the unraveling

temporis

iskeptici — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 21:52:07 +0000

In honor of pi (π) day I thought I would post the latest mix of one of my new tracks (from the forthcoming Ouroboros 3.14159265 ep). Best enjoyed at high volume with a good set of headphones.

TEMPORIS

something new?

iskeptici — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 14:39:47 +0000

I’ve been working on a new musical project in my spare time (what there is of it!) and hope to have some finished material to post soon. I’m exploring some new sound spaces and excited about the direction so far. Loosely calling the new work “Ouroboros 3.14159265″. Field recording meets shoegaze doom dreampop. Or something.

the center does not hold

iskeptici — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 15:20:22 +0000

So, is anyone else getting a sick feeling in their stomach watching events unfold these days?

I just finished reading Nassim Nicholas Taleb’s excellent and provocative “The Black Swan”, so I’m not making any specific predictions on where things are heading, but it seems to me that we’re driving towards some seriously mean looking dark clouds.

A very successful friend and mentor once told me, “The truth is, no one knows what they are doing. The problem is that too many people think they do.” He wasn’t excluding himself or the most powerful people in the world from this statement (and he’s known a lot of important people). I consider this to be a very sharp and profound insight. Viewing the world through this lens has given me a new perspective that often makes me laugh, but usually makes me worry.

Since my daughter was born a few months ago I have not kept up with the news as much, but today seems to be particularly irritating. I see a lot of dots but no one is connecting them.

First off… Obama seems to have gone completely off the rails with a recent statement to Bloomberg about his buddies at JP morgan and Goldman Sachs… essentially that he doesn’t begrudge them their multimillion dollar salaries, given they are both “good businessmen”. Really? Because it seems to me they really fucked up and pretty much took our economy down. I can’t believe that Obama has been so thoroughly corrupted by advice from those assholes Geithner and Summers that he can’t see what a major public relations mistake this statement is. It does not bode well for “change”, or even for keeping us afloat. Seems like we’ve hit an iceberg and most of us are stuck in steerage.

In the meantime, other crises are popping up all over the place.

The tenacious and ever-lucid Elizabeth Warren has just issued a warning that a crash in commercial real estate is coming. I know you’ve all seen the empty buildings… it’s been subliminal but evident for awhile.

And don’t even get me started on the environment. A couple of idiot scientists do something stupid and it gets taken totally off the agenda? You can almost feel the politicians sighing over that one. Seriously though… while the specific outcome of global warming is essentially a Black Swan, we can’t deny that it’s not looking good for human civilization.

So while we all languish in economic hell, dumping our tax money into failing banks, our local cities running out of money, the government pumping the largest share of our budget into the military EVER in the history of our country, while sticking it to us on health care, jobs, and the environment… the guys who helped bring us to our knees are getting a free pass and millions of dollars.

Nice. God bless America.

For Sale: The US Government

iskeptici — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 14:11:41 +0000

Dear Corporations,
I would like to announce my candidacy for public office. Since the Supreme Court has now made it legal for you to spend money to influence elections, I am proposing a new, more cost-effective system to get the job done! Having 35,000 lobbyists on capitol hill is so 2009. Instead, I propose you give the money directly to the legislators. Let’s cut out the middlemen and bring plutocracy direct to the public! I will happily review any and all offers!

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/01/25

Go Veg!

iskeptici — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 13:17:53 +0000

I’ve been a Vegetarian for almost 2 years now… I eat great and feel great. There are a number of reasons I made this decision (mostly I believe it is one of the great ethical arguments of our age), but certainly the impact of livestock animals (and specifically the impact of factory farming) on the environment is a good reason to “lose the meat”. I encourage everyone to give it a try… even if you aren’t ready to drop it altogether, cutting back helps too… (and it’s good for your health!)

http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/go-veggie-to-fight-global-warming-says-expert-1810134.html

Truth or Fiction?

iskeptici — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 15:09:42 +0000

Can anyone tell the difference anymore? It irritates me when people ask “did you hear about the…?” in hopes of starting a water-cooler conversation about the drama of the week. Who cares? Aren’t there more important things to discuss? While Wall Street is dismantling the nation and the earth is on track to becoming unlivable, we are caught up in these banal and irrelevant infotainments. We need to revive our sense of skepticism in this country… there’s far too much bullshit that passes for “news” and a lazy attitude towards even the most basic fact checking. When it all falls apart no one can say we didn’t deserve it…

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/10/25-0

new extropy available now!

iskeptici — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 02:52:51 +0000

So what the hell… the album is ready to go and it’s not even Tuesday. You can grab it now from http://www.evolvesingularity.org Thanks for all the support.

New extropy - October 13th

iskeptici — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 15:55:44 +0000

I’m excited to announce that the new extropy record is finished. It’s my best work to date. I feel like I’ve managed to create something powerful here, something greater than myself… and as an artist it has exceeded my greatest expectations.

I’m torn between the belief that great art is beyond the commercial, and the feeling that our era of abundant “free” music and instant gratification has devalued it’s art to the point that it is almost worthless to most people. I have no illusions that this work is anything more than a labor of love. Nevertheless I want to share it in a way that does not reduce it’s value to zero. For this reason I am not going to give it away as a free download. I’m not intending to profit from this, only to insure that the listener must put forth some effort to “earn” the experience, even if it is a token amount. If this reduces the scope of it’s appreciation, so be it. I’ve put every part of myself into it’s creation and consider it a fair exchange.

The physical release will be limited to 20 copies, some of which will be allocated to close friends and family who have encouraged and supported me over the years. The remaining quantity will be available for $20 (incl. shipping within the US). The package is hand made, & hand embossed, with 2 Cds, and 2 12pg. booklets in an outer sleeve.

The initial digital release will be available as 2 .zip archives of full resolution audio files that can be burned to CD or converted to mp3/m4A/FLAC/or whatever format you prefer. I’m asking for a paypal donation of $5 (but you can donate more if you feel it’s warranted). You can barely get a sandwich for $5 anymore - so if you feel comfortable paying $5 for food that will be sewage in 24 hours, I hope you can swing it for art that will last forever.

The worldwide digital release will be later this year, but it will be available through Amazon, iTunes, and everywhere else once it makes it through the various set-up processes.

I’ll post an update on the blog here with instructions for ordering once the new website is up and everything is ready to go.

Again, thanks to all of you who have followed and supported extropy over the years. We are fortunate to have a small group of dedicated fans and we love you all. cheers.

O) PART I: THE INFINITE

01 cepheid variable

02 Aura

03 Perseus arm

04 asymptote

05 the dreamers

06 radii

07 mind sequence

08 swim

09 electric trees

10 the immortal

11 Aenea

12 the believers

O) PART II: THE IRRESOLUTE

01 the answer

02 depths

03 circumstance

04 Charybdis/Scylla

05 gravity well

06 at the center, a black hole

07 the absolute

08 parallax view

09 time stem/oblivion

10 the unnamed

11 hymn for the aeon

swim

iskeptici — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 16:15:53 +0000

I came really close to finishing up the new record this weekend, but in the end I decided to scrap the vocals on “asymptote” for a minor re-write. Sometimes my perfectionism pisses me off. Actually it’s ironic that this would be the last track to complete… the last line is “the closer I seem, the further I appear”. Anyway, it’s almost there. I did spend several hours getting the sound just right for “swim” and since the release date is only a few short weeks away (October 13th) I thought it would be alright to drop one more track out there. (click the title to download).

Close your eyes and float in the ocean of a million years…

swim

relax your mind

and let it in

all that came before

will be again

in a dreaming moment

in an ocean of thought

before we fade

we will rearrange

tiny gods

collect the past

time’s secrets held

in luminescent grasp

absorb us

into your dreams

The end of rational discourse

iskeptici — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 13:09:07 +0000

An excellent article… one could almost trace this alliance of ignorance and self-interest back to Nixon and the “New South” but it certainly has reached a shrill note in the age of Palin. I’ve been concerned about these radical elements since Obama has become president, and while he has yet to live up to his promise (despite the dyspeptic contradicting labels of “socialist” and “fascist”)…. the stew of irrational hate is brewing. Are we in for another Oklahoma City, or worse? These are the convulsions of empire at it’s end, the death throes of democracy, and an “all bets are off” power grab from those who will do and say anything to consolidate their hold on the world and it’s dwindling resources. Fact is only an inconvenient obstacle that can be manipulated, marginalized, or fabricated to serve this end.

My 1933 Nightmare - David Michael Greene