When I was a kid a buddy of mine would occasionally drag me along to a Catholic church service with him, seeing how misery loves company, especially as a child. Even though I hadn’t a clue what was going on — being raised Protestant — I was always mesmerized by the outlandish garb, the thick incense, and especially the incomprehensible Latin that still kind of seemed to make sense. It all seemed so surreal, so magical.
I’m not m much of a church-goer, but I’ve never had that wondrous feeling at a Protestant service and I guess deep down I’ve always wished I had.
Perhaps if I had, I would have gone more to church.
Perhaps not.
More and more young Christians, disillusioned by the political binaries, economic uncertainties and spiritual emptiness that have come to define modern America, are finding solace in a decidedly anti-modern vision of faith. As the coronavirus and the subsequent lockdowns throw the failures of the current social order into stark relief, old forms of religiosity offer a glimpse of the transcendent beyond the present.
From The Future of Christianity Is Punk, New York Times, May 8, 2020
So now the New York Times is reporting that Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke is releasing his latest solo project, “Tomorrow’s Modern Boxes,” via BitTorrent for a mere six bucks.
BitTorrent will take 10% off the top and Yorke pockets the rest.
That’s right, the same band that seven years ago pretty much pioneered the act of giving away music.
Well, it wasn’t an actual giveaway, per se – the deal was, a fan could set whatever price he or she was willing to pay for the download.
So yeah, it essentially was a giveaway. I mean, come on…
I remember when Radiohead first made the news for their “set-your-price” gimmick. I remember thinking how off-the-wall it was. I also remember thinking that they’ll probably lose their shirts on it. However, I don’t remember why I never “purchased” the album for myself.
Probably forgot (I like them. They’re good. But their music has never motivated me enough to want to acquire it. Even if it’s free…apparently).
But, oh my garsh, the irony of Yorke’s latest gimmick, no?
Can you just imagine if this works, if Yorke creates a new music distribution model through BitTorrent, and, presumably, through other bit torrent services. I mean, we’re talking the same type of massive file sharing services — i.e., illegal download sites — that deserves most of the blame (credit?) for crushing the legacy music industry into unrecognizable pebble dust.
And it just may work — according to the Times article, there have already been over 60K download purchases of the album.
But heck, even if it does work, it’s just delaying the inevitable. Soon there will no such thing as ownership.
Soon, like, maybe, now soon, everything we digitizedly desire will exist freely in the cloud…along with the torrent of advertising it will take to support this ethereal freedom.
But hey, I’ll take free…even if it is for a price.
Incidentally, if you want to get a copy of In Rainbows now, it will cost you a pretty penny…er, euro — £7.50, to be exact. My guess is they’re still trying to recoup that shirt they lost from the initial “set-your-price” gimmick.
There is much ado in the news about China’s Wen Jiabao, the supposed People’s Premier, accumulating a massive fortune, for both himself and his extended family, while serving within the highest ranks of China’s government.
Many relatives of Wen Jiabao, including his son, daughter, younger brother and brother-in-law, have become extraordinarily wealthy during his leadership, an investigation by The New York Times shows. A review of corporate and regulatory records indicates that the prime minister’s relatives — some of whom, including his wife, have a knack for aggressive deal making — have controlled assets worth at least $2.7 billion.
No one is surprised by this, right? I mean, when in history has there ever been an authoritarian, non-transparent government where its leaders — and often…well, usually…okay, you’re right, always…those close to the leaders — did not become fabulously wealthy as a result of their position within the government?
Without a doubt, Western-style democracies are far from perfect; and, without a doubt, many politicians and government officials within these supposed transparent governments have amassed huge, unknowable, amounts of cash because of their positions. Still, at least we who live in countries governed by democracies, with our right to vote and with our freedom of speech, have a semblance of a notion that we can contain the corruption. Whether it’s true or not is debatable, but having a semblance of a notion is better than having none at all.
