Yes, Virginia, There Is A Santa Claus

I recently rediscovering this little gem. This has always mananged to cheer me up. It's an article from the New York Sun, printed in 1897:

Dear Editor- I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, If you see it in The Sun, it's so. Please tell me the truth, is there a Santa Claus?

-Virginia O'Hanlon

Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men's or children's, are little. In this great universe of ours, man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus! It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The external light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

Not believe in Santa Claus! You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if you did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that's no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.

You tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived could tear apart. Only faith, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, Virginia, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.

No Santa Claus? Thank God! He lives and lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay 10 times 10,000 years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

In a world where iPods, videogames and reality tv rules and corrupts our minds, I find this inspiring and heartwarming.

Coffee & Cigarettes

These two go together like Bonnie and Clyde, Butch and Kid, John and Jane. They are the perfect combination (however unhealthy they may be). They can and never will work to the same degree on their own. One completes the other and enhances one another. These two evils can put you in a state of mind where everything suddenly becomes durable, be it just getting up in the morning and going to work, writing, composing, anything really. With coffee and cigarettes you transform into a detective from a 1930ties spy-novel, capable of solving the most puzzling murder known to man.

However, one downside should be mentioned. Once you've experienced this God-like combination you can never have one without feeling the need for the other. It takes your nicotine and/or caffein addiction to a whole new level.

And with that I'll leave you with a scene from a movie (coincidentally) entitled "Coffee & Cigarettes" by Jim Jarmusch, featuring Iggy Pop and Tom Waits having coffee and cigarettes.

Between Walls

Between Walls is a project I started upon getting back to playing piano, and for the first time began producing my own original drum patterns and beats. I'm very excited about it, and though there's still plenty of room for improvements, I feel like I've found my niche in music.

The style is a dark sort of Electronica - Trip Hop built up around catchy piano melodies.

I have fire songs up for listening (+ an experimental ambience piece consisting of a heavily distorted musical saw that really doesn't have anything to do with this project, I just thought it was pretty cool).

You can check 'em out HERE.

Dansk Frihed?

Hvilket menneske kan tillade sig at forhindre et andet menneske retten til at leve et liv uden frygt for forfølgelse og frihedsberøvelse?

Hvorfor kan man ikke se igennem kulturelle og religiøse baggrunde og anerkende mennesket bag?

Er Danmark virkelig så snæversynet og intolerant et land?

Er vi virkelig så lige glad med andre menneskers liv, så længe vi selv kan leve i fred?

Hvorfor skal vi være de eneste der fortjener den tryghed?

Hvad har vi gjort for at fortjene den tryghed ulig andre mennesker? Fordi vi tilfældig vis er så heldige at være født og opvokset i et land der gir' os den tryghed?

Netop de spørgsmål stiller jeg mig selv ofte for tiden.

Hvad er et demokrati værd når folk er så blinde?

Danmark er det Danmark vi kender idag netop fordi man kæmpede imod den undertrygelse vi ser idag. Alligevel vælger hovedparten at kigger den anden vej når vi ser den ene efter den anden overskrift i medierne om de groteske politiske beslutninger der blever foretaget af neonationalistiske uhumane magtindehavende politiker. Personer vi har valgt til at tage de beslutninger, men så sandelig også personer og partier vi kan fratage den magt til at foretage disse beslutninger! Dog er det kun de få der aktivt siger dem imod og viser deres modstand.

Hvordan kan vi være bange for andre mennesker fra andre lande der kommer og beder os om at får del i vores frihed og tryghed? Det er jo absurd og decideret udansk. Vi har jo netop en pligt som et "frit land" at tage imod mennesker der flygter fra undertrykkelse og gi' dem den tryghed.

Man kan nærmest sammenligne denne holdning med den som Danmark udviste under Anden Verdens Krig. Vi valgte at samarbejde med besættelses magten og lukke øjnene for hvad det medførte. Gudskelov valgte nogle enkelte at gøre modstand mod besættelses magten, personer vi idag har glorificeret som "helte," men som den gang ikke modtog helt den samme anerkendelse af regeringen, tværtimod.

Ulver.

The Ulver concert last weekend was by far the strangest concert I've ever attended. Not to say it wasn't as great as I expected, because it was. They played perfectly and beyond my imagination and high expectations. Especially when keeping in mind that they haven't played live for 15 years or so. The set list was everything I could've hoped for, presenting a good variety of their songs; though none of their earliest songs were played.



Garm looked uncomfortable from start to finish and seemed to be either slightly pissed off or annoyed with something. Maybe it was because there weren't that many people in the crowd. Maybe because of the dumb-asses that wouldn't shut up during the quieter parts of the set. Maybe it was simply because of their inexperience playing to a crowd. Or maybe he was in need of a well overdue cigarette, I don't know. it didn't affect his performance one bit, though. You sure couldn't tell that he's only reasonably started singing live, but his odd presence gave the entire concert that strange feeling. However, speaking for myself, that strangeness along with the music and incredible VJ'ing only enhanced the mystery of Ulver, which had me ending up thinking it was intended.

I suppose my own excitement about seeing these guys was a factor that played in as well. I have been big a fan since I discovered their album "The Marriage Of Heaven & Hell". I was overwhelmed when they played the first song and by the end of the concert in complete awe.



The rest of the band did a phenomenal job as well, and were a little less gloomy then Garm. Daniel O'Sullivan on guitar, bass and piano was fucking incredible! That man got skills.

The sound at the venue was okay. No more, no less. There were some technical problems with the vocals at one point, but nothing serious. All in all I couldn't have hoped for a better place for them to play, I just wish the main part of the crowd had enough respect for the band and the rest of us not to chatter durning the concert.


Set list (beside the order I'm fairly sure it's correct):

Eons
Let The Children Go
Little Blue Bird / Rock Massif Pt. 1
For The Love Of God
In The Red
Operator???
Funcbrae
part of Silence Teaches You How To Sin ???
Plates 16-17
Hallways Of Allways
Porn Piece Or The Scars Of Cold Kisses???
Like Music???
Not Saved