Wednesday, November 27, 2013

The Bay Psalm Book ... and Ends of Eras for New First Editions, and More

The End and the Future ...

On Tuesday a copy of the Bay Psalm Book was auctioned for $14.2 million. This is a new world record for any printed book. This little book (it is little) was the first book printed in what was to become the United States. It was published in 1640 in Cambridge, Massachusetts - so soon after the Plymouth colony was established in Massachusetts in 1620. The print run was about 1700 copies. Only 11 copies survive in the world. It's full title is - The Whole Booke of Psalmes Faithfully Translated into English Metre. With a subtitle of - Whereunto is prefixed a discourse declaring not only the lawfullnes, but also the necessity of the heavenly Ordinance of singing Scripture Psalmes in the Churches of God. [all sics apply]

So Many Evolutionary Arcs

And then ... my mind began to 'think'. And so 'I' went along with it. (Why not?) It seems to me that the end of an era has already happened. I doubt that any 'first editions' of fiction published from today onwards will ever be sold at any auction for any price.

Works of fiction, stories, have travelled a long arc in how they are transmitted from the inspired (or not) author to the consciousness of the one being storyTold to. First there was oral transmission (and of course memory) only, to both storytellers and those being Told to ... and then handwritten script given to printers (oh what fun that iterative cycle must have been - just ask James Joyce!) ... and then we story creators had typewriters (hooray!) for both ourselves and those who typed for us ... then word processing (cool and now ubiquitous and taken-for-normal) ... publication outside 'paper' begins with audio and fiction on the early web ... then we have voice recognition on the input side ... and, on the production side digital books (and some digital books are digital-only, so the concept of 'first edition' is truly conceptually gone (going, going, gone, gone, gone)) ... and let's factor in that 'stories' were originally told (only told) ... and then told or read ... and then told, read or watched/viewed (bearing in mind that most of the latter stories have never been available in told or written formats) ...

... so ... what does the future bring? Virtual reality stories? May be. Where the experience will be storyLived as opposed to storyTold to. And then we will have joint creation, between the story receiver in the virtual world and the creators of the virtual world. Games are the joint creation of a story, because they are the creation of an outcome. We already have shared authorship of novels - especially in the SF/Fantasy realm. And, of course, multi-participent games create stories jointly. StorySourcing is bound to come, for some, if it has not already - an interative play on the games I played as a youngster where we would (drink) and write a line and pass it on to the next in the round at the party. Hah! That was fun at the time!

Story, Daydreams, and Culture

And steady state in all of this is Story itself and our 'need' for Story and stories. Just as mammal biology needs breath ... so consciousness (it seems) needs ... stories.

There are billions of stories told by ourselves to ourselves together, collectively, on Mother EAerth every hour. They are often called 'daydreams'. Because they never 'happen'. And the collective of daydreams, growing exponentially, is only one layer in the collective consciousness of thoughts that encircle us. Just as there is an atmosphere that is breathed ... so ... there is an aether (to deliberately choose to use an old-fashioned word for technical reasons) that is 'received' by each of us.

Once upon a time, long gone, stories were planted upon Mother EAerth to serve a purpose. The 'template' of Story was also planted. By Seeders and Caretakers. We do need to be careful of our consumption of Story. For, like all food and drink, we need to be careful of what we consume. Artificial ingredients create bad health. Consuming too much 'bad' food/Story causes ...

Namaste! I bow to and honor the light within you!

Thursday, November 21, 2013

The Bridge - The Landfill Harmonic and the Irresistability of Creating

Music and the love of music does not necessarily by iteslf change personal issues of poverty or health (acknowledging the many exceptions that are shamanic and miraculous, where it does). But it does change consciousness. Watching people create is inspiring to us all for we are all innately, intrinsically, and Divinely (since we are all of the Divine) creative.

... and so to the Landfill Harmonic. ... once upon a time (in our time) ...

It has a name. Some might fnd that strange. But then, we name everything ... that we need to share or think about. So ... it is named Cateura, this place where creativity and creation bloom in the most unexpected place (on Earth). Cateura is Paraguay's largest landfill.

Luis Szaran, Director of 'Sonidos de la Tierra', was called (inspired) to a mission. He took his love of music and his understanding of what music gives to the children of Cateura.

So Many Children ... So Few Instruments

In the beginning there were only five violins and fifty children ... and so some talented and huge-hearted people began to make instruments from the garbage sent to Cateura. As one lad says ...

"The cello is made from an oil can and wood that was thrown away in the garbage. The pegs are made out of an old tool used to tenderize beef, and this was used to make gnocchi."

And it sounds beautiful ... since it is heartfully played.

These children know (truly know) what they are doing.

"For me, the music is the smile of the soul. ... I love it because you can convey everything with it. You can tell if you're angry, if you're happy, if you're sad, if you're in love. ... As Maestro Szaran says, we need to make intelligence hip, instead of clothes and cell phones."
Landfill Harmonic on Tour

... and here are these young people telling their story through playing orchestral music. And also telling the bigger story of the Bridge - the relationship to 'inspiration' - that we all have as our birthright, regardless of whether we dance with that partner-in-Existence or not.

The Bridge is Always Open

'Bridge' is the core concept, the core understanding. The Bridge is not especially/particularly an 'archetype'. Rather, and simply, it is a basic fact of life. The Bridge is a way, from 'Inspiration' (whatever you may want to call it, and define it to yourself) to each of us. The Bridge is always open. It is our end of the Bridge that is often not. Locally closed, one might say. There are a million ways for us to open to our end of the bridge. But the way of ways is simply to surrender to our desire to 'create'. Yes, there may be quieting down needed from us, and a learning to 'listen' to the choir that sings to us, unceasingly, from the other side of the Bridge.

What is true about music, as above, is also true of writing. This is the way it is and there is no other way.

Namaste! I bow to and honor the light within you!

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Musicians Who Paint - Herb Alpert

Once upon a lo-ong time ago I was a musician. Once upon a time yet to come ... I will be an abstract painter. (As for "why abstract painting" ... it's a lo-ong story ... all to do with acknowledging that the universe that we 'see' is painted by biological perceptive organs and in its 'isness' it bears no relation to what we 'see' ... 'abstract' painting is one way to honor this Divine fact.)

This weekend just past there was a fascinating piece in the Wall Street Journal on Herb Alpert, who started painting in 1970, and his art.

Just fascinating ... and there was a gorgeous photo of his studio, by Annie Tritt, showing some of his paintings using organic coffee on gesso. You can read more on Herb Alpert's website here.

The Artist At Work - Honesty

Albert talks about his work on this video featured on Vimeo. (permissions don't let me embed it here - you will have to click to Vimeo to view.)

"There's a running thread to all good artists and it's 'honesty'. ... I don't have a goal in mind apart from form. I'm looking for that form that touches me. It's a real mystical art form. There's someting that feeds me internally. ... This sounds a little mysterious. There's a voice in me that tells me what to do. It definitely tells me when to stop and when to keep going."

For those who love watching artists actually at work there is a wonderful scene of him making one of his organic coffee on gesso paintings, pouring coffee on the canvas (beginning 5.23).

Oneness vs. Poverty Consciousness

Creation is a oneness thing. Music ... painting ... writing. All art forms aim and intend to manifest into our world something that was not manifest before. And the only thing worth creating is that which is from your own truth. Forcing yourself to copy or emulate - "otherwise I won't make it!" - is poverty consciousness. Honesty ... to the life that life that we have been Given.

Namaste! I bow to and honor the light within you!