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astroamorsworld · 1 year

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Astro Observations #11

Take what resonates, leave what doesn’t. I hope you enjoy!

Please do not copy/repost my work without my permission. Thanks!

(I do not own this gif)

☁️If you have Uranus transiting your 7th house, prepare yourself for the ups and downs you’re gonna have within your close relationships.

☁️Having Uranus in 4th house indicates an unusual living situation in the home. E.g. your family doesn’t have a bedtime, parents aren’t the ones working and instead it’s some other family member, etc. It can also indicate that your mum may be a tad bit erratic.

☁️People who have north node in their 1st house attract so many of envious people it’s absurd.

☁️I’ve noticed that Neptune opposing your midheaven can indicate that your family can come off as quite glamorous.

☁️Having Chiron conjunct your IC can indicate that your family have gone through a lot of traumatic and painful stuff.

☁️Mars square Neptune people tend to daydream a lot and they’re also quite vivid.

☁️Sagittarius’ are so attractive

☁️Pisces Risings are also so beautiful, so magical, it’s amazing

☁️Composite 5th Saturn is horrible imo, find it hard to have fun together as there’s many differences between what you guys find fun, it can be a problem.

☁️If your Mercury aspects Pluto you have a very vicious tongue, you know exactly what to say to hurt someone😳 the worst insults I’ve ever heard have come from a person with their Mercury squaring Pluto.

☁️Sun trine mars people are good athletes and are known for it, they also have fit bodies.

☁️Mercury square Pluto people also tend to use their words to obtain their control over others. E.g. holding things over peoples heads, using things against them or as leverage, etc.

☁️Pisces people really do have a carefree attitude towards life, they’re just chilling and having fun. They also do tend to indulge in 🍃.

☁️If you have Uranus conjunct Venus in the 2nd house I just know you’re f*****g gorgeous.

☁️For people that have Chiron in the second house, do you have a noticeable scar on your face? I’ve noticed this a few times with people who have this aspect.

☁️Having Neptune conjunct IC can indicate having a very spiritual family or a spiritual/intuitive mother.

☁️Having Neptune in the 11th house can indicate being seen as very enchanting on social media.

☁️I’ve noticed that by having your chart ruler in the first house indicates that you’re very good looking.

Check my pinned post here for more🤍

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lunarten · 4 years

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Astrology Observations Pt. 2

The remix. Please keep in mind, as always, that these are based on my own experiences with people I know. Seeing as how personal and unique each natal chart is, they won’t resonate with everyone.

🖤 An opposition between the Moon and Mercury might manifest in one’s heart and mind always being at odds with one another. These natives might be conflicted when it comes to decision-making because their emotional and mental reasoning are opposed. Intuition and intellect may also be opposed.

🖤 Strong Leo and Virgo placements make for extremely loyal and reliable friends. These are the people that frequently go out of their way to help you. Leos may be open about this trait, as Virgo tends to be more conservative – but don’t let that fool you. Virgo will place their friends’ needs above their own.

🖤 Opinions on Scorpio are often split – people either hate them or love them. I think it’s fitting that Scorpio, so associated with obsession, would draw these polar reactions from people. It seems to me that Scorpio is frequently the object of obsession (rather than being just the obsessed party). Something about them draws the eyes and opinions of others, even those that they don’t give a second thought to.

🖤 Your Mercury placement, like your Mars placement, shows where you devote your energy. While Mars revolves around raw ambition and natural inclination, Mercury reveals where you take a steadier, more planned approach. For instance, Mercury in the 7th house might reflect a significant amount of time spent developing ideas about partnerships and thinking them over. Mars in the 7th, on the other hand, might show someone who trusts their instincts about partnerships, or even leaps into them.

🖤 Libra is adept at finding beauty in things. A natural aesthete, Libra may end up with a variety of clothing and makeup so that they can reflect whatever they feel is most beautiful at the time.

🖤 Speaking of Libra, both Libra and Taurus (ruled by Venus) seem to enjoy beauty rituals. Taking a bath, applying lotion, putting on eyeliner. These are calming, preparatory activities. Most Virgos I’ve known have also enjoyed these rituals.

🖤 Mars (sex drive) in the 12th house (unconscious realm) may have frequent sex dreams.

🖤 Scorpio moons are pretty good at interpreting and explaining the emotions of other people but may have trouble with their own emotions. Their objectivity toward their own emotions is often compromised by the intensity and depth of feeling they experience.

🖤 Pisces have trouble separating themselves from their environment. Being a mutable water sign, they’re easily influenced by the emotions and attitudes of those around them. Additionally, their natural place is in the 12th house which may make it difficult for them to establish and maintain boundaries with people.

🖤 Gemini is difficult to truly win over. You may be in good standing one day and poor standing the next for seemingly arbitrary reasons. This is because Gemini frequently re-evaluates their thoughts and beliefs on other people.

🖤 Aries Venus might fall quickly, even believing in love at first sight. Being the cardinal fire sign, Aries is a fast decision-maker with a passionate, bold disposition. Of course, that which makes them so prone to jumping in can also make them prone to falling out. Some of their love affairs may burn up and out fast, leaving Aries searching for a new candle to light.

🖤 Capricorn Venus, on the other hand, may be slow with their feelings. Everything they do is deliberate, and they would never step down in a place where the ground might not hold them. Capricorn is the cardinal earth sign, however. Once they’re certain, those deliberate steps will become strides in your direction.

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gaywatch · 2 years

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(more Golden Lovers stuff, sorry) i looked back at the previous posts i sent you, haha, and the last one was a lot further back than i thought, so i realized the more recent message might need a little more context, because i'm not sure it quite comes across just how big of a deal this was.

basically, AEW is a brand new American wrestling company that started in 2019. so 2019 was an extremely exciting time to be a wrestling fan, and then the pandemic hit, and 2020 was an extremely depressing time to be a wrestling fan. miraculously, AEW managed to weather the pandemic due to a combination of luck (they happened to have access to an outdoor stadium, and were able to run no crowd shows) and creative ingenuity. it was a real trial by fire for them, since they'd only been on TV for less than half a year when they had to completely change their entire operation.

WWE is obviously the global industry leader in wrestling, but AEW has, uh, caught up to them way faster than anyone thought possible (partially due to the fact that they adapted to the pandemic conditions way better than their competitor lol). the Washington Post has an article that gets into some of this.

this summer, there was a pretty huge turning point for AEW because they brought a massively popular wrestler named CM Punk out of retirement, and then shortly after that, they managed to sign two huge WWE stars: Adam Cole and Daniel Bryan.

now, one thing that AEW really had going for them over WWE was that they cared about long term storytelling (basically, stories developing over multiple years as opposed to over a few weeks or months). their top story was centered around Hangman Adam Page, self-professed "anxious millennial cowboy", who struggled with insecurity after failing to meet expectations in AEW's first year. just as they planned, Hangman's story really resonated with people! Kenny had a huge role in this because he basically became the villain that Hangman would need to beat before he could finally become the face of the company that he was meant to be.

of course, in order for that to happen, Kenny had to have a massive run as a heel, and that's what he spent december 2020-early november 2021 doing. it was a pretty amazing run because his character became obsessed with collecting belts from different promotions, and it ushered in the so-called "Forbidden Door" era of wrestling, where wrestlers from different promotions could walk between them (this is how we got an AEW/NJPW partnership).

this resulted in him getting voted PWI's #1 wrestler of the year. it was his second time winning it, and it marked the first time that a non-WWE wrestler had won it twice. they interviewed him after he won it, and naturally Kota came up (this was a shoot interview, so he wasn't in character). he said: "for someone as influential as Ibushi was to my career, inside and outside, i feel it would be an injustice for [the story] to die"

in-character, Kenny had spent the past year constantly referencing Kota and betraying his insecurity that basically no matter what he did, no matter what heights he achieved, he couldn't measure up to Kota. he referenced him in podcast interviews, on twitter, instagram, in promos on Impact, even in the Mexican promotion AAA, which is literally geoblocked right now so international fans can't legally view their content.

Kenny faced Bryan Danielson in a really great match (a literal dream match for many fans), and in a match that had garnered one of AEW's biggest audiences yet, held in the biggest venue they'd booked, which Kenny knew everyone would be watching, he busted out Kota's old finisher again, the phoenix splash (and missed it like he always does). one of my favorite aspects of his work is that he includes these little gay love letters in all of his best matches so that the Golden Lovers story is literally impossible for anyone to ignore or write out of his work.

it's just cool to me that he's managed to do all of this and basically sit at the top of the industry and somehow still keep the story alive, against all odds

This context is delectable darling, thank youuuuuuuuuuuuu.

Call me a silly optimist but one day there will be a Big Gay Kiss during a wrestling match and the world will never be the same.

#GW Asks #Golden Lovers

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tiesandtea · 4 years

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Brett Anderson and Mat Osman from influential ’90s indie outfit Suede are back with a new album and a new film to match

By Dave Calhoun, TimeOut. Posted on Friday, November 6, 2015.

It’s one of the defining images of the ’90s British music scene: Suede’s Brett Anderson swinging his mic and slapping his arse as he tore through unifying glam-rock hits like ‘Animal Nitrate’ and ‘Trash’. Along with his old school friend Mat Osman, Anderson founded Suede as a London student in the late ’80s. When Britpop exploded, the four-piece became the smarter, darker, more ambiguous face of the scene. Five albums later, they called it a day in 2003.

But Suede have been back since 2010, touring and lately recording. ‘Night Thoughts’ follows ‘Bloodsports’ as the second album of Suede 2.0. A brooding, expansive and playfully eccentric record, it nods to the experimentation and orchestral sound of their 1994 album ‘Dog Man Star’, the last to feature guitarist Bernard Butler.

Suede will be performing the album over two nights in London at the Roundhouse, also premiering a new film made to accompany the album. We met Brett and Mat, both 48, near their homes in west London.

You were up against Kanye West as Saturday night headliners at Glastonbury earlier this year. How was that?

Mat: ‘We loved it. We were only there for about three hours.’ Brett: ‘It’s a bit hit and miss for us, Glastonbury. We’ve done some crap ones. We did the main stage below REM about 15 years ago, in daylight, and it was terrible. I think we’re a much better live band now than we were even back in our heyday. We’re on a different level.’ Mat: ‘We’re also a bit less precious about not playing to our own audience. In the early days we spent a lot of time playing to people who were rabidly obsessive. So it could be strange to go to a festival and it not immediately go off.’ Brett: ‘We’ve got some resilience to that now. We were so used to adoring crowds in smaller venues, it became this little cult. I love playing live now. When we first started I used to be all about writing stuff and the studio, but bizarrely enough as I’ve got older, I actually enjoy the physicality of playing live.’ But anyone who’s seen you play live, especially in the early days, always remembers you going for it hell for leather, swinging the mic lead, slapping your arse…

Brett: ‘That wasn’t what it was about for me. It was about coming up with the magic in the studio.’ Mat: ‘I still think that’s the measure of the band for me, the albums you leave behind.’ Brett: ‘Of course it is. The live performance is transitory, isn’t it? It’s a beautiful thing. It’s life-affirming – and all that nonsense.’ Mat: ‘It’s the sex to a record’s love, you know what I mean? It’s the brief moment as opposed to a lifetime.’

‘London is this poisonous, brutal place, but there’s so much love here as well’

Last year a ‘Mastermind’ contestant picked Suede as their specialist subject. Were you watching?

Mat: ‘I was. I think he did better than all of us in the band.’ Brett: ‘What? I got them all right.’ Mat: ‘There was that hard question about who shot the photo of the two people kissing on our first album cover.’ Brett: ‘I knew that one.’ Your lyrics are full of images of the city. Does London still inspire you?

Brett: ‘I wrote a line about 25 years ago in a song called “He’s Dead”, and it’s “all the love and poison of London” and it’s one of my favourite lines. It still resonates with me. London is this poisonous, brutal place, but there’s so much love here as well. There’s so much inspiration, you can feel the power pulsing through its veins and I love that.’

Did the city feel brutal when you were fighting to get noticed as a student band in the late ’80s and early ’90s?

Brett: ‘We spent three years playing in the toilets of London, in places like the Amersham Arms and the Camden Falcon. Regularly there’d be more people on stage than in the audience. It was a very brutal way to start out. For some reason we stuck at it. Seriously, it wouldn’t have happened if we’d been less arrogant, or more sensible…’ Mat: ‘Or less talented, that’s the other possibility!’ Brett, you’ve said you always believed you were writing big Whitney Houston-style pop belters when you were writing early songs like ‘Animal Nitrate’ and ‘The Wild Ones’. Do you still feel like that?

Brett: ‘Yes. Less so with this new album. But I’ve always thought Suede’s music was quite poppy. The whole indie ghetto thing, especially in the ’90s, I thought it was limiting. Pop music is incredibly powerful, even in its most crass form. If you sit in the back of a cab and listen to Magic FM and all those sloppy, sentimental songs, they’re beautiful songs. Because they’re performed by cheesy artists, they’re considered naff. But they still have emotional resonance.’

‘We’re high art kitchen sink!

Your new album ‘Night Thoughts’ is more experimental than your last, your comeback album ‘Bloodsports’ (2013). Did you have less to prove?

Brett: ‘We definitely felt like we could do things that we wouldn’t have done with “Bloodsports”. That was very much about re-establishing the brand of the band, horrible as it sounds. There are echoes of “Dog Man Star”, which is our most loved record. But it’s a different record to “Dog Man Star”, it’s a lot harder to pin down.’ The filmmaker Roger Sargent has made a full-length film to accompany the album. How did that come about?

Brett: ‘We wanted to make one long film instead of making videos. Partly to reinforce the idea that the album was designed to be listened to as an album rather than a collection of songs. I sent Roger vague ideas about the themes of the album. Lots of it is about family stuff. Kids and parenthood.’ Do you have kids?

Brett: ‘I do.’ Are they old enough to listen to your music?

Brett: ‘Yeah, I’ve got a stepson who’s 11 and a little boy who’s three and has started to play the drums. We often play “Anarchy in the UK” together.’ So you don’t buy that line about the pram in the hallway killing creativity? Brett: ‘I just don’t believe that. I find there’s friction within the most comfortable relationship, and good writing is about documenting friction, documenting tension, for me. Or good Suede writing. And there’s always friction to find.’ Are you film fans?

Mat: ‘I think Brett’s probably the biggest film lover in the band. When we were planning the film for “Night Thoughts”, we all went to Roger with lists of films we liked.’ Brett: ‘Lots of arty stuff. Lots of Bergman. Things like that.’ Mat: ‘Lots of kitchen-sink drama.’ Brett: ‘Yeah, ’60s stuff. I think the combination of the two is where we meet. We’re high art kitchen sink!’

#suede #brett anderson #mat osman #a great interview!

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zenosanalytic · 4 years

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House of X #1: The Complications of Trees

Ok so, with that Intro Out of the Way, Here’s me talking abt the intro image of House of X #1 for 1500 words :| :| :|

For Context:

Father and Mother

Ok let’s get into it. The central image of page 1 is of 3 pillars of light pouring into the cavern from above, triangulating a Tree of Roots. Right off the bat this is Chthonic: “Chthonic”(pronounced thahnik, tho if you wanna sneak a barely perceptiple “ch” at the front of it, I’ll respect you u_u) means “of the underworld” or, less ominously, “subterranean”, and here we are not only literally in a cavern, but dealing with a tree made out of the subterranean PARTS of a tree; its roots. Strange eye-like fuschia circles seem to look on from the cavern walls, pupil-less, insectile, and, to me, especially reminiscent of the eyes of the Ohmu from Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind. For comparison:

Strange orange chrysalis-fruit grow at the bottom of the root tree(whether from it or placed near it isn’t clear). From these chrysalises hatch the X Men, beginning with Scott and Jean, to be welcomed by Xavier.

There are clear mythic elements to this image. Representing the X Men first with Scott and Jean, the prototypical m/f couple of the series, is an obvs reference to Adam and Eve. Having Xavier standing above them, looking on, welcoming them to life within a plant-space, a garden, obvsl casts him in the position of God, The Father, in the abrahimic creation myth and suggests his responsibility for this event, even though they are hatching from the eggs(?) growing on the tree, and not being made by him directly.

It isn’t only abrahimic, though; those Chthonic elements again. Gaia, the Greek Mother-Earth, was at once human and Earth; her anatomy analogized to physical geography. Caverns are enclosed interior spaces; wombs are enclosed interior spaces; caverns are wombs. Xavier’s costume furthers the Chthonic connection through oblique reference to other subterranean Greek deities: he is dressed is a form-fitting black jumpsuit. I cant speak to how Hades was colored in the classical era, but in the modern day he is typically depicted in blacks, dark-greys, and dark or grey blues, matching Prof X’s costume here. This visual connection to Hades goes further(though I can see this one being unintentional; Plouton’s epithets arent exactly common knowledge): X wears what looks to be a portable version of Cerebro which completely covers his eyes. A common Epithet for Hades/Plouton is “The Unseen One”; Xavier’s SEEMING sightlessness calls this to mind without being a direct reference, or undermining the larger visual(which his being invisible would certainly do). And we could take that further to an even more oblique, even subtextual, play with inversion&paradox, with resolution of opposites, with things being both themselves and their negation: Sightless, Xavier Sees; Seen, he is Unseeable. The Chthonic staging and symbolism, pairing Xavier with this environment, strengthens the Hades connection(Hades is the “Lord of the Underworld”, Xavier is in an Underworld place, in a “Lordly” position), and conversely the parallels are strengthened further by knowledge of Hades/Plouton’s Marriages. Originally he was husband to Demeter, variously etymologized as Mother of the House or “Great/Rye/Divine/Earth Mother”, seen in the subterranean setting, and then Persephone, a Goddess of Spring, Harvest, and Vegetal Fertility, which we see in the seeming-birth-giving tree. And the mythic symbolism of THAT goes further still, given how common humans and animals growing from plants are in myths all over the world. The image is layered in creation-myth, birth-imagery, and the supernatural or superhuman(the last bits resonating, obvsl, with the XMen’s own history&mythology). This works on both an immediate and meta level; not only is this scene taking place within the context of the story Hickman and his team are trying to tell, but it also takes place at the beginning of a reboot of the XMen franchise; in a literal meta sense, this scene is a “rebirth” of The XMen into this new “Dawn of X” era.

Returning to the cavern(but staying with Greek myth, cuz I’m predictable), it potentially presents another mythic aspect, though this is PROBABLY an idiosyncratic read and not intentional. Caverns are dark places; literally the epitome of darkness in the mythic Greek sense through Erebus(non-night darkness, the darkness of deep shadows or caverns), the husband-son of Nyx(Night). Erebus is more than just the son or the husband of Nyx, however; Nyx created Erebus from herself, by herself. In a real sense, Erebus is, simultaneously, apart from Night and a part of Night; Himself and Herself, Darkness and, at the same time, Night writ small. Coincidentally(and apropos for this story), within some Orphic traditions Nyx is tasked with ensuring the passage of divine leadership from one generation to another, and choosing who will lead. Which leads us to...

Ambiguity

Ambiguity cuts through all of this, undermining the notion of clear oppositions; clear beginnings and clear endings. Xavier, small and masculine on the first page, is on the second towering and in a classically feminine pose(I’ve seen this in dance and modeling approx a BILLION times, but I dont know the name of it, and I cant seem to land on a search phrase that’ll get me decent stills of it. If anyone does, or can point me to an instance of it, I’d appreciate having the name so I could search & plop some comparison images in here) which combines with the conflation of his will, the Tree, and the birth above to present him as ambiguously mother and father. While possibly unintentional the same is repeated for the cave itself through the Erebus connection: an underground womb, it is Feminine; a “place of darkness”, of Erebus, it is Masculine. And of course in the earth is where ppl are buried; a place both of birth, and death. Likewise a tree’s roots usually take nutrients from the earth, feeding on decay and decomposition, yet here they do the opposite “fruiting” the X-Men from themselves like moths from a cocoon.

There’s a particularly interesting depiction of X in this two-page spread that, at first glance, is symbolically masculine but, on further thought, I think its very masculinity works to play into this thematic ambiguity. On page 1 a tiny erect person stands before the Tree on a large mound, dwarfed by the uterine tree dominating the cavern&scene. The masculine symbolism of that figure in its context is obvious. However that context also subtly subvert it through a pun. Obvsl I go LOOKING for puns, so maybe this is a wholly idiosyncratic read of it, but part of why the tiny figure reads as masculine despite its lack of definition is the pun in “mound” being popular vernacular for vagina(more specifically the vagina’s external features, and most specifically the mons pubis/mons venus). So the first image we have of Xavier(though we aren’t SURE it’s him yet, or if it’s a man) is of him as a tiny man on a mound; symbolically atop a vagina :| A popular vernacular phrase for the clitoris is “a small man in a boat” with the “boat” also being this anatomic context :| :| Visually, Xavier is a Clit :| :| :| Again: Masculine and Feminine combined rather than opposed, and it goes all the way down(yes this wording is both awkward AND intentional u_u u_u).

His ambiguity crystalizes and embodies the general ambiguity of the scene: eggs that are chrysalises; new-born adults; a Tree that is only roots, birth underground in a place of burial, Light in a Dark Place, and mammals born through insect-imagery by a tree. This last image, the central action of the two pages(beyond the plants-fruiting-animals stuff mentioned before), contains so much ambiguity just on its own: Plants typically possess both ”male” and “female” parts(neither of which honestly mirror the animal counterparts for which the words were coined); the XMen “hatch” from chrysalises but chrysalises arent eggs they’re a stage in transition from one form to the next; they are human, but the process of their “birth”, with its eggs and cocoons “fruiting” from a plant, is everything BUT mammalian and human.

This ambiguity extends to the moral realm. Large, bald heads, masks and helmets, eggs, sightless or hidden eyes, dark colors --especially black and purple(the fuschia circles, but also some lighting effects)--, gender ambiguity, pod-people; all of these are also conventional signs of the nefarious and villainous. While we know the X Men and Xavier as heroes, and while the event is presented as unquestionably mythic perhaps even miraculous, the moral quality of it, and of Xavier’s wider actions, isn’t clear. But again this is an ambiguity of inclusion rather than one of either/or; it merges the masculine and feminine, rejecting the boundaries set between them, rather than asking which is which. So I take this moral ambiguity similarly; not as a question “is Xavier right or wrong?” but as suggesting there are both morally “right” and morally “wrong” elements to these events(and to the comic series proper), existing side-by-side.

All of this ties into the theme of cycles, and from there into repetition and rebirth. A Cycle has phases which can seem to be in opposition(day and night, for instance) but which are actually part of a larger whole, leading one to the other. Death and Life are one such seeming opposition; living things die, an end for them, but that end feeds other living things. Life feeds from itself through death, to perpetuate itself in new beginnings. Appropriately this ties back into the mythic elements: the best guess as to what the Eleusinian Mysteries --dedicated to the Chthonic deities Demeter, Persephone, and Plouton-- were about was the descent, stay, and ascent of Persephone to and from Hades; in other words the cycle of life, death, and new life(though there doesn’t seem to be agreement over whether this was new life or an afterlife in the scholarship. Given the much under-discussed, and under-recorded, Greek belief in reincarnation, it could have easily been either).

All of which raises a central question: Is Xavier Banging that Tree :| (I kid, I kid! What can I say but: Comedy demands -___-)

#HoXPoX #House of X #HoX 1 #Charles Xavier #The X Men #Hickman et al #Greek Myth #Abrahimic Myth #analytic posts

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arthurhwalker · 4 years

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Lenovo TechWorld 2019

Disclosure: I attended Lenovo TechWorld 2019 in Beijing as Lenovo’s Guest. I sat in a super fan / brand advocate seat, and attended in that capacity. Lenovo asks that, as part of my participation, I follow all FTC disclosure laws relative to sponsored content. All opinions are my own.

Disclosure: I consumed the majority of Lenovo TechWorld 2019 via an earbud, translators working hard to turn Chinese into English on the other end. Something may have gotten lost in the translation, and I’ve tried my best to get clarity in those cases where I suspect that happened.

Lenovo HQ Tour - Day Zero

The tour wasn’t what I was expecting. It was definitely a marketing experience, designed to influence influencers and the media. It was well produced, had something for everyone, and a little more.

I write extensively about identity and digital identity in my speculative science fiction series. I’ve read Derek Parfit’s work, and Christine M. Korsgaard’s “Self-Constitution”. The philosophical implications of identity are something I’ve explored in great depth. To that end, Lenovo may be one of a precious few tech companies looking to empower (as opposed to exploit) the user, via their identity.

In philosophy, whenever someone is merely a means in the process of your decision making, you’re probably a jerk, or in the process of acting like one. Lenovo sees a person’s identity as more than a means to create markets for themselves, and is looking through the eyes of the user for how they would relate to potential markets instead.

When I stepped into Lenovo’s unmanned employee store, using my face, it sort of hit home what they were wanting to do. The store had a curious assortment of snacks, food, and drinks. Were the contents curated based on the patronage? I wished I’d asked, but I suspect that’s the cases. Instead of a marketing edifice trying desperately to contrive demand, the store felt more like the corner market that served a neighborhood.

It was an odd sensation to have in a high tech store that didn’t have personnel, but still had personality. That of the folks that shopped there, perhaps? There was the quick bite to eat for lunch, necessities people might grab to avoid a trip to the market on the way home, and the afternoon snack. Nothing was arranged to market the goods in a specific way. It felt more like a community pantry that had contents aggregated over time, to suit the needs of the patrons.

I haven’t had that sensation since I was a young person, standing in the corner market of an old neighborhood where some of my extended family dwelled. That’s where the familiarity ended, though.

In China, commerce is just handled differently. On the outside, it feels a little impersonal to use WeChat or Alipay on your phone to make a transaction. However, I saw the flip side, while I was shopping at Lenovo’s pop up store at the TechWorld venue. They had a Lenovo Legion backpack I wanted (well, needed. It was red!), but I didn’t have WeChat set up to pay, or enough cash.

Nevertheless, the young woman helping me was determined to make the transaction happen. The other employees gathered around, and we talked it over. In the end, she became the handler in the exchange. I gave her the money using Alipay, and she used her WeChat to complete the transaction at the point of sale. This sort of economic decentralization happens at the user level in China.

Having based my book series around a global fiscal collapse, it was interesting to see how Lenovo (and to some degree, China) is making sure the future I’m somewhat afraid of, never happens. Where technology doesn’t reach all the way to the ground, to the common person, it will generally either fail at best, or at worst, exploit the common person.

There were other demonstrations of this notion in the home, and workplace, throughout the tour. The extreme care taken to make sure Lenovo’s products don’t interfere with the user, or their other devices shed light on why I keep buying from them. From a very high developmental level, Lenovo’s products put the user first.

TechWorld - Day 1: Commercial

During the commercial keynote, there was a lot of marketing babble, buzzwords, and hype. It was hard to pick out the gems, the bits that really will resonate in the industry. This is to be expected whenever a company goes large on the stage to sell themselves. This isn't criticism of Lenovo, it's a realization of all that is at stake.

Lenovo wants to change China, and by virtue of that, influence change in the rest of the world.

Lenovo has realized what many companies in the West have not. Decentralizing processes, beside transparent data acquisition, has tremendous potential. This is particularly true for countries with large populations. Each person represents an opportunity to create or serve particular markets.

The assumption is that automation will take jobs from humans, and give them to robots. That edge computing will make people in the field obsolete. I don’t think that is the case. Lenovo has seen that the optimization of processes is one of the last ways technology can improve the profits of companies, while helping preserve the environment. We don’t need less people and more robots, we need more efficient processes underlying the work done by both man and machine.

This is marketable both for companies that want to go greener by reducing waste, while saving money on power consumption. The sum of that vision rests with edge computing built on system agnostic, easy to produce hardware, with software to match. So that data acquisition isn't reliant on crafting new products for each industry.

During the first day I wondered if this approach would trickle down to the regular consumer, with edge computing coming to the home. People already struggle to trust that technology in their homes. Lenovo understands that anxiety; from toggles on webcams, to the hardware switches on microphone-equipped smart home devices.

They intend to start building that trust by using block-chain to track the food supply in China. If they can make the delivery of necessities in China safer, people will learn to trust the technology. In the United States, there is deep distrust of anything resembling this kind of data acquisition. Worldwide, trust is often the barrier to reaching out to better industry practices and economic models.

If Lenovo pulls it off in China, a billion people on the planet will be closer to trusting the decentralization of data, and data acquisition, via edge computing. The counter argument is that it all requires data centers, something on the other side of the edge computing bridge from the Internet of Things. Something to manage that data acquisition, that isn’t necessarily transparent to end users, outside of the institutional control of said data centers.

I know the above paragraphs looks like a lot of buzzwords and technobabble, but decentralizing data will lead to the democratization of technology, economies, and greater control of one’s personal data. The reason underlying this is that Lenovo is using open source type hardware (ARM) and software (Linux) in their edge computing solutions.

I would be the first to point out that this is likely by necessity as opposed to genuinely held benevolent intent if not for a conversation with Lenovo’s Chief Communications Officer, Torod Neptune. I was, perhaps, a little more vocal during the round table than I should have been, but I wanted to know where Lenovo really stood. If their push for the democratization of technology would be inclusive to all people. Mister Neptune assured me that it was, and that the notion was at the top of their ethics hierarchy.

I’m very skeptical when it comes to the good intentions of corporations. If you’ve read my speculative science fiction series, I do not cast corporations, or the government entities responsible for regulating them, in a very good light. I designed the series during the Occupy Wall Street movement. I spent some of the trip looking for where Lenovo had deviated from what Torod Neptune was pitching at the meeting with him. I see problems in the industry, but Lenovo isn’t at the root of them, and they may even swing things the other way at the commercial and institutional level.

That said, Lenovo has some challenges where inclusive access to technology is concerned.

TechWorld - Day 2: Consumer, Small Business, Consultancy

The second day was full of epic wins, and some missteps. Lenovo seemed conflicted, sending a mixed message on stage. I’ll break it down as best as I can.

The Good: There was talk of making technology more democratic, edge computing in the residential consumer market, bespoke cloud services, and access to technology, artificial intelligence, and data privacy for people with special needs. The decentralization of the Internet is the next step, the next big thing, and Lenovo is keenly aware of this. They understand that the market for such is emerging, regardless, and that there is an opportunity for every single person in that market.

The narrative from day one, about leveraging AI, smart data center management, and edge computing data acquisition would trickle down to the average user of tech in the home, and on the street. Lenovo’s message wasn’t that they were creating that market, but that they were ready to provide products thereof, almost like it was an evolutionary imperative that they were merely ready for.

I didn’t think much of the Thinkbook and Thinkplus line until I understood it a little better and who it is being marketed to. If you want to start your own global tech consultancy with automated customer care, and a small office staff, Lenovo is trying to provide hardware, and language translation support to that end. They are making big things for the little guy, and I approve.

The Bad: The second day was sprinkled with casual sexism, with a decidedly male-focused keynote, then capped off with Lenovo announcing a very respectful sponsorship of the Chinese Women’s Volleyball Team. I clapped, I cringed, I wanted to cry, and for various reasons. I feel like a few product managers and executives hadn’t gotten Torod Neptune’s memo about inclusivity.

Others, thankfully, were on point.

Lenovo is far from the only tech company grappling with these issues. Stating that there are many attractive females employed in a particular division of the company shouldn’t be an acceptable means to sell product. The message delivered for Thinkbook, and Thinkplus, were that they were “The Young Man” of the workplace, looking to start his consultancy, or small business venture. That he’d have hardware options for himself, and his female assistant.

The appeal of the Thinkbook / Plus product lines transcends gender, and the marketing should have reflected that. That women were excluded as customers during the keynote was a mistake. Hopefully, when those products start reaching the US, Lenovo doesn’t continue the tragic narrative put forward at TechWorld.

The two women they put on the stage as product managers were there, as directed by the man leading the keynote. One was the product manager for the Yoga Book 2, or Yoga Book C930 as it is also called. I’d have really liked to see her up there by herself, pitching the product, without a guy as the conversational prompt.

It’s important to note that what I saw is not the trend at Lenovo. They released their 2nd annual Diversity and Inclusion report a few days after Techworld. Lenovo’s workforce is 36.2 percent female, up 1.2 percent from 2018.

Traditionally under-represented racial and ethnic groups are on the rise in the executive ranks in the U.S. workforce, at 27.4 percent. Lenovo wants to make it 28 percent by 2020.

When I attended CES earlier this year, I was able to sit in at a conference, hosted by Lenovo, for women in the tech industry to meet and discuss the challenges they face in the workforce. It is these things that stand in contrast to what I saw on stage at TechWorld in China. Definitely, I’ll be paying close attention to whether Lenovo pushes the needle toward inclusion, and equity.

In that, I am hopeful.

Conclusion: TechWorld 2019 Overview

Getting to see the connected narrative of days one and two between artificial intelligence, data acquisition, and edge computing was something I needed. I don’t think people in the consumer market understand the influence of these things in their daily lives, and as a result, are afraid of those influences.

Sadly, companies like Google and Amazon do an excellent job of making it worse by lacking transparency in their data acquisition in a residential setting.

Lenovo talked about GPU virtualization in the cloud during the Day 1 Keynote. I’m giddy at all the possible applications thereof. I hope one day to have an extremely thin and light drawing tablet in hand, 5G connected, that can handle commercial applications, rendering done quickly in the cloud. The primary barrier to that being a reality, is trust.

Lenovo has a genuine opportunity to change the narrative at an industry level if they can make data collection via edge computing transparent, and democratic. Will Lenovo hold to that narrative? It starts with the people making decisions within, and there is every indication that Lenovo is struggling to move in that direction, in all markets.

That said, there is a genuine effort at high levels of the company to that end.

Thanks for reading.

For More TechWorld 2019 coverage, check out these other Lenovo Insiders, and the Hashtag #LenovoTechWorld #LenovoIN

Adam Fowler

https://twitter.com/AdamFowler_IT

https://www.adamfowlerit.com/

Onica Cupido

https://twitter.com/OnicaCupido

Vernon Chan

https://twitter.com/vernieman

https://vernonchan.com/

Lawrence Mann

https://twitter.com/LAWRENCEcanDRAW

https://www.youtube.com/LAWRENCEcanDRAW

And, our friends from the Lenovo Champions ;-D

https://www.instagram.com/tecnolaura/

https://www.youtube.com/technikfaultier

https://twitter.com/TecnoLocura

https://www.instagram.com/leotechmaker/

#LenovoTechWorld #LenovoIN #SponsoredTrip #Lenovo #Inclusivity #Equity #Technology #LenovoTechWorld2019

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lovehaswonangelnumbers · 5 years

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New Post has been published on https://lovehaswonangelnumbers.org/june-astrology-2019flying-free/

June Astrology 2019~Flying Free

By lovinglightastrologer

Astrologers consider the beginning of June a mutable month, as the sun is travelling through ever changing mutable sign of Gemini into the summer solstice of Cancer. This is a good time to make changes and be flexible with your daily schedule as well as more important aspects of life.

The new moon June 3rd at 6:02 am EDT is at 12 degrees of Gemini in a T square patter with Jupiter and Neptune. This is indicating that the month will resonate with feelings of hope and optimism. Underneath the vibration of the strong Saturn/Pluto in Capricorn which deals with getting rid of the old to make way for something better is the message to be mindful of your thoughts as they are the precursor of what is to come.

Both Mercury and Mars are out of bounds which indicates they are a wild card. Mercury out of bounds has the tendency to wake you up in the middle of the night with a brilliant idea that has your mind racing with all of the possibilities that comes with it. Mars, the action or warrior planet, out of bounds in Cancer is hypersensitive to insults and even real or imagined threats against home, family and or ones sense of belonging in their country and community. What does it mean for you? Be mindful of individuals around you that could take offense by invading their space, (think road rage) or unintentional comments perceived as insults.

The weeks that follow the new moon vacillate between unbridled enthusiasm to embrace all that life offers with a blur of commitments to friends, work and family. Remembering to breathe through your whirlwind is essential especially if your sleep is relegated to the bottom of your priority list.

The full moon is at 25 degrees of Sagittarius on June 17th at 4:31 am EDT. Jupiter rules this Sag moon and is in its home in Sagittarius. There is a deep desire to cut the cords that bind you and fly free under this signature. However with Mars and Mercury together in Cancer opposite Saturn and Pluto together in Capricorn the push and pull between let me free and what about xyz will test your beliefs and patience. The key is to acknowledge the supposed limitations that society, your past, and your own mind has over you. Then observe the frustration or anger that bubbles up around the circumstances that are holding you back, release the emotional charge and then be open to the messages and symbols that appear.

On June 18th Saturn in Capricorn is sextile Neptune in Pisces, for the second time this year. This is a time when focus and determination along with vision and creativity helps make our dreams a reality.

The day of the solstice, June 21st at 11:54 am EDT, Neptune stations retrograde.

This day is profoundly infused with the connection to other realms and the opportunity to go very deep into meditative states of being. Relationships, love, family, and close friends are the theme for this solstice chart. Venus in Gemini is closely connected with the Jupiter Neptune square activating the pull towards generosity and loving support to those you care about. In addition the Sun at 0 degrees of Cancer is opposite the planet Cupido (TNP from Uranian astrology) which symbolizes families, marriages, companions and partnerships. Focusing on creating caring partnerships that support each other in what is possible will reap the rewards of abiding friendships.

Mercury moves out of Cancer and into Leo on the 26th of June beginning to slow down before it makes it station retrograde in early July. The intuitive internal thinking process gives way to a stronger need to be inspired through symbols and visual cues. As the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words, if someone doesn’t understand what you are trying to say, send them a visual.

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atcostmag · 5 years

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Ten Fé’s Leo Duncan on Busking, Ireland and the Simple Pleasure of a Classic Pop Song

In Toronto, Ten Fé woke up to the classic Canadian weather, that being cold of course. With the windy weather as the backdrop, it’s through this turbulent weather the five-piece band served a platter of emotions. At the show and always engaged with their audience at The Drake Hotel, Ten Fé sampled a variety of sounds. Whether it be from the undulating groove of post-punk bass lines; the inflections of new wave synths or just simply their quintessentially pop-rock sound, the London-based five piece had you covered. Speaking to their founding member Leo Duncan, we were able to nuance what inspired those sounds and what emotions played throughout their music. From busking on the streets of Dublin to finding the simple pleasure of a classic pop song, it’s that raw, organic sentiment which inspired Ten Fe’s latest record as Leo Duncan explains what came to be “Future Perfect, Present Tense”.

Photo + Words: Peter Quincy Ng

How’s the tour been so far, and how have you been pacing yourselves?

This is the longest tour we did and furthest distance we’ve traveled so we’re all trying to pace ourselves fairly sensibly. We’ve had a few shows and we’ve went mad after every one. It’s the first time we’ve been in the States. This time we’re more sensible but we’ve lost our drummer for around six hours in New York but no casualties (laughs).

What were the expectations on this record “Future Perfect, Present Tense” as opposed to your debut “Hit the Light”?

I think the expectations were positive, with the first record we’ve set the bar in terms of songwriting quite high and we wanted to continue that. In fact we’ve wrote around twenty or thirty songs for this record before we’ve had one that was actually good enough. A number of months of solid writing before we think we’ve broken the back of the writing side of the record. We worked really close to our managers BAD LIFE and had a good relationship.

“Turn” from Ten Fe’s first record “Hit the Light”

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In terms of the music, I think we wanted to push ourselves of how honest we could make the record and how we could use the other guys the band. It never was the case where we wanted to make (our previous album) “Hit the Light” part two and we knew we wanted to make something different. To that extent, because we weren’t trying to make the same thing again, I think the pressure of expectations wasn’t too high. This record was inspired by relationships. How did you translate lived experience to song on this record? I think I’m most excited when I’m writing by expressing certain experiences I’ve had and how I can represent them in song, so it is kind of second nature. The writers I like, like John Lennon or Brendon Behan they write very personally; they don’t write about characters, they write about themselves. When you were a duo, it’s been said you wanted to make the record as if it was made by five people. Now that we’re at five people, tell us how about how that has been? It’s been great because it means we can now make a sound between five people. That’s not like a practical thing, like it’s easier we don’t have to play the drums or the bass. It’s great because it’s the energy of five people not two, and it feels organic. That’s what’s exciting about it. Five’s enough though (laughs)!

“Won't Happen” from Ten Fe’s latest record “Future Perfect, Present Tense”

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Almost everything written about you tells me about your days as a busker? Tell us about what that has taught you as a musician playing in proper venues and recording music?

We haven’t stopped busking that long ago, so it doesn’t feel like that long. Without a doubt busking teaches you from a performance perspective that you need to engage with your audience. You can’t assume that because you’re performing that people want to watch, listen or pay attention to you. You have to give them something for that attention. A lot of people get on the stage and think by the act of walking on the stage, you should have your attention.

Ten Fé performing a cover of TLC’s “Waterfalls”

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That’s the performance side of it, in terms of music we never used to play our own songs. What that taught us is that certain songs really carry and resonate with people. There’s a simplicity and honesty to those great pop songs of the past. It could be The Beatles, Cyndi Lauper or Oasis and from a writing perspective it shows that you have to keep it simple. If you want most people to listen to you, if you want the song to stand the test of time, there’s a certain hallmark. If you can make a song sound good with two guitars and two voices, it’s generally a good song. And if you were to return to busking? What would you take from what you are doing now? Hopefully we’ll be playing some Ten Fé songs and people would recognize them (laughs)! Your band name is Ten Fé, which means “(they) have faith” in Spanish. Was keeping the faith an important part of the band’s ethos? Were there ever times where you questioned your faith in music? I’d think you’d be lying be if you didn’t say, “Shit, I wish this could been easier! Surely, I’m good enough for this!” I think most people who are creators think like that quite regularly, so yeah, plenty of times. There’s a lot of hard decisions, but what helps us at the end of the day is that lack of ego. We’re a bit older and I don’t think I could have done this at a younger age. I guess this goes back to your busking question. What we come back to is a real love of the songs and a real love of playing together; knowing the song is the thing and not you. We’re doing this for a bigger thing, and we’re doing this for ourselves, performance and art. You’re based in London but have a special connection to Ireland, tell us about that. Parents are Irish, family’s Irish and I’ve got 400 years of potatoes in me (laughs). I’ve lived there for a while and when I finished university I knew I wanted to be a musician, so I lived in Ireland. It’s such a vibrant musical place and I when I lived in Dublin for a year, I started busking and although I’ve always was writing that’s when I concentrated most. A lot of the things we’ve talked about earlier, like not doing to become famous with twelve people in the room or a hundred-and-twelve people in the room. I’ve learned a lot about that, and that what you’re doing is good. The song is good is when you believe in it. I can talk a lot of what that means with my family being from Ireland, but my granny’s ninety-nine and she’s still alive and her name is Fé, so that is a good connection.

#ten fé #britain #Interviews #music

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crazy-noonoohead · 6 years

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My top 10 shows I saw in 2017.

This is in no particular order, and to prove that, I’m sticking one of the best in the middle and saving one for last. I’m mostly focusing on shows I saw for the first time in 2017, but I’m making two exceptions (four if you count Broadway transfers that I saw in previous incarnations) and you probably already know what those two are. I’m also sticking to plays and musicals as opposed to concerts, comedy performances, etc., but I’ll include a few of those in my honorable mentions. So here goes!

The Book Of Mormon with Dom Simpson as Elder Price: Let me start off by saying I adore Nic Rouleau. He’s been in various productions of BOM since its very beginning, and he still continues to get better every time I see him. And when I say this next thing, I don’t want anyone to think I’m tired of him, because that couldn’t be further from the truth. The day he leaves the show is probably the day the world ends. But since he’s been with the show for so long, he’s the Price I’ve seen the most often, by a long shot, so seeing a new take on the role was a refreshing experience that I’ll always cherish. When I met Dom at the stage door, I found out that I had seen the show more times than he had done the show. I hope he has more opportunities to go on, because he gave a wonderful performance! (Quick shout-outs to the other two times I saw it this year, especially when I went on my birthday.)

Falsettos’ closing performance: Having frequented this show consistently since the first preview (for...no particular reason), it was such a privilege to watch this cast of seven give it their all every single time. Still, that final show was probably everyone’s best performance. Andrew’s final “The Games I Play” was definitely the best I had heard him sing it, and the fact that I was sitting close enough to see the tears in his eyes was both a blessing and a curse that will haunt me for the rest of my life. Anthony powered through even though he was getting over an illness (which I would not have realized if I hadn’t already known) and had to call out earlier that weekend. Stephanie had to take moments during “I’m Breaking Down” and “Trina’s Song,” but somehow made it through “Holding To The Ground.” Brandon teared up during “A Marriage Proposal.” Everyone was emotional during the curtain call. And of course, I started crying the moment the lights went down for the first act and rarely stopped. The woman sitting next to me was a friend of William Finn’s and had lost friends during the AIDS crisis, so the show resonated with her in a way that it never will with me. I’m grateful that the production is on Broadway HD and that I can watch it whenever I want to, but it’s not the same as being there. It’s been almost a year and I still miss it a lot. What more can I say?

The Play That Goes Wrong: After seeing this in London with my mom and stepdad, we all loved it so much that we jumped on the chance to see the Broadway transfer as soon as possible. It goes wrong in all the right ways! I have now seen it three times on Broadway, and the jokes are still fresh and hilarious. Even while laughing at all the mishaps, I find myself sympathizing with these characters and admiring their determination to keep going. Sometimes it cheered me up, and other times it made an already good day even better. I hope I can go back soon to see the new cast.

The Great Comet: I went into this one knowing nothing about the plot, just that a lot of people loved it. I was also seeing it 12 days after Falsettos closed, so you can probably guess the state of mind I was in. But I loved this show! The music was like nothing I’d heard before (in a good way, obviously), the set felt intimate and elaborate at the same time, and the cast was incredibly talented AND one of the most diverse I’d ever seen, if not THE most. Somehow they made it easy for me to relate to characters living in 19th century Russia, despite living as a millennial in 21st century New York. I saw it twice, once with the original Broadway cast and once with Dave Malloy and Ingrid Michaelson, and I would have gone more if it had the long, successful run it deserved. But unfortunately, just like a comet, it lived up to its name and shone brightly for a short amount of time before disappearing. Also, the pierogies they gave out before the show were delicious. And I’m just now realizing that they missed out on an opportunity to make “Pierre-ogi” puns.

Bastard Jones: I have to admit this one grew on me. Once I found out that a former member of Toxic Audio was in the cast, I knew I was going to see it multiple times no matter what I thought, so thank goodness it was a good show! The first time I went, I enjoyed myself, and of course I loved getting to see René perform for the first time in ten years, but I wasn’t blown away. But that second time...maybe the performances got tighter. Maybe the jokes just landed better. Maybe it was because I was with the first friend I ever took to a Toxic Audio show. I’ll never know for sure. But I liked it a lot more the second time. While most of the draw for me was still seeing René in a role that is absolutely perfect for him, I ended up falling for the whole show as well. The slapstick humor, word play, and dirty jokes are completely up my alley (there’s a dirty joke somewhere in the phrase “up my alley”), and I found two songs I want to use for auditions once the sheet music becomes available. I saw this one four times during its month-long run, and the only reason I didn’t go more is that it sold out super quickly after getting rave reviews. The team is hoping that their next step is a longer run in a bigger venue, and I will definitely revisit the show when that happens, especially if René is still playing Partridge.

Sunday In The Park With George: I watched the DVD of the original production a few years ago because my friend was very nice and lent it to me, and I was so excited that I could finally see a live production. It. Was. Fantastic! Annaleigh Ashford and Jake Gyllenhaal were both wonderful and almost definitely would have received Tony nominations if the production had decided to compete. Andrew Kober, whom I’d seen in a few other things, was a swing in the show and got to go on for the first time the night I was there, which made it even more of a treat. This was a great production of an already great show, and although it was always going to be a limited run, I wish it could have lasted longer. More Sondheim on Broadway, please!

Jitney: My mom and I saw this one together, and it took a while to get going for us, but once it did, we were hooked. A super talented group of people sharing a compelling story? Yes, please! We both left the theatre pleasantly surprised, and everyone who signed at the stage door was very nice. Most of the actors didn’t have Sharpies and I got to lend them mine, which was a nice bonus. Of course, it’s always great to see BOM alumni continue to be successful, and I saw it the day after my BOM anniversary on purpose. The alumnus in this show ran over and gave me a big hug that night.

Brigadoon: This weekend-long City Center production looked ready to transfer and get an open run! Stephanie J. Block’s solo number was the stand-out for me (partially because she’s Stephanie, but her song would have been my favorite anyway), and Kelli O’Hara and Patrick Wilson were amazing as the two leads. Yes, the show has that “falling in love after knowing each other for one day” thing that annoys me about a lot of older musicals, but it still has a beautiful score and a unique premise.

The Band’s Visit: I loved this show when I saw it at the Atlantic Theatre last November, and I was very excited when I found out it was transferring to Broadway, but I also had my reservations. I was concerned that the show would lose its intimacy in a larger space. Boy, was I happy to be wrong! They picked the right theatre, as it most likely would have lost the intimacy in a bigger house, almost the entire cast is the same, and somehow the show was even better the second time. It’s a heartwarming, simple but effective story that we could all use right now. It’s not a “see over and over again” show for me, but I will definitely return to Bet Hatikva (with a B) at some point. I can’t officially endorse it for Best Musical until I see more of the new musicals this season, but if it doesn’t at least get nominated, I’m rioting.

Groundhog Day: Will I get through this paragraph without crying? Won’t I get through this paragraph without crying? Civilization once again hangs in the balance. Wow. What an unlikely love story! And contrary to those corny Hallmark movies where you figure the love story out in the first 30 seconds of the trailer, this love story was ACTUALLY unlikely. For me, at least. This was the show that got me excited about theatre again after Falsettos closed. I found something else I couldn’t stop gushing about or recommending to friends. At first most of that excitement came from the novelty of the first preview (Google the story if you don’t already know; this post is long enough already) and the awesomely professional way the team handled such a stressful situation, but as I listened to the cast recording more, it became clear that it wasn’t just that one experience that I loved. It was the whole show, and everyone involved. They took the story of a beloved, seemingly flawless movie, and in my not-even-living-in-the-same-neighborhood-as-humble opinion...dare I say it?...made it even better? I made Twitter friends because of this show. I crocheted Phil and Rita dolls and got to give them to Andy and Barrett. The closing notice hurt, and attending the final performance was one of my most bittersweet experiences, but it was worth it. This show was definitely a highlight of 2017. Six months and a day was not enough time, but I’m grateful for the time it had and I miss it every day. (For those of you wondering, I did not get through this paragraph without crying.)

Honorable mentions, also in no particular order:

Andrew Rannells’ and Stephanie J. Block’s Live From Lincoln Center concerts: An hour each, watching two of my favorite performers do solo shows that will later air on PBS was such a treat! Andrew’s set was completely full of songs I’d never heard him sing before, while Stephanie’s was a mix of new things and songs she’s known for. After hearing Stephanie sing “Some People” from Gypsy, I want her to play Rose one day. But first I want her to play Fanny Brice. Andrew is one of the only people who could make me cry by singing “Born To Run” by Bruce Springsteen (the others, of course, being the members of Toxic/Vox Audio). And he did.

Indecent: I almost made my list a top 11 so I could include it, but I insisted on having a round number. This was a powerful one-act play about making and producing God Of Vengeance, which was very controversial at the time because it was the 20th century and two women fell in love. Taking place during the Holocaust, the use of sand was very effective, and was probably both my favorite thing about it and the most difficult part to watch. It was my pick for Best Play this past season, and again, it deserved a longer run.

White Arab Problems: One of my friends from acting class wrote and performed a 45-minute comedy act about the struggles of being Arab but passing for white. In the piece, she humorously acknowledges the privileges that come with being white while also really dealing with the frustration of people thinking she’s trying to appropriate her own culture. I first met her in class in 2015 and recognized some insecurities that came across as ones I also have. Watching her grow over the years, seeing her perform this piece, and knowing she was proud of what she did made me a proud friend/classmate/scene partner, and I look forward to seeing it again whenever I can.

The Skivvies: Not much to elaborate on here, but I see as many of their concerts as I can, and it’s always a super fun time.

Prince Of Broadway: While this one was billed as a musical, it was technically a revue, which is why I didn’t put it on the official list. Watching a super talented cast of nine people perform songs and scenes from multiple Hal Prince shows definitely made for a great night! I went to the last preview, and I went again during the final week. I want Chuck Cooper to play Tevye, and I want Brandon Uranowitz to play Georg Nowack. And the Emcee. And Molina. And any other role he wants to play because he’s amazing.

So there’s my list. I’m kind of bummed that I didn’t include more plays, but hopefully next year. And with that, “ba da ba ba ba suck my balls, I’m out.”

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vileart · 7 years

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What If The Dramaturgy Falls Out of The Sky?: Dr Anna Harpin @ Edfringe 2017

…a show for anyone who has ever felt absolutely dreadful

IDIOT CHILD

WHAT IF THE PLANE FALLS OUT OF THE SKY?

AT THE PLEASANCE COURTYARD, EDINBURGH FESTIVAL FRINGE

FROM 2 – 28 AUGUST 2017

Developed with support from Bristol Old Vic Ferment, Shoreditch Town Hall, and Arts Council England, Bristol-based theatre company Idiot Child are back at The Pleasance for this year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe with their new show, What if the plane falls out of the sky?, running from 2 – 28 August 2017.

The show explores fear, anxiety and the idiosyncratic and frankly absurd strategies we employ to manage our sense of impending doom. The audience join the residents of Fear Camp and together tackle their manifold neuroses with gleeful enthusiasm. Idiot Child likes to look after their audience.

LISTINGS

Venue: Pleasance (Beneath)

Previews: Aug 2-4 (£7)

Dates: Aug 5-8, 11-13, 18-20, 25-27 (£12)

Aug 9-10, 16-17, 23-24 Aug 2017 (£11)

Aug 15, 21-22, 28 Aug (£9)

16:20 (1h 10min)

0131 556 6550 / www.pleasance.co.uk

BY DR ANNA HARPIN, WRITER OF WHAT IF THE PLANE FALLS OUT OF THE SKY? AND CO-ARTISTIC DIRECTOR OF IDIOT CHILD.

What was the inspiration for this performance?

The primary inspiration, in truth, was my horrible experiences of anxiety and despair! I had struggled with a phobia of flying for a few years and eventually came to realise that I wasn’t really scared of flying at all. I was afraid of being alive.

That probably sounds nonsensical but I think the fear of flying (and therefore dying) stemmed from a really tricky fear of not getting life ‘right’ and then dying feeling a bit like I had massively got it all wrong and wasted my chance. The show explores all these feelings and seems to have really resonated with lots of people so I don’t think I am alone in that experience. This makes the show sound horrifying! It’s not, I promise. If anything it is really life-affirming.

Is performance still a good space for the public discussion of ideas?

I wouldn’t make any special claim that performance is the space to discuss ideas or want to claim that it has a special capacity that no other art form does. However, I think that it does do certain things well. As a form it is aware of its own unreality and I think that can be really useful insofar as it reminds us that realities and experiences are made with people (rather than just being fixed and ‘out there’) and thus are possible to change if things aren’t right.

I also think that theatre, at its root, brings bodies in a room to think together. That’s a political action. Or at least has political potential. I think we need to hold on to these spaces for shared thinking and feeling. Part of this show is aiming to alter the ways in which we talk about mental health. The liveness and collectivity of the event amplifies this dynamic of the show.

How did you become interested in making performance?

Idiot Child formed as a company a few years ago. We wanted to make work that celebrated those voices and experiences that are often pushed to the side. Our shows are populated by misfits and loners and people who are not strangers to feeling absolutely dreadful about themselves.

Our work tries to celebrate these figures and make friends with feelings and experiences such as loneliness, failure, inadequacy and so forth. Again, this probably makes the show sound really bleak but it is curiously joyful! Audiences have left remarking how uplifted they feel. But crucially they feel uplifted in relation to being their own weird self. Too much therapy is aimed at making us ‘normal’. We are using art to help us feel more alright being abnormal.

Is there any particular approach to the making of the show?

We work through a combination of writing and devising. I tend to bring a working draft of the script to rehearsals and then we set about devising from this and further developing the world and the characters. I will then go away and redevelop the script in light of what we have done as an ensemble and it goes back and forth like this.

We work collaboratively and playfully but most importantly, because there is always a strong autobiographical element to the shows we are keen to involve the actors in the ensemble in the making so that they feel invested and their lives texture and enhance the work.

Does the show fit with your usual productions?

It is certainly in a similar vein yes. Our work is often likened to other black comedy (usually TV) such as The League of Gentlemen, or The Mighty Boosh, and this piece is of a similar style. It doesn’t surprise me that we get compared to TV because many of my main influences are people like Vic and Bob, but also because our work is perhaps more of a hybrid form that mixes up theatre, live art, TV comedy styles and so on.

Thematically too it is related to our previous work. However, I suppose it is perhaps a bolder, more ambitious piece than we have tried before. This is our third full length show and we are growing in confidence each time so this feels like a braver piece of work.

We have started work on our next show – All I need is the air that you breathe – and this too is more ambitious again. So yes, it is aesthetically and thematically related but is pushing the form and ideas further.

What do you hope that the audience will experience?

We hope that audiences experience two main things. Firstly, that they come to theatre and have a really fun and slightly weird experience. We want to make work that is joyful to be with so that is our first goal. The second aim is that the audience leave feeling just a smidge better about themselves and how hard it can be to be alive sometimes.

We don’t stake any great claims that this show is therapeutic. That is absolutely not our goal. We just want to begin a playful conversation that invites an audience to think that, actually, they’re alright and that the shit stuff we all experience is common to us all.

So, I suppose we hope the audience will experience joy and a bit of self-acceptance. And they get a free mojito so maybe they will also experience being a bit drunk at half four in the afternoon. Win win win.

What strategies did you consider towards shaping this audience experience?

The audience is central to all of our work and we work extremely hard to make sure that they have a positive experience of the theatre. There is a lot of direct address and audience interaction and perhaps the thing that we are most proud of is that audience members often comment that they wish they had volunteered to join in with particular moments.

We want to make joining in fun and exciting as opposed to the horror it can be! In this sense, we spend a lot of time thinking about how we craft the invitation to participate. The audience is very much the fourth character in the show and that means each performance is fascinatingly different depending on the vibe of the group we have in.

The cast really love this dynamic and I think that is infectious. So I suppose our strategies are all geared towards the audience having a great time and feeling free to join in as much or as little as they want. We also have several treats for an audience so in this sense one strategy we use is good old fashioned blackmail. Frazzles anyone?

Everyone receives a Fear Party Bag and complimentary in-flight drinks & snacks during the show. Mojitos & Frazzles give everyone a boost.

What if the plane falls out of the sky? is a funny, tender and unusual show about feelings we all recognise:

‘What if how I feel about the world and myself at 4am, what if that is the truth? What if the only reason the plane is able to stay in the sky is because I am thinking really encouraging thoughts about the wings?

What if God does exist but I’m not allowed to go to heaven and everyone else is because they all hedged their bets and prayed in secret? What if I get killed in an avalanche and most people are just slightly relieved because now they don’t have to read my novel?’

The show has just completed an eight-venue tour including Bristol, London and the Brighton Fringe. James Pidgeon, Director of Shoreditch Town Hall, says of the show:

“Full of joy, hope, laughter and sadness, this is a very special return from the brilliantly inventive Idiot Child. What if the plane falls out of the sky? embraces all the messy, unpredictable and hilarious things that life chucks at us and whilst you’ll undoubtedly leave the performance with a light-hearted skip in your step, there’s also something deeply moving to take away from the experience”.

Idiot Child is a theatre company based in Bristol who make playful and peculiar work about how hard it is to be alive sometimes. They create unusual stories based on autobiography and always place the audience at the centre of their work.

Short-listed for a Total Theatre Award in category of Shows by an Emerging Company/Artist 2013

The co-artistic directors of Idiot Child are Dr Anna Harpin and Susie Riddell.

Anna, who is the writer and director of the show, is Associate Professor of Theatre and Performance at Warwick University. Her recent writing/directing credits with the company include I Could’ve Been Better, You’re Not Doing It Right, and Isle of Shame.

Susie Riddell is a familiar name on BBC Radio 4, playing Tracy Horrobin in The Archers, and having been a member of the Radio Drama Company. Susie trained as an actor at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. Theatre includes Other Desert Cities (The Old Vic), Knife Act (Birmingham Rep/HEARTH), and You’re Not Doing It Right (Idiot Child/Tobacco Factory). For BBC Radio 3 and 4 Susie has played lead roles in Frankenstein, 1984, Mrs Dalloway, The Great Gatsby and Tamburlaine amongst many others. Television includes: Gavin & Stacey, Doctors, Emmerdale, Saxondale. She sings with the City of London Choir. Her other job is being mum to her 2 year old daughter.

Emma Keaveney-Roys is an actress, improviser and singer. She is an associate artist of the Wardrobe Theatre in Bristol, and has devised and performed in many of their shows including Rocky: A Horror Show and Goldilock, Stock and Three Smoking Bears. Emma will be sprinting between venues during the Festival as she is performing in Goldilock, Stock and Three Smoking Bears at 18.10 at Zoo Sanctuary - What if the plane falls out of the sky? finishes at 17.30 at Pleasance!

Adam Fuller is a widely experienced performer, puppeteer and director. He works regularly with companies including Pickled Image, Soap Soup, Green Ginger, and Idiot Child. Adam is a co-founder and director of Open Attic Company and directed their first family show Much Ado About Puffin, which is currently touring the U.K. Adam also helped devise and directed the hugely successful Goldilock, Stock and Three Smoking Bears for The Wardrobe Theatre.

What if the plane falls out of the sky? runs from 2 – 28 August (excl. 14 August) at the Pleasance Courtyard. Tickets, priced £9 - 12 (concessions and preview prices available) are available from The Pleasance Box Office online at www.pleasance.co.uk and by telephone: 0131 556 6550.

Website: idiotchild.com Twitter: @Idiotchildco Facebook: http://ift.tt/2tODg9Q

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#Theatre #Blogger #visual art #Edinburgh Fringe #Experimental Critique

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spirit-science-blog · 3 years

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youtube

Iron Man...

The film that single-handedly kick-started the MCU and brought us nearly 20 movies in only ten years! What’s more curious, that while the movie may feature flashy egocentric concepts of luxury, explosions, random sex, and Tony's pompous attitude, under its surface is a film with a depth of hidden spiritual ideas.

Perhaps one of the most fundamental of these spiritual concepts would be the ascension of Tony from the lower centers, to the higher ones. The basic idea being that the smaller centers are governed by survival, sex, and willpower. From the very beginning, Tony is epitomized by these traits, and we see this over and over in how he treats everyone. From Rhode to Pepper to Obidiah and, of course, Christine Everhart from Vanity Fair. To him, people are just things that he can use to feel better about himself or to do the things for him that he doesn’t want to do so that he can focus on whatever he wants.

His mindset is demonstrated clearly by one of his opening lines “Sure I love peace, I’d be out of a job with peace” - showing how little he disregards for concepts such as peace or what it means.

However, his transformation or ascension is also given context and relationship to the subtle line “give to Caesar what is caesars,” and hands caesar the trophy in the casino, a range of Jesus about money and value. While tony in the line may be merely dismissive at the moment, the scene is indicative of Tony's death and resurrection to come, into a man with a heart.

But now, everything changes when he is on his trip to Afghanistan, showing off his latest weapon - the Jericho Missile. Interestingly - Jericho here is a reference to a mighty power of God. In the bible, the battle of Jericho is a story of the Israelites who, in conquering the Canaan, marched around the city of Jericho every day for seven days. On the 7th day of marching, they completed their rounds and sounded their horn, and the walls of Jericho all fell at once, and the Israelites slaughtered almost everyone, including all of the animals.

However, Joshua - the leader of the Israelites was then cursed to have to rebuild the walls of Jericho, and we see this referenced in Iron Man in three ways. The first is that the power of the Jericho is so mighty that it metaphorically “brings down the enemy's walls instantly.” Second, Tony is soon punished for rebuilding the missile for terrorists, just like Joshua rebuilding the walls, and third, that Joshua rebuilding the walls of a peaceful city is also likened to Tony coming to realize that he has to make the world friendly after causing so much destruction.

Now, Tony’s transformation or ascension into a higher kind of human begins when terrorists attack his convoy, and Tony has a bunch of shrapnel in his chest. Yinsen attaches an electromagnet to his chest to save his life, keeping the shrapnel from going into his heart.

For tony, Yinsen is one of the most vital characters. Through their times in the caves together, we get to see some more in-depth emotional character building, and Yinsen learns that Tony has no family and that he’s rather alone in the world. Yinsen's full name is Ho Yinsen. Ho means goodness, and Yinsen means the best friend ever. See, in a way, Yinsen is a bit like Tony’s guide or mentor into higher consciousness. He is gentle, calm, but most of all, he is caring - and shows he has a kind of friendship that he’s never had before. At one point, Tony falls into despair and says, “They’re going to kill me, or I’ll just be dead in a week anyway” - to which Yinsen responds, sparking newfound courage in Tony to do something about his situation.

Tony builds for himself the first edition of the miniature Arc Reactor, a powerful technology embedded into his chest, glowing with radiant light. While this is physically a great asset and tool for Tony, both keeping him alive and powering his suit technology, it also stands as an excellent metaphor for the expansion and brightness of Tony's heart. His own Arc Chakra. I mean Heart Reactor I mean, well, you get the idea.

And so, moving from the lower centers into the higher ones is a transition from a self-centered mentality into a more protective and caring state of being. For Tony, not only is he graced with the awareness of how his technology is being used, and the destruction and chaos it’s causing, but he also gets a glimpse through his friendship with Yensin, about what a higher meaning of life can be. As Yensin is dying, Tony thanks his new friend for saving his life, and Yensin responds, “Don’t waste it.. don’t waste your life, son”. These words, along with the other little wisdom and truth bombs that Yensin drops throughout their time together, is what elevates Tony into a new paradigm, giving him the courage to save himself from this disaster, and create something new in his life.

His first act here is one that all must do on the spiritual journey, which is the destruction of the old paradigm. In his escape, he destroys all of the terrorist weapons, and then upon arriving home, announces that he’s had his eyes opened, sees that he’s become comfortable with a system with no accountability, and shuts down his weapons manufacturing division of Stark Industries.

Now Tony's next step is upgrading his Arc Reactor, which seems to be a movement from his lower heart, to his higher heart. In essence, another spiritual device used to explain the difference between endless love and genuine compassion. There is a scene where Tony calls upon Pepper to help him switch his arc reactors, and he tells her that she is the most capable, qualified, and most trustworthy person he knows And entrusts her with, at least metaphorically, handling his heart. This is an extraordinary moment, signifying him beginning to let someone else in more profound than his most superficial relationships that he’s had in his life, another critical step in the awakening process, and the discovery of what love is all about. A state of real vulnerability with someone else, a surrender to trust. This ultimately leads to pepper later gifting him back his original arc reactor, framed with the words “Proof that Tony Stark has a heart.”

Now, of course, all of this leads to the creation of the Iron Man Suit. It might be worth mentioning that Iron in alchemy was known as the metal of mars, the symbol of human strength, honor, courage, endurance, tenacity, confidence, and power. Mars, of course, was known as the God of the divine masculine, opposing Venus - and this characterizes another aspect of Tony not only in this movie, but throughout the whole MCU, is Tony's journey into learning the entire divine masculine paradigm, first what it means to be a man, and then what it means to be a brother, a lover, and teammate, a mentor, and a father.

For the Iron Man suit itself, it is colored red and gold. Red is the color of both mars and the god of war, and Gold mythologically was considered a pure and incorruptible color representing the eternal and divine powers of the universe. This is amazing; the colors themselves describe Iron Man as a bit of a divine or holy warrior.

We also see Tonys burning determination through the process of upgrading himself. From making the arc reactor to his entire suit, he dedicates himself exclusively to building these new technologies to do great things with, rebuilding and restructuring himself to be the highest expression of himself that he can be. When his work was all said and done, he was able to fly physically.

Now, the latter half of the movie is mainly centered around the betrayal of Obediah, who bears the archetype of the evil businessman who will destroy the world for profit. It’s a reasonably general archetype and stereotype, although most certainly people like this do exist in the world, people without a heart and way too much power for their good. The general message of the movie then becomes about using one's spiritual awakening and abilities to protect those we love and to face evil when it comes to us. In one scene in the movie, we see Obi playing the piano - Larghetto by Salieri. Salieri is often known as the rival enemy of Mozart, which foreshadows the coming rivalry between Tony and Obie. The film ends with a climactic final fight, after which tony reveals to the world that he is iron man, indicating that even though he has moved into his heart, he also returns to a bit of a state of egotism, which sets up his life lessons following in iron man 2.

But overall, Iron Man is centered around the process of awakening. You see, a man transforms from self-centered egoism to an awakened being for the betterment of humanity. This seems to be a popular theme throughout most film and literature, perhaps because deep down, we all resonate with the process of awakening, and want to go there within us even if it comes with greater responsibilities too. Ultimately, Tony Stark is a fantastic model to show that no matter how good or bad you seem to have it, there is always more to learn and more to become in life.

By the way, we have a bunch of these episodes now in our new series called Hidden Spirituality! If you liked this, check out for more updates!

#spirituality #science #ascension #mystery school #spirit science

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averycanadianfilm · 4 years

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The Astrology of Current Affairs

Persian World History and the Covid Crisis

It’s no exaggeration to say that the current health and economic crisis is the first truly global crisis. Previous plagues, and even the two World Wars, never touched the whole planet. In this respect I noticed this letter on page 30 of The Times on 28 March 2020.

Planetary spectacle

Sir, I read Oliver Chastney’s letter (Mar 27) on the international space station with interest. As a lifelong amateur astronomer I have recently observed Venus in the evening sky in the west after sunset. It is a truly magnificent site, the brightest I can remember. However, another current celestial phenomenon provides a resonance with our ancestors. Since Christmas, before dawn there has been a close proximity of Saturn, Jupiter and Mars in the eastern sky. I am sure that our ancestors would have taken this as a portent of doom, pestilence and plague.

Simon Dobson

Market Harborough, Leics.

This extremely rare triple conjunction prompted a fair bit of attention and some great photographs. I was struck by Hanneke Weitering’s image of the planets over New York on Space.com. Anyway, following Simon Dobson’s letter in The Times it was natural for me to go back and check the Persian astrologers, who originated the theory that major planetary conjunctions coincide with world-changing events. The Persians termed Mars, Jupiter and Saturn the superior planets because they were thought to be further away from the Earth than the Sun. As they also seemed to be the slowest moving of the seven known planets, they were also thought to be responsible primarily for historical changes. It was thought they heralded a complex series of historical shifts over periods ranging from the shortest of 20 years, when Jupiter and Saturn make their regular conjunctions by meeting at the same degree of the zodiac, to the longest of a thousand years.

The eighth century Jewish astrologer Masha’allah (c. 740–815 CE) has left us the earliest surviving account of this theory in his aptly named work ‘On the Roots of Revolutions’. On pages 305 he wrote,

know that the greatest things, and those to be marvelled at, happen from the conjunction of the superior planets. And this comes to be on account of the slowness of their motion. And if these three were joined in one bound or face, and the sun aspected them, they will signify the destruction of sects and kingdoms, and the changing of them (and)… prophecies.

In plain English this means that when Mars, Jupiter and Saturn are in a conjunction, as they are now, Persian cosmology predicts massive religious and political upheaval. Masha’allah was followed closely by Abu Ma'shar (787–886 CE), whose comprehensive summary of Persian astrological history is contained in his On the Great Conjunctions, a book whose purpose was made clear in its full title, The Book of Religions and Dynasties. Abu Ma’shar refined and elaborated Masha'allah’s work, and gave this account of conjunctions between Jupiter and Saturn. In section 3.5 Abu Ma’shar wrote,

We say that when the conjunction of the two superior planets necessitate something in the changes of religions and dynasties, the changes of the Sharias and the Sunnas, the occurrence of important matters, the change of the kingdom, the death of kings and the kinds of occurrence of prophets, revelation, and miracles in religions and dynasties.

Abu Ma’shar’s concern was quite clearly with the Islamic world, but his wider brief was the history of the world. His theories entered medieval Europe, where they became a staple of medieval learning and were widely accepted down to the seventeenth century. This is what he wrote about Mars, Jupiter and Saturn in On Historical Astrology, 1.83:

Of natural movements, one is round the middle, to which corresponds the movement of the three superior planets, to whom belongs the indication of things which last a long time; … Saturn indicates religions and kingdoms and whatever lasts a long time; Jupiter observations of the laws, decrees and the like which are perfections of other things; Mars, wars and conquests and the like, which are, as it were, descents and lessenings of the end of things.

It follows that when all three come together the medieval political scientist would expect political and religious turbulence, with some added wars and invasions.

These ideas were taken up by Johannes Kepler (1571–1630), one of the greatest astronomers of western history. Kepler’s overwhelming concern was to understand how the universe works, and he was deeply interested in how what we know about the universe can be used to help the common good. And so he set out to reform astrology, arguing that the entire technical fabric of horoscope interpretation should be abandoned in favour of a slimmed down astrology which only used planetary cycles; in other words, things that could actually be observed and measured. The central methodology of Kepler’s reformed astrology was repetition. The principle was that, if a particular planetary configuration coincided with a certain kind of event, a similar event might be expected the next time that the same configuration, or a similar one, occurred. All Kepler’s crucial ideas are contained in thesis 71 of his ‘On the More Certain Fundamentals of Astrology’, which he composed in 1601. Looking back to the past he observed that the St Bartholomew’s Day massacre in Paris in 1572 took place when Mars was conjunct Saturn, while the castle at Eger in Hungary was captured by the Turks in 1596 (a highly significant event at the time, the region being part of the contested border between Christian and Islamic Europe) when Mars was opposed to Jupiter. He concluded that:

Experience shows that under these two conjunctions souls are generally stunned and frightened, or aroused in the expectation of revolts, and this fact is very significant for a multitude of people congregated in one place either for some undertaking or for destruction, as military experience testifies.

In Kepler’s political cosmology, certain planetary configurations, in particular those between Mars, Jupiter and Saturn, cause volatility in the collective psychology and indicate a possible risk of political violence. The mechanism was one in which the movements of the planets stir up the collective soul, and such disturbances then express themselves through political volatility, resulting in violent disturbance. In Kepler’s view, this information was of great importance to governments and that their policies should take it into account, specifically the likely consequences. Kepler suggested a combination of reform and repression, with reform being the first priority and repression a last resort.

It is preferable for peace and quiet to prevail, and sedition is feared, let meetings not be held in August and September, or let them be broken up, or better yet, let the causes exasperating people’s dispositions be taken quickly away, or by the introduction of some new deterrent, let their minds be changed.

Kepler was convinced that, while observing the repetition of planetary cycles could help anticipate future events, we are ourselves participants in an interconnected universe: ‘These remedies’, he wrote, ‘are always in our power, however things may happen, and nothing is absolutely predetermined’.

We can imagine Masha’allah, Abu Ma’shar and Kepler all getting together now, probably amazed that the triple conjunction is coinciding with a global crisis. At the very least they would be nodding wisely and wishing that they had been listened to. Masha’allah and Abu Ma’shar would doubtless stay out of politics, living as they did in an age when the Caliph’s word was law. Kepler, though, lived in a different age, when the first germs of the theory of a democratic, law-based, state were beginning to emerge. He believed that the purpose of watching the movement of planetary patterns was to manage our responses to the ebb and flow of political events. These days, the study of long-term cycles is usually divorced from correlation with planetary cycles (a divorce which took place not long after Kepler); for a brilliant summary of some recent work I refer readers to Laura Spinney’s review of Jack Goldstein’s and Peter Turchin’s work in The Guardian (work much reviled, I have to say, by academic historians, for whom cyclical approaches to history have been unfashionable since before the Second World War). Still, as we see with all the discussion about what should follow the Covid crisis, the questions remain much the same (will we return to business as normal, or while the economic landscape be changed forever). Whether planetary cycles are used or not, I like Kepler’s final words on the 1602 conjunctions: ‘let their minds be changed’. Which makes me wonder, ‘How will the Covid-19 crisis change our minds?’ And that is the precisely the question which so many people are asking now.

By Dr Nicholas Campion

Edited by Kathleen White

Reading and Links:

Nicholas Campion, ‘Johannes’ Kepler’s Political Cosmology, Psychological Astrology and the Archaeology of Knowledge in the Seventeenth Century’, Mediterranean Archaeology & Archaeometry (forthcoming).

Nicholas Campion, ‘Harmony and the Crisis in Early Modern Cosmology: the Political Astrology of Jean Bodin and Johannes Kepler’, in Astrology versus Anti-Astrology in Early Modern Europe: Changing Paradigms in the History of Knowledge, Ed. Charles Burnett and Ovanes Akopyan (London: Routledge, Society for Renaissance Studies series) (forthcoming).

Jack A. Goldstone, Revolution and Rebellion in the Early Modern World (Oxford: Routledge 2016 [1991]).

Johannes Kepler, ‘On the More Certain Fundamentals of Astrology’, Prague, 1601, trans. Mary Ann Rossi with notes by J. Bruce Brackenbridge, Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society Vol. 123, No. 2 (April 1979), pp. 85–163, Thesis 71.

E. S. Kennedy and B. L. Van der Waerden, ‘The World-Year of the Persians’, Journal of the American Oriental Society Vol. 83, No. 3 (Aug.–Sep. 1963), pp. 315–327.

E. S. Kennedy and David Pingree, The Astrological History of Masha'Allah (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1971).

Masha'allah, ‘On the Roots of Revolutions’, in Sahl and Masha’allah, Works, trans. Benjamin Dykes (Golden Valley, NM: Cazimi Press, 2008), pp. 299–314.

Abu Ma'shar, On Historical Astrology: The Book of Religions and Dynasties (On the Great Conjunctions), ed. and trans. Keiji Yamamoto and Charles Burnett, 2 Vols (Leiden: Brill, 2000).

Laura Spinney, ‘History as a giant data set: Calculating the patterns and cycles of the past could lead us to a better understanding of history. Could it also help us prevent a looming crisis?’, The Guardian 12 November 2019.

Peter Turchin, Historical Dynamics (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2003).

Hanneke Weitering, ‘Saturn, Mars and Jupiter align over New York City in gorgeous night-sky photos’, Space.com, 31 March 2020.

#Sophia Centre Review #Dr Nicholas Campion #Astrology #Covid-19 #Anti-racism #BLM

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aaronmaurer · 5 years

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Music I Liked in 2018

Every year I reflect on the pop culture I enjoyed and put it in some sort of order.

Are alternative and indie rock viable formats anymore? What do those labels mean in the year 2018? (What did they ever mean, really?) My favorite sonic moments of the year appear to be more out of step with the general populace and critical circles than ever before, and yet, I still go to a lot of concerts and seeing many of these acts live this year in sold-out venues proves that there is still an audience out there for guitar-based music. If that’s your thing (and no worries if it isn’t), give some of these records a shot.

15. Ruins / Tender Offerings EP – First Aid Kit

Sweden’s harmonic folk sister act returned at the beginning of the year with the accomplished Ruins. It may not have hit the heights of their career-best Stay Gold, but it still provides moments of sweeping beauty. However, it’s the 4-song collection of outtakes from the same sessions that cements this album cycle on my list: Tender Offerings is even more immediate and quietly affecting than its parent record.

14. Arthur Buck – Arthur Buck

Personal favorite singer/songwriter Joseph Arthur teamed up with former R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck this year for a collaboration that hews more towards Arthur’s influence than Buck’s. That’s not a bad thing and this is a recent highlight of Arthur’s prodigious output. If the collaboration continues to foster such energy and inspiration, I hope it extends well into the future.

13. Malibu Nights – LANY

I’m not quite sure how to classify LANY; in my analysis they have as much in common with emo as pop music, and their synth-heavy sound doesn’t readily slot into rock formats. Regardless, I find their music easily approachable and their lyrics to cut with a similar sincerity as the likes of Jimmy Eat World. Malibu Nights is concise and consistent, two things that cannot be said of 2017’s self-titled full-length, and it is all the stronger for it.

12. Black Panther the Album – Various Artists

Black Panther the Movie was one of the highlights of the year (see my film picks coming soon) and its companion soundtrack follows suit. A mixtape curated by and featuring Kendrick Lamar, this album of original material manages to form a cohesive unit as opposed to a collection of random tracks (i.e. last decade’s Spider-Man 3 soundtrack – which I actually liked, on the whole…). Wakanda forever!

11. Love Is Dead – CHVRCHES

The third LP from Scotland’s CHVRCHES was viewed as a letdown by much of the critical community, and as someone who ranked 2015’s Every Open Eye as that year’s favorite album, I would have to agree – to a point. Love Is Dead still has plenty of fantastic arena and festival-ready anthems to its credit and I don’t blame the trio for leaning into their pop side for this one. The album is incredibly front-loaded with “Graffiti,” “Get Out” and the Matt Berninger collab “My Enemy” coming in the first third, but there are strong moments all the way through and it’s definitely one of the most enjoyable listens of the year.

10. Wildness – Snow Patrol

After a 7-year hiatus, Snow Patrol returned with Wildness and I have to admit I was initially disappointed. However, I have found that with repeated listens this record has really grown on me. The emotional transparency of Gary Lightbody’s songwriting remains intact and you can feel his authenticity on songs like “Life On Earth,” “Heal Me” and “A Youth Written In Fire.” Definitely worth spending some time with.

9. [untitled] EP / [Untitled] – mewithoutYou

Philadelphia’s post-rock luminaries made a surprise return this year with some of their best work to date. An EP arrived in August and rather than a preview of October’s full-length release (only a single song is repeated, in a different version), it functions as a compelling work in its own right and finds the band embracing their more meditative and melodic tendencies. By contrast, the LP leans a bit more into the band’s harder edge – but not completely eschewing quieter moments – without sacrificing any of the lyrical depth or deft musicianship they are known for. It feels like a creative renaissance for a group soon to enter their third decade.

8. boygenius EP – boygenius

The only negative to this stellar collaboration between singer/songwriters Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus is that it’s only six songs long. The artists are each given space to shine and when the harmonies kick in, it’s transcendent. Here’s hoping it’s not the last we hear from them as a trio.

7. Be More Kind – Frank Turner

A blazingly earnest call-to-arms for hope in the face of the current political and social landscape, Be More Kind is filled with rousing sing-alongs about decency and making a difference. “Don’t Worry,” “Little Changes,” “Brave Face” and the title track are among the most positive and affirming songs I’ve heard in recent memory, but it’s the rousing and reclaiming anthem “Make American Great Again” that marks my favorite moment on this near-perfect record.

6. Come Tomorrow – Dave Matthews Band

Old habits die hard, and even though my enthusiasm has waned since my obsessive high school & college days, I’ll still go to bat for much of Dave Matthews Band’s music. Their first studio album in 6 years is somewhat a catch-all of songs they’ve been playing live for a while but hadn’t recorded, and as such, is a bit overlong and slightly disjointed. Even so, there is a melancholic wistfulness that pervades many of the record’s highlights including “Samurai Cop (Oh Joy Begin),” “Virginia In the Rain” and “Come On Come On,” which rate with their best work.

5. Upside Down Flowers – Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness

Andrew McMahon’s latest effort is a very nostalgic look back at not just his early career in Something Corporate (“Teenage Rockstars”) but to his childhood as well (“Ohio,” “House In The Trees”). What could come across as navel-gazing or self-mythologizing instead becomes universal in its specificity and his most impactful work in years.

4. Art of Doubt – Metric

Every few years, Emily Haines and Co. grace us with an album of self-empowerment anthems, some of which make more of a personal impact than others. This year’s Art of Doubt was initially a sleeper that I find I keep returning to, discovering new layers of resonance each time. It now ranks alongside Fantasies and Synthetica in the band’s discography to me.

3. Mirror Master – Young the Giant

On their fourth record, Young the Giant deliver some of their most diverse and hooky tunes yet, including the Eastern-tinged “Superposition,” the introspectively moody “Glory” and the soaring anthem “Simplify.” While I’ve counted myself a fan of their previous work, this one coheres in a new way for me that is immensely rewarding.

2. Vide Noir – Lord Huron

Lord Huron have yet to make a misstep and their third full-length proves their most sonically wide-ranging yet. From the driving energy of “Ancient Names, Pt. I,” to the old-timey crooning of “Wait by the River” to the blown-out guitar of “The Balancer’s Eye,” a range of styles are employed. Even with these varied modes, everything hangs together to create an atmospheric quest into darkness for meaning beyond this plane.

1. Layers of Us – Mimicking Birds

There is a spacious ambience to the latest from Portland’s Mimicking Birds, on which acoustic guitars are traded for splashes of mood-setting synthesizers and lyrics pondering humanity’s place in the cosmos and impact on the planet. Despite the dread and existentialism that permeates some tracks, I find a lot of beauty and hope shimmering through the record. It is by far the album I listened to the most in 2018 and perfect for the winter months (during the Winter Olympics I found myself daydreaming alternate realities where the gorgeous and haunting “Belongings” could soundtrack a gold medal figure skating performance).

Here’s a sampling of songs from each of these records if you want an easily-digestible mix:

Bonus! An additional mix of other singles, b-sides, covers and more from 2018 that I really like:

Double Bonus! 7 Best Live Performances I Saw in 2018:

7. U2 – Experience + Innocence Tour at the United Center, May 22nd

The companion to 2015’s Innocence + Experience Tour shared a stage and some common songs, but for the most part was a unique experience that stood on its own. Still telling a loose story of the band’s history through the lens of their Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience albums, this arena tour centered around the newer material of the latter, which – being one of my favorite albums of 2017 – I was quite happy with. Closing the show with the same excellent two-song final sequence as that album, and a beautiful visual element that formed a bookend with the I+E Tour, was an inspired and moving choice.

6. Lord Huron – Pandora Presents The Stack at Concord Music Hall, September 20th

I was lucky to see Lord Huron twice this year during the Vide Noir tour cycle, and the second time was even better because A) it was a free event (put on by Pandora) that included free Sam Adams!, B) it was in a small venue and C) they reached all the way back to their first EP to end the night with “We Went Wild.” It took me right back to the night I was introduced to them at an intimate Lollapalooza pre-show at the Double Door in 2011, where this then-unknown band captivated me with their atmospheric percussion and guitar rhythms. They’ve yet to let go.

5. The National – Lollapalooza Aftershow at Metro, August 2nd

The National are at a point in their career where they headline festivals and play large theatres, so it’s rare to see them at a 1000-capacity venue like Chicago’s Metro anymore. Fortunately, the concert hall often hosts huge bands on Lollapalooza weekend for late night “aftershows” (which are always nearly impossible to get into) and I somehow scored tickets to the National’s performance there the night before they headlined the fest. It was great to see the band tear through a setlist spanning their whole career that was significantly different from what they did the following evening. The finale of an acoustic “Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks” – at around 2am – was a beautiful communal moment.

4. Beck – Riot Fest, September 15th

I’ve seen Beck a few times over the years and I think his current setlist might be his best ever, a great mix of all his musical permutations (though missing any songs from Mutations…). Latest record Colors was one of my favorites of 2017 and that material was fantastic live alongside classics like “New Pollution,” “Loser” and “Girl.” The stage and lighting design were a lot of fun as well and provided a visually engaging and exciting backdrop. While the festival setting meant a truncated show, I won’t hesitate to catch him again whenever he returns to town.

3. Mew – Frengers 15th Anniversary Tour at Brooklyn Steel, October 14th

Mew are a Danish indie/prog rock/dream pop band that have a number of great albums to their credit. One of my favorites is Frengers, which I didn’t actually discover until a few years after it was released in 2003. Imagine my good fortune to discover one of the few US dates on its anniversary tour happened to coincide with my trip to New York this fall. Hearing the record performed in its entirety, from the opening guitar+drum salvo of “Am I Wry? No” to the final soaring cacophony of “Comforting Sounds” was a moment out of time in the best possible way.

2. boygenius – Thalia Hall, November 13th

A truly transcendent night of music that began with each of the collaborators – Lucy Dacus, Phoebe Bridgers and Julien Baker – playing her own masterful set, then all coming together for a finale of their entire EP. The vocal control evident in the contrast between the raw power unleashed on “Stay Down” and the restraint on the acoustic and un-miked closer “Ketchum, ID” proved these ladies really can do anything.

1. Frightened Rabbit – The Midnight Organ Fight 10th Anniversary Tour at Thalia Hall, February 16th

This is incredibly bittersweet, in light of frontman Scott Hutchison’s death in May. Scotland’s Frightened Rabbit played two nights in Chicago during a brief album anniversary tour, hosting what turned into an audience sing-along of Midnight Organ Fight in its entirety along with a mix of other favorites including “Holy,” “The Woodpile” and “The Oil Slick.” Losing such an honest and powerful voice this year hurt a lot. I’m so thankful I had one last evening of catharsis with him.

#music

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