Posted in community, politics on 15 Jun 2010
I receive a lot of suggestions of other countries to boycott. Turkey, North Korea, Sudan, etc. So why don’t I also block them?
1. This is not a crusade against every injustice in the world. It is a contribution to the cultural boycott of Israel because of its treatment of Gaza and the Palestinians, as explained previously. That other regimes are also corrupt, racist, and oppressive should not be used as an argument against such a reaction, or to alleviate the burden of guilt of the Israeli regime.
2. Different issues call for different means. I have very few visitors from any of the countries that have been suggested. I have severe doubts that anyone in Somalia would even notice it if they were blocked from a site about Bob Dylan.
3. Quite a few have voiced concern for the many Dylan fans in Israel who are against the current state of affairs and who are now said — erroneously, it should be added — to be deprieved of the opportunity to sing Masters of War in protest against Netanyahu, and quite a few Israeli Dylan fans have called me a hypocritical asshole, but none, as far as I remember, have combined the two: the outcries of injustice towards the good Israeli Dylan fans have come from people who have no interest whatsover in Dylan and his music, not from those who want to use Dylan songs against the regime.
It is my hope that for those unfortunate few, the solidarity with the oppressed will be greater than the inconvenience of being barred from the site, just as it was for the few white anti-apartheid authors in South Africa who because of the boycott were deprieved of the contact with the western culture to which they felt themselves to belong.
Update: I came across this article by Lawrence Davidson, Professor of history at West Chester University, who lines up the arguments for and against a boycott much better than I could ever do.
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The comments to this post are being moderated. I will not let through posts with the sole or main purpose (1) to tell me that I’m an idiot (no need to restate the obvious), or (2) to duplicate any of the “facts” in the comments to the previous post.
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Posted in community, politics, religion on 13 Jun 2010
I thought I was going to take a break from this now, but there is one more thing I need to state more clearly, and thanks to all who have reminded me of this (and I’m not being sarcastic here):
Everything I’ve said about truth, propaganda, and predetermined morals could and should be used against the Hamas, as well as against simplistic, populist slogan truths from the Left. I’ve always been uncomfortable — to say the least — with banners and flags, of any colour or political orientation, because they by nature simplify a message and transform it into the same kind of Truth as I polemicize against in my previous post. I prefer a reasoned discussion where arguments are allowed …
Posted in community, philosophy, politics, religion on 12 Jun 2010
A week ago, I started my cultural boycott of Israel, in direct response to, but not caused only by, the events surrounding the murders (or war crimes) on the Freedom Flotilla. These are some reflections on the boycott itself and on the reactions it has caused.
What is a cultural boycott, and is it fair?
I consider my blockade as part of a cultural boycott of the same kind as that against South Africa in the 80s. As such it is a gesture which some people will feel is hurting them unjustly.
On an individual level, that is entirely true: why should all the good-hearted, friendly citizens of Israel, those who have never voted for Netanyahu and who are against the blockade of …
Posted in community, politics on 2 Jun 2010
I’m too enraged to write anything coherent, but beginning yesterday, I’m running my own private boycott of the state of Israel and anything/-one associated with it, and I urge everyone to do the same.
A fascist, belligerent regime is not justifiable by any past, no matter how cruel and injust it has been. A rotten childhood does not justify being an asshole.
At the same time, I lament my own belated reaction: why is it that Israel may kill thousands of semi-dark-skinned Achmeds and Muhammeds without anyone raising a brow, but when a couple of Swedish authors are drawn physically into the firing line, the world gets on its feet?
It’s sickening.
Update: When news of the cultural boycott was publicized on …
Posted in computers, linux, politics, religion, software on 22 Feb 2010
“I’m not God — I’m just a saint.”
Richard M. Stallman
The Phoenix > News Features > Tilting at Windows
Richard M. Stallman is a legendary figure without whom the world would have looked very different, and one of those few whose initials — RMS — is a concept, on a par with JFK and LBJ.
Within certain circles, that is. Outside of those circles, most people have never heard of him.
Back in the 70s he was a super-hacker at MIT, deeply involved in and committed to the creative movement where program code was shared freely, making everyone involved better coders thanks to the community.
In the 80s, when the commercial potential in computers and software started to rear …
Posted in Lessons on 27 Jan 2010
This lesson is all theory, but it’s theory that you’re going to have use for more often than any other theory item so far. It answers two questions: “What the … does F#m9-5 and E+ mean?”, and “I made up this great chord, but now I want to write it down before I forget it. But what do I call it?”
You could of course call it Gerald, or write down the fingering, but if you want a piano player to know what you mean you might as well give it the correct name.
What’s (in) a chord?
So far, we’ve treated a chord mainly as a way to place the fingers on the fretboard, with some consideration given to the most important …
Posted in Lessons on 26 Jan 2010
Today’s lesson will pick up from where the previous ended and take it further in two directions. And be warned: this lesson is probably the most advanced lesson in the whole series. As one commenter wrote, these songs are not easy to play. They demonstrate some more advanced things you can do with fingerpicking once you have a grasp of the basic technique.
The techniques we have been using so far are mostly just a more elaborate way to play the chords in a tune, but in principle, they might as well be strummed. Where fingerpicking shines, however, is in the ability to pick out melodies and little riffs.
To this end, there are three techniques that come in handy, and one …
Posted in Lessons, guitar, music on 20 Jan 2010
Here’s a little something for those who need to chill out to some good music between lessons:
He’s doing exactly the right thing: no matter if you have to pick your nose, scratch your butt or do some facial gymnastics: keep the flow!
Posted in Lessons on 18 Jan 2010
So far, we’ve been playing as if you only had one finger on the right hand (or two, like Bruce Langhorne). If plain strumming — whether with a plectrum or one of the fingers — is guitar playing’s equivalent to the pathetic one-button Mac mouse, fingerpicking is more like an advanced gaming mouse, or the vim editor, where the whole keyboard is available as “buttons”.
Sure enough — you may get along fine with one button most of the time, but if God had intended us to strum, he wouldn’t have given us five fingers, now, would he? Anyway: we have them — it’s stupid not to be able to use them.
A note on fingers and nails
Before we …
Posted in Lessons, announcements on 14 Jan 2010
Just a quick note to say that I haven’t abandoned the lessons series, I’ve just been having a Christmas and a headache.
What remains are: Two days of fingerpicking glory, one more chord lesson covering the thousands of chords remaining; a brief look into open tunings (with an obvious focus on Blood on the Tracks); a batch of licks and tricks; and a final lesson summing up some things that might be worth a word or two in addition to what has already been said — tuning, chord family characters, etc.