The Random Comic Strip

The Random Comic Strip

Words to live by...

"How beautiful it is to do nothing, and to rest afterward."

[Spanish Proverb]

Ius luxuriae publice datum est

(The right to looseness has been officially given)

"Everyone carries a part of society on his shoulders," wrote Ludwig von Mises, "no one is relieved of his share of responsibility by others. And no one can find a safe way for himself if society is sweeping towards destruction. Therefore everyone, in his own interest, must thrust himself vigorously into the intellectual battle."

Apparently, the crossword puzzle that disappeared from the blog, came back.


Monday, January 4, 2010

The Ballet of Life

I was perusing some of the sites over there, on the right, and popped in on [daily dose of imagery] which a pretty amazing blog. Normally, it is a single photo. On occasion, there may be two or more. Today's had a video along with a still shot. The video was a collection of still shots to create a time lapse video. Watching that video lead me to other videos the blog author, Sam Javanrouh, had made. And I glanced through some of these. The one I have embedded here reminded me of a movie I once saw, called Koyaanisqatsi, which I enjoyed but seemed to put my date to sleep.

Koyaanisqatsi is a Hopi word meaning, roughly, "life out of balance." But I saw it (the movie and life) more as an intricate ballet. All of these seemingly crazy movements are all choreographed so that they fit together. You want "out of balance?" Imagine the power grid shutting down about halfway through the video. There is a rhythm to life, even the mechanical life we create around us. The delicate meshing of gears that must be precise, the ebb and flow of traffic through a busy intersection, the delicate balance between slow and fast movements of the participants. Order out of seeming chaos.

Scramble from Sam Javanrouh on Vimeo.




There is a series starting tomorrow (1/5/10) on the History Channel called Life After People. It's an interesting look at what will happen after people are gone from the face of the Earth. While watching the previous (this is a new series based on an older one) incarnation of the series, I couldn't help thinking "But if no one is there, what difference does this make?" You see, the tales are told as if you are observing it happen but there would be no human observing. But I digress... the point is that we are an intricate part of life on this planet. And it is a delicate, graceful, and beautiful ballet.

5 comments:

Fragrant Liar said...

Ballet? I'm thinking more like rock opera. Over the top, but you can't stop singing the words at the top of your lungs.

Phil said...

Were we humans to disappear from earth, things, after perhaps fifty years, would go back to how they were before we arrived.

We are, arguably, the only species which ultimately won't affect the balance of nature if we disappear.

All the more reason to think that we are alien to earth, or at least hybrids.

A visitor to this planet who observed us and the animals would surmise that we aren't native to earth.

Douglas said...

Fragrant, I was speaking of the physical, not the mental. :-)

Phil,you may be right. Still, there are some pretty bizarre creatures that are native to this world. And how would a space alien (as opposed to those other kind) have a concept about what is native and what isn't?

Douglas said...

Fragrant, I was speaking of the physical, not the mental. :-)

Phil,you may be right. Still, there are some pretty bizarre creatures that are native to this world. And how would a space alien (as opposed to those other kind) have a concept about what is native and what isn't?

Phil said...

Were we humans to disappear from earth, things, after perhaps fifty years, would go back to how they were before we arrived.

We are, arguably, the only species which ultimately won't affect the balance of nature if we disappear.

All the more reason to think that we are alien to earth, or at least hybrids.

A visitor to this planet who observed us and the animals would surmise that we aren't native to earth.