| "If you can get used to the term "generative," and start to think of yourself as a generative being, so that you stop having the notion that there is a perfect, Platonic version of yourself which you'll finally achieve...you begin to think of yourself as a continual "mix" w/some things added, and some left out. Some times this mix is going to produce brilliant, beautiful suprises, and sometimes it's going to be a bit dull." -Brian Eno from When Surface Was Depth (Bracewell, 2002) | |||
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[April 9] This page/blog was originally designed for hatching out all of the thoughts that fall under the category of "blah" (while I'd like to think I'm self-taught in this category, I know that I owe much of my "blah-ness" to a girl named Tanya). Now I'm thinking of less "blah" and more "meaning". More content less theory, more content less form, etc. I've just realized I need to update the pictures (once I get everything uploaded) and other misc. commentary. Life seems to be a sequence related to the changing of subjects (with some recurring themes). Maybe this page will reflect that. Maybe I'll write more short sentences. Celine wrote in short sentences. This summer's internship with Burma Issues in Bangkok, Thailand is beginning to take shape. I'll need to find an apartment and wrap up all the local loose ends before going back abroad. T.J. is over there scouting out the terrain as I write this. As for now, it should relate most to things I do on weekends to get away from my school work. [April 4] The belated birthday celebration of Rachel (organized by the Roosevelt scholars with whom she occasionally covorts) went down at Nuevo Leone, a Mexican restaurant in Pilsen. Some participants then went back to la casa de Noah para ver unas peliculas. Then we moved on to a few rounds of "hot topic" and politics. Matt and I failed to resurrect the guitar playing of 1994, and our audience likely failed to maintain interest in our attempts--if only Ignatius had dropped by to drop some spoken word on the crowd. [April 3] Went Latin dancing last night with a crew including T.J., Ignatius, and Matt. Pictures of the event may be posted at some future date. First thought upon arrival was "who in the world makes lemonade that tastes this good?" Friday was supposed to be the day I went to see Blonde Redhead, however they sold out both Friday and Saturday night shows at the Abbey Pub and so I'm S.O.L in that regard until the next time around. No worries. Next week the Tyrades play upstairs at Subterranean. [March 16] I've been in a place called Provo, Utah for the past few days and it's an extremely interesting town, albeit after an initial period assimilation. It was 13 degrees when I left Chicago and arrived deep into the Rocky Mountains at a temperature of 48 at night. It's been about 60 degrees during the afternoon each day. Not bad at all. While there I went to museums and tried, as much as possible, to delve deeper in the Mormon history. Mormonism made its way out to Utah due to intolerance and persecution directed toward previously established Mormon communities in the east and Midwest. Today people protest around Temple Square in Salt Lake City with the plea that Mormon dogmatism dictates what people can and can’t due in the Salt Lake area. It seems ironic. For the first time in quite a few years I was reminded of the great St. Augustine and a discussion of the City of God in one of my political theory classes back at Indiana University. St. Augustine was determined of the necessity of the progression of those who believe in God. He was also interested in how to create a balance between the progression of believers in God and tolerance of those who’s beliefs differed. [Feb 27] If I can type one entry for the entire month of February, I'll have accomplished something. The bulk of my time is being spent on the recently published Cambridge Studies in Contentious Politics--a co-authored 5-book series which includes the work of Charles Tilly, Doug McAdam, Ronald Aminzade, Sidney Tarrow, Bill Sewell, and a few others possibly. The subject is social movements and collective violence, and their primary thesis is that research in that particular field needs to further its scope beyond pre-existing all-too-rigid paradigms to include such things as emotions, spacial relations, non-western, and cross-discipline (i.e., behavioral sciences, psychology, etc.) approaches. The readings focus on what's called a "political process" approach. Other highlights of the month include the bi-annual FIA (Filipinos In Alliance) performance at UIC and a block party (i.e., a friend who had a party, who happens to live on the same block). [Jan 29] MONO (Japan) performed last night at Fireside Bowl. They put on a great showing of instrumental post-rock akin to Mogwai, Sonic Youth, and the Austin, Texas-based band Explosions in the Sky. They were in Chicago this week working with world-renown producer Steve Albini. They have an interesting website that's worth checking out as well. [Jan 22] Last night George W. Bush gave his annual State of the Union Address. Bush accounted for a few things that have taken place in 2003, yet a few other noteable events have drawn wide attention and are listed elsewhere. Perhaps Dubya merely forgot to mention them. The Real State of the Union 2004.
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 [Jan 21] The contributions of Martin Luther King were many. There is a program at Stanford University called the MLK Papers Project, which has compiled everything he's every written, and transcribed most of his speeches. What's easily overlooked, they say, is his critique of capitalism as we know it. According to the director of this project, Clayborne Carson, King percieved and identified both Capitalism and Socialism--tagging them materialist-based models of accumulation--as moving away from a people-oriented approach. Also interesting, with regard to King Jr., is the relationship between religion and social justice, and the manner of educating congregations from the pulpit as both minister and activist (Benjamin Mays, surely an early influence on Martin Luther King Jr., also comes to mind). [Jan 18] As an addendum to the Cafe Jumping Bean review I wrote in the Pilsen section of this website, I might include that it is extremely warm, such that even when it's 20 degrees outside it's a good 85-90 degrees inside. Myself and four other IU alumni caught a cup of hot Chocolate there yesterday as we casually conversed for a few hours about dogs, travel adventures, and graduate study. [Jan 14] A couple of things come to mind these past two weeks. First and foremost, I should probably get a headstart on the 2500 page book assigned for my Lit Crit class. Second, our country is bought and sold at the political auction block. The recent Naomi Klein article, "The Year of the Fake", appeared in this month's issue of The Nation. Classic; perhaps one of the better columns of this year amid the stacks of redundant print I mull through each day. [Jan 10] The strangest thing happened at the turn of 2004. Matt and I were sitting around talking about the past decade. As it happened, we decided to see if any random websearches might turn up any interesting events about people we used to know. One thing led to another and I located an email address of an old friend named Nicole that I haven't talked to in over 10 years. I decided to casually send an email to see what she'd been up to, but first to see if that was same Nicole that I'd known in highschool. A few days later I recieved a reply, and then another a few days after that another summarizing in added detail how things had gone over the past decade. She's now a homeowner, has spent significant time in another country (like myself), and is a grad student at the University of South Carolina. Pretty interesting I'll say. Yet, she also relayed that another friend I'd known at the time had passed away in a plane crash 5 years ago which is upseting for two reasons. First and foremost, because she was a great person and the world is worse off without such people. And second, because I now realize that detaching myself from South Carolina following graduation in 1993, only to transplant myself in some other less personal place, has put me out of touch with many of the people and places that made me who I am, something that drifting cannot change. That aside, travelling has it's upside, and experience, they say, is the best teacher. But at the same time, I've felt a gravity pulling me toward a pilgrimage back to South Carolina sometime in the near future. [Jan 1] ...So I'll have to remember that the year is 2004 when post-dating my checks. Last night we took to the Aragon for the annual New Years Eve show...I'll only mention the two bands worth seeing: the Flaming Lips and Blanch. No doubt the Lips are festive in their execution of their token songs like "she don't use jelly", "fight test", "Do you realize", "waiting for superman", etc. Blanch was an interesting band, and one I'd gladly see again if given the chance--everything about them leads one to believe that they, like the Lips, hail from Oklahoma (frontman dressed as a modern day Steinbeck). The two women in the band are amazing singers and drummers, and even exchanged instruments toward the end of their set. They're quite multifacted and I'm weary of engaging in any type of reductionism in that regard, but i'll give it a shot. They're something like a hybrid mix between The Blackheart Procession, The Silos, and The Sundays.
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[Link Reviews] Bad Subjects has some serious commentary on political and social activism as well as a great review section on books. I believe it is the brainchild of Punk Planet co-editor Joel Schalit, who has most recently published some work with Akashic Books. Longtime British-based [Archives]
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