wired for war…


and that’s the problem. 27% of our tax spending goes to the military, and only 2.5% to education. you ask about science? ah, give em 1%. i think we’ve all seen where countries with nominal education end up, usually praying to some god (pick one) to get ’em out of here and into some heaven.  interestingly enough, according to a GE report conducted via 1,000 senior execs from 12 countries, the report shows that a strong majority believe that innovation will take on forms not yet seen in history, and it will be localized to specific markets and driven more by “creativity” than by scientific research alone. now chew on that mister 1% scientist. granted i don’t even see a 0.00005% funding for the arts on that chart. by xy

CATEGORIES: earth related

the gravest moment in life

a man said:

–the gravest moment in my life took place in the battle of the Marne, when they wounded me in the chest.

another man said:

–the gravest moment in my life, occurred during a Yokohama seaquake, from which I was miraculously saved, sheltered under the eaves of a lacquer shop.

and another man said:

–the gravest moment in my life happens when I sleep during the day.

and another said:

–the gravest moment of my life has taken place in my greatest loneliness.

and another said:

–the gravest moment in my life was my imprisonment in a Peruvian jail.

and another said:

–the gravest moment in my life is having surprised my father in profile.

and the last man said:

–the gravest moment in my life is yet to come.

the words of peruvian poet and all around genius in any language, cesar vallejo.  exploiting our gravest moments in the simplest language, beautiful.   by sv

CATEGORIES: beauty, books

the master


i was fortunate enough this past weekend to see paul thomas anderson’s newest picture, ‘the master’.  loosely based on the origins of scientology (or at least the provocative nature and bullheadedness of its leader) this film explored paradigms from angles that i truly have never seen.  in a sense, it is anti-climactic—not in comparison to kubrick, but in the way that there truly is no outcome from the religious journeys that are depicted, and the characters develop, but in a stagnant and unsatisfactory manner.  there are no likeable characters in this film, at least, not to me.  there are paramount performances by joaquin phoenix, philip seymour hoffman and amy adams, but their characters as a whole are lacking human traits.  phoenix gets as close to being an animal as i have ever seen; his grunts, his feral behavior, they are monumental.  what the film does do, is beautifully depict a 70mm world of 1950 and captures the essence of a father/son, owner/dog, highbrow/lowbrow thematic endeavor.  once again teaming up with jonny greenwood (of radiohead) for the score, anderson has just added another gilded film of merit to his already stunning repertoire.  it makes me happy to know that something real in the world of cinema does still exist.  there are visionaries out there, PHEW. by sv

CATEGORIES: clips, must be considered films