Treason at Home and Abroad
Recent audits of the on-going fiasco in Iraq suggest a pattern of largesse, casual accounting, bribery, dishonesty and out and out theft. I doubt if anyone is overly surprised by any of this but nevertheless it is absolutely shameless on the part of those involved in this government sanctioned money grab. This is our nation’s treasure, paid for by you and me, being squandered, wasted, and stolen – and this while our nation is at a most vulnerable moment in its brief history. Those who would steal from our nation, weaken us even more at a time of incredible risk and exposure, and who would line their own pockets at the expense of the taxpayers and the soldiers, should be tried for treason. That’s what these actions amount to, siphoning off our wealth, tarnishing what’s left of our reputation throughout Iraq, the Middle-East, and the rest of the world, and putting our soldiers and citizens in greater jeopardy as a result of slowed reconstruction efforts and good old boy favoritism. These people are financial terrorists who know no country that they would turn their backs on America in the moment of our greatest need. Right now this nation needs leaders of noble character and clear vision.
We’ve seen the same kind of incompetence and dishonest accounting in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina. Billions of dollars have been spent and still vast communities continue to exist in a bureaucratic limbo in the form of sprawling FEMA trailer parks. And while these victims suffer, others are getting rich from the spoils of tragedy.
You know this greed in the face of tragedy I do not understand. How has it gotten to this point where so many are willing to exchange morals, ethics, and character just for transitory green-backs? I mean come on, it is only money and money is just a marker. Personally I think it all went awry when we went off of the gold standard. There’s nothing behind the money anymore, it’s only so much ink and paper. Maybe that makes it easier for the criminally inclined to de-personalize the act of stealing.
Happy VD!
Valentine’s Day is upon us. A lot of people have a problem with Valentine’s Day but personally I’m not one of them. A day dedicated to love and passion, cupid’s arrows, blushing, champagne, chocolate, and loving is not a day you will find this writer complaining about. I did a little Wikipedia research on Valentine’s Day and it appears the unofficial holiday has a number of different possible origins including early Gnostic Christian and pagan roots. Typically the Christian celebration was foisted upon conquered pagans who held festivals to their gods as winter began to show the first inklings of transforming into that most magical season that is spring.
The Old Bait and Switch
Early Christianity was masterful at converting pagans to the faith by layering the Christian beliefs over the existing seasonal celebrations. Christmas falls over the Winter Solstice, Easter the Spring Equinox. One of the most interesting examples of the layering of Christianity over pre-existing beliefs arises in Haiti and the Dominican Republic where Catholocism was laid over the African deities that slaves bought with them from their homelands. The combination of ritual and belief manifested as the modern religion Voodoun. For a really interesting read on the subject pick up a copy of ethno-botanist Wade Davis’ classic “The Serpent and the Rainbow.” This book was adapted into a Hollywood movie but the book is actually much more of a scholarly research than Wes Craven’s cheesy suspense horror film it became.
Winter Reading
I’ve also just finished reading a couple of really fun books by Neil Gaiman that treat the subject of modern belief, folklore, and mythology. “American Gods” and “Anansi Boys” are both delightful tales that make for fast reading. Both stories paint a world inhabited by mortals and gods alike who interact in hilarious and mind-bending ways.
Sleaze the Day!
Now it is Wednesday morning as I put the finishing touches on this little bit of writing. I am slightly tired after playing and watching a terrific show at the Off Limits last night. “Iceage Cobra” from Seattle bought the rock in the form of a power trio armed with classic Marshall and Fender amplification, blazing SG’s and high-energy. Chico’s own rock juggernaut “Dirty Sister” kept the energy going with their fine classic metal stylings. It was a beautiful show and if you missed it you missed a good one.
Wednesday, February 7, 2007
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Diluting Ritual
I was over at some friend’s house the other night listening to music. Occasionally, in just the right frame of mind, music can become visual. Not just in terms of music videos and DVD’s, but even when only listening to music there can be a visual component to it. On this particular early evening we were listening to a French electronica band called “Air.” I like electronica for the reason that it can be so precise and Air posed no exception to this rule. In my visualization of the music the ethereal keyboards were creating a waterfall, a clean shimmering sheet of music that cascaded over a straight drop-off. Hidden behind the sheet of musical liquid created by the keyboards there were niches, foot-holds in an otherwise apparently smooth rock face. The punctuating synthesized bass notes exposed these foot-holds, so that every time one of the crisp clear digital bass notes sounded a divet formed in the sheet of liquid keyboard sound. These bass notes climbed up through the waterfall, reaching for the inevitable musical crescendo. It was great to re-experience this profound ritual that is music when it is placed in a specific set and setting.
I have my fears that many are starting to miss out on the profundity that can accompany music when it is framed in the proper context. I am concerned that the ubiquitous nature of music, in the grocery stores, behind television advertisements, in our workplaces, on our iPods – I am concerned that this constant exposure to a potentially powerful ritualistic component, is diluting that power.
Music through the ages has always been powerful. In spiritual rites music has been used to transport listeners to a different plane of existence, in battle music has been used to inspire fear and awe in one’s opponents. And likely I’m being presumptuous, assuming that because music is being focus-grouped, mass-marketed, and successes regurgitated, that for each individual there are still not just as many moments of profundity based on context and personal emotion. Because of course the power generated by the ritual of music comes not from the music itself but from the interaction between the music and the listener.
But I do know that we have become a dangerously consumptive society. We have substituted possessions for experience and as a result we have diluted the power of material items. Disposable goods no longer include just paper towels and toilet paper, but now encompass a host of electronic gadgets and gizmos including stereos, computers, and television sets. The T.V. repairman is a thing of the past, when the boob-tube goes on the fritz now just toss it in the dumpster and buy yourself a new one – after a couple of years the one you are watching now will be obsolete anyway. The result of this is that material possessions are not as significant as they once were. My wife’s grandparents from the Mid-West received, every Christmas, a single orange in their stockings. And they were absolutely enthralled with that gift! Back then oranges were a genuine tropical curiosity in the frozen wind-whipped land that is Michigan in the winter. It’s difficult to imagine a child being excited by the prospect of getting an orange, and only an orange, in their stocking for Christmas.
Of course times have changed and you can’t stop progress – but there’s nothing wrong with settling down and taking a pensive look at what we’re calling progress to determine whether or not our perceived “progress” is really making our world any better.
And so I see the same hazards for music. As music is packaged and marketed more and more like a commodity, another disposable bit of consumerism, I don’t think it can help but to lose some of its spiritual and ritualistic powers. So that’s the question I am asking myself today. “Progress” has given us this incredible exposure to so much more information. But are we really better off because we can spend every waking minute of our day listening to music, watching television, or watching movies on our telephones? At some point are we sacrificing quietude, reflective contemplation, and a wonder in the natural world that surrounds us, for the benefit of constant non-stop pre-packaged artificial stimulation from the moment we wake up until we go to bed?
R.I.P. Barbaro
On a sad note the beautiful Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro who suffered a horrific break-down in the Preakness had to be put down after more complications from a seven month long series of surgeries and procedures arose. May your pastures always be green and filled with pretty mares.
I have my fears that many are starting to miss out on the profundity that can accompany music when it is framed in the proper context. I am concerned that the ubiquitous nature of music, in the grocery stores, behind television advertisements, in our workplaces, on our iPods – I am concerned that this constant exposure to a potentially powerful ritualistic component, is diluting that power.
Music through the ages has always been powerful. In spiritual rites music has been used to transport listeners to a different plane of existence, in battle music has been used to inspire fear and awe in one’s opponents. And likely I’m being presumptuous, assuming that because music is being focus-grouped, mass-marketed, and successes regurgitated, that for each individual there are still not just as many moments of profundity based on context and personal emotion. Because of course the power generated by the ritual of music comes not from the music itself but from the interaction between the music and the listener.
But I do know that we have become a dangerously consumptive society. We have substituted possessions for experience and as a result we have diluted the power of material items. Disposable goods no longer include just paper towels and toilet paper, but now encompass a host of electronic gadgets and gizmos including stereos, computers, and television sets. The T.V. repairman is a thing of the past, when the boob-tube goes on the fritz now just toss it in the dumpster and buy yourself a new one – after a couple of years the one you are watching now will be obsolete anyway. The result of this is that material possessions are not as significant as they once were. My wife’s grandparents from the Mid-West received, every Christmas, a single orange in their stockings. And they were absolutely enthralled with that gift! Back then oranges were a genuine tropical curiosity in the frozen wind-whipped land that is Michigan in the winter. It’s difficult to imagine a child being excited by the prospect of getting an orange, and only an orange, in their stocking for Christmas.
Of course times have changed and you can’t stop progress – but there’s nothing wrong with settling down and taking a pensive look at what we’re calling progress to determine whether or not our perceived “progress” is really making our world any better.
And so I see the same hazards for music. As music is packaged and marketed more and more like a commodity, another disposable bit of consumerism, I don’t think it can help but to lose some of its spiritual and ritualistic powers. So that’s the question I am asking myself today. “Progress” has given us this incredible exposure to so much more information. But are we really better off because we can spend every waking minute of our day listening to music, watching television, or watching movies on our telephones? At some point are we sacrificing quietude, reflective contemplation, and a wonder in the natural world that surrounds us, for the benefit of constant non-stop pre-packaged artificial stimulation from the moment we wake up until we go to bed?
R.I.P. Barbaro
On a sad note the beautiful Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro who suffered a horrific break-down in the Preakness had to be put down after more complications from a seven month long series of surgeries and procedures arose. May your pastures always be green and filled with pretty mares.
Saturday, January 27, 2007
Welcome to Immaculate Infection!
Welcome to the on-line home of "Immaculate Infection." Immaculate Infection is a column I have been writing for the past eight months or so. It appears in a free weekly publication here in Chico, California called the Synthesis. Over the course of writing this column I have been asked on occasion how people could view my column on-line. Until now there was no way to do this. But from here on out I will be posting my column each week onto this blog.
Please note that what will be appearing here are the unedited versions of my columns. In some cases this may be better and in others you may notice typographical errors and problems that likely did not appear in the print edition. Any errors are my own.
In addition to the weekly columns I write for the Synthesis I will also be able to publish other thoughts and comments that for whatever reason would not fit into the weekly publications format.
Finally one of the great things about this blog is that it is very easy for you the reader to make comments whenever you feel so inspired. I welcome any and all comments.
Thanks for taking the time to read this.
Sincerely,
Bob Howard
Please note that what will be appearing here are the unedited versions of my columns. In some cases this may be better and in others you may notice typographical errors and problems that likely did not appear in the print edition. Any errors are my own.
In addition to the weekly columns I write for the Synthesis I will also be able to publish other thoughts and comments that for whatever reason would not fit into the weekly publications format.
Finally one of the great things about this blog is that it is very easy for you the reader to make comments whenever you feel so inspired. I welcome any and all comments.
Thanks for taking the time to read this.
Sincerely,
Bob Howard
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