Monthly Archives: March 2015

March 26, 2015

Playthings of the Wind

By DP

In recent weeks, we have been rediscovering the poems of Carl Sandburg, a voice whose powers and depths we may not have fully appreciated in past readings. We are particularly moved by the below four preludes to his extraordinary Playthings of the Wind, that beat at the heart of his 1920 collection, Smoke and Steel.

Written in the wake of the First World War, the cycle anticipates many horrors still to come in the American Century. The poems also resonate deeply with many of the core preoccupations of our desperado philosophy; the past is a bucket of ashes, oh yes — and how do we read the scrambled footprints of the rats in the dust of our grand delusions? Nothing like us ever was.

Three studies for John Singer Sargeant’s 1919 “Gassed” are followed by an image of the finished painting.

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WELL, WHAT OF IT?

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TWISTED ON BROKEN HINGES

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AND THE GOLDEN GIRLS CAME SINGING

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GASSED

Leave a comment | tags: Carl Sandburg Playthings of the Wind | posted in bearings, buoys, DP

March 18, 2015

Reading the Ashes

By DP

We are pleased to spread the word about a new music compilation release from the Dark Mountain Project, guided by the finely-tuned and freely-roaming ears of Marmaduke Dando. The entire release is well worth download and careful listening; as we write this, we are humming along with Telling the Bees:

The title for the release descends from Carl Sandburg, through a “panel” in his remarkable 1920 collection, Smoke and Steel. The first panel reads:

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In position six, we find ashes laughing at ashes:

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In the penultimate position 13, we find the scorched Fire Pages that caught the attention of the estimable Mr. Dando:

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Still cleansing our souls from the toxic brew of leveraged singularity, we are stopped cold by what follows:

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We look out at the snow on the meadows burning off into the storm drains, fire running as far as the sea, and shout all over God’s heaven; more Carl Sandburg next week.

Leave a comment | tags: dark mountain project, death comes once, marmaduke dando, reading the ashes, sandburg smoke and steel, telling the bees | posted in bearings, buoys, DP

March 11, 2015

Worthy of All Perversity

By DP

We take note of the following blare of trumpets, announcing the Age of Human Immortality, with the support of none other than Google – no stranger to the vanity business:

Those seeking a deep exploration of the ethical and philosophical issues surrounding the human compulsion to muck with absolutely everything, even evolutionary biology, will have to look elsewhere. Can there be anything more culturally toxic than the convergence of the “singularity” with venture capital? For relief from such blather, we turn to Caravaggio and Borges:

LET’S PROLONG THIS MOMENT FOREVER

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FOREVER ENTRANCED BY THAT MOST SECRET FORM

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RIPPLES ON THE VERGE OF DISSOLVING

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The vanity of the likes of Ray Kurzweil and his acolytes in the Church of the Singularity blooms without limit. We urge that Google rent out the Rose Bowl, and assemble therein for a command performance of the Janáček opera, The Makropulos Case:

Ah, but not to worry. Bill Maris elsewhere provides the following assurance:

And the beauty of it is you can always opt out. If you don’t want that extra time, you can always opt out of the system, but I don’t have an interest in opting out of the system, nor do I want the people that I love opting out. It’s not about scary immortality. What if your grandmother didn’t have to die of congestive heart failure or some debilitating stroke where she can’t move half her body? Wouldn’t that be a good thing? I find that generally when I can talk to people about it and take some of the scary unknown away it becomes less intimidating.

Leave a comment | tags: Borges the immortals, google vanity industry, janacek Makropulos, kurzweil narcissism | posted in bearings, DP, riptides

March 5, 2015

Dreaming in Infrared

By DP

Now comes former drone pilot Brandon Bryant, with the courage and conviction to recount his experience for public consideration. Like Heather Linebaugh before him, Mr Bryant gives voice to the hidden injuries inflicted by such duty; an excellent report on TomDispatch neatly summarizes the consequences of prolonged service as a drone pilot. Mr. Bryant was also interviewed at length on KNPR.

Below, we knit together several quotes from Bryant into a continuous statement for DP reflection, keeping in mind our earlier critique of Bradley Strawser’s philosophical explorations regarding the morality of drone warfare. The images are paintings from the imagination of Joby Baker, an artist with deep insight into the spirit of our times: