A few hundreds of years ago, Thomas Hobbes, one of the greatest philosophers, dared to assert that “war is the natural state of man“. Human nature, always competitive, and the right of each to all things are a prelude for conflict.

A few decades ago, like any other (selfish) child, I was fighting for most of my toys . Yet, I was never fighting for the little plastic soldiers, but behind them, leading them to an imaginary victory. Although badly and fragile shaped from ugly, green  plastic material, small and incapable for real actions in the eyes of the people around me, the little army was the best reason for my imagination to go wild. I saw what no one else could see: a real battle field unleashed just there, on the table.

Copyright © richardwthompson on flickr

(...)
Read the rest of War? The Natural State Of Man (158 words)

© Irina Alexandra for Weirdomatic, 2010. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: art, fun, history

I remember I read somewhere a very interesting quote by Bertrand Russell. I think it goes like this: “War does not determine who is right, only who is left“. And also what is left. Abandoned war installations, military bases above or under the ground, old hospitals can be considered the perfect eyeglass for the not necessarily sad past, but for an interesting and captivating world - fighting techniques, war medical practices, use of buildings, weapons.

Some facilities are no more than simple structures, but still able to say a lot about people of that time and their beliefs, condition and possibilities. Others are real wonders, architectural masterpieces… Let’s take a tour around the world.

Cambridge Military Hospital, Aldershot, United Kingdom

Built by Messrs Martin Wells and Co. with costs of about £45,758

Compiled & Copyright ©Martin Edwards 2009,  Source: Roll of honour

(...)
Read the rest of Forgotten Military Facilities (935 words)

© Irina Alexandra for Weirdomatic, 2010. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: architecture, history, lifestyle

Smoking cigarettes is not always a death cause. But SOMETIMES IT IS. I used to know people who had been smoking since ever and lived many, many years. Even if they didn’t smoke their life, they smoked their health, their money, their youth.

I still can’t understand what is the pleasure of throwing money on ashes and inhaling smoke. Life is full of beautiful things that can make us overcome stress. Then.. why cigarettes?

(...)
Read the rest of Ashes – Anti-Smoking Advertisments (195 words)

© Irina Alexandra for Weirdomatic, 2010. | Permalink | 7 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: advertising, history, lifestyle

Despite my many travels and the fact I have never entered in a casino and I’m not even curious, always desperately wanted to see Las Vegas… not necessarily for the bright lights and glitter, for the magnificent shows or famous games, but for that hidden side that very few people know, its weird sites – haunted Las Vegas.

The Sin City has many hot spots where unsettled spirits hide their shadows: schools, boulevards, hotels and casinos. I could find information about a few such kind of strange and mysterious places so here it is – maybe just rumors or plain scary truth… who knows

(...)
Read the rest of Haunted Las Vegas (1,266 words)

© Irina Alexandra for Weirdomatic, 2010. | Permalink | 28 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: games, history, travel