28 Oct
2009
28 Oct
'09
4:46 p.m.
On Mon, 26 Oct 2009 20:56:59 -0700 (PDT)
Stephen Stubbs <theother1510(a)sbcglobal.net> wrote:
It is astonishing how easily we can be accidentally 'conditioned'
when very young.
When I was 3 I was in a children's home for a while. All the kids had a
distinctive flower as a tag on all their possessions. This was also
used to indicate where they should sit at the table, which cot/bed was
theirs etc. I'm sure it made things a lot easier for the staff, but to
this day I feel a sense of affinity to anything with a wild poppy on it
- and a field of them always gives me a lift.
--
Will J Godfrey
http://www.musically.me.uk
Say you have a poem and I have a tune.
Exchange them and we can both have a poem, a tune, and a song.
Dave Phillips <dlphillips(a)woh.rr.com>
wrote:
I must be perverse. As I listened to this (very fine) tune I kept
thinking about the horror movie "Carnival Of Souls"...
Thanks Dave, although I find it slightly disturbing that you sensed
something not entirely happy in the tune. You're actually one of three
people who have said that, and I can't for the life of me understand how
that should come about. To my ears the form and instrumentation are
reminiscent of music for a
carousel or carnival. In my psyche (admittedly influenced by 'way too
many horror and sf books & movies from the 50s and 60s) there's
something inherently surreal or even menacing about such things and
events. Perhaps it's a cultural conditioning ?
It was definitely early conditioning in my life regarding circus clowns.
As a very sickly infant and young child, I quickly learned to associate circus clowns
with intense, physical pain.
The pediatrician had circus clown portraits on the walls of his waiting rooms, hallways,
and patient rooms. Everywhere I went and waited, there were circus clowns. Then came the
treatments and pain, with those circus clowns watching and laughing.
To this day (I'm 56), I don't find anything remotely joyful or comforting about
circus clowns. They were the stuff of nightmares to me.
Amazed and just realizing how much I'm *still* upset with circus clowns,
Stephen.