Here I am again, daydreaming of CERN and of Big Hardon....er... Hadron Colliders... (I know, I know, joke largely overdone..) I was watching these videos on interstellar space travel, anti-matter, dark energy and universe acceleration, y'know, basic, common knowledge stuff.. and I thought you know, those videos are really well made. They serve a purpose that I would like to serve too one day, to popularize science and cosmology, to awaken humanity from this deep, long, restless slumber it sorta fell into, starting with religions and ending the new religion: economy.
CERN, Switzerland
It just sorta came to me while studying sociology that.. we have all the tools, all the knowledge to bring the whole of humanity together in its first era of global awareness. We know what we are made of, mostly, we're on the way to understanding most everything in the universe, and yet, we barely use that newfound freedom of consciousness, that new knowledge, to make sure that new research brings us all forward. Instead, we divide the knowledge into workgroups, and target the greater advances and lay them onto the laps of the wealthy capital owners to dispose of. Worse even, nowadays researchers in all fields of fundamental science are being pressured to come up with results that will be economically beneficial. That's where knowledge is headed, and that is scary shit my friends.
Anyways, I'm done ranting for today, I'll leave you guys with two great videos.
This first one is for your brain
This second one's also for your brain, but on Halloween candy sugar-induced high
Say that title like Chong would, yeah, that's it. Doesn't that feel good? Now that we're on the same intellectual level, I'll take that time away from sociology and the (albeit fascinating, quite headache-inducing) works of Karl Marx to post some holiday makeup fun! Because seriously, who doesn't love the holiday palettes and lines that beauty companies come up with before Christmas?!? I know I love them, so this is my excuse to check them all out!
NAILS
So Nars isn't my go-to for nail polish, only because they have such great face products, I dunno.. I'd rather spend on a Nars shadow than a Nars polish, no? No. Nuh-uh. Not anymore. I am SOLD on the Nars polishes this holiday! They have a great set of kabuki inspired colors that I will most likely buy for a certain friend, I know she'll love these!
The second one is my favourite, and the one I will probably spend the big bucks on! It's called Endless Night, and the peeps at Nars deem it a black grape color. I'd say it's about right, it comes on super dark, and has hints of berry color in it.
Just another quick post, because I need to procrastinate my midterm paper even more.. *coughs*
I was watching makeup videos on youtube, and I just found a new guru I really like. I was talking to a friend earlier in the week about some great ways to find products that'll look really good on you, so I figured I'd share my tricks with you guys too!
The best tip: find a good makeup guru/beauty editor.
It's that simple. Well.. simple.... The trick is to find one (or better, a few ones) that look kinda similar to you. By similar, I mean skin tone, eye color/shape, hair color/shape/length, etc. It might seem hard, but you can pick different people based on different criterias. Like for example, you can find a good "hair dupe" for yourself, but she has a different eye shape/color, or a good face color/eye doppelganger that has darker hair or really short hair, etc.
For me, because I'm a natural dark blonde with blue/grey eyes and straight mid-length hair, it's fairly easy to find a few makeup addicts with those features, which could be considered typical "pretty girl" features. (NOT bragging or anything, it's just known that the blue eyes/blonde hair combo is considered attractive. It's a historical factual statement!) And well.. I dunno, blondes, we're all vain bitches deep inside, and we like makeup and beauty stuff. lol (Just for the record, that was NOT factual at all.)
Dee Snider, Twisted Sisters
So anyways, here are a few of my inspirations beauty-wise, so I don't end up looking like a girl version of this guy....
A heavier version of this would most likely make me wet myself. Regardless of what style it's sung into, this is a beautiful song, it could be country, it could be blues, it could be atmospheric doom metal, she made it her own with the voice/piano vers., I would looove to do a heavier, rock version of this. It's originally done by The Weeknd, I had no idea who the fuck that was before stumbling upon the cover.
Just a quick post to share this delightful documentary on whales and the scientists that study and protect them.
I, like Capt. Paul Watson, believe our action towards whales and other "intelligent" animals are highly representative of our ethnocentrism and of our (very) relative intelligence, considering the harm we (almost unconsciously) cause Mother Nature and these creatures with which we all share a common ancestor through evolution. Paul famously said he considered intelligence to be gauged by the ability to live harmoniously with your environment, and in that sense, we're proving ourselves to be quite inferior to these beings.
The title says it all, this is what my blog is all about I guess, a duality between my obsession with beautiful things and my thirst for knowledge. Zombies would be delighted with today's post, more braiiiiins! Let's dig into the good stuff. (warning to those seeking low-brainage: this is philosophical, an amalgam of social sciences and pure science in relation to human existence and the universe..!)
*gasp*
Yeah, that's right, you heard (read) me. Let's start with two Carl Sagan quotes, as food for thought.
"For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring."
"If we long to believe that the stars rise and set for us, that we are the reason there is a Universe, does science do us a disservice in deflating our conceits?"
What I always loved about Sagan was that link he constantly made between scientifical and intellectual knowledge and the social applications and understanding of fundamental questions. His approach was always tinted with that open-mindedness and his awareness of the social aspect of his work, especially in his popular reach-out work Cosmos : A Personal Voyage and anti-nuclear activism.
Like Feynman, he wanted you to think of the answer yourself, rather than feed you the latest hypothesis as the only truth possible. Now I get to study society, and my goal more than ever is to drop that wall between the social sciences, which claim from their part to be a "different science" (more on that later), and pure science, like physics, biology and chemistry, who claim now more than ever that they can explain life and determine social behavior in a more scientific manner (in the field of neurobiology for example). Social science is different in that it has this flaw: you can't really experiment on societies. Well, you can, but that would probably make you something like a dictator or a mad scientist... Either case, not cool.
Like Sagan famously said, "We're all made of star stuff.". We are matter, and yet more than the sum of our parts, and yet still more beast than consciousness, stuck even in modernity in that pattern of duality, of polarity between the oppressor and the oppressed, the rich and the poor, the intellectual elite and the dumb masses, the physical and metaphysical.
I hope I get to ponder on these fundamental questions for a long time, and hopefully make a living out of teaching kids and people around the world to question things, and to be eternal objective critics of the world and what we make of it, especially now that we commonly know our Pale Blue Dot for what it really is: extraordinary and unique and so small in a universe so much bigger than us and beyond us even. Such vastness makes you ponder on how self-important we are in our alteration of our habitat. We didn't create the universe, God didn't create the universe, some claim it created itself in a Big Bang, I stand somewhere in the middle: sometimes I think we create the universe when we observe it, quantum-style, and sometimes I think there was somewhat of a big bang, because nothing is lost, nothing is created, everything transforms, right? So there had to be something before that singularity.
I wonder if dolphins believe in a god-type perfect dolphin-like Being, or if they have a similar desire to explain the universe they float in. I wonder if they ever looked at the stars and wondered what they were. I know, it seems perfectly random, but wouldn't it be hard for a species like humanoids to not only prove, but admit that another species on Earth has grown a universal consciousness, not only for its personal survival but for social and intellectual development purposes? We take so much pride in being "superior".
We're looking for life in space, but not really giving a rat's ass about all the life we have here on Earth, we take a distance from it through our growing detachment from nature and industrialization of basic needs. Why is there that double standard between human life and the rest of life? That moral barrier that is far more flexible when it comes to animals as food, perhaps because we have that innate, bestial need to feed that goes back to our hunter/gatherer origins, or perhaps our social experience develops in us a feeding moral code?
Do we give too much importance to owning beautiful object, and not enough to intellectual pursuit?
Fundamentally, what is life, what is the universe?
What is consciousness and why are we capable of thinking and creating?
Are we, as the dominant force on our planet, responsible for it's preservation?
Is religion a thing of the past, now that science exists, or do we still need its moral guidance?
Such big questions, so little time to answer because I have to go read some stuff for class.. I'll leave you with a last Sagan quote.
"Science is a way of thinking much more than it is a body of knowledge."
Ok, I have this fashion confession to make. I've been checking out new trends, fashion week action, bla bla blah, and I came to this realization: I do not ♥ clutches.
In fact, I think they're retarded, and defy the purpose of a purse, which is to NOT carry all your stuff in your hands. I just can't get around how unpractical it is to have a bag to carry in your hands all day/night long. What do you do if you're sipping on a drink, and then your phone rings? If you're carrying a coffee late night, and you have to hold your dress up from a puddle? It's all so uncomfortable.. possible, but just a hassle, I guess I like to have access to my hands when I need 'em.
Though perhaps I'd make an exception for this McQueen number....
I know, I know, they're like.. some fancy accessory for a night out, and those flat ones you can stick under your arm, yadda yadda. I get it, I even like it on others sometimes, but you will probably never see one in my closet (never say never, but in this case I feel pretty confident).
My bags all have handles, TYVM.
What do you guys think?
Do you own a clutch?
If so, do you miss your second free hand?
Partly to remind myself what I want to buy, partly to daydream of having the money to afford even half of it.. ;)
- This AMAZEBALLZ palette from Bobbi Brown, 8 coordinated earthy shades for 60$. A little bit on the pricey side, so this would go into the "daydream"category.
-This would be a more affordable option by the Sephora brand, in the colors displayed on the big preview (Almost Nude 09), retailing at 24$. It's all about the purple!
-Speaking of which... Here's my favourite new color, a nice deep greyish purple by OPI called I Brake for Manicures, off their Touring America Fall 2011 line. Also IN LOVE with this Nars shade from the new collection! The name is Galion, they describe the color as a "dark stormy gray", 17$.
-Also madly in love with Chanel's new Joues Contraste blush in Rose Ecrin (68), 43$ on the Chanel website or in stores. Perhaps I would splurge on that one, a good blush is essential.
-The Paul&Joe lipstick in the Uptown Girl color. Adorable, isn't it?
BONUS:
This is sorta ridiculous, but I thought it was funny enough to share... Tarte came up with a True Blood-inspired palette.. It doesn't seem bad, if you're into shimmery and glittery stuff, which I'm totally not. But the person that thought up the names? Gawd... The True Death is the most creative, but.. for a shimmery silver?! And then Waitress, a sparkling pink champagne color obviously, because nothing says waitress like champagne.
Speaking of True Blood, I'll leave you to some eye candy: Eric is back, mofos!
I think I need to mellow the fuck out, and stop thinking too much, indeed. But I still won't go around parading my emotions like so many others do. Is it so bad to be a private person? I guess that's why my blog will never really be more than this, a few posts here and there, random videos and random PMS rants about my unexpressed feelings.. :P Because yeah, there's a strong correlation between my.. lady troubles and my emotional outbreaks. Who would've thought... (LOL!)
So yeah, in sheer Katsy tradition, I'll end this video with... a blog. Yeah. I'll end this blog with a video. To represent how fucking annoyed I am by my random bursts of emotional distress. I do not by any means refer to the lyrics, for first we don't fucking understand them, and for second, it's something about a rapist... :P Enjoy anyways!
I'm at a crossroads. There's so many things going for me right now, and so many stressful events ahead, I feel like my head's about to explode! But enough about me, what about you?
LOL
Yeah, I don't like talking about myself.. perhaps because I'm deceiving myself enough, I don't want to inflict that on others. But then, am I really honest with the people around me if I go about life ignoring my feelings altogether, dismissing them as hormones playing mind tricks on me? Sure, scientific knowledge helps bring you back to reality and to the fact that time and space are really just the conjecture of what we experience as living things. But really, string theory and neuroscience don't love back. I need to start focusing on myself and making my own experiences, instead of living through others.
I need to feel alive, and not just like a living, breathing experience lab. Enough with the observing, let's go on the field! I feel rusty, but I'm ready to make efforts, to put myself out there a little more. Perhaps that'll help my confidence somewhat. Maybe it'll crush it, but at least I'll go down knowing I did everything I could to get that experience. I can live with that.
In other news, I watched the Oscar-winning documentary The Cove the other night... it's truly heartbreaking. Dolphins are absolutely amazing animals, and to quote Capt. Paul Watson loosely, intelligence is the capacity to live consciously in harmony with nature, and by those standards, whales and dolphins are far more intelligent creatures than we are. And yet, they are vulnerable to our senseless imprisoning and slaughtering, revealing the proud nature of men for what it is: foolish and unnecessary. What we do to these creatures is but a reflection of what we are capable of inflicting upon one another. It's unsettling.
This week was also the season finale of Whale Wars, and here's a link to watch it online.
So for those of you who know me, this ain't news, but for those that just stumbled onto my glorious(ly neglected) blog, hi, my name is Katy and I'm a nail polish addict.
In fact you see, I'm so addicted that, coming back from a job interview, I could NOT resist walking into Jean Coutu to check out the nail prodz. And of course, I left the store with two colors. One's a limited edition of Maybelline Express Finish in a nice banana yellow color called Sunshine, and the other is a nice peachy-pink sheer color by Personnelle, the Jean Coutu home brand.
Now I don't usually go for those cheap brands, but being in between jobs right now, that's all I could really allow myself to spend without feeling completely irresponsible. I don't usually go for sheers either, but the color was so gorgeous, and then, the fact that I don't have ANY shiny colors like that also helped, I didn't feel that I was buying something completely useless or similar to what I already have! As for the yellow.. I'm slightly mad I bought another yellow polish, but for 3$, that girl couldn't resist, and the other one I have from Sally Hensen really sucked, so yeah.. I thought for 3 bucks, I'd give it a shot, see if the application is better. Sadly, I find it hard to blend, just like the other one I have, so maybe I'll just re-gift it.. or maybe not. I don't know yet, I guess I'll have to try a full mani with it to really judge.
In other news, I was blog-hopping just now, and I found a great blog written by this chick who makes the most GORGEOUS jewelry! It so happens that she's having a Giveaway right now: beautiful "skeleton cameo" jewelry made by the lady in question, as well as a bunch of makeup courtesy of Morgana Cryptoria! Now I'd join for the jewelry alone, wouldn't you? Click on the "Giveaway" link to enter, all you have to do is follow the gorgeous Blix and tell her why you would love to win in a comment. Easy enough! And of course repost this, just so your friends can too have a chance at winning (and sharing!) the great prize! Ans if you don't win, you can also buy her jewelry on Ebay right here. I know I got MY sights on this ring...
I just love it to death (ha ah, get it?)...
Bad puns aside, follow this girl, not only is she pretty and seriously skilled at eye makeup (we could all use her pointers!), but she's a real artist, no doubt.
Now on that note, I'll leave you with some youtube videos, as per usual, but this ain't no Taylor Swift or Kanye West, haha. The first one is The Violation by Fleshgod Apocalypse, an AMAZING video and a great song.
The second one, if I didn't scare you away already, is by my friends of UneXpect, off their new album Fables of the Sleepless Empire, which will probably end up being my favorite metal album of 2011!!!
Also... can just about ANYONE have a duet with Kanye West these days?! Boy, that guy is a fucking song whore! Soon enough there might be more songs ft. Kanye West than actual Kanye West songs... :P (seriously, type "ft. Kanye West" on youtube, it's RIDICULOUS!!)
I had to share this big, big fashion crush I just developed checking out Donna Karan (the Bunny Butcher)'s new Resort collection!! Expect no bunny fur, only absolutely gorgeous glam dresses that would make Dita Von Teese wet herself, as well as some awesome structured modern pieces, I was literally floored!
I figured something out over the years... I hate blogging just for the sake of blogging. If I blog, it's either because there's something I HAVE to share with people, or something I HAVE to get out of my system. Or both, like the whole Taylor Swift and Kpop thing, for example.
That being said, I've had a true awakening lately. Perhaps since my vacation, I noticed that I missed my friends a LOT. I mean staying home watching documentaries and videos on youtube all night has it's advantages... but really, I'd rather be out and about! So expect me to be quite the sporadic blogger this summertime!
/coughs As if I wasn't already...
In the meantime, here's an update of the MoA thing... well apparently she was a signed artist in disguise, and was found out, so she deleted her accounts with the kpop covers! It would hurt her indie creds.. but it's SAD, because she has such a lovely voice regardless! Reminds me of Adele, in a softer way.
Edit: Might as well share the results of my "ohhh, Adele..." moment after finishing this blog entry... lol This is my favorite song of hers. She makes singing exquisitely well seem so effortless... /sigh
Yaaaaayyyy! I wish it was for some deep essay about the meaning of life or the expansion of the universe, but no. This is a no brainer video dump!! :D Lots and lots of random ass stuff about the meaning of.. your mom. There!
Enjoy the crap! (as I know at least SOME of you will, hahaha)
First off we got some videos from this girl that does english covers of kpop songs (winning, as Charlie would say. No, not the unicorn, the other Charlie.) Two of my favorite kpop songs of the moment, too.
This had me cracking up SO MUCH! This is a MV by 4 Minutes, and it really sounds like they're starting the song saying "4 Minute Slut, 4 Minute Slut". Yet, the chorus is sorta catchy, so.. you be the judge!
Oh my, is it 11:30 already?!? Got two more! This one's addictive as fuck, and I guarantee you one or two laughs watching the video!
Ce soir, je bleuuugue. I've been going out quite a bit lately. (but not nearly enough for my taste! So friends, if you wanna share a 40oz and get drunk.. call me! ;) In other news, I returned the Beiver nailpolish, we were just incompatible.. should've known I wasn't gonna commit to a blue nailpolish, because on my complexion it looks like.. a 4 year old picked my nailpolish. Not trendy, not even cute or appropriate for weekend only, weekend called and he doesn't like the color either. Good news is, I got a credit that I could apply to my mother's day gift to my mom.
Now I know I said I'd ease it on the shopping and save up for my vacation, but I so happened to shop for mother's day, and well.. I ended up spending over 100$ on 2 pairs of shoes, one pair of sunglasses and a shirt. So far, all good investments!
Next week will be more eventful, w00t! Vacation starting off with a b-day party (not mine, haha) and and invitation for jap chae, so far so good! ;) Then of course, Toronto and Quebec City.
I went to Mount Royal today with Momo, since it was all sunny n shit, we went to eat some Californian cuisine at El Zaziumm. With my vacation week coming up, and all this nice warm weather, I'm really feeling like it's summer already! The music I've been obsessed with feels very summery, and I choose colors for my clothes and makeup that are definitely more summery. I'm still pretty much obsessed with Adele and Eliza Doolittle, especially this song.
In other news, I also just purchased a Justin Beiver nailpolish.. :P Not MY fault he actually chose one or two decent colors! That's the one I bought, it looks really nice on.
I also got a nice indigo liner for a ridiculously low price, and a nice gift for one of my friends! ;) I also spent like litterally 15-20 minutes picking up a black liner, and ended up leaving with the wrong color.. Failz. While I was out at the tam tams, I bought two cool colored wooden rings, one in faded orange, one in faded yellow, and also bought a wooden elastic bracelet, all for 5$ each!
I have to slow down on the expenses now though, until my vacation! The only real spend I plan on making is a trip to the hairdresser. I need to lighten the color, and fix my previous cut, which was totally NOT what I asked for.
If it's still this nice next weekend, I might just go back to sunbathe at the tam tams, I was sad to leave so soon today, although the sangria and nachos were awesome! Oh and DAMN, I just remembered I had to buy sunscreen.. well, one more reason to give Pharmaprix my money.. :P
Man, I really hope I get to organize a large girly event someday.. I know, weird aspiration, it's just that I stumbled upon this website today, glossbar.com and I SO totally wanna do my own gloss!! I wish there was this kind of stuff as a bar concept, where you could create your own lip color, eyeshadow, gloss, or whatever, without having to buy a bulk number! I mean they already do the necklace thing in Montreal, where you can create your own jewelry. I think the concept would be viable, paired with drinks and snacks. I'd extend a some bucks to create my own beauty products!
Yeah yeah yeah, so sue me, I'm both politically involved AND culturally retarded (in a way, hahaha). Yesterday's post was cool to write, just because I didn't have to worry about debating a certain subject and just went kamikaze on the political comments, but.. I don't wanna go to bed at 2am every night so I can research and write a political blog, y'know?
So tonight, I'll be watching American Idol, 90210 and possibly ANTM, if it gets online before I go to bed. I really wonder who's gonna go home next now that Stefano's gone (FINALLY!!!!). For those of you who don't watch Idol, Stefano has to be the most annoying contestant Idol's had in a few years, some small Italian dude who thinks a dance version of a (my favourite) Stevie Wonder classic ballad is perfectly acceptable.
Now tell me that wasn't painful?! The judges don't agree with me, obvs, but every single week I swear, his tone drove me NUUUTS. Anyways, he's GONE. (after surviving like...4 eliminations in the bottom 3 or something!) My best guess for the next person to leave would be Hailey, because she has consistently had less votes than the others, and well.. I feel like her song choice is gonna be the bottom line: she was saved last week for singing Rolling in the Deep by Adele, which is a huge hit right now (and an allover awesome song!), but I feel that if she goes '80s again (or worse, '90s!), she'll get the golden boot.
Well I guess we'll see tonight! I hope the episode only lasts one hour, a friend of mine's on the radio tonight at 9pm!!!
Someone I know posted a video (or two) today on Facebook, urging people to vote for the NDP (or NPD in french) to put a stop to the current two-party monopole going on in Canadian federal politics. He even goes as far as to compare us to the United States, where the two-party monopole is even more enforced. Now first of all.. I'm all for NDP, for very different reasons. I do agree that the two current "old" parties are becoming a farce, mostly due to "friendships" extending longer than ideas.
Hahaha, ain't that something?! I'm not even talking about her outfit, that Rihanna crossed with Elisabeth Taylor transvestite outfit... She looks like she's about to attend the Bal en Blanc, she's definitely not classy enough to get into Diddy's White Party, even less an arts event?!
So here I am lazing it again... I'm just gonna post a song I fell in love with, and please don't laugh at me.. it's a good cute song! :P Haha, j'm'assume pas.. lol
Edit: oh and I feel cheap, I'll post another! She's just so cute.. lol
I've been so lazy lately, neglecting my blog entirely! And now look at me, 1:30 AM, not the time to write a blog! I've been watching lots of beauty videos lately, and I'll be writing a bit about some new exciting products shortly, in the meantime I thought I could just.. y'know, let y'all know that I'm ALIVE and not letting this blog rot to hell, like most of my previous ones..
I just can't wait to go walk outside when spring is advanced enough so that the days are warm and the evenings are cool. I'd feel like walking to go grab a smoothie nearby, then wander in the streets in Villeray and breathe the fresh air. I wanna go to Mount Royal on sundays, and bathe in the sun, relaxing with friends and a few hundred other relaxed people.
I miss it. Enough winter already! The sun's back, time for a little bit of warmth to kick in!
In the meantime, I wanna go skate at the Atrium downtown soon, anyone wanna come with? I used to skate so much as a kid, it's been so long it seems, I wanna rent some skates for an hour or something! Come on!! :D
Spring is coming along, and with it, my smile too is coming out of hibernation. I love spring, almost as much as fall, which is my favorite season. So yeah, enough with the useless weather chit chat, I wanted to post something a little less brainy today and share some random girly thoughts, as well as share with y'all the content of the mystery package I received this week! I haven't ordered anything in a long time, so it was kind of a WTF moment when I got the claim coupon for a package in my mailbox earlier this week.
But first, I must share my coup de coeur for this Marc Jacobs bag, which I would certainly marry if marrying a bag was legal (and not completely insane). Too bad I can't even afford to take it out on a date... Link: http://www.net-a-porter.com/product/98495
I mentioned in a previous post that "space is expanding, but that fraction of it that emits light, that part of it we can see, is currently estimated to be 4.6%." I feel that I was unclear as to the real significance of that percentage. In that 4.6%, there's the moons, the planets, the comets, the interstellar dust and dust clouds, the stars, the quasars, pulsars, even the black holes. Everything that is made of atoms, and therefore classified in the table of elements, from hydrogen particles to plutonium and all those other alloys we don't even know about yet even, everything that emits and reflects light, only constitutes 4.6% of the Universe as we know it.
Fascinating, isn't it? Speaking of the universe.. I was admitted to the University of Quebec in Montreal in creative writing, go me! Whoo! I know, it has nothing to do with the universe.. only with my universe! And now if you'll excuse me, I'll go celebrate the news! ;)
I've been neglecting my blog lately, so I'll post a few things over the weekend! For this entry, I decided to share some videos of people who do incredible stuff that most people can't do. This first video is of a 6 year old skateboarding chick! She is just awesome! Sorry if the video is not embedded, but it's not on youtube.
I was trying to find the very first video I saw of Charice Pempengco, but it seems korean broadcasters have a real issue with this particular video being available on youtube, so here again, a video from Dailymotion.
(long) Side note: I LOOOVE this korean presenter, Kang Ho Dong, which was host to one of my favourite korean game shows ever, X-Man. Two teams filled with artists, comedians and actors would oppose in crazy-ass games, and at the end, everyone had to guess who the "X-Man" is. At first, the X-Man was chosen beforehand, and had to be a team disruptor, but later they changed formula a bit, and the X-Man was instead voted by various entertainment people based on a theme/question, like "If I had that persons face, that would be great" or "The person who spends a lot of money on their appearance?", or even "The best person to have their sex changed?". It was hilarious, too bad it got cancelled. Side side note: Kang Ho Dong was the X-Man on the week when the question was "This person doesn't take care of their face very well!"
Coming back to Charice, she's all grown up now, she stars on Glee as Sunshine Corazon, Rachel Berry's natural singing enemy, and probably Sue's final weapon as Vocal Adrenaline's lead singer (I'm SURE). In 2010, she made another appearance on Star King, to whom she pretty much owes her internet fame and subsequent shot at international stardom. I have to say it, her look for that appearance was perfection. And how about that rendition of When You Believe from Prince of Egypt?! Amazing.
So basically, black holes are giant event horizons where matter, well.. relatively disappears, because light can't escape from its gravitational pull. It peaked my curiosity. How do those black holes intervene in the case that the universe is expanding, and would eventually become so diffuse all the remaining matter would freeze? Will the supermassive black holes at the center of most galaxies eat up the frozen remains until there's no more light and visible matter in the universe, perhaps even the dark matter and whatever's left of the diffuse star stuff Carl Sagan liked to refer to?
The theory wants that our universe is pretty flat. Imagine those huge black holes being the only remnants of the big bang that allowed for billions of light years of cosmic evolution? It's all very fascinating to imagine the end, not of the world, but of time altogether. No more stars in the sky, a generalized event horizon. Now we can't see past 16 billion light years, as the light from the objects that were before that is too diffuse to get to us. Space is expanding, but that fraction of it that emits light, that part of it we can see, is currently estimated to be 4.6%. Now nothing is made, nothing is lost, all is transformed, right? That's the pattern generally observed with regular matter. What about dark energy? Is it a constant or a quintessential force? Similarly, Black Holes were theoretical only a few decades ago, until the effect they have on their surroundings gave them away and showed us their locations in the cosmos. We still can't "see" what's inside a black hole, hence the name. We can't see dark matter either, or the elusive dark energy. I can't help but wonder what the link is.
Perhaps in a decade or two, dark matter and dark energy will have more eloquent names, and their existence and influence will be more widely know, but in the meantime, I can't help but look at both these phenomenons and wonder where this collapsed matter in black holes ends up, and what will be their role in the expansion and possible death of the universe. Maybe the universe will end up contracting, maybe this dark energy is only a wave, and the subsequent void will pull the remaining matter into a cosmic "crunch", like they say. For all we know, gravity does affect this dark substance thing, plus there is no observable epicenter for this "Big Bang", anymore than we can formally pinpoint any horizon line in the cosmic sky. So what exactly are we looking at?
We'll just have to wait and see. In the meantime, let's enjoy some related videos. Nothing instructional, unless you wanna learn how to rock the cosmos.
This Mastodon song is magnificent, and plugging quintessence in my speech about black holes was nothing but an excuse to link this. (ok not really, but might as well have been the case.)
On the softer side, I struggled to decide if I was being obvious with Supermassive Black Hole, but I decided to go with another song from Muse's Black Holes and Revelations album, Starlight. The lyrics are a great parallel between the way we behave as humans, just like star clusters and galaxies, sometimes we gravitate towards one another, we attract and destroy, sometimes we just drift away, and sometimes we blow up and become supermassive black holes, sucking our entourage into our endless mess. I mean just look at Lindsay Lohan! (oh SNAP!)
I like this Porcupine Tree song. Sounds much like a modern Pink Floyd, without the exquisite guitar sound and voice of David Gilmour. And yes, more variation on a theme. :P
I also stumbled upon this short movie on youtube, while searching for more black holes. Seems like this guy found one in his office! INCREDIBLE!!! Hahaha.
It's one of those weeks when I don't feel like doing anything. Blogging, cleaning, working, cooking, walking.. everything that ends with -ing. I feel stuck in a rut, can't wait for tomorrow's concert (and paycheck, ooga ooga!), at least I'll get a nice bang for my buck. (not THAT kind of bang, geez..) Anyhow, I don't have much to talk about, my weekend's been pretty unmemorable, slept a lot, watched a few documentaries, just a regular business day in the life of K-T.
Truth is, I'm bored. Very bored.
So instead of getting a full blog post about some existential issue, you'll be getting this. (AKA the result of countless hours of random browsing.)
Okay, it's sort of existential, but.. I mean come on. Those kids are old enough to believe in Santa, but the mother nodding in agreement to all that bullshit?! You've got to be kidding me!! The Christians are accusing science of having no proof now?! Talk about reverse psychology!
I'm so hopped up on caffeine right now, it's not even funny. I drank a large Tim coffee this morning, then another coffee at my break, another at lunch, iced tea while I was eating dinner, and now another x-large Tim coffee.. whew! I had a great day today though, I FINALLY filed my admission demand at university less than an hour ago, I still need to provide my 2nd reference letter, but I bought myself a whole week to get it, and I already got one, which is good stuff nonetheless. I applied for a Certificate in Creative Writing, and another in Sociology (2nd choice). I wanted to include Ecology, but I guess the first two are required first, to get good grades and then apply for that program with grades from a University, instead of with experience (I don't have in the area).
On a related subject, I have this project that I've been procrastinating on. As you all know because I blogged about it before, I'm currently watching the Carl Sagan's Cosmos series on youtube, I'm almost done, and this weekend I watched a few documentaries with my mom also. I want to write a children's book about the climatic changes we are facing because of human activity. Perhaps if we train the next generation to think about these things when they are very young, we'll get through this?! I somehow doubt it, but I'm just tired of sitting here and babbling about how irresponsible human kind is, while very certainly not doing anything to help the situation. I feel like a hypocrite of the worse kind, one that condemns the Industry, and then turns around and buys from McDonald's once in a while and consumes at least as much as the other guy in useless goods.
It's test time! Is like... anybody reading this stuff? At all?! See this is my problem with blogging.. It's not like Facebook where people can just "like" and go on with their lives, and I guess it's cool that way.. but really, I just feel like I'm WASTING MY TIME when I write a blog.. No one ever comments, which is Le Boring, and I don't really need to do this for myself ( I mean come on, it's fun to write and all, but we all write to be read, right?).
So here, I'll just put it out there... if you actually READ this, comment please. "Single word" me if you'd like, I don't care on this post. I just wanna know. If I write for two people even, I'll keep going, but.. yeah, I'm a master at time-wasting, and I don't need a blog to prove it once again. lol
All these years, I thought I wasn't a stressed out person... when in actuality, I was just ignoring my stress altogether. Yesterday (and continuing today), I found that out the hard way. Things have been awful at work. And by awful I mean downright gnarly. On one side you got the infamous accountant, that's so damn rude and doesn't have a clue when it comes to being polite (and mind you, the bosses know and accept that fact), then there's the underlining war between my co-worker and supervisor, which is not only sucking the energy right out of me, but it makes me doubt I can do this job much longer. Even less on long term.
It sucks, because this place has potential. I can't afford to pay for my own food and shelter alone with the salary I gain, and I keep getting sick and missing work because it exhausts me completely in two weeks time. I can't seem to see the end of it, and I HATE looking for jobs and "selling myself", as they say. I'm not for sale, I'm a smart, capable, sensible (and sensitive) human being, and really, I'm not asking too much, am I? A good work environment. A decent wage. POLITE co-workers, that don't go berserk on me when they're pissed at something else. I know I know, it's soooo hard to be nice! (not.)
Anyhow, I'll go rest, perhaps the nausea, back pain and headache will go away... and I hope so, because I can't miss work tommorow.
Edit: That being said, I can't just sit on my ass and ponder on how miserable I am all day, so I decided to inspire myself, despite the headaches, first by watching Richard Feynman's Pleasure of Finding Things Out, followed by the first episode of Carl Sagan's Cosmos - The Shores of the Cosmic Ocean (1980). The latter led me to research the Ancient Library of Alexandria, and other great libraries of the world. Truly an interesting matter, worth investigating further when my head is not throbbing!
The title to this post is from Peta's campaign against my (ex) favorite designer, Donna Karan. I don't like their approach so much, in the sense that "Bunny Butcher" is pure sensationalism, but I can't deny that I was profoundly disappointed in Donna's use of rabbit fur in her latest collection. Sure, it looks great, it feels great, but you know what? It's just plain wrong to kill another living thing for pleasure. There are laws against it all over the world. There are also laws against mass-murder, and that doesn't seem to apply to what happens behind the closed doors of the food and fur industries.
I can already hear people saying: "Yes, but we've been using animal skin to dress ourselves since the dawn of times! We NEED to dress ourselves!" Yes, and it's not the fact that animal skin is being used to make clothing that gets me, but the industrialized killing part of the deal. Cavemen would be as disgusted as I am, and they were killing animals for survival, BTW, to eat the meat and recycle the skins to make clothing for harsh conditions. Our ancestors didn't have the knowledge we have today, they didn't know much about nutrition, or fashion. Today, we know of better, more ethical ways of dressing (and feeding ourselves, too), we have access to all types of natural and synthetic fibers from all over the world. Better even, we have literally TONS of materials from old discarded clothing! But instead of reusing all that, we kill more living creatures.
In any case, I took "action". This was a pre-written email by Peta, I modified it to include other arguments, notably about recycling, which I think is very ethical and necessary. (can't erase past butchery, but let not these noble creatures have died in vain!) Anyways, here's a copy of the mail I sent to Donna Karan International :
"I was shocked to learn that Donna Karan continues to use real, un-recycled fur in her designs. There is nothing fashionable or elegant about how animals are killed in the fur industry. Animals on fur farms spend their entire lives confined to cramped, filthy wire cages. Fur farmers use the cheapest and cruelest killing methods available, including suffocation, electrocution, gassing, and poisoning.
I am disappointed that Donna Karan is promoting cruelty to animals when luxurious cruelty-free materials are readily available. Whether it comes from minks, foxes, raccoons, chinchillas, beavers, rabbits, or lynx, fur looks best on its original owners.
I'm not an animal freak, but I do believe that as the conscious, intelligent human beings that we are, we should not kill living creatures for pleasure rather than necessity. Even animals don't do that. And no, high-end fashion is not a "necessity". At worse, why not use recycled fur, like designer Mariouche for Harricana? Better ethically, and probably also financially."
If you, too, would like to send out this letter (or at least the pre-made one), go to PETA's website.
I'll leave you all with a small video which explains exactly what is wrong with the world today. (skirmish stomachs better abstain)
I've spent a many hours thinking about the great questions. Why am I here? Am I meant to do great things? How do I obtain happiness? And what about love? Philosophy and science have truly great, great answers to give. But then again, if I learned anything at all, it's that we all know. We are all philosophers. We just don't think enough anymore. Once we reach a certain level of comfort in our lives, we just stop thinking, and get carried into mindless routines and cheap entertainment. Then we wake up one day and the news hits us across the face, and we are absolutely outraged by the things that have been happening around us this whole time.
We have been blessed by nature and evolution (some call it God) with something no other known beings have in this universe: consciousness, mind, soul, intelligence, whichever appellation makes you violin sing. Every single day, we take that for granted.
Homo Sapiens, latin for "wise man", are we so wise, dare I ask? Socrates didn't think so. I don't think so either, for what it's worth. We are lucky animals, at best, maniacal beasts at our worse. I stand somewhere in the middle, but at the risk of sounding radical, let me just say this: as much as we'd like to think we are advanced and that science will eventually make our species invincible, it may well be our downfall as a species, precisely because it made us so cocky.
We are slowly but surely destroying our habitat, consciously as a society, and making excuses for this behavior, in the name of "progress", "economy", "energy demand" and whatnot. We are fighting for the land and its resources, much like wild animals fighting over a carcass. We often forget to think, about ourselves, what we do, who we are, and what we stand for. What do we do of this "intelligence" that was bestowed upon us?
Since the Chanel Spring/Summer 2011 fashionshow, there's been a serious trend developing: wearing pink blush higher on the cheekbone, up to the side of the eyes, paired with a simple bare eye with a "cat's eye" in black eyeliner, and a touch of pink on the lips. In this video, you can see Vivienne Tam's shameless plagiarism version of the Chanel look.
I was tempted to test it out myself, and it looks good, you just gotta really make sure your makeup is perfectly even underneath. You don't wanna look like David Bowie, so too much contouring is a no-no, just apply an even base of liquid foundation, over your best primer of course, and if you can't do the cat's eye to save your life, a thicker trait of eyeliner will do the trick.
In true asian fashion, I should technically be posting photos of the amazing food I just shoved down my throat with a trowel, but I'll leave it to your imagination. I dunno what it is with me and kimchi, but it gets me every time! I'm not a huge fan of spicy food, but the mix of spices in the kimchi recipe is just... perfection to my palate. I'd put that s**t on everything, like the old lady said.
And then Bibimbap... it's so simple! A hot pot, some sticky rice, tomato sauce, egg, some veggies, some minced pork, and there you go! Add some (yummy) kimchi to the mix, and you got one happy Katsy!! I can even live with the fact that there's pork in it (which I really shouldn't), but I guess you can easily substitute the pork for some seitan or even tofu. I just love the principle of a hotpot, your food still cooks slowly as you eat, so you never end up with cold food because of your big mouth (coughs).
Variations on a theme, this is a making-of video of a korean cosmetics brand's commercial, feat. Dara of (soon to be famous) k-pop group 2NE1.
Almost makes me want orange lipstick. :P And those cupcakes are dreamy!!
..waking up to a room full of cleaning awaiting execution.
..waking up to a month-worth of laundry.
..waking up and realizing you just spent the night drunkenly sprawled on your computer chair, as you fell asleep to that documentary on past lives (and how they don't exist).
..waking up late for work, somehow making it downstairs to catch the bus 5 mins in advance, and still missing it because the chauffeur decided being 5 minutes early on his run is acceptable.
..waking up realizing you have to clean and do the laundry, and do it all after crap & al.
Nothing quite like.. this week! ;)
Pst... Do you guys feel like watching a documentary on past lives? I swear, it's interesting! I was just really tired... and drunk. lol
I realized as I began deleting all my blogs, even the unborn infant blog I created last week in a last tentative at fashion/beauty blogging. It's just not me. Not ALL me. A part of me, definitely, but I needed something wider, deeper, comical but intellectual, entertaining and stimulating. I'm a poster child for curiosity, I watch documentaries and read on so many different subjects, I'm passionate about many different things, and I simply never really allowed myself the liberty of showing ALL my colors. In life or on paper/screen.
I began dabbling with the internet when I was 12 years old. I designed my first personal web page using HTML code before I hit 13. I finished elementary school with 100% in french writing (I'm french canadian BTW), 99% in math, and I'm not saying this to brag but to assess the levels of curiosity and thirst for knowledge involved at this early age.
