Pickin' and Strummin' / Ali Ali Oxy Free

For those who know me well, you will know that where music is concerned, I love nothing more than to hear a ripping guitar solo, some dirty riffing or sharp, angular guitars beautifully complimenting one another. That being said, I must admit that I have a soft spot for acoustic guitar tracks. Unlike their electrical counterparts, acoustic tracks rely more on the subtle interplay between a songwriter's voice and the instrument he/she plays...this medium exposes the songwriter infinitely more than a layered barrage of instrumentation. It is this that gives the acoustic guitar its power, and it is this that allows songwriters to write some insanely affecting stuff...

Sufjan Stevens - Casimir Pulaski Day

Matt Kearney - Chicago

Sparrow House - When I Am Gone

Radiohead - Gagging Order

Radiohead - True Love Waits (live)

The Decemberists - Red Right Ankle

Damien Rice - The Rat Within The Grain

Slowbear the Great - Banquet (Bloc Party Cover)

Howie Beck - Reptilia (Strokes Cover)

Jack Johnson - Taylor

Chris Martin/Noel Gallagher - Live Forever (live)



And how crazy was 24 the other night?! That fourth episode was one of the most riveting hours of television I've seen since my favourite show (Six Feet Under) went off the air. It's not the most intellctual show on television, but damn is it addictive. Yes, it's over the top and yes, it's absurd at times...what is scary; however, is that most of the absurdness is plausible. On some level, the show is a valid commentary on the state of the planet and its politics, but at the end of the day, it's simply great entertainment.

I started reading a great new book last night entitled the Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera. I'm about 20 pages in and so many great ideas have been introduced already. I have a feeling this one is going to eventually make it onto my favourite books list. Most interesting so far is the idea of eternal return. Nietzsche was the first to propose this concept, which states that everything humanity is to experience, it has already experienced in the past and will continue to experience ad infinitum. "If every second of our lives recurs an infinite number of times, we are nailed to eternity as Jesus Christ was nailed to the cross. It is a terrifying prospect. In the world of eternal return the weight of unbearable responsibility lies heavy on every move we make. That is why Nietzsche called the idea of eternal return the heaviest of burdens." (from the novel)

Conversely, if we suppose that everything we encounter in life occurs for the first time as we authour it, then our lives begin to carry a certain amount of lightness.

"If the French Revolution were to recur eternally, French his­torians would be less proud of Robespierre. But because they deal with something that will not return, the bloody years of the Revolu­tion have turned into mere words, theories, and discussions, have become lighter than feathers, frightening no one. There is an in­finite difference between a Robespierre who occurs only once in his­tory and a Robespierre who eternally returns, chopping off French heads. " (also from the novel)

It seems as though the idea of eternal return is a peferct encapsulation of the human condition. On one hand, we like to believe we have the power the shape our lives and choose that which happens to us...on the other, we know that there are forces beyond our control which serve to shape our existence as well (call these fate, chance or whatever you like). It is the struggle between these two worlds that prompts us to search for meaning in the world around us. If you've read Camus, this idea relates to the 'absurdity' of human existence, insofar as our struggle to find meaning in the world around us is met silence and indifference from the world in which we live (although it must be noted that Camus believes this 'silence' to be a result of godlessness):

"The absurd is not in man nor in the world, but in their presence together...it is the only bond uniting them" (The Myth of Sisyphus, p.21)

The world of Kundera's novel is one in which lives are shaped by irrevocable choices and fortuitous events. It is a world in which, because everything occurs only once and then disappears into the past, existence seems to lose its substance and weight. Coping with both the consequences of their own actions and desires and the intruding demands of society and the state, Kundera's characters struggle to construct lives of individual value and lasting meaning. (from the back sleeve of the novel)

Thus, the question becomes : do we choose weight or lightness? I say we just choose to exist...that's about the only thing we can know for sure anyway...to attempt anything more would be absurd.


Oh ya....happy birthday to Muhammed Ali, who turns 65 today...float like a butterfly, sting like a bee...