Bit of a long time since I had an entry but I found this and thought I’d post it.. I snuck upto London for the weekend to go see the John Butler Trio last Thursday night. It was a awesome time and it was in a amazing venue I hadn’t been to before called the Camden Roundhouse. I dunno for those who go to live shows but I’ve sometimes gone to a show assuming one thing and experiencing something else.. but that wasn’t the case here. John Butler was exactly like how I imagined him and I’m really glad I got away for it now. The Venue was packed and the audience in general was pretty different to ones I’d been to in the past. Its just a generally chilled and relaxed place with a audience slightly older than.. well I guess my age really. People got excited but the crowd really seemed to share something that night and I guess at a lot of other gigs your with a bunch of mates in a crowd of strangers and it didn’t feel like that then.
I also had an encounter which really put me on a high note. I have a myspace and through it I got connected with a group called rise which are a Christian ran ‘independent’ clothing company based round London. A little while earlier I had been messaged that one of the guys who worked for rise who was at uni down in London was going to the JBT gig in London too. We started chatting about gig after it all and I mentioned how fortunate he was to fall in with a group like rise who seemed to be doing a lot for contemporary culture and Christianity around London. I had been asking around in terms of work experience for the summer or the next couple of years to link up with a few groups and this guy offered a few names of organizations dealing with Christians in the media, arts and fashion fields as well as links to contemporary culture and outreach.. which was amazing! And a lot more than I ever could of hoped. I grew up on the outskirts of London and when it came to faith I was always at the younger end of the spectrum and whatever went on in the long run I guess, rarely left its mark. Coming into the Bournemouth CU had exposed me to something a lot deeper and as time goes on I realise I was never really thrown in at the deep end as I had thought but really given the chance to think and grow as I sorted out where I stood on things and the directions I wanted to head in. I’m still not completely sure.. but I’ve been told by quite a few of the older generation its never a problem and most people these days never really figure out what it was they wanted to do.. till they do it.
I found out today from a friend that our last unit results came out. I’m still in London at the moment but I was a little anxious as I feel.. I’m relatively eager to sometimes cast cynical tones over my course. I feel over the whole post modernity and the relativistic stance of things is largely self-refuting and begs the asking of particular questions I never hear come up. Its not to say some truth can’t be contained in a view or a stance but I find it quite a common thing to encounter, even if people can’t articulate or.. really are aware of the relativistic stance which is popular in todays society and that which they espouse. I think it’d be hard not to be affected by it in this day and age, especially when such views our favoured by our media.. and since I’m on a media course I would have done well to be aware of this earlier.
Funnily enough I read an article this morning about it. I had thought to include it originally but… well I said I’d start running so I went out for a jog with my dad instead. I could describe it but its pretty self explanatory, now as with anything people think up its a theory and their always room for deviance. But it hit a chord with me because.. although I didn’t articulate too well I tried to touch on the role of the media in light of popular academia (made popular via the art and media forums). But I was left with the impression really that the only aim of popular media is the pursuit of profit.. it doesn’t care if we somehow benefit from it culturally.. that isn’t its aim.. its to sure cut a slice for the shareholders in Rupert Murdoch’s companies. We live in a very pleasure based society and I remember after seeing the film 300 with some of my course mates how people around me felt like associating with the Persians (I wasn’t really partial to either to be honest..) which were the avatar in my eyes of a hedonistic lifestyle. So surely what would sell the most of.. whatever or get the most airing is what makes us feel the best or appeals to the consumer the most (some would say user).
Now its not the case for all, but business’s don’t set out to be charity’s.. yet at the same time when dealing with moral relativism.. its hard to ignore. Its quite fashionable to be green at the moment but people play on this.. I found the particular article on the JBT forum.. I just saw a link on the main website but it was about a search engine which donates to charity every time you use it. But it was a for profit organisation.. and while giving of any sort is good.. its a feel good angle because the consumer whom this was geared for doesn’t actually have to pay anything themselves.. and those who run it make a profit rather than a loss each time its done! Its quite a interactive innovation which I could imagine if successfully marketed could be a reasonable money maker but.. well perhaps I’m just cynical but its driven not by a work ethic (Calvinism/weber etc.) so much but a pursuit of profit. I read another article detailing how Tasmania is loosing incredible amounts of old growth forest and endangered species to a government subsidised logging company who rather than slowing down are intent to step up on a already fiercely unsustainable business.. but its good for the Australian stock market and for business.. the corporation is so big it was said the environment ministers wouldn’t even wipe their noses unless this company (Gunn) told them to. Their is the whole thing with chemicals in the water too.. I could go on about how that effects people living there, the tourist industry and day to day life let alone the aquatic wildlife but.. well I got a excuse for feeling this way. I watched the ‘corporation’ before Easter and it still has me fired up. I guess thats a good thing. Part of me can’t wait till graduate so I can start trying to raise awareness about this sort of thing on a wider scale..
Oh and if your curious about the search engine? Heres the addy..
http://www.goodsearch.com/default.aspx
