Racism. Racism everywhere!

Posted by: Dytalus; February 1, 2012; Uncategorized
This post currently has: 4 responses.

I would like to preface this particular rant by explaining that I know that racism is a problem. Of course it’s a problem. The idea that someone is less of a human being because their genetics dictate they have darker skin or different eyes is repulsive in the extreme. All hail multiculturalism and all that fun stuff.

However, some people are flat out ridiculous in where they see racism. It’s like they actively seek out ways to take offence for the purposes of standing above everyone else. “Oh look at me, I’m so moral and great and kind and better than you.” It’s a little bit pathetic, and just a little infuriating. Not that it takes a lot to get me irritated, but that’s an irrelevant point. I’d rant about pancakes if I had enough material (and they weren’t so damn delicious). But this has been getting on my nerves a lot lately, and some of the arguments I’ve read have been so mind bendingly stupid it makes me want to murder something fluffy, point at it and scream at people “Look at what you’ve done! LOOK AT IT!”

The final proverbial straw was this post. Read it, I dare you. Knowledge of the music is irrelevant. For those who think it’s a case of tl;dr (shame on you), I’ll sum it up for you. Because Daniel Graves uses black paint to portray the darker side of emotions, he is making unintentional racist undertones and giving a racist meaning to his video. That, my friends, is really stupid. That argument is so astronomically ignorant and desperate for attention it is a wonder the website didn’t collapse under the strain of trying to support it. It is a perfect example of looking to be offended so you can take the white knight approach and look a hero.

Now, I’m sorry. I really am. Clearly the person who wrote that blog post is well educated and means well. It’s well written, well constructed and gets her message across with ease. Doesn’t mean it’s not god damn stupid. There’s a difference between having a differing opinion and flat out making stuff up. In fact, I maintain that someone who sees racist undertones in such a video as the Inhuman one is a closet racist themselves. I absolutely, wholeheartedly mean that. Black has always meant darkness, coldness, death and evil not because black people are bad people. It’s because it’s in human nature to regard the darkness with caution. A pitch black cave is dangerous, disturbing and terrifying. The bright outdoors, however, are comforting and warm. Clearly nature is racist. How dare we have evolved to avoid dark areas, clearly we are avoiding such places because those black people are bad and evil.

Moving onwards to the person’s side bar, I cement my belief that this person exists on the internet solely to act the Paladin and save the poor downtrodden minorities from the evils of music. Nobody classifies themselves as that many stereotypically ‘different’ things without trying to prove a point. Even if it’s all true and they are an anti-authoritarian, ‘queer’ (you realise that’s not the correct term, right? So much for being accepting and all that) vegan person, why the hell is it entirely necessary to tell everyone unless you’re hoping you to get some backing by proving just how much of a minority and anti-mainstream you are. But I’m just an evil, meat eating Fascist. Clearly I’m wrong.

This is not the only blog post which commits the crime of white knighting for people well capable of taking care of themselves. This is another offending criminal. I came across this blog post a long, long time ago. It’s a sign of how mind numbingly insane the argument is that I still remember it enough to find it again through Google.

What’s the first thing you see in that image? Is it a representation of Obama as the Joker from the amazing Dark Knight film, the agent of chaos who is responsible for bringing a whole city to its knees and killing countless numbers of people? Or is it a whiteface representation of Obama?

If you chose the second, you need to watch more movies. I cannot even express in words the insanity it must take to look past the obvious and say “Yup, that’s the same as blackface. Some racist stuff right there.” It’s a shame, because like Little Miss “I’m So Different” above, this blog is well written and clearly the owner is intelligent. But this argument, this statement is so filled with stupidity and a desperate need to be seen as a champion for the oppressed it makes me weep for the future of all mankind.

Racism is a dreadful, horrid and utterly unforgivable crime. But god dammit people, it’s not everywhere. You don’t need to try and find offensive messages in everything. As a species, humanity as improved massively and we don’t need to be as careful and afraid of offending people anymore. There’s a trend I’ve noticed where most of the people who cry “racism” are white, well off individuals themselves.  About as far from “minority” as one can get in the Western world. That should say something.

 

Today the Internet Switches Off

Posted by: Dytalus; January 18, 2012; Uncategorized
This post currently has: no responses.

Today, the 18th of January, websites all across the internet are being “turned off”. Wikipedia (much to the annoyance of college students across the universe) have decided to replace their entire English language site with a black page warning against the doom of the Internet.

Okay, maybe that was a bit dramatic.

I’m talking, of course, about the SOPA and PIPA bills. Voices wiser and more charismatic than mine have already added to the cacophony of anti-SOPA sentiment which is flooding the internet. Knowing what to believe and what not to believe is hard enough for people well versed in Internet terminology, so I won’t spam you with links and lecture you on the dangers of these two bills. TotalBiscuit over on Youtube was kind enough to create this fantastic video for you to peruse and educate thyself with.

This is not, what some people will have you believe, an exaggeration of what these bills threaten to do. Google, Facebook, Yahoo and hundreds of other major internet companies have come out against the SOPA bill, and when that many companies who know what they’re talking about speak out against something, you better be listening. Contrast it with the immense ignorance from the congressmen who will be voting this in, some of whom seem proud about not understanding how the internet works on the most basic level, and there really shouldn’t be any way this bill can stand up by itself.

But I’m not here to speak out against SOPA and PIPA. As I said, enough people have come out against it, and I’m all the way over here in Europe. I can’t do much other than spread the word. There is, however, something I can fight against. And that something is ACTA. ACTA, to make things simple, is effectively the European form of SOPA. A bill which tries to fight online piracy, but in doing so leaves far too much in the hands of those pushing the bill. The Act is just way too open and easily abused, which is exactly the problem SOPA has, and if we here in Europe let it through it is setting us on a slippery, slippery slope towards censorship.

As with SOPA, wiser and more legal-savvy people than I have already spoken out and written long articles about the dangers of the ACTA bill. ACTA is every bit as dangerous as SOPA, and its been pushed through by people we did not elect. It’s already made it through to the EU Parliament, which is our last (and only) chance to stop it. Everyone in Europe has a representative in parliament, and it’s up to you to email, write and call them about your opposition to the bill. These people have to represent you, and they want to be re-elected. Let them know that you will not let this stand.

This is probably the last chance we have. Once legislation like this goes through, it’s almost impossible to get rid of it. If ACTA doesn’t stop  here, then we’ve already lost.

“If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face— forever.”

-1984, George Orwell

 

Let’s Review: Music in 2011!

Posted by: Dytalus; December 28, 2011; Uncategorized
This post currently has: no responses.

It seems like it’s a common social convention to review the year one is about to leave, looking back on all their favourite parts of the year. Seems rather pointless to me, why dwell on the past after all, but I need something to write until certain seekrit projects are sufficiently advanced. So this sort of thing will have to do, and since the only thing I actually experienced regularly this year was music (I fail at seeing movies, or buying new games) let’s go for that.

Wait, what? Secret projects? OH LOOK DISTRACTIONS:

My Top Albums of the Year

3. Swallowing the Sun

I already sang the praises of this one before it was even released so you shouldn’t be surprised it’s making it onto this list. Distorted Memory didn’t win me over with his first album, I just found too…trancy. But this one is several kinds of awesome. With a mix of both tribal music and EBM, STS is a rarely unique album among the various bands I listen to. Highlights: Raven Eyes, Swallowing the Sun, Awake Sleeping Giants.

2. The Transhuman Condition

Encephalon’s fairly…unknown. They’ve only ever released a demo with four songs, but one of them managed to become famous and caught my ear. Then, after no less than four years of waiting, they finally released their first album. And man was it worth the wait. There is nothing wrong with The Transhuman Condition, absolutely nothing. The main vocalist has an incredible talent, and the differences between songs is astounding. This is an album everyone needs to hear, and if there’s any reason it’s not number one, is because it’s not quite…brutal enough for my tastes. Highlights: Lifetime of Puppetry, The Transhuman Condition, Drop Dead.

1. Anthem for the Great Self Destruct

This, this, is an opening album. I have honestly no idea where I heard of Cryogen Second, I think I happened across them by sheer fluke many years ago on MySpace and he won me over with his single song Antithetical. Between that happenstance meeting and today, Cryogen Second has one EP and one Album to its name. And what an album this is. Anthem is everything I want from an album. Brutal, noisy, angry and filled with nihilistic lyrics, Anthem is a winner in every way in my books. From the brutal, fast paced Antithetical to the slow and ever so slightly chilling title track, Anthem is one hell of an explosive introduction. I like my music brutal, and Cryogen Second delivered this in spades. Kudos, sir. Kudos indeed. Highlights: Antithetical, Anthem for the Great Self Destruct, Machine.

 

The Difficulty of Being Human

Posted by: Dytalus; December 7, 2011; Uncategorized
This post currently has: no responses.

As is usual for me, when exams and other important events roll around I find myself experiencing bursts of inspiration and imaginative goings on. Not one to waste my rare and easily missed moments of creativity, I used this period to also start writing down some of the basic details of humanity as I envision it in the future.

It’s hard.

See, in Science Fiction, one can be extravagant in the extreme. You have a whole galaxy, possibly more, in which to set your stories. Up until now, that’s what I’ve done. I’ve written stories based in a galaxy where rules don’t exist and everything is brand new and never seen before. Not so with humanity. When one is trying to envision humanity in the future, it’s constrained by what we know of human existence. We’re not suddenly going to develop psionic abilities, and building a future based on the current day is difficult and restricting.

With an alien race, I have a clean slate. I can dictate biological quirks, cultural oddities and it’s much simpler to imagine how my own creation will change and grow over the course of history. How it will react to the challenges it will face, its strengths and its weaknesses. I can get as over the top as I like, or as simple as I like. A unified race, or one with divisions within itself. Either goes. Humanity? Not so much.

Humanity is fractured, and with realistic eyes activated one cannot legitimately find a way for that to change. In fact, by expanding into the stars that’s ever more likely to occur. Mars is several hundred days travel away, the nearest star other than Sol is several hundred years away. Writing and crafting a culture with this in mind, with its feet grounded in modern day humanity, is a tough challenge one has to face if they intend to include humanity in any science fiction setting. You can’y just handwave away the different religions, cultures, nationalities and languages for the sake of plot. Well, I suppose you could, but it makes things…boring. I suppose the difficulty in crafting a future human race is a good thing. It means, with all variables taken into account, humanity of the future will be as exciting and interesting to read about as humanity of the now.

It’s not just humanity’s propensity for being different to itself that makes things difficult. It’s ability to adapt and change at the slightest push is another stumbling block for a writer (such as yours truly). As our technology has changed, so too has our collective culture. The humans of today are different to the humans of 100 years ago, or even of a decade ago. In 200, 300, 1000 years, how different will we be? Cybernetics, consciousness transference, interstellar travel? How will these things effect our race as a whole? If we encounter alien civilisations, assuming we can even recognise them as intelligent life, how will we react. Will it unite humanity in an “Us vs Them” fashion, or will it divide us between those who abhor the alien and those who welcome it?

I know most people reading this won’t care about these questions for the same reasons a writer would. But they’re big questions none the less. Our technology is evolving at an ever increasing rate, and science is becoming a daily part of people’s lives every day. Look at how Facebook aided revolution in Egypt, for example. Knowing how humanity is going to change, how we are going to change is important. At the very least, it’s an interesting set of questions to ask yourself.

Or at least, I thought they were. I’ll go back to my hole now.

 

Aesthetic Perfection Live

Posted by: Dytalus; November 25, 2011; Uncategorized
This post currently has: no responses.

Last Saturday, I had the fortune to go to Crawdaddy’s in Dublin to see Aesthetic Perfection live. This, my friends, marks the first time I’ve actually made it to a concert headlined by a band I actually listen to regularly, rather than going along with friends to someone else. So as you can probably imagine, I was looking forward to it quite a lot. Easily one of the best Christmas presents I’ve gotten in a while (yes, it’s an early present. Problem?)

I was there for all of thirty seconds when I realised I was hideously out of place. I wasn’t wearing nearly enough fake hair or black clothes. No fish nets either. Daaaamn. Talk about under dressed, I’m disappointed with myself in the extreme. Still, the opening act rolled on and I focused on them rather than the guy in tight leather trousers and glow in the dark contact lenses. Alibitrax turned out to be pretty awesome, plus they’re Irish. So instant cool points there. Plus, the singer dared the audience to get naked. So some extra cool points there too. Some pretty good music tempted to buy their CD, and since it was only 4 euro I’m comfortable with the worth of my purchase. Indubitably. Overall, I’d give Alibitrax a solid 7/10 for their performance. I’d certainly be willing to go see them if they showed up in Dublin again at any rate.

It was about this time that the more normally dressed people showed up. Reinforcements! I don’t wish to sound cruel, I don’t give a damn what people wear (so long as they wear something), but when you’re the only person wearing jeans and a t-shirt you start to feel out of place. Coupled with being one of the smallest guys in the club? Yeah, instant “I shouldn’t be here D: ” moment right there. Nothing that can’t be cured with a couple of shots.

Then came the headlining act, Aesthetic Perfection. I cannot state enough how much I love this guy, and to be there for the first show of his first headlining tour in Europe? Schweeeet.

Daniel Graves is probably one of the rare breed of guys who can make music trouble on stage one of the most awesome parts of the show. I’ve often heard of how he has a hell of a stage presence and is just an awesome and lively guy when you seem him on stage, and every word of it was true. He’s awesome. Really energetic, great with the crowd and has an awesome sense of humour too. It’s a wonder this guy hasn’t had a headlining act in Europe before. A wide selection of tracks were played, most of them from the new album All Beauty Destroyed, which is in no way a bad thing. I love that album, and every song from it was powerful and extremely well performed on stage. Coupled with some songs from older albums (in particular, the Great Depression from A Violent Emotion), every aspect of AP was covered and when they finally left the stage I think I may have died for a moment. I’ve never been so god damn tired in my life and I’ve certainly never been that into music while at a club before. Aesthetic Perfection gets a 9/10 easy. Maybe even a 10/10, but I’m a jerk like that.

NEED MOAR CONCERTS.

 

« Older blog posts