Vici's Life In Binary: 2017

onsdag den 13. december 2017

Characteristics of western music periods

Image source: https://www.slideshare.net/jpholly/periods-of-musical-history-25868032

Medieval

Renaissance

Baroque

Classical

Romantic

Impressionist

Modern

1900
1910
1920
1930
1940
1950

Image source: http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/d-brief/2015/05/06/music-last-50-years/

Post-Modern/Contemporary

1960: Beachy, cute/innocent feel and lyrics. Lots of harmonies and choirs. Guitars and "muted" microphones. Black and white videos.

1970: Trippy, psychedelic and melancholic. Sometimes disco and Motown-ish. Very orange/brown/yellow clothing and distinct rounded 70's fonts.

1980: Lots of emotion, power and reverb. Either slow drums or really fast drums. New wave. Androgynous looks, everyone had wild hair, tight clothes and makeup on. Neon lights and teal and magenta.

1990: Stuttering keyboards and black ladies or men screaming. Boy bands and girl groups. Very often rap pops in. Another trend is the emo/angsty/grunge music. Very little reverb on the music; kind of gritty period in music.

2000: Lots of samples, I guess. Strings and piano often used. Mixing genres and different artists. iTunes and iPods.

2010: ???

Black Mirror – Quick review of each episode (spoilers)

Image source: https://medium.com/@matheussiq8/the-philosophy-guidebook-to-black-mirror-part-1-automodernism-a3643d433e35

Here I'll try my best to rank the (in)famous Black Mirror episodes with as little bias from other sites as possible. This is my opinion after some weeks or months of watching, not directly after. Do not read if you don't want spoilers.

General comments: I like the episodes from Netflix better in terms of actors and production. The dull, British acting can get annoying to me sometimes. But overall all episodes have something interesting and dystopian to them and can be greatly discussed afterwards in regards to technology, philosophy, psychology, biology, society, ethics, morals, humanity etc. One of my favourite shows ever.

S1
E1 "The National Anthem" 3/5 Most unrealistic episode, probably, even though it's almost not even a Black Mirror episode in its style. Filthy plot to begin the show with, but yet overall kind of dull. Very funny and ironic that no one went out on the street to see that the princess had escaped.
E2 "Fifteen Million Merits" 2/5 Alright plot but kind of unrealistic and still sort of boring
E3 "The Entire History of You" 3,8/5 Very well made and great plot line. I can see people getting these incorporated into their eyes in the future (I sometimes wish that I had these!).

S2
E1 "Be Right Back" 3,7/5 I think I've seen this plot somewhere else. Very freaky episode when she unboxes her dead boyfriend.
E2 "White Bear" 3,7/5 This episode looks bad at first sight, like a bad horror movie, but then only gets very interesting at the end. That plot twist turned everything on its head. Reminds me of the classical death penalty/torture/rehabilitation discussion.
E3 "The Waldo Moment"
E4-ish "White Christmas" 5/5 Wow, what an amazing episode. Three different small stories packed into plot twist after plot twist and great technological ideas. The tech guide is very plausible, the cookie scares me a lot but the worst part is the "blocked" function. People would not get a chance to defend themselves!

S3
E1 "Nosedive" 5/5 Brilliant episode and so so relevant today with all our social media. We started out with this episode and I recommend others do as well. It's both fun and creepy and interesting. China is working on the same system!
E2 "Playtest" 3/5 I didn't really care for this episode, but I love the way we don't know what is in his head and what is the game. Really trippy. Don't watch it on drugs.
E3 "Shut Up and Dance" 4/5 An episode about punishing "bad people" in a Saw kind of way, almost. Very sadistic and entertaining. As always, Black Mirror plays with your emotions and makes you root for the bad guy.
E4 "San Junipero"
E5 "Men Against Fire"
E6 "Hated in the Nation"

S4
E1 "Crocodile"
E2 "Arkangel"
E3 "Hang the DJ"
E4 "USS Callister"
E5 "Metalhead"
E6 "Black Museum"

tirsdag den 12. december 2017

Jamiroquai (blog post from 27/4/2010)

Edit: This is a blog post from a music blog which I don't update anymore. The original post was from 27/4/2010, 11:47.

Hello :D

Today I'm tell you about the amazing band Jamiroquai, which I'm even listening to right now!

It all started when I was very young, dont know maybe 8?, and my bigbrother played this funky groovy track called "canned heat", and I hated it!

At age 14 I was a the library with my friend Sandra, and quickly noticed the album "a funk oddysey" with it's bright colours and I said "Hey, this looks cool! heeey I know this guy!" and then my "flip" started.

The album was so fresh, funky, groovy and inspiring that I quickly borrowed another album. And another. And another...

And dont you get the album "dynamite" wrong! It looks really boring and crappy but the music is soooo good! The album "synkronized" is also great, but very different from the other ones. I cant choose a favourite!

The singers voice, Jay Kay, is so cool, a bit light and "high". Kinda like a very relaxed Michael Jackson, with a funky ol' twist.

I love it, and today, I am wishing for a concert with those guys. <3 div="">

tirsdag den 20. juni 2017

Questions regarding religion

You cannot prove or disprove a God’s existence.
A lot of bad things happens around the world, including to good, innocent people, for example diseases, catastrophes, neglect, mistreatment, torture and death. Why does this happen if “God sees everything and does just things”?
A book of rules written by man? I do not see that as “the word of God”. I believe being sceptical, objective, logical and scientific leads to a better world, not words from a very old “telephone-game” (which is out-dated and has wat too many interpretations).
If God can do anything, why doesn’t he stop bad things? Isn’t Satan better than God, if he “punishes bad people in hell”? (Hence the Epicurus picture for this note)

My comments on this subject in general:

– I think religion was once “science” because we didn’t have science. It was used to explain the unexplainable.

– I really dislike organised religion. I believe it should be kept in someone’s head/heart. Because, in the end; what is the difference between a cult and a religion?

– My family is from Poland and most of it is really, really catholic. It affects their social class, their families, their schools, jobs and government. If you don’t believe (or are fx gay), you will be scolded and socially excluded for it. This can also lead to depression and suicide.

– I think religion holds humanity back; it doesn’t seem like it would survive without force, coercion, bribing, violence, tradition etc. I remember that kids in my school basically only went to Confirmation because of the parties and presents. We really didn’t have a choice if we were baptised when we were too young to consent.

– I think religion is a root of grand suffering; look at all the stupid, dangerous traditions that have come out of it; especially in regards to the rights of women, children, poor/sick people, atheists/disbelievers and animals.

– Maybe I’ll change my mind; we all know the saying “there are no atheists in foxholes” which is used to argue that in times of extreme stress or fear, such as during war, all people will believe in, or hope for, a higher power (wikipedia).

– Either way, I am much more inclined to believe that we are living in a computer simulation, than that there is a “God” in the sense as we know it today.