Welcome to the June edition of "Above Ground Testing", this issue, I want to examine and review some of the material that has been filling my shelves and my hard drive.....
Yeah,
well that was the plan. Welcome to the July issue of "Above
Ground Testing". I thought about doing a June issue, but my life
has been upside down as of late, and so instead of hitting myself over
the head and try to put something together I have conceded the point and
decided to make this a double issue, but more important this is my third
anniversary issue. Just think, this thing has been ongoing for now
three years. What a thought. As I look over the last year,
it's been quite an experience. Some of the highlights was my Interview
issue, my Ralph issue and of course my issue dedicated to Australian poetry.
Let me say I was excited about the last one. Australian poetry is
incredible and if you haven't experienced yet, just check out the past
issue of this ezine- you will be enamored with it all. So much work
is coming out of Australia, all that is molded by the land, history and
experience of the people. Personally, that issue has to be the crowning
issue in the short history of the zine. I want to again thank all
those who contributed to its pages, your work made it possible.
As always, its your work that does make this special, without your contributions,
this would have ceased to exists a long time ago.
So, what else has been happening in the life of the ezine? Don't
ask, I can say I've been in a three month funk, kind of a bit of stress
been piling up, I've even been going through a writer's bloc, or an editor's
bloc, whatever. However, last night I began to visualize myself writing
and editing so its getting over. This is the danger when its a one
person operation, if you don't want to do it, it don't get done.
(the following has been a "Confessions are us").
What else, well, just got a new to me computer, its a bit faster then the
old one so I'm able to enjoy a lot more things, for example, I've got the
winamp player set to an internet radio station called "Blue Mars One",
you can reach it at: http://www.bluemars.org,
it features ambient music of a 'space' nature. I'm listening to it
and I have as my visual "Oh my God, its full of stars", so its a great
effect. The station has as its sub-title, "Music for the Space Traveler",
so if you're ever feeling a bit "out of world" and want to get lost without
leaving your computer desk, give it a try. It gives some background
to the artists, links and a forum to express your opinion. So, with
this issue, I'm back on track, hey, I plan to start working on another
issue of "Avant Garde Times", so there you go.
Reviews
There are a couple of things I want to review this month, one is a record and the other a collection of essays.
The
CD for the month is "The Epic of Gilgamesh" by Tony Garone and a number
of musicians. The words are from the "Epic of Gilgamesh" which is
the ancient Babylonian epic. It can be considered the Babylonian
Genesis since it deals with such themes as the creation of the world, the
first humans, the flood and other events.
Let me share with you an interview I did with Tony.
1) what got you interested in the "Epic of Gilgamesh"?
I have always been interested in ancient history, specifically the Middle East. I was reading a book by Zechariah Sitchin, who traditional scholars consider to be on the "fringe". By that I mean he has some unique perspectives on ancient culture and our origins. Anyway, a chapter of one of his books dealt with Gilgamesh and the encounter with Huwawa, a god who protected the Cedar Forest (in Lebanon).
I had heard of Gilgamesh,
but had not read the Epic, and I thought that this encounter would
make an incredible song, because Sitchin's interpretation of this
battle was fascinating. So I went out and bought Maureen Gallery Kovac's
translation of the entire story and I was hooked. That's when it
hit me to do a "musical interpretation" of the The Epic of Gilgamesh.
2) For the music, did you have an idea for the tunes, or did the words dictate the style of music?
The music was a complicated process. Some of the music came before the words, but most of the music I wrote after I had written the words. Gilgamesh was originally written on twelve clay tablets, and the story is typically broken into twelve sections because of this. Originally I wanted to write music for each tablet. However, because of the complexity of the story I found that to be impossible. So I decided to pick what I felt were the most significant events and go with that.
I took each tablet and wrote my lyrical "interpretation" of that tablet. Then edited that down to the most significant events that occurred in that tablet. I took that and edited it into a song/verse format. I wrote the music after that was done. This process took about a year.
3) How did you collaborate with the various musicians?
I was never in the same room with any of the musicians with the exception of my children, John Sergio and Marcie Schreier (both of whom came to visit). Everything else was done using either emailing MP3 files or sending tapes through the postal service.
Typically I would write the "skeleton" of the song, and send that out to see what the other musicians would do with it. So I had no idea what they would be recording (because I physically wasn't there), and they had no idea what would end up on the final mix! So it really was a crap shoot for the most part - one that worked out very well.
Most of the actual "collaboration" was done over the phone or email, so I guess you could say there was very little "collaboration" in the traditional sense - a group of musicians sitting in a studio and working things out.
At one point I wanted to try a CU-SEE-ME session at Cavern Studios and StompBox Studios in NY, but that never materialized.
4) Is your work a return to the style of storytelling that might have been used when the epic was first spoken?
I tried to create that "campfire" feeling with the vocal arrangements -especially the first song. I wanted to draw people into the story - that's why I spent so much time working on the eastern scales and authentic instrumentation. I spent allot of time "on top of the mike" - getting real close to get a warm vocal sound. I mixed the vocals a little more upfront than I have in the past.
I think that story telling is a lost art, and unfortunately you don't find it around much anymore. Maybe Gilgamesh will inspire other musicians to look at some of the earlier mythology and stories of our past and create more interesting CDs.
One can only hope.
The
CD has been receiving rave reviews around the world, and certainly I will
add to the adulation. This is a fascinating CD, it is presents the
listener with some interesting lyrics and musical styles. Here is
a disc that will not be background music, because it will force you to
concentrate on the presentation. I would classify this as world music,
perhaps ancient world music. If you have any interest in ancient
history, its worth acquiring and listening. This is music for
the thoughtful person that I hope is characteristic of the readers of this
ezine. Certainly in our post-modern world, its worth our effort to
get back to the stories and myths that have been the bedrock of our culture,
even if it does mean going back a few thousand years.
For more information on this cd, visit Tony's web site: www.garone.net/tony/gilgamesh.html
My
second review is the book "Sowing Dragons" by Geoff Ryan. Geoff is
an officer of The Salvation Army in Canada. He has had an interesting
career, he has served in an native Indian village in northern BC and for
the past decade been a reinforcement officer in Russia. His work
has included the region of Chechnya during the time of civil war.
This is not a nice little devotional book, its a hard hitting book that
causes a person to consider their own faith and how they are articulating
that faith to the surrounding world. It is a book that will get the
reader angry, at themselves, their local church and denomination, perhaps
even at God, for allowing some of the injustices to occur. Ryan's
faith has been tested and found worthy. His theology has been tested
on the battlefield, both figuratively and literally and he has the right
to write the way he does. The book includes many personal examples
which bring out his points.
At the present time Geoff and his wife Sandra are working for The Salvation
Army in Toronto Canada, they are doing a work in one of the tougher areas
of the city. He is endeavoring to explain the historic reality of
Christianity to a post-modern world, one can only hope that he is fortunate.
The subscription of the book is; 'Essays in Neo-Salvationism", I asked
him about the title and this is his reply: "I
guess the heart of the matter is people who would define themselves as
Salvationists and have made a commitment to stick it through with this
movement yet who love it enough to realized that it desperately needs to
change ...They carry very much the trappings of their fore bearers but
do it in a different way in the present day context...'
This book is not an attack against a particular denomination but one that
could be read by a person belonging to any faith group, because it forces
one to examine the present by the past.
If you are interested in finding more information, visit the Salvation
Army website.
Poetry
With my extended Holiday, at least in the mental part, I haven't been getting the word out about the ezine. Yet, a number of brave souls did write and submit their work, so please sit back and enjoy reading these works. May I suggest these are fabulous and have a variety of themes and styles.
Two in
the morning, a hand-
me-down
lady sleeps in the dreams
of her
trash bags
while,
notebook in hand,
our hero
sneaks from curb to darkened
courthouse
in search of a quest or
at least
a good quote.
He could
catalog folios full
of great
deeds bound
in library
leather, but all
of them
are dead.
Tonight,
how many babies
in a
city’s trash cans?
EASTER CHICKS
Every
year, in the week around Easter
Father
brought home a crate of pastel
yellow
chicks. Such twitcherings
in a
pen beside the kitchen stove
which
Mother kept stoked for chicken-
comfort.
They grew to pullets
in the
big fenced yard, a scuttering
for bugs
and mash. Sleek feathers.
In time
they offered breakfast eggs,
yolks
beaten into chocolate cake
(those
dark sweet lickings). Then
one by
one they were gizzards
in the
kitchen sink, and Sunday dinner.
Come Easter,
a whole new generation
of baby-yellow
chicks would rise again
from
the feed store.
TO GRANDMOTHER’S HOUSE
It’s no
holiday with 3 kids
in the
backseat, bubble-gum & a
spilled
Coke, your knuckles
on the
steering. All afternoon
you’re
squinting against sun
off chrome.
The kids gave up
a couple
of states ago on this
roadtrip
as hilarious adventure.
Hypnotic
centerline, slipping
gas gauge.
And you, avoiding
the quirk
of what you might see
in a
rearview mirror – not just
one kid
whopping a younger,
but your
own eyes staring
back.
So many exits
flashed
across the notion
all this
was in the stars.
PUTTING THE PAPER TO BED
Tuesday
evening late, the glass front office
dark.
Dregs of coffee, the last of the take-out
pizza,
cardboard trashed. Here in back,
you’ve
snatched the final sheets from your Royal,
waved
them past the copy desk, on to linotype.
A high
school senior abroad reports on an outbreak
of malaria
in 27 column inches. Results
of the
Ripsnorting Junior Champion Rodeo.
The weekly
fountain of all-the-news-that-fits
is trickled
dry. We’re only waiting
for your
banner headline. 11:23 p.m.
It doesn’t
fit. Try another angle.
Above
the paste-up table, the blank
clock’s
ticking. And still it doesn’t fit.
Taylor Graham
piper@innercite.com
Dark silence
speaks to me
at a
pitch only I can hear.
The noise
inside my head
drowns
blissfully unconscious.
Pain
outside floats away
like
faded shadows of yesterday.
Then you
arrive to visit me,
to speak
to me. Blessed Muse,
color
my dreams Technicolor hues!
My trust
in you imbues
creative
mist with the form
and fashion
they need
to carry
me away.
Dawn comes
too soon,
and I
beg you to stay.
But,
as always, you melt away
with
the sun of the new day.
Valerie
Schwander
On the
rooftops
Running
from fear
I cannot
go much longer,
I think
the end is near.
Sensing
the bullets whizzing by my head
If I
stop running, I will be dead.
One to
the shoulder, one to the leg,
At this
time I can no longer beg.
I can
stop running; I've gone off the ledge.
10, 9,
8, 7, flying off the edge.
6, 5,
4, 3, keep in mind of what I said.
2, 1,
0, "Game Over" flashes, and the screen goes red.
Dmaster
When I was a small boy we had an iron cook
stove it was a Glenwood,
It was made of black cast iron with chrome trim,
I remember that it would give you heat,
But you had to give it lots of wood.
Now this was during the depression days,
The food that came from that old Glenwood
It may not have been the finest fare,
But the cook and that old stove made the food real good,
Mom, like a fireman on the railroad, surly could fire that
old Glenwood.
The cakes, pies, and bread that came out of the oven of
that old Glenwood,
There was none that could compare, now that was always
understood,
Oh, how I wish I could feed that old stove more wood and
watch the cook as she prepared the food that was so good,
Now all that is left is the memory of Mom, the food, and
that old Glenwood.
LeRoy
Doran
Oh my
little cockyroach
How you
run so fast
I spray
you with insecticides
But still
you always last
You scuttle
to and fro
And get
inside my food
And when
I have guests around
You're
really just so rude
You wait
for the perfect time
To run
across their plate
But one
day there'll be half of you
And that
will seal your fate
Cause
you won't be seen one time
You'll
be part of someone's lunch
N' you'll
give their sandwich
That
extra special crunch
So I
wait for the time
Of your
sweet demise
When
I serve you to my friends
As a
tasty roach suprize
Mother Walden
Jazz
sonnetanku variation of an untitled piece by Henry David Thoreau
Sonnetanku
concept by D.A. Boucher
My mother
lies in
Walden's
stony shore and sand
ornaments
to her.
She's
in each hollow
flows
through its deepest water
and lives
close to God.
My thoughts
turn to her
she can't
be nearer to me
in my
heart she'll be
I watch
as she floats away
ashes
scattered by my hand.
By each
breeze that blows
her spirit
passes over
all that
Walden is.
Sound haiku andrews mix
Vrooom,
Vrrrrrr, Rrrrmm, Vroom, Screech
Vrrroom,
Rrrooom, Screech, Vrrroooom, Screech, Crash, Cool!
Andrew's
playing cars.
Abe Vigoda
More than
6ft tall
A very
scary dude
His stance
is terrifying
His voice
is kina crude
His eyebrows
are so bushy
He is
always gruff
Everyday
I watch him on TV I just can't get enough
Abe vigoda
Abe Vigoda
Scares
me out my wits
Abe vigoda
Abe Vigoda
Causes
epileptic fits
Abe vigoda
Abe Vigoda
Makes
me drop a stool Ugh!
Abe vigoda
Abe Vigoda
I think
he's really cool
He must
be from a planet
very
deep in space
or he
is a demon
with
an old man's face
I watch
him on the tube
and a
chill runs down my spine
but by
the end of every show I'm feelin' mighty fine
Abe vigoda
Abe Vigoda
Scares
me out my wits
Abe vigoda
Abe Vigoda
Causes
epileptic fits
Abe vigoda
Abe Vigoda
Makes
me drop a stool Oof!
Abe vigoda
Abe Vigoda
I think
you're really cool
Ryan Travis
Having
a new computer means I've inherited a new program and a lot of new fonts,
so I'm going to break the rules and include as many fonts as possible.
I do realize that if your computer doesn't have them, it doesn't matter
at all, does it.
I read
an article in the local paper about ezines. Seems a number of them
have bit the dust, since many who have thought they could make money on
this things have been disappointed. No kidding. Still, there
are a lot of ezines out there, many of them put out by someone sitting
in their basement by their computer, just typing away and hoping someone
might read their words. Yes, there is no money in this thing, even
all those suggestions I keep sending the government have failed to loosen
the famous money strings that is the Canadian federal government.
Maybe I should vote Liberal.... Nah, ain't worth it, whoops, just
kidding those who will be reading my application for that fabulous government
grant.
As I
said in my second introduction, it has been a fascinating year of publishing,
and I'm looking forward to an even better year. What sort of things
am I planning, haven't a clue but if the work I have received over the
past month is any indication, it will be great. Thanks again to all
who take the time to read and send work. This past year has seen
more contributors then ever before and I look forward to more writers sending
me their works.
If you
want to send me your work, or perhaps an essay or a review or a rant or
want to write a letter to be published, do so. Send your work to:
pabear_7@yahoo.com. As always, all work is copyrighted by the
various authors, respect their rights. Everything else in this ezine
is from my hand and so I take full responsiblity for what I write.
©2001. The web page is located at: https://www.angelfire.com/on/abovegroundtesting.
If you're looking for something new, I don't work on it too much, maybe
this summer. Look for the next issue early in August, send your work,
don't be shy.