by Chris Billowsin Mental Mischief0 comments
Dear Reader, The Hiearchy of Needs was originally defined by Maslow as being the pinnacle of his hierarchy of needs. It is a conceptual model that speaks to the height of satisfying our most advanced need, which is our sense of being. On a certain level Maslow is correct. We all need to take care of our bioligical and security needs before we can have the luxury to work on our self-development. But if you evaluate the entire model, it is all about a singular self. There is no recocgnition of the self in the context of a social or ecological world. Sure, Love & Belonging has a social component since that means to Love others and the Belong to others. But if there was no Love or Self-Sacrifice and Protection offered by mothers and fathers, then we as babies and children would not make out of of the bottom level. Man’s Search for Meaning explained this well. At a more fundamental level, our parents and families would not be here if we did not have a society that could take advantage of the earth’s resources. Ecologically we would be nothing if we did not have a hospitable planet and […]
by Chris Billowsin Spirit Speculations0 comments
The Poets and Parasites of Art. What unifies all great art is inspiration and vision. It cuts beyond popularity, profitability, and personality of the creator. Yet with the rise of greater leisure and technology allowing for everyone to more readily become creative, we see a huge swell of new music, movies, books, and games. Unfortunately, inspiration is rarer than the amount of media that is out there and only the true Poets are the visionaries, not being concerned for money or reputation. Where does that leave everyone else? I have mapped out a definition hierarchy of this creative class that ranges from the authentic Poet to the Parasite. 1) Poets (the elite of the Artists, known for influencing the Artists, visionairies, feedforwarders, not concerned for money or reputation, the crazed and eccentric) 2) Artists (the creative craftsmen, creating new genres/markets, concerned about legacy) 3) Craftsmen (those who refine the performance, bringing peak performances, concerned about the craft) 4) Performers (capable, journeymen, emphasizing showiness, concerned about the performance) 5) Pretenders (riding on the coat-tails of the Performers, the critics, concerned about reputation) 6) Parasites (pure copy-cat, cynical mechanical marketing, pure hype, concerned about money) Its not a pyramid, that Poets need […]
by Chris Billowsin Hobby Heedings0 comments
This next post is not as much a lesson as a confessional. Did you know you can combine music and statistics? iTunes has so many labels and tags that can be added to your music and the database that it is possible to evaluate this music with statistics. (Whatever that can be labeled can be measured and whatever that can be measured can be tracked with statistics). I am a huge statistical geek (an obscure soccer league, political elections, band ratings, etc) so the idea of analyzing the music I listen to in new ways is like combining peanut butter and chocolate. First of all here is the best page with links to great software that can help analyze your iTunes library. It is located at TuneQuest. Check it out… I have tried two different programs. The most polished one is called SuperAnalzyer and it is pretty super. It creates some wonderful statistics and graphs. SuperAnalzyer PDF Document The other program is not listed on that page but is courtesy of a fabulous little script written by Scott Yanff. iTunes Statistics Text Document Now these statistics were taken late December 26, 2009 of my personal library. It is a snapshot […]
by Chris Billowsin Hobby Heedings0 comments
I always thought it would be cool to come up with a way to evaluate musical artists and bands using some kind of mathematical formula. But thinking and doing are two different things. An intrepid author by the name of John Sellers who wrote a book called “Perfect From Now On” answered my prayers and created such a formula. I am not going to provide a book review, except summarize it by saying it is an entertaining memoir from a person from my generational cohort (so that means its full of Piss and Vinegar) who talks about his devotion to the Alternative Rock scene. What Sellers does in his Appendix that had my geek-senses all aflutter is create an elaborate, pretentious, but all so tasty combination of math and music fandom. With John’s permission, I am pleased to make my own contribution to his formula by enshrining it in an Excel speadsheet. Now you too can see how your favorite artists align (or don’t) with John’s passion for the abrasive world of Alternative Rock. I would hope that John’s formula could become a template for others to tweak and create their own formulas. Check it out… John Sellars Formula
by Chris Billowsin Hobby Heedings0 comments
Consider this to be my Christmas and Holiday Gift to you. I am releasing for free ( hey, you get what you pay for 😉 ) my first album of Electronica music. I originally composed this music for a computer game that I had in development between 2004 and 2007, but that game has now been shelved and the music was good enough to still be shared. So without further ado… DJ Crsb is pleased to release his debut album called “Never Mind The Billogs Here’s Chris Billows”. Yes, corny is what I aim for, but you will find the music not reflecting that tone. I might not be taking myself too seriously as far as the album name and sleeve is concerned, but I did work pretty diligently on this stuff and am proud of it. Check it out and Merry Christmas to you. Presents (1) Standoff 2:31 (2) Duel 1:54 (3) Rising 1:51 (4) Chalk Shock 2:06 (5) Crystal Lullaby 2:12 (6) Fairy Tale Down 2:53 (7) It’s Never Too Late To Rewind 2:46 (8) Soft Space Scrap 3:11
by Chris Billowsin Political Ponderings0 comments
The year end is fast approaching and it appears that the global financial crisis has being contained. Governments around the world stepped in to nationalize banks and insurance companies and invested heavily into their economies to keep them from collapsing. They played the role of the hero, just like Jack in the fairytale Jack and the Beanstalk. The response of the government has been the same as a wise parent would have with misbehaving children. When highly-paid and highly-educated bank executives act as stupid as they have been, it appears completely rational to? provide oversight and limitations on their behavior. We are told that free market capitalism has been wholly discredited. Governments need to cut the roots of the problem, just like how Jack cut down the beanstalk in the fairytale. Governments see themselves as having a role to protect citizens from harm including protecting the integrity of the economic system. They have a duty to the businesses and citizens who were hapless victims to the financial crisis just like how Jack had to defeat the evil Giant by by cutting down the beanstalk. So we see an interesting parallel between the Jack and the Beanstalk fairytale and what took […]
by Chris Billowsin Political Ponderings5 comments
I stumbled onto some aphorisms (Usually an aphorism is a concise statement containing a subjective truth or observation cleverly and pithily written) stated by the late American President, Ronald Reagan. Here they are: “Government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.” “The best minds are not in government. If any were, business would hire them away.” “How do you tell a Communist? Well, it’s someone who reads Marx and Lenin. And how do you tell an anti-Communist? It’s someone who understands Marx and Lenin.” Each one of these gave me a chuckle, but what floored me was that they were all quotes from Ronald Reagan. I remember severely disliking the man because of my socialist leanings that I held at the time. How times have changed and so have I. I can now see why Mr. Reagan was as vilified as he was by the Left. This is from a man who represented the state and called its limitations accurately. How refreshing.
by Chris Billowsin Spirit Speculations0 comments
I believe that giving to the less fortunate is beneficial both personally and socially. When a person demonstrates generosity by giving to a charity, their spirit is enriched in some non-material way; it is like invisible bridges are built between them and others. This is nothing to be said of the how the act of generosity helps the recipient. Generosity is a virtue that all of the world’s great religions share and is the basis of the modern taxation system, which is meant to redistribute resources to the most needy. But is all generosity the same? Is giving to a charity that buys books for disadvantaged children as beneficial as giving to a charity that prevents children from becoming disadvantaged? What about charities that protect our environment or those that promote particular religious perspectives? The problems of modern society is overwhelming and the charitable response is just as confusing. While I commend people to give to a cause they believe in, I also think that some things are not as high a priority as others. A blogger named “Gates” posted a bold and insightful blog that helped me develop a rationale method on prioritizing which charities I should give to. […]
by Chris Billowsin Mental Mischief0 comments
We all believe that we have personality. We also believe that this personality is pretty static, that a person’s fundamental likes and dislikes, their tastes, and world-views do not change that much. We are a solid entity that possesses a distinct imprint, kind of like a fingerprint. In 1968, distinguished personality theorist Walter Mischel pointed out that correlations between a person’s behavior in one setting and another are often surprisingly low. Mischel’s analysis revealed that the individual?s behavior, when closely examined, was highly dependent upon situational cues, rather than expressed consistently across diverse situations that differed in meaning. For example, people we label very talkative may hardly talk at all at a formal gathering. If personality is measured by one’s behavior, then we find that personality is indeed more fluid. Another theorist, Richard Nisbett, took this argument farther and argued that personality traits are merely cognitive delusions people create regarding their friends and family in order to give their worlds and their relationships an artificial aura of predictability. Thus the personality becomes little more than a mirage that gives us a sense of comfort. Pretty harsh! 😮 Its a jarring message that rips apart a mostly universal understanding of ourselves. […]
by Chris Billowsin Hobby Heedings0 comments
Once you begin importing all of your music, what do you do next? Rate them! iTunes has a robust 5 star rating system that allows you to separate the wheat from the chaff. Since rating music is considered to be a personal matter, there are some who think that it does not matter how these ratings are arrived at. Personally I believe in having some standards or rules when it comes to deciding how to rate music. Here are some suggested standards: 1) Don’t confuse bad music as being the same as music you don’t like. Good and bad is pretty relative (though not completely) when it comes to music. Strive to be objective about what you are rating for. Is it about how the music makes you feel? Do you like the instrumentals? The lyrics? Is it what the artist stands for? The production values? 2) Rate only music that you honestly can appreciate. If you don’t like Rap music, then don’t rate it until you have given it an honest try and can appreciate what it trying to do. I think its an form of intellectual dishonesty to rate something you don’t understand. The challenge is to blend […]
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