Wednesday, November 15, 2006
So are we alone?
They say it's lonely at the top. They say when you cry, you cry alone. They say nobody loves you when you are down and out.
So, it doesn't matter who you are... you are alone.
Atleast, that's the impression I got from Frank's book, Chucky's Come Home. Thoroughly melancholy and deep. Highly recommended.
What I'd like to know is this: Is there closure in loneliness? Is deciding to be alone, and not be affected by others a peace of its own kind? It seems to resonate with the doctrines of detachment forwarded by both Buddhist and Hindu philosophies.
But not in the way that Frank's main character does it. 'King' is thoroughly attached to being lonely, and thoroughly pessimistic. Detachment and peaceful balance isn't about a negativity, a shunning of the world, but rather, just neutrality, and acceptance.
I've been reading another book, called The King Never Smiles - A Biography of Thailand's Bhumibol Adulyadej (which is banned in Thailand). Whilst I won't go into the details of the biography, I'd like to comment on something the author (Paul M. Handley) says in his introduction.
"In Buddhist culture, either a smile or a frown would indicate attachment to worldly pleasures or desires. Bhumibol's public visage was unfailingly one of kindly benevolence and impassivity. ... Increasingly, Thais compared his noble sacrifice to the Buddha's own."
(Handley, 2006:5)
I won't venture to speculate on whether the king smiles or frowns in private. I'm more interested in the continually neutral visage. If we take this at face value, I think we can come to the conclusion that in fact, through detachment, we are able to achieve great things - another quote: "It is amazing how much we can accomplish when it makes no difference who gets the credit."
Fulfilment of duty - not pushing the world away, as Frank's character, 'King' has done - is what brings closure, and peace.
*** *** ***
On a more mundane note - a little report on my activities this past week, for anyone who can be bothered reading!
Last Thursday was Catherine's birthday... the singularly most popular person on the planet! She managed to pull a crowd of 80 to her party at TGIF on Chapel Street in the middle of exams!
The weekend, uneventful as ever, with work and whatnot passed in a blur, excepting Sunday night when I agreed to write a petition for Elvira (we agreed that tips should we shared more fairly with the bar). Long story.
And I'm just about ready to walk out of Spaghetti tree. I'm getting tired of folk-etymology and unqualified 'truths'. There are some wonderfully intelligent people at work, too, but it's not exactly a job that requires anyone to use their education and skills. I'm getting bored, feeling unchallenged... I need something new to do! (read: I'm looking for a JOB - somebody help me!)
Of course, someone is objecting now - that I'm a student, and I should do the most braindead job possible so I can focus on studies. Well, that has it merits, but I've always found that fertile ground produces flowers. Lots of flowers. I'd rather have a million ideas buzzing through my head at all times, than struggle to get a few hours of study focus and head-space per day.
"And the sign said 'Long Haired Freaky People Need Not Apply'"
- Fatboy Slim, Palookaville
Is that me?
*** *** ***
Ok... one more little item worth mentioning for this week. I went to the Sergio Mendes concert last night. No recording devices allowed. *nuts*
Richard was my 'escort' for the night (I suspect he didn't enjoy the music much, but I'll nonetheless continue in my mission to introduce him to cool music, which I've been doing since 2004). I must admit that I was somewhat disappointed. The view was great... but I couldn't help wondering whether their sound engineer had taken sick leave or something? The sound was clearly directed only at the lowest floor of the theatre, meaning that what reached the balcony level was the bass and a very muffled singing. Melbourne Arts Centre is not normally aimed at percussion heavy shows, but rather classical and theatre, I suppose... but at the rate the tickets were going, you would have thought they would have brought in a professional who knew how to deal with Brazillian music in a concert hall!
Also, I couldn't help noticing that the singers seemed to have a deep hatred for each other, which they barely masked with their lacklustre stage routine. The performance definitely picked up a lot whenever they were not on stage!
Overall, though, I can't say that there was anything wrong with the quality of the performance of Sergio Mendes and his band. It was a great show, and ofcourse, the musicians were brilliant!
fon @ 12:07 PM link to post * *