, requires some sort of stimulant. My choice was 3 cans of Diet Coke and by midnight it was very very dark and very very quiet.

I was also in very very clear need of somewhere to urinate.

What to do? The hut had no loo. I held on and on, but I was eventually very desperate. So, I called up the office and asked for help. “Go off the fucking docks you twat”, was the only sage advice my controller had for me.

I looked out of the window at the edge. The docks was so desolate and devoid of any other life at this time of night I actually decided to try it. I left the hut and waded through the pitch black, fog towards the edge and the 30ft drop into the water. The edge was slippery, but I didn’t care; necessity grasped me now. I hurriedly unzipped the growler and with relief a wonderful arcing line of pure pee flashed into the darkness and dropped into the drink with a satisfying tinkling sound. I was really feeling better when suddenly I heard,

HHHHHHNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!

My ears nearly split and my heart put on spiked running shoes and did a quick lap of my insides causing me to nearly fall in!

But this was nothing, because the source of the excruciating loud sound was the fog horn of the Isle of Wight ferry silently gliding into view about 3 bloody meters away from me. My pee, still arcing into the water ran up the side of the ferry as its enormous bulk passed by me. The crew and 20 odd drunken passengers, returning from the many bars on the Isle, could see me very clearly as well as see my ghostly white shocked face as I watched dumbfounded.

As one they all cheered!

I almost died on the spot from horror.

Finally, my mind unfroze and I pulled myself together enough to run and hide in my hut. I tried to calm down but my legs were like rubber and my ears still rang from that awful fog horn. But, there was no chance of escaping my ignominy as 15 minutes later the ferry made its way back to the Isle of Wight and the entire crew, armed with power torches, lined up along the side of the ship and joined arms as they serenaded me with: “Why was he born so beautiful, why was he born at all?!”

With a very red face I opened my diary back up and underlined today’s entry.

Basho

The quotes are from various people in the arnies airsoft discussion on this issue I have recently become embroiled in a very heated community debate regarding headshots in airsoft.

I am going here present the full force of my argument and sound a call for what I believe is the most important change needed to the sport; the mandatory wearing of full face protection. Airsoft is a lot more than simply a target sport. Airsoft is the recreation of a conflict played out as a skirmishing encounter with a set of rules and structure. These encounters are essentially split into two distinct game types, which has lead to two different feelings regarding the issue under discussion. Firstly we have Urban/CQB environments. CQB is close, very close and shots to the head are very common indeed. Given the limited space available in CQB environments even un-aimed shots have a very good chance of striking the head. Urban is similar. The main difference between Urban and CQB is that in Urban range is more mixed. For whilst it can be as close as CQB in parts, such as in houses, it can also be almost woodland ranges in places. However, this does not in anyway reduce the amount of hits to the head as people are often shooting at shapes in windows or doorways and the natural defensive position is to hold the body behind cover and only show the smallest part of the head and gun.

“Aim should always be centre-mass anyway. But if a head is all I can see, I will aim for it.”

The second type of environment is woodland. In woodland distance is rarely less than 20ft. Fixed position assaults do bring the players within that distance, but generally woodland players are less likely to be face to face with their opponents. This however, again, does not reduce the number of headshots because of the increased use of sniper rifles in open play and the targeting of the head by such players.

“I dont worry about headshots. Got one on me, take it. I expect the same in return. If its a problem, we won’t play together. To not take a shot on someone when its applicable is retarded. Otherwise dont call it “milsim”.”

The rule makers in CQB have long known about the problems of close contact and there are plenty of methods to reduce the risk of injury to the players. In some sites a helmet is mandatory (longmoor), in others all CQB environments are single shot (Spectre) and at some the choice is left up to the player who receives all the possible encouragement to wear full face protection (Electrowerkz). In these environments players know that headshots will not only happen, but are actually played for. The head is often the first thing seen of the opponent apart from his firearm and ‘selective’ targeting is impossible.

“I personally think head shots should only be viewed as a last resort option, only to be taken very rarely for one simple reasson. Airsoft is supposed to be, above and before anything else, fun. I you end up accidentally injuring someone by taking a head shot, it’s highly unlikely they’ll be having too much fun afterwards. Likewise, in my case at least, it’s highly unlikely I’d be having too much fun afterwards.”

The rule-makers in woodland rarely come into contact with such conditions, but still efforts are made to reduce injuries. Many sites require snipers to have a minimum engage distance and the direct targeting of the head is frowned upon as unsporting. Some require that guns are switched to semi in certain games or scenarios, or that people should ‘bang dead’ an opponent who is very close without firing. It is against this background that the arguments arise. The following are my thoughts on the subject of headshots.

Why aim for the head?

“Ah, I’m not going to vote. I shoot at whatever I can see. If the head is the only part that I can see than I’ll shoot at it because that means one less person on the other team. If the torso and head is all I can see then I’ll aim in the general direction and hit something. I don’t really care which…”

Headshots are an important part of the game of airsoft. Airsoft is an attempt to make a ‘safe’ version of a real battle, where people can come and play out combat scenarios without being killed or injured. All aspects of combat are played out with weapons of all types and pyro’s taking the place of explosives and grenades. As such, in a real battle the fighters would of course aim for whatever comes into range first. Unsurprisingly this would include the head as a primary target as a shot to the head is usually fatal. I have yet to come across an airsoft site that has banned headshots all together. In fact I have only seen such a rule set in a paintball match and frankly I felt it made a mockery of the game. All rules in a true sport are pushed and considered for advantage. In the paintball game I mentioned; players showed only their heads and their guns in the open, safe in the knowledge that they were immortal this way. It made for quite a strange sight I can tell you!

“Since I play CQB and full face mask is required. I’m kind of appreciative if they go for the headshot as it doesn’t hurt a bit. But I understand where if people are not using full face mask then that would be dangerous. But since they have the option to wear full face mask. It’s their own fault for choosing not to. Maybe they like getting hit in the face.”

It is this aspect of ‘sportsmanship’ that also leads to targeting of the head in airsoft. Often in our sport people do not ‘take their hits’. This is considered the worst possible offence and rightly so. Some sites run a total ‘no second chances’ rule on this. We can all agree that there are many reasons why someone might not take a hit to the body, from the testosterone ruled rage reducing the pain of the hit, to the BB striking soft webbing and not making any noise nor being able to be felt, to plain outright cheating. The general opinion of such play is split into two camps. The first advocates ‘lacing the bastard’, which as I will claim later increases injuries and creates a bigger problem. The other opinion advocates shooting them in the head. Why? Because: almost everyone ‘takes the hit’ from a headshot. Even if the person cannot feel it, they will certainly hear it. Only the very worst of offenders will not walk after such treatment and at my club these people are found and banned (Marcus, I am looking at you).

Isn’t shooting to the head unsporting?

“If it’s an issue for you to get shot in the face, wear a mask. End, full stop.”

As I mentioned, in CQB you have little choice regarding where on the opponent you place your shot. A vast amount of the game is played at a very fast pace and in an environment of large amounts of full contact fire. In such pressurised playing fields it is impossible to not aim at whatever target the opponent places in view. A player tends to find a style of play that works for them and sticks to it. The greater problem is this: airsoft hurts a lot. In CQB lacings are common and great pain can be both given and received by the players. This has led to the increased use of armour. I myself have a full level 3 armour set that totally protects my body from the rigors of ‘hardcore’ CQB. As my airsoft playing got better I slowly removed parts and now wear only a light jacket, gloves, cup, mask and helmet. However, the general trend is in the other direction.

People are now wearing such amounts of armour and combat vests that hits to the body are not felt at all. In fact, such players need a full lacing before they will even walk. Is this a problem with cheating? No, it is a natural reaction to the essential pain of airsoft and the fact that we all have work to go to/women to sleep with and both bosses and babes hate huge welts over your body.

I played once, one time only, before I got a helmet. I played with full face from the start. Pain is not my friend and my wife hates the injuries I was returning home with.

“Too right it’s unsporting! As XXXX says, most of us don’t play for the pain and don’t play to cause others pain - to deliberately hurt someone is sick and anyone with that attitude should be be banned from sites.”

What this trend has led to in CQB is a direct targeting of the head of the opponent. Especially when using pistols or single shot. If one does not shoot them in the head there is a fair possibility that they wont take the hit at all and nothing is more aggravating that winning a battle but being laced by the opponent after they are dead “because they didn’t feel it mate” etc. This has become a vicious circle and one which the marshalling team at my site do everything in their power to prevent. With a firm limit on FPS, players will use whatever advantage they can gain. This is not unsporting. This is the key to a sport. Take fencing. A hundred years ago one was not supposed to block fencing attacks and certainly not counter attack. This was considered un-gentlemanly. Compared to the sport today, such antiquated notions are comical. Moreover, and even more relevant fencers never wore masks. It took many many deaths before fencing became a proper sport and took the safety of its players seriously. The last death in fencing was in the 80’s and unsurprisingly masks are essential. This is because as the art evolved into the sport people became competitive. Once this happens, safety can no longer be a matter of choice; it must be mandated.

My argument is essentially this: If airsoft is going to survive as a sport and even become fully recognised, we must be safe and this must be in the rules.

Why not just ban headshots?

“I always headshot when assaulting. End of.”

BB’s rain down in all directions during play. On both woodland and CQB, support weapons and very fast firing guns are commonplace. Woodland players often fire burst way in excess of CQB players and some CQB players have guns that fire over 42 BB’s a second! In such play, can we really not expect some BB’s to hit the opponents head? No. Some anecdotal evidence: In one game I was playing I saw a very nasty accident. A guy wearing only shooting glasses (professional ones held on with an elastic band mind) took a burst from 20ft away. Now the burst was aimed in his general direction as he had stepped out into fire and not specifically aimed at his head and indeed most of it missed him. But from my vantage point of next to him in cover I saw the BB’s that missed pass behind him and bounce off the wall. One in particular then passed back over his shoulder, very close to his ear, and entered the lens of the glasses at the rear. It then bounced back off the lens into his eye. The effect was devastating.

So why not make goggles the mandatory standard?

“If a head is all you can see then you are aiming to eliminate the opposition from the game before they eliminate you. You are either doing this because that is your objective or they are preventing you from completeing your objective. I do not play this game to cause pain but if a head is all I can see then that is what I am going to fire at. Don’t like it? Get a full face mask. I did.”

Far more common than the serious danger of eye injury is teeth damage. Both in woodland from sniper fire or lacings and in CQB. One chap, who I had warned about this simply smiled at me and pulled up his scarf to cover his mouth. “I won’t open my mouth,” he said. In the very first game he came around a corner to come face to face with me. We both instinctively targeted each other, but I was faster and shot him in the chin with a single BB from my pistol. The red welt was clear and I again said that he should borrow a full face mask. Again he simply smiled, thanked me for shooting him only the once and went to regen’. At the end of the night he was still smiling, but with one less tooth. He had run screaming into a full auto barrage of fire and had had the bottom of his front tooth shot clean out. A very clear circle of white was missing from his mouth. I shook my head at him and told him where the nearest cashpoint was. He smiled again and left the venue.

Full face would have saved him that injury. Nothing else, not ‘avoiding shooting the face’ or ‘banning headshots’ or even ‘penalising the player who shot him’ would have had any effect on the damage. And consider this, I had directly (albeit instinctively) targeted his head whereas the lacing that took his tooth had not. I contend that it is not the targeting of the head, but the lacing that causes the most injuries.

The arguments against full face, are they not convincing?

The arguments I have read and heard in my time against full face protection range from the pitiful to the stupid:

1. “I can’t see down my sights”. This is very easy to fix, by the simple purchase of a riser.
2. “It doesn’t fit my load out.” Wannabies and geardos are the scourge of this sport. I have even seen people with goggles on their helmets, but only shooting glasses on their face! This is just asking for injury.
3. “I wear a scarf.” Scarf’s don’t stop anything.
4. “I will close my mouth.” This is perhaps the stupidest argument. When shot most people let out a mandatory noise, it is the word “hit!” In 99% of sites you have to say this sound. Try shouting hit with your mouth closed. You can’t, this so called argument is stupid.
5. “I am over 18 and can do what I like.” Well, I am over 30 and I can’t. I can’t leave my fencing mask at home, I can’t spar at Karate without a floor mat and I shouldn’t be able to sign away my safety at airsoft.
6. “I play woodland, we don’t need full face.” I play all types of airsoft and I have taken head shots in woodland that have scared the crap out of me. Only two weeks ago I must have been hit with an 8mm gas rifle (we suspect the M1 Garand) because I clonked me in the face from what seemed like MILES away. Woodland play is often not crono’ed, and as far as I am concerned an injury from a ‘woodland’ AEG can be much worse than a CQB one.

So what are you suggesting?

I say that all airsoft players should be forced to wear either full face protection in the form of a paintball or mesh mask, or in the form of a goggles/neoprene combination. It is only when we take safety seriously and mandate protection for our players that this fledgling sport has a chance of mainstream success and national recognition. Images of people without teeth, bleeding gums and shot out ears hurts our sport and we must do something about it.

Regards,

Basho

Technorati Tags: airsoft, sport, safety, basho

]]> http://www.outsidecontext.com/2007/10/22/headshots-in-airsoft-argument-for-full-face-protection/feed/ http://www.outsidecontext.com/2007/02/13/procrastination-2/ http://www.outsidecontext.com/2007/02/13/procrastination-2/#comments Tue, 13 Feb 2007 10:56:27 +0000 Basho http://www.outsidecontext.com/2007/02/13/procrastination-2/  (click for full size)

Unfortunately procrastination is endemic in our society.  It is the person who is “always” dieting but not getting thinner, the person who “plays sports” but never actually seems to get out of the house, the person who has “hobbies” that they never do.

Its not our fault really, modern life is all about procrastination, about goals that are instantaneous and shallow.  Celebrity culture is worthless procrastination.  Magazines, TV soaps, even the news these days are all just ways of “adding commas into your days”.  I have written about it before here where I was talking about iPods as a means to procrastinate.

What exactly is it?  Well, the definition is:

Procrastination is the deferment or avoidance of an action or task and is often linked to perfectionism. For the person procrastinating this may result in stress, a sense of guilt, the loss of productivity, the creation of crisis, and the chagrin of others for not fulfilling one’s responsibilities or commitments. While it is normal for individuals to procrastinate to some degree, it becomes a problem when it impedes normal functioning. Chronic procrastination may be a sign of an underlying psychological or physiological disorder.

But that is too dry, way too dry and doesn’t feel relevant; so watch this:

http://www.zefrank.com/theshow/

Very funny, but like all great comedy it has an element of truth and is essentially tragic.

What can we do?  Does all endeavor eventually become procrastination? Is a guy typing a blog about procrastination simply procrastination in that I am putting off writing my novel?  Is that not the very definition of irony?

When it comes down to it, procrastination is the taking of something to an excess to avoid life.  A type of fear.  The fear of living. 

Take the character of Ringo in the movie Tombstone:

Wyatt Earp: What makes a man like Ringo, Doc? What makes him do the things he does?
Doc Holliday: A man like Ringo has got a great big hole, right in the middle of himself. And he can never kill enough, or steal enough, or inflict enough pain to ever fill it.
Wyatt Earp: What does he want?
Doc Holliday: Revenge.
Wyatt Earp: For what?
Doc Holliday: Bein’ born.

Ringo can find no meaning in life through years of procrastination and addiction and thus looses the ability to care about others simply because he has lost is connection to himself.  This had led to his schizophrenia.

Procrastination is another word for addiction, and addiction irrevocably brings us down.  In order to escape this trap you must first recognise the symptoms and stop to think.  What addicts call a “moment of clarity”.

Again this is what Tyler Durden is talking about in Fight Club and again that masterpiece of a movie defines so well and so deeply the modern male condition.  Tyler is in effect the Narrator’s procrastination getting so bad he hallucinates a person unaffected by it.  Why?  Because he cant face living that way himself.  What a movie.  Truly the best movie ever.

So to fully live life you must be a little more like Tyler and be able to break the cycle of modern-metro-sexual-bullshit procrastination and actually connect with someone.

People, for your own mental health get out of the house!  Tomorrow, call someone up and tell them you love them, it doesn’t matter who it is, just mean it.

As Valerie says in the majestic “V for Vendetta,”

Valerie: …I hope that whoever you are, you escape this place. I hope that the worlds turns, and that things get better. But what I hope most of all is that you understand what I mean when I tell you that, even though I do not know you, and even though I may never meet you, laugh with you, cry with you, or kiss you, I love you. With all my heart, I love you.

Try something new, break the mold and live a little!

Love,

Basho

Technorati tags: procrastination, philosophy, life, love, happiness

“Web 2.0 is the business revolution in the computer industry caused by the move to the Internet as platform, and an attempt to understand the rules for success on that new platform. Chief among those rules is this: Build applications that harness network effects to get better the more people use them. (This is what I’ve elsewhere called ‘harnessing collective intelligence.’)”

Tim O’Reilly

Is it best explained in these dry terms?

Perhaps.  The very fact that I am writing this blog is part of it, but it goes much deeper and basically is the first step to the web breaking out of the boundaries of its design.  Thus, by this dissemination will the web become even more relevant and soon the primary channel through which life is experienced outside our mundane connection with reality.  Web 2.0 is an attempt to make your online life and your real life come closer, become richer in texture and smoother in operation, to give a global voice to people who will never meet in the flesh.  It will replace our other, biased and controlled mediums because it is liberated.  The web is free, vast and almost infinite.

Just words, perhaps.  But they are my words.  Others say it with video.

Here a professor in Cultural Anthropology explains what it means to him,

So the answer is this, Web 2.0 appears to have a hidden meaning precisely because it is something we will build ourselves.

Basho

Technorati tags: web 2.0, philosophy, internet

Biscuit!

I had a hamster called Taekwondo.

He lived over 1100 days (all through my university years) and was simply wonderful. When he got old, his fur went grey and he couldn’t trim his own nails, so I used to take him out very gingerly and clip them for him using my Leatherman.

He was the most kind and friendly hamster you could imagine. Always pleased to see me, always happy in his life and very well fed and watered. He died of old age the day that I moved back to London. I remember just an empty flat apart from this massive hamster cage made of bright tunnels and little rooms and bases; it could have fitted 10 hamsters.

So, I buried him in the garden.

I remember that he once taught me something I will never forget. Taek’ was an escape artist par-excellence. He could escape from almost anything and go ‘on the run’ around my room and flat. Sometimes it would take ages to find him and I would have to trap him back using food to entice him into the open. He never minded my handling him and I never minded his escaping.

He decided to teach me a lesson.

One day, he escaped in my university room and after much searching I realised he was under the bed. The little bastard was hiding so well that I was forced to go right under the bed to catch him, which was not easy as I am 6ft 2inches tall. It took 5 minutes to move all boxes and stuff from under the bed as he kept retreating further and further under. Eventually I was right under the bed and he had nowhere to run.

He was completely cornered, but he wasn’t finished with me yet.

He paused, raised himself up onto his little hind legs and looked at what was, from his point of view, an enormous pair of arms blocking both to the right and the left. I still swear to this day that I saw him take a little determined hamster breath, look me in the eye…

…and charge.

He flung himself forwards with all his considerable scampering speed and at full gallop leapt up at my face. I was far too far under the bed to move in that split second and I still have the memory of a flying kamikaze hamster soaring towards me and attaching himself to my nose. His sharp little teeth caused a level of pain in my sinuses that I have never experienced before or since. The shock made me involuntarily jerk my head up which was a mistake because my bed was one of those cast iron jobs normally seen in a mental institute and weighed a ton. I cracked my head on the metal frame thereby adding mild concussion to my increasing list of injuries.

My hamster briskly detached himself from my nose and ran out from under the bed via the gap under my arms. He continued his freedom for another three hours while I, 500 times his size, was completely defeated and could only lay there ruminating my ignoble fate as a trickle of blood ran down from the back of my head.

I learned a very fine lesson that day and have since named a martial arts technique (the Angry Hamster Technique) after the shear brilliance of one of Gods smallest creatures; brother to the bear, a fellow that was my old friend: Taekwondo the hamster.

Judge me by my size do you?

The Angry Hamster Technique is this: when you are cornered by a larger, over confident and significantly stronger opponent; do like the hamster have the courage to wait for the right moment to attack the exposed weak spot!

Hamsters: excellent creatures, not to be underestimated for their courage!

Basho

lebenlechzer

Do we have a freewill?

Do you think mankind has a freewill? Is everything predefined or do we have the chance to control our life and this world?What if we have a freewill? What makes it a freewill? Isn’t everything based on physics and chemical reactions? Aren’t we controlled by electric impulses?What if we don’t have a freewill? Is it worth to do something, why not just sit back and wait because everything comes as it has to come? But isn’t this sitting back predefined either?

We certainly have the perception that we have freewill.In the end this is a question that science cannot yet answer and philosophers cannot agree on, so strictly speaking my position must necessarily be one of agnostic.However, my opinion and personal thinking is that freewill is a matter of perspective and thus an illusion. I think the entire question arises from a mistaken Dualism and a perceptive misunderstanding regarding the nature of time.

Dualism. The mind is not separate from the body and thus we are at all times conforming to laws of the universe. Since we are so entombed in these laws it is impossible for the mind to be free in the sense that freewill means.

Time. The whole notion of freewill rests on the notion of causality. That one thing happens after another and will continue to do so. As Hume points out in the human sphere we call the expectancy of causality custom, eg that fire will continue to be hot. However, there is nothing in the Universe to say that this has to be so or that time itself even exists as we perceive it.

So, yes we do have an effect on the world that is determined by our being and actions.
But also we are as much a part of the world and as free as a pebble in a landslide.

Thus while we have an effect we are the result of, and affected by, multiple manifold causes and therefore only a part of the tapestry of the working Universe.

Basho

“Listen, listen to the music”

You see, the people in these adverts have made it. Made what? Modern life. Everyone goes through the modern world wondering and in many ways hoping that someone out there, some cooler cat type guy who clubs and parties and still earns the bacon, is having it all. This is what Tyler was going on about in Fight Club, or Renton in Trainspotting. It is just a feeling, but it is an insidious one. Is it only a facet of the modern world? Nope, no way. Take Zaphod Beeblebrox, he was way cooler than anyone. He had made it, whatever ‘it’ was.

And that’s the rub, nobody has it worked out. Nobody. Of course people claim to have it worked out, take the Beckhams’ (no please take them.) Or Paris Hilton, or (and especially) low end types like Jordan and that ugly footballer’s girlfriend. Have you seen the new ASDA adverts with her in? They are basically portraying her shopping lifestyle to be ‘making it in the world.’

I wonder?

When having nothing special about you whatsoever, apart from cash you get from your boyfriend, is ‘making it’ there is understandably a bit of confusion about most people’s life; “If that is the winning ticket what fucked up scratch card have I been given?” Consequently we lust after this feeling this ideal of existence where ‘everything is cool’.

I was thinking today that the new ‘mid life crisis’ is now at 30. I look at all my friends and co-workers and I can see that we are getting married later, living in sin longer, and all wishing for something. Like a struggle. I put it to a friend today as:

Wanting to get home physically tired and not just mentally tired.

At 30 you have a choice. On one hand you have the rest of your life mapped out; marriage, house, kids, retirement, death. You can actually see the future in the sense that you know what road you are on. And where, irrevocably, it leads.

We do know where it leads; we have seen our parents and spent our entire childhoods judging their lives.

Tell me, did you ever say to yourself, “I am not going to be like my parents when I grow up?” Because if you did and if you reach 30 “as planned” you quickly realise that the road you are on is just that. But does it have to be? This is the question that is driving every one of my friends nuts:

“What to do with my life?”

On the one hand you have the fact that you may have made some progress by 30. You may have a career, a wife, a house, thinking of raising some kids. If this is so are you wondering “Is this it? This road is it? That is my life…sorted?”

Where is, to quote Jay, “…my fucking movie check?”

This is a like a pain in the back of your head. And like all pains, we have developed coping mechanisms. Such things as drink and drugs sure, but also more deep down things. We become obsessed with other people’s lives, especially ones that can be perceived to be ‘worse’ or ‘better’ than ours. This is the power of TV soaps like Eastenders (and why it is constantly depressing.) This is why Jordan is a star even though she has no discernable talents. This is why lifestyle magazines are bought, or shopping magazines, or catalog’s. Things that tell us how to become ‘with it’ and ‘sorted’.

I had a friend who always used to say, “Got to get myself sorted this week.”

He said it everyday for the three years I knew him. Everyday. I suspect he probably still says it now. I also suspect that he hasn’t done shit about it.

Like joining the gym, or going to that class you signed up for, “getting yourself sorted” is an aspiration without a goal. Everyone aspires to be thin and healthy but the modern world has another trick up its sleeve.

Instantaneousness.

What?

Everything you need is at your finger tips. It is empowering. You have so much choice. I have £20 in my pocket and I could spend it a million times on the way home. Everyone of those ‘opportunities’ is begging for my money. You get to the point very quickly that anything that requires effort like painting, writing, reading, believing, talking, and gym’ing becomes too much effort because “you are too tired.”

No wonder you are tired all that choice is dizzying!

“Put it in your head”

Moreover, If you ever want to know something the don’t worry, you can find out instantly on the Internet!

Sound good?

It’s not, you don’t have to remember anything anymore. Phone numbers only live in your phone, not your head. Web addresses? PAH! just Google everything. Need to add something up? Like your budget perhaps? Reach for Excel. Better yet simply Google for a pre-made spreadsheet to do it for you.

Respite comes in many forms that in fact only exacerbate the problem. Putting aside the harmful effects of drink or drugs, people like me collect gadgets. Gadgets that will sort out your life. But, of course, none of them do. They just make you want the next great gadget, that one, that one will sort out your life*

In such a world it becomes almost impossible to ‘be sorted’ and the only thing you can wish for is peace from it all.

Which is where Apple comes in.

They sell you your peace. They tell you “Strap this thing to your head and ignore the crap coming in every ear. Ignore the problems, ignore the pain,” and they tell you, they whisper in your ear, that “this peace we will give you, it is the thing that will also make you cool.”

After all, being cool is the ability to make something hard look very very easy. To have it sorted. That is why sunglasses are cool, because walking around in harsh sunlight is not easy, but I have my Police Sunglasses so I don’t have to squint!

What could be harder than modern life?

Apple say to you that their device will make you an individual. Your tunes means your rules…

… and your moves.

Coolness is a trip. Your trip. After all, it is your life.

Right?

I know what you’re saying, you are saying something like, “It is just a glow in the dark iPod, isn’t it?”

Is it?

Watch this advert and ask yourself, “How deep the rabbit hole goes?”

“We will control the lows”

Basho

*Believe me when I say that I am no better, eventually I got so annoyed of the gadgets’ failure to sort out my life, I went back to paper and pen. I went Low-tech and now use a Hipster PDA to manage my department.

Firstly, and not to start a flame war here, but very clearly 99% of the world do not believe in a god. This is a fiction. For a start China is communist and therefore wont believe in a god, not mention Japan or in fact anyone practicing Buddhism.

So, is there a god? It depends what you mean and how you define such a question.

If you mean, is there a white guy with a beard and a unnatural fixation for Jewish virgins and that you can take a deep breath and relax knowing in firm certainty that by believing one thing or another will set you up for the afterlife?; then no, probably not.

If you mean, some sort of super being that created the Universe (note caps on the U); then nobody knows for sure. It is possible, but then so is everything you can imagine and quite a lot that you can not. A great book for examining ideas about this is The Star Maker by Olaf Stapleton or perhaps the free online book “God’s Debris” written by the Dilbert author Scott Adams. They both show that when you get to a “power” of that “size” you could quite easily mistake it for a simple facet of nature or physics.

If however, you want cold hard scientific certainty or rigid philosophical arguments one way or the other, again nope. Neither science nor Philosophy has successfully argued that there is or is not a god. That is to say that arguments are in fact put forwards and laws formulated regarding standards of proof etc, but in the end they are only measuring what they know. Not what they don’t. So here the answer is again “as far as we know” there isn’t a God. Why? because of the lack of rigid evidence.

What do you think? I only had a few moments to write this reply. Let me know if you agree/disagree.

Basho

I cry a bitter tear at being parted from you during this awful conflict.  It is terrible, not only because all war is terrible, but also because I have no peace of mind and no time to myself. Whenever I think of you my attention is suddenly drawn painfully away by the sound of explosions and the sights of horror. I just want the best chance for my family to make it to old age, but my duty is always foremost in my mind.

We arrived here in high spirits.  We have been told that we had come to liberate these people, and we will do so.  They are not like us, my darling. Their lives lack the meaning that our people draw from the trust in our leader.  The men and I fought against their army; its was a pitiful thing.  Our tactics, armaments and the natural fighting prowess of the men of our country soon put their forces in retreat.  We now control much of the land and have taken their capital city without much loss.  My crew on the tank continue to perform their duties with honour my love and I am most proud of them all. I see everyday that our military is actually doing very well.

We passed by some of the buildings and architecture of this corrupt regime.  I cannot tell you the size of the buildings and the strange art within.  This place has the power to shock and awe you at any time, even if that shock is one of beauty. To fight in a place like this we focused our minds on our task.  As I told the men; we are simply defending the freedom of you all back home. By our resolve, we will give strength to others. By our courage, we will give hope to others. And by our actions, we will secure the peace

The political situation is more than clear to us than ever before. We hear of you all doubting our mission, but we do not. It is like our leader said, “Faith can be found, if the will is there. Our leadership has the will, and faith is with the people…” We know that God is on our side. We ask every nation to join us and not to oppose us.

We could not allow our country to be threatened.  Invasion was an action of self defense.  Too long had these people harbored those who have attacked us and tried in every way to weaken our freedoms with their vile religious views.  Our leader was right, we could not allow this to continue.  It would be unpatriotic.  I know the world is split in agreeing with us.  Can they not see that once military action has been taken that it is too late, far too late to continue their arguing with us?  They must follow where we lead. We, who will police the world. Why? Only because our nation is the most powerful and the most free.

We, our allies and us, formed a just plan.  A simple change of leadership.  This could have been bloodless, but they fought anyway.  Their fanaticism knows no bounds.  They guarded the border, but we went around and over them.  They had no chance against our forces speed and intelligence equipment and we rained down bombs on their troops from the air. 

The war is won, for now (there are many other countries who wish us harm.)  It is up to us now to win the peace and rebuild this nation in our own image.  Unfortunately the insurgents want otherwise.  They have formed themselves into a hidden resistance.  They are hiding out amongst the people, after all a soldier with no uniform looks like a civilian.  They have armaments, we think being smuggled in by the neighboring country (Our next target?) and they are using these to attack our vehicles and troops as we try and maintain this fragile moment of peace and rebuild the nation. Everyday a new crash and boom means more of our troops have died. But we will not give up! We will never give up!  We must not give in to these terror fighters.  We must make these people see that we are the only way, the free way, forwards for their nation.  There is no choice, they will hand over the terrorists, or they will share in their fate..  We will not lose as our culture is simply naturally superior to theirs.  Our faith in our government and our church, stronger than theirs. We will direct every resource at our command - every means of diplomacy, every tool of intelligence, every instrument of law enforcement and every financial influence and every necessary weapon of war.

We will obtain a lasting victory here my love, an when we do, I will be flying home to your loving arms as soon as I can. I miss you, I love you.  Rest assured that I am safe over here and I will do my duty.

All my heart,

Paul

Paul Ludwig Ewald von Kleist

Generalfeldmarschall

Panzergruppe von Kleist

Gespenster-Division

Château de Vincennes

Paris