February 23, 2008
Be Kind Rewind
Michel Gondry strikes again. I heard about this movie concept a year ago and couldn't believe it: Jack Black and Mos Def recreate an entire VHS rental library using just a camcorder and simple Gondryesque effects. As absurd as the premise sounds, the result is beautiful. These remakes, of Ghostbusters, Rush Hour 2, Driving Miss Daisy, Boyz N The Hood, etc. are ridiculous and hilarious, but they add up to something much greater than a collection of classic films. It is a movie, according to Gondry, about making our own entertainment and being "stockholders of our own happiness". This is everything I believe in. Happiness lies not in consumption, but in creation. Unfortunately, the baddies of the MPAA copyright industry and capitalist redevelopment step in and steamroll their handiwork, but when the entire town of Passaic, New Jersey, gets into the act and creates the movies with Black and Def, it feels like a true coup. The ending is reminiscient of my favorite Italian film, "Cinema Paradiso"; although the two use entirely different approaches, they both pull the heartstrings deeply.
Today I played music at a children's birthday party and I was reminded of the movie in the way the kids were playing. It felt so pure and excited, driven by nothing more than a deep desire to enjoy themselves; no money, no future, no politics. Just play. Gondry seems to have the same childish wonder for entertainment that these four and five year olds enjoy. We must teach our children, but we must also allow them to teach us.
Musicophilia
Oliver Sacks has written a very interesting book on music in the brain. It is mostly a collection of case studies he has encountered over the years in his field, and through these patients, he describes a wide variety of neurological responses to music. There is a man, who at 42 is struck by lightning and, though having never had any real connection to music before, feels compelled to become a concert pianist. Another man is an amnesiac in the most brutal sense, with no memories of his life nor any ability to create new memories, except for songs from his childhood, which he can sing freely and emotionally. Many Alzheimer's patients can not recognize their own kin, but are completely engaged by music, while Williams' syndrome sufferers commonly have IQs below 60 but with an extraordinary passion and aptitude for music unmatched by the "normal" population. The brain is a precious mystery and music stimulates it in almost every capacity. These unique cases give us a fascinating glimpse into the machine at work, demonstrating our capacity for musical engagement and our adaptive resourcefulness in extreme circumstances.
February 17, 2008
A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule The Future
Design. Story. Symphony. Empathy. Play. Meaning.
These eight qualities, according to Daniel Pink, are the attributes of the most successful people in our new Conceptual Age. In some ways, it seems obvious that "right-brain" creative people will be more successful than "left-brain" rule-followers, but Pink argues that in our shifting economy, we need people who can do jobs that can not be done by computers or off-shore humans and that provide services to satisfy us in non-material ways. He invites the reader to challenge conventional thinking with excercises designed to highlight the eight aforementioned qualities and deepen an understanding of using The Whole Mind; constructing a narrative that connects thoughts and people for enjoyment and purpose. We are all searching...
In the past, my political music has tended to be focused on negativity, because that was what I felt from and towards the current administration. But there is "Hope for Change". I'm down with that.
February 11, 2008
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Can you imagine being completely paralyzed physically but having a mind that works perfectly? It is a frightening scenario and is the basis for this French film, which is shot mostly from the perspective of Jean-Dominique Bauby, who has had a stroke and has use of only his left eyelid, while maintaining a brilliantly creative mind. Using a system of blinks, he narrates his story and writes a book of his life and diving bell type existence with "locked-in syndrome". It is a moving tribute to humanity and I came out of the theater with a heightened sensitivity to life's preciousness.
What is a mind? What is a brain? What is consciousness? It seems to be everything. Without it there is nothing. Humanity is communication, which begins and ends with the organ filling our skulls.
Here is a piece I made this weekend: Perspective.mp3
February 4, 2008
Imperfection.
How could it possibly end this way? The Patriots won 18 straight games and were winning their 19th and final one until the last 30 seconds. And then they lost. Maybe we have been so spoiled this season and have forgotten what it feels like to lose, but this was a heartbreaker; probably the worst I have ever felt about a defeat. It felt so wrong that they would come so close to perfection and then lose when it mattered the most. I just can't come to grips with it. But what is perfection? Simply winning every game? I think that there is more to it than that. Certainly there were imperfect moments throughout the season (beyond the ultimate one) and I don't really know if an undefeated record constitutes perfection. I once read a book, "Sacred Hoops", by former Chicago Bulls and current L.A. Lakers coach Phil Jackson where he described his zen approach to the game and I think that his teams in the 90s came about as close to perfection as we have seen, despite some losses. It is about The Moment, constantly evolving, and a team's ability to be aware. I believe that this Patriots team also had a similar focus, treating each game as if it were the only one that they would play and each play within that game as the only one that mattered. Nothing else, not scandals nor players nor scores, would alter their perception of the Here and Now. Their focus was almost perfect. In the end, though, it was not. The Giants won the game with key plays at the right time and completed a remarkable season of their own. They may have looked horrible in the first few games, but they honed their concentration and pulled off one of the greatest playoff runs in history. I congratulate the team and take some consolation in knowing that many of my friends and neighbors are enjoying this triumph as I have in the past.
Another pillar of Zen is to have no attachment, and this is where I am an utter failure, having staked my heart on this team's success. Instead of moving on and living my life effortlessly, I find myself in an emotional vaccuum tainting all my actions. My head is clouded with the events of the past day and my depression is fueled by a sense of betrayal: how could they do this to me? I must understand that it is, in fact, me doing it to myself. It is a sport and should be enjoyed as such: It's not win or lose but HOW you play the game. It is not the result, but the comraderie and excitement that truly matter. If we can't enjoy that then we seriously need to question our motives and focus.
February 1, 2008
The Cure For Grief
One of my closest friends from high school, Nellie Hermann, has written a book that will be published by Scribner in August and she gave me an advance copy which I flew through in two days. It is a novel, but essentially it is a memoir of her life; the story of a family ravaged by tragedy and one girl's psyclogical perspective on the unbearable twists in her brief life. I was aware of her family's struggles, but even as a close friend, I could not begin to fathom what she was experiencing. She has opened herself up in this book, detailing her loss eloquently and with raw grief. It is heartwrenching but also inspiring to see her tackle this subject so honestly. It was a personal journey for me as well because a character in the story is very similar to the character I played in high school... This is real life, not some pop fiction based on fantasy, which describes most entertainment today. Reality is what matters, not mass consumption or viral marketing, and I sincerely hope that this represents a shift in popular culture, away from lies and towards the light of Truth.
Another great tragedy that also flows from the source of reality is Dave Eggers' latest novel, "What Is The What" written as the life story of one of the "Lost Boys" of Sudan. His village raided by Arab bandits with authority of the government, he flees as a six-year old and begins a thousand-mile trek with hundreds of other boys, numbers dwindling every day from starvation, exhaustion and lions, to find tentative safety in Ethiopia, which suddenly turns into a massacre forcing him to flee again, then marching to Kenya and living ten years in a refugee camp before being brought to the somewhat inhospitable United States. It is one man's narrative, but it could be any of the hundreds of thousands expelled from their homes in Sudan. How unbelievable that we, the world community, would allow this to happen. There is no debate about it: Sudan has been dying from genocide for the past 15 years and aside from aid for refugees, there has been no political solution to this madness. Art like this will hopefully focus more attention on the matter and bring some Good to the region.