Thought du jour - 30 September, 2011

"The survival of democracy as we know it hinges increasingly on the inherently decentralized nature of the Internet. So I'm annoyed by Netizens who remain forever anonymous behind "clever" usernames and handles in a vainglorious attempt to keep their "real" lives and online lives discreet. If you have something important to contribute to the datasphere, speak out! Use your real name! The Net is not one big chatroom; it's one of the central forces keeping our world from dissolution at the hands of mega-corporations, chomping-at-the-bit neo-fascists and "protective" watchdog government agencies out to fulfill the usual list of Big Brother power fantasies." - Mac Tonnies

As anyone who has read or heard one of my rants against Internet anonymity is aware, I couldn't agree more. People need to take ownership of what they say, and write, or else it's worthless. How can I respect someone's opinion when they don't have the courage to put their name to it?

The answer is that I can't, and I don't.

After all, John Hancock didn't sign the Declaration of Independence "IHateGeorgie47".

Paul Kimball

Carl Sagan, Stephen Hawking and Arthur C. Clarke - God, The Universe and Everything Else

Thought du jour - 29 September, 2011

"Bureaucracy is a parasitic lifeform. It will continue feeding until human existence is a mere shuffle of commodity and idiotic smiles." - Mac Tonnies

Friends Making Good - Jon Mullane and John Rosborough, "The One That Got Away"

New music video by my friend Jon Mullane. It was directed by my old pal and fellow adventurer / bon vivant John Rosborough, who has worked on most of my projects over the years, and made me look better for being there. Kudos to everyone who was involved!

Paul Kimball

Thought du jour - 28 September 2011

"All literary men are Red Sox fans - to be a Yankee fan in a literate society is to endanger your life." - John Cheever

World Music, Vol. III - Yat Kha

Shown above is a live version of one of my favourite songs, Joy Division's "Love Will Tear Us Apart", performed by the Tuvan folk/rock/electro/post punk band band Yat Kha, in a very unique and wonderful way featuring the distinctive Kargyraa style throat singing of vocalist Albert Kuvezin.

Here's the studio version:

Great stuff, from halfway around the world!

Paul Kimball

Thought du jour - 27 September 2011

"The world we've created for ourselves is a shadow of our reproductive imperative, and our institutions are symptomatic of our devotion to our short-lived physical selves. The activities of a typical day betray our dedication to maintaining reproductive viability. But the chemical phenomenon that gives the single-celled amoeba its raison d'etre seems somehow less-than-noble for a species that has evolved the singular and promising faculties of foresight and imagination. I think the human species is approaching a point where the need to create (in the biological sense) will be superseded by the sheer pleasure of thought itself. We will continue to be creators. But our slavish attachment to the physical world and all of its superficial excess will be left behind as we plunge forward, breaking down the perceived barriers between mind and brain, thought and flesh, sentience and circuitry." - Mac Tonnies

Note: The quote above is taken from Mac's short but thought-provoking essay, Sentience and Circuitry: Meat is Memory.

Paul Kimball

Thought du jour - 26 September 2011

“Existence, well what does it matter? I exist on the best terms I can.” - Ian Curtis

Thought du jour - 25 September 2011

"Talking is a hydrant in the yard and writing is a faucet upstairs in the house. Opening the first takes the pressure off the second." - Robert Frost

The Classical Now - Ian Parker

In 2003 and 2004, I produced and directed a television series called The Classical Now, which was broadcast originally on Bravo in Canada, and later on SCN and the Knowledge Network. The series, which was hosted by my good friend Will Fraser, featured young Canadian classical musicians performing and chatting about their work and their lives, and it was probably the best work I've ever done.

The following clip is one of my favourite moments from the show. It features pianist Ian Parker chatting with Will about the variations on themes that you can find within different pieces of music.

When you can inform and entertain in my business, that's a good day!

Paul Kimball

World Music, Vol. II - Claire Prendergast

Irish alternative folk singer-songwriter Claire Prendergast is my latest random YouTube discovery, part of a process where I'll input a string of words in the YouTube search engine, like "ukelele" and "folk", or "accordion" and "radiohead", and see what pops up.

Claire does some very charming cover versions of songs by artists such as Radiohead and A-ha, which I quite like, but it's her original material that really captured my attention...  after all, how can you not like a young Irish folk singer who writes songs about "zombies, polar bears and shovels"?

Paul Kimball

Thought du jour - 24 September 2011

"Film is one of the three universal languages - the other two: mathematics and music." - Frank Capra

World Music, Vol. I

Corporatized pop music has become so pervasive, to the point where it now exists as a sort of soundtrack for our lives, that we rarely if ever are exposed to music from other genres, or from the rest of the world. Accordingly, I've decided that every now and then I'll be posting a video of some of that "other" music, like this wonderful and haunting piece on the morin khuur, a traditional instrument of the Mongol people, just to remind myself, if no-one else, that there is more to music, and culture, than the "pop tart" du jour.

Paul Kimball

Paulism

In the 21st century, everyone will have their own cult of personality, to one degree or another, which through increased and enhanced social networking will coalesce into groups of similar types, or mega-cults, if you will - so I've decided to to get a head start on the masses and formalize mine!

What is Paulism?

When I figure it out, I'll let you know. In the meantime, stay tuned (and check out past and future posts tagged "Paulosophy")!!

Paul Kimball

Thought du jour - 23 September 2011

"American culture is the manic combination of exultant hubris and profound gloom." - George Friedman

Friedman is one of the world's "big thinkers", an Alfred Thayer Mahan for the 21st century. His book, The Next 100 Years, is a thought-provoking, must-read analysis for anyone interested in geopolitics, and where the world is going in the century to come.

Here he is talking about what he sees happening in the next ten years or so.



Is Friedman going to get all of the details right?

Of course not.

But on his prediction for the big picture - that the 21st century is going to be the American century - I think he's spot on.

Paul Kimball

Earth

Awe-inspiring, and a reminder of how we're all sailors on the same ship, no matter what our differences might be.

Paul Kimball

The Ultimate Paulosophy

Prague, 2009

I think smart is sexy, I would be an outlaw for love, I'm as comfortable at the opera as I am in a mosh pit, I prefer the roads less travelled, my motto is "the journey is the destination", and I believe in the zen of the vanilla milkshake.

Paul Kimball

Thought du jour - 22 September 2011

"Thinking of the stars night after night I begin to realize 'The stars are words' and all the innumerable worlds in the Milky Way are words, and so is this world too. And I realize that no matter where I am, whether in a little room full of thought, or in this endless universe of stars and mountains, it's all in my mind." - Jack Kerouac

Paulosophy, Vol. XVII

No matter the rate of inflation, pretty faces with nothing behind them will always be a dime a dozen.

Paul Kimball

Thought du jour - 21 September 2011

"The universal order and the personal order are nothing but different expressions and manifestations of a common underlying principle." - Marcus Aurelius

Thought du jour - 20 September 2011

"Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are." - John Wooden

Paulosophy, Vol. XVI

The journey is the destination.

Paul Kimball

Thought du jour - 19 September 2011

"What a man does for pay is of little significance. What he is, as a sensitive instrument responsive to the world's beauty, is everything!" - H. P. Lovecraft

Thought du jour - 18 September 2011

"God does not die on the day when we cease to believe in a personal deity, but we die on the day when our lives cease to be illumined by the steady radiance, renewed daily, of a wonder, the source of which is beyond all reason." - Dag Hammarskjöld

Thought du jour - 17 September 2011

"I myself believe that there will one day be time travel because when we find that something isn't forbidden by the over-arching laws of physics we usually eventually find a technological way of doing it." - David Deutsch

Paulosophy, Vol. XV

There's a difference between wanting everyone to be happy, and wanting everyone to be happy with their lot.

Paul Kimball

Thought du jour - 16 September 2011

"Anybody who thinks that we can move this economy forward with just a few folks at the top doing well, hoping that it's going to trickle down to working people who are running faster and faster just to keep up, you'll never see it." - Barack Obama

Thought du jour - 15 September 2011

"Consciousness is a potential technology; we are exquisite machines, nothing less than sentient patterns. As such, there's no convincing technical reason we can't eventually upload ourselves into matrices of our design and choosing. It's likely the phenomenon we casually call "intelligence" will cease to be strictly biological as we begin to merge with our machines more meaningfully and intimately." - Mac Tonnies

Thought du jour - 14 September 2011

"I am opposing a social order in which it is possible for one man who does absolutely nothing that is useful to amass a fortune of hundreds of millions of dollars, while millions of men and women who work all the days of their lives secure barely enough for a wretched existence." - Eugene V. Debs

I consider Debs to be one of the greatest Americans of the 20th century.

Meanwhile, here is today's piece of historical trivia, that may interest only me. In 1912, Debs' running mate on the Socialist ticket for President was Emil Seidel, who had been Mayor of Milwaukee from 1910 to 1912, as a socialist (until the Republicans and Democrats combined forces to defeat him).

The trivia bit is that one of his secretaries while Mayor was a young Carl Sandburg, one of my two or three favourite poets of the 20th century. As for Seidel, a largely forgotten figure of American history, he was the first Socialist mayor of a major city in the United States, and during his administration the first public works department was established, the first fire and police commission was organized, a city park system came into being, and he cleaned the town up with strict regulation of bars and the closing of brothels and sporting parlors. He was doing a fine job... right up until the Democratic / Republican fusion put an end to it, at least for a few years. Milwaukee went on to elect socialist mayors from 1916 until 1940, and again from 1948 to 1960, with progressive and responsible administrations that served the people of Milwaukee well.

Something to think about the next time some Republican (or Democrat) tries to convince you that to vote for a socialist would be akin to voting for Satan.

Paul Kimball

Paulosophy, Vol. XIV

In order to sell out, you first have to buy in. Better to save your money, and think for yourself.

Paul Kimball

Thought du jour - 13 September 2011

"The highest patriotism is not a blind acceptance of official policy, but a love of one's country deep enough to call her to a higher plain." - George McGovern

Thought du jour - 12 September 2011

"If the Nuremberg laws were applied, then every post-war American president would have been hanged." - Noam Chomsky

Walkabout - Prince Edward Island, 2011

Over the forty-four years of my life, I've spent most of my time in my home province of Nova Scotia, but I've also spent significant periods of time in other places - a year studying in Scotland, many trips to California (and the American southwest in general), New Brunswick, where my folks are originally from (particularly when I was a kid)... and Prince Edward Island, which is one of the most beautiful places I've ever visited. This past weekend, I was over there yet again on a short holiday, and I took the time for a walkabout on some of the famous beaches on the north shore of the Island, followed by dinner at one of my favourite restaurants.

The Dalvay-by-the-Sea resort, which is a great
place to sit back, relax and enjoy tea.

Dalvay beach, looking east towards the setting sun.

The piping plover, which is an endangered species,
trotting along the water's edge at Dalvay Beach.

Someone left this giant lobster sand
drawing at Dalvay Beach.

Dalvay Beach.

Cymbria, a small community halfway between Dalvay Beach
and Cavendish Beach. It has a nice golf course nearby (Rustico resort)
and a campground that my family stayed at years ago.

The boardwalk leading up to Cavendish Beach.

Setting sun over dunes, Cavendish Beach.

Setting sun at Cavendish Beach.

Setting sun at Cavendish Beach.

Setting sun, dunes and sand castle at Cavendish Beach.

Shadowy self-portrait, Cavendish Beach.

The sun sets over the dunes at Cavendish Beach.

Yours truly enjoying the sunset at Cavendish Beach.

The Clyde River outside the Prince Edward Island
Preserve Company, in New Glasgow.

My friend Linda heads into the Preserve Company, where we
had dinner at the Café on the Clyde, one of my favourite restaurants.

Inside the Café on the Clyde - it closed at 8 pm, and we got
there at 7:57 pm... but the friendly staff were still more
than happy to seat us for dinner.

One of my favourite meals anywhere, the Potato Pie with
maple bacon sauce at the Café on the Clyde. Normally it
comes with a choice of salad, but I substituted a side order
of vegetables, including some roasted PEI potatoes...
because there's no food I love more than potatoes!

Linda had the fish cakes with salad, which was almost as
delicious as the potato pie.

For dessert, I couldn't resist the coconut cream pie, which
was absolutely wonderful.

In casse you're wondering how far away the
Café on the Clyde is from you, the folks at the
Prince Edward Island Preserve Company have
erected this handy sign in the parking lot!

A final look at the lovely Clyde River at dusk.

There are good days, and there are great days... and then there are Prince Edward Island days, which are about as close to perfection as you can find.

Paul Kimball 

Thought du jour - 11 September 2011

"Everybody's worried about stopping terrorism. Well, there's a really easy way: stop participating in it." - Noam Chomsky

Thought du jour - 10 September 2011

"Aim above morality. Be not simply good, be good for something." - Henry David Thoreau