I've been thinking lately about a website I stumbled on once and it seems to be resonating more lately as I read one of Philip K. Dick's more popular novels "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?". I really dug "Blade Runner" when I first saw it (and again in its most recently released to theaters director's cut), a movie based on Dick's novel. And the more I think about it as I read his book, I believe that we all may be robots.
Now hold on just a minute and let me explain...By the way, this thought has been bumping around my head since I was about 12, terrible stuff to think about, but it still haunts more people's darker recesses than we all might like to admit.
This website on The Simulation Argument
, portends, with multiple sources, that we all may indeed (or our perceptions, mainly mine) be entirely simulated. If this were to be true, however, I would be a rare instance of the self-aware android or simulation. This is definitely an uncomfortable assumption but not a strange one given my generation's exposure to The Matrix trilogy from the Wachowski brothers. However, the very realization that such may be true (being a self-aware simulation) is probably good evidence that I, and we, am/are not, which may be a logical fallacy or circular reasoning, but, to set my mind at ease it may be good enough for me.
Don't we all live in the circular reasoning world of constant justification, regardless? This is the paradox of existence in the face of our imminent, and almost always unknown time of, demise.
Here's to maybe all of us being robots and not knowing it––or not wanting to admit it, at least. Cheers!
-jp
ps Mad Respect to Bob Kubachek for letting us all know what kind of things we were to begin with. Safe journeys in Wyoming Bobb-o. You are missed.
11.07.2008
11.04.2008
videomusics
Here's my most recent blog on local happenings in Salt Lake music.
Click on Salt Blog if you'd like to see what City Weekly turned this into. It's pretty much the same, just in their fancy format that may be easier on the eyes.
Two things happen when a bearded man starts hanging a sheet in front of a bar stage. You either hope for some naughty shadow play from a backlit woman, or you prepare for the disappointment of somebody showing some crap visuals to go with their crap music. Alexis Gideon did neither last Tuesday night so I was pleasantly surprised.
The guitarist for Portland's CarCrashLander performed solo along with his animated and claymation infused tribute to Hungarian myths he's named Video Musics. I actually bought a copy, it was that interesting, and I plan on absorbing it again in the future. I'm just waiting to do some mescaline* and watch it at some point in my mid-40's: I dream big people. The last tour stop of Gideon's, along with tour mate Shelley Short, featured local openers The Black Hens and was not a let down in the least. I wish more people were there to appreciate the performance, but judging by the size of the crowd and the group actually engaged in the act of watching the piece, I assume most Utah residents just wouldn't get it. And if I hadn't been exposed to cinema like the Buñuel/Dali piece Un Chien Andalou, I would have probably thought Gideon's work was ridiculous. The guys playing ping-pong while it was being performed obviously thought so.
But, it isn't ridiculous. Gideon performs his magnum opus with guitar, rap and "normal" vocalizations along with xylophone plinks during some really interesting projections: a bad ass lizard (Brimstone Blaine) on a motorized vehicle harasses trains, another lizard creature seduces a fox princess by catching an elusive apple, and a cat-headed woman ventures through constellations into another dimension where spacemen dislocate her head–that's just a small sample of the genius of the work that is loosely based on some sort of animal theme from Hungary. Click here for "Brimstone Blaine" if you'd like to see what I mean. It will require a second viewing for me to really get it, most definitely. A first visceral viewing still resonates though, enough to recommend that you find this piece if you like avant-garde cinema, or if you have some mescaline* on hand. And if you have the latter, email Jamie Gadette and have her get back to me. I could push my goals forward a few decades. For scientific purposes, of course. Thanks must go to Slowtrain records for helping put the show on and for The Woodshed for hosting it. And see Gideon the next time he comes by. You won't regret it.
*Jon Paxton does not endorse intake of mind-altering substances of any kind. Especially peyote.
-jon paxton
Click on Salt Blog if you'd like to see what City Weekly turned this into. It's pretty much the same, just in their fancy format that may be easier on the eyes.
Two things happen when a bearded man starts hanging a sheet in front of a bar stage. You either hope for some naughty shadow play from a backlit woman, or you prepare for the disappointment of somebody showing some crap visuals to go with their crap music. Alexis Gideon did neither last Tuesday night so I was pleasantly surprised.
The guitarist for Portland's CarCrashLander performed solo along with his animated and claymation infused tribute to Hungarian myths he's named Video Musics. I actually bought a copy, it was that interesting, and I plan on absorbing it again in the future. I'm just waiting to do some mescaline* and watch it at some point in my mid-40's: I dream big people. The last tour stop of Gideon's, along with tour mate Shelley Short, featured local openers The Black Hens and was not a let down in the least. I wish more people were there to appreciate the performance, but judging by the size of the crowd and the group actually engaged in the act of watching the piece, I assume most Utah residents just wouldn't get it. And if I hadn't been exposed to cinema like the Buñuel/Dali piece Un Chien Andalou, I would have probably thought Gideon's work was ridiculous. The guys playing ping-pong while it was being performed obviously thought so.
But, it isn't ridiculous. Gideon performs his magnum opus with guitar, rap and "normal" vocalizations along with xylophone plinks during some really interesting projections: a bad ass lizard (Brimstone Blaine) on a motorized vehicle harasses trains, another lizard creature seduces a fox princess by catching an elusive apple, and a cat-headed woman ventures through constellations into another dimension where spacemen dislocate her head–that's just a small sample of the genius of the work that is loosely based on some sort of animal theme from Hungary. Click here for "Brimstone Blaine" if you'd like to see what I mean. It will require a second viewing for me to really get it, most definitely. A first visceral viewing still resonates though, enough to recommend that you find this piece if you like avant-garde cinema, or if you have some mescaline* on hand. And if you have the latter, email Jamie Gadette and have her get back to me. I could push my goals forward a few decades. For scientific purposes, of course. Thanks must go to Slowtrain records for helping put the show on and for The Woodshed for hosting it. And see Gideon the next time he comes by. You won't regret it.
*Jon Paxton does not endorse intake of mind-altering substances of any kind. Especially peyote.
-jon paxton
11.03.2008
We are in the midst of the latest (6th) Extinction Period in history: And it’s man made
I keep hearing this, but not on mainstream news. At least not enough. The scientists don't want to scare people. This, above all else, makes me hate the human race and my role in it.
I've said for a bit now that we're in trouble and I heard it again on an NPR program featuring a population researcher, a PhD for the record, that our growth is out of control and it's the reason we're losing species from myriad causes. Here is an excerpt from the researcher's website about what scientists were saying in 1993:
"In 1993, fifty-six of the world's scientific academies (including the U.S. National Academy) came together in a "Scientific Summit" on world population. The conference was an out growth of two earlier meetings, one by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the other by the Royal Society of London and the U.S. National Academy of Sciences. At both meetings, urgent concern was expressed for the expanding world population and a commitment was made to continue discourse on matters related to population growth. The resulting 1993 Science Summit—the first large-scale collaborative activity ever undertaken by the world's scientific academies—set as its primary goal the formulation of a statement to be presented at the International Conference on Population and Development in 1994. The statement, reprinted below, underscores the need for government policies and initiatives that will help achieve "zero population growth within the lifetime of our children."
http://www.dominantanimal.com/index.php?page_id=285
Cut and paste to go there for more info. It's a pretty interesting statement. His book sounds interesting, albeit depressing, too.
We, realistically, are fucked. And our future generations will live in a hell we cannot begin to understand. But vote McCain anyway. It's not like there is another candidate who has a better option for our future, say getting off fossil fuels and investing 150 billion dollars in greening our country. (hint: Obama pledged that).
-jp
I keep hearing this, but not on mainstream news. At least not enough. The scientists don't want to scare people. This, above all else, makes me hate the human race and my role in it.
I've said for a bit now that we're in trouble and I heard it again on an NPR program featuring a population researcher, a PhD for the record, that our growth is out of control and it's the reason we're losing species from myriad causes. Here is an excerpt from the researcher's website about what scientists were saying in 1993:
"In 1993, fifty-six of the world's scientific academies (including the U.S. National Academy) came together in a "Scientific Summit" on world population. The conference was an out growth of two earlier meetings, one by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the other by the Royal Society of London and the U.S. National Academy of Sciences. At both meetings, urgent concern was expressed for the expanding world population and a commitment was made to continue discourse on matters related to population growth. The resulting 1993 Science Summit—the first large-scale collaborative activity ever undertaken by the world's scientific academies—set as its primary goal the formulation of a statement to be presented at the International Conference on Population and Development in 1994. The statement, reprinted below, underscores the need for government policies and initiatives that will help achieve "zero population growth within the lifetime of our children."
http://www.dominantanimal.com/index.php?page_id=285
Cut and paste to go there for more info. It's a pretty interesting statement. His book sounds interesting, albeit depressing, too.
We, realistically, are fucked. And our future generations will live in a hell we cannot begin to understand. But vote McCain anyway. It's not like there is another candidate who has a better option for our future, say getting off fossil fuels and investing 150 billion dollars in greening our country. (hint: Obama pledged that).
-jp
Let me precede this by saying I'm a big fan of David Allen Grier, aka DAG. One can only truly appreciate the man's genius if you've been following him since "In Living Color" days. And I must admit I really dig his new show.
I happened to catch it the other night during one of my much loved graveyards and it made me chuckle, out loud, several times. This is usually pretty hard to do. Most stuff just isn't that funny to me unless I've been partaking of left-handed cigarettes. Or eating pop rocks. Pop rocks make me giggle too. And people on acid. They're hilarious. I digress...
DAG's opener about the death of hip hop was spot on and something that I've felt for a while now: and he put it in words eloquently, with humor to boot. The rest of the episode was pretty intelligent, some might disagree but it did bring up social issues in an interesting way, and watching a true character actor in his prime is a boon.
I met Mr. Grier a few years ago at a house party in Colorado during the Aspen Comedy Festival. Now, admittedly, that is a bit of a weird coincidence, and it was given the sub prime real estate the party was at. I intoxicated-ly told DAG that I was a huge fan and was interested in his new work. The gentleman was three sheets to the wind, but he told me that he would "let me know" when his new show was coming out.
Fast forward four or five years...I never saw DAG again, but Comedy Central was the one to let me know he had a show, and by golly, it was worth the wait. I'm looking forward to more episodes, and fingers crossed they don't cancel the shit, cause that guy has talent with character acting. Most definitely.
-jp
I happened to catch it the other night during one of my much loved graveyards and it made me chuckle, out loud, several times. This is usually pretty hard to do. Most stuff just isn't that funny to me unless I've been partaking of left-handed cigarettes. Or eating pop rocks. Pop rocks make me giggle too. And people on acid. They're hilarious. I digress...
DAG's opener about the death of hip hop was spot on and something that I've felt for a while now: and he put it in words eloquently, with humor to boot. The rest of the episode was pretty intelligent, some might disagree but it did bring up social issues in an interesting way, and watching a true character actor in his prime is a boon.
I met Mr. Grier a few years ago at a house party in Colorado during the Aspen Comedy Festival. Now, admittedly, that is a bit of a weird coincidence, and it was given the sub prime real estate the party was at. I intoxicated-ly told DAG that I was a huge fan and was interested in his new work. The gentleman was three sheets to the wind, but he told me that he would "let me know" when his new show was coming out.
Fast forward four or five years...I never saw DAG again, but Comedy Central was the one to let me know he had a show, and by golly, it was worth the wait. I'm looking forward to more episodes, and fingers crossed they don't cancel the shit, cause that guy has talent with character acting. Most definitely.
-jp
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)