Baz Luhrmann - Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen)

Ladies and gentlemen of the class of '99: Wear sunscreen.

If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it.

The long term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience.

I will dispense this advice now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. Oh never mind, you will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they've faded.

But trust me, in 20 years you'll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much possibility laid before you and how fabulous you really looked. You are not as fat as you imagine.

Don't worry about the future; or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind; the kind that blindsides you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday.

Do one thing everyday that scares you.

Sing.

Don't be reckless with other people's hearts, don't put up with people who are reckless with yours.

Floss.

Don't waste your time on jealousy; sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind. The race is long, and in the end, it's only with yourself.

Remember compliments you receive, forget the insults. If you succeed in doing this, tell me how.

Keep your old love letters, throw away your old bank statements.

Stretch.

Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives, some of the most interesting 40 year olds I know still don't.

Get plenty of calcium.

Be kind to your knees, you'll miss them when they're gone.

Maybe you'll marry, maybe you won't, maybe you'll have children, maybe you won't, maybe you'll divorce at 40, maybe you'll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary.

Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself either - your choices are half chance, so are everybody else's.

Enjoy your body, use it every way you can. Don't be afraid of it, or what other people think of it, it’s the greatest instrument you'll ever own.

Dance, even if you have nowhere to do it but in your own living room.

Read the directions, even if you don't follow them. Do NOT read beauty magazines, they will only make you feel ugly.

Get to know your parents, you'll never know when they'll be gone for good.

Be nice to your siblings; they are the best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.

Understand that friends come and go, but for the precious few, you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle because the older you get, the more you need the people you knew when you were young.

Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard; live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.

Travel.

Accept certain inalienable truths; prices will rise, politicians will philander, you too will get old, and when you do you'll fantasize that when you were young, prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and children respected their elders.

Respect your elders.

Don't expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you'll have a trust fund, maybe you'll have a wealthy spouse, but you'd never know when either one might run out.

Don't mess too much with your hair, or by the time you're 40, it will look 85.

Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than its worth.

But trust me on the sunscreen.

More things

If somebody watched Channel 8 recently, there's an ad for a show (no idea what it is) and the Superman theme plays.

What the fuck is that supposed to mean?

If somebody watched TV recently, there's a Gatsby ad for a product (no idea what it is) and there are 2 versions of the ad. One is where Kimura Takuya moves around in the scene and acts gay. The second version is where we see his face and 6 hands are molesting it.

What the fuck is that supposed to mean?

Love it. Here's something interesting to read: There's this article I read about things that were manly and are not manly anymore. There's one thing on the list - Chivalry.

"Whether you like it or not, gone are the days of roses, hastily scrawled love poems, and sweet serenades crooned lovingly outside a fair maiden’s window. Today, women may pretend like they want to be courted by a chivalrous gentleman, but in reality the chivalrous man has about as much chance of netting the girl of his dreams as Helen Keller has of winning a darts competition. Women want a good-looking, arrogant asshole to treat them like crap. You may think that’s overly-misogynistic, but it’s a scientifically proven fact* that once a woman finds out you are attracted to her, her level of attraction towards you drops by at least 50%. Chivalry, in all its forms, focuses on the man professing his endless love for the woman whilst doing quasi-romantic deeds – deeds that, today, immediately drive women away. It’s an unfortunate trend, to be sure, but an unavoidable one: the chivalrous romantic can write all the love songs and give all the gifts he wants, but outside circumstances aside (in this case, “outside circumstances” means “money”), the chivalrous man will end up with nothing more than his dick in his hands by the end of the day, while the cocky asshole who lifts weights and/or plays guitar chokes the girl of your dreams to death with his penis."

Now. How true is that?

A few things to get off my chest

First of all, a thought that occurred to me earlier today while I was reading the paper:

Christians elsewhere: "If you're going to throw your life away, you might as well give it to others."
Christians here: "If you're going to throw your life away, you might as well give it to God."

Second, I walked out and I was saw something happen on TV. Reminds me of many many times a similar scene happened.

A woman gets to be irrational and bitchy and unreasonable and it's perfectly fine because she's a woman and women are like that.

But if men do that, they are wrong. Period. Guys cannot get angry. Guys must always be a gentleman. Guys are always in the wrong. Guys should always give in. Guys should always be the one who loses out.

If a girl gets angry, she's cute. If she's being demanding, she's cute. If she's being unreasonable, she's cute.

Heads up: NOT CUTE.

We live in a world where the ones who were disadvantaged in the past are being empowered to protect themselves. But that power goes too far. Remember how Justice is blind? Well, despite that, Justice is a woman. Women look out for each other.

This isn't personal (at least not in terms of law). It's very frustrating to see so many examples in TV drama or movies that always show men as victim of circumstance, and then the women being total bitches refusing to understand but somehow in the end the guy loves her for that and they end up happily ever after.

It's very misleading. And it's teaching the girls of our time all the wrong things in life. They assume being complete assholes to be very attractive, and the worse thing is, there are guys who are stupid enough to accept it, and suffer under it for years.

"You're just whining that nobody likes you, you fat ass."

Is it? Is it really? Because seriously if the girl is irritating and overbearing, I don't care if she wants to have my babies (although the situation would be very ironic). It's just a big turnoff.

Previously on Heroes....

It's amazing watching the last episode of Heroes with the guys in school today.

Every twist was reacted with a tired "holy~".

Every new revelation was greeted with a shocked "OMG!"

Every hit to Sylar was celebrated with a hearty "YEAH!"

I have to say though. This episode is gay.

Why Bother?

I don't need you.

Because you all sure as hell don't need me.

Everyone hates me. Why bother showing up and causing so much suffering and holding back when I can just not show up and make everyone's day just that bit better?

I know where I stand. Don't try to make me think otherwise.

Blogger is SCREWED UP

Read title.

Importance

Spiderman. Me.

Notice the difference?

I'm here today to talk my importance. As a person. So first I must ask: Am I important? From many situations I have come to find that it's not the answer I want to hear.

I watched Spiderman 3 today. The word of the day was "Choice". Between vengeance and forgiveness. It's good.

You see, I'm not a superhero an entire city of people worship. I'm not so noble. I'm just an ordinary guy. I never forget. And I never forgive.

I know how important I am to every single one of my... "Friends". I know every single hypocritical statement that could attempt to counter this, but deep inside you know how fake and how superficial it is.

That's what we are. Superficial. No matter what you say, I will not believe. Because human nature is what it is. It never changed, and never will.

So before anyone tries to attack me with any of your "feel good" philosophies, think again. Think how true it is before you say it. Because after that, I don't want you to regret it.