Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Monday, June 8, 2009
Writing and the silent
Here's a question:
Who do bloggers write for?
I personally don't really have a specific answer to that question. My blog has a relatively low number of views, so even if I am blogging for the readers my blog (as of thus far) has not been very successful. However, one other reason I might choose to write my blog would be for personal development and the ability to recollect my own thoughts in a more organised manner than if they were in my head. Also, I probably need to improve my writing style if I am to succeed at my chosen university course of History, so there is one thing.
While I say those words, however, I have always loved writing even from a young age, suggesting there is a lack of truth in the reasons I just gave. When I was 6 I'm pretty sure I was not too concerned about my future in the historical arts, and when I wrote I wrote stories, never a diary making much of my childhood hard to remember. Perhaps I write for something more, to satisfy some human need to communicate. To me, my thoughts go unsatisfied if I do not share them with others. I am a person that wants other people to know what I think, and I want to know what other people think on the same topics. In this way, I cannot understand those who are the "strong, silent types" who seem to give little care to whether people know what they are thinking or not. One of the most fantastic aspects of humanity is the ability to communicate, and to disregard that is to take for granted the evolutionary gift we have been given.
One final thing. While I talk of people who do not speak much, I would like to read the blog of someone who is considered to be the "strong, silent type", and see what really drives such people to say as little as they do. By no means is this necessary for me to continue functioning, but I would like to understand the types of people who are so different to me. Perhaps it is shyness, or perhaps it is something more to do with valuing your own thoughts over those of others (both admirable and arrogant), but I would really like to know.
So if anyone has any links to any types of blogs mentioned, please don't hesitate to send them my way. :D.
Much Love,
Conor.
Who do bloggers write for?
I personally don't really have a specific answer to that question. My blog has a relatively low number of views, so even if I am blogging for the readers my blog (as of thus far) has not been very successful. However, one other reason I might choose to write my blog would be for personal development and the ability to recollect my own thoughts in a more organised manner than if they were in my head. Also, I probably need to improve my writing style if I am to succeed at my chosen university course of History, so there is one thing.
While I say those words, however, I have always loved writing even from a young age, suggesting there is a lack of truth in the reasons I just gave. When I was 6 I'm pretty sure I was not too concerned about my future in the historical arts, and when I wrote I wrote stories, never a diary making much of my childhood hard to remember. Perhaps I write for something more, to satisfy some human need to communicate. To me, my thoughts go unsatisfied if I do not share them with others. I am a person that wants other people to know what I think, and I want to know what other people think on the same topics. In this way, I cannot understand those who are the "strong, silent types" who seem to give little care to whether people know what they are thinking or not. One of the most fantastic aspects of humanity is the ability to communicate, and to disregard that is to take for granted the evolutionary gift we have been given.
One final thing. While I talk of people who do not speak much, I would like to read the blog of someone who is considered to be the "strong, silent type", and see what really drives such people to say as little as they do. By no means is this necessary for me to continue functioning, but I would like to understand the types of people who are so different to me. Perhaps it is shyness, or perhaps it is something more to do with valuing your own thoughts over those of others (both admirable and arrogant), but I would really like to know.
So if anyone has any links to any types of blogs mentioned, please don't hesitate to send them my way. :D.
Much Love,
Conor.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Misfit Love
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h76NTH-f97k
Hello there,
I think most people would agree that I am rarely at a loss for words (indeed, often people note I could do with saying less on occasion), but this track off "Era Vulgaris" by Queens of the Stone Age leaves me stunned every time.
From the moment Joshua Homme announces "This is a little dance number called Misfit Love", the audience simply cannot expect the outcome. As the trance-like backing track moves towards the airplane crash guitar loop, the drums ride in with a consistent enough beat and enough variation between the bars to keep it as a reason to become addicted in itself. The screeching guitars, backed the sparse but tactical use of bass amounts to a devastating intro, which lasts for almost 2 minutes. In terms of pure performance, the band live seem to almost attack their instruments, getting as carried away as the track demands. Check out Josh's controlled savagery at 1.47, slicing his body through the rugged auditory chaos as the musicians amount to a mini-climax as the vocals come in.
Lyrically, Queens of the Stone Age have always been one of my favorites. Drugs, alcoholism and self destruction are a consistent theme, as the opening lines suggest:
"Wanna see my past in flames,
Don't waste a drop baby I ain't fussed"
As the band work their way towards the first chorus, it becomes clear that the song is largely about not only partying, but a sense of superiority imposed by their status. However, being QOTSA, the tone is often one of self-cynicism, as these lines suggest:
"Sidewalks, feel me strut so good?
Gutter, don't forget this face,"
Coupled with the cockiness of the initial line is the realistic realisation that the "Gutter" is never that far away, and that he may well return to it soon. As the track moves towards the final, almost euphoric conclusion, the backing vocals come in, chanting "I need a thrill", summarising the main message of the song (and sort of the band), that everything is expendable for the experience. Fantastically, between the two choruses the lyrics change from "I'm so slick" to "I'm so sick", perfectly encapsulating the two sided nature of Homme's business.
The final part of the song is perhaps the most interesting. Moving starkly away from the dark and cynical nature of the first two parts, The band keeps the tempo and dark lyrics but ups the tone of the song. Perhaps this is to suggest an acceptance of his situation, as he recognises himself as "Just a dead man, walking through the dead of night". He recognises his lost cause as he chants "Cause I've already gone", but perversely highlightes that other people benefit from his personal loss as if they "bet on me" they've won.
This live performance very accurately portrays the version I saw live in Dublin in the summer of '08, and the camerawork certainly does wonders for the effect. A very good live band, interestingly not making use of the many visual tools available to artists these days. However, the message is largely in the music, so perhaps this is a deliberate move not to draw the attention away from what is important.
Simply one of my favourite tracks, with much more to it than one might realise on the first listen. Probably my favourite band, although this track is taken from one of their less accomplished albums.
Anyway, that'll do for now. Toodles.
Hello there,
I think most people would agree that I am rarely at a loss for words (indeed, often people note I could do with saying less on occasion), but this track off "Era Vulgaris" by Queens of the Stone Age leaves me stunned every time.
From the moment Joshua Homme announces "This is a little dance number called Misfit Love", the audience simply cannot expect the outcome. As the trance-like backing track moves towards the airplane crash guitar loop, the drums ride in with a consistent enough beat and enough variation between the bars to keep it as a reason to become addicted in itself. The screeching guitars, backed the sparse but tactical use of bass amounts to a devastating intro, which lasts for almost 2 minutes. In terms of pure performance, the band live seem to almost attack their instruments, getting as carried away as the track demands. Check out Josh's controlled savagery at 1.47, slicing his body through the rugged auditory chaos as the musicians amount to a mini-climax as the vocals come in.
Lyrically, Queens of the Stone Age have always been one of my favorites. Drugs, alcoholism and self destruction are a consistent theme, as the opening lines suggest:
"Wanna see my past in flames,
Don't waste a drop baby I ain't fussed"
As the band work their way towards the first chorus, it becomes clear that the song is largely about not only partying, but a sense of superiority imposed by their status. However, being QOTSA, the tone is often one of self-cynicism, as these lines suggest:
"Sidewalks, feel me strut so good?
Gutter, don't forget this face,"
Coupled with the cockiness of the initial line is the realistic realisation that the "Gutter" is never that far away, and that he may well return to it soon. As the track moves towards the final, almost euphoric conclusion, the backing vocals come in, chanting "I need a thrill", summarising the main message of the song (and sort of the band), that everything is expendable for the experience. Fantastically, between the two choruses the lyrics change from "I'm so slick" to "I'm so sick", perfectly encapsulating the two sided nature of Homme's business.
The final part of the song is perhaps the most interesting. Moving starkly away from the dark and cynical nature of the first two parts, The band keeps the tempo and dark lyrics but ups the tone of the song. Perhaps this is to suggest an acceptance of his situation, as he recognises himself as "Just a dead man, walking through the dead of night". He recognises his lost cause as he chants "Cause I've already gone", but perversely highlightes that other people benefit from his personal loss as if they "bet on me" they've won.
This live performance very accurately portrays the version I saw live in Dublin in the summer of '08, and the camerawork certainly does wonders for the effect. A very good live band, interestingly not making use of the many visual tools available to artists these days. However, the message is largely in the music, so perhaps this is a deliberate move not to draw the attention away from what is important.
Simply one of my favourite tracks, with much more to it than one might realise on the first listen. Probably my favourite band, although this track is taken from one of their less accomplished albums.
Anyway, that'll do for now. Toodles.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Musing on Musing
"Hmm",
The sound that I typically associate with the word "Musing". Its literal definition of course means:
"to think about something carefully and for a long time" - Cambridge Online Dictionary
However, when my good friend Simon suggested that I should put some "general musings about life" into my blog, it set me, if you don't mind the statement, musing on the nature of musing itself. For example, I find it amazing the amount of information our senses capture at one time, and that it is all processed almost instantly, but it still takes the human brain extensive thought, or musing, on certain subjects to be fully understood. By the literal definition, people muse all the time (e.g. deciding whether to date someone, whether they prefer Chinese or Indian food, or how they should get their hair cut) but i think the word "Muse" should have something of higher quality attached to it. I'd like to believe I live by the spirit of the law, not the letter, and musing to me suggests something more, something profound, that brings new meaning to ordinary things. The example given by the Online Dictionary I used was thus:
"I began to muse about/on the possibility of starting my own business." - Cambridge Online Dictionary
However, for my own romantic ideals to be realised, I would have made it something more along the lines of:
"I began to muse about/on the possibility of starting my own business, which led me to think about my personal goals as a person and whether I had my priorities sorted in such a way as to allow me to live the life that I have been given (which for all I know could be the only chance I get) to the fullest degree possible" - Conor's Wishful Thinking and Rambling Dictionary of Spelling and Grammatical Errors
However, I think its a bit difficult to argue with the Dictionary, so I might leave this point here. I just wanted to point out the strange, and most definitely individual, definition certain words have to certain people.
Also, Muse are an amazing band live.
Conor
p.s. A couple of weeks ago I had 13 pancakes for breakfast, and last weekend i spent in excess of 2 1/2 hours in a hot tub in one go.
The sound that I typically associate with the word "Musing". Its literal definition of course means:
"to think about something carefully and for a long time" - Cambridge Online Dictionary
However, when my good friend Simon suggested that I should put some "general musings about life" into my blog, it set me, if you don't mind the statement, musing on the nature of musing itself. For example, I find it amazing the amount of information our senses capture at one time, and that it is all processed almost instantly, but it still takes the human brain extensive thought, or musing, on certain subjects to be fully understood. By the literal definition, people muse all the time (e.g. deciding whether to date someone, whether they prefer Chinese or Indian food, or how they should get their hair cut) but i think the word "Muse" should have something of higher quality attached to it. I'd like to believe I live by the spirit of the law, not the letter, and musing to me suggests something more, something profound, that brings new meaning to ordinary things. The example given by the Online Dictionary I used was thus:
"I began to muse about/on the possibility of starting my own business." - Cambridge Online Dictionary
However, for my own romantic ideals to be realised, I would have made it something more along the lines of:
"I began to muse about/on the possibility of starting my own business, which led me to think about my personal goals as a person and whether I had my priorities sorted in such a way as to allow me to live the life that I have been given (which for all I know could be the only chance I get) to the fullest degree possible" - Conor's Wishful Thinking and Rambling Dictionary of Spelling and Grammatical Errors
However, I think its a bit difficult to argue with the Dictionary, so I might leave this point here. I just wanted to point out the strange, and most definitely individual, definition certain words have to certain people.
Also, Muse are an amazing band live.
Conor
p.s. A couple of weeks ago I had 13 pancakes for breakfast, and last weekend i spent in excess of 2 1/2 hours in a hot tub in one go.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
