EVENTS DIARY UPDATE

CUT HANDS : live in London, UK : 17th April
DJ BENETTI : Sneaky Pete's, Edinburgh, UK : 1st May
CUT HANDS : live in Krakow, Poland : 5th May
WILLIAM BENNETT : talk in Krakow, Poland : 6th May
CUT HANDS : live in Wroclaw, Poland : 7th May
CUT HANDS : live in Lodz, Poland : 8th May
DJ BENETTI : tba, Krakow, Poland : 9th May
ZEITKRATZER perform WHITEHOUSE : Marseille, France : 14th May
WHITEHOUSE : live in Barreiro, Portugal : 23rd May
DJ BENETTI : Cardiff, UK : 20th June
WILLIAM BENNETT : live in Burscheid, Germany : 26th June
DJ BENETTI : tba, Germany : tba June
WILLIAM BENNETT : talk in Edinburgh, UK : tba July
WILLIAM BENNETT : lecture at FilmAkademie, Germany : tba July
CUT HANDS : live in Dusseldorf, Germany : 17th July
CUT HANDS : live in Berlin, Germany : 18th July
ZEITKRATZER perform WHITEHOUSE : Huddersfield, UK : Nov 27th

CROSSBONES 6

In case you were wondering, I'm still sticking up for the pirates. And before you jump to conclusions, it's well worth reading this alternative angle by Johann Hari on the story (thanks to Yin for the link).

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CROSSBONES 1

METASIGNIFICANCES 9

#9: or

Many many years ago I found myself in the magic section of my local library. Upon opening an musty old volume on the dark arts of false card shuffles, a small strip of yellowing paper fluttered onto the carpeted floor which had been typewritten with a local telephone number and the words 'MAGIC CIRCLE'. My curiosity getting the better of me (as usual), I called the number and, in hushed tones, was sworn to secrecy while invited to the weekly meeting of their mysterious cabal. It took place in an appositely gothic building in Edinburgh, in a place that you wouldn't think existed unless you were shown it, and there I was introduced to the 'membership', an odd collection of mostly elderly unexceptionally looking gentlemen far removed from the Harry Potter paradigm.

The reason I mention this is that it was where I first embarked upon the journey in the active study and use of metalanguage, specifically after learning there of the use of the so-called Magician's Choice technique - alternatively known as equivocation - in effects (I also learnt at the Magic Circle that magicians dislike the term 'tricks') - and, by extension, the potential of deliberate use of language designed with dual reality (an overt conscious meaning, combined with a second covert, or implied, unconscious meaning).

Equivocation uses language and misdirection to create the illusion that a muggle or spectator has in fact made a voluntary selection from a group of items, when in fact the magician forces a predetermined choice. For example, when asked if you would like to choose the envelope on the left or on the right, your 'choice' will either be the one picked up or the one discarded. In other words, not really a choice at all.

The more sophisticated performers may then follow this up with a question along the lines of, 'did you choose that one because it was nearer or because you just had a good feeling about it?' Through presupposition this reinforces in the spectator's mind the idea that a fair choice has been made through the use of an imperative (or question) that directs their conscious mind. Also, sleight of mouth can be employed through asking the spectator if they are sure of their 'choice', that they can still change their mind if they wish.

Then there's the classic double bind component, 'shall I come and pick you up at 8 or 8.30?' presupposing that the object of your desire wishes to even go out with you. Shrewd mothers pull this trick on their infants all the time, 'do you want peas or spinach with your chicken?'. A further example of the double bind is the notional one of whether you are a theist or an atheist, a believer or a non-believer, a liberal or a conservative, and so on.

This is all clearly an enormous area of interest, and it's the use of or that concerns me most here. Such a tiny little word that, even in written language, seems to transcend any particular emphasis, but in spoken language passes by so fast as to almost be imperceptible. You might have had entire lessons in schools, colleges, and universities about onomatopoeia or transgender - but that's easy stuff, and comparatively speaking, fairly useless knowledge.

I'll be brief while I still have your attention or your interest: to hear the word or is for me to question the presupposition, to question how genuine the choice is, and to determine what invisible domains inevitably exist beyond the double bind.

WAX VERITAS 2

Further to the earlier posting regarding the medical museum exhibits and the horrors of medieval surgery, and whilst scanning the pictures of tourists ceding their ice cream to the quite frankly more-deserving seagulls, I found a highly entertaining background article by David Morton on some of those dubious old school interventions where - amongst other delights - we learn about clysters, The Wound Man, St. Fiacre's curse, venesection, and the wonderful saying 'the better the witch, the better the midwife'.

RHODIUM 3 (ADDENDUM B)

Just received an email from Curt Wargo of WXCI radio station in Connecticut regarding Cro-Magnon's classic album. In 2002, they set up an interview with three original members of the band (though not Grasmere), plus another long-time friend of theirs, and Curt has kindly agreed to make the transcript available to the many of us who are interested.

The Mystery Of The Connecticut Tribe

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RHODIUM 3 (ADDENDUM A)

CROSSBONES 5

The heroic Somali pirates have captured a UK vessel! Though the definition of UK here is, to put it very mildly, confusing: the ship is Italian-operated, flies a Panamanian flag, and has a mixed nationality crew. According to the article, the pirates were also recently seen approaching with intent a 1,000-strong passenger vessel on a round-the-world cruise - you can't fail to admire the extent of these guys' ambitions and unstoppable confidence.

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BIRDS

Last summer on vacation, there was a marvellous moment on the passenger ferry back to Oban from the beautiful island of Mull. As the passengers from the stern enjoyed the rays of early evening sun spectacularly piercing dark clouds over distant isles, a couple of seagulls demonstrated some amazing aerial techinques. Whilst flying at the speed of the vessel, they were able to hover with enough precision to pluck with their beaks the french fries from outstretched hands. It was clear that, even for the gulls, this was a skill requiring considerable practice as several younger birds, equally hungry, were not quite able to successfully snatch the proffered morsels.

In the lovely town of Oban itself, the gulls are equally rapacious, swooping in to within inches in their attempts to grab a chunk of your tasty fresh fish takeaway supper. They are surprisingly intimidating creatures close up and, without their usual timidity, it's all too easy to feel like Tippi Hedren in an outtake from Hitchcock's classic The Birds. Likewise, here are are some dramatic images of seagulls fearlessly snatching people's ice cream.

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Our relationship with birds is a complex one. Wonderfully portrayed in the Greek myth of Icarus is the desperate human vanity which is characterised by attempts to transcend our mortal roles through the power of flight in order to become closer to gods. And our attempts at flying, still such a powerful ingredient to our inner dreams, would more often than not - over the ages - have the same disastrous outcome as befell the young Icarus himself, who had only his arms to flap as the wax holding his feathers in place melted as he foolishly got too near the representation of that most important of pagan gods, the sun. The proverbial fall from grace. Man's dream of being able to fly like a bird is in fact a consistent part of the most ancient myths and religions; almost all ancient art features bird/man hybrid images, including in prehistoric caves dating back around 20 millennia.

My own romantic theory is that the desire to fly like a bird is far older than man itself, and originates with our ancestors the apes, who, upon meeting birds as they acrobatically climbed up into the treetops, would enviously dream of flying high in the sky to enjoy the real and metaphorical freedom that such an ability would offer. We have inherited this profound wish, and it is still hardwired into our very soul. It's as if vertigo itself was the fear of our deepest desire to simply leap from a great height and glide effortlessly through the air, thus finding release from the gravitational pull that is our lifelong burden.

The essence of this notion is wonderfully encapsulated in Project X (1987), a movie about chimpanzees used in life-threatening experiments to test the G-forces experienced in military jet aircraft. Despite many funny moments, at times it's quite an upsetting film to watch, yet culminates in my favourite film ending ever. Beautiful and uplifting in every sense of the word.

EVENTS DIARY

DJ BENETTI : Faction, London, UK : 10th April 2009
CUT HANDS : live in London, UK : 17th April 2009
DJ BENETTI : Sneaky Pete's, Edinburgh : 1st May 2009
CUT HANDS : live in Krakow, Poland : 6th May 2009
CUT HANDS : live in Wroclaw, Poland : 7th May 2009
CUT HANDS : live in Lodz, Poland : 8th May 2009
DJ BENETTI : live in tba, Poland : tba May 2009
ZEITKRATZER perform WHITEHOUSE : Marseille : 15th May 2009
WHITEHOUSE : live in Barreiro, Portugal : 23rd May 2009
WILLIAM BENNETT : live in Burscheid, Germany : 26th June 2009
DJ BENETTI : tba, Germany: tba June 2009
WILLIAM BENNETT : talk in Edinburgh, UK: tba July 2009
WILLIAM BENNETT : lecture at FilmAkademie, Germany: tba July 2009
CUT HANDS : live in Dusseldorf, Germany : 17th July 2009
CUT HANDS : live in Berlin, Germany : 18th July 2009
ZEITKRATZER perform WHITEHOUSE : Huddersfield, UK : November 27th 2009

PRAVDA 6

Some of the best stories yet from Pravda, the thinking person's news source.

Lenin's Kinky Explosion
After this morning's typically hackneyed April Fool's Day stories in the UK press, this unbelievable story of Lenin's arse being blown out of his St. Petersburg statue late last night trumps the lot - fantastic pics, and what can we make of the bizarre detail of the knife placed in the great man's outstretched hand?

Boy, 7, Dies Playing Serial Killer
The detail is quite scant in this story, and I don't know what to make of it (is there an implication that it wasn't an accident?) - as in so many of these Russian cases, it's a fleeting look behind a mysterious curtain of which we have precious little real understanding.

Egyptian Text Message Deaths
If this was any other country, it would be laughable - the fact that it's Egypt means that it must be a curse, and therefore must be true; cue cheesy new Japanese horror film.

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FILLMORE DISCOS 24

A couple of forgettable Hollywood movies, the usual UK-produced rubbish, and some bloodsoaked French horror, the latter of which is unmissable.

Yes Man (**)
Carrey moves back into more familiar Liar Liar territory with a comedy that certainly has sporadically good moments; however, the initially interesting premise is undermined by its relentless path towards formulaic romcom mediocrity

Killshot (*)
ugly charmless trash about stupid macho guys with big guns - Rourke, laughably here playing a Native American Indian, needs to quit now while he's still marginally ahead

Easy Virtue (*)
not a single member of this cast has any sense of timing or delivery of what is already a spectacularly unfunny script for this poorly directed BBC production based on Noel Coward's comedy of manners

Frontière(s) (*)
weakly scripted, badly acted rubbish: in particular, the annoying super-fast edits are so noobishly straight-out-of-film-school, as are its naive attempts at social commentary amidst the gory horror - best to stick to the films it tries to borrow from

À l'intérieur (****)
the construct of nightmares: absurd, bloody, implausible, surreal - that it works is entirely thanks to the incomparably haunting presence of the magnificent Béatrice Dalle, whose visage synthesises beauty and horror as one