Sweltering, Imperial Nile

I, Melachi ibn Amillar, being of unsound mind and body, did attend the gig of Svart, Ex Deo and Nile, on 10 September 2013, at the Garage, Islington, London.

The band Svart were French but seemed a little untight in tempo for my taste. Many were there to see Ex Deo, who provided a traditional, gutteral, melodic deathish metal, pleasing if unexceptional. There were some neat martial horn themes in the mix. I could not hear the lyrics well but think they were mainly about the Roman army at war. Obviously very disappointing for general effect that they were not in Latin.  Only the singer was in Roman attire.

A most satisfactory visit from the eagles, then; Nile themselves began with no sound in the bass and no fancy dress at all. Their music was more brutal, faster, technical, and difficult to follow. It is at best character-building to listen to a death metal CD all the way through, and likewise this was a set I did not feel ended too soon. Plus, the Garage was extremely hot. So signs off Melachi, by a sweltering Nile!

Battlestar Galactica

I, Melachi ibn Amillar, being of unsound mind and body, did watch the complete 5 series of Battlestar Galactica, beginning with "33" and ending with "The original mini-series", on Blu-ray disc, instead of Newsnight, finishing in August 2013. I had not previously seen any of the episodes, but began, being advised it was one of the great achievements of television. This may not strictly be correct, because I suppose one would have to include things like "Roots", and the moon landing. But I would say it is the best set of series I have watched. Now, the first series had rather too much of the whining Dr Balthar, and long sections of a group running around on a planet which did not seem to have much to do with anything. I generally found the President annoying and giving the impression of being heavily sedated. In the next series it got better, and finest episodes were the ones involving the Pegasus. There was a lengthy and dull plot arc about people being married to the wrong people. I much preferred the fighting scenes. Likewise, as the final series progressed, and more were revealed as the enemy, it became a little bleaker and depressive. Starbuck was certainly more watchable before she developed her "special destiny". The anchoring presence was the great Commander Adama, and I might watch it all again as a study in his leadership. Very notable as well was the style of the ship - the incessant heavy drinking, intercom telephones with chords, and even open reel tape recorders. I now understand I have to watch "Caprica", "The Plan", "Blood and Chrome", and then something called "Star Trek". Such is the (not very special) destiny of Melachi!

The German Ideology

I, Melachi ibn Amillar, being a man of wealth and taste, did read Marx and Engels' The German Ideology (1846), or at least as much of it as is provided in C.J. Arthur's student edition of 1970. In it the authors present the view that the ideologies of an historical period are closely linked to its productive processes, though the relationship seems reciprocal to some degree. These ideologies do, however, become treated as though they are inevitable entities in their own right. Therefore men are alienated from the natural relationships between them, and from the true conditions of their labour. This seems obvious nowadays, but was clearly less so in the mid-nineteenth century. The prose is the usual mixture of the extraordinarily impenetrable peppered with brilliant aphorisms. I did not quite understand the emphasis given on "classes" in the creation of ideologies, except as a necessary precursor for Communism. Furthermore, it is not clear to me what the nature of man would be lacking these controlling ideologies, i.e. either before the division of labour, or after the establishment of Communism. Doubtless more could be written on these topics.... But this is a very interesting, though somewhat difficult,text.