Cyril Lionel Robert James was born in the British colony of Trinidad on January 4, 1901. James was a bright youth who absorbed literature, history, music, sports, and art-the foundational texts of Western civilization. He attended Queen’s Royal College in Port of Spain, but chafed at the rigid disciplinarianism of the educational British system. Yet he was deeply interested in and influenced by the game of cricket introduced by the British and became a local cricket reporter before turning to fiction. James wrote several early works of fiction in Trinidad before sailing for England in 1932 at the age of 31. While in England, James spent a great deal of time focusing his writing on issues relevant to the expatriate West Indian community. He published The Case for West Indian Self-Government in 1933.
James was increasingly exposed to social issues and turned to the writings of many Communist thinkers in this period. He became a major Trotskyist thinker as well as an ardent critic of fascism. He produced a play, Toussaint L’Ouverture, with Paul Robeson in the lead role which reflected his political leanings. James was becoming more interested in revolution and social liberation as well as questions of race. He published his landmark work, The Black Jacobins, in 1938, offering a Trotskyist analysis of the 1791 slave revolution in Haiti. James and his fellow Trotskyites remained opposed to Stalinism and offered virulent critiques of the system throughout the 1930s.
C.L.R. James arrived in the United States in 1938 and remained for the next twenty years. While in the U.S., he began to have doubts about the Trotskyist analysis of the Soviet Union and argued for a liberation of Marxism through a bottom-up emphasis. He also studied Whitman and Melville in this period. James returned to England in 1953 and five years later went back to his native Trinidad where he became involved in politics and the decolonization movement. James published Beyond a Boundary in 1963, a memoir and social commentary, that explored the place of cricket in West Indian and British society and its role in empire, family, masculinity, race, class, national culture, colonization, and decolonization. The work is widely viewed by critics as one of the best sports books ever written.
After 1960 James traveled widely throughout Africa and the Caribbean and was interested in the role of culture across boundaries. As a West Indian deeply-infused with Western culture, he sought to carve out a space of independence while still maintaining his love for what he saw as a series of cross-national ideals. He taught at the University of the District of Columbia starting in 1968 and wrote a series of works on culture, politics, radicalism, and revolution. James passed away on May 19, 1989 in London, England, on the brink of the collapse of the Soviet Union. He was survived by his widow Selma.
"When history is written as it ought to be written, it is the moderation and long patience of the masses at which men will wonder, not their ferocity."
- CLR James
C.L.R. James: A Revolutionary Vision for the 20th Century
Megathreads and spaces to hang out:
- ❤️ Come listen to music and Watch movies with your fellow Hexbears nerd, in Cy.tube
- 💖 Come talk in the New Weekly Queer thread
- 💛 Read and talk about a current topics in the News Megathread
- ⭐️ September Movie Nominations ⭐️
reminders:
- 💚 You nerds can join specific comms to see posts about all sorts of topics
- 💙 Hexbear’s algorithm prioritizes comments over upbears
- 💜 Sorting by new you nerd
- 🌈 If you ever want to make your own megathread, you can reserve a spot here nerd
- 🐶 Join the unofficial Hexbear-adjacent Mastodon instance toots.matapacos.dog
Links To Resources (Aid and Theory):
Aid:
Theory:
Hey tech nerds, audio nerds, help me out here, I've been kind of wanting to get a 5.1 speaker/home theater type thing for a while now because I read a while back that it can be easier to hear dialogue in tv shows and movies because it helps a lot having a center channel because that's where it's supposed to be going through
is that accurate, would it be easier for me to hear dialogue and shit like that, and if so is it worth it to get a cheaper 200-250 dollar thing (i.e. I've seen soundbars with a subwoofer and two satellite speakers) instead of saving up like 600-1000 for "something good" when I already have a shitty soundbar
Get the $50-$100 logitech speakers if you're unsure, it's a stark enough difference that they'll still blow any built-in audio out of the water tbh. You don't need to spend big bucks, and it's definitely diminishing returns the further you go.
2.1 is physically less frustrating, placement wise. 5.1 is if you want front/back differentiation on top of left/right.
I already have a 2.1 soundbar but that's just a left/right side and a subwoofer
Reading comprehension delenda est
Have you tried farting around with bass levels on your sound bar? I could see it muddying dialogue if it's up too high.
Also important to consider what media you're listening to, a mono recording will play through all speakers at flat volume, less any frequency filters and post processing.
5.1 often acts as 2-3.1 simply because you're generally only going to find a 5.1 signal on like DVD/Blu-ray (do those things still exist?). 2.1 is just a stereo signal with a subwoofer, often just using a low pass filter rather than a dedicated bass channel
Audio heads talk about the "separation" of different sound sources, the "sound stage", being able to 'physically' differentiate/place between the piano keys and the guitar strings and the singer's voice etc.
That's easier to achieve when placing the speakers further apart, generally takes some degree of technofuckery to replicate from static/closer sources such as soundbars or headphones.
That'd be the main benefit over your soundbar at present, the separation. 5.1 can be had reasonably cheap, just don't mind the mess of wires that comes with it. Even if you're not using 5.1 signals, having a rear speaker right next to your head can make hearing whatever the fuck is happening much easier.
If you look around Facebook or craigslist you may find a deal on used stuff. I got a smallish 5.1 pioneer set and a receiver for ~250.
I'm really glad I upgraded from a sound bar if makes a big difference in movie watching!
You could even piece together a partial system from used speakers. Forgoing the rear speakers and doing a 3.1 setup would still provide much improved clarity and volume while reducing cost.