Better to burn out or fade away?

Now why did I not go see Neil Young when he played Outside Lands a couple months ago?  Mistake! 

I looked up this song's origins and meaning on wikipedia (see below).  Essentially, it proposes that it's better to burn out than to fade away.  I prefer to former, but as I grow older the latter seems more of a possibility.  I'm not ready to cede just yet, though.

From wikipedia:

Ex-Beatle John Lennon commented on the message of the song in a 1980 interview with David Sheff from Playboy:

Sheff: You disagree with Neil Young's lyric in Rust Never Sleeps: "It's better to burn out than to fade away..." Lennon: I hate it. It's better to fade away like an old soldier than to burn out. If he was talking about burning out like Sid Vicious, forget it. I don't appreciate the worship of dead Sid Vicious or of dead James Dean or dead John Wayne. It's the same thing. Making Sid Vicious a hero, Jim Morrison - it's garbage to me. I worship the people who survive - Gloria Swanson, Greta Garbo. They're saying John Wayne conquered cancer - he whipped it like a man. You know, I'm sorry that he died and all that - I'm sorry for his family - but he didn't whip cancer. It whipped him. I don't want Sean worshipping John Wayne or Johnny Rotten or Sid Vicious. What do they teach you? Nothing. Death. Sid Vicious died for what? So that we might rock? I mean, it's garbage you know. If Neil Young admires that sentiment so much, why doesn't he do it? Because he sure as hell faded away and came back many times, like all of us. No, thank you. I'll take the living and the healthy.

Young would reply two years later when asked to respond to Lennon's comments:

The rock'n'roll spirit is not survival. Of course the people who play rock'n'roll should survive. But the essence of the rock'n'roll spirit to me, is that it's better to burn out really bright than to sort of decay off into infinity. Even though if you look at it in a mature way, you'll think, "well, yes ... you should decay off into infinity, and keep going along". Rock'n'roll doesn't look that far ahead. Rock'n'roll is right now. What's happening right this second. Is it bright? Or is it dim because it's waiting for tomorrow - that's what people want to know. And that's why I say that.

Most excellent bike ride

Today I went on a big bike ride in Marin County with my coworker Mike.  It was an amazing ride and took about 4.5-5 hours.  We did a ride called the Alpine Dam Loop.  We rode through San Anselmo, Fairfax, then through the redwoods to Alpine Dam, up a sizable mountain, along the ridge that overlooks the Pacific Ocean on one side and Marin County on the other side.  I'll let the photos paint the picture.

Songs about being alone, then getting up

Two of my favorite songs about being alone.  The PJ song takes someone's hand and gets the f out of here.  The D-Plan song is about the open invitation - to anyone and everyone - to be with others: "you are invited, by anyone to do anything.  You are invited for all time."

Damn I love these songs.





Fun fact: I saw the Dismemberment Plan and Pearl Jam together in Zurich in 2000 with Vinay, Amit, and Andrew Corey.

At Peace, Balanced, and Ready as All Hell to Tackle What Comes Next

I'm back from the wilderness.  I'll post photos and maybe some thoughts later, but for now, here are three quotes that do a pretty damn good job of expressing how I feel right now.

Why don't you stay in the wilderness?  Because that isn't where it is at; it's back in the city, back in downtown St. Louis, back in Los Angeles.  The final test is whether your experience of the sacred in nature enables you to cope more effectively with the problems of people.  If it does not enable you to cope more effectively with the problems - and sometimes it doesn't, it sometimes sucks you right out into the wilderness and you stay there the rest of your Life - then when that happens, by my scale of value; it's failed.  You go to nature for an experience of the sacred...to re-establish your contact with the core of things, where it's really at, in order to enable you to come back to the world of people and operate more effectively.  Seek ye first the kingdom of nature, that the kingdom of people might be realized.  

- Willi Unsoeld.  Outward Bound instructor, and the man who "held the rope" while the first American summited Mt. Everest

One final paragraph of advice: Do not burn yourself out. Be as I am-a reluctant enthusiast... a part time crusader, a half-hearted fanatic. Save the other half of yourselves and your lives for pleasure and adventure. It is not enough to fight for the land; it is even more important to enjoy it. While you can. While it is still there. So get out there and mess around with your friends, ramble out yonder and explore the forests, encounter the grizz, climb the mountains. Run the rivers, breathe deep of that yet sweet and lucid air, sit quietly for a while and contemplate the precious stillness, that lovely, mysterious and awesome space. Enjoy yourselves, keep your brain in your head and your head firmly attached to your body, the body active and alive, and I promise you this much: I promise you this one sweet victory over our enemies, over those deskbound people with their hearts in a safe deposit box and their eyes hypnotized by desk calculators. I promise you this: you will outlive the bastards. 

- Edward Abbey 

I have come to the frightening conclusion
that I am the decisive element.
It is my personal approach that creates the climate.
It is my daily mood that makes the weather.
I possess tremendous power to make a life miserable or joyous.
I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration.
I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal.
In all situations, it is my response that decides
whether a crisis will be escalated or de-escalated
and a person humanized or dehumanized.
If we treat people as they are, we make them worse.
If we treat people as they ought to be,
we help them become what they are capable of becoming.

- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 

And for good measure, let's throw in some of my boy Josh Ritter's rhythm and lyrics.  Ritter is from small-town Idaho who really captures the West, expansiveness, and optimism.

Greatness

This I believe...

Set Adrift

Hell.  Yeah.

I'm a Belieber

A few weeks ago, my roommate was playing guitar for cancer kids at a hospital, and a 10-year old girl came up to him and said "I'm not saying your songs suck, but they're not very good.  Can you play some Justin Bieber?"

So, he's in his room right now learning Baby Baby Baby (video below) - acoustic version.  I have yet to see what he does with the Ludacris solo - I think he should put down the guitar and do the Luda part a capella.  LUDA.  He also learned "Call me Maybe" last week (cookie monster version below - my favorite of all the parodies).

I have NO shame admitting - I friggin love these songs.  If you haven't seen it, the Bieber documentary is amazing - it'll give you a brand new appreciation for the multi-talented Bieber, and the color purple.

Nas

Most badass video I've seen in a while:

Memphis

Yes.  This needs to be seen live.  Preferably at Young Avenue Deli or the Hi-Tone.

Even More Cool

If the first Ryan Gossling song didn't do it for you, this will:



Gossling.

Boys of Summer

Yes, I know it's a cover.  Yes, I know it's by one of those 1000 pop, post-punk bands.  But I don't care.  This song gets me pumped up.

Good Feelin'

I'm diggin' this song (although the video is kind of lame).  Thanks to Spotify for getting me hooked on all of these types of songs...

Old School... Parties, Summertime, and Chillin

I haven't posted to my blog in a while.  So there's this...

"It's long overdue, but now Philly's slammin'.  Boyz II Men, ABC, BBD.  The East Coast family..."
(a remastered version is available on Spotify, by the way)



And this...

"It's Friday night and I feel alright.  The party's here on the West Side.  So I reach for my 40 and I turn it up, designated driver take the keys to my truck..."


And because I can't help myself...

"Guys out huntin and girls doin' likewise, honkin' at the honey in front of you with light eyes..."



And why not... perhaps my favorite song of all time

"Just wakin' up in the morning gotta thank God, I don't know but today seems kinda odd.  No barkin' from the dogs, no smog.  And momma cooked a breakfast with no hog."

Uptown, baby

When I was 14 18 I wanted to be these guys.

Release

While I'm at it, might as well share my favorite PJ song to open a show: Release.

Better Man, Live

Quality isn't great, but the atmosphere is.  Awesome rendition.  I still haven't seen the pj 20 documentary, but I will soon.  This version of Better Man is on the soundtrack.

Dre and Snoop. Just Because

Legend

Awesome

Fader

Awesome.

Thankful

This is why today is awesome:
- 70 degree weather after a long bout of cold. Frisbee is imminent.
- Interview in NYC canceled because of the snow up there. Get to stay in Durham on this amazing day.
- Section Six happy hour last night
- Went to boot camp this morning and felt pretty strong.
- Went to my Philanthropy, Volunteerism, and Nonprofit Management class at the policy school. This class is taking me back to my liberal arts roots, and I love it. Today we talked about the great philanthropists and Andrew Carnegie's Gospel of Wealth. I absolutely love this class.
- Listened to Lucero's Dreaming in America on the way to the gym (bonus Lucero video below)
- Charlie Davies on trial with DC United (Davies and Andy Najar = sick combination)
- Fascinating events happening in Egypt. A massive moment in time, and a very positive expression (thus far) of humans' desire for economic and political freedoms. Inevitability of human progression, if you ask me.
- Just booked a 2-week trip to Colombia for spring break
- Going to go study some Social Entrepreneurship today
- GATE (study abroad) reunion tonight while watching the Duke-Maryland game

Now, get to work.