Thursday 23 December 2010

Invincible

Today since its nearing Christmas they are showing great tennis matches from the near past, today’s match was Nadal Soderling, in the final of the French this year. At the time Nadal was going for his fifth French title in six years, he had only ever lost once at Roland Garros, and that was against his final opponent Soderling. But Nadal knew this year was not going to be like the year previous, and Nadal annihilated Soderling in straight sets. Nadal was now the only player to go a full clay season without losing, quite incredible. And so it got me thinking what must it feel like to know you are invincible, so far above everyone else, that it seems like you are from a different planet. How does Nadal feel knowing this, knowing when he plays his best, he is likely not to lose. Is this how Federer felt before Nadal burst on the scene, no one could beat him, and it took another fantastic genius it brings him back down to Earth.


What does it feel like to be Michael Jordan, 30 seconds on the clock in final game of a best of seven series to win the NBA? How does it feel to be Maradona as he dribbled his way past the whole English football team and into the history books, with one of the greatest goals ever scored. Or Donald Bradman when he hit 300 runs in a day, or Shane Warne bowled that ball at Mike Gatting. Then there is Tiger Woods winning his first major, The Masters, in his first major, at Augusta, Georgia. And finally Usain Bolt, obliterating every sprint record by miles.



What does it feel like to be invincible, to know categorically that no one is your equal; you are so far above everyone, virtually untouchable at least for a few short years. Certain sportsmen and women, transcend their sports, they are the special ones, the ones above all others we try in some small way to emulate.

Wednesday 22 December 2010

Natalie Portman – One of the greatest performances ever

As I updated in my fav films of the year post, I watched Black Swan today, what an amazing film.  In my opinion, Natalie’s performance was one of the greatest ever.  How effortlessly she makes us feel we are living her life, and feeling her pains, and emotions, it is an incredible performance of acting skill.  She looks so innocent, and elf like, but underneath is a surging, mentally ill, behemoth.  To play a role of such beauty and grace, full of majestic delight, it was a joy to watch and I definitely want to see it more.  Natalie was always a stunningly beautiful actress, but with this she moves to another realm in acting.  If she does not win every acting award for a female lead from every major awarder, then something is wrong with the world.

A Word

If I was a word,

What would that word be?

I know some may say,

That word is crazy.



But that’s not the word,

That springs in my mind,

Maybe it’s too shallow,

And a little unkind.



The word might be foolish,

Or it could be irrational,

Just as likely delusional,

Or nearer to confusion.



No, none of these,

Are the words I would use,

The word that is me,

Well, that word is unique.

Monday 20 December 2010

We Remember, We Never Forget, Yet Still We Never Learn

I have just watched an episode from the excellent documentary series about the First World War; the episode begins in March 1918, when the Germans launch a massive attack against the British and French lines on the Western Front. The Germans advance deep into France, further than at any time since the first few months of the war, they can now send bombs into Paris. Yet at home in Germany, they are starving, sick of the war, wanting it to end, they feel they are living in a military dictatorship, socialism was rising.


Watching that episode just made me laugh, in 1918 the Germans knew who their enemy was, it wasn’t the British or the French, it was the German Army, and forced slave labour, due to having no food, no resources whatsoever, because everything including men, were in the war fighting and dying. Yet by 1939, only twenty one years later, they felt the exact opposite. Or at least a warped version of the opposite, twisted and manipulated, by clever, deceitful, controlling, violent, people. So the worst war of all wars, the Great War, as it was called. The War to end all Wars, in itself created a far more dangerous beast, and this beast then hypnotised a nation into believing a total falsehood, he inveigled his ignorant subjects; he made them fantasise about a nation that did not actually exist.

I then thought further, even now, with the knowledge of the First and Second World Wars, and the devastation they caused throughout the world, we still fight wars. Yes you could say they are not in the same league as the big two, but then I bet they would be if we did not have the overwhelming fear that it would be a nuclear war, which would destroy everything. If we did not have these extremely dangerous restraints, then I would bet World War Three would have started by now. When I was a child, everyone talked about how long it would be until WW3 started, it just seemed definite inevitability, we all waited with a sense of foreboding. Yet finally, the memories from the First dreadful war took they toll, and communism ended, the fat lady started to sing. The final act seemed to be played out, ironically in the same setting as its birth, Serbia, Bosnia, and Croatia.

Were we finally to learn from our terrible century, as the century drew to a close? NO!

Once one dangerous threat was extinguished, another quickly raised its head and now instead of the killing fields of Europe and the Far East; now the new death match was being played in the Middle East and central Asia. Yet the same situations show themselves, we are in a depression, there is not a great amount of money, we are fighting wars, we cannot afford to fight. We are losing value resources fighting these pointless wars, people are disenchanted, we have been deceived into thinking we were something we are not anymore. There is too much poverty, considering the standards of living we should appreciate now in the 21st Century. We may feel we are not in the same situation as one hundred years ago, but we are.

Still we never learn; we always remember, and we never ever forget, but when will we finally realise it is meaningless, until we figure out how to learn from it.

Friday 17 December 2010

The True Heroes of the World

If ever you feel low and depressed unable to pull yourself out of the doldrums, then there is one thing that will definitely help you to put your situation into perspective, to put how you are feeling, and with a loud crash force it into context. I have not felt great these last few days, various silly things that have gotten the better of me; I have felt low, and full of anxiety.


Tonight I watched a celebration of military heroes from my country Britain. After watching how incredibly brave, these true heroes of the world have been, the ones that gave their lives, risk their lives, or save lives, and sacrifice themselves so we can live in peace and safety; it warms the heart that such people exist, it makes me feel better. It brings my pitiful situation glaringly into perspective; there are many men and women around the world in the service of many military forces, helping to save lives and end tyranny. I really wish they did not have to risk their lives, trying to rid the world of so many depots, evil lunatics, tyrannical leaders and groups, but I am relieved to say that there are so many of these true heroes blessing us every day.

I will end by saying it would be good to see a day when we don’t need to have so many heroes, but I don’t see that day coming soon unfortunately. At least we honour them, maybe we don’t honour them enough. They deserve so much more.

Thursday 16 December 2010

The Fine Line

The agony and the ecstasy,

The failure and success,

The finest line, between the two,

Which one will come out best?

How much does luck play its part?

How much is perseverance?

How much is skill, and natural talent,

Who knows, who can tell?

Saturday 11 December 2010

The Devils Wish

I can't sleep so I have written this creepy poem, its based on the Devil after watching the film the Devil last week. I really liked it but then I love simple films with simple settings and plots, like 12 Angry Men, and Phone Booth, which are two other examples.  12 Angry Men one of the greatest films ever made, but it is so simple, just set in one room, with a long table, no air conditioning, boiling hot day, and 12 Angry Men.  I am digressing again.  Anyway here is the creepy poem I will call the Devils Wish.


When the Devil wants what’s inside that door,

Don’t reside on the other side,

When he slammin’ and beaten, and hurling abuse,

Just remember you got pride,

Don’t ever resist or play his games,

It’ll only end in your demise,

Keep your head down man,

Just as far as you can,

For he may have a plan,

And in the blink of an eye,

You’re trapped in a web like a fly,

Tormented and tortured before you die,

Your chance came by then it was gone,

Time to atone for all your wrongs,

Or live in constant pain for evermore,

And never knowing what’s next in store.

Saturday 4 December 2010

Strong Desire

To wonder wondrous that initial desire,

To sense the longing and the want,

Muse about, what her name might be,

Urge yourself to find it out,

Will the emotion, to move ever closer,

Gaze at heaven, a hypnotic beauty,

Imagine togetherness, exciting, passionate,

Don’t waste a second; she could be your soul mate.

A Strange Question

I thought of a strange question and I asked some friends what their answers would be. The question was; you are 80 years of age with terminal cancer, you only have a few months to live. This is only a few decades in the future; the doctor gives you the patient a choice, you can let the cancer take you and die, or you can have your consciousness, mind memories, all of you, placed into a virtual world. Where you never died, you just constantly lived out many lives, one after the other.

They all said they would accept the latter offer, and carry on living in a virtual world unaware you are actually dead. Living life after life, never realising your situation as a consciousness, never knowing you are trapped inside a machine.

I said to them what if part of our evolutionary development; we need to die in our physical form, so the consciousness can move on to another realm of reality. They looked puzzled at me; I did not mean my soul going to heaven or any such thing, I just creatively imagined that it is probable for a conscious mind and energy from a body, to have the ability to progress to another level. I think they looked even more confused after that explanation, but it did get me thinking, are we meant to use our minds to evolve ways to keep our memories, mind and consciousness, in the now, in the moment, even if the moment in a false reality. Or do we have minds as a consequence of evolution, and that they naturally move on after the host they inhabit dies, and they would prefer to not be locked up and a electronic box, or when we die is that it the mind dies with you, and you would have been better taking option B, like my friends suggested. To me, it is a big puzzle, hence the strange question.

Friday 3 December 2010

Snow Poem

Winter freezing cold,

A snow white chaos,

Slippery commotion,

Traffic pile up,

Dirt stained blizzard drifts.



Everything at a standstill,

Caution, fear and confusion,

Deadly black ice,

Howling frozen winds,

When will it ever end?



Delicate muffled silence,

Flake likes stars fall all around,

Brilliant crispness,

Icy whispers,

No one hears a sound.

Cognitive Dissonance

With all this bad weather we’ve experienced these last few weeks, has to be some kind of record breaker, I bet it is a long time since we experienced such a start to a winter. Add to that, the fact we in Britain are so crap at dealing with severe weather, especially the national and local government I have been reading some articles about the bad weather situation, here in the good old UK. Is it as bad everywhere in Europe? Probably, but they know how to handle it; they don’t get weather manflu like we do here in Britannia. As I read more and more about the catastrophic, frozen, doom, covering our great land, I eventually stumbled onto James Delingpole’s blog on the Telegraph online website. James is the champion of the Climate Change Sceptic, and although I don’t agree with all his views especially the ones about the Right Wing Tea Party of America, I like to read his views on Climate Change. At present he is having a field day and in one of his blogs he writes about cognitive dissonance, which I had never heard of before so I found it interesting; here is a definition, I nicked from Wikipedia. You learn something new every day.


Cognitive dissonance is an uncomfortable feeling caused by holding conflicting ideas simultaneously. The theory of cognitive dissonance proposes that people have a motivational drive to reduce dissonance. They do this by changing their attitudes, beliefs, and actions. Dissonance is also reduced by justifying, blaming, and denying. It is one of the most influential and extensively studied theories in social psychology.

As I read it, what it basically means is, you are blinded to the obvious truth, because it differs from their actual beliefs; you could also use the argument in the opposite direction just as well. The example James uses, is from the Met Office spokeswoman when speaking about the severe weather we are experiencing and the fact they didn’t expect it to happen when every other source did. If you believe James, he states that the Met Office said it would be a mild dry winter. How they could ever think this is beyond me, I am no meteorologists but it seemed highly likely this year would be another year with a bad winter. As I have mentioned before the Iceland volcano alone makes it more likely. Anyway I will end with a paragraph from James which I think sums up the whole situation rather well.



“Cognitive dissonance is when all the evidence of your senses and intellect tell you one thing; but your brain stubbornly insists the truth is otherwise.

So, for example, it’s snowing heavily outside; the country is in chaos; independent weather forecasters are predicting dreadful winters for many years to come; global warming stopped in 1998 even as CO2 emissions continued to rise; the Climategate emails reveal the scientists at the very heart of the IPCC to be corrupt and mendacious; wind farms and solar farms are an exceedingly inefficient way of producing energy and have wreaked serious economic damage on all countries (Denmark, Spain, Germany) that have tried introducing them on a massive scale.

Yet still you go on insisting that: the snow is a temporary blip (”weather not climate”), AGW remains a serious threat – as the majority of the most distinguished and reliable scientific “experts” testify; green jobs are the future and the drive for renewables can only do Britain the power of good.

Well, cognitive dissonance is the polite way of putting it. I’d call it sheer and utter bloody madness.”

Exactly; sheer and utter bloody madness, but what do we know, I wonder how certain people sleep at night. I know it should not be the case, but I find now that anything a climate scientist says is going to be bogus, incorrect or made up, and hard to believe. And if man made global warming is as real a threat as they suggest, then they need to start to be honest, a total open book. To categorise what is used throughout the world to create the global temperatures we see as the highest in the last 150 years. The fact they seem to be alarmist, deceitful, greedy, worst possible scenario freaks, and unfortunately they have been crying wolf for so long now, we are sick of hearing it. If you go by the figures quoted in the early 90’s we shouldn’t have any more snow in Britain, as one climatologist suggested. The picture they created made our future look grim, apocalyptic even. Yet none of these extreme scenarios have manifested, the temperature rise expected has been grossly exaggerated. The fact that mere logic, shows their argument to be BS, as well as the wonderful Climategate emails, which show those supposed scientists to be nothing more than selfish greedy egotists, revelling in their power. If you have read those emails and can honestly see them any differently then I would definitely say you were suffering from cognitive dissonance.

Explanations

All this snow must really be starting to annoy anyone who has to travel as part of their job, last night there were massive traffic jams along the main roads near where I live still after 10:00 – 10:30. This morning it looks whiter than ever, I found a cool image from space of the snow over Europe, it looked amazing from space and the one below is of Britain. Supposedly it is not going to snow today, let’s wait and see.


I have just reread my ‘Big Bang’ rant from last night, maybe I overreacted with it, but it does piss me off when supposed science shows, especially ones aimed at children (which I presume that one must have been) claim exacts.  When you watch the brilliant documentary series ‘The Universe’ or ‘How the Universe Works’ they say it is the likely chain of events, they make the distinction, and tell the audience it is not a proven fact. If you read any books or watch any lectures on the subject, they always tell you it is only a description or a model of likely events, not proof. And it is this disturbing dumbing down of facts, of telling kids this is definite, I find most alarming. We have to fight extremist views on what is science and what is not in this day and age. We should not make their incredulous arguments easier by creating programmes that state ideas that are not proven and sell them as so.  In the vain hope that if you dumb it down to such a level, make it so easy and simple that people may want to watch it and enjoy it. The really disappointing thing, this documentary was on the BBC and looked like it was created by the BBC. They do this quite often these days, the BBC is supposed to be a leading light as far as documentaries and science, but they sometimes make some big faux pas in judgement when creating their science programming.

Thursday 2 December 2010

Shine A Light

I shine a light for what is right,

And banish what is wrong,

I distinguish the difference,

The truest reason,

I fight for all so we can belong,

I wonder about the positives,

I think and fear the negatives,

I cease to imagine good from bad,

In a hope I create some peace,

In a thought I want to create happiness.

Wednesday 1 December 2010

The Human Virus

Just watched a documentary called the ‘Obama Deception’, it is by the conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, and if I am honest I quite enjoy watching these docs. I am not sure whether I believe all they say but they are very interesting material. This one talks about the Bilderberg Group, about how these guys rule the world with the help of the major banks. Especially the ones in Britain and the US, the ones we have just bailed out. I remember watching a similar doc a few years ago before Obama became President of America saying he was no different to Bush, he was just a puppet. A bit the same as this one; they both say the government of America is run by the power men behind the scenes the Bilderberg Group. Or you could say a bunch of dumb ass rich guys with large egos who want to control everything. The problem with conspiracy documentaries is they can be just as biased as the main stream ones telling us the exact opposite, you never know what is real and what is not real. We never know who is really telling the truth, like I have said in an earlier post called ‘Chaos and Confusion’, we haven’t a clue what is going on, but the dangerous thing is now anyone who wants can find out information, and they can if they chose believe that information. Me, now, I am writing information which if you read it you can chose to believe it or not. At this moment in time, millions of people on the internet for good or bad are doing the same thing. How do you tell the ones trying to help the world and the ones trying to help themselves? It is difficult, what do you believe? I bet the Bilderberg toadies laugh their heads off at the rest of us, thinking they know they are in control and everyone else is just cannon fodder or sheep awaiting slaughter. The thing is one of these days something really bad will happen, worse than 911 something on a gargantuan proportion and all the money in the world won’t save you. We as a species won’t be ready for it, and like Britain today, a country not ready for a bit of snow, we will be over run and before you know it all hell is breaking lose. But will we learn from it, like hell we will.


You see I need to learn myself, I’ve done it again wrote about a documentary before it finishes. I should be ashamed of myself because now I have seen it all; I wonder to myself what the point of it is. Now that I have seen it all, it seems to me that there is as much BS in this doc as in the supposed ideologies it is trying to expose. It is basically a hate campaign against President Obama, they mention the Bilderberg Group, they mention the big banks, then they talk about gun laws and health care, this makes me sceptical about its true motives. Maybe some of it is true but it is trying to scare people to death in the same way the other groups do. They talk about civil security forces and an America’s right to carry guns. I think it is something they should ban personally, I prefer to walk down a street without the fear someone out there, may have a gun and want to shot it at me. I may slag off the NHS in Britain but I know it is better than nothing. It is better than no care what so ever. So a doc that started as interesting petered out like a wet fart. I now feel I have wasted two hours of my time watching this crap. You see that is exactly the problem with the world, so much nonsense so much BS, how can we ever know the truth.

Maybe Alex Jones wants to help America and the world, maybe he is doing it for noble reasons, but I am sceptical of some of his attitudes towards things. Maybe President Obama is a puppet, and is controlled, but how we go about solving this dreadful situation is still unclear. We humans can be such a despicable species, who perpetrate heinous acts continuously. Getting rid of the powerful banks is a good thing, stopping the few controlling the masses is also a good thing, but using force including weapons to start civil unrest, and stopping the poor from having healthcare is wrong. The ‘Obama Conspiracy’ might say it is not right wing or left wing but it is definitely wrong wing on some of its ideas thoughts and outcomes. We need to think beyond the normal parameters of conscious thought here to solve this terrible predicament. Unfortunately I feel if things continue the only way out of it will be by catastrophe and misery; which is generally the only way we humans learn anything.

The film the Matrix got it right when the Agent Smith described us a like a virus, invading a host and destroying it entirely until it is dead, and worthless, before moving onto another host. I’ll end with the immortal words of Agent Smith.

“I'd like to share a revelation that I've had during my time here. It came to me when I tried to classify your species and I realized that you're not actually mammals. Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment but you humans do not. You move to an area and you multiply and multiply until every natural resource is consumed and the only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. Do you know what it is? A virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet. You're a plague and we are the cure.”

The Circle

To move within the circle,

The never ending loop,

Perpetual and continuous,

Forever good incessant turning.


Entwining all existence,

Encompassing everything,

Unmasking the reality,

Never knowing always unknown.


The circle in always perfect,

The purest form one can understand,

Uninterrupted and continual,

It winds on and on forever more.


If the circle was ever broken,

The ceaseless journey stopped,

An incredulous end to everything,

The unending reign then lost.

Beyond Belief

A few years ago I found a series of lectures called ‘Beyond Belief’, the first one back in 2006 I think at the Salk Institute, in San Diego, California (I nice place to have a three day lecture in November). The first event covered the threat of religion on the world, as well as looking at science, I found it fascinating; to hear some of the greatest scientists alive today talking at the same event was inspiring. There were Nobel Prize winners, and more professors than at Hogwarts from Harry Potter. Now I know originally the focus was on the rise of religion and its attempts to force a change, a negative change in their eyes on the world as a whole. But the Beyond Belief’s held later in 07 and 08 concentrated on other topics as well. One I especially enjoyed was about neurology, and how the brain works, and of course the one about sound and music which showed how Beethoven created his 9th Symphony. I found the whole series excellent, and was looking forward to seeing the next event, but they stopped them after 08. Some of the great scientists to grace the event were the likes of Richard Dawkins, Paul Davies, Sam Harris, Sir Harold Kroto, Lawrence Krauss, VS Ramachandran, Michael Shermer, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Steven Weinberg, Daniel Dennett, Anthony Grayling, and many, many more.


The lectures that I still remember and stand out were by Paul Davies, Sam Harris, Sir Harold Kroto, and VS Ramachandran. I could go into details but you can get the Beyond Belief DVD’s which I would recommend to anyone who is interested in science or the threat religion has on the world. When I first started this blog, and was a bit deluded into thinking my ideas might actually be true, I sent an email to Sir Harold Kroto and he kindly replied. The other scientists I sent one too didn’t reply and I thought that was particularly nice thing for Sir Harry to do considering how busy these guys are. Watching the lectures helped me to formulate my concepts and ideas about the world and reality as well as other things. VS Ramachandran’s lecture about amputee victims and their phantom limb pain was fascinating.

I will leave by saying I wish they would do more lecture series like Beyond Belief; I loved them and found them extremely educational.