Save the internet, on the internet.

I highly recommend that anyone who cares at all about keeping the internet neutral and free go to Save the Internet and read more about the commendable Americans who are attempting to have a Net Neutrality bill passed in the U.S. Congress.

It's interesting that people generally consider the internet to be the pillar of neutral, free and boundless technology when, in actuality, this belief could not be further from the actuality of the situation.

This is not a vague, insignificant issue, contrary to corporate proclamations and lack of media coverage. My very own service provider, for example, (Rogers Communications Inc.) looks to be "moving toward a utility-type model where the user pays based on the amount of broadband capacity consumed", making them the first in North America to do so, and bringing us yet another step closer to the Orwellian Big Brother model of Oceania.

Photo credit: www.lucasartoni.com

This worries me.

Any fellow LOST fans out there? If so, I would just like to put it out there that this guy lives in my building. No, not Michael Emerson, but rather a man who looks identical to Benjamin Linus - he shares his demeanour, dress sense, voice and most importantly, the really creepy eyes.

I hope the smoke monster is not unleashed upon me when I get home tonight for this...

French Hippie Grunge?

This blog is my own tiny piece of space on the internet which literally no one reads, and as such I am to do what I please with it. My first posting made it clear that there would be no conclusive theme or purpose to this blog. It is not a philosophy blog, not a fashion blog, not a science blog and yet, at the same time, it is all of these things at once. This post, however, is strictly concerned with fashion (mainly the pictures I have saved to my computer whilst bored at work the past two weeks). So, without further adieu, I present:

"French Hippie Grunge?: S's version of S/S 08-09"

Some key looks/pieces I've taken note of.

• long hair: my hair needs to grow faster!! Unfortunately a couple of seasons ago the Twiggy/Agyness look was in and I followed suit, so it's kind of difficult to get the just-rolled-out-of-bed-Parisian-chic-mane that Lou Doillon and Theodora Richards are sporting. That doesn't mean I won't make do with what I have and try though...
• colour: for something put together by me, this collage is surprisingly lacking in black-grey-white and general monochrome. While I don't have much respect for actual hippies, the gorgeous maxi dresses and enjoyable colours are right up my alley at the moment.
• smoking: it might as well be fashionable considering I don't plan on stopping any time soon?
• The 1990's: a resurgence of grunge, anyone? It feels like the 80's have been 'in' for longer than the 80's actually existed; could there be an end in sight? Not that I ever wore any of the shoulder-padded, blinding-neon nonsense, but it would be nice to actually be able to purchase something when I walk into Forever 21.

Pictures taken from style.com, wmagazine.com, fashiontoast.com and nytimes.com (apologies if I missed a credit on any of them. Here's the disclaimer saying that, regardless of whether or not I correctly credited everything, I definitely know that none of the images belong to me and that I am making no profit from them!!

Epiphanies.

Issue 1, Volume 1: People/The World Scare Me (Branded)

While I will admit that I enjoy some of the materialistic luxuries of life (good coffee, high fashion, upscale dining establishments, etc.), I've recently come to realize how pervasive these things become if you don't make a point of keeping yourself in check around them.

Case in point: although there is currently a Starbucks literally two-and-a-half minutes from my place of work, another location opened last week that is a mere one-minute-and-forty-five seconds away. This new location had a grand opening ceremony, and I couldn't help but feel profoundly uncomfortable when witnessing the entire macabre spectacle. Employees of the conglomerate pranced about like cheerleaders, bribed the people in line to sing songs expressing their love for the coffee chain with $5 gift cards, handed out endless samples of calorically-laden sweets to a clamouring and voracious crowd. All the while, the aforementioned crowd stood there like a pack of lemmings - while the Starbucks baristas handed out free pre-packaged sweets and machinated 'luxury' drinks, each and every person in the 30 minute waiting time line handed over a bit of their dignity.

Is free branded shit this important? (n.b. as is apparent from the majority of the postings on this blog, I don't curse often, but in this case I believe the word "shit" to be particularly apt because really, that's what it is when it comes down to it?) There are, at minimum, four other [empty] coffee shops within a one-block radius of this Starbucks-infested area, but are we all so enamoured of the little green logo on the white cup that we forget what shit we're even lining up for in the first place?All of this being said, I have nothing particularly intelligent to add to the consumerist debate. I myself am somewhat torn regarding the mass consumerism with which I'm faced on a daily basis. I know that I buy endlessly, and will readily admit to willingly shelling out for a Grande Bold every morning - mind you when I find an independent coffee shop that is conveniently located and can make an equally strong cup of coffee, I will be immediately switching my m.o.

But I digress...the issue I'm concerning myself with here is not the fact that we buy endlessly, line-up disgracefully and desire incessantly, but rather that very few of us ever take a step back from this and examine our own pitiful state of existence. Regardless of what certain philosophies and schools of thought may tell us, there is a definite line to be drawn between those who analyse and evaluate their actions and those who do not. Personally, I don't even want to co-exist with the former, but I obviously have no choice and so for the time being must settle with knowing that some of the latter are out there. And really, we should also consider if what we're buying into is worth buying into in the first place? The democratization of luxury is so au courrant, so sadly an affliction of the 21st century, so misleading in that luxury, once democratized, becomes nothing of the sort.

This is for those of us who left Starbucks that day and thought for a moment about our actions. Just for fun, go here to have the Starbucks Oracle help you on your path to self-discovery.