Repeating it doesn't make it any more true. But we can escape, to another life, almost, but not quite parallel to the way things are. Perfection spoils the point. You still are trying to move around using words, a shout, a proclamation. It works, I can't deny that, but in decieving the others, you're decieving yourself too, and someday, when you remove the scarf from your head, you'll see what you're doing to yourself, what you've done. You scream at your cage, when a single laugh would make it fade to dust. Anger? What's that? The cool mist in the zoo can soothe your pain, make the tears in your eyes flow away quicker, carrying the deadly airs away from another human body.

So, at Outland, I noticed, apart from my observation on groups of attractiveness, that people tend to fit into subsocieties there at least moderately well. A few... Whoovians - Dress up like Tom Baker as Dr Who (surprising number of them) GothPunks - Skinny, tend towards shiny clothes, look fairly gender-neutral Goths - Pale, with make-up and often dyed hair Renfesties - As the name suggests, dress like they came from a Renaissance Festival DarkGeek - A particular subgenre of geek, typically dressed in simple, dark clothes, never any makeup. Many play pool BondageTypes - There are always a few... the professionals tend to dress more-or-less like everyone else, the groupies and hobbyists tend to dress the part more DarkBikers - Not too many of these, generally tend to be intelligent, tatooed bikers Punks - Surprisingly rare. I think Outland is probably more goth than punk at this point. Tend to be very pierced, wearing the collars and all that stuff.

I naturally fall into the DarkGeek crowd. Oh, yeah, about the private section in the last BLOG entry -- someone was being slandered by scientologists, and I was commenting on that. They didn't want even the repetition to remain up, so I took it down at their request. I've been saying it again and again, but let me repeat it again -- the scientologists are one of the few groups I find more scary than the vast majority of Xian fundies, and only a bit less scary than Islamists (Islamist = name for a particular fundie movement within Islam). Let me point you at lisaclause.org for some interesting reading.

Here's a mail in the user comments section of TIME magazine I'd like to comment on.

RE YOUR ITEM ON THE EFFORTS OF SOME countries to protect the trade names of regional foods: The issue is not protectionism but food quality and the years of experience that produce masterpieces like Parma ham and Parmesan cheese. I cannot expect to find an appreciation of food culture in a country whose biggest contribution to cuisine is the Big Mac, but Americans should understand why our food is so region-specific. Parmesan cheese owes its unique taste to conditions only found around Parma, Italy, and to the grass that is eaten by local cows. Americans will never be able to make real Parmesan cheese -- Paolo Pasquale Genoa, Italy

To comment, let me paraphrase a conversation I had a few months ago with someone on a parallel topic of fine teas. He pointed out that the precise flavouring in tea is very specific to conditions in different areas, and pointed out some very delicate characteristics of the tea I was drinking (which had a very very faint orange taste). I agree that there's a lot of subtlety possible in tea, but nontheless, all these things are a result of subtle tracable effects, and with enough effort, could be duplicated elsewhere, perhaps in a lab. Further, with better understanding, an entire science of engineering the subtle flavours in tea, cheese, and the like could come about. He seemed disturbed, saying that people like thinking of their tea experience as a cultured, traditional drink, perfected over ages. I responded that regardless, if people can't tell the difference with their tongue, it's just more imagery they're buying, and it's not something I care about in my foods. People who want to get their cheese made by a virgin on the 2nd saturday of every month in a 500-square foot area in barcelona, well, the more power to them. I'm just in it for the taste :) And in the case of the letter above, I think we can detect some national pride involved. It's probably true that the Americans (along with the Brits and Scots) haven't contributed a lot of good stuff to world cuisine (although actually, both have done a lot for cheese and tea, and lemon curd is good stuff too), but perhaps the Americans (and others) can learn a lesson from their protege (J), and learn to duplicate really well.

Oh, yeah, I know about the Israeli airstrike on Syria. I don't have an opinion either way on it.

The French Governmentis trying to undo what the previous coalition did -- set up a 35-hour work week (instead of 40), because they think it hurts the country economically. I think this is a bad idea, and I suggest, if you're interested in the topic, read Bertrand Russell's In Praise of Idleness, where he talks about the history of labour. In sum, OF COURSE IT HURTS THE ECONOMY, STUPID, but it's worth it. It would be wonderful if the same thing were to happen in the United States.