An insight into the sort of thing that's going through my head all the time - trust me, you're glad you don't live here...
If you dropped identical rubber balls in various places in the world, where would they bounce highest? Some of the factors you might need to consider:
- Is the force due to gravity identical everywhere on the planet? - I don't know, but I suspect probably not
- Will the ball bounce better in colder or warmer weather? Is there an optimum temperature?
- Height above sea level - will the thinner air (thus less air resistance) have an impact
- Better yet, what if you drop it in water? If it floats, that's gonna be an added help in bouncing back. But how far will it sink before it comes back up - it doesn't count as bouncing if it doesn't hit the bottom. Cheating really, but worth a go.
- Another one on height above sea level - speed at which one is whirling through space: we know that effects how fast time passes (if it's measured "objectively") but will it have an impact on the aerodynamics of the ball's environment?
And nonsense like this is happening all the time :-S
The point of this page is for a sort of thought diary - I sit down and record some random thoughts for a while, then post them. It's an excercise in openess, probably psychology, and possibly psychosis... Please be aware that many of these things may just be concepts that flashed through my head, which on further reflection I might completely disagree with (so please dont hate me if I write something you're fundamentally opposed to). On the other hand, of course, it's quite possible that no-one/very few people will ever read these entries, and I'm not hugely bothered by this - I'm mostly doing this for myself, to give myself a reason to go over the dark workings of my mind.
This has developed rather differently than I had expected: initially I thought I'd have lots of little thoughts, and then I'd just pick some out. Instead, my speed of thought slowed down to the speed of my writing, and a lot of the thoughts are in some way linked - although some of the links are rather obscure ;-)
The initial stimulus for these first was listening to "Falls to Climb" from REM's album "Up". Listening to the first few tracks as I continued, I dont know if they effected my thinkings. Anyway, here they are:
People always say Bono's religious side/spirituality is interesting - what about Michael Stipe's?
- Self sacrifice concepts in Falls to Climb, bound together with religous language
- New Test Leper - "I can't say that I love Jesus, that would be a hollow claim..."
- I Wanted to be Wrong - "Jesus loves me fine, and your words fall flat this time" then later "his words fall flat this time"
looking at a book on U2's spirituality - that topic's been done now - does such a thing exist for REM? Probably not, they keep it private - should we even try to interview someone about their spirituality - shouldnt it be left to them?
What about evangelism? That doesnt have to be too personal - mind you, most interviews arent very personal... because they need mass appeal? can you have intimacy on a massive scale? Yes - when REM played nightswimming at Hyde Park - 80,000 people breathing the words. Music often seems to transcend normal rules - almost everyone'll have some music which skips the brain and plays across their soul. Not the same music for everyone but few other genres can say the same. Is that just me as a musician not understanding other arts?
There couldn't be the same intimacy with visual art, since the artist isn't even there - very good art wouldnt need him/her to be there? or wouldnt need that intimacy to press the same switches? Certainly intimacy isnt always neccesary for major work to ones soul - view across the village in the snow, a few years back. No, that was intimate, intimacy between me my God. What about summer days - less enclosing than winter, less intimate. Can they have the same effect? Same scale of effect?
I've got nowhere to go now - reached a cul-de-sac
Baddiel and Skinner unplanned... dont explain the link, it doesnt matter - that phrase, "it doesn't matter", why do we always mean it to express exasperation? We're saying leave me alone, stop talking to me. When we want to stop talking doesnt always mean fed up with the other person - maybe fed up with yourself. My pitiful attemts to talk to N. Why am I so crap at being a proper guy? Maybe I was always doomed to fail - or maybe I really have handled it as badly as I think. Poor N. How shitty a situation have I put her in...
Too intimate? big scarey internet - internet isn't actually that scarey - you have anonimity (GilesFleming dot com hardly anonimous...) Maybe the internet should be scarey - stop us doing stupid things (is this whole concept a bad idea?)Thats why we need actual interaction - we'd be emotionally warped in a virtual reality world... Would that ever happen anyway? Do I care - beyond my life - that's not right, I should, I do care about the lives of future generations. Maybe I'd realise straight away if I had children... I still am a child, why am I thinking about that? Jumping the gun much. Oh yeah, and Monty Got a Raw Deal (another relevant REM song) - "when I went walking through the streets, I saw you strung up in a tree. A woman knelt there said to me, said walk on by. Walk on by." Yeah, I know there are more obvious meanings, but that was the first to hit me.
Probably worth finishing now. Not got much else to say - havent said as much completely random as I'd expected - hug a banana today - bananas are people too
(That's a misquote of a M*A*S*H Character) bless you radar :-) - that phrase used in "Quo Vadis, Captain Chandler?" (bomber pilot has enough killing and inside says "enough - you shouldnt be killing - you're Jesus Christ" - gets "stuck" as our saviour ;-) Is that insightful or trite? Insightful. I like M*A*S*H, I would say that. But I think it's true. Anyway,
toodle-oo