S M O K I N G

Favourite Smoking Venue

  • Clubs and Concerts

    Votes: 2 25.0%
  • Pubs and Hotels

    Votes: 4 50.0%
  • Restaurants

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Workplace/Classroom

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Modes of Public/Private Transport

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Home

    Votes: 2 25.0%
  • In Secret - Hard Drugs More 'Sociable'

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    8
N

nomadologist

Guest
I don't believe that vastly different concepts are "equivalents" just because they have some analogs in different cultural "paradigms"...
 

zhao

there are no accidents
sigh... (would jump in to fight the good if pointless fight with you Noel but... just can't be bothered today. and i'm expecting someone any minute.)

but just remember that you are talking to 2 people in their early 20s with extensive yet myopic and one-sided educations in a very narrow cultural sphere, who have never experienced anything outside of their solipsistic theoretical worlds.

reducing a tried and true body of knowledge, understanding, and discipline which has served millions through out history in their quest for enlightenment and deliverance from worldly traps, guided millions in their struggle against oppressive power, to "mystical mind games", betrays the utterly shocking xeno-phobia and prejudice of the hopelessly ignorant and self righteous.

ultimately, people like this are invested in the belief that we are powerless against capitalism, which they deify to the status of an omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent entity, indeed, God. and all there is left to do is endlessly pontificate within the scope of its boundaries.

so of course when presented with actual solutions and a way out, they will vehemently deny it, for it threatens their entire world view. (it is sad that such young minds can be so closed)

but in the end it matters not what little academics say from within their little castles. people who seek, will find; and people who have not been incapacitated and immobilized, will act.
 

zhao

there are no accidents
to be fair, there are some very good points and keen observations gek and nomad have brought up, which i appreciate. because i do find theory and critique valuable to an extent. (notice that i am eager to learn about theory where as they refuse to admit that spiritual disciplines have any value) but theory and critique are tools for discerning and analyzing problems, and one should not stop there.
 

gek-opel

entered apprentice
sigh... (would jump in to fight the good if pointless fight with you Noel but... just can't be bothered today. and i'm expecting someone any minute.)

but just remember that you are talking to 2 people in their early 20s with extensive yet myopic and one-sided educations in a very narrow cultural sphere, who have never experienced anything outside of their solipsistic theoretical worlds.
reducing a tried and true body of knowledge, understanding, and discipline which has served millions through out history in their quest for enlightenment and deliverance from worldly traps, guided millions in their struggle against oppressive power, to "mystical mind games", betrays the utterly shocking xeno-phobia and prejudice of the hopelessly ignorant and self righteous.
ultimately, people like this are invested in the belief that we are powerless against capitalism, which they deify to the status of an omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent entity, indeed, God. and all there is left to do is endlessly pontificate within the scope of its boundaries.
so of course when presented with actual solutions and a way out, they will vehemently deny it, for it threatens their entire world view. (it is sad that such young minds can be so closed)
but in the end it matters not what little academics say from within their little castles. people who seek, will find; and people who have not been incapacitated and immobilized, will act.

Oh you zinged me there... but seriously, Zhao its not xenophobic to suggest that zen, just like any other form of religion or mysticism (I don't exclude Heidegger from this, or Christianity etc) is suceptible to being utilised as a technology in the interests of the hegemony of the day.... is it? Im not really interested in theory per se, I'm just looking for a theoretical grounding for a system of assymetric warfare (which I will personally set out upon conducting)

A question for you Zhao- how successful has Zen and Buddhism more generally been thus far in opposing capitalism say? (I think not very, but maybe you could inform me of some things I have yet to consider....?)
 
N

nomadologist

Guest
sigh... (would jump in to fight the good if pointless fight with you Noel but... just can't be bothered today. and i'm expecting someone any minute.)

but just remember that you are talking to 2 people in their early 20s with extensive yet myopic and one-sided educations in a very narrow cultural sphere, who have never experienced anything outside of their solipsistic theoretical worlds.

reducing a tried and true body of knowledge, understanding, and discipline which has served millions through out history in their quest for enlightenment and deliverance from worldly traps, guided millions in their struggle against oppressive power, to "mystical mind games", betrays the utterly shocking xeno-phobia and prejudice of the hopelessly ignorant and self righteous.

ultimately, people like this are invested in the belief that we are powerless against capitalism, which they deify to the status of an omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent entity, indeed, God. and all there is left to do is endlessly pontificate within the scope of its boundaries.

so of course when presented with actual solutions and a way out, they will vehemently deny it, for it threatens their entire world view. (it is sad that such young minds can be so closed)

but in the end it matters not what little academics say from within their little castles. people who seek, will find; and people who have not been incapacitated and immobilized, will act.

Hah. Yeah, that's me! Old "experienced nothing" nomadologist.

What have you done to immobilize capitalism lately, Zhao? Listening to bootlegged tapes from Africa doesn't count.
 
N

nomadologist

Guest
I find it entirely hilarious that anyone who denies the validity of "mystical" or "spiritual" metareality is some sort of xenophobe with a "closed mind" in Zhao's mind. Whose mind is closed?

I never said people who practiced different religions didn't perceive some sort of benefit from these practices, but that doesn't mean a mystical metareality exists. Even better, the existence of a mystical metareality only helps serve capitalist realism in that it denies the political "significance" of events that happen in lowly "worldly" reality, and postpones enlightenment to some vague later date when you have finally "searched" yourself thoroughly enough. (all of this is, of course, regardless of the political situation of the subject)
 
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Leo

Well-known member
there's always a contingent lingering outside office buildings here. what I find most interesting is the complete opposite vibe they give off: smoking at one time signified cool, the badass. but now they look a bit pathetic, a handful of sad folks huddled together outside the building entrance, shivering in the winter, looking a bit embarrassed.

the biggest drop off is probably young people, seems like pretty much everyone I knew from age 17 up to about 30 smoked. on the other hand, I still see lots of "social smokers": the ones who will smoke just one cigarette when out drinking.
 

luka

Well-known member
There's something interesting in those times when cigarettes become delicious. Usually they are disgusting but sometimes, like for instance when I had some speed recently, they completely change their nature and become compelling. I was lighting the next cigarette with the still smouldering butt of the last one time and time again. In that particular state of arousal you seem immune to their ill effects.

They have a very strong relationship with time. What it means to have time on your side, as youth, what it means to scorn time, as an older person, what it means to surrender to time and despair, to find that you have lost your wager with time.
 

Leo

Well-known member
weird to think young people will never understand the concept of the smokey bar, the smokey club, the smoke-filled back room. the allure, the mystery, danger even. how can there be sexy intrigue when the secret after hours place has clear air and smells like a combination of spilled alcohol and disinfectant floor cleaner?
 

Leo

Well-known member
I don't know how people can afford to smoke anymore, used to cost $1.50-2.00 for a pack of cigs here when I was young and now the minimum price in NYC is $13. fucking hell, I would have been spending $70 a week now. and I sure as hell wouldn't be giving any away to strangers (or friends!).
 

IdleRich

IdleRich
I was thinking the other day how jarring it is to see someone smoking on TV now, or even in real life.
The other day we went to a restaurant that allowed smoking. Really did do a double-take when I realised that smell was the girls on the table behind us. And then I noticed all the ashtrays on the tables throughout the place. Not illegal here I guess but certainly unusual...
 

pattycakes_

Can turn naughty
Berlin still allows it. They cost about 2 quid in Brazil. Really got into em, a lot of action goes on in the smoking zones. With beer and or stims they're great too, yeah. Somehow I can leave em alone easily, but put a beer in my hand and its almost automatic.
 

Mr. Tea

Let's Talk About Ceps
Well everyone knows the health risks of alcohol and tobacco cancel out when they're taken together, duh.
 

martin

----
Tokyo's become weird in recent years - you're not allowed to have a fag in the street (there's a 'Smoking Police' squad) and there are crossed-out cigarettes stencilled on the pavement...but you can puff away to your lungs' content in any pub, bar or restaurant. You can also smoke on the bullet train.

Next week will be 3 years since I last had one, and I'm really rich. I still carry a pack of 20 when I travel though, in case the plane goes down and I end up stranded in the jungle.
 

Mr. Tea

Let's Talk About Ceps
Hah. Yeah, that's me! Old "experienced nothing" nomadologist.

What have you done to immobilize capitalism lately, Zhao? Listening to bootlegged tapes from Africa doesn't count.

A reminder to all that Nomad could be pretty funny when she was on form.
 
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