Change is good... I like change...

Every now an then I need a change.

Change is invigorating, empowering, innovative, challenging.

Change is forcing me to reorganize and find patterns that I can use to function.

voluntary Change is hoping for the better.

change IS http://alexlazar.wordpress.com/

Old interests resurrected

I've just found two websites that reminded me of old days.

The first is http://www.chesscube.com/ . About 6 years ago I was playing amateur chess. Me and a bunch of high school colleagues were playing non-stop. We were playing during breaks and during lectures. We would stay after classes just to finish a game.

Now, since I started playing on chess cube I've lost almost all games. I won two or three, but that was just luck. Or it was just the fact that the opponents were indeed weaker. than me It's interesting because the results of playing against hundreds of opponents from all over the world give you a pretty good hint about your real level.

The second website is http://forums.philosophyforums.com/ . I've just found it so I really don't have anything to say about it yet. But I can't wait to confront others and their convictions. At this point I think I've forgotten my own. It's a long time since i forgot why I named my blog "system addicted" and even longer time since I was reading Nietzsche and I was contesting reality as it appears to us. But I hope I'll remember.

Blog update (part 1) - very unprofessional

It seems that in the blogger community updating the blog on a daily / weekly basis is a must. I don't. But as some people gave me subtle hints like "When are you gonna update your blog? Why start it if you weren't gonna use it?!" I have decided to indulge them :)

So here is a summary. I know this is not the way to do it, but I'm a poor excuse for a blogger, so here it goes:

19th August 2008 - We arrive in Copenhagen, Denmark. Beautiful city and definitely a great change of landscape when coming from Bucharest.


Favorite means of transport is commonly known as "bike". Not having one means that you'll become insane looking after other people's bikes day after day... and they're a lot. Having one means that you'll freeze every day on your way to school or work, but at least you stay fit and spare some bus money.



TIP: One of the things that I really like about Copenhagen is the public transport. Bus, metro and S-train are all under the same administration which means unified fares and tickets. One ticket will last you one hour during which you can use any transportation. So feel free to jump from a metro in a bus; as long as you reach your destination within an hour there's really no problem. Oh, and check out the fully automated metro.

One thing that I really dislike about Copenhagen is the public transport. The city is organized in zones and the ticked price is based on the number of zones that you want to cross. Nice idea in theory, but in practice it's hell to figure out what kind of tickets you want and what tricky detour you should take so that you won't pay for that zone that you're just passing through and not actually stopping.


TO DO: Buy a boat and live like the Highlander. At least I wouldn't have to worry about paying rent; I'm sure a dock fee is a lot more reasonable.


And "Yes", I have seen the Little Mermaid. It was quite nice actually...


Ok, there will be more, but I'm tired now. It was quite an effort braking a habit not to update the blog so bear with me.

Death Note

Death Note is absolutely brilliant.

I've seen the final episode last weekend and I still can't get it out of my system. Well... Listening continuously to the soundtrack might have something to do with it, but I still fount it to be a near perfect story.

Death Note has several versions: there is the manga (Japanese comic book), the anime movies and the anime TV series. There is even a real live action movie released in 2006.

I've seen the anime TV series and I'm gonna give it a 10/10 for animation, directing and voice talents (for the original Japanese version, of course).

What I particularly liked about it is that there is no Good vs. Evil, no Light vs. Darkness. It's a conflict between two concepts. Let me put it simply: if you could kill every evil person on this world would you do it? Would you ignore a lifetime of believing that killing is bad and take upon yourself the role of the executioner? How would you decide who is evil and who isn't?

My answer is that I don't know. I believe there are some situations that you can't imagine a reaction for. You could say "I wouldn't do that", but in fact you can't give an honest answer because you're not actually in that situation. Furthermore, your answer is influenced by the person that raised the question; if you care what that person thinks of you, then you are bound to give an answer that will please that person.

You would think that answering this questions is a battle of mind and you wouldn't be too far from the plot of Death Note. The main character finds a note that enables the owner to kill just by writing down a name and he decides to purge the world from evil. But soon a mysterious investigator takes a particular interest in the case of serial killing. A duel begins between two brilliant minds, each trying to learn the name of the other.

The anime is a race that keeps you in constant tension. With each episode the situation changes and when you think someone is close to winning, a spin of events turns the edge to the other.

The characters are profound, unique and they evolve in response to the events that occur. Even more: there are no random events. You would even think that the characters defy fate and it's all about who can predict the other one's actions, who can control the environment and who can plan in advance. The tone of fantasy given by the Shinigami (Death Gods) and by the Death Note itself is fulfilling the plot in the unique way of Japanese stories. A bonus: there are no classical anime "teardrops" or "# signs" or "extreme big eyes" that you find in kids anime. I've seen the "small pupil" once or twice, but it was well placed and didn't bother.

The show has a slight fall after episode 25, once with a big event that steers the story on a different route. But even so, the second part of the series is worth watching as it concludes in a magnificent final episode that left me wondering what kind of person I really am.

Polished crosswalks

Today, on the way to my workplace I've stumbled on a newly polished crosswalk. It was fresh white and shining under the sun.

Bucharest has blossomed these last few days... Actually the flowers sprung out of nowhere. We now have newly painted fences and road markers, newly planted trees and flowers. Newly remade anything you can think of.

I'll bet that from space you can see a shining route all the way from the airport to the People's House.

What's the catalist of this accelerated and fascinating thansformation? 2008 NATO Summit. Everybody is doing the best they can to make the city look pretty, to make us look pretty. The foreign officials will get a warm welcome and they'll have a little patry surrounded by this pretty, artificially grown flower. They won't know it's just a mask; they won't see beyond the shiny path that's been laid down for them. They'll leave deceived by an illusion.

And when everything will be over we'll throw away the flower and keep living between the roots and thorns like we always did.

Everybody says that we've changed after '89. That the European influence made us better. But it didn't. We're the same as we were before, we're just as we've always been.

You don't believe me? I just got an idea for an experiment!

Stay tuned!