On Killing Demons…

Everybody has their own demons which torment either from time to time or constantly.  There is this struggle which I am constantly struggling to define and pin down and then find ways of slaughtering the incessant bastard.  I’ve boiled it down like this…  You have behavioural demons like that of bad habits  i.e. procrastination, cussing too much, nail-biting, etc.  and then you have the deeper demons which generally also lead to the behavioural ones; these are the bigger questions, the mind-numbing or sometimes mind-buzzing cacophony that goes on in your head. 

The deeper questions which are personal to me are questions like:

"Why am I here?" (something I constantly need to ask to remind me of my purpose on this Earth)
but also tied into that "Why am I me?" (What is the purpose of my unique consciousness?)
"What do I do now?"
"What do I want to achieve?"

There are more but let’s not get sidetracked.  This was about Slaying these demons.  Here’s a few tips.

1) Gain Knowledge and never stop learning.  ALWAYS ASK QUESTIONS.
2) Control yourself. Listen and focus on your actions and thoughts and decisions. KNOW YOURSELF and be truthful with yourself about your weaknesses and strengths. LEARN WHAT YOU NEED TO CHANGE.
3) TAKE ACTION to change things.

The most important part of the above in particular is to pay attention to your desires. What do you lust after… these are often the evil horseman, which when let loose and fall into excess, create some horrible characteristics and make us become the people we often depsise the most.

Remember that you can’t blame anyone else for your situation or who you are. Wherever you are right now and whoever you are, you have made yourself.  If you look in the mirror and don’t like what you see, you can decide to change, and only you can do that.

So go and do it. Slay the demon.  Your one decision to focus on this and change even a single thing about yourself for the better will be like a Hattori Hanzo sword striking a deadly (or heavily injurious) blow to your greatest opponent… your weaker self.

Quotidian Miracles

Do you realise how many things in everyday life hang by a thread? I’ve been reading a lot of things scientific around our physical existence and a common element strikes me, the spiritual connotations of which get my mind racing around like a freight train running on nitrous oxide.

Here’s a few thoughts…

1) The Three phases of Water… do you have any idea what factors need to be in play for it to be possible just to have water in the form of solid, liquid and gas?… and it just happens to be fundamental to our existence.

2) Tectonic plates… Water in three phases is not all. The movement of our tectonic plates, and with it volcanoes, earthquakes, etc. are essential to managing the Earth’s temperature… without which, human life on the planet would not exist.

3) Day and Night… Apart from the fact that we just happen to be the perfect distance from the earth to sustain life on the planet with the Sun’s energy as well as contribute to the maintenance of the Earth’s temperature… the mere fact that the system revolves around us having a period of rest and work, Light and Darkness makes the Earth work and rest just as we do.

Right… now forget all the Scientific stuff… the temperature, the rest and work, the fact that we just happen to have all these things in a perfect balance and I haven’t even mentioned all of them. They also have an effect on our social atmosphere, health, behaviour. Again, all of which affect our ability to adequately LIVE on this planet.

It seems to me a bit convenient for all these critical elements which keep us alive to be a coincidence. At just how many ‘coincidences’ will we draw the line before we acknowledge the design?

Inception: The Cobol Job (Comic)

First things first, read this comic AFTER you watch the movie.

I found this during my surfing expeditions and thought I’d share it :) It will make sense after you watch the movie because it gives some context to the job they get into at the beginning of the movie and also more background to the Cobol Engineering company.

Only flaw I picked up was that the “South African” mercenaries don’t use the word “mate” by any stretch of the imagination. I think the writer mixed them up with Aussies. Blame it on the researchers.

Leave a comment about what you thought of the movie. Christopher Nolan is a GENIUS.

Enjoy :)

Download

What is it with Authors named Murakami and Psycho-Sexual Thrillers?

Up until this point far I’ve read two novels by Haruki Murakami (The Wind-up Bird Chronicle and After Dark) and one by Ryu Murakami (Piercing) and I’m beginning to notice a sinister underlying theme with these Japanese authors.

Firstly, you cannot doubt the dark angle and twist of the stories involved. There is some sick twisted element to all of it which makes it both enticing but revolting at the same time. Secondly, the characters are always normal people with some deep flaw or tortured soul or whatever else it is which makes them 1) act really weird and 2) have some crazy, CRAZY thoughts.

After reading Haruki’s work and all the reviews, etc. I was intrigued and thought the books were ‘cool’ in that underbelly-of-society type of way… but after that, when all the books I’m reading by them tend to be about generally some sort of excessively deviant behaviour and just plain weird shit, I’m starting to question what the point of it all really is.

I do want a point, a moral, a lesson… something I can learn from it apart from being thoroughly freaked out by these crazy motherfuckers these authors seem to come up with.

I think I’ll try one more by Haruki before trying some other sub-cultural authors for different countries. Stieg Larsson (Swedish) also had some crazy elements but at least his work had a golden thread of a story to follow through to the end.

One thing I have to admit is the breadth of imagination these guys seem to have, albeit towards the fringes of darkness and insanity, I’m wondering if a similar movement of authors are available focusing on the more… positive side of life. The search begins.

Gentlemen, A Call to Arms! The Expendables vs. Eat, Pray, Love.

I Love this. How absolutely honest. So enough bitching on Facebook and Twitter about the nauseating sparkly vampires and how your wife/Significant Other has forced you to watch yet another one of the barrage of chick flick which have flooded the scene.

It’s time you got off your ass and put your money where your mouth is. Prove you’re a man!

Gentlemen, it’s time we get out a bit more. By its 2nd week Rambo was beaten by 27 Dresses and Hanna Montana. Stallone ripped a man’s throat out with his bare hands! We can’t let this happen again.

Eclipse: An Objective View (Well, I’ll try)

One thing you have to keep in mind when watching movies is that they are very similar to products. They have a specific target market. So to be true to any particular movie you will have to judge it not only from a “movie buff” perspective but also from the perspective of “is it good for the target market”.

So when it comes to Eclipse… let’s face it, The movie (and the franchise) is an amazing success. It’s not secret who the target market is either (the throng of giggling teenage girls at the cinema when it premièred is testament to this).

So my likes and dislikes about the movie?

1) Rosalie’s story about how she became a vampire could’ve been done much MUCH better. From reading the book, I was expecting Kill Bill style action around the story of revenge. I think an entire movie can be made around this one.

2) Anyone else notice Bella has Buckteeth? Damn those incisors were huge.

3) Bella is a ho. No other girl would be tolerated running around kissing two boys and getting away with it. Also, you can notice Stephenie Meyer’s mormon beliefs coming through with all the sexual tension and Edward’s view of getting married first, etc. To me it’s all just very confusing.

4) The Cullen’s look AWESOME when they stand together in all their vampire paleness awaiting a vampire army onslaught. I really liked the beauty of that picture.

5) The Werewolve/Vampire Fight was pretty good. But then again, we had to wade through a lot of soppy lovey-dovey stuff and a LOT of sexual tension before we got there.

Okay so after this… what do you have to look forward to from the next set… Well, from what I heard from all the conversations after the flick… “I can’t wait to see the wedding!”

That should give you enough insight into who the target market is and it all can get very nauseating.

Enjoy.

Nike’s World Cup Curse and it’s Dutch “Write the Future”

Just looking at the current survivors of the World cup and after yesterday’s semifinal between Spain and Germany, you wouldnb’t be the first to notice just how funny Nike’s (most successful viral ever) “Write the Future” ad looks at the moment. It may even be prophetic,what with the vision of Wayne Rooney in some trailer park with a huge beard, but obviously he won’t be looking at Franck Ribery’s poster, but rather one of the never-seen-in-a-world-cup-final-before Dutch or Spanish players.

After yesterday’s final, Nike has come out with their new “All Dutch” Ad supporting the holland team in the final. Personally, I hope the Spanish win. Here’s Nike’s new ad… “Orange is the colour of Insanity”

There was a spoof of the ad which came out talking about how Nike’s ad’s are the curse of the World Cup where all the players it features seem to mess up/disappoint/fail… and here it is…

And here’s a japanese Spoof which was pretty funny. Reminded me of Kung Fu Hustle in a way :)

Google Earth’s 3D rendering of World Cup Stadia

Looks like Google Earth also has World Cup Fever. It’s integrated an awesome 3D look at every single World Cup Stadium in South Africa into its mapping system. Brilliant mix of Football Fanatic and Tech Junkie. I like it.

World Cup Thoughts

The World Cup Concert last night was disappointing to me. Don’t get me wrong, I love my country but that Shakira’s Waka Waka song is absolutely KAK for a World Cup song held in South Africa.

Firstly, there’s not a single Zulu/Xhosa word in the song, which should definitely have been included… but they do use words from west africa. I can understand the whole “Africa” tie-in and everything… but not a single word? Come on. Besides it is a shit song, people only watch it for Shakira.

Reviving Dr.Alban’s “Hello Africa” would’ve been a much better song. And whose brilliant Idea was it to have Alicia Keys? “New York” is a nice city and the song is brilliant, but wrong bloody context don’t you think? and throwing in “Joburg” at the end of the song was just cheap.

Did anyone even notice Freshly Ground? showing up for three seconds at the end. Come on man…

But Enough of that… SA Drew against Mexico in the first match and their First goal was AWESOME! Bloody Hell. What a rush. The boys played well, they did not disappoint.

All the naysayers about SA hosting the World Cup can have a nice supper of their words right about now.

Go SA! ===<() *PAAARP!*

So What’s the Big Deal With Drawing the Prophet?

I can’t understand why the media, the west and everyone else who engaged in the “Let’s Draw Muhammad” contest recently couldn’t, in all their secular intelligence, attempt to first UNDERSTAND and then to act instead of the other way round.  I am also extremely disappointed with Zapiro for simply “jumping on the bandwagon” which is very unlike him.  The Zapiro I’m used to has deep insight, sharp wit and gets to the heart of the issue at hand.  Zapiro’s cartoon depicting the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) shows only deep ignorance… but I’ll analyse that later.

First, let’s get to the heart of the matter.  Why are Muslims going crazy when this happens?  Well, at the essence, we do not draw the Prophet Muhammad or represent him in any way or form even though we do have detailed, verified and ratified descriptions of him because it is mentioned in the Quraan not to fall into the trap of our Christian Brethren and end up worshipping the Prophet instead of God.  Secondly, Muslims believe in ALL of the prophet’s of God – Moses, Jesus, Noah, Jonah, Adam, etc. (peace be upon them all) and we don’t DRAW any of them.

But still… why is there so much passion in this issue? well look at the content.  The depictions are ignorant and horrible. There is no mistaking the intent behind them.  It more represents some Hard-line Iranian ‘Terrorist’ Mullah than have any insight into the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh).  Muslims LOVE the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), I mean truly love. For Muslims he is the ultimate example of what a human being is supposed to be.  We actually implement the idea that whenever we’re faced with any situation in life the question is automatically… “Well, what did the Prophet (pbuh) do?” You can’t underestimate this point, it leads to the next point in this issue.

Let’s make it personal.  Take someone you truly love and would do anything for… say it’s your mother.  Now, if someone was talking badly (or drawing nasty pictures) of your mother but did it amongst themselves and, obviously, they have a right to say what they want. It’s all absolutely fine.  But when someone comes up to you and waves it about in your face and swears your mother to your face, what would you do?  Yes, it is the ultimate example we need to follow to hold our peace and deal with it in an intelligent and civilised manner (in fact this is what the Prophet (pbuh) himself would have done. But being realistic…  Your first move would be a punch in the gut of the offending perpetrator.  This is the line between having the freedom  to say what you want, but respecting the people around you.

Personally, this is the first time I’m writing about this because I can’t believe people’s stupidity and ignorance. In this day and age! For God’s sake (no pun intended) is everyone getting Stupider?  Why can’t anyone else see this?  Regarding the drawings themselves, I refuse to join any action AGAINST them on Facebook and shout out slogans, etc. because that only fuels the fire of the same idiots who created the group in the first place.  I’ve IGNORED them from the beginning and I implore all other Muslims to do the same, or even better, start telling these people who the Prophet (pbuh) was, his example and what he means to them.  This is the perfect opportunity.

Finally, I pray… that intelligence dawns on both sides of this conflict.  It’s a shame on humanity that BOTH sides are acting like this.  Let’s grow up.

Link to original Photo of Zapiro at launch of his book ‘Pirates of Polokwane’

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