Right to Free Speech

<philosophy>

I’m stuck between a rock and a hard place. If our country supports free speech how come private organizations do not? It makes sense for them not to, however in my situation I am at risk of being censored by my private school (I recently found this out from EFF. Check the link in my blogroll that says ’support blogger’s rights’). Of course I would not say anything extremely offensive about administration or such but I am always hesitant to post something about my school. That hesitance however is what believe the founding fathers were trying to prevent with the first ammendment. I should not be hesitant. I should talk about my school whenever I feel without typing in fear. Though I should do all that, I am quite afraid of the law and authority. I do not have a healthy sense of civil disobedience. I wish not to be violent but rather use my mediocre writing ability to combat the oppression of free speech.

Sure people may not read my blog, but I blog to show support for the first ammendment.

<rant>

Laugh at me, and say my posts are drivel but note that your stupid pedophile-ridden ‘myspace’ does not seem to have anything lucid written on it. When was the last time you ever payed attention to Civil Liberties. I only blog what I think it is profound. I’m not blogging about what I ate for breakfast, or who my girlfriend is, or, heaven forbid, anime. So yeah laugh but know that the only people that read your blog are 40 year old men using myspace as some pedophile hook-up site. I’m disgusted. Thoroughly disgusted.

< /rant>

</philosophy>

Creative Commons, EFF, and IPAC

I recently was reminded of all three of the above organizations. Look them up. Creative Commons is the sensible alternative to copyright. EFF fights against DRM and protects our rights, and IPAC (recently started) is like EFF but more of a political organization. Also look up Larry Lessig. The man has it figured out. In TWiT 27 and Triangulation 1 he explained all the problems with the current copyright system. Anyways I hope to get some Creative Commons stuff out there. After all, I write stories and make movies but I’m not money hungry.

<rant>

If there is anything I loathe more it’s money hungry entertainment industry figures. Do you know what MGM’s motto is? ‘Ars Gratia Artis’ or ‘art for the sake of art’. That’s hardly the case anymore. Nowadays, people only make art to make money. They try to squeeze every cent out of their franchise. Is there anyone out there like me? I just want to make a few movies, write a few stories, and hope that someone watches or read them. I don’t need a Hummer with 26″ rims and spinners. I don’t need bling bling and parties with $300 bottles of champagne. Entertainment should be an art not a industry (let alone one of the richest ones). I’m also upset that my generation is obsessed with being rich and selfish. Watch “My Sweet Sixteen” or look at your teenage neighbor with a tricked-out supra.

It’s money, all Money. Look at your other neighbor who has cancer. His family can not afford medical bills, and he might die. Know take a look at yourself. Are you a spoiled rich kid obsessed with yourself and feeling good? Are you a parent that is too afraid to tell your child no? Are you a rich celebrity that tries to improve your image through seemingly humanitarian efforts? I know I’m not one. And I’ve made a promise never to become one.

Sometimes people come along like Ghandi or Martin Luther King and they go down in history for their efforts. But what I think they go down in history for is their morals. Their virtues. Because you can not ignore a person who will starve themselves for a just cause. They stand out because they are good, virtuous people. Their everyday efforts become large humanitarian feats. Someone who is selfish and rotten does not go down in history because there are plenty of people out there who are also selfish and rotten. It’s nothing special

</rant>

So now that’s been said.

Visit those websites,

Create Art for the sake of Art, and

Stop being selfish

Spring Break

Finally, I have a large chunk of time with nothing to do. Over spring break I will be working on the Arcade machine project, and maybe post a few videos. I’ve bought most of the supplies and I’m creeping closer to the $100 mark. I might go over but not by much.

I will also revisit another old project, but I have to finish writing the script *hint*

Andrew Vaziri does not visit this website

If he did he would see this and tell me about it at school. He might even post a comment (*gasp* that’s unheard of)

Coldplay

On the 6th, I saw Coldplay in Philadelphia. It was sort of my first real concert. The opening act (Richard Ashcroft) was really good. He had a stage persona of Jim Morrison, but had a very unique style of music. Check him out (I recommend ‘Keys to the World’, ‘Music is Power’, and ‘Break the Night with Color’). Then Coldplay came on stage and sang a few songs. After maybe four songs Chris Martin revealed that he didn’t know if he would be able to do the show when he woke up (I guess it was a cold, or a sore throat) but that his voice was fine and it would be a good show thanks to a nice doctor in Philly. It was a good show, especially when he did a tribute to Johnny Cash. Their final song, “Fix You”, was bittersweet, except for the lady in front of me who lit up a hash pipe. That’s right a Hash Pipe. I was a bit surprised. Sure maybe at a Pink Floyd or Grateful Dead concert, but Coldplay does not strike me as stoner rock. I guess it could be expected anywhere. One of my friends tried to support her by saying it was probably medical marijuana. That’s true. It could be for the lung cancer that she got from smoking almost a pack of cigarettes for the hour and a half show. She was smoking so much it started to look like the Turner Classic Movie channel.

Enough of that.

It was a good show and I got two shirts.