Where has the music gone?

   Why does everything sound like rap nowadays and all those songs in the new cafes sound like the same rythym and blues tune that seems to be played everywhere?  Everydance looks like a break dance or a moonwalk and all the love songs don’t make you feel like loving anyone at all.  There must be one international song company that is distributing the same song to every store, cafe, and fast food restaurant on the planet.  It all sounds very dull and uninteresting and makes my coffee taste worse.   I wish they would just shut up and let me drink my capucinno in peace.  I bet a lot people feel that way but in our politically correct world as we have evolved to, people are too shy to say anything they feel. 

    It seems like we’ve gotten to our politically correct world very quickly.  It seems just like yesterday when it was not so correct but the music was a whole lot better!

Globalization and Architecture

     Globalization of business through the proliferation of the technology has truly broken down barriers and has changed the world’s playing field.  The emergence of fast food culture, malls, and supermarkets is especially seen in Asia in countries like India where the architectural, social, and religious landscapes are changing faster than the blink of an eye.  The growing trend of imported architecture and culture in many indian cities has created an almost bizarre urban landscape of trademark retail stores and multinational office buildings alongside traditional temples, restaurants, and local customs.  In some highly westernized areas, one almost feels as if indians are not allowed there since it is for the international elite.  Are countries like India being sold again to an invisible international force that is creating its own image and stamp on everywhere it goes?  How are older and more traditional inhabitants coping in this new landscape?

      The real question is what is the meaning of country, nationality, and ethnicity in this new multinational, technological landscape?  Is the world trying to merge into one, unidentifiable, meaningless mass of data and culture based on one ideological norm?  What is wrong with diversity and freedom of choice?  Today more than ever, the pressure is being directed towards this borderless virtual plane that defies traditional notions of family, language, and identity.  Everything is up for sale and including our souls as corruption enables anything to be bought in developing countries.  

  As it is often misstated, imperialism was never destroyed by wars and independence is another word for codependence.  We are all just addicts to the money relying hearts whose minds are infected and even triple bypass surgery can’t save.   

Reverse Psychology

     Reverse psychology is often used by one group to negatively influence and stereotype another group.  It can be used by a person or group in a more powerful or superior position to change the opinion or motivations of the lesser person or group.  In previous historical times for example, figures in paintings were more heavy  and voluptuous whereas the recent trend is to promote negative attitudes about weight, thereby accepting a more lean and slender figure in models.  How many times have we seen weight loss programs or been asked to buy weight loss reducing products.  The negativity and reversal of a more full bodied look is used to promote and accept a more anorexic look which has not always been the norm in art and culture. 

Music and Poetry

    Writing music and songs is a way to liberate the soul in hopes that others will listen to your meaning and opinions.  Some people might agree and some won’t but like poetry, people derive their own interpretation.  Why does every song, poem, or opinion have to be something that everybody agrees upon or is considered good?  Is not artistic freedom the ability to express all concerns and fears that people or institutions should not have control over? 

Photgraphy and Art

     By photographing things, people, and places in our lives in a more artful way, we can see their beauty which we often take for granted and disregard.