Personal Made Public

they sit at the bar and put bread in my jar and say man what are you doing here (Billy Joel)

We love local, live music. Sometimes it's good, sometimes it's weak, and once in a great while you stumble across someone amazing. Lauren is one of those ever-so-rare cases where we know someday we'll be saying "I remember when Lauren used to play piano across town..."

Why the rave? First, Lauren is a true singer/songwriter with incredible skills in both areas. Beautiful music, moving lyrics, and an unbelievable voice. I don't have a golden ear (though it's improved dramatically since I took up guitar), but Lauren has a voice that reveals the limits of compact disc audio: in spite of all the careful work that goes on in the studio she still sounds better in person than on CD. Not that you shouldn't get her CD (you should!), but if you get a chance to hear her live do so. You check out Lauren's sound over at her page on CD Baby (where you can also buy her CD's): http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/laurenecho3

Lauren's heading back to the Big Apple where we hope to seek her out on our next trip to the city -- hopefully before we can only catch her at larger venues for $45 ticket! Good luck, Lauren: we're looking forward to seeing your name in lights.

Posted by Kevin at 08:31 AM | Permalink

Friday night Elizabeth and I had an unexpected opportunity to get out for a mini-date: our daughter was invited to a last-minute sleepover. Elizabeth suggested coffee. I suggested that Open Eye might have live music (they often do on Friday or Saturday nights). While I took Ariel to her sleepover, Elizabeth went online and discovered that singer/songwriter Lauren Lapointe was performing. A girl with a guitar: that's probably my favorite form of live music! Well, unless Jimmy Buffett dropped in to play a set or two...

Since Open Eye moved next door to their old space they now have the room they need to host this kind of performance even though the acoustics are a little rough (touch of echo from the large, rectangular space). The new space is going to help Open Eye keep its reputatation as "Carrboro's Living Room".

We had a great time listening to Lauren. Her music is generally a folksy, clean sound based around acoustic guitar melodies with some nice percussive strumming to form a good beat. She has a beautiful voice and a quiet reparte' with her audience that makes you feel at home with her. Her greatest strength, however, is her wonderful songwriting. You'll find a more eloquent review of Lauren over at CD Baby along with a biography plus you get to hear her music, so go check it out. While you're at it, you can also visit Lauren's website.

Make sure you catch her live if she's performing in your area. Independent musicians in small venues are just so much better than pre-packaged mass-market bands, and Lauren represents good independent talent. Go, listen, enjoy -- and buy a CD or at least tip well.

Posted by Kevin at 07:52 PM | Permalink

I am fortunate to have friends that know me well enough to know what may interest me, and thoughtful enough to bring it to my attention. In this case, a friend loaned me a copy of Enough by Bill McKibben: a treatise on the perils of nanotechnology, biotechnology and computers/robotics.

Advances in technology are going to bring us face to face with some staggering ethical questions. Is it acceptable to fix a fertilized egg if you can tell that the resulting child would have be profoundly retarded due to a genetic defect? Most of us would say that not only is that acceptable, but the right choice. Better still, in fixing genetically-transmitted diseases by rebuilding the genes in the first stages of gestatation, we remove the threat of the hereditary disease from future generations as well. Clearly, this is the right and ethical thing to do.

Let's go one step deeper: suppose you could tell the resulting child would not be profoundly retarded, but you could tell from the gene sequence that she would be a little "slow". Not an IQ of 80, but maybe 90 (10 points below average) due to a specific gene (let's call it 247-A -- that's fictitious, by the way) that will reduce the levels of neurotransmitters in her brain. Most of us (since we can spot a specific reparable problem) would also vote for the repair. However, many of us would also have a sense of unease: we're moving closer to "improving" rather then "repairing".

Beyond this point lies the area where many, many people become uneasy: genetic enhancement of "normal" embryos leading to "superhumans". However, we are already crossing that line when we start fixing gene 247-A by moving the average IQ higher (simply because 247-A won't pull people down any more). Now new genetic "defects" become apparent that keep people below the new average of, for instance, 110. Now Gene 323-C needs to be fixed... we're on the slippery slope between fixing and enhancing.

These issues are real, complex, profound, and staring us in the face. We need to start thinking about what is acceptable and what is not before it simply happens.

Beyond raising these types of interesting ethical conundrums, McKibben manages to veer off into visions of techno-dystopias where humans are nothing more than engineering feats without any remaining trace of humanity. While portions of these visions are real dangers which we must avoid, McKibben unfortunately moves on to projections that the perils are absolute and the benefits fleeting at best and illusionary at worst. Here McKibben and I part company.

(Article continues in the extended entry)

Continue reading "Enough by Bill McKibben" »

Posted by Kevin at 08:33 PM | Permalink

So I thought that when radio stations decided that the Black Eyed Peas needed to change "Don't Phunk with my Heart" to "Don't Mess with My Heart" they were just silly.

However, MTV has trumped them by being silly and stupid. Gwen Stefani has a drug reference in Luxurious:

We've got hydroponic love and we'll smoke it.

So how did the brilliant censors at MTV handle this?

They dropped the word "hydroponic". Excuse me?

Okay, all censorship is dumb, but I have to classify this one as particularly brainless, clueless, ineffectual, and stupid.

If this nation is to be wise as well as strong, if we are to achieve our destiny, then we need more new ideas for more wise men reading more good books in more public libraries. These libraries should be open to all—except the censor. We must know all the facts and hear all the alternatives and listen to all the criticisms. Let us welcome controversial books and controversial authors. For the Bill of Rights is the guardian of our security as well as our liberty.

John F. Kennedy

Mass media: radio, television, and the internet, are our modern libraries. Who let the censors in?

Posted by Kevin at 08:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

The new television sci-fi series Threshold premiered last night with good reviews from the NY Times. Good enough that my daughter and I made sure to watch it (and to record it for Elizabeth to watch later).

Don't bother. CBS is looking for a show to answer ABC's success with Lost: a spooky, otherworldly, smart show that doesn't underestimate it's audience.

Unfortunately, they don't get it. It's Lost-like on the surface, but completely lacks Lost's depth. Characters are shallow: a loner female "worst-case scenario planner", an unreformed hippie scientist, a devoutly Christian engineering/physics type, a "tough outside / tender inside" James Bond-type, and a mathematician/linguist hard-drinking/womanizing... wait for it ... midget.

For all the terrible 2D characters, they still couldn't keep them "in character". The loner and the Bond-guy are obviously a future love story as they emit pheromenes that don't require smell-a-vision to sense, the hippie wants to know if he's getting paid, and the devout Christian seems scared to death of the unknown.

Did I mention that the scientists keep getting the science wrong? That contradictions run unbridled through the show?

What does Lost have that Threshold lacks?

Interesting, complex characters. An internally consistent plot and personalities. The understanding that a little bit is often scarier than a lot.

CBS "gets" the fact that Lost is a HUGE hit (and for good reason), but they don't have a clue why. Maybe they can turn it around in the next few episodes, but I don't plan to give them the benefit of the doubt on this one. Too bad... first contact can be a great premise.

Posted by Kevin at 06:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I have just finished a wonderful book: How the Irish Saved Civilization: The Untold Story of Ireland's Heroic Role from the Fall of Rome to the Rise of Medieval Europe by Thomas Cahill.

I had a good feeling about this book from the very first sentence:

The word Irish is seldom coupled with the word civilization.

Thomas Cahill did not disappoint. A subject matter that could have been extraordinarily dry and academic is instead personal and riveting. Mr. Cahill does a brilliant job of giving us a glimpse into the hearts of the Irish during and after the Fall of Rome.

The only slow part of the book for me was his coverage of Augustine (who wrote City of God and Confessions), but I now recognize and appreciate that material as it serves to highlight the differences between Latin thought and Irish thought. It is a necessary side trip, so be patient with that one chapter.

Personally, though, I was struck by the realization of how much my own culture is Irish. Clearly my Irish grandmother passed along much more to me through my own mother than I ever realized. I live in an area which is dominantly British and German in ancestry (which a liberal dash of Scot thrown in). My outlook, manner and speech have often led me to feel a bit "outside" of my local culture -- not too much so, just a slight feeling of not being quite aligned with those around me. Through Cahill's exploration of the Irish I can recognize myself. It's been a great lesson to me in the fact that we often stay more true to the culture of our ancestors than we might think.

Whether Irish or not, I heartily recommend reading How the Irish Saved Civilization. For most readers who have received a standard world history course in high school, the book will help paint a vivid picture of the world on the fringes of the decaying Roman Empire: a time and place typically neglected in high school history. It also conveys both a good factual overview of the Irish and a wonderfully intuitive emotional understanding of this people. If you, like me, count the Irish among your ancestors, you might even gain some insight into yourself.

Posted by Kevin at 09:33 PM | Permalink

Okay, I'm not a big organic foods person, but I do think that some of our common agricultural practices are not sustainable (salinization of rivers due to farming, excessive use of pesticides, incorrect application of fertilizers). On the other hand, I think that genetic engineering and irradiation can be beneficial because they can increase production and food quality while cutting back on the problems I just mentioned.

In any case, the Organic Trade Association has a Star Wars spoof promoting organic agriculture which is not to be missed. You can find it here.

Posted by Kevin at 04:38 PM | Permalink

I can't wait for the album to come out.

The iTunes Music Store has the video. If you like anime or cyberpunk, you'll love the video. Think of it as a world where Blade Runner meets Castle in the Sky.

Posted by Kevin at 06:36 PM | Permalink

The Pauper Players, a student theater troupe here at UNC, is something the world could use in greater quantity. They perform musicals on a shoestring budget in the Old Playmakers building on campus twice a year. To every performance they bring a honest love for their endeavor, strong (if occasionally unpolished) talent, and incredible courage in putting themselves out there center-front for all to see.

This is how the world should be. These students choose to be participants in a society filled with spectators. They bring passion to their craft -- and their work is creative, intelligent, entertaining and uplifting. By its nature, theater is also a community-centered endeavor. It can't be mass-produced, packaged and distributed. Of course, Broadway does attempt this to some degree through touring productions, but being in the 87th row (no matter how polished the production) cannot feel as immediate, intense or real as being in the second.

Passion in a creative endeavor. Courage to offer yourself to the world. To do where others simply watch. Craftsmanship in place of mass-production.

Bravo, Pauper Players, bravo!

Note: More information on the Pauper Players is available by sending an email to uncchpp@hotmail.com Not in Chapel Hill? Support live events in your own community.

Posted by Kevin at 07:29 AM | Permalink

We took my daughter, Ariel, and a friend to see Pixar's latest animated marvel, The Incredibles

I remember that when I was a kid that I would leave a movie with a larger-than-life, floating-on-air feeling. I don't typically feel that as an adult. That's not to say that I don't enjoy movies now, just that very few do any more than simply entertain. The Incredibles proved to be an exception and is therefore one of the very few movies that I recommend seeing in the cinema. It's worth the $8 or so that tickets typically run these days.

Enough said. I have to go save the world now...

Posted by Kevin at 07:12 AM | Permalink