Sunday, May 31, 2009
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Monday, May 11, 2009
Sex on TV
Lets talk about sex! There is a wide spread belief that humans and maybe a handful of other animals are the only ones to have sex for fun. WRONG. Sorry kiddos we didn't come up with that one. In fact, almost all kinds of sexual activities we engage in, animals do too. These include masturbation, oral sex, homosexuality, prostitution, fetishes, coercive sex, sexual cannibalism, necrophilia, cross species sex, and the matter at hand- sexual imagery viewing. Free porn, all around us! Just pick your flavor!
I, for one, think it's a healthy thing, pornography that is, and an integral part of being human. Countless men AND women enjoy porn every day and, mind you, not only in the comfort and privacy of their homes, but at work, in the car, on the train, etc. It's "adult entertainment". Ha! I saw my first porno when I was maybe 10 or 11. We used to watch it with my cousins (two girls and one boy) in the kids room while our parents had the real adult entertainment in the living room- eating, drinking, dancing, and laughing. And quite frankly it was very educational. Because lets face it, mommy and daddy won't sit you down and talk to you about gangbangs, and facial cumshots, and all that stuff that's quite common in porn. Instead they'll talk to you about when a girl meets a boy and they really like each other blah. Yes, porn is ridiculous and unrealistic at times, but it gave me, at least, a much better idea of sexuality than the book my mom handed me over to read. For one those silly genital sketches are so ridiculous and xtube has some very high quality imagery, presented in a much more entertaining and captivating manner.
Yet still there is very little on mainstream TV to suggest we've moved beyond the dogmas. I remember that sex party that Brenda went to in Six Feet Under. And that's HBO, not network television, mind you. So I say, lets see more of that, lets see more of what's out there. It's fun, it's arousing, it's educational, it's common. I guess it's a matter of time, and I think... the time is now.
I, for one, think it's a healthy thing, pornography that is, and an integral part of being human. Countless men AND women enjoy porn every day and, mind you, not only in the comfort and privacy of their homes, but at work, in the car, on the train, etc. It's "adult entertainment". Ha! I saw my first porno when I was maybe 10 or 11. We used to watch it with my cousins (two girls and one boy) in the kids room while our parents had the real adult entertainment in the living room- eating, drinking, dancing, and laughing. And quite frankly it was very educational. Because lets face it, mommy and daddy won't sit you down and talk to you about gangbangs, and facial cumshots, and all that stuff that's quite common in porn. Instead they'll talk to you about when a girl meets a boy and they really like each other blah. Yes, porn is ridiculous and unrealistic at times, but it gave me, at least, a much better idea of sexuality than the book my mom handed me over to read. For one those silly genital sketches are so ridiculous and xtube has some very high quality imagery, presented in a much more entertaining and captivating manner.
Yet still there is very little on mainstream TV to suggest we've moved beyond the dogmas. I remember that sex party that Brenda went to in Six Feet Under. And that's HBO, not network television, mind you. So I say, lets see more of that, lets see more of what's out there. It's fun, it's arousing, it's educational, it's common. I guess it's a matter of time, and I think... the time is now.
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Connecting the dots
For the most part we ignore the bigger things in life. We are caught up in the moment. Our concerns rarely exceed what's immediate. When we do think about the bigger things, our thoughts are really rather pedestrian.
I am part of the green generation; we care about the environment; we reuse, reduce, and recycle; we advocate for clean energy, sustainability, and conservation; we take global warming seriously and want the ice caps to stay put; and when we grow up we're going to hold the older generations responsible, and very likely we're going to vilify them. But we weren't precisely born with this mindset, it was taught to us. And then it paired with our human tendency to rebel against our peers. It's the new shit, all the cool ones do it. It's petty.
And what of faith? We believe, we feel connected, we pray... but only when it's convenient- when we're in trouble, when we need to overcome obstacles, when we face extinction. Even if we do it when we are thankful, when we are hopeful, we do it not because we are thankful or hopeful, we do it because we fear that we're going to lose it. It's chickenshit.
I don't mean to undermine. What I mean to do is connect the dots between the big things and people going about their everyday lives. And do so in a way that is truthful and genuine.
I am part of the green generation; we care about the environment; we reuse, reduce, and recycle; we advocate for clean energy, sustainability, and conservation; we take global warming seriously and want the ice caps to stay put; and when we grow up we're going to hold the older generations responsible, and very likely we're going to vilify them. But we weren't precisely born with this mindset, it was taught to us. And then it paired with our human tendency to rebel against our peers. It's the new shit, all the cool ones do it. It's petty.
And what of faith? We believe, we feel connected, we pray... but only when it's convenient- when we're in trouble, when we need to overcome obstacles, when we face extinction. Even if we do it when we are thankful, when we are hopeful, we do it not because we are thankful or hopeful, we do it because we fear that we're going to lose it. It's chickenshit.
I don't mean to undermine. What I mean to do is connect the dots between the big things and people going about their everyday lives. And do so in a way that is truthful and genuine.
Friday, May 8, 2009
"Our life is made by the death of others"
Leonardo da Vinci, arguably the greatest visionary, scribbled this line in his notebook (vol.2) some 500 years ago. Naturally, countless scholars are nowadays pondering what this simple yet powerful statement means. Surely, they have written volumes.
I chanced upon the line while watching a Science channel program about extinction. And although I clearly doubt that's what da Vinci intended (there was no real concept of extinction or evolution for that matter until the 1800s), I thought it used in a very befitting manner.
Further reading resulted in me stumbling upon an article called "A Mathematical Model for Mass Extinction" (Newman, Mark) where the following scientific observations can be found:
"Of all the species that have lived on the Earth, since life first appeared here 3 billion years ago, only about one in a thousand is still living today. All the others, the vast majority, became extinct..."
Curious isn't it? What's even more curious is that extinction apparently has aided evolution throughout the eons. "The population and repopulation of an ecological niche by species after species allows for the testing of a much wider range of survival strategies than the slower process of phyletic transformation by which a species gradually adapts its morphology and behavior to its surroundings." We are literally the result of the death of others. Many many others.
"(This) leads us to some crucial questions about the process, the most fundamental of which is this: is extinction a natural part of the evolution process, or is it simply a chance result of occasional catastrophes?"
Whether by design or happenstance, something, some force, some chain of events has been skimming life and we happen to be the froth that's left behind. It seems fortunate. However, as the article points out, "there is nothing... to suggest that the species alive at present are special in any way. Presumably they too will become extinct... and make way for successors themselves."
Don't you love a happy ending?
I chanced upon the line while watching a Science channel program about extinction. And although I clearly doubt that's what da Vinci intended (there was no real concept of extinction or evolution for that matter until the 1800s), I thought it used in a very befitting manner.
Further reading resulted in me stumbling upon an article called "A Mathematical Model for Mass Extinction" (Newman, Mark) where the following scientific observations can be found:
"Of all the species that have lived on the Earth, since life first appeared here 3 billion years ago, only about one in a thousand is still living today. All the others, the vast majority, became extinct..."
Curious isn't it? What's even more curious is that extinction apparently has aided evolution throughout the eons. "The population and repopulation of an ecological niche by species after species allows for the testing of a much wider range of survival strategies than the slower process of phyletic transformation by which a species gradually adapts its morphology and behavior to its surroundings." We are literally the result of the death of others. Many many others.
"(This) leads us to some crucial questions about the process, the most fundamental of which is this: is extinction a natural part of the evolution process, or is it simply a chance result of occasional catastrophes?"
Whether by design or happenstance, something, some force, some chain of events has been skimming life and we happen to be the froth that's left behind. It seems fortunate. However, as the article points out, "there is nothing... to suggest that the species alive at present are special in any way. Presumably they too will become extinct... and make way for successors themselves."
Don't you love a happy ending?
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