Friday in Santa Fe

02010-03-12 | Uncategorized | 1 comment

Jon and Robby will come by at 10:00 to record percussion on two or three songs. I have rough mixes of every song – there are eleven – and am listening on every pair of headphones and loudspeakers I have.
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Record Labels: Change or Die – record labels – Gizmodo
In any case, 360 deals and general diversification are what big labels such as EMI are looking to move into, according to Billboard’s Glenn Peoples. “They’re definitely diversifying and they’re actually getting into agencies, artist management, concert promotion. There’s really no area that the four majors are not pursuing right now.”

I said that ten years ago. I think my words were somewhere along this line: When there is no need for manufacturing and distribution, record companies will become media-management companies. They will manage every aspect of an artist’s career.
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European Parliament Rips Global IP Accord | Wired.com
The European Parliament delivered a political blow to Hollywood and the Obama administration, voting Wednesday 663 to 13 in opposition to a proposed and secret intellectual property agreement being negotiated by the European Union, United States and a handful of others.

And:

The leaks underscored that European officials were concerned about the ever-changing pact and were unhappy that the United States’ “overarching objective” was to “facilitate the continued development of industry.” European drafters had said the document needed to “mention culture and individual creators and not only industry.”

The article ends with this:

For its part, the Obama administration, which has five former Recording Industry Association of America lawyers in the Justice Department, has declared ACTA negotiations a national security secret and has refused to publicly divulge the treaty’s contents.

Copyright must be looked at from a cultural perspective, or the cultural perspective must at least be included – rather than making copyright a slave to industry. To make these copyright negotiations in secret is terrible. It’s a kick in the belly of culture. I am glad the Europeans look to spoil this treaty, even though I would probably stand to earn more money if the treaty were to be enacted.
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Music in a steril environment. Actually, the music and the visual aspects of this video match very well. Not my cup of tea, but cute.

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Long Now Locations
Locations, and objects that exemplify long-term thinking and planning. Created in conjunction with the Long Now Foundation.

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As you know, shibumi has to do with great refinement underlying commonplace appearances. It is a statement so correct that it does not have to be bold, so poignant it does not have to be pretty, so true it doesnot have to be real. Shibumi is understanding, rather than knowledge. Eloquent silence. In demeanor, it is modesty without prudency. In art, where the spirit of shibumi takes the form of sabi, it is elegant simplicity, articulate brevity. In philosophy, where shibumi emerges as wabi, it is spiritual tranquility that is not passive; it is being without tha angst of becoming.

And…

“How does one achieve this Shibumi, sir?”
“One does not achieve it, one… discovers it. And only a few men of infinite refinement ever do that.”
“Meaning that one must learn a great deal to arrive at shibumi?”
“Meaning, rather, that one must pass through knowledge and arrive at simplicity.”

From the book Shibumi. I first read this book when I was in my early twenties, and am reading it again now. And, it’s not a philosophy book or an art book. Here is what amazon.com lists:

“One hell of a pleasure to read.” —Washington Post
“It’s hard to imagine a more nearly perfect spy story.” —Milwaukee Journal

Product Description:

Nicholai Hel is the world’s most wanted man. Born in Shanghai during the chaos of World War I, he is the son of an aristocratic Russian mother and a mysterious German father and is the protégé of a Japanese Go master. Hel survived the destruction of Hiroshima to emerge as the world’s most artful lover and its most accomplished—and well-paid—assassin. Hel is a genius, a mystic, and a master of language and culture, and his secret is his determination to attain a rare kind of personal excellence, a state of effortless perfection known only as shibumi.

You can see why I found this book irresistible in my early twenties. And, having re-read it a few times over the years, I have to say I still do like the book. Somebody in Hollywood has been holding the movie rights for more than two decades, I was told.

Past posts about wabi-sabi: here, here, here, and here.

1 Comment

  1. Brenda

    Enjoyed the travels of Long Now Locations, and the wonder of wealth of the people that actually have the opportunity to travel to these magnificent masterpieces and also of the creative minds and endurance ,beyond my imagination, of the people that toiled in the past to make it happen. Wow! Life is so wonderfully amazing. :)

    Reply

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