The Hockey of Politics

The idea behind this post has been in the works for a while now, however as fate would have it there is no better time then the now to discuss the relation between two issues that I love and loathe. Last night (April 8^th) a government shutdown was averted at nearly the last minute due to partisan politics over the annual budget. The same issues however between the Democrats and Republicans still loom and the U.S. Government finds itself in a continual state of limbo.

Concurrently my beloved New York Rangers find themselves in their own state of limbo, as this very afternoon they are scheduled to play their final season/must win game against the New Jersey Devils. With the Carolina Hurricanes tied in points, even if the Rangers are victorious against the Devils they may loose their playoff spot if the Hurricanes beat Tampa Bay in their own final game tonight.

The comparison between these seemingly unrelated issues are not so skin deep. In fact, the very mental state that is derived from political stubbornness and sports fandom all comes from the same place …

First you start with what side you’re for. Are you rooting for the New York Rangers or the New Jersey Devils, the coastal Liberals or the Mid-western Conservatives? One side wearing the color blue, the other side wearing red, both sides having their own mindless legion of fans who will ruthlessly defend their team/ideals no matter how poorly they argue/play. The “spectators” are perhaps the biggest indictment of the modern state of world politics.

 People tend to cling to and proudly display their own political ideals as if they were wearing the jerseys of their team. In a sport like hockey this is all apart of the fun and in most cases aren’t taken to seriously. Oppositely behaving this way in politics only serves as a self – destructive path because the whole point of political discussion (or at least what it should be) is weeding out what’s right and wrong and if people align themselves to one side then they will never progress in their mindset. This serves as just another example of the regressing contemporary self – riotous ideal that the right to believe and say what you want means that you don’t have to listen to anyone else and thus must always be right.

Getting back to the game, the puck, being the issue of debate of coarse, is handled, spun, passed around, and slapped away in an almost pointless set of volleys, which leads once every so often to someone making/getting a point. Goalies deflect pucks the way pendants deflect opposing opinions, but inevitably an inarguable one slips past. The celebration never lasts long though because there’s always the counterpoint being argued as soon as the next face off starts.

For better or worse, this sense of competition is in many ways instinctive. It is only natural for people to pledge allegiance to a side in heated debates; sports, politics, or otherwise because it really all comes down to ego, and it is in all aspects mostly male dominated. The reason I bring gender up is because how many times has one really seen a drunken conversation in a bar (which is very possibly over sports and/or politics) turn into a full out brawl between two women?

What exacerbates things are political shows like the famous “Hardball” who trivialize politics into a kind of sportsmanship that conditions people to believe its okay to be as unresponsive and vulgar when discussing issues of importance as those who play and discuss the trivial nature of competition. Just listen to any political talk and sports talk show back to back and try to differentiate between the two.

The fact is we are all on the same planet, which makes us all on the same team. Seeking politics as a means to sub- culture concerning issues such as basic human rights, pollution, and war is not just silly but truly harmful in the long run. Only when we all begin to wave the flags of peace and progression have we really “won”. In the mean time I can only hope that Obama stands fast against the tea – party caterers who seek to destroy this country’s progress and my Rangers play hard against the New Jersey Devils who seek to destroy any hopes the “Blueshirts” have in getting to the playoffs.

P.S. Let it be recognized that one can make any sport into a metaphor for politics, but hockey is the only one I care about because every other sport sucks ass ; )

Basking in the Peace and Beauty of Self Aware Insignificance

It would not be particularly original or unique for me to reverberate the sentiment that we are living in a back-assed world. The true symptom and solution however is not something that is often shared nor publicly conveyed …

The very people who constantly preach the need for “peace on Earth” are time and time again the same who never want nor try to take the necessary steps to practice it. It is typically the religious who mainstream society publicly enumerates in promoting peace, however the very history of civilization consistently displays that religion itself is the cause for the reason why the state of the world remains anything but peaceful.

War   Bigotry   Terrorism   Abuse - All perpetrated with the love of “God” as their purpose/excuse.

Yet with so many blatant examples of faith's negative effects in the world, people still cling to the establishments of religion … why? Fear for their salvation and the inability to accept the unknown. Religions make sure to hammer into the minds of people from early childhood to stay in line to what they preach (or an unimaginable punishment will be thrust upon them in the afterlife) and to never feel comfortable with simply not knowing.

Has anyone ever wondered why even the most religious of people fear death? Even though the very book they live their lives by tells them exactly what they should expect if they have been “good”. This is from being forced to believe in notions that are completely conflicting to the human instinct leaving people at the end emotionally frustrated in the most vulnerable time in their fading life.

If it is the people of the worlds true intentions to live in a peace then a new philosophy on life needs to be embraced, the understanding of our own insignificance. The truth is that humanity is not apart of any kind of divine plan dictated by the cannons of archaic religions. They only keep people in factions, which only promote war among the sheep and profit for the shepherd’s.

If there is some kind of all encompassing truth to mankind, it is not for us to know about on this plain of existence and certainly not for us to fight over.

The only people in this world who can and are uncovering the secrets to the world are scientists, but regardless the fact of the matter is that it is totally and completely impossible for mankind to ever find out everything about everything. Humanity must give up on the notion that they will uncover every lasting secret and just accept and become comfortable with not knowing.

Only people who can truley accept the unknown can truley live free lives.

It was once thought that the Sun revolved around the Earth, and that Earth itself was the center of the Universe. As the video above clearly shows, the Earth is barely an itch on the back of the known galaxy, yet we are still so segregated by our own frivolous attempts at spirituality. It is thought that not believing in a higher power will breed some kind of moral atrophy, but the opposite is true. The sooner we all accept that we are not important in the scheme of the universe the sooner we can live for the purpose of making each other happier. We are merely a breath away from nothingness. There is nothing to do on this planet but work to simply make each moment beautiful for ourselves and others.

Now that is truly striving for heaven.

P.S. We admit that only the Abrahamic religions are referred to in this post. There will be other posts further detailing why that is.



Wilkie Collins - The Inspirer

“The tide was on the turn, and the horrid sand began to shiver. The broad brown face of it heaved slowly, and then dimpled and quivered …”

Finding that one author who totally changes your outlook and appreciation on what you read and how you go about in life in general is hard to come by. I would actually assume that such an author is not purposely sought after at all and that perhaps in many cases a reader finds him or her by accident. Such was the case for me when a few years back I was looking around Amazon.com for Victorian gothic/mystery type novels and stumbled upon a book by the name of, “The Woman in White”. 

“The best men are not consistent in good--why should the worst men be consistent in evil?”

I always found the crutch of paranormal influence on a story un – engaging yet I still hungered for the atmosphere of gothic drama. This lead me to a sub – genre of Victorian writing known as “Sensationalism” - a genre that shares the aspects and mood of gothic and horror, but revolves around more Earth bound situations. Heading in that direction I naturally then discovered the father and king of Victorian Sensationalism, Wilkie Collins whose writing style is as varied as it is deep, he does not just write for the purpose of suspense. Although reaching at times, all of his novels are based in reality, which makes the scenes of his stories all the more haunting and chilling.

“Your tears come easy, when you're young, and beginning the world. Your tears come easy, when you're old, and leaving it.”

Part philosopher - Collins subtly interjects his own thoroughly insightful observations on life. He usually accomplishes this by speaking through his characters, but after getting to know his writing style a reader will begin to tell when it is “Wilkie” who is trying to get through, however he never sounds preachy or outspoken.

Part romantic - Collins can convex emotions like love and sorrow through his characters with the most sincerest of execution without coming off as cheesy or “lovey dovey”.

Part social activist - Much of the subject matter that he wrote about was inspired by true events and sociopolitical problems at the time.

"Any woman who is sure of her own wits, is a match, at any time, for a man who is not sure of his own temper."

Much of the content involved with Collins novels were deemed in some cases obscene because he spoke of subjects like lust and vice very candidly for the period. However, Collins did not purposely spice up his stories in order to merely sell books, which brings me to his best feature as a writer – his balance. Although the genre he spearheaded was known as “sensationalism” he did not write to be sensational. He was just being honest about life and the state of the world that he lived in.

“What is the language of love, but a language of repetitions?”

Collins also gets an honorable mention for being quite the pimp for his day. He was never legally married, but had two mistresses, fathering children with one. Collins was no chauvinist though; many of the main characters and victims of his stories revolve around women and after he and one of his mistresses passed, his other mistress took care of their graves, an ending to his life as romantic and morbid as Collins’ own works.

Check out his Wikipedia link to learn more about his life and work: Wilkie Collins

What is The Shivering Sands?

Recently I posted on facebook some pictures I took of a dead bird (like the one shown above) I found ravaged by some kind of anonymous animal.

It was sprawled out, headless and gutted, in front of the entrance of where I work. I thought it was particularly interesting and kind of creepy considering it is unknown as to whether the bird died there and was found by the animal(s), or if the animal(s) had found it somewhere else and ended up leaving it where I would eventually stumble up on it.

I personally thought it was neat, but responding comments by friends showed otherwise. In fact the only real comment I got was simply just a question mark. This lead me to realize that not everyone shares my point of view or sense of humor and perhaps it may not be the smartest choice to openly share certain things with people that may not completely understand where I am coming from.

Social Networks like facebook do not make great venues for strong emotion or artisanship because: People end up embarrassing themselves by making statements that they will only regret and/or isolate themselves from friends and family that do not share or understand the point of view being put forth.

This blog will serve as an outlet for me and you for all of the views, opinions, humor, and observations that would otherwise be considered by mainstream thinkers or misunderstanding minds as obscure, warped, dark, risqué, controversial, inappropriate, or even perverted.

Anonymity grants us power.

We ponder what repels others.

We revel in what most fear.

We are The Shivering Sands.

We thank you for reading.

In the next post we will discuss what the inspiration for the theme of the site!