Movement I – Everything Passionate is Red, Including Strawberries, Cherries and Eyes [Sigur Rós, Viorar Vel Til Loftárasá]
Dear Gentle Reader,
I had a grand, romantic gesture planned for a certain pre-special lady in my life… something that would be surprising, unexpected and for sure out of her experience. Worthy of a film, involving a kilo of strawberries, cherries, 2 hunks of melt-able chocolate, and a nice bottle of port. I’ve never done anything like this, so it would be new to me. Well, to spare you the pain and agony, it did not go to plan, thus revealing the illusive obvious face that life can never replicate the movies. In movies, the fact of logistics, bad timing and just plain unforeseen circumstances are always left out. That's the difference. THAT’S why fantasies are fantasies. This wasn’t a major rejection of me, as she didn’t even KNOW what I had planned. After some stewing I decided to have a good, long cry and let this be the catalyst to some other mental bullshit that’s been wandering around in the catacombs of my subconscious. “It's only after we've lost [let go of?] Everything that we're free to do anything” Said Tyler Durden, in the film ‘Fight Club’. This film and another I saw “V for Vendetta” (which I thought was going to be terribly cheesy but ended up being terribly good) are two films I recommend.
Movement II – The Art Equation [Part 1, Philip Glass]
WHICH leads me to my next tangent: These two films are good examples of deep philosophy being played out on a superficial level. What do I mean by this? I am beginning to believe that great and simultaneously [financially marketable?] successful art is simply intellectually deep subject matter with a mask of superficiality over it. Two pop music examples of this are The Beatles and Radiohead: both bands started out fairly simplistic and poppy… their songs, (merely replicas of structures already proven to resonate with large audiences) took their now avid fans to deeper and deeper places. Pablo Honey, The Bends, Ok Computer, Kid A, Amnesiac, Hail to the Thief. These all go deeper and deeper into stranger sounds, more and more eclectic and experimental, and no matter how hard they tried to push away their ‘pop’ audience they just became that much more successful. It is also interesting to note that this can be applied to interpersonal social interaction… have you, Gentle Reader, had the experience of pulling away from someone only to find them return to you? In the social-dynamics world (a PC way of saying Pickup Community), this is called ‘Cat-String Theory’, and it is fairly self-explanatory.
Movement III – Karma has Been Proven [Still ‘Part 1’, Philip Glass]
These two films, which I have recently viewed, do just that… They contain action, sex, romance, violence… everything the brainstem and cortex would enjoy. But underneath all this prehistoric rhetoric are ideas; ideas and philosophies that go much deeper beyond the superficial visualities presented.
But am I forgetting the idea of “les extrèmes se touchent”? The extremes touch each other. The Beatles and Radiohead have their place on the graph, but Philip Glass has the opposite kind of career. If you listen to Philip’s new music, it is the same bumbling repetitions that he's spawned since the mid-90’s. Sad really… there’s a lot he could be doing. But, in the beginning, he was doing almost the opposite kind of thing RH does, but like we can see… the extremes are quite close. He was meddling around with these complex rhythmic structures, and putting traditional, acceptable harmonies on top of these complexities. Radiohead puts obscure, impressionistic lyrics over electronica blues and space sounds. (Notice the trend of white guys constantly stealing brown peoples music and making a financial killing off it?)
But there’s no question about it… Philip makes pretty good movie and background music. Alone, its just 1/2; Paired with a visual aspect, there’s something magical about it you can’t deny.
Movement IV – A Cunning Deception, or a Naïve Frame? [Philip Glass, Façades]
I have noticed a trend in Holland… maybe its just the city, or the people I'm coming in contact with… and that trend is FEAR.
Fear of getting caught?
Fear of true nature?
Fear of standing out?
Fear of conforming?
Fear of love?
Fear of success?
Fear of failure?
Fear of intimacy?
Fear of control?
Fear of lack of control?
Fear of freedom?
Fear of oppression?
Fear of passion?
Fear of being perfect?
Fear of being imperfect?
Fear of culture?
Fear of the unknown?
Fear of advenae?
I'm not saying I have any answers, but only gut level instincts and feelings. That there’s something a bit ‘off’ with this large population. I see beautiful, acceptable people. Twelve-year-old girls who look like they’re 17. I see no rules or restrictions. I see a multitude of boundaries taking the place of those rules and restrictions that in America, might be there. I see groups of people. I see society functioning well. I see money. And then I see the fear again. Something, not just in Holland, but the Western world is going deeply against the grain of human nature. And you can see it in the world; it’s all going to come crashing down sooner or later. In a way, it’s the opposite of America. In another way, it’s the same. Les extrèmes se touchent.
“everyone/everyone around here/everyone is so near/everyone has got the fear/just holding on”
Very revealing, Thom, indeed.
Ok… I'm just about out of ideas! Send comments and all that fun stuff. Thanks for reading!
Best,
-e
PS and now some photos!
5 comments:
Oh, but I can deny the glory of Phillip Glass's soundtrack work... deny until I'm blue in the face. I loved what you said about Glass's "repetitive bumblings" when describing his later work... now just apply the same statement to his early work and you'll understand his entire career perfectly.
Glass-bashing aside... I think good societies are structured on fear (realized through repression.) If everyone went all Fight Club on each other, there'd be anarchy... which really just ends up in lots of people getting poked in the eye. The key is to get through your twenties. Then the repression starts seeming like a good idea rather than a horrible zombie disease paralyzing us with mediocrity.
Option #2: Read lots of Ayn Rand and become a libertarian jerk.
Listen to John's advice. He read lots of Ayn Rand and was a libertarian jerk. And then he turned 30something.
I turned 30something once. It was the greatest thing I've accomplished thus far, aside from attending the Golden Gate Bridge's 50th Anniversary celebration in one piece (man that was ugly).
And since you've been so candid, may I just offer a thought... well, two, actually... that I had the other day while reading about your date that went awry?
Don't worry about those romantic notions. I love strawberries and chocolate. One time I went on a date with a guy who presented me those things with a flourish at a picnic table he'd set up in advance of my arriving. And the next week, after all his showmanship, he was going out with another girl and never bothered to let me know. You see, strawberries and chocolate are wonderful, but they're not food... not really. I have food on my table every night now and it is sooooo goood. You have no idea how wonderful the seemingly mundane meat and veggies are when life is going on all around you. So fear not. You will learn how to cook (although it looks like you're doing a fantastic job of that!) a simple meal and it will fulfill your hunger. I promise (but you have to keep an open mind, that's YOUR job in this promise).
Also, you called the girl you had a date planned with a "pre-special lady friend". Whew, that's a mouthful. It's loaded with expectation. So clearly you expect great things if this lady is a "pre-special". But how about keeping things simple? We girls like simple, funny enough. Phrases such as "My friend so-and-so" is a good one. It acknowledges that you have a friend, it leaves off the expectation bit so that can be allowed to grow organically without getting everyone's hopes or fears up, and it keeps the objectification [she is woman, I am man] at bay. And if you don't want to say her name, just say "my friend [is coming over for dinner... I have something special planned]". I've found it rather curious that you have chosen to use the term lady-friend and I'd love to know where you got it... and if you tell me it's a pickup artist thing I'm going to fly to Eindhoven to come wring your neck and then take you to dinner. Whatever happened to friends? Or "the girl I'm [or hope to be] dating... we'll call her Matilda, shall we"?
I do think you're loading your plate, even on a semantic level (which does fuel your inner dialogue), in a rather funny or possibly unbalanced way when it comes to how you think of us ladies... and I'm open to rebuttals.
I love you lil' bro.
I resent that Molly! I certainly have NOT read a lot of Ayn Rand. And I've NEVER been a libertarian. Once a communist, always a communist.
Ok ok... so you read a lot of Marx and sponged rides because you were a communist jerk.
:-)
Way back when in the cave man days, fear was what kept you from getting eaten. Fear of the lion. Or dying of malnutrition. Fear of getting that hungry feeling and it's still only February.
We don't have those kinds of fears (in first world countries) but we are still wired for it. Why do you thing we have all those weird chasing dreams? Why are horror flicks so popular. We need to exercise our fear muscles some way.
Same thing with allergies or Crohne's disease. We've lost the need but not the ability.
Mapa
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