Emotion: is it redundant?

If emotion is happiness, pain, sadness, love, hate, jealousy, anger, passion and more - does it really help us, or does it inhibits us and brings us only sorrow and pain?

I know, it depends on where we're at. If we're happy or sad right now - the feeling gets artificially amplified by the lense of current feeling and we think accordingly.

Say, right now I'm bummed out, because I'm thinking sad thoughts. It makes me look at the world through a prism of "Everything's shit, and it's just a matter of time till everyone catches up on it if they haven't already"

But on happier days, I am much more optimistic. And I also noticed that even when I'm depressed, I try to cheer others if I see they're sad. It make me feel a little bit better. For a while anyways.

Yet it doesn't really answers my question. Obviously it's fun feeling good and optimistic, but we're living in an ocean of emotions, and the nature of waves is to rise as well as fall. Isn't it better to leave on flat ground?

I know it's more boring on flat ground. No upheavals, no excitement (no emotions), and living in a certain detachment from everything around you can introduce some sadness if you manage an objective outlook even for a little while.

But on the bright side, there's no drama, no sadness, little to no pain. Logic prevails and madness is put aside.

So why do people keep choosing emotion?

End of the World

Today?

The end of the world is here.

I can honestly say I am glad that it isn't really (thus far) here.

Life is tough enough as it is without having to contend with hungry zombies, or the more mundane issues of escaping a toasty demise, ravaging diseases, serious hunger,or radiation sickness.

Who knows, I might be proven wrong by the end of this day. Doesn't it usually go by "end of business day" with these things?

I know that at least some of the people who were waiting to see what happens will come out seriously disappointed. After putting all that effort into survival gear, canned food, even radioactively shielded expensive bunkers - seeing December 21st 2012 as just another day will sort of burst their bubble, and max out their credit cards in a miserable way.

But I choose to be optimistic. The end of the world can come at any time. Surprise! that's what the universe is all about, right?

Happy Birthday to me

I spent my birthday from the birds-eye view:

Standing in a capsule in on the Singapore flyer ferris wheel - I thought it can give me some perspective and quiet reflection, but it turned out that the 20 extra people in there with you (should have come at 8am) make it damn difficult to reflect.
So I took a bunch of photos, and didn't come out any wiser.
The noise in my head is still there. It's not going away.

Happy birthday to me.

The Greatest Movie Ever Sold

Today I finished watching the documentary "The Greatest Movie Ever Sold" By Morgan Spurlock.

Morgan Spurlock, for those who don't know, created the movie "Supersize Me", which was a documentary that checked on how healthy is McDonalds food for consumption over time (Hint: very unhealthy)

In this documentary, Morgan looks into advertising, in general and especially in movies and TV shows. That is, hidden advertisement content and not the commercial breaks between TV shows or before movies.

As part of his research, he recruits companies to sponsor the movie, and shows exactly how things work, and how much of a common practice it is these days.

I personally loved the movie. It isn't an action movie or a plot-driven film, even though you could say it has a plot. Morgan walks you through his search of sponsors, shows you that things can be done differently (With a visit to Sao Paulo in Brasil, a city that banned street advertising completely), and does it all with great charm and humour.

Sadly, the movie did not do too well in the box office (even though it got full sponsoring by commercial companies, the revenue in the cinemas barely reached half the cost), but this is another movie which anyone who gets to watch (Today on dvd, bluray, festivals, special screenings or Internet download - preferably legal)  will enjoy and will be better informed as to the methods and volume of hidden and standard advertising.

I'll keep watching out for his movies, since I love the humour, and where else can you see a commercial for a shampoo meant both for horses and humans??

Drown in Music

I don't about you guys, but when I listen to music, I tend to drown in it.

And it's not just when I listen via headphones. If I enjoy music, the world is pretty much dead to me.

A part of this is my Attention deficit disorder - the music take control of my senses and the brain does not leave much space for any extra sensory perception.

But I see it as an advantage rather than a disadvantage. The ability to enjoy music at this level is a gift more than anything else.

However, it comes in waves. For instance, it's been months since I actually listened to music, as I opted to read more.

Now I've returned to music listening and it's like I never left. My taste in music is pretty standard. Lots of 80s music, some classic rock, Israeli pop and Indie.

Truth be told, I do my best to listen to music without using headphones or earphones so as not to lose contact with the outside world. I would love to be able to multi-task while listening to music, but it just doesn't work that well for me. 

I also wanted to mention the substantial difference between listening to a CD at home (or in the car, or on a portable player) and at a live performance.

For me the difference is so tangible, that I completely understand the groupies that follow bands to each and every one of their concerts, because the experience is physical. The vibrations of the volume, the music that surrounds you in a way that no home sound system will ever replicate, and the crowd around you that is an integral part of the experience.

Aside from that, the digital reality of available music on the internet pressures the artists (mostly in Israel but also in other countries) to go back to pounding the ground and find their real livelihood in live concerts.

I see it as a great thing. The ability to make money again and again and again for one performance recorded five, ten or twenty years ago is anything but natural. Not to mention that most of the revenue goes to the pockets of the in-betweens (the record labels mainly) and not the creators.

That's it for now. Responses are welcome as always.

Green eyed monster

Green eyed monster  = Jealousy

We all experience it. Even if we're holier than thou, as long as we're human, we'll be afflicted by it one time or another.

I am always jealous of people who seem to have it made. Now I know that they only have it made in one area (more than others) in their life, and that the same force that driven them to be successful in it, doesn't stop when they reach that goal - thus making for a pain in the ass.

But in our society and time, success is measured by material achievements. Money, property, fame.

It makes for a shallow focus, and when people see other people in that way, the "the neighbour's lawn is greener" effect is magnified incredibly.

This can cause an abundance of trouble, and usually does.

Wars were started and lives were lost because of jealousy.

It also provokes minds, and makes people reach further.

100th Post!

Here we are at the 100th post! 

I stole the graphics, courtesy of Google. thanks Google (and 

indierocket)!

As I am running more than just this one blog, it usually isn't that much of a deal. But I noticed that my previous post was no. 99, so I decided to make this one more memorable.

One of the advantage of living in a high-rise (not that high, I'm only on level 8/25), is you get to see a big patch of sky when you're sitting down.

I love the sky, it represent freedom, and also knowing that they look almost the same from everywhere (especially at night), It makes you understand how small our world is. Even when you're thousands of kilometres away from home.

I found what I want for my birthday :)

If you've seen Minority report, you'll know what I mean..

 

But even if you don't, it's called Leap 3D, and this is what will inherit the mouse-keyboard combo:

It's 70 USD, but I'm sure the price will drop soon after it comes out. and It beats Kinect so bad, it'll be gone from the market soon after. It is much much more accurate and allows to use your hands for drawing, writing, playing games, playing music, and also browsing or anything else!