Up till now, I would understand the concept of extrovert/introvert in a purely psychological way whereas it seems there is more to this way of being since it would result from or alternatively affect the physiological shaping of our brains. As an introvert myself, I now have a strong argument to oppose those who deplore over and over again my vital recurring need to take some time alone and in quiet at the risk of often being called “unsociable” or “anti-social”. Any introvert will tell you that this is not the case, but since we appear to be fewer to work this way, will our distinctiveness ever be acknowledged for what it is — that is another expression of creation just like different eye/hair/skin colour varieties — and no longer regarded as a flaw or defect. In fact, such derogatory value judgement is also passed on biological rhythms with some people operating better with the rooster crow while others (oops — that's me again) are more in line with the cry of the owl and are deemed “lazy” just because it is unnatural to them to get up early. Also, I cannot help taking offence at the first picture on the video below showing two different women, one being an extrovert while the introvert one is portrayed as being sullen and dull — such a cliché would need some serious reconsideration, don't you think?
Ey@el
Scientists have discovered that the brains of introverts are actually different from those of extroverts. This isn’t too surprising, especially considering all of the research now coming out of the field of neuroplasticity. It refers to various changes that can take place in the brain (including changes in neural pathways and synapses) as a result of shifts in things like: a person’s behaviour or environment; their perception of the environment around them; neural processes; the way they think and feel and more.
We know very little about the brain, and the question that comes to mind here is, are the brains of introverts/extroverts physically different, therefore making their behaviour and responses different? Or are things like their environment, their perception of the world, their emotions, and their thought processes responsible for shaping their brains and making those changes? Or is it a combination of the two? We do know the latter to be true, but we also know that certain brain formations that differ from the norm are responsible for certain behaviors in certain individuals.
There is much talk about guys in this section, but hardly ever about girls. And it is also true that, as regards rock music, the ratios are rather unequal. Whereas there are floozies galore, one has to admit genuine female musicians who can both play, sing and write good songs and who, on top of that, really rock, are quite uncommon in this macho world. Obviously, I'm talking about decent rock music — and not about the tasteless pop broth we get overfed with by mainstream media. So when such lady is found, it's almost duty to break the news.
Which is what I'm doing now. Over a year ago, I stumbled upon this young, pretty, heavy tattooed (well, if she likes it) 29 year old English girl while browsing YouTube for Muse videos and I was much impressed by her acoustic cover of "Supermassive Blackhole" (a well-met daredevil challenge). I could have used this video as an introduction (another time maybe) but I thought it was more appropriate to pick up a song of her own.
Suburbia
I get his drink and his cigarettes, I paint on a plastic smile, Carved our name in the picket fence, But I dream of the darker side.
I'm trying hard to be like them, With perfect pictures on the wall, But I got secrets I'm hiding If he knew I'd lose it all.
I've been running wild, Setting fires in suburbia, Under burning skies, Selling lies in suburbia. Tell him run, run, run, run, run, There's trouble moving in, Cuz I've been running wild Setting fires in suburbia.
I'm stashing all of my skeletons, But they're piling up too quick. Oh, he's the perfect gentleman, But his sugar makes me sick.
I've been running wild, Setting fires in suburbia, Under burning skies, Selling lies in suburbia. Tell him run, run, run, run, run... There's trouble moving in, Cuz I've been running wild Setting fires in suburbia.
White dress on fire, Gonna watch it burn. White dress on fire, Gonna watch it burn, burn, burn, baby burn...
Tiffany Page, 2015
About this song
This — her new single — is worth a thousand words. It's only available on itunes at present for, according to what I read, she doesn't seem to have a record deal yet — though she used to be signed to Mercury/Universal in 2009 and got dumped after two singles, all in spite of her huge potential (she was hailed as the new Chrissie Hynde) and her many TV appearances and gigs in the UK. Interestingly, this track was recorded at RAK studios in London where Radiohead made their second album, The Bends, twenty years ago.
A prerequisite to the theme of the week: after considering the ultimate scenario with Muse's Drones album, here's the least worst application of the UAV/drone rapidly developing technology yet not the least worrisome. Will there be any fully organic beings left around the globe by the end of the century? I definitely won't be here anymore to witness that (at least not in this actual incarnation) but I have many doubts regarding this issue I would hate to see becoming certainties. I loathe mosquitoes badly enough — what if they can now be used to spy on us — that really won't do it!
Ey@el
Tiny drones are widely expected to become a fixture of American airspace come 2015 as Federal Aviation Administration rules become more relaxed. The FAA believes there will be around 20,000 drones in the sky by 2017, although some say that figure will be much higher.
The drones will come in all shapes and sizes, and they have many different purposes. At the moment, General Atomics' armed surveillance MQ-9 Reaper drone patrols America’s borders looking for illegal immigrants and drug dealers, but many of the drones that are coming, and in some cases are already operating, will be nano drones or insect drones.
On this Bastille Day, whereas chants of the battle anthem will be sung with unseemly pride upon the exhibiting of the infinite range of human ingenuity always on the cutting edge in terms of wargames, others will use the opportunity to get their minds fogged up in thousands of different ways because the blue pill will always be more appealing and easier to swallow than the red one. And with darkness come, as bright coloured rockets will be whizzing around and exploding into the inky black skies, horror will inevitably seize those who will have recognised the Dark Mark1. No, Voldemort2, I ain't afraid to name your NWO3!
P.S.: Incidentally, on 4th July (which happens to be Independence Day in America), shortly after scheduling the publication of the above graphic I designed years ago, I subsequently found out about Thom Yorke's tweet of the day. You have to admit this is a rather odd coincidence.
Endnotes
In the Harry Potter series, the Dark Mark is the symbol of Voldemort and his followers, the Death Eaters, that appears in the sky when conjured by a spell whenever a murder is committed in his name. It looks like a skull with a snake coming out of the mouth in place of the tongue. The mark also serves as a connection between Voldemort and each who bears it; he can summon them by touching his mark.
Lord Voldemort, also known as “The Dark Lord”, “You-Know-Who”, “He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named”, or just “Voldemort”, is the villain in the Harry Potter series. He's a psychopathic wizard who aims at exterminating all the non magical humans and hybrids and reshape the world to his dark fancies.
NWO is the acronym for New World Order and used here as a pun which unfortunately doesn't work in English. NWO in French is NOM which also means “name”.
An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), commonly known as a drone, and also referred to as an unpiloted aerial vehicle and a remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), is an aircraft without a human pilot aboard. Its flight is controlled either autonomously by onboard computers or by the remote control of a pilot on the ground or in another vehicle. They are usually deployed for military and special operation applications, but also used in a growing number of civil applications,such as policing and firefighting, and nonmilitary security work, such as inspection of power or pipelines. UAVs are often preferred for missions that are too "dull, dirty or dangerous"for manned aircraft. Cruise missiles are not considered UAVs because, like many other guided missiles, the vehicle itself is a weapon that is not reused, even though it is also unmanned and in some cases remotely guided. (Source)
Upon hearing about drones for the very first time, a couple of years ago, I literally froze up. Not so much because I was frightened by this potentially devastating technology of the future already taking place—at least no more than the many others developed by this bunch of psychos in power who regard us as mere livestock did—, but because, a while ago, I had been having recurring nightmares all about small flying objects raiding the night sky and chasing people who started running around while attempting to flee the attack. Many of my family and friends who couldn't find shelter would get killed by the drones. While some Freudians will certainly see a lot of twisted stuff buried in my psyche—and they may not be wrong—I, for one and for a whole lot of reasons, think there is much more to those dreams and that is what troubles me somehow. For there are a lot of similarities between the story told by Muse in their latest album incidentally called Drones and the unfurling of my nocturnal fears. Could it be that Matt Bellamy and I have been sharing the same dreams?
Extreme Unction
“After reading a few books about drones,” he said in a recent interview on French TV, “I thought it would be a good topic for the album, because it'd have various meanings to what the drones represent. I think it's the most extreme technology that's ever been invented. It's about technology but it also interacts with the whole of humanity because these are killing machines. We don't know what the future holds. It could lead to a full technological world or to the total abandonment of technology. There's not going to be something in between. It's going to be something extreme.” (Source)
Extreme is actually the word that best suits Muse's seventh opus which topped the international music charts immediately upon its release last month. Unlike the rest of humanity in this apocalyptic concept album, I didn't get killed by drones, but Muse did it. Muse killed me. Literally blew my ears and my mind with their explosive record. How's that for a killer? That said, I don't mind raising from the dead to explain why.
Apocalypse Now
First, what a relief—after the huge disappointment upon the release of The 2nd Law in 2012, which suggested the threesome had somehow become “dead inside”, victims of their own success and taken over by the industry—to hear that Muse finally kept their word to it and carried out an unexpected return to the basics toward a more simplified sound, leaving out the experiments of all sorts and genres. Recorded under the direction of AC/DC producer Robert Lange, this loud-sounding album could almost qualify, in some points, as hard rock had it not been for its melodic material, its rampant lyricism and the deeply humanistic approach of its lyrics exactly opposite to the preferred satanic topics of heavy metal bands which indeed preclude any such classification entirely. All the better, otherwise I wouldn't even be writing about this since such types of vibrations act as a strong deterrent to me. I may be a devil but no evil. However the near-constant decibel overload is particularly justifiable here, given that the lyrics deal with war and massive destruction by drones. Not to mention that it might have occurred to Matt Bellamy to add some Wagner, but not this time. He had a much better idea.
But to hear it, you'll have to wait until the concluding epilogue.
Genesis of a killing machine
“You've taught me to lie without a trace and to kill with no remorse. On the outside I'm the greatest guy, now I'm dead inside.” This sets the scene to the hypnotic groove of omnipresent drums on "Dead Inside" which continues with the topical theme of mind control previously addressed in "MK Ultra". Up til the U2esque lyrical flight where the protagonist pleads with the woman who tricked and entrapped him to restore his humanity.
Too late. “Love, it will get you nowhere. You're on your own, lost in the wild. So come to me now. I could use someone like you — someone who'll kill on my command and asks no questions.” The rest you know it since I already wrote a feature on "Psycho" when it was released as a single a couple of months ago. The perfect antidote to military recruitment campaigns.
Mercy! The “hero” now realises he's just sold his soul to the devil and that, in fact, there is far worse than death. He pleads Heaven to end his torment. “Help me, I've fallen on the inside. I tried to change the game, I tried to infiltrate, but now I'm losing. Men in cloaks always seem to run the show. Save me from the ghosts and shadows before they eat my soul.”
The launching of the drones
To no avail. The bloody harvest has come. The Reapers (combat drones) are launched. Matt Bellamy sings at the top of his lungs to the sound of explosives guitars to the final climax where Chris-whose-surname-I-always-fail-to-remember (the bass player) roars: “Here come the drones!” This track really rocks in every way, tearing your eardrums while constantly distilling mega doses of adrenaline. “War just moved up a gear. I don't think I can handle the truth. I’m just a pawn and we’re all expendable—incidentally, electronically erased by your drones.”
“You were my oppressor and I, I have been programmed to obey. But now, you are my handler and I, I will execute your demands.” Now turned into a killing machine, the “human drone” he's become begins to run rough. “Leave me alone!” he shouts at his Handler before eventually eluding his mind control: “I won't let you control my feelings anymore. And I will no longer do as I am told. And I am no longer afraid to walk alone.”
The final battle
A brief flashback to the Cold War provided by an excerpt from a speech by JFK in 1961 about secret societies ruling and manipulating the world (featured in its entirety in the above video) before getting back to our hero who's ended up recovering his freedom while becoming a Defector: “Free! Yeah I'm free from society. You can't control me.”
He has now joined the ranks of humanity where the situation is no better. He's getting desperate: “How did we get in so much trouble? Getting out just seems impossible. Oppression is persisting. I can’t fight this brain conditioning. Our freedom’s just a loan run by machines and drones.” Whereupon a little voice rises from within urging him to Revolt. “You’ve got strength, you’ve got soul, you’ve felt pain, you’ve felt love. You can grow, you can grow. You can make this world what you want.”
The aftermath
In the Aftermath of a merciless battle, everything quiets down. So does the music. The hero's managed to escape his oppressors. “From this moment, you will never be alone. We're bound together now and forever. The loneliness has gone. I'm a defector.”
Emerging amid the still-smoldering ruins of a devastated world is lonesome gunslinger Clint Eastwood feeling rather pissed off now that the party is over and everybody's dead. To me, at least, this is the ludicrous image the first half of "The Globalist" conjures up while depicting the brutal annihilation of a whole civilisation. “There’s no countries left to fight and conquer, I think I destroyed them all. It’s human nature: the greatest hunter will survive them all with no one left to love.” Note that this track is supposed to be the next logical step from "Citizen Erased" featured on The Origin Of Symmetry and that was released in 2001 (“Erase all the memories. They will only bring us pain and I've seen all I'll ever need.”).
Killed by drones
Surprise, surprise! The closing song is sung a capella all wrapped in church hymn reminiscence. The hero buries his dead ("Drones"):
Killed by drones: My mother, my father, My sister and my brother, My son and my daughter.
Killed by drones, Our lives between your fingers— Can you feel anything? Are you dead inside? Now you can kill From the safety of your home With drones.
Amen
Matt Bellamy, 2015.
One last word
Gee, I'm totally gob-smacked and blown away !
Be that as it may, this great incursion into Matt Bellamy's Pensieve still doesn't help me decide whether he and his band are just mere opportunists or use their position to convey a message (or a mixture of both). What ultimately matters is while they keep repeating it, it might eventually make its way through the shambled meanderings of a lot of kids, who, excited by the flood of decibels, will listen again and again and go headbanging at their gigs. After all, there is no foolish way.
While others like myself, who are much older and already aware of these goings on, will know better than to go and get both their ears and wallet slaughtered, but will use and abuse it as the best of pick-me-ups. This album is pure raw dynamite, I tell ya! I do cardio, work out, and yoga with it—even during hot weather—and it gives me a helluva boost even when I feel I won't be able to move an inch. It also works against despondency and the occasional blues. Deadly.
Muse may have killed me, they did resurrect me with renewed fighting spirit in addition.
While some time ago, I denied revelling in nostalgia, now at this point I got it full blast. That is because singer, songwriter, and founding member of the E-Rocket project (which became Sound Rocket after merging with another band called The Life) named after an electric rocket diagram designed by Nikola Tesla — a precursor of free energy —François Demercastel is someone I had the pleasure to know and enjoy as a friend in my younger days when we both regularly (well almost) attended an audiovisual school I shall not name. While our common taste in music (The Beatles, The Who, The Jam, to name a few) naturally drew us together, I owe him the discovery of many great bands such as The Plimsouls and Lone Justice. By chance (though there is no such thing as chance), we've now resumed contact through the very thing that got us together in the first place, a few decades ago and that is music.
The song below, performed by François on his own, accompanying himself on guitar, is actually an excerpt from a live podcast for a local radio in Rambouillet he recorded last year. As I said to him, soundwise, this version rather than his preferred one (which you may listen to HERE) was an obvious choice to me as it delivers the most accomplished performance yet, precisely because it has been stripped to its bare essentials—that is simple guitar-vocals powered by a catchy tune and a gimmick borrowed from The Beatles "I Feel Fine". Incidentally and funnily enough, "Gone Too Far" is replacing "Running On The Spot" by The Jam which was scheduled a long time ago (and will be published at a later date).
Gone Too Far
We could talk about the weather, We could talk about the war. All these days when nothing happens Seem as lonely years we've been wasted.
We could make plans for the future, We could act as if to be. You just see you won't be happy Staying here waiting for more.
But we were gone too far, Without living the place. We were gone too far, Got nothing else to fight for.
We could learn about each other, We could watch the world around. We cowardly stare at our feet That don't ever move anymore.
But we were gone too far, Round around the block. We were gone too far, Saying 'twas a lack of luck (Out of sight!)
There are countries you don't know. There are cities you don't know. There are people you don't know. There is something inside you that you don't show!
We could talk about the weather, We could talk about the war. All these days when nothing happens Seem as lonely years we've been wasted.
But we were gone too far, Round around the block. We were gone too far, Saying 'twas a lack of luck.
We were gone too far—Yeah! We were gone too far—Yeah!
François Demercastel
About this song
“This song is a bit special,” says François. “I wrote it in relation to the passing of time, the loss of dreams, the compromises we make out of material need—our gradual change of attitude towards life, politics, etc. More recently, this track has taken on a whole new dimension. My best friend since teenagehood, who used to be so lively, prematurely died of disease after living a rather sad life. For years, he had been making every effort to avoid seeing anyone from his "golden era". As the song says, I wonder what we would have talked about if we had met again. In this way, it ultimately took on a less "clichéd" and more personal overtone.”
While some may wonder why he chose to sing in English, he argues that he “once tried to sing in French, but to no avail. Besides, French is somehow an arrhythmic language in the sense that its stress accents do not always follow regular patterns. Therefore you need to be extremely talented, notably like Serge Gainsbourg, to truly succeed in combining the common four-beat signature of rock music—and of virtually everything that sets the pace of our lives today—with the French language that follows a different tempo. On the other hand, I fed so much on British and American rock, after a while it became sort of a normal and natural thing for me to sing in English.”
“It's been a great delight and quite emotional for me. I won't indulge in nostalgia, I promise! I shall do my best not to remain stuck and... "upside down"” he told me. Clearly, we're unlikely to run out of things to talk about given our overflowing Pensieves and Peter Panish souls. Now, if you enjoyed this song, you guys are invited to visit his band's website or skip directly to his Soundcloud page to listen to some more tracks. Any comments are also most welcome.
Imagine there's no scorcher. Imagine this heatwave is actually a cool wave. Imagine you're riding the breaker. “It's easy if you try” would sing John Lennon1.
The Dog-star rises on the twenty-third day after the summer solstice; the influence of it is felt by both ocean, and earth, and even by many of the animals as well, as stated by us elsewhere on the appropriate occasions. No less veneration, in fact, is paid to this star, than to those that are consecrated to certain gods; it kindles the flames of the sun, and is one great source of the heats of summer.
Pliny the Elder, Natural History
Did you know French is the only language that refers to the heatwave by its Latin name canicula (Canicule) which means “little dog” as a reference to Sirius, the Dog Star from the Greater Dog constellation (Canis Major)? Unlike what some may think, it bears absolutely no relevance to being horny. Rather, it's all related to the astronomical position of this star which rises and sets at the same time as the sun from 24th July to 24th August. It's therefore somehow uncommon to have such a heatwave occurring by the end of June—could it be the gods have been playing their HAARP2 again?
The High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP) is an ionospheric research program jointly funded by the U.S. Air Force, the U.S. Navy, the University of Alaska, and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The most prominent instrument at the HAARP Station is the Ionospheric Research Instrument (IRI), a high-power radio frequency transmitter facility operating in the high frequency (HF) band used to temporarily excite a limited area of the ionosphere. In truth, it's more than likely that this technology would enable tampering with weather conditions and thus mentally controlling people, which is, of course, consummate heresy according to Wikipedia (and who does control Wikipedia by the way?).
FR
