.
The Funeral
The funeral was fine, and in fact really well done. I left the building feeling positive, and uplifted. There was no mention of God, Jesus, or heaven. There were no holy songs. There was no religion whatsoever. In fact the piece of music that played us out was John Lennon's best known song - “Imagine there's no heaven . . . and no religion too . . .”
The focus of the gathering was entirely on dear B, and the good life she'd lived. Which is as it should be. Amongst other things she was a loving mother, a gifted teacher, an inspirational headteacher, a long-serving trustee of a children's charity, and a good musician. There were two points during the proceedings at which music was played, and allowed time for us to sit in silent meditation. It was during those moments that the Christian cross at the head of the room caught my attention.
Was it fixed in place? And if so, why? And if not, then why hadn't it been removed prior to this gathering that was obviously intended to be secular? Is it ignorance, or arrogance, or sheer determination on someone's part that causes this to happen? On the other hand, maybe the family had been told they could have the cross removed, if they desired, but had said it wasn't necessary. No need to make a big deal of it. Maybe.
On returning to the car I pressed the play button on the stereo, and the very next song that came up was this wonderful Tracey Chapman number:
Heaven's Here on Earth
You can look to the stars in search of the answers
Look for God and life on distant planets
Have your faith in the ever after
While each of us holds inside the map to the labyrinth
And heaven's here on earth
We are the spirit, the collective conscience
We create the pain and the suffering and the beauty in this world
Heaven's here on earth
In our faith in humankind
In our respect for what is earthly
In our unfaltering belief in peace and love and understanding
I've seen and met angels wearing the disguise
Of ordinary people leading ordinary lives
Filled with love, compassion, forgiveness and sacrifice:
Heaven's in our hearts
In our faith in humankind
In our respect for what is earthly
In our unfaltering belief in peace and love and understanding
Look around
Believe in what you see
The kingdom is at hand
The promised land is at your feet
We can and will become what we aspire to be
If Heaven's here on earth
If we have faith in humankind
And respect for what is earthly
And an unfaltering belief that truth is divinity
And heaven's here on earth
I've seen spirits
I've met angels
Touched creations beautiful and wondrous
I've been places where I question all I think I know
But I believe, I believe, I believe this could be heaven
We are born inside the gates with the power to create life
And to take it away
The world is our temple
The world is our church
Heaven's here on earth
If we have faith in human kind
And respect for what is earthly
And an unfaltering belief
In peace and love and understanding
This could be heaven here on earth.
-----------------------------------
Now that's what I call spiritual intelligence.
------------------------------------
Whilst I was in Spain I had an interesting conversation with my friend T, who has many images and figures of the Buddha in and around his house. He's spent a lot of time working and traveling in Buddhist countries. We spoke about the benefits of meditation, and he revealed to me that he thinks it's impossible for him to really meditate because he has an over-active mind that simply won't switch off, so as to allow itself to become still, calm, and contemplative. I guess lots of people feel this way.
---------------------------------------
Bushido
Whilst in Spain I finished reading "Bushido - The Soul of Japan", by Inazo Nitobe.
William Elliot Griffis says this in his Introduction:
"This little book on Bushido is more than a weighty message to the Anglo-Saxon nations. It is a notable contribution to the solution to this century's grandest problem - the reconciliation and unity of the East and the West."
This was published in 1905, and of course things didn't quite go that way. If only such reconciliation had been the major problem facing the planet in the 20th Century.
As things turned out, quite a lot of stuff got in the way of such leisurely and worthwhile pursuits. Things like the wars against fascism and nationalism, the Cold War, Korea and Vietnam, America's espousal of the Shock Doctrine and its attempt to impose its will on the rest of the planet, globalisation, anti-liberalism, neo-conservatism, etc, etc. Not to mention little things messing up the beginning of the 21st Century such as Bush2, the Twin Towers, Afghanistan, Iraq2, global warming, the collapse of the world's financial system, etc.
In the meantime, any attempt to understand the philosophy of Bushido might indeed help the West to gain a better perspective on its own problems. Griffis was right to say that Japan and China needed to get wise to the materialistic, scientific and capitalistic ways of the West, and they've done that to a remarkable degree. The West, however, for the most part arrogantly assumes it has nothing to learn from the ancient wisdom, ideas and philosophies of the East.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bushid%C5%8D
-------------------------------------------------
Walking Meditation
Whilst in Spain I spent some time taking photos and shooting video of the sun rising above the hills to the east of T's place, enjoying, as ever, the quality of the light, the peace and the stillness of the dawn.
There was time to take walks up and around the mountain on the little roads that wind their way up into the campo. “Walking meditation” is brilliant for re-acquainting yourself with your body and its state of fitness, or unfitness. Also for focusing on your breathing. These are essential components of the process of meditation, which seems to me to be the process of gaining self-knowledge and self-understanding.
For instance, how can I claim to be enlightened, or even part-enlightened, if I don't even know the degree to which I'm fit or unfit, whether my body's strong or weak, and to what extent I can walk and climb easily?
Hill walking and climbing can therefore be a continuous reminder of the need to take care of our bodies and address our levels of health and fitness.
And then there's our emotional and spiritual health to deal with, assess, and take care of. What do we teach our children about these things? Very little, on the whole.
We need to learn self-assessment techniques and dedicate time to using them regularly. How well do we know ourselves and our inner workings in reality? In most cases, not well at all. Our culture and our education don't encourage these things.
How and when do we assess the quality of our relationships, and our love of life itself? People may love life and want to hold on to it, whilst hating their own lives and the way they live.
How often and when do we set aside time to experience awe and wonder?
-------------------------------------------------------
The sun rising each day
With impossible brilliance
Clouds changing
From grey to red and orange
To yellow and purest white.
The sky and sea emerging
From black to grey
To brilliant blue.
A billion trees and flowers
Beginnings from small seeds
Growing from darkness and no colour
To every possible shade of brilliance.
The cycle of nature
And cycles within cycles:
Colours and forms appearing
And disappearing
Unbidden, never ending.
---------------------------------------------------------
Gaining perspective and insight into ourselves, into others, and into the entire universe around us, is surely worthwhile, and necessary if we're to experience life to the full and become the best we can be. Where's the positives in ignorance and failure to perceive the essential reality of ourselves, our relationships, and the universe we inhabit?
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And yet . . . too often, it seems, knowledge is forsaken and ignorance seems like bliss. The dark side of our own reality seems like something to be hidden from ourselves, as well as others . . .
Instead of grappling with our own weaknesses and failures we'd rather stay unaware of them, ignore them and dismiss them. Our poor egos can't cope with too much threat to our self-esteem, since they tend to be fragile at the best of times.
---------------------------------------------------
Enlightenment
And yet . . . I have friends who have chosen The Way of meditation and self-discovery, and find that the pathway to self-knowledge and self-development is challenging – yes – but also exciting, necessary and very worthwhile.
I have other friends who say they cannot meditate – that their minds are too active with never-ending thoughts that refuse to cease. The mistake here is to assume that meditation is solely about calming and emptying the mind. Of course, in the long run, we want to achieve “peace of mind” and “relaxation”.
Surely, however, if we live our lives to the full, as creative and loving beings, adding value to our lives and the lives of others, we of necessity generate hundreds, possibly thousands, of thoughts, ideas, feelings and imaginings each and every day, each of which is worth taking note of, exploring, examining, etc. Who was it said the unexamined life is not worth living?
I need to say this to my friends who say they can't meditate - to be aware of and reflect on our unceasing and sometimes troublesome thoughts and feelings is in some sense to tame them, bring them to order, and perhaps neutralise and banish them. It's all positive. Knowing what we know, what we feel, and what we imagine, is surely worth knowing.
In time our processes of meditation – our mind, soul and spirit cleansing – can lead us to a realm where we can see and feel ourselves to be part of the universal flux, however strong or weak a force within it we may be, and at that point be filled with a state of contentment, peace, joyfulness and satori. Call it grace.
The gift of life is priceless. This morning I overheard my local shopkeeper telling his friend that money is no use to you when you're dead. We should be mindful of life – value it, treasure it, appreciate it, use it well, and enjoy it to the full.
We learn from our mistakes, to be sure, but we also learn from life itself, no matter how simple and uneventful it may be, and we may surely come to value simplicity and freedom from complexity.
What more do we need besides a place to live, food and drink, good friends, an appreciation of nature, and of life itself?
I need to return to the thoughts of the stoics and the epicureans, who also recognised the value of good food and wine, good conversation, laughter and music.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stoicism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epicureanism
-----------------------------------------------------------
Piano Blues
You've got to hand it to Clint Eastwood. The man knows his blues. All this week, at 23.15, Sky Arts has been showing the series of full-length feature films originally shown on BBC4 on The Blues: Martin Scorsese Presents The Blues. Earlier in the week the films directed by Mike Figgis and Wim Wenders were shown. Last night it was Clint's turn.
Clint sat at a piano with Ray Charles, encouraging him to talk about how he'd got started playing the blues piano. Ray rapped at length about Albert Ammons, Pete Johnson, Mead Lux Lewis, Nat King Cole, Joe Turner, Oscar Peterson, and Art Tatum, whom Ray clearly regards as a genius. And Ray should know.
“My God, man, when you just sit back and listen to Art, you, you, you just don't believe what you're hearing. His left hand was just a symphony on its own. And the closest to him I ever heard was Oscar Peterson.”
“Oscar can play, man. (whispering to Clint) Motherfucker can play his ass off.”
Clint, laughing, to camera, “Can we use motherfucker in this?”
Amazon are selling the Box Set for £33. Also the book, the CD and the DVD for £63.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Martin-Scorsese-Presents-Various-Artists/dp/B0000C6JTT
http://www.pbs.org/theblues/
Clint moved on to interviews with Dr John, Professor Longhair, and many others.
“Urban blues came together in Chicago in the 1950s, which is where the Delta blues were electrified,” said Clint. Shit – 1950. Not so long ago.
-------------------------------------------
Earlier in the evening a documentary on Mick Fleetwood had featured clips of BB King and John Lee Hooker – the absolute masters – who clearly rated Mick as high as it's possible to go as a master of the drum kit - as a keeper of time, as Len would say.
BB was also featured earlier in the week in the Scorsese series, and said this about the British guys who had embraced the blues in the early Sixties:
“They did more than anyone to popularise this 'Race Music' in the country of its origin.”
In that particular programme, directed by Mike Figgis, there were many excellent clips of interviews with the likes of Clapton, Eric Burdon, John Mayall, Van Morrison, Lulu, Tom Jones, Steve Winwood, Chris Farlowe (whom Otis Redding invited to sing with him on Ready Steady Go), Lonnie Donegan, Peter Green and Humphrey Littleton. These were the days of all-nighters at the 100 Club, The Flamingo and The Marquee.
BB also said, “These British guys (including the Beatles and the Stones) opened doors that I don't think would have been opened in my lifetime.”
.
Showing posts with label Ray Charles. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ray Charles. Show all posts
Friday, August 7, 2009
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Layer 80 Hands, Hearts, Minds, Education, Jay-Z, Russell B, Gok Wan, Gad Saad, Oasis, Ray Charles, and the End of Civilisation.
.
Just when you think you’ve seen just about everything, something else happens. There are still tomatoes ripening in the garden, the days are sunny and bright, the leaves on the lilacs, sycamores and ash trees are still solidly green, and last night it snowed. There was a real blanket of snow on the cars in the street. Apparently it’s the first time it’s snowed in London in October since 1934. Global warming?
-------------------------------------------
There was an item on the Today programme this morning which allowed a couple of 14 year olds who live in Edmonton a chance to speak at length about their involvement in gangs, and gang culture in general. I happen to know that Edmonton is a seriously scary place, and I say that as someone who’s lived is many different parts of our inner cities.
When I decided to earn a little extra money as a young, broke teacher some years ago I signed up to work on the Census, and was dispatched to Edmonton with a patch of several streets to survey. Not a good experience - and that was way back in the days before carrying knives and even guns became commonplace. Those dark streets had a real air of menace.
When asked why young people belong to gangs, these kids said, “We just hang about our territory. We got nothing else to do.” In other words, the kids just congregate together on the streets - the parents don’t want them bringing their mates into the home. They are there because they’re there. They’re unwanted and rejected, so they stick together and become allies. If one of them gets picked on and beaten up by ‘outsiders’ then they go out looking for revenge. This is all that life has to offer them. They know no other.
One of the kids said, “It happens when this stuff kicks off - it make the gang angry, innit”. Quite.
Destructive emotions play havoc with the lives of groups of emotionally and spiritually unintelligent young people who are bored, frustrated and angry.
And then right at the end of the interview one of the lads said, “Everyone’s got a talent. But this government ain’t doing nothing for us.” How very true.
I remember well the discussions that took place when the government decided to fund a ‘gifted and talented’ programme in schools in an attempt to placate the middle classes by pushing more of their Level 4 predicted kids up to Level 5. Those of us who argued that the money should be used to fund non-academic pursuits for kids whose talents were clearly elsewhere, in the arts and creativity for example, were told very clearly that the funding was ring-fenced for raising test scores, essentially. In order to qualify for the extra funding the schools had to agree to set targets for the academic progress that would be made by those kids who were so-called ‘gifted and talented’.
Listening to these interviewees it was patently obvious that they weren’t talking about wanting the government to do more to push them to higher academic attainment. They clearly recognised that they were never, ever, going to compete in the race to get to university to do conventional academic studies. But they had a sense of their own burning energy and desire to do something fruitful, creative and positive with their lives.
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Before going on to say something about Jay-Z, as well as something about the architects of New Labour’s education policies, I must mention something someone said on Thought For Today just now.
He was talking about how American forces in Iraq have, through actual contact with Iraqis and through working alongside them, come to realise just how idiotic all their previous stereotyping has been.
It’s pretty obvious, really, that you only really get to know people by spending time with them, especially if you’re doing something constructive together.
The speaker then talked about what he called a “Hand to Heart to Mind” formula, which I think nicely encapsulates what we should be doing in every situation that requires people of different backgrounds to know one another better, which roughly means all of us, all of the time.
The Jesuits always talked about needing proper balance in our lives, and that every day should contain “something for the hands, something for the heart, and something for the head”. I wonder how many people actively seek such a balance?
The formula clearly works, and you can see in any good school that learning begins with practical activities that engage students physically in doing something constructive or creative - an experiment, building something, a survey, etc.
Through helping and supporting one another through success and failure they build up emotional bonds, respect, and a proper sense of their common strengths and weaknesses.
From all of that - understanding emerges. We learn at a deep level from activity, experience and involvement with others.
Except when we don’t - which is in traditional model schools where the learning is based on didacticism, individualism and competition. No wonder kids become alienated and can’t stand school.
-----------------------------------------------------------
I read somewhere this week that Andrew (‘Lord’) Adonis, who’s done so much to push schools back towards concentration on raising test and exam scores, towards being concentration camps, along with other idiots like ‘Sir’ Michael Barber (another academic/pundit/politician/nobleman whose vile ideology has done so much to set back the cause of real education), was being courted by the Conservative party to join their ranks. Well he would be, wouldn’t he? There’s not a jot of difference between Blairite/New Labour views on schools and education and that of the Tories.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/education/article3934165.ece
Lest we forget, according to a website called “Politico’s” (sic?),
“Sir Michael Barber has a real record of delivery in the Blair government, first at the Department for Education and Employment (1997–2001), and then as head of the Prime Minister's Delivery Unit (2001–5), where he was tasked with ensuring the government's public service reforms delivered significant results.”
“His vision of a restructured school system was a major influence on Blair's education reforms.”
“He now works for a major global consulting firm advising governments around the world on how they can improve their performance.”
He advises governments! On improving their performance!
So many arrogant, ignorant academics and so-called advisors, who’ve been messing around with the school system and with kids’ lives, have made the lives of even the more able kids far more competitive, dull, uncreative and stressful, and have done literally nothing for those who were never even part of the academic rat race to begin with. I doubt they will ever go to hang out in Edmonton, though.
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Jay-Z, on the other hand, grew up in Brooklyn, which makes Edmonton look like pussyland. A bad boy made good if ever there was one. From the age of nine, when he encountered hip-hop, his love of language and of music synched with his intelligence and his need for self-expression and he began rhyming his own raps and developing his talent for this essentially verbal art form.
Of course he didn’t do well academically, and he was never destined to follow a conventional mainstream career. He even amazed himself when people began offering him money to perform and to make records.
However, he also discovered he had a talent for business, set up his own record label, and subsequently developed his own brand through diversifying into clothing, fashion, and so on. He’s now more of an entrepreneur and a businessman than he is a performer, though music remains his first love.
Being of a certain generation I didn’t even know this guy existed until the controversy blew up this year over him being invited to headline at Glastonbury. And when Noel Gallagher sounded off about Glasto making a huge mistake having him as the star of the festival I thought he probably had a point, since I’ve never liked the little I knew about the boastfulness, misogeny and the glorification of violence in rap and hip-hop.
When Jay-Z came on stage with a guitar and did a great performance of “Wonderwall” to start his set it was immediately obvious that this guy not only had a sense of humour but he was also a magnificent performer whose music was powerful, thoughtful and intelligent. I was pretty much blown away, just watching it on TV. The guy is a force of nature.
Last night Alan Yentob’s ‘Imagine’ documentary on BBC1 did a brilliant exposition of the life and times of Jay, and gave a real sense of the man’s brilliance and his importance in modern culture. It also powerfully conveyed a sense of how otherwise wasted lives can be transformed through individuals discovering their creative talents, and doing so without any benefit from a school system that fails to recognise talent in the first place, let alone does anything to develop it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jay-Z
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Coincidentally, this week the BBC also broadcast the Oasis concert that took place at the Round House as part of their ‘Electric Proms’ series of concerts. I still don’t really get Oasis, especially their lead singer, and the band seems to work a lot better when he steps back and leaves the vocals to brother Noel, who’s clearly the talent driving the band.
Liam’s entire body language at the microphone is a total turn-off, and his singing is less than inspirational. What IS that idiot stuff about bending his knees in order to sing upwards into a downward-pointing microphone? Ridiculous.
The concert was interesting, though, for its employment of a huge choir behind the band, which certainly added another dimension. The show ended with a very original version of the Beatles’ ‘I Am The Walrus’ which was certainly arresting and powerful, and completely unexpected. I don’t get this stuff about Oasis being some sort of clone of the Beatles. Clearly they’re not, and their music has never had even a passing resemblance to the wit and originality of the Beatles. Fair enough, though, to say that a love of the Beatles’ music is what got them wanting to play and to write their own music.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Noel G is a big mate of Russell Brand, and Russell and his mate Jonathan Ross are in big trouble today over their antics on Russell’s Radio 2 programme 10 days ago. Seemingly they did some pretty childish things - making obscene phone calls to a well-known actor - and the Beeb allowed it to be broadcast. The ridiculous thing is that when the show went out there were only two complaints about it - because the audience for Brand’s show actually enjoy the stuff he does.
However, thanks to everyone else piling on the bandwagon and calling for the sacking and disembowelment of Brand and Ross, including the bloody Prime Minister it seems, they’ve seemingly offended at least half the population, who wouldn’t otherwise have known or cared about it.
Brand has apologized and says he’s made a mistake. We’ll have to wait and see what happens. Odds must be on the BBC dropping his programme, which would be ludicrous, considering Brand is not only incredibly talented and funny but he’s also one of the lone voices calling for a saner, more spiritual and more human society, which presumably means he’s even more annoying to reactionaries and Tories.
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/4/20081029/ten-sack-the-bbc-sickos-ea4616c.html
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Gok Wan (crazy name, crazy guy) is also in trouble today.
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/4/20081028/ten-gok-defends-new-show-ea4616c.html
His new TV programme, Miss Naked Beauty, which was broadcast last night, showed women being blasted with a water hose to remove their makeup. Big Deal.
I really like Gok. He’s a great character, and he’s done so much to promote the idea that women should be proud of their bodies, no matter what they look like. Apparently he was once 21 stones in weight himself, which is quite hard to believe.
His work always seems to promote the idea that women should stop worrying about their body shapes and concentrate of wearing flattering, well-made clothes as well as the minimum of makeup, together with a decent haircut. Most of all, women need to really believe they’re worthwhile as an individual, no matter how different they look from the contemporary ideals and stereotypes of womanhood.
Amazingly he’s never, as far as know, advocated either dieting or cosmetic surgery, which goes completely against the grain of our culture’s contemporary fixation with both of those things.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gok_Wan
---------------------------------------------------
There was a very interesting article in G2 yesterday about women and stiletto heels, called ‘Are we just masochists’. The article takes up three whole pages, such is the importance of this subject.
There’s a quote from Dr Gad Saad (crazy name, crazy guy!) who’s associate professor of marketing at Concordia University, Canada, and author of The Evolutionary Bases of Consumption: “High heels may well be the most potent aphrodisiac ever concocted.”
Hmmm. And they might not.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2008/oct/28/fashion
-------------------------------------------------------------
Meanwhile, the main article in G2 was a four-page piece on whether we’re seeing the beginning of the death throes of our planetary civilisation, and whether the financial chaos is likely to lead to the destruction of the world’s financial and economic system, with predictable effects on human life on earth. It also links with the climate and the ecological disaster that’s being widely predicted.
I must say these same thoughts have been occurring to me for some time now in my darker moments.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/oct/28/climatechange-population
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On the brighter side, my record of the week is a new triple-disc CD of the early recordings of Ray Charles, roughly 1949 - 1956: The Great Ray Charles (Not Now Music).
This was the period before rock and roll, and before the mainstream acceptance in America (and elsewhere) of black musicians. Ray plays incredible blues and jazz on this collection, and as the CD notes point out, he’s pretty much the originator of soul music through his fusion of blues, R & B and gospel.
Subsequent to this period he regrettably, though unsurprisingly, moved on to make more ‘commercial’ records, cashing in on the public’s new-found taste for rock n’ roll and pop & rock generally. He did some great stuff, but nothing better than what appears here, which shows his true inventive genius, regardless of its lack of commercial mainstream appeal.
Also of note on this album is the quality of the musicians Ray chose for his band. This quote from Will Flannery’s piece on Amazon gives a flavour:
“The best slow sax tune ever recorded, in my opinion, is residing right on this CD. Unfortunately, at the time of this review, Amazon has not sampled it for your online listening pleasure, but, maybe by the time you read this, they will have. The tune - "Ain't Misbehavin", the sax man - Ray's regular sax man at the time of this recording, David "Fathead" Newman. It's a great tune to begin with, but Fathead doesn't play it straight. He throws down one incredibly perfect phrase after another, taking the tune and twisting it just a little, pulling the listener into his own unique harmonic space, and it is as pleasurable a place as you'll ever find yourself. This is a unique tune, and, of course, Fathead never plays cliches, and the result is incomparable to any other performance I know. It is completely relaxed, but full of fascination and energy. Is it really the best slow sax tune every recorded? Well, that's a subjective call; for me, it is, and in any case it is an extraordinary performance.”
Here’s an interesting piece on Ray Charles that Van Morrison wrote for Rolling Stone a few years back:
http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/5939211/the_immortals__the_greatest_artists_of_all_time_10_ray_charles
-------------------------------------------------------
Stop Press
Sex Gag: Ross And Brand Suspended
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/5/20081029/tuk-sex-gag-ross-and-brand-suspended-45dbed5.html
I guess the young lady at the centre of this row might do quite well out of the publicity, as might her ‘burlesque troop’, Satanic Sluts.
.
Just when you think you’ve seen just about everything, something else happens. There are still tomatoes ripening in the garden, the days are sunny and bright, the leaves on the lilacs, sycamores and ash trees are still solidly green, and last night it snowed. There was a real blanket of snow on the cars in the street. Apparently it’s the first time it’s snowed in London in October since 1934. Global warming?
-------------------------------------------
There was an item on the Today programme this morning which allowed a couple of 14 year olds who live in Edmonton a chance to speak at length about their involvement in gangs, and gang culture in general. I happen to know that Edmonton is a seriously scary place, and I say that as someone who’s lived is many different parts of our inner cities.
When I decided to earn a little extra money as a young, broke teacher some years ago I signed up to work on the Census, and was dispatched to Edmonton with a patch of several streets to survey. Not a good experience - and that was way back in the days before carrying knives and even guns became commonplace. Those dark streets had a real air of menace.
When asked why young people belong to gangs, these kids said, “We just hang about our territory. We got nothing else to do.” In other words, the kids just congregate together on the streets - the parents don’t want them bringing their mates into the home. They are there because they’re there. They’re unwanted and rejected, so they stick together and become allies. If one of them gets picked on and beaten up by ‘outsiders’ then they go out looking for revenge. This is all that life has to offer them. They know no other.
One of the kids said, “It happens when this stuff kicks off - it make the gang angry, innit”. Quite.
Destructive emotions play havoc with the lives of groups of emotionally and spiritually unintelligent young people who are bored, frustrated and angry.
And then right at the end of the interview one of the lads said, “Everyone’s got a talent. But this government ain’t doing nothing for us.” How very true.
I remember well the discussions that took place when the government decided to fund a ‘gifted and talented’ programme in schools in an attempt to placate the middle classes by pushing more of their Level 4 predicted kids up to Level 5. Those of us who argued that the money should be used to fund non-academic pursuits for kids whose talents were clearly elsewhere, in the arts and creativity for example, were told very clearly that the funding was ring-fenced for raising test scores, essentially. In order to qualify for the extra funding the schools had to agree to set targets for the academic progress that would be made by those kids who were so-called ‘gifted and talented’.
Listening to these interviewees it was patently obvious that they weren’t talking about wanting the government to do more to push them to higher academic attainment. They clearly recognised that they were never, ever, going to compete in the race to get to university to do conventional academic studies. But they had a sense of their own burning energy and desire to do something fruitful, creative and positive with their lives.
----------------------------------------------------------
Before going on to say something about Jay-Z, as well as something about the architects of New Labour’s education policies, I must mention something someone said on Thought For Today just now.
He was talking about how American forces in Iraq have, through actual contact with Iraqis and through working alongside them, come to realise just how idiotic all their previous stereotyping has been.
It’s pretty obvious, really, that you only really get to know people by spending time with them, especially if you’re doing something constructive together.
The speaker then talked about what he called a “Hand to Heart to Mind” formula, which I think nicely encapsulates what we should be doing in every situation that requires people of different backgrounds to know one another better, which roughly means all of us, all of the time.
The Jesuits always talked about needing proper balance in our lives, and that every day should contain “something for the hands, something for the heart, and something for the head”. I wonder how many people actively seek such a balance?
The formula clearly works, and you can see in any good school that learning begins with practical activities that engage students physically in doing something constructive or creative - an experiment, building something, a survey, etc.
Through helping and supporting one another through success and failure they build up emotional bonds, respect, and a proper sense of their common strengths and weaknesses.
From all of that - understanding emerges. We learn at a deep level from activity, experience and involvement with others.
Except when we don’t - which is in traditional model schools where the learning is based on didacticism, individualism and competition. No wonder kids become alienated and can’t stand school.
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I read somewhere this week that Andrew (‘Lord’) Adonis, who’s done so much to push schools back towards concentration on raising test and exam scores, towards being concentration camps, along with other idiots like ‘Sir’ Michael Barber (another academic/pundit/politician/nobleman whose vile ideology has done so much to set back the cause of real education), was being courted by the Conservative party to join their ranks. Well he would be, wouldn’t he? There’s not a jot of difference between Blairite/New Labour views on schools and education and that of the Tories.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/education/article3934165.ece
Lest we forget, according to a website called “Politico’s” (sic?),
“Sir Michael Barber has a real record of delivery in the Blair government, first at the Department for Education and Employment (1997–2001), and then as head of the Prime Minister's Delivery Unit (2001–5), where he was tasked with ensuring the government's public service reforms delivered significant results.”
“His vision of a restructured school system was a major influence on Blair's education reforms.”
“He now works for a major global consulting firm advising governments around the world on how they can improve their performance.”
He advises governments! On improving their performance!
So many arrogant, ignorant academics and so-called advisors, who’ve been messing around with the school system and with kids’ lives, have made the lives of even the more able kids far more competitive, dull, uncreative and stressful, and have done literally nothing for those who were never even part of the academic rat race to begin with. I doubt they will ever go to hang out in Edmonton, though.
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Jay-Z, on the other hand, grew up in Brooklyn, which makes Edmonton look like pussyland. A bad boy made good if ever there was one. From the age of nine, when he encountered hip-hop, his love of language and of music synched with his intelligence and his need for self-expression and he began rhyming his own raps and developing his talent for this essentially verbal art form.
Of course he didn’t do well academically, and he was never destined to follow a conventional mainstream career. He even amazed himself when people began offering him money to perform and to make records.
However, he also discovered he had a talent for business, set up his own record label, and subsequently developed his own brand through diversifying into clothing, fashion, and so on. He’s now more of an entrepreneur and a businessman than he is a performer, though music remains his first love.
Being of a certain generation I didn’t even know this guy existed until the controversy blew up this year over him being invited to headline at Glastonbury. And when Noel Gallagher sounded off about Glasto making a huge mistake having him as the star of the festival I thought he probably had a point, since I’ve never liked the little I knew about the boastfulness, misogeny and the glorification of violence in rap and hip-hop.
When Jay-Z came on stage with a guitar and did a great performance of “Wonderwall” to start his set it was immediately obvious that this guy not only had a sense of humour but he was also a magnificent performer whose music was powerful, thoughtful and intelligent. I was pretty much blown away, just watching it on TV. The guy is a force of nature.
Last night Alan Yentob’s ‘Imagine’ documentary on BBC1 did a brilliant exposition of the life and times of Jay, and gave a real sense of the man’s brilliance and his importance in modern culture. It also powerfully conveyed a sense of how otherwise wasted lives can be transformed through individuals discovering their creative talents, and doing so without any benefit from a school system that fails to recognise talent in the first place, let alone does anything to develop it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jay-Z
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Coincidentally, this week the BBC also broadcast the Oasis concert that took place at the Round House as part of their ‘Electric Proms’ series of concerts. I still don’t really get Oasis, especially their lead singer, and the band seems to work a lot better when he steps back and leaves the vocals to brother Noel, who’s clearly the talent driving the band.
Liam’s entire body language at the microphone is a total turn-off, and his singing is less than inspirational. What IS that idiot stuff about bending his knees in order to sing upwards into a downward-pointing microphone? Ridiculous.
The concert was interesting, though, for its employment of a huge choir behind the band, which certainly added another dimension. The show ended with a very original version of the Beatles’ ‘I Am The Walrus’ which was certainly arresting and powerful, and completely unexpected. I don’t get this stuff about Oasis being some sort of clone of the Beatles. Clearly they’re not, and their music has never had even a passing resemblance to the wit and originality of the Beatles. Fair enough, though, to say that a love of the Beatles’ music is what got them wanting to play and to write their own music.
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Noel G is a big mate of Russell Brand, and Russell and his mate Jonathan Ross are in big trouble today over their antics on Russell’s Radio 2 programme 10 days ago. Seemingly they did some pretty childish things - making obscene phone calls to a well-known actor - and the Beeb allowed it to be broadcast. The ridiculous thing is that when the show went out there were only two complaints about it - because the audience for Brand’s show actually enjoy the stuff he does.
However, thanks to everyone else piling on the bandwagon and calling for the sacking and disembowelment of Brand and Ross, including the bloody Prime Minister it seems, they’ve seemingly offended at least half the population, who wouldn’t otherwise have known or cared about it.
Brand has apologized and says he’s made a mistake. We’ll have to wait and see what happens. Odds must be on the BBC dropping his programme, which would be ludicrous, considering Brand is not only incredibly talented and funny but he’s also one of the lone voices calling for a saner, more spiritual and more human society, which presumably means he’s even more annoying to reactionaries and Tories.
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/4/20081029/ten-sack-the-bbc-sickos-ea4616c.html
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Gok Wan (crazy name, crazy guy) is also in trouble today.
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/4/20081028/ten-gok-defends-new-show-ea4616c.html
His new TV programme, Miss Naked Beauty, which was broadcast last night, showed women being blasted with a water hose to remove their makeup. Big Deal.
I really like Gok. He’s a great character, and he’s done so much to promote the idea that women should be proud of their bodies, no matter what they look like. Apparently he was once 21 stones in weight himself, which is quite hard to believe.
His work always seems to promote the idea that women should stop worrying about their body shapes and concentrate of wearing flattering, well-made clothes as well as the minimum of makeup, together with a decent haircut. Most of all, women need to really believe they’re worthwhile as an individual, no matter how different they look from the contemporary ideals and stereotypes of womanhood.
Amazingly he’s never, as far as know, advocated either dieting or cosmetic surgery, which goes completely against the grain of our culture’s contemporary fixation with both of those things.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gok_Wan
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There was a very interesting article in G2 yesterday about women and stiletto heels, called ‘Are we just masochists’. The article takes up three whole pages, such is the importance of this subject.
There’s a quote from Dr Gad Saad (crazy name, crazy guy!) who’s associate professor of marketing at Concordia University, Canada, and author of The Evolutionary Bases of Consumption: “High heels may well be the most potent aphrodisiac ever concocted.”
Hmmm. And they might not.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2008/oct/28/fashion
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Meanwhile, the main article in G2 was a four-page piece on whether we’re seeing the beginning of the death throes of our planetary civilisation, and whether the financial chaos is likely to lead to the destruction of the world’s financial and economic system, with predictable effects on human life on earth. It also links with the climate and the ecological disaster that’s being widely predicted.
I must say these same thoughts have been occurring to me for some time now in my darker moments.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/oct/28/climatechange-population
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On the brighter side, my record of the week is a new triple-disc CD of the early recordings of Ray Charles, roughly 1949 - 1956: The Great Ray Charles (Not Now Music).
This was the period before rock and roll, and before the mainstream acceptance in America (and elsewhere) of black musicians. Ray plays incredible blues and jazz on this collection, and as the CD notes point out, he’s pretty much the originator of soul music through his fusion of blues, R & B and gospel.
Subsequent to this period he regrettably, though unsurprisingly, moved on to make more ‘commercial’ records, cashing in on the public’s new-found taste for rock n’ roll and pop & rock generally. He did some great stuff, but nothing better than what appears here, which shows his true inventive genius, regardless of its lack of commercial mainstream appeal.
Also of note on this album is the quality of the musicians Ray chose for his band. This quote from Will Flannery’s piece on Amazon gives a flavour:
“The best slow sax tune ever recorded, in my opinion, is residing right on this CD. Unfortunately, at the time of this review, Amazon has not sampled it for your online listening pleasure, but, maybe by the time you read this, they will have. The tune - "Ain't Misbehavin", the sax man - Ray's regular sax man at the time of this recording, David "Fathead" Newman. It's a great tune to begin with, but Fathead doesn't play it straight. He throws down one incredibly perfect phrase after another, taking the tune and twisting it just a little, pulling the listener into his own unique harmonic space, and it is as pleasurable a place as you'll ever find yourself. This is a unique tune, and, of course, Fathead never plays cliches, and the result is incomparable to any other performance I know. It is completely relaxed, but full of fascination and energy. Is it really the best slow sax tune every recorded? Well, that's a subjective call; for me, it is, and in any case it is an extraordinary performance.”
Here’s an interesting piece on Ray Charles that Van Morrison wrote for Rolling Stone a few years back:
http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/5939211/the_immortals__the_greatest_artists_of_all_time_10_ray_charles
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Stop Press
Sex Gag: Ross And Brand Suspended
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/5/20081029/tuk-sex-gag-ross-and-brand-suspended-45dbed5.html
I guess the young lady at the centre of this row might do quite well out of the publicity, as might her ‘burlesque troop’, Satanic Sluts.
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