Let it be known that if someone doesn’t like Thrice, they are incapable of having good music taste.

This song speaks wonders for so many.  But the truth of the matter is that it’s all choices of value which determine who is and who is not simply somebody who we used to know.  The sad thing to me is when I don’t realize until it’s too late in the diminution of the relationship that someone has become somebody that I used to know.  But humankind are disposed to substitute time spent in one activity they perceive as less significant for time spent in another activity they perceive as more significant.  And in so doing, their lives change, regardless of whether or not they’re realizing it in the process.  People always become “somebody that I used to know.”  I just hope some of my relationships, through my development, don’t have the same fate.

disobey asked: That is an excellent song.

Yes, it really is.  For all those interested in listening to it:  Urine Speaks Louder Than Words.

[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]

This is the production I made for my Audio Production Course.  The topic was “American Values.”

It was difficult for me to figure out what to write for this, without it being satirical.  But, after thinking more about it, I decided to select “serenity” as an American value.  Serenity may seem like an unusual value for Americans to hold, at least, as far as most Americans being perceived more as advantageous go-getters than relaxing individuals.  But it doesn’t necessarily have to be one or the other.

As is noted in the listening, the speaker is a hardworking individual;  but also, the speaker enjoys his downtime.  And, “thanks to progress,” the individual has the ability to spend more of his life living as he pleases, not needing to dedicate as much solely to create the means of his livelihood.  This “value” somewhat plays off the Marxist perception of Freedom—that to increase Freedom one needs to minimize essential needs to sustain his/her life, to allow for a more free decision making process to select his/her choices without necessarily having to make those choices to survive.  Surely this perception of Freedom is different than the commonly held perception of Liberal Freedom, to be free to act and be effected by the choices one makes.  But the Marxist definition of Freedom isn’t necessarily mutually exclusive, as many people enjoy the ability progress has created to reduce the time necessary to sustain their livelihood, freeing up time for the activities they’d rather be doing.  However, these views are different for determining societal obligations. 

I won’t be getting into how these differing definitions of Freedom contributed to the development of Marxist thought or Libertarian thought.  That would, preferably, be a conversation had over drinks.  I just wanted to share my rationalization for the perspective I have for a legitimate “American Value,” one that cannot be easily refuted as not being something Americans value.  … I could go on to troll the writing in both Marxist and Libertarian perspectives;  but I see no reason to. 

"We’ve had enough of these politicians’ wars. What we need right now is love."

Rx Bandits

Amen.

War is not good for any of us at least, since we aren’t the huge Military Industrial Complex that profits alongside the corporations through the destruction of others’ lives, liberties and properties.

And it most certainly is not good for the economy.

coeus:

Reblog forever.

“Fight of the Century” Lyrics.

Written by John Papola and Russ Roberts

KEYNES

Here we are… peace out! great recession
thanks to me, as you see, we’re not in a depression
Recovery, destiny if you follow my lesson
Lord Keynes, here I come, line up for the procession

HAYEK
We brought out the shovels but we’re still in a ditch…
And still digging. don’t you think that it’s time for a switch…
From that hair of the dog. Friend, the party is over.
The long run is here. It’s time to get sober!

KEYNES
Are you kidding? my cure works perfectly fine…
have a look, the great recession ended back in ’09.
Surely, I deserve credit. Things would have been worse
All the estimates prove it—I’ll quote chapter and verse

HAYEK
Econometricians, they’re ever so pious
Are they doing real science or confirming their bias?
Their “Keynesian” models are tidy and neat
But that top down approach is a fatal conceit

REFRAIN
Which way should we choose?
more bottom up or more top down
…the fight continues…
Keynes and Hayek’s second round

it’s time to weigh in…
more from the top or from the ground
…lets listen to the greats
Keynes and Hayek throwing down

KEYNES
we could have done better, had we only spent more
Too bad that only happens when there’s a World War
You can carp all you want about stats and regression
Do you deny World War II cut short the Depression?

HAYEK
Wow. One data point and you’re jumping for joy
the Last time I checked, wars only destroy
There was no multiplier, consumption just shrank
As we used scarce resources for every new tank

Pretty perverse to call that prosperity
Rationed meat, Rationed butter… a life of austerity
When that war spending ended your friends cried disaster
yet the economy thrived and grew ever faster

KEYNES
You too only see what you want to see
The spending on war clearly goosed GDP
Unemployment was over, almost down to zero
That’s why I’m the master, that’s why I’m the hero

HAYEK
Creating employment’s a straigtforward craft
When the nation’s at war, and there’s a draft
If every worker was staffed in the army and fleet
We’d be at full employment with nothing to eat

REFRAIN

HAYEK
jobs are the means, not the ends in themselves
people work to live better, to put food on the shelves
real growth means production of what people demand
That’s entrepreneurship not your central plan

KEYNES
My solution is simple and easy to handle..
its spending that matters, why’s that such a scandal?
The money sloshes through the pipes and the sluices
revitalizing the economy’s juices

it’s just like an engine that’s stalled and gone dark
To bring it to life, we need a quick spark
Spending’s the life blood that gets the flow going
Where it goes doesn’t matter, just get spending flowing

HAYEK
You see slack in some sectors as a “general glut”
But some sectors are healthy, and some in a rut
So spending’s not free – that’s the heart of the matter
too much is wasted as cronies get fatter.

The economy’s not a car, there’s no engine to stall
no expert can fix it, there’s no “it” at all.
The economy’s us, we don’t need a mechanic
Put away the wrenches, the economy’s organic

REFRAIN

KEYNES
so what would you do to help those unemployed?
this is the question you seem to avoid
when we’re in a mess, would you just have us wait?
Doing nothing until markets equil-i-brate?

HAYEK
I don’t want to do nothing, there’s plenty to do
The question I ponder is who plans for who?
Do I plan for myself or leave it to you?
I want plans by the many and not by the few.

We shouldn’t repeat what created our troubles
I want real growth not just a series of bubbles
Let’s stop bailing out losers and let prices work
If we don’t try to steer them they won’t go berserk

KEYNES
Come on, Are you kidding? Don’t Wall Street’s gyrations
Challenge your world view of self-regulation?
Even you must admit that the lesson we’ve learned
Is more oversight’s needed or else we’ll get burned

HAYEK
Oversight? The government’s long been in bed
With the Wall Street execs and the firms that they’ve led
Prosperity’s all about profit and loss
When you bail out the losers there’s no end to the cost

the lesson I’ve learned? It’s how little we know,
the world is complex, not some circular flow
the economy’s not a class you can master in college
to think otherwise is the pretense of knowledge

REFRAIN

KEYNES
You get on your high horse and you’re off to the races
I look at the world on a case by case basis
When people are suffering I roll up my sleeves
And do what I can to cure our disease

The future’s uncertain, our outlooks are frail
Thats why free markets are so prone to fail
In a volatile world we need more discretion
So state intervention can counter depression

HAYEK
People aren’t chessmen you can move on a board
at your whim–their dreams and desires ignored
With political incentives, discretion’s a joke
Those dials you’re twisting… are just mirrors and smoke

we need stable rules and real market prices
so prosperity emerges and cuts short the crisis
give us a chance so we can discover
the most valuable ways to serve one another

REFRAIN
Which way should we choose?
more bottom up or more top down
the fight continues…
Keynes and Hayek’s second round

it’s time to weigh in…
more from the top or from ground
…lets listen to the greats
Keynes and Hayek throwing down

(Source: baseballlibertarian)

Won’t Get Fooled Again

We’ll be fighting in the streets
With our children at our feet
And the morals that they worship will be gone.
And the men who spurred us on
Sit in judgement of all wrong,
They decide and a shotgun sings the song.
I’ll tip my hat to the new constitution;
Take a bow for the new revolution;
Smile and grin at the change all around;
Pick up my guitar and play,
Just like yesterday.
Then I’ll get on my knees and pray
We don’t get fooled again.
I’ll move myself and my fam’ly aside
If we happen to be left half alive;
Get all my papers and smile at the sky,
Tho’ I know that the hypnotized never lie.
The change, it had to come,
We knew it all along.
We were liberated from the fold, that’s all.
The world looks just the same,
And history ain’t blamed,
‘Cause the banners were all flown in the last war.
I’ll tip my hat to the new constitution;
Take a bow for the new revolution;
Smile and grin at the change all around;
Pick up my guitar and play,
Just like yesterday,
Then I’ll get on my knees and pray
We don’t get fooled again.
I’ll move myself and my fam’ly aside
If we happen to be left half alive;
Get all my papers and smile at the sky,
Tho’ I know that the hypnotized never lie.
There’s nothing in the street looks any different to me.
And the slogans are all replaced, by the by.
The parting on the left is now a parting on the right,
And the beards have all grown longer overnight.
I’ll tip my hat to the new constitution;
Take a bow for the new revolution;
Smile and grin at the change all around;
Pick up my guitar and play,
Just like yesterday.
Then I’ll get on my knees and pray.
Meet the new Boss!
Same as the old Boss!

-Peter Townshend

I really wish I hadn’t forgotten the music to the Petite Suite in Arizona.  I’m going to have to go and buy it again to learn it.  This is such a beautiful piece of music.  These kids interpret it very well also.

Tags: Music Debussy

"It’s the end of the world as we know it. And I feel fine."

— REM

Tags: Quotes REM Music

Lately I’ve been using more of the subtonic in my minor scales.  I’m more often incorporating melodic minor scales into my music.  However, I’m not using them “properly.”  I have been ascending occasionally with the subtonic resulting in a less tonally centered melodic line.

Tags: Music

[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]

I love this pad sound.  This is what I do randomly.  I never record it though.  But, I decided to today.

Me playing around with a sound effect I like.

Tags: Music