GRIZZLY PEAR

written snapshots

Category: Notes

  • The Tao is Silent, Raymond Smullyan, 1977

    A mathematician tackles this topsy-turvy religious philosophy.

    It’s a collection of 47 short essays that predate the blog-post book fad by three decades.

    Smullyan plays with multiple voices, draws from Chinese poets, and utilizes his training as a logician.

    His bemused detachment won’t convince a skeptic, but if you’re already digging Taoism then you’ll enjoy this book.

    ䷟䷉

    The book brings back memories of summer, visiting my cousin for two weeks, where I came across Smullyan’s Alice in Puzzleland at the Whittier Library.

    I should revisit this book to for a deeper dive, but I want to play jump into other subjects first.

  • Giant Steps, John Coltrane, 1960

    Last Christmas, my daughter became obsessed with Vince Guaraldi’s lyrical “Lucy and Linus”, which led to Brubeck and then Davis, Parker, and Coltrane.

    One night in January, I woke up at 2:44 and couldn’t fall back asleep.
    I listened to a podcast and watched a video about World War 2 aviation.
    Then, this album.

    My friend had just recommended this as one of Coltrane’s best.

    He’s right.

    Coltrane plays on a razor’s edge, running the line between melody and dissonance.
    The album starts fast, contradicts itself with crushing moments of slow quiet before returning to vigorous speed.
    The songs push a glorious cacophony, rescuing themselves with breathtaking audacity after extended flirtations with raw disintegration.

    I don’t know music well enough to write a proper critique, but I know myself.
    I rarely have patience for just listening to music.
    That night I did.
    All 37 minutes.

    It didn’t solve my insomnia.

    ䷍䷝

    Nine months later, we’ve been using youtube for our dinner music. This evening, the algorithm proposed Giant Steps and the boy picked it out. I was a little surprised, but I shouldn’t have been. Bartok’s “From a Diary of a Fly” has been his favorite for weeks.

    We listened to the entire album all as he buzzed around as a bee and jumped on the sofa. Kids go through phases pretty fast. I hope this phase sticks.

  • Koyaanisqatsi, Godfrey Reggio, Philip Glass, 1982

    Finally watched the movie.
    I’ve owned the DVD for years but never got around to it.

    Now we’re in the streaming era.
    Somehow the movie came up over dinner, and I pulled it up on Kanopy.

    It took a couple meals
    What a ride!

    A wordless journey of wilderness to modernity —
    A nostalgic modernity that is heading towards the half century mark.

    ䷉䷪

    Highly recommended. I’ll be checking out the sequel.

    Youtube has trained my mind to reject anything that isn’t a thrill a minute, so I was surprised that the methodical pace did not bother me.
    The monumental demolition of Pruitt-Igoe may have helped keep my attention from flagging in the middle.

    Of course, any mention of this movie must include a link to Gifaanisqatsi generator.

  • God Is Not One, Stephen Prothero, 2011 & How to Live a Good Life: A Guide to Choosing your Personal Philosophy, 2020

    Can you choose your religion?

    If you could, these two books would be a good start.

    God is Not One is a survey of eight world religions, their beliefs, practices, and varieties.
    Every religion asks different questions and finds divergent answers.
    For some, belief is not important, even if orthodoxy is primary in yours.
    Aspects of these religions might resonate, but each of them are distinct endeavors with varied goals and methods.

    How to Live a Good Life is a collection of essays by practitioners.
    The essays proselytize a little, but given the collection’s liberal bent these are a soft sells.
    The book offers a multitude of voices, but leave you to complete the comparison.

    The two pair well.
    A survey coupled with individual perspectives from the inside.

    ䷶䷾

    But I’m not sure you can choose your religion.
    Maybe you can modulate your level of devotion, but can you choose its object?

    “Give me a child till he is seven and I will show you the man.”
    After listening to these books, I’ve realized my roots are in Christianity, Confucianism, and Taoism.
    My parents are Christian, but our heritage is Chinese.
    They might have converted, but they couldn’t escape their milieu.
    Me too.

    I don’t believe in the literal claims of the Bible, but I spent my first twenty years in the good book.
    The prophets and the apostles molded my worldview.

    I came across Lao Tzu in my thirties, and only recently read Confucius.
    I didn’t expect to appreciate the stuffy Confucius or wacky Taoists.
    But unlike other philosophies (such as Epicurus) their writings just fit, like finding the perfect pair of sneakers.
    I see unwritten aspects of my upbringing with these dusty tomes.

    What next?
    Drill deeper.

    Maybe I’ll find a way to read the Bible that elides its cosmology.
    Or study moral order for this fragmented age.
    Shall I meditate around philosophical conundrums?

    Or maybe it will be something else altogether.
    Unplanned and predetermined.

  • MFKZ, Shojiro Nishimi, 2017

    Ribald.

    Silly.

    Stylish.

    They Live with cartoon gore.

    A decent way to burn an evening on Netflix, if you dig animation.

  • Day Shift, J. J. Perry, 2022

    Watched this last week.

    Just a popcorn flick, but fun enough for a Friday night.

    Paper thin characters and predictable plot, but cheap thrills with strong nostalgia vibes between the music and wide shots of LA.

    They’re courteous enough to avoid cliffhangers, but they drop enough nuggets to justify a sequel.

    I’d watch it.

    ䷘䷬

    I heard about Day Shift from to this Netflix sponsored Corridor Crew youtube episode on stunt-driving. It was the most interesting thing that came out the movie.

  • A Letter to Momo, Hiroyuki Okiura, 2011

    After watching the brutal classic Jin Roh, I wanted to watch Okiura’s other other full length film.

    It’s a good film, but not original. It follows the standard Ghibli template, especially My Neighbor Totoro. It has a strong girl protagonist, quirky world, idyllic Japanese country setting, and climaxes with a family emergency.

    Even if formulaic, we had fun. The kids needed a moment in acclimating to the methodical pacing of anime, but they enjoyed it as well.

    My only critique of the film is the rendering of Momo’s mother. She looked so young, it always felt like she was Momo’s older sister, which was distracting throughout the movie.

    ䷊

    If the kids ask for it, I’d watch it again. The backgrounds are gorgeously rendered and the ghosts are funny. It scratches the Ghibli itch without paying for to HBO Max. A Letter to Momo is more enjoyable than Ghibli’s recent offerings, but it doesn’t reach the perfection of their classics.

  • The Changing World Order (online), Ray Dalio, 2021

    Last year, my friend recommended the book when it was still available online.

    It was engrossing and depressing.

    Dalio uses monetary policy to diagnose what ails our country — decay and dissention within, decadence and coasting upon the gains of the past.

    It’s good to be a citizen of the empire, but the throne is never comfortable. It doesn’t help that China is rising as our internal polarization threatens to tear us apart.

    I’m not an economist nor a historian, so it’s hard to judge these claims. There are plenty of counternarratives predicting an impending Chinese economic collapse with demographic decline.

    Either way, Ray Dalio spins a plausible narrative, but he doesn’t help with the hard part. What should an individual do in this market? After reading the book, I looked him up on youtube. All he says is that beating the market is really hard. It all leaves you in a swamp of doom, without much hope.

    If he’s right, then we’re due for another round of painful renewal. The best scenario is to restart the cycle, and wish for the best for our kids.

    The other scenario? Get ready to hit the road again.

    ䷒䷵

    After my investing kick over the past few months, I’ve soured on Dalio. His predictions might be right or wrong, but it would only be coincidental to his analysis, which is thinner than it appears.

    Ultimately he’s a salesman for his business. Doom and gloom will always sell.

    I don’t regret skimming the book, but I can’t recommend it.

  • A Pizza the Size of the Sun, Jack Prelutsky, 1999

    As an audiobook, this was an hour-long collection of silly kid’s songs.

    My ears perked up during the credits. Tony Trischka was the banjo player.

    He’s a legend, even at the time of recording. He wrote the three finger bluegrass instructional book that came with my banjo from the 5th String in Berkeley.

    Wild how one can be among the best in the world, but still end up working in an oddball children’s CD.

    I also wonder what it was like for the Jack Prelutsky. Must be intimidating to be recording on a kazoo with that kind of firepower backing you up.

    ䷘

    No complaints. The girl had fun, and I guffawed a few times. I’d listen to it again, though not by myself.

  • Music Animations, Stephen Malinowski

    We’re watching Stephen Malinowski’s “Music Animations” on Youtube over dinner.

    It’s great for seeing the structure of fugues.

    But he ranges far beyond the baroque, and our dinner concerts have exposed us to a wider range of classical music.

    Last night, the boy joyfully marched around to Sousa.

    She’s repeatedly enjoyed the dissonance of Bartok’s From the Diary of a Fly.

    And of course I’d be remiss if I did not mention the Goldberg Variations.

    Malinowski’s website includes pages listing some initial recommendations, a list of youtube highlights, and how-to, all worth a visit.

    ䷾䷚

    I was first introduced to his work at an Edward Tufte seminar while still in college. Soon after, I bought one of Malinowski’s early DVD’s. Even though it’s now all available for free, I’m happy to have supported his work before he became cool.

    His patient labor over the decades (he barely monetizes his videos!) is a tantalizing sample of the optimistic internet we all expected in the 90’s.

    Maybe the rest of us will get there someday.