2007年7月11日水曜日

my bloody valentine

My bloody valentine is one of my fovorite bands. They were formed in Dublin, Ireland. They revolutionize the way to manage of noise in creation of music.

For a long time, feedback noise have been hated by musicians or people who is in relation with music. According to dictionary, feedback noise is not nice to listen to, heard when a microphone is too close to an amplifier. Since electric guitar was invented, the noise had been excluded from music. As long as I know, the first person who used the noise as a part of music is Jimi Hendrix. (However I have no confidence on this point.) He was famous for many colorful expressions like buning guiter or destroying guiter. As an extention of those expressions, he did that.

The next turn of using noise came in England, 1985 when an album, "psycho candy" by The Jesus and Mary Chain, was released. The album is filled with excessive feedback noise. Their music is almost noise itself. Their use of noise was fresh for those days but was the same with the former noise users on the point that they use the noise as a expression of violence.

to here knows when
My bloody valentine's "Loveless" is released in 1991 by Creation record which is famous for turning out of famous rock band Oasis. This album is also filled with excessive noise but those noise broght listeners the peace, the ecstatic feeling and and comfort.

2007年7月10日火曜日

Johannes

We dicided to take movie of the story that Johannes comes to Aoyama Gakuion University.
This is what we made.


It is fresh to me to take movie. I have never taken picture in my life. It is interesting to take movie.

2007年7月7日土曜日

My favorite movie

My favorite movie is "A Clockwork Orange" filmed by Stanley Kublick. Although Stanley Kublick's movies are all interesting as long as I have saw, but my favorite is this movie. This movie includes many violent scenes, so a person who hates violent expressions would not like this movie. However, the reason I like this is not because it includes violent expressions. I like this movie because of the vividness of all colors in this movie. It reminds me of the works created by Andy Warhol. It is like pop art. Properties which appeares in this movie is colorful and all of those are well arranged. Every scene in the movie is always beautiful.

As to contents, this movie includes no moral scene. The main character of this movie use violences on the general public daily. Excessive violent expression, however, does not recommend violence to an audience. On the contrary, this movie gives people who saw this movie the chance of thinking what the violence is. Among people, some may receive a message that the violence is free. Therefore, this movie is siometimes criticized for including too excessive violent scene. However, what people receives from this movie is different between one and another. At least, I think that I do not want to use violence like the main characater.

2007年7月6日金曜日

The Beatles

I love the Beatles. They made many tremendous beautiful songs although they acted for
only ten years. The reason why they could so many beautiful songs is because there are
two geniuses at song writing in the band-Paul McCartney and John Lenon. In early times of the
beatles, they made songs affected by music of America. Rock'n' roll, R&B, and blues are their
favorites. Little Richard, Chack Berry and B.B King are their heroes. By making songs in this
style, they got tremendous popularity and large success in record business. Althogh many rock
band's records were made and released in order to beat the Beatles, none of those got higher
recored sales than the Beatles. When hippie movement came to life, they were unexceptionaly
affected by that movement as many rock bands were. "Sgt. Pepper's lonely hearts club
band" and "Revolver" are the masterpiece of the psychedelic Beatles. I like "revolver" better.
The album start with impressive riff of Taxman. The song is really modern. All parts of the song are well arranged and therefore instruments sounds as if it is one instruments. Anyway the song is good. At later times of the Beatles, they started to make songs in the style of early times and in well sophisticated style. They composed in Afro-American style again and, at the same, in clasical style. The song I love most in this times is "the Long and Winding Road". This song is produced by Phil Specter who is famous for producing the Ronnets. His mixing of this song is incredibly wonderful. His strings arrange is perfect. This is one of the greatest songs I have listened.

I heared simeone said the greatest three songwriters are Bach, Beethooven and the Beatles. I have confidence in that this words is true. The Beatles created songs which remain for long time.

The Beatles is great not only for composing but also for their challenging to adopt new technology of recording. They aggressively adopted technology in order to make alternative sounds. In the times when there were no recorder which had more than four tracks, they used eight tracks in their recording, using two four track recorder. This idea was innovative for those days. By using this technic, they could make fresh sound. These recordings sometimes sounds fresh even now. The album, Revolver, includes the song "Tommorow never knows" which is composed of the refrain pattern of drums and sound effect. This song is famous for its using of refrain of drums because the pattern sounds as if it is the rhythm pattern of breakbeats.

I love the Beatles because their songs have never shown those limit of reinterpretation and have time less melodies.

2007年5月28日月曜日

My favorite book

My favorite book is Woman in the Dunes written by Koubou Abe. This novel describes the story of a man who was confined to the hole in dune. At first, he planed to escape from the hole. However, he found new way to live in that hole. I think this book describes the weakness (or the changeability) of human's subject.

Firstly I want to summerize the novel. The main character is a man who works in a school. His hobby is to collect insects. His wish is to list his name on the encyclopedia of insects as a descoverer of new kind of Spanish fly. For that reason, he often goes to country to collect insects.
One day, he went to a villedge surrounded by dune. After the sun set, he started to look for lodging. Finally, he decided to lodge at a house of a woman in the hole of the same biledge. However, actually, cheated by inhabitants of the viledge, he was confined to the hole. The inhabitants made him remove sand because the viledge was able to carry through only with daily removing sand. He planed to escape from the hole by using many ways. However, finally he decided to continue to live in the hole.

He objected to inhuman act of the inhabitants and planed to escape from the hole. However eventually he decided to live there. What change his mind? I think what changed his mind is surroundings. The surroundings in the hole was hard. Water provided by inhabitants daily was not enough to share two people, the main character and the woman. When they stopped to remove sand, providing water was also stopped. Therefore they had no choice but removing. The life in the hole, however, became not bad to him day by day. He found the fact that the life in the hole had a value all its own. In the course of time, the both made a child in the hole. Then he decided to live in the hole. Every factor in the hole made him do so. Living and surroundings in the hole changed his subject gradually.

I want to say that human's subjects is not made by themselves. Surroundings create all subjects. My way of thinking is also made by my all experiences given by surroundings about me. Human beings is tend to think their thinkings is something special. I think it is not true. If someone is good, it suggest only the fact that he was lucky. There is noboby who is good or bad innately. This is what I learn from this book.

The history of the rock music -From 1970's to now-

In 1969, the Beatles disbanded and an album made the first prize of the Beatles' last album lose in the England charts. The album was "In the Court of the Crimson King" by King Crimson. King Crimson is called the exponent of the progressive rock. Progressive rock aimed to make rock music become art like clasical music. Therefore, their lirycs was too profound to understand and technic of playing instruments became high level. However this tendency to be artistic advanced leaving of young people from rock music.

At that, punk rock music appeared at the popular music chart. Punk rock music was opposite to progressive rock. Punk was easy to understand, play and join. This quality of punk music absorbed young people in England. In 1977, Sex Pistols' first and last album sold like hot cakes. They should have won the first prize in the charts of England. However they actually won the second prize because of the manipulation of the charts. It is because they did not hide their antisocial attitude. It seemed dengerous to adults for them to win the first prize in the charts. However, their destructive attitude eventually destroyed themselves. Sex Pistols disbanded in 1978. Although punk rock movement was short-lived, the influences on after rock music was very large.

In the 1980's, many types of rock music appeared. These music as a whole is called New Wave. There was no particular similarity. However, under this condition, rock music got freedom of expression. Only one type of music was received widely in popular music scene. That was heavy metal.

In 1990's, grange movement started in United States. Of those groups, the most famous group is Nirvana. They played punk rock music with heavy metalic chord progression and heavy riffs.

2007年5月19日土曜日

The history of rock music -from its birth to the end of 1960's-

Rock music is one of the most popular music now. I'll write about the history of the rock music.

Rock music has its origin in black music like jazz, rhythm and blues, country and western and blues. When is rock music's birthday? There is some answers to this question. However, general answer is that the birthday is when "Rock around the Clock" is sung by Bill Haley. In those days, rock and roll was thought as vulgar by "sensible" people. Therefore, when Elvis' sexual dance was broadcasted on TV program(he shook his waist), his lower half of the body was out of the picture. Nevertheless, rock music gained popularity mainly among young people. The young people of those days were absorbed in Elvis. However rock music's frenzy was ended by Elvis' enlistment, the death of Buddy Holly and other rock'n'rollers. Rock was past music in USA until the British invasion landed.

British invasion in the context of popular music means the reimporting of rock music from England. In the England of the 1950's, the trend of skiffle music started. This trend influenced many British groups including the Beatles. The Beatles were formed in liverpool, England and then they made contract with EMI. Their first single failed in sales in 1962. However their second single won a first prize in England chart. Then they also won first prize in America. They became the idol of the world in hte blink of an eye. These were main events in early 1960's of popular music. When the Beatles broadcast in the Ed Sallivan show, there was no juvenile delinquency in the United States as a whole.

In the middle 1960's, the hippie movement begun. Hippies were the people who read the books of beatnik, resisted existent values and moral, woer the vivid clothing, took drugs for preasure, lived in particular community, insisted "love and peace" and objected to the Vietnam War. They were good listener of rock music. Of course, that they violated the laws was wrong but they contributed the development of rock music. Although the Beatles were still popular, there came a man who revolutionized playing the guitar. The man was Jimi Hendrix. He played rock music in the commitment to bluse and other black music with destructive performance and absolutely innovative style. Although there were many other great groups, the most famous group is the Jimi Hendrix and the experience. However, this movement was finished with 1960's. The Woodstock festival was the last fantasy of the hippie movement.

2007年5月7日月曜日

Jean Paul Sartre

Jean Paul Sartre, an existentialist(1905-1980), insisted the nothingness of God and that existence precedes essence.

He used famous similitude to explain what existentialism was. As he put it, paper knives have essence that paper knives is for cutting paper. There is nobody who makes paper knives without understanding what this tool is useful for. In other words, whenever anything is made, there should be essence like use and purpose, so every created things must have essence. In brief, essence precedes existence, if only the problem is about paper knives or any other tools. Essence is the concept which all created things have.

For long time in western culture(or in most culture), people have thought that human beings also must have essence as all created things have. It is because the experience of living often made human beings undergo hardships. If there is any reason to live, namely essence to live, human beings can overcome the hardships. Because essence is given by creator, essence needs the creator of the owner of that essence. Therefore human beings started to believe the being of Creator, that is to say God. They thought that human beings was created by God. Therefore, human beings must have essence to live, thought people. Sartre object to this point.

As I wrote, if the problem is about tools, it can be said that essence precedes existence. However, if only the problem is about human beings, the both words upend, thought Sartre. In the case of human beings, existence precedes essence. Essence is not given to people, because God as creator of human beings doesn't exist no longer. Therefore human beings must create essence for themselves. There is no correct answer about this problem. He said that essence is a pile of behaviour. Therefore, every man and woman should create essence through their option of behaving. Everything is permitted. What you have done is what your essence are.

Like this, his logic presumed that God doesn't exist. He didn't prove that God doesn't exist. Anyone can choose to believe God or not. At least, for anyone who don't believe God, his idea gives some suggestion.

2007年5月1日火曜日

Levi-Strauss

Claude Levi-Strauss was an anthropologist of French. He is famous for his contribution to the development of structuralism. His method of research has had a large influence on the development of contemporary thought.

He studied philosophy in his young days. This experience influenced later his research. Then he changed his major to anthropology. Before his works, the theme of anthropology put importance on the study on historical aspect of human culture changes. For example, an anthropologist went to the village of some uncivilized tribes and investigated how their customs had changed historically. However Levi-Strauss emphasized not historical change but the structure of them. It is more important for him to realize essence of human beings by understanding what the structure means.

When Levi-Strauss was in America seeking for political asylum, he was taught linguistic method of Ferdinand de Saussure by Jacobson who was also in America for political asylum from Switzerland. He applied the method to analysis of customs. He make much of "structure" in the analysis of human being's customs. By applying the method of linguistics to anthropology, he succeeded in solving the mystery of some tribes' customs which meant apparently nothing and had remained unsolved long time. Like this, his name got to be known.

Jean-Paul Sartre who is famous as an exponent of existentialism reigned over thought in French after World WarⅡ. Sartre's thought inherited the tendency of historical recognition that a rational man can not misjudge recognition about historical political problems from Marxism. Although Sartre declared the death of God or nothingness of absolute truth, he admitted quality of perfection about historical recognition of Marxism. Levi-Strauss blamed Sartre for this point, because this logic about history in the tendency to overestimate own thought as objective thought, and insisted that this tendency was the arrogance of western civilization. This indication of Levi-Strauss denied the linear view of history in the western civilization.
Like this, structuralism accomplished sloughing off modernism.
Structuralism is often blamed by Post-Structuralists for its mistakes. However Structuralism is important for us to understand contemporary thought.

Funabashi

Today I write about my hometown, Funabashi.

Funabashi is a city in Chiba prefecture where many people living in the town is have no particular character. Everybody is ordinary. The town has no particular industry(, although there is a little industrial area along Tokyo bay). In other words, the town is a bedroom suburb. The town is neither urban city nor country. However the town has a large population. It can be said that only a large population is a characteristic of Funabashi city.

I wrote much about bad point of that city. Next I write about good point.

There are some celebrities from funabashi city. Tomohisa Yamasita is the most known person from Funabashi city. He now appears TV drama, "Propose Daisakusen". Azusa Yamamoto is also famous person. She is a TV idol. Kuraki Mai is a famous singer from Funabashi city. Masayosi Hayasi is a pitcher of Yomiuri Giants from this city. There are some celebrities but the reason is the city has a large population. Haruki Murakami lived in this city once.

If I lived in another city, I did not want to live in Funabashi. There is no fascination of Funabashi for me. However I like this city because I come from this city.

I think hometown has a special fascination for everyone. Of course, it is same about me.

Psychology in daily life

Today I want to write about psychology. However, I do not have much knowledge

about psychology to write deeply. If I am wrong or you can not agree with my opinion,

please forgive and forget.


Recently, I read a book written by Hayao Kawai who studied Jungian psychology

in Germany. This book is about Jung's concept of complex.

According to Jung, complex is a part of unconsciousness that grows when one's ego is one-sided

in order to cover the defect of ego, and it is colored by emotion. Even if a person has a complex in

his/her unconsciousness, the complex is hardly recognized by himself/herself. Therefore a

person who has strong complex in his/her unconsciousness sometimes projects his/her complex

to someone and hate them without any clear reason. For example, if you hate someone by no

reason without emotion, you may project your complex to the person.


Do you have any person whom you hate illogically or emotionally?


This book introduces an episode for an example of this theory. One day an woman came to the

author of this book for mental medical examination. She was a student of university. She hated a

female class mate. According to her, the class mate came to university only for searching for a

boy friend and she did not want to see the class mate more, so she could not go to university.

However, by counseling her, the author found one thing that she hated the class mate without

any logical reason. Common sense will tell you that it is nonsense for a woman to enter

university only to search a good boy friend. In other words, she projected her complex for the

other sex to the class mate. In the end of this episode, she got a boy friend and overcame her

complex.


According to the author, it is important to recognize the existence of complex in your mind and

to accept the complex. Complex is a part of your mind. If you do so, you can advance as a

human.


After I read this book, I thought about myself. I have some memory which agrees with this

book's contents and I think I found my complex. It may be true or false. However, it is certain

that I got a new point of view on myself.


I was very moved by this book, so I am going to write about this book again from another point

of view.

2007年4月24日火曜日

Introduction of myself

This may be boring for readers, if there are some readers. Please forgive me.


I came from Chiba prefecture and my hometown is Funabashi city.

I was born in Chiba prefecture. Then, when I was three years old,

I went to Malaysia because of my father's business. When I was seven years old,

I came back to Japan. I had lived in Chiba for eleven years.


I like to listen music, particularly rock music of England.

This is one reason why I chose to enter the English department of this university.

However, I often listen to music without songs recently, so this reason lost its meaning.


Nevertheless I remain in this department because I like English comparatively.

However I do not know why I like English. It may be the grammar of English or ,

simply, longing for the West.


I have nothing more to write about! This is the end of sentences!


Anyway, please give your best to me from now on!