On returning

…and so another holiday comes to an end. We spent this one in the south of France, soaking up sunshine, wine and food.

Whilst away I read ‘The Da Vinci Code’ by Dan Brown. Yes, I know, I must be the last person to read it. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was in a completely different genre to the sort of things I would normally read, and that made the enjoyment even greater.

Poetry is about to step back into the foreground as I begin work on the second intense phase of creativity of this year.

Life in the maelstrom

Sometimes life just gets in the sights, and the time for communicating beyond the face to face shrinks away so that there is nothing left. No blogging for a couple of weeks now. I read in many places that bloggers shouldn't apologise for not blogging. It's like starting a speech with "unaccustomed as I am to public speaking"!

But then all rules are set to be broken! And it is worth an apology for the low frequency of posts. It is unlikely to change until September now.

I am reading "In Search of the Miraculous" by P D Ouspensky and feeling bewildered by a lot of it. He puts across the theories of Gurdjieff really clearly - it is the theories themselves that are so baffling. The man-machine idea is fascinating. Does this have anything to do with where Kraftwerk got the name from? Man sleepwalking through life. More on this book in a later post...

Four-Fold Way

Four-Fold Way

I was pointed to this site from Dave Pollard's blog (How to save the world - see the list of sites to the right). Angeles Arrien has developed the Four-Fold Way. It sets out four ways - the way of the warrior, the way of the healer, the way of the teacher and the way of the visionary.

Well worth a visit!

Blogsome - is it better than blogger?

I stumbled across this weblog host, based in Ireland. The system is based on Wordpress technology. I use blogger at the moment and have done for over 2 years now. I like what blogger does. There is just one key thing which blogger can't do. It doesn't have the facility to sort posts into categories so that readers can select all posts in a certain category and browse through them. I think this is really important. I emailed blogger about it some months ago and got a bland response saying they were working on it. Well, I emailed them again earlier today to ask when they are planning to introduce it. If it isn't soon, I may consider switching to Blogsome. It has categories!

That poetry reading

I mentioned recently that I was due to give a reading at our local poetry group on the first Thursday in July. There were about 60 people gathered for the evening. It was the same day as the bombings in London, so there was an air of sadness and shock hanging over the audience. Earlier in the evening I had begun to wonder whether reading poetry felt like the right thing to do in the circumstances. In the end, like many people that day, carrying on as normal felt like totally the right thing.

I read 8 poems, including a number of poems included on this site recently. They were all taken from the "28 poems in 28 days" cycle which I wrote earlier this evening. I find that reading poetry to an audience changes my relationship to the poem. I hear it differently. In this reading I heard some lines as really strong, which I had not noticed before. I heard rhythms which worked, and some that didn't. Overall I was really pleased with the material - I was taken by its intensity. And I felt that I had rediscovered some of the playful side of using language again.

What did the audience make of the reading? It is always difficult to tell at a poetry reading. Unlike a live music concert, it does not conclude with booing or frantic cheering. Poetry readings are an altogether more polite affair - at least where I come from they are.

I felt an empathy from the audience. As I looked around whilst reading there was an attentiveness which is always helpful. And there was a good level of applause at the end too. The highlight for me was after the event, when one of the organisers came up to me and said "that was fascinating. Thank you."

The rest of the evening was excellent too - there was live music from a duo playing accordion and bagpipes, another poet reading, a poem of the month, and a talk about the poetry of Edward Thomas.

One good outcome from the evening was a resolve on my part to travel further afield and do poetry readings. Further reports here as they happen.

The day job tyranny

A change in job circumstances is having an impact on my usual habits and patterns. Regular posting will resume once I have some rhythms and timings sorted out.

John Cale - Five Tracks

Yes, I know that this is a 2 year old piece of music. Sometimes CDs sit in my collection for a while - I think they are good and enjoy them, but don't really rave about them because I haven't had the time to listen to them for long enough to draw out what is going on.

'Five tracks' was an EP released ahead of the 'Hobosapien' album - it contains the most beautiful music filled with contradictions. Each track has a menacing air to it, tinged with soft girl choruses. The lyrics meander around all sorts of things including September 11th New York, the reputation of Ezra Pound - one of the tracks ('Wilderness Approaching') is taken from a film. 'E is missing' has an eerie voice singing 'Nowhere .... was not here / nowhere's not there / nowhere is nowhere' to the tune of an almost Christmas carol. I love it!

Why did I put this CD on after a couple of years? I was watching 'Later with Jools Holland' at the end of last week. This is a fantastic music programme on the UK BBC. The series finished recently, and is now being supplemented with a few programmes taking best bits on different themes. It was 'loud music' last week. John Cale was on playing a version of the Velvet Underground track 'Venus in Furs' - it was an incredible performance, and has stayed with me over the last few days.

As a result, the EP has reached my play list. What now? Well I also have another album by Cale, which I haven't explored much - called 'The Academy of Peril' - a strange album with full orchestra.

I should have realised that John Cale takes time to understand. Years ago (about 30 years, I think!) I bought a second hand copy of 'Vintage Violence' on vinyl, listened to it and was bewildered. Over time it became one of my favourite records.

John Cale, a welsh viola playing genius, with one of those rock voices that waivers on the edge of tuning in an unnerving way.

inside the bones of my skull

I am due to give a poetry reading at a local poetry group at the end of next week, so I am busy choosing poems to fill the 10 minute slot which I have available. I'm going to take the selection from "avenues of in between". Here is one which I intend to use:


I am the reaper, the big repeater
Spinning out the lines, the ones I’ve heard before
Echoing and etching everything I find
The craftsman at his task
Needing only to serve words to myself –
Or to anyone that will listen.

Having something meaningful to say
Screwing up pieces of paper, pieces of all
That I throw away, of the words that I hold on to
The turning wheel, the replay, and the play back
Finding my way to the something
That is new.

Inside the bones of my skull
A good tune, a few words that are useful
A speech, a list of things that I keep
Special delivery and a knock at the door
Searching the feelings just beyond reach
Opening out the corpse to examination.

Obsessive seeking, needing one more splice
A few moments in the recess of the day
A replay, then separate times that have not played before
Long tunnels under roads, scary times
Crazy instances of the books that I long to write,
The speckled memories of a few cheap rhymes.

British Library Treasures in full

Treasures in full: Shakespeare's plays, Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, Gutenberg's Bible

This is well worth a visit. I have to confess to being a bit of a library geek. I love looking at books. When I was a student (many years ago!) I used to spend hours in the special collection in the University Library looking at rare and old books. I was particularly impressed with very old manuscripts of books by Aubrey Beardsley.

The link takes you to the British Library website where you can find digital images of the pages of various editions of Shakespeare's plays, Chaucer's Canterbury Tales and Gutenberg's Bible. The Quartos of Shakespeare's plays were published towards the end of his life - books that are 400 years old. The site enables you to compare different versions of the same play, which is great if you are into that sort of thing.

For me, the main attraction is the ability to actually browse through the pages of these incredibly rare manuscripts. Thank you, British Library!

Landscapes

We went for a walk on the common near to where we live. In the middle is a cluster of rocks called Thor's Rock - it is a stunning piece of sandstone. Or at least it was until the local population felt the need to carve their names on every inch of it.

Current playlist

I love looking at other people's playlists, so I thought I would post another one of mine. There are a few CDs that are really making a mark on me at the moment, so I thought they were worth a mention:

1. Jon Hassell - Maarifa Street

I bought this a few weeks ago, and it has been on the player regularly since. It seeps into your consciousness. This is his best album in years - I love the reconstruction of live and studio sounds. Different things lurk up out of the mix each time I listen.

2. John Foxx / Harold Budd - Translucence / Drift Music

This one has been a regular play each time I sit down to work. The best ambient piano-based music I have heard in a long time. The second CD has fantastic blurred sound passages.

3. Brian Eno - Glitterbug

The album that was never released, because Eno sent the tapes to Jah Wobble who made 'Spinner'. I like both albums for different reasons. This one was a soundtrack to a Derek Jarman movie.

4. Jon Hassell - Live in Nice 1997

Taken from a radio broadcast - fantastic music. Hassell live is every bit as exciting as Hassell in the studio.

5. The Coral - The Invisible Invasion

A local band - got the album for Father's Day last weekend. A great mix of 60s beat, Teardrop Explodes and Echo & the Bunnymen. Really catchy hooks in each song, and a heap of unusual endings.

Gurdjieff Two

One of the key things about Gurdjieff (I posted about him a couple of days ago, here) is that at the core of his writings is esoteric knowledge. Is it any wonder then, that I should be sitting at breakfast the next morning reading, and came across an interesting fact? I was browsing through an article about Van Morrison in the latest issue of Uncut media magazine. It transpires that Van Morrison experimented with Christian Mysticism, Buddhism, Scientology, Hinduism and Gurdjieff. That would help to explain some of the mystical qualities of his music when he slips into the zone. So, I am aware of the influence of Gurdjieff on Keith Jarrett, Van Morrison, Robert Fripp and, I think, David Sylvian. Is it significant that most of these are prolifically creative?

Do you know of any other artists who are influenced by the work of Gurdjieff, Ouspensky and Bennett?

Triplux :: 101 Things in 1001 Days

Triplux :: 101 Things in 1001 Days

I was referred to this meme by Clare at Eclectic Artisan. It's a great idea - basically you draw up a list of 101 things that you want to complete in 1001 days. There are many sites out there with versions of this. This one has a great list, partly completed.It's interesting to see which ones he has done so far. The first ten are:

1 Learn enough French to watch Amelie without subtitles
2 Learn to juggle 4 balls
3 Visit Stewart Island
4 Stop eating meat for a week
5 Win at least $10 on an Instant Kiwi lottery ticket
6 Read 10 books on the Modern Library (Random House) top 100 list
7 Release a message in a bottle containing this web address
8 Publish this list on the web
9 To have seen all IMDB top 250 movies
10 To have seen all AFI top 100 movies

I like the idea of this - it's an alternative to New Year Pledges. The idea of 1001 days is that it is a more realistic time frame to work with than a year. I'm going to have a go with this. I already have a heap of goals which I could put into the list. I need to remember the following basics:

The Mission:
Complete 101 preset tasks in a period of 1001 days.

The Criteria:
Tasks must be specific (ie. no ambiguity in the wording) with a result that is either measurable or clearly defined. Tasks must also be realistic and stretching (ie. represent some amount of work on your part).

Best Tool For the Job

Best Tool For the Job

This is a site that I found for the first time today. It has a great post called "Ten Things You Can Do Today to Jump-start Success". It is well worth a visit to read the detail, but the headlines are:


1. Read or listen to something that motivates you every single day.

2. Keep a journal of your daily progress and carry it with you wherever you go.

3. Make goals and re-write them every day.

4. Keep track of every person you meet.

5. Begin investing a portion of your income today.

6. Begin looking for opportunities to build passive income (money that you don’t have to work for once you’ve done the initial work) and write down or begin working on your ideas.

7. Only sleep as much as you need to.

8. Look for opportunities to serve.

9. Keep track of every penny that you spend or save.

10. Stop being a victim. Focus on what YOU can DO.

You really need to read the extra detail on Marcus' website to apply these - I thought they were a great set of things to work on.

Gurdjieff

I have been interested in the work of G I Gurdjieff for a few years now. I first came across the name when reading the biography of Robert Fripp written by Eric Tamm (available for free download here - well worth reading). I then discovered that Keith Jarrett was also heavily influenced by Gurjieff's work. Jarrett has recorded an album of the music of Gurdjieff. In search of more information, I read 'Views from the Real World' and also "Talks with a Devil" by P D Ouspenky
The core message of Gurdjieff's work - that we are all sleepwalking through life, and that we need to come into the moment and be totally alert to all that is going on around us - resonated with me. It had strong links to the buddhist notion of being in the moment.

I bought Ouspensky's "In Search of the Miraculous" - a book which many describe as the best account of Gurdjieff's work by one of his pupils. It has sat on my bookshelf now for 3 years, waiting for the right moment. And that moment has just arrived - I am now beginning to read it. The time feels right - summer solstice 2005.

Other books being read:

Getting Things Done - David Allen
Full Catastrophe Living - John Kabat Zinn
Eight Steps to Happiness - Geshe Kelsang Gyatso

Plus a stack of articles about the work of Gurdjieff by Jacob Needleman, J G Bennett (a big influence on Robert Fripp), George Baker and Walter Driscoll.