#deconstructing damascus

[drchucktingle]

DECONSTRUCTING DAMASCUS #1

hello buckaroos chuck tingle here to talk on my book camp damascus. i am very ADVERSE to spoilers and even though i LOVE discussing art i never want to discuss a book too soon, gotta give buckaroos a chance to read. i have been trying to find a balance of WHEN and HOW to have these talks because there is a lot to discover in camp damascus, and i finally think i have found safe way to do this.

i am going to write some posts talkin about various subjects relating to camp damascus themes and symbols and ideas. i will title these posts DECONSTRUCTING DAMASCUS and give them all the hashtag: "deconstructing damascus". if you do not want to be tempted you can go into your tumblr settings and MUTE hashtag "deconstructing damascus" until you are ready to come back and trot in this way.

i am also going to put all spoiler content below a READ MORE line so that buckaroos will not stumble upon it. you must click below to open these words up.

(EDIT: PART 2 IS HERE)

(EDIT: PART 3 IS HERE)

(EDIT: PART 4 IS HERE)

alright buckaroos lets trot. WARNING: SPOILERS BELOW

DECONSTRUCTING DAMASCUS #1: NEVERLAND

camp damascus is about SEVERAL things thematically, but i think in BROAD STROKES you can narrow this story down to two ideas. the first is about control through infantilizing victims of religious or conservative organizations, keeping them 'young and naive' forever, and the second theme is about taking a story and using the same text to pull out whatever viewpoint you want. in other words, there are MANY readings within a story and us readers see whatever story we want.

i will dive deeper into these topics in later DECONSTRUCTING DAMASCUS talks, but both of these concepts relate in some way to THIS discussion, which is the story of peter pan and neverland

camp damascus is about text having many interpretations, and so as a sort of META ART PIECE i wanted camp damascus to have many interpretations. i did this by creating thematic layers on top of each other in the SAME STORY, like a cake. in the case of camp damascus we have BIBLICAL LAYER, FAIRYTALE LAYER, and LITERAL LAYER.

today we are going to talk about the fairytale layer.

peter pan is the story of wendy darling, who is whisked away to a magical place known as NEVER NEVER LAND by peter pan, who is an eternally young boy. nobody ever grows up in never never land. in camp damascus we have rose darling, who is a resident of neverton, a small town in montana where all of to children are kept young and naive to their own true adult nature for as long possible. this is done in many ways, for instance all of the KINGDOM OF THE PINE kids act and talk like teenagers when they are technically adults (rose is 20). they are all still in high school due to intervention of the church. the practice of oppressing someones natural sexuality and growth into adulthood a way of keeping them young and 'innocent'. the KINGDOM KIDS are perpetually stuck between childhood and adulthood. when you are reading the book, there should be something about this age and behavior discrepancy that feels a little strange.

to capture this effect i also tried to create a book that was both categorically YA (young adult) and adult horror. there are topics and conversations and situations that should feel like you are reading a 'younger book', then moments of violence and layers of complex themes that feel like an adult book. it should straddle this line in an uncomfortable way.

now to the story itself. camp damascus is NOT a retelling of peter pan in any way. the plots are not the same at all. however it uses peter pan as a literary allusion in order to discuss the themes listed above. these references are to reinforce the idea of keeping buckaroos young and under the churches control by any means necessary.

many do not realize that the original peter pan character was quite a bit more sinister than the cartoon version. here is a quote from the original text about HOW neverland worked to keep the lost boys young:

“The boys on the island vary, of course, in numbers, according as they get killed and so on; and when they seem to be growing up, which is against the rules, Peter thins them out; but at this time there were six of them, counting the twins as two.”

yes CAPTAIN HOOK is the big villain, but peter pan himself is just as brutal. this is where we get PASTOR PETE BEND, the current head of camp damascus. in his own way he is HIP AND COOL AND ETERNALLY YOUTHFUL just like peter pan, but he also falls into the roll of a ruthless captain who will do whatever it takes. to pull apart his name we have pete, as in peter, and bend. what is another word for bend? hook.

kingdom of the pine members wear a red band round their left wrist, which is where the hand of their prophet as severed. you can also note that when pete bend he uses a weapon he uses his left hand, which is pretty notable for someone who is right handed. consider where a certain captains weapon is permanently affixed.

also working for kingdom of the pine and camp damascus, under the direct orders of pete bend, is DR. SMITH. dr smith is a jolly henchmen with a white beard and glasses. despite his drab office he sits in a blue and white striped chair. i should also point out that a version of the name smee is smeeth. just SAYIN.

WILLOW is another interesting one. after her time at camp damascus she gets into photography. she turns to NATURE and TRUTH and as she takes these photos her finger is steady and rhythmic like a clock. click. click. click. click. click. could these photos eventually be the downfall of pete bend?

when we see willow early on she is drinking for a coffee mug with a certain reptile on it. her last name is crogall, which translates to the name of a specific animal in scottish gaelic. rose also goes to meet willow where she lives, one town over from neverton in a little village named lebka rock. i will let the buckaroos figure out what that means.

there is actually much more than this (who is saul for instance?) but i think i have said all that buds need to know to enjoy this layer.

thank you for reading. FEEL FREE TO REBLOG but try not to put spoilers in the tags. i will talk on OTHER aspects of CAMP DAMASCUS soon and i hope this has inspired you to look at the text in a brand new way. LOVE IS REAL

[thewritehag]

I just started Camp Damascus by @drchucktingle. Mara Wilson is the audiobook's reader.

Here's my quick review of things so far: I'm very excited to read Chuck Tingle's future horror.

Very, very slight spoilers (tagged to be safe):

What's interesting is that the instances of gaslighting are more unsettling than any paranormal element, so much so that I feel relief when any traditionally horrific thing happens.

I'm only at chapter 4.

I might try to restart therapy earlier than planned so I can talk to my doctor about it.

[emotionalsupportaudino]

I'm going to fight Dr Chuck Tingle with my fists and I will lose

"Slowly disconnecting from your community--from your family--is difficult, and while it seems like unearthing their sinister motives and dark secrets might make the process easier, it will never entirely quell the pain. "I've been avoiding this dark ache by keeping my mind busy whilemy body couldn't be, but it hasn't gone away. The sadness is still there, lurking in the corner like a pale demon in a red polo, just waiting to finally be acknowledged. "That acknowledgement could arrive after several decades, or it could happen tonight, but the time will come. Eventually I'll have to fully contend with this simple fact: the love I was promised is conditional."

WHO GAVE YOU THE RIGHT, SIR? WHO GAVE YOU THE RIGHT TO DO THIS TO ME AGAIN AFTER THE "THEY JUST DON'T CARE" BUT FROM STRAIGHT?

Anyway, go read Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle . If you like horror you're gonna love it. If you're queer, deconstructed from religion, or neurodivergent, you're gonna feel seen.

I've already written down so much to talk to my therapist about when she's back from vacation.

[creature-wizard]

So I have a genuine question for you since cryptotheism's inbox is busy.

What are rational explanations for resurrection of Jesus other than "he has risen" and "the disciples invented this lie to cope and to attract followers"?

I think the second is not completely without merit but it's hard for me to believe that people can lie so blatantly about what they believe in so passionately. Yes I know that mormons exist, but I think with Joseph Smith ulterior motives are more obvious.

This is very important to me because due to fucked up relationships with religion I feel that if I can't disprove resurrection all of the bible is true

This is something that Bart D. Ehrman wrote about in How Jesus Became God - basically, a very likely explanation is that after Jesus's execution by the Romans, a number of his shocked and grieving followers experienced dreams and visions where they saw him alive, and took this to mean that he'd been miraculously resurrected. This is actually supported by a straightforward reading of 1 Corinthians 15, because we know that Paul experienced a vision of Jesus while traveling to Damascus, and here he groups himself in with Jesus's early followers who supposedly saw him resurrected without anything to imply that they saw him in any other way.

The resurrection narratives in the Gospels (which are know aren't reliable accounts of history!) likely developed and evolved over Christianity's early years as Jesus's life became more and more mythologized by people who weren't there. Ehrman proposes that this was strongly motivated by perceived theological and apologetical necessity, and by people coming up with narratives intended to illustrate who and what they believed Jesus to be to new converts.

I really recommend reading his actual book, it's extremely good if you're trying to deconstruct/deconvert from Christianity. If you can't get his book, there are also filmed lectures available on YouTube that cover some of its material.

[gayleviticus]

i dont necessarily want to go around slandering this specific person, more just unpack the dynamic happening here, but there's a certain public (like an actual writer not just a social media influencer or w/e) Side B gay christian advocate who seems like a decent enough person, but I feel like spends an awful lot of time criticizing Side A people more than Christian homophobia.

it's not like, huge. this person doesn't feel like a sellout more interested in defending traditional sexual ethics against queers than anything else like jackie hill perry or sam allberry. but idk, compared to other side B people like eve tushnet or grant hartley or wesley hill, even if they do obviously express disagreement w side A, I feel like they have a more fundamental position of solidarity w queer christians regardless of side (I could be wrong here, but that's my impression)

whereas this person i feel doesn't really. it's nothing huge, it just feels like they're more interested in pushing back against Side A than cishet homophobia. and i think it kind of makes sense in this person's context, given they're an adult convert to Christianity from fully gay-affirming agnosticism.

but i also feel like this puts this person in a position that is a lot more privileged than a lot of queer people who were raised in the church (whether still christian or not).

i dont want to suggest adult converts don't face homophobia at all (and in fact, in some ways, a married gay couple converting as adults might get it worst of all given attempts by the church to break up their family). but i feel like the way in which being raised in a homophobic faith tradition gets so deeply internalised by queer people as vulnerable children with less ability to deconstruct what they're being taught is something an adult convert is less likely to grasp.

and especially if that adult convert is Side B - i don't know. i think it would be tempting for someone in that position to not realise that their ability to freely choose Side B as an adult - with pressure, to be sure, but still with a choice - is very different from people who were raised to feel they never had any choice in the matter.

there are other adult converts - like eve tushnet - who i feel (again in my not-exhaustive knowledge of them) do acknowledge their relative privilege in avoiding that ambient air of homophobia as a kid. i think tushnet even appreciates the fact she was able to enter christianity with an already well-formed sense of identity as a lesbian and so could choose the burden of submitting to the catholic church's Side B teaching. her life as an atheist lesbian was preparation for being a side B catholic.

whereas this person i'm talking about i think, seems to view their irreligious gay activist past as something to be repudiated, and seems to hold a kind of resentment against their side A christian friends who told them they could be practising gay and christian, because they felt deceived. Where tushnet perceives a continuity of moving towards better things, this person perceives a radical 180 degree turn and repudiation.

and so i think im not surprised that this person doesnt really feel invested in side A/B solidarity - bc as someone not really exposed to christian homophobia, and who understands their conversion story very much in terms of a road to damascus-style 180 repentance, it makes sense this person would be more concerned about side A than cishet homophobia.

[wildishmazz]

I find it very strange that there's no Camp Damascus fanfic.

It's so resonant with so many people, deals with issues that are prevalent among the sorts of people who tend to write fanfiction, and has so many hooks and handholds for curious minds to grip and clamber to explore.

Where is the speculation about Saul's boyfriend? The sweet domestic fluff about the found family? The Dead Dove, Don't Eat darkfics about the tortures in the demon dimension? The rpf AUs about real life hate preachers and their acolytes getting their comeuppance at the hands of the demons? The Stranger Things crossovers where Will Byers' estranged father has him kinapped and sent to Camp Damascus where he has a distinct advantage when it comes to battling otherworldly monsters and traversing their domain? The self-insert cathartic rages of conversion "therapy" survivors, naming and incinerating their own demons? The anxiety-ridden alternate perspective tellings of Isaiah rearing his ugly head again to join the kidnap plot and claim the girl he thinks he deserves as his property? The crackfic crossovers with Good Omens where Crowley angrily defends the reputation of real demons against the otherworldly ones? The redemptions of Lisa Darling, running away to the remote house that she felt called to to deconstruct her brainwashing? The harrowing self-reflections of camp counsellors who could perhaps have ended up like Saul, who were at an earlier point on his journey when they got dragged to hell, from the perspective of their tortures? The speculations on the identity of the cameraperson in the other dimension(why were they filming?)?

None of this seems to exist. There is literally nothing tagged "Camp Damascus" on Ao3. It's weird, is what it is.

[mostlygibberish]

"If the camels die, we die. And in twenty days they will start to die." "There's no time to waste then, is there?"

I liked the part with the ladles*.

Fantastic camerawork and some truly spectacular locations. The train derailment in particular was incredible stuff. Impossible to deny how iconic the score of this movie is. The plot was expectedly white-saviour heavy, even as it was trying to deconstruct that concept on some level, and the whole last act after Lawrence's capture in Deraa had a strange tone.

Despite getting quite dark, I still feel that it glossed over the extent of the abuse he suffered and his resulting personality shift. I also felt the movie took the view that Lawrence was a masochistic, homosexual pervert, and quite possibly a pedophile, which I do not particularly agree with, and certainly didn't enjoy.

I understand casting white actors in brown-face was a lot less objectionable in the 1960's, but I still found it hard to ignore. Even more so once the Arabs were portrayed as too greedy, incompetent, and argumentative to hold Damascus without British assistance, which was not at all how that went.

A technically impressive classic, and consistently interesting, despite its formidable runtime.

*Ladles, not ladies. There were scarcely any of those to be found in almost four hours of movie, and not a single one spoke a line of dialogue, unless you count ululation.

[manonfire63-blog]

Righteousness and the Bible for Dummies

God Almighty, God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob, God is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He judges the Nations. Given a Nation was "More Righteous," they may have been ok....The Romans, they believed they were righteous in Roman virtue. The Romans prospered, so God must of been ok with them to some degree. God sent Prophet Jonah to Nineveh to warn the city of God's Judgement. Nineveh was a city of Assyria. They were doing some things objectively wicked. In Ezekiel 16:48-52, God through Prophet Ezekiel explains why he destroyed Sodom, objective wickedness, and why his Judgement was coming upon The Kingdoms of Israel and Judah. The people of Nineveh, they were in Objective Wickedness for Prophet Jonah to have been sent to them. In The Old Testament The Righteous Dead they may have gone to Abraham's Bosom. Abraham's Bosom was a place in Hades, it was a place in hell that was not as bad. When Jesus died on the cross, he went down into Hades, and freed the righteous dead. Heaven is oneness with God. The only way to heaven is through The Lord Jesus Christ. Saul the Pharisee, he was one of early Christianity's worst enemies. He believed he was righteous in following The Laws of Moses. Jesus confronted Saul on the road to Damascus. Saul the Pharisee, he later became Paul the Apostle, and he did a 180 with his zealotry. Apostle Paul worked to separate men from the idea that there is any righteousness outside of God. This had to happen towards man accepting God's Holy Spirit. - Man's righteousness is like a filthy rag to God. (Isaiah 64:6) - As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God.(Romans 3:10,11) Were there righteous pagans before Christ? After Christ, due to the Power of the Tongue, words spoken through God's Holy Spirit, there is no righteousness outside of God. None. China, it was very distant from Rome. China may have been under The Old Law, that is, Spiritual Laws, like it was before Christ for awhile. China was Marco Poloed. The Emperor of China, he was confronted with the Good News. The Emperor of China, is China. The Emperor is or was responsible for that society. China became under the New Spiritual Law. Given China rejected God, they may have been on a slippery slope into wickedness and God's judgement of War, Famine, and Plague...multiple times. Nothing new happens under the sun. (Ecclesiastes 1:9-11) In Christian Nations, a rejection of righteousness is a rejection of God. Christian Nations have gone through several iteration of War, Famine, and Plague. It took a long time to build the Christian Man. Wicked people have been working to deconstruct Christianity. To deconstruct what took hundreds of years to build. What should happen to such people? You tell me. A rejection of Righteousness is a rejection of God. Did Honor became a 1950's thing and good riddance? Many people in the US Government seem to think so in 12/28/2024. Honor is an important concept towards understanding God, and understanding Justice. Even more conservative Christians in the US, they may have developed many wicked and un-Godly attitudes. Something to reflect on and pray about.

[ramrodd]

Did Jesus Really Die and Come Back to Life

COMMENTARY::

Well, first of all, John Mark is the author of The Gospel of John and not the Apostle John,

Cornelius, the centurion featured in Acts 10, is the author of The Gospel of Mark, which is a Roman intelligence appreciation and a follow on to the original euangelion between Pilate and Tiberius cited by Tertullian in his Apology, Book V. John Mark is a character in the Gospel of Mark, a part of the final editorial board that shaped the final product, including Mark 16:9 -20, and the publisher in Alexandria, which is how the Gospel acquired his name,

Euangelion is a Roman signals delivery status that means Tidings of Joy" that is  identical to the nature of the message Pheidippides brought from Marathos "We Won"", In this case, Pilate's euangelion, the message was that the Jewish god had  conducted a unilateral covenant cutting ceremony with the centurions of the Italian Cohort represented by Cornelius. Cornelius was justified by faith in Matthew 8:10, like Abram in Genesis 15:6, and was baptized by the Holy Spirit in the Spirit of God in Acts 10. The "Tidings of Joy" was that the Jewish god had endorsed the administrative state of the Roman republic,

In addition, Pilate's euangelion to Tiberius conveyed "Christians" which was the Roman soldier slang like the American soldiers slang for the VC "Charley" in Vietnam,  for the Jesus Followers described in Mark 3::7,8, after the change of command in Mark 1:10.

If you refer to your concordance in regards to εὐθὺς m  you will see that John 19:34 is cited, when the Romans split Jesus as part of the military version of the covenant cutting ceremony described in Genesis 15 between God and Abram.

Pilate's euangelion is presented in an edited form in Mark 15:1 - 16:8, Cornelius conveyed the complete euangelion to Peter off-stage in Acts 10 and is reflected in The Gospel of Peter,

The Talking Cross is the ratification of the blood covenant and is the analogue to the smoking pot of fire in Genesis 15:17 The Roman soldiers at the tomb knew exactly what a blood covenant ceremony was and had probably participated in one during their induction into the Legions. The word of the Talking Cross went through the 2000 soldiers in the Praetorium who had participated in the torment of Jesus over night and, by the time Saul was struck blind on the road to Damascus, all the soldiers in all the legions, who were God Fearers before Jesus appeared as a dimension of their profession, were Christians although it remained a secret  Christian fellowship until the Milvian Bridge.

Cornelius conveyed the Gospel of Mark up his chain of command to Theophilus by 40 CE.'

The euangelion Peter refers to in Acts 15:7 is the Gospel of Peter and Paul refers to this version  of the euangelion 19 times in 8 of his 13 Epistles, including 2 Timothy.

Romans 13:1 - 7  is the 4th Gift of the Magi to the Italian Cohort of the Praetorian Guard, The rest is Jewish eyewash in the theology of Hebrews, which is formed around the triangulation of Melchizedek, Jesus and the justification by faith of Cornelius in Matthew 8, The theology of Paul is formed around Abraham, Moses and Jesus, Everything presented in Pauls theology is conveyed by the bread  and loaves of Melchizedek.

Any interpretation of the Gospel of Mark that concludes it is derivative of the theology of Paul is crap, according to the evidence evident with the critical literary method of Hegel versus the critical historical method of the Post Modern Historic Deconstruction and the dialectical Marxism of the Jesus Seminar and the Pro-Life heresy of the Evangelicals.

[lytefoot]

Okay, I can't keep posting about this book without spoilers now, but suffice it to say if you have ever been a teenager who was

queer

neurodivergent

perceived socially as female

deconstructing religion (or any deeply-held inherited belief system)

curious

honestly a teenager of any variety really now that I think about it

and you're comfortable reading about social tension and admittedly pretty grim supernatural horror, you should read Camp Damascus.

Started reading Camp Damascus. So far, it's a truly excellent depiction of the experience of being an autistic bisexual teenage girl in a small town.

[drchucktingle]

DECONSTRUCTING DAMASCUS #3

hello buckaroos and WELCOME BACK for another edition of DECONSTRUCTING DAMASCUS. as before please remember there are huge spoilers ahead and you should absolutely not read this way if you have not already read camp damascus. however if you are all finished with the dang book then trot right ahead.

this is the third in a series of posts so if you are just now finding this way you should probably trot on back and start from the first post here are links

DECONSTRUCTING DAMASCUS #1

DECONSTRUCTING DAMASCUS #2

(EDIT: PART 4 IS HERE)

alright buckaroo now that this is out of the dang way lets dive right in. WARNING: CAMP DAMASCUS SPOILERS BEYOND THIS POINT

DECONSTRUCTING DAMASCUS #3: HOLY AS HECK

i have talked a lot about way of layers that make up camp damascus. previously we tackled FAIRYTALE LAYER and this time we will focus on way of BIBLICAL LAYER.

FAIRYTALE layer makes for pretty complete allegory that stretches from beginning to end of story. it moves in specific order to create a full narrative. however BIBLICAL layer is much more abstract in its trot, taking in bits and pieces from various religious stories and texts and ideas and letting them weave over the top of each other. because of this, i will not be as explicit with TRUE MEANING as i have with other posts, but i will give the buckaroos some starter information on their journey to pick this one apart.

FIRST lets see what the bible has to say about some of these characters

ISAIAH is one of the first characters we meet in chapter one of camp damascus, and although he is not around for the rest of the story, his early appearance has a lot to say metaphorically. ISAIAH in the bible says this in ISAIAH 17:1 - 'a prophecy against damascus: 'see, damascus will no longer be a city, but will become a heap of ruins.''

there is a contemporary language bible name of MSG that translates isaiahs prophecy to this 'a message concerning damascus: “watch this: damascus undone as a city, a pile of dust and rubble! her towns emptied of people. the sheep and goats will move in and take over the towns as if they owned them—which they will!'

in other words if you read into name of this character in first few pages you can unlock everything about the trot of the demons and what happens the last few pages of the book.

another interesting name is SAUL GREEN. in bible saul is known for his CONVERSION ON THE ROAD TO DAMASCUS.

i will write out book of ACTS 9 where this story appears in the bible (gonna cut out a few things to make shorter for you but i will keep line numbers)

ACTS 9 (talkin about saul)

3 as he journeyed he came near damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven.

6 so he, trembling and astonished, said, “lord, what do you want me to do?”

then the lord said to him, “arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”

7 and the men who journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice but seeing no one.

8 then saul arose from the ground, and when his eyes were opened he saw no one. but they led him by the hand and brought him into damascus.

9 and he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank.

AND THAT IS THAT BUCKAROOS. thing to consider here is that saul green went to camp damascus. he was asked to go not taken like the others (he is counselor) and on his journey he could not see (this is metaphor for memory loss) yet he walked away full of faith.

final name i would like to talk about is WILLOW. she is seen as heathen and seductress by community, especially by LISA DARLING who is roses mother. lisa is righteous and ANGRY, painting herself as the CORRECT and HOLY voice, while believing willow is a sinner and bad influence.

near end of book we learn willows legal name is MAGDALENE which is reference to mary magdalene. in bible mary magdalene is a bud of jesus, they are always hanging out and trotting around together. it is believed by most that mary magdalene was a prostitute (or former prostitute) although this is not specifically in the dang text so who the heck knows.

marys story is about the townspeople treating her badly because of her reputation, believing THEY are the morally superior folks and she is the sinner. HOWEVER jesus will not condemn mary. stepping in jesus says 'actually you townsfolk are wrong, this is my bud, who the heck are YOU to judge? you are all much worse'

so in case of camp damascus this is reflected as a way of saying, 'actually lisa, according to the bible story YOU are the ignorant one for judging willow (mary magdalene) YOU ARE IN THE WRONG.' once you connect these dots you begin to see that lisas main character trait is JUDGEMENT (like in walking game)

a few more quick notes:

all demons mentioned in camp damascus, as well as additional occult texts mentioned like THE BOOK OF THE SACRED MAGIC OF ABRAMELIN THE MAGE, are actual demon titles and real books.

there is a chapter in camp damascus titled STRAIGHT STREET. the main road down middle of the actual city of damascus is 'straight street'

the innermost layer of hell being cold is actually what is written in dantes DEVINE COMEDY. this is the ninth circle of hell and it is described as a freezing, icy landscape where buckaroos are buried up to their necks in ice and tortured.

finally i will leave you buckaroos reading this with an image of a REAL PAINTING name of THE HOLY FAMILY WITH THE MAYFLY. this is an actual painting from 1495. as you can see there is tiny mayfly in the bottom right corner. nobody knows why it is there

[dustedmagazine]

Listed: Elkhorn

Jesse Sheppard and Drew Gardner joined forces as Elkhorn in 2013, Sheppard on 12-string and Gardner on 6-string. Together they’ve made a string of gorgeous duet albums on Feeding Tube and now Beyond Beyond Is Beyond records, while supporting the growth and scholarship around American Primitive guitar playing in a variety of ways. Sheppard, in particular, has been active in organizing the 1000 Incarnations of the Rose festival and documenting players including Glenn Jones, Nathan Bowles, Chris Forsyth, Ryley Walker and others in video. Their latest album, The Storm Sessions, comes from a snowed-in session in Brooklyn when a cancelled concert turned into a prolonged and graceful meditation on the possibilities of guitars and guitar-like instruments.  In her review, Jennifer Kelly wrote, “… a tribute to filling in the quiet spaces that have arisen unexpectedly out of chaos and disappointment, but which are, themselves, very peaceful and beautiful.” Drew Gardner contributed this list.

I put this list together with the thought of talking about some music that overlaps with elements of The Storm Sessions. There are several shared elements at play in these records: songs using longer durations that unfold in suites, improvisation, the blending of several genres-sounds-traditions, gradual development, the use of calm/blissful moods, and players who tend toward letting the music guide the playing.

Mary Lattimore —The Withdrawing Room, “You’ll Be Fiiinnne”

The Withdrawing Room, harpist Mary Lattimore’s debut album, unfolds beautifully with delay-soaked harp mixed with bubbly psychedelic electronic textures courtesy of Jeff Zeigler. Lattimore knows how to use patience to build a feeling of calm tranquility and often walks her harp figures beside a stream of contrasting ambient sound. She glides though different sound areas without trying to push the songs around, letting the music be. The results are lovely and dreamy.

Maya Youssef —Syrian Dreams, “Queen of the Night”

Maya Youssef is an expert player of the maqan, a traditional Middle Eastern plucked instrument in the zither family. She grew up in Damascus and now lives in England. Defying the tradition that only men could play it, she has innovated the maqan as a solo instrument beyond its conventional use in larger ensembles. The instrumentation on Syrian Dreams is maqan, percussion, cello and oud, the textures of which blend into sets of suites that seem to tell many stories. This is a record of original compositions of Middle Eastern music that seamlessly incorporate the sounds of flamenco and jazz. Somehow Youssef’s group also reads like a freak folk chamber band. She’s unafraid of the healing power of music, and she connects her compositions with both the ancient and the difficult recent history of Syria.

Sunburned Hand of the Man—Headdress, “Shitless”

Gloriously lo-fi collage-ist space jams, cohesive in their disjointedness. Like GBV, the low fidelity makes it more intimate. As with most of their catalogue this is a head-trip and also a lot of fun. This record puts all the myriad things they’re capable of into perfect balance: uniquely fried “Massachusetts dub,” comical Dadaist prank-chants, slow loose funk grooves with all kind of friendly space debris orbiting around. Each song has at least three different genres melting in and out of it, and it all sounds like a party. They don’t order the tunes around, they let what’s happening happen. There’s plenty of improvisation here, but without a big demand for the guitars to need to get anywhere—what a relief. They’re happy being where they are, floating over the rhythm section and soaking in the cascades of color, relaxed and weird-blissful.

NNCK—Qvaris, “The Doon”

NNCK went to great lengths to secure certain freedoms, especially freedom from fame and freedom from commerce. Those freedoms are put to great use here and the result is a floaty ego-differed collective texture and with a groove and a vibe. It feels like all the players are steering the boat. Everyone is thinking about the total sound and the overall flow. Everyone’s in charge and no one is. They improvise and move from zone to zone, sound world to sound world. There are trippy drones, ritual percussion, and calm, bizarre and soothing textures. The songs sound like they’re improvised in a way that allows them to be self-assembling/self-disassembling ensemble music. It sounds like life forms are evolving. The various combinations of different elements create a lot of variety as the landscape scrolls by. Need some dilating texture-walls shifting into a bonus of damp squishiness? You got it. Need some mescaline-fueled post-rock? You got it. Rustically glowing biomechanical insects morphing into autumnal haze? Yup. Malfunctioning alternate-dimension windchimes into Dada kabuki Muppet theater? Cannabinoidosaurus Rex chill out wedding music into Martian organ grinder swing winding up at third-pot-brownie-surf-rock? You get the idea. There’s something for everyone. All the song/soundscapes flow through these ecosystems with a “how did we get here?” effect. The players find different windows in the soundscape. It never feels crowed. Sonically occupying the space they’re in, they let the music become itself rather than trying to control it.

Joshua Abrams Natural Information Society—Mandatory Reality, “Finite”

I first heard this record last year in the Elkhorn tour vehicle while Jesse and I we were driving from the Milwaukee Psych fest to Chicago. It turns out that being stuck in a car for several hours moving at twenty miles an hour in a white-out is the perfect context for experiencing this music. There was something about the slow speed, the need for concentrated attention, and the monochromatically unfolding landscape that really enhanced the experience of the music. Abrams’ use of slow tempos, repetition, long durations, gradually shifting textures and cycles of chords and melodic figures was perfectly mirrored in the snowy drive. He allows the music to repeat and unfold without needing to rush in contrasting sections or motifs. It’s patient and languid and mesmerizing. Done in real time with no overdubs, it blends several sounds beautifully: minimalism, Gnawa music and modern Chicago free jazz. At times it feels like a radically becalmed Braxton Ghost Trance piece transmuted into something like the spacious Tabla Tarang playing of Pandit Kamalesh Maitra or the straight 8ths of Gamelan music with John Luther Adams-style long tones stretched over it. When we arrived in Chicago the snowstorm had abated after the long drive, and as I stepped out of the car into the slush I felt refreshed rather than exhausted.

Pauline Oliveros with Stuart Dempster and Panaiotis—Deep Listening, “Lear”

Deep Listening was improvised with no overdubs using just-intonation accordion, trombone, didgeridoo and voice in a cistern in Washington State that once held two million gallons of water. This space featured a natural forty-five-second reverb. As dolphins know, reverb is a kind of image—information about space in sound form. On this record the players, the environment and the instruments all combine to become intertwined into one system. I’ll let Oliveros say it: “The Universe is improvising and we have evolution, so improvisation is always happening.”

Cul De Sac—Immortality Lessons, “Blues in E”

Cul De Sac featured Glenn Jones on electric twelve-string guitar before he turned to solo acoustic music. The band played improvised instrumental rock that crossed over several genres: Krautrock, psych-rock, surf-rock and American Primitive. This record was recorded live at a college radio station in one take under less than ideal circumstances and it’s a great example of turning lemons into psychedelic lemonade. This music flows and develops in suites, using various groove/dissolve/solo patterns than unfold with an expansive vibe. Everyone in the band is thinking about the whole arrangement, not just the parts. It’s genre blending, full-band texturing and rewards repeated listening. One can only hope for a reunion one day.

Marisa Anderson—The Golden Hour, “In the Valley of the Sun”

The Golden Hour is a record of solo fingerstyle electric guitar improvisations recorded straight to tape. It sounds like she’s doing variations on open themes and the results feel modern/spontaneous and composed/traditional at the same time. She has a warm, woody guitar tone, often tastefully overdriving the amp in a lush manner, using a nimble rhythmic gait. This works as psychedelic guitar music and at the same time resonates with the old American music traditions she’s connecting with. Her blend of genres is country blues, country and western, and folk, put together in concise songs that always have a coherent flow of ideas with sometimes subtle hints of deconstruction. She’s not afraid of the pleasures of meandering. This is music that sounds like it’s dreaming through guitar history as a kind of meditation.

Shivkumar Sharma and Zakir Hussain—Rag Madhuvanti, Rag Misra Tilang, “Rag Misra Tilang”

Shivkumar Sharma plays the Santur, an Indian box zither, not unlike a western hammer dulcimer. Sharma is credited with bringing this folk instrument, normally associated with the Sufi music of Kashmir, into Indian classical music. Indian music involves several of the elements I’ve been discussing in this list: long duration, improvisation, and drone. There’s something about the cascading overtones of Sharma’s Santur playing that reads as especially psychedelic, unfolding in undulating patterns using his knowledge of tabla rhythms. He wasn’t afraid to risk innovation and prove that a folk instrument could be used for high art. This album is mesmerizing, beautiful, and rejuvenating.

[thewightknight]

It’s 9am and I’m having breakfast at the House of Commons. I’m wearing a three-piece pinstriped suit, matching tie and pocket square, and the confidence of a mediocre white man. To my left, a man is pouring me coffee; to my right, another is listening respectfully. How did I get here?

Last year, I saw a few posts about an ‘Octieber’ challenge (wearing ties for a month) and immediately thought it would make an interesting experiment. I’m working in a big city right now and spend an average of four to five hours per day commuting. I’m quite public-facing, I speak at conferences and I generally travel on public transport. What might happen if I wore a tie every day?

Somehow, my first ideas involve making the tie ensemble more feminine. I had visions of swing dresses and loose, sexy, floppy ties, with the tie simply another accessory to my powerful femininity, like a bold new lipstick. But, shopping with my daughter, I have my Primarkian Damascus moment: Why is clothing gendered at all?

I look at my precious daughter. All her life, I have enjoyed cultivating in her a tiny subversive streak called feminism. It’s partly protection – otherwise she’ll be another ignorant victim of sexism – and partly straight-up rejection of society’s imposed values. I was delighted to overhear my other daughter (aged 11) explaining feminism succinctly to her friend: “It’s basically the idea that no-one can tell you what to do just because you’re a girl. Or a boy.” I’m sure my children are a veritable nightmare at school (they tend to yell ‘sexism’ alarmingly wherever they find it), but it’s been a privilege and a pleasure to teach them about feminism. We have analysed, deconstructed and sometimes raged against the patriarchy together.

So why on earth have I spent the last 32 years plodding obediently into the ‘Womens’ Clothing’ section?

READ MORE

[notatreeblog]

*post contains affiliate links which means NAT receives a small commission for each sale made

Universe Bound is a monthly book and bath product subscription box. This month I’m reviewing their brand new “Pleasures” subscription box. This package includes one adult level book, a three day supply of reactive bath dust, candy and chocolate, candles and tea light holders. Subscriptions are $40 monthly with reduced prices for longer subscription terms. This box ships to the US only (many of their others ship internationally). Use code UB10OFF for a discount at checkout. NAT received this package at no cost for review purposes.

Subscription Box Unboxing

Subscription Box Review

Everything that came in my Universe Bound Pleasures Box. I am really impressed by this assortment!

  So what is all this stuff?

Our box insert. This lists each of the items that was included in the box from Universe Bound.

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This also tells us how to use each of the items in this month’s box.

  Mockins Himalayan Salt Natural Tea Light Holder

First up in our box is a Himalayan salt candle holder. This is such a cool addition to this box and I am happy to have another to add to my collection.

The hole for the candle is the perfect size for a tealight candle. These Himalayan salt candle holders can clear your space of odors and negative energy!

  Liquid Oil Paraffin Tealight Candles

Also included in my box from Universe Bound are three of these (three days worth) paraffin wax candle cells. These are a really cool way to put tealights in your salt candle holder without the mess. I’ve never used something like this before so I am really excited.

  Anthon Berg Liquor Filled Chocolate Bottles

My favorite and the most unique item that was included in this subscription box is this assortment of eight liquor filled chocolate “bottles”. Among these we have Remy Martin, Cointreu, Drambuie, Sobieski, Canadian Club and more! These are a cute way to enjoy your love of alcohol!

  Three Day Reactive Dust Set

I love that Universe Bound gives us a three day supply of everything in our box. This reactive dust is like a deconstructed bath bomb. There is enough in each of these jars for one night’s bath and the scent that was included in my box is Pegasus which is a blend of Golden Sandalwood, Damascus Rose (and you all know how I feel about rose), Geranium, Bergamot, Ocean Rose and Amber Noir. I think these smell amazing and I love the blend!

  Spoon

I am guessing that this cute little spoon was included for our bath bomb dust. It’s small, and it’s cute!

  Chocolate Seegar

Another of the tasty treats that was included in my box is this chocolate cigar! Definitely great receiving all these treats!

  Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows by Balli Kaur Jaswal

This 2017 novel is one of Reese Witherspoon’s Book Club Picks. The story follows Nikki a 22 year old Londoner who drops out of law school to work at a pub. Her family who is Sikh is less than please and when her sister embarks in an arranged marriage Nikki decides she is going to teach a creative writing class. Her students end up being older women who husbands had passed away and throughout the course begin to reveal to our protagonist they’re fantasies and stories.

This book sounds really fantastic and I can’t wait to read it.

  Caramel Apple Lollipops

The final item in my box is a sweet treat. There are two caramel apple lollipops. I haven’t had one of these since I was a kid – I remember loving these!

  So in summary

Presentation: Everything was packaged well and arrived to me perfectly in my Universe Bound Box

Quality: I like the assortment that they included and think that there’s a lot of unique, higher end items.

Curation: This is a great mix and I really love that they kind of set you up for a number of days of relaxing baths with a book and candles!

  Subscribe to Universe Bound

                        Universe Bound “Pleasure” Subscription Box Review + Unboxing + Coupon | November 2019 *post contains affiliate links which means NAT receives a small commission for each sale made Universe Bound…

[thewebofslime]

Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard told CNN that she has proof the Obama administration was funding ISIS and Al-Qaeda. Hawaii Rep. Gabbard went to Syria on a secret fact-finding mission to wade through the lies and propaganda and find out what is really happening on the ground. Immediately on her return CNN booked her for an “exclusive” interview – and Gabbard told them exactly what they didn’t want to hear: she has proof the Obama administration was funding ISIS and Al-Qaeda. Explaining to Jake Tapper that she met people from all walks of life in Aleppo and Damascus, Gabbard said that Syrians “expressed happiness and joy at seeing an American walking their streets.” But they also wanted to know “why is it that the United States, its allies and other countries, are providing support, are providing arms, to terrorist groups like Al-Nusra, Al-Qaeda, ISIS, who are on the ground there, raping, kidnapping, torturing, and killing the Syrian people? “They asked me why is the United States supporting these terrorist groups who are destroying Syria – when it was Al-Qaeda who attacked the United States on 9/11, not Syria. “I didn’t have an answer for that.“ That was more than Jake Tapper, who was hostile from the beginning of the interview, could handle. His face screwed up, Tapper lashed out, saying, “Obviously the United States government denies providing any sort of help to the terrorist groups you are talking about, they say they provide help for the rebel groups.“ If that was supposed to Tapper’s knockout blow, Gabbard saw it coming a mile away. Without missing a beat, she calmly deconstructed his ideological, and savagely wrong, talking points. “The reality is, Jake – and I’m glad you bought up that point – every place that I went, every person I spoke to, I asked this question to them. And without hesitation, they said ‘there are no moderate rebels, who are these moderate rebels that people keep speaking of?’ “Regardless of the name of these groups, the strongest fighting force on the ground in Syria is Al-Nusra or Al-Qaeda and ISIS. That is a fact. There are a number of different other groups, all of them are fighting alongside, with or under the command of the strongest group on the ground that is trying to overthrow Assad.” Brave Tulsi Gabbard completely deconstructed the false narrative sold by the Muslim Brotherhood, Obama administration, John McCain, Adam Kinzinger and Evan McMullin – all of whom supported the various terrorist factions within Syria – and sets the record straight: There are no “moderate rebels” in Syria. “Moderate rebels” is an Obama-era propaganda myth. The opposition to Assad is led by ISIS and Al-Qaeda – and they are raping, kidnapping and murdering Syrian women, men and children – and any smaller rebel groups fighting against Assad are fighting in coalition with ISIS and Al-Qaeda. These are the groups the Obama administration was funding and supporting.

[interkomitet]

‘Secret directive’ bans UN agencies from helping rebuild Syria until ‘political transition’ – Sergey Lavrov

Washington’s “absolutely deconstructive” stance is hampering the rebuilding of Syria and constricts the UN in aiding the country until a so called ‘political transition’ takes place, Sergey Lavrov, Russia’s Foreign Minister, said.

“We addressed UNESCO on how they plan to implement the longtime talks, the longtime understanding on attracting the potential of this organization to rebuilding Palmyra,” an ancient city, regarded by the agency as a World Heritage Site, Lavrov said. “From the explanations of why UNESCO has still been unable to get involved in this process actively, we took that there was some kind of a directive from the United Nations headquarters in New York.”

He said that the UN Secretariat, which is the organizations’ executive arms, has “actually issued and distributed a secret directive throughout the UN system in October last year that prohibited the agencies included in this system from participating in any kind of projects aimed at restoring the Syrian economy.”

“Only humanitarian aid and nothing more” was allowed, the minister told the journalists after talks with Lebanese counterpart, Gebran Bassil, in Moscow. “A term was put forward that restoration of Syria would only be on the agenda after a certain progress is made in the so-called political transition” in the country, he added.

The Russian Foreign Ministry also said that due to the “absolutely deconstructive” stance of the US one also shouldn’t expect any positive decisions on rebuilding Syria and return of refugees to the country from the UN Security Council.

He reminded that following the talks between US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, and UN Special Envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, last week, Washington said that that “any discussion of reconstruction was premature absent a political solution” in Syria.

Lavrov pointed out that such demands are only put forward by the Americans for areas liberated from terrorist and controlled by the Syrian government in Damascus.

“As for the areas held by often non-constructive opposition forces, cooperating with the US… the restoration processes there is, on the contrary, in full swing. Furthermore, the US attracts a number of its allies to funding these activities,” he said.

According to the minister, Washington’s actions contradict the UN Security Council Resolution 2254 from 2015, which stressed the “critical need to build conditions for the safe and voluntary return of refugees… and the rehabilitation of affected area” in Syria.

Moscow is going to continue working with the countries that “understand the urgency of the proposed measures for the return of refugees and creation of necessary conditions for them,” Lavrov said. He mentioned Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey as well as the European countries, in which “there is a growing awareness of the need for concrete steps” in Syria, among such states.

Resolution 2254 speaks about a constitutional reform and free election in Syria, but the US and its allies have been pushing for President Bashar Assad to be removed from the process, despite him being a democratically elected leader, whose popularity only increased after most of the country was liberated from terrorists with help of Russia, Iran and other allies.

http://interkomitet.com/press/international-news/secret-directive-bans-un-agencies-from-helping-rebuild-syria-until-political-transition-sergey-lavrov/