Metaversal Forecast 5/30 - 6/5

Back with another timely report from Johannes Ayres...

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

Metaversal 4th Quarter Moon Week In A Nutshell Report

MONDAY, MAY 30
The Big Dissolve. Last Quarter Moon at 10 Pisces occurs at 7:47 a.m. PDT. Pisces, the sign of big moist surrender, is perfect for a fourth quarter moon, which is signaling us to release something, and just keep the essentials as we let go of this Taurus cycle. Uranus is the dominant planet, and that chaotic disruptor will insist, in fact, on breaking things up, or at least shaking them up. The chaff will loosen now, to be blown in the wind. Perhaps the public will become more conscious of the huge U.S. involvement in torture, and insist on humane treatment of prisoners. No country that condones deliberate torture for any reason can ever be trusted. Taurus is losing its grip for now, and we are moving into a time of greater flexibility, and a focus on the human being.

Moon is moving ahead to occult Mars early tomorrow morning, visible only in the far southern parts of the globe. Mars rises in the east in the early morning. At the time of this eclipse, Mars (with Moon) is squaring the U.S. Mars and opposing the U.S. Neptune. This could be a very warlike moon for the U.S., and it may be that this interconnected, complex action of May has been the time for a war buildup. These Neocons are all traitors to not only their countries but to humanity in general, and should all be slammed and RICOed into Guantanamo immediately. And so should the government officials, media lackeys, and ordinary citizens who, by their complicity or their ignorance, support them. The main point in understanding these deliberate provocations to prevent peace is to understand how the American capitalist system, now hijacked by billionaires with no trace of conscience, thrives on war and profits from the misery of others. The neocon murder menace has been for months ratcheting up the hyperbole about why we need to invade Iran - which some predict will happen in June - and just this week, rumors of troop movements in the Caribbean and lockdowns at Florida military bases appear to augur an imminent invasion of oil-producing Venezuela.

Pluto, prominent all month, can mean violence. The month's four moon occultations can move us in a warlike direction. There are several other indications, but the major one is transiting Uranus. Major Uranus transits historically figure in U.S. wars. The U.S. horoscope has both Uranus in Gemini and Mars in Gemini in the arena of relationships. Furthermore, the U.S. Uranus is in the position of the fixed star, Aldebaran, which has a Martian character. And it is opposite the position of Antares, another Mars-vibe star. Assertive energy clusters around U.S. relationships. This opens the final quarter of the 84-year Uranus cycle which began with the conclusion of WWII, in 1944-45.That was when Pres. Roosevelt made the agreement with the Saudis that they would favor the U.S. in selling their oil in exchange for U.S. military protection.

TUESDAY, MAY 31
Looking toward the Eastern horizon 1 hour before sunrise this morning, Mars (22 Pisces) appears less than 2° above the Moon. which continues in Pisces this morning with strong, constructive aspects. Then the Moon enters Aries at 5:01 pm PDT and just afterwards Sun squares Uranus, to complete yesterday's Last Quarter Moon action. This may bring in new ideas and new information designed to shatter our current beliefs or assemblage point creating the space for innovative changes that may surprise even the most liberal minded. Yes, we are moving into the month of June on the explosive energys of Mars and Uranus. In two days Mars squares Pluto to really push power 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.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 1
Mercury trines Jupiter at 8° 57' Libra and semi-squares Saturn at 24° 38' Cancer. The time flies. You can feel your thoughts like a stoked and banked breeze, waiting to erupt again into wind. The easy 120° aspect with generous Jupiter opens the mind to a wider vision and gives us the ability to articulate it with enthusiasm. Mercury is in adaptable Gemini, making it easier to switch mental gears from go to no and back again. Expansive informative insights are possible today especially when we are asking for them. Some questions worth considering are: Have I thought about the effect of those words on my dearly beloved or do I even care? Jupiter in Libra, almost stationary now, has given us much time to appreciate where our beliefs separate us from each other, perhaps also, how they bring us together.

THURSDAY, JUNE 2
The essential ingredients for a powerful catharsis are available today with Mercury in Gemini squaring Uranus in Pisces and Mars in Pisces squaring Pluto in Sagittarius. The first aspect, at 2:17 a.m. PDT, may activate an unsettling night with odd dreams. Everything seems so out of control we may want to exert force as Mars squares Pluto at 12:26 p.m. PDT. The underside of everything is in short supply. The internal organs are going to have to step outside until this passes. Where are those beliefs of ours taking us now? Today could bring a break-through in understanding if given enough perspective. The Violet Consuming Flame is a helpful tool for dealing with emotionally charged situations. The idea is to flood the situation and all those associated with violet fire, transmuting all negativity through the power of forgiveness. Mercury's square to electric Uranus (10° 42' Gemini-Pisces) can turn our thoughts upside down, pushing us past the ordinary realities of Jupiter and Saturn and illuminating a totally new world of possibilities. Yet, its not easy to translate such visions into language that others can understand. Everything seems out of control and we may want to exert force as Mars squares Pluto at 12:26 p.m. PDT. A positive picture is one where concentrated efforts (Mars-Pluto) turn original ideas (Mercury-Uranus) into reality. The Moon's move from combative Aries to tranquil Taurus at 11:20 p.m. today can provide a calming effect.

FRIDAY, JUNE 3
An early-morning conjunction of Mercury and the Sun aligns the intellect and the will in communicative Gemini. Following aspects with Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus, Mercury's connection with the Sun can focus the mind.. To understand the beauty of an idea it must be seen in focus. In focus, the Metaverse is a continual orgy of intense feeling, intellection, & activity, a society of lovers & wild enthusiasts. When the social life of Earth is harmonized, our planet will re-join the Metaverse of Passion & undergo vast transformations, affecting human form, weather, animals, & plants, even the oceans. Passion draws humanity into association just as gravity draws celestial bodies into orbital systems. Once just the flypaper scaffold of a vision - now a glorious reality. Once just sandgrains in a molecular hourglass - now miles of golden beaches. This morning, the phalanstery is a wet little solar system revolving around the central fire of Venus' entry into Cancer at 8:18 a.m., another unifying force that, along with the Moon in Taurus, helps us to slow down and assimilate recent events.

SATURDAY, JUNE 4
Å Mars-Saturn trine (24° 57' Pisces-Cancer) increases productivity and efficiency. When the impulse to act (Mars) flows easily with the planet of outcomes (Saturn), we are often able to achieve immediate results. Jupiter's station (at 8° 56' Libra) late tonight isn't likely to be noticeable. It represents, however, a significant shift of energetic tides that can begin the process of transforming inner wisdom (Jupiter retro) into intelligent action, fueling our desire to accomplish what we have set out to do and providing the dynamic energy that easily accomplishes the tasks at hand. Paraluminary incantations wafting, nipped at by polluted dogs who knew not what they did.

SUNDAY, JUNE 5
Mercury makes its fifth significant aspect of the week, a trine with Neptune (17° 32' Gemini-Aquarius). This creative connection between facts and faith, the objective and the mystical, gives us words to describe our dreams and the language to express our experience of the divine. Compassionate communication is another result of this happy union. At 7:36 a.m., the Moon enters Mercury's home sign of Gemini, beginning 2+ days of greater objectivity and emotional flexibility. Mobile Gemini favors freedom over commitment, so it may be more difficult to stick to your plans now. A challenging sesquiquadrate (135° ) between Venus and Neptune (2° 32' Cancer - 17° 32' Aquarius) can engender romantic feelings based more on hope than reality.

The Mercury-Neptune trine should help us to distinguish between the two, but there is still a chance for misjudgment if we project our fantasies onto others. One positive use of Venus-Neptune is the creative application of imagination - especially involving love, beauty, art, or pleasure. Another way of distracting the Venus-Neptune Mind is to push cucumbers through the eye sockets of dead grizzlies while dressed as a test pattern and singing the lyrics to 'Skating With Willie'. Fringe benefit of this experimental behaviour: you'll be the secret envy of anyone who ever professed to know what you were going to do next. Iao.

The Big Fat TRUTH

Three cheers to the BLF! This is frellin' beautiful...



From the BLF website:

Mankind is ready to serve, and McDonalds' is the corporation to do the serving. After 50 years of eating more and more Big Macs, French fries, and McNuggets designed to enhance our serve-ability, we are finally ready! Untold billions of meals consumed by billions of people throughout the world, have sufficiently enlarged the average girth and tenderness of McDonalds' patrons (i.e. you) to reveal the True Meaning of life on Earth! Keep your eyes to the skies and watch for the big, shiny saucers with the gold-arched logos that are going to whisk us away to our inevitable and glorious destiny among the stars. Soon McDonalds will truly fulfill its mission To Serve Man.

this good news via EBC

Koji Morimoto video archive

Not all of the links work but this is a nice selection of clips, trailers, promos and pilots showcasing Morimoto's unique style.

Check through these, they're worth the large file downloads even though the quality on some is not wonderfully clear like some of the DivX stuff around, but hey, I won't complain. I haven't even heard of some of these titles but hopefully one day stuff like this will make it around the dvd rental circuit for us all to enjoy. Some of you might remember Morimoto's work in the recent Animatrix series (his style is unmistakeable).

There's a new trailer for a series out called Eikyu Kazoku (Eternal Family) that looks pretty bizarro.

Trailer is here (download file, then play in RealPlayer).

Plot Summary: It started as a sociological experiment. 6 different people were brainwashed to think that they were a family and then put in arbitrary situations to see how they would react. However, when a taping of the families conducts is sold in a desperate attempt to make a little capital it instantly becomes a success. Now the family is a first rated show and their every move is broadcasted around the world without them knowing it. But when a clogged toilet sets off a chain of events that ultimately frees the family from the room they are confined in the broadcasters, not willing to lose their source of income, set out to hunt down and recapture every member of the Eternal family.

YumiYumi

Two girls from Kumamoto City in Japan were
in London on an extended holiday.
Fortunately for us they decided to bring their guitars...
YumiYumi's unique style of electro punk pop rock starts here...



Go listen.

There are no male groupies

Ruth Padel on writing I'm A Man

(Published in The Guardian, May 2000)

The sound men most want to hear, says the Marquis de Sade, is a woman's cry when you're inside her. It tells the world you have this shattering power to make her feel. When Duke Ellington was twelve, he and his mates took girls to the reservoir-banks, in hearing distance of each other, to see "who did the greater job as a man". The marker was girl noise. "If the girl's reaction was loud, he was a great fucker because the chick was hollering 'Baby I'm coming', all that shit." Competition was hot: "some cats pinched the chicks to make them holler. One slipped his chick quarters."

For centuries, men turned that cry into music by writing love-songs women sang. Across the board - pop, rock, opera, blues, folk, from "ma man don't love me and he treats me oh so mean" to Mozart's Countess in Figaro lamenting her husband's faithlessness - men have written, produced, and directed songs that defined the female voice as vulnerable. Hurt by a man, longing for him. Abandoned. "The problem with operas", the Glyndebourne director Graham Vick told me, "is they're written by men full of notions that women can't live without them." Bessie Smith, Billie Holiday and Piaff did write songs, but till the Seventies (give or take trailblazers like Janis Joplin), women mostly sang men's songs, and sounded how men wanted. The difference between women's lovesong and men's was that women's was by the people it was about. (continue reading...)

Dub Selector

Well, I'm not really that much into dub, but heck, this is fun
(especially after a few tokes off the bong...)

Click the other icons below to try different ones-- some of them are like little games, too.

Aren't I putting this blob of mine to such good use lately? Blob blob blob...

Cockettes in Berkeley (photos)

Last night I headed out to Berkeley to the Long Haul, which is an interesting place I've seen for years but have never actually been to, which turns out to be a really hip sort of lending library and meeting place for peaceniks for the past 20 years or so. The Cockettes and friends put together yet another memorable evening last night, featuring Sweet Pam reading from her book Midnight at the Palace (My Life As A Fabulous Cockette) along with a few performances from their entourage. Toward the end of the evening, we were treated to a very rare showing of one of the Cockettes' short feature films called Elevator Girls In Bondage, which really defies explanation.



I tried to snap a few stills of it just for the weirdness factor but they really don't quite sum up how utterly bizarro this film really is. Rumi is working on releasing his website soon, and Fayette Hauser (one of the original Cockettes) was also there and let me know she too will have a book coming out soon-- stay tuned!

You can view all of the photos here.

Captain Satan

and the continuing adventures of Babies Under Glass!



This is what happens when the everyday household objects on my kitchen windowsill develop a life of their own. (Don't ask me what that beer tasted like-- we never opened it, sorta scared to...)

Blob, blog, blop, blorb...

Ok, I'm done trying to come up with a new word for BLOG.

Otis sez I'm silly for even wanting to and now I agree. Ok, so we're stuck with it and I won't complain anymore and you can all just kick me for being a nutjob and letting a stoopid word get in the way of my fun.

But personally, I'm going to be using the word BLOB instead because it's what dAS has called BLOGs since I first started creating them and besides that, it makes me laugh. BLOG doesn't do that for me.

So, everyone, welcome to my BLOB.

As you were...

Challenge

Someone needs to come up with a better word to use instead of BLOG. To quote my friend John, "blogspot???"...sounds like a shitestain!" Maybe it's time for a change then.

This word BLOG has always bothered me personally, but for the past couple of years now I've heard many others bitching and kvetching about it, so it's not just me. We need a newer and better word to describe what these things are. What is it we're doing? It's a whole lot better than the sound you make by calling it BLOGGING. Blog, clog, flog. Sounds so plodding.

One word might not be enough but I bet it's out there.

I'm still rolling over a few ideas of my own but if any of you feel like chiming in, place your little chits in the comment box below.

Sita Sings The Blues

If you do nothing else today, watch these little quicktime clips below. If you get a little more time, read the FAQ section. Nina Paley is one of my alltime favorite comickers from waaaay back when I lived in Santa Cruz in the 1980's. I am so overjoyed at seeing her unmistakable stylings come through in these animations (watch for the wicked closing credit animations, they're really amazing.)



A new twist on an old myth by Nina Paley

The Ramayana is as familiar to Indians as the story of Adam and Eve is to Westerners. Both folktale and spiritual myth, there is no one authoritative version; it is retold in countless different and evolving interpretations. From poems and plays to comic books, movies, and novels, there are almost as many versions of the Ramayana as there are Indians.

View Quicktime clips of works in progress

Read more about Sita's Adventures in the Ramayana

via the Sri Ganesha Tea & Book Stall (I'm obsessed with this blog!)

Back to Earth

Hello friends and fellow travelers...

Just a quickie note to say that I've been a bit "off-planet" for the last few days (chanting and otherwise with my head in the clouds and feet not touching the ground) and just out enjoying the last few days before I had to head back to my day job (where I sit typing this little note).

I've got a few stops to make in the next few hours to read some of my fav-blogs and catch up a bit with some articles I've bookmarked, and then will be off in search of tasty morsels to scatter around the bloggies.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful day and enjoying some groovy weather and happenings.

xoxo
The Pixie

Ganesha babies!

My good friend Shivs just told me about the discovery of these little sweeties (which happened a while ago but I am just now getting hip to it-- better late than never!)

My first thought upon seeing them was "OH! They're little baby Ganeshas!"



September 3, 2003

New Subspecies of Elephants Discovered in Borneo
Sabah Wildlife Department and WWF’s tests indicates Pygmy Elephants to be new subspecies

Malaysia today congratulated the Sabah Wildlife Department (SWD) on the recent discovery of the Borneo “Pygmy Elephants” through DNA sampling. WWF-Malaysia Chairman Tengku Zainal Adlin said through the tests, Borneo’s elephants are confirmed to be a distinct subspecies and have significantly different characteristics from their cousins found on mainland Asia and Sumatra.

Conversations on the Edge of the Apocalypse

Contemplating the Future with Noam Chomsky, George Carlin, Deepak Chopra, Rupert Sheldrake, and Others

Interviews by David Jay Brown with:

Noam Chomsky, George Carlin, Kary Mullis, Candace Pert
Edgar Mitchell, Deepak Chopra, Rupert Sheldrake
Robert Anton Wilson, Peter Russell, Douglas Rushkoff
Paul Krassner, Bruce Sterling, Clifford Pickover
Ray Kurzweil, Hans Moravec, John Mack, Dean Radin
Ram Dass, Valerie Corral, Jeff McBride, Alex Grey

In his latest interview collection, David Jay Brown has once again gathered some of the most interesting minds of today to consider the future of the human race, the mystery of consciousness, the evolution of technology, psychic phenomena, alien abductions, and the cultural effects of psychedelics. The book includes conversations with celebrated visionaries and inspirational figures such as Noam Chomsky, George Carlin, Deepak Chopra, and Rupert Sheldrake. Part scientific exploration, part philosophical speculation, and part intellectual rollercoaster, the free-form discussions are original and captivating, and offer surprising revelations. Conversations on the Edge of the Apocalypse is a new look into the minds of some of our most original thinkers.

"This is a great collection of interviews!"
--R.U. Sirius, Editor, Mondo 2000, coauthor of Counterculture Through the Ages

"Conversations on the Edge of the Apocalypse could not be more timely. These interviews of visionary thinkers, and the provocative interactions between those people interviewed, provide diverse road maps for navigating our way through an era of terror, conflict, and incipient disaster. Readers who are interested in novel paradigms, especially worldviews that will help humanity survive and even prosper, will find David Jay Brown's book a source of delight, of wonder, and even of hope."
--Stanley Krippner, Ph.D., co-author of Extraordinary Dreams and How to Work with Them; Co-editor of Varieties of Anomalous Experience

"Once again David Jay Brown has assembled some of the most interesting minds in our culture to comment on some of the most interesting topics we can speculate about. Every interview offers a fascinating look at our universe and the unique mind of the interviewee."
--Jeremy P. Tarcher, Publisher, Jeremy P. Tarcher, Inc.

"As an interviewer, David Jay Brown has an unusual talent for teasing out unexpected hunches, intuitions, and insights from some of the most brilliant people on the planet. This exciting book is the nearest thing to a crystal ball in which one can view the future of humanity through the eyes of the foremost personalities that are shaping that future."
--Nick Herbert, author of Quantum Reality, Faster than Light, and Elemental Mind

Copies of Conversations on the Edge of the Apocalypse can be purchased for $17.79 from Amazon.com

To find out more about David’s work visit his award-winning Web site: www.mavericksofthemind.com

Romero's BACK

WATCH TRAILER

Thanks to Foolish People for the timely announcement!

Plutonium Press

Publishers of the legendary mail art magazine, Scrap, musique concrete audio magazine, Scrape and other offbeat artists booklets & recordings as well as:

The Twisted Art of Christopher Winkler

This one really cracks me up (look at the little guy in the background):



Plutonium Press published a number of artist's booklets or chapbooks from 1986 - 1990. After starting Scrap Magazine, we found a number of artist's who we liked enough to offer to publish their works for the world to see. Since we have no desire to re-print them, we are offering these booklets as 150 dpi eBook PDF files that can be viewed on any computer, eBook viewer, or printed.

Scrape Audio Magazine (ISSN 1058-0395), was first published by Plutonium Press in 1991. There were two issues released on C-60 audio cassettes. Audio was a natural progression for the photocopied collage magazine, Scrap, and the name Scrape fit perfectly.

No Other Radio audio archives (5/17)

Archived audio (mp3) from last night's No Other Radio Network broadcast, with dAS as host and yours truly riding shotgun... (4/17/05)

http://157.22.130.4/data/20050518-Wed0000.mp3

Playlist is available at the No Other Radio blog

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)

No special guests tonite...

dAS will be your host, and I will be there in my usual co-host seating arrangement, twiddling knobs, pressing buttons and spinning dervish circles in my chair...

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

Metaversal Forecast 5/15 - 5/21

Here is the latest and greatest from Johannes Ayres...

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

The week in the bees knees, baby!

SUNDAY, MAY 15
Mars and Uranus align in Pisces. Mars and Uranus together act like a good, strong, air-clearing thunderstorm. If you stand in the wrong place, doing the wrong thing, lightning can strike. Once a bee was choosing correctly about three times out of four, the researchers repeatedly lengthened the tunnel beyond the partition. The sudden burst of lighting, hotter than the surface of the Sun, and bright as can be, awakens and invigorates. It leaves behind fertilizing nitrogen in the region of the strike. From that, plants flourish. It is an accident-prone combination. Pisces, however, is the sign of this meeting, and Pisces takes the starch out of both of them. Pisces is more concerned with the spiritual side of life than with physical energy. Pisces also relates to oil.

Moon continues in Leo, and this is a supercalifrag-creative day. Don't sit under lone trees. The bees still manage to match patterns even when they do not avoid aluminum boats on lakes. Don't take a shower. To earn a reward, a bee flying along a tunnel had to notice the pattern on a partition that it flew through, then enter a decision chamber and choose the opening with the same pattern as it had seen on the tunnel partition. Turn off your cell phone. Be careful.

MONDAY, MAY 16
First Quarter Moon at 26 Leo occurs at 1:57 a.m. PDT. Taurus is the sign of green plants, Leo the sign of flowers. Our garden begins to flourish. This waxing half full Moon phase represents the balance between light and dark and is the most visible growth phase of the Moon. This is the best time of the Moon cycle to put our ideas and plans into action, and is intended to bring our conscious awareness to the threshold of initiation that accelerates the growth process. Each night the Moon is gaining in light until the Sagittarius Full Moon May 23. Action now is whole-hearted, for most of the celestial bodies are interconnected and working together. And Leo enthusiastically puts its whole self into a situation.

The Sabian Symbol for 26 Leo is:

"AFTER THE HEAVY STORM, A RAINBOW. Linking above and below, the Covenant with one's divine nature, promise of immortality. In the Bible, the rainbow in the sign of the Covenant established by God with Noah (the cyclic 'seed man') guaranteeing that no longer shall the destructive power of Spirit (the Shiva aspect of the Divine) be used to destroy life on earth. As we come to this scene of release, we fine the person who has been able to weather the cathartic storm face-to-face with their divine Archetype. Because he/she has been victorious, a link has been established with the Divine Soul-being. Both the human and the divine partners should remain linked. H.P. Blavatsky's last words are said to have been, 'Keep the Link unbroken.' This is the Link she forged with the Trans-Himalayan Brotherhood that had sent her into the darkness of 19th century materialism for this purpose.

The symbol of the rainbow shows us the need to maintain a state of open communication between the Sky and the Earth within our total being -- not for the sake of finding an ever-elusive "pot of gold" at the end of the rainbow, for this end is never to be reached, but in order to face the totality of our individual selfhood as it is projected in the many-hued dome of our sky-flung consciousness. After every successfully-met crisis, the REVELATION OF WORTH comes to us, and with it comes the promise of success, if only we do our part."

After the quarter, Moon is VOC until it enters Virgo at 11:46 a.m. PDT. Use the morning to assimilate these energies, and recreate your own rainbow within yourself. Afternoon will be busy. Virgo Moon trines Pluto, to stimulate the energy of rebirth that defies categorization. The world is rife with hegemonic, bland writing, pretentious and derivative pap. Today you stand in shadow, it touches you, follows your curves, goes to your secret places, carves out your application of language, as it stands apart from the myopia, the mercurial muse favoring those who dare to resist categorization, who not only have talent but are willing to apply that talent in an independent direction. This theme is enhanced by first quarter itself, which helps us put the new moon energies out into the world, as well as by Moon's trine to Pluto, the planet of renovation.

TUESDAY, MAY 17
Venus (10 Gemini) having just emerged from the underworld on May 9 is low on the western horizon after Sunset, and bright retrograde Jupiter is visible 120 degrees away in the southeastern evening sky. Venus and Jupiter are the brightest visible planets from Earth, so this provides an excellent opportunity over the next few nights to visually experience two planets trining each other. This Venus Jupiter trine supports inner reflection and expanding vision on what was seeded when Venus and Jupiter met last November particularly in the area of conscious equal partnership. This is a great time to revision all our relationships from the perspective of love and acceptance. This does not mean the relationship is intended to continue or that it is meant to end. No matter how conciliatory Venus may feel, the inner demons (or angels, if you prefer), keep the vessel stirred-up. No, you will not go back to situations that are continually aggravating - what you believed in has changed. Good. It's one learning experience of many, when taken from a lifelong point of view.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 18
Venus (10 Gemini) squares Uranus (10 Pisces) exact at 9:37 am PDT providing opportunities for unexpected breakthroughs especially in the area of innovative creativity. It helps to roll with the flow and embrace the changes trusting they are designed to support greater freedom of being. Moon enters Libra at 9:30 pm PDT moving towards retrograde Jupiter tonight and will be just beyond Jupiter tomorrow night making their exact conjunction and occultation at 3:06 PDT tomorrow afternoon. This is the closest Moon-planet approach this year with the Moon just 0.35° away from Jupiter. There will be three more Moon Jupiter occultations this year and we have already had five since January. The Libra mysteries include the archetype of Ma'at, reality, the solid grounding of reality that made the Sun rise, the stars shine, the river flood and mankind think.

The Metaverse itself, all the world around is sacred. "Ethics" is an issue of human will and human permission. It is a function of the human world of duality. What is "ethical" for one group is sin for another. But Ma'at, the reality that made all groups what they are is transcendent of ethics, just as a rock or a flower is amoral, a-ethical, without "truth or falsehood." How can a flower be "false" or "ethical." It just is. How can the Metaverse be "ethical or moral, right or wrong"? It simply is. That is Ma'at, weaving together an understanding designed to support the needs of all the parts.

THURSDAY, MAY 19
Neptune stations retrograde at 17 degrees Aquarius and remains retrograde until Oct 26 when it stations direct at 14 degrees Aquarius. If you have natal planets or angles between these degrees in fixed signs (Scorpio, Taurus, Aquarius and Leo) then you are on the front lines with this Neptune process. It helps to remember that it is okay to feel confused, to have no idea where your going, to have no idea what the next step is, to be in the unknown. This is a time for dreaming and visioning giving the incoming visions space and recognition without necessarily acting upon them until you feel clarity from your inner guidance. What is the nature of this inner guidance? First, it is a twin child, the male-female Holy Spirit of the Gnostic Mass, the living fruit of two sexual partners. The Book of Lies teaches that seed and child and parent are mystically one, and that the seed represents the innermost and highest expression of the parent.

In the Star Sapphire, a ritual form of the IX, the invocation brings father, mother, son, and daughter (YHVH, above) into one point of mystic union, referred to as Ararita. This daughter-son, the living elixir, is made a sacrifice to the magical goal of the working. Note that it is not metaphorically alive, but literally alive, containing a great quantity of living cells. Thus, for the male magician, it is the sacrifice of "all that he is and all that he has" into the "Cup of Babalon", which is held by the Scarlet Woman of Babylon and in which the blood of the saints is said to be mingled. The inner incubation time is important and knowing when to intuitively act is a part of the process. Even projects already in motion may benefit from releasing attachments to specific pictures or outcomes and allowing for the possibility of even greater expression to unfold.

FRIDAY, MAY 20
Today the Sun (29 Taurus) is reaching its annual zodiacal alignment with the Pleiades (29 Taurus). The Sun illuminates this doorway once each year providing direct access to the mysteries of the seven sisters. Currently May 19, 20 and 21 are marking the zodiacal conjunction of the Pleiades with the Sun. The Mayans left us an important clue about this timing built into the snake pyramid (Kukulkan) at Chichen Itza. Due to the latitude where this pyramid rests, the Sun reaches the Zenith (exactly overhead) at Noon (on about May 20 to May 23) and no shadows are cast on the pyramid. The Mayan's referred to this phenomenon as "the days of no shadows". The Mayans also knew that for a period of time approximately every 26,000 years the Pleiades would be with the Sun at the Solar Zenith acting as catalyst or key for opening during the days of no shadows. Later today the Sun enters Gemini where it remains until the June 21 Solstice. The Gemini mysteries include the art of being in the moment, spontaneous, outrageous, hilarious and entertaining. This is a great time to socialize, network, have fun and remember not to take life too seriously.

SATURDAY, MAY 21
The Moon enters Scorpio at 4:49 am PDT emphasizing the mysteries of sex, death and rebirth, resurrection and renewal, the Phoenix diving into the fire and ash before being reborn. According to legend, the phoenix appears only in peaceful and prosperous times, hiding when there is trouble. It is therefore a sign of peace by its presence and at the same time a symbol of disharmony by its absence. Yet this prosperity symbol chooses, at the end of its long life, to deliberately immolate itself in the sacred fire in order that it might be born anew. The lesson here is that even in the midst of prosperity, we need a renewal stage, a recycling, an interruption of the status quo, a letting go of angels in order that archangels might appear. And if things have been less than prosperous, less than harmonious, then more than ever, we need the purifying fire, the renewing process. Many people fear this process: they resist change, or they want to preserve the appearance of order and harmony at all costs, or they are threatened by disagreements of any sort. But chaos theory teaches us that the greater the chaos, the greater the resulting higher order.

Our personal fire may be an illness, a troubled relationship or a financial difficulty. An organization may go through the fire of betrayal by its leaders, mismanagement of various sorts, or changing circumstances that leave it unsuited for the world it must function in. The person or institution "dies," perishing in the flames, and is born anew, better than ever, preserving the best of the past as it flies into the future. If the phoenix dying symbolizes the setting sun, the phoenix rising symbolizes the dawning of a new and brighter day. We rise wiser, better, stronger, more focused on our life's mission.It is interesting to note the Scorpio Moon is occurring during "the days of no shadows" because Scorpio is about bringing the shadow to light for the purpose of empowering our truest most alive and passionate expression.

The Cat With Hands

A dark animated story about a cat who, the legend has it, wants to become human.



via ZED

You might want to leave the lights on while watching this one *shudder*...

What is ZED?

ZeD is a launch pad for independent creative expression that uses TV and the Web to seek out and broadcast the best new short films, videos, animation, visual art, performance and music in Canada and around the world.

ZeD.cbc.ca is where about 40,000+ members meet, collaborate, and upload their work (currently over 46,000+ original submissions and counting). ZeD staff screens every single submission and greenlights the best for TV broadcast. It's a match made in artsy heaven. We win. The artist wins. Our audience wins.

Björk: Where Is The Line (video grabs)

Video hasn't made its way onto the 'net yet (maybe will be featured at her website soon) but it was released March 2005 as part of a special DVD boxed set of the album (maybe this footage shows her working with Robert Wyatt, which wasn't included in the first DVD release). I did, however, find these amazing screen captures at the Bjork forum.



WITL is an intense piece of music and a question that I've found myself asking many times in my own life. The video looks wicked, I'm on the edge of my seat.

About the video:

Where Is The Line Directed by Gabriela Fridriksdottir

The last of the series to be completed was directed by friend and collaborator Gabriela Fridriksdottir who previously created the artwork adorning Björk’s Greatest Hits and Family Tree collection. This film will appear in a slightly different form, without the audio, at the 2005 Venice Biennale as part of a trilogy directed by Gabriela.

More info from bjork.com:

From Gabríela's website, gabriela.is, we get further enlightenment about her videowork with Björk, as 'Where Is The Line', is integral part of the Versations Tetralogia she is exhibiting at the Venice Bienniale 2005:

In Versations Gabríela also addresses the chaos the disintegration and disorder of today. She explores our perceptions, emotions, longings, the boundaries of emotion and the unification or tension between different art forms. "Where is the line?" asks Björk on her latest album, Medúlla, in which the human voice is the basis of expression, and its palette of colour is explored to the utmost. Gabríela and Björk joined forces, together with dancer Erna Ómarsdóttir, and created the idea for a video for Björk's song; Gabríela uses the same material in one of the videos of Tetralogia, in which she addresses imbalance of emotions and their expulsion from the body, or catharsis, as she did in the video Catharsis of 2004. Björk becomes a upholstered host, a sort of Venus of Willendorf, who gives birth to a demon coated in a white stickiness (dancer Erna Ómarsdóttir) who, after a wild dance, withdraws back inside the host. In the final scene everything explodes, and hay-wraiths emerge from the background, as if a mutation has occurred in the electrifying atmosphere, and plunge down on the host, who vanishes and is absorbed into the whole. The primal energy of the narrative, the desperation and claustrophobic atmosphere, are intensified by the rough, raw texture, strong visual contrasts and the bizarre hay-scape of the barn.

Contagious Orgasm

Hiroshi Hashimoto has been recording under the name Contagious Orgasm since 1987. Their music has gone through many changes; from dark and creepy sound constructions to beat oriented music verging on dance music. This CD combines a little of all of the Contagious Orgasm styles. There is sample based sound sculptures, annoyingly repetitive looped bits of musical phrases sounding like Muslimgauze, Japussy 2000 or Climax Golden Twins and wonderful complex soundscapes combined with mellow beats that blend right in. (via Groundfault)

FIRE (mp3)

More info here.

Peter Murphy first tour reviews are up

The first reviews & setlists from Florida have been posted.



More news about the tour as it happens can be seen here.

digNubia

Exploring the Science of Archaeology

Dervish dancers at a Sufi Muslim ceremony held in Khartoum. The dervish dance is an energetic religious dance in which Muslim men dance and chant.

WATCH VIDEO HERE

These people are IN IT.

Look at those beautiful tranced-out smiles. I dig the gorgeous coloured garb they are wearing-- in fact, the entire digNubia website is calling my name, bigtime. I might just have to tear myself away from my harmonium and stay a while. You folks with young kiddles might also wanna check through the site, lots of cool online stuff to explore.

zonicweb

zonicweb is an English online music and arts centre based in olde London towne...

For starters, check out their mp3 page. Have fun!

Chant and Be Happy

Sorry, I've got a bit of a one-track-mind lately (chanting and trying to stay happy!) There are some great audio links throughout this website if you are interested. I'm really enjoying this interview on vedic chanting and sound vibration (very interesting stuff!):

Interview with Aindra dasa about Vedic Music (RealAudio)
by Yadunandana dasa from Radio Krishna in Copenhagen, Denmark. Aindra dasa is in charge of the 24-hour kirtan group at ISKCON's Krsna-Balarama temple in Vrindavana, India. (Note: near the beginning and end of the interview, there is about 1 1/2 minutes of Danish. But the interview itself is in English.)

Sonorous Vibrations

The Sacred Geometry of Sound
by Healer/Musician Ani Williams

(Excerpt) Plato, discoverer of the "Platonic" solids, believed that music was the strongest of all life's influences. In his treatise the Temaeus, he describes the numerical (vibrational-musical) creation of the physical universe and the soul that animates it. He called upon his students to activate the ancient shrines and sacred temples of the earth with sacred song, employing "perpetual choirs" in order to echo the harmonies of the Heavenly Choir.

Plato's Republic describes the cosmos as being held together by eight spinning "whorls," like a giant spinning wheel with eight feminine weavers sounding the fabric of Creation. Each of the whorls contains a planet. And on each planet is a siren who sings her particular note and emits her specific color. (continue reading >>)

Ani Williams' piece also mentions Dr. Masaru Emoto's water experiments that were featured in the recent film What The Bleep Do We Know?



"..... Dr. Masaru Emoto has proven over and over again, through photographing water crystals, that there is a geometrical correspondence between human thoughts and emotions and the very shape of the matter that surrounds us. Water, Emoto has shown, "treated" with love or beautiful music, undergoes molecular change into beautiful, harmonious geometrical forms. And the same happens in reverse: chaotic or "negative" thought and emotion cause the crystals of water to become unformed and unlovely."

More photos of Dr. Emoto's water crystals can be viewed here.

Thanks to JonBe for the link!

Mindball

Now here's a game I would like to try playing...



Mindball® is an experience product, a game where two players control a ball with their brain waves. The player being most relaxed wins the game. The brain waves are detected by sensors attached to the headbands. The sensors (electrodes) are connected to a biosensor system. The biosensor system, registers the electrical activity in the brain – so called EEG. The brain waves increasing the chance to win Mindball are called Alpha- and Theta waves. They occur when we are calm and relaxed. The player´s brain activity is shown in a diagram on the monitor. The player being most relaxed makes the ball roll over to the opponent´s goal, with his brain waves as only aid, and thereby wins the game. The outcome of the game is seldom straightforward as the transition from calm to excitement and vice versa goes very quickly. Mindball® is an exciting and audience friendly game where the audience can follow the game both by watching the ball on the table and the diagram on the monitor as well as watching the more or less relaxed faces of the players. The product Mindball® originates from the prototype Brainball which is developed by the Smart Studio at The Interactive Institute.

via bookofjoe

Mercan Dede

Mercan Dede believes that when you put digital, electronic sounds together with hand-made, human ones, you can create universal language, capable of uniting old and young, ancient and modern, East and West.

It’s a bold claim, but the Turkish-born and Montreal-based musician/producer/DJ has the career and the music to back it up. When he takes the stage with his group Secret Tribe, he hovers at the side behind his turntables and electronics, occasionally picking up a traditional wooden flute, or ney to float in sweet, breathy melodies, while masters of the kanun (zither), clarinet, darbuka (hand drum) and whatever other instruments he’s decided to include that night, ornament his grooves and spin magical, trance melodies to match the whirling of the group’s spectacular dervish dancer, Mira Burke.

Mercan Dede is keen to bring his extraordinary music and stagecraft everywhere in the world because he feels its inclusive spirit carries a profound message of understanding and reconciliation. "I don’t like the separation," says Dede. "The Sufi poet Rumi has a very good saying: 'If you are everywhere, you are nowhere. If you are somewhere, you are everywhere.' My somewhere is my heart. I try to figure it out. The rest—the hype, the trends—they are not important. Instead of talking about war in Iraq, if you can make a sound of a small instrument from an Iraqi village, you can tell people more about what is going on there. For me, the future is electronic and folkloric."

Here's a nice photo of Peter Murphy performing with Mercan Dede in Turkey, probably sometime during 2002 when he was recording Dust (which Mercan Dede co-produced)



I soooo wish I could have been there. I was thrilled when I heard that they knew each other after discovering Dede about a year beforehand. These are two artists whom I much admire. If I am ever fortunate enough to meet up with either or both of them I have a lot of things I would like to talk to them about, but for now I really just dig the music.

There are many mp3's here at Mercan Dede's website, go enjoy!

Metaversal Forecast 5/8 - 5/14

Here is the latest from Johannes Ayres...

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

Utopias are not teenager penises, passionate geniuses repeat...

SUNDAY, MAY 8
Taurus. The Bull. Yin. Mother. Earth. Fixed. The New Moon (at 1:45 a.m. PDT) in Taurus is a period of grounding, time to connect with our bodies and the 1,2,3,4,5 senses working overtime. It would be easier for a praying mantis to milk a spider monkey than it would be to not experience some sort of sensual pleasure today. Earthy Taurus is about appreciating the natural forces of the planet, its people and plants. In some ways, Taurus is here, in this small prairie town in central Kansas, on a quiet residential street. In the yard, Ferdinand the Bull and Bessie (Ferdinand is a real Bull, but Bessie is your dear mother in a cow costume) greet you; Bessy offers the milk of human kindness in a frosted mug (and this, even as we have subjected her species to an industrialized hell) Ferdinand offers you a gardenia. Above them is the Hierophant, 5 frolicking children, and two love storks. To the left, high in the air, an all-seeing eye watches over the Garden. In the back yard, Labor is crucified while a banker, lawyer, preacher and doctor nod approvingly. An octopus grabs at the world. A soldier and a child are trapped in two of its tentacles. Fear not. Ms. Bessy drives a spear through the head of the octopus, as freedom fighting citizens cut off it's limbs. The essence of Taurus, however, is not doing, but simply being. Just stop a moment to feel your body, to smell the air, to sense the light on your bare ass.

During the coming Taurus cycle we gather together our values, with the goal of helping them to grow. This can be a very productive month, but perhaps not exactly in the way we expect. Taurus is the year's lunar cycle when we stake out our garden, when we decide our major focus for the next year. Project seedlings planted now will show culmination during the last half of the year, when Mars travels slowly, and then retrogrades, in Taurus, going over all of the territory which is now being marked? The Age of Taurus coincided with the development of agriculture and was a matriarchal period strongly linked with the Mother Goddess and the Bull. As the first earth sign, Taurus searches for its ground, its value, and the physical expression of the divine. It would be easier for a rubythroated hummingbird to unscrew the lid of a ketchup bottle than it would be for a Taurus to not seek stability and security. Where this New Moon falls in our charts is where we are taking inventory of what we have and what we desire to create next.

New Moons are smaller hyper-spacial doorways than eclipses but still offer opportunities to make important shifts in consciousness. With the Sun and Moon closely square Neptune, we're invited to open our lightcrafts up and experience subtle, nonphysical realities. Neptune rules the dreamtime, imagination, intuition, drugs and our connection with all of Creation. His influence is strengthened around this New Moon as he hovers close to his station retrograde on May 19. Neptune opens the access points between different dimensions of the Metaverse. Around this New Moon, our Metaverse and it's bandwidth is greatly expanded; if we twirl that dial, we'll find more frequencies than we knew existed. We can jump and frisk about in these, usually without ensuing funk and sulkiness. The Wounded healer Chiron goes retrograde in Aquarius today, re-entering Capricorn on July 31, shifting into forward gear on October 4, and finally returning to Aquarius on December 5. Revisiting old wounds associated with career and public recognition is likely during this period. Don't wallow in the pain of earlier failure or loss, make a connection between personal ambition and collective responsibility that leads to success.

The Sabian Symbol for 18 Taurus is:

"A WOMAN AIRING AN OLD BAG THROUGH THE OPEN WINDOW OF HER ROOM. The cleansing of the ego-consciousness. The traditional teachings of human nature are somehow reconciled with the youthful enthusiasm that sees in every problem of growth an issue between the 'good' and the 'bad.' The symbol suggests that the real enemy is within the mind; it is the ego and its attachment to possessions. The mind is shown in the likeness of a 'bag,' now empty and needing to be aired in the sunlight. But the 'window' must first be opened and the bag emptied. PURIFICATION."

If your having trouble finding the right Mom's day gift, you could shave her scalp, if necessary, and have the Mayan glyph for jaguar tattooed (or hennaed) onto the skin overlaying her temporal lobe. Buy a long, loosely curled royal blue wig (you may have to settle for a lighter-coloured wig that she can dye royal blue). This will provide her with two new fashion options, which is why I?m recommending it.

MONDAY, MAY 9
It would be easier for a honeypossum to sculpt a perfect likeness of Aleister Crowley out of marmalade and motor oil than it would be for a warthog to put a condom on a blue whale today, what with our Lady Luna in Gemini enlivening our Lightcraft thusly.. There, she holds court for the newly transformed Venus (0 Gemini) who is just entering the sign of Gemini today as well, and rising as an Evening Star tonight. This is symbolic of Venus emerging from her long Underworld transformational journey she undertook in February. These planetary hotties are a dynamic duo, and if your capable of doing so, you'll wake with morning wood. In fact, our nervous systems might be a little jumpy with this high stimulation in the midst of our shifting orientations. With Venus in Gemini, Love turns light, playful, curious and flirty, as opposed to bleeding in my hand. It's a time to let go of old social rules and relationship expectations. Jealousy is all the fun you think they had.

TUESDAY, MAY 10
Intelligence is the greatest aphrodisiac, but a dab of extract from a civet's anal gland and a nice pair of shoes will work just as well today. The Moon is skipping across Gemini today and a rumor without a leg to stand on will get around some other way. Make that phone call, write that e-mail, run that errand. Avoid any doctrine or religious movement that advocates shameful wickedness with the alphabet. Tomorrow is a new day, but the day after that has been made up of recycled moments you were too busy and depressed to notice.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 11
This morning the Moon enters the watery realm of Cancer, accentuating emotions and connecting us with our inner needs. Do we project a hard protective shell to compensate for that soft center and most vulnerable part of ourselves ? or are we able to take our comfort and security with us wherever we go? It is a time to reflect upon our feelings and nurturing ourselves to determine what we really want and need, as opposed to thinking our way through it. Where there's a will there's a way, but where there's no will there's no way you're going to get anything more than a set of commemorative plates and a busted footstool.

THURSDAY, MAY 12
Mercury enters Taurus in the early morning hours. This transition gives us a chance to shift into slow gear, quiet our "monkey mind" and tune into our essential tactile nature and connect with our surroundings in a more organic way. This evening the waxing crescent Moon (9 Cancer) is situated above the WNW horizon just 7° to the right of Saturn (22 Cancer). This conjunction emphasizes responsible nurturing and incorporates the Capricorn wisdom in seeking forms that will also serve generations to come. Looking to the constellation of Gemini, you can see the bright stars Pollux and Castor just above the Moon and Saturn. Looking out my backdoor, I can see Uri was impressed by a squid.

FRIDAY MAY 13
This year has only one Friday the 13th. Interestingly, the 13th actually falls on a Friday more often than any other day of the week. Today is also the 6th night of the waxing Moon, when the brighter half of the month begins. Jimmy considered this phase of the Moon especially sacred, as it was the Moon-between-the-halves or the Half Moon. This shifting between the dark and light portions of the month (as with all turning points) simultaneously exists at the end of one thing and at the beginning of another, resulting in a magical Metaverse where anything can happen. The Void of Course Moon (21 Cancer 24) occurs from morning until late evening enhancing the sense of magic as things are suspended outside of time and blurring the boundaries of ordinary reality.

SATURDAY MAY 14
Mercury (3 Taurus) moves into square with retrograde Chiron (3 Aquarius) triggering our most vulnerable points ready for healing. With Chiron newly seated in the Aquarian energies, it is apparent now more than ever, that our personal healing is directly tied to that of the collective. It takes courage to show vulnerability and to step out on the edge and embrace new or unconventional ways of accessing healing. Mars is making his once-every-two-years journey through Neptune's sign of Pisces, blurring the edges between fiction and fact. His approaching conjunction to Uranus at 10° Pisces (exact on May 15) urges us to trust our intuition and dare to explore some rather far-out territory. Stand by for startling revelations and pioneering innovations as the Warrior meets the God of Chaos. The exact conjunction of Mars (10 Pisces) to Uranus (10 Pisces) tomorrow activates unpredictable changes designed to bring greater liberation and freedom of being. Utopias are not teenager penises, passionate geniuses repeat. This agitates openly as eeriness.

Cats love drones too...

This is what 25 minutes of droning and chanting will do to a kitty.

My new harmonium!

Here she is, my new Bina! (It even matches my haircolour!) I am in love like never before...



More pics if you click here.

Self portrait May 9, 2005

Continuing on the timeline of my self-portrait shots. Here's the latest "me".



I finally got myself to sit still long enough to get in real close while holding the camera in my hands (I still haven't gotten the hang of using my mini-tripod though I've tried but I always seem to come out too blurry...)

Sha Sha Higby

This woman's talent is blowing my mind.

If you have time, watch this video of the documentary from KQED's Spark program to see Sha Sha Higby's costumes come to life.

Unbelieveable!

Here's what KQED has to say about Sha Sha's work:

"It's wonderfully difficult to describe the work of Sha Sha Higby. Her costumes, or moving sculptures, are tornados of colors, textures and shapes. They look like everything and nothing at the same time. There are no analogies that can fully characterize Higby's work, but one might be reminded of a Venetian Carnivale mask, African tribal art or a character in Japanese Noh theater."

Cara Vida

My friend and former neighbor from when I lived in San Francisco. Just found out that she's known the Cockettes for years after I saw her last year at the Cockettes reunion. Cara Vida is unique and has created a universe all her own. She's gotta lotta lung power and not afraid to sing what's on her mind. She used to have me over to accompany her on the piano while she practiced her punk-rock cabaret stylings and would let me jam for a while afterward so I could get my piano fix. Take a little bit of Nina Hagen mixed with some Mae West and one part Johnny Rotten and you have Cara Vida.



IT'S ALL ABOUT THE MONEY

Ka-CHING!

Jai Uttal

Jai Uttal and the Pagan Love Orchestra

Lots of lovely music for you to listen to here!

Om Namay Shivaya...

Thanks to my good friend Cait who's gotten me so hooked on chanting and recommended that I check out some of Jai Uttal's music, she was so right, this is the goodstuff.

Sorry I'm on a bit of a roll here with the drones and chants thing, but wait til you see the pics of my new harmonium (will post those soon, stay tuned!)

Olla Om...

Greetings to anyone who happens to check in here and has found no updates for a bit. I've been a bit taken over by projects and also have been learning yoga chants from a good friend of mine and it's had quite an effect on me. I've been chanting on and off now since last week and now am on a rampage looking around for a harmonium of my own to buy. I saw some great ones while I was out zooming around in the Indian bazaars here in Berkeley and now I'm hooked. The drones are intense and I need more and more of that all the time now, I'm convinced:

Vibration is key to everything...



In addition to working with the OM I have been overwhelmed by my Women Take Back the Noise project. The amount of work just grows more every day. At the moment, I'm trying to assemble the various pieces for packaging and now will be working on getting the layout together for the booklet-- ah, so much work, but it's really going to be something when it's all done. I have to go back to my day job on the 23rd so I'm trying to use every last little bit of "free" time that I have to focus 100% on these sorts of things, so I've not really spent much time blogging and just thought I'd drop a note by here for anyone who was wondering where things were at for the moment and just say "hello" to y'all.

Well, the sun is shining brilliantly so I'm going to head off and finish reading this amusing little novel I found the other day at the library called The Karma Charmer (which is something similar to a Tom Robbins story and makes me burst out loud laughing every few pages). Then it's off to my workout after that, soooo.... Probably won't be back around the bloggies until tomorrow but by then I'll be good and ready for a nice long blogging blitz.

Cha's and aha's everyone,
The Pixie

Unitarian Jihad

Startling new underground group spreads lack of panic! Citizens declare themselves "relatively unafraid" of threats of undeclared rationality.

We are Unitarian Jihad. We are everywhere. We have not been born again, nor have we sworn a blood oath. We do not think that God cares what we read, what we eat or whom we sleep with.

Your Unitarian Jihad Name:

Inspired by Jon Carroll's column in the Chronicle, and after reasoned and lengthy discussion, the committee reached a consensus that you should be called:

SISTER RAIL GUN OF LOOKING AT ALL SIDES OF THE QUESTION

Rock on...

(thanks to Apothekerri for sending this one)

The Laughing Man

via Transbuddha

Grey Lodge is cookin' with aethyr...

Wow, those guys certainly have been bizzy! Lookee what's new:

Grey Lodge Occult Review 16
lots of goodies to download and watch, listen to and read including a lovely html version of The Ruba'iyat of Omar Khayyam (nice!) among other rarities.

and gPod radio also just launched today as well
(wheee, with podcasting, everyone can have their very own radio show-- the world just got even more interesting...)

Cinematherapy

Films offer a mystical message and an opportunity for spiritual growth

"...a genre finally being recognized for what it is: "a metaphoric pathway to explore to explore such things as a nature of love, the meaning of life and death, the concept of of time and space, the vision of our future. Movies have become our windows to the universe. The sheer imaginative power of the screen has shaped the way humanity views itself, the world, and the cosmos."

"Film is a representational medium that, through both its style and content, is able to symbolize a variety of behavioral patterns (through character action, plot, theme, editing, etc.) that are analyzable from different psychological theories and teaching modalities."

via Monochrom