Imagination, or lack thereof

Some of my friends think that I'm married now, that I'm just going to stay at home and start breeding.  I would love to have kids one day, but I have some other stuff that I would like to do first of all, like get some decent qualifications.

I recently had a voluntary placement at a local primary school as a visiting musician.  One of the games involved asking the children what noises they heard during their holidays.

I don't mean to be an old fuddy-duddy, but I was shocked at how many kids told me about playing games on their latest computer game, whether that was from the Wii, Nintendo DS, Xbox, blah.

It concerns me, and I don't really know why.  I think it's because I worry that these children aren't really doing anything else besides playing computer games.  I have a Wii at home and think playing computer games can be a good
laugh, but I wonder what these children are missing out on if they are
always playing these games. 

If that is the case, I imagine that these children will grow up to have no imagination and very limited social skills.

Do children go outside and play anymore?  Or has our scaremongering society have parents so afraid of something bad happening to their kids that they are now kept inside?  In my opinion, playing is very important as it gives kids their own sense of risk and danger eg. don't do that, you will fall.

Do children make anything anymore? Ok so I clearly love music, but any activity such as arts and crafts, drama, etc.  can help a lot to give children confidence and self esteem.

Do children interact with other children and adults anymore?  If a child is always in front of a TV or games console, realistically how much experience do they have of having a conversation?  How often do they have a one-to-one chat with their parents and/or peers?

It makes me wonder how some children are being brought up, and I feel sorry for them if they are always in front of a screen.

I would love to hear thoughts from people about this, especially those with kids.

music and morality

photo shown with kind permission of Lyncean Photography

he who is always making basses and I were watching a documentary on BBC Four about the history of prog rock, and I was intruiged to learn about the varying fortunes of all the musicians from that era.

It got me thinking: 

Can you morally justify listening to and enjoying a piece of music if the composer was a horrible person? 

Does the music itself take on a life of its own? 

Can we appreciate its beauty irrespective of the failings of the person who wrote it?

• Wagner composed some very beautiful, dramatic music and his use of leitmotif inspired the composition of film scores for a whole new generation of composers.  His most famous piece of music is 'Ride of the Valkyries'.  His music was even used in a Bugs Bunny cartoon.  But Wagner was an anti-semite and wrote essays on how the work of Jewish composers were inferior to his German counterparts.  Only a few months ago I heard 'Ride of the Valkyries' on an advert for nappies!!  Come on!!!
• Gary Glitter.  I don't think anyone in their right mind would go into a record shop and ask for some of his music.

Can music live on if its creator was a moral vacuum?

little rant

Hey everyone

One of the main things that I do apart from uni is that I am the Event Manager of Feugh Fest:

I don't expect for people brown-nose me, but I expect at least a small degree of professionalism...

is there anychance my band *** can get on the festival this year?

hope you can help me out

write back

*********

Here's a hint to anyone that is looking for a gig in any festival or venue in Scotland. Start by being polite and introducing yourself and describing what you do. Don't pretend to be my best mate when you are a total stranger. Give me details of somewhere I can hear demos and info, and maybe some idea of what gigs you have had.

Or am I asking too much?

Dear Postie: Update

Some of our American counterparts have clearly been reading my blog:

I looked at the front and thought 'Oh, how nice, it's from Josh and Sara'.

But then I looked at the back

I guess sometimes your blog posts can bite you on the ass :-)

The day after we receive this, he who has now grown a beard hears a knock at the door.

It's the postie, asking us 'Are you bored yet?'

Annual Assessment

I did this kind of thing in a previous post : Annual Assessment

In the spirit of the great writer Stuart MacBeard, I will make a silly chart :-)

Things to note:

• There seems to be a direct colleration between consumption of caffeine and stress.
• When I am worrying about stuff, cooking from scratch goes out the window.
  
• I spend a lot of time during exam time (late Jan and early June) having no concentration and worrying endlessly.
• Highlights include my holiday to Houston to visit my best friend during Easter.
• I organised a music festival in late August, which explains high anxiety and low happiness.
• I got married in October. It was lovely, but I hope I don't have to do it again.
• I was feeling pretty skint at the end of this year, but just recently got news of two new scholarships. Thank you, JTH Trust and the McGlashan Charitable Trust.
• I had some fun over the summer with Aka Ska by playing at the Wickerman festival.
• My birthday is at the end of February.

My year has had it's fair share of ups and downs, I hope that 2009 will be fun but hopefully a bit less stressful. Having said that, I will have finished my degree this year and I am about to embark on looking for a job in the worst financial climate possible....