Relevantly Irrelevant
What does the length of a human life really mean? How do we, often erroneously, perceive historical timeframes? Are we aware how uncharacteristic of our species’ normal pace current progress, and its breakneck speed, is?
One of Vsauce’s best episodes.
An insightful and well-written look at the culture and everyday life of rural North Korea from the eyes of a traveller. Weed smoking, yes, included. This dude looks like he has good stories to tell.
I had the chance to hear Dr. Vandana Shiva and other speakers today at an event about biodiversity which was organised as part of the international fortnight dedicated to seed freedom, conceived also by Vandana Shiva.
Things are looking serious. Apparently the EU is preparing legislation that will prohibit “plant propagating material” (what a sterilised, robotic way to name seeds) being exchanged, sold or distributed, unless it’s in the official lists of permitted genetic material for cultivation. Who’s going to have the privilege of featuring on those lists? Who else but our old friend Monsanto, who will finally turn their notorious GMO seeds into a monopoly. And it’s not as if more people will be fed or that food’s going to be cheaper: imagine having to pay for every (sterile) seed which will sprout a plant that is tailored to need Monsanto fertilizer and pesticide to thrive (that’s extra expenses) and, in the end, produces shit, poisoned food. That’s apparently the standard we should be aiming for as a society.
The EU is claiming that his measure will help ensure this quality through homogeneity – something like having your vegetables made by IKEA. It doesn’t take a genius however to figure out what all this will do to babies such as these:
In what way could the above benefit the civil society in any way, any way at all?
If we ask cui bono, the anwer to this, to all this, should be depressingly clear. Is this the future we want? A techno-nightmare in which people have to fight for everything they thought that being born in the 20th century had gifted them with, including a decent job and a society that respects inidividual rights?
The only solution I can think of, since most city dwellers wouldn’t be remotely interested in protecting their health, much less their country’s and our only home’s biodiversity, from these monstrous corporations, will be to actively protect the seeds planting them in one’s (urban) garden and eco-communities, at the same time forming protection networks. Peliti (for Greeks) and this campaign for seed sovereignty for a start and some ideas.
More alternatives? A concept I’d heard about and which was talked about today but I regrettably haven’t delved into is Masanobu Fukuoka’s Natural Gardening. This is the main idea: the farmer/cultivator puts lots of different kinds of seeds in little balls of dirt and sows them. The right kinds of seeds only sprout at their own ideal locations, resulting in a balanced garden or farm which has a little bit of everything. This might come to a surprise to many monoculture enthusiasts but this variety actually strengthens the balance of the plant ecology -in the same way a multicultural society creates superior dynamics to a clean one- and yields more food. The cultivator never intervenes in any way, shape or form: no chemicals, no pesticides, nothing. Not even organic means. Really: it’s the agriculture of doing nothing. Sustainability, permaculture, balance. No wonder a Japanese came up with such a practice.
This track was my earworm of the day together with Spiral. Catchy eh? They’re affiliates with Steven Wilson too, you should know.
Some time ago, I thought that Vangelis only made epic music in the style of Chariots of Fire and Mythodea, good music but bordering the kitsch, especially Mythodea! I suppose Vangelis must have missed Greece with all his time in the US and has therefore fallen into the trap of over-romanticising the homeland, like many expats understandably do.
His earlier work though, as I discovered from watching Carl Sagan’s Cosmos, is something else entirely. This is fantastic music. That and his work with Aphrodite’s Child… What do you know! I recommend you find and download his album of the same name, which is like a Best Of collection of his earlier work from the ’70s.
This post has been was a work-in-progress ever since I got back from France in August. A major contributing factor for this delay has been a certain game I’ve put close to 4 full days into in the past month. Another has been my enduring inability to prioritise my activities, declutter my life and put my thoughts and feelings in order. I have found that creation is what I need, a positive step in the right direction. Writing more and returning to Cubilone’s Dimension will prove to be, I hope, a step towards solving these problems. Actually, solving them sounds a bit alien; I can’t really imagine myself living without these aspects of my personality. Is this my personal story sabotaging my development? Have I made a self-fulfilling prophecy out of trying to form or carve my identity? Hmmm…
As the months pass by and my post-study period grows longer, the dilemmas grow larger and scarier and often I feel as if I’m stuck in the middle of two worlds.
This summer, after our fantastic experience in Finland in June, two important things happened:
The first one was that, after many years of thinking it over, I finally did my CELTA course, which means that I’m now an internationally certified English teacher, or at the very least I’m elligible to teach pretty much anywhere in the world. For four weeks, eight hours each day, I learned how to teach the English grammar, vocabulary, phonology, various methods, what one should and shouldn’t do… At least the basics, for it’s of course a lifelong process, as is everything. The toughest part was that my 9 colleagues and I each had to teach eight lessons, totalling six hours, which we had to plan thoroughly beforehand as well as execute the best we could in the classroom, teaching real students (who by the way did not have to pay money to learn English because it was trainees teaching them) and later receiving feedback on those lessons from our colleagues and tutor.
Oh, the things I heard about my teaching! I had never taught before, at least not in this “official” sense, and it showed. I was extremely nervous, kept staring at the whiteboard while writing my nonsensical teaching aids, had great trouble explaining in simple words things like the form and function of the present perfect or the lead-in for exercises… If those students hadn’t been as accustomed to other confusing teachers before me, they would have surely performed completely different tasks half the time, which they sometimes did. The tutors were brutal with their criticism at times, but it was all beneficial in the end: it helped me realise that one of my main and enduring weaknesses has been explaining things in simple and unconvoluted words even though, ever since (I remember having the same problem as well many times before), every time I realise I’m explaining something awkwardly or maybe unintelligibly, the self-consciousness still makes it almost impossible to explain in an empathic and efficient way. This will come with experience I suppose but it was one of the most important lessons. On top of that, we had to complete one assignment each weekend, which left us next to no free time at all.
My tutors, Alexander Makarios, George Vassilakis and Marissa Constantinides were all exceptional in their own ways and did an excellent job in making me kick off my teaching career. Thank you guys! My colleagues -Vaggelis, Daniel, Ioni, Chrysanthi, Pedro, Panayota, Margie, Theo and Kelly- I grew sick of and am glad I didn’t have to spend any more time together with them. Just look how much we hate eachother’s guts in the pictures and video:
After I was done with the CELTA I was pumped to leave Greece and go teach English somewhere in the world with the coming of the new school year, preferably at a place in which I would be able to communicate with the locals in their native language. That was something that would exclude Japan -it’s a whole different chapter and dream- but would include Spain, Latin America and Germany/Austria, my B2 certificates for both languages fresh from early last summer and making me eager to get some real life experience with them as soon as possible!
But then the second thing happened.
Even before I had hugged my colleagues and tutors goodbye, desperate for some rest and some time to either think or not have to think at all, at the very least until the time I’d have to leave Greece to do my English-teaching duty, right then came the call for the Trip to Heterotopia. “For 21 days in Southern France we’re going to be a caravan visiting eco-communities, festivals, solidarity projects and groups. We will be wildcamping, so bring your tents, sleeping bags and headlamps!” At first I was very sceptical. I was tired and longed for doing nothing, as I mentioned above. It was only little more than a month since I’d been abroad last and, frankly, I felt as if I’d had enough flying around with backpacks, having to wait in airoports and making new temporary friendships, for the year at least. I reluctantly applied anyway; the idea seemed just too good to skip altogether.
To my surprise, I was actually selected, albeit at the last moment. When I talked with Chrysostomos, the head of European Village (the sending organisation) about the specifics, I warned him that my financial situation was at its usual low. He told me that all the costs together would amount to 120€. A hundred and twenty. I was shocked.
-“What’s the catch?” I thought I was being clever. “What’s the cost of participation?”
-“None. We’ve decided not to have one. Our current budget allows us to handle all the costs; it will be better and more convenient than passing them down to the travellers.”
That was it. 120€ would be cheaper even than staying in Athens for the same amount of time. Dafni wasn’t too happy with the suddenness of it all (we had made various plans for August already) but she was a sweet little understanding raccoon in the end and anyway had her own plans.
So there was us: 10 Greeks, and another 15 French people in it for the three weeks of the exchange. Together we visited five different locations and stayed some days in each, did wildcamping in every place, took part and volunteered for local festivals, picked organic vegetables from the community gardens and patches, learned how to build and use dry toilets (it’s not as bad as it sounds actually), participated in workshops on eco-building and local seed trading, there even was a Greek night dedicated to the Crisis. Our flag”ship” motor vehicle was the Vagabond Sage, a retrofit ’70s coach complete with dry toilet, wind generator and solar panels. We did not use all of its features but it was the symbol of our Trip in the French Heterotopias, the utopias that really exist.
All pictures by Marina, Myrto and Caro (I apologise for the terrible formatting of the pictures above. The gallery couldn’t come out right. I think it’s time for a new theme anyway...)
The experience from those three weeks is hard for me to put into words, not unlike much of the rest of my life. The trip was very practical: we had to pack stuff, unpack stuff, cook most meals from scratch (and cater for close to 30 people at times), deal with stuff changing places and having to ask about their whereabouts (looking at you, coffee and coffeejugs!), set up tents, build dry toilets and showers, empty said toilets, and many more things I’m generally not good at, the cerebral rather than practical, abstract rather than present, clumsy and unwieldy person that I generally am. I was much happier sitting somewhere writing my morning pages (more on those in the near future) or enjoying the sun than really helping to prepare dinner, for example, but not being really useful filled me with guilt. I felt that this separated me from the rest of the group and made it harder for me to contribute to our common goals and tasks. Sure, learning about eco-friendly and transitional practices was heaps of fun and super-interesting; connecting with the French and the Greeks was exciting and fun and there was all this adventure and thrill of moving from place to place and exploring rural Southern France, but I always had this nagging feeling that alone I could not do this, that somehow I wasn’t the right person for it. Once again, as I have too many times before to count, I felt like the black sheep. Or rather a sophisticated, colourful goat among a herd of sheep that has none of the definite deviant prestige that black sheep usually have but instead has a certain, perhaps misplaced, idea of superiority. When that idea is threatened and attacked by no-one in particular but, at the same time, everyone at once, I can be very reclusive and pensive. I was the city kid in a group of people who lived and breathed nature, it seemed. Thankfully, there were other people in the Greek group with whom I could share the feeling.
(Video I made with Phoenix for Daphne. Phoenix is the little fox she got for me while we were in Finland. The video is in Standard Definition, unfortunately.)
At the same time, I know that what we did in that trip is important and is the future. Anything that could make me and others more self-sufficient, make us able to take our own situations into our hands, free to lead our lives as we please, is important in this age of destroyed opportunities, slave wages and fear-mongering. We had some discussions on self-reliance around our almost daily nightly fire, watched a couple of movies that inspired me to take action one way or another (more specifically Να Μην Ζήσουμε Σαν Δούλοι), but most of all it was the people who took part, with their lifestyle and their choices, that made me think and feel.
To cut a long story short, by the time we had got back to Greece I didn’t really want to leave immediately to find a job abroad. I had this feeling that staying here in Athens might not be so futile if I can find a way to use my time actively and creatively. Additionally, I felt and still feel that there’s lots of shit I have to figure out, reconcile, get over or leave behind before I can start something new. Putting some order to my digital belongings, selling or giving away stuff, giving time and energy to learn from everything that has happened in my life recently is really what I need but keep postponing due to distractions. Part of me tells me it’s all still being lazy and that purposefully skipping the opportunity to work abroad when I had it is regrettable, not to say of suspicious motivation on my part.
What appeared instead, however, is an excellent testament to the power of serendipity and letting the flow guide your path. Even if I missed the teaching abroad deadlines, there’s a very good possibility I will still be leaving the country after all to do my EVS (European Voluntary Service). Since there’s nothing urgent to do, might as well take advantage of my extended gap years while at the same time being independent for a change.
The real big questions in my head right now have to do with what path I should follow: one focused on living in the moment, taking advantage of opportunities as they come (the EVS and YIA side), discovering the Heterotopias that exist right under our noses and applying myself to that, or the other, in which I’ll make myself more qualified for actual work (which could be in the form of a MA in Prolonged Indecisiveness) or, yes, getting money and building the foundation for future survival? Certificates or Heterotopias? Playing it by ear as I’ve done a lot lately, or gearing up for the mystical tomorrow-never-comes “adult life”, which some would argue can’t include working as an English teacher abroad? /s
From where I’m standing at the moment, the hopefully upcoming EVS looks like it might be able to combine the best of both worlds for me: independence, creativity, new experiences as well as involving myself with things that might benefit my future options of getting by. Still, it’s too fresh to announce anything concrete. If I’m finally doing it (my application’s in the notorious EVS red tape maze right now), which I should know by December, I’ll be leaving for Bulgaria in January 2014 and will be living there for close to a year working for Sofia City Library. That will involve updating their volunteer-run blog, creating promotional media for the library and, from what I can tell, having relatively lots of freedom to pursue my own projects.
What will happen next and whether or not I’ll manage to take advantage of the months ahead will depend entirely on my own ability to balance, prioritise and purge, while at the same time not leaving the flow. OK, maybe not entirely: the current monumental instability of the world will provide us all with some interesting distractions, surprises, dangers and wild card paradigm shifts. One thing’s for sure: we already have absolutely no excuses to feel bored.
Η αβάσταχτη ελαφρότητα της σαχλαμάρας by Harry G. Frankfurt
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Ένα βιβλίο το οποίο καταπιάνεται με τη θεωρητική ανάλυση της σαχλαμάρας. Πριν αναφέρω οτιδήποτε περισσότερο, το ότι το bullshit μεταφράζεται «σαχλαμάρα» (ο πρωτότυπος τίτλος του βιβλίου είναι “On Bullshit”) δεν το καταλαβαίνω. Ναι μεν το bullshit έχει νοηματική συγγένεια με τη λέξη σαχλαμάρα, αλλά η βαρύτητα της λέξης -αυτό που στα αγγλικά θα λέγαμε tenor ή register– δεν έχει καμία σχέση. Ίσως απλά ο εκδοτικός οίκος Λιβάνη δεν ήθελε να βγάλει βιβλίο με τον τίτλο «Μιλώντας για μαλακίες».
Τελικά, τι είναι η σαχλαμάρα, τι σημαίνει το να λέει κανείς μαλακίες; Με αυτό ακριβώς ασχολείται αυτό το πολύ πολύ μικρό βιβλιαράκι το οποίο μπορεί κανείς να τελειώσει σε 40 λεπτά. Ο κ. Frankfurt πιάνει το θέμα από μια πολύ Te σκοπιά. Εν συντομία, καταλήγει ότι η διαφορά του ψεύτη και του καπετάν Σαχλαμάρα, είναι πως ο ψεύτης γνωρίζει πως λέει ψέμματα αλλά θέλει να πείσει πως λέει την αλήθεια, με αυτή του τη στάση δίνοντας σημασία στην αξία της αλήθειας. Αντίθετα, όποιος λέει σαχλαμάρες δεν τον νοιάζει αν αυτά που λέει ισχύουν ή όχι, ή ακόμα ποια είναι τελικά η πραγματικότητα:
«Κάποιος που λέει ψέματα και κάποιος που λέει αλήθεια παίζουν, θα λέγαμε, το ίδιο παιχνίδι από αντίθετες πλευρές. Καθένας τους αντιδρά στα γεγονότα όπως τα αντιλαμβάνεται, μολονότι η αντίδραση του ενός εξουσιάζεται από την αλήθεια, ενώ η αντίδραση του άλλου αψηφά αυτή την εξουσία και αρνείτα να ανταποκριθεί στις απαιτήσεις της. Ο μπουρδολόγος, όμως, αγνοεί αυτές τις απαιτήσεις εντελώς. Δεν απορρίπτει την εξουσία της αλήθειας, όπως κάνει ο ψεύτης, και δεν την αντιστρατεύεται. Απλώς δεν της δίνει καμιά προσοχή. Εξαιτίας αυτού ακριβώς του γεγονότος, η σαχλαμάρα είναι μεγαλύτερος εχθρός της αλήθειας από το ψέμα.»
Το βιβλίο κλείνει με μια ενδιαφέρουσα παρατήρηση: λόγω της σύγχρονης κουλτούρας που δίνει λιγότερη έμφαση στην αντικειμενική πραγματικότητα και αμφισβητεί ακόμα και την ύπαρξη της ή τη δυνατότητα κατανόησης της, θεωρείται συχνά σημαντικότερη η ειλικρίνεια απ’ότι η ορθότητα του λόγου. Αλλά
«είναι παράλογο ότι εμείς οι ίδιοι είμαστε συγκεκριμένοι, και ως εκ τούτου υποκείμενοι τόσο σε ορθές όσο και σε εσφαλμένες περιγραφές, κι από την άλλη να υποθέτουμε ότι η απόδοση της ιδιότητας του συγκεκριμένου σε οτιδήποτε άλλο έχει αποδειχτεί λάθος. Ως συνειδητά όντα, υπάρχουμε μόνο σε απάντηση άλλων πραγμάτων και δεν μπορούμε να γνωρίζουμε καθόλου τον εαυτό μας χωρίς να γνωρίζουμε εκείνα. Επιπλέον, δεν υπάρχει τίποτα στη θεωρία, και σίγουρα τίποτα στην εμπειρία, που να στηρίζει την άποψη ότι το ευκολότερο πράγμα είναι η γνώση της αλήθειας για τον εαυτό μας. Τα γεγονότα που μας αφορούν δεν είναι τόσο ακλόνητα και ανθεκτικά στην ανάλυση. Η ανθρώπινη φύση είναι απατηλή και άπιαστη – λιγότερο σταθερή και συμφυής από τη φύση άλλων πραγμάτων. Και στο βαθμό που αυτό ισχύει, η ειλικρίνεια αυτή καθαυτή είναι σαχλαμάρα».
Κι έτσι τελειώνει το βιβλίο. Τροφή για σκέψη. Θα έλεγα πως ούτε για την αντικειμενική πραγματικότητα μπορούμε να μιλήσουμε με σιγουριά· τι καθιστά το παραπάνω απόφθεγμα αυτούς οι οποίοι μιλάνε για την αντικειμενική πραγματικότητα λες και την ξέρουν, και γιατί δεν ισχύει για εκείνους η ίδια γενίκευση; Είναι μόνο θέμα βαθμών; Πχ μπορώ να ξέρω τις επιστημονικές αλήθειες, ή το τι καιρό κάνει σήμερα και να τις περιγράψω με περισσότερη ακρίβεια και αλήθεια απ’ότι μπορώ να εκφράσω το τι θέλω και το ποιος είμαι; Πιστεύω ότι το μόνο που μπορούμε να εκφράσουμε τελικά είναι η δική μας πεποίθηση ή θέση: η αλήθεια θα είναι η ειλικρίνεια αυτής της άποψης και το ψέμα η απόκρυψη και παραποίηση της. Δεν μου αρέσει αυτή η ποιοτική ιεράρχηση της αντικειμενικής και της υποκειμενικής ή προσωπικής αλήθειας. Με άλλα λόγια: θεωρώ λόγου χάρη πιο σημαντική την προφορική ιστορία (oral history), ότι μπορεί να νοηματοδοτήσει περισσότερο το παρελθόν, απ’ότι μια αντικειμενική “mainstream” ιστορία. Αυτό με την προϋπόθεση βέβαια ότι η κοινή γνώμη είναι αυτή που καθορίζει τι είναι το αντικειμενικά πραγματικό, και συμφωνήσουμε ότι σαν αξία από μόνη της δεν υπάρχει, όπως αν δεν ακούσει κανείς το δέντρο που πέφτει στο δάσος θα είναι σαν να μην έκανε ήχο. Αλλά εδώ μπαίνουμε σε άλλα.
Ας μείνουμε σε αυτό: αν δεν σε ενδιαφέρει αν το δέντρο έπεσε και πεις οτιδήποτε, είσαι σαχλαμάρας, ένας bullshit artist. Αν πεις οτιδήποτε άλλο, μπορεί να λες ψέματα και αλήθεια ταυτόχρονα. Χμ…
Δεν άντεξα: η ίδια μου η κατακλείδα δεν κατέληξε κάπου αλλά έθεσε νέους προβληματισμούς.
Στοπ.
Another article I found through Ran Prieur on how working 40-hour weeks works against the welfare of people, forcing us to consume more because there’s less time for us to enjoy life and the types of entertainment or habits that contribute to personal development and are free but take more scarce time than their costly counterparts. It is however necessary for the economy to keep going.
Ποίηση και ζωγραφική στην ιαπωνική τέχνη: Ο Μπασό και το Ανεμοδαρμένο Ταξίδι by Κλαίρη Β. Παπαπαύλου
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
λευκή σκέψη
σελίδες κολλημένες
θέα απ’το βουνό
Το πιο καταπληκτικό γι’αυτό το βιβλίο είναι μόνο και μόνο το ότι υπάρχει. Η συγγραφέας του, η Κλαίρη Β. Παπαπαύλου, δίδασκε ιαπωνική κουλτούρα και τέχνη στο Πανεπιστήμιο Κρήτης ήδη από τα μέσα της δεκαετίας του ’80, δύο δεκαετίες πριν γίνει της μόδας, και αυτό το βιβλίο δημοσιεύτηκε το 1988. Οι άκοφτες σελίδες και το πολυτονικό σίγουρα συνεισέφεραν στην αίσθηση μοναδικότητας, ιερότητας, και όπως θα έλεγαν οι Ταοϊστές σε άπταιστο Αγγλικήν, suchness του. Απλά υπήρχε, και το μονοπάτι μου ήρθε σε επαφή μαζί του. Αν δεν το έβρισκα από αυτόν που το πούλαγε στον Κεραμεικό δίπλα στο μετρό, εκεί που απλώνουν τα παλιά και μεταχειρισμένα βιβλία, αποκλείεται να έπεφτε στα χέρια μου ποτέ.
Και, εδώ που τα λέμε, δεν θα ήταν σπουδαία απώλεία. Οι εξηγήσεις της κας. Παπαπαύλου για τα χαϊκού και την ιστορία του Μπασό, τον οποίο εκτιμώ κι εγώ ιδαίτερα (ή τουλάχιστον το έργο του) ήταν σίγουρα ενδιαφέρουσες και κατάφεραν και με ταξίδεψαν στην Ιαπωνία της εποχής μετά το Shogun 2: Total War. Το πρόβλημα όμως ήταν το κομμάτι που έμπαινε εις βάθος στην παραδοσιακή ιαπωνική τέχνη, και ιδιαίτερα οι εικόνες που το συνόδευαν. Αν εκδιδόταν σήμερα με καλό χαρτί και με λεπτομερείς σαρώσεις και φωτογραφίες από τα έργα και τις τεχνοτροπίες που περιγράφει, θα ήταν σίγουρα πιο πετυχημένο. Και είναι κρίμα, γιατί μου άνοιξε πολύ την όρεξη με τον συνδυασμό καλλιγραφίας, ποίησης και αυτής της υπέροχης ιαπωνικής μελάνης, όλοκληρο το ολιστικό πακέτο που συνδυάζει το μέσο, το μήνυμα, όλες τις πτυχές της αναπαράστασης του μηνύματος, ακόμα και το ίδιο το χαρτί και το σχήμα του ή την διάταξη του…
Πάντως, αν έκανα ένα ταξίδι στην Ιαπωνία του σήμερα ή του τότε, σίγουρα θα μου άρεσε να ακολουθήσω την πορεία του Ανεμοδαρμένου Ταξιδιού. Και, γιατί όχι, να φτιάξω στην πορεία τη δική μου ποίηση και ζωγραφική 2-σε-1 .
MIDWAY a Message from the Gyre : a short film by Chris Jordan from Midway on Vimeo.
I dare you to watch this without having it pluck at your heart. Heeey, it’s okay to shed a tear or two, no-one will think worse of you.