Author: flyagaric23
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Gregory Arnott reviews Fly’s ‘Tale of the Tribe’
My broadest respects and thanks to Gregory Arnott for the kind and brilliant review, and for sharing a part of his journey, alongside and within my works.
Thank You.
–Steve
And thanks to Tom Jackson of RAWillumination for the BLOG POST.
Gregory Arnott reviews Fly’s ‘Tale of the Tribe’
By Gregory Arnott
Special guest bloggerI was a latecomer to Maybe Logic Academy — I was there for its final hurrah in a semester that saw one of the classes I enrolled in cancelled and another with only two active students and an absentee teacher. I can’t even remember how I found out about it — something to do with how one can wander over the Internet while working a boring office job. Anyways, that was where I first heard about The Tale of the Tribe.
Later, after I had read more about the Tribe and had read TSOG where the most complete piece of information on the book was in print at the time, I was talking about it to my friend as we stood outside looking at the stars on a hot West Virginia night; Robert Anton Wilson was basically going to explain communication, the Internet, and what was going on. My friend laughed — “finally!” he exclaimed. Robert Anton Wilson had been dead at least five years.
To say that Wilson’s unfinished Tale felt like a loss is an understatement. In one issue of Alan Moore’s Tom Strong the perfect man finds his heart’s desire as an illusion conjured up by a malignant alien intelligence; a copy of Joyce’s sequel to Finnegans Wake, Finn Wakes Agen. In Steven Moore’s Somnium the protagonist in the protagonist’s novel finds himself in a library of unwritten novels. There’s something sublime about an unpublished work or some valuable manuscript lost to time; it has been easy for me to remain tantalized by the lost promise of the Tribe.
This is all a rather lengthy way to say I was excited when I saw the release of Steven “Fly” Pratt’s Fly On The Tale of the Tribe. Pratt’s book is slim but dense with information — it’s playful and thought provoking. Fly deals with the Current Situation and how Wilson’s ideas have endured into our young century; appropriately for one of the torchbearers of model agnosticism, the book is full of promise and puzzles. Like Higgs at the end of Stranger Than We Can Imagine, Pratt seems to bank on agnosticism as a solution to the increasingly chaotic information climate: but that’s beside the point as I believe Pratt is more interested in inspiration than pontification.
Much of the book is invitational — Pratt repeats throughout that it is critical to create one’s own “tale of the tribe.” One excellent example is given earlier in the book when Pratt points out that his and RAW’s cast of characters are all male — Pratt gives an example of a female “tribe” beginning with Ada Lovelace. Later in the book Fly lays out the schemes for two later tale of the tribe courses that could be reconstructed by the intrepid student. Pratt also gives a healthily circumspect view of Ezra Pound and his complicated life; at one point Pratt seems to decide upon using Ernest Fenollosa as the primary touchstone for Pound’s contribution to the tale of the tribe, ideogrammic language, as a deft sidestep when the fascist taint becomes too much with Pound. Of course Pratt makes sure to mention that Pound’s antisemitism was a phase that the poet regretted in later life. Everyone’s happy.
The most interesting ideas, for this reader, were the discussions of the hologrammic prose exemplified by Finnegans Wake and, this part really hooked me, Alan Moore’s Jerusalem. Fly is one of the few commentators I’ve seen who have given Moore his due: Jerusalem is a monumental masterpiece that will rank high among our race’s literary achievements if Providence is kind enough to ensure some sort of posterity. Fly is able to explicate how breathtaking the scope of the work is, as it encompasses art, magic, and the facets of our reality, and we seem to have similar tastes, go figure, since we both consider the chapter “Round the Bend” as the crowning achievement of the novel. (He even shares my love of Moore’s The Black Dossier!) In many ways “Round the Bend” serves as a magnificent realization of Tom Strong’s lost novel — it is a sequel or a continuation of Finnegans Wake. The whole of Jerusalem could be seen as something similar or as an essential commentary on Joyce’s goals but that would belie the empirical majesty of Moore’s work.
While talking about the epic Cosmic Trigger play produced and directed by Daisy Eris Campbell Fly waxes rhapsodical: “Co-create a Universe, a theatre of the mind where each and everyone of us can work on many levels of synchrony, consider set and setting, speech and place. Make the invisible visible.” Marching orders to make one’s head turn.
Pratt’s little book will give the reader a lot to think about and chew on — it is a text that is meant to send you into the hinterlands of language to find the foundations of our reality. I’ve brushed over a lot of Fly’s work in the book, partly for the sake of length and partly because I am still figuring out my thoughts and plans for the ideas he brings to the table. Suffice to say that this is an indispensable piece of scholarship for the RAW fan and an all around Important Book. RAW’s original book may have not been able to come to life but Fly proves that the tale of the tribe is still being told and is ready to be explored at any moment. Personally, I’m just grateful Fly made sure to include Moore in RAW’s canon. The book’s cover art is by, the Tenniel to RAW’s Carroll, Bobby Campbell whose illustrations implicitly make a connection between Fly and the green-skinned Mescalito. Pay attention.
As a postscript to the Maybe Logic story — it was through Maybe Logic that I found Tom’s blog so even when the initial attraction is in bits and pieces it can lead to something satisfying. The tale of the tribe isn’t over until the last monkey stops squawking.
http://www.rawillumination.net/2019/05/gregory-arnott-reviews-flys-tale-of.html
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No Brexit Party No
Brexit Party, No. I’m a European, I live and work and love in Europe. (Edited from a morning rant posted unedited, and so with angry overtones, and irresponsible conclusions)
I remain politically aloof, although…my opinions are clear and published on matters concerning UK citizens today. Aristotelian politics, the arts, history, philosophy, music, poetry, culture, conspiracy, these are some themes I have dedicated my life long study to. And I can tell you that the Brexit Party, and the ERG, and UKIP, and anything connected with Steve Bannon is rotten to the core. Voting consciously, humanly might be your best bet to secure a future.
If you are thinking of voting Brexit Party, but not sure, inbox me, we can talk this through. I’m not saying I don’t want to talk about this, or even change or modify my mind, IF….somebody can present an argument (For Brexit Party, and/Or Brexit) that is coherent and based on solid information, not some dodgy Fortress Europe paranoid fantasy, or baseless racist ideology dressed up as a political strategy. (e.g, Theresa May’s hostile environment, and Farage’s Breaking Point campaign.) As I said, I like to write and to tackle difficult questions, and strive to build bridges by encouraging brighter minds. The capacity to think, consider, suspend judgement, and kindle compassion. These are the tools to defeat fascism, from whichever polarised side
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Sollasina Cthulhu (The Hereford Cucumber Horror)
I contended in “they came to starburg” that the origin of cthulhu is located somewhere in Malvern (Hereford And Worcestershire) now this discovery lends some support…to my fiction.“An incredibly well-preserved fossil unearthed in Herefordshire has been named after a hideous creature from fiction: Sollasina cthulhu.”#SeaCucumbers#Cucumbertime -
Where are the love preachers?
Hi, well not you, and you and you. This is for the greater public to chew on. Where are the love preachers, the fully qualified and respected religious and non religious humans demonstrating all around the world love, tolerance and compassion. Any leads?
Oh yeah, well there are loving Buddhists. Some but not all Buddhists demonstrate such perpetual positive love vibes that I am hinting at. Yes, I agree. To play devil’s advocate, however I ask, outside the buddhist center, where do I tune into love preaching and practice, made to reach all the divided people? Yes, sure, everybody should take a look at basic Buddhist doctrine and adopt and learn from their well versed practical systems, which include attention to mind body speech, and techniques to train and relax. To work to attain clarity of beingness, all the good stuff. Yes. If you can turn Netflix off, and get away from Instagram and snapchat, Buddhist teachings teach and preach love. I answered my own question, but remain unsatisfied when I look around at the chaos and division, the ideology and entrenched positions. The lack of willingness to accept new data, instead, preferring to stand solid like a rock, unmoving.
The unfortunate truth that I deduce in the land of Trump and Brexit, reflects an atmosphere of nihilism. A case of throwing the baby out with the bathwater. What I see as a new combination of groupthink and nihilism, “it’s all fucked”, “All politicians are the same”, “All religions are crazy” “All poor people are stupid”, “all bankers are criminals”. The hopeless require love, crushing fierce love that sneaks upon their being, gifting them with understanding, a two-way conversation in the interests of peace throughout the nation.
All convictions make convicts. I digress, here I’m trying to refine my theme, where are the love preachers (in popular culture) these days. Some might say Russell Brand, and I agree that from a UK perspective, he fits the role. If we can overlook his history, check our ignorance, Big Brother, and Ms. Perry, I can agree that yes, Rusty Rockets demonstrates a consistent compassion in his public facing, often independently crafted communiques. Plus he preaches in some sense, he’s not afraid to speak with an instructive tone and authority, which I feel is important here. He’s not a performance poet, yet still exhibits a playful prose. Kudos. Besides Russell Brand, then, who and where are the UK love preachers, and where is the support, the resources and the platforms for such needed love preaching training? We need a planning committee for huge future love preach events at this critical moment in UK history. I call for a new love-in, a new trans-love energy field. Fight tight fists with open arms, fight lies and coercion with relative truths and invitations to think. Leaving and arriving is a part of the process.I’m talking about Curtis Mayfield love, about unconditional love for all sentient beings, Rumi love, the love and forgiveness and understanding often ascribed to angels, but clear and present and without doubt, dancing on the tip of the tongue of our leaders, and public intellectuals and representatives. We need love training camps, love to mean understanding and tolerance, a love rehabilitation movement from coast to coast, continent to continent. As Bill Hicks said, “love all the people”. Teach them by example, love to mean acceptance, love to mean fierce blessing and passionate expression. We need trans love energies in all our hearts and bodies and minds.
And where possible, scientific love, exploration of synonyms for love and the introduction of love’s sibling, peace. All words that connect positive actions, all the ways of othering. Know thyself, love others when you find intellect.
My own feelings, due to my model agnostic outlook, and willingness to adopt and even believe (temporarily) almost anything, religious ideas like infallibility, spiritual practices like meditation, falsification theory and scientific reasoning, suspension of judgement. The joy of philosophy for me, and the study of consciousness, and social psychology and art and poetry, and music, is to discover new ideas, new arguments, new data. I maybe overly afflicted with forces of neophilus, and less willing than most to adopt a conservative attitude. However, any path forward for the unity of people and cultures divided by political matters, must include othering. We must be able to listen, at least, to the other point of view. And this may require some very clever, smart and collaborative intelligence from independently minded, everyday compassionate people. What I’m calling love preachers.
I am willing to go that extra few yards here, and remind you that loving thy enemy can be fun and in fact, at its most potent thrives on comedy, laughter, and mockery of the opposite, and opposing forces of love, and peace. To mean, prejudice, racism, xenophobia, and homophobia are targets for any love preacher, serious about contributing something useful to society now. Today. Unlike many other religious organizations and government departments, who continue to make grande claims about moral and ethical superiority, and use the same words such as love, peace, justice, but in a different context, the new love preacher stands dogma free. The love preacher avoids absolutes, and communicates in a probability informed language of nuance, and prose.
Get out there and preach love, man, get up in the face of the people with unusual understanding and examples of tolerance. In love you will find optimism, in optimism, love. Speak truth to power, sing sweet to sour, sing songs of sunshine during an unexpected April shower.
–Steve Fly
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TribeTable Method
Turntable Futurists, Custom Designers, Scientists, Rhythm & Hardware Engineers, Cultural Commentators, Comedians, screenwriters united. The scratch DJ and the science fiction author wrestle with past-present-future forces. Using turntable hardware, and records (past), live streams (Present) and predictive intersection points for musical jams (future) whisking up all the tenses.
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Climate Transformation By Human Ignorance
Holy shit!
My response to reading this:If we were to be honest, really open up and try to comprehend reality
We might begin planting trees tonight, naked, sweating in panic.
Begin campaigning to end fossil fuel use tomorrow, quick flash
Might dump the car / motorbike / and jam all engines of destruction
We might pray for forgiveness for all the plastic we ever used
and then threw away, pray it does not haunt us tonight
Pray that the seeds germinate in time, and nations plant billions worldwide, hurry hurryIf we were to see the reality of climate change, as it actually is, we might scream “NO”
We might throw ourselves in front of bulldozers, stop fracking with hunger strikes
Suddenly campaign day and night for regulation and strict laws
Demanding a curbing to the huge global industrial monsters burning fossil fuels
We might plead with the military to scale it back, stop all wars immediately
stop wasting energy on killingry. Man. Stop it.
Denial? Time to look the facts in the face, we fucked if we don’t plant trees man
Time to look abroad, to mean, outer space? (say what)
Maybe Bob and Tim were right after all?
Maybe they foresaw the trajectory of the humans scrawled on the wall
And thought, we gotta’ get off the planet damn it?
No, silly, it’s not that they didn’t want to save it, good god, how they tried
But perhaps they saw the downward trend into narcissism and ignorance
And realized, “we have to look elsewhere, a jail break from prison planet”
Okay, far out, but just keep that in mind and
Stop burning fucking fossil fuel, please. For your children’s sakes, at least.
You might start a band, write songs and make a movie , desperate to speak
Tweekin’ at the thought of total environmental collapse
Keep Calm and carry on being a smug self righteous douche’
Take no notice, carry on regardless, project climate fear, fingers in ears, head in beers
Tears may roll down your cheek when you get a peek at the future
And you could have spoken out, you could have done more (I damn well could have)
Bleak for humanity bleak for the planet to be honest
Who is honest these days? We all want to smooth things over with
“It’ll be all right bab” well no. I say, It will not be feckin’ all right.
Wake the fuck up and smell the glacial melt and methane releaseDo whatever it takes, my advice
Plant TREES. (Why not make em’ skunky and hempy)love all the people
–steve fly
DEEP SCRATCH 