The weather is a-changing
the storms be shaking
The love that you take
is equal to the love you’re making
Here comes the sun little darling
here comes the sun
Robert del Naja
Everyone more or less Internet-literate saw this coming. Search engines and social networks messing with the users’ privacy, governments believing that it’s OK to wiretap the Internet, censor it or even block it altogether, big content lobbying for draconian copyright laws and believing that it can take entire sites down just because they use innovation to cut into their massive superprofits. The Internet hesitated for a while, believing that it could still come to terms with the armies of bureaucrats, lawyers and content producers, but in a while it became clear that all they are trying to do is to piggyback on the technological revolution, contributing as little as they can while trying to squeeze as much out of it as possible.
That’s why a massive trend shift towards a fully distributed Internet is all but unexpected. Users want to be in control of their info, thoughts, services and communications, and to decide for themselves about what tools they’re going to use and how to use them. All of this points to the plummeting level of regular users’ trust in any central authority, be it their government or their email provider. Continue Reading…
“A prayer for the wild at heart, kept in cages.”
Tennessee Williams
When you, all battered as if
By batteries of baseball bats
Walk empty streets on an October night
Their names don’t matter anymore
But neither does yours, buddy.
Hello. My translation of the poetic component of Olesia Khomenko’s work has been displayed at Pinchuk Art Centre. Thanks to everyone who’s made it happen!
Hmmm… There’s a whole lot I’ve promised to others and myself lately.
It’s about time to act on those words, don’t you think?
Just a reminder to the world and myself that rising early and going through the empty city is immensely fun and inspiring. You get to see things you’ve never seen before and get to do things you’ve never thought of doing. This time of day makes one feel so vigorous and creative. Too bad I’ve missed it for so long.
Music: Fever Ray – Keep the Streets Empty
У многих людей моего поколения калифорнийский дуэт The Crystal Method напоминает о целой эпохе, когда звук был жестким, энергичным и задевающим за душу. Музыку “кристалов” использовали для оформления многих культовых фильмов и игр того времени и вдохновлялись ей для написания саундтреков.
В 2004 году группа выпустила альбом Legion of Boom, и практически затихла – за 5 лет они записали только пластинку ремиксов (2005) и саундтрек к фильму “Лондон“ (2006).
За это время многое успело измениться, и начинало казаться, что звук группы уже то и дело устаревает и она готовится к заслуженному отдыху среди других основателей брейк-бита и электроники. Но фанаты группы, в том числе и ваш покорный слуга, не давали надежде умирать – и, как выяснилось, не зря. Continue Reading…
by Ray Bradbury
When the sun set he crouched by the path and cooked a small supper and listened to the first crack while he put the food in his mouth and chewed thoughtfully. It had been a day not unlike thirty others, with many neat holes dug in the dawn hours, seeds dropped in, and water brought from the bright canals. Now, with an iron weariness in his slight body, he lay and watched the sky color from one darkness to another. Continue Reading…
A couple of weeks ago, the final installment of the Harry Potter film series premiered in theaters worldwide. The whole Harry Potter franchise (both books and films) is often considered to be one of the most successful to date, becoming a landmark of a whole generation, and, doubtlessly, for many more to come.
But after all is said and done, it’s worth looking back to see how it all started. Before becoming one of the world’s most acclaimed writers, Rowling lost her job, her family and was living off state-provided welfare benefits. To most, this would seem a hopeless position to be in. Yet instead of giving up or trying to piece everything back together, Rowling found that after losing everything, she finally had the chance to pursue the work of her life. Here is how she described it:
Failure meant a stripping away of the inessential. I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than what I was, and began to direct all my energy to finishing the only work that mattered to me. Had I really succeeded at anything else, I might never have found the determination to succeed in the one area where I truly belonged. I was set free, because my greatest fear had been realized, and I was still alive, and I still had a daughter whom I adored, and I had an old typewriter, and a big idea. And so rock bottom became a solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.
J. K. Rowling, Harvard commencement address, 2008.
This, for the thousandth time, proves the idea that often, failure is the root of success. Who could have said and shown this better than one of the iconic writers of our time?
listen to songs of the streetligts
cut out the circles of highlights
the streets salute you, Your Highness
the streets are all yours tonight
and though today has been long
and though today has been hard
the streets salute you, Your Highness
the city will give you its heart
who knows what the darkness may bring
who knows what surprises await
but the streets salute you, Your Highness
so join them, do not hesitate
now is the time to bare your ol’ feet
and dance to no music on cooling concrete
you feel so alone and yet so complete
the streets are all yours tonight
tomorrow it all will end
who knows if it ends good or bad
but right now, cheer up, don’t be sad
and wander the streets once again
and though at dawn it all will be gone
tonight you’ll have company though all alone
cause every street will sing to your tone
so cheer the hell up tonight
