Cottage

Just got back from the cottage about an hour and a half ago. Good times, though the weather could’ve been better. This Wednesday Greg, Farron, Alex (maybe?) and I are heading out east for Canada Day to party. Somehow in the middle of all this I have to get some work done. However, I’m not feeling particularly motivated today, probably because of the substance abuse this weekend.

While scanning Wikipedia today I happened to come across the entry on Mike Tyson. Like many people I’ve assumed the guy is a maniac and rapist (which he is.) However, I also assumed the guy was completely vacant. Untrue. There are few interesting (non-violent) quotes on his Wikiquote page (link.) In particular I was interested by:

"I'm the most irresponsible person in the world. The reason I'm like that is because, at 21, you all gave me $50 or $100 million, and I didn't know what to do. I'm from the ghetto. I don't know how to act. One day I'm in a dope house robbing somebody. The next thing I know, 'You're the heavyweight champion of the world.' ... Who am I? What am I? I don't even know who I am. I'm just a dumb child. I'm being abused. I'm being robbed by lawyers. I think I have more money than I do. I'm just a dumb pugnacious fool. I'm just a fool who thinks I'm someone. And you tell me I should be responsible?"

Also, more recently, we have:

"You're smart too late and old too soon, I just got caught up in that suction cup. I feel like Rip Van Winkle right now."

How ever much I feel like saying “poor guy”, he is a rapist and extremely violent man. I wonder what he would’ve been like if he hadn’t had such a fucked up upbringing. I guess you could say that about pretty much all messed up people who had rough childhoods.

Moving on, there is something I would like to gripe about. It’s music. Don’t get me wrong, I love music, but why do people need to be listening to it all the time. I’ve noticed this with everybody. No one seems to appreciate silence anymore. Why do we need to be listening to someone sing or play all the time? Can’t we be alone with our thoughts anymore? People listen to music in their cars, walking down the street, in their rooms, on their patios. There’s no stop. I can’t handle it. I need time to think, and I can’t think properly if music is constantly playing.

What I’m curious about, is why people need it? Obviously, off the bat, we can theorize they like it. And I don’t argue that they probably do. However, I think that the reason people like it sometimes if because it frees them up from having to devote their mind to thinking. When a song is playing and you’re kind of humming along to it or tapping to it, you devoting some of your mind to that. It’s like a computer sitting around idle, and instead of running just the “introspection” program, you decide to run “listen to music” program as well. I know, I know, you can think while you listen to music. I just think that thinking without music is a different experience.

Just my 2 centeroos.

1 comment

Anonymous Jun '05

tyson: good quotes. i like the rip van winkle one, quite poetic. I have seen some glimmer behind that guy's eyes before as well. actually, one of the most is quite recent, after his "last professional bout". He essentially said (sorry, i'm not going to look for the quote) he wouild stop embarrassing the sport by participating. He knows he his completely past his prime and lacks the "ferocity" neccessary to be successful. That's a big step for a man who in the past threatened to eat an opponent's children. music: i agree that people listen too often, and it is a default setting. but it also depends on how you listen to music. I listen to music for a significant portion of my day and I take alot from it usually. I either listen to it analytically and try to apply that to my own music, or i listen to it as a context of thought, like to start a thought train. i think the problem lies when you consistently listen to music passively and you need it to avoid boredom. we'll discuss it in the car. -g