Go Man Go

One the one hand, it's starting to smell funky and the flesh is turning a disturbingly deep shade of black. On the other hand, it is a mango.

Oh, the decisions.

We're Not Dead Yet. That's All.

If I hear one more painfully obvious* Rapture/Judgement Day joke on the radio, TV or the Internet today (or ever), I swear I will go postal.

* Making a reference to that REM song title is just as serious a crime.

No Need To Imagine. There *Is* No Heaven.

"In a dismissal that underlines his firm rejection of religious comforts, Britain's most eminent scientist said there was nothing beyond the moment when the brain flickers for the final time."

Well, the good news is that Hawking did not dismiss the existence of the Tooth Fairy or Santa Claus.

But why didn't Hawking explicitly dismiss the existence of Hell? What if there's no Heaven but only a Hell? What if everyone goes to Hell? No, wait, that will make Hell just like earth, except with better heating and more interesting roommates.

The Girl In The Picture

Remember this picture?

NYT has a front-page feature on Samar Hassan, the blood-splattered girl in the photograph. She's now twelve, a school dropout and is still traumatized by the death of her parents.

The story just breaks your heart.

We voted for a change. We voted so that fucking sham of a war would come to an end. But it's 2011 and we are still merrily creating more Samar Hassans. How is that acceptable?

The Desert Island Beat

The BBC has made available its entire archive of "Desert Island Discs", spanning some 60 years. (Very nicely done site, but would it have killed them to include a Grooveshark playlist for each castaway? It's the web, make it work!)

As a concept, Desert Island Discs is so early-20th century. Now, one could simply ask for a Wifi connection (as a luxury item) and just ruin the fun.

Blues For A Good Friday

The crucifixion of Christ has inspired so much art: great paintings, literature and, of course, music. But I want to talk about one song - a song that clocks in a little over thee minutes - Blind Willie Johnson's "Dark was the night, cold was the ground".

This very stark, dark piece features just one acoustic guitar (allegedly a knife was used as a slide) and a few moaned notes. With that sparse setup, Johnson sings about the great tragedy of that night when "His sweat like drops of blood ran down /In agony he prayed".

Now, those words don't actually appear in the song. In fact, Johnson's song does not contain any words at all. Those words (and the song's title) come from an old English hymn called Gethsemane, which served as the inspiration for "Dark was the night". (Wiki has more details).

The song reminds me a little of Hindustani music in its rejection of lyrics. Words can distract us from experiencing the emotion that arises from listening to a pure note or a great melody. In another way, this blues song could also be thought of as a continuation of the same line of thinking that runs through Impressionistic (or Abstract) art. By moving away from forms and shapes - the "words" of a painting - it is still possible to communicate. Besides, what words can truly express the sadness felt at the passing of that kind, decent man?

And so Johnson sings.

Dark was the night, cold was the ground. This is American blues at its finest.

New Paul Simon

I'm quite enjoying the new Paul Simon song "The Afterlife" from his "So Beautiful or So What" album. An excerpt:

"Buddha and Moses and all the noses from narrow to flat, had to stand in the line, just to glimpse the divine, what you think about that?
Well it seems like our fate to suffer and wait for the knowledge we seek.
It’s all his design, no one cuts in the line, no one here likes a sneak"

With a line like "and all the noses from narrow to flat", how can I *not* buy this album? (Though I am just as impressed by the sound of the guitars on this track.)