“I know what I believe.
I will continue to articulate what I believe and what I believe
- I believe what I believe is right”

-George W. Bush, 22 juni 2001

Inte för att sätta den stämpeln alls på konferensen, delar av konferensen eller någon person som var med på konferensen, men nu har jag varit på regelkonferens i agility. Det var väldigt intressant, mycket givande diskussioner och intressanta frågeställningar. Så förhoppningsvis är ARG nu lite klokare, eller det är dom förmodligen inte, men dom har fått lite input på sitt jobb med att sammanställa remiss-svaren, och kan nu gå vidare med det så det blir ett förslag till regeländringar. Som om allt går väl och tygen håller, kommer börja gälla i januari 2012. Det känns ju som en överskådlig framtid… Tur att sånt här jobb ger tydliga resultat medan man fortfarande minns vad det var som diskuterades… Eller kanske raka motsatsen. Men vi har i alla fall varit med och påverkat, och det känns bra. Vi har också ätit god mat och diskuterat intressanta saker med trevliga människor. Det har varit en bra konferens, helt klart.

Igår tilldelades jag epitetet “respektive” och fick följa med på partaj, middag och konsert tillsammans med min sambos kollegor och deras respektive.

Förfest och middag på krog gick som en dans. Sambons kollegor är trevliga, och dessutom tycker lingvisten i mig att det är otroligt intressant att umgås med östgötar. No offence – men jag tycker att de låter så roligt. På ett bra sätt (är ju givetvis lite orolig att någon ska bli skitsur på mig när jag skriver att östgötska låter skoj).

Efter grillmixar och maltdrycker på välkänd pubkedja som har på tok för många fotografier på väggarna begav vi oss mot kvällens höjdpunkt (lite ironi här för de som inte känner mig). Kalle Baah firade 30 år med en spelning i Flygeln i Norrköpings industrilandskap. Bandet kommer från Skärblacka, eller som infödingarna säger; “Blacka” – och alla var där. Norrköpingskunskap 2.0 – gå på Kalle Baah och träffa folk. Förvånansvärt lite dreads och mycket kavaj.

Det gick ju inte så bra. Med några öl i blodet förvandlas jag till en sjuhelvetes jävla bitch med världens absolut kortaste stubin. Hade jag varit man hade vakterna kastat ut mig så det bara tjöt om det på nolltid. Publikhav är trånga och när folk är fulla är det oundvikligt att man råkar stöta till varandra då och då, eller att man tränger sig framåt när bandet man vuxit upp med börjar spela. Jag upptäckte snabbt att jag verkligen inte klarade av att någon stötte till mig eller trängde sig förbi mig. Körde ett par tokhårda armbågar rätt in i folk som jag blev skitirriterad på och delade ut arga blickar och idiotförklarande kommentarer på löpande band. Irritationen visste absolut inga gränser – till slut funkade det inte och skamsen över mig blev det hemgång efter fyra-fem låtar.

En-dosa-snus-om-dagen-jag hade haft skitkul, skrattat åt fullisarna från landet och gett blanka fan i vingliga brudar i för kort kjol och glatt skakat rumpa till ett skojigt band. Sjumilligramsplåster-jag borde spärras in för hon skrämmer slag på mig. Bitchfasoner är inte okej. Nu skriver jag på kampanjen för en vit jul och håller mig i skinnet ett tag. Alkohol och abstinens är inte särskilt lyckat

Acts 14:20 – However, when the disciples gathered around him, he rose up and went into the city. And the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derbe.

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%2014:20&version=NKJV

@TrueNewsZone while thinking about Paul, don’t forget what it’s all for.

Ok so first off, NEVER read a bible verse without looking into the context of it.

So the disciples have been visiting many places and spreading the Gospel message.  It has been causing dissension and caused Paul and Barnabas to flee.

They visit two places in Acts 14, Lystra and Derbe, where the two are mistaken for pagan gods.

Some people have followed these two through their travels to hinder their work.  Just before verse 20, these people succeed in turning the crowds against Paul and Barnabas.

Paul is stoned and left for dead.

But he revives and continues preaching.

Verse 20 is about how Paul persevered.  When he was knocked down and left for dead, he rose again and continued on his mission.

OH YEAH BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!  THIS ONE’S FOR YOU MJ!

I get knocked down, but I get up again You nay ever gonna keep me down….

Paul is very similar to MJ here.  MJ had a message he was spreading and many people sought out to take him down… conspiracy.

They tried to turn the masses against MJ and unfortunately to a large extent, they succeeded.

It’s very hard for a leader like MJ.  Many will “hero-worship” you and you can be on top of the world in the masses eyes one minute and then when you show your humanness, they will feel betrayed and hate you the next.

However, MJ, like the energizer bunny…keeps going and going and going… he is staying true to his mission.

I am really starting to believe that MJ is redirecting people back to what is all for… what everything we live for is… why we’ve been created….

IT’S ALL FOR LOVE… AND GOD IS LOVE.

If you want to see an account of all the actual clues, go to my post: http://lilwendy.wordpress.com/2009/11/24/www-thisisalsoit-com-to-date/

One of the previous clues was Wikipedia Weiner Text picture: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:WeinerText.JPG

Here was the pic:

So lets see if we can put this all together yet….

1. Michael Jackson Death Hoax Forum  – This is a hoax.

2. Trailer Movie 2012 – 4 years to make a difference

3. V for Vendetta -  we have to rise up together against an oppressive government

4. Trailer Movie EndGame: There is a global agenda going on as we speak. The media has been meticulously censored for over 60 years as part of an elite’s program to dominate the earth.

5. Sito Skaggs, The Final Curtain: This hoax is here to get us thinking about our earth, global affairs, and to open our eyes to what is going on.

6. Videoclip Liberian Girl: MJ is behind the hoax and he has employed many people to be part of this hoax.  If it’s anything like Liberian Girl… they may not know that they are part of it.

7. ARG Year Zero:  This is an ARG that we are a part of that will lead us to an end result.

8. YouTube 9/11: 9/11 was part of this global agenda.

9. ART Is Resistence :  Here we are empowered that we can make a difference… we can be heard if we lift our voices as one.  No guns.  No war.  No bloodshed.  Just our voices speaking the truth.

10. Wikipedia, Faked death – MJ faked his death for this.

11. Registrazione del dominio: This is the answer.

12. Wikipedia, Performance Art: Based on our move will determine what happens next.  We are being watched and this ARG will morph into what we make it.

13. Forum Death Hoax investigation: Keep discussing things together.  Figure this out.  Band together as a family.

14. Wikipedia Weiner Text picture: put the clues together and get the big picture.

15. Wizard of Oz:  The European fairy-tales of old often contained political allegory disguised as legend or myth in times of despotism when people were unable, sometimes even forbidden by law, to speak out about harsh, unfair treatment.  MJ tried to speak out in his songs and in speeches.  Nothing changed.  Not on a large enough scale anyway.  Everyone was scared of the wizard but in the end the wizard was scared of Dorothy and her friends.  Translation:  We may be fearful of the goverment, what going on in the world, etc. but really if we band together, the government should be afraid of us.

16. Movie 2012:  Summary:  Government aware of global impact event and meeting to come up with solutions.  They do but the earth is still crying out.  As things go crazy all around, one man comes out as the hero and saves humanity.

17. Biblegateway John 14:29 – We’ve been warned.

18. The Answer:  PUT THE CLUES TOGETHER

19. All for L.O.V.E.:  MJ is doing this all for LOVE.  Love of the planet.  Love for us.  Maybe it’s his calling?

20. Collider article:  There will be more footage to peruse on the DVD.

21. People mag article:  Things will not be revealed into 2010

22. DVD Easter Eggs:  Also look for hidden clues on the DVD

23. 77:  There is the G77, G24 and G8.  These are all groupings of countries that we need to be aware of.   Interestingly enough, more people paid attention to MJ memorial on July 7 2009 than the G8 summit July 8 – 10 2009.  Sad state of affairs.  Also note that the next summit is scheduled for Toronto, ON (Ontario same location as Club 77) June 25–27, 2010 OH YEAH PEOPLE EXACTLY 1 YEAR AFTER MJ’s DEATH!  SEE YOU IN JULY!!!!!!!!!!

24.  Psalm 30:4:  Michael’s enemies have not won, his health has been restored and he’s been saved from death.  Give God the glory and thanks!

25. Michael has escaped death… are their possible political enemies/allies?

27. Is something going to happen on Jan 6th?  Michael is rumored to be alive and his mission is one that will span generations.

28. MJ will continue to persevere in purpose and vision despite those who try to knock him down!

The “TIAI” people/person strikes again!

http://images.clubzone.com/company/images/3175.jpg

Oh no!!!!!!!!!!!! The 7’s again!

Interestingly enough, it’s double 7…. mirror image.  Kind of like…

Referencing us to man in the mirror again?

Meanings of 77:

Doing a google search we find….

Michael is going to be going to Club 77 in Hamilton, ON!  Just kidding!

Wikipedia page:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/77_%28number%29

Things that stood out on here:

1.  77 in Islam- In the Islamic tradition, “77″ figures prominently. Muhammad is reported to have explained, “Faith has sixty-odd, or seventy-odd branches, the highest and best of which is to declare that there is no god but God, and the lowest of which is to remove something harmful from a road. Shyness, too, is a branch of faith.” While some scholars refrain from clarifying “sixty-odd or seventy-odd,” various numbers have been suggested, 77 being the most common.^[2] Some have gone so far as to delineate these branches.^[3]

So are we being told to be faithful?  Faithful to what MJ is doing?  Faithful to God?

2. The Group of 77 is a group of developing nations at the United Nations.

Their official site is: http://www.g77.org/

In a nutshell:

The Group of 77 at the United Nations is a loose coalition of developing nations, designed to promote its members’ collective economic interests and create an enhanced joint negotiating capacity in the United Nations. There were 77 founding members of the organization, but the organization has since expanded to 130 member countries. The group is chaired and directed in 2009 by the government of Sudan.

The group was founded on June 15, 1964 by the “Joint Declaration of the Seventy-Seven Countries” issued at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). The first major meeting was in Algiers in 1967, where the Charter of Algiers was adopted and the basis for permanent institutional structures was begun. There are Chapters of the Group of 77 in Rome (FAO), Vienna (UNIDO), Paris (UNESCO), Nairobi (UNEP) and the Group of 24 in Washington, D.C. (IMF and World Bank).

Are we being directed to world affairs and to be aware or should I say beware!

Please reference previous www.thisisalsoit.com redirects that pointed us to a global enslavement of sorts.

I’m getting the feeling this game is a very serious one.

Or like I said at the beginning… Michael is going to be going to Club 77 in Hamilton, ON! 

Here’s a picture of me:

UPDATED!!!!!!

FROM http://www.ridingthebeast.com/numbers/nu77.php

Properties of the number 77

Symbolism

• According to Jacob Boehme, 77 is the total number of the divine revelation thanks to the Word formed. Because starting from only one Verb speaking and a unique vital spirit, it exit 77 languages of which “five belong to the Spirit of God who speaks by his children when and as He wants; but the sixty-twelve others belong to the persons and to the human particularities by which speaking the own intelligence of the man, telling at the same time lies and truths. Also the sixty-twelve languages, that is to say Babel, must pass by the court of God and the pure has to be separated from the impure and to undergo the test of the fire”.

Numerology

• Wise counsel, body as temple, mystical powers in action, purity in mind, body and spirit, Master Mystic, loving detachment, holy emptiness, turning away from the masses and towards Spirit, Presence, conscious union with God, mystical marriage, electricity of Awakening, universal intelligence.

Bible

• Number of times is necessary to forgive offenses (Mt 18,22). However, according to other references, such as NRSV Bible, some Protestant editions, or in the visions of Maria Valtorta, Jesus asks to forgive 70 times 7 times.
• The 77 generations of Adam to the Christ according to the evangelist of Luke. (Lk 3,23-38)
• Cain is avenged 7 times but Lamek, 77 times. (Gn 4,24)

General

• In the mystical Jew, according to a fragment originated from the Merkaba shelema, Jerusalem 1922 (one of the two most important texts of Shi’ur Qoma) it concerns the “greatness” of our Lord: “Rabbi Ismael says: Metatron, the great Prince of the testimony told me: About YHWH, the God of Israel, the living and constant God, our Lord and master, I certify what follows: From the residence of his glory (that is to say from the throne) further down there are 118 myriads. Its height is 236 myriads and thousand miles. From his right arm to his left arm there are 77 myriads. From his right pupil to his left pupil there are 30 myriades. His brainpan is 3 myriads and a third. The crowns on his head are 60 myriads which corresponds to the 60 myriads of heads in Israel.” (folio 34a-b)
• The iridium, Ir, atomic number 77, is a white metal which the name is a derivative of the Greek word “iris” meaning” rainbow”. It is under the sign of the rainbow that God concludes his Alliance between him and the humanity, and the Christian remains in this Alliance if he forgives 77 times the faults of his brothers (Mt 18,22).
• Zarathustra died at the age of 77 years.
• The twelfth perfect number, number of which the sum of its dividers gives the same number, contains 77 numbers. Let us mention that the first five perfect numbers are 6, 28, 496, 8128 and 33550336. At the present time we know 24 perfect numbers, the last one being 2^19936 x (2^19937-1). That last number has 12003 numbers. All the known perfect numbers are even and we don’t know if there is an odd perfect number. But the mathematician Bryant Tuckerman has demonstrated that, if a such number existed, it would be higher than 1036.
• Halley’s comet, turning around the sun, reappears approximately every 77 years.
• Birthday of a person in Japan: happy long life – kiju.

Gematria

• In the discussions of Vassula with Jesus, This one often asks her to end the dictation of her letters by the mark of his name, that is to say “fish” written in Greek, icqus. By using the gematria in “n”, that gives 77 = 9+22+8+20+18.
• With the gematria in “n”, 77 is the sum of two numbers in facing: 34 value of the Hebrew word spirit, 20+6+8=34; and 43, number of the Hebrew word flesh, 2+21+20=43. That reminds us that the Son of God become man (flesh) in order that the man rises up towards God (spirit). The flesh and the spirit are then complementary: the flesh bearing the spirit and the fruit of the work of the Spirit will be the salvation of the flesh which will receive the incorruptibility.
• According to the revelations of Our Lord to J.N.S.R. (just as with other mystics), France is great to the eyes of God because it has and will have a great role to fulfil in the propagation of the Faith. In Hebrew, the word “France” gives 77 = 18+20+17+22 by using the gematria in “n”.
• The numerical value of the Hebrew word BGhE, meaning to pray, gives 77.
• By using as correspondence table A=1, B=2, …, Z=26, we find that the French word “BIBLIQUE” (biblical) = 77.

Occurrence

• The number 77 is used 3 times in the Bible of Jerusalem. However, in others biblical translations, like the NRSV for example, to chapter 8 verse 35 from the book of Ezra, 77 lambs, and not 72, served holocaust to the God of Israel. We also read, always in the NRSV, to Mt 18,22, “70 times 7 times” instead of “77 times”.
• The number 50 is used 77 times in the Bible.
• The verb to forgive, the sinner word and the name of Elias are used 77 times in the OT. The words garden and refuge are used 77 times in the Bible.
• The verb “to feed” is used 77 times in the NRSC.
• In the Bible, 77 numbers are used 2 times. Here, the number 280 thousands is interpreted quantitative manner, that is to say 280000.
• In the Bible, 77 numbers are multiple of sixteen by counting “ten thousand times ten thousand” (Dn 7,10) as being an additional number equal to 100000000.
• In the NT, the sum of the occurrences of the numbers located between 17 and 153 (cardinal form only because in this interval there is no ordinal number) gives 77.

FURTHER UPDATE!!!

Credit to pammy & TouchedByAnAngel @MJKIT

http://www.seventyseven.net/

I went to the site and under projects I watched this video called REEL 77. Click the link that says launch application to watch it in bigger size. As you watch the video have your finger on pause button so you catch the messages. Some are

DESIGNED WITH A SINGULAR PURPOSE
TO SUPERCHARGE YOUR SPIRIT

GO BEYOND EXHILARATION
AND REACH TRANSCENDENTAL ACCELERATION

TAKE A DEEP BREATH YOU’LL NEED IT

(POINTS OF LIGHT SPREADING AROUND WORLD)
STAY COOL IN THE HEAT OF BATTLE

LEARN TO LOOK
ENGAGE THE WORLD

I think this site is FULL of clues! Also notice the player at the top…there are three symbols, click the middle symbol and music files play, LISTEN to some of them.

Vad gör man när man blir bortglömd? Ska man bli arg, ledsen eller helt enkelt inte bry sig?
Idag har jag både blivit arg och ledsen för att nu inte längre veta vad jag ska tro tycka eller tänka om saken.
Hur skulle du känna om någon glömde bort dig? Vart går gränsen för att det är okej att glömma bort eller bara vara nonchalant?
Min kille lovade mig en dag att han skulle väcka mig på morgonen men glömde bort det. Det är ingen stor sak men jag blev ändå ledsen. Senare kunde jag ju naturligtvis tänka att det är ju inte hela världen för det är ju en sådan liten sak. Men idag kunde jag inte det.
Har varit på sjukhuset för en gastroskopi undersökning. Har varit så otroligt nervös inför den och verkligen behövt mycket stöd. Eftersom killen skulle ner till sin skola och lägenhet 60 mil bort och mina föräldrar är i Stockholm fick lillsyrran följa med och hålla mig i handen. Dock har mina föräldrar pratat och stöttat mig både före och efter.
Men inte den person jag helst av allt ville ha stöd från. Pratade med honom igår om dittan och dattan men imorse när jag vaknade var jag urnervös och ringde till honom. Inget svar. Jag ringde till mina föräldrar och pratade av mig lite istället. Tänkte att han troligtvis hade ett möte och skulle vara anträffbar senare. Klockan är nu över sex på kvällen och jag har fortfarande inte hört något av honom. Jag försökte i tre timmar innan undersökningen att få tag i honom, för han vet alltid det rätta att säga, men utan resultat. Jag gav upp och skickade ett sms istället där jag förklarade att jag var ledsen över att jag inte fått tag i honom trots att han visste vilken dag det var.

Ställer jag för höga krav eller är jag för känslig? Jag vet faktiskt inte men jag känner mig ändå grymt sviken.

Well this one made me laugh….

http://www.dvdeastereggs.com/faq.php

First things I thought of…. EASTER!!!!!!!!  According to Christian scripture, Jesus was resurrected from the dead on the third day of his crucifixion. Christians celebrate this resurrection on Easter or Easter Sunday^[2] (also Resurrection Day or Resurrection Sunday)

Of course, RESURRECTION DAY!!!!!!!!!!!! Sunday April 4, 2010.   So is MJ making his appearance then?

Another thing I thought of was MJ loving easter egg hunts and hiding eggs everywhere for guests to find… kind of like all the clues he’s been leaving everywhere for us to gain answers.

Then I read what DVD Easter Eggs is…

DVD Easter Eggs was concieved way back in 1998 while sitting at my desk one day. I had just bought a DVD player and having worked in the software (Video Game) industry, I knew about all the easter eggs that were buried in digital media. I decided to start scouring the web for some information, to determine if there was anything hidden on these wonderfuly shiny little discs. Much to my surprise I found very few references to their being Eggs on DVD’s. The few I did find completely peaked my interest. As I would normally do, I decided to try www.dvdeastereggs.com, which I quickly found out, didn’t exist. So I bought it, bought myself some quick and dirty “Database enable your website” software, and I began to try and find everyone I knew with a DVD player, and started borrowing and hunting as quikly as I could!

Over the next few years, this site underwent some amazing changes. With the help of some of my colleagues, we were able to redisgn the site, add functionality beyond my wildest dreams, and actually have fun doing it. Now here we are, September 2005, rebuilding the empire. This time we’re making backups, so when hard drives fail, we can shrug, laugh, and carry on with business. So watch out internet, cause we’re back!

What the heck is a DVD egg???  And are there DVD eggs on This is It?  GET THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVD_egg

Ok people… what does this mean?  We have been directed to books, artwork, games, DVDs etc…. all of them could have these hidden messages or eggs!

Oh do we have our work cut out for us!!!!!!!!!!

GAME ON!

Snusbrudarna ökar i Sverige. Nära en miljon svenskar snusar, och andelen kvinnor (eller snusbrudar som Aftonbladet väljer att kalla dem) blir fler. I Malmö ligger en snusfabrik som spottar ut 100 000 prillor varje dag. Här kan man läsa mer om man vill.

I går gick jag som bekant ned till sju milligram i styrka på mina plåster. Sista steget innan jag tar bort dem helt nästa vecka.

Det gick sådär bra, eller katastrofalt dåligt beroende på hur man vill uttrycka sig. Klarade mig fint under dagen, var väl lite kortare i tonen än vanligt och ganska rastlös, men inte så farligt irriterad. Förvånade mig själv över hur bra det gick – tills jag skulle tvätta.

Det finns två maskiner i vår ganska sunkiga tvättstuga. En gammal hederlig med knappar att vrida på och en lite modernare med digitala finesser. Tvättmaskinen med digitala finesser hade absolut ingen lust att starta igår. Displayen blinkade med felmeddelanden och jag tryckte, bankade och svor. Givetvis hjälpte det inte. Hjärnan låste sig helt, tårarna började rinna och till slut kom jag på den ultimata lösningen. Knyta näven och drämma den så hårt i tvättmaskinen som det bara går. Jaaaaa, vad bra!

Det sket sig ordentligt. Det gjorde jätteont. Jag slog det allra hårdaste jag kunde och tvättmaskinen brydde sig inte det minsta. Däremot välte tvättmedelsförpackningen. Rusade tillbaka in i lägenheten slängde nycklarna på golvet och förklarade tjutande för sambon att jag faktiskt inte fungerar över huvud taget så han fick nog ta och ta hand om tvättstugan.

Idag har jag två blåmärken på höger arm. Ett på handleden efter min högst oeffektiva maskinmisshandel och ett på underarmen efter en tvättmaskinslucka som svängde ordentligt. Såhär i efterhand känns incidenten högst onödig och pinsam. Att man ska bli så galen bara för att man förvägrar sin kropp giftiga saker. Jävla Swedish Match!

Det här med våldtäkter tycker jag verkar vara så förbannat överreklamerat. Jag menar verkligen inte att dissa någon som har upplevt en våldtäkt nu, för jag tror verkligen att det är vidrigt, men att det skulle vara det hemskaste man kan utsätta en annan människa för tycker jag verkar ganska överdrivet. Det finns en massa saker som skulle suga mer än att få min ros* besudlad. Jag skulle kunna bli mördad, en närstående skulle kunna bli mördad, jag skulle kunna bli misshandlad så att jag blev invalid och så vidare. Det finns en massa fysiska skador som jag antagligen skulle lida mer och längre av.

Våldtäkt är förnedrande, absolut. Men det är förnedrande att bli brutalt misshandlad också. Det finns två sätt jag kan tänka mig att man kan motivera våldtäkt som det “hemskaste man kan utsätta en människa för”. De första är att det ofta är närstående som begår brottet, men det är ju en fråga om relationen mellan offret och brottslingen och inte en fråga om brottet som sådant. Dessutom är det ju bara överfallsvåldtäkter vi lär oss att vi ska skydda oss från. Det andra är att det är det enda brottet som folk inte tycker att man ska hämta sig från.

Självklart ska man ha respekt för ett brottsoffer men samtidigt så måste man uppmana alla att gå vidare i livet och ta tag i nya saker. Att helt läka ett trauma brukar ta lång tid och för det mesta så måste en del i läkningsprocessen vara att ha ett vanligt liv. Syftet med att läka traumat är ju att kunna leva med det, inte att glömma bort det eller få det att verka som om det aldrig hade hänt, för det är omöjligt. Man måste acceptera att det alltid kommer att vara en del av en.

Med andra ord så fungerar det inte att ligga hemma i flera år och hoppas på att det ska gå över av sig själv, för det gör det inte. Det är jobbigt att må bra, det är inget som kommer automatiskt.

Det här är rent generellt ett krav, mer eller mindre uttalat, på människor som har utsatts för olika former av traumatiska händelser, men inte när det gäller våldtäkt. En person som blivit våldtagen förväntas inte börja mår bra. “Våldtäkten kommer alltid att vara en del av dem” sägs det. Det stämmer, men det kommer också alltid vara en del av mig om jag blir misshandlad.

När man mår dåligt vill man helst inte göra något, men det är aktivitet som i de flesta fall behövs för att må bra. Självklart kombinerat med vård, men sysselsättning är ett måste för att kunna skaffa ett värdigt liv. Att sysselsätta sig är jobbigt, det vet alla som någonsin har mått dåligt. Om ingen kräver eller förväntar sig det av en, varför ska man då göra det? Förväntningar från omgivningen är ofta det som får folk att inte helt sjunka under ytan. Det är mina vänners eviga tjat om att jag är tråkig som har fått mig att försöka komma ut ur min depression och inte det att jag själv är intresserad av att må bra.

Ytterligare en lustig detalj är att folk som direkt efter en våldtäkt faktiskt fortsätter att leva som innan direkt blir anklagade för att ljuga om det inträffade, tänk Blondinbella. Det är tabu att sysselsätta sig direkt efter en våldtäkt. Om man inte lever upp till bilden av den mysbyxklädda ledsna kvinnan med utsmetat smink och rufsigt hår så har man inte blivit våldtagen. Om man alltid har blivit matad med att våldtäkt är det absolut hemskaste som kan hända så är det klart att reaktionen blir därefter. Vi påverkas av vad folk säger till oss.

Omgivningen förväntningar påverkar starkt hur vi agerar. Om folk förväntar sig att du aldrig någonsin kommer kunna läka traumat efter en våldtäkt så kommer du sannolikt ha ganska svårt att göra det, speciellt inte om du blir straffad när du gör det. Jag skulle önska att folk kunde se våldtäktsoffer lite mindre som produkter av sina trauman enbart och lite mer som produkter av hela sin uppväxt. Vi ska inte låta våldtäktsmännen vinna genom att åte dem styra sina offers liv.

*OBS! Ironiskt namn! OBS!

The Coventry University Serious Games Institute hold a series of mini-conferences around a gaming theme on the second Wednesday of each month; and on November 11th it was the turn of Alternative Reality Games. The presenters, and audience, were drawn from academia, the games/arts industry and publishing, which made for an interesting range of topics and good questions/discussions.

Dan Hon, Six to Start

Six to Start’s Dan Hon opened the proceedings with an overview of their projects since the initial, and impressive, We Tell Stories (which English teachers apparently really liked: good news!). He described how their Spooks: Code 9 ARG sneaked in education elements by linking in-game events and deeper information into the realtime TV programmes. He also revealed that they will be making an ARG for the new Misfits superhero series.

Mike Bennett was up next, of Oil –  makers of, amongst other things, the Channel 4 Routes genetics ARG (which a colleague of mine working in Genetics had found less than educational). Mike had the interesting theory that of a typical audience, 90% are casual observers, 9% are engaged, and 1% are immersed (90/9/1) – it struck me that this kind of ratio might well be applied to many education contexts too.

I was there to talk about competition – and how my initial research into ARGs, and later experience with four case studies in academia, had revealed a strong link between motivation and competition elements; I also touched on the lack of competition in modern education, and the incongruence of this with the modern student’s social life; and argued for a realignment of assessment with more motivating methods such as those incorporating competitive elements.

After a break, where I had a good chat with the midlands regional team for 4IP about their plans to introduce game-based learning at sixth-form level, there were two fascinating live storytelling/interactive presentations from Toby Barnes (Mudlark) and Tassos Stevens (Coney). Toby was presenting a new project based in Sherwood Forest, and mused on the fact that people engage in different ways (some are happy to watch in silence; others discover; some prefer public engagement, others private) and all need to be covered in a game experience. Tassos described a number of fascinating projects with schoolchildren (my favourite being a ‘live’ emailing cat). His presentation, and the discussion in the room afterwards, centred around the idea of liveness – how high engagement is dependent not on things actually happening ‘live’, but on responsivity – having individual or collective contextual and timely responses. This is something which has been on my mind since then, and is a concept which applies well to assessment and feedback too. More thoughts/musings on this in a later post.

All in all, a varied and thought-provoking day, with some excellent speakers. And well hosted by the Serious Games Institute and BAFTA’s games arm. Food for thought!

Ok latest installment of www.thisisalsoit.com

http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20321918,00.html

Michael Jackson Doctor Investigation Will Go into 2010

By Howard Breuer

Saturday November 21, 2009 10:10 AM EST

Dr. Conrad Murray (left) and Michael Jackson

It will be at least a couple of more months before authorities decide whether to arrest Dr. Conrad Murray, the personal physician who treated Michael Jackson before his death.

“A decision (on whether to prosecute) will be made in 2010. It is not going to be made this year,” LAPD Commander Patrick Gannon tells PEOPLE.

Although Jackson’s June 25 death was ruled a homicide by the county coroner, which found lethal levels of the toxic anesthetic propofol in his body, and Murray admitted to administering propofol at Jackson’s bedside to help him sleep, authorities have to determine whether Murray was solely responsible, and to what extent any negligence can be considered criminal.

According to a search warrant unsealed Friday, Murray “said he was not the first doctor to introduce Jackson to propofol. … Jackson referred to it as his ‘milk,’” and Jackson had several doctors locally and abroad who gave him propofol.

Police are being careful, and consulting with other agencies including the state medical board and the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office, which will ultimately decide what charges to file, if any, Gannon says.

“We have taken our time with this to make sure it’s done correctly,” Gannon says.

Michael’s sister, Janet Jackson, and other family members say they blame Murray for Jackson’s death, but the doctor has consistently denied any wrongdoing.

What I find interesting and I believe I said this before…  Murray insists he didn’t do anything wrong.  There is talk of other doctors.  If this is a game (and I suspect it is in the sense there are clues to solve and an agenda to follow) we need to INVESTIGATE THE CRIME.  I too get caught up in “let’s prove he’s alive” but we need to play the game.

http://www.collider.com/2009/10/31/exclusive-director-kenny-ortega-says-expect-2-to-3-hours-of-additional-footage-on-this-is-it-dvdblu-ray/

A few days ago I got to speak with director Kenny Ortega for Michael Jackson’s “This Is It” as a reporter for our partner’s at Omelete.  Since Ortega has spoken at great length about the project to other websites and media outlets, I tried to ask some news questions.  The main thing I wanted to know was since they had shot around 100 hours of footage when documenting the rehearsals, how much additional footage could fans expect to see on the eventual DVD/Blu-ray.  According to Ortega, we’re going to get between two and three hours of additional footage.  He also told me it won’t be added into the movie like a director’s cut but will be part of the extras section.  And for people wondering when it’ll be released, he says early next year.  Watch the full interview after the jump:

Kenny Ortega

• Has he ever been to Brazil
• Did anyone help him decide what to use from the 100 hours of footage
• What will be on the DVD/Blu-ray – says early next year it will be released and there will be 2 or 3 hours of additional footage
• Says the movie will be as is and all the additional footage will be a separate section of the DVD
• What is he doing next

The one thing that really jumped out at me was he said 2-3 hours of behind the scenes footage… hahaha isn’t it all behind the scene footage?!  Guess not! He describes this footage as going deeper into the plan… what plan Kenny?

All in all this was hilarious!

AMC’s The Prisoner and Transmedia Paticipation

November 21st, 2009

In this week’s review of AMC’s remake of The Prisoner, I wrote at length about what I saw as a failure of the show’s narrative: in my eyes, the series struggled due to a lack of information that resulted in no emotional connection with the characters and, as a result, no real connection to the story. I resisted the argument that the series’ sense of mystery, and its complex thematic conclusion, justify this structure, and friend of the blog David J. Loehr brought up a great example to support my point:

It makes me think of Hitchcock’s example of the “bomb under the table” idea, that you can show ten minutes of two men having the most boring lunchtime conversation ever and BOOM, their table blows up. That’s a cheap thrill at the end of ten boring minutes. Or you could show the bomb under the table, then continue the exact same scene, boring conversation and all, except now it’s fraught with tension as you wait for the bomb to go off. The sixth episode is the bomb, at least in this example if not in modern lingo.

However, based on conversations I had with some of the always great posters at NeoGAF and today’s Futures of Entertainment 4 panel on Producing Transmedia Experiences: Participation and Play, I’m starting to understand why some have argued that the series wass actually a success. It seems that those who enjoyed the miniseries are those who so inherently bought into the sense of mystery and intrigue (inspired both by the density of this miniseries and the decades of debate over the meaning of the original series) to the point where they began to see narrative gaps as clues, and inconsistencies as paradoxes meant to be seen as part of the broader narrative.

I would argue this was not by design, and that these viewers are taking poor execution and turning it into a game that the writers and directors didn’t actually create. They have effectively “gamed” the miniseries, taking a trend that is popular within serial dramas like Lost and applying it regardless of whether it is actually part of an intended transmedia experience.

It’s a behaviour that indicates television has become an environment of “game” (by providing a clear sense of how audience can participate in the construction of narrative) or be “gamed,” and that AMC missed an opportunity to improve the response and increase the impact of the miniseries by not actively pursuing this avenue.

Not only did The Prisoner create no direct avenues for transmedia storytelling, but it actually works against them in two different ways. The first is the way the miniseries was scheduled, in effect trying to avoid this type of response. By airing the six-hour miniseries over three nights, which by all accounts was not always intended and likely the result of quality concerns, they put a time constraint on the amount of time that viewers can spend asking questions and constructing their own theories. While a large percentage of the response to complex serialized dramas takes place immediately after it airs, a lot of discussion of theories and ideas takes place in the days that follow. The chosen schedule limited analysis of the miniseries to the whole, which still spurs discussion but doesn’t allow for the sort of contextual analysis that this sort of dense and complex narrative often inspires – if they had wanted to highlight this aspect, they would have spread the miniseries out over six weeks.

The second is that the miniseries’ writer, Bill Gallagher, indicated in an interview with Jace Lacob that, well, the process of creating the miniseries was anything but scientific:

Those are things that I wanted to address episodically. I like to start small. I wanted to write a story about the family for Six so rather than immediately setting a path for myself for some great mechanical, thematic approach, I just gave him a brother. So I start small and I go looking for where this takes me and then within the story of a man and his brother—is it my brother? Is it not my brother?—I then go looking for the things I like. They might interest you or they might interest my neighbor or be of interest to anyone who watches it and then through that… That’s my approach to universality.

In other words, rather than creating a larger universe and being selective about what is shown (thus creating the negative space that viewers will in with their own ideas before things are revealed in the finale), Gallagher chose to simply start small and eventually figure out where the story was going to go from there. This, without question, still creates a sense of mystery and an opportunity for the audience (who can relate to the theme of family) to construct their own story. However, what Gallagher terms as universality is the idea that everyone can make their own story, rather than suggesting that viewers can work to construct/deconstruct the story being presented. Gallagher wasn’t laying hints that would eventually come together to form a larger theme so much as he was dabbling with large themes and populating them with smaller stories that only hinted at the most interesting parts of the world.

As a result of both the scheduling and the writing process, I believe it says more about the expectations amongst genre viewers than about the miniseries itself that this sort of transmedia play (it all being a game for the audience to play) was taken as the narrative by some viewers. After I posted some of my own thoughts on the series on NeoGAF, user Jocchan posted this response (emphasis mine):

You seem to want the whole point of the Village to have been clear from the beginning, but this would have actually made the series completely worthless: it’s the fact we have no idea what’s going on that makes it interesting, and subtle hints to what’s actually happening are thrown everywhere, throughout the whole show, to make you try and figure it out on your own.

What’s interesting about this response is that I see the point: if I went into this miniseries believing that it was all a game, and that the only narrative being offered was a collection of subtle hints and abstract ideas, I think I would have enjoyed it as well. However, I think it also indicates (for me) the limitations of transmedia play as the inherent purpose of a television narrative. A show like Lost involves a great deal of transmedia storytelling told through Alternate Reality Games and online webisodes and a number of other media, but it is also at its heart a story about characters and their struggle to adapt to the insanity of the island and time travel and the rest of the show’s mythology. Where The Prisoner became problematic for me is that it had no such concrete narrative: outside of the transmedia game that viewers created from the disparate elements of the miniseries, there’s nothing for it to fall back on (and is, to some degree, completely worthless).

What’s frustrating, of course, is that the Prisoner legacy of intense debate over its meaning is crying out for some sort of transmedia storytelling, and I think if the end product had been a bit more well-executed AMC might have been willing to spend the time and money to put together some form of ARG or online component for the miniseries that could have started and even encouraged this sort of behaviour. As it was, though, AMC almost buried the miniseries, doing very little online promotion ahead of its debut and burning it off as quickly as they did. What’s interesting is that I think the miniseries would have been better received on the whole if they had worked to create a transmedia narrative that could purposefully overcome some of its traditional narrative shortcomings, but those shortcomings seem to have convinced AMC that the miniseries needed to be cast aside as quickly as possible.

Despite being scheduled and written in a way that fails to give audiences a clear way to participate in its narrative, AMC’s remake of The Prisoner managed to inspire transmedia storytelling simply by nature of its genre, the tradition of the franchise, and the growing expectation of these narratives within serialized television. It should serve as a lesson of sorts for producers of this type of serialized genre content: this audience is out there and eager to play this game, so give them the tools to do it (while also, you know, constructing a decent narrative at the same time).

Cultural Observations

• The discussion on the #FoE4 hashtag this afternoon also veered into some more familiar territory for me, as there was extensive discussion of Joss Whedon (including the Dollhouse cancellation). I’ve written a lot on that subject in the past, including what I saw as his resistance to an entirely online business model, so I don’t really have anything new to add to that discussion.
• I’ll probably put something together tomorrow overall, but in short I’ll admit that this whole remote attendance through Twitter was really frakkin’ awesome, so thanks to everyone liveblogging/tweeting/participating/etc.

Ok I started on the trail for this one and thought I better document this as I’m going along….

So the redirect goes to http://anotherpartofme.net/images/gallery/love.jpg which displays the follow pic:

So there are two sites I noticed:  www.anotherpartofme.net and amajorlove.com

Both relating to Another Part of Me… here are the lyrics

We’re Takin’ Over
We Have The Truth
This Is The Mission
To See It Through

Don’t Point Your Finger
Not Dangerous
This Is Our Planet
You’re One Of Us

We’re Sendin’ Out
A Major Love
And This Is Our
Message To You
(Message To You)
The Planets Are Linin’ Up
We’re Bringin’ Brighter Days
They’re All In Line
Waitin’ For You
Can’t You See . . .?
You’re Just Another Part Of Me . .

A Rather Nation
Fulfill The Truth
The Final Message
We’re Bring To You
There Is No Danger
Fulfill The Truth
So Come Together
We’re Mean Is You

We’re Sendin’ Out
A Major Love
And This Is Our
Message To You
(Message To You)
The Planets Are Linin’ Up
We’re Bringin’ Brighter Days
They’re All In Line
Waitin’ For You
So Look The Truth
You’re Just Another Part Of Me . .

We’re Sendin’ Out
A Major Love
And This Is Our
Message To You
(Message To You)
The Planets Are Linin’ Up
We’re Bringin’ Brighter Days
They’re All In Line
Waitin’ For You
Can’t You See . . .?
You’re Just Another Part Of Me
Another Part Of Me . .

We’re Takin’ Over
This Is The Truth, Baby
Another Part Of Me

Ok so of course did a whois lookup of www.anotherpartofme.net

Registrant:
Irene Sun
suite 506, 44 DUNFIELD AVE
Toronto, ON M4S 2H2
CA

Domain name: ANOTHERPARTOFME.NET

Administrative Contact:
Sun, Irene
suite 506, 44 DUNFIELD AVE
Toronto, ON M4S 2H2
CA
647-893-6886
Technical Contact:
Hostmaster, Domain
Suite 210 – 3602 Gilmore Way
Burnaby, BC V5G 4W9
CA
604-434-4307 Fax: 604-608-6832

Registrar of Record: In2net Network Inc.
Record last updated on 13-Nov-2009.
Record expires on 05-Jul-2011.
Record created on 05-Jul-2009.

Ok so then I did a search for her email… which interestingly enough is another double name – ireneirene.sun@gmail.com

Three results come up for this email.  Two don’t work and here is where the one leads:

1.  She’s a member of a site called www.40acres.com as seen on this page here

What’s interesting though is if you go to the main page there is a featured person, blah blah blah, and there is a trailer called Passing Strange The Movie… I’ll do my best to transcribe the words spoken and shown…

Here are the audible words

Ok ok fix me up man

Here we go…Lights

Now you don’t know me and I don’t know you, so let’s cut to the chase the name is Stew

And if you’re ever not sure what I’m all about, just ask for song

Sunday morning, south central LA, 1976  (what happened in 1976? Jackson 5 left Motown for CBS)

I come from hell on earth, illiteracy, guns, drugs, insanity, ??

Do want these people thinking I’ve raised a heathen?

And then something strange happened

This is your life it’s the only one your got

This is your life and there ain’t no way out

There ain’t no way out huh is that what you think? Well guess what I’m going to Europe.  I’m moving there for good!

He knew his destiny was looming and an epiphany was blooming and the real was about to go down

I’m an artist my work is about trancendence.

La la la

Are you ready are you ready are you ready to explode

It’s alright yeah it’s alright yeah it’s alright yeah it’s alright feels alright to me… repeats

Ends with cheering

Here are the written words:

In 2008 a musical sensation stormed Broadway\Winner Tony Award – Best book of a musical

Brilliant – The New Yorker

Mesmerizing – Entertainment Weekly

True Pop Transcendence – New Yorker Magazine

From Director Spike Lee

Comes a one of a kind movie musical experience

To pursue his dream

He had to escape south central

to find his voice

he had to lose himself in Europe (guy moonwalks across the stage)

but to find the real

he had to learn how to feel

call it a rock concert with a story to tell

call it a sprawling work of performance art

I’ll just call it wonderful! – Charles Isherwood New York Times

Official selection 2009 Sundance Film Festival

Passing Strange – The Movie

See it for yourself and feel it forever

End Credits

Ok is it me or does this sound like MJs story???!!!!  It’s also has many buzz words that we’ve heard… performance art, heathen, escaping to Europe, finding his voice, etc…

Anyway, I find this strange… but then again, it’s late…

Om jag var skitdålig och lat igår så var jag fan så mycket bättre idag. Åkte till min sckoola – på en lördag (borde fan få diplom). Såg bara en (1) indisk utbytesstudent idag, en mycket ovanlig syn, då det annars svämmar över av dem. De säger inte så mycket när de sitter i korridorerna med sina laptops men de puffar däremot ut en mystisk svettdoft, är inte så behaglig kan tilläggas.

Hur som helst var jag alltså effektiv och fick en del gjort, satt fan till klockan 23 och kände mig som en riktig jävla tönt, dock satt jag och längtade efter alkiz, blev lite arg att jag inte tog med mig lite vodka och blandade i kaffet. Som tur var satt jag inte själv utan jag hade en del sällskap.

Och när jag cyklade hem mötte jag två svinfulla äckliga fjortiskillar, och de fittorna sulade en ciderburk mot mig. JÄVLA FITTSTIL. Burken träffade inte men det stänkte vidrig cider på mina vantar. Funderade först på om jag skulle slänga iväg cykeln och fråga vafan de höll på med (men två mot en kändes inte så bra) och sen funderade jag på att suga upp lite av cidern i vantarna (men jag gillar inte cider). Ehh, så det blev att jag fortsatte att cykla och skrek fittor till dem. ÄCKLIGA JÄVLA KARLSHORABARN.

Fick tvätta upp mina stackars vantar som den husmor jag är.

So history was in the making yesterday as we kicked off our first creative club here at RKCR/ Saint.

We had creative from both digital and traditional backgrounds together with me as the curator.

The point of these sessions were to provide a platform to discuss the good work that’s out there, but also get to talk about some obscures technological jargon and technology. The first of them being ARG (Alternative Reality Games for the non connoisseurs).

We started the session by doing a quick round up of what was new in the advertising world.

• New-(ish) at least for me was the deal that Anomaly stroke with Lauren Luke. From Adweek:

By Lauren Luke is a line of cosmetics that is the signature line of Lauren Luke, a woman in Newcastle, Great Britain, who rose to YouTube fame through a series of how-to videos for applying makeup. The line is available at a brand Web site, and Anomaly is negotiating with retailers to get the cosmetics stocked in stores. Anomaly has also brokered a book deal for Luke and is negotiating with production companies about putting her on broadcast TV.

Now the genius bit is that every advertising agency looking at the growing influence of that girl would have thought: “how can we get her to endorse our beauty products”. But not Anomaly, who were quick to realise she should have her own brand. They look after the logistics and marketing, she just keeps doing what she loves. Win-Win situation. This is the future.

• Justin Timberlake playing crazy ping pong with an American Footballer for a slightly unreal Sony commercial.

It’s funnish. BUT auto-tune the ad and it becomes freaking hilarious:

• Ikea + facebook. Very clever Swede action.

• Siny Suds, new ad from Droga. Just because it’s funny. And clever.

• A mountain of websites:

http://www.summitonthesummit.com/#/intro

Just because the website is amazing and the integration of twitter and the likes is very neat and actually has a purpose rather than just being a flow of tweets.

• Art of the Trench for Burberry and from BBH

Just because it is a raelly neat way of showcasing your products. Bit of social media, subtly integrated. And they have managed to do what everyone had been trying to do for a long time. Get to work with the Sartorialist. Yes I’m jealous.

Then we had our creative interval.

That’s Marcel Proust.  He was a funny man. Spent most of his liffe on his bed. But he used to one thing that caught my attention. He used to cut newspapers headlines and make up the story around it, just because he found it a lot more interesting that the actual real story. So I cut some headlines from the Sun and the Daily Mail and gave them to the creative for them to make up the story around it. It was fun. And I can’t possibly publish the outcome of that as it would be too vulgar.

Moving on to the theme of the week: ARG.

What is an ARG (From the excellent Jawbone.tv. The evolution of story)

An ARG is an interactive story that uses many channels, both real world and online, to create a game experience directly influenced by players

ARGs have typically existed outside the mainstream–customarily driven by a loyal, niche game community that finds and solves clues littered throughout the Web.

The case study and results are mental.

2. The equally awesome True Blood campaign

3. I love Bees for Halo 2

4. The mother of all ARG. Audi Art of the Heist. Just because I wanted to show them that you don’t need the back up of an entertainment property and the back-up of millions of already existing fans. You can create it from scratch.

5. Nokia ‘lost my phone’ campaign from WK

Now I used this campaign as an example of fail. I know sorry my WK friends, but this campaign was missing something vital in the success of an ARG. A point. A ‘why should I engage with it’ hook. The content is of amazing quality, it’s well written and the sheer amount of stuff that produced for it was mind blowing. But, it had no point aart from following 3 pre-fabricated young good looking characters.

6. The best thing I’ve seen this year by a mile

7.  a live ARG that’s far too complicated for me but which production values are amazing

It starts as a graphic novel and gives you control of the story. Prety neat. I just had choose your own adventure type of books when I was a kid. Those were the days…

More on that game here: http://www.argn.com/2009/11/exoriare_exploring_the_darknet/

And a quick summary. There is obviously much more to say than that, but it’s a start:

1. Don’t start with an ARG. Start with an idea. All the examples started with an idea, apart from the Nokia one that started with wanting to do an ARG.
2. Know your audience. It’s not just for geeks. A Eurostar promotion for the Da Vinci code drew millions of visits to their game, most were coming from middle age women. Every kind of audience could be interested in playing as long as its designed for them and according to their interests.
3. Use multiple media and channels, but treat each piece of content as a potential point of entry in the story / game. If you miss the beginning, it should always be easy to get started even half through.
4. Plan for the mainstream (low involvement) as well as the hard core (high involvement). Only a tiny percent of your audience will want to go deep in an ARG. And that’s fine, just make sure you can participate into it without having to spend zillions of hours into it.
5. Authenticity & credibility. Don’t lie or try to fool people. They’ll engage if they think it’s worth it. No need to hide your involvement until the end.
6. Reward user involvement – Why should they take part in it?
7. People engage with stories and characters – but you need a strong creative hook first. That’s the most critical point. WHat is the point? The creative hook? if  you can’t honestly answer that, don’t get started.
8. Tie it back to the product / brand message.
9. Work with specialists. You can’t do it all on your own.
10. Only do one if you think you can gather enough fans to participate into it, otherwise you’ll fail miserably. And le’ts face it, ARG probably work better for entertainment properties… Or if you don’t have one, create one (i.e. Happiness factory for Coke could be turned into an ARG, etc.)

]]> http://nxtplanner.wordpress.com/2009/11/26/arg-andromeda-strain/ Thu, 26 Nov 2009 12:07:00 +0000 Carlos Henrique Castilho http://nxtplanner.wordpress.com/2009/11/26/arg-andromeda-strain/

Andromeda Strain é uma série transmitida pela A&E.

Na estréia da temporada da séria a agência Big Spaceship criou uma campanha de ARG para promover a série através de experiências digitais, o link abaixo é um vídeo que faz um resumo de como foi a campanha.

The Andromeda Strain Campaign from Big Spaceship on Vimeo.

E pra quem nunca tinha ouvido falar na série veja o trailer.

Det har kommit en twilight-tidning. Det är slut nu.

1. Hur jävla många värdelösa tidningar får existera? På pressbyrån fanns det fan en tidning som handlade om tidningar. Sjukt ovettigt. Jag tänker framförallt på typ “barbie” eller “prinsessa”, som båda är helt jävla värdelösa. Ja, jag vet att de inte är riktade till mig men jag inbillar mig ändå att jag hade lite känsla för kvalitet som barn även om kalle anka, som jag läste, inte är så sjukt kvalitativt. Men mer vettigt än serier om Belle som chillar med odjuret. Dessutom kommer jag ihåg att jag störde mig på de serierna som var absolut sämst tecknade, och blev helt till mig när det kom Don rosa eller Barks.

2. Jag har retat Emanuel sjukt länge för hans stora hat mot Twilight, men jag fattar verkligen vad han menar. Det är bara dumma jävla brudar som tror att de tänder på personligheter och vacker kärlek, men egentligen är Edward bara en sjukt stereotyp karaktär och Bella verkar ju vara lite av en dum slampa som dessutom inte har någon slags självständighet alls. Det verkar(jag kan ha fel, har ej sett filmen/läst boken, men jag anser mig ha koll eftersom det är det enda folk snackar om) bara anspela på att det enda alla tjejer i tonåren vill är att en vacker och stark kille ska komma och rädda dem från allt ont i den här onda världen. Fjanterier. Och sen så tror alla dumma tonårsbrudar som kollar på den att de ser något vackert och unikt. De fattar inte att det de ser är världens äldsta kliché.  Jag inbillar mig att killar som tänder på den kvinnliga motsvarigheten, det vill säga cool brud med stora tuttar och pistoler, i alla fall är medvetna om att det de ser är en kliché.

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%2030:4&version=KJV

My first reaction was… huh?

Sing unto the LORD, O ye saints of his, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness.

Ok so we are being directed to God and to remember God in all of this.  It’s all for L.O.V.E. and God is love.  Ok.

But is there more?

On http://www.askelm.com/temple/t080201.htm we find a little background on Psalm 30

Psalm 30 is a short psalm that has a most interesting title attached to it. The title specifically mentions the “house of David.” The theme throughout the twelve verses of Psalm 30 is death. The psalm tells of David’s rescue from God’s anger and an unknown illness that would have led directly to David’s death. God’s reprieve from death gave David an extension of life, just as King Hezekiah was given 15 years extra life during the time of Isaiah the prophet (2 Kings 20:6 and Isaiah 38:5). David eventually died, of course, but David’s extension of life did occur, and it too was to God’s glory. The house of David, the tomb of David is also specified to be to God’s glory.

Ok so was MJs life in danger and he escaped death… had an extension of life.  Or is he talking about us and through this awakening we may be extended our lives and the life of earth as we know it?

The structure of Psalm 30 is as follows:

I.    David’s Triumphs (30:1–3): David praises God for victory over
three things:

A.  Danger (30:1):   David’s enemies did not triumph over
him.

B.  Disease (30:2):    God restored David’s health.

C.  Death (30:3):   The Lord kept David from being killed.

II.   David’s Troubles (30:6–10): David recounts when he was
overwhelmed and cried out to God.

III.  David’s Testimony (30:4–5, 11–12): David praises God for
rescuing him once again, turning his mourning into joy.

So can we take this to mean that MJ is rejoicing as God has rescued him, given him new purpose, and restored his health?

Another commentary on Psalm 30:  Psalm 30 itself is not about happiness, rejoicing, and celebration. It is about David being given a postponement of a death sentence and why death at that time would have reduced God’s glory. It is indeed a thanksgiving psalm, but escape from death is what David is giving thanks about. In other words the psalm is not an expression of celebration, but an expression of relief.

Is this Michael’s message to us?   To let us know he is in good health, he was close to death and has been given a second chance?  And he is relieved and will give God the glory?

Lastly, the theme of this is thankgiving so an early Happy Thanksgiving to all the American’s for Nov 26th!

ADDITIONAL Psalm 30/Wizard of Oz tie in from http://www.drbilllong.com/LectionaryII/Ps30.html

II. What the Psalmist Learned (vv. 1-5)

One of my favorite scenes in the Wizard of Oz is when Dorothy is speaking to the Good Witch of the North and her traveling companions after having returned to the Emerald City with the Wicked Witch of the West’s broomstick. Oz pulled things from his bag of tricks to give to the Lion, Scarecrow and Tin Man, but there was nothing in his bag for her. Instead, he decided to take her on a balloon ride, a trip back to Kansas, a trip which he calls “a hazardous and technically unexplainable journey into the outer stratosphere.” But Oz doesn’t know what he is doing, and the balloon flies off with Dorothy and Toto still in the Emerald City. The company is dejected. In the midst of their dejection, they notice the telltale bubble of Glinda, the Good Witch of the North. She is there to help. Dorothy throws herself at Glinda, begging for information on how she can be sent home. Glinda responds that Dorothy already had the power to return home, but that she didn’t tell Dorothy about it earlier because Dorothy wouldn’t have believed her. In other words, there was some kind of experience of loss that Dorothy needed to experience in order really to appreciate and accept the advice of Glinda.

Glinda then said, “She had to learn it for herself.” The Tin Man then looks at her, “What have you learned, Dorothy?” Dorothy responds hestitantly at first, before gaining steam and confidence: “Well, I think that it, that it wasn’t enough just to want to see Uncle Henry and Auntie Em. And that it’s that–if I ever go looking for my heart’s desire gain, I won’t look any further than my own backyard, because if it isn’t there, I never really lost it to begin with. Is that right?,” she asks. Glinda assures her that she is right.

This homey story from our collective literary and cinematic past illustrates the point–that one is ready to “state one’s learnings” after a series of challenging, frightening and exciting things has happened. The Psalmist feels the same way. In the first five verses he extols God for his being “healed” (v. 2), for being brought up from “Sheol” (v. 3) and for being restored to life from the Pit (v. 3). This deliverance leads him to make a pronouncement about God. God’s anger is only temporary, while God’s pleasure is for a lifetime (v. 5). The Hebrew text is then very vivid. In five short words (and one ancient version lops off one of the words), it says: “in the evening, there is tears; in the morning, joy.”

That is the lesson which is on his heart, and which is a great lesson for us today. We tend to want to read meaning into today, into our experience of this moment. The Psalmist encourages us to extend the scope of our time before interpreting the meaning of the things that have happened to us. Just as the four Hebrew words take us from weeping to joy, so it is sometimes a mere matter of moments until reversal comes in our life. But, as we will now see, that reversal can be either from satisfaction to distress or from distress to joy.

The movie Toy Story had a profound effect on me as a child – for a little while, I had my doubts that toys were really inanimate objects, much like the same doubts about the validity of Santa Claus and god. I was pretty sure that they didn’t exist, but who knew for sure? Thus, I made sure to take very good care of what I had, lest they awaken in the middle of the night and try to exact revenge. Almost fifteen years on, and I know that’s an amusing quirk, but I did gain some useful skills out of it: treat what you own with some semblance of respect, and they last longer. As I grew older, I found that I applied this philosophy to other things – namely books. I made sure that they were kept in prime condition, even going to great lengths to ensure that friends didn’t abuse them while in their care. Even today, I’m still wary of lending books to people.

Thus, book stripping day is particularly troublesome for me at the bookstore, and even more so now that our store is closing for good. Recently, it was announced that Borders was closing 200 of their Waldenbooks stores in a response to the economy and to focus more on the bigger box stores that they have littered around the country. Our humble store is being shut down, and part of that entails scaling down our inventory in preparation for that. The Christmas season is a logical time to do that – there’s a boost in sales, and I’m sure that a lot of inventory will go. Still, there is a lot of books that we are returning, and even more that we are destroying. Mass Market paperbacks are those that the store has us destroy, rather than mail back to a central holding area in order to resell them. Other chains carry a similar practice, and books are stripped of their front cover and thrown into recycling or the trash, with the covers mailed back to be accounted for.

This bothers me, a lot, because I absolutely hate the idea of both books being tore up, but also that a perfectly good book is otherwise tossed in the trash. As I’ve written many times before, I’m an avid reader, and I hold onto my books. I like the idea of having floor to ceiling shelves packed to capacity for that occasional time when the power shuts off and I’m left with nothing to do but read. I rarely give away or resell books, even if I’ve read them before – there’s that niggling ‘What if’ in the back of my head when it comes to re-reading things, and I figure someday, I’ll have a great collection of books to give away to a library or something like that. The corporate policy in this instance particularly grates with my own beliefs when it comes to books, especially when these books could easily be donated to those in need of a good read, or to struggling libraries somewhere.

What is even worse, in my mind, is that many of the books that are being destroyed are books that would likely be sold in the next month – I pulled a number of reputable authors off the shelf and from overstock to put into the pile, only to leave a number of other books that I don’t think that I’ve ever sold or moved. It boggles the mind that we’re reducing the number of J.R.R. Tolkien’s books to make way for David Weber. The end result is that our Science Fiction section is being diluted with crappy books, which will likely hurt sales even more. It’s frustrating to begin converting some of these genres to tie-in stories with huge, dedicated fan bases, away from some of the more ‘original’ SF/F that is far better in terms of quality and personal interest. I can understand the reasoning behind it, but that doesn’t necessarily make it a better.

The other problem that I have with this situation is that it’s an incredibly wasteful symptom of commercial policy that demonstrates a lot of the excesses that got the country into financial trouble in the first place. Borders sent our store too many books with every shipment – something that I’m assuming falls under the notion of: “if the customer wants it, it should be there”, rather than ordering the book for them, and having them either come in again, or pay for the book there and have it mailed to their home. The end result is a store that is packed to capacity – and most likely violating several fire and safety codes – with too much merchandise that is not going to move. This makes me wonder how much of Border’s budget is devoted to the shipping of books back and forth, not to mention the amount of money that is spent on books that will ultimately never sell.

The large chain stores are really not doing well, especially in the face of major sellers such as Amazon.com, and it’s no wonder, when you look at just how inefficient their business practices are. It’s even more of a shame when it seems likely that excesses such as these have helped to contribute to the closing of stores – it’s no longer cost effective to keep them in operation, but only because they have such a high push of merchandise that is designed to boost sales.

I’m annoyed that this is happening, and in a way, glad that I’m no longer going to be employed with the company anymore with the shutdown (or earlier, if some middle-management desk jockey decides that he/she’s offended by this) because I dislike the sheer industrial and commercial grinder that these stores have become. There’s no love for the books, for stories or for really retaining customers. It’s a business in a place where there should at least be some pretense of an institution that is at least interested in what they’re selling.

Just some more random 5am can’t sleep again thoughts.

I’m always concerned that I get the craziest most out there thoughts when I’m really tired.

So I just finished watching V for Vendetta for the first time.

Some parallels that really stood out for me:

People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people.

Good evening, London. Allow me first to apologize for this interruption. I do, like many of you, appreciate the comforts of every day routine — the security of the familiar, the tranquility of repetition. I enjoy them as much as any bloke. But in the spirit of commemoration, whereby those important events of the past, usually associated with someone’s death or the end of some awful bloody struggle, are celebrated with a nice holiday, I thought we could mark this November the 5th, a day that is sadly no longer remembered, by taking some time out of our daily lives to sit down and have a little chat.

Since MJs “death” was June 25, 2009 let’s mark that day.

There are of course those who do not want us to speak. I suspect even now, orders are being shouted into telephones, and men with guns will soon be on their way. Why? Because while the truncheon may be used in lieu of conversation, words will always retain their power. Words offer the means to meaning, and for those who will listen, the enunciation of truth. And the truth is, there is something terribly wrong with this country, isn’t there? Cruelty and injustice, intolerance and oppression. And where once you had the freedom to object, to think and speak as you saw fit, you now have censors and systems of surveillance coercing your conformity and soliciting your submission. How did this happen? Who’s to blame? Well certainly there are those more responsible than others, and they will be held accountable, but again truth be told, if you’re looking for the guilty, you need only look into a mirror. (The man in the mirror that is) I know why you did it. I know you were afraid. Who wouldn’t be? War, terror, disease. There were a myriad of problems which conspired to corrupt your reason and rob you of your common sense. Fear got the best of you, and in your panic you turned to the now high chancellor, Adam Sutler. He promised you order, he promised you peace, and all he demanded in return was your silent, obedient consent. Last night I sought to end that silence. Last night I destroyed the Old Bailey, to remind this country of what it has forgotten. More than 400 years ago a great citizen wished to embed the fifth of November forever in our memory. His hope was to remind the world that fairness, justice, and freedom are more than words, they are perspectives. So if you’ve seen nothing, if the crimes of this government remain unknown to you then I would suggest that you allow the fifth of November to pass unmarked. But if you see what I see, if you feel as I feel, and if you would seek as I seek, then I ask you to stand beside me one year from tonight, outside the gates of Parliament, and together we shall give them a fifth of November (June 25th) that shall never, ever be forgot.

Ok what is happening June 25th 2010?  The G8 Summit in Toronto, ON… hmmm…

Our integrity sells for so little, but it is all we really have. It is the very last inch of us, but within that inch, we are free.

I shall die here. Every inch of me will perish. Every inch but one. An inch… It is small, and fragile, and it is the only thing in the world worth having. We must never lose it or give it away. We must never let them take it from us. I hope that, whoever you are, you escape this place. I hope that the world turns and things get better. But I hope most of all that you understand that even though I will never meet you, laugh with you, cry with you, or kiss you, I love you. With all my heart, I love you.  (My thoughts for Michael)

Vi Veri Veniversum Vivus Vici… “By the power of truth I, while living, have conquered the universe”

Is everything a joke to you Gordon? (joke…hoax… same thing)

Only the things that matter.

You said you wanted to live without fear. I wish there’d been an easier way, but there wasn’t.

Oppenheimer was able to change more than the course of a war. He changed the entire course of human history. Is it wrong to hold on to that kind of hope?

My father was a writer. You would’ve liked him. He used to say that artists use lies to tell the truth, while politicians use them to cover the truth up.

FREEDOM! FOREVER!
Strength through unity, unity through faith!

Viva la Revolución!!!

BH has shown himself. He received the whole of Logan R——’s notebook as well. Video of him going through this notebook after the cut.