Sunday Quickie

I've been sitting at my computer all day backing up files because my old backup drive was stolen along with my guitar and some 7"s on xmas eve. Seriously, who steals at little backup drive? Can you get a bunch of money for those? Do you just want my embarrassing files like my college thesis and some bad writing I did four years ago? Did you assume I had my iTunes folder backed up on there?
Anyway, in between copying bursts I read a great piece by Steven Pinker in today's Sunday Times Magazine. It's on the development of morality in humans and anyone that's even remotely interested in the subject will surely enjoy it and have plenty of think about and discuss with friends or coworkers or invisible entities that they maintain are near. I haven't read any books by Pinker, but I plan on it, as soon as I read the other however-many books I have to my "to-read" list.
In other news it's gonna snow here tonight, the Pats won last night and will now face the Chargers next weekend (I'm a bit disappointed, however, that we won't have a chance to defeat the Colts again on the way to the Super Bowl). Some good things had to happen this weekend to offset my manager-less Newcastle United getting thrashed by Man U. Ugh...

"The Moral Instinct" @ NYTimes.com

I've got TWO Golden Tickets!

To go see NEUROSIS and MASTODON and neither of them are for you, unless your name is Nick Salek, which is probably isn't, because Nick doesn't read blogs (at least as far as I know). What would make this better is if instead of Nick I had some awesome girl coming with me, but since that's just a pipe-dream, might as well bring along my bandmate (other bandmate, Jeremy, where are you? Get yr damn ticket!).
I'm wicked excited cos I've never seen Neurosis live before and satan, mother of god, they're playing with Mastodon (or vice versa, whatever). Now I just have to make it through another two weeks intact.

On a completely different note, I've somehow managed to trick a slew of folks from around the world to visit this site, but I've yet to sucker anyone from Africa. WAKE UP, AFRICA! I know you're busy preparing for the African Cup of Nations, but take two seconds and visit me so that I can get a pretty dot on your vastly underappreciated (and undernourished) and overexploited -- yet astoundingly beautiful -- continent.

(there, that nod to the ACoN should do the trick...)

Yes, Sometimes I Read Fiction

Gary Shteyngart, The Russian Debutante's Handbook

Now it's not often I stray from my beloved non-fiction pop-science geek books, but tore through this thanks to what I must say was a great tip. Since I wasn't a Lit major nor an avid fictioneer, I don't really know how to discuss such books. (Really, anyone who reads this knows I don't actually know how talk about much of anything, but damn if I don't try). That means I haven't the foggiest about the plot arc or allusions to other works or any of that crap. What I do know, however, is that this book kept my attention and had a lot of funny jokes in it. I've also been to Prague, the basis of his fictional city of Prava, which added a level of familiarity to the proceedings.

On a more serious note, I'll say that this book was a fantastic antidote to all the bullshit ravings about "quarterlife" that have been floating around the media lately. I'm 26, have been fairly directionless for the past few years and, um, whatever else "qualifies" someone for a "quarterlife crisis." Oh, having a decent level of neuroticism helps, too. Anyway, before youtube and facebook and all the rubbish self-promotion/self-pity party started folks just went about their business figuring out what to do with their lives without fucking crying about it to whatever gullible anonymous strangers would pay attention. Shteyngart's story here is a product (and a marvelous one at that) of that post-college wonder/wander-ment and there isn't any unwarranted crying over spilled milk.

Now that I've completely butchered another review of something I really enjoyed, I'll recommend this book and look forward to reading his follow-up, Absurdistan.

Hey Look, It's a Music Post!

There's a great show coming up on Thursday featuring my friends Stay Fucked. All the info via (stellar) drummer, Hank Shteamer:

here is info on our belated end-of-tour show! CDs and new hand-screened t-shirts will be on hand. all the other bands rule. hope to see you!

this Thursday, 1/10
@ Cake Shop
152 Ludlow between Rivington and Stanton

(bands listed from latest to earliest)

*Dysrhythmia
*Stay Fucked
*We Be the Echo
*The Future Has a Silver Lining

8pm, $6

myspace.com/stayfucked

East v West: Terrorist All-Star Game

Ian Buruma & Avishai Margalit, Occidentalism: The West in the Eyes of its Enemies

Recently we started getting coursebooks in stock at work and, as curiosity dictates, I started skimming through some to see what some of the NYU profs are assigning this term. This one, Occidentalism caught my eye and I ended up reading the whole thing in spare moments over two days. It's not a lengthy tome, but it's an easy read as well as, I think, a well thought out work. The major premise, as I gather it, is that militant Islamism is just the latest in a line of ideologies spawned to opposed "the West." This entity is really the intertwined systems of scientism, progress, democracy, capitalism and not the monolith that those who wish to counter it (with violence it should be noted) would like to make it out to be.
One of the major points that the authors repeatedly make is that a lot of "anti-Western" thought is actually Western (and more specifically, western European) in origin. In fact, a good deal of it is Western systems of thought--communism, fascism, romanticism--that are introduced in one form or another to non-Westerners and summarily bastardized in a context that doesn't mirror that within which the ideology originally grew. It should be duly noted that popular support for such anti-Western sentiment tends to increase because of the disconnect that natives feel between what Western-educated (or connected) elites of their home countries end up doing in the name of "progress" there. Just as many in the "West" have a poor grasp of the realities away from their doorsteps, those in the "East" or "South" have similarly skewed visions of what it means to be "Western" in origin.
I'm off now to search for come critiques of this book, since I'm sure there are a few, but I must state that this book isn't some apologetic for Eurocentrism or West-ism or some other nonsense. I have plenty of issues with elements of global capitalism and misused technology and imperial tendencies. Nonetheless, I'm no romantic (in the true sense of, say, German Romanticism, which is discussed at length in the book) about some idealized past or harbor the delusions of heroism that inform the basis of much anti-modern thought. Anyone who reads here knows my support of responsible scientific inquiry and my disdain for religious and spiritual hokum. Whatever, I'm losing my train of thought...
The point is this book is a quick and intelligent read, definitely for anyone who'd like a good geneology of the roots of anti-modern ideologies, particularly ones that espouse violent means. I'd love to get comments on this from anyone else who has read it.

For the approaching year

The year 2007 has been quite turbulent for me: failed to hold down several unsteady jobs; managed to hold down one great, but incredibly low-paying job; had almost zero love life; have a band that's been on an unfortunate hiatus for almost 6 months; moved to a new apartment and immediately had to take on a scourge of critters; had my guitar stolen from said abode; and probably some other stuff happened that I can't recall.

On the upside, I've rejuvenated this blog (though with spotty internet here, not updated as much as I'd like), been reading tons, discovered that D&D (yes, that D&D) is really fun, returned to Brooklyn after a year in (Queens) exile, and have tried to maintain some semblance of a positive attitude. Oh, and I got the Cosmos DVD set for xmas.

The closest I probably come to espousing any sort of metaphysical worldview would be my insistence that life maintains a symmetry or balance; something along the lines of a bastardized, american taoism. There's a wave with peaks and troughs and things generally even themselves out.

Anyway, for anyone who reads this, expect a little more out of me in the near future. As I'll be saving up to buy a new guitar, that means less drinking and probably much more reading and thinking and spouting off whatever it is I do here. So I wish the best to all in their endeavors for this year...

ps - I finally added a list of labels to make it easier to search through past posts. should've done that long ago, but alas, at least it's done now.

Word of the minute/hour/day/week/month/year

In my recent readings of all things skeptical and inquiring, I came across a new favorite word:

APOPHENIA

As far as I've studied and researched, this concept provides a great starting point for understanding all manner of pseudoscience, anti-science, new-age philosophy and other assorted crazy make-'em-ups the world over. Below I'll lay out the simple definition and click on the word above to see a more expansive background on this mot du jour.

Apophenia is the experience of seeing patterns or connections in random or meaningless data. The term was coined in 1958 by Klaus Conrad, who defined it as the "unmotivated seeing of connections" accompanied by a "specific experience of an abnormal meaningfulness".

I want an Ann Druyan of my own

Carl Sagan The Demon-Haunted World: Science As A Candle In The Dark

Here is a collection of essays representing a spectrum of topics ranging from UFOs and alien abduction to the effects of religion on society to the terrible deficiencies in science education among American youth. While the topics are diverse, they flow quite well together and the read never feels disjointed as such a vast array is wont to do.
Later in the book there are several essays that Carl co-wrote with his wife and collaborator Ann Druyan. These tend to be more general in scope; mostly regarding science education, science's role in society and the possibilities for societal betterment that scientific advancement provides. I thought this made sense given Ann's role in co-writing much of the Cosmos tv series. I also get the impression that she probably helped edit and improve the flow of most of Carl's pieces.
What I appreciate most about Carl's work in popularizing science is his continuous encouragement in questioning everything and keeping a sharp, critical, skeptical mind about what confronts us on a daily basis. It's such a simple concept and seems cliché, but to remain vigilant in the face of encroaching darkness and magical thinking is difficult. I can only imagine what Carl would think if he were still alive in this day of pseudoscience and anti-science, of "intelligent design" in schools and diminished science literacy in general. When I was growing up I remember Mr Wizard and 321 Contact among other science shows for kids. Do they even have that now? Sure, kids can use computers, but too many can't think and aren't exposed to methods of critical inquiry at a young age.
I've completely lost focus now and I'm just rambling. I hate to say "we're fucking screwed" even thought it often feels like it, so it makes me terribly happy and hopeful that we still have the work of Carl Sagan as a light in this terrible tunnel.

This Guy Is Way Smarter Than You

Neil deGrasse Tyson Death By Black Hole

This guy is hilariously informative. I highly recommend everybody read this book even if you're not into having your mind blown by science. It immediately places Dr. Tyson in the "Carl Sagan pantheon of great scientists who make the amazing accessible for the lay man". Seriously, who needs religion and spirituality when you can be enrapt with wonder by the very workings of our bodies, our planet, our universe!!!

Please Don't Buy This Book...

For the first post since the interregnum, I'm going to reprint here the piece I posted on goodreads.com that inspired me to restart blogging. It's here in it's original form, unedited, with the comment I posted there after I actually finished reading the book. Enjoy...

Daniel Pinchbeck 2012: The Return of Quetzalcoatl

this guy is a fucking idiot. i'm forcing myself to finish this because i need to see where he ends up. after a promising start, the book cruised straight downhill into a pile of endless shit. um, buddy, guy, dude, you've based your stupid book on widely (and I mean WIDELY) discredited pseudoscience and touchy feely new age drivel. i'd be laughing while reading this if it wasn't so infuriatingly tragic that people believe this garbage. uh, you do understand that science is based on that which is experimentally verifiable and not just some wild thoughts and premises that people of questionable psychological stability dreamed up ages ago. rudolf steiner? carl jung? seriously? c'mon! you've even botched the parts where you criticize Jared Diamond's conclusions (which are based on actual evidence and testable theories) in his books. did you even read his books, because it doesn't sound like you did.... you use whitley strieber's "Communion" as examples of abductions when even he has claimed his book shouldn't be used as an example of an alien abduction, since there's no way to prove it wasn't something that was dreamed.
oh, and i'll end here, but i've done hallucinogens. a fair amount of them. they fun recreationally. they are, however, not a spiritual doorway to new "consciousness". all they do is reinforce some belief that you already hold about them. jesus, the '60s sucked for a reason, don't try to bring them back you vapid, baby-boomer fuckhead.

okay, deep breaths, deep breaths...i'm done.

--------------

i posted that review before i had actually finished the book. now that i'm done forcing myself to finish it, i have another final comment about the "sexual politics" that pinchbeck throws in at the end: "oh gosh, you have issues with monogamy? join the crowd! but don't start going off on how it's the fault of women for leading men around by their collective vaginas just because you can't make a decision as to whether or not you want to stay with your wife (who has obviously called you out on your bullshit and you can't really write that in a book about your personal bullshit). "you remind me of that handful of neo-hippie guys at vassar who talked a big game about who knows what that made some pathetic girls wet and then slept with as many of them as possible. give it up, you're no better than any frat boy ever. in fact, you're worse, because you try to veil your misogyny in postmodernisms and can't admit to yourself that all you care about is keeping your dick wet and you don't care about 'liberating women' or humanity or any other nice sentiments." i'm proud of myself, that was a pretty good part II of my rant. pat on the back to me!