Inner Culture

Pardaig: Stone

2012-05-11T20:51:00.001-07:00

Pardaig: Stone: Hard Stone cracked Soul stripped of Life Eyes bled of Blood Passion died Robot-like will to Dominate Crush, step on Them M...

eRelations: Online relations & communications 21st century pur...

2012-05-09T08:44:00.001-07:00

eRelations: Online relations & communications 21st century pur...: itunews.itu.int Online interactions, relations and communications are rich of data. Very rich of information, that can be useful f...

Pale Grey Tree

2012-04-20T12:52:00.000-07:00

Its roots lay besieged
The water that once ran deep below
Was redirected to a distant place

Unknown, invisible forces
Work from remote, centralized control rooms
Managing the inner mechanisms of life

Re-engineering nature's architecture
To generate more profit
Through mass automated
Self-maintained industrial tasks

Seeds rot, heart dries up
The blood flow slows down
An artificial existence
That was never meant to be

Conquered, vanquished
Organic beings disappear
Replaced by altered organisms
Improved & re-engineered
Through global ETL factories

The old, tired grey tree of life
Has been defeated
Beauty's last breath
Mankind's triumph
Purity's destruction

Pardaig: Data-Related Soul Crash

2012-03-09T11:17:00.001-08:00

Pardaig: Data-Related Soul Crash: Mind filled with corrupted data Injected with malicious, infected Psychological information Your soul fucked through Massive SQL infec...

Atmospheric House-Trance with female vocals - have nice dreams!

2012-02-10T14:05:00.000-08:00

Here is some light stuff for you: I got a little away from heavy stuff musically these days. Dunno, maybe too much stress on the job? (<;

So here are some nice, atmospheric House-Trance tracks to drive to, go asleep to, or...do whatever the heck you wanna do!!!

Bobina & Betsie Larkin - You Belong To Me (Cramp Remix)

HQ - Andain vs. Nadia Ali Alex Kenji Starkillers - Promised pressure

(Armin van Buuren mashup)

Pardaig: Mind Renewal

2012-01-04T10:36:00.000-08:00

Pardaig: Mind Renewal: Memory cleansed Temp files archived and purged Spirit emptied of the weight Of things to do Of things to think Of things to say New set of...

Exploded Soul; Radiant Perished Mind

2011-12-07T10:38:00.000-08:00

Inner Sun ignites an all-devouring Fire

The Heart channels a thousand Spears

Driven through the veil of Consciousness

The Mind is set ablaze by

Insane Colors and Shapes

A Hellish Fury is unleashed

In your weakened Skull

Your eyes bleed a grey, dead Blood

When the Light surges from Above

As your Soul fucking Explodes...

Slowly burning...A Crash set in slow Motion

You disappear, merged in the Cold, distant Sky

With empty Black Holes sucking away

What is left of the Empty Life Cycles

What little is left of you damn' weak bastard

Winter sets in

Your body frozen in the silent plain

As a Trophy offered to

A God that once Was

To a Life that once Existed

Enigma of a Love that Perished

Stars cry whilst they think of You

The Honour, the Courage, the Defeat

You tried but were Crushed

By the Powers of Hate, Domination and Lies

Soon Forgotten

Hope a Memory, a Concept that once was

Right-Wing, Left-Wing, who cares?

A Dark Storm kills the remnants of Nature

Cruel mechanisms generate Torture Schemes

We are Lost

The only Speech one hears is Propaganda

Uni-centric Robotic Voices

Chanting their master's Lullaby

Ad Aeternum

Hear, hear !

Consume, Regurgitate Life's multiple Forms

Decimate the Fields of Joy

A splendid Bird that will never

Fly Again

Pardaig: Main Process Core Dump

2011-11-27T16:00:00.000-08:00

Pardaig: Main Process Core Dump: …Workstation activated …Workstation Secure State confirmed ...Local Secured Connection invoked ...Local Secured Connection established ...

Lightfast Illumination

2011-11-26T11:56:00.000-08:00

Transcend matter, rise above the Earth

Spirit freed through techno-logical means

Surge across the data clouds

Escalating the backbone architecture

Thoughts explode in the solar servers

Radiating a burning network light

Exposing schematic arrow scripts

Instructing countless remote slaves

To extract, transform, load

Process past cycles of archived files

Rewrite transcripts of history

Export to relational databases

Humanity's past, present, future

Light-Fast Illumination

Brains activated by SQL triggers

Minds fed by injection activities

Running on the federated servers

Operations programmed to output

Reporting algorithms results

Organized through centralized indexes

Coordinated by the main AI core mechanisms

Located at the inner net junction mount point

COLD SEQUENTIAL LOGIC

2011-11-08T09:37:00.000-08:00

Arbitrary algorithmic code selection
Batch instructions launch background processes
Applications are invoked and initialized
Server scripts are launched then die

Programmed cold sequential logic
Selects records to be processed
Data is created, updated and deleted
Values are assigned to variables

Soulless cosmic void of information
Automated worldwide systems harmonized
Through cross-referenced input streams

Content transformed into cyclic implementations
Deployed in exploded architectures
Controlled through audit schemes

Individual initiative rendered obsolete
Planned sequences as divine commands
Coming from above
Raining from the Void

Artificial, machine-generated intelligence
Governs the minds of human slaves
Serving the central servers
Calibrating the cold sequential processing logic code

Pardaig: New Pardaig vid

2011-11-01T08:26:00.000-07:00

Pardaig: New Pardaig vid: Strength Featuring excerpts from the masterpiece Black Swan.

Go-To-Pardaig-Blog

Rational Paranoid

2011-10-27T11:21:00.000-07:00

Expect to be screwed

Rarely disappointed

Wallet preyed on by numerous vultures

On and on...

Paranoid? Or rational?

Rational paranoid...

The human race a pyramid scheme

Bottom line feeds the higher end

Hungry rats just waiting for some

Fresh bones to chew on

Unending cycle of exploitation

Top circles propagating lies

Hypnotized by profit

Practicing mass deceit

Eternal process of extraction

Swallowing lives, time and flesh

Lower circles hindered by ignorance

Imprisoned in silence and rot

Voluntary slavery

As we work more and more

Brainwashed to buy and rejoice

In meaningless objects

Devoid of life

Devoid of soul

Some'd say “Wake up!”

But for some who break out

Of the nightmare eating their dreams

Countless others will replace them

As slaves for the new world...

As slaves for the greed gods...

Sad to Say

2011-10-20T10:12:00.000-07:00

I always found sad music to be beautiful in general. In fact I will most likely appreciate any form of art that reflects sadness or a certain type of darkness, be it a painting, book, song or poem, etc.

Some people find melancholic-bound art to be of a depressive effect, meaning that it would be prone to induce depression-like states; it would then be wise to refrain from indulging in such art form (listening to sad music, reading sad books, etc.). But it is crucial to note that the effect of art forms impregnated with melancholic feelings/sentiments on different individuals will be of a relatively varied nature also.

My observation is thus: I personally appreciate such art forms since they but seldom cause me to have depressive emotions; I would say that 90% of the time I listen to sad music, for example, it does not cause me to become depressive; I may then absorb the positive aspect of sad art (its beauty) without being affected negatively by the danger inherent in this kind of art, meaning being controlled by negative feelings.

My conclusion would be that sad art can eventually cause negativity/bad emotions in some cases but it may also bring forth great, positive feelings to the individual that has a temper most suited to appreciate its underlying beauty and power.

Fear-induced Self-Slavery (the NOTPP ripple effect)

2011-10-14T19:03:00.000-07:00

NOTPP

In a modern, post-industrial society there is a potential for what I would qualify as “self-slavery”, i.e. one choosing deliberately to serve a corporation or another individual/entity without getting paid (or getting some form of material reward in return). Note that I do not refer to people working for free in a voluntary service context, but rather working for private businesses generating considerable profits. There are mostly negative aspects related to this behavior (in fact I do not see many positive ones), which I will herein present.

I will start by describing precisely what I mean by “working for free”. I exclude from this analysis management-type functions, which are generally paid for on a yearly basis, meaning you get paid XYZ$ a year for your work. Self-employed individuals will also be excluded from the current analysis. I will refer here to non-management employee positions, like say a 30-hours-a-week job, or a “40H job”, etc. Those jobs are paid by the hours of labor that the individual has worked throughout the week (usually 2 weeks are paid on the same banking transaction). Nowadays, businesses often hide the fact that the worker is paid by the hour (even though it is the case in reality) by specifying a yearly income amount on the hiring contract, etc. This is primarily in order to cause confusion on the worker's part, i.e. to make him think he is occupying a yearly-paid job like the one of a manager, etc. Note that the yearly income concept can have positive aspects, for example it can help a worker to easily predict what will be his income for the current year period and thus better prepare for taxes, etc. What happens is that, even though the individual is supposed to work for N hours/day (as per his work contract), he is asked to work more hours. When a business does pay for OT hours, it then becomes obvious that those type of jobs are paid for on an hourly basis, since the additional hours will be paid for; thus the real yearly income will consequently be of a superior amount than that specified initially on the hiring contract (which is a good thing, right?).

The labor code of most developed countries will specify that those additional hours (overtime or OT), must be paid to the employee. What may be observed on the workplace battleground is that more and more businesses do not adhere to this rule anymore, though, and will add complexity to the HR processes in the goal of justifying the downgrading of many workers' pay. Those corporations will then cut on payroll expenses in a major way. The profits generated from not paying OT hours to a sizeable portion of the workforce will then be distributed among higher echelons of the hierarchy, i.e. upper-management. Those same profits will most likely have the shares go upwards, which is also a good thing mainly for the upper-management folks since they hold the most shares. The business knows that this process is basically unethical (even sometimes downright illegal) but does not care; the profits generated from payroll cuts will compensate for any expenses that could eventually be generated by lawyer fees, in case some workers would go against the whole scheme and try to invalidate the corporation's tactics. The only reason it could back out on its tactic is if said manoeuvring becomes publicly known and affects the reputation/image of the business. It could also impact on hiring perspectives for the businesses employing such tactics in the long run (though that remains to be seen; people are often weak in spirit these days and will accept pretty much anything without resisting if properly conditioned).

Impacts on the overall workforce (of a no-OT-paid policy for a portion of the workforce)

1- Impact on the workers (who do not get paid for OT hours)

A) The worker will lose motivation for the job since he will feel as he is being exploited; one who feels exploited does not think his job is rewarding; he is thus not proud to do his job.

B) The worker will feel guilt when refusing to work OT hours. His guilt could evolve into depression and cause the worker to be less productive, etc.

C) The worker will be afraid to lose his job in the case he would refuse to work OT hours. Since the business will profit immensely from those unpaid hours it will ask the worker for more and more OT hours; the worker will have to refuse a fair portion of those requests; he will then be full of fear: fear to lose his job, fear to be in a conflict with management, etc. The fear will be prone to cause psychological problems for the worker (depression, paranoia, confrontational psychological schemes, etc.)

D) The worker will resent other workers that do get paid for OT; the resentment will impact negatively on his relationships with other workers.

2- Impact on the other workers

A) Since some workers do not get paid for their OT hours, the workers that do get paid for OT hours will feel the impact of the resentment felt by the former. In other words, the jealousy that will most likely be generated by this situation will thus create feuds and quarrels amongst the workforce. “Outside workers” or contractors will be seen as mercenaries who profit from the situation and receive ill-gained money from doing the exact same work that the “inner workers” do not receive any compensation for. The NOTP policy will thus breed disharmony and resentment in the workspace environment and will cause the work atmosphere to deteriorate for all involved.

B) The workers who do not get paid for OT hours will try to avert working for free, and will thus maneuver to dispatch some of their workload to contractors (whose OT does get paid). The former will view this behavior as logical and justified since the latter is getting paid to do it; the latter will perceive this same behavior as illogical and unjustified since it is not their function/role to compensate for management decisions in taking a greater workload on their shoulders.

My conclusion is that the NOTPP (No Overtime Paid Policy) will probably have negative impacts on the work environment and on workers' mutual relationships. It then remains to be confirmed if it can be a sustainable and productive tactic for any business in the long run.

The Sound of Tomorrow

2011-10-12T09:04:00.000-07:00

A far cry may be heard

Echoed in the great white

Mental landscape. A plain meant

To remain empty, of life

Of ideas.

A faint snow falls on the

Remnants of values that once

Were. Automatically built environments

Surge from the infertile,

Empty ground.

Forgotten lament of

Defeat. Chants of romantic pasts are

Sung through channels maintained

By artificial intelligence

Hope of a new, brilliant

Future generated and replicated

Throughout mechanically induced

Thought management processes

Mental sun reformatted

A lazy moon bred by

High-tech server services

Colors are brighter but

Devoid of true light

Filled by the void

Perspectives shrank to

One-liner statements

Images reduced to

Black and white screams

Spirit clouted by greed

Data-controlled soul

Dead Bird of Prey

2011-10-05T12:34:00.000-07:00

His view glimpses upon the great plain

Industrialized landscapes

Nature's pure live creations

Soiled by human hands

Dead creatures roam the earth

Artificial, lifeless beings

Upon which he cannot prey

However far he may fly

The same pictures appear

A nightmare that has sprayed

A vision cloned forevermore

Things that we choose

Not to exist

Shall never return

Lost in the deep, dark

Foreign void of extinction

Things that we choose

Not to survive

Shall never be reborn

Lost in the sun deprived

Black hole of annihilation

Beauty uni-dimensional

Marketed and bought

Divinity deformed

Sanctity avoided

Dead creatures roam the earth

Artificial, lifeless beings

Upon which he cannot prey

The great bird of prey returns

To his place of birth

Found nothing to prey on anymore

Nowhere else to fly to

Nowhere left to hide

His nest destroyed

Disoriented

Gets shot by a redneck

And fucking dies

Raining bloody Flowers

2011-09-29T11:17:00.000-07:00

Their minds enjoy Deliverance

The taste of Change

Newborn Freedom as a precious gift

Acquired through sweat and Blood

An upgraded Sun shines on their

Foreheads graced with Pride

A peaceful Moon watches over

Their Souls at sleep

Behind the curtain new Masters conceive

A better dress for their System

The Regime will show its modern,

Bright colors in the light of Day

Logos will be Transformed

Slogans shall be Rewritten

Songs will be Reprocessed

History shall be Reformatted

Purified thought Process

Everything it seems has Changed

The same old Game will be replayed

The Puppets hands will move along

The chants of Great Men

And Lambs will still be enslaved

And Lambs will still be slaughtered

Will the Sirens sing their lullabies

As bloody Flowers rain from an Empty,

Grey old Sky meant to Stay...

The Cost of Rebellion: Rise in Crime?

2011-09-27T08:50:00.000-07:00

The revolts occurring in the Middle-East have obviously positive aspects. The main advantage of those rebellion movements is probably the rise in democratic participation that people will have acquired through those revolts, i.e. the overthrowing of dictators will most likely serve the cause of democracy. Yes, you note that I emphasize the “maybe”, since some overthrows that have occurred throughout history have proven to materialize as cosmetic displays of change, merely changing aging puppets A, B, C for younger puppets D, E, F. We will assume this will not be the case here (or not, well this is not the current thematic we will focus on here). Please note that this article is not meant to be blindly pro or anti rebellion but merely to elaborate on some of those recent revolts' impacts on the societies that bred them.

One interesting element that came to light recently in regard to the revolt that took place in Egypt is the rise in crime that followed Hosni Mubarak's overthrow:

“Crimes committed in Egypt have increased several-fold in February and March compared to the same period last year, residents and a top security official said.

Armed robberies in the capital have also risen in Cairo’s poorer neighborhoods, remote areas and on highways, residents said.” (Source: http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/04/09/144871.html)

I will try to pinpoint what is the direct link between an authoritarian regime and police forces being weakened by such a regime getting overthrown, and will apply my theory with situations elsewhere in the Middle-East, namely in Afghanistan, Iraq or else.

Authoritarian regimes use police forces to suppress any form of rebellion, including “crime-thought”, meaning public expression of opinions that are contrary to the regime's imposed line of thinking. The political line of thought imposed by the dictatorship will consist of propaganda-type formatted opinions (opinions suggesting directly or indirectly a positive view of the regime) which will be propagated through government offices and society's institutions, but will also be expected from every member of said society, i.e. what one says on the street, through public or private conversations, on their Facebook page or their blog, etc.

So, the “problem” with this scheme is that the regime will use the police force to “criminalize” the thinkers whose thoughts diverge from their official line of mind conduct. They will use the police to spy on opponents, arrest them and put them on trial, torture them, etc. Fast-forward in time to where such a regime has been overthrown. People will link police forces to the overthrown regime, since the police were collaborators to the dictator staying in power. There will be a backlash against the profession as a whole, which will be seen as lacking in ethical values; people with strong ethical values will be ashamed of being linked to political oppression and will thus leave the force. The police force will be destabilized and will lack human resources, as well as the credibility required to combat crime. The instability caused by the regime overthrow will stimulate crime, since crime feeds on disorder and social instability. The military may have then a tendency to get involved in the post-overthrow process to restore order, which will then further discredit the police forces' strength or will to restore and maintain social peace.

Thus we move to a similar situation regarding the controversial role of police forces in unstable states. Another situation, much different in many aspects but still similar in many ways to a regime overthrow situation is in the behavior and perception of police forces in the context of an occupation. When such a police force is supported and financed by the occupational government or regime, it then will be viewed by local resistance as collaborating with occupation, whether that view is completely accurate or not. The state being governed by foreign powers or governed by a regime supported/financed by outside/foreign forces, it will rely on police forces (along with military special forces, contractors, etc.) to carry some of their dirty jobs. Such a role will then discredit the police and cause them to be viewed in a negative light. Even when the occupation ends (if it does end), then the police will struggle to regain the public confidence it lost throughout the years it collaborated with the occupational regime, etc.

So my conclusion is: a regime overthrow may temporarily destabilize society and the ones that must protect society from the effects of said destabilization (such as an increase in crime) are the police, but since they will be perceived as the former regime's tool then they won't have the credibility required in order to maintain peace. The core problem here is not the regime overthrow itself, though, but rather the use of police forces by authoritarian regimes to reinforce their control over power. A better situation is when a dictatorship utilizes special, non-police forces to control public opinion and to tighten their grip on power; once the regime is gone those special/paramilitary forces may then be dissolved and the transition to democracy will be easier, since police forces will be viewed not as collaborators but as peace-keeping, law-enforcing forces.

Cult-ure

2011-09-22T05:15:00.000-07:00

What is culture? I am aware there is an actual dictionary definition. What I mean could be put this way: is there really such a thing as culture as we define it? Is it what we deem to be interesting as a vague manifestation of personal expression, i.e. what is commonly referred to as art? Is it an art form that has transcended its epoch to become a tradition, i.e. an accepted, socially-integrated type of expression used by an individual to manifest an idea he would be particularly fond of? Such an accepted art form would be for example Classical music (and not Techno music, well not until it becomes widely socially accepted as an art form, that is after a couple generations down the line). Or is it rather a trait common to a group of people, a group that could be based on gender, ethnic origin, religion, language, geographic location or else? When we say xyz culture, do we mean that a particular group of people will adopt specific behavior patterns, this linked to them originating from a common genealogy/source of origin? If 10 people come from the same town or share a common family name, does it mean they have the same culture?

Culture could be also considered an alternate, modern form of worshipping, in that the “worshipper” will perceive the artist, singer, politician, etc. as a kind of deity... Like when teenagers have posters with some actor or singer in their bedroom. Those role models are adored by the impressive young mind who sees them as superior beings who transcend common, boring everyday life/reality. Those deities carry with them perceptions and values that the worshipper identifies strongly with. This worshipping goes on all through one's existence, even though sometimes the adult mind has a more complex relationship to its modern deities (the act of idolatry will then be harder to detect and analyze). Thus one could argue that the hidden root of culture is cult, in that culture is saying “This person is good, what he or she expresses is worthy of a special interest.” And by saying “This person has no culture” we in reality would suggest that this person does not worship the same deity as us, have the same belief system or adhere to a similar moral code, etc. It could therefore be argued that all cultures have the same base value, even though different groups will perceive the culture the identify with as being superior to other cultures. Knowing your culture well could mean that you have a higher general culture than someone who is ignorant about his own culture, though.

Let's get back to culture as an art form. Is a thinker/intellectual/philosopher an artist? Could creating a new idea be deemed an act of artistic creativity, in the same way a painter puts together colors in order to create a painting? What is the criteria of creation, is it implicitly material (images, sounds, smells, etc.) or can it be a concept? Can it be a feeling, an impression?

One last question: if someone decides that he or she hates all artists/thinkers and all forms of art/writing/thinking, would that make him or her a culture-free individual, someone devoid of any cult-ure?

Audio Hell Inc.

2011-09-19T11:22:00.000-07:00

Want to feel like a nightmare is taking over your head? Why not go for a listen to an audio version of the worse things going through my mind over the years. Yeah, not for everyone and you also got to be in the proper mood, but could be a good way to provide catharsis for some troubled periods of your own individual existence (to some extent).

(Playlist link) Pardaig Official Playlist

Note that in most cases I tried to find images that would be merged in a proper way with the concepts conveyed in the song's lyrical content. Sometimes it worked great, other times more or less. I also sing like crap but ha well nothing's perfect, tick? Tried my best.*

* Nota bene : How does it sound when some folks die saying to themselves “Yo man, just tried my best” and there's always an evil voice in their head replying “Yeah, but tried all you can, you were always sh*t to me”?

Outsourcing and extinction/downgrading of Western Middle-Class

2011-09-16T10:35:00.000-07:00

What I find to be an underrated theme in today's media is outsourcing and how it is related to the current economic crisis. Note first that this crisis does not much affect China, India and the like. Why? Because the big corporations that close branches in the U. S. or Canada to open an equivalent branch in Asia cause qualified Western workers to lose their jobs. Those well-paid jobs then mean maybe (insert big corporation name here) will save money on the payroll and present shareholders with good numbers that will have the shares skyrocket and all, but also it means that the local, Western government will have in many cases a cheque to send instead of receiving tax income related to said job “cut” (relocation would perhaps be the right word).

So the impact on the overall Western society is that when those folks/outsourcing victims try to find a new job, they usually end up with jobs providing lower wages, since the well-paid jobs have been relocated/outsourced to other nations. Again, lower tax incomes for Western governments (and higher tax income for the Asian governments also). Those workers coming back to work in a downgraded job market become part of what one may call the “new proletariat”, which could be described as a group of post-industrial low-wage workers. So Western societies end up mostly with a proletariat and an Upper-class, the latter consisting of the folks who made the job cuts (they got even richer throughout the outsourcing process, since they got a bonus for saving on payroll costs but also made profits when shares went up after the job cuts), and no Middle-class. Eastern economies in general will thus profit from the outsourcing phenomena and this will also be the case for the Western Upper-class group. Since the Upper-class does not constitute a high percentage of overall Western society, the economic impact will be negative for most workers and end up being also negative for Western governments. Moreover, in some cases the Upper-class pays even less income than the Middle-class, in terms of percentage paid on actual job income, through tax-saving mechanisms deployed by Upper-class politicians.

I should also mention that Western businesses will lose in the long run, since there will be fewer well-paid workers to buy their goods and services. An exception will obviously be the luxury goods market, since the Upper-class will have even more money to spend on sports cars, big mansions and other such products.

My conclusion is the following: the outsourcing phenomena gives more money and power to Asian economies (better-paid jobs for workers and higher income taxes for governments) while depriving Western societies workers of well-paid jobs and depriving Western governments of substantial tax income.

Maybe I missed something so do not hesitate to comment in order to rectify some elements or shed further light on some points if deemed useful.

Flattened Mental Landscape

2011-09-14T08:44:00.001-07:00

Harmonized Psychological States of Thought

The War has been Won

Mass Delusive Vision

Global Confusion

Worldwide Convergence

Cosmic Brainwash

War on Dissonant Cognitive Mental Resistance

Has been waged and won

Animals extinct

Only Machines left

Left to contemplate

A System meant to Exterminate Life

A Mechanism automated to

Kill Nature

Purity seen as Danger

Instinct Controlled

Truth Slaughtered

W. O. D. C. M. R.

Waged by whom?

No One

Only the Passage of Time

Flattens Emotional Perspectives

Humanity a mere Tool

For External Entities

Prone to transform the Earth

Creatures with Empty Eyes

Light-deprived Beings

Breed to Swallow Magic...

And breed to engulf all Magic left...

God Dies

As Grey Skies crush the once immortal Tree of Life

Beautiful Music to share

2011-09-12T08:38:00.000-07:00

Blonde Redhead – Spain

Lots of you will most likely already be familiar with Blonde Redhead. They play a fusion of Rock and Electronic music, with lots of atmospheric elements.

The song Spain from their Penny Sparkle album is particularly powerful, in my modest opinion. It goes deep into your mind to bring forth intense, contemplative emotions.

You may watch a video for the song here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnzJQtBio_o

Visit the official band website here: Blonde Redhead website

Crystal Castles – Crimewave

This Toronto-based band also fuses Rock and Electronic music, but in a much different way than B. R. Their sound is more influenced by... err... Video-game music, if such a thing exists and is plausible as a description (it is not).

I adore their Crimewave song, although I like better the sound of this YouTube vid than the actual song featured on the Crystal Castles (I) album. Robotic voice added to a Rock beat, mixed with layers of electronic bleeps that Mario Bros would be proud of...

You may watch a video for the song here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2gdbQpESNY

Visit the official band website here: Crystal Castles website

Cosmic Confusion

2011-09-10T08:50:00.000-07:00

Cold Winds blow

Enter weak Flesh

Freezes your Blood

Black Blood, dark like the Cosmic Night

My Blood is as dark as the

Hole through which Stars fall to Die

My heart is made of Stone

A Rock upon which your Sword shall break

My Soul a Spear

That shall pierce your confused Mind

My Spirit is as white as the

Sky through which Birds rise to Die

A huge, menacing thought comes into Being

The World is beautiful but also Fierce

This World will serve you but also

Kill You

9-11

2011-09-09T19:22:00.000-07:00

Since we are near 9-11, why not go for a little politics? I was looking at all those reports about how Bin Laden failed; Al-Qaeda is weak, terrorism-sponsoring states are getting wiped off the map, etc. Ok right, but aren't the States themselves weaker also? Not related to B.L., you say? Think again... The guy got the U.S. to spend billions in internal security, money that could have been better spent on infrastructure, tax cuts, social programs and yes, creating jobs... The wars that were started after 9-11 cost a lot and were the main reason for the U.S. debt to sky-rocket into the stratosphere.

The guys making money are security firms and corporation linked to the military-industrial complex. Nothing there for the middle-class, one could say. So, my conclusion is: it seems indeed that however was behind the 9-11 attacks did succeed to weaken the U.S. and Western societies/economies in general. The worse thing may be: even once terrorism-free societies like Norway now got their own, home-made breed of terrorists; the nutcase said his goal was to wage war against Islam, which seems fairly ironic: the attacks he waged on his own countrymen, women and children was, whether he was himself conscious of it or not, directly inspired by Al Qaeda-style blind murderous madness.