Is it Time to Boycott San Francisco?

The world has always been full of sick and disturbed people. When a state begins to protect and financially support the very people who undermine it, however, the lines of sanity become even more blurred. Clearly, something is wrong when major American corporations such as Miller support the infamous (and under-stated in name) "Folsom Street Fair" in San Francisco.

For those not aware of the content of the fair, it is a sexually explicit gender-bending event, giving corporate sponsorship to public displays that would normally (and rightfully) put a person behind bars. Participants in the "fair" include numerous homosexual pornography outlets, S&M groups, and the infamous "Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence," an anti-Christian group who will be celebrating a mock last-supper as graphically portrayed in the Folsolm Street Fair poster for this year.

This is not a bout of prudery or exaggeration on my part... if you are unfamiliar with the fair, you can look at fair pictures posted on the National Catholic League website. (Warning: graphic content.) These are the very same images that the League is sending to the corporate sponsors of the event, in hopes of persuading them to withdraw their funding.

http://www.catholicleague.org/release.php?id=1335

Bill Donohue and the Catholic League are organizing a boycott of the festival and the sponsors involved, a boycott being supported by religious organizations of all stripes.

The mocking of a peaceful religion is a cowardly act. For my part, I would like to urge the "Sisters" and their supporters to mock the prophet of Islam next time, just to see the kind of reaction it would bring about. How about placing a picture of Mohamed on their fair posters? Considering their willingness to mock religious belief, and the pronounced anti-homosexual stance of the Muslim world, shouldn't a "courageous" and "liberated" event like to Folsom Fair take equal measure of their foes?

You can't make this stuff up

The famous Roman cynic Petronius in Sienkiewicz's novel "Quo Vadis," upon being questioned for his cynical attitude, replied: "life is ridiculous, and so I laugh."

Life is truly absurd at times, and I often wonder whether things are really getting worse, or the media getting more effective at keeping track of human ludicracy. Take a sampling of the headlines from the past two weeks... (note: these are all real. You can look them up.)

--Woman attacked with sword in argument over puppy.

--CNN reports that "a recent study proves that men prefer women who are "hot." (gee, ya think?)

--Texas court of appeals frees man convicted of beheading his own three children, over "disputed evidence" introduced in his original trial.

--Three diamonds to be created using the carbon from Beethoven's hair.

--Comedian Kathy Griffin tells Jesus to "suck it" after accepting ward. Claims that
her "trophy is her God now."

--German town ditches traffic lights to improve road safety.

--Atheist author Richard Dawkins claims that religion is "child abuse," further
comparing Moses to Hitler and calling the New Testament a "sado-masochistic doctrine."

--Terrorists vow to behead "prostitute" Britney Spears.

--Then, of course, there is the wonderful moment where the "music" business finally caught on to the fact that Britney Spears... well, sucks. Here's hoping they realize that most of them fall into the very same category of un-talent as well.

--Falling Excrement Prompts Court Order for Tree-Sitters

--Mugger picks on blind Judo champ

and, in our most misleading news story of the week:
--"Birth control pill may cut cancer risk." Were this an article in "The Onion," it would likely continue: "neglecting to read the rest of the article, millions of women accosted pharmacy counters around the nation." --> Read the article further, and you will find that the cut is minimal (around 1%) and applying to women who took the pill for a short time. Women who took the pill for over 8 years (as many do) actually had an increased risk. So there you go. Again.

***
Sometimes funny, sometimes tragic, often fond of misinformation, this is the world we live in. It is little wonder that so many people build their religious, philosophical, and political viewpoints on skewed perspectives and half truths (which are also full lies.)

I now understand why Petronius liked to laugh as he did.

And thanks to the miracle of media technology, there is now no shortage of ridiculous headlines to make us feel better (or worse) about ourselves.

Form in Music

I'm starting to understand why so many composers have turned to artificial methods of material generation and predefined forms: Taking all the ingredients of a new composition and congealing them into a tasty and well-balanced stew is truly a challenge of epic proportions.

Listening to my recent works amongst well-worn musical sages this summer has revealed new things to me. Older composers, even if they lack in good ideas, seem to often have their proportions just "right." When I hear some of my pieces, I receive great satisfaction from them. Others bring frustration, however, as I can't get over litte things being just...not...right. Slightly too long here, slightly too short there, a bit too much major-triad harmony here... yet it all seemed "right" at the time. What is a well-intentioned composer to do?

My form issues are further complicated by my view on modern music aesthetics: I see no reason why serial harmony can't be mixed with Chopin-esque romantic gestures and the intensity of aleatoric music a-la Penderecki. There's no good reason not to attempt it -- but doing it well remains the major question in my artistic search.

In the end, I must believe that form in authentic art is based more on a natural sense of proportion more than any predefined formula. Hindsight is generally 20/20, and the trick seems to reside in getting things "just right" in the moment, and not upon a 30th re-listening of the recording. I can't seem to revise works after they've ripened, if only because that individual inspiration is no longer present. I can only hope to get better at this aspect of my craft as time moves on... and hopefully before I'm in my 50's.