After these messages

Advertising is something that was part of the History of mankind since the creation of commerce. And oh boy it's getting something huge nowadays. The world is now full of ads everywhere you look: movies, games, books, food, webs, work… And that is something that (of course) is affecting society in a bad way. 

Let me be clear: I do realize we are living in a capitalist world and that we all humans live in order to satisfy our consumerism and all that communist stuff, but we have a huge problem with that thanks to commercials and adverts.

Allow me (as always) to put an example: sometimes you feel hungry when you are watching TV, right? And then you listen to your inner thoughts and you think “I should buy some of that food that was announced before”. You know, that lovely ad with the catchy tune, the fancy slogan and the gorgeous woman that was eating… chocolate. And there you go: you just fell in the net of the expert in advertising, who also knows that you are going to believe that if you get that sweet piece of chocolate you will also be able to get that sweet piece of… quality.

We buy the things that TV want us to buy. We are just mere test dummies for the big brands: they made us to get new products and things we don't really need at all just because they put a piece of junk with flashy lights and people having the time of their lives just by turning on a vacuum cleaner.

Do I agree with commercials being part of our culture? Yes, of course. Do I have any idea about how to put an end to this? Yes, but I don't think the world is ready for a post-apocalyptic dystopia. Maybe in a few years...

In space, nobody can hear you contaminate (Space Debris Outline)

I. We usually believe that the junk we throw away disappears like some kind of magical phenomenon, but this is wrong. And worst of all, when we believe that our planet is being contaminated so much that we need to deposit our trash outside of it, then you realize that the minor problem is becoming a serious issue.

II. Space debris: what is it?
 A. When it was starting to originate.
B. What is made of.

III. Why it is dangerous?
A. The debris can damage modern equipment such as satellites or spaceships.
B. It pollutes the atmosphere.
C. It can be dangerous if the junk goes off the Earth's orbit.

IV.  What can we do to solve this matter?
A. Reduce our trash emissions.
B. Try to find alternative ways to deal with the waste.

V. To sum everything up, space debris can be a huge issue due to the mentioned problems and affairs, and maybe the solutions can be a little bit idealistic, but we (at least in this century) have only one planet where we can live, so is our duty as residents of this world to make it free of danger and contamination.

Videogames: the "gaming" part now is optional (Outline)

I. Videogames used to be a way of entertainment, but nowadays they are just another way of making money.

II. They are sold in pieces
 A. Pre-ordering games
1.Exclusive content
2. Cutout content
3. Season Pass

III. Games are broken
A. Lots of issues at launch
1. Bugs
2. Glitches
3. Bad optimization for all platforms

IV. Buying at full-price is not worth it at all
A. Games are getting more and more expensive (in consoles)
B. Most of the games are "sequel-bait": they made them just for the sake of selling more of the same stuff

V. As a quick summary, the videogame industry is getting worse and worse, trying to find ways of making quick money without even caring about the customers at all.
 

Racism: something worth talking about it

Humanity. Again. I think I need to talk about something else, but whatever. And this time the topic is racism in the world, so I believe this is going to be interesting.

Racism is one of those global issues that some people believe that it's "not that important to talk about" or that it's "something not as important as, for example, global warming". And well, the latest one is right, but again, it's worth talking about it. You see, the world is full of different types of humans: white ones, black ones, asiatic, european... and this cultural diversity makes one huge issue within the world population: which one of those types is the "superior one". This problem has led humanity into some really nasty moments through History: street violence, revolutions, a sense of alienation in the population just for his skin tone or language... The list goes on and on. This problem creates a sense of "supremacy" in the powerful countries against those cultures and places marked as "the inferior ones" or "the savage ones", thus making the process of living in a place that it's not your place of birth a lot harder.

One of the solutions that I believe (and also one of my colleagues, so I suppose it's right) could be that we should make people aware of this issue from a very young age. Society has told us to mock about people who live in other places, so why not make society teach young people how to tolerate them? Besides, let's focus in the most important point of this topic: why we discriminate people to begin with it? It's just pointless! WE are humans: we go work, we feel emotions, we think... We are an entity that should get along with everyone instead of fighting like stupid animals in order to show the world which part of the human race is the most retarded.

Racism is pointless: the real human potential lies in cooperation, but not as one race, but as a whole species. If we could just leave far away this stupid idea and just improve ourselves, we could make anything that we want.   

Man on the Edge: alternative ending

The wind was growing stronger every second he was there. Gazing upon the street, the man thought that all the crowd cheering at him were just a bunch of bored people that wanted to see someone turn into a human splat on the sidewalk. Sadly, he was right. He knew that those pigs in uniform didn't care about his life at all: they just cared about ending this stupid day and go home to watch some TV. "What a bunch of disgusting bastards are in this world" he thought. And there he was, thinking about doing it. It wasn't that hard, actually: just a little step forward and everything would end quickly. Just one step forward...

Not that far away, Gary was watching the news. Some poor idiot wanted to kill himself by jumping from a 90 stories building. "What a bunch of disgusting bastards are in this world", Gary thought. He had three kids, four jobs to keep them all alive and a wife so drunk and wasted that she invented a whole new language that she spoke with belches. But Gary wasn't jumping from a skyscraper like that pathetic guy, no: he was working like no one else. But no one cheered him for his hard work, no one ever said "thanks Gary you are a valuable member of this society!" or filmed him on TV. But there he was: one guy wants to draw some attention by jumping from a tall place and everybody goes crazy about it. It was unbelievable for Gary.

By making one step backward, he decided not to jump. Yes, he lost everything he cared about, but what was the point of killing himself? She was dead, but dying wasn't the answer for this situation. This was over. He gazed again upon the street and whispered: "I'm not going to make those bastards happy today. It's over". 

Gary couldn't believe what he was watching: the man wasn't going to jump! Was he for real?! After all that stupid play, he was so scared of death that he couldn't make one single step forward?! Gary was at the edge of his seat: all of this for nothing! He was really mad. He gaze upon his wife and kids: they were all sleeping. He was smiling with his crazy eyes full opened. Why they were resting so pleasantly?! They didn't deserve that pleasure! He went into his his room, grabbed his shotgun and loaded it with five bullets. No more, no less. The last thing that he whispered before cocking his gun was: "I'm not going to make those bastards happy today. It's over".

Manga: another way to read and think

When I was young, I was an avid reader. I read every single thing that had letters on it. But when I wanted to read a book, I was a little bit more selective: I was just interested in ancient books like The Odissey or The Divine Comedy, mostly because the huge amount of mythological content those titles had. But when I grew up, I was starting to getting bored of the way they told those kind of stories. But then, I discovered something that was a more interesting way of reading: manga.

You see, not everything in Japan is weird stuff, tentacles and weird humor: they also deal with moral concepts and ways of thinking inside their plots and characters. For example, right now I'm reading two mangas: Berserk, who deals with things such as the thin line between good and bad actions and that you need to fight for the things you want because people who wants everything without doing anything are going to be left behind (and everything is told in a medieval fantasy world, so that's a plus for me); and Shingeki No Kyojin, a tale set in a world ruled by titans and the only place that humanity can survive is surrounded by giant walls. This one is also quite interesting, dealing with the concept of the fragility of humanity against things that they cannot comprehend and the censorship imposed by the people who rule above everyone. 

The thing with manga is that you can find whatever you are looking for: love histories, fantasy, epic tales, horror,... And everything is ilustrated, so if you are really lazy (like me) and you don't want to imagine something just by reading text, this is the world for you.

Sex Pistols vs Rostropovich: Contrast

The British rock band Sex Pistols and the famous cellist and conductor Mstislav Rostropovich are really different ways of listening to music. Sex Pistols was a punk rock band born in England in the late 70s. They were famous for making a huge impact in British culture with his music style and their aggressive concerts. One of the most noticeable members was Sid Vicious, the bass player. He had a short life full of drugs and alcohol, thus dying at the age of 22. However, Rostropovich is a little bit more relaxed with his music predilection. He was a Russian cello player who was left the Soviet Union in 1974 and he is considered one the greatest cello players alive. He is also recognized as loyal advocate of human rights, and he was awarded with the Award of the International League of Human Rights. As you can tell, the punk band and the Russian cellist are very contrasting ways of the music in the 20th century.

Overthinking about... Batman

Okay, first of all: I am a big Batman Fanatic. With a capital F. I could talk about all the things I love about it: his way of dealing with criminals, the enemies he faces,... The list goes on and on, but right now I want to focus in one thing that I really enjoy: His psychological profile.

You see, when I look at Batman, I don't see the "masked vigilante that delivers justice to his foes". In fact, what I see in The Bat is a crazy person. Let me explain a little better: I believe that Bruce Wayne is just a mentally scarred person that needs to hit people (without killing them) in order to believe that he is doing the right thing.

I mean, if you know how Batman was formed, you shouldn't be surprised at all with this opinion: his parents were killed by Joe Chill in an alley when he was around 8 or 10, he has an entire fortune in his hands and he made the choice of becoming a symbol of justice in Gotham City by training his abilities to an almost inhuman level and then returning home becoming the Cape Crusader. You know, usual rich boy stuff.

But the punchline of this joke is that Bruce does not believe that Gotham can be a better place under his surveillance: Gotham is nothing more than his playground. I mean, let's take a look at his opposed "ally" in the battle against crime: Superman. For the spirit of Bill Finger, he is an alien that arrived in a humble house in Kansas and when he discover his abilities he make the choice of becoming the protector of the Earth! A place that is not his real home! But what does Bruce go for instead? Becoming a guy that cripples people just because "killing is the easy way".

Despite all of this nonsense, I love Batman. Seriously, if you have the time, read a few comics about him or watch The Animated Series (one of the reasons I became a huge Batsy fan by the way). And yes, I said comics and the animated show, but not movies. The only one that I really believe it's worth it is the 1989 film directed by Tim Burton. But don't worry, I'll talk about the other movies soon.

Talking about... the concept of "Justice" (opinion)

We humans always want to maintain balance in our societies, and to do that we make laws and create social concepts, such as "Justice". But actually we don't really know what is Justice.

So, let's pretend that you are going to get yourself about 12 years in jail because you kill someone. "You are a true monster and you deserve nothing more than a painful death rotting in a cell!" and "Who do you dare to end the life of a human being?" are probably going to be the lovely words of those that just know that killed someone. But let's think for a second that the one you killed was someone that was making your life a true nightmare and nobody knows that. "But I killed him in order to put an end to this madness! I did it because justice wouldn't help me!" I hear you say. But do you really believe that people are going to change their way of thinking just because you thought that it was "the right thing to do"? It's not that easy.

If you want to know my point, I don't believe in justice: it's something so complex and abstract that nobody believes in this idea the same way: some people think that people who steal things like humongous amounts of money should get more years in prison than a common thief, some others believe that murderers deserve death, and so on.

Justice it's not the way to deal with things in my opinion, because it's not one of the fairest systems in our society, and it shouldn't be the "most important concept in our world".

Let's describe my sister

Sometimes I believe that there is some hope in humanity, that somewhere in this world, someone can be friendly, humble, able to help people without wanting something in exchange,... You know, good qualities for a nice human. But then I see my sister and I lose hope immediately.

 She is one of the dullest, craziest person I've ever met. Her body is covered with really bizarre tattoos, she's quite thin and she's always angry with something or someone. She's not really bright and sometimes she can be a real headache, but at least she can be friendly when she's in a good mood and she's one hell of a painter. But of course, you'd think that the logical thing to do when you can paint good is selling your work, but no way if you are my sister, because she thinks that it's better to keep the paints inside the house.

You see my point of view, right?

Guernica and feelings

My feelings towards this paint are the same as its composition: a huge mess.

When I see it, I feel anger. Well, not full rage, but I get angrier the more I see it, and that's probably because the scene is really chaotic (or maybe it's because I had to study this paint for a long time, who knows). I also feel a little bit uncomfortable when I watch the "faces" of the characters, like they were in deep sorrow or something like that.

I cannot describe it very well this emotion, but I would say that it's something between anger and sadness. Mostly anger. Yes, I think I'm going to go with anger more than with anything else.

Feelings are kinda hard to describe, just as hard as trying to understand this picture.

Good and Bad

Well, another day scratching thoughts out of my mind and writing them in this blog. Today I want to talk about something that I believe it's a topic that not many people dare to question: the conception of when something is "Good" and when it's "Bad".

So, again, humans. We are something really hard to understand, aren't we? We always try to justify our actions, thinking that what we are doing is something, well, good or bad. You already read the title, so let me get to the point: the entire definition of "good and bad" it's completely and entirely in our heads. They're just words, really ambiguous concepts.

Let me put an example: imagine that you are in a room with no windows and one door. In the room you can see 3 people that you care and a gun. Then, a voice says that, in order to get out of the room, only one of you can be alive. What would you do? Kill everyone? But that'd be something... "bad", right? But of course, you don't want to die, so you are doing something "good", aren't you?

Never believe that you are doing something good or bad. It's not as simple as that. What you might think it's the right thing to do, it might be the wrong one for someone else. Don't justify your choices with "I'm picking up the right choice" or blame someone because you think that he or she made a "bad choice". Try not to just decide between black or white, but instead make your own new color.

Or you can always stop reading this and just don't overthink about life as much as I do. Learning things about the world is not that fun most of the time.

Well, I believe it's time to end another pointless post. And remember folks: if you want to be a better person, the first step is not being a complete moron. Have a nice day/night/4th of July.

Fear

Fear of  the light.
Fear of  being unable to walk again.
Fear of  progress.
Fear of  being alone.
Fear of  losing something.
Fear of  losing someone I care.
Fear of  humanity itself.
Fear of  fire.
Fear of  words.
Fear of  feelings.
Fear of  death.
Fear of  heaven.
Fear of  hell.
Fear of  being afraid.
Fear of  being weak.
Fear of  being strong.
Fear of  knowing too much.
Fear of  knowing too little.
Fear of  being replaced.
Fear this day will end like another day.
Fear of  waking up to find out that I'm still dreaming.
Fear of  not loving and fear of being loved.
Fear that I will not live forever.
Fear of  smart people.
Fear of  dumb people.
Fear of  myself.
I've said that.

Point of view

The human nature is quite interesting. I mean, we are some really weird species: we born as something very fragile and weak, we have a long maturation process,... And the list goes on and on. But what I want to talk today is about when humans work and communicate with another fellow human and, of course, their points of view.

You see, the thing is that we are always watching something from our point of view, and we think that the POV (Point Of View abbreviated) where we are seeing things is the correct one. And that's pretty weird, because think about it for a second: what makes your opinion the most valuable? I mean, even I don't think that writing about this makes my words to be the true ones, but that's not my point about this (or is it? I don't know for sure, but again I don't want to make this post some kind of "what we are" or "why we do the things we do". That's for another day).

But regardless, I'm just amused listening to people who thinks that they must impose their point of view to someone because "it's the good one". If you got an opinion about something, feel free to share it with anyone you want, but try to respect the opinions that other people have. Do not be a complete jerk  just because you think you are "THE CHOOSEN ONE TO GUIDE THE PEASANTS TO A FREE LAND BUILT WITH THE OPINION THAT YOU HAVE". You'll never know if you are right about an idea or an opinion or something similar if you blindly believe in just one single thing. Just try to be nice with everyone and don't make enemies that could be your allies. That will make you more friendly and less... stupid.

Well, that's a lot of nonsensical rant for the first entry, so I think that's it for today. Have a great night/day/winter solstice, and take care.