It's Frightening. Unexpected.

For the record, I'm still looking up Nietzsche every time I have to spell it.

More thoughts today in reaction to this video in particular - Nietzsche and Morality: The Higher Man and The Herd.

This video focuses on the concept of "herd morality," Nietzsche's name for the predominant morality of a given society. It talks about how modern herd morality is both anti-natural and destructive to anyone in search of a truly fulfilling life - all things which push that 'narrating my brain back at itself' button. The ways in which predominant American society demands the human animal squeeze itself into a tiny box drives me up a wall. Has for basically my whole lifetime.

And then the video veers for a moment into current social commentary, and references social justice movements as an effort to assert a new herd morality. which. mmm. I can see where you're coming from there, but.

It smacks of bias to bring up that one example of herd morality without also mentioning the currently predominant herd morality, which is based on Western Christianity and white supremacy. Maybe social justice movements are an effort to overcome and replace that morality, but to call out only one side of the fight without bringing up the other... that proposes that one side is more damaging than the other or, at best, that one side simply doesn't exist.

Anyway, why should wanting to make changes to herd morality be a bad thing necessarily? Isn't it built into Nietzsche's writings that the work of greater human beings will never be done? It follows that herd morality will therefore always exist in some form, and there will always be people who are trying to shift it one way or another. Shouldn't we therefore support herd-morality-shifting causes which align to our inner morality, to put more of what we consider good into the world? If we decide we don't care what "the herd" is doing because herd morality will always exist so it doesn't matter, how is that not succumbing to nihilism? (Not to mention extreme egoism, to assume we ourselves are unaffected by herd morality. Like most things, I have a feeling Greater Human Being and The Herd miiiight not be so binary.)

I actually left a comment on the video cause I was feeling brave. I'm going to keep watching and delving into Nietzcshe's philosophy because it's still saying a lot of things that make sense, but I have a feeling my critical mind is going to keep getting activated.

I would like to know: if you were talking to someone who had never watched any Dr. Who (such as myself), what would you extol as the primary virtues of the canon? for lassarina

I could take this question of "virtues" one of two ways: it either means "what's good about the series?" or it means "what's important about the series?"

"Good" is a lot more subjective. I could point to different narrative methods or characters, but there's always gonna be someone who despises Matt Smith's Doctor even though I adore him. There are probably people who hated the episode 'Blink,' though I honestly haven't met any yet.

If we're talking about virtues in terms of what makes Doctor Who really "important" and, to me, worth watching... the two words that come to mind right away are hope and inspiration.

Doctor Who encourages its viewers to explore, to move forward, to take chances, and to stand up for what has to be done. It encourages us to see the universe and the world around us as a place full of wonderful, joyous, terrifying possibilities, but also to see the value in what's already close to us. It teaches us that to think we don't need anyone is one of the biggest mistakes we can make. That no one is unimportant, that compassion must always be the first resort, that fear is a superpower.

As much issue as I take at times with current show-runner Steven Moffat, he has one quote that gets right at the heart(s) of it:

And I'm going to add in a few images for good measure:

( GIFs under here )

Those are the real reasons to watch.

Also, it's hella fun.

(ADDENDUM: Classic Who — that is, everything from the beginning in 1963 up to the start of New Who in 2005 — did get a bit left out in this post. It was a lot more focused on the ADVENTURE TIME IN THE UNIVERSE aspect and less so the heavy stuff — at least that's been my experience so far. But it's great to watch in itself, because ADVENTURE TIME and the little inspirational moments that sneak up on you.

And if you're ready to make the leap, I generally recommend beginning from the start of New Who. It's easy 'cause that's where Netflix starts it off!)

I am really interested in how you write music, so I'd love to hear you talk about that! Like, how you go from "song idea" to "playable song." for veryroundbird

This is a question that comes up a lot during (the few) interviews Time Crash has done, so luckily I have a back-pocket standard answer... though at the same time, the process is so amorphous that it's still difficult to describe. But I can try!

Obviously it always starts with an idea. "We should write a song about Donna Noble," or, "I want to write a song that evokes I Am the Doctor (without committing copyright infringement)." In the first case, when I'm writing about a specific thing, I look to come up with themes, musical styles and lines of lyrics that fit the character: what does Donna Noble sound like? If I can land on a particular musical genre, what are some common tropes of the genre we can work to our advantage? In the second case, when I'm starting from wanting to write a song not about a thing but evoking something, I'm more free to let my mind float around the question until it snags on an idea.

Once I know what I'm writing about, in the case of a Time Crash song, I'll revisit the relevant episodes and take notes. Then it's a process of really starting to write the song, and that's where things get amorphous.

I usually start with lyrics, just 'cause that's how I do. Sometimes I freewrite to see if anything interesting comes out. Sometimes I'm lucky, and bits of the song just come to me in a burst of inspiration (the entire bridge of Who Am I came to me on a bike ride). Sometimes I come up with a line that needs a rhyme and make lists of words that might work. The rhythm and structure of verses and choruses comes pretty naturally to me. I might write a line and think, "That's it that's the chorus hook," or, "That's got real impact, but it'll be diffused if the line gets used too much, so that should be saved for the bridge/a verse."

The melody doesn't come after the lyrics so much as evolves alongside them. Most of the time, as soon as I've written a few lines I start to sing them in my head, and a melody forms. This sort of organic growth process will continue until I've got, like, a complete melody but one-and-a-half verses and also the last chorus has one missing line (because I seem to be allergic to repeating choruses whole-cloth, which is probably a symptom of being a musical theatre kid). So I need to play around with possibilities, let things marinate. If I can't find words to fill the holes, a few lines may need to be scrapped and re-written. This sort of puzzle assembly goes on until I have something I'm satisfied with.

Writing solo (read: non-Doctor-Who-based) music is more or less the same, but with less structure. It's pretty much just the "here's a line, here's another, here's a melody, oh look it's a song" process all on its own. That's how I've wound up with a number of songs that aren't any of them about one thing, because at any given point in the songwriting I could have thought the song was about something, but then it veered off in A Direction and I let it because it was neat.

That there's the most detailed description of my songwriting process I've ever given! Since in interviews there's usually more questions than that to be asked =P It's a very rewarding process, and I'm proud that I'm even able to describe it -- it means I've been writing enough to notice the patterns! And now I'm inspired to go home and write some more.

Hey, remember when this used to be a thing? I don't imagine I'll get to 50 (I don't think I ever managed that once, even when I used to tear through books at a much faster pace), so I'm setting the bar at a modest 25.

( 2013: Books Read )

Living off of others' words until I can get my own in order:

I'm trying to find my peace,
I was made to believe there's something wrong with me,
and it hurts my heart.
((Janelle Monae, 'Cold War'))

Push back, push back, push back,
in every word, in every breath.
What God doesn't give to you, you've got to go and get for yourself.
((Against Me!, 'Bamboo Bones'))

I know I am different! I have tried to be the same, but I am different! Why can I not be who I am?
((The Creature, 'Frankenstein' adapted by Nick Dear))

...yeah, having an angryemotional day.

I don't know that this dream necessarily meant anything (it might, it might not, who knows), but it certainly left a mark.

( Doors that are not meant to be opened, places that are not meant to be explored. )

Went and registered this journal on a whim. I haven't touched my personal Livejournal for anything like a real update since May. No big deal, I was just drifting away from it. Communicating through other avenues, Facebook or texting or Plurk or (gasp) actual real-life interaction. Trying other forms of blogging as well. Plus taking part in LJRP, which made logging into the RL journal seem like a chore.

But here I am now. I'll give it a go and see how long it lasts. Most of my entries will be locked, but I'm likely to leave one open here and there (mostly the fandom-based stuff).

See you next time!