Tender Mercies

The Lost Cause - Tom Morello + Manchester Orchestra
There's No Mountain - Glen Hansard
the fruits - Paris Paloma
Dance Of The Clairvoyants - Pearl Jam
Blackbird - Martyn Bennett

Tender Mercies - Glen Hansard + Eddie Vedder

We restrict ourselves to this narrow range of thought, conditioned by the lived experience, and complain when the solutions don't work. What tools do we have at our disposal to elongate the (narrowed) extremities of thought ? I think the answer could be in the world of arts. We must make arts as accessible as we can. It could be argued that arts come in only after basic needs are met. If all our material needs are met, what would we be pursuing ? I looked around and don't find a satisfying answer, and I don't want to start blaming the ills of capitalism to paint a grim picture. It is what it is. Am I brushing it off by saying "It is what it is" ? A lazy ontological dismissal so I can momentarily disengage from critical thinking. The antidote for such blunt dislocation is to look within. Underneath the layers of ego, lies buried the most pressing questions we must ask. For those of us lucky to be able to do things, we must take a moral high ground. Crack open the psyche and to not be afraid of finding nothing. There is no nothing.

PJ

Release - Pearl Jam

To see them perform live and also open with a deep cut that I never thought would happen. I'm floored. I remember a time when I was desperately looking for a clean live rendition of `Release` and the rarity of it combined with a mystic aura of the song makes it a killer deep cut. Jeff Ament's bass was a force to reckon with. Vedder and his special voice moves the crowd in special ways. Cosmic Psychos opened the evening and they looked pretty sloshed. Great night and what a great performance. Time to finally get the `Ten` album on vinyl. 

Next up is Glen Hansard. I think I know where this is going. There may come a time when I get to see both Hansard and Vedder on stage. To witness the full force of songwriting that these two came up with and rendered in the utmost brilliance of a voice will truly be something.

UDHR

Awake My Soul - Mumford & Sons
Can't Go Back - Blink-182
Destroyer - Of Monsters And Men

To become sensitive to the sensibilities of human sentiments

Structured lives need to be dismantled and happenstance takes priority. To let the mind roam about and lay a new path for itself. The governance of our minds is in shambles. Its time we check out the principles of self governance for its sake, while respecting the boundaries of societal structures which are themselves human constructs. However flawed they are, we must see them as opportunities to tackle and soldier on.

To read the universal declaration of human rights and do everything we can to uphold its values. How it starts off with a heroic tone

Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world

Article 26 has:

Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms

It didn't come for free. We must remind ourselves of that.

Count your privileges

Down on the Bowery - Damian Lewis
World Outside - The Devlins
Sinnerman - Nina Simone
Welcome to the Black Parade - My Chemical Romance

If we start counting our privileges, where do we start ? 

The above question in part arose when I came upon "Pedagogy of the Oppressed". One thing led to another and I happened to read this. While I don't really follow politics, I gravitate more towards the philosophical foundations upon which the modern world lies on. The author mentions about "Ideological dualities" and I sort of understand and now see it almost everywhere. Including me! I constantly flip the metaphorical switch to keep things on an even keel. Its a powerful feeling to know and feel the conflicting ideas residing in our mind, constantly battling and waging internal wars. It also reminds me of Mark Fisher's "Capitalist Realism" which I also now see everywhere. I'm intentionally leaving out the specifics of what "everywhere" means, just so I can circle back at some point and see how it forces me to (re)evaluate what it signifies.

"I file against myself, I represent myself, I convict myself, hereby expanding the full scope of the legal desert, because the judgment's built in. The only thing left is forgiveness and I grant that to myself." - Roman J Israel

Inventing on Principle

Song for Zula - Phosphorescent
Broken Horses - Brandi Carlile
Disintegration - The Cure
Good Luck - Broken Bells
The Veil - Peter Gabriel

A dear brother said along these lines - "If the collective conscience of all humanity were to be squeezed and bottled, do you think you have something to add to it ?"

I didn't have a proper answer then, but just to temper the conversation I said - "Maybe. Maybe not. But since I'm an optimist, I feel there is something brewing inside me and I can feel it coming."

Its been a few months since that came up on a hot summer afternoon. I didn't let the question recede into the background noise of every day busyness. I gave it a life to see how it grows over time. But since growth can be a slow process, I gave it wings with an aerodynamic edge. It rammed into a wall of impatience.

Is the mere act of existence not adding anything ?
Are modern societal arrangements conducive to the acts of search, creation and discovery ?
Are we distracted always and not paying attention to the decaying rhythm of life ?

More thoughts will follow soon.

Inventing on Principle

Freedom and tyranny

Little Giant - Roo Panes
Pennies in the Fountain - Glen Hansard
Zombie - The Cranberries
Ith Naheen - Sanam Marvi

What is the basis of freedom.? It is a non-binary concept like many other aspects or activities.

This article talks about untethered freedom and self-determination which leads to tyranny.

It is self-determination within significant constraints - within rules of some sort - that leads to well-being, to optimal functioning. The task for a future psychology of optimal functioning is to identify which constraints on self-determination are the crucial ones.

I'm trying to see a merit here. Unconstrained freedom, while liberating, can sort of lead to being in a constant state of figuring that puts a massive burden and cognitive dissonance - which evolution has done a meticulous job of making sure such a state is to be discarded as soon as possible. At best we make sub-optimal choices and at worst blind faith. Both of which prevail.

More analysis needed.

Slogans and the romance of the frontier

DLZ - TV On The Radio

What is the role of work in a person's life ?

Can we push away drudgery and strive to seek asylum in the romance of the frontier ? What does frontier even mean these days ? I'm sure a lot of hardworking folks are at this very moment experiencing and creating things that are incomprehensible to everyone. 

I'm now trying to understand what makes a life livable and fulfilled ? I think 35 is a sweet spot to sit on this question for a while and see what comes out. To be less judgmental of others is a good start.

There are enough slogans on the interwebs. Not every slogan is actionable. We must retain the power to choose which ones make sense and follow its lead.

Craft and Quality

Lucky You - Joyner Lucas/Eminem
Sing for the moment - Eminem
In Control - Baker Boy
Charkha Nolakha - Atif Aslam and Qayaas
Thagyan - Qurat-ul-Ain Balouch and Zain Zohaib

As you approach 40, the most mundane aspects of everyday life become treasures to cherish. After a while, it makes sense to optimize for things that are in control. This means a vast majority of events are not worth optimizing for. But this also means, our distorted perception of control and the illusory pompousness of it all will eventually throw all rationality out the window. We continually make mistakes and poor choices hinder our growth.

Our infinitesimal presence in an infinite cosmos should ideally bring forth humility above anything else. And yet, we succumb to the jolts and quandaries of instantaneous moments. Such movements leave behind unwritten legacies in its wake. What may become of us is unknown.

What I mean by the above is (total tangential trip :-)) - to try putting craft and quality in everything we do. See that how works out. Adjust. Calculate our delta V budget. Refuel. Course correct & repeat.

Still until it becomes. And becomes it will. 

Visions of the future is really cool. Heading to the counter to book tickets!

Fleabag

A Thousand Ages From The Sun - The Electric Banana
Sedona - Houndmouth
This Feeling - Alabama Shakes

Flames of youth untold
Fight for the heart so bold - A random tagline I came up with and sent it to a cousin. Maybe 10 years ago. He likes it and I won't complain :-)

Fleabag is really good. Fresh and original.

Spirals and stars
Greens and trees
Our youth burns and becomes what ?
Our children grow and teach us what ?
Reflections of a barking past tells us what ?

Thrust forward

Unison - Gang of Youths
Prickly Thorn, But Sweetly Worn - The White Stripes
Fetch The Bolt Cutters - Fiona Apple
I - Kendrick Lamar

"In many ways, writing is the act of saying I, of imposing oneself upon other people, of saying listen to me, see it my way, change your mind. It’s an aggressive, even a hostile act. You can disguise its aggressiveness all you want with veils of subordinate clauses and qualifiers and tentative subjunctives, with ellipses and evasions—with the whole manner of intimating rather than claiming, of alluding rather than stating—but there’s no getting around the fact that setting words on paper is the tactic of a secret bully, an invasion, an imposition of the writer’s sensibility on the reader’s most private space." -- Joan Didion

How convenient it is to let our minds indulge in the follies of modern pleasures. How convenient it is to catch 100 winks amidst a sea of disorder. There is no escape from the 2nd law of thermodynamics. We fall short, yet not lose sight of the distant lighthouse. Our perception is forcefully limited to the markers of yesterday's experiences. Thrust forward!

To the edge of time

There will be time - Mumford and Sons
Pyramid Song - Radiohead
You And Whose Army - Radiohead
Girl from the North Country - Cover by Secret Machines

Flawless launch of JWST. To see it take off beautifully is a testament to the hard work of all personnel involved. I'm sure the science that will come out of it will inspire an entire generation of children and students to be - curious and keep an open mind.

I like to think of this launch and all the other space missions (past, present and the ones scheduled or in the process of ideation) as akin to a Monolith from 2001: A Space Odyssey. All our missions are the monoliths guiding humanity to push the frontiers of knowledge and explore.

A gem of a movie by Sidney Lumet - Network (1976)

Trying to understand the world as it is today is tough! Marx's ideas looks like a good starting point and perhaps navigating further back based on how it sits in my mind. A constant state of contradictions all around which could ultimately lead to an elevated system of equality. Somehow the idea of "matter preceding thought" seems raw. More digging required.

JWST

Pain - The War On Drugs
When Doves Cry - Prince
Rock It - Little Red
Halfway Home - TV On The Radio
Color White - Parvaaz

The rain is pouring down. The wipers go crazy. Flash flood signs. Fellow creatures maybe huddled together beyond those thick trees and thunderous sky as oil guzzling machines whiz by at a nearby road.

Can blind faith be eroded and washed away ? I don't think so. Does it have any merit ? Maybe to some. Not appealing to me. I'd prefer to keep a lid on it and say - 'uck you, stay inside and looped.

 Looking forward to an epic launch of JWST and the amazing science coming out of it.

The heart is a muscle

Keep me in the open - Gang of Youths
Do not let your spirit wane - Gang of Youths
The heart is a muscle - Gang of Youths
Confines - Black Pumas

The privilege of watching different hues at sunset.
The privilege of realizing the birth lottery

Let your life grow strong and sweet to the taste
'Coz the odds are completely insane
Do not let your spirit wane
Do not let your spirit wane - Gang of Youths

Drive responsibly

Bloom in Blue

Deep Purple - Child in Time

The Weeknd - After Hours

Tinariwen - Nànnuflày

 Etta James - I'd rather go blind

Justin Hurwitz - The Landing

A brisk walk to those corners of my mind. Angled, abrupt - like those are in a hurry to show me something quick. The night was cold and the distant trees were barely visible except for the slow humming of the leaves. The highway was close by, and occassionally two beams of light with some trillion photons bombarbed the trees. My synapses instantly direct my gaze to those trees and forces me to recollect how it looked during the day. A big enough clearing straight ahead, wild horses within a fence and cicadas singing aloud. The drama of a loud bright day and the perceived silence of the night - like a see-saw - doing its thing.

This piece on the color Blue was really good. 

Most of my focus will be in avoiding ego traps and to be more mindful of radical ideas/opinions. As I read somewhere, you need to have "strong opinions, loosely held". And breach the boundaries of resistance and explore more. To be meditative and have a strong focus on "what really matters"

Reminds me of this one by Ethan hawke.

  “When you put a log on the fire, the light and heat you see is, in a literal sense, the decades of sunshine that tree basked in over its lifetime.” - Peter Brannen

 

 

Two balloons

Mumford & Sons and Gangs of Youth - Blood
Gordi - In the end cover
Black Pumas - Colors
Coldplay - Trouble in town

Rye whiskey for tonight. It's been a while.

Some Pink Floyd. Some OMAM. Dream theater and some Coke Studio. Followed by numb disco tracks where my unapologetic moves result in boisterous laughter followed by facepalms galore. Missus retires. I continue "nothing else matters". Lost a sense of decency. You know, it really doesn't matter.

Kid wanted to smell whats in my glass.The usual "medicine to make me strong" statement didn't work out. My hesitation was vetoed by the missus. Kid had to smell it and hope he enjoyed the aroma of life :-P

This was a feast for me completing a half marathon! A milestone. Is it ? This was my first half and it was brutal. Thoroughly enjoyed it. More to come. 

Now the serious part..............

We are distracted. A lot.
All I see are distracted people.
I am distracted.
We cannot be.
The raw moments in life cannot be recorded.
Am I thinking backwards ?

PS: Written when my glass was ice cold but the whiskey was half knobbed!

OMAM

Black water - Of monsters and men

A few years ago I found this amazing group producing top quality songs. I was hooked to all their albums and they are original and creative. I was lucky to catch them live this week and I am blown away at the performance. This all seemed like a fever dream :-) All the way from Iceland added a mystic aura to the show. 

What is it about taking a moral high ground ? To be fortunate about what exists and taking a stock of ones true self determines fate to a large extent. And for those less fortunate, keeping them somewhere in the back of our busy minds should be a good start.

Sagan and Spinoza

Once we lose our fear of being tiny, we find ourselves on the threshold of a vast and awesome Universe which dwarfs -- in time, in space, and in potential -- the tidy anthropocentric proscenium of our ancestors. - Carl Sagan


The evolution of science and religion. Understanding that science does not tell anyone to invalidate their beliefs, but rejecting it as baseless, so "self interests" are cared for, is backward thinking. The entire progress of humanity relied on brave thinkers and doers challenging traditional ideas and thinking. If we just pause for a little while and contemplate on this, the feeling is profound. Or as Carl Sagan would say when understanding the universe, it gives "a profound sermon on humility".


Carl Sagan was always at the back of my mind, ever since I first read about Pale Blue Dot and quoted about that in 2010. That was just beautiful prose. I finally got around this year to isolate my mind of petty distractions and immerse into his works. 2019 to me is Carl Sagan.

Having a kid forces you to think about the conditions under which they grow. Teaching yourself to understand nature, so you are in a better informed position to answer all the innocent questions that the kid will come up with. And they are coming! I will be ready :-)

2020 - Practice rigorous rational self-governance. Baruch Spinoza and his ideals. Lets see how that will mess up my head :-)

Courage under Fire

The Manchester Orchestra - The Silence
Agnes Obel - Fuel to Fire
Angels and Airwaves - Tunnels
Led Zeppelin - The Wanton Song
The Yellow Diary - Marz
Fareed Ayaz and Abu Muhammad - Khabaram Raseeda
Rizwan-Muazzam - Naina De Akhay

Human-influenced climate change is real. Almost every major scientific body around the world agrees to this fact. It's always best to listen to the experts than random entities who have no subject matter expertise on this serious topic. There is compelling evidence on this.  Right now a lot of confusion is implanted via the addictive social media. Confusion leads to inaction. Inaction means - carrying on with status quo. This is bad. An interesting comic - funny and scary - to summarize what we are up to if status quo is the norm.


Space exploration has tremendous advantages. Shun all bad reporting on this topic. Fact check all the time. Follow a bit of a philosophical touch with the right narrative.

Kid is growing tall. I click and clack away at my mechanical keyboard. Did a 10K run sometime ago. Marching on for some more before I set my sight at a half marathon. I've learned to see things from multiple viewpoints and give merit to all opinions. Sanity restored :-)

2 decades into the 21st century already! So much ahead for humanity

To live under the false pretense that you will forever have control of your station in life is to ride for a fall; you’re asking for disappointment. So make sure in your heart of hearts, in your inner self, that you treat your station in life with indifference, not with contempt, only with indifference 
- James Stockdale - Courage under Fire

My heart leaps up

My heart leaps up when I behold 
 A rainbow in the sky:
So was it when my life began; 
So is it now I am a man; 
So be it when I shall grow old, 
Or let me die!
The Child is father of the Man;
And I could wish my days to be
Bound each to each by natural piety.

-- Wordsworth

Flip the page. 2019 beckons. Lets try to find heart in this heartless, data driven world.

Kid also turns three. How exciting! I am burning more calories chasing him around, and he is forcing me to have a balanced routine. At the end of the day, it really matters. So keep it coming kiddo :-)

Hello from Oz

Abida Parveen - Ramooz-e-Ishq
Angels and Airwaves - Lifeline, All that we are

You need to be a child again to be a good father. To take pleasure in seeing your kid make whizzing sound as he drags and drifts tiny hot-wheels. 

A truant finds home..and I wish to hold on..
But there's a trapdoor in the sun..immortality.. - Pearl jam