Last Legs

 

My recent disgust and distaste at almost everyone around me has been the cause of a huge self-driven mental and emotional wall.

This walled-garden of mine is serene, quiet, and predictable.


But this forced, self-imposed isolation is a lonely and testing existence.

You tend see all those around you in a considerably less-than-favourable light, and the cycle continues, deepening into ever more catastrophic feedback loops.

Can’t exactly say that I’m delighted or pleased at the current situation, but I’d rather it be so than to stoop down and accept alien values, ideals or realities for which I do not share, or beliefs that make every sinew of my soul cringe at the sheer monstrosity of their absurdity.


I was once passionately empowered against religion, against the belief of imaginary omnipotent men/women/being[s] floating in the blue skies above us, and I thoroughly railed against the people who lived their lives under these ridiculous little umbrellas of illogic.

That was one lesson in life I never forgot; I still haven’t the slightest respect or regard for religionists or believers. The greater their beliefs, the farther I wanted to be from them.


Today, I am empowered once more.

Today, I say enough to stupidity.

I will not be cowed into accepting nonsense, misinformation, prejudices or idiocy, just because that’s how the way the world is, or just because that’s the norm.

There is a better way than this.

 

Automobiles, Thoughts on

  
Cars are many things to many people. For some, it is merely a mode of transportation that ferries them from A to B. Some think of it as an extension to their wardrobe, an empty shell that represents their ‘fashion sense’. Many use cars as instruments to express the depth of their pockets, or their towering heights in the social ladder. Then there are the rare few who buy cars because of the product’s actual performance.

And by “performance” I did not mean 0-60 in four point three seconds. Or four point three one seconds. Not that it matters anyway, since it is unlikely that the vast majority of people who actually care about these things are able to shift gears that quickly to begin with.

Nor are the lap times of a confounded TV-show's test track that does not and will never properly evaluate the “performance” of a car (e.g. the real boys test in Nürburgring and Fiorano). And even at that, it’s not as if 99.9% of car buyers out there are going to race their precious cars in race-tracks every day.

Most would use their cars on the roads to get to work, to pick their kids from school, to live life. And it is in these circumstances that things like NVH and fuel economy, after-sales support and practicality becomes paramount, not what Mr Fuckson said of how fast the car could get round his little circuit.

And thanks to the said arse-head, a horde of other stupid people who think ‘sports‘ is Good, and everything else is Bad, we have manufacturers tune suspension systems so hard and rides so harsh that make these cars (and the people who drive them) a complete joke —outside of Mr Fuckson’s circuit, of course.

Where things count most is where people miss out most: ride, handling, NVH. Nothing is more important than how a car gets you to your destination. People often think that driving/travelling makes them tired, but never have they once stopped and put their “wonderful” car with all the characteristics of a horse cart as the source of their fatigue.

But when they finally do, it wouldn't matter anyhow, since particular non-essential reasons (the vehicle’s excellent fuel economy, *perceived* low maintenance, safety and aesthetic features) outweighs this extremely critical unimportant negative non-issue point.

It’s not as if the 25% savings in fuel costs could pay for the higher priced vehicle to begin with, nor —ironically— cover the cost of the more expensive replacement parts —parts that will have to be replaced someday, either way. Friction, wear and tear, are universal effects that applies to any and every thing. 

Safety is indeed important, and does indeed seem particularly so when airbags explode deploy with metal shrapnels that finishes the driver off when the accident itself did not, while at the same time, so too is low maintenance, especially when the accelerator pedal sinks in on itself, and when the brakes refuse to engage. Pretty hypocritical, don’t you think?

But then again, none of these really have anything to do with the manufacturers in question, since they did have those components sourced from other manufacturers, which brings me to another point: cars these days are just a bundle of parts where no one really makes anything. Everyone makes something. German, Japanese, American, gearboxes, spark plugs, control systems or electronics —you name it. 

Oh sorry, did you actually think car makers made these stuff, and that some make’s “stuff-that-goes-into-the-bonnet-of-said-make’s-car-is-magically-better-than-others”? That somehow, just because it goes into a car from country Y the part lasts longer than the part that went into country X's car? 

Time for a reality check then.

To exchange large sums of cash for a product with it’s make being one of the primary reasons ranks as one of the *MOST* stupid things one could ever do in life. Putting one’s John Thomas in the hands of an insane butcher comes to mind. But then again, I suppose the majority decision is always the right decision, which is why the best argument for democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter. Majority's choice could never be wrong, now can it?^*

I beg to differ.

 

Encounters of the Silly Kind

As I walked towards the kitchen, I saw a man standing in front of my gate.

Almost wanted to say an [name of race] man but I just realised that, and I am beginning to refuse to identify people by race.

Anyways.

He carried with him a sling-type notebook bag, and was dressed in a collared long-sleeve white tee, holding a green-coloured leaflet with one of his hands.

The conversation goes roughly as follows:


Man at gate:
“Hello, can I have a few minutes of your time, sir?”

Me:
“Sure. What is it about?”

Man at gate:
“Can you please answer this questionnaire? It’s ‘Do you think the world will end…’”

Somewhat bewildered, and cautious, I immediately asked:

“Who is doing this questionnaire?”

Was it the BBC? Was it the WHO? Maybe some university-led study. Or maybe a polling agency wanting to know what the general opinion was; what with the amount of nonsense that is being spewed by the 2012 absurdity -the title of the movie notwithstanding. As these exciting thoughts raced through the neurons of the grey mass in my head, he answered:

“It is meant to be something for you to read”

Me:
“Who is it from?”

Man at gate:
“It is from a group sir.”

Me:
“What group?”

Man at gate:
“It is a Bible studies group tha…”

I cut his sentence short when halfway through, I shook my head and hands in a blatantly violent way, and started walking towards the kitchen again.

I’m pretty sure he clearly heard me yelling “We’re atheists” as I made my way to the kitchen.

I’m not too sure though, why I said “we”; it is only a matter of time before my dad joins the church, what with sickos like these.

And that he already believes an omnipresent, omnipotent being is sitting up there (where is up now that the world isn’t flat and that the atmosphere is of a finite height?) wielding all the powers in the universe[s] but still insists on punishing people for the little and large actions that he/she/it deems as a ‘sin’.

This is not entirely unlike an expert programmer having finished his magnum opus AI-enabled ‘child’, and punishing him/her/it to burn in hell for eternity, simply for making mistakes; mistakes that it was bound to make since it was entirely a programming fault by the said programmer.

It is almost impossible to appreciate the sheer elegant genius inherent in Darwin’s theory; a theory that explains not how things go down the ladder (as in the god-humanity a.k.a. master-slave relationship) but up.

You see, religionists and intelligent-creationists talk about how we/all other beings/animals are created by a higher-up intelligence ‘up there’. What they fail to realise is how this is just an intermediate postponement of the inevitable question: who created the creator?

An unending paradox that will never be solved, it is a question for which religionist have no need to care for. No, for theirs is a solution and an answer not for the minds who think along rational lines, and certainly not for minds for which reason still bears meaning.

I cite ‘all encompassing god was always/is/will always [be] there’ as example and digress.

But for the rest of us not so little folk who question, Darwin answers that question in ways no one else ever can.

Through the hundreds and thousands and millions of years, life goes up the ladder slowly, but surely. It takes time to grasp fully the idea, and to realise and understand how fundamentally important it is, and how mistakenly simple (and thus elegant) the solution sounds.


I wonder why that man at my gate had to be so reluctant at revealing his religious agenda. What a sneaky little bastard.

But then again, how else will religionists recruit people if it wasn’t by the projection of fear? Fear as you lie on your death bed in hospital. Fear as your entire career collapses before you. Fear as your loved one leaves you. Fear as you lose your way to the crises of your lives. Fear when you are thrown off balance by the mayhem of the world.

Fear, as you lose the last remnants of your sanity.

Fear as to how the world will end in twenty four months’ time, and that you’re going to hell for ‘eternity’ to burn till every last drop of matter in your body is no more, but still it will burn some more.

Questions With No Answers

I can’t help but feel small.

No, I’m not talking about being below average stature wise, but being small as a living being. Humanity is small: we’re nothing but a tiny speck in a vast and giant universe, or a multitude of them if you are so inclined.

Our existence is only for a brief instant in what must be an infinitely long timeline that stretches (almost) for ever.

Life really is short.

We live, we struggle, we thrive, we fight, we enjoy, but ultimately, we all die.

The religionists will talk of and tell you delusions of an afterlife of eternal bliss -or suffering, depending on whether you bow to their all-so-loving creator, but that’s another story altogether- but the truth is, no one is spared from the fear of death.

I doubt many of us truly believe in that fairy tale.

So why can’t we ever take a step back from it all? Why can’t we ever take it all in and see that our existence, and our lives are pretty much insignificant? Why can’t we stop lying to ourselves?

Are we all really that cowardice to face reality?

Life isn’t perfect. Shit happens. Mistakes are made. Relationships turn sour. Grudges are held. Bridges are burnt. People are shitty. All of us are selfish.

Why can’t we accept all that? Why do we put expectations and apply standards that we ourselves cannot live by?

Why can’t we just live an honest life devoid of pointless pretence, and spare ourselves the hypocrisy?

α Bash

So I was randomly surfing around, and realized that Sony launched three brand (actually, not so) new DSLRS: the α230, α330, and α380.


Sony markets their DSLR line-up under the name "Alpha", and the Greek alphabet "α" is heavily used (along with that lovely orange colour) throughout the packagaing and the actual products themselves.

Each model, differentiated by a triple digit, was suffixed with a capital "a". I have always wondered why. Why not α300 or α100? Why A200?

pfft.

The three new cameras are descendants of the α200, α300 and α350 respectively. So, what are the most notable changes?

New, ugly casings. The α380 gets a new higher resolution sensor.

What hasn't changed? The tiny little flash. 40 segment honeycomb shaped exposure metering (btw all entry-level Nikon DSLRs have 420-segment RGB sensors for metering, the results of which are combined with the distance-to-subject information and compared against a database of 30,000 pictures).


When Sony launched the α350, they equipped it with a live view implementation like.no.other. It wasn't as clumsy as the other DLSRs were when it came to focusing in live view mode. But what Sony never bothered to mention was the optical viewfinder which was also like.no.other before it: its one of the smallest on the market today, solely to make the α350's live view the best.

Question: how many DLSR users you know use live view ONLY? I know of two α350 users, both of them use their tiny optical viewfinders almost exclusively. I'll chuckle in an evil manner now, if you don't mind me.

Also making headlines in the feature list is the new built-in help guide, which can be accessed through the LCD when the camera is on.



Can you see the help button on the camera body and on the display?




And when the button is held down:




Newsflash: this is a camera that was launched in late 2006.


I have an unsettling fear that the Alpha series would dominate the market in a few years time. DSLRs are being made fashion accessories, and are no longer proper tools for photographers. As the mass market of consumers who know nothing of photography (nor have a care for it) 'upgrade' themselves to 'nice looking cameras' with TONS of 'features', you can bet one company will be there for them.

Humans

We’re all such a pathetic bunch.

We’re the wisest of the animals, our greatest asset: our ability to reason.

Or so it is said, for when the crunch comes, we break down and give way to the senselessness and the illogic of feelings and emotions.

Faith, love, happiness, hurt or selfishness. No one is immune, not even the staunches of atheists, the most cynical or jaded of lovers, not the strongest of people nor the most selfless of individuals.

We think of ourselves as superior to those around us. We impose our ideals and our beliefs -we who claim to accept and embrace diversity and promote individualism pour scorn on those who deviate from our perceived normality.

We’re nothing but hypocrites who live our lives to principles to which we cannot uphold to.

We do the things that hurt those who truly care for us. We let people and the immaterial come between the things that are really important to us. We who are taught and claim to forgive hold life-long grudges, as we cling to the bitterness of past events.

Fickle, shallow and annoying irritants. Tiresome, stubborn and sickening clingers who won’t let the past be. Cold, cruel, calculative machines who have not a soul. Righteous, thick-headed jerks. There isn't anything here that we have not been or done to those around us, and vice versa.


What I do, that will be done to me, and what you do, others will do to you.

But hey, that’s just what I believe in --me, the faithless atheist. Me, the hypocrite.