Lyrical Exegesis / "Professional Widow"

This is only my second true Lyrical Exegesis post and as I come down to the end of this blogging project I really wish I set aside more time and put more effort into writing more of them, there are so many songs out there that I want to share and spin from my perspective because I feel it's a great way to share my... well, just share... my experience. I might have one more of these posts in me before the end but I can't be sure...


Professional Widow
- Tori Amos (Boys For Pele)

...
Give me Peace
Love
And a hard cock



When I first envisioned the Lyrical Exegesis feature I thought I would dissect a song's lyrics and music in full, but now I see that's far too daunting a task. For a song like Professional Widow there's just too much to delve into lyrically; conceptually. Fortunately, it's also one of those songs you can sum up with a short excerpt... at least, there's one facet, one message I want to latch onto. The excerpt above is the final verse of the song and the one I want to focus on.

I love this lyric, this message. I have it posted here and there on certain online profiles of mine and it was actually a friend of mine on one of these sites that sparked this post. I felt the need to explain myself and my love for these words... this concept.

I wasn't raised a Christian. That whole sphere of Judeo-Christian philosophy that exists in the hearts and minds of many is foreign to me. It's alien but still a part (however, small) of my mind and heart by virtue of being the predominant philosophy in America. You can't live here, or anywhere, without being affected by it in some way... it sees and rules all. In it's view I'm a heathen, I come from a noble ancestry of heathens. Although I also wasn't raised Navajo, It was still there... but it wasn't a part of my life in the way that Christianity was a part of my church-going friends' lives. But I had enough of that world (Navajo culture), that philosophy (Navajo spirituality) around me that I absorbed it more than anything else. It was a philosophical/spiritual osmosis... what I managed to take away came in the form of an understanding of symbology and a mind for metaphor (that's probably fairly obvious to anyone who knows me well enough). It's because of that absorption that I've been able to... relate. Comparative mythology is more my bag than anything else... I love it. So I don't have a problem with religion per se. I don't even have a problem with Christianity. My problem is with indoctrination... well even that's not true... I have a problem with misinterpretation. The greatest tragedy as it pertains to religion/mythology is mistaking shadow for substance and poetry for prose. The concept of a literal mind interpreting a spiritual language is... well I won't even get into it here, I need to focus.

Tori Amos is one of my two favorite artists of all-time, of any medium. She was raised Christian, the daughter of a minister no less. So her work is very much focused on... damn I knew this would be hard. :P

I feel like I'm on the outside in a lot of ways. I feel I'm under attack. It's that force... it's not Christianity but it's the perversion of Christianity that I feel at war with. I respond to and crave any work that speaks to that tension... The Cannonade Against Christianity, The Blitzkrieg of Blasphemy, The Salvo of Sin. It's about being under attack and opting for an offensive stance rather than defensive. To hell with the best offense being a good defense, I think... I know that allowing something as caustic and toxic as this specific form of perversion to let fly and unchecked is what the enemy would prefer; they would prefer that we not respond in kind. And I don't mean to... advocate a violent or... all I'm speaking of is fostering and owning your anger and outrage rather than dismissing or burying it. You keep it in your heart, you don't let it die, you foster it so that if you ever find yourself in a situation when it's called upon you you can come from a place of strength and clarity.

Of the many crimes perpetrated by The Great Perversion, the one I find most foul and reprehensible is the notion that Nature is fallen and sinful. So much of that philosophy speaks of strength and spirit from without rather than within; It speaks of shame. Everything I know and was raised on speaks of the exact opposite. I've known people who are damaged by it. I've seen it... this disconnection between body and soul. That Nature, the body, sex and sexuality could become points of shame and disgrace... well, I just don't understand how people could buy into that bullshit. To view sex as anything other than a Holy Communion is... it's just so foreign to me. To have a divinity that excludes, degrades or minimizes sexuality is counterfeit. That the natural and the spiritual could exist in two separate spheres is insane to me; natural is spiritual; Nature is Divine. And I don't know where you would look in this day and age and hope to argue the point. You've generations crippled by this castration and infibulation of the mind; that whole sphere of dysfunction. You've barren lands and polluted waters, all a result of this Great Perversion. You see the shame, the impotence, the pollution, the schizophrenia, the excess, the filth, the entitlement, the extinction, the perversion... is that Divine, is that Holy? It all comes to bear from an ideology that views Nature as fallen. That religion is not my religion... that world is not the world I want.

Give me peace / Love / And a hard cock is about union. To speak as a fully realized person would mean uttering and internalizing those words. It's an equal balance... or maybe no balance because there's no discrimination. The heavenly and the divine is not... it's not just the white doves. All of these elements are dependent on one another. The Holy Trinity is mind, body and soul. But it's always the body that gets left out of the picture. The body takes a backseat. The body is devalued. But we need the body if we want to taste the bliss of being. The hard cock is merely a reference to that idea, it also exists as the wet pussy or exists as whatever you need it to exist as to fully embrace every part of your being (both physical and metaphysical) and honor yourself and others for exactly what we are, The Divine.


It's really something to see Tori Amos perform live, and never more so than when she performs a song like Professional Widow that expresses this dialogue on sexuality as divinity. It's really something to see a woman with a Christian upbringing totally embracing her sexuality and playing with your idea of propriety; she'll straddle and grind that piano bench, she'll spread her legs and claw her inner thighs, she'll growl, holler and moan, she'll caress her breasts and clench her crotch, and as you'll see in the final seconds of this performance she'll wrench and slurp her microphone as a phallic object. She's so... words don't do her justice. *swooning* ;) :D





Professional Widow (album lyrics)

slag pit
stag shit
honey bring it close to my lips
yes
don't blow those brains yet
we gotta be big boy
we gotta be big
starfucker just like my daddy
just like my daddy selling his baby
just like my daddy
gonna strike a deal make him feel like a congressman
it runs in the family

rest your shoulders peaches and cream
everywhere a judas as far as you can see
beautiful angel
calling "we got every re-run of muhammed ali"

prism perfect
honey bring it close to your lips
yes
what is termed a landslide of principle
proportion boy it better be big boy
starfucker just like my daddy
just like my daddy selling his baby
just like my daddy
gonna strike a deal make him feel
like a congressman
it runs in the family

mother mary
china white
brown may be sweeter
she will supply
mother mary
china white
brown may be sweeter
she will supply
she will supply
she will supply
she will supply

give me peace
love
and a hard cock


DS333, hard.

Latest Love <3 "Super Smash Bros. Brawl"

Thursday posts are always a difficult thing to deal with especially if they happen to be features because they take time to be done right. But since it is Thursday, which means Lost is on tonight, the first thing I want to do is get my post out as soon as possible and the last thing I want to do is take time doing that. So maybe I'm copping out on this one... I can't be sure. At least it's timely; very apt. ;)

Obsessions come and go in my world. These loves. Yesterday it was Super Mario Galaxy and today it's Super Smash Bros. Brawl. I'm absolutely in love with the game. I'm consumed. I'm smitten. I'm taken. It's all I can think about during the day. :P I think that's the sign of a truly special game. Funny enough, I didn't really experience that with Super Mario Galaxy. I was consumed with it, but it wasn't in my blood. A game like Picross is an example of something in the blood. At random moments throughout the day I'd spend time conjuring up a mental image of the game and I'd strategize about the most efficient way to complete it. And that's happening again with Super Smash Bros. Brawl. I lay awake at night and the images flutter past beneath my eyelids, my fingers twitch and all I can think about is improving my game.

For the uninitiated, Super Smash Bros. Brawl is a fighting game featuring a roster of memorable characters plucked from Nintendo's vast game library. It's the third game in the Super Smash Bros. series and the first to appear on the Nintendo Wii. The game is a based on a simplistic control scheme that appeals to newcomers and experts alike. I think the strength of the game lies in the control scheme and the gameplay mechanics at large. It can be played on various levels of skill and difficulty. All in all I'd say the game is simple, which I like, though it certainly doesn't lack depth. As I've said, it's something a newcomer could pick up, but the game really shines at offering technically proficient players a deep fighting game experience. The game you see novices play is a totally different game from one played between experts. I love that sort of adaptability. It's at once simple and deep... something I've a soft spot for. ;)

Superficially, the game is spectacular. The game sports some of the most beautiful graphics I've ever seen. It's enough to play a game just to stare at everything that's going on. It's also enough to play those games with your favorite Nintendo characters. I'm a sucker for the nostalgic and I was born and raised as a Nintendo kid so there's no way I couldn't be hooked by window dressing offered up by this title. I'm bowled over by the wealth of characters you can play as. It's a Nintendo fanboy's wet dream. :P

Anyway, I just wanted to throw my love out into the ether. I could go on and on about why I love the sucker but that could get boring fast (if it isn't already ;) ). If anyone's considering buying the Wii, this is one of those must-have titles. The depth I spoke of earlier isn't limited to the gameplay mechanics. There's so much stuff to unlock and dig through. The game's notable for being one of the few Nintendo flagship titles that offers up online play. Being able to play with other Smash Bros. fanatics across the Net is pretty awesome. There's also a variety of minigames and modes to play through. Truly, the list goes on and on. You really get a bang for your buck on this title. So if you'll excuse me it's time I got back to banging... errr... smashing. :P ;)



DS333, obsessed.

Linkage ~ "BigDog"

I'm sure anyone's who as tapped into the Net as I am has seen this video already, but I couldn't help but give it some more attention. I've had it on the brain ever since I saw it. It reminds me of how wonderful the times we're living in are. Everything's changing so rapidly. Everything's evolving and advancing at such an incredible pace. It makes me wonder if the future is closer at hand than I ever realized. It makes me hope that I'll be around to see even more of this change. We're very much on the edge of something truly great.

So anyway, here's the video of Boston Dynamics' DARPA-funded quadruped robot, BigDog:



Watching the video, I can't help but wonder if most of the people watching it even realize the importance and significance of such an advancement in robotics. I've never seen a robot with this degree of balance. It's amazing! It's astounding! The machine is enough to marvel at as is, but I've also the mind to imagine what this hints at. These things only get better. So I keep imagining what this will ultimately lead to. Not just the machine, but every other technology working in concert. What that will lead to. What that change will bring. It's both beautiful and horrifying to contemplate. I'm more of an evangelist in this regard so my outlook's optimistic. I'm so excited to see things like these. To see such a leap forward is awe-inspiring. I've had my finger on the pulse of these things and always thought of how sad it was that I would never be alive to see something more refined and practical. They've always been bulky, tethered and impractical. This gets my mind racing. I don't think the tachikoma could be far off. :P ;)


DS333, optimistic.

Linkage ~ "Dreams"

My initial plan for Linkage was to link to a string of like-minded content. Nothing revolutionary, in fact it's old-school weblogging in my book. So I loved the way in which these three pieces fell together, but their discovery is not mine. Even still, I couldn't not link to the content and of course I'll give credit where it's due. These links were wrapped together in a nice little package at Ain'tItCoolNews (here), but why would you risk visiting that site given how horribly designed it is? It's an offense to the senses. :P

First thing up is a talk/lecture given at Carnegie Mellon University by Computer Science professor Randy Pausch who is currently fighting pancreatic cancer. This talk is a part of a long going series of Last Lectures and you really needn't know more than that to appreciate this brilliantly constructed and poignant presentation covering the whole of the professor's life. His exuberance and enthusiasm is of the most infectious order and one of the main reasons I enjoyed this video so much. It's a whopper, clocking in at well over an hour... but you just gotta give it a chance; you won't be disappointed. If you're feeling antsy, you should know that Randy's lecture doesn't begin until the 8:26 mark. Enjoy:







Next up, is another presentation from a very exuberant and enthusiastic man, J.J. Abrams. Abrams (of Alias and Lost fame) gave this talk at TED in March of last year in which he delved into his inner motivations for the work he's currently involved in. I never tire of an artist sharing their thoughts on their work, their process, their inspiration, etc. and Abrams definitely delivers in this regard. An entertaining musing on the concept of mystery. This is much shorter than the previous video, clocking in under 20 minutes. Enjoy, again:







Finally, bridging the two, is this awesome little blog post by Randy Pausch... I won't spoil the best of it, but here's an e-mail Randy received from J.J. Abrams to pique your curiosity:

JJ Abrams wrote:
> Dear Randy --
>
> Hi there -- I'm JJ Abrams, director of the new Star Trek movie.
>
> I read about you and your condition, and ALSO your affinity for things
> Trek.
>
> So, I just wanted to put the invitation out there -- that if you had
> any desire to be in the film (can't promise you role as CAPTAIN,
> but... we could do SOMETHING!), it would be my honor and pleasure.
>
> The last thing I want to do is intrude, so feel free not to reply --
> but I wanted to make sure you knew that, if you are willing and able,
> the door is wide open.
>
> I hope that your treatments are going well and that we get to meet one
> day.
>
> Best,
>
> JJ

You can check out the full post at Randy's blog, here. Unfortunately it's not the slickest platform so you'll have to scroll down to view it. It's titled Star Trek!!! and appears in between the December 1st and November 29th posts. Enjoy, yet again. ;)


DS333, inspired.

Linkage ~ "Abscess"

*sigh* I was hoping to link to two videos today from YouTube, but one of them got pulled down. :( I don't know why though. It was video of a couple of friends draining the abscess from some guy's back. Granted it was disgusting, but there are a ton of other videos like it on YouTube. I haven't checked them all out of course, but I wonder what made them pull that video. Hmmm...

Anyway, I'm not sure what to do with these posts. I haven't done one in forever, which made me think it was about time to get back to it. I'm thinking I need to create a collection of links around a certain theme. Or maybe I would post a thread of links... y'know like a group of links I happened upon during a random dive in the Net. A way to share an experience through a digital rabbit hole. Or... I don't know. Still thinking. ;)

An abscess is a collection of pus that has accumulated in a cavity formed by the tissue on the basis of an infectious process (usually caused by bacteria or parasites) or other foreign materials (e.g. splinters or bullet wounds). It is a defensive reaction of the tissue to prevent the spread of infectious materials to other parts of the body. (abscess, Wikipedia.org)

So my brother directed me to this horrifying article from The New York Times about Staph infections. It's a short, easy read and well worth the time: Drug-Resistant Staph

If you read through the article you'll be directed to a site about MRSA, which then directs you to three videos on YouTube that chronicles one abscess surgery. The best of the three being this one. Enjoy. ;) :P



DS333, *chills*.