Choosing One Path

"Choosing one path means abandoning others - if you try to follow every possible path you will end up following none." – Brida by Paulo Coelho

There are so many paths out there. It is difficult to know which ones to follow. The important thing is making an informed choice and following through with it.

This quotation makes me think of the current milk advertisements I have seen on TV. They show teenage characters trying to make a choice. The inner dialogue shows that they are struggling with a decision. Part of them doesn’t want to do the right thing but the characters make the choice and act. We see them move but an after image of them does not move and fades away like a ghost.

Sometimes we need to leave things behind in order to grow. The commercial’s tag line at the end is, “Always grow…Grow all ways.” It’s a great message.

Happy Monday Everyone!

Layers of Truth

“I often think of truth like the skin of an onion – you peel it back and what do you find? Another skin. And beneath that, another and another. Truth always has behind it, a more fundamental truth.”
- Crumb, R. & Peter Poplaski. The R. Crumb Handbook. MQ Publications Ltd: London, 2005 pg 234. As written by Harvey Kurtzman as an into to a Crumb collection in 1976.

In the last thirty years this metaphor has become cliché but that doesn’t make it any less powerful.

Artists Live in the Present

“As far as McLuhan’s concerned, artists are what his pen pal Ezra Pound calls “the antennae of the race.” Or, as his old friend from his Windsor days, Wyndham Lewis, avers, the artist is the only individual “engaged in writing a detailed history of the future” because the artist “is the only person who lives in the present.” Only the artist is capable of accurately sizing up the present, of see(r)ing it. That’s part of what makes an artist, is it not?”
- Fitzgerald, Judith. Marshall McLuhan: Wise Guy. XYZ Publishing: Montreal, 2001. pg 111

We Reflect on One Another

“If my partners don’t look good, Malik won’t look good
if Malik don’t look good, the Quest won’t look good
if the Quest don’t look good, the Queens won’t look good
but since out sounds are universal, New York won’t look good.”
- A Tribe Called Quest “Oh my God” from the album “Midnight Marauders”

When Nas came out with “Hip Hop is Dead” last year it sparked a lot of debate. Some people were angry that he could say such a thing. I understood where he was coming from and agreed with him. It seemed like there was no music of any substance being produced anymore. The songs that were hitting on the charts were all empty, soulless songs that did not appeal to me in the least. That’s not to say that quality rap did not exist, it is just to say that the culture was not being properly represented in the mainstream. Hip-hop did seem like it was dead.

I think this song lyric describes it all. For a while hip-hop did not look good. Too many rappers were focusing on materialism. Videos seemed to be all about drugs, sex, and rock and roll. Hip-hop forgot about all of the progress it had made. It forgot about the important contributions of the pioneers that made this art for great. This mind state and artists that didn’t really have a heart for this culture hurt it terrible. They made us all look bad. Fortunately this is starting to turn around now.

Trust & Honour

“All you have is trust and honour. Your reputation built on trust and your personal honour. That’s all you have.” - George Tennet 60 minutes interview. April 2007

Things Happen for a Reason

"When you want something, the whole Universe conspires to help you realize your desire" - The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

My dad always says that things happen for a reason. I truly believe that. When I read this amazing book I immediately thought of this. This is an amazing novel. I highly recommend it to anyone. It has a lot to say about destiny about working hard, and about realizing your potential.

Annoying!

“I agree with Susan that Ethan is annoying, but it’s hard to peg exactly why – there are all these little things that he does that just add up to ANNOYING.”
- Coupland, Douglas. Microserfs. HarperCollins Books: Toronto, 1995. pg 147

I bet we all know people like this in our lives. People that are just annoying and it is hard to peg why. You know what I find annoying? J-pod was cancelled by the CBC last week. We finally get a uniquely Canadian Drama based on a novel by an excellent writer and it only lasts a season. Too bad.