Relevantly Irrelevant
65 ώρες και συνεχίζουμε, εξαιρόντας τις ώρες που άφησα το παιχνίδι να τρέχει μόνο του για να δω τι περίεργος διαφορετικός κόσμος θα έβγαινε μέχρι τη 2α Ιανουαρίου του 1821. Ο λόγος -ένας από αυτούς δηλαδή- που δεν γράφω όσο θα ήθελα αυτές τις μέρες. Να, τώρα ας πούμε. Ήθελα να τελειώσω ένα ποστ που γράφω εδώ και έναν μήνα αλλά με συγχωρείτε, το χρέος με καλεί…
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
“Thinking you can change yourself by changing your situation or your surroundings is like thinking you can change your handwriting by using a different pen.” (paraphrased)
I want to be more aware in my life. That’s why I had been looking for books on the matter a few months ago when I found this one. I ordered it from World of Books and for the first time they disappointed me: the book never arrived at my doorstep. Thirsty for thought-provoking material and wisdom shared aplenty, I looked for the book online and lo and behold, there it was in audiobook form.
To be exact, I didn’t find it exactly in audiobook form. In fact, the recordings I found were from some seminar in which Anthony de Mello presumably delivered the contents of this book to a crowd of wisdom-thirsty individuals such as myself over a period of a few days. I don’t know whether or not me listening to the recording of that seminar could count as actually reading the book, but for now it’ll have to do. See? I’m cheating and probably no-one will read this far to actually notice!
All that cleared up and taken out of the way, I most certainly did enjoy listening to Anthony de Mello’s lectures and his style. Of course, most of his teachings about the uselessness of language, the subjectivity of reality, the difference between the “I” and the “me”, the inherent selfishness of what we commonly refer to as love or falling in love etc. wasn’t anything new to me. In fact a lot of what I heard are deeply held beliefs of mine. But a lot of other things he mentioned are matters I will want to revisit, for I think they are as timely and deep as ever and a single listen cannot possibly contain their gravity, moreso because, as with all the great teachers, De Mello’s teachings and the new mentality he proposes are intoxicating in their truthfullness, but alas, one cannot handle and take in this much truth all at once. At any rate I believe he was right in warning the listener about the dangers of substituting one brainwash for another: the point is to always be aware and to forget about existing concepts. What would the difference between “enlightenment” and dogma be otherwise?
I can easily see myself revisiting this countless of times at random intervals in my life. It does feel like a flow of precious advice and living the way De Mello suggests feels deep within me like a precious ideal one would do well to strive for – or not strive for, since there should be no effort involved! I’m giving it 4 stars instead of 5 because it wasn’t anything groundbreaking for me – “just” a collection of profound, valuable insight.
There was a screening of a 1922 film called Häxan on 11/09 at LAIS. It’s a silent film and as used to be the tradition, a live band was invited to score the film. Greek post-rock group No Clear Mind were there to do the part.
It was one of the most intense audiovisual experiences of my life, comparable in recent memory only to Baraka and maybe the 21/12/’12 Eugenides Planetarium dome show with gravity says I. Is it a coincidence that the entrance for the Planetarium show and tonight’s screening was in both cases free? The best in things in life are, aren’t they?
The movie itself was a rather bizarre -in this awesome and captivating way- presentation of the story of witchcraft in medieval and more modern Europe. I don’t know if it sounds exciting to you -for me it didn’t really-, but the mere fact that this film was in cinemas (probably having already been banned or censored) around the time period my great-grandma was pregnant with her daughter, just made me lose myself in the implications. I imagined people from the future similarly watching contemporary films and getting a glimpse at today’s society. It was breath-taking: I made the realisation that I had moving pictures in front of me that enabled me to have a look at history. What an amazing thing, old films… Of course, not all old movies have this effect on me. In Häxan though I could somehow feel the creators’ need to tell this story, I could see through the techniques they used, I could imagine them working on the film, editing, acting.
The film really made me travel to the 15th century, it made me imagine life then perfectly: dominated by superstition and the church, anything out of the ordinary (whatever people would deem ordinary 500+ years ago, that is) pinnable on these satanic women. “Those people were my ancestors – it could have also been me!”, I thought. Every single person alive in Europe today most probably has predecessors who were burnt at the stake (8,000,000 million suffered this fate, the film claimed), people who had the same needs as us: the need to believe, the need to know, the need to love and feel loved… It was less a film and more a timeless window through which I had a good time recreating the past in my mind with the help of moving pictures. Mission accomplished, right?
And then there was the music. No Clear Mind is a Greek post-rock band I first found out about through Maria Kozari Mela – the girl to whom I more or less owe my meeting with Dafni, by the way. I liked this group before; you know, I would occassionally listen to this one album Maria sent me back then and I’d think “yes, that’s pretty solid music”, maybe also wondering just how many more Greek true quality bands simply get drowned down in the sea of noise we call popular music in this country. But that night, it was something else entirely. I don’t know exactly what happened, if they had written the score for the film or if they were just improvising while watching the it. Whatever it was, it was something else. I already mentioned that it was one of the most intense film & music experiences I can remember having. Crying is the qualifier for these moments for me. I usually cry when the beauty, not the sadness alone, is too much to bear; tonight it was both seperately and both together. It was sublime.
The biggest problem is that it was also probably something I won’t ever be able to share with anyone, unless No Clear Mind have recorded the concert somehow. The film on its silent own or with a different soundtrack would probably not have evoked the same reaction in me; it’s the staggering combination that made it so special.
I realise there are too many words above trying in vain to describe or convey something that required so few of them to make its impact. Here’s to more unexpected, serendipitous moments of beauty…
Πρέπει να πω ένα δυο έξτρα λογάκια αυτή τη φορά. Tο Metacritic το εκθειάζει. Για ρίχτε όμως μια ματιά στη διαφορά μεταξύ των σχολίων των χρηστών και των επισήμων reviews… Κάτι είναι τόσο σάπιο στο βασίλειο της Δανιμαρκίας στη ρεπούμπλικα της Ρώμης που βρωμάει μέχρι εδώ.
Φοβόμουν ότι αν έβαζα 6/10 σε έναν τόσο πολυαναμενόμενο και πολυδιαφημισμένο τίτλο, θα με έπαιρναν με τις πέτρες. Απ’ότι φαίνεται όμως δεν είναι λίγοι αυτοί που ζητάνε περισσότερη ειλικρίνεια και λιγότερη διαφθορά από τον κόσμο της δημοσιογραφίας των games. Το ηθικό δίδαγμα: ας είσαι ο πρώτος που κάνει το σωστό και θα σε ακολουθήσουν και άλλοι. Be brave; be the change you want to see in the world!
Και μετά δείτε λίγο από αυτό το βίντεο ακόμα κι αν δεν έχετε παίξει το παιχνίδι. Απλά για πλάκα. Για να δείτε την κατάντια.
Και πάλι… το 16ωράκι μου το χτύπησα αυτό το ΠεμπτοΠαρασκευοΣαββατοκύριακο.
Ως συνέχεια του Part Two.
Θέλω να κάνω τη μεγαλύτερη εκκαθάριση έβερ. Να χαρίσω παλιά ρούχα και αντικείμενα τα οποία πιάνουν χώρο, βιβλία που δεν διάβασα ποτέ και ούτε πρόκειται, επιτραπέζια που δεν έπαιξα ποτέ και ούτε πρόκειται, να πάρω την γενναία απόφαση και να πετάξω (μερικά τουλάχιστον, όσα έχω τα καρύδια να αφήσω) χαρτάκια, σημειωματάκια και τέτοια τα οποία κράταγα για συναισθηματικούς λόγους που είχα ξεχάσει ότι τα είχα, και γενικά να ξεφορτωθώ πράγματα τα οποία πιάνουν χώρο και κρατάνε μέσα τους ένα κομμάτι του παρελθόντος – για καλό και για κακό. Ήδη αυτές τις μέρες πήγα στον Σκόρο και άφησα παλιούς ευρωπαϊκούς σιδηροδρομικούς χάρτες από την εποχή του InterRail και της Ολλανδίας, κάρτες Χάρι Πότερ που άντε να είχα παίξει μια φορά με τον Τζιμ τον Τούση, κάποια πουκάμισα και… έναν ξύλινο σταυρό.
Κι άλλες φορές έχω κάνει τέτοιες (μικρές θα έλεγα) εκκαθαρίσεις αλλά αυτή τη φορά ήταν τα μουσικά CD μου τα οποία έχω μαζέψει εδώ και τόσα χρόνια που πέρασαν απ’το κόσκινο. Τα περισσότερα έχω απλά χρόνια να τους ρίξω μια δεύτερη ματιά, πόσο μάλλον -όπως οι περισσότεροι μας πλέον- να τα ακούσω, οπότε ήρθε η ώρα να τους πω αντίο.
Κάποια από αυτά τα αγόρασα στον εαυτό μου, κάποια δεν θυμάμαι πως έπεσαν στα χέρια μου, κάποια μου τα δώρισαν παλιοί φίλοι και γνωστοί… Είμαι ευγνώμων για τις ευχάριστες ώρες που μου χάρισαν και ελπίζω να μπορέσουν να τα απολαύσουν και άλλοι.
Ιδού η λίστα:
Αυθεντικά:
Rush – Moving Pictures
Rush – 2112
Universal Master Collection – Classic Anthrax
Train – She’s On Fire
In Flames – Soundtrack To Your Escape (+Bonus DVD)
Nirvana – Nirvana
Opeth – Ghost Reveries
KoRn – KoRn
KoRn – Follow The Leader
Natural Dreams – Natural Guitar
Nightwish – Oceanborn (γερμανικό εξώφυλλο)
Mick Jagger – Primitive Cool
Re-Rewind To Garage City
Iron Maiden – A Real Live Dead One
Dire Straits – Brothers In Arms
Hawkwind – Epocheclipse (The Ultimate Best Of)
Euphoria – Mixed by PF Project
Stratovarius – Elements Pt.1
Ocean – Eloy
Age of Mythology – Collector’s Edition (το ανακάλυψα στα CD μου και θα το χαρίσω σαν CD)
Age of Empires – Collector’s Edition (παρομοίως. Τέτοια εποχή, πριν 12 χρόνια σε έλιωνα εσένα…)
Age of Mythology OST
Αντιγραμμένα
Def Leppard – Pyromania
Twisted Sister – Stay Hungry
Cyan – Medieval Tales
Kong in Concert (2CD)
Happy Fest (ινδουιστική μουσική)
Rainbow – Rising
Phil Collins – Serious Hits Live
Albanian Hip-Hop Rap Collection
Nightwish – End of Innocence
Nefilim – ZOON
Fragile Vastness – Tribute To Life
Nine Princes in Amber by Roger Zelazny
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I discovered Roger Zelazny from Ran Prieur’s recommended books list (scroll all the way to the bottom). Basically, our Earth and reality is one of many, one of countless Shadow worlds. The one true world is Amber, and there are 9 princes who all claim the throne to it. If this smells like Game of Thrones with a hearty dose of The Dark Tower to you, you have an excellent nose.
The story was simple and straightforward, without too many descriptions which would have made me turn the pages in frustration as I had done with The Lord of the Rings. The characters aren’t very well fleshed out, apart from Corwin (the protagoinst), but honestly I didn’t really care: the action and the scope were so grand and the plot development centered around Corwin, with his own very lucid and personalable narration, so engaging from the very first pages to the very last, that I didn’t miss not finding out too much about the rest of the princes. The problem is that the plot isn’t limited to those very last pages. The first book was a good introduction to the world of Amber and Corwin’s story, the internal plot was resolved, a round and bubbly sigh of optimism was left, but the huge events the book basically hints at are barely even put into motion. I suppose that’s a problem with any series in any medium.
Perhaps the thing I liked the most about Zelazny’s writing was his edge, his cheekiness and willingness to play around with expectations. If the rest of the books set in Amber are in a similar style, I’m in for a treat!
It’s been a while…
The Art of Looking Sideways by Alan Fletcher
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Above: a photograph of my own copy of The Art of Looking Sideways.
This book is a valuable collection of experiences, quotes, designer-gasms, observations and insights into life, the aesthetic, artistic and general human experience, by late master graphic designer Alan Fletcher.
I got it more than a year ago like new (yes, it took me this long to go through its 1000+ pages reading/enjoying on and off) for around €30. Most of that must have been the shipping costs: when it arrived I really couldn’t believe the sheer mass of it. I tried to scan some of it, once; the results: my current profile picture, and a scanner which since then has been occassionally malfunctioning, the book’s weight having left a permanent scar in its life of digitisation. This is actually the only reason I haven’t been lugging it around more often, showing it to each and every one of my friends — artistically inclined or no.
This book is so thick with inspiration it’s almost impossible to deal with: you can’t open it randomly to catch the creative spark (supposedly Alan Fletcher’s point in making it) without wanting to read it all. Though I suppose this mindless and distracted consumption is a personal demon I have to deal with!
Anyway. I’ll make this short and to the point: this treasure chest of a book is one of my most prized and proud possessions — and believe you me, as a rule I don’t take particular pride anymore in owning things.
The Umbrella Academy, Vol. 1: Apocalypse Suite by Gerard Way
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Yet another comicbook tome lent to me by my girlfriend Daphne. “This one’s special”, she told me handing it over to me, her words a cross between a teaser and a warning. She was right: superheroes with weird but cool powers, random humour and clever details, awesome panel and page transitions that made me go “woooah, that was brave”, a tongue-in-cheekness in every little thing that sat quite well with me. This is not really my genre of preference, but after The Umbrella Academy I had to ask myself why not. Looking forward to reading Part Two already.
I like the way this guy thinks. I wouldn’t mind being a bit more like him.
