“Sometimes I go out and hear people talk about irrelevant things and then I tell myself this is why I don’t go out” – Keanu Reeves
“You’ll never stumble upon the unexpected if you only stick to the familiar”
- Ed Catmull (author of Creativity, Inc.)
A few podcasts to recommend
Chuck’s mind and his tales are fascinating to listen to.
And speaking of fascinating minds. I am currently reading “Raised in Captivity” by Chuck Klosterman
https://www.goodlifeproject.com/podcast/artists-way-julia-cameron/
I am still working through her book The Artist’s Way
https://www.goodlifeproject.com/podcast/austin-kleon/
His books I use as reminders to keep going with my creative work
Another habit I am trying to use with more frequency in my life is music. I am trying to avoid as much as possible news outlets. It does not matter which political side you are on. They are all noise without any pragmatic actionable desire. Because if you turn them off, they lose advertisement revenue. And you being “incited” keeps you watching.
Plus, the Human Soul was not designed to debate politics 24/7.
Sound bites and clichés are not deep thoughts.
So, I have been trying to add more times of music. And I am trying to explore different artists. I like Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, AC/DC, Rush, Metallica, Queen, Nirvana but the local radio stations only play the same 3-4 songs by them. And repeat. Over and over.
My message to radio programmers. Get some backbone.
I recently watched Wacken(it was streaming on Amazon Prime) about the yearly German heavy metal festival. I have also been doing a search for heavy metal bands from different countries and cultures. I am very curious how the music is interpreted.
And they have a streaming music site https://www.wackenradio.com/
I just wish the wi-fi at work was more consistent.
I try to avoid listening to any talk radio/ news while I am commuting to work in the morning. One of the local college radio stations seem to have finally invested in a stronger signal. https://wbny.buffalostate.edu/
I am not trying to go back and relive the youth of my college days. And listen to what is known as Alternative Music. (Which is one the most generic descriptions for music) It is because they are playing music without constant chatter and it is different from the other corporate music stations. When I was a teenager at the time there was a weekly 3-4-hour heavy metal show on this station. And that where I heard for the first time Metallica, Anthrax, Megadeth, Slayer, Metal Church, Fates Warning etc. But once college music aka alternative music went mainstream then the heavy metal got pushed out.
Speaking of alternative music. I was joking with a friend and I made a reply/joke referring to the song “What’s the Frequency, Kenneth?” by R.E.M. It is a song that was influenced by the October 1986 attack on news reporter Dan Rather in which he was attacked by a stranger who kept yelling at him “Kenneth, what is the frequency?” R.E.M.’s singer Michael Stipe said, “It was the premier unsolved American surrealist act of the 20th century. It is a misunderstanding that was scarily random, media-hyped and just plain bizarre”
This case would not be solved until 1997.
But this song and the references sent me into Rabbit Hole of web searches. It just got me into doing some research and making notes. And I have way too many links about it to share. I am not sure what the story is in all of it. I have to write every day and whatever gets that muscle going. So be it. I cannot edit and shape a series of blank notepad pages.
And I have been having a return to watching The X-Files, The Twilight Zone and The Alfred Hitchcock Show. (And have yet to go into Black Mirror) I am not interested in trying to figure out “conspiracy” rather I am more intrigued by “mystery” in the life that surrounds this world. And this is another reason why I feel at odds with the state of politics in this country. Because to both sides it is all “conspiracy at the hands of the other side.”
But for me.
I just have to continue on with my curiosities, explorations, inquiries and creative outputs.
Skin and Bruises 