October 2008 - Compassionate Cynic

The Compassionate Cynic

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Rise of the Machines - Skynet Here We Come

No More Work Thanks! (or... Society Post-Scarcity)

My Therapist is a Spy

On the Elusiveness of Magick

Statement on Expression

On Ethics

Charlie Wilson's Wanger (and it's HUGE impact on humanity)

On Creation and Oblivion

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The Compassionate Cynic - October 2008

Dessert of the Real

October 18th 2008 11:18

"Welcome to the desert of the real..."

- Morpheus

I love this phrase.

Thank you Jean, thank you Slav, you guys rock.

Now I can appreciate all those tasty chunks of simulacra all the better.

Currently finishing off his humble pie,

- The Compassionate Cynic

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Is yours?

Could it be you've been divulging all your darkest secrets, vainly searching for that much exalted temporary catharsis, while all your personal information is at the heedless mercy of entities unknown?

Beware of those impervious counselors! Don't trust them with your perverted sexual exploits, or your business woes.

You could be just another part of the insidious web of public intelligence gathering which serves only to further the obscure purpose of the terrifying people who are everywhere.

You have been warned.

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I hate YOU Jim Schembri! (WARNING: hate post)

October 16th 2008 06:20

It is not often that The Compassionate Cynic submits himself to fits of rage, but due to the respect he has for all things living sometimes it is beneficial to himself and all around him to discharge his information conduits, cleansing himself so as to be able to continue to function normally. No advance apologies will be given for the following.

Hey Jim Schembri, you offend my sensibilities.

Who in the world gave you the right to sit in judgment of, or even have a partial say in anything? Why hasn't anyone with half a brain and all the power have you tied up, bound and gagged, tarred and feathered and brutally impaled?

How is it that your awful shit gets published week in, week out while so many hopeful, modern classics or sub-cultures humbly seeking wider recognition suffer miserably at the loathsome hands of your slithering, venomous pen and eventually die a harrowing death?

Your vulgar prose and cultural tunnel vision turn every letter in your stagnant articles into an inky, repugnant hemlock, which seeps into the pupils and pollutes the minds of any wide-eyed aspiring journos and media types - soon to be studio grunts and desk jockeys, who unfortunately, being in the wrong place at the wrong time, have the bad luck of being callously assaulted by your depravity.

All your opaque reviews are witlessly engineered of ignorant yet obstrusive opinionated baloney balls stuffed with horse shit. Still, credit where it's due, and that could only be for your astounding consistency (literally of the viscous kind).

In fact, your very media presence is so foul it's hard to believe a person can turn to a page with your name on it, and not be unceremoniously propelled backwards by the degenerate squall of stench blasting out from underneath the 'reviews' headline.

Anybody insane enough to be too curious for their own good and approaches it willingly will be sucked into the horrid world of lower-middle class pretentiousness and cruel ignorance, followed by heinous disgorgement into mainstream society as a grimly deformed philosophical zombie.

Speaking of which, What purpose do you serve? Who the fuck do you appeal to anyway? Volvo drivers? How many of them are there left? And what idiot appreciates your sense of humour these days? You certainly don't strike any major chords (sic. [Wow, that's almost as bad as your jokes!]) with Trevor Sixpack, and anybody who has endured even the most basic of cinema studies courses has better taste than you so who are you trying to impress? Even Alan Partridge (were he not fictitious) would be rolling in his shallow grave, and so would Jesus (were he not resurrected). Please leave the world alone and let good culture develop uninhibited.

Nevertheless, even if you do eventually comply, we've had enough. My semi-transparent yet incandescent buddies are looking to fuck you up good you evil turd emitter! Our plan is to surreptitiously throw popcorn at you when you're at the movies, then, while you're smugly engrossed in writing your vile, sullied notes for your toxic, puerile reviews we'll sneak up on you from behind and set your fucking hair on fire.

Watch out you shitbowl, everywhere you'll be we'll be right behind you... waiting, with candles.

So fuck you, Jim Schembri, fuck you till your eyes bleed when we finally take our revenge for the literary trauma you've induced and force you to read over and over in a jackknife position what once respected newspapers now deem to be acceptable print. This will continue until you realise that the steady decline of global discernment rests squarely and entirely on your shoulders, like all the people with our predilection ready to jump up and down on them repeatedly. Only then might you get a taste of your own bad medicine.

Forever optimistic and sincerely yours,

- CC

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TV Show: The Hollowmen

October 15th 2008 12:35

The Hollowmen: Australian Television Series

It is often necessary for The Compassionate Cynic to Seek Out and Highlight noteworthy products of the melange of cultures which inhabit this planet.

With this in mind, he deigns to present to you an outright plug of a recent TV show, recently having stopped airing (hopefully temporarily) after 2 seasons on ABC1 between July and October and which you can probably now purchase on DVD.

Little known outside the standard Clandestine Clique of Middle-Class Elites clearly due to its late hour, it achieved high ratings consistently throughout its run, the pilot episode ranking 1st in its time slot.

Rob Sitch, (of Frontline fame), has done a fantastic job of directing, co-writing and co-creating this mockumentary series about the daily work lives of the Prime Minister's fictional Central Policy Unit, a "committee", sorry - "gathering" of political advisers. Think Larry David producing a series of Yes Minister. Knowing puns abound and there's a good dose of cerebral language humour. The episodes play out in true Aussie style, the combination of wit and subtle satire evoking more snide chortles than outright laughter. However that's not to say there aren't any moments that elicit the latter.

Sitch is guilty of a little "big acting" here, but his character often has the best jokes, perfectly offset by the staunch yet necessarily complacent persona of David "Murph" Murphy (Lachy Hulme). Wonderfully played all round by the incredible cast (watch out for Graeme Blundell as Geoff, the coarse but thankfully resolute Party Director), not to mention the various superb women (notably the stunning Jaquie Brennan and the beautiful Nicola Parry) who all suit their parts perfectly (and of course, aren't female Australian actors the best in the industry? Seems Hollywood agrees!).

Other great characters include Phillip (David James), the Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (a title derived from reality that's hilarious in itself) and Warren, his lackey-like Departmental Secretary.

It's fun to see the whole cast engage with each other in the sometimes playful, often bizarre surroundings of Parliament House, watching them have casual conversations about the interpretation of La Boheme whilst bravely and consistently weaseling their way out of making policy. The episode "A Waste of Energy" on Global Warming is a standout. Generally, the show succeeds at poking fun at politics as well as the current cultural climate; as all good satire should.

On a more academic note, The Compassionate Cynic has observed that most episodes in the first season usually ended with the crew either not achieving anything, tense matters being resolved by some unexpected 'deus ex machina' (involving either the press or public response), or matters resolving themselves ironically due to the crew's own incompetence.

However in the second season it seems the characters do frequently actually manage to accomplish something (although it's often satisfyingly destructive), and the focus seems to have shifted more toward character quirks complemented by the usual not-so-subtle commentary on our sacred political system.

At the end of the day, the show's heart thumps vivaciously with the truth of the matter: all the characters (and, obviously by definition their respective real-life counterparts) are civil and polite people with good intentions who are great at what they do; it's just that they're all... well, mislead.

Whether you're a politics student, a disgruntled laborer, a media professional or work in Parliament, you'll definitely enjoy all the brilliant and often incisive aspects of this show.

Watch it immediately, if not sooner.

CC.

Image from ident.org, used without permission, sorry. Please get in touch if this is an issue. Good image though.

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On the Elusiveness of Magick

October 9th 2008 17:11

Excerpt from The Book of Sublime Ritual (Chapter 5, Verse 18).

"Just as a neophyte seeks to possess a deity, a teacher demands restitution for his knowledge and a gambler tempts fate, so one who performs the sacred arts benighted forgoes his right to the desired outcome.

For it is whilst reveling in the act of trickery that the trickster himself becomes a fool, beguiled by his own creation."

104

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