Lighthouse No 49
What's in a Tape?
Hello there! 👋🏻
Welcome to the 49th edition of the Lighthouse!
It’s been a while now, and I think even surprising to see an unread email from a newsletter you forgot you’d subbed to. Yeah, that’s about the frequency with which I’ve written here. There’s a reason behind what I think happened, what I think went wrong, and what I feel I could do better.
Somewhere along the line, I lost track of what I wanted. In between the writing, the newsletters, and my twitter, I seemed lost. What I started out to do, I may have lost - I was caught in the engagement trap. It became a numbers game for me. Listicles, threads, etc. and at a point I got tired of it. Till about 2 weeks ago, when I decided it would be better if I let me online self be an extension of my off-line self. A conundrum in the Metaverse. Right at the moment everyone wants to leap into the Metaverse, I felt the need to go in the opposite direction. The best spots in a city are the ones with the least tourists. Ask any local and they’ll tell you that. Heck, ask me I’ll tell you that about my city too.
Yeah, with the Anon mode off on twitter and here too, things are a lot better these days. Engagement online seems to be genuine, authentic and more like an in person conversation. In some cases it has reached a point where I‘ve promised to meet people IRL. I guess it was pretty awkward for people to be talking to the image of the Lighthouse of Babylon - on twitter or otherwise. Now, it feels great. I think I’ve rid myself of the numbers game and am now looking at this being an addition like any other activity I pursue. This, I think will become a thing of leisure, and hence, something I look forward to rather than something that would elicit engagement.
Also, one other thing - probably some pieces I write will be deeply personal, because of late I’ve realised that I write more for myself than my audience and in case this misses its mark, well, it is what it is. This is probably going to be V3 of the newsletter and I presume a more regular feature compared to V1 and V2.
Not one person has hit the unsubscribe button till date - that’s really heartwarming and encouraging! At this point, I also feel the need to apologise for letting you hanging there, as I know a few people have genuinely waited for this. It was wonderful to hear you say this when we met in person! So, thanks for all the love and support, here goes!
What’s in a Tape?
You get into you car, turn the ignition on, and the phone automatically connects via Bluetooth. Some music streaming service begins to play out the latest or perhaps the hottest tunes in the country or your city. It’s common place now. A plethora of music streaming services, and an exponentially larger catalog of music to explore with your thumbs. The algorithm is telling you what’s popular - but by now we all know what’s popular is rarely nice and what’s nice is never popular. Good music, like truffles are rare to find. Also, when more people listen to the same music the algorithm is rendering, even a seven year old can figure out what is going to make it to the top of the charts. Sometimes I wonder, how did we get ourselves into this mess.
When Steve Jobs came on stage and touted the release of one hundred songs in your pocket, and iTunes, the digital war against the physical offerings of music - the analog world, was won. In one single swoop, almost all the LPs, the audio cassettes, the CDs were dealt a death blow or so it would seem. I loved visiting these audio cassette shops along with my parents to hunt for the latest releases or vintage ones. They are all shut now - but that’s a story for another day. In the years that followed, almost everyone I knew, myself included made the switch to some form of digital music offering or another.
Then came the explosion of streaming services and that spelt doom to the entire album. One streamed only those songs that clicked with the masses - though I am yet to understand what that means. Now I don’t have one Compact Disc, or one audio cassette with me. The last bulk of CD-ROMs that I held I gave away to a CD rental probably 6-7 years ago. I was among the herd that would embrace digital minimalism - though now I understand that it had more to do with miming what the latest craze was against what I really wanted to do. So much for minimalism. I forgive myself for what I’ve done. It was wonderful collection, but what’s done is done.
When I was a kid, or probably until my late teens, I’d listened to music on tapes - the ones formally known as audio casettes. It was the only medium to listen to music because the radio here was mostly regional, playing the news, and offered music rarely - and even when it did, it would be at hours that would mean we were either sleeping or we were out playing, The only convenience then was listening to music on a tape. Occasionally, we used to get the odd mixtape which would feature a bunch of hits from across movies or from different artists - but again, these were so rare I can count them with the fingers on one hand. It was close to a relic.
These tapes generally featured one album or songs from one movie. The beauty of such a medium to listen to music was not that it belonged only one artist/ movie/ release, it was the continuity of music. The music was enjoyed as a whole, as a sum of parts. Not just the parts themselves. The amalagamation of all the parts rendered this whole piece of art complete. It was as if each track was a brush stroke, listening to one track was meaningless, even pointless; but when you popped in the tape, did a rewind, and pressed the play button and rested on a chair - the artist would take up his easel and paint brush and begin exploring the canvas. By the time the “Play” button made the then ubiquitous “Pop” sound to signal we’d reached the end of the tape, a master piece, or rather the entire painting would be completed. You had seen the entire canvas being filled one stroke after the other. The whole thing now seems similar to how Newton talked about limits in differential calculus, the infinitesimally small rate of change could be felt while listening to the whole tape. It was a continuous function and taking it out apiece was practically impossible. I considered it blasphemy picking out tracks and listening to them. For me Side A and Side B, from the start to the finish, made complete sense.
The beauty for me, from this music stemmed from the fact that it was like a relay - yes, the athletic event where a runner handing over his baton to the next runner in line - each piece handed over the baton to the next effortlessly, beautifully in a rhythmic manner never detracting from the storyline the artist had in mind. The race started with me pressing the “Play” button and ended with the same “Play” button popping off. Sometimes the popping off was one of the saddest sounds - it meant that we’d come to the end of the journey. Listening to these tapes taught me that it was the journey that was always beautiful - not the beginning or the end. The most beautiful and memorable moments happen in between those pops. But then, those pops also meant that I get to explore some other memorable moments too - because, yes, every beginning brings a new end and every end signifies a new beginning.
Listening to the entire tape brought into focus the narrative of the artist. Peel off all but one track from the album and what do you have? Peel off all the chapters from Lord of the Rings and read only one of them, does it make sense? Will it inspire you? Would one be able to make out what Tolkien was trying to tell us? The whole album contains the story artist is trying to tell us - it doesn't fit into one track. To listen to the artist, understand his point of view was only possible by listening to the it completely. The artist is screaming - this is my story, this is how I see it! After all, isn't that the primary point of any art? Looking at it from the artist’s point of view?
So to just get a feel of the good old days, here’s what I do - every Saturday, I pick up one album, at random - probably a recommendation, or something I’d heard when I was a kid, or when a friend mentions it and I listen to it completely. For the past few weeks, I’ve heard some brilliant stuff. A list of everything I’ve heard I’m planning to put up here - soon enough (hopefully). For now, I’ve ditched the playlists. Because, I want the artist’s point of view, not the algorithm’s.
Cover photo by hosein zanbori on Unsplash.
Here’s some interesting stuff I came across this week
To Read
The Depths She’ll Reach: Read, hear, see and immerse yourself in this touching story of Alenka Artnik, a legend in the free diving world. Magnificent piece of work by the designers of the site and the author of the content. Never has a piece online seized my heart like this one. I love swimming, I love the silence it brings with it, the calm it submerges your being in. Wow!
“An old fisherman offers a diver some advice. You can go underwater in two ways, he says, taking a bit of coral and tossing it into the sea. Then he cracks a coconut and pours its milk into the water. The coral is still coral but the milk is now sea, he says.
Be not like the coral, but like the coconut.
Adapted from Manual of Freediving, by Umberto Pelizzari and Stefano Tovaglieri”
To Watch/ Listen
Arnold Van Den Berg on the Business Brew Podcast: This was a gem of a referral by Jim - he was kind enough to look it up and share it with me when I asked for this. But when I heard Van Den Berg, I was blown away by his philosophy towards life and investing. It’s impossible for anyone to listen to this and not come off as a better person. Arnold is realised is like the storm Murakami talks about, the one when you go through changes you. Take some time off and listen to Van Den Berg. He’s lived through WWII and I think we need to listen to people who lived through those troubled times to understand how lucky we are to live in better times. In case you want to see Van Den Berg in video, here’s the link to the video version! I loved the video.
The most important this is to do the right thing in what you believe… (Brings you tremendous peace)
Power of Commitment: When you commit to something, everything changes - Remember the thing that governs success in any field is ‘determination’. The ability to see something through to a successful conclusion. Yet this is exactly where most people fail the average will get discouraged and quit many times short of his goal. What is the differnce between the individual who doggedly hangs in against all reason and hope - its my belief through personal observation and experience there's no difference between the individuals from a chemical, genetic, or intellectual standfpoint. The difference is that the person who likely gave up at the first sign of hardship does not have a well defined goal and if he does he has not impressed deeply on the sub-conscious mind. HJe may want it but not badly to the point where he/ she is willing to make it an all consuming burning desire. Noatrually it its a weak desire it will be sacrificed at the first sign of hardship. Only a deep commitment, a burning desire and a sacrificial attitude towards that goal will be deep enough to make an impression on the sub-conscious mind. If that is accomplished along with the faith that it can be achieved you will never lack drive or motivation. You will be poulled by a force that will drive you relentlessly towards that goal. It will no longer necessary to force you to do the things you have to do. You will receive energy you did not know you had. Because of these forces, you and you alone, you have the power to shape your future.
To Apply in Life
25 Anti-Mimetic Tactics for Living a Counter-Cultural Life by Luke Burgis: Luke is the author of a fantastic book “Wanting”. Luke’s asking us, “Hey! Why did you choose that? Do you really, really know?”. He gives us a peek into the answers in his book. This piece is based on the same line of thought that humans are mimetic beings. We see, we mime, and hence we want.
Being “anti-mimetic” does not mean being a ‘contrarian’ or refusing to imitate one’s peers. That’s what every hipster thinks he’s doing, too. “Everyone leaves the beaten path only to fall into the same ditch,” wrote the social theorist René Girard, the father of mimetic theory. This kind of naive rejection of the culture is not what we’re talking about here.
Being anti-mimetic means have the personal freedom to counteract negative forms of mimetic desire — like the kind that leads to polarized politics, unhealthy obsessions, envy, hustle-porn, and never-satisfied striving for things that won’t ultimately matter to impress people who don’t love us.
Being anti-mimetic is the power to live in freedom. An anti-mimetic action or person is a sign of contradiction to a culture that likes to float downstream.
You know the kind of fish that floats downstream? A dead one.
I want to be the kind of person that can swim upstream when needed. That’s not an ability that any of us should take for granted.
Not tracks, but the complete album:
Trailing the same path as my piece today, this is my choice of music album for the week. Ironic as it may seem, I chanced upon Michael Kiwanuka’s title piece Home Again on a playlist. Guilty as charged. But it was the whole album that made sense of his story when I listened to it.
Home Again, 2012, Michael Kiwanuka
Listen on Apple Music and Spotify.
Here’s a thought I’m ruminating on:
Have a great weekend!
Take care, stay safe.
Cheers! 🍻
Prashanth
P.S: A ~3 minute story about how we’re all in this together. Thanks to my friend, The Irrational Investor for making this for us.
If you would love to discuss anything I’ve written about and shared, please reach out to me by replying to this email or sending a direct message on Twitter 🐦 @_prashanthn. The tribe there is close to 2500 members and continues to grow.
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It’s so interesting you shared a story about free diving (which is absolutely stunning!) as I’m currently reading a book called Island of Sea Women by Lisa See about the haenyeo women of Jeju Island in Korea. The book is fiction but but the women exist - they are divers, collecting shell fish and other sea creatures for their livelihood. Traditionally, the women bring home the money and the men care for the children and the diving skills are passed on to the next generations by diving leaders. The book is great - it gives an insight into their lives, particularly through the Japanese occupation in the early 1940s but also of customs & cultural practices.
I also knew a guy who was a freediver - he flew all over the world to dive and his family would always be waiting anxiously at the surface. After reading this story you can understand why!
The story you shared is beautiful in its message and production. Thank you!