Interim diversion (Nude)

Big Ideas (don't get any) from James Houston on Vimeo.

Musical Signatures

Here are the signatures of several (though by no means an exhaustive list of) great classical composers, presented in reverse chronological order. Please comment with omissions and I will try to add any requests to this collection.

• 
  John Cage
  
• 
  George Gershwin
  
• 
  Sergei Prokofiev
  
• 
  Igor Stravinsky
  
• 
  Béla Bartók
  
• 
  Maurice Ravel
  
• 
  Gustav Holst
  
• 
  Arnold Schoenberg
  
• 
  Sergei Rachmaninoff
  
• 
  Erik Satie
  
• 
  Jean Sibelius
  
• 
  Richard Strauss
  
• 
  Claude Debussy
  
• 
  Gustav Mahler
  
• 
  Pyotr Tchaikovsky
  
• 
  Johannes Brahms
  
• 
  Richard Wagner
  


• 
  Franz Liszt
  
• 
  Robert Schumann
  
• 
  Frédéric Chopin
  
• 
  Hector Berlioz
  
• 
  Ludwig van Beethoven
  
• 
  Wolfgang Mozart
  
• 
  Joseph Haydn
  
• 
  George Handel
  
• 
  J. S. Bach
  
• 
  Antonio Vivaldi
  
• 
  Johann Pachelbel
  

Spiders' Legs

A person steps into the shower, adjusts the shower curtain. A large spider is seen to scramble in every direction away from the falling water. The person's face displays mild surprise at the spider's appearance. While performing routine activities of the shower, the person uses one big toe to deflate air bubbles in the clear bath mat. The toe deflates bubbles only in places where black specks, the decaying corpses of previously deceased spiders, can be clearly seen. The person's face registers mild irony as the now half-dead spider finds a small opening through which to crawl under the bath mat. As water impedes the spider's progress on all sides, the person uses the toe to help the spider through the rubber doorway. These words are spoken: "There's no hope for you."

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An alternate title for this post:
ungeheuren Ungeziefer

For some reason, the tall, empty room where [Gregor Samsa] was forced to remain made him feel uneasy as he lay there flat on the floor, even though he had been living in it for five years. Hardly aware of what he was doing other than a slight feeling of shame, he hurried under the couch. It pressed down on his back a little, and he was no longer able to lift his head, but he nonetheless felt immediately at ease and his only regret was that his body was too broad to get it all underneath.

*****

Hiding places there are innumerable, escape is only one, but possibilities for escape, again, are as many as hiding places.

---

How blest am I
In my just censure! in my true opinion!
Alack, for lesser knowledge! how accurs'd
In being so blest! There may be in the cup
A spider steep'd, and one may drink; depart,
And yet partake no venom (for his knowledge
Is not infected), but if one present
Th' abhorr'd ingredient to his eye, make known
How he hath drunk, he cracks his gorge, his sides,
With violent hefts. I have drunk, and seen the spider.
(The Winter's Tale, II.i.36-45)

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For more on this topic, see Story from North America by Kristen Lepore and Garrett Davis.

(Kristen Lepore's other films are available for viewing on her website.)

Baby

The Brazilian band Os Mutantes created two versions of their song "Baby," one in Portuguese in 1968 and the other in English in 1971. Until today, I always assumed that the English version was a close translation of the Portuguese, just slightly different stylistically. Reading the lyrics to the English version alongside a translation of the Portuguese version (from the Luaka Bop website) gives a different impression:

Baby (1971) click here to listen on YouTube You know, you must take a new look at the new land The swimming pool and the teeth of your friend The dirt in my hand You know, you must take a look at me Baby, baby I know that’s the way You know, you must try the new ice-cream flavor Do me a favor, look at me closer Join us and go far And hear the new sound of my bossa nova Baby, baby It’s been a long time You know, it’s time now to learn Portuguese It’s time now to learn what I know And what I don’t know I know, with me everything is fine It’s time now to make up your mind We live in the biggest city of South America Look here, read what I wrote on my shirt: Baby, baby I love you

Baby (1968), translated click here to listen on YouTube You need to learn of swimming pools Of margarine, of Caroline, of gasoline You need to learn of me Baby, Baby I know you do You need to eat an ice cream cone At the corner diner, to hang out with us To see me up close To hear Roberto Carlos’ new song Baby, baby It’s been so long You need to learn English And learn what I know And what I don’t know With me, skies are blue With you all is cool We live in the best city In South America You need to... you need to... I don’t know, read it on my shirt Baby, baby I love you

Although I have no idea how this song comes across in Portuguese, in English the 1968 version is distinctly more emotional, more adolescent. The 1971 version sounds surreal and whimsical, the 1968 version more exasperated and simple. The tiny, tiny difference between "We live in the biggest city of South America" and "We live in the best city in South America" is a perfect example. Living in the biggest city in South America is chance, a randomish factoid, but living in the best city is full of possibilities, suggests a world or a life that's fresh and almost perfect. (For more thoughts on this song, see the interesting discussion in the comments of this post.)

Here is the English translation (from notbored.org) of the lyrics to "Panis et Circenses," one of my favorite Mutantes songs, and an example (in my opinion) of the band's more political side. Click here to watch a video of the band performing this song (YouTube).

I wanted to sing a song illuminated by the sun
I raised the sails to the wind
I freed the tigers and the lions in the yard
But the people in the dining hall
Are busy being born and dying

I demanded that a dagger of pure luminous steel be made
To kill my love and I killed her
At five o'clock on Central Avenue
But the people in the dining hall
Are busy being born and dying

I demanded that leaves of dreams be planted in the Garden of the Sun
The leaves know how to seek the sun
And the roots seek, seek
But the people in the dining hall
These people in the dining hall
But the people in the dining hall
Are busy being born and dying

Anarchist folksongs

Click here to listen to "Das Zelt" by the Jeans Team (YouTube)

Mach Dich auf In die Welt In ein andres Land Wo's Dir gefällt Bis zum Rand Und übers Meer Dich hält Hier nichts mehr Ref: Kein Gott Kein Staat Keine Arbeit Kein Geld Aus dem Haufen Dieser Stadt Musst Du raus Und Du wirst sehn Du wirst Dich verändern In all diesen Ländern Ref: Kein Gott Kein Staat Keine Arbeit Kein Geld Mein zu Hause Ist die Welt Mein zu Hause Ist die Welt Das Himmelszelt Ist Dein Dach Mit all den Lichtern Die Dich leiten Von den Sternen Die Dich begleiten Kannst Du lernen Klar zu sehn Ref: Kein Gott Kein Staat Keine Arbeit Kein Geld Mein zu Hause Ist die Welt Mein zu Hause Ist die Welt

(My amateur translation) Move away Into the world To another land That you like Up to the edge And across the sea Nothing more Holds you here No god No country No work No money Out of the ruins (?) Of this city You must go And you will see You will change In all these lands No god ... My home Is the world The tent of the sky Is your roof With all the lights Which lead you From the stars Which follow you You can learn To see clearly