But is it Art?

Recently, a group of idiots attacked a bunch of people in Mumbai, India. They killed around 119 people, took others hostage and created a general mayhem. They targeted Americans and British folk but managed to kill, fairly exclusively, Indians.

The press has been almost unanimous in praising how organized they were. The Associated Press was typical in this regard.

"India has been shaken repeatedly by terror attacks blamed on Muslim militants in recent years, but most of those attacks have been coordinated bombings that struck random crowded places: markets, street corners, parks.

The Wednesday night attacks were far more sophisticated — and more brazen."

Sure, it was a drastic bit of performance art, but the critics have been too kind in their reviews. These guys were armed with AK-47s and grenades. In a matter of hours the terrorists murdered only 119 people, apparently hitting none or few of their intended targets and they all got caught or killed having accomplished nothing in particular.

One guy with an Uzi could have done better (way better) in five minutes. So what the hell is wrong with the media? Are they trying to make this better than it was so some officials can save face? Maybe so the story can run something like, "Well yes, it was a terrible thing that happened but these bad guys were just too organized and got the drop on us."

So here are three things that have to be done:


1. Mumbai has to go back to being called Bombay. Really, who knows from Mumbai?!

2. Death to the terrorists.

3. The media has to stop praising terrorists...particularly when it is not deserved.





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The Cadence

I have always enjoyed writing music. Well, not always, but for a long time. I started composing in 1977. I started getting good at it in 1979. And believe me, it is, at times, sobering to notice that there are adults...people who drive cars, pay taxes, have sex, work jobs, who are younger than compositions of mine. There are things I've created that are older than adults who are walking around now, doing adult sort of things.

I'm not old. But sometimes it seems as if I absolutely must be.

Over the (apparently many) years I've been in existence I've learned some things and noticed stuff. Here's an example: When I regard our society I've come to think that maybe I haven't written enough requiems. Because surely a massive, complex world such as this deserves several from every composer living in it.

Really...it's getting to look like a huge cadence is upon us.

This blog is not about The End of the World. It's about The End of the World not happening.

Well, yeah, it is about The End of the World...but only so far as the causes of it and what we can do to avoid it happening anytime soon.

And no, this has little to do with reducing carbon emissions or recycling and stuff like that (though those are all wonderful things and you should do those!). It's about our general ways of thinking and changing them. It's about noticing stuff. It's about philosophy and art.

And no, this is not about vague things like "Supporting the Arts." It is about Art. And about the place of Art in one's everyday life.

Right now Art is a thing for certain well-off Left-Wingers and a few investors or some other folks seeking a tax dodge. It isn't taken seriously and, this seems obvious, there are a lot of people (particularly educators and bureaucrats as well as media gate-keepers), who don't know what Art is. They don't know what it does or what its place in human life is supposed to be.

This blog also about consumerism. Consumerism isn't all bad. There's a lot of good to be said about it. Civilization has always owed much to it. But rampant, non-thinking consumerism...not so good. And not just idiotic consumerism, but the ideas behind it.

Because these things, consumerism, democracy, totalitarianism, public schools, Art, carbon, TV, atomic bombs, food, polar bears and such do not exist on their own; they're all interconnected.

There are two things that (which?) connect them. Natural Reality, which (that?) is existence no one can do anything about. It comes into its own through natural, logical progression and no one has pushed it along or dreamed it up. The other thing is Artificial Reality, which (that...how does the rule for those words go?!) is created. There may or may not be a logic behind its existence.

For example, man invents the automobile to get around fast and also invents a lot of other stuff to support the auto, which in turn supports a different style of life than he's known for thousands of years. Artificial Reality.

Mankind is traumatized for generations by this radical shift in his life, effecting his rationality and chemical and other byproducts alter the world in which he lives. Natural Reality.

Mountains and oil and anything lying around are also part of Natural Reality. They are not intended by people, they just are. Mankind didn't intend to pollute the world (I'm an optimist). Nor to be traumatized. These are just the natural consequences of certain decisions.

Well, this is what this blog will address. It is what I'm doing instead of writing a requiem. It's a philosophical thing about perception, ideas and reality intended to inspire people of intelligence who may come up with solutions that keep us from falling into the second half of a giant V--I cadence . The cataclysmic resolution we've been wanting to avoid. And their ideas will have to be radical and practical ones and they will have to be able to be noticed, as no one really pays attention to intelligence (let alone genius) nowadays.




We're running out of time.








Scott Giles