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Here you will find a record of all things fiction and the thoughts generated through clear lenses. All posts older than 12/16/2013 are works of thirst-quenching fiction you should explore freely, while everything onwards becomes what has struck the bell in my brain and turned into words. Enjoy!

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Tekkids: The Beginning



    It would be a long be a long walk.
The ruddy, muddy path before them curved and turned near through the towering husks of scorched trees, burned but not forgotten, watching them as they passed quiet beneath their ashen skeletons. A breeze picked up, blowing a grey, dead snow down as they trudged along, wary and weary, looking for a place to camp before the coming night.
Somewhere in the distance something like a bird or paca was bleating a message in shrill squawks, and it sounds like "get out, get out, get out." There's not a single welcoming quality to the forest of Fen, leaving was already the plan, to make it to some city and see what was left of the sky again, even one ringed with fire would be better than this dull grey overcast of arboreal shells. After last night, she was exhausted, and plodded forward hardly able to keep a consistent thought in her head. That was fine though. She didn't want to.
They just got out of another altercation, one that left Rosy with bruises all down her arms with a bad burn on her shoulder, and Kehl… he was fighting back another round of nausea. It couldn't keep on going like this, something was going to break that couldn't get fixed.
While the rope had tightened around Rosy's neck, she'd still stayed conscious enough to hear the mention of a city on the other side of the diseased woods. Lodestone. She chanted the name over and over in her mind’s voice, Lodestone, Lodestone, Lodestone. Maybe if they made it there, discovered more information about what was happening in the ongoing conflict, maybe then they could find a cure.
...But then where would they go?

+++

From the onset of the night before, after they left the small post for trading caravans, it didn't take long until their 'guides' turned out to be the opposite of what was promised. It didn't come at a complete surprise--they'd been half-expecting it since they made it past the crowds and out into the rural reaches of Lemmingstown, when their two new compatriots had an argument over which path to take upon entering the Fen. True guides also traveled slower and with more gear, whereas these seemed to be in a hurry to leave the wagon trains behind. Even then, it was better to travel with someone, anyone, instead of venture out all alone, just the two of them. If anything, it would give extra fodder on the road in case of another monstroid attack.
After barely making it away from the glow of the last campfire, the would-be woodsman were already setting the snare, saying they should make camp away from too many prying eyes so no one would come upon their little group in the night. It wouldn't be the first time things got suspicious quick, someone making a promise and meaning the opposite of what they said. Nowadays everyone seemed desperate. Being a child made no exception in that. How quickly "keep you safe" could mean "attack and sell you" made paranoia the standard mindset to those that wanted to stay alive. Unnervingly, not everyone did want to keep going. Occasionally you’d glance a body’s remains stren among the jagged rocks at the bottom of a cliff. First reaction then was, ‘can I get down there to see if any usable gear might be left?’ Shows the sour reality of how times were changing.
Usually, these poachers of people waited longer to earn trust before springing the trap. Rosy and Kehl had known shackles, but history wasn't going to repeat so soon. Nor would it ever have to, if they were prepared to pay the price.
"Where are we headed?" Rosy asked tracker Allar.
"What? Why you wanta know? We getcha their safe, like we said."
"Yes, thank you, only the Fen stretches quite a distance, doesn't it? I heard tell around the trading post of a big city on the other side, the one down from Snake Lake. I just wanted to know if that was the direction we were heading." Even though she had only begun taking on the transition from kid to girl, she was not clueless or thoughtless as her youth may suggest.
"Yeah? You head about the city, huh? But you ain't been through here before, huh?" Allar fiddled with a knife on a flint stone over a small tinder pile, though no sparks were coming off with the scrapes.
"We haven't been to the other side of Fen, no. But we made it all the way here from quite far away, from North Lea. We're just looking for a bigger place to find something to do."
"Yeah, well I got a bit of bad news," he put the flint stone away, giving up on the fire--or finishing what he was originally intent on doing, "see, Lukus and I hear track the Fen and try to catch them metal beasts what bother travelers. So happens that a couple smaller logtowns up norther are paying more for 'em fresh kilt than the city."
"Oh," putting a bit of despondency in her tone, "we were hoping to reach south."
" . . . "
"But we'll be much, much better off going that way after we get across the Fen. Thank you for your help."
"Mhmm. Now go to sleep kids, gotta a lot to do tomorrow. A lot of walking. Actually probably best not to start a fire, don't want none of them beasts comin' on out tonight, right? Don' you worry, Lukus is a strong guy, he'll stay up a while and watch."
Rosy and Kehl took the cue and began to spread out their thin bedrolls. It used to be on nights like this, with only the darker of the moons showing in the sky, children would stay up and talk about things they'd seen and what they'd see from here, excited about what was out there, and someone would always try to scare younger kids by telling them about some huge black shadow monster just outside the brushpile watching and waiting until they slept. Rosy and Kehl knew better. You didn't talk. You did not draw attention. And you listened.
The one called Allar went after Rosy just as she was laying to test the bedroll placement, silently lashing a tethered cord around her neck. She only got out a squeak before the man's hand was around her mouth, his knee in the small of her back forcing her chest to the ground. "Don't worry. I think we might change plans and head to your big city, Lodestone pays better for live things than dead ones."
The other guide, Lukus, nabbed Kehl in one arm, and Kehl ripped that arm off, a clean break from the shoulder socket. Allar said Lukus wa strong, but he could have never known how much stronger Kehl's Arms were. Rosy didn't have that kind of power, but she still had teeth and sunk them into her assailant's hand. He cried out in pain, but that didn't deter him from making a few more coils in the nylon binding rope now woven around her small body. The cords gripped into her skin through her thick orange fur dress and hurt despite the layers. Allar hadn't noticed the partner slaver, riling on the ground, clutching his own arm in his opposite hand, lost to shock. The man on Rosy kept his hold but lost his nerve when he turned to see what Kehl had done, and it was just then now-dead Lukus's head popped like a blister.
Stripping himself of the heavy teal jacket he always wore, Kehl made for Allar, coming for Rosy. She threw her hair away from her Eye and could see an instant aura of fear, and a deeper peer through his first layer of garments revealed just in time as Allar drove his hand to an inside pocket, "Kehl! He's gotta a shock-stick, watch out!" Kehl stopped his approach short, instead snatching up a round rock that should have been used for their fire pit, launching it through the collar bone and out the back of Allar before he could point the shock-stick and fire. Ligaments plucked like string, the stick fell and went off on hitting the ground, launching a stream of white-blue lightning just past Rosy's head but catching her shoulder, prompting loose a wail of agony.
Without a word Kehl pounced the man, dug his fingers inbetween his ribs and pulled, splitting him from the left of his sternum in two like cracked nut. Rosy tried to yell, to tell him not to use so much power, that he'd push too far, but Kehl was young, temperamental, and didn't yet understand the full effects of what he had on his arms. He only pulled back after Allar had an "O" like shape to his torso. By then, Rosy had squeezed out of her binding to catch Kehl as he stumbled, looking pale. With Eyes to the trees above, he vomited and Rosy rolled him over. "Pushed himself too far", she muttered. Already she could feel his veins growing turgid and his limbs became stiff. There was nothing she could do but lay him down, gather the gear of the two guides-turned-corpses, and lie awake until dawn when Kehl regained consciousness.
You think she'd have been scared. She wasn't. Just sad. And worried. This wasn't the first, second, or third time this happened. She shed a few tears while Kehl couldn't see, frustrated on having to ponder how many more times this would happen. Rosy could only hope it wasn't hopeless.

+++

The glaring moon glowered high in the sky, mid-day and no shadow time, signaling rest. They found a hovel in the recess of a particularly towering fallen ash tree. Rosy pulled out a canteen on a skein of knotted intestine taken from last night's attackers to give Kehl a drink. She went to take a swig herself first before spitting the liquid right back out, her mouth on fire. Rotgrog, as nasty as it was potent, cheapest booze you could buy but only drank by those who truly could not afford something better. Made all the more sense why her people-trapper's from yesterday turned to crime life. Rosy kicked herself for not checking first and trading the contents for water before setting out, but she wanted to depart the gruesome scene before any passerby stumbled on the barbarized bodies. Some may have known those two cadavers, but she doubt they'd be missed. Possibly they were even beyond recognition. Rosy still shuddered to think of what Kehl could do, though at the same time that power became strangely normal. With her companion still reeling in a weakened state now, Rosy had only been able to carry a small amount of the gear she got off the slavers, and a vial of rotgrog was not going to help them through the Fen.
Rosy tried to sit, let her body be at rest, and collect her thoughts like she'd been told to do from time to time. They were still alive (for what it was worth), they had more gear than when they started yesterday (though at a price), and they made some progress through the Fen (but slower than they would if they hadn't been attacked by their guides), and they were on a pretty well-worn path (however they didn't know where it'd go). Okay, thinking wasn't working.
Instead, she put her attention on Kehl. His breathing was labored by a bit, but his Eyes were open and alert. They hadn't spoken all morning. Both knew what the other was thinking, and the conversation they'd have to have, but the two continued mutually delaying that inevitable exchange. A light mist started to fall, and turned out to be nothing more than the ashes from the tops of surrounding trees blowing in the wind, giving the air a heavy stink of stale sulfur. "We should take it easy today. It's not like anywhere else is better than here. Everything's probably even worse," Rosy spoke finally.  Kehl sniffed in through his nose to recall a wet booger on its way out. "Uh-huh. Probably." Rosy looked over to Kehl, who didn't give his eyes back. It made her realize she still had her Eye out, and she made a quick attempt to look natural as she moved her hair in front of it and cupped the rest of her curls behind her ear. She knew her Eye still frightened him, though it couldn't be more than Kehl's Arms frightened her.
Unbuckling the clasp of her pack, she removed the leather straps but let out a quick peal of pain where the shock-stick blast scorched her skin. That got Kehl's attention, asking "you all right?" Rosy more gingerly removed that strap, wincing as she gently rotated it over the skin beneath. "Yes. I'm fine. It's not as bad as stuff before, and I know it'll heal up really quick like it always does." She tried to think positive, like she had been told to do. She shrugged off the hurt, instead reminding herself that they were up another weapon, Allar's shock-stick now in her coat pocket, which gave them an additional method of defense, one that didn't use Kehl's Arms or Rosy's Eye.
"Don't look, Kehl. That reminded me, I should change the bandage on my shoulder. Those stupids at least had sense to carry some medical junk with'em." Before she even took and arm out of the sleeve of her dress Kehl blushed a shade of pink that clashed with the somber color of his jacket. In a strange way she didn't show, it made her happy to see they were both still very much mortalfolk. Kehl feigned disinterest and went to kick at a charred stump while Rosy carefully picked at where blood and blackened skin stuck to the piece of cloth she strapped on in the morning. It hurt, but she was stronger than that familiar feeling of pain. Wadding up new cloth, she taped it down and slung her arm back through her fur dress. The shade of pale, faded orange that colored her one-piece was just like the hue of light bouncing off the moon. She could just make out the beams coming down through the smoky tops of dead standing trees.
"Okay. You can look now. Oh, and come back over here Kehl, I still have some of that ointment we got and you could use it on your Arms." She pulled on the lid of a rubber tub taken from a hipsack. It was greasy to the touch and no matter how much she wiped at it with her pantleg it never got not-sticky. "No, I'm fine, it doesn't hurt. It's fine," Kehl said, still facing the other way and preferring to busy himself with the stump.
It wasn't until Rosy rolled up one of Kehl's sleeve under protest that she saw why he was acting resistant.
"Kehl… this is bad."
"No! It's fine, I said it's fine!"
"It gone to your elbows. Kehl it's already made it to your elbows, and that was just last night. Ten moon-cycles ago it was just getting past your wrists." Now, from finger to forearm, and organic twisting of nano-metal took the place where flesh should be. It was cold to the touch, but looked alive, practically pulsing as Rosy inspected further to see new thin wires beginning to sprout around the joints, along with a new dull blue light shining through a hard-casing just below Kehl's palm.
"Just put the greasy stuff on and leave it alone. It's not so bad."
"You can't do what you did, you can't use so much energy, too much is going to make this spread faster, you know that!"
"Yeah, and then what, we don't even know what happens when it does. Maybe nothing. Maybe it will just stop. Or maybe it'll make us really, really strong and then no one will ever bother us again. And it doesn't matter. That stupid guy, he was hurting you, he had you in ropes and, I didn't want to get captured again, and sold, and end up somewhere where the hurt… hurt you and… "
Kehl began to trail off in tears, but Rosy had sealed off that protective reaction to his crying; it could be a tool just like the ointment. "Don't even. Don't even start to blubber about that. You know--knew--we were never in danger. You freaked out too fast, Kehl. Even if he had me tied up, he never said how he wanted us 'alive' to do whatever with. If those idiots didn't know about what we could do then, all it would take is being patient and waiting for them to go pee or something, then we could have broken out and used a lot less power. I could have scanned them to see what they had and told you that. You can't just keep exploding like that or we're going to run out of time."
"Just shut up about it," Kehl hit her on the shoulder, the one with the burn, not too hard but enough to make her yell out, "see, that hurts and that's because he hurt you! I'll do what I want, I'm not going back to being in a cage again!"
Rosy's tempered flared, "You freaking little jerk, don't touch me! What was that for?" Rosy pushed him back and he stumbled over the burnt stump and fell backwards, no doubt struggling with the increased weight of his Arms, tears still welling in his eyes. Rosy stopped herself then, not saying anything else. She barely slept last night, but had to control her nerves better with him, she couldn't let him get the best of her over this. All things considered, this was out of a place projected by fear.
"I told you I wouldn't *sniff* let anyone *sniff* hurt you and still I *sniff* couldn't get there in time." He stayed on the ground and took a moment to himself as Rosy tried to regain her composition. She needed to remember, Kehl was only a boy of 10, and a sensitive one at that. Even if she was 12, she still had to be the adult.
"Kehl… look at it this way, if this machine infection spreads too far up your arms, well, you won't be able to save me from anything. You'll go crazy, like the kids back from Newton."
"*sniff* I'm sorry. I'm sorry I hit you. It's just… so hard *sniff* sometimes."
"I know," she grabbed his hand, wincing as the cold metal wrapped around hers stronger than Kehl knew he was gripping. She bared that, and helped him up. "I know it is. Just… you have to be really, really careful, okay. Now roll up your sleeves more, you really should have told me earlier."
Kehl sucked in a trail of snot and did as he was told. “I know… you’re right. It is… annoying (Rosy knew that was a quick substitute for the word ‘hurt’) and it makes it feel like my arm won’t move so good.” The woolen glove came off and he rolled up the opposite sleeve. It had spread to same place near his elbow, though this Arm had streaks of dark grey metal alloys that took over for skin, smooth like stone. Underneath the forearm, small levers and a pulley system worked quietly in place of muscle fibers as he continued to raise his sleeve, up the point where skin and meat and bone took back over. It looked like his elbow bend might turn in to some kind of piston mechanism. Rosy wouldn't admit her thought, but she was curious what the machinery would look like once it rounded the elbow, what kind of bio-nano would take the place of shoulder and neck tissue, how the bone would hold against impact and how the rotating motion of complex ball joints would function. Maybe his arm wouldn't move the same way again, and would get stuck turned straight, like a pole with a hammer for a hand. She wouldn't admit to thinking it, but she knew it would happen before too much longer, at this rate. If they kept running into trouble, and needed to use the power in his Arms, it would go that much faster, a seemingly exponential increase. For now, she forced a smile and blew at the tears on Kehl's cheek as she applied the salve. It made him laugh, "Stop! It's cold when you do that."
Rosy finished applying the ointment and backed off, jamming the rubber lid back on the tub as her smile faded. She thought of how one day, if things didn't get better, Kehl might not feel a cold sensation on his cheek anymore. He might not be able to feel anything, anywhere. No, she couldn't do this, couldn't spiral down. She steeled her nerves, "You can't let anyone see your tears, Kehl. You're not weak. You have to be strong all over, not just in your Arms, okay." She turned to walk off, half-intending the dramatic effect, and made for the path through the ashen trees.
Kehl stood, rolled his sleeves down and thrust his metal fingers clumsily into his beige wool gloves, back to looking every bit the young boy he still was, no different than so many other orphaned children attempting survival in a world gone wrong. He took a deep breath, exhaling with an audible puff of air and picking up his chin, "Yes, Rosy. You're right. I'll be strong. I will." Kehl followed after.

Wednesday, October 1, 2014

[Tekkids]: Lit Trailer

An excerpt from the beginning of Chapter 2:


    From the onset of the night before, after they left the small post for trading caravans, it didn't take long until their 'guides' turned out to be the opposite of what was promised. It didn't come at a complete surprise--they'd been half-expecting it after they'd gotten past the crowds and out into the rural reaches of Lemmingstown. True guides traveled slower and with more gear. Even then, it was better to travel with someone, anyone, instead of venture out all alone, just the two of them. If anything, it would give extra fodder on the road in case of another attack.

    After barely making it away from the glow of the last campfire their would-be woodsman were already setting the snare to sell them back into slavery, saying they should make camp away from too many prying eyes so no one would come upon their little group in the night. It wouldn't be the first time this happened. Someone making a promise and meaning the opposite of what they said. How quickly "keep you safe" could mean "attack and sell you". Usually, these poachers of people waited longer to earn trust before springing the trap. Rosy and Kehl had known shackles, but history wasn't going to repeat so soon. Nor would it ever have to, if they were prepared to pay the price.

    The one called Allar went after Rosy first, silently lashing a tethered cord around her while she bent to set out her sleeping roll. She only got out a squeak before the man's hand was around her mouth, his knee in the small of her back forcing her to the ground. The other guide of the Fen, Lukus, nabbed Kehl in one arm, and Kehl ripped that arm off, a clean break from the shoulder socket. Rosy didn't have that kind of power, but she still had teeth and sunk them into her assailant's hand. He cried out in pain, but that didn't deter him from making a few more coils in the nylon binding rope now woven around her small body. The cords gripped into her skin through her thick orange fur dress and hurt despite the layers...


And that's all you get! "Wait, did a kid just rip a dude's arm out of its socket?" My, aren't you the observant one. Here's hoping you'll want to know more of these two and what will happen to them. Needless to say, looks like the two guides-turned-slavers won't be main characters.

Thursday, May 22, 2014

Bathroom Time as Near Religious Experiences

And ongoing joke (with myself) of how an extreme sense of relief upon the porcelain alter we so often worship can be described in a similar tone to folks going on about their religious transformations. I apologize in advance for any disgust/shameless giggles reading the following may bring... Without guilt or embarrassment, I bolded the ones that made me chortle.



+==BATHROOM TIME as NEAR RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCES==+

 



"A piece of myself was given."


"I had never felt such release."


"I was humbled by my own creation, from what I made inside of myself that day."


"When the tears came, they were of joy."


"Through the pain, we bear our burden knowing what awaits us when we finish. It is what
we were sent here to do that matters most."


"I'll never go back to what I left behind."


"Such a personal experience, coming from deep within, gave way to something I could finally call my own."


"I felt lighter, yet somehow also more whole."


"Sometimes, I think I hear voices."


"I finally felt like I knew what I was doing, like I knew why I was here, what I was put here to do."


"I was proud, and thought of my family."


"I didn't want to miss my chance."


"I had spent so much of my life doing things all wrong. Then I learned how to wash myself clean of the awful things I'd done."


"The catharsis of moving from a necessary pain into a state of relief beyond words will not be something I soon forget."


"I have sinned, and I shall repent."


"I've never known such peace as when I threw open the door to the shining white room, filled with bright light, and sat upon my own throne."


"It is only through suffering that we learn to appreciate the simple things in life."


"There is nothing left for me to do here."


"I prefer solace when I cleanse myself."


"I felt, for so long, that something was in my way. Now, finally, I'm rid of all that was blocking me and feel a new sense of freedom. My whole body feels lighter."


"I cried… "



"It burned."


"I can never go back."


...any I missed?

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

EDITORIAL: The Internet's Biggest Players are Winning the Information War in some of the Most Curious and Absurd of Ways and We Just Lost Youtube


I recalled a video I favorited on Youtube way back that I wanted to check, and was unpleasantly surprised to find the site had been destroyed by the entity that claimed it.
Youtube has been sucked into the Googleplex and you've all lost another layer of meta-independence if you want a degree of entertainment control back--you can't access your favorites from before without making a playlist, you can't make an effective playlist without a channel, and you can't have a "new" Youtube channel without also creating a Google+ account, and--at the end--you can't have a Google+ account with willingly submitting more of your information, being pulled further into the swelling mass that will culminate into the beast which we'll fight in wars of the future to retrieve who we are.
Now you mayn't favorite GoT clips of Aunt Lysa falling through the Moon Door like a bad 80's horror flick UNLESS you allow yourself to be pulled *just a little bit further* into the untold machinations of the 'Net machine.

--Okay, maybe that's a little extreme, but have you noticed the largely unfavorable changes that have constantly pushed you further and further down the rabbit whole of Net dependence? Add in the how "they" don't seem to care what the community thinks of the demands and changes (FB, iTunes, anything Google touches) made to their highly integrated product. They've moved in unfavorable ways, and really they're just getting started.

Usually I wouldn't be the one to say "Oh noez, the internet got dumberer" but the extent to which megacorps web-based servicers are considering themselves infallible as a necessity of daily life, and the slow yet continuous push they make to force users into going along with their wants (gathering info, linking to unrelated other services, compiling accounts, etc.) has gone from subtle to painfully obvious, and I'm becoming increasing aware of just how invasive a lot of this meta-data has become, and the dare-I-say sci-fi "dystopian" image they're beginning to paint.

Now, I knew that nothing on the web was private, and it was silly for people to ever assume so. I know that data is sold and the government monitors everything, and if you didn't think that before the NSA ousting than you were fooling yourselves with assumed good intentions of these auspicious free servicers.

What is pushing me back in my chair and pulling my hands away from the keyboard now is the extent to which the massive networks like Facebook and Google are eliciting your voluntarily surrender of personal information and acceptance of their methods. A lot of this is timing, having grown up in the generation the series of tubes known as the Internet came about. Anyone with common sense wariness would have hesitated five years ago to put their email into a site, and made dummy accounts just for that reason.
Now, under the guise of security and identity protection, your personal information is forfeit already but they keep asking for more. This permeates to the absurd extent that FB put buttons all over your profile for *your friends* to "ask" that you post more personal information--FB is having "your friends" farm information for them now.

As I mentioned before. A healthy amount of wariness from the generation that began the internet generally keeps you suspicious enough to question the need for this endless data collection.
What worries me most is the generation below us--they want to be entertained, they want to do everything on the net, and ***every big servicer is making it look like giving up personal information constantly (numbers, emails, check-ins) is not just okay, but it's "fun" and you SHOULD do it*** and a lot of folks do.
After Edward Snowden made the NSA basically have to admit to what most folks already assumed it was doing anyway, there was a lot of sabre rattling from older people, but the youngest generation is being sucked right up the information vacuum in exchange for access to HD viewing of music videos. When the younger people think this is normal, they'll question less and less what the entities above them ask of them. This is where we start to slip into the plot origin of most 1990s sci-fi (by the way, a lot of which has been scary accurate over time) and I'm not a conspiracy theorists or even a paranoid kind of guy, I'm just trying to pay attention to the intentions behind what is going on with this massive collection of interlinked individuals.
I'm not the first to notice, but this whole thing is getting suspiciously obvious.

Am I saying "QUIT EVERYTHING, GET OFF THE GRID, BUILD A CABIN IN THE UNCHARTED WOODS OF MONTANA"? No, though that does sound challenging and fun (who's with me?!) though what I will tell you is to watch yourself out there, and try to view the long game that big interest groups are playing with the way you interact in their world. Don't be paranoid, but do be wary of the how and why behind why these new forced necessities are gaining power.

But I'll have a big "I Told You So" ready for when barcode neck tattoos suddenly become a booming new fashion trend.

Now I'm going to wait for a man in a black suit wearing sunglasses during the day to emerge from behind me and ask me to "take a walk" to an undisclosed location. Maybe there'll be puppies!

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

NEWS: Religion's Role in Morality by Country

http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2014/03/a-map-of-gods-countries/284469/

Although the Atlantic has a spotty relationship in my book, this brief article citing a study by the Pew Research Center is extremely thought provoking and straightforward. Answering the single question, "Is it necessary to believe in God in order to be a moral person?" you can see clear divides in the world.

My observations: I don't think they asked the question correctly in Japan, where the response would correlate with results as having half the people saying "yes" in a country where I only know of three actively religious people who believe in a single, most likely Western "God" figure. Many people here may believe, for example, that Buddhist teachings offer moral value, but that would not be tied to a centralized god. From this, I believe the answer was either lumped into religion, or they were asking participants in the survey who were more likely "actively religious", otherwise the results would have been less than 5%.

Lol@America, Lol@China. Given their GDP, China is an outlier for saying "God and morals don't matter" and the US is high above the average for people saying "Faith in God is necessary for moral value."

As a person who believes in the self-determinate value of people calibrating their own moral compasses, any country in the purple range depending on an old book, written back when slavery and stoning to death were popular, to determine moral values will be put further down on the list of "Countries I Want To Be In". Anyone else note the irony that countries reporting God as a moral necessity are some of the ones where death by stoning and slavery are still pretty common? Wow, nice job their gods.

tl;dr, most religious texts are violent, antiquated self-help books on morality written thousands of years ago when you or your god could brutally murder someone for being wrong, while still espousing that it's bad to kill people, and folks in many countries still guide their morals from the stories in them.

Social Media? Schmocial... Schmedia

My summary when I think of Twitter and 90% of its users [think impersonal, if ur mah friend ur kewl must be 1/10 shooting star ;D]:

News / Famous people / "Famous people" / News about famous people / Buildings, just the buildings (no people) / Places I don't go / Organizations I don't actively support / GOOD MORNING OH HI LOOKATME LOOKATME LOOKATME LOOKATME LOOKATME LOOKATME LOOKATME LOOKATME LOOKATME LOOKATME LOOKATME ‪#‎ImOnTwitter‬ ‪#‎bored‬ ‪#‎SpendAllMyTimeOnElectronicDevicesBeingSocialButSocialIsInAirQuotes‬

My summary of most Facebook users' experience:
+What they think, "Time to go and find some new information about the world and all of my friends in it!"
+What they do--skim headlines, look at a (minority) of people's activities that are more fun (than being on facebook) and feel envious, and OH A PICTURE OF A DOGGIE.

That said, I don't mind social media, despite the daily droll most people put themselves through on such sites, I think they have an over-arching power to raise awareness and unite opinions through linking the masses on issues of importance. We have access to more accurate information than ever before, even if our political systems can't keep up with how quickly our values and beliefs are evolving into a well-tempered, active thinking community.

Sunday, March 16, 2014

A Brief Reflection on Nostalgia, Memory, and Knowing Yourself


"I remember when I used to be really into nostalgia..." --Demetri Martin

Brooding angst +Blissful happiness = Brooangst + Blissappiness = Brooanblissness?

Shifting through some old documents, I found a series of quotes I wrote down some six or seven years ago from music I was listening to when I first started college at Willamette. Only band names and a few key lines proved enough for a one-way ticket all aboard the nostalgia train. It's as if I can see a different me through sub-recollection of feelings projected, just through remembering music by Weezer, Tiger Army, Modest Mouse, Cake, and Bad Religion--among others--where just the band name takes my mind back to when I had the words and music floating through my (in)famous headphones (pic, above) constantly.


"If I can touch it,
I can destroy it,
if it's imaginable to some degree,
I can become it,
like a hungry turning vortex that just flickers to existence,
consuming bits and pieces until I'm finally extinguished"
(Marked, Bad Religion)


Songs tap into mental cavities we sometimes can't feel genuine in accessing for ourselves, and (good) songs offer an external perspective to what's internal, granting us another lens through which to see our feelings and thoughts. With music as a personal experience, we can think of (good) music as a personified commentary on the self. This is why we constantly relate ourselves to situational lyrics we hear, it's a way of looking at yourself through music. Do this enough, and you will build a subconscious image of yourself through music. Remembering the nostalgia of that 'you' constructed through music is what I'm talking about.

"Message read on the bathroom wall says, 'I don't feel at all like I fall'
And we're losing all touch, losing all touch, building a desert"
(Custom Concern, Modest Mouse)

Deep thoughts filtered through flippant moodiness, it's so readily apparent you can smell it.
  
Memories are vessels of success, regret, and randomly accessed images, all in disorganized snapshots that can render pictures of an emotion and will be seen under the scrutinizing lens of Hindsight20/20. For this there is no proper response, though an appreciation of how far you've come and generating a scope of growth are recommended. If you find something warm, hold onto it in the moment, past and present.

"As soon as your born you start dying
So you might as well have a good time"
(Sheep Go to Heaven, Cake)

Just imagine: you could be having this much fun finding yourself.
I feel like most people don't make time for memories, there is always something in front of them that needs more focus, and it can be unsettling to look back. However, doing so is how you continue to know yourself and gain perspective.
Take time to be you--most people are too scared to.
For a while, stay quiet and still.
Leave the electronic behind, go outside, and walk off the beaten path.

"It burns like a fire in the night
a glow that rises and becomes the starlite
Under the trees, in the night
You'll find it there
In the space between heartbeats
Where the whole world disappears"
(Forever Fades Away, Tiger Army)

I've have yet to find myself, but in this place is the closest I get.

PSA: You never know where or when nostalgia may happen to you, so always be prepared to quell the OH SHI- with a few deep breaths of things far gone, and also make time to languish in the warmth of positive past reflection, being happy just to have lived a life worth remembering.

"In fact we didn't know what we were doing half of the time
We were so sure of ourselves and drove a long way through life
Memories make me want to go back there, back there"
(Memories [how perfect], Weezer)


Wednesday, February 12, 2014

NEWS (Editorial): On Gun Violence and the Illusion of Representative Democracy

I can't believe this was the sentence that happened in my head reading through the news in the morning, it's disheartening, alarming, and enough to make you spit:

"How many school shootings do we have to have before something is seriously done about gun violence in America?"

That was what popped in my head going over a recent summary of shootings: 13 school shootings in the first 6 weeks of the year 2014 alone, that have in total led to 28 deaths since the Newton shooting in December 2012. (via the Guardian US)


I fear hearts have gone cold to the issue; the violence has become a commonplace staple of media in recent times, desensitizing listeners when "another school shooting" comes up.

Am I saying we need to pass legislation immediately, such as Australia did in 1996? No, I'm not even advocating that far (though it'd be nice). I am still stunned to think that this (the least effective of all time) Congress couldn't even pass measures to prevent the purchase of assault grade firearms without background checks for fear of what it would do to the next election cycle.

Politics have become so polarized and invested in private interest that they can no longer do what's right, even when 92% of the country agreed to a need for change because what we see now is that the will of the people has little to no effect on the representative body of government past what is deemed important for elections.

Even with outpouring support for altering gun laws, the watered down bills that came out had been so altered with frivolously added provisions (such as an abusive "anonymous" revision in agriculture paid for by Monsanto) that the final result was no change to help prevent firearms from entering in the wrong hands.

Quite the contrary, gun sales increased from the hype around the legislation.  Now there are more guns out there and we are no closer to managing who might use them. This is a failure of bureaucracy that can only be seen the result of political infighting and mutually beneficial corruption.

I wish there was some better note to end this on, but this has been a failure by no other other words, and it should make people more wary of the role they believe their opinion plays in the game of governance.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/12/school-shootings-newtown-study-gun-violence?CMP=

Sunday, February 9, 2014

NEWS (Editorial): Is This Really News? And Random Celebrity had an Affair with the Apocalypse Tomorrow!

That above headline seems like the sort of thing media outlets are writing constantly nowadays. It's hard to tell what is to be considered real news anymore, when my top 3 headlines from what are thought to be reliable news sources (Time, Washington Post, New York Times) are about Flappy Bird, a lady imprisoned for "trolling herself" (read, actually impersonating others and making slanderous/lewd remarks to family members), and a wine that cats can drink.


"Hide yo kids!"

Sure it's a bit humorous, but headlines like this are being written as clickbait, a vile new word, where websites just write whatever will make you go there to get you click, and in addition their spinning the content of the news to make it sound more incredible or interesting than the true story is.
I think it was last week that MSNBC interrupted a former congressman speaking about the NSA to bring "breaking news" of an over-famed teen being an imbecile.

News is being overwritten, and it's all starting to remind me of that old "E!" channel (entertainment news) that used to run 24-7 gossip blips.
Add in some of the just plain false headlines from photoshopped photos passed off as real and we start to need a news channel to review all the other news channels to know what to believe now (And they are Cracked and The Daily Show, most definitely). Even when major media gets railed as fools, they are still getting attention.

Fox & Friends reported that the LAPD were going to purchase $1billion dollars in jetpacks. Their source for this outrageous breaking story? The tabloid paper "Weekly World". Wow. No wonder it sounded so silly.
Between the never-ending battle for ratings and clips views, there's also an escalation of the severity news intoned by news. What FOX headline doesn't end with "... and will destroy America!" at the end. I think they're popping more dolts a day, just to illicit some crazy response, as the channels still masquerade as serious news, but the people are starting to realize the difference.

I know there are many more reliable sources, like (un)surprisingly PBS, and a number of decent news blogs out there, but the majors that get the most coverage are really failing to bring a greater range of domestic stories and international coverage.

We'll see where the trend takes media, however I'll still be here to post what I feel is worthwhile for folks to know.

Thursday, February 6, 2014

NEWS: On Increasing Minimum Wage, and the Crafted Illusion of Job Loss

NEWS: Is it any small wonder that the richest people yowl high-pitched complaints at (also rich) politicians about not raising minimum wage? But try and see past the single example of McD's, and think more broadly on why this idea of raising minimum wage comes off as contentious in the first place.


http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/02/raising-the-minimum-wage-a-mcdonalds-killer-not-a-mcjobs-killer/283638/

This new study by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago has economists saying the claims of job loss are over-inflated, which comes as no surprise when you think of who stands to lose out.

Here's a hint: it's just the top business people with the most money, who'd rather keep things as they are instead of adjusting to inflation and the current demands on the poorest of the poor in modern society.

However, the crazy, absolutely insane part is that these avaricious yet monetarily influential people concoct a false debate around increasing the minimum wage, funding and inflating findings of falsified studies, getting pundits to rail on about the negative repercussions that will hit small businesses (what is a small business? Answer: an undefined buzz word). Then the media riles up _people who think they are middle-class_ and *convince them to shame the poor, minimum wage workers* who are much closer to them then they are to wealthy CEOs.

Now with studies like this one out of Illinois, they should not be able to play the "jobs" card when refusing to increase worker wages. Hopefully this will reduce it more to the obvious--the pernicious greed and resistance of change (to adapt to inflation or progress with society) that is keeping wages so low for many full-time workers.

As if a global corporation like McDonald's couldn't find a way to make up for treating their employees to just a partial share of the massive profits the company makes.

This gentrification of ideas about the poor being lazy and not moving up because of lack of hard-work--primarily supported by anecdotal evidence--is the most backwards of arguments. Look at the United States GDP, CEO wages, and lowest paid worker wage comparisons and how wildly they differ from other countries. Yet, political rabble-rousing has people convinced that one of the richest countries on Earth will fall apart if they pay their lowest income workers--who often work a lot harder than the people that shame them--a decent living wage. Some of the states that 'go red' on debates like this have the lowest contributing incomes and the most widespread hunger problems. It's as if so many who perpetuate the debate don't realize they are being fed spoonfuls of bullshit, and still take it as an excuse to feel elevated above other people.

Sadly, even if those who echo whatever they hear from biased sources on job loss with the increase of minimum wage COULD BE converted to think more broadly about the social issues of the poor as seen from this economic viewpoint, IT STILL wouldn't make a difference when you consider how little an influence the ideas of the citizenry have on modern politics.

To do this, it would still take a massive dethroning of private business's money in politics, though at least a study like this narrows their available excuses for not endorsing doing the right thing, compensating their workers more significantly for their contribution.

I hope that through small bits of progress in states insisting an increase the in lowest paid wage, it will reign in big corporation to work more within their means on a level that values the workers that are churning out the profit for them, as well as diversify the market for up-and-coming other restaurants to play in the game.

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

NEWS: Former Virginia Governor and Wife Accept 140,805.46 in "Gifts." This is What They Should Have Got Instead!

NEWS: Former Virginia Governor and Wife Accept S140,805.46 in "Gifts"
Subheadline: Grroossss.




Pictured Above: Rich Assholes.


==Read on to the bottom to see how I would have got with 140k in bribery!

Even America is no stranger to corruption. Recently compiled data shows that it is lower here than in other countries, because openly accepting bribery isn't a posh thing to flaunt. In nations with higher rates of corruption, like India and Mexico, you may need to bribe low-ranking public officials just to receive basic state services in a timely manner. There are still deals here in the States behind back doors, both legally and illegally, that link the corporate business world to the political sphere.

This recent case is more extreme than a few slipped bills, and will hopefully bring some focus to how business and politicians play the game of getting rich and staying in power while the needs of the people the serve are ignored.

The former governor and his rich-ass wife though... this is just... boring. They accepted bribes from a wealthy businessman's political leaning in the form of, just, stuff. Dresses, shoes, purses, and a bunch of golf gear. It is *difficult* to spend that much money on things. These were just trifles with name brands, and makes me despise the pointlessness of the brand market even more, as buying anything from "top" brands is nothing more than some sort of masturbatory ritual for the super rich.

And these were some boring rich people.

IF IT WAS ME, and I was eventually going to be indicted over getting free stuff, I would have done *way better* with my wishlist.


First off,
+BALL PIT: 20'x20'. I'm going to need, say, 30,000 balls. Oh yeah!
...dang, that's only $4,300. Still got $135,700 or so left...

+LIFE TIME SUPPLY OF NUTELLA: That's about 1,000 jars of the stuff = $5,250
...haven't even broke below 130k (*are you kidding me!?*)

+ZORB BALL TEAM SUITS: Ten "Zorbs" = $15,000

+LEVITATING HOVER SCOOTER: Built by Hammacher Schlemmer, maker of Roombas = $17,000

+JETPACK: $20,000 for a high-functioning model, when hovering everywhere gets to be somewhat of a snooze.

+A FREAKING TANK: Fully-armored, no ammunition, working order: $60,000 with your International Tank Driver's license.

+A SWAROVSKI CRYSTAL ENCRUSTED HELLO KITTY FIGURE: To put on the dashboard of the tank = $8,000

I still have about $7,000 left over...
42,000 FEET OF BUBBLEWRAP: Est. $6,800~

And that's STILL enough money to go to an elementary school and buy a donut for every kid there.....


LET'S REVIEW: I now own a 400'sq. ball pit, a lifetime supply of Nutella, a full team of Zorb! suits, a levitating hover scooter, a jetpack, a FREAKING TANK, crystal Hello Kitty, about 8 miles of bubblewrap, AND I STILL bought donuts for children, making me better than these two people.

IN SUMMARY: *Fuck these guys*, if you're going to be corrupt and takes lots of money, at least make it exciting.

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

THE BEST 58 ROCK SONGS


THE BEST 58 ROCK SONGS

an entirely biased list of resonant personal favorites
from the alternative and Japanese rock scenes*
by Brent Danley Jones

      I've been working on a project where I compile the rock music that for me stands out as "best" from style to sound, energy to feeling to nostalgic feelings of lust and loss. I encourage you to start to write a list of your own, for whatever musical taste you have, as an expression of what music means to you.

  ロックミュージックしか聞けない僕はTOP58リストを書きました。
       One of the few areas I'll ever express strong opinion with little compromise comes from my preferences in music, particularly rock. This list is not documenting the pinnacle of all musical creation, nor is it saying songs outside the list aren't worthy. Through many years of killing my ear drums, these are the songs--for me--that have swayed my taste ideals in rock music, creating memorable lyrics and music I'll never grow tired of hearing. This symposium of songs pulls from my two heaviest influences: the 90's alternative rock scene and its logical derivatives, and the Japanese rock scene--the two of which are very closely tied in style and sound. I could have these 57 on repeat without skipping and drive for nine days straight.

*they are _mostly_ rock songs, in that two are dance-techno driven, and another is atmospheric instrumental. Find 'em and win a not-prize!

      First, the English songs, listed.
      Then, the Japanese songs, listed. 日本語の歌は、英語の後で書いてあります。
       After that is the master list split with both languages.
   Following those, there are honorable mentions of bands and albums that stand out as a unit. Lastly, a small list of recommendations, so you too can hear the best sounds, creativity, and energy that music has made.


      THE BEST, in English

 

Shimmer - Fuel

Semi-Charmed Life - Third Eye Blind

Absolutely (Story of a Girl) - Ninedays

Fearing the Weekend - The Scene East

Orange Shirt - Discovery

Look At Us - Sabrina Paris

Memory - Sugarcult

Motorcycle Drive-by - Third Eye Blind

One More Time - Daft Punk

Leaving Light - Talkdemonic

Sasafras Roots - Green Day

Only In Dreams - Weezer

Promise - Eve 6

Laundry Room - The Avett Brothers

Just Like Heaven - The Cure

More Than A Feeling - Boston

Debaser - Pixies

Feeling This - Blink 182

Banditos -The Refreshments

12:51 - The Strokes

Elevate Me Later - Pavement

Looking For A Cure - Planet Smashers

A Favor House Atlantic - Coheed & Cambria

God & Suicide - Blitzen Trapper

On the Bus Mall - The Decemberists



      THE BEST, in Japanese

 

Hikari, Saikou - amazarashi 光、再考

Made. Jyounetsu Mix - Mass of the Fermenting Dregs まで。情熱ミックス

Underground - High Voltage

Hello - Supercar

Yoake no Uta - Eastern Youth 夜明けの歌

Love Song - Sambomaster ラッブソング

99.974‪℃‬ - Tricot

Jack Nicolson - Bloodthirsty Butchers

Kore Kurai de Utau - Handsome Kenya これくらいで歌う

Hybrid Rainbow - The Pillows

Boku no Suki na Kimi he - Sambomaster 僕の好きな君へ

Koyoi no Tsuki no You ni - Elephant-kashimashi 今宵の月のように

Ride on Shooting Star - The Pillows

Ai toka Yume toka Koi toka Sex toka - samezame 愛とか夢とか恋とかSEXとか

Planet Magic - N'Shukagawa Boys

Melodic Storm - Straightener

Runner - High Voltage

Kage no Hito - The Mass Missile かげの人

Skeleton Liar - The Pillows

Niji - Ellegarden 虹

Chii sa na Koi no Uta - Mongol800 小さな恋の歌

Squall - Mongol800

Thank You My Twilight - The Pillows

Kono Mama Jya, Kono Mama De - The Mass Missile このままじゃ、このままで

Shirushi - Mr. Children しるし

NO - Negoto

Funny Bunny - The Pillows

She, Her - Noodles

Migite - Ellegarden 右手

Tsumasaki - Oreskaband 爪先

Morninglow - Heavenstamp

Scarecrow - The Pillows

Condom wo Tsukenai Kono Yuki wo Aishite yo - samezame コンドームをつけないこの勇気を愛してよ

Hey Lucifer - Smelly Sox




      THE BEST 58, of Music All-together, Ranked



BEST SONGS EVER (English & Japanese)

1 Shimmer - Fuel

2 Hikari, Saikou - amazarashi

3 Made. Jyounetsu Mix - Mass of the Fermenting Dregs

4 Semi-charmed Life - Third Eye Blind

5 Absolutely (Story of a Girl) - Ninedays

6 Underground - High Voltage

7 Hello - Supercar

8 Yoake no Uta - Eastern Youth

9 Fearing the Weekend - The Scene East

10 Love Song - Sambomaster

11 Orange Shirt - Discovery

12 99.974‪℃‬ - Tricot

13 Look At Us - Sabrina Paris

14 Jack Nicolson - Bloodthirsty Butchers

15 Memory - Sugar Cult

16 Motorcycle Drive-by - Third Eye Blind

17 Kore kurai de Utau - Handsome Kenya

18 One More Time - Daft Punk

19 Hybrid Rainbow - The Pillows

20 Boku no Suki na Kimi he - Sambomaster

21 Leaving Light - Talkdemonic

22 Koyoi no Tsuki no you ni - Elephant-kashimashi

23 Sasafras Roots - Greenday

24 Only In Dreams- Weezer

25 Ride On Shooting Star - The Pillows

26 Promise - Eve 6

27 Laundry Room - The Avett Brothers

28 Just Like Heaven - The Cure

29 Ai toka Yume toka Koi toka Sex toka - samezame

30 Planet Magic - N'Shukugawa Boys

31 Melodic Storm - Straightener

32 Runner - High Voltage

33 Kage no Hito - The Mass Missile

34 Skeleton Liar - The Pillows

35 Debaser - Pixies

36 Niji - Ellegarden

37 More Than a Feeling - Boston

38 Feeling This - Blink 182

39 Chii sa na Koi no Uta - Mongol800

40 Squall - Mongol800

41 Thank You My Twilight - The Pillows

42 Banditos -The Refreshments

43 12:51 - The Strokes

44 Elevate Me Later - Pavement

45 Looking For A Cure - Planet Smashers

46 A Favor House Atlantic - Coheed & Cambria

47 Shirushi - Mr. Children

48 NO - Negoto

49 Funny Bunny - The Pillows

50 She, Her - Noodles

51 Migite - Ellegarden

52 Tsumasaki - Oreskaband

53 Morninglow - Heavenstamp

54 God & Suicide - Blitzen Trapper

55 Scarecrow - The Pillows

56 On the Bus Mall - The Decemberists

57 Condom wo Tsukenai - samezame

58 Hey Lucifer - Smelly Sox

Honorable Bands

Envy - The Japanese Post-rock kings of pain, fury, and elation. No stronger performing group I've ever seen. Listening to their songs is not enough, but a night spent with Envy on stage will never be forgotten.

Explosions in the Sky - Not one song can define this expansive instrumental tour in melodic beauty and powerful energy out of West Texas.

Foo Fighters - The most defining rock group. At the middle of rock and all its formations, Foo Fighters forms the base and center of what I consider to be the purest form of solid rock.

The Offspring - The band responsible for blending pop, rock, and harder sensibilities into one of the most successful, listenable brands of rock still very unique to the group. A true titan of music.

Green Day - The most formative group for me, the first I *cassette* I ever owned. Even though the years brought change, so much music started from these three guys singing coyly about the life in front of their blurry eyes.

The Barenaked Ladies - The first band I ever considered myself a fan of. The right mix of musical sensibilities and light-hearted good spirit.


Honorable Albums

Welcome Joy - Cave Singers
Hot Fuss - The Killers
LP - Discovery
Self-titled - American Football
All Day - Girl Talk
Endless Fantasy - Anamanaguchi


You Need to Hear This: A Mini Playlist to Take Home
 
Fearing the Weekend - The Scene East
Jack Nicolson - Bloodthirsty Butchers (esp. video on youtube)
Kore Kurai de Utau - Handsome Kenya (esp. video on youtube)
Hikari, Saikou - amazarashi
Orange Shirt - Dsicovery
Absolutely (Story of a Girl) - Ninedays
Laundry Room - Avett Brothers
Looking For A Cure - The Planet Smashers
99.974‪℃‬ - Tricot  (esp. video on youtube)
All Day - Girl Talk (Album)