Sirens and Starbucks

These days the wailing "Sirens" of police, ambulance and fire services are a common occurence in our cities, they draw our attention, alert us to danger and send a message to criminals that its time to scarper, but pause to reflect on the root of the word and we realise it comes from the call of the Mermaid or Siren these dazziling beautiful Goddeses of the sea would enchant sailors with their song causing them to fall in love and carry them away to their underworld , the English word serenade has the same root.

Even fewer know of the evolution of the popular "starbucks" coffee logo, that wonderwomen face.which was in earlier versions a mermaid baring her breast, Just like the mermaid uses her seuxual attraction to lure the seamen, so too do many advertising campaign use the pull of sexual attraction to draw in their target and caputure their prey

as the saying goes "The female of the species is deadlier than the male."

K Resonance

Lately I have been experiencing a lot of synchronicity around the letter “K”

K is Knowledge, Knowledge is Power, Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely.

My name is Stephen which is the Greek for crowned one or "King" An early 2 K was my realisation of this Knowledge in relation to the horror writer Stephen King

K represents the number 1000 and "Y2K" came to refer to the year 2000 which Jake Kotze has blogged about at Y2K

Another 2 K is Krishna Konciousness which isn't a massive jump away from Khrist Konciousness (for the more Gnosticlly minded)

Perhaps the first Triple K that came into my consciousness was the K.K.K. which I heard about as a child. It was around this time i became aware of the evil that men do.The K.K.K. epitomises this and I have been fighting a battle ever since against the racism bigotry and intolerance they represent and that the letter K often evokes for me, A milestone for me in relaiming the language was the work the by the K.L.F ( K Liberation Front, K Foundation, Kings of Low Frequecy )this concept could be understood in a similar way to that where somes Gays refer to themselves as "Queers" or some "African Americans" refer to themselves as "Niggas" The theory being that by reclaiming the use of the language its takes the sting out of the words that had previously be tainted with negative conatations by "Haters"

Many suggest the KKK got its name came from the greek word Kuklos meaning circle so it essentiallly meant Circle of Brothers ( which in itself is not a "bad" name )
Then by modeling itself on the Knights Templar attempting to create for itself a historical legitimacy for its twisted views

It was the K.L.F that first introduced me to the "Illuminati" meme and the idea that the Illuminati is made up of different factions fighting for dominance this resonates with another "K" Tupac's "K'illuminati"

I also associate the triple K with The Three Kings/The Three Wise Men/Three Magii found in the Bible.

My third and final triple K is the "Kit Kat Klub" a Techno/Trance club in Germany famous for its wild parties its name was inspired by a club of the same name in London at the turn of the century which was renowned for Progressive Libertarian Political thinking

Mr C , Cyclone's / Psi Clones & C Conciousness

Many years ago the DJ Mr C who was then part of the band "the Shamen" was a part of a techno rave movement that inspired me read about shamanism , meditation etc

as a DJ and musician Mr C stood the test of time creating Plink Plnk and later the End.

Around the same time I remember a friend told me about a "dream" experienced by the DJ Nik Sequenci which involved "The Knights of the round table" reincarnated as a dj's to protect an Arthur/Merlin figure, this idea always stuck in my mind

Mr C ran a club for a while call "Cyclone" and always like the wordplay on Cyclone /Psi clone

also also had a mix tape by him called "Deep C"

The "C" also resonates the scientlogists state of "clear"

and a more mainstream Christ / Cosmic Conciousness

Wilheim Reich - Orgone

Lately I have found myself resonating Wilheim Reich and Orgone energy again, I was first introduced to Wilheim Reich while studying a Pscyhology degree at U.E.L. Yes I was doing the obligatory Freudian Psychoanalysis modules ,but it was a neighbour DJ Orgone that introduced me to Reich, I didn't pay a huge amount of notice at the time as he alerted me to various other things which took more of my attention, DJ Orgone had built some orgone accumilators which we positioned at various house partys ( I wonder how much effect they really had ;-) but Reich's writing faded into the background, I became interested again (ever so slightly) a few years later when I took up tai chi , concious of the similarities between "orgone" and "chi" .
Then a few years later I finally read Robert Anton Wilson "Cosmic Trigger" in which he mentions Reich.I still havent read R.A.W.s "Wilheim Reich in Hell".
A couple of months ago I was lent two D.V.D.'s on the same weekend, one was a conspiracy theory thing about Beyonce, Jayzee which started off fairly run of the mill then got increasing homophobic and nasty, the other was about a group of Neo Reichian anarchists in Brazil and something they called "Soma therapy" which uses Capoeira ( which I now practise) as part of the group therapy.
So that brings us up to date I had just reread "Cosmic Trigger" and an old Capoeira mate posted the following link on facebook , while I have long overdue mix session with DJ Orgone planned this weekend.

The Boss Drum

"Shaolin or Wu Tang" "Regional or Angola"

This weeks riots in London have impacted on me deeply, I believe there have been multiple causes, but I think many of the perpetrators have rioted in attempt to assert some sort of control, whether they have done so because they felt social injustice, boredom, disempowerment or simple greed.

20 years ago I might have joined them on the demo and I might have joined in the looting (shock horror) for me it was Martial Arts that helped me empower myself ( The truth is I dont think I am that much tougher a person than I was twenty years ago) but practising martial arts has taught me many other things about myself I had not anticipated; my limitations, my capabilties, it has taught me about hierarchy and group organization, it has taught me about teamwork and loyalty , it has taught me humility, how to be assertive ( if necessary), how to relax, to pick my fights carefully and my role models and teachers even more so.

a Master once said " in the old academies you never really know who the Master is, it might be the person you least expect like the one mopping the floor" the lesson is , we can all and should learn from each other

Thanks to all who have helped me on my journey Masters and students all

Skate like a man - Off the beaten track - Culture Shock

The attached image (minus the surfboad) has been a favourite of mine for years

I first encountered the image below as a kid (when i was a skater) in the adverts of "Thrasher magazine" for the skateboard manufacturers "Skate like a man" i also remember "pigdog" commenting on the adverts with relish!

Years later i encountered it again when i moved to London it was the era of Spiral Tribe and the image was used for a rave in a post west end club entitled "Culture shock" which was the antithesis of every thing i was used to.It was in this era that i used it myself for some t-shirts and a mix tape. In recent year i have noticed itbeing used (with the addition of a surfboad) as the logo for "Off the beaten track" a surf shop in St Ives. I chatted to the owner of the shop this week and he told me its an Aztek symbol - my resonance with The Aztek is chronicled elsewhere.....