To Brighten Your Day
I was sitting in the little apartment we had taken for a week in Florence after our Winter School. Waiting to go out to dinner, I leafed through back copies of Gente (People) and read simple-minded interviews with whorish starlets and whoring TV presenters. I looked at a picture of an heir to the house of Savoia, who, though claiming fidelity to his wife, was posing like a rough trade model. Jeezum, I exclaimed in disgust, what nasty spoiled children, and I turned on the television to see the same people on game shows and variety shows. Only Gerry Scotti, though divorced, does not seem to parade his dirty underwear in public. I might as well have been in Rockford, watching American Idol or Dancing With the Stars. The whole world has become the Hollywood America of retarded housewives and sports fans in arrested adolescence.
Flipping through the channels in a vain search for the Italian news—the apartment only got local channels—I came across a strange video. A somewhat sluttish and not especially pretty female, wearing a demure though motley dress that might have been designed for the Mad Hatter's sister, was singing from out of the window of a small travel trailer:
I want to be rich and I want lots of money
I don't care about clever I don't care about funny
I want loads of clothes and f-ckloads of diamonds
I heard people die while they are trying to find them.
She jumps out of the trailer singing her way into a mansion filled with dancing gentlemen (or are they valets?):
And I'll take my clothes off and it will be shameless
'Cause everyone knows that's how you get famous
I'll look at the sun and I'll look in the mirror
I'm on the right track, yeah I'm on to a winner.I don't know what's right and what's real anymore
And I don't know how I'm meant to feel anymore
And when do you think it will all become clear?
'Cause I'm being taken over by the fear.Life's about film stars and less about nmothers
It's all about fast cars and cussing each other
But it doesn't matter cause I'm packing plastic
And that's what makes my life so f-cking fantastic.And I am a weapon of massive consumption
And it's not my fault how I'm programmed to function
I'll look at the sun and I'll look in the mirror
I'm on the right track, yeah we're on to a winner.I don't know what's right and what's real anymore
And I don't know how I'm meant to feel anymore
And when do you think it will all become clear?
'Cause I'm being taken over by the fear.Forget about guns and forget ammunition
'Cause I'm killing them all on my own little mission
Now I'm not a saint but I'm not a sinner
Now everything's cool as long as I'm getting thinner.I don't know what's right and what's real anymore
And I don't know how I'm meant to feel anymore
And when do you think it will all become clear?
'Cause I'm being taken over by the fear.
The video is available on YouTube.
The singer who co-wrote the song is professional bad girl Lilly Allen, whose faux-cockney puts her into the genre of music sometimes described as "mockney." Though claiming a childhood of poverty, Allen is the offspring of a popular comic actor and public school boy and a mother who is a TV producer. Is this a naïve expression of the prevailing way of life today, satire, or—as I think—both? (And, please please please don't send in Wikipedia information on her scandalous life or her third nipple.)
Meanwhile, the redoubtable Fred Reed has come to a similar conclusion. Here are two paragraphs from his farewell column on the internet sent to me yesterday by "Robert."
My reasons for writing were, first, to see whether a web column could work and, second, to get away from the strangling grasp of political correctness. A third reason, common I suppose to most columnists, was the hope that, however minor my voice might be, in combination with thousands of others it might engender pressure for slowing the rush into the high-tech medieval twilight that the culture has undertaken.
This by now is clearly quixotic. The civilizational changes we now see are both irremediable and beyond control. The peasantrification and empty glitter of society, pervasive hostility to careful thought, onrushing authoritarianism, and distaste for cultivation are now endemic. I do not know where these lead, but we are assuredly going to get there. Fuming buys nothing.
I have met Mr. Reed and until a few months ago did not know of his existence, but looking over a few of his columns, I got an impression of a smarter and franker sort of man than is usually encountered in print or, especially, on the internet.
What else is there to say about the world we live in? Miss Allen and Mr. Reed have just about covered it. The other day I was talking with an intelligent telephone repairman, and he asked me if I had any hope in the younger generation. I told him hope—sure; faith—no. People under 50 are far more servile and cowardly than my own generation, and people under 30 are much much worse. I think of Myra Viveash's remark when someone mentioned (near the end of Aldous Huxley's Antic Hay) the word tomorrow: "Tomorrow will be as awful as today." Poor Mrs. Viveash was an optimist.
And, no, though I am delighted to be working again, I am not especially happy to be back.
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Well if he is not happy to be back, I for one am happy to have Dr. Fleming back. I appreciate this excellent piece, especially in light of having listened to Mr. Hunter's podcast with Mr. Waco on the new TakiMag podcast. Mr. Waco was literally gushing about how young people were likely to join the Ron Paul movement and what this meant for the future. Then he plugged the Young Americans for Liberty and their new magazine. Have we not heard this before? Ah yes the group that would pick up the pieces of the Goldwater defeat in 1964....and gave us Dan Quayle, David Keene and Chris Cox (to be fair, it also gave us Tom Tancredo). Yep, Young Americans for Freedom. Dr. Fleming and Mr. Reed are spot on and to close our eyes to the future mess does nothing to help us. No matter how many "conservative" films National Review lists or how the young writers at the here and now gone Culture 11 assure us that American Idol and the malls are "conservative" (yes, I am taking ideas from Richard Spencer over at Taki's-if only because I agree with him here) things are getting worse and we should stop thinking otherwise.
"And, no, though I am delighted to be working again, I am not especially happy to be back"
Bentornato,Egregio Signore!Dai berci su,presto tornerai nel Bel Paese,nel frattempo abbiamo bisogno della tua presenza ed erudizione.E' come.
Italy is the land of the Renaissance,not the Reformation.I for one am grateful of that.By the way,the Savoyards were in the pay of the British at the end of the last war.I'm sure the Brits got their money's worth.Credit where credit is due.
I'm probably the youngest commenter around here,so I believe I may be allowed to defend myself and my own.And I hope you dont take this personally my friend,but the quotation above brings to mind a maxim of La Rochefoucauld's:"Old people are fond of giving good advice;it consoles them for no longer being capable of setting a bad example."
USQUE AD FINEM.
Dr.Fleming,
A wise teacher once remarked that poetry in the broad meaning of the term is always interested in those folks who were too much or too little for mere men. Dante notes that the vestibule of hell is full of souls who were neither courageous enough for heaven, nor sinful enough for hell. I haven't decided where you will end your time forever (God alone decides) but knowing you as I do,( and admiring you as I do) I would predict based upon the inspiration of these poets who see further in the dark, that you are bound for either heaven or hell.
Although I have some Piedmontese friends who are partisans of the House of Savoia, I am not, though I do think the statement that the entire family was in the pay of the British--as opposed to accepting gifts--may be overstated. The current issue has a longish review of mine on a recent book on the past 200 years of Italian history. As you may imagine, I was much too kind to the entirely worthless author.
I am not suggesting the introduction of a puritanical morality, far from it, but the Italian state founded by the Risorgimento has deliberately made war on many precious aspects of Italian life, and that pace has accelerated over the years. I do not believe I have given unasked for advice in some time, indeed, my personal motto is now, "Answer no unasked questions." It is not the immorality of the young I find revolting but their stupidity, servility, and crassness. I do not say this of everyone, only that the public appearance and behavior of young people today gives ample reasons why they are not reproducing. What I can't understand is why these things bother to mate at all. Surely, virtual sex for them must be better than the reality
" but the Italian state founded by the Risorgimento has deliberately made war on many precious aspects of Italian life"
Ah yes,the much maligned whipping-boy of latter day Guelphs.The Risorgimento was not without its serious flaws,but what alternative was there?Perpetual division breeding weakness and vulnerability?A vulnerability that merely played into the hands of barbarous revolutionaries?
Without the Risorgimento you have perpetual domination from the "Elder Daughter of the Church" and her revolutionary escapades.Luigi Chiaramonti-Pope Pius VII-illustrates the point well enough.
Catholics have made their own "letto Risorgimentale."Now they must lie in it.(Also see article quoted below)
" I do not believe I have given unasked for advice..."
Substitute "criticism" for "advice" and I believe the maxim holds.
"...only that the public appearance and behavior of young people today gives ample reasons why they are not reproducing. What I can’t understand is why these things bother to mate at all."
I dont mean to be immodest but if I may quote at length from an interesting article by Silvio Waldner,"Immigrazione extracomunitaria e denatalità europea",you may wish to revise your opinions of the causes of the current low birth rate.
I think Fred Reed used to write for Lew Rockwell, but got the boot after making some comments that were judged too racial.
Dr. Fleming's aggravation may be at least partially explained by his lack of cynicism. For example:
I leafed through back copies of Gente
I turned on the television
I'm not of course judging. Most people at least occasionally find themselves unable to resist the allure of such time-wasters. Personally, however, I can count on my hands the number of full-length TV airings I have watched in the last five years, and I make it a habit to carry a good novel with me so I'll not be tempted to pick up something so backward and Amen-cornerish as The Economist.
I readily concede the vast majority of my peers (I am 24) are worthless. Ignoring the main outlets of their culture makes it that much easier to see the other 0.5 percent. The rest of the world can die off and wewon't miss it, if we have cut it out of our lives.
I am not moralising. Maybe it's easier for a man like me, who has never known a world where the "mainstream" contained even a remnant of decency and beauty. Still, there are good things among the bad. Sometimes.
P.S.: For similar reasons, I am not, unlike most other single unattached Americans living abroad long-term, active in any Anglo-American community organisations. I have met few Anglophone expatriates who were truly worth talking with and the only reason I have met more Francophones worth talking with is because the latter are by far more numerous in France, even in Paris.
P.P.S.: To Semipronius: having lived in cosmopolitan cities, small towns and suburbs alike, I say with confidence that if I ever marry, I will have had great fortune to find a woman, let alone one who is still marriageable.
To Red Phillips (#6): my recollection is that it was Bob Wallace, and not Fred Reed, who got the boot from Lew Rockwell.
As a Ghibelline, I take exception to being lumped with the Guelphs. In fact, Italians had many choices, including the federalist plan of Carlo Cattaneo, who would have united Italy but on a system more like Switzerland or the US pre-1860. The Risorgimento was anti-Catholic and anti-Christian in essence, whether we think it is exemplified by Mazzini, Garibaldi, or Cavour. What are the results? An Italy that in the 19th century could produce Manzoni, Pius IX, Leopardi, and Carducci gradually dwindles into the Italy of only Sicilian writers who escaped the mentality of the Risorgimento, the author of the Leopard and Sciascia and, perhaps, the great Lombard, Gadda. I don't want to be dogmatic on Italian politics, because it is far too rich a subject for mere ideology, and Sempronius is making valid important points that I appreciate very much, even when or even especially when I do not agree.
The decline in the birth rates of great European nations is, again, a complicated phenomenon, but it certainly includes such factors as the separation of sex from procreation and marriage. Another important element, at least one that can be examined statistically, is the development of the welfare state. Another is urbanization. And yes, insecurity is important, but in poverty-stricken Sicily 100 years, babies were seen as an investment into the future. The collapse of faith in every form and its replacement by ideology is surely one of the contributing causes of the spiritual malaise affecting the West, and here the Jacobin-inspired Risorgimento must bear some of the blame.
Finally, I don't at all blame the savage brutes of our society their refusal to grow up. People have always been sheep, and these days the shepherds have turned into concentration guards enforcing a regime of infantilism. I would blame my generation and those of my parents, but then we/they were sheep too.
As an obiter dictum, I should say that I like much of Italian popular culture, even some of the more recent films and pop music, and I have a genuine affection for the earlier generations of this century, singers like Carlo Buti and Claudio Villa (I am just now downloading Villa's "Grandi Successi" from ITunes, and I cannot get enough of early Fellini films like the White Sheik and I Vitelloni. Italy has one great advantage over America. Not only did she not suffer the Reformation, but she survived the barbarian invasions in better shape, spiritually and culturally, than most of Europe. Thus in returning to paganism, it is a far more agreeable Roman paganism as opposed to the Nordic paganism of Scandinavia, which is simply bestial in its current form. Speaking in shorthand on these website exchanges, I fear we often begin talking past each other rather than to each other. Do you know, by the way, an interesting recent song Nel Mio Quartiere by Paolo Amati? Any suggestions about decent or interesting Italian songs and films would be much appreciated.
michigander, you are very correct. I apologize. Someone can take down my original post if they want to.
To NPGM, I would say in my defense that when I travel, looking at newspapers, magazines, and TV, however briefly, is an efficient way of thinking my way back into the country. Hence I always watch Chi vuol essere millionario, on the stray moments I have available, and a show called heredita, I think, which features remarkably detailed questions on Italian geography and culture, questions that assume a very high degree of knowledge of the participants and the audience. At home, I do not have cable and will soon be entirely cut off when the great switchover takes place. We do occasionally watch the local news to find out when the water will be switched off or which Mexican gang is killing which other gang.
The song is typical of contemporary pop culture. Being relatively young, I would like to think of myself as an expert. Her lyrics are essentially pre-packaged social commentary that is as shallow as the lifestyle of which she is critical. Every time an artist, whether pop, rap, or rock, attempts to say something meaningful about the world in which he lives, the content usually takes one of two forms: Criticism of the shallowness of Western culture or a form of what Dr. Fleming, in the Morality of Everyday Life, called the pornography of compassion (some band lamenting the poverty in the world and admonishing its fans for not doing enough to alleviate it).
There is, though, perhaps something redeeming about it. Most people, the young included, instinctively feel that something is missing in both their lives and in society as a whole. In college, some of the students turn to Marxism because it appears,at least, to offer a coherent critique of our culture of mass consumption and materialism. Ultimately, though, it doesn't. Its just another ideology that offers nothing that can satisfy normal human needs. This is why, I think, that Chronicles is so important. It provides both a critique of modernity from a traditional perspective and paints a picture of human nature that is not essentially liberal.
As someone under the age of 50, raised in the Piedmont of North Carolina, taught to run cows, stack slabs at the sawmill, prime tobacco, pick peaches, detest foreign influence (mainly restricted to the next town over), pray over my Highland ancestry and so forth I hereby challenge Dr Fleming to a duel.
The loser will be forced to watch MTV.
McCallum
@4 Tom
As an adopted Virginian I'm not so much worried about what the Risogimento did to Italy, I'm more worried by the fascism of the Bush-Clinton-Bush-Obama regimes. A brief field trip around the federal buildings will reveal decorative eagles and faggots -- the symbols of both the Roman empire and Mussolili's little experiment. We are well on the road to fascism. It's a harsh fact of life, so get used to it!
@Dr. Fleming: I didn't mean to chastise or judge (not that I would be capable of chastising you in any event), only to muse that it is perhaps expecting too much from TV to expect anything less than pure filth. But if you have found worthwhile TV programmes in France or Italy then you are an even better searcher than I, who have always prided myself on being able to find anything, anywhere.
As for my generation, I am sorry for them, but unfortunately, I have to live with the fruits of their stupidity. If it ever comes down to war to defend what is good they will have to be cut down along with the enemies who actually do know what they are doing. They just can't underbreed themselves fast enough.
"Thus in returning to paganism, it is a far more agreeable Roman paganism as opposed to the Nordic paganism of Scandinavia, which is simply bestial in its current form."
Question: did Nordic pagans have mass-rituals with openly bisexual females in a polygamous state? (This is a description of the TV reality show I had the misfortune to notice when I stepped into the living room while my former roommate was watching cable and reason number 1064 why I have not bothered to purchase a TV for my current flat).
After viewing the song, I think it surely is meant to be at least partly tongue-in-cheek and satirical, but it is pretty nasty nonetheless. (I would have preferred to live my live without knowing that such a word as "f___loads" had been coined.)
If it makes anyone feel any better, Allen is not very popular in the U.S. This song didn't even make the U.S. top 40, although it was #1 in the U.K. (Sorry, I did check Wikipedia.) Of course, many equally or more repulsive people are quite popular here, so perhaps that is no victory.
I did not cite the song to attack the unfortunate Miss Allen. It is through poetry and song that we get a glimpse into the heart and mind of a people. I get exposed all too often to contemporary pop music, which I do not find, generally, entertaining or enlightening. The best people tend to be almost as old as I am--Tom Petty or Mark Knopfler--and it is genuinely refreshing to find anyone doing anything with the genre, f-words or not. Allen has not made it in the US and has only performed at minor clubs, but she has a tour lined up and this video went to the top, apparently. Admittedly I don't know much about rock videos. The last one I remember was "Last Dance with Mary Jane." But, until I can achieve my dream of escaping this world entirely , it is partly my job to expose myself to the viruses and see what effect they have. It is getting harder and harder. There may be two or three films made in the last 25 years that I sat through and enjoyed seeing.
Obviously, postChristianity is far more disgusting than preChristianity, but postChristian Mediterranean people have preserved some remnants of civility. Interesting story from the UK today. One Alfie, young looking for his 13 years, has impregnated his 15 year old girl friend, and the families are perfectly delighted. http://uk.news.yahoo.com/5/20090213/tuk-alfie-13-i-ll-be-a-good-dad-45dbed5.html
Scott Richert commented, in sending it to me, that it might have come from the Onion.
Don't give up all hope for the entire generation quite yet... I am still under thirty, a former homeschooler turned homeschooling mother, oldest of five children and intending to have more than the three I have now. There are still a few of us left fighting out there.
Since life is graded on a curve, it stands to reason that most art is crap. Why the kids turn to Marxism in college, because they can wrap their silly little minds around their ego and hate their parents/race at the same time, a twofer.
To Kate, I would say that I have met more promising people in her generation than in my own. It is the overall quality that is on the decline. But some younger people, staring this ugly reality in the face, have come to proper conclusions about the public schools, mass culture, and the political class. Whatever good may be done for the future is in your hands. I don't quite understand Mr. Simmons. Most art today is garbage, but in the history of the world most art had some merit, if only some technical proficiency. Far worse than the students are the teachers, not just because they are Marxists and feminists, but because they are as smug as they are ignorant. Professor after professor have written diatribes against the students' ignorance, in which they display their own incapacity. If President Barry wanted to do one good thing, he would cut off all federal funding to colleges.
" Do you know, by the way, an interesting recent song Nel Mio Quartiere by Paolo Amati? Any suggestions about decent or interesting Italian songs and films would be much appreciated."
Havent forgotten.I'll try an respond to this post more fully later on.By the way how do you create hyperlinks in these posts?
"Obviously, postChristianity is far more disgusting than preChristianity, but postChristian Mediterranean people have preserved some remnants of civility."
No, I agree wholeheartedly. As irritating as I find Paris, it is infinitely preferable to the alternative: as I said to a very young French priest who has never had the great fortune to visit our country, does not in fact want to and does not (so far as I can tell) even speak English, "If you've seen Paris, you've seen New York City, and ten times more beautifully." I'm just not sure "Pagan" is the appropriate term to class what we have become; I think my barbarian ancestors would be frankly insulted by the application of the label "barbarian" to most people alive today.
"One Alfie, young looking for his 13 years, has impregnated his 15 year old girl friend, and the families are perfectly delighted."
Actually, I find this less disturbing than most of what I read in the papers. Boys used to go through puberty at about age 17 (and as an aside, the drop to about 13 or 14 is one major reason why women are now allowed to sing in liturgical choirs [it is difficult to control a good soprano or alto before the teen years, and once puberty hits a man can never be more than a tenor]. Our young friend Alfie is one of the few young men whose emotions have caught up with their bodies; he is to be congratulated for planting his seed in the human race from so early on!
(And if you cannot see the acidic sarcasm dripping from my mouth and dissolving the corner of my lip...)
TJF@10: "Bread and Chocolate" was a funny yet poignant movie of an Italian illegal immigrant in Switzerland and the degradation his inferior race is subjected to....
The negative birthrates of European countries is unfortunate, but not necessarily the end. For example, the population of France today is 62,000,000, but in 1800 it was only 27,000,000. It could easily be argued that the France of 1800 is superior to France today. With fewer people, there would be more opportunities for agriculture and space for people to develop; and the standard of living could be higher. (Today France's population density is around 300,000 per square mile, which is low compared with the Netherlands, but still high by historical standards.) In short, European countries can endure a population decline and still prosper. Their civilizations could, in theory, see a rebirth. The current generation will have the burden of taking care of more older people, but they could make such sacrifices. The key, though, is immigration. European countries must end all immigration. If they do not, they will suffer demographic replacement, and then "Europe" will not be Europe.
The negative birthrates of European countries are unfortunate, but not necessarily the end. For example, the population of France today is 62,000,000, but in 1800 it was only 27,000,000. It could easily be argued that the France of 1800 is superior to France today, even considering the horrors after the revolution. With fewer people, there would be more opportunities for agriculture and space for people to develop; and the standard of living could be higher. (Today France’s population density is around 300,000 per square mile, which is low compared with the Netherlands, but still high by historical standards.) In short, European countries can endure a population decline and still prosper. Their civilizations could, in theory, see a rebirth. The current generation will have the burden of taking care of more senior citizens, but they could make such sacrifices. The key, though, is immigration. European countries must end all immigration. If they do not, they will suffer demographic replacement, and then “Europe” will not be Europe.
I'm not saying it's a good thing that people are not having children, but only that Third World immigration is a greater threat as far as the continuity of civilization is concerned.
(Sorry to change the topic to France, but I could not recall the population statistics of Italy.)
A colleague told me I should go to a bar tonight, as there will be plenty of sad and depressed single French girls waiting to be taken advantage of. I remarked, "That could be an interesting St. Valentine's Day... I become a father." More likely, of course, my newly-created French family would end in a clandestine "IVG" (i.e., poking scissors through the back of my child's skull and then draining his brain with a vacuum).
I have wondered if M.A. Roberts might be right; if leftist underbreeding is just a natural Darwinian way of necessarily thinning out the Occidental and even world population as well as, to boot, getting rid of all the bad (i.e., leftist) elements by sterilising and finally extinguishing them for eternity.
I'm going to stop before I break my New Year's resolution altogether. Happy St. Valentine, everyone.
” Do you know, by the way, an interesting recent song Nel Mio Quartiere by Paolo Amati? Any suggestions about decent or interesting Italian songs and films would be much appreciated.”
Fleming, if you're out there check your editors e-mail box.I decided to bypass moderation and send over a bunch of songs I hope you like.
Thanks to Sempronius for the links. Here is a little secret. If you want your guests to be happy, play Carlo Buti, Claudio Villa, Modugno, even Zucchero. If you don't care, give them Goran Bregovic or Serbian Gypsy music. If you want them out NOW, put on any recording of a Guslar and crank it up. I am fond of gusle music, but even most Serbs draw the line there. One friend said it sounded like a cross between a bagpipe and a camel being castrated.
"I am fond of gusle music, but even most Serbs draw the line there"
My favorite is Djordjije Koprivica. I would also mention Slavko Aleksic of the older generation. He has an academic approach to gusle. Milomir Miljanic has to be mentioned. Look out for the new kid on the block, Milos Segrt.
You're right, DKO. M. Segrt is a name to remember.
I've bumped onto one of his early jams, from the famous St. Vitus Day celebration at Dalmatinsko Kosovo in 1989, just recently. He was a toddler back then, which gave a particular kick to his performance. On a serious note, there is a great deal of truth in Dr. Fleming's remark - the gusle music is, simply, a kind of tune that sounds a tad bit too tough (or too atavistic, if you will) to be played through one's birthday party, in a car or during the gym session.
However, gusle is here to stay, thanks to their enthusiasts. It is to be kept and cherished; if nothing else, as the essential tool in preserving that wonderful metric of Serbian epic poetry, through those centuries of hardship. It is curious that almost none of Serbian/former Yugoslav rock 'n roll authors haven't thought of doing some crazy experiment with gusle , although many of them have found their way into other folk-inspired projects. Apart from Rambo Amadeus who has done his finest job so far with "Smrt popa Mila Jovovica", all I can think of is that powerful opening of a Zabranjeno Pusenje number, "Tri ratna havera" (perhaps the most vivid performance from that final-farewell-to-Sarajevo-part of their career).
As for Bregovic, although not among his most persistent fans, I must admit that the guy has made some interesting music. And, at a risk of making some serious enemies at this site
, I must recommend a Modena City Ramblers' latest rendition of Bella Ciao, done in a collaboration with Bregovic. Though I'm much more used to Italian original melody, I've found this combination of Italian partisan lyrics and Serbian trumpets simply amazing.
Anyhow, this off-topic with gusle got carried me away a bit. My initial question to Dr. Fleming was going to be related to his observation on Petty and Knopfler, ie. the older generation of rock 'n roll performers in general. How about Bob Dylan's later work, Dr. Fleming? If I understood correctly in one of your earlier columns, you were appalled by that pointless hype and hypnosis that haunted the Dylan fandom for decades. What did he mean by saying this, what was the inner substance of his lyrics when he said that... that sort of thing. I can understand being annoyed by that: if a memory serves right, so is Dylan himself (though, I enjoyed this new video, with Harry Dean Stanton in a role of an old Dylan bootlegger).
But, I'd be interested in hearing your opinion about Bob's later work. The man is so deeply enamored with your nation's past and history, that it's more than obvious. Plus, his recent pieces of a social commentary (Masked And Anonymous, the gutsiest movie I've seen in years, as well as his latest album, The Modern Times), at the moments sounded to me as having been taken from some of your editorials here at the Chroniclesmagazine.org.
PS
This young British singer I've missed to know anything of so far, but I find her enthusiasm well... refreshing. As someone noted before (Edward, comment No.13), there is not much that a young aspiring performer can do, except following one of the offered the patterns of posing tough. The girl is not Joe Strummer (or Fred, for that matter!), all right, but she's doing her best in making the point. Not too bad in my humble opinion. Plus this mockney of hers, is not devoid of charm.
Dr. Fleming, could you expand on 'servile'?
A colleague told me I should go to a bar tonight, as there will be plenty of sad and depressed single French girls waiting to be taken advantage of. I remarked, “That could be an interesting St. Valentine’s Day… I become a father.”
Why not just go out and get drunk as a lord!I wish I was in Paris.I was there once as a boy.Visiting family who live in Brussels.We spent a day in Paris.
Why not cheer those French girls up?Let them "take advantage" of you!
In response to TJF's "Is this a naïve expression of the prevailing way of life today, satire, or—as I think—both?" in the main post.
I wonder if most (99.9%) people who watch this are capable of recognizing satire. Satire is mean, it is not PC, it mocks our (invaluable) diversity! Not to mention that satire requires a base in some moral stance.
I occasionally force myself to watch some of the slop that airs on major networks during primetime. I recently caught an episode of "Two and a Half Men." At first I thought it was a biting, though not well-written, satire on the lusting, baudy adolescence that most American men have not outgrown. Then I paused and realized the show was on at 7 p.m. It was a "family comedy." If its writers intended satire, I think few Americans will grasp it. Instead, I think the show is intended to be lusty, baudy adolescent humor: boys laughing at tales of their peers being caught in naughty acts that the boys secretly wish they had had the luck of being caught in.
Seinfeld has the same effect on me. To me it is a satire on the vapid mind and spineless morality of modern man. Yet I think people watch it because it somehow represents the humor of the modern human condition. It is not satire; rather it is a silly and clever look at the silly and clever way we are. I know "educated" people who think Seinfeld is seriously classic humor (not satire).
About the only satire anyone can get away with these days is aimed at stuffy, old (paleo) conservatives.
I just celebrated my 50th and I am getting "out of touch," so I would be interested in the views of the younger participants: do your peers recognize satire?
It's worth noting, Dr. Fleming, while you were out of town, no less than Alison Krauss and Robert Plant dominated the 'Grammy's.' For my generation and socio-political compatriots, the combination will likely be a landmark in much the way Johnny Cash, covering a couple Seattle/LA Industrial songs (Soundgarden's 'Rusty Cage' and Nine Inch Nail's/Trent Reznor's 'Hurt') completing the existential journey of faithlessness to faith for those moderns, like me, who came of age in the 90s--maybe, just for me, but I doubt it.
In a dismal time, I can't help but have a tiny bit of faith--if only in the emerging mass pop musical scene.
It's interesting that this should have turned to Italian and Serbian music, as I've recently discovered an ear for Southern Italian and Eastern European folk music but I have no idea where to begin discovering the music itself. Are there any good samplers or resources anyone would suggest?
Excellent observations Mr. Roberts.Sometimes "less is more."
Although not unrelated,the immigration problem and the demographic question are distinct.In the interest of clarity,they need to be kept separate in people's minds.
As far as senior citizens are concerned,one greatly overlooked fact-overlooked on every side-is the greater productivity of the average modern worker.Advanced technology and sophisticated production techniques have increased the average workers productivity over the last generation by a factor of about four or five.Thats four or five times more wealth to distribute to old-timers.Old demographic ratios do not have to be maintained.
Many of the "immigrants" to Europe are destined to be repatriated.That is,if they're lucky.And there is much potential in the idea of extra-Europeans re-populating semi-abandoned European provinces.There is plenty of European blood around for such a project.
Obviously there are serious problems with contemporary demographic decline cum third world invasion,but the situation is not lost.Cool heads,resourcefulness,and raw brain-power are what's required.
I still cannot figure out now to approve comments in moderation. Here are two from Boyan--is this our old friend Boyan K from Vojvodina?
Anyhow, this off-topic with gusle got carried me away a bit. My initial question to Dr. Fleming was going to be related to his observation on Petty and Knopfler, ie. the older generation of rock ‘n roll performers in general. How about Bob Dylan’s later work, Dr. Fleming? If I understood correctly in one of your earlier columns, you were appalled by that pointless hype and hypnosis that haunted the Dylan fandom for decades. What did he mean by saying this, what was the inner substance of his lyrics when he said that… that sort of thing. I can understand being annoyed by that: if a memory serves right, so is Dylan himself (though, I enjoyed this new video, with Harry Dean Stanton in a role of an old Dylan bootlegger).
But, I’d be interested in hearing your opinion about Bob’s later work. The man is so deeply enamored with your nation’s past and history, that it’s more than obvious. Plus, his recent pieces of a social commentary (Masked And Anonymous, the gutsiest movie I’ve seen in years, as well as his latest album, The Modern Times), at the moments sounded to me as having been taken from some of your editorials here at the Chroniclesmagazine.org.
PS
This young British singer I’ve missed to know anything of so far, but I find her enthusiasm well… refreshing. As someone noted before (Edward, comment No.13), there is not much that a young aspiring performer can do, except following one of the offered the patterns of posing tough. The girl is not Joe Strummer (or Fred, for that matter!), all right, but she’s doing her best in making the point. Not too bad in my humble opinion. Plus this mockney of hers, is not devoid of charm.
Anyhow, this off-topic with gusle got carried me away a bit. My initial question to Dr. Fleming was going to be related to his observation on Petty and Knopfler, ie. the older generation of rock 'n roll performers in general. How about Bob Dylan's later work, Dr. Fleming? If I understood correctly in one of your earlier columns, you were appalled by that pointless hype and hypnosis that haunted the Dylan fandom for decades. What did he mean by saying this, what was the inner substance of his lyrics when he said that... that sort of thing. I can understand being annoyed by that: if a memory serves right, so is Dylan himself (though, I enjoyed this new video, with Harry Dean Stanton in a role of an old Dylan bootlegger). But, I'd be interested in hearing your opinion about Bob's later work. The man is so deeply enamored with your nation's past and history, that it's more than obvious. Plus, his recent pieces of a social commentary (Masked And Anonymous, the gutsiest movie I've seen in years, as well as his latest album, The Modern Times), at the moments sounded to me as having been taken from some of your editorials here at the Chroniclesmagazine.org. PS This young British singer I've missed to know anything of so far, but I find her enthusiasm well... refreshing. As someone noted before (Edward, comment No.13), there is not much that a young aspiring performer can do, except following one of the offered the patterns of posing tough. The girl is not Joe Strummer (or Fred, for that matter!), all right, but she's doing her best in making the point. Not too bad in my humble opinion. Plus this mockney of hers, is not devoid of charm.
Boyan
You’re right, DKO. M. Segrt is a name to remember.
I’ve bumped onto one of his early jams, from the famous St. Vitus Day celebration at Dalmatinsko Kosovo in 1989, just recently. He was a toddler back then, which gave a particular kick to his performance. On a serious note, there is a great deal of truth in Dr. Fleming’s remark - the gusle music is, simply, a kind of tune that sounds a tad bit too tough (or too atavistic, if you will) to be played through one’s birthday party, in a car or during the gym session.
However, gusle is here to stay, thanks to their enthusiasts. It is to be kept and cherished; if nothing else, as the essential tool in preserving that wonderful metric of Serbian epic poetry, through those centuries of hardship. It is curious that almost none of Serbian/former Yugoslav rock ‘n roll authors haven’t thought of doing some crazy experiment with gusle , although many of them have found their way into other folk-inspired projects. Apart from Rambo Amadeus who has done his finest job so far with “Smrt popa Mila Jovovica”, all I can think of is that powerful opening of a Zabranjeno Pusenje number, “Tri ratna havera” (perhaps the most vivid performance from that final-farewell-to-Sarajevo-part of their career).
As for Bregovic, although not among his most persistent fans, I must admit that the guy has made some interesting music. And, at a risk of making some serious enemies at this site
, I must recommend a Modena City Ramblers’ latest rendition of Bella Ciao, done in a collaboration with Bregovic. Though I’m much more used to Italian original melody, I’ve found this combination of Italian partisan lyrics and Serbi
Is it just me, or does anyone else wonder how the views of leftists and liberals seem to become only MORE prevalent, even though they don't procreate?
To Nicholas : maybe these names will help you start.
HUNGARY -- try Marta Sebestyen (vocal), or Muzsikas, or Attacca (instrumental). Periferic Records is a good source.
SERBIA -- try Miroslav Tadic's duet recording "Krushevo," with Vlatko Stefanovic. I'm no expert on Serbian music; I only know (and recommend) Miroslav because he was a classmate in California many years ago. An excellent guitarist. Much of his other music is experimental and may be beyond the realm of what you seek.
BULGARIA -- "Tour '93" by the Bulgarian Women's Choir is sublime.
GEORGIA -- "Georgian Voices" by Rustavi Choir is equally so.
If you want any further recommendation you know where to find me.
To Dr. Fleming : here is a CD I caught my wife (who is studying Italian) listening to recently, and though it was pop (not my kind of music) the melodies and song structures this young singer was capable of almost reminded me of opera : CONTRADDIZIONI, by Pier Cortese. I just caught it in passing, so please don't hold me accountable for the details of the song content.
And continuing in the music theme, Al Stewart who reaches retirement age next year recently released a new album, Sparks of Ancient Light. While it is not as good as 2005's Shells On the Beach, it is far better than the wailing, groaning and ululating that passes for Anglo pop music these days. Al is primarily a poet, his lyrics rhyme, and he uses a song to tell a story. He'll be performing in Annapolis on March 2, and I'll be listening.
And as for Lilly Allen, I think she's either black humor or sarcasm. She's been on the scene for a couple of years already, and will soon be in the "where are they now" bin.
"Is it just me, or does anyone else wonder how the views of leftists and liberals seem to become only MORE prevalent, even though they don’t procreate?"
Is there anything to wonder? "Conservatives" refuse to see that the state apparatus is entirely in the hands of liberals, libertines, and socialists. What do you expect when our children are raised by public schools and immoral universities? C.f., Divini illius Magistri. In France, diocesean Catholic schools are typically écoles privées sous contrat, private schools under contract, meaning they are funded (controlled) by the state. They do not have the right to discriminate against potential students on the basis of religion, nor to reject the national curriculum for non-confessional courses.
It is a mistake to assume that a Christian worldview can be disseminated and preserved with nothing more than one theology module. In the contemporary education model, literature, history, and extracurricular functions are every bit as important to this end. France would assuredly be a much different place today if the practising Roman Catholics of the 1930's had heeded Piux XI's encyclical and opted for écoles privées hors contrat. But those of course cost money, on top of our 22 percent social taxes.
In short: you get what you pay for.
By the way... I meant to thank you, Mr. Ezzo, for the CD suggestions... I think I'll have a nice little trip to the World Music Fnac just as soon as I've found an apartment...
"I just celebrated my 50th and I am getting 'out of touch,' so I would be interested in the views of the younger participants: do your peers recognize satire?"
You make some good observations about our current lineup of television shows. Yes, my peers recognize on some level that shows like Seinfeld, Family Guy, Sex and the City, and Desperate Housewives satire what an absurd mess our culture has become. Yet they also enjoy the decadence of those shows for its own sake, internalize their values, and refuse to cast a critical eye on their own lives. Lily Allen, in this music video, is a perfect example. She is satirizing herself, but only in a strange, nihilistic way.
Well, perhaps I am being too harsh. Certainly a large swath of my generation is a confused mess. They are normal students on Wednesday, utopian Obama supporters on Thursday, militant gay rights activists on Friday, and drunks looking for a hook up on Saturday. But the pressures of the real world after graduation seem to be mellowing the worst excesses in this group.
Moreover, there are also plenty of normal people in my generation. Unlike our parents, we do not take a normal world for granted, and so are more religious and vocal in our conservatism. All the conversions I have witnessed have been profound rejections of the current culture and a complete embrace of traditional Catholicism.
Finally, a large part of our generation does not fit in either group. They are too sensible to embrace too much of our culture's folly, but don't have anything else to believe in. They quietly go about studying and working, but sadly shrug their shoulders whenever religion comes up in conversation. They are just trying to make it through the day. We must help them realize the love of Christ.
And Dr. Fleming will be happy to know that Tom Petty is very popular indeed on college campuses. My generation is increasingly looking to the past because the music being produced now is just so awful. Rap and pop trash are rarely listened to now except in an ironic way.
All right TJF,same caveat as with my song list.I'm no expert on Italian film,so here is a short list.
Teorema - Passolini
Il Gattopardo - Visconti
The Seduction of Mimi - Wertmuller
Riso Amaro - De Santis
Accattone - Passolini
Il Giorno della Civetta - Damiani* (puts The Godfather to shame)
Rocco e i suoi Fratelli - Visconti
La Ragazza con la Valigia - Zurlini
Le Infedeli - Monicelli
Roma - Fellini* (my favorite)
Citta' delle Donne - Fellini
La Ciociara - De Sica
Not very contemporary I'm afraid.Like I said,I'm no expert.Buon divertimento!
By servile, I mean dependent on others, incapable of managing for themselves, prone to be sheep in their opinions, easily to manipulate, and, above all, fearful of moral responsibility. When they have a problem or do something wrong, they either go into therapy or seek help from a government program. It is the way they have been reared. The worst-off are people who spend much of their live as dependent of large institutions, such as schoolteachers, social workers, factory workers, and corporate executives.
Tibi, O Semproni, gratias ago. My own list is more antiquated: Pietro Germi's masterpieces, Sedotta e abandonnata, and Divorzio all'Italiana, Fellini's Lo sceicco bianco and Luci del Varietà, I Vitelloni, Il bidone, and 8 1/2. Among his later films, I enjoyed Ginger e Fred. The Don Camillo movies though simple film making are also beautiful. I like Totò, though his movies are often quite simple. It is hard to get his films, except the two he had with Pasolini-both quite brilliant as I recall. These days, Italian film has fallen on pretty hard times. Tornatore is too sentimental for me and Ettore Scola a bit too sick-though his depraved Brutti, Sporchi, e Cattivi is very funny--an Italian God's Little Acre. I especially like the scene in which the kids are zooming around the neighborhood on scooters until one of them says, "OK Guys, let's go to work." The next scene shows one of them snatching a purse from a woman crossing a bridge.
"You make some good observations about our current lineup of television shows. Yes, my peers recognize on some level that shows like Seinfeld, Family Guy, Sex and the City, and Desperate Housewives satire what an absurd mess our culture has become."
I don't consider these shows "satire," but rather a grim form of realism. It is true that our peers watch them for the sake of the decadence as well as the satire, because that is the culture they have come to love.
I have tried to watch all of these shows, to learn something of the world I am living in, but cannot. If Seinfeld is supposed to be funny, it is too dark for me. I have watched 2 & 1/2 men, which is absurdly dirty, but I have concluded that it is basically a modern feminist's view of men. Poor Charley Sheen may be playing himself, but the women writers and directors are constantly getting even. One of the interesting aspects of modern films and TV shows is that there is rarely a moral center, some decent person by whose standard the others are condemned--Amos, for example, in Amos 'n Andy. I assume this is because in the world of the writers and performers, such people do not exist. In Frazier, which I have seen mostly on transatlantic flights, the father and the dog seem to be at least decent, whereas in the show's predecessor, there was no center. We have come a long way from Barney Miller or Gunsmoke. Today, I believe, is the last day for TV in our house, not that we have watched much in the past 20 years. When next we turn on the set, we shall be watching Larceny, Inc., a 1942 vehicle for Edward G. Robinson. My eyes are too bad to read away the evenings, so we shall either listen to some Gilbert and Sullivan--two nights ago we put on an old vinyl of the Sorcerer--or have a go at Eugene Onegin in a CD set someone gave me years ago and I took no interest until hearing bits of the Met's performance on Saturday. I'm no fan of Tchaikovsky, but the operas always seem better than his symphonies, perhaps that is because by their very nature operas--with the exception of Mozart, Gluck, Rossini and Bellini and Donizetti at their best--tend to be a bit trashy. Why, by the way, is Toscanini's support for the Fascist Party not used to defame his memory?
@ #49 "Why, by the way, is Toscanini’s support for the Fascist Party not used to defame his memory?"
I am a musician, not for pay. But I have a Bachelor's degree, and have done some work at the graduate level. I have been involved with professional musicians to some degree for most of my life. I am not extremely qualified on the topic, but have had plenty of exposure to amateur and professional musicians. In my opinion:
There seems to be a pantheon of gods in music (as to some degree in all of the arts). Names like Bach and Mozart are automatically there. Toscanini, if not there, is certainly a demigod. Once someone makes it to the pantheon--or close--saying things against them becomes a sort of blasphemy. And names move in and out of the pantheon based on the zeitgeist.
I have pointed out nasty little facts about Bach or (others in the pantheon) to my musical friends. They seem to ignore my words or gloss over them because what Bach (or which ever of the gods we're discussing) gave us is great transcendent art which somehow covers a multitude of sins: if Bach actually did those things he certainly could not have known what he was doing, or he had some really good reason for doing them.
I have no problem with the fact that great artists have human foibles. Many other people do have a problem with that. And for some reason musicians seem to receive more reverence than other artists. Perhaps it has to do with music. I think music moves us in a sort of religious way, a way that occurs with less frequency in the other arts. So we are prone to accord a level of godliness to the musician who engendered the emotions.
Or perhaps I'm just full of it.
P.S. After I go through on of my short-lived, forced TV-watching sessions I usually have to spend several weeks with some good books and great music to recover. Bad memories of 2 & 1/2 Men make me shiver and head for Shakespeare or Handel.