"Only Black Sabbath can rhyme masses with masses."

Philosophy gads on...

If the world is so awful, why are you still living it?

Walk. You will save time and money.

Do you see better around blind people? Hear better around the deaf? Live better among corpses? If not, it's your loss.

Don't be Hazel Motes. Or do, and then be what Haze had wanted to be.

Adult life is so much less shocking than I always thought it would be.

‎"John Coltrane's music is one of the reasons that suicide seems so boring." -- LeRoi Jones, aka, Amiri Baraka, liner notes to Coltrane: Live at Birdland

I think the saddest stage in any philosopher's life is to be no longer engaged or startled by arguments. "Ah, yes, that old line. Well, as we know...." And even sadder state is for a theologian no longer to marvel at the divine goodness.

Happy Mother's Day!

詩名: 遊 子 吟
作者: 孟 郊 　　 詩體: 樂 府
慈 母 手 中 線 ， 　遊 子 身 上 衣 。
臨 行 密 密 縫 ， 　意 恐 遲 遲 歸 。
誰 言 寸 草 心 ， 　報 得 三 春 暉 ？

Thread in the hand of a loving mother
Is worked into the jacket
of her wayward boy.
Firm and close she sets the stitches now
For she fears he will slow, slow
to return.
Who can say that the heart
of an inch-long grass [i.e., a son]
Will repay the sunlight
of full Spring [i.e., a mother's love]?

The music of Bach exists…

…therefore God exists.

p --> q, p &there4 q

This is an argument for God's existence which I have mentioned before, but the following performance adds even more aesthetic depth to the matter!



•
Another of my favorite pieces:

And you may find yourself...

"…you will encounter words like 'encairned', 'decensive', 'quotha', 'perforce', 'wroth', 'guerdon', and 'aye '(used like pepper throughout the text), all of which may be summed up in Haines' funniest quote, 'Man, what art thou at?'"
-- from a review of Aurelius' Meditations at Amazom.com

It reminded me of this song, though I don't know why:



Which song reminded me of these fellows, though I have a slightly clearer reason why:

In other news, tonight as I ate my dinner I realized arguments/writings for free will before the advent of quantum indeterminacy and stochastic processes would be much more entertaining. The recent deluge of evidence for indeterminism has made things almost too easy, don't you think? Granted, elite indeterminists like Peter Van Inwagen and Robert Kane, et al.,––did Van Inwagen really coin "indeterminism"?––avoid relying on quantum indeterminacy for their accounts of freewill, which is why I respect them so much. Someone like Stanley Jaki, by contrast, entirely rejects the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics and yet still defends freewill in a deterministic universe. That's my mentor, them's balls! (For the record, Jaki and I both did crew in high school.)

Determinism is held, despite the evidence, based only on the cognitive limits of our current understanding of science. "Even though a coin toss is spoken of as proabiistic, in fact, each specific coin toss has a deterministic outcome. If only we could know enough about its initial conditions, we could know its outcome exactly. We're just waiting for science to catch up with man's deepest, deterministic intuitions." The problem is that, even aside from the quantum indeterminacy we would face at the (…admittedly only currently…) lowest level of analysis, this Laplacian insight would still be subject to human finitude, since a skeptic could just as reasonably argue, "Even though a coin toss is spoken of as deterministic, in fact, each specific coin toss has a stochastic outcome. If only we could know enough about its initial conditions, we could know its outcome is probabilistic, like all of physical nature. We're just waiting for science to catch up with man's deepest, indeterministic intuitions."

An open letter to my cat…

Dear Cheetoh,

Sometimes you remind me of the Warren Zevon song "Excitable Boy". That's not a compliment. For one thing, you're not a boy. If you must keep whining, please learn to speak Spanish, Chinese, German or English, so I can undestand what you keep going on about. I might like to sleep, you know?

But… it is impressive that you like to sleep on top of my boxed set of Feynman's Lectures on Physics. You can stay.

Sincerely,

E.

Because without cause…

Because jazz exists, determinism is false. Note the use of the words "form", "developed", "substance", and "play".



Jazz is inherently indeterministic yet real, therefore reality is indeterministic.

This is an inuition akin to the role of Bach's music in coming to see the existence of God.

Songs I use to clean my room…

As in, which I use to give me that allmächtigen Zimmerreinmachendengeist!









Basically… anything instrumental, and nearly anything at all, by Fugazi!

Bach's music is considered a proof for the existence of God…

The accordion is to European instruments what German is to European languages. Only the few realize how beautiful both can be, despite plebeian biases to the contrary.

Cf. this post for a similar cogitation on indeterminism and jazz.

My musics…

I have deleted the ungainly links I had in this post before, having now been guided to set up a Posterous blog for hosting my music: mcbdesales.posterous.com. No need to download now, just click and play. My music is very eclectic, but I don't release anything unless I'm at least satisfied with it. So, in my opinion, and the opinion of various others, at the end of the day "it's pretty, pretty good."

An interesting documentary…

If you happen to watch it, note the point made by one interviewee (with spectacles and a gray goatee) that, insofar as "there is always a time lag" between a protest movement and its manifest impact, the value of persisting in protest must, to some extent, be "taken on faith" (ca. 1'32"). So much for secular progress by "purely political" means.

I love Rage's music and have always accepted as much of their prophetic message (that religious thing again!) as my grain of salt permits.

Assonance is as assonance does…

The following is "Pange Lingua" in Chinese.

1.信友齊來歡呼讚吟，吾主聖體無限情，救世羔羊聖血流傾，贖世犧牲換太平，天地大君榮王天庭，甘受苦難救我靈。

2.聖子降生自取人形，至聖童貞為母親，三十三載天涯飄零，山野海角佈福音，終身橫遭輕慢辱凌，架上七言終其行。

3.耶穌受難前夜晚上，偕諸宗徒聚華堂，遵順古教禮儀習尚，宰殺羔羊分啖嘗，建立聖體罪債普償，洪恩長流澤萬邦。

4.真主真人萬世稱揚，麵形聖化成神糧，酒亦成聖血爵中藏，全信勿疑主榮光，敬禮朝拜耶穌君王，無限深情滿人望。

5.皇皇聖體奧蘊深玄，我眾匍匐主臺前，羔羊聖牲新祭禮獻，摒除古教棄舊典，虔誠全信以至永遠，五官所缺信心堅。

6.聖父聖子聖神尊高，至仁至善萬民朝，齊頌德能神恩豐饒，敬禮讚美共歡躍，天主聖三無限蘊奧，永生永王享榮耀。　　　　

阿們。

I go to Eucharistic Adoration nearly every Thursday and we sing the 5th and 6th verses every time. The fifth is the famous "Tantum ergo" verse. When we finished singing last week, I perused the other verses and noticed something remarkable: all the final characters in each stanza of each verse are assonant! As I may have explained before, while I love music, I only have scant musical talent. This means I am easily wowed by most musical accomplishment, as long as it "doesn't completely suck." So, to a real musician and/or songwriter, the assonance （諧音）of the hymn （聖歌）may seem trivial. On the other hand, I consider myself an amateur poet and a compulsive wordsmith, so I am hardly indifferent to the subtleties of rhyme and assonance. Given my credentials, the composition strikes me as a brilliant success.

I will now reproduce the lyrics, but indicate the pronunciation of the final characters:

1. 信友齊來歡呼讚吟 [yin]，吾主聖體無限情 [qíng]，救世羔羊聖血流傾 [qín]，贖世犧牲換太平 [píng]，天地大君榮王天庭 [tíng]，甘受苦難救我靈 [líng]。

2. 聖子降生自取人形 [xíng]，至聖童貞為母親 [qin]，三十三載天涯飄零 [lîng]，山野海角佈福音 [yin]，終身橫遭輕慢辱凌 [líng]，架上七言終其行 [xíng]。

3. 耶穌受難前夜晚上 [shàng]，偕諸宗徒聚華堂 [táng]，遵順古教禮儀習尚 [shàng]，宰殺羔羊分啖嘗 [cháng]，建立聖體罪債普償 [cháng]，洪恩長流澤萬邦 [bang]。

4. 真主真人萬世稱揚 [yáng]，麵形聖化成神糧 [liàng]，酒亦成聖血爵中藏 [cáng]，全信勿疑主榮光 [guang]，敬禮朝拜耶穌君王 [wáng]，無限深情滿人望 [wàng]。

5. 皇皇聖體奧蘊深玄 [xuán]，我眾匍匐主臺前 [qián]，羔羊聖牲新祭禮獻 [xiàn]，摒除古教棄舊典 [diân]，虔誠全信以至永遠 [yuân]，五官所缺信心堅 [jian]。

6. 聖父聖子聖神尊高 [gao]，至仁至善萬民朝 [cháo]，齊頌德能神恩豐饒 [ráo]，敬禮讚美共歡躍 [yùe]，天主聖三無限蘊奧 [ào]，永生永王享榮耀 [yào]。　　　　

阿們。

(Can you guess how to say 阿們？)

Now here is an English translation of the hymn, which I have annotated for assonance and rhyme:

Sing, my tongue, the Savior's glory [A],
of His flesh the mystery sing [B];
of the Blood, all price exceeding [B],
shed by our immortal King [B],
destined, for the world's redemption [B?],
from a noble womb to spring [B].

Of a pure and spotless Virgin [C]
born for us on earth below [D],
He, as Man, with man conversing [C],
stayed, the seeds of truth to sow [D];
then He closed in solemn order [E]
wondrously His life of woe [D].

On the night of that Last Supper [F],
seated with His chosen band [G],
He the Pascal victim eating [G?],
first fulfills the Law's command [G];
then as Food to His Apostles [H]
gives Himself with His own hand [G].

Word-made-Flesh, the bread of nature [I]
by His word to Flesh He turns [J];
wine into His Blood He changes [J?];
what though sense no change discerns [J]
Only be the heart in earnest [J?],
faith her lesson quickly learns [J].

Down in adoration falling [K],
This great Sacrament we hail [L],
Over ancient forms of worship [M]
Newer rites of grace prevail [L];
Faith will tell us Christ is present [N],
When our human senses fail [L].

To the everlasting Father [O],
And the Son who made us free [P]
And the Spirit, God proceeding [Q]
From them Each eternally [P],
Be salvation, honor, blessing [Q],
Might and endless majesty [P].
Amen. Alleluia.

Not a terrible effort, but perhaps you are as struck as I am by how erratic the assonance-scheme is. (Or perhaps my philistinism prevents me from seeing how the scheme is an instance of a genuine poetic device.) With the exception of xuán, diân, and yùe, I find all the assonance in the Chinese version to be much tighter. Further, if we represent the phonetic theme (A, B, etc.) of each verse (1–6) in the Chinese version, we have 1:A, 2:A, 3:B, 4:B, 5:C, and 6:D, compared to at least a dozen different phonemes in the English version. Granted, there may be a more rigorously assonant English version I have not cited, but perhaps now you can see why the assonance of the Chinese struck me so forcefully.

Finally, here is the original Latin for the hymn, in which I shall note the assonance and rhyme.

Pange, lingua, gloriosi [A]
Corporis mysterium [B],
Sanguinisque pretiosi [A],
quem in mundi pretium [B]
fructus ventris generosi [A]
Rex effudit Gentium [B].

Nobis datus, nobis natus [C]
ex intacta Virgine [D],
et in mundo conversatus [C],
sparso verbi semine [D],
sui moras incolatus [C]
miro clausit ordine [D].

In supremae nocte coenae [D]
recumbens cum fratribus [E]
observata lege plene [D]
cibis in legalibus [E],
cibum turbae duodenae [D]
se dat suis manibus [E].

Verbum caro, panem verum [B]
verbo carnem efficit [F]:
fitque sanguis Christi merum [B],
et si sensus deficit [F],
ad firmandum cor sincerum [B]
sola fides sufficit [F].

Tantum ergo Sacramentum [B]
veneremur cernui [A*]:
et antiquum documentum [B]
novo cedat ritui [A*]:
praestet fides supplementum [B]
sensuum defectui [A*].

Genitori, Genitoque [D*]
laus et jubilatio [G],
salus, honor, virtus quoque [D*]
sit et benedictio [G]:
Procedenti ab utroque [D*]
compar sit laudatio [G].

Amen. Alleluja.

Arguably, I am being too generous with the Latin by grouping technically distinct sounds under the same phonetic-letter, but, for one thing, Latin is a famously assonant language, so I don't think I'm violating the "phonetic sense" by which "Pange Lingua" was composed, and, second, I was actually being magnanimous in my analysis of the English version by keeping very obliquely assonant phonemes under one heading. Clearly, the Chinese edition strives, and succeeds, to duplicate the assonance of the original Latin; indeed, it seems to have outdone it! I admit this is not a huge shock, considering how homophonic Chinese is, but it was a small breakthrough, or perhaps just a milestone, in my ongoing absorption of Chinese.

Since talk is cheap, I leave you with a fine rendition of the hymn with Latin subtitles (and on a Chinese website, no less!).

The test of a great band…

An awful band sounds worse live than it sounds in the studio.

A bad band sounds as bad live as it sounds in the studio.

A good band sounds as good live as it sounds in the studio.

A great band sounds better live than it sounds in the studio.

Fugazi is a great band. (So are The Roots.)

Creed is a good band.

311 is a bad band.

Insane Clown Posse may be the most awful band ever.

Misseeing is misbeleiving…

In a slight similar vein––this time on the illusion of silence––I finally got around to seeing a "performance" of John Cage's "4'33"". I had heard about it years ago in a music appreciation classes and I will admit it "sounds" better than I had anticipated. But it is a controversial piece. Sort of like being stared at through your ears for four and a half minutes.

Privileged…

I was privileged to attend a private piano recital at the house of a very devout Catholic family tonight. One of the pieces played was Mozart's Fantasia in D Minor (K.397), now one of my favorite pieces. I think I was spoiled (biased?) in one sitting, but the following performance captures some of how good the performance was tonight. Any performance that reaches six minutes is too long/slow, methinks.

Hats off to Burger King!

Or any other franchise that could fire the minds of De La Soul like BK did, famously, in "Bitties in the BK Lounge"!



And here's a whimsical, deadpan "adaptation" of "Bitties":



Of course no saunter down De La Soul memory lane (as far as De La Soul Is Dead goes!) would be complete without "A Rollerskating Jam Named Saturdays":



Use your headphones for maximal jam.

Still fresh…

These brothers are still fresh after decades. And the best part of this video is 3:10–3:25 when Trugoy is naturally right on beat even when he's just talking.

It's true…

…and great harmony.