29/08/2002 - Entry #28
Last night I tried, unsuccessfully, to watch Ring 0. I thought it'd be a good idea to watch it at 2am, alone. Now, I'm obviously very, very ashamed at my act of immense, pathetic weakness. It's a film, and it can't hurt me. I'm 21 years old, getting all scared at a bloody film! I am deeply, deeply ashamed of myself. But I couldn't help it. The way my room is set up, the desk is shoved up against one corner. I was watching the DVD, on my computer, so I was sitting with my back to the whole room. That freaked me out a lot more than it really should have. I kept steeling glances over my shoulder into the near-impenetrable darkness, to make sure I was 'safe'. Of course, as is the way of these things, every item of clothing hanging in the wardrobe became a silent figure, and every gust of wind made me glance towards the window. Right next to the desk is a big mirror, which only served to freak me out even more. I got as far as the scene involving Sadako's mother starring with glassy-eyed insanity into the mirror before I gave up and turned it off. It's highly embarrassing, but what can I say? It's a damn scary film. And I'm a wuss.
I think I'll have to add the Ring trilogy to the Gallery of Essentials, actually. Yay! More stuff to not write reviews of!
The other thing I was going to mention was Iconobloc (Flash 6 required). It's a mildly interesting site, which aims to create the world's biggest sculpture. It's an interactive sculpture, which you help shape. The basic idea is that you sign up for it (for free, obviously), and choose a shape (a pyramid, a tetrahedron, or a cube). That shape is then added to the global sculpture, which is a virtually-created representation ("pseudo-conscious," as the site calls it). You're also invited to download your individual shape and print out the net, constructing it for yourself. That way, the gestalt global sculpture is represented online in its full form, while the physical sculpture is distributed throughout the world. I can pretty much hazard a guess at what they're signifying with that, but without knowing anything more about the project, I'm not going to give them the benefit of the doubt. Anyway, what I like about it is that your unique iconobloc e-mails you with questions, and you help it to grow. By answering its multiple-choice questions you can shape its growth and determine how it develops. My iconobloc, Rumpofsteelskin, hasn't changed much so far, so I'm not really at liberty to say what happens to them, but I imagine they change colour and possibly size the more they grow. Either way, the questions are interesting on their own. Today's was "What is human?" and displayed three pictures to choose from: the first was a sturdy cast-iron chain, with worn, but strong links; the second was a dandelion flower, full of seeds ready to be blown away with the slightest gust of wind; the third was simply a crossword puzzle. I think that's fairly interesting in and of itself. As Christine rightly pointed out, it's a fairly human concept to force words into visual imagery anyway. But isn't that exactly how we teach? By explanation and visualisation, simile and metaphor. It seems strangely apt that we don't have full control of exactly what we teach. I mean, how many different ways are there to interpret the pictures above? I chose the dandelion. The most prominent image of the dandelion, from the picture, is one of it spreading its seeds as far and wide as it can, trying to 'populate' the surrounding area. Is that a good or a bad thing? Do you consider dandelions as weeds or wildflowers? They contain sesquiterpene lactones and can be used to treat several illnesses, from psoriasis to indigestion. They're high in iron, calcium and Vitamin A and apparently quite healthy to eat. They're one of the most important honey-producing plants around, as they furnish considerable quantities of pollen and nectar in the early spring, just when bees have finished harvesting fruit trees. But they're also fairly ugly and almost impossible to get rid of, choking out other plants that aren't as ruthless. Do you consider dandelions an admirably tenacious battler, stubborn in its refusal to give up? Or do you consider them a pestilence on more deserving inhabitants of the garden? You can see how these things can make such a difference when you're picking it as the answer to the question, "What is human?" I have to wonder if I've just taught my iconobloc that humans are a courageous and willful people who demand respect for their dogged determination, or are some kind of disease spreading like wildfire throughout the land, bringing death and despair to any ground they happen to taint. Neither of which are really what I intended. I chose the dandelion because the flower frequently symbolises, in my thoughts, the cyclical nature of life. "What is human?" Humanity is Annual.
Oh well. Anyway, I'm sure this must be one of the most repeated comments ever on people's diaries, but: "Dude, I just killed the biggest spider." I think, though, aside from professional teenage spider-slayers in Australia who murder Funnelwebs all day long, I have a genuine claim to this one. I was downstairs getting a hot chocolate (aww, bless), when I spied it in the corner. That makes it sound like it was this tiny speck on the wall, but this thing was giving serious thought to eating me, I'm telling you. It dropped down behind the bin, so I grabbed a magazine (Night & Day, week ending June 16th) and smacked it, obviously killing it. Now, taking note of the size of this thing, and anticipating people not believing it was really as bad as I say (I know what you 'people' are like), I decided to pick it up and work out roughly how big it was. So I picked it up in my hand and I stretched its legs out so they were at full length, and it spans my entire palm. From one 'foot' to the other, at full stretch, is a little over 3 inches. I mean, just hold out your hand for a second, and imagine a spider that was as big as your whole palm. That's pretty big, no? It wasn't one of these spindly little things, it had big fat hairy legs, and a chufty....thorax? Whatever. And it had those curved mandible feeler type things too, whatever they're called. I think it had some babies on its back, too, cos when I smacked it there were a couple of smaller spiders squashed on the magazine. Some breeds of spiders carry their babies on their backs, I seem to remember. Although usually they have more than two, so perhaps I'm leaping to conclusions on that one. I'm fairly positive it was just your ordinary house spider, really. There's a few different types of 'house spider,' since they're all of the same genus (Tegenaria), but the individual breeds come in different sizes. The biggest type, Tegenaria Gigantia can apparently grow up to about 13cm across, which is about 5.1 inches. Judging by the pictures, that's what this guy was. Not full size, obviously, but pretty big. Unless you all get giant spiders bigger than 3 and a half inches every day, in which case....well....screw you. Ah, I thought that was worth mentioning, anyway. Damn you.
*sigh*. Just got through watching critically acclaimed, award-winning animation 'Dog' by Suzie Templeton, and now I'm very depressed. I absolutely, emphatically loathe any film which hurts a dog. I just, I can't stand it. There are certain things which everyone hates, naturally. Things which push our buttons and truly affects us beyond rationality. Anything which hurts dogs is one of those things, for me. It just upsets me to the very core of my being. Dogs never hurt anyone. They're nothing but friendly and caring, and they just don't deserve harsh treatment. Dogs are one of the few things in life that I genuinely adore, and it honestly breaks my heart when they're hurt. Both my dogs are getting really, really old. Judy is almost 17 years old, and it's really starting to show. She can barely walk, has arthritis in her hips, and is deaf. I've had to gradually get used to the idea that it won't be long before she dies. I try to make her feel as wanted as I possibly can, and make the most of what little time she has left, but this film still made me realise how much it's going to hurt when it happens. I cried, as this fictional animated character killed his dog. It lay there, too old and sick to move, as he smothered it with a pillow and suffocated it. I'm crying again now as I write about it. I don't want my dog to die.
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