The Intergalactic Underground!
This is the best and funniest expression of my own personal philosophy I’ve ever seen!
in case you appreciate awesome things…
Here’s not one, but two awesome things I’ve recently come across.
Awesome thing #1!
If you have any use for free sound effects, samples, drum loops, audio whatevers.. and if you like them to be all three kinds of free (royalty, copyright, and just free).. and if you like websites that are actually nice n’ user-friendly with good searchability and are not ugly.. and if you like the idea of a cool community project by fellow music/sound people who all contribute original audio samples for anyone to use.. you have to check out SOUNDSNAP!
Awesome thing #2!
Has anyone seen Stop Making Sense by the Talking Heads? Man, I gotta. Check out this awesome weird interview with David Byrne:
(brought to us by Tim, friend of the show).
Bonus Awesome Things:
“21 Love Songs” Magnetic Fields Tribute Released!
21 Love Songs: A Tribute to the Magnetic Fields is at last unleashed upon the world.
To refresh your poor, ADD-inflicted 21st century memories, I made a song for it last month, and designed one of the two album covers (as seen above). My cover of “Born on a Train” is track #13 (my lucky number)! Did James do that on purpose? I don’t even know!
Speaking of the devil, once again, mad props must go to James Eric for dreaming up this idea and making it all happen, and also to the many great artists who grace this great album.
It really is great. I love these people!
Go and download the album for free at the wonderful, magical, fantasmical CLLCT!
Honor Thy Parents?
I’m reading A.J. Jacobs’ book, “The Year of Living Biblically” (which I recommend), and I have to interject something.
I’m at the part where A.J.’s aunt Kate witnesses his son, Jasper calling him “A.J.”. She disapprovingly remarks, “Children aren’t supposed to use their parents’ first names. It’s disrespectful.”
A.J. writes:
“She’s probably right; in biblical times, there was no such thing as an informal, I’m-friends-with-my-kid father. Without me knowing it, Jasper was violating the ‘honor your parents’ commandment.”
Bla. I disagree. I mean, maybe he is one of those “I want to be my kid’s friend even if it works to his potential detriment because really I’m just afraid to use discipline” pansy-type fathers, I don’t know. But just being on a first-name basis with your kid doesn’t automatically mean that’s the case. Nor does a kid calling his parents by their first names show disrespect.
If anything, you honor your parents more by calling them by their first names — by acknowledging them as individuals with complex identities, histories, hopes and dreams of their own, not just the ones centered around you. Calling them ‘Mom’ or ‘Dad’ exclusively is reducing them to only the role they play in relation to you, just as if they were to call you ‘Son’ or ‘Daughter’ exclusively.
Words are hypnotic. You are lulling each other into the familiar comfort of habitual roles and behavior patterns. You are one-dimensionalizing each other, type-casting each other. You are reinforcing limits around your relationships (some of which, I realize, are there for good reason, but not all) and the identities of each individual involved.
Maybe it has something to do with my weird beliefs which I won’t go into, but which include reincarnation (sort of). I don’t think my biological parents ‘created’ me any more than I created them. We came together to help each other out and maybe because we are friends at another level. Or enemies. Maybe they were my kids last time. That would explain a lot. Who knows, but we’re all sovereign beings.
You don’t have to believe in reincarnation (even sort of) to realize that people are not born blank slates and then merely molded by their earthly creators. Parents are the first and strongest influences on the child’s ego, but we’re more than our egos, and nobody owns anybody, and there’s more to the picture. I can’t prove that but I know it.
And as a parent, placed in such a position of influence, I would want to help instill a strong sense of sovereignty and independence in the developing ego I’ve been entrusted with, not dependency (or codependency — parents can get awfully attached to the parent-child dynamic, too, and that’s not good for anybody).
That said, I address my parents by the standard, socially acceptable labels. It’s how they grew up, it’s how I grew up, it’s habit, it’s what they want to be called. Of course now my husband’s Mom wants me to call her ‘mom’ too, which I do when I remember to, though reluctantly (it feels really weird to me), out of respect for her wishes if not for her individuality, or mine.
Reinforcing role-relationships… and inequalities within them. Most people don’t even think about this, so I don’t hold it against anybody. I’m just sayin’. Being on a first-name basis signifies equality and mutual respect. It reminds both involved that even if you’re playing different roles in relation to each other, they are just roles and you are not those roles, you’re both just people.
My kid(s) will call me Brooke. And yeah, maybe sometimes I’ll have them call me ‘Our Lord’, like on Tuesdays or something. But I’ll let them pick special titles they want to be called sometimes, too. I want them to develop warped senses of humor, after all.
Coming up next!
(or whenever I feel like it!)
(probably never.)
Psychological Experimentation On Your Child: How to Get the Most Personal Amusement While Doing the Least Possible Damage to Your Child’s Fragile Psyche.
Tim’s Gone Crrraaazy! (Again!) — With Bargains!
Super Giant Liquidation Sale going on over at Tim’s site. Lots n lots of books & DVDs going for crazy-low prices! (just tell him what you want and make a reasonable offer; there actually are no set prices). He has a pretty darn good selection. Help the guy lighten his load so he can become a folk-singin’ hobo! :)
That’s all. Carry on.