Saturday 10 March 2007

Oh, what a magical world!

It is yellow, full of holes and in real world wouldn't survive for more than five minutes... What is it?

Having already spent two days in bed, surrounded by pills, antibiotics, tissues and a variety of hallucinations, I find myself in the pleasant position to announce that I have found a new, magical world. By now I have already watched about a full season episodes of SpongeBob Squarepants and about a dozen episodes of Southpark (yes, I know, these things are well known elsewhere but here in Greece showing cops beating students seems to be more interesting to show on TV).

What is it actually that makes a squarepants-kinda goofy-annoyingly happy sponge seem so lovable? Do audiences identify more easily with a character that looks familiar or with a character that is so different from them? Cause, really, Spongebob is like the child we once were only living in a simulation of the adults' world. And he actually makes it through pretty well in his pineapple house and his square pants and tie... Whereas, we adults, seem to be having trouble in the real world...

If only we could make it through by laughing and making bubbles! Maybe that's why he is so adorable. He is a reminder of how simple things used to be once upon a time. Goofing around with your best friend could make you forget all your problems and -most important- even though you always moved in a world of greedy-humorless-sly grown ups that had no impact on you, in a mysterious way!

So, Spongebob reminds me of how it used to be before everything turned out to be so complicated. And, just maybe, he is an adult's wish that he seems so adorable despite the misery he is in... Spongebob is actually giving someone the opportunity to find himself adorable even though he might be working for a few pennies or be so far away from what he really wants... And that's really something; when everything and everyone around us is trying to convince us that we are of no importance and we can have no impact on what's happening Spongebob is there to comfort us and carry us away in his magical-shiny bubbles...

Southpark is another story... A bunch of kids that in the real world would be what we call "punks" and would make any grown-up feel appalled by today's kids, but here they make us laugh... With what in real world would make us feel ashamed or cry. But this is another story...

I am going to blow my nose once again hoping that bubbles will come out of my ears and my eyes will twist... Oh, really, what a magical world!

Thursday 8 March 2007

1+1=2?

One, two, three... Like a, b, c...

I am numbers. I am my social security number, my ID number, my student ID number, my bank account number, the bar code on everything I like to eat, the number of my sit in the theater, my telephone number, the number of the metro line I use everyday...

I like numbers. In my mind they match and they combine in a magic way. I can easily remember a phone number or anything having to do with them. Music can be expressed in a mathematic way. Even God can be expressed in numbers -One...Or maybe the size of those who believe.

What is the number for sorrow? Or maybe for happiness... For curiosity? For moments of brilliance, or stupidity or maybe for making love?

To the vast majority of people around us we are just a number. A walkie-talkie bar code. We are treated like numbers; there's always someone above us on the list, someone next and someone who will take our place when we leave this place. This world we've created wants us "decoded", analyzed into other numbers. This world we've created wants us to express through numbers, to eliminate every trace of soul, thought, sentiment...

We feel. Let's not end up calculating. Accountancy is so boring...

Pavlov's Dog

I find myself recently unable to socialize easily...

The other day I was trying to have a "civilized" chat with my boss -who I see almost every day and scenes of mass destruction and brutal murder cross my mind instantly- but only to find out that there was nothing I could say since I am not up-to-date...

I also hadn't seen a couple of friends for a long time and I thought catching up was a good idea. Yet, after a while, I ended up drowning my boredom in cheap beer listening to the television broadcast and breaking news live on the table.

It wasn't until yesterday that i realized there's something wrong with me. One of my best friends called and wanted to see me -'cause ya know...Time passes by...And work is responsible for all these lost moments between friends...- TODAY.

I panicked... Cold sweat running down my forehead and my palms frozen. Oh my God!, what on earth happened and I HAVE to know? I managed to remain calm and used an obvious excuse, like "Oh damn, I'd love to but you know how my boss is a bitch etc..."

What's wrong with me? Where is my personal antenna? I cannot reach signal from people I know. Maybe my decoder has broken down. Maybe my link is unavailable. Oh no, I dare not even say it... Maybe my subscription has expired!!!!!!!!

Communication has reached a different level. We use TV language, we incarnate TV-personas in our relationships, we talk about everything on the news. Future "clochards" will be those not watching TV. We create great distances which we are unable to cover without a remote control in our hands and an-always-functioning antenna in our heads. We are trained to become TV soldiers-in time.

Report everything - record everything.
Monkey say - Monkey do.
Destroy target.