Some November 7ths (Subject To Change)

11/7/1914

Wittgenstein longing for the company of a decent person because "here I am surrounded by indecency".

 

11/7/1978

(Keith Haring Journals)

"Everything in this notebook is subject to change. When I re-read an idea two or three days later, sometimes (usually) I have a more defined, altered, or more simple version of the original idea, or a new interpretation of the idea, or a totally new idea that develops as a result of the first one. This book contains thoughts that are spontaneous. Every day I think differently, re-evaluate old ideas, and express my ideas in different terms."

[11/7/2024: This is exactly how I’m working on the Songdays: I quickly capture a riff idea emerging from the rhythms of language, but after that, everything is subject to change. The text and the music is still “wet”].

11/7/1998

Film: Velvet Goldmine. A film about glam. 

Book: Out of Control by Kevin Kelly. Interesting chapter on predictions on the Gulf War was simulated long before it ever happened. The more we simulate reality, the more it is likely that the simulations become real.

[11/7/2024: A common comment after a disaster is that it was like something they saw in a movie. The first time I said it was on 9/11.]

11/7/2000

Presidential election. Very close nail-biter. I think the real phenomenon now as opposed to 4 years ago is the fundamental changes the internet has made in society. Rumor, gossip, and the cult of personality (partly Clinton's fault) have affected voters in profound and insidious ways. Future elections will be as hot or hotter than this....The Germans say: "They have an idiotic system of government invented 200 years ago." The Chinese say: "It's a big funny joke."

11/7/2002

Anti-globalization protest down Dearborn to Daley Plaza. A laundry list of vague grievances. 

11/7/2003

Watched documentary on PBS about the war correspondents. McLuhan must be really smiling in his grave: the media mix war seems easy—like sitting down and watching a film or playing a video game. Coverage of wars will eventually be cinema...

[ibid.]

11/7/2004

Tribune headline: US Pushes Into Fallujah...

[11/7/2024: Looking back on both Gulf Wars, what an act of terrorism! Of course it was America’s tit-for-tat, but we fell into that same trap. The response after 9/11 should have been “Don’t just do something, stand there!”]

11/7/2015

People like to think that a changing of the guard in politics is going to be the "Change" they've been waiting for, that the other parties have somehow been preventing. We like to forget to look back every two years, seldom seeing any of that happening...There is a limit to the rate at which any leader can turn the direction of a nation.

[11/7/2024: Subject to change].

11/7/2022

My Dad seldom talked about the war. That’s because it was a traumatic memory, even though he wasn’t in battle. As we now know, traumas can be passed down through the generations, but at some level, it is irrelevant to our own emotional history. Silents and boomers might be more affected than younger generations by WWII but even being traumatized by watching films about war can trigger anyone in different ways, which might not have to do with anyone in their family being in a war. PTSD is probably a “fungible” phenomenon, but I suppose labeling triggers might help in therapy for some.

[My father Masstricht 1944. Remember we were fighting fascism then???]

 

 

 

 

 

 

11/7/2023

As we get older we tend to be less interested in the new stuff. When I was just getting on the Internet in 1998 every day I'd be interested in what was new. I designed my own website and got all the "dummy" books on HTML, Flash, and so on. But we weren't intentionally trying to champion the humanities...Now there's a separation between technology and the humanities: Some are into technology and not interested in the humanities and vice versa. I think that's a bad thing. I've noticed a drastic change in how we use our brains and how that's reflected on society. 

[11/7/2024: Our current situation in this country and globally is all left-hemisphere (and lower chakra), such that it takes a concerted effort to check in with our true intentions. Does anyone really have true intentions any longer?]