Potsdam, New York vs. Rochester, New York

Growing up twenty minutes from Rochester, New York was nice. Even before I could drive, I could walk or bike to places where there was stuff to do. The gas station, the library, a restaurant or two. That's like Potsdam.

In highschool, still before I could drive, but while I had friends that could, living twenty minutes from Rochester was even better. Pittsford, Penfield, Webster, the city itself, all opened up as fresh turf. True you had to have a reason to go anywhere as a passenger, but that was fine. That's like Potsdam.

Once I got my drivers license and access to a car, Rochester was the best place in the United States to live. Hyperbole? No. Twenty minutes in one direction and I was in the city, eating at Nick Tahos (such beautiful garbage plates there). Twenty minutes in the other direction and I was chilling in the isolated Devil's Bathtub, or Mendon Ponds Park, or the Erie Canal. Twenty minutes in another direction and I was on Lake Ontario. Barnes and Noble. Movie theaters. Music stores. Coffee shops. Starbucks. (Oh delicious, scrumptious Starbucks!) Real restaurants. Several libraries. Bowling alleys. Milestones. The Eastman Theater. What more could a teenager with a Joe-job want?

That is not like Potsdam, New York. True, I do not have a car. I do, however, know several people who do. Car or not, there is not a lot to do in Potsdam (St. Lawrene County). There is not even a little to do in Potsdam (St. Lawrene County).

[Note: If you are an avid drinker, you may have a different opinion than that, but I am not a drinker, and do not consider drinking as something fun to do, at least not at the level of those around me.]

I can go to Strawberry Fields. Their coffee is alright. I can go to Stewards. They have good sundaes, for awhile. I could go to Messina with my friends. That's nice. There is a Taco Bell. And a "mall." There is a Walden's Books there. And an FYE. (Messina's FYE is about the size of my dorm room) Where else? Some of us went bowling this weekend. Getting there I felt a little technology shock, for they had no automatic score device. I have NEVER been somewhere where there was no computer that kept your score for you. And I am not saying that that was bad, I quite enjoyed trying to keep score. (I feel better now because I know how to keep score in bowling. I'm enlightening myself. Oh yeah.)

There is one good place to go again and again; the Crane School of Music. Already, I have seen three fantastic shows there. But...oh yeah! Rochester had the Eastman School of Music, and yes, they did indeed have one, two, three coffee shops within walking distace. Ooooh that was nice. What's within walking distance of Crane? Ummmmm.....Stewards? I'll admit that they have good hot chocolates, but they're a bloody gas station!

In addition, places in Rochester stayed open after dinner. I cannot believe that places in downtown Postdam close when they do. It's as if they don't even care that no one is buying their things.

I really miss Rochester. And I'm sorry Potsdam, I do enjoy living here. It's very pretty. And it's very easy to study. But I could not imagine living here. I cannot wait to go home this Tuesday.

Jeeze. I think my only entries so far have been complaints. I'm sorry for those of you who read through my whining. I'll post a positive topic next time, I promise.

IE Still blows and Irish Music

One thinks I would have learned from last time. I just typed up a whole entry, went to spell check in and Internet Explored crashed. Again. Bah.

I was talking about how music is a part of my life, or lact thereof.

I just returned from a concert at the Crane School of Music, which was good. It's nice to have music like that easily accesible. I grew up in Rochester where the Eastman School of Music was so I've seen plenty of free classical concerts.

I was also a classical musician for eight years. For the last two, I was taking professional lessons from a very enthusiastic teacher. I played Clarinet at East Rochester from fourth grade till graduation. I was the principle clarinet player for 3 of those years. Althought that's not saying a whole lot (there were about 5 clarinet players total in the high-school), if felt good and gratifying. Or atleast it did for a little while.

In 2001, Mark Gowman can to East Rochester and he brought with him a different type of music that I was used to. I think my first class with him was on September 11, 2001, so we didn't really introduce ourselves that day. Anyway, he brought Irish Music with him. He played the Irish Flute, and had previously been part of what he called a Celtic Music Society. He wanted to start it in ER, and was very successful. There were many talented musicians in the highschool at that time, and many were willing to give irish music a try.

Within months of us beginning this Irish group, music had changed forever for me. Classical music no longer held a fourth of the appeal as it had previoulsy. Irish music was so much more fun. It also, I think, penetrates deeper into people that classical music. This can be seen especially in little kids. At most of the many Irish Festivles I attended, there were little kids dancing and moving to the irish music being played. Now I have never seen a little kid dance or really care about classical music at such a young age. Not that classical music is boring. Well, a lot of it is. With Irish music, you don't have to understand it to enjoy it or to feel it. You also don't see many cheery classical musicians. Many of the ones that I have seen are serious and curt about their music. I have never seen a curt irish musician. From the beginning player to the experienced ones, they all seem cheery. Perhaps it's because irish music does not have to be perfect, or even near-perfect to be enjoyable.

For example, the Cheiftans, who are accepted as the difinitive guide to the traditionaly Irish style, are rarely in tune with each other. They often make mistakes on their albums and in live performances, but they don't care. They smile and laugh while playing. They make jokes, and drink alcohol. They enjoy themselves. If a classical musician drank and made jokes during a classical concert, they would be kicked out. Damn, it seems like I'm bashing classical music. Well, I guess I am, but I'm not rejecting it. It just isn't as appealing to me (or my inner child).

So now, at Clarkson, I feel sad about my music situation not because I don't play the clarinet anymore (although I do get a pang every now and again about that), I feel sad because I cannot enjoy music with a group of people like I did in Rochester. There was a large Irish community there, and they played together in large groups with beginners and experts, and had a blast while doing so. In Celtic Music Society, we played, enjoyed ourselves, experimented, made things up, wrote things of our own, and let out inner child dance away. That's what pangs me. My inner child isn't dancing.

Now I beleive that that is a sufficiently depressing entry. Can I cheer it up before closing?

Here, keeping with the music theme, I'll show you some lyrics to that German group I listen to so much. They're called Rammstein, and they sound angry and satanic, but they're not. Really they're not. Their lead singer seriously was a basket weaver before he started the band. Their new album has lyrics that soound really good.

Lyrics ©2004 Rammstein.

Ein Flugzeug liegt im Abendwind
An Bord ist auch ein Mann mit Kind
Sie sitzen sicher sitzen warm
und gehen so dem Schlaf ins Garn
In drei Stunden sind sie da
zum Wiegenfeste der Mama
Die Sicht ist gut der Himmel klar

Weiter, weiter ins Verderben
Wir müssen leben bis wir sterben
Der Mensch gehört nicht in die Luft
So der Herr im Himmel ruft
seine Söhne auf dem Wind
Bringt mir dieses Menschenkind

Das Kind hat noch die Zeit verloren
Da springt ein Widerhall zu Ohren
Ein dumpfes Grollen treibt die Nacht
und der Wolkentreiber lacht
Schüttelt wach die Menschenfracht

Weiter, weiter ins Verderben
Wir müssen leben bis wir sterben
Und das Kind zum Vater spricht
Hörst du denn den Donner nicht
Das ist der König aller Winde
Er will mich zu seinem Kinde

Aus den Wolken tropft ein Chor
Kriecht sich in das kleine Ohr
Komm her, bleib hier
Wir sind gut zu dir
Komm her, bleib hier
Wir sind Brüder dir

Der Sturm umarmt die Flugmaschine
Der Druck fällt schnell in der Kabine
Ein dumpfes Grollen treibt die Nacht
In Panik schreit die Menschenfracht

Weiter, weiter ins Verderben
Wir müssen leben bis wir sterben
Und zum Herrgott fleht das Kind
Himmel nimm zurück den Wind
Bring uns unversehrt zu Erden

Aus den Wolken tropft ein Chor
Kriecht sich in das kleine Ohr
Komm her, bleib hier
Wir sind gut zu dir
Komm her, bleib hier
Wir sind Brüder dir

Der Vater hält das Kind jetzt fest
Hat es sehr an sich gepresst
Bemerkt nicht dessen Atemnot
Doch die Angst kennt kein Erbarmen
So der Vater mit den Armen
Drückt die Seele aus dem Kind
Diese setzt sich auf den Wind und singt:

Komm her, bleib hier
Wir sind gut zu dir
Komm her, bleib hier
Wir sind Brüder dir

Translation ©2004 Jeremy Williams. This is the guy who translated! All credit goes to him! He's really cool!

An airplane is in the evening wind
On board is a man with his child as well
They sit secure and warm
and so they fall into the trap of sleep
In three hours they will be there
for mama's birthday ^[2]
The view is good the sky is clear

Onwards, onwards into destruction
We must live until we die
Humans don't belong in the sky
So the lord in Heaven calls
his sons to the wind
Bring me this human child

The child has still lost time
Then an echo jumps to his ears
A muffled rumbling drives the night
and the driver of the clouds laughs
He shakes the human cargo awake

Onwards, onwards into destruction
We must live until we die
And the child says to the father
Don't you hear the thunder
That's the king of all the winds
He wants me to become his child

From the clouds falls a choir
which crawls into the little ear
Come here, stay here
We'll be good to you
Come here, stay here
We are your brothers

The storm embraces the flying machine
The pressure falls quickly in the cabin
A muffled rumbling drives the night
In panic the human cargo screams

Onwards, onwards into destruction
We must live until we die
And to God the child pleads
Heaven take back the wind
Bring us unharmed to earth

From the clouds falls a choir
which crawls into the little ear
Come here, stay here
We'll be good to you
Come here, stay here
We are your brothers

The father is now holding onto the child
and has pressed it tightly against himself
He doesn't notice its difficulty in breathing
But fear knows no mercy
So with his arms the father
squeezes the soul from the child
Which takes its place upon the wind and sings:

Come here, stay here
We'll be good to you
Come here, stay here
We are your brothers

^[1] The Dalai Lama is the most powerful figure in the Gelugpa or Gelug sect of Tibetan Buddhism. The current one, Tenzin Gyatso, is also afraid of flying.

^[2] The word "Wiegenfest" is used, which is an old word for "birthday", but literally translated would be "cradle celebration".

Note: The song is at least partially based on the poem "Erlkönig" which was written by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe in 1782.

Now listen to that song some time and try to enjoy the lyrics as much as I do.

Blogs are cool and IE sucks.

***Note: This is the fourth time I've attempted to post something in the last ten minutes. Bloody Internet explorer can't seem to handle something as complicated as a data packet.***

I think blogs are cool. Rather, the idea is cool. The practicality or functionality of it may not be existant, but it still feels good to (as the site puts it) publish my ideas.

Here's where I start:

This pictures is huge so I'll just post a link to it.

Purple America

It still being soon after the election, a lot of people (myself included) feel separated from the majority of America. The election divided like none I've ever seen, and media takes that harmful notion and runs with it like Forrest Gump.

However, although the majority of America is purple, there are a couple of locations that are mainly blue that I would like to point out.

The first is New York City. Ground zero. Where the terrorists did attack. Where this whole War Against Terrorism has hit the hardest. They voted almost 3 to 1 for Kerry. That's pretty freaking blue.

The second is Washington, D.C. The terrorists also attacked here. Killed here. They voted around 9 to 1 for Kerry.

Here, let me post my source:
Nov. 15, 2004 article of The New Yorker, under their 'The Talk of the Town' section, which was written by Hendrik Hertzberg:

"Along with the sadness and the puzzlement [of the 2004 election], there is apprehension. Here in the big coastal cities, we have reason to fear for the immediate safety of our lives and our families--more reason, it must be said, than have the residents of the "heartland," to which the per-capita bulk of "homeland security" resources, along with extra electoral votes, are distributed. It was the deep-blue New York (which went three to one for Kerry) and deep-blue Washington, D.C. (nine to one Kerry), that were, and presumably remain, Al Qaeda's targets of choice. In the heartland, it is claimed, some view the coastal cities as faintly un-American. The terrorists do not agree. They see us as the very essence--the heart, if you like--of America. And, difficult as it may be for some rural gun owners to appreciate, many of us sincerely believe that President Bush's policies have put us in greater peril than we would be facing under a Kerry (or a Gore) Administration."

I had never thought about that before I read that article. The two places where the terrorists actually attacked wanted Kerry to lead them. They beleived that Kerry would offer more protection that Bush has. That implies a lot.

Now for those of you who read my one and only LiveJournal post, I know I'm repeating, but I thought that it would make more sense to post that one thought here where all of my following thoughts will come instead of leaving it to rot away on LJ.

Anyone feel free to reply to anything I say. I'm pretty sure I have it set up so any replies will be visible by anyone who looks at this site. And don't let the name stop you from posting your name. I hope to have this be an open discussion of ideas.

I think I might have babbled a lot here, and am still babbling now, so I'll stop and go to bed.

Noology Anonymous

Hello everybody (nobody).

I want to thank Norm for his blog which gave me the idea for making mine. I did just recently start a LiveJournal, but that didn't seem to be the right medium for what I want. I know there is very little difference, but LJs have become so chit-chatty that it just didn't feel right.

I'm not going to say much now, I just want to get this started so that I may use it later. I'll define the words used to title this now:

Noology: The science of intellectual phenomena. Comes from the Greek 'mind.'

I thought that that was a good description of what I was trying to do here, and it sounds cool.

So thanks for reading this if you have so far, I promise there will be better stuff in the near future.