sedge808

the art of ECM record covers (part two)

The independent record label ECM – Edition of Contemporary Music – was founded by producer Manfred Eicher in 1969, and to date has issued more than 1700 albums spanning many idioms.

ECM’s distinctive cover art is a collaborative effort, but prominent artists include Barbara Wojirsch and her late husband Burkhart Wojirsch, who handled much of the early design, and Dieter Rehm, who contributed significant photography and design work from 1978 onward. Other photographers like Lajos Keresztes and Max Franosch have also contributed. 

The wonderful thing about ECM Jazz is they record their music in high quality, just like classical music is recorded. So you get brilliant jazz music at a high quality. Gavin.

the clutter family murders

For me this is one of the worst crimes of all time. I remember seeing ‘In Cold Blood’ for the first time in the 90s and I was shocked to my core.

In the early morning of November 15, 1959, four members of the Clutter family – Herb Clutter, his wife, Bonnie, and their teenage children Nancy and Kenyon – were murdered in their rural home just outside the small farming community of Holcomb, Kansas.

sayings and origins

One-Trick Pony

noun

a person or thing with only one special feature, talent, or area of expertise.

Some word experts say the idiom “one-trick pony” comes from the circus. A circus pony that can only do one trick is not going to entertain a crowd for very long. The term “one-trick pony” appeared around the turn of the twentieth century. Within about fifty years, the term had become an idiom.

Away with the Pixies

informal•British English

(see also: away with the fairies)

distracted, in a dreamworld, or out of touch with reality.

“you seem away with the pixies, are you listening?”

Pixies are: playfully impish or mischievous, prankish. 

pixie mood; a pixie sense of humor.

The origin of the phrase “away with the pixies” is unclear, but it relates to the folklore of pixies, which dates back to Celtic Britain and is particularly prominent in Southwest England. The idiom, used to describe someone mentally absent or flighty, suggests a connection to fairies taking or captivating people’s minds in folklore. While the phrase isn’t directly from a single source, it draws on the folk belief that pixies were mischievous entities capable of robbing people of their wits, as seen in stories and folklore. 

Enen a trained Monkey can do that

We need to be careful that we don’t offend the monkey community while explaining this one.

To all monkeys past and present, we honour you.

It would be phrased as such largely because the person doing it wouldn’t require much intelligence nor oversight – and likely the connotation that the person would also be paid peanuts. Not literally, of course.

All of this imagery is made to offend deliberately, and to derogate those who take these types of jobs.

avoidance – what we know now

I’ve met many people with anxiety (Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), panic disorder, and social anxiety disorder) and it’s a very real issue facing people today.

But if you want to make your anxiety worse: go out of your way to avoid it. ‘Avoidance behaviors’ have the ability to amplify your problem, no matter what it is.

I know this because I have PTSD and anyone with PTSD knows that we have an elaborate list of ways we avoid stuff. The list is long. Here are just a few…

  • excessive sleeping
  • alcohol/drugs
  • binge watching TV shows and movies
  • obsessive cleaning
  • overeating

What happens when we do our avoidance stuff, we actually re-enforce the anxiety.

Each time you do the avoidance behavior the anxiety says:

YES! confirmed!

Thank you.

Now I will bring on more anxiety…

…and the cycle just repeats and repeats, sometimes for years or even decades.

The way out of the cycle is to go toward the anxiety (only if it is safe to do so). Going toward the thing you fear is the best way to take away its energy. When this becomes your healthy habit things change significantly.

The opposite of an error is usually the opposite error. – (The Grow Program).

I really wish that someone had told me these lessons. I’m sure life you have been a lot better for me.

Resilient people know that suffering is part of life. Trying to avoid suffering only makes suffering worse. Accept it and move forward, instead of going backwards avoiding all the stuff you find unpleasant.

Gavin.