Darkora - Nik's Blog

Day Seven - The Arts

Of all the subjects so far, this is one of the ones I've looked forward to least. I'm not really a big person for art - I can't draw, I despise dancing in all but a few cases and I'm not in the slightest bit musical, so my interest in the arts is more from a consumer point of view. Seeing as I know next to nothing about painting, the obvious choice is music.

I've grown up listening to quite a wide range of music - from early to late 90's pop music (thanks to local radio and television) to Blues and Rock music (thanks to my father's influence) to Classical music (thanks to my maternal grandfather).

Ever since I was small, the majority of the music that my father would play in the house was Blues and so it was obvious that my tastes would start there, my enjoyment of this genre was cemented by my dad's performances in multiple local bands, appearing in various venues through the south of England and being roadied for (more than a few times) by yours truly.

My interest in pop music tailed off to near nothingness in the late nineties when I began to notice just how similar each song was becoming, I started to see just how corporate pop music had become and how it almost seemed production line based.

I've had a love hate relationship with Classical music since I was young - at first it just felt like lift music - tinny noises in the background that were more to be ignored than admired, but in the following years I've grown to see it as a pure art-form in itself, capable of being just as soothing as modern music and just as rousing and energising as any rock music.

Thanks to a few of my friends, my real passion in music over the last few years has been rock, it seems I found bands like Evanescence, Fightstar, Within Temptation, Paramore, Nightwish and The Foo Fighters (to name but a few) at exactly the right time in my life in order to provide relief and some guidance.

...well that's sort of a potted history of my musical tastes - can't really say I feel like I've done a good job on this one, feels like I've rambled again, but what the hell, right?

Tomorrow you get to watch the fun as I attempt to write a poem... yay

Nik

People seem to think this is fake because it's written in English. Apart from the racism in believing that Arab doctors and nurses aren't fluent in English (a second or official language for half of Asia), Palestinians have deliberately been addressing their audience in English on every social media, from journalists to children, because they know speaking English to Westerners immediately makes people more human in their eyes. Because language is one of the ways the imperial cultural hegemony conditions us (yes, everyone in the world) to see who qualifies as "people" and who are simply a mass of bodies who were always made to suffer and die. Gazans know this deeply, which is why they have been using English to beg and plead through social media, "We're not numbers! We're not numbers! We're people like you, we speak your language, we deserve to live!" all the while they're systematically slaughtered.

Israeli forces also encircled Al Shifa Hospital yesterday and bombed it for several hours while shooting dead anyone trying to flee including medical staff moving between buildings. Not sure whether it's still continuing because WHO lost all communications with its staff there a few hours after. The last new report said that thirty-nine babies had been removed from the incubators before the power went out. It's extremely unlikely they will survive.

Please understand that these atrocities depend on the war of attrition between governments and public attention. The momentum of public outcry is difficult to sustain through repeated stonewalling and bureaucratic intractability. When we're flooded with these reports and a sense of futility and despair replaces the anger, it allows compassion fatigue to set in and the violence to become normalized. Massacring hospitals, killing sick children and openly targeting humanitarian aid workers (Netanyahu just declared the UNRWA is in league with Hamas) will become simply more news articles that fade into the background, and open genocides will soon become part of the "lesser evil".

Take care of yourselves how you can, take distance where needed, but please never tune out and give up on the two million people for whom we are the only witness and hope. Never stop boosting and sharing the news and posts you find, never stop getting out there and joining every protest you can, however small. Anger burns out, which is why activism must depend on an immovable sense of justice and uncompromising value for human life. It's not just about Gaza, it's about the kind of evil our generation will be coerced into accepting as unchangeable and inevitable hereafter.

I met Dodger & Jesse Cox at the hobbit! best evening ever!

live footage from inside the whitehouse

The Book of Names lists each person murdered at Auschwitz

nikili:

superboysandtheirtoys:

cams92:

venezianov:

(( Is it bad that I cried?

I really needed this.

Thank you, quiet place. ))

Reblogging myself.

I still have the tab open.

I really needed this. T__T <3

This is really amazing.

That really is lovely. I have to say though I was paranoid there’d be a screamer. There wasn’t and I was very happy. I also read it in my head in GlaDOS’s voice automatically :S

That was amazing... I read it in GLaDOS' voice too Nikili

An extra feature from after I shut the camera off...

HR: if they work 40 hours a week u have to give them benefits

Big company: hmm okay. They shall work 39

What I've Learned This Week

Since I haven't been able to continue my daily challenge thanks to my shiny new training course, I figured I'd come up with a new idea, this is a weekly rundown of things that have occurred to me during the week and probably won't make a whole lot of sense to anyone but me... but oh well

22nd Feb 2011 • iPhones do not charge when they're not plugged in • Bicycles (whilst annoying) are going to be a necessity • Virgin Cross-Country trains are actually quite awesome and comfy • the 1812 overture is a fantastic accompaniment to a train journey through the countryside • I need to put more classical music on my iPod • you dont get what you want unless you try for it • little children should not be permitted in the quiet carriage of trains 25th Feb 2011 • thought can shrink • loud restaurant was loud 28th Feb 2011 • 2 hours sleep is not enough • it's very cold just after 7 in the morning • Zenos has a dress code • the virgin cross country train home is surprisingly crowded • relaxing and reading a book is a fantastic way to spend an impromptu day off though sleeping would have been a good plan • Stealing people's kidneys is surprisingly profitable • blathering crystal salesmen to sell a worthless lump of sulphur is also highly profitable • boltguns are great but if you don't know how to use them, you can't hit a daemonette in close combat • being a tech priest is a mix of McGyver and Steve Austin and is easily the best class to roleplay as. 01st Mar 2011 • 6 hours sleep is not enough either • "if you think you can or think you can't - you're right" • my stomach really doesn't like being woken up early • Amanda is really cute when she's sleepy • I can get up, dressed and ready for work in 5 minutes with some preparation • I need to get to the station far earlier in the morning if I want a decent seat on my morning train • coming up for fun ideas for an activity on a presentation is not easy • I hate presentations • on the way home the 24 mins past train is great until Winchester, then very busy • slow train home is slow • comfy seat is however comfy • I can't do homework on trains • I still hate essays • English tests as homework are a really mean idea 02nd Mar 2011 • sleep is good • Amanda is even more amazing than previously believed • my stomach *still* dislikes early mornings • despite arriving earlier than the train, I still couldn't get a window seat • I need a warmer scarf otherwise my face is truly going to freeze off in the mornings • even I don't know everything about office • the manga for fullmetal alchemist somehow manages to be even more awesome than either of the tv shows • making PowerPoint presentations is a mighty fun way to spend an afternoon

03rd Mar 2011 • Chinese yi jiao coins look rather like a 5 pence piece but are worth approx 1/50 of the value • socialising more makes a day run nicer • trains are ridiculous • Winchester is the new Fareham • Gilgamesh is a confusing yet very interesting anime • I need to start my own webcomic at some point entitled "why I should never be allowed to time travel"

04th Mar 2011 • breaking news: my body still hates early mornings • you really can build a house from spaghetti and marshmallows but I wouldn't want to live in it • English assessments are quite a challenge but I can get a decent grade • I am at level 3 standard for maths ^^ • I already know a lot of the basics I'm gonna need for my A+ • CV note: qualification logos look good to prospective employers • early starting, late finishing weeks make a weekend worth so much more • people who can't be bothered with headphones on public transport need to be shot... repeatedly • I still need more classical music on my iPod