Friday, September 23, 2011

Coup de coeur


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.

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Whale Song

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.

Post Not Sponsored by Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (although it might as well be!)

Monday, September 19, 2011

Beauty and Brainz

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?

                                    Cattle farm in the Amazon. (from Greenpeace)                                       

Such are my pondering subjects these days.


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."

Kat
xxxx

Monday, September 12, 2011

The Clutch Affair

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?

Monday, September 5, 2011

Fall Makeup Wishlist

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!

Friday, September 2, 2011

5 Rules

FIVE RULES TO REMEMBER IN LIFE

1. Money cannot buy happiness but its more comfortable to cry in a Mercedes than on a bicycle...
  2. Forgive your enemy but remember the bastards name...

3. Help someone when they are in trouble and they will remember you when they're in trouble again...

4. Many people are alive only because its illegal to shoot them...

5. Alcohol does not solve any problems, but then again, neither does milk.

 XXXX