Tea and cake please... Ta. I'm not a uber hippy, I have to admit but in the past have been a defo hippy! I play the drums, have done since I was at school, it's something I promised never to give up and, although I'm not in a band at the mo, I still practise regularly and get plenty of goodness out of it. My job is technical, I have always been a very technical person, good at maths etc. I love bikes, have had two wheeled transport since I was at school and have a luverly Triumph which I ride alot! I don't unfortunately have much of a social life at the mo, been spending too much time on linux (geek!) but the constant fiddling has taken it's toll and I feel like something new again. mmm that was just right, tea should always be the colour of cake, and vise versa hehe Oh yeah, have I taken drugs: yes! Mind: expanded. I recently stopped smoking tobacco and currently just smoke neat weed in a little pipe I made Festys: Last festival was like colditz (the last Phoenix), my first _big_ fest was the best (Treeworgy '89) and there have been a smattering of others. Time for another I think, and soon! That's it really! cheers for the grub, it was delicious
I noticed the Hindu OM symbol in your sig. Are you religious youself? What does religion mean to you?
The OM symbol is quite a happy thing, it is a good thing to just occasionally say "OM" when stressed. Also it reminds me of that Cheech and Chong sketch... you know the one, Cheech eats all the acid, gets all worked up, Chong says "Ommmmm" then "BANG!" hehe. I'm an agnostic really, I believe in what I can see plus a few bits beyond, like folklore and traditions... maybe the odd faery or two! Ancient tales are always fascinating. I'm no expert on religion but it's a question of degrees, I can't believe in something like Catholicism, too restricting for me and insane as regards birth control (in this day and age blabla..). I could however be taken in by a little Buddhism (for example) especially as it is based on the thoughts of someone who wasn't said to be anything more than human (not a deity in himself) and who said cool stuff... you know?! Devoting myself to one set of knowledge and denouncing or rejecting the teachings (preachings?) of another is just closed minded, I don't want to close my mind so it's agnosticism for me!
I think Buddhism can be as dangerous as any other religion precisely because people often tend to assume it's harmless. For example, it's views on homosexuality are no less prejudiced than other religions. Even if it doesn't actively promote stoning them, the fact that it sees the practice as a sin would seem somewhat outdated like all the rest. The other trouble is that people can assume Buddhism is harmless simply because of what it preaches, not what it practices. Take Tibet, for example. Now I wouldn't condone all that the Chinese have done there, but people who might shout an abstract like "Free Tibet!" often don't consider that before the Chinese came Tibet was a place of feudal slavery where the religious elite owned much of the land, leaving their peasant communities with little to call their own. The Chinese took the land from the monastries and made communes of it. But I digress. What drew you to hippy culture originally? Ooh, and how did you find this site?
Wow, you know more much than me, perhaps I'm just an ignorostic! I don't know really, I would never have labeled myself as a hippy when I was young but I think plenty of hippy thoughts I suppose. All the mad concepts I had when I was stoned for the first time, watched the sun come up tripping, went WOW! for the first time and really meant it. These things don't wash away but I am somehow harder and more pragmatic these days. I also take less mind altering chemicals! I found this site through sheer desperation. In an early post I got instant help here, for that I am forever grateful. I must extent massive thanks to wizardrew77 for his understanding and help. If someone else here has a similar dilema I'll try to help as best I can and pass the karma on. Now = Now Past + Future = 0 Howzat for balance!
We've covered religion, what about politics? Are you a very political person? What are the issues that fire you up?
I am not very political most of the time, only when some issue or other encroaches on everyday life. I heard someone say recently that a long time ago a man could live his life and never come into contact with politics, now it seems that everyman should have an opinion on current affairs. I feel the current system of government used to work well and is arguably a nessecary evil, society must have structure or anarchy prevails (sorry all you anarchists!). Now however, political debate is driven more and more by the media to the extent that media feeds off governmental issues, which in turn feed off what the media is saying. The snake has almost finished eating its tail, and is rapidly becoming less relevant. Politics should not try to shape our culture; we should be instrumental in the course of our political structure to a finer degree than just "You have 3 choices this year, vote for Red, Green or Blue", to this end I propose that politics is dead, long live internet polls!
Good point on the media, it seems to have both a combatative and an incestuous relationship with politics at the same time. Issues like the demonisation of asylum, immigration and travellers are fine examplea of the media picking up on relatively minor political issues, creating a moral panic out of them through lies and spin, making them big policy areas as a result of people's base prejudices and then plugging them day after day to bump up sales still further. Leading on... Do you feel you have any prejudices, and if you do what brought them about and how do you feel you might overcome them?
Do you like or dislike the term geek when talking about yourself? I saw that you used it to describe yourself in your first post, but the use of the word from person to person varies a lot...
I started life in the sticks, I lived with my mum (dad left when I was 3) and had no prejudices. My mum however had lots, blacks, gippos, asians were all frowned upon, not so much with venom but with a resigned sadness. As I have grown up prejudices have grown with me. I dislike and fear "dids", the kind who creep into my mothers garden and steal her show cocks for fighting purposes, I met some as a kid, they tried to steal my bike from me, it was the first time I felt vulnerable and afraid of a complete stranger. Religious nuts, anyone who either bangs on your door and tries to insanely convert you (Jehovahs Witnesses), or un-subtley drops it into a perfectly reasonable conversation that you are evil and should become 'one of us' so-to-speak; ie. some muslims. Polish people get my goat at the moment, they come over here, take our jobs... lol, not really! I did meet a very disagreeable Polak the other day who was admirably candid, she refused to hold any conversation with 'the british' as she was just over here to work and take as much money as possible back home... that made me slightly angry at first; but I laugh about it now, at least she was honest. I think any prejudices I have are quite deep seated and difficult to overcome, they are born of experience and in a sense are there to protect me. I tend to disregard them most of the time but feel angst when something happens which confirms one of them. It makes me sad that I have prejudices, but that's life I suppose, I have yet to meet anyone whose lives weren't shaped in some way by prejudice. More tea vicar! mmm
In alot ways I like 'geek', probing into unknown areas of my computer, it makes me feel like a pioneer. In other ways it has put my 'real' life on hold. You can't actually 'do' anything practical on a computer, so nothing is really going on when you are on a computer. As a human being I can move in loads of dimensions.... see what computers have done! I'm talking shit already! That's the worst part, as soon as someone mentions the 'L' word I go into evangelical mode and start to bang on about why M$ Windows is so shit! It is shit... but in the long run, I also know that it really doesn't matter that much, that I should just get on with my life. Damn, I forgot, I don't have a life hahahaha! I use various operating systems on the machines I maintain at work (medical scanners) so I have to know what I am doing, I can justify my geekiness in that way. What is a geek anyway? A subversive? A know-it-all? A train spotter? I'm not a train spotter, I know enough to know I will never know it all! I like to think of myself as pretty subversive, I can put a live disk in anyones computer and scare them with the command line, then show them the power of GNU mwahahaha! Above all 1's an 0's cannot be tamed, patented or sold, they are just 1's and 0's, it's the peole who do the work of maintaining the 1's and 0's that need a medal! I couldn't become a programmer, it's just too much, which is why I am here I suppose, I need to use my computer, instead of my computer using me... what was the question?
I really dont think there is any said defining term for "geek." But I myself am a geek to, just in a different way. I'm a band geek I like using that term also, for some reason it makes me feel useful in the world, like if anyone has ANY question about music that NOONE else would know, I'd know it, becuase I'm the band geek! Does that make sense? If you could do any job in the world that was completely different from your own, what would it be, and why?
Perfect sense! Everyone has to have a hobby, I suppose if you really get into your hobby then you become a geek by default. Now that surprisingly is the hardest question, if I knew then I would be doing it now. Maybe something as far removed from technology as possible, perhaps a farmer, working with animals, maybe on a nature reserve. I know I'd like to be my own boss but not sure how. I know a guy who has done all sorts, now he works for himself making specialist door knobs, seriously, he is in great demand 'cos he makes the old style door knobs that no-one else makes anymore. It's a no-brainer but it generates a good income.
That's an interesting way to look at it. Almost like society praises averageness and mediocrity and passionless nonchalance. Get too good at something, get to into something, and you can't be normal....
Not sure if I would agree with that though. Is action and practical progress measured only by physical movement? I'd say the development of the mind is equally, if not more, important than the development of the body. And I don't mean that in a wishy washy or spiritualist way, I'm simply talking about learning. There's so much knowledge out there that can be accumulated just by sitting in front of your computer, and learning is doing something practical. Also, I spend a lot of time in front of my computer writing and, even though the days of the typewriter are gone, I'd still say that was doing something practical.
I really appreciate that sentiment, it makes me feel I haven't wasted my time. I am more knowledgeable now than when I started hacking (in the traditional sense of the word), and the internet had a massive influence on my acquired knowledge. Perhaps this isn't such a bad place to live! Bed time, Guys hospital tomoz, sleep well.
A friend of mine had a temporary job in a supermarket recently and said there was a staff notice telling them to "BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR POLISH THIEVES" ... he wasn't sure if he should be patrolling the Mr Sheen aisle um... When and where did you first see Brazil?
LOL I saw Brazil for the first time in 1988, I was a bit stoned, it got under my skin and has been there ever since. It's just.... can't put it into words. It really shaped my philosophy on terrorists "How many terrorists have you seen Sam, I mean actual terrorists?!". You can't have a war with terror!! it's just ludicrous. Terry G saw this coming a mile off I think. Why did you ask? Are you familiar with it too? Anyone out there a Gilliam fan? He's done some corkers!!
