Yay! My favorite designer, Jay, won the big prize on Project Runway. The theme of his show was "Stereotypes," and each outfit was supposed to evoke a different kind of music. He doesn't explicitly say what each girl listens to, but these are my guesses:
#1: Aspen girl, a ritzy girl with money who likes to ski. Listens to soft, laid-back jazz, Eva Cassidy, Norah Jones, Sting.
#2: Cross-cultural girl. She likes world music, particularly East Asian, South Asian, Native American, and African music. For some reason she also strikes me as someone who likes futuristic techno. She's more about rhythms and beats than about vocals and words.
#3: Hippie Girl. Listens to folk music, loves Woody Guthrie, old Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin.
#4: Definitely Indie Rock girl with punk tendencies. She likes Sleater-Kinney, Interpol, The Fiery Furnaces, Wilco, Stereolab.
#5: Ethereal girl, she's very fragile and likes sensitive lyrics. Likes Belle & Sebastien, Nick Drake, Tori Amos.
#6: Ghetto-fabulous girl. She likes OutKast, Blackalicious, Kanye West, 50 Cent.
#7: Urban nerd girl. Likes quirky, brainy stuff like They Might Be Giants, Elvis Costello, Death Cab for Cutie. Alternatively, she could be that ironic, detached, too-cool-for-school girl who's into techno/house.
#8: OK, this one stumps me. A raver, perhaps? Or an elegant goth into Joy Division?
#9: Urban hipster girl. She's into industrial rock and Bjork.
#10: Hmm, stumped again. I think this is the snowbunny that Jay mentioned, but I have idea what snowbunny music is like. She looks more like insane asylum girl (with fashionable lavender straightjacket) to me, who listens to the crazy voices in her head.
#11: I think this is the hooker that Jay mentioned. Erm, Madonna, L'il Kim, and Nine Inch Nails? I don't know what constitutes hooker music.
#12: Funky glamour girl. Definitely glam rock and new wave. David Bowie, Duran Duran, Erasure. Alternatively, a bubble gum pop princess.
Wednesday, February 23, 2005
Finally picked up Rufus Wainwright's Want Two album. The first song gave me chills from its beauty. Then again, I'm a whore for self-indulgent swoopy vocals (e.g. Morrissey). I'm in the midst of the 2nd song right now, which is more reminiscent of his older stuff. Loving it so far though...
After a long break, I've returned to Bertrand Russell's A History of Western Philosophy. I decided to skip around instead of trudging through chronologically (I was thoroughly bored with Aristotle and still haven't finished his sections). Last night I read the highly entertaining Nietzsche chapter (which was my first encounter with Nietzsche's ideas in any way, embarrassingly enough, other than vague references to nihilism when I studied Faulkner in high school). Russell makes no attempt to hide his contempt for Nietzsche's misogynism and elitism, and finishes the chapter with a hilarious hypothetical argument between Nietzsche and Buddha, who are trying to convince God about the kind of world He should create. Nietzsche, of course, argues against sympathy and love, and promotes the sacrifice of most for the glory of a select few. Buddha argues for salvation in the form of universal love, offered to everybody. Russell, unsurprisingly, agrees with Buddha. As do I, after reading Russell's highly biased account of the argument...but in order to give Nietzsche a fair chance, I'll have to read his actual words, instead of just adopting Russell's opinions as my own.
Russell points out that Nietzsche "condemns Christian love because he thinks it is an outcome of fear," yet his superman's "lust for power...is itself an outcome of fear. Those who do not fear their neighbours see no necessity to tyrannize over them." He then goes on to say that a certain breed of Christians justifies Nietzsche's criticism (Pascal and Dostoevsky are Russell's examples); these are "saints by fear" who only behave like good Christians in order to avoid punishment (hell) and to reap reward (heaven). However, according to Russell, there are also "saints by nature" who have "a spontaneous love of mankind; [they do] good because to do so gives [them] happiness." Nietzsche is not able to conceive of "saints by nature" because "he is so full of fear and hatred that spontaneous love of mankind seems to him impossible. He has never conceived of the man who, with all the fearlessness and stubborn pride of the superman, nevertheless does not inflict pain because he has no wish to do so."
I like this argument, and it articulates a problem I always had with Christianity. I never liked the idea of following a religion simply to avoid punishment (hell), or to be rewarded (heaven). I don't have all that much admiration for people who are Christians in talk, and perhaps in action, but not at heart. They're hypocrites, who are only behaving that way because they're afraid of going to hell, or because they're afraid of what others may think of them. I believe one should follow a religion because it coincides with how one genuinely views the world and wishes to behave, regardless of what punishment or reward might result from it. Of course, this is highly idealized...religions should appeal to the better parts of our nature, not the baser parts. If one had antisocial instincts, I don't believe it would be admirable to follow a religion which promoted those instincts. But what bugs me the most is when Christians vociferously proclaim their own greatness, and their own imminent rewards, while condemning others. For example, when evangelists try to recruit others to the religion through fear, with those "fire and brimstone" speeches. And Mr.Bush is, of course, the textbook example of the kind of Christian I loathe. I'm much more impressed by those Christians who simply live and act according to the teachings of Christ, and inspire others to follow them--not because of what may happen after death, but because of the spiritual awards they reap during life. In other words, a true community of love, support, acceptance, and charity. This may seem strange, but I don't think it matters much whether or not heaven exists. Sometimes I think that the idea of heaven is most useful as a balm to the living, particularly those grieving a loved one, or those facing death themselves. Sometimes I think that the idea of heaven is more important than the truth of its existence.
It's so strange, that in the past, I was so obsessed with truth, as I defined it. Cold, hard facts--no matter how scary, no matter how hurtful, no matter how dangerous--would be sought and proclaimed by fearless me. Ha! I was so self-righteous. While I don't dismiss the importance of facts, and of expanding knowledge, I no longer seek an objective truth in religion. I'm more interested in a way of life that can offer me solace when life becomes nigh unbearable, that encourages the better aspects of my nature -- generosity, kindness, sympathy, love. Religion as more of a life philosophy, I mean.
Oh lordy...Rufus is now singing about The Metropolitan Museum--and paintings by Rubens, Rembrandt, Turner. Stop it, boy! Don't tempt me to make out with my CD player.
After a long break, I've returned to Bertrand Russell's A History of Western Philosophy. I decided to skip around instead of trudging through chronologically (I was thoroughly bored with Aristotle and still haven't finished his sections). Last night I read the highly entertaining Nietzsche chapter (which was my first encounter with Nietzsche's ideas in any way, embarrassingly enough, other than vague references to nihilism when I studied Faulkner in high school). Russell makes no attempt to hide his contempt for Nietzsche's misogynism and elitism, and finishes the chapter with a hilarious hypothetical argument between Nietzsche and Buddha, who are trying to convince God about the kind of world He should create. Nietzsche, of course, argues against sympathy and love, and promotes the sacrifice of most for the glory of a select few. Buddha argues for salvation in the form of universal love, offered to everybody. Russell, unsurprisingly, agrees with Buddha. As do I, after reading Russell's highly biased account of the argument...but in order to give Nietzsche a fair chance, I'll have to read his actual words, instead of just adopting Russell's opinions as my own.
Russell points out that Nietzsche "condemns Christian love because he thinks it is an outcome of fear," yet his superman's "lust for power...is itself an outcome of fear. Those who do not fear their neighbours see no necessity to tyrannize over them." He then goes on to say that a certain breed of Christians justifies Nietzsche's criticism (Pascal and Dostoevsky are Russell's examples); these are "saints by fear" who only behave like good Christians in order to avoid punishment (hell) and to reap reward (heaven). However, according to Russell, there are also "saints by nature" who have "a spontaneous love of mankind; [they do] good because to do so gives [them] happiness." Nietzsche is not able to conceive of "saints by nature" because "he is so full of fear and hatred that spontaneous love of mankind seems to him impossible. He has never conceived of the man who, with all the fearlessness and stubborn pride of the superman, nevertheless does not inflict pain because he has no wish to do so."
I like this argument, and it articulates a problem I always had with Christianity. I never liked the idea of following a religion simply to avoid punishment (hell), or to be rewarded (heaven). I don't have all that much admiration for people who are Christians in talk, and perhaps in action, but not at heart. They're hypocrites, who are only behaving that way because they're afraid of going to hell, or because they're afraid of what others may think of them. I believe one should follow a religion because it coincides with how one genuinely views the world and wishes to behave, regardless of what punishment or reward might result from it. Of course, this is highly idealized...religions should appeal to the better parts of our nature, not the baser parts. If one had antisocial instincts, I don't believe it would be admirable to follow a religion which promoted those instincts. But what bugs me the most is when Christians vociferously proclaim their own greatness, and their own imminent rewards, while condemning others. For example, when evangelists try to recruit others to the religion through fear, with those "fire and brimstone" speeches. And Mr.Bush is, of course, the textbook example of the kind of Christian I loathe. I'm much more impressed by those Christians who simply live and act according to the teachings of Christ, and inspire others to follow them--not because of what may happen after death, but because of the spiritual awards they reap during life. In other words, a true community of love, support, acceptance, and charity. This may seem strange, but I don't think it matters much whether or not heaven exists. Sometimes I think that the idea of heaven is most useful as a balm to the living, particularly those grieving a loved one, or those facing death themselves. Sometimes I think that the idea of heaven is more important than the truth of its existence.
It's so strange, that in the past, I was so obsessed with truth, as I defined it. Cold, hard facts--no matter how scary, no matter how hurtful, no matter how dangerous--would be sought and proclaimed by fearless me. Ha! I was so self-righteous. While I don't dismiss the importance of facts, and of expanding knowledge, I no longer seek an objective truth in religion. I'm more interested in a way of life that can offer me solace when life becomes nigh unbearable, that encourages the better aspects of my nature -- generosity, kindness, sympathy, love. Religion as more of a life philosophy, I mean.
Oh lordy...Rufus is now singing about The Metropolitan Museum--and paintings by Rubens, Rembrandt, Turner. Stop it, boy! Don't tempt me to make out with my CD player.
Friday, February 18, 2005
Wednesday, February 16, 2005
Well, you know that you've become kind of pathetic when you spend your evenings cruising through Rate My Boner. *sigh* Poor guy.
Other current obsessions:
1) Bravo's Project Runway TV show. Thank God I get Bravo in New York. My favorite designer is, by far, the hilarious, edgy, and talented Jay McCarroll. His Fashion Week finale runway show was insanely gorgeous. Tim Gunn (Chair of the Parsons Department of Fashion Design) offers terrifically snarky commentary on all the episodes, which makes following the series even more of a treat.
2) Perfumes. I tend to go through phases when it comes to girly shit--for awhile I was obsessed with makeup (when I decided, thanks to Nan Goldin, that I wanted to be a drag queen, even though I'm female). Last year it was mostly clothes (particularly miniskirts and shoes, for some reason). Now it's perfumes. I've acquired samples and decants of dozens, but my favorite is Guerlain's Vol de Nuit -- a perfume from the 1930's, created in honor of Antoine St. Exupery, the French aviator and author of The Little Prince. It was Katherine Hepburn's favorite, and had an amazing bottle. Other current favorites are Patricia de Nicolai's Juste un Reve, Keiko Mecheri's Damascena, and the wacky Comme des Garcons series (which remind me of Bjork for some reason). I'm also intrigued by the Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab, an e-tailer with a Gothic bent. It has fragrances inspired by demons, Tarot cards, love spells, and literary characters (including many from Shakespeare, Alice in Wonderland, and so on). Unfortunately their shipping time is insanely slow, and it will likely be awhile before I find out what Tennyson's Lady of Shallott smells like. I won't go into much more detail since I've become almost as much of a fragrance geek as my Dad is a wine geek, but this is a great perfume blog.
3) Mochi
Although I was disheartened to read in a recent TimeOut NY article that Loretta Lynn campaigned for Bush I, and strongly supports Bush II, I've been very much digging her Van Lear Rose album. I've been slowly trying to educate myself more about country music, and I knew nothing of her work before, but yes...good stuff. I missed most of the Grammy's, but was happy to hear that she picked up a couple of awards. Weirdly enough, hearing Jack White on that album has now piqued my interest in The White Stripes, although they've been "the next big thing" for years.
I'm glad that Valentine's Day has come and gone. I've never had a significant other on Valentine's Day; it seems that relationships for me always end just before, start right after, or take a convenient break during V-day. Curiously enough, in Japan and Korea, the recently developed Valentine's Day custom dictates that womyn buy chocolates and gifts for men (and this is not reciprocated). When womyn's salaries are about 1/2 of men's, why the hell would you put the burden of buying chocolates on the womyn? And how is that romantic, exactly? Bleh. I remember reading an essay in a college Japanese Studies class which argued that working womyn actually used the chocolate-buying custom to enact a subtle psychological power, by expressing approval or disapproval according to the number of chocolates they bought for their coworkers/bosses. I don't buy it, personally. A momentary humiliation due to receiving a measly number of chocolates from female subordinates doesn't exactly rival the power exerted by the men in the Japanese workforce.
My last trip to Korea was enlightening in so many ways. It is very much an alien culture to me, despite my ancestry and my familiarity with the food. For one thing, people do not say "Excuse me" when they bump into you. They just shove you aside. I kept glaring at people for their rudeness, only to find out that they did not realize that they were "rude according to my cultural standards." Also, it's considered improper for a single wommon to live alone in an apartment, which is why my 30-year-old cousin has to live with her parents and commute across the city to get to work, about 1.5 hours each way. It's also quite strange to be stared at on the subway. Unlike the subway in New York, the subway in Korea (as well as in Japan) has a racially homogenous population, so any non-Asian person is treated like an abnormal curiosity, such as a dwarf or a person with missing limbs. There's also a strange push-pull that occurs inside of me...half of me shares an ancestry, a history, a culture with these people, but they see me as completely alien and unlike them. I kind of want to be recognized as part of their group, as someone who belongs, even though I clearly am not and don't (culturally in addition to ethnically).
I was surprised to find out that Koreans in Korea were as fanatically religious as Koreans in the U.S. I had incorrectly assumed that Koreans in Korea were not nearly as susceptible to Christianity, since they were not dependent on the church to find a community with other Koreans in a foreign country. On one of the amazing business dinners I attended with my father, I asked one of the Korean lawyers why Koreans were so religious. He pointed out that the Japanese tended to be happy-go-lucky and were not religious at all. Koreans, on the other hand, had experienced such suffering and devastation that they needed religion to lift their spirits, to keep their will to live. Certainly, Koreans seem to highly identify with, and celebrate, suffering. Almost all of their soap operas, songs, and stories feature a primary admirable character who suffers greatly (such as the famous Chunhyang). Which explains why Koreans are so drawn to the story of Christ, who suffered for the sins of the world. Curiously enough, I also learned that Koreans are considered "the Latins" of the Asian world--for example, Koreans are considered to be more passionate, more emotional, and less refined than the Japanese. Since Asians as a whole are so much more reserved than European (and most American) people, these nuances between different Asian groups were lost on me before.
With the huge success of Korean dramas, the Koreans' extremely passionate love for music (karaoke is huge, and Koreans are constantly singing), their strong religious faith, and their history of occupation, rape, and slaughter, I think that Koreans are, in some ways, like blacks in the United States. Koreans have similarly been able to transcend a tragic history to produce popular art that is enthusiastically consumed by the rest of Asia. It's a shame that many Koreans are racist against blacks, because I find much in common between both communities.
Other current obsessions:
1) Bravo's Project Runway TV show. Thank God I get Bravo in New York. My favorite designer is, by far, the hilarious, edgy, and talented Jay McCarroll. His Fashion Week finale runway show was insanely gorgeous. Tim Gunn (Chair of the Parsons Department of Fashion Design) offers terrifically snarky commentary on all the episodes, which makes following the series even more of a treat.
2) Perfumes. I tend to go through phases when it comes to girly shit--for awhile I was obsessed with makeup (when I decided, thanks to Nan Goldin, that I wanted to be a drag queen, even though I'm female). Last year it was mostly clothes (particularly miniskirts and shoes, for some reason). Now it's perfumes. I've acquired samples and decants of dozens, but my favorite is Guerlain's Vol de Nuit -- a perfume from the 1930's, created in honor of Antoine St. Exupery, the French aviator and author of The Little Prince. It was Katherine Hepburn's favorite, and had an amazing bottle. Other current favorites are Patricia de Nicolai's Juste un Reve, Keiko Mecheri's Damascena, and the wacky Comme des Garcons series (which remind me of Bjork for some reason). I'm also intrigued by the Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab, an e-tailer with a Gothic bent. It has fragrances inspired by demons, Tarot cards, love spells, and literary characters (including many from Shakespeare, Alice in Wonderland, and so on). Unfortunately their shipping time is insanely slow, and it will likely be awhile before I find out what Tennyson's Lady of Shallott smells like. I won't go into much more detail since I've become almost as much of a fragrance geek as my Dad is a wine geek, but this is a great perfume blog.
3) Mochi
Although I was disheartened to read in a recent TimeOut NY article that Loretta Lynn campaigned for Bush I, and strongly supports Bush II, I've been very much digging her Van Lear Rose album. I've been slowly trying to educate myself more about country music, and I knew nothing of her work before, but yes...good stuff. I missed most of the Grammy's, but was happy to hear that she picked up a couple of awards. Weirdly enough, hearing Jack White on that album has now piqued my interest in The White Stripes, although they've been "the next big thing" for years.
I'm glad that Valentine's Day has come and gone. I've never had a significant other on Valentine's Day; it seems that relationships for me always end just before, start right after, or take a convenient break during V-day. Curiously enough, in Japan and Korea, the recently developed Valentine's Day custom dictates that womyn buy chocolates and gifts for men (and this is not reciprocated). When womyn's salaries are about 1/2 of men's, why the hell would you put the burden of buying chocolates on the womyn? And how is that romantic, exactly? Bleh. I remember reading an essay in a college Japanese Studies class which argued that working womyn actually used the chocolate-buying custom to enact a subtle psychological power, by expressing approval or disapproval according to the number of chocolates they bought for their coworkers/bosses. I don't buy it, personally. A momentary humiliation due to receiving a measly number of chocolates from female subordinates doesn't exactly rival the power exerted by the men in the Japanese workforce.
My last trip to Korea was enlightening in so many ways. It is very much an alien culture to me, despite my ancestry and my familiarity with the food. For one thing, people do not say "Excuse me" when they bump into you. They just shove you aside. I kept glaring at people for their rudeness, only to find out that they did not realize that they were "rude according to my cultural standards." Also, it's considered improper for a single wommon to live alone in an apartment, which is why my 30-year-old cousin has to live with her parents and commute across the city to get to work, about 1.5 hours each way. It's also quite strange to be stared at on the subway. Unlike the subway in New York, the subway in Korea (as well as in Japan) has a racially homogenous population, so any non-Asian person is treated like an abnormal curiosity, such as a dwarf or a person with missing limbs. There's also a strange push-pull that occurs inside of me...half of me shares an ancestry, a history, a culture with these people, but they see me as completely alien and unlike them. I kind of want to be recognized as part of their group, as someone who belongs, even though I clearly am not and don't (culturally in addition to ethnically).
I was surprised to find out that Koreans in Korea were as fanatically religious as Koreans in the U.S. I had incorrectly assumed that Koreans in Korea were not nearly as susceptible to Christianity, since they were not dependent on the church to find a community with other Koreans in a foreign country. On one of the amazing business dinners I attended with my father, I asked one of the Korean lawyers why Koreans were so religious. He pointed out that the Japanese tended to be happy-go-lucky and were not religious at all. Koreans, on the other hand, had experienced such suffering and devastation that they needed religion to lift their spirits, to keep their will to live. Certainly, Koreans seem to highly identify with, and celebrate, suffering. Almost all of their soap operas, songs, and stories feature a primary admirable character who suffers greatly (such as the famous Chunhyang). Which explains why Koreans are so drawn to the story of Christ, who suffered for the sins of the world. Curiously enough, I also learned that Koreans are considered "the Latins" of the Asian world--for example, Koreans are considered to be more passionate, more emotional, and less refined than the Japanese. Since Asians as a whole are so much more reserved than European (and most American) people, these nuances between different Asian groups were lost on me before.
With the huge success of Korean dramas, the Koreans' extremely passionate love for music (karaoke is huge, and Koreans are constantly singing), their strong religious faith, and their history of occupation, rape, and slaughter, I think that Koreans are, in some ways, like blacks in the United States. Koreans have similarly been able to transcend a tragic history to produce popular art that is enthusiastically consumed by the rest of Asia. It's a shame that many Koreans are racist against blacks, because I find much in common between both communities.
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