If you say so

End of Experiment

Dave — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 11:59:34 +0000

For the last post on this blog again one about music:

Music was my first love
and it will be my last.

John Miles

Merely 17 days after the first post on this blog I determine this experiment. It was a good experience with many new insights for me. But above all I realized that everything you do with devotion needs time and energy. And this time and enrgy is misssing at another place.

This quote from the song “Music” by John Miles is something like a life motto to me. And this motto is the reason why I want to save my time and energy. Every minute I spend for researching quotes and photos and blogging is missing for composing and playing music.

So I have to sacrifice this blog for my love. I apologize for this to my readers, sorry guys!

George Bernard Shaw about Music, Alcohol and Hell

Dave — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 14:07:36 +0000

Once again one about drug habit:

Hell is full of musical amateurs: music is the brandy of the damned.

George Bernard Shaw

Cognac action – © by Philippe Ramakers

Again a quote that characterizes playing music as a drug habit. This time for enduring the pains of hell. But one could read the first part of this quote in a different, not very kind way towards musical amateurs: For me as a professional musician sometimes listening to musical amateurs is like hell. Sorry, no harm intended!

I have to admit: music is also for me my “eternal brandy”!

What about you? Is music like brandy to you? Which kind of brandy would you prefer in hell? What means hell to you? And is music also your salvation from hell?

Albert Einstein about Imagination, Knowledge and Limitation

Dave — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 12:35:21 +0000

Another one concerning Imagination:

I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.

Albert Einstein
As quoted in “What Life Means to Einstein : An Interview by George Sylvester Viereck” in The Saturday Evening Post Vol. 202 (26 October 1929), p. 117

Library – © by Vickie Mathews

At first glance this statement seems to be very amazing from a man to whom we owe such a huge amount of knowledge. But at the same time this reveals the secret of extending knowledge. Again it’s very closely related to courage: the courage to think, what nowbody knows yet.

What about you? Do you merely rely on your knowledge? Or do you trust also in the power of your imagination?

Aldous Huxley about Expression, Music ans Silence

Dave — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 14:47:57 +0000

For the last day of the month a very beautiful one about music:

After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music.

Aldous Huxley, Music at Night, 1931

Sonata Music – © by Joel Rossol

I think it’s disputable whether silence or music is more suitable for expressing what is inexpressible by words. Anyway, music is beyond doubt one of the best ways for expressing emotions and feelings. It is an universal language beyond all language barriers. It never ceases to amaze me, how touching music can be.

What about you? Are you able to decode the language of music? Do you agree with Mr Huxley? How are you touched by music?

Frank Zappa about Norm, Deviation and Progress

Dave — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 14:05:45 +0000

From a man who knows very well about deviation from the norm in music:

Without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible.

Frank Zappa

Growing Graph – © by Christian Ferrari

Norm and deviation are a pivotal subject in my life. Normative forces in society are very strong and it’s not easy to free yourself from them. But the knowledge, that personal development is impossible without deviation from the norm, is disturbing and comforting at the same time.

What about you? How much are you deviating from the norm? Do you think about your personal development? And what are your conclusions?

Henry David Thoreau about the World and Imagination

Dave — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 16:01:11 +0000

What could be more suitable for the beginning of the week than a quote about imagination?

This world is but a canvas to our imaginations.

Henry David Thoreau

Paintings – © by Margarit Ralev

I like this canvas metaphor very much! It leads to comparing life to an oil painting: painted layer by layer in a long process including the opportunity if change in any state, never definitely finished. Just the upper layer is visible, but the whole personality consisting of all layers – visible and invisible.

What about you? How are you painting your imaginations onto the canvas of the world? Are you good in painting?

Pythagoras about Silence, Meaning and Words

Dave — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 15:40:16 +0000

Weekend:

Silence is better than unmeaning words.

Pythagoras

Nothing to add.

Winston Churchill about Success, Failure and Courage

Dave — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 14:15:49 +0000

His famous “no sports!” quote seems to be unsourced, this one however seems to be an authentic one:

Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.

Winston Churchill

Success – © by Rob Owen-Wahl

The great danger of success is that it may mislead you to resting on your laurels. Hence it’s a good clue that success is always just temporarily. But it’s also comforting, that no failure is as fatal as it may seem to be at first glance. And I like Churchill’s conclusion, that the courage to continue ist the key to continuos success.

What about you? How are you rating success and failure? Do you always have the courage to continue?

Steve Jobs about Innovation, Leaders and Followers

Dave — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 14:55:04 +0000

Today a quote from a man who definitely knows about being a leader:

Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.

Steve Jobs

Apple – © by RAWKU5

The biography of Steve Jobs is really outstanding. His life is closely related to the history of the famous companies Apple Inc. and Pixar Animation Studios. Both companies stand for innovation. Steve Jobs always believed in his visions. This was the reason, why he became a leader.

What about you? Do you benefit from the products of one of the above mentioned companies? What is your attitude towards innovation or being a leader?

Sir Simon Rattle about the Berliner Philharmoniker and Berlin

Dave — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 14:31:08 +0000

Again a statement by Sir Simon Rattle:

This orchestra thinks and responds incredibly quickly, every single musician. They’re never standing still. Maybe it’s because this city, Berlin, functions that way too.

Sir Simon Rattle

Lehrter-Hauptbahnhof Berlin – © by Phil Dase

I totally agree with his analysis of the Berliner Philharmoniker. This orchestra is really outstanding! But I entertain doubts about the reason. It the way Berlin functions was the reason, why are the other orchestras in the city not as exceptional as the Berliner Philharmoniker?

What about you? Have you ever listened to the Berliner Philharmoniker? If not, you should absolutely do so! What about Berlin? Have you ever been there? How do you like it?

Ernest Hemingway about Wine, Civilization and Nature

Dave — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 14:35:11 +0000

Last week we had once already a quote about alcohol. Here’s one about alcohol in probably it’s most sophisticated way:

Wine is one of the most civilized things in the world and one of the most natural things of the world that has been brought to the greatest perfection, and it offers a greater range for enjoyment and appreciation than, possibly, any other purely sensory thing.

Ernest Hemingway, Death in the Afternoon

wine bottle – © by Alexandre Jaeger Vendruscolo

I totally agree with Mr Hemingway! To me wine is also a strong manifestation of human culture. Although I drink for health reasons just white wine, I highly appreciate the art of winemaking. One of my favourite films is Sideways, where one of the protagonists is a good example for and approach to passion for wine.

What about you? Do you like wine? What’s in your opinion the relation between wine and human culture?

Robert Frost about Sense, Nonsense and Forgiveness

Dave — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 15:17:19 +0000

Mondays are cut out for thinking about sense and nonsense:

Forgive me my nonsense as I also forgive the nonsense of those who think they talk sense.

Robert Frost

I like the self-mockery in this statement very much! It is highly suitable for microblogging services like Twitter and Facebook. But I think it also leads to humility about other people’s statements. Can we be sure that what we categorize as nonsense is really nonsense? How would other classify what we categorize as sense? Don’t you agree that sense or nonsense is in the eye of the beholder?

F. Scott Fitzgerald about Weekend, Rhythm and Life

Dave — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 11:34:41 +0000

At the first weekend on this blog a fine one about weekends:

The rhythm of the weekend, with its birth, its planned gaieties, and its announced end, followed the rhythm of life and was a substitute for it.

F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Crack-Up, The Note-Books D. Descriptions of Things and Atmosphere

The analogy between life and another, mostly shorter period of time is a popular subject in philosophy and literature. As a musician I like the use of “rhythm” for describing a structure in life. But what fascinates me most is the view of a weekend as a substitute for life. This leads me to the term “work-life balance” which is in our days very popular. Awful! This suggests that work excludes life. Poor people who understand their work as opposite of life!

What about you? Does your work exclude life? Does your life also takes place just at weekends? What do you think of the term “work-life balance”? What about your rhythm of life?

Sir Simon Rattle about being a Musician

Dave — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 14:10:49 +0000

From alcohol yesterday to another drug habit today:

It’s an unkickable drug habit. And I’m happy to be a junky till the end of my days.

Sir Simon Rattle

I never thought of using a word like “thrilling” in conjunction with a documentary. Until I watched TRIP TO ASIA. This film is about a concert tour by the Berliner Philharmoniker of six cities in Asia. But the tour itself is just the story angle for getting deeper into the characteristics of an orchestra musician’s life and especially the differences between the Berliner Philharmoniker and other orchestras.

The film consists of many very personal interviews with members of the orchestra and with its artistic director Sir Simon Rattle. Many of these personal confessions of the musicians go straight to my heart. In one of these interviews Sir Simon is talking about “the sensation of what goes on between a conductor and that group of people [the orchestra]” which is leading to his statement about his personal drug habit cited above. But I think this is transferable to being a musician or music in general.

What about you? Is there a kind of obsession you would describe as drug habit? And are you happy to be a junky till the end of your days, too?

W. C. Fields about Reality and Alcohol

Dave — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 16:10:42 +0000

On the subject of reality I like this one best:

Reality is an illusion that occurs due to the lack of alcohol.

W. C. Fields

While alcoholism is far from being funny, in this one the danger of alcohol leads to a pivotal question in philosophy: What is reality? And not alone in philosophy but also in theology, psychology, brain reasearch and other sciences reality is an important subject and an unsolved problem yet.

What is your personal definition of reality? Can we ever be sure that something is real? Is alcohol a solution? What do you think?

Erich Kästner about Quotation

Dave — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 11:35:30 +0000

So, this is my new blog about quotation. Let’s start off with my favourite quote about quotation:

“Unser Deutschlehrer hasst Zitate”, sagte Gustav. “Er ist der Ansicht, wir sollten uns gefälligst selber etwas einfallen lassen, statt aus Büchern abzuschreiben. Das sei genauso verwerflich wie das Abschreiben vom Nachbarn.”

Erich Kästner, “Emil und die drei Zwillinge”, Achtes Kapitel

“Our German master hates quotations,” said Gustav. “He says we ought to think of what to say for ourselves, instead of copying it out of books. He says it’s just as bad as copying from our neighbour.”

Erich Kästner, “Emil and the three twins”, Chapter 8
(Translation by Cyrus Brooks)

I like this one very much, because it expresses my ambivalent feelings towards quotes in general. Sometimes I feel guilty at using other people’s thoughts. It’s like pluming myself on other people’s achievements. But on the other hand there are so many situations when a certain quote describes my current feelings or a situation as perfect as I never could express ist in my own words. So why not using a quote and showing reverence to a sage person?

What about you? What are your feelings towards quotation in general? Do you feel guilty? What means the magic of quotation to you?