Why Genius Takes Time: Elvis Costello and Leonard Cohen

This post should be entitled, PhilosFX on Open Culture's Article about Malcolm Gladwell's Revisionist History Podcast on Why Genius Takes Time: A Look at the Making of Elvis Costello’s “Deportee” & Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah.” Because, truth in lending, that is what you are really getting here today.

Things I like: podcasts, Malcolm Gladwell, genius, Elvis Costello, Leonard Cohen, Cohen’s song, “Hallelujah,” and writing about all of that on PhilosFX. If today's post strikes some as a bit derivative, so be it. That is a Venn diagram I can really get into! 

Malcolm Gladwell has an new podcast, called Revisionist History. Gladwell recently aired a podcast about the genius of Elvis Costello and Leonard Cohen. Here is a link to a recent episode of unsurpassing interest. The show is 39 minutes in duration, and highly recommended.

Teaser: 

How does genius emerge? An exploration of different types of innovation—through the lens of Elvis Costello’s extraordinary song “Deportee,” once utterly forgettable and then, through time and iteration, a work of beauty and genius. 

Check it out! To learn more about the topics covered in this episode, visit www.RevisionistHistory.com and search for Episode 7, Hallelujah.

When I searched for this podcast, I first landed on this Open Culture story about the podcast (derivative, right?).

One quibble: Gladwell selects John Cale's cover of Hallelujah as his favorite. While there can be no accounting on matters of taste, I respectfully disagree with Malcolm on this point. For reference, I have opined upon this question in a previous post.


Sharing is caring. Here is a bit more info about Open Culture

Open Culture editor Dan Colman scours the web for the best educational media. He finds the free courses and audio books you need, the language lessons & movies you want, and plenty of enlightenment in-between.

And now in conclusion, a bit more about Revisionist History

If you're looking to go deeper into the subjects on Revisionist History, visit Malcolm's collection on iBooks at http://www.apple.co/MalcolmGladwell -- iBooks will update the page every week with new recommendations. 

I love sharing things I love. Today, here on PhilosFX, we are all about Elvis Costello, Leonard Cohen, song-writing genius, creativity over time, and revisionist history through the mind of Malcom Gladwell. Enjoy!

"Seven Day Weekend"

I rode CERUS[1] to Annapolis to take in the spring sailboat show, along with other things[2]. For reasons which are about to be revealed, I am grateful that I happened to wear a certain concert t-shirt for the day.

Sporting an Elvis Costello Concert T 

I found a convenient parking spot for my Harley and stripped off the outer layer of riding gear to reveal an inner layer: sandals, shorts, and a glorious Elvis Costello concert t-shirt--perfect attire for hanging out on the dock and checking out the sailboats! I was pleasantly surprised at the number of conversations sparked by that t-shirt. It seems I am not the only Elvis Costello fan who also loves sailing!  

This sleek catamaran is owned by a fellow Elvis Costello fan. 

In fact, I was strolling along the dock, about to leave, actually, when a sweet British lass spotted my shirt, commended me for my obvious good taste (ahem!), and, with the promise of a special surprise, lured me aboard a 38' Seawind catamaran. Like a sailor from Homer's Odyssey, I followed

Turns out my siren was a member of the Seawind staff [3]. Coincidentally, she and Elvis Costello are related--in that they both attended the same secondary school: Archbishop Myers Roman Catholic School, which is now St Mark's Catholic Secondary School. Will wonders never cease?

(I suppose most PhilosFX readers can name the most famous person who graduated from their high school. Remind me some day to remind you that I attended the same high school as did the one and only King of Late Night, Johnny Carson.)

Turns out, this was just the beginning of the coincidences in store for me on this day... Following closely behind my siren-guide, I paused at the hostess station and removed my sandals as the hostess beckoned me to sign the guest book prior to boarding the vessel. Lo and behold, the hostess also commented on my shirt, and I began to get excited.

Again under the spell of my siren-guide, I was escorted to the salon and the first of many surprises. Imagine a living room with a wrap-around sectional couch. Now picture the couch lined with comfy pillows. Now flip the pillows around and notice that they spell out a familiar sounding lyric:

"I can't wait until I maybe 

Get off work and see my baby

One, two, three, four, five, 

six, seven day weekend!"

Soon I met a gentleman named Bob, the owner of "Seven Day Weekend." We talked about our common interests, including sleek, super-fast catamarans and prolific, living-legend musical geniuses. We hit it off from jump.

Soon, Bob told me the story of how he came up with the name for his boat. He was playing some Elvis Costello, as he often does--Blood and Chocolate, as it happens--when suddenly a catchy tune caught his attention. The words jumped out at him: seven day weekend. Perfect! And I couldn't agree more.

Enjoy listening to "Seven Day Weekend," the 30-year old Elvis Costello song that inspired the christening of this sleek catamaran.



"Seven Day Weekend"
Written and performed by Elvis Costello and Jimmy Cliff
Available on Blood and Chocolate, 1986


Notes:
[1] CERUS is the name of a mythical warhorse, and my 2008 Harley-Davidson Road King
[2] I also met some friends at Chick & Ruth's Delly for a delicious brunch featuring--what else?--crab omelettes! When in Annapolis...
[3] Here is a link with more information about the Seawind catamaran "Seven Day Weekend"

H/T to MGBW for the ticket to the Annapolis Spring Sailboat Show

Ode to a Catalina 385

Catalina

Sung to the tune of "Wild Thing"

by The Troggs

Catalina,
You make my heart sing-a

You make everything
G-r-o-o-o-o-v-y! 

Catalina,

I think I love you...

 

But I wanna know for sure!

So c'mon and hold me tight
I   L-O-V-E  you

 Catalina
You make my heart sing-a

You make everything

G-r-o-o-o-o-v-y!

 

Catalina, 

I think you move me

But I wanna know for sure!

 

So c'mon and hold me tight
You   M-O-V-E   me

 

Catalina

You make my heart sing-a

You make everything

G-r-o-o-o-o-v-y!

 

C'mon, c'mon, Catalina

Shake it, shake it, Catalina

'Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance' Author Robert M. Pirsig Dies at 88

Author Robert Pirsig and his son Chris in 1968.

I am saddened to learn about the passing today of Robert Pirsig, author of one of my all-time favorite books. I read it first when I was a teen, and my idea of a cross-country trip on 2 wheels was #RAGBRAI.

Many years later, I re-read the same dog-eared copy as a 50-year-old cancer patient with a broken marriage, an unfinished dissertation, and a glorious #Road_King.


Reading a book the second time can be an amazing experience, particularly if the intervening years had some character-building experiences...

In my youth, I latched on to the lighter part of #ZAMM which deals with adventure--the open road, and a mechanic's appreciation for the well-engineered machine. 

My second exposure occurred many hard miles later. At that time, Pirsig's dark and desperate struggle to find truth, keep his sanity, and add value to the world--all of that absolutely pierced me. 

I am grateful for my life and all of its lessons. I am grateful that every time I was ready to learn, a teacher appeared.

Thank you, Robert, for so much wisdom lurking behind the veneer of a travel story. You taught us to not merely exist but to truly "be in the scene." May your heavenly highways be full of twisty turns. In the afterlife, may man and machine work as one, evermore.



Links for further reading:

• NPR broke the story of Pirsig's passing at 88 years of age
• Here is an idea for a course I'd love to teach 
• Here is my 83rd birthday tribute to Robert Pirsig
• Here is a post containing my favorite Pirsig quote

Turn the World Down

This is the cover art for the album Black Cat by the artist Zucchero Fornaciari. The album's English version includes collaboration with Elvis Costello on "Love Again" (renamed as "Turn the World Down").

This song--Elvis Costello's words and Zucchero's bluesy rock voice--this is great stuff

Watch a video HERE as you scroll through the lyrics below.

"Turn the World Down"

Now and then
It’s night again
Like black ink pouring from a pen

Curse my eyes
For opening
I’m having trouble just recovering

And in those hours we gazed
Upon white sheets, torn back from a page
My heart is spent

Almost erased
Turn the world down
There’s nothing between?
All this beauty and this suffering?

Please if you know
Get the word out
Let the globe spin
Save everyone and everything.
Like a blade Keen and thin
Scimitar Soft like a maid
Beneath his skin

Upon this scene
Disgrace and sin
Where are you now?
Where have you been?

And in those hours we gazed
Upon red sheets, pulled back by the rage
My hearts are spent

Almost erased
Turn the world down
There’s nothing between
all this beauty and this suffering?

And if you know
Get the word out
Let the globe spin
Save everyone and everything
Turn the world down
There’s nothing between
all this beauty and this suffering?

My mind is all bent
It’s stamping my soul

I’m burning down
To tar and charcoal

To blood and ash
To feathers and trash

I gotta move

Turn the world down
There’s nothing between
all this beauty and this suffering?

And if you know
Get the word out
Let the globe spin
Save everyone and everything

Turn the world down
There’s nothing between
all this beauty and this suffering?

I gotta move
I wanna move
Now and then
It’s night again
It’s night again

You can learn more about Zucchero's 12th studio album and listen to all 15 tracks HERE

The copyright for the Black Cat cover art displyed above is believed to belong to the label, Universal, or the graphic artist(s). Source: Fair use. File:Zucchero - Black Cat.jpg. Uploaded: 24 March 2016.

https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=49933557

Begging the Question?

Everyone knows that "begging the question" is a technical term used in logic and debate. The term refers to the flaw of asserting an unproven assumption as if it were true. Therefore, obviously, no one would ever use "begging the question" to mean raising or posing a question that needs to be answered.

#SeeWhatIDidThere? #Sarcasm #Humor #Rants#MrLanguagePerson

The Pink Freud Matter: Today's Lesson in Critical Thinking

Have you seen this quote circulating on any of your social media sites?

Quote attributed to Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) 

Odds are good that you have seen this quote at least once. It showed up in my news feed again recently. This particular image has 1.2 million shares on just one Facebook site (Fb / The Idealist, as in "idea list"). There may be countless other individuals and groups circulating this same image via Facebook. It's on Twitter, too. And Pinterest. In short--it's everywhere.

Furthermore, plenty of creative people have entered their own versions of the meme into circulation. A simple Google search reveals a multitude of variations.

Not only have you probably seen this exact poster--or one very similar to it--but you may have even shared it with your friends and contributed to its popularity. Oh, we love the sardonic and heartfelt wisdom in the remark. And we'd love to ascribe such earthy wisdom to someone whose reputation validates our instinctive trust. Confirmation bias (the tendency to believe statements because they reinforce our previous understanding) makes it easy for us to accept the attribution to Freud without question--as millions of others have done.

However, the famous psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud is most certainly not the author of that quote. That's right, we've all been duped! Because ...

Freud never said those words!

Freud was a prolific writer. Many great quotes are legitimately attributed to him. The following links feature quotes gleaned from his writings. At best case, they are properly cited. As you read through them you will notice certain tonal qualities to them that reveal the context and content of Freud's thoughts. Yet no where will you find the "quote of the day."

• Notable Quotes
• WikiQuote
• GoodReads
• BrainyQuote
• A-Z Quotes

In Freud's day (the early 20th century), few educated people used offensive gutter terms like "assholes" in serious conversation. Apparently many others have questioned the language of this quote, because a simple search of the Internet turns up many variations of the quote of the day in which the offending term is replaced with something else.

• I found an "arseholes" version. (Born and educated in eastern Europe, Freud died in London. This term is common vernacular in England today, but was it used by an Austrian ex-pat in 1920?)
• There are many versions, still attributed to Freud, where the offending word is replaced with benign synonyms: "idiots," "bunch of jerks," or "mean people." 
• In one version, the offending word is not replaced but boldly over-written with "idiots." This edited version makes it clear that the person circulating the quote did not approve of "Dr. Freud's" language and wanted to substitute a more suitable term without breaking attribution. 
• Many of the modified quotes are shared anonymously, without attribution of any kind. 
• Perhaps my "favorite" version is the one published by Board of Wisdom (www.boardofwisdom.com) and credited to someone supposedly named Laura Rose. Neither the Board of Wisdom nor Laura Rose understand plagiarism.  

Nice try, Laura Rose! (If that is your real name.)

Laura Rose: Altering is not authoring!

So far, we've seen how the popular quote has been attributed to Freud without a shred of evidence and despite the inconsistency with his other, properly attributed quotes. We've seen how the language of the quote has been edited by a number of others, and even co-opted by at least one more would-be author. Turns out, Freud is not the only person people want to believe uttered these words. The quote has also been misattributed to  the award-winning science fiction author, William Gibson.

William Gibson (1948-present) did not say these words, either

Compare the Freud and Gibson versions and note the subtle difference in the last phrase: "...just surrounded by assholes," versus "...just surrounding yourself with assholes." The former is passive, and the latter is active. Unlike our friend Laura Rose, Gibson did not change a couple of words and pass the quote off as his own idea. Gibson merely re-tweeted--initially without attribution--something he saw and enjoyed. Others, seeing the Gibson imprimatur, were all too quick to ascribe his authorship and create posters such as the one above. But the fact is that Gibson not only did not write the quote, he has actively attempted to give credit to the (less famous) person he re-tweeted. Yet the misattribution to the more well-known writer persists.

The question of who authored the quote was put to Quote Investigator (http://quoteinvestigator.com) and researchers there scoured the Internet and written records for clues. They actually searched Freud's papers and contacted people such as William Gibson and asked questions. They found a tweet by @debihope published in 2010. When contacted, she said she just wrote what she felt after a bad breakup. The researchers failed to turn up any prior citations.

Based on current evidence, we conclude that Debbie Hope (Twitter handle @debihope) should be credited with composing this saying. The attribution to William Gibson (Twitter handle @GreatDismal) was based on a misunderstanding because he re-tweeted the remark. Gibson himself never tried to take credit for the quote, and attempted to credit Steven Winterburn (Twitter handle @5tevenW) from whom Gibson had re-tweeted the quote. Interestingly, Winterburn has claimed to be the originator, but his first use (May 24, 2011) was 16 months after that of Debbie Hope (Jan 24, 2010). The ascription to Freud has no substantive support.

Note how easy it is to believe that Freud said these words. The words make sense and we want to believe them. We may even want to share them so that we can be affiliated with the wisdom contained in them. But when it comes to credibility, with which person do we prefer to align our opinions? Sigmund Freud? Impressive! Or William Gibson? Popular! How about Steve Winterburn? Debbie Hope? Anonymous? Or maybe we follow the Laura Rose example and put our own name on it?

From evidence, we conclude the attribution to Freud is incorrect. Gibson vigorously denied authoring the statement. Both Winterburn and Laura Rose claimed attribution in error. That leaves Hope, the person who claims the quote. So far, no previous version has been documented.

So the matter is settled. Or, is it? Why do so many people persist in attaching the quote to Gibson or Freud?  

Pink Freud to the rescue! 

Fixed it! Or, did I? Who is Pink Freud?

So, what is the point of all this? Several lessons can be drawn.

• Don't believe every poster or meme--they are easy to make. Deb Hope is not the meme artist known as Pink Freud even though I spent all of 5 minutes making the above poster.
• Think critically about the information that is pouring into your ears and eyes. Don't be so quick to trust the attribution given by someone else.
• Avoid confirmation bias by asking challenging questions about what you know versus what you want to believe.
• Always test what you know and check sources. Don't make up a source or accept an unverified source
• Give credit where it's due. Do not plagiarize or take credit for someone else's idea.

Thanks for reading PhilosFX. Check out these related links!

• Quote Investigator http://quoteinvestigator.com/2014/10/25/diagnose/
• Plagarism? Or "attribution decay"? http://hellogiggles.com/internet-steals-words-get-back/2/
• Books by William Gibson http://www.williamgibsonbooks.com/books/books.asp
• This exchange is illuminating! https://rfilkov.com/2012/09/22/siegmund-freud-on-depression/