Still watching the tears drift by

Ah, sorrow my old friend, taste my fist! Pop! Bam! Pow! And so on, and that's me beating up depression. But despite how thoroughly I might beat down the sadness, it's a part of our life, heck if it wasn't there would be something very wrong with us. Sadness is often an extension of love, but we must not let us swallow us, because digestive juices are bad for the skin.

But the music! Ah the music! That's the thing, with which I'll capture the conscience of the king! Or maybe it's just something to remind us that although we might feel profound sorrow welling up inside of us, it in itself is evidence of how beautiful life really is.

1. Glycerine by Bush - From the album Sixteen Stone - After doing a song exposition for Here is Gone, I considered doing a song exposition for every song that had a strong emotional context for me, but that would be overly-melodramatic and lame. Not that I didn't like my song exposition, but for every song that meant a lot to me... Well, I do plan to perhaps do song expositions for some songs that mean a lot to me, and maybe this is one I'd like to use. Because this song reaches into me and it touches a lot of emotions, it brings up a lot of painful memories, and it is just plain beautiful.

Lyrics

Bush's video - I can't say I really like this video. Not to be insulting or gay, but Gavin Rossdale is just too pretty to convey property the gravity and sorrow of the song. Again, not to be insulting or gay, but I think that was one of the factors that always kept Bush from being taken as seriously as it deserved.

Glycerine AMV - anime - Fruit's Basket - I have to say when I heard about the idea of a lip-syncing an AMV to the song seemed a bit gimmicking, but it was surprisingly effective. I admit the product isn't perfect, at times the images run up against the mood of the song too much, but the lip-syncing has a strong effect. It draws you into the video and draws the video into the song, exactly what an AMV (anime music video) is supposed to do.

2. I Miss You by Blink 182 - From the album Blink-182 (or their untitled album, other known as when Blink-182 went emo) - When romance goes sour, and then when you feel you can't go on, but you can never have her in your arms, and then... Nice little story there. Sad though. Shows Blink 182 does have some seriousness chops.

Lyrics

Blink 182's video - an alright video. It's got a sense of a story, but it doesn't really make me care about it. It's got some interesting visuals, but I'm not sure of their point. I dunno, maybe it's just less special in light of the explosion of emo videos.

I Miss You AMV - anime - Kodocha (Child's Toy) - Now a Kodocha AMV on the fact that it's a Kodocha AMV alone would probably get my approval, but this is actually very well done with some interesting effects and a keen sense of mood.

3. Zombie by The Cranberries - From the album No Need to Argue - The line between sorrow and insanity is often alarmingly thin. So thin that many throw away sadness all together. This song captures both madness and sorrow, but it also contains the love that drove such agony. Least I think so. Nobody knows for sure, except the Cranberries, and the Turks.

Lyrics

The Cranberries' Video - For those who don't know (which included me until fairly recently, although I had suspected it) this video, and the song itself is about The Troubles in Ireland. For those who don't know about that, this was the round of inter-communal fighting between Protestants and Catholics (to define the conflict religiously, you could also define it as Ulster Scots vs. Irish or British vs. Irish, it's a complex conflict) in Northern Ireland that lasted from the 1960's to the Belfast Agreement in 1998. To those who are more recently born they might not remember that Northern Ireland was once dubbed one of the three irresolvable conflicts in the world (the other two being the Kashmir conflict and the Israel-Palestine conflict). The fact that two of the most extreme parties in the conflict recently joined in a power-sharing agreement gives me hope for all political conflicts, even those that seem irresolvable.

Zombie AMV - anime - Digimon - Digimon in my mind doesn't get enough props, especially the first seasons, which feature TK (although the 3rd season is my personal favorite), the star of the AMV. But what really struck me is how this video managed to bring out all the sadness from the song using Digimon, a show that's not particularly dark (except for the 3rd season, which however is not featured here). It takes TK's story, which on the surface is a nice little tale about a kid finding a magical world, into something with an air of tragedy. It made me think a little about all those animes with little kids who join in massive conflicts, what are the psychological effects to those kids? Ah, perhaps I will be the one to explore that someday in my own tv show, or perhaps it will be you (pointing to someone across the room from me and not towards the readers).

4. How to Save a Life by The Fray - From the album How to Save a Life - As a man who has dealt with suicidal impulses, I find some good accuracy to this song. Accuracy's always important, especially in darts.

Lyrics

The Fray's Original music video - I personally liked this video better. But I know not what the Fray was thinking, on the other hand the other video is cool, so I'm glad they were thinking different than I.

The Fray's Second music video - I remember one of the VJ's said that the new video was because the old one was too dark, but the stark whiteness of this video actually makes it seem thematically darker. While I like the other one better, this video is also awesome.

How to Save a Life AMV - anime - Eureka Seven - I really didn't want to like this video, the intro was way too long, and Eureka Seven was an anime that I have conflicted feelings on. But it drew me. It's most prominent plus sides was excellent use of continued scenes and repetition. Even if you have no idea what's going on with the story, which you probably wouldn't (and even I having watched the show don't really know what was going on in that show), you get a sense of the story, and more importantly immense sense of emotions which envelope you. And that's quality there.

5. Float On by Modest Mouse - From the album Good News for People who Love Bad News (long name, but I've seen longer) - When I first heard this song, I thought it largely happy, but over time, and especially after seeing it with the AMV, I realized the sense of resignation to it. Ultimately, it accepts its situation and looks at it with defiant optimism but there is no escaping it. And what is the situation. Maybe it's just the troubles of life, but it occurs to me, that it's probably that one thing we all have to face sooner or later, that it's probably death. And we all float on. ALL RIGHT!

Lyrics

Modest Mouse's video - This is one of those video's that stretches the imagination, and breaks it, only to come back with hilarious awesomeness that does not dilute the song itself but rather enhances it.

Float On AMV - anime - Fullmetal Alchemist - I'm trying not to use too many FMA AMVs (abbreviations rock!) because there are just so many of them, and the nature of the show, which had a sometimes uneasy mix of cuteness and ambition, often fits badly with most songs. Yet what struck me with this video was how delicately it was all put together. The images were allowed to sink in and draw significance from the song and then to draw the viewer in. All and all, well done AMV creator.

So to reiterate the song-list was:
1.Glycerine
2.I Miss You
3.Zombie
4.How to Save a Life
5.Float On

Now think about my commentary and what I said each song represents or in some cases what each song obviously represents. You get it?

If you don't, you're a bum, but one of the more common variety because I don't think I spelled it out very clearly, and I don't intend to. After all, even if you don't get it, you still float on. Because we all float on, all right.

So take it to your head, take it to your heart, and remember Rand rocks. Goodnight Folks!

Bush and the reorientation of the world

So this is not the long poem promised in my last session, but that will come, probably later tonight. But George W. Bush is a big figure in international politics and I thought I'd give him a little analysis, because I do think of international politics a lot. Let me start out by saying, I'm not going to demonize Bush and I don't think he's an idiot, but I do think he's made some serious and sometimes catastropic mistakes (as well as a few good moves) and he has in many ways led to a collossal change in the world of international politics, but on the other hand I think a lot of the changes in international politics he has made are in many ways accelerations of already beginning trends.

Let's start with what his foreign policy intended to do. I think when he was first elected Bush was honestly an isolationist. He ran on an isolationist platform and his party was highly isolaitonist except for the neo-cons who were background at most. Granted he did appoint neo-cons, but he also had a lot of old-fashioned conservatives like Dick Cheney, who really only became a neo-con after 9/11. The neo-cons I think at the time were loved by the intellectuals in some circles of the conservative movement and I think that prompted this move. But we should also remember before 9/11 the focus of the neo-cons was not on Iraq but on China. Our first big foreign policy squabble was not in the Middle East but with China. Yes, I've heard that the neo-cons prepared battle senarios with Iraq before 9/11, but remember when Bush was elected it was 2 years since we had given Iraq a bombing (under Clinton in 1998 for not allowing UN inspectors in and for suspected WMDs, when I first heard Bush's WMD claims were bogus I wondered about the 1998 claims given no evidence of the disposal of the previous supposedly huge stockpiles of WMDs, but then I started hearing that Clinton's intelligence men (led by George "slam-dunk" Tenet) were just as prone to pressure to tell Iraq had WMDs as Bush's) and heck, I'd prepare contingency plans for potential wars even if the actual chances were pretty low.

That said, all the plans for his foreign policy that he had before 9/11 completely changed after 9/11. Afghanistan was a move that anyone would have made. Gore would have made it, Kerry would have made it, McCain would have made it. It was sheltering and helping to train a global organization that was actively at war with us, it had in short declared an alliance with someone we were at war with, this made them a fair target for invasion. I know that sounds very glib and does not perhaps treat war with the gravity it deserves. War is hell, and should only be declared in cases where we are attacked or perhaps when another country is attacked (depends on the identity of the country being invaded and the country invading, for example it would be ridiculous to defend the Khemer Rouge when it was invaded by Vietnam, yes Vietnam was a bad regime but the Khemer Rouge was one of the most monsterous governments in history, on the other hand when Iraq invaded Kuwait we were justified in defending it, Kuwait's king might have been a dictator, but he was a decent one (he has since become a relatively good dictator and has been leading important democratizing intiatives although his government is far from a democracy) while what Iraq was doing to the Kuwatis was absolutely horrible), but in this case we were attacked and thus we were justified in attacking a vital ally of our attacker. Some might link this to Iraq and say Bush only attacks countries with oil, but in addition to my point above I'd like to say 2 cases is not enough to draw conclusions.

And then Iraq was attacked. I don't think most powerful politicians are directly greedy (this is more of a case with smaller case politicians) (especially since most politicians could get far more better paying jobs with lobbyists or as corporation heads). But I think the influence of greedy friends, of old memories (like remembering your father being threatened), and of old rivalries tends to exert a big influence. I also think a lot of corruption stems from the idea to the victor belongs the spoils philosophy (government posts are distributed according how useful you were poltically and to old friends (this is how I think the FEMA director got his job)) and I think idealism can blind us. I think all of this played a role in Iraq, coupled with faulty intelligence (led by the idea that what the president wants in his intelligence he should get). (I'd like to point out although I do not think that politicians are immune to greed, I rather think their greed comes in the form of power hunger and legacy craving, after all they have taken positions of power, it makes sense that that is what they want, a lot their corruption isn't because their primary motivation is money (although occassionally in history and around the world and country and in certain offices it is different) but because they feel a certain something belongs to them because of their position of power (and occassionally because they feel that they're serving the public and not getting enough payment for it)). The current situation I think was not inevitable though even after the invasion if better steps had been taken and I think that if we had overthrown Saddam after 1991 the situation would be better but I'll save that for other sessions.

This is about international politics. The Iraq War badly polarized international politics (in addition to domestic politics), it provided a rally point for anti-Americanism. But too all those who blame Bush alone for anti-Americanism forget that anti-Americanism has been going on for a long, long, long time. Anti-Americanism in the Islamic world itself has been going on for a long, long time, remember that Bid Laden declared Jihad against the US in 1991, not in response to Palestine or in regards to George W. Bush but because US troops were on Saudi Arabian soil, which in his view tainted it. And why? Because the United States is a special sort of symbol. In many ways it is a symbol of liberalism, and by liberalism I mean it in the classical sense, free trade, capitalism and large amounts of civil rights. It doesn't matter if you consider the United States the leader in those fields, it is a symbol of those things and all the good and bad things that are associated it with those (like more sex, less religion, looser ethnic ties, etc.). To Islamic extremism liberalism is a deadly virus that is spreading throughout the world, like Communism to us it seems like something that is threatening to completely destroy all their ways of life. However, that is not to say US foreign policy hasn't played a role. But we should understand that traditionally US foreign policy has not been promoting liberalism but rather undermining it, under the belief that Muslims are too violent, fanatical and ignorant to handle freedom, and so if they want any progress they must be dragged forward by authoritarian regimes. And the Muslim world hates us for supporting these authoritarian regimes. If there's one thing that can unite Islamists (not necessarily extremists, I think it's valuable to make a distinction between moderate Islamists and extremists, an Islamist just being someone who wants Islam to play a large role in government) and liberals it is their hatred for authoritarianism. So don't think that supporting the Muslim tyrants of the world is going to win us points with Muslims, it won't.

So I didn't get to my grand thesis that I was planning to, well not yet, but I need to do other stuff (part of my problem before with posting regularly is I always wanted to complete incredibly lengthy trains of thought before ending my sessions), but I'll revisit the topic later. I think I still covered a lot of ground about Bush, and so this isn't quite a waste. Anyways, I plan to start posting stuff from my epic poem later, but for now, take it to your head, take it to your heart, and remember Rand rocks!