Here is a link to my latest version, 25 April 2012, of my compilation of thinkings on the yogic world-view parallaxed with views on the natural world. "Yoga and The Natural World". (This link will open up a pdf of 16MB in a new window.)

I hastily now write this post as I wish this link to be easily available for my presentation purposes at the moment.

Updated; 1 July 2008, 11:56, GMT+01:00.

(This post will be amended – until done.)


Hi All,

So. I's 'a played around with the Tarot at around abouts noon today – goin' all arundo!



How to Make Use of The Tarot to Tell a Story

A psychodynamic, poetomythic exercise

I do this Tarot lay according to a system of my own that I've developed. There are two bases to this approach:

1. The basis of a certain characteristic of our cognitory ability - we can only count to four (4!) [as does the Crow, on the limbic level we're no better]. If we attempt to count ordered stuff at a glance, as if glancin' out the window from a train and seein' a few poles standin between houses, well how many did we see? Science has shown that we get confused if there are more than four objects to perceive, 5 and it could well have been 6, or maybe 4?, well so it goes, four (4) objects we will count spontaneously (a reference to this I found in an old copy of the magazine Scientific American, I'll try to dig up the reference, as time allows). I once had to count a great heap of transistors, yeh, and I did 'em in fours an' dammit, it made for an easy flow of maual sorting, glancing at the pattern of four, and countin' up. Number dynamics. Huh! Here's an example of the poet/philosopher Aleister Crowleys (so fond of the occult) wievs on 'number':

In the case of the number 2, the only issue is the return to the unity or to the negative. No continuous process can be conveniently symbolized; but the number 4 lends itself, not only to this rigid extension [to enlarge the "universe of discourse" - note by me], the hard facts of nature, but also to the transcendence of space and time by a continuously self-compensating change.

(The Book of Thoth, p. 117)

The basic idea of patterns of four transposed onto a storyline would give rise to something akin' to a li'l poem of four lines, four phrases for a li'l story to make. From four syntactic nodes the underpinnings of a dramaturgy may be constructed, a fundament appears, the cornerstone (ay, four corners) for a greater story to elaborate upon, as whim and inclination may have it. So a little story arrives, based on a lay of four horizontal strips (as in a comic book, say) of cards aligned with each new row displayed below the former (as the lines of a poem are). Four sequences of cards, four row of cards, each one of those rows to be ended with an archetype, with one of the Trumps, this thus distinctly rounds off the sequence of attributes and people of the preceding cards. Four lines, four phrases, as said, each one ending up with a Tarot Trump, the archetypal iconic image, have enough contextual mass to tell a li'l tale, whether by fantasy enhanced (by the randomly patterned symbolic fallout) or by psychodynamic allusion, that is, our inner drives and wishes and wants and our abouts may all be projected onto the final pattern and thus we may embed nexuses of personal relevance to the resulting canard (it's all tounge in cheek, part of this whole set up is it's entertainment value); a poetomythic exercise.

2. The idea of a metaphoric stairwell of evolutionary backdrop and forecast represented by archetypes of the ordered metaphor as translated into mythic aggregates – the Tarot 'Triumphs' or, just plainly, 'Trumps' (the High Arcana of, traditionally 22 cards, but for the purposes here expanded into a full suite of 24 representations – I will come up with a more poignant, I hope, explanation for the reason of this shortly, but, very shortly, briefly, this need of two additional cards for the high arcana mainly hinges on the dynamic of the construed structure of the evolutionary stairwell alluded to).

I take my cue here from the writings of Timothy Leary who in his superlative hariolatory work "The Game of Life", and other writings on "The Neurogenetic Theory of Human Evolution", has set out concepts that make it possible for us to comprehend a great evolutionary formula as reflected in the evolution of myth and thus aptly exemplified by the Tarot. So. I do not look upon the pack of Tarot cards as an occult divinatory device but rather as a revelator of a neurogenetic message on the evolution of life – applicable to the mundane through the psychodynamic syntax-reflexive impact of 'archetype'. To quote Dr. Leary:

The neurogenetic theory of evolution defines twelve larval and twelve post-terrestrial stages of human evolution.

Four terrestrial neuro-technologies:

1. Safety (Biological Trust-Distrust technology)
2. Security (Politic-territorial technology)
3. Sanity (Epistemology laryngeal-manual-symbolic)
4. Socio-Sexual (Ethics – hive belongingness)

Four Post-terrestrial Neuro-technologies:

5. Aesthetic-Neurosomatic (Control of Body)
6. Ontologic-Neurophysical (Control of Brain)
7. Teleologic-Neurogenetic (Control of DNA)
8. Eschatological-Neuro-atomic (Control of Quantum Mechanics)

This theory is based on the evolution of the eight-circuit nervous system through twenty-four metamorphic stages, each of increasing mobility. Why twenty-four?

Because each of the eight neural circuits has three sequential functions:

• Reception of signals; dendritic
• Integration of signals (intelligence); cell-body
• Transmission of signals; axonic

("The Game of Life", 1979, p.46.)

So. that's all pretty far out but it does make for an interesting backdrop as one goes about creating ones own little tale from the premises of the Tarot. There's an evolutionary scheme on hand. The trumps, in their archetypal agency, by force of the directive they contain (in an evolutionary sense), offer qualities of dynamic intent, of transformational pivots and of broad connectivities, they become as intuition pumps for whatever hasty relevance we may draw from the patterned lay and thus feed our imagination ramification as we go about makin up a story of our own – in the final end, as I purview the Tarot lay, I see pattern everywhere, it bursts upon me as a bright bubbly fractal convergence. Uh! 
Ok! Here's my Tarot draw for today. Now. Allow me to step by step take you through the li'l story that this lay encourages me to develop.

© ª  § ¨


(* See footnote in regard of the Tarot cards below.)

•

Here's the first sequence of this my Tarot lay, three cards:


, , .

Abundance, Queen of Discs, Hierophant.

So. I look at this sequence with a Queen centered 'tween abundance and mastery of the symbol, as represented by the Hierophant. Aha I say, now who is this Queen? An anima of mine or some actual 'other' entity comin' to the fore? As my mind throws about with an abundant feel, there's almost an overflow here, but it's monkey-talk, the Hierophant represents the emergence of social (gestural, not symbolic) communication technology, territorial control is achieved by elevation and herd communication, political survival technology, monkey troop. the Hierophant, is also transformational as it represents the beginning of a migration from Security (Politic-territorial) to Sanity (Epistemology laryngeal-manual-symbolic) and thus embodies the outpouring of the evolutionary vector into the wide, wild blue yonder. Yes. There's definitely a lady here surrounded by abundances, but here they are abstractions, a potential of the inner life, and the lady is somewhat introvert as the Queen of Discs alludes to more complex interior forces that have to be contemplated to be understood. The dark and light of the lady is upheld by the surronding cornucopias, they act like forces to lift and enhance this brooding moment of inwardness. the Hierophant, in this dynamism , acts at the transmitting end of the politico-territorial platform, and suggests a smooth transition towards evolutionary possibilities (glancin' down, across the rows of cards, I spy 'The Universe' comin up – interesting).

I might also spin a personal angle on these three representations. There was a lovely lady, lovely Diana, livin' with me for two years. Lady Di 'a rented' a room from me and though we were never a couple we yet had this creative thing going – I instructed her in an approach towards the painterly arts, painting in oils, which she appropriated and ambitiously realized in the painting of 35 canvases, the lady has talent (remarkable, as she never before in her life had had the opportunity to use a 'studio', that I was able to provide) – meanwhile I might be composin' a song, or two (I did quite a few of those over these two years [see my MySpace music site "An Another Albatross Arrives"]). So, it was all very rewarding, so to say, there was an 'Abundance' 'tween us. In this I can see myself somehow, in these circumstances, as engaging some of the characteristics of the Hierophant, preparing the ground for a new epistemological outlook, as relates to the deeper concerns, of an artist, say, the why of it, the flows, the breakin' an' pickin' up points, not the least gravitational effects, both of storyline complexity, full 'a centers of narrational gravity, and surging through the painters body as it adapts its movement and momentum in ruled dramaturgy against that basal force (the arm tires, the brush droops). Well, so I was as a 'mentor' here, at least as goes for some technicalities of painting, an' maybe as for some 'a me philosophies too, which, at times, heavily meander the symbolisms of mind and nature, snake's-handedly, glinting at the mythos by adopting the logos, uhm?, well. An' all the while's lady Di's an' I'd gyrate our societal pavanes. Yet Lady Di was lookin' across the ocean, as her heart would wish and her child forlorn be waitin'. So I knew one day she had to go. Oh, Lady Di. I do miss you. 

But anyway, here we are, the creative abundance and progressive stance of the Tarot sequence here is but slightly shadowed by the introvertness of the Queen. To pursue or not to pursue? The treasure of abundance juxtaposed over the pattern of dynamic inner life, as suggested by the Hierophant, reveals a potential for accomplishment that strangely hangs in the balance, a hint of possibility, resources to develop, decisions to take.


O Queen. My Lady. Look long inside. Wait.
Your stance subdued awhile in the rich and wild winding flow.


• •

The second sequence, one card:


.

The Universe.

Wow! The second sequence came up one card straight. The archetype as a nexus in itself. In the medieval Tarot this card, The Universe, is the final card of the high arcana, like fulfilment, everything you dreamed of, all wishes come true, Groundhog runnin' by the country stream ... yes! In the 21 century Tarot (with the added two Triumphs, or Trumps) we have a full triple octet, 24 cards, to represent the eight nodes (of respectively input, integration, transmission), or steppin' stones, that unfold structurally one by one as we, both as individuals an species, make our ascent up the evolutionary stairway, up the ladder 'o life, out 'a the gravitational well an' beyond. Here in this card ,The Universe, we have extension, complete expansion. An enormous outpouring that offers us a panorama of possibility, a great receptive space, a receptacle  for the ornaments, of life and living, that we treasure. O great integrator, lift me, let me come near, entice me. O sailor, now you're free rider of the galactic spin express, spinner of that quantum consciousness, hew your way, here we approach nuclear territory.

From the personal angle this card, "The Universe", tells me of fulfilment for the Quen of Discs. Hey Di, there's a great potential within you. Locate yourself. Realize the mission. Move on to Grand Central Calactic Station. Activate yourself. Use them quiescent neurotechnologies, and step by step (as I get close to you) we should a travel Up-Town, where the main vector avenues are. We should'a transfer to the express line, accelerate to link-up velocity and – switch, switch, switch – we'll be there. O Wild Blue Yonder, O galactic tide, I'm a gettin out 'a the grasp of the past. (This last paragraph based on Learys "Game of Life", p. 276.)

O Tides. Gather me the four corners of the world. Fill me up with wild blue wonder.
All light and shadow entice.


• • •

The third sequence, two cards:


, .

Worry, The Hanged Man.


Well, as I plough this wild whimsy of poetomythical ramble I get into complications. Woory. Uh! Yes. Surely. I have to transmute. Even as I enter this, the Hedonistic Consumer state, represented by The Hanged Man, if fell I must pass on further, move past passive awareness, become unbound by the aesthete, give free rein to imagination and vector myself correctly as zero-gravity liberates consciousness – and all. I get off the fourt larval cycle and transmute myself from Caterpillar to Butterfly, gettin into the subjectivity of zero-gravity narrative consciousness stuff. To transcend or not to transcend. I have this choice, and of course I worry, I head towards a second birth, in fact I'm drawn into it as consciousness blooms with expectation and starts gathering experience of a more abstract nature, totality-based perspectives appear, the pull from Galactic Central start to be felt. I have to go, I'm gone, I've blown my top. I soar. But whereto? Lets find out.

On a more mundane level this card bespeaks of the multiple concerns Diana and I have had, and still have, to navigate (bein' both in slightly desperate existential dire straits – economy, life, love, responsibilites, demands, unfortunaties, etc). As Di's son lives in abroad, and as she's been separated from him, for all this while, there's that natural longing to unite, and this is, of course, a real worry (to be underhandedly projected upon this Tarot lay). So. The plan has been growin'. Diana leaves, is leaving, is gone. For me that leaves me with no alternative but to transcend (out'a this gravity well of existential boundedness). And same goes for Di, though her attentions, in the near future, have to focus on a multitude of mundanites. Findin' work, livin' space, connectin' up, all that. So this lay holds a reminder to seek the vision, start up the neuro-technologies (Yoga is a good part of that). Transcend.


Bind me, unbind me, the transform I shall transcend.
Sift yet the sands as this snake's-hands dream slips by.


• • • •

The fourth sequence, five cards:


, , , , .

Defeat, Strength, Ruin, Swiftness, The Magus.


And the King and the Queen tumble all down into pieces. Here dangers and potentials mix, all pinnacled though upon the cognate spark of The Magus. A mobility shall rise, as the flow goes on the beat goes on, pulse of despair and joy, at sea Neptune rides the Shark, as Aries hits the dawn. These extremes of tumbledown dynamics all now must integrate and organize, autonomic survival signals whizz the air. Deep breaths I take, the dinghy deck wobbled there, shall bear the brunt of motive force.

Alas. The tide has turned, the circle is complete though its balance moment broken, the ring of fire is cast in waters deep haze glitters the horizon. Red sails in the sunset. Beyond the horizon... 


So. Wild winds catch me, throw me atumble, pulse my powers.
O Genitor, Thou actuates me and thus the hurried cry. I am at sea. As is She.


Ok! I'll be back, for that 'Update Tour'.


Albatross

* Tarot cards by Aleister Crowley (drawn by Lady Frieda Harris).

    I found these cards at the "Tarot and Playing Cards Museum".


References:

Crowley, Aleister: The Book of Thoth, 1944 (my edition is from 1974); ISBN: 0-87728-268-4.

Leary, Timothy; The Game of Life, 1979 (first edition); ISBN 0-915238-30-6.
  
 

Updated: 22 June 2008, 11:10 GMT+01:00


Hi there,

Here's more info about: "An Another Albatross Arrives" & "An Another Albatross Goes Arundo".
(Again an' again! – Well it's all about music, hey, the music of life, this time).

A note, I thought, would, perchance, be appropriate to let you all (whomsoever you are, dear reader of all this) know more about and be afforded access to the songs I wrote and recorded over these past two years. I've, of course, mentioned some of this below, in my earlier posts here, but as time goes I change and rearrange things, I mould an' mend, fix this do-dah, fix that dah-dee, do-neh, do do do, the list goes ever on, and I also strive to provide additional info, here an' there, in different places, and generally update whatever, wherever I can. It can all get quite confusing. So some direction might be helpful, I thought. Yes.

The two albums, "A Poetical Extravaganza" (2007) and "Flower Power" (2008), I've, sort of, come to view from an overarching level of connectivity (they all center on the whirlwind power of love and longing, dream and discovery, quest and fortune, mystiqué and delivery – Flower Child, Lady Luck, Starshine, Huntress with an arrow and bow, Queen of meadow and forest, this was all for you, yes, and all the world sang). It's been a flow, I mean, the writing of these songs was so effortless, unhindered, free, the songs like 'a wrote themselves (and, dear lady, your sweet response I treasure). Yes! The songs flowed forth as from spring to ocean in one wild lasting cascade. I now regard these two works as a conceptual unity: "The Wild River Collection".

At my MySpace Music site, "An Another Albatross Arrives", a selection of six songs are available for immediate listenin'. There's this nice li'l mp3 player they have there that streams the six songs directly as you surf onto that turf. You'll find a bit more info on my projects there an' a pinch too 'a that olde hariolatoratrie (hey, I love the word, it's got a nifty groove, I'd 'a think) on my accompanying blog there (my third one).

And of course (for the sake of completion of this 'list 'a links') do take a look, also, if the rascals two, time and inclination, so allow, at my blog (my second one), "An Another Albatross Goes Arundo", where I, in a way, say many of the things I say here at LiveJournal (the first blog) but say 'em in, perchance, a different way, from another angle, so to say, say? (I can use that! – I know, I'll do a bunch 'a cover songs, make an' album an' call thatta one "Another Angle to Another Albatross". Yay!)

For now,

Albatross
 
 

Hello All,

Well, I just thought to tell you all that parts 1 & 2 of my presentation on Yoga are now in a presentable state: "The Nature of Yoga - In the Light of an Heuristic Metaphor". Part one concerns "basics & context" and part two is about the various "approaches" available as one attempts to come to grips with The Philosophy of Yoga. Clickin' the above link takes you to directly to a .pps file containing this presentation at my SkyDrive area of Microsofts 'Spaces'. You may read more on my thinkings on this heuristicism at my accompanying blog there: "An Another Albatross Goes Arundo!". A li'l more info may be garnered from a posting of mine on this subject at the Yoga-forum of"Hrih".

I have worked this presentation for some while now. A year an' a half ago I arranged a lecture on Yoga at my day work (I teach Yoga since 1971) an' thus I worked up a li'l PowerPoint thingy to go with it, since then I've worked quite a bit more (work, work, work) on it and, in parallell, have delivered it a full nine times. So, I've had some feedback and do feel there's now a bit 'a trim to the flow of things in it (it's an animated slide show, a .pps file, as said, that is supposed to start immediately as you open the file, well at least it should in a Windows environment, which is the platform I work from [work, work, work] - OpenOffice seems to find debacles with it though).

I do think this idea of mine: an heuristic (of or relating to a usually speculative formulation serving as a guide in the investigation or solution of a problem) metaphor that offers full hariolative (exultory guesswork from relevant bases) power to the perception of the structure of Yoga (viewed tangentially) seen as a tree, a tree of life, to so say, comprised of the eight aspects of yoga – Ethics, Morals, Posture, Breath, Withdrawal, Focusing, Meditation [The Meditative Process] & Bliss – in a wholistic manner. I thus, as if a magnifying glass thereto apply, take a deeper look at the connectivity of the meditative process with the restful state of awareness of the mind (empirically an enjoyable experiential encounter), that state of bliss (which, for all it's worth, may have it's biological counterpart in a basal state of awareness [to be aware, the awarity - uh!] that may reside in the single cell, specifically the neuronal cell, that 'listens' - see the ideas of Prof. Jonathan C.W. Edwards on this "Is Consciousness Only a Property of Individual Cells?"), yes bliss, a fundamental somatic bliss which, as utilized, as per method, over time, floods the phenomenology of the existential field as well. Good things ahead! The future is Bright!

Parts 3 & 4 of my presentation are almost done (a Swedish version is also available with all the first four parts on the brink of 'done', this I'll have on-line by an' by [well I have a lecture comin' up an' recon I'll have that 'whole' polished up by then]). Part three considers the "three dynamics" of the 'inner' field of Yoga ; 'Withdrawal' (of the senses), 'Focusing' & 'The Meditative Process' (these three are contrasted with the first four 'Ethics', 'Morals', 'Posture' & 'Breath', the outer field, the eight aspect 'Bliss' holds a category of its own), and part four looks at "The Process of Thinking", in which the dynamic of the meditative process is revealed. In part 5 of my presentation I discuss "Naturalisms & Consciousness", wherein I attempt a merge of the naturalistic perspective with the generally more vague an' somewhat muddled discourse of Yoga (which I, in my work [work, work, work] strive to unmuddle, to demuddle, so to say) that one often finds in the literature (wherein one often finds rationalization and construct of, at times secret, metaphysical and/or supernatural character, in this I seek another road, the way of open discourse and verificative study). So, more to come.

Have a look: "The Nature of Yoga - In the Light of an Heuristic Metaphor".

Enjoy,

Albie

Updated: 30 March 2008, 21:32 (GMT+01:00)


Hi Folks,

Well, it's been a while. I been writing songs. Here's another bunch 'a them:

"Flower Power".

These are 12 songs I recorded in my living room a few weeks back.

In an attempt to outdo myself here're also another 12 songs from last year:

"A Poetical Extravaganza".

(In my posts [of last year] below you'll find an earlier attempt at these songs - a few months after those recordings I redid them all, an' wrote a few new ones an' took a few ol' ones out, an so on.)

With the album "Flower Power" (CD-covers to appear here, in this blog, by an' by) I share the platform with a bunch 'a Bob Dylan covers, "If Dogs Run Free", "If not for you", "To Ramona" and others, and I also do that famous Paul Anka song, "Diana", from 1957.

(There's a li'l story here. I didn'a remember the song. My housmate Diana Janaviciené [who co-wrote two songs with me on the album "A Poetical Extravaganza"] and I were looking in one of them 'fake' books, with hundreds of songs in it, as suddenly I see the name Diana in a lyric [I can't read the title of the song as there's is a bit 'a paper covering it]. So, Diana decides to take a walk an' I stay home, checkin' with the book I discover that the song's called "Diana". So, quick as a bat I improvise a melody to go with the changes, I learn the song and record it within the hour and as Diana comes back in I am able to charm her there for a moment with this song - an' that's the take you may hear here.)

Ah, just a note on the song "Common Ground" from the "Flower Power" collection, it was written and recorded in two hours an' what you hear is the absolutely first pristine take. This song reflects on some of the ideas of my friend Flori (Florifulgurator) of The Brights (more on Brights below) who voiced some ideas on The Brights Forums (more below) that I then impulsively put into song. I'm not citing Flori verbatim but am more tryin' to catch the essence of the discussions goin' on at The Brights.

On my album of last year "A Poetical Extravaganza" all but one of the songs are mine. The cover song is Bob Dylans "Desolation Row", which I've been playin' since I was eighteen, at about that time I had the opportunity to play it for an audience too, in a coffe shop, in a park, Hagaparken, here in Stockholm. So, after that one I do feel quite happy about doin' another bunch 'a Dylans stuff as on my "Flower Power" thingy.

Well. You (readers of this) are all welcome to have a listen.

These are 'Bright' songs. They've all been written as I, over time, have been perusing The BrightsOnLine Blogs and The Brights Forum where my Bright world view gets a boost every, every, every day.

What is a bright?

A bright is a person who has a naturalistic worldview
A bright's worldview is free of supernatural and mystical elements
The ethics and actions of a bright are based on a naturalistic worldview

Enjoy,

Sandrian / Albatross (of The Brights)


All these productions are currently outside 'a the commercial realm (meaning you won't find these works anywhere else but here, an' I do not capitalize on this venture, maybe some day?), they but reflect the nature of my current repertoire.

See my other Blog, An Another Albatross Goes Arundo, for more on these songs.

Hi Folks,

An' a Happy New Year to Everybody!

Well, I hope you'll find that the songlist (from my post below) an album makes, for to provide a mood, an attitude, a projective coherence perchance of some creative dynamic, vielleich?

Now. Here're a few pdf's for the cover (Like a li'l new years present yet [if that be a custom somewhere]; e-book resolution):

Front cover
Back cover
Lyrics inlay
CD Label

Photography by Mats Frediksson; Line drawings by Magnus Malmsten; Layout and Design by an Another Albatross.

So. There you are. An albums worth of songs (however demoish they still may be). Took a year almost to the sharp. It started out, like in the beginning of January, with "Heaven and Earth", a naturalistic pæan, and ended (but I might keep goin') in December, 2006, with "Of Squirrel and the Birdies, and of that Labrador" as a li'l coda for that fabulous "Desolation Row" of Bob Dylans'. That song, "Desolation Row", I've been at all my life from one lilt, angle, direction, intent to another since I once (as I was 18-teen) played that song impromptu in an outdoors coffe house in a beautiful park (Hagaparken, Koppartälten). Since then I've taken away the repeat of the characteristic li'l riff at the end of each verse (the original has the repeat). I felt the song to get a li'l more punch thusaways, an, 'lo an' behold', in Martin Scorceses "No Direction Home" [the film-bio of Dylan] Dylan does the same edit to his own work. So. If anybody's got an opinon on this song I'd be happy to hear (read).

To All. Niteo, Niteo ...

Albatross / Sandrian / Juri

Updated: 30 March 2008, 21:56 (GMT+01:00)

(Sorry, but the links below do not work anymore and anyway I've rerecorded the songs and changed the songlist. For the new takes see my post "Flower Power - Bright Lights - Songs" above.)


Hello all,

A Poetical Extravaganza – The Album!

Here are 10 songs for all ya folks out there of that spacey cyber yonder, 9 of which I've written myself (whereof 2 are collaborations). These songs I've now compiled into an album (there's a Bob Dylan cover in spot #9, "Desolation Row"). Took me a year. Yea, this work became an album all right (times to 44:30).

The songs here were written this year, 2006, mostly, 7 of 'em at least (#2, "Gone Away", and #6, "I Gotta Go Now", are songs that I've reworked while writing the newer ones; they are from my suite of 12 song from 2003 titled "Ballads of Belle Isle – True Love Affair" [not available on the Internet yet]). I came up with these new songs as I, in parallel, was posting (under the nomé Albatross), now and then, on different topics at "The Brights" forums, where I been hariolating all year in wild verby ways (as per that "A Poetical Extravaganza", per se [see below], I wrote last spring).

Now I gather all these songs that grew forth from the exploration of the deep structure of that original alluring whim wham vagary supernatural notion I have attempted by poesy to expose and also somewhat extravagantly to perplex, with that poetical thingy. Yea. As I was generating all those minty, mully, marinated, meanderings to be found in that spree of a poetical extravaganza (mentioned above) these were the songs that sort'a offered themselves up, so to say, and rather spontaneously too, I'd say, and I've, as said, now collected them all here in this presentacione: "A Poetical Extravaganza – The Album!".

The songs "Everything is Music" & "Reflection" are collaborations with Lithuanian Poet/Painter Diana Janavičiene (who also does Interior Design), and song #9 is that fabulous song of Bob Dylans' "Desolation Row" (lyrics: here) which I did a cover of while working these songs and all the other poetical extravaganzas.

So I thought this to be a li'l Christmas present, 2006, for anyone feeling it in them to download these mp3's (29.8 MB all in all) and do the playlist outa them. An' sure, these are home recordings an' I'm no pro. It's me on Vocal, Harmonica and Acoustic Guitar. Living room venue – you know! Some songs were recorded immediately after I wrote 'em and some have had time to grow a bit (the recordings were done 'tween early September an' late November and are different takes of the preliminary versions I've linked to otherwere on this blog and elswhere on the Internet – so these be fresh takes). If you just fiddle about a little with the bass an' treble knobs (depending on your system) it might turn these songs into a listenable whole, or do just pump up the volume. So here they are:

A Poetical Extravaganza


1. Everything is Music - 4:11

2. Gone Away - 2:52

3. Heaven and Earth - 4:29

4. I Believe I'm In Love - 2:36

5. Reflection - 6.51

6. I Gotta Go Now - 3.49

7. Words - 3:11

8. Wild River - 2.54

9. Desolation Row – 11:29 – (Albatross sings Bob Dylan)

10. Of Squirrel and the Birdies and of that Labrador – 1:48


The Lyrics:

A Poetical Extravaganza – The Album!


CD-Cover & label

As per post above

I was going to have a nice pdf to link to here for my cover to this album (I have some fine pictures by a photographer friend that fit well with the mood of this all that I would've liked to share here now but that'll have to wait) but unfortunately I had a "Master Hard Disk Fail" failure on my machine a few weeks ago that stopped up the whole production process (I do run two physical disks on my machine though and am thus able to keep the system stuff separated from my own work; I was relieved to see that the second disk still worked after putting a new master disk in). So, "The Lyrics" link above only offers a text file plain to guide you through my many verbous smatterings. Yeah. (But, as said, see my post above for the complete cover affair.)


And a Merry, Merry Christmas, Whatevermas, to you all I wish. Niteo! Niteo!

(Niteo – Latin; to shine, glitter, be bright, glow, be sleek, flourish. See topic at The Brights)


Alby

Updated – 8 September 2006, 13:45 (GMT+01:00)

Of Horses and of Hippotami, of Weasel and of the Singing Tree.


In my dreamscapes, oh yes,
Suddenly there’ll be lines in the air,
And follow them I will.

            To where? Well – yes, whereto?

Chairs there are, and tables just so,
Horses, Hippotami, and Weasel’s throne I see
            (Spectres all),
      And Willy, ever there, too
            (is basically real),
      And there be flowers everywhere.

I’ll draw a picture fair
Just to remember what was there.

Ah, yes. A question I did frame,
            to my eidolon flare,
      In sterling fashion,
      Quite candidly, I did.

                        Said I.

“Oh Weasel bright. Tell, do tell!
Of Mystery, and of its alleviament?”

( Read more... )

Updated - 26 august 2006, 10:30 (GMT+01:00)


Hiya All,

Yesterday I set Dianas and my new poem, "Reflection", to music (for the lyric see my last entry below). So as to not forget the rythm and the melody I did a hasty recording of it (just a sketch yet, the very first, uh, quite pristine stuff, udder fare, honeymilk). I didn't have all that much space left on my harddrive, I only had room for this one take. So. That's it. Tell me what you think.

Click the link to listen: Reflection.


Title: Reflection
Artist: Juri Aidas
Location: Living room venue
Date: 24 August 2006
Format: mp3 (5.11 MB)
Time: 5:36


I know, I know. The changes and rythms in this song are not dead set yet, it usually takes me a day or two, weeks at times, to define what the moment of inspiration really brought (I'll have to get this piece into notation as soon as time allows, then everything will be distinct), but I do think there's an emotional resonance herein that carries through an thus renders it meaningful to present this very first take of Dianas and my ambition.

I had but worked for a few minutes with the structures of the song, the span of a few first moments of indecision (as that indecision itself was rattled by gusts of inspiration all attempting their momentums), when I realized I had tapped into a lode, yeah, those precious moments (I can lose a song if I'm distracted at that point) before I actually decided to go with the flow. Yeah. Then I worked, say three quarters of an hour, till Diana showed up. So. I just headed for the microphones – one take, and that was it.

I'd been playing Bob Dylans "Moonlight" just before this inspiration struck, getting stuck with a strange chord seemingly unavailable to my memory, got sidetracked while fiddling about, and then suddenly I had a sense of the slow long tones Pink Floyd will do at times and started hanging on that first 'O' (in that 'O', a whole universe), "O Star, and you ...", the rest just happened, the verse endings made me think of a song, "The Parting Glass" by Scottish bard Robin Williamson, from his album "Songs of Love and Parting", 1981, a wonderful album.

Enjoy,


Sandrian / Albatross / Alby Sands

Updated - 25 August, 19:17 (GMT+01:00)


Hiya Folks,

Well, this poem, Reflection", just happened. It is by Lithuanian poet Diana Janavičiene and me. Diana and I have really collaborated in this venture, this attempt at poesy. Whatever strengths we have we have and we have endeavoured to pour them all herein, if at all they're there in full. The poem is in a way an attempt at deconstructing the Narcissus myth, a cause of fear of self as love of self therein brings death (as the myth would have it). Here we induce afresh a bridge of love across that chasm of forever, we put a lantern there and that self ignites it. Uh. (The future never happens, it just is – and time stands still in the now, never in the ever, and impossible is just a word.)

Diana says Hi,


For Dianas final version in Lithuanian see next page (after the cut-off).

And, for a bit a' background on this heady ambition of ours see my topic on this poem at the forums of The Brights'. And do go see a new venture of the brights' "BrightsOnline". What is a Bright?

Reflection


O Star, and you,
     By æons embraced.
In that space
     I saw you, my dear,
From close friends circles
     In an instance set apart.


A premonition have I,
     Yet it is of now,
     Of a presence here.
“Whom it may be?”


     “It is I”, she heard.


Yes, I the hearer am, and
Astonished am I,
     And cast my glance
     For to survey.
Then says she, yes I to thee,
“Come nigh, unto me”.


She looks around, and,
When nobody appears, speaks,
“Why do you not come?”


          … What I said, you said, I heard.


She starts afresh,
“Here soon we’ll meet,
     And but sweet words
     We will have
     For eachother.”


          … My word, O Star, it lingers,
          Is now delivered,
          Another presence rendered.


     "It is I." I heard!


And closer and closer to her
     Hot flames build steam,
I blush in rubescence, reddening,
     As the lantern paramount
     Like sulphur
     Burns when brought unto fire.


Flame of Life,
     Take me.
Flame of Love,
     Hot and tender,
     Burn, burn, burn
     Us both together.

Diana Ona Teresė Janavičiene
20–22 August 2006
In collaboration with Alby / Juri Aidas / Sandrian


Now. After finishing the above poem, that I helped her phrase, as she created it, Diana reworked it back into Lithuanian. I had, with Dianas help, translated her ideas into English, and poemized them. She, as you've seen, focused on themes from Ovid's "Metamorphoses", book III, the story of Narcissus and Echo, and formulated them, with changes, into her native language which is Lithuanian, that I then Anglicized. Then, also with my help, she retranslated this English version, the above, back into Lithuanian and reworked it to reflect the ideas she originally had had, which had set her off on this quest to begin with. Read Dianas final version after the cut. So this has been quite the collabarotion, to put it mildly. For me it was a very engaging experience, and from all the effort Diana provided I do think she feels the same. Took us a coupla' days.

( Read more... )

Updated - 27 August 2006, 10:30 (GMT+01:00)


A Poetical Extravaganza
(This text explores, by whim, a few etymologies of ‘bright’.)

Now here's my hurdy-gurdy, switch-back, roly-poly, rickety ridey ride of philosophic play and tumble of some sense, an’ of a bit a’ un-sense too (oh, ho ho). Ah, but some concept or two, or many, mebbee, may yet be found prematurely ventured, oh, and may even be found unfounded, so thus, by application of the mushy insides of my glabella I'll advance, and yes, I’m all up an' ears for any mender, yea, so, by thus stance made of warp and thunder, of glizzadeæs of chickadeeaed wonder, yea, again, and with but a little bit a' help from friends who ponder, from out that spacey cyber yonder, all this thus might be amended, cleared up, and perchance larkly be expanded, for lucid conceptuality, and for to make fain this my dire yearn to expound and strangely phrase my own imminentie.

So. This then, be a chintz, smiley, slight, short yet lauding, twirled whirly whimsy, for to somewhat entertain, a caveat and drum, along a nerve sensitif, along an arc of diverse evolutionary algorithms that grow right out the gravitation well, on argent, argúed wings of that oldie, that goldy freak, the naturalist/supernaturalist perplexitie on ‘bright’ and/or ‘charmed’ (see no dichotomie, so ‘charm’ and ‘bright’ I say?), yes? – and thus this all be a very personal yet gaudy, merry flare, sparse, but all immersed in many'a blithe bright etymology that I now herewith put fort, imaginatively, insensately, freely, yea, freely I put forth a strange, daring, utterly bold, if I may, all-encompassing naturalistic perspectivie. And so, now. On to the text I have here wryly engendered, for you dear folks of, at times, strange unknown genders, to encounter, and in due time, find time to (well, even here this be cliched by now, ho ho), yea, find time to ponder.



By: Alby Sands / Sandrian the Albatross / An Another Albatross / Juri Aidas
Sundbyberg, Sweden – 21 April / 27 August 2006


•


What did the mystic say to the hot-dog vendor?
"Make me one with everything." ¹



Oh, that alluring, whim-wham, vagary, supernatural notion.
(Alternative title: "Don't Knock Your Hugo!")


For you all, guest and other friend alike,
and especially for dear friend Hubert, and for you friend of yore,
whilst taking note of our regulars of course,
that burnished, blithe, bright, fun gang:
Layman, Prof.Moriarty and adamantine Emo,
Bobsie (Occam sharp), Ben (so sensible, who provided that etymologie)
and BadKo, and fellow hariolator M. J. P. Flori Flori too,
and Brodix (who but just arrived
yet surely cuts the sweep of times swift and sudden sheer, broom broom),

( Read more... )