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May 15th, 2008
11:12 am - Raymond Geuss on Richard Rorty
Raymond Geuss on Richard Rorty by way of Arion.
Fascinating little piece...
"Perhaps Hegel was right about the owl of Minerva." Hmm. I would be interested in some explanation of this statement which occurs in the next to the next to last paragraph.
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May 12th, 2008
10:13 pm - Sausage or Patty?
Zizek on MeFi. Lots of Zizeky links there...
***
BoingBoing pick on Stuart Kaufmann...
Complexity theory pioneer Stuart Kauffman, author of the fantastic At Home In The Universe , has a new book out called Reinventing The Sacred: A New View of Science, Reason, and Religion. According to Kauffman, who is also a theoretical biologist, the universe is so beautifully complex, incredible, and full of wonder,that we might consider thinking of it as "God." He summarizes his argument in the current New Scientist. From Kauffman's essay: ...The unfolding of the universe - biotic, and perhaps abiotic too - appearsto be partially beyond natural law. In its place is a ceaseless creativity, with no supernatural creator. If, as a result of this creativity, we cannot know what will happen, then reason, the Enlightenment's highest human virtue, is an insufficient guide to living our lives. We must use reason, emotion, intuition, all that our evolution has brought us. But that means understanding our full humanity: we need Einstein and Shakespeare in the same room.
Shall we use the "God" word? We do not have to, yet it is still our most powerful invented symbol. Our sense of God has evolved from Yahweh in the desert some 4500 years ago, a jealous, law-giving warrior God, to the God of love that Jesus taught. How many versions have people worshipped in the past 100,000 years?
Yet what is more awesome: to believe that God created everything in six days, or to believe that the biosphere came into being on its own, with no creator, and partially lawlessly? I find the latter proposition so stunning, so worthy of awe and respect, that I am happy to accept this natural creativity in the universe as our invention of "God".
Link to New Scientist, Link to buy Reinventing The Sacred, Link to Kauffman's 2006 Edge essay "Beyond Reductionism"
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02:25 pm - CITIUS ALTIUS FORTIUS
I think it should be that any athlete that wishes to compete in the olympics, NOT as a part of any national contingent, and who meets the qualifying standard should be able to do so.
For that first person to run, or jump, or lift, to compete not as a representative of a nation as a default representative of that nations political ideals but as a simple human being, I think that should be afforded.
You would see, I think inevitably however some powerful political statement made by someone, competeing unaffiliated, who had crawled out from under some repressive regime...
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01:21 pm - I hate the Eggman...
Wii and laundry today.
Mario and Sonic at the Beijing Olympics. It's rather good but also rather uneven. Most of the reviewers were disappointed at the Olympic theme for the teamup of two iconic characters from different developers. All I can say is that some of the events are maddeningly difficult to get started on let alone master. Questions come up about what sort of motion makes for a good long jump takeoff even as the there are pages and pages of instructions on how to compete. I unlocked archery a bit ago and it uses both the grip and chuck as targetting devices. Kinda cool, but even when I had the two lined up the arrows sometimes flew off wildly.
Setting a WR in the 4x100 swim in about 3:33 of constant arm flailing, well, that's good cardio...
***
Might wind up playing with the old farts. The one guys is both a pretty good guitarist and singer, and the drummer is good as well, but the one old dood is just hanging on. I've suggested that try going as a power trio and that we move into doing 80's, 90's, and current rock added to their classic 60's and 70's slant. guy says that's okay as long as we stick to "dance music". John in Wheel Horse always says the same thing and yet, it baffles me to some extent because when I think of "dance" music I think of old slow country, or disco, or rap never rock, or classic rock. In the case of John and WH I always respond, "Hey, make up a list of dance music performed by female country artists and I'll be happy to learn those songs." But no list ever comes. And this is in part why at WH shows all of our down time is filled by rap music and the dance floor fills up with people.
If anyone can fill me in on what dance music is other than by a video image of the two happening at the same time you'll have my full attention...
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May 9th, 2008
03:09 pm - I am sporting a sheen of sweat from...
Bowling a wii 228 and going pro as a bowler. I now have a ball with stars on it!
Whuppin some butt on the ball diamond. I went three for three and pitched a nice 6-2 complete game...
Shot my first under par for three holes...
Went marathon on tennis. There were some stupidly long volley battles. My backhand return is WICKED!
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12:32 am - Wii!! And the usual rocket explosion...
Wife comes home with a heavy package and hands it to me. Didn't think much of it, but there was a Wii inside. I've bowled a 185 and hit par on three holes and won the first baseball game...
***
Bunch of rock geezers that practice in DeSoto want me to help them cover Foghat and shit. I'm gonna go take a look...but the guitarist singer I talked to, well, I already had to fight him for a word edgewise and he says he awes people with his leet skillz...
As for Wheel Horse, John has been working through When the Levee Breaks and came over with his harmonica rig. Then we put the tuning on my Schecter and worked on the song for a while. John has several effects going on the harp signal and really nails the sound of it there, and my sister really has the right sort of husky power to do this thing and so we made real progress on that one. It is going to be hot when we get it all dialed in...
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May 8th, 2008
02:45 pm - Poetry: In the Shadow of Puppets
In the age
under the shadow of puppets
it is always me to be you
and being
means being mean
to show the show of truth
but when the sun comes
who cares
and who dares
to teach mermaids to sing
each to each
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May 7th, 2008
11:49 pm - Some summary of Jargon of Authenticity that I found...
Jim uses ellipses, so I have to worsh...er, like him..
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03:02 pm - Wil C. Kerner
The Artwork of Wil C. Kerner
Wil is a preteen with autism...
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May 6th, 2008
01:29 pm - Ashes and Iron
I'm thinking about taking a tryout as a guitarist with these guys...
Ashes and Iron "Ambient. Down Tempo. Metal" "Influences include Neurosis, Explosions In The Sky, Cult Of Luna, Jakob, Mogwai, and Sigur Ros."
The other note is that I've typed quite a lot at my sister about Wheel Horse. E. is pulling out of a good paying gig and there will be repercussions. We'll all be losing money. We'll be pulling out on the venue. Etc. Oh, Band, they name is drama...
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May 5th, 2008
11:05 pm - On When The Levee Breaks
The distinctive drum sound was created by setting up
drums in the hallway of Headley Grange, where they
were living and recording. They set up 2 overhead
microphones and let John Bonham pound away.
Based on a 1929 recording of the same name by Blues
artist Memphis Minnie. Plant had the record in his
collection.
Heavily produced in the studio, it was difficult to
perform live, which they did only a few times on their
1975 US tour.
The vocals were processed differently on each verse,
sometimes with phasing added.
Jimmy Page's backward echo technique, where he would
put the echo ahead of the sound, was used on the
harmonica. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Was very difficult to mix, and due to extensive
processing, is best appreciated with headphones.
Many rap songs have sampled the drums on this. For
sampling purposes, this is great because of the clean,
uninterrupted drum break at the beginning. The Beastie
Boys used it on "Rymin' And Stealin'", which opened
their first album, License To Ill. Other songs to use
it include "Lyrical Gangbang" by Dr. Dre and "Beats
And Pieces" by Coldcut.
In an interview, either Page or Plant said the reason
the song sounds so weird is that they recorded it at a
different tempo, then slowed it down. Plant then sang
in the sort of in between key the song was now in,
which explains its sort of flat and sludgy sound,
particularly on the harmonica and guitar solos. This
also made it very difficult to accurately reproduce
live. (thanks, Jared - Meadville, PA)
This song was the only one on the album that was not
remixed after a supposedly disastrous mixing job in
the US (the rest of the tracks were mixed again in
England). The original mixing done on this song seemed
to suit it very well, so it was kept in its original
form. (thanks, Adrian - Wilmington, DE)
Coldplay also sampled the drum break at the beginning
of this song in their song "In My Place." it is the
same except for the addition of the cymbals. (thanks,
Rizwana - Montclair, NJ)
This song unfortunately wrung true for the people of
New Orleans after the levee broke in 2005.
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01:47 pm - Which Sci Fi writer are you?
 | I am:James Tiptree, Jr. (Alice B. Sheldon) In the 1970s she was perhaps the most memorable, and one of the most popular, short story writers. Her real life was as fantastic as her fiction. |
Which science fiction writer are you?
Do not let my tie to this bother you...read of my shadow.
James Tiptree Jr/Alice B. Sheldon
Painwise
Love is the Plan the Plan is Death
The Screwfly Solution
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May 2nd, 2008
01:59 pm - One could do worse...
Than listen to Fareed Zakaria at Charlie Rose's table. I mean, its keeping me from GTA IV...
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10:52 am - 25 random songs from me player
Fragile Porcelain Mice - Check Payable To... For anyone into heavy alt with a Chicagoish art rock bent, FPM's Best of Modern Rock is to have...
Sonic Youth - Scooter + Jinx Oh, my favorite slab of noise evar!
Jane's Addiction - Summertime Rolls "She sings a song and I listen to what it says: If you want a friend Feed any animal... "
Foo Fighters - Headwires "Better than a bullet being fired Tangled in your headwires" Somehow I probably wound up with too much FF on the HD.
Malcolm Bliss - Eagles and Phantoms live @ Webster beach party
Smashing Pumpkins - Suffer "All of your struggles beneath your disguise Drink from the reasons that hold you alive" Perhaps the #1 album for me to put on and let go...
Average White Band - Funky Music John would like Wheel Horse to do this one. Of course it has the undeniable riff...
Macstatic - track 2 glitchcore noise from a guy I jammed with a couple of times
Depeche Mode - Leave in Silence "We've been running around in circles all year Doing this and that and getting nowhere" Not a very good DP song...
The Beatles - I Will 1:46 of sappy pop goodness from the invaders..
Sonic Youth - Candle "I see a dog star divin' at his magic, snatchin' keeps me up awake go crystal cracking" It was most likely this song that put the SY hook in me...
A Perfect Circle - Thomas "I'm just praying for you to show me where to begin"
Tool - Mantra 1:12 slice of noise...
Audioslave - Man or Animal "I will love you more than money I will breathe you in the smoke I will drink you in my honey"
New Model Army - Stupid Questions "You already know the answers" I love this song...
Johnny Cash - In My Life American IV is a must have, although I cannot say this song stands as a reason...
Oingo Boingo - Only A Lad "He didnt wanna do what he was told Just a prankster, juvenile gangster" Barteks guitar work almost makes me want a Carvin...
Everclear - Summerland "We could get lost in the fall Glimmer sparkle and fade"
The Shins - Black Wave "Can you hear a subtle, aching tone? Through the water, through the Earth, chill the bones. Looking on the brighter side"
Tonic - If You Could Only See "Seems the road less traveled Shows happiness unraveled And you got to take a little dirt To keep what you love" Pop guitar I like way too much...
Rage Against the Machine - Street Fighting Man Cover me...
Stabbing Westward - Torn Apart "Soon the night will take me and save me from my pain Cloak me in cold darkness and help me lose your name"
Plant/Krauss - Gone Gone Gone "Gone, gone, gone, cause you done me wrong"
Radiohead - Bulletproof...I Wish I Was "Limb by limb and tooth by tooth Tearing up inside of me" There is that nag that I should like them more...
Deftones - Engine Number 9 "Living of the curb that peels you from the curb I lick the rest off do you dig, many in 93"
That is a light to see the way out...
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May 1st, 2008
11:08 am - GTA IV and the reaction to pranks
When Mann says that, "Art is a higher form of prank", I must take it that the addition which takes this prank to a "higher" plane is a conjuration of a sublime feeling. But i would like to point out that pranks in general play along that line where the reaction is polarized. A good prank will make some laugh and others gnash their teeth.
GTA IV certainly fits this criteria as the reaction to it runs the gamut.
If you toilet paper someones house, or see a toilet papered house, this polarization occurs. Some will laugh, others will want to call the cops. And these reactions will run the gamut across the participants, often depending on the prank. What I'm saying here is that depends somewhat, but not fully, on whether you are the TP-er, the TP-ee, or just some passerby.
As I noted, music changes somewhat when you go from listener to performer.
Much media today is multi-media. Movies have visuals and sound, but also touch the intellectual plane in many ways, most often by story. So a movie might touch the sublime by story, or by the constitution of some of its visual parts including such things as cinematography, set design, costuming, etc., as well as by a sublime performance of an actor of the cast.
When I say that for art there is a, fascination for the un-useful, this fascination, I think, is tied to our being struck by the sublime. Hmmm. My thoughts are still hanging on the passive/active divide in art...but all arts are prone to the activity of defining what they are. That is judgement is brought into the picture and the good artists make the passive side active. They invoke the spectators to some action. And those things which conjure this judgement the least are our least artistic endeavours. Here, games activate participants in a very noticable way, again, much as a toy would.
Hmmmm....
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April 14th, 2008
10:02 am - Where's My Tee Shirt?
( Representing Eric Blair )
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April 10th, 2008
01:59 pm - Snip It In
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01:05 pm - Ataraxia: The Last Paradox
And so, you decide to let people live as they live. In most cases, Freire says, they have learned how to do this and they need no help. And if you care, care to ask them, they will tell you how they live upon the landscape, often with ancient wisdom. But invariably someone comes along, not looking much to their own life but by some life outside their own, and they always claim to know a better way of life for these people. They have ascended to "government" and now need someone to govern, other than themselves. They need to make themselves known in power. And they think that they have redefined themselves, when but all that they might do in power is to model themselves after those they hated before, their predecessors. Their teachers, when their teachers were strange people teaching of strange things...
And so I mandate. Live unto yourself as you do, leaving others to live as they do.
And lastly remember this. A farmer is a man out standing in his field.
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11:49 am - Weather With Report
Earlier today it was black and downpouring. And you know me.
Now?
Sunshine and robin songs...
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April 9th, 2008
12:08 pm - With Report
I wanted to say something about aphasia...
He [Pyrrho] himself has left nothing in writing, but this pupil Timon says that whoever wants to be happy must consider these three questions: first, how are things by nature? Secondly, what attitude should we adopt towards them? Thirdly, what will be the outcome for those who have such an attitude? According to Timon, Pyrrho declared that things are equally indifferent, unmeasurable and inarbitrable. For this reason neither our sensations nor our opinions tell us truths or falsehoods. Therefore for this reason we should not put our trust in them one bit, but should be unopinionated, uncommitted and unwavering, saying concerning each individual thing that it no more is than is not, or both is and is not, or neither is nor is not. The outcome for those who actually adopt this attitude, says Timon, will be first speechlessness [aphasia], and then freedom from disturbance; and Aenesidemus says pleasure. (Eusebius, Prep. Ev. 14.18.2–5, Long & Sedley)
***
So today is the commingling of the SEP and CMT's top 100 country videos. Often at the same time. I am, indeed, going mad...
We're expecting 200 plus and shooting a video on Sat night. I need to see if John has a Wah pedal I can use. If it's the case that he does, I'm gonna be short a good guitar cable...
Mel Bescher has written some country song that paid off in the past and my sister has been working on a song with him. Thursday I'm supposed to go over and learn the music. We'll see if it comes close to the one we got out of Eric...
Bad night last night. Too much in the stomach before bed...
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