Last Sunday in America.
Sunday, August 2nd, 2009My last Sunday hodgepodge in America.
Ah the days, I like most of the week. It started with me with my ex- girlfriend Bethany during high school, she lived close to me and in the mornings I would get up and walk over to her house and we would hang out do a whole lot of nothing while listening to Jazz on the radio and smoking weed all day. But as I got older, the love Sundays kept strong and to this day I still pretty much keep the same schedule. It seems the best day to chill out cause while I have never had a office job so this does not pertain to me but after a weekend of activity taking some time to get your mind right is always good. Speaking of cooperate or office jobs I have been rereading a few of the books I really like and have to leave due to not having enough space, one of them is The Alphabet Of Manliness by Maddox. If you don’t know Maddox he runs and is the creator of a great and funny website called The Best Page In The Universe. The book and site is a super male chovanist oriented type of work, I have to say he not only is a good author but super funny, and not to be taken seriously, so if you read his site don’t get angry, I mean what is the point really. But in the book in the Z section is for Zombies, and not the mutant sort, but the lifeless corporate drones type.
Maddox writes:
The Office Zombie
The North American Office zombie’s life begins at the early age of five. At five years old, the zombie still a child is sent to an entry -level brainwashing institution called “kindergarten.” It is in kindergarten that the child is first told that everything he does-every stroke of crayon outside the line, every malformed finger painting, and every piece of construction paper glued to a Popsicle stick-would directly determine his or her social status and financial success. This is done at an early age to create the notion of an absolute authority that wields the power to deny the child his future happiness and to sustain a constant state of failure.
The child is then “graduated” through different grades, each with a minor distinction, to give the child the illusion of progress. It is during this period that the child first esperiences isolation and hostility from other zombie children. An artificial social hierarchy will be created based on a child’s perceived popularity and economic standing, which will be strictly enforced by the more popular zombies, and even the authority figures, throughout the subject’s entire childhood.
At the age of twelve, the child is ripped from the womb of this institution and thrown into another called “junior high.” The child feels rejected and out of place as hid body experiences growth in this foreign environment. All the people around him are uncaring and unsympathetic, which makes him feel vulnerable and desperate, causing him to rebel against authority. This rebellion is short lived though, as authority figures swiftly quash the insurgency with prejudice to prevent the other zombies from having their own thoughts of independence.
The frustration of the junior high experience culminates with yet another institution called “high school.” where the social hierarchies created in the child’s youth are reinforced and the divides are deepened. Any child not yet belonging to a social group is ridiculed until he succumbs to the pressure to conform and joins a group that will accept him, only to be further mocked for joining an unpopular group. After high school, the child having spent the first part of his life completing menial tasks for the meager approval of arbitrary figureheads, will finally be prepared to enter the workplace to spend the rest of his life completing menial tasks for the meager approval of arbitrary figureheads. But on the bright side, there are casual Fridays.
While most of the students will be ready for their new homes in the office after high school, some of the zombies are coaxed into taking four more years of indoctrination in a place called “college” with promises of getting even more money in the workplace, and by extension, the highest level of happiness.
This is such a well written piece to me, I think Maddox does a great job with his writings I guess that is why I keep re-reading his book and reading his site.
Doubt, Uncertainty and Religion (a few words from Richard Feynman):
Now I have a have a video of Richard Feynman. I first heard of Richard Feynman through a book that was recommend to me by a Physics professor called Feynman’s Rainbow by Leonard Mlodinow. It is an amazing work about the author starting out in the Physics game and he looks for advice from his mentor Richard Feynman, who gives him sage like practical advice that can relate to anyone really, but what really intrigued me about the book was that the whole time Mlodinow was searching for a problem. That is as a young physicist he wanted to find a problem he could make his name. But I think that is so cool, cause you know no one looks for a problem we all want solutions. But to get to work Mlodinow need a problem that he wanted to solve, that is neat to me. But is it is an amazing heart felt and passionate work. After finish this book I wanted to know more about Richard Feynman so I read Surely You’re Joking Mr. Feynman! (Adventures of a Curious Character), by Richard Feynman. This book is a chronicle of his life and if such a well written quick fun book, I recommend both book very much so.
Finally here is the video:
I wanna talk about some music!
This is a cool video from Bobby McFerrin (His wiki: Bobby McFerrin) during The World Science Festival 2009. If you don’t know much about this great musician besides his hit from the 90’s “Don’t Worry be Happy” you should really check out his work he is an amazmin musician I enjoy his music quite a bit, he is an awesome Jazz musician.
World Science Festival 2009: Bobby McFerrin Demonstrates the Power of the Pentatonic Scale from World Science Festival on Vimeo.
The experiment that he does using Pentatonic scale, and the power of music reminds me of another study on the power of music as tool to relate around the study. A group of people found very remote tribes who have never heard western structured music and played for the classical pieces that are considered shocking, playful, happy, and sad. This was done to see if the music could insight the same emotion even if the programming of hearing is not structured in the western form. This is if certain notes don’t translate the same emotion to western ears as the tribesman. In every case the tribesman picked right or actually as the study pointed out their is technically no right but what we associate as emotional response. I think this is just a fancy proof to the old saying music is universal the universal language of the heart. But watch the Bobby McFerrin video it is so cool.
After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music. – Aldous Huxley
Play some mind games with yourself.
This is an article about mind tricks and how what intake from the world around comes together in our brains to make what we experience: Mind Tricks: Six Ways to Explore Your Mind.
Playing For Change. Peace Through Music:
The idea is wonderful, inspiring and new. The idea is to record musicians from around the world playing the a different part in the same song and then putting it together, this is the simple explanation from me, check out their website Playing For Change for more information on the whole project. I have been lazy about sharing about this and I am sorry for that, but their is no time like the present. I highly recommend their CD and it is a charity so you will be helping out. But if you want to hear before you get it, check out this rendition of Stand By Me, it is very good. Peace Through Music.
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My flickr.com account: http://www.flickr.com/photos/brothershine/
Thank you very much for you time… This has been BrotherShine coming to you from the limitless void in the back of your mind. Peace.
Email Me: brothershine@gmail.com
. I highly recommend you go and check out some videos.
