2013 « The Ramblings of An Eternal Student of Life

Friday, October 18, 2013

Personal Reflections ... Spirituality ...

I’m in something of a bloggers rut right now. Just can’t think of anything all that interesting that I’ve read or seen or heard or thought about over the past week that I need to share with the world. So I’m just going to share a silly thought that I had this morning while brushing my teeth.

Over the past few days I’ve been reading some early Buddhist scriptures, trying to get a better feel for what Buddhism is really all about. Well, as with most big religious traditions, there really is no one “Buddhism” to get a feel for. What I’m trying to do is get as close as possible to what the Buddha himself was trying to sell to humankind. Over the past 15 years I’ve read any number of books, articles and web sites about Buddhism, and in my Zen practice I hear weekly lectures about it. And yet, if you were to stop me after all this and ask me to explain Buddhism and the arguments for following the Buddha’s teachings, I’d be darned if I could give you a good answer. Part of that, I suppose, is that I never really convinced myself to become a modern-day disciple of “Shakyamuni”, as the in-crowd likes to call him.

So, despite all my exposure to Buddhism, I’m not a Buddhist. Why not? Well, to answer that question, I’d have to finally get a grasp on » continue reading …

◊ posted by Jim G @ 10:14 pm Read Comment (1) / Leave a Comment

Monday, October 14, 2013

◊ Ted Cruz and the Tea Party: Men Acting Badly?

Politics ... Society ...

Once in a blue moon, I come across an article on current affairs that really cuts thru the fog, an article about today that sounds like it was written 25 years in the future, with the benefit of 20-20 hindsight. There’s a lot of fog these days in the realm of national politics. How can anyone make sense of the current dysfunctional struggles in Washington DC between President Obama and the GOP / Tea Party alliance? What can be said about all the infighting and the corresponding failure of our collective leadership to address immigration problems, long-term debt and other financial dangers, global warming, slow economic growth and unemployment, heightening economic inequality, inadequate education systems, on and on? Even our national decision to expand access and fairness of the health care system thru the 2009 Affordable Care Act is now being re-visited in a rather unwholesome fashion. Why are our leaders fighting so much amidst themselves while the pillars fall and the barbarians approach in the distance?

One interpretation of the vehement efforts by Republicans to undermine President Obama’s leadership is based on racism, on racial prejudice against those of sub-Saharan African heritage; pure and simple, old-school bigotry. The Tea Party is seen by some as being driven and inspired by racist resentment of Obama’s political success.

I believe that there is some truth to that point of view. The uncooperative behavior on the part of Republicans goes beyond what I have » continue reading …

◊ posted by Jim G @ 2:22 pm Read Comment (1) / Leave a Comment

Saturday, October 12, 2013

◊ A Crocus in October

Personal Reflections ... Photo ...

It was a somewhat interesting day today. I got up early, as I usually do on Saturday, and after finishing my oatmeal I decided to drive over to the South Paterson Food Market, to pick up some fruits and veggies. As I have written before, I always enjoy going there; lots of different produce there for sale, great prices, and a very interesting mix of people (this isn’t your usual upper-income suburban farmers market, these are mostly working class people looking to get by). While driving up East Railway Avenue (where the markets and street bins are located) towards the parking lots, I saw a rainbow in the sky. Most interesting, given that it hadn’t been raining. The morning sun was shining thru some wispy clouds, and somehow a rainbow effect was created on the other end of the sky. Other people on the street stopped to look at it too.

Then, while inside of one of the stores getting a carton of soy milk (at least a $1 cheaper than in the local supermarket in Montclair), an old guy originally from South America started talking to me about what is wrong with this country. I wasn’t in any hurry, so I gave him some attention, and we stood there talking (mostly him talking and me listening) amidst the swirling crowd for about 20 minutes. I remember him saying that he was retired, and I guess that he just needed someone to chat with. Hey, glad to be there for him; I’m getting to be an old guy myself these days, and it ain’t always easy for me either to find friendly people to interact with.

Then I got home and stored away all the tomatoes and apples and onions and such. I decided to put on my running gear and take a half-hour jog, and when passing the front of my house, I noticed something tiny yet somewhat out of place. Was that a crocus blooming near the sidewalk, in the middle of October? A sign of spring, just as the cold winds get ready to blow and the leaves start to fall? Well, after I finished my run, I got my camera out, as to share this nice little surprise with the world. Not a bad Saturday; cheap food, a morning rainbow, an interesting old guy, and a crocus in October. A good omen for us old guys facing the autumn of our own lives? Hey, I’ll take it! [Ironically in a good way, it is early spring right now where my food store conversation partner came from . . . perhaps crocuses are also blooming in the town or village where he came from!]

◊ posted by Jim G @ 4:21 pm Read Comment (1) / Leave a Comment

Sunday, October 6, 2013

◊ Too Old To Rock n’ Roll . . .

Music ... Personal Reflections ...

My brother and I started a new family tradition about a year or so ago; just about every Friday night at 8, we gather ’round a TV and tune into VH1 Classic, to watch a re-run of That Metal Show. For those of you who may not be fans of metal and classic hard rock music, That Metal Show is hosted by Eddie Trunk, a fellow from New Jersey who gained a reputation over the past decade or two as a DJ, VJ, author and impresario about metal bands and their music. Actually, Eddie takes an expansive view of metal so as to acknowledge most any band, old or new, that delivers pure, hard-edged “heavy” rock music, whether “metallic” or not (he also includes Rush and Bon Jovi and John Mellencamp in his circle, despite their tendency to focus more on ballads and story-telling). He’s something of a still-young-looking fellow in his late 40’s, but Mr. Trunk nonetheless pays much attention and tribute to the now-graying musicians who opened up the metal and hard rock scene in the 1970s. (He’s also not at all what you might expect, personality-wise; Eddie Trunk comes across on TV as an extremely pleasant character, a bit rotund and generally harmless looking, a slightly matured version of the good kid from high school who just happened to play lots of Sabbath and Kiss and Priest and Iron Maiden and Deep Purple on his I-Pod between classes and after finishing his homework.)

So, my brother and I usually find ourselves on Friday watching Eddie and his two sidekicks (comedians Jim Florentine and Don Jaimison) interview various rock performers. Eddie’s show is in the classic talk-show format, although there is usually a “musical” guest who will jam a few guitar riffs or a quick drum solo just before a commercial break. What is interesting is that almost none of Eddie’s guests are “spring chickens”. That Metal Show is not for the cutting-edge acts of today like Nickleback or Halestorm or Papa Roach. While many Metal Show guests are still in pretty good shape in their 40’s and 50’s, some of them are way past their prime (such as Lemmy from Motorhead). Eddie also spends a fair amount of time keeping up on what is happening or had happened to the earliest, most venerable bands — and what is happening to them generally is old age and death. Some of these bands, such as Deep Purple, still record and perform, but many or most of the original members are now retired or dying or dead (e.g. John Lord of Purple). It’s not that unusual for Eddie to wish someone to get better after a bout with cancer.

Friday night is generally a time to kick back after a tough week at work, so I tend not to philosophize too much. But still, I can’t help but ponder the irony » continue reading …

◊ posted by Jim G @ 6:34 pm Read Comment (1) / Leave a Comment

Friday, October 4, 2013

◊ Do We Need A [New] Common Enemy?

Foreign Relations/World Affairs ... Politics ...

I became something of a fan of “Voice of Russia” radio after it started broadcasting regularly here in the NY Metro area on an AM channel back in 2011. Well, maybe not a fan, but I did find it somewhat interesting — the notion that Vladamir Putin would spend some of his precious oil and gas money to deliver the world news and his political views directly to my car radio. But for the past few days, everything on 1430 AM has been in Spanish. So where did Voice of Russia radio go?

Looks like Radio Russia has indeed been replaced on the New York airwaves, by something called Radio Cantico Nuevo. VofR no longer lists a New York outpost on its list of broadcast frequencies. Not that I am or ever was much of a “Russophile” (pro-Russian). But their radio station was worth an occasional listen on the drive to and from work. And given all the turmoil going on in the US government right now, I can’t help but wonder if their strongman government philosophies might be the better choice from a list of bad options, at least as far as the Russian homeland goes.

Speaking of Russia and the current disarray of American national leadership, I also can’t help but long for the days of the Cold War. I lived thru the second half of it, and I will admit » continue reading …

◊ posted by Jim G @ 4:48 pm Read Comment (1) / Leave a Comment

Saturday, September 28, 2013

◊ Manhattan — On 2 or 3 Different Scales

Photo ...

I don’t get to New York City much anymore, despite living only 14 miles from it. But today I took a train into the big city to attend the wedding of a former work associate who I have occasionally stayed in touch with over the years. On the way home, I took a look at the streets and blocks in mid-town that I once did frequent — because I once worked there. Back in the mid-to-late 1980s I worked at Penn Plaza near Madison Square Garden and Penn Station. The PP1 complex spanned the ground between 33rd and 34th Streets, and thus I took a few shots there just before scampering down to my train home for sweet New Jersey.

First up is a human-scale shot, New York from street level and people level. Mid-town Manhattan is an incredibly dense amalgamation of humankind on a pleasant Saturday afternoon, and West 33rd Street is doing its part here to host the hordes who find one reason or another to be in the big town. To be honest, it really does make the less crowded suburbs of Jersey seem a bit sweeter!

In the next shot, you see » continue reading …

◊ posted by Jim G @ 9:41 pm Read Comment (1) / Leave a Comment

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

◊ Part 2 – Millennials as Ghosts in the Machine(s)

Society ... Technology ...

In my last blog, I pondered the complaint of the Millennial generation, i.e. that they have been given a raw economic deal, especially compared to the opportunities to achieve the “American Dream” that my own Boomer generation was given. Instead of seeking some form of anti-youth conspiracy amidst our aging leaders (arguably in their quest to maintain Social Security and Medicare benefits for their peers, including myself), or suspecting an unhealthy sub-conscious mindset grounded in the jealousy and disappointment of an aging generation that once sang “hope I die before I grow old” and chanted “never trust anyone over 30”, I will next focus on what machines and technology are doing to the modern workplace . . . which is quite a lot. I will note that technology has been changing what workers do for over a century now, with mostly good results (e.g. increasing pay tied to growing worker productivity). But the pace of technology change seems to be accelerating and taking us into new territory, such that humans and their social systems are losing the ability to keep up. Are the Millennials the shock troops facing an ultimately contracting need for human skills and abilities in an increasingly automated production economy guided by artificially intelligent (computerized) managerial systems?

The human race overall is getting smarter and better with regard to finding improved techniques to build or create things from nature. The pace of progress seems to keep on accelerating. Entrepreneurs and politicians soon see the possibilities created by these new techniques, and put them to use for their own fortune and power. The biggest impact on the masses results from better and cheaper ways to do things that once required people to do. So, are we facing the nightmare of a world where machines eventually take over most everything, while most people (other than a handful of rich “masters” and a small contingent of their extremely intelligent lackeys who are able to keep up with accelerating machine intelligence) become un-needed, and are thus cast into desperate poverty with lives that are nasty, brutish and short?

This nightmare is not a new one, as many economists like to point out. Technology and change in the workplace has been going on for at least 300 years now in the west. A look at the economic history of America since the Civil War reveals many innovations that » continue reading …

◊ posted by Jim G @ 4:49 pm Read Comments (2) / Leave a Comment

Saturday, September 21, 2013

◊ Old Economy Steve, Part 1

Economics/Business ... Society ...

I’m getting old now, as I recently completed my sixth decade here on Earth. So it’s kind-of natural for me to look back on the days of my youth and count the ways in which they were better than today. But then again, perhaps there really were some things about the suburban world of the 1960’s and 1970’s that were better. A lot of young people of today — the “Millennials” — are pretty upset about their declining social and economic possibilities. Some of them even look back with envy and irony on the world that I knew when I was their age, perhaps questioning the fairness of why their parents’ generation (the “Boomers”) had such abundant opportunities for a good, comfortable life as compared with the challenges that they now face.

In fact, the Millennials have created an Internet fictional character called “Old Economy Steve“, to stand as a “meme” (something like a mythological sound bite) for their frustrations. Old Economy Steve is a series of short messages posted on a series of identical pictures showing a long-haired white guy who definitely looks like a refuge from That Seventies Show. To be honest, I didn’t look all that different from Steve back then. And to be more honest, most of what they say about O.E. Steve’s world is more-or-less true. Back then, you COULD get a job with good pay right out of high school and be fairly sure that if you kept your nose to the grindstone, you would soon have enough to get married, buy a house, and raise a family. If you wanted to shoot a little higher, you COULD go to college and pay for books and tuition from what you earned on a summer job (I did just that!). And a college degree just about guaranteed a very decent job (that is, until the year that I graduated). No moving back in with mom and dad, not back in those days.

As with every ‘meme’, reality doesn’t completely fit with the story behind it. As Megan McArdle points out, if you weren’t a white male, » continue reading …

◊ posted by Jim G @ 7:39 pm Read Comment (1) / Leave a Comment

Thursday, September 12, 2013

◊ Introverts, Lemons and Freckles

Music ... Psychology ...

I was going thru an interesting article on the neuroscience of introversion recently. There have been a surprising number of brain studies which well establish that the brains of introverts and extroverts operate quite differently. One side effect: extroverts are found to be “happier”. Well, why not, America is an extrovert culture, and those who go with the flow generally have an easier time of it. Personally, I feel more “fulfilled” as an introvert, even if my life isn’t one big smile.

Another interesting fact about introverts: our brain reacts more sensitively to certain physical stimuli. One such stimuli is lemon juice. Various tests have shown that introverts salivate quite a bit more then extroverts in response to lemon juice in the mouth. Actually, I do rather enjoy licking fresh-cut lemons (when no one else is around and only I will use them). It’s interesting that extroverts can’t easily turn a sour lemon into a pleasurable experience, as the introvert within me can.

This all reminds me of an old episode of “The Little Rascals“, one that I watched many times when growing up (one of the pleasures of summer vacation » continue reading …

◊ posted by Jim G @ 8:54 pm Read Comment (1) / Leave a Comment

Sunday, September 8, 2013

◊ Judaism and Jesus the Christ — Personal Reflections

Religion ...

I recently finished a second listen of the Teaching Company course on the Bible’s Old Testament, by Prof. Amy-Jill Levine. I first heard it several years ago, when I was only interested in getting a general overview of what went on before the Gospels. (Obviously I grew up in a Christian tradition; but not in a Bible-thumping tradition, as I grew up in the Catholic faith. Perhaps that’s why I’m trying to catch up on Bible study!). This time around I focused more on the history of Israel, on what the Tanakh can tell you about Judaism and the Jews. Perhaps it is appropriate that I finished the course just before Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year (which was celebrated this past Thursday).

So, over the past few weeks, I sat through (or mostly stood, while making dinner or ironing shirts) the great stories of Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebecca, Jacob (my namesake!), Moses and the Exodus, Aaron, Joshua, Deborah, and Samson; then on thru the kings, Samuel, Saul, David, Solomon, then the split of the two kingdoms with the fall of the north; then the rise of the wise prophets, Elijah, Elisha, and Amos; followed by the Exile, Isiah, the Restoration, and the rise of the priests; and finally, the Diaspora, Job, Esther, Jeremiah, Daniel and the growth of apocalyptic expectations (setting the stage for the coming of Jesus of Nazareth). All are great stories indeed, but this time I was listening for meta-themes regarding the formation of the Jewish people and the roots and development of “what it is” about Judaism, about its “social mindset” (if you will). And yes, there was definitely some of that to be had in Professor Levine’s lectures.

One of the most significant “mindset” things that I took away was something of a wise weariness developing amidst the Jewish tradition over the centuries (not entirely my own idea, » continue reading …

◊ posted by Jim G @ 4:37 pm Read Comment (1) / Leave a Comment

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