stay strong.

things are awesome.
i've got a new daughter, violet ember gyre.
two of my all-time favorite deejays are coming into town soon...
i 'm fixing up a 95 year old house on an acre of woods within pittsburgh city limits.
replaced nearly all the utilities, removed lead & asbestos hazards
can now cook, clean, wash & sleep there...
play with the children.

also dojo. carpe noctem. u know who u r.

i'm going to try to use the internet less so i can blog more,
so look for more action soon at the event blog & here...
i owe the back catalogue of that veiled gazelle retagging...
i have tons of mp3s to post, and the sister mix to d.d.d.
.pdfs, book reviews, recipes, photos of the house, theory....

in the meantime you can join me on facebook.
note: my facebook links feed in here up top...

MORE MUSIC! MORE ART! MORE LOVE!










stay strong.

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hip hop and the occult...

so i listen to part 1 of an interview with mitch horowitz on the (occasionally goofy or dull) occult of personality podcast (which is also sometimes fascinating). a little while later, i notice mitch horowitz is guestblogging over at boingboing. he has an article up on the occult and hip hop there, which links to a piece on npr, which has an excerpt from his new book, "occult america". the piece on npr discusses the influence of 5-percenters/nation of gods and earths on hip hop artists, as well as how they differ notably from the nation of islam movement. i first delved into 5-percent material through the wu-tang manual, written by rza, but mos def, busta rhymes, rakim & big daddy kane are all affiliated with the 5-percenters. they utilize a system of "supreme mathematics", including the 8th degree, "building", which is definitely a word i hear most around emcees... "let's sit and build for a minute." insha'allah we will! this all makes me want to go back and listen to old mystik journeymen albums to see if i can decipher any occult truths!

but for real, most of the great musicians (or artists or thinkers) ply some sort of spiritual dimension to their music (or art or thought), even when they mock it in the same breath... so the article seemed kind of obvious to me... but notable still for the fact that these idea seem more mainstream, more present in pop consciousness...

saul williams, whose self-titled album is littered with occult reference

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dante's paradise

a great piece of writing was sent in answer to one of my questions... it not only answered my question but it was so charming in it's delivery i thought it would be enjoyable to others...

me (paraphrased):

"hey... what's the deal with the paradiso?"

brilliant response from an un-named genius:

"I confess to having a strong preference for the Paradiso, which is not shared by many. For whatever reason, a lot of people are intrigued by the rather creatively imagined punishments and purgative exercises in the other volumes (e.g., the proud carrying around heavy rocks on their shoulders so that they can't look up!), but as someone drawn to the classic mystics, I find the whole structure of the Paradiso-- ending with the sublime and inexpressible (even for Dante) beatific vision-- utterly fascinating. You just have to accept that it's a bit of a shortcut through the medieval mind to begin there. There's quite enough to keep one busy for a long time, because it's impossible to avoid following the footnotes into the cosmology and angelic theology of Pseudo-Dionysius (the most esoteric of the lot, who probably only made it into mainstream Christian thought because of his pseudonym), Bernard of Clairvaux, Aquinas, the Neo-Platonists, etc.

I am hardly a scholar on the subject (although I've certainly accumulated the resources to do it if I should suddenly acquire a different kind of mind.) I've always felt free to mine the metaphors liberally-- and avoid the arguments that stopped being interesting several centuries ago (not to mention Italian city-state politics-- which got Dante exiled and with some speculative time on his hands in the first place). Maybe it was exile that evoked in him such a compelling interest in the final resolution of things... And keep in mind that Dante wasn't entirely literal about all of this. There's a place where he explains that the whole distribution of the souls that he encounters into the various planetary spheres is really just an organizational convenience arranged for the benefit of his mortal mind. Rather generous of God, I think-- but one of the reasons that I retain more patience than most with classic Christian symbology. The truth in it has nothing whatsoever in common with the verifiability of the six o'clock news..."

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noticías de latino america

"when it's truly alive, memory doesn't contemplate history, it invites us to make it... ...up until a few centuries ago, the spanish word for "remember" also meant "wake up" and it's still used in that sense in some rural parts of latin america. a memory that's awake is contradictory, like us... ...it was born not to be an anchor but a catapult."

mostly random quotes selected from eduardo galeano's "upside down"

i was reminded of eduardo and (one of) his great books recently by the storm over hugo chavez handing barack obama one of his books. i read it during john jota leaños's AMAZING class, "technomythologia" at carnegie mellon university. "upside down" is chock full of facts and stories, blurbs and boxes, pictures and power. it takes on the odd (upside down) relationship between the latino/latina/chicano/chicanas in the south and the gringos of the u.s. it tells tragic tales, but his writing has a humanity and humor and respect it think is crucial to actually make the truth digestable and inspirational.

things could be said to be going a little better in latin america, what with hugo chavez and evo morales and michele bachelet and christina fernández de krichner in power, but there are still sketchy things going on, with help from america. of course there is plan colombia, but did you know about the ILEA(international law enforcement academy)?

"Though lack of transparency makes it impossible to know the content of courses, the conduct of the Salvadoran police—who compose 25 percent of the academy’s graduates—has shown an alarming turn for the worse since the ILEA was inaugurated. In early May 2007, the Archbishop’s Legal Aid and Human Rights Defense Office (Tutela Legal) released a report implicating the Salvadoran National Police (PNC) in eight death squad–style assassinations in 2006 alone. Meanwhile, the Salvadoran Human Rights Defense Office has also published reports connecting the PNC to death squads and repeated cases of corruption and misconduct. While US interest in ILEAs is to ensure an environment that protects free trade and US economic interests, the PNC has played an active role in a crackdown against civil liberties, aimed at curbing both crime and social protest."

in more happy latin american news, i'm spinning SUPER HOT LATIN SHIZNIT at the may day global crunk edition of PANDEMIC... MAY 1st @the brillo box 10pm-2am. expect to hear merengue típico, cumbia crunk, and this completely ill brazilian dubstep track i'm listening to right now... i'm spinning 10:45-11:30, but if you riot on the dancefloor i'll go longer! pete pandemic and juddy will play their typical lovely blend of afro house & coupe decale, balkan brass, ukranian dancehall, badass bhangra & turkish freak out tunes...

facebook event page here!

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anti-racist swastika activism

i was reminded today of one of the weirdest people on the planet, manwoman. i originally heard of him the research's excellent book "modern primitives". he makes some art, writes poetry, but weirdest of all he is dedicated to saving the "swastika". for those who don't know, the swastika as a symbol goes back to neolithic times, with many beautiful meanings. the nazis really ruined it for everyone... hear's the nutty fellow explaining all the different historical uses for you... the swastika stuff starts about a minute in after his explanation of the third eye...

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brian's contribution

reminds me of a list mark dixon had once.  it was like sleep for 8 hours, work for 10 hours, drink for four hours and beat the hell out of those who got it comin' to em for 2 hours.  if i find the original (i got a note of it somewere... including our version with more sex in it...) i'll post it.

anyway, this image came from the blog of the translator/mystic brian browne walker.  great site.  at times erotic, at times violent, always thoughtful, loving and honest.  and his translations are the shit.  his version of the tao te ching is the best of the four or so i've read...

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leftover night (or "smorgasbord")

i think i should do this more often so that it won't be as big as this, but...
i'm going to clear out my blog ideas bookmarks.
MOST OF THEM... right now... get ready:

first off, a clear picture of jupiter:

ahh, how nice. and now, teh links:

brain reacts to a hand transplant
weird light sculpture photos here and here
beautiful post it note cascade video
russia newspaper predicts u.s. apocalypse
urb's top ten rap debate songs.
article has funniest. title. ever.
steal back your vote comic.
sheriff refuses to evict people.
martial law imposed if bailout not passed.
8 hacks to make firefox much faster.
the green-collar economy book.
sensors powered by trees.
1 in 4 mammals face extinction.
nytimes ownership gossip.
top ten reasons to become a "new radical".
yet more crow intelligence here and here.
florida gop voter fraud again.
site claims bloggers can make a difference
dems look at policies that wrecked economy.
very interesting color i.q. test... it's hard!
victoria reynolds weird, meaty artwork
cutup collective's baltic work.
rabbi's against the existence of israel video
7 people with real mutant superpowers
do you know about the overton window?
bill o'reilly defends obama... wow.
oops, missed this call to action.
sort of obsolete palin articles here and here.
scholarly article on hedonism.
amazing spraypaint art technique.
drawing every person in new york city.
funny little nature boats, pooh sticks!
trash formed into awesome shadow art.
portable cardboard table... nice design.
guerilla marketing reverse grafitti.
3d, light and geek grafitti.
tile patterns of the alhambra analysis.
awesome layered glass painting of xia xiaowan.
illusions with record covers.
book reccomendations from 17 leading scientists.
boost your memory with the palace technique.
rare brain disease effects creativity, also "bolero"
top ten strange phenomena of the mind.
i don't know if i believe this, but...
the anatomy of sarcasm.
trains that don't stop moving?
teese cheese and ice scream.
i have no idea why i have this link.
vectors for free.
how to trick your printer into using it's ink.
how to get free airport wi-fi.
10 creative ways to deal with junk mail.(make paper!)
how to persuade customer service reps to help you.
25 ways to simplify your life with kids.
article on sharing parenting duties... we do this.
beautiful oak photograph.
9 ways to start a fire without matches.
thousands of starlings do weird things together.
the almiqui... bizarre!
plants prefer their relatives.
urban homesteading article.
marijuana experiment movie and law attempt.
study on inequality and the effects of physical pain
organizing without organizations.
sensible units.
blind 5-year old piano prodigy.
the bodhisattva vows.
geek out about colors
orange jews.
writing excersise prompt.
pirate bay breaks 12 bazillion users.
the unapologetic mexican.
independent bookstore book finder.
call the future.org
online radio guide.
interesting online graphics programs.
everything someone found funny for one year.
dear-god.net, an interesting community blog.
good online arabic-english dictionary.
world's largest flashcard exchange.
make and save images of stacked cubes... album cover anyone?

and if you only ever watch one video on this site, watch this one:



i can't take it anymore... time to stop. anything good?
UPDATE: from the comments, patrice adds some links...

monkey's using robot arms or "what my brother does in Pgh
Off-beat bride. I'm not really an endorser of weddings, but the photos on the cite are always fun to look at. Basically my form of reality TV/Lifetime TV
tiny
twistori
Just Seeds Updates
quick and good
Geek Fun
Surveying the Interstices of Art and Medicine, Death and Culture.
cute
yum
the the other half does
favs
great investment, great guys who designed it, good cause that they put $ to
endless amusement
he was a trainwreck
OH goodness
a friend's new website
next project

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a people's history of american empire

there's no question that "a people's history of the united states", and it's companion oral history history "voices", are two of the most important modern historical efforts. howard zinn is criticized by some for his obvious lefty leanings, but i saw howard zinn speak once, and he was an erudite and open-minded speaker, and despite being very charming, didn't at all come off as a blind partisan or foolish radical... he came off as someone who documented some very sad truths and took what delight he could in the struggle that he saw as necessary... long sentence, but the point is that book is now available in comic book form... here's a video preview, narrated by danish hunk, viggo mortensen:

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incredible medieval manuscript scans

an incredible amount of illuminated medieval manuscripts have been scanned at the colombia university digital scriptorium. they have highlights, and search function, and high res scans. above is the only entry marked "alchemy" though...

if anyone is interested, i have some information regarding the sufi connection to european alchemy, but i wont jump the gun with that...

via metafilter

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albert hofmann 102 years

albert hofmann passed on... his "problem child", L.S.D. is easily among the most influential discoveries of the past 100 years.

albert discovered lysergic acid diethylamide while searching for medically useful derivatives of ergot (which coincidentally may have been involved in much earlier strangeness)


during the cold war, the CIA was interested in it as a potential "truth serum" and ordered 100,000,000 does from sandoz, the company that produced LSD while it was legal. a GREAT book documenting this history entirely from documents released through the Freedom of Information Act is Acid Dreams, the complete social history of LSD.

psychiatrists have been very interested from the start, but research was put on hold when LSD was made illegal in late 1966. recently there has been a renewed effort to have the drug studied under scientific circumstances. among other uses, it has shown remarkable potential to combat alcoholism.

most of all it has blown a lot of minds.

let's let the doctor speak for his creation...

"I believe that if people would learn to use LSD's vision-inducing capability more wisely, under suitable conditions, in medical practice and in conjunction with meditation, then in the future this problem child could become a wonderchild."

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scan - islamic geometry how-to

from the incredibly intricate, instructive, "islamic design - a genius for geometry" by daud sutton (one of the "wooden books" i just got) i've looked at some other great books on islamic patterns like keith critchlow's classic "islamic patterns - an analytic and cosmological approach", but this book seems to go more into the construction of the patterns from a geometrical perspective, and while it touchs on some of the symbolism and metaphysics, it is less absorbed in this aspect than the critchlow book. get out your compass and straight edge! (or adobe illustrator...)

NOTE: click on these for very legible 2000 pixel - wide versions.

eight fold rosettes:


making things fit:


self similarity:


muqarnas:

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scan - the best dome

my first scan is the beautiful roof of the timchah amin dawlah in kashan, iran. click on it for the big version and check out the staircases... awesome. from the lavishly illustrated "sufi: expressions of the mystic quest" by laleh bakhtiar, a decent book from the excellent thames and hudson art & imagination series. (that link only shows like eight of the 30+ titles for some reason... i'd reccomend the sacred geometry book, the zen book and oddly, the surprisingly informative angel book by the sketchy but impossible-to-ignore peter lamborn wilson a.k.a. hakim bey.)

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art of christine gray

above: "rabbit tureen"

i think i'd like her work even more if it was even less representational... but interesting color sense and great use of perspective. speaking of perspective, i got four more books in the mail from wooden books, including "perspective and other optical illusions", "islamic design - a genius for geometry", "useful mathematical and physical formulae", and "li - dynamic form in nature". haven't read them yet, but the pictures are beautiful and instructive.

painting via spencer attackerman an awesome blogger...

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brief vacation post - borges

borges was blind. his writing wasn't.

i'm traveling. funeral, friends. back tuesday.

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art made of books - a four part post

1. a lot of people on the blogosphere have posted about brian dettmer's book autopsies, with good reason... very meticulous. some of them are boring in terms of what is revealed, but the technique is gold. also love this one.


2. also worth mentioning is georgia russell's work. the gun below is atypical of her work (UPDATE: actually the work of robert the as this page confirms! only the very shredded work on my link is hers), but i find the title/form juxtaposition really funny. robert the does a few cool pieces with books linked into chains.


3. on a more functional tip, jim rosenau takes the floating book shelf idea a step further with humorous contextual elements, and sometimes other objects, although his are more obviously shelves. he even makes some classic bookcases out of encyclopedia sets... i would build one if we had the space for that style of shelf.


4. finally, if you want to get rid of old books, but don't want to spend the time on crafting them into something else, you can trade them for books you want very easily through paperbackswap.com. just for joining, you get three free credits (at least thats how it was when we joined a couple years ago.) you can use a credit to have any book listed on the system sent to you, free of charge. you can create a wishlist, and whenever a book from your wishlist appears, you are notified, and can have it sent. you can list the books you have, and if anyone requests them, paperbackswap will print a mailing label and calculate the exact postage, so you can mail them from your mailbox... we used it to trade crappy romance novels from the trash for great books, like those featured in the art & imagination series. note: there are other sites like this, but i can endorse paperbackswap having used it...

(UPDATE: my sister had difficulties using this site because she's a minor... she recommended bookmooch)

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resonatta

this resonance emulator is pretty sweet. load the page, and it goes, you can click and drag on the moving image and it will effect the resonance patterns. this looks like a 4d interactive psychedelic version of some of the images in "harmonograph - a visual guide to the mathematics of nature" (from the excellent wooden books publishers) that laura's father john shaffer (click his name for a link to an interview about his book on st. winifred's well) got me for chronikah.

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