10 Great 90's Albums

10 Great 90's Albums!

In no particular order, with no particular agenda. Just a list of 10 of my favourite albums from the 1990's.

1. Oasis - (What's the Story) Morning Glory?
   
2. Moby - Play
   
3. Rage Against The Machine - Rage Against the Machine
   
4. Travis - The Man Who
5. Radiohead - O.K Computer
6. Nirvana - Nevermind
7. The Verve - Urban Hymns
8. R.E.M. - Automatic for the People
9. Goo Goo Dolls - Dizzy up the Girl
10. The Prodigy - The Fat of the Land

And that's that. A short list of some albums from the 90's that I like. Unfortunately it took me a rather long time but hey ho. I hope you enjoy them!

This Economy Thing

Bank of England anticipates Spring 2010 end to Economy Woes

I have personally remained thoroughly apathetic about the whole economic downturn of the last couple of years. Sure, people have lost jobs, goods have been produced for markets that don't want them or can't afford them and global currencies have fluctuated like never before, but it could never have been all doom and gloom. The global economy simply doesn't function like that. Especially since the abandonment of the gold standard. The fiat system, essentially based on metaphysical IOU's, greatly reduces the value of money as well as its strength as a method of payment. It is no longer based on the value of, well anything except itself really, it is simply a stream of numbers flying about some bizarre ether.

Cash money and, increasingly, electronic fund transfers, now serve simply as a nominal markers of value. Maybe this caused the collapse of the US stock market that precipitated this current crisis. Perhaps, as I suspect, it is simply a natural, though unfortunate, side effect of a free market economy, in the same way that the Wall Street Crash was a natural downturn in the global economy. Obviously there were other factors at work both in 1929 and 2008 (interestingly, it was probably an after effect of war), but the outcome has been similar.

The point of all this, acknowledging that the world is in recession, something which, had it been acknowledged sooner, might have hastened its onset and thus its passing, rather than dragging it out and hiding it behind the euphemistic "Credit Crunch" moniker, is that it will inevitably end. It is not for the banks or governments of the world to fix. Free market economies, on the present scale, are a product of the industrial revolutions of the late nineteenth and late twentieth centuries. These are phenomenons which are still not fully understood. The implications of the first industrial revolution are being relived in the Green movement, as humans realise the impact their actions of the last century of burning. The ramifications of the second industrial revolution are being played out at 'tech shows' across the globe.

The Bank of England's announcement that the recession will be over by Spring of next year shouldn't be a surprise. Instead, it should be obvious. Anyone with a sense of history would be able to see that the world went from its darkest days in 1929 to mass slaughter, and the development of ultra-expensive, and essentially useless, weapons in just ten years. With modern technology, and Moore's Law, this turn around will be far swifter. Hopefully it won't be to the same end. Luckily, those "essentially useless weapons" play an important role here.

In acknowledging that last point, and in light of what I wrote yesterday, perhaps there is a cautionary nature to the current recession. After all, consider Nazi Germany. It rose from a crippled mess, to a force which could have succeeded in subjugating, if not the world, at least vast swathes of Western and Eastern Europe and tracts of Russian Steppes. Maybe it is worth engaging North Korea. She does possess some powerful "allies" in South East Asia and the Middle East.

I digress, for my point is not to draw comparisons between 1929 and 2008, aside from the inevitable recovery. The world would eventually collapse on itself without its interlinked economy. Of course, it's easy to say things like that, much harder to let them happen. But, I think that, like anything that goes wrong but will eventually recover, it's going to get worse before it gets better. But it will get better. I think that placing arbitrary signposts is a bad idea, as it will serve to further disappoint if it is not reached.

How Do You Solve A Problem Like Korea?

What is to be done with North Korea?

The actions of the North Korean government over the past few days, beginning with the launch of a rocket, ostensibly as a communications satellite, and ending with yesterday's threats to withdraw from the Six Party Talks, the fragile backbone of what stability there is in South East Asia, have been predictably unpredictable. And with that epic sentence over with, let's discuss.

The rocket fired from Musudan-ri was hailed as a success by the North Koreans, and a failure by the American government. Inevitable, perhaps. Each side has their own propaganda. Each side wants to paint their own picture.

While the success of this launch may be debated, its ramifications are more clear cut. But they seem archaic. Born of Cold War-style mistrust, miscommunication and irrational fears. One of the key features of the Cold War, from a now distant standpoint was the amount of time spent, by both sides, living in unnecessary fear. Events like Able-Archer and the shooting down of KAL007 are two prime examples of crises that could have been averted with effective communication. Perhaps the closest the world ever came to nuclear war, the Cuban Missile Crisis, was essentially a miscommunication, based on unwarranted mistrust.

The Americans' heavy-handed approach to Communism was to blame for much of the course of the Cold War. Although, as a caveat, the Soviet Union did little to allay any fears the US government may have had. This relates closely to the present day problems within North Korea. It is clear that the US still has a latent "fear" of extreme left wing politics. Perhaps this is warranted, but perhaps it shouldn't be a fear that blinds, but a fear that garners respect and intrigue.

Is it not time that we learned to look past the colour of a flag, and allowed North Korea to come to the table, economically and politically? The sanctions on that country seem unnecessary. Perhaps a more open dialogue on the side of the UN and the US might engender trust from the Pyongyang, and possibly bring a peaceful and beneficial end to these seemingly petulant hostilities.

Random News Update

I feel like I haven't written anything in days. That is possibly because that is indeed the case, but this is a little something. I was going to record some new songs that I have written today, but I don't have a mic lead here. It was a little strange to discover that. So I have to wait until my parents can possibly find one. Then I will be able to record stuff. I've written quite a few songs lately. It'll be good to hear them, layered up, Phil Spector Style!

Other than that, nothing much is going down. I'm back in Swansea, for the last seven weeks in this house. Then off to summer camp. Pretty excited about that. I mean, 9 weeks hanging out with a bunch of kids, kayaking, camping, all kinds of things! It's pretty exciting. Then I get to start my dissertation. I'm pretty stoked about my whole life right now. I love every inch of it, with all of my heart. It's a wonderful feeling. You should try it some day. -- End irritating smugness --

The End.

Twitter and the Collective Brain

I'm still relatively new to this Web 2.0 malarkey, but something strikes me as very encouraging. The notion of a shared human brain, a shared consciousness. An article in the New York Times today illuminates the power of Twitter to connect the people of the world. With the growth of mobile, internet-enabled, devices allowing people to "Tweet" from everywhere and anywhere, it is possible to take a "collective brain" reading.

Ideas like Jonathan Harris' http://www.wefeelfine.org/ which collects human "feelings" from blogs. It uses a simple search function which trawls the internet looking for the two words "I feel" and then categorizes the sentences in which these words are contained. It allows a user to search different feelings. As Harris puts it in a talk at TED, "You can search for women, who feel addicted, in their 20's, when it was cloudy, in Bangladesh."

Indeed, there is now a site called twistori.com which does a similar thing to wefeelfine, with Tweets. The internet is a truly fascinating place and I think that there is a lot more that can and will be done with it in future.

Much maligned, Wikipedia remains a powerful and effective fact pool - somewhere to start research - how many times have you been told, "Never cite Wikipedia". That shouldn't stop you using it. It can be a great place to go from, just check the references at the bottom of the page for books to use!

I feel that the internet is yet to be truly realized as a tool for human expression and that the next five to ten years of development will be very interesting indeed!

Has Salazar Seen Sense?

Wind power has long been a viable, if controversial, source of renewable energy. The facts that have come to light recently, regarding the state of the US approach to generating energy from its vast “wind reserves” along its two coastlines, are astonishing. Ken Salazar’s revelatory announcement that the winds along these coastlines could more than provide for the whole of the “lower 48 states”, coupled with the fact that most of the United States' data on oil and gas reserves in the Atlantic are 25 years out of date are both unsettling and encouraging. It suggests that new research may be funded, and that possibly this research will be focused in a greener direction.

There has been much talk in recent years of harnessing the geothermal power harbored under Alaska. However, this plan is fraught with other environmental implications, mainly disruption of wilderness and habitats. More palatable is the use of the winds of the mid-West and Western states. 21 million acres of public land in the 11 western states are earmarked for wind power. Solar power also featured in Salazar’s announcements. He pointed out the solar potential of almost 30 million acres in the southwest. These huge numbers, as incomprehensible as those bandied about regarding the current recession, seem encouraging. It remains to be seen how seriously Salazar is taken and how "practical" the Department of the Interior's plans are deemed.

This talk is very positive and encouraging. The realization and announcement that the United States’ energy demands could be met by her coastal wind power "reserves", thus removing the dependency on the world’s oil, the US currently consumes 25% of the world’s oil. This represents what Salazar established as a threefold threat to US security. “Our dependence on foreign oil is a national security problem, an environmental security problem, and an economic security problem.” (DOI statement) To remove itself from this position, a position of dependence on nations with whom it has complex political relationships, would be advantageous on two levels. It will allow greater objectivity in her dealings with other nations, as well as cutting the economic dependency ties.

Of course these positive noises about renewable energy could have an impact on other members of the G8 and G20 groups. If the US could become an entirely “sustainable” nation, it would set an incredible precedent for other of the world’s richest nations, so far reticent to develop green energy, to move more of their thinking to sustainability.

It is not the obligation of the US to lead the way. There are countries who could set a standard. But to see this from the world’s greatest economy, and especially such an apparent sea-change from the Bush Administration's isolationist, anti-Kyoto thinking, should serve to encourage other nations to follow suit.

In Britain, there is a movement to harness her vast wind “reserves”. There are plans for 11,000 megawatts of wind turbines to be constructed off the British coast currently under planning consideration that are being hindered by problems of connecting these generators to the grid.

Salazar’s announcements are very encouraging. Cynicism has no place in the resolution of the energy crisis and the environmental pressures of fossil fuels and atomic energy. If what Ken Salazar is suggesting is put into action, big things could happen in the world. The US could remove itself as a customer of the Middle East and perhaps deal more objectively with the complex political situations which reside there.

He made some brave and sweeping statements and we must wait and see, unfortunately, as with so much, these things will take time. But it is possible that the “moon-shot on [American] energy independence” is finally in its nascent stages. There are very positive noises emanating from the department of the interior.

That’s not to suggest that green energy will save the world, but perhaps it’s a step in the right direction.

Here’s hoping!

Playing Guitar

As a metaphor for life?

Maybe.

But then, anything can really be a metaphor for life, really. I was struck for instance by how accurate a metaphor for life that skiing is. You're learning all the time. Every experience is different. Sometimes it's pretty easy to figure something out. Sometimes it's tough and you fall over. But it doesn't really hurt. Unless it does, and then you learn from that. But you can never really go back to something again. You can do the same run again, but you'll never go over the same patch of snow again.

Playing music is a bit like that. It's instant and ethereal. It exists only for the split second that your mind is processing it. A bit like life. Life exists only for the split second you are processing it, the moment that you are living in. It is only this moment that you have any control over, and it is only this moment that can have any impact on your future. Only by conducting yourself correctly in the present can you manifest the future that you desire.

Key changes represent the big deals, the big events that come along and change you. A major injury. The end of a relationship. Moving house/town/school. Reading a book/hearing music/seeing a film which truly touches you. These big events, like key changes, take a second or two to adjust to, but usually things work out for the best.

Chord changes and resolutions, sometimes they work, sometimes they don't. They are similar to harmonies. Sometimes harmonising can be difficult, sometimes it's easy. Sometimes it just doesn't work, sometimes it blows you away. But you deal with it in the instant that it occurs. And then it's gone, and you're on to the next harmony, the next line, the next chord. You can analyse it after the fact and maybe make positive changes, but in the instant, all you can do is go with it.

Music, like everything in life, is a bit like life itself. You learn something, you make a mistake, you learn from that mistake. Sometimes you get to revisit mistakes, sometimes, you can use the lessons learned making one mistake, to stop you making the same mistake.

One message to take from this: Live in the moment. It makes so many things so much easier!