"Initiation" - Tommy Emmanuel (video)

Tommy Emmanuel completely busts my ass in that I've heard him multiple times but always he was playing like he tries to break the Land Speed Record or he wants to do a Minute Waltz in thirty-eight seconds flat.  Always I would have the thought, dude, wtf are you doing.  I hear you're really fast at it but wtf was it.

Someone suggested I listen to this.  For me, it's like not even the same person.  I hear high art brilliance in this one, inspiration, passion ... every bit of the required ingredients.

My personal requirement is a musician must blow me away.  He did.

Of additional interest, maybe, is he's Australian.  I didn't realize that previously but it's clear in his accent and also when he talks of 'black fellers' and 'white fellers' as that's definitely Australian.  They will use those expressions rather than calling people 'blacks' or 'whites' and I see this as less depersonalizing and somewhat less racist.

(Ed:  say there, did you see any blacks down there?)

Yah, I saw some reds and blues too but the yellows won't get there until tomorrow.  Ask Jimi, he will know.


There may be some revelation in this aspect as the 'black feller' in Australia is not the same as a black guy in the U.S.

(Ed:  black is black.  I heard that song.)

In fact, it's not.  They aren't even the same race (according to a varying percentage of scientists starting with a fellow named Coon in the early sixties).

It's insulting to use 'coon' in reference to a black man and I assume that comes from Coon's work but, after taking a look at his work, he was no racist.  He was an anthropologist and he was also an undercover agent in Africa in World War II.  It's a damn shame his name became an insult as he's an impressive guy and being associated with him would not be insulting at all.  (WIKI:  Carleton S Coon)

Where Coon got into trouble intellectually was in trying to define break out points for Homo sapiens for different races (i.e. we became intelligent at different times).  The topic is not inherently racist as the discussion continues today as to whether H. sapiens emerged in one place and radiated from there or emerged in multiple places more or less at the same time.

The consequence of such a discussion in popular press is an immediate drive to rank the races in terms of which one is most intelligent, etc, etc.  These comparisons make no sense whatsoever as intelligence isn't understood within a single race as can identify mathematical ability quickly but we have almost no ability to detect artistic sensitivity or any of the other major parameters of human intelligence.  Thus, it makes no sense to compare intelligence between races when we don't even understand what it is in ourselves.



The only reason it even matters is in the context of a genetic disorder such as sickle cell anemia which is most common or maybe only in people of native African descent.  The scientist sees Africans are black and Australians are black and wonders if the same genetic anomaly exists in that genotype.  Our Schweitzer doesn't care about the blackness except insofar as it may help another genotype in which people are at risk from it.

(Ed:  all this spun out of that song?)

Yup.  It happens.  He told well the story.  There are some terms probably known only to Australians such as 'going walkabout' which means you need to roam.  You want a road trip, he goes walkabout.  He will be gone until he needs to come back or he perceives the tribe needs him to come back.  The other is the 'dream time' and this is similar to the Rainbow Bridge.  The binary view is that's Heaven and this is not but it's much more and I've never perceived the Rainbow Bridge as going to Heaven (i.e. dying) anyway.  It's the state we can achieve right here and which gives us reason to believe this isn't Heaven but good chance there is one somewhere.

(Ed:  you seriously believe this crap?)

Believe it?  I'm doing it most of the time.  My actual situation is so fookin' horrible you don't even want to know the words but making illusions is a specialty and this is the Master class in making illusions about illusions.

(Ed:  you expect this to be real in some way?)

Look for yourself.

(Ed:  what does this have to do with race?)

Nothing has to do with race.  What color was Hendrix.

Cold hearted orb that rules the night,
removes the colours from our sight.
Red is grey, and yellow, white,
but we decide which is right,
and which is an illusion.

From "Days of Future Passed" by The Moody Blues