tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38964798596397756802024-03-13T00:45:49.270+00:00Right...Well...Right...Well...<br>
"Let us do our best, even if it gets us nowhere." Henry Miller Alias Bogushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10908752518788179717noreply@blogger.comBlogger124125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3896479859639775680.post-8665068007747142432019-12-18T16:59:00.001+00:002019-12-18T16:59:25.025+00:00House-keeping and flashbacksI will revive this old blog for a while, as I want to get away from the constant response to the moment (in Facebook, etc) and dig around a little in the past.<br /><br />First of all, I have worked on computers since about 1999, and that formed part of my work, as well as play, so I have a lot of back-ups, moved on from old computers. Of course, stuff must have got lost in all the shuffling over 20 years, but some treasure still exists.<br /><br />For instance, as my work included figuring out the newly-growing internet, and passing on that knowledge to both library stuff and customers (we stopped calling the 'borrowers", and 'users' sounded a bit druggy) I had to experiment with everything, so often had a couple of accounts (so I could look at an account from inside and out). I have no idea how many leftover blogs may exist (or have since died), and websites, and FB accounts, etc.<br /><br />Most became inactive when social media took over, and we all moved into 'the moment'. Of course, occasional memories pop up, on anniversaries, etc, but generally we live in ephemeral, linear time.<br /><br />I miss deeper immersion in mythic time.<br /><br />And so much of that past got recorded. These items seem like the digital equivalent to the boxes of papers that still sit in my den in Cardiff (some of which, but not all, will move up here to the cottage). I will have to go through the boxes and get ruthless. Not easy. I have the same relationship to all this digital material, as back-ups generate duplicates and variations, etc. However much pruning I have done, these things get copied around.<br /><br />So anyway, will register my progress here, and that includes working on finishing the autobiography, which has hovered about for years, incomplete. Again, it got taken over by 'real-time' interviews and chats, and posts, so that I got bored with much of the material (both memories, and opinions) and didn't feel like going through it all again.<br /><br />Maybe this rummage through the old stuff might spark a new burst of motivation. We'll see.Alias Bogushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10908752518788179717noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3896479859639775680.post-49351028736276531312019-10-28T15:07:00.003+00:002019-12-18T17:01:41.685+00:00The Three Degrees of initiation<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Years ago, I became interested in the theme of initiations, trials, ordeals, etc - as part of the Hero's Journey, of course, but also in relation to the Gnostic approach, which considers our essential nature as a spark of light, that has slowly fallen into matter, and becomes trapped, and seeks to escape again.<br />
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I came across an interesting book, in my mother's collection, by Colin Still, "Shakespeare's Mystery Play - a Study of The Tempest". The only review I can find of this<a href="https://www.theosophy-nw.org/theosnw/arts/ar-mcos2.htm" target="_blank"> appears on a theosophical site</a>, and doesn't really elucidate the story as he tells it.<br />
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I made the above 'chart' as a way of clarifying for myself the ideas the book contains. I can not find this model in any other traditions, and can also find almost nothing about Colin Still (although T.S.Eliot and W.H.Auden seem to have known of his work), so this stands alone.<br />
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He uses the four elements, and the three 'transitional' phases between them, making seven steps, in all.<br />
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In regards to The Fall, we can see how light/consciousness gets tempted down to this earthly plain, and then can - with sufficient effort or luck, escape again, through a series of initiations, which appear in many traditions.<br />
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It turns out that Colin Still is not quite as obscure as I assumed, and I found more references to his work in Northrop Frye's late notebooks, etc. More research needed...<br />
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<br />Alias Bogushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10908752518788179717noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3896479859639775680.post-56626055353786875362019-10-23T20:33:00.000+01:002019-12-18T17:02:17.757+00:00Just get on with it!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Hey ho, sorry 'bout this, but most of my typing vanishes into the ephemeral trivia of social media, and blogs have slowly gone dormant.<br />
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I keep meaning to complete an autobiography, which I already started on, and which I even commissioned a cover for, from the excellent <a href="http://bobbycampbell.net/" target="_blank">Bob Campbell </a>(which is ready to go, on standby).<br />
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Of course, I remain <i>schtum</i> about the title I chose, so let's call it <i>Work-In-Process</i>...<br />
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Back in the day, I challenged myself with writing 50,000 words in a month, as part of <a href="https://www.nanowrimo.org/" target="_blank">NaNoWriMo </a>- a personal marathon to write a short novel in the month of November. At that speed, an autobiography could get finished before Christmas. I actually finished the marathon half a dozen times. No great books emerged (although I quite liked <a href="http://www.lulu.com/shop/toby-philpott/infinite-monkeys/paperback/product-16105208.html" target="_blank">Infinite Monkeys</a> - and even played the game of getting a cover and promo image from Bobby Campbell, and then publishing it on Lulu, as paperback or ebook, just to see how it all worked). Still, I failed to go back and do a serious edit of most of the other attempts, and the editing process matters much more than just dumping out a first draft.<br />
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November looms, so perhaps I should push myself to write at that frenzied pace (1667 words per day) and get the damned autobiography into first draft, at least. I might even enjoy it!<br />
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<b>2007</b>: I wrote <b>"Foolproof"</b>, my very first attempt at fiction. I struggled, but completed the task. It muddled up bits of my own life, with bits of imagination, and prove simply a slog to the finish. I can't re-read it.<br />
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<b>2008</b>: I decided in advance, at least, on a theme, of a quest, and hidden items, and puzzles, etc. This led to <b>"Infinite Monkeys"</b>. I still quite like to read bits of this...and I love holding a real book!<br />
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<b>2009</b>: This time I wrote <b>"Handwaving",</b> more or less about "Art" and the empty space, the white room, the blank canvas. I think I included a small esoteric group, as well, as a source of inspiration.<br />
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<b>2009a</b>: enthused by the process, I also did a film script, on Script Frenzy,<b> "One White Crow".</b><br />
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<b>2010: </b>I wrote<b> "Does Not Compute" </b>aka <b>"Spooking the Herd"</b> which I can't remember much about. Something to do with business, and money, and hustles, etc.<br />
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<i>I skipped <b>2011</b></i><br />
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<i>In <b>2012</b>, I decided to actually work to some kind of game plan, so read and analysed a bunch of conspiracy thrillers. I didn't want to have a hero who was ex-SAS, though, who could field strip a bunch of weapons, fly a helicopter, etc, so made him a diffident Englishman abroad. But apart from that...</i><br />
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<b>2012: The Columbus Caper </b> I quite liked this book, and really should go back and look at it again, do some editing, and maybe even follow through with a Lulu version. If it amuses you to see the process, I did the work on Scrivener, and<a href="https://akabogus.blogspot.com/search/label/NaNoWriMo%202012" target="_blank"> used this blog as a diary of the days of November 2012.</a><br />
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I tried using 2013 to work on the autobiography with the same level of motivation, but it felt like cheating, as NanoWriMo has a specific brief of writing <i><b>fiction</b>. </i><br />
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And then I pretty well put it all aside. And six more years drifted by... Hey ho. So it goes.Alias Bogushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10908752518788179717noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3896479859639775680.post-53180239569672421552018-07-01T13:14:00.000+01:002018-07-01T13:28:15.520+01:00The Ten Thousand ThingsAnyone who knows me realises that I have little time for 'religion' or its partner word 'spirituality', simply because I don't understand them. Until someone gives me a clear definition of 'spirit' without bringing 'soul' (an entirely different entity, seems to me) into it.<br />
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Still I love the philosophical little text called the <b>Tao Te Ching</b> (for its brevity, if nothing else). <br />
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Here's part of <b>Chapter 42</b>:<br />
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<i><span style="background-color: #fffcf6; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">From Tao comes the One.</span><br style="background-color: #fffcf6; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" /><span style="background-color: #fffcf6; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">From the One comes the Two.</span><br style="background-color: #fffcf6; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" /><span style="background-color: #fffcf6; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">From the Two comes the Three.</span></i><span style="background-color: #fffcf6; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>From the Three come the ten thousand things.</i><br /><br />I won't go into what I understand from this enigmatic (and profound) little poem, but I like a description of the actual world we live in as 'the ten thousand things'. When I emerged from the buzzing, blooming confusion of childhood I remember feeling delighted at those ten thousand things - from butterflies to books, from other countries and other languages to art and science by-products, from simple to exotic foodstuffs, and on, and on.<br /><br />In fact, in the modern idea, we know of millions and millions of things, but a symbolic 'ten thousand' seems a manageable amount for any one human to deal with. After all, I will never meet all the people, read all the books, visit all the countries, watch all the movies, etc.<br /><br />The 'ten thousand things', to some extent, represent the illusory part of life, called Maya or Lila, the things that we eventually have to let go of, when we finally leave. At my age I have already started simplifying my expectations - I may never get to visit China, or South America, or Africa. Whole clusters of possible experiences now eliminated. I sometimes feel I am shedding layers, in preparation, like Ishtar entering the Underworld.<br /><br />So perhaps it should come as no surprise that for many people, these days, their apparent wide range of experience (their own ten thousand things) may well consist, almost entirely, of pixillated experiences, rather than direct, sensory ones. We think we have seen youths skateboarding over street furniture, dolphins rounding up fish, football matches, Royal weddings, disasters, heroic behaviour, etc - but all this through just one channel - a screen.<br /><br />Less to give up, I guess, when we finally leave! We just turn off the screen, or run out of battery life, and we're gone.</span>Alias Bogushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10908752518788179717noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3896479859639775680.post-16357188349466378352017-10-16T00:46:00.000+01:002017-10-16T00:46:18.259+01:00Always Assuming…This is something I contributed to Maybe Quarterly in 2006<br />
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By BogusMagus <i> (21 June 2006)</i><br />
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Consider an artist as a dreamer in control of hir dreams who invents a world and invites others to live in it.<br />
A con artist does the same.<br />
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Have you ever felt conned by teachers, priests, politicians, acquaintances or family?<br />
To achieve this outcome the scam-artist has to control the channels of communication.<br />
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Usually we 'potential victims' have multiple channels of input that we can use to verify our perceptions.<br />
Cults, the military, the major religions, state education, practical jokers, hoaxers and confidence tricksters attempt to isolate us from a complete range of checks and balances, and ideally they control the few channels left available to us, through which they feed us data and models of their choosing.<br /><br />
If they can’t completely control our use of other channels they can create false trails, strange loops, confusion, social pressure, a hint of illegal activity, paranoia, manufactured evidence or misinformation to encourage us to distrust these alternative viewpoints, or reality checks.<br /><br />
The world they create differs from the ‘real world’ because it contains some of the hoaxer’s fictitious creations – a chair has gone when someone sits down, an account will prove empty when someone tries to take out their money / winnings.<br /><br />
We fail to distinguish the evidence of our senses from conclusions drawn – and maybe we secretly want to believe their version (easy money, eternal happiness).<br /><br />
The process usually involves a period of induction to build up the false world picture, which should appear consistent to any test the victim can apply.<br /><br />
RV Jones wrote a paper drawing parallels between practical joking and the work of the scientist confronted by a universe, as the scientist constructs a world based on any evidence he has, then tests it for consistency<br />
with what he already knows, and takes action on the assumption of accurate data.<br />
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Beware - Be Aware - Be Wary</div>
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Thanks to <u><b>The Pleasures of Deception</b></u> by Norman Moss - <i>hard to find a copy of this.</i><br />
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Check out <a href="https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Reginald_Victor_Jones" target="_blank">R. V. Jones</a>, [find it in Scribd, here] <a href="https://www.scribd.com/document/28378371/The-Theory-of-Practical-Joking-RV-Jones" target="_blank">“The theory of practical joking – its relevance to physics”</a><br />
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Bulletin of the Institute of Physics 1957, p. 193 - partially reprinted in A Random Walk in Science<br />
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Alias Bogushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10908752518788179717noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3896479859639775680.post-40911582521377479862017-10-12T18:25:00.002+01:002017-10-12T18:28:21.451+01:00Archetypal astrology - notes on the courseThe second class in this course on Archetypal Astrology consisted of Stanislav Grof taking us through the pre-birth (perinatal) phases of development. Bear in mind that the astrology appears minimal, as the tutors do not employ to the familiar Sun Signs, nor do they consider that charts 'influence' individuals or generations.<br />
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They simply refer to the angular relationships of the planets, and Transits (if you celebrate your birthday, or a Full Moon, or go visit an Eclipse, you are already into this stuff). So away with the objections based on precession of the Equinoxes, or 'influence of the stars' or rising signs, Sun signs, etc.<br />
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All they are indicating, it seems, are a set of correlations, which you may prefer to consider synchronicities, or cyclic behaviour.<br />
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Here's <a href="http://realitysandwich.com/221476/stanislav-grof-and-richard-tarnas-the-birth-of-a-new-worldview/" target="_blank">a Reality Sandwich article as background.</a><br />
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This week was not so much about astrology. Of course, astrology is highly focused on the moment of birth (in space-time) but I know relatively little about its consideration of the moment of conception, and nine months in the womb.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>My own conception and birth</b></span><br />
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The war had ended when I was conceived (I seem like a celebration baby, on or about VE Day), and in spite of rationing, my mother must have been less stressed than in the previous few years. I imagine I could hear her singing. I was born at home (mid-wives were available during the war, so newborns would not be all in one place, should a bomb hit). So my mum was surrounded by family, and in a comfortable place. As it was a very cold winter, she then carried me around (in the traditional manner) with a shawl tied over her shoulder. And I was breast-fed. So lots of positive experiences (as preferred in <a href="http://www.continuum-concept.org/cc_defined.html" target="_blank">The Continuum Concept</a>). This could explain my tendency to 'trust Universe' even though I have no religion.<br />
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On the down side, one or both of my parents may have had what we call PTSD now, after five years in a bombed city. And although my sister was born during the war, after that my mother delivered a stillborn boy, so I was a 'replacement', and didn't get an elder brother.<br />
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Still overall I had a good start, I guess.<br />
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<a href="http://upliftconnect.com/birth-experience/" target="_blank">Grof''s model divides the perinatal into four stages.</a><br />
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In the womb, linked to oceanic sensations, mostly blissful, etc. Mythical link to Neptune.<br />
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When the contractions start, the environment becomes threatening, and the blood flow comes and goes, and there seems no way out. Mythical link to Saturn.<br />
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The third phase is when the pressure begins to become directed towards escaping, the end of one way of living and the start of another, birth-death scenario. Mythical link to Plutoig.<br />
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The final stage happens when the child emerges into a new world and the umbilical cord gets cut. Mythical link to Uranus.<br />
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Fascinating stuff to contemplate.Alias Bogushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10908752518788179717noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3896479859639775680.post-67675024657348736722017-09-28T22:19:00.000+01:002017-09-28T22:21:17.251+01:00Jupiter Return<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Doing a lot of reading in preparation for the archetypal astrology course. It dawned on me that today 'is' my Jupiter Return.<br />
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If you don't do the jargon, what you may think of as your 'birthday', in astrological language gets described as your 'Solar Return' (i.e. the Sun has returned to the same place in the sky as the day you were born). It happens once a year, and some people consider it important.<br />
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Jupiter Return happens about once every twelve years, and most people don't notice it, or know about it, or care. Today, it has returned to the exact same place in the sky...for the sixth time since I was born.<br />
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As it happens, I checked back, and last time Jupiter returned to my birth point, I found myself in the middle of an online learning course, entitled "Tale of The Tribe" with the inestimable Robert Anton Wilson. <br />
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I guess it bodes well for expanding my knowledge at this time.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlrAZZnClZRp8Pj1Yd-gQSqD-kDhzxhVYFWi6wz-QiA7qzmexAG-Yzd9sZ4bzU1p2rbXEni6GYfF6nC-MlydVSovC9ar_o7TH8OjVCGIoFzG8I31FvPPqaot_u36XtqKnQbxZHVSM2LpQ1/s1600/tott.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="204" data-original-width="204" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlrAZZnClZRp8Pj1Yd-gQSqD-kDhzxhVYFWi6wz-QiA7qzmexAG-Yzd9sZ4bzU1p2rbXEni6GYfF6nC-MlydVSovC9ar_o7TH8OjVCGIoFzG8I31FvPPqaot_u36XtqKnQbxZHVSM2LpQ1/s400/tott.png" width="400" /></a>Alias Bogushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10908752518788179717noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3896479859639775680.post-91196481861362324892017-09-21T00:49:00.000+01:002017-09-21T01:43:54.983+01:00Gimme Shelter.....Weathering the Storm in an Archetypal CosmosI have felt the urge to re-investigate a language for the cycles of events I perceive, having lived long enough. (Well, not quite long enough, yet).<br />
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Stanislav Grof has always fascinated me, but I have never found my way to a place to investigate Holotropic Breathing, and my psychedelic adventures seem far in the past, now - but he offers a course in Archetypal Astrology (along with Dr Richard Tarnas) and I feel sufficiently intrigued to commit some time to that study.<br />
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I did have an intense few years, studying astrology, in the late 70s and early 80s, so at least know something of the language (jargon), and some of the embedded imagery of the myths etc.<br />
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This video (from July 2017) offers a glimpse of the kind of subject matter, with Dr Tarnas.<br />
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<i>PS: a question about the influence of Eris turns up at the end (1:47)</i><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/HFID-EqFVmg" width="560"></iframe><br />
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And here you can listen to the two of them together (Mar 2017)<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/rXqiNAHrR6Q" width="560"></iframe><br />
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Interesting resource, <a href="http://www.archai.org/" target="_blank">Archai - online journal</a> <i>(The journal of Archetypal Cosmology).</i><br /><br /><a href="https://cosmosandpsyche.com/" target="_blank">Richard Tarnas's website</a>Alias Bogushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10908752518788179717noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3896479859639775680.post-63850810599290976612017-01-09T21:30:00.000+00:002017-01-11T10:51:46.178+00:00When your number is up<div class="MsoNormal">
I got through this life by sometimes (when lost) simply paying
attention to patterns to steer me, and
that includes what Jung called synchronicities (i.e. coincidences that seem to
carry some kind of significance or meaning, over and above ‘mere coincidence’).<br />
<br />
I don’t intend to go into a discussion of this right here, rather note a recent
cluster of ‘significance’ as an example.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The two members of the KLF recently announced that they will
create some kind of event in August 2017 (23 years after burning a million
pounds in a strange media event). I
turn to John Higgs’ wonderful book about the whole strange story - <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/KLF-Chaos-Burned-Million-Pounds/dp/1780226551" target="_blank">The KLF: Chaos, Magic and the Band who Burned a Million Pounds</a> -</div>
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and enjoy it
all over again.<br />
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<br />
That reminds me that I
bought a limited edition of a book from Mr. Higgs at the <a href="http://cosmictriggerplay.com/" target="_blank">Cosmic Trigger play</a>
event in Liverpool in 2014 - <a href="http://jmrhiggs.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/standing-on-verge-of-getting-it-on.html" target="_blank">Standing on the Verge of Getting It On</a> - so I dig it out, as it seems related to the wonderful
social history of the period he included
in the first book. I have copy 43 out
of a limited edition of 111. I didn’t
ask him, at the time, what significance that number had.<br />
<br />
As I read through, an extraordinary man called Brian Barritt walks in on one of
the musicians who is reading “Cosmic Trigger” and he says “I appear on page 111 of
that book<i>”. </i></div>
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<i>[This is not true of current editions, where
you find Brian on page 115, or 116 – although there is a reference on page 111 of
the old New Falcon edition to John Lilly mentioning ‘angels’ (Cosmic
Coincidence Control Centre) – and page 111 of <a href="http://www.hilaritaspress.com/portfolio-item/cosmic-trigger-1/" target="_blank">the most recent release,from Hilaritas Press</a> has material about cabalistic numerology and communication
with Higher Intelligence.]<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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So I dig out my signed copy of Brian’s book – <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Road-Excess-Psychedelic-Autobiography/dp/0953274101" target="_blank">The Road of Excess</a> - that I bought from him through the mail and feel surprised to see he
lived at number 111 of a street in London.</div>
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Which triggered memories of studying online with Robert Anton Wilson (hereafter
‘Bob’) who was, among other things, a Joycean scholar, and we did some work on
Finnegans Wake, in which the number 111 appears quite frequently. Bob seemed to think of it as indicating
Renewal and Creativity. Joyce links it
to Anna Livia Plurabelle (the feminine influence in the book), who also
represents the River Liffey. The book
not only contains a myriad of puns (the river of life, for instance) but also
offers a series of coded materials (possibly drawn from Cabbalism) and numerology,
ALP = 111. [the Hebrew A or
aleph=ALP=111]<br />
<br />
Other variations with the same value include APL (apple?), LAP, PAL, etc.<br />
<br />
Again, I don’t want to side-track into all of that material here and now.<br />
<br />
I don’t know a lot of numerology, so decide to Google it, and found that people
consider 111 as an ‘angelic’ number.
Given that Cosmic Trigger covers a period when Leary and Wilson thought
they were getting messages from ‘alien beings’ or higher intelligence, or their
Holy guardian Angel (or something) I
perceive some kind of connection.<o:p></o:p></div>
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And in that same research, I saw a reminder of the odd fact that
Robert Anton Wilson died on the 11<sup>th</sup> January, 2007 (11/1 in the UK,
or 1/11 in the USA, as a palindrome it works both ways). Even odder, given that I only just noticed
this (a heads up from DJ Fly Agaric) Bob managed to die on the 101<sup>st</sup>
birthday of Albert Hofmann (inventor, discoverer of LSD, who was still alive and
well, at the time, as I described in<a href="http://maybelogic.blogspot.co.uk/2007/01/om-regrets.html" target="_blank"> a post on our shared blog</a>). As we are now approaching the tenth
anniversary of Bob’s death, that makes it Uncle Albert’s 111<sup>th</sup>
birthday on Wednesday!<o:p></o:p></div>
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These things go on, and although some seem done consciously
(like creating 111 copies of a book), I start to perceive particular significance when unrelated
areas also get drawn into the net. For
instance, my hobby is magic, and a few weeks ago I ordered <a href="http://www.grupokaps.com/kapsstore/lap/lap.php" target="_blank">a DVD about close-up magic</a>
called (I kid you not) <b>“LAP”</b> and am right now awaiting delivery. <i> [Update: 11/01/2017 Of course, this DVD arrived today, just after<a href="http://maybelogic.blogspot.co.uk/2017/01/rip-raw-111.html" target="_blank"> I posted to our group blog</a>.]</i><br />
<br />
<a href="http://acrillic.blogspot.co.uk/2008/01/alp-111-and-raws-wake.html" target="_blank">Steve (DJ Fly) took this a step furthe</a>r, when he turned to
Finnegans Wake (which always gets published, in all editions, with the same
page numbering):</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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If the page numbers are
significant then dates can be determined from them. The first time I saw this
type of correlation is of <a href="http://groupnameforgrapejuice.blogspot.jp/2012/10/bake-and-wake-1.html"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">page 111</span></a> of the Wake with Robert Anton Wilson's death on January
11th.<br />
<br />
<i>...peraw raw raw reeraw puteters out of Now
Sealand in spignt of the patchpurple of the massacre, a dual a duel to die to
day, goddam and biggod, sticks and stanks, of most of the Jacobiters...</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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That not only contains references to RAW (another nickname
for Robert Anton Wilson), "to die to day", but also to <a href="http://maybelogic.blogspot.co.uk/2006/07/raw-deal.html" target="_blank">RAW patatows</a> (a pretend currency we
invented to amuse him).<br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></div>
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Here’s Bob himself:<br />
<br />
<o:p></o:p></div>
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<i>"This 1:11 business turns
out to be more curious than we realize at first, even if we note that it is connected
with Bloom's son, who died at age 11 days, Shakespeare's son Hamnet who died at
11 years and the 22 (2x11) letters in the Hebrew alphabet or the 22 words in
the first sentence of Ulysses. If ALP and APL invoke all this, the LAP, a
further permutation, invokes the LAP where a Freemason wears his apron, as in
Aleister Crowley's BOOK OF LIES, Chapter 54, in which some Freemasons guess
that the lost Mason Word is AMO, whose number is 111, and some guess that it is
LAP which also has the number 111. (By Cabala, AMO=A which is 1, M which is 40,
and O which is 70, 1+40+70=111, while LAP=L or 30, A or 1, and P or 80, and
30+1+80=111.) William York Tindall, a Joyce scholar who likes to count, has
noted that many long sentences in FW have 111 clauses. Anna Livia Plurabelle's
untitled "mamafesta" in Chapter Five has 111 alternative titles; when
sad, she is described as "wan wan wan"; in Chapter 8, she has 111
children. Most books on Cabala hint at transcendental meanings in the fact that
the Hebrew A or aleph=ALP=111 when spelled in full as aleph-lamek-pe." </i><br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></div>
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from Wilson's book <b>Coincidance</b> (a new edition of which I find myself helping
to proof-read right now).<br />
<br />
Here's another little piece of the jigsaw. Julian Cope appears in both the Higgs books mentioned above, and has done the definitive work on stone circles, megaliths, etc. <a href="http://www.themodernantiquarian.com/home/" target="_blank">The Modern Antiquarian.</a><br />
<br />
So imagine my surprise, in my Google trawl, when <a href="https://thegrammarofmatter.wordpress.com/tag/coincidence/" target="_blank">I came across this:</a></div>
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.<i>..echo in the conjunction
of archaeoacoustic research focused on megalithic tombs and the frequency of
the number 111 in Finnegans Wake: ‘the majik wavus has elfun anon meshes’ (FW
203.31): the magic wave has 11+1 meshes.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<i>...‘the ride
onerable’ (FW 328.13) – three ones – of ALP’s gematric value, 111 Hz is also a
natural resonance frequency identified for Neolithic tombs and chambers in
Ireland and Britain, which cluster mostly within the ‘myrioheartzed’ (FW
331.23) range of 110-112 Hz (Mills 2014: 66-67). In the context of ‘chambermade
music’ (FW 184.4) this frequency has consciousness-altering effects: at 110-112
Hz the patterns of activity over the prefrontal cortex abruptly shift,
resulting in a relative deactivation of the language centre, with regular
exposure to resonant sound at that frequency ‘turning on’ an area of the brain
that relates to mood, empathy and social behaviour.</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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All of which, as ever, leaves me puzzled. What I may take from it comes from <a href="http://sacredscribesangelnumbers.blogspot.co.uk/2011/07/angel-number-111.html" target="_blank">pages I would normally ignore</a> (I don’t have a lot of respect for much of the New Age stuff online). If the frequent appearance of 111 in your life has to do with Manifestation and Prosperity, then it seems a good idea to stay optimistic and positive – so as to manifest the good stuff… A reasonable message, after the horrific year just passed.</div>
Alias Bogushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10908752518788179717noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3896479859639775680.post-81233135725461031212017-01-07T21:56:00.000+00:002017-01-07T21:58:20.126+00:00Another think comingHaving survived the loss of many of my peer group in 2016, I still don't have much of a plan for getting through 2017.<br />
<br />
Noticing that the KLF guys plan an event for 23 August 2017 gives me some sort of target - 23 years on from when they burned a million pounds, and deleted their back catalogue. Actually, they seem to have reverted to the incarnation before the KLF, the Justified Ancients of Mu Mu (sic) - or JAMs.<br />
<br />
Now for those of you who already have no idea what I am talking about, I can't recommend highly enough John Higgs' book <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/KLF-Chaos-Burned-Million-Pounds/dp/1780226551" target="_blank">"The KLF: Chaos, Magic and the Band who Burned a Million Pounds"</a><br />
<br />
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This book enthralls me every time I read it, not only because it seems so well-informed, and has such a lucid style (for such an enigmatic subject), but because I remain a fan of everything that John Higgs has written (that I can get my hands on), and of Robert Anton Wilson (<a href="http://maybelogic.blogspot.co.uk/2005/06/tale-of-tribe.html" target="_blank">who I studied with online</a>), and <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/onlymaybe/Home" target="_blank"> the Illuminatus! trilogy </a>(which I first read in the 1970s, and contains <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/onlymaybe/illuminatus-trilogy/books-chapters-and-trips/leviathan-prologue" target="_blank">the first references to the JAMs</a>). I got my copy of volume one (back in the days when they got published separately) at the same bookshop (Compendium) that Ken Campbell got his, which inspired him to create a stage show out of all three volumes, starting in Liverpool at the <a href="http://www.liverpoolconfidential.co.uk/culture/arts/jungs-pool-of-life-and-a-plaque-unveiled" target="_blank">Liverpool School of Language, Music, Dream and Pun</a>, and ending up in the National Theatre in London (where I witnessed <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/onlymaybe/illuminatus-trilogy/theatre-version" target="_blank">the whole series of five plays in one day</a> - something like ten hours). Recently, Daisy Eris Campbell (who may have been conceived backstage of that show) has staged another of Robert Anton Wilson's books - <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/onlymaybe/Home/cosmic-trigger-redux" target="_blank">Cosmic Trigger - again in Liverpool</a>, and again <a href="http://cosmictriggerplay.com/" target="_blank">coming to London, soon.</a></div>
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<a href="http://maybelogic.blogspot.co.uk/2017/01/dont-hold-your-breath-in-santa-cruz.html" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="118" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0WGq03PbAGvJtTlTKkge7_Zy3S5CuIRdwYxeraETEKjra-d7F6rXVOr5wcSUspv6ubLeu4QD70RUmAtMmTTDSRPcrmkTJ_KRiW5gq5EzpwNkFC1ByCCKUP78evbbHjvkryCDp6AASqLIC/s320/Cosmic+logo.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br />
Too much for one paragraph?<br />
<br />
<i>Well, I will use this blog the way John Steinbeck used the left-hand pages of his ledgers, as a place to warm-up, make notes, write letters, etc - while actually writing his novel on the right hand pages.</i><br />
<br />
Apart from anything else, Robert Anton Wilson encouraged optimism, and having dragged myself through 2016 I feel the need to renew my reckless cheerfulness.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://subcults.com/articles/optimism" target="_blank">Ten Good Reasons to Get Out of Bed in the Morning.</a> <i> Originally published in OUI Magazine, 1977.</i><br />
<a href="https://soundcloud.com/matthewsheltonreads/ten-good-reasons-to-get-out-of" target="_blank">(audio version).</a><br />
<br />Alias Bogushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10908752518788179717noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3896479859639775680.post-9894181079455232712017-01-01T19:47:00.000+00:002017-01-01T19:48:56.056+00:00All the more reason...I am a fan of Print-on-Demand, and have dabbled with everything from <a href="http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/tobyphilpott" target="_blank">Lulu publishing</a> to one-off books of Wikipedia compilations, Blog to Book variations, and collecting a bunch of PDF articles into a portable book.<br />
<br />
I like a paper copy of a book, instead of simply a digital one.<br />
<br />
Having said that, I just saw Facebook compilations which seem pretty high-priced to me. Do people really want coffee table books of their own FB interactions?<br />
<br />
All the more reason to finish an autobiography I can sell for a tenner!<br />
<br />
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Alias Bogushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10908752518788179717noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3896479859639775680.post-78621518036148424162017-01-01T16:45:00.003+00:002017-01-01T17:00:40.631+00:00Writing it downI can lie awake at night, savouring memories, and creating anecdotes, but have fallen back into the traditional writer's problem, of not actually getting the damned things written down.<br />
<br />
I dug out the draft I created a couple of years ago, and enjoyed parts of it, but there is so much more to capture.<br />
<br />
I may have to invent a game plan for overcoming the block - like writing at least one anecdote for each period of my life; or 300 words a day; or writing in longhand (notebook); or something I have not thought of yet.<br />
<br />
I did do the NaNoWriMo project 6 times, which involved writing 1666 words every day for a month, and managed it, so I have little excuse. That commitment worked. One year, I even ignored the rule about it being a fiction challenge, and tried to use the same tactic for the autobiography, and somehow it didn't work - well, it was cheating, I guess!<br />
<br />
I quite like the conspiracy thriller I wrote in<a href="http://akabogus.blogspot.co.uk/2012_11_01_archive.html" target="_blank"> November 2012 - The Columbus Caper</a> - so perhaps I should just go back and edit the fiction, and leave the personal story until I spontaneously feel like pursuing it again.<br />
<br />
I gave myself <a href="http://slogger.blogspot.co.uk/2010/02/writing-by-numbers.html" target="_blank">a format to follow, I remember </a>(after reading a bunch of these kind of novels).<br />
<br />
Quite the opposite of a new year's resolution. New Year indecision.<br />
<br />
Yeah, yeah, the title changed...<br />
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<br />Alias Bogushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10908752518788179717noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3896479859639775680.post-60336242199005544442016-12-31T02:43:00.001+00:002017-01-01T16:23:41.667+00:00 Autógrafo o autobiografíaI can't believe we lost Carrie Fisher and her mother in two days.<br />
<br />
In however small a part, I contributed to some scenes with Carrie (as Jabba).<br />
<br />
This year, we lost David Bowie (who I worked with on Labyrinth). Previously we lost Bob Hoskins in 2014 (who I worked with on Roger Rabbit).<br />
<br />
And we all lost Jim Henson in 1990.<br />
<br />
Although I can still go out and sign autographs, for people who consider that some kind of Olympic torch connection ( I was in the same room as these people), for me it works the other way.<br />
<br />
I feel I have to get down my stories before I go.<br />
<br />
So I will be concentrating on the autobiography this year, and see if I can complete (at least) the first edition.<br />
<br />
<i>Oh, and I plan to improve my Spanish (as a project) which explains the title of the blog entry.</i>Alias Bogushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10908752518788179717noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3896479859639775680.post-85335991475720421472016-12-28T15:15:00.001+00:002016-12-30T10:06:55.327+00:00Wishful Drinking<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Pn_WBBAvZ_Q" width="560"></iframe><br />
<br />
Just after I decided to leave Facebook for a while, I heard that Carrie Fisher had died, but I didn't want to go back and find the cascade of tributes and all that - as it might draw me back into my FB addiction, so I have decided to put this up here, to remember how hilariously funny and self-deprecating she could be.<br />
<br />
Peace Out. RIP.Alias Bogushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10908752518788179717noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3896479859639775680.post-17987400476930893082016-12-27T17:28:00.000+00:002016-12-27T17:31:51.989+00:00Backwards and Forwards in Time<div class="MsoNormal">
Giving up Facebook is a bit like giving up smoking, or
rather (as it is probably temporary) like fasting – you suddenly have a couple
of extra hours per day, to do something else with, that used to be filled by smoking or eating.<br />
<br />
When I first got onto the internet (1999) I soon started on
a website, which grew and sprawled for years, with experimental pages,
biographical content, idea pages, etc.
I supplemented that sprawl with a blog, as the more linear form seemed
right for a kind of diary. I started
one, but after 9/11 I restarted the blog, and it continued for years, although
it faded. I still raid it for content
occasionally. <a href="http://slogger.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">Language ‘is’ avirus.</a> (2001 – 2015)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As my job with the library involved learning and teaching
computers and online stuff, I had to explore other platforms (I generally use
Blogger) so I put<a href="https://tobyph.wordpress.com/" target="_blank"> an e-learning blog</a> on Word Press.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I also put up a librarian blog (2008 – 2015), when trying to
convince the management that the library should have a blog. <a href="http://anonthelibrarian.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">Anon the Librarian’s unattributed ideas</a>
remained ‘personal opinion’ while the Council ummed and ah’d about how safe
such a project would be.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I was lucky enough to become part of a fascinating online
community and study group in 2004, and we began a collaborative student blog
(in addition to creating magazines) which still continues: <a href="http://maybelogic.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">Only Maybe </a>(2004 - 2016)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Of course, in 2004, Facebook also started up, and slowly
took over my online writing, and interactions, but I find it very ephemeral and
far harder to search for old content. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
These blogs remain full of material, links, and ideas from over the last
few years, so I plan to dig through them a bit, as well as using my spare time
to get some more writing done. I saw
Will Self on tv, and he uses a typewriter (the same as the one I have in the
cupboard) to avoid the distraction of the web.
Of course, one could simply disconnect the WiFi, but perhaps the temptation
is too much. I noticed he also never
learned to type, but two-fingers on a typewriter looks incredibly slow. I think I may still need my word processor, and Scrivener.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Then there is a blog where I can stash my stuff about magic,
juggling, hypnotism, etc – called <a href="http://intelligenceincrease.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">Intelligence Increase</a>. (2006 – 2014)<o:p></o:p><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Each of those may lead you to other places online. I am all over the place!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This blog, that you are reading now, supports my writing projects. I have completed <a href="http://nanowrimo.org/participants/bogusmagus" target="_blank">NaNoWriMo</a> six times (writing a 50,000 word novel in a month). I started on an autobiography, but it stalled when I started working on <a href="http://www.nofitstatearchive.com/" target="_blank">an archive for NoFit State Circus</a>, which took up all my mental space. I even followed through on a couple of those bad novels (no re-writing, as yet) to see how easy it would be to actually produce a paperback book, using print-on-demand through Lulu. I also put up a couple of other experiments, a book by a friend who died young, my mum's unpublished book on the use of the voice, etc.<br />
<br />
Anyway, I commissioned a cover for the autobiography, and that is ready to go; I have 50,000 words written, and some research already done; I even have a title. I just have to sit down, and finish the damned thing.</div>
Alias Bogushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10908752518788179717noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3896479859639775680.post-66554031633760887432015-12-12T11:08:00.002+00:002015-12-12T11:08:54.000+00:00Back to the drawing board......sorry, writing pad.<br />
<br />
My autobiography stalled about a year ago. My excuse is that my head has been filled with the history of NoFit State Circus - which forms and informs 30 years of my life.<br />
<br />
So it has not been wasted time in terms of research. I should get at least a couple of chapters out of it.<br />
<br />
I have spent a year of paid work (Heritage Lottery Funded - the only way to get money from a lottery, as a wage) - gathering up all the material to donate to Glamorgan Archives, to create a website, and contribute to an end-of-year exhibition, which is now open in Cardiff.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.nofitstatearchive.com/" target="_blank">You can find the website here.</a><br />
<br />
At the end of the year I will cease to be paid, but I suspect I may carry on updating the website for a while, unless they claw my Admin status away from me! Self-exploitation (long hours of unpaid work) have been a feature of keeping the circus going this long.<br />
<br />
Just got to tidy up the material to hand over to The Glamorgan Archives in January, add 'archivist' to my cv of jobs done, without qualifications - where it will join my honorary 'librarian' title.<br />
<br />
What next? Who knows.Alias Bogushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10908752518788179717noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3896479859639775680.post-48930424636469105952014-09-06T19:32:00.003+01:002014-09-06T22:38:27.662+01:00Wising up the Marks - You Can't Cheat an Honest ManAs ever, with internet, I find it far too easy to discover how hard it can prove to have an original thought these days.<br />
<br />
Reading William Burroughs today I suddenly made a connection between him and W.C.Fields.<br />
<br />
The odd trigger? One simple word. Fields occasionally made an extremely un-PC reference to "a Ubangi in the fuel supply" - and in Junky I came across this:<br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>"Did you ever have the good fortune to see the Italian master Tetrazzini perform?" Lee lit Mary's cigarette. "I say 'perform' advisedly, because he was a great showman, and like all showmen, not </i><i>above charlatanism and at times downright trickery. Sometimes he used smoke screens to hide his maneuvers from the opposition—I mean literal smoke screens, of course. He had a corps of </i><i>trained idiots who would rush in at a given signal and eat all the pieces. With defeat staring him in the face—as it often did, because actually he knew nothing of chess but the rules and wasn't too </i><i>sure of those—he would leap up yelling, 'You cheap bastard! I saw you palm that queen!' and ram a broken teacup into his opponent's face. In 1922 he was rid out of Prague on a rail. The </i><i>next time I saw Tetrazzini was in the Upper <b>Ubangi.</b> A complete wreck. Peddling unlicensed condoms. That was the year of the rinderpest, when everything died, even the hyenas."</i><br />
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: normal;">The thought crossed my mind while reading some of the routines in <a href="http://colectivotijeras.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/burroughs-william-s-queer.pdf" target="_blank">Queer</a> - which echoed the meandering tall tales that Fields drifts into at times - and of course the drawling voice which I heard in my head. Did Burroughs borrow this from Fields?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">They both displayed a misanthropic and cynical view of the world; we remember both as 'addicts'; they share a black sense of humour and a dislike for censorship, and both appear fascinated by con men, hustlers and other petty criminals - to whom they gave exotic names.</span><br />
<br />
So I Google the connection, and find this: <br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.tothotropolis.com/tothotropolis_news/william-s-burroughs-w-c-fields-a-lovers-quarrel-with-the-world/#comments" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiamDbKq1gtEzuUwdkya3YDiHzMv8QOaNMIeajsw6poJz0nMudOrsmw6JIZq2vDS8DfzfBCDVoVQJYBQyuaE5Yas4LybAq4ShRWzKcP3xgLUUcxHM_8rUfVA5yobJs7t1z6ejEsF8HrTDHc/s1600/william-s.-burroughs-and-w.c..png" height="145" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Burroughs and Fields</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<h1 class="entry-title" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; clear: both; color: #444444; font-family: 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.571428571rem; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<a href="http://www.tothotropolis.com/tothotropolis_news/william-s-burroughs-w-c-fields-a-lovers-quarrel-with-the-world" target="_blank">William S. Burroughs & W. C. Fields: A Lover’s Quarrel With The World</a></h1>
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicp4gPX_CtcxyqbSfoUJpsqmyndw0kxI4MTy4SSQaw04qKEO2RUcp_d6R0Ky2Big9IDPmktCVLCfyOmwLa22encqxB0yxGQBxjLFtiQjjO6wFlIl7f2KfKaPpBkIUIUbr4aq4y7Pu4kLxm/s1600/dentist.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicp4gPX_CtcxyqbSfoUJpsqmyndw0kxI4MTy4SSQaw04qKEO2RUcp_d6R0Ky2Big9IDPmktCVLCfyOmwLa22encqxB0yxGQBxjLFtiQjjO6wFlIl7f2KfKaPpBkIUIUbr4aq4y7Pu4kLxm/s1600/dentist.jpg" height="237" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dr Benway?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />Alias Bogushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10908752518788179717noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3896479859639775680.post-15098567922278846052014-08-27T17:03:00.002+01:002014-08-27T17:09:06.657+01:00Bored now...taking a Facebook sabbatical...I have enjoyed most of the phases and waves of the Internet so far, from making a website (now very old-fashioned, and in need of renewal) to writing blogs. Only this blog and the collaborative one (<a href="http://maybelogic.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">Only Maybe</a>) still seem to get updates from me - but I have decided that Facebook (fun though it is) steals too much time (and energy) right now - so I am going to take a break.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHMK8zso3RhWue2Q44bSsXAtx10VKCVoJ9K_cpUQMe6Tv6tfDAGQHZWLwWAF4J5mrb86de5ZmddicKaAhWgDuPh2I9E2boypTIwVHXOfDBsn4e2FG9cf9cRSpT8HXq_pc3eTpj23zP-HH0/s1600/madre.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHMK8zso3RhWue2Q44bSsXAtx10VKCVoJ9K_cpUQMe6Tv6tfDAGQHZWLwWAF4J5mrb86de5ZmddicKaAhWgDuPh2I9E2boypTIwVHXOfDBsn4e2FG9cf9cRSpT8HXq_pc3eTpj23zP-HH0/s1600/madre.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">Facebook? We don't need no steenking Facebook!<br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Every time I get a hankering for exchanging trivia, I will have to spend an equal amount of time working on the autobiography.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQkVYw_GmAhpJDA6_EECdSvlxRJpE0g3rXY_uu84Jg2Mo07PZVPv2Ohl_dyzB3dIkBZmc8zuAi6EWYXPYt5gAjvZs2o969iKSz1lvijyc1sBvLvmuR7sBaS-2aWU1rRksj_qieGha6jVI3/s1600/wilde+sofa.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQkVYw_GmAhpJDA6_EECdSvlxRJpE0g3rXY_uu84Jg2Mo07PZVPv2Ohl_dyzB3dIkBZmc8zuAi6EWYXPYt5gAjvZs2o969iKSz1lvijyc1sBvLvmuR7sBaS-2aWU1rRksj_qieGha6jVI3/s1600/wilde+sofa.jpg" height="218" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><h1 class="quoteText" style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;">
“I'm exhausted. I spent all morning putting in a comma and all afternoon taking it out”</h1>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
We'll see how that resolution goes.<br />
<br />
Apart from having a couple of conventions to go to, I will also be helping run an online course through September / October, and just want to focus on those less ephemeral pastimes.<br />
<br />
To think! I only got on FB because of my job as a computer whisperer for the libraries. I needed to sample the things that customers wanted to use, to see if they worked correctly, etc. I started off thinking I wouldn't actually be <i>using</i> it myself. I joined under a pseudonym.<br />
<br />
Addictions are tricky things.Alias Bogushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10908752518788179717noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3896479859639775680.post-88251628198073739942014-08-22T20:39:00.000+01:002017-01-07T22:01:07.160+00:00Work in ProgressJust shaping up some text for the Maybe Logic Academy sessions we intend to run in parallel with the 'Find The Others' festival, which accompanies the Cosmic Trigger play in Liverpool.<br />
<br />
I have volunteered to moderate a couple of weeks, one on E-Prime, and one on the 8-Circuit Model. I will use this blog to post the rough drafts.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;">WEEK ONE</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Tools for Thinking - To Be, or Not To Be<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Language as a Virus</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Much of RAW's work revolved around perception and 'belief
systems', and most people use words to create their models of the world, which
may (or may not) have a close match to the non-verbal 'reality' in which we
live. Other ‘languages’ include
mathematical ones, music, art, dance, etc.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Although many cultures (and religions) consider humans
somehow different from 'animals', much of our behaviours remain rooted in our
primate nature.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We humans may prove unique in our development of a verbal
language (although communication in some form pervades the animal and plant
kingdoms).<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The particular aspect of language that we will look at now
relates to the human ability to pass messages down through the generations
(Korzybski called this time-binding) and we can receive messages not just
orally, as with most tribes, but through writing, which can store information
indefinitely.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Unfortunately, such messages may pass on information
accurately, or create distortions.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
NLP (which owes a lot to Korzybski’s work) refers to deletion, distortion and generalizations, as ineffective ways to
communicate.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>War of Words<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Korzybski spoke several languages, so seems far more likely
to have understood how each language imposes a 'grid' over the world. He also
worked as an engineer, and understood the precision of mathematics, compared to
the ambiguity of words. People who only speak one language can easily mistake
their verbal description for 'reality', rather than 'just one way of describing
the world'.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In the 1930s, even the maths of Quantum Mechanics began to
throw up strange results, undermining the old certainties of scientific
language and creating paradoxes (when translated from maths to verbal language).
Korzybski set out to 'clean up' English, to avoid the distortions inherent in
each kind of language, and create a more rational or objective form of
communication.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He devise a series of tools to help formulate the language
to avoid ambiguity, and misleading implications, as he thought improvements in
the way that we think could help eliminate prejudices, avoid the risk of war
over belief systems, etc.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Some of those tools we have already incorporated into modern
thinking: the hyphen to link things that language otherwise appears to separate
(body-mind, space-time); 'air quotes' around phrases, etc. You can check out “Science & Sanity” when
you have plenty of time available to you.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Bob (and Alfred K) call two-value logic ‘Aristotelian’ – which
does not allow any grey areas (the Excluded Middle) or the flexibility of Fuzzy
Logic. Mr K calls his work non-aristotelian
or non-A, Bob calls it Maybe Logic.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">E-Prime<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
David Bourland developed one particular aspect of the work,
by suggesting the use of English without the verb 'to be'. Specifically, the 'is' of identity and of
predication. So many arguments take the
form of flat assertions: “There <i>is </i>a
God,” the certain of which may well elicit in someone else “There isn't”. The sea <i>is</i>
blue; my favourite band<i> is</i> the best,
and so on. Such two-vale logic offers little in the way of resolution, but to
say “I believe in a creator god” at least owns that it is a personal belief,
not a description of “the way things <i>are</i>.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It can feel awkward at first, to use E-Prime (like learning
any new language), and if you find it difficult to make the above distinction (the
‘is’ of identity and predication) then you may prefer to hunt down and
eliminate all uses of the verb 'to be'. However, even Bob found it difficult to
speak in E-Prime continuously, so when it proves too difficult you can always
let yourself off the hook, in what we call E-choice, rather than struggle with
alternatives.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
e.g. How old are you?
I am 25.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Note: The spook of the continuous present (I am going) is not so
important, as it is a quirk of English.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Je vais (French), voy (Spanish) = I go, I </i>am<i>
going, I do go. The use of the verb 'to
be' as an auxiliary does not create big problems, just as “I have seen...” does
not have anything to do with the possessive (to have).</i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Occasionally replacing 'is' can feel convoluted, just as
writers, feeling bored with 'he said, she said', can get carried away with 'he
emphasised, she shouted, he answered, she clarified, etc.'<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Many objections got raised on Bob's course. People complained about how it made the
language longer and less elegant, that it sounded clumsy, etc. In fact, many people resisted before even
attempting the exercise (often the sign of a taboo).<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">On a more positive note<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Sometimes the verb ‘to be’ gets used on purpose,
particularly in advertising and propaganda:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Guinness <b>is</b>
good for you.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">This <b>is</b>
your brain on drugs.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
You will often find it used in making flat assertions [There <b>is</b> a God], or affirmations.[Don't worry, <b>be</b> happy]<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
John Lilly’s <b><a href="https://keychests.com/item.php?v=ukafzucmxek"><span style="color: windowtext; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: HI; mso-fareast-language: HI; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Beliefs Unlimited</span></a></b> (a
self-hypnotic script) contains lots of uses of the verb, and attempts to
convert it to E-Prime proved difficult for me.
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b> “What is believed to be true, either is true,
or becomes true, within limits to be discovered through experience and
experiment.”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br />
<i>In the province of the mind what one
believes to be true either will result in accurate predictions now, or will
later fulfil any predictions (?)<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br />
"In the province of the mind there are no limits."<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>The province of the
mind does not appear to me to have any limits</i>.<br />
<br />
"There are no limits."<br />
<i>No-one has ever found the edge.</i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When asked about my translation attempts, Bob replied:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">For ritual I think the Milton Model works<br />
better than the Meta Model.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In NLP, the <b>Meta
Model</b> tries to remove deletions, distortions, generalisations, etc – to
improve the accuracy of the intended communication. E-Prime would fit here, as
a useful tool. Indeed RAW invented the word 'mosbunall' (most but not all) to soften the effect of generalizations.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
The <b>Milton Model</b>, on the other hand, deliberately employs ambiguous language, allowing people to project their
own ‘content’ into the material. You can see
why advertisers might prefer that.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In the section of Bob’s book <i>“Everything Is Under Control</i>” (note the ‘is’ in the title) called <b>Language as a Conspiracy</b>, he says this:<br />
<br />
<i>“The present author has written two books in E-Prime and finds it does tend to
clarify, to de-dogmatize, and to make prose somewhat more scientific. Attempts
to write the present book [i.e. <b>Everything Is Under Control</b>] in E-Prime quickly
proved hopelessly baroque and created unreadable prose. <b><span style="color: red;">You need the ‘is of identity’ to describe conspiracy theories</span>.</b>
Korzybski would say that proves that illusions, delusions, and ‘mental’
illnesses require the ‘is’ to perpetuate them. (He often said, ‘Isness is an
illness’)."</i><o:p></o:p><br />
<i><br /></i>
<b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Exercise</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Let's just treat it as an exercise for the week, to discuss
the subject of language, communication and how we model the world, employing
(as best we can) E-Prime.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Consider it a simple experiment (like not using the word 'I'
for a week) – to raise awareness.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The original motto for the MLA forums offers an
example: <b>“We only have one rule in
this area of cyberspace - if you can't achieve tolerance, at least attempt
courtesy.”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
(Not “if you can't be tolerant, at least be courteous.”)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Further reading</span><o:p></o:p></b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>William S. Burroughs</b><br />
<br />
The influence of Burroughs on RAW remains one of the things we never got around to in the MLA - The 23 Enigma; authoritarian control systems; conspiracy; distrust of verbal systems and a preference for hieroglyphics or pictograms (RAW ran a course on The Ideogrammic Method); alternative calendars; non-linear writing and, of course, Cut-Ups, which Bob employed to describe drug and dream states in his fiction.<br />
<br />
In this context, Burroughs actually studied with Korzybski, and promoted not only avoiding the 'IS' OF IDENTITY, but disliked the EITHER/OR (aristotelean) construction (right or wrong, body or mind, true or false), and use of the definite article "THE" (as in 'the universe', 'the way, the truth and the light', etc).<br />
<br />
For more on that, have a look at WSB's <a href="http://www.ubu.com/historical/burroughs/electronic_revolution.pdf" target="_blank">The Electronic Revolution;</a> "Journey through time-space" in WSB's The Job;<br />
<br />
<b>Robert Anton Wilson</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As proof that E-Prime does not have to end up with inelegant
language, Robert Anton Wilson wrote the whole of “Quantum Psychology” using
E-Prime. I doubt most readers feel aware
of anything odd in the writing. You can
find the section about E-Prime online here, and it also contains exercises you
might like to practice with. <a href="http://www.rawilson.com/quantum.html">http://www.rawilson.com/quantum.html</a><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The same chapter appears here, but with links to additional
reading.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://www.nobeliefs.com/eprime.htm">http://www.nobeliefs.com/eprime.htm</a> <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-Prime">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-Prime</a> Background reading in Wikipedia, including
the whole matter of Korzybski's General Semantics.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>This blog offers an amusing take on why some people get
so angry about E-Prime:</i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://inconvenientbody.wordpress.com/2009/03/16/a-review-in-e-prime/">http://inconvenientbody.wordpress.com/2009/03/16/a-review-in-e-prime/</a><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
You can find <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methods_of_neuro-linguistic_programming">details
of the Milton Model, and the Meta Model, here.</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://io9.com/the-eccentric-polish-count-who-influenced-classic-sfs-g-1631001935" target="_blank">The influence of Korzybski's General Semantics on Sci-Fi writers.</a><o:p></o:p><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: red;">WEEK TWO</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: red;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="WordSection1">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>The evolution of an idea – the 8 Circuit Model – "the
latest model, not the last"<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>“You never change
things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new
model, that makes the existing model obsolete.” Bucky Fuller<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
RAW often called himself a 'model agnostic' – in the sense
that, using mental models as tools to understand things can prove very useful,
but ideally you don't mistake your mental model for 'reality'. The map is not the territory. The model is not the mind.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He particularly liked the 8 circuit model from Tim Leary,
which both Bob and Antero Alli expanded and added to. Antero Alli still runs courses on the subject
– with lots of practical work, too.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
You will find the model explicitly referred to in both RAW's
fiction and non-fiction, and, once familiar with it, you will also notice
implicit references to it. <i>Fnord.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>In the Illuminatus Chronicles, Sigismundo Celine is aware
of the first three ‘souls’ (from Aquinas, drawing on Aristotle) – the
Vegetative, the Animal and the Human.
His initiations will supposedly open up the ‘fourth soul’ (connection to
the NoMind) and no further distinction gets made).<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Bob wrote those books with full knowledge of the later
evolutions of this model, which teases out various other levels within that
psychedelic ‘fourth soul’.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>In these later models, a fourth level appears within the
‘terrestrial circuits’ – related to the pack or tribe, and the price we pay to
feel part of the group. It mostly gets
described as including mating and reproduction, so naturally folds back to a
new life, beginning again in Circuit 1.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>For individuals who get out of that endless loop, the
escape takes various forms, and other levels unfold as the individual follows
that path. This higher realm gets
divided (in this model) into four other systems, whose attributes vary, their
names have changed, and even the sequence doesn’t seem fixed and final.</i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In brief, the first circuit refers to the most basic spatial
dimension, <b>approach – avoidance</b>,
just as the plant reaches for the sun, or the amoeba avoids things it does not
wish to incorporate so some things appeal to us, and others repel. The second
circuit relates to the mammalian aspect of space, <b>dominance – submission</b>, finding our place (I’d say up & down,
but Bucky Fuller considered those an illusion of beings living on the surface
of a planet). The third spatial dimension, we know as <b>left and right</b> (sometimes they mirror each other, sometimes they
seem different). This circuit is linked to the human, using both sides of the
brain, and relating to language (in the complex form we have uniquely evolved),
and the opposable thumb – our preferred way of considering ‘intelligence’. The
fourth circuit relates to <b>time</b>, the
tribe, our links to others, and the rights and responsibilities that go with
that, including reproduction.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
That fourth circuit appears far more limited than the
‘fourth soul’ of the Illuminatus Chronicles.
In this later model all those higher aspects of mind get teased out into
four further circuits, which not everyone necessarily discovers. Ecstatic
realization of the body-mind; thinking about thinking; the genetic adventure
which may not yet be over; the Quantum Field, No-Mind, etc.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>History of this model<br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Leary appears to have originally got it from 24 images
relating to a Tantric map (you can read the story in <a href="http://deoxy.org/8origins.htm.">What Does WoMan Want?</a>) He and Bob later elaborated on what he had
learned, and they spent much time correlating information from other models
(astrology, tarot, kaballah, etc).<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In Leary's <b>The Game of Life</b> the 24 get divided into 8
'sets' of 3 phases - (reception, storage/integration/analysis, and transmission
of information). Exo-Psychology continues in that mode.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Generally, later work has ignored this complexification, and
concentrated on the 8 circuits.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In fact, early on, in <a href="http://www.deepleafproductions.com/wilsonlibrary/texts/raw-8-scripts.html">Neurologic</a>, (1973) Leary only describes seven systems.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Sometimes they get called 8 circuits, 8 systems, 8 channels,
8 modes, etc (RAW's own course he called <b>8 Dimensions of Mind, </b>and based
it on the sequence found in<b> Prometheus Rising</b>) – and although the model
may seem to imply a hierarchy (e.g. 4 'terrestrial' and 4 'post-terrestrial' circuits),
we could consider them all functioning simultaneously (like blood circulating,
the autonomic nervous system, the central nervous system, digesting, walking, seeing,
etc) – but with difference degrees of conscious awareness, perhaps.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This one week could never prove enough for someone new to
this model, so you will find links to useful reference material here. It might work out better to focus on the
'lower' four circuits as we all have experience of them, and can observe them –
the 'higher circuits' may seem more interesting, but not everyone has
necessarily experienced them all. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Feel free to play with this material as much as you like. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Antero Alli (on his dedicated course) suggested we create a
set of ‘tarot’cards to carry around – you can make them up with collage,
illustrations, etc.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If you look at these PDFs of Bob's texts you may notice that
the 6<sup>th</sup> and 7<sup>th</sup> circuits were reversed in <a href="http://www.principiadiscordia.com/downloads/04%20Prometheus%20Rising.pdf">“Prometheus
Rising”</a> (1983) – which contains exercises for each circuit - and yet RAW
had used the more <a href="http://deoxy.org/8circuit.htm">common sequence</a>
in <a href="http://www.principiadiscordia.com/downloads/00%20Cosmic%20Trigger%20Vol%20I.pdf">Cosmic
Trigger</a> (1977). By 1990, he had
re-aligned with Leary and Alli in <a href="http://www.principiadiscordia.com/downloads/05%20Quantum%20Psychology.pdf">Quantum
Psychology</a> – surely an invitation to play around with this model yourself.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When asked about the anomaly (by email) Bob replied:<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<img border="0" height="2" src="file:///C:/Users/Setup/AppData/Local/Temp/msohtmlclip1/01/clip_image002.png" v:shapes="_x0000_i1025" width="2" />“<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Leary revised this model several times.</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">The version in Prometheus Rising contains a few revisions</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">of my own.</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Scientific models often need revision.</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">The model in this course is the latest, not the last...</span> “</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Discussion about people's perceptions of the 'higher
circuits' might prove a fruitful discussion point in a thread of its own –
especially as they may appear more elusive in their characteristics. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
However, if we look at the basic 4 circuits (common to
virtually everyone) we may find it easier to discuss the value of them as a
model to help analyse our own everyday experiences.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Suggestions and provocations:<br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "symbol"; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Read through the 24 brief Tantric descriptions (<a href="http://deoxy.org/8origins.htm.">see link above</a>) and see how they
correlate with (or have inspired) the current model<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "symbol"; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Browse the <a href="http://www.deepleafproductions.com/wilsonlibrary/texts/raw-8-scripts.html">Winner
and Loser Scripts</a> for each circuit, see if anything sounds familiar –
especially if you are familiar with NLP, or like to use positive affirmations,
etc<o:p></o:p></div>
<ul style="margin-top: 0cm;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal">Make
up a set of cards to note down details picked up here and there in the
research, and for jotting down your own insights.<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal">“The
map is not the territory”.
Korzybski argued that ‘is not’ does not have the same damaging
effect as using the word ‘is’. Does
that feel right? <o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal">When
using maps we need several other tools – we need to know the scale; the
orientation; our current position (in relation to the map); and what the
map emphasises - no map contains all the data, so we need to understand
the features highlighted by any particular map – using the icons in the
delightfully named ‘legend’ that goes with the map.<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal">In
Cosmic Trigger Bob dismisses astrology, more or less, but Antero Alli
shapes all his work around that map, or model. Do you have other tools/maps/models that
you find useful?<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal">1.
The map is NOT the territory<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal">2.
The map does not show ALL the territory<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal">3.
One can make a map of the map<o:p></o:p></li>
</ul>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: red;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: red;"><br /></span></div>
Alias Bogushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10908752518788179717noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3896479859639775680.post-43243912026676785672014-08-02T00:00:00.002+01:002014-08-02T00:08:05.934+01:00No more ephemera or procrastinationYeah, yeah, and write with simple words (not words with four syllables).<br />
<br />
I have gone back to this blog because I simply stopped writing that planned autobiography.<br />
<br />
Social media sure seems a tempting way to pass the time. You can heckle The Olympic Games or defend The World Cup. You can boo the politicians, and despair of the war zones. You tip-toe through the possibility of posting something stupid that draws the trolls, or goes viral. You take inane quizzes (designed by who?) about which film star you look like, or what kind of animal you resemble).<br />
<br />
As only a small sample of the people you know on Facebook (itself a tiny sample of the possible crowd) actually see anything you post, you end up working to a crowd of 80 or whatever. Or you can fall into self-promotion to attempt to expand your fan/friend base.<br />
<br />
If you are Ricky Gervais or Amanda Palmer (on Twitter) you get to have conversational exchanges with millions of people - so do you speak the truth, or polish one-liners, or just throw out provocations?<br />
<br />
<i>As a pseudo-Buddhist I appreciate how ephemeral all phenomena can appear..</i>.<br />
<br />
I can't do this for now. Nothing I say about Gaza will really speed up the resolution of the problem. I become a sub-editor of opinion - either trying to provide a wide-ranging and balanced set of links, or to narrow people's focus to my own take on things.<br />
<br />
Crazy.<br />
<br />
So, I prefer blogs as ways of storing some of my stuff (I can never find anything again in social media, they seem totally addicted to the moment). And I don't really care if anyone else reads it. I like the idea that I can just use it as a diary, but that friends can peer over my shoulder if they care.<br />
<br />
<b style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">"If you write as good as you talk, nobody reads you." Lou Reed, dealing with a heckler on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Live:_Take_No_Prisoners" target="_blank">Take No Prisoners</a> - a live concert album that cracks me up - Lou doing stand-up.</b><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="background-color: white;"><b style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></b></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/PW4outnu6os?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
I might have to go stick that on, now, although </span><a href="http://www.gadflyonline.com/archive-lou_reed.html" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">some of his fans don't like it. </a><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">See, in a blog I can wander around, instead of sticking to some kind of thread, or train of thought.</span></span>Alias Bogushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10908752518788179717noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3896479859639775680.post-68145799150968668202014-05-17T16:58:00.001+01:002014-05-17T16:58:53.175+01:00Re:writingI did spend the best part of a decade writing blogs, because they felt like genuine finger-exercises in writing. I also did the NaNoWriMo challenge five times, just to see if I could generate long fictional content.<br />
<br />
The distraction of Facebook is that it becomes a conversation, so rather than capturing permanent words, it more closely resembles idly sitting around talking in a Paris cafe, rather than being back in the garret, actually writing words down. <br />
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And micro-blogging seems even less relevant - lying around, generating sound-bytes or witticisms (like Oscar Wilde before going down to his cafe).<br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><i style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17.030000686645508px;">Dudley Moore</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17.030000686645508px;">: I'm writing a book. </span></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17.030000686645508px;">Peter Cook</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17.030000686645508px;">: Really? Neither am I. </span></span></h3>
Alias Bogushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10908752518788179717noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3896479859639775680.post-33752955246894036142014-01-04T13:28:00.001+00:002014-01-04T13:28:59.566+00:00I remember before ProhibitionBack in the 'good old days' you could start the day with coffee and a cigarette. The sugar in the coffee helped get you up to speed, and the caffeine kept you going. Who knows what the cigarette contributed.<br />
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Ever since the prohibition of "really dangerous drugs" had been enforced that kind of choice is no longer available. I mean, who wants to break the law, and risk getting a police record, over something like that?<br />
<br />
So today I have to start with a little hit on the kif pipe, fresh chopped, tamp it into the tiny bowl, one quick draw, then turn the pipe and blow the plug of burned kif into the fireplace.<br />
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After a snack of bread and nut spread, and a sip of water, I usually get out the coca leaves, and chew them into a cud, to which I add a little blim of quinoa ash to activate them. That usually gets me through the morning in the office, or at least to mid-morning break when I might refresh my coca leaves, maybe sharing them with the boss, after a nice hot cup of guarana.<br />
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When 'the sun is over the yardarm' I often unwind with a spliff or two, although if I have the evening off I'll probably go for some hash fudge or perhaps mahjoun, while watching the footie with some mates.<br />
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I still know a couple of people who could probably score me some lager, but it's often too much hassle staying in the supply chain for illegal drugs like alcohol and tobacco (apart from the risk of arrest, and possible effects on your career prospects). I've seen what happens to people like politicians who try to look street-wise by admitting to occasionally drinking alcohol at university, and then finding the stigma gets attached to them, as though they must have damaged their long-term judgement along with their credibility. Everyone knows students consume hash and grass - it's part of being a young adult, but it is best not to confess to the really hard drugs, like drinking booze.<br />
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I have got a bohemian aunt who has her friends around for tea and cakes, but I didn't find the caffeine and sugar rush interesting enough to take the risk, and I felt uncomfortable around druggies when not joining in. They'd be giggling and laughing, talking nonsense and apparently having a high old time, but I felt like an outsider.<br />
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Perhaps I was a bit cowardly to just go down to the nearest cafe for a hit on the vaporiser.<br />
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Of course, on a Friday night I might have my friends around to share a pot of mushroom tea, and have a laugh, but I couldn't take the paranoia of doing illegal stuff.<br />
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Ever since sugar was shown to be addictive, with no nutritional value and unwanted side-effects, (from rotten teeth to hyperactive kids) I have tended to stick to Natural Coca-Cola, since they left out the sugar and caffeine and went back to simply using Coca leaves.<br />
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Of course, there's still quite a large sub-culture of illegal drinkers, and even tobacco smokers (many of whom insist they somehow 'go together') but the punishment for possession (and particularly for supplying) has driven that scene underground.<br />
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It's amazing to think that not that long ago people openly consumed alcohol at weddings or handed tobacco out to celebrate the birth of a child. Men who drive at 200 miles an hour would be handed a bottle of champagne to shake up and ejaculate all over the crowd (at least they didn't drink it).<br />
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In cop shows the police would retreat to a pub to discuss a case over a few drinks; politicians would be shown sharing a quick sherry in their office, and morose policemen would sit at home alone, listening to classical music while sipping beer. It's a little bit before my time, but apparently the whole country used to toast in the New Year with alcohol! Hard to imagine, now.<br />
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Some people want to go so far as to air-brush these images out of films and television, so as not to influence young people into thinking that drinking coffee and tea, eating sugar, smoking tobacco and drinking alcohol are somehow 'cool'.<br /><br />I think that's going a bit far, myself, so long as they stick to legal substances like cannabis, mushrooms, coca leaves, etc - and don't abuse them.Alias Bogushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10908752518788179717noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3896479859639775680.post-7465257778042721972013-11-30T01:22:00.000+00:002013-11-30T13:42:46.876+00:00Missing the pointI guess I knew that trying to ignore the creative and motivated act of novel-writing and just surf on the writing energy of the crowd, while compiling an autobiography, wouldn't really work.<br />
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I have patched together some bits and pieces, and done some thinking about it all, but this hasn't proven the same kind of experience as the previous years, which were frustrating at times, often exhausting, and didn't always end up with finished work to be proud of, but every time I did experience some kind of breakthrough on certain days. A character coming to life, an unexpected plot twist that started to write itself. Those moments made the process worthwhile.<br />
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So I feel a bit of a cheat, really, as I have not sat down every day to seek those brief revelations, but have been also cutting and pasting bits that I had already written, stuff from Scrivener, and so on.<br />
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Still, it got me back into looking at the material again, so I can't consider it an entirely wasted month.<br />
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<img src="http://nanowrimo.org/widget/LiveSupporter/bogusmagus.png" />Alias Bogushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10908752518788179717noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3896479859639775680.post-42774685398823732992013-11-05T19:20:00.000+00:002013-11-30T13:47:46.470+00:00In My Own WayI loved the title of Alan Watts' autobiography, "In My Own Way" for its ambiguity.<br />
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I seem to have problems of <i>getting in my own way</i> when it comes to completing an autobiography, too.<br />
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I did make a good start, and put it in Scrivener, thinking that such a well-designed piece of software might make it a pleasure to return to, etc. I routinely do bits of research, or recall phases of my life, although a lack of diaries does make it impressionistic, rather than accurately detailed.<br />
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Although I have used NaNoWriMo to motivate myself (I remain pretty dogged at keeping my word, once I have made a commitment) and have completed five imperfect 50,000 word novellas, I always thought it was breaking their local rules to work on non-fiction within that community.<br />
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Indeed, if you take the original rules literally, they specifically exclude memoirs and autobiographies.<br />
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<a href="http://nanowrimo.org/participants/bogusmagus" target="_blank">Find me on NaNoWriMo</a><br />
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So, not feeling motivated to attempt that fiction mountain again, I thought perhaps I should take a break from NaNo, and just turn the same energy to shaping up my life story. I went into NaNoWriMo, only to find that it now has a NaNo Rebels space on the forum, where others breaking the basic rules can still gather.<br />
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That seemed like a good idea to join.<br />
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But here I find myself, five days in, and I only wrote the 1667 words you have to do each day on the first day. Then I got side-tracked, by a friend suggesting we make a Facebook Page for a small show we worked in during the early 1970s. <a href="https://www.facebook.com/therareeshow" target="_blank">The Raree Show.</a> I guess I could kid myself that it counts as 'research'.<br />
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I have had fun putting it together, but still await contributions from other people, to get the momentum rolling.Alias Bogushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10908752518788179717noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3896479859639775680.post-36171361478557601242013-10-04T11:33:00.002+01:002013-10-04T11:38:28.882+01:00Write that book!As may appear obvious from the fact that the last post to this blog happened in March, I have slipped away from that writing pastime almost completely.<br />
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Of course, most of us write hundreds of words a day, one way or another, but that doesn't add up to a finished piece. Most of it remains ephemeral chatter, or topical communications.<br />
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But the calendar rolled over into October, which makes it countdown time to <a href="http://nanowrimo.org/" target="_blank">NaNoWriMo</a> again.<br />
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I have taken on this writing marathon <a href="http://nanowrimo.org/participants/bogusmagus" target="_blank">"challenge to self"</a> five times now, and each time I have completed the 50,000 words in a month, although I could hardly say I have written five books.<br />
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I mostly enjoyed the process, but have never managed to motivate myself to really address the re-write problem. ("All writing is re-writing").<br />
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For the first couple of times I also explored the whole <a href="http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/tobyphilpott" target="_blank">self-publishing route through Lulu</a>, just to end up holding a hard copy of the book - not because I expected anyone to actually read them (they remain the equivalent to children's art stuck on the fridge). <br />
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Bobby Campbell made me covers, etc., but it remained a simulation of the necessary processes.<br />
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I also discovered <a href="https://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener.php" target="_blank">the joys of Scrivener</a>, and began work on an autobiography.<br />
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But it all stopped again. Somewhere between the day job, the dog walking and the wine drinking, I can't find the time to get back up to speed.<br />
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So I have a month to decide whether to try it again! Why not join me? It's quite a laugh.Alias Bogushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10908752518788179717noreply@blogger.com0