a new age is upon us

It doesnt take very long to know me to understand my view on the treatment of material goods. Bags, shoes, clothes even books have all experienced the brunt of my rugged lifestyle at some point of time. It doesnt pain me that my hand phone gets scratched, or my bag gets torn. I see no qualms in underlining and annotating my books. If there is a CD in my room, which doesnt have a cracked casing, that CD probably doesnt belong to me.


Its not that I dont value my stuff, or presents people give me. Its just that i see such items as being there for the sole purpose of adding quality and comfort to our life. It might feel good now, but im not going to bend over backwards JUST to keep it looking good. It wears and tears, it wears and tears. Thats just the natural order of things after all. And thats just the hierarchy in which it works. people (the owners) comes first after all. If there was no people, there would be no need for these goods in the first place.


I suppose I could blame this materialistic (or consumerist, maybe?) attitude on two things. Affluence and technology. Affluence, because i can afford to get new wallets, socks, ear phones, when the old ones die on me. And I dont mean, when they get old, or out of fashion. I mean when I seriously consume them to the brink of exhaustion, and when they cease to yield their purpose. No doubt, if i was less well off, i would be a lot more gentle on my belongings and my consumption patters.


And technology? yeaps. might sound a little strange, but its true. For some reason, technology (or the Internet in particular), has imbued me with this curious belief in immortality. A whole new world where colour, life, sound, ideas and words live forever. And it is for this reason, my heart hardly cringes whenever I am forced to throw away my stacks of writings and essays and thoughts on paper. Because the Internet has allowed me to immortalise and safe guard my ideas in a magical world of electricity. It has given these thoughts a place in eternity. My music feels blissfully safe, once it has been ripped onto my hard drive. My doodles are immune from vandalism, once scanned and stored. even were my hard drive to die, i would just need to open any other computer, sign onto gmail, and everything would remain there, safe and secure. The physical world is constantly ageing. But not the realm of the digital.


And so, with the attitude, I couldnt care less that the spine of all my books are broken, or the cover page for my readings are gone. Because in my heart I have a great belief that all the world's great genius and musings are safe and secure in this digital world, somewhere out there, ready to be re-published or re-recorded, at the touch of a button. It may or it may not be true, but it motivates my behaviour, nonetheless.


But I suppose therein lies the problem. If i carry on with this mindset, even before I have successfully transferred all my family photos and such onto the computer, I would be even more likely and prone to allow these photos to be destroyed or damaged. Or worse still. Over relying on the computer to store my songs, poems, and writings may just prove to be my own fatal undoing. What would happen the day blogger dies? So would nearly all my most priceless writings and feelings in the past 2~ years. Or worse still. gmail. A scenario I would never want to risk.


----


Dear rishik,On February 1st, 2008 Sony will close the ImageStation® online photo service. The closure will happen in phases and most site features such as upload, sharing and shopping will be disabled on November 12th 2007.

Nazi man

I cant believe jackie chan has his own song, for a visa ad. I cant believe Live the dream can actually be so bad. I cant believe in less than 3 months, school life will be over. I cant believe its not really butter.

rat rat

So i decided if im going to get into the right mindset to do well for my As, im gonna have to start making some changes. Cut my hair on sunday. Went to the gym the past three days. Its a wonderfully refreshing feeling. And i dont just mean the thought of exercise. Its the thought of changing. Indeed, it pleases me, to know that I can sculpt my body. Not for the health, but for the principle and beliefs which it underlies; the idea of having control and taking control of our lives.


I guess that’s one reason why I loved ratatouille so much. The sub text that, yes, “anyone can cook”. No one is born to perfection. But we are entitled to strive towards it. The movie really says it all. “Nature is about change.”


On the topic of changing and sculpting our bodies, just thought I would share this thought my brother placed in my head a few months ago. Now most people I know are either for, or against tattooing their bodies for aesthetic reasons. That its either ugly or pretty. of course there are those who have religious reasons. But anyway, what my brother said really struck me as new and different. Because he is against tattooing, but on a level of principle. Because tattoos, more than anything else, stands for permanence. But our lives are anything but permanent. Nothing in our lives is. It truly is all about change.


im off.

the case against agnosticism

Margaret Atwood is wrong. So let me spell it out nice and clear for everyone to understand. Atheism, agnosticism and theism are all beliefs. Not religions. Beliefs. It is self-evident just what the word belief means and it implies. But more importantly, a belief is a stand. Now when beliefs are proven to be “true” they might be considered knowledge. In the case of gods/deities, you can neither prove nor disprove their existence. More often than not, the proof is personal, in which case it cannot be shared with other (making it a rather sad form of knowledge really). Anyways, theist believe in god(s). they may or may not know god exist, according to their own personal experience. Bottom line still remains, though, that they believe in god.


Atheist don’t believe in god. They don’t know whether or not god exists. It is impossible to prove after all. But they choose to not believe in god. This is a perfectly rational choice to make. If you are uncertain about something, there is no reason why we should give it the benefit of the doubt. We are not sure of the existence of mermaids and Santa Clause. But we don’t belief in their existence. Why? It is not necessary. Beliefs are after all stands. If your stand is, “mermaids exist”, and mine is “mermaids do not exist”, there is no way we may prove each other right, or wrong. Not empirically, no logically. If the mermaid-theist believes that he has seen a mermaid, there is no way the mermaid-theist can share that experience with the mermaid-atheist. And as long as the mermaid-atheist chooses to apply the null hypothesis, and discovers that no mermaids are being experienced, he may stand by his belief that mermaids don’t exist. So there we have it. Atheist and Theism. Two beliefs. Not religions. But what about agnosticism? What do they have to say about this whole set of affairs?


“We don’t know whether or not god exists.” Eh.. Right on. So what? Most atheists (and even some theists) also make that claim. But where is the stand? Do they or do they not believe that god exists? It’s a non-stand in other words; sitting on the fence. They neither declare whether or not they believe in god. So is it a belief? I don’t know. Is there even such a thing as an agnostic? In my personal opinion, no. there is no such thing as an agnostic. You either believe in god(s) or you don’t. Even if you say, “I’ll believe it when I see it”, that’s an atheistic statement. While it might be temporal, you’re an atheist in the mean time. Think of the colour Grue, to get an idea of what Im saying. There is no such thing as the colour grue. If its green at one point, and blue at another, its just green and blue at different times. Its not ‘grue’.


So what about those who believe in god, but don’t subscribe to any religion? Your a theist. Not an agnostic. Its really self-evident. There is no two ways about it. Honestly. Ive heard an agnostic once say that it’s smarter to be an agnostic than to be an atheists, because IF there really is a god, at least they are covered. Bullshit. Firstly Pascal’s wager is the dumbest most illogical fallacy in the world. Secondly, that statement implies faith. It belies that deep inside, that he was in fact a theist.


What im saying is neither profound nor new. Nor do I claim to some great deep intelligence, like CS Lewis’ “Trilemma” (which is in reality the second dumbest logical fallacy, after Pascal’s wager.) All im saying is this. Look at the dictionary. Understand the proper definition of the terms being used. And really, from there, its pretty hard to go wrong.



Dont hate me because im analytical.
Rishik.
=)

this is for living

One thing I always wondered was why do some many rockers love covering "hit me baby one more time"??? Like.. WHYY

is it purely for cultural reasons, or is there some musical/lyrical power about the song that hits a chord with rock?


Ah well... well anyway..
This is Marty Casey
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfSHNUOW-uM

i just dont wanna eat liver!!

"I'm not a very good man, sir, but I am sheriff of Maycomb County. Lived in this town all my life an' I'm goin' on forty-three years old. Know everything that's happened here since before I was born. There's a black boy dead for no reason, and the man responsible for it's dead. Let the dead bury the dead this time, Mr. Finch. Let the dead bury the dead."


I swear. Even if I fail my H3 lit.... its just reading lines like these that make it all worth while...


----


A question that haunts every straight boy who watches the Ellen DeGeneres Show for the first time.


"Are we supposed to dance along?"



----


im off

pajandrum!

For the benefit of all of you who do not subscribe to dictionary.com's word-of-the-day (or even that small lot of you who do subscribe but dont dont reall bother reading), i present to you...

PAJANDRUM!!


Panjandrum was coined by Samuel Foote (1720-1777) in a piece of nonsense writing:


So she went into the garden to cut a cabbage-leaf to make an apple-pie; and at the same time a great she-bear, coming up the street, pops its head into the shop. "What! No soap?" So he died, and she very imprudently married the barber: and there were present the Picninnies, and the Joblillies, and the Garyulies, and the grand Panjandrum himself, with the little round button at top, and they all fell to playing the game of catch-as-catch-can till the gunpowder ran out at the heels of their boots.


It was composed on the spot to challenge actor Charles Macklin's claim that he could memorize anything. Macklin is said to have refused to repeat a word of it.


hahaahh! Yes. My work here on earth is done. Spread the word, people. Pajandrum!

chindianization

Omg...


First it was the chindian eyes..





now this!



There is an intelligent force, somewhere out there. And i think its trying to tell me something. =S

My guitar has been out of tune for awhile now

My un-tuned guitar and Me

by Rishik Vijayadas Menon

I called

you up

and asked if you were feeling uneasy

about..

the lack of hands on your digital watch

you said

dont hang up

I hear a chilling distant stereo medley

around..

the bbq pits down at the park

So i was forced to wait,

around the end of the day

without a pool cue

and benches were flying in the wind

And life is making mistakes

about the people i meet

or im supposed to

cause the moons taking revenge on me

late night

its chilly

but I find that im persuaded to stay

awhile..

this swing is gonna break ere long

But now

were flying

and life's about making that break

away..

from acoustic strumming and plucks

please no midnight surcharge

im willing to wait

or so i lie

so i may lay on the rocks

is that your date?

ill be happy to meet him

just give me a ring

and im content attached to my thoughts

clean streets

a mean streak

and theres a buzzing for the chance for a fight

again..

its passing, drinking games, with no end

high hopes

frus-trate

this fountainhead and song to no ends

andthen..

Were embracing renaissance history

I shred to feel irate

Such cathartic hate

rolling off my tongue

but ive never feel myself more one

September, take it easy

the trek is won with the fire

Laced in both tone and timbre

This tranquilizer of time

And oh nooo...

I dont need to be going home...

Not tonight

And so, the stories are true

I have gave myself permission
To have a life....

And oh nooo...
I dont need to be going home...
Not tonight

And so, the stories are true
I have gave myself permission
To have a life....

rishik ponders

No really. What is the point in having laws for archaeology? The obsession with laws has got to stop somewhere. Its not about predicting. Its about explaining. Describing. And being critical.



Finally done with KI. hopefully for the last time.

The distant stereo Medley

The distant stereo medley

by -rishik...





I dont need to tell you now

Theres no need to spell it out

can you hear the humming growing louder

(no?)

its clouding out this shout





are you here to put me down

do we have to make this out?

ive resigned to leave it as I found it



unanswered, in the crowd

----------------

----------------

would you be there in the early morning

standing on the edge of waking

How.. does it feel like,

these trains dont wait for anyone

the kite is flying

trailing at the back its sinking

down...did you realise

the air in town, cant take this kind of fun..

but your not scared

when i see in your eyes

theres no suprise

and violet light is

flailing uncontrollably...

was it not, or was this dance for me?

and im uncertain how

i let these days

go by without a faint

hint

of joie de vivre

mispronounced

in calm uncertainty.

sha la la la la la laaa

oh

and so I

--------------

--------------

I dont need to be here now

theres no need to force it out

the humming isnt growing any louder

no

its peace without a doubt

theres no need to put me down

my feet for sure have found the ground

its unlikely that these wings are soon to grow

but you dont really know.