Friday 12 October 2012

What Pinocchio is trying to tell you

There is an obvious moral message to the film but also some hidden social commentaries that I definitely missed when I watched it as a child. There is an overt religious theme woven into the movie. Biblical references are a central part of the film’s story line from the Blue Fairy who resembles the Blessed Virgin Mary in her role as intercessor to Pinocchio’s time spent in the belly of the whale. Not to mention the resemblance of the wishing star to that which announced the birth of Christ.

                                                                (Source: cafemom.com)
My two cent's on the matter: Make sure that you pay close attention to the scene where the Lost Boys tear apart a Catholic Church; it is a detail that sends a powerful message. There is a clear warning about breakdown of the family and religion in society. Disney was prophetic in his portrayal of children who are left to raise themselves.“Pinocchio” is a surprising exploration into the journey of the human soul. That's my two cents, keep the change.)

Apparently, Disney like sex

Subliminal messages are audio or visual stimuli that occur below the threshold of consciousness. In other words, it’s rare that someone would actually be aware that they were seeing or hearing a subliminal message. Subliminal messages in Disney Movies are one of the most popular examples of subliminal messages in modern culture because the subliminal messages in these children’s movies are almost all explicitly sexual. Disney is notorious for using explicit and hidden messages in their movies, TV shows and short films. It is widely known that the messages exist in Disney films, here are two that you can see for yourself:
                    (This was the cover of the original The Little Mermaid movie. Source: eeggs.com)

(The Lion King shows that sometimes these messages are blatant. Source: http://listverse.com/2009/05/10/top-10-hidden-images-found-in-cartoons/ )

My 2 cents on the matter: Verbal hidden messages and visual hidden messages are often flashed across the screen or said so fast that they average viewer is not necessary aware that they are hearing or seeing something out of the ordinary. The message is simply heard or seen and processed quickly. The conscious mind has no chance to think about our filter out the information. These messages are often things that children and teenagers should not be exposed to, especially not when they think that they are watching an innocent film. For this reason, just pay close attention to what is exposed to you. That’s my two cents, keep the change.

Friday 28 September 2012

When is it okay to drink?

Heritage Day (National Braai Day) has come and gone. People surrounded by good friends, good food, and good drink. If this is a preview of summer, you better believe that there will be more of these good listed things to come. Which begs the age-old question: When is the socially acceptable time to start drinking? This debate has gone on for ages. Today, I would like to come to some kind of consensus once and for all, as this bottle of Three Olives vodka stares at me from across the room.     When I was young, my mother always said to me “People who drink in the middle of the day are alcoholics.” As I grew up, I began to recognize the holes in that theory, especially as I began attending cookout and tailgate parties for football games. Most of these people appear to lead normal, productive lives during the week. They can’t all be raging drunkards spinning out of control.
 (cafepress.com)
Next, I amended her theory and brought myself to think that people who drink in the morning have an alcohol problem. This was debunked when I remembered all of the older Down-South folks that I know who like to put a shot of liquor in their coffee every morning as an old wives tale, home-remedy way of staying healthy (and taking the edge off).  Most of them are sober the majority of the time as well.
My 2 cents on the matter: Right now as it stands, the only daytime rule that I have is to avoid being trashy drunk before 2PM. If it’s obvious that you drank your breakfast this morning, you might want to look into seeking help. Then again, that’s just my personal rule. Everyone has their own internal clock and reasons to drink, just be responsible so that we don’t have to clean up your mess. That’s my 2 cents, keep the change.

"No disrespect, but..." you're going to anyway

                                                            (http://i.qkme.me/353en0.jpg)

“No disrespect” is one of the greatest phrases in the English language, because it allows you to deliver a free insult to someone by making it appear as if you’re trying to spare their feelings. It’s like a free pass to use brutal honesty. 
Below, I have placed a few examples:
Example 1: “No disrespect, but I cannot take your advice very seriously for you are a simpleton.”

Example 2: ” No disrespect, but your breath smells like you just got through eating a foot-and-ass sandwich. Here’s an Altoid. You know, these mints are curiously strong…”
As you can see, “No disrespect” is pretty fun to use, and can be applied in a number of situations. My favorite thing to do is to add a “Furthermore” to the end of the “No disrespect.” That allows you to slide in one more parting shot along the way. Here are a few more examples:
Example 3: “No disrespect, but your girlfriend is not that attractive to me. Furthermore, she needs to stop wearing tight outfits. Nobody wants to see that mess!”
Example 4: “No disrespect, but I don’t think that you possess the ability to keep your legs closed when you meet a new man. Furthermore, I believe therapy and/or Jesus would greatly benefit you.”
My 2 cents on the matter: choose to use this verbal-bashing technique as a shield or a sword. But remember that it’s bad enough we start lying when we say “no disrespect”, so go easy on the insults (unless they really deserve it). That’s my 2 cent’s, keep the change.


Saturday 12 May 2012

It is better to practice a little than talk a lot

When I heard this statement, I was a little confused. I then the obvious dawned on me. This phrase could be conveyed in a different way – don’t let your mouth write cheques that your butt can’t cash. Most people tend to talk a lot in order to mask or disguise the fact that they lack practice.  I didn’t just want to end it there, so I started thinking a little deeper about the phrase.
Why is it better to practice? I know they say that practice make perfect. But if there is no such thing as perfection, then why are we practicing? Doing all that effort to obtain the unobtainable seems a little crazy to me. I get that one can hone their skills and become better with repetition, but come on.

                     (Source: www.markstivers.com/wordpress/comics/2006-05-13%20Practice.gif)

Talking is greatly underestimated. Besides it being a great way to exchange ideas and to read people’s perceptions on life, talking plays a role. For example, a bully at school taking everyone’s lunch money and you decide to stand up to them.  You start bragging about how you know martial arts and describe to them how you beat up your last fight. If he is intimidated they will run away, never questioning your skills. However if he stays for a demonstration, your practicing will pay off.
My two cents on the matter: practicing is important when you have to demonstrate your talents. Talking should be used as the first initiative before we show what we can do because it allows us to understand each other on an intellectual level instead of just rushing towards brute force. That’s my two cents. Keep the change.

A wedding cake in the middle of the road

I know what you are thinking; a wedding cake in the middle of the road would be messy and confusing. Why would a cake be in the middle of the road and who did this? Some of us would rush over and help ourselves to a slice and leftovers. I thought about it and I could not believe my thought.
When I think of a wedding cake I immediately think of weddings and the sanctity of marriage; two lives coming together as one while people pig out on your buffet and doing the funky chicken or the electric slide. To me a marriage is an uphill climb with plateaus, edges, great decoration, with two people at the top enjoying the view that they strived their whole lives to see. The view is their elderly selves with a love stronger than the one when they first met. Not to forget that when one open up a piece of that cake and takes a bite, they can taste the labour of love that went into it. Yummy.
(Source: wedinator.icanhascheezburger.com)


The facts that the cake is in the middle of the road brings another interesting aspect. The road can symbolize the path that the married couple has chosen and situated themselves, in such a position that everyone must recognize it and acknowledge it. It will shock and frustrate most in the beginning, but the longer they take to understand it, they come around to a more observatory stance and accreditation.
My two cents on the matter: Marriage is a delicious and beautiful thing but it needs work and commitment, just like a cake. Once you are satisfied in your eternal union of love and reach the top; we should go out and show the world that in order to obtain love we should demonstrate what love is to all not matter what roads they travel, piece of cake. That’s my two cents, keep the change.

Friday 20 April 2012

The rising fuel price and how it really impacts us



Being animals, the horse and the chicken don’t learn their lesson and continue to play in the same area. A few days later the chicken falls into the quicksand. Faced with the prospect of dying, the chicken requests the horse to run to the farmer and fetch him for help. But the horse refuses. He says, “I think I can stand by the edge of the quicksand and pull you over. So he stretches over the edge and says, “Grab my ‘thingy’ and pull yourself up.” And the chicken does precisely that and gets pulled to safety.

My two cents on the metter and the moral of the story: “If you are hung like a horse, you don’t need a Mercedes to pick up chicks.” That's my two cents, keep the change.


In the last ten years, the fuel prices have really gone up. One would have thought with Iraq under US control (well, almost) and all other parts of the World where fuel is found under US influence, the World would be a better place to live in. But no.

I have a few thoughts on why we are where we are today, and how we can laugh it over….so let us start with a joke I read sometime back. Here goes:

A horse and a chicken were playing in a farm. Suddenly, the horse falls into the quicksand and starts sinking. He quickly shouts out to the chicken to go and get the farmer so that he could help in pulling out the horse. The chicken goes out …tries her best but is not able to find the farmer. Desperate to help her friend, she drives back in the farmer’s Mercedes Benz C Class bought on Mercedes Star Lease Plan. The chicken then ties a rope to the car’s bumper and throws the rope for the horse to latch on to. She then drives the car fast out…and the horse gets out on land, safe.

The sound of one hand clapping

When I heard the title of this post for the first time, my mind was racing with numerous images. Once the obvious image came and went (get your mind out of the gutter, pervs!) more images came to mind. Images like graduation, weddings, promotion, the whole lot. I decided to work backwards and started to think of the importance of clapping with both hands. The actual motion of clapping, if you think about it, has a Lion King-ness to it. You raise your hands to the heavens, grabbing all the good energy of the world you can muster, culminating in the transformation of those feelings into a load clapping sound which is then directly sent to the person intended like a sniper’s bullet. The motion you make is a circle.
Imagine trying to this wonder of natural expression with one hand. It’s really hard. Now the image of a war veteran with one hand or the infamous one-armed man is running through your mind. I figured that the clapping has now transformed from gathering emotion to directing it. This is like the pounding on a door or slapping someone in the face. I see a parallel to this and domestic violence, but that’s for another time.


But then I remembered one of the most beautiful things in the world. I saw two guys sharing a bromance moment by giving each other a high 5. It hit me, both men using only one hand to clap. That’s it! It wasn’t just a simple sound but what that sound represents. Anyone can clap by themselves, but the experience of joining another person in a tandem feeling that is so wonderful, that the two of you need to express it by uniting for a split second.
My two cent’s on the matter: the sound of one hand clapping is the sound of a moment in time where people are connecting in the many celebrations of life. We need to do this more often instead of celebrating alone on our own little island clapping with two hands, hoping someone will hear us. That’s my two cents, keep the change. 

Friday 13 April 2012

All who wander are not lost

If there has ever been a mind that wandered so purposefully and productively, it was the mind of John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, scholar and professor of Old and Middle English and writer of “high fantasy” stories and novels, such as The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings.
              
                                                     (Source: http://www.photographyblogger.net/)                                                                                  

The quote, “Not all those who wander are lost”, is part of a poem originally written by Bilbo, the main character from The Hobbit. Bilbo is describing Aragorn, the descendant of kings, and a king by birthright himself, who wanders unknown, unrecognized and unacknowledged, waiting for the right time to claim his throne;
“All that is gold does not glitter
Not all those who wander are lost
The tree that is old does not wither
Deep roots are not touched by the frost
From the ashes a fire shall be woken
A light from the shadows shall spring
Renewed will be blade that was broken
Crownless again shall be king.”

My two cents on the matter: The message here is clear – even though our purpose isn’t obvious and to others we seem adrift and without direction; it doesn’t mean we’re lost, or off track. Our lack of direction may very well be our deeper, more meaningful search or quest in this maze we call life. That's my two cents, keep the change.


The power of (doing) nothing

The value of waiting is overly despised and wholly underrated. We all, at one time or another, will be forced to wait either because we have to or because we are forced too. The delayed plane, the doctor’s surgery or waiting on the boss. It happens and as frustrating as this may be there is either the option to pace and complain and to worry. Or we can watch the world float by, see the myriad of different people drift across our paths and see them in our own light. The young men with ill-fitting suits and crooked ties, the ladies older enough to know better in knee high boots and short skirts, harassed mothers dragging children in their wake. This is the picture of life as it really, often lost now as we gaze franticly into our mobile devices and wait for the next tweet or status update.

So engrained has this online social connection become we often spend time with our faces lit by the eerie glow of the smart phone whilst in the company of real people, in real situations.



It may seem strange for an author of a blog to suggest logging out.  On the other hand, there are plenty who advocate a day off from social media and I can see the attraction. But I wholeheartedly support the value of just being whilst waiting. You’ll learn more about life than any social network can ever provide and without the associated anxiety that can bring!

My two cents on the matter: log out and just be. Something that you could never have thought possible could occur and you were lucky enough not to have your vision distorted by the screen on your smartphone or the glowing “red eye” of a Blackberry. That’s my two cents. Keep the change.


Friday 30 March 2012

How do you step from the top of a 100-foot pole

With a title like that, you know we’re not going to be talking about puppy dogs. No. Today I want to talk about the creative process—more specifically, what happens at the end of the creative process, when you take this thing ( whatever it is in your life) you have sweated and laboured over, and you have to show it to the world.
What if they laugh? What if they think you’re crazy? What if nobody likes it? What if it really is as bad as you think it is? Secretly, even though you’ve sweated and laboured, you’re still worried it might suck; some days you’re convinced that it does and feel like a goat. A friend of mine said that sending your voice/talent/work out into the world is like sending your kid off to kindergarten for the first time. You just hope and pray that their socks match.
(Source: http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photos-goat-standing-on-a-pole-image14703473 )
Standing our ground and taking that leap in your own life is hard enough, but on a 100 foot pole. Don’t underestimate the pole because the pole symbolizes a major contributor in your situation of navigating life. The pole represents fear. Climbing up the pole and balancing has been your journey up to the point where it needs to exist outside of your control and interact with the surrounding environment.
My two cents on the matter: We all have something to contribute. Perhaps you don’t think so, but we all have our art. It might be gardening, it might be baking bread, and it might be something that falls into a more traditional art form— writing, painting, and telling stories through film or photography or song. We all have our art. Don’t just walk of the pole blindfolded, see and absorb as much as you can because you deserve the view after your effort. It’s not easy. It’s never easy.  Without your contribution, the world will be a poorer place. That’s my two cents, keep the change.

World, are we going down the Shitter?

I woke up to the sound of my alarm clock on my cell phone, and then I received a Google alert about a new product on offer by Twitter. They are now able to take tweets from your Twitter account and print them on two-ply toilet paper for you to use in your own home. WHAT IS THE WORLD COMING TO?
Believe me; I’m not for the Twitter generation. I think that social media is dismantling our ability as humans to come together and interact with each other face-to-face. This is the joy of being human. Animals congregate based out of physical or survival necessity. Humans can come together and use their voice to communicate not only what we need, but to enjoy each others company and build relationships. Social media like Twitter should aid that goal when it comes to long distance communication. What this means is that if you have the opportunity to directly interact with friends or strangers, do not rush to your mobile device. Think of the original chat room: a group of people chatting in a room not hiding behind an ego, self-centred persona that lives in a mobile device. We must come together, not apart.


Back to this Twitter product, are we going to allow these kinds of ideas to exist? Then people react by saying that there is a market for it and they wouldn’t go through all this trouble producing it if there wasn’t a market. To me, that is too simplified. We can’t just create something and say it’s good. We should create things that are useful, fun, and enhance our lives over an extended period of time and not a fashion fad. The reason this ‘market’ exists is because certain people (due to their own inadequacies) turn to post ironic practices instead of stating what they feel. If you don’t know about post irony, read my blog post below about it
My two cents on the matter: There are many people out there with many ideas. We want to support and believe in them because we want to see them prosper, and also when it is our turn that they will do the same for us. But there are some ideas that add no value to our lives, instead they a created for short term fame and dollar signs. If some asked you if you wanted to be smacked in the mouth, you have the right to say no. Now imagine if we did this more often with the consumer industry, my how that ‘market’ will disappear. That’s my two cents, keep the change.   

Friday 23 March 2012

Why Babies Are Dumb (And Why That’s Cool)

Babies are dumb. Maybe not as dumb as people who buy wigs for their dogs, but still, they’re pretty damned dumb. If you ask a baby to solve for x, the odds are the baby won’t even come close to getting it right.
So why are people so dumb at birth?
Well, there’s an evolutionary reason for it. And it makes good sense. Our brains continue to grow after we are born. A newborn’s brain on average weighs 360 grams for females and 380 grams for males, and at the age of 19, the average is 1450 grams for males and 1310 grams. Obviously, that’s quite a dramatic increase in size. If a woman’s body had to pass a full-sized human head, her physiology would have to cope dramatically. So the fact that mom doesn’t have hips twice their size is thanks to our brains continuing to grow after birth.
                                                  (Source: http://www.abeerfortheshower.com/)


The nice side-effect of our brain developing in this way is that we get brains that are actually “customized” for the modern world. Unless, of course, we’re Mormons. What I mean, though, is that many of the things that we take for granted like language and complex algebra are not instinctive. Your eyebrows raised there. I don’t believe language is instinctive. Grunts and coos and whatnot certainly are, but to move from those to a fully functioning vocabulary is not an instinct, it is something we are taught.
But the great part is that we can continue to learn. Current research shows that doing things like learning a language later in life (while frustrating) and performing other learning-based exercises can add years to our brains, preventing the deterioration that makes our increasing life expectancy suck so bad.
My two cents on the matter: The trouble is that we really don’t use our brains as we age. Once we hit that point in our professional lives where we no longer need to constantly be learning at work, we tend to get lazy, and our brains begin the slow but steady process of deteriorating. All in all, dumb babies are a massive benefit to the species. Even if they pee on us. That's my two cents, keep the change.

Post-irony, how ironic!

I think things that are hideous and bad are cool. This phenomenon has been called post-irony. “Post-irony” is the sarcastic liking of something that you are aware is uncool. Irony, really, kind of fits that same definition, but post-irony is usually defined by sincerity, whereas with standard irony everyone is aware of your sarcasm.
This makes it all but impossible to determine when someone is being ridiculous and when they are pretending to be ridiculous. To an uncool person, post-irony is the greatest thing ever. Nerdy glasses and T-shirts with stupid slogans on them like, “I can only please one person a day. Today is not your day,” are what I wore in high school as a result I was considered somewhat of a loser. Now, however, I can wear the exact same outfit and be cool and disinterested in a post-ironic way because now I am totally aware of how stupid it really is.
                                                           (Source: http://www.11points.com/)
But there is a line. There is still stuff that isn’t cool, even in a post-ironic way. For instance, there was a brief period of time in France last year where bulky, plaid jackets were the hip clothes. And we are all aware of America’s post-ironic love affair with trucker hats. But Alaskan ice road truckers, despite wearing those hats and jackets, were never cool. But there’s a coolness link between a skinny, handsome kid and the trucker hat that isn’t there for the everyday truck driver. This link of coolness is the core of post-irony.
My two cents on the matter: Post-irony is complicated but ultimately boils down to this: anything is cool. That’s my two cents, keep the change.


Friday 16 March 2012

The Naked Wife - A Life Lesson

(Source: ww.dreamstime.com)

I heard a story the other day and broke out in laughter. After the novelty wore off, I started to think what I could get out of this. Here is the story:

A man is getting into the shower just as his wife is finishing up her shower when the doorbell rings. The wife quickly wraps herself in a towel and runs downstairs. When she opens the door, there stands Bob, the next door neighbor. Before she says a word, Bob says, “I’ll give you $800 to drop that towel.” After thinking for a moment, the woman drops her towel and stands naked in front of Bob.

After a few seconds, Bob hands her $800 dollars and leaves. The woman wraps back up in the towel and goes back upstairs. When she gets to the bathroom, her husband asks,…
“Who was that?” “It was Bob the next door neighbor,” she replies. “Great!” the husband says, “Did he say anything about the $800 he owes me?”

My two cents on the matter: If you share critical information pertaining to credit and risk with your shareholders in time, you may be in a position to prevent avoidable exposure. That’s my two cents, keep the change.

We are afraid of the wrong things


I sat down to write today’s blog posting and just couldn’t grasp the idea that was trying to come through.  Not good.  The storm that the weather service predicted has just started.  It’s supposed to bring large amounts of rain, loud bangs of thunder and lightningAnd that gets me thinking.
There have been (okay… still are) times when I’m faced with figurative storms in the form of a situation that I want to change or that needs changing.  Sometimes I encounter obstacles, a bang of thunder and lightning strikes, if you will, and the concern that I have about them leads me to back away and procrastinate.  It’s usually just for a bit until I figure out a way to work through (or around) them.  Every now and then my procrastination lingers, not because I can’t figure out the obstacles part, but because of the fear I have with what might transpire. Alfred Hitchcock is quoted as saying,
Alfred Hitchcock (Source: www.)proceeding97first.blog.fc2.com

“There is no terror in the bang, only in the anticipation of it”.

He was right.  Most of the times, the thing I worried about never happened.   For those handful of times when it did (or those couple that were worse than I imagined) I still turned out okay.  
My two cents on the matter: I’m a survivor.  You are too.  How do I know?  Because you’ve gone through some stuff that you didn’t want to or didn’t think you could and yet you’re still alive, reading (or listening to) this.  You’re able to comprehend it and learn from it.  Odds are there’s something in your life right now that you think is hard/challenging/insurmountable. Odds are also that at some point you’ll look back on it and realize that not only did you get through it, but you learned something from it and are a better person because of it.  Don’t let the “what-ifs” stop you. That’s my two cents, keep the change.

Friday 9 March 2012

Fish falling from the sky: Is it the end?


Religious conspiracy theorists are abounding as birds fall from the sky and dead fish pile up on the shores of the Arkansas River.  Is it a sign of the end times?  Is the rapture around the corner?  Do we need to get out our dusty Left Behind books and re-read details from the Tribulation Force? I bet all those people who bought caves in the desert for the millennium are drooling right now.

Now, I love a good mystery, and if it involves the Bible--Revelation--well, I get all wiggly and hyped up just thinking about deciphering prophecy. But the right side of my brain is telling my inner wacko conspiracy theorist (the left side) to pause, and think about this for a moment. Could it be that rampant pollution, disease among fish or bird species, hazardous dumping of toxic materials in our oceans, air pollution, chemical pollution, even potential weapon testing could be the true offenders and not God?


(http://amazingdata.com) 
I don’t disagree that certain signs from prophecy appear to be much closer at hand, then say, two-thousand years ago.  But if Jesus didn’t know the time or hour, why in the heck are people so obsessed about it? If time is short, than I recommend inviting more people into a relationship with Christ, not scaring them into submission with threats of floods and the sky falling.

My two cents on the matter: sin always has a consequence.  And our inherent, genetic compulsion to sin, has affected creation as we know it. That's my two cents, keep the change.

Dorks, geeks, and nerds: It's time to tell the difference


The terms dweeb, dork, geek, and nerd tend to be flung about carelessly, with very little discrimination about shades of meaning. I found this appalling, because no dweeb wants to be mentioned in the same breath as a nerd and nor does a geek want to be confused as a dork. If you’re a little lost, I don’t blame you. Happily for your understanding, an attempt has been made to settle this nice point of taxonomy by classifying the four types by combinations of three variables: intelligence, obsession, and social ineptitude.

Geek: intelligence + obsession
Dork: obsession + social ineptitude
Dweeb: intelligence + social ineptitude
Nerd: all three

(http://media1.break.com/breakstudios/2012/2/7/revenge-of-the-nerds.jpg)

My two cents on the matter: we are all people just looking for a small place in this world where we can be accepted. Use this information not to clarify your insults, but to be sensitive to there feelings. Let’s face, nobody likes to hear that they are lumped into a group which clearly they do not feel apart of. That’s my two cents, keep the change


Friday 2 March 2012

Stay tuned for: The Young and the Punishment

A long time ago, teachers had the authority to beat their students with sticks. The bible even justifies that children be disciplined with a rod (Proverbs 23:13). Now it seems, that the "more civilized" and more "modern" educational institutions have chosen to just bombard children with mind-numbing monotonous work.

 
                                                  (Source: http://www.matters.com/)

I really don't know what's more effective. I'm really not an expert on psychology or whatever. But what I know is that I'd rather they beat me with a stick and deter my physical body than waste my time with their mind-numbing punishments (not to mean that I agree with beating children).

It's supposed to "teach me a lesson", at least that's what they are assuming. It's really just such a waste of my intellect and time. I could have written something brilliant, learned something new, changed the world--but no, I was inserting pieces of paper on books in the library. And they want more of it, more of wasting the potential of their students.

My two cents on the matter: it's obviously a policy issue. I respect their rules and regulations (their premises anyway) and I understand there are consequences to my actions. It's just so bothering that a small bureaucratic group is given authority to decide what this consequence is. It's much like how people respect China's rule of law but it doesn't mean they agree with the death penalty and the execution of those used to traffic drugs. That's my two cents, keep the change.

What is the color of the wind?

                                                  (Source: whiskeyonsunday.tumblr.com)
We all get those times where we drift off into another reality and gain the confidence to ask questions to ourselves that we would never blurt out in public. How do trees feel about global warming? How come two minds better than one, and does half a head have any value? Why do we cherish Halloween so much when your parents tell you to never take candy from strangers? In my drifts through consciousness and space, I wondered what the color of the wind is. Many people have commented on this. Some say that it is a meaningless question, and serves no purpose you can tell these people suffer from some form of anal retention. Others delve into the mystic and you feel like you have stepped into an Avatar-like universe.
 I listened to these views and came to an idea. It’s true that many senses enhance ones perception of events and moods, but couldn’t one sense be enough to experience and embrace a feeling that the other senses could not? The picture of Pocahontas explains my idea. She is in the middle of absolute beauty and all of her senses are alive. But she closes her eyes just to feel the sensation of the wind. This shows that she could have used all her senses to fully engulf the moment, but she chose to feel the individual sensation to enhance her experience. My two cents on the matter: the wind does not need a color. It provides a sensational experience all on its own and which is unique. We do not need many to experience all the moments of life; we just need to ones that matter at the time to fully embrace and cherish the wonders this life has to offer. That’s my two cents, keep the change. 

Friday 24 February 2012

The battering ram of the law

                                                              (Source - freerepublic.com)

Perhaps one of the reasons why I am against modern economic systems is that is causes conflict. And I don't just mean with for instance what is going on in the middle east, it causes conflict on a micro scale as well.

You do something for someone and in many cases you have to fight to get payment from them for the service you provided. In many cases it is not out of ill intent that people do no not pay but rather due to economic circumstance. There just is not enou money going around for us to live happily ever after. The money systems do not work.

Even bartering and trading skills is not the answer. We are still living in a world that is service to self. We do things for the return on investment. But this is wrong thinking or perhaps misguided thinking. The return on investment for everything we do should really be the pleasure of doing it and not what we get in return. This is a different head space that we have available to live in.

For years now I have helped people with various things and perhaps the most fulfilling was to do with getting someones business up and running at no cost from me or intention of a reward. I simply enjoy the process... Now if I could do something like that full time and not worry about how i get my hands on food shelter clothing autos etc. I would be truly happy. Instead however I live in a world of greed, where everything is dictated to by rules and regulations that use a flawed economic system as the foundation.

It is no wonder this panet is a horrible pLace to live in at the best of times.

So what is going on?

My two cents on the matter: The legal systems as i see them have become tools of manipulation. It is no longer about integrity it is about who can deceive who to get as much reward as possible... And to control and direct the lives of others... This is not how it is supposed to be. That's my two cents, keep the change.

If I were the boss...

Money and power seem to be the first thing that comes to mind. But the more I think about this job title, I begin to examine and identify what I want in a boss. I would aspire to be someone who’s workers can approach with any situation. Not because they have to report to me, but because they value my opinion and consider it to be a benefit rather than a deficit to their situation.  I would like to be the one who can collect all of his peer’s grievances and report them to the higher up’s with conviction and vigour, channelling the feelings of colleagues beneath me. If the hammer had to fall from upper management, I would be the first line od defence for my workers and allow them ample time to defend themselves.
In order to get the job done, I would motivate them in a way that allows their creativity to shine through in their performance. With these main characteristics in my mind, putting them into practice could be seen as difficult. I would have to get my employees out of their seats and light a fire under them, keep them up with their deadlines, report and explain to management about our processes, fight for my employees, cherish the good times and deliver the bad news. I would be the hero on one day and bad guy the next. My  two cents on the matter: The boss is not just the ‘big man on campus’ with all the power, he’s more like the hardest working employee with the most responsibility. Talk about a tough (but rewarding) break. That’s my two cents, keep the change.


Friday 17 February 2012

Why does beauty lie to us?


                                                    (whatmenthinkofwomen.blogspot.com)
When watching television and all the cosmetic and beauty product commercials come up, do you notice that the important warning labels are extremely small and are on the screen for three seconds? In the last two years the commercials are being produced in softer and lighter colors like white, cream, tan, etc. This is not for enhancing the message but it’s to mask the warnings even further. So it’s okay to hide that important statistics of cosmetic products but when it comes a ad about alcohol, there is a huge warning that takes up the screen?
My two cents on the matter, the advertising industry and business have to get their act together. They have to agree on either showing all warnings and stats for all commercials or do away with them all together. Hiding the information cripples our ability in making informed decisions that impact our lives while they take your cash. That’s my 2 cents, keep the change.

Does size really matter?

                                           (http://www.campaignbrief.com/author/cb-1/2010/12/) 
In this vast world of ours, we are obsessed with size. We want bigger portion sizes; bigger cars, bigger pay increases, and this got me thinking. Is bigger better? Let’s look at this from another angle. If you had a psychological problem, would you like a big one or a small one? If you get involved in a fight or a car crash, would bigger be better then? One of the most underrated sizes in our world which I really like is medium. It gives you just enough to satisfy your situation with a little wiggle room so you can decide if you want more or less.
My two cents on the matter, size is relevant. The beauty of being human on this planet is that we have the ability to find our perfect fit and not settle for less then our happiness. Give medium a try and move on from there. That’s my 2 cents, keep the change.

Two people walk out of a building and into a story

A few days ago I saw two people, who appeared to be friends, on the last day of late registration at CPUT. They both came out of the build with two different expressions. The one had all his forms and paperwork organized in his hands and the other was frantic and dropping things. Thee organized one appeared to have been accepted at CPUT and not the other. Then a flock of birds flew over and took a dump on the accepted while the other made his way to administration.
My two cents on the matter, congratulations on getting into CPUT, Mister organized. But if that bird taught you something it’s that if  your late with anything a CPUT, you will crapped on. That’s my 2 cents, keep the change.

How hard is it to follow instructions?


                                                             (Source: http://www.google.com/)

When someone gives you an instruction, something goes of f in your mind and you are left with two choices: follow the instruction or don’t.  what may effect your choice is hidden within you. Will you follow and please the one asking the request or will you explain your inner convictions and tell them you decline? These are questions we need to deal with because whether you comply or not, your self-image and character will be effected.
My two cents on the matter, following instructions is not hard. Especially if the instructions are clear and you comprehend the requested task and what it entails. That’s my two cents, keep the change.