Zero's and Olive's

Back in the late eighties early nineties during the rave era I was particulalry inspired by a tune called "Lock Up " by the artist Zero B, around the same time I was into the fairly unkown Hip Hop act "MC 900 ft Jesus" whos DJ I believe was called DJ Zero. During this era I used to attend a underground party called Zero Gravity  and it was around this time I passing through Smurf obsession, during which I was dj'ing under the alias Blue 5 (a subtle Skywalker reference) (this syncs with another "Zero" from Star Wars "0 B 1 / Obi Wan Kenobi" 

During the same period I attended a graffiti workshop held by an artist called "Zero" we planned a couple of joint pieces with the tag ZERO/ Blue 5.

  Within the last couple of years I was surpised to find an aquaintance of mine from those years is now making music with the original Zero B ,the two of them known as the Drum Monkeys Zero B  has also worked with the Dub Pistols

The word Olive and extensions of it have also been reoccuring in my conciouness over the last few years. Discussions over the dinner table reminded me of Olive Oil from Popeye who my wife is a fan of. My wifes maiden name is Oliveira and my son has retained it (along with my surname) Oliveria is also the surname of my Capoeira Grandmaster. 

"Olives" first started resonating with me in the 00's when a female artist called "Olive" released a bass breakbeat pop tune "your not alone" at the same time my new housemate a work colleague called "Olivia" accused my existing house mate (also a work colleague) of poisoning her with his coffee. for some reason at that time it occured to that "olive" could be read as "Zero Live" 

 Over the years I have transitioned from being mostly immeresed in either Live music or recorded/electronic music. One perspective on the difference between the live / recorded  was highlighted to me and summed up in the title of a live album by Punk band "The Misfits" entitled "Evil LivE". The Misfits were fans of Halloween horror recently I discovered Zero is also the name of Jack Skellingtons dog in the nightmare before Christmas

Click the link for more  "ohs" .

The Chicken/ Cockerel

A few years ago when I started training Capoeira my Kung Fu teacher jokingly refered to it as "yellow chicken dancing" as opposed to his own martial arts style "Yellow Dragon Fist" but he never said I shoudn't practise ! It also actually made me think of how cockerals fight... Lately a friend of mine has be training Brazillian Ju Jitsu with the Gracie school at the Tokei Martial arts centre in London Bridge which has a cockerel as its motif. I have been syncing quite a few "chickens" and "cockerels" lately and recently an online friend posted on the cockerels connection to the Orisha "Shango" I have also noticed a sexual symbolism. Currently my sons favourite clip is the brazillan nursery ryme "meu pintinho amarelinho" about a little yellow chick.

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.  "Y2K" came to refer to the year 2000.  11:11 could represent two pillars or the twin towers.which Jake Kotze has blogged about at his blog.

The blogger "K Punk" with his commentary on Hauntology is another K Resonator.
 
My name is Stephen which is the Greek for crowned one or "King". An early 2 K for me, was my realisation of this in relation to the horror writer Stephen King.

Other 2k's were; The Kronstadt Klub a punk club in Bristol in the eighties named after the Kronstad rebellion.

And 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. epitomise this and I have like so many others been fighting a lifelong battle against the racism bigotry and intolerance they represent.

Apparently the KKK got their 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 themselves on the Knights Templar attempted to create for themself a historical legitimacy for their twisted views.

It was The KLF 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 repurposing ideas language and sound was the work the by The KLF ( Kopyright Liberation Front, K Foundation, Kings of Low Frequency ) 

Language reclamation is seeen in a the way some gay people began referring  to themselves as "Queer" or some "African Americans" refer to themselves as "Niggas". The theory being that by reclaiming their use the sting out of the words that had become been tainted with negative connotations through being used as insults 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 legendary   RIP to "The Drop"  then starting 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