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 Goddesses 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.

Just as sailors were warned of the mermaids, both religions and governments have a history of  warning of the dangers of the flesh,  effectively using the control of sex to manage the behaviour of the masses.

Few know of the evolution of the popular "Starbucks" coffee logo,which in earlier versions was a mermaid baring her breast, Just like the mermaid uses her sexual attraction to lure the seamen, so too do many advertising campaigns 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."

Song to Siren - This Mortal Coil (Elizabeth Fraiser)

K Resonances

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

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

K is the 11th letter of the alphabet , and represents the number 1000 and "Y2K" came to refer to the year 2000 which Jake Kotze has blogged about at his blog. 11:11 could represent two pillars or the twin towers.

"K Punks" blog with its commentary on Hauntology is another K Resonator.
 
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.

One K K was the Kronstadt Klub  a Punk club in Bristol in the eighties named after the Kronstad rebellion.

Another 2K is King Kong (the beast unleashed)

A further 2K  is Krishna Konciousness which isn't a massive jump away from  Khrist (Christ) the King or Christ Conciousness (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, 

Apparently the KKK got its name from the Greek word Kuklos meaning circle so it essentially meant Circle of Brothers ( which in itself is not a "bad" name ). Then by modelling itself on the Knights Templar attempted 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".

A milestone for me in reclaiming language was the work the by the K.L.F ( Kopyright Liberation Front, K Foundation, Kings of Low Frequency ) this concept could be understood in a similar way to that where some gay people refer to themselves as "Queer" 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 been tainted with negative connotations by haters.

The KLF were early pioneers of Techno the early UK  Underground Scene alongside the likes of DJ Kim CosmiK  who spun her tunes at Spiral Tribe as did  the techno visionary Colin Dale who co ran club Knowledge

I associate the triple K with The Three Kings/The Three Wise Men/Three Magii found in the Bible. The King's  Golden Crown can represent  enlightenment ( Christ/ Cosmic Conciousnessses ) via the crown chakra  /  the 33 C's  /  Kings  / C3PO

My third and final triple K is the "Kit Kat Klub" a Techno/Trance club in Germany famous for its Fetish dresscode 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

I first heard of Mr C after he joined forces with "The Shamen" during the entact/ progeny/ synergy era. Prior to joining the Shamen Mr C was a pioneering DJ in the emerging acid house/rave scene. It was the energy and memes of the early tribal/trance that inspired me to explore thee 23rd current, reading about  Templars, Cathars, magick, mysticism, shamanism, martial arts, meditation etc. I remember seeing Mr C and the Shamen play Glastonbury festival finishing their set with re-evolution featuring the vocals of Terrance Mckenna who I was lucky to hear speak at Megatripolis. Around this time a friend told me about a "vision" experienced by the DJ Nik Sequenci or was it Richard Grey who both used to play at Megatripolis  which involved "The Knights of the round table" reincarnated as a dj's to protect an Arthur/Merlin figure, (Mr C)  a Psychic DJ communicating telepathically to his audience through trance .

Mr C's music and events for me have stood the test of time. From "the drop"  to creating Plink Plonk records and opening "The End" with the money generated by the Shamen , and more recently  Superfreq.

For a while Mr C ran a club called "Cyclone" and I enjoyed the wordplay of C clone or Psi clone.  I also attended Vapourspace where I saw The Black Dog play live. I was also lucky to catch LA Synthesis play live at the Fridge. My stand out moment at the End was probably the late set by Mr C in the main room, at Subterrain , but sets  by Matthew B and Roger Sanchez  (S Man)  came a close second.

I also also had a mix tape by Mr C called "Deep C" recorded live at Tokyo Sex Whale the weekend of the Ashton Court free Festival (the night he DJ'd and MC'd on the back a of sublime set by Dave Angel

I often thought about the meaning of the "C" for me it resonated Cybotrons or the scientlogists state of "Clear" or the more mainstream Christ / Cosmic Conciousness rather than those explanations offered by the man himself ;-)

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,  Jay Z 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" "Samurai or Ninja " "Regional or Angola"

In the Mythology of Chinese Kung Fu the Shaolin were the monks of the Shaolin Temple that trained Kung Fu to protect the Temple  from bandits the Wu Tang.

In the Japanese mythology the Samurai were the honourable spiritual warriors whereas the Ninja were the thieves moving with stealth in the night. 

 

In Capoeira theres a duality is between the traditional "Angola" and  more contemporary academised "Regional" styles

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.

 My 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, teachers and students all

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

The attached image has been a favourite of mine for years

I first encountered the image 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 flyer promoting a swanky west end "house" club entitled "Culture shock" which was a far cry from the hardcore raves I was used to.It was in this era that I was using the logo myself for some t-shirts and a mix tape. In recent years I have noticed it being 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.....