Open-Mindedness: the new Assimilation

Have you ever expressed your opinion recently, only to be told "You should be more 'open-minded"?

This new word, seems to have sprung out of nowhere like a new discovery, and turned into a star. People follow it, people live by it...
Most of all, people claim that it is the "right" thing to do....to be open-minded.

So than I ask..."Is this just a new fad that will die like the rest, or is this the new form of assimilation?"

I have opinions, admittedly, that do not agree with many others...most of all, those of the "open" mind. Do not get me wrong; I'm not a warmonger, I don't consider myself heartless, or soulless, however, whenever I encounter these people, I feel like suddenly I'm this portrait of a monster.

Now there is nothing wrong with opening up to new ideas, to accepting new theories or ways of life, because to adapt is healthier than to hold onto something that won't be here tomorrow...

however,

I get this feeling of blind sheep following the media like, well...sheep. The television has a powerful affect on these people.
Do I have to go into detail of "Kick a Ginger Day"? the open-minded would hurt me if I even compared them to those children...but really, it's the same idea.

When I get told regularly to "open up", I don't take this any longer as a sign to "be stronger", no...I take this something a little more like..."be like us, and everyone will love you".
Do I than care, if they will love me? No!

So much opposition and defensiveness flows out of these 'open-minded' folk. They claim they are not here to judge you, yet immediately, they do the exact opposite. Dare you mention anything in theory or just open opinion that doesn't agree.

Did you also know that if you don't drink once in awhile, you don't know how to live?
Yeah....that's basically what I see from a lot of these people.

There were 2 boys. They were talking about their drinking and so forth, so I openly asked in a casual tone "I don't, drink, party, or smoke...I know, I'm boring, right?" with some kind of cynical smile. I felt amused deep inside.

And the boy replied "Yes.."
And with that, I ended my conclusion. I didn't feel hurt, putting my personal feelings aside, I only wanted to hear my place in this wretched society, even by the voice of a person who lives by video games, drugs and alcoholism.

Did you know to the extremes, "open-mindedness" is like a cult?

When they viciously defend their idea, opposing all others, and attack your own personal beliefs relentlessly.

Did they remember they dislike religion? did they remember that following an idea with many followers blindly is what they view of religion? Do they realize they follow the path of war and genocide?

To guilt your peers to become "open-minded" is to make them question their own ideals, to pressure themselves to change to feel accepted, to become someone for this "idea" they do not even understand....

Also, do they realize....that No single human is fully capable of being "open-minded"? Not in the history of man, religion, and mythology do I recall a god or man who was 100% open to the theories and ideas and acts of others.
To be on the extreme end of "open-mindedness" is to say you are a god of your own creation, to say others are not, are to judge them to your own personal hell, to damn them in your mind.

By doing this, not only are they saying their way of life is the right one, they are causing those who are new tho this term and idea to struggle with themselves, and to feel cornered. What does this lead to?
Violence.

Another reason for one to believe they are open-minded is to redirect their own human imperfections and humour their lack of clean humanity. It is the easy, self-righteous way to not look at oneself. Id you judge them, they feel like they are already on the high chair of morality. They are so insecure, that they take on some new idea and pretend they are innocent and forgiven..?....forgiven, wait? by who? by what?
If there is no "god", there is no one to forgive them, no one to cleanse them, they are as filthy as they were the moment they damned others, with no one to forgive them.

If this continues, not only will those feeling oppressed for having their own ways of life, which are either extremely harmless in society like not drinking, to any number of of crime, but this is a new fuel to war.

The term "open-mindedness" Is a new oil. Once backed up by blind believers, it will fuel a fire that we cannot afford to start, and that's when the war of morality comes out again...is it so different than, from religion?

Religion does not instigate war, however individuals become so heated by different views that they destroy the fragile image of the believers. This damages the confidence in young religious people, in fear, afraid to admit they are exploring religion. Is this fair? no, it's not.

So, to admit I'm not open-minded, if this was the new fad in high school, I would be afraid to be treated by other children. I would be bullied to drink, to smoke, to be force myself to make gay friends, to become someone else....when I didn't do anything to harm others.
Nothing wrong with a gay friend, don't get me wrong....but you should NOT feel pressured to make one just to fee accepted!

Also, if you dare to bring up a mental illness...will they treat you equally? Will they really?

If you say you are gay, they may open arms to you.....but if you say "I have a chronic mental illness", that awkward moment you wait for an answer.......do you feel accepted? do you?

Open-mindedness is just a new word for assimilation. If you want to open up to a new idea, do it. If you want to try something new, try it. If you desire to explore new theories about the universe, whatever man, just do that.......but,

If you get pressured to try something that you feel uncomfortable about...don't do it!

Society may have the power, but don't forget who you are.

To be the goat and not the sheep makes all the difference down the road of life. To live up to society's expectations.
Sadly, there are times we have no choice. These times are when we apply for a job, when we have interviews, and when we want to appeal to legal issues. You have to conform to a certain extent, however, this does not mean that you have to change underneath, unless you are an angry, loathing person without anything respectable about you.

I am not trying to fuel against being open, but to oppose this stupid idea of being pressured to part of someone else's morality.

I quote this off a user from a blog below:

"Your morality does not match my morality, so you should "open your closed mind" and take on my morality, or at least be quiet about it so I don't have to hear about it from you"-user from city-data.com forums.

I think this sums it up.

In other words, to say someone is closed minded is to say they do not equal your own morality, what morality may that be?

If you want to follow morality, follow your own or follow a religion, but if you follow your own, you have no right to force others to follow, even more than you cannot force others into religion, which is not following your own ideas, but a higher one's ideas that you are following. Otherwise, you are rising yourself higher than you ought to.

Hypocrites are hypocrites, no matter what they call themselves.

In the end, all you can do is follow what "feels" right, live life the way you want to...preferably without purposely causing too much strife.

I hope this eases the mind of the cornered and socially-unaccepted. You should try to be better version of yourself ,but not to conform to the majority simply for peer pressure. If you want to follow and be accepted, that's up to you......but I just wanted to share my opinion and help those others feeling oppressed and pushed around with words to realize that not everyone is like that.

Be your own version of open, and open to things one at a time, if it feels right. Have your own opinions, state them, and if they want to start a fight, move on. If everyone was the same, wouldn't the world be boring?

I am tired of being told to conform to the mass.

I oppose this war......I just want to live in peace.

The inaction does more good than the action in this case. Accept and move on, see and continue. Things will always happen around you, bizarre and normal people will always exist, so just take notice and realize you cannot stop it.
If it is not harming someone, let it go. If it harms someone, tell someone.

We can all be hypocrites sometimes, and we all judge others...

'Till next time...

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Skyrim: Special Edition is worth it? I think so. + rants on nerds

I see a lot of controversy about the Elder Scrolls Skyrim Collectors edition...

Many are saying it's not worth it.
"for a useless plastic dragon and coffee table book"

Um....so, basically you aren't even in the right mindset to bother with special editions of any game, really. Most come with some for of "useless" collectible.
Did I mention those are worth double their price on Ebay already? They are....I checked.

So, to the wondering, doubtful, and to those ungrateful bastards who know nothing about art"

That dragon is massive. That dragon is limited in quantity....AND...that dragon? yeah, it took effort to design. Do these people even understand the concept of creating a piece of physical work?

No duh, it was fabricated mechanically....that is, before it was probably hand-detailed...and don't forget the CG models are based off sketches.

I myself Love to collect things. I love dragons, esspecially beautifully made ones like this one we are talking about. I appreciate statues. I'm like a dragon, if you may....and I don't forget about my hoard. Quite the opposite-I'll scorch you if I find a filthy fingerprint on my paid for pieces of art.

As an artist, I appreciate and admire the artwork and the sweat the game artists put in for us. That 200 page concept work book? WORTH IT.
It's hardcover no less, and it's full-sized.

These 2 bonus items alone are worth at least $50-70 on Ebay right now....and they are getting more expensive. The average hard cover art book of any project is worth no less than $40 retail. The average dragon statue of quality pvc and detail is worth no less than $50. I spend more time than I'd like to admit staring at things I wish I could afford.....and for $150, I get a great deal as it includes a $60 video game with it, and the rest is basically tossed in for free after (the map and dvd).

So for those ungrates....I honestly ave neve4r played Elder Scrolls. Never. I barely touch any of the products they ever made....I'm more of a J-rpg gamer myself.
I'm not hardcore...I play casually and would see no long-term, out of game- benefit in paying for extra in-game items..because I won't be spending my life trying to prove how awesome I am..(hence why I won't get the AC:R pre-order...>I can wait till I finish the other 3 assassin's creed titles.
.but if it's got an amazing dragon statue, a wonderful book of illustrations, and than some, why the hell wouldn't I want that?


For the record....this GAME is considered "useless"....why? because in the context of useless statue, Id like to add that you do NOT NEED VIDEO GAMES!
Basically almost every video game on the planet is not required for you to survive...and anything that does not contribute to your health or personal life goal is considered useless.

Really, to me, your unappreciative opinions are useless.

If you really love your video game, take some time to think about what goes into that game. Take some time to appreciate the hard work.....Also, it's remembrance day in Canada, so...if you live here....be appreciative in general.

If it wasn't for our veterans, you wouldn't be playing your Skyrim...for that matter.


This is one reason I refuse to classify myself as a nerd.
Aside my obvious lack of hard core gaming and lack of new-gen consoles, I hate the attitudes. I also hate the stupid made up words that make no damn sense to us people who prefer to speak English or any other real language. Keep WoW between you and your fellow W.o.W buddies.....it sounds freaking retarded.

I'm sorry, but I don't feel WoW'd, and when I think of the silliness, I 'LoL' at all of it. HA, see what I did there? Who makes these games on abbreviations that are fun to make fun of?

Nerds can be as much of assholes as the jockeys in high school. The sad thing is they know it...picking on "noobs" kind of like the preps picked on them....yeah, you're a great person.

Also...if you cannot appreciate a nice statue besides one with a chest, just stop ranting about it...no one told you to buy it. Go spend $60 instead...IMO, I'm going to wait till it's cheap if I cannot get a hold of the collectors edition....I just want the collector items.

Hate me all you want, but I thought it was worth throwing a different opinion out there.


Last thoughts:

IF you think paying for the artistic items that come with a game you love, or simply just admire the craftsmanship, this is totally worth it....maybe it's expensive, and it's understandable if you cannot afford it....but "too expensive" and "I don't have that kind of money" aren't really the same thing. If you really want it, save up for it, charge it to your credit and pay it off per month (only if you can afford to do this), whatever--it's worth depends on the viewer, but to say it is rediculous waste of money is to say one is too cheap to spend money on things people didn't even have to create in the first place....it's their investment in us.

Whatever your budget is, don't listen to the idiots boasting about what is useless...you decide that for yourself. Technically, most things we want or buy that add up to numbers we are afraid to count are useless.

IS this something you will admire the week after you buy it? Will you still be flipping through that book next month?Will you get some artistic inspiration from the artwork? Think about it.

Dragon's List

I am going to create a list of dragon-related products featuring dragons!
This is going to include: Video Games, Movies/Animation, and MAYBE books!
The books will include a dragon as a character, or as a overall theme:no generic fantasy titles will be listed unless dragons have more roles than being the bad guy :)

In no specific order:

Movies:

DragonHeart I & II
Reign of Fire
Dragon Storm
Eragon
Lord of the Rings (fell beast)
Mortal Kombat 2?
Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dream Treader (2o1o)
How to Train Your Dragon
Dragon Wars
Merlin and the War of the Dragons
Tales from Earthsea
+more (I will need to remember more)

Animation:
Record of Lodoss War
How to Train Your Dragon
Dragon Ball
Origin:Spirits of the Past
Tales from Earthsea (Miyazaki film)
Beyblade
YuGiOh


to be continued

Red Cliff

As my first blog, I would like to mention a movie I have just seen. I had wondered what the big difference was between regular and extended edition...it didn't really say anything on the back unless you looked at runtime hours.

Honestly, if you are willing to take in a film for it's entirety, Make sure you see the extended edition of this film. The regular US edition of Red Cliff is no joke, a whole half the length of the extended/regular Chinese edition.


It was released in two seperate parts in China, for good reason...altogether it is approx. 5 hrs long. But I sat and put the second disc in about as soon as first 2 1/2 hrs was done. To put it simply, it was an extremely good film. I cannot even watch other chinese films right after this one, as I feel less appreciate seeing a masterpeice worth my $5 extra only being $20 for such a long film.
One of the reasons for a low price, I assume, is that it is not dubbed. It is worth sitting through the subtitles, but I know there are many who would rather not even see a 5 hr movie, let alone have it be in another language.
Because it was released in two seperate parts however, you can easily walk away after the first disc to do something else for awhile, as the second part has a brief overview of what's happened.



Anyways....I won't go over the plot summary so much, that is simple to find on google. I'd like to show my appreciation for the film itself, and the actors. The team put alot of effort into this film, other than the huge budget apparently doing bigger than Titanic and the Dark Knight.
On set, there were rain storms and floods ruining the shooting locations and set ups. There was also a rock fall from part of the set, where a man was dug out of the pile and brought to a hospital...however, it did not stop them at all. After they had come so far during a summer where it reached 104 F with huge water jugs being passed around, and all the stress the director was going through, I'd say it went well in the end.



Zhuge Liang character poster for movie.

The main actors also did a great job. I have added some of these character figures to my list of historical people I admire. Among said people, Zhuge Liang is a pretty admirable character. I will not spoil his feats, as I believe in watching things unfold without expectations. However, I think he is amazing, the acting done for him was believable, and he was also a funny character despite his generally calm attitude, along with the other main character, Zhou Yu. I am merely mentioning who stuck out to me the most, and they are not the only ones. If I wanted to go on about everything about this film I enjoyed, this would be a long blog...

I'll be honest, I cannot remember how to write any of these names, I am still new to memorizing cantonese spelling and such, so it does not stick to my memory well...but I hope to remember these two.



Zhou Yu raising his dish during celebration. Zhou Yu was also a very good character.


By the way, being odd as I am, I cannot help looking for a pairing of two favourite characters. I noticed Liang was fond of the princess, whom they did have a short scene of them talking of somewhat personal matters, but it never went farther, to my disappointment. They had potential. On a side note however, it was something else to watch this character help birth a baby foal. He is also a man skilled in weaponry design and music, but often hides it till he sees need of it. His main skill however is strategist, and he pulls the army through.



Zhou Yu was a good general, couragous, and becoming close friends with Liang, despite what might bring them to battle in the future, for now, they are allies. Zhou Yu also is wed to the 'most beautiful woman', whom the villain of the movie is also after. I think they are a great married couple, and it was their horse whom Liang had birthed, only another way to secure a friendship between the two men as great allies, and acceptance of Zhou Yu's wife for such ally. They also shared a taste for music, in which the wife and Liang could tell what was on his mind, esspecially at times of trouble where he kept calm infront of others.



Yes, I do realize his wife has a name, but again, I am just keeping this basic, not trying to involve everything you would read on Wikipedia....although, I guess I could look the names up again.




Anyways....some of the cinematics were awsome, and not only were some of the battle tactics clever and neat to watch, the full 5 hrs was enough time to bring you attached to the characters.
The soundtrack too is worth mentioning, as a song played by a boy on his flute becomes the main theme throughout the film, if I do recall correct.
Also, if you are one for symbolic scenes, make sure you do watch the extended edition. There are some good scenes used when trying to make another character understand something, they went out of their way to use a tiger hunt to make a young leader realize what threat the villain had on his land, as said villain resembled that of a tiger is some respects to them. The young leader overcame his fear of the tiger and came back with confidence in an alliance to take down the villain.



the princess was also a very notable character. Se is strong-willed, and has trained for battle herself, also her many maids and female guards are all armed, if any male were foolish enough to go near her chambers or assassinate her. She is also skilled if chi points in horses as well as men, so really, it doesnt matter if your on horseback, men fear her. It really is quite hilarious, I enjoy watching these heroines making something of the men who underestimate them. This is one good reason for Liang to like her, but it did not go anywhere, unfortunately, although he did show a respect for her that most of the men did not.



I do suggest you watch the film to find more out, I am sharing my views of what I remember most, but really, it doesnt make up for you not seeing it. If you really cannot sit through the entire story, at least try the regular US release, which is the cover art that is more common, although I do like the cover for the regular edition most, the red shades look quite nice.
However, if you can sit through it, an extra $5 is worth 2 1/2 hrs extra.



The villain,Prime Minister Cao Cao. He thinks he can rule all of China, basically.

If you did not know, this is based on a real historical account back in the time before the Three Kingdoms. The characters I mentioned are indeed based off their real counterparts, which makes me want to start getting into Chinese history.





Anyways, I have to go now. I'm sure there is more I want to review, or rant about :p. Later...