Stayin' Alive

Should anyone still be lurking around these parts, I am alive and well. I will be writing a more concrete post sometime in the very near future. Until then, I have been taking many pictures with a new digital camera and will be posting several of them soon. I am hoping this new toy will enhance the visual pizzazz of this already hyper-stimulating blog, but I guess we’ll just have to wait and see. Stay tuned!

It’s Got a Good Beat, I Can Dance to It … Sure, I’d Steal It

In my last entry, I mentioned “the whole musical piracy epidemic” and promised that I would post more about it. That time is now.

I suppose it is because of digital media that this supposed crisis exists. After all, fifteen years ago it was common enough to steal copy a friend’s cassette onto another tape. I’m sure the music industry was opposed to this, but there certainly wasn’t a sense of urgency. But I guess it’s become a little too convenient nowadays. Computers have enabled us to not only copy music at an incredible rate with relatively flawless quality, but, thanks to Al Gore’s invention of the Internet, to distribute this copied music all over the world in a matter of seconds. FBI warnings against the illegal copying of music now appear on CD’s with the same regularity as Surgeon General warnings on cigarette packages. Can “stealing” music in today's world really be justified?

I think so, and here’s why. A lot of music is out of print or otherwise unobtainable. At one time, I had a collection of rare, unreleased material by some of my favorite bands. When it comes down to it, I suppose this collection was illegal. But in what way was I hurting the industry? This wasn’t music I was refusing to pay for. I couldn’t pay for it. It simply wasn’t an option. I could either possess the music illegally, or I could never listen to it again. Either way, neither the band nor the record label was going to be getting any money out of me. So why not let me enjoy the music?

Similarly, there is music I enjoy but don’t consider worth the cost of a CD. Now, maybe you’re thinking this is obviously what all music piracy consists of. But I think there is a difference. I think some people don’t want to pay for any music they don’t have to. That certainly isn’t the case with me. I’ve purchased plenty of CD’s I could have “obtained” otherwise. But the fact is, when I consider a CD worth purchasing, I do so. Believe it or not, I want to support the music I enjoy. And when I like an artist enough, I want to own the actual CD, complete with the booklet, rather than a permanent marker replica in a plain, clear case. It’s worth it to me. Still, the fact remains that there are plenty of songs I would enjoy listening to but would never pay for. If it’s absolutely true that I would not purchase this music, then I am not hurting either the record company or the individual artist by “owning” it illegally. And if John Doe sincerely wouldn’t pay for the thousands of CD’s he has on his computer—even if that were his only option—then I don’t think he’s hurting anyone by “stealing,” either.

It would be a much different scenario if people were stealing physical CD’s out of record stores. It would be much different if people would purchase a CD to obtain the music, but choose not to because it is available for “free.” As it is, the digital music revolution now makes many individual songs available via the Internet for just $.99. This means one needn’t spend $15 to legitimately acquire one or two songs from a CD. This fact puts a greater burden on those of us who claim many songs aren’t worth purchasing (even when these songs are available as “singles” that retail for around $4 or $5).

It seems to me that the spirit of the law regarding musical piracy is not to hurt the artists and record companies that make such music available. I can wholly agree with this principle, but not every instance of “piracy” is of this nature. It’s a bit frustrating when, as recently happened to me, a CD is purchased and cannot be played on your computer without installing a program particular to that disc, all in the name of discouraging piracy. The only decent means I have of listening to a CD in my apartment is via my computer. But I don’t want to have to install programs just to listen (and not even rip)! It’s a shame so many people take advantage of whatever they can. Now the rest of us have to suffer. But I guess this is the way things have always been. It’s the same old song…

Potpourri No. 5

• My mystery leg ailment has suddenly reappeared. While it’s not as bad as it was before, it certainly isn’t enjoyable. It pretty much disappeared for a month or two, but just as suddenly as it showed up the first time, it’s back. This time around, I went to a doctor—er, make that a physician’s assistant. Anyway, he told me it’s due to inactivity. Yowzers! I don’t know whether to buy into this or not. True, since I’ve been out of school, I have pretty much been in my apartment 24-7, but this seems like a strange physiological response. Plus, the first time this hit me, I was going to school every day and walking all over campus, etc. Anyway, trying to be a good boy, I’ve taken to going on short (and rather painful) walks every day. I think my leg might be improving, so perhaps this guy knows what he’s talking about after all. Go figure.
• I got a few new CD’s recently. Because of the whole musical piracy epidemic, it seems you can get CD’s pretty darn cheap nowadays. CDs are commonly on sale for $9.99 at Best Buy, which is pretty amazing. There’s more I could say about all this, but I think I’ll save that for a post of its own. In the meantime, I highly recommend checking out Paul Anka’s Rock Swings. If you have eclectic musical tastes, you’ll get a kick out of his jazzy renditions of songs by Soundgarden, Nirvana, Billy Idol, R.E.M., Van Halen, Oasis, Michael Jackson, and more.
• I’m plugging away at the hundreds of pages I’ve been assigned to read for my upcoming philosophy conference at the University of Colorado. So far, so laborious. There are 525 pages of printed material that, supposedly, I’m meant to read before going to the conference. That may not sound extreme, but anyone who’s read philosophy knows it is not a quick, light read. Not to mention that most of these articles are printed two-pages to a page (like if you held a book open on a copy machine and printed both pages at once). Thus, those 525 pages are closer to 1,000 pages worth in a book. No, I’m not that excited about it.
• Should anyone be interested, I wish to reiterate the fact that my other page, Orange Theology, is not exclusively for the religious-minded. Atheists, Buddhists, Christians, Agnostics, and everyone else are welcome to participate there. Generally, the topics do not deal strictly with religion, per se. For example, I’ve asked if, when, and why we should vote to put our own moral values into law. Similarly, I’ve asked how far we should go in accommodating practices we may feel morally opposed to (e.g., if you oppose teenage sex, should you still help your daughter get on birth control?). One needn’t utilize religious beliefs to answer these questions. And even when the topic is more overtly religious, I believe anyone can add worthwhile insight. An atheist may wish to tackle the meaning of repentance by addressing what it means to him/her to be truly sorry about something. Similarly, an atheist may have reasons to believe (or disbelieve) that, if God exists, Muslims and Catholics both worship the same being despite their differing systems of belief. The reason I bring this up is because I know several people have never responded to anything written over there, and yet I believe they would have something interesting to contribute. Granted, you’re not obligated to participate, but please don’t skip over it simply because you believe you fall outside of the desired audience.

Holy Annoying Audience, Batman!

Going to the movies always has its potential problems. One of the most common difficulties is getting a good seat. But even if you get a good seat, those sitting near you can wreak havoc on your movie-going experience. Personally, I’m a stickler for getting to the theater early and ensuring I have as much control over the situation as possible. But sometimes there’s just no escaping almost every problem imaginable, as an impromptu Saturday night viewing of Batman Begins quickly proved.

I’ve always pitied those who arrive at the theater just before the movie is about to begin. Being the sympathetic person I am, I find no comfort in the fact that these people have no one to blame but themselves. I still feel bad as, tucked snuggly into my near-perfect seat and already munching away on my popcorn, I watch some cute couple—whether young and sweet and holding hands, or old and adorably wrinkled, it doesn’t make any difference—staring hopelessly and somewhat disillusioned into an unrelenting sea of fanny-packed seats. I always think these people must not go to the movies very often or they would have known better than to arrive at this late moment. But that only makes it worse, because that means this must be a special occasion for them, and now it’s getting ruined. I quickly bury my head into my popcorn, pretend everyone’s happy, and wait for the lights to dim (wretched man that I am, longing for darkness to shelter these people from my view though I know it makes it all the more difficult for them!)

But Saturday I found myself arriving at the movie just minutes before showtime, a particularly bad move considering it was the movie’s first weekend in theaters and an expected blockbuster hit. As it was, my group ended up sitting just three rows from the screen, anything but ideal in this giganto-screen day-and-age. But this was a risk knowingly taken. What I didn’t count on was the odd behavior of those surrounding me. In the very front row was a younger couple with an almost-newborn baby. Did I mention this is an action-heavy flick? And a relatively dark one to boot? What are these people thinking!? Okay, so maybe not everyone can get a babysitter. Maybe people who can’t get babysitters shouldn’t have to stay at home every single week of their lives. But let’s think just a little bit about our baby’s eardrums, shall we? The respective Mom and Dad took turns holding the baby outside the theater during the entire movie. That kind of makes both seeing the movie and going on a date rather pointless, don’t you think? But I don’t know that this was their plan because they waited for Junior to start crying before they left the first time. Were they surprised, I wonder?

Secondly, I was fortunate enough to sit on the end of the row, but the people directly to the right of my party were those enthusiasts who laugh, sigh, and ooh and aah over every cinematic moment. And if that weren’t enough, the man sitting directly behind me began snoring shortly into the film! Yes, literally snoring! Not loud, I-feel-bad-for-his-wife-at-night snoring, but most certainly audible snoring. And this snoring continued off-and-on through a significant portion of the film.

Needless to say, it wasn’t the most ideal experience. There were other things I could whine about, but most didn’t affect me too much (getting the wrong drinks at the concession stand, the no-coverage “nice-to-meet-ya” urinals, the stuffy heat of the theater, etc.). At least the movie itself was very enjoyable. It’s one of the better superhero movies I’ve ever seen, shunning caricature and going for realism, emphasizing drama rather than tantalization. My biggest complaint would be the muddled quality of the action scenes, which were largely incoherent. Still, director/co-writer Christopher Nolan (who brought us the unforgettable film, Memento) keeps things very well-balanced between comedy, drama, and action, and between characterization and spectacle. I highly recommend it. Just get to the theater early.

Not-So-Current Affairs

My sister recently wrote a post on her blog asking how much of our life history should be disclosed to a significant other (click here to see her post). It’s something I’ve thought about quite a bit in the past, and I’ve always thought I’d desire full disclosure. I’ve always figured that, if I love someone, why wouldn’t I want to share everything with her? TV and the movies would have us believe this is a rare perspective to have, but I’ve never seen an unselfish reason to intentionally hide something.

While my sister was not (to my knowledge) talking about previous relationships, nor about things that took place during the relationship, I think these are easy examples to utilize. And thus I want to probe the idea of affairs. While it’s a dreadful thing to contemplate, I’ve wondered what I’d feel if my one-day spouse were to have an affair. Absolutely horrible, I imagine. But now let’s think of a different scenario. Imagine a husband and wife that are extremely happy in their marriage. Now imagine that 10 years ago, one of these individuals had an affair and their partner never knew about it. Should they tell their spouse about it now?

Now many things might affect your answer. Maybe the extent of the affair matters to you. But let’s just say it was significant enough. Now imagine that the person who cheated feels nothing but remorse for those previous actions. Imagine that the cheater feels completely disgusted at the idea of ever cheating again. Imagine, whatever it takes, that this person is as truly sorry and regretful as they can be. Is there a reason to tell their spouse?

It seems that doing so would cause nothing but destruction. It won’t change the fact that the affair happened. Because the cheater already feels horrible about it, it won’t really make them feel any less guilty. It will only make them feel awful because of the current anguish they are bringing upon their spouse. And the spouse will have to suffer and mourn and, most likely, think about this fact constantly for the next several weeks or even months (and it probably won't EVER stop coming to mind occasionally). So what's the point?

I used to think that, as the victim, I would deserve to know. But is this simply an inability to forgive? Would the more forgiving person not need to know? Sadly, an affair shouldn’t have happened. And, if it did, the cheater should have been forthright about it at the time. But once it’s too late to change that, is there a point to admitting it? That should probably be up to the victim. Unfortunately, there’s no way to know ahead of time if the victim would really want to know. Assuming everything was wonderful in the relationship now, I don’t know that I’d want to go through that pain for nothing. What do you think?