The Night of the Hunter

Rules of the Game

'In Europe, Japan, and the United States the populations of cities are mostly stable, which means, growing at a manageable rate. The most serious problems are not the ones confronting cities in Asia, Latin America and Africa caused by population explosions, but are a matter of finding ways to use their wealth to achieve the promised ends of advanced industrial civilization: universal social justice, liberation from poverty and drudge labor, opportunities to learn and grow and be creative, the chance of all people to be fully realized individuals and not merely statistics, numbers, cogs in the machinery.'

Extract From 'Rules of the Game'
An Essay By
LEBBUS WOODS

Tilapia with Citrus Basil Sauce

Ingredients:
2 6-8 oz Tilapia fillets
1/2 tablespoon each butter & olive oil, plus 2 teaspoons olive oil
3 cloves minced garlic
Juice of one blood (or regular) orange
Juice of half of a lemon
1 teaspoon each lemon & orange zest
2 tablespoons thinly sliced basil
Salt & pepper
Whole wheat spaghetti
Juice & zest of one lemon
1/4 olive oil
1/2 Parmesan cheese

1. Bring water to a boil and cook spaghetti until al dente. Whisk together olive oil, lemon juice, and Parmesan in a bowl. Set aside (I really like lemon flavor, so if you think that the flavor will be too strong for your tastes, just add less juice or zest).
2. Season fish with salt and pepper. Heat 2 teaspoons olive oil over medium heat, and cook fish until opaque and starts to flake, about 3 minutes per side.
3. Meanwhile, make the sauce. Heat butter and olive oil over medium-low heat. Add garlic and saute for about 30 seconds. Remove from heat and add in citrus juices, zest, and basil. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
4. Toss pasta with the lemon sauce. Serve tilapia over pasta with the citrus-basil sauce.

Discovered by
JESSICA VERDERAME

Subterraneans

Travel: The New

'A new world is not made simply by trying to forget the old.
A new world is made with a new spirit, with new values.
Our world may have begun that way, but today it is caricature.
Our world is a world of things.
What we dread most, in the face of the impending debacle,
is that we shall be obliged to give up our gewgaws,
our gadgets, all the little comforts that have made us so uncomfortable.
We are not peaceful souls; we are smug, timid, queasy and quaky.'

Quote By
HENRY MILLER

Bleak, Shallow, and Repetitive

Virtual life seems increasingly less worth living.

Now that the thrill of our hyper-connected existence is gone, virtual life has become a depressing daily grind. We toil late into the night, unleashing an endless stream of status updates and tweets in a desperate attempt to keep ourselves relevant, desirable and in. There’s an ominous irony in FarmVille, a Facebook application that enables users to build and maintain a virtual farm. It’s more than a game: It’s an allegory. Virtual existence is feudalism for the modern age. Those who hold the information are kings and those of us toiling in the virtual fields are the servile peasantry: selling our souls for the mind-numbing comfort of an online existence.

Social Networking Sites (SNSs) promise limitless, boundless friendship – a phenomenon that should make us happier than ever. But our optimism over connectivity has gradually morphed into cynicism and resentment. It turns out virtual life is less about connectivity than self-branding. SNSs entice us to divulge and update, stroking our fragile egos with filtered ads that utilize our personal information to reap huge profits, as our hundreds of “friends” perpetually rate our online popularity. Paranoid about how we’ll be perceived, we spend hour after hour trying to avoid the virtual consequences of being deemed uncool. We have more to worry about than our online acquaintances deleting us after we’re tagged in an unflattering photo. Sites like Lamebook, devoted to reposting cliché status updates and socially awkward wall exchanges, humiliate those virtual personas who are unfamiliar with the web’s mores and codes.

Bleak, shallow and repetitive, virtual life seems increasingly less worth living. Users are beginning to realize that it’s not leisure, it’s work that borders on servitude. But there’s a resistance growing among those tired of their virtual subjugation. In response to the electronic world’s rising indignation, virtual suicide sites like seppukoo.com and suicidemachine.org have started a countermovement, provoking users to kill their online selves and reclaim their real lives. These programs assist our virtual deaths by hacking into our profiles, completely annihilating our online personas and leaving no trace of our former selves behind. It’s social revolt for the online age: a mass uprising that will shatter the virtual hierarchy and restore order to our actual lives.

Letter from
ADBUSTERS #88 MAR/APR 2010

The Post-Postmodernism Issue

Maybe a bit of an overreaction?
Something to think about...

Army Dreamers

Army dreamers

Our little army boy
Is coming home from B.F.P.O.
I've a bunch of purple flowers
To decorate a mammy's hero.

Mourning in the aerodrome,
The weather warmer, he is colder.
Four men in uniform
To carry home my little soldier.

"What could he do?
Should have been a rock star."
But he didn't have the money for a guitar.
"What could he do?
Should have been a politician."
But he never had a proper education.
"What could he do?
Should have been a father."
But he never even made it to his twenties.
What a waste --
Army dreamers.
Ooh, what a waste of
Army dreamers.

Tears o'er a tin box.
Oh, Jesus Christ, he wasn't to know,
Like a chicken with a fox,
He couldn't win the war with ego.

Give the kid the pick of pips,
And give him all your stripes and ribbons.
Now he's sitting in his hole,
He might as well have buttons and bows.

"What could he do?
Should have been a rock star."
But he didn't have the money for a guitar.
"What could he do?
Should have been a politician."
But he never had a proper education.
"What could he do?
Should have been a father."
But he never even made it to his twenties.
What a waste --
Army dreamers.
Ooh, what a waste of
Army dreamers.
Ooh, what a waste of all that
Army dreamers,
Army dreamers,
Army dreamers, oh...

Understand

"Is it possible, in the final analysis, for one human being to achieve
perfect understanding of another? We can invest enormous time and energy in serious efforts to know another person, but in the end, how close can we come to that person's essence? We convince ourselves that we know the other person well, but do we really know anything important about anyone?"

Quote From
HARUKI MURAKAMI

' The wind up Bird : Chronicle '

Intellectual Cowardice

First, what is intellectual cowardice? Secondly, why is it bad? And, thirdly, how does it actually manifest itself? Defining intellectual cowardice is the easiest of these three tasks, and so I will start with that. To say that someone is demonstrating intellectual cowardice is to say that they are simultaneously putting forward a claim as a claim and refusing to stand by it. For example, a scientist could demonstrate intellectual cowardice by presenting an empirical generalization on the basis of data but refusing to stand by that generalization as a good one. Intellectual cowardice is motivated by a fear of being shown to be wrong, hence its name, but at the same time desiring to be recognized for intellectual accomplishments. This leads to the somewhat contradictory practice of putting forward claims in one context, but at the same time adopting the position that the claim is not necessarily worth standing by. This allows them to accept any compliments that come their way as a result of the quality of their claim, but at the same time dismiss any criticism of it as reflecting badly on them, because they refuse to stand by it.



Shall we consider intellectual cowardice as a sin? Obviously the way it has been described makes it seem like being an intellectual coward is a bad thing- but just because we can cast it in a negative light doesn’t necessarily mean that it needs to be rejected. After all, fear can be appropriate in some contexts. And isn’t what really matters is the claim(s) which are being made? Why should we care about the attitudes adopted towards those claims by the people putting them forward? In a sense this is right, in an ideal world all that matters is the claim(s), and the people behind them are irrelevant; we judge the claims, not the people. But this is not an ideal world, and unfortunately we don’t have an infinite and perfect capacity with which to evaluate claims. Wasting our time with inferior claims can greatly slow down our ability to make progress. More disastrously, is the effect of a claim revealed to be flawed, which leads people to reject similar claims. That can be a real problem if some of those similar claims are far superior to the flawed claim.



It is worrying about being wrong that makes us explore all the consequences of our claims and how they stand up in comparison to variations on them, to leave none of their details unexamined, so that they can be the best claims that we can make when we actually put them forward. Someone who isn’t worried about being in error isn’t bound by this constraint. Instead, they are free to put forward whatever claims satisfy their pragmatic desires, which are usually for intellectual recognition. This results in pandering to popular ideas, constructing claims so that they will be maximally acceptable to the sensibilities of those who will judge them, or in constructing claims purely to be controversial, so that those claims will receive wider attention simply because so many will wish to object to them. Essentially, neither process results in the best possible claim(s).



However, I doubt that if we confronted someone who was being an intellectual coward about ethics in this way, that they would admit it. Perhaps they might argue that their ethical claims are still relevant because many people share the same intuitions as they do, and that in some way the claims they are making are thus “right” for a large number of people. But the entire edifice rests of the idea that somehow deduction from intuitions to specific ethical claims, or the coherence of ethical beliefs, matters. That, I believe, is an assumption that is completely without motivation given the belief that there is no absolute “right” answer when it comes to ethics. If we believe that there is a right answer then clearly coherence and incoherence matter because of true preservation and entailment; incoherence implies that some of the claims involved must be in error, possibly, the very claim that we are trying to establish, and so in striving for the truth we attempt to eliminate incoherence. But when truth doesn’t matter incoherence has no ill-effects. Certainly there are contradictions buried within many religious belief systems (the problem of evil, for example), and even if those contradictions can be somehow ironed out by dedicated theologians it is clear that most of the religious approach matters naively, such that their beliefs contain actual contradictions. Clearly, these contradictions do them no harm.



Of course, it is true that from contradictions anything can be derived, and thus that we cannot entertain a contradiction when we are attempting to derive a truth. But this isn’t a problem if there aren’t absolute truths in ethics, because we don’t attempt to derive truths from premises that aren’t themselves believed to be true. On the other hand, there is nothing stopping them from stomping their foot and simply insisting that coherence is required, even if nothing necessitates that coherence. But if nothing necessitates that coherence then it is simply an opinion, and if they wish to be intellectually honest they should preface their claims in ethics with a statement noting that they proceed on the basis of coherence despite the fact that they have no reason for doing so besides personal preference. Obviously doing this would result in people not really taking their claims seriously, but the omission of such a disclaimer is intellectually dishonest, since caring about coherence strongly implies the belief that claims can be true or false in this domain without it. And hopefully pointing out that fact would indicate to those who are intellectual cowards in this way that they are doing something wrong, even if it doesn’t exactly reveal the nature of the error.

Inspiration

Contemplation of the actions
of others always seems to inspire and
provoke thought.

You get Silent the Smarter you get, or so it seems...

Relics

"A rich indetermination gives them, by means of semantic rarefaction, the function of articulating a second, poetic geography on top of the geography of the literal, forbidden or permitted meaning. They insinuate other routes into the functionalist and historical order of movement. Walking follows them: “I fill this great empty space with a beautiful name.” People are put in motion by the remaining relics of meaning, and sometimes by their waste products, the inverted remainders of great ambitions. Things that amount to nothing, or almost nothing, sym-bolize and orient walkers’ steps: name that have ceased precisely to be “proper”."

Quote By
MICHAEL DE CERTEAU

'Walking In the City'

Painting By
ERIKA SOMOGYI

The Third And The Seventh

The Third & The Seventh from Alex Roman on Vimeo.

' A piece that tries to illustrate architecture art across a photographic point of view where main subjects are already-built spaces. Sometimes in an abstract way. Sometimes surreal.'

Crossing the boarders of what is real and what is unreal, a truly amazing video.

Video By
ALEX ROMAN

Eyes

'The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.'

Quote By
MARCEL PROUST

Salmon with Lemon Leek Sauce

'Easy, healthy, and good. I kind of just made this up as I went along, so I don't have very precise measurements, but I'll do the best I can.'


Ingredients:
2 fresh salmon fillets
Juice & zest of 1 lemon
about half a cup of low sodium chicken stock
1 big leek or 2 small ones, sliced
Half and half
salt and pepper to taste
olive oil

1. Season salmon with salt & pepper. Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a pan over medium-high heat. Add salmon and cook through, about 3-5 minutes per side. Set aside on a plate and cover with foil to keep warm.
2. Heat a little more oil, if needed, in the pan. Add leeks and lemon zest and cook until softened, about 5 minutes.
3. Add stock and scrape any bits on the bottom of the pan, bring to a simmer, and reduce by about half, until it's thickened.
4. Add half and half and lemon juice, to taste, and cook until thickened a little more. Season to taste, but be careful with the salt, since the reduced stock may have added enough salt on it's own. Spoon over salmon.

Oven Baked Potato Chips
1-2 baking potatoes, sliced thinly into chips
Olive oil
Paprika
Dash of cayenne pepper
about a teaspoon of orregano
Garlic Powder

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray
3. Combine all ingredients in a bowl, adding enough olive oil to coat the potatoes and toss. Arrange on baking sheet in a single layer.
4. Bake for about 20 minutes, until golden and crispy. Be sure to watch for slices that cook faster than others and remove so as not to burn.
4. Serve with dipping sauce of choice. I made one with mayo, horseradish, a little mustard, salt, pepper, and some spices. Sounds weird, but it's good I promise.

For the spinach, I just sauteed it with some garlic and red pepper flakes, and added in some cannellini beans.

Enjoy!!! Yummy yum yummmm!!!

Receipe by
JESSICA VERDERAME

Beauty Mark

I've got a beauty mark
written on my skin
close to my heart
my favourite part
my beauty mark

i keep it out of sight
safe from the world outside
this old battle scar
this secret part
my beauty mark

this little death
this mark of sin
forever printed on my skin

i'll keep it for you

this hidden place
this private part
this secret door into my heart

i'll keep it for you

this precious jewel
this darling bud
this tiny resevoir of blood

my beauty mark
i'll keep it for you

Cons

Somethings never change

'Consistency is contrary to nature, contrary to life. The only consistent people are dead.'

Sometimes some people just disappear

tra-vəl

Quote By
ALDOUS HUXLEY

The Vanity Of Compassion

'How can one still have ideals when there are so many blind, deaf, and mad people in the world? How can I remorsely enjoy the light another cannot see or the sound another cannot hear? I feel like a thief of light. Have we not stolen light from the blind and sound from the deaf? Isn't our very lucidity responsible for the madman's darkness? When I think about such things, I lose all courage and will, thoughts seem useless, and compassion, vain. For I do not feel mediocre enough to feel compassion for anyone. Compassion is a sign of superficiality: broken destinies and unrelenting misery either make you scream or turn you to stone. Pity is not only inefficient; it is also insulting. And besides, how can you pity another when you yourself suffer ignominiously? Compassion is as common as it is because it does not bind you to anything! 'Nobody in this world has yet died from another's suffering.' And the one who said that he died for us did not die; he was killed.'

Quote by

E.M. CIORAN

What Else Is There?

It was me on that road
But you couldn't see me
Too many lights out, but nowhere near here

It was me on that road
Still you couldn't see me
And then flashlights and explosions

Roads end getting nearer
We cover distance but not together

I am the storm I am the wonder
And the flashlights nightmares
And sudden explosions

I don't know what more to ask for
I was given just one wish

It's about you and the sun
A morning run
The story of my maker
What I have and what I ache for

I've got a golden ear
I cut and I spear
And what else is there

Roads and getting nearer
We cover distance still not together

If I am the storm if I am the wonder
Will I have a flashlights nightmares
And sudden explosions

There's no room where I can go and
You've got secrets too

I don't know what more to ask for
I was given just one wish

Modern Life by JEKS

POISON - IKWN / Jaakko Eino Kalevi from miikka lommi on Vimeo.

"Modern Life" by JEKS out on March 10, 2010!!!

Music by:
JAAKKO EINO KALEVI

The Color Red

Red means “Beautiful” in Russian..

Seeing the color red can make your heart beat faster.

There are at least 23 different shades of red crayons.

The color red doesn’t really make bulls angry, they’re color blind.



The word “ruby” comes from the Latin word rubens, meaning “Red”.

The red stripes on the United States flag stands for courage.

As few as 2 percent of people in the United States have red hair.

Chinese brides traditionally wear red wedding dresses for good luck.



Red symbolizes speed, sexuality, and style; it’s the color of love and romance.

It can often give conflicting messages. It’s STOP when used on a street light, but GO when worn as lipstick (unless, of course, you prefer 'au naturale').

Fashion experts always recommend at least a splash of red when dressing for a job interview or any other important meeting.



Red symbolizes power.

Red cars are popular targets for thieves.

In home design, red is rarely used as a base color but often as highlights or accents.



Red may cause restlessness and insomnia if used in a bedroom, but it is considered appropriate for exercise, play rooms, or to increase appetite.

When the Bolsheviks seized power in Russia they used a red flag as their emblem and ever since red has been considered the color of communism.

In the Ebers Papyrus, said to be the oldest complete book in existence, 1550 B.C., the color red was used for chapter headings, names of diseases, and, weights and drug dosages.



The Egyptians considered themselves the “Red” race and applied red dye for emphasis.

In India red is the symbol of the soldier. For the Hopi it represents the direction south.



In England there was a law that prevented the color red to be worn by just anyone. The color gave out information about the status of the man or woman wearing it. This was not just dictated by the wealth of the person, it also reflected their social standing. The meaning of colors during the Elizabethan era represented many aspects of their life - the social, religious, biblical and Christian symbolism was reflected in the color of their clothes.

Though, people who were allowed to wear the color red (crimson or scarlet) during the Elizabethan era, as decreed by the English Sumptuary Laws, were only worn by the highest nobility in the land.