Sailors, Playboys, and Intellectuals

In the Etro main collection for menswear Spring Summer 2012, "sailors, playboys and intellectuals all meet up amidst the colours and fragrances of Provence". Sounds like quite a gathering indeed. Tony Stark the "genius billionaire playboy philanthropist" would surely approve.

The assembly of sailors, playboys and intellectuals is itself decked out in a brilliant (in both senses of the word) combination of clothing. Nothing less than what we'd expect from Kean Etro, a maestro of colour and pattern (John Galliano and Paul Smith lay good claims to that title as well), whose runways showcase the wildest mix of hues, checks and paisleys that somehow avoids becoming kitschy. Bringing these groups together may simply be an exercise of artistic license, an excuse to bring together even more patterns and styles of clothing for creative purposes. Yet there may be something more lying beneath the aesthetics. Marcel Proust encouraged us to reach a suitable level of receptivity, with which we can learn as much from a soap advertisement as from a pensée by Pascal. Let us now attempt to do so from a fashion collection.

Crouching T-Rex, Hidden Raptor

I'd always thought that if I had an intelligent, erudite roommate, we'd either get nothing done, or everything. But the frequency of my bedtime thoughts suggests that we would just keep each other awake with our epiphanies until we both died from lack of sleep.

I've had trouble sleeping pretty much all my life. But what was it that used to occupy my thoughts? There seems to be a K-T boundary, maybe even a Mohorovičić discontinuity, between my present and past selves, somewhere around 3 years ago (ironically these geological terms come from before that boundary, sometime in primary school when I used to love dinosaurs (and yes, that is K for Kretaceous)). I no longer know him. But is he buried and fossilised inside my mind, or was I within his, waiting to be exposed by the erosive processes of time?

The World as Pizza and Representation

I had pizza for dinner tonight. Apparently pizza is couple food - I felt almost gluttonous as I ate a whole pizza alone, while everyone else was sharing one pizza between two. Except for these two men of average build sharing three pizzas between them. Perhaps the link between pizzas and love is alluded to in the names they are given by fast food chains - names such as Meat Lover's, Hawaiian Lover's and so on. This nicely sets up a trinity between the two lovers and the pizza they love in addition to each other.

How to Philosophise with a Tottenhammer, Part One

Some time back, I failed to win a debate despite having superior intellect and knowledge of the subject matter. It happened one night as I was watching an Arsenal match alone in the lounge. An Indian guy in a Spurs jersey joined me after a bit, asking me how the game had been so far. I said I'd just got here myself, but that the passing didn't seem too fluid. This led to a long discussion of football in general. Somewhere along the way, I made a passing comment about how Arsenal had been undercompensated for the sale of Fàbregas, arguably the world's third best midfielder. Which sparked the debate, whether he was indeed the third best in the world.

LoL 2011

Due to a technical mishap regarding My Documents late in 2011, some categories will be skipped owing to my inability (or laziness) to reconstruct them. Nonetheless, the categories that remain succinctly sum up my year. Entries will be in ascending order of rating.

The Meta-Post

It's been a while since my last post, during which much has happened, as is often the case when I'm not meditating on top of a mountain, seeking divine afflatus for my next post. Of course, all these happenings themselves serve as plentiful inspiration for contemplation and composition. What's been missing is the time to actually contemplate and compose. Now that it's the holidays, will that time finally be available? Possibly. These holidays mark a new phase for me, where I will focus on learning and thinking. Nonetheless, a new series of posts is in conception; has long been so in fact, but I finally feel ready to tackle them (a few months from now).

This new series will build quasi-hierarchically, and topics covered will include alphabets, words, names, languages, stories, and mind. The observant reader has already realised that this list strongly resembles the content in Reflexive Reflections. Indeed, the ideas expounded there will be present, implicitly or explicitly, in this series. Perhaps some of them will be elaborated. Perhaps others will be refuted. There is still a process of exploration due to take place. But a coherent school of thought and space of ideas will be mapped out.

The Iota Point Manifesto

We live within a tranquil cataclysm. Humpty Dumpty has fallen off the wall. All the king's men won't be able to put this one together for sure; it is the world that has exploded into a maelstrom of motion. The shards rain upon other shards, hurtle past each other, smash into each other – even the shard that carries you. Thus are we are assailed on all sides by Values, even by the Value of No-values. Whatever your cause, you will find a prophet. The cacophony of exhortations drowns this violent space, screams Doppler-shifted beyond recognition. What will be our final fate?