The Sound of Reassurance

On Brahms' Intermezzo in A major

The first time I paid attention to this beautiful piano piece was on a mid-autumn late afternoon, travelling home from work. I had it on my mp3 player along with other classical pieces in a compilation album of the 'Best Classical Music' I downloaded from the internet. I fell in love with it instantly as I heard the pristine chorus. 

But before we talk about the chorus, first let's listen to this piece from its very beginning.

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The opening theme is rather modest. In fact this opening statement is repeated three times, before, a circular, series of upgoing and downgoing notes are played. This dizzying array of notes that follow the repetitive opening melody may be uninteresting to the listener. But this is why we can take it as a test of the listener's endurance to pay attention to this piece, despite its apparent dullness in this section. This becomes more challenging as a further series of downgoing dissonance follow.

It is not long, however, before a comforting, most beautiful chorus is introduced - and the listener's patience is finally redeemed. This is when we can feel that the music is telling us that "everything is alright."

Then, the piece takes us to its problematic theme. This fast-paced theme is played twice and each time it ends with a 'question mark' - before moving on to the next theme of temporary comfort. The slow changing notes of this soothing theme, are then followed by the restless problematic theme again. This time, however, the problematic theme is eventually merged to the recapitulation of the opening section. The merge is cleverly achieved by the upgoing 'question mark' repeated until the opening melody is finally reached.

After the opening theme is repeated again, it is followed by the circular theme, now already familiar on repeated hearing. And not long after, we hear the wonderful chorus that ends the piece. Here again, we are reminded by the chorus, poetically repeated at the end, that "everything will be alright."

(This is my rendition of this brilliant composition by Brahms. Enjoy)

Behind the Politics of The Dictator

Anyone who goes to watch 'The Dictator' knows full well before watching it that it is just a parody of dictators in general, as we can easily relate it to actual political uprisings and recent events like the Arab Spring (the fall of Ben Ali, Gaddafi and Mubarak). In fact, [spoiler alert] those who have actually seen it would also realise that this film also mocks western democracy, especially in a surprising 'Occupy Wall Street' speech by the dictator, General Aladeen in a late scene. But let's go beyond its politics.

Fortunately, there's enough material in 'The Dictator' for us to see it as more than a political parody, as we can observe the adventures of General Aladeen in New York as an allegory to an individual's coming of age (i.e transition from childhood to adulthood). 

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 In fact it is easy to draw parallels between dictatorship and childhood. At what other times in our lives that we think ourselves to be the centre of the universe - bestowed with all the rights to rule the world  - while mixing our desires and our needs. Ignorant of other people's needs and desires, the child enforces his own morality on others and assumes a royal treatment from his environment, especially from his parents. Interestingly, the role of parents in taking care of their 'special' child is also reflected in this film by the tireless effort of General Aladeen's uncle, Tamir, to fulfil the childlike desires ("I need hugs") of the dictator and ultimately enforcing his rule on the people of Wadiya. 

What the Dictator would soon realise is that he may not be so special after all - and this he would discover in two tragic facts [another spoiler alert]:

Replaceable. In a pretence to fool his enemies, Aladeen's uncle finds a body double of General Aladeen to replace him temporarily. However, Aladeen comes to realise that the real intention of his uncle is to replace him altogether with someone who looks exactly like Aladeen but who would obey all orders from the uncle. In other words, the dictator realises that the world is indifferent to his individuality. He could be killed and replaced by a body double - and the truth is - no one would really care!

Object of Hatred. Another reality check for Aladeen is when he accidentally walked into a gathering place of all the people he sent to be killed. What surprised him was that all these people were still alive and also filled with vengeance. This is an important lesson for the dictator, that every action begets a reaction, and that one must be ready to face the consequences of his actions. A child's naive assumption of the unfailing love and forgiveness from everyone around him is shattered once he discovers that he can also be hated by the people he loves.

***

Maybe as he has unknowingly mocked democracy and reverted back to his dictatorial ways, we can question whether the Dictator has really reached 'adulthood'. In fact, the guise of democracy in Wadiya at the end could also be seen as the guise of maturity in someone who is only really a grown-up child.


* Perhaps the giveaway clue to the allegory of 'The Dictator' to the coming of age is the scene he learns for the first time how to 'pleasure himself'. As in pubertal development, the moment one tastes this 'forbidden fruit', one would have also acquired the independence of the individual over biology (i.e one can fulfil his own biological urges). While this, in a way, may be good for the individual, it is bad for the species. No wonder it is morally abhorred.

Neurotic Avengers

(Image source)

It's not hard to detect neuroses in all those "superheroes" in  The Avengers. In this film, we meet with the narcissistic Iron Man, angry Hulk, megalomaniac half-brothers Thor and Loki, and PTSD-stricken Captain America. And of course, there's also Black Widow and Hawkeye. 

In their own comic book or film, the plot is usually about the superhero's own journey to overcome or accept his own neuroses, perhaps more than about fighting evil forces. Whereas in The Avengers, it gets more complicated, when all of them come together not just to fight evil, but more importantly, to face their own issues and those of others. This is perhaps why a child's logic of "why can't heroes just work together and defeat evil once and for all" is hard to materialise. Only adults can understand this.

Let's make some analysis of these superheroes.

Iron Man, with his self-absorbed personality, characterises the self-made modern man who uses his intellectual capabilities to develop high-tech solutions to his problems. However, just like our modern society, Iron Man would later discover that the greatest threat to our existence is no longer Nature, but it is human technology itself. In the climax of this film, Iron Man had to sacrifice his life not to fight against alien invaders, but in order to save human race against the destructive force of its own making - nuclear weapons.

Hulk, I think can also be seen as another archetype of the modern man. Behind a nerdy harmless scientist, we find his repressed anger manifesting itself as an uncontrollable destructive alter ego. We may assume that we are less aggressive than our ancestors, when our aggression has only been channelled to non-physical actions  - e.g violence in video games. The resolution for Hulk was simply to accept that destructive alter ego as part of his whole being - as he remarked, "That's my secret Cap, I'm always angry".

Thor and Loki, really suffer from what is known as the God Complex - believing themselves to be infallible, immortal and almighty. In fact, they really were born as gods. However, they would soon discover that there are bigger forces working beyond their control. Their plans go awry, and even their godly powers could not save them. Eventually, they have to learn that they are not gods after all, at least not in this reality. 

Captain America, for me, may be the least interesting character in The Avengers. He is not only misplaced in time, he is also the only one still troubled by the past. His lesson would be to leave the past and live the present - as he does so eventually, by cooperating with other "real superheroes" who have more skills, powers and intellect than him. The fact that he still fancies himself a Captain not just showcases his leadership charisma, but also his desperate constant need of approval. 

The Avengers is surely entertaining and great fun to watch in the cinema. But I find even more satisfaction in watching it as there are so many superheroes in this film for me to analyse and to understand why we enjoy watching them at all! 

Of Happy Endings

A friend once told me that groups of moviegoers in India had once burned down cinemas across the country because they were greatly dissatisfied by an unhappy ending of a certain Hindi film. In that film, the hero died at the end - and perhaps more importantly, he did not come back alive. However shocking what the audience did might seem to us, we must at least understand how those people must have felt - as we often do - after watching films with crappy endings.

So what makes a good ending? Obviously it is when evil perish and the good triumph! And who doesn't get annoyed if it is unclear what happens at the end? (e.g Inception). And so we expect movies to have clear and happy endings.

Unfortunately, as what we might have already realised, this does't always happen in real life. For every news event, there's always another event that follows; and for every story we tell our friends about what happened to us, there's always something that has happened right after. And if we really scrutinise the real endings to our stories, we would realise that these can be both unclear and quite often bad, or depressing.

So in real life there are not always happy endings - or are there? If we look at the natural history of an organism, we can say that its life is nothing but an inevitable journey towards death. On the other hand, we can also say that its story does not end with its death, but continues with its posterity (i.e descendants). Seen in this light, we might say that even at the time of its death, this creature has indeed reached a happy ending.

I just saw The Grey, the survival film with Liam Neeson playing a wolf hunter getting stranded by a plane crash with a few other people in a harsh arctic environment - the hunter then became the hunted. Not unlike The Hunger Games, this survival action film has some philosophical significance to it. But unlike the first Hunger Game film, the audience could not really tell whether the hero, after the death of all the other 'survivors', would himself survive at the end (although clearly he would die not long after). The Grey ended abruptly, obscurely, and depressingly - no one survived. But I think that's the whole point: in the end, everyone dies!

* Maybe having recently finished reading a book written by Schopenhauer, that pessimist philosopher, has got something to do with the tone of this post. But cheer up, it's not the end yet. 

A Separation

 When I heard about this Iranian drama film, I thought that it would be just another typical film about a divorce. In fact, when I watched it yesterday, I found that it is more than that. And indeed this film has deservingly won the Golden Globe Award for best foreign language film, along with many other international awards and nominations. 

I think all its audience would agree that, this realistic, gripping, and Kafkaesque film about the struggle of a modern young Iranian family has entertained us all. Some of us, who love to philosophize over ordinary things, may wonder if the story and its characters portray more than just family life crises. We can speculate that this film may also reflect the issues of "A Separation" of ideologies, generations, religions, and economic classes.

Forgotten What I've Read

Here are the top 11 books I read in 2011. Don't ask me what I've learned from them - most of their contents have been lost into my subconscious. 

1. The Republic by Plato
2. The Hero of a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell
3. Origin of Species by Charles Darwin
4. Ethics by Baruch Spinoza
5. Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes
6. Memories, Dreams and Reflections by Carl Jung
7. The Wealth of Nations (I-III) by Adam Smith
8. Critique of Pure Reason by Immanuel Kant
9. Public Opinion by Walter Lippmann
10. The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli
11. Symposium and The Death of Socrates by Plato

If there is one thing I've learned from these books, it is that stoicism rules. 

Happy new year 2012!

p/s: Do not worry if the world is going to end in 2012, or even if it doesn't. If our conscience is clear and if we live life for the present, then we are always ready to face our death - for what is death but a prolonged sleep? If we've been good, then there should be no nightmares for us, and whatever will happen to us when we are awoken, let God be the Judge!

From An Ideology To A Cult

As a huge fan of the mythologist Joseph Campbell, I was really excited when I found out that a documentary film about his ideas are playing in selected cinemas in the US. When I was watching the trailer (below), I suddenly realized how close this admiration of Joseph Campbell has been turning into a cult of its own.

Having said that, I still recommend you his book, "The Hero with a Thousand Faces" and I still admire his works. However, like any other great books, revolutionary ideas and personalities of the past, the process of turning these into cults - ie. blind devotion to ideas, beliefs and rigid observation of rituals - always begin with widespread misreading of those originally reasonable ideas, through secondary interpretation (interpret the interpretation, or, comments on the commentaries).

When a cult is established, its followers usually never bother to read the primary source - the original work - where the first definition of terms and ideas are established by the author. For example, in Campbell's case,  if you only watch the film, read my comments of his work and just quotes from his books, I don't think you can fully grasp his ideas yet. You might even imagine this to be just another new-age self-help scheme - like "The Secret" - only with a different tagline: "Follow your bliss", and I don't blame you for that. Some might even fall into such scheme.

Ironically, the genius of Joseph Campbell was in his realization that all myths, folklores, and religions simply point toward the attempt to understand human existence and making sense of daily life, and the literal or historical truths behind these are irrelevant. Far from trying to establish a new form of myth, his focus was more on the study of the established ones. Of course, his thoughts were not formed out of vacuum, as they often refer to findings in psychoanalysis, especially of Carl Jung.

Now if you have read this far, let me reward you with a token of appreciation, because I know not many people would do so. The trailer below is for the documentary film I mentioned above, called "Finding Joe". It's up to you to watch it, read the book, or do something else, useful or otherwise. Follow your bliss!

Finding Joe - Trailer V.7 from pat solomon on Vimeo.

Awesome Covers

Challenge Completed

Voltaire (1694-1778) - French writer and philosopher

 Earlier this year, I challenged myself to read 50 books throughout 2011. I have always set to follow the path of those who came before me - to study their wisdom, heed their advice, and learn from their mistakes - by reading what they have put down in paper. Of course, not all sages wrote books. Some of those that I read were published posthumously (after the author has passed away); others, were not received well when they were first published; while others were popular right from the beginning. 

Last night, in one of my journeys in the London Underground, I completed this challenge - as I read the closing paragraph of a satire entitled Candide (1759) by Voltaire. 

"All that is very well," answered Candide, "but let us cultivate our garden."

It is story of a young man named Candide, who was taught that all in life is good - only humans make it bad. He truly admired his teacher and accepted his philosophy wholeheartedly - but then something happened. Later, Candide found it difficult to hold on to this blind optimism, as misery and tragedy befell him and almost everyone around him - including his teacher. Fortunately, it was not a sad ending for him - but his was not a truly happy ending either. 

All these books that I read this year have been nonfiction - except the last one, Candide. This change of genre may be a sign to my future reading list. I wonder where it will take me next.

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Why the Movie SENNA is Rated 100% Fresh

Let me re-quote Joseph Campbell (I've done this before, twice!) from his revolutionary work, The Hero with a Thousand Faces, to show you that Senna has what all the best movies have in common: a familiar plot about the hero as deftly described by Campbell in that book.  If you've watched Senna, you'd know what I mean.

The mythological hero, setting forth from his commonday hut or castle, is lured, carried away, or else voluntarily proceeds, to the threshold of adventure.

There he encounters a shadow presence that guards the passage.  The hero may defeat or conciliate this power and go alive into the kingdom of the dark (brother-battle, dragon-battle; offering, charm), or be slain by the opponent and descend in death (dismemberment, crucifixion). 

Beyond the threshold, then, the hero journeys through a world of unfamiliar yet strangely intimate forces, some of which severely threaten him (tests), some of which give magical aid (helpers). 

When he arrives at the nadir of the mythological round, he undergoes a supreme ordeal and gains his reward. 

The triumph may be represented as the hero’s sexual union with the goddess-mother of the world (sacred marriage), his recognition by the father-creator (father atonement), his own divination (apotheosis), or again - if the powers have remained unfriendly to him – his theft of the boon he came to gain (bride-theft, fire-theft); intrinsically it is an expansion of consciousness and therewith of being (illumination, transfiguration, freedom). 

The final work is that of return. If the powers have blessed the hero, he now sets forth under their protection (emissary); if not, he flees and is pursued (transformation flight, obstacle flight).

At the return threshold the transcendental powers must remain behind; the hero re-emerges from the kingdom of dread (return, resurrection).  

The boon that he brings restores the world (elixir).

Essentially, we all want to be told the same old story again and again.

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Embracing the Classical Era

Classical Greece was a truly remarkable time. It was the age of the discovery of Western thought and philosophy - when Plato, a student of Socrates, wrote his masterpieces, and founded the first Western Academy. Having gone halfway through one of Plato's most renowned writing, The Republic, I now find that it is by far the greatest book I have ever read. It's time for me to rediscover other classical writings as well! 

MY KZ, UR BF

Top 10 Read of 2010

This is the list of the best books I have read in the year 2010.

[ 1 ] Guns, Germs & Steel - Jared Diamond

  This is simply the best book I have read so far. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, this masterpiece endeavours to explain why the European societies were the ones to conquer the New World, instead of the other way around - an attempt by the author that was achieved using archaeology, geography; also, animal and plant biology!

[ 2 ] Fermat's Last Theorem - Simon Singh

  Receiving almost 120 5-star rating in amazon.co.uk, this book explores the exciting journey of mathematicians through the ages to prove Fermat's last theorem (a deceivingly easy-to-prove mathematical equation). With riveting stories of the personalities behind this journey, this book is a testimony of my conviction that since there are so many non-fiction tales to read, I haven't the time to read fiction. Of course, history is not without errors, as long as it's written by fallible historians. 

[ 3 ] The Unfolding of Language - Guy Deutscher

  Aren't you interested to learn why our language is so different from others, and how come - apart from the differences - there exist similarities (even between English, French & Malay! - e.g. Two, Deux, Dua) ? Well, look no further, this book tells us just that, and much more - like why the language of our forefathers seem so different from ours. 

[ 4 ] Outliers - Malcolm Gladwell

  It seems so easy to attribute success to pure talent - as books written about high achievers often allude to. However, Gladwell tries to prove just the opposite, that if it wasn't for their luck, these high achievers (read: outliers) might not have succeeded in whatever field they're in. And this includes billionaires Bill Gates & Steve Jobs (Mark Zuckerberg was not included probably because this was written two years ago), the Beatles & athletes. Of course, in almost all cases, hard work had accompanied seizing every good opportunity.

[ 5 ] Life Ascending - Nick Lane

  From the beginnings of life on Earth deep in the ocean, to the complex multicellular life on land able to trap energy from the sun (via photosynthesis), to sentient beings curious and intelligent enough to ponder on their own existence; this book brings elementary biology to a new level, attempting to explain the 'ten great inventions of evolution' using chemistry, biology, archaeology & common sense. 

[ 6 ] The Ascent of Money - Niall Ferguson

 British historian, turned Harvard professor, Niall Ferguson discusses the 'origin of money' - those colour-printed papers/copper we regard so dearly to. When many saw the recent financial crisis as the fall of capitalism - having researched and skilfully written the history of financial markets - the author had these words to conclude his book:

 '..far from being 'a monster that must be put back in its place', as the German president recently complained, financial markets are like the mirror of mankind, revealing every hour of every working day the way we value ourselves and the resources of the world around us.

  It is not the fault of the mirror if it reflects our blemishes as clearly as our beauty.'

-

[ 7 ] The Armchair Economist - Stephen Landsburg

 An interesting read about the economics of daily life. From why popcorns are so expensive at cinemas, to why the government must not charge high tariffs on imported cars. It was so interesting that I finish reading it in barely two days!

[ 8 ] The Blank Slate - Steven Pinker

  I have just finished reading this book over Christmas. A cognitive scientist goes head on with the nature vs nurture debate, from IQ to gender differences. Not for the faint-hearted, hardcore liberals or feminist/sexist. Otherwise, an insightful read!  Nature -1; Nurture - 0

[ 9 ] The Denial of Death - Ernest Becker

  This is the second Pulitzer prize winning book in my list. It is also the oldest one published among the others in my list. The late author explored, in this book, the philosophy of the denial of our inevitable demise: in our social life (loyalty to friendship circle), work (striving to build one's own legacy) and religion (the promise of an after life).

[ 10 ] Jews, God & History - Max I. Dimont

  Finally, as the number 10 book of the year, this is, as its name implies, a record of the history of the Jewish people and how their beliefs (hence, 'God' in the title) had influenced their progress and fated them to meet challenges through the ages. I agree with the author after reading this book, that the Jews have been important contributors to our history (including the non-Jews), from the Judeo-Christian-Islamic scriptures & faiths,  to our economic, philosophical, & scientific progress. 

  Although the author no longer professes the Jewish faith,  he has great respect for it especially for his Jewish father.  This book was not written to promote Zionism, argue for or against it. It does, however, discuss the history of the formation of Israel, wars & crises of the middle-east. 

A Confused Harry Potter

Yes. I just saw the latest Harry Potter movie - the penultimate chapter to the enchanting fictional series of the world of wizardry. I quite like it, actually. Although, now that I've seen it, I can't wait for the final movie to come out next year. (Well done, Mr Director!). Well, here's a funny sketch on BBC about a mix up of the three of the most successful lot of fantasy film series ever!)

The Height of Candour & Cynicism (and Humour too!)

I have found perhaps one of the most interesting channels in Youtube - jpmetz. That's because there's never been any video blogger so full of candour & cynicism (and also amusing) so far! I mean, who'd review, mock and insult acclaimed children's books (along with vegans, thin people, etc.)? Lucky for us, we have JPMETZ!





[Thin people may be offended, but please watch this next video (-: ]

One Hell Of A Game

Please Do Yourself A Favour And Avoid This Bestseller Hogwash

Presenting Naomi Klein with her bestseller book, The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism.

If you are looking for a book about how evil capitalists are conspiring to enforce a free market system upon a reluctant public by employing the 'Shock and Awe' strategy (i.e abusing war, natural disasters and economic catastrophes), then look no further. Also, if you are a conspiracy theory buff, this might be your kind of stuff.

Otherwise, please don't waste your money on this book, or even bother to borrow it from the library - like what I did - trust me. The reason is simple: the premise upon which this book is based on is fundamentally flawed. Read why I think it is fundamentally flawed in my review of the book: The Shock Doctrine: Tossed Away After 30 Pages

Or, for a professional argument on why you shouldn't take this book seriously, read this article. 

So do yourself the favour, and read any books by Malcolm Gladwell instead.

A New Habit

Since December last year, I've been on the longest school-break of my life - perhaps the last one. Before the holidays, I have long planned to do some part-time work during this holiday term. I have actually went to ask a few tuition centres around my town for a job, and through the Internet too - but to no avail. I've also received a text message from a friend who offered a part-time work in my university. Considering that I'm about 300km away from my university, I aptly denied the offer.

"So what have you been doing, Kim?" many people have asked me. The reply was, as I've written on a friend's facebook wall: "Books, Blogging and Babysitting". Well, that wasn't a complete list, so let me add a few: listening to music, facebook, holiday trips, eat and sleep. But among all major activities that I've been doing this holiday, reading has been the most enjoyable, worthwhile, and refreshing activity yet.

The first non-academic book that I've actually finished reading - until its last page - was "Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone",which was a birthday gift from my sister, when I was 12. It's a shame that it was also my last, until late last year - almost 9 years later. Simply put, I've never loved reading. I thought it was a waste of time. Why not? It'd be better for me, I thought, to watch TV and movies to learn about new stuff; books are boring and would consume too much of my "precious" time. Clearly, I was wrong.

To get a clear perspective on the influence of books, and the importance of reading; let me quote Carl Sagan from his book "The Demon Haunted World: Science As A Candle In The Dark":

   For 99 percent of the tenure of humans on earth, nobody could read or write. The great invention had not yet been made. Except for first-hand experience, almost everything we knew was passed on by word of mouth. As in the children's game "Telephone," over tens and hundreds of generations, information would slowly be distorted and lost.

  Books changed all that. Books, purchasable at low cost, permit us to interrogate the past with high accuracy; to tap the wisdom of our species; to understand the point of view of others, and not just those in power; to contemplate - with the best teachers - the insights, painfully extracted from Nature, of the greatest minds that ever were, drawn from the entire planet and from all of our history. They allow people long dead to talk inside our heads. Books can accompany us everywhere. Books are patient where we are slow to understand, allow us to go over the hard parts as many times as we wish, and are never critical of our lapses. Books are key to understanding the world and participating in a democratic society.

What Dr. Carl Sagan said is still true, until today: "[Books] allow people long dead to talk inside our heads". He died on December 20, 1996. For all the power and benefits of reading, it's no wonder then that the Quran admonishes mankind to "Read, in the name of your Lord who created. [96:1]" The question now is, what kind of books must we read?

I thought, before my term starts this August, I'd have plenty of time to read as much as possible, about whatever topics I find interesting - non-medical and non-fiction preferably - because come August, my focus would return to my medical studies. There would be very little, if any, time (and energy) to read non-medical books once my school term begins.

Let's go to the zoo, to the zoo

Last Thursday, I went to Zoo Negara with my family. In case you're wondering why we visited the zoo at this time of the year, let me remind you again I'm in a very loooong break before my studies resume this August!

Anyway, I enjoyed my visit to the zoo despite some hiccups on the parking (a minor thing, really). There was a diverse collection of animals in the zoo - from primates to fish (in a wonderful aquarium), and tigers, lions and tapir. The only animal I couldn't find was an Arctic Monkey. Maybe I will, when I study in London soon. hehehe

Do read more about my visit h e r e.

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Sounds great!

Well, what would you expect from a pair of headphones that costs almost double that of a set of Edifier 2.1 Speakers? And what if these new headphones came from a brand which is very respected in the field of audiophile (those big thousand ringgit costing) headphones, Sennheiser? Ha...the result is an outstanding sound re-production (reproduced from any normal earphones) as witnessed by my very own ears. Yes, much (much) better than any Sony's or even the smaller Sennheiser I have. Just say it, better bass? Better treble? Clearer mid-tones? The answer is yes to all those questions. All the songs I have heard and loved never sound any better than with the PX100! Hahaha I'm so happy! Although I do feel sad for my old earphones because everytime I try to compare them with the PX100, they all seem to be greatly intimidated and become irrelevant with each listen. Huhu, how I would miss them all, buried under my desk until this new set breaks (maybe not in the near future).

And by the way, let's enjoy this moment together with this wonderful track by a band named Friendly Fires, entitled 'Paris'. (May require a sound volume increase and PX100 is recommended for a much better experience)