May
7
Turn Off Your Mind, from Jeff Sasmor
May 7, 2007 |
"Tomorrow Never Knows" by The Beatles
(there's more beyond the lyrics…)
Turn off your mind, relax
and float down stream
It is not dying
It is not dying
Lay down all thought
Surrender to the void
It is shining
It is shining
That you may see
The meaning of within
It is being
It is being
That love is all
And love is everyone
It is knowing
It is knowing
I'd be willing to bet that anyone who was at least a teenager when JFK was shot remembers where s/he was when s/he heard about it. I was in Mr. Pinataro's French class in J.H.S #59 in New York City. The announcement came over the PA system. I can visualize it as if it was yesterday.
How many people who are in my age group (~5.6×10^3) remember where they were when they first heard a Beatles song? I do. I was in my homeroom in J.H.S. #59, wearing trend-setting, tight, iridescent-green pants (hot stuff), white shirt and a tie. Someone had on 57 WMCA-AM (which is now 'New York's Christian Radio,' to my surprise when I just checked). That's where I first heard the Beatles.
Tonight I went to a benefit at McCarter Theatre in Princeton NJ that featured a band called "The Fab Faux" - they're a Beatles Tribute band; supposed to be the best. It was really amazing! No, they didn't come out dressed in Sergeant Pepper outfits, rather, normal clothes. But they really were into recreating the music. They kept changing the guitars that they were using to better reproduce the original sounds. Highly recommended!
But you know, I have heard these songs SO many times that for the first half-hour or so, the pattern matcher in my brain heard every difference, every note that was different, every timing discrepancy. My wife said that I looked spaced-out. After a while I was able to ignore it and have fun.
I've often felt that the brain evolved as the ultimate pattern matching engine. How else can I recognize a song from the first note? See the predator, hear the noise, recognize the visual/aural pattern, flee, survive, reproduce.
Pass along the trait of good and quick pattern matching in your genes. Millions of years made us able to drive without perishing, cross a busy Manhattan street without getting run over, play tennis or chess, appreciate and/or play music; so many, many things, including, in my opinion, trade. I can't believe there isn't some instinct involved.
I wonder how that works as you age. Why is it that the music we grow up loving in our youth becomes mostly all we want to listen to? Do we run out of memory? Are there co-related patterns of music and experience that can't be dislodged? When I was listening to the Beatles my parents said it was garbage - why didn't I like to listen to Frank Sinatra? Why can't I get into the Fallout Boy, My Chemical Romance, and 'Emo' music that my kids love? I don't think it's 'crap' but I can't get into it. Although I finally have a greater appreciation for Sinatra and big-band music.
So the song remains the same - is that dangerous? This weekend I have read articles in various magazine about 'sell in May…' and similar. The intraday news service I use has been warning 'keep an eye on your longs and consider taking profits. So my expectation is that there will be some sort of a gap-down on Monday morning that will reverse up; I'll probably be wrong.
I think that it was in Chair & Collab's Practical Speculation that we learn about how when a certain pattern emerges and is recognized by everyone, it will shift and/or change. Excuse the misquote if I didn't get it exactly right. I've always taken this to be valuable advice.
Right now we're in sort of a no-man's land. There are a lot of conflicting bits to think about. People have been getting really used to the pattern of buying the dips. There've been huge short squeezes, especially recently. What is the song we are about to hear? Will it be All You Need is Love?
Scott Brooks adds:
Could it be that we associate the music with fond memories?
The worry free days of youth, the hot balmy days of summer with our friends playing the neighborhood, the blustery days of winter with our friends in school, or maybe a birthday party.
I can't help but think of Mo-Val Summer youth camp, whenever I hear "Indian Summer" by Poco, or my first make out session with Cheryl C. from Mexico, Missouri (yes, I still remember her name) on the dock at camp Mo-Val while the song "More Than a Feeling" played in the background.
Put on Sammy Hager's "Turn up the Music" and I'm back cruising with my buddies on the Lindbergh Ave. to Tesson Ferry loop.
Starland Vocal Band's "Afternoon Delight" reminds me of baseball practice with dad coaching the team. We always came in first place!
Van Halen's "Runnin' with the Devil" was in the cassette 8-track on the way to football practice.
Of course, every time I hear "Sister Christian", I think of the time I pulled out into traffic and smashed into by another car.
But I'll take the good with the bad. It's all the memories that make up my life.
Comments
WordPress database error: [Table './dailyspeculations_com_@002d_dailywordpress/wp_comments' is marked as crashed and last (automatic?) repair failed]
SELECT * FROM wp_comments WHERE comment_post_ID = '1472' AND comment_approved = '1' ORDER BY comment_date
Archives
- January 2021
- December 2020
- November 2020
- October 2020
- September 2020
- August 2020
- July 2020
- June 2020
- May 2020
- April 2020
- March 2020
- February 2020
- January 2020
- December 2019
- November 2019
- October 2019
- September 2019
- August 2019
- July 2019
- June 2019
- May 2019
- April 2019
- March 2019
- February 2019
- January 2019
- December 2018
- November 2018
- October 2018
- September 2018
- August 2018
- July 2018
- June 2018
- May 2018
- April 2018
- March 2018
- February 2018
- January 2018
- December 2017
- November 2017
- October 2017
- September 2017
- August 2017
- July 2017
- June 2017
- May 2017
- April 2017
- March 2017
- February 2017
- January 2017
- December 2016
- November 2016
- October 2016
- September 2016
- August 2016
- July 2016
- June 2016
- May 2016
- April 2016
- March 2016
- February 2016
- January 2016
- December 2015
- November 2015
- October 2015
- September 2015
- August 2015
- July 2015
- June 2015
- May 2015
- April 2015
- March 2015
- February 2015
- January 2015
- December 2014
- November 2014
- October 2014
- September 2014
- August 2014
- July 2014
- June 2014
- May 2014
- April 2014
- March 2014
- February 2014
- January 2014
- December 2013
- November 2013
- October 2013
- September 2013
- August 2013
- July 2013
- June 2013
- May 2013
- April 2013
- March 2013
- February 2013
- January 2013
- December 2012
- November 2012
- October 2012
- September 2012
- August 2012
- July 2012
- June 2012
- May 2012
- April 2012
- March 2012
- February 2012
- January 2012
- December 2011
- November 2011
- October 2011
- September 2011
- August 2011
- July 2011
- June 2011
- May 2011
- April 2011
- March 2011
- February 2011
- January 2011
- December 2010
- November 2010
- October 2010
- September 2010
- August 2010
- July 2010
- June 2010
- May 2010
- April 2010
- March 2010
- February 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009
- November 2009
- October 2009
- September 2009
- August 2009
- July 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
- March 2009
- February 2009
- January 2009
- December 2008
- November 2008
- October 2008
- September 2008
- August 2008
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- February 2008
- January 2008
- December 2007
- November 2007
- October 2007
- September 2007
- August 2007
- July 2007
- June 2007
- May 2007
- April 2007
- March 2007
- February 2007
- January 2007
- December 2006
- November 2006
- October 2006
- September 2006
- August 2006
- Older Archives
Resources & Links
- The Letters Prize
- Pre-2007 Victor Niederhoffer Posts
- Vic’s NYC Junto
- Reading List
- Programming in 60 Seconds
- The Objectivist Center
- Foundation for Economic Education
- Tigerchess
- Dick Sears' G.T. Index
- Pre-2007 Daily Speculations
- Laurel & Vics' Worldly Investor Articles