I am in a mood. On the way home from my morning walk (how civilized does that sound, what a joke, I got home at 4 am ate a cup cake I found in the fridge and set 2 alarms to make sure I got up for the 1030 int airport run, cut my thumb on the only suitcase in the bus and bled everywhere but not on the artist thank fuck, then returned the bus with blood on the drivers seat well just a spot but I wonder if they will try and charge for that, then got a cab with an Indian who was also an electrical engineering teacher, I wanted to ask him about qantum physics as he taught physics also, but he wanted to talk about the economy, about how no one is going out. This is a conversation I have had several times recently - or a variation on a theme like the dude(s) who wouldn't let me pay with a card and then just gave me a blank business card as a receipt and said "you fill it out", I know that's not a tax invoice even when they fill it out but whatever I'll still claim it and I'll visit the issue of the economy and cab drivers at another time. Next I arrived back at the gig from last night to load out the backline, went home and decided to go for a walk that reminded me how Crown St is like the East Village, NY or at least filled with people trying to be that but I'll come back to that) jokes started to fill my head evey few steps. And I thought fuck I need a pen cause I can't type this shit into my phone fast enough and twitter on the phone isn't working at the moment, cause everything and everyone was becoming funny or ironic or my version of these things. So I knew I needed to capitilise on this flow of energy and spend some money, cause normally I can't be bothered unless its on food, coffee or the occasional nice bottle of red. So I went into my favorite record store http://titlespace.com/ and became a member, which is great cause I can get discounts and I'm happy for them spam me cause they are cool and approachable, so I filled out my occupation on the card as 'Existentialist' and thought, hey if I can prove that to the ATO then everything is claimable. Before that I ate sushi which is my comfort food cause without miso soup I am nothing.
My own emotional nowness is something I struggle with, sometimes it helps and sometimes it works against me. For example often I say dumb things or obscure things or use phrases or words in the wrong context because I like how they sound or think they might be funny (I workshop jokes constantly, and when Christian is real tired he starts talking in the third person or worse rhyming...). As far as context of conversation or ideas goes I'd like to introduce the idea of post-context. Anyone who spends much time with me will at sometime be exposed to me speaking in tangents, explaining the people or places behind the story I'm currently telling. This can be frustrating for people who want me to just get to the point, but that's not really my goal, my goal is telling a good story and if some fact or truth emerges at the end, then great, but if not I don't have a problem with that. I am not a script with a beginning middle and an end, I'm work in progress and a situation in flux. On the downside often I say silly things to people I really care about cause I'm thinking all these things at once and my brain goes into overdrive cause I'm a bit nervous about saying the wrong thing, and something senseless or insensitive comes out. Meditation helps me contain and in fact expand my emotional nowness, they call it being 'present' and discovering this has had a BIG effect on my life, and I feel without it the constant stream my thoughts and feelings and how I relate to them may have driven me mad, whatever that means.
I'll admit sometimes I find it hard to concentrate when someone is speaking. Positively its because I am having these awesome thoughts, inspiration or ideas about something they have said but negatively its when I'm thinking about something else or some witty response or I think I've already worked out what they are talking about, all of which are rude and selfish and habits I am trying to break. Having said this I guess I should understand why people get frustrated when I go into that zone of speaking in tangents but I am still bored by people who criticise me on the tangent method without understanding what my broader project is, and that is to learn new things and stay interested. I understand I need to listen to other people to learn new things and not just talk endlessly but when I'm telling a story about something that has 'happened' I'm trying to get some further understanding myself about that event, and I do that by explaining the context or importance of the people or things involved in that event. Which gives the story itself new meaning, new value. I didn't just walk down Crown and buy sushi I experienced existence itself. The thing about me rambling as I do is in part my personal attempt to explode context and see how everything is in fact connected but not determined, hence the story about the cab driver is not only 'in context' its post context.
Stop. That discourse is going to shit people and bore people. Try this.
As an introduction to what I am positing as a new idea called 'post-context' the previous was probably as appropriate as it was incoherent. Post structural linguistics like spelling and grammar is something I'm interested in but not that good at and what I'm also trying to get at here is my ongoing inquiry on how the individual relates to the rest of the world, and therefore a question of identity and weather it exists within the self or out there in the world as other people perceive it. Today I was one piece of odd clothing away from looking like a drug addict. A stupid hat would have done the trick (I'm not talkin Adidas track pants, which is standard outfit for the borderline homeless, I'm talking bad fashion that indicates someone couldn't match the colors they put on this morning) but on Crown street its all relative and when your me you can't tell if your Fred Perry cardigan is green or brown but probably olive anyway.
Recently my thoughts on Crown street have been legitimised after spending time with some young Americans who had never been to Australia. They happen to be in a really cool highly anticipated indy band and their reaction to people here helped me understand the cultural insecurity that underlies the overly earnest reaction to many bands artists people that visit our little island.
To eat and get a vibe for Surry Hills I sent them here
View Larger Map
I fuckin love the food and the coffee at Kawa and the idea I can be amongst some of the most uber eccentric people in town, who look really disappointed when I'm sitting in, I'm not sure why but I'm quite sure I'm not concerned. What made me laugh was the fact that 'highly anticipated' indy band member thought he was sitting in the uber cool parts of Brooklyn (and everyone knows how happening that is) and like I regularly do, couldn't believe how hard these people were trying to look weird or cool or something. But take heart just like these boys from Atlanta managed to stay out of the influence of the nowness of New York and maintain some originality then so can Australia continue to be socially and culturally progressive and keep new ideas coming.
Right now I need to sleep. And that the best idea I've had all day.
Lets get one thing straight, this is a blog dedicated to people who think I think too much or talk too much or can't concentrate or don't listen or a variation on those themes. Thanks but no thanks, there is alot going on in my head, but no more than anyone else, I just get emotionally attached to the flow of my thoughts and excited about people and ideas and I wanna see-hear-feel-everything NOW. This is one context of nowness, that is in time and relative to my ability to stay with that nowness and find a way to capture those thoughts. But to understand anything about now you must watch the following video.
My own emotional nowness is something I struggle with, sometimes it helps and sometimes it works against me. For example often I say dumb things or obscure things or use phrases or words in the wrong context because I like how they sound or think they might be funny (I workshop jokes constantly, and when Christian is real tired he starts talking in the third person or worse rhyming...). As far as context of conversation or ideas goes I'd like to introduce the idea of post-context. Anyone who spends much time with me will at sometime be exposed to me speaking in tangents, explaining the people or places behind the story I'm currently telling. This can be frustrating for people who want me to just get to the point, but that's not really my goal, my goal is telling a good story and if some fact or truth emerges at the end, then great, but if not I don't have a problem with that. I am not a script with a beginning middle and an end, I'm work in progress and a situation in flux. On the downside often I say silly things to people I really care about cause I'm thinking all these things at once and my brain goes into overdrive cause I'm a bit nervous about saying the wrong thing, and something senseless or insensitive comes out. Meditation helps me contain and in fact expand my emotional nowness, they call it being 'present' and discovering this has had a BIG effect on my life, and I feel without it the constant stream my thoughts and feelings and how I relate to them may have driven me mad, whatever that means.
I'll admit sometimes I find it hard to concentrate when someone is speaking. Positively its because I am having these awesome thoughts, inspiration or ideas about something they have said but negatively its when I'm thinking about something else or some witty response or I think I've already worked out what they are talking about, all of which are rude and selfish and habits I am trying to break. Having said this I guess I should understand why people get frustrated when I go into that zone of speaking in tangents but I am still bored by people who criticise me on the tangent method without understanding what my broader project is, and that is to learn new things and stay interested. I understand I need to listen to other people to learn new things and not just talk endlessly but when I'm telling a story about something that has 'happened' I'm trying to get some further understanding myself about that event, and I do that by explaining the context or importance of the people or things involved in that event. Which gives the story itself new meaning, new value. I didn't just walk down Crown and buy sushi I experienced existence itself. The thing about me rambling as I do is in part my personal attempt to explode context and see how everything is in fact connected but not determined, hence the story about the cab driver is not only 'in context' its post context.
Stop. That discourse is going to shit people and bore people. Try this.
As an introduction to what I am positing as a new idea called 'post-context' the previous was probably as appropriate as it was incoherent. Post structural linguistics like spelling and grammar is something I'm interested in but not that good at and what I'm also trying to get at here is my ongoing inquiry on how the individual relates to the rest of the world, and therefore a question of identity and weather it exists within the self or out there in the world as other people perceive it. Today I was one piece of odd clothing away from looking like a drug addict. A stupid hat would have done the trick (I'm not talkin Adidas track pants, which is standard outfit for the borderline homeless, I'm talking bad fashion that indicates someone couldn't match the colors they put on this morning) but on Crown street its all relative and when your me you can't tell if your Fred Perry cardigan is green or brown but probably olive anyway.
As some people close to me know I am obsessed with 'it kids', arty looking people, and really hot chicks who look really pissed off. This is my concept of cultural 'nowness'. I'm talkin high pants, wayfarers, single gear bycles, art school, no school, karate shoes and 2 piece bi-curious electro with an afro-cuban influence. My town is loaded with these types I'm even friends with a few of them on facebook so I can keep track of where 'it' is at. I'm equally intrigued and bemused by the front of ambivalence, pretentiousness and their well held belief they are on the cutting edge of music or fashion whilst at the same time think they are making a bold statement by listening to Fleetwood mac and quoting Hall and Oats (both of which artists I love so I don't really have a problem with 70s rock being cool, because it has always been good just don't get me started on the 80s..). Having said this I'll take the rockers over the suits any day and nothing is funnier than a bunch of Eastern Suburbs types slummin it down at the hoey. Strangely, just like Newtown is now completely gentrified and owned by gay property developers, on the weekends the 2010 area fills with office workers, yuppies and other up to get the edgy arthouse living experience. For a deeper understanding of the Jersey effect (people from the Burbs coming into the cool suburbs on the the weekend and other cultural phenomena check http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/full-list-of-stuff-white-people-like/ and without ruining the locals chances of getting a table for breakfast or creating a false economy like the one we have on Dank St in Redfern where BMWs cruise the organic markets for over sized bags of flour and a coffee is soon to be over 4 bucks (AU$) Marrickville is the new Newtown.
Recently my thoughts on Crown street have been legitimised after spending time with some young Americans who had never been to Australia. They happen to be in a really cool highly anticipated indy band and their reaction to people here helped me understand the cultural insecurity that underlies the overly earnest reaction to many bands artists people that visit our little island.
To eat and get a vibe for Surry Hills I sent them here
View Larger Map
I fuckin love the food and the coffee at Kawa and the idea I can be amongst some of the most uber eccentric people in town, who look really disappointed when I'm sitting in, I'm not sure why but I'm quite sure I'm not concerned. What made me laugh was the fact that 'highly anticipated' indy band member thought he was sitting in the uber cool parts of Brooklyn (and everyone knows how happening that is) and like I regularly do, couldn't believe how hard these people were trying to look weird or cool or something. But take heart just like these boys from Atlanta managed to stay out of the influence of the nowness of New York and maintain some originality then so can Australia continue to be socially and culturally progressive and keep new ideas coming.
Right now I need to sleep. And that the best idea I've had all day.
