The Elegant Solution

Mridul has alway claimed that I always blame things on pollution. I've never disputed this. Land, air and water, its all filthy. We're living like those fish in 'Finding Nemo'. Our fish bowl is dirty and we've no choice but to breathe, eat and drink it up. The world we live in is doomed. We can attribute this condition to various factors, mostly manmade. OR...

We can blame it on entropy and embrace apocalyptic visions of the Anti-Christ (Where the heck is he by the way?) and laugh like bastards. This doomed schtik has been going on for centuries. Its only us sentient monkeys making a fuss about it as a recent phenomenon. Why? simply because we can. If there existed another sentient species on the planet that we haven't wiped out yet; I'm sure the two would agree its doomed. We are alone & buzzing. History tells us that each civilization was looking for an Elegant Solution to end their problems. In todays terms the Elegant Solution is the Sci-Fi writers idea & the scientists wet dream. The media paints a picture of urgency, they show lab rats frantically experimenting on chimps & chimps experimenting on lab rats. they are all looking for a key. Key to the elegant solution.

Maybe we've to fight fire with fire. Maybe that might actually be the Elegant Solution. Its all futile. Buahahahha!
The Moral still is DON'T shit where you eat.

Precious Junk

I believe that we can all agree on the idea that we live in a materialistic world. I remember going once to my Mom's ancestral home in Pallakaad, Kerala. We had tea in this dining room which had a cupboard with neatly arranged, dusty and delicate china. A grand uncle of mine spent some time in the Far East & he had brought this and many other quality stuff. Quite a bit of his stuff were rumoured to be languishing in the attic of the house (or was it another house?). I'd never been to the attic as I was being constantly bombarded by questions like 'Do you remember me?' by various relatives. And when they got over the fact that the infant me was in-fact a gangly 13 year old, the next relative would pop in for the next iteration of questions. The stuff I saw in the cupboard will never be junk in my opinion for two reasons:

1. They don't make them like they used to. Those china cups were exquisite. The minimalist crock of today would just pale in comparison.
2. I like old stuff.

Confession: I am a pack rat. So what have I accumulated over the past few years? Whatever it is it will never have the charm of antique stuff. I tend to debate over purchases for so long that when I do buy the item, I no longer need it! Now this can be very irritating when you do stock taking of one's room like I am now. What a waste of money & space! One such object is my light box which has not been totally useless as I've made it to be.

The story of the light box- I found myself in a 2D animation course about four years ago. The need for a light box was unquestionable. Looked about town for one with a peg bar. No cigar. Ok I'll build one, drew up a design for the carpenter. He came in one morning, I explained the plan to him in grand detail. He knocked up one for me in two days. It looked like a deluxe rat trap! Problem being the angle at which the drawing surface inclined. It proved to be very uncomfortable when one slaved away for hours on it. The minor angle issue aside it was functional, portable and very spartan. I used it less often after I got it home. Consolation-wise I still use it nowadays for art and at night as reading light.

How much of the stuff we have accumulated are actually worth keeping? How much of it is going to last for the next five years? Who knows. Much of the bulk I own is media- books, tapes and CDs. The Choice is clear, either invest in miniature devices that become obsolete in about a years time or invest in something thats like a Soviet juggernaut i.e, hideous in execution but will last over half a life time as long as its not nuked twice to oblivion.

Dali in commercials

Found these ads starring the ever eccentric Salvador Dali.



The next ones' a gem!



Happy bubbles but devoted bubbles!

My Hands are Bloody

I have just killed a stale blog - The Hall of Beard. The blog was dedicated to famous bearded personalities and It featured two - Rabindranath Tagore & Gustav Klimt. Attempts to introduce readers (if any) to Arthur Brown (Musician), Alexey Pajitnov (Designer of the video-narcotic, Tetris) & Jeff Minter (Programmer of many obscure games & the not so obscure light synth) have repeatedly failed. The other motive behind the creation of the blog was to have a memetic affect on people's minds. One rarely sees full bearded men these days.
Rest assured I'm still growing one.

Two beginnings & an end

Fallout & Fallout 2 were two RPG games that I really enjoyed way back. Both games are set in a world that has been ravaged by nuclear war. Lawlessness & mutants prevail. Its a turn based game. There is a rumour that Bethesda Softworks, the guys behind the Elder Scrolls series are working on a Fallout 3. Check out the intros to both these games. The voice on the first intro is Ron Perlman

Fallout



Fallout 2



To finish off this post is the ending of Stanley Kubrick's chilling classic. Its a satire on cold war. The song 'We'll Meet Again' is sung by Dame Vera Lynn.

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb



Ironically the ending is the beginning for this post :)

70 years later and still dead !!

Today is H.P. Lovecraft's 70th Death anniversary. Master of all consuming horror and general sphincter laxing paranoia. His work dealt with phenomenon beyond human perception. No matter what humans do we are a doomed bunch as there is a Pantheon of Gods slumbering for eons waiting to be roused. Once roused these powerful beings will have a party that would make the Kali Yugam look like a second of happiness.
Lovecraft's horror: horror :: abstract art: art
For the uninitiated:

The H.P. Lovecraft Archive
The Official Cthulhu Mythos
Cthulhu Universalis


Art Credit: 'H.P. Lovecraft's Birthday Party!' by Toren 'MacBin' Atkins

As it was meant to be

Two Important issues that can never be stressed enough:

sleepnaked.org
Describes the benefits of sleeping in the buff. One can find a link to some research conducted on this particular subject on this website.

Leave no child inside is an article about reconnecting kids with nature. Sadly humans are losing their touch with nature and the environment we're brought up in isn't helping anyone on this planet. Luckily for us in Bangalore we've wildlife at our doorsteps.

Image: cover art for Led Zep's album 'Houses of the Holy'. Designed by Storm Thorgerson