I buy a ton of books and DVDs, and whenever I hear of a new title, the first thing I do is go to Amazon and read a handful of reviews. With a little experience, that can make the "success rate" of buying very high indeed.
One hitch to it is that old classics usually have much better reviews than recent hits, because only those who are really interested actually find them and buy them!
The same is true for genre products. For instance I bought a couple of horror films and was disappointed. Then I realized that all those five-star reviews came from people who love horror, and I only have a passing interest.
Monday, December 12, 2005
Wednesday, December 07, 2005
Immortality
"The average man, who does not know what to do with his life, wants another one which will last forever."
-- Anatole France
OK, that is good and funny.
But I don't think it is true. I never heard any normal say anything like: 'I really wish I was immortal.' I think only very extraordinary people have wishes like that. The normal person just wants a slightly better pay check, and for his parents to bug him less.
Further, I think most of those really extraordinary persons who might wish for something like immortality could probably put it to good use.
Personally I do believe we are immortal. But the death-cycle does break your concentration, doesn't it? It would be rather cool to have a 10,000 year life cycle under the same name and beingness.
Of course the real fun would be only if many others were the same. I'd love to run into Leonardo da Vinci in Amsterdam or whatever and say: "Leo! How are you doing, old pal? I haven't seen you for, gee, it must be 90 years!"
-- Anatole France
OK, that is good and funny.
But I don't think it is true. I never heard any normal say anything like: 'I really wish I was immortal.' I think only very extraordinary people have wishes like that. The normal person just wants a slightly better pay check, and for his parents to bug him less.
Further, I think most of those really extraordinary persons who might wish for something like immortality could probably put it to good use.
Personally I do believe we are immortal. But the death-cycle does break your concentration, doesn't it? It would be rather cool to have a 10,000 year life cycle under the same name and beingness.
Of course the real fun would be only if many others were the same. I'd love to run into Leonardo da Vinci in Amsterdam or whatever and say: "Leo! How are you doing, old pal? I haven't seen you for, gee, it must be 90 years!"
Monday, December 05, 2005
About wishes
My friend Foye had this comment to the Mind Over Matter article:
"Now to my really pessimistic comment: If the concentrated wishes, prayers, and longings of humanity indeed help shape events and configurations, then it's no wonder the world blunders along as it does, considering bell curve of the general level of human development."
... It is an interesting observation. I don't really consider it 'pessimistic', because it is an observation about the past/present, not about the future.
It is indeed true that if these things work like they say, then the planet Earth is in such a bad shape because most people wish it to be. No, strike that, it is because they expect it to be!
And therein lies the optimism. It is not because people really want to be miserable. It is because they believe they have no other choice. They can change it as soon as they change their minds.
Further, it is already going in the right direction. If you read the media, you'll think that the Earth is going to hell in a handbasket, fast. But more and more scientists have looked beyond that expectation and propaganda, and looked at the facts themselves, and have come to a startling observation: The planet is getting better, not worse. Economics are moving up on a long trend, poverty is falling, pollution is falling, etc.
In other words, we are not fighting against the tide, we are going with it. It is getting easier and easier.
Cheer up. Even if it is a lie, it'll do you a world of good. :)
"Now to my really pessimistic comment: If the concentrated wishes, prayers, and longings of humanity indeed help shape events and configurations, then it's no wonder the world blunders along as it does, considering bell curve of the general level of human development."
... It is an interesting observation. I don't really consider it 'pessimistic', because it is an observation about the past/present, not about the future.
It is indeed true that if these things work like they say, then the planet Earth is in such a bad shape because most people wish it to be. No, strike that, it is because they expect it to be!
And therein lies the optimism. It is not because people really want to be miserable. It is because they believe they have no other choice. They can change it as soon as they change their minds.
Further, it is already going in the right direction. If you read the media, you'll think that the Earth is going to hell in a handbasket, fast. But more and more scientists have looked beyond that expectation and propaganda, and looked at the facts themselves, and have come to a startling observation: The planet is getting better, not worse. Economics are moving up on a long trend, poverty is falling, pollution is falling, etc.
In other words, we are not fighting against the tide, we are going with it. It is getting easier and easier.
Cheer up. Even if it is a lie, it'll do you a world of good. :)
Sunday, December 04, 2005
New article
Aaaaaall right, here is the promised article about Mind-Over-Matter, I hope you enjoy. (This may be one of the most important things I could every write about.)
Saturday, December 03, 2005
What The Bleep Do We Know?
I am working on my article on Mind Over Matter. In the meantime, get the What The Bleep Do We Know DVD. Really.
Giggle
You know the different terms for flock, like a "murder of crows", or a "gaggle of geese"...
Well, I coined a couple:
A "giggle of schoolgirls".
A "hassle of boys".
An "obstruction of pensioners".
A "distraction of stewardesses".
Well, I coined a couple:
A "giggle of schoolgirls".
A "hassle of boys".
An "obstruction of pensioners".
A "distraction of stewardesses".
Thursday, December 01, 2005
Howard Bloom
Listen to an excellent radio interview with Howard Bloom.
He talks about how a do-good approach can earn far more money than a "bottom line" approach. And how western civilization will not die, and does not deserve to, how it is the only system that has ever uplifted the poor for real.
He talks about how a do-good approach can earn far more money than a "bottom line" approach. And how western civilization will not die, and does not deserve to, how it is the only system that has ever uplifted the poor for real.
Monday, November 28, 2005
Great comedy shows
I am a fan of many of the obvious shows (Keeping Up Appearances, Arrested Development), but maybe I should point out some good shows I have on DVD which I think more people should hear about.
Wonderfalls
Quirky comedy from Niagara Falls
The Tick
Great superhero comedy
Game On
Nice britcom, three young people in one apartment, the girl is nice.
Vicar of Dibley
Very cute britcom, from when female vicars were a novelty in the UK.
Black Books
Very funny British show of a curmudgeonly owner of a small bookstore and his friends. Again a fan of the girl, a very unusual face, but gorgeous.
Spaced
Far out UK comedy of several friends. Full of wild ideas and parodies of movies. Great stuff.
League of Gentlemen
Another British phenomenon. Indescribably weird and wonderful.
Dead Like Me
A wonderful funny/deep show (US). Season one was excellent, and amazingly season two even surpassed it, to everybody's surprise. It is about people who, after they die, are recruited as "Grim Reapers", whose job it is to collect the souls of people just before they die. How do you make such a thing funny? Watch it and learn.
Greg The Bunny
Another one which is so seminal it is hard to compare. Really excellent.
Wonderfalls
Quirky comedy from Niagara Falls
The Tick
Great superhero comedy
Game On
Nice britcom, three young people in one apartment, the girl is nice.
Vicar of Dibley
Very cute britcom, from when female vicars were a novelty in the UK.
Black Books
Very funny British show of a curmudgeonly owner of a small bookstore and his friends. Again a fan of the girl, a very unusual face, but gorgeous.
Spaced
Far out UK comedy of several friends. Full of wild ideas and parodies of movies. Great stuff.
League of Gentlemen
Another British phenomenon. Indescribably weird and wonderful.
Dead Like Me
A wonderful funny/deep show (US). Season one was excellent, and amazingly season two even surpassed it, to everybody's surprise. It is about people who, after they die, are recruited as "Grim Reapers", whose job it is to collect the souls of people just before they die. How do you make such a thing funny? Watch it and learn.
Greg The Bunny
Another one which is so seminal it is hard to compare. Really excellent.
Sunday, November 27, 2005
Seinfeld
I am watching Seinfeld on DVD. I like Seinfeld. Seinfeld is funny. I like short sentences.
It took me a looooong while to get to like Seinfeld though. Why? Because all the characters are such despicable people! It took me a while to realize it, because nobody on the show realizes it.
OK, maybe Kramer is not a bad person, but he is so eccentric that, while hilarious, he is not really a character you can identify with.
Not only do the characters not have any love, affection, or empathy for anybody else (contrast it with Friends), but the main thing that grates my nerves still (even while I enjoy the show) is how small-minded they are. ALL of their concerns and problems and conversations are about these tiny, minuscule issues that any sane person would not even notice, or so it seems to me.
It became clear that a lot of this personality came from Larry David, who co-created the show with Jerry Seinfeld. This is clear from his show Curb Your Enthusiasm, and from various interviews. Jason Alexander, who played George, said that at one early time he went to Larry and said: "Not only would this not ever happen to anybody, but if it did, nobody would react that way!" And Larry said: "What do you mean? This happened to me, and that is exactly how I reacted!"
And Rob Reiner, who is a friend of Larry David's, calls him "Curmudgeonly, misanthropic, and dyspeptic"!
Now for a while I thought I had wrapped it up. But I got to thinking, if this is all Larry's personality on the show, where is Jerry's? Where is the kindness and large-mindedness that should be there in contrast?
Then I saw the episode in season five where Jerry on the show offers some pie to a date, and she refuses. And Jerry not only gets upset, but can't talk about anything else for days. Why did she refuse the pie!
I was just thinking, who the f**k cares?? She didn't want any pie! Who would even think twice about that??
And it turns out that the writers of that episode got the idea from Jerry Seinfeld in real life. It really happened, he really got upset, and he really could not stop talking about it. So Seinfeld is almost as weird as Larry, and that is why the show is like it is!
Thank god these people have a sense of humor, otherwise they would be insufferable!
But how do they function in life? How do they handle actual problems, if total trivia has them in a knot of negative emotions?
Another characteristic of the characters on the show (and the real people they obviously represent) is that they can never communicate anything directly. They have a tiny problem with somebody, or they need to find out something, and it never occurs to them to just ask directly. For example, it is clear that not even in real life did it occur to Jerry to simply ask the girl why she did not want any pie. A simple, direct question, what could be easier? Instead he seems to prefer to be upset for days.
Again, how the hell do they function in life, much less get to the successful positions they have? Very weird.
... I do have to admit though, watching more interviews and so on, I am starting to warm a bit to Larry David. There is a sort of... precision in what the man does, and what he says and the way he speaks that I admire. I like precision. And I think he does too, for 1) he is good at golf. And 2) he has said that when he makes appointments, he is likely to say 14.43 or 14.41 instead of round numbers. Which I admit is taking it a bit too far, you should not take anything, not even precision, farther than the point where it actually matters. But anyway.
It took me a looooong while to get to like Seinfeld though. Why? Because all the characters are such despicable people! It took me a while to realize it, because nobody on the show realizes it.
OK, maybe Kramer is not a bad person, but he is so eccentric that, while hilarious, he is not really a character you can identify with.
Not only do the characters not have any love, affection, or empathy for anybody else (contrast it with Friends), but the main thing that grates my nerves still (even while I enjoy the show) is how small-minded they are. ALL of their concerns and problems and conversations are about these tiny, minuscule issues that any sane person would not even notice, or so it seems to me.
It became clear that a lot of this personality came from Larry David, who co-created the show with Jerry Seinfeld. This is clear from his show Curb Your Enthusiasm, and from various interviews. Jason Alexander, who played George, said that at one early time he went to Larry and said: "Not only would this not ever happen to anybody, but if it did, nobody would react that way!" And Larry said: "What do you mean? This happened to me, and that is exactly how I reacted!"
And Rob Reiner, who is a friend of Larry David's, calls him "Curmudgeonly, misanthropic, and dyspeptic"!
Now for a while I thought I had wrapped it up. But I got to thinking, if this is all Larry's personality on the show, where is Jerry's? Where is the kindness and large-mindedness that should be there in contrast?
Then I saw the episode in season five where Jerry on the show offers some pie to a date, and she refuses. And Jerry not only gets upset, but can't talk about anything else for days. Why did she refuse the pie!
I was just thinking, who the f**k cares?? She didn't want any pie! Who would even think twice about that??
And it turns out that the writers of that episode got the idea from Jerry Seinfeld in real life. It really happened, he really got upset, and he really could not stop talking about it. So Seinfeld is almost as weird as Larry, and that is why the show is like it is!
Thank god these people have a sense of humor, otherwise they would be insufferable!
But how do they function in life? How do they handle actual problems, if total trivia has them in a knot of negative emotions?
Another characteristic of the characters on the show (and the real people they obviously represent) is that they can never communicate anything directly. They have a tiny problem with somebody, or they need to find out something, and it never occurs to them to just ask directly. For example, it is clear that not even in real life did it occur to Jerry to simply ask the girl why she did not want any pie. A simple, direct question, what could be easier? Instead he seems to prefer to be upset for days.
Again, how the hell do they function in life, much less get to the successful positions they have? Very weird.
... I do have to admit though, watching more interviews and so on, I am starting to warm a bit to Larry David. There is a sort of... precision in what the man does, and what he says and the way he speaks that I admire. I like precision. And I think he does too, for 1) he is good at golf. And 2) he has said that when he makes appointments, he is likely to say 14.43 or 14.41 instead of round numbers. Which I admit is taking it a bit too far, you should not take anything, not even precision, farther than the point where it actually matters. But anyway.
Saturday, November 26, 2005
Artificial intelligence Art
This totally rules. Watch a complex computer-generated watercolor "cityscape" (or other things) grow slowly on your screen.
Thursday, November 24, 2005
"We like the Moon"
I just wanted to share a thing that has always put me in stitches whenever I see/hear it. The song/graphics "We Like The Moon" by the Spongemonkeys.
Warning: the song starts as soon as you click on the link, not work safe.
Warning: the song starts as soon as you click on the link, not work safe.
Have you seen you can make a personalized home page on Google now? It works brilliantly, for me better than RSS feeds (I never check those).
One of the things it showed me was this article:
Who's Afraid of Google? Everyone.
As soon as somebody gains power, the knee-jerk reaction of a big percentage of mankind is always fear.
As indicated by hundreds of things, google.org amongst them, Google is a huge force for good on this planet. So it threatens some business interests, deal with it.
I'd like to publicly say Thank You to Sergey Brin and Larry Page for doing the brilliant work they are.
One of the things it showed me was this article:
Who's Afraid of Google? Everyone.
As soon as somebody gains power, the knee-jerk reaction of a big percentage of mankind is always fear.
As indicated by hundreds of things, google.org amongst them, Google is a huge force for good on this planet. So it threatens some business interests, deal with it.
I'd like to publicly say Thank You to Sergey Brin and Larry Page for doing the brilliant work they are.
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