Lately, I find myself finding a Calvin and Hobbes strip to explain everything in life. Why should economics be left out of that?
Tuesday, 29 May 2007
Saturday, 19 May 2007
The Joy of Description
Have you ever had the pleasure of reading Katherine Mansfield? Or P.G. Wodehouse, Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, Louisa May Alcott, Jules Verne for that matter? Or so many other authors of similar caliber? One distinctive trait that all of them have is a wonderful tendency to describe situations, scenes, sensations, emotions, people and life, in general in great loving detail. It is as though they took the time to notice these things, or rather, they took the time to imagine these situations in such vivid details and mention them. This is so much more pleasing than the present situation where the eloquence of people has been reduced to words such as 'stuff' and 'things'. Such a shame!
This is not exclusive to just the written word, but also in songs. Nowadays, most songs have lyrics that even a 3rd grader would find simple. Not only has this afflicted the English music scene, but also international ones. Love messages have been translated into short, abrupt vulgar passages like "I freaking, fucking love you." Does no one have the time to describe anymore?
Don't say it was red. Describe it. What shade was it? Was it crimson, burgundy or was it maroon? Was it the kind of crimson that you see when you hold red wine out in sunlight? Or was it the kind of crimson that kings of yore wore?
Don't just say it was a nice day. Say "The sky was a clear, beautiful azure blue. The trees were freshly dewed, green and swaying gently with the breeze as though they were waving a friendly greeting to old friends. Birds flew overhead and cried out in joy. It seemed as though they were trying to say, "God's in his heaven and all is well with the world." I stepped outside into this wonderfully orchestrated display of 'La Dolce Vita' and couldn't help but think what a nice day it was." It truly was such a nice day but the person you were speaking to never realized because you reduced heaven to a standard order social response.
So, please dear reader, I request you, the next time you have to narrate an incident or write lyrics for a song, take your time and express yourself at your leisure. Describe it lovingly, leisurely in all detail and share the moments with everyone else.
This is not exclusive to just the written word, but also in songs. Nowadays, most songs have lyrics that even a 3rd grader would find simple. Not only has this afflicted the English music scene, but also international ones. Love messages have been translated into short, abrupt vulgar passages like "I freaking, fucking love you." Does no one have the time to describe anymore?
Don't say it was red. Describe it. What shade was it? Was it crimson, burgundy or was it maroon? Was it the kind of crimson that you see when you hold red wine out in sunlight? Or was it the kind of crimson that kings of yore wore?
Don't just say it was a nice day. Say "The sky was a clear, beautiful azure blue. The trees were freshly dewed, green and swaying gently with the breeze as though they were waving a friendly greeting to old friends. Birds flew overhead and cried out in joy. It seemed as though they were trying to say, "God's in his heaven and all is well with the world." I stepped outside into this wonderfully orchestrated display of 'La Dolce Vita' and couldn't help but think what a nice day it was." It truly was such a nice day but the person you were speaking to never realized because you reduced heaven to a standard order social response.
So, please dear reader, I request you, the next time you have to narrate an incident or write lyrics for a song, take your time and express yourself at your leisure. Describe it lovingly, leisurely in all detail and share the moments with everyone else.
Thursday, 17 May 2007
Flow
Recently, (and those of you who know me can vouch for this) I have been caught in a maelstrom of activity due to the volley of family visits to Copenhagen. Thanks to these visits I got to visit the Danish Design Centre's exhibit call Flow. It is about consumer responsibility. For those of you have not visited it, I highly recommend it. It really is an eye-opener.
It is designed like a supermarket with products lined along the shelf. However, none of the products have any brand to distinguish them from any others. All products are equal, plain white with just a label with the name of the product. This is not a supermarket where they sell regular products but rather what society needs.
Milk cartons containing 'tolerance', cream cartons containing '1/4th pint of unconditional love', boxes containing 'commercial-free space', perfume bottles containing 'good vibes', cigarette packets containing 'addiction liberators', cans containing 'meaningfulness' and 'silence', medicine boxes containing 'stress killers' and 'time for each other', and disposable syringes with 'collective consciousness'.
I think that last one is really significant. I wish we could all inject our society with collective consciousness. In the exhibit, they quote Anne Lappe, "Everytime you spend money, you are casting a vote for the kind of world you want." I guess democracy is everywhere, huh?
It is designed like a supermarket with products lined along the shelf. However, none of the products have any brand to distinguish them from any others. All products are equal, plain white with just a label with the name of the product. This is not a supermarket where they sell regular products but rather what society needs.
Milk cartons containing 'tolerance', cream cartons containing '1/4th pint of unconditional love', boxes containing 'commercial-free space', perfume bottles containing 'good vibes', cigarette packets containing 'addiction liberators', cans containing 'meaningfulness' and 'silence', medicine boxes containing 'stress killers' and 'time for each other', and disposable syringes with 'collective consciousness'.
I think that last one is really significant. I wish we could all inject our society with collective consciousness. In the exhibit, they quote Anne Lappe, "Everytime you spend money, you are casting a vote for the kind of world you want." I guess democracy is everywhere, huh?
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