Our Dear Impending Doom

For a long time, I've wanted to post something about illegal media downloading for a lonnggg time. A kind of weird disclaimer, though...I do it, to a degree which I'm not comfortable to judge. I have downloaded a few songs that would be either difficult, expensive, or unreasonable to get otherwise. Almost all of these are in lesser quality than the original, but, anyway. If you don't want to listen to the (hopefully) wise words of a blatant hypocrite, I'm afraid I've just written something totally uninteresting to you. If, however, you don't care to be stupidly admonished by a blockhead, do read on.

Upon a slight thought of what I'm going to write now, I think this would be better as a discussion type thing, but, alas, I'll have to do with this medium.

I guess I'll just start out with an analogy which will seem, and may actually be, incompatable with this issue.

You draw a fairly complex drawing several times, and, by some miracle, people want to buy it. You sell all your copies, and then someone, realizing the potential it has, scans it, uploads it, and offers it for a price. You get nothing, except the original money he paid to you. He will likely gain double, triple, quadruple what you earned from selling it first-hand, even if he offers it for a lower price.

How would you like that?

Now, of course, this is entirely hypothetical and all, but that's, in essence, what's happening. People don't think the music they love is worth their money, merely because they can get it elsewhere for less or nothing. Now that I think about it, it makes me wonder whether that's why I have little money compared to those I know. Anyway.

It's stealing. It can't really be said simpler. If they offer their music free, no matter where you get it, you shouldn't have to charge anything. As it is, most music isn't free, and thus every copy ought to be paid for in full. If this doesn't happen, the music industry will eventually be unable to sustain itself. It's quite simple. If people don't understand that paying for things really does have an effect on the world they live in...then the world they live in will no longer be able to live. If everything could be acquired at no cost...

...I really can't imagine what'd happen then.

Your insane, hypocritical, and blockheaded writer,


!Noah!

Belated Post 2 of (freaky infinity symbol I'm too lazy to copy from the previous post)

Ok. I have officially wickedly not posted for a full, generic, everyday, normal week. That is bad, if you hadn't guessed or deduced or something. I'm just going, I think, to rant on about how lazy and procrastinatory I can manage to be, but first, I need to let you people know that, even now, my mind is bubbling over with ideas to do for the next strip. However, I can assure you the punchline is more than likely to be boring, at best.

Oook. Now that I've got that out, I might as well write something. Oh, yes. My totally useless commentary on, uh, what should I call it? Intuition? Could be something else, but, anyway.

Now. If I said I was going to give you the next strip of the comic (find it interesting that, so far, I haven't officially given it a name?), you'd expect something. Naturally. You might find Jack in a hospital. You might find a worthless, book-long epitaph that doesn't honor the poor dude in the least. That's a little far from what I think you'd expect, but you do expect something.
On the other hand, if I was going to pour applesauce on my keyboard, you'd either expect me to have replaced my keyboard with a prop or something...or I might be taking revenge on the demonic periphiral.
Basically, my point is, from experience, humans learn to expect an effect when they supply a cause. Eventually, we're so good at it that we can go months or even years without stubbing our toes.

...

Anyway, I hope you got my point. I think it's probably unhealthy for my writing skills, to have not written for seven days on end.

You also might be interested to know I'd rather like the comic to become something much more humorously driven than its, uh, origin, the story. I may be a worthless self-criticizer, but Ketchup was kinda tasting the dust, in preparation for biting it. I really hope the comic can do better. I'm actually kind of running out of ideas for the comic. If you have any, feel free to put them in the comments. Oh, and if the "Vague Rebuts" naming thing has thrown ANYONE off, I'd kind of, almost, maybe like to change it back to comments. On the other hand, maybe I won't.

Yours continuously, deceptively, and ridiculously,


!Noah!

A Little More of Something New

Somehow, I managed not to write something in the, what, four days it's been since I posted the first strip of my comic? Anyway, because of my laziness, you get another strip to drool over. If you wish.

I still want to have it full-page, but, at the second strip, I can't exactly have everything perfect yet.

Your professionally procrastinating writer,



!Noah!

Something New...

Greetings. Now, for hardly any time at all, now, I've been occasionally thinking about making some sort of black and white production. With an unhealthy dose of hope, Inkscape, and a couple of good friends and siblings saying and/or doing things here and there, such a work has now come into existence. It is most likely my pleasure to introduce to you, Ketchup, the unprecedented webcomic by Some Loon from Minnesota. I hope you enjoy it.

Your graphically inept, doubtless stereotype-mutating, and otherwise ectoplasmic writer,


!Noah!

That Darn Tune

I've thought at various times in the last, say, two years, about the sad reality that there really is something in a person, that, if changeable, is yet not overly fickle. Some or most people call this taste. Personally, the analogy to food seems more than useful. I don't hugely enjoy pickles, I kind of detest both cranberries and cherries, and I love...what is the weirdest food I love? Without much thought, I give up. Anyway. I'm sure I've put off dozens of readers for a month, at least.
See, I love some types of food that others wouldn't eat if they had to, but I hate some types of food that others adore, at least vocally, more than direct family.
I argue that it's the same with music. I love almost anything Hans Zimmer makes, and yet some of my friends can find few adjectives to describe such music either than "repetetive," or such.
There's probably an element of mood in there, meaning listening to the saddest music you can think of...wouldn't be your best choice when, for instance, you were downright joyful. When I'm happy, I can enjoy happy music more. When I'm sad, sad music can sometimes even comfort me.
Songs are enjoyable in a unique way, because words have been carefully crafted to fit the tune. It may be hard to tell which is the most powerful, words or music, but, combined, they can be an amazingly beautiful medium. More than frequently, songs express elements of life that we can relate to better than who knows what. They speak of truths, or lies, that we know of, think about, and react to emotionally. I, personally, have very few songs in my collection of music, (actually, my collection of music is small. Period.) and those few that I have, I don't relate to as well as others. I much more enjoy the soundtracks of the Batman series, or Crimson Tide, or even small, happy tunes like those borrowed by Zimmer from Carl Orff, You're So Cool, from True Romance. The movies Hans Zimmer scores are more than frequently foul, but the music he makes for even these is wonderful to me.
I believe some people are capable of enjoying some music immensely, others are able to enjoy said music slightly, and others still can exude nothing but boredom in their presence. I think our taste for music is probably shaped at one time or another in life by those around us, but, as we grow older, I think our taste for music becomes much less changable, much more stable and sure.
I used to enjoy Vivaldi. I can, occasionally, enjoy one peice or another of his, but, by and large, my love for his music has evaporated.
I'd really love to enjoy all the music there ever was. If I were a mite stupider, or a mite more loving of music, I'd probably sell my soul to the devil to be able to. As it is, I enjoy only what I enjoy. It will, no doubt, be the same with you. You can't just download ten random songs from iTunes and love every one of them, both because not all music is good, but also because of your taste in music.

Your miserly, music-loving, and hardly indicative writer,


!Noah!

Homosexuality: Right or Not?

Ok. First, I'd like to be clear. I am not homosexual. It truly makes me cringe to think any of my readers ever thought that. However, I do wish to make a few notes on, I guess, how Christians ought to go about opposing homosexuality and the unions created thereby.

I really do wish homosexuality didn't exist. It is utterly beyond my comprehension why I would ever be attracted to a man in a way remotely similar to that which attracts me to girls. I have never seen any boy or man who I would ever be attracted to in that way, nor, I hope, ever will. The idea really disgusts me, more than marrying woman who, merely for instance, has no limbs. This idea shakes my backbone, but loving a man in a way similar, even vaguely, to the way in which I hope to love a woman...is much worse.

This said, however, I believe homosexuals have the inalienable right to do this, what we consider an abomination. How could they not? It is not unlawful. It does not physically harm anyone. Emotional harms and socialogical harms, to us, are obvious, but, to our culture, can we prove this? Can we prove to our sinful culture that this abomination actually and really harms real people in meaningful ways? If so, will they care? I think not.

I believe homosexuals have the right to be homosexuals. I honestly think that, if homosexuality is banned anywhere, it shouldn't be. If you disagree, tell me why. I can't see why it should be banned. The Bible says so? What can we do about that?

Your hope-inspiring, nervous, and worthlessly confusing writer,


!Noah!

Part 1 and 2 of It Was a Dark and Gloomy Night.

I've compiled, laboriously, the first two parts of It Was a Dark and Gloomy Night (as I just decided to title it.)

A Zip of the HTML

Feel free to edit the stuff, as far as I know, but, I suppose I ought to confirm the other SOers' permission or something.


!Noah!