Thinking about those who think or had thought that they are thinking

I read the preface to Hesse's Steppenwolf last night and came across this eloquent passage:

"Most men will not swim before they are able to.' Is that not witty? Naturally, they won't swim! They are born for the solid earth, not for the water. And naturally they won't think. They are made for life, not for thought. Yes, and he who thinks, what's more, he who makes thought his business, he may go far in it, but he has bartered the solid earth for the water all the same, and one day he will drown."

Perhaps what turns me on the most about Hesse's work, is the unity in which each piece encompasses. Each sentence, paragraph and chapter, an entity in itself, systematically working together to meet an objective of oneness. Sheer beauty!

Wilmington's Independent Film Festival

Cucalorus is approaching! Run away, Run away!...

NC Films

Here is the official site for filming in North Carolina, the state that brought you The Last of the Mohicans and Evil Dead II.

Bruce Haack: King of Techno

A look into the underground world of Bruce Haack, a genius whose work continues to garner recognition over time. The homespun musician couldn't have done it without the support of family, friends and the neighborhood kids Bruce called his ‘Starchildren’, all of whom validate his legacy. In addition, various musicians such as Beck, Money Mark (Beastie Boys) and Mouse on Mars have joined in today showing worldwide support by contributing to the recent Haack Tribute Album. Packed with mind blowing visuals, wild music and far out stories, this documentary takes the viewer on a fieldtrip through time; for the King of Techno is coming from the past and into the future...

Black Mountain College

One day down at Black Mountain College David Tudor was eating his lunch. A student came over to his table and began asking him questions. David Tudor went on eating his lunch. The student kept on asking questions. Finally David Tudor looked at him and said, "If you don't know, why do you ask?"

- John Cage, Faculty 1948, 1952, 1953 Summer Sessions

"What! You are giving up your Queen? Sheer madness!"

THE MODERN WORD

Clinton sleeps on floor so elder Bush can have bed

NEW YORK (AP) -- On their tour of tsunami damage in Southeast Asia, former President Bill Clinton once allowed his predecessor, former President George H.W. Bush, to sleep on the plane's only bed while he stretched out on the floor.
The government plane in which the presidents toured the disaster area had one large bedroom and another room with tables and seats, according to an interview with Bush in this week's Newsweek.
Bush, 80, said Clinton offered ahead of time to give the older former president the bedroom so he could lie flat and avoid paining his body. Clinton, 58, decided to play cards in the other room that night.
The next morning, Bush said he peeked in and saw Clinton sound asleep on the plane's floor.
"We could have switched places, each getting half a night on the bed, but he deferred to me. That was a very courteous thing, very thoughtful, and that meant a great deal to me," Bush said.
Bush said he and Clinton are not close, but have been compatible on the tour, partly because Clinton respects his age.

Note to Self: make sure you're in the COMPOSE mode when posting. Ahhhhhhhh!

Beck, Beth Orton, Hank III: Southlander

This is one of those wickedly cool movies that you never run across while perusing the dribble at zee 'ol Blockbuster. No marketing, no hype, no $$$... just good people making good music, and a damn cool film.

Cast includes:
RORY COCHRANE, BETH ORTON, ROSS HARRIS, LAWRENCE HILTON JACOBS, BECK HANSEN, GREGG HENRY, HANK WILLIAMS III, RICHARD EDSON, IONE SKYE, MEGHAN GALLAGHER, LAURA PREPON, ELLIOTT SMITH

"Music is the wine that fills the cup of silence."
-Robert Fripp

Generation Jumping

Someone once told me that people tend to be more like their grandparents than their parents. This seemed absurd to me at first because it seemed that a person would grow up trying to emulate those who had raised them - the parents. Well, upon greater reflection, it dawned on me the extraordinarily complex dynamic that is growing up. Maybe children do mimic their parents for a while, but then comes the teenage revolution. Parents become outdated, behind the times. What changed? Hormones, status, responsibility? A perfectly utopian world is turned upside down. Sitting in front of the television - vegging as placid as the open ocean - is replaced with worry, doubt and depression. Tumbling into a dark abyss, one is all but lossed to a world foreign to their fledgling eyes.
In these uncertain times, the question crosses my mind whether or not we, as individuals, are not microcosms of the world at large. Does life not ebb and flow like the tides? Do our emotions not erupt on occasion spilling over into the sea of languid tranquility? Raised by one generation, but resembling another? I certainly don't have a definitive answer. However, with the feeling that history is repeating itself, I can only wait for a time when the world reflects the placid temper of one with the time to ponder such thoughts.

Asheville Global Report

"...striving to bring you a weekly newspaper that consistently covers news and perspectives that are left out of the corporate media."