Catch a tiger by its tail

Every so often I have the luxury of time to catch up on indie content and last night I watched the feature length doco The Tiger Next Door.
Directed and produced by Camilla Calamandrei, it looks at first to be a vehicle to examine the rights of an individual animal breeder to engage in being a big cat enthusiast. That sounds furry and fun.
After  establishing Dennis the Tiger Guy as an animal loving, slightly kooky, heart in the right place dude with more than 20 tigers in his back yard (that's weird but aren't we all just a couple of beasties away from Tiger hoarder)  we go on a roller coaster ride of meth head, anti government, "they done took my guns" etc. set to a back drop of "Tiger Ate Its Trainer" headlines and the vets/rescue workers asking why the fuck anyone in the USA is allowed to breed or keep tigers as pets.
I ask the same thing.
Honestly, we have no reason to keep beings that require thousands of square metres as their stomping ground in a cage of any sort. It's selfish and weird. Wait, you cant tell me what to do! Yeah really?  I think we can. We have standards of behaviour for every damn thing. Tiger keeping is on the list.

This doco explores the murky morals of a business that profits from what is at its very best a shitty life for an animal and at its worst is misery that you wouldn't wish on your worst enemy. Slow deaths of starvation, abandonment and crippling confinement are par for the course.

In Denis's case, the locals call a town meeting to debate how safe town folk feel about living near tigers vs what a crackhead Denis is, then turn it into an emotive story telling contest. "I've known Denis all my life blah blah"Vs"Denis is a felon with a record" without one person taking the side of the aggrieved party, the tiger- Hey would you like to be incarcerated for your entire natural life for amusement? - "yeah sure, oh no, wait... that's a no from this kitty cat. Lets blow this chicken coop."

Just say no to keeping tigers.

I did yell "fuck you" at the tv once because what the fuck is wrong with people?

Towards the end there is an argument between two grown men that pretty much goes- "I know you are but what am I."  I'm paraphrasing of course.
When Denis responds to his friend's criticism of his long and well documented history of neglect of our stripy friends with "I'm back in business!" I commended the Director for handing Denis enough rope. I'd like to drag Denis behind something with that rope but I practice kindness to all things, even assholes.

Worth a watch if only to confirm that there are loads of weird and shitty things happening in the world and you should definitely be doing good stuff and fighting the good fight.
Little things like shopping and giving money to the charity of your choice at Amazon Smile all at no cost to you, can make a difference to a not for profit charity. There you go. Pick the side of goodness and light and be a fluffy bunny of righteousness.

Seriously, whatever you can do to tread more lightly upon this planet and its beings then do that.
Mwah. xx

For real.

The immersive world of Augmented Reality a la Iron Man and the like. Superimposed info streams giving us the edge on plain old reality.  Looks exciting in a way that makes me feel like I need a cup of tea and a lie down. I get it in theory but where am I going to fit the extra information in on top of what is already going on between my ears without blowing a gasket.

Let me set the scene for you taking my morning train ride as a fairly indicative example of my inner world.

7:30am The inside of my head reverberates with a constant sound track. There is always some ear worm or another playing, creating the internal atmosphere. It's usually the last thing I heard on Spotify or a selection of teen pop hits from some Uber ride that have lodged permanently in my head taking up valuable and limited hard drive space and bandwidth in general. I think I forgot math so I could learn all the words to "Closer" by The Chainsmokers.

Over the pop music there is the constant narrative- you know how in action movies the sniper guys have an ear piece with intel being piped in by Ops? It's like that but much less useful- (Imagine here the walkie talkie sound- Kheeeeeek) "Hey look at that! I wonder if she knows that her top is on inside out? Wait, are your clothes on the right way? Shoes, pants... Oh good. Why is that person smiling at you? Oh maybe there is something on your face... Did you remember to turn the gas off... What is the Spanish word for... Kheeeeeek.

At the same time there is the Terminator style heads up display in my mind's eye but with completely spurious  information. Like the guy opposite me on the train looks a bit like that guy from that movie, yeah that one, whats his name? Facial recognition activated-  Running possibilities. Possible match found.  List(all movies staring that guy) Sort(movies staring that guy I haven't seen but might like to) Wonder(are they are on Netflix?). This process may or may not have that computer cursor sound effect for fun.

Interrupted by someone conversing loudly over my internal dialogue. Mentally running Dexter style plans to do them in and not get caught. I'd be doing the whole carriage a favour. Seriously.  Evaluate the possibility of getting away with it as informed by all tv shows- in fast forward. May or may not involve ending with the Wilhelm scream each time. Reevaluate as a vast overreaction... Sorry, you were saying?

Start to wonder about one thing- wonder about everything. Ok Google... 

Mental list(everything I've ever wanted to learn, make, do) 

Overwhelm. System is getting a bit crispy round the edges. Need a cup of tea. Breathe.

And for some light relief there is this vision of the future by Keiichi Matsuda

HYPER-REALITY from Keiichi Matsuda on Vimeo.

Whats your story morning glory?

Question: You get to choose a vacation anywhere, wherever in the world you would like to go and doing whatever floats your boat. Got it?  OK, now you are told that at the end of it, all of your photos will be destroyed and your memory of it wiped. What? Now think about this, would you choose the same vacation?
Take a millisecond to ponder that one.

If you would choose a different vacation or wonder what would be the point of going at all then you have some reconciling to do between yourselves. That's right, the both of you. This is what is currently blowing my mind.

You see your holidaying self is the 'experiencing self'.  The part of you doing it all right now... and now... and... ok the one living your life in the moment. This one will notice if the holiday is one week or two because it is right there lapping up the margaritas and getting a tan. The one that chooses the holiday to go on as well as most of your rational decisions is the other one- the "remembering" self. This one is constructing the narrative of your life through storytelling, and is apparently remarkably indifferent to the feelings of the experiencing self. Hence the extreme hiking holiday that will be a "growth experience" later, when you fondly look back on it.

The idea comes from Daniel Kahneman. The only psychologist ever to win a Nobel Prize in Economics and is known for his studies of the psychology of judgment and decision-making.

Thanks to DK we know if someone asks if you are happy, one self can tell you if you are happy in your life and the other will tell you if you are happy about your life and they aren't highly correlated. Seriously, what are we like?

I know that when I am having an experience I am already re-presenting it to myself in words. I am trying to pin it down before it squirms away into the vagaries of memory. I look for good words, beautiful words, words with specificity that distinguish this experience from similar ones or group them together. Rich words. Visceral words. Fuck it, a haiku if necessary. It is very hard to accurately recall a feeling later.

I am constructing the story as the story is unfolding as if being close to the source will somehow leave less room for the corrupting influence of time. My experiencing self wants to shake me and say "Be here now. Be a witness. Don't judge... perceive". But I know that we are our remembering selves and all we get out of living this life is the memory of living it.  Even that is temporary so, goddamit, I will try and etch all of this in my neural pathways with words. Oh and the odd photograph.

Eat, drink, love. Isn't that what makes a life?

As an introvert and a minimalist I have a mistrust of the prevalent consumer culture being shoved down my throat. I also harbour a deep desire to eliminate the extraneous and fill my world with only that which gives me joy. My joy comes from learning new things, travelling, solving problems and spreading kindness.

If you live in my world,  I will be fiercely loyal to you, bake you irrationally difficult cakes, expect you to be proactively making the planet a better place and have a passport.
I will also expect you to be kind.
Simply extend to your fellow human your understanding of their plight and the overarching sameness of us all and you will forever have a place in my heart. Fight for the most vulnerable. Use your power for good. Repeat.

After that I dont know what makes a life because for each of us it is different. I know I learnt the hard way that your presence in the moment might be your greatest gift to give in this life. Be here now.

Eat, drink, love...

Quite frankly fuck buying the latest car, house, clothes, toy, whatever, in the hope that you will feel more alive.
Be alive. Burn brightly. You will inevitably reach a point in your life where you feel your own mortality and no amount of stuff you have purchased can save you.  Memento Mori. So keep it simple.

I got hit by a motorcycle and walked away unscathed. The 3 seconds before it broke my bicycle were filled with many thoughts, some of them etched deeply in my amygdala like hurt and die. I have an acute awareness of those moments in which your life takes an entirely different direction- "Sliding Doors" moments. I look back on them once a while and feel an immense gratitude.
So what is important to you? - the kind of important that you give it all of your time (or you would if you weren't scrolling through Facebook and dicking around on Instagram- and same monster just so you know).  Do that thing. Do it a lot. Do it with passion and commitment. Find other people that dig what you do. Share it.

Don't listen to me but I think love fiercely all of the people in your life that are worthy of your love. Let go of whatever no longer serves you. Drink red wine because it might be good for you and it feels good,  ditto eating your vegetables and turn off the fucking internet once in a while because... just because.

Baby you can drive my car...

Yes! It is about time. Self driving cars. We are officially living in the future. Actually I don't think that that is how it works but still.

When I've talked to people about self driving cars they often wonder how we will account for the possibility of a self driving car killing someone in an accident. Given that 90 percent of the 1.2 million people killed each year by cars is down to human error I say give the machines the wheel. It won't be tired, angry, drunk, texting their boyfriend, screaming at the kids or just a bit of a shit driver. If you have ever got in a taxi cab in Paris you will be on my side, Jésus! And I bet you that they can do a Melbourne hook turn without crying. Google that one international friends.

I never learnt to drive so when Uber came along I was super happy although it is still getting in cars with strangers and I think that was a lesson at primary school that went along the lines of DANGER! something something... Imagine my joy at the thought of a self drive Uber without the awkward conversation and the terrible music.

Apart from my own personal gain as previously established, it opens up a world without parking buildings- your car can go and deliver people and goods while you work and come back and pick you up later. Or make money while you sleep. All good things. There are so many people who are unable to physically manage driving that will have a world of mobility open up to them.

I'm also pretty sure if you ask cyclists whether they think that a self driving car with cameras, ultrasonic sensors, radars AND freaking lasers will say "duh, I didn't see you" as they nearly kill you at an intersection. No, those cyclists will be betting heavily on software.

Exciting times that probably won't end in the machines taking over and using us as a battery pack. Probably.

Any spare change?

Arrrgh I cant bear the bickering. I've had to tune out of news and political rhetoric for a little break from what feels like an exercise in futility.

We like to think we will get shit done and change things by debating the crap out of everything.  Everything is an argument. This is how we have always done things so lets keep doing it right? We love a good dichotomy. It's always us vs them, Left vs Right, Art vs Science, Godzilla vs King Kong (2020 apparently) It isn't useful or constructive and I'd like to thank Socrates for this- cue Bill and Ted...

Bill: So-cratz - "The only true wisdom consists in knowing that you know nothing".

Ted: That's us, dude.

So yes,  the basis of Socratic Method is debate to stimulate critical thinking, defend a point of view, weaken your opponents position by getting them to contradict themselves and generally it is some adversarial posturing. Thats nice. You can watch the monkeys you vote for do this on a daily basis.

And that is the problem. Argument is inadequate as a tool of thinking and of change because it has no ability to design and create. Change comes slowly if at all. Is is highly inefficient.

De Bono put forward Parallel Thinking as an alternative to the dialectic approach. It encourages a full exploration of the possibilities. Throw a bunch of ideas out there and explore them all. One (that's you) is free to contribute with knowledge, facts and feelings. Squee! That's the freaking trifecta right there. That's the beginning of building amazing and world changing things. And we really do need to change the world right now.

You can bet that Elon Musk and the kids at Tesla don't bother playing mental ping pong when they come up with the next cool thing that will rock your world.  No, they use "first principles" whereby they boil things down to the most fundamental truths and build from there. They use a variety of different perspectives to build from assuming that complex tasks require multiple representations of knowledge. Then they make stuff. Change things. Blow our minds.
Thank goodness because quite frankly Tesla et al are the only light at the end of the tunnel that isn't just a train coming the other way right now.

In my heart my hope is that Art and Science will fall in love with each other now that they are on both on the bad side of the prevalent "Right Wing" fence. They will run away together, have late night collaborative discussions over red wine and lead the revolution whereby they invent the sustainable, glorious future and sell it to us in every little consumer decision we make. I'd buy that. Take my money.

Oh stop arguing, there is no Us and Them. Hold hands and make this shit work or we all go down together. Seriously.
Mwah.

Day two

Oh the second post is always much harder than the first. One foot in front if the other. One bite at a time.

"Everything that happens once can never happen again. But everything that happens twice will surely happen a third time"
Paulo Coelho

Showing up. 

 
Here I am again if only to prove to myself that I am doing this.
I'm pretty sure no one is listening which is what happens when you disappear for a long time. 

I missed finding something funny, gorgeous or outrageous to write about for you. When you write about something outside of yourself it's still very revealing, like learning about your new lover by triangulation of their opinions, likes and dislikes. Defining the negative space and shadow as much as object of your affections. Even I got to know me a little better through my writing. 

People will tell you that I'm a very private person and that if you want to know more then you'll just have to hang around.

Maybe we can talk about design, art, politics, compassion, technology, the bendy nature of cheese, cats and the universe or whatever floats your boat, just not the weather or some shit from the mainstream news. 

Yeah, lets do this.

I'm back...

Darlings, it has been a very long time since I had something to say to you.  I lost my voice and my way and felt that I had nothing to give you.  I let someone undermine my confidence until I really thought that I had nothing to offer. I trashed my entire cyber life and dropped off the face of the internet. It's been a while.
In that time I have regained as sense of self, of what I stand for, and sometime against. I hope if I start writing again then you and I will get back to where we were. I was sometimes funny and you were sometimes amused. I won't ask you for much but do let me know how you are doing out there in the world. It can be a tough place. We should totally stick together. I hope we can trust each other again. Plus I bring kittens... see. Please love me.

CS