Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Hungary

I live in Hungary. I am profoundly concerned about the recent political developments here. The new governing party, Fidesz – party, not coalition - garnered a 2/3 majority in Parliament, meaning they can pass laws and constitutional amendments at will. The new media law created an oversight board with the power to destroy content providers who do not offer 'balanced' news. To enable the retroactive taxation of foreign companies (a popular measure, to be sure) and the nationalization of private health insurance, Parliament took fiscal matters from the jurisdiction of the Constitutional Court. Another check on central authority has been the office of the President of the Republic – this post has been awarded to a yes-man.

The constitution about to be adopted stipulates that once adopted, it can only be undone if two successive terms of Parliament wish to undo it with a two thirds majority. The current revisions, however, only have to be adopted ONCE. The preamble of the new constitution makes it clear that it is intended to cement the rule of a Christian majority, not to protect the freedoms of individuals, and definitely not to protect the rights of any minority. The clause about separation of church and state has been eliminated. Marriage has been defined in the preamble as the union of man and woman. 'Christian values' are emphasized.

The Office of the State Prosecutor is being used to harass people considered opponents of the regime. Former officials (often with justification, but also often without) are investigated and tried for corruption. A steady air of intimidation is settling over the country.

My concern is that once this regime fails – and fail it will, shall, inevitably, as its economic policies will cause mass dissatisfaction and a bloody revolution – the populace will not turn to the discredited liberals for succor. They will turn to the only political force which has not yet taken the reins of power in Hungary: the FAR right. A xenophobic, anti-semitic, violent bunch of neo-nazis, funded by Russia.

Thursday, December 16, 2010

TRON: The Inheritance

My GOD.
That was terrifying.
I had free tickets.
The movie 'Dungeons and Dragons' was an intellectual and emotional feast of the senses compared to this thing. 'Showgirls' was a subtle romance with powerful social commentary compared to this. Highlander III was a solemn vision of a potential future in comparison.

I was riding the metro home and I was in so much pain because of what I had just experienced that I began to laugh (no doubt to generate endorphins to counterbalance the anguish). I COULD NOT STOP. Yes, it was THAT BAD.

Incidentally, the trailer footage is NOT IN THE MOVIE. Jeff Bridges ought to kill himself. He ought to be sufficiently embarrassed to off himself. I recommend a pool full of hungry electric eels.

Sunday, November 28, 2010

String Theory and Special Relativity and Sex


So the idea behind string theory is that the world is not made up of particles. The world is made up of strings. The strings themselves are not the only things out there - there are also branes, for instance. A brane is kind of like a membrane. Imagine a string that's been ironed so long that the fabric of the string became flat and... membraney. These strings and membranes vibrate. It's the vibration that determines the property of something, whether we perceive it as matter or energy, for example.


Special relativity simply means that everything has the same amount of energy. Everything is moving with the same energy. For our purposes, let's call that the speed of light. That movement, however, goes in two directions. One of them is in space. That's what normal people call movement. The other is movement in time. Now it turns out that we spend the vast majority of our energy by moving forward in time. Things that move very very fast - close to the speed of light, in fact - are experiencing something called time dilation, meaning that they move SO FAST that they don't spend much, or indeed, any energy on moving forward in time, they spend it all on movement through space. So a photon - let's call that a particle of light, if you will let me - is the same age when it gets here from the other end of the universe as when it was 'born', since it has been moving at the speed of light. So it did not spend any energy in aging, in moving forward in time.


So to imagine the universe, imagine a very messed up tangle of string and rotted fabric in a bucket of boiling glue bubbles in 10 to 26 dimensions.


Doesn't this all turn you ON?

Barbie


I just watched Barbie, a Fashion Fairy Tale.


I have two nieces - a 3 and a 7 year old - so the movie made perfect sense.

Evidently, shiny and pink is beautiful.


Question: Why was the hot dog man invited to the ritzy Black-White-and-Pink party at the conclusion of the movie? That made no sense whatsoever. He was a boring villain character.


I also wasn't particularly smitten with the protagonist, Sequin Barbie. She had the depth of an oil slick. I liked the evil bitch (Rachel?) who recorded Ken's voice to insinuate a breakup sequence. She was HOT. Shiny black hair, huge blue eyes, body like a gyrating hourglass. She also had brains. Why date Barbie, of all people? Then again, it's KEN.






Thursday, November 25, 2010

Pearl of Wisdom

Actual conversation between my sister and I:

SISTER: 'You like HER?' (referencing superhot chick at gala event in an incredulious tone) 'Your problem is that you always go for the hot ones and they inevitably turn out to be complete psychopaths.'
ME (subdued): 'That's true.'

Monday, November 15, 2010

Questionious Question

is it a good sign when a girl offers to come over 'to mess around with a a bunch of paint and get totally filthy'?

Sunday, November 14, 2010

Alive!

Jesus H Christ on a popsicle stick, I'm alive.

Apparently I don't have brain cancer anymore. That's the good news.

I AM, however, making chicken that's way too old. It was raw, stewed in cream, and in my fridge. I am willing to take the chance. I am attempting to overcook it to kill the salmonella. Is that possible? I don't know, but I shall find out.

So I have driven a bisexual woman into full fledged lesbianism. In exchange, she offered a deal with the devil. I'm serious. She's a witch all kinds into blood magic and that sort of thing. I'm really, really unnerved. She actually sensed my doom and gloom ties with death (don't ask, I will get to that sometime soon, brain cancer is part of it, ... yeah, and offered to take him off my hands. Having said that, she claimed he was the source of my inspiration, which he sort of is, then offered to replace him with the devil. Imagine my facial expression). She then proceeded to tell me a bunch of evil shit that was totally on point, creeped the hell out of me. Girlfriend material?

I started on the biography of my best friend who was shot by his girlfriend. How fucked up is that? Disturbing is what it is. I have to get this thing DONE and done fast, but I am forced to come to grips with the fact that I don't know too many details about him. He was the guy I thought of first when I considered what I would do if I won the lottery. You know when you pick someone who should not have to work, whose job in this life would be to enjoy life, to feast and kiss girls and laugh and read and stand on a stage and act? That's what he was born to do, and that's what I would have given him, had I the means. I was not alone in this. But a man like that is the composite of a million stories and I was only a part of a few of them. I contacted people, begging for stories, but it's a painful request and I expect few responses.

Okay, the chicken burnt (or burned? I honestly don't know. I think like in all writing you just have to stay consistent. I was listening to this audio book and the guy kept saying 'lighted'. 'Lighted' instead of 'Lit.' So I find out lighted is the correct form from an audio book. A good audio book, but still). I ate a tiny bit of chicken. That will be the test. I don't think I need a whole lot of it to get sick, I think.

I will write messed up cartoon screenplay soon. I just need to re-read some of them. I have read the last three Hot Librarian entries. Jesus that girl is good.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

holy batshit

Ok everybody. Nobody is reading this blog so it doesn't matter, but I have double vision and dizzyness, so I might have a stroke any moment. So this might be a good-bye note.
It has not been a good run.

God only knows I'd squandered potential.
I will log on soon... and write some more junk if I survive this.