About that Gay Parade...

I mentioned the Gay Parade at Jerusalem in my previous post, so I thought to share a few of my opinions on the subject.
I'm a pro-homosexuality. That means that I don't fear it, don't feel uncomfortable around it, and don't think it is disgusting. That covers both sexes. I stress this out, because I'm aware of the general hypocrite duality that states "I'm against homosexuals, but lesbians are cool". Men who say that are generally fear homosexual penetration (dream on!) which they consider a threat on their masculinity, and women who say that, generally, see homosexuals as rival competitors. This is not my conclusion (though I agree with it fully), but a psychological study made by scientist.
Anyway, I don't think that parade should have taken place. Why? Jerusalem is a city of 3 religions. Whether I agree with those religions or not, is not an issue here. But, right now, they are the majority there. And they consider homosexuality a sin. All three believe that the parade harms the city's holiness. All three feel hurt by homosexual presence there. So, why should a minority that is hurtful to the majority make stand there? Why, let gather naturalists and nudists together and march them in all of our major cities as well, and make the biggest parade in Jerusalem too. And all those people (about 90%) who will feel uncomfortable with it, or hurt by it, or feel repulsed by it - BE DAMNED!!! Right? Wrong, in my opinion. Sure, democracy was established among other things, to make sure that majority won't tyrannize the minority and that equal opportunities should be made available to all. But this parade is reversing the formula. It's not like the homosexual minority has no alternatives. They have Tel-Aviv and Haifa to march in. Both cities have little religious significance and are much more tolerant. I would also, agree with the parade be the situation worse then it is for them, but it is not! Israel, is not a secular society. Its roots are deep in religious tradition. As such, gay people are lucky to have the freedom they have here, as other religious societies would not tolerate them at all. We all should keep this balance of democracy (not the government method of ruling - it failed, but the idea as a social norm of life), and not try to over-rule on society with another. This was what happened with the Orange settlers of Gaza. They were a minority that decided to take over the majority and made all the mistakes possible in the process. The result was the opposite of what they wanted to achieve. The majority got sick and tired of them, and rejected their agenda. If the homosexual movement doesn't want such fate for themselves - they should measure the risks more carefully and choose a smarter way to fight for their rights.

P.S.: The religious antagonism to homosexuality is understandable. In times when it was concieved - homosexuality was a direct threat to procreation. Two people of the same sex could never procreate naturally. Of course, today, that problem is solved with surrogate mothers, artificial insemination and adoption. Another prove that religion is an outdated conservative form of goverement and set of morals. Still, that's the power of blind faith...

The Degradation of the Mind...

Yesterday my girlfriend called me and said she's having a "mind degradation" at her place of work. It sounded so funny. I asked what does she mean by that, expecting to hear that the routine of her work was causing her mind to "fall asleep". Apparently, it was that and... the people she works with. She told me that she is sick of hearing all the girls at her work, talking about such trivialities like clothes, and clothes' brand's, and sizes, and colors, and prices, and... nothing much else. When she tried to provoke a little bit more serious discussion by picking a really provocative subject i.e. the last week's Gay Parade in Jerusalem - she was shocked to discover the ignorance on the subject was vast and deep. Some suggested the gays should be guaranteed as they have a decease that can be infectious (little children are apparently more receptive then others), other claimed that homosexuality is caused by excessive drinking and drugs, and some said it was a rebellious phase that children never grew out of. Now, opinions for and against aside, homosexuality (the term that covers both sexes, and not just men) is a genetic disorder, and the only choice such people have is whether to act on their nature or hide it. It is not a decease, and even if it can be describes as such, then it is not curable, at least not now. Perhaps, when genetic engineering will become more prevalent, this genetic disorder will be fixed and a perfect Aryan race will be born. Anyway, when my girlfriend explained that to them - they were in total shock and told her she is being TOO SMART for her own good. And that she know too much NEEDLESS information. Then they resorted to their girlish talk about such needful information as clothes and such. My girlfriend felt saddened and for a moment she actually considered their words. That perhaps, all her knowledge is a barrier between her and the rest of the workers. And that perhaps she should too get more interest in trivial nonsense for the sake of not being alone and being able to converse with her keen. I talked her out of this, of course.
But it saddens me as well, to discover that ignorance and stupidity (not just on subject of homosexuality, of course) is so prevalent in our society, that it's actually pushing smarter and more knowledgeable people to join its dubious ranks.

Long time no post...

Hi all! Yeah, I know - haven't posted a thing here for a long time. Well, I said I don't know if I can keep it up for long and steady. I'm kinda like that... ;-)

Anyway, on with my bullshit... Due to several assignments I have to give in at my university, I've rediscovered reading. Really. It's not like I've stopped reading or anything, but the quantity and the quality of the material I read have severely decreased. TV series are to blame, definitely, as I spend most of my free time watching them. I've even stopped playing PC games AT ALL, because of it. Sure, I read news and articles at tech sites and I visit Wikipedia at least twice a day, but still, it's not really literature. And I study English Literature for my Degree! I did, however, read in Russian a few times, on my laptop, while riding a bus to or from the university. But all those were Sci-Fi novels. Good ones, for sure, but still pulp fiction.
Anyhow, I've finally started reading some classical literature for the final exams, and written assignments. Wow! It's like I missed this whole part of the world and now discovered it anew. I always thought that classical literature would be boring and too outdated for me, but I was wrong! The old authors knew how to weave a complex and involving stories about their lives or lives of their contemporary folk. And it almost never boring. All is needed, to open one's mind a little bit, to the bigger picture of the world, and not just the one around, but some other world that is just as rich, if not richer. Today's authors lack that complexity and artistic beauty, perhaps due to more commercial approach, since the classic authors were poor and today's authors write specifically for money and fame. I'm generalizing, of course. Anyway, if you do have some spare time and straight (probably not) - do try some of the classic British and American literature, you might be surprised.

A little album review...

I've stumbled upon this very nice band called frighteningly "Mors Principium Est" on some Metal website and liked the artwork. Then I read it was a Melodic Death Metal band from Finland, which ignited my interest even more. The Finns really know how to make heavy and brutal yet extremely melodic music which always sits well with me. So I looked it up and got the whole "Liberation=Termination" album. One hearing was enough for me to place it firmly in my Sansa MP3 Player's playlist.

First of all, as always with the Finns - the production is top notch! Very clear sound and good mixing of all the instruments.

Second, these guys don't play Melodic Death Metal for real. They sound more like a softer version of the latest Arch Enemy or like what Children Of Bodom would sound like, if they stopped worshiping their keyboardist and actually tried to write some original material instead of re-cycling their old one ad infinity. The solos and most of the riffing has a distinct Heavy/Power Metal element to them that differentiates the band from other Melodic Thrash/Death Metal acts.

And third, the band tried and succeeded to blend some really trance-like electronic sounds into their songs without them ever stand apart! Other bands tried, but while The Kovenant turned into a dance club and ...And Oceans could harmonize the Death Metal brutality with the Trance upbeat sound, these guys were victorious. You can hear that something is "wrong" but can't quite put your finger on it, until the moments where the trance gets solo and then you realize it was there all along, intertwined with the general sound.

One complain though... The song structure is very similar in all the tracks on the album which is good if you put it as a background to something, but gets boring and monotonous if you there to just listen to it.

Recommendations: "The Animal Within" with its almost Goa-like intro and "Lost Beyond Retrieval" a very atmospheric instrumental that never leaves your head afterwards.

http://www.morsprincipiumest.com/

Linux for lazy dumb people?!

Today I grew tired of constantly fixing my cousin's old PC by removing all the viruses, trojans and malware from it. I knew damn well that in a month or so, I'll be back repeating the process. The problem is amplified by the fact that this old PC works with Windows 98 only (at most Windows 2000 if I want to slow it down even more), so the security is garbage and my options are very limited.
So! I carry with me, on my laptop, an ISO image of SAM Linux 2007 which I tried many times as a Windows replacement. And it hit me - Linux equals no viruses, no trojans and no malware! Plus, its security prevents not only outside intervention but inside as well. Without the administrative password, the regular user is powerless! Just what I need. The installation took 15 minutes and all was ready. I only had to install aMSN (MSN Messenger alternative) and aMule (eMule alternative). The rest was already there (Skype, Opera/Firefox, XMMS as Winamp alternative, VLC and Mplayer instead of Windows Media Player etc.). My only concern was how will my cousin, who couldn't care less for all the technicalities and just wouldn't learn to operate a simple OS like Windows, would react to the unfamiliar interface. Imagine my surprise when she exclaimed after 5 minutes of explanations: "So this is, like for lazy stupid people! I get it!" I left her with it and after another 10 minutes she was already at it, downloading music and playing it, chatting on aMSN and checking mail on Nana via Opera. I'm not advertising SAM Linux here. It has any flaws and I know it is not that ready to be a complete alternative to Windows. But apparently, for "stupid lazy" people or those who just don't care - it is a good solution. Now I'm feeling content that I won't be hearing from her for a long time. Maybe I'll even start missing her... ;-)

Self criticism...

Have been making a kind of a trailer for my video reviews for Gameplayer and had a great time. One thing I noticed is that technical skills are the least of my problems. Creativity-wise, this thing is much harder. Especially trying to translate your vision into a coherent media presentation. So many ideas - so little to work with. Anyway, so far, finding the right music and syncing it with the action on the screen is my biggest problem. Right after stop being so critical about my voice and narration. Actually, being too critical is my biggest problem in this project. Laziness and lack of motivation is my biggest problem outside of any project... ;-)

An answer to the question...

I've been hearing all around me from native Israelis the question regarding Arcady Gaydamak's ethnicity. He's been claiming in all media services that he is a fellow Jew and all about helping his Jewish brothers and sisters. Well, that claim still didn't hold, as the natural Jewish paranoia about the gentile (goy)enemies from within prevented Gaidmak from being accepted freely by the masses despite his "generous" deeds. So he decided to prove it further. Here:
http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-3410649,00.html (Hebrew) and here: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3410650,00.html (English)
It saddens me to see him going this way. And I will sure miss the convenience of buying urgent stuff on Saturdays or getting good seafood products that are usually very hard to find in the closest immediacy.

What the hell!!!

Infuriating! Just bought a new Western Digital 250GB hardrive a month ago and it already shows S.M.A.R.T errors, warning me to backup my data and replace it. The reason I bought it in the first place, was to replace a previous WD 200 GB hardrive which failed similarly. Except this one didn't hold a month! Either Western Digital is no longer a reliable company it used to be, or K.S.P is selling junk! Another slight possibility is that my computer is somehow causing it. But I really doubt it as I have another 4 hardrives connected to it, some as old as 5 years! Now how the hell am I going to backup 238GB of data?! Buy another one? The DVDs and CDs alone are gonna cost me a fortune.

And so it begins...

Hello and welcome to my blog. I have no idea what to write here right now, but I'm sure ideas will come flowing soon. I've decided to start this blog as a way to communicate my thoughts to my friends that I don't talk to very often, but don't mind casual readers to wonder into my world as well. Hope you'll find it at least a bit interesting...