Stars

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5 minutes

Stars is a piece written by Eriks Esenvalds for Vocal ensemble and Wineglass back in 2011. Its lyrics are about being alone on a hill, looking up at the heavens. The last word of the piece is ‘majesty’ – describing the human experience of viewing the stars. It’s one of my favourite choral pieces.

The lyrics are from American Poet Sara Teasdale‘s poem of the same name.

I have Teasdales Rivers to the Sea collection, which I picked up years ago in Oxfam Bookshop in Putney. Her most famous poem is probably the anti-war There Will Come Soft Rains which is collected all over the place. I keep meaning to seek out more of her books.

Esenvalds website reproduces the liner notes for the Stars:

The composer’s favourite tuned wine glasses are a constant presence in the piece, a glistening accompaniment to the glowing simplicity of this vision of ‘beating hearts of fire’ seen overhead on a still, dark night. The wondrousness of a ‘heaven full of stars’ is evoked by a radiant chorale before a repeated oscillation of a pair of chords, adding to the magic, recedes into silence.

I came across this version performed earlier this year and conducted by organist Anna Lapwood recently. It’s wonderful.

Sharing what you love, and things that speak to you deeply sure beats being mad about shit on social media.


Permanently Moved

Cover of Permanently Moved Podcast Episode 2241

Stock Take

Be aware, podcasting, blogging etc is a very different experience of social media than using big platforms. Firstly, you have to pay.

Photo 365

314/365

The Ministry Of My Own Labour

  • I started tracking time and effort whilst I was editing the podcast interview I recorded last week. It seems to me its taking me about 30mins to edit 10mins of audio. I don’t mind that it’s taking this long. But I have been reflecting on how the ‘fine sculpting’ that I do in 301 is carrying over into this new show. What I’m actually creating is a performance. rather than just an interview show.
  • Had some interesting social calls with people that have got in touch recentyl
  • First week of pt two of the New Centre course on DAOs I’m teaching took place on Thursday.
  • I’ll be keynoting a thing on web3 at Imperial university in March next year.
  • Nanowrimo / very personal creative project continues. I’m having a blast. Learning so much.
  • Hung out with ‘mystery man’ yesterday.

Terminal Access

Andrew Dana Hudson published a short story called The Co2lector a ‘carbon punk’ imagining possible carbon removal futures.

Dan Hancox published ‘Who remembers proper binmen?’ The nostalgia memes that help explain Britain today’ in the Guardian this week. A long read on boomer ideology.

Holly Herndon’s debut album Movement is 10 years old this month. I have it a re-listen, it really is ground zero for where she and Mat are today. You can hear it.

Online buds DB and Jessie recently started a substack called Banhe. This weeks edition contained Female Mystics | House Names | Makerspace Art | Magic Mike 3 | 18th Century Necromancers and more.

Dipping the Stacks

The “Cyber-Demon” From Harvard | Becca Lewis on Patreon

Take it from an article in the Stanford Daily in March 2004, which claimed that “Thefacebook.com is not a joke. It is now the single most important indication of your social worth at Stanford.”

Rewilding #4: Society of the Scalper – Chaoyang Trap

One widely shared qiang “technique” during the Shanghai Lockdown was using a massage gun to refresh grocery group buy apps at rapid speeds, to get first in line for veggies.

Luck-based medicine: My resentful story of becoming a medical miracle – Aceso Under Glass

You know those health books with “miracle cure” in the subtitle

Turns Out Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare II Disc Is Nearly Empty

Players who received early physical copies of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II have reported that the discs included contain only about 72MB of data, forcing players to connect to the internet and download the other 100+ GB of data to actually play the game.

From the Abstract to the Everyday: How Stories Dominate Every Facet of Our Lives ‹ Literary Hub

This mindless valorization of storytelling speaks to crucial facts in contemporary culture that need more analysis. Why is it that other forms of presentation and understanding have been largely abandoned in favor of telling stories?

Reading

After putting it down for about 11 months, barely past the introduction, I picked up Non Violent Communication A Language of Life by Marshall B. Rosenberg again. It really is a fantastic book. Healing the self and other though language. Improving lives basically. Radical honesty via a change in our default modes of expression. Mind blowing book. I’m about 35% of the way though. I have done NVC workshops before, which is why I glazed over when I started reading it. This book contains so much more than just ‘the principles of NVC’.

I picked up Void King by Marc Collins. It’s a Warhammer 40k novel about a set of deeply unlikeable people, who live their life in one of the most privileged roles in the entire setting. Collins handles their tone really well. I’ve only previously read his cyberpunk noir writing so interesting to see the tone/style shift for this novel.

Music

thejaymo.net Spotify Playlist

Abel Selaocoe – Where is Home (Hae Ke Kae)

OH MY GOD. This album is so full of incredible collaborations, so full of ideas, it fizzes and pops with aliveness.

It’s incredible. Check out the song Ka Bohaleng below. It’s a journey. Life expressed though vocal and instrument, like nothing else. I wanna see it all live.

Check out the preview/making of the album above. Here’s more about Abel.

South African cellist Abel Selaocoe is redefining the parameters of the cello. He moves seamlessly across a plethora of genres and styles, from collaborations with world musicians and beatboxers, to concerto performances and solo classical recitals. Abel combines virtuosic performance with improvisation, singing and body percussion, and has a special interest in curating recital programmes that highlight the links between Western and non-Western musical traditions, with view to helping classical music reach a more diverse audience.

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