Be here now.

Brooks' article is spot on. Though he does not invoke Nixon (or Rove for that matter), Brooks points out that the conservative party (which has had the presidency for every year of my life, less the 12 years of Clinton/Carter) has finally come to an end (which is, in fact, a new beginning) . . . and I hope he is right.

I am not rejoicing that conservative thought has come to an end, because there are conservative ideals I agree with (such as a strong national defense), but I am happy to see that conservative social dogma is no longer resonating with the majority of the electorate. The issues of religion, race, and nationality (again, all issue of otherness that stoke the fears of so many) are being reconsidered . . . and, I believe, rejected, or at least, redefined.

When I look at this election I see a country that has held onto its past for far too long. I think, as a people, we don't want to let go of our history because we feel that our history defines who we are. But, the past merely defines who we were. In truth, we are defined by our current action, by what we are doing right now.

The Cold War is over, though some insist we continue framing the world in terms of Superpowers that are either (wholly) Good or Evil. We are no longer a Superpower, primarily because the world does not need a unilaterally acting Superpower. We were a Superpower when we had to be . . . let's move forward and become something the world really needs now.

Though the Civil War is long over, we continue political 'discourse' that posits the cultures and practices of those in the South against those in the East . . . thinly veiled references to not only food and music, but racism and religion as well. We need to put the War Between the States behind us, we are one country now. Religious intolerance and racial distrust anchors us to the past. How do we expect to move forward?

Come together, right now. This is neither a liberal or a conservative diatribe. It is prudent, practical, and necessary.

jg

Conservatives for Obama

Here's an interesting editorial from a former editor of the National Review, Wick Allison, who points out why he is supporting Barack Obama, who he infers is the true conservative candidate. Though his definition of a liberal is trite and cliché (obviously, he has no notion of current progressive thought), the editorial points out why conservative factions find themselves in an all-out civil war: it is the realists versus the fantasists. Here is a representative passage:

Liberalism always seemed to me to be a system of “oughts.” We ought to do this or that because it’s the right thing to do, regardless of whether it works or not. It is a doctrine based on intentions, not results, on feeling good rather than doing good.

But today it is so-called conservatives who are cemented to political programs when they clearly don’t work. The Bush tax cuts—a solution for which there was no real problem and which he refused to end even when the nation went to war—led to huge deficit spending and a $3 trillion growth in the federal debt. Facing this, John McCain pumps his “conservative” credentials by proposing even bigger tax cuts. Meanwhile, a movement that once fought for limited government has presided over the greatest growth of government in our history. That is not conservatism; it is profligacy using conservatism as a mask.

As Wick points out in closing:

“Every great cause,” Eric Hoffer wrote, “begins as a movement, becomes a business, and eventually degenerates into a racket.” As a cause, conservatism may be dead. But as a stance, as a way of making judgments in a complex and difficult world, I believe it is very much alive in the instincts and predispositions of a liberal named Barack Obama.

So, when you do go to vote this November (or you choose to vote early as we did yesterday), try to get out of the trough that the political parties have slopped up for us. Get out of the the conservative vs. liberal morass, put you head above the muck and look around. Breathe deep, relax, and truly consider which candidate will make us safer, reconnect our country to the rest of the world, and provide a strong foundation for moving forward into the next century.

Happy voting.

jg

Update: Hell, why not just title it Americans for Obama?

Saturday morning . . .

Back at Sweet Thang (the new hipster coffee shop that can't spell . . . hey, slang is kewl!) Today I am working out a way to teach digital audio via Pure Data to the 'dents. It's a two-shot latte morning (hey maybe there is a dried out croissant I can gnaw on).

It's grey out there.

What's brewing . . .

If you are curious, we have a Grand Cru in the primary fermenter which is a Belgian Ale in the style of Hoegaarden or Ommegang with a good deal of orange peel and coriander. It smells great and continues to actively churn as the yeasts work through the additional honey the recipe required. Gurgle, gurgle, glump.

In the scondary we have an Oatmeal Stout which has cleared nicely and should probably be bottled this weekend, though with our schedules, who knows how long that will condition.

Beer.

jg

Fear, et. al.

I have put this in my journal and thought I would share with you. It is one of the daily devotions/thoughts/passages from Everyday Mind, a book of 366 'reflections on the Buddhist path.' The entry for June 14th (I never read them in order) is this:

Intelligent practice always deals with just one thing: the fear at the base of human existence, the fear that I am not. And of course I am not, but the last thing I want to know is that. I am impermanence itself in a rapidly changing human form that appears solid. I fear to see what I am: an ever-changing energy field. I don't want to be that. So good practice is about fear. Fear takes the form of constantly thinking, speculating, analyzing, fantasizing. With all that activity we create a cloud cover to keep ourselves safe in make-believe practice. True practice is not safe; it's anything but safe. But we don't like that, so we obsess with our feverish efforts to achieve our version of the personal dream. Such obsessive practice is itself just another cloud between ourselves and reality. The only thing that matters is seeing with an impersonal searchlight: seeing things as they are. When the personal barrier drops away, why do we have to call it anything? We just live our lives. And we we die, we just die. No problem anywhere.

The bold type is my emphasis.

This is a constant reminder that I just need to live, not try to be anything. That might seem antithetical to a 'successful' life, but I see that it all comes together when we let go. What does this mean? The answer is different for everyone. It may not seem exciting to let go, but I think all that excitement is really just the energy of fear employed as 'cloud cover.'

So, if and when I write music, I am writing music. If I am not writing music, I am not writing music. It is so much easier this way.

jason

UPDATE: I always reread my posts for formatting, typos, etc., and noticed a strange turn of phrase in the beginning of the passage. 'I fear to see what I am: an ever changing energy field.' Should that be 'I fail to see who I am . . .' ? I checked the quote in my anthology . . . that's what it says, 'I fear to see who I am.'

The quote is attributed to Charlotte Joko Beck in a book titled Everyday Zen. Typo, Freudian manifestation, whatever . . . what a beautiful thing.

E tu McCarthy?

Congressman Jane Bachmann (R-MN) says all congressmen and women should be investigated to ascertain whether they have anti-American views or not. And Gov. Sarah Palin says Obama may not even be a capitalist.

Well, finally, . . . it comes to this. Ladies and gentleman, I give you Joe McCarthy, uh . . . John McCain.

McCain calls Obama a Socialist

Better dead than red!

jg

Considering dynamic range

I thought I would post this out there for a little more information re dynamic range in the music coming from the 'music industry' . . . chung, chink, clunk, fvoooooz . . . chung, chink , clunk, fvooooz . . . and, no, I don't mean industrial music.

jg

ps. as Sam points out not our music, but we still have to live in this world and the haunts I haunt have it KRANKT to max levels at all points. So, this becomes the norm . . . now to fight this . . . maybe a reactionary work is in the works?

Homebrew Radio

This is fun and sounds so AM. I am listening to the sour mash episode.

jg

This is not part of my vision for America

This is depressing.



I have to ask, what are their real fears and who put these fears into their psyche? Acrid, writhing in fear.

jg

(originally spotted on Crooks and Liars)

The return of change . . .

Ah, he tentatively returns to the blogosphere where things have been going on without him for months. That's ok, I consider this blog to be somewhat on the fringe o' the sphere. I wonder what this blogging is all about really. It can be an aggregate of links, a forum for trial-running thoughts, a way to purge the demons, or a platform for simply being clever. Hmmm . . . I do think there are times when I play the organizationalist and put my focus on one issue, towards one purpose. This is what was so enlightening about graduate school and the PhD. The focus was so obvious, specifically, get this thing done, do the work, etc. This focus provided a pretty good crucible for many wonderful things that happened. That's what is so great about independent research with support and time, no distractions. Of course, once outside of academia (the cave), everything gets big and distracting again, as it has been for the last few years. I think the academy is easier than real life (if I was a stock broker or a chef I might say the same thing about the board room or the kitchen).

Fall has arrived this week, all of a sudden the leaves are dropping, the temperatures, too. The colors are scrumtrilliescent and I want to bring about some new change this October, some more focus. Some more doing. I am all about making art.

I was having an interesting discussion with one of my students the other day concerning whether the school should be preparing students for A JOB or for A LIFE. I think we both agreed on the latter. He expressed his concern for his own field, audio engineering, an area which was awash in bodies. Too many recording engineers and not enough recording work. Why do we keep churning out composers? Is this really a viable JOB. Well, no it isn't.

Considering the present situation in the economics industry, I don't think we can support all the wealth and personal energy that is necessary to put up the GUARANTEE of a changeless world in which I get this degree and this job with this salary and these expectations will issue forth. (Behold his mighty hand!) No, that is over, nada, quit, fine.

We need to overturn the system, we need to come to a new flexibility with who we think we are and what we believe we need to be doing. We are not defined by what we ARE, but by what we are BECOMING. I change therefore I am?

So, just a few issues that are important to me that I am concerned with at this time:

1. We need to end poverty NOW. We must provide a life support system for every human being. This must be an organized, group effort. We will have to rethink who we are as humans in order to do this. This is a revolutionary action. We will need to reform capitalism and return security to our planet. This will require a redistribution of resources. They are our resources.
   
2. We need to return a true dynamic range to our music. Music is simply too loud and, rather than being dynamic, is numbing. We must recapture the ritual of music and it ability to take us to another level of thought and enlightenment. Square wave distortion in the name of louder and louder music is a real problem. Personal is not intimate. Music is not a drug.
3. We need more experimentation in artistic work, expecially at the undergraduate level. Honestly, the level of sameness and mediocrity is getting a bit annoying. I have no argument here yet, I just think we are putting ourselves into so many boxes.
4. Media is distracting. We need to put an end to the distractions that are rendering us incapable of creative thought. By media, I mean those that deliver information in ever increasing small bits. As the bits get smaller (16 to 8 to 4 to 2), we know there is less resolution, less information. We in the media saturated world are slowly becoming more and more confused as we loose resolution. We have to provide information to fill in the blanks and this is how rumors get started. Cue the conspiracy.
5. We are distracted, unable to handle the instricate details, preferring bolder and bolder strokes.
   
6. We need to end the strangle hold of Christianity and the other mono-theistic religions on our governments and social structures. I thought competition was good?
7. I need to perform more and put out a couple of CDs.

Ok, so that's a start. Things will start changing around here. I guess they never stopped . . . never began either. Put your foot in the river, Siddhartha.

jg