“I Listen to Music!”: Princess Chelsea

Not sure exactly how I found this artist, but “all-in-all” a cool find. Princess Chelsea is an “electroacoustic” artist from Auckland, New Zealand.  I was hesitant to support Princess Chelsea for two main reason: her love of Disney films and because the label she is a part of is called “Lil’ Chief Records,” which has a caricature of American Indian for a symbol. Seriously, these two factors have been eating away at me, but I cannot deny Princess Chelsea.  Her musical influences appear to be a lot of classical music, AIR, and Dr. Dre? Actually, after listening through all of her MySpace songs multiple times, it is clear that Dre did have quite the influence on the adorable New Zealander.

Her first single, from what I can only assume is an upcoming album from–ick–Lil’ Chief Records, is “Monkey Eats Banana.” I have had this song in my head for a few days, mainly because it is a pop gem: few words and a hook. However, the words do not actually show up until nearly two and half minutes into the three and half minute song, which defies traditional concepts of what pop music is. The song repeats “Monkey/Eats Banana/That he stole from your house” over and over again, and yet… I cannot stop listening.

Below is the music video for “Monkey Eats Banana,” which is crude and very low budget–not that really matters, if anything only heightens my love of the Princess. At the same time, I prefer Princess Chelsea’s music without images and wish only to consume the celestial and delicate, yet complex, sound of her music. Instead of the images and illusions reflected in the music video.

She describes herself on her MySpace page as being between the ages of 16-24, which I do not know how I should take. Is she an actual age or merely a being trapped in a realm that encompasses various stages of emotional development? Either way, I will be paying close attention to Princess Chelsea and hope desperately that she finds her way off the Island of New Zealand and onto the Island of Manhattan.

Princess Chelsea’s MySpace Page:

http://www.myspace.com/wonderfulprincesschelsea

I Would Rather Wander

“Haven’t you ever had a mentor before?” My sister asked met his question on Sunday, while we were discussing various topics that concerned  our presents and futures. I replied, “No, not really.” I had a couple teachers help me through high school and a  professor my senior year of college, who provided guidance and ensured that I got over my nihilistic spiral created by years of living and watching my childhood desires of peace and harmony erode by the bitter reality that is life, but I still approached this professor with a degree of hesitance and skepticism. My sister told me that my lack of having a mentor might be because I have high standards and require a lot of certain criteria to be met when gaining a mentor, a friend, or an ally. This conversation arose during a moment of existential crisis I go through fairly periodically before making some sort of change in my general life structure. I told her that,  while I do hold people I respect to high standards–I hold myself to higher ones–the more accurate reason is because I do not, nor have I ever, truly believe that there is a real human adult–in consciousness that is. How can you find a mentor who can mature you into an adult when you do not believe there is an adult on the planet?  Conundrum!

(My theory and reason for this belief in the lack of a fully consious adult on this planet could be a doctoral dissertation–and might one day actually be one–so, I shall let this idea merely exist for the time being. But I do hope one day to really flush this out.)

With that being stated, it should be made clear that I do think one can gain bits and pieces from wiser people and through interactions with other species and forms of existence. For example, I think a lot can be gain from watching how birds go about their day and have had a friend describe orchids in a way that made me envy their existence.  Likewise, there are people who have and have had a different life experience than myself, which can have lessons and derived from. However, I do not view anyone one existence with a completely rosy disposition.  A colleague told me at my job that he thinks Martin Luther King Jr. and Mahatma Gandhi were the quintessential human beings to have ever existed. This comment took a lot of restrain from yours truly not to flat out laugh in this gentleman’s face and begin an all out ridicule of his zeitgeist, since it was apparent that it was completely unhealthy. (This same gentleman told me later in the same conversation, more or less, he was pro-social engineering and pro-death penalty. When I asked, “What would Gandhi think of the death penalty?” He responded with a sigh and said, “That’s a really deep and interesting question.” What a dilettante?) When discussing the incident with a friend I truly respect he brought up King’s distaste for homosexuality and that Gandhi had some strange view of the females. My friends are critical of things in much the same way I am. It is why I consider them friends.

For someone who is “hyper-critical” (which I place in quotes because I think that everyone should be critical, but it is these critical individuals who are labeled this because they are often viewed as outcasts or “provokers”) it is hard to find “kindred spirits” and that individual must therefore exist in a state out of sync with the rest of the population. That is not to say that this is a bad thing. I would argue quite the opposite, but it can be frustrating at times to exist in such a state. It is for this reason I spend my time with minds that I do not have a traditional personal relationship with. To me reading and various other artistic expression is how one, who does is unable to conform with the rest of society,can feel a sense of unity or at least be relieved that they are not a psychotic head case incapable of relating to whatever the rest of society enjoys: some stupid television show or a new singer that repeats the same damn 18 words in a three minute song.

Myself, I have always been fascinated with protests and social movements. I love them conceptually and have yearned with much of being for one to happen. “Viva La Revolución!” But every time I have participated in a protest or been to a group that advocates change, I am always taken aback by how much I am in disgust with said group in much the same way I view people who wear “Che” shirts. It fills my body with a visceral disgust that makes me cringe and eventually, usually within a few minutes, leave whatever I originally set out to do. I think that the old forms of protest are dead–and maybe they never really were alive. I must say that I am still young and have much of life to experience, but I have watched protests and counter cultures gain no footing because of mass media’s lack of coverage. Or worst: choice coverage–I am talking about you “Tea Party” people. So, my views on protests and social movement are pessimistic at best, probably cynical, nihilistic at worst.

Serendipitously, I picked up Christopher Hitchens’ book, Letters to a Young Contrarian, which has a subtitle called The Art of Mentoring, a few weeks ago. I cannot tell if I chose the book because I was in the mood for it, if the book created the mood I am currently in, or none of the above. I started reading the book after I got into one of my “existential funks” I happen to fall into when I think all is not right and that I am living in an Absurd–yes capital ‘A’–world. Hitchens argues that there are people out there who cannot simple settle and be part of what many, if not most, other people accept. At the same time, there are individuals who cannot stand the idea that there are “multiple truths.” Granted, I do not think truth is simple, in fact it is one of those concepts that has be insidiously defined and used in so many ways that at times I wish I could throw out the whole fucking concept. Truth, like Power, is sometihng that is used way to often and far to frivously by many people on both “the Left” and “the Right.” (Left and Right? When will humanity ever get over binaries?) Hitchens states that it is not an action that creates this “dissident” individual or “contrarian,” but it is rather a state of being, the core of their personality or way of life.

In this series of letters, Hitchens, has given me some semblance of mentoring. Again, I am skeptical about thinking anyone person is completely perfect because life is change and, therefore, this person will change as will my own thinking. However, I have found this book to be somewhat helpful.  He states his book that:

“Distrust any speaker who talks confidently about ‘we,’ or speaks in the name of ‘us.’ Distrust yourself if you hear these tones creeping into your own style. The search for security and majority is not always the same as solidarity, it can be another name for consensus and tyranny and tribalism. Never forget that even if there are “masses” to be invoked, or ‘the people’ to be praised, they and it must by definition be composed of individuals” (99).

I feel that this describes very much what I feel when I am at protests or rallies or listening to some ideologue talk about something or another. How can someone really speak for another individual? Does that not strike you with a sense arrogance? I know that what gets me upset when I am at anti-war protests, which I go to because there probably is some last threads of a romantic in me, is when protesters cry out “No blood for oil!” or something stupid like that. Well, yes there is probably some truth to your one sentence argument, but do you really accept it as the whole truth? Life cannot be simplified into one sentence cries or rhyming chants. If anything, life is so complex it is at times far to incomprehensible and thus why humans spend time trying to unpack it or try unraveling the false truths that were created to simplify the vastness of existence–I looking at you religious people.

So, I shall continue to wander existence looking for camaraderie and mentors, which I hope to find, but then who knows? Life is too short to spend with people who are not willing or not prepared to face the difficult and sometimes painful realities of existence and the human experience. (A quick tangent: I have found that the people, who are unable to deal with the pains of the human experience, tend not be able to fully take part in the joys and beauty of life, but that is a generalization and should not be viewed as a fully crystallized way of seeing things.) I shall wander and continue my life hoping that it goes for the best and seeking ways to improve the situations of my fellow creatures and planet, while at the same time understanding that I have but one life to live and it is a short one, so I should enjoy my time as best I can. I do not believe in an afterlife and find that the people who do waste their time in the “here and now” because they believe they have an eternity to enjoy. I find this foolish and silly–and I use silly as a very offensive word full of ridicule. They can enjoy their television and I will enjoy my wandering.

Oddly Not Nearly As Satisfying

I’m pretty sure I have psychic trauma from growing up during the second Bush’s reign.  It  made me very scared of mass culture, media control, and of religious people–better put: It has absolutely made me petrified of 90% of my fellow citizens in this country. Seriously, we accept and encourage ignorance–these people need to grow up and start fucking thinking!

So, when I find this video of Tom Delay–the former Baptist Republican House Majority Leader during the height of Bush/Cheney Craziness (2003-2005), who later resigned due to legal issues stemming from his association with Jack Abramoff–one would think that this video would cheer me up. It did give me quite the chuckle and I do get some form of satisfaction watching the Wash-Uped Fucker shake his ass in a red and white striped suit with a republican elephant symbol on his back. The clip though seems not nearly capable of repaying for the damages such an ideology that  spread and permeated all facets of society during the time.  Less rant. More Video.

Test Post

This is a test post because I do not understand how to use WordPress yet. I feel that it is important to play around with it before I try anything “serious.” I put ironic quotes around serious, which me saying they are ironic takes the irony out of them and someone could make an ironic statement out of that because that is what I would do, because I am not sure if any blog post can ever be considered serious.

Currently, I am drinking a glass Petite Syrah and will then be heading to bed–hopefully before 11 o’clock because I need to get up early and head to school. Tomorrow will begin day three of what I consider to be one of the best/worst jobs imaginable. Thank Batman, it is Friday tomorrow and will be the weekend. I need to remember to bring  my Wall-E ticket in order to rush to MoMA after school and then will have to rush to yoga. Go Team Venture!

Now  here is to test what media I can and cannot post on this blog:

So, I shall see how this turns out.