CODA: And maps and plans

A very beautiful animated short well worth your time to see

Wonderful! By And maps and plans

Sourcce: Youtube, as above

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Will working for the Rat Race become obsolete?

Or will a new emergent, more powerful, even richer class continue to thrive?

I sound like a paranoid whack-a-doo, but please, allow me to clarify, this wave of paranoia swept over me months ago when in class we had to watch this:

And then were assigned to research computerisation levels of certain jobs. I will leave it up to the intrepid reader to wonder what level of automation their job in 20 years will have, it's a concept I find, frankly-terrifying.

The reality is that the Industrial Revolution replaced jobs and displaced many workers. The infinite possibility of technological application is inescapable, no matter your job. A very large portion of society (and that most dreaded of terms "the economy) rely on "low-skilled" work such as Bartending or working as a Barista. (Please do not take this as a value judgement, merely a point of comparison).

The thing I've got a problem with is, with every new technology that comes along and promises to give us "more time" and "freedom", freedom from chopping vegetables now that the Zoodler is here is not freedom from the most mundane never-ending task of all: The 9-5 rat race, working for the man, that almighty symbol of occupation which has become to be revered and worshipped more than anything else.

How shall work remain a moral currency with the increasing automation of jobs and an increasing population, how are people going to be able to deal with this change?

If there is one thing that firms can be relied on to do, it is to cut costs, and the most replaceable part of a workplace is: the worker.

A Utopian dream that will be less hours, less drudgery, less soul-sucking work for those unlucky enough to despise their jobs: is further away than ever. As we increase replacement of human workers so businesses can broaden their bottom line, what about the human cost? Will the entire concept of the rat race become obsolete? Or will it mean even MORE working hours, higher competition for less meaningful work, as automatons take away much needed employment? The persistent myth is out there that with more machines it is less work for us, and I hold the opposite to be true, with more machines, it will be more work for us, in a few technological generations time, such as the grandiose promises of the Industrial Revolution, we will be working harder than ever before.

I would love to hear some thoughts on this

Thank you to CGP Grey for such an astute to the point video

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Late Bloomer (for the sky watchers)

I don't even really know if its self-righteous to claim the title of 'late bloomer' as I am still very young

(Single-handedly the most reassuring Wiki entry here)

There are days this collective emphasis on 'having it' and 'knowing what to do with your life' is maddening. Some of us just wake up each day and have no clue. Rather than a complacency thing, I see it as almost the opposite, almost paralysed with too much choice. Potential! The one word always thrown back at you when you're struggling

There are days where I feel myself breaking beneath all my 'potential' selves. The weight of this unrealised future gain is holding me back in the present, and a few other Idlers I have met in my travels. It becomes a trap rather than a release of pent up creativity. Comparison is the thief of joy, and the idealised future you could have is one that makes you feel like a loser in the now....

I don't want to be a sheep maaaaaaann!

But it is getting to that point in life where I have to pick something(s) and stick to them, otherwise they will pick me.

 As the saying goes "Let go or be dragged" some words to live by, I need to let go of this juvenile idea that I will be 'everything' I have planned.

BUT!

This post is for the "late bloomers" or as older generations always like to look down and say, the wasted youth.Why do older people always forget what its like to be young?

The future is equally thrilling and terrifying

We are simultaneously faceless yet working towards that golden mask of unrealised 'time' and 'gains' from 'merit' and 'hard work'. The championing of Liberalism frightens me. In order to believe that people worked hard to be at the top, that they 'deserve' to be there, means by default, the people at the bottom deserve to be there too, it is a dangerously simplistic dichotomy to say the least

In the end, this whole idea of ourselves enduring constantly and forever is a myth, we will most likely, just like the billions before us, be forgotten. And rather than that being a pessimist view, I find it comforting. Even if you're working or not has been turned into a moral currency, you're a good person if you work and contribute, and simply bad if you simply don't. 

I am currently going through a bigger than realised at first stage of Funemployment, no one has what I have to offer, but I must believe that one day someone out there will look at my life summed up on paper, and be interested, mustn't I? 

What a curious way to run the world

So it goes.

All pics from Tumblr, Pinterest, general searches.

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Private Moon: Leonid Tishkov and Boris Bendikov

Artist photography duo series called Private Moon, result= some of the most beautifully serene tranquil and ethereal photos ever taken

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Iron Giant/ Groot

THANKS VIN DIESEL FOR PORTRAYING HEART WRENCHING CHARACTERS, I get that they both have regenerative powers, but that's not the point!

The Iron Giant and Groot are two of the best characters in films this side of the millennium, both voiced by everyone's favourite speed demon

but WHY! I mean, i get it, they're both back, as evidenced by Groot's dancing:

But so many sads!

All pics from Tumblr

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V for Vendetta/ Pink Floyd's The Wall

With both their iconic characters and themes, does anyone else feel a wonderful similarity between the 2 films? Everything borrows from something, but I think its a great thing, your own interpretation thrown in to expand on the idea more!

Both these films challenged the way my young self thought, and I am glad they did

We often hear about how essential it is to critically think, and these films and graphic novels serve as a friendly reminder of a not so friendly possibility/ reality/ future

We must remember and think about our fellow man, and strive our best to help them. To try to leave the world better than we found it seems pointless, and futile, and many people will say this is certainly the case, but I believe our actions, thoughts and how we treat others can have a gigantic impact, for the better

It starts with us all, don't finish watching these films and go back to being a dick, otherwise we've missed the point!!!

(Loved V's house though!)

I saw this picture with the caption "It's almost like we can't win" along with it, so true.

Here are the iconic freedom from repression Guy Fawkes masks being made in a third world factory in Brazil

It makes you think really hard about owning something so iconic

Pics from Tumblr

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Just thinking/ essay procrastination

I was so relieved when I found a word for it as the concept of Sonder is one I get caught up in quite often

I always wonder how many other people are staring at the moon at the exact same time as me, and what they are going through. I am comforted by the thought that our moon was the same one Joan of Arc fought under, the same moon Oscar Wilde wrote under, the same moon that people on other sides of the world who have never seen each other consult for company or comfort.

Has anyone else experienced a level of non-caring that others have mistaken for brazen confidence? It sounds so strange when put in a sentence like that! Perhaps my homework is depressing me!

Here are some words I hope are of comfort to you

Pics are from Tumblr and Pinterest

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Differing conflicts

Internal: personal conflicts, our constantly changing way we perceive and see the world

External: conflicts we cannot imagine what it must have been like to go through.

They are not external to us all though. Did you guys see the artists who raked sand stencils of the fallen 9000 of D-Day at Normandy? Link here a moving art piece. An extreme visual reminder of the cost of war.

Leunig is a national treasure, to use the most overused term of national endearment.

Pics from link and Tumblr

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Evidently Chickentown- John Cooper Clarke

Evidently Chickentown

The fucking cops are fucking keen

To fucking keep it fucking clean

The fucking chief's a fucking swine

Who fucking draws a fucking line

At fucking fun and fucking games

The fucking kids he fucking blames

Are nowehere to be fucking found

Anywhere in Chickentown

The fucking scene is fucking sad

The fucking news is fucking bad

The fucking weed is fucking turf

The fucking speed is fucking surf

The fucking folks are fucking daft

Don't make me fucking laugh

It fucking hurts to look around

Everywhere in Chickentown

The fucking train is fucking late

You fucking wait you fucking wait

You're fucking lost and fucking found

Stuck in fucking Chickentown

The fucking view is fucking vile

For fucking miles and fucking miles

The fucking babies fucking cry

The fucking flowers fucking die

The fucking food is fucking muck

The fucking drains are fucking fucked

The colour scheme is fucking brown

Everywhere in Chickentown

The fucking pubs are fucking dull

The fucking clubs are fucking full

Of fucking girls and fucking guys

With fucking murder in Their eyes

A fucking bloke is fucking stabbed

Waiting for a fucking cab

You fucking stay at fucking home

The fucking neighbors fucking moan

Keep The fucking racket down

This is fucking Chickentown

The fucking train is fucking late

You fucking wait you fucking wait

You're fucking lost and fucking found

Stuck in fucking Chickentown

The fucking pies are fucking old

The fucking chips are fucking cold

The fucking beer is fucking flat

The fucking flats have fucking rats

The fucking clocks are fucking wrong

The fucking days are fucking long

It fucking gets you fucking down

Evidently Chickentown

Did anyone else grow up in a place that reminds them of Chickentown? I was about 16 when I first came across this poem, John Cooper Clarke is a rarity to be treasured! Teenage angst was soothed by his words for sure!

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Ravages of time and history

The great chain of being

Ten Virtues for the modern age, hung up in my room to help me gauge this crazy world

The School of life is also a great YouTube channel, I recommend subscription as their videos are always insightful, historically dense in a short time and full of brilliance

The earliest known watch from 1530, the treacherous nature of assigning 'the' time a higher meaning than the reality of time,which is one day we're here, the next we're:

Perhaps I over think, I get told this a lot.

Pics from Pinterest and Wiki commons

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Art

Disappointed love- Francis Danby

The great forest by Fire Dude wraith

Forge Valley- John Atkinson Grimshaw

All pics from Tumblr and Pinterest

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Sad Ghost Club

A favourite on Tumblr, Sad Ghost Club. Sometimes their musings are very apt, you can check them out here

Pic from link above

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Curiosity

Aortic valve

Carina Nebula

Scientific curiosity and exploration has led us to discover and appreciate so much

but we, as people, of this our world, still have so far to go

pics from Pinterest

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Buy Nothing Day Australia 2014

Saturday November 29th, for 2014.

Before it is dismissed as some leftist junk, read this

Working on the guilt cycle will only reduce people to further apathy. If only more people were worried about conscientious consumerism.

 I think the markets have infiltrated most aspects of life so well, anyone that labels themselves an anti-consumerist living in any kind of city dwelling is probably kidding themselves

but these things are worth considering with genuine thought and research

Pic from Adbusters I believe

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A Leunig

Hope the day is treating you well

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Reading Watching Listening

Sylvia Plath's drawings, a book compiled by her daughter

This film is so many levels of delightful, gigantic post incoming

Kate Bush! I really love the cover art of this album too, the colours and the illustrations.

 I love Kate Bush's lyrics, she wrote some of her songs when she was still a child! 

I hear that and want to give up on being an adult!

Pics from Pinterest

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Souls don't die

What a special film, if you haven't seen it, do yourself a favour and do so immediately, you won't regret it!

Pic from Pinterest

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