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Posted on 06.01.08 by Mr. Majestic @ 2:18 pm
It is the mind-killer. Yet so many of us, so often, willingly surrender our consciousness to this weapon of mass destruction. Some may seek the origins of our culture of fear amid the dust and twisted steel of two fallen towers, and I suppose the current wave has been fed in part by such violent change. But it seems to me that any society, any group, any individual can succumb to the trap of living in fear. So often, traumatic events trigger an emotional response, prompting us to shove our cultural pendulum in an opposite direction. Our complacency, we conclude, has led us to this pass. “Never again,” we vow. Even when the actions are justified - or even correct - the Law of Unintended Consequences threatens to devour us in the day after. “… but most of all - we (are) at war with ourselves.” Terrorism, racism, immigration, the environment, the economy, disease, crime, over-eating, under-eating, religion, sexuality - I could probably fill this post with nothing but a laundry-list of contemporary cultural bugaboos. And as we pave the road to hell trying to fix these problems - or prevent them from impacting us or the ones we love - the first casualty is often our common sense, followed rapidly by our common decency. We allow our fears of what might be to rob us of our capacity to touch others through what should be. Relationship requires risk. Demands it. Commands it. “A new command I give you: love one another.” No coincidence, certainly, that Christ used the imperative when it comes to love. And interesting, too, that a commonly shared bit of Bible trivia is that the most oft-repeated command in all of scripture is “Do not be afraid.” We fear many things, but at the root of it all we fear to reach out, to connect, to touch. We fear that our action will not be received and returned. We find safety in numbers, and it is easier to crouch at the center of a crowd than to step out alone and face fear. Yet it takes just one Rosa Parks, one Gandhi, to start a crack in the wall; and before you know it, CNN cameras are rolling as thousands tear it down for the world to see. About ten years ago, the movie Se7en was a popular thriller for many reasons, including the story. The disturbing and grim portrait of a serial killer gripped many viewers, but what I found most enthralling was also very often overlooked by the people with whom I held water-cooler chats. Kevin Spacey’s intelligent and implacable character seems to have set in-motion an impenetrable chain of events - fed by the human nature of his victims - that, by his design, will ultimately result in the creation of a twisted tapestry, a masterwork of death. He seems to suggest that in some sick way, we cannot help but see the logic and inevitability of his end. To me, however, what stood out most glaringly was that any one of his victims could have brought his entire house of cards crashing down, and destroyed his beautiful wickedness with a simple act of civil disobedience. Each of the murderer’s seven “judgments” relied on the victim to take action resulting in death. Of course, Spacey’s character threatened other terrors should they refuse to comply, but what if any one of them had refused? All it takes is for one person to yell “stop” - and the “message” is lost. The plan is ruined. Pondering the fact that anyone could have - yet no one did - that is what made this film work for me.
In the aftermath of hurt, as fear grips a community, a voice - collective or individual - emerges, urging action be taken. “We must protect ourselves.” And most of the time, the community listens. Some will doubt. A few will even speak aloud their misgivings. “The needs of the many …” they will be told; in lovingly condescending tones. The die is cast. The pendulum swings. Satan, laughing, spreads his wings. I have watched, as people congratulate one another on their stalwart refusal to touch, to feel, to love. I have seen fear grip a community so thoroughly that no one dares risk closeness, connection, growth. I have cried as I saw the hope disappear from the eyes of others, realizing that their willingness to risk relationship would be unwelcome, misunderstood, even punished. I have listened to the tears of a child, rejected and alone; when the fears of others would not allow comfort and compassion to overrule. As Agent Smith intones in ‘The Matrix’ - “it is the sound of inevitability.” We cannot go back. And yet those of us who saw and enjoyed watching Neo’s transformation know, the next moment witnessed his refusal to comply. To, as the late-William F. Buckley said, “Stand athwart history yelling: ‘Stop!’ ”
I will continue to reach out, to touch, to connect, to love. I refuse to let fear rule my choices and my actions. The risk of relationship with others is a risk I will continue to take, no matter how many times the result is disappointment. “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.” Can we - as individuals - find the strength to live these words? Can we - as a society - find purpose in something other than crisis?
Filed under: Eric on the loose ... Comments: 1 Comment |
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Posted on 03.23.08 by Mr. Majestic @ 11:30 am
On a day of resurrection I think of death … Bittersweet - Spring is re-birth, right? But also will permanently hold echoes of pain for us, and this particular visitation I cannot blame on anything other than my own insistence on experiencing certain reminders. Cryptic yes, but its for insiders, anyhow. I actually don’t think I’ve ever shared with anyone the real trigger for me … and perhaps I’ll keep it that way - sort of a tiny private torture, like the short swipe of a razor blade that you don’t need a sleeve to hide. The funniest part is that I really don’t spend much time wallowing anymore - in this or any other sty. Because pain is just a part of living. And sometimes it hurts. Ha, ha. We needn’t embrace (love?) the pain itself, nor the lie of its supremacy; but acceptance - turning to face the wind - there’s the rub. And how much better when we remember that all of us bear scars. So much sadder and lonelier when we presume we suffer in isolation. Or start to live as if it were a contest … a spiraling test-match of misery. Jeez, this is such drivel. (I wonder if I will bother to press the publish button?) So, come on and SHINE! Following the advice of one of my favorite quotes (”I’ll quote the truth where I find it, thank you.”) - I like the cartoon monkey’s insight - “yes, the past can hurt. But the way I see it, you can either run from it, or … learn from it.” Do we learn - and grow - from our hurts, or do we allow them to rule us, and make the dangerous choice to stop moving? When we stop moving, we stop living. YES! “Oh, yes is a word with a glorious ring, Silly though it may be, Yellow Submarine still inspires me both artistically and philosophically. Love symbolically and literally filling the land … the word “no” transformed to “now” and then to “know” … and the rapturous psychedelia of “It’s All Too Much.” Looking around, I see people doing things like “What Kind Of World Do You Want?” and “Free Rice” … and it reassures me that I am not alone. “Weeping may last for a night, but JOY comes in the morning!” “All joy … emphasises our pilgrim status; always reminds, beckons, awakens desire. Our best havings are wantings.” “God is, if I may say it, is very unscrupulous.” Unscrupulous, indeed. He may not play dice, but He doesn’t play fair … that, of course, being a relative thing when the universe is of your own making! One way or another, we either learn and grow or we stop living. There is no middle way. Death and rebirth, joy and pain … both comprise the warp and woof of this world - but not yin and yang. Not “equal & opposite”. Don’t believe that. Never will. Learn. Grow. Love. LIVE. I think it’s meant to be an imperative. Come on you miner for truth and delusion and shine! Filed under: Religion & Philosophy Comments: None |
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Posted on 01.06.08 by Mr. Majestic @ 1:59 pm
Just a quick blurb concerning audio. Was reading a Slashdot thread about the long-expected party over the death of the audio CD (and other physical media), which touched upon a related issue (cause?). This phenomenon is sometimes dubbed (ha, ha, pun intended): The Loudness War I’ve read about & considered this problem, but somehow the references provided and subsequent surfing left me a lot more disappointed than I had been. Watch this video clip. (Then come back!) I’ve always always agreed that CD audio was a compromise, but was willing to sacrifice a bit of quality in exchange for the three things vinyl doesn’t deliver: durability, convenience, and clarity (no bacon frying!). However, with this growing trend, the scales begin to tip back the other direction. Many people seem to be waking up to the fact that “something is increasingly wrong” with the sound today … and people like Matt Mayfield are helping put a finger on it. Once again (no surprise) it is the music labels who are primarily to blame. Oddly enough, it seems as though the largest secondary source for the problem is the artists! But this actually dovetails with a related theory of mine … I feel that digital production techniques have been also helping to kill a lot of the CREATIVITY in the music biz, and I’ll explain why. Back in the days when Sergeant Pepper taught the band to play, innovative sounds and ground-breaking production could only be obtained through expertise, sweat, and wisdom. In the day of digital, if a band tells the producer “we’ve always wanted to have a sound like ‘X’ album, ‘Y’ band, or ‘Z’ song” … such tricks are only a plug-in away. I’m not faulting the creative impulses in general … but when everything comes easy … well, you know what Ringo said. In film & video production, there has been some similar behavior, but (thankfully) those media are complex enough to provide some bulwark against the tide. (As Chuck Derry used to say: “film is the super-art”.) In the end, I believe such phenomena tend to be self-correcting. The human urge to make art (and receive it) will win out … but I do wonder how much collateral damage will occur along the way. I wish I still had a turntable … I’d put on one of my few remaining LP’s right now. Filed under: Eric on the loose ... Comments: None |
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Posted on 12.31.07 by Mr. Majestic @ 11:12 am
Well, here we are again at the close of another year. I think there’s something to that notion that time seems to move faster as we age - due to the fact that (perceptually) any given increment of time (day, month, year) makes up an increasingly smaller portion of our life as a whole. In other words, when you are seven, a year is one-seventh of your life, but when you are thirty … you get the idea. These damned things sure seem to be flying by lately. Of course, pondering the “last day” of the year got me thinking of one of my favorite sci-fi indulgences: Logan’s Run. Based on a 1967 novel, the 1976 motion picture (starring Michael York) is a kitschy classic not to be missed. I think they achieved greatness with the title font for the posters alone … never mind the rest of the art direction. The TV show was plain awful, but I remember watching it as a kid. I was a science fiction junkie back then, getting my fix any way I could. Which was a lot harder with no DVD, no VHS, and no cable. A re-make has been in the works for some time, but I doubt it will ever see the light of day. There is no sanctuary! Of course, whether today is actually the last day is arbitrary depending on your calendar & reckoning. Looking over a sampler of New Year’s traditions, I remembered that just a few weeks ago I was trying to figure out how many different calendars were in active use around the world. The Earth Calendar is a pretty interesting little page, which also provides the helpful answer. (Which is: “over a dozen” if you’re lazy.) Arbitrary in a sense, and yet there is a universal time. If there was “a beginning”, then there is a correct time. (Leaving aside for the moment the existence and definition of time in general.) I don’t know if anyone else ever stops to do this, but periodically I will imagine the spinning solar systems & galaxies as colossal cosmic clock faces … spinning ’round as they sweep out the millennia. Like the black & white school clocks most of us remember watching … watching … watching … Although it may have been less commercially successful, a few bits of my favorite music by ELO come from the album simply entitled TIME. It was introduced to me during the age of cassette stereo, as I spent a few weeks’ visit with family in Huntsville, AL. Each morning my cousin Chris & I helped his older brother Lowell deliver his newspapers (a large automobile route). I recall swerving dangerously down suburban southern streets, delivering papers in the cold dark of a summer morning, with the car stereo blasting out ‘Twilight’. I can still feel the chill of the carport floor, smell the ink staining our fingers … and the vinyl of the seats. The holidays are about to end … along with another year. The drear and melancholy of another January will set-in … but it is memories such as these which sustain me. Across the night I saw your face Filed under: Eric on the loose ... Comments: None |
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Posted on 11.08.07 by Mr. Majestic @ 11:27 am
It occurs to me this morning that mankind simply cannot resist the urge to categorize, to label. I suppose a portion of this stems from noble (or at least neutral) desires - the desire to understand, to learn, to know. But almost certainly a good share voices the need to control our world. In general, we do not sit comfortably with that which we do not understand. Nobody likes an unsolved mystery. By placing a label on things (or people), we simultaneously limit them while increasing our own sense of control. How godlike. Amateur psychology would seem to offer plenty of explanation for why we may accept the labels people place on us. While that certainly is problematic, today I find myself more fascinated by the way we accept others’ labels for … others. The funny thing is how often we are willing to buy other peoples’ categorizations of those around us. How easy we find it to consume the short-cut, ‘Reader’s Digest’ assessment of whole persons, rather than make an attempt at learning for ourselves who they truly might be. (Leaving aside for now the issue of whether they want to be known or will allow it in the first place … ha!) Over the years, I have been categorized as both a hippie and a yuppie; an artist and a businessman, a geek and a trendsetter; a liberal and a conservative; hedonist, religious, reactionary, philosopher, writer, and wannabe. I’m sure there are many more, including some I haven’t heard. I guess what amuses me is that they can’t all be true. At least not insofar as any one of these descriptors encompasses the entirety (or even a fair portion) of who I am. The ones who truly know me welll would laugh at any one of these “boxes”. But life in a box provides comfort to many. Perhaps that’s why we all spend so much time in cubicle-farms. And while some may find comfort in such a simple assessment, my immediate reaction to such categorizing is generally a demonstration of just how I exhibit characteristics which are precisely the opposite. A quote from Coach Mike Kryzewski seems relevant:
I like that bit about discretion. I think all of us need to maintain some “discretionary prerogative” with regard to who we are and what we do. Don’t put a label on me! Do try to learn who I really am. I am a work in progress. Never content to meddle just with our fellow man, perhaps the most fun of all occurs when we try to put God in a box. Steve Taylor neatly bisected human culture between those with “their god in a box” and the rest “nervously mocking heaven”. To be fair, he did allow for a few misfits as well. I suppose I am one of these. Filed under: Eric on the loose ... Comments: 1 Comment |
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- Tad Ghostal