if only it weren't a joke...

A lobbyist, on his way home from work in Washington, DC, came to a dead halt in traffic and thought to himself, "Wow, this traffic seems worse than usual." He noticed a police officer walking between the lines
of stopped cars so he rolled down his window and asked, "Officer, what's the holdup?"

The officer replied, "The President is depressed, so he stopped his motorcade and is threatening to douse himself with gasoline and set himself on fire. He says no one believes his stories about why we went to war in Iraq, or the worsening deficit and economy, or that his tax and the privatization of Social Security cuts will help anyone except his wealthy friends. So we're taking up a collection for him."

The lobbyist asks, "How much have you got so far?"

The officer replies, "About four gallons."

crumbling corporations

Okay, that's the drawing for the last article for Konton, on combatting corporate egregores (and my favorite article from the batch, I'm so looking forward to this next issue coming out, though I guess that won't be till after the equinox). I feel like maybe I should send this off to Adbusters as well, it's just the type of thing they'd print.

Anyway, here's a link to a larger version of the picture so the print is more legible.

a zero sum game

Here's the illustration for the article on karma for Konton, which talks about it in number theory type terms, which I thought made a neat illustration as a collapsing wavefront.

which way's north?

Computer Models predict Magnetic pole reversal in Earth and Sun can bring end to human civilization in 2012.



"According to some computer scientists working together with a group geophysicists and astrophysicists, Earth and Sun both will go through a process of Magnetic Pole Reversal in 2012. This last happened millions of years back when the Dinosaurs disappeared. A private research and analysis company in Hyderabad is predicting a major upheaval in 2012.

Magnetic Pole reversal is a process when North Pole and South Pole reverse positions. When this happens, at some point of time Earth's magnetic field reaches zero Gauss which simply means, Earth at that point of time has zero magnetism. When this coincides with a eleven year cycle of Sun's Polar reversal, a major problem arises. "

via the india daily

visions of the technorganic

Earlier while catching up on a few blogs I stumbled upon the artwork of Richard Marchand via ollapodrida, and I have to say this man's work is awesome. His decaying cyborgs and wooden machines give me the chills, these are the technorganic aesthetic realms I see in my dreams. I haven't been so touched by someone's work since I saw Lee Bontecou's insectoid galaxies at the Carnegie International exhibit in Pittsburgh. Unfortunately she does not have such a stunning and comprehensive web presence, but Google kindly compiled an image search of some of her more recent works.

one for the memory hole

This is an illustration for an article on manufacturing memories that will appear in the next issue of Konton magazine. Of course, it isn't my article, so I can't post it here, but the idea of recreating ourselves and changing our futures by fabricating our perceptions of the "past" has come up in many of the recent posts on time magick on Key23.

If you can't read the fine print, here's a link to a larger version of the image.

Stay tuned, as I am also illustrating articles on karma and on combating corporate egregores, and will post them as soon as they are drawn.

was hunter s. thompson deep throat?

There's an interesting theory going round the Net (found via technoccult) that the late Hunter S. Thompson may have been the infamous and unknown Deep Throat known for leaking the info that lead to the watergate scandel that dethroned Nixon. As a kid I remember learning about watergate and though the case was never solved as to who Deep Throat was, history was told as if we never would know. What happened had happened. But now what if it turns out the informant was the zany drug-addled reporter and pop-culture icon? What an ironic twist of fate, and as the article states, poetic justice of the most extreme sense.

If this does not prove to be true, that almost doesn't matter, because it makes a good story. Most history has been written and rewritten from the winner's perspective so that nothing we know about the past may actually be what happened. And if recent theories on the nature of time prove correct, any number of things could have happened, and the only thing that makes one past more real then another is our memories of them. And memories are pliable and for the most part fabricated from our present expectations. So whatever we now believe to have been true, in effect is true. Even if Thompson wasn't Deep Throat, if enough people believe that then it will be recorded as what happened, and the great writer's legacy will only be made that much greater.

lyric poems of yunus emre

Lyric poems of Yunus Emre

Yunus Emre (d. 1320?), called "the greatest folk poet in Islam" (Talat Sait Halman), was an unlettered Turkish shepherd who sang mystical songs which are still popular today. He was the first of a whole tradition of Turkish Sufi troubadors who sang of the Divine Presence, the Beloved, the Friend. His songs/poems convey a profound yet earthy spirituality. His subject is the Heart, the point of awareness where God is realized in us. "I've come to build some hearts," Yunus sings.

To be in love with love with love is to gain a soul,
to sit on the throne of hearts.

To love the world is to be afflicted.
Later the secrets start to make sense.

Don't be bramble,
become the rose. Let your maturity unfold.
The brambles will only burn.

Prayer was created by God so man could ask for help.
It's too bad if you haven't learned to ask.

Accept the breath of those who are mature-
let it become your divining rod.
If you obey your self, things turn our wrong.

Renouncing the world is the beginning of worship.
If you are a believer, believe this.

Respect your parents and ancestry,
and you will have fine green clothes of your own.

If you earn the complaints of neighbors,
You'll stay in Hell forever.

Yunus heard these words from the masters.
If you need this advice, take it.

They say one who is received by heart
becomes more beautiful.

Emre's poetry reminds me of the great Sufi poet Rumi, who also wrote about the personal realization of godhood. The two poets appearently crossed paths at some point in their lives and had an amusing conversation about the subject. The story goes like this: One day Rumi and Yunus Emre met. They had an intimate and very pleasant conversation where Rumi told Yunus of all he had done, reciting to both their delight some of his sublime verse. Yunus Emre was very grateful and highly pleased, but a doubt of personal ability to achieve the same came over him in his utter humility. He remarked aloud: "How true, how lovely; but what a lot of words you have used to say such a simple thing. I could never have done it." Rumi asked him: "How would you have said it?" Yunus Emre, who was what may be called a 'Folk Poet', replied in a couplet:

I wrapped myself in flesh and bones And appeared as Yunus.

(Ete kemige burundum Yunus deyu gorundum)

What is meant then, is that you as a separate reality do not realise, understand or know anything, or, to tell the truth, exist as such.

via ollapodrida