Once Upon a Daydream (Part II (Part 2))

The Police @ Marcus Amphitheater, Milwaukee, WI, 2008.07.25

Perhaps it was the 80+ degree heat that wore down my energy level, or wore down the band, or just the fact that this was an outdoor theater, but this did not seem like the same Police that performed a year ago. Perhaps the 2007 St Paul show was one of the high points of the tour, but that show was full of energy, a better Police than existed in 1983. Now, the band seems to be running down after a year of touring, and Sting seems like he's trying to be old. Perhaps the biggest disappointment was the shortened setlist. Gone were the powerful songs that propelled the set, Synchronicity II, Truth Hits Everybody & The Bed's Too Big Without You, as well as the poignant Walking in Your Footsteps. We didn't even get the replacement Bring on the Night like other shows, although they added Hole in My Life and Demolition Man to this leg of the tour. There were also some strange reworkings, such as the humorous intro to Every Little Thing She Does is Magic, (apparently not intentional), which destroyed the buildup of the song. But besides these setbacks, this was The Police, and this tour was absolutely historic. Andy can still shred on guitar, Sting is a master of bass, and Stewart is still the kinetic Stewart. By the grace of Fortune I was able to experience this tour twice, and watching these songs come back to life after decades of fearing them fade into history.


Setlist:
Message In A Bottle / Walking On The Moon / Demolition Man / Voices Inside My Head / When The World Is Running Down / Don't Stand So Close To Me / Driven To Tears / Hole In My Life / Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic / Wrapped Around Your Finger / De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da / Invisible Sun / Can't Stand Losing You / Roxanne /King Of Pain / So Lonely / Every Breath You Take / Next To You

Duluth 2008 Airshow

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SF

Here is a lecture by Neal Stephenson about the nature of the sci-fi genre, more accurately the Speculative Fiction genre, and how genres no longer exist as they did in the "standard model". There is now a bifurcation of SF and the mundane. I tend to agree with his analysis. Take for example Lost. Is it Sci-fi or not? It doesn't really matter -it is mainstream. And its speculative. I think that Sci-fi has led the way in postmodern literature, by developing new approaches, and that these have now found their way into literature as a whole, blurring the distinction. I love his idea of SF as "idea porn" - that's a great way to look at it.

I do take issue with his definition of geek. He states that "we are all geeks, and its okay, its preferred" He does correctly qualify that it okay only "when its done in the correct place and time. I'll call his definition "the weak definition". Just because everyone has one particular thing they can be be geeky about - does not make them a geek. And for many of the people in this category, their obsession is just annoyingly nerdy. "Geek" is a lifestyle, and some things -sports, cars, etc -just don't fit, unless its done with a modern or "cool" twist. More importantly "geek" is a lifestyle that is embraced by the participant. This is the key that makes it okay now, when it wasn't cool before. Those people who secretly have a singular dedication do everything they can to distance themselves from being a "geek," because for most of these people it is still a bad thing. But because geeks are on the cutting edge of developing society, these rest of the masses have to catch up with them to be able to function in these new societies, just as other writers have to catch up with SF authors. So, the "strong definition" of geek is someone, usually on the fringes of society, who is intelligent, obsessively dedicated to certain subjects, highly tech savvy , able to quickly adapt to the latest tech trends, and yet able to interact socially with others [1]. There is also a shared communal heritage, usually revolving around vast knowledge of sci-fi related trivia. Many people do not have all these traits and are therefore simply not geeks. Here is the link to The Geek Test, in case anyone is wondering about their own rating.

[1] This is what differentiates geeks from other pseudo-intellegent, yet socially akward, sub culture stereotypes, i.e nerds.

Children's Crusade

Here is a report from the 2003 World Economic Forum. Of interest is this quote:

"If the U.S. unilaterally goes to war, and it is anything short of a
quick surgical strike (lasting less than 30 days), the economists were
all predicting extreme economic gloom: falling dollar value, rising spot
market oil prices, the Fed pushing interest rates down towards zero with
resulting increase in national debt, severe trouble in all countries
whose currency is guaranteed against the dollar (which is just about
everybody except the EU), a near cessation of all development and
humanitarian programs for poor countries. Very few economists or
ministers of finance predicted the world getting out of that economic
funk for minimally five-10 years, once the downward spiral ensues."

I recently saw a presentation by Michael Scheuer discussing his book Marching Toward Hell: America and Islam After Iraq. His argument was that in fact we are losing the war on terror everyday, because this war is not about explosions (another 9/11) which we may or may not have prevented. It is about the destruction of the American economy, which seems to be proceeding quite well, and Al-Qaeda must be pleased. Quite convincing in my opinion.