http://www.PortableWisdom.org/ Herb Bowie"s primary collection of insightful quotations. iWisdom Herb Bowie http://www.PortableWisdom.org/wisdom/html/authors/tom_demarco_peter_hruschka_tim_lister_steve_mcmenamin_james_robertson_and_suzanne_robertson/adrenaline_junkies_and_template_zombies_understanding_patterns_of_project_behavior/template_zombies.html "When you find a project team that is focused on producing a standard document rather than on considering the content of that document, then you are in the land of the template zombies.... "In the land of the template zombies, form takes precedence. It is not necessary to think about the content of the document. It is not really necessary to think at all. The important thing is to have something--anything--under each of the prescribed headings. Not surprisingly, template zombies are adept in the art of cutting and pasting and ignoring anything that does not fit the dictates of the template." Wed, 19 Nov 2008 05:43:00 -08:00 http://www.PortableWisdom.org/wisdom/html/authors/tom_demarco_peter_hruschka_tim_lister_steve_mcmenamin_james_robertson_and_suzanne_robertson/adrenaline_junkies_and_template_zombies_understanding_patterns_of_project_behavior/template_zombies.html http://www.PortableWisdom.org/wisdom/html/authors/joe_boyd/white_bicycles_making_music_in_the_1960s/little_i_recognized_as_music.html "Thirty years after Brighton, I walked sadly away from the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Fair. It was everything my twenty-one-year-old self might have dreamed of: 75,000 people packed into the Fairgrounds, with NPR-subscriber bags holding expertly marked programmes. America's black musical heritage was on parade across two long weekends and eight stages. But the audience was almost entirely white. The performers had learned their lessons, dropping any modernizations or slick showbiz gestures and recreating the old-time styles the sophisticated audiences craved. On one level, it demonstrated respect for a deep culture and a rejection of shallow novelty. But removed from the soil in which it grew the music felt lifeless, like actors portraying characters who happened to be their younger selves. In two days wandering from stage to stage, I heard little I recognized as music." Sun, 02 Nov 2008 09:33:08 -08:00 http://www.PortableWisdom.org/wisdom/html/authors/joe_boyd/white_bicycles_making_music_in_the_1960s/little_i_recognized_as_music.html http://www.PortableWisdom.org/wisdom/html/authors/joe_boyd/white_bicycles_making_music_in_the_1960s/southeast_london_adaption_of_the_excello_style.html "I read an interview with Keith Richards once explaining how he and Mick Jagger had a single blues record between them when they met. It was one I knew well: a Stateside four-track EP licensed from the Excello label, with Slim Harpo on one side and Lazy Lester on the other. They played it until it was so worn they could barely hear the music through the scratches. One way of looking at the Stones' sound is as a South-East London adaptation of the Excello style. If they had owned more records, their music might have been less distinctive." Sun, 02 Nov 2008 09:28:23 -08:00 http://www.PortableWisdom.org/wisdom/html/authors/joe_boyd/white_bicycles_making_music_in_the_1960s/southeast_london_adaption_of_the_excello_style.html http://www.PortableWisdom.org/wisdom/html/authors/joe_boyd/white_bicycles_making_music_in_the_1960s/dylan_at_newport_in_1965.html "There are many accounts of what happened next. Dylan left the stage with a shrug as the crowd roared. Having heard only three songs, they wanted 'moooooooooore', and some, certainly, were booing. They had been taken by surprise by the volume and aggression of the music. Some loved it, some hated it, most were amazed, astonished and energized by it. It was something we take for granted now, but utterly novel then: non-linear lyrics, an attitude of total contempt for expectation and established values, accompanied by screaming blues guitar and a powerful rhythm section, played at ear-splitting volume by young kids. The Beatles were still singing love songs in 1965 while the Stones played a sexy brand of blues-rooted pop. This was different. This was the Birth of Rock. So many taste crimes have been committed in rock's name since then that it might be questionable to count this moment as a triumph, but it certainly felt like one in July 1965." Sun, 02 Nov 2008 09:16:34 -08:00 http://www.PortableWisdom.org/wisdom/html/authors/joe_boyd/white_bicycles_making_music_in_the_1960s/dylan_at_newport_in_1965.html http://www.PortableWisdom.org/wisdom/html/authors/joe_boyd/white_bicycles_making_music_in_the_1960s/countercultures_own_values_and_aesthetics_decayed.html "Beneath the surface, the progressive sixties hid all manner of unpleasantness: sexism, reaction, racism and factionalism. It wasn't surprising, really. The idea that drugs, sex and music could transform the world was always a pretty naïve dream. As the counter-culture's effect on the mainstream grew, its own values and aesthetics decayed. The political setbacks of the coming years grabbed the headlines while the dilution of ideals happened more quietly, but nonetheless vividly for those who noticed." Sun, 02 Nov 2008 08:45:15 -08:00 http://www.PortableWisdom.org/wisdom/html/authors/joe_boyd/white_bicycles_making_music_in_the_1960s/countercultures_own_values_and_aesthetics_decayed.html