April 2014 - Page 5 of 6 - Ramblin' with Roger

Not liking music?

“Sing lustily, and with a good courage. Beware of singing as if you were half dead, or half asleep; but lift up your voice with strength.”

A half dozen years ago, someone posted this to Yahoo! Answers:
“I don’t like music. At all. Any of it. Does this have a name? To me, music is an intrusive noise. It gets in the way of my thoughts and prevents my structuring a sentence.”

She goes on complaining that others try to share different types of music, but her reaction is the same. Some of the folks answering her find this either bizarre or else they too do suggest she hasn’t been exposed to the right kind of music.

But now, researchers say that some people lack the ability to get pleasure from music. There’s even a fancy phrase for it: “specific musical anhedonia.” Of course, I find it a little odd, but we’re all constructed differently.

There is even a musical reward questionnaire out there. I was slightly disappointed that all my answers were in the “normal” range for music enjoyment (40 to 60), with “social” being the highest, with a 59.

Jaquandor did one of his random Wednesday conversation starters a few weeks back: “How much do you sing? Publicly? In a choir, or solo? Only at home amongst friends? Only in the car or the shower?” I was really sad to read one response:

Never. When I was 10 years old I was told not to sing in church. We were doing some kind of Christmas thing and each Sunday school class was going to sing in front of the church. The Sunday school teacher kept trying coach me and finally gave up and told me to just move my lips. I guess that warped me for life because it’s been many years since I’ve even felt like singing.

I thought this was terrible! Someone sucked the joy of singing right out of this person’s life, and at such an early age.

As a former Methodist and long-time choir member, I am well aware of John Wesley’s Rules for Singing (1761), my favorite of which is this:

“Sing lustily, and with a good courage. Beware of singing as if you were half dead, or half asleep; but lift up your voice with strength. Be no more afraid of your voice now, nor more ashamed of it being heard, then when you sing the songs of Satan.”

Tittynope, or ort, and poor Lazarus

The story is not describing the rich man in hell and damnation, but like the leadership of the synagogue in Jesus’ time, “Stiff-necked” people separated from God. Lazarus represents the world open to hearing the Word.

As is my wont, I checked out the Grandiloquent Word of the Day, which, for a day in late February, was tittynope. The term was SO peculiar that I had to check it in another source. And sure enough – “Tittynope: (noun) a small quantity of anything left over, whether a few beans on a dinner plate or the dregs at the bottom of a cup.”

My old friend Hadiya – she’s not that old, but… – asked if it was related to the word ort. I’d say, definitionally, yes.

Usually, orts. a scrap or morsel of food left at a meal. Origin: 1400–50; late Middle English; cognate with Low German ort, early Dutch oorete; compare Old English or- out-, ǣt food (see eat).

The girl in the Grandiloquent pic looks satisfied, but that’s not the image the word generated for me. Rather, it was perhaps a Dickensian beggar; nope, no food for you. Or even more so, that story of poor Lazarus in Luke 16:

19 There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. 20 At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores 21 and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table.

OK, it’s less the story I read, but rather the narrative I’ve heard (my church youth group, twice), and participated in (1976), from Godspell. Here’s a random clip that I found on YouTube, and another clip.

And in looking for these videos, I came across this 30-minute description of how the story of the rich man and Lazarus has long been misinterpreted. Basically, the presenter, Jason Lucas, indicates that the imagery in the parables is speaking to the Pharisees (the “righteous” Jewish leadership) and the Gentiles (the “heathen” sinners) to suggest that God’s word is now open to all, not just the historically chosen people, spoken in code as so not to alert the Romans, who just want to maintain the peace, but is clearly understood by the Pharisees.

Before addressing that story, Lucas described a previous parable, the “Prodigal Son”, and noted that the older brother in the story is Israel, the long-chosen people, and the younger brother, who literally ate with the pigs, is the rest of the world, whose covenant with the father (Father) is even more exciting because it is new.

The Lazarus story, the video suggests, is not describing the rich man in hell and damnation, but like the leadership of the synagogue in Jesus’ time, “stiff-necked” people separated from God. Lazarus represents the world open to hearing the Word. Lucas’ point here echoes Simon Perry, who:

has argued that the parable of the Rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31) refers to Eliezer of Damascus. In [Genesis] 15:4, God says to Abraham, “this man will not be your heir.” By locating Lazarus (an abbreviated transcript of Eleazar) outside the gates of Abraham’s perceived descendant, but then having him in Abraham’s bosom, Jesus is portrayed as radically redefining the covenant.

This take on the story makes a LOT more sense to me than the traditional interpretation.

Movies, music, romance

I once got a standing ovation playing a comb, seriously.

MDS of Pantheon Songs wonders:

What are some movies that are generally considered to be classics that you found to be just terrible/boring/ridiculous?

I fell asleep watching Citizen Kane on video; in general, I prefer seeing a film first on the big screen. But that lapse was probably because I was tired. The only film during which I ever fell asleep at a movie theater, excluding drive-in double features, was Empire of the Sun (1987), and again, maybe I was just fatigued.

I didn’t love either The Royal Tennenbaums or Lost in Translation, but this may be a function of seeing them after hearing too much hype. Or I was in a bad mood. Or tired.

Nothing, I guess, fits the bill.
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Tom the Mayor asks:

Are you worried about Lydia when she gets to the age of Dating?

I was watching a performance of The Lion King that Lydia was in on March 2. There’s a scene where Nala, played by the pastors’ daughter, was being sized up by the evil king Scar. And the male pastor, who was fairly near me, got rather physically tense until Nala slapped Scar and got away.

So sure, I suppose it’s an issue. Don’t know what she’ll face, and kids seem to have more ways to be mean.

Also don’t know what dating will mean to a mixed-race kid these days, though you assume the world is better than this being a problem.
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This must mean it’s New York Erratic time again:

What skill has gotten you the most girls? (Thinking clean, like music and singing and whatnot).

My guess is that I can be a very good listener. I was often friends with women I ended up going out with. Someone long ago told me that steering the conversation to be about the other person tends to make them feel good, and not just in romantic settings.

Though I know I did wow someone with my air guitar of Smoke On The Water.

What musical instruments do you play? Which do you wish you played?

I don’t play any instruments. That’s technically not true; I’ve played the comb. In public, including several times as part of the Green Family Singers. I once got a standing ovation playing the blues on a comb in Manlius, NY c 1970, seriously.

I wish I could play piano; I took a year of it when I was about 12, but I just didn’t have the chops. Or guitar; my father played and taught my sister Leslie in about a month, but I couldn’t get it.

What subject in school did you find the most difficult?

College freshman calculus. No idea what I was doing. And I did so well in high school math, with a 97 in algebra, 86 in geometry, and 98 in trigonometry; I would have done better in geometry, except memorizing proofs I thought was dumb.

First calc test I get a 73, the second 56, the third 37. I needed a passing grade on the final. I crammed for two days, sleeping maybe a total of four hours. Got a C on the final, a C in the course. Two weeks later, I looked at my textbook and did not understand a thing.

Which places on Earth you do NOT want to go to?

There are so many. Places that are too hot and sticky, and/or have too many insects; e.g. the Amazon. Places that are too cold, I mean below freezing even in summer; e.g., Antarctica. Places that are too remote because I like people; e.g., some cabin in the remote Rockies. Places that are too crowded because I don’t like people THAT much; e.g. Calcutta.

There is still time to Ask Roger Anything.

M is for the McVies of Fleetwood Mac

in January 2014, it was announced that Christine McVie had rejoined Fleetwood Mac.

Lindsey Buckingham, Stevie Nicks, Mick Fleetwood, Christine McVie, John McVie

The group Fleetwood Mac was named for drummer Mick Fleetwood, who helped found the band in 1967, and bassist John McVie, who, I did not know until recently, actually declined to join the group initially, but eventually came on board. The early iterations of the band were of classic British blues.

Early on, one Christine Perfect joined the band, initially as a session musician, and after marrying John McVie, as a full-fledged member. The band continued to have a revolving membership until Americans Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham joined the group, two strong singer-songwriters. However, I’m going to limit the songs here to those written, or co-written, by Christine, only because it fits the family group motif.

The first album together, 1975’s Fleetwood Mac, had several hit songs, with Over My Head [LISTEN to the very first FM song to hit the Top 20 (just) in the US. Say You Love Me [LISTEN], made it to #11.

“In 1976 [Christine] McVie began an on-the-road affair with the band’s lighting director, which inspired her to write You Make Loving Fun [LISTEN], a [#9] hit on the landmark smash Rumours, one of the best-selling albums of all-time.” It spent an amazing 31 weeks at #1 and spawned a number of other top 10 songs, including Don’t Stop [LISTEN], which went to #3, and later became a theme song at Bill Clinton’s 1992 inauguration. “By the end of the Rumours tour, the McVies were divorced.” Nicks and Buckingham had also ended their romantic relationship, and Mick Fleetwood would be getting divorced from his wife.

The double album Tusk followed, including Think About Me [LISTEN], #20 in 1980. 1982’s Mirage, featured Hold Me [LISTEN] (a #4 hit) and Love In Store [LISTEN] (#22), with co-writers from outside the band.

Tango in the Night, from 1987, contained Little Lies [LISTEN], another #4 hit, co-written with her new husband Eddy Quintela, and Everywhere [LISTEN], which went to #22.

Eventually, Christine McVie, Nicks, and Buckingham all left at different points. Yet the classic band found its way back together in 1997 for an album and tour, the year before the five of them, plus former Mac guitarists Peter Green and Danny Kirwan were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Christine departed again, but in January 2014, it was announced that she had rejoined the band, and in March, a reunion tour was scheduled.

We’ll end this with The Chain [LISTEN] from Rumours, written by all five of the members at that point, because, despite it all, there is something holding these five people together.

ABC Wednesday – Round 14

The Power of Uncertainty

I KNEW – OK, I BELIEVED that he was correct. How else does one blow up churches, perhaps with innocent black girls inside?

The guy from Buffalo, Jaquandor, linked to this New York Times article, The Dangers of Certainty: A Lesson From Auschwitz by Simon Critchley. You should just read it. He describes his love of the 1973 BBC 13-part documentary series called “The Ascent of Man,” hosted by Dr. Jacob Bronowski.

In only one episode did the good doctor deviate from what Critchley called a “relentlessly optimistic” account. The 11th episode, “Knowledge or Certainty,” was different, and explaining it further would only diminish it. But here is a relevant quote:

For Dr. Bronowski, the moral consequence of knowledge is that we must never judge others on the basis of some absolute, God-like conception of certainty. All knowledge, all information that passes between human beings, can be exchanged only within what we might call “a play of tolerance,” whether in science, literature, politics or religion. As he eloquently put it, “Human knowledge is personal and responsible, an unending adventure at the edge of uncertainty.”

The relationship between humans and nature and humans and other humans can take place only within a certain play of tolerance. Insisting on certainty, by contrast, leads ineluctably to arrogance and dogma based on ignorance.

Someone asked: “But does certainty always lead to Auschwitz?” Well, of course not, but as Jaquandor noted: “But that’s not the claim that is made. It’s the assumption of the absolute rightness of our views that can lead to dangers.”

And I KNEW – OK, I BELIEVED that he was correct. How else does one blow up churches, perhaps with innocent black girls inside? Or shoot a doctor who performs abortions, inside a church? Or commit terrible atrocities against “the other”? Or blow oneself up in a train station? Or wage unwinnable wars against “them”? It seems to me that one would have to be quite certain of the rightness of his or her action.

I’ve said, frequently, that often I don’t know. Would others feel the same before acting upon their convictions in such brutal fashions.
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The younger of my sisters linked to 10 painfully obvious truths everyone forgets too soon. Not totally sure of #2 and #4, but it’s a useful list.