Saturday, July 24, 2004
LAUGH NOT [Chris]
Sound up, head phones advisable, although it is safe for work... if you can sit through this without laughing, you're stuck way to far up the the infinite IMO, and, oh, a much better man than I;)
Posted on
10:09 PM
INCAPACITY ON BOTH SIDES [Matthew]
Truth by told, I've long felt that David Brooks, on his best days, exhibits Integral thinking in his columns, and appearances on The News Hour. When not, he is usually able to show a pretty good understanding of the different sides of an issue, and the different perspectives. Sometimes his pieces are even less inclusive, but we all have our range of capacities.
In his new NYTimes column, he writes about the 9/11 Commission's findings. Here's the Kosmic Quote (emphasis mine):The commissioners don't say it, but the implication is clear. We've had an investigation into our intelligence failures; we now need a commission to analyze our intellectual failures. Simply put, the unapologetic defenders of America often lack the expertise they need. And scholars who really know the Islamic world are often blind to its pathologies. They are so obsessed with the sins of the West, they are incapable of grappling with threats to the West.
Okay, so he comes down a little harder on the scholars, but the point is clear. Both the pro- and anti- war people have been unable to deal with a primary issue. New thinking is required to engage in the intellectual, or ideological, conflict. Physical and military might alone will not bring about peace (though both do have partial value), for the conflict is near impossible to win on the ground -- the terrorists are too nimble.
So one question is, who are the players that can take part in an honest ideological debate and discussion, between for example modernist in the East and West? Another is who are the progressive thinkers who also have public prestige, and thus to which attention would be paid? Activity of this nature has been growing over the course of the last 30 years; we just have to keep going, to get to that mysterious yet tangible tipping point.
Posted on
8:19 AM
Friday, July 23, 2004
VERTIGO [coolmel]
U2 plan to release their new songs via the Internet if a stolen CD leaks, BONO has said... According to the Daily Telegraph: "If it is on the Internet this week, we will release it immediately as a legal download on iTunes, and get hard copies into the shops by the end of the month. It would be a real pity. It would screw up years of work and months of planning, not to mention f**king up our holidays. But once it's out, it's out." - from NME.COM
i feel for U2. i will buy their new album for sure. but the music industry has to rethink their form of distribution and business model (e.g. AT&T's embrace of VoIP.). yes, hardware will always be in demand, but it's only a matter of time when "purely digital" forms of distribution have to take precedence. for better or for worse, the rise of the free culture is at hand. two choices: adapt or resist. resistance will just result in more casualties and suffering.
Posted on
7:11 AM
Thursday, July 22, 2004
9/11 COMMISSION'S FINAL REPORT [Matthew]
You can read it and downloaded it here. It is my hope that this document fuels truly informed discussions about 9/11, terrorism, and the world's response to terrorism, in ways that befit the sobriety of any difficult geo-political problem.
I listened to the commission's final press conference today on the radio. I was very impressed by the depth and span of its recommendations, and the weight each commissioners words carried. We heard calls for structural change in the US gov't, cultural change in the ways the the US engages in dialogue with Islamic cultures, and changes to address what the commission poetically called an overall failure of imagination. We have the span of Its, We, and I.
Time will tell whether the developmental aspect, for example of cultures, will find a place in mainstream debate. With the clash of developmental worldviews currently in play -- Pluralistic, Scientific-Rational, and Mythic Order -- acknowledgement of this primary factor in the massive inter-cultural disagreement of the contemporary world can only help the discussion. We need leaders who both understand and express these dynamics in a coherant fashion, as well as garner support for informed change.
And if they know how to make a good pint of ice cream, all the better.
Posted on
11:10 AM
Tuesday, July 20, 2004
THE END OF PHISH [Matthew]
The imminent death of this seminal rock band is definintely a blow for its legions of fans. Through its 20 years of performing, the band came to take the mantle of live improvised Americana (rock, blues, bluegrass, jazz, barbershop) and push the edges in many directions, as best as possible. While many styles were integrated into its soup of live sound, Phish really never gave up on the power of the traditional dance band. Phish grounded its music in the booty-skooting energy of a kind of 'Vermont funk'. And a lot of friends, from MMW, Alison Krauss, Michael Ray, Tower of Power, Bela Fleck, Bill Monroe, BB King, John Popper, and more helped along the way.
I attended over 20 shows, the last in 2001 in Minneapolis. But I have kept tabs on the band's progress and recent directions. Few bands have been able to cultivate a sustainable group mind the way Phish did. Their improvisations included not only a lot of jamming, but a lot of jamming on the structure in which they improvised. It is like dancing in a building at the same time you are building the building. Rather paradoxical, but Phish laid public claim to this intention many years ago. Work to detail all of the band's rehearsal exercises, to bring about enhanced group mind, could be the subject of its own book.
The best part of their impending break up is that they are doing it at pretty much the top of their game. Their recent album Undermind is their best studio effort by a long shot (though Farmhouse is also a good studio album). They are performing the final leg of their tour to their biggest crowds ever, and giving to their fans as much as possible. Their recent Brooklyn gig was simulcast in theatres around the country.
What will happen next? At the very least, the members -- Trey, Mike, Fish, and Page -- will take their enormous creative energy to new projects, and expand upon the terrain the band helped to manifest. Fish would do great to continue his work with the Jazz Mandolin Project, Mike's work with Leo Kottke was great, Page's efforts in Vida Blue are pure techno-funk, and Trey's forays into chamber and symphonic composing look to place him at the leading-edges of contemporary composition. His recent work with his 10-piece band -- which I call 'Hippie R & B' -- was universally well-received.
As this cadence arrives and expands, I'm reminded of the saying 'don't just seek the work of masters -- seek what they sought'. For those die-hard Phish fans who happen to be musicians, like myself, we can seek out the paths forged by Phish. As we walk those paths, we can brandish our bushwacking machetes, and to push on till the day, and the night, and the day, and the night, and the dawn, baby. The dawn.
Posted on
4:01 PM
FINDING BOBBY [coolmel]
Immigration authorities in Japan have arrested former world chess champion Bobby Fischer. The reclusive figure has apparently been shuttling between Japan and the Philippines for several years, attempting to avoid prosecution in the United States. [via]
Chess is anything but fun, for me that is. it partially fried my brain too. and i barely made it to the semis.
Posted on
1:20 PM
Sunday, July 18, 2004
24/7 PROPAGANDA [Jason]
With all this talk lately of the propaganda of Michael Moore we should remember that while Fahrenheit 9/11 is certainly propaganda, it's not even in the same universe as the Fox News channel. The Fox News Channel, or the media sect of the republican party doesn't participate in real journalism, just name calling and selective news reporting, very selective.
Robert Greenwald has illegally by his own admission cut and spliced together Fox News clips for his new documentary "OutFoxed: Rupert Murdoch's war on journalism". This documentary talks with ex Fox employees about the attitude of the voracious 24 hour channel and it's Pro-Bush Anti-Kerry memo's.
The problem with Fox News Channel is not that it doesn't always report the facts but that it portends to not be ideological, and yet is by far the ideological main stream news source out there. With all fuss being made over Michael Moore and the fact that Fahrenheit 9/11 is polarizing people forget that Right wing of American politics, the mythic membership crew has perfected now in the Fox News Channel what the Left is only now getting it's feet wet in.
Posted on
11:48 AM
