In A Perfect World > Digital Networks & Social Media > with Rak Razam and Jenny Ryan

undergrowth — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 00:15:37 -0800

On the road to Burning Man in a Toyota Prius with Rak Razam and radical cyber anthropologist Jenny Ryan (aka Tuna Bananas), research assistant to media pundit Howard Rhinegold (The Virtual Community and Smart Mobs). Jenny discusses cyber literacy, smart mobs and virtual communities with experiential journalist Rak Razam... How do we use technology to form communities and conduct virtual everyday social interactions? Does social networking keep the drones sedate and make us good workers? Or does Super-poking and quiz sharing provide a social glue for online communities? Where does the drift towards hive mind collectivism in the human matrix being able to laterally recognize itself – an ambient awareness – lead us? What role does the ego play in blogging and lifestreaming? And as social tribes grow, does it increase our pool of knowledge and ability to draw upon the wisdom of the collective? Or is it all an Orwellian marketing wet dream? The intent behind technology makes all the difference... *warning* some scratchy wind muffles about 20 minutes in... the perils of experiential podcasting...

Cosmic Trance, the Hero’s Journey and the Overview Effect > Graham St John

gman — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 01:07:13 -0800

Lately, I’ve been hearing a lot of voices ….

Like “we journey from ignorance to knowledge. Growth reflects the advancement of the species. The exploration of the cosmos is a voyage of self-discovery.”

I heard it on Cosmosis' “Self-Discovery” on Fumbling For The Funky Frequency (2009).

It was Carl Sagan, lifted from the TV Series Cosmos.

Other voices I’ve been getting are right out of the history of science fiction cinema and, further out... from astronauts participating in NASA's Apollo Space Programme.

They are the (male) voices that together speak the tongue of cosmic trance – which is the heart of the Goa trance phenomenon - and remnant within psytrance. They are the voices of a psychedelic astrofuturism, in which Space Age mediations have been intercepted by sonic and visionary artists repurposing popular culture in the pursuit of progressive evolutionism.

But don't let me get too far ahead of myself...

Monkey & Sardine > music by Martin Martini > video by Jim Batts

undergrowth — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 01:02:55 -0800

Martin Martini - Monkey & Sardine from Jim Batt on Vimeo.

The Transition Decade > A Shared Campaign

undergrowth — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 07:36:35 -0800

THE TRANSITION DECADE is a 10 year social and structural transition that enables the restoration of a safe climate.This is a short film which outlines the 'Transition' movements vision, and how it can be achieved in Australia.

In A Perfect World > Blotter Art & The Institute of Illegal Images > with Rak Razam

undergrowth — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 17:23:07 -0800

An illuminating interview into the world's first edible art...

In conversation with Mark McCloud, acid blotter art historian and 60s archivist in his home in the Mission district of San Francisco, August, 2009. In which experiential podcaster Rak Razam learns from the master about the colorful and mind-expanding history of blotter art, from the early acid chemist oufits like the "Ghost" and the underground crews that ran the business of enlightenment.

TEMPLE VISIONS > interview with Jimmy Bleyer> by Tim Parish

verb — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 17:35:21 -0800

Image: The Shaman, by Amanda Sage

Deep within the concrete heart of downtown Los Angeles, I recently met Jimmy Bleyer, a wizard in the form of an art curator who is behind the Temple Of Visions, a new multi-arts space that opened January 9th. It will be the first gallery dedicated totally to the emerging contemporary Visionary Art culture here in the City of Angels.

Stalactites Vs. Stalagmites

eleven — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 13:23:15 -0800

I consider it significant that most of us find it impossible not to overeat at Christmas time. Likewise, we cannot avoid company on New Year’s Eve. It could be a proverb. Just try it—and afterwards, ask yourself whether you believe in free will. Look at all the women lined up and packing the halls in shopping centres before Christmas, purchasing last-minute presents for their kids and relatives. They are sweating in trolley jams. Their money drains away as their stress levels rise. There must be an enormous percentage of people who dread the festive season, yet they keep participating. Why? Don’t tell me it is free will.

The Wake

eleven — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 22:00:17 -0800

The Wake

I stirred and awoke to find myself seated on the couch. A glorious sun shone through everything, as if my surroundings were translucent.

The television was on and I was alone.

"Time-ism" or Father Christmas Does Exist

eleven — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 19:26:48 -0800

Santa Clause does exist. He exists in the Fourth Century, in the area that is now northern Turkey, under the name of Saint Nicholas. To say that he doesn’t exist is a lie, as much of a lie as saying he has magic reindeers and a home in present day North Pole.

The obvious rebuttal is to say he existed—not exists—in the past tense. My argument is that this is not more truthful, just more ‘our-own-time-centric’. Biased, in other words, like a metaphysical prejudice. Saint Nicholas does exist in that time and place. Being biased towards our own time and place is closed-minded, and leads to illusion and even violence. A case in point: somebody once said that the world is flat, based on the fact that no one in his own time could prove that it was round. Somebody could prove it, of course, in the future. But some notable people went to prison or were tortured, or killed, because they did not cater to the time-bias (shall I say ‘timeism’?). Giordano Bruno, I hear, is being burned at the stake in 1590 for affirming the Earth's motion around the sun.

'What Can I Do' > by Monkeymarc

undergrowth — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 11:26:58 -0800

Monkeymarcs, beat maestro from hip hop collective Combat Wombat has released his first solo album. 'As The Market Crashed' is a richly textured record that swings from blues to banghra, cruncy dub and chilled out trip hop.

Feature track 'What Can I Do' is a groovy mix of old blues, grimy beats and funked up keys. Check it out below.