Sine Qua Non

So usually I use this for something a little deeper, more meaningful and usually in a more broad sense than what we have going on here tonight.  This is more shallow and esoteric but I'm having a bad day so vibe with me.

10,000 Cool points to whoever can successfully Identify the person being referred to in this exchange:

Stephen: Yeah, shes not even recognizable as the same person.
Jae: Yea dude, still the body of a porn star and the face of a raccoon.

p.s. shoot me your answers on txt or facebook msg, we'd hate to offend anyone. :)

PSYCHE!  <-------- (im bringing that back btw)

1.23.2010

Today I had a craving for brownies, but with no one to make them for me I found myself facing the daunting trek to Scott's for brownie mix. (If you don't know what Scott's is, it's Northern Indiana's version of Marsh. If you don't know what Marsh is, it's the Midwest's verison of Wal-Mart. If you don't know what Wal-Mart is, get off the reservation and experience life.) I digress, upon paying for the brownie mix, I made my way toward the exit. Between me and the door stood 7 people in line for Redbox. This is a problem.

Anyone who has ever watched a movie with me knows my qualms about "renting" movies. I can't do it, mainly because if the movie I "rented" turns out to be one that I like, it will turn into the movie I stole and was overcharged for by (insert favorite movie rental establishment). We all know who we inserted in that blank right? Blockbuster.

Sadly, blockbuster is scheduled to go the way of the 8-track, Vinyl Records, cassette tapes and the VHS. Within the next 5 years odd are Blockbusters are going to be as rare as functioning turntable. Why is this, because we live in society that demands instant gratifiaction. That instant gratification is manifest by Video-on-demand, Netflix, Hulu, and a variety of still functioning P2P servers, and Red Box.

Now all of the preceeding makes sense except Red Box. In essence to substitute Red Box for Blockbuster would be like swapping out all Blu-Ray for HD DVD. Sure, we know Blu-Ray looks, sounds, and generally is better but nonetheless making the change. Red Box offers less selection, zero customer service, and above all else, you still have to stand in line. I don't understand.

With that being said I know due to my extensive DVD + Blu-Ray collection I may not have a proverbial leg to stand on as it pertains to the cinematic high ground that is Red Box, yet I can't help but wonder...How did a product, with virtually no marketing scheme, poorer quality than its predecessor, and the lack of a human element captivate so many off us?

Just something to think about.

(Sidebar: Does anyone seem a strikingly stark parallel to this phenomenon and YKK!

1.12.2010

I don't like to post/add things for no reason, thus when I've been shall we say preoccupied with 8 trillion other things, and nothing truly inspires me, there tends to be a void of time in which nothing has been posted.

Last night, I lost my aunt. She was a sweet, but opininated. Stern but compassionate and we will all miss her. Today, I had to work, like a broadway musical I was forced to make the show go on, even if I didn't want it to. All I really wanted was to spend the whole day in my bed doing nothing. Nearly all plesantness anyone experienced from me today was feigned. Fake it till you feel it, but today no matter how much I faked it, there was no happiness to be found.

I just felt like a volcano. Boiling with molten magma and sulfer. Frustration, and indiscriminate rage, I guess that's how I deal. And anyone that knows me knows that this mood has a 24 hour shelf life...But while its inside for that 24 hours it feels like I've been kicked in the stomach, or like I'm on the mat and I can hear the ref counting but I can't get my bearings to make it to my feet. Then at about 11:30 I found myself drawing a circle around my name...It wasnt fun, or entertaining but it made my mind (which has been a chaotic mess all day) focus. It was like everything became quiet, like eye of a hurricane quiet. In that silence, and in that peace of being able to focus on one repetative action this came to me...

...We are all merely products of our environment.

Nature v. Nurture

Even when we choose to reject that environment, without the initial catalyst or precursor of events/people/locations to effect us, there would be nothing to defy. It's basic cause and effect, applied with post hoc logic, if the effect is rebellion then there must have been a cause.

In a sense we are all less ourselves and more a reflection of the things that surround us.

*Thought: An outside agent introduced to naivete no matter how brief or inconsequential the interaction may have seemed will cause change*

Sociology seems to mirror physics.
(Scientific Note)
***Newton's law of universal gravitation states that every massive particle in the universe attracts every other massive particle with a force which is directly proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them.***

Simply put, anything with mass is affected by everything else with mass.

Just as all bodies with mass act upon each other, any/every thing we encounter each day acts upon us.

*** HYPOTHESIS ***
We all exert a force, similar to gravity. It encompasses us in a perfect circle at birth, and any thing/one we come into contact with is acted upon and consequently acts upon our force. These forces are malleable, and as they interact throughout the course of our lives, unique, individual, and radical forces take form.

These forces take the shape of personality, creativity, faith, courage, cowardice, depravity, maliciousness, etc.

Each contact with a new force leaves an indelible mark.

By adulthood our force which started as a perfect circle is mishapen, contorted in arced in ways we'd previously thought impossible, and all due to simple interactions and experiences with any of the multitude of locations, events, things, or estimated 6.7 billion people that surround us.

This (in my humble opinion) is the ripple effect.

*************************DISCLAIMER************************

Anyone reading this may find it utterly hilarious OR, may find it a cynical and bleak outlook on relationships and the prospect of love. Regardless, realize its simply a blog, and if your day is ruined by another person's commentary on these sort of things then invest in a WWIII fallout shelter, lock yourself in and stop being such a baby! :)

********************DISCLAIMER ENDS*******************

Tim Minchin. I'm gonna go ahead and say it...he's a genius. An edgy, genius. An edgy, realistic, genius.

There are so many places to start, but I think the beginning is the best. One of my best friend introduced me to Tim Minchin's musical comedy. He harkens talent the likes of Bo Burnam, or Steve Lynch. However, his standup/musical performances are vastly edgier. In this particular piece, Tim explains the causalities that make "love" and "fate" work.

Now, here's what's interesting, for the longest time I've thought to myself. I wonder when people get married if they realize that simply statistically speaking of the earth's 6,692,030,277 people, the probability that theres someone else out there better suited for you is pratically a mathematical certainty. Now, while I had this thought I dare not express it to a significant other, or really any female lest I be dragged into the vicious debate of soulmates, and destiny. Now, don't take me for a pure cynic, I believe couple's truely love each other and belong together. It's just something that occasionally rolls around in my mind.

However, Mr. Michin has taken that idea to the apex of its potential. Not only has he, in the form of a "love song" no less, explained to his wife that she is replaceable. He continues on to tell her if he didn't marry her who he'd be with. Now upon hearing this I realized that Stephen, (the best friend who first hipped me to this Tim fellow) could possibly be right. I may be just like Tim (only less offesnive (and a bit better looking)). He descibes this theoretical, hypothetical dream girl of his to be a petite, blonde, Portugese, skier, who when she's not training spends her time abstract painting, practices yoga, and brews her own beer. She really likes making home movies, and suffers from neck down alopecia. Now upon this description I thought to myself, this has got to be the most interestedly diverse person I've ever heard of. I'd like to meet this girl.

Simply as a breakdown for those of you that don't understand why...

1. Portuguese- She's exotic in one way or another
2. Skier- She's sporty, which is a plus in moderation.
   
3. Abstract painting- She's artsy, which I LOVE!
   
4. Yoga Afficionado- She's VERY fit, and bendy (yes, bendy!)
5. Makes her own beer- Seriously, that's awesome!
6. Enjoys making home movies- This can be taken one of two ways...Option A: She has a camera and likes to document her adventures, purely innocent in that she just is a tech saavy kinda gal. Option B: She's only pulls the camera out in the bedroom. Either of these are still top notch options.
7. Suffers from neck down alopecia- :D I doubt this affliction comes in such specific regional terms but, it is a rather provocative thought.

All in all what straight guy turns her down, and to have the balls to discuss ur hypothetical dream girl in a love song to ur wife. This man has gumption the likes of which the world has never seen. And for this, I salute you!

...apparently there is no such thing as free hugs anymore. 

*SIDEBAR*

If the best things in life are free, and you get what you pay for, shouldn't the best things in life be priceless?

This blog is part journal, part place for Jae to store miscellaneous ideas, part social commentary.  I think I found the perfect way to encompass all three.

Style vs. Substance

Let me explain, the world is comprised of a variety of different people and things that all work magnificently within the elaborate framework of the world we know.  Some of these things are mostly style, some are mostly substance, but none are simply one or the other.

Now these words carry with the inherent connotations.  When people hear style they think negatively, and likewise it is the opposite for substance.  However, being predominantly style or substance doesn't make you a good or bad person, idea, or thing.  It just simply is, without bias, stereotypes, or conviction.

So, the best way I can try to surmise how I see it to you is this analogy. The world and everything in it is substance. Substance is much like a sponge. Its  porous and permeable, yet at the same time rigid. It has boundaries, limitations and edges.  Style is a liquid.  It's a freely flowing, viscus, entity that mimics and adapts whatever it comes into contact with.  So when style is applied to substance, the sponge becomes saturated.  Like a wet sponge, you know its wet yet, can't see the water. That is how style affects us and why so frequently it is confused with substance.  Likewise, style, takes the form of the sponge trapped by the desire to simply take form and be something more.

Deep I know... so what's the meaning of all this?  The style v. substance argument will be my arena to try and wade through the muck that is daily life.

SvS - Elections:

Substance: Barack Obama is a man of substance (in my humble opinion).  His substance is evident by his devout beliefs, and convictions, and his unquestioned mental capacity (note I'm not saying the man's a genius, just that no one questions whether or not he's educated.  If you can accept that then the point that he's is probably about 70/30 substance.

Style: Style point are worth arguably twice as much in America as anywhere else on the planet. I make this argument based on the elections that decided the 44th president of these United States. So what is Barack's style? He's an educated black man, with his finger on the pulse of the younger generation who followed what majority of the country considers a president with a poor second term (I'm really putting that lightly).  Now even though he is a man that seems to be mostly substance, his campaign was truly about style.

Proof: Style points are harder to come by for some people than others.  Take the republican party.  I found it interestingly convenient that at the same time the Democrats chose to have a person of color represent the party in the election, the republicans, the Good Ole Boys, decided that a woman was the right choice for a VP candidate.  They realized that what they were up against was a person whose substance was his style, and that they may have had all the substance in the world, but like a sponge that doesn't want to get when and gets dropped in water, it didn't matter in the least.  So, they make a bid to stylize w/ one Sarah Palin. (I didn't say it was a good plan, just that it was A plan.) Sarah was obviously the wrong pick but, I highly doubt if the democrats would have chosen a dark haired, blue eyed, 50 something from Iowa, Sarah Palin would have been let out of her woodshed in Alaska.

Closing statement: The election was won not by substance even though we all know that our current president possess it.  It was won because they style he represented, was voted for more than the substance of the person.  Moreover, its interesting that even if a large number of people voted for the wrong reason, (in my opinion) they still came up with the right result. Another instance where style trumps substance.

That is my ruling, now quarrel amongst yourselves.

The original plan was to get home from work in time to actually post this on Veteran's Day but since another 13 hour work day has eaten my life, I'm relegated to posting this officially on the 12th.

Today I saw something that shocked me.  Now, very little still shocks me about people.  In fact I cant think of the last time I turned on the news and was shocked, truly, genuinely shocked.  What I saw that was so surprising was an ordinary group of aimless teenagers at the mall today.  They were your basic group of what looked like 5 high school/college age kids. (Yea, I think its weird too that I can refer to college people as kids too, damn I'm old) It's not that they were in the mall on a veteran's day goofing off that was so surprising, it is when they all were greeted by an older gentleman who was wearing his veteran gear, age approximately late 80's.  They ALL stopped and showed him respect and gratitude. 

It was almost inspirational, because majority of the late teens, early 20's that hang out in the mall could give less that a shit about Veteran's Day, or the people it's celebrating.  But these 5 guys took time out of their day to stop and talk to what appeared to be a complete stranger, and it was written all over the older guy's face that this conversation was really making his day. 

Bravo Gentlemen, Bravo.

(P.S. Happy Veteran's Day Gramps!)

So first let me explain how we arrived at this moment.  Today is officially November 8th.  Making three days ago November 5th, a day in which I partake in watching the ever entertaining V...For Vendetta.  An amazing movie about one man's struggle against a futuristic totalitarian United Kingdom for the minds, and free will of the people.  Post 11/5 I couldn't understand why that movie was still in my head, usually after Nov. 5, I forget about that movie until Next November.  It occurred to me that frequently seeing the letter 'V' in promotions for ABC's upcoming series, succinctly titled 'V' might be the cause.

V- is a remake of a 1983 mini-series about earth's first contact with Visitors, which is the label the aliens are given.  In the re-imagined series the Visitors first contact with us it through spaceships that hover of about 35 of the earth's biggest cities.  These ships appear to be roughly the size of Manhattan, which I doubt I have to tell you is a rather sizable borough in New York.  At the very beginning of the series, three questions are posed. 

#1 - Where were you when JFK was shot.

#2- Where were you on 9/11

#3- Where were you this morning.

Now, number 2 got me thinking because its one of the few things that every American has in common.  We all know exactly where we were and what we were doing when we found out what was happening on 9/11.  To me, starting the series out like this was a HUGE mistake.  Let's just say, for the sake of argument, that ABC had at least a little desire to make this believable, a scenario that could play out in the real world given the existence of these "Visitors" 

If this is the case, can someone explain to me how 30+ hovering craft the size of a medium sized city can manage to sneak into the earth's atmosphere and strategically position themselves without us knowing until its happened.

Furthermore, within 24 hours of the visitors arriving on earth somehow they are already pimping out tours of their highly advanced society, medical assistance, and technological advances we knew nothing about less than a day ago, simply in exchange for water?  One of the characters the story follows literally scored tickets to take a ride in a transport space ship up to the "mothership" and as they fly over NYC I can't help but think...NO.  No, i don't buy any of this, there's no way that we allow a race of aliens to fly spaceships through downtown New York in a post 9/11 world, sorry ABC. You had me up until then. 

Please try again next fall,  I'd suggest a cop drama, it's pretty hard to screw one of those up.

Here's a hypothetical for you. Let's take three easily identifiable, pervasive companies/corporations.

1: Coca-Cola

2: Nike

3: Disney

Now these three companies are known for their products worldwide, and let's think, you've probably seen/met someone who has work or does work for these companies.   Coke, probably the guy that filled up the soda machine at you job or high school.  Nike, ever been to a Niketown or outlet, yes? Well, they're Nike employees.  Disney, oh please.  Assuming you're one of the 17 people who hasn't made it to Disneyland/world you've probably been to a Disney store in you local metropolitan mall.  So, all three notable companies, all dominant in their industry and pervasive in the society we exist in. 

Now for the real mental squeeze play, YKK. 90% of zippers on any apparel worth a damn has YKK on the zipper.  It's been mentioned in songs (Outkast- So Fresh, So Clean), has a dominant market share, and an insanely hot advertising campaign: 

( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8B4q365KD4 )

Now I ask you.  Have you, or anyone you've EVER met, known a single person who has ever worked for this company? They are the zipper people. That's it. What Kleenex is to tissues, they are to Zippers.  There is no one else, and if there is you and I have never heard of them.

Global warming, The Iraq War, Zombies, these things don't keep me up at night.  However a powerful multi million dollar company that has played a part in nearly everyones life yet, we have no proof of their existence other than three little letters scares me to death!

Think about it.

Sine Qua Non (Latin) - Translation: Without Which Not.

    Meaning: Sine Qua Non refers to anything that one regards as critical or necessary.  It is a bit of a personal motto and motivational technique I use. It refers to my passion for my writing, religion, and the occasional sports fanaticism.  These things are beyond important (well, maybe the sports stuff isn't) they're essential. Thus the title. SQN

Uncommonwealth, the story of Alejandro SanInocisio.  Better known as A.J., this savvy 20 somethings businessman is determined to make his mark in the automotive industry.  He brings a ruthlessness to the Detroit car scene that no one has ever witnessed.  Along with his Mentor Edgar, and equally as driven assistant Eve, they bring what would established car companies to their knees. 

Overall, its about the journey.  AJ starts off as an innocent kid who is too smart for his own good.  From this he throws himself headfirst into a world he believes he can control. As he gains power, control and wealth, he begins to be changed by the overwhelming urge to acquire more. Soon his battle becomes both internal and external as he struggles to not become a financial/social pariah to his peers, and maintain the idea that his intelligence is one of the few things that remains uncorrupted in a world that is, in his opinion, tainted.

Look for Uncommonwealth! in stores in Summer 2010 (hopefully)