Upside down world

 Anyone notice that

Liberals are not liberal

Progressives are not progressive

Liberals/Progressives are the greatest supporters of the FBI, CIA and other alphabet agencies now that they have been captured by their political fellow travellers

It is conservatives who are defending women's right to their own space and sports (where are the liberal feminists?)

In academia, you are discriminated against for being too good (Asians, white males)

The uniquely indispensable role of a woman, becoming a mother, is de-prioritized by opinion makers for careers

Modern architecture is ugly

Modern art is ugly

Contemporary literature has become more female and ethnically dominated and consequently less interesting unless one enjoys reading about lived experiences (rolls eyes)

Contemporary popular music is unspeakably obscene and worthless

Hollywood movies are unwatchable

Europe has a death wish

Organized religion is a tool for elite control

Organized science is a tool for elite control

The mass media is a tool for elite control

The education system has been subverted to brainwash young minds with non-traditional values

Traditional has become a dirty word

Family has become a dirty word

Masculinity is frowned on

Femininity is frowned on

Male femininity is celebrated

Female masculinity is celebrated

Almost all office type jobs are bullshit

No doomsday climate change prediction has ever come true

People cannot discuss issues of the day without getting heated up

One should avoid, as far as possible, junk and processed food

Instead of being rebellious, young people are the most fervent supporters of pro-establishment views

Western civilization has probably peaked

All international organizations and regulatory bodies have been suborned to promote the Western narrative of the day

The powers that be can afford the best experts that money can buy to push whatever narrative they have in mind

Almost everyone demonized by the mass media turns out, on careful analysis, to be not as bad as painted out and often even commendable

The reverse of the above is also true

The stating of once non-controversial common sense facts can be fatal to one's career

Too much noticing can be fatal to one's career

Social media has turned an entire generation of women into incurable narcissists

The most unforgivable solecism is telling an uncomfortable truth

Even the most cursory digging exposes the sham underlying almost all current viewpoints. Why do so many remain ignorant?

The emergence of life-long politicians that start their career at university by networking and cultivating contacts/patrons has killed democracy

The emergence of polling, focus testing, advertising, public relations and spin doctors has killed democracy

You cannot mock any religion except Christianity

You cannot mock anyone except straight, white males

Diversity mandates are the road to mediocrity

 

Follow the $cien¢e

 Declaration of interests of authors in an article picked at random  from a bio-medical journal

It goes on, this is slightly more than halfway though the list but you get the idea. Well, at least they're being transparent about it.

Soli Dio Gloria

Heavy metal is much maligned by the general public, the professional music press and music critics who look down their noses at it as music for lunkheads. In my teens there was a short-lived music show on Malaysian TV hosted by local DJ Patrick Teoh playing current music videos and he would almost always introduce any hard rock/metal video with a snide comment, a confirmation that DJs and critics know fuck all. The stereotype is of noisy, primitive music and gauche lyrics revolving around sex, drugs, and sword and sorcery. Nothing could be further from the truth. The level of musicianship, particularly in guitars and drums, is extremely high, much higher than in other forms of popular music (jazz and classical no longer being popular). Musically, it is distinct and is perhaps the only popular alternative to black based musical forms. And as for the lunkhead stereotype, studies (psychological so take with a pinch of salt) have shown that brighter students prefer HM over other forms of popular music. I find this believable (with some caution as it chimes with my own preferences) as HM is outsider music and one would expect the intelligent to gravitate towards more non-mainstream tastes.

As far as lyrical content goes, the last stanza in Sabbath's "Heaven and Hell" captures modern day corruption more concisely and elegantly than any bloated diatribe from critical darlings U2, Springsteen and RATM (bunch of hypocritical champagne socialists, the lot of them).

They say that life's a carousel

Spinning fast you've get to ride as well 

The world is full of Kings and Queens

Who blind your eyes and steal your dreams

It's Heaven and Hell

And they tell you black is really white

The moon is just the sun at night

And when you walk in golden halls

You get to keep the gold that falls

It's Heaven and Hell 

And metal has stood the test of time, the ultimate arbiter of value. Long after music fads have bitten the dust, long after ephemeral critical favourites have winked into oblivion, classic metal albums keep winning the hearts of new generations of followers. I remember a music review in 1980 by a journalist, one Swithin Monteiro (yes I'm a petty bastard with a long memory), where he gave a damning review to the Heaven and Hell album (metal, then as now, not being a critical favourite with Malaysian reviewers who tend to uncritically, heh, ape the lead of western critics in the trade press). In the same review he lauded Joan Armatrading's latest album and Gerry Rafferty's follow up to Baker Street (Gerry Rafferty being the exemplar of a one-hit wonder). It was a valuable experience because it was from then on that I started totally disregarding the opinion of so-called experts (until proven otherwise) in music, literature, art and architecture. So thanks Swithin.

For my personal musical memories, I was blessed to see Sabbath on their farewell tour, Purple (multiple times), Page & Plant, Plant again (although I would hesitate to lump LZ as metal), and Blackmore when he temporarily shelved medieval folk for a few classic rock dates (Purple and Rainbow material). I have yet to see Malmsteem live but he's younger and the opportunity should hopefully present itself one day. Sadly, I was planning on seeing Motorhead but Lemmy (pbuh) popped his clogs a couple of months before. And I never got to see Dio live. Sob.

Update.

I googled Swithin and found out that he passed away at a rather young age. RIP. Dude had a picture wearing a Beatles t-shirt, so he was alright really. But still disagree with his review of H&H which was probably swayed by the fashionable critical opinion of the day.