March 31, 2005

A moment of silence...

Lighting candles tonite in honor of more than 1,000 lives lost in the 8.7 magnatude earthquake (plus many devastating aftershocks) that swept through Indonesia on Monday.

For those who may have not yet heard the news, here are some headlines:

Up to 1,000 Dead in Indonesian Earthquake (via Guardian UK)

Earthquake death toll continues to rise (via ABC Online, Australia)

Indonesia: Earthquake Information Bulletin (via ReliefWeb)

From what I've read so far, relief teams from all over the world are already on the way with mass supplies. US Naval ships will arrive in less than a week, several religious charity organizations as well as the UN.

Very sad loss of life, and especially tragic since this is happening so soon after the tsunami.

Just what is it about that area...

Fugging golden!


Chardman
dug up this little gem from out of an XTC bootleg site (of all places!)

Listen to Tuli Kupferberg (of Fugs fame) sing:

Go Fuck Yourself With Your Atom Bomb (mp3)

priceless!

 March 30, 2005

Bill and Frank

Frank Zappa reads The Talking Asshole
from William S. Burroughs Naked Lunch


Taken from The Nova Convention released by Giorno Poetry Systems in 1979.
(5 min 25 sec)

via grow-a-brain

File in "turn-ons" department

Did I mention how happy I am to have my Olla back?
Joy, joy, joy... bounce-bounce-bounce.

Spring has sprung and along with all of the blooming that's been going on in my garden and all around my neighborhood from the rains and intermittent sun-shiney days, I've been bouncing around all zingey and verrry-verrry fiesty (hubby can attest to this!)

So......
I've been stashing up quite a pile of linkees in my time away from blogging this last week. Here are two that go rather well together with one of my favorite obsessions-- latex.



Art With Latex: wearable latex art
gorgeous things, darlings, gorgeous things...

AND

The "High-Priestess" of Latex: Bianca Beauchamp
If I looked this good in latex I'd never leave the house! I'd be stuck to my mirror like a moth to a flame. Seriously, meeeee--yeaouwwww! NSFW.



Which reminds me....

dAS and I have had this enormous jug of black liquid latex lying around the house for quite a while now, and I wonder if it's still "good" (does liquid latex have a shelf life?) My mind is zooming.

You see, it's obsessions like these that inspire me to stick to my workout schedule. I'm up to three days a week now, and after over a year of very little exercising and getting fed up with feeling frumpy, I'm finally feeling good enough about this old bod to think about "playing dressup" around the house again. (I'm not going to ramble on about hubby's and my playtime stories here, but we have a good time and that's all I'm gonna say about that for now *wink-wink*)

New bloggie on the block

Scarab Dreamer

Another experiment in collaborative blogging begins...

Oh, I should also mention to those of you who I did not have email addresses for-- if you'd like to be invited to participate in Scarab Dreamer just pop me a comment or send email to weirdpixie@ollapodrida.net

Femmes in Audio Art

From the WPS1 Art Radio audio vaults:

PROGRAM: Recorded Matter

Host David Platzker, former director of Printed Matter Bookstore, is currently director of Specific Object.

Edition #12: First broadcast February 28, 2005

Ready for a Louise Bourgeois rap? A leap into the mosh pit with Janine Antoni? Birdcalls from Louise Lawler? A toy piano riff from Barbara Ess? Laurie Anderson isn't the only female artist to rush the barrier between music and audio art! Here artist/curator Robin Kahn and host David Platzker amuse themselves with one-of-a-kind recordings by women artists who stop at nothing to get the sound they want.

Playlist:

"O Superman (For Massenet)" Laurie Anderson Big Science, 1982
"My Companion" The Shaggs The Shaggs, 1969
"Favorite Sweater" Y Pants Y Pants, 1980
"Melodic Group Shapes" Daphne Oram Listen Move and Dance, 1962
"Nivea Cream Piece, 1962" Alison Knowles Tellus # 24, 1990
"Birdcalls, 1972" Louise Lawler Tellus #5/6, 1984
"Stand Up" Hannah Wilke Revolutions Per Minute (The Art Record), 1982
"Long Gone" Kristin Oppenheim Happy New Ear, 1992
"C'est le murmure de l'eauquichante" Louise Bourgeois untitled, 2002
"Slave Sho' To Video A.K.A. Black But Beautiful"
Tracie Morris Soundworks: Whitney Biennial 2002, 2002 3:42
"Mosh Pit" Janine Gordon Soundworks: Whitney Biennial 2002, 2002
"Operations" Dara Birnbuam
Other Rooms, Other Voices: Audio Works by Artists, 1998
Jesus Christ Superstar
Robin Kahn Robin Kahn Sings Jesus Christ Superstar, 1991 EXCERPT

 March 29, 2005

Glorious GLOR

This was sooooo worth the huge download to watch.

1001 Nights
Animated Film By Yoshitaka Amano (52.7MB zipped)



It's going to take a while to get through this latest issue of GLOR (Grey Lodge Occult Review) Issue no.15-- it's overflowing with the goodstuff. You can check out the rest of the issue here.

Ok, moving along to William S. Burroughs' Electronic Revolution...

 March 26, 2005

Metaversal Forecast 3/25-3/31

Metaversal tricks for Light-Specific dinner guests, from Johannes Ayres...

THE METAVERSAL LIGHTCRAFT
HYPER-ABYSSIC ASTROLOGY FORECAST
AND LIGHT SPECIFIC YOGA PLATFORM

FRIDAY MARCH 25
On March 25th, in the transparent March air, an angel appears, flattened against a dividend of reality so temporal, so variegated, you'll be consumed by the blank empire of its shadows. With Mercury now retrograde, you may also see the ghosts of your words, painful, beautiful, pluck at the swollen sides of the Full Moon, it's light illuminating the carcass of a fish lying on cement near the entranceway to a tavern. Down the road, a young boy approaches slowly until he reaches the spot where the fish skeleton rests. There, he glances downward then stoops over the peculiar sight. Momentarily, ecstatic, the boy lifts the piscine remains by the tail and runs off into night. This Libra Full Moon peaks just a few days after the spring equinox, so we are ready for new growth, new life. The Sun in Aries calls for assertion, action, and adventure. At the Libra Full Moon we learn how to apply/communicate the broad principles of the Aries/Libra axis. While Aries represents me and mine, Libra represe "A MAN WATCHES HIS IDEALS TAKING A CONCRETE FORM BEFORE HIS INNER VISION.

The need to visualize clearly one's dreams or ideals in order to make them truly effectual. [No, I do not read the Sabian Symbols ahead of time-Maya.] According to a French proverb, 'What is well conceived can easily be formulated.' The process of interior visualization can be quite essential (except in the case of a creative individual who has become a totally pure channel for the descent of spiritual Power, and a clear lens through which the Archetype can be projected without distortion wherever needed). INTERIOR FORMULATION in preparation for a projection of one's ideas or concepts."

SATURDAY MARCH 26
We continue with our high-energy week, which began when Mercury went retrograde on March 19. Moon is still in Libra, and relationships continue to attract us. This morning, Moon occults Jupiter. Again, this eclipse is visible in Antarctica and part of Australia. However, any of us might see Moon and Jupiter close together in the western sky in the early morning, wherever we are. Occultations accelerate energy similar to an eclipse. This acceleration provides an opportunity to uncover hidden beliefs around relating to our life, to others and to our world. What holds us back from healthy conscious relating in ways that are uplifting and supportive to all concerned? Pluto has moved through two new degrees since January, stirring up new power centers. (Pluto touches each zodiacal degree every 250 years, so it's a big deal.) Now it's time for Pluto to turn retrograde, and give us a chance to assimilate that new transformational energy. Pluto, stationing today, is giving us all a big jolt of power.

SUNDAY MARCH 27
Moon is still in Libra, and we can enjoy a sociable Sunday. This is Easter, and after being immersed in such a high-energy bath all week, we can feel like we are rising again, reborn. This morning we will have a lot to talk about, and we will search out companions with whom to share. Moon is VOC this morning, great for conversation. Moon enters Pluto's sign of Scorpio at 11:29 a.m., and the pressure is on. We get hints of the conflict which will be dominating the Metaverse next autumn. Its core is resources and disruption, and the resulting threats to security. It is a day for stumbling across lawns with a pitchfork in your back. Nevertheless, you may wish to take advantage of a claustrophilic Scorpio colleague's invitation to lunch. Avoid decorative rugs at all costs, if you know what's good for you. We may be up late tonight.

MONDAY MARCH 28
This is a day for creative work, investigative endeavors, new ideas, and special contacts. The tails of your schnauzers will droop. Mundane affairs will not capture our attention.Once just the flypaper scaffold of a vision - now a glorious reality. Once just sandgrains in a molecular hourglass - now miles of golden beaches.
A new paragraph has begun, right on cue. It has three sentences but one of them is missing.

TUESDAY MARCH 29
Sun and retrograde Mercury meet (9 Aries) beginning a new cycle of Mercury that will last until Aug 5, 2005. Mercury symbolizes our mind, our style of thinking, perception, cognition, and communication, or said another way.through what archetypal lens we perceive our reality. Mercury in Aries operates through intuitive spontaneity, acting decisively in the moment. Authentic action for Aries operates from trust, innocence, courage and is responsible for your travelling without volition in complete darkness through a familiar but unknown neighbourhood in a state of somnolevitation.

WEDNESDAY MARCH 30
Sun conjunct Venus (11 Aries) accessing a direct light source transmission transforming and renewing the divine feminine in her underworld initiation. Punches will be thrown out of windows, showering spirits upon those living below the party line. Nightcaps will be dislodged an hour later, extending daylight for the revellers and looters.

THURSDAY MARCH 31
Moon conjuncts the fixed star Ras Alhague and then Pluto. Our Lightcraft controls its renewing functions through meridian axiatonal lines which are the equivalent of acupuncture lines that can connect with resonating star systems. These axiatonal lines are not limited to a physical body or a biological creation, but are open ended and can connect the body vehicle with axiatonal lines that emanate from the various star populations and exist as chemical code mechanisms. When humanity can discover the connection between our life space and the axiatonal grids controlling the body through endless cell division we will have a new superscience known as medical astronomy. The healing mysteries linked with Rasalhague and Ophiucus also contain the mysteries of medical astronomy and are worth noting at this time.

 March 21, 2005

DW Cooper memorial photos

Here is a little photo album that I put together with pics I took at the memorial on Sunday.

Also wanted to share a little description of the day's events that I jotted down just after I got home last night (especially for those who were not able to be there):
DW's memorial gathering in the park was incredible. As I had predicted there were about twelve of us there. I showed up early and there was Don's longtime friend and Berkeley cabbie Richard, who apparently has known DW since 1971 and met him when he got here from Los Angeles and he was peddling his wares on Telegraph Ave. He and I were the first two people there and immediately got involved in swapping DW stories and setting up the table with our assorted potluck goodies.

Soon after, everyone else arrived -- all bearing gifts of food, flowers and stories of their own. Very quickly the air began to fill with yummy smells and glitter with a sort of supercharged "pixiedust" as the sun continued to pop in and out of some very ominous looking clouds. When Crystal arrived there were already several of us chatting and eating/drinking and she looked very happy and relieved to see it all.

After everyone had arrived it began to shower just a bit, so we all stood underneath a big tree and continued to visualize the sun poking back through while the food continued to cook on the grill. We then decided to form a circle and began sharing our stories and memories and a few things were read aloud. We cried, we laughed, we toasted to our brother and told him we loved him and shared several long moments of silence, listening to the sounds of nature around us. It was then that the sun began to poke through. A perfect moment. Just for DW.

Larry, a longtime friend of DW's was able to give us all a nice view of his laptop where he presented the slideshow he made of Don's artworks and several old photos (and some new ones) and the soundtrack was Beatles 'All You Need Is Love'. Another perfect moment.

At the very end of the afternoon, just after everyone had said their goodbyes and it was just down to me, Mike and Crystal sitting and looking at the canyon where we sat upon the hillside for the gathering, the last glimmer of the sun poked through and two crows flew down-- one circled right over Mike's head as he was finishing up one last DW story. It landed on a tree just over his head and began to stare him down a bit. Mike then brought up the symbology of the crow as relating to the Magician and we all then agreed that it must have been Don "looking in". The final perfect moment, three out of three. A wonderful memorial for our friend and brother.

Stand by for radio silence...

Apologies for the bloglessness lately. Have been a bit preoccupied for the past few days with social engagements. I will have many things to post here this next week and hopefully that will make up for this time-bubble.

(oh and happy Vernal Equinox everyone...)

 March 18, 2005

Eddie the Rat & Dan Deacon pics



Grabbed a few pics during last Wednesday's Eddie the Rat/Dan Deacon show at 21Grand.

Full album can be viewed here.

 March 17, 2005

No Other Radio audio archives (3/15)

Our good friend Rob Wortman brought over several rare Tuxedomoon recordings from his personal collection to spotlight the band and gear up for their upcoming San Francisco performance on 3/19 at Cafe duNord.

There's also a little shout-out at the end for good pal DW Cooper in memoriam (even though I got a bit rushed and unfortunately forgot to mention him by name!) We played the rare b-side of "They're Coming To Take Me Away" by Napoleon the 14th, which was apparently his favorite song. I think he would have really gotten a kick out of hearing it in reverse.

Check out the archived audio from the show (3/15/05)

http://157.22.130.4/data/20050316-Wed0000.mp3

Playlist is available at the No Other Radio blog

 March 15, 2005

untitled piece

I've been scribbling in my journal lately and since I haven't had too much time in the past few days to blog much I thought I'd jot down one piece from today:

reading
can sometimes
feel like stealing
stealing away
as if to have
some secret affair
for the love
of books

how many have been
swept away
to magical places
through this
strange love?

those so desperate
to lose themselves
in time
stealing moments
through dried ink
on a page
lent by hands
who are now dust

on bookshelves
still-life fruit awaits
to ripen in the sun
of imagination
golden

piling high as if to
represent infinity

the lover awaits the dreamer

Tuxedomoon (for your ears...)

Several tracks remixed and a live one (mp3s)

Tonite: KPFA 'No Other Radio'

11:59pm (PST) ::: RADIO: 94.1 FM / Berkeley CA

Tune in and listen kpfa.org (live internet stream)

:::: NO OTHER RADIO NETWORK ::::

MP3 Archives NOW AVAILABLE (in case you can't listen live)

SPOTLIGHT on TUXEDOMOON

Our good friend (and longtime BCO band-member) Rob Wortman will be bringing along several rare Tuxedomoon records and cassettes from his personal collection.

For anyone interested, Tuxedomoon is currently on tour and will be performing at Cafe duNord (San Francisco) this Saturday 3/19.

You can find more details about the band and current news at their website: http://www.tuxedomoon.com

dAS will be your host, and I will be there trance-ing out to rhythm of the blinking lights and twiddling knobs...

Station call line: (510) 848-4425

Since 1981, No Other Radio Network has pioneered and provided a forum for underground, noise, electronic, industrial, psycho acoustic and many other genres of music, in addition to featuring live interviews and performance over the airwaves.

We welcome artists to send us their works.

Archived playlists from all ubuibi-hosted N.O.R. shows are available at ubuibi

Sin City (movie out April 1st!)



Yes! Frank Miller directs! I'm having heart-palpitations from watching this trailer-- what a lineup for this one-- Bruce Willis, a dynamite-looking Jessica Alba, Elijah Wood and little "Rori Gilmore" herself (Alexis Bledel) all ho'd up for the part, who woulda thunk it? Ohhh if you loved the original graphic novel by Miller you will drool yourselves into oblivion after looking at the previews and go tour that website too.

Mmm those subtle splashes of colour in all the right places...


An adaptation of Frank Miller's stories based in the fictional town of Sin City. Chief amongst the town's residents is Marv, who trawls the darkest areas of town looking for the person who killed his one true love, Goldie.

Official movie site

Watch trailer

More movie posters

The Babylon Machine

This thing is truly evil. Don't say I didn't warn you.

GO

 March 14, 2005

Zombies Under Stress

Dig this crazy-assed monkeybeat! Turn it up (LOUD).
You won't be sitting still for long, guaranteed.

Download the full 'best of' album in mp3 format (73MB .zip) or listen to single tracks here.

ZUS started in 1984 as a one-man project. Industrial, electronic, multimedia, improvisation and association are the keywords. While in other times ZUS was a seven persons multimedia collective, now it's back to basics again. One person...

Trivial whisbees and wotnots...

I'm running completely amuck tonite and having a damned good time.

I haven't blogged anything in days so it feels really great to jump back in through the looking glass, even though our weather lately around the bay has been absolutely orgasmic and keeping me far away from anything with a screen and keyboard.

Spring is underway in a big-big way. Jasmine and other succulent bloomie smells are everywhere and the sun has been out for days so I have been getting out and enjoying it along with running errands and visiting with a few friends.

This photograph was taken on Friday out at Ocean Beach by my friend Xty and I modified it in ph.shp to bring out some of what I was feeling and sense-ing at the time.

Friday was one of those record weather days-- I don't know exactly what the temp was but it was hot, especially for March in the bay. But oh such a glorious sort of hot, especially to be out on the beach. I should have taken a moment to point my camera at the surf that day to capture some of the magnificent shapes and colours from the foam at the edge as the waves curled over like creampuffs and the mists hung low in the air, sparkly and magical. Instead I gave in and lost myself in the moment.

Wouldn't you?

Video poetry



Random link found this evening, contains several pages with video/sound art in quicktime format. Still watching through them now but I recommend body-performance. Most of these are fairly short, around 6 minutes or so.

I translated a bit of the text from the French:
video poetry (videopoetry) even if it has a history which goes up at the beginning of the century at the cinematographic level, it remains still little developed compared to the other disciplines of video, in particular the video numerical one. Too much often it is confused with the video ones which by their esthetics are known as poetic. The reflexion on the conditions of numerical video writing of poetry is thus for the moment a ground in waste land which remains to be explored.

This work is registered like attempts to include/understand the stakes of poetic writings hybrid, which regard any medium as that of the writing.

Metaphorical Clock

Clever interactive flash animation based on the ideas of discourse as presented by Michel Foucault.

 March 11, 2005

mmmmm, yarn cupcakes...


Deeee-lith-ee-yuth! (she says whilst picking chocolatey-coloured yarn threads out of her teeth...)

via Snarky Malarkey

Kerri this one was for you! (as if you couldn't tell, hehe...)

Farting backwards into oblivion...

Led Zeppelin: Stairway To Heaven - The Satanic Messages

But wait-wait! There's more...

I like the backwards "message" in this one a whole lot better than the Led Zeppelin one:

Queen: Another One Bites The Dust - The Hidden Messages

via J1 Media (home of the infamous kitty-lickin-clean screen cleaner!)

 March 10, 2005

Metaversal Newfishmoonegg

The latest from Johannes Ayres...

THE METAVERSAL LIGHTCRAFT
HYPER-ABYSSIC ASTROLOGY FORECAST
AND LIGHT SPECIFIC YOGA PLATFORM

PISCES NEW MOON
THURSDAY, MARCH 10th

Well, Your Name, have you come this far (to the end of the Lunar year) to spread intricate sadness with all possible combinations of dour gesticulations and complex facial contortions? Didn't think so. Is there any way Pisces could please you without resorting to the obvious? By the time we come to Pisces, no one ever knows what time it is, but all have the sense that it must be getting very, very late. Hey, we could rename skyscrapers cloudsnaggers. Punches could be thrown out of windows, showering spirits upon those living below the party line. Nightcaps could be dislodged an hour later on holidays, extending daylight for the revellers and looters. We've been and are everything. Identities and boundaries get very fuzzy at this stage, and they're supposed to. New Moon in Pisces reminds us that we are on an infinite journey, ever leaving, ever returning. Where have we been? And who are we? We are a raindrop. We are the ocean. As warm jets, we are ever slow here and glide lusciously, just overhead, spreading our Lightcraft's auralchemy over the topomorphic fields.

We are the particles and waves that blink in and out of existence. This is the enigma of Pisces. Paradox. Mysticism. Madness. The longing for Home and the realization that we never left. The glyph for Pisces, two fishes swimming in opposite directions, symbolizes the imperative to integrate two dimensions - the finite and the infinite. Neptune, which rules Pisces, was the mythic God of the Sea; he is associated with the swells of emotion and the vast mysteries of the collective unconscious. In the modern Western world, this is largely misunderstood territory. Chickadees have been known to fornicate with badgers here, for christsakes. We're trained to trust logic and reason, not dreams or feelings. We're rewarded for achieving material gain rather than developing our imagination or our compassion. It's no coincidence that those who struggle with addictions are often idealistic, artistic souls who have a strong connection to the twelfth sign, the 12th house, or its natural ruler, Neptune.

Eventually, we realize that spiritual longings cannot be sated by food, drugs, sex, or the right deodorant. So, what will satisfy our deepest desires? This New Moon calls us to remember our soul's yearnings. Why did we incarnate? What have we come to give? Each of us signed a prenatal contract, which can be delineated by the degrees of our natal planets and their accompanying spiritual principles. Everything seethes and churns in this region, but that's okay: it's all part of Pisces, and soon you won't notice it anyway as you enter into your own state of turbulescent grace. Whatever calls you from outside the curtain can wait. You're here now, and ready at last to open your eyes. When you do, you'll see that Time is a soft jagged wave moving through you and Space is a malleable domain sculpted by perception. Rest assured: the voluptuous terror you feel swiftly gives way to splendour. Suddenly you will re more awake than you've been since retiring from the womb. The secret phenomenological truth, encrypted against corruption at your birth but now transmitted lucidly across every synapse, is that the World is determined by imaginative volition. How much love can one being express?

Now that this has been revealed, your purpose is clear. You might as well get used to it: YOU ARE A GLORIOUS NEW REALITY! How much light can one craft carry? How much truth can one being speak?" Since this New Moon is at the 20th degree of Pisces, we might reflect on Gratitude - the deep understanding that life is a gift, not a burden or assignment." This contradicts much of our social and religious upbringing, which maintains that we have experienced a fall from Grace and must toil to be redeemed and released from the physical world. Even if we were not personally raised with this belief, it permeates our collective unconscious. At 24° Sagittarius, Pluto, the Lord of the Underworld and of unconscious realms, squares this New Moon, challenging us to investigate our most fundamental beliefs. Were we cast out of the Garden, or did we choose to come here as part of a grand Metaversal experiment? Are we born sinners, or are we Divinity playing hide and seek with itself? Is the primary purpose of life to discover what to do - or what to be? Sagittarius' domain is the territory of social, cultural, and religious conditioning; Pisces? terrain is that of spirituality and the direct perception of truth. What were we told to believe? And what do we know in our hearts?

This square nudges us to look deeper. Do not remove the special goggles just yet. What appears as blackness in this case is a visual field so rich in data you can't see the florist for the bees. So just surrender and take things [It's not necessary to write this down – it will happen to you again, in the same way] shaggy muzzle of a perfunctory dispatch nuzzles your crotch and growls at the same time you look out the window and realize its pane is really a liquid crystal display of something much nicer than what actually exists beyond the frame. There are two reasons for this. One is a secret and the other is a lie. Our Metaversal thunderbolt of revelation resembles a corkscrew in more ways than One.

The Sun and Moon trine Saturn in Cancer today, making it easier to notice synchronicities and recognize new patterns and pathways. Saturn? square to Jupiter in Libra, its opposition to Mars in Capricorn, and its square to the nodes advise us to resist conforming to what others believe or want us to believe.

The Sabian symbol for 20° Pisces is reassuring: "A table set for an evening meal; an indication that in the end and at the appointed time the individual's needs will be met among those to whom he is linked by a spiritual (or biological) web of energies."

 March 08, 2005

No Other Radio Network (new blog!)

Pooted out a brand-new blog in the past 48 hours. FYI, Blogger templates get easier to muck with after doing about three of 'em.

Anyway, the No Other Radio Network crew has really needed something like this for a while so I offered to get it going. It'll just be nice to see what some of the other NOR hosts are doing on their Tuesday spots (dAS does the 3rd Tuesday spot with me tagging along riding shotgun).

Check it out:

No Other Radio Network (blog)

 March 06, 2005

The Magic Kittens

a tribute to minimal techno
click it

Mighty big thank-u to Sauceruney who was so right when he sent this and told me that it looked like something I would post- yup, indeed it woz.

Who is Big City Orchestra?

Scroll down this page and have yourselves a fine look at the colorful cast of characters who are also bonafide "members" of the oaerckhestraeh.

This is not a complete list by any means. BCO collects new members regularly and the cast of characters is never the same for any two releases or performances. Heck, you might even be a member yourself.

Digging back to even earlier BCO times, there is also this little movie that was put together a few years ago, which showcases a collection of some of the earliest BCO members and founders from its origins during the late 1970's in southern California.

Invisible College archives

Digging out some gemstones from DW's place:

Tunneling Through Space and Time

Instant travel through time and vast reaches of space will move from the remotely possible to the manifest.

Tunneling already exists

We already have evidence of spontaneous occurrences of tunneling. Besides teleportation, tunneling may explain some (but not necessarily all) mysterious disappearances, invisibility, UFO abductions, Men in Black, fairy abductions, Bermuda Triangle disappearances, mediumistic apports (objects materialized by mediums), Bigfoot, Mothman, and a wide range of Fortean phenomena such as sudden appearances of strange creatures, rainfalls of frogs and other oddities. MORE...

 March 05, 2005

Frelling great news!

A Coup for Farscape's syndication

Debmar Studios/Mercury Entertainment have informed us that they've finalized the deal that will put Farscape on Superstation WGN this fall in syndication. Superstation WGN, owned by Tribune Broadcasting, is carried on cable and satellite nationally in over 65 million homes. This is a major coup for Farscape.

Art in your pocket



ATC stands for Artist Trading Card.

The very basics

As their name indicates, ATC are collectables, a brilliant idea born of the older sports-themed trading cards. The one rule that makes an ATC derives from their origins: the dimensions of the ATC must be 2.5"x3.5", or 64x89mm.

To this rule are appended a couple of conventions. First, an ATC mustn't be sold, only exchanged, as the whole essence of these tiny works of art is about artists meeting (by correspondence or online if need be) and exchanging their works, thus meeting many artists and getting exposed to many personal styles. Second, on the back of each ATC the artist writes part or all of the following information: name, contact information, title of the ATC and number (1/8, 2/8...) if it's part of an edition. By definition ATCs are made in limited numbers, often no more than one of a kind. Unique ATCs are called originals; sets of identical ATCs are called editions and are numbered; sets of ATCs that are based on one theme but that are different are called series. Don't be intimidated by the concept of small editions or originals: very few people are anal about this. What most collectors really want are cards that were made with care. Based on that, numbers are meaningless.

That's all! The above is all you need to know to start making your own ATCs. Common sense dictates that they should be sturdy enough to survive mailing, and of reasonable thickness (unless you specifically want them otherwise. Transparent card sleeves are useful to protect the cards if need be. This is particularly true if they can easily get smudged or if the medium might stick during transport.

See also:

ARTIST TRADING CARDS
a collaborative cultural performance

ATC GALLERY

jOn-B sent the link to me in this morning's email-- I love stuff like this!

Hunter S. Thompson's last hours...

Puts all the rumours that have been running 'round the mill to rest after reading this account of HST's last day on Earth (from his family members):

'Loving' farewell to writer
Wife details family gathering with Thompson dead in chair

via Easy Bake Coven

nu-corporate fashion...

Looks like Donna Karan's on my same wavelength.

If I could get away with wearing (and affording!) something like that, I'd almost go back to the corporate grind.

(hey, I said ALMOST!)

The Nose

What was farce, what prophecy and what reality?

The Nose is the first opera by Dmitry Shostakovich (1906-1975) if one ignores an attempt at opera from his student’s days, which was destroyed.

It was written in 1927/28 and was premiered successfully in the Maly Theatre in Leningrad in 1930. By 1936, however, it had fallen foul of the verdict on formalism and was practically banned in the Soviet Union. It did not appear on a Russian stage for another fourty-four years.

From the Synopsis:

The action takes place in Saint Petersburg.


ACT I
Introduction, drum roll, a juggling act between horn, trumpet and trombone: Life is a game, a tight- rope act. College assessor Kovalyov receiving his daily shave, looking forward to an amorous adventure, complaining about the barber’s smelly hands (brief spoken dialogue towards the end of instrumental introduction).

Scene 1. Ivan Yakovlevich's barber shop. The barber awakes from wellearned sleep, cuts open a fresh roll and finds a nose in it. His wife accuses him of having cut it off a customer when he was drunk and drives him from the house with the corpus delicti. Scene 2. On the quayside. The barber does his best to dispose of the nose, dashing along the quay, followed by cries from amazed acquaintances. He throws the nose into the Neva, but a district constable cathves him in the act and demands to know what he has done. Scene 3. Kovalyov's bedroom. The college assessor awakens from a pleasant, erotic dream and finds his nose missing. He races off to look for his nose. Scene 4. Kazan Cathedral. This is where high society of Saint Petersburg meets "worship". Kovalyov does indeed encounter his nose in the uniform of the State Councilor, he begs it to return to his face, but it refuses and disappears. MORE...

VW uses Gene Kelly 'mash-up' for new ad

Image hosted by Photobucket.comVW's got a new ad out for the Golf GTI model and I'm not sure how I feel after just watching this other than I'm sort of blown away by the technical camera-magics but a little bummed that they chose to muck with such a charming original.

Call me old-fashioned, but I like the sound of tap shoes on wet cobblestone.

Watch the ad here (.mov)

via Crabwalk

 March 04, 2005

Cosmic Mickey

Image hosted by Photobucket.comMy dad sent me this pic earlier today, I think partly to cheer me up but also because he was thoroughly enjoying the contents of a recent box I mailed to him, filled up with the usual kooky objects we both like to send back and forth through the mail. Videos, CD's, books and fun little toys and "chirashi" we find around to toss in, and sometimes the occasional "fun" things you can light on fire.

Speaking of things you can light on fire-- you see those red things that look like firecrackers? Those are "fake" fireworks that I bought in Chinatown because I thought they were the real thing -- as IF they'd actually be legal to sell in shop you can just walk in off the public sidewalks. And to top it off, the store I bought them from is this little hole-in-the-wall sorta place with a dad and his young child at the counter ringing up the sales on a tiny little cash register. A little child actually rang up my purchase that day and there I was thinking I was buying actual fireworks. It takes me a while sometimes, what can I say...

Anyway, as you can see, Mickey had himself a field day trying to figure out a use for those things and I think we can all agree the end result was worth his efforts.

Here's his message to everyone:

Sort of I guess a preview of the upcoming St. Stupid's Day parade kinda thing, and especially a big hello to all my new friends and buddies in the bay area from Mickey here in frigid brrrr chicago.

So, everyone say hello to Mickey! Hello Mickey!

I was really hoping Dad and I would be able to head out for St. Stupid Day again this April 1, but unfortunately, looks like we're gonna have to wait it out til next year. Anyone who missed seeing the pics I took of us from the 2004 parade can view them here.

Metaversal Forecast - Sun in Pisces - March '05

Johannes Ayres sent his latest report in yesterday's email, enjoy...

(tarot card: Sun in Pisces via Art of the Zodiac)

THE METAVERSAL LIGHTCRAFT
HYPER-ABYSSIC ASTROLOGY FORECAST
AND LIGHT SPECIFIC YOGA PLATFORM

LUNAR CYCLE #13 - SUN IN PISCES

MARCH 2005

Such a stark lustre to inhabit, this metaverse of ours.....

TUESDAY MARCH 1
Do you feel it? It is prime time for us to visionscape the Metaverse and in that visioning, recreate a new present. and All that you see, everything you read, view, dream, and imagine is the raw material for those visions. We will be especially attracted to music, movies, videos and television, and the images which they provide will sink deeply into our minds.

(There are many excellent and informative documentaries: the Control room, the Corporation,...etc, which can painlessly help us to understand the world in which we live.) We will want to choose those images with care, just as we choose our diets, for all pictures now have extra power to move our souls. Moon is in depth-probing, powerful Scorpio, and it conjoins Ceres, now feeling threats to the survival of life. We are very conscious today of the intense transformations which we are undergoing. It is still action oriented Airweek, moving towards Last Quarter Moon, and it is time to begin to clean up our act. Many of today’s aspects can help us do just that. We are reminded now of the events of last December, and today we make another turn of that wheel. Economics was on the front burner then, along with U.S. "intelligence" and war mongering. I felt a separation from the usual materialism of the holiday season pervading the air. People were taking more seriously the significance of consciousness. The film, "What the Bleep Do We Know?" seemed a permanent fixture in some theaters, and some, like my 73 year old Mother, were viewing it repeatedly. The wheel with which we turn is the evolution of consciousness, speeding up even as I write.

Notice your dreams tonight as you row row row your craft, gently down the stream.

WEDNESDAY MARCH 2
This can feel like a slow morning. Moon is VOC in Scorpio, and the leisurely pace can give us time to absorb yesterday’s intensity. At 11:29 a.m. PST, Moon enters visionary Sagittarius, and we begin now to look to the future. We may ponder the meaning of our current changes, and think about how they are reshaping our lives. Tonight we may want to share with friends, and enjoy musick, movies, the arts, or simply philosophizing. Try not to grandstand, unless you are sure about the importance to others of what you have to say.

THURSDAY MARCH 3
Last Quarter Moon at 14 Sagittarius occurs at 9:36 a.m. PST. Sag is a spirited fire sign, and this day is super active. Most of the planets now are in Pisces and Sagittarius, both mutable, flexible signs, ready to move the way the winds are blowing. Socially oriented Jupiter was the ruler of both signs once upon a time, and thus is instrumental in today’s action.Jupiter is retrograde, and we are thus rethinking personal philosophies and beliefs. In Libra, issues around justice and fairness are dominant. Today Jupiter is squared by Mars in Capricorn, determined to push the agenda of the establishment. At the same time, Mars is challenging the establishment. There is apt to be conflict, in personal relationships as well as among nations and institutions. How do we create security in our relationships? How much do we push our own desires, and how much do we accede to others’ desires? Can we develop a system of checks and balances which is fair? The Moon occults Antares today.

The ancient Egyptians saw Antares as a star with direct links to the pyramids and their initiations. According to The Keys of Enoch, every level of evolution has a Pyramid of Light that humanity must pass through on its way to the next dimensional experience. To move beyond three-dimensional reality, we are required to go through our three-dimensional fields of Pyramidal Light Energy. This is why the ancients saw the pyramids as a gateway to the stars and Metaversal intelligence. This is because pyramids synthesize space, time, and matter to form the ideal focus for Light-specific transmissions.

During this next Earthweek, we have the opportunity to let go of pettiness, greed, and false security. We can begin to visualize a future in which we wholeheartedly participate for the good of all. Those people who are working to serve the greater good are not alone or without effective assistance and protection. The Metaverse itself is with them, supporting them in every way that’s necessary to insure their success and complete well being. The Metaverse fortifies them, inspires them, facilitating connections, public knowledge and support. The Metaverse never leaves their side. No circumstance or influence of the past or present can keep it from implementing the divine design for good on this planet and in the lives of those working on its behalf.

The Sabian Symbol for 14 Sagittarius is:
"THE GREAT PYRAMID AND THE SPHINX. The enduring power of occult knowledge and of its quasi-divine Custodians, "Seed-persons" of a previous cycle of existence. The belief in an Original Tradition based on the perfect knowledge of the archetypal principles and forms which underlie all manifestations of life on this Earth (and by extension, in the cosmos) is deeply rooted in humans’ consciousness. The Great Pyramid and the Sphinx are witnesses to such a Tradition, especially for the Western world. The symbol implies that such an archetypal foundation remains the basis upon which humans’ minds can still build solid and valid formulations, as new evolutionary developments are arising. THE POWER OF SPIRITUAL ANCESTRY."

Upload everything you are into the great Metaversal web and let the last quarter moon suck away the dross and clutter of this virulent cultural undermind rampant with dubious sampled notions and half-digested leftover memetic visions. Only then will the dragonflies venture to mate on your scalp. Only then will the provisional gods you've held behind plexiglas step forth with new recipes for meringue soufflé, and heaven knows what other wonders. Tear down the pyramids and let whales dine on the mummies of kings! Everything must go. The monkeys saw this coming and stayed in the trees, but now they descend to raze our mini-golf shrines and cut loose our pets from their leashes.

FRIDAY MARCH 4
This is the only date that gives a command. March Forth into life. Moon continues in optimistic Sagittarius, and conjuncts powerful Pluto early this morning. We start the day with a blast of marching energy. Many planets are in water signs, and feelings—and water—flow copiously. Venus and Uranus conjoin in Pisces, as we plant the seeds today for a new visionary, creative cycle of Love, which will last for 13 months. Moon goes VOC at 1:45 p.m. PST, and soon enters Capricorn—at 2:12 p.m. This would be the optimum time for deep meditation today. Our mood then becomes serious and determined. Mercury enters Aries tonight to add to our sense of purpose, and our willingness to challenge obstacles to fulfill that purpose. Aries is of course full of piss and vinegar, full steam ahead, provideing the possibility of dramatic and perhaps instant healing change of addictive patterns that have restricted divine expression. Aries is a fiery energy linked with the seasonal gateway of rapid growth.

The letters of Living Light, or fire writing, are also activating in greater conscious awareness with this Mercury transit and retrograde through Aries. These letters are first being seeded into the sub-conscious during sleep. These letters shape our lightcrafts vibratory structure on a small scale. Now imagine how this divine Language can quicken your craft to an even greater scale of creation where human language is replaced by a language of Light-specific pictures. Avoid any doctrine or religious movement that advocates a shameful wickedness with the alphabet. Linearity in print and thought has made language unable to deal with the Metaverse in any meaningful way, except as pathology. Now the Metaverse is returning to the language through people like us with one foot in each world. The human mind is haunted both by the many presences sensed within the self and by a confused sense of self.

Wherever we turn in the world of nature and the psyche, we encounter life, animation, and a willingness to communicate that confounds the fragile pyramid of boundary consciousness and human values that have emerged over historical time through the suppression of our intuitions. It's like when the cicadas emblazon the trees with the sonority of their oversoul. When the bleak, majestic locomotives of our ancestors roll across our sleep-thickened hearts. When the dancing bear takes off its red dress and shits on the floor.

SATURDAY MARCH 5
This is both a productive and an enjoyable day. By the end of the day, we can feel good about what we’ve accomplished, and also be ready for a night on the town. Or perhaps preparing for an enterprising adventure. Tension builds up tonight towards a showdown on Monday. Avoid acting on an extreme impulse to act like an unskilled labourer who trifles with drone pipes. He’s scolding a cathedral. He blames the cathedral for his depressive state, which he insists could have been averted by the intervention of that edifice. A woman with whom he’d been emotionally involved has left town. Had the cathedral merely started 'ringing its bell', he reasons, the woman would not have departed; hence, the possibility of a reconciliation – or perhaps some form of ego-gratifying harassment – would still exist. Logically, he admits that the cathedral could not have been cognizant of the extent to which he 'needed that gal'. Nevertheless, he reprimands it for simply standing and watching as the object of his desire walked past on her way out of the city. 'You could have done something!' wails the abandoned lover. Justified or not, such derision elicits a peculiar empathy: one cannot help but feel sorry for the old cathedral, its mute architecture bearing the brunt of broken-hearted humanity’s deranged plight.

SUNDAY MARCH 6
Moon is VOC in Capricorn today, and hopefully we can relax (sometimes difficult when Capricorn’s planet, Saturn, is on watch). What is called for is doing useful things without putting any pressure on ourselves in regard to outcome. Moon enters electric Aquarius at 3:49 p.m. PST. Animals love this sign. They're thrilled about it. They romp and squeal and butt their horns and roll on their bellies like there's no tomorrow. But mostly they just amble along in quiet amazement at their own pure satisfaction. An ecstatic surge of energy seems to charge every cell of my body with expansive revelatory aquarian force. I am immersed in my power spot. The boundaries of my physical self – well, I'll spare you another lapse into quasi-religious reportage.

MONDAY MARCH 7
We are in the future-planning period of the moon cycle, and we may be bursting with ideas and with ideals. Still, something needs doing immediately, and it regards security. And it is practical rather than idealistic. Mars opposes Saturn to make what is an urgent, and can be a harsh aspect. This further activates the Cancer Capricorn axis only four degrees away from where Chiron and Saturn opposed each other on Dec 26 the day of the Tsunami. Moon passes by Neptune today (16 Aquarius) near the cross-quarter marker between Dec Solstice and March Equinox at the in-between activation point of increasing light in our seasonal cycle. This provides additional support for dreaming the dream of a new reality - restructuring our experience of life through the sacred geometry of the Metaverse, as a time translation where Heaven and Earth unite.

As in Goethe's Faust, the paradigmatic scientist sells his soul to the devil in return for unlimited knowledge and power. The guiding spirit of modern science, according to the Faust myth, is a demon, a fallen angel called Mephistopheles. How seriously do we need to take the idea that our whole society and civilization is under the possession of such a spirit, worshiped through sex, money, addiction and power? With the focus on privatization, public-private partnerships, (dismantling local control); anyone with any common sense about them can see that; incrementally the power of the people is being given over to corporate control through various venues. Once upon a time we were subjects, then citizens, and now consumers.

Everything is for sale. TV 'programming' is set up to entice "consumers" through the 3000 daily ads to buy, buy, buy. Utilities-waste-nursing homes, and even the people's water (once in local control) is open to the highest bidder or those with the most influence. In "public private partnerships or privatization" (despite the lofty high pitch sales rhetoric) means only one thing.a plundering of the people's money. Profits take precedence over any and all health or environmental concerns. It's pigs at the trough time, locally-state wise and nationally. This is not just happening in one or two isolated places but across the nation. Because we are narrowly focused (many times only one newspaper) parochially; we have little to no idea of the larger picture and what is being set in place. Is a great war between the good and evil angels being acted out on Earth? We hardly know how to think or talk about such possibilities since they are so alien to the official, standard models of Western history. You may need to recite a liturgical formula of praise to a mischievous, ugly demon rigid from sexual excitement today. Lucky you.

WEDNESDAY MARCH 9
The last day of the 12th lunar cycle of the light-specific year. Moon conjuncts Uranus (7 Pisces) then Venus (15 Pisces). Venus is currently invisible or in the underworld where the divine feminine is experiencing a simultaneous death from old limits and rebirth into metaversal possibilities liberating the feminine essence so she expresses more fully her true nature. Tomorrow’s New Moon is at 20 Pisces Sun and is trining Saturn. The Pisces New Moon is a time for seeding conscious acts of revolutionary art. Research indicates that acts of poetic terrorisim benefit not only the person who receives and the person who gives it but also anyone who happens to witness it. As an American artist in the early part of 21st century, it is my job to make the inevitable revolution irresistible.

 March 03, 2005

sending lightbeams...

A dear friend and kindred spirit, DW Cooper, known to a lot of us from our cybertravels in and through forums and blogs such as the incredibly-inspirational and informative Invisible College Forum, The Blind Spot and the erotic and tantrically-charged Sleepytime Cafe has gone from the Earthly plane and is now travelling onto his next big adventure.

I was very saddened by the news of his death but have been processing the waves of emotion over the day and every time I get a little blue or bummed I have felt an almost electrical charge running through me, as if DW was somehow sprinkling some sort of "spiked pixiedust" around to let me/us all know that everything's alright and to remember to LAUGH. DW could always make ya laff. I know that sounds cheesey, but ya know wot? DW could also be a little cheesey at times so I think this is probably spot-on.

As news is getting around on the blogs of friends who knew him and via the emails of those who spent time with him telling funny little stories, it's given me the chance to sort of travel back in time and read through a lot of the posts DW placed around at his blogs and on the Invisible College forum, where I first made contact with him a couple of years ago. It's amazing how many lives this person has touched, and also what a wealth of information and understanding he possessed within himself.

I'm going to try to not get too worked up here and end up rambling, but instead, I want to post a few links and pics from some of the subjects that were among his favorites, in tribute-- inspired by Sauceruney's earlier post:

KLOWNS:

Clown Quartet (windozz media player)

Watch as bizarro little glove puppets
do a freaky little dance
and sing a little song.

(fyi, the song is a keeper.)


WOMEN:


Back in the early days when I used to surf on over and visit the Invisible College blog (before he used up all the space and had to start The Blind Spot), I seem to recall DW had a fondness for women along the surf (both tastefully clothed and un-clothed, I might add). Here is a nice one of a beauty from Tahiti who looks like she is in a dream...

SCI-FI:

and here *sigh/swoon* is a photo of Trance Gemini-- a character from the Sci-Fi show Andromeda-- who was one of DW's favorite characters.

After sharing mutual raves about Farscape, DW ended up convincing me one night to watch Andromeda because he thought I might really dig Trance's character (wot with her pointy little ears and sexy little outfits and all, I mean come'on, who doesn't love that sorta stuff?)

I have to admit, after two attempts at watching the show, I couldn't get into it. I found the acting was just a little too wooden for my tastes, but I certainly understand why DW used to say that he would love to be her butler!

I won't ever be able to sum up this remarkable person's life with just a mere blog tribute, but I will say that DW Cooper was one of the most genuine, warm, understanding, good-humoured and deep-natured individuals that I ever have connected with. I had even put him in touch with my dad in Chicago and they shared a few online chats via msn messenger, and DW sent him a copy of Merchants of Deception to read (which he still raves about).

And finally, here's a link to a great pic of DW himself (courtesy of Digital Falcon) that he'd sent around a month or so ago to show us all the gigantic Hershey bar that Michael brought over when he stopped by to meet him in person. (DW used to joke that the only "drugs" he liked were coffee and chocolate!)

We're all missin' ya like crazy, maaaan....

Window

 March 02, 2005

Battlestar Galactica (download episode 1)



The SciFi channel has made the first Battlestar Galactica episode ("33") available online as a free download uncut and commercial free at SciFi.com! (They also have deleted scenes from the series.)

swiped from #!/usr/bin/girl

THIS SERIES IS ROCKING MY WHIRRLED! (It's not Farscape but it's the best thing on SciFi, bar none!)

More camera fun...

Some more random shots taken the other day.



Here's Graymalkin who finally decided to look at me and not move while I took his photograph (for once!)



I also added a few new mugshots (like the one above). I pretty much try to do a few self-portraits each month if I can remember. It's just been sort of my own little personal experiment ever since I had my first 35mm back in the 80's. It's weird how the ageing process can be captured in time with just a few random photos every now and then. I've always been fascinated by how the face and expressions of a person can remain constant while the body grows older. I think I've still got the same look in my eyes that I did when I was five, however the rest of me is speedily moving into the future, or as my father so honestly put it the other day "You're growing a little long in the tooth, my dear..." Hehehe. That's how I like it-- brutally honest.

Self-portraiture is so strange.

 March 01, 2005

BCO Conscientious Objectors show pix

We ended up with a potpourri of photos from our Sunday 2/27 performance at the Oakland Humanists Hall for the G.I. Conscientious Objectors Benefit (and a few rehearsal ones as well).

This one's just me and Melissa from the rehearsal the night before, but I like it because our faces look all sparkly from the big red lamp over our heads:



View the entire album here.

We played a nice 25-minute opening set and amused a good-sized crowd of curious onlookers with our rendition of George M. Cohan meets Leonard Cohen cover tunes. We should be getting a digital copy of the audio soon and I'll post some here once that happens.

Naughty Nina

Skandal!

The infamous 1981 "incident" when Nina innocently demonstrated how to masturbate on live tv.



Watch video clip: realaudio or windozz media player

To Bee or ARG (that is the question...)

More dish on ARGs (including some news on a new one that's just begun) has just arrived via the cosmic kitchens of El-Centro:

Alternate Reality Video Games Blur Many Lines
By CNET News.com

The first advertisement appeared in USA Today a week ago, right on schedule.

People from around the world had stayed up all night waiting for it, talking in chat rooms and online forums. It had to be a clue, they thought. Everything before it had been a clue.

"LOST. The Cube," read the ad, posted at the top of the paper's "Notices" section. "Reward Offered. Not only an object of great significance to the city but also a technological wonder."

The cryptic notice, along with several subsequent ads in The New York Sun, The Times of London and Monday's Sydney Daily Telegraph, are the first tangible signs of a mystery called "Perplex City" beginning to unfold online.

It is the latest well-funded entry in a young medium called "alternate-reality gaming"--an obsession-inspiring genre that blends real-life treasure hunting, interactive storytelling, video games and online community and may, incidentally, be one of the most powerful guerrilla marketing mechanisms ever invented.

These games are intensely complicated series of puzzles involving coded Web sites, real-world clues like the newspaper advertisements, phone calls in the middle of the night from game characters and more. That blend of real-world activities and a dramatic storyline has proven irresistible to many.

"It's a very addictive form of entertainment," said Steve Peters, a Las Vegas musician who is one of the founders of the Alternate Reality Gaming Network, a set of Web sites devoted to the topic. "People stay up all night; it really is very immersive."

It's exactly that dedication that has made alternate-reality games powerful marketing mechanisms. The two biggest games so far have been associated with products: Stephen Spielberg's "A.I." movie and Microsoft's "Halo 2." Advertising executives say it's a promising tool.

"When other people are missionaries for your brand, you've got something special," said Jordan Fisher, director of brand planning at Perceive, an advertising agency in Los Angeles. "The brand becomes something much bigger, has a purpose rather than being just another product on the shelf."

To many players, that marketing role barely matters, however. If the experience in an alternate-reality game, or ARG, is good, that's all that matters, they say.

"If done by the right people, ARGs of any style can be amazing things," said Geoffrey May, a player from Canada. "Whether it's selling something or it's just for fun, most ARGers simply enjoy the game itself."

Transformed reality or underhanded trick?
Indeed, the appeal of playing the games--and of writing them, their authors say--is that the lines between what's real and what's part of the game quickly become blurred. It can be an extraordinarily paranoia-inducing experience.

As part of the run-up to Perplex City, known as "Project Syzygy," a series of postcards began appearing around the world. Several have been found randomly in Bologna, Italy, and North Carolina. They have a painting of a city scene on them and a series of coded messages on the back.

Players quickly realized that the lit windows of the building translated into "Hello World" in binary code. The "stamp" was an electronically readable barcode translating into "www.PerplexCity.com."

The significance of several series of numbers on the cards remains unknown, however--and that's where the paranoia is running high. One number was an anagram of 2012, the year that London is hoping to host the Olympics. Players visited the London Olympics Web page and found quickly that it had been created by a Web design company called "Syzygy."

A coincidence? Probably. But the players aren't sure.

The collective mind has come up with sometimes astonishing information, however. One series of digits featured in an early teaser advertisement was deciphered as the ISBN number of science fiction author William Gibson's "Pattern Recognition," with specific words on certain pages spelling out a message.

The community has even found the exact street in Japan where a video associated with the game was filmed. What that means, if anything, remains to be seen.

Bees, Beasts and the grassroots
The alternate-reality games have their roots in role-playing, in old text video games like "Zork," and in real-life geocaching, treasure hunts played with GPS, or Global Positioning System, devices. But their modern incarnation really began as a promotion for "A.I." and an associated marketing promotion led by employees at Microsoft.

Spielberg's studio contracted with Microsoft employees Jordan Weisman and Elan Lee to create "The Beast," a game that expanded on "A.I.'s" themes and story. For weeks a convoluted story unfolded that ultimately led back to the movie, but not before prompting thousands of people to collaborate on often fiendishly difficult puzzles with themes ranging from microbiology to the Japanese game "Go."

Lee and writer Sean Stewart set the pace for later games, creating hundreds of fake Web sites with thousands of pages, which--even if hacked and studied--all held coded clues to the story.

Their second big project, called "ILoveBees," was done as a promotion for Microsoft's "Halo 2" video game, with the story starting from an artificial intelligence inhabiting an otherwise innocuous Web site about bees. Relying less on puzzles, that game required players to work together to be at specific phone booths at certain times in order to get information that would help unlock pieces of the story.

Lee has been nominated for an innovation award at the upcoming Game Developers' Choice Awards ceremony. Both he and Stewart say they see the medium as a developing art form--even if it's equivalent to moviemaking in 1903--rather than simply a convoluted promotional vehicle.

"The Internet basically is about searching for things and gossiping, and we invented a way to tell stories that's about searching for things and gossiping," Stewart said. "It is a much nicer way to deliver art across the platform."

"The Internet basically is about searching for things and gossiping, and we invented a way to tell stories that's about searching for things and gossiping." --Sean Stewart, writer

Indeed, game aficionados have already created a handful of grassroots games that have attracted a smaller number of players, training a generation of people who may be able to perpetuate the medium outside of corporate sponsorship.

It's too early to tell exactly how Perplex City will play out. Its story, as far as people now know, revolves around the theft of an artifact called "The Cube" from a civilization that may or may not exist in a parallel dimension to ours, and may or may not have been studying and visiting ours.

What information is known has come out during the last year or so in coded, teasing online puzzles. Nobody knows exactly who's behind it, or whether it's intended to sell something. According to a video posted on the game's Web site, clues will keep appearing in newspapers through March 21, and then it's anybody's guess as to what happens.

"Everyone in the community I'm involved with is quite impatiently awaiting the 'game' to start," May said. "People are analyzing and overanalyzing previous analyses and speculation for alternate answers to puzzles, fighting to believe that something has been missed."

Goddess bloggers

I have just been invited to participate in a new blog started by the Creatrix called Every Woman is a Goddess. I'm honored. This is actually great timing on her part for inviting me as I now have a little more free time to add posts here and there around all of the blogs I am a part of (long overdue for sure!).

I already love that she has categories like Stylish (which has Sock Dreams listed underneath) and Sassy (where you find Yummy Wakame).

Kindred souls everywhere ya look ;)

Love it! Bring it onnnnn....

Yunus Emre

Lyric Poems of Yunus Emre

Yunus Emre (d. 1320?), called "the greatest folk poet in Islam" (Talat Sait Halman), was an unlettered Turkish shepherd who sang mystical songs which are still popular today. He was the first of a whole tradition of Turkish Sufi troubadors who sang of the Divine Presence, the Beloved, the Friend. His songs/poems convey a profound yet earthy spirituality. His subject is the Heart, the point of awareness where God is realized in us. "I've come to build some hearts," Yunus sings.

To be in love with love with love is to gain a soul,
to sit on the throne of hearts.

To love the world is to be afflicted.
Later the secrets start to make sense.

Don't be bramble,
become the rose. Let your maturity unfold.
The brambles will only burn.

Prayer was created by God so man could ask for help.
It's too bad if you haven't learned to ask.

Accept the breath of those who are mature-
let it become your divining rod.
If you obey your self, things turn our wrong.

Renouncing the world is the beginning of worship.
If you are a believer, believe this.

Respect your parents and ancestry,
and you will have fine green clothes of your own.

If you earn the complaints of neighbors,
You'll stay in Hell forever.

Yunus heard these words from the masters.
If you need this advice, take it.

They say one who is received by heart
becomes more beautiful.

Lovely photograph


This is my good friend Melissa sitting for a photograph taken by her music teacher while she traveled through India.

This was such a lovely photograph that I had to grab it from her Tribe page (ok, I asked permission first!). The expression radiating from her face just deserved to be shared here.

Thank you, Melissa!