Ibane’s ramblings
“The biggest danger, that of losing oneself, can pass off in the world as quietly as if it were nothing; every other loss, an arm, a leg, five dollars, a wife, etc is bound to be noticed.” S. KierkegaardArchive for Uncategorized
Modern Times
Retiro Park
The other day discussing with a friend about the different books that we have been reading along our lives we realized that we had many in common, but also we reached the same conclusion about the current literary scenario. That the more you read the classics more difficult you find to read one of these “wonders” of the modern literature that nowadays they are flooding the bookstores. It is often that I have thought who has time to go through the ridiculous amount of new books, I don’t but I can be doubted about my time management skills. Also every month there is a new Dostoevsky of our century, or the young Proust or any other absurd adjectives or tricks used to sell. I have been wondering when these guys, Dostoevsky, Henry James, Thomas Mann,…were writing and publishing their books how they were reaching the people, I mean, were they using the same annoying tricks or they were just writing for the sake of writing with no expectations. It would be interesting to know because currently the marketing machine has taken over the content. So it is more important to have a nice package and someone able to say that stupid things without sounding too stupid, so you can make sure a big junk of sales, than the content itself. But in an exercise of innocence and naiveness maybe with this crisis everything changes…
The Wrestler (2008)
I belong to those who admire “Requiem for A Dream”, I was fascinating for that movie, the intensity of the tragedy and the no hope ending caught me, apart from the soundtrack that I think that it is one of the best pieces of Clint Mansell.
So I was ready to watch the movie in a good mood expecting something deserved to be watched. And I was not disappointed, I really liked it, and I think that Mickey Rourke is superb in his role, though some times you feel that he is not even acting, that he is playing himself, but who cares. He is amazing and he is able to transmit a very wide range of feelings to the spectators, you love his character, Randy the Ram, also you hate him when he screwed it up, you feel sorry, sad, pain, mercy. Basically Mickey Rourke manages to do what an actor suppose to do, acting.
The story has a solid script and Darren manages extraordinary well the tempos and with that short shots allows you to feel closer to the story. Some times you feel that you are watching a documentary rather than a fiction film. Probably the fact that there is no soundtrack, I mean that there is no a composed song for the movie, just a bunch of a good songs that are played in the background it helps to have this feeling of documentary. Don’t get me wrong, this fact does not diminish the quality of the film, actually I think that it was necessary to give more strength to the story.
I enjoyed the movie and I got the feeling that maybe we get back to the track and we start to see some good movies. It is well known my opinion about the poor quality of movies nowadays. This one definitely breaks that tendency and though I don’t generally share the Oscar awards nominations, in this case I think that Mickey Rourke with all merit 
deserves it. I don’t care if he wins it or not. Who cares.
Getting back…
I just arrived after spending some time in Australia…now I spend the nights of my insomnia due to my jet lag thinking about those days reading Sherlock Holmes stories under the vigorous sun while the ocean tried to cool me with its breeze. Always memories are the ones that keep us floating.
Losing oneself
“The biggest danger, that of losing oneself, can pass off in the world as quietly as if it were nothing, every other loss, an arm, a leg, five dollars, a wife, etc is bound to be noticed”
The Sickness Unto Death
Soren Kierkegaad
I am thinking about this sentence and always think about the people that I know, and how some of them are lost without knowing themselves, and they are just wandering around without nobody noticing how lost they are. And there is nothing more painful that lost yourself. I have been there and as Kierkegaard says, you are in despair.
Boring Caos Calmo
I had the misfortune to watch the Italian film “Caos Calmo”. I was encouraged by the good reviews that some brainy film critics gave to the film. I wonder if it would not be better that some critics said in the headline which studio is paying their salaries (at least, the ones from my dear Spain, they did the same thing with the last Indiana Jones, I have read in some prestigious Spanish newspaper, the best Indiana ever!?). Otherwise I can not understand how some one can claim that this film is the one that will bring the re-birth of Italian films. If this is the re-birth, I foresee a not very long life to the Italian film industry.
Despite of having one of the best assets, Nanni Moretti, here only his contribution is as an actor, the film has no sense from the beginning. The acting is depressing, the little girl is annoying, the conversations are absurd, even the soundtrack, though having good songs, does not match at all with the pace of the film. Even the sex scene, which obviously has had the expected outrageous reaction of the Vatican (the best marketing campaign you can have as a intellectual European leftist film maker, some comments from Vatican), is pathetic and for that, I really prefer to watch the professionals. I am not sure yet if Roman Polanski’s appearance is irrelevant or boring. After suffering every single minute of the 105 that this torture lasts I was wondering if I could say something good about this film. Not really.
So if you have some one or some annoying relative that you want to get rid of please recommend them this film. It will take a while until they forgive you and speak to you back.
About being locked
It is the dream all of corporation or company to create that product that make their customers slaves and that they found themselves locked with their product. In certain way it is not bad approach and even noble, but the problem comes when the drivers to get this customer loyalty. Most of the corporation enjoys to lock their customers with legal tricks in the agreements that forces you to read them very carefully, which bores me to death.
Telecommunication and internet providers are one of those corporations that they really enjoy to punish their customers knowing that they have very little chances to get away. The biggest Spanish mobile operator made me to write a letter explaining the reasons to close my contract with them, as if just because I wanted it was not enough. A Finnish Internet provider has forced me to pay some months extra even I have sent a clear email saying that I want to cancel the subscription. I have known sects that are easier to get away.
I would like to ask from here humbly to these corporations to try to lock me but instead of cheating me because their services are so astonishing good that I would not leave even if the competitor offers me for free.
Now you have the horrible feeling being cheated and locked by these corporations. It would be great to introduce some ethics courses in the MBA programs and not only profit, OPEX, cost analysis…
21,097.5 meters
On Saturday I run that distance for third time. My time was 1 hour and 50 minutes. I improved from my last time, which it mattered to me. Many friends asks me why running? And the only reason is that I feel good when I am running, everything seems to get the right perspective and all the superficial is dropped. You focused on very few things and you keep on running and running.
A friend once told me that she had seen somewhere the following quote:”The longer you run, the smaller your problems are”. A kind of true.
Beside the Mediterranean sea
I am beside the Mediterranean, in a very beautiful peaceful night, where the harmony is reigning without stridency. There is something about Mediterranean that keeps me so attached to him. And it is difficult to understand why, because I was born in a city without sea, none member of my family or ancestors have had any relation with the sea, apart from the salt they use for the meals, however, I feel so bounded to this sea. There is something in its blue that keeps me staring at it like small child who is seeing the sea for first time.
I really enjoy getting lost in my thoughts looking at the Mediterranean Sea.
Critical spirit
Nowadays the conformism is spread and it seems that the only option that is left is to swallow and to take things as they are. It is really ok to demand more from our governments, corporations, institutions, agencies,…we have the right to demand since we observe laws as citizens. We don’t have to accept dramas like Darfur, just to mention one, we can say loudly that we demand solutions from people who are responsible for this.
I will not take that attitude “There is not much to do, things are like this”
Leaving Facebook…
I did it, I quit facebook. I embraced this social network, Web 2.0 applicaiton or whatever you want to name it almost a year ago. At the beginning I was very enthusiastic about it, I liked very much the idea to get back some contacts that I had lost along my life and to know about them. Also I found interesting the possibility to share ideas, curiosities, knowledge,…with my friends…finding out what books, films, attended events…but lately I got tired and bored of all this ads, and this feeling that behind any interesting application there was something behind that they want to sell to you, and you need to become as active member of the marketing campaign of the application to enjoy it. I guess, I am asking too much, a real social network, where you really share and you don’t become a target for greedy marketing managers.
So by now, I am done with Facebook…not permanently because all we know hot easy is that…
Ibane's ramblings 