Since before the recent US election the use of the term conservative has been driving me crazy. To tell you the truth, it has driven me crazy since I learned about ideology in university over ten years ago, but now that I have a blog, and now that I am inundated daily with misuse of …
Search Results for: neo conservatism
Fascism is Alive and Well in the United States of America
I must admit that I have been somewhat of a “Trump optimist” these last few months. I believed in his obvious, demonstrable incompetence at just about everything he does – except branding and self-promotion, obviously. (He’s been abetted in this incompetence by untold numbers of people if you’re wondering why someone who is generally incompetent …
Are Conservatives Ever Right About Anything?
Sorry for the clickbait headline but this is a question I’ve thought about often over the course of my adult life. You’ve no doubt heard of the famous Stephen Colbert quote “Reality has a well known liberal bias.” (That quote is nearly 16 years old now, which is scary.) And you might be familiar with …
Essentialism: The Terrible Legacy of Western Philosophy
In 2017 I wrote a piece about the root of so-called “alternative facts.” I blamed the ability of people to accept alternative facts as truth on Western Philosophy, but specifically on Plato’s essentialist view of reality. The piece became my most widely read ever, dwarfing my books and anything else I’ve published online. Frankly, I …
Ideologies
Though it may seem like the world is full of different, competing ideologies, there are really only three categories of ideology in the modern world, and every new ideology is really some new (or not so new) combination of the three categories. The three categories are: liberalism conservativism socialism. Liberalism The world is a neutral …
Attack of the Unsinkable Rubber Ducks (2007) by Christopher Brookmyre
This is not only a well-done mystery but it is also a fine indictment of a certain kind of chicanery, one that drives me particularly crazy. SPOILERS
1994 in Music
Reviews of music originally released in 1994. 1. Masada: Alef (10/10) I don’t know if this is the first Klezmer Jazz record, but it has to be considered a landmark in the genre if it isn’t. Klezmer is successfully integrated with post bop in a way that makes you think “Why did no one ever …
The Poverty of Ideology
This article on libertarianism says pretty much what I was trying to say in my book, only more rigorously (and with zero sense of humour). However, I think the general point of this article – that something like libertarianism is empty theory ignorant of human behaviour and human history – is actually a point that …
The Complete New York Town Hall and Boston Symphony Hall Concerts (1947, 2006) by Louis Armstrong and his All Stars
So this box includes both the complete concerts of the title and some additional performances from around the same time, including a performance held before a movie premier for a movie Armstrong was starring in, and some other miscellaneous recordings Armstrong features on that don’t really feel apiece.
Symphonies Nos 1-7; Kullervo (2009) by Silbelius, performed by London Symphony Orchestra, Colin Davis
Sibelius’ symphonies range from really over-the-top late 19th century folk-inspired stuff to the kind of subtle innovation this unsophisticated listener might associate with Mahler. I am still a complete neophyte (tyro?) when it comes to discerning great symphonic writing from okay symphonic writing, so it’s the 1892 Kullervo that I notice the most, and it …
Liberal as a Slur in the United States
Every US presidential election makes me insane. I do my very best to avoid paying attention but it is very hard, with how dominant the TV coverage is, even in Canada. I find I have to pay attention to US government policy in my current job and so I find that this year I am …
What socialism actually means
Though I should know better, I find myself reading comments on the internet all too often. In these sections I am exposed to one of my biggest pet peeves: the complete re-creation of meaning for the major political theory isms: conservatism, liberalism and socialism.
Bollywood
Last night I went to a house warming party and drank a bit too much red wine. (Which is hilarious given that I haven’t gotten drunk off wine in what feels like years.) Given the time of year the subject of TIFF naturally came up and we eventually got on to Slumdog, a film I …
2005 in Music
This page compiles all my reviews of music released originally in 2005. 1. Ry Cooder: Chavez Ravine (9/10) This isn’t really a rock opera, I guess it’s a ‘roots opera’. But the same idea applies: Cooder is attempting to use operetta and other musical forms to create something unique and certainly ambitious. (It’s far and …
2001 in Music
Here are all my music reviews for 2001. Most of them are for records originally released in 2001. 1. Fantômas: The Director’s Cut (10/10) This is, in my humble (and probably misinformed) opinion, the Best Covers Album of All Time. It lures us in with what appears to be a straight-up cover of the theme …
1999 in Music
My list of reviews of music released in 1999. 1. Mr. Bungle: California (10/10) Disco Volante is, for me, the greatest avant rock album in nearly three decades. (Or, at the very least, the greatest post-Zappa avant rock album in nearly three decades.) It’s as if Zappa kicked down the door and few people were …
1969 in Music
Music reviews for the music of 1969. 1. The Beatles: Abbey Road (10/10) Abbey Road was indeed an album where everyone put aside their differences and tried to make an album like they used to, even if Lennon wasn’t as involved – partly due to a car accident – for a great portion of the …