Somewhere Else

"Love her like you've never fallen
in love before
Fall out of love with her
So you can remember"


EASTER 2007: Somewhere Else is here. What can be said about the latest Marillion offering? While this is recognizably the band that brought us Marbles, it is (as usual) a completely new direction for Marillion. It is experimental and unconventional. This is more of a song-oriented record than a album-based record consisting of a continuing theme. At the same time, the songs don't really stand out as prominent individual pieces. They all blend together quite nicely, creating an atmospheric journey the transitions seamlessly from one track to another. There aren't many hooks, making the album as a whole not as easily accessible as it might be, there are no tracks like "You're Gone" to reach out and grab you. (*see note below). The closest track is "Most Toys". The first time I heard this I thought it was going to be very trite. At less than three minutes, it is an anomaly for Marillion; but more troublesome, the lyrics seem incomplete, as an intro verse should have been added. Nevertheless, the track is a catchy one.

Musically, Somewhere Else contains top notch performances. The bass and drums are solid. There is a lot of outstanding piano work, and perhaps most importantly there is a lot of Rothery's magical electric guitar. The style contains pieces of Anoraknophobia, .com, and musical phrases straight off of Brave and This Strange Engine. There is also a notable Beatles influence, both musically and lyrically, as there was on Marbles ("Don't Hurt Yourself"). What is lacking is the intensity of the "classic" Marillion era of Season's End and Holidays in Eden, where the bass was driving and the guitars screaming.

In terms of lyrics and song structure, this album continues Marillion's journey farther away from conventional structure into more abstract territories. There isn't much of a verse/chorus structure and many songs seem to be two completely separate sections put together, although there could be a thematic purpose for that,(The Other Half), (This is what prog is supposed to be right, so anyone who thinks Marillion is not progressive needs to take a listen to this. It's not Holidays in Eden!). The lyrics are also abstract and seem somewhat stream-of-consciousness. I'm not ready to comment on the lyrics for "Somewhere Else" yet. I thought "Hope for the Future" was esoteric! But H has really gone farther, I'm not sure if he is just getting more obscure, or if I'm just not getting it, or maybe there's nothing to get. I guess that's my homework assignment, and I'm sure like all good art it will become more and more meaningful as I experience it. In the tradition of U2, H's global awareness certainly shines through more than any other Marillion record. "The Wound" is a song about pain and ferns with imagery that reminds me of Sting's "Lazarus Heart":

He looked beneath his shirt today
There was a wound in his flesh so deep and wide
From the wound a lovely flower grew
From somewhere deep inside

While the songs have a high quality to them, it does seem that something is missing from the album as a whole. It reminds me of Peter Gabriel's Up, some good material, but really missing something. One or to really strong songs would really cement the work into a whole that feels finished. The Other Half, See it Like a Baby, Somewhere Else, No Such Thing and The Wound all seem like the core of a great album. Most Toys adds energy and in a more finished form could move to my "better half of the album" list.

So while I don't think the album as a whole lives up to the standards set by the Classic period, I also think this will be an essential piece of Marillion history, the music is simply too unique and too well crafted not to be. For myself this is a CD that can be put on repeat and I never feel inclined to hit stop.


*Just to set the record straight on Marbles: I've seen much criticism about "You're Gone", referring to bad pop and often accussing it of a cheese factor. Not only do I think it the best song of 2004 and the best Marillion track since This Strange Engine, I also think it may be one of their best songs ever. The intensity of the lyrics and the multiple guitar solo's are unsurpassed. I remember riding a bus across the UK the month Marbles came out, and leaving this song on constant repeat on my ipod. The emotional intensity in this song seemed to me to reflect the emotional depth that I felt from England as well.


". . .And your life took on a life of it's own. . ."

Once Upon a Daydream

Well, from the icy depths of Hell comes the most significant annoucement in the history of contemporary music: The Police are reforming for a 2007 World Tour after a 23 year absence. So far they have been elusive on the subject of new material.

Amusing Ourselves to Death

OK, so in my last post I made note of the "postmodern 21st century." Imagine my surprise to find out that I was completely wrong. Just when I thought I finally had a grasp on the postmodern age, catching up on my Derrida and Baudrillard (yeah, right), I have now learned that postmodernism is over!

Alan Kirby writes in the latest edition of Philosophy Now that "sometime in the late 1990s or early 2000s, the emergence of new technologies re-structured, violently and forever, the nature of the author, the reader and the text, and the relationship between them." He proposes that we are now in the post-postmodern age, what he calls pseudo-modern. The significance of a work has now shifted from the author to the reader/viewer/listener. Because of technology we can now participate (although not necessarily interact) in the creation of content. Computer games, reality TV and the internet (certainly in the case of WEB 2.0 social networking sites) are all examples of this new type of cultural product. This "democratisation of culture" can be viewed as resulting in an" excruciating banality and vacuity of the cultural products thereby generated (at least so far.)" Because these products require cultural participation and involve electronic forms of communication that are by nature short-lived, they are of a timely nature. These works cannot be reproduced in the future without losing meaning and relevance. " A culture based on these things can have no memory. . . non reproducible and evanescent, pseudo-modernism is thus also amnesiac: these are cultural actions in the present moment with no sense of either past or future." " A triteness, a shallowness dominates all."

Interestingly Kirby traces the beginnings of pseudo-modernism back to the 70s and 80s, with one example being the beginning of pornography. This is an example of the viewer becoming the focus of the work rather than the producer, it creates "illusion of participation." In more recent history, the methods of obtaining music have changed. In the past a music work included a careful consideration of play order to complete an album. Now, we have the choice to purchase individual tracks through digital downloads and construct our own playlist orders on our iPods, imposing our own order and structure on the artists' works.

So, it would seem there was a a paradigm shift at roughly the start of the millenium. As someone who was born "before 1980"(slightly), I agree that the previous era was a "golden age of intelligence, creativity, rebellion, and authenticity." I'm not ready to concede that all cultural products will fall into the pseudo-modern form. I think there is still a need for concrete works found in novels and carefully produced films and music. I can also admire the intensity and creativity of pseudo-modern works, and I don't find them necessarily overly violent or pornographic. Kirby notes a tension between the "sophistication of technological means, and the vapidity or ignorance of the content conveyed on it." This new viewpoint explains to me the emptiness I've noticed in much content since 2000. However, as someone born close to the divide, I can also appreciate this technology and the endless possibility of content that it can provide. We have freedom and choice. DVRs, netcasting, and portable media players,as well as new forms of media distribution such as Youtube, have provided unprecedented access and convenience. (Not to mention the occasional use of torrents to collect missed episodes of programs).


I'll throw in an early vote for best psuedo-modern work and rate The Office number one so far.

You Bet Your Life

Last movie viewed: A Scanner Darkly

This movie gets my vote for best film of 2006. Besides the stunning visual depictions, the story itself was one that deserved to be on film. It is perhaps the best existential tale in recent history and one that is certainly timely in the postmodern 21st Cenutry.

Bob Arctor is not unlike Sartre's Roquentin, who finds contempt in ordinary things and finally reaches a state of pure nausea when he sees the being of existence itself. Arctor, in a moment of clarity, finds himself alienated from his own life, unable to fit into traditional society. But his rejection of its does not alieviate the dread and despair.

"The Pain, so unexpected and undeserved had for some reason cleared away the cobwebs . I realized I didn't hate the cabinet door, I hated my life, my house, my family, my backyard, my power mower. Nothing would ever change, nothing new could ever be expected. It had to end, and it did. Now in the dark world where I dwell ugly things and surprising things and sometimes little wondrous things spill out at me constantly and I can count on nothing."

"What does a scanner see? Into the head? Down into the heart? Does it see into me, into us? Clearly or darkly? I hope it sees clearly, because I can't any longer see into myself. I see only murk. I hope for everyone's sake the scanners do better. Because if the scanner sees only darkly the way I do then I'm cursed and cursed again. And we'll only wind up dead this way, knowing very little and getting that fragment wrong too."

I'm reminded of the discussion of Zen in Robert Pirsig's Lila: "Zen hell is the world right here and now, in which you see life around you but can't participate in it. You're forever a stranger in your own life . . . You split into two people, who they think you are, and who you really are , and that produces the Zen hell." Like the famous people discussed in this Zen truth, Arctor becomes two people, the one being watched and the one watching himself.

Having become an object to himself, he is unable to see the transcendence of his being. Unaware of who he is, Arctor is not able to understand the facticity of his life, and this inability to take responsibility for it only increases the sense of despair.

One of These Days. . .

"This raises the question whether it is better to be loved or feared, or the reverse. The answer is, that one would like to be both; but since it is difficult to combine the two, it is much safer to be feared than loved, if you have to choose. For it can be said of mankind generally, that they are ungrateful, inconstant, pretenderes to virtue and concealers of vice, avoiders of danger and lovers of gain; as long as you help them they are all yours, and will offer you their blood, their property, their lives, and their children. . . provided that the crisis is a long way off; when it comes closer, they soon turn their backs on you. "
- Machiavelli

My new Deep Thought

I finally finished my new machine - one that brings me into the current generation of technology.

Directron Hydraulic case -Intel Motherboard/ DDR 667 MHZ RAM - Pentium D 3.40 GHZ Dual Processor - Geforce 6800GS 512 MB PCI-E Video Card - Soundblaster Audigy 2 Sound Card
Hitachi SATA 3.0 Hard Disk
Lite-On DVD-R
Sunbeam 20-in-1 Card Reader and Fan Control


Now its time to install Vista Rc1 for evaluation as well as Linux - probably Ubuntu.

The point of the journey is not to arrive

Here is a quote I found while reading a review of Marillion's Radiation:

The oblique "Cathedral Wall" visits one of the great romantic dilemmas, that unattainability is essential to sustaining a quest, and yet also the reason the quest can never end successfully (a Grail in hand is not the embodiment of triumph, it's an insurance headache waiting to happen)

I think it nicely sums up life, art, and the continuing epic that is Marillion's music.

Last CD purchase: Marillion - Smoke & Mirrors

Immortal Bunnies

Here's an abridged version of Highlander (30 seconds, and its acted by bunnies). Almost as good as the Fifteen Minute Hamlet.

The Truth is a Moving Target

Things Change. Times Change. It happened in 6th century Britannia when the Pagans and Christians clashed, and its happening now in a new "culture war", and in Bill O'reilly's world "IT'S BAD, REAL BAD". Unlike Letterman, I actually watch Bill and for a long time I've though that he's often misguided, al least when he's not plain wrong. But, now I think he's completely lost it. The world of FOX NEWS is to my best estimation some kind of "parallel universe", as the economy is GREAT, and the war on terror has almost been won by the omnipotent and omni-benevolent President (if only the loons on the left would let us win). The only problem left for America to overcome is apparently much worse than Bin Laden, are the Secular Progressives. Fortunately Bill and his T-warriors are here to restore Traditionalism and save us from ourselves. Bill is convinced the Traditionalist will win. Given that the average age of Factor viewers is 70, obviously his cheerleaders would be resistant to change, preferring traditional views that those of us that actually live in society might not agree with. But that age group isn’t going to be around long, and as a new generation with different ideals continues to grow those members of the previous generation will have to adapt to these new ideals. It is the nature of things. Being a progressive is not a bad thing. It is easy to be a traditionalist when you’re rich and your biggest concern is the redistribution of wealth, which I think is Bill’s real concern.

Currently at the top of his Culture War list are horror movies. Brilliantly, he picked Halloween to attack horror movies and the evils of "the Splat Pack". His guests included someone from Newsmax (an organization less reputable than Fox) and some psychotherapist that believed that everyone that goes to see horror movies has some homicidal maniac seething inside them, ready to come out slashing at any point- a very fair and balanced debate! Now, one of Bills emphasizes is responsibility and coming from an existential viewpoint, I can agree with that. But Bill doesn't think that the movie viewers are the ones who should be responsible- he thinks it’s the movie industry. As the piece pointed out movies like Saw make 100 million dollars, so obviously the public is demanding such films, and fortunately the people that don't like such things don't have to pay $9 to go see it. Apparently it the insulated cloisters of Fox News no one is going to see "Saw 3", which makes me very suspicious of the people who work there. I haven't seen any of the Saw movies and I hadn't really planned to but everywhere I go I know people who have seen it. So isn't this the same old, tiresome, empty, worn-out rhetoric that we've heard for Twenty years. Movies, Rock music, and video games turn people into raving blood-thirsty killers. Left unchecked, there will be hordes of hooligans swarming the streets and abducting every citizen in order to torture them in unspeakable ways. This kind of content must be the cause of an ultra-violent society, it couldn't possibly be a symptom of a society in which people live in poor economic conditions, have a pro-violent government, and are told what to think and what to buy in order to promote the economy that works against them. Please! I've had enough of this! If you don’t want to see it, then don’t. If you’re worried about social well-being, then teach personal responsibility and quit trying to censor content providers that provide the entertainment that many of us want. I’ve had enough of this Judeo-Christian value crap. If Bill’s Traditionalists do win this war, I may have to paint myself blue and storm the Empire’s legions.

Next stop: Netflix. Its time to put Saw I and II into my queue and then I'm off to the ernomo-omni-multiplex to see Saw III. Thanks for the motivation Bill!
Oh, and by the way, if you want to seem respectable and “above personal attacks” quit calling Al Franken “Stuart Smalley”. Everytime you do that I just want walk into the studio and bitch slap you.

Killing an Arab

So, it seems G.W., literary expert that he is , has now read Camus' The Stranger (as well as three Shakespeares!). Of Course, by the time he was interviewed about it, he had already read several more books - presumably Curious George goes Quantity Surveying and its intriguing sequels. I'm glad he has so much time to read, between ranch life and golfing and blaming his problems on the 90s. Hopefully he won't fall into the trap of becoming an existentialist (I'd have to switch to conservative facist), but he may find himself living as an existential anti-hero.

Mighty Wings

The Final F-14 Flight took place today, with the last Tomcat delivery to AMARC. The 9 remaining airframes will all be delived to museums. I think that calls for a viewing of Top Gun tonight in full 6.1 sound. [Cue Cheap Trick]

How to talk to a complete nutball (if you must)

I was going to rant about a certain conservative bitch's latest publicity stunt, but she has already received too much attention as it is . All I can say is that I hope she's the first to die in the next terrorist attack. Oh, was that insensitive and childish? I must be unintentionally learning from her tactics.

Oh Yeah!

People like Laura Ingraham and Tony and Hannity and Rush Limbaugh, they understand what's going on in the real world
-Senator George Allen

Where can I get the flavor of Kool Aid that this guy drinks?

Teen Angst

This weekend is the final performance of Hamlet at the Guthrie theater, which is the final production at the current location. Set in a vaguely 1940's time period,Dowling's vision should lend itself to a rather existential version, after all Hamlet is a "metaphor for the project of human existence." However, this version seemed neither existential nor Freudian. Hamlet is portrayed by the 23 year old Santino Fontana, giving this portrayal a very youthful indecisiveness, perhaps less contemplative and with a bit more genuine madness. Here Hamlet is more motivated by rebellion and misanthrophy, than by a search for authenticity. While I appreciate the efforts of creating a modern Hamlet, and I can even stomach the Ethan Hawke version, I still prefer a classic Medieval approach

21st Century Monsters

He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster.


Continuing trends in recent events call to mind the quote from Nietzsche. We spent the 20th Century figting monters of Facism through World War II and the Cold War. Hopefully, we have taken care

2006 - One Year Closer to the Future

I haven't had time to post much lately, not that anyone has missed me, but I've spent most of my time lately writing atricles for wikipedia. So I'll put a link here and I welcome anyone else who wants to contribute.

Philosopher King

Here's an article that highlights the rarely seen wisdom of President Bush

Welcome to Hell (G4 style)

When G4 took over Tech TV last year and scrapped its programming, G4s viewers (mostly under 13 years old) told us Tech TV viewers to quit whining and deal with the change. Now, it appears G4 has begun to destroy its own original programming, and now those same viewers are whining about G4s direction as they might finally be realizing that the merger was a way to kill both channels. The sooner G4 dies and goes to the Hell of old TV Channels, the better it is for the world in my estimation. If only MTV's plug had been pulled ten years ago, we would all be smarter today.

Enter the Raptor

The F-22 reaches operation status today, after being in development since 1987. We have finally reached the fifth generation of fighters, just as the F-14 fleet has been reduced to its last squadron (VF-31) after 32 years of service. Certainly a pivotal year in the history of aviation. It does seem odd that our newest technological toy is already close to 19 years old, hopefully it will have a long and illustrious career as well.

Note to my Neighbors

Hi,
I just wanted to let you know that I don't work my ass off for fifty hours a week to pay for my house, so that I can listen to your fucking lame rap music. I have my own music, thank you. Oh, and by the way rap isn't music, it's God-awful noise with little to no artistic merit. So, shut the fuck up.

Today's "Stay the hell out of my computer" segment

It seems Sony has forgotten that consumers that buy their music might actually own what they pay for. Check out their moronic Eula

The UK is considering a law against the possession of Internet material they consider "extreme". Of course, the actual details of the law reveal that it would ban things that are not really violent or abusive.

Bush has started his war on porn, making it the FBI's fourth prioirity. The question is: will this war be fought with any more competence than the war in Afghanistan? I'll reserve comment on my outrage toward the misplaced prioirities of this administration. Link

A Kick in the Eye

I caught Bauhaus at the State Theater tonight. It was nice to hear music that was really reminiscent of a artistic period in music (i.e. the 80s) and not the trite crap that is put out these days. It was also nice to see a crowd that wasn't spread out over a wide demographic, just 30-40 year olds. Lots of black, dyed hair and converse shoes.

Order 66

Read This for an alternate view of the Revenge of the Sith

Talk to the Internet

try this link for some excellent and wise conversation.

WWII

If World War II was an on-line game, this is what the chat would look like:

WTF is nukes? Comedy Gold!

"Its not what you're like its what you like. Music, movies, books these things matter."- High Fidelity

What is the point of a blog? Or, more importantly, this blog? I could tell you about how I ate toast today, but I don't think that matters much. What does matter is the intense amount of influence that the information age presents us with. Music, film, literature, games, technology, and the internet all present new adventures as we navigate through the dangerous media-dominated political landscape of the current age. As the surface of reality expands, hopefully we can find philosophic trends that transcend the superficialty and synthesize humanity and technology, without the exclusion of either.

This blog will attempt to be my near-real-time record of the highlights of my journey though this post-modern flux of influence.

First Post!

Enter the web-atorium at http://www.hometown.aol.com/mccooley/