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William S. Burroughs - The Western Lands
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
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And, having - not "tired" per se, but in need of something to alleviate Cherry-Garrard's "The Worst Journey in the World" - I mean, I've been there, with Shackleton, with Scott, this, it's a new POV for sure, but I read travel literature as much for the descriptions of place, people and custom as much as the difficulties they overcome.
And these trials, the Antarctic, the penguins, the killer whales breaking up the ice looking for an easy meal (curious, who wouldn't be), the ponies, dogs, well, the blazing pack ice and sun, the frigid, sterile, cold Antarctic...
Enough...
Although, to be fair, what with the big global thawing underway I'm pretty sure there will be some treasures exposed, some creeks to be panned, gems to be mined, and damn whatever convention that holds that continent for Science I want to be there when these treasures are exposed!!! But there are no geologists on this expedition...
Anyways, Cendrars not having yet arrived (after the termination of Canada Post's Strike) I was looking for something to read, and I stumbled upon a pile of William S. Burroughs books. Which I thought I would have read by now, but, strangely, I haven't.
So I pick up "The Western Lands". And I'm loving it. I mean, it's completely the opposite of whatever else I was reading, and his junkie's obsession with Centipedes, poisonous/venomous snakes/octopi/spiders/etc, well, it's rather completely up my alley. At the moment. Or merely it's the contrast to the stark realities of polar exploration...
"I'll have what he's having..."
Christmas 2024 passed with a couple of great authors, a little too much Vodka (Stoli, which does less damage) and too much time on my hands, not well used. There's always next year...
So I'll leave you with "A Junkie's Christmas" by William S. Burroughs.
The Power Outage
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Blog
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Friday night, after I had went to bed and read about it all over Facebook on Saturday.
A power outage, lasting perhaps a couple of hours. During which some of our more unhoused residents took it upon themselves to build a fire in a park just outside of the 24 hour cafe recently opened to honour the memory of one of Nelson's more popular street people.
You knew it would go like this, never anyone has a good idea to benefit the unhoused then they find a way to turn it upon themselves. So this fire, illegal, is called into the fire department, and a local resident is on hand to film the ensuing interaction, identifying the main party through a freeze-frame CSI-styled dropdown of his rap-sheet - which includes manufacturing of a controlled substance, distribution of said substance, death threats, etc, etc.
I know him to see him, he's always been pleasant to me, but tonight he's not behaving...
They're going on about it being a "State of Emergency" and all sorts of other free men on the land nonsense. The neighbours to this cafe, they can't be too impressed...
Meanwhile, across town, in front of city hall a local has charged police officers with a concealed weapon (knife). He was tased, shots were fired, and he was taken into custody, previously he'd been convicted a couple of years prior to stabbing somebody in the neck at Shambala. It's a big deal, city hall is cordoned off, police tape, everyone's asking questions...
***
The local resident, he's a bit of a commentator, he describes the nights events succinctly and with clarity. It's better than the news. And of course I have my own take, but I wasn't there (I watched his video) - he's reasonable in his criticisms, mostly of the flavour that "Something needs be done" and "We know these people are threats and yet still they're allowed to walk around...", and he's not wrong, but looking at all the comments and the audience he's reaching, well, this challenges my thinking. It's by-and-largely the more opinionated hand-wringing moral imbeciles taking affront to the idea of extending any sort of assistance to these people or grossly generalizing that all of them are the same. The good thing is, reading who's in agreement forces one to rethink one's own point of view on the subject...
A garbage media diet, and Sushi Chef Rapping...
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Watching a lot of inane YouTube videos, true crime style docs in the style of JCS that use real bodycam and interrogation footage to go deep into the psychology of criminals.
And, as of late, with the increase in these technologies, there's a lot. I mean, a mind-buggering shit-tonne of sociopaths, from 91 year old grandpas that kill their adult children, to carefree gangs, murderous husbands/wives/mothers/fathers/serial killers/etc.
And the most terrifying thing is how well they fit in, how - not precisely plausible, but if you didn't ask the right questions, or - as in our current state of surveilled society, with internet, dashcam, security camera footage, phone records, gps data - might well go unsolved. Also remarkable and still - despite mountains of evidence to the contrary - how many women are up to the same murderous antics. 20 years ago they wouldn't have believed it - look at Karla Homolka & Paul Bernardo - but now there's more than enough evidence to say equality - at least in the low end of human nature - has certainly been reached.
The better ones use real interrogation footage. The worse ones use stock footage and simply voiceover the events. There is a difference. Anyways, one particular one - I'll save you watching the entire thing - a quick summary might be as follows:
Young successful married professional (engineer) does a "Thrill Killing" and gets caught. It's just a murder because he can and thinks it will be fun.
Anyways, following his capture he has these conversations with his wife, which are quite probably the most sublime(?), ridiculous and at the same time terrifying thing you've ever heard.
Link YouTube; conversation only
Which should give you an idea of how completely alien these people's mindset is. I mean, I can imagine a lot of heinous things, but this, well, this argues (like a lot of them) for very swift and merciless Capitol Punishment.
****
Clear my YouTube history, you can too deep down these rabbit holes and eventually it'll keep you up at night. What is most terrifying is that I've met (we all have, I'm sure) more than a few of these people, and that if only circumstance were different we'd as well be prey.
***
From that to work, where the Sushi Chef has been writing his rap lyrics in the slower periods. He shows me a few of his videos.
I actually search for "Sushi Chef Rapper" on YouTube and discover it's a fucking thing.
And somehow it gets my mind turning...
I start listening to Eminem - "Not Afraid" and "Love the way you lie". Maybe I've heard them before, but this is the first time I've listened to them, proper.
I'd excuse myself, the whole hip-hop rapper culture, toxic masculinity, posturing, racism, ghetto, misogyny, well, it's not my scene, not my themes. But I get how they resonate, don't admire but I can appreciate. (and yeah, I could actually rap that...)
I'm more an Aesop Rock sort of guy.
...but these tunes, well, the beats hit, the lyrics, well, they're to the purpose, I don't think they're the best but I admire the dense machine-gun imagery, the metaphors, the mixed beats and tunes and so I listen to them over and over, getting a feel for the rhythm and I think that I have some ideas for a new Sushi Chef in town...
Pitts River Museum in Oxford
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
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I was brought here by the rumour of a witch, trapped in a silvered glass bottle...
This varies from the usual Witch bottle, which are bottles filled with charms, fetishes, etc, usually laid in a foundation or threshold to keep witches out.
Scroll down and you'll see it:
Link: https://www.prm.ox.ac.uk/agu-nsi-bottle-rowan-loops
This was displayed in a different context as part of 7 part exhibition of "Presence and Absence" by Marina Abramović, who's show you can also view on the website. (Link here: https://www.prm.ox.ac.uk/event/marina-abramovic-pitt-rivers-museum)
I rather love these museums, that bring together objects of great antiquity and curiosity, little totems and trinkets who's ideas and associations far transcend the sum of their parts, and the varied and visually dense arrangement and curation.
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