Just wondering...

Something I've been wondering again, for the umpteenth time, as I've been reading T.S. Eliot... Why are so many fans unwilling to allow their idols or the persons they admire human faults and shortcomings? And why are they then so shocked and surprised when the idols then indeed turn out to have human faults? I recall during Pete's The Boy Who Heard Music - I'm using it as an example because it had a great personal significance for me - some complaining that he was at fault for doing the blog at all, because he was shattering the "mystery" of The Who. I also think that many did not take part in it at all, lest it shatter their images. Apparently, something similar happened with T.S. Eliot when biographical information came to publicity and it turned out that he was indeed very much a human with shortcomings to share. For example, I saw a customer review at amazon.com on Eliot's published letters and the review was about how very prosaic the letters of one of the greatest literary figures of the 20th century are. Oh really? What should he have written to his friends and acquaintances? Literary essays only? The idealised views of admirers, especially in the case of artists who in the public opinion are decided to be geniuses, manifest themselves not only in disappointment and surprise when the admired personages turn out to be human but also in a tendency to view everything they do and say as manifestations of their genius. To exaggerate a little, if Pete Townshend says 'I could really do with a good cup of tea', surely the cup of tea is not just a cup of tea but a profound metaphor for the universe, because he's saying it?

Methinks, if artists were superior beings, above all human faults and shortcomings, their art would be bloody boring, because they would have no understanding of humanity. 

Another thing I'm somewhat puzzled about is fans' and admirers' need to know everything about the artists they admire. Not all fans/admirers have this need but quite many do. Sure, I understand that it may be a way to feel connected, to feel that you "know" your idol who is otherwise quite distant from you. But it can also lead to unhealthy forms. The biographical detail that fans know may not be reliable. What an artist says in interviews, for instance, may be vague or intentionally misleading because the artist wants to maintain his or her privacy. Many biographies are written which are based on flimsy sources and are more the writer's interpretation of the person than fact. If this kind of biographical information does not cause disappointment or shattering of dreams, it is used to construct an image which matches the fan's pre-established ideas/ideals. If the artist then does or says something that seems to deviate from the ideas/ideals which to the fans are fact, there is an outcry: how dare the artist do it? It's not what he or she is about! A case in point, The Waste Land, when published in 1922, became the "bible" of a generation, expressing its disillusionment after the war. Eliot himself was adopted as an anti-establishment, anti-authoritarian, revolutionary hero, opposed to everything jaded and old. His conversion to the Church of England in 1927 caused a violent disappointment: Eliot was supposed to have sold out to the conservative establishment. Ring a bell with how some of the later actions of certain rock figures have been viewed by many, the established view having been that in their music they claimed to be revolutionaries?

The not always reliable biographical information is also often reflected onto the artist's work. Eliot a case in point again, in his case not only with regard to the fans but also to literary scholars. And don't say the latter are an entirely different matter, because that's nonsense. Plenty of literary scholars (or art historians) specialise in a given author because they are fans. It's just that the work they produce enjoys a different position because of their academic status. But I digress. Eliot held that his poetry is not autobiographical, yet numerous scholarly studies have been written in which the writers maintain with the whole weight and authority of their academic status that 'oh yes it is, all of it.' Another example from The Boy Who Heard Music: I remember some readers who at every turn maintained that it's autobiographical and also wanted to "teach" others who did not see this, with essays (mainly from the history of The Who) on what this or that part of the text was drawn from.

Irrespective of what is true with Eliot or any other artist, in the end, does it really matter whether or not an artist's work is autobiographical? Isn't the essence of art in the thoughts and emotions and impressions it causes in the reader/listener/viewer? A conversation between the work of art and the one who enjoys it, if you will? It's a subjective, personal process, and people love a work of art, whether a pop song, a painting or a poem, for personal reasons. I'm not saying the artist's person does not matter. I'm not an artist but I am convinced that the creation of a work of art is always a subjective and personal process in one way or another: the artist makes choices of what to include and what not to include, how to express things, and so on, based on reasons that cannot be entirely separate from what he or she is as a person, his/her experiences etc. He/she is human after all. I'm also convinced that a work of art always reflects the artist's person - but not (always) in the superficial level of biographical detail but in a much deeper, and to me more relevant, way, in that it reflects his or her spirit and soul.

Well, I went on a bit again, didn't I? That's the lovely thing about blogs: it's your blog and you can go on at will, without let or hindrance. :-)

The Fire and the Rose

With the drawing of this Love and the voice of this Calling

We shall not cease from exploration

And the end of all our exploring

Will be to arrive where we started

And know the place for the first time.

Through the unknown remembered gate

When the last of earth left to discover

Is that which was the beginning;

At the source of the longest river

The voice of the hidden waterfall

And the children in the apple-tree

Not known, because not looked for

But heard, half-heard, in the stillness

Between two waves of the sea.

Quick now, here, now, always -

A condition of complete simplicity

(Costing not less than everything)

And all shall be well and

All manner of thing shall be well

When the tongues of flames are in-folded

Into the crowned knot of fire

And the fire and the rose are one.

This is the end of Little Gidding, the fourth and final poem of T.S. Eliot's Four Quartets. I had not read T.S. Eliot before, something that may be thought strange - or then not. He is of course one of the most influential figures in 20th century literature, but on the other hand, while school students in the English-speaking world would be likely to have some of the English literature greats, including Eliot, in their English classes, in Finnish schools the emphasis is on native writers (as in the German-speaking world on German authors, in France on French authors and so on). But I picked up Four Quartets at the library some time ago, motivated by hearing a radio adaptation of the Michael Hastings play Tom and Viv, about T.S. Eliot and his first wife Vivienne Haigh-Wood (the radio play itself I listened to out of a very shallow motivation: because it had Benedict Cumberbatch as Eliot - the man's got a voice you know). I went to the library to get any T.S. Eliot in original language and happened to find Four Quartets.

Now that I have read it, I find I HAVE to read T.S. Eliot and especially the Four Quartets. His poetry is not easy, but I feel I have to read it. Not because of his position in 20th century literature, but because of a kind of a hunger for the words. I don't necessarily need to read studies which explain all the references or which offer theories and explanations. More I want to read again and again,  all in one or one poem or part of a poem at a time, to marvel at and follow the language and find my own meaning in the poems - or perhaps not, never entirely. Perhaps in part they will remain a mystery to be marveled and wondered about. Who knows, and I'm not sure it matters. I put in an order for an edition of Four Quartets to have it at hand whenever I want, and I suspect it will be something I will return to again and again. Never have I been more happy about how good my English is.

MERRY CHRISTMAS OR HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL!

Old and Beautiful

This is my father's mother's Singer sewing machine, made in 1935 in Scotland. It's still in excellent condition and fully functional. A beautiful item, isn't it? 

It's an example of the fact that in times past utility tools were cherished items that were kept well and mended if they broke. They were valued and valuable possessions. As such, the tools were manufactured to last - and they were frequently made not only functional but also beautiful to behold, like this sewing machine. This was before the mass production of consumer products eradicated that way of thinking. Now it frequently feels like products are made to last only until the warranty expires, and if they do last longer, they already feel hopelessly antiquitated - and this is frequently true with things like computers because technological development is so fast. Don't get me wrong, I don't yearn for some "good old times" when everything was supposed to be better. I quite like digital cameras, smart phones, laptops and the WWW. But I often feel it's a shame that the mentality which produced items like this sewing machine seems to be gone now.

In fact, it often feels like in the modern consumer society "good citizen" means  only A) a good tax-payer and B) a good consumer. You should make sure to choose a field of study that gives you qualifications for a well-paid job and you should graduate quickly, in order to start benefiting the state in the form of the taxes you pay. If you indeed have a well-paid job, your responsibility is to consume for the wealth of the fatherland. 

And the advertising industry does its best to keep people consuming and to increase consumption. Anyone who thinks the role of advertising is simply to inform customers of the availability and pricing of products they already know they need is a simpleton. If that was the case, why are children often specially targeted? Children are the easiest to influence, so if you get them hooked to your products, chances are good that they'll stay as loyal consumers. My brother mentioned an especially bad example: the hugely popular, Japanese pokemon stuff. The pokemon cartoons on TV actually have a ditty which directly tells the listeners that they have to obtain the entire range of merchandise. And if ads were simply to inform customers, why would they keep bringing out new products and items accompanied with advertising campaigns which use imagery that is designed to make the products as appealing as possible? Apple started selling the iPad in Finland a couple of weeks ago, and the advertising really annoyed me. The morning's paper was full of full-page ads by stores that sell the thing, all calling it 'unbelievable' and 'incredible' and 'revolutionary'. You could almost think that they were trying to brainwash you to believe that you actually need it!

I'm not for banning consumption. If you've got money, it's your business how you spend it. But I do think there's something not so slightly wrong in the overly emphasized consumption mentality. As always, it's particularly visible before Christmas when you can't escape ads basically telling you that you have to get our products or your Christmas will be a complete failure. I think there are many people who actually buy into it, whether or not they can afford it. It's especially true with the new, expensive gadgets. iPads, smart phones, playstation 3's and so on fill Christmas wish lists, and parents, wives, husbands and relatives feel obliged to buy them so that they are not worse than all those other people who surely have them. Many actually can't afford the things and buy on credit or with one of these 'buy now, pay after 12 months' plans (why, that almost feels like you don't have to pay at all!), and consequently are in debt after Christmas.

Christmas rant over. Hope everyone has lovely holidays, however you spend them!

My unfortunate bike

...or "A Lesson in Laziness"

The thing is, the bike storage of my building is rather small. I don't know why. Maybe biking wasn't as popular in the 60s when the house was built as it is now. There used to be space in it, but then more residents bought bikes or more keen bikers moved in, one or the other. Now you have to watch out for someone to take his/her bike out before you can get yours in. I always meant to watch out for that... until the other morning I found my bicycle submerged. It's chained to the bike rack underneath the snow, too. Teaches me about being lazy, eh? The snow has reached about half a meter (1 and 2/3 ft.) and it's expected to snow some more tonight. Maybe people in Lapland will soon start travelling to Helsinki to experience proper winter!

(More) Winterly greetings

Snow's so pretty in its whiteness. I have to admit, though, that in my opinion winter isn't the most interesting season photographically. Pretty as it is, it gets a bit boring when it stays for months and months. Eventually you grow weary of taking pictures that feature snow in some form or fashion. I shall have to try and use my imagination to come up with new things.

So, I have sent the application for the research position in my old university. Fingers crossed on that. Otherwise, I've fairly satisfied with my activity this year. I have one article definite in an upcoming conference book that is supposed to be in print in early 2011. Otherwise I have sent two articles for review in different major journals of the field. I should be hearing on one of them in January, regarding the other I don't know. Of course, I'll be rather glad if one of them gets accepted. ;-) But it's not easy. It's worth a try though because IF you get published, one such article is worth several in small publications.

And now, another round of Pet Shop Boys I think. I don't know where I suddenly got the urge to listen to their 80's hits. Sure, I'm an 80s kid and Pet Shop Boys are one of those bands that made up the soundtrack of the decade. But I have never owned any of their records nor did I listen to them actively as a kid. Obviously I know the biggest hits. West End Girl, Suburbia, It's A Sin, and so on. Who doesn't? Maybe it's creeping nostalgy now that I'm in my 30s? :-) Nah, they're fantastic pop songs, there's something about them that the modern pop list hits lack. 

Let's take a ride, and run with the dogs tonight

In suburbia...

La la la la