What is that second painting?

Extirpate is nice.

Hopefully this is not too off topic; I was gonna make a lame facebook post about it, but figured it would be better appreciated here.

Ever encounter a book title, song name, etc., that's so good as a title that you don't even want to experience the work itself, for fear the magic will be ruined? I've recently been obsessing over "The Dream Quest Of Unknown Kadath" by H.P. Lovecraft. Those words strung together are unbelievable; they feel exciting and fascinating in the mouth, and the obscurity of the whole thing ignites the imagination.

Mmmmmmm yes. Lovely.

It's really a great track. Kendrick always destroys. I love hearing him doing is own voice as a character.

I also have soft spot for this:

People need to wake up and realize that men have emotional needs that are distinctly different than those of women. — Antaus

Are they really that different, though? I was in agreement with a lot of the unpopular points you were bringing up, until here. I think your whole OP is a decent argument for the idea that emotional needs are pretty similar across gender norms. There's this concept called "love", and a similar concept called "acceptance". These are concepts that human beings in general need; not just want; need. Emotional needs are tied up with these concepts, and gender has absolutely nothing to do with it.

Lilith - George MacDonald

Third time trying to get through this pre-Tolkien pseudo-fantasy/fairy-tale epic. It's actually crazy philosophical. Crazy ontological questions posed with no apparent answers in sight. Published in 1895.

Hey, Posty.

Is meaning inherently sufferingful?

Yes.

Right...concurrently was the joke...

:up:

If I order fries from McDonalds, it's consupponible that, if I eat one fry, I will concurrently eat all the rest. No?...

Schmeh is more like this: :shade:

Catchy, amiright?

It’s a variant of “meh” yes, but the meaning is different, as I illustrated.

One of my favorite exclamations is “schmeh”. Denotes a complex feeling of apathy, ennui, disappointment, and indifference.

Thanks for making your music available for us to listen to it! — Πετροκότσυφας

No problem!

All in all, I'm totally talentless when it comes to music making — Πετροκότσυφας

Sometimes I think I'm talentless when it comes to philosophy, so don't beat yourself up...

Thanks for that list, I recognize many of those bands as bands I need to be familiar with. I'm about to hit the hay, but this is great; I'll revisit this tomorrow, as I'm at work for 9 hours, and I'm forced to listen to music, whether I want to or not...this looks like a good starting point, provided none of it is too extreme.

For me it ultimately has to do with the music genre. I've definitely unlearnt to consider "full-length" releases as the default or proper length format - if anything, as a criterion it has more to do with market practices than with art itself. When I first got heavily into Heavy Metal though, I was considering 40' as the lowest minimum length of a worthy to buy album. But then again, this was my criterion for the then new releases, since many of my favorite classic rock or metal albums were below that mark. I learnt to love EPs because many Metal bands I like were releasing some excellent material as EPs (demos or not). Having said that, as far as standard pop/rock/metal songwriting is concerned, I agree that 40'-45' is an ideal length for an album. — Πετροκότσυφας

Hmmm, I think with popular music, I haven't unlearned the album length as "full-length" yet. This is actually a fascinating topic, because I've been working on a new 40 minute album for the past 3 years, and the past year has seen me wringing my hands about how exactly to finish the album, and which tracks to place within a certain space on the album. But, in contrast, when it comes to classical as a whole, possibly my favorite piece of classical music is Ravel's Gaspard de le Nuit, which is a little less than 1/2 an hour. EP length, essentially. So, idk. It's a very weird psychological thing. This is the definitive recording of the piece, btw:

(I'm too tired to figure out how to get the copy/paste link to start at 0; do it yourself.)



Also, if you read music, it's 100% more engrossing if you follow along.

hen, about a decade ago, I got into punk and hardcore punk and anything that was above 30' was usually a no-no. On the contrary, something like the following was ideal; 10 songs - 19' and it really feels satisfactory: — Πετροκότσυφας

Punk might be my new frontier. I never liked it growing up, and I think now I'm just angry enough to appreciate it.

I like "Unsaid". Sounds a bit different than your other material, more striped down. Length wise, I feel that it could be more developed, both the acoustic part and the noisy at the end (I'm a sucker for those). Anyway, I still haven't devoted enough time to your music but the general impression is good. I especially like the flowing, ever-building feel some of your pieces give me. "Align" is a good example of this. — Πετροκότσυφας

Hey, thanks for the unsolicited compliments and feedback! Been in a rough patch creatively, and received some harsh criticism recently as well, so it's nice to read these words. That EP is more stripped down, yes. I'm kind of ambivalent about it now adays, but I like Unsaid. I like the guitar and voice. Hmmm, I like the length of the noisy bits (cheers to my friend Charls who let me use her vocals to create that weird vocal loop. edit, and cheers to my friend cody on trumpet). Glad you like Align. If you like the "flowing, ever-building" vibe, you will definitely like the new album I'm finishing up. Will keep ya posted. Do you make music at all, or just a fan?

:cry:

"You're a monism! Spirit and science co-exist, broh! Yeahhhhhh" - Rudolf

Lol! I honestly don't know why I hate EPs. No good reason. I just don't like short releases. Nowadays I have so many friends who release EPs because it's less intimidating and easier; i.e. lazier. Take a risk and making a fucking album. Like I do. Anyways. I also dislike over-long albums; 40 minutes is ideal; 45 is the max (as a rule)...I'm also an asshat...

I don't know Ride; sounds good. And I never listen to what people post here...

Here's a song from one of my own EPs, LOL

https://sparrow.bandcamp.com/track/unsaid

:gasp:

(where's the classic bug-eye emoji? smh)

My favorite EP of all time, and I hate EPs:

I don’t think of Steiner as a cult leader, although I guess some would. Overall I think he was a benign figure, not at all power-seeking or exploitative - — Wayfarer

Well I do agree; I guess by cult-like, I'm referring to the followers; maybe I'm exaggerating. He does seem to have been benign.

Jeremy Irons yes, physically. What about Gary Oldman, though? Steiner at the end of his life, contemplating his legacy...

That's fair; I have a similar compunction towards Steiner. I'm attracted and repulsed. Is that the sign of a cult leader? Maybe. Actually, his "spiritual science" is something I philosophically reject; it's rather his practical ideas, biodynamics, Waldorf Schools, which are beguiling, because they seem to work, and they seem sound. It's interesting. That's interesting that you know some anthroposophists. Curious to imagine that they still exist.

Apparently Gary Lachmann is a founding member of Blondie? :rofl:

Also if there were a movie on Steiner, which actor would be ideal? — Wayfarer

I'm thinking James Franco? Alternatively, Tom Hardy would give the performance that would be needed.

Mysticism, theosophy, Steiner-isms... The unknown of the weird new-agey bookstore should be old hat, yeah?

There's some comedic (?) hyperbole there. Really, it's just a mild, ironic fear of the unknown... :razz:

Try the bio by Gary Lachmann. — Wayfarer

Have you read it?

Oh I know you weren't knocking him; I think your idea of reading about philosophers first is a solid idea, maybe just not with a figure like Steiner who has a lot of controversy surrounding him. There's an Anthroposophical Society (Steiner's own brand of theosophy) bookstore in Manhattan that I keep meaning to visit, but I'm too scared. For the same reason I can't go into new age bookstores. I'm so curious though; mainly about what type of person will be behind the counter.

Not sure I'd recommend books about Steiner; his followers are border-line cultists. Interestingly, Steiner did come up with biodynamics, which is a farming technique used increasingly, specifically in the wine world. It's cool stuff. Waldorf Schools are also pretty interesting.

Steiner was a theosophist. Theosophy is an interesting, niche school of thought that doesn't hold a lot of water today, so it's not a great starting point in philosophy. But the bulk of The Philosophy of Freedom is mostly some basic philosophy of mind (or, philosophy of "thinking"), which serves as a groundwork for Steiner's "spiritual science" (doesn't get more 19th-century German than that!). So it isn't a terrible starting point; it's just way off the beaten path. If you're interested in the mystical elements in Steiner, you might be better served by researching some of the Christian mystics. Theosophy was influenced more by gnosticism than by the mystics, but Theosophy sort of represents a 19th century pastiche of the mystics of the middle ages. Meister Eckhart would be a much more solid ground to begin with, if the mystical element is what interests you. If the philosophy, then I'll let someone else direct you.

As far as the difficulty of the language, that's just par for the course; whether mysticism, or philosophy.

Eating other animals is obviously wrong. But most of us do it anyway. It's not that profound.

Yup. It's 4am.

Hey, ND, we need a little leadership around here. — Bitter Crank

Don't look to me for that.

Edited for longevity: and why edit for brevity?

*shrug* I'm not trying to set an agenda.

Are you not interested in finding out what your assumptions are?

What assumption do you think I'm making about reality? I know that there's a reality behind the example questions I raised, and I know that the reality is such as I could describe it. I know English, and so do you. I have at least a basic level of common sense knowledge, and so do you. So, what's the problem? — Sapientia

It's a simple act of reflection. What am I assuming? It's very useful. I don't think you're making any one particular assumption, and that's why I was inviting you to reflect on that. You would know, and I wouldn't.

All of that is too vague, though. There's an assumption of what reality is that we all make, when we say we think there's a reality. What's yours? See, this is where those questions come in that you're tired of. I could ask "what does 'cloud your vision' mean?" "What is 'reality'?" "What is 'sense'?" But I won't ask those questions; instead, as I asked above, what's the assumption you're making about reality?

So how should we apprehend the reality?

If there's a charade, then there must be a reality behind the joke, eh?

I was attempting to point out that you said

I've suffered from gout and suggest that no one can comment on his argument and fully understand it until they have also experienced that pain. — charleton

Which suggested that "no one can comment on [Hume's] argument and fully understand it until they have also experienced [the pain of gout]". To be charitable, I interpreted that as meaning that you can't understand Hume's argument fully until you've experienced some sort of profound pain, physical or otherwise.

So I was suggesting that the answer to your question was in your own response: You are saying yourself that no one should be able to comment on Hume's argument if they haven't experienced excruciating pain. You have. So that makes you able to comment. If you hadn't experienced that pain, by your own logic, you wouldn't be able to comment. So, because of your pain, you've gained the ability to comment on Hume's argument, by your own logic. That is a gain you wouldn't have gained had you not experienced that pain. Thus, you've gained something through pain, which, by your own logic, you would not have gained otherwise.