http://thesimulacra.net/journal "Sometimes the appropriate response to reality is to go insane." - Philip K Dick Fri, 04 Jan 2008 23:54:48 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en I'm going to take a break from the blog for the next few months. I don't feel in the right place for writing at the moment, and I know the coming months are going to be really hectic, so I thought it would be a good opportunity to take a break ... http://thesimulacra.net/journal/2008/01/05/hibernating/ Over the past few months I've been spending a lot of time in the library, so I thought I'd write a post about the nature of 'the library' and what it means to me. My somewhat rose tinted view of libraries looks a bit like this, constructed through the libraries I have ... http://thesimulacra.net/journal/2007/12/22/library-love/ I love the power of the cold on my face. All my thoughts can't bring me warmth, all my barriers to the outside fail when confronted with the needs of my body. I don't handle the cold well, my frame isn't designed for extremes. In fact, both my flesh and my mind are always ... http://thesimulacra.net/journal/2007/12/13/glacial/ I'm taking a break from writing for a few weeks, back soon. http://thesimulacra.net/journal/2007/11/13/hiatus/ I'm growing into the idea that a good death is not so much a death where I have chosen the time and place, but where I have some level of control over the event. I used to believe the best way to die was in the setting of my making, ... http://thesimulacra.net/journal/2007/10/24/prime-death/ From Virginia Woolf's Orlando, a (brilliant and witty) story about a man who turns into a woman, this bit is set around 1750: Vain trifles as they seem, clothes have, they say, more important offices than merely to keep us warm. They change our view of the world and the world’s view ... http://thesimulacra.net/journal/2007/10/16/what-are-we-trying-to-do-when-we-wear-clothes/ Recently I have been feeling a real urgency in my soul, as if now is the time to really get going, the time for change and real unparalleled progress. To a certain extent I always have this feeling around this time of the year as I'm beginning a new university year, ... http://thesimulacra.net/journal/2007/10/10/structural-integrity/ I wrote a little while ago about how I felt I was maturing in the aesthetic, this growth is coming to a head now, everything around me has taken on a slightly different colour, a slightly different façade. For example, over the summer I have developed a broader range of things which ... http://thesimulacra.net/journal/2007/10/05/existential-expansion/ I found this fantastic picture when browsing a stock photography site a little while ago: I don't know whether the artist intended to write 'looser' or 'loser', but I like to imagine he or she spelt it that way on purpose, rather than it just being poor spelling (although this ... http://thesimulacra.net/journal/2007/09/30/without-truth-you-are-the-looser/ I feel a new direction coming. Maybe it's just because it is the end of a long summer, but I feel as though things are moving around me again. I'm feeling less attached to things I have been pursuing over the past year or so, as though my self is ... http://thesimulacra.net/journal/2007/09/21/renewed-reconstruction/ I've been learning about the brain over the last few days and it has helped me re-realise the magnificent complexity of the human body and the ethical issues surrounding scientific progress. Resources have been piled into brain research over the past 100 years or so, yet we are still totally clueless ... http://thesimulacra.net/journal/2007/09/10/brain-power/ Continuing from last week... What if all our goals are simulacra? Does this present any problem? Or even hold any relevance at all? I think it's important, especially for the agnostic, to be aware that everything around herself is in flux, isn't constant, is (perhaps) simulacra. Things are slightly different for the ... http://thesimulacra.net/journal/2007/08/31/simulacra/ A fantastic example of simulacra. Perhaps the most powerful and obvious example of simulacra in our lives is that of "make-up", in the widest possible sense of the word. To change your body and appearance to look like someone else who in turn is a copy, and a distorted copy at that, ... http://thesimulacra.net/journal/2007/08/19/seduction-simulacra/ What are photos? It's something I've written briefly about before, but after being away and having lots of photos of my travels to look through it's a thought that has come back to me. I'm talking about photos in the snapshot sense, or perhaps in the  "holiday photos" sense, rather than the pictures you would ... http://thesimulacra.net/journal/2007/08/07/preceding-photography/ I'm feeling a real sensitivity to the aesthetic at the moment, a real harmony with my own thoughts and senses. Sometimes I have these periods, often only moments, when my mind really wakes up and comes into focus. It's as if everything around me takes on a subtly different form ... http://thesimulacra.net/journal/2007/08/01/shaping-awareness/ Travelling was quite different to what I had expected.It was fantastic seeing some new and different cultures, looking at how different groups and nations organised things in different ways and comparing them to what I am used to. One particularly interesting comparison was how different countries treated the environment. For ... http://thesimulacra.net/journal/2007/07/21/post-travelling/ I'm going to be away travelling in Europe for the next few weeks, I'll back in mid June. I'm not sure what the Internet access will be like in the places I am staying, so I might not be able to update the blog while I'm away.I've not been on ... http://thesimulacra.net/journal/2007/06/20/travelling/ A reflection on some aspects of what music means to me. I haven't written poetry in years, and it probably shows; but it feels like a good idea just now.  Silence,Sound,Serenity.From abstract to emotion,An idea in motion.An image, a form,An ocean, a storm.A fire, a call,A moment, a fall.Lonely people, lonely time,My memories which ... http://thesimulacra.net/journal/2007/06/16/reflection-music/ Another thing that hit me during my revision is that some people choose, or are compelled, to spend all or part of their life applying themselves to one specific task. For example, the genius scientist, the obsessive novelist or artist, the eccentric musician, the serial killer, the Olympic gymnast, the ... http://thesimulacra.net/journal/2007/06/06/obsession-and-application/ As mentioned a few posts ago, I've had exams over the past few weeks, hence the short updates; I've been working more or less all day every day for a month and it's had a significant effect on me, changing my outlook and depositing a load of new ideas.One of the first ... http://thesimulacra.net/journal/2007/05/30/empathy/ DesktopographyAwesome wallpapers.Back to normal next week. http://thesimulacra.net/journal/2007/05/20/desktopography/ Just a couple of links this week:Ask PhilosophersThey have a "Question of the day" which is normally pretty interesting; there's a lot of good stuff in the archives too.New Scientist - Last WordA similar thing, but more science based; interesting questions about trivial things. http://thesimulacra.net/journal/2007/05/12/linkfest/ I've been reading some of Plato's works recently, specifically his allegory of the cave. For those who don't already know what it is about, this is the description from wikipedia, or you can read the original text at the link above.Allegory of the cave Imagine prisoners, who have been chained since birth ... http://thesimulacra.net/journal/2007/05/04/plato-and-the-cave/ It appears in my links down the side of the page, but in case you hadn't noticed it toothpaste for dinner is one of the most amusing websites around (well, assuming you have the same warped sort of humour as me). Drew, the guy who runs it, posts a comic every single day, ... http://thesimulacra.net/journal/2007/04/25/tuthpaste/ Check out this amazing video from photographer Gregory Colbert. There's also a full length version of the film available on DVD, although it's quite hard to come by. It makes up part of an entire Ashes and Snow project, made up of films, installations, photographs and novels, you can find ... http://thesimulacra.net/journal/2007/04/17/ashes-and-snow/ Adam Curtis' new documentary aired recently on BBC2; it was fantastic, as expected, he has a stunning track record, his previous films have been some of the best programmes ever broadcast. It's called The Trap: What Happened to our Dream of Freedom, you can find it through bittorrent, or on google video. ... http://thesimulacra.net/journal/2007/04/06/the-trap/ Levels of spam in the comments seem to have exploded over the last week or two so I've been forced to put on comment checking. This means that when you first write a comment you have to enter your email address, I then check it and your email address is approved form ... http://thesimulacra.net/journal/2007/04/01/spam/ I've been ill the last few days; nothing serious, just a cold, but I find it remarkable how easily something can overwhelm my body. When I am ill I feel as though I lose a lot of control over my mind, not being able to focus my thoughts, and my body ... http://thesimulacra.net/journal/2007/03/26/meliorating-malady/ Physical concepts are free creations of the human mind, and are not, however it may seem, uniquely determined by the external world. In our endeavor to understand reality we are somewhat like a man trying to understand the mechanism of a closed watch. He sees the face and the moving ... http://thesimulacra.net/journal/2007/03/17/creating-cosmology/ It feels as though spring is on its way. I woke up yesterday, after a particularly windy and rainy night, to find dazzling warm(ish) sunshine streaming in through my window. As I emerged for my walk to campus I got that feeling, that only comes during this small window of ... http://thesimulacra.net/journal/2007/03/07/sunshine-genesis/ I recently read Jean-Paul Sartre's book Nausea. It was the greatest book I have read in a long long time, he writes so well and really gets to the heart of the humanity in the story, bringing out the underlying feelings of his character like no-one I have read before. ... http://thesimulacra.net/journal/2007/02/26/nausea/ Some quotes on modesty:With people of only moderate ability modesty is mere honesty; but with those who possess great talent it is hypocrisy. - Arthur SchopenhauerModesty is the lowest of the virtues, and is a confession of the deficiency it indicates. He who undervalues himself is justly overvalued by others. ... http://thesimulacra.net/journal/2007/02/19/modesty/ Sometimes I find it so hard to sit down and write. The ideas of what to type just don't materialize in my head; I can go looking for all the stimulus I know of and still I can't pin anything down that I can work into a post. You would ... http://thesimulacra.net/journal/2007/02/12/89/ This week I went to see Darren Aronofsky's new film The Fountain. I don't generally look at reviews before I go to see a film, but when I saw the BBC Movies website had only given it two stars I found myself looking around to see if the film I ... http://thesimulacra.net/journal/2007/02/03/the-fountain/ I feel as though I am finally coming out of my time of reforming now; over the last few days things seem to be slotting back into place, although this could well be just another stage on the path of transition. I've got back into a lot of the things ... http://thesimulacra.net/journal/2007/01/24/audio-amelioration/ Last week I did a fast (eating and drinking nothing but water), only for 24 hours, but I have never done one before so it was a new experience. I decided to do one for various reasons; primarily just for the sake of self discipline but also to try and ... http://thesimulacra.net/journal/2007/01/17/esurience/ I mentioned a few months ago in this post that I was becoming more "active", in a political/ethical sense. Since that time this has taken over my life in a big way, using up large amounts of energy and throwing me into lots of new ideas. I've been watching lots of ... http://thesimulacra.net/journal/2007/01/09/struggle-and-progress/ Over the past week or two I have been feeling my whole world is changing around me. I get this experience rarely, once every few years maybe, where my whole being takes a shift and everything looks different; It's almost as if I fly round in an orbit of my life ... http://thesimulacra.net/journal/2006/12/30/mortal-topology/ Today's update is a simple homage to the beauty of fog. I find it amazing the way it can totally transform the environment, making everything beyond the few metres around you invisible, creating such beauty but also incredible isolation and even fear; who knows what waits in the mist?Pictures here. http://thesimulacra.net/journal/2006/12/21/fog/ Time is moving on again. Christmas is approaching with all its weight; summer is a distant memory and we are right into the depths of winter. This is one of my favourite times of the year, but also one of the most emotional. I often find myself with a lot ... http://thesimulacra.net/journal/2006/12/12/winterlong/ Having spent a fair amount of my time in the city recently (London to be precise) I have started to realise these subtle, and not so subtle, differences between the city atmosphere and the town or country atmosphere. Apart from the obvious differences in the surrounding environment, I feel differences ... http://thesimulacra.net/journal/2006/12/04/the-city-and-the-stars/ Last weekend I was away in Ireland for a funeral. Whilst there I experienced a lot of new things; saw new sights and felt new feelings. I haven't been to funeral since I was a young teen; and have never been to a funeral in Ireland as opposed to England. ... http://thesimulacra.net/journal/2006/11/27/death-and-funerals/ I think not having the internet for so long has helped me in breaking my addiction to materialism, well, to the internet at least. I thought I'd die not having the internet for such a long period of time, but I actually got used to it fairly quickly. Granted I still had ... http://thesimulacra.net/journal/2006/11/18/internets/ Well, I can only apologise for the amount of time it has taken me to post, but I have finally got the Internet sorted at home, so updating should be back to normal from here on in. I apologise in advance for the self-orientation of this post, but I feel ... http://thesimulacra.net/journal/2006/11/11/im-back/ Hi, sorry about the lack of updates, I still don't have Internet access home. Hopefully things will get back to normal over the next few weeks. http://thesimulacra.net/journal/2006/10/09/still-here/ It's that time of year again which always brings radical changes in my life. Over the next few days I'll be leaving my summer job and moving back to university; it's like changing over to a different life, everything around me moves and changes. It's odd the way things can lose ... http://thesimulacra.net/journal/2006/09/26/real/ I am becoming increasingly disillusioned with materialistic culture. Every time I buy something or use something it seems as though I am on a path to the day it breaks and I need to replace it. I buy a bike, it breaks after a year or two; I buy a ... http://thesimulacra.net/journal/2006/09/16/technical-difficulties/ I found this interesting video whilst looking through archive.org.The description on the site says the following:Through religion, philosophy, psychology, art, and architecture, RADIANCE presents light as a universal symbol of life. This film invites the viewer to see how images of light continue from ancient cultures through modern times, connecting ... http://thesimulacra.net/journal/2006/09/11/radiance-an-experience-of-light-1978/ Just a quick post to say I found a couple more excellent Bill Viola videos worth checking out: The Reflecting PoolDocumentary http://thesimulacra.net/journal/2006/09/08/more-bill-viola-videos/ I have been away in Wales for the past week or so, hence the even later than usual update. One of the things that struck me while I was there was the "beach/surf culture", and this made me think about "culture" in general. Or perhaps more specifically, being part of ... http://thesimulacra.net/journal/2006/09/04/a-culture-of-cultures/