I'm Thankful for Nostalgia

I know I'm a little bit late to the whole "I'm Thankful For ..." cliché, but I didn't get the chance to post yesterday and I have a little something to talk about.

So, in a nutshell, I am thankful for nostalgia. I am sitting in my basement, wrapped tight in a warm sweater and warmer blanket, making a small nest in the leather of my couch. I don't usually come down here, because, as an academite, I don't spend a lot of time at home, but this time something called to me. Hidden away, inexplicably, amongst the Christmas decorations, was my box of Nintendo 64 gear.

I had this sense of strange eagerness, an excitement I haven't felt for a while, as I unpacked the stuff and started plugging it into my TV. I quickly selected the only game that ever really interested me in the box, Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask.

Seeing that floating, turning mask on my screen brought back a lot of memories, I spent an entire summer break playing this very game, and don't regret a second of it. I quickly lost myself in this, quite aging game. Nintendo released this classic ten years ago (the equally classic, if unplayed by me Ocarina of Time 12), and it has not lost a single big of charm. The same confused grunting from the voice-actor-less town's folk, the same irritatingly long cut-scenes, I loved every second of this game the first time around, and find myself enjoying it even more, with the added feeling of nostalgia.

So, I am thankful for this feeling, the warmth inside that Nintendo has reached across a decade to deliver to me, I am thankful for this temporary resurrection of my childhood, complete with hot chocolate and warm blankies.

Majora's Mask is the game that set off a lifetime of games, I haven't stopped playing in those 10 years. And although the graphics have gotten more and more "high definition", and the devices running them louder and louder (I cannot hear the fan on my N64), nothing really beats just sitting in my parents basement, enjoying a classic, a true relic from times I wish I still had.

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The United Misanthropes

The Preamble to the Charter of the United Nations reads like a Utopian dream. But when the body actively chooses to move away from the most important part of that dream, one has to wonder why we, as humans, choose to support them.

In particular, I am talking about the part of the preamble relating to human rights.

to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is possibly the most complete listing of all the rights a human can expect merely because they are human. But on Tuesday, November 16th, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution to remove an important reference to the protection of gays from violent execution merely on the grounds of their sexual orientation. The resolution, passed narrowly in a 79-70 vote, will, in the words of British LGBT activist Peter Tatchell "gives a de facto green light to the on-going murder of LGBT people by homophobic regimes, death squads and vigilantes".

I have to say that I agree. This is a huge step backwards in the fight for human rights, not just for LGBT people, but all minority groups across the world. If we can allow countries who are ruled by a religious or idealist government, no matter how they were elected, to change the way the group we have created to protect us from discrimination and violence works, that entirely defeats the purpose of the body.

The United Nations has, here and many times in the past, ineffective and, quite frankly, sometimes contradictory to their own mission statement. This resolution comes as Uganda is considering making homosexuality a capital crime and many nations continue their constant assault on human rights.

(more information can be found at my news outlet of choice, Reuters)

I promise I wont make all of my blog posts political, this was just in my news feed this morning and so I decided to comment on it. Nice way to start a personal blog eh :P

Anyway, I am Alex, I write for me because even I am not narcissistic enough to believe that many people will care. Eventually this blog will find a focus, until then, it will just be whatever the hell I feel like making it. I will try to update at least every other day, hopefully daily.

Until next time

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