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Festival Aural
Lunario del Auditorio Nacional
Polanco, D.F. México
16.05.13
More pictures here:
www.mehaceruido.com/2013/05/festival-aural-boris-liturgy-...
The Fire Engines : Candyskin / Meat Whiplash
Label + Logo details
pop:aural / Codex Communications (1981)
POP 010
Design: Bob Last / Malcolm Garrett
'Meat Whiplash' side includes the Codex Communications logo.
visit this place if you like to explore sounds
Visit this location at Aural by Morlita Quan and Bryn Oh in Second Life
Aurel Fenchurch Street City of London.
Aural was standing by the bus stand waiting for his shift to start, he saw me and we nodded at each other and as I walked past he said got any good photos. I had been taking shots of 20 Fenchurch Street and I stopped and we started talking about cameras. He had bought a camera about a year ago but had only used it a few times and was laughing about that and then we got talking about technology in general. He had about 500 CD's but they are now all in the charity shop as he has transferred them to some sort of digital thing. Then again with a big smile on his face he said he really didn't like technology and the way were all becoming so reliant on it. Aural loves ancient history and is going to Mexico on holiday very soon to see the pyramids and he was telling me some of his past trips to ancient sites and his admiration for the architects and builders from these times.
Then it was time for Aural to go and I quickly told him of the project and took a couple of shots then jumped his bus I wrote down his name and badgered him for his favourite song but unfortunately he couldn't think of just one.
www.flickr.com/groups/100strangers/
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Florence Welch of Florence + The Machine performing at the Opera House, Cork, Ireland as part of the Murphy's Little Big Nights Out "Big Night Out" promotion.
I love this photo as it goes quite a way to expressing the energy and 'fire' Florence brings to the stage.
I've chosen this as one of my favourite shots. Check out the rest of my Showcase!
It was obvious that when Primus planned this show, the visual experience was just as important as the aural experience, but most of the show found the members of the band in very low light or dark shadows. I like seeing performers when they play but I don't plan their shows. So many of the shots were taken in very low light with high ISO which meant I had to use high levels of noise removal in post processing to make the images presentable. I still had a blast at the show though.
Fue obvio que cuando Primus planeó este espectáculo, la experiencia visual era tan importante como la experiencia auditiva. Entonces, durante la mayor parte del espectáculo los integrantes de la banda se encontraban en muy poca luz o sombras oscuras. Me gusta ver a los artistas cuando tocan, pero no planeo sus conciertos. Muchas de las tomas se tomaron con muy poca luz y un ISO alto, lo que significa que tuve que usar altos niveles de eliminación de ruido en el procesamiento posterior para que las imágenes fueran presentables. Sin embargo, todavía me divertí mucho en el espectáculo.
The jeepney is perhaps the most popular mode of public transport. It's certainly the loudest, aurally AND visually.
At the end of WWII, after the Americans left the Philippines, hundreds of army surplus jeeps were left behind. They were then lavishly decorated and modified to carry more passengers and used as buses.
Jeepney drivers are known for their driving skills. It's amazing how they weave in and out of tight traffic.
According to Wikipedia, "the word jeepney is commonly believed to be a conflation of 'jeep' and 'jitney', or 'jeep' and 'knee', the latter referring to the jeepney's crowded face-to-face seating."
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
All material in my gallery MAY NOT be reproduced, copied, edited, published, transmitted or uploaded in any way without my permission
Model : Val
Mua : Valeria Spiga
Photo, light, editing : Giacomo Macis
strobist info :
250DI II on camera left and another 250DI II on camera left right
All triggered with cactus wireless system
Powered by Innovatronix
Follow me on facebook : www.facebook.com/pages/Giacomo-Macis/178256760711#!/pages...
here a backstage shot..... www.flickr.com/photos/gm80/7976091835/
..since the anime in almelo (the netherlands) i know "aural vampire" is a very popular band from japan,..
Brandi Fitzgerald likes using made-up terms. She loves adjectives like
"ginormous" and "fantabulous" and creates acronyms for everything. She even
has a word for made-up words: "wobo," meaning, "word combo." So, when she
talks about "diving into the EAR," she doesn't mean doing a jackknife into
someone's aural cavity. She's referring to a term she coined: the "Equality
Awareness Revolution." And Fitzgerald isn't exactly diving into it; she's
being thrown headfirst.
After Proposition 8 passed in California, banning gay marriage in that
state, an LGBTQ rights group called Join the Impact organized protests in
major cities across the country. Fitzgerald, a retail store manager, wasn't
an activist at the time, but at the urging of a friend in California, she
volunteered to be the point person for the Philadelphia rally. The event
attracted several thousand people, and now, she says, she is getting e-mails
every day asking her what will be the next step in the fight for LGBTQ
rights.
Fitzgerald, 32, came out as a lesbian when she was 14 years old. While she's
never faced discrimination or hatred on a personal level, she says, Prop 8
hits close to home. Fitzgerald lived in California for four years and was in
a domestic partnership, which broke up. Her experience as an organizer has
been something of a conversion process.
Fitzgerald says enthusiasm for the protest — which she describes as a "shoot
and then aim" scenario — surprised her. "When all the buzz happened and
everyone was on this natural high, I was getting 1,500 e-mails in a week
from people who wanted to help," she says. "And at the same time I'm going,
'I just stepped up to this and I didn't even know [how big it was going to
be].'" One thing she does know is that she wants the new movement for LGBTQ
rights to be fueled by love, not anger.
Naturally, Fitzgerald has already thought of an acronym for the movement:
LOVE, for "Listen, Observe, Volunteer, Engage." She explains how gay-rights
supporters can use the acronym to educate other people: A lot of people, she
says, want to engage their family and friends in a conversation about LGBTQ
rights, but don't know where to start. "Using LOVE, you can listen to the
other person," she says. "When you listen to them you can observe how they
react and you can gauge how to deal with the conversation. Then you
volunteer your information using facts. Then engaging is doing your part to
make this change happen."
After the rally, Fitzgerald formed a Southeastern Pennsylvania chapter of
the national LGBTQ rights group Marriage Equality USA, and has started
promoting more events for Join the Impact, such as Call Out Gay Day on Dec.
10, when every LGBTQ person is asked to call out of work, and a candlelight
vigil on Dec. 20. She's also gotten involved in the Project Postcard
campaign, which encourages LGBTQ people to write a postcard to Barack Obama
asking him to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act.
Fitzgerald has also co-created an organization called Create Equality, whose
mission is to combine the arts with the fight for marriage equality. Create
Equality is partnering with Join the Impact to hold an arts and music
festival Valentine's Day weekend in California. Create Equality has just
launched a campaign to get gays to send loving but educational letters to
everyone who donated money to the anti-gay Yes on 8 campaign, an initiative
they call "Prop 8 Love Mail."
Fitzgerald envisions an LGBTQ rights movement that uses technology to its
advantage. When organizing the Prop 8 rally, she relied almost entirely on
e-mail, Facebook messages and word-of-mouth to get the message out. Going
forward, she hopes to have virtual Marriage Equality meetings, in which
members can log on and share thoughts online, in addition to the in-person
ones.
Additionally, Fitzgerald has set up several Web sites. One of them,
imgaysowhat.com, draws inspiration from the sign she made for the Prop 8
protest. She couldn't think of a political message, so she wrote on her
sign, "I'm gay. So what?" The Web site will feature pictures of LGBTQ people
and a blurb about their lives. The Web site's motto is "Changing the face of
gay, one true story at a time."
"We have to change the hetero idea of gay [being defined just by what
happens] in the bedroom," Fitzgerald says. "That's got to go away. We're
everyday people with families and kids and jobs and trash to take out and
lawns to mow. There's absolutely no difference [between LGBTQ and straight
people]."
Not to be confused with Oral pleasure...
Tap both paddles to engage 'N', press the 'R' button on the side to reverse out of the parking lot, then engage 'N' and hit the right paddle to engage Auto.
Oh - remember to turn on the rear camera, just in case...
Damn, reversing out of a parking lot is that bit more difficult than my Civic, lmao!
published as preface to MESSAGIO GALORE take V by & as part of the Ottawa International Writers Festival, spring 2oo8
____________________________
MAID MANIFEST: FRAMING THE O
posited
music is a structured act of listening. regardless of the origin of the sound source – a rigidly-structured symphony for double orchestra & mixed choirs, say, or the next 4 minutes & 33 seconds of random air perturberances – it is that act of listening that imposes conceptual stavery on the aural recept.
the oral recept, in the other ear, though similarly informed by the same sets of intervalencies (pitch/timbre/duration), is subjected to a conceptual receipt that aims almost solely at semantic construction, the materiality of the sounds themselves all but transparent in servility to the carried content.
sound poetry exists in the wide expanse between & interpenetrating into music & literature. a focus on the materiality of language stretches all the way from our prelinguistic heights to well beyond the current fashionations of postmodern cacademicism. from inadvertent grunt when the rock conks yr block to highly sophisticated choral extravaganzæ, sound poetry resists static definition of its material malleability.
deposited
as much as sound poetry enjoys parametric freeplay through literary & musical semioses, fixing on the sounds themselves as product is only part of the equation, the score all but transparent to the listening.
sound poetry is synæsthesia at work, a process of sounding sight. while this can be said of reading words & music generally, sound poetry's formal malleability is not limited to its manifestations as sound but is equally delimited in terms of its scoring techniques, which can contain elements of musical, literary &or a variety of optophonetic notational systems (a score can also be simply a set of instructions (not unlike a recipe) or a photograph of a leafless tree, its branchings ripe with lettriste pickings).
reposited
sound poetry is genrificational sabotage, rupturing the passivity of somnolent audi(o)ence.
audience is activerbal, re(ac)quiring an intercourse of emotion & intellection that allows the recept the rapture of conception.
not deconstruction but reconstruction.
not demented but remented.
_________________
MESSAGIO GALORE
province
sound is always an aspect of any form of writing, deliberately or not. from interior devices such as alliteration & homophony through chant & concrete poetry to sound scored for one or more voices, even the overt avoidance of such fascinations describes an acute awareness of the connotative potential of sound as content. red allowed, sound fastenates.
provenance
if linear poetry, chant & soundscores can be read aloud, it stands to reason that other forms of non-unilinear writing can be subjected to optophonetic translation processes into sound. at latest as early as the 19teens, sound poetry was battering at the bafflements of the genteel poetry reading & has continued in development ever since, albeit marginalized (from whence came, it should be remembered, such wondrous sepses as the Carmina Burana).
despite this continuity, its marginalization has been equally continuous & there is not – now, in Canada – much in the way of public performances of sound poetry outside the occasional choral novelty & random inclusions in various writers' readings. as a willwishing audience to such work, this is somewhat less than satisfying.
providence
MESSAGIO GALORE is thetic: an examination of scoring, reading, sounding & hearing techniques across as wide a range as one person with scant resources finds possible to play with.
its function is as a sort of a personal/live/serial anthology of chameleonate content, utilizing my own archive of material & many friends willing to undergo the rigours of rehearsal. while serving as a forum for my own compositions, it has grown to include much historical material from a wide range of sources both Canadian & international, its reach extending from the prolonged present (there will be new works premiered each time around) back to the 6th century (sofar).
_______________________
ALEXANDER'S DARK BAND
participation
MESSAGIO GALORE is curated, directed, mainly arranged & performed, & partly written by jwcurry with the able assistance of many. it has been part of the study to perform particular pieces with a variety of people to hear how personality functions & modifies performance. thus far:
MESSAGIO GALORE: with Maria Erskine, 26 february 2oo4, Ottawa
MESSAGIO GALORE II: with Max Middle & Jennifer Books, 24 september 2oo5, Ottawa
MESSAGIO GALORE III: with Peter Norman, Ross Priddle & Laurie Fuhr, 21 july 2oo7, Calgary
MESSAGIO GALORE IV: with/as Alexander's Dark Band & Auxiliary, Trish Postle, 6 october 2oo7, Toronto
MESSAGIO GALORE V: with/as Alexander's Dark Band & Auxiliary, John Lavery & Carmel Purkis, 13 april 2oo8, Ottawa
particulation
Alexander's Dark Band consists of jwcurry, Maria Erskine, Nicholas Power & Rob Read
particularization
Alexander's Dark Band is the darker zone between primary & secondary rainbows, a light phonemenon Nicholas Power encountered in working on his manuscript of concrete poetry, The Theory of the Rainbow, in the early mid-'8os. he commented then on the potential aptness of the name for an ensemble, should he ever find himself part of one. during the delights of our gruelling rehearsals in Toronto, i was struck by the functionality of our working unit &, unanticipated by Nick, figured it made sense to have this specific collective be so-named & announced us as such.
post-performance, it was determined that we would be most interested in working further together on this project, honing & developing, expanding what might be possible with a fixed continity of personnel.
MESSAGIO GALORE will continue to explore other vocal apparati (both in terms of different ensembles & Alex's auxiliaries) but revels in the rewards of such a dedicated quartet
___________________________________________________________________________
part 1
1. Collaboration No. 2, Steve McCaffery (Canada, 1978?). duo: curry/Power
2. Hare Pronounced Hair, Rafael Barreto-Rivera/Paul Dutton/Steve McCaffery (Canada, 1977). trio: curry/Power/Read
3. IT CAN'T HAPPEN HERE, Frank Zappa (USA, 1964). full quartet
4. ears, Michelle April/jwcurry (Canada, 2oo6). solo: curry
5. Riryphur's rurrusur, jwcurry/Rob Read (Canada, 2oo8). full quartet
6. Generations, bpNichol (Canada, 1988). solo: curry
7. Alice in Wonderland, Sam Loyd (USA, 189-?). full quartet
8. Salmon River Soliloquy, David UU (Canada, 1973). solo: curry
9. SEVEN WAYS OF STARVING, jwcurry/Beverley Daurio (Canada, 199o?). full quartet
1o. "CRUX ", Venantius Fortunatus (Merovingia, c.53o-6oo). full quartet
11. der minister I, Jaap Blonk (Netherlands, 1992?). solo: curry
12. Devil-Trap Spiral, John Furnival (England, 1965?). solo: curry
13. KARAWANE, Hugo Ball (Switzerland, 1917). solo: curry
14. Monograms–Genealogy–Grammarology, bpNichol (Canada, 1988). full quartet
15. CRODZIAC DZÉGOUM APIR, Claude Gauvreau (Canada, 195-?). solo: curry
16. sweet suite suet, Ernst Jandl (Austria, 197o?). solo: curry
17. DAS GROSSE LALULA, Christian Morgenstern (Germany, 189o?). solo: curry
18. " end ant ", Wharton Hood (Canada, 1996). duo: Power/Read
19. WORM, Bob Cobbing (England, 1954). full quartet
2o. Forcible dislocation of personality, Herbert Stencil (Canada, 1994?). full quartet
21. WELTWEHE, August Stramm (Germany, 1914). solo: curry
22. KNOTS, jwcurry (Canada, 1982). duo: Erskine/Power
23. SHIFT 3, jwcurry/Peggy Lefler (Canada, 1982). intro: Power; duo: Erskine/Read
24. A LITTLE NASTINESS, Four Horsemen (Rafael Barreto-Rivera/Paul Dutton/Steve McCaffery/bpNichol; Canada, 1981). full quartet
25. The Tibetan Memory Trick, traditional/arranged by Howard Kaylan/Ian Underwood/Mark Volman (USA, 1975). full sextet with Alec's Socks
26. " Mon Olivine ", Claude Gauvreau (Canada, 196-?). solo: curry
27. " My Olivine ", Claude Gauvreau/translated by Ray Ellenwood (Canada, 197-?). solo: curry
28. SHE WAS A VISITOR, Robert Ashley (USA, 1967). full sextet with Alec's Socks
(intromissium)
part 2
29. Heights (Universal Language), Alexei Kruchenykh (Russia, 1919?). solo: curry
3o. Another Motive, Rafael Barreto-Rivera/bpNichol (Canada, 1979). full sextet with Alex's Socks
31. APPROXIMATE, Frank Zappa (USA, 1972?). full quartet
32. " kp'erioUM ", Raoul Hausmann (Germany, 1918)
33. OPIUM MARBLE, jwcurry (Canada, 198o). duo: curry/Read
34. THE MAN IN THE LOWER LEFT HAND CORNER OF THE PHOTOGRAPH, Mike Patton (USA, 1995). solo: curry
35. East Wind, bpNichol (Canada, 197-?). full quartet
36. Fury of Sneezing, Kurt Scwitters (England, 1946?). solo: curry
37. PLEASE SIGN MY CAST – NO, NOT THERE; HIGHER, jwcurry (Canada, 2oo8). full quartet
38. PAESAGGIO + TEMPORALE, Giacomo Balla (Italy, 1915). solo: curry
39. CANZONE RUMORISTA cantata in coro sui teatri d'Italia in ANICCAM del 2000, Fortunato Depero (Italy, 1916?). solo: curry
4o. Marcia futurista, F.T.Marinetti (Italy, 1916). solo: curry
41. CANZONE RUMORISTA (ritmo cinese), Fortunato Depero (Italy, 1916). solo: curry
42. Oiseautal, Raoul Hausmann (France, 1918?). solo: Read, simultaneous with
43. Super-Bird-Song, Kurt Schwitters (England, 1946?). solo: curry
44. B, François Dufrene (France, 1958). trio: curry/Power/Read
45. Pike-Fishing North Milne Lake, Gerry Shikatani (Canada, 1977?). full quartet
46. ONAN's NANOLECHCTURER, jwcurry (Canada, 2oo2). solo: curry
47. MUSHY PEAS, Steve McCaffery/bpNichol (England, 1978). duo: curry/Power
48. der minister II, Jaap Blonk (Netherlands, 1992?). solo: curry
49. Pieces Of Stop, bpNichol (Canada, 1978). full quartet
5o. TRACT, jwcurry (Canada, 1995). solo: curry
51. 16 Part Suite, Steve McCaffery/bpNichol (Canada, 1971-8?). duo: curry/Erskine
52. " pouadlé ", Václava Vokolka (Czechoslovakia, 198-?). full quartet
53. INTERRUPTED NAP a verbal/pre-verbal landscape, bpNichol (Canada, 1982). solo: curry
54. anacyclic poem with two shouts DHARMATHOUGHTS STUPAWARDS, Dom Sylvester Houédard (England, 1966). duo: Power/Read
55. WHITE TEXT SURE version ten, bpNichol (Canada, 1981). full quartet
56. Scomposizione I, Luigi Gallina (Italy, 1933). full quartet
57. Artikulationen, Franz Mon (Germany, 199o?). full quartet
58. TWO: Less Time, bpNichol (Canada, 1982?). full sextet with Alec's Socks
59. A THOUSAND MOODS A MINUTE, Shant Basmajian (Canada, 1992?). full sextet with Alec's Socks
6o. ma meeshka mow skwoz, Mike Patton (USA, 1995). solo: curry
61. "How The Pigs' Music Works", Frank Zappa (USA, 1994). trio: Erskine/Power/Read
___________________________________________________________________________
cover: Herbert Stencil (2o above)
___________________________________________________________________________
filmed by Josh Massey
___________________________________________________________________________
see also:
invitations:
www.flickr.com/photos/48593922@N04/8306764432/
www.flickr.com/photos/48593922@N04/8316345864/
photos:
www.flickr.com/photos/johnwmacdonald/2413412026/
www.flickr.com/photos/johnwmacdonald/2413820348/
www.flickr.com/photos/johnwmacdonald/2412816001/
www.flickr.com/photos/johnwmacdonald/2413730700/
www.flickr.com/photos/johnwmacdonald/2413678042/
www.flickr.com/photos/johnwmacdonald/2413597778/
www.flickr.com/photos/johnwmacdonald/2413705652/
www.flickr.com/photos/johnwmacdonald/2413760060/
www.flickr.com/photos/pearlpirie/2417145426/
review:
pearlformance.livejournal.com/97847.html
publications:
www.flickr.com/photos/48593922@N04/7454852466/
www.flickr.com/photos/48593922@N04/7454776018/
From top to borrom: Auralic Aries G1 streamer on top ($2.5k), Auralic Vega G1 streaming dac ($4k), Vincent SA-32 hybrid pre-amp ($1.2k), and SP-332 hybrid amplifier ($2.4k)
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
All material in my gallery MAY NOT be reproduced, copied, edited, published, transmitted or uploaded in any way without my permission
Model : Val
Mua : Valeria Spiga
Photo, light, editing : Giacomo Macis
strobist info :
250DI II on camera left and another 250DI II on camera left right
All triggered with cactus wireless system
Powered by Innovatronix
Follow me on facebook : www.facebook.com/pages/Giacomo-Macis/178256760711#!/pages...
here a backstage shot..... www.flickr.com/photos/gm80/7976091835/
Even the best-prepared persons can be caught off guard. Such was the case here. In this scene I am pinned against the wall of a pothole by an invisible force known as "psycho-aural energy." Let me explain.
While exploring the domes above Corona Arch I happened upon this cool pothole on the shoulder of a dome. Potholes fascinate me, so I walked down into it for a self-portrait.
However, I made the mistake of forgetting that some potholes in the area around Moab are not potholes at all, but giant aura cavities that can at any moment issue forth a blast of psycho-aural energy (PAE). Don't ask me to explain the stuff, because it goes over my head. The same phenomenon is mentioned in another photo and the nature of aura cavities is explained in yet another photo.
As I was preparing to photograph myself, the cavity suddenly and without warning erupted, sending a column of bright chartreuse PAE straight up. It doesn't show up because digital camera sensors cannot record it. The fratostatic pressure of the eruption threw me backwards into the wall of the "pothole." That I am alive to tell the tale is in part the result of my wearing a Tilley hat, made of thick cotton. It cushioned my head, lessening the force of the impact.
Needless to say---but I'll say it anyway---I was stunned. Yes, I was stunned. As the PAE beamed upward into space I was pinned against the rock, unable to move. Breathing was difficult. One of the buttons on my shirt turned to dust, just like blood and rubber did in the movie "The Andromeda Strain"! My bamboo hiking stick vibrated, creating a strange humming sound. An "energy" bar in a pants pocket became petrified---note how the pocket on my left leg sags from the weight. The energy of the blast also activated the infrared sensor on my camera, which tripped the shutter, producing this photo.
When the beaming ceased I slumped to the ground in a blubbering heap until I regained my senses. It was only then that I was able to retrieve my camera and verify that Joe Tripod (who supported my camera during this episode) was all right.
Once the episode was over I resumed my hike/scramble among the domes, eventually reaching my goal (a point above Bow Tie Arch). On the return hike I deliberately avoided this formation for fear of another eruption. One can endure only so much excitement in one day.
All photos taken this day were affected by my having accidentally set my camera's white balance setting to "fluorescent lighting." I only partially succeeded in correcting the weird colors of this and other photos
While agreeing with the layering "vortex" of images in Pound, I go further to propose a deliberate subversion of interpretation by the use of layered optical or aural images to produce an "interpretive illusion" from which the reader is freed. The reader is fed three images, one of which turns out to have been a product of interpretation - the dreaded sign - and thus the reader is returned to the veracity of the image: the purity of the experience. Haiku, in their own small way, encourage us to experience this purity - a minuscule satori, enlightenment - by divesting us of the misinterpretation that they encourage in the first place.
Here are some specific examples from the first few in this selection of 100 famous Haiku.
As already discussed possibly the most famous Haiku is
古池や蛙飛び込む水の音
Furuikeya, Kawazu tobikomu, Mizu no oto
An old pond, frogs jump in, the sound of the water.
For me the second line is interpretation. We are presented with a view of an old, and presumably over-grown, murky lake. The poet then presumes that a frog or many frogs have (probably) jumped into the water, but in the third phrase we are reminded, in quite shocking fashion, that the second assumption was merely an interpretation. The poet had provided an interpretation of the sound - that frogs had jumped in - and gave the game away. All that has occurred in truth, in the immediacy of experience, was a view of a lake and the sound of the water. From the image, the frogs have completely disappeared, because they were never there in the first place.
さみだれを集めて早し最上川,
Samidare O atsumete hayashi, Mogamigawa
May rain collected quick Mogami River,
is quite straightforward in telling us that there may not be any rain at all, only the river which has collected the rain and is running rapidly. Bashou was looking at the river all along, but took us to an interpretation, which while true, was not the reality of his experience.
In 閑さや岩にしみ入る蝉の声
Silence Soaks into the Rocks Sound (or, rather, voice) of Cicadas,
it is clear that the initial "silence" is not silence at all. It is an interpretation of sound-scape, the truth of which we are returned to in the last phrase.
Looking at a field of summer grass, at the site of a once great military castle, Bashou writes
夏草や 兵共が 夢の跡
Natsukusaya, Tsuwamono-domo ga, Yume no ato
Which means literally
Summer Grass Soldiers(') Remains of dreams
The usual interpretation is that the summer grass is all that is left of the the once lofty aspirations of the soldiers. I think that this interpretation is correct, but there is also another. The "ga" (が) or apostrophe (') in my translation can be read as linking word meaning that the dreams are of or possessed by the soldiers. But it also can be read as a subject marker, which is not used in English, hence the apostrophe is in brackets. Taking the "ga" to be a subject marker the final clause comes as a shock because instead of the soldiers being active subjects, or there present, we see that only their field of dreams remain. Further, almost as if the solders have been killed in the middle of the poem, it seems to me, gazing at the field, Bashou himself let his imagination run free, so the "dreams" are not only those of the soldiers but also the dreams Bashou himself who imagined (dreamt) the soldiers. Indeed the summer grass itself may have looked like legions of soldiers. In strong support of this hypothesis is the fact that Bashou wrote the word "kusa" or grass with the non-standard (even for Bashou, even in the same book) ideogram "艸" which looks a little like soldiers standing in a line. I.e. Bashou realises, and makes us realise, that he has dreamed up solders from his image of the grass, to the truth of which he returns us. Like all the best haiku however, the poem has no incontrovertible interpretation. Basho could be talking about the dreams of the soldiers, or his own dream of soldiers, but we do know, all he sees is a field of grass. Bearing in mind the fact that Basho deliberately edits his poems for poetic effect, I would not be surprised if he thought this one up well before arriving in "the deep north." In any event, it was well worth the journey.
The usual interpretation of
荒海や佐渡に横たふ天の川
Araumiya, Sado ni Yokotau, Amanogawa
Literally,
Routh Sea, Lies down in Sado, The milky way.
is that Basho is seeing the milky way above the rough waters around the island of Sado but to me the first phrase "荒海" is an optical illusion. First of all, from the historic record, and the fact that Bashou uses the word "milky way" this poem was written on the night of the festival of the Weaver stars who are said to cross the milky way to meat each other on 7th of July. This is the first hint to me that something is amiss. Despite adding this "season word," it would be a a little unseasonal for the sea to be rough on a summer night (though an early typhoon is not an impossibility). Secondly, while there are various interpretations of "lies down," taking a straight forward one, it suggests that rather being over the sea, the milky way is on the surface of the water. The natural explanation for this would be that the mily way is being reflected in the sea, a beautiful image appropriate for the romantic festival night. This would further suggest that the sea was flat, for the starts to be reflected, and therefore that the "rough sea" was an optical illusion created by the white light of the stars brilliantly reflected in the water's surface. What initially Bashou saw as white waves, turned out to be the light of stars lying on the water. Again we are fed a plausible misinterpretation to be returned to the truth of the image.
明けぼのやしら魚しろきこと一寸
Akebonoya, Shiraushirokikotoisun
Dawn! white fist, its whiteness one inch (or very briefly)
This poem was originally "雪薄し”or thin snow which Bashou changed to dawn, in my view because the optical illusion of seeing thin snow as a white fish was a bit too obvious. In other words the poem started out as an optical illusion where the poet claimed/thought he saw snow before realising it was the flash of a white fish in the water, to the optical illusion of thinking one has seen the first rays of sun on the sea, which turned out to be the flash of white fish. In either case the reader is taken from a misinterpretation to the purity of the image. The substitution of "dawn" for "thin snow" - which both might produce flashes of light - shows the deliberate way in which Bashou sets the reader up.
The excellent poem (which I read now for the first time)
この道や行く人なしに秋の暮
Konomichi Ikuhitonashini Akinokure
This road, no one goes along it, late autumn,
was written shortly before Bashou's death at an inn, when he had already fallen terminally ill. The road in question is thought to refer to the poetic path that Bashou had walked throughout his life. The lack of a road goer or goers is usually interpreted to refer to the solitude of the poetic path, but it may also refer to the breakdown of the ultimate illusion: the poets own absence as realised near death, "late autumn." If so then it is more upbeat than usually interpreted, as it implies a lack of fear of death, since Bashou feels himself absent from his own road already. Bashou is so cool.
Skipping the two poems related to death, and moving on to Buson
菜の花や月は東に日は西に
Nanoyanaya Tsukihahigashini, Hiha nishi ni
Field mustard (flowers), The moon is in the East, The sun in the West
This poem at first confused me since it could so easily have created an obvious interpretive illusion and return to the truth of the image (the pure experience), by reversing the order of the last two lines. Let me explain. Since the moon is unlikely to produce an affect on Buson's field of vision when behind him, I presume Buson is looking East at the moon over a field of mustard flowers, that are illuminated by the setting sun behind him in the West. In other words it would seem that the poem proceed towards interpretation rather than towards the pure image; The poet sees flowers, sees the moon, and interprets that the sun must be behind him.
Had Buson written instead
菜の花や日は西に月は東に
Field mustard (flowers), Sun in the West, Moon in the East
Then the second line would have create in the reader the impression that the poet was watching the setting sun, but with the final line the reader would be returned to the pure experience, with the realisation that the poet is in fact looking at the moon, and the second line regarding the sun was an interpretation of the setting sunlight falling on the flowers.
However, upon reflection and thinking more deeply regarding the direction that Buson was looking, it is important to ask whether he was looking at the son or the moon. Googling images related to this poem shows views facing both the moon and the setting sun. We are told that this poem was written on Mount Maya in the Rokkou range of mountains overlooking the Koube bay. The field mustard flowers were presumably on the bay (rather than mountainous) side. Since the Koube bay lies to the West of Mount Maya, this suggests that Buson was looking West at the setting sun. In other words, the second line regarding the moon, was an interpretation, based upon the time of day: sunset. The poem does indeed proceeds from image (the flowers) to interpretation, 'the moon (must be) in the East' to the return to purity of the experience, the setting sun in the West.
However since there is a plain to the East of the very appropriately named, and concievably deliberately chosen Mount Maya, this poem like more than one above (especially is like many of those above, left in interpretive abeyance. We know that Buson was looking at a sphere of light above a field of flowers. We know that he can not have been looking at both the East and the West. No definitive, incontrovertible interpretation is possible. We are left only with the experience, the sphere of light above a yellow field. Buson is very cool too.
Added later
And why is this above "deconstructing" Haiku? Derrida argues that Western philosophers present us (Westerners) with lame, deformed, imperfect signs such as writing, indicative signs, speech acts, and I would add Jackson's Mary's red (the red of someone that has never seen, the presence of red). Why do Western philosophers do this? Derrida argues that these lame signs are a sort of foil, or straw man, or scapegoat, that enables us Westerners to continue to believe in the good, perfect sign that is accompanied with its perfect, otherworldly, meaning. The Western sign is like a roll of double sided tape that is always accompanied by backing. We want to believe in this fantasy because we ourselves are the presumed backing, meaning, what "I" means when spoken to myself. In fact the sign is not accompanied by this backing (meaning/idea) but we can continue to believe that signs are thus accompanied, by comparing the best and worst of signs. The best signs are those spoken to ourselves in our heads. The worst are those lack "meaning" as intent, or come with something physical like speech acts. These secondary, deformed, lame, bad, scapegoat signs are introduced so as to pave the way for the positing of pure signs.
Similarly in the Japanese canon, the truth and the falsehood are reversed.The lame thing, the lame sign that is distorted by its infection of the image, is instead the lame image, that is infected by the sign. The frogs in Basho's poem are interpretive frogs. Frogs that were never there in the image and only supposed to be. The "old pond" or perhaps, also, instead the " frogs" are the interpretive impurity that the finale realization, of the sound of the water, dispels to the exteriority of interpretation. Basho is a Western philosopher Nacalianly transformed. He presents, over and over again, images that are lame, wrong, tainted by interpretation, before returning his readers to the purity of the image.
But then again the action, of Western philosophers (word-smiths who attempt to persuade us of the purity of the word) and Japanese poets (and gardeners and painters, image-smiths who attempt to persuade us of the purity of the image) is different. The Western philosophers want to persuades us of a duality. The Japanese image-smiths want to persuade us of a unity. The truth (ha!) is Indian, Nagarjuna, not-two.
See Kaleidoscope Audio/Video Entries on YouTube: youtu.be/x4htuyUo4J0
Kaleidoscope: BXA Junior Seminar Audio/Video
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Condensation
Jake Berntsen
BHA Philosophy and Music Technology
Condensation is composition that aims to identify specific elements of the steampunk aesthetic and represent them through sound. Distinct characteristics such as a fascination with analog machinery, generally dismal landscapes, and the juxtaposition of both dated and futuristic motifs are represented aurally. These representations are either literal (attempts to directly mimic sounds that might be heard in a steampunk universe) or analogous (attempts to mimic general motifs that might be found in a steampunk universe by creating clearly similar patterns). Examples of the literal type include sound effects that appear throughout the piece such as trains, metal gears grinding, factories from a distance, metal being pounded, steam blowing, etc.
It is worth noting that some of these sounds were field recordings, but others were either purely synthesized or heavily processed-for example, I sampled a lot of grandfather clocks that I eventually slowed down to emulate gears clicking into place. I tried to make every sound effect sound inherently dark, emulating the emptiness often captured in steampunk's post-apocalyptic settings. Sounds like trains and factories and even hammers can sound fun and almost cheesy, because contexts like cartoons and video games are designed to make them sound ridiculous. Making the sounds appear to be farther away from the listener made them sound more sinister and cinematic. Examples of the analog include my attempt to musically showcase the way steampunk juxtaposes past and future aesthetics.
Perhaps the most fascinating idea that the subculture brings to the table is the idea of what people in the past thought the future would look like. I emulated this pattern in multiple ways – a melody that follows the counterpoint and melodic structure of Baroque music, but made the timbre of the instrument sound synthesized and futuristic. Additionally, I produced the drums to sound modern, while processing the sound effects and recordings to sound like they'd been recorded in the 50s or earlier. To achieve this effect I used old microphones and a variety of EQ and vinyl distortion effects.
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Subcultures of Instagram
Steven Kosovac
BHA Environmental Studies and Art
Nicole Yoon
BHA Creative Writing and Art
A collection of Instagram posts from three unique subcultures – vegans of Instagram, skinheads, and “lovestagram” (Korean couples who post pictures of their coupledom).
Unconstrained by geography, users of Instagram can construct a persona and self identify with a subculture by using hashtags and simple search tools. Presented together for comparison between the visual and textual aspects of each group, the posts of real users demonstrate the digital translation of real-world subcultures.
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#aesthetics
Jessica Shen
BCSA Computer Science and Design
This work is derived from the Seapunk subculture, a subculture centered around the nostalgia for 1990’s internet culture. Described as a mashup of early techno-rave, 90’s R&B, and ocean themes, Seapunk’s aesthetic has been called an “inside Web joke that feeds off its own ridiculousness” (New York Times). However it is precisely this ridiculousness that has fueled its viral nature on social blogging platforms, namely on Tumblr. While its music and aesthetics are comparable to Vaporwave, Seapunk sprouted from mysticism that early technology had, combined with ocean visuals and themes.
This video combines the essential elements of Seapunk culture: the remixing of music, techno sounds, and ocean sounds as well as the remix of graphics reminiscent of early graphics technology. As a music video, the work displays the core of Seapunk – because much of Seapunk lives online, the graphics and music are exactly what Seapunk thrives on. The digital nature of Seapunk has given rise to fashion, social media trends, meme culture, and dance music simply through these mediums. As a very recent subculture, it has revolutionized the communication and inception of a subculture. How will technology continue to shape the world of subcultures?
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Death of the Hipster
Micah Wallen
BHA Ethics, History, & Public Policy and Music Performance
The 1940s was a time period in America’s history of great uncertainty, due in large part to war across the ocean, and racial divides domestically. This decade saw the rise of the subculture known as “Hipster.” The Hipsters were generally lower to middle-class citizens in their 20s and 30s who lived lifestyles in rejection to the lifestyle of the upper classes, and the dominant culture as a whole. The Hipsters embraced activities that went against the social norms at the time or considered to be culturally taboo. Most notably, the Hipsters turned to the music style of Jazz, which musically is known for having very few rules or guidelines, leaving the performer free to communicate their feelings through their music. The dominant culture participants looked down on Jazz and instead embraced more accepted and organized forms of music such as swing. However, eventually the Hipster subculture became so exclusive, rigid, and popular, that it became a form of dominant culture in and of itself. This change over time represents the death of the Hipster subculture, because it resulted in loosing that free, rule-breaking spirit that was the foundation of its creation.
This artifact, is a composition about this change over time. This composition demonstrates the dominant culture attitude through musical themes and forms, and then demonstrates the Hipster subculture, in a much more free form, and then eventually, the transformation of the free form into a rigid one.
Photographed during the production of National Geographic Television's Lockdown: Blood on the Border
El Paso, TX, February/March 2011
© David Ross Smith
I hope this shot was worth it - besides the massive decibels of noise that deafened me I breathed in large amounts of nitrous oxide which left me with a massive headache that still has not gone. The thrill of watching this guy tune the bike by ear was quite exciting.
Out of this world public domain images from NASA. All original images and many more can be found from the NASA Image Library
Curated higher resolutions with digital enhancement without attribution required can be downloaded: www.rawpixel.com/board/418580/nasa
This is a free download under CC Attribution ( CC BY 4.0) Please credit NASA and rawpixel.com.
I have in my hot little hands the Motionlingo Adeo -- a tiny, 2.1 ounce GPS receiver used to track your workouts.
The feedback is completely aural -- you plug in a headphone, hit the "go" button, and listen for updates during your workout on distance, time, average and current speed, max speed, time-of-day, and elevation. My bicycle computer tells me these things already, but the Adeo is designed for "visually intensive sports such as skiing, snowboarding and mountain biking." For winter sports in particular it's a pain in the neck to dig things out from under three layers of clothing so I can especially see the utility of an audible tool like the Adeo. Even while cycling I don't always like to look at my computer, especially at speeds over about 40 mph.
If you like to listen to music during your workout, the Adeo has an audio input jack -- with an included cable you connect your MP3 player to the Adeo, and the Adeo just passes the music through.
Stated battery life is six hours, so for all day activities such as hiking or climbing or anything in the backcountry you'll lose the battery. You can buy a wall wart from Motionlingo, but right now there is no officially supported portable power supply.
You can upload the data to the Motionlingo website, where you can see a map of your workout. The site also includes a fairly full-featured fitness journal.
I'll post a full review to Cyclelicious after I've given the Adeo and the online journal a full workout.
You see a plate of carryout sushi (California Rolls) because I grabbed this while I was out to get my lunch. $5 for the sushi plus salad from Dashi Japanese Restaurant on Willow Road in Menlo Park.