acep hale

What a wonderful machine

2011-10-24T18:37:00.000-07:00

(click for larger view)

That right there is the wonderful creation of Spyder and Brandon Bowman. As Spyder said, "Brandon forged the frame out of steel and we found an antique camera lens to weld on- it's still in early stages and we need to trick out the individual components but so far so good- it runs pretty nice too! Cheers!"

Both of them are so talented it hurts. Spyder is the man behind my wonderful knuckle tattoos (and a ton of planned work in the future) and also runs The Nautilus Studio. I can't wait to have my imps done with that tattoo gun. And if you're looking for the best tattooists in town, check out Apocalypse Tattoo.

Thank you Saint Expedite!

2011-06-12T11:55:00.000-07:00

He always delivers, it may not be exactly what I expeceted, but he always come through.

Stuxnext

2011-06-09T09:43:00.001-07:00

magic magic magic

2011-06-08T00:56:00.000-07:00

It's night, I've got a bottle of red wine in front of me and The Staple Singers on the stereo. This seems oddly appropriate given what I want to write about.

Every so often when I'm performing I'll hear a voice going, "But what about real magic?"

I have to admit, when I hear that, I get excited. I love magic, and every time I hear that question there exists the possibility that I've found another fanatic. However, inevitably, my hopes are dashed. After finishing that show and having the opportunity to talk to the person who posed the question, their response is invariably of the, "I'm an intuitive and a empath," stance that so characterizes the "new age" movement.

There's a couple of problems with this. First of all, what type of narcissistic, self-absorbed dill-weed do you have to be to think that being intuitive and empathic marks you as somehow special? Welcome to the human race Copernicus! Those are coping mechanisms the rest of us have enjoyed since birth. In fact, I'd be willing to lay short odds that those two qualities are the strongest traits ensuring humankind's evolution in the first place. After all, learning to trust your instincts that right now might not be the best particular time to go beyond the edge of the campfire's flickering light and take a piss was probably an incredibly powerful survival trait, and if you're banding together to stave off saber-tooth tigers, hyenas, and maybe, just maybe, take down a bison or two, knowing when and where it was okay to make fun of Muggs the Mighty Hunting War Chief would probably come in just as handy.

The second disappointment with these people is the lack of knowledge or even the desire to study their own history, which is simply mind-boggling to me. I believe magic is the one true art, the art from which all others sprang, and that doesn't make you curious? Even though they build their entire lives around magic, there's no interest in finding out where it comes from, who were the earlier practitioners, and how have these ideas changed and evolved over time?

I'm not engaging in hyperbole here. Anyone that is the slightest bit politically involved quickly becomes aware that there is a secret history to this world. Half an hour in the library studying labor history will overturn years of public school indoctrination. Start tracing those threads back further and further into the past and the lies become larger and more transparent. Rogan P. Taylor wrote an amazing book called, "The Death and Resurection Show: From Shaman to Superstar" that I wish everyone could read. Unfortunately it is out of print and prohibitively expensive - around $200 last time I looked - so take advantage of your public library and put in an ILL. The thrust of Taylor's argument is that all performing arts derive from early practices of magic, and as civilization pushed nomadic tribes out from easily habitable areas, those nomadic tribes turned to performing acrobatic feats and magical tricks to maintain not only their ways of life but their religious beliefs as well. These wandering performers laid the groundworks for theater, music, comedy, and every other form of art that we now hold so dear today.

(For those of you following along, I have now switched from The Staple Singers to Mazzy Star for the next section. Just in case you wanted the soundtrack.)

I do realize I'm skipping willy-nilly but I'm giving a broad overview into issues I wish to explore more deeply as this blog goes on. This rambling is more my own road map than for the benefit of anyone else. Also, I realize I make no attempt to separate magic from "magick". There's a simple reason for this and that is there is no difference between the two. It used to bother me when people made such a big deal about spelling it "magick" and then I realized it was actually a blessing in disquise because the only people that felt the need to do so didn't actually practice magic in the first place. It's a shorthand, a quick visual reference that the article, book or monologue that follows is 9 times out of 10 written by an armchair occultnik with little to no practical experience. More so, it's also a quick reference to the extent and depth of their reading and interest within the field. (Sadly, most of them still think Crowley coined the term which just goes to prove my point.)

One thing I find interesting about this is how the '60s new age movement put such an emphasis on the individual, an emphasis we have yet to shake off. I've read a lot of books put out by the old Rosicrucian/New Thought/Theosophical societies and I've always loved the fact that in the front pieces or introductions to those books, they always stressed that the knowledge contained therein was presented with an eye towards making the entire world a better place, to uplifting society as a whole. These people sincerely believed that by engaging in this work, by instructing others, they were helping the world take a step towards universal equality and hopefully, enlightenment. I have yet to see one modern book on these very same topics contain such a sentiment.

This is mirrored in the role of shamans in modern 'occult' writing. As Taylor and most anthropologists point out, the role of the shaman was to transport their entire tribe into another world. Contrast this with most of the popular writing you're liable to run across today, where the role of the shaman is not to transport the entire tribe, but to journey all by their lonesome and then come back and tell his or her tribe members what they experienced. It goes from a communal experience to an authoritative declaration, a dynamic not usually found anywhere else within that very same tribal structure.

Should it surprise anyone that we see this shift when our very own occult groups have gone from focusing on elevating society to elevating the individual? Of course not. In fact, it illustrates how magic came to be practiced in the first place. The shaman, tasked with carrying his audience into another world, used any and all techniques necessary to convince people that what they were seeing was 'otherworldly'. His fellow tribe members, having grown up in the same cultural milieu, would be familiar with the same legends, the same stories, and be able to follow those references into the very same experiential areas. Someone from outside would need proof, miracles they could see with their eyes in order to be convinced of other lands where animals could talk and miracles could occur, and so the shamans made dolls dance, voices fly about the room and come up from the ground. They escaped bonds no mortal could escape, they walked on ropes, held coals in their mouths, they proved the gods were present at that very moment and in doing so gave the doubting onlooker permission to escape reality.

Anthropologists, critically watching tribal séances, introduced the observer effect decades before physicists became aware of it.

So what do I think magic is? I think magic is a set of techniques, a techné that has been handed down through generations, a codified collection of observations that speaks to our position in the world and the commonality of our experiences. Proust once observed that all human motivation can be written on the back of a postage stamp and given that restriction the 78 cards of the tarot suddenly seem immensely expansive. I use Giordano Bruno's art of memory on a daily basis to remember my routines and patter. Each morning I get up and do yoga which keeps both my mind and body sharp. After that I do a set of exercises from The Golden Dawn, and any time I doubt the efficacy of those I simply recollect Zen Master Seung Sahn's reply when asked about the importance of mantras, "The words don't matter. You could repeat 'Coca-Cola Coca-cola' over and over and it would have the same effect." After that I do a tarot reading to get a different perspective, a change of view on situations I'm currently facing. Following that I meditate, and then perform a banishing to clear out the morning and get ready for the day. It's a clear demarcation that I've gone from sleep to waking and now it's time for an entirely new start.

The most important thing is the repetition. Magic is not knowledge hoarded, it's a living practice. That's what has kept it going down through generations. Repetition is key, Gertrude Stein knew it in her bones. Repetition is what leads to research. Through research we uncover the links to our past. When the Golden Dawn drew up their rituals, there was very little knowledge of Hermetic Magic. The Graeco-Egyptian papyri hadn't even been discovered yet, most of their writings and rituals came from Francis Barrett's 'The Magus or Celestial Intelligencer' which would probably nowadays be called, "Agrippa's Three Books of Occult Philosophy for Dummies". Now we have an entire field of Papyrology to draw from, and from that research, we come closer to understanding our ancestors as they truly were.

Most of all, magic is resistance. It's a resistance to the status-quo. No one practices magic because they're satisfied with the way things are. Magic is practiced to change ourselves and the world around us. It starts with the knowledge that the world is not right, we were not meant to live this way, and it's the constant search to right those wrongs outside of accepted means. Magic has always been the angry upraised middle-finger to an apathetic acceptance of injustice, and it will always be the weapon of choice for the disenfranchised, the disillusioned, and the downright disgusted.

Most of all, it is goddamn beautiful.

Alchemical Transformations: The Abstract Films of Harry Smith

2011-06-04T10:29:00.000-07:00

"Harry Smith not only seemed to get everywhere (at least within America), he also gave the impression that he could do anything. He weaved in and out of various cultural milieux, many of them notorious, and turned his mind to countless different creative and cultural endeavours. In a time when computers had not yet nudged their way into everyday life, Smith was making a decent attempt to turn his brain into a multimedia hub, a receptacle capable of sucking in and spewing out various bits of data, juggling them around in new, enlightening ways. "

Alchemical Transformations: The Abstract Films of Harry Smith

miwa yanagi

2011-06-03T19:03:00.000-07:00

miwa yanagi

Once again, Coulthart for the win.

2011-06-01T18:44:00.001-07:00

lord are they brittle

2011-06-01T15:22:00.000-07:00

nato threatens to prosecute anonymous

NATO leaders have been warned that Wikileaks-loving 'hacktivist' collective Anonymous could pose a threat to member states' security, following recent attacks on the US Chamber of Commerce and defence contractor HBGary - and promise to 'persecute' its members.

In a toughly-worded draft report to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, General Rapporteur Lord Jopling claims that the loose-knit, leaderless group is "becoming more and more sophisticated", and "could potentially hack into sensitive government, military, and corporate files".

All Power to the People

2011-05-31T22:14:00.000-07:00

Opening with a montage of four hundred years of race conflict in America, this powerful documentary provides the historical context for the establishment of the Black Panther Party for Self Defense in the mid-1960s.

Organized by Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton, the Party soon embodied every major element of the civil rights movement which preceded it and the Black, Brown and Red power movements which it helped pioneer.

The Party struck fear in the hearts of the white capitalist power structure, which feared it as a terrorist group. During the Nixon years, J. Edgar Hoover's FBI, with the cooperation of the CIA, used all means at their disposal to infiltrate and derail the Black Power movement. Methods of state repression included assassination, frame-ups, dirty tricks and black propaganda.

Witnesses include not only Party veterans and other Black Power pioneers and political prisoners such as Mumia Abu-Jamal, Dr. Mutulu Skakur and Dhoruba Bin Wahad, but also "establishment" figures like former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark, CIA officer Philip Edward Agee, and retired FBI agents.

Yet, the documentary is not a paean to the Panthers, for it criticizes the megalomania, corruption, and narcissism of some Party leaders, while it praises their courage and idealism.

Whether or not one is sympathetic to the Black Panthers, the film is an important historic look at the political and racial turmoils of the 1960s and an up-close look at the leading players.

Dali's Salome

2011-05-31T22:08:00.000-07:00

Dali's Salome

John Coulthart once again proving why he's the biggest swinging dick on the interweb, with this wonderful post on the triumphant trifecta of Dali, Brook, and Salomé. If that doesn't twist your titties into a tangle then I don't know what will!

viktor wynd

2011-05-31T11:30:00.000-07:00

Viktor Wynd and his Little Shop of Horrors

"I’m an old-fashioned cove at heart and generally believe that things were much better in the past. My taste in museums is no exception. To me, a museum should be an Aladd-in’s cave of wonder and discovery – exotic specimens staring out from behind glass, queer objects of obscure purpose on display for their own intrinsic interest. The setting is as important as the collection it contains. A museum doesn’t feel like a museum unless it’s old. "

news media

2011-05-31T00:14:00.000-07:00

So here's the post from today that tipped me back over the edge into blogging; dealing with the media.

This happens fairly frequently, whether it be scouts for another worthless reality-tv talent show straight on down to local stations trying to fill out their news coverage with a human interest story.

Before we begin, I don't have a problem with photographers snapping pictures. I know fellow performers who get cranky if a photographer doesn't tip them for a photo they snapped. Me, I'm okay, because I recognize we're one of the most striking features on the street, and if I was looking to photograph someone interesting, I myself would be shooting street performers. As long as you don't get in the way of my show or ruin the line of sight for any member of my audience, have a blast. It would be nice if you could send me a copy of any good photographs you get, but I have a hard time returning library books on time so I totally understand.

Once you get above that level of cameraman though the whole game starts to change. The larger the camera, the more likely they are to barge right into your show, and I have yet to see a single time where they will talk to you beforehand. Every damn time I've been in the middle of a show, look over, and *bam*, there's a tripod with a broadcast camera on top of it. Blocking people's views, right up on my hands, no questions asked on the way in. I have also had them drop a microphone pack right onto my table, mid-trick.

So let's keep this in mind. This is my day job. As Greg Paul so wisely put it, "I'm living my back up plan." The crowd is how I pay rent. The people in the audience that were laughing and having a great time before this schmuck walked up and plopped down that monstrosity of a camera are the ones who pay me. Directly. The money they put in my hat is how I live. With that in mind, as much as I would love to 'unlock my word bag' right then and there, it's not going to endear me to my audience. Because let's face facts, my word bag was befouled before Beowulf ever began his own personal blitzkrieg.

I do understand their mind-set. We live in a society that is convinced that if you make it on TV you're golden. You're famous, soon to be rich, all the right doors will start opening for you. Most people are thrilled to be on television.

However, if I was most people, I never would have started street performing in the first place. Plus, I've watched enough demo reels from other performers to know that being on TV doesn't mean shit to anyone except a programming director trying to fill two minutes of dead space, and maybe, some douchebag entertainment booker in Branford, Missouri. Which, we all know how eager I am to work Branford.

Face it. Anyone that tapes you for a news program is going to edit your footage until you're saying exactly what they want you to say. You have no choice in this once they've finished taping, that footage is theirs. Plus, how much money are they going to put in your hat? Nothing. They're so used to people being eager to be on television that they automatically assume everyone will welcome them with open arms.

My case today happened when I had this boy, four and a half years old, who every time I asked him a question would go off on a totally surrealistic monologue that had nothing whatsoever to do with what I was asking him. It was hysterical.

"Do you want to pick a different card?"

"No. But my dog, Anna, she would. She lives with us. 294 East Main St...." and on and on and on.

Plus the kid was cute as hell. So I've got my own trifecta going on. Big crowd, cute kid, and he's making the entire show all by himself. I live for these moments. I always tell people I'm only as good as my crowd and most people assume it's some type of bullshit new-agey self-depreciating bullshit but it really isn't. I need those crowds. I need the 80 year old grandmother that flirts and kisses me, the drunk sorority girl that has a go at heckling, or the super cute kid that's going off on random stream of consciousness. They make the show. It's my job to get the hell out of their way and let them have at it. My bad shows are with people who don't respond. Give me a family out of Gig Harbor (and if you're from outside of WA State just think of your local town where all the children are fat and the dads are sporting tribal tatoos and Ed Hardy clothing with a boat in the backyard. Simply put, white trash with cash) and I'll finish that show in under two minutes. I need interaction, I fucking love hecklers. Hecklers are a gift from god. Not only do they give me my best lines, but when you win a heckler over, they're your biggest fan for life. Guaranteed.

So with this in mind, I'm on my knees with a cute as hell little kid (that was dressed better than me! The little shit!) who's rambling on about how he lives in Paris (when I looked at his parents they're shaking their heads like, "We have no idea where he comes up with this stuff") and a full tight crowd that's laughing their asses off watching him.

And there's a network news cameraman with his camera 18 inches from my face making hand motions like, "Cut this short, cut this now!"

And that right there is why I have no respect nor love for anyone involved in the media. My world does not live within a soundbite. In my world, kids are the true creative geniuses and can go on as long as they like. Most of all, in my world, working for the local FOX station would bring you more scorn and derision than any bum that works my neighborhood. Because no matter which way you try to square that one, by working for FOX in any way, shape or form, you're sucking Moloch's cock. That's just a simple truth.

Let's be honest about this. This is not just a moralistic 'holier than thou' stand. In very down to earth practical terms, I will get nothing from interrupting my show so this schmuck can get back to the station in time to edit his footage. No one has ever sat around watching FOX news and gone, "That guy looks hysterical! Honey, get the kids, we're heading downtown to catch his show!" However, the parents of this kid who's rambling on about living in Paris with his talking dog and imaginary sister? I'll probably see them again. Several times. The people in that audience? Maybe about a quarter of them. If they live in another state, I'm betting in the next year I'll get one or two people that they have told to check me out when they come through Seattle.

I don't want exposure nor do I seek it out. The only people that come from exposure are fickle at best. I build my crowd one at a time, face to face, and I've shaken hands with each and every person that truly supports me. That means the world to me. That is what makes my life beautiful, and it's why every night I come home exhausted, but also, more in love with the world than when I left.

back again

2011-05-30T22:45:00.001-07:00

Yes, I've returned to blogging. I tried staying away, but seriously, trying to get everything down in under 140 words sucks the proverbial donkey dick. Besides, much as I try fitting the square blocks into round holes over there, the lack of a tagging or search feature on FB drives me goddamn nuts. I tried rolling into wordpress, but I honestly smoke too much weed to deal with their counter-intuitive horseshit. So here I am, back to blogger once again.