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The Virtual Rambler
Number ten: 6th October 2010
Worlds Apart
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The Ancients believed that two different worlds existed , the Apparent (or
perceived) world of everyday events and another , Real world ,
shrouded in mystery but accessible to finely-tuned adepts. That everything
around us is not what it appears to be is a common
starting-point for most religious and philosophical systems. This division
of what confronts us , between a mundane world of the senses
and a transcendent world that can be revealed by faith or deep thinking , is
probably a consequence of thoughts themselves. We can
assume that Evolution developed an inner world of ideas in order to
facilitate the preservation of its large-brained animal host. That
purpose was served well in identifying the objects of desire , along with
the means for taking possession of them : the capture of food ,
the provision of shelter and defensive strategies of response to predatory
attack. However , in the case of homo sapiens , cerebral
activity soon turned to the endless augmentation of his 'needs'. Once the
basic requirements of existence had been settled , then prestige ,
megalomania , neighbours’ wives , conquering and pillaging , palaces ,
opiates and grandiose tombs came into being.
Some later men explored the exotic world of microbes and bacteria ; others
probed the subatomic world where quantum physics reigns ;
cosmologists peered into the vast immensities of Space and Time. The
majority of men viewed such activities as rather similar to those
table-tapping séances , where messages ‘from beyond’ are equally
impenetrable. They preferred to get by with the least possible
expenditure of thought and would be pandered to by burgeoning industries of
entertainment and marketing which put crowns upon their heads
and sceptres in their hands. Thereby they might bid an endless cascade of
fun , excitement and visionary luxury to appear before them at
the press of a button. Advertisers could transform whole populations into
mad Roman emperors demanding to alter the course of the sun ,
to bring back the past and foretell the future , to receive and bestow
endless felicity and to banish visitations of misery and want to
the News At Ten. What more could the happy converts to Consumer Capitalism
possibly require ? Well , there was also Fame.
Everyman’s share of the stage is dimly-lit , modestly furnished and subject
to the daily grind but over on the other side , flash-bulbs
of the paparazzi are flashing and champagne corks are popping ;
microphones wave in the air and cameras roll as another legend of
our times takes the air. According to best PR mythology , the world of
celebrity is one of glitter and glamour , of heaving bosoms and personal
fitness trainers , of private swimming pools , retinues of accountants and
minders , of hearts won over by a pleasing smile. Through tabloid
binoculars , it’s a world of love nests and rehab clinics , of custody
battles and night club incidents , of love rats and back-stabbing.
All played out in the spotlight’s glare , before fame’s fickle hour is done
and the media bandwagon moves on to aspirants new.
One’s position in the cultural pyramid had formerly been dependant
upon assets such as talent and intelligence or acquisitions such
as wit and wisdom. Now the all-important determinant became the number of
appearances one had made on television screens , in the newspapers
or magazines. Multilingual boffins of European origin , venerable curators
of culture and pipe-smoking brains-trusters were consigned , bums
still on their Chippendale seats , to the Olde Curiosity Shoppe. They were
replaced in studios decked out like spacecraft interiors by foul-
mouthed 'celebrity' chefs and homely Yorkshire gardeners , one-hit songsters
, jaunty property advisers , brash motoring enthusiasts and
chirpy game-show hosts. The world of the imagination is more active in
anonymity , in protracted solitude , in silence and at twilight.
When we are surrounded by non-stop hustle and bustle , at airports or
cocktail parties , in the high noon of media attention , then the
imagination takes a permanent holiday and refuses to become active even when
summoned. It lies as dormant as an ex-celebrity full of sleeping
pills , whose world of gloomy fame becomes gloomier with every passing hour
of night.
Wig.
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Archive
Virtual rambler #1 – Posturing,
9th March 2010
Virtual rambler #2 –
Managerialism, 17th March 2010
Virtual rambler #3 – Nostalgia,
27th March 2010
Virtual rambler #4 – The Alpha
Male, 13th April 2010
Virtual rambler #5 – General
Elections, 3rd May 2010
Virtual rambler #6 – The Leisure
Industry, 15th May 2010
Virtual rambler #7 – Guide to
The World Cup, 15th June 2010
Virtual rambler #8 – Human
Nature, 12th July 2010
Virtual rambler #9 –
Communities, 13th August 2010
Virtual rambler #10 – Worlds
Apart, 6th October 2010
Virtual rambler #11 – Dawdling,
22nd November 2010
Virtual rambler #12 – ELVIS,
24th December 2010
Virtual rambler #13 –
Transience, 4th February 2011
Virtual rambler #14 – Regional
Accents, 15th April 2011
Virtual rambler #15 – The
Afterlife, 21st July 2011
Virtual rambler #16 – Bizspeak,
27th August 2011
Virtual rambler #17 – Night
Walks, 3rd October 2011
Virtual rambler #18 – Bob Dylan
and Charles Dickens, 8th November 2011
Virtual rambler #19 – Another
Nutty Professor, 16th December 2011
Virtual rambler #20 – Customer
Choice, 16th January 2012
Virtual rambler #21 – Wearing
Shorts, 18th February 2012
Virtual rambler #22 – A Brief
History of Progress, 17th March 2012
Virtual rambler #23 – The Myth
of Sisyphus, 16th April 2012
Virtual rambler #24 – Natural
History, 20th May 2012
Virtual rambler #25 – European
Self Importance, 26th June 2012
Virtual rambler #26 – Sweet
Dreams, 25th July 2012
Virtual rambler #27 – Excess,
17th August 2012
Virtual rambler #28 – In Denial,
20th September 2012
Virtual rambler #29 – The Way,
21st October 2012
Virtual rambler #30 – On
Rambling, 14th November 2012
Virtual rambler #31 – Gazing
Into The Abyss, 18th December 2012
Virtual rambler #32 –
Intellectual Gloom, 25th January 2013
Virtual rambler #33 – Great
Human Achievements, 20th February 2013
Virtual rambler #34 –
Autobiography, 20th March 2013
Virtual rambler #35 – Your Good
Health, 21st April 2013
Virtual rambler #36 –
Deconstruction, 20th May 2013
Virtual rambler #37 – My Home
Town, 19th June 2013
Virtual rambler #38 – Ancient
History, 21st July 2013
Virtual rambler #39 –
Possessions, 20th August 2013
Virtual rambler #40 – Sporting
Stoics, 20th September 2013
Virtual rambler #41 – Free Time,
20th October 2013
Virtual rambler #42 – Ewan Don't
Allow, 20th November 2013
Virtual rambler #43 – A Literary
Nexus, 20th December 2013
Virtual rambler #44 – Taking
Liberties, 16th January 2014
Virtual rambler #45 – More or
Less, 20th February 2014
Virtual rambler #46 – Under
Control, 20th March 2014
Virtual rambler #47 – Waiting,
20th April 2014
Virtual rambler #48 – They Rose
Without Trace, 20th May 2014
Virtual rambler #49 – Bigger
Impression , Smaller Footprint, 20th June 2014
Virtual rambler #50 –
Terpsichorean Instrumentations, 18th July 2014
Virtual rambler #51 – Socially
Mediated, 19th August 2014
Virtual rambler #52 – Rambling Into The Sunset, 20th September 2014
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