Ok, after being in heaven for a couple of days (because I have listened to all songs that the band bellow has ever recorded) I have decided to once again spread my love to my web site.  Poker seems to be what annoys me right now. I am one of those people who can’t really play any card games which, to tell you the truth, astonishes many people.

- Wow, you can’t play (insert popular card game here)??? What kind of freak are you?

Not a freak, mind you, just someone who doesn’t feel the need to sit in one place and play with luck for three hours.

- But, it is so much more than that!

Yes, that’s what they all will say. They will say that it is about skill, bluffing, reading facial expressions, adrenaline, etc. However, any game that encourages wearing a hat and sunglasses indoors is not really worth it in my opinion. Just watching those dwarfs play their little tournaments rips my heart apart — hours and hours of sitting down, playing with their chips and hoping to get a good hand.

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I have been thinking about the power of different scents for some time. With today’s emphasis on visual stimulation, I think that people tend to undermine the power of different smells. I often find myself experiencing childhood memories just by walking around, which is quite a trip for my mind.

Of course, people have turned our “scent memory” into a business, by giving different enjoyable scents to bubble gum, detergents, toothpaste, etc. I think that times will come when people will use those artificial scents to judge the real stuff. A scene from the Matrix comes to mind, when the guy is eating a stake and says that even though he knows the steak isn’t real, it is still delicious. Yes, I think that we will be able to trick our minds in the future , but I personally prefer to stimulate my senses the old-fashioned way. Artificial scents, like online virtual worlds, can only go so far. But still, people want to smell (or smell like) tropical forests, vanilla,flowers, or whatever those marketers decide that it’s best for your nose. The shirt that I am wearing right now smells nice, but I really can’t decide if it’s morning dew or something else. It’s funny how all that we can say is “that smells nice,” without linking the scent to anything in particular.

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I have a couple of things to say about this video, please click continue to read what they are after you watch it.

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I guess most people are aware how amazon.com has this thing where “if you like this, you might also like that.” Thus, if you like the movie 1984, you might also like V For Vendetta (which I do actually). This had me thinking whether we are really that much predictable. From liking certain movies, to songs, to even colors, we invest so much of ourselves in what we prefer that we gradually begin to search for our “self” in things that other people like. This is where recommendations, similar interests and hobbies come into the picture to turn us into pieces of an endless puzzle. But we are determined to find someone who shares our interests, because we want to fit, regardless of our attempts to distinguish ourselves from everybody else. Thus, we want to find a unique way of means to belong somewhere, instead of doing it in a straight forward way. To sum it up, the crux of all of this seems to lay not in where we end up (because we always end up somewhere), but how we end up there. Let me tell you, we have some pretty creative ways of getting where we want to end up.

Books seem to be the all time favorite history-wise. It is fascinating how something written hundreds of years ago can inspire the modern man. I think that we

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I remember watching a Bill Hicks interview when he described his censoring from the David Letterman show with the words “United States of Advertising,” which basically means that the companies that are sponsoring your favorite shows also control what can and cannot be shown during the whole time. So, it makes sense when Bill was fully censored (after being told that his show that night was great), because his jokes that night had to do with abortion. Little did he know that a pro-life company sponsored the Letterman show. That’s some serious business.

Watching commercials is something that I don’t particularly like to do, but it gives me a great insight of the world that we live in. The more I watch the more I see how those commercials reflect on the way that people behave. The same thing happens with movies. When people do something cool they say “it was like the movies.” Isn’t that strange? Movies are supposed to imitate our life, not the other way around. Come to think of it, the same thing happens with songs, magazines, etc. A commercial, however, has to be short, so all the gimmicks that we see have to be over exaggerated and memorable. Step inside the United States of Advertising.

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I recently came across a video of a Bush lobbyist, Stephen Payne, who tells a person that a donation of a hefty amount of money to Bush’s Library private library can guarantee a meeting with Rice, Cheney and even Bush himself.

“I think that the family, children, whatever [of Akayev], should probably look at making a contribution to the Bush library. It would be like, maybe a couple of hundred thousand dollars, or something like that, not a huge amount but enough to show that they’re serious.” (source)

The story gets more interesting when we find out that the person who needs that publicity is Kirghistan’s past president Askar Akayev, who basically wants to use the opportunity as a PR service. It becomes more than apparent from that video, that the representatives from the White House are ready to say “positive statements” in order to give him a shot at the presidency:

“I think the main thing is that he [Akayev] comes, and he’s well received, that he meets with high-level people in the administration and most importantly we send positive statements made back from the administration about ‘This guy wasn’t such a bad guy’, [and] ‘Many people have done worse.’ Those kind of statements from a couple of people in the administration.”

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I really wanted to have a vision problem when I saw a “Family Christian” store last night. I don’t really talk about religion very often, because I believe that it is something personal and people always get very “jumpy” when they argue about it. However, after seeing a store with that name, I just have to say something about it. Why in the world would you call it a “Family Christian” store? Does that mean that Muslims and Buddhists can’t shop in it? Now, I know that some boil-brained filthy rogue is going to say to me:

“Hey Ocean, you close-minded punk! You should at least give Christianity a little respect”

I believe that every religion must be respected, at least because of the people who have devoted their lives to it. But things get a little out of hand for me when someone decides to call a place intended solely to making money, “Christian.” According to Wikipedia:

“Family Christian Stores is the world’s largest Christian retailer, and it is located in the United States.[1] The retail chain had 4,600

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A strange question, isn’t it? I assume that everybody who is reading this is reasonably old, so you all might find the topic amusing. We are so preoccupied with going to college, having a good job and getting married that we forget what it was like when we were younger. I often wonder what it would have been like if I could’ve kept a diary throughout my early childhood. Its contents would be priceless.

Nevertheless, people tend to reminisce over the old times only when they have figured how much simpler life was then. Well, I am tired of reminiscing about it and I want to know why! What factors are trying to kill the child in us? Could it be that the evil government doesn’t want a bunch of prejudice-free creatures to roam around and play hide-and-seek all of their lives, or have we created a place where our own ambition to evolve will not let us see a simpler version of us? Maybe we are just plain evil. In either case, let’s look at what exactly we lose.

Innocence. That’s a big one. People would often use it as the main thing much separates grown-ups from children. Isn’t it weird how it has a hint of “guilt” to it? Does reaching adolescence and doing all of those nasty things deprive us from our innocence? I beg to differ.

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It has bugged me for some time that both Walmart and Days Inn have changed their logos.  The funny thing is that their new logos are almost identical — mostly blue with a sun figure. This has been done to improve their less-than-glamorous image and reflect a new, more shiny outlook of the two corporations.
Clearly, we live in times when the cover of the book is just as important as its content, if even more important. Everything is about presentation, image, and packaging. People seem to be fascinated by design rather than substance. I am no different. Like every monkey, I am also impressed by the new, the fresh, the thing that is going to be only mine, until I find another toy to satisfy my superficial existence. Well, maybe I am over exaggerating a little bit.
Walmart and Days Inn are going to remain horrible, despite their change of logos. What bothers me is that in some little room, a bunch of robots are thinking of ways to change the way people think of certain corporations, by making a more “friendly” logo. Pretty soon, we will be living in a cartoon land, designed to appeal to an optimally targeted audience. All the shiny colors are going to soothe my helpless soul, while I find myself in a bunch of plastic.

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Seeing that it is popular to be insensitive nowadays, I decided to write this handy guide. Whether your insensitivity is caused by the mass media or your own ignorance, this guide will attempt to shed some light on this issue. If you feel offended by it…maybe you should, because you might find yourself in one of those categories. I know that I do, but at least I am working on it. So, here it is:

1. Be careful with humor - Humor seems to be hot nowadays. From making you attractive to the opposite sex, to breaking the ice in a lame party, people like a person who can make them laugh. However, if you use it all the time,some will tend to not take you very seriously, especially if you consider Carlos Mencia to be funny (which he is not). Please, save your dignity by omitting jokes about midgets, war-torn countries, accents, Borat and/or somebody’s mom. I think everyone is tired of them, except the people who still find them funny. If you laugh at those jokes you are either bellow 13 years of age, an alien, or most likely, an insensitive idiot.

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Imagine that you are driving in a small neighborhood and you see a logo saying “Maid to Clean.” I just did that yesterday and it spurred a lot of confusion in my consumerism-free mind. Apparently, the mastermind who made that name realized that she can play with the words “made” and “maid,” in order to create a very catchy, trendy, cleaning company. That’s fine. My question is — what is her freaking problem?
Who in the world is made to clean? They weren’t born or reincarnated. They were made, you know, like robots (chips and everything). Imagine how those who work there feel.

“Hey, where are you working?” - Ocean Vice
“I am a “maid to clean” - a maid to clean Employee
“(thinking) Why?” - Ocean Vice

Now, there is no doubt (in my mind) that many jobs nowadays are just an advance form of slavery, but why do they have to promote this in their name. Why not call their company “hard working maids,” “maid to be perfect,” or “maid it so far”. Nobody wants to clean for living, and those who actually do it wouldn’t want to participate in that mockery of a company.
Who uses that kind of service anyways? People who don’t want to clean. Does that mean that people who don’t want to clean weren’t made to clean, or that they are so spoiled and idiotic that they have to call “Maid To Clean” in order to have their couch cleaned, while they are watching “Baby Borrowers”. I prefer the latter.

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The perfect guy is either a liberal or a conservative, opinions do matter to him and he is not afraid to express them.
The perfect guy knows what’s an e-mail and a web site, and is also an expert at telling the difference between them.
The perfect guy wears t-shirts when it’s hot and always has an umbrella in his closet.
The perfect guy has a “Best Hits” collection in his car.
He takes pictures and makes websites for them, collects numbers and puts them in his phonebook.
He has a job, which provides him with money.
He hopes to get promoted one day, so he can get more money.
He knows what “quality” time is.
There is time to be angry, time to be happy, therapy time, time to get in touch with his feelings, and time to browse the web. Time is on his side.
He dreams about a vacation, somewhere far away from here so he can relax.
He can’t wait to go back home when he has a vacation.
Movies make him think for a while, movies make him think for a while, movies make him thi…”new releases today.”
The right amount of alcohol makes him a different person.
He can’t wait to tell his friends what happens when he is a different person.
He wears nice clothes in clubs, so he can get in.
He likes his news to be up-to-date.
He knows what date is today.
He has a birthday today.
That makes him think for a while, that makes him think for a while, that makes him…”hey how are you”

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This video is is fascinating. I would probably do the same thing in their place, not because I give up my individuality, but because it would be plain weird to have nine sets of eyes looking at me in such limited space.

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Isn’t it funny how misunderstandings could cause so much pain? It seems that broken relationships, arguments, and even world conflicts all come as a result of something which wasn’t taken the right way. As if we are constantly searching for something to correct, then somehow spread our idea of righteousness and feel good about it in the meantime. Some people always have their antennas ready to spot something that they don’t agree on, only to voice their opinion on it. David Hume said that:

“Truth springs from argument amongst friends.”

The problem nowadays, however, is that our arguments get so heated, that they even get in the way of friendships. Abortion, war, death sentence– most people are detached from those things, but they still manage to divide us. Isn’t that funny? Then we have all sorts of affiliations, groups, parties that make us think that we are not alone in our beliefs. And we start to believe it little by little — our city, our college, our movies, our family; all of those things try to put us in a certain place. The catch is that all of those things are man-made; so when I think that I am right and you are wrong, I am ultimately going against my own nature. This sort of thinking can really distance us from society, but I believe that it is the right way to obtain self-awareness. I will end this post with a quote from Abraham Maslow:

“Self actualizing people have a deep feeling of identification, sympathy, and affection for human beings in general. They feel kinship and connection, as if all people were members of a single family.”

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