FIRE! FIRE!
POUR ON WATER, POUR ON WATER
The world is on fire! Literally and figuratively. Don’t panic. The gap between the richest and poorest is growing, and seems set to keep growing, as nations continue to repeat history and vote for the toughest big-daddy they can, to protect them from foreign influences, or rather the foreign influences not paid for. Don’t panic. Often I think to myself…I’d like to retreat to a cave and sharpen my pencils, watch TV and be blissfully unaware of all the drama out there.” No, this is the last day of 2019 and we are awake.
2019, 365 days that changed the world? Much different from 2018? Hotter or richer or poorer? Here’s my round-up of things that impinged on my nervous system, balanced between events in my life and those on the world stage. 2019 was bittersweet. I could say, the world has gone to hell, but I’m all right Jack, but I try to avoid sounding like a self-centred idiot who only talks about himself and his interests. Truth, beauty, excellence and compassion are my weapons of choice. Lets burst the big pimples first. Let us not look away from the violence, but try to understand the root causes and organize together to prevent division and hatred.
To scrape the surface of the year in politics speak, from the opening play on January 1st, when right-wing fucktrumpet, Jair Bolsonaro started his unholy presidency in Brazil, and sets the worrying tone of the rise of right-wing populism across the world, ending in 2019 with Boris “Hard Right Brexit” Johnson, sweeping to victory after the dirtiest and expensive smear campaign Britain has ever seen, as if organized by United Snakes. Feb 1st, Trump signs off America from the mid-range Nuclear treaty, Putin responds with the same the next day. March 15, 51 people murdered in Christchurch, New Zealand, by a racist lunatic called Brenton. The same day, Greta Thunberg returns to Sweeden as a figurehead of a worldwide climate awareness movement. April 10th, first-ever image of a Black Hole M87 Galaxy, the first glimpse of Trump UK trade-deal. April 11th, Julian Assange arrested in London. April 21st, the Sri Lanka Terror attacks result in 500 murdered by religious extremists. April 29, Isis nut, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, releases footage of Sri Lanka Terror attacks, he’s clearly mentally ill but treated by the media as some kind of criminal mastermind. May 1st, Bad Vlad Putin signs the Sovereign Internet bill into law (In which he can hack British sovereignty at the source, sucks it all up, and funnel it back over to the Kremlin for the Skeksis to lap up.) May 6th, Syrian army launches ground attack on last rebel stronghold in the country. May 24th, Maybot plans shut down of her dancing queen program. June 3-5th, Trump balloon visits the UK and the Queen, cheeses with the Maybot and Boris the lapdog. June 7th, Maybot dancing queen stops dancing for Tories, a new beast is required to be born. July 17th, Netflix star, El Chapo, is sentenced to life in prison. July 24th, Boris Johnson becomes the UK prime mongrel, voted in by less than 0.4% of the UK. His lies begin in overdrive. August 3rd, mass shooting in a U.S Wallmart store leaves 23 people dead, the racist shithead shooter targeted Mexicans. August 10th, child rapist billionaire friend of Prince Andrew, Jeffery Epstein dies in jail, reports are that he killed himself? August 21st, Amazon wildfires rage as Bolsonaro does sweet fuck all. September 10th, Boris and the Tories prorogued Parliament, shutting it down in a Trump-like manner. September 20th, International climate strikes. September 24th, a British court ruled prorogued parliament was void, Boris did indeed do a Trump move. October 17th, Trump pulls U.S troops in Syria, away from helping the Syrian army, blessing Turkey to invade, all to “protect the oil”. October 19th, 1 million March in London for the second referendum on Brexit. October 27th, Trump announces that Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is dead, killed by American weapons. October 30th, Twitter bans all political advertising worldwide. November 21st, Ben Netanyahu is indicted on charges of fraud and bribery. Nov 26th, Chilean protests, 50 protestors require prosthetic eyes after police shoot in the face. December 12th, Tories win UK general election, with Boris leading the UK into a Brexit more than half the country does not want. “Just Get On With It,” combined with “Love Actually,” spoke in volumes to the soul of English exceptionalism. Dec 18th, the orange-to-peach balloon becomes the third U.S president in history to be impeached for meddling in the 2020 elections, the least of his long litany of crimes. Dec 20th, U.S Space force founded by the orange windmill king. Wildfires continue to burn across Australia, wiping out millions of animals and their habitats, homes, and some people, leaving Sydney in a hot fog, and new highest temperatures set every week. Ian Duncan Smith, the Godfather of Universal Credit and the war on vulnerable people in the UK, is bestowed a Knighthood by the British Crown. That about sums up the UK nicely, politically speaking.
Phew, but we made it through didn’t we? First off, a toast to those who didn’t, those that passed over to the great trade-deal in the sky in 2019, in particular, Jake Black, who I had the pleasure of knowing a little bit, rest easy friend. The Zen Bastard Paul Krassner checked out, one of my all-time favourite American’s, who first published a piece of my writing (Magic Mushrooms: From Toad Slime To Ecstacy, 2003,) and was present at a most memorable mind-bending afternoon with Robert Anton Wilson in Palm Springs, 2000. Paul kept in touch with me via email whenever he could write, his contributions to the western countercultural tradition are incalculable. Know his name. Paul Krassner, R.I.P. The great Dr John, and Art Neville, both natives of New Orleans had their traditional Jazz Funerals, and full musical send-offs, or carry-ons. And the psychedelic twin of Timothy Leary turned yogi and dharma teacher, Baba Ram Dass, passed into the clear light of bliss. Rutger Hauer and Ginger Baker also left the world stage leaving behind them large bodies of excellent art. To all my friends who may have lost a family member or friend this year, may they’re memory live on eternally and their souls rest in peace. One statistic that you can’t argue with overtime is that the older you get the more dead people you know. Honour your ancestors with life-affirming actions and thinking, music, merrymaking and contemplation as you see fit, that’s my best advice for dealing with the grief of 2020 and beyond. Enough about the dead, let’s get onto some of the living critters who have set 2019 alight, and who will certainly be caught playing with matches in 2020.
First, my three to watch and study in 2020. The goodies. If you take anything away from this year in review, make it these three names: Bruce Sterling, Cory Doctorow and Alan Moore. For me, the holy trinity of the next decade, each fully capable of turning it all around, if…IF…we could be so bold and brave as to listen, compute, understand, and share that good stuff. As Douglas Rushkoff said, program or be programmed. For me, the next decade will be dominated and in the hands of those who can program, write and juggle legal facts to the degree that Cory Doctorow is capable, present design-science innovation and tech-criticism to the calibre of Bruce Sterling, and synthesize Art and Magick in the grain of Alan Moore. And so, to the villains.
My first three to watch are predictable, Trumpet Booris Pootin. The three claws of the new Tsarist Anglo American alliance, playing cold war games with their billionaire friends, foes, and who the fuck knows. But that’s obvs. Steve Bannon is a better villain to keep your eye on, he’s smarter than Trump. In the same fashion, I’d say, learn from Jacob Reece Mogg, a nasty but smart English motherfucker, if you want to fight. Boris is the distraction like Trump, in 2020 you might be fitter if you filter-out the dog whistle alt. right bait, and the pumped-up lies and bluster guaranteed to be splattered all over 2020 UK tabloids. Reading and sourcing some Mogg literature, and a study of law will be much more helpful in the long run. Watch Tommy Yaxley Lennon Robinson if you like, but there’s nothing new to learn here since early hominids leant how to use clubs, you’d be smarter watching a chocolate fudge sundae melt, look for a worthy intellectual opponent in 2020. And, perhaps learn some self defense? Find the smartest racist you can, and study them. If you want to fight, take the strongest opposing argument to your own, first. Racism, Anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, Xenophobia are all built on a logical fallacy, and categorical untruth in the first place. A part of the problem in 2019 is that many are not doing philosophy and social psychology, and such intellectual pursuits are increasingly branded lefty cultural Marxism. In 2019 a meme goes around the world seven times before a PhD. thesiskeksis footnotes on! The domain of the thick, the stupid, and the ignorant, is the domain of categories and group-think. Overemphasis on nationality and not enough emphasis on the unique individual. The fact remains movements, based on gene-pool ignorance, are founded on lies and blind-faith based thinking, the opposite of scientific – research-based thinking. The wars of the words will continue up until the Chinese written character puts a backstop on the limping 26 letters, and English crumbles away into Finnegans Wake completely.
Highlights for me this year, personally speaking on a creative tip are, editing and releasing my paper The Entourage Effect At Finnegans Wake, concerning Cannabis Terpenes, and the perfumed language of James Joyce. Visited the Island of Kos in Greece with sweet Janne, spending quality time with cats on the beach, shells on the bottom of the ocean and the Tree Of Hippocrates, and the Hippocratic oath. Opened a night of funk and jazz in for DJ Eddie Pillar, who chatted for a while and made my weekend. Played a DJ set for Red Light Radio, and 3 sessions at the Hill Street Booze Bar in the centre of Amsterdam. For Radio Free Amsterdam I recorded more than 40 one-hour shows this year and made lots of artwork for the station continuing into 2020 with brother John Sinclair. I tracked some turntable work for a new tune with Garaj Mahal, that should be coming out in 2020, we will be jamming.
2019 marks the year I studied turntable beat-juggles, and in nine months, with an average of practicing around 10 hours per month, I can hold a beat, deploy a few tricks and new techniques. I will continue the practice, and craft some ready-made routines, and make some tight tracks. Maybe I’ll get out there for battle someday. Much of the driving impetus to learn to juggle and scratch better, came from working on my novel (trans-media project) called Deep Scratch. I figured that, if I’m writing about DJ’s I should learn to do what I’m writing about, with the bonus of making soundtrack material for the trans-media project. I started filming practice sessions, and uploading them to Youtube to help gauge any progress. In 2020 I may finally land on Serato software, a decade after every other DJ went over to the digital side. It’s not cheap to get up and running. Nuff’ about me? How you doing? If you got this far your probably thinking of books and albums that you like or want to make, and perhaps you have stories you want to tell? Now is the time, publish or perish. Be bold, say it loud. “Do it now!” Try not to lose your centre fighting the world. Please, check your facts in 2020, your life may depend on it. Oh, and do art.
If you want to link with my britinternational.org ensemble join me at Patreon.com/stevefly Make your own account and I’ll support you back. Or else, create some other such community-based network of like-minded individuals, help the vulnerable, the disabled, the homeless if you can. Visit them. I’d advise occasionally stepping away from the digital mobile-screen-world and reconnecting with community and nature in equal measure. Recharge you charity next to the stream. As cliche as that may sound. You will have to compromise at some point, you will have to let go, to be able to swing and grab something new, and let go again, things in motion and motion in things. Oh, and the post-quantum superimposition revolution, coupled with Artificial General Intelligence, Internet Of Things, 5G, and the global industrial military entertainment complex is sure to deliver some, lively, stuff. You need cognitive security! Maybe Logic and Multi-Model Agnosticism are a good place to start. Start now. Bladerunner, remember the future?
I raise a toast to an independent hand-made, hand-printed 2020, of and for the people. The new art and literature and ecological innovations are here with us. Stay awake. Love all the people. I wish you good luck and happy trails, enjoy every success on the path ahead.
xx
–Steve Fly
DEEP SCRATCH 