trnsnd

Language Hegemony

2004-08-24T10:24:00.000-07:00

"In this age of information and intellectual property, packaging, distribution and marketing of ideas is more key than their development. Language is the vehicle through which this packaging and distribution is accomplished. Hegemony of language is therefore comparable to control of ideas by controlling their distribution. Since language is ultimately a 'game' of contexts and meanings, whoever defines the language of discourse controls the rules of the game. Georg Feuerstein writes, "Language pre-structures the facts in a certain way and introduces various blind spots". Language battles, especial implicit or invisible, are more critical than battles over the ideas." -- Rajiv Malhotra

fertil plega

2004-08-22T18:15:00.001-07:00

(frangere langue pome)

ribb cavea, bilanx premere rotare.
stihtan matris halon petra.

gemynd exaurare, serere espace.

heiros cnawlec columbinus, feccan treowth.
retourner beran mappa cyrnal.

asprutan!

Submergence

2004-08-09T00:41:00.000-07:00

Metasphere

2004-08-01T03:04:00.000-07:00

"In her dreams, Meta leapt off the highest desert peaks hang gliding over canyons and rivers. She coasted along the seaboard of the Côte d'Ivoire in an ultra-light. Meta flew over trees and hills, desert playas, oceans, horses, dogs, chickens, and run down rusted out cars on the run down forgotten about first nations land rations. She spun around the orb from humid forests to bone bitter cold, through torrential rains and dry dusty air.

In dreams, Meta was swallowed up by the atmosphere, the stratosphere, and the hydrosphere. In these nocturnal apparitions she was sucked up into the ionosphere where electrons zinged off into the ghostly green billowing of the aurora borealis. When she landed, her skin was covered in rust." -- Mia Debono

Position of Folk Category of Emotion in Estonian's Collective Consciousness

2004-07-27T10:34:00.000-07:00

The semantic space of a language, which could also be called the
collective consciousness of the users of this language, is said to
consist of cognitive domains that concentrate knowledge, experi-
ences and meanings by subjects (Langacker 1987). Such cognitive
domain or at least an independent natural category is also made up
of emotion-related cognitive knowledge and experiences, which have
crystallised in the language as emotion lexis.

http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:_77ByMkemA4J:haldjas.folklore.ee/folklore/vol21/emotions.pdf+%22soov%22+definition&hl=en&ie=UTF-8

Aboriginal Dreamtime

2004-07-26T10:10:00.000-07:00

The Australian Aborigines speak of jiva or guruwari, a seed power deposited in the earth. In the Aboriginal world view, every meaningful activity, event, or life process that occurs at a particular place leaves behind a vibrational residue in the earth, as plants leave an image of themselves as seeds. The shape of the land - its mountains, rocks, riverbeds, and waterholes - and its unseen vibrations echo the events that brought that place into creation. Everything in the natural world is a symbolic footprint of the metaphysical beings whose actions created our world. As with a seed, the potency of an earthly location is wedded to the memory of its origin. The Aborigines called this potency the "Dreaming" of a place, and this Dreaming constitutes the sacredness of the earth. Only in extraordinary states of consciousness can one be aware of, or attuned to, the inner dreaming of the earth.

- Faces of the First Day: Awakening in the Aboriginal Dreamtime by Robert Lawlor

The Flower Songs of Hungry Coyote

2004-07-25T18:03:00.000-07:00

"We will pass away. I, NezahualCóyotl, say, Enjoy! Do we really live on earth? Ohuaya ohuaya! Not forever on earth, only a brief time here! Even jades fracture; even gold ruptures, even quetzal plumes tear: Not forever on earth: only a brief time here! Ohuaya ohuaya!" -- The Flower Tree

"I erect my drum, I assemble my friends. Aya! Here they find recreation, I make them sing. Thus we must go over There. Remember this. Be happy. Aya! Oh my friends! Ohuaya ohuaya!" -- I Erect My Drum

Translations: John Curl

Poetic Discourse Structures of Mayan Hieroglyphic Writing

2004-07-25T17:41:00.001-07:00

tz’ap lakam tun
   wa’wan yax sak tomaj was erected, the great stone
  it was stood up, Yax Sak Tomaj

tz’apiji(y) lakam tuun
   wa’wan k’an tuun(?)-il uk’ab’a’ was erected, the great stone
  it was stood up, Precious Stone was its name

chami tzipti’ ch’ahom
               tzipti’ nuun he died Tzipti’ the youth (?)
                 Tzipti’ the broken speaker (?)

uxte’ maax pujwi ajaw
   ’kak’ ti’ chan ma ajaw 3 Monkey Lord of Pujwi
  Fire-is-the-Mouth-of-the-Snake Lord of Ma

b’olon iplaj b’aak nab’(?) k’in
           susaj b’aak uchamali(y) many strengths bone painting (?) ceremony
                         the bones of the dead one were cut

Letters to God's Eye

2004-07-25T16:54:00.000-07:00

"Why are YOU measuring the measure? The measure is the same. Even after Great One, the bones will be broken. I am telling YOU. Relic should believe me.

Where after religion you believe in religion and wish that to Ora. Emptiness is that what Baby God's Eye is fighting for.

Eye of God, you are measuring empty religion for the world. Your aim, not religion, is living in you.

Eye, be careful. You should remember one holy freedom and eternal conscience" -- John Stojko's translation of the Voynich manuscript

Undeciphered writing systems

2004-07-25T16:19:00.001-07:00

The writing systems listed below have yet to be deciphered or have only been partially deciphered. In some cases the writing systems have been deciphered but the languages they were used to write remain a mystery.

Charter 77

2004-07-18T09:40:00.000-07:00

"Charter 77 is a free informal, open community of people of different convictions, different faiths and different professions united by the will to strive, individually and collectively, for the respect of civic and human rights in our own country and throughout the world..."

The Benefits of Regenerative Design

2004-07-14T00:43:00.000-07:00

"The real news in all of this is that if living machines are allowed to develop in the twenty-first century, we begin to break down (and this was what Bucky was getting at) the old inequities between north and south and rich and poor; they don't exist in the same way in this new context.

The tropical world is so poor, and the northern world has some of the mineral resources, the libraries, and knowledge to bring to bear. The arid areas, now so "depoverished," have certain kinds of intelligence that are brought to bear in this age. So living machines actually can do as well in Beirut as they can in Iowa. This kind of concept of an ecological design is breaking down the global inequities. It strikes right at the heart of so much of Bucky's thinking.

We know and have already proven that living machines could reduce the amount of space that humans require by 90 percent. In other words, we could give back the wilderness to itself, by miniaturizing the processes that sustain us. That's extraordinary."

-- John Todd

Koko

2004-07-13T11:27:00.000-07:00

"Lips fake candy give-me." -- Koko

Nomadic Shaman

2004-07-13T10:04:00.000-07:00

Al-Jailani asserts that there is a difference between mediums, magicians, and the fugara. He maintains that not all mediums are magicians, and often they cannot fulfil all the functions of a magicians. The powers of a medium are generally limited to writing hujub (plural of hijab, generally meaning a spell which is either beneficial or harmful) and such. As for the fugara, they are the group that says "La ilaha illa Allah" (they are true believers). -- Rami Sajdi

Salamanders

2004-07-13T09:54:00.000-07:00

Fire: Salamanders

The salamanders are the spirit of fire. Without these beings, fire cannot exist. You cannot light a match without a salamander's being present. There are many families of salamanders, differing in size, appearance, and dignity. Some people have seen them as small balls of light, but most commonly they are perceived as being lizard-like in shape and about a foot or more in length. The salamanders are considered the strongest and most powerful of all the elementals. Their ruler is a magnificent flaming being called Djin. Those who have seen him say that he is terrible, yet awe-inspiring in appearance. Salamanders have the ability to extend their size or diminish it, as needed. If you ever need to light a campfire in the wilderness, call to the salamanders and they will help you. It has also been said that salamanders (and the other elemental beings) can be mischievous at times. For example, a fiery temper and inharmonious conditions in a person's home can cause these beings to make trouble. They are like children in that they don't fully understand the results of their actions.

Beach Assemblage

2004-07-13T09:32:00.000-07:00

Beach Assemblage: Lanny Quarles

Phobos

2004-07-07T11:51:00.000-07:00

The Dynamic Labyrinth

2004-07-07T11:43:00.000-07:00

The liberation of behaviour requires a social space that is labyrinthine,
but at the same time continually subject to modification. There will no
longer be any centre to be reached, but instead an infinite number of
moving centres. There will no longer be any chance of getting off track
in the sense of getting lost, but rather in the more positive sense of
finding previously unknown paths. Under the influence of these "detours,"
the labyrinth itself changes shape. I call this uninterrupted process of
creation and destruction the "dynamic labyrinth." Practically nothing is
yet known about this dynamic labyrinth. It is clear that such a process
could only be planned or projected while at the same time being carried
out, which will be impossible as long as society maintains is utilitarian
nature. In a ludic society, urban planning will automatically have the
attributes of a dynamic labyrinth.

The continual creation and re-creation of modes of behaviour requires the
endless construction and reconstruction of their setting.

This, then, is unified urbanism.

-- Constant, The Principle of Disorientation

Virtual Om

2004-07-07T11:06:00.000-07:00

Ran across this strange site this morning: Virtual Om. Strange stuff! While you're at it, you might want to visit James Koehnline's galleries.

Northern Alligator Lizard

2004-07-06T12:24:00.000-07:00

Saw this little critter on a hike in the Columbia River Gorge this weekend. Quite a cute little thing, I must say. I believe this is a Northern Alligator Lizard, the Northwest's only true native lizard. It was just hanging out on the trail. When we approached, it made a mad dash for the brush. Note the similar coloration and shading of the lizard to the leafy brush around it. Great camoflage!

Decasia

2004-07-02T13:19:00.000-07:00

Inspiring and infinitely suggestive, this haunting tapestry of long lost, partially erased images - a procession of missionary nuns, the rescue of a man from drowning, a boxer relentlessly targeting his mysteriously obliterated opponent - testifies not only to the fragile nature of film but to the transience of all human endeavour. Set to an eerie symphonic score by Michael Gordon which has been likened to the sound of a plane crashing in slow motion, Decasia reminds us, as Morrison himself puts it, of 'the many dreams we forget upon waking'.

This film came out on DVD a while ago, and I recommend it for any fans of old cinematic footage. There are some phenomenal sequences in this film. The music is haunting and creepy and really fits the mood of the footage. Check it out!

Echolocution

2004-06-30T17:17:00.000-07:00

Here's a sample of some of the new music I've been working on with my friend Wyndel:

Echolocution

Concrete Jungle

2004-06-30T09:45:00.000-07:00

This song should be playing on the radio, all day, every day, until such time that the power-drunk, self-satisfied, blow-dried college boys and girls, who have this country in a death grip, shut their freaking pie holes and go back to whatever holes they crawled out of. Thank you Robert Nesta Marley, for being more of a human being than the "educated" ruling class could ever hope to be.

No sun will shine in my day today
(No sun will shine.)
The high yellow moon won't come out to play
(Won't come out to play.)
Darkness has covered my light (and has changed,)
And has changed my day into night
Where is the love to be found, won't someone tell me?
'Cause life, sweet life, must be somewhere to be found, yeah
Instead of a concrete jungle where the livin' is hardest
Concrete jungle, oh man, you've got to do your best, yeah.

No chains around my feet, but I'm not free
I know I am bound here in captivity
I've never known happiness, I've never known sweet caresses
Still, I be always laughing like a clown
Won't someone help me?
Cause, sweet life, I've, I've got to pick myself from off the ground, yeah
In this here concrete jungle,
I say, what do you got for me now?
Concrete jungle, oh, why won't you let me be now?

I said life must be somewhere to be found, yeah
Instead of a concrete jungle, illusion, confusion
Concrete jungle, yeah
Concrete jungle, you name it, we got it, concrete jungle now

Concrete jungle, what do you got for me now?

Drug War Propaganda

2004-06-29T17:17:00.000-07:00

From the DEA History website:

"In 1972, Timothy Leary (center) was brought to justice by DEA Special Agents Don Strange (right) and Howard Safir (left). Leary, a psychology instructor; was fired from his post at Harvard University as a result of his experimentation with LSD. In 1969, he founded a clandestine drug-trafficking ring, known as the Brotherhood of Eternal Love, that became the largest supplier of hashish and LSD in the United States."

Now mind you, I'm no fawning Learyite, but he at least was able to articulate some very important humanist values through some of his work. Whether you considered his advocacy of mind-altering chemicals to have been irresponsible or of great importance to a changing social system, you cannot deny that he spoke his mind loudly and at great risk to himself. Which at least puts him head and shoulders above the deeply conservative Drug Warriors that are wreaking havoc with people's lives by continuing to propogate the myth that all (non-prescription, illegal) drug use leads to HORRIBLE TRAGEDIES FOR SOCIETY!

Even a cursory glance at the DEA History website reveals the deeply disturbing attitudes of the agents of our so-called "Justice System." Rigid, arrogant, xenophobic... And surely since Li'l Bush's acendency to the throne of the Executive Branch, he's packed the place full of stiff, rabid hippocrites like John Ashcroft.

Thanks for keeping the US safe from free thought and dissenting opinions, you freaking jerks.

Alchemy: An Index of Possibilities

2004-06-29T11:49:00.000-07:00

I picked up this re-release a couple weeks ago. Some very nice Sylvian/Hassell pieces on here. "Words With The Shaman" is particularly nice.

"After Brilliant Trees I really wanted to further explore the relationship with Jon Hassell and Holger Czukay developing themes which surfaced during the recording of that album, as everything I do tends to contain the seeds for the next project." -- David Sylvian

Alchemy Index Possibilites

Labyrinthine Concussion

2004-06-29T11:17:00.000-07:00

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=%22labyrinthine+concussion%22

Post-human Systems

2004-06-29T10:47:00.000-07:00

"The familiar New York City cockroach predates the city's geography. It has survived ice ages, earthquakes, famines, and floods. It has watched the dinosaurs come and go. It has resisted determined efforts by mankind to remove it even from individual buildings. It would survive a nuclear attack. It will probably outlive all other contemporary fauna on Manhattan, including humans." -- Jaron Lanier

Combinatorics

2004-06-29T09:12:00.000-07:00

Hooks, Clamps and Vices, Padlocks and Combinations, Padlocks and Keys, Door Locks and Handles, Dials and Gauges...

Activity in Story Mode take precendence over Free Mode, so do all you can in Free Mode to unlock characters when you can

Unlocking Secrets

Mathematike

2004-06-28T17:03:00.000-07:00

A civilization is like a great river flowing through time, nourished and strengthened by many rich tributaries from other cultures. Let us project our imagination backward to a few thousand years. We are invited by the mathematics society of Greece, the birthplace of many mythical gods. We ask them a simple question: "Who created mathematics?" They respond "Mathematics begins with this half-mythical figure of Pythagoras. Science Begins with him. Western philosophy begins with him. He is even the first to use the word mathematike. Before him there was only mathemata, which meant knowledge or learning in general."

Marvin Gamble's Math History website

Strike

2004-06-28T16:44:00.000-07:00

Photo: Lake Washington; June 17, 2004

TRNSND BLOG

2004-06-28T16:38:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the TRNSND.NET blog. Stay tuned!