talkmagic.co.uk

We, here today are very lucky, we live at a time where we have the opportunity to learn, explore and discover both our world today and the world over many of thousands/millions of years. We have art,literature and science that is the culmination of human achievement upto now at our fingertips. Be it from a book, a gallery or from the internet everyone in a western country (I'm thinking specifically Uk here as it's my particular base)has access to every beautiful idea that has ever been shared with the human race.
These are sometimes ideas and ideals that many have thought so precious and so wonderful that they were willing to fight and die for, yet I see everyday a complete lack of interest majority of the population.
Instead what are the things we as a collective concern ourselves with? Reality Tv, celebrity magazines, Soap operas, viral vids etc.

Now all these things have several things in common the most striking of them being overally negative in content and voyeuristic in nature. They all concern wheeling out a willing or unwilling lamb who is sacrificed at the altar of public humiliation. It is the degradation of one person for the enjoyment of many.
Now anyone blind enough to disagree just has to look at the recent coverage of the downfall of (place famous celebrity name here) and the relish of the press to print every gory detail to an ever eager public who lap up every breakdown.
Many at this point would point the finger firmly at either the press or the public at large and place the blame squarely on them but this is entirely wrong. It is both.
Firstly the so called journalists or photographers who make they money off such gutter press should take a deep look at what they are a part of and re-avaluate what they do and who they hurt in order to do it and secondly the mass public who seem to have little in their own lives and therefore seem hell bent on sucking on the negative press of others lives like some sort of freakish vampire.
What really scares me however is that what seems to be a current trend is actually what is at the core of our own nature and the general masses are as shallow, petty and vindictive as our media represents.
To be honest I do think it is in our nature to be such creatures but am also aware that we are able to rise above such things due to an evolved mindset known as rationality.
Many would argue that what i suggest would mean a life time of "taking life rather seriously" and not having any laughes but I could be talking no further from the truth. It is mearly a matter of not wallowing in others misfortune mearly for entertainment value and instead seeking voices out there that have something of value to say, most of which can be both hilarious and life affirming.
There is also value in the more negative aspects of life sometimes too but this has to be one that is far greater than filling a space in your daily drudgery and therefore it making you feel better about yourself in the process.
I seem to want to hark back to a passage i read in "Unweaving the Rainbow" which I will share just a teensy bit:
"We are going to die, and that makes us the lucky ones. Most people are never going to die because they are never going to be born. The potential people who could have been here in my place but who will in fact never see the light of day outnumber the sand grains of Sahara."

It shows that each of us has a responsability for the value of our own existence as it is such a rare and precious thing. Why fill it with such mediocrity and in the process lining the pockets of ththe filth mongers that produce it. You devalue yourself as as a person and you devalue the human race.
Living in these times were are taught to be tolerant of others but this isnt always the correct path. Sometimes (nonviolent) intolerance can lead to postitive changes in others.
So I say feel free to Tut the person sitting next to you reading "toss" magazine (or whatever such things are called) and feel free to deride someones opinion on the latest reality nonsense. in the long run you are doing us all a favour.

You need to get out on a Friday night!

Seriously though, I like it when people just splill their thoughts, magic or not, on this forum, very incitefull:

I did go out

That is what I call a 6 pinter rant

I take it you are not up to speed on the goings-on of the Big Brother house then

once you accept that life is ultimately futile and pointless, then the fun begins...

I'm not one for a mortgage, marriage nor kids - lovely for some just not for me...i feel that people have that social pressure, especially women - oooh i've got to have a child soon, all my friends have one...

but with that said, all women want kids deep down, it'll rise to the top at some point...anyways..

there's very few jobs on earth that truly make a difference, and people have to come to terms with that...just make the life you have as enjoyable as possible...

i think if people's lifes starts with reading zoo and fhm magazine, and finishes with an asymetrical haircut and having 5000000000 friends on facebook...then good luck to 'em...utterly pointless, but so what...

i don't think i'll leave a "mark" on the earth, when i snuff it, i can clutch my pint of gin, inject myself with some mind-bending aftershave and smile myself into dust...

magic and mentalism can be very futile, we buy and buy, yet never practice or have the decency to admit to ourselves we may never be good enough...or too lazy or blind to see it...but we plod through the next latest and greatest thing...just to find that it's not changed a thing...

Okay..these are the ....... class girls who visit the mall in St. John's every Friday night. They were part of a TV series for a few years.
I'm trying to remember about a Brit writer who a few months ago said one of the media problems in England is that there are only five main newspapers and five main TV channels. His point, if I remember, was that British(we were trained to NEVER say United Kingdom) media is controlled by a white,southern,London elite who use visible minority presenters to project racial equality. Ranks with the revelation that the Pope is Catholic!
Actually, I suspect the same is true in Toronto. Montreal, and many American centres.
Really, what does all that mean? I think an ex Reuters dude taught me the gate keeper theory in the seventies.My goodness, could that have been from the U of T's Marshall McLuhan?
Lord, did he say SIX pints? My first jobs were with that sort. Occasionally brilliant..always crabby(hung over?)..usually guys whose screw ups had to be covered up by the others. The media introduced by the accountants and the consultants eased most of the creative types out by 1975.Or that's what one of my fares told me.
Of course, we spent more time arguing whether the rope through the neck effect was suitable to perform before children.ron0