she's having some kind of party downstairs, so i have the windows wide open, and will have to keep them open all night - and potentially for the next several days.

it's hard for me to understand how a grown woman could act like such a child. she's received multiple complaints about second-hand smoke...so she throws a smoke party. how do people this stupid exist? and, how are her friends so irresponsible?

if she keeps it up, she's going to get evicted. and i don't care..

see, and it was mostly actually pretty much ok all week, after she got the n4, too.

i suppose one of two things is happening, right now.

1) the n4 in ontario gives you a week to change your behaviour. i suspect that her warped concept of logic interprets that as "i can get away with smoking as much as i want for the next week".
2) she's just ignoring the n4.

either option seems to be an attempt to upset me.

i can't do anything tonight, except take note of the utter childishness of this. but, if the situation doesn't improve immediately, i'm going to file a second complaint on tuesday.

and, there is a good chance that i'll have to call the cops tonight.

"marxist intellectual" is about as ridiculous a title as "doctor of theology".

so, the real question is whether we want artists or not.

and, if you answer in the negative, i don't want anything to do with your movement.

artists are dependent creatures, by definition.

we are to exist in a culture of dependency, or not exist at all.

but, concepts of dependency are only meaningful in the context of currency, and, ultimately, in the context of property; "dependency" has no meaning when property is placed in common, as we are all dependant upon each other - which is true, anyways, but flatly denied by capitalism. this is what property is all about: the delusional denial of our irresolvable interdependence. and, doing away with this denial is what socialism is really all about.

you have to remember that, as an artist, a proletarian revolution is just a means to an end, for me. i'm 50% bourgeois and 50% lumpen, but really only of the working class by necessity.

it really doesn't matter to me how my subsidies come to me.

and, if you want to tell me to work or starve, then that is not my revolution at all.

it's actually easy enough to understand why anti-poverty advocates would oppose a ubi: they'd be out of a job, and possibly on it themselves.

i posted a discussion with david graeber a while back where he points the situation out pretty clearly. a ubi is going to eliminate thousands and thousands of government jobs. but, anarchists are about getting rid of governments, not creating pointless jobs.

that is the difference between myself and paul krugman. i mean, i'll take keynes if i don't have another option, sure. but, i'd rather tear the system down than prop it up.

and, this is really just a reflection of how depraved the status quo is.

the new screaming females record is getting strong reviews. i actually gave it a wide berth, as it's been clear for a while that the band may be..."growing up" a little. i've been getting the impression for a while that the lead singer may be feeling sort of suffocated, in a role that she walked into before she was old enough to define who she really is, and that she's been role-playing for a few records - and ultimately wants out.

i get the impression that she's a lot more of a "normal" twenty thirty-something female than her persona might suggest, and that she's going to need to find a way to get out of this now completely phony teen-goth-angst schtick, one way or another.

she might actually secretly be a big green day fan.

that said, any substantive fears i had regarding the record appear to be being pushed off to the next one. the record starts off as strong as any other, but slows down quite a bit in the middle. it's not about soft or loud for me, but i just don't like country music, and when you take the kick out of punk rock, country music is what you're left with. it's more of an urban/rural thing....

see, i openly admit i hold prejudices towards rural culture. i try to rationalize them in real-world situations as best as i can - i try very hard to treat people fairly and not judge them and people that run into me in real-life will uphold that - but i simply don't want to celebrate anything to do with rural americana style culture. and, i have to be blunt: this culture really doesn't accept me, either. this isn't out of nowhere with this band, or with alternative/grunge music in general, but it kind of sticks out here.

that said, it's only a couple of tracks - minor enough to reduce the problem to the suggestion that the record has a bit of filler in it.

i preferred the more direct attack of the last one; this band excels when it's in early pumpkins mode, recycling sabbath riffs and just rocking out. but, it's a strong enough record, for the moment.

i do remain apprehensive about where they're going, but i'm also in total solidarity with complete honesty, even if i end up tuning out as they get more and more accessible.

and, i'll always have time for that tone.

i expect the show next week to be worth attending.

there seems to be this strange idea in the anti-smoking literature that you can keep smoke inside.

and, i kind of need to ask these people: if you tell smokers to smoke inside with the windows closed, where exactly do you think this smoke goes?

do you think it disappears through some kind of black hole?

that it becomes one with the furniture?

the smoke is going to eventually escape. if the unit is newer, it will escape through ventilation units. if it's older, it will escape into neighbouring units.

so, why isn't the focus on ventilation? why don't you tell people to go smoke outside, in out of the way places?

there's a large & usually empty church parking lot across the street. that should be a designated smoking area.

and, again, i'll tell you why: it's because the anti-smoking initiatives in this province are not about health. they're about class.

north korea can't even hit japan.

i actively hated the show friends and everything it stood for.

like, it wasn't just passive disinterest, or broad disdain. it was a deep level of contempt.

and, i'm not going to write this essay right now, but i will ask the question: do these people not reflect everything that is wrong with society, and everything about it that needs to be reformed? and, is the filter they are presented in not the biggest problem of all?

i keep saying this: yes, i absolutely do want to destroy your way of life.

sorry.