Friday, June 24, 2011

whats in a song?

A rough day and lack of sleep bring little motivation to do anything at all.  But here I am.  Late at night, I enjoy the quiet. Neighbors dogs don't bark (as much), less traffic noise and only what noise the mouse and keyboard make is present.  Sometimes its nice to find some music and although I do enjoy loud rock and roll from the likes of Avenged Sevenfold, 10 Years or Seasons After, at night I find some slower music with possibly a depressed theme go well together.  Start it off with some Neil Young-Heart of Gold and Old Man then find A Perfect Circles version of Imagine.  I found a great mash up between Korn and Coldplay; some great music and fantastic lyrics.  But then I might "ruin" it and find some techno by The Glitch Mob.  A cool song by them is Animus Vox.

"I need someone to love me the whole day through, ah one look in my eyes and you can tell that's true"

Something about these songs put me in a certain introspective mind place that I really enjoy.  I liken it to a few drinks or maybe a light dose of medication.  The downside is that time seems to melt away and I find out I can no longer get enough sleep and wake up on time.  But I do enjoy the trade on sleep and seem to make it often enough. 

I like that music is a good avenue to send a message that sometimes plain words would be too harsh.  Musicians often times tell us that they want to die or identify a huge problem or sometimes a good instrumental will allow our own minds to ponder such things.  This is good. An avenue of either self or societal discussion is important.  The music culture of the 60's and on legitimatized music on this level.  Too bad there is so much bad music out there.  Many a song went on to talk about the Vietnam War (Tin Soldiers and Nixons Coming) and today many rock songs talk about depression and sorrow.

 Music often talks about the trends and feelings of the time and I know this to be true today.  Youth feels down about the times and music reflects this, how could it not? Conversely we get Katy Perri, Lady Gaga and Lil Wayne.  I listen to Neil Young's Ohio and find it as relevant today as it was then.  Maybe I'll talk later about how people riot in Edmonton when their team looses but not of the epic debacle of wall street. hmm.


Neil Young- Ohio- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GI7-m919ynU

Mash up of Korn and Coldplay ----  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJ8Rdc3tVFA

Before He died, Johnny Cash - Hurt- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clq01TXQR0s&feature=fvsr

Imagine- Written by John Lennon performed by A Perfect Circle
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dunKAwRN3P8

Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Livin' for today

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Livin' life in peace

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one

Imagine all the people
Sharin' all the world

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharin' all the world

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Quotes for you and me

I always enjoy a good quote.  Like a witty one liner they often drive strait to the point and make you think.  My favorite quotes are unfortunately driven by problems.  Better thinkers than I see a broken system, intolerable situation or outright absurdity and they point it out succinctly with a well worded diatribe.


About education


"Far from failing in its intended task, our educational system is in fact succeeding magnificently because its aim is to keep the American people thoughtless enough to go on supporting the system."  -Richard Mitchell


“Growth and mastery come only to those who vigorously self-direct. Initiating, creating, doing, reflecting, freely associating, enjoying privacy – these are precisely what the structures of schooling are set up to prevent, on one pretext or another.”-john Taylor Gatto

"A well instructed people alone can permanetly free a people."- James Madison

On the government


"Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. Tolerance in the face of tyranny is no virtue." - Barry Goldwater


If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy. -James Madison


The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, self-appointed, or elective, may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny. -James Madison


On religion


Faith is the great cop-out, the great excuse to evade the need to think and evaluate evidence. Faith is belief in spite of, even perhaps because of, the lack of evidence.            -Richard Dawkins


"Question with boldness even the existence of god; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason than that of blindfolded fear."-Thomas Jefferson


"If god did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him."-Voltair


"Religion is an insult to human dignity. With or without it, you'd have good people doing good things and evil people doing bad things, but for good people to do bad things, it takes religion."- Steven Weinberg


On sex


For the first time in history, sex is more dangerous than the cigarette afterward.  -Jay Leno


When a man talks dirty to a woman, it's sexual harassment. When a woman talks dirty to a man, it's $3.95 a minute.  -Author Unknown


"There's nothing inherently dirty about sex, but if you try real hard and use your imagination you can overcome that." -Lewis Grizzard


On guns


"Among the many misdeeds of the British rule in India, history will look upon the act of depriving a whole nation of arms, as the blackest." - Mahatma Gandhi


"I ask, sir, what is the militia? It is the whole people...To disarm the people is the best and most effectual way to enslave them." -George Mason


"Whoever said the pen is mightier than the sword obviously never encountered
automatic weapons."-General Douglas MacArthur




He who laughs last probably does not get the joke.

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Happy?

Krishnamurti: “It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society.”

Is it normal to be happy?  Is it a good thing your not?  The natural world/universe is a wonderful interesting place and I suppose many of us would spend a lifetime exploring without much worry.  Our everyday lives are filled with so much bullshit that no wonder so many of us are unhappy.  We must labor to pay for our homes, electronics and taxes that make others vastly more wealthy and then we become toys for others to use.  Not for our benefit mind you.

Our American society is truly a predatory one. We work all our lives for money, search our souls in churches and bring up our children to value the things that we have learned to value even though the vast majority of us know that we are a part of a broken system.  From the monetary system to our politics, Jacques Fresco mentioned that the way we do things will become part of a horror movie in the future.  But how far ahead need we be?  Even the way various people idolize god, celebrity, and royalty are inherently naive and misguided,  All of these things are various institutions made from the ground up to become beacons of wealth, power and self preservation .  How can we overcome these things?

I don't believe we can in our current system.  And its not just one system or a few......its the whole entirety. I reason that if we start with the monetary system we will see large gains on a different world.  Follow the money.  From corrupt politicians, super huge corporations, religious corruption, banking centers and nationalistic fervor, all these things stand in the way. Or more precisely the people who would believe that they would loose something along the way to a transition.  Ask yourself "Is this the best we can do?" Ask yourself "Do I even really want to be a part of this?"

I think once you say yes to the former and no to the latter, you or people can begin to question the way we do things. Propaganda slogans like "support the troops" or "Our war on terror".  These both mean nothing but seem to mean a lot. Pure propaganda. These notions and many others drive us to wars and poverty where the only winners are the same people who started the slogans. People and businesses like Cheney/Haliburton, Condolezza/Shell Oil and Blackwater.

This is a good little facebook page article http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=4822989870 .  There is much to say about such a massive topic such as "social reconstruction", so it takes much reading and more importantly an objective mind.

Check out "The Silver Bear Cafe", "The Venus Project" and "Zeitgeist Movie"

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Provacative - Stunning

Travels through the internet often turn up fun things. LIKE THIS: probably not work safe http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/2001497/Naked-women-on-Paris-Metro-Photos-start-row.html

"""Naked women on Paris Metro: Photos of naked women in provocative positions on the Paris Metro, featured in a new book, have sparked an investigation by rail authorities in France.""""

Website of the photographer: http://www.jam-abelanet.com/menu.php

This nudity is fairly tasteful and our culture should probably appreciate this instead of Modern Warfare 5......doncha think? but about the pictures and the story behind it, very interesting.  Do I really need to say much else?