Thought Provoking U2 Concert

We saw a fantastic live performance last night, the U2 360 Tour. For only $40 it was the best value for money Sunday afternoon I've probably ever experienced. The sound quality and visual effects were stunning, the stage resembled an alien craft and a moving set of interlocking circular LCD screens further heightened the likeness. Watching the visual onslaught, feeling the bass and Bono's voice vibrate in every cell I wondered what the next step in live concerts could possibly be. However my thoughts were quickly diverted from such materialistic ideas when the band spoke about their collusion with Amnesty International and the recent release of Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of the Burmese Democracy Movement who has been under house arrest since her party won 59% of votes in the 1990 general election. She was told by the military jung in power that if she left the country she would be freed, she never left. It warmed me considerably to see that U2 have used their star power and influence to help this woman and her country and left me feeling pretty guilty for my own self-serving existence.

Don't get me wrong I have good intentions and a world of sympathy for the down trodden, the starving, the sick, the orphaned and the persecuted. But I've never done anything for these people. Sure I've given some cash to those annoying people that stand in the middle of the shopping centre and sometimes thought guiltily that I ought to give up some of my time to be one, but principles, and work commitments prevent me from asking for money off complete strangers. I feel if people want to donate they will, in their own time and capacity and they will feel a greater sense of contribution than when an over eager fit and frenzied youth shakes a tin in their face. So what is there to do? I want to help, I really do but when I think about the world's many intricate problems, solutions aren't so simple, who would know where to begin? In these times of global financial crisis's how are governments supposed to help when they struggle just to help themselves. And at the end of the day whose responsibility is it anyway? There is a certain logical thought process that tells me these are issues far too big for my sphere of influence but simultaneously I feel a moral calling. Is it evolution and survival of the species which tells our primitive brain to aid our bretheren? Or a maternal instinct when I see a hungry child, alone and sad, and want to nurture and protect them? Interestingly whilst reading the Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice I get the sense that they likewise explore this idea of moral responsibility.

Whatever the route cause may be I thank U2 for a wonderful concert and for shaking me out of a self-centered, financially focused mind-set, at least for a night. Next year is a world of opportunity and whilst attempting to put money away for the car and mortgage I promise to try harder at becoming an active member of the global community.

Maybe reading this book will help by giving me some direction? The Global Community by Jens Bartelson.

Good Advice

I recently received a very standard forwarded email chain claiming that Bill Gates gave a speech to a group of school students which included a series of life rules. Whether or not the source is correct each point struck a chord and lame as it may be to just paste it onto my blog I feel it is worth sharing. And yes I still haven't found time to do a proper post on our Bali adventures.

Rule 1 : Life is not fair - get used to it!

Rule 2 : The world doesn't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.

Rule 3 : You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school. You won't be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both. 

Rule 4 : If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.

Rule 5 : Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your Grandparents had a different word for burger flipping: they called it opportunity.

Rule 6 : If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault , so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them.

Rule 7 : Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now... They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you were. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parent's generation, try delousing the closet in your own room. 

Rule 8 : Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life HAS NOT. In some schools, they have abolished failing grades and they'll give you as MANY TIMES as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.

Rule 9 : Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF. Do that on your own time.

Rule 10: Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.
 

Rule 11 : Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one! 

True Vampires?

For at least 8 months I've been casually looking in every book store I've happened across for a copy of 'Queen of the Damned' by Anne Rice with little success -apparently Dymocks aren't into stocking books that sell-out the day they're put on the shelves- so bit the bullet and ordered one. Now reading it every day is like a guilty pleasure.

 Just prior to the whole 'Twilight' hype I'd decided it was about time that I read the first really modern Vampire chronicles, additionally a friend with impeccable judgement said they were some of the best books she'd ever read and she's not alone. 

With this in mind I bought the first two, 'Interview with a Vampire' and 'The Vampire Lestat', with high expectations. Needless to say they went beyond satisfaction. The concepts and characters were so fantastical but at the same time completely human. The stories of the vampires, the outcasts, the lost souls, searching for definition and purpose in a world of ever changing values but consistent human nature. The moral dilemas of good vs evil and right vs wrong seemed to be analysed from every angle by the narrators many varied perspectives. Lestat the fearless brat prince reminded me of many young people I've met whose actions rebel against the imagined weight of the world on their shoulders.  And Louis, the conscious killer, trying to run from his nature, don't we all attempt to escape from the parts of ourselves we dislike or don't understand? I could go on, but you get the picture that these books invoked a lot of empathetic feelings in my own constantly searching soul. Through it all I thought to myself the woman who wrote these must be incredibly interesting, through her books she must have explored the ideas and found the answers. Before writing this I thought it due diligence to do a little bit of research and looked her up.

What I found could not have shocked me any more than discovering her books were non-fiction. She described the Vampire chronicles as an outlet of her own personal search and discovery of the love of Jesus Christ! It felt like I'd just heard that the world was actually flat, not round anymore. I was convinced that from the novels the author was anything but a god-fearing Christian, they seemed to defy organised religion and the fail-safe of heaven and hell. Perhaps my interpretation will now be tinged and my enjoyment lessened.

No more research! Should have just ranted about 'Twilight' as I initially intended. I intended to say that a recent cull of facebook friends was triggered when I got sick of people waxing on about it. In my more cynical moods I find it both laughable and horrifying that so many adults have been enthralled by poorly wirtten novels aimed at young teens. Immature in its story telling and progression and character development. This fellow blogger has summed up a review of Twilight's flaws very aptly. But after reading a couple of Anne Rice's chapters I'm too pleased to whinge overly much.....now to read some more. In case it's not obvious I highly recommend you read The Vampire Chronicles ;-)