I was thinking of this performance the other day. To be honest, it's a bit of an over-the-top assault to the senses. However, it's still kinda awesome. Decided to share it here.
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x24zfi_moby-jill-scott-blue-man-group-natu_music
Sunday, June 14, 2015
Om Mani Padme Hum
A few years ago I finally found the time to read The Lost Horizon by James Hilton. My interest in this book grew slowly over time. At first I heard it was where the place "Shangri-La" comes from. Then I heard it was the first book to ever be published as a paperback. Then I heard interesting things about the writer. It was a slow road towards finally reading it.
And as I was reading it, I came across a Tibetan prayer that Hilton included in it without explaining much about it: om mani padme hum. It was weird and I decided to investigate it. I came across this website and decided to share it as a token that sometimes reading a book is the catalyst for coming across other interesting knowledge that you weren't expecting to find. I love when that happens :)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Om_mani_padme_hum
And as I was reading it, I came across a Tibetan prayer that Hilton included in it without explaining much about it: om mani padme hum. It was weird and I decided to investigate it. I came across this website and decided to share it as a token that sometimes reading a book is the catalyst for coming across other interesting knowledge that you weren't expecting to find. I love when that happens :)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Om_mani_padme_hum
Sunday, June 7, 2015
A Musician Tries to Write a Book ~ the duldrums
The Original 1982 ~ by Lori Carson
Don't have much to say about this book. It's not great but it has its positive qualities. The writing is not great. However, if the premise of the story interests you, you should try it.
If you had an abortion twenty or so years ago, what would it be like to imagine a life in which you hadn't made that decision? What if you could fill all that time that's passed in between with details from a life that never began? That's what this book attempts.
I found this book had a few gems in it - whether it was a curiously written sentence, an interesting name, or an interesting thought here and there. However, often it fails as a book - sort of because the writer is used to writing in the abstract, in songs. She fails at the longer distance race that is novel writing. That makes a difference as a reader because it is noticeable, distracting, and tiresome. But, for my part having read it, I try to remember the things I did enjoy about it. And I had never read a book by a musician before. Or one that so paralleled real life (the songwriter speaks of songs she wrote, put the lyrics in the text, and it turned out that the music really existed and I could listen to the song). That was a really weird extra-book life that I've never known a book to have before. It seemed cool but maybe it was just weird.
Don't have much to say about this book. It's not great but it has its positive qualities. The writing is not great. However, if the premise of the story interests you, you should try it. If you had an abortion twenty or so years ago, what would it be like to imagine a life in which you hadn't made that decision? What if you could fill all that time that's passed in between with details from a life that never began? That's what this book attempts.
I found this book had a few gems in it - whether it was a curiously written sentence, an interesting name, or an interesting thought here and there. However, often it fails as a book - sort of because the writer is used to writing in the abstract, in songs. She fails at the longer distance race that is novel writing. That makes a difference as a reader because it is noticeable, distracting, and tiresome. But, for my part having read it, I try to remember the things I did enjoy about it. And I had never read a book by a musician before. Or one that so paralleled real life (the songwriter speaks of songs she wrote, put the lyrics in the text, and it turned out that the music really existed and I could listen to the song). That was a really weird extra-book life that I've never known a book to have before. It seemed cool but maybe it was just weird.
Wednesday, June 3, 2015
North and South ~ Elisabeth Gaskell
I found this book only after seeing the BBC film adaptation. I hadn't read a British Victorian-Era novel in a while, and was glad to return to that period. As with other books from that place and time, this book is concerned with social issues especially as a result of the changes that came as a result of industrialization.
Margaret Hale, the heroine, is an interesting if at times difficult to believe in character. She is almost too perfect. She escapes becoming a woman submerged in brainless/unrewarding activities of going to balls, reflecting only the interests of those around you without having any of your own, marrying the most affluent man you can find, etc. in spite of having grown up amongst such society/female role models. Somehow, her temperament keeps her impervious to these influences even though she moved in with her aunt/cousin as a young girl.
When the novel begins, she moves back to her mother/father who are suffering financially from the father's decision to give up his living as a pastor. This change in environment/comfort level (her aunt is living well in London as is wealthy, while her parents need to live frugally) also doesn't seem difficult for her. I found this particularly difficult to believe simply because it's a drastic change. Margaret is very concerned for her parents' well-being and perhaps this distracts her, but it cannot be easy to go from no worries to many worries and how you are going to be able to live. She comments on the change, but in a way it seems to escape her.
In spite of this question of believability, Margaret seems to be a very strong character. She faces making decisions even in the face of difficult emotions (which both her parents fail to do) and is very helpful in securing a new place for her parents to live. She holds herself to high standards of behavior and morality, and is very intelligent. I enjoyed this book because even though these are good qualities to have, Margaret does have them to the extreme. She is a harsh judge of others and of herself, she has a temper, and often fails to bite her tongue even if it were better for her to keep her opinions to herself. In a way, she's too much of a good thing. Moderation & balance is something she struggles to attain and it's interesting to watch her try.
Much of this unfolds through life experiences and what they teach her. Some of it is illustrated through her relationship with one man, Mr. Thornton. He seems to represent her haste to bias/drawing conclusions very quickly, her dislike of unfamiliar things, and her struggle to allow for qualities similar to her own revealing themselves in another person. Their relationships consistently forces her to work on these short comings of hers. When she doesn't approach it like that she simply assumes the worst about Mr. Thornton's character.
This interesting dynamic plays out between them as he falls in love with her, but she is unwilling to see any good in his character. He has to learn moderation in his own right as she brings out intense emotions for him that he doesn't regulate naturally as he has never felt them before.
I thought it was an interesting story, with interesting characters, and it presented some social philosophy about allowing economic need to dictate our behavior at any cost. Much of the novel is about seeing two extremes and learning to find one's way to a middle path, as evidenced in the title. A good read.
I found this book only after seeing the BBC film adaptation. I hadn't read a British Victorian-Era novel in a while, and was glad to return to that period. As with other books from that place and time, this book is concerned with social issues especially as a result of the changes that came as a result of industrialization. Margaret Hale, the heroine, is an interesting if at times difficult to believe in character. She is almost too perfect. She escapes becoming a woman submerged in brainless/unrewarding activities of going to balls, reflecting only the interests of those around you without having any of your own, marrying the most affluent man you can find, etc. in spite of having grown up amongst such society/female role models. Somehow, her temperament keeps her impervious to these influences even though she moved in with her aunt/cousin as a young girl.
When the novel begins, she moves back to her mother/father who are suffering financially from the father's decision to give up his living as a pastor. This change in environment/comfort level (her aunt is living well in London as is wealthy, while her parents need to live frugally) also doesn't seem difficult for her. I found this particularly difficult to believe simply because it's a drastic change. Margaret is very concerned for her parents' well-being and perhaps this distracts her, but it cannot be easy to go from no worries to many worries and how you are going to be able to live. She comments on the change, but in a way it seems to escape her.
In spite of this question of believability, Margaret seems to be a very strong character. She faces making decisions even in the face of difficult emotions (which both her parents fail to do) and is very helpful in securing a new place for her parents to live. She holds herself to high standards of behavior and morality, and is very intelligent. I enjoyed this book because even though these are good qualities to have, Margaret does have them to the extreme. She is a harsh judge of others and of herself, she has a temper, and often fails to bite her tongue even if it were better for her to keep her opinions to herself. In a way, she's too much of a good thing. Moderation & balance is something she struggles to attain and it's interesting to watch her try.
Much of this unfolds through life experiences and what they teach her. Some of it is illustrated through her relationship with one man, Mr. Thornton. He seems to represent her haste to bias/drawing conclusions very quickly, her dislike of unfamiliar things, and her struggle to allow for qualities similar to her own revealing themselves in another person. Their relationships consistently forces her to work on these short comings of hers. When she doesn't approach it like that she simply assumes the worst about Mr. Thornton's character.
This interesting dynamic plays out between them as he falls in love with her, but she is unwilling to see any good in his character. He has to learn moderation in his own right as she brings out intense emotions for him that he doesn't regulate naturally as he has never felt them before.
I thought it was an interesting story, with interesting characters, and it presented some social philosophy about allowing economic need to dictate our behavior at any cost. Much of the novel is about seeing two extremes and learning to find one's way to a middle path, as evidenced in the title. A good read.
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