Music hath such charms

Utah Phillips, American folk singer, passed away recently. Asked about his living as a travelling musician, he said: The trade is a fine, elegant, beautiful, very fruitful trade. In that trade, I can make a living and not a killing.

So many times I've felt this too, and although I haven't been playing shows all over the continent, I am so thankful for the music in my life. Last night some friends were in a low mood. We started working on our backyard musical and it sorted itself out, laughs were had and people felt better. I've seen this with students countless times, with myself nearly everyday. Mostly I am in love with the peacefulness inherent in music-making, when so many jobs involve destruction.

I read an article about Joni Mitchell where she recounted that a fan once told her he used her music instead of taking anti-depressants. I think that's a better plan for all of us. Our brains are already wired for the dopamine, it's free, it fosters strong social connections, and it doesn't have a hangover.

Yep, of all the ways to make ends meet, making music is the best. Sorry to all you people who do something else, but I couldn't trade it, even if I wanted to.

Audience participation: leave the name of a song that cheers you up. Could make a great cd . . .

Chew on this for the weekend...

Came across this online and froze in my tracks...metaphorically, of course.

Marshall McLuhan once called on us to notice that all machines are merely extensions of the human nervous system, artifices which improve on natural apparatus, each a utopianization of some physical function. Once you understand the trick, utopian prophecy isn’t so impressive. Equally important, says McLuhan, the use of machinery causes its natural flesh and blood counterpart to atrophy, hence the lifeless quality of the utopias. Machines dehumanize, according to McLuhan, wherever they are used and however sensible their use appears.

I think there is definitely some truth in there - I am a piano player and whenever I stop and think about how complicated my hands really are, it blows my mind. And even computers, for all their processing power, can't outperform the human brain. Humans can integrate all information and evaluate it simultaneously, but computers can only trudge away, mechanically finishing one task at a time. Compared to my hand, the piano is a simpleton's toy.

Thinking about this also makes me think that the crises of modern life - obesity, diabetes, depression - are precisely those examples of "atrophy" that McLuhan is talking about. Of course, the good new in all this is that recovering our humanity is as simple as manual labour and real thinking.

Hoo-boys and girls!!

An eighth grade class at a school in the Bronx refused to take another round of standardized tests. Consider their teacher fired, although he denies being involved in planning the protest.

Remember what happened to Socrates when he was accused of "corrupting the youth?" Here's an interesting account of how the debate and trial probably went down. Interesting to note the emphasis on piety in the Athenian situation when the religion plays such a prominent role in US politics.

Arts vs. Gangs

Here's what Kardinall Offishall has to say on the subject.

Also, is it June yet? I am exhausted (hence the lack of posts).

Daily bread (or lack thereof)

Here's some food for thought . . .

Newspapers

I used to really enjoy the Saturday Globe and Mail. Yesterday I read it for the first time in six months, and remembered why I stopped buying it. The book section used to be 20+ pages and this week had less than 8 reviews. Here's what a blogger has to say about the demise of newspapers-interesting viewpoint on the need for LOCAL coverage.

Happy Anniversary, with books

Realized this morning: I have been posting here for 2 years. Wow, time flies . . .

Thursday night some friends and I went to see the newest photographs by Thaddeus Holownia, a prof at Mt. A. Outside, the Saint John was rolling, and rivers were on everybody's mind. Fittingly, the exhibit featured pictures of the salmon rivers of eastern Canada.

They took me back to the quiet stillness I felt watching the brook out back of mom and dad's house. There is a lot to see in this world if we can hold still long enough to see it. The Saint John used to be a salmon river, until the dams went in. We pay a high price for "progress," I think.

Holownia also runs a printing press. I'm realizing more and more that Chapters is the supermarket of book stores - a lot of over-processed books but not much sustenance. Especially if you've seen the Gaspereau books and breathed in their beauty.

At the reading, Thaddeus talked about the beauty of books - how producing one is democratic, as it involves contributions from many people, how people can take it home and come back to it at many times during their lives, and how having a great book in a library means it is accessible to a range of people, not just those who can afford it.

This makes me think of Gutenburg's Bible - his press gave people the most powerful book in Europe in a time of kings and serfs. What an electrifying moment: imagine those readers pomndering at the kitchen table, free from the dictated words of the priest for the first time.