Soup For Sluts: Cheap, Fast & Easy

Of course it's from Japan!

Love: Can it be real if the object is not?

"Super-Toys Last All Summer Long" by Brian Aldiss is a great little story and the basis for the film "A.I." In the beginning of A.I. a tech asks, "If a robot could genuinely love a person, what responsibility does that person hold toward that mecha in return? It's a moral question, isn't it?"

It basically sums up the short story by Aldiss. So my question is, what would our responsibility be to a machine that shows love? If we, being the creator, created a sentient cyborg child, indistinguishable from a living biological being, and programmed to love us as its parent, should we not reciprocate that love?

The theist might believe since it has no soul, we don't have any responsibility since it's just a machine. However, atheists generally do not believe in a soul. Would this free (or bind) an atheist to love this machine?  Regardless of your belief of the existence of a soul we have to keep in mind that this machine is a "sentient thing."  Are we morally bound to be responsible and care for this machine?

What are your thoughts?

I've been Sucker Punched. Next up, a cold shower...

I imagine Zack Snyder snorting a line of coke before shouting “action!” I have imagined him doing coke even before viewing Sucker Punch and now I’m damn sure that he does indeed snort coke. Sucker Punch is a deeply flawed film fueled by poor dialogue, a simple plot and a clichéd story. It’s an evolved women-in-chains flick and wired like the mind of a teenage boy: an exercise in masturbation while flipping through the latest Frederick’s of Hollywood catalog and playing a video game... with a joystick. That said I turned off my frontal lobe as the lights dimmed at the IMAX. Now producing less dopamine, my brain allowed me to sink into my dark precipitous carnal core. I let go of my ego and super ego; this was going to be a wild ride on the id.

If The Brotherhood of the Wolf is broken down into 3 different films it could be considered a poor period piece, a horrible horror flick or a mediocre martial arts film. Instead it was a highly enjoyable film. Who knew that mash-up would work? It did and to that I say bravo. Sucker Punch has the same elements. Granted, in the Snyder universe the elements behave much different and are much more unstable.

Snyder’s protagonist is a 20 year old woman known only as Baby Doll (Emily Browning). She looks more like a 12 year old Nabokov character; a pigtailed blonde with a consistent pouty expression even when she’s killing the bad guys. Sent to a mental asylum for the accidental killing of her younger sister, Baby Doll breaks her mind from reality and creates a fantasy world in which she is the newest member of a, excuse me, brothel. Needless to say, that’s a fantasy of a man. The fantasy doesn’t stop there. Things are not going well in the brothel (go figure) so she creates another fantasy in which she and her fellow patients/prostitutes are an elite commando unit kicking ass on monster samurais, World War I German soldiers, demons, dragons and cyborgs all the while in combat ready lingerie. What’s not to love?

I’m glad you asked.

Snyder felt it was very obvious to show the audience that Baby Doll is 20 years old at the same time making her appear as if she was 12. Was it a nod to the male of the species that it’s okay to lust after her without feeling guilty? Her combat outfit was that of a Japanese influenced sexy school girl; like something out of a soft porn Manga. If you’re familiar with Japanese Manga, you’ll know that the artists prefer to draw big round eyes for their characters. That’s Baby Doll, a live Manga character and I feel dirty.

I'm cute, sexy and I pout. Don't call me Lolita because I'll kick your ass.

I know a lot of critics will pan Sucker Punch. Their reasons will be that it’s offensive or stupid or both. A few brave souls will say Snyder is a genius. For me, they’re both right and both wrong. I loved this film for all the wrong reasons. I make no apologies and neither does my highly satisfied id. The visceral experience overwhelmed my senses and left me asking myself, “Is Sucker Punch barely legal exploitation or post-millennium-girl-power-feminism?” You’ll have to see it for yourself to answer that but just when you know what the answer is, you’ll be wrong. Or should I say Sucker Punched?

Dedication to Andy Irons

I tried to come up with the words but nothing came. That said, I will re-post this poignant video he made just before his tragic death. Andy shouldn't have died and if he had to die, it should have been while he was surfing. He will be missed.

Rest in peace Andy. July 24, 1978 – November 2, 2010

Love Cannot Be Calculated

"Quantum Physics teaches that nothing is fixed, that there are no limitations, that everything is vibrating Energy."

Subsequent to the most tragic day
To which fate responds ambivalently
Courteous were you of my sympathy
My desire, I wonder, see it did you?
 

Or was it my blindness and stupidity?
Your beauty reaches beyond the heavens
Divine proportion, Your Golden Ratio
Impelled my uncalculated calculation

Amor fati, amor fati, amor fati
I too shall make something beautiful
Desperately I wanted to share it with you
My hopeless longing wishing you may

The supposition in which I played
See through it you would I had posited
Damn my theatrics, damn my stage fright
My miscalculation, deaf to my intuition

Your love of me found out did I
To which the sum may have been “in love”
A delay, an absence for too long
I returned, decided I had to call upon you

But your hand, it was taken by another
Taking my heart and soul with it
I have not uttered your name since

For the blade of love's misfortune
Upon my neck it spitefully rests
I realized my fatal miscalculation

One minus one equals melancholy

Surfing Santa Cruz

I woke up today feeling good about surfing. As I drove down from San
Francisco I was hoping for some decent waves. Little did I know the
temperature would be in the high 80s. Apparently others did as traffic
was heavy and it took me almost twice as long as usual to get there.

The selection of rental surfboards were pretty bad. I was tempted to buy my
own but I found one which was a bit too small for me, meaning it was
designed for someone with more advanced skills. The dude who rented it to
me said I should be okay as he's seen me surf. I took a chance
thinking the waves might not be too big. I was right until low tide.
The waves were breaking 3 to 4 feet. Bigger than what I saw at the US
Open at Huntington Beach earlier this year.

Naturally my first few attempts on the bigger waves ended up as
wipeouts. My final wipeout was a bit nasty. The wave came in slower
than I expected so I paddled slowly. Either that or I read the wave
wrong and as I went to popup I realized I timed it wrong. I went to
kneel to catch my balance but then Mother Nature decided to work my
sorry ass. As I hit the water I heard "OHs" and other exclamations
from nearby suffers.

A local girl said I had the wave and didn't know why I tried to
correct my center of gravity. I explained I was using a board beyond
my skills and wasn't quite comfortable surfing it. As we paddled back into
the lineup she gave me a couple of pointers. She's a typical California
surfer girl - blonde, tan and beautiful. I'd think her husband would agree.
Oh well.

Santa Cruz is a big surfing town. You can find surfers out in the
water pretty much everyday of the year. Today was no exception and the
amount of surfers out in the water was crazy. Considering the board, I surfed
Cowell's beach because the waves are rather gentle. It's also where surf
lessons are given. There must have been about 20 people learning how
to surf. They tend to get in the way but I didn't mind as everyone was
a beginner at one point and deserves a chance to learn. I'm always happy to see new people of all
ages learning how to surf.

While I was surfing the smaller waves earlier in the day something
unusual happened; I saw a dolphin. It came right next to me when I was
trying to catch a wave. At first I thought it was a shark but saw the
dorsal fin bobbing in a circular motion. The dorsal fin of a shark
moves evenly on surface. Nevertheless it startled me and I slid off
the backside of the wave. The dolphin circled back and looked at me as
if to say, "Dude, that was a beautiful wave you missed." I was
surprised we was curious enough to come close to me and two other
surfers. We all patted him on his head then someone yelled out,
"shark!" I realized everyone was looking in our direction. The dolphin
swam around for a few more minutes then disappeared. It was incredible
and I never thought that I'd experience something like it.

Even more odd than that was a wedding was taking place on the beach. A
wedding on the beach isn't unusual but I was one of five people asked
to pose with the bride and groom. How could I say no on such an
occasion?

As I left the beach I realized I've been surfing over six hours. It
was then my arms turned to jello. I had to carry the board on my head
because I couldn't carry it by its rails. It was a great day but now my
body is telling me I will pay for it.

Perception: One Ring to Rule Them All

One of the biggest challenges our species faces is our ability to get along with others. When we first begin to like someone it is because of what we find interesting about them. It’s not much but enough to make us want to know more about them. We see the big picture and it looks good. Troubles begin when we find out the details. It’s not as simple as being good or bad. They need not have several flaws as it might be one simple flaw that you just cannot accept.

They look good from afar but far from good looking.

Just as we evaluate someone, we too are being evaluated. There are those who pretend to be someone they are not. There are those who know who they are and don’t care how others perceive them. For the most part, I fall into the latter category. I say for the most part because I do not want to be perceived as a coward or a hypocrite. Those two qualities are at the top of my list of worst human frailties. I would find it troublesome if someone perceived me as either. We all care about what other people think of us to varying degrees.

This realization began to bother me. If others have a negative impression about me should I change? I consider myself an honest and decent person, why should I change because other people do not see who I really am? If I decide to change it’s because I want to better myself as a human being and not because I want others to have a better perception of me.

I volunteer my time to a local organization in San Francisco. One of my fellow volunteers asked me to get involved in another cause. I politely declined stating my reasons. This was unacceptable to him and word spread that I’m an uncaring sort and a hypocrite. Just before our last meeting, I saw my antagonist enter the office as I was standing across the street.

I texted him, “I don’t appreciate the lies you’re spreading. Please retract it all.”
His text back was, “No, what are you going to do about it?”
My response, “Step outside so we can discuss this privately.”

SFPD is called. Great.

Luckily the head of the volunteer program vouched for me and the booted my antagonist out of the organization. I could have avoided this by letting it go but I didn’t want people to perceive me as a hypocrite. This is something about me that I am currently unwilling to change.

Currently unwilling…

Each time I reflect on who I am I ask myself, “Who am I really?” I look back at my life and try to think like I did as a child when life was much simpler. I try to describe myself without classifications or labels. What is the best thing I’ve ever done without expectation of a reward? What’s the worst thing I’ve done out of fear or greed?


But willing to change…

As life progresses we change. We react to our environment; what we learn from others or through direct experience. We struggle to get ahead in life and ask ourselves, “What am I doing that is sabotaging my goal to become a better human being?”

The reasons are endless but I’ve developed a general plan on how to better myself. It came from Lord of the Rings; I believe it was my third read during the time I was studying psychology. One phrase kept popping into my head: One ring to rule them all.

Epiphany.

I believe there are only 4 perceptions of an individual:

* How you perceive yourself.
* How you think others perceive you.
* How others perceive you.
* How you want to be perceived.

Each perception is a ring. The fifth ring is the real you. Each perception holds a truth about you but perception is subjective and therein lies the rub. The OBJECTIVE is to make all the rings the same. I have complete control over how I perceive myself but getting the other 3 perceptions to align is difficult if not impossible. The only way we can change what others think about us is by observing feedback. Sadly, feedback often comes back to us as lies or is too ambiguous for us to interpret. Even our closest friends may lie to us because they’re afraid to hurt our feelings. It is this reason why I prefer to be honest with people who I have a relationship with. It doesn’t always work but at least I can weed out the people who I perceive is not worth my time.