With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion.
The good life, as I conceive it, is a happy life. I do not mean that if you are good you will be happy - I mean that if you are happy you will be good.
Too much sanity may be madness and the maddest of all, to see life as it is and not as it should be.
I enjoy paying taxes. With them I buy civilization.
February 15, 2008 - 12:42 p.m.
I got home too late to update last night. So does that tease your interest to find out why?
Did anything interesting happen at school yesterday? I don't think so. I was a bit disappointed that I didn't cover more material in my classes. There was no homework so that gave me more time to lecture. I really wanted to make sure that they understood the material though. In one class I was taking precautions because it was things I know students have difficulty with. In the other class there were a lot of questions. I love that, it shows the students are interested enough to ask when they don't understand what's going on. I always praise the students for asking. I know some people feel it makes them look stupid when they ask so they keep quiet.
I really love my mp3 player. It makes the commute so much nicer. I always love the LIRR part of the commute but the music entertains me while I'm waiting for trains and on the subway. On the subway last night I woman asked me what I was listening to because she could see how much I was enjoying myself; It was the Original Cast Recording of Sweeney Todd.
When I'm on the LIRR and not reading the paper I cultivate the hypnogogic state. What you don't know the word "hypnogogic? (alt. hypnagogic)" Neither did I till Maura taught it to me a few months ago. She's my dream maven. According to the Wikipedia entry it means:
Hypnagogia (also spelled hypnogogia) describes vivid dreamlike auditory, visual, or tactile sensations, which are often accompanied by sleep paralysis and experienced when falling asleep or waking up.
I've described the state before without knowing it's name. It is great listening to music under it; it weaves its way into the dreams and thoughts.
Last night I went to see Four Shillings Short. I have previously only seen them at SMAF. They played at an Irish Pub three subway stops from my school. I had 20 minutes to get there after class and hopped right on the train and got there just in time.
It turned out that I had more time than I thought. They had trouble with the sound system and the show was delayed for half an hour. I took advantage of the time to talk to Christy and have something to eat.
I guess I need to tell you about Four Shillings Short, they aren't household names. Has anyone reading this who hasn't been to SMAF ever seen or heard them? You all should but I'm guessing you haven't.
Four Shillings Short is Aodh Óg Ó Tuama and Christy Martin. Lets stop right here for a second for a diversion. What form of to be is correct in that sentence? I use "is" because Four Shillings Short is one entity. Yet often I see bands use "are" as it consists of more than one person. Which do you think is right?
OK now back to brass tacks. They are a married couple/band that puts on just about the most diverse shows that I've ever seen. Aodh Óg (Rhymes with Bay Rogue) is the son of a eminent Irish language poet and his mother an archeologist. His first language was Irish Gaelic. He plays an amazing collection of recorders, whistles, and krumhorns. I took a picture of them and I'll post it after I get a chance to edit the pictures I took last night. He also plays the doumbek and this strange thing that is like a one note accordion use. They have an affinity for obscure antiquated instruments.
Christy is from the Bay area and studied Hinduism for years. She plays the sitar, hammered dulcimer, guitar, banjo, and three members of the mandolin family. They have the highest ration of instruments to performers of any band I know.
They are itinerant musicians without a permanent home. They met ten years ago at a gig and got married a few weeks later. They lived in the Bay Area for a few years then decided to hit the road and have been on it every since.
Their music shows the diversity of their backgrounds, they play traditional Irish music, often in Gaelic, Indian Ragas, contemporary folk, and really funny songs. One classic consisted almost entirely of quotes from George W. Bush.
This was a show with no cover, just a tip jar. Most shows like that are a bit less than an hour. They performed for almost 3 including a break between sets. Because of the diversity of their music they have no trouble holding your interest in a long show.
They seemed to know most of the people in the audience. It helps that they are very friendly. I knew them a bit from SMAF and they were supposed to play The Budgiedome this summer but Aodh Óg's mother got sick and they had to take care of her. When I came in they didn't recognize me but when I introduced myself the bells went off in their heads and Christy came over to me and gave me a big hug.
I think I'll hold off writing more about the show till I have the pictures posted. I tried to take photos of them every time they picked up a new instrument. It will give you a nice feel for the show.
I unfortunately didn't look at my watch after the show till it was too late. It was 11:22 and that would make it tight making the 11:49 train. I didn't leave immediately as I wanted to say goodbye to Aodh Óg and Christy and I chatted a bit with other people in the audience. The upshot was that I missed my train by one minute and had to take the 12:19. That is when having the mp3 player really helped. I enjoyed myself listening to Sweeney Todd. I didn't get home till around 1 AM. I didn't want to start updating then.
Even though I've cut things short and didn't include the pictures or one of the main themes I wanted to cover today I'm already on page 3. I'm having another busy day today. Carey and I are seeing Diary of the Dead this afternoon then I'm seeing Twilight Hotel tonight. That show is at 10:30 so I won't be updating again till tomorrow. I might break my usual rules and drive in to the City so I can get home at a more reasonable hour. If I drive I'll be home around midnight, If I take the train I'll probably have to once again take the 12:19 train which means getting back at 1:00.
The International Jewish Banking Conspiracy - October 07, 2008
On the Road to Westchester County - October 06, 2008
Inside the Madison Square Studio - October 05, 2008
I'm a Bosniac and I'm debating like I've never debated before - October 03, 2008
Islands in the Stream of Consciousness - October 02, 2008
Email me: GordonLew at gmail
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License. Horvendile February 15, 2008
