visual media

upon seeing a few things recently, i was provoked in the following ways:

after watching one episode of "mad men", which is apparently super-popular these days, i was disgusted. not that it's not interesting and catchy in a soap-opera way. my beef is that it's some wet-dream of the power that some men had in the past, the subjugation of women, the "magic" of marketing, having plenty of drinks with the good ol' boys, living the "dream". i care not that it may be engaging, what i take more issue with is that under all these difficult economic times, we yearn for the same system that we've been residing upon, the obsession and fetishism of marketing and commoditization. more so, after watching the movie below, makes me wonder, as my brother steve asked today, why would people produce this pap when they could be focusing on much more interesting issues.

after seeing "war, inc." by mr john cusack, i was really amazed in the beginning when looking at all the exaggerated ways that today's industrial military complex was depicted. it seemed completely surreal to me, until mid-way through the film, i believe when the tank delivers dry-cleaned shirts, and a soldier hopped up on dehydrated coffee is shooting his gun as if he were playing some game. from this point on, i saw that the exaggerations were simply extensions of what is already going on, how the United States has privatized industries to reap the "opportunities" that are created from the destruction of war, like halliburton and kellogg brown and root (whose logo seems to be ripped off as "tamerlane" in the film). the discrepancy of the "stable green zone" and the highly destroyed fringe areas, the inexperienced, eager contract soldiers, and many other features definitely reminded me of Iraq. even the fake country of "turaqistan" is a merge between Iraq and Afghanistan.

ahh.. that's about all i can handle for now.
abraços,

merry christmas!

hope everyone's having fantastic holidays and that the bleak travel infrastructure here in seattle as well as throughout the north of the US is not inhibiting people to visit with their families and friends. that's the best part of the holiday.

abraços,

snow, snow everywhere

well, my wife's finally back and i'm very happy!! finally ready for the season, i truly enjoy the thanksgiving/christmas/holidays portion of the year, really believe that it is the time where we appreciate those who really matter to us. despite the road conditions, i hope it continues to snow in seattle, it is beautiful, makes everything so serene and slightly fantastical.

while riding the bus to the airport to meet her, many people were on their ways to the airport as well, but the buses were terribly late today and made me ruminate on those heading home for the holidays. i hope that everyone's able to get to their families without many hitches, as although this part of the year sometimes is the more relaxed part, it's a big rush often and stressful as we enjoy so few holidays here in the US.

i hope that all those heading home for the holidays, or driving in such weather, reach their destinations not only safely but have a wonderful holiday full of cheer and love.

abraços,

reason for post about happiness

the reason for my pondering the "pursuit of happiness" question yesterday was the fact that i was thinking about my wife and how much she's changed my life for the better, because she supports my development, and makes me so much better of a person than i could ever aspire without her. so, at the risk of portraying myself as a sappy fellow, i'm posting this. and, i already miss her, as she's traveling for work, even though i last saw her about 24 hours ago.

happiness...

another thing that i was pondering: happiness. although many governments portray to have the best interests of people at their heart, i truly believe that the best that can be done for people is to provide them with the means to discover happiness. i wholeheartedly agree with our forefathers here in the US that "life, liberty and the persuit of happiness" are the basic rights.

i think many demand that everything be done for them, that the only thing that we have to do in life is to take the packaging off what we're given. but as trite as it sounds, i believe that the only way that we find happiness is by looking for it in the first place. there's not some vast checklist, containing items such as "buy a house", "travel once per year", "eat out once a week", "meet up with the family", etc. that can be prescibed to those wishing to be happy.

happiness is something that may change over time, maturing, or fluctuating. and it's something not to be left for the end, as there's no way to make up for lost time.

i was going to be apolitical for this time around, but this made me think of prop 8 in california, and while searching for "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" i stumbled across the following post which is far more eloquent than i could possibly be on this subject.

abraços,

rumination on saudade...

saudade is a portuguese word for longing, or missing something or someone. the feeling that it implies is rather profound, although many times that i have stayed in Brazil they have told me that the word is untranslatable, however i disagree. the word is translatable, but i think at times the feeling is not.

was just listening to the pinback song "tres" and it reminded me of when i saw them live, and rob (one of the singers/multintrumentalists) was singing "hello?" in the loneliest voice and tone that i've ever heard before, and i think that is saudade.

the interesting thing to me is that the word can mean such bright and happy, and such dull, deep pain when used in particular concepts. a brazilian will say "morri de saudades..." meaning "i died of longing" upon re-encountering with someone special but this can sometimes be bright. i've heard of at least one brazilian, probably a poet, spoke of his longing to see Brazil through the expression "saudade" but died without ever seeing it again.

quick commentary, just to throw something out there

ingrid betancourt: ok, so she's descendant of a French family but born in Colombia, married to a Frenchman but divorced and re-married to a Colombian why perhaps does the media refer to her as a "Colombian-French" politician? i wonder if its because if someone from Latin America is kidnapped that it is the "normalcy" so it is not widely reported upon, while when someone from Europe or Canada/US is kidnapped it becomes international news. curious.