Socialism Hayek, Fred!

I was unaware that Hayek had such strong views on socialsm. He claimed that socialism was "impossible in a technical sense" and that it was a "solution that was not a solution" . I am still wrapping my brains and trying to dig deeper by what he really means. I have watched the video bellow quite a few times analysing what he is saying and the points he raises.

An example of existentialism? Not really sure what the video is trying to say here? Bit confused, is it just to show that we only know what is going on that second ? The guys asks if anything is wrong yet he is covered in blood ? Do we just take other peoples word for what they say ? I find this video odd and yet intriguing and interesting. Is this somewhat of what life might be like if we all lived in the existentialist universe ?

track me

New Journalism - - Observe...

New Journalism was a style of writing that came about in the 1960's and 1970's. It tend to throw the conventional rules of being fast accurate a fair.... because this was simply boring and boring hides the truth. The main two leaders of this writing style were that of Tom Wolfe and Hunter S Thompson...who were both on drugs!

One of the techniques in which Wolfe used was that of observation, where he would simply observe and show what he was seeing though his eyes.

Does this still happen today ? Of crouse it does especially in documentaries but not so much in news. If you look at journalists such as Louis Theroux, in all his documentaries he appears on camera a lot, everything we see is what Louis sees and therefore being Louis opinion. Says it how it is.

I too like to adopt this New journalism writing style except I do not really write. I like to people watch, observe peoples lives. I like to call this people watching. Is that really new journalism ? Probably not and probably unrelated but hey ho, it filled another couple of lines!

Wings of Desire...A City of Angels

I have to say, I struggled to watch this film. I found myself sitting there in the lecture room with my eyes closing every other line, after all it was about angles. I blame the floating angle camera like movements! Despite this I did still manage to watch it and understand it.

Wings of Desire is about an angel (Damiel) who wishes for mortality after falling in love with a human. The change over from angel to becoming mortal is emphasised though the use of colour change. Going from black and white into colour. This is to help show that Damiel now has a completely different way of experiencing life.

This reminded me very much of another film I had seen many years ago called City of Angels starring Nicolas Cage. This is a film again in which an angel wishes to become mortal in order to feel, touch and love a woman he has fallen in love with. However becoming mortal doesn't come cheap. Once mortal there is no going back. Unlike Wings of Desire this film has no happy ending. Once seth (the angel) finally becomes mortal to share his life with the woman he is in love with she dies in a car crash only hours after experiencing life with Seth.

Nothing space and time

This is just a thought...however its a blog.

I've often thought about this thought many times before, but after the lecture on Thursday it really got that thought going again.

I'm slightly scared to share my thought at the risk of you thinking im rather weird but I'm sure you do already so I may as well. And I just thought, Ive used the word thought quite a lot already....well that is just because I have put a lot of thought into this blog.

Anyway, that aside here goes..

Now when I was a lot younger I always used to try and imagine not being alive. But I never could. It was a too big a thought for my little brain. I could not comprehend what not being alive would be like. I still can't although I can create a slightly better picture in my mind of what nothingness might be like in my eyes.

Try taking this one stage further, what if your parents didn't exist, what if no one ever existed, what if the world did not exist. What would there be. Fact -at one point billion and billion of years ago there was no form of human existence and earth did not exist. And before space? Well Einstein would argue that there was literally nothing as time did not yet exist. The question I am asking is what is nothing? Well I suppose that nothing is nothing, something we would not recognise if we saw it, or be able to describe it. Its the whole idea of the obelisk from 2001 space odyssey.

Anyway I am very aware this may not make a lot of sense. But if you were to listen to someone who had seen nothing then described 'nothing' to you, I'm sure it wouldn't make a lot of sense either.

The fact is we will never know what nothing is like. I suppose its like being dead.....maybe?

McDonaolds - Whos lovin' it?

I am having to write this blog to meet the deadline as I am having problems uploading my video blog due to video size, however I shall upload asap.

Orwell was massive on advertising. So with my Orwellian mind I decided to look at McDonald's advertising campaign 'I'm lovin' it'.

Basically they are saying that everyone loves McDonald's. Do they? Do we? Do we love MacDonald's? Well apparently so. If that is the case explain this....

McJob - slang for a low-paying, low-prestige job that requires few skills and offers very little chance of intracompany advancement.

Well obviously the McDonald's workers are not lovin' it are they? So that's a lie. So who is lovin' it?The people who eat there perhaps ? Well who does eat there? Depressed obese people? Well they certainly are not lovin' it. There must be someone who is lovin' it. Kids! When they get their happy meals they are delighted! But when they realise they have not got the toy inside the box they wanted it all end in tears and they are no longer lovin' it.

So is McDonalds lying by claiming that "i'm lovin it". Well if you ask me (and it would appear anyone else) then yes! No one is 'lovin it'!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PXkk5WuG10

Even in the advert they are not happy. But what are they doing hear? This advert sends me to sleep! It is like a lullaby. What are we supposed to be lovin'? The food ? The people? The only part in this advert that I was lovin' was the music and the fact it only lasted 40 seconds!

Anyway, I am beginning to digress. The point is I do not think that a lot of people are lovin' McDonalds. Even if they are...what is they are lovin' ? Well heres one fact for you....McDonalds, I'm definitely not lovin' it