News, Philosophy

Credit Where Credit Is Due

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During the rescue of the Chilean miners, I heard/read lots of people saying that they were praying for the miners. And once all 33 of the miners were rescued, people said, “Thank God!” followed by: “It’s a miracle that they made it out.” The president of Chile even said:

What started as a tragedy is ending as a real blessing. I think that the miners have given us an example of unity, of teamwork, of faith. Their families, they never lost faith
…
It was a miracle, because on the first day the odds were against us… At the end of the day, the miners were in the hands of God.

Well, actually, no. The miners were not in the hands of god. They were in the hands of humans. And it was humans who saved them.

God (if it exists — which I don’t think it does) had absolutely nothing to do with this mining incident. God did not save those miners — people did. People who used a lot of scientific knowledge and then bravely went down into the mine to rescue the trapped miners. If god was real and had any power and genuinely wanted those miners saved, it could’ve teleported them out of the mine or something like that.

And if god is so into saving miners all of the sudden, how do you explain the miners recently trapped in China? Did god just decide that miners in Chile are more important this week?

I know that that argument (“Why can’t god save everyone?”) is tired… my main point is this: People keep giving credit to god saying it was a miracle or that faith kept the miners alive, etc. Well, no, it was actually modern science that did both. I hate it when people praise god for things that humans did. It only diminishes the accomplishments of humans and hands them over to some nonexistent being.

Let’s give humans credit for what humans do.

News

Firefighters Let Home Burn

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Like everything nowadays, I have mixed feelings about the buzzy news story about fire fighters letting a house burn to the ground. Judging by the headline, “Firefighters watch as home burns to the ground” the story/situation seems really fucked up and upsetting… but then you read more and find out that the people who owned the house in question opted out of paying for “fire protection.”

Everyone should see this as a parallel for health care. A lot of people opt out of paying for health care because, “Well if something happens to me they will pay anyway.” This is what always bugged me about the health care debate — “fiscal conservatives” rallied against “mandatory universal health care” even though that’s the de facto system we had all along (hospitals won’t turn away someone who is wounded even if they lack insurance). The people whose house burned down thought the same thing:

“I thought they’d come out and put it out, even if you hadn’t paid your $75, but I was wrong,” said Gene Cranick.

What really bugs me about this conservative “cost-saving” mode of thought: They think that bad things won’t happen to them and if they do that someone will help them. The flip side of this is that they think that when bad things happen to “poor” people that it happens because they deserve it. How the tables turn when it happens to them.

This is why we need government services and why they cannot be opt-in/opt-out: Everyone thinks the same thing the Cranicks do: That if they play the odds chances are nothing bad will happen to them (and they save some money in the process), but if for some crazy statistical chance something does happen to them, that someone will be there to bail them out. They don’t want to pay taxes or for services that help “poor people” but they expect the “poor people” to pay in case anything happens to them.

* Note: I’m making huge assumptions about the Cranicks and what type of people they are and admittedly don’t know anything about their situation. I’m just using them as an example rather than some hypothetical story.

Music

Jason’s Concert Rules

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Because I go to a lot of concerts I feel like I’m in a position to have some thoughts and opinions on how people should act at shows. Last night I went to see Scissor Sisters at Showbox Sodo (still my least favorite venue ever) and a lot of people in the crowd frustrated me and my friends. That is when I decided I needed to write down some rules.

In no particular order:

  1. If you are one of those really tall people, stand in the back or at the very least, be aware when you are blocking other people’s view. Last night during the DJ opening set we had a great view of the stage. Then the lights dimmed and suddenly this group of 3 tall guys (accompanied with their girlfriends — so that was another issue since this was Scissor Sisters and most of the crowd was gay) came and stood a few rows of people in front of us. I know from listening to the reactions to people around us that we weren’t the only ones pissed off by this.
  2. Don’t just stand there. Remember — you are at a concert. You are supposed to be having fun! I can’t imagine any bands that would love it if the entire audience just stood there. They want people to be into the music and having fun.
  3. … And if you do just stand there: Consider moving to the back. I mean I guess some people don’t like moving/dancing and “just want to hear the music,” but if that’s the case then why are you up in front or in the middle where others want to dance? You are just taking up valuable floor space. If you just want to listen to the music, go to the back where you can be a wallflower.
  4. … And if you do just stand there: Don’t hate on the dancing people!! This is probably my #1 pet peeve. I hate it when people stand there without moving then give people like me (who really get into dancing/moving) dirty looks like we’re out of control. (Granted, people who get too crazy [which I admit I’ve done before] are not good, but there are usually only a few of them at a given show.) Here’s the thing: Us dancing/moving people make the show fun! If everyone stood around giving dirty looks like those people who stand there, the concert would undoubtedly suck. We are the ones keeping it alive, sharing our energy, feeding off the band’s energy, etc.
  5. If people are moving through the crowd, let them through even if there isn’t room around you. Last night there was this woman in front of us who stood her ground and wouldn’t budge any time someone tried to get through. I admit that it’s annoying when you have a good spot and people try to weasel their way in front of you. But think of the crowd like a living organism or something. Or water. It ebbs and flows. Also: I tend to notice that people who don’t let others through are the aforementioned boring people who just stand there.
  6. Show the opening band some love. Even if you don’t know them or don’t like them, don’t talk really loud during their set or boo or shit like that. Usually the headlining band has a say in or chooses the opener, so there is probably something good about them. I’ve seen some awesome opening bands in my day and learned about a bunch of new artists (Presets, Walter Meego… now I’m blanking on others) so give ’em a try. (Unless they are Champagne Champagne and opening before MEN and Gossip — they did really suck).

So there is my basic list. What am I missing? Let me know. I think if you follow or are aware of the above rules, you will have an awesome time and so will those around you.

Charts

August 2010 Chart

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You can hear them all via my YouTube playlist at: August 2010 Chart YouTube playlist.

Movies

Trailers That Are Better Than The Movies

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I love movie trailers. I’m one of those people who actually enjoys seeing the trailers before the movies. Sometimes it’s the excitement of getting a sneak peak, sometimes it’s the fast-paced editing and strange juxtapositions, and oftentimes it’s the great music.

Last night I watched the movie Nine and thought, as I often do, “Wow, the trailer for this movie was way better than the actual movie itself.” Not to say that the movie (or any of the movies in this blog post) are bad, but the trailers themselves were just really great or represented the movie in a way that I would’ve prefered over the actual movie itself.

Here are a few that I can think of off the top of my head right now:

Men Who Stare at Goats
Don’t get me wrong — I actually liked this movie a lot. But the trailer is just great. I’m sure a huge part of it is Boston’s song “More Than a Feeling,” but the trailer really sets the movie up to be way more funny and trippy than it actually is.

Watchmen
Again — I totally love this movie. One of my favorites. But the trailer for it is so incredibly awesome. I’m pretty sure a huge part of what makes the trailer a success is the Smashing Pumpkins’ song “The Beginning Is The End Is The Beginning” (a slower remix of their song “The End Is The Beginning Is The End” from the film Batman & Robin). The trailer also has some great fast/slow editing and sets the movie up to be way more epic than it was.

Nine
This trailer is just total fun. The trailer, at least, made me expect the film to be really fast and flashy — but it wasn’t. Most of the musical numbers were a bit more subdued. My two favorite songs from the film were “Be Italian” and “Cinema Italiano.” They were the two main songs used in the trailer: the music from “Be Italian” and the excitement from “Cinema Italiano.” For example, the scene showing the main character Guido spraying champagne everywhere was from “Cinema Italiano” and lasted maybe 2 seconds in the movie itself.

Burn After Reading
Another great film that was slightly misrepresented by the trailer. The trailer makes the movie seem a lot more fast-paced and funny than it was. The movie, in fact, is a bit darker. This is also another example of music making me love the trailer even more — Elbow’s “Grounds For Divorce” is in this one.

Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace
This trailer was so great because it was so highly anticipated. I remember when it came out while I was in high school people would analyze every second of it for clues about what the first new Star Wars film was going to be like. There was nothing spectacular about the trailer itself — it was the excitement about the what the trailer represented. In the end the movie was pretty bad (my least favorite of all Star Wars films).

So those are my best examples of trailers that are better (or vastly different) than the movies themselves. What am I forgetting? Admitedly trailers aren’t as memorable as the films themselves, so I’m surely missing a lot.

Charts

July 2010 Chart

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This one is on time! (And by on time I mean I posted it on the 22nd of the month which is when I intend to post these charts.)

Next month marks one year of me doing these charts. Look for a post in the next couple of weeks with some stats on the charts (most frequently charting artist! most frequently charting DJ!) and a best-of chart for the first year (one track from each month).

This month is, of course, full of awesome:

Bonus: You can now see/hear all of these in a YouTube playlist: July 2010 Chart YouTube Playlist.

Charts

June 2010 Chart

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Probably the latest-posted chart yet… but think of it this way: The July 2010 chart (which will of course be packed-full of goodness) is just around the corner!

Music, Wong Kar-Wai

Great Moments In Juxtaposition

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Just finished watching Wong Kar-Wai‘s Happy Together again and the end reminded me of something I love in film: taking a really happy song and playing it against a really depressing scene.

Two moments immediately came to mind, though I’m sure there are many more (and would love input from others):

First, of course, is the end scene of Happy Together. Without spoiling much, it”s just a very lonely time in the movie and Danny Chung’s cover of “Happy Together” by the Turtles with its happy lyrics and tone makes the loneliness of the film that much stronger.

The first time I encountered this happy vs. sad juxtaposition was Michael Moore‘s Roger and Me. Toward the end there is a scene where Moore shows the economically depressed Flint, MI and plays it against the Beach Boy’s “Wouldn’t It Be Nice.”

Granted, both “Happy Together” and “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” have a slight sadness to them, the way they work with the scenes in both films takes the tiny bit of melancholy and multiplies it by a thousand.

Charts

May 2010 Chart

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Sorry it’s late this month. Tons of tracks to make up for it… Not as many remixes this time — lots of original versions of songs. Weird, eh?

Charts

April 2010 Chart

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Record number of tracks!