My flat

Ahoy Facebook #17

 

New acquisitions.

Seven books: The Republic and the Laws by Cicero, Meditations by Marcus Aurelius, Selected Philosophical Writings by Thomas Aquinas, Medieval Europe by Chris Wickham, Pericles: A Biography in Context, How to be a Conservative by Roger Scruton and Edward Heath: A Biography by John Campbell.

I want to write an essay about 'nascent liberalism in ancient antiquity and the medieval ages.' Liberalism is associated with the start of the enlightenment, and earlier societies placed a lot more emphasis on the community than the individual, but I wanted to find examples of liberalism in these times. I bought books by Cicero, Marcus Aurelius and Thomas Aquinas so as to detect traces of 'nascent liberalism.' I also bought a book about Pericles, an early democrat. I also bought a book about medieval Europe so to include a bit an essay about Medieval culture/society.

I bought this intriguing book by Roger Scruton. Scruton examines liberalism, socialism, conservatism, capitalism, environmentalism and internationalism. This book looks interesting because it seems to unbiased and even-handed, as it examines the strengths and weaknesses of each ideology.

I bought this biography about Edward Heath. I find him interesting as a person, as he was a very shy and awkward man, but he became prime minister. He was also the first prime minister to probably be a virgin, although this was after the start of the age of permissiveness. I also find his period as prime minister very interesting, as he took the UK into Europe and he struggled with industrial unrest, rising unemployment and the end of consensus.

New acquisitions.

Eleven CDs: Third by Soft Machine, Soundtrack of Le Mepris by George Delerue, The Essence of Woody Herman by Woody Herman, The Complete Early Recordings of Skip James by Skip James, Greatest Hits by Abba, An Elpee and two Epees by Ivor Cutler, Jazz in a Silhouette by Sun Ra, The Magic City by Sun Ra, My Favourite Things by John Coltrane, Les Espaces Acoustiques by Gerard Grisey and The Inner Mounting Flame by The Mahavishnu Orchestra.

Jazz fusion, film soundtracks, swing, blues, pop, novelty music, modern jazz, modern classical music.... I like having an eclectic musical taste.

I'm moving into my own - rented - apartment soon.

The Fall - My New House - YouTube

New acquisitions.

Ten DVDs: The Wild Bunch by Sam Peckinpah, Cross of Iron by Sam Peckinpah, Straw Dogs by Sam Peckinpah, Pat Garett and Billy the Kid by Sam Peckinpah, Blind Chance by Krzysztof Kieslowski, The Bridge on the River Kwai by David Lean, The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp/A Matter of Life and Death by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, The Devils by Ken Russell, The Third Man by Carol Reed and The Silence of the Sea by Jean-Pierre Melville.

Sam Peckinpah is an astonishing filmmaker and the images in his films linger in my mind. His films are about violence, honour and revenge. These are four of his films.

This film by Kieslowski was made in communist Poland. It imagines three different scenarios each time the protagonist either misses or catches a train. In one scenario, he becomes a communist activist, in another one he is an anti-communist activist and in another one he is not involved in politics. Kieslowski is one of my favourite filmmakers.

This film by David Lean is an epic about British held soldiers held captive as prisoners of war by the Japanese during WWII. They are subjected to gruelling labour and forced to build a bridge. For my money, it has one of the best endings in the history of cinema.

I bought this classic film by Powell/Pressburger, which offended Churchill so much that he tried to have it banned. It also comes with A Matter of Life and Death and I already own another copy of that.

This film by Ken Russell is surrealistic and has some awesome images. It is about some nuns who claimed to have been possessed by the devil.

This film by Carol Reed is set in Austria after WWII and it has a memorable cameo appearance from Orson Welles.

This film, 'The Silence of the Sea,' is about a Nazi officer who tries to convince this French couple that Germans are good people and that Germany is a good culture. It has a surrealist slant to it.

New acquisition.

A punching bag.

I've been struggling with anger/negative thoughts the past few years. I can start shouting and I can get quite nasty. This isn't who I am, however, as I am sure that I am a decent/nice person. Someone at work suggested that I buy a punching bag, which seemed like a good idea. So, the next time I get irrational/angry thoughts for some unfathomable reason, I'm going to punch the living shit out of this punching bag.

New acquisitions.

Three CDs: Stoner Witch by Melvins, Houdini by Melvins and The Bootlicker by Melvins.

One book: Ritual in the Dark by Colin Wilson.

Melvins are a group that I've enjoyed for a while. They're kind of grungey but quirkier. They were a big influence on Nirvana.

Colin Wilson wrote this novel alongside his non-fiction book The Outsider, which catapulted him to fame age twenty-four. It is a crime thriller about a serial killer.

Meandering Pontification 1/2 *

I am interested in a lot of things… Literature, music, film, philosophy, history, politics… And I’m starting to get interested in science, too. The thing is, though, is that I am not an expert in anything… I admire people who can focus and hyper-specialise… I can’t do that.

I find philosophy very interesting. My interest in it is completely amateurish, though. As I said earlier, I am not an expert in anything – I am an amateurish dilettante.

However, I find a lot of philosophy very infuriating. The philosophers that I find most interesting at the moment are John Rawls, Martha Nussbaum and Karl Popper. They write in crystal clear English/German (they don’t use wanky phrases like ‘the negation of the negation’) and I can comprehend what they are going on about. I find a lot of what Kant and Hegel said very interesting, but the primary texts are a fucking nightmare to read. I’d probably have to wade through dozens of secondary sources before they start to make sense. When I read primary sources, I don’t digest all of it, which probably goes to show what an amateur I am.

I get that there is a need for precision in all this and that you need to use terms, but a lot of the ‘continental’ stuff seems to be deliberately obscured. (I can be extremely imprecise, obscure and vague myself, which is something that I need to work and improve on.) All of the ‘postmodernist’ stuff seems to be a like a waste of time for me. I lost motivation with my MA… I did a module in Comparative Literature and I had to do a presentation on Roland Barthes. I could not find the primary source in the library – all the books had been taken. I cobbled together a presentation from secondary sources that I found in the library… The lecturer said that it was great (or maybe she said that it was shite, she spoke really obscurely) … When it came to writing the 5,000 word essay for that module, I started it three days before it was due and received 58% for it… (Something similar happened with my MA dissertation.) There might be a lot of substance behind all the obscurity, but all the postmodernist philosophy seems to be a whole load of pseudery to me… This might not be true, but I’m glad that I don’t have to deal with it anymore.

Maybe I should have done a degree in philosophy, history, politics or maybe even economics. My BA was really soft… I was reading through one of my essays that received 85% and it made me wonder how such a fluffy little essay could receive such a high mark… (I also threw in loads of Foucault/Deleuze into my undergrad dissertation without really understanding it and received 75% for it… I’d never use that stuff in one of my essays now!!!) It seemed to confirm that grade inflation IS a thing and that my degree was really soft.

* I try to avoid writing about this kind of thing on Facebook because these topics are divisive by their very nature and will piss off a large section of your friends… This is the kind of thing that will make people delete you, but… fuck it.

Meandering Pontification 2/2 *

The world is not fair and just (and it never will be)… so there is every good reason to make it more fair and just. There are good reasons for being a leftist – to make the world a fairer, more just, equal etc. place.

However, I would not want to get involved in left-wing politics… Every time I’d express an original thought that deviates from the party line or ideological orthodoxy, people would shout at me for being a ‘bourgeois individualist.’ I joined the Labour Party, but I let my membership expire for precisely this reason. Anyway, I would not want to spend my free time attending political meetings… I’d rather spend my free time reading books, writing books, watching films and listening to music instead. (Each to their own, though…) Denis Healey said that the Labour Party membership are not representative of Labour Party voters… Labour Party members are more ideological, more left-wing and more inclined to spend their free time attending political meetings. Labour Party voters are less ideological and more moderate, but they are less inclined to spend their free time attending political meetings. Denis Healey was correct.

The more extreme currents of leftist thought are just palpably silly – people like Paul Mason, Aaron Bastani, Grace Blakeley and Ash Sarkar… I can get why you might be an anti-capitalist or some sort of utopian anarchist in your early 20s, but I don’t understand how you can keep adhering to that stuff in your late 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s etc. (Again, each to their own!) I used to find that stuff appealing in my early 20s, but I grew out of it. Bastani’s idea of ‘fully automated luxury communism’ sounds like some sort of Monty Python sketch. Paul Mason goes on about ‘globalised neo-liberalism’ as if we should know what that means. This is his definition of neo-liberalism: ‘By neoliberalism I mean the global capitalist system shaped by a core of neoliberal practices and institutions, themselves guided by a widespread and spontaneously reproduced ideology, and ruled by an elite which acts in a neoliberal way, whatever conflicting and moderating ideas it holds in its head.’ Ok then!

Anyway, there is a good case for social justice, but never when it crushes individual freedom. (People can get a bit silly with social justice and go over the top with it – all those ‘Social Justice Warriors’ etc., but there’s always a good case for it.) It reminds me of the film ‘Dr. Zhivago’ by David Lean… A Russian poet is involved in the Russian revolution because he wants to do something about the injustices in Tsarist Russia… Come the revolution, one of the Soviet commissars addresses him… He says that he admired his poetry very much, but that in the new communist society there is no need for that ‘bourgeois’ nonsense. That’s the problem with leftist politics at its worst – its authoritarianism, its dogmatism and its contempt towards individualism, pluralism, tolerance, diversity, autonomy and personal goals. (In other words, leftist politics is bad when it is illiberal… And a lot of leftists are actively hostile to liberal values…)

As I said earlier, there are good reasons for making the world a fairer and more just place and there are good reasons for being a leftist, but so much of left-wing politics is such a load of crap.

* I try to avoid writing about this kind of thing on Facebook because these topics are divisive by their very nature and will piss off a large section of your friends… This is the kind of thing that will make people delete you, but… fuck it.

Meandering Pontification 3

In literature, music and film I tend to like stuff that is more ‘out there’ and experimental. I do like things that everyone else knows about… I do like Charles Dickens and William Shakespeare, I do like groups like Abba, The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, I do like composers like Bach and Beethoven and I do like films like The Godfather and series like Breaking Bad… But there’s something about the stuff that is experimental, pushes boundaries etc. etc. (insert endless cliches here) that appeals to me… It’s hard to explain, as taste is often so emotional and arbitrary.

A composer like Harry Partch certainly belongs to the latter category. An archetypal outsider, he did everything on his own terms. He actively enjoyed being a hobo, he railed against European modes of tuning, he incorporated music from Antiquity and the orient into his music and since he could not have his ‘microtonal’ music performed on conventional instruments, he built his own.

Anyway, I’m trying to buy stuff that I really like on CD/record and to stop streaming stuff. I bought Partch’s ‘Delusion of the Fury’ on vinyl and I tried buying his album ‘Eleven Intrusions’ on CD… It’s been out of print for years, so I ordered a second-hand copy several months ago… And they never delivered it.

So, last night I dreamed that I was at this book/record shop… And I dreamed that I found new editions of Delusion of the Fury (well, I already have that), Eleven Intrusions and The Bewitched on vinyl… And I was overjoyed… And the people who worked there had no idea who Harry Partch was… So, very few people in the world dream about finding new editions of Harry Partch, but… who knows, there might be?

New acquisitions

Two records: Raw Delta Blues by Son House and Easy Rider by Leadbelly

One DVD: Ghost World by Terry Zwigoff.

I really like delta blues from the 1920s... This is also the decade in which jazz first emerged. These musicians really had it rough... Economic hardship, racial injustice... And they made great music out of it.

I really like this film by Terry Zwigoff, mainly because I relate to the character played by Steve Buscemi... Ultimately, a lot of novels/films are about human relationships, not the organisation of society/the nature of reality etc. etc.

New acquisitions.

Four CDs: The Artistry of Christopher Parkening by Christopher Parkening, A Bach Celebration by Christopher Parkening, Strathclyde Concertos Nos. 3 and 4 by Peter Maxwell Davies/Scottish Chamber Orchestra and String Quartets 6 and 15 by Franz Schubert/Kodaly Quartet.

Two books: Solaris by Stanislaw Lem and An Introduction to Medieval Europe: 500-1500 by James Westfall Thompson and Edgar Nathaniel Johnson.

I really like the sound of classical guitar and I really like Bach. Christopher Parkening was one of the most accomplished classical guitarists of all time and he played a lot of Bach, so I bought two discs by him.

I've bought a lot of records by Schubert at charity shops. My second favourite piece by him (after his 'death and the maiden' quartet) is String Quartet No. 15. I thought that I owned a vinyl copy of it, but I don't, so I purchased a copy of it online.

I've always known of the name 'Peter Maxwell Davies' and I always knew that he was the most famous British composer of modern classical music. However, I don't think I'd heard a piece by him before, which is why I bought this disc by him (and I'm hearing it right now).

I wrote a philosophical science fiction novel which was heavily influenced by Tarkovsky's film 'Solaris.' That film was based on a novel, which I've bought so that I can finally read it.

I'm about to start an essay which uses source on medieval history. I saw this at a charity shop and I thought that another book on the topic would be helpful. This is a 1.000 page book and I might read it from cover to cover one day, too.

Ahoy Facebook #16

 

New acquisitions.

Four CDs: Strictly Personal by Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band, Lick my Decals Off Baby by Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band, ESP by Miles Davis and Nefertiti by Miles Davis..

I had been hearing pirated versions of these Beefheart CDs for a very long time. I revisited Strictly Personal recently, which sounded a lot better than I remember, so I thought that I'd finally buy a physical copy. Back in the day, 'Lick my Decals off Baby,' was always out of print and used to cost about £80. I looked it up online and saw that it was for sale for only £9. I was thrilled, as it's easily one of his best albums

I bought two Miles Davis albums, which were made by the 'quintet' that he assembled in the early 60s. Needless to say, I love his music.

Three books: Theologico-Political Treatise by Benedict de Spinoza, Confessions of a Philosopher by Bryan Magee and Arrows of Desire: The Films of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger.

This book by Spinoza is one of the first works from 'the enlightenment.' In this book, Spinoza argues in favour of the separation between church and state, in favour of free speech and he argues that the role of the state and of democracy is to protect the freedom of its citizens. It was very controversial when it came out. I've been wanting to read this book for a while, so I was pleased to find it in a second-hand book shop.

I bought an autobiography by Bryan Magee, a philosopher who had a program about philosophy on TV and are now available on You Tube. Magee would usually interview a philosopher about his own work or the writings of a famous dead philosopher. He would usually explain highly arcane ideas in a lucid way. In this book, he writes about his own life - he was also an MP at one point - and his interest in philosophy.

I bought a book about Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, who have easily become some of my favourite filmmakers.

Two DVDs: La Grand Illusion by Jean Renoir and Rosemary's Baby by Roman Polanski.

La Grand Illusion is a brilliant film. It is set in WWI and depicts French prisoners of war held captive by Germans. Goebbels was repelled by the way in which Renoir depicted Germans.

I watched Rosemary's Baby recently and I enjoyed it so much that I thought that I'd buy a copy of it. It is Polanski's first Hollywood film, after making films in Poland and France. The ending was so predictable as soon as I started watching it, but it was exhilarating to watch.4

Funny.

New acquisitions. 👍 I used to listen this album by The Fall during my second year at university, when I lived right next to the seaside at Herne Bay. (I also listened to a lot of Bach back then - good times.) It is not one of their most lauded albums - it is just another Fall album - but I've always really enjoyed it. I found it at a record shop in Chesterfield, so I decided to buy it with a £20 gift that my grandmother sent to me for my birthday. I received this book about Touissant Louverture as a birthday present from my sister. I've taken an interest in the Haitian revolution, which started with a slave revolt in 1791 and culminated with the first independent black state a few years later. It had been a sugar plantation held by the French and it was the only successful slave insurrection in history. This book is all about the leader of the colony, Touissant Louverture, a former slave.

New acquisitions.

Four CDs: Revolver by The Beatles, Rubber Soul by The Beatles, Glenn Gould Plays Bach: The Goldberg Variations by J. S. Bach/Glenn Gould and Cantatas BWV 21 & 42 by J. S. Bach.

I bought two albums by The Beatles, which of course feature their classic songs. I've always been aware of these albums, but I've never heard them from start to finish, so I thought that I'd buy them.

I also bought two albums by Bach, who is easily my favourite classical composer. He wrote so much music and so much of it so good. One of these albums is a famous performance of the Goldberg variations by Glenn Gould, who was a virtuosic pianist and a bit of an eccentric. I've never heard any of his cantatas, so I thought that I'd buy an album of them to rectify this.

Three books: The Consolations of Philosophy by Boethius, Inventing the Individual: The Origins of Wester Liberalism by Larry Siedentop and Reaganland: America's Right Turn 1976-1980.

This book by Boethius was written in the sixth century AD (year 523). He had been sentenced imprisonment and was possibly facing execution. He thought that this was unjust, but whilst awaiting execution, he wrote this book called 'Consolations of Philosophy.' Boethius examines how evil can exist in a world created by God and other philosophical issues. This book was very important in the medieval ages.

Usually, liberal ideas - such as seeing ourselves as individuals, freedom, equality - are usually associated with the start of the Enlightenment. In this book, Siedentop argues that these ideas originate with the start of Christianity.

'Reaganland' argues that the new economic era of tax cuts, deregulation, low tariffs, etc. was already in motion with the start of the Jimmy Carter administration of 1976-1980. Carter himself was already introducing some of these policies and many of the ideologues of the New Right, such as Milton Friedman, were already highly influential during this period.

I'm such a slow reader that it's going to be ages before I make a start reading these books. Even though I'm a slow reader, I don't take in everything I read either. I should probably improve my reading skills.

Oh dear, my cat has died. 

New acquisitions 1/2. I'm making a concerted effort to solely listen to CDs/records and to never stream anything ever again.

Five CDs: Quartet for the End of Time by Olivier Messiaen/Amici Ensemble, Music for 18 Musicians by Steve Reich, Piano and String Quartet by Morton Feldman/Vicky Ray/Eclipse Quartet, String Quartets Nos. 1 and 5 by Elliott Carter/Pacifica Quartet and String Quartets Nos. 2, 3 and 4.

One record: Delusion of the Fury by Harry Partch.

This piece by Messiaen is a classic. He had it performed in a prisoner-of-war camp under Nazi occupation. I've always found Steve Reich to be a lot more interesting than many of the other minimalists that he is associated with (Phillip Glass, John Adams, etc.) and 'Music for 18 Musicians' is one of his most famous pieces. Morton Feldman is also quite minimalistic and I find his music to be very hypnotic and beautiful. Elliott Carter is the opposite of minimalistic and his string quartets are particularly complex and fascinating. Finally, Harry Partch built his own instruments and his music is incredibly original and powerful. 'Delusion of the Fury' is probably his best pieces, so I just had to buy it - and it was only available on vinyl.

New acquisitions 2/2.

Nine CDs: Frank Zappa Meets The Mothers of Prevention by Frank Zappa, Jazz from Hell by Frank Zappa, The Yellow Shark by Frank Zappa, Code: Selfish by The Fall, Levitate by The Fall, The Unutterable by The Fall, The Real New Fall LP by The Fall, Cuckooland by Robert Wyatt and Comicopera by Robert Wyatt.

One record: The Infotainment Scan by The Fall.

These three albums by Frank Zappa are from the late 80s/early 90s, when he made a lot of music for computers and orchestras. His vocal music around this time became too desiccated and pontifical for my liking, but I still like his instrumental music from this period. The track about his debate in congress is particularly good. A lot of these Fall albums are from the 90s, when they started experimenting with electronic music. I've been streaming/downloading these albums for a while, so it's good to own them. Robert Wyatt is an artist I've loved for a while and these albums by him are great.

New acquisitions.

One CD: Schleep by Robert Wyatt

One book: Harry Partch: A Biography by Bob Gilmore

I ordered this marvellous album by Robert Wyatt. I also ordered a biography about Harry Partch, a wonderfully inventive composer of experimental music. I am currently writing an essay about eccentric musicians and I wanted to consult a book about him, so I forked out £40 for this.