Saturday [14 till close of play]

(1558) Almost evening all.

22.  Down the rabbit hole

The less elevated music of any era, meaning the popular music of the day, tells me more about that era than the more noble classics … it comes and goes in phases, such as the 20s jazz era … and then how it changed after that in the 30s, moved to big band and swing.

I was never one for just pop, e.g. Dione Warwick’s “wo wo wo wo … do you know the way to San Jose” or Petula Clark’s Downtown, though some hits stood out, e.g. Norman Greenbaum or Judy in Disguise … with Glasses.  If I go to any greatest song list and it has anything on the list after 1997, it means little to me, except three or four songs total.  Autotune or pitch correction has really killed popular music.

My parents … to name some songs … somewhere over … Perry Como … Il Silenzio … Strangers … even fun songs … I was too young, started to listen, never heard 50s rock like Little Richard unless on the radio occasionally … that was much later for me.

This could go on forever … essentially, as each song came out, I pretty much heard it, as did my mates and gal friends. Donovan was a major one for us late 60s. This is the first song our garage band played.

Beatles faded, Stones, in came the Eagles, Bad Company, Roxy Music, my radio show started:

Krautrock, alternative, things esoteric but still melodic … and here is the point I think I’m getting to, readers, by degrees … music fragmented, yes, songs even became discordant but still returned to the melodic by the end.  There were even sort of melodic songs, rhythmic at least, in 2010-12:

But something happened before that, inbetween, a brief decade perhaps, where the music became awful … it was almost as if they were in deep depression, on narcotics, the guitar played pretty much one chord throughout, e.g. this Nirvana thing … I listened as long as I could … now how had I missed that entire era?

I mean, it was okish but like the noisepop of the early 90s, deeply, darkly depressed … even Pulp’s lyrics were depressing with nothing in their lives, girls all hoes … this was similar … music to slash your wrists by.

Why? Then I realised … it was not so much an era, it was a generation … and the reason I’d missed this generation completely was threefold … I had been teaching secondary and the female music was everywhere but not the heavier boy music, then I went to Russia and same sort of thing … so for years it was Backstreet Boys, Take That, Macarena but lad music itself was missing. Lads were missing themselves, full stop … females were everywhere.

This evening, I’ve been reposting you here plus Toodles while there’s a food thing going on with Liverpool, Norfolk and Bradford lasses and me, plus on our landing are standing a Zoomer guy and a late Millennial guy and we’re discussing this very music. 

Millennial said Nirvana were quite old. Well yes, they were … so how had I missed them? But both he and I agreed the music was not too good.  I do think it’s generational … he pointed out that the next half generation has a different feel to it, outlook etc. … the one closest to us. So Gen X might not be impressed by Millennial culture.

Anyway, where has this got me, this rant? Where’s it got you? Probably nowhere. So, to finish up, any song every currently living generation would all like?  What can I run below that all generations would not turn away from?

How about Pre-Boomer Leonard Cohen sung by a Gen Xer:

… plus by a Zoomer:

21.  Steve

War Room snippets...

a.  Laura Jacobs Discusses The Declining Birthrates In Western Civilization | https://rumble.com/v4rseul-laura-jacobs-discusses-the-declining-birthrates-in-western-civilization.html

b.  Mike Davis: "This Is A Criminal Conspiracy To Violate Rights" | https://rumble.com/v4rsh4i-mike-davis-this-is-a-criminal-conspiracy-to-violate-rights.html

c.  Dr Kevin Roberts: "The Administrative State And All It's Abuses Is A Creation Of Congress" | https://rumble.com/v4rr1w3-dr.-kevin-roberts-the-administrative-state-and-all-its-abuses-is-a-creation.html

d.  Jeremy Carl Discusses His New Book 'The Unprotected Class' And Anti White Racism | https://rumble.com/v4rrxaz-jeremy-carl-discusses-his-new-book-the-unprotected-class-and-anti-white-rac.html

20.  Andy

Time to steal the lead from the church roof?

https://www.churchofengland.org/media/finance-news/church-commissioners-appoints-laura-moss-bromage-planet-lead

19.  About to dive down a rabbit hole

… plus work out when to run Andy and Steve again. You see, I started the last post early, which caught Steve short. Usually, anything with urls goes in the next post but this time, there isn’t one … except tomorrow morning, which is too late.

So items 20 and 21 will be those in a few minutes.

Now, this rabbit hole … it involves music and I can already hear you groan … the last two evenings at this place have not been all that auspicious. So, provided I keep it to, say three overall, plus many linked songs, I plan to answer a question to myself … how come I, who have always been interested in alternative rock or pop, who had a radio programme in the 70s … how come I missed out completely on one particular decade of popular music … how did it happen?

Also, how did I escape that no-music jail and start listening again?

The last thing I want to do is write some turgid dissertation on songs you yourselves have not heard and even if you had, they’d done nothing for you.  Let alone who only like classical or jazz. Also, the chances of offending you are high … that earlier post about ultramarine would not have gone down well, esp. with those who adore the colour bright red.  I do suspect I know why one particular sub-era of popular songs passed me by and that’s a whole age group of N.O. readers … yikes, don’t wish to offend.

For example, I just listened to some band called Nirvana for the first time … first time really listened with an open mind, plus another called Oasis with two brothers.  In the 90s, I was stepping out with a gal who was a mad keen Oasis fan but I still don’t think I’ve ever knowingly listened to any of their songs.  Yet Pulp I’ve heard much of.  Just listening to some guy called Jeff Buckley who apparently sings more than Hallelujah.

Anyway, more on that whenever …it won’t be a short post.

18.  Some pre-dinner doggerel just for you

17.  It’s all Greek to me

16.  You have too much unused space in your home

If you won’t be reasonable and sell at fire price, then we’ll just allocate two or three fine young chaps from Somalia or Albania … you’ll get along just fine. What’s your daughter or granddaughter count at your place by the way?

15.  My DEI story - the diversity DA

14.  This Horizontal Harris diversity hire

Andy:

Kamala's Secret Service agents BRAWL: Armed agent assigned to Vice President gets into a fight with a colleague and has gun taken off him
An armed Secret Service officer assigned to Vice President Kamala Harris was removed from duty after he got into a physical fight with fellow agents on Monday, according to reports.

The agent, whose identity has not been revealed, began fighting fellow officers Monday morning after appearing for duty at Joint Base Andrew before the vice president arrived for a planned trip to Wisconsin, according to the Washington Examiner.

Sources said the special agent in charge and a detail shift supervisor tried to calm the agent after the official began exhibiting aggressive behavior, but the agent in question tackled the Senior Agent in Charge of security detail and began punching him.

Steve:

As previously reported, an armed Secret Service agent assigned to Kamala Harris got into a physical fight with other agents at Joint Base Andrews on Monday morning.

According to reports, the problem agent, identified as Michelle Herczeg, began acting aggressively, speaking gibberish and shouting incoherently at other agents while they were near the lounge at JBA.

Herczeg reportedly threw menstrual pads at another agent before getting into a brawl a JBA.

RealClearPolitics reported that Herczeg grabbed a male agent’s personal cell phone and began deleting apps on it before she completely melted down.

JH: I presume when asked to comment, Harris cackled.

Coals to Newcastle

This Thursday afternoon timeslot, supposedly a break from world issues, can also by definition not be a break … as reactors to music videos “back in the day” bring their own upbringing and socialisation into their calls, especially when Gen X to Zoomers.

On top of that, readers and contributors at N.O. also bring quite different life histories to the table, as was seen in the Protestant Catholic issue last evening, let alone the atheist rationalist normie perspective … meanwhile, armies of fighting age men pour in to exploit the division … not even awaiting the word but already stabbing and raping, burning old churches or forcing them to convert to mosques.

Charming. Really great situation. In the midst of all this is music and my aim just currently, not for much longer, is to find music, even popular songs, which stand the test of time … that is, they appeal across generations, cultures, nations, genres … to many.

“To many” is the crucial part here because even within, say, classical, we saw the division between harpsichord hardliners and piano hardliners. My contention, within a given “classic” is that key, tone, notes, mood must all meet expectations of the ear, that ears are remarkably similar across blacks, whites, old, young … I’ve seen it over and over and over in reaction videos:

… plus many more from America to eastern Europe. Today’s begins with what’s regarded as a rock/pop “classic” by Santana … Evil Ways … and how completely different cultures all see something in it as special … why? Some written reviews described Santana as blending jazz and blues with Latin and African rhythms, plus that guitar work.

All right, said I … let me find an actual African reactor and an actual Latina reactor and see how they take it … preferably a younger person, tabula rasa, hearing for the first time, remembering of course:

https://www.loudersound.com/features/borrowed-notes-the-complicated-cross-atlantic-evolution-of-black-magic-woman

Those are quite some reactions.  

For part two below, my aim was not cross-cultural, except across generations … it’s a younger English man (as he explains) and an English Scottish woman (itself quite a crossbreeding) reacting to a classic concert … Dire Straits’ Alchemy performance in London in 1983:

I’ve already run the performance in cross-pond reactions here and it’s been universally admired by classic rock aficianados as a gem of collaborative playing by masters of their own instruments, somehow gelling into a tour de force where everyone in that hall was having a blast:

My final look is at the “chick” in this last reaction herself. Of the four, that Millennial displays all the things we’ve written about … good and bad … almost impossible to marry but if married, almost impossible to stay with, being so openly into herself, subject to all sorts of ailments … the sort of thing that resulted in those previous vlogs:

But there are also plenty about today’s broken and pussified boys … and the evil which has been perpetrated upon entire new generations. Nuff on that.

Last post

There are two themes running through my current personal musical journey ... one is finding or rediscovering songs which are a journey in themselves, which are asymmetric, which climb, go places, not just repetitive, soar and plummet ... then there's going back to old popular classics which are repetitive, which were very "back in the day" ... we must have heard them hundreds of times and the artist's names are tired sounding, maybe even rich now ... but now I'm listening to them with new ears.

New ears can simply mean much older ears returning, without all the white noise ... and one way to do that is through the reaction video, which this below is not ... it's the video they were reacting to. In every case, they're young people discovering and that's nice. 

With the Joker, one thing I saw consistently happening was the whites reacting certainly liked it but it did not penetrate a soul chord ... whereas every single black, even the hard nuts, suddenly went mellow, saying, "Ok, right, yo."

So what's going to happen here, even from people from the era, more than familiar with Steve Miller?  Are we going to say, "Ah right, that old number, yep, it was fun," or like these black guys and gals, will it trigger something which gets you moving?  

I imagine whisky would help, or sommit else. It would be interesting to see your reactions.

Last post ... only a fool would say that

Becker and Fagan never really grabbed me, not even this below or most songs ... but two or three were very good.  The Beatles, on the other hand, were established and had many genuine hits.

Then Lennon came out with his infamous remark and immediately had to backtrack on his idiotic choice of comparison:

"More popular than Jesus" is part of a remark made by John Lennon of the Beatles in a March 1966 interview in which he argued that the public were more infatuated with the band than with Jesus and that Christian faith was declining to the extent that it might be outlasted by rock music.

Lennon's Master has certainly worked tirelessly to produce such a situation but his, Lennon's, seeming innocuous statement of fact as of 2023 was undermined by this:

In new book Mr. Confidential, author Chris Hutchins says, "John Lennon told me how outrageous you could be in Hamburg. "He said he would pee from his window on the heads of nuns heading for church below. "No wonder Little Richard described him as 'the Devil's own child'." (31 Aug 2005)

Then came the infamous Imagine, a song of total bollox which reached its Nadir at the 2012 Olympics with those children turned into satan's little myrmidons, along with the phoenix and the rest of the occult imagery. It was just a question of time until 2020 to 2025 inevitably happened.

Interestingly, Becker and Fagan had Lennon's number right from the get-go:

Which is interesting when considering their own New York Jewish shtick.

Let’s tackle the age old age old

Must have been through a dozen and a half versions of this song, inc. reactions … white man reacts, white woman, black man, black woman etc., looking for any sort of pattern.

There was one … the chaps almost all smiled and admired, as emotional as a toothpick log … that includes me … but the gals … ah, that was indeed an amazing sight. I was set to run the version with the Nigerian girl in Germany (below) and it wasn’t the political overtones with our readers … it was just that she really did  “gasm”, swoon, whatever you want to call it (cough). 

She was the extreme but even the leftist Finnish cold fish swooned by her lights … every single woman swooned to a point, I swear it was so.  Interesting creature, Woman.

My next task was how appropriate was this to run at N.O. in this time slot? So I dropped the idea.

Then I came back to it because there’s a connection here with my post item about “within the gate” and without.  Those without are never, ever going to see what’s to swoon about. Remember Nina Simone and My Baby Just Cares For Me?  “And even Lana Turner's smile is something he just can’t see.”

Yep. But far more than that, we’re all (and esp. wimmin) susceptible to conjunctions of circumstances. If all the preconditions are right, if all the elements are in place (usually translating into flowers, wining, dining and dancing), then the rest might (but not necessarily) follow.  It all has to be right at the one time. I call it the big bang theory.

And if we can look across at time itself, linear time … well I’ve said many times now that an alternative view of time, which does not negate Genesis in the least, is that the preconditions must all be there.  I’ve seen this happen IRL … where they all seemed to be present but nothing really gelled. Next day, suddenly it did and she lost control … go figure, as the Americans say. I certainly can’t.

Anyway, that’s behind this song by this admirable singing group. The lead singer’s grin I did not like, as it seemed to be that of a Romeo for every girl he was “sending there” but then I read about the recording and how his own gal Amber was right there in front of him, off camera, swooning … job done.

Just before the boys get remotely smug, listen carefully to the lyrics, because they’re clearly one of those many prerequisite elements … they speak of how a man is so easily enslaved. Don’t know about you other chaps but I tend to go weak at the knees and the breathing shortens when a honey deigns to spend time.  So the swooning reacter girl in the YT knows exactly what her power is, and it makes her swoon to know she can take him. Interesting stuff … how many thousands of years old?

Now, the final task … which version to choose?  Maybe this one:

Why choose her, rather than this Nigerian girl who loses the plot?  Well, on a scale from hot and responsive (10) down to feminazi modern full of herself cold, arrogant fish (0), the Nigerian is far less full of herself (maybe a 9) and the western woman here is maybe a 5, maybe a 6.  One feminist (another version) just sat there glaring (1). What is wrong with that Woke sort of western woman today?

The original was by Percy Sledge in 1966, which took the world, then in 1974 came Nazareth and Love Hurts and you know what happened there. Forget Michael Bolton’s version of his song, imho, in 1991, too stage-showy for mine, not a great voice - these two songs really tested a man’s singing voice in the popular field.

Thursday [7 to 9]

Almost afternoon all.

9. More of the backlog

8.  MftWC 2

Putting an End to Volodymyr Zelensky’s Follies 

https://www.unz.com/pgiraldi/putting-an-end-to-volodymyr-zelenskys-follies/

AP reporter fired for Poland missile story. NATO mission creep. 2 million migrants to EU. U/1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4sm7OdbMxQ

Kiev Continues to Commit War Crimes Against Russians

https://www.thelibertybeacon.com/kiev-continues-to-commit-war-crimes-against-russians/

Scott Ritter: The Back Channel

https://consortiumnews.com/2022/11/22/scott-ritter-the-back-channel/?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=bdc2ba20-1a49-4fa7-ba82-1aa4bee78327

Is NATO falling apart?

https://thesaker.is/is-nato-falling-apart/

Other stuff:

JFK Assassination Truth Bombs

https://stateofthenation.co/?p=146501

Robot Rishi / NHS / The Great Trap / Hugo Talks

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjXuuV9cRjE

Sweden cancels residential permits of 300,000 migrants

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJKW9fgxnp8

7.  Housekeeping

As mooted yesterday I think it was, I need to spread out the work intensive posts to one per day, over seven days.  I don’t count our political posts … they’re the daily bread and butter, nor are included th8ngs like the Netherlands or Tom Scott type posts, the knitting … they’re pretty simple to load.

The ones which really take up the prepping hours are the two films (because the range is now highly restricted by youtube and bitchute … I do have Saturday’s though already), also the two “wimmin” posts because though there is endless material, “good” examples are like hen’s teeth.

Jazz is becoming difficult on Sunday as the supply runs out before endlessly repeating and thus, as DM pointed out, some have been less than whelming.  However, one perseveres.  Same story of endless number of songs, about 5% worth posting.

Classical music … seems to have but one viewer/listener here … DAD … and even one who likes it deserves a post.  He, as with me, likes baroque and earlier.

My own popular music/blues?  As and when, people, as and when, nothing regular.  How about features involving our area of expertise?  Yes but currently disorganised.

So … where’s this going?  Well, thinking out loud … were I to run classical on Sunday morn, jazz Sunday evening, that sounds reasonable.  Now, quiz or wimmin on Monday?  Can’t do both.  Not if I’m to do them justice.  Ian’s the quiz chap, plus other responders.  Monday or Tuesday?  That also affects Thursday or Friday.

Well I need to decide now, 1130 on Thurs, as the timeslot is coming up.

Saturday [12 to 16]

Mid-morn.

16.  Important

DAD elbows his way in:

https://www.futilitycloset.com/2022/07/26/just-so/

15.  Had to smile

... surely I must have been the only one ... but I couldn't find Evets 4, 5 etc. anywhere ... aaaggghhh ... and then couldn't find Woodsy's last comment or DAD's.  What the ... went searching ...

Er ... um ...

Hadn't clicked them through, had I?  Thick as pig excrement.  One was 13 hours ago.

Also, have been inundated by good jazz, about eighteen songs ... yikes ... spoilt for choice.

14.  Three quick shots

13.  Evets 2 and 3

a.  [The] Ukraine:

Russia Breakthrough Ukraine Donetsk Fortifications, MSM Focus on Kherson, US Navy Carrier to Taiwan

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-tLEPsH5Eo

b.  Col. Doug Macgregor - Ukraine Russia latest

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niZQnX-pw5w

c.  Heartbreaking Story About Girl Ripped By Kiev's Shells At Threshold Of Her House (photo caution)

https://southfront.org/heartbreaking-story-about-girl-ripped-by-kievs-shells-at-threshold-of-her-house/

d.  US Senators & Citizens Added To Ukrainian 'Blacklist' - Inside Russia Report

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llGrzqMAuuU

Ukraine cont.

e.  Zelensky Tells Americans "Inflation Is Nothing" As Ukraine Shells Prison In 'Counter-Offensive'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzSlh5l-w7s

f.  Lucky buggers..

Russia to Exit WHO, WTO and Other UN Agencies?

https://www.globalresearch.ca/russia-exit-who-wto-other-un-agencies/5788056

g.  New Zealand - Abortion Bill - Most Extreme Abortion Law In The World

https://www.bitchute.com/video/OEzbTte82SU6/

h.  Reality vs. Illusion. People have been Robbed of their Ability to “Decipher between Fact and Fiction”

https://www.globalresearch.ca/revelation-method/5779242

12.  Phantom Digger

... rises, as if from the dead:

"Folk music was popular in the early 70s - certainly in and around Manchester where I was living at the time. Aided and abetted by The Spinners, Mike Harding and local lads like these:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Houghton_Weavers

The church I belonged to at that time formed its own Folk group of which I was a member. We were wheeled out for Church socials and for plaguing the sick - captive audience!

We had our own rendition of this was was very handy as we had a Church Rambling club too. Happy days!

We had to adapt this to Coffee in the Jar to make it suitable for the corsetted elder members of the congregation. I don't think they noticed as they joined in the chorus...."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLBt-_W-HFc

[One thing I noticed with the last one was just how Australian it sounded - obviously closely related.  More Ripper coming later, plus am bringing DAD's two numbers fwd to Sunday morn.]

The dead decade

What started this train of thought was I gargled 'bands people dislike' and at the top [bad] were something called Nickelback, then one I knew 'of' but have never knowingly heard, Limp Bizkit, then Radiohead, Nirvana and I'm thinking by now ... how the heck have I never heard these bands?

Seems to me it must be the decades at issue - most 50s, 60s and 70s artists I know but some, like Phil Collins, Yes or Genesis or Floyd I never listened to.  If I think 80s, it's a complete blank except for say Bananarama or those three Spanish chicks with strange mouths who kept jabbing their hands right or left and of course, everyone knew of Susie and her Bangles, Kenny Rogers' Islands and this or that hit.

But I couldn't name any bands other than that.  I vaguely know about some paedo named Glitter.

There was a definite coming back to speed late 80s, coinciding with my coming back here and thus the secondary kids played various bands, e.g. Take That, East 17 ...

... Backstreet Boys.  I went to Russia and that's when girl overkill really began, so the music was front and square, e.g. Macarena, something called Franz Ferdinand, Jarvis Cocker and so on.  I'm pretty much up on 90s music.

Thought I'd look up this Radiohead I'd never heard, though had heard 'of' them of course, same with Oasis.  Wiki:

"Nirvana's success popularized alternative rock, and they were often referenced as the figurehead band of Generation X. Their music maintains a popular following and continues to influence modern rock culture."

It does?  Gen X - that explains it. Plus the 80s were my 'family decade', which pretty well killed listening, except to womanly songs and I never got to any concerts.  So why not this Nickelback?  Are they 80s too?

Nope, 1995 onwards.  Hmmmm, at that point, I jumped from senior secondary girls to senior university girls, so they were back in the early 90s for music in one fell swoop.  Hence no Nickelback.

There was some sort of revival post 2010 and I wonder why ... coming back to Blighty? Who knows but there are plenty of bands I know from 2010 to about 2014.  Strange.  The 2000s though ... another lost decade but I do know why - a gf who listened to Russian bands and singers almost exclusively, so I know many of them.  Plus plenty of Trance and House at the gym.

Just curious ... are there any dead decades for you, when it was a cultural washout?

Quick musical interlude

A bit strange, this whole thing:

Wonder where they're performing it from.

Lisa del Bo, was born Reinhilde Goossens on 9 June 1961 in Mopertingen, Belgium. She is a Belgian singer who is popular in her own country and also in Germany. Lisa del Bo is a Flemish singer who often sings in the Dutch language but has been known to record songs in other languages as well.

She represented Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest 1996 with the song "Liefde is een kaartspel", where she came 16th.

There's a sort of bland Europe-ness here, about as much emotion as me waking up in the morning and crashing into walls.

Logic dictates

There was an item on Gab of Gaga in a tee shirt portraying sickos molesting a kid and celebrating it.  She needs executing and all the rest of them.  The image the other day of the Azov thug bayonet I refused to show ... why the hell would I promote the very thing I'm fighting?

Or to look at it in football firm terms, let's say I was a West Ham fan, which I'm not, then if a reader were to send me a Spurs video or a Chelsea, why would he possibly think I'd run it?  I support the other side, to hell with running something supporting the enemy.

All this evil invading everything, especially in schools [Friday 15 and 20], why on earth would I promote it?  So when someone sends me a Black Sabbath video, even if I like the actual track, which I do, in 2022 why on earth would I run something given over to evil, when you know very well the human misery we're opposing everyday on the site?  Do you see any logic in my stance?  No?

Carols

If this is one day ahead, it's because there's a nice one for Christmas Eve which puts this back one day.

https://youtu.be/zNHd22IW8b0

Wiki:

John McCormack

Irish Mike writes:

On Sunday, November 27, 1938, the great Irish tenor, John McCormack, gave his farewell concert at Royal Albert Hall in London. Thus ended a truly remarkable career that spanned nearly four decades. More than 11,000 people filled the vast hall as hundreds outside were turned away. Although he was not the singer that he was in his prime 20 years earlier, by all accounts of the event, John McCormack gave an astonishing performance. It was noted that, including encores, he sang an incredible 27 songs and did not leave a dry eye in the house.

There are some commenters that one does wonder about:

Is it live ? Appears to be old recordings and canned clapping but photos and articles are excellent.  I also recall a London concert after his illness and during the Anglo-Irish war c. 1921 when he had great reservations he'd be booed but he wasn't.

Irish Mike replied:

Hi, Nigel! No, the concert is just a facsimile of what I thought it may have happened. I used recordings of the available songs listed on the program and plugged in the applause. Unfortunately, nobody had the foresight to record the performance at the time. Such a pity! Thank you for your kind remarks!

Wednesday [10 to 12]

12.  One of my fave songs from Eat a Peach

https://youtu.be/wwyXQn9g40I

Sometimes a song is lifted way above the ordinary and this one always had the potential for that with two genuine lead guitarists - Duane Allman and Dickey Betts - in the same band.  

The usual way is an agreement to play lead on alternate songs but here, they both play lead - Duane in the first half with Dickey here and there, then Betts takes over.  For mine, there was just something about Duane A’s playing.

11.  Rossa's mother

Songs which ... well ... we just can’t

What I mean here is they were massively popular, maybe even really nice people, e.g. Karen Carpenter, maybe your better half adored him/her/them and you went along with it because it was ‘the right thing to do’, everyone did ... but truly, it was a chore to listen.  You look across and he/she is singing and bouncing away and even as a curmudgeon ... you don’t have the heart to spoil it.

What brought this on was the Petersens covering Top of the World just now.  Seriously, I just went all dazed. Numb.

'Narodniye' Russian bands

When your Russian keyboard has died and you're looking for songs from the 90s from over there, na russkom, it's not an easy task, especially if the band itself doesn't list them - speaking of gruppa lyube there.

Some of the lyrics:

Very, very rough translation:

[the intensity] of simplicity

A year or two ago, a very kind gentleman and I were discussing New Order's Temptation. I don't know why I didn't mention another of their songs, in the Youtube below.

It had always seemed to me that I was alone in thinking this a very moving song. Simple and simplistic? Yes. Singer unsure of himself after the death of the band's driving force? Yes. A couple of dicey chords here and there? Yes. But none of that is the real point. As one youtube viewer wrote:

A drum beat. A few strings plucked on guitars lead and bass. A finger on a couple of synth keys, and a bloke singing. Basic stuff. So why does it reach into my guts, pull them out and unravel them slowly. It always has though, ever since I first put it on my deck.

... to which someone else replied:

Best comment I've seen on Youtube about any video. Well said, and I feel the same way.

... to which the guy replied:

Well thanks kindly. Very nice of you to say so. My comments came from the heart and I didn't know if I was being a bit naff to say them. But this song, and particularly the release of breath at 4 mins...... just does stuff for me that I can't explain easily.

That was the whole thing with Joy Division/early New Order. I fear quoting Artur Schnabel who said, in 1961:

Children are given Mozart because of the small quantity of the notes; grown-ups avoid Mozart because of the great quality of the notes.

I fear putting in that quote because some will deliberately misunderstand that there is no comparison being drawn in any way. One is classic and the other popular music.

And yet, Joy Division/early New Order most certainly had that indefinable something about them. You could play their songs but you could never capture that strange intensity, the intensity of youth, hope, despair, alienation, all those things. Unrequited love, lost love - it all came together in those mournful tones.

I never quite understood why this band had the capacity to move the soul but one afternoon, something happened which compounded the feeling.



I was driving south over the North York Moors, fulfilling a silly idea I had to take a French girl I knew back to France. I don't remember a lot of it but do remember the end of a misty-grey, overcast, threatening afternoon, just before the downpour, the Esk Valley awesome. I also remember the incongruity of the French girl beside me in the car, superb in her unaffectedness and when the song began on the player, just the moors, the vehicle and her in the vicinity, she was moved by the atmosphere, the intensity of the scene and I felt privileged to be part of it.

I wish I had the photo to show you but it's probably lost somewhere in Russia or Sicily now. No matter, the one below is close enough to what she looked like so I think you'd understand why the idea of driving to France did not seem OTT at the time.

Good Trance

Sometimes I find it amusing to be looking for a song on YouTube and then finding another one, completely by accident. Usually, the accidentally found one turns out to be quite good.

Such was the case last night when I was looking for "Ibiza Sunrise" by Labworks:



One question I've always had, since I never have been to Ibiza, (even during my six month sojourn in Spain) is why do they have these chicks in two piece swimsuits? You look at any, and I mean any song on YouTube that is from the electronica genre and you will find one version of the song (if it's only the song) that has an avatar or a real photo of some chick in a two piece. It's as if the two piece swimsuit and chick are symbols of the place.

A brief primer (please don't take this as the definitive word, as I'm just now learning although I've dabbled in the genre for a number of years now) on electronic sub-genres:

house - a genre that usually (but not always) has vocals and is generally listened to in (where else?) your house

trance - a genre that employs usually only methodic beats without vocals, very popular in clubs

dance - a genre that is easy to dance to (usually remixes of pop songs from what I've found)

Back to my story, last night I searched for Labworks' "Ibiza Sunrise" by typing in "sunrise on Ibiza" on YouTube and this came up



It is now my new favorite trance song. Enjoy!

PS: Did I mention I just finished my last final of my undergrad epoch? Joy!

[christianity] is fair discussion possible [3]

You can call this saccharine sweet but it's still an endangered species.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6


Non biblical sources on the historicity of Jesus


Pilate

The following is a reprinting of a letter from Pontius Pilate to Tiberius Caesar describing the physical appearance of Jesus. Copies are in the Congressional Library in Washington, D.C.

To Tiberius Caesar

A young man appeared in Galilee preaching with humble unction, a new law in the Name of the God that had sent Him. At first I was apprehensive that His design was to stir up the people against the Romans, but my fears were soon dispelled. Jesus of Nazareth spoke rather as a friend of the Romans than of the Jews.

One day I observed in the midst of a group of people a young man who was leaning against a tree, calmly addressing the multitude. I was told it was Jesus. This I could easily have suspected so great was the difference between Him and those who were listening to Him. His golden colored hair and beard gave to his appearance a celestial aspect. He appeared to be about 30 years of age. Never have I seen a sweeter or more serene countenance.

What a contrast between Him and His bearers with their black beards and tawny complexions! Unwilling to interrupt Him by my presence, I continued my walk but signified to my secretary to join the group and listen. Later, my secretary reported that never had he seen in the works of all the philosophers anything that compared to the teachings of Jesus. He told me that Jesus was neither seditious nor rebellious, so we extended to Him our protection. He was at liberty to act, to speak, to assemble and to address the people. This unlimited freedom provoked the Jews -- not the poor but the rich and powerful.

Later, I wrote to Jesus requesting an interview with Him at the Praetorium. He came. When the Nazarene made His appearance I was having my morning walk and as I faced Him my feet seemed fastened with an iron hand to the marble pavement and I trembled in every limb as a guilty culprit, though he was calm. For some time I stood admiring this extraordinary Man. There was nothing in Him that was repelling, nor in His character, yet I felt awed in His presence. I told Him that there was a magnetic simplicity about Him and His personality that elevated Him far above the philosophers and teachers of His day.

Now, Noble Sovereign, these are the facts concerning Jesus of Nazareth and I have taken the time to write you in detail concerning these matters. I say that such a man who could convert water into win, change death into life, disease into health; calm the stormy seas, is not guilty of any criminal offense and as others have said, we must agree -- truly this is the Son of God! Your most obedient servant, Pontius Pilate.

[Also in E. Raymond Capt, 'The Resurrection Tomb', available from Artisan Sales.]

Mara Bar-Serapion

This was a Syrian who wrote a letter to his son, Serapion, sometime after 73 A.D. He encourages him to emulate the wise men of history who died for what they believed in, such as Socrates, Pythagoras, and the wise King the Jews executed. The document is in the British Museum, and F.F. Bruce mentions this in The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable.

Publius Lentrelus

He was a resident of Judea in the reign of Tiberius Caesar. It first appeared in the writings of Saint Anselm of Canterbury, 11th century:

There lives at this time in Judea a man of singular virtue whose name is Jesus Christ, whom the barbarians esteem as a prophet, but his followers love and adore him as the offspring of the immortal God. He calls back the dead from the graves and heals all sorts of diseases with a word or touch. He is a tall man, well-shaped, and of an amiable and reverend aspect; his hair of a color that can hardly be matched, falling into graceful curls, waving about and very agreeable crouching upon his shoulders, parted on the crown of the head, running as a stream to the front after fashion of the Nazarites.

His forehead high, large and imposing; his cheeks without spot or wrinkle, beautiful with a lovely red; his nose and mouth formed with exquisite symmetry; his beard, and of a color suitable to his hair, reaching below his chin and parted in the middle like a fork; his eyes bright blue, clear and serene.

Look innocent, dignified, manly and mature. In proportion of body most perfect, and captivating; his arms and hands delectable to behold. He rebukes with majesty, councils with mildness, His whole address whether in word or deed, being eloquent and grave. No man has seen him laugh, yet his manners are exceedingly pleasant, but he has wept frequently in the presence of men. He is temperate, modest and wise. A man for his extraordinary beauty and perfection, surpassing the children of men in every sense.

[Also in E. Raymond Capt, 'The Resurrection Tomb', available from Artisan Sales.]

JH - I admit that this one's a bit iffy.

Josephus

Pharisee and Jewish historian. Writing about Ananias, a high priest mentioned in the Book of Acts in the Bible, Josephus, the most significant Jewish historian of the period wrote:

"He convened a meeting of the Sanhedrin and brought before them a man named James, the brother of Jesus, who was called the Christ, and certain others. He accused them of having transgressed the law and delivered them up to be stoned." (Josephus, The Antiquities 20.200)

Testimonium Flavianum

Most scholars who have reviewed the writings of Josephus generally conclude that he makes genuine references to Jesus albeit the Testimonium Flavianum contains elements of Christian embellishment.

It’s a pity that the lily had to be gilded in this way because the original would have been sufficient to establish historicity and it is hardly necessary to expect Josephus to lend credence to claims of divinity.

At this time there appeared Jesus, a wise man, if indeed one ought to call him a man. For he was a doer of amazing deeds, a teacher of persons who receive truth with pleasure. He won over many Jews and many of the Greeks. He was the Messiah.

And when Pilate condemned him to the cross, the leading men among us having accused him, those who loved him from the first did not cease to do so. For he appeared to them the third day alive again, the divine prophets having spoken these things and a myriad of other marvels concerning him. And to the present the tribe of Christians, named after this person, has not disappeared.

Miami University Professor of history, Edwin M. Yamauchi, lists five main reasons why scholars on Josephus believe the Testimonium Flavianum is an authentic reference to Jesus:

1. Jesus is called "a wise man." Though the phrase is complimentary, it is less than one would expect from Christians.

2. "For he was one who wrought surprising feats" ["For he was a doer of amazing deeds"]. This is not necessarily a statement that could only have come from a Christian.

3. "He won over many Jews and many of the Greeks" is simply an observation.

4. "Those who had in the first place come to love him did not give up their affection for him," conforms to Josephus' characteristic style.

5. "And the tribe of the Christians, so called after him, has still to this day not disappeared." Most scholars would agree that the word phylon "tribe," is not a typically Christian expression.

It has also been noted by Yamauchi that a tenth century Melkite bishop of Hierapolis, named Agapius, inscribed an Arabic translation of Josephus' Testimonium Flavianum that seems to possess differences with the Greek version which may divulge the original passage. The Israeli scholar, S. Pines, observes approximately four of these differences:

1. Josephus expresses the mere humanity of Jesus.

2. Josephus refers only to Jesus' good conduct and virtue.

3. Josephus refers to the appearance of Jesus after three days as merely a "report."

4. Josephus has the qualifier "perhaps" immediately preceding "he was the Messiah."

The second reference of Jesus by Josephus is found in Antiquities 20.9.1 S200-201 where there is a more evanescent mentioning of Jesus:

He (Ananus) convened the council of judges and brought before it the brother of Jesus-the one called "Christ"-whose name was James, and certain others, accusing them of transgressing the law he delivered them up for stoning. But those of the city considered to be the most fair-minded and strict concerning the laws were offended at this and sent to the king secretly urging him to order Ananus to take such actions no longer.

The phrase "the one called 'Christ'" seems to imply an earlier reference.

Josephus discusses here the stoning of James which is not an element in any of the New Testament writings. In the New Testament, James is still alive at the time Acts concludes. This would imply that Josephus was not borrowing from Christian sources but, rather, secular sources independent of the New Testament.

Josephus refers to James as "the brother of Jesus" whereas Christians have generally referred to James as "the brother of the Lord."

The following did not quote Josephus but said that Josephus openly called Him the Christ:

Sozomen’s Ecclesiastical History book 1 chapter 1 (440 A.D.)
Cassiodorus in the Three-Part History e Sozomeno (510 A.D.)
Chronicles of Alexandria p.514,526,527,584,586 (640 A.D.)
Johan. Malela Chronicles book 10 (c.850 A.D.)
Photius Codex book 48 I Codex 238, Codex 33 (c.860 A.D.)
Glycus Annal. P.234 (c.1120 A.D.)

New Testament scholar R.T. France says the following:

"Virtually all scholars are agreed that the received text is a Christian rewriting, but most are prepared to accept that in the original text a brief account of Jesus, perhaps in a less complimentary vein, stood at this point /2/. Josephus' passing mention of 'Jesus, the so-called Messiah' in Antiquities XX.200 is hard to explain without some previous notice of this Jesus, especially since Josephus elsewhere makes no reference to Christianity, nor even uses the term Christos of any other figure.

Pliny the Younger, or Plinius Secundus

He was the nephew of Pliny the Elder (a known encyclopedist). As Governor of Bithynia in northwestern Turkey around 112 A.D., he writes to emperor Trajan about his advisement on the treatment of Christians:

I have never been present at an examination of Christians. Consequently, I do not know the nature of the extent of the punishments usually meted out to them, nor the grounds for starting an investigation and how far it should be pressed . . .

I have asked them if they are Christians, and if they admit it, I repeat the question a second and third time, with a warning of the punishment awaiting them. If they persist, I order them to be led away for execution; for, whatever the nature of their admission, I am convinced that their stubbornness and unshakeable obstinacy ought not to go unpunished . . . They also declared that the sum total of their guilt or error amounted to no more than this: they had met regularly before dawn on a fixed day to chant verses alternately amongst themselves in honour of Christ as if to a god, and also to bind themselves by oath, not for any criminal purpose, but to abstain from theft, robbery, and adultery, . . . This made me decide it was all the more necessary to extract the truth by torture from two slave-women, whom they call deaconesses. I found nothing but a degenerate sort of cult carried to extravagant lengths. [Pliny the Younger, Letters 10.96]

If Christians assented to their Messiah "as if to a god" and honored his memorial via worship songs, then it seems that a manifested Christology about Jesus existed.

Tacitus

Roman historian born around 52 - 55 A.D., was the son-in-law of the former Governor of Britain, Julius Agricola. Having expressed hatred for Christians and Jews, he makes an interesting observation about Nero's persecution of the Christians. In A.D. 115, he wrote:

But all human efforts, all the lavish gifts of the emperor, and the propitiations of the gods did not banish the sinister belief that the conflagration was the result of an order. Consequently, to get rid of the report, Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians by the populace. Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilate, and a most mischievous superstition thus checked for the moment, again broke out not only in Judea, the first source of the evil, but even in Rome, where all things hideous and shameful from every part of the world find their center and become popular. Accordingly, an arrest was first made of all who pleaded guilty: then, upon their information, an immense multitude was convicted, not so much of the crime of firing the city, as of hatred against mankind. [Annals 15.44]

Tacitus refers here to the ravishing fire of 64 A.D. and the Christians' blame for it. Three elements of note:

1. Christians were named after Christ ("Christus, from whom the name had its origin").

2. Jesus suffered under Pontius Pilate in the reign of Tiberius ("Christus … suffered … during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of … Pontius Pilate").

3. Christianity spread from Judea to Rome en masse ("… broke out not only in Judea … but even in Rome … an immense multitude was convicted").

Lucian of Samosata, (also called Lucian the Greek)

Second century satirist, wrote about Christ,

"…the man who was crucified in Palestine because he introduced this new cult into the world….Furthermore, their first lawgiver persuaded them that they were all brothers one of another after they have transgressed once for all by denying the Greek gods and by worshipping that crucified sophist himself and living under his laws." [The Passing Peregrinus -also called The Death of Peregrine 11-13, quoted from Evidence That Demands a Verdict vol. 1 p.82.]

Phlegon

He was a Greek writer from Caria and freed slave of the Emperor Hadrian. He wrote soon after 137 A.D. that in the fourth year of the 202nd Olympiad [33 A.D.] there was "the greatest eclipse of the sun" and that "it became night in the sixth hour of the day [12:00 noon] so that star even appeared in the heavens. There was a great earthquake in Bithynia, and many things were overturned in Nicea."

Suetonius

Roman living from approximately 70 A.D. to 160 A.D., wrote in Vita Claudius (25.4) of the tumult in the Jewish-Roman community:

Since the Jews constantly made disturbances at the instigation of Chrestus, he expelled them from Rome.

Suetonius mentions the persecution of Christians in his Vita Nero (16.11-13):

Punishment was inflicted on the Christians, a class of men given to a new and mischievous superstition.

Philosophers and thinkers

Kant testifies to His ideal perfection; Hegel sees in Him the union of the human and the Divine; Spinoza speaks of Him as the truest symbol of heavenly wisdom; the beauty and grandeur of His life overawe Voltaire; Napoleon I, at St. Helena, felt convinced that "Between him [Jesus] and whoever else in the world there is no possible term of comparison" (Montholon, "Récit de la Captivité de l'Empereur Napoléon").

Rousseau testifies: "If the life and death of Socrates are those of a sage, the life and death of Jesus are those of a god"; Strauss acknowledges: "He is the highest object we can possibly imagine with respect to religion, the being without whose presence in the mind perfect piety is impossible"; to Renan "The Christ of the Gospels is the most beautiful incarnation of God in the most beautiful of forms. His beauty is eternal; his reign will never end"; John Stuart Mill spoke of Jesus as "a man charged with a special, express, and unique commission from God to lead mankind to truth and virtue".

Two more snippets

Athanasius said in the Incarnation 25:3, that it is only on the cross that a man dies with his hands spread out.

Hardly conclusive but take it for what it is.

Also, Roman graffiti was found on Palatine Hill ridiculing Christians. It shows a cross with arms outstretched according to The Archaeology of the New Testament (Blaiklock) p.99.