Thursday, 22 November 2012
random words
Aware (Japanese)
Aware is a word, quite well-known, for the bittersweetness of a brief and fading moment of transcendent beauty. It's that "last burst of summer" feel, or the transience of early spring.
Maya (Sanskrit)
This word is one that could be applied to a lot of protest movements and many political speeches. It refers to belief — the often unfortunate belief — that the symbol of a thing is the same as the thing itself. It's the, "Ceci n'est pas une pipe," of the literary world.
Wei-wu-wei (Chinese)
Wei-wu-wei is conscious nonaction. It's a deliberate, and principled, decision to do nothing whatsoever, and to do it for a particular reason.
Bricoleur du Dimanche (French)
A bricoleur is someone who starts building something with no clear plan, adding bits here and there, cobbling together a whole while flying by the seat of their pants.
Verschlimmbesserung (German)
A verschlimmbesserung is a supposed improvement that makes things worse. There are actually a lot of words for this in a lot of languages, and that makes me think that English needs to get on the ball and coin a native word for this concept. Everyone needs it.
Orenda (Huron)
Orenda is the invocation of the power of human will to change the world around us. It is set up to be the opposing force to fate or destiny. If powerful forces beyond your control are trying to force you one way, orenda is a kind of voiced summoning of personal strength to change fate.
Gâchis (French)
This one means 'a wasted opportunity.' Specifically it means an opportunity that was wasted by ineptness being hurled at it from all directions.
Kalpa (Sanskrit)
Time passing on a cosmic scale
Razbliuto (Russian) Update: Or English!
This word, pronounced ros-blee-OO-toe, describes the feeling that a person (generally meant to be a man) has for the person who he once loved, but now no longer loves.
Aware is a word, quite well-known, for the bittersweetness of a brief and fading moment of transcendent beauty. It's that "last burst of summer" feel, or the transience of early spring.
Maya (Sanskrit)
This word is one that could be applied to a lot of protest movements and many political speeches. It refers to belief — the often unfortunate belief — that the symbol of a thing is the same as the thing itself. It's the, "Ceci n'est pas une pipe," of the literary world.
Wei-wu-wei (Chinese)
Wei-wu-wei is conscious nonaction. It's a deliberate, and principled, decision to do nothing whatsoever, and to do it for a particular reason.
Bricoleur du Dimanche (French)
A bricoleur is someone who starts building something with no clear plan, adding bits here and there, cobbling together a whole while flying by the seat of their pants.
Verschlimmbesserung (German)
A verschlimmbesserung is a supposed improvement that makes things worse. There are actually a lot of words for this in a lot of languages, and that makes me think that English needs to get on the ball and coin a native word for this concept. Everyone needs it.
Orenda (Huron)
Orenda is the invocation of the power of human will to change the world around us. It is set up to be the opposing force to fate or destiny. If powerful forces beyond your control are trying to force you one way, orenda is a kind of voiced summoning of personal strength to change fate.
Gâchis (French)
This one means 'a wasted opportunity.' Specifically it means an opportunity that was wasted by ineptness being hurled at it from all directions.
Kalpa (Sanskrit)
Time passing on a cosmic scale
Razbliuto (Russian) Update: Or English!
This word, pronounced ros-blee-OO-toe, describes the feeling that a person (generally meant to be a man) has for the person who he once loved, but now no longer loves.
etymological fallacy
Using etymology to govern usage is known as the "etymological fallacy." Usage is governed by, you guessed it, use, not the origin of the word. The origin, of course, influences how a word is used in that it provides the starting point, but meanings shift over time, and lexicographers come up with their definitions by surveying how people actually use the words, not by studying the etymology. In other words, it is unreasonable to determine today's usage based on how the language was used a thousand years ago. If it were reasonable, we'd still be using "silly" to mean "blessed, fortunate" and "awful" to mean "inspiring wonder.". . . If people today perceive it as sexist, it is sexist, regardless of how it was used in ages past.
Linguistics researcher Dave Wilton, author of Word Myths: Debunking Linguistic Urban Legends
Linguistics researcher Dave Wilton, author of Word Myths: Debunking Linguistic Urban Legends
Saturday, 17 November 2012
Friday, 16 November 2012
Jack Gilbert - "“The forgotten dialect of the heart"
“How astonishing it is that language can almost mean,
and frightening that it does not quite.”
and frightening that it does not quite.”
Thursday, 15 November 2012
16 Horsepower - "Horse Head Fiddle" (Folklore)
Slow, nearly drone like, as far as that's possible within Americana.
Fun - (some songs on TV)
have seen them at Stephen Colbert's "Colbert Report" and now at Saturday Night Live (SNL).
It's weird, there's something to the sound that I like, *though* I am not a fan of the African based sound in general.
But then he pulls out the vocoder, and I start spitting anger.
It's weird, there's something to the sound that I like, *though* I am not a fan of the African based sound in general.
But then he pulls out the vocoder, and I start spitting anger.
David Hernandez - "At The Post Office"
The line is long, processional, glacial,
and the attendant a giant stone, cobalt blue
with flecks of white, I’m not so much
looking at a rock but a slab of night.
The stone asks if anything inside the package
is perishable. When I say no the stone
laughs, muted thunderclap, meaning
everything decays, not just fruit
or cut flowers, but paper, ink, the CD
I burned with music, and my friend
waiting to hear the songs, some little joy
after chemo eroded the tumor. I know flesh
is temporary, and memory a tilting barn
the elements dismantle nail by nail.
I know the stone knows a millennia of rain
and wind will even grind away
his ragged face, and all of this slow erasing
is just a prelude to when the swelling
universe burns out, goes dark, holds
nothing but black holes, the bones of stars
and planets, a vast silence. The stone
is stone-faced. The stone asks how soon
I want the package delivered. As fast
as possible, I say, then start counting the days.
and the attendant a giant stone, cobalt blue
with flecks of white, I’m not so much
looking at a rock but a slab of night.
The stone asks if anything inside the package
is perishable. When I say no the stone
laughs, muted thunderclap, meaning
everything decays, not just fruit
or cut flowers, but paper, ink, the CD
I burned with music, and my friend
waiting to hear the songs, some little joy
after chemo eroded the tumor. I know flesh
is temporary, and memory a tilting barn
the elements dismantle nail by nail.
I know the stone knows a millennia of rain
and wind will even grind away
his ragged face, and all of this slow erasing
is just a prelude to when the swelling
universe burns out, goes dark, holds
nothing but black holes, the bones of stars
and planets, a vast silence. The stone
is stone-faced. The stone asks how soon
I want the package delivered. As fast
as possible, I say, then start counting the days.
Wednesday, 14 November 2012
Snooks Eaglin - misc
Indirectly suggested by Pandora when liking Tom Waits' sound to this.
- "Let Me Go Home, Whiskey" - bit more New Orleans blues
- "Saint James Infirmary" - okay version
Tuesday, 13 November 2012
fernweh
(German)
literally, “farsickness”; “an ache for the distance” ; wanderlust
Synonyms: Wanderlust
Antonyms: Heimweh
literally, “farsickness”; “an ache for the distance” ; wanderlust
Synonyms: Wanderlust
Antonyms: Heimweh
Melancholy Attacks!
Not really. But still.
- George Michael - "Tonight"
- Zager & Evans - "(In the) Year 2525"
Alan W. Watts - "This is it - become what you are"
(again that floating Zen sound! I think it is a test, and I just failed again.)
There is a secret conspiracy between all insides and all outsides. That is, that they appear to be different, but deep down they are the same.
spot-light consciousness: talking to the person next to you in the car
flood-light consciousness: driving the road.
Particularly Western civilisation focuses on spot-light conscious.
Those who fully experience their flood-light conscious, they have a mystical experience.
There is a secret conspiracy between all insides and all outsides. That is, that they appear to be different, but deep down they are the same.
spot-light consciousness: talking to the person next to you in the car
flood-light consciousness: driving the road.
Particularly Western civilisation focuses on spot-light conscious.
Those who fully experience their flood-light conscious, they have a mystical experience.
Tom McRae - "Sloop John B"
(via http://toys.tumblrist.com/audio/invisiblestories/1)
A well known song, executed in almost minimalistic style.
Original by the Beach Boys, based on a traditional West Indies folk song.
A well known song, executed in almost minimalistic style.
Original by the Beach Boys, based on a traditional West Indies folk song.
Photos to make you silent
it won't help against the rage or fury or anger of office- and every day life.
but it sure is beautiful:
http://butdoesitfloat.com/That-there-should-be-a-reality-hidden-behind-appearances-is-after-all
That there should be a reality hidden behind appearances is, after all, quite possible; that language might render such a thing would be an absurd hope. So why burden yourself with one opinion rather than another — why recoil from the banal or the inconceivable from the duty of saying and of writing anything at all? A modicum of wisdom would compel us to sustain all theses at once, in an eclecticism of smiling destruction.
That there should be a reality hidden behind appearances is, after all, quite possible; that language might render such a thing would be an absurd hope. So why burden yourself with one opinion rather than another — why recoil from the banal or the inconceivable from the duty of saying and of writing anything at all? A modicum of wisdom would compel us to sustain all theses at once, in an eclecticism of smiling destruction.
Monday, 12 November 2012
Psychopomp
Psychopomps (from the Greek word ψυχοπομπός - psuchopompos, literally meaning the "guide of souls")[1] are creatures, spirits, angels, or deities in many religions whose responsibility is to escort newly deceased souls to the afterlife. Their role is not to judge the deceased, but simply provide safe passage. Frequently depicted on funerary art, psychopomps have been associated at different times and in different cultures with horses, Whip-poor-wills, ravens, dogs, crows, owls, sparrows, cuckoos, and harts.
In Jungian psychology, the psychopomp is a mediator between the unconscious and conscious realms. It is symbolically personified in dreams as a wise man or woman, or sometimes as a helpful animal. In many cultures, the shaman also fulfills the role of the psychopomp. This may include not only accompanying the soul of the dead, but also vice versa: to help at birth, to introduce the newborn child's soul to the world (p. 36 of).[2] This also accounts for the contemporary title of "midwife to the dying," which is another form of psychopomp work.
In Jungian psychology, the psychopomp is a mediator between the unconscious and conscious realms. It is symbolically personified in dreams as a wise man or woman, or sometimes as a helpful animal. In many cultures, the shaman also fulfills the role of the psychopomp. This may include not only accompanying the soul of the dead, but also vice versa: to help at birth, to introduce the newborn child's soul to the world (p. 36 of).[2] This also accounts for the contemporary title of "midwife to the dying," which is another form of psychopomp work.
Alan W. Watts - "God Complex"
Western beliefs install dogmas.
Eastern beliefs try to change your mental attitude (constituency?)
Jesus didn't say: I am the son of God.
He said: I am a son of God.
He said he was divine.
As we are all.
wonderful talk, though that silly music could really have been left out. Words like this don't need musical annotation or nice views of the world. Let the words just be themselves, let them be words, and that is enough.
Eastern beliefs try to change your mental attitude (constituency?)
Jesus didn't say: I am the son of God.
He said: I am a son of God.
He said he was divine.
As we are all.
wonderful talk, though that silly music could really have been left out. Words like this don't need musical annotation or nice views of the world. Let the words just be themselves, let them be words, and that is enough.
Alan W. Watts - "Nothingness"
Ex nihilo, nihil fit - out of Nothing, Nothing comes
I can see the fallacy, as Alan Watts calls it, for without nothing there isn't anything. (yet saying that the basic constant of everything is contrast, would quite likely not be approved)
I don't like this short documentary. It's a fast edited - for this subject - selection of what he says. But too concise, too incoherent in its compactness.
I can see the fallacy, as Alan Watts calls it, for without nothing there isn't anything. (yet saying that the basic constant of everything is contrast, would quite likely not be approved)
I don't like this short documentary. It's a fast edited - for this subject - selection of what he says. But too concise, too incoherent in its compactness.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)