I haven’t listened to the Beach Boys since I moved to Korea. Somehow, it just doesn’t fit into the mood. But I’ve been listening to a band called Panda Bear recently, and it’s a great representation of a contemporized and experimental nod to the late 60s early 70s Beach Boys. Something that so many musicians attempt to do, often with ridiculous results.
So I downloaded the version of “Brian Wilson’s Smile” that came out a few years ago. I remember reading some positive reviews at the time. It’s pretty horrible actually, as most of Brian Wilson’s post millenium `wheel out’ has been, but it did motivate me to download one of the many bootlegged versions of Smile that have come out over the years.
What an amazing piece of music. Definately one of my all time favorites, if I can call it an actual album. One of the few pieces of music that never fails to move me.
It’s got me going through a few of the other great albums…Sunflower and Surf’s Up.
Here’s one of my favorite’s from Smile…
06-cabin-essence.mp3
July 1, 2007
Smile
May 6, 2007
Rick Roderick
Over here in Korea I spend a lot of time walking around aimlessly. For most of my life I’ve been doing this, but it wasn’t until recently that I realized I was actually practicing a form of meditation. So I like it even more.
The difference in Korea is an MP3 player. I walk around the back alleys of Korea listening to various lectures, audio books and podcasts. It is this sort of thing that makes me realize I am quite content and somewhat lucky in life.
One of my favorites for three years running is The Teaching Company. These guys advertise in magazines like Harper’s. They offer lecture series on all sorts of topics, most of which are historical or philisophical in nature.
I just finished “Nietzsche and the Post-Modern Condition” by Rick Roderick. After three years of listening to these things I can say Roderick is the most captivating lecturer I’ve heard. He was from West Texas and raised a Baptist, which helps cast Nietzsche in a totally different light.
One point he makes is that Nietzsche is totally misunderstood by general public as a fascist philosopher. This was mostly due British scholars depicting him as such immediately following WWII. But Roderick argues this bias prevents the greatness of Nietzsche’s ideas from reaching the general public, especially in America.
Apparently Roderick died in 2002, which isn’t terribly surprising in hearing his cigarette ravaged voice during lectures. But he did two other series for The Teaching Company, one of which (“Philosophy and Human Values”) I’ve already put on my player.
I like the idea of someone like Roderick being preserved and finding an audience following his death. I suppose once upon a time this would have been more common-had the Greeks had MP3 players. Of course today this concept is almost fetishized in music.
I found this Website dedicated to him. You can download his lectures directly from the site.
April 26, 2007
George Jackson
I lived in downtown Oakland for five years, but never knew much about George Jackson. I’d heard of the Black Panthers of course, but it wasn’t the sort of thing they spent a lot of time on in Bay Area history classrooms just 10 or so years after the fact.
I can remember, working at the newspaper in Oakland, hearing names like Angela Davis said with a ring that made it clear it wasn’t something to bring up ’round the ol watercooler either.
I’ve just started but I’m looking forward to getting into this history. One of the parts in my book concerns a Korean guy who succombs to family pressure and tries to find a wife through a bridal agency. At one point I had the idea to have him be a bookish sort, more stimulated by Black American culture than his own.
Now that I’m learning about this I’m considering pulling that part out of the book, reworking it with my original idea, and turning into its own thing.
As has often been the case Bob Dylan checked in with a stinging opinion on Jackson shortly after his death.
Dylan-GeorgeJackson