Talent put to good use?

Kseniya is possibly one of the greatest artists (with one of the strangest mediums) of our time. She reveals to us some of the most beautiful scenes from all around the world...all of them ending in warfare, protest, public outrage, or some sort of raucous destruction. It all ends with a 1945 painting of a man leaving his family to go off to war. Her art, constantly in motion, is nothing short of wondrous, but aesthetics aside, could she be conveying a greater message?

By using such scenes, she is revealing to us that we need to reform our values, stop, and think: is war necessary? Look at what it does! In each drawing, what happens to the characters? They are destroyed: killed by something unnatural--things that end our lives in an untimely manner. Gunshots, bomb droppings, and a cacophony of other tremulous sound effects are typically accompanied by the sloshing of sand onto the lit plexiglass, signifying the corruption of beauty by wars and hatred that need not exist. Simonova is simply encouraging that the world, starting with Ukraine (seeing as how she won "Ukraine's Got Talent" with this performance), should develop a more peaceful demeanor. Who needs war anyway? Who wins in a war? Isn't society and family destroyed on opposing fields of a war? Is war not just the intensification of humans' need for competition?

I was told to pick something Ironic....

Ironic - Alanis Morissette

The Origins of My Blog Title...

What Grinds My Gears (post numero uno)

What am I upset about today?

Let's talk Gay Rights and Hate Crimes for a bit: there are a few songs that correlate to at least one of these two topics. For instance, "Language of Violence" by the Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy and "Where is the Love?" by the Black Eyed Peas both reveal the level of hate and discrimination in this diverse nation (Yeah, that totally rhymed!).

It's difficult to discuss gay rights. Ever since, the Proposition 8 fiasco in California, the topic has dominated political discussion...in California. To me, this news is old and dry. There aren't any other cases in other states in which this topic is prevalent, but it is something that needs to be tackled. I don't believe that gender should determine who one is allowed to love. Some argue that it's unnatural - that it is immoral and goes against religion. Homosexuality goes back to the Ancient Romans and Greeks, though. Women were merely used for reproduction, back in the day, and men were considered to be the only true lovers. Weird stuff, right?

As far as hate crimes are concerned, today commemorates one of the biggest hate crimes in American History: the 9/11 hijackings. So many people's lives were ruined by this event. Could this be considered a hate crime? I believe so. Murder, by any standard is immoral. The "Religiously Inspired" mass murder of a nationality pushes beyond immoral. There was blind, unadulterated hatred behind these bombings. No American--white, black, Hispanic, Asian--was safe on that day. The Afghan and Iraqi communities hated us because of our nationality. I feel that those who lost their lives deserve proper commemoration.

To all those who lost their lives that day, we salute you.
To all those who lost someone they love, we pray for you.
To all those who have grown a familial sense of your country because of this event, thanks for finally getting with the picture.
And to all those still overseas, we want nothing more than for you to be home. Good luck and thank you all.