Of Beats and Boredom

Every so often we get a revelation about ourselves and the special way our brain works. It can be like finding out where that elusive piece to the puzzle actually goes. You know the one with a speck of green plant overlaying stonework from somewhere in front of a 15^th century Irish castle. You didn’t want to do the damn puzzle anyway but thought it would be therapeutic because it forced you to put down your phone and turn of the tv. After flipping the jagged piece upside down, clockwise and counterclockwise hoping for a connection to the larger picture you finally figured it out. The rest of the puzzle came together much easier once the tricky piece found a home. For me the ‘piece’ was music. Music helps me write or at least get into the writing mood. When it is time to write, it is time for headphones. I don’t understand how music plays into writing but for me it does.

I enjoy the slow tempo, beat inspired, non-vocal electronica. It’s a little jazzy but with a consistent beat over the course of the track and has a looping element that feeds and inspires the rest of the song, something the song comes back to like a chorus but without vocals. Electronica works best for this type of sampling because the artist can use a sound clip like the famous ‘I have dream’ speech or a computer voice that repeats a common phrase and splice it into the track while slowing down or speeding up the background sounds.  I don’t know if the type of music matters but I can imagine anything too busy or chaotic would cause me to stop writing, stop thinking altogether. I love organization and order. Why would I not like my music to express order and grace, rhythm and consistency? Is there something about the structure of a piece of music that inspires orderly thought?

Music as a ‘help aid’ may be nothing more than an established pattern of behavior that tells the creative portion of my brain to start releasing…uh…well… creative stuff. The music in this case is nothing more than a placebo, a conditioned response to eclectic beats and slow paced drums keeping time. In college I would go to the library with my laptop and open a Pandora tab and a Word document and begin typing the upcoming assignment. My University library was a bit noisy and I needed to close out the surrounding confusion, so much for libraries being a place where everyone whispers. Naturally I selected relatively peaceful music with an emphasis on modern downtempo beats and as little singing as possible; singers are somehow distracting to my thinking brain. The music did something for me that music had never done before. It helped me focus. In high school I was distracted easily by tv noise, music in another room, brothers wrestling on the floor or electronic video game shooting sounds. I needed silence from everything. I am not sure when the puzzle came together for me and I realized that I needed to have a rhythmic tune in my ear in order to put thoughts together before typing them up. Like many things in life the piece was there all the time. I just needed to recognize it.  

I’ve studiously avoided listing artists and bands that I like because mostly I just let Pandora do the selecting. Here are some of my favorites though:

Christmas Blues

I've never been to Japan but my sense about celebrating Christmas as a holiday in non-Christian countries is that of understated reluctance. These guys are complaining about Christmas as a 'Capitalist' entity that discriminates against single men, how odd. Wonder what they would think about Christmas in America? My favorite quote from the article:
"In this world, money is extracted from people in love, and happy people support capitalism," 
I'll drink to that!
here

The IL-Liberal Campus

The debate on using Native American mascots for schools heated up in the early 2000’s in Champagne, Illinois. The school used the mascot Chief Illiniwek in most of the licensed apparel and in just about everything associated with sports. It’s hard to remember exactly how or why the chief became such an offensive symbol of genocide in America, but the students at the University had brought it to this point. Many student groups wanted the University to abolish all references to the Indian, something about giving offence, and stop using the mascot in sports ceremonies. The details of the controversy are a little foggy to me and I could goggle some of the specifics for clarity, but the argument seemed to hinge solely on the fact that American Indian mascots were offensive to Indians because they represented a negative stereotype. I thought the argument was silly then as I do now; the controversy seemed completely artificial and invented to create a victimized group out of whole cloth. Many native groups were supportive of the University’s efforts to use the Illiniwek mascot as a tribute to the tribes that lived in the central Illinois region. Supporters of the Indian always maintained that the mascot was a tribute and quite the opposite of ridiculing the plains Indians, they were showing respect.

 

The chief was a symbol, nothing more. It made no difference whether it was a racist image or a proud artifact, Illinois students should have rejected the effort to take out their mascot and change so much of the history of the school. College is the type of liberal center for debate that suggests all parties have a voice, no matter how ridiculous or divisive their motives. The price of not standing up to silly attacks on tradition when they occur is losing every attack that comes along afterward. Princeton students have convinced the academic higher ups to debate Woodrow Wilson’s legacy at the university here. This will no doubt include removing his name from countless buildings, scholarships and most historical artifacts associated with the Progressive Wilson. He held some terribly racist views even by the standards of his day but he is part of the history of America, good and bad.

 

Control is the real prize in cultural sensitivity battles and anyone who acquiesces does free speech and courage a real disservice. For every battle lost to sensitivity flag wavers another one is around the corner and it will cost something dearer and closer to home the next time. The college campus landscape has frequently been the ideological war zone for issue of the day whether foreign wars or sexual liberation. Much of what is taught and learned in college will play out in the professional world years after graduates have entered the marketplace. A big aspect of the tech boom in San Francisco that began with the sixties college graduates was due to a real understanding of an open market place and a hopeful optimism about the future. Their parents lived through a major depression and fought in a world war, they did not share the same hopeful energy about wealth and riches. Instilling a sense of gratitude about what freedom really costs to a generation used to getting everything for free is a tall order.

The generation currently stuffing their heads with cultural relativism and transgender theory classes are the next group to innovate and drive the economic engine of capitalism forward. They believe ‘safe spaces’ and ‘micro-aggressions' actually exist in the world outside of textbooks and late night study sessions. Or, if they are offended by some colleagues’ language or behavior toward them, they can escape to a room and imagine it away. Debate and free expression are disappearing on the very campuses where liberal ideas have always been welcomed and encouraged. Don’t take my word for it, listen to the professors who are beginning to come forward and lament the days when ideas were actually debated. Kids now want to have their debates sanitized lest the issues offend. This focus on hearing only what pleases the listener gives way to a generation of leaders that follow the voice of deception. It starts with mascot and ‘offensive’ symbols of racism, gender bias, male chauvinism and other ‘sins’ that traditional America is constantly criticized for. The academy should push back against silly demands from leftist student groups used to forcing every issue with marches and boycotts. Once faculties begin insisting on an educational focus in curriculum and say no to these kids and their demands, it will begin a chain reaction in other institutions. Colleges are as prone to the herd mentality as businesses. Are the teachers and faculty up to it?