This short piece presents some esoteric thoughts I observed from readings on Space – Time. I expect these ramblings will be refined with further reading, but this is so far what I could glean. There are two videos below which I have referred to in previous articles that are my precursors for delving into this: 1. The Secrets of Quantum Physics – BBC Four 2. The Physics and Philosophy of Time – Carlo Rovelli
Personally, it took me some time to digest these points; but they struck me when I thought I understood them. So here goes:
Space – Time is 4 dimensional. Space is 3 dimensional – length, breadth and height. Time is the 4th dimension. There is no gravitational force in Space – Time. Gravitational field is actual Space – Time (curved) and the electromagnetic field is located within it.
‘Time is nature’s way of ensuring that not everything happens at once‘. Our current reality is here; in a cross-section of time from a 5th dimensional vantage point. Could God (or The Logos according to Greek Philosophy) be that which created time – life?
Without mass travelling through Space then there would be no time to observe. Mass that is not moving is not creating time. So if everything stood still and the Earth stopped rotating at midnight then there would be no time.
Mass needs Space to travel in, so that we can measure and label it. If not, everything would exist in the eternal – here and now.
Stand up comedian Neal Brennan made the following observation about the Travelling Wilburyshere:
“Was talking with friend about how impossibly old the Traveling Wilburys seemed when they released their music in 1988.
“I’ve listed their ages at the time. For some perspective, three of them are no longer alive.“
Someone responded with a GIF of Spinal Tap at the grave of Elvis Presley:
‘Too much. There’s too much fucking perspective now.’
Today’s aptly titled song Heading for the Light is a song by the British–American supergroup the Traveling Wilburys from their 1988 album Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1. It was written primarily by George Harrison but credited to all five members of the band. Harrison sings the song with Jeff Lynne, who also co-produced the track and, with Harrison, formulated the idea for starting the Wilburys.
In the interpretation of some Harrison biographers, Heading for the Light reflects his rediscovery of his spiritual purpose and reconnection with his deity. An upbeat rock track, the recording features excellent saxophone solos played by Jim Horn and recalls the sound of Harrison’s 1987 album Cloud Nine.
A lot more information about the Wilburys can be found in the other 4 articles I have written about their songs, but I was interested to read that George Harrison and Jeff Lynne first discussed the idea for the Traveling Wilburys in early 1987 when they were recording Cloud Nine, Harrison’s first album in five years. When Harrison suggested they should form their “dream” band, Lynne chose Roy Orbison as a potential bandmate, while Harrison’s first choice was Bob Dylan.
The Traveling Wilburys recorded the basic track for Heading for the Light between 7 and 16 May 1988 at a makeshift studio in David A. Stewart’s house in Los Angeles. Taped in the kitchen, the basic tracks for all the songs on the album typically featured the five band members on acoustic rhythm guitars accompanied by an Oberheim DMX drum machine.
One description of the movie Half Nelson I related to was ‘unsentimental’. This movie does not offer answers instead it reflects what the actor Gosling does in his role as a middle-school history teacher (as seen in the video below) which is ‘dialectics’ in concept and dialogical in implementation. 26 year-old Gosling was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance here.
Despite his dedication to the junior-high students who fill his classroom, idealistic teacher Dan Dunne leads a secret life of addiction that the majority of his students will never know. But things change when a troubled student Drey makes a startling discovery of his secret life, causing a tenuous bond between the two that could either end disastrously or provide a catalyst of hope.
The film grossed $2,697,938 in North America and $1,962,543 internationally for a worldwide gross of $4,660,481. The film’s budget was $700,000. The film has overwhelmingly positive critical reviews with an approval rating of 90%. I saw this just after it came out at the cinema and I was so impressed by its authenticity because it avoids the inspirational cliches. The film shows with astonishing clarity, the complexity of a talented man dragged down by a legacy of good intentions and addiction.
There is another fine movie about someone tormented by crack-cocaine which I revisited again recently called The Fighter by David Russell although that is not as nuanced and realistic as Half Nelson it satisfied a larger commercial base. Half Nelson is one of those few movies which lingered in my psyche well after seeing it although I second-guess’d if I enjoyed the movie. I related to it from personal experience.
Dan played by Gosling is filled with the kind of optimism that many of us had coming right out of college, when we cared passionately about our beliefs and believed we could make others care as much about them. However, Dan’s promise as a teacher is severely limited by his addiction to crack, which consumes his personal life.
Interesting Trivia: The film was shot in 23 days and finished one day ahead of schedule…..Gosling moved to New York for one month before shooting began, immersing himself in the life of his character. He lived in a small apartment in Brooklyn and spent time shadowing 8th grade teacher David Easton.
This song ‘Hay Poder’ (There is Power) was written by Generation 12 from the International Charismatic Mission Church in Bogota. Even after reading their web site, I was unable to ascertain what the ‘MCI’ logo meant. Thank God for wikipedia which can enlighten us ol’ fogies what MCI stands for and relieve one from paranoid thinking about Intelligence agencies and such.
Charismatic churches aren’t my cup of tea in the religious fellowship sense, especially these days or even in the days I was part of one; but they can produce good music, which I believe they have done here.
Soy redimido, y mis pecados tu llevaste (I am redeemed, and my sins you bore) En esa cruz (on that cross) Hoy nos postramos, ante el cordero (Today we prostrate, before the lamb) Que nos salvó, nos santificó (That we were saved and sanctified us)
In 2016, the attendance at MCI was estimated in 25,000 people and it’s considered a Christian cult (according to wikipedia). Should I be relaying this song? It seems a bit like pyramid-selling and who would have thought that coming from here, Colombia? It’s written, ‘Every member is encouraged to become a cell group leader and have 12 disciples just as Jesus did‘.
A true story… when I was first appointed in my profession years ago I was enticed by a senior person who happened to be an ‘Amway‘ member to join the Amway pyramid scheme. I even went to central Melbourne for dinner and got given the Amway product-market speech from someone up-higher on the chain than him. I think I still had to pay for my dinner.
I hope that doesn’t all detract from enjoying today’s featured track. It’s a pretty good song! y’all! Don’t throw out the baby with the Amway magazines, just yet.
Today’s Wednesday literature post features a reading by Tom Waits of Charles Bukowski’s poem Nirvana. Jordan Peterson uses it in his presentation below to great effect. If you want to just listen to Tom’s narration you can watch it from 4:15 in the video or read it in its entirety below. I have read a lot of books by Bukowski and some of his poetry and I’m always impressed by his innate talent as a writer. Bukowski had a way with these small scenes, a way of estranging the ordinary.
Tom Waits’ reading of Nirvana comes closest, perhaps, to the world-weary Bukowski’s voice, and the images and music that accompany Waits’ grizzled sigh convey the dreary grit of the real world of bus travel, not as it looks in the movies, but as it looks from the road: the bleak sameness of highways and the way the snow is oily.
Nirvana – Charles Bukowski
Not much chance Completely cut loose from purpose He was a young man riding a bus through North Carolina On the way to somewhere and it began to snow And the bus stopped at a little cafe in the hills And the passengers entered And he sat at the counter with the others and he ordered The food arrived And the meal was particularly good, and the coffee The waitress was unlike the women he’d known She was unaffected, and there was a natural humor which came from her And the fry cook said crazy things and the dishwasher in back laughed a good, clean, pleasant laugh And the young man watched the snow through the window And he wanted to stay in that cafe forever The curious feeling swam through him That everything was beautiful there And it would always stay beautiful there And then the bus driver told the passengers that it was time to board And the young man thought, I’ll just stay here, I’ll just stay here But then he rose and he followed the others into the bus He found his seat and he looked at the cafe through window Then the bus moved off, down a curve Downward, out of the hills The young man looked straight forward And he heard the other passengers speaking of other things Or they were reading or trying to sleep And they hadn’t noticed the magic And the young man put his head to one side, closed his eyes, and pretended to sleep There was nothing else to do- Just to listen to the sound of the engine And the sound of the tires in the snow
Along with ‘If You Leave Me Now‘ and ‘You’re the Inspiration‘, ‘Hard to Say I’m Sorry‘ is in my trilogy of favourite power ballads by the American rock band Chicago. I remember their music being played a lot at family parties in my youth. I still like to hear them on the odd occasion. It was the group’s second No. 1 single and spent twelve weeks in the top 5 of the Billboard. The single was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance and certified Gold by the Recording Industry. Like most other ballads, I prefer listening to the verses of the song for the crescendo of emotions they invoke and this song’s verses always hit the spot. Interestingly their verses are interrupted by a mini-bridge – ‘Hold me now‘.., which links the verse to the chorus and is something unique and powerful. But I remain disappointed how Hard to Say I’m Sorry is concluded with that big band cheap 80’s sound detracting all the instinctive romantic intensity proceeding it.
“Everybody needs a little time away” I heard her say, from each other Even lovers need a holiday Far away, from each other
Hold me now It’s hard for me to say I’m sorry I just want you to stay
Hard to Say I’m Sorry was written by bassist Peter Cetera, who also sang lead on the track. He has a fantastic voice for such ballads and obviously took the world by storm for the don he was given / mastered. The song, as well as the album on which it is featured (Chicago 16), was a marked departure from Chicago’s traditional soft rock, horn-driven sound, taking on a polished and modern feel. Chicago made a music video for the song (see below) and according to Cetera, the videos for “Hard to Say I’m Sorry” and “Love Me Tomorrow” were shot on the same day.
The group which originated from Chicago was initially called the Chicago Transit Authority in 1968, and then soon after shorterned the name. In September 2008, Billboard ranked Chicago at number thirteen in a list of the top 100 artists of all time for Hot 100 singles chart success. They are one of the world’s best-selling groups of all time, having sold more than 100 million records. In 1971, Chicago was the first rock act to sell out Carnegie Hall for a week.
The reason for the inclusion of this podcast into this week’s News on the March is Heather Heying’s discussion about Viktor Frankl’s book Man’s Search for Meaning. His memoir has riveted generations of readers with its descriptions of life in Nazi death camps and its lessons for spiritual survival. Based on his own experience and the stories of his patients, Frankl argues that we cannot avoid suffering but we can choose how to cope with it, find meaning in it, and move forward with renewed purpose.
From 14:20 in the video you can watch Heather give her take of the book which includes an insightful extract related to finding meaningfulness through volunteer work. The emphasis of this part is ‘The truth is man does not live by welfare alone‘ but by finding unpaid, meaningful activity. Some options include youth organisations, public libraries and adult education. (Watch entire podcast here)
I was reading about the upcoming Elvis biopic by Baz Luhrmann. My knowledge of Elvis has always been a bit lacklustre, so I searched documentaries in the hope of becoming more cognizant of him prior to the screening of Baz’s movie. I was captivated by this one – The Rebirth of the King from the BBC (View entire documentary here)
‘We had a zoom meeting for 2 year olds’…
We all discuss what has changed since Jonathan and Greg published “The Coddling of the American Mind” back in 2018. We talk about the effect of social media on political polarization and mental health. We also discuss Jonathan’s recent viral Atlantic essay called “Why the Past 10 Years of American Life Have Been Uniquely Stupid”, and lots of other related topics. Unfortunately, because of the constraints of the live event, this is a shorter podcast than usual. However, I’m getting Jonathan back on the podcast very soon to have a full-length discussion about all this stuff.’ (Watch video here)
Let us pause in life’s pleasures and count its many tears While we all sup sorrow with the poor There’s a song that will linger forever in our ears Oh, hard times, come again no more ‘Tis the song, the sigh of the weary Hard times, hard times, come again no more Many days you have lingered all around my cabin door Oh, hard times, come again no more
1st verse – Hard Times
This is the third song to appear here from the Bob Dylan’s traditional folk record – Good As I Been To You (GAIBTY) (1992). It was the first album by Dylan not to feature any original songs since Dylan 1973 and his first solo acoustic album since Another Side of Dylan in 1964 and he would not release an another original song until 1997. There is great intimacy of the recording of Hard Times because not only do you feel he is uncovering the song as though you were there in that epoch, but you can hear him singing even through his phlegm; not unlike the heavy breathing heard in his Sinatra record many years later.
Hard Times is an American parlor song written in 1854 by Stephen Foster. It was well known and popular in it’s day achieving wide success both in America and Europe. The song asks the fortunate to consider the plight of the less fortunate and includes one of Foster’s favorite images: “a pale drooping maiden“. A satirical version about soldiers’ food was popular in the American Civil War, “Hard Tack Come Again No More“.
Unlike Jim Jones and Canadee-I-O from the same record, it took me a little time to appreciate Hard Times. Now I really like it because of the timbre of Dylan’s voice and the focus of his phrasing. I wrote in my article Arthur McBride:
Good as I Been To You seems to be him tapping into this very – very old folkloric wellspring when people were behest to destitution and war – ‘hard times’ if you will. When you listen to these tracks sometimes you catch a glimpse of what it must have ‘really’ been like back then. Dylan’s music has always been a portal to another time in our history. Like how David Sexton pointed out in his review of the album “Dylan sounds now, in comparison to his younger self, like one of those ghosts, but a powerful ghost.‘
It is said Good As I Been To You began life as a contractual filler. Dylan had scheduled two weeks at Chicago’s Acme Recording Studio in early June 1992, a few months after his appearance in Melbourne (See image at top). An album’s worth of cover songs were recorded at these sessions with the accompaniment of a full band. For reasons unknown, Dylan scrapped the release of this album, deciding to record solo acoustic material instead.
I watched this movie a lot in my youth and played the soundtrack on cassette to death. I watched The Jazz Singer again a few years ago and thought it held up well. Neil Diamond holds his own in the acting department at least as far as this film is concerned. The film is not an auto-bio of Neil rather a fictional Yussel Rabinovitch; a young Jewish cantor who strives to make a career outside the synagogue as a popular musical artist – Jess Robin. I think it was my first encounter seeing the traditional Jewish faith portrayed on screen. At the time I most likely had no idea what the faith signified; culturally or religiously other than it was seemingly orthodox as presented in the movie. Many of my favourite music artists, comedians, actors and commentators are Jewish.
The movie The Jazz Singer was developed as a starring vehicle for Diamond. It was a critical and commercial disappointment, although it did make a substantial profit, doubling its $13 million budget by making $27.1 million. I don’t know why it was disliked so much by the critics. Lucie Anaz who played Molly Bell in the movie spoke about the audience love for the movie in this interview. I thought it was a solid feature. I can understand their dislike of Sir Laurence Olivier’s meak performance, but Neil did a pretty good job. The soundtrack eventually reached multi-platinum status, becoming Diamond’s most successful album to date and one of the more successful film soundtrack albums in history.
According to wikipedia: During a scene set in a recording booth, Diamond was having trouble conveying anger during an argument with Arnaz’s character. Director Fleischer said that Diamond would go into the adjacent music recording stage where his band was gathered to await his cue and then enter in a supposed rage. During one of the lulls in filming to reset the shot, Fleischer saw him pacing nervously and then suddenly bursting into anger, throwing chairs and smashing equipment. Not wanting to miss an opportunity, the director called “Action” and Diamond stormed in and delivered his lines in a very convincing performance. After the scene ended, Fleischer asked the singer what had set him off. He replied that he was upset he couldn’t give the desired performance and asked his band to play something to make him angry. “And what did they play?” Fleischer asked. “A Barry Manilow number,” replied Diamond.
The score is superb in The Jazz Singer. It’s what makes the movie what it is. The songs fit the mood in every scene, and are all well-placed. The acting, while not the best I’ve ever seen, isn’t nearly as bad as made out to be by critics. Let’s face it. Neil Diamond is not an actor. He is a singer, a performer. And yet, he manages to pull off his character, Yussel Rabinovich. Watching Neil perform in this movie would be like seeing one of his concerts. He’s all-show, and not a bit shy. When he picks up a guitar, you know you’re in for a treat, and he does music as only he can. It’s a good story, well-told.
Below is the ending scene of his live performance which elevates him from modest success to stardom:
This song was a Friday Powerpop song added by Max at his site. Happy Unhappy is a hip, breezy tune which I’m glad to have in my collection. For more information about the song and band click on Max’s link in the image below:
Observation Blogger 