Coffee Geek Speaks

Dave Winer of RSS fame, had this info on his travelling blog. It's from a guy in Gnashville, who works for a local coffee roaster, and he talks about why Starbucks coffee is not as strong as a lot of indie coffee shops. Has to do with the need for consistency, so that if you go into a Starbucks in Philadelphia, and then in London, the coffee tastes the same. It's the 'MacDonalds syndrome', as their fries taste the same no matter where you are.

Kerouac's Belief and Technique for Modern Prose

One of my early inspirations, who was such a free spirit, and a bit of a lost soul. If you ever read 'On The Road', then you would know what I'm talking about. The book was written on a continuous roll of paper over a two or three week period, while on speed I believe, and it's all about 'Dean Moriarity', who was Jack Cassady. He was something else, as was Jack Kerouac. The Beat goes on....


Kerouac's Belief and Technique for Modern Prose

A New Cult for the Info Age

I've just ordered the book. Looks like a system that might just work for me. I'm like most everyone else, overrun by paper and stuff. I just pile them in a box, and maybe someday I'll get to dealing with them.

This system has a simple method for dealing with all this stuff of our lives. I'll keep you posted on how I get on.




Wired News: GTD: A New Cult for the Info Age

The little blank book is a cult hit

I just bought a couple of these, and am really liking the look and feel of them. I like the idea of being able to write in longhand, as opposed to typing at the computer. The act of writing in longhand is much more personal and tactile, and also has something of the old school about it.



The little blank book is a cult hit

The Long Tail: New markets and a New Way of thinking

The editor of Wired magazine wrote a piece on the new way that music, books and dvds were being sold by the new etailers such as Netflix, Amazon and Apple's iTunes. He talks of the traditional bricks and mortar retailer carrying about 7,500 cds or books, and how an etailer has access to hundreds of thousands of titles.

Basically the traditional publisher of material needs to sell a certain minimum number of books in a geographical region in order to justify taking up shelve space with the product. In the world of etailing, small numbers are just as profitable as a large selling product, as shelf space is inifinite, thus the long tail.

It's a fascinating take on what is changing in retailing, and how our lives will be affected by it, all thanks to our access to technology. Pity the Third World countries, who will be left behind, as usual, where just to get food on the table is a struggle. The Western countries have a lot to answer for.

The Long Tail: FAQ

Guruphiliac - Great for the skeptic in me

An interesting blog here. Seems that they take a humorous look at the guru business. Many are 'chosen', but few should be followed. I'm not into the 'guru hugging' thing, and this blog takes a similar dispassionate look at various spiritual leaders.

I once went and stayed down on The Farm in Tennessee in the late 70's, and although I found Steven Gaskin mesmerizing, I didn't feel the need to worship or hang on his every word. As mentioned before True Believers have certain characteristics that set them apart from their fellow humans.

Anyway, check it out if you want an interesting look at what gurus are up to. And as Dylan said "don't trust leaders, follow parking meters."

The Cluetrain Manifesto

I've come really late to the party, and just found this link. The manifesto sums up a lot of what's right and wrong with the internet. Things are changing so fast, that traditional corporates just don't get it soon enough.

Even in the last election, Howard Dean got it, and John Kerry did not. George Bush's neocons got it and he won the conversation, and thus the election.

Required reading: The Cluetrain Manifesto: entire book can be read on-line

RIP Richard Whitely

Guardian Unlimited: Culture Vulture

I get two of my favourites in at the same time. I love the Guardian newspaper, for it's slightly left of center take on most everything, and before the spellchecker, it's ubiquitous spelling errors that permeated it's editions.

Richard Whitley was so utterly 'Monty Pythonesque' that he was cool. The very low tech program Countdown has run for 23 years on Channel 4 television, and in fact was the first program shown on the new network. I was living in England during the 80's and 90's, so as a consultant working for myself, I did spend a fair amount of time while at my computer, watching this show. How different from our money grubbing, screaming, shouting brain dead quiz shows here in the USA.

Richard Whiteley was one of a kind, and will be missed by pensioners, uni students, shift workers and anyone else priviledged to watch him on this program.

RIP

Technology - The Lesson in Jack Kilby's Life

I'm using a computer now with integrated circuits. I drive my car, use my cell phone, play a cd or dvd, and any number of other activities, and I will be using integrated circuits. This man started a revolution, that is still going on today.

By all accounts he was a modest man, and deserves all the attention that we can give him in his passing. Rest In Peace.

Technology - The Lesson in Jack Kilby's Life - FORTUNE - Page

Bloomsday Today

Never got to go to this when I was living in England. Love Dublin, and love Joyce. Looks like lots of other people have claimed him as well.



James Joyce Centre - Dublin Ireland

Duane Allman's Final Resting Place - Macon

Duane Allman's Final Resting Place - Macon
Originally uploaded by arlo forbes.

Duane Allman's grave

Duane Allman's grave
Originally uploaded by louster.

Guitar hero. Died too young. My room mate, Bob Young lived down the road from him, when they met at age 16. Seriously gifted. Loved the blues. Influenced a whole generation of slide players. One word: Soul.

Fifth Annual Weblog Awards

Webby Awards are given to the best sites as voted on by readers, in several categories. Check them out as it's a good way to find what others think are good links. Then you can start your serpendicious journey.


> Fifth Annual Weblog Awards

The Nashville Nobody Knows

Candice Knows Nashville

It's not just country music

It's great that someone in the music biz is talking to some of the talented people who live in Nashville, Just scratch below the surface of the 'cowboy hat wearing' image of the town, and you'll find a fairly urbane and progressive undercurrent. Check this blog out. You'll begin to see Nashville in a different light.

Lust in the Bible Belt

I visit this blog on a regular basis. I like what he has to say, and he's blogging in Nashville (my mother's home). Here is his lastest post.
Nature Pruning: Lust: Can't Live With It. Can't Live Without it.

Old Men and Boys

I looked at this video of British troops in Iraq, and thought about how young they looked, and how wars are started by old men and fought by boys. Whatever one thinks of the war, and I was against the invasion from the beginning, we need to remember and support our troops, as they have to finish what the politicians started.

This video was a nice diversion for the troops. Check out the BBC link so that you can understand the parody.


Rocketboom
Amarillo video crashes MOD PCs

Shirt Collars

This made me laugh

In this extraordinary book, Martin Buber expounds on our relationship with the Creative Force, and how we fit into the world in relation to others. He says "history is a dialogue between Deity and mankind, we can understand its meaning only when we are the ones addressed, and only to the degree to which we render ourselves receptive. The meaning of history is not an idea which I can formulate independent of my personal life. It is only with my personal life that I am able to catch the meaning of history, for it is a dialogical meaning."

You can read the book in a couple of hours, and spend the next few years dissecting and reacting to what he says. The drama has been played out for thousands of years, as we struggle to make some sense of our relationship to what Creative Force we find fulfilling. Martin Buber is worth checking out, just for all the things he was involved in.

The True Believer

I've become rather fixated with the religious right, and their influence, and boneheadedness, that I've gone back and searched for those times in my life where I had a 'Eureka' moment. Reading the book the True Believer' by Eric Hoffer was one of those ephiphanies. According to the author this is who the true believer is:

"He's a guilt-ridden hitchhiker who thumbs a ride on every cause from Christianity to Communism. He's a fanatic, needing a Stalin (or Christ) to worship and die for. He's the mortal enemy of things-as-they-are, and he insists on sacrificing himself for a dream impossible to attain. He is today everywhere and on the march."

These words were first written in 1951, and have so much resonance in what is happening in the world today. The book is definitely worth a read to examine mass movements from Christianity to Islam, and how it affects nations and war. You might want to check out this website, and see what an incredible life this self-educated longshoremen and later University lecturer had.

Eclectic Floridian: [Christian] Strategy for Invasion and Conquest

Words fail me on this, just read it, and get really scared and fired up like I did.

Eclectic Floridian: [Christian] Strategy for Invasion and Conquest

The New American Taliban?

I've been concerned lately about the religious right, feeling that they have a mandate, and a direct line to the White House, that they can push all their beliefs on this country, and they are taking the fight to the Congress over the latest Judicial appointees of Bush. There was a rally this past weekend funded by the conservative Family Research Council, which to me has religious groups crossing the line into politics, where I don't believe it belongs. I've done a little research, and found the following articles quoting William F. Buckley and Barry Goldwater, who is the father of modern day conservatives. Neither of them felt that the Republicans should embrace the religious zealots, as Barry Goldwater called them, as extremism is never a good choice. All you have to do is read some of the bizarre pronouncements of the religious right, and you should be afraid as well.

I think I have some experience of this, growing up in the belt buckle of the Bible belt. I remember the ministers who proclaimed wearing shorts, dancing and mowing the lawn on Sundays as sins. How long before we have women wearing burkas, and going to separate schools, in order to not corrupt us gullable males. Sounds ridiculous, but I'm afraid it looks like that's where we are headed. It's time for people to start speaking up, and I think the libertarians have awakened, and realize that these extreme views don't represent the views of the many. Forty Nine percent voted against Bush, so he's got far from a mandate for this Presidency. I say that liberal is not a perjorative term, and needs to be put into a positive context again, and without balance, I think the country is headed in the wrong direction.

Click here for an interesting link

React against this tyrrany

Excellent sentiments.  
From this link

One Hand Clapping

I'm reminded as I write for my blog, that I'm doing this for myself first, and then with ego, I'm expecting others to want to read my musings. It's kind of like having your diary that you wrote as a kid, the one you kept very secretively and did not want your parents or nosey siblings to read, except that this one is always open and on the dresser table.

I'm sure others far more clever than me have already ruminated on this phenomenon, with far more clarity. The encouraging thing is that people are putting pen to paper, as it were, and actually using a form of communications that in this day of 'cellphones always in the ear' is a real throwback.

It has to be said though that this is a rather singular form of expression, and because of the anonymity that the Internet gives us, people can project themselves in ways that may not reflect on the true self. Are we just sad individuals sitting at a desk staring at our illuminated screen or are we trying to be profound or funny or obtuse or any of the other actions that we take as communications. I certainly feel more connected reading other's thoughts on life, the mundaneness of it all, or maybe an alternate insight that someone might have about current events.

There are eight million bloggers, I read somewhere, and for those fans of Film Noir, "There are eight million stories in the Naked City; this has been one of them." Each probably has a story to tell, or possibly they feel that they have something interesting to say, or maybe it's just for a lark. Probably 7,999,000 are pretty mediocre (this blog included), and the others are worth the read. Although I hasten to add that usually there is a kernel of inspiration in most people's rantings, it's just so hard to wade through all the other nonsense.

The sound of one hand clapping can be pretty deafening.

What is the Sound of the Single Hand? When you clap together both hands a sharp sound is heard; when you raise the one hand there is neither sound nor smell. Is this the High Heaven of which Confucius speaks? Or is it the essentials of what Yamamba describes in these words: "The echo of the completely empty valley bears tidings heard from the soundless sound?" This is something that can by no means be heard with the ear. If conceptions and discriminations are not mixed within it and it is quite apart from seeing, hearing, perceiving, and knowing, and if, while walking, standing, sitting, and reclining, you proceed traightforwardly without interruption in the study of this koan, you will suddenly pluck out the karmic root of birth and death and break down the cave of ignorance. Thus you will attain to a peace in which the phoenix has left the golden net and the crane has been set free of the basket. At this time the basis of mind, consciousness, and emotion is suddenly shattered; the realm of illusion with its endless sinking in the cycle of birth and death is overturned. The treasure accumulation of the Three Bodies and the Four Wisdoms is taken away, and the miraculous realms of the Six Supernatural Powers and Three Insights is transcended.

Yabukoji, in The Zen Master Hakuin: Selected Writings, Translated by Philip B. Yampolsky, Columbia University Press, New York and London, 1971

Tori Amos

Have you heard the new Tori Amos CD (The Beekeeper)? It is really great (in my humble opinion). It is conceptual, and she has used a beekeeper as a metaphor for someone who I suppose communes with nature, and she explains that the beekeeper has been around for many centuries. The music is divided into 6 gardens, each with a theme, although to be honest, her lyrics are very ephemeral and hard to decipher, and are more a feeling, than maybe any telegraphed meaning. I just like her playing and her voice. Her music is pretty stripped down and melodic. She lives in Cornwall, near the sea, and it seems that she is inspired by that.She is either just coming or has been to Philadelphia, and the show is sold out, so even if I wanted to go see her, I could not. I don't know how she would translate to a large hall or arena, as I think of her music as being very personal.
Tori Amos

The World Is Flat

I heard an interesting interview of Tom Friedman by Terri Gross on NPR. Freidman was promoting his new book, "The World Is Flat", and he had some interesting insights. The one thing that really stuck in my mind was this. The Twin Towers were destroyed on 9/11 and in an ironic juxtaposition, the Berlin Wall came down on 11/9. Made me think about the unpredicatability of the world as we know it. One form of destruction has absolutely positive effects on millions of people, and the other has absolutely negative effects on a similar number.

Having lived in Europe for a number of years, I'm concerned about globalisation by 'big business' and the impact it is having on our society. This book explores the shrinking of the world, and talks about how the playing field has been leveled. I haven't read it yet, although it is on my 'must read' after I finish what I am reading now.

Haloscan commenting and trackback have been added to this blog.

Singularity

Singularity Sky by Charles Stoss, shortlisted for the Hugo Award in 2004. Sequel Iron Sunrise is shortlisted for the best novel Hugo Award for 2005.

Just finished this and really enjoyed it, although for me, one needs to really pay attention to the characters and parallel stories, complicated by the fact that the author introduces his own quasi-language. Lots of puns and plays on names and places, make this an engrossing read. It takes place in a strange world which has been spared all the problems and benefits of modern technology. I can recommend it for those who enjoy science fiction (I read somewhere that sci-fi is a rather passe term now, and only used by plebs) that explores social mores with the use of this medium. For me the greatest is Philip K. Dick, who I met once, and there again lies a tale that I will exposit later. This is in that same strange, highly original style of writing.

Memphis Rhythm, but I thought you were from Nashville?

You may notice that this site is called memphisrhythm.blogspot.com, and yes I did grow up in Nashville.

Let me try and spin a little story for you. I'm living in London, and working hard at my profession (chosen by my accidentally taking an aptitude test many moons ago and finding out that I had the skills to be a 'Programmer') when I got a brilliant idea. I had been around music all my childhood, as Nashville is called Music City for a reason. Having badgered my dad to let me purchase a Kay electric pawn-shop special at about 13, and taking a few lessons from the local music teacher, I was armed for rock'n'roll. I had a band in college, not because I was a good musician, just that I knew the words to the songs, and could organize a group pretty well.

I always fancied myself a music impressario, so that had been in the back of my mind. I met a mad South African accountant in London, who was on the fringes of the music business and had a band committed with a letter of intent to sign with him. He had decided recently that (here I want you to choose what you would have considered)
A) he wanted to be generous to someone else and let them have the pleasure, or
B) he did not have or want to spend any money on a proposition that had about a 10% chance of making any money.

So I took the bait, met the band, and Bob's your uncle, I was a music impressario.

A little background about this band is appropriate about now. The lead guitarist/singer/songwriter was introduced to me as Andy Osbourne, which I found out later was his nom de plume. His father was Eric Hobsbawm,a world renowned Marxist historian.

His son was living in a council flat. fiddleing the 'social' as all good middle class kids did in Britain, and did not want to claim any connection to his dad. The bass player was Guy Denning, whose grandfather was the Master of the Rolls, the equivalent to our Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. It was only later that I found out I was way over my head.

Anyway the group was called The Tin Gods, and with my input of money we recorded an album (unreleased to this day) primarily at Georgetown Studios with John Brand producing. Cost a packet, I might add.

The boys had secured a musico lawyer, John Kennedy, who later became head of CBS Records, but at the time had a little office in West London. We never did get a contract negotiated by the way. As another aside, John had just negotiated Sade's contract, and I learned that the contract with the record company was for her services only, and the band were hired guns.

One of the songs Andy had written was about an Elvis statuette, and had a line about 'Memphis Rhythm pulsing through his veins', and I thought that was a cool name for a record label, and I called the label Memphis Rhythm Records.

The number one lesson I learned from this experience is that they don't call it 'THE MUSIC BUSINESS' for nothing. I lost my ass.

I have lots more tales around this period of my life, and will leave them for another time, when I'm feeling mascochistic again.

Seriously folks...Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin

Inspiration

The inspiration 

Many sad returns of the day

Just returned from Nashville, having visited my mother and attending to some rather unpleasant family business. Why so restless, I ask myself. Never satisfied and wondering why, I am trying desperately to stay in the present. As Baba Ram Dass said 'Be here now.' Looking back it's over. Looking to the future, you're bound to be dissapointed. Being here in the moment is for me the only true reality. Easy as hell to say, hard to do. I'm trying to stay on the road, but my mind wanders.

I started reading Singularity Sky, written by an English writer Charles Stross, who also worked with computers (like me). It's funny, weird and entirely engrossing. I've read about 200 pages in a day, and I'm hooked. I did the old trick that we used to do in grad school, in order to do research, that I call 'looking in the icebox.' If you open someone's refridgerator you can learn a lot about them. Same goes for their reading choices. I often like to find what others are reading, and then find out for myself what they like about their choices. Often, I'm dissappointed, but sometimes stumble on (or stumbleupon) a jewel. This writer fits the bill.

Got fields to plow, and plants to sow, and therefore needs must.

Later (or now)

HFB