I can’t remember…

I remember opening this window maybe half an hour ago.

I had something witty and insightful to write, but then 4.5GB of Barbra Streisand fell into my computer from nowhere, and my priority turned into sorting and tagging it to make sure it fits nicely in my collection. Ah… the 3.5GB of Hindi/Bollywood is also done…

BUT I MUST NOT STRAY!

I have a plan of attack for my three days off. It starts with cooking an early lunch, and continues with going to work, faxing my plane ticket to my travel agent, going to the gym, buying more veggies, transcribing music of Zoe, sorting out my Zen application, writing a letter to a certain Brisbane composer for his support of my YAMP application … La la la la…

I also have to finish my allotted Daegeum practice. Meanwhile, playing that particular instrument is starting to become a joy. Which is a good thing. Soon I will be sitting under a tree, playing my heart out to the birds and the native animals.

And, in one foul swoop, Barbra distracted me again.

I am going to make baba ganoush with my copious eggplant. Then lunch. Then the other things.

The Existential Quest

I have embarked on a journey of self-betterment.

As a result of this beginning, I have decided to become more educated in the realm of philosophy. To this end, for the last several months I have been passively engaging with discourse on topics such as fundamentalist Christian apocalyptic eschatology, neo-Darwinian determinism, the authority of the Believer, ancient Greek philosophy, artificial intelligence, Victorian pessimism, and most recently, existentialism.

Existentialism. The claim that individual human beings have full responsibility for creating the meanings of their own lives. Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Sartre, Camus, Beckett, Ionesco, Genet, Adamov, Foucault, Dostoevsky, Kafka… The saviour of the Judeo-Christian paradigm… The death of God…

This is what I have come to be most fascinated by, and this is where I think I will stay for a while. Through the wonders of iTunes U, and UC Berkley, I have started to work my way through the lecture component of a subject entitled ‘Man, God, and Society in Western Literature’, taught by Professor Hubert Dreyfus. Thirty-two lectures all told, it professes to ‘compare and contrast the Greek, Medieval and modern worlds, as reflected by their greatest literature, with special emphasis on the role of the community in reconciling conflicts between sub-groups in society and the individual’s ability to understand and control his or her own life’.

Two lectures in, and I am already knee-deep in critical engagements with the writings of the early church and the concepts by which Christianity understands the life of Christ, so I am taking a detour, via Thomas Sheehan. His lecture series given at Stanford University on the historical Jesus, is giving me the background to try and understand the context with which Dreyfus approaches scripture. It beautifully describes what can be known of life of Yeshua, the man called the Christ, and how he is seen today through the filter that was the early Church. Sheehan also gives a well-researched and comprehensive overview of the methods of the textual analysis of scripture, lots of history and context regarding the time of Christ and ancient Israel, and gives insight into how one might be able to reconcile the historical accounts of Yeshua with the Jesus of Christianity (himself being a Roman Catholic). I highly recommend it to anyone who finds this subject matter vaguely interesting, regardless of your religious convictions. His book on the topic is available in full-text here.

Who knows where I will end up, but it is a highly stimulating journey.

Sam would be proud.

Oh Danny boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling
From glen to glen, and down the mountain side
The summer’s gone, and all the flowers are dying
‘Tis you, ’tis you must go and I must bide.
But come ye back when summer’s in the meadow
Or when the valley’s hushed and white with snow
‘Tis I’ll be here in sunshine or in shadow
Oh Danny boy, oh Danny boy, I love you so.

And if you come, when all the flowers are dying
And I am dead, as dead I well may be
You’ll come and find the place where I am lying
And kneel and say an “Ave” there for me.

And I shall hear, tho’ soft you tread above me
And all my dreams will warm and sweeter be
If you’ll not fail to tell me that you love me
I’ll simply sleep in peace until you come to me.

I’ll simply sleep in peace until you come to me.

On Cyber Immediacy, and Podcasts

I have uploaded a new set of pics to my Flickr account.Other than that, I have been very lazy with regards to my online existence. It is a problem that constantly plagues me – not that I think anyone cares, but because it highlights my apparent inability to resolve to do something and follow it through.

Twitter is my saviour in this regard.

[Look! A shiny new change of topic...]

I spend almost 2 hours a day in transit (by foot), and usually another 2 hours in the gym, which means that I have a lot of time to fill (aurally). Enter, the magic that is the podcast. I have been listening to a lot of a lot of them lately. Although I have had my iPod for almost 4 years, this is the first time I have fully utilised iTunes’ incredibly seamless online broadcasting platform, and I have decided that it suits my lifestyle.

But it means that I don’t have a lot of time for music (which is a shame, cause my library now comes in at a disgraceful 110 gigs – HELLO super-fast Korean broadband).

My current stash of podcasts include:

• KCM Believer’s Voice of Victory
• ABC Radio National’s Philosopher’s Zone
• ABC Radio National’s National Interest
• BCC’s Weekly podcasts

I need something humorous/with personality to throw in there as well, but all broadcasts I’ve sampled in that regard have not been funny.

I am waiting for Jinwon to stop faffing about with the pine table he’s been making, and come to the gym, I have been going by myself lately (which is actually working out for once), but we had a bit of an agreement – so, I’m sticking to it.

That’s all.

Obsessions

Bit-Torrenting is amazing.

So is my anally-retentive iTunes Library organising skills (aided by Doug’s iTunes Scripts… thanks Doug).

Happy Feet is amazing – possibly my favorite animated film of all time. Yep – all time.

Musical that I have fallen in love with in the last 24 hours:

Monty Python’s Spamalot
Billy Elliot: The Musical
Hair
Jesus Christ Superstar (again)
Tarzan: The Broadway musical
Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Variations (not strictly a musical, but very good)

Also, Film Sountracks are in abundance in my home:

E.T.
Borat – Stereophonic Musical Listenings That Have Been Origin In Moving Film
A word on Borat. I have recently tried to sit through this film several times, and I can’t do it. It is too painful. But the sountrack is a work of art.

Needless to say, I am alone with a computer, high-speed internet, and a newly acquired office chair. The world is my oyster.

I went for a jog today along the amazingly resourced stream near my work. With Leah. It was cold, and my hands almost fell off. But I have been surprisingly active, considering my geek-like lifestyle. A beautiful, clear, crisp and happy day (insert: “There is Life Outside Your Apartment” here).

I live in a hovel-like den of mank that is worthy of any titles involving the word ‘Stain’. My resolution is to clean it this evening, late, whilst listening to my comprehensive collection of Tuvan Throat Singing. Actually my new favorite genre.

Then I will be in a place to continue writing my epic.

As long as you are still reading, my new life motto is:

“If it’s not a Daegeum, you don’t need it”
[Daegeum: 1 metre-long Korean Bamboo flute]

It is currently saving me from:

a. Overspending/Purchasing extraneous objects that WON’T make me happy tomorrow
b. Overeating
c. Engaging in activity that is counter-productive (almost).

And it is is encouraging me to:

a. Save money
b. Eat well and exercise
c. Create amazing works of art
d. Practice my Sogeum (30cm Bamboo Flute)

There are logical explanations as to why this is the case, but my neck is sore. And Hair just finished, which means it’s on to E.T.