Skip to main content

That's My Philosophy

I never took a philosophy class in college (I took three sociology classes). I've never read a classic philosophy book, though I have attempted to read Irwin's The Simpsons and Philosophy and Seinfeld and Philosophy books. So why do I wax philosophical all the time on this blog? Well, there are a few reasons why.

For starters, I enjoy talking about certain things (ie, music, movies, books) that traditionally are thought of as throwaway accessories by others that I think are deep and full of meaning. This explains posts on Scooby-Doo, The Warriors, and various bands/artists. Film school warped my sense of seeing things in the sense that there is more to the experience than just what is in front of the recording device. I spent too many hours dissecting what Hitchcock was trying to say with Psycho that I went a tad overboard (and have since retracted a little bit). Films say a lot, even a movie like Student Bodies (as I've blogged on before).

A few years ago, I started realizing that metaphors for life were all over my favorite films. From the Lord of the Rings movies to Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope to The Muppet Movie, I got very wrapped up in the fact that a lot of the attitudes I have on life are reflected in these films' themes (in my head at least). To me, The Muppet Movie is about doing what you want to do, finding friends that agree with you and support you, not give into greedy business practices and understand that things that appear to be obstacles at first are really keys to understanding life even better. Yes, the Muppets are puppets, but the kind of human emotions put on the screen are incredibly relatable to me.

I stayed away from philosophy classes in college becuase I only heard bad things about the tests, the lectures and the rough teachers. Anytime I tried to read something by Plato or Socrates, my mind would unravel when I felt like the language they were using was too broad. When I was left to my devices into understanding what life is and how it works, I translated what I've learned into my own language.

Yes, my mother teaches philosophy on a collegiate level and she is a big fan of this blog. Me being so philosophical on this was by pure accident. I've always used this blog to say something that is on my mind without talking about sports or politics or ultra-private stuff. So any deep reasoning is by pure accident.

This blog is nearing the one year mark, so I figured now would be a good time to explain some of my thought process. More explaining is to come as I'll be in Chicago all next week. Stay tuned . . .

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Catherine Wheel

Originally posted: Tuesday, August 29th, 2006 Despite managing to release five proper albums, Catherine Wheel was one of those bands that always seemed to slip past the mainstream rock crowd. Yes, they got some nice airplay in their day, but people seem to have forgotten about them. You may hear “Black Metallic” or “Waydown” on a “classic alternative” show on Sirius or XM or maybe even on terrestrial radio, but that’s about it. For me, they were one of most consistent rock bands of the ’90s, meandering through shoegazer, hard rock, space rock and pop rock, all while eluding mainstream pigeonholing. Led by the smooth, warm pipes of vocalist/guitarist Rob Dickinson (cousin of Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson), Catherine Wheel featured Brian Futter on lead guitar, Dave Hawes on bass and Neil Sims on drums. They weren’t a pretty-boy guitar band, but they weren’t a scuzzy bunch of ragamuffins either. Though the band hailed from England, Catherine Wheel found itself more welcome on American air

Best of 2021

  Last year, my attention span was not wide enough to listen to a lot of LPs from start to finish. Too much went on in 2020 to focus on 10-15 albums, so I went with only a couple to spotlight. Well, 2021 was a little better, as I have a list of top four records, and a lot of individual tracks.  (I made a lengthy Spotify playlist ) So, without further ado, here’s my list of favorites of the year: Albums Deafheaven, Infinite Granite (listen) Hands down, my favorite album of the year. I was not sure where Deafheaven would go after another record that brought My Bloody Valentine and death metal fans together, but they beautifully rebooted their sound on Infinite Granite. The divisive goblin vocals are vastly pared-down here, as are the blast beats. Sounding more inspired by Slowdive, the band has discovered a new sonic palette that I hope they explore more of in the future. It’s a welcome revelation. I still love their older material, but this has renewed my love of what these guys do.  J