Ben meets Bono

This song was 13-year-old Michael Jackson's first No.1 solo single (1972), and despite its popularity, it is said few know this is a song about a rat! It is a theme song of an American horror film about a boy's friendship with a pet rat called Ben.

Since it sings about true friendship, it reminded me of U2's song, "Please".

This song deals with what is true love, and how you can attain it. I've seen its music video quite a few times on MTV (US) in 90s. Having no lyrics of it on hand and virtually no background knowledge of political realities in Ireland, I relied on the visuals and interpreted that the message was "lowering yourself ( one example of which is begging ), is not how you get love". Even after I learned what it's all about, I wouldn't say I was completely wrong, because people who depend so much on his or her identity of any sort can be the ones with low self-esteem. Without them, they feel they are worth nothing.

Bono explains; “It’s essentially about fundamentalism, political or religious. Religious fundamentalism is where you get to shrink God; you remake God in your own image, as opposed to the other way around.” Talking about politics that affect our everyday lives, he points out that the problems often come from "... people who think ideas are more valuable than people. "

The visibility of Love; the extreme case in Bosnia

When love becomes just ideas and cannot be felt in the everyday lives of people, let alone ideals which makes it lofty to reach, love becomes something to fight for at the expense of others.
Since I had little knowledge about Ireland, I picked up a book about murals in Northern Ireland which portrays its political issues.

The Japanese author was enticed by the "real life" in Ireland that is characterized by the political tensions there. Indeed the book subtitle is "how to be rightfully restless".

He befriended people there, has studied and captured political struggles depicted in the murals. (*FYI, There is a wiki page on murals in Northern Ireland)

At first I though his way of examining what makes Ireland what it is through (changing) murals is pretty insightful and interesting. I didn't know Guevara is/was idealized by Republicans, as he has his roots in Ireland. Colorful, glorious histories told by different parties, with conviction and pride that are all courageous and mighty, all seem to be more than just "paintings", but at the end of the day, only deja vu swept me; this certainly is not something unique to Ireland.

Comparative case can be that of Yugoslavia. The Japan national football team used to have Ivica_Osim as the head coach. He really is an outstanding individual. If you are into soccer, you might have heard of him. I've read his book about his soccer life in the shadows of the Bosnian war. What I've learned was that people who didn't (need to) discriminate others based on ethnicity, all of a sudden became ethnocentric after Tito has left. The geopolitics and economy certainly came into play; there is a common trend shown here that once people are threatened and can no longer lead peaceful lives, they resort to identities (ideologies included).

It is explained in the book on the Northern Ireland that the government has been replacing the murals with happier, and healthier images which are not directly related to politics.
The author seems to miss "the good old days" where drama can be found in the murals, but this I don't know.
Who'd need a drama in real life that keep feeding on hatred and terror that actually destroy people's lives?

About a decade ago, Osim was chosen by FIFA as the head of the interim committee to run the Football Association of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The country had been suspended from all international competitions for failing to exist as unified entity at that time. Thanks to his patient effort to promote dialogue for mutual understanding, Croatians, Servaians and Muslims became one to be qualified for the world cup.

Even politicians obeyed him because his sincerity is expressed in the everyday actions of his, with no empty promises which are only meant to appeal to the mass. He was praised by the media; "He's done it! Even UN and Europarliament couldn't unite Bosnia!".

When he was the head coach of the Yugoslav national team before he had to leave due to the bombardment in his hometown, he didn't give in to the pressures from the media and different ethnic groups to favour their own interests. His players' livelihood was threatened, too, if their plays contributed to their team's losses. Indeed, target of attacks was not limited to the opposing groups, but was directed to those who are within their own groups, too. Nationalism has made that possible.

Osim loves his hometown Sarajevo very much, but refuses to identify himself according to his ethnicity. He calls himself "a man of freedom".

I prefer to take a realistic view that unless social inequalities ( regarding access to jobs, education and such ) and economic problems are solved, it is hard to get rid of sectarianism. If you can't wait for charismatic, capable politicians to run your country ( arguably, that was Tito, to many. Wasn't he the one who wasn't an extremist or a purist of ideologies after all, while trying to maintain political balance both inside and outside the nation? ) or find your golden goose anywhere, what can you do to save yourself? Who can truly liberate him- or herself?

Surely there are such things as healthy identities. One may be a "dad" to his son, a "colleague" in his company, a happy "weekend DIYer", but those can be mere clothes he puts on and takes off depending on the environment. He is himself regardless of what he wears.

When identities become armours and weapons for the sake of your ego, you'll likely have problems with others and yourself also, because you rely on them so much that you feel you're naked and offended without them.

Speaking of Ireland, my biggest takeaway from the aforementioned book was that people in Ireland absolutely love poems. Generally speaking, people in Japan, too... we've got Haiku.

Something sweet, please!

I actually haven't followed U2's music, but since they are very successful, their songs can be heard everywhere, so I know this song. It's only recently, though, that I discovered this song was actually offered by U2 to Boyzone, but they declined, judging it wasn't really their song. It seems they regretted their decision, but I personally do think it wouldn't sound like Boyzone's song, either, no matter how they arrange it. It was Bono's personal song, as he wanted to apologize to his wife for not being able to celebrate her birthday because of his job, anyway.

...am I the only one who thinks even if the title was "Stupidest Thing", the song would not lose its essence and somehow the presence of love could be felt even a little greater? I say so because, love often starts from something simple and small, and can often be found in trifles of daily life. Glorification of it can damage its naiveness in the worst possible way. One example of which is, of course, can be seen in their song I introduced earlier.

So, this video shows Bono needed Boyzone to make it even sweeter, anyway, right, right?

Finally, it's time to meow; Bob's legacy

It was only natural for me to check what's up with James after picking Ben to write a post about, and I found out that his best friend, Bob, passed away due to traffic accident last year (2020).

If you haven't watched Bob the Street Cat yet, (I haven't read the book, the books may be better to some) I personally recommend this precious piece that illustrates human-animal friendship.

It contains heavy themes such as homelessness and drug addiction, and the depiction of grueling withdrawal symptoms are so real that it succeeds in highlighting the darkness of society fed by instant gratification with a flood of stimulus. People are encouraged to feel good about themselves and if we fail, only a couple of choices seem to be available; violence or escapism.

How was Bob special compared to people? Bob didn't judge, labeling him as losers and such. We don't know if he even had a high expectation of James! He was just with him always.

I know this because my family used to keep a cat, too. She was only doing cat things, sleeping 70%, eating 10% of the time. The most memorable thing for me is that I was the only one in my family to be honored to feed her at 4-5 am when she came scratching my door. My mom cried when it was time to say goodbye, talking to her soul, "Thank you so much for having chosen us to stay with!" (yes, she was a stray cat, too) Her presence in my family was so huge and only after she left did we learn how big it was, how deep her love was.

Now it's so easy to love celebrities for many of us... but to love your enigmatic neighbors who may not necessarily be doing what you like?

It's been such an irony that identities, which people cling to in order to gain social recognition, too often work against building favorable relationship with others.

Maybe only after freeing oneself can one start to relate to others, being able to understand and accept them as they are.

Very nice song selection.
"Somewhere over the Rainbow" (cover song of The Wizard of Oz's) sung by a Hawaiian singer, Israel Kamakawiwoʻole.
...and I've just found out that Steo has sung this song in front of public! How I wish I could listen to it!!
Bob (& Israel?) has invited us to join him here with this music...!

UPDATE: I've just found out (Sep'21) that James has been (nearly) broke despite all the money he's earned from his movies and books. James claims he's been victimized by those who've taken advantage of him, while the filmmaker, Adam Rolston has warned that James has been deceiving his fans through online fund-raising scams. Now I don't know who's right or wrong... with the limited information out there, it's hard enough for me to tell.

In either case, it is safe to say money and fame can equally have devastating effects on one's life as drugs do... and this innocent cat, Bob, has nothing to do with what people do with these things. It's a tragedy to know there seems to be no happy ending after Bob has left, but for the sake of what he's done to his human friend, I will not erase/edit my post above but limit myself to mentioning what I've learned here. Yes, I'm sad.How much darker can things get if you don't find the light inside?

This brought me to tears.

This is indeed the mural painting calling for peace, teaching the world the value of it which the world is dearly in need to share. I can never truly express my sincere gratitude toward such a passionate, considerate soul with deep human understanding and empathy. Thank you so much Mr. Ivica Osim. What you've taught us is more than soccer and worldly success.

Very sad to hear of the passing of Ivica Osim. A true Željo legend, he has real hero status in 🇦🇹, for his inspirational leadership at Sturm Graz & for his humanness. RIP Štraus from Grbavica. pic.twitter.com/jSg1SzMvBj

— Johann Sattler (@josattler) May 1, 2022

Thank you Sarajevo for choosing the photo of him leading as Japan head coach on your city hall. It means a lot to us. The only way to repay his love is , I believe, for each of us to create a more loving, peaceful environment around us.

Love and be free...!