Monday, March 31, 2014
Sunday, March 30, 2014
deathtokoalas
listen, it's not hard to see where ostrovsky's sympathies lie, but who else is sending back images from the ground? what i've seen from vice is neither in line with the russian media nor the western media. it's just reporting what is happening. the russians aren't talking, and that's what they get for not co-operating with media. what's shocking is that there isn't a single "normal" news outlet doing anything remotely resembling this kind of coverage.
what he's showing here is that the russians are storming a ukrainian base. because that's what they're doing. now, if you want to talk about what that means, how justified it is, how brutal it is in actuality (casualties seem to be virtually nil) etc, then these are more subtle questions - and the analysis is needed, certainly. but, first we have to establish the facts on the ground, and the conventional media on both sides has been utterly useless in doing this.
he should win an award. not due to any kind of above the standard journalism, but in contrast to the horrible journalism seen everywhere else.
Vlad K
"the russians aren't talking, and that's what they get for not co-operating with media." It is a laughable statement. Hundreds of journalists work in Crimea, and none of them was injured, as opposite to Kiev. Russian media have tons of interview with locals, Ukrainian officers, including those few of them who chose to serve junta. This propaganda is only for people who don't speak Russian.
deathtokoalas
i obviously meant that they're not speaking to the western media. i apologize, but my russian is currently a bit rusty.
regardless, i've been watching rt and they've been highly coy about the whole thing. the initial line from the russians was that crimea was part of ukraine and they would uphold the international boundaries. now, i happen to actually think that the russians handled this extremely well. i'm not interested in a discussion about saving russian speakers from nazis. people speak of the russians interchangeably with the soviets, while forgetting that the americans are the lineal descendant of the british empire (perhaps future historians will understand the american revolution as a civil war within the british empire that transferred control from london to washington. the roman empire spent more than half it's history centered in modern day istanbul. the real center of islam was baghdad. there are other parallels.). forget about the cold war. remember the crimean war? the english have been trying to cut off russian access to the mediterranean for centuries. the larger context of events over the last fifteen years has seen russia lose deep sea ports in yugoslavia, libya and possibly syria. to lose the black sea fleet would be inconceivable. THEN we would see a fullscale invasion of ukraine.
so, to take the base without any discernible casualties is actually quite impressive. i would not expect the americans to be as restrained, should a "revolution" in canada threaten their control of norad, or something.
but the communications - at least in english - have been incredibly controlled. not that i would expect otherwise. it's just as bad from cnn.
but there are lots of other media sources with budgets and audiences that could be out there reporting - in english, for an english audience.
Vlad K
The military role of Black Sea is not as important as it was before. Moreover, many Russians question the necessity of Black Sea fleet itself. After all, Black Sea is a puddle, and it can be covered by air forces in defense actions. it will be useless in any serious confrontations with NATO because it can be blocked easily at Bosporus. So, It is really hard to believe for the West that two millions Russians and their wellbeing is a serious issue for Russians in Russian Federation? Why it is so difficult for western mass media to show social surveys related to Crimean crisis and give Russian point of view among others on this crisis. I always hear "Putin" "Pro-Putin" and never "Russians" in western media. The answer is you don't give a shit what people really think until they resist your politics.
deathtokoalas
i don't agree that the crimean fleet is less important than it was. it's not really about direct conflict, it's more about the ability to project power - what was once called "shipping interests" and is now more about controlling resources and networking bases together. ships remain much larger than planes; they can even carry planes. and it's not a coincidence that nato (and aligned forces) has targeted countries with russian naval bases. this is all explained in the project for the new american century document. a better question is why it took russia 15 years and the near loss of it's prized possession to actually react.
the whole bosporus thing is an aspect of it. the london straits convention did succeed in cutting off the russians for a long time, but this led to quite a bit of fighting (including both russian and western interference in the greek civil war) that carried on even after the montreux convention. trying to modify the terms of that convention would indeed be an act of war and would no doubt result in further russian aggression. nato wouldn't dare do this. well, not so long as the russians have access to the black sea, anyways.
i don't think that any government in the world cares about self-determination. i'm not interested in the propaganda from any source. but, the russians don't have a good track record in being trustworthy when it comes to polling or surveying. they probably didn't have to bullshit it in the first place, but 97%? c'mon. you couldn't get 97% of people in a given area to agree with docile statements about kittens. you'd might as well be telling me to trust colin powell...
ian setzer
Don't listen to him, he is a propagandist sent by the russian federation, here is a link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_brigades
deathtokoalas
it's not hard to believe. but i feel compelled to point out that it has been recently disclosed by the snowden leaks that the americans do exactly the same thing.
i remember first reading about this in relation to chinese attempts to control dissidents, although they take it to much further extremes. that model seems to have been adopted by other intelligence agencies.
sergei the bad
Not 97%. 83 percent came to a referendum. Those who were against just stayed home.
Антон Березин
83% choose theire future in Crimea. In Kiev only 1% choose future fore everyone in Ukraine...
Efrim Begotten
Based on the guys videos and what he likes, it's hard to say. For me the saddest part about the Crimean affair is that the western world basically won't risk intervening. After all, we've let Syria burn for years now.
deathtokoalas
the western world is intervening in syria, it's just doing so in a way that most westerners would not approve of. the question a few months ago was not about intervention, it was about escalation. did the west want to escalate it's support for saudi fighters from weapons smuggling to air bombardment and possible invasion? if it weren't for western intervention, there would not be a conflict in the region.
thousands and thousands and thousands of people in syria have died in a fight between russia and america over a naval base. foreign-backed religious extremists roam the countryside, bombing towns to pillage the population while carrying out a genocide against shia and other non-sunnis they consider "polytheists". crimea switched from one authoritarian state to another, with no casualties, and with the majority support of it's citizenry (97% or not). this is the difference between a very controlled russian invasion designed to create order and an off-the-wall american one designed to preserve disorder. it's not a comparable situation, and suggestions that it is should make people angry.
listen, it's not hard to see where ostrovsky's sympathies lie, but who else is sending back images from the ground? what i've seen from vice is neither in line with the russian media nor the western media. it's just reporting what is happening. the russians aren't talking, and that's what they get for not co-operating with media. what's shocking is that there isn't a single "normal" news outlet doing anything remotely resembling this kind of coverage.
what he's showing here is that the russians are storming a ukrainian base. because that's what they're doing. now, if you want to talk about what that means, how justified it is, how brutal it is in actuality (casualties seem to be virtually nil) etc, then these are more subtle questions - and the analysis is needed, certainly. but, first we have to establish the facts on the ground, and the conventional media on both sides has been utterly useless in doing this.
he should win an award. not due to any kind of above the standard journalism, but in contrast to the horrible journalism seen everywhere else.
Vlad K
"the russians aren't talking, and that's what they get for not co-operating with media." It is a laughable statement. Hundreds of journalists work in Crimea, and none of them was injured, as opposite to Kiev. Russian media have tons of interview with locals, Ukrainian officers, including those few of them who chose to serve junta. This propaganda is only for people who don't speak Russian.
deathtokoalas
i obviously meant that they're not speaking to the western media. i apologize, but my russian is currently a bit rusty.
regardless, i've been watching rt and they've been highly coy about the whole thing. the initial line from the russians was that crimea was part of ukraine and they would uphold the international boundaries. now, i happen to actually think that the russians handled this extremely well. i'm not interested in a discussion about saving russian speakers from nazis. people speak of the russians interchangeably with the soviets, while forgetting that the americans are the lineal descendant of the british empire (perhaps future historians will understand the american revolution as a civil war within the british empire that transferred control from london to washington. the roman empire spent more than half it's history centered in modern day istanbul. the real center of islam was baghdad. there are other parallels.). forget about the cold war. remember the crimean war? the english have been trying to cut off russian access to the mediterranean for centuries. the larger context of events over the last fifteen years has seen russia lose deep sea ports in yugoslavia, libya and possibly syria. to lose the black sea fleet would be inconceivable. THEN we would see a fullscale invasion of ukraine.
so, to take the base without any discernible casualties is actually quite impressive. i would not expect the americans to be as restrained, should a "revolution" in canada threaten their control of norad, or something.
but the communications - at least in english - have been incredibly controlled. not that i would expect otherwise. it's just as bad from cnn.
but there are lots of other media sources with budgets and audiences that could be out there reporting - in english, for an english audience.
Vlad K
The military role of Black Sea is not as important as it was before. Moreover, many Russians question the necessity of Black Sea fleet itself. After all, Black Sea is a puddle, and it can be covered by air forces in defense actions. it will be useless in any serious confrontations with NATO because it can be blocked easily at Bosporus. So, It is really hard to believe for the West that two millions Russians and their wellbeing is a serious issue for Russians in Russian Federation? Why it is so difficult for western mass media to show social surveys related to Crimean crisis and give Russian point of view among others on this crisis. I always hear "Putin" "Pro-Putin" and never "Russians" in western media. The answer is you don't give a shit what people really think until they resist your politics.
deathtokoalas
i don't agree that the crimean fleet is less important than it was. it's not really about direct conflict, it's more about the ability to project power - what was once called "shipping interests" and is now more about controlling resources and networking bases together. ships remain much larger than planes; they can even carry planes. and it's not a coincidence that nato (and aligned forces) has targeted countries with russian naval bases. this is all explained in the project for the new american century document. a better question is why it took russia 15 years and the near loss of it's prized possession to actually react.
the whole bosporus thing is an aspect of it. the london straits convention did succeed in cutting off the russians for a long time, but this led to quite a bit of fighting (including both russian and western interference in the greek civil war) that carried on even after the montreux convention. trying to modify the terms of that convention would indeed be an act of war and would no doubt result in further russian aggression. nato wouldn't dare do this. well, not so long as the russians have access to the black sea, anyways.
i don't think that any government in the world cares about self-determination. i'm not interested in the propaganda from any source. but, the russians don't have a good track record in being trustworthy when it comes to polling or surveying. they probably didn't have to bullshit it in the first place, but 97%? c'mon. you couldn't get 97% of people in a given area to agree with docile statements about kittens. you'd might as well be telling me to trust colin powell...
ian setzer
Don't listen to him, he is a propagandist sent by the russian federation, here is a link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_brigades
deathtokoalas
it's not hard to believe. but i feel compelled to point out that it has been recently disclosed by the snowden leaks that the americans do exactly the same thing.
i remember first reading about this in relation to chinese attempts to control dissidents, although they take it to much further extremes. that model seems to have been adopted by other intelligence agencies.
sergei the bad
Not 97%. 83 percent came to a referendum. Those who were against just stayed home.
Антон Березин
83% choose theire future in Crimea. In Kiev only 1% choose future fore everyone in Ukraine...
Efrim Begotten
Based on the guys videos and what he likes, it's hard to say. For me the saddest part about the Crimean affair is that the western world basically won't risk intervening. After all, we've let Syria burn for years now.
deathtokoalas
the western world is intervening in syria, it's just doing so in a way that most westerners would not approve of. the question a few months ago was not about intervention, it was about escalation. did the west want to escalate it's support for saudi fighters from weapons smuggling to air bombardment and possible invasion? if it weren't for western intervention, there would not be a conflict in the region.
thousands and thousands and thousands of people in syria have died in a fight between russia and america over a naval base. foreign-backed religious extremists roam the countryside, bombing towns to pillage the population while carrying out a genocide against shia and other non-sunnis they consider "polytheists". crimea switched from one authoritarian state to another, with no casualties, and with the majority support of it's citizenry (97% or not). this is the difference between a very controlled russian invasion designed to create order and an off-the-wall american one designed to preserve disorder. it's not a comparable situation, and suggestions that it is should make people angry.
jessica amber murray
google killer: a search engine that removes stores.
so that when you type in "sata II" looking for information about how sata II works, you don't get 1000 links trying to sell you a sata II drive.
should the user wish to actually a purchase a product, they could use a specialized search engine designed to compare prices.
as we speak, the internet is becoming another entry in a long line of the casualties of religion & capitalism.
tommy d
You can also just add more search terms, like "SATA II reviews" or something along those lines.
jessica amber murray
so, i can read the product reviews at amazon? or the technical details at newegg? there's a few filters that, if you're lucky, might bring what you want to the top, but there's not anything that's going to strike them out altogether besides a blocklist.
tommy d
SATA II details, SATA II information, etc.
jessica amber murray
ok, go ahead and google that and tell me how many white papers and schematics show up.
(in comparison to how many product reviews and online stores)
tommy d
Okay, I see your point now lol
google killer: a search engine that removes stores.
so that when you type in "sata II" looking for information about how sata II works, you don't get 1000 links trying to sell you a sata II drive.
should the user wish to actually a purchase a product, they could use a specialized search engine designed to compare prices.
as we speak, the internet is becoming another entry in a long line of the casualties of religion & capitalism.
tommy d
You can also just add more search terms, like "SATA II reviews" or something along those lines.
jessica amber murray
so, i can read the product reviews at amazon? or the technical details at newegg? there's a few filters that, if you're lucky, might bring what you want to the top, but there's not anything that's going to strike them out altogether besides a blocklist.
tommy d
SATA II details, SATA II information, etc.
jessica amber murray
ok, go ahead and google that and tell me how many white papers and schematics show up.
(in comparison to how many product reviews and online stores)
tommy d
Okay, I see your point now lol
Friday, March 28, 2014
interviewer: wow, what a great attitude.
frank: it's called rational thinking.
interviewer: so few people seem to be able to get a handle on it.
frank: yeah, it was phased out in the reagan administration.
this might resonate MORE now than it did then. in the end, i think his understanding of post-war culture will overpower the prevailing one, and people will look back and think it was defined by utter idiocy.
frank: it's called rational thinking.
interviewer: so few people seem to be able to get a handle on it.
frank: yeah, it was phased out in the reagan administration.
this might resonate MORE now than it did then. in the end, i think his understanding of post-war culture will overpower the prevailing one, and people will look back and think it was defined by utter idiocy.
some of the other answers might get you something close (just be sure to crank the fuzz with some kind of tube preamp, and probably even a line booster - this is very high gain), but it sounds to me like that octave-y sound is actually an electronic relic of his guitar synthesizer tracking in and that the actual answer is something along the lines of digital distortion on a violin or cello patch, rather than anything created with guitar pedals you can get in a store. it's also probably manual whammy technique getting that envelope wah, rather than anything digital.
deathtokoalas
ok. but can you show us how to cook a potato in a chicken?
"don't egg him on"!
also, can you do a chicken in a watermelon?
of
having fun by yourself? =D
deathtokoalas
other people are mostly figments of our own imagination, anyways.
reggie
How about an egg (or 2) inside a potato inside a chicken. That would offer a decent balanced meal for you and a friend, or an imaginary friend who's not that hungry and wants you to eat their food ;-) hehehe
deathtokoalas
indeed, that's what i really want, is that depth. ultimately, what i'm interested in is that age old question....
also, it's very true that other people mostly exist in our minds, subjectively. there is an object out there with physical qualities, but personalities are mostly interpreted by outside observers. so, the way i interpret a person is different than the way another person will interpret that same person, the difference being entirely perceptive and existing solely in our minds. i'm not sure if what i meant to say got across, there.
NorthSurvival
No, but a pizza in a potato.
deathtokoalas
now, how are you going to fit a pizza in a potato? unless, you mean a pizza pocket idea...
ok. but can you show us how to cook a potato in a chicken?
"don't egg him on"!
also, can you do a chicken in a watermelon?
of
having fun by yourself? =D
deathtokoalas
other people are mostly figments of our own imagination, anyways.
reggie
How about an egg (or 2) inside a potato inside a chicken. That would offer a decent balanced meal for you and a friend, or an imaginary friend who's not that hungry and wants you to eat their food ;-) hehehe
deathtokoalas
indeed, that's what i really want, is that depth. ultimately, what i'm interested in is that age old question....
also, it's very true that other people mostly exist in our minds, subjectively. there is an object out there with physical qualities, but personalities are mostly interpreted by outside observers. so, the way i interpret a person is different than the way another person will interpret that same person, the difference being entirely perceptive and existing solely in our minds. i'm not sure if what i meant to say got across, there.
NorthSurvival
No, but a pizza in a potato.
deathtokoalas
now, how are you going to fit a pizza in a potato? unless, you mean a pizza pocket idea...
Thursday, March 27, 2014
actually, rachmaninov and angst go well together. under 15, and it's just notes on a screen. but a little older than that is probably the ideal age to get this right.
she's hitting the keys with sufficient force. that's the big thing. and it's a russian thing, consistently. her western counterparts want to over-intellectualize and turn it into some dainty prance, rather than the noisy protopunk classic that it is.
i'm mildly relieved. i suppose that if we end up on the other side of some curtain, we can still rely on the former soviet states (and satellites) to play the russian classics for us properly, without having to endure westerners butchering them.
she's hitting the keys with sufficient force. that's the big thing. and it's a russian thing, consistently. her western counterparts want to over-intellectualize and turn it into some dainty prance, rather than the noisy protopunk classic that it is.
i'm mildly relieved. i suppose that if we end up on the other side of some curtain, we can still rely on the former soviet states (and satellites) to play the russian classics for us properly, without having to endure westerners butchering them.
i have a moderately recent american version and a modded russian version designed for smashing pumpkins fans (creamy dreamer) and what i've found is that the russian muff seems to be designed for better sound at lower volumes. the russian version does sound clearer and more usable here, but that's why. it has to do with the way a muff works. it's supposed to be plugged directly into a tube amp at high volume levels. this test is consequently largely useless.
deathtokoalas
the orchestra sounds good, but she's just not hitting the piano hard enough.
Eleanor Gay
Does she need to pound the keys to mke the music? Maybe for you to hear the music.
deathtokoalas
this particular piece needs to be pounded, yes. bourgeois westerners that want to focus on masturbatory techniques have consistently failed to understand that for close to a hundred years. the russians grasp it properly...
go find a russian recording to hear it bashed out the way it's supposed to be, then come back.
shantihealer
Your right, my friend, she not only underhits the piano but kind of smacks it.
SugarTomAppleRoger
You are joking of course. Few can play with such power as she does.
deathtokoalas
i've pointed out a few performances that have the proper level of aggression. she just doesn't sustain the smashing throughout.
Ricardo Macayo
y tú muerte a los koalas si que sabes de música!
deathtokoalas
i apologize if i've mistranslated, but i think you're asking me why i hate koalas.
the answer is that they're revoltingly cute.
valkhorn
I hear nothing wrong with it. The notes are clear enough, and she plays with finesse - which is very hard to do on this piece, esp. the last movement.
deathtokoalas
see, that's the problem - the finesse. this isn't a technical, subtle piece. it's a banger, meant to be played with all the bourgeois sophistication of "tutti frutti".
anyways, i'm repeating myself. thread closed.
the orchestra sounds good, but she's just not hitting the piano hard enough.
Eleanor Gay
Does she need to pound the keys to mke the music? Maybe for you to hear the music.
deathtokoalas
this particular piece needs to be pounded, yes. bourgeois westerners that want to focus on masturbatory techniques have consistently failed to understand that for close to a hundred years. the russians grasp it properly...
go find a russian recording to hear it bashed out the way it's supposed to be, then come back.
shantihealer
Your right, my friend, she not only underhits the piano but kind of smacks it.
SugarTomAppleRoger
You are joking of course. Few can play with such power as she does.
deathtokoalas
i've pointed out a few performances that have the proper level of aggression. she just doesn't sustain the smashing throughout.
Ricardo Macayo
y tú muerte a los koalas si que sabes de música!
deathtokoalas
i apologize if i've mistranslated, but i think you're asking me why i hate koalas.
the answer is that they're revoltingly cute.
valkhorn
I hear nothing wrong with it. The notes are clear enough, and she plays with finesse - which is very hard to do on this piece, esp. the last movement.
deathtokoalas
see, that's the problem - the finesse. this isn't a technical, subtle piece. it's a banger, meant to be played with all the bourgeois sophistication of "tutti frutti".
anyways, i'm repeating myself. thread closed.
no grit. and, look at 3:23: he's catching his breath? maybe his suit is too tight, and it's restricting his breathing. then he prances through the rest of it like it's some kind of gentle ballet...
this should be beaten down with every ounce of emotional and physical force that can be gathered, as though the police have shown up to steal your last ounce of vodka at 4:53 am and there's nothing you can do about it....
this should be beaten down with every ounce of emotional and physical force that can be gathered, as though the police have shown up to steal your last ounce of vodka at 4:53 am and there's nothing you can do about it....
deathtokoalas
his is worse, he sounds bored through half of it. yeesh...
i have a version by the soviet symphony orchestra that owns everything i've seen online so far, but my discs are packed. i can't even find info online. fucking cold war, getting in the way of what really matters...
Concertos n°2 and n°3 (USSR Symphony Orchestra, feat. conductor: Gennady Provatorov, piano: Victor Eresko).
find that one if you want to hear somebody just bash this out.
XaverScharwenka
Or simply enjoy one of the best versions ever, by Earl Wild... but then again, we all like things differently.
deathtokoalas
earl wild does not sound like a very russian name.
perhaps, you'd like to suggest a wonderful slavic folk version of 'the entertainer' while you're at it? grigorii does gershwin? on balalaika?
fucking hipsters.
1231CarrieCheuk
your profile pic is so frightening
deathtokoalas
that's only because you can't see the muppets dancing around me.
South Texas Piano
Please tell them to save you
deathtokoalas
i believe that request ought to be formed in terms of a question, but you forget that the average muppet is a monster!
12x12surface
Can you post it on YT??
deathtokoalas
i don't have muppet copyright access.
his is worse, he sounds bored through half of it. yeesh...
i have a version by the soviet symphony orchestra that owns everything i've seen online so far, but my discs are packed. i can't even find info online. fucking cold war, getting in the way of what really matters...
Concertos n°2 and n°3 (USSR Symphony Orchestra, feat. conductor: Gennady Provatorov, piano: Victor Eresko).
find that one if you want to hear somebody just bash this out.
XaverScharwenka
Or simply enjoy one of the best versions ever, by Earl Wild... but then again, we all like things differently.
deathtokoalas
earl wild does not sound like a very russian name.
perhaps, you'd like to suggest a wonderful slavic folk version of 'the entertainer' while you're at it? grigorii does gershwin? on balalaika?
fucking hipsters.
1231CarrieCheuk
your profile pic is so frightening
deathtokoalas
that's only because you can't see the muppets dancing around me.
South Texas Piano
Please tell them to save you
deathtokoalas
i believe that request ought to be formed in terms of a question, but you forget that the average muppet is a monster!
12x12surface
Can you post it on YT??
deathtokoalas
i don't have muppet copyright access.
deathtokoalas
i agree with those arguing that she's butchering this. i've always interacted with the piece as a blaring romp, written by an emotionally insecure male that is releasing all of his anger and frustration. she's playing it in a soft and sensuous manner that invites a sultry lounge singer.
the notes are flawless, but there's just no rage or sadness or frustration in it.
deathtokoalas
i mean, maybe she's trying to sex it up. fine.
...but this really needs to be played by 40 year old virgins (ok, i'm exaggerating) to get the maximum feel out of it.
Tim
your understanding of the composer's work is clearly limited if you think anything he wrote is devoid of lust or passion. also, wang's artistic conviction and integrity are what make her performance so remarkable. interpreting a piece in a way that deviates from the norm (or, in this case, your personal preference) is not indicative of poor musicianship.
deathtokoalas
did i not point out that she played the piece flawlessly? but if you understand where the piece is coming from, and all the self-doubt and insecurity attached to it, you'll realize she's completely missing the point.
i mean, if i want to listen to shmaltzy, upper class nonsense i'll go listen to mozart or shostakovich or something. what makes rachmaninov special is the social anxiety in the writing. you take that away, and it's just another delve into aristocratic masturbation. there's plenty of that for those that want it, without needing to ruin that which stands away from it.
i kind of held back a little bit initially, but does she look to you like somebody that has ever experienced the kind of shit rachmaninov went through? young, beautiful, rich. she'd need a brain transplant to get her mind around this. it would be remarkable if she did understand this emotionally, that is as something more than notes on a page - which she does clearly understand quite well.
Vlad
eugh...welcome to music, blessed art it is, where each comes with their own interpretation.
deathtokoalas
this is scored music, not jazz. personal contributions should be kept to an absolute minimum. the performer is a worthless intermediary between my ears and the composer's mind - a necessary evil. i don't care what she thinks.
Vlad
Scored music is still subject to interpretation (not talking about improvisation). Any two people will feel to play the same piece differently
deathtokoalas
completely wrong liberal bullshit. if i want to listen to yuja wang, i'll listen to one of her compositions. i'm here to listen to rachmaninov. the moment she brings her individuality into the process is the moment she completely fucks up. you need to get your head out of this relativistic gallow before it comes down. there are correct and incorrect ways to play a piece.
i don't want to continue this into perpetuity, so i'm just going to be clear about the non-relativistic reality of things before i close off further comments.
there are two ways to perform a scored piece of music:
1) the way it was written
2) incorrectly
this slutty performance is not capturing the piece the way it was written. it's a "modern interpretation" that replaces the tortured soul of the piece with vapid and gratuitous sexuality. therefore, it's wrong. there's no further worthwhile debate on the point, unless you want to resort to the idiocy of "it's just your opinion".
it's not. and that decadent attitude is destroying our culture and our civilization.
out.
i agree with those arguing that she's butchering this. i've always interacted with the piece as a blaring romp, written by an emotionally insecure male that is releasing all of his anger and frustration. she's playing it in a soft and sensuous manner that invites a sultry lounge singer.
the notes are flawless, but there's just no rage or sadness or frustration in it.
deathtokoalas
i mean, maybe she's trying to sex it up. fine.
...but this really needs to be played by 40 year old virgins (ok, i'm exaggerating) to get the maximum feel out of it.
Tim
your understanding of the composer's work is clearly limited if you think anything he wrote is devoid of lust or passion. also, wang's artistic conviction and integrity are what make her performance so remarkable. interpreting a piece in a way that deviates from the norm (or, in this case, your personal preference) is not indicative of poor musicianship.
deathtokoalas
did i not point out that she played the piece flawlessly? but if you understand where the piece is coming from, and all the self-doubt and insecurity attached to it, you'll realize she's completely missing the point.
i mean, if i want to listen to shmaltzy, upper class nonsense i'll go listen to mozart or shostakovich or something. what makes rachmaninov special is the social anxiety in the writing. you take that away, and it's just another delve into aristocratic masturbation. there's plenty of that for those that want it, without needing to ruin that which stands away from it.
i kind of held back a little bit initially, but does she look to you like somebody that has ever experienced the kind of shit rachmaninov went through? young, beautiful, rich. she'd need a brain transplant to get her mind around this. it would be remarkable if she did understand this emotionally, that is as something more than notes on a page - which she does clearly understand quite well.
Vlad
eugh...welcome to music, blessed art it is, where each comes with their own interpretation.
deathtokoalas
this is scored music, not jazz. personal contributions should be kept to an absolute minimum. the performer is a worthless intermediary between my ears and the composer's mind - a necessary evil. i don't care what she thinks.
Vlad
Scored music is still subject to interpretation (not talking about improvisation). Any two people will feel to play the same piece differently
deathtokoalas
completely wrong liberal bullshit. if i want to listen to yuja wang, i'll listen to one of her compositions. i'm here to listen to rachmaninov. the moment she brings her individuality into the process is the moment she completely fucks up. you need to get your head out of this relativistic gallow before it comes down. there are correct and incorrect ways to play a piece.
i don't want to continue this into perpetuity, so i'm just going to be clear about the non-relativistic reality of things before i close off further comments.
there are two ways to perform a scored piece of music:
1) the way it was written
2) incorrectly
this slutty performance is not capturing the piece the way it was written. it's a "modern interpretation" that replaces the tortured soul of the piece with vapid and gratuitous sexuality. therefore, it's wrong. there's no further worthwhile debate on the point, unless you want to resort to the idiocy of "it's just your opinion".
it's not. and that decadent attitude is destroying our culture and our civilization.
out.
deathtokoalas
this was really a turning point in belew's career, and i think it's pretty literally a turning point. he seems to be contemplating suicide after what he's interpreting as a failed solo career (although he directed bowie tours and fronted king crimson, which few would interpret as particularly failed, even if his solo records weren't selling - and for the good reason that they really weren't very good, and he didn't have the sex appeal that bowie and byrne required to sell their own garbage), but choosing instead to resign himself to something a little more low key. with that resignation came a lot more free thinking and a higher sense of artistic individuality. his best work follows from after this point.
a similar idea is put forward in 'under the radar', but it's a little less dramatic.
9rugbyroy
I agree but his music is great ,and the radio and what they think is great is a narrow and closed minded and repetitive idea of what is talent! Compare Belew to musicians on american idol!!! ( REALLY)!!!!
deathtokoalas
i present no argument, but i'm trying to get a psychoanalysis in, and belew doesn't seem to have come to terms with this until later in life. you also have to keep in mind that while mainstream music was bad in the 80s, and a bit better in the 90s, it really hit new lows in the 00s that nobody living through the 70s could have possibly predicted. i mean, the groups belew was involved with were all successful...it's not such a stretch to expect the same level of success on solo projects (well, maybe not bowie, who was a cultural icon as much as he was a musician, but certainly king crimson or talking heads). you used to be able to turn the radio on and hear some decent music. that's the world belew lived in.
jayrobb9
I don't think your reading of the song is unfair. Belew did a number of songs throughout his solo career where he seemed rather puzzled by his own inability to 'make it big'. Oh Daddy is one song that comes immediately to mind. Of course, we don't know the man, so who is to say. And I'm sure 99% of people who have ever picked up a guitar would kill to have had a career like that of Belew. But it's entirely possible he wanted to hit big as a solo artist as a personal validation, but he never even really came close, sadly.
this was really a turning point in belew's career, and i think it's pretty literally a turning point. he seems to be contemplating suicide after what he's interpreting as a failed solo career (although he directed bowie tours and fronted king crimson, which few would interpret as particularly failed, even if his solo records weren't selling - and for the good reason that they really weren't very good, and he didn't have the sex appeal that bowie and byrne required to sell their own garbage), but choosing instead to resign himself to something a little more low key. with that resignation came a lot more free thinking and a higher sense of artistic individuality. his best work follows from after this point.
a similar idea is put forward in 'under the radar', but it's a little less dramatic.
9rugbyroy
I agree but his music is great ,and the radio and what they think is great is a narrow and closed minded and repetitive idea of what is talent! Compare Belew to musicians on american idol!!! ( REALLY)!!!!
deathtokoalas
i present no argument, but i'm trying to get a psychoanalysis in, and belew doesn't seem to have come to terms with this until later in life. you also have to keep in mind that while mainstream music was bad in the 80s, and a bit better in the 90s, it really hit new lows in the 00s that nobody living through the 70s could have possibly predicted. i mean, the groups belew was involved with were all successful...it's not such a stretch to expect the same level of success on solo projects (well, maybe not bowie, who was a cultural icon as much as he was a musician, but certainly king crimson or talking heads). you used to be able to turn the radio on and hear some decent music. that's the world belew lived in.
jayrobb9
I don't think your reading of the song is unfair. Belew did a number of songs throughout his solo career where he seemed rather puzzled by his own inability to 'make it big'. Oh Daddy is one song that comes immediately to mind. Of course, we don't know the man, so who is to say. And I'm sure 99% of people who have ever picked up a guitar would kill to have had a career like that of Belew. But it's entirely possible he wanted to hit big as a solo artist as a personal validation, but he never even really came close, sadly.
deathtokoalas
classic record, but not quite a benchmark disc. just a bit of a shame about that anticlimactic ending....
Oziel Esparza
The climaxes on the first and third track are amazing, and even goodbye desolate railyard has a good intro but the choir is so underwhelming. They don't even seem to appear much on this record other than the first and last part of the last track
deathtokoalas
i don't want to pigeonhole this band to the crescendos, as i'd likely get a fish thrown at me next time i see them. the process of escaping the post-rock label was something they seem to have felt very strongly about. and i suppose it required some experiments that are arguably still ongoing. i mean, some of the best moments on their more recent discs are tied into a more conventional epic or even "alternative" rock style structure. they're an effective rock band when they want to be. they're more than a crescendo. but, for a few years in the mid 00s they seemed to want to diversify with these delves into folk, and they just often came off as flat in the flow of the disc. i think it's partly because the vocal content that he tended to attach to these rawer points is often kind of only relevant in the band's world. it's one thing to moan over a folk tune, it's another thing to moan irrelevantly over a folk tune. so, it's not the end of the last track that i find is a bit tedious, but the beginning of it. i think we do all get a little lost sometimes, and there's some power in the drawn down arrangement. but the eulogy to the railroad tracks, as arranged for atonal singer and ukelele, is just kind of bordering on the realms of bad taste. and, after 40 whatever minutes of brilliance, it's a cringey transition. but, i mean, the disc, as a whole, is a remarkable accomplishment. i don't really want to take much away from it. it's just those few minutes in there that necessitate it's fall from near perfection to mere excellence.
classic record, but not quite a benchmark disc. just a bit of a shame about that anticlimactic ending....
Oziel Esparza
The climaxes on the first and third track are amazing, and even goodbye desolate railyard has a good intro but the choir is so underwhelming. They don't even seem to appear much on this record other than the first and last part of the last track
deathtokoalas
i don't want to pigeonhole this band to the crescendos, as i'd likely get a fish thrown at me next time i see them. the process of escaping the post-rock label was something they seem to have felt very strongly about. and i suppose it required some experiments that are arguably still ongoing. i mean, some of the best moments on their more recent discs are tied into a more conventional epic or even "alternative" rock style structure. they're an effective rock band when they want to be. they're more than a crescendo. but, for a few years in the mid 00s they seemed to want to diversify with these delves into folk, and they just often came off as flat in the flow of the disc. i think it's partly because the vocal content that he tended to attach to these rawer points is often kind of only relevant in the band's world. it's one thing to moan over a folk tune, it's another thing to moan irrelevantly over a folk tune. so, it's not the end of the last track that i find is a bit tedious, but the beginning of it. i think we do all get a little lost sometimes, and there's some power in the drawn down arrangement. but the eulogy to the railroad tracks, as arranged for atonal singer and ukelele, is just kind of bordering on the realms of bad taste. and, after 40 whatever minutes of brilliance, it's a cringey transition. but, i mean, the disc, as a whole, is a remarkable accomplishment. i don't really want to take much away from it. it's just those few minutes in there that necessitate it's fall from near perfection to mere excellence.
you want to know why we can't have another cold war? because i can't find any decent recordings of rachmaninov. no, i don't want to listen to some asian child prodigy that can hit the notes but has no emotional investment because she lacks the maturity. i don't want to compete over who can do it better, either.
the best version i've heard of the second piano concerto (by far) is by the soviet orchestra, which i found as an import from france (you can keep your freedom fries) in a second hand store several years ago. it's nowhere to be found online. and, it's not hard to guess why. instead, we have versions by west germans, koreans, jews from chicago...WESTERN VERSIONS....
none of them compare to the soviet version.
what is important in life is not which set of bankers controls which oil rig. what is important is the ability to listen to high quality renditions of universally recognized russian classics. likewise, russians have an inalienable right to access american renditions of american jazz.
"we have bitches brew, too. dmitri play trumpet through superior delay system. better quality big muff for vladimir's guitar."
it's not the same, dammit.
we need to put this into perspective before we revert back to that fucking bullshit all over again.
the best version i've heard of the second piano concerto (by far) is by the soviet orchestra, which i found as an import from france (you can keep your freedom fries) in a second hand store several years ago. it's nowhere to be found online. and, it's not hard to guess why. instead, we have versions by west germans, koreans, jews from chicago...WESTERN VERSIONS....
none of them compare to the soviet version.
what is important in life is not which set of bankers controls which oil rig. what is important is the ability to listen to high quality renditions of universally recognized russian classics. likewise, russians have an inalienable right to access american renditions of american jazz.
"we have bitches brew, too. dmitri play trumpet through superior delay system. better quality big muff for vladimir's guitar."
it's not the same, dammit.
we need to put this into perspective before we revert back to that fucking bullshit all over again.
rando
In my opinion, it was Fripp, who changed and developed Belew's guitar style and technique this way. This video basically shows, what guitar techniques and what playstyle you had to have, when wanted to be in King Crimson.
deathtokoalas
belew picked a lot up from fripp, but he never lost his more playful style - and it's something fripp desperately needed to counter his medieval dour. the biggest give away that it's belew rather than fripp is the presence of anything that contradicts the structure of the piece - be it a double time lick, an unexpected syncopation, etc. i love fripp, but the truth is that the man ticks like a clock.
In my opinion, it was Fripp, who changed and developed Belew's guitar style and technique this way. This video basically shows, what guitar techniques and what playstyle you had to have, when wanted to be in King Crimson.
deathtokoalas
belew picked a lot up from fripp, but he never lost his more playful style - and it's something fripp desperately needed to counter his medieval dour. the biggest give away that it's belew rather than fripp is the presence of anything that contradicts the structure of the piece - be it a double time lick, an unexpected syncopation, etc. i love fripp, but the truth is that the man ticks like a clock.
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
ok, maybe people are right. maybe if i'm going to post so much criticism i should post some stuff i like.
first, here's my cd list:
http://dghjdfsghkrdghdgja.appspot.com/categories/music/index/index.html
second, it's over here in timeline form:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jessicas-Music-Collection/505092896244390
third, here's a playlist with highlights that will grow as i work through the reviews:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3JSjmqp0cbtJ3wEtlfPjMu2xYH7DKIHP
i'm further going to mark my favourite discs as i go forward.
.....'cause it's good marketing. i'm not pretending otherwise. i enjoy the conversations i have, but the point is that people are supposed to click on the link and check out my music. maybe i should just shut up. but youtube's advertising model really doesn't make any sense, given that people can post whatever they want right on the page (and that most people with a measurable quantity of brain cells use adblock).
about the best advertising i could pay for would be to interact with fans of records that have influenced me. that's actually not possible to buy, but it's certainly more meaningful than an annoying decal on the side that most people are going to literally or mentally block out.
then again, i'm certainly not the next katy perry. there's not really a way to mass market this stuff. it just has to somehow find the right audience.
first, here's my cd list:
http://dghjdfsghkrdghdgja.appspot.com/categories/music/index/index.html
second, it's over here in timeline form:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jessicas-Music-Collection/505092896244390
third, here's a playlist with highlights that will grow as i work through the reviews:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3JSjmqp0cbtJ3wEtlfPjMu2xYH7DKIHP
i'm further going to mark my favourite discs as i go forward.
.....'cause it's good marketing. i'm not pretending otherwise. i enjoy the conversations i have, but the point is that people are supposed to click on the link and check out my music. maybe i should just shut up. but youtube's advertising model really doesn't make any sense, given that people can post whatever they want right on the page (and that most people with a measurable quantity of brain cells use adblock).
about the best advertising i could pay for would be to interact with fans of records that have influenced me. that's actually not possible to buy, but it's certainly more meaningful than an annoying decal on the side that most people are going to literally or mentally block out.
then again, i'm certainly not the next katy perry. there's not really a way to mass market this stuff. it just has to somehow find the right audience.
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
these are all such meaningless changes. the program launcher gui as a selling point? well, they're an operating system, sure, but it's being a little literal. for years, now, it's like they've been making operating systems the same way they design xbox games.
and how many people are going to turn this all off and go back to a windows xp desktop within ten minutes of powering it up? and, who can blame these people, given the difference in performance?
what about driver support? take a flip through some forums. they broke things as simple as file operations moving to vista (ten hours to copy files?) and never really fixed it in 7 or 8. how about creating a version with an optimally compiled kernel, designed for speed rather than appearance? stripping xp to the core and calling it "windows lite" sounds like a waaaaaay better idea to me....
the share of xp users is actually around 30%. that's more than apple and linux combined. the reason they've stuck with xp is because it's fast and stable, and the "upgrades" are flashy and obtuse. that's a huge share of the market that's going to walk the other way if they don't get something concrete and without frills that they can actually use for terrestrial purposes.
and how many people are going to turn this all off and go back to a windows xp desktop within ten minutes of powering it up? and, who can blame these people, given the difference in performance?
what about driver support? take a flip through some forums. they broke things as simple as file operations moving to vista (ten hours to copy files?) and never really fixed it in 7 or 8. how about creating a version with an optimally compiled kernel, designed for speed rather than appearance? stripping xp to the core and calling it "windows lite" sounds like a waaaaaay better idea to me....
the share of xp users is actually around 30%. that's more than apple and linux combined. the reason they've stuck with xp is because it's fast and stable, and the "upgrades" are flashy and obtuse. that's a huge share of the market that's going to walk the other way if they don't get something concrete and without frills that they can actually use for terrestrial purposes.
Monday, March 24, 2014
lol. no...
when somebody with an identity of some kind challenges your preconceptions, prejudices and stereotypes that doesn't mean you should question their identity.
what it means is that you should question your prejudices. 'cause that's what's got you confused, you see?
you humans...
it's actually a science v. philosophy argument. evidence v. reasoning. empiricism v. deduction.
the individual that challenges your prejudices is evidence that your prejudices are wrong; the idea that they are not as they identify because they don't fit your prejudices is medieval logic.
when somebody with an identity of some kind challenges your preconceptions, prejudices and stereotypes that doesn't mean you should question their identity.
what it means is that you should question your prejudices. 'cause that's what's got you confused, you see?
you humans...
it's actually a science v. philosophy argument. evidence v. reasoning. empiricism v. deduction.
the individual that challenges your prejudices is evidence that your prejudices are wrong; the idea that they are not as they identify because they don't fit your prejudices is medieval logic.
Thursday, March 20, 2014
the new la dispute record is a little bit boring
well, we can't be young and full of energy for our whole lives. aging isn't preventable or reversible. the interesting part is how we adjust.
for the lyricist, it makes sense to move into more reflective, almost hip-hop type territory. yet, la dispute's strength (musically) has always been it's ability to cause a ruckus as the poetry climaxes. the notes didn't matter, it was all atmosphere. they couldn't be separated. as the lyricist softens, the band behind him simply isn't pulling off the shift to sounding like rem very well. the level of melodic introspection simply doesn't match the level of lyrical depth....
sometimes, age brings us closer to our friends as experiences solidify shared ideals and the depth of interests strengthen. other times, we outgrow our friends and move on. the future, of course, remains to be seen. yet, i can't help but think that the band would rather be rocking a little harder, and i'd definitely suggest that the lyricist could benefit from musicians that have a deeper sense of melody.
it's not ironic. it's universal. it's life.
for the lyricist, it makes sense to move into more reflective, almost hip-hop type territory. yet, la dispute's strength (musically) has always been it's ability to cause a ruckus as the poetry climaxes. the notes didn't matter, it was all atmosphere. they couldn't be separated. as the lyricist softens, the band behind him simply isn't pulling off the shift to sounding like rem very well. the level of melodic introspection simply doesn't match the level of lyrical depth....
sometimes, age brings us closer to our friends as experiences solidify shared ideals and the depth of interests strengthen. other times, we outgrow our friends and move on. the future, of course, remains to be seen. yet, i can't help but think that the band would rather be rocking a little harder, and i'd definitely suggest that the lyricist could benefit from musicians that have a deeper sense of melody.
it's not ironic. it's universal. it's life.
Wednesday, March 19, 2014
Tuesday, March 18, 2014
i'm hoping it's this easy.
i'm going to stumble out to the local store tomorrow and see if they'll just plug it in for me to check.
i wasn't able to try it from an e-sata 'cause i don't actually have the right cable.
i mean, the data is there. i should be able to get it off. it seems like the power is broken. it's not whirring, it's just not reading.
i need it to bypass the bios somehow to determine if it's the power or not. if it's the power, i'm going to have to pay somebody to replace it...
the only other thing i can think of is that the self-test is failing, and that's why it's neither whirring nor being read by the bios. still reduces to paying somebody to swap it out.
i'm going to stumble out to the local store tomorrow and see if they'll just plug it in for me to check.
i wasn't able to try it from an e-sata 'cause i don't actually have the right cable.
i mean, the data is there. i should be able to get it off. it seems like the power is broken. it's not whirring, it's just not reading.
i need it to bypass the bios somehow to determine if it's the power or not. if it's the power, i'm going to have to pay somebody to replace it...
the only other thing i can think of is that the self-test is failing, and that's why it's neither whirring nor being read by the bios. still reduces to paying somebody to swap it out.
rap news 23
L00NGB00W
Gotta ask, are you guys affiliated with RT?
selvmordspilot
afaik they're based in australia. I'm afraid it's the other way around. RT has gotten their hands on some great journalists - that are worth featuring in the rap news. #powerfulabbymartin
deathtokoalas
they are recently, yes. check their facebook page.
L00NGB00W
I can see no evidence of this.
dangerouslytalented
They have some great journalists, and are not afraid to use them... But only if and when the facts are on the Kremlin's side. The problem is when the facts are not on the Kremlin's side, whoops journalism broke.
selvmordspilot
true, and it's still up to us to decide who to believe in these matters.
dangerouslytalented
... basically, if Russia has a vested interest in not telling the truth, then don't trust them.
deathtokoalas
all media has a motive, otherwise it wouldn't exist. i mean, it's not like rap news is void of bias, either, we just all like their biases. so, i dunno why people have this naive perception that some media is more trustworthy than other media. all media is full of lies; it would't exist if it wasn't. and the other response consequently gets it right. you have to be constantly skeptical....
dangerouslytalented
That completely depends on what the motives are, Take the Guardian for example, their business model relies on their integrity. If they sell that, then there is no more money. Ever.
L00NGB00W
Assuming that all media is lies borders on paranoia.
One must take the stories with a grain of salt, and realize there is bias.
The idea of the fifth estate is to report on the actions of those in power. With enough viewpoints, one can piece together the truth.
deathtokoalas
the guardian is one of the worst advocates of liberal imperialistic bullshit and general state apologism out there. their coverage of foreign conflicts often seems written by the british state department, if not by the cia. kind of like the new york times, actually, which markets itself as relying on integrity, but is basically state media. both cnn and fox claim to be "trusted" as well; generally, when "trust" is a part of your advertising campaigns, that's a flag not to trust you. to see how bad the guardian is, all you have to do is read the independent, who is a rare source in the western world. you can at least vaguely trust the general idea of what they're presenting. but, even they have certain lines that they need to be artistic in dancing around.
@L00NGB00W it's not paranoia, it's a type of hypothesis testing. the null hypothesis is that what they're telling me is bullshit. now, can enough evidence be generated to reject that null hypothesis?
i suppose scientists are just a bunch of schizophrenics, living in a delusional fantasy reality.
we need more scientific thinking, to increase the bar so to speak, not vague accusations of paranoia and more pandering to rupert murdoch.
L00NGB00W
There you go. Case in point.
I'm not pandering to Rupert Murdoch, he manipulates the news. <_<
Assuming everything is a conspiracy is not a null hypothesis. Even if it were... One true news article would debunk said hypothesis.
Weigh each story on an individual basis. And skeptically if it is merited.
Pretty sure I am the one thinking scientifically here.
deathtokoalas
you don't know what science is, clearly.
this is painful: "Assuming everything is a conspiracy is not a null hypothesis. Even if it were... One true news article would debunk said hypothesis."
and i'm just going to request that you stop, educate yourself and come back.
L00NGB00W
Ugh.
The truth is painful sometimes. ^_^
I will stop now. But I will not return.
It's not like I have anything to gain from this conversation, other than enlightening someone.
Good day to you. ;)
deathtokoalas
can somebody other than me explain what a null hypothesis is and why the statement that it can be contradicted with a single counter-example is hilariously misinformed?
L00NGB00W
Sure, I'll explain it to you with an example. ;)
Hypothesis: Squirrels are eating my strawberries.
Null Hypothesis: Squirrels are not eating my strawberries.
Experiment: Set up a camera to see what is eating my strawberries...
Result: squirrels.
Hence, the Null hypothesis is contradicted.
LOGIC
You're welcome. ;)
deathtokoalas
that's right. now, what happens when you apply that to the question of whether media coverage is accurate or not?
(note that i'm being generous for brevity, there's no use in getting picky about the language given that the discussion is circling around an idea)
this is all getting to the point that if you want to approach the question of media truth with a scientific perspective, you begin by assuming falsity and then generate evidence otherwise. that doesn't mean you should be calculating p-values to analyze the evening news and it doesn't mean you need to walk around with a tinfoil hat on, literally or figuratively. it's just a rule of thumb, in context. one could summarize it with the word skepticism.
...and to clear up that loose end (if it's not clear), suggesting that finding one "counter-example" (which in this case would be an honest newscast, and these do certainly exist) proves that all media is correct is one of those classical logical fallacies. i'm pretty stingy with my likes, but i'll +1 the first person that points it out.
L00NGB00W
Same. But your original statement was that 'all media is biased', Not whether 'all media is accurate'. They're rather different statements.
With the former, finding one contradiction invalidates the Null hypothesis.
With the latter, all media would have to be true to falsify the null. Which it isn't.
Perhaps I'm just being picky.
deathtokoalas
yeah, you very much misunderstood what i said. the statement "all media is full of lies" is not the same thing as "all media is solely lies". and if you could find me a media source that's never lied, i'd be interested in hearing what it is. further, you couldn't do a meaningful test on the question of "is all media solely lies?" because you're not dealing with a specific enough question. i mean, sure, a counter-example would demonstrate it false, but it's an absurd statement to begin with. hypothesis testing has to work in a more specific context than that. i thought that was obvious, but apparently not.
it's again a basic fallacy. x is in Y does not meant Y only consists of x.
what you could do, i suppose, is generate a data set of broadcasts from a single news source and then ask "does this specific news source lie?". but that's about as broad as the method allows for (and perhaps badly (but, with some sources, perhaps reasonably - it's a question) sets all reporters as equivalent), and is something different altogether.
i was working on the assumption of analyzing claims on a statement-by-statement basis by beginning with the perspective that, because all media is full of lies, skepticism is perpetually required.
i couldn't imagine anybody not realizing that.
dangerouslytalented
There are two classes: "trust but verify", and "these guys are full of horseshit, if I want to know about this story, I am going to go somewhere else for the primary source".
L00NGB00W
No I did not, but I'm tired of arguing with you.
"It's an absurd statement to begin with."
Yes. Precisely. Some reporting is honest and accurate, some isn't.
Good day.
deathtokoalas
well, it works out to the same thing in the end. you're presenting a categorization of required rigour, if anything. i think it's largely illusory, and reduces to your own biases. one person will put fox in a and democracy now in b, and the other will flip them around. in the end, you're doing your homework, either way. that's the important part.
personally, i think it's more worthwhile to figure out what the biases are so that they can be actively countered. this whole crimea thing has actually been useful, as it's brought some closet communists out (and hopelessly misguided ones, given that russia is currently the most right-wing of any major country, including the united states. one might even call them useful idiots.).
Gotta ask, are you guys affiliated with RT?
selvmordspilot
afaik they're based in australia. I'm afraid it's the other way around. RT has gotten their hands on some great journalists - that are worth featuring in the rap news. #powerfulabbymartin
deathtokoalas
they are recently, yes. check their facebook page.
L00NGB00W
I can see no evidence of this.
dangerouslytalented
They have some great journalists, and are not afraid to use them... But only if and when the facts are on the Kremlin's side. The problem is when the facts are not on the Kremlin's side, whoops journalism broke.
selvmordspilot
true, and it's still up to us to decide who to believe in these matters.
dangerouslytalented
... basically, if Russia has a vested interest in not telling the truth, then don't trust them.
deathtokoalas
all media has a motive, otherwise it wouldn't exist. i mean, it's not like rap news is void of bias, either, we just all like their biases. so, i dunno why people have this naive perception that some media is more trustworthy than other media. all media is full of lies; it would't exist if it wasn't. and the other response consequently gets it right. you have to be constantly skeptical....
dangerouslytalented
That completely depends on what the motives are, Take the Guardian for example, their business model relies on their integrity. If they sell that, then there is no more money. Ever.
L00NGB00W
Assuming that all media is lies borders on paranoia.
One must take the stories with a grain of salt, and realize there is bias.
The idea of the fifth estate is to report on the actions of those in power. With enough viewpoints, one can piece together the truth.
deathtokoalas
the guardian is one of the worst advocates of liberal imperialistic bullshit and general state apologism out there. their coverage of foreign conflicts often seems written by the british state department, if not by the cia. kind of like the new york times, actually, which markets itself as relying on integrity, but is basically state media. both cnn and fox claim to be "trusted" as well; generally, when "trust" is a part of your advertising campaigns, that's a flag not to trust you. to see how bad the guardian is, all you have to do is read the independent, who is a rare source in the western world. you can at least vaguely trust the general idea of what they're presenting. but, even they have certain lines that they need to be artistic in dancing around.
@L00NGB00W it's not paranoia, it's a type of hypothesis testing. the null hypothesis is that what they're telling me is bullshit. now, can enough evidence be generated to reject that null hypothesis?
i suppose scientists are just a bunch of schizophrenics, living in a delusional fantasy reality.
we need more scientific thinking, to increase the bar so to speak, not vague accusations of paranoia and more pandering to rupert murdoch.
L00NGB00W
There you go. Case in point.
I'm not pandering to Rupert Murdoch, he manipulates the news. <_<
Assuming everything is a conspiracy is not a null hypothesis. Even if it were... One true news article would debunk said hypothesis.
Weigh each story on an individual basis. And skeptically if it is merited.
Pretty sure I am the one thinking scientifically here.
deathtokoalas
you don't know what science is, clearly.
this is painful: "Assuming everything is a conspiracy is not a null hypothesis. Even if it were... One true news article would debunk said hypothesis."
and i'm just going to request that you stop, educate yourself and come back.
L00NGB00W
Ugh.
The truth is painful sometimes. ^_^
I will stop now. But I will not return.
It's not like I have anything to gain from this conversation, other than enlightening someone.
Good day to you. ;)
deathtokoalas
can somebody other than me explain what a null hypothesis is and why the statement that it can be contradicted with a single counter-example is hilariously misinformed?
L00NGB00W
Sure, I'll explain it to you with an example. ;)
Hypothesis: Squirrels are eating my strawberries.
Null Hypothesis: Squirrels are not eating my strawberries.
Experiment: Set up a camera to see what is eating my strawberries...
Result: squirrels.
Hence, the Null hypothesis is contradicted.
LOGIC
You're welcome. ;)
deathtokoalas
that's right. now, what happens when you apply that to the question of whether media coverage is accurate or not?
(note that i'm being generous for brevity, there's no use in getting picky about the language given that the discussion is circling around an idea)
this is all getting to the point that if you want to approach the question of media truth with a scientific perspective, you begin by assuming falsity and then generate evidence otherwise. that doesn't mean you should be calculating p-values to analyze the evening news and it doesn't mean you need to walk around with a tinfoil hat on, literally or figuratively. it's just a rule of thumb, in context. one could summarize it with the word skepticism.
...and to clear up that loose end (if it's not clear), suggesting that finding one "counter-example" (which in this case would be an honest newscast, and these do certainly exist) proves that all media is correct is one of those classical logical fallacies. i'm pretty stingy with my likes, but i'll +1 the first person that points it out.
L00NGB00W
Same. But your original statement was that 'all media is biased', Not whether 'all media is accurate'. They're rather different statements.
With the former, finding one contradiction invalidates the Null hypothesis.
With the latter, all media would have to be true to falsify the null. Which it isn't.
Perhaps I'm just being picky.
deathtokoalas
yeah, you very much misunderstood what i said. the statement "all media is full of lies" is not the same thing as "all media is solely lies". and if you could find me a media source that's never lied, i'd be interested in hearing what it is. further, you couldn't do a meaningful test on the question of "is all media solely lies?" because you're not dealing with a specific enough question. i mean, sure, a counter-example would demonstrate it false, but it's an absurd statement to begin with. hypothesis testing has to work in a more specific context than that. i thought that was obvious, but apparently not.
it's again a basic fallacy. x is in Y does not meant Y only consists of x.
what you could do, i suppose, is generate a data set of broadcasts from a single news source and then ask "does this specific news source lie?". but that's about as broad as the method allows for (and perhaps badly (but, with some sources, perhaps reasonably - it's a question) sets all reporters as equivalent), and is something different altogether.
i was working on the assumption of analyzing claims on a statement-by-statement basis by beginning with the perspective that, because all media is full of lies, skepticism is perpetually required.
i couldn't imagine anybody not realizing that.
dangerouslytalented
There are two classes: "trust but verify", and "these guys are full of horseshit, if I want to know about this story, I am going to go somewhere else for the primary source".
L00NGB00W
No I did not, but I'm tired of arguing with you.
"It's an absurd statement to begin with."
Yes. Precisely. Some reporting is honest and accurate, some isn't.
Good day.
deathtokoalas
well, it works out to the same thing in the end. you're presenting a categorization of required rigour, if anything. i think it's largely illusory, and reduces to your own biases. one person will put fox in a and democracy now in b, and the other will flip them around. in the end, you're doing your homework, either way. that's the important part.
personally, i think it's more worthwhile to figure out what the biases are so that they can be actively countered. this whole crimea thing has actually been useful, as it's brought some closet communists out (and hopelessly misguided ones, given that russia is currently the most right-wing of any major country, including the united states. one might even call them useful idiots.).
Sunday, March 16, 2014
Saturday, March 15, 2014
deathtokoalas
i know they're indignant over an act of barbarism, but why aren't these protest movements seizing factories and farms instead of getting beat up by riot cops in downtown parks?
Michael IV
That would be the best option if their aim was to start a civil war but it isn't. They simply want to be heard by their government, not create a new one on their own.
deathtokoalas
yeah, there's this impossible problem we've created by not educating our citizens. as a result of living in almost total historical ignorance, they grow up thinking ridiculous ideas, like that there's some kind of culture of democracy in the western world. this leads them into protest movements that demand change from this inane, supernatural force they call 'government' - rather than realizing that government is they themselves, and their inaction (a function of their terrible education) is a function of the system's planned failure.
a better education would teach them that the class war is perpetual. the civil war is not determined by dates and events, but is always carried out between those who own capital and those who do not. there is consequently no solution other than to attack those who own property, and redistribute it to the people.
yet, so long as we are kept ignorant, we will gather in squares and chant slogans instead.
Abayarde718
Yo bro you're the fucking man. That was brilliant. If we gathered to grow public gardens and make abundance the norm it would be 10000X more effective than shouting words in anger. If we grew food and cannabis, our own medicines, to become independent of the need for so much capital and consuming, we could crash the economy. People Dont want real change. They want nanny states. Peave to u.
deathtokoalas
i think it's worse than that, actually. they seem to legitimately want things to change (or, in the case of turkey and many other places, perhaps not change), but they're fundamentally incapable of carrying out that change, which is by design. a big part of the problem is that we're taught all kinds of lies about how our governments represent us, rather than the truth, which is that they represent the interests of capital (banks and big corporations, still mostly resource and extraction based at this high a political level). this leads us to the delusional (religious, really) belief system underlying these demonstrations - prayers to the state will be heeded if they are loud enough and targeted enough. that's less a desire for a nanny state, and more blowback from social engineering.
in truth, demonstrators are doing precisely what they're taught to do, and being beaten up by a demonstration of state force like they're supposed to be. cries of "human rights violations!" exist in some parallel universe, full of rainbow unicorns prancing through fields of money trees. you've all confused the state for an entity that actually gives a fuck.
the handful of examples of large scale successful demonstrations have not been peaceful. in actual fact, gandhi was demonstrating to the british authorities the size of a potential army (and the hopelessness of their position, tactically). it was the threat of force that won him his aims (which were full of far more fail than win). likewise, the civil rights protests would have been entirely useless if the demonstrators weren't armed (they don't teach us that). in order for "non-violent protest" to be effective, it must come with the threat of imminent violence. that is to say that, when effective, it is not truly non-violent at all, but merely a more enlightened type of violence.
but, it's the government's desire to keep us ignorant and stupid that is both at the core of these protest movements and the reason they offer no hope for the future. the reason they sit in squares and sing songs isn't that they don't want to improve their own lives, it's that they don't know how to. they only know how to ask their state deity to solve problems for them - just as they're supposed to.
these protests are consequently the exact opposite of a hopeful youth movement. rather, they are evidence of the impending doom that we face as a consequence of not educating our young people.
"you mean, you shouldn't put gatorade on the crops?"
Michael IV
The people will always be ignorant, there's is a slow change. It's the leaders that are the ones who can bring true change and quickly. Therefore people should study for themselves and learn for themselves and then lead their people. Instead of teaching the whole populace, which seems quite impossible.
deathtokoalas
ach, no. no gods, no masters. smashing the state is the only possible way to bring back history....this just isn't the way to do it.
leaders never represent people. they always represent capital. putting hope into leadership is only possible through not understanding the inherently exploitative nature of capitalism.
Michael IV
There will always be leaders in this world, that's an inevitability. There are those who follow and those who lead. The only chose we have is who are the ones to lead.
deathtokoalas
see, michael is terribly brainwashed. he thinks there are only those who follow and those who lead. that allows him to internally validate an authoritarian system as irreplaceable in one form or another. it may convince him, one day, to pick up a gun to protect a flag, rather than attack those who handed him the gun.
leaders are those who follow from the front. the quality that defines a good leader is an ability to understand the tendencies in the herd, then repeat it back in a way that justifies their use of power. there is consequently no real difference between a leader and a follower, except where they exist in the hierarchy. if we are to be reduced to only leaders and followers, we're destined to stumble around in circles. only the blind may lead, and only the deaf may follow.
there is, however, a difference between those who engage and those who do not. rather than thinking in terms of this silly leader/follower distinction, it would rather behoove you to conceive of situations in a philosopher/actor sort of distinction. actors are leaders and followers - people who take part in the group. philosophers are those who sit back and watch the leaders follow themselves around in circles. from this point of abstraction, they are able to conceive of problems in the way people behave.
it's not that we need more philosophers. we have plenty. it's that we need to start listening to them.
Michael IV
We've had plenty of Scientific revolutions and extreme changes in knowledge over the years. We've all listened to plenty of philosophers and learned from them, but much of the world is deaf to sense and reason. That is why we still have wars, that is why we still have strife, because the populace fails to listen. Like Sun Tzu said, deception simply has a bad connotation. If the deaf populace is led by an enlightened leader, then there is no need to fight the redundant battle of trying to convince everyone of "the right way to think". Only one person has to understand everything, and that is the leader.
deathtokoalas
you're deifying your government leaders; the concept you seek is called "god", and the system you envision is called "fundamentalism". it's the kind of thing that exists in iran, and that once existed in rome. there are three reasons why these systems fail. the first is that human wisdom is not only finite but bounded much lower than our imagination would like. we're dumb apes. the second is that power corrupts; there is no enlightened sage that will reform a corrupt system, it is the system itself that needs to be abolished. removing bush did not end targeted assassination programs. removing yanukovich will not end endemic ukrainian corruption. removing erdogan will not dismantle the turkish military-industrial complex. the third is that society is collaborative by definition and must function through consent to be stable. hierarchical, authoritarian societies are constantly in rearrangement, perpetually on the brink of implosion and collapse. it's these shifting class divisions, and desires to maintain power within them, that are the reason we continue to fight. there is no way to abolish conflict (this, again, is delusional religious thinking), but only a way to abolish want, making conflict difficult on an organized scale. so long as leaders may raise armies, they may start wars.
i don't wish to write off the masses. i am a member of these masses. i stand with them. rather, i point out that we are losing the fight against the leaders that wish to enslave us by reducing us to ignorant fools that are dependent upon them for survival. this is a created condition, not an endemic one.
i don't wish to continue this discussion.
scrbble
I haven't read a well thought out comment on youtube in a while, thanks for that.
Kim Jong-un
deathtokoalas please marry me!
deathtokoalas
i'm the biggest loner in the world, it wouldn't work out.
Kim Jong-un
I'd make it work. Just text me if you change your mind.
Cristian Sosa
I wish people could start to seize government buildings around the world, and rise in an utopian anarchism. But sadly mankind is eons behind to be ready to leave in peace without the need of a government. And a change of politics in the government, say from Capitalism to Socialism for instance, would be like placing a band aid on a major laceration. We are broken, and fixing our entire society must be one of the hardest things humanity has yet to face.
deathtokoalas
i'm not really in agreement with the idea that we're centuries away from actual freedom. if there's a temporal component, it's in the technology and i actually think that automated production has the potential to revolutionize the mode of production within our lifetime, and the social system will have no choice but to adjust to that extreme economic reorganization.
but, if it's true, the end point can only be accomplished by failing dozens or hundreds of times. there's no teleology in history - not marx' teleology of historical materialism, nor hegel's end of history, nor the dreaded orthogenesis that came out of trying to reconcile darwin with genesis. we will not get to an end point as a function of time, we need to push our way there. and there may be a few messes along the way...
i know they're indignant over an act of barbarism, but why aren't these protest movements seizing factories and farms instead of getting beat up by riot cops in downtown parks?
Michael IV
That would be the best option if their aim was to start a civil war but it isn't. They simply want to be heard by their government, not create a new one on their own.
deathtokoalas
yeah, there's this impossible problem we've created by not educating our citizens. as a result of living in almost total historical ignorance, they grow up thinking ridiculous ideas, like that there's some kind of culture of democracy in the western world. this leads them into protest movements that demand change from this inane, supernatural force they call 'government' - rather than realizing that government is they themselves, and their inaction (a function of their terrible education) is a function of the system's planned failure.
a better education would teach them that the class war is perpetual. the civil war is not determined by dates and events, but is always carried out between those who own capital and those who do not. there is consequently no solution other than to attack those who own property, and redistribute it to the people.
yet, so long as we are kept ignorant, we will gather in squares and chant slogans instead.
Abayarde718
Yo bro you're the fucking man. That was brilliant. If we gathered to grow public gardens and make abundance the norm it would be 10000X more effective than shouting words in anger. If we grew food and cannabis, our own medicines, to become independent of the need for so much capital and consuming, we could crash the economy. People Dont want real change. They want nanny states. Peave to u.
deathtokoalas
i think it's worse than that, actually. they seem to legitimately want things to change (or, in the case of turkey and many other places, perhaps not change), but they're fundamentally incapable of carrying out that change, which is by design. a big part of the problem is that we're taught all kinds of lies about how our governments represent us, rather than the truth, which is that they represent the interests of capital (banks and big corporations, still mostly resource and extraction based at this high a political level). this leads us to the delusional (religious, really) belief system underlying these demonstrations - prayers to the state will be heeded if they are loud enough and targeted enough. that's less a desire for a nanny state, and more blowback from social engineering.
in truth, demonstrators are doing precisely what they're taught to do, and being beaten up by a demonstration of state force like they're supposed to be. cries of "human rights violations!" exist in some parallel universe, full of rainbow unicorns prancing through fields of money trees. you've all confused the state for an entity that actually gives a fuck.
the handful of examples of large scale successful demonstrations have not been peaceful. in actual fact, gandhi was demonstrating to the british authorities the size of a potential army (and the hopelessness of their position, tactically). it was the threat of force that won him his aims (which were full of far more fail than win). likewise, the civil rights protests would have been entirely useless if the demonstrators weren't armed (they don't teach us that). in order for "non-violent protest" to be effective, it must come with the threat of imminent violence. that is to say that, when effective, it is not truly non-violent at all, but merely a more enlightened type of violence.
but, it's the government's desire to keep us ignorant and stupid that is both at the core of these protest movements and the reason they offer no hope for the future. the reason they sit in squares and sing songs isn't that they don't want to improve their own lives, it's that they don't know how to. they only know how to ask their state deity to solve problems for them - just as they're supposed to.
these protests are consequently the exact opposite of a hopeful youth movement. rather, they are evidence of the impending doom that we face as a consequence of not educating our young people.
"you mean, you shouldn't put gatorade on the crops?"
Michael IV
The people will always be ignorant, there's is a slow change. It's the leaders that are the ones who can bring true change and quickly. Therefore people should study for themselves and learn for themselves and then lead their people. Instead of teaching the whole populace, which seems quite impossible.
deathtokoalas
ach, no. no gods, no masters. smashing the state is the only possible way to bring back history....this just isn't the way to do it.
leaders never represent people. they always represent capital. putting hope into leadership is only possible through not understanding the inherently exploitative nature of capitalism.
Michael IV
There will always be leaders in this world, that's an inevitability. There are those who follow and those who lead. The only chose we have is who are the ones to lead.
deathtokoalas
see, michael is terribly brainwashed. he thinks there are only those who follow and those who lead. that allows him to internally validate an authoritarian system as irreplaceable in one form or another. it may convince him, one day, to pick up a gun to protect a flag, rather than attack those who handed him the gun.
leaders are those who follow from the front. the quality that defines a good leader is an ability to understand the tendencies in the herd, then repeat it back in a way that justifies their use of power. there is consequently no real difference between a leader and a follower, except where they exist in the hierarchy. if we are to be reduced to only leaders and followers, we're destined to stumble around in circles. only the blind may lead, and only the deaf may follow.
there is, however, a difference between those who engage and those who do not. rather than thinking in terms of this silly leader/follower distinction, it would rather behoove you to conceive of situations in a philosopher/actor sort of distinction. actors are leaders and followers - people who take part in the group. philosophers are those who sit back and watch the leaders follow themselves around in circles. from this point of abstraction, they are able to conceive of problems in the way people behave.
it's not that we need more philosophers. we have plenty. it's that we need to start listening to them.
Michael IV
We've had plenty of Scientific revolutions and extreme changes in knowledge over the years. We've all listened to plenty of philosophers and learned from them, but much of the world is deaf to sense and reason. That is why we still have wars, that is why we still have strife, because the populace fails to listen. Like Sun Tzu said, deception simply has a bad connotation. If the deaf populace is led by an enlightened leader, then there is no need to fight the redundant battle of trying to convince everyone of "the right way to think". Only one person has to understand everything, and that is the leader.
deathtokoalas
you're deifying your government leaders; the concept you seek is called "god", and the system you envision is called "fundamentalism". it's the kind of thing that exists in iran, and that once existed in rome. there are three reasons why these systems fail. the first is that human wisdom is not only finite but bounded much lower than our imagination would like. we're dumb apes. the second is that power corrupts; there is no enlightened sage that will reform a corrupt system, it is the system itself that needs to be abolished. removing bush did not end targeted assassination programs. removing yanukovich will not end endemic ukrainian corruption. removing erdogan will not dismantle the turkish military-industrial complex. the third is that society is collaborative by definition and must function through consent to be stable. hierarchical, authoritarian societies are constantly in rearrangement, perpetually on the brink of implosion and collapse. it's these shifting class divisions, and desires to maintain power within them, that are the reason we continue to fight. there is no way to abolish conflict (this, again, is delusional religious thinking), but only a way to abolish want, making conflict difficult on an organized scale. so long as leaders may raise armies, they may start wars.
i don't wish to write off the masses. i am a member of these masses. i stand with them. rather, i point out that we are losing the fight against the leaders that wish to enslave us by reducing us to ignorant fools that are dependent upon them for survival. this is a created condition, not an endemic one.
i don't wish to continue this discussion.
scrbble
I haven't read a well thought out comment on youtube in a while, thanks for that.
Kim Jong-un
deathtokoalas please marry me!
deathtokoalas
i'm the biggest loner in the world, it wouldn't work out.
Kim Jong-un
I'd make it work. Just text me if you change your mind.
Cristian Sosa
I wish people could start to seize government buildings around the world, and rise in an utopian anarchism. But sadly mankind is eons behind to be ready to leave in peace without the need of a government. And a change of politics in the government, say from Capitalism to Socialism for instance, would be like placing a band aid on a major laceration. We are broken, and fixing our entire society must be one of the hardest things humanity has yet to face.
deathtokoalas
i'm not really in agreement with the idea that we're centuries away from actual freedom. if there's a temporal component, it's in the technology and i actually think that automated production has the potential to revolutionize the mode of production within our lifetime, and the social system will have no choice but to adjust to that extreme economic reorganization.
but, if it's true, the end point can only be accomplished by failing dozens or hundreds of times. there's no teleology in history - not marx' teleology of historical materialism, nor hegel's end of history, nor the dreaded orthogenesis that came out of trying to reconcile darwin with genesis. we will not get to an end point as a function of time, we need to push our way there. and there may be a few messes along the way...
well, it connects with a vanilla sp3 install, but i can't run that on the living room machine, it's too old. the image is designed to run a static ip. it worked with the old router, so i'm hoping i can just modify a few things to align it, but it didn't work the first time so i may have to reimage it for dhcp....
minor. it'll be working in a day or two.
minor. it'll be working in a day or two.
turkey is a nato member, us ally and supposed democracy. that's very different than the other countries that have seen protest movements. egypt is the closest comparison, but it's not close.
it'll be interesting to see how this works out, but it's not likely that american or eu interests will side with the protests.
it'll be interesting to see how this works out, but it's not likely that american or eu interests will side with the protests.
Friday, March 14, 2014
found an it company going out of business that sold me four wired routers for $20. at least one of them works. that's some breathing room if one breaks.
particularly, it means finally setting the tv up to youtube, which means not having to eat in bed anymore. it's a subversive habit, to say the least.
particularly, it means finally setting the tv up to youtube, which means not having to eat in bed anymore. it's a subversive habit, to say the least.
Wednesday, March 12, 2014
routers are universally marketed as wireless nowadays, but it turns out a lot of them are also wired - which is what i need. always have to ask, though...
i got the following response back from somebody:
"it has five wired ports in the back"
so, i think - a five port router? unusual, but not unheard of. i only need four, but why not...
i got the following response back from somebody:
"it has five wired ports in the back"
so, i think - a five port router? unusual, but not unheard of. i only need four, but why not...
ugh.
price after exchange rate conversion: $30.02
paypal balance: $30.
amount of time to wait to transfer the extra few cents: 8-10 days.
hopefully, the exchange rate will modify slightly in my favour before then.
actually, it already has.
a live rate says it should be $29.17.
and, you know, they advertise being up to date. bullshit. well, unless there's a hidden service fee.
i'm going to put it through and see what happens...
yeah, the rate they're using is just flat out wrong. 0.874590. but it hasn't gone that low in years. it's been down a little over the last month, but never below 0.89.
the rate hasn't been that low since summer, 2009.
some up to date exchange rate...
ok, there's a hidden fee, at 2.5%. adding 0.025 gets the current rate.
that two cents is still an incredible annoyance. hopefully, they just put it through. if not, it's not particularly unlikely that the rate will go up over .9 in the next day or two...
it was even over .9 this afternoon. low close.
lol...
it doesn't matter, because it's an e-check anyways, meaning i actually just wasted a week. ugh again.
<----- clearly using paypal for the first time. well, with a bank account anyways.
now my bank account is basically frozen for a week as i wait for the $30.02 to come out through e-check and the $30 to go back into the bank account from the paypal account, as i only had $45 in there. it should wash itself out, but i don't want to go under $31 as the e-check will probably clear before the transfer back in does.
*shrug*. i've got enough to eat for a few days.
price after exchange rate conversion: $30.02
paypal balance: $30.
amount of time to wait to transfer the extra few cents: 8-10 days.
hopefully, the exchange rate will modify slightly in my favour before then.
actually, it already has.
a live rate says it should be $29.17.
and, you know, they advertise being up to date. bullshit. well, unless there's a hidden service fee.
i'm going to put it through and see what happens...
yeah, the rate they're using is just flat out wrong. 0.874590. but it hasn't gone that low in years. it's been down a little over the last month, but never below 0.89.
the rate hasn't been that low since summer, 2009.
some up to date exchange rate...
ok, there's a hidden fee, at 2.5%. adding 0.025 gets the current rate.
that two cents is still an incredible annoyance. hopefully, they just put it through. if not, it's not particularly unlikely that the rate will go up over .9 in the next day or two...
it was even over .9 this afternoon. low close.
lol...
it doesn't matter, because it's an e-check anyways, meaning i actually just wasted a week. ugh again.
<----- clearly using paypal for the first time. well, with a bank account anyways.
now my bank account is basically frozen for a week as i wait for the $30.02 to come out through e-check and the $30 to go back into the bank account from the paypal account, as i only had $45 in there. it should wash itself out, but i don't want to go under $31 as the e-check will probably clear before the transfer back in does.
*shrug*. i've got enough to eat for a few days.
this is the closest thing i've yet to find to an unbiased report from the region. it's not unbiased in intent. but, it works itself out that way. see, basically, the guy is trying really hard to find something juicy, but isn't willing or able to fabricate it, so is instead demonstrating that the situation is very calm and under control.
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
Monday, March 10, 2014
adrian belew - desire caught by the tail
benchmark
this was belew's first serious solo attempt, and his last for many years. it's also a record of quite subtle merits, but revolutionary in it's own sphere.
there's a lot of accusations one could honestly level at belew on this, without the need for much of an argument or the production of much dissent. does he really know how to write tangos or "gypsy music"? does he know anything of substance about the impressionism and serialism he's leaning towards? well, it's rather apparent that he doesn't, really. he consequently falls into a number of clichés in the process of being pretentious about the whole thing. the reality is that he doesn't have a phd in ethnomusicology and it very much shows.
so, he's not al di meola.
....but if you want a di meola disc, there are plenty to choose from. this is a different animal altogether, in the sense that it is apparently entirely synthesized. if you've flipped on a synth, you know how this works. you start by perusing the preset banks for a bit, pushing a few keys and just kind of jamming. when you get to the last preset bank, you're presented with a series of instruments you've never heard of before. you think "gee. what's an ocarina?", as you hack some asian sounding thing out. within twenty minutes, you've got the board split to gongs on the bottom half (which you're mashing with your palm) and a synthesized wind chime on the other, and you're pretending as though you know what it would feel like to discover a pristine, untouched lake on the china/tibet border...
after an hour or so, the guy that owns the store hits you with a mallet and you snap out of it. it was fun while it lasted...
....you certainly never contemplate releasing what you just did on island records, then expecting it to sell more than ten copies. note that this disc is currently many years out of print.
so, it's easy to deduce that this is how a lot of the non-western sounds found their way into this: simple curiosity spurred on by playing with the presets on a synthesizer. yet, the sound on this record isn't being produced by a traditional keyboard synthesizer. rather, it's being produced by a cutting edge roland guitar synthesizer. for that reason, i'm very much willing to forgive the pretension. see, it's what the record is: a self-taught, abstract guitarist playing around with a toy that wasn't just new to him, but pretty much new to the world. if you remove a handful of words from the title tracks, what you're left with is music that sounds like it came from nowhere on this planet at all.
that's not to say that the songs are badly constructed. the clichés are at times heavy-handed, but the record is stronger for them. take the third track, for instance. it sounds exactly like a self-taught guitarist pretending he knows how to write ethnic roma music, which is precisely what it is. yet, breaking through the pretension produces a bizarre jam that stands up well on it's own, when taken out of that context. i mean, i wouldn't have otherwise thought to think that. the second track combines circus music with a standard blues progression, all through a haze of synthesized guitar work, in a way that leaves you scratching your head and wondering what you just listened to. so, stripping out the hackneyed attempt at ethnic music would deny the record of it's charm and leave what is yet another experiment in frippertronics. that doesn't mean that the hackneyed attempt at ethnic music needs to be interpreted as ethnic music at all; rather, it's nature as a hackneyed attempt makes it very easy to completely ignore. a more substantial criticism is that the tracks are obviously mostly improvised, and might be perceived to meander a little. yet, that meandering can also be perceived as comprehensively exploring the synth tones. i don't personally find that it drags, but i realize that my own bias on the point (being a fan of abstract guitar music) is likely substantial.
the result is admittedly a record that is defined more by the tools used to create it than by the notes within it; insofar as it is the latter rather than the former, it's a substantial piece of music in a historical context. this is the sole reason i'm grading it as highly as i am. the last point is really central: i am a fan of abstract guitar music. if you are not, this might not be for you. if you are, you'll likely at least appreciate the record as carving out a unique space in the spectrum of guitar music. no, it may not excel as a conventional piece of music in much of any way, but as an unconventional piece of music it's not really convincingly comparable to anything else i've ever heard. that makes it something to isolate as unique and still potentially genre-defining, as well as an essential record to explore - if not an essential record to love.
stream:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mpb8sKnQAZ8yQ8ZEuMGji1pNwXFR8l6_o
http://dghjdfsghkrdghdgja.appspot.com/categories/music/artists/AdrianBelew/1986-DesireCaughtByTheTail/index.html
adrian belew - here
listenable
musical success is a difficult thing to understand in the era of big labels and mass marketed products. what seems to cut through the haze of aggressively marketed plastic images is often a sense of accidental honesty (sometimes accidentally on purpose). belew had the right combination of talent and eccentricity that he may have potentially been able to tap into this back door to large scale success had he simply done the things that made him unique. instead, he lost a few years in the early 90s trying way too hard and falling flat on his face. this site reviews my personal collection, which does not include the records he released in 1989, 1990 or 1992 because they do not overlap with my tastes - and more or less precisely for the aforementioned reason.
nor was he at all coy about it. 1989's mr. music head opens with a duet with his young daughter that declares that he's going to make it to the big time. gabriel references aside, there's a certain desperation in his projection that seems utterly forced. this was followed up quickly by a collaboration with david bowie, 1990's young lions, that is as notable for bowie sounding tired, clichéd and ten years out of date as it is for belew trying to piggyback him to greater success. these records do not veer far from belew's out of touch sense of popular music, which happens to also be a blatant attempt to emulate the bands he had previously done session work with.
it's not that this record veers particularly far from what he was doing in the early 90s. there is a noticeably heightened beatles influence, but that was always present. he's still drawing heavily on both berlin-era bowie and on the talking heads. it's more that he seems to have regained some perspective about who he is as an artist. the fourth track on this record, fly, seems to end the thought that began mr. music head:
after all, i'm only sand
to irritate the oyster and
to wait for a pearl
and even though i must concede
greatness has eluded me
i'd still miss the world
he actually seems to be contemplating (and firmly rejecting) thoughts of suicide stemming from what he's interpreted as a failed career as a pop musician, opting instead for a resignation towards the meaninglessness of existence. the track is absolutely gorgeous, and a fan favourite, but it's also a turning point in his career. from this point on, his concern shifts purely to producing abstract music. this is where he seems to have finally found himself, in his mid 40s.
for the disc at hand, this does not manifest itself in a radical change but in a greater focus on both the depth of the songwriting and in the nature of the production. he sounds refocused and more down to earth. the hooks are more fluid, the flourishes more idiosyncratic, the solos more heartfelt. ironically, it's once he gives up that he produces something that could have been a left-field alternative rock hit in the late 80s. by '94, though, the music world had changed far too much for any chance of this selling beyond his existing fan base. regardless, i'd argue it's the best of his handful of pure pop records.
so, there's maybe a lesson here about staying true to yourself.
stream:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKoDHRV0ImP-Ur3lR19tRb7ZypFZJT4N1
http://dghjdfsghkrdghdgja.appspot.com/categories/music/artists/AdrianBelew/1994-Here/index.html
deathtokoalas
this is both the low point of bowie's career and the low point of belew's career.
BamChug
You obviously never watched Labyrinth.....
deathtokoalas
labyrinth is at least humorous. this is just bad.
keeelane
i love this
deathtokoalas
his work between black tie white noise & hours is the absolute high point of his career.
this is both the low point of bowie's career and the low point of belew's career.
You obviously never watched Labyrinth.....
deathtokoalas
labyrinth is at least humorous. this is just bad.
keeelane
i love this
deathtokoalas
his work between black tie white noise & hours is the absolute high point of his career.
Sunday, March 9, 2014
the gateway drug argument is a classical logical fallacy, and the way that fallacy is being bludgeoned here by nancy grace (the demagogue) is absolutely classic fox news. my head shakes every time.
if a person does hard drugs, they began with soft drugs
x does soft drugs
therefore, x will "graduate" to hard drugs
most people that have finished grade ten can intuitively see the flaw in that logic. if they can't, they probably wouldn't get through first year. it's literally logic 101.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbc-Sbx5ckA
if a person does hard drugs, they began with soft drugs
x does soft drugs
therefore, x will "graduate" to hard drugs
most people that have finished grade ten can intuitively see the flaw in that logic. if they can't, they probably wouldn't get through first year. it's literally logic 101.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbc-Sbx5ckA
Friday, March 7, 2014
uploading footage of an occupy fundraiser from last year to youtube
shredding a little at an occupy ottawa fundraiser, in the summer of 2012. this is the most stripped down version possible of the second and third movements of symphony #9. which is an "industrial grunge opera".
recorded first movement of the piece:
http://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/proverbs
full version of fundraiser:
https://vimeo.com/45641874
the most important things i learned from occupy are:
1) people that share a dissatisfaction with the world as it is do not necessarily form a shared vision of how they'd like to see the world.
2) capitalist indoctrination is far deeper than many anti-capitalists consciously realize.
3) a tendency to throw temper tantrums is not necessarily something people grow out of.
4) at the end of the day, the revolution can only ever be in the mode of production.
5) hippies don't like challenging music
but, despite the substantial challenges ahead of all of us, it's important that we continue to take the time to speak out against fucking bullshit.
recorded first movement of the piece:
http://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/proverbs
full version of fundraiser:
https://vimeo.com/45641874
the most important things i learned from occupy are:
1) people that share a dissatisfaction with the world as it is do not necessarily form a shared vision of how they'd like to see the world.
2) capitalist indoctrination is far deeper than many anti-capitalists consciously realize.
3) a tendency to throw temper tantrums is not necessarily something people grow out of.
4) at the end of the day, the revolution can only ever be in the mode of production.
5) hippies don't like challenging music
but, despite the substantial challenges ahead of all of us, it's important that we continue to take the time to speak out against fucking bullshit.
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
"We're not going to let anyone get away with interfering with our fatherland, you despicable lackey, president of Panama,” said Maduro.
that's right. panama.
remember when the leader of venezuela waved around chomsky and deconstructed american foreign policy in lengthy state addresses?
no more of that nonsense. the new leader of venezuela has taught us who the real threat to global stability is: panama.
despicable, indeed.
(in other news, my ass is informing me that maduro has entered into an agreement with the state department that sees him maintain power as an american-backed fascist dictator in return for promising not to wave around chomsky and deconstruct american foreign policy.)
that's just how the world works, kids.
also, word has it that david lee roth is now indefinitely banned from venezuela for his anti-revolutionary art.
^ that is the only possible excuse for ever, ever, ever posting van halen anywhere.
"Panama only hopes that this brother nation finds peace and strengthens its democracy," - the "astonished" president of panama
unless....
venezuela couldn't possibly be thinking of invading panama could it?
that would wreak some havoc.
a man, a plan...one of those funny hats?
-------------
geez, he could have at least blamed the california girls.
that's a step down in quality of nemesis, nicolas. hugo got to fight the americans. you're getting picked on by panama? what did you get in return for toning down on the anti-americanism?
next week, it'll be cuba.
ps: i always knew david lee roth was a mason.
http://rt.com/news/venezuela-breaks-relations-panama-026/
maduro had sell out on his forehead from day one.
unfortunately, this could get ugly.
uglier than this, even.
i know, that's an unwholesome thought. but i kind of assumed that when maduro became dictator it would be isolationist. dictators that play nice with the americans are always bad news.
that's right. panama.
remember when the leader of venezuela waved around chomsky and deconstructed american foreign policy in lengthy state addresses?
no more of that nonsense. the new leader of venezuela has taught us who the real threat to global stability is: panama.
despicable, indeed.
(in other news, my ass is informing me that maduro has entered into an agreement with the state department that sees him maintain power as an american-backed fascist dictator in return for promising not to wave around chomsky and deconstruct american foreign policy.)
that's just how the world works, kids.
also, word has it that david lee roth is now indefinitely banned from venezuela for his anti-revolutionary art.
^ that is the only possible excuse for ever, ever, ever posting van halen anywhere.
"Panama only hopes that this brother nation finds peace and strengthens its democracy," - the "astonished" president of panama
unless....
venezuela couldn't possibly be thinking of invading panama could it?
that would wreak some havoc.
a man, a plan...one of those funny hats?
-------------
geez, he could have at least blamed the california girls.
that's a step down in quality of nemesis, nicolas. hugo got to fight the americans. you're getting picked on by panama? what did you get in return for toning down on the anti-americanism?
next week, it'll be cuba.
ps: i always knew david lee roth was a mason.
http://rt.com/news/venezuela-breaks-relations-panama-026/
maduro had sell out on his forehead from day one.
unfortunately, this could get ugly.
uglier than this, even.
i know, that's an unwholesome thought. but i kind of assumed that when maduro became dictator it would be isolationist. dictators that play nice with the americans are always bad news.
Monday, March 3, 2014
re-uploading inrisampled to avoid the false copyright claim
re-upped this to get around it. assholes...
======
this is a collage of a bunch of primitive sample art experimentation i did in the late 90s, using the ridiculous piece of software they called the windows sound recorder on win 9x machines, along with cool edit as a tone generator. os tools and shareware available to a 16 year-old. in hindsight, i think it's a sort of bizarre masterpiece.
i had to cut off a few seconds of the bambi-like symphonic introduction because a parasitic bourgeois entity known as 'adrev' wished to put an ad on the video. it's true that the piece is composed of samples, but they weren't able to identify the sample they were claiming. rather, i think their claim was bullshit, but they wouldn't budge with it.
this is my art, not anybody else's. fuck those guys.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HeRFfBTqlEQ
======
this is a collage of a bunch of primitive sample art experimentation i did in the late 90s, using the ridiculous piece of software they called the windows sound recorder on win 9x machines, along with cool edit as a tone generator. os tools and shareware available to a 16 year-old. in hindsight, i think it's a sort of bizarre masterpiece.
i had to cut off a few seconds of the bambi-like symphonic introduction because a parasitic bourgeois entity known as 'adrev' wished to put an ad on the video. it's true that the piece is composed of samples, but they weren't able to identify the sample they were claiming. rather, i think their claim was bullshit, but they wouldn't budge with it.
this is my art, not anybody else's. fuck those guys.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HeRFfBTqlEQ
Sunday, March 2, 2014
two coats of epoxy. one to bond, one to fill cracks. seems to have been successful. but i'm letting it sit a few more days because i basically give up if it doesn't hold.
hugely messy, too. going to need to sand it....
what happened was a little piece of plastic broke off the headband on my phones. they're modular. meaning the ear muff parts hook into an adjustable roller type idea. it's the roller that snapped a piece off.
the phones work and everything. really, if my head wasn't absurdly small..
...but, as i have the cranial circumference of an eight year old, i have to adjust it to it's tightest setting, which means the phones are continually falling off.
i'll test it in the morning. when it's back together, i'm going to spend a good month solely on the sound.
hugely messy, too. going to need to sand it....
what happened was a little piece of plastic broke off the headband on my phones. they're modular. meaning the ear muff parts hook into an adjustable roller type idea. it's the roller that snapped a piece off.
the phones work and everything. really, if my head wasn't absurdly small..
...but, as i have the cranial circumference of an eight year old, i have to adjust it to it's tightest setting, which means the phones are continually falling off.
i'll test it in the morning. when it's back together, i'm going to spend a good month solely on the sound.
Saturday, March 1, 2014
deathtokoalas
it's funny how many things jump out immediately when listening to this.
- my generation
- smoke on the water
- born to be wild
somebody else could probably list a dozen more. aleph document...
Bernhardt Glock
are you related to pete townshend? the similarities are overwhelming :-)
deathtokoalas
i'm a little hungover in the shot...
"a young pete townshend" is one of a handful of rock stars that people suggested i looked a little like when i was a lot younger, but it's actually something i haven't heard in a really long time. like, since i was about 14.
since then, it's been other rock stars, but i'm not giving you any ideas.
it's funny how many things jump out immediately when listening to this.
- my generation
- smoke on the water
- born to be wild
somebody else could probably list a dozen more. aleph document...
Bernhardt Glock
are you related to pete townshend? the similarities are overwhelming :-)
deathtokoalas
i'm a little hungover in the shot...
"a young pete townshend" is one of a handful of rock stars that people suggested i looked a little like when i was a lot younger, but it's actually something i haven't heard in a really long time. like, since i was about 14.
since then, it's been other rock stars, but i'm not giving you any ideas.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)