Catch Up

Currently in Earphones: "Partition" Soundtrack by Brian Tyler

So I had a wonderful time with the ladyfriend this past weekend, though I caught her cold. Though having pancakes for breakfast, lying in the grass in the Arboretum, and holding hands while drinking tea more than made up for it.

However, let it be said that I do like to get paid for work. Missing my normal hours on account of being told, in a good-natured fashion, to "Go away until you're not contagious," does make me worried. Especially since I had 7 perfectly good sick hours snatched away from me on account of the fact that they were earned in a different department. Robbery, I say.

Need to start work on my papers for Origins of Rhetoric and Medieval Latin. That AND the Berkeley Tournament this weekend AND me being sick may be a little much, but I'll be damned if I miss the third Collegiate tournament for the third time in a row.

And now, a wide change in topics due to my disease-addled brain: This looks really awesome and I want one. And it ages, like a fine wine. The light actually AGES. Flippin' sweet.

Also, my newest flash game fixation: Vector Tower Defense. I can't seem to get past level 40...on the easy maps. Anyone out there with some strategy?

Yeah, that's about it. More after the ensuing academic and athletic craziness.

Enough, More Later.
- James

For Those who would like a recap....

Now playing: E Nomine - Mitternacht
via FoxyTunes


Here's a fantastic video highlighting what's happened so far with the whole Anonymous vs. Scientology foofarow...

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4cr9g_the-road-to-february-10-2008_politics

Enjoy!

Enough, More Later.
- James

Why I can't finish The Fountainhead

Currently in Earphones: "Walking with Dinosaurs Live" Soundtrack by James Brett

First a little section from a nicely translated version of the "Goliardic Confession" by the Archpoëta (if you're wondering about that spelling, see diaeresis, to which the umlaut is a young, upstart pretender)...

"There are poets, worthy men,
Shrink from public places,
And in lurking-hole or den
Hide their pallid faces;
There they study, sweat, and woo
Pallas and the Graces,
But bring nothing forth to view
Worth the girls' embraces.

Fasting, thirsting, toil the bards,
Swift years flying o'er them;
Shun the strife of open life,
Tumults of the forum;
They, to sing some deathless thing,
Lest the world ignore them,
Die the death, expend their breath,
Drowned in dull decorum. "

(Complete, yet oddly lengthly, translation here. Original Latin, strangely missing these verses, here)

Pertinent to the following? Perhaps.

So, it's been a good few months since I've put down The Fountainhead, mainly because I finally threw up my hands and read the plot synopsis on Wikipedia. I can't honestly say that it's a bad book: The story is intriguing and the characters original. I suppose one could say that my problem is with Rand's philosophy. Now I'm all for the celebration of the individual and all that jazz, but to me the protagonist, Roark, skirts too close a line to being altogether less-than-human.

What I find completely maddening is that the line is so widely blurred. One could argue that he functions as his character dictates and as Rand's philosophy dictates, which isn't hard to do considering how distastefully Rand paints all he stands against. I couldn't give you an example that couldn't be countered somewhere, but the closest I can come to is his brutal rape of Dominique. As her character twistedly compliments Roark's, proponents could argue that it was what she wanted and did her no harm. However, in the general sense, when was rape ever a good thing to begin with?

This may be a single point in a very large work, but for me it crests the wave of rationalizations and paves the way to firmly illustrating the bigger points of unease. Being true to yourself is a good maxim in general, but to pursue it past the point of social rationality to me denies an essential element of humanity. Sure, there are folk out there who function just dandy on no social interaction and a hermetical lifestyle. But they are a small slice of a very big, and very varied human pie.

I don't begrudge the people for whom Objectivism works and gives them happiness. But I DO begrudge the same system of philosophy which makes the greater majority of people alone and unhappy because it squelches social necessities under the guise of individualism. For those of you who skipped the Nathanial Branden article due to TL:DNR, here's an excerpt...

"...I re-read the opening chapter of The Fountainhead. It really is a great book. I noticed something in the first chapter I never noticed before. Consider these facts: The hero has just been expelled from school, he is the victim of injustice, he is misunderstood by virtually everyone, and he himself tends to find other people puzzling and incomprehensible. He is alone; he has no friends. There is no one with whom he can share his inner life or values. So far, with the possible exception of being expelled from school, this could be a fairly accurate description of the state of the overwhelming majority of adolescents. There is one big difference: Howard Roark gives no indication of being bothered by any of it. He is serenely happy within himself. For average teenagers, this condition is agony. They read The Fountainhead and see this condition, not as a problem to be solved, but as a condition they must learn to be happy about -- as Roark is. All done without drugs! What a wish-fulfillment that would be! What a dream come true! Don't bother learning to understand anyone. Don't bother working at making yourself better understood. Don't try to see whether you can close the gap of your alienation from others, at least from some others, just struggle for Roark's serenity -- which Rand never tells you how to achieve. This is an example of how The Fountainhead could be at once a source of great inspiration and a source of great guilt, for all those who do not know how to reach Roark's state."

Sic Dicta Est. And when it comes to The Fountainhead as a story, I found that it ended exactly as I thought it would. Sure, there were some character arcs I didn't expect, but I would have finished out the thousand-odd pages to nothing that a 5 minute perusal of a summary of Objectivism could tell me. The protagonist is finally recognized for the genius he is, despite the fact that he is stubborn, hermetical, and sociopathic. The antagonist fails miserably despite being competent, friendly, loving and flexible. Tell me this doesn't sound like some emo early-teen's wish-fulfillment fantasy. Rand's idea of a hero is too close to some dark alternate-universe version of a Mary Sue for me to take seriously.

I started reading The Fountainhead because I wanted to get a better idea of Rand's philosophy and because I wanted to read a good story. Little did I know that I already had a fair idea of Rand's philosophy, and found myself not caring about the story halfway through. My last rationalization for reading her work is that Atlas Shrugged is an "important" book to have read. This may fall through if it's anything like The Fountainhead, but I'm willing to give it a try in the name of literature, just don't expect to see my thoughts on it unless it turns my thinking around. Considering all I've just said, not bloody likely.

Enough, More Later.
- James

Go, Anon, Go!

Currently in Earphones: "Robin Hood" soundtrack by Andy Price

I'm out there in spirit, and am greatly looking forward to the news and videos that are sure to pop up on YouTube shortly.

Also, as a preview for a more lengthly post later ("Why I can't finish The Fountainhead"), a link to something I've probably already posted before. The Benefits and Hazards of the Philosophy of Ayn Rand

Also, Dicewars! Kinda like Risk on speed. See how addicted you become.

Thirdly, Captain Disillusion. Another one (stylishly, and for the YouTube Age) joins the ranks of Randi and Carroll.

And finally, some wag created a database a la Bash for.....Limericks? It's everything I'd hoped it would be.

Enough, More Later.
- James

A little more on the subject....

Now playing: Marco Beltrami - Ben Takes The Stage / Dan's Burden
via FoxyTunes


WONDERFUL. I love this person's thoughts. Along with Wise Beard Man, required viewing for any and all Anonymous.


Enough, More (on this subject) later.
- James

Because I think it would be worth mentioning...

Currently in Earphones: "Tomorrow Never Dies" Soundtrack by David Arnold

(Arrg, Blogger isn't letting me embed the image, click it to see the whole animation)

This should be interesting.

Enough, More (Thoughts on the subject) Later.
- James