Blue Republic is Reborn...as Sonic Parthenon

And so the change is finally made. A new name. But the same old address - for now (a long now, probably).
I decided on Sonic Parthenon for a few reasons: 1)I couldn't find a blog or website already using it and I haven't seen the words used together anywhere on the web, 2)I liked the name Parthenon because, even though I am an atheist, one of the religions I find appealing in an aesthetic sense is the faith the ancient Greeks, and particularly the mythology of Athena, the Goddess of Wisdom, Justice, and Righteous Defensive War. 3)I wanted to emphasize the evolved emphasis of music on this blog and Sonic is a cool word to use.

I'm still a liberal and I still care. But things change. My passion is not what it once was in that department, and even though I am still combative in nature towards extremist Right Wing politics, I think it's time to move past the 2004 era where we seemed like two countries. The concept of a "Blue Republic" is a good spirit to have, if only to recognize where one stands, but it has to go beyond such a limiting (and already used) name. The worlds of politics, pop culture, the arts can all go hand in hand as much as they can thrive separately. And as I am based out of New York, I am privileged to be able to have a unique perspective on all those worlds. The duality of the blog has not, and probably will never, change.

This is basically the fragmented gist of what would have been a mission statement:
-Commentary on contemporary Rock n' Roll music, particularly on New York area concerts. But also periodic album reviews and analysis of news.
-Commentary and observation on select political and societal happenings (major elections, policy changes, big events, religion vs. logic & rationality)
-Observations on pop culture, and reflections on nuggets of the past and present - ranging from film reviews to television to media hype.

Finally, a word on all the "42" business. This is the third cultural aspect to this blog: Douglas Adams and the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. The easy, malleable fun one can have with Adams' work is seemingly limitless. Of all the phrases from the Adams' canon, I have picked "42" as a "marker", so to speak, on the blog to go somewhat hand-in-hand with the idea of the Parthenon. Athena was a Goddess. The Divine is what is culturally thought of as the root and source of creation and all answers. Adams humorously suggested that "42" is the answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything (which seems odd only because we don't know what the Ultimate Question actually is). It is this sublime conflation of logic and aesthetic spiritualism - let's call the conflation "Mild Absurdity" - that lies at the heart of Adams' work, and what I would want to lie at the heart of this blog. In other words, we'll try to probe the deep questions but with a sense of bemusement and a tad helping of silliness. If we can help it.

Good god, did I just use the royal "We"?