Which traditions are bad and when to stop following them?

27 Mar 2009

Photo of arched wicket door in an old tiled gateI absolutely love it when people are capable to make fun of their own origins and traditions. This proves a lot of courage and open mindedness on their part. It shows they’re capable to distance themselves from the general consensus, put things in perspective and have a more objective way of seeing things.

Personally, I’m not such a big supporter of the belief you should follow the traditions of your ancestors no matter what, without questioning them or thinking about their consequences, when applied in an environment different from the one they first appeared in.  In general, they are the regional or national customs that managed to survive through time and are slowly gaining a legend like image. People tend to assume that, just because something it’s old and has stood the test of time, it’s also meaningful, valuable and representative to a group’s cultural identity. This might prove to be true in a lot of cases, but there are also those situations, in which, it has no longer any purpose and any real reason why it should be followed anymore. It usually depends a lot with the type of tradition.

The safest ones of the bunch are, by far, those related to arts such as music, dance, painting, handcrafting and so on. Usually, these things convey the specific flavors to a region, place or town. If it weren’t for them, then probably cultural tourism, as we know it today, would either have less relevance or even cease to exist altogether. Their value comes from their historical and ethnological aspects, as they are able to fulfill our inherent curiosity related to the lives of people around the world and/or who lived before us. Given that most of them date centuries back, they still hold a sense of honesty and raw intelligence you can only get from people who still had time to live, think and breath.

Even if you fail to see the essence, there’s still a lot color, spirit and originality in the matter in which these are presented, to make them interesting. Today’s works, are mostly either like a beautiful empty package or a meaningful but poorly presented gift. Unlike them, ancient art and culture had both the presentation and content nicely wrapped together and developed in an organic way, sure to preserve their authenticity, as they were created with a lot of passion and dedication.

Jumping over to the other side of the spectrum, we get to face the dark and often grotesque side of traditions. Almost always, these started out as superstitions, as a direct result of the fears and lack of understanding our ancestors had about the world around them. Although, I’d rather avoid mentioning the greatest and most obvious superstition of them all (can you spot it/them?), there are plenty of others which can either make you laugh, scratch your head wondering how is that possible in this day and age or even question the mental sanity of the people performing the customs. While some of the activities or habits have a somewhat benign effect, they still tend to limit a person’s ability to think freely.

This is why you get to see full grown people scared of black cats, not going under ladders for fear of remaining short (even if they are well above the average height) or spending each 13th day of every month wondering if something bad is going to happen to them. Here’s also where you’ll experience some of the most irrelevant activities tied to social events such as births, weddings and funerals. They might have made sense some centuries ago when the society was much more simple, but it definitely feels out of place with today’s modern and fast paced life.

Then there’s the culinary traditions. Although you could assimilate them to the cultural ones, they often tend to gain much more notoriety and can independently define a group of people or a nation. I feel that this is the most dangerous of them all, since we take it as a given and it stays with us from the day we are born to the day we die, passing it along to our children sometime along the way. I heard time and time again people saying that if their parents managed to live to a hundred years old, while eating that way, then the food can’t be detrimental to their health.

Are the circumstances the same? Did the parents or grandparents spend their days on an office chair or on a couch watching TV. Could it be that they were out in the countryside, working the land from the early hours of the morning to late in the afternoon, while breathing clean air?As a matter of fact, I’m not entirely thrilled with traditional Romanian cuisine either, since it’s high on animal fats, fried or overcooked ingredients, sugar, salt and overall very much taste oriented. It might have worked for physically intense people back in the 19th century and even up to the middle of the 20th century but it’s no longer suitable to the lazy people living in the city.

The point i’m trying to make it that, while traditions are the greatest part of our cultural heritage, following them should be the result of a conscious thought effort. If they fail to prove relevant to your lifestyle, or even pose a threath to your health then maybe it’s about time they moved to a permanent residence in a museum or in your memories. Doing something, just because your parents did it before you, is probably the worst reasons of them all, followed closely by not wanting to disappoint them.There’s a time and a place for everything as nothing lasts forever. The main concern shouldn’t necessarily be focused on preserving every known tradition, but rather on realizing when it’s the right time to make changes and put something new in their place. That’s truly the only way in which we can preserve the popular and cultural identity of our times, just as our ancestors did before us.

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Selection of works for introducing classical music to teenagers

26 Mar 2009
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Black and white synthesizer keys free stock photoFor most of us, classical music is as fun and casual as a corporate suit. That’s mostly because, for the most part of its history, it had to conform to strict compositional rules, which meant overusing the same elements time and time again. Plus, there’s this misconception that it’s old and it can’t possibly be relevant anymore. I said it before and I’ll say it again: if you’ve ever liked the score of a movie, than you most likely enjoyed some modern classical music. If, on the other hand, you’re craving for some new pieces composed in the same style or using the same rules as they did hundreds of years ago, than period film music is your best bet.

Getting back to the topic at hand, why would you want to listen to the work of such ancient composers anyway? For once, these pieces are timeless and not in the sense of Elvis Presley’s or The Beatles’s tunes (with all due respect). You can pretty much listen to them day after day and still not get bored or bothered. They blend so well with your mood and act as a refreshing soundtrack to your everyday activities. Except for the most intense cues, you’ll see that they can have a truly cleansing effect on your brain, often boosting energy levels and, as some studies have proved, even increase intelligence.

To be honest,  i know how hard  convincing young people and especially kids to enjoy such music, can be. It’s like making them eat less sweets and more vegetables: they’d rather have instant and powerful flavors than more subtle ones but of a healthier nature. If they’re used to loud noise, then you first have to break their habits, make sure you catch them when they’re looking for ways to relax and have them listen to nothing but the best. Avoid any of those head banging, wide dynamic range pieces which are hard to swallow even for the die hards of classical music, let alone for people who’ve never tried them before.

Of course there’s another easy way to get a person accustomed to this type of music: have it softly playing in the background, most of the day. It might seem a bit awkward at first and might even be faced with some resistance, but pretty soon they’ll warm up to the whole idea and it will turn into a pleasurable experience. Usually, this also works as a great eye and mind opener, capable to make a person interested into art and culture as a whole.

Just like a sophisticated cuisine delicacy, this type of music asks for an acquired taste, which can take weeks or even months to develop. You could think of it, as those albums or songs you might feel ambivalent about on the first listen, but which grow on you with time. In the end, these will stay the longest in your player, rather than the ones you love from the get go.

Here are some beautiful works i would recommend anyone looking to learn or have a first taste of what classical music really is about:

  • “Allegro Energico” (third movement) from Violin Concerto no. 1 in G minor, Op. 26  by Max Bruch
  • “Aria da Capo” from The Goldberg Variations BWV 988 by Johann Sebastian Bach
  • Variation No. 9 Adagio “Nimrod” from Enigma Variations Op. 36 by Edward Elgar
  • “Air” from Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D major, BWV 1068 by Johann Sebastian Bach
  • “Largo” from Concerto No. 4 in F minor, Op. 8, RV 297, “L’inverno” (Winter) by Antonio Vivaldi
  • “Canon and Gigue in D major for three Violins and Basso Continuo” also known as Canon in D major by Johann Pachelbel
  • Waltz no. 15 in A-flat major, op. 39 by Johannes Brahms
  • “Aquarium” from Le Carnaval des Animaux by Camille Saint-Saens
  • “Alegro moderato in F minor” from Six Moments Musicaux, D. 780 (Op. 94) by Franz Schubert
  • “Waltz of the Flowers” from the Nutcracker Op. 71 by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
  • Finlandia Op. 26 by Jean Sibelius
  • “Vltava” (Die Moldau) from Ma Vlast by Bedrick Smetana
  • “Minuet” G502 by Luigi Rodolfo Boccherini
  • Peer Gynt, Suite No. 1, Op. 46 by Edvard Grieg
  • “Variation XVIII: Andante cantabile” from Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini in A minor, Op. 43 by Sergei Rachmaninoff
  • “Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity” from The Planets Op. 32 by Gustav Holst
  • Symphony No. 38 in D major (the “Prague”), K. 504 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
  • Scheherazade Symphonic Suite, Op. 35 by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov

You can find plenty of recordings on Youtube, so there’s no problem in sampling to see whether you like them or not. If you do, then try buying recordings, either on CD or MP3, of good performances. You’ll be able to spot the difference from the so-so renditions, as they will have better sound, the musicians will usually be more skilled and overall, the instruments will blend in better. While all of the pieces listed above are great as background music, you should really give them a fair shot and take time off during the weekend or late at night to really listen. You’ll be delighted by all the nuances and hidden sounds you might discover.

Enjoy!

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Women’s right to choose between toning and tunning up

25 Mar 2009

Stock silhouette on a nest at sunsetThere’s no secret by now that women are obsessed with looking good (read “appropriate for mating”) around the clock. For most of them, their whole lives are driven by the eventual need to nest and generate offspring. It’s in their genes, it’s fueled by their families, especially their mothers, while the world is still pretty harsh and disrespectful to single women after a certain age. It’s like they’re unfit, unwell or simply antisocial, when in fact they might simply had less luck or different priorities. Talk about political correctness crap!

On a fame crazed society this reaches a whole new level. The purpose of the seductive young female (self assessed to have these qualities) is no longer to find a well enough mate and settle down. Ever since the feminist movement has kicked in, most women on the market have been in a perpetual struggle to find the absolute best for their needs. While that’s a perfectly reasonable goal, it’s in most cases an unrealistic one. Why? Besides the fact that there are more women alive than there are men, the males are not as obsessed and driven to attain all the qualities and benefits females expect them to have. It suffices to gain and maintain some basic dating skills and use them to the best of their abilities. Given the real scarcity or good, worthy male partners you end up with some sort of modern day harems in which women gravitate towards a single individual without any promise and with a real sense of sharing (how medieval).

With such great competition out there, this world has been little short of promise land for any type of industry involved in preserving or improving female beauty. Any expenses related to cosmetics, hairstyling, plastic surgery or fitness, to mention just a few, are considered investments and in plenty of cases this has proved as such, providing the lucky gal with the picture perfect soon to be cheating husband.

Essentially, any female go getter will choose between toning or tunning herself up to improve her self-marketing effectiveness, often times combining the two for a better result. The first one, can only affect the general appearance only to a certain extent, as it has a much more visible effect as far as wellbeing and health goes. It takes plenty of work, discipline and, why not, sustained effort which most thrill seeking, fast paced, lazy women out there are not prepared or willing to make. The greatest problem, though, is that results often take months well up to a year to show up, so it’s more of a long term commitment rather than a quick fix. It’s often risk free and should be the safe choice whenever minor improvements are required.

On the other hand, there’s the tunning up option. Just like with a stock car, you look at it, see what are the necessary improvements, take out the parts that do not fit or no longer work well and put in the new state of the art equipment. Before you know it, the innocent girl next door, filled with big dreams and high hopes, will end up with baboon lips, pint sized udders, basketball sized buns and I’m sure the list could go on and on and on till the break of… the bank. Having watched all sorts of TV shows about American plastic surgery and having seen the results on all those celebrities out there, it’s still amazes me how can people so young, choose such radical measures. We’re not talking about correcting some inherited flaws, but rather pointless, carbon copy type of “improvements” that turn normal women into cartoon characters. It’s even more  mind blowing knowing the pain and the risks involved. To jeopardize your life, hoping to find a better husband, now that’s real commitment to achieving a dream life. Just like 50 Cent would put it, they will either get rich or die trying in the process. Good luck with that!

There’s also a significant difference regarding these two ways. The first one can become second nature and, if maintained with some sort of regularity, will yield significant results long after the primetime has faded. It’s  the only true answer to prolonging natural beauty, while maintaining a fresh look. The second one is the easy way out and often times leads to a long and expensive string of procedures, which can guarantee even the most beautiful women a safe spot in a freak show. After a certain age, when things begin to sag, surgery can only stretch and by doing so it distorts natural features. Instead of looking younger and more beautiful, those who opt for this, end up looking old and ugly, more like scarecrows than ladies.

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It’s not the savior that will change your life

23 Mar 2009

Stone statue of a mythical hero photoFor some funny reason, we like way to much to pass blame, whenever something we’re involved in goes the wrong way. I think it has something to do with our primal survival instincts, in that it helps us avoid punishment, remorse and any other form of pain derived from it. In much the same way, we rush to accept the laurels when we’ve contributed to the successful outcome of an endeavor. It’s all to easy to forget that we weren’t the only ones responsible for that favorable result. Again, it’s our natural aggressiveness that guides us forward, often stepping on people that might have played a role almost as big if not bigger than ours.

Often times, it happens that we assimilate this type of behavior to that of a natural born leader, when in fact, it’s the motto of the street smart manager’s big book of dirty little tricks. I’ve read a lot of pages and discussed this issue with plenty of knowledgeable people to know that it’s still a highly disputed belief. For me, the leader is someone who doesn’t have to stoop to questionable tactics to get ahead. He should be able to get things done just by using his native talents, while being able to motivate and inspire people. Thus, they should start to believe in the purpose and the reasons for doing what they’ve been asked to do.

Unless you’re born with it, gaining such skills can take a great deal of time and effort. Unfortunately, in most cases, the new found power that comes along with this acquired knowledge, can and will have a rather corruptive effect on most individuals. To some degree, it’s understandable, knowing we’re constantly told that we need and should want fame, fortune, respect, status and more. That’s why, once we realize we can, there’s little holding us back from emptying the cookie jar.

Still, for most people even that’s too big of an effort. While publicly criticizing everything about their leaders, they find themselves secretly loving to take a backseat role and let others take the decisions for them. That’s why we see less and less true activism and social responsibility and a growing number of individuals waiting for a savior to change their lives.

The most evident example for this, can be seen by watching people behave come election time. No matter what the former leader did, there will always gonna be some complaining about how he ruined the economy, neglected important issues and so on. I have to admit, i stand behind this way of thinking, since I’ve yet to see a president or government behave in the best interest of the people. What i don’t understand is how there are so many thinking that the new guy is going to change anything. It’s just mind blowing how gullible we can be.

I also understand the need to over promise during a political campaign. Out of the large mass of voters, statistically, at least half of them are pretty dumb and will respond well to such idiotic promises. That’s why any pragmatic candidate should know how to play the crowd and stress the things he knows they want to hear. However, there’s is a point that once it been crossed, you can be sure that guy’s up to no good. No matter how big the country or the ego, it’s a safe bet that no individual will be able to teach the dolphins how to speak fluent Chinese, build free swimming pools for every citizen and fund research to finally restore pigs’ long lost ability to fly, so they too be considered poultry.

No one has been able to do that better in recent history than the president of the free world Barack Obama.  It took him about a year to go from being just a senator, to touting on religious status. Watching green hearted Americans look up to him as the messenger of God, cousin of Christ or the promised savior clearly puts things in perspective. After all, what can you expect from such a great nation, if after several centuries of democracy and perceptual change, filled both with success and failure, they still believe a person whose experience has been questioned by both his adversaries and fellow party members, will be able to shift things fast and painlessly. As president Bush put it “… you can’t get fooled again” or can you? If you ask me it’s no longer a case of the bad guy lying to the good folks. It’s a clear case of the good folks no longer being able to think clearly or take care of themselves.

Pretty much the same thing happens in my country too. Every four or so years, people want a fresh or at least refurbished face, like that’s gonna make any difference whatsoever. It’s nothing but a game of false hopes. That’s why i no longer vote and I’ll probably never will again, unless things really change.

You simply can’t expect others to do your dirty job for you, when they too have their own interests to look after. It’s just as irrational and childish as saying that change should always happen from the top to the bottom. The fact of the matter is, things are stinking so much not because there are some bad guys doing what they’re good at, but because we seem to have no problem with it. Most of us live in a fantasy world, a fairytale empire of the mind where hope never dies and good things will happen eventually just like they do in Hollywood, without us having to move our lazy asses off the couch. It’s time we finally realize it’s our fault and we should take the blame for it. Only by doing this, we can understand that true and lasting change starts and ends with each and everyone of us.

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Goodbye Canon! Why i’ll be switching over to Nikon?

22 Mar 2009

Graffiti of a golden bleeding heartThere’s something almost mythical about those white guns you see spread all over the sidelines at the Olympics or at any other sports or news event. While it started as a technological choice, it has also helped them from a marketing perspective. Much like Apple, Canon understood the power of great and distinctive design and successfully implemented it in their products. Anything from the white L lenses, with the red line around the barrel to the great ergonomics and simplicity makes them an easy choice and guarantees them recognition.

At the time of this writing, I’ve been using Canon equipment for the past 15 months and have taken several tens of thousands of pictures with my Canon 40D. While i do enjoy the whole experience, there’s nothing more appropriate for it than “unreasonably overpriced”.

Back in December 2007, when i was shopping for my first DSLR camera, i had practically two valid options. I could either go with the 40D, which had just been launched in the autumn of that year, or choose the slightly aged Nikon D80.  I chose the Canon option, mainly because the price/performance ratio was seriously leaning towards it  at that time. Plus, i had already built high hopes during the summer months, while anticipating its launch.

Although my foray into digital photography started long before that, my knowledge of DSLRs at the time was rather limited. As I was about to find out in the months following my purchase, there’s a whole lot more to consider than just a great camera body. In the long run, you will end up spending a great deal of money on lenses and accessories which usually last longer than the camera itself. I can’t really say i regret the decision, as I still believe it was the best one i could have taken, given the circumstances.

The only reason why I’m not getting myself a dirty cheap brand new D80, from the buy back promotion held by Nikon Romania, is knowing the huge extent the worldwide economic crisis is going to have during the next few months. Since my camera is still functioning, i can’t possibly find any good reason why i would buy another one in a time when i’ll probably not use them all that much.

But what are my gripes with Canon after all? Why on earth would i be so keen on switching over to the other side, if things were still working? Well, here are the main reasons, that made me swear never to invest any more money on this company’s gear, until they do some serious cleaning in their backyard:

  • especially on the lower end of the spectrum, cameras as well as lenses are hugely overprices, given both the construction elements and the image quality. It goes even as far as having similar lenses from Nikon at half the price. Add to it the fact that, on this segment, you’ll have to buy all the extra accessories such as hoods or carrying cases and you can see where this is going.
  • lately there have been reports regarding batches of products experiencing bugs. It happened with the 40D, the 1D mk III, 5D mk II and probably with others too. That’s why, i think their quality control department is understaffed, poorly budgeted or they simply don’t care that much. In the end it seems like they’re rushing things out without proper checking. I had to bring my camera, and both of my lenses in, since they all had front and back focusing issues, one of which was quite noticeable and could have easily been corrected from the get go.
  • especially on emerging markets such as where i live, their client support is appalling. It takes a lot of time (two or three weeks at least) to get things done, even when we’re talking about a rather common focus calibration procedure. Don’t even bother contacting them by using the email addresses supplied on their websites or through their support form, as they won’t care to answer. Also, I’m really concerned about having to accept some Terms and Conditions Agreement just for filing a complaint about a product or a service.
  • i definitely feel like you’re not worth much to them until you’ve invested at least 5-10k on gear (when you can join their professional group) or unless your experience can reach a mass audience. Don’t we deserve the same respect and interest if we only bought a “cheap” 600 EUR lens next to our 1000 EUR camera body? How on earth are these guys going to convince me to spend a lot more once i decide to go pro, without having a basic guarantee they’ll be able and willing to help me in a timely fashion, if indeed my equipment will experience any issues.
  • they’re only interested in money. This is clear when looking how they add new features to their products, only if it drives sales up. For the past couple of years at least, they’ve only done it if the competition did it first, or if there was some expected pressure from the market. Take, for example, 50D which came about the same time as the Nikon  D90. Although there were plenty of rumors about Nikon embedding video capabilities into their D90, Canon decided it could wait. That’s how it ended up being rushed into the new 5D mk II as a response. For crying out loud they don’t even had the decency to ad an optical slave to their 430ex II flash.

The truth of the matter is, as beginner Canon users, we’re doing nothing but sponsor research for those high class equipment, most of us will never ever even get to hold in our lifetimes, let alone use. As an amateur photographer you might not want to spend thousand of dollars on glass to take great looking photos. That’s why, you might go for a more budget friendly option, which at this time, means somewhat disappointing and rather steep kit lenses. It doesn’t really help, having a beginner come back to the store, confused about the quality of their image, only to find out that he got exactly what he paid for. At roughly the same price you can get yourself two Tamron lenses 17-35 F2.8-4 and 28-75 F2.8, which are overall better than the 17-85 F4-5.6 IS USM, if you can do without IS and slightly slower focusing speed.

A great motivating factor in convincing me to join the other camp is that all of my photographer friends are using Nikon equipment. As a result, I’ve had plenty of chances to test it and can honestly say i do dream of the day when I’ll have one of my own. The only thing i hate about them is how it seems to turn normal people into fan boys.

So what do you get if you decide to switch over to Nikon? There are quite a few things which seem appealing:

  • apparent better quality control. Of all the users I’ve talked to, i don’t recall hearing someone having to bring their camera back for repairs or for tweaking. While I’m sure everyone has their share of faulty items, things just seem to work smoother on the other side.
  • for a significant segment of their offer, prices are considerably lower, even after they’ve been raised. That makes switching over a lot easier. Take for example D90 which supposedly is a slightly lower contestant to the 50D. The specs alone would convince most users to pick it up, just as the sales figures seem to prove anyway. Since the price tag is also lower (heck it’s about the same price as the 40D), it’s almost a no-brainer for someone buying their first DSLR to go the Nikon route. Plus, lenses usually come with their hood and case.
  • the incredibly useful CLS and flash technologies. The SB x00 series work flawlessly and effortlessly. I’ve had the chance to use both SB900 and SB800 and they’re really great items. I can even trigger them optically with my 40D, while i’m not able to do the same thing out of the box with the 430ex II. It’s always fun having two or three semi-professional Nikon photographers gather around for a photo shoot and being able to use three or four flashes at the same time, even outdoors without any extra equipment.
  • you feel there’s still a lot of passion for photography in the community. While they’re not doing exactly charitable work either, they haven’t forgotten the reason why they’re here in the first place: provide great and innovative equipment to photographers. The users are happy, the sales people are enthusiastic about it even when they should remain impartial and there’s a lot of support and training resources.

Overall, Nikon has done a great job at converting users from its competition, while also targeting enthusiasts. This proved as a great strategical decision, as it coincided with a significant increase of the lower and medium level of the DSLR market. As strange as this might seem, it got some unintentional help from Canon, which, while busy polishing it’s trophies, forgot the clients are those who determine the leader.

In my opinion, going up the Canon route as a young aspiring photographer on a budget, is probably not the wisest choice. As far as i can see, it only makes sense spending more money on their products, if you either have no restraints money wise, or if you have already invested a whole deal in their equipment, such as the case of large photo studios or publications.

Since i had to learn this lesson the hard way and quite costly, i hope this will help others avoid making the same mistake. For me it just not worth paying extra for something that might or might not work, not getting decent support and essentially not being respected, all for a bunch of extra design tweaks. If you’re new to DSLR photography, then save yourselves the hassle and grad a Nikon. You won’t regret it.

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Easy changes that will make you look smarter

18 Mar 2009

Three pencils leaning on a stack of books against a blue backgroundThere’s something about us all, that makes us want to project a more favorable image about ourselves. That’s either because we’re aware of our own faults or simply want to feel special or accepted. That’s why we go to great lengths to look better, seem wiser, be funnier, usually turning ourselves into amateur actors on an almost day to day basis.

I personally don’t condone such behavior, since sooner or later it comes back to haunt us. The stress and discomfort of not being able to express yourself adds up eventually and leads to depression, energy depletion or simply becoming jaded and non responsive to the feelings of those around you. There comes a time when you decide enough is enough and depending on how much of an act your life has been to that point, there’s a chance you might lose or disappoint people you care about or known for quite a while.

Having lived my whole life in a country obsessed with projecting false images, surrounded by a nation unwilling to give up on unrealistic expectations and fake stereotypes, I’ve become accustomed to the means employed in this process. If you’re interested to find some easy tips on how to look smarter than you really are, here they are:

  • start wearing glasses. Although I suspect by now this is common knowledge, it doesn’t hurt to acknowledge one of the oldest tricks in the book. We tend to associate things such as glasses, a long beard and old age with knowledge and wisdom. That’s why, it’s common to believe that if someone has eye problems, he might also be an intellectual. But what if he simply got that by watching too much TV or playing countless hours on his computer? In case you’re wondering (and if you do please leave this blog immediately), sunglasses do not count.
  • pretending to be a passionate reader. If you look closely into it, reading is just another way of spending your leisure time. While it’s true it brings more benefits to the reader, than let’s say partying up until morning, it’s nothing more that another way to gather information or relax. As with any other marketable art form, critics tend to give birth to real stars, either mainstream or underground. It’s always a good idea to mix names from these two categories. You don’t even need to read any of their books, since most people are true suckers for facts and biographies. That’s why all you have to do, and get away with it, is learn as much about their lives as possible and maybe browse book reviews and/or summaries.
  • using complicated and little known words in your conversations. You might have come across books or CDs, promising to teach you from several hundreds up to a thousand little known words that sound interesting. This is probably one of the most disappointing ways of making money, because it’s clearly something you wouldn’t expect from the supposedly highly intellectual people publishing this type of courses. Yet, it’s a highly effective way of leading people into believing you are smarter then they originally thought. If they don’t know the meaning of the words you’re using, they’ll rarely ask, for fear of not looking stupid.
  • talk about activism and green initiatives. This is becoming a huge trend nowadays, as people quickly understood it was providing them with an easy and effective way of appearing responsible and generous. In reality, it’s more about a juicy conversation topic than a thorough attitude.
  • let others know you listen to classical music. Another one of the old school tricks used to convince people of your cultural level. The good thing about this is that, given enough time, you might actually start to enjoy it or at least tolerate it as background music to everyday tasks and, as research shows, actually become smarter. If that’s not enough you can always talk about a concert you’ve either attended or plan to in the next couple of weeks.
  • learn about a few little know artists. Several years back underground started to become the new mainstream. Ever since, this has been a highly effective promotional technique for little known artists to achieve social acceptance and fit with the cool kids. All they had to do is play the struggling and misunderstood creative genius of their generation and let their agent stage an online viral promotional campaign.
  • stare with a disbelief look or respond with a question every time you don’t know how to answer something. That’s another classic you tend to see university professors use all the time. If an unfortunate student dares to question the authority or knowledge of their professor with an intelligent question, there’s a high probability you’ll see this in action. It works by ridiculing or discrediting the apprentice and giving you the upper hand in the eyes of the audience.
  • have a library permit. It doesn’t matter if you go there except to renew it once every year. People will believe in your true interest and dedication towards knowledge. After all, they’re just watching TV or wasting time, while you’re supposedly reading old books with several others stacked on your desk.
  • talk about art films. That’s another one that works almost every time, based again on ignorance. Personally i don’t like this kind of movies, as they are often way too dramatic, violent or abstract. I think they mostly fail because they try to accomplish their goal and present the “truth” in a very complicated and dark manner, hoping this way they’ll be able to make up for the significantly lower budgets. When they succeed they do it gloriously and when they fail they do it miserably.
  • look like you’re following holistic principles in life. This one became a trend, the moment everybody started to be interested in oriental traditions. They had something mysterious about them, and seemed to cure just about any excessive habits common to the western world. It ended up being a grotesque mix between a society obsessed with power and speed and practices that demanded a slower pace and enough time to grasp the whole beauty of world around us. Yoga in an office room between two meetings is just sport. Just the same an organic salad with three cops of coffees a day and two hamburgers is nothing more than sheer make belief.

For some, these quick tips will definitely help them trick the people around them into believing they are actually a lot smarter, wiser and more knowledgeable that they appeared. However, the true lucky ones will be those capable to go even further and actually start making some changes.

After all, there’s nothing wrong with breaking the cycle of everyday life with small gems such as leisure reading, listening to some quality music that stood the test of time or finding the things you really care about in life and supporting them. Once you’ve got these in place, you can always take the next step and adopt a wholesome lifestyle. Learn to say no to useless things, learn to say yes to the ones you’re most afraid of, take the time to know the people and the places around you. Feel happy about yourself but never loose the hunger for becoming a better person.

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Human traits that make life on Earth so bad

16 Mar 2009

Wooden ladder leading into dark tower
The moment we are born is when we have the greatest potential to become incredible human beings. Unfortunately, there’s something about our society that somewhat manages to screw things up for most of us. There’s all sorts of traditions, the media, everyone around us and the educational system, that one way or the other, influences us and deposits tiny bits of dangerous information deep into our subconscious. Like it or not, we’re still the most complex computer known to man.

Still, unlike those dumb machines on our desks or in our backpacks, we are capable of independent thinking. And yet, we’re letting others program us almost non stop. Every piece of data that we come in contact with, finds its way into our system. Depending on how powerful we are and our previous experiences it can have a more or less lasting effect.

Life as we know it today suffers from several plagues, much more troublesome than most of the problems humanity had to face in its whole history. They’ve escalated during ages of reinforcement as patterns and now are solidly stuck into our social fabric:

  • various types of fear. Ever since we are young, we’re taught to fear things. Now, there’s nothing wrong with this emotion. It actually is one of the main reason for our survival as a species, by helping us avoid imminent dangers. However, there are way too many situations during our personal evolution in which we experience it. We start with “be careful not to fall and hurt yourself”, “don’t act like a monkey and embarrass us”, “try not to fail your exams”, continuing with “what if she says no”, “what if my colleagues don’t like me”, “what if they think I’m weird”, “what if i lose this job” and ending with “what if i go to hell”. Our lives are constantly bombarded with negative thoughts regarding our ability to perform and be accepted.
  • all sorts of greed. For some it’s a direct consequence of fear, while for others is nothing more than a result of poor education and childhood frustrations. It makes us distance ourselves from any spiritual side and become prisoners of our own senses and false desires. Instead of enjoying life as it is, we turn into consumerist machines, never satisfied with what we have accumulated up until that point. We end up cherishing the feeling of acquiring something rather than all the extra pleasure you’d normally derive from actually using the object of our desire.
  • lack of empathy fueled by extreme individualism. This is one of the things i dislike the most about the way modern people view themselves. It’s been stresses in the media that everyone’s unique, that each and everyone of us is an independent machine which has needs and deserves to be respected for what it is. While i do agree with the part about acceptance and tolerance, there’s something fishy about the whole independence thing. It turns us away from being a part of the community and working together for building a better and more enjoyable society. In the end, it makes us think in terms of personal interests and how it is excusable to put them first as long as we remain within the boundaries of the law.
  • hedonism and shallowness. Unfortunately, we’re some of the most easily corruptible beings on this planet and we have only our perceptions to blame. It comes almost naturally for us to abuse our senses if we find enough enough pleasure in that. A few cups of ice cream turn into a bucket, a slice of pizza leads to the whole plate plus a couple of beers, a normal car makes us want a faster and more expensive one and an half an hour in front of the computer turns into several hours or days, to name just a few situations. We no longer ask ourselves whether it’s a good thing or not. It only matters if it feels good. Now, more than ever, we’re lacking some strong moral guidelines, as both religion and justice have failed us. What could you possibly expect from normal people if you see preachers lying as much as telemarketers and lawyers using tricks learned from their clients.
  • ignorance and stupidity. They go so well together, often having roughly the same source. Essentially, it’s another results of our education and the lack of opportunities some might have while growing up. It starts with having to follow the same rules and customs particular to a certain society. This leads in time to not being able to or interested in questioning the reason behind your own or others’ actions, taking everything as a given. The worst thing about this is the tendency to accentuate with time, leaving us numb and jaded.
  • obsession with power and career. It’s strongly related to greed and shallowness, but still has a mind of its own. It can start as a need to overachieve in life, but it often changes quickly into a pathological obsession to have as much control as possible over businesses and people. Unfortunately, it’s been pictured more and more as a proof of success in life, when in fact it leads to a continuous struggle, which lets little time for anything else. It also sets people into a conflict mind frame, in which most of those around you start to look as your enemies.
  • the tendency to discard childish or playful behavior as bad. Some of the best times of our lives happen when we are kids. We get to fully use our imagination, have very little to worry about and we get to play most of the time. Yet, we show this nearly uncontrollable urge to grow up so fast, that we soon forget how wonderful childhood really is and how much we can learn from the simple and happy lives children have.

Bottom line, life on earth could be such a wonderful thing, if we only had the will to make a few changes in our day to day habits. All we really need to do is let go of all the things that were manufactured so we can have objects of desire. Fortunately, true happiness comes from within and has little to do with stuff, objects and possessions. It can be the feeling of serenity you sometime get on an early Saturday morning, the smile of a relative or a friend, a sincere and unexpected “thank you” from someone you’ve helped or the freedom of speaking your mind without the fear of being persecuted for it.

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Do big brands deserve consumer loyalty?

15 Mar 2009

Blue plastic credit card over balance sheetI’m not exactly the biggest fan of huge corporations and their ever changing products. I simply don’t believe that any conglomerate, that set their ultimate goal in making a hefty profit regardless of the method employed, deserves to be trusted. On top of that, my personal experience has proved me right in most of the cases.
To be completely honest, I’m writing this to burn out some of my frustrations regarding a well known brand which  brings new meanings to the term “greedy bastards”. I find it appalling not being able to use the scanner function of a multi functional printer as long as you’re not buying their overpriced ink cartridges. That’s either a result of poor design or a lame attempt to squeeze even the last dimes out of our pockets.

Here are just some of the reasons why i don’t invest my feelings into any big brand:

  • they spend huge sums of money on advertising, marketing consultancy fees, management related expenses (see private jets, five start hotels, business class etc) and sales training (so they know how to fool you faster). All of these funds eventually make up the final price of the product, which the end user has to pay. Unlike the average consumer, i hardly make any emotional purchases. That’s why advertising usually has no influence on my decisions, so i find no reason why i should support that. Let’s not also forget, that each time you’re being lied about why the prices have to be increased, due to extensive research costs, the tooth fairy being stranded in the North Pacific or Santa Claus having a flat tire, that’s the PR manager’s fee that gets transfered into the price;
  • they’re almost always cutting costs by providing as cheap client support as possible, questionable quality control, shorter product lifespan and still have the nerve to blame it all on the consumers. Once they’ve got hold of your money it’s up to them whether they help you in a timely manner or not. It doesn’t really matter if you’re losing clients due to their lack of professionalism, as long as you’re not powerful enough to significantly hurt their image. If they know they can bully you, either by voiding your warranty, postponing repairs up to weeks or months at a time or making you spend hours on the phone, you’ll end up being just a  statistic hidden under the rug.
  • they’re extremely calculated when it comes to new features and it usually comes down to adding them while under pressure either from the user community or from the competition. That why it takes several years and more than a couple versions of the product to really see a significant improvement. Moreover, most of those “improvements” are actually visual changes, pure eye candy that has nothing to do with functionality.
  • they won’t shy away from using any measures available to prevent you from changing ships or choosing the more affordable third-party option. If they don’t succeed using elaborate marketing strategies, then they’ll try to add as much restrictions as possible (as printer companies shamelessly fitted their products with chips so you can’t use third party tools or refill the cartridges). And if you’re wondering who’s paying to develop the technology behind them, well, it’s you again.
  • no matter what the TV ad says, you pay for every gift they’re offering. It might be the opportunity you can’t miss, the huge discount, the meaningless perks and accessories. They can afford to do that only if the price of the product is already high enough to support such discounts or if previous sales can offer them a cushion for the risk of temporary lower profits.
  • giving back to the community or any other social responsibility related activities can only take place if there’s enough publicity to be made from it. Otherwise, helping others is not lucrative enough to justify the costs. Lately, since the “help the Planet, have a green lifestyle” became such a huge trend, they’ve used that as one of their key points in their marketing campaigns. Refuse to buy their overpriced eco friendly new designs and you’ll be anything from the enemy of life on Earth (Captain Planet to the rescue) to just a cheap heartless human being. This brings emotional blackmail to a whole new level.
  • there have been plenty of reported cases in which big companies chose the cheap way out, even when it negatively influenced the health of their clients. What do you think confidentiality agreements are for? They even went as far as to bribe officials, falsify studies or get rid of incriminating evidence that might have affected their profit margins. For example, at the beginning of the year, we had to stop using plastic bags in the supermarkets. So they exchanged them with recyclable ones supposedly made from paper or natural fibers. Fast forward to a few weeks ago when the scandal erupts. As expected, some of the raw materials used to produce them were known carcinogens or pollutants. And let’s not get started about the chemicals in food items or the genetically modified organisms.

Given all these issues I’ve just mentioned, is there any reason why i should be loyal to a company or brand? I sure don’t think so. My view on this subject is to get the best possible bargains and use them only as long as it makes sense. Since there’s no true respect or loyalty to be seen from these greed infested organizations, there’s no reason why anyone should care about them in return.

The only time they listen to what their clients have to say, is when their sales start to plunge. That’s still a lot of power available to the customer, and when put to good use it can really make a difference. If most of their clients would stop buying their crappy products just for a while, I’m pretty sure you would see significant improvement, in order to gain the lost market share.

As a matter of fact i’ve always been a fan of the small companies wishing to make a name for themselves. At least for the first part of their lives, while still growing, they have a much nicer atitude towards the client. They can’t really compete as far as price goes and have just a fraction of the resources their corporate counterparts have. However, they can easily give you better quality for the money, without treating you as you were just another revenue source.

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Ways to convince your kids to enjoy outdoor activities

14 Mar 2009

Herd of sheep moving along an impressive mountainAre you sick and tired of seeing your beloved kids spend way too many hours either watching brain numbing TV programs or playing violent games? If you think it’s about time they got off the couch or the computer chair, then you might explore some of the possibilities of outdoor activities.

First of all, you must be convinced  that kids look up to their parents. It doesn’t really matter how strong or weak the relationship is, or how many other external influences they have. It’s true they might want to be the next teen idol, rock superstar or sport champion, following the models they come across in the media. Just as well they will be influenced by their friends and colleagues and indirectly by their parents as well. Still, it’s your job to make sure your kids have a balanced and healthy life. There’s nothing better than the power of example. That’s why you should be the first signaling the change. They will rarely do it by themselves and it will become harder and harder as they grow older, since the power of the habit comes into place.

Kids tend to have lots of energy, especially if their diet is high on sweets. That’s why you should consider activities in which they can put all that energy to good use. Always threat them like you would an adult, but never forget to have patience and understanding since they’re just learning and eventually they’ll get the hang of it.

Here’s a few picks of rather easy things you can do to make your kids enjoy outdoor activities:

  • avoid spending the whole weekend inside the house. With time becoming such a high priced commodity, weekends getting shorter and shorter, there’s the temptation to spend these two days either doing chores or out shopping. Besides being extremely boring and pretty much pointless, you’ll start the next week almost as tired as you were on Friday. There’s about two things you can do in this case: you either take care of any stuff around the house the moment they come up or try to do as much of them as possible either Friday evening or Saturday morning. This way you’ll end up with almost two whole days free to enjoy. Try not to be obsessed about cleaning, or you will start seeing dust or mess even where there’s none.
  • become knowledgeable of your city and its surroundings. To be able to go out and have fun, you first have to know what are the places you can go to. Imagine seeing your city through the eyes of a tourist. You could browse some of the local travel guides and why not try Google Earth for a bird’s eye view of the region. The images you’ll come across can act as a great motivator and a guide.
  • learn to enjoy a day in the park. Besides going on long walks or sitting on a bench, parks also provide a lovely setting for anyone interested in painting or drawing. Young kids love these two activities, so instead of having them scribble some make belief characters while watching cartoons on TV, you can take them outside and teach them how to draw a tree, a lake or even their playground buddies.
  • consider taking up a sport or two. While you can easily do most of your pilates, tae bo or fitness routines in the privacy of your own home or backyard, nothing compares to a real sport. Soccer in the park seems like an obvious choice. However basketball, tennis, running or even swimming are intense activities that will positively influence your health and energy levels. Be patient and get your kids involved as that will make them feel important and help them keep their interest. If you push them too hard you might have to find another sport at least for a while.
  • there’s also the more “extreme” sports such as biking, roller blading or skating. Due to their low center of gravity, children tend to pick up these rather quickly. While there’s a risk of minor injuries at first, these  activities can help them develop advanced motor skills as well as gain self confidence.
  • take up photography. Now more than ever, with the increase of digital cameras availability, it has become a very accessible hobby. Good equipment starts up at just a couple hundred dollars, which can be a cheap investment for someone wishing to learn the basic principles. It’s one of the most rewarding outdoors activities as you’re always tempted to looks for objects of beauty, you get instant gratification by viewing the end result on you LCD screen and you are able to record your memories. Especially for the casual photographers, it will be a good enough reason to go out and enjoy a day in the park. Being a visual art, it will also help your kids improve their creativity. The only downside is that in just a few years they might start asking for a good DSLR camera which might put you back anything around and above a thousand dollars;
  • consider hiking trips. If you’re lucky enough to live in an area relatively close to a mountain range, then it’s a real pity ignoring these natural wonders. You can either pack on Friday evening or wake up early on Saturday and in a few hours you’ll be ready to go up the mountain trails. It’s true that it can get tiresome quickly, especially if you’re lacking basic training or if your kids are too young. To compensate for that, you can either opt for a long walk along the paths near the base or take a gondola up to the  summit and enjoy the view. There’s something inspiring and character building about this type of activity and it can have a tremendous effect on children. They can even take it as a metaphor for life, as it takes strength, determination and will to get to the top.
  • embark on a road trip every now and then. There’s something in all of us that makes us love road trips: the spirit of the explorer bursting out. It’s a great and especially fun way to escape the mundane, while learning about new places and people. While you could do this in just a weekend, it’s best if you have at least three or four days available. It works well during school breaks when you don’t have to worry about homeworks, assignments or sending the kids to sleep early. Again, it’s a great way for them to gain more confidence and learn about discipline while enjoying themselves.
  • if you happen to have a backyard or a weekend house outside of the city, then you can very well get into gardening. If doesn’t have to be full on farming: several rows of flowers and some vegetables just for the sake of it. Once again, this is an activity that children usually love to get involved into. It’s relaxing, it doesn’t take a lot of hard work, it makes them feel special and then there’s the satisfaction they get from seeing how their effort helped to grow things. Just like taking care of a pet, it helps them understand responsibilities.

I’m sure there are plenty other outdoor activities which can get all the family members involved and i’d sure love to know what are the ones that i’ve missed. The whole idea is to break the work/school – home cycle which pretty much leaves most of us with little if any quality time to enjoy. Outdoors activities are great for kids growing up as it both improves their health and their skills, while also giving them valuable clues about the important things in life and the right ways in which they can reach them.

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Why artists won’t admit they’re doing it for the money?

13 Mar 2009

Black and white graffiti drawing on a wallLately I’ve been browsing through quite a few art books, looking for as many and diverse sources of inspiration as possible. Witnessing lots of graphic styles and visual concepts is a great way to boost your creativity, complementing actual drawing, illustrating or designing.

After having finished “Illustration Now”, all i can say is those artists sure love to hear themselves speak. The book is nicely put together, with the same level of professionalism and elegance that’s so representative of almost anything Taschen publishes. There’s a wide variety of graphic artists presented in the project, with works ranging from pure digital illustration to handcrafted collages made out of various fabrics. While some of the designs are truly remarkable pieces of art capable to make you think, there are some which appear more like the scribblings of a spoiled or neurotic child. As i mentioned before, that’s a matter of taste and as long as there’s an audience for such materials, those misunderstood geniuses will thrive.

Apparently, each of those individuals was invited to express their own views about art and creativity, in just a couple of sentences. Out of the tens of short interviews, only a handful had the guts to mention money as one of the stimuli behind their work.

Knowing how tight the deadlines are, and the type of clients most of these people have, it seems hard to believe they’d spend their time and take such responsibilities without a serious financial motivation.
That’s perfectly acceptable, since no one’s supposed to work for free, especially if it involves lots of effort and stress. Still, why would they refuse to acknowledge it and make up all sort of fancy stories and explanations. What happened to the old “it’s fun and it pays well”?

If you were to take their word for it, nowadays, the Artist stretches the boundaries of social subconsciousness, opens new portals of creativity, becomes the sum of all activists before him, has to have total freedom or else will throw a tantrum and is not supposed to follow any aesthetic principles discovered through centuries of hard work. Are in some way fearing they might be accused of selling out? Is it even possible not to sell out as an illustrator if you wish to have a long and prolific career, knowing that most of your work will make its way into magazines or ads?

Let’s just suppose for the sake of conversation, that they might want to sell the image of a social responsibility young mind. I hear that’s been the IT thing lately and everyone’s just dying to prove how deep they are. Still, what happens if we take it one step further, to see if the young creative spirits of the new millennium are mavericks or simply putting on a lame act. Don’t they always wear this season’s line of designer clothes, complete with trendy accessories? Aren’t they the ones drinking the latest cocktails till the wee hours of the morning, at the hot new clubs around town? Don’t they swap their cell phones, mp3 players or any other gadget for that matter, with the new version as soon as it’s out?

I personally think it’s really shameful to lie about your work and the reasons behind it. After all, it takes a lot more strength, as well as a firm backbone, to admit you’re a commercial artist, working for the money just like any other individual on this planet. Renaissance artists did it before us without shame or guilt, while building some of the most spectacular masterpieces in history. That’s bound to happen if you spend your time doing the very best job that you can, instead of trying to manufacture a pixel perfect image about yourself.

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