Stallman visits Berkeley!

I like Richard Stallman. He is easy to draw. A few strong pencil strokes for a big face, accentuated by a long, unkempt beard and moustache, a few more for the big, voluminous hair, and you're already smiling! A huge belly, which declares out loud how little he cares of his looks. A straight back, a confident, arrogant facial expression. His pale red T-shirt hangs loosely from his belly. I remember thinking that this makes good air-conditioning.

I tried drawing him during his talk, and was surprised by how closely my sketch resembled him. Then again, I had expected some surprises. We received an email about him coming to Berkeley, and him wanting to stay with a grad student, rather than in a hotel. Very Berkeley, I thought.

So much had happened before I entered the lecture hall, that the talk could only be an anti-climax. It wasn't. Not a bit.

He hopped on one foot while the person introducing him described the awards he has won, he interrupted the introduction, correcting the person. He interrupted again, and announced "You are getting yourself into trouble here!". He started his talk with an unfinished introduction. He took a bow before he started, something I believe he doesn't do everywhere. He used the word "freedom" uncountably many times, much to the elation of the audience. He seemed as idiosyncratic as the Stallmen can be, but with a hint of rationality, which came as a pleasant surprise! The hall was, for once, full, as it vibrated with the giggles, the smirks, and the verbal blows.

My favourite words :

If technology could resurrect the dead, being murdered would be a mere annoyance

(when explaining how technological changes can change our perception of what is moral, and what isn't)