I can't believe I forgot to post this thing here, but I remember that I wanted to wait until I had delivered the toast at my own Burns' night so none of my friends would have a had a chance to read it beforhand. Anyway, after talking to a friend at lunch today I realized I should put it up, and you will find it below with a short intro. Hope it was worth the wait!
Robert Burns is one of my favorite poets and I often find myself reading his works for the enjoyment that it brings me. He is a Scottish poet, some would say "the" Scottish poet and of course that can only make me like him more. It is tradition to fete his poetry and accomplishments on or around the anniversary of his birthday, January 25th. I did just that last night with some friends and family, and as well as eating some traditional Scottish food and reciting some of his poetry, we passed the evening with several toasts. My toast was to Burns himself and I thought I would take this opportunity to post its contents below:
Reading about Burns in preparation for this toast I was struck by a declaration from a particular passage which concluded that, "In the long run, the poetry is what really matters." Too true. For the poetry is why after all we are here in the first place, without it, Burns would still be a colorful and lively historical footnote to study, as one imagines that his behavior with the lasses could never have gone completely unnoticed, but just that, a footnote and nothing else. Thankfully Burns has arrived in our time as a much chronicled artist of the highest quality, which a whole lifetime could easily be spent in perusing his prose and banter. For now we have tonight, and this dinner to celebrate the man and his works, an event that is widely repeated around the world amongst all those who appreciate literature, or just a good drink, or maybe both. Personally I am drawn to Burns for his humanity, for his many personal faults and imperfections, for giving me hope that a man can be judged on his works and not entirely on his sometimes dubious past. Just as another great master of language, William Shakespeare, Burns's poetry is successful for its ability to arouse our emotions, provoke our sympathies and invigorate our intellect. As with such subjects romance and love are often at the fore, but sometimes there are other ways to bring about such powerful reactions. The weather, for example, is a constant we must all endure, and though it varies from place to place, there are always those seasons that we correspond with certain thoughts and feelings. Winter is a time that many of us, including myself, find difficult as it can feel smothering and restricting on our desire to live as we want, pushing us with its not so gentle winds into more somber contemplations. Burns felt this as well strongly and put it to words in several poems, but perhaps none so obviously as in "Winter: A Dirge", dated 1781. Up until recently our winter has been much delayed and strangely absent in many ways. One would think this would make me feel more chipper and upbeat than usual, but instead it finds me in a strange funk, not knowing how to proceed. For, as with many things we like to complain about, the doldrums of winter are quite necessary and central to the passing of the seasons. And as we grow accustomed to such a cycle, being thrown out of it can be quite confusing to say the least. Most importantly, the reason we need winter is that spring follows, that wonderful time of year when life begins to glow again. Besides, as Burns says in his poem, it is simply the way of things, "Thou Power Supreme, whose mighty scheme These woes of mine fulfil, Here firm I rest; they must be best, Because they are Thy will!" But thankfully, we have been saved by the eagerly awaited cold (despite today's warming) and knowing that normality has returned, can once again continue towards a brighter and more hopeful future. Perhaps a better argument cannot be found for insuring our planet's environmental stability for the future generations to come. So, without further ado, to Burns and his immortal memory, may it be honored forever more!
To read some of the works of Robert Burns follow this link.
Thursday, November 01, 2007
Some Brilliant Thoughts
The above mentioned brilliant thoughts are not mine, but I came across them while going through my daily perusal of cool stuff on the net. They are all actually within an article that you'll find a link to below and which work quite nicely with some of the things I mentioned a bit ago on music and copyright. This one is on movies, but the same principle applies, and the author here does an even better job of articulating potential means to hit a profit.
http://techdirt.com/articles/20071025/024822.shtml
Some of his words are also encouraging regarding my own idea to write a script for a relatively low budget movie. It's called Fishing Creek and my friend Jason helped flesh out the details of the plot, but basically its full of fun stuff like growing pains angst, mental anguish, isolation, fear of the unknown, detective movie goodness, storytelling (with hopefully good writing to deliver it), whedonesque dialogue, great music, and of course a bad ass ending that will leave you sweating. Who knows, maybe parts of it will show up here at some point, or make it into some form of comic, but the bottom line is that I'm not letting go of it, and no matter how long it takes, I'm reeling this sucker in one day. Otherwise, good night and good luck, and have a magnificent weekend!
http://techdirt.com/articles/20071025/024822.shtml
Some of his words are also encouraging regarding my own idea to write a script for a relatively low budget movie. It's called Fishing Creek and my friend Jason helped flesh out the details of the plot, but basically its full of fun stuff like growing pains angst, mental anguish, isolation, fear of the unknown, detective movie goodness, storytelling (with hopefully good writing to deliver it), whedonesque dialogue, great music, and of course a bad ass ending that will leave you sweating. Who knows, maybe parts of it will show up here at some point, or make it into some form of comic, but the bottom line is that I'm not letting go of it, and no matter how long it takes, I'm reeling this sucker in one day. Otherwise, good night and good luck, and have a magnificent weekend!
The Hills Are Not Yet Bleeding Red (hey, it got your attention)
Thoughts while reading Children of Hurin by J.R.R. Tolkien
It's funny that a book reminding me of reading Greek tragedy in high school brings with it such fond remembrance. When a plot unfolds in the Greek model you are guaranteed a somber, downer of an ending, but those days discovering Antigone in my freshmen English class were fun filled journeys of discovery, full of excitement and wonder, in stark contrast to the personal tragedies of the characters we were studying. There was none of the pressure and expectations that dominated such work in college and it was all so fresh and new! It makes me smile now to think of how amazed I was at discovering the common current running through fiction from the most ancient of days to our present time. I couldn't believe how connected everything was, which is especially poignant to ponder now considering how forcefully and exponentially the Internet has entirely driven this point home. I'd like to think this hasn't made more traditional ways of discovering the human connection completely obsolete and irrelevant. The Internet is a wonderful tool that I obviously don't mind using, and though it can be used to generate and present new material, I feel it often best lends itself to discussing, analyzing and taking apart culture found in the physical world. Those Greek plays were great stuff (oh my goodness, I should be shot for using the word 'stuff' in a descriptive phrase referencing such mighty classics). Most, if not all, of our current entertainment genres come directly from the varying types of play and it would be a terrible mistake to forgo all the wonderful types of art that have come before the Internet to only limit ourselves to one medium, no matter how multifaceted a medium it is. The more I think about it, the more I think it would be a lot of fun to talk to people about those Greek stories again, any takers?
It's funny that a book reminding me of reading Greek tragedy in high school brings with it such fond remembrance. When a plot unfolds in the Greek model you are guaranteed a somber, downer of an ending, but those days discovering Antigone in my freshmen English class were fun filled journeys of discovery, full of excitement and wonder, in stark contrast to the personal tragedies of the characters we were studying. There was none of the pressure and expectations that dominated such work in college and it was all so fresh and new! It makes me smile now to think of how amazed I was at discovering the common current running through fiction from the most ancient of days to our present time. I couldn't believe how connected everything was, which is especially poignant to ponder now considering how forcefully and exponentially the Internet has entirely driven this point home. I'd like to think this hasn't made more traditional ways of discovering the human connection completely obsolete and irrelevant. The Internet is a wonderful tool that I obviously don't mind using, and though it can be used to generate and present new material, I feel it often best lends itself to discussing, analyzing and taking apart culture found in the physical world. Those Greek plays were great stuff (oh my goodness, I should be shot for using the word 'stuff' in a descriptive phrase referencing such mighty classics). Most, if not all, of our current entertainment genres come directly from the varying types of play and it would be a terrible mistake to forgo all the wonderful types of art that have come before the Internet to only limit ourselves to one medium, no matter how multifaceted a medium it is. The more I think about it, the more I think it would be a lot of fun to talk to people about those Greek stories again, any takers?
A Thought
The space inside a metro car, beside the aluminum folds of a soda can, turns sharply the dark distinction between the strangers around us and takes it down to levels hard and uncomfortable, excuse me sir, what did you say?
RIAA, Listen Up
An Open Letter to The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) (Who are by the way too cowardly to post an online form of contact and so will be receiving this message by snail mail in the near future):
We all won today, or at least that is what you would have us believe. In a court case over pirated music RIAA emerged victorious over a single mom who decided to fight back against a system that she felt had unfairly and, quite possibly, unjustifiably picked on her to make an example of to the unwashed masses of their criminal ways.
How exactly is sentencing a working class woman to unending menial servitude good for everyone? Well, you would say you are saving music from extinction, that you are protecting musicians' rights and ensuring fair prices and products of excellent quality for everyone.
At least, I think that is what you would say, but until recently I also thought it was perfectly legal to backup my music digitally so as to transform my computer into a gigantic jukebox of epic proportions, or to place such music on my phone so I can listen to it while out and about, not to mention the convenience of making my own mixes of my fav tunes for those long road trips.
But heck, if AT&T can claim filters limiting your internet access broadens and enhances the content you can view, then I really should just shut up, get on board and start talking the doublespeak. I have a problem though, see I can disappoint myself, be my own worst enemy and place my foot in my mouth with ease, but one thing I can't do is stand by and watch multiple people with vast resources commit stupidity without comment.
For when that happens you hurt far more than yourself, you hurt everyone in love with media, and in this specific case music. You see RIAA, I don't pirate music, I buy it through various legitimate retailers (amazon.com, amazon mp3 store, itunes, emusic, various big box stores) and I frequent concerts as much as I can, but your actions this week and over the last few years have infuriated me so much that if I could prove the artists represented by record companies were slaves without pay I would stop buying music today in protest of your draconian, heartless, ignorant ways and not look back.
For it is you who have missed the boat, failed to realize that if you want to fight piracy you have to offer legitimate buyers an incentive for spending their hard earned money on your products and you know what, it is so god damn easy even I can figure out some ways to get you started.
It goes something like this: when someone buys an album they get the following no matter what: standard music CD, album artwork, band photos, full lyrics, rights to have a digital content control free copy of the music with full ID tags, including lyrics for each song. Possibilities for value added extra incentive content: music videos (that you can also download to your personal media players and computers), discounts to concerts, t-shirts, etc. Oh, and yeah, the prices mostly suck, but they are finally getting a bit better, keep working on that and you'll see some real results fast.
Here's another hint, don't go after your customers in ridiculous lawsuits, unless you can prove to the world that poor woman never bought a record in her whole life she IS a customer of yours and no self respecting business treats their customers like that.
I guess now you can see that I disagree with you on many fronts and that instead of a victory, I see a tragic defeat for every Jane and Joe Doe in the world as a result of this case. I hope you can sleep easy, knowing how much you have completely failed music today.
Remember, whatever you think at the end of this day, no one owns my memories of the first time I heard Nirvana as a growing adolescent, or The Clash as I began to learn to love life or the first time The Pixies' Where is My Mind sent chills down my spine of pure blissful understanding. And I shouldn't even mention Fugazi, but I will, Waiting Room, it still blows my mind. But even though those thoughts and feelings can't be bought or sold, you do have a right to charge a fee for the privilege and convenience of listening to a great tune whenever we want, but be smart about it, make it as easy and as reasonable as possible or say goodbye to ever being able to sell music again.
Below you'll find a little message from a great band called Wilco who have had their own troubles with the recording industry and if you are wondering what I really think, well, until you clean up your act, just shut the hell up and take care of music like you are supposed to, it can't take much more of your abuse.
"I'd like to thank you all for nothing at all"
-Misunderstood from Kicking Television: Live in Chicago
For some more information on the case (including some very well researched specifics) click here.
We all won today, or at least that is what you would have us believe. In a court case over pirated music RIAA emerged victorious over a single mom who decided to fight back against a system that she felt had unfairly and, quite possibly, unjustifiably picked on her to make an example of to the unwashed masses of their criminal ways.
How exactly is sentencing a working class woman to unending menial servitude good for everyone? Well, you would say you are saving music from extinction, that you are protecting musicians' rights and ensuring fair prices and products of excellent quality for everyone.
At least, I think that is what you would say, but until recently I also thought it was perfectly legal to backup my music digitally so as to transform my computer into a gigantic jukebox of epic proportions, or to place such music on my phone so I can listen to it while out and about, not to mention the convenience of making my own mixes of my fav tunes for those long road trips.
But heck, if AT&T can claim filters limiting your internet access broadens and enhances the content you can view, then I really should just shut up, get on board and start talking the doublespeak. I have a problem though, see I can disappoint myself, be my own worst enemy and place my foot in my mouth with ease, but one thing I can't do is stand by and watch multiple people with vast resources commit stupidity without comment.
For when that happens you hurt far more than yourself, you hurt everyone in love with media, and in this specific case music. You see RIAA, I don't pirate music, I buy it through various legitimate retailers (amazon.com, amazon mp3 store, itunes, emusic, various big box stores) and I frequent concerts as much as I can, but your actions this week and over the last few years have infuriated me so much that if I could prove the artists represented by record companies were slaves without pay I would stop buying music today in protest of your draconian, heartless, ignorant ways and not look back.
For it is you who have missed the boat, failed to realize that if you want to fight piracy you have to offer legitimate buyers an incentive for spending their hard earned money on your products and you know what, it is so god damn easy even I can figure out some ways to get you started.
It goes something like this: when someone buys an album they get the following no matter what: standard music CD, album artwork, band photos, full lyrics, rights to have a digital content control free copy of the music with full ID tags, including lyrics for each song. Possibilities for value added extra incentive content: music videos (that you can also download to your personal media players and computers), discounts to concerts, t-shirts, etc. Oh, and yeah, the prices mostly suck, but they are finally getting a bit better, keep working on that and you'll see some real results fast.
Here's another hint, don't go after your customers in ridiculous lawsuits, unless you can prove to the world that poor woman never bought a record in her whole life she IS a customer of yours and no self respecting business treats their customers like that.
I guess now you can see that I disagree with you on many fronts and that instead of a victory, I see a tragic defeat for every Jane and Joe Doe in the world as a result of this case. I hope you can sleep easy, knowing how much you have completely failed music today.
Remember, whatever you think at the end of this day, no one owns my memories of the first time I heard Nirvana as a growing adolescent, or The Clash as I began to learn to love life or the first time The Pixies' Where is My Mind sent chills down my spine of pure blissful understanding. And I shouldn't even mention Fugazi, but I will, Waiting Room, it still blows my mind. But even though those thoughts and feelings can't be bought or sold, you do have a right to charge a fee for the privilege and convenience of listening to a great tune whenever we want, but be smart about it, make it as easy and as reasonable as possible or say goodbye to ever being able to sell music again.
Below you'll find a little message from a great band called Wilco who have had their own troubles with the recording industry and if you are wondering what I really think, well, until you clean up your act, just shut the hell up and take care of music like you are supposed to, it can't take much more of your abuse.
"I'd like to thank you all for nothing at all"
-Misunderstood from Kicking Television: Live in Chicago
For some more information on the case (including some very well researched specifics) click here.
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