I got exciting and long awaited news this week. My first novel, which i spent years on, is being reviewed and edited. This is something near and dear to my heart since Silas was the first to ever look it over and give me feedback. Work is underway on the sequel but the truly exciting part is that there is for the first time in a while. Visible progress on all fronts :)
Much love to you all
Tuesday, November 21, 2017
Friday, November 10, 2017
The Circle: An In Depth Review of Humanity through an otherwise dull film
Spoilers ahead! Proceed at your own risk....
The Circle is a film that as a whole is largely of little entertainment value. The plot revolves around a single room with a group of individual trapped in one spot. I say trapped because should they exit the circle they are standing in they are immeadiately excecuted by a bright laser type stream,of light.
The group is a seemingly random collection of individuals. However as the story progresses, it becomes clear that these people were most likely placed as a representation of the population as a whole. They appear as any person you might see on the street. Theres a high profile buisness type, a soldier, a cop, a thug, a couple having an affair together, a mother to be, a child and several more.
Now as one of the participants figures out and explains to the group, and by extension, the audience, the circle is not randomly selecting people to kill every few minutes. The movement of everyones hands is causing a "vote" on who dies next.
Now what makes this interesting is that as you watch. Initially it is fractured and chaotic and all you want is for them to stop being idiots and band together.
This is a terribke fucking idea.
Because once they band together, and begin to organize, initially to buy time, they start by voting for the elderly to buy time to figure out whats happening. There is one boy, merely sixteen or seventeen, who sacrifices himself for the group. He doesnt know what else to do and he hopes that mayb this last kindness will help others.
There are a short number more who sacrifice themselves because it is inevitable. They have lost hope but had contributed during their time before it ended.
Now what truly stands out are a few specific instances.
The first being the backlash against the first to try and organize the group, when his methods, as thoughtout, and seemingly reasonable as they may be, when the majority no longer feel protected by his voting dictates, he is immeadiately dispossed of.
This is not surprising, throughout history, those who have been trying to help have been killed for it. Humans protect themselves naturally. Those willing to become a target for others is the exception.
Now the next part that stands out is the cop pointing out a thug who had beaten the crap out of his girlfriend for cheating on him. Now the thug knows admitting anything will get him killed, Because if anything, humans overall are a fairly violent and vengeful race. It is only with effort that we can be better. But i digress, the thug, adamantly denies the claims until its clear he is fucked, at which point he tries to justify it and blame her cheating for his behavior. She smugness of the group when they kill him is very clear.
Now as the group dwindles it basically splits into 2 tribes. Those trying to make it out at all costs, and those trying to guarantee either the little girl or the mother to be make it out. This gets fairly heated and results in several more deaths while further showing some fairly instinctual aspects of the process of death, including bargaining.
I skip to the final portion because "tribal conflict" and "us vs them" is a whole other topic, and the final portion is where it really lands one to the gut.
Seriously tho, if you want to watch the movie and hate to have the ending given away. Stop reading now!
I'm serious, im about to discuss the ending of the movie.
You've been warned.
Now as i was saying, the ending here is a gut punch, Especialy if youve been spending this movie trying to decide howd youd survive this same type of ordeal and ended up on the side of, I prolly can't so we save the kid or unborn.
So it comes down to one of the "I must save them" tribe, the kid, and the mother to be. And right here is where it fucked me up. The dude explains that he cant be the one to decide which of them dies. So it comes down to the LITTLE FUCKING GIRL! Who this entire time has been terrified and crying and afraid she would be next, which she almost was a few times. This terrified little kid, who barely understands the world, in this moment is the greatest and saddest of humanity.
She chooses to die, to give the baby a future! This scared little girl, gives up her life for another. Shes amazing! So its right here where it kicks you in the teeth and spits in your face, because this is not a feel good film but a pschological head fuck representation of humanity. And its fairly accurate.
So the guy tells the girl its ok and that hell go with her and as he yells at her to "go now" and she jumps from her circle, to be killed, the guy remains unmoved and votes for the mother to be, killing her as well and saving himself.
A snake in the grass the whole time. Humanity easily seeks out and destroys its blatant enemies, while embracing, to its destruction, the enemy in our midst. People have the ability to be either great or terrible. And tho this ending is a kick in the teeth and saying, see, all that work to save them was for nothing. And that may be, but it doesnt lessen the sacrifices of those who tried, because as we see in the final moments, amongst other survivors back on a normal street. Other groups did save the mother to be or the kid. So it may not work in Your group, but remember yours is not the only group.
Basically, never give up, because you might fail, but failing is not the worst that can happen to you. Also, people suck, but they Can be so much better when they try.
The Circle is a film that as a whole is largely of little entertainment value. The plot revolves around a single room with a group of individual trapped in one spot. I say trapped because should they exit the circle they are standing in they are immeadiately excecuted by a bright laser type stream,of light.
The group is a seemingly random collection of individuals. However as the story progresses, it becomes clear that these people were most likely placed as a representation of the population as a whole. They appear as any person you might see on the street. Theres a high profile buisness type, a soldier, a cop, a thug, a couple having an affair together, a mother to be, a child and several more.
Now as one of the participants figures out and explains to the group, and by extension, the audience, the circle is not randomly selecting people to kill every few minutes. The movement of everyones hands is causing a "vote" on who dies next.
Now what makes this interesting is that as you watch. Initially it is fractured and chaotic and all you want is for them to stop being idiots and band together.
This is a terribke fucking idea.
Because once they band together, and begin to organize, initially to buy time, they start by voting for the elderly to buy time to figure out whats happening. There is one boy, merely sixteen or seventeen, who sacrifices himself for the group. He doesnt know what else to do and he hopes that mayb this last kindness will help others.
There are a short number more who sacrifice themselves because it is inevitable. They have lost hope but had contributed during their time before it ended.
Now what truly stands out are a few specific instances.
The first being the backlash against the first to try and organize the group, when his methods, as thoughtout, and seemingly reasonable as they may be, when the majority no longer feel protected by his voting dictates, he is immeadiately dispossed of.
This is not surprising, throughout history, those who have been trying to help have been killed for it. Humans protect themselves naturally. Those willing to become a target for others is the exception.
Now the next part that stands out is the cop pointing out a thug who had beaten the crap out of his girlfriend for cheating on him. Now the thug knows admitting anything will get him killed, Because if anything, humans overall are a fairly violent and vengeful race. It is only with effort that we can be better. But i digress, the thug, adamantly denies the claims until its clear he is fucked, at which point he tries to justify it and blame her cheating for his behavior. She smugness of the group when they kill him is very clear.
Now as the group dwindles it basically splits into 2 tribes. Those trying to make it out at all costs, and those trying to guarantee either the little girl or the mother to be make it out. This gets fairly heated and results in several more deaths while further showing some fairly instinctual aspects of the process of death, including bargaining.
I skip to the final portion because "tribal conflict" and "us vs them" is a whole other topic, and the final portion is where it really lands one to the gut.
Seriously tho, if you want to watch the movie and hate to have the ending given away. Stop reading now!
I'm serious, im about to discuss the ending of the movie.
You've been warned.
Now as i was saying, the ending here is a gut punch, Especialy if youve been spending this movie trying to decide howd youd survive this same type of ordeal and ended up on the side of, I prolly can't so we save the kid or unborn.
So it comes down to one of the "I must save them" tribe, the kid, and the mother to be. And right here is where it fucked me up. The dude explains that he cant be the one to decide which of them dies. So it comes down to the LITTLE FUCKING GIRL! Who this entire time has been terrified and crying and afraid she would be next, which she almost was a few times. This terrified little kid, who barely understands the world, in this moment is the greatest and saddest of humanity.
She chooses to die, to give the baby a future! This scared little girl, gives up her life for another. Shes amazing! So its right here where it kicks you in the teeth and spits in your face, because this is not a feel good film but a pschological head fuck representation of humanity. And its fairly accurate.
So the guy tells the girl its ok and that hell go with her and as he yells at her to "go now" and she jumps from her circle, to be killed, the guy remains unmoved and votes for the mother to be, killing her as well and saving himself.
A snake in the grass the whole time. Humanity easily seeks out and destroys its blatant enemies, while embracing, to its destruction, the enemy in our midst. People have the ability to be either great or terrible. And tho this ending is a kick in the teeth and saying, see, all that work to save them was for nothing. And that may be, but it doesnt lessen the sacrifices of those who tried, because as we see in the final moments, amongst other survivors back on a normal street. Other groups did save the mother to be or the kid. So it may not work in Your group, but remember yours is not the only group.
Basically, never give up, because you might fail, but failing is not the worst that can happen to you. Also, people suck, but they Can be so much better when they try.
Sunday, November 5, 2017
Philosophers Society: The Beginnings.
The first meeting of the Philosopher's Society went very well. We have begun with questions to get to know one another. We are a group who tend to expand on topics and find tangents to those topics, however we remain productive as we get to know one another further. We have diverse backgrounds, diverse opinions and experiences and i believe this will serve our discussions well as we go forward.
Today began with a basic 101 of what Philosophy is, what common fallacies are and a look at inductive and deductive reasoning. A good site for understanding fallacies is: www.yourlogicalfallacyis.com
Philosophy is the study of ways to address fundamental questions in all other fields. Basically, question everything. Do not merely accept something, question it. Ask why or how. Learn from those we are speaking with. This does not mean we must agree with them, but it is a downfall that in recent years the ability to discuss and debate without attacking the other person has been lost.
One of the keys that I believe is needed for this is Active Listening. We should stop listening just so we may answer or retort. We must listen to other points of view in order to understand what they are saying. Many misunderstandings can be avoided by actually listening to anothers point of view. Furthermore, we may learn something from the experience should we be so lucky.
We went on to discuss briefly our backgrounds, where we come from and what our upbringing was like. We did this to better understand where each person is coming from in the discussions down the road. We have the advantage that with our diverse group, We examine and believe in different things. We acknowledge things in different ways and analyze things differently. Our group holds individuals who ascribe to varying beliefs from christianity to atheism and even pantheism. Beliefs ranging from the strictly provable to the intuitive. Skepticism to mysticism. We acknowledge that we do not agree with one another on things, there are things some of us may find unbelievable or even unrealistic, or close minded. We do not however attack one another, we discuss and we learn one anothers views. The more we learn of others, the better we may peacefully and successfully function in the world.
We will be deciding on a topic in the coming weeks for our next meeting. We further decided that the Society shall meet once per month for our discussions.
Today began with a basic 101 of what Philosophy is, what common fallacies are and a look at inductive and deductive reasoning. A good site for understanding fallacies is: www.yourlogicalfallacyis.com
Philosophy is the study of ways to address fundamental questions in all other fields. Basically, question everything. Do not merely accept something, question it. Ask why or how. Learn from those we are speaking with. This does not mean we must agree with them, but it is a downfall that in recent years the ability to discuss and debate without attacking the other person has been lost.
One of the keys that I believe is needed for this is Active Listening. We should stop listening just so we may answer or retort. We must listen to other points of view in order to understand what they are saying. Many misunderstandings can be avoided by actually listening to anothers point of view. Furthermore, we may learn something from the experience should we be so lucky.
We went on to discuss briefly our backgrounds, where we come from and what our upbringing was like. We did this to better understand where each person is coming from in the discussions down the road. We have the advantage that with our diverse group, We examine and believe in different things. We acknowledge things in different ways and analyze things differently. Our group holds individuals who ascribe to varying beliefs from christianity to atheism and even pantheism. Beliefs ranging from the strictly provable to the intuitive. Skepticism to mysticism. We acknowledge that we do not agree with one another on things, there are things some of us may find unbelievable or even unrealistic, or close minded. We do not however attack one another, we discuss and we learn one anothers views. The more we learn of others, the better we may peacefully and successfully function in the world.
We will be deciding on a topic in the coming weeks for our next meeting. We further decided that the Society shall meet once per month for our discussions.
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