Important Watts Perspective



Evolving Ideas about Music and Approach:
SUMMARY AND DESCRIPTION OF META-RISKS WITHIN THIS ARTISTIC APPROACH
As a performer and composer, reconciling the rational (skill acquisition, planning, timing, communication) with the intuitive (imagination, accessing innovative “break-through” ideas, comfort within uncertainty, residing within the interconnectedness of all things) can either happen some of the time by accident, or it can be a conscious yet unpredictable path.  The second path is characterized by great risk in that one is faced with paradox and contradiction as every juncture.  For every decision involved in an artistic process, not deciding becomes its own decision, and a definite decision might become a limitation.

A return to the natural diversity of nature and of our own existence within nature might require a kind of letting go, a sort of action-less action (wu wei), a conscious but not overly controlling participation within the flow, the stream of perceived reality, what has been referred to as the Tao, the Way, or tathata (suchness).  A music performance with this intention or approach at its core implies extreme risk in that most of us have been indoctrinated within the opposite direction for our entire waking lives.

in spite of the philosophies we hold about the apocalypse, there are many little ones who still inspire
us as we count down these last 4 years.....

I kid you not (pun intended, I guess) very few film "critics" are as erudite as this young woman.

If the robots survive the polar ice cap meltdown/rabid weather changes after we are
done with our dastardly deeds, then this song will be oh so true, and so funny, and so sad all at the same time.

Greetings one and all.
Edmund Welles will be premiering its new long piece (23 minutes or so) among other artists, dancers and various varieties of performance excursions next week at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in "the Forum".
There are 5 acts, and we are one of them.
And we have guests with us (for the first time ever I think.)


Edmund Welles with Micah McClain and Bryan Kehoe perform
"2012: A Requiem for Baktun 12, the 13th and Final Cycle"

* YBCA Forum
* 701 Mission St. at Third
San Francisco, CA 94103-3138

Thu 3/29/2007 8:00 pm
Fri 3/30/2007 8:00 pm
Sat 3/31/2007 8:00 pm
more info and tickets and things here
http://www.ybca.org/tickets/production.aspx?performanceNumber=1839
The event is called Worlds Apart: Local Response

We have an expanded viewpoint for this piece and therefore I have included some shakuhachi parts for myself to play and have requested the assistance of drum-man extraordinaire Micah McClain on drums and tabla, and local guitar legend and 12-tongued vocalist Bryan Kehoe on, well, 12-tongued vocals.

We basically trace human civilization through the last 5000 years (abstractly and sonically of course), touching on key moments along the way and culminating in a strange place. I can say that this piece is still surprising me each time we rehearse it: it breathes on its own, it has it's own agenda, so to speak, and we look forward to experiencing it along with everyone else.
It's gonna be fun and sound good, and the Forum is a sweet room, so we can't wait to see everyone who can make it out.
Here ends the brief description, read on for more background to the piece/show if you are feeling curious.
Thanks,
cb

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This piece is a tribute/memoriam/requiem (used loosely here since it does not take on a Mass form at all) for the end of the Mayan Calendar which ends on December 21, 2012. This happens to coincide with the end of Hopi, Aztec and Hindu time cycles as well, in addition to completing an alignment of the sun, the earth and the center of the galaxy, which happens infrequently (every 26, 000 years or something like this). It is my instinct (some other people's also...) that the unfolding of human events (including right now), and the dire straits into which "modern civilization" has gotten itself/ourselves (continuously, and also Right Now) is all part of a cycle or a story which has been recorded by these ancient cultures, who were often much more advanced than we are now. For instance, they could build pyramids which display images only on certain days of the year and there is no evidence that they even used or even HAD the wheel------for anything. Their sacred calendar the Tzolkin has been discovered to be a 13 by 20 galactic matrix containing information about, among other things, human DNA codons.

This event of YBCA is about Local Artists responding to some kind of 'Global Village' topic that must have triggered these thoughts, you can find it on their web site if you feel interested ( http://www.ybca.org/bigideas/)

Anyhow, our response to the disappointment of the "Global Village" is simply a barely concealed "we told you so" echoing back to us from these ancient civilizations who knew that we are on the planet as cosmic participants, and they aligned their purpose and activities around this basic premise. The musical gurus in Tap clearly revealed 'modern' humanity's lack of understanding of this Galactic Perspective: "No one knows who they were/Or what they were doing/But their legacy remains/Hewn into the living rock---of Stonehenge." Of course our piece is about the less cryptic but exceedingly expansive Mayan calendar, and maybe even the Mayans didn't know how to interpret the living rock of Stonehenge, but they DID know that the final cycle (Baktun 12: 1618-2012) was to be characterized by "the continued expansion of technology and the seemingly unchecked aggressive destruction of our biosphere"; they called it "The Cycle of the Transformation of Matter."

This seems quite on the mark: if this is not the main feature of humanity in 2007, I don't know what is.
While it may be true that this seems like some other 'end of times' type of prophecy, that doesn't make it unworthy of serious consideration. The end of this 5125 year cycle (described in 13 segments called Baktuns [numbered 0-12] by the Mayan Calandar) is also the end of the last of 5 Mayan Great Ages: in other words it is the end of many cycles within other cycles, and it is also the end of the Age of Pisces, the Mesoamerican Fifth World, and the Kali Yuga of the Hindus.
The sources and interpretations of this information vary on many particulars, but the 2012 date is maintained. One view about the next Age is this: new "ages" are constantly opening up within our own lifetimes and cultures, therefore the 'dawning' of a 'new age' should not spark trepidation or fear, it happens all the time. It just may be that this is a very significant new era, and the nature of it may be quite beyond the comprehension of our current human minds (which are often sorely lacking in imagination, as adults anyways.)

My own research has led me to the following break-down of 'modern' human mental activity:
90% of brain dealing with gravity and related issues
9% oscillating between trying to look 'cool' or not to look 'ridiculous' to other humans
1% free for use in any other pursuit or activity: anything that can be achieved through this small point of attention

perhaps after 2012 it can be something like this:
20% dealing with (reduced) gravity and negotiating our personal hovering status and related issues
20% harmonizing energy based 'nutrients' obtained through ongoing free transmissions from other beings
20% residing in constant bliss, beyond all conceptions and perceptions
20% communicating with vibrational informational sources from throughout the universe
20% free for use in a variety of simple and complex pursuits which may be experienced for the sake of the experiencing

I don't know. That's just for fun, I just made it up just now to expand on things a little, but anything can happen at any time really.
see ya at the show!

"Our attitude towards evil must be free from hatred, and has itself need to be enlightened in character....Satan rejoices when he suceeds in inspiring us with diabolical feelings to himself. It is he who wins when his own methods are turned against himself....A continual denunciation of evil and its agents merely encourages its growth in the world---a truth sufficiently revealed in the Gospels, but to which we remain persistently blind."

--Nicolas Berdyaev, "Freedom and the Spirit" trans. O.F. Clarke. London, 1935.

In our pursuit of creating things, there are some fundamental elements that we seem to completely forget almost 100% of the time.
These things that I will mention will resonate with those of you in an awakening process, and evoke derision in those of you obscured by form and thought most of the time.

Consider this: what can we ever create from our brilliant minds and facile opposable thumbs that could ever be more beautiful or awe-inspiring than a sunset? Than a solid majestic mountain with snow and pine trees and a cold mist? Than a simple creek flowing around mud and leaves? Than the look on someone's face as they experience elation, sudden calmness or realization? Than a large crow yelling at nothing in the middle of a field?

I think the answer that I am feeling today is obvious but I will iterate: nothing. Making stuff and having stuff and doing things and stuff and things and things and stuff and more stuff and more doing things and thinking about stuff and things-----this is all very well and good in a state of balanced perspective. For example: "that sunset is amazing! I don't really need to create rock music to move certain emotions in people because there is a great sunset that happens on its own for Everyone------but I want to anyway because it is so enjoyable and fun and this is what the Divine/Universe manifesting in Form is for me right now: both enjoying the sunset and enjoying making some rock music for myself and others."

The idea of almost anything being 'mutually exclusive' is overused, but what is UNDER recognized is a severe lack of balance because almost any source of knowledge or wisdom will lead you back to the idea that we have everything we need on a deeper esoteric sense, because there is nothing that is not US. So desperate pursuits of

doing something
making something
knowing something
being something
realizing something

are very literally pointless, without purpose, devoid of life and energy if they remain a desperate struggle that obscures their innate playful beauty and wonderfulness.

Who decided this desperation and destruction was our legacy, was our path? apparently we all did, so other choices may be appropriate at this juncture perhaps. At the end of the path even the final stages of

being nothing
all things/no-thing

must be let go into the absolutely unknown that we already come from and are and use in all of these allegedly serious and important worldly activities of forms.

cb

We are trained in a few inverse manners:
1) to think that what other people think about us is more important than what we think about ourselves
2) to believe that an authentic, factual representation of ourselves or our abilities which may turn out to be Positive at a given moment can be labeled by 'others' as "cocky" or "arrogant."

The opposite of both of these is in fact the case. These are not hypotheses or idealistic models, nor are they personal opinions, they are personal truth for your humble (or not-so-humble depending on your inverted societally conditioned viewpoint) narrator in addition to thousands of years of laws of human behavior and observation by wise sages who apparently are less valuable since we have the great Scientific Skepticism working for us to create endless doubt and naysaying. Throw away the iron castle for the Nerf igloo. This is not likely to be the great Transformation of Matter that the Mayans referred to.

Bruce Lee's martial art of Jeet Kun Do has at its core the dissolution of crystallized methods, thoughts, and processes: this results in pure, true and spontaneous self-expression. The benefits of this in a combative situation should be obvious: adapt and mold instantly in absolute accord with the circumstances which you both spontaneously envision, and receive on a sub-intuitive level from the Infinite, the Unknown, as it comes into the World of Form and dissolves again and cycles again and so on.

This approach is applicable every moment: every instant the universe is annihilated and starts again: I feel it is this that perhaps we should be grateful for. If one were to practice being grateful every moment for every moment, would not the effects be far-reaching? But we are so forgetful when it comes to discipline in these simple ways.

Simple Ways can include:
1) the Neti pot
2) floatation/sensory deprivation tanks
3) breath awareness
4) paying attention
5) being nice
6) meditation
7) mindful posture, erect and adaptable

why are these secrets? did we learn these in elementary school?
the answer in question form is:
who makes money from these? salt water, breath, posture, focus and mindfulness?

The clock is ticking and the irony is so thick.
Look on this page for utterly meaningless distractions from the focus we should all have on our true situation. What is happening right Now? Where are you now, and what is required of you?

How do I answer these questions, you ask, in the tradition of Asking Questions [always a sure sign of Seeking for Answers]. What do you draw on as your reference for answering anything? for asking anything? for anything that you think or say or do? how do you decide things? do you first decide to decide and then proceed on to the deciding? Zero yourself out, be walking Death, and then see what rises again to the surface of your mind: it may be the same as before or different or if you've gone far enough it may be only images and not words. if the word Death bothers you or the idea of Being Death strikes an upset sound in your inner space, then really try and focus on the why of that.

"If I die, I will lose my checking account and my laptop."
Who doesn't find this unacceptable? Have you ever seen black smoke billowing out of a truck on the highway?

-cb

To know and blog is to be one with blogging and this implies an inclination perhaps inherent in one's character to be motivated as it were to be blogging or reading said blogs. Certainly this has its uses but until one discovers the purpose, the audience, or, shall it be said, the Voice with which to blog and be blogged, it is easy to get blogged-down with the word "blog" it having such a blog, or blahgg, quality to it.

Were it to be referenced as "posting" or "writing" or perhaps "saying" or even "having words" well none of these have the modern brevity and trademarkable, off-handed slang air about them which is such an earmark of modern post-industrial Western and technologically affluent cultures and their use or evolution of "language."

We have T-shirts available! They glow in the dark and they are a tribute to both Nigel Tufnel and Fishbone. They foster breath awareness (the key to any transformative human process) and it is called "Medically Accurate Respiration."

Soon we will have photos from August 2005 to post! And some new artwork from Chaku Chan who created the bronchial tube patterns you see on the shirt design.