Phenomenon | Kevin Barrett's Blog

Posts Tagged ‘Phenomenon’

Still Searching For The Perfect Chord

Posted in 2025 Book Review, Book Review, General Comments, Music, Reviews, tagged Alzheimer's Disease, Biology, Brain Plasticity, Daniel J. Levitin, Depression, General Comments, Hallelujah, I Heard There Was A Secret Chord: Music As Medicine -- book review, John Travolta, Leonard Cohen, Lucy, Music, Parkinson's Disease, Phenomenon, Science, Scientific Reductionism, Strong Book Recommendation on April 5, 2025| Leave a Comment »

“I Heard There Was A Secret Chord: Music As Medicine” (2024©) — book review
Today’s book review is for a “general public” book written by Daniel J. Levitin. It is a survey of the status of studies on the use of sounds (specifically music) in the general science of biology (specifically medicine). Even with a limited knowledge of science and music, pretty much all of us “know” that music can effect us on multiple levels – emotional, physical and psychological – frequently for good, but sometimes not so “good”. The author has spent many years studying this effect as a neuroscientist and has also been a working musician. I feel this has offered him an opportunity to accumulate and catalogue a fair number of anecdotal stories and the results of some actual controlled experiments in order to provide his analysis of this status of knowledge / summary for the general reader. Specific illnesses referred to include: Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s, depression, and chronic pain, but this really isn’t a book about specific illnesses. Levitin tells us about how music (sound) has been used as a form of treatment (medicine) across many cultures and for all of known history.

The first part of the title is a lyric from the song: “Hallelujah” written by the late Leonard Cohen. As mentioned, the author has spent time as a working musician and many of his anecdotes walk a thin line between being interesting / informative and kind of “just” name dropping. I, personally, like this song a great deal, so it’s use in the title was more of a hook than an annoyance.

Is this a good book? Is it thought provoking? Is it entertaining? Interesting? Yes. Yes. Not really. And, yes.

Good: I found the book to be a reasonably fast and enjoyable read. I tended to read it in blocks of 10-15 pages or a single chapter at a time as this allowed me to “process” / internalize what was covered. I was not particularly interested in the names and various parts of brain anatomy – mainly because the parts don’t really have much significance for me. This was a fair chunk of the early sections, so this was a bit of a slog for me. As it got going, more thought provoking snippets about music were introduced and I started to get more “into” the book. I’m not sure if this was just the author’s style or if he felt he needed to lay some biology groundwork before getting around to the less “firmware” topics.

Thought provoking: The brief statements about the history of brain imaging were definitely more interesting to me, but they got significantly less coverage / explanation. I did like Levitin’s weighing in on the “Lucy” question. The “Lucy” question refers to the SciFi movie trope of what percentage of our brain is in use at any point in time. The general trope is: “We only use 10% of our brains at any time, and if only we could use 100% we’d be able to…” The movie “Lucy” is about a lady who accidentally gets a drug which gives her increased simultaneous access to a greater proportion of her brain. It’s similar to the John Travolta movie “Phenomenon“, where Travolta’s character gets a form of brain cancer which has the same effect. Interestingly (to me) the increased access leads to the deaths of both main characters. Anyway, Levitin says we now know we all use all of our brain at the same, just for different things. Modern science tends to “reductionism” analysis as a means of trying to find a direct and specific cause of something. Medical science indicates the human brain doesn’t assign tasks / responsibilities in this “exact” way. There is “some” of it (targeted brain function), but the brain has remarkable “plasticity” and can pull in other parts of the brain to “cover” for when a normally assigned area is damaged (injury or illness).

Entertaining: No. Not so much really. This is not a book I’d describe as: “Wow! I really want to go back and read that again!” But, then again, there aren’t many books I can say that about…

Interesting: Definitely. When I think about “Science”, I always have to define in my mind whether I mean “real” science or “mathematically supported” science. The difference being: is there a control and a repeatable process or do we need to use statistics to establish degrees of confidence. While biology is normally referred to by the public as a “science”, when you talk to a practitioner, they frequently speak of the “art of medicine”. In general, most of modern Western medicine is emergency / fix-it stuff (broken bones and surgery) while therapeutic medicine tends more to the “art” side. Levitin almost specifically concedes “music as medicine” is therapeutic art and not controlled science. Music makes many of us feel better. But no specific music makes ALL of us feel better. Further, the specific music which helps you now – today, may not help you later – today, or even tomorrow – next week; let alone at relatively distant points in each of our lives. We change and our tastes in music changes. Therefore, we can lean towards our favorite songs / music, but we can never absolutely rely on music to help us in a specific way. And, so, the controlled methodology of science eludes us…

Final recommendation: strong recommendation! As popular science written for the general population goes, I found this an interesting book. I’m a little disappointed I didn’t learn the specific “secret chord that pleased the Lord“, but that was probably a bit too much to hope for. Oh well, back to practicing my chords and scales…

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Click here (5 April) to see the posts of prior years. I started this blog in late 2009. Daily posting began in late January 2011. Not all of the days in the early years (2009-2010) will have posts.

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Speaking Of Death

Posted in Movie Review, Movies, Reviews, tagged 9 1/2 Weeks, Bryce Dallas Howard, Cécile de France, Clint Eastwood, Frankie McLaren, George Lonegan, Jason Marcus, London, Marie Lelay, Matt Damon, Paris, Phenomenon, Poor to Moderate movie recommendation, San Francisco, The Martian - Extended Cut on June 21, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Hereafter (2010) — movie review
Today’s review is for the 2010 romantic / drama movie “Hereafter” starring Matt Damon as George Lonegan (a psychic), Cécile de France as Marie Lelay (an investigative TV reporter / anchor person) and Frankie McLaren as Jason Marcus (a young boy who’s twin brother dies). The characters are based in San Francisco, Paris and London (respectively). The basic plot tells the story of their individual experiences with death and how the three threads finally touch each other.

The story begins with the big action scene – the 2004 Indonesian tsunami and how it nearly kills Lelay. She “dies” and is “brought back”. Thus, her near death experience. We then shift to London where we get the life story of Jason. He is put in foster care after his mother is taken for drug addiction / rehab and his twin brother dies when running out in the street to escape street bullies. Lonegan is a “former” psychic who has abandoned his “calling” because he is tired of living with other people’s deaths and loss.

Blah, blah, blah… Long story… Jason helps George meet up with Marie. Happily ever after.

Is this a good movie? Acting, drama, special effects, worth your time? Not particularly; ok to good; not really (far too predictable); so-so at best; it depends on your reason for wanting to watch it in the first place.

Acting: I am a pretty big Matt Damon fan, but, this is not one of his best roles so it’s difficult to judge the performance. Here, Damon is expressive in subtle ways, so I would say his performance is better than the role. I don’t know anything about Cécile de France, but the camera mostly loves her. I say mostly because there are some scenes where she comes across as anorexic more than dead. Is that her fault, the makeup or the direction? I don’t know her work enough to judge. McLaren is pretty good to very good as the “abandoned, isolated, but hopeful” child. It’s my first time seeing him, too. So, again, it’s tough to be overly critical or to rave about how great a career he may ahead. He does the job, which is pretty good for a young actor.

Drama: This movie didn’t work for me as a “drama”. It was far too predictable and – truth be told – felt like 75 to 90 minute story dragged out to over 2 hours. There is a secondary love interest, starring Bryce Dallas Howard as “Melanie” which takes a long time to develop, and then goes nowhere, and then ends suddenly. This relationship features one of those incredibly sensual scenes where (in turn) one of the actors is blind-folded while the other is feeding them and asking them questions. It is reminiscent of “9 1/2 Weeks” (eating strawberries) or “Phenomenon” (Travolta getting his shave and haircut). This is a terrifically shot scene; it’s just lost in an otherwise mostly forgettable movie. Heck, I almost forgot it for this review.

Special effects: There are really only two special effects: the opening scene tsunami and the periodic “afterlife” communication scene(s). I’m not sure why the tsunami doesn’t work for me. It just didn’t. As for the afterlife scenes, well, they’ve just been done in too many other movies – and frankly, done better.

Worth your time: If you believe in a “hereafter / afterlife”, and want to believe we can communicate with those who’ve passed on, this movie is for you. I’m fairly religious and old enough to hope there is more to here than what we see – so check (kind of). I’m a big fan of Matt Damon and a tease popped up on YouTube – so, I was hooked. If you like any of the other actors or just like to watch Clint Eastwood directed movies, then again, worth your time. Otherwise, I think you’ll find this movie a bit of a slog. Unfortunately, I did.

Final recommendation: poor to moderate. This isn’t a bad movie. I just didn’t find it a particularly good one.

Post-script: I then turned around an (re-)watched “The Martian – Extended Cut” starring Matt Damon to clean my palette. This was the fifth or sixth time I’ve watched this movie and I still think it’s a terrific movie! A much better way to spend two hours (plus)… But that’s just me.

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Click here (21 June) to see the posts of prior years. I started this blog in late 2009. Daily posting began in late January 2011. Not all of the days in the early years (2009-2010) will have posts.

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Twice Moved

Posted in 2013 Book Review, Book Review, Faith Family and Friends, Movies, Philosophy, Quotes, Reading, Reviews, tagged 2013 Book Review, André Maurois, Émile Salomon Wilhelm Herzog, Benjamin Disraeli, Cecil Gaines, Disraeli: A Picture of the Victorian Age - book review, Eugene Allen, Forest Whitaker, Forrest Gump, Highly Recommended Movie, Highly Recommended Reading, John Travolta, Kyra Sedgwick, Lee Daniels The Butler - movie review, nom de plume, Oprah Winfrey, Phenomenon, Philosophy, Quotes, Time-Life Reading Program Special Edition, U.S. Civil Rights Movement on August 24, 2013| 11 Comments »

Today’s posting is about a book I’ve just completed last night and a movie I saw today.

The book is titled: “Disraeli: A Picture of the Victorian Age“, (1936©) reprinted in 1980, and written by André Maurois. Maurois is actually the nom de plume for Émile Salomon Wilhelm Herzog, but interesting enough, he legally changed his real name to that for which he was famous. Maurois was in the French military when he wrote his first book and the military was banned from publishing.

This book is the second I’ve read from the Time-Life Reading Program series which I collected back in the 1980’s. More specifically, this is the book upon which I based my decision to begin purchasing the series. I originally read this book in my young teenage years. I don’t recall if I was in the eighth grade of grammar school or a freshman in high school. At any rate, it was a fantastic look at another time (Victorian Age) and political system (British Parliament) which combined political maneuvers with a true romantic background story and it captivated me.

After his wife (Mary Anne) dies from old age (and cancer), Disraeli begins going through their effects in preparation for moving out of her ancestral home which must be passed on to its inheritor:

“Every fortnight for thirty-three years, Mary Anne had cut her husband’s hair, and every time the harvest had been garnered in a small sealed packet. He found hundreds of them.”

This struck me, even as a teen, as such a personal and loving act (both the cutting and the saving of the cuttings) that I believe it set a standard for me to judge male/female relationships. To this day, when I watch the movie “Phenomenon“, starring John Travolta and Kyra Sedgwick (and Forest Whitaker), I am reminded of this book. If you’ve never seen the movie, there is a tremendously sensual scene in the movie where Sedgwick shaves Travolta and cuts his hair. By “sensual” I mean it exudes sexuality without having any “sex” in the scene at all.

By way of contrast, I discussed the above quote with my daughter and she felt is was “creepy” and “like a stalker”. She felt there was no romance / affection in either act, at all.

Another point, which may be of interest to only me – I’ve been “saving” this book for almost 40 years, knowing I was going to re-read it, but in no hurry, because it was going to be like re-meeting an old friend. I don’t often re-read books because most of my reading tends to be technical in nature. I do enjoy re-reading some books – novels in particular. I assume it is because they engage me without trying to teach me. (That’s just a guess…) In this case, I was waiting for the above story, but I did not recall it was told after the wife’s passing. When Mary Anne died from cancer, I briefly convinced myself that I must have read a different book when I was young and I had purchased the series based on a complete mistake! Not that it would have mattered so much, but it seemed an irony that I was looking forward to meeting my old friend, only to find out I would be meeting a distant relative (a book about the same topic, but by a different author). So I got a chuckle (to myself) when I found it was the correct book.

No, I haven’t said much about the book – by way of review, anyway. Suffice it to say, it’s a very well written book, a fast read, a romanticized biography, and a fascinating story of a man who rises to great stature on the strength of his intelligence, ability and determination. Highly recommended!! As an aside, on researching Maurois, I found dozens of great quotes which you will no doubt be seeing over the coming months.

Today’s movie was: “Lee Daniel’s The Butler“, which depicts a fictionalized version of true story about a man (Eugene Allen) who served eight U.S. President’s over a 34 year period of working in the White House. The story is one of quiet dignity and strength contrasted against a turbulent period of time which covers the “Civil Rights” movement during the latter half of the 20th century. The main character (Cecil Gaines is the name used in the movie) is played by Forest Whitaker who I feel will almost certainly get a Best Actor nomination, if not win the Oscar, for this performance. He is brilliant! Oprah Winfrey does a very good job in playing the spouse and there is an all-star cast filling out many of the other roles.

In a manner similar to “Forrest Gump“, the movie intersperses historical TV footage with acting. To this extent, the film is certainly not original, but it is no less powerful. If anything, there is almost too much happening in Civil Rights for one to take it all in. Young viewers may be surprised to see how far the nation has come in just the single life-times of their parents or grand-parents. Having grown up and lived through the period, I was profoundly moved by the entire film.

Is this a “made for Oscar” movie? Yes, blatantly so. It vividly shows the horrors of racism and contrasts that with the dignity of a working man who only seeks a safe life for his family and a better life for his children. The cast is strong and the story is accurate chronologically (if not entirely factual to Allen’s life). More importantly, it touched me as a father, a working man and a family man with similar goals. I saw this movie with my mother, sister and nephew (Kyle) and my mom and sister were tearing up just as much as me. This is a MUST see movie and I highly recommend it!!

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Click here (24 August) to see the posts of prior years. I started this blog in late 2009. Daily posting began in late January 2011. Not all of the days in the early years (2009-2010) will have posts.