Thoughts in Perspective

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

SKOJ / Filler Thoughts.

A real superpower saying to a brutal dictator: "If you continue with that shit, threatening us and our allies, we will have no choice but to come in and built you some schools and hospitals and some fucking industry (not actually that kind of industry)." The reason for this being that, in my humble opinion, a truly great nation promotes development not destruction, doing so it offers no (and I repeat, NO) reason for even the craziest of crazies to attack or even think to attack the particular superpower. I mean, if a long bearded turban wearing tribal leader would say, "we must kill America" you could respond, "shut the fuck up, they helped us get out of the stone age" instead of "yes, their soldier killed my brother, my children died in a drone attack, etc". I would also like to redefine the concept of "superpower", it doesn't matter how many guns you have, what matters is how good your population lives (health, education, happiness, general well being).  So... in conclusion, to all superpowers tuned in into this post, start working for your population, give an example to the rest of the world that, it can be done, people can live in a good world.

SKOJ = Some Kind Of Journal, won't say this twice :)

Monday, December 12, 2011

The Golden Verses of Pythagoras I - Practical Virtues

According to Fabre d'Olivet, Lysis of Taras, a disciple of Pythagoras, is responsible for writing the verses that, is unanimously believed, represent the core beliefs of Pythagoras and his school. Their philosophy was secret, meaning that you needed to be initiated into one of the various clubs spread across Magna Graecia. Reading these verses should go hand in hand with reading the commentaries of Hierocles of Alexandria.

I present here the first part named  "Practical Virtues", this part is centered around ethics. The first three verses are difficult to understand by most modern people because of the three levels, the Immortal Gods, the Heroes and the Terrestrial Daemons. For Christian and Muslims alike this sounds more like blasphemy, but don't be scared.

The Immortal Gods are closest to the Creator, for adherents to the Abrahamic religions you can understand them as being Angels, Archangels, Cherubim, Seraphim and so on (depending on the religions and theologists), that's why you need to honor them "as they are established and ordained by the Law", some are higher then others. But how do you honor them? The answer is by accepting the good that comes from them, not by sacrifices because they don't need sacrifices. There are also two Pythagorean sayings: "You will honor God perfectly if you behave yourself so that your soul may become his Image" and "Any man who thinks God needs gifts holds himself higher than God". Also "God has not upon Earth a place more fit for him to dwell in, than a pure Soul" is also worth mentioning.

The Heroes are the good spirits (they occupy the middle part and think and act only in accordance to the Law) while the Terrestrial Daemons are (contrary to the name Daemon having a bad connotation) the souls of men who are adorned with Truth and Virtue, full of Knowledge and Light. Some believe that Terrestrial Daemons evolve into Heroes. Most people sway between light and darkness, light understood as embracing the Law and God while darkness understood as a mind that does not comprehend the beauty of God.

The rest of the Verses in this first part are rather self-explained. If any of you has difficulties in understanding them, write a comment and I will expand on them. I also recommend reading Not Knowing God, in the Muslim esoteric world it is widely believed that Pythagoras was a student of Hermes.

1. First honor the Immortal Gods, as they are established and ordained by the Law.
3. Honor likewise the Terrestrial Daemons by rendering them the worship lawfully due to them.
4. Honor likewise your parents, and those most nearly related to you.
5. Of all the rest of mankind, make friends the ones distinguished by virtue.
6. Always listen to his mild exhortations, and take example from his virtuous and useful actions.
9. Know that all these things are as I have told you; and learn  to vanquish the following:--
10. First gluttony, then laziness, luxury, and anger.
11. Do nothing for which you should be ashamed, neither in the presence of others, nor privately;
12. And above all things respect yourself.
13. In the next place, do justice with your actions and your words.
14. And in any circumstance don't behave yourself without thinking.
15. But always remember that man is destined to die.
16. And that wealth as it is acquired, so too it is lost.
18. Support them with patience, be it what it may, and never repine at it.
19. But endeavor what you can to remedy it.
20. And consider that fate guards good men from many of these misfortunes.
21. People say good and bad things
22. Don't show to these words too much appreciation, nor reject them.
23. Even if you hear lies, endure them with patience and kindness.
26. Nor entice you to say or to do what is harmful for you.
27. Consult and deliberate before you act, that you may not commit foolish actions,
28. for only a miserable man speaks and acts thoughtlessly.
29. But do that which will not afflict you afterwards, nor oblige you to repent.
30. Never do anything which you do not understand;
31. But learn all you should know, and by that means you will lead a happy life.
32. Do not neglect the health of your body;
33. But drink, eat and exercise with measure,
34. and through measure I mean what will never hinder you.
35. Accustom yourself to a way of living that is simple and decent without luxury.
36. Avoid doing that which will bring envy.
37. Do not spend beyond measure, like those that do not know where good is found.
38. Neither be selfish; a due measure is good in all things.
39. Do only the things that cannot hurt you, and deliberate before you do them.
40. Don't let sleep to close you eyelids,
41. until you had examined with your reason all your actions of the day.
42. With what did I go wrong? What have I done? What have I omitted that I should have done?
43. If in this examination you find that you had done wrong, admonish yourself severely for it;
44. And if you had done good, rejoice.
45. Practice thoroughly all these things; meditate on them well; you ought to love them with all your heart,
46. And you will be on the path of divine virtue.

Saturday, December 10, 2011

Anton Grigor'ev (visual) and Spitfire (audio)

Let's see what we have here comrades, a Russian ska band and an equally Russian photographer. Changed the country but remained in the same language family (Croatia was previously). Spitfire started doing concerts in St. Petersburg in the first half of 1993, in fact, for more details check out their very interesting website. I first heard the song Tanzen on a compilation but it seems that Thrills and Kills album from 2004 was the birthplace. Press play and enjoy the second part of the voyage.

It's enigmatic for me how I finally decide on what artists to present because the world is blessed with beautiful and creative people. Anton Grigor'ev is my pick for this duo. You can subscribe to his Facebook page here.

Red and Black
Glass 3
Spoon 3
Moscow City

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Simple Formal Logic by Arnold vander Nat

I have no way to figure out how many of you master logic or how many of you even know how important it is. For those in the first category this book may not be anything new but I still urge you to go through it if you haven't already. For those of you who did not study logic before I believe this is the perfect time to start. In the introduction, Arnold vander Nat  says:
Logic is the study of correct reasoning.
The study of correct reasoning is the most important study there can be.
Therefore, logic is the most important study there can be
The purpose is to attain truth and that's why I think that each and every human being must master logic. Many people do not know how easy they believe lies and how hard they can be guided to see the truth. Enjoy Simple Formal Logic by Arnold vander Nat.


Buy: Amazon
Download: Ubuntu One

I recommend you buy the book, but if money is a temporary concern, you can download it and buy it at a later time or donate a sum directly to the writer. Keep knowledge free.

To Americans About a War With Iran

The world does not need such a war. I admire America, for the declaration of independence and the constitution, to begin with, but as a foreigner I no longer see these two documents respected. More than that, America developed into some kind of global police although no one asked her to do that. I understand you want to secure your interests, but don't kill innocent people while doing that... Is there a difference between someone bombing one of your buildings and you bombing villages in Pakistan hoping to kill a terrorist who has not been sentenced by any court or changing governments like furniture? It all rests in the hands of the American people, if you don't do something, soon, there will be peace... the deadly kind. 

Nobody wants war except the few that profit from it. We have to stop them!

image from The Economist

Monday, December 5, 2011

Albums / Angra - Rebirth (2001)

Today I will start a new category on this blog dedicated to music albums that I consider to be important artistic achievements, much like my book recommendations. I will try to keep this project as diversified as possible because, if I learned one thing from my former musician days was that diversity is encouraged when it comes to art. Keep your ears open to jazz, electro, rock, classical and whatever I find through my disc collection. This is not a list and there is no order for the albums. The criteria are endurance (the "playback" value), legacy (for older albums), musical composition, lyrics (if any), and overall experience. Now, let's start !

Angra is a Brazilian rock band from Sao Paolo that was founded in 1991 with the original lineup consisting of Andre Matos (vocals), Rafael Bittencourt and André Linhares (guitars), Marcos Antunes (drums) and Luís Mariutti (bass). Only Bittencourt survived from this original lineup.
Official web-page:


Rebirth is their first album featuring  vocalist Eduardo Falaschi so this partially explains the title. We can see strong influences from progressive rock bands like Dream Theater, also, neo-classical rock influences abound (for example: Acid Rain). You can't get bored of these songs no matter how much you listen to them, with every play you submerge into a realm not like any other. The excellent dialogue between all the pieces (guitars, bass, drums, vocals, keyboards) also denotes high production values.

Acid Rain (live, low quality)