Re: "Balls!!!", said Gus Webb.

On Feb 24, 12:28 am, vinito <vinit...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I haven't read "The Fountainhead" for about 20 years, but I remember
it being pretty good. I thought it had a bunch of "optimistic flaws"
throughout that kept me from suspending disbelief, but I frequently
empathized with what she was obviously trying to portray for an ideal
world (meaning that the story is highly idealized, not that the
setting in the book was an ideal world).

I haven't studied her life or philosophy at all myself, but from what
I've heard over the years it seems she was kind of an advocate for
pushing her philosophy. "Pushing" is too strong a word, but it's late
and I don't want to think of a better one right now.

To me the real world is much more zen, meaning suffering seems to lurk
around every corner and how well you deal with it is what determines
whether your life is successful or not. I haven't studied Buddhism
either and I don't deal with suffering very well. However, I have a
pretty good handle on how people (including large groups) are and what
they will do, and in the real world 1) there is no way in hell that
the courtroom adventure would proceed and turn out the way it did in
The Fountainhead 2) There are certain reasons why some people can be
so focused in one facet of life (like architecture) that they are
better at it than everyone else, and some of those reasons lead them
to be pretty warped in other facets of life. I've met a lot of people
over the years and I've never met an exception to this yet, and I'll
be the first to tell you that I am as warped as any of them. Roarke is
a highly idealized character 3)I could list a couple more things, but
like I said, I'm tired right now so I'll stop at two ;)

Sounds like I'm just beating up Ayn Rand and The Fountainhead, but I
don't mean to. Like I said, I thought it was a pretty good book.
I haven't read "Atlas Shrugged", but I understand it's about
trains. ;o)

"And that's all I have to say about that" - F. Gump

Hey Vineto!

This also covers Mark Clayton's post....

Don't get me wrong. I liked the book because I'm a bit of an idealist
myself, but I also know that being an idealist is a flawed view of the
world. I pretty much picked up that she was against organized
religion, but not necessarily an atheist. It doesn't surprise me, but
she was probably up against the wall with the book as it was. To come
right out and take a stand would be dangerous to her career, maybe
even her life and her cause.

At any rate, religion was not really my main focus and it definitely
did not sway MY faith at all. I also see her point with organized
religion. It parallels politics. Anytime you have a good intention
that involves people of power; things almost always get corrupted.
The movie 'Network' comes to mind with the pseudo Black Panther group
arguing about prime time air and percentages was especially funny and
relevant. The part when Gus Webb and the others take over the
government housing project was another example of a good and gracious
idea of the government gets violated and 'prices out' the exact people
it was trying to help.

Religion as she states, never takes into account the 'legit' groups
out there doing genuine good. Again, having the hindsight of current
events, Christian organizations got quiet praise for doing far more
good than the government after Hurricane Katrina and the Muslims of
Sumatra are still not understanding how 'Christians' from a 'Christian
Nation' would be willing to help after the '04 Tsunami (while their
own religion actually blames the event as a judgement against them).
She only focuses on the 'talking about stuff' end of philanthropy and
ignores the 'quietly doing' branch :-)

No, I was trying to keep the book in context as it related to what
Python said about being an artist and how it relates to pinball. I
felt the Roark character was way too unbelievable. He was too
deadpan, too neutral, too idealistic. Actually, all of the characters
had very odd mannerisms. It's kind of like she opened up a college
Psych book, picked out each personality disorder and / or trait and
developed a character around each one. Not bad, but she kept them
pure to the trait and that isn't too realistic. Enjoyable to read,
but not real.

I kept thinking of Zingy Bingy, Pinball Circus and some of Python's
other very interesting designs. His frustrations as an artist and
designer were that the world was not ready for them. In his view (as
I interpret it), he should be allowed more creative freedom. Again,
like Roark, the passion is in the doing, not the end result, good, bad
or how much it costs. I remember a quote from the late Douglas Adams
when talking about Hollywood 'guiding' his Hitchhikers Guide to the
Galaxy movie. He said: "Having Hollywood 'help' you with your
project and getting it off the ground, is like trying to cook a steak
by having other people breathe on it"

Creative Freedom is a wonderful thing, but it's not always practical
either. If you don't mind living in poverty or designing, never to
see your designs ever be known, then you are ok, but if you want a
piece of the pie, you sometimes have to play by the rules.

At any rate, Python's interview on TOPCast was interesting (at best)
and it was nice to read a book that he spoke so highly of.

Was it the best book I ever read? No. Has it changed my life? No.
Did it shake my faith? No. Did Python say anything that I hadn't
heard before from other artists? No.

Did I learn a few things? Yes (always a good day when you learn at
least 1 thing new :-). Did I 'get into Python's head' a bit? I'd
like to think so. Do I recommend this book to others? Yes. It was a
long book, but it did have me by page 5. It wasn't a difficult read.
Nor was it too deep. I guess it could be as deep as you want to take
it, but it didn't shake me to the core by any stretch.

Good stuff. Hopefully not too boring and not too far off topic
anymore :-)

BTW, I had no intention of reading Atlas Shrugged, but, if it's about
trains, I may have to check it out :-) It would be kind of
interesting if she talks about the Steam / Diesel Transition and
applies it in the same way as modern architecture. I will say, that
Ayn Rand had a pretty good knowledge of Buildings and Design. Very
modern views and she definetly wrote with an authority that surprised
me. Her chief female character, Dominique, was the same way. Again,
not a very believable character on the whole, but she was very strong
for a woman of the 1920's.

-Ken
.

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