So the new Max Richter reworking of Vivaldi's Four Seasons is delectable. I can't recommend it highly enough. I am listening to all kinds of new music, and spurred on by Cascadian Black Metal, a nice genre of black metal coming out of the Cascade Mountains, a range that extends from BC to Northern Cali.
I downloaded a couple of Skagos albums from bandcamp, and I dig their one track album from 2012, "Anarchic." It's a solid song. I'm definitely going to be exploring this genre a ton more, as it lines up with my ethics almost seamlessly.
I'm about to go downtown and get groceries and get money for my landlady. I have found a few sweet recipes that I'll share tomorrow. Should be a fun week of experimentation. I invited Lora over for dinner, and we'll see what she has to say about that. I have so much work to do, and here I go.
No Lora, but more music. Very excited to be alive right now.
"This bright thread so pure,
drawn through everything that is.."
I choose to live. One day as a lion.
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Saturday, September 29, 2012
(Saturday Life #8) 29 September 2012
New layout and all kinds of edits. Haven't really changed anything in the four years or so of this blog's existence, but I'm finding a new place in life, mentally and physically, and I've been due for a change.
I've listened to and reviewed about 20 albums in the last few days and I'm still stuck on the first minute of Jane Campion's The Piano. I hope to watch a tad before I slink off to sleepyland. I'm so stuck on black metal right now, and I think I will be for good. Finally a genre that is depressive enough to allow me to fully express myself. It would be a good substitute for religion.
I've listened to and reviewed about 20 albums in the last few days and I'm still stuck on the first minute of Jane Campion's The Piano. I hope to watch a tad before I slink off to sleepyland. I'm so stuck on black metal right now, and I think I will be for good. Finally a genre that is depressive enough to allow me to fully express myself. It would be a good substitute for religion.
Friday, September 28, 2012
(Friday Life #4) 28 September 2012
Perhaps the best cure for the fear of death is to reflect that life has a beginning as well as an end. There was a time when you were not: that gives us no concern. Why then should it trouble us that a time will come when we shall cease to be? To die is only to be as we were before we were born. -William Hazlitt, essayist (1778-1830)
I've been listening to a lot of music these last few days. I've uncovered a few amazing albums, including Sabaton's Carolus Rex and Agalloch's Faustian Echoes. It's been great to consciously listen to music again, and I've even been writing short reviews of each movie I've seen, with the impetus to become a better writer. I've been suspended for 6 days now, and it's very frustrating. It should end soon. Tomorrow I will overnight a letter to Portland to get it there by Monday.
I've been listening to a lot of music these last few days. I've uncovered a few amazing albums, including Sabaton's Carolus Rex and Agalloch's Faustian Echoes. It's been great to consciously listen to music again, and I've even been writing short reviews of each movie I've seen, with the impetus to become a better writer. I've been suspended for 6 days now, and it's very frustrating. It should end soon. Tomorrow I will overnight a letter to Portland to get it there by Monday.
Thursday, September 27, 2012
(A Look at the Weekend #6) 27 September 2012
Hmm. Going to see a "Galician" neo-folk band at Ritval tattoo tomorrow night with Lora. They're named Sangre de Muergado. Should be pretty sweet.
I had better be back at work next week too, so that means I need to do laundry as well. Being off a whole week has done wonders for my writing, and my apartment is looking a bit better.
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
You Are a Daughter of Heaven (Music #7) 26 September 2012
"For me, hardcore is simply unapologetic music, free of rules. By that definition, we're a hardcore band."
Jacob Bannon of Converge, in interview here
Today I'm going to write about an album that changed my life:
Burzum.
Jacob Bannon of Converge, in interview here
Today I'm going to write about an album that changed my life:
Burzum.
This self-titled album by Burzum from 1992 is the first non-demo album by notorious Varg Vikernes, or "Count Grishnakh." It is widely considered to be the first atmospheric black metal album. It is shrill at times, evoking the poor production quality that was heralded by the Norwegian Black Metal (NBM) scene. It involves a lot of references that I'll try to include here, and it's part of a complex NBM mythology that is anti-Christian and anti-commercial.
I - Feeble Screams From Forests Unknown
I have to give Vikernes a lot of credit. He played this entire thing himself. He's clearly got a lot of talent, and you can tell some of the timing is off and his concepts of solos and other musical ideas come from a background where he can't choose which instrument he really wants to play. Perhaps that is part of the genius? Overall he creates a very dark mood here that you can't help but see as hugely influential. He has said crazy things, like:
What strikes me as crazy here might not to most. I'm more worried about the welcoming of catastrophe, and labeling the best amongst us.
"We saw what happened to ancient Greece and the Roman Empire when they started to let other cultures influence their own culture, and the same is happening to the rest of Europe today. On the other hand we cannot be so conservative that we want to keep inferior systems and ideas no matter what, if there are better alternatives. I think we should be open to everything that is in accordance with our blood and our collective meaning of life, and reject the rest. On the other hand, I have never heard a good idea from outside Europe (and by Europe I mean "the European [Nordic] race"), so I don't think this will be much of a problem to Europe.
Burzum means "darkness" and was originally first named "Kalishnikov" (after the inventor of the AK-47) and then Uruk-Hai (the name of Orcs from J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings series). Varg referred to himself as Count Grishnakh, an orc commander from the aforementioned series. So it's kinda goofy, right? Varg has also made mention of influence by lots of classical music as well. So maybe it's not so goofy? The album features shrieks that would have probably been chill-inducing in the early 90s. Track II is about Ea (Babylonian), or Enki (Sumerian), as he was originally known, a great God who (at least in Babylonian lore) took the shape of many twisted creatures.
Vikernes himself seems to be like this. Sometimes supporting racist music (Waffen SS) and claiming to be incredibly racist, and then an Enki-like maneuver to be as void of contact with them as possible, Vikernes is wearing whichever face seems to thrill best and then stripping himself of the facade in time to avoid consequences. I am fully aware that he served time in prison. It's possible that he should have served more, however. He was sentenced to 21 and spent almost 16.
"Ironically, the only thing that can save mankind is a stream of pandemics, natural disasters and other human catastrophes, wiping out most of us. In fact, I think the catastrophe is inevitable -- unless something drastic happens very soon -- , and to be honest I even welcome it. The sooner this world order collapses the better. We don't even need to do anything for it to collapse in chaos. The best and only thing we can do is to get away from the tidal wave, and make sure the best amongst us survive, along with our Pagan culture."
The concept of multiculturalism is just brain-dead crap, as one culture will eventually prevail at the expense of the other cultures in the same area, so if we wish to see our own culture survive we have to be intolerant and conservative, and reject - and even destroy -- alien influences."
That's about as racist as it gets, and sad. It's disappointing. I'm grateful for artists taking the quality parts of this and moving forward with it, but it begs for explanation, I feel. The music is metal, which is fairly multicultural, when you think of bands like Sepultura, Slayer, and Metallica, who have all had non-caucasian members. It continues to become more multicultural and diverse, a fact that must really irritate Varg, enabling him to belch out lines like, "The world's tragedy, is served at my feast!"
Still, this album doesn't really showcase his bizarre worldview. It's an album worth hearing, there can be no doubt about it.
References
Film
-Until the Light Takes Us, Aites and Ewell, 2008.
Literature/Websites
-Atmospheric black metal, from rateyourmusic.com
-Ea, article at wikipedia
-Lords of Chaos, Moynihan and Soderlind, 2003 (Updated version)
-Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien
-On the Importance of Burzum, from burzum.com
-Time's Arrow: Show No Mercy - An Interview with Jacob Bannon of Converge, via Pitchfork here
Music
-Burzum, Burzum, 1992.
Other things of interest. A new video for "Astral Body" by Between the Buried and Me off of their forthcoming Parallax part 2, new songs by Converge, "Aimless Arrow," which was made into a good music video, and a second mentioned by Stosuy in his recent Show No Mercy.
New Bob Dylan, new Swans, new Grizzly Bear, new Fiona Apple, new Max Richter, along with checking out notable releases this year of bands I'm not at all familiar with, like Tame Impala, and so much more that I still need to hear this year. I've listened to bits and pieces of all of those above, but I'm so focused on black metal right now that it's difficult to give them the amount of time they deserve. I am working on it.
Speaking of black metal (and metal in general), I missed a couple of really good shows this last weekend and Monday, with bands like Yob, Ash Borer, and Menace Ruine. It makes me that much more desperate about making the Converge trip happen. To end it for this week, here's a fun new song by the fun stoner metal bad Red Fang, out of portland.
I - Feeble Screams From Forests Unknown
I have to give Vikernes a lot of credit. He played this entire thing himself. He's clearly got a lot of talent, and you can tell some of the timing is off and his concepts of solos and other musical ideas come from a background where he can't choose which instrument he really wants to play. Perhaps that is part of the genius? Overall he creates a very dark mood here that you can't help but see as hugely influential. He has said crazy things, like:
What strikes me as crazy here might not to most. I'm more worried about the welcoming of catastrophe, and labeling the best amongst us.
"We saw what happened to ancient Greece and the Roman Empire when they started to let other cultures influence their own culture, and the same is happening to the rest of Europe today. On the other hand we cannot be so conservative that we want to keep inferior systems and ideas no matter what, if there are better alternatives. I think we should be open to everything that is in accordance with our blood and our collective meaning of life, and reject the rest. On the other hand, I have never heard a good idea from outside Europe (and by Europe I mean "the European [Nordic] race"), so I don't think this will be much of a problem to Europe.
Burzum means "darkness" and was originally first named "Kalishnikov" (after the inventor of the AK-47) and then Uruk-Hai (the name of Orcs from J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings series). Varg referred to himself as Count Grishnakh, an orc commander from the aforementioned series. So it's kinda goofy, right? Varg has also made mention of influence by lots of classical music as well. So maybe it's not so goofy? The album features shrieks that would have probably been chill-inducing in the early 90s. Track II is about Ea (Babylonian), or Enki (Sumerian), as he was originally known, a great God who (at least in Babylonian lore) took the shape of many twisted creatures.
Vikernes himself seems to be like this. Sometimes supporting racist music (Waffen SS) and claiming to be incredibly racist, and then an Enki-like maneuver to be as void of contact with them as possible, Vikernes is wearing whichever face seems to thrill best and then stripping himself of the facade in time to avoid consequences. I am fully aware that he served time in prison. It's possible that he should have served more, however. He was sentenced to 21 and spent almost 16.
"Ironically, the only thing that can save mankind is a stream of pandemics, natural disasters and other human catastrophes, wiping out most of us. In fact, I think the catastrophe is inevitable -- unless something drastic happens very soon -- , and to be honest I even welcome it. The sooner this world order collapses the better. We don't even need to do anything for it to collapse in chaos. The best and only thing we can do is to get away from the tidal wave, and make sure the best amongst us survive, along with our Pagan culture."
The concept of multiculturalism is just brain-dead crap, as one culture will eventually prevail at the expense of the other cultures in the same area, so if we wish to see our own culture survive we have to be intolerant and conservative, and reject - and even destroy -- alien influences."
That's about as racist as it gets, and sad. It's disappointing. I'm grateful for artists taking the quality parts of this and moving forward with it, but it begs for explanation, I feel. The music is metal, which is fairly multicultural, when you think of bands like Sepultura, Slayer, and Metallica, who have all had non-caucasian members. It continues to become more multicultural and diverse, a fact that must really irritate Varg, enabling him to belch out lines like, "The world's tragedy, is served at my feast!"
Still, this album doesn't really showcase his bizarre worldview. It's an album worth hearing, there can be no doubt about it.
References
Film
-Until the Light Takes Us, Aites and Ewell, 2008.
Literature/Websites
-Atmospheric black metal, from rateyourmusic.com
-Ea, article at wikipedia
-Lords of Chaos, Moynihan and Soderlind, 2003 (Updated version)
-Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien
-On the Importance of Burzum, from burzum.com
-Time's Arrow: Show No Mercy - An Interview with Jacob Bannon of Converge, via Pitchfork here
Music
-Burzum, Burzum, 1992.
Other things of interest. A new video for "Astral Body" by Between the Buried and Me off of their forthcoming Parallax part 2, new songs by Converge, "Aimless Arrow," which was made into a good music video, and a second mentioned by Stosuy in his recent Show No Mercy.
New Bob Dylan, new Swans, new Grizzly Bear, new Fiona Apple, new Max Richter, along with checking out notable releases this year of bands I'm not at all familiar with, like Tame Impala, and so much more that I still need to hear this year. I've listened to bits and pieces of all of those above, but I'm so focused on black metal right now that it's difficult to give them the amount of time they deserve. I am working on it.
Speaking of black metal (and metal in general), I missed a couple of really good shows this last weekend and Monday, with bands like Yob, Ash Borer, and Menace Ruine. It makes me that much more desperate about making the Converge trip happen. To end it for this week, here's a fun new song by the fun stoner metal bad Red Fang, out of portland.
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Removed Forms (Until the Light Takes Us Thoughts and Ideas - Film #5)
Until the Light Takes Us, Aites and Ewell, 2008, 9.2/10
"In our contemporary society, youth are pretty much lost. They have no direction, nobody's telling them what to do. That is, people are telling them what to do, but the youth have an instinct telling them this is wrong, you know? People are telling them that Christianity is good, people are telling them that the USA is good, NATO is good, our democracy is good. But we know if not intellectually, we know instinctively, that this is wrong."
Varg Vikernes, from Until the Light Takes Us
Cut to a series of advertisements and people engaging in consumer culture, and we have a pretty good context for the film. But it's hard to define black metal with one voice, and so we have myriad ("myriads" as Fenriz puts it) others.
"Let's make one thing clear: The world you live in is hollow. It is plain and simple and contains only matter that in itself does not possess anything of lasting value. The only way to create something of dignity and true beauty in this world is by looking beyond its borders, to search outside of the mundane and to enter into connection with that which lies beyond the safety of established form. To step into the realm of liberated wilderness, of untamed fire, and of that ancient chaos for which every true and potent artist has been a mouthpiece. There is a great abyss between this world and that place. An abyss which very few are ever able to cross. But by means of magic and communication with the divine there are ways to penetrate to that vast darkness, to that which lies beyond. To build bridges and open gateways to that terrible and wondrous place that lies outside the borders of the world. This is the way we have chosen to look upon the spiritual characteristics of our work and this is why it is divine. It acts as a mediator between high and low, a link between two worlds, and we have chosen to call it Watain."
From Opus Diaboli, A musical documentary of Watain
Music has always been like this to me, a holy thing, difficult to break down, assess, and analyze. I somehow lasted a full year of music theory at college, but found way too much of the learning to be tedious. I'm not sure if music is quite as arcane as Erik Danielsson is making it sound here, though. More quotable phrases are interesting as well, but they begin to talk about silly concepts of death, corpses, drinking blood, showing bones, animal and human sacrifice, and all of the silly things that make up a lot of modern black metal, most recorded metal for that matter, and I quickly lose interest.
The same could be said about my attraction to the anti-religious nature of Black Metal. I find it inspiring, especially as practiced by bands like Wolves in the Throne Room. I'm just at the tip of the iceberg here, so I'm not going to elaborate too much, but this element of BM makes me sad when I think of all of the churches burned in the name of it, all of the violence enacted against Christians at the hands of devout followers of the music. Don't get me wrong, I fully understand the violence that Christians wreaked upon countless cultures and continue to wreak upon minds of innocent children everywhere. We must take a more intelligent approach to try and counteract this. Violence will breed violence.
"People don't want to be European, they want to be Finnish, or Norweigian or whatever."
From Pagan Metal: A Documentary
Until the Light Takes Us raises some incredibly good points. Is Christianity founded upon the myths of older mystical worldviews? Is trying to create an anti-commercial scene a valid goal? Should we strive to have integrity in our artistic endeavors? That is, should our lyrics match our actions? Are there any evolutionarily salient points made here? These questions and more are worth considering in relation to "Until the Light Takes Us" but also in relation to music itself, of course including metal music, Norwegian black metal, and contemporary American black metal, especially of the atmospheric kind.
References
Film
-Black Metal University by Fenriz, Aites and Ewell (Special Feature on Until the Light Takes Us), Available, respectively, in parts 1 and 2 via Youtube (here and here)
-Metal: A Headbanger's Journey, Dunn, McFadyen, and Wise, 2005
-Once Upon a Time in Norway, Aasdal and Ledang, 2007, via Youtube here
-Opus Diaboli, Documentary about the band Watain, 2012, via Youtube here
-Pagan Metal: A Documentary, Bill Zebub, 2011 via Youtube here
-True Norwegian Black Metal, a Vice Video, via Youtube here
-Until the Light Takes Us, Aites and Ewell, 2008
Literature/Websites
-CVLT Nation (http://www.cvltnation.com)
-Lords of Chaos (2nd Edition), Moynihan & Soderlind, 2003
-Music and Dance as a Coalition Signaling System (click for full text), Hagen & Bryant, 2001/2002.
Music
-Bathory, Bathory, 1984
-Black Metal, Venom, 1982
-A Blaze in the Northern Sky, Darkthrone, 1991
-Burzum, Burzum, 1992
-Celestial Lineage, Wolves in the Throne Room, 2011
-Dead As Dreams, Weakling, 2000
-Deathcrush, Mayhem, 1987
-Diadem of the 12 Stars, Wolves in the Throne Room, 2006
-Satanic Rites, Hellhammer, 1983
-Under the Sign of the Black Mark, Bathory, 1987
The Last Films I've Seen
1. Mrs. Miniver, Wyler, 1942, 4.8/10 (See Last Week's Review)
2. Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call - New Orleans, Herzog, 5.5/10
Nicholas Cage is a strange guy. His acting goes from good to hammy to just plain bad. This film has him at all stages. The story is lacking, and if this ever becomes a franchise, I would lose yet more faith in humanity. That being said, it's rather entertaining.
"In our contemporary society, youth are pretty much lost. They have no direction, nobody's telling them what to do. That is, people are telling them what to do, but the youth have an instinct telling them this is wrong, you know? People are telling them that Christianity is good, people are telling them that the USA is good, NATO is good, our democracy is good. But we know if not intellectually, we know instinctively, that this is wrong."
Varg Vikernes, from Until the Light Takes Us
Cut to a series of advertisements and people engaging in consumer culture, and we have a pretty good context for the film. But it's hard to define black metal with one voice, and so we have myriad ("myriads" as Fenriz puts it) others.
"Let's make one thing clear: The world you live in is hollow. It is plain and simple and contains only matter that in itself does not possess anything of lasting value. The only way to create something of dignity and true beauty in this world is by looking beyond its borders, to search outside of the mundane and to enter into connection with that which lies beyond the safety of established form. To step into the realm of liberated wilderness, of untamed fire, and of that ancient chaos for which every true and potent artist has been a mouthpiece. There is a great abyss between this world and that place. An abyss which very few are ever able to cross. But by means of magic and communication with the divine there are ways to penetrate to that vast darkness, to that which lies beyond. To build bridges and open gateways to that terrible and wondrous place that lies outside the borders of the world. This is the way we have chosen to look upon the spiritual characteristics of our work and this is why it is divine. It acts as a mediator between high and low, a link between two worlds, and we have chosen to call it Watain."
From Opus Diaboli, A musical documentary of Watain
Music has always been like this to me, a holy thing, difficult to break down, assess, and analyze. I somehow lasted a full year of music theory at college, but found way too much of the learning to be tedious. I'm not sure if music is quite as arcane as Erik Danielsson is making it sound here, though. More quotable phrases are interesting as well, but they begin to talk about silly concepts of death, corpses, drinking blood, showing bones, animal and human sacrifice, and all of the silly things that make up a lot of modern black metal, most recorded metal for that matter, and I quickly lose interest.
The same could be said about my attraction to the anti-religious nature of Black Metal. I find it inspiring, especially as practiced by bands like Wolves in the Throne Room. I'm just at the tip of the iceberg here, so I'm not going to elaborate too much, but this element of BM makes me sad when I think of all of the churches burned in the name of it, all of the violence enacted against Christians at the hands of devout followers of the music. Don't get me wrong, I fully understand the violence that Christians wreaked upon countless cultures and continue to wreak upon minds of innocent children everywhere. We must take a more intelligent approach to try and counteract this. Violence will breed violence.
"People don't want to be European, they want to be Finnish, or Norweigian or whatever."
From Pagan Metal: A Documentary
Until the Light Takes Us raises some incredibly good points. Is Christianity founded upon the myths of older mystical worldviews? Is trying to create an anti-commercial scene a valid goal? Should we strive to have integrity in our artistic endeavors? That is, should our lyrics match our actions? Are there any evolutionarily salient points made here? These questions and more are worth considering in relation to "Until the Light Takes Us" but also in relation to music itself, of course including metal music, Norwegian black metal, and contemporary American black metal, especially of the atmospheric kind.
References
Film
-Black Metal University by Fenriz, Aites and Ewell (Special Feature on Until the Light Takes Us), Available, respectively, in parts 1 and 2 via Youtube (here and here)
-Metal: A Headbanger's Journey, Dunn, McFadyen, and Wise, 2005
-Once Upon a Time in Norway, Aasdal and Ledang, 2007, via Youtube here
-Opus Diaboli, Documentary about the band Watain, 2012, via Youtube here
-Pagan Metal: A Documentary, Bill Zebub, 2011 via Youtube here
-True Norwegian Black Metal, a Vice Video, via Youtube here
-Until the Light Takes Us, Aites and Ewell, 2008
Literature/Websites
-CVLT Nation (http://www.cvltnation.com)
-Lords of Chaos (2nd Edition), Moynihan & Soderlind, 2003
-Music and Dance as a Coalition Signaling System (click for full text), Hagen & Bryant, 2001/2002.
Music
-Bathory, Bathory, 1984
-Black Metal, Venom, 1982
-A Blaze in the Northern Sky, Darkthrone, 1991
-Burzum, Burzum, 1992
-Celestial Lineage, Wolves in the Throne Room, 2011
-Dead As Dreams, Weakling, 2000
-Deathcrush, Mayhem, 1987
-Diadem of the 12 Stars, Wolves in the Throne Room, 2006
-Satanic Rites, Hellhammer, 1983
-Under the Sign of the Black Mark, Bathory, 1987
The Last Films I've Seen
1. Mrs. Miniver, Wyler, 1942, 4.8/10 (See Last Week's Review)
2. Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call - New Orleans, Herzog, 5.5/10
Nicholas Cage is a strange guy. His acting goes from good to hammy to just plain bad. This film has him at all stages. The story is lacking, and if this ever becomes a franchise, I would lose yet more faith in humanity. That being said, it's rather entertaining.
Monday, September 24, 2012
Anima Mundi (A Look At The Week Ahead #7)
No real plans. Become more secure in myself. Send off info for the renewal of my tech license, do laundry, end being suspended. Watch film, and write a couple of great essays.
It starts tomorrow with my review of Until the Light Takes Us and continues with whichever album I choose to review on Wednesday.
It starts tomorrow with my review of Until the Light Takes Us and continues with whichever album I choose to review on Wednesday.
Sunday, September 23, 2012
(Weekend Review #3)
I got suspended from work Friday. I have had a pretty chill weekend so far. The only thing of note that I've done is watch the Ducks game with bad hat and his family. It was a great game against #22 ranked Arizona.
We won 49-0.
I am trying to write more in-depth film and album reviews.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
We won 49-0.
I am trying to write more in-depth film and album reviews.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Location:W 18th Ave,Eugene,United States
Saturday, September 22, 2012
(Saturday Life #7)
The appropriate disposal of expired or unused medications is a significant issue both for the pharmacy and for society.
You think?
Haha that's the understatement of the year.
Going back on Sunday to add a bit more to this, due to the paltry nature of the original.
Some thoughts on football. It's a violent sport that will never be very safe, no matter how many regulations are added, but I love the game and any effort to help that aspect of the game should be adopted.
You think?
Haha that's the understatement of the year.
Going back on Sunday to add a bit more to this, due to the paltry nature of the original.
Some thoughts on football. It's a violent sport that will never be very safe, no matter how many regulations are added, but I love the game and any effort to help that aspect of the game should be adopted.
Friday, September 21, 2012
Vocab Practice (Friday Life #3)
When I was a junior in high school, I decided that I was going to be the smartest kid on my block, and I was going to be morally righteous. I started examining everything I had once taken for granted and relearning how to live. I grew up really religious (Baptist with a very southern flair) and had given up on it by my junior year. I had sort of shut off inside and felt like I was hibernating inside. I was bitter and had many unexamined feelings toward my upbringing and the community that I lived in. I spent ages 11-16 dead inside, locked in a hiemal state.
"Hold your Light, 11, lead me through each gentle step, by step, by inch by loaded memory."
"Of all the preposterous assumptions of humanity over humanity, nothing exceeds most of the criticisms made on the habits of the poor by the well-housed, well-warmed, and well-fed." -Herman Melville, novelist and poet (1819-1891)
Nirvana and Alice in Chains were the 1st key, Tool was the 2nd key, Rage Against the Machine the 3rd. Let me elaborate. Tool gave me a voice with which to critique my upbringing, after Alice in Chains and Nirvana allowed me to confront and own the wall of depression I had built around myself. Rage Against the Machine proved I had to do something for the world at large.
I will write all about this at a later time, but for now, a bit of meandering. I became fascinated with words and their meaning. I read Huxley's Brave New World and Island (still my favorite book) and Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment with a verve I'd not experienced since my early childhood conversion and acceptance of Jesus Christ into my heart. I had page after page of words and phrases I had never encountered before, which I dutifully defined, writing their meanings and where in the book I encountered them. My stepdad would quiz me with a list I brought him.
"Not that I want to be a god or a hero. Just to change into a tree, grow for ages, not hurt anyone."-Czeslaw Milosz, poet and novelist (1911-2004)
The liberal dreams of immortality.
Anyway, where were we?
I've been suspended from work for a couple of days so I get more writing time.
"To blame the poor for subsisting on welfare has no justice unless we are also willing to judge every rich member of society by how productive he or she is. Taken individual by individual, it is likely that there's more idleness and abuse of government favors among the economically privileged than among the ranks of the disadvantaged". -Norman Mailer, author (1923-2007)
I've sniped all of these quotes from wordsmith, a daily email group that sends out an email every day with the word of the day, and it's a great way to wake up!
I vow to relive those days that have become marmoreal in hindsight. What positive memories don't? We cling to the banister, going down with the band, and only our memories of love avoid the mouldering of natural entropy. Even the dementia of old age is probably a result of this clamoring, this mendacity of mind that Robert Wright writes of.
"If, every day, I dare to remember that I am here on loan, that this house, this hillside, these minutes are all leased to me, not given, I will never despair. Despair is for those who expect to live forever. I no longer do." -Erica Jong, writer (b. 1942)
So says the writer, but I will never forget the psychologist I spoke to after being diagnosed with migraine-like symptoms. In lieu of having money to afford counseling, I was given some armchair advice over the phone: "remember, nothing goes farther in our sense of well-being than a healthy dose of denial." At the time, I couldn't express how ludicrous or true this turned out to be.
Our ability to tune out truths and lies is quite possibly the most important element of human nature.
"Hold your Light, 11, lead me through each gentle step, by step, by inch by loaded memory."
"Of all the preposterous assumptions of humanity over humanity, nothing exceeds most of the criticisms made on the habits of the poor by the well-housed, well-warmed, and well-fed." -Herman Melville, novelist and poet (1819-1891)
Nirvana and Alice in Chains were the 1st key, Tool was the 2nd key, Rage Against the Machine the 3rd. Let me elaborate. Tool gave me a voice with which to critique my upbringing, after Alice in Chains and Nirvana allowed me to confront and own the wall of depression I had built around myself. Rage Against the Machine proved I had to do something for the world at large.
I will write all about this at a later time, but for now, a bit of meandering. I became fascinated with words and their meaning. I read Huxley's Brave New World and Island (still my favorite book) and Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment with a verve I'd not experienced since my early childhood conversion and acceptance of Jesus Christ into my heart. I had page after page of words and phrases I had never encountered before, which I dutifully defined, writing their meanings and where in the book I encountered them. My stepdad would quiz me with a list I brought him.
"Not that I want to be a god or a hero. Just to change into a tree, grow for ages, not hurt anyone."-Czeslaw Milosz, poet and novelist (1911-2004)
The liberal dreams of immortality.
Anyway, where were we?
I've been suspended from work for a couple of days so I get more writing time.
"To blame the poor for subsisting on welfare has no justice unless we are also willing to judge every rich member of society by how productive he or she is. Taken individual by individual, it is likely that there's more idleness and abuse of government favors among the economically privileged than among the ranks of the disadvantaged". -Norman Mailer, author (1923-2007)
I've sniped all of these quotes from wordsmith, a daily email group that sends out an email every day with the word of the day, and it's a great way to wake up!
I vow to relive those days that have become marmoreal in hindsight. What positive memories don't? We cling to the banister, going down with the band, and only our memories of love avoid the mouldering of natural entropy. Even the dementia of old age is probably a result of this clamoring, this mendacity of mind that Robert Wright writes of.
"If, every day, I dare to remember that I am here on loan, that this house, this hillside, these minutes are all leased to me, not given, I will never despair. Despair is for those who expect to live forever. I no longer do." -Erica Jong, writer (b. 1942)
So says the writer, but I will never forget the psychologist I spoke to after being diagnosed with migraine-like symptoms. In lieu of having money to afford counseling, I was given some armchair advice over the phone: "remember, nothing goes farther in our sense of well-being than a healthy dose of denial." At the time, I couldn't express how ludicrous or true this turned out to be.
Our ability to tune out truths and lies is quite possibly the most important element of human nature.
Thursday, September 20, 2012
On The Road Again (A Look At The Weekend #5)
"One scholar, Gordon Wasson (1957), has written a provocative account of the important role that widespread hallucinogenic mushrooms (the fungi of various forest trees such as the birch and fir) must have had in the development of supernatural beliefs in early man. Whether or not we agree with his thesis that the ubiquity of belief systems concerning the supernatural is due to man's primordial encounter with mind-altering plants, nonetheless the worlds of heaven and hell opened to man by the visionary content of such infusions may have played an important part in stimulating his
mythologies and legends concerning otherworldly lands and peoples, demons, devils, and the like." from Visionary Vine, pg. 30
Today I board the greyhound north to Salem, to re-sit for my national certification, which had lapsed in 2010. I am here, on the bus now, at 740am.
I work Saturday, ostensibly the last for a good while. The duck game is at 730 on Saturday, so I am hoping bad hat can come and get me for it and he will prepare us a tasty dish.
No trivia Friday night or any plans
Sunday, so it might make a great weekend to get caught up on things I have continually put off: laundry, cleaning, and organizing the chaos that is my studio apartment.
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mythologies and legends concerning otherworldly lands and peoples, demons, devils, and the like." from Visionary Vine, pg. 30
Today I board the greyhound north to Salem, to re-sit for my national certification, which had lapsed in 2010. I am here, on the bus now, at 740am.
I work Saturday, ostensibly the last for a good while. The duck game is at 730 on Saturday, so I am hoping bad hat can come and get me for it and he will prepare us a tasty dish.
No trivia Friday night or any plans
Sunday, so it might make a great weekend to get caught up on things I have continually put off: laundry, cleaning, and organizing the chaos that is my studio apartment.
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Location:E 10th Ave,Eugene,United States (On the greyhound headed to Salem
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Adrift in the Ocean (Music #6)
Today I am going to write about an album that changed my life: Atma.
Yob seems cult (cvlt?). Not concerned with hooks or singles, accessibility or smooth production, they would rather chug and churn along, building steam with a grain of sulphur. Singer/guitarist Mike Scheidt is a smart (and extremely kind) individual who has Motown in him - granted it is the train that built the town, not the silky voices that ironically defined it, and far from the record execs whose early brand of disaster capitalism bred the m entality that later drove it off the cliff. All hail Ayn Rand!
Anyway, somehow Yob has become a bit of a critical darling, and I personally think that is awesome. Doom metal getting a decent amount of mainstream exposure. There was a bit of critical craze during the Victorian age that found works irrelevant if the artist lived in an unsavory manner. If he was known to be rude and deny attention, the critics would say the same of his work. Scheidt then, to make a roundabout point, would be a successful artist, even under the auspices of such a rule. The guy will talk to you endlessly.
Let's consider the music itself. Doom tends to be incredibly slow, dark, and with long song lengths. This is no different. Consider bands like Sleep, Boris, Candlemass, and Electric Wizard. There is some early influence in bands like Pentagram and of course Black Sabbath as well.
Atma is dark, it's dense, it's hard to take in one sitting. It's metal the way it should be. Metal should offend us. Great metal would have moments that would offend metalheads, and that might be the slight letdown here: it doesn't offend, if you already concede to your metalness.
I am a late arrival on the doom/stoner scene, having grown up on Kill 'Em All, Iron Maiden, and so on. Slow music came in the form of Alice in chains. Why would you throw gnarly distortion on a guitar and blast cymbals at a snail's pace? Well at the ripe age of 32 (almost 33) it begins to make sense and become clearer (more hazy for most, eh?). Different times call for different tempos. I would much rather drink a dark port, smoke a clove, and feel Yob's music in my belly than a speed, thrash, or power metal band.
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Yob seems cult (cvlt?). Not concerned with hooks or singles, accessibility or smooth production, they would rather chug and churn along, building steam with a grain of sulphur. Singer/guitarist Mike Scheidt is a smart (and extremely kind) individual who has Motown in him - granted it is the train that built the town, not the silky voices that ironically defined it, and far from the record execs whose early brand of disaster capitalism bred the m entality that later drove it off the cliff. All hail Ayn Rand!
Anyway, somehow Yob has become a bit of a critical darling, and I personally think that is awesome. Doom metal getting a decent amount of mainstream exposure. There was a bit of critical craze during the Victorian age that found works irrelevant if the artist lived in an unsavory manner. If he was known to be rude and deny attention, the critics would say the same of his work. Scheidt then, to make a roundabout point, would be a successful artist, even under the auspices of such a rule. The guy will talk to you endlessly.
Let's consider the music itself. Doom tends to be incredibly slow, dark, and with long song lengths. This is no different. Consider bands like Sleep, Boris, Candlemass, and Electric Wizard. There is some early influence in bands like Pentagram and of course Black Sabbath as well.
Atma is dark, it's dense, it's hard to take in one sitting. It's metal the way it should be. Metal should offend us. Great metal would have moments that would offend metalheads, and that might be the slight letdown here: it doesn't offend, if you already concede to your metalness.
I am a late arrival on the doom/stoner scene, having grown up on Kill 'Em All, Iron Maiden, and so on. Slow music came in the form of Alice in chains. Why would you throw gnarly distortion on a guitar and blast cymbals at a snail's pace? Well at the ripe age of 32 (almost 33) it begins to make sense and become clearer (more hazy for most, eh?). Different times call for different tempos. I would much rather drink a dark port, smoke a clove, and feel Yob's music in my belly than a speed, thrash, or power metal band.
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Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Before the Fight Takes Us - A Review of Mrs. Miniver (Film #4)
Mrs. Miniver, Wyler, 1943
The thing that stands out most to me about Mrs. Miniver is the sheer propagandist quality of the film. The last bit before Carol Beldon is killed in the car is appalling, though it probably seemed quite patriotic at the time. "Onward, Christian Soldiers," begins and I get an ache in my belly. Can tackiness cause soreness?
The propagandhi song that features it casts the song in a rightfully deplorable light. Don't get me wrong, the allies in WW2 fought in the last "good" war. That doesn't mean a film should be applauded for dragging them into it, especially not 70 years after the fact. Or should it?
Perhaps this film singlehandedly saved the lives of countless would-be victims, and should be heralded as one of the slickest, most effective Capra-esque pieces in the canon? Perhaps it is the opposite as well.
The acting in the film is superb, from the main actors, down to the little girl who tugs at our heartstrings, warms our cockles, add cliche, ad infinitem, ad nauseum.
The plot is stale now and couldn't have been much fresher then. I kept wondering what people saw in this? Killing Carol Beldon surprised me though, for sure.
For old war films, I still recommend Alan Crosland's 1918 film, The Unbeliever. See this to know your history, know your history to critique it.
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The thing that stands out most to me about Mrs. Miniver is the sheer propagandist quality of the film. The last bit before Carol Beldon is killed in the car is appalling, though it probably seemed quite patriotic at the time. "Onward, Christian Soldiers," begins and I get an ache in my belly. Can tackiness cause soreness?
The propagandhi song that features it casts the song in a rightfully deplorable light. Don't get me wrong, the allies in WW2 fought in the last "good" war. That doesn't mean a film should be applauded for dragging them into it, especially not 70 years after the fact. Or should it?
Perhaps this film singlehandedly saved the lives of countless would-be victims, and should be heralded as one of the slickest, most effective Capra-esque pieces in the canon? Perhaps it is the opposite as well.
The acting in the film is superb, from the main actors, down to the little girl who tugs at our heartstrings, warms our cockles, add cliche, ad infinitem, ad nauseum.
The plot is stale now and couldn't have been much fresher then. I kept wondering what people saw in this? Killing Carol Beldon surprised me though, for sure.
For old war films, I still recommend Alan Crosland's 1918 film, The Unbeliever. See this to know your history, know your history to critique it.
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Location:W 18th Ave,Eugene,United States
Monday, September 17, 2012
Yob (A Look At The Week Ahead #6)
If this week is anything like the weekend, things are really picking up. Lora is pretty amazing and I think there is something here.
Tonight I am headed to High Priestess to see her get her calf worked on, should be fun :)
Other than the yob show on sunday, I have no other plans. Hopefully hanging with Lora again, and that's about it :)
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Tonight I am headed to High Priestess to see her get her calf worked on, should be fun :)
Other than the yob show on sunday, I have no other plans. Hopefully hanging with Lora again, and that's about it :)
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Location:W 18th Ave,Eugene,United States
Saturday, September 15, 2012
Memories of underdevelopment (Saturday Life #6)
The once harmonious strings that bind the universe
Have been tuned to dischord
Have been tuned to dischord
It's a good album, and expect a review of it and the show at the Wow at my next Wednesday music writing section.
We've all been in love, right? Maybe not the "Erich Fromm, Art of Loving" Love, but in some shape or form, the bug has all bitten us. It's a huge part of our lives, our beliefs. Sure, it's probably pretty Western in the monogamy-only, romantic sort of type, but it exists in its way in hunter gatherer societies as well. The importance of romantic, monogamous love is difficult to explain, but I think trying is valid and potentially essential. It's a Victorian concept, engrained, and Puritan torchbearers were not shy in invoking it's morality. They still aren't. Sadly, it's not an entirely natural social convention (statistics back this up, along with plenty of anthropological research), so it's adherence is a difficult, though rewarding goal.
It's not only a wonderful thing, but in a naturalistic economy like capitalism, where we fully admit our inherent selfishness, it may be the most logical. More on all of this later.
Thursday, September 13, 2012
If the doors of perceptions were cleansed (A Look At The Weekend #4)
Let's see. Friday night will be my last trivia night for a while, and is sandi's going away party. I barely know her, but she is a pretty rad chick. I imagine there will be a good amount of revelry and drinking involved. And rogue pizza and such.
Saturday the ducks take on Tennessee Tech, and Bad Hat and the fam and I will be watching at his place. No plans for the evening, but Sunday is mournful congregation at the wow hall. Looking forward to it for sure. A doom band from Adelaide, Australia, I have grown more and more into them. Amazing guitar tone, crawling songs that seep into the mind. All that I'd want from a slower-paced metal band. Meeting a new friend, Lora, there as well. Should be altogether great.
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Saturday the ducks take on Tennessee Tech, and Bad Hat and the fam and I will be watching at his place. No plans for the evening, but Sunday is mournful congregation at the wow hall. Looking forward to it for sure. A doom band from Adelaide, Australia, I have grown more and more into them. Amazing guitar tone, crawling songs that seep into the mind. All that I'd want from a slower-paced metal band. Meeting a new friend, Lora, there as well. Should be altogether great.
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Location:W 18th Ave,Eugene,United States
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Strike everywhere (Music #5)
Today I am going to write about an album that changed my life: Merriweather Post Pavillion. An album written by the amorphous collective known as Animal Collective, this album singlehandedly allowed me to see modern pop music as an interesting venture. I had previously thought pop music was killed by grunge. The collection of sounds that come from this group is like a Godard film, snippets of noise like some collage of fiction, newspaper reel, stock footage and other 24fps lies built to convey something. Each part is important and difficult on its own though.
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Location:Chambers St,Eugene,United States
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Mrs. Miniver (Film #3)
1. Krull, Yates, 1983, 5.7/10
I remember this movie from my childhood, and expected it to be horrible upon seeing it again. I was wrong.. It certainly lacks in some ways, but many television shows have been written around a less complete cosmology. The acting is solid, and it's still fun. If I had children, I would show it to them.
2. Hurt Locker, Bigelow, 2008, 6.5/10
Decent movie, don't remember a whole lot about it, aside from it being tense. I like tense movies, so I'd guess it would have left an impact, but it didn't.
I remember this movie from my childhood, and expected it to be horrible upon seeing it again. I was wrong.. It certainly lacks in some ways, but many television shows have been written around a less complete cosmology. The acting is solid, and it's still fun. If I had children, I would show it to them.
2. Hurt Locker, Bigelow, 2008, 6.5/10
Decent movie, don't remember a whole lot about it, aside from it being tense. I like tense movies, so I'd guess it would have left an impact, but it didn't.
Monday, September 10, 2012
Mournful Congregation (A Look At The Week Ahead #5)
I have a hang out with Shawnte Wednesday, and with Lora on Sunday, for Mournful Congregation. I can't wait until I am caught up in life and set up my weekly goals and ideas.
I am still reading Visionary Vine: Hallucinogenic healing in the Peruvian Amazon. It's good, if a bit academic.
"Altered states of consciousness have various functions in human societies. Their ubiquitous presence in one form or another bears witness to their importance and their ability to satisfy both individual and social needs," from page 24.
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I am still reading Visionary Vine: Hallucinogenic healing in the Peruvian Amazon. It's good, if a bit academic.
"Altered states of consciousness have various functions in human societies. Their ubiquitous presence in one form or another bears witness to their importance and their ability to satisfy both individual and social needs," from page 24.
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Location:W 18th Ave,Eugene,United States
Still budgeting (Weekend Review #2)
I created "A New Commitment" on March 21st, roughly 6.5 months ago - or 27 weeks ago, and I am just now on Weekend Review #2. I could have written 20+ weekend reviews by now. It's time to recommit.
It was a good weekend. I studied with Jeff Friday night, and feel very motivated to understand the medicine that I am dispensing week in and week out. From Chocolate to Morphine is a great starting point, and John loaned me The Marriage of the Sun and the Moon. Many starting off points. More on all of this later. He made ribs and corn on the cob, and they were incredible. Earlier that morning, I got my flat tire fixed and met a girl I'd been texting off of OK Cupid, by the name of Shawnte. We had a really good talk about family and psychology and other things. Sunday has just been really chill, and I finally finished Lost Highway, review to come at some point.
It was a good weekend. I studied with Jeff Friday night, and feel very motivated to understand the medicine that I am dispensing week in and week out. From Chocolate to Morphine is a great starting point, and John loaned me The Marriage of the Sun and the Moon. Many starting off points. More on all of this later. He made ribs and corn on the cob, and they were incredible. Earlier that morning, I got my flat tire fixed and met a girl I'd been texting off of OK Cupid, by the name of Shawnte. We had a really good talk about family and psychology and other things. Sunday has just been really chill, and I finally finished Lost Highway, review to come at some point.
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Jane Doe (Music #4)
Converge's Jane Doe is considered by many a keystone: it catapulted Converge to the forefront of a genre they were sort of creating as they were going, along with well-known bands Botch and Dillinger Escape Plan (both of which released albums in 1999 that heralded Jane Doe). The style is some sort of super frenetic hardcore punk variation, typically considered "mathcore" or "math metal." I would argue that it's more hardcore (hence "core"), as it fits into the punk aesthetic, the "DIY" scene, and so on.
To understand Jane Doe, a little background info is important:
It's the first album in which singer/lyricist/artist Jacob Bannon truly came into his own as an artist. Here's the cover to Jane Doe. He has used this blend of medias in the artwork of several other bands, as well as each of the following releases, including this year's forthcoming "All That We Love We Leave Behind." Bannon is vegetarian and straight edge. He's said he likes small, intense venues over large ones.
2001 was a crazy year for artistic music, having releases by Tool ("Lateralus"), Opeth ("Blackwater Park"), Radiohead ("Amnesiac"), Bjork ("Vespertine"), The Strokes ("Is This It?"), Jay-Z ("The Blueprint") White Stripes ("White Blood Cells"), and Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds ("No More Shall We Part"), among many other lesser-knowns (Unwound's "Leaves Turn Inside You", The Microphones' "The Glow, pt.2", Neurosis' "A Sun That Never Sets", Fugazi's "The Argument", Gillian Welch's "Time The Revelator", Stars of the Lid's "The Tired Sounds Of", Daft Punk's "Discovery", along with many, many others).
Personally, I'd been following Toolshed like a hawk, waiting for the newest release by Tool for the past several years. Little did I know that I'd listen to the album non-stop for the better part of two years, before joining a ska band and creating a hardcore band of my own, events that would obliterate my music boundaries. Needless to say, my first experience with Converge, outside of snippets I'd hear, here and there, was seeing them in concert in 2004 at the Meow Meow, in Portland's industrial SE side (it used to be the B Complex). It was a show with Cave In and Between the Buried and Me, which I was more excited to see. Converge completely blew me away though, I must say, and I've been a huge supporter ever since. I don't listen to their music nearly as much as I'd like though, and I'm trying to rectify that.
To understand Jane Doe, a little background info is important:
It's the first album in which singer/lyricist/artist Jacob Bannon truly came into his own as an artist. Here's the cover to Jane Doe. He has used this blend of medias in the artwork of several other bands, as well as each of the following releases, including this year's forthcoming "All That We Love We Leave Behind." Bannon is vegetarian and straight edge. He's said he likes small, intense venues over large ones.
2001 was a crazy year for artistic music, having releases by Tool ("Lateralus"), Opeth ("Blackwater Park"), Radiohead ("Amnesiac"), Bjork ("Vespertine"), The Strokes ("Is This It?"), Jay-Z ("The Blueprint") White Stripes ("White Blood Cells"), and Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds ("No More Shall We Part"), among many other lesser-knowns (Unwound's "Leaves Turn Inside You", The Microphones' "The Glow, pt.2", Neurosis' "A Sun That Never Sets", Fugazi's "The Argument", Gillian Welch's "Time The Revelator", Stars of the Lid's "The Tired Sounds Of", Daft Punk's "Discovery", along with many, many others).
Personally, I'd been following Toolshed like a hawk, waiting for the newest release by Tool for the past several years. Little did I know that I'd listen to the album non-stop for the better part of two years, before joining a ska band and creating a hardcore band of my own, events that would obliterate my music boundaries. Needless to say, my first experience with Converge, outside of snippets I'd hear, here and there, was seeing them in concert in 2004 at the Meow Meow, in Portland's industrial SE side (it used to be the B Complex). It was a show with Cave In and Between the Buried and Me, which I was more excited to see. Converge completely blew me away though, I must say, and I've been a huge supporter ever since. I don't listen to their music nearly as much as I'd like though, and I'm trying to rectify that.
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Film #5 (Dead Freight / Part 2)
More on "Dead Freight."
Gun deaths of children in the US is perpetrated rarely, and typically by unbalanced peers, a la Kip Kinkel or someone of that ilk. Sure child gangs exist in Brazil (City of God link) and other third world countries, but things don't get that out of hand in the U.S., do they?
The most brilliant thing about Breaking Bad is the sense of morality blindness it causes. It's not that it makes you forget that there is a right and wrong, but that layers so many possible outcomes/potential reactions/unforeseen wrinkles that, if pondered thoroughly, raise more questions than they could possibly answer. It was very hard to buy into the show. I watched the first episode several times before I finally decided to suspend my belief enough to accept Walt's chosen path.
Quoting from an imdb reviewer upon seeing the episode:
"I suppose I could just borrow from our very own Mr. M--- who, at approximately 10:07 last night, sent me a text that simply, yet eloquently, read, "FFFFUUUUCCCKKKK!!!!" Really, that's probably the best method of summing it all up, anyway."
Not sure if that's the proper precis, but it gets at some of the difficult ground covered here. Another reviewer, talking about one of the main characters (Jesse):
"And despite the fact that he's committed his fair share of crimes, and has, just as the others, murdered, he still remains very much in touch with his moral center, and I find that to be quite the fascinating aspect of his character."
That's a good way of explaining the crux of the show. The morality blindness it fosters makes us question our moral center. I am reminded of the concept of Arthur Rimbaud systematically deranging his senses to make these synesthetic poems where everything is conveyed in an incredibly warped way. Breaking Bad is, at its best, a Rimbaud poem, in which not our senses but our moral lens is warped to the point of confusion. In the end, Walt is trying to help his family, but the relatedness of his every day actions becomes more and more strained and blurry. Can he really justify these things he's doing? His wife has grown to fear him incredibly, and so despite the fact that she's won his parental investment, her genetic fitness is nonetheless in jeopardy, as his choices may have huge ramifications for this.
More on all of this later.
Gun deaths of children in the US is perpetrated rarely, and typically by unbalanced peers, a la Kip Kinkel or someone of that ilk. Sure child gangs exist in Brazil (City of God link) and other third world countries, but things don't get that out of hand in the U.S., do they?
The most brilliant thing about Breaking Bad is the sense of morality blindness it causes. It's not that it makes you forget that there is a right and wrong, but that layers so many possible outcomes/potential reactions/unforeseen wrinkles that, if pondered thoroughly, raise more questions than they could possibly answer. It was very hard to buy into the show. I watched the first episode several times before I finally decided to suspend my belief enough to accept Walt's chosen path.
Quoting from an imdb reviewer upon seeing the episode:
"I suppose I could just borrow from our very own Mr. M--- who, at approximately 10:07 last night, sent me a text that simply, yet eloquently, read, "FFFFUUUUCCCKKKK!!!!" Really, that's probably the best method of summing it all up, anyway."
Not sure if that's the proper precis, but it gets at some of the difficult ground covered here. Another reviewer, talking about one of the main characters (Jesse):
"And despite the fact that he's committed his fair share of crimes, and has, just as the others, murdered, he still remains very much in touch with his moral center, and I find that to be quite the fascinating aspect of his character."
That's a good way of explaining the crux of the show. The morality blindness it fosters makes us question our moral center. I am reminded of the concept of Arthur Rimbaud systematically deranging his senses to make these synesthetic poems where everything is conveyed in an incredibly warped way. Breaking Bad is, at its best, a Rimbaud poem, in which not our senses but our moral lens is warped to the point of confusion. In the end, Walt is trying to help his family, but the relatedness of his every day actions becomes more and more strained and blurry. Can he really justify these things he's doing? His wife has grown to fear him incredibly, and so despite the fact that she's won his parental investment, her genetic fitness is nonetheless in jeopardy, as his choices may have huge ramifications for this.
More on all of this later.
Monday, September 3, 2012
No real weekend/Work 2/2 (Weekend Review #2)
"Langston Hughes put shanks in crews."
We passed their graves:
The dead men there,
Winners or losers,
Did not care.
In the dark
They could not see
Who had gained
The dead men there,
Winners or losers,
Did not care.
In the dark
They could not see
Who had gained
Climb those cemetery walls again; leave these flowers at your headstone.
These are a few of my favorite things. I had a good night with Bad Hat tonight. I'm sick of piddling around with this thing, and even though this is supposed to be a weekend report, it may wind up a bit bigger than all of that. It's about 1230am. For the hypertext-challenged, the following references are The Roots, Langston Hughes, and Defeater.
So the republicans pulled Clint Eastwood out of their hat, eh? Interesting. Considering how much the average republican bitches about celebrities being liberal, this is quite humorous. It's also flat-out embarrassing and miserable. Gran Torino deserves another look (expect a review on Evolutionary Psychology and Film), and I had my misgivings from the start. Ugh. He's doddering, and well into his dotage. Nobody said it better than Jon Stewart.
Some people start early. Douche patrol code red on Paul Ryan's lyin'.
I'm really considering a vote for a third party this year. I just don't feel right voting for the establishment. I'm not sure any true campaign finance reform can be enacted with these two parties, and that's the only real chance that can lead to a change in this country. Maybe Green Party this year? I'm not sure. I wish we were parliamentary like England and other countries, where it wasn't just X and Y, but again, corporate politics seem to help keep this alive.
Saturday, September 1, 2012
Saturday life 5
This is the last day I will ever be late to work, he says as he rides the bus, late to work.
This is a problem, no? Says the manager for the 20th time. Yes, yes it is. He reaches for the triplicate "official" paper.
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This is a problem, no? Says the manager for the 20th time. Yes, yes it is. He reaches for the triplicate "official" paper.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Location:Hilyard St,Eugene,United States
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