Barack Obama: The Audacity of Hope

The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream is the second book written by US Senator Barack Obama.[1] It was the number three bestseller on The New York Times nonfiction list as of October 2006.[2] The book represents Obama's personal manifesto for his 2008 campaign for the Presidency. The book advance from the publisher of $1.9 million contracted for three books.

The title of The Audacity of Hope was derived from a sermon delivered by Obama's former pastor, Jeremiah Wright. While a Senate candidate, Obama delivered the keynote address at the 2004 Democratic Convention, entitled The Audacity of Hope that propelled him to national prominence. In the less than 20 minutes it took to deliver the speech, Obama was catapulted to sudden fame, with many analysts predicting that he might be well-positioned to enter a future presidential race. In 2006, Obama released The Audacity of Hope, a book-length account that expanded upon many of the same themes he originally addressed in the convention speech.

In his speech addressing the Democratic National Convention in 2004, Obama said:

“In the end, that's what this election is about. Do we participate in a politics of cynicism or a politics of hope? John Kerry calls on us to hope. John Edwards calls on us to hope. I'm not talking about blind optimism here -- the almost willful ignorance that thinks unemployment will go away if we just don't talk about it, or the health care crisis will solve itself if we just ignore it. No, I'm talking about something more substantial. It's the hope of slaves sitting around a fire singing freedom songs; the hope of immigrants setting out for distant shores; the hope of a young naval lieutenant bravely patrolling the Mekong Delta; the hope of a millworker's son who dares to defy the odds; the hope of a skinny kid with a funny name who believes that America has a place for him, too. Hope in the face of difficulty. Hope in the face of uncertainty. The audacity of hope!”

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Barack Obama; Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance

Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance is a memoir by current United States Presidential candidate Barack Obama of Illinois. It was first published in 1995 after Obama was elected the first African-American president of the Harvard Law Review, but before his political career began. The book was re-released in 2004 following Senator Obama's widely admired keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention (DNC); the 2004 edition includes a new introduction by Senator Obama as well as his DNC keynote address.

The autobiographical narrative tells the story of the future Senator's life up to his entry in Harvard Law School. He was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, to Harvard University-educated economist Barack Hussein Obama, Sr., of Kenya, and Ann Dunham of Wichita, Kansas. At the time of Obama's birth, both his parents were students at the East-West Center of the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Obama's parents separated when he was two years old and divorced when he was four. Obama formed an image of his absent father from stories told by his mother and her parents.

Ann Dunham Obama then married Lolo Soetoro, an East-West Center student from Indonesia. The family moved to Jakarta. When Obama was ten, he returned to Hawaii under the care of his grandparents (and later his mother) for the better educational opportunities available in Hawaii. He was enrolled in the fifth grade at Punahou School, a private college-preparatory school. Obama was one of three Black students among the majority Asian-American population at that school.In an American school, Obama first became conscious of racism and what it means to be an African-American. At this point, his father came to visit him and his family; it was the last time that Obama would see him before his father's death in a car accident in 1982.

Upon finishing high school, Obama enrolled at Occidental College, where he describes living a "party" lifestyle of drug and alcohol use. He transferred to Columbia College at Columbia University, where he majored in political science.Upon graduation, he worked for a year in business. He then moved to Chicago, where he took up community organizing in the Altgeld Gardens housing project on the city's South Side. Obama recounts the difficulty of the experience, as his program faced resistance from entrenched community leaders and apathy on the part of the established bureaucracy. It was during his time spent here that Obama joined Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ.
In the book, Obama recalls a sermon by pastor Jeremiah Wright called "The Audacity to Hope," from which Obama would take the title of his second book.Obama quotes Wright, describing the world as one "where white folks’ greed runs a world in need, apartheid in one hemisphere, apathy in another hemisphere … That’s the world, On which hope sits!"

Before attending Harvard Law School, Obama decided to visit relatives in Kenya. He uses part of his experience there as the setting for the book's final, emotional scene.

As well as relating the story of Obama's life, the book includes a good deal of reflection on his own personal experiences with race and race relations in the United States.(wikipedia)

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Avantasia: The Metal Opera Part I

Avantasia is a symphonic metal project created by Tobias Sammet, vocalist and frontman of the power metal group Edguy. The project's title is a portmanteau of the words "avalon" and "fantasia" ("fantasy") and describes "a world beyond human imagination" (a quotation from the booklet). The project consists of a self-titled single, two full-length albums with the subtitle The Metal Opera, two EPs called Lost in Space, and the recently released album The Scarecrow.

In Spring 1999, during Edguy's Theater of Salvation tour, Tobias Sammet began to write down his ideas for a metal opera, a concept album with many guest musicians. When the tour was finished, he carried this plan out, recruiting well-known metal players like Kai Hansen and the ex-Helloween singer Michael Kiske. The project was recorded with a core band of four members - Sammet playing keyboards and arranging orchestration, Henjo Richter playing guitar, Markus Grosskopf playing bass, and Alex Holzwarth on drums. In 2001, the self-titled single and the first full-length album, The Metal Opera, were released. The project was completed in September 2002 with the release of The Metal Opera Part II.[1] At the end of 2006, Sammet confirmed the rumours of a third Avantasia album, due for release in 2008. On March 24, 2007, the name was confirmed to be "The Scarecrow".[1] The album was released on January 25, 2008, and includes special guests such as Rudolf Schenker, Sascha Paeth, drummer Eric Singer, and singers Bob Catley, Jørn Lande, Michael Kiske, Alice Cooper, Roy Khan and Oliver Hartmann.

1.Prelude
2.Reach Out for the Light
3.Serpents in Paradise
4.Malleus Maleficarum
5.Breaking Away
6.Farewell
7.The Glory of Rome
8.In Nomine Patris
9.Avantasia
10.A New Dimension
11.Inside
12.Sign of the Cross
13.The Tower
Total playing time 59:08
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Symphony X: Paradise Lost

Paradise Lost is the seventh studio album by progressive metal band Symphony X. Although it's not a concept album, it deals greatly with John Milton's epic poem Paradise Lost. Its release had been delayed numerous times since the announcement on November 16, 2005 that they were going to "start pulling it all together". The album was released on June 26, 2007.

In a fan club chat on March 18, 2006, Michael Romeo, the lead guitarist and writer, said that the album is "a bit darker—the direction is still the same—for the most part," and went on to say that "the classical stuff was getting to a point where we need to evolve the music a bit. There is still a lot of classic influence in there—not as obvious as '[Out of the] Ashes', say." He went on to suggest that there may be a song or songs on the album themed around the works of H. P. Lovecraft, and that there would be "A BIG tune on here … Paradise Lost is the theme as of now," lending rumor to the title of the album.

In August 2006, some preliminary cover art was leaked on the internet, confirming suspicions that the title of the album would be the same as the song "Paradise Lost". The album art originally leaked and categorized by the band as only "preliminary" artwork has been revealed to be the official artwork, with the full panorama (including the back cover) being made available on the official Symphony X website on May 12, 2007 here.

At one point it was announced that the album would be released in late 2006, but the date was pushed back several times before its final release date of June 26, 2007. On May 12, 2007, the song "The Serpent's Kiss" was made available on the band's Myspace page. Also, MP3 samples from the album are available courtesy of SPV. In a first for the band, the album included a special DVD of footage shot by the band throughout their history, exclusively available in FYE stores. (wikipedia)

The album was released to more fanfare than previous Symphony X albums in the U.S., reaching #1 on the Top Heatseekers Chart, and #123 on the Billboard Top 200 Album Chart.

Personnel
* Russell Allen – vocals
* Michael Romeo – guitars, orchestral keyboards and programming
* Michael Pinnella – piano, keyboards
* Michael Lepond – bass
* Jason Rullo – drums

Track listing
1. "Oculus ex Inferni" – 2:34
2. "Set the World on Fire (The Lie of Lies)" – 5:55
3. "Domination" – 6:29
4. "The Serpent's Kiss" – 5:03
5. "Paradise Lost" – 6:32
6. "Eve of Seduction" – 5:04
7. "The Walls of Babylon" – 8:16
8. "Seven" – 7:01
9. "The Sacrifice" – 4:49
10. "Revelation (Divus Pennae ex Tragoedia)" – 9:17
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George Soros: The New Paradigm For Financial Markets

“We are in the midst of a financial crisis the likes of which has not been seen since the Great Depression of the 1930s… This crisis is not confined to a particular firm or a particular segment of the financial system; it has brought the entire system to the brink of a breakdown, and it is being contained only with the greatest difficulty. This will have far-reaching consequences. It is not business as usual but the end of an era.”—Excerpted from Chapter 5 “The Super Bubble Hypothesis” (page 81)

Was the bursting of the housing bubble just a momentary correction or the tip of the iceberg of an economic crisis about to envelope the entire country? George Soros believes we’re looking at the latter, and goes to great lengths to explain why, in his words, “This is the first time since the Great Depression that the international financial system has come to close to a genuine meltdown.”

While the left-leaning billionaire might be best known for his criticisms of the Bush administration and for underwriting the efforts of MoveOn.org, many forget that he is also a brilliant businessman who amassed his great fortune speculating in the currency and stock markets. Now, with the publication of The New Paradigm for Financial Markets he shares with anyone who will listen exactly how we got into this mess, and where to invest your cash and dwindling resources to best weather the impending the collapse.

Though a bit dense at times in terms of statistical analysis, being awash in charts and graphs, the text is nonetheless the most fascinating contribution to the field of money management since the equally-absorbing best-seller Freakonomics. Interweaving politics with economics, Soros shows the role that greed and power have played in placing us in the current predicament.

For one, he rejects the classical economic theory which teaches that supply is a function of demand and vice-versa. Instead, he makes the radical argument that the supply and demand curves do not determine market prices at all; otherwise, we would generally witness greater price fluctuations.

Of far more consequence is power, which might explain why the cost of oil has skyrocketed since the election of a president who filled his administration with executives from that industry. “The primary purpose of political discourse is to gain power and to stay in power,” Soros states. “Those who fail to recognize this are unlikely to be in power.”

This is why Bush was more than willing to manipulate the truth in any way he saw fit to deceive the public while furthering the interests of big oil and other corporate conglomerates he is beholden to. This arrogant attitude is reflected in the Orwellian comment of a White House aide quoted as asserting, “We’re an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality… We’re history’s actors… and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do.”

The 77 year-old Soros survived living under Hitler, and then survived living under Communism, and is presently unafraid to speak out forcefully when he recognizes the signs of the emergence of another such totalitarian regime. A sobering blend of financial and political analysis which incorporates the pivotal role of shady shenanigans and corporate corruption in the rapidly-approaching decline of a supposedly free market.(aalbc.com)

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Buddha by Herman Hesse

Siddhartha is an allegorical novel by Hermann Hesse which deals with the spiritual journey of an Indian man called Siddhartha during the time of the Buddha.

The book, Hesse's ninth novel, was written in German, in a simple, yet powerful and lyrical, style. It was first published in 1922, after Hesse had spent some time in India in the 1910s. It was published in the U.S. in 1951 and became influential during the 1960s.

"Siddhartha" means "he who has attained his goals" or "every wish fulfilled".^[1] The Buddha's name, before his renunciation, was Prince Siddhartha Gautama, later the Buddha. The main character of Siddhartha in the book is not the same person as the Buddha, who in the book goes by the name "Gautama".

The novel takes place in ancient India around the time of the Buddha (6th century BC). It starts as Siddhartha, a Brahmin's son, leaves his home to join the ascetics with his companion Govinda. The two set out in the search of enlightenment. Siddhartha goes through a series of changes and realizations as he attempts to achieve this goal.

Experience is the aggregate of conscious events experienced by a human in life – it connotes participation, learning and perhaps knowledge. Understanding is comprehension and internalization. In Hesse’s novel Siddhartha, experience is shown as the best way to approach understanding of reality and attain enlightenment – Hesse’s crafting of Siddhartha’s journey shows that understanding is attained not through scholastic, mind-dependent methods, nor through immersing oneself in the carnal pleasures of the world and the accompanying pain of samsara; however, it is the totality of these experiences that allow Siddhartha to attain understanding.

Thus, the individual events are meaningless when considered by themselves – Siddhartha’s stay with the samanas and Siddartha’s immersion in the world of love and business do not lead to nirvana, but yet they cannot be considered detractions, for every action and event that is undertaken and happens to Siddhartha helps him to achieve understanding. The sum of these events is thus experience.

For example, Siddhartha’s passionate and pained love for his son is an experience that teaches him empathy; he is able to understand the child people after this experience. Previously, though he was immersed in samsara, he could not comprehend the child people’s motivations and lives. And while samsara clung to him and made him ill and sick of it, he was unable to understand the nature of samsara. Experience of samsara at this point did not lead to understanding: perhaps it even hindered him. In contrast to this, Siddhartha’s experience with his son allows him to love, something he has not managed to do before; once again, the love itself does not lead to understanding. (wikipedia).

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Discus: Tot Licht

Very tempting to describe this 8-piece unit as some sort of Indonesian MR. BUNGLE. Less frantic in terms of style, they don't have a singer as mad as Mike Patton but they do match the band in terms of virtuosity, eclecticism and heaving rocking. DISCUS' material is stunningly complex and varied, alternating between changing time signatures and calm, contemplative moments, sometimes in a matter of ten seconds. In addition to traditional rock instruments, they play violin, clarinet, bass clarinet, sax, flute and a variety of ethnic percussion instruments.

Both of their albums,"1st" and "...Tot Licht" (released in 1999 and 2003 respectively), are a veritable patchwork of jazz, fusion, Sundan traditional and Balinese music, contemporary classical and classical chamber, pop, pop jazz, prog rock, heavy metal and dissonant avant-garde. In short, the band tackles just about every imaginable genre that lies between PINK FLOYD and WEATHER REPORT. The vocals follow a similar pattern, featuring both male and female vocalizations that can be normal one minute and hysterical the next. This band truly defies all categories but given half chance, their material provides an intriguing, powerful, challenging and tremendously rewarding experience.

Highly recommended to the open-minded listener and to fans of extreme avant-garde. (prog archives)
play list:
1. System Manipulation
2. Breathe
3. Verso door duisternis tot licht
4. Music For 5 Players
5. Anne
6. PESAN
7. Misfortune Lunatic (bonus track)
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