COME FOR THE SHIT, STAY FOR THE SHIT.
Don't worry: I'm not american. The dates are written under the (objectively supperior) format of day/month/year.
Don't forget you can play music with the buttons at the bottom of the page! The music button plays this.
Wed 7/8/24
So I went to an art exhibition this Monday. The more I think about it, the more I realize how much more fulfilled my life could be if I regularly engaged with art. Not just in creating, which I already tend to do (although not with the visual arts) but also in admiring other people's work. Art, every kind of it, somehow gives me the feeling that I'm not alone, but part of something bigger, if not a simple witness of it. It's regenerating, energetic but peaceful. Obviously, I could take in the trending tab of ArtStation, and the such, every day like it's a medicine my entire existence depends on, and whenever my caffeine levels get low (I don't actually drink coffee it's a joke) I could read the Wikipedia pages of renowned painters and become some sort of art connoisseur. I know that. I'm well aware of the vast potentials of the internet, and I'm part of the first generation to live fully immersed in it, FROM BIRTH. But there's something wholly different about staring into the eyes of a fictional woman on a canvas while jazz music plays in the background. My mother nags me, she's getting bored, but I can't take my eyes of the painting. The detail, I NEED to dissect it. Yes, there's something special about it.
Now, I'm not gonna sit here typing at my computer, telling you the pixels are the devil and that the blue light is poisoning your brain. There's something you need to understand, and it's this: It's actually not about the art. At all. If I wanted to (and trust me, I don't), I could listen to the entire works of Beethoven right here, right now, with the majestic powers of the world wide web. I could also stop everything I was doing, get a good drink and food, as if I actually was at a concert. I could. I could even invite my friends to appreciate his mastery with me, but that would be going too far. In fact, anything even close to the first step would require practical obsession to achieve. The simple act of sitting down and enjoying a few classical works is such an unappealing break from the momentum of life that it would require borderline fanaticism to achieve... or being at a concert.
It's not really about the art. Replace art exhibition with public sport screening and, somewhere deep inside, it all registers as the same. Those are the special moments I jot down in my diaries, the memories. People say passive consumption is the problem, that most people are content just consuming whatever is handed down to them by the algorithm gods. And that's a problem, sure. But you could also say that whatever was going on up there between my two ears and in my heart... at that art exhibition, that theater seat, that concert, the World Cup finals and the countless times I felt the outside home was my only true home... You could say that was, in a sort of way, passive consumption too. There's something aggressive about social media. When you watch a video, do you really have time to think for yourself? Or are you simply listening to others talk, hours on end? With every fraction of a second optimized so that the viewer won't scroll past it? The density is the difference, think. I'm not sure.
There is no thesis to this in congruent block of text. You can search for it if you want. I'm sure you'll find one, somewhere. This will mean something different to each one of you imaginary little gremlins in my head. Maybe it's not the density but the messaging. Ultimately, you can look at a statement online, and may have differing views about it, but virtually everyone will understand those little words in the same way. Maybe that's why I don't get that special feeling from reading non-fiction books. Or maybe it's the people. Or the atmosphere. The change from routine? I don't know. I'm too tired to think properly. Goodnight.
Fri 2/8/24 - Die internet ist güt.
Ya, die internet ist very güt mi friend. Ist a place of wonders, of creations. Ya, die internet ist not bät. Sometimes, die internet ist mean, büt otter times, ist upliftink. Ya! You fellow, neocities denissen shoult no dät. - Me desperatly trying to sound german.
Here are some güt things I found on the internet recently (from left to right):
Those are comments under a video I saw about the indie web:
Thu 1/8/24 - Sfouf Recipe.
Sfouf is a lebanese cake that I like very much. This is my grandma's recipe:
- 4 cups of flour.
- 2 1/2 cups of sugar.
- 2 big spoons of powdered milk.
- 1 small spoon of curcuma.
- 2 small spoons of baking powder.
- 2 cups of water.
- 2 small spoons of anise.
- 1 cup of vegetable oil.
Then you mix and you bake.
Wed 31/7/24 - Waterbending is Ballet but Cooler.
Yesterday is the day I created this website. I’m probably not going to work on it consistently, but, right as I’m writing this, it feels pretty empty. What you’re reading is therefore nothing more than forgettable filler. Why are you still reading?
These last few days, I’ve been watching the live-action Avatar The Last Airbender remake from Netflix. So far, is it good? Well, the dialogue can be really on-the-nose and unnecessarily prolonged, but I’m a fan of the extra lore and characterization as well as the mixing of different episodes from the original. Is it better than the animated series that aired almost 20 years ago?... probably not. But it’s not bad either.
I personally don’t like their interpretation of Aang. I find him rather obnoxious in this version: he’s always the one to explain to the audience (of mostly young adults revisiting their childhoods) the moral of the story. I also miss him goofing around, asking Katara to penguin slide with him.
The other characters are well-executed. And some aspects of the series diverge from the original in ways that are neither good, nor bad. For example, the excessive horniness in Soka’s romances... I’m sorry, but you must be blind if you couldn’t see the sexual tension between Soka and Suki in episode two’s “training” montage. I mean, the girl spent a whole ten seconds straddled on Soka crotch, panting like a dog and staring into his eyes. Don’t tell me!
Even in other moments, and with the northern-princess-whose-name-I-always-forget, the air is filled with (non-sexual-)teenage hormones. Some might get sick of it, and the awkwardness might put some people off, but I see it as cute. It reminds me of my own social and romantic failures and... [DEPRESSION INCOMING].
Anyways, what I’m talking about probably did exist in the original, and were blocked out by my innocent momeries, but I’m pretty sure it’s more exaggerated here.
Something I really like and that doesn’t substantially appear in the original is the power games between Zuko and Zhao. In the original, Zhao is a side caracter meant to represent the evils of the fire nation, and whose cold, snaky personality is contrasted to Zuko’s temper tantrums, thus garnering sympathy for the latter. Here, he is much more, in fact, he is THE season one villain, intimidating and easy to hate. Everything about his existence reveals sadistic tendencies I didn’t know I had in me.
But then there’s Zuko and his whole “capture the Avatar” thing. I can’t imagine what kind of psychotic person would seriously watch the series and not root for Zuko. As wrong as it feels to secretly wish for the kidnapping of a twelve year-old, it also feels...right? Not because it’s the moral thing to do but because Zuko is a lovable character. It’s like being a criminal’s mother. That, in itself tears the viewer apart. They love the Gaang and want the fire nation to fail, but they also love Zuko, Prince and Rightful Heir of the Fire Nation. Add to that our hatred of Zhao and, by association, the fire nation, and that leads to the one conclusion that makes sense: Zuko will switch sides, lest the viewer be irreparably disappointed. Someone has to win.
Also, I got pretty sentimental at the “Division 41” backstory.
Now, to my other point, the length. Series with long episodes aren’t essentially bad, but most don’t make good use of their allotted time, I feel. It’s not that bad with Avatar and I’ve definitely seen worse [traumatic flashbacks]. Listen, if they could cut down the length of the episodes by 15%, if only! I think it would force the writers to be more careful with the time they do have. While watching, I would literally fantasize about booting up the series in an editing software and cutting it down into smaller pieces.
All in all, the series is not bad. I’d even say it’s comparable to Avatar The Legend Of Kora (if you forget the borderline-incestuous love triangles), quality and enjoyment-wise. The first two episodes were bad, in my opinion, but after that, it picked up the pace and I started actually liking it.
Now, wouldn’t you want to be a bender? A waterbender, perhaps? These two pictures will make sense of all your worries (and the title too!):
