Thought for the day...

nsaspook

Joined Aug 27, 2009
16,330
How not to stop crime.
https://www.oregonlive.com/crime/20...one-posts-a-free-sign-outside-police-say.html
Dozens of people ransack NW Portland warehouse after someone posts a ‘free’ sign outside, police say

Police arrested Clark on suspicion of second-degree burglary, theft by deceiving and aggravated burglary, but prosecutors declined to file charges, according to PPB and court records. He was released from custody the same day.

Elizabeth Merah, spokesperson for the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office, said in an email Tuesday that the office had asked police for more information and that prosecutors may file charges later.

Court records show that Clark was convicted of second-degree burglary, criminal mischief in 2019; unlawful entrance into a vehicle and criminal mischief in 2018; and being a felon in possession of a firearm and DUII in 2014.
 

cmartinez

Joined Jan 17, 2007
8,768
We are grateful, not have been colonized by the French.
King Arthur : I am your king.

Peasant Woman : Well, I didn't vote for you.

King Arthur : You don't vote for kings.

Peasant Woman : Well, how'd you become king, then?

[Angelic music plays... ]

King Arthur : The Lady of the Lake, her arm clad in the purest shimmering samite, held aloft Excalibur from the bosom of the water, signifying by divine providence that I, Arthur, was to carry Excalibur. That is why I am your king.

Dennis the Peasant : Listen. Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government. Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony.

Arthur : Be quiet!

Dennis the Peasant : You can't expect to wield supreme power just 'cause some watery tart threw a sword at you!”

― Monty Python and the Holy Grail
 

nsaspook

Joined Aug 27, 2009
16,330
We are still brothers at arms.

Those are Pirates that need to be sunk.
https://news.usni.org/2024/07/04/chinese-ship-suspected-of-raiding-world-war-ii-wrecks-detained

Malaysian authorities detained Chuan Hong 68 in the same waters for allegedly crushing and removing the wreckage of the Royal Navy battleship HMS Prince of Wales and battlecruiser HMS Repulse, USNI News reported.

Both were sunk by Japanese bombers during the invasion of the Malay Peninsula in December 1941, days after the attack on Pearl Harbor.
1720149547943.png
USNI News’ account noted the illegal salvage operation in Malaysia showed how vulnerable historic heritage sites are to thieves intent on plundering war graves, the director general of the Museum of the Royal Navy said in a statement.

We are distressed and concerned at the apparent vandalism for personal profit of HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse. They are designated war graves. We are upset at the loss of naval heritage and the impact this has on the understanding of our Royal Navy history.
 
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cmartinez

Joined Jan 17, 2007
8,768
I have a theory: People are gradually losing interest in intelligent and elaborated tunes. And this because our culture is becoming more shallow each generation.




“We’re not sure why melodic complexity is decreasing in the most popular songs,” she said. “We would need to conduct another scientific study to say for sure. The most probable theory is that complexity is leaving melody and going somewhere else in the song.
 

WBahn

Joined Mar 31, 2012
32,876
I have a theory: People are gradually losing interest in intelligent and elaborated tunes. And this because our culture is becoming more shallow each generation.


“We’re not sure why melodic complexity is decreasing in the most popular songs,” she said. “We would need to conduct another scientific study to say for sure. The most probable theory is that complexity is leaving melody and going somewhere else in the song.
I haven't read the article, but even so I can't help but wonder on what basis they claim that the complexity is most probably going somewhere else in the song? Is there some conservation of complexity law for music?

I would say that the complexity is simply leaving because the purpose it served has been replaced by something else -- namely visual stimulation. Before music videos (and for a long time after they were introduced, as well), most people only got to hear the music they listened to, so artists had to use the sound itself to grab their attention and make them want to listen to it over and over. Relatively few people went to concerts, so most concerts didn't have a lot of visual add-ons (there were certainly exceptions) because the music was the focus because the music had to stand on its own the vast majority of the time. But with the advent of music videos, artists had to start incorporating visual appeal, too. The early music videos were usually just like concerts -- recordings of artists playing their songs. But as some artists starting adding visual eye candy to the videos, viewers were naturally attracted to those videos because they offered a fuller experience, and everyone else had to follow suit or be left behind. Now we are in an age where it is relatively rare for someone to just listen to music, except when they can't watch the video (such when driving or jogging). Because we are much more influenced by sight than sound, artists have learned that catchy visuals are far more important than the music, and that it doesn't require complex or subtle visuals, just flashy and eye-catching visuals. If anything, music complexity probably detracts from the visual emersion. So the sound of the music now only servers to being the visual of the video or the splashy concert performance back to mind.

So I think that it is a natural progression due to the marrying of visual content, either in video recordings or live performances, with music. As for its relationship with cultural shallowness -- assuming that the culture is, indeed, becoming shallower -- it is correlation or causation? If it's causation, is the shallower culture resulting in the loss of melodic complexity in our music? Or is the loss of complexity helping to drive the growing shallowness of our culture?
 

cmartinez

Joined Jan 17, 2007
8,768
I haven't read the article, but even so I can't help but wonder on what basis they claim that the complexity is most probably going somewhere else in the song? Is there some conservation of complexity law for music?

I would say that the complexity is simply leaving because the purpose it served has been replaced by something else -- namely visual stimulation. Before music videos (and for a long time after they were introduced, as well), most people only got to hear the music they listened to, so artists had to use the sound itself to grab their attention and make them want to listen to it over and over. Relatively few people went to concerts, so most concerts didn't have a lot of visual add-ons (there were certainly exceptions) because the music was the focus because the music had to stand on its own the vast majority of the time. But with the advent of music videos, artists had to start incorporating visual appeal, too. The early music videos were usually just like concerts -- recordings of artists playing their songs. But as some artists starting adding visual eye candy to the videos, viewers were naturally attracted to those videos because they offered a fuller experience, and everyone else had to follow suit or be left behind. Now we are in an age where it is relatively rare for someone to just listen to music, except when they can't watch the video (such when driving or jogging). Because we are much more influenced by sight than sound, artists have learned that catchy visuals are far more important than the music, and that it doesn't require complex or subtle visuals, just flashy and eye-catching visuals. If anything, music complexity probably detracts from the visual emersion. So the sound of the music now only servers to being the visual of the video or the splashy concert performance back to mind.

So I think that it is a natural progression due to the marrying of visual content, either in video recordings or live performances, with music. As for its relationship with cultural shallowness -- assuming that the culture is, indeed, becoming shallower -- it is correlation or causation? If it's causation, is the shallower culture resulting in the loss of melodic complexity in our music? Or is the loss of complexity helping to drive the growing shallowness of our culture?
My opinion is that, with the arrival of MTV and the like, visual stimulation became as important (if not more) as aural. And with that, an emphasis of presentation over substance was made.

I remember a discussion with my friends way back in the 1980's in which I argued that I considered music videos as a form of art almost completely different from pure music. Just like movies are different from paintings or photography.

This tendency has proved my point, I think.

Visual stimulation, and verbal dexterity (think rap, or hip hop) have taken the front row in people's perception of music. In fact, music itself has become a background of sorts in today's market.

That speaks tons on the way that people's ability to appreciate abstract ideas of beauty has shrinked over time. Back in the day one's mind could travel far and wide just by listening to Classical Symphonies or Beatles songs ... now the general public's attention span has diminished to almost infantile levels.

I guess this proves that the appreciation of good music is an acquired taste.
 

nsaspook

Joined Aug 27, 2009
16,330
https://thecausalfallacy.com/p/grants-pass-isnt-about-housing-its
Grants Pass Isn't About Housing. It's About Camping.
What people aren't getting about the camping ban case

That dichotomy—between an individual’s right to be deviant and the community’s right to be free from the harms of systematic deviance—is, I think, central to the dispute here, and indeed to many disputes about social policy governing deviance.
...
But the reason that progressive cities like San Francisco, Phoenix, and Los Angeles asked the Supreme Court to overturn Martin is not because they wanted to rough up a single homeless guy. It’s because they wanted the power to clear tens, or hundreds, or thousands of people who had set up their own community within, but not fully bound by the rules of, the city around them.
 

cmartinez

Joined Jan 17, 2007
8,768
https://thecausalfallacy.com/p/grants-pass-isnt-about-housing-its
Grants Pass Isn't About Housing. It's About Camping.
What people aren't getting about the camping ban case

That dichotomy—between an individual’s right to be deviant and the community’s right to be free from the harms of systematic deviance—is, I think, central to the dispute here, and indeed to many disputes about social policy governing deviance.
...
But the reason that progressive cities like San Francisco, Phoenix, and Los Angeles asked the Supreme Court to overturn Martin is not because they wanted to rough up a single homeless guy. It’s because they wanted the power to clear tens, or hundreds, or thousands of people who had set up their own community within, but not fully bound by the rules of, the city around them.
Very interesting:

They see no evidence of displacement. Take apart the camp, and violence, theft, and disorder decline—implying the camps don’t just concentrate, but cause social problems.
 
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