Tolstoy said that happy families are all alike, while every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. After watching "The Kids Are All Right", one gets the complete opposite impression, that no matter how strange families might seem, a family's problems are all alike.
After all, even in 2010, lesbian couples with artificial insemination kids still look weird, but their problems don't. A daughter who is going to college and wants to be independent, a teenage boy with an inconvenient friend, a busy control-freak who likes wine a bit too much, the “soft” mom who wants to start a business to feel more successful and a (the) relationship strained by routine which results in a love triangle. Were it not for the fact that the lover is the sperm-donor, it would almost seem too much of a cliché. And more than original, that seemed unrealistic, because I don’t think lifelong lesbians become straight that easily (if at all).
Anyway, this creation of Lisa Cholodenko is funny and witty, and I would say that it is quite a decent movie (especially if you’re a liberal), but you won’t remember it a couple of years from now.
martes, 22 de marzo de 2011
martes, 11 de enero de 2011
New York is the best city in the world. I sincerely believe that. If I lived there, not only would I have a wonderful mass transit system and an enormous veggie dietary offer that would allow me to live more sustainably, along with an incredibly rich cultural offer and job opportunities for virtually every career I can imagine, but I would also live in a city which is wonderful for many non-practical reasons. Let me explain:
First, the landscape:
New York Harbor, by itself, is a natural wonder to behold.
Second, The layout:
Manhattan is the best hippodamian plan ever!
And third and last, but not least, the symbolism: New York City is a metaphor of the modern world, as it was built on stealing from and slaughtering the natives, exploiting the masses on an industrial scale and polluting without control. But also on liberty, tolerance, science and technology. On material and social progress and on hope for a better future.
Being the holy city of the world's most important religion, global capitalism, and with its many museums, intellectuals and universities both in the city itself and in the surrounding Northeast, as well as with its unending portrayal in movies and TV series, New York's economical, scientific and cultural influence far surpasses any other city in the USA or the rest of the world.
New York also represents better than anything the power (and arrogance) of humanity, being built on thousands of chopped down, leveled, dried, paved and drilled square kilometers which sneeringly look down on Central Park and the Hudson and East rivers, seemingly unaware that nature may reclaim its sovereignity over them unless it is treated with more respect, and where the city's steel and concrete colossi almost reach the fabric of heaven, only to be brought down by the barbarians of the XXI century and be reborn like a phoenix in the form of projected glass towers of Babel.
Truly the greatest city in the world.
First, the landscape:
New York Harbor, by itself, is a natural wonder to behold.
Second, The layout:
Manhattan is the best hippodamian plan ever!
And third and last, but not least, the symbolism: New York City is a metaphor of the modern world, as it was built on stealing from and slaughtering the natives, exploiting the masses on an industrial scale and polluting without control. But also on liberty, tolerance, science and technology. On material and social progress and on hope for a better future.
Being the holy city of the world's most important religion, global capitalism, and with its many museums, intellectuals and universities both in the city itself and in the surrounding Northeast, as well as with its unending portrayal in movies and TV series, New York's economical, scientific and cultural influence far surpasses any other city in the USA or the rest of the world.
New York also represents better than anything the power (and arrogance) of humanity, being built on thousands of chopped down, leveled, dried, paved and drilled square kilometers which sneeringly look down on Central Park and the Hudson and East rivers, seemingly unaware that nature may reclaim its sovereignity over them unless it is treated with more respect, and where the city's steel and concrete colossi almost reach the fabric of heaven, only to be brought down by the barbarians of the XXI century and be reborn like a phoenix in the form of projected glass towers of Babel.
Truly the greatest city in the world.
lunes, 22 de noviembre de 2010
We did and we will exploit you in your homeland, but we won't do it here
An OVERVIEW: In the last 1.8 million years, Africans emigrated to the rest of the world. In the next 500 years Europeans did the same, but this time they slaughtered, enslaved and "syphilized*" the natives. In the last 50 years people from all over the world has come to Europe and America, and this time they haven't slaughtered, enslaved or given the natives STDs (actually, it has been the other way around AGAIN).
Why immigration is STRATEGICALLY RIGHT: The western world (especially Europe) faces a demographic crisis, resulting from its low birth rate and its high life expectancy. Unless we want to increase taxes 50%, make having at least three kids mandatory and/or kill all people over 70, we must allow a million (young and fertile) immigrants into our country each year. Also, and contrary to popular myth, immigrants (as machines) do not increase unemployment, but decrease it by taking jobs that are not taken by natives at far lower wages thus increasing the economy's overall performance and creating skilled labor for the natives.
Why immigration is MORALLY RIGHT: Isn't it arbitrary that if (for example) a Moroccan commits robbery one kilometer from Ceuta s/he goes to prison, but if s/he does it on Ceuta itself, he is just sent one kilometer away? Isn't it absurd that you can work here if you're born in Šalčininkai (Lithuania - 2350Km from here), but you can't if you're born in Benghazi (Libya - 2275Km)? Isn't it completely unfair and preposterous that a group of people born in a geographical area BY CHANCE claim that area (which is arbitrarily decided, by the way) as theirs and can prohibit people from living there?
*FYI: That’s my first word play ever in English.
Why immigration is STRATEGICALLY RIGHT: The western world (especially Europe) faces a demographic crisis, resulting from its low birth rate and its high life expectancy. Unless we want to increase taxes 50%, make having at least three kids mandatory and/or kill all people over 70, we must allow a million (young and fertile) immigrants into our country each year. Also, and contrary to popular myth, immigrants (as machines) do not increase unemployment, but decrease it by taking jobs that are not taken by natives at far lower wages thus increasing the economy's overall performance and creating skilled labor for the natives.
Why immigration is MORALLY RIGHT: Isn't it arbitrary that if (for example) a Moroccan commits robbery one kilometer from Ceuta s/he goes to prison, but if s/he does it on Ceuta itself, he is just sent one kilometer away? Isn't it absurd that you can work here if you're born in Šalčininkai (Lithuania - 2350Km from here), but you can't if you're born in Benghazi (Libya - 2275Km)? Isn't it completely unfair and preposterous that a group of people born in a geographical area BY CHANCE claim that area (which is arbitrarily decided, by the way) as theirs and can prohibit people from living there?
*FYI: That’s my first word play ever in English.
miércoles, 20 de octubre de 2010
Back to Mr. X
Almost a year after our last encounter, I met again with Mr. X.
He's a short man with short black hair, 17 years old and with an average complexion. That surprised me, for the last time I saw him, he was quite overweight. He had lost 25 kilos, an accomplishment he seemed pretty proud of. However, he still disliked shaving lotion, what made his cheeks, specially the left one, seem as if they were now losing their skin after having been burned some time ago. He still retained his most peculiar physical characteristic, his long and thin ponytail, but other than that, he had a rather common appearance. I mean, his eyes were brown and such.
His physical appearance might now be pretty inconspicuous, but his personality was still quite peculiar. Although his behavior was now closer to what we deem socially acceptable, and could now trust and make deeper bonds with his friends, he still spent more time with books and computers than with people, and could more easily, not to mention more comfortably, explain why time goes faster as you approach the speed of light than why the hell did he had that expression in his face, or had reacted that way to that question.
Also, he was terribly absentminded, being easily capable of spending an entire class with his eyesight focused in an undefined point whilst he thought about who knows what, and he had those varyingly annoying nervous ticks. And, in this time where boomers like to relax by fear mongering about how ignorant the new generation is, the number of books in his bedroom was quite impressive, as was the amount of data in his brain, however useless it might be. And he had the strangest repertoire of music imaginable. And he liked politics and science. And he had no girlfriend, nor had he ever had any.
Still, he seemed happier now, and he was obviously leading a healthier lifestyle. A longer and happier life. Neat.
He's a short man with short black hair, 17 years old and with an average complexion. That surprised me, for the last time I saw him, he was quite overweight. He had lost 25 kilos, an accomplishment he seemed pretty proud of. However, he still disliked shaving lotion, what made his cheeks, specially the left one, seem as if they were now losing their skin after having been burned some time ago. He still retained his most peculiar physical characteristic, his long and thin ponytail, but other than that, he had a rather common appearance. I mean, his eyes were brown and such.
His physical appearance might now be pretty inconspicuous, but his personality was still quite peculiar. Although his behavior was now closer to what we deem socially acceptable, and could now trust and make deeper bonds with his friends, he still spent more time with books and computers than with people, and could more easily, not to mention more comfortably, explain why time goes faster as you approach the speed of light than why the hell did he had that expression in his face, or had reacted that way to that question.
Also, he was terribly absentminded, being easily capable of spending an entire class with his eyesight focused in an undefined point whilst he thought about who knows what, and he had those varyingly annoying nervous ticks. And, in this time where boomers like to relax by fear mongering about how ignorant the new generation is, the number of books in his bedroom was quite impressive, as was the amount of data in his brain, however useless it might be. And he had the strangest repertoire of music imaginable. And he liked politics and science. And he had no girlfriend, nor had he ever had any.
Still, he seemed happier now, and he was obviously leading a healthier lifestyle. A longer and happier life. Neat.
lunes, 11 de octubre de 2010
Democracy is the worst form of government except for all those other forms that have been tried*
In next year's spring I'll turn 18, and if the calendar supports me (it won't, as always), I'll be able to vote. In other countries you can vote at 16, but not in this one. But in other countries you vote and you still work 14 hours a day to earn a dollar, or you don't vote, or you starve whilst the "dear leader" spends millions on his new nooyukular toy, so I'm not complaining.
Am I excited about voting? Well, I'm part of the most prepared generation ever, and therefore disenchanted with democracy even before I vote, so excited is maybe too strong a word, but I do feel slightly motivated, and I do think my vote makes a difference.
Sure, it's just a 0.01% difference in the municipal level, a 0.0001% one in the autonomic one, a 0.000005% one in the Spanish and a 0.00000025% in the European, but unlike in other places, our governments somewhat carry out the mandate people place on them more than the one the markets, the churches or the military do, and it is my desire, no, my duty, not only to keep this so, but to improve it. And one of the ways to do that is to vote.
Finally, I believe that it is an indescribably hedonistic act of contempt to all the people who died to give us this right and to all the people who will inherit this planet from us not to vote.
So, to sum up, I’ll vote. You betcha.
For whom? That’s a secret.
*Quote stolen from Winston Churchill.
Am I excited about voting? Well, I'm part of the most prepared generation ever, and therefore disenchanted with democracy even before I vote, so excited is maybe too strong a word, but I do feel slightly motivated, and I do think my vote makes a difference.
Sure, it's just a 0.01% difference in the municipal level, a 0.0001% one in the autonomic one, a 0.000005% one in the Spanish and a 0.00000025% in the European, but unlike in other places, our governments somewhat carry out the mandate people place on them more than the one the markets, the churches or the military do, and it is my desire, no, my duty, not only to keep this so, but to improve it. And one of the ways to do that is to vote.
Finally, I believe that it is an indescribably hedonistic act of contempt to all the people who died to give us this right and to all the people who will inherit this planet from us not to vote.
So, to sum up, I’ll vote. You betcha.
For whom? That’s a secret.
*Quote stolen from Winston Churchill.
lunes, 20 de septiembre de 2010
Presenting the best present until the present.
The best present I ever received was life. Nah, just kidding. The best (material) present for me is, has (almost) always been and will (probably) ever be books. Nobody saw that coming, right?
Most of the times that a book is gifted to me it is because I have already asked for it, and I buy most of the books I read by myself, but I still consider them (one of) the best present I have ever received from my parents, family, friends, people I admire, humanity and the universe itself (probably an exaggeration, taking into account existence, life, consciousness, science, human rights and the like, but that is so that you get the idea).
But what is so special about those amounts of energy turned into fundamental particles that form atoms of hydrogen, carbon and nitrogen that combined into glucose molecules that in turn coalesced to form cellulose that was compressed to form sheets in an industrial process that employs tens of thousands of people just in the Basque Country, sheets which would be filled with glyphs representing sounds representing ideas by the heirs of the machine that was to play a fundamental role in the most magnificent, honorable, decent, inspiring, uplifting and glorious human achievements?
Well, I think that turned out to be a pretty rhetorical question, and my space is up, so I’ll just say that if you are going to gift something this coming solstice’s festivities (Christmas), please let it be a book (recycled, chlorine free, non-religious, as little boring as it strictly needs to be and fabricated by unionized labor, if possible).
Most of the times that a book is gifted to me it is because I have already asked for it, and I buy most of the books I read by myself, but I still consider them (one of) the best present I have ever received from my parents, family, friends, people I admire, humanity and the universe itself (probably an exaggeration, taking into account existence, life, consciousness, science, human rights and the like, but that is so that you get the idea).
But what is so special about those amounts of energy turned into fundamental particles that form atoms of hydrogen, carbon and nitrogen that combined into glucose molecules that in turn coalesced to form cellulose that was compressed to form sheets in an industrial process that employs tens of thousands of people just in the Basque Country, sheets which would be filled with glyphs representing sounds representing ideas by the heirs of the machine that was to play a fundamental role in the most magnificent, honorable, decent, inspiring, uplifting and glorious human achievements?
Well, I think that turned out to be a pretty rhetorical question, and my space is up, so I’ll just say that if you are going to gift something this coming solstice’s festivities (Christmas), please let it be a book (recycled, chlorine free, non-religious, as little boring as it strictly needs to be and fabricated by unionized labor, if possible).
viernes, 23 de abril de 2010
In varietate concordia (For now)
If you ask anybody "Does a people have the right to do what it decides without other countries having a say in it?" s/he would most surely answer yes. If you asked why, the answer would probably be something like "Because my government should defend my interests" or "Because that's what democracy is, having a say about your goverments policies". Well, first of all, that's not democracy, that's sovereignity (North Korea is a sovereign country, by the way). And second of all, the root of that belief is "People whose only relation whith me is paying taxes to, living under the rule of and living in the territory controled by the same organization and/or having a similar culture, by which I mean speaking the same language, eating the same type of food or having the same religion, are inmediatly more important than any other human being, and the organization we fund has the right to deny acces to the land it controls to anybody that has not been born inside it, polute all the people's atmosphere without all the people having a say and kill people that is not part of "us" as long as "we" decide it's okay"
So I find it pretty amazing that 27 countries that had just sixty years ago finished waging two world wars and a thousand religious and territorial wars managed to give up at least a bit of their sovereignity and agreed to erase their borders, have a single currency, and among other things, a single albeit weak parliament. Yes, the journey will be hard, and we will always have people like the majority of Britons, hanging to their imaginary empire, or Angela Merkel, refusing to help Greeks even if it results in the medium-run destruction of the German banks, or eastern europeans, fearing a new soviet union, or speculators but, eventually, reason will prevail (Because if it doesn't, we'll be more worried about finding non-radioactive water than about Europe's fate).
Spanish fascists said that they prefered "A red Spain to a broken Spain". I prefer a conservative Europe to a broken Europe, mainly because a broken Europe is a puppet of Chinese & American interests, and even worse, a puppet of the market, and therefore far worse than anything the European right is.
So I find it pretty amazing that 27 countries that had just sixty years ago finished waging two world wars and a thousand religious and territorial wars managed to give up at least a bit of their sovereignity and agreed to erase their borders, have a single currency, and among other things, a single albeit weak parliament. Yes, the journey will be hard, and we will always have people like the majority of Britons, hanging to their imaginary empire, or Angela Merkel, refusing to help Greeks even if it results in the medium-run destruction of the German banks, or eastern europeans, fearing a new soviet union, or speculators but, eventually, reason will prevail (Because if it doesn't, we'll be more worried about finding non-radioactive water than about Europe's fate).
Spanish fascists said that they prefered "A red Spain to a broken Spain". I prefer a conservative Europe to a broken Europe, mainly because a broken Europe is a puppet of Chinese & American interests, and even worse, a puppet of the market, and therefore far worse than anything the European right is.
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