Even though it's slightly delayed, I wanted to feel out the things that moved me in 2019. So the
following categories summate my spurious attempt to do so. (Does anyone else
alliterate when they’ve had a couple of beers?)
YouTube has evolved so much that I scarcely remember what it
was before. But what it is now is a wide array of DIY cable networks, where the
things you actually like are all prepared and ready to be viewed at any time, any
place. This year, while videogamedunkey
and Easy
Allies have vied for my affections, I somehow have come to love TysyTube
Restoration. Tysy, who I suspect is from Switzerland—his pieces are
demonstrably European, varying between French, German, Spanish, and Italian—finds
derelict baubles and proceeds to renew them with practical equipment that I’ve
known my whole life. Much like the surgical videos that cater to cathartic eruptions
emanating from pustule-ridden human tissue, there is an inherent relaxation
that accompanies Tysy’s exhaustive and meticulous excise of wretched decay from
inauspicious relics of the past. (Ooof! This is a strong beer!) I think there
is an eternal sediment that awaits to be shaken from our lives. We all yearn
for it. We all seem to be guided toward this principal that we are in need of
cleansing and purification. Tysy’s renewal, then, must be tapping into a reservoir
far more primal than cat videos and pirated broadcasts of Last Week Tonight
with John Oliver.
What a difficult thing to quantify: books and their recreational appeasement. I have read The
Mysterious Flame of Queen Lorana, The
Island of the Day Before, Numero Zero, A
Once Crowded Sky, and just began reading Baudolino. There have been comic books as well. There always is.
But the act of reading a book always—to me at least—becomes a comprehensive investment.
Even though I haven’t finished it yet, I find myself just enthralled with Baudolino, which narrates the exploits
of the eponymous main character through a very playful adventure of wit and
deliberate candor. As always, the story qualifies as “historical fiction,”
given the breadth of detail given to reconstructing the 13th century
milieu of continental Europe. Umberto Eco, author of all the above (except A Once Crowded Sky), wields a level of
interdisciplinary competence that I have not yet encountered in any living
person, other than N.T. Wright. His stories are exhaustive and precise. Every
detail is intentional. Not only are they entertaining, they are informative and
critical of society and historical movements that predominated each era of
Western Civilization. Much like Paul Gilbert (a virtuoso guitarist), Eco very
much conveys his love for his subject, and his unrelenting desire to
communicate the way he feels through his work.
Album
The Similitude of a Dream kept me above water for the later half of 2019 in a way that I had never thought possible. Especially because most Christian music is terrible, filled with bad theology, and songs that lack the emotional honesty suited to the average human being. Neal Morse is well known in the progressive rock community as a singer and songwriter, and adept at cultivating a community of session and touring musicians. And despite the fact that he unabashedly writes christian worship music, musicians from all philosophical dispositions love collaborating with him. Mike Portnoy, who left Dream Theater in 2010, once said that he equates Neal Morse to Paul McCartney in song writing ability. Personally, I feel, Morse lends an artistic credibility to christian music (compositions and lyrics) that have not been (in my opinion) demonstrated since the Enlightenment. The Similitude itself is a double album, within a larger double album (Bro...), based on John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress. Like most progressive rock albums, there is a story that spans the entire work, chronicling the tumultuous life of a man seeking God in the real world. The album is all over the place emotionally, and seems to touch all the parts of life that we, as people, encounter on a daily basis. Incidentally, it's one of those albums that I wish I had in my early christian years. Broken Sky, to put it bluntly, saved my life.
The Similitude of a Dream kept me above water for the later half of 2019 in a way that I had never thought possible. Especially because most Christian music is terrible, filled with bad theology, and songs that lack the emotional honesty suited to the average human being. Neal Morse is well known in the progressive rock community as a singer and songwriter, and adept at cultivating a community of session and touring musicians. And despite the fact that he unabashedly writes christian worship music, musicians from all philosophical dispositions love collaborating with him. Mike Portnoy, who left Dream Theater in 2010, once said that he equates Neal Morse to Paul McCartney in song writing ability. Personally, I feel, Morse lends an artistic credibility to christian music (compositions and lyrics) that have not been (in my opinion) demonstrated since the Enlightenment. The Similitude itself is a double album, within a larger double album (Bro...), based on John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress. Like most progressive rock albums, there is a story that spans the entire work, chronicling the tumultuous life of a man seeking God in the real world. The album is all over the place emotionally, and seems to touch all the parts of life that we, as people, encounter on a daily basis. Incidentally, it's one of those albums that I wish I had in my early christian years. Broken Sky, to put it bluntly, saved my life.
Friend
It's Desmond. (Who the fuck did you expect?)
Instrument
2019 was one of those years where, after a decade of not playing music on a regular basis, I wanted to make my glorious return. When I was in college, I was the lucky recipient of a cash prize from abstaining from alcohol until I was of legal age, which I used to buy a guitar, custom built to my specifications. I immersed myself in the speculative guitar making community, researching the different tonal aspects of wood and why they are used. Guitar pickups were another abyss I had to wade through, listening to different sound samples from guitars of similar build materials. After this rock-polishing, tumultuous journey, I received the guitar which had been damaged in shipping and I had to wait an additional 6 months before it was repaired. After putting an additional $1000 into the instrument, I was 30 years old and feeling completely shitty about my adventure in guitar gear.
However, last year, I finally got the genuine item (used): the Ernie Ball Music Man John Petrucci signature guitar. And, in one, year I went through more strings than I have in almost ten years.
I have a really ugly guitar face...
...
I'd like to do this more often and I'm hoping to actually get a more formal list coming soon for each new year. I hope I was able to make you laugh, ponder, and muse.
~Happy New Year!
It's Desmond. (Who the fuck did you expect?)
Instrument
2019 was one of those years where, after a decade of not playing music on a regular basis, I wanted to make my glorious return. When I was in college, I was the lucky recipient of a cash prize from abstaining from alcohol until I was of legal age, which I used to buy a guitar, custom built to my specifications. I immersed myself in the speculative guitar making community, researching the different tonal aspects of wood and why they are used. Guitar pickups were another abyss I had to wade through, listening to different sound samples from guitars of similar build materials. After this rock-polishing, tumultuous journey, I received the guitar which had been damaged in shipping and I had to wait an additional 6 months before it was repaired. After putting an additional $1000 into the instrument, I was 30 years old and feeling completely shitty about my adventure in guitar gear.
However, last year, I finally got the genuine item (used): the Ernie Ball Music Man John Petrucci signature guitar. And, in one, year I went through more strings than I have in almost ten years.
I have a really ugly guitar face...
...
I'd like to do this more often and I'm hoping to actually get a more formal list coming soon for each new year. I hope I was able to make you laugh, ponder, and muse.
~Happy New Year!
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