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Gabo

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Everything posted by Gabo

  1. Sin City is not incoherent violence. Most of the Sin City stories by Frank Miller feature intransigent charaters who do what they think it´s right no matter the consequences, so there´s a concept of morality even in the most nightmarish of environments (which is the city itself.) In the movie, you have this with the cop who protects Nancy no matter what, or Marv, who doesn´t quit until he gets revenge on Goldie´s killers. The exception in the movie is the whole "ninja prostitutes" storyline. That WAS definitely incoherent violence. Nevertheless, I understand it is not a very pleasant film to watch, since the environment and general tone is SO violent and depraved. But there are some good elements in it. I watched because I´m a graphic novel fan and I was interested inthe adaptation of Miller´s work. Aesthetically, it proved that you can adapt a comic panel-by-panel to the silver screen and still make it work. They did it again with 300 and again it worked--- this time much better because of the heroic nature of the story. Try to read other works by Frank Miller, he has read Ayn Rand´s works and generally his stories feature conflicts of values in which the (always intransigent) heroes do what they believe is right in spite of all obstacles. I highly recommend The Dark Knight Strikes Again (which suggests that superheroes can destroy all the evil in the world in mere minutes if they just do away with the altruistic morality) and the 300 graphic novel.
  2. But he didn´t really offer a solution, which is the main problem of the book. Otherwise, I think it´s a very good piece of fiction. I was very surprised to read here that Orwell was a socialist, having read his essay "Thoughts on Nationalism", in which he rejected collectivist ways of thinking, and criticised the English intelligentsia for refusing to see the horrors of the Russian Revolution. Apparently he did not realise that socialism was always going to fail because of its premises, not just because of the way it was implemented in Russia. In spite of this, I think his two main works, 1984 and Animal Farm, can be enjoyed as fiction and still hold a definitely anti-socialist message, even if Orwell wasn´t fully conscious of it.
  3. Thanks for your comments! Glad you enjoyed the song. There are more in the way, and I'll take your requests into consideration. For now, I leave you with a preview of a 27-minute long instrumental, "The Wheels of Poseidon", at www.myspace.com/gabo67
  4. Thanks for the info, very interesting. I'm glad that somebody produced Ideal, it's a great play. Wonder if we'll see a production of Think Twice someday?
  5. Yes, of course, although there would be less justification for this phenomenom with older people than with children. Anyway I think he just described a general tendency.
  6. I didn't even know that it had ever been filmed. Has anybody got information regarding this?
  7. Thanks again for your answers. As regards the "egocentrism" of children during the pre-operational stage, I don't think he's too far off, since by that term he seems to mean that young children find it very hard to even contemplate that somebody else may have a different point of view, or that somebody else may not be able to fulfill everything he wants at the moment he does. I have never heard of Montessori, I will try to find information about him.
  8. Thanks for your answer. Which of his conclusions do you think are mistaken? (as regards epistemology- I'm not particularly interested in his theory of morality)
  9. I have read about Piaget's work (not by himself, but by some other authors commenting on it), and so far it seems to me that many of his theories are consistent with Objectivist epistemology, such as: - the stages of cognitive development in the child - the belief that human beings make sense of the world by integrating what their senses perceive, and organizing their knowledge in a way that goes from the more concrete to the more abstract, and that all of this requires the work of an active mind I was wondering if this is right, and even if Piaget's stages of development could serve as empirical proof for Ayn Rand's theory of concept-formation
  10. You can watch a video for my new song, "Tables and whims", here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3H56j73RLA These are the lyrics of the song, told from the perspective of a subjectivist: Wishful ghosts have made me function, all the world is now at stake No more ghosts, no more distractions I'll take care of all the rest But there's a table in my way How I wish it went away But my wish is not enough In spite of everything they said to me All of this is my invention All is just the way I see Used to ponder your abstractions Till I found there is no "it" But there's a table in my way How I wish it went away But my wish is not enough In spite of everything they said to me If all of this is my creation, if all is just the way I see, if I am capable of wanting then why is there just nothing there indeed?
  11. One of my Myspace friends wrote some articles there: http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fusea...iendid=14441098
  12. I like the fact that the synth melody adds a kind of heroic quality to the otherwise sinister atmosphere created by the guitar and the piano.
  13. Gabo

    The Question

    I found this paper called "The Illustrated Rand: http://www.nyu.edu/projects/sciabarra/essa...stratedrand.pdf It talks about Ayn Rand and Nathaniel Branden's opinion of comics, and of the two authors most influenced by Rand: Steve Ditko and Frank Miller. Another graphic novel character that I think can appeal to Objectivists is Anarky, who originally appeared as a Batman "villain" in issues written by Alan Grant. Anarky is really a 16-year old boy (12 when he first appeared) who dedicates his whole life toward fighting the parasites which are dooming our civilization. His speechs are very Randian, check out these: "In harsh economic terms, there are only two kinds of people in the world... those who produce services, goods and values... and those who don´t. And before you say what about the old, the young and the sick... we look after them, right?... Intentional non-producers are parasites. To hide their parasitism, they employ the techniques of deception, coercion and naked force. Parasites can never create. They can only destroy. Today, for the first time in history, the parasites outnumber the producers who support them. They're entering a final feeding frenzy, which will result in the ultimate evil: a totalitarian state." (from Anarky limited series #3) "Aristotle believed that man is basically good, decent and noble. If left to his own devices, he'll seek individual happiness within an orderly society. For Aristotle, human life and sovereign conciousness were the universe's greatest values. But Plato believed man is a wild and savage beast, incapable of self-discipline. To manage him for his own best ends, man needs rulers: kings, governments, priests, presidents. For Plato, human life is worthless, to be endlessly sacrificed to "higher" causes and ideals. Which one do you think the world followed?" (from Anarky limited series #2) If anybody is interested, the best Anarky stories were collected in the Trade Paperback "Batman: Anarky"
  14. Gabo

    MY 3D Cities

    Your design for the River Plate docks is beautiful... I would really like to have something like that in my city
  15. Thanks for your comments. I live in Argentina too and the relationship between our government and Chavez has me very worried.
  16. I hope so... these people are notorious for sticking with their ideas even against the most striking evidence.
  17. In response to the proposed reforms of Hugo Chavez, dictator of Venezuela, I have posted a new song at Youtube, titled "The world ends today." You can listen to it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNYB4HTUv6c THE WORLD ENDS TODAY Coming, going, nothing left to say Everyone is leaving, the world ends today I pack my things in a broken-hearted box and I sink them, down below I look at the people who once wanted to grow The weatherman's retiring, preparing for the storm Their thoughts were for themselves, their thoughts were all wrong Or at least that's what they told us to think Look at the bridges, there is nothing left to shake Look at the questions, all the answers went away I look again at the people who once wanted to grow I used to hate them, but I would hate to see them go I think I may still need them--- that's indeed a strange thought But I'm thinking it, so can it be wrong? Look at the lovers, all the kisses went away Look at the leaders, they're telling us to lift up our heads and sing along: "Don't believe you can be happy in this life Don't believe there is something else that we may try Don't believe we are more than we are Don't you believe it, 'cos the world ends today The world ends today" "Don't believe you can be happy in this life Don't believe there is something else that you may have Don't believe THAT YOU ARE WHAT YOU ARE Don't you believe it, 'cos the world ends today The world ends today"
  18. Check out my thread on The Question, over at the fiction forum. It talks about another Objectivist hero by Ditko, which was the basis of Mr. A. As for music, it would be interesting to start developing objective criteria for evaluating it. It's a long-term goal that I have.
  19. Thanks for your reply! I agree with you completely. I think that it would be a shame to leave out artistic works that expose the right sense of life and the right values just because not entirely all of the elements in the work of fiction are realist. Point taken as regards 1984, as well. Have you read the original graphic novel for V for Vendetta? It's rather more complex than the movie, and a bit too pro-anarchist, but still a worthwhile read, specially if you enjoyed the movie so much. Another query: would it be possible, in the future, to include songs and music albums as well? If one looks hard enough, there are many songs and musical pieces that portray the right moral values and sense of life.
  20. What a wonderful website, really unique and useful. I've already registered. A minor question, which may be due to a misunderstanding on my part: how does V for Vendetta fall into the Romantic Realism category? I love both the film and the graphic novel, but still, they seem to be more science fiction, as they are set in a dystopian future, not in our current times. If it does fall into Romantic Realism, then other dystopian books such as 1984 could be included too.
  21. Were you able to listen to the record? I'd appreciate any form of feedback on it
  22. I've uploaded a slideshow video for the track "The Moral Meaning of Capitalism". Hope you enjoy it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMslwqwwLDg
  23. I found For the New Intellectual to be an excellent starting point.
  24. Finally, a love song per excellence:
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