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food for thought



hello all,
I am back from a 6 week tour that took me across Europe as well as to
Denver and Vancouver in NA...I was waiting to get on a plane to Glasgow at
Luton Airport in London when I saw a TV/CNN displaying the image of a
burning skyscraper...not knowing what was going on (the angle of the shot
of the WTC showed only one tower...so I did not immediately recognize it) I
wandered over to the TV to watch and my jaw dropped in horror as I realized
what was going on...at that point I saw the second plane hit the other
tower...I thought I was having a nightmare...I looked around me and saw
that there were 30 - 40 people all gathered around the TV muttering "oh my
god" to themselves...getting on a plane after that wasn't easy...while
standing there watching CNN I got several SMS messages on my mobile from
friends asking if I had seen the news...it felt like I was drowning in
media...overwhelmed and dazed I started to piece together the events...and
as I did this other news came in about the Pentagon and the other plane
crash...and all I could think of is my family back in the US so I called my
wife in San Francisco to talk with her...being 6AM in CA she had not yet
heard the news and turned on CNN...again, "oh my god" was all she could say
as she watched in total disbelief...I became glued to the TV at that point
and watched the BBC news as much as I could...the news media in the UK
presented a different view than what was being fed to the US...there was
much more talk of why this might have happened, the sorry state of the US
foreign policy on Isreal, Palestine and the Middle East and the sheer
arrogance and aloofness the US showed Afganistan after pulling out in the
late 80's and leaving their country in ruins...I do not condone violence on
any level but this attack came as no surprise to me...the US is sheltered
from how others around the world see us and we need to wake up and start
questioning the political values we embrace and the values we export
through the media...we are a violent country and need to rethink our
values...coming back to the US after being out of the country is always an
eye-opener...road rage, complacency and materialism are prevelent
everywhere...and the images of flags and patriotism do little to cover up
for the festering pit of moral/cultural decay and ignorance our country has
been allowed to sink into...I offer no answers except that we might start
by trying to see oursleves as others see us...and then evaluate what we
might be able to do to change the way we (and our govt) treat other
people...

speaking of treating other people: while I was away I had no less than 6 or
7 people all email me either wanting to kick so-and-so off the list for
saying something offensive or wanting to unsub from the list for being
offended by something that was posted...please, remember that freedom of
speech is not always an easy value to put into practice and it is always
going to be tested by those who are deliberately offensive or aiming to get
stir out of people...so in reponse to the emails: no-one will be kicked off
the microsound list for anything they have posted...if you are offended
please let the person and the list know that you have been offended and
then try to resolve your differences off-list in a humane and mature
manner...this is democracy in action...isn't this what we're all whipped up
into a patriotic ferver about by the media these days?

on the other hand I am also free to state my opinion and I must say that
some of the posts to the list I read after I got back were totally immature
and typical of a juvenile need to piss people off...this is just my
judgement but it is an insecure and maladjusted individual who feels like
they need to prey on and manipulate the emotional reactions of others in a
time of tragedy...all I can say is that giving these people attention on
the list only gives them the satisfation they seek...tell them they are
being offensive in a private email and then just ignore them...hopefully
they will move on and let the list evolve into something they were unable
to contribute to...

over the last couple of years the microsound list has degenerated into
little more than a trainspotting fan-boy list that has little to do with
what the founders intended: to develop philosophical dialog about (post)
digital/glitch/microsound/etc music...what the microsound list has settled
into is mostly postings about what software a particular artist is using,
what cool new CD's are being released and tons of personal reviews of
shows, gear, software and CD's...I see no need to try to control this but I
find myself reading the list less and less and have often considered
unsub'ing over the past 6 months...the anti-intellectualism practiced by
some on this list is indicitive of all the worst things found in pop
culture: low brow consumerism practiced by those wanting little more than
entertainment...whenever a good intellectual/philosophical dicussion gets
going there always seems to be some bitchy, asshole remarks thrown in at
someones personal expense...this is unproductive and honestly gets a little
tired after a while...I ignore it if I can or I confront the offender
off-list so as not to throw "chum" into the shark-infested-waters this list
can become at times...

so in closing, I am not going to answer *any* emails regarding this
post...just read it and think about where this list is headed and what part
you want to play (via your posts) in where a potentially exciting sub-genre
of computer music is headed...I think a change is needed in how we think
and conduct ourselves...especially in light of what took place on 9-11...

over and out,
KIM