Since when is '-ING' pronounced '-EEN?'

It's 'noth-ING' not 'nuth-EEN;'

'click-ING' not 'click-EEN;'

'flick-ING' not 'flick-EEN.'

Speak properly or don't speak at all.

The right choice for Dhaka. Custom wheels, a Mopar exhaust and intake, Bilstein shocks and OME suspension, this Xplore Jeep Wrangler'll take you from Tongi to Tangail in ishtyle.

Monaco conjures up images of high-stakes casinos, rich men with young beauties on their arms, the F1 Grand Prix street race - and yachts galore. Now one mega-yacht takes all that is Monaco to the seas.

Reading Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein in the 21^st century and for the first time, I am amazed by the self-awareness rendered by her characters. It’s not only the knowledge of self that is impressive, but its intuitiveness and spontaneity in Victor Frankenstein’s narrative. The author’s descriptive ability speaks to a spectacular capacity in empathising with her characters. It must also be a reflection of a characteristic attribute in applying to her self a tremendous formula for self-analysis. Obviously, it is an impressive mind that writes.

I wonder whether it was the period in which Shelley wrote that gifted her this active self-consciousness, or whether it can be attributed to her own, independent aptitudes.

This feature of the novel so struck me due to its latent absence in our modern world. Perhaps the style rang even louder when juxtaposed to my preceding intercourse with literature – Bret Easton Ellis’ minimalistic Less Than Zero, whose content and style so properly illustrate this lacking. Ellis is a master of characters devoid of connection to themselves or to their world, and he has seen his works reach cult status because of it. His masterpiece, American Psycho, was made into a hit feature film in 2000. In fact, this lack of awareness, or, rather, disconnection with self, whose reverse is taken as granted in Shelley’s writing, has become a popular contemporary style.

These grim themes surely resonate strongly with readers. Proof is unfettered by examples. Chuck Palahniuk, author of Fight Club and Choke, saw his popularity surge with the release of Fight Club as a feature film starring Brad Pitt. The uptake of his themes – of fragmented identity and the urge to rage against a purported trap of modernity – by the masses speaks to feelings of discontent toward society among its members.

Shelley’s Victor Frankenstein, however, is the opposite of transgressive fiction’s modern misanthropes. He fervently sympathises with himself, wailing against the destruction his creation causes and tangibly pains for redemption.

Frankenstein comes from the opposite of the broken homes of Ellis’ and Palahniuk‘s characters. Raised by a good family under an exceptionally loving roof and experiencing a self-described ‘near perfect childhood,’ Frankenstein values life, the family unit and the virtues of community and society. He bemoans the destruction inadvertently caused by his hands, completely contrary to the complacent voyeurism of Clay, the homicidal rampages of Patrick Bateman and the planned chaos of Tyler Durden.

It is human desolation that is described in all these novels, yet noting the differences in ethical reactions by the character from the 19^th century versus those of the 20^th century is itself enough to desolate.

Even Frankenstein’s monstrous creation exalts the virtues of a pious disposition. The monster – not even human – recognizes the honour of virtue and morality. His initial guilelessness and his acquired iniquity uncover to the reader the nature of humanity. Apart from his freakish proportions, the monster is essentially human. But after being treated as an ugly creature and persecuted by the prejudice of man, only then does he truly become a monster, his proportions enabling his distraught mind’s desire for destruction.

In Frankenstein, we see what we could become without the acceptance of a community or some sort of belonging. The creature seeks the sympathy and companionship of another. The absence of this connection is what defines him as a monster; his epic proportions and strength are simply tools that enable his superhuman capacity for devastation. Shelley has essentially described the characters of transgressive fiction, though in her society the monster would be a creature; in ours, the monster is believably human.

Reading these opposing works from different eras speaks volumes to a contemporary moral and spiritual crisis. We seem to have a disconnect with ourselves and, therefore, with others. Society is broken and so are its members. It is this unconscious and ruling discomfort that modern writers such as Ellis, Palahniuk and even, Salinger in The Catcher in the Rye touch upon in their works. The promulgation of such contemporary deficiencies is a directive of every noble author and their perception the responsibility of every astute reader.

So vast are the moral differences between Shelley’s protagonist and these modern examples that one cannot help but question the nature of the societies that produced them. The mass appeal of transgressive fiction is but an indication of the problem.

In the film American Psycho, Patrick Bateman’s monologue at a dinner party hits the nail on the head (which, funnily enough, he literally contemplates doing later with a nail gun (pictured below)):

“…We have to end apartheid for one. And slow down the nuclear arms race, stop terrorism and world hunger. We have to provide food and shelter for the homeless, and oppose racial discrimination and promote civil rights, while also promoting equal rights for women. We have to encourage a return to traditional moral values. Most importantly, we have to promote general social concern and less materialism in young people.”

(download)

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Frankenstein_A_Human_Story.zip (162 KB)

Last night's championship race at Abu Dhabi was a killer. Really, I almost died.

First, Schumacher spins out for no reason and has that Force India driver smash into him.

Then Alonso falls behind, pits early and gets stuck behind traffic, letting Vettel go through the race in 1st.

It got a bit exciting when Hamilton probably realised he can't let Vettel win this thing or it'll take his 'youngest F1 champion' record away.

I really don't care that Ferrari lost. Ferrari sucks. But Alonso, you're a bitch. And I lost money betting on you. 

Get lost. Go back to Renault, you yellow lillied loser.

McLaren, you drove hard. Alonso, you're a bitch. Vettel. Congrats.

5 months until another season. A McLaren season. Make it so.

Found this on the net today; a small nugget of consolation in a tremendous post-season depression.

LOL @ Deanna.

Ok. This is personal. Apparently some armed Brazilian gang tried attacking Jenson Button’s car on the way to his hotel after qualifying yesterday at the Interlagos circuit. Those. Dumb. Bastards.

Here’s why the wannabe hijackers couldn’t’ve been anything other than a group of mentally challenged youths, taken advantage of by some sadistic bastard that thought giving ‘tards machine guns would be a laugh –

If you’re competent you know:

1.     You’re on foot; you don’t go against an F1 driver in an armoured car (especially not the reigning champ!).

2.     Ok, you’re on foot, but you have machine guns. Seriously? You can blow out a couple tyres at least.

3.     You don’t fuck with McLaren. If you’re going to fuck with McLaren, at least go for Lewis Hamilton; he’s actually got a shot at winning the championship…

4.     You already knew you couldn’t go after Hamilton (see #3). You’d try and take down Alonso or one of those Red Bull buggers.

5.     If you’re going against an F1 driver on foot, you have no aim (even with a machine gun), you ain’t going after the one guy in the top five that has no chance this year; you’re gunning for someone that’ll win you enough dough with your bookie to get your ass bail.

Get a job, haters.

And watch the race in four hours. You might learn something.

Captain Picard is awesome.

Not only is TNG the best Star Trek ever (yeah, I like Star Trek. It’s a childhood thing.), but Picard was the slickest captain.

Politicians and others interested in power have rigorously studied the words of powerful men, both historical and fictitious. Why? Because their sayings and thoughts may hold the secrets of power itself.

Take a look at Picard’s words. There is something supremely powerful about his tagline, ‘Make it so.’ It always makes me feel as though I could take something out of thin air and shape it into whatever I’d like.  The words are almost godlike. ‘He said. And it was.’

Picard’s catchphrase has inklings of magic. It employs the secrets of the universe for its own bidding, taking imagination and creating reality. This concept is, of course, most important for humanity and its identity. Nurtured, and, often, held secret because of its power, the notion is perennially revered by mystical traditions, religious institutions, secret societies and even scientific communities.

It is the strength of our imaginative powers that make us such a profound race. The imaginative intellect is the basis of both our spiritual and intellectual capacities. It is the application of this capacity that has allowed us to evolve (think primitive man conceiving the first tools) and its enkindling that will enable our future evolution.

The creative minds behind Star Trek show us a potential tangent of human evolution. Through the series, we are shown an idealistic universe in which humanity has surpassed its pettiness and greed. Contemporary capitalism is abrogated in favour of an egalitarian- and justice-driven socialist doctrine. Creativity, knowledge and science culminate in a society that embraces interdependence of not just the human race, but of all races. (Think Manifesto-style Marxism, but with aliens and warp speed.) In the future, we have tamed our lower selves and embraced our higher beings.

Mankind has even joined an interplanetary, United Nations-type of organisation, called The United Federation of Planets. The Federation (for short) aims to work in harmony to advance a universal civilisation, sharing and harnessing knowledge and resources in the name of peaceful progress. According to the ‘Charter of the United Federation of Planets,’ the directive is the promulgation of a better life for all sentient beings:

'We the life forms of the United Federation of Planets determined to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war and to reaffirm faith in the fundamental rights of sentient beings, in the dignity and worth of all life forms, in the equal rights of members of planetary systems large and small… and to promote social progress and better standards of living on all worlds...' (Source: http://memory-alpha.org/wiki/Federation_Charter) 

Definitely the result of rummagings of an idealist, we’re shown a self-actualised society that mirrors, or at least strives to mirror, the highest forms of Maslow’s hierarchy: morality, creativity, problem solving, lack of prejudice and the acceptance of facts. Gene Rodenberry (Star Trek’s creator, in case you haven’t Googled it yet)’s humankind is an enlightened and evolved humanity that reaches into the fabric of the universe to understand its workings and the nature of reality itself, while simultaneously practically applying this knowledge for the good of all.

It is in TNG’s Picard that we find an exemplary personification of this enlightened evolution. Everything about him seems to exude the best of natural selection. His posture was always perfect and supremely upright, like a yet further evolved humanoid. Even his bald head implies that he has shed any commonality with our hairy, crude primate ancestors. And where the showings of his physical characteristics taper, his intellectual ones swell, starting most notably with his tagline.

Star Trek tries to show to us the best of ourselves. The show itself is an impressive example of materialised imagination. Hopefully we will live up or, better yet, surpass the fictional standards it sets. Make it so.

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Make_it_so.zip (204 KB)

We all try to make the best of living in Dhaka. All of us have a few little nooks and crannies in the city that make us warm ‘n fuzzy when we feel we’re missing out on the rest of the world. One such nook is Fahim Music Store.

A bragging right when abroad, we tell people, ‘Oh, Wall Street 2? Yeah, I have that on DVD already. I got it for a dollar.’ And now, with the advent of WiMAX and worthwhile broadband Internet, we’re even downloading television shows and films at a decent speed, keeping us up to date with pop culture and its idioms.

These small simplicities keep us entertained and together in a city that, let’s face it, isn’t overflowing with leisure activities. Sure, we’ve got the expat clubs and the Aurum parties. We can hop over to Bangkok and party the night away; we can pop in and out of Nepal for a day of gambling or some nature; Malaysia and Singapore give us order in the face of chaos. But day-to-day, it’s the pirated DVDs and torrented media that keep us sane.

God knows we can’t rely on VH1, Star World and HBO South Asia to fill the void. There’s just no way. Seeing the same episode of White Collar every day for the entire week is almost enough to make one eat a bullet. And, worse, we’ve got the same old schedule of the not-as-fun, censored HBO South Asia (imagine watching Wild Things censored; ugh!) repeated and repeated and repeated. By the end of the month, you’ve watched half the movie 15 times, and you never want to see Brendan Fraser again lest you be enraged into a feral fit of violence of biblical proportions, directed at your new (highly taxed) flat panel TV. Solution? Downloads and dollar DVDs.

Everyone needs escapism – and in a city without a developed social or leisure scene, we need it the most. In Dhaka, we’ve made piracy a social pastime. Anything hip from overseas is cool, and whoever’s got it first is the coolest (until something newer and cooler comes around).

What else is there to do but gossip about TMZ and chat with friends about the new Entourage episode, or the winner of Project Runway or how Gossip Girl is ‘so Dhaka?’ And then there’s the added dimension of competition. Cultural exchange is fun. Who’s the first to be up to date on the shows; who got that wicked new Rhianna track featuring The BEP, Eminem, Guetta, Arctic Monkeys and Deadmau5 mixed over Pink Martini’s Sympathtique (don’t go looking for that track; it doesn’t exist).

But it’s not just about who knew about Modern Family first; who’s cool enough to watch Boardwalk Empire; how crazy Dexter has gotten; it’s about connecting with a shared culture we all left behind. We may have left the States or Canada or London, but we haven’t said good-bye. We’re Western educated 20- and 30-somethings, and we are cultural pirates.

We’re modern; we want the latest; we’re not willing to wait for it. We’ve been exposed to a certain level of access. What is a Gleek to do? It’s not that we hate artists, or don’t appreciate the laws and regulations. It’s simply that there are no other roads that lead us to the house of global entertainment.

Living in a developing country that adopts an anti-alcohol culture and has very few venues for social leisure (and even if it did, the monstrous traffic and non-existent transport infrastructure is a barrier to entry) just doesn’t leave many outlets for an energy that’s been created, but not lost – only suppressed. And, so, we download and buy pirated movies.

It may, however, be time to wave good-bye to the last vestiges of our real-time connection to global pop culture. The last remnants of hope may be about to expire. No longer will Bangladesh be a refuge for piracy, according to the following Daily Star article published in today’s business section:

http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=160255

Though the article’s focus is on protecting the local entertainment industry, the severity of the uproar caused by blocking downloads will be worse than if I ever see Brendan Fraser on TV again. Just as horny teens rebel against abstinence by listening to the very television shows that I love and fornicate to their libidos’ content, so will I rebel. Well, not so, but probably in other ways.

If reports didn’t come daily regarding strict and quick government actions on various subjects that are destined to be left unfulfilled, I’d actually be scared. Let me tell you right now, I am not wearing a pop purity ring – no matter what the Bangladesh chapter of SRT threatens will happen if I continue to let my download bar grow and grow until it’s time for seeding.