Pointless Man

The two Ghost in the Shell movies are replete with theological and philosophical quotes, especially the second one. Assuming this is reflective of the manga upon which they are based, it makes me wonder if the creator intended his title to be as subtly ironic as it ended up. Seeing as the phrase 'ghost in the shell' originated (by Gilbert Ryle) as a derogatory term for the idea of ethereal souls running our worldly bodies, but the point of the series seems to be that souls do in fact exist--and that they can be generated synthetically and transferred, allowing for the classic cyberpunk theme of man and machine, or internet and Real Life being no different. Anyway, it's just a little something that pops into my head every now and then.

I'm sure everybody's already heard about Kanye West's opinion of George W. Bush's care for black people, particularly those suffering the after effects of Hurricane Katrina. So I'll just say this. As a fan of absurdist drama and the stage in general, you could not write a better scene to elicit the often humorous tragedy of man's existence. What Kanye said took guts, right or wrong, and you can watch that video and see a man struggling to say something he feels he has to when he knows he's not supposed to--but it's hilarious, and so are the stunned reactions of his collegues, all the more so because they're the comedians. This is highlighted by the phony prescripted gravity of those around him; at this momement of tragedy, Kanye West was the only one with a human reaction on NBC's program. Whatever comes of this, and whatever I might think of Kanye's musical career henceforth, I will respect him for this one moment; not just for the courage ...