http://search.deviantart.com/?q=by:Ikio&section=today deviantART RSS for by:Ikio en-us Copyright 2009, deviantART.com Fri, 11 Dec 2009 12:25:10 PST deviantART.com http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss http://s.deviantart.com/minish/widgets/apple-touch-icon-precomposed.png http://Ikio.deviantart.com/journal/25011634/ http://Ikio.deviantart.com/journal/25011634/ Fri, 29 May 2009 08:43:27 PDT
We had reached a point in recent history where I was starting to feel positively about the United States. Our newly elected president is not causing catastrophic fail, unless you are a staunch conservative or someone who has no idea how the economy actually works, our efforts in the middle east seem to be doing something that in a change of direction is not completely bad, and the economy has started to clot where some of the larger wounds were previously bleeding.

I felt especially good when it was announced that Iowa had decided to recognize gay marriage and the rights contained therein. I never questioned the motives rather I was impressed by the hearts and minds of the residents of Iowa who could have stood up and fought. I expected that they would have but they impressed me and shamed me in their openness and tolerance for something that far more “liberal” states had refused to embrace. The shame, of course, came courtesy of the fact that I live in what should have been one of the first states to set in motion such an act.

In the past, I have stated that the word marriage is not important and I do mostly believe that but I also understand that it matters to others. I see that some people want to be married not simply in a civil union. For some it may be about the ceremony but for others it is a validation of their very lives and their personal struggle with who they are and their acceptance in a society that historical fights against change. Hope and change, only months ago this was the battle cry of a nation. Where has that hope and change gone?

Scott McKenzie once sang that there were gentle people in California. I have always been shown that there is a solid base of acceptance and tolerance for the different to the absurd there but that seems to have changed. When California’s Supreme Court upheld Prop 8 they struck a blow against the rights we hold dear. They have violated countless US, taxpaying, citizen’s rights. Every man woman and child in the United States has a right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. I often rail against the idea that people replace the idea of pursuit with some entitlement to happiness. In this case I am railing against the fact that the very body put in place to protect the pursuit has put a boot on its throat.

Overturn Prop 8. Let people pursue their happiness with someone they love. Please, stop telling us in 6-1 decisions that fear and ignorance steer this country and show the world and posterity that we took a stand against blind fascism in 2009. For those who pin their hate mongering on God: He told us to love one another and not to judge, why are you above that command? Give others the freedom they deserve and that they would gladly give you.

]]> ~Ikio http://Ikio.deviantart.com/journal/24339951/ http://Ikio.deviantart.com/journal/24339951/ Mon, 20 Apr 2009 09:04:48 PDT
I wonder if Angelina and Madonna will get into a bidding war...

]]> ~Ikio http://Ikio.deviantart.com/journal/23359892/ http://Ikio.deviantart.com/journal/23359892/ Mon, 23 Feb 2009 09:58:34 PST
That aside:

Had the academy bent over much more to suck their own dick they would have fallen off the chair and broken their neck. Trust me, that could happen, not that I have tried _{I just am just guessing.} Seriously, they are actors and actresses, professional liars, and live such squishy lives that they felt compelled to give unwarranted awards to Slumdog Millionaire. It was a very good movie but it was just as seeded with unnecessary sap as The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. The entire movie just made me wonder why I was still watching it. It was like a series of short films that were designed specifically to tug at our heart strings or in other words it was an Oscar Ringer. I am sure those very situations existed but damn...in a row?

The speeches last night were pretty tame I have to admit but I swear after the first two speeches I thought it was going to be nothing but a parade of self-important fuckos spewing their cause all over the unsuspecting public. I was relieved when virtually no one else made even the slightest move toward being political.

For those who want to dive into the idea that film is some greater platform you'd be dead on but to those who think the Oscars are some greater platform you'd be an idiot. They are an evening of mutual masturbation where pretty people and some pretty ugly people get together and show how much they want to fuck each other in various orifices for their next role.

Do you honestly think Brad Pitt gives a flying fuck about the sound guy from his last movie? If they ran into each other on the street Brad wouldn't even recognize him. That is if Brad Pitt walked instead of floating above all others like the Adonis he is or if he lacked a secret tunnel system that allowed him to just appear.

Anyway, these and most award shows are only appealing to me on the level that I know I will be angered by watching them and then I can feel superior because I am not there whoring myself for attention. Yes, I realize the irony in me saying that as I write this journal entry. At least it is not a rant about some fucking cause like the starving children in Indonesia, people never really feel like they can help but you can. Everyone can help just a little bit and that'll be a big help!

No seriously, fuck the Indonesian children and their mothers. Their mothers are probably pretty hot. Never mind on that one, I just did a quick Google search and it doesn't look like Indonesian women are on average attractive by any stretch.

If I ever had a point it was probably something like:

The Oscars are a city's one off the wrist and the resulting load is their way of feeling like their lives are justified. Sometimes they stupidly say things to make themselves feel even more important and they fail it but we are all guilty of wanting greater recognition sometimes. Well, maybe not me. I am great and know that I am great so I do not need anyone stroking my ego. Of course, if there are any ladies (Anne Hathaway I'm looking at you) who'd like to do a little stroking...

]]> ~Ikio http://Ikio.deviantart.com/journal/23017543/ http://Ikio.deviantart.com/journal/23017543/ Thu, 05 Feb 2009 09:42:58 PST
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]]> ~Ikio http://Ikio.deviantart.com/journal/21335467/ http://Ikio.deviantart.com/journal/21335467/ Wed, 05 Nov 2008 07:42:48 PST
People actually got up and did something. Maybe stars aligned, after all it was warm and the weather held for those who marched to their temple of the day. I would like to think that even if a grand blizzard had fallen upon the country and consumed all visibility that somehow hands would still have made their way to voting machines across the country so I will.

What I have not done is stopped holding my breath. Last night was not a victory, it was the first step in what is going to be a long campaign that will most likely leave a great many blue before they finally gasp and realize that hope can be painful and change almost inevitably is excruciating.

The difference between this election and previous ones is that I find that I am not holding my breath waiting for the shoe to drop. I am holding my breath that this tide of awareness and activity continues and that the change we see is not in color or party but in how we as Americans hold our employees to their words. This is the time to keep the momentum going in our favor and a chance to stop the great wave from stopping at some abandoned space in history. This time we need to push it beyond our own satisfaction. This time when the waters become thin we need to carry it in on handful by handful.

No more division now, no more banners to carry or to burn. It is time to realize that no one lost in this election. It is time to unite behind someone who seemed to truly believe we could come together. We need to prove him right.

]]> ~Ikio