Saturday, March 27, 2004
DOES YOUR JOB BLOWS? [coolmel]
most people hate their freakin' jobs. i did too. so i'm now looking for a new job to hate. reality bites but there's always the future. "do what you love, the money will follow" some successful people say. i want to believe this mantra... and build my own field of dreams. come what may.
Posted on
7:45 PM
THE COMPLEXITIES OF "SUPPORT OUR TROOPS" [.j.evonne.]
Stars and Stripes is the newspaper for US troops serving around the world. Last year they conducted a survey on morale and living conditions in Iraq after receiving hundreds of letters from troops complaining about any number of problems out in the field. The results of this questionnaire revealed that those who were struggling with low morale and unclear orders were not alone.
As our own political climate heats up in the US the "patriotic" rhetoric is being thrown from all sides. BushCo. extols vigilantly protecting freedom and the homeland while Michael Moore publishes letters from troops who are disillusioned with this manifestation of the American Dream. Fueling the fire we find Richard Clarke's testimony that there was no evidence of terrorist links to support the invasion of Iraq.
How do we balance such divergent views on good citizenship? Ken Wilber's article on the War in Iraq offers a place to start: weigh the evidence carefully and do what we can to light a candle to all sides of the room. There is truth on all sides: the key is to hold the health and welfare of the whole in our hearts and minds. Would these troops be better off back at home with their families and loved ones? Of course: the families of the almost 600 US troops killed and 3000 injured speak to the heavy price of lives lost. The communities still reeling from the 8-11,000 Iraqis lost in this conflict are certainly still suffering as they try to rebuild.
Deep down, we all want to be free. We want safe, healthy, happy lives whether we live in Basra or Boulder. George W. Bush echoed our need to protect the health and wellbeing of the whole in his 2/11/04 speech:
"There is a consensus among nations that proliferation cannot be tolerated. Yet this consensus means little unless it is translated into action. Every civilized nation has a stake in preventing the spread of weapons of mass destruction."
As the US prepares to spend $536 billion for military expenditures this year, more than all other nations of the world COMBINED, we must examine the cost of being the civilized nation with the largest stockpiles of weaponry in the world. We are wise to listen to the counsel of other nations and work in tandem with our global partners to find solutions that best serve our interconnected world. We are even wiser to look within ourselves, our communities and our country to examine the complex sources of this conflict. It is then that the rhetoric of "support our troops" takes on new meaning, for every one of us are unwilling troops in a war for survival that we never asked for. The mission is unclear, the morale is often low and we are still being called on by all sides to FIGHT.
The question remains: what are we fighting for?
Posted on
3:42 PM
Friday, March 26, 2004
UNDERSEXED NERD TELLS ALL! [wrench]
milo aukerman - biochem ph.d. and frontman to the legendary pop punk powerhouse, the descendents - 'fesses to playboy about cherries, sour grapes, and what it's like being music's most irresistible nerd.
Posted on
7:05 PM
Thursday, March 25, 2004
"THE AMERICAN" [wrench]
what a mindblow! - by 2007 (coinciding w/ oklahoma's centennial celebration), tulsa, ok will have the tallest free-standing sculpture in the world(!) - no shit. conceived by osage indian artist and native oklahoman, shan gray, the bronze statue depicts a young indian warrior w/ a bald eagle landing on his forearm. entitled "the american," it outsizes the world's current largest monument - "statue of mother russia" in russia - by 5 ft., as well as the "statue of liberty", by 25 ft. an array of plasma screens providing 360-degree panoramic views will be located in the indian's midsection, along w/ an observation tower inside the statue's head. tulsa outbid rival and state capitol, oklahoma city, for the monument; over hundreds of emails were sent to gray, urging him to choose tulsa as the monument's destination. a site for the statue will be chosen by april 1st.
Posted on
8:17 PM
A WORLD OF PSYCHOACTIVES [.j.evonne.]
The Vaults of Erowid offer what may be the largest digital library on entheogens, visionary art, chemically altered mystical experiences and other issues of cognitive liberty.
From the Erowid vision statement:
"We believe it is important for people to understand that human consciousness is a chemically-mediated process that is subtle, difficult to define, and constantly in flux. There are no simple lines between 'psychoactive' and 'non-psychoactive'. In concrete, measurable ways, almost everything affects consciousness. The food we eat, the air we breathe, the work we do, the games we play, and the people we meet all affect our thoughts, feelings, and reactions."
Nice. I'm gonna go to the beach and consume as much ocean as possible....maybe I can get high off the waves.
Posted on
1:13 PM
ODE TO THE ROCKIES [coolmel]
fuck the winter, fuck The Bulls,
fuck the flatland and construction tools,
fuck the blizzard, fuck the heat,
fuck the Lake and downtown streets,
you'll always be my mistress my Chicago dear,
with your friendly Blues and nightclub beers,
but damn i really have to say goodbye,
mySelf is waiting on Rocky Mountain High.
(word to yo' mutha.)
Posted on
1:06 PM
MIGHT TAKE NOTE [Matthew]
..of Ken Wilber's recent remarks about criticisms of his work that are housed at Frank Visser's 'World of Ken Wilber' website.
Posted on
12:56 PM
FROM THE "ONLY IN BOULDER" FILE [Paul]
I swear to fucking God this town is out of its freakin' mind. Stories like this -- about an ultramarathon runner from Boulder who collapsed dead of PNEUMONIA in the middle of a race a couple weeks ago -- make me never want to hear a single thing about spirituality again. He belonged to a group known as Divine Madness, lead by an authoritarian coach named Marc "Yo" Tizer, a Gurdjieff/I-Ching fanatic who forbade his runners to get adequate medical care. I mean it: any more of this cult shit and I'm going Flatland forever. Read all about: Running Ragged.
Posted on
1:21 AM
Wednesday, March 24, 2004
OUTTA THE CLOSET - TELL YOUR PARENTS - YOU READ COMICS! [wrench]
"ReadComicsInPublic.net is an exercise in just that: reading comics in public, whether that means observing the presence of comics in everyday life, contemplating comics in the open forum that is the Internet, or just camping out in a cafe with the latest stack of pamphlets and graphic novels."
Posted on
10:31 PM
GET YOUR GRENADES HERE, ONLY $10! [.j.evonne.]
This New Zealand travel guide has info on places to shoot cows with rocket launchers for fun ($400 in Phnom Penh), places to buy Howitzers (Somalia) and of course, the sewer tours of France. Sign me up!
From the article, speaking on why Somalia has not had a tourist since 1990:
The (Somali tourism) minister, Abdi Jimale Osman, can't understand this. "I'm sure tourists would leave Somalia alive and I'm hopeful they wouldn't be kidnapped," he is reported as saying. "At least, we would try to make sure they were not kidnapped, though it can happen."
Posted on
8:30 PM
AL GORE DID NOT INVENT THE INTERNET [Meera]
Checking out our stats ... I noticed that we've been getting hits from Old Style Arpanet (.arpa domain)! For those of you who don't know about Arpa and still believe Al Gore and not DARPA on claims about the internet's origins, check out this history lesson. This is somehow more believable than Al (although he was apparently stumbling in that speech, and rather meant that he had pushed for internet development, not actually created it himself?).
Posted on
3:57 PM
THE RESULTS ARE IN: THE MOST IRRITATING CLICHES [Matthew]
"Plain English supporters around the world have voted "At the end of the day" as the most irritating phrase in the language. Second place in the vote was shared by "At this moment in time" and the constant use of "like" as if it were a form of punctuation. "With all due respect" came fourth. The Campaign surveyed its 5000 supporters in more than 70 countries as part of the build-up to its 25th anniversary. The independent pressure group was launched on 26 July 1979."
Posted on
12:54 PM
MAXIM APRIL 2004 [coolmel]
Originally uploaded by 
coolmel.
Maxim: What's more exhilirating, good sex or gambling?
Marge: We do both by not using protection.
damn you Homer... damn youuu...
sorry Paris, i like this cover better.
i think i'll bring this issue on my long drive to Boulder.
(forget it Marco, no borrowing.)
Posted on
12:39 AM
Tuesday, March 23, 2004
iKOSMOS KAMP @ BURNING MAN [.j.evonne.]
At my first Burning Man I learned how to get that nice crack with my whip. Last year I offered a workshop in sexuality & spirituality and caught Alex Grey's seminar (with his family) on love and relationships. Black Rock City has a way of burning you to the core, tearing through the imaginary boundaries. I'm headed back out this year to work the art team on staff, and anyone reading the Manifest is welcome to join us out in the desert this August. Make an installation, try a social experiment, spread a new meme, dance your bootylicious body to the kosmic beat. There's nothing like the open desert with 35,000 of your closest friends.
Posted on
11:03 PM
MARTIAN AMERICAN? [wrench]
today, nasa officially confirmed mars' former surfs-up suitable life conditions, evidently because the red planet once had a large body of salt water. which leads me to ask: did we actually have galactic cousins on that third rock from the sun? in case of a visitation, or impending family reunion - ancient or otherwise - should we immediately consult our martian source material...mars attacks, total recall, spaced invaders, earth girls are easy for martian motion picture classics - check. for tv, futurama. ziggy stardust and the spiders from mars, for music; cuisine - mars bars; wells' war of the worlds for literature. flash gordon, martian comics. and buck rogers - ooh, can't forget martian opera. plus duck dodgers for the kids, their martian morning cartoons...
let's face it - mars is so hot right now!
Posted on
10:48 PM
I STATE MY BODY ELECTRIC [Matthew]
Rommel, RE: the I Merge blog. Good stuff, yet we can see that the discussions can get a bit fuzzy when the high mode of academic discourse is turned on. TDH turns it down, baby. So no response (in this bar) to Edwards' essay, nor Ken Wilber's brief response. Since this ain't academia, I'm flipping the dial to keep-it-simple station. Feel the Barry White...
Oh baby, this 'state-bodies' thing kicks it in a passive sense and an active sense. Oooh, yee-ah...Passively? The three kick it by you being lusciously-lovely 'n sexy you (aww yes) because you, baby, and every sexy lady do it wake-style, sleep-style, and deep sleep-style. (Unless you drink the Red Bull, in which case you are an enlightened insomiac, my baby.) Actively, you ask? Here the 3 pop because of a groove. Sooooooo, the super-simple love song with silk smoov bass: groove it in and you pop a state-body. Mmmm-hmm...So baby tell me, do you groove to a job? To a work out? Ya sing, meditate, or make love to me? Do ya rub your lovah with the pinot grigio and the molton chocolate? Ooooo, it's the grooves that allow you to choose your own state-body adventure, you sly mf....(How much you are aware during the groove is another matter, akin to how much you notice when I lick your slick up and down, sugar.)
So with TM and TDH - two of everyone's favorite sexual adventures - our babies bring on that experience that I liken to ... that wondrous touch of imminent radical baby-ness with all of the lover-drunker cultures on Earth, who throw 'em back in a multifacited flo-baby of immense liquid libation up and da-ha-oon, and who with every swallow, give a subtle but bubble love-toast to the Kosmos. Oh yeeah, cheers, my babies.
Posted on
3:20 PM
WORST BODYPAINT EVER! [coolmel]
Originally uploaded by 
Yogi. Posted by
coolmel from
Posted on
2:07 PM
Monday, March 22, 2004
...OF THE SPOTLESS MIND [wrench]
saw this flick and am equally amped. three righteous quotes from a review in EW (who gave the picture an 'A') capture what the film overwhelmingly evokes: "[this] may be the first movie I've seen that bends your brain and breaks your heart. . . Joel [jim carrey], embracing his memories, comes to appreciate the fragile glory of each and every moment simply for being that moment. Watching Eternal Sunshine, you don't just watch a love story--you fall in love with what love really is." amen.
Posted on
9:40 PM
ETERNAL SUNSHINE [coolmel]
Originally uploaded by coolmel. Posted by
coolmel from
Posted on
8:04 AM
A HERETIC'S BIBLE [Paul]
Ah, religion. Such ripe territory for wannabe gonzo journalists and hipster cynics alike. If I sound mean, it's because the Killing the Buddha crew beat me to the idea: a rambling, anthologized cross-country adventure through America the faithful. Killing the Buddha: A Heretic's Bible chronicles the misadventures of two guys coming across all manner of cults, mystics, would-be saints and failed Calvinist strippers(!). If I ever find some cash i'll pick up the book proper, but until then I'll just read and re-read Flak Mag's review.
Posted on
4:21 AM
I'M BUILDING MY HOUSE OUT OF PAPER! [.j.evonne.]
My partner in crime behind the wheel, we took off for Madre Grande, a theosophical monastery near the Mexican border. We found nature, and lots of it....including this fun little building material called papercrete. With your recycled paper, cement and water you can create a building material that's light, durable, and very strong. They're using it up at Madre Grande for their new library, as well as for fireproofing (!?!) their potable water.
Neato. Sculptable building materials make design much more fun.
Posted on
2:10 AM
Sunday, March 21, 2004
DEBATES ON "STATES" [coolmel]
there's a virtual debate on "states" brewing Downunder. wish i could jump in the bandwagon. but i have more important matters to tend to. like get some sleep :o)
Posted on
11:57 PM
GALERIE SUBLIMATIO [Meera]
Last night's surfing turned up some very cool stuff like this:
Posted on
3:39 PM
BACKYARD BOOBALA [wrench]
there's a mama dove living outside my pad in the yard. she sits in her brush bowl oven, baking all day, vigilantly, invisibly, brown on top of brown. here's a pic of her, on this second day of spring...
Posted on
12:28 PM
BAMBI'S LOOKIN' DOWN THE BARREL OF A GUN [.j.evonne.]
This evershattering dream is no different than the last. Evolving connections lapse into laziness as the little death sets in.
At first just a tiny piece dies, a battered fingernail or weathered callous. It's infinitesimal, really, but once the wheels are turning there's no stopping. Whole appendages start to rot with spasmodic tension. Blood seeps, water pours, bones slowly crush together into a powder fit for snuff.
Death likes to bloom below the surface in cysts and tumors and fibrous growths of every make color and variety. It eats and eeks and aches and fakes its way into every cell until the batteries turn off.
No more juice....all tapped.
Is it subtle or causal, playful or haunting?
Dance with the boogeyman, take him home for a shag.
It's last call at the drinking hole; get it together.
Before the lights go down get ready for the dawn.
There's only one thing to say to another day older:
Bring it on.
Posted on
2:53 AM
