Thursday, August 21, 2008

finished reading john burdetts brilliant third Bangkok novel, Bangkok Haunts which is so well written and constructed it should be considered high literature and i encourage all of you to read the series in sequence. he has painted a world i would like to take most middle class pseudo Buddhists to, to show them the perceptions they aspire to but can never attain. his final words within the novel are amazing, ' as the final veil is lifted you know with certainty that love is the foundation of human consciousness, that there is really nothing else. it is our constant betrayal of it that makes us crazy.' incredible writing. his detective soncai jipleecheep is a holy man walking and working his karmic dept. his vision and perception is pure enlightenment itself and the world of maya we all inhabit becomes the backdrop of the novels. one buddhist exercise a monk does is to spend a year with a corpse as it decays. imagine that as an lesson in life. imagine the constructs that one dissolves as one passes through these boundaries we have placed in our minds specifically relating to death and the bigger processes at work within the universe. imagine the beautiful terror of watching the changes times arrow has upon existance itself and what limited perspective we have upon it.

i saw a british institution, two nights in a row, mr. paul weller, whom i saw when he fronted the jam in a small club in london, then later i saw him at live aid fronting the style council, and now almost 30 years later in sydney where i have to say he played to a rapturous reception of mostly ex pats. highlights were, changeman, town called malice, at the foot of the mountain, wild wood (a la portishead and broken stones). it was heavy on guitars both nights but the opening show had more audience energy than anything i've seen in sydney ever. unbelievable.
strangely i met up with an old friend from my youth work days Kristin, a nice Kiwi gal and the following night a really old friend called Tim who i have not seen in 20 years.

i had some acupuncture this morning, feeling more vital and energized. amazing what a few needles can do and a small electrical current.

2 comments:

redgrevillea said...

Paul Weller?! Which nights did you go on?? I only made it to the Tuesday night and would've gone on the Thursday if I had nothing on. It was awesome. 'Foot of the Mountain' he must have played on the other night you went. The concert felt like 5 minutes, I wanted it to go on for 72-hours like.. I almost envy you that you saw the Jam in '77. Paul Weller is one of my main men - a superlative musician & songwriter and passionate performer.

captain mission said...

hi ross, i went on the opening night, i think that was tuesday and the following night. i'm not a huge fan but i was impressed with the shows and i have to say, some of those songs are brilliant. people went totally nuts when he played 'thats entertainment' and 'town called malice' but my fave was 'broken stones' and 'changeman.'
if i had to chose a better night, i'd say the first night for atmosphere, the crowd went 'crazy.' he looked slightly overwhelmed.