Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Eolake Stobblehouse biography

Eolake Stobblehouse is seven foot tall when standing on the stairs.

Eolake Stobblehouse was know as "the sixth Beatle" when he played with Keith Richards in The Band.

Eolake Stobblehouse is a world-renounced poet who invented the Inverted Pentametergram.

Eolake Stobblehouse coined the term "red" for communist.

Eolake Stobblehouse has never lost a bet.

Eolake Stobblehouse ghost wrote The Old Man And The Sea for Michael Chrichton.

Eolake Stobblehouse is really a redhead, but prefers to use glasses.

Eolake Stobblehouse can run faster than a cheetah on wet ground.

Eolake Stobblehouse is the only man to be called "brother" by both the Dalai Lama and two popes.

Eolake Stobblehouse gave Bernard Picasso the idea for cubism.

Eolake Stobblehouse does not like broccoli.

42 comments:

Alex said...

I only believe

3) Pentametergram

11) broccoli

and that's only because I found this once

Ray said...

Eolake Stobblehouse was know as "the sixth Beatle" when he played with Keith Richards in The Band.

And that band would have been The Rolling Stones, comprised of the oldest living teenagers in this half of the galaxy.

Alex said...

No, he capitalized it "The Band".

I've either heard them on one of the geezer rock stations here (KFOG, KFOX, The Bone) or an old fart I new listened to them.

Alex said...

I meant "knew". 'pologies.

DeltaCubed said...

Where's Eolake?

Alex said...

It was a guest appearance, were any photos taken? Should be the five band members, KR and ES. I don't think it was with Dylan though...

As I said, I don't believe most of his bio anyway. Biography? More like biohazard.

Anonymous said...

"Where's Eolake?"

He's the handsome blonde dude...(front left) w/the beard! ;-)

And...I just sent him a couple of ideas (1 recipe, even) for the broccoli, earlier today, so...that *should* eliminate that *problem*! lol!

And...I just tried to look up *Pentametergram* and *stumped* the search engine and got back a BIG ZERO! lol!

Can anybody get ahold of that MacWorld Mac Secrets book and take a gander @ page 34?! I'm at the library and...they don't have it, here! :-(

Thanks for the laughs, Eolake! :-)

Anonymous said...

"...ghost wrote The Old Man And The Sea for Michael Chrichton"

Uh huh!...no way!! Written by Ernest Hemingway...in '52...11 years before you were even born, Silly One! :-)

Oh and...went back and double-checked the *Inverted Pentametergram*. STILL a dud! lol!

Eolake Stobblehouse said...

Is that MacWorld Mac Secrets book still kicking around on the search engines? That's over ten years ago!

I had a tip in that book, both in vol. III and V. Two in five, if I recall.

But I can't find it now, what search term did you use?

Anyway, I've been retouched out of all photos of The Band since the, er, incident with Robbie's daughter and Garth's mother. (My gentlemanly nature forbids me to give details.)

Alex said...

Pentametergram is like a singing telegram, except the herald is dressed in Shakearperian garb, and recites prose of poems to the recipient.

Popular characters include Romeo, Juliet, Henry V, Richard III, Hero, Miranda and Lady Macbeth.

There was a brief period when stripping pentametergram troupes would oft hit the pubs of Rochdale, Crosby, and Harrogate. They were particularly popular amongst coal miners and dockworkers as well.

Eolake Stobblehouse said...

Indeed.
In the inverted version, they arrive naked and put their clothes on, but for some reason that never took off.

Anonymous said...

"But I can't find it now, what search term did you use?"

I probed deeper (lol! ;-)...from Alex's link:

http://www.answers.com/topic/eolake-stobblehouse

Eolake Stobblehouse said...

Where did you go from there?

Anonymous said...

"Where did you go from there?"

And then I clicked on your actual name and POOF!! up came the book...in Amazon.com!! :-)

Eolake Stobblehouse said...

Aha!
I didn't see the Amazon ad because I use an ad blocker in my main browser.

Funny enough, though, the only book that comes up for me is Natural Beauties, not the Mac Secrets one.

Anonymous said...

"Funny enough, though, the only book that comes up for me is Natural Beauties, not the Mac Secrets one."

Hmmm...It seems like there are ALOT of *restrictions* of *all things online* on your side of the pond!! Must have been a TOP SECRET tip! lol! ;-)

Hmmm...How to *grant* you *access* to your own contribution...

Alex said...

Strange Amazon.com gets 4 books with "stobblehouse" on search all. Amazon.co.uk draws a blank.

One is a Hegre book (100 Naked Girls), the other you are acknowledged in "Resonation - Enlightened Government for We the People".


http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw_0_7?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=stobblehouse&x=0&y=0&sprefix=stobble

Eolake Stobblehouse said...

I know! It's weird.

Resonation was written by a guy I know, but I don't know why Amazon connects that.

There's also one called Just Six Guests, no clue about that.

Alex said...

Resonation would be because of the text search that revealed an acknowledgement to you.

For obscure searches I like the effort they make, but for some semi popular author or director it just muddies the search results.

Anonymous said...

Few days ago, when I told about a writer like you, my parents went and searched for you and felt so disgusted about you. Firstly, because you like female nudes and my mother concluded you as to be an 'idiot', 'cheap' and a 'bogus' writer. She added on that those who like to look at naked pictures were never good people and Eolake is just as mad as myself. Secondly, they saw all about you only in your site and your blog which has 80 percent chance of being 'bogus'. They said that you did not explain about your talents very well and received some world recognised award, so you are total liar and a fraud and forced me to call you an idiot if I want to stay with them. Thirdly, you writing a blog which is very dangerous as blogs have 99% chance of being a lie and no student reads blogs. Bloggers are idiots who want to reach popularity in a wrong way like quacks and my dad had a lot of problems with them. Fourhtly, you're completly a mad person since don't have major career in your life since you said that you are a writer, artist, photographer, and a blogger. My dad also added on that your ideas are so heinous and bad that you're aiming to make people like to look at naked women, a blatant, evil, selfish, and cheap idea. An when I told them to argue with you, they disgustedly replied saying that there was no reason for them to jump into this dirty puddle Eolake, Is this all what they said is true about you? Please tell me. If you fear God and please tell the truth. I am serious.

Eolake Stobblehouse said...

Anurag:

1: You have to learn to make your own decisions.

2: You have to learn that it does you no good to provoke people with very different opinions.

3: Please don't show my site to people who you suspect won't like it. I don't need the problems.

Alex said...

This Bio is all bogus (or so I believe)

Eolake Stobblehouse is seven foot tall when standing on the stairs.

Aren't we all? For me that would be about 4 steps up.

Eolake Stobblehouse was know as "the sixth Beatle" when he played with Keith Richards in The Band.

EO would have been a wee young'un when the Beatles were still playing. KR is from The Who, and "The Band" was not related to The Who or The Beatles that I know of.

Eolake Stobblehouse is a world-renounced poet who invented the Inverted Pentametergram.

Invented the term maybe. Part of the world may renounce his poetry. He is not renowned though.

Eolake Stobblehouse coined the term "red" for communist.

Patently a lie.

Eolake Stobblehouse has never lost a bet.

I haven't lost a bet in 20 years. I gave up betting...

Eolake Stobblehouse ghost wrote The Old Man And The Sea for Michael Chrichton.
Hemmingway wrote "The Old Man And The Sea". Maybe Chrichton paid EO to write it, and they pucblished it under the name Hemmingway. Eitherway for a 5 yr old it is an impressive book, and that would explain the baseball metaphors.

Eolake Stobblehouse is really a redhead, but prefers to use glasses.

The second part of that sentence is a non-sequiter. A liar and baboon, or maybe and orangutan.

Eolake Stobblehouse can run faster than a cheetah on wet ground.

I suspect that a cheetah running up a waterfall would go slower than EO on a dry cinder track, so this statement is true.

Eolake Stobblehouse is the only man to be called "brother" by both the Dalai Lama and two popes.

This seems strange, but we have had plenty of popes in my lifetime.

Eolake Stobblehouse gave Bernard Picasso the idea for cubism.

Bernard must have told his cousin Pablo about cubism, then it entered mainstream culture....

Eolake Stobblehouse does not like broccoli.

There was an American president who didn't like broccoli, it was Bush Sr. I believe. Many people don't like spinach.

Seeing how this bio is mostly bogus, it proves EO is a liar. However, since it is transparently so (to someone raised in Western culture) it is obviously humourous, at least in intent if not nature.

EO has some opinions I wholly agree with. He has opinions I contest, or quietly ignore. His heart, in the projected EO we see here, is in the right place.

His on-line persona in this blog is consistent, I may one day meet him face to face and then I can pass judgment on that EO, but this on-line guy seems to be a real guy. Pacifist, sense of humour, and appreciation for beauty. He does get bent out of shape by prudish, pious attitudes. You can't force nudity and open sexuality on all people. His cultural background makes his views seem more right to him, and less right to others.

It sound's like your father is right. From his cultural viewpoint EO is a corrupter. EO is speaking out against things which are deeply ingrained. How can one man on the other side of the planet be right, and "everyone" where you are be wrong? You have to grant your father his rights, you cannot deny what he thinks of feels.

You have to grant yourself your rights, you cannot deny what you think or feel.

Bloggers are a strange breed. In this hectic city life there are many ways of meeting people. If you don't like pubs/clubs and you don't have any hobbies which involve people coming together, then you are stuck with your workmates as friends.

Message boards are a way to reach out and find people of similar interests. Blogging has evolved out of message board communities.

Bloggers are probably lonely people looking to share. Are they looking for fame, or just a few dozen casual penpals? For me it's the latter. Student? No, I've got my BSc. I'm a family man, and blogging is my equivalent to stopping at the bar for a beer on the way home from work. It's a dozen campfires I can stop by and chat at.

Wherever there is a platform to speak from, be it soapbox, pulpit, newspaper, radio or blog, people will be forwarding their views and ideas as truths and ideals.

Be kind to people.
Be patient with people.
Be open to ideas.

I hope Eolake does not mind me speaking here and now. Just as a blogger and viewer of nudity, I feel "included".

Eolake Stobblehouse said...

"Seeing how this bio is mostly bogus, it proves EO is a liar. However, since it is transparently so (to someone raised in Western culture) it is obviously humourous, at least in intent if not nature."

Gee, thanks. :-)

Like Neil Gaiman says, it's a joke, not the funny kind, the other kind.


"You can't force nudity and open sexuality on all people. His cultural background makes his views seem more right to him, and less right to others."

Sure, that's true about any opinion.

I believe I am campaigning, not proselytizing. I believe that the world would be hugely better off with more openness, and nudity is a great symbol and symptom of that.

I agree I should not get so upset about people who don't like nudity. But then I really don't, I just get upset when they try to enforce their own discomfort on others.

I also believe that it's highly irrational. I've been talking to people about the issue for decades, and I've yet to hear one single rational argument why nudity is damaging to anybody of any age. The fact that perhaps a majority of humans share this discomfort does not make it any more rational.


"I hope Eolake does not mind me speaking here and now."

I *greatly* appreciate all the commenters here.

Anonymous said...

"I've been talking to people about the issue for decades, and I've yet to hear one single rational argument why nudity is damaging to anybody of any age."

While it is difficult to see how it could damage the individual, one possible argument is that it might be damaging to the species. For, by stripping the mystery out of the human body we also desecrate it, i.e. disrobe it from its sanctity.

Sanctity (or holiness) is a magical concept meaning (roughly) the strength of symbolic power. Human procreation depends on excitement brought by visual stimulus. If this excitement is diminished it might lessen our impulse to procreate eventually resulting in our extinction. This may not have always been so, but given how the species and our societies/culture has evolved, it may be the case at this point.

It is possible that most members of the human species despise public nudity because of a coding in our genes -- or perhaps in our collective consciousness -- saying that in order for the species to survive we must consecrate the body.

By the way, if you think that sanctity (or holiness) is a religious concept, you are wrong. It is about as pagan as you can get. This is very clear when looking at old European languages. In some languages there is even a clear linguistic connection between holiness and the sexual organs.

Pascal [P-04referent] said...

Lots to comment, so I broke it down into 3 sections.

Part #1: the article itself.

"ghost wrote"? Ah, so :
12. Writer Eolake Stobblehouse is really a ghost. His ectoplasm appears every time you take a photo of Meryl in her underwears with Snake's camera in the danish edition of Metal Gear Solid.
And that's a tribute, because Meryl was actually the model for Domai's never-published beta version.
View her as an easter egg in the upcoming DOMAI: Nymphs Of The Forest. [This game has not yet been rated.]

13. Eolake Stobblehouse is never wrong. Even when he changes his mind. ESPECIALLY when he changes his mind.

14. Eolake Stobblehouse could sweet-talk Sarah Palin, Condoleezza Rice and Madeleine Albright to pose naked for him. Together. As the Three Graces. That is, if Eolake Stobblehouse was crazy enough to want to see them undressed!

15. Chuck Norris is responsible for China's over-population. He hosted a Karate tournament in Beijing and all women within 1,000 miles became pregnant instantly. BUT, Eolake Stobblehouse is spiritually responsible for the millions of native women in many parts of the worlds still going topless since Mother Eve wore that fig leaf. And they don't even have the internet!

16. Eolake Stobblehouse could shoot a frog sitting on a boobie and make it a lovely photo. As a matter of fact, he has.

17. Eolake Stobblehouse can pay a gorgeous hottie to pose naked for him without having sex with her. (Can even Chuck Norris show such self-restraint?)

18. Eolake Stobblehouse can look a naked woman in the eyes. For three days. With a polite smile. Without blinking. Without drooling. Booya!

19. The cartoon magic box Élaoin Sdretu had the oddest name known to humankind, until Eolake Stobblehouse was born and immediately took on the challenge.

20. Eolake Stobblehouse and Kirikou are the only two human males to have picked their own name at birth. They also spoke in utero, decided themselves to be born, delivered themselves, cut the cord and bathed themselves, are not impressed by dark fetishes, and look topless women straight in the eyes even if they have a ring of gold nuggets around their nipples. (So what's the difference, you ask? Eolake Stobblehouse is the tall one.)

21. Eolake Stobblehouse can understand all of Pascal's jokes. He's so badass, he can even hear them without flinching, and then actually SMILE.

22. Eolake Stobblehouse INVENTED the Chuck Norris facts. He kept this a secret because the Chuckster didn't want to seem like a braggart.

23. Eolake Stobblehouse hasn't made a DOWAI site yet because no man would dare to be a model before Chuck Norris has posed first. Unfortunately, the exposed manhood of Chuck Norris would melt all digicams, crash the internet, and drive David Pogue to suicide.

24. Eolake Stobblehouse could convince Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan to let women walk the streets naked. Too bad he's not interested in politics.

25. Eolake Stobblehouse knows the chemical formula of a Big Rubbery One. It's classified by request of the CIA and the NSA, for fear that the ghost of Saddam would try to duplicate it into a demographic WMD.

26. Eolake Stobblehouse never twisted his tongue, even though he's spoken out loud every tongue twister in the Danish language.

27. Eolake Stobblehouse is under study as a miracle solution to global warming, because he never loses his cool. One spray of Eolake Stobblehouse deodorant will keep you fresh for three months. Maybe more if you don't jog across the Sahara wearing an anorak.

28. Eolake Stobblehouse knows that "cute little fuzzy pussy" and "naked hottie" can mean something other than a porn advertisement.

29. There is no "I" in Eolake Stobblehouse.
However, if you mom's looking for a house near a lake...

30. Eolake Stobblehouse knows the solution to Evil in the world. But many folks would object if the Universe just disappeared. This would make a lot of people very angry and be widely regarded as a bad move.

31. Eolake Stobblehouse once chatted with a prominent islamist leader. Since that day, Hassan Nasrallah wears glasses, a beard, enjoys reading classic erotic arabian poetry (really, he does, that's no fib), and prude President Bush hates his guts. Eolake Stobblehouse himself isn't very popular among US conservatives, or Malaysian conservatives for that matter.

32. The island of Cyprus was shaped after Eolake Stobblehouse's first abstract painting. Which he made at 3 weeks of age, using only some milk, his bib and a spoonful of instant cocoa, and is estimated today at roughly five multiplujillion, nine impossibidillion, seven fantasticatrillion, one multiplujillion, nine obsquatumatillion, six hundred twenty-three dollars and sixty-two cents. Now Iceland is considering avoiding bankruptcy by capitalizing on its resemblance with a birth mark under Eolake Stobblehouse's left foot, which also happens to have exactly the same number of toes as Buddha, Jesus Christ and Dakota Fanning (each).

33. The penises of Chuck Norris and Eolake Stobblehouse are exactly alike, and they have the same number of balls. Proving wrong the quantum exclusion principle that claimed that the Space-Time Continuum could never withstand this without imploding in suffocating jealousy.

34. Eolake Stobblehouse was once known as "the baby Beatle". Later, he got known in another popular british group as "Grampa Spice".

35. Eolake Stobblehouse doesn't look a gift horse in the mouth. He takes an artistic pictures of its teeth, and then emails it to the vet.

36. A petty criminal known as the Red Hood once stole Eolake Stobblehouse's camera, then fell into a vat of industrial acids. The mutated criminal now calls himself the Joker. The camera was later found, and its film developed out of curiosity, by a young man named Andy Warhol.

37. Eolake Stobblehouse designed the ancestor ot the delta flyer before Leonardo DaVinci. It consisted of two perpendicular aerodynamic wood pieces nailed together and attached to a person. The first test pilot who tried it, 1975 years ago on a Jerusalem hilltop, flew straight to Heaven and is still widely talked about today.

38. Eolake Stobblehouse can burp the whole humpback whale alphabet underwater.

39. Eolake Stobblehouse designed the Emperor's new groovy clothes. That cheapskate didn't want to pay the bill, so he had his State propaganda spin some slandering tale against Eolake Stobblehouse, which is still told today to gullible children.

40. The Dinosaurs one day tried to outsmart Eolake Stobblehouse. We all know what ensued: they simply vanished from existence. Those who knew better got their reward: they evolved amazingly, and are now known as Paradise Birds.

41. Eolake Stobblehouse didn't invent the Internet. That was actually a workshop warm-up exercise of one of his apprentices.

42. The Chinese invented gunpowder in an attempt to simulate a sneeze of Eolake Stobblehouse. But Eolake Stobblehouse doesn't sneeze. Unlike the French who later invented snuff by adapting the recipe.

43. The Woman Form is actually a vague dream of baby Eolake Stobblehouse that came to life. It came right after he had a nightmare named Jerry Falwell, as an invincible antidote. Other early clumsy dreams of baby Eolake include the Peacock, the Rainbow, the Aurora Borealis, the Rose, Tahiti, and maple syrup on pancakes. But his imagination has improved since.

44. Eolake Stobblehouse knows no hate. He doesn't even hate hatred.

45. Eolake Stobblehouse is universally considered the mostest humblestest person in the world, the Galaxy and the whole fucking Universe, alternate dimensions included. Yeah! Top that if you can!

Pascal [P-04referent] said...

Part #2: a good friend dares to be direct.

Alex slandered...
"Eolake Stobblehouse coined the term "red" for communist."
Patently a lie.

Oh, ree-hee-hee-hee-hee-heaaaallllly? What about the color of Mickey Mouse's shorts then, huh?
FYI, Walt Disnez was questioned by the McCarthy commission precisely to explain about that point of detail. No fib.

"I haven't lost a bet in 20 years. I gave up betting..."
Why don't you put your money where your mouth is?
Oh, wait... he too knows the trick to never lose. Curses!

"A liar and baboon, or maybe and orangutan."
Nicely put, Alex. Or should I say... JALAN RAJA OMAR?
We're on to you, R.A.F.!

"Many people don't like spinach."
Well, I do. Ate spinach yesterday and the day before.
My mom is very good at cooking spinach. I just add a touch of lemon juice.

"Seeing how this bio is mostly bogus, it proves EO is a liar."
But if it says that "Eo is a liar", then it's false, then Eo speaks the truth, then he's not a liar, then the bio is false, then Socrates... ah, Hades! I hate paradoxi... paradoxeses... paradoxs... orthod... WHATEVER! Forget eat.

"it is obviously humourous, at least in intent if not nature."
Funny, I was half-expecting you to say "in nature if not in intent". :-)

"His heart, in the projected EO we see here, is in the right place."
Yeah, in the left precordium. X-rays pics are indeed 2-D projections. And to the top, you can see the aortic isthmus, right next to the left atrium... and this is the pulmonary parenchyma... this dark band is the tracheal clarity... hey, is this an inhaled foreign body, or did he forget to remove his pen cap from his shirt pocket?

"From his cultural viewpoint EO is a corrupter."
I read the same about another guy, long ago, in a distant land... A Jesus of Nazareth, or something. Got capital punishment for "blasphemy and corruption". And illegal practice of Medicine. And serving booze without a license. And unfair competition to bakers. And interfering with public executions. And disturbing public order. And undermining the official authority. And...
Uhm... I'm not really helping your case, Eo, right? I'd better shut up.

"Be kind to people.
Be patient with people.
Be open to ideas."

You can be rich with no money to spend
You can be mother when you are a man
The key is inside you to open your mind :-)
Thanks for reminding me of that beautiful song, Alex.

"Like Neil Gaiman says, it's a joke, not the funny kind, the other kind."
The other...? Hey! Is this some kind of joke?

"But then I really don't, I just get upset when they try to enforce their own discomfort on others."
Man, you really wouldn't like that tailor in Tripoli I once dealt with.
I still have nightmares about wearing that shirt... Talk about discomfort!

"The fact that perhaps a majority of humans share this discomfort does not make it any more rational."
What about discomfort towards spiders? (Eyew!) Surely THAT's rational!
Well, at least that's what the skittish horse said in Charlotte's Web. ;-)

Pascal [P-04referent] said...

Part #3: Anurag.

Anurag, buddy, I have one major advice for you:
Dare to think by yourself.

Honestly, man. I see this in nearly all your comments: you mention what your parents say, your friends say, or that man Eolake Stobblehouse says. That's all fine, it's always good to hear out people's opinions, it gets you thinking, envisioning options, new ideas...
But the goal of life is, to become yourself in the end. We shape ourselves every day, to the last one. Others should be a help, an inspiration, not the very land you build on. The suggestions of so many architects, but YOU, and you alone, must be the engineer. The foundation of your identity is not the culture, tradition or philosophy of anybody else: it's your own soul. It can be a scary thought, I know the feeling, to "fly on your own wings", like the bird that one day leaves the nest. But it's the only possible way to be happy. You won't truly exist until you accomplish that, until you manage to define yourself.
You think that Eolake's ideas are good? Okay. Sure. But don't go and tell others: "Somebody I know said this." Pick, from what anybody and everybody says, what YOU choose to think, what you also believe yourself, and then say "I believe this...". You may then add that others think the same, preferably respected names like Socrates or George Washington or Descartes. But if you always present your beliefs as coming from somebody else, you'll give the impression that you let yourself get manipulated. And OF COURSE, your parents will get worried that some stranger is playing with their son's mind, and they'll become hostile towards that person. Parents may be old-fashioned, they may sometimes make mistakes, but true parents care for you. They just don't always know how to express it, or how to act on that principle.
I don't want to sound like the typical oriental teacher, and say the cliché formula "you owe total respect to your parents". They're not always right. They too are just human. But they care, deep down. In their own way, they try to do their best.
Sure, you have absolutely no duty to follow THEIR beliefs any more than anybody else's. Once you become an adult, once you come of age, comes the moment for their education to end in good part (it never ends COMPLETELY), and for you to be your own man.
But, if you want to be yourself, to do and say what you please, maybe you can't do it while you still live under their roof. In their house, you have to be like a respectful guest. If nudity shocks them, then don't come out of the shower naked. If they're vegetarians, don't eat meat in that house. Don't smoke there if they don't like the smell of tobacco. If they're very concerned about morality, don't bring your girlfriend there to sleep with her. Obviously, it's very poor manners. If you start earning your own living, with a job that fully supports you, staying in your own house/apartment, then by all means do whatever you want so long as it doesn't break any laws. But even if you feel it oppressing, if you feel trapped in a society that's obsolete and doesn't understand you, the wise thing IS NOT to start telling everybody they're wrong. It's a waste of time and an efficient way to be unhappy! People never listen when you talk to them like that. They always get angry. That's human nature.
Also, we both understand that:
1 - There is nothing naturally evil about the naked human body, it's all about how you act about it.
2 - There is nothing naturally evil about human sexuality, it's all about what you do with it.
But if you preach both of those all at once, there will be an amalgam. People will understand both of them as the same concept. (Are you sure YOU view them as distinct?) You shouldn't be surprised if people of a much more conservative society/mentality start viewing you as some weird pervert when you talk about all that too bluntly. These things take A LOT of patience and must be presented little by little, or you'll just cause fear and hostility. Sometimes, being true to your beliefs means being quiet about them. You don't need to tell everything to everybody! Especially when you KNOW they won't understand. Silence can save many friendships, you know.
Finally, I cannot honestly advise you to do your own thinking without being fully honest about it myself. So start right now. All this advice I'm giving you? Don't follow it because I said so. Read it, think deep about it, and then follow it IF YOU BELIEVE IN IT. Be independant. Be YOU. Dare to exist as your own self.
We all make mistakes. That's how we learn. If you are too worried about making mistakes, you'll never dare to do anything, and you'll never learn anything. Your whole life will remain a prison of fear, with "what might happen" as the bars. If you always count on the advice or opinion of others, you risk making THEIR mistakes as well. So, look and listen to everything other people say, yes. But then take all the time you need, even your whole life if necessary, to think about it, to decide what YOU want to believe and do in the end. It's your life, your choices, your destiny. Not anybody else's.
And never be afraid to return and think again about what you believed, maybe you'll change your mind about it. It's okay, that's part of learning and maturing. Only fools never ever change their minds about anything.
Good luck in your life.

Oh, and as for blogs? They're just a platform of expression, in a new form allowed by the age of technology. There are no more lies on a blog than, say, in a newspaper. It all depends, always, on the person writing in it. What one person will call "good journalism", another will decree "bogus lies". Would you expect an Iraqui and an American to agree over any newspaper of one of their countries?
Don't force anyone to read stuff too different from their culture if they're not ready. Again, you'll only obtain incomprehension and angry reactions. Let everyone learn by themselves. Only be an inspiration, never a pressure.

Pascal [P-04referent] said...

TTL: The well-known trick to sacralize something is precisely to hide it. To make it arbitrarily special by imposing a social convention. The naked body is just the same. It's a social choice.
"If God had meant us to be naked, we would be born that way." -- Oscar Wilde
There are several populations, among those precious few still not steamrolled by the omnipresent and conquering European-Western mentality based on judeo-christian culture and taboos, several populations who still live absolutely naked, always have. They are not, by far, all societies of orgying sex maniacs. To them, the human body is, simply, ORDINARY.

Breaking the taboo that we've decided ourselves about nudity may damage Society. But the species? Why, in Heaven's name? Evolution REMOVED most of our hair cover. God didn't want us to have concealed bodies, not if you consider Creation and Nature's choices to be God's direct will.

"Human procreation depends on excitement brought by visual stimulus."
To borrow an expression from my Mom: "You know, by using this argument you're not doing them any favors."
It is a sad, sad world indeed if we procreate in reaction to visual stimuli. If the thought of marrying a woman can only come to us after we've seen her naked. If any naked child, even our own offspring in the bath, becomes automatic jailbait by giving us irrepressible urges of paedophilia. If you can't be examined by the Doctor without expecting a rape to be part of his fees.
A very powerfully efficient argument of naturists, IMHO, is that getting used to the view of casual nudity (and I can confirm, one can get used to it very quickly) is invaluably helpful in dissociating sexuality from the visual stimuli and making one's mind more healthy and balanced.
This is a very intimate thing to share, but in the most powerful erotic dreams I've had, I was always in love. It wasn't "just sexual", it was making love. A most powerful aphrodisiac, I can tell you! I'm not one to find naked hookers and porn actresses "the sexiest women in the world" because they offer the strongest visual stimuli, complete with stereo silicone life-buoys and slutty postures. In fact, I tend to prefer the stimulation of close-ups or cropped photos that remove as much as possible of the stereotypical sluttiness. Honestly, good porn is horribly hard to come upon (triple pun intended) these days.

I can't possibly imagine how a return to this healthy attitude (nudity =/= sex) could possibly be damaging. ONLY to the interests of moral manipulators who capitalize on shame and repressed instincts to gain power.
Animals LIVE naked. Always. How do they reproduce? Very simple: they have specific signals informing when the partner WANTS to mate. They KNOW when the moment is right, and only then are they aroused. Are we dumber than animals? Perhaps it would seem so...
I was born and raised in what can objectively be described as a prude, gymnophobic, sexophobic society. It has imprinted in me deep reflexes of shyness. But I've come to realize how arbitrary, and twisted, some of those educated reactions are. I see how the typical Lebanese around me are constantly sex-obsessed. The men are more embarrassingly horny and crude in their daily ordinary behavior than a pack of wild apes would ever be. And the women have this paradigm about themselves, they view their very nature as being a walking leaking barrel of satanic dirtiness should anything of them happen to accidentally excite the cavemen around, "and it would be my own fault, for not keeping cover on what Evil I incarnate in my flesh".

Please allow me to share with you a news report I read recently:
Woman Kicked Off Train For Being Pantless Wasn't
"MURRAY, Utah -- It was a case of mistaken nudity, and it could only happen in Utah.
The Utah Transit Authority said a woman booted from a train for being nude below the waist turned out to be wearing a miniskirt concealed by her jacket.
Officers said the woman was asked to get off the TRAX train in Murray, Utah, at about 7:30 a.m. after other passengers reported that she wasn't wearing any pants, according to local news reports.
However, officials said the officers discovered while talking to the woman that she was actually wearing a miniskirt that was concealed by the length of her jacket, making it appear that she was not wearing pants.
The officials said the woman was allowed to get back aboard the train and continue her ride."


Now THAT, that genuinely freaks me out. "Beauty/art is in the eye of the beholder." Well, perversion is all in the mind. And what sort of terrifyingly twisted dark world has it become, I ask you, if we're surrounded by people, by ordinary citizens, who see filth everywhere, and so intensely, that they instantly assume the worst of their imaginations at the tiniest erroneous glance at you, and you immediately get sanctioned based on this assumption, presumed guilty until proven innocent?
And we thought the collective hallucination and hysteria days of witch hunts were embarrassingly barbaric, primitive? WE'RE SMACK IN THE MIDDLE OF NATIONWIDE WITCH-HUNTS RIGHT NOW!
Is there any solid argument that assumptions of "immorality" today are any different in spirit from yesterday's assumptions of "friendliness to the Devil"? People are still, just the same, brainwashed into seeing a given obsessive worst fear everywhere around them, and reacting thoughtlessly to that fear. That, my friends, is little different from the nationwide phobia of the Jew that arose in Germany in the Thirties. Non-conformists are already branded, not with a Yellow Star, but by being liberally and hastily placed on sex offenders registers given any shaky excuse, which socially is little different from wearing the Yellow Star. We're rapidly headed towards the worst. And I fear people will not open their eyes until someone gets lynched to death totally wrongfully. Mark my words, people, for I present this to you as one of my trademark P-04Referent prophecies. I see it forthcoming. It WILL happen.
The Beast within our "supremely moral" species is always on the lookout for an excuse to burst out.

"Fear. Fear attracts the fearful. The strong. The weak. The innocent. The corrupt. Fear. Fear is my ally." --(Darth Maul)
Fear is always Evil's ally. The worst Evil always strives on fear. I'm a child of the Lebanon war. I know all there is to know about the corruption of even the best people by fear.
I know more that I'd ever wish to know. And Fear is on the move in a very critical place on this very day. Beware the Scarecrow.

"By the way, if you think that sanctity (or holiness) is a religious concept, you are wrong. It is about as pagan as you can get."
How powerfully true. And kudos for the liguistics mention.

But I ask the question: what true difference is there between today's religions, all of them, and yesterday's respected established religions, which we now call "paganism"?
You haven't seen how the Lebanese practice their extremely pious faith. Gestures, attitudes and whole mentalities are stuffed to the teeth stumps with superstition, idolatry and pagan attitudes. Starting with that lady colleague of my father, who wanted to go pray at some famed church, smack in the middle of an extremely deadly period to be outside and travel, "because the Holy Virgin Mary is strongly present there". As if our motherly deus ex machina heard prayers through well-placed microphones in her temples, while cleverly concealed behind a nearby curtain! Hey, while we're there, I'd like to pray for a heart, a brain, and a blasted SPINE, howsabout it, Wizardesse?

And don't tell me that "most believers are more evolved than THAT." Most are NOT. I've observed carefully. The deviance is universal. Bigots all around the world will attend solemn masses at "holy places and dates", and almost fight in a riot for a chance to stick a fat sloppy one on some icon, cross, relic, shroud, whatever. There are more "pieces of the True Cross" in circulation than you'd need to rebuild Noah's friggin' Ark! And this, in the religion which to my knowledge emphasizes most on the timeless and placeless nature of spirituality. I tell you, how I'm still a believer instead of joining the ranks of atheists, is still a mystery to me. Somehow, I've "miraculously" managed to differenciate between the spirit and all the morons who are supposed to uphold this spirit and taught me religion. I guess I taught more myself, by seeing the wisdom in words that they transmit blindly through the centuries, most often without understanding them at all.
"Happy the imbeciles", the French saying goes. I'm condemned to having much more doubts than certainties in my beliefs, because I think too much. But give up thinking? Abandon my intelligence? Never. That would be an insult to the valuable gift I received from God. :-P

[Wipes sweaty brow, panting.] Sorry for the whirling rant, TTL. But you really pushed my buttons. Somehow stumbling on my exact take-off sequence. ;-)
"To infinity, and beyond! Hi-ho, rocket, aaaawaaaay!"

P.S.: about fact #7: my Captcha is giving me "rehedgl". Redhead with glasses?!?
Spooky.

Anonymous said...

Dr. Pascal:

The well-known trick to sacralize something is precisely to hide it. To make it arbitrarily special by imposing a social convention.

It's not a trick. That's the very method of how you sacralize something.

The naked body is just the same. It's a social choice.

Correct. But also a very practical choice in these colder parts of the world.

Evolution REMOVED most of our hair cover.

Yes, but it may be because we started to use artificial hair (=clothes) instead.

If the thought of marrying a woman can only come to us after we've seen her naked.

Who said anything about marriage. What I meant is that erection usually only comes to us after we've seen her naked.

If any naked child, even our own offspring in the bath, becomes automatic jailbait by giving us irrepressible urges ...

Evolution created psychological blocks to make this uninteresting. Same for siblings.

A very powerfully efficient argument of naturists, IMHO, is that getting used to the view of casual nudity (and I can confirm, one can get used to it very quickly) is invaluably helpful in dissociating sexuality from the visual stimuli ...

But this kind of proves my point, doesn't it?

Animals LIVE naked. Always. How do they reproduce? Very simple: they have specific signals informing when the partner WANTS to mate. They KNOW when the moment is right, and only then are they aroused. Are we dumber than animals?

Not dumber (for the most part), but clearly evolved differently. Compare, for example, the estrous cycle in other mammals vs. the menstrual cycle of humans. I.e. the human female can become pregnant any time of the year.

I can't possibly imagine how a return to this healthy attitude (nudity =/= sex) could possibly be damaging.

If it caused us to lose interest in copulation (for example in favour of masturbation). Even a relatively small diminishment in our interest in copulation could affect birth-rates in such a way as to cause the species to become extinct in a few thousand years.

I think you may have at least partly misunderstood my point. I am not speaking of any kind of "morality" here. Nor am I speaking of "healthy attitudes". The point I am trying to make is that human biological evolution in conjunction with cultural evolution may have brought us as a species to a place where clothedness is now so ingrained in the way we experience mating that if this signaling device was now removed it might over time result in the extinction of our species.

I posed this idea in response to Eolake saying that he had never heard a single rational argument how nudity could be damaging to any individual. So, the best I could come up with is an argument which says that it might be damaging to the individuals who aren't born yet! I am not saying I necessarily believe this argument is correct. But I can not debunk it either.

But I ask the question: what true difference is there between today's religions, all of them, and yesterday's respected established religions, which we now call "paganism"?

It is difficult to say exactly, for our idea of the pagan belief systems have been grossly distorted by Christian propaganda. But I would say that the pagans were freer of dogma and closer to the nature, both their own and that of their surroundings.

Is there any solid argument that assumptions of "immorality" today are any different in spirit from yesterday's assumptions of "friendliness to the Devil"?

Absolutely not. But this has nothing to do with the topic at hand. "Friendliness to the Devil" is a Christian concept. When I refer to paganism I speak of the times before Christianity.

And don't tell me that "most believers are more evolved than THAT." Most are NOT. I've observed carefully. The deviance is universal. Bigots all around the world will attend solemn masses at "holy places and dates", and almost fight in a riot for a chance to stick a fat sloppy one on some icon, cross, relic, shroud, whatever. There are more "pieces of the True Cross" in circulation than you'd need to rebuild Noah's friggin' Ark!

I agree. But I note that you seemed to have missed my point. I am not arguing from the basis of any religion. I do not subscribe to any religion or dogmatic belief system. I am arguing from a very practical perspective.

The whole point can be formulated in the question: Does exposure to casual nudity (including exposure to pornography) increase or decrease our interest in copulation? Or is there no change? I am argumenting from the position that it may decrease it.

Eolake Stobblehouse said...

Anurag, my further advice to you is to keep your mouth shut and don't antagonize people who disagree with you.
Then keep a low profile until the day you can move into your own apartment.

Anonymous said...

Thanks, Eolake and Pascal for your advice. :-)

Anonymous said...

But my parents would force me to go through an arranged marraige, aand choose a very prude, conservative, modest girl who would control me. There's also no chance for me to remain as a bachelor as in India bachelors are defied and judged and not even allowed to rent a house. Therefore, would always keep a low profile. How can I express my views on nudity as my parents are forcing me to become a doctor?

Eolake Stobblehouse said...

There are solutions to all those, and they will show up when you solve the barriers inside yourself.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the good advice, Eolake.

Pascal [P-04referent] said...

You know, Anurag, becoming a doctor is really not a bad life choice at all. Unless you have another dream that you hold dear for a profession, of course!

A doctor makes a good living, which helps one become independant and make his own choices. That includes more freedom in picking who you'd like to marry, and convincing her (or her parents) that you'd be a good husband. :-)
The same can be expected from the social prestige you'll start receiving very soon. You gain respect, and your beliefs get more consideration. Especially when you can legitinately remind people that undressing for a doctor's examination is perfectly okay, proving that nudity is not something sinful in itself. Let the facts speak for themselves, when the time is right.

I found that becoming a doctor taught me a lot of valuable things, including more respect for persons. And that knowledge gave me a lot of confidence. While also making me aware of how much I still don't know. It's always a good thing to know oneself better.

I hope this helps. In the end, you have to decide and make the choices yourself. Always.

Also, always remember this: the naturally difficult relationship with the parents is not a conflict, doesn't have to be. It's just a difficulty to communicate through the generation gap. They don't always understand, but they do care. And you don't always agree with them, but you love them. This is a precious thing. So, I recommend you avoid conflicts by focusing on what you have in common in that relationship. (In fact, this goes for EVERY relationship. :-)
Nobody has to convince anybody of their own ideas. Diversity is part of the world. Just seek harmony. Harmony within yourself, and with others. Fighting, arguments, are just one huge waste of time, effort, and of everybody's happiness.

It's a lot of effort, yes. It's also very much worth it.

"Until then, take care of yourselves... and each other." -- (Jerry Springer)

Anonymous said...

In the article The Porn Myth Naomi Wolf makes a similar case as I did above.

Naomi Wolf: The onslaught of porn is responsible for deadening male libido in relation to real women, and leading men to see fewer and fewer women as “porn-worthy.”

Since writing my comment above, I have become more convinced about the thesis. Certainly in many European countries birth rate has been negative for years now. Although, granted, there are probably other factors involved with that. But the trend does seem to at least loosely correlate with the general availability of pornography.

Eolake Stobblehouse said...

Yes, but it also correlates with the disappearance of the stork, which obviously is right since storks bring the babies.

But OK, you may have a point, worth thinking about. (Though it does not make sense to me.)

Alex said...

They say education of women causes reduction in pregnancy.

Acceptance of porn is part of "enlightenment".

Educated people in white collar work tend to start families later, and are having smaller families.

Modern medicine also promotes longer life, and less risk of infant fatalities, therefore obviating need for more kids.

Stress reduces libido, and there is a lot of stress in the countries where people can get hold of porn.

Just some random thoughts, waiting for Pascal to rejoin this party...

Pascal [P-04referent] said...

"Stress reduces libido, and there is a lot of stress in the countries where people can get hold of porn."
I would say: "in the SAME countries". A formulation that doesn't seem to suggest that porn is the cause of stress. :-)

"Pascal has entered the building."

Just one thing, TTL. Your linked article was interesting (as usual!), but here's the funny thing: The more I get to view porn, the more I yearn for REAL women, that aren't slutty, vulgar, fake, painted thick, laden with silicone, perched on stilts, etc...
Care to explain why liberal access to porn has that "unorthodox" effect on me?
Okay, sure, R.A.F. would remind us of those two indisputable facts of Nature:
1- The Stork brings the babies
2- Pascal is a certified weirdo freak
But I'm sure there's got to be more to it than this simple explanation. :-)

Here's my own, arbitrary, gratuitous, take on this:
Porn is defined (in the facts, if not in the original intention) as the opposite of fine classic erotica, as mass-consumption sexual images. And, as with all mass-consumption marketed goods in today's world, the quality has been steadily dropping these last decades, to appeal to the largest undiscerning number. Causing, and contributing, while pretending to be just "a consequence, a symptom", to the dumbing-down of the world. To quote one of my Dad's fave maxims: "The masses are stupid."

Many men, of course, are not male-chauvinistic-pigs. But still far too many are bolted and welded into the woman paradigm: the more vulgar and whorish, the more sexually appealing a woman will be to insecure losers like them.
Ergo, the ideal porn-inspired fuck mate is an inflatable doll. All artificial, caricatural, no brains, no nagging, none of that pesky "personality" stuff.

Now, if only inflatable dolls could cook, clean, and fetch beer from the fridge... ):-P

46. A real tough man only needs one woman to do all his house work AND fetch him a beer. Eolake Stobblehouse needs zero. Eolake Stobblehouse fetches his own fuckin' beer, yo! AND makes his own bread. Eolake Stobblehouse ain't nobody's mamma's boy, giddit?

Eolake Stobblehouse said...

I don't drink beer.
But I can make my own cappuccino.

And I have a hired woman every two weeks for the rest.
Cleaning the place, I mean.

Pascal [P-04referent] said...

Like I said: Eolake Stobblehouse needs zero women to fetch him a beer!
And he makes one mean cappuccino.

"Cleaning the place, I mean."
"What else?" -- [George Clooney, fellow handsome devil]

Anonymous said...

"Make a cappuccino"? Is that what you aging balding nerdy single boys call "it" these days?

Want milf in your coffee? Ask Stifler's mom, she moonshines as a housecleaning lady.

"I don't drink... coffee." -- Count Chocula