Words according to Thomas, Co-Founder, Jack of all Trades, and Creative Director of Raven Vanguard
Another Weekly Once-over, another enlightened Raven-styled ménage à trois?
Hardly! Instead, with no pretense or evidence of either divine intervention, synchronicity, or meaningful coincidence, I again am left to toil utterly alone in masturbatory silence in a déjà vu of my own making while my soon-to-be-erstwhile Femme counterparts blissfully engage in random, but purposeful, acts of debauchery elsewhere. Not surprisingly, Neil Diamond’s Solitary Man has been playing in my head on repeat all day, and from time-to-time, the Man In Black invades my brain with his unique take on the Diamond classic which Cash recorded for American III in 2000.
International Women’s Day
For our male readers, yes, this is actually a thing, and it rightfully has been ever since 1910; so, please stop your asinine bitching every March 8th with snide comments about the urgent need for a corresponding day for men. Because guess what, International Men’s Day also happens to be a thing, that is celebrated, undeservedly so, every November 19th. Being honest, the sheer volume of misogynistic Tweets posted today has been absolutely horrifying.
What is the biggest lie perpetrated in the history of humankind? Why the one fabricated by mankind, of course. That being, women are inferior to men in every way imaginable, all to lend credence to and reinforce this foolhardy notion that patriarchy exists for the betterment of humanity. From an existential viewpoint, I think it’s sure as hell safe and overdue to finally call outright bullshit on this fallacy that a patriarchal social structure somehow works for the benefit of all beings.
If you are someone who continues to champion this ridiculous belief, you have most definitely come to the wrong place looking for either understanding or agreement, because I am not capable of providing you with either one. Patriarchy is as insidious as any deeply-rooted disease, and it does nothing other than maintain a status quo in which women are denied opportunity, discriminated against, assaulted, or much worse. Thankfully, my Parents raised me to not beat around the bush and to speak frankly in the face of injustice. I know that other men feel the same way I do, so it’s about time we all speak out together to achieve genuine equality once and for all.
Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.
Huawei has sued the US government over a federal law which prohibits federal agencies from purchasing 5G products and other electronic equipment made by Huawei. Here’s the thing, Huawei is a Chinese-based company with close ties to the Chinese government, seeing that it was founded in 1987 by a Chinese military engineer.
From where I sit, our Government’s position towards Huawei is entirely justified because of back door vulnerabilities and the risk of penetrability existing in today’s cybersecurity environment. This is an area of zero tolerance whenever and wherever there is a risk of a foreign intelligence service gaining access to our Country’s electronic infrastructure. The latest version of the Cold War is every bit as volatile as the forty-five year Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union following the end of World War II.
All this playing out while Canada is embroiled in its own messy situation with Huawei and China that has escalated this past week.
A Messy Week Ahead for Brexit
This coming week will shed much-needed light upon the United Kingdom’s impending exit from the European Union as the clock till doomsday tick tocks away in the background. Tuesday, March 12th will give us a better sense of just how precarious Theresa May’s political standing is in her home Country.
New York State’s Dimwitted Marijuana Legacy
As further proof that New York State government and its Legislature are nothing more than a fool’s paradise, the chances of marijuana legalization in New York grows dimmer by the day.
Where Would We Be Without the Bauhaus?
In 2019 we celebrate the 100th Anniversary of the short-lived Bauhaus School which was founded by architect Walter Gropius in 1919 in Weimar, Germany and closed in 1934 in the wake of Hitler’s attempts to eradicate art and aesthetics in Europe before the start of World War II.
For me, personally speaking, Gothic, Baroque, and Renaissance art and architecture, especially that found within sacred spaces and religious buildings, spark my imagination and creativity in ways that inspire my uncompromising design aesthetic, and bring me closer to the mystical. But, alongside these, the Bauhaus also had a similar impact in that it fueled my desire to experiment with and transcend the banality of the commonplace.
With names like Oskar Schlemmer, Grete Stern, Wassily Kandinsky, Gunta Stolzl, Paul Klee, Anni Albers, Josef Albers, Mies van der Rohe, and Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, the Bauhaus was a place of extraordinary vision like no other in modern times.
The Bauhaus School viewed the world through a different lens; one that revealed the limitless nature of our imaginations, and did so in ways that transcended both time and culture.