Prince Myshkin

Nice. I did once stop running from the dinosaurs and then I just woke up.

Haha, it's so frustrating when you wake up realise that there are so many inaccuracies within your dream, which you even consciously debated the existence of to decide if it was a dream or not. I've had it a few times being chased by raptors. 'Hang on a minute, there are no dinosaurs, this must be a dream...' (a few seconds later) 'wtf am I talking about, there clearly are dinosaurs because one's chasing me. Run!' Edit: also dreams where people in your life are completely different - like physically a completely different person. Your Mum is just somebody else and even though you are aware something is massively wrong you just accept it.

And those who don't do the same? Sounds like you're agreeing they should be complaining if the only thing stopping you complaining is the fact that you do it.

Provocative title which takes some explanation. My actual point is that I wish it was easier for women to be women than it is. And I hope it does become easier in the future. It's so much easier to be a man, generally speaking, in this life. The thing that really weirds me out, and I wish i could change it (and much of this applies to males too, though not all of it) is the constant focus on appearance and the importance of being sexy that's almost always pushed forward in everyday life. I wish sex education was better in schools and I wish there were lessons on equality and respect between the two genders (I'm talking about genders on a traditional level here, I am aware of the blurred spectrum of gender that exists, though i don't have the time to go into that I'm afraid). I just feel like peoples "imperfections" are seized upon and beauty becomes a commodity that can be bought with the right purchase (be it the right toothpaste, the right clothes or the correct body shape achieved through some kind of magic slimming food/pill or surgery). And the thing with commodities is you need to keep pushing it, because capitalism doesn't work on the basis of buy this and you'll be sorted and won't need to buy anything else. So even after purchasing the product to sort your life out and get you the boy, you need another imperfection to be thrust upon you, and another imperfection. I find it so bizarre because it's peoples imperfections that you tend to fall in love with. It is what separates them from the rest. It is what makes them them. Yet if females don't play the game and buy into all this crap they are ridiculed and held up as frigid, prudish or unattractive. If females do play the game and seek happiness through these means they are met with increased levels of sexism, whether it is being called a slut or even sexual assault (when you get people defending rapists because a girl was dressed certain way). And to top it off, if they do take control of their body and enjoy their sexuality, they are also seen as a slut. It needn't matter if all that they are doing is safe and consensual and they are merely enjoying their bodies, it's seen as shameful. So if you don't play along you're ridiculed and made to feel unattractive. If you do play along you're made out as a slut and you're constantly having your imperfections held up, because you have to maintain that appearance. If you let things slip and put on a few pounds/kilos then people will talk. And if you try to take control of yourself and just enjoy yourself then there will be plenty of people to judge you and try to stop you. There's a very narrow spectrum of possible 'success' for women in this regard. Only a certain type of women are respected on sexual grounds and it really annoys me. For men it's completely different. Generally speaking, men can get away with all sorts. They are just being men. Doing what men do. They can have different pressures of course, but not to the extent that women have them, forced from all sides at all times. It's fucked up.

Audiobooks count in my book. Confusing sentence, but er, yeah. Half the books I get through are listened to.

Chopping down a small tree. Half way through.

Was that something thrown at him? (couldn't listen with sound so apologies if it was explained) Yeah, Aguero will surely be banned. Things like that should be at least five matches in my opinion. It's straight up maliciousness. Off the ball, two footed stamp. Different to a strong and mistimed challenge for the ball.

And just to expand on my last post, the very fact that I draw conclusions from seemingly unrelated sources on this matter kind of proves Watts point. By and large, you can only compare new knowledge by fitting it in with your own preconceived biases, the information you already hold (some of it possibly incorrect) and your past experiences. The concepts you take on are squeezed into a tiny sphere of your current understanding and twisted and pulled apart until it fits into your own way of looking at things. It can at times be so revolutionary that it affects the rest of what you already know and you have to take stock and make changes to prior beliefs, but for the vast majority of things (since we take on so much and major changes in belief are so rare) the new things simply sit alongside the old things and interact with them as best they can. Therefore what can mean one thing to me can mean another thing for you, for we'd come at it from different perspectives. This is why the suppression of ideas can be so corrosive. There will be certain viewpoints we may never achieve because of our previous biases, our slim spectrum of experience and the inherited culture we take as our own. This is where culture can prove problematic. Obviously that is not to say that there are no positives at all with it. I'm certainly proud of certain aspects of my culture. (There we are, just about managed to pull that whole thing back to the topic in hand)

Sweet, thanks for that. No, I've never looked into any of this. It's just come from me and my mates ramblings on the matter, trying to make sense of the way certain people behave. I'm gonna look more into it from actual theory based perspective now, I think. Probably starting with this guy. The very first quote on that link was very interesting: “Culture is the collective programming of the mind distinguishing the members of one group or category of people from others”. I agree with this viewpoint in the sense that it is a somewhat controlling and divisive mechanism. We all do appeared to be programmed (not by some greater force I hasten to add, simply by the circumstance of our surroundings), and like I said earlier in the thread, everything rubs off on you and it's scary how much your society shapes you. Even to the extent of what you rebel against, because it all comes down to experience, and without it, you don't have anything to compare it with, and therefore it doesn't really exist for you and can leave that side of your character undeveloped. I also found the bit at the end interesting too, that "Culture only exists by comparison: The country scores on the dimensions are relative - societies are compared to other societies. Without make a comparison a country score is meaningless." I've found this concept very interesting indeed in recent weeks, and have alluded to it at the end of the paragraph above. I've been reading Alan Watts who, whilst being quite heavy on the trippier side of life at times, believed that since we are a part of the universe rather than within it, without everything else behaving the way it does, the concept of us declines. What else could a light shine in if it wasn't darkness, after all? (I struggled formulating my thoughts on the last part of that last paragraph, so it certainly doesn't read too well. Feel free to look up Watts, he explains it far better)

Not bad. Not bad at all. Thanks.

Goodnight.

A little bit, sometimes - múm What do you feel the meaning of life is?

Did acid for the first (and probably last) time last week. It was very good. Wouldn't recommend it to anyone specifically, as it's not for everyone and there's the potential downsides but I had a 100% positive experience and it can be a wonderful thing. I felt like my skin was merely a bridge linking me to the outside world, and there were warm vibrations pulsating within me, and warm vibrations pulsating outside of me, and the two were interacting on the surface of my skin. It was good because I had this without any feeling of claustrophobia or lack of control and the pressure was just perfect. The world had a kind of sparkly finish to it and there were sustained periods (5 mins or so) of euphoria every hour or so which were beyond any experience I've ever had. It was bordering on sexual at times but without feeling horny. Just feeling super awesome and tingly and sensitive but always in a good way. I was sat down for the vast vast majority and I felt as though there was a giant paintbrush gently stroking me into the background of the universe, so that I could become an actual part of it, and the brush was comforting pressing down slightly on me, but also curling around and gently flicking me into the rest of the universe from deep inside me. So, er, yeah. That was my experience. I'm not advertising it to anyone. Just stating what happened. Oh, and listening to this whilst on it was epic, especially the last few minutes: [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6jLZzb43fw]Tame Impala | Runway, Houses, City, Clouds - YouTube[/ame]

Whiskey or vodka with coke but take it slow. If not stay sober.

Remind me again why you support Manchester City?

Can someone suggest a Bonobo track from the new album, please? I've heard rave reviews but have yet got around to listening.

The way this world is geared up and the awful ways in which it's possible to "succeed" in life, simply being successful isn't being enough in my book (but that doesn't mean my books better than anyone elses, just explaining my previous comments). Work hard ethic is good to be talking about though, I'll give her that. To be honest though, it's easily said. And the level of her success is only partly down to her work ethic. If she'd kept her clothes on, whilst she may well have got a contract, she would not have been as big as she is.

People who don't drink due to moral high grounds are missing out.

Everyone likes crap music when they are young.

That's a real nice journey.

Bloody Celtic not winning in normal time and costing me money.

Here's the Youtube version. Only 1 track missing as it's not on there. It is a Sunday playlist so is slow.

I will make it on Youtube for you, though i can't promise you will like it. Hopefully all the tracks will be on there.

If people looked into the history of their society they will see two key elements. 1. Any concept of racial purity is misguided in terms of the ridiculous amount of mixing throughout the ages and ultimately everybody's shared cultural heritage. 2. Majority (though not all) of concepts behind social inequalities (such as positive racism) purportedly favouring minorities are not true. Privilege actually tends to be class based, throughout the worlds societies. The lower classes demonising themselves is convenient and pushed to ridiculous levels by much of the media.

http://open.spotify.com/user/braddock28/playlist/3PNVtOraEFiGUyITexDXkM