<HTML><FONT FACE=arial,helvetica><FONT SIZE=2>In a message dated 1/18/01 8:19:06 PM Central Standard Time, kam544@flash.net
<BR> writes:
<BR>
<BR>
<BR><BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE style="BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px">Your example of George Orwell's _1984_ to help support your presentation
<BR>definitely got my attention.
<BR>
<BR>I am in complete agreement with you that people do have the right and
<BR>ability to question things, but using _1984_, unfortunately, fails to
<BR>support your proposition. Somehow you managed to *not* mention the outcome
<BR>of this particular story for one engaging in such actions.
<BR>
<BR>Maybe you didn't read the whole book, maybe you forgot what happened in the
<BR>end to the main characters, Winston Smith and Julia, especially Winston,
<BR>maybe it was something else.
<BR>
<BR>Regardless, _1984_ is certainly not the best example to cite to others for
<BR>substantiating and promoting a platform of resistance against a controlling
<BR>authority.
<BR></BLOCKQUOTE>
<BR>Well, Keith, that's a matter of opinion. Yes, I did read the whole book and
<BR>as I recall, I read it 3 times. I had read it in High School, again in
<BR>college, then when the year 1984 came around, I read it again. I have also
<BR>seen two film adaptations. However, 1984 was a long time ago. I certainly
<BR>do remember what happened to Winston, that is the point of the whole story.
<BR>I must admit I forget what happened to Julia. Didn't she turn him in or
<BR>something?
<BR>
<BR>(From my recollection), "You want a vision of the future, Winston? Imagine a
<BR>boot stepping on a face for eternity", said his tormentor. Now I fully
<BR>realize that the subject I am interested in is an art, the art of tuning.
<BR>But there have been other periods where authority controlled and dictated
<BR>what was good art, what was *permissible* as the Luthier Guild puts it, and
<BR>not.
<BR>
<BR>Although I fully realize that the Luthier Guild document was written to
<BR>*help* people try to tune the guitar to get the best musical sound out of it
<BR>and nothing more, the way things are phrased gave me a chill. It reminded me
<BR>of the tormentor holding up 4 fingers and dictating to Winston that what he
<BR>really saw were 5 and that Winston was tortured by increasingly strong
<BR>currents of electrical shocks until his spirit broke and he agreed that 4 was
<BR>really 5.
<BR>
<BR>The document says, "Learn to expect and accept slight sharpness of the major
<BR>3rd in each chord...Train your ear to accept tempered intervals and you will
<BR>be much happier with your guitar".
<BR>
<BR>Later, it says when trying to, shall I say, "brainwash" the subject to accept
<BR>the sound of ET against his/her will, "Play an open E major chord. Listen to
<BR>the G# on the 3rd string and you will most likely want to lower it very
<BR>slightly. Don't do it. Ignore it. Enjoy the overall beauty and resonance of
<BR>[the] chord just as does the pianist."
<BR>
<BR>Now, picture the same tormentor from Orwell's story in the bare, white room
<BR>with the glare from the one white light overhead and no sound but the
<BR>constant hum from the ventilation unit. He has a guitar tuned in ET. He
<BR>strums a chord and says, "There Winston, isn't that a beautiful sound?"
<BR>Winston's jaw is tight, he is tense and nervous but immobile, being strapped
<BR>into a chair so that he cannot move.
<BR>
<BR>His mind, his sense of artistic beauty based on past life experience, the
<BR>kind of thoughts that Big Brother says do not even exist, and *never*
<BR>existed, believes that the chord could be a bit sweeter and he says so.
<BR>(Winston remembered the books that had other alternatives but which had all
<BR>been burned and new ones written to say that there has always been only one
<BR>way to tune and that no other possiblity exists. It had been *his* job to
<BR>destroy the old books and rewrite them according to Party guidelines).
<BR>
<BR>Once again, the energy dial is set higher and a longer, stronger jolt of
<BR>painful, tortuous electric shock waves fill Winston's body as he screams in
<BR>agony until he nearly passes out. The tormentor slowly lowers the voltage
<BR>and waits for Winston to recover. "Let's try it again, Winston." He strums
<BR>the ET chord and says, "There Winston, isn't that a beautiful sound?"
<BR>
<BR>This keeps going until Winston's spirit of resistance is finally broken. He
<BR>finally succumbs to the will of the tormentor and says when the ET chord is
<BR>strummed, "Yes, that is beautiful". The tormentor then asks, "Is that the
<BR>*only* way a chord can sound beautiful, Winston?" Raising his voice, the
<BR>tormentor repeats, "Winston?!!!" Winston replies haltingly, choking on
<BR>copious amounts of phlegm and in a weak voice, "Yes".
<BR>
<BR>"All right, now, Winston, that is much better!", the tormentor says, "You can
<BR>rest now". They allow Winston to rest, they treat his wounds, pull the rest
<BR>of his rotting teeth and give him a set of dentures made to the
<BR>specifications of the authorities. He is given a clean, new Party uniform, a
<BR>"one size fits all". (Those who are too big in girth to fit into the Party
<BR>uniform are taken to a place which corrects that problem, making the person
<BR>conform to Party specifications). He is allowed to return to the cafeteria,
<BR>eat the communal meal of food, the only food there is, that which is supplied
<BR>by the Party.
<BR>
<BR>After his work for the day is finished, he is allowed to go to the Party Pub
<BR>where he is allowed to drink the Party gin, the only gin there is and the
<BR>only beverage of that kind available and *permissible* and he is allowed to
<BR>smoke the Party cigarettes. He is allowed to watch whatever entertainment
<BR>there is on the many TV screens there are but which are always on and which
<BR>have no choice of channels, only the official Party channel. When there is
<BR>musical entertainment, the music is chosen by the Party and all instruments
<BR>are tuned in ET and only ET, the official temperament of the Party and
<BR>according to the Party, the only possibility there is.
<BR>
<BR>While watching some musical entertainment, another Party member turns to
<BR>Winston and says, "Isn't that beautiful?" Winston shakes for a moment but
<BR>manages a smile and says, "Yes".
<BR>
<BR>Winston is awakened the next morning at 6 a.m. sharp by the loud siren which
<BR>sounds each morning. The siren has two horns tuned in an ET minor 3rd. He
<BR>drinks his Party coffee sweetened with saccharin and shaves painfully with
<BR>his month old razor blade. Lively sounding electronic music in which all
<BR>pitches are strictly ET, according to Helmholtz' table, blare from the TV
<BR>screen in his room. He has no control of the volume. He must listen and
<BR>accept whatever Big Brother presents, and he must say "It is beautiful" when
<BR>questioned.
<BR>
<BR>*********************************
<BR>
<BR>I'm sure Glad that PTG has not yet gone to the point of officially dictating
<BR>ET as the only acceptable and/or *permissible* way to tune the piano the way
<BR>the Luthier Guild has gone on record for the guitar.
<BR>
<BR>
<BR>Bill Bremmer RPT
<BR>Madison, Wisconsin</FONT></HTML>