Karas

The Crow sits an awaits the coming soul tide..

AGENT B

Story of the Eye..

Georges Bataille

Georges Bataille was born in Billon, Puy-de-Dôme, in central France. "I belong to a turbulent generation, born to literary life in the tumult of surrealism," Bataille once defined his background. His childhood was a nightmare. Bataille's mother, Marie-Antoinette, attempted suicide several times, but none of her desperate acts succeeded. Bataille loved his father, Joseph-Aristide, who suffered from general paralysis due to syphilis. In 1913 he went mad and died three years later. "What upset me more was seeing my father shit a great number of times . . . ", Bataille later wrote. At the age of fifteen Bataille left school for a period; until then he had not been a good student, but after taking up studies at a boy's school in pernay on the Marne, he completed the first part of his baccalaurat. On the eve of World War I, Bataille converted to Catholicism. In 1916-17 he served in the army, but was discharged because of tuberculosis. Ill health and bouts of depression troubled Bataille all his life. As a young man, he befriended, and was much influenced by, the Russian existentialist, Lev Shestov.

Founder of several journals and literary groups, Bataille is the author of an oeuvre both abundant and diverse: readings, poems, essays on innumerable subjects (on the mysticism of economy, in passing of poetry, philosophy, the arts, eroticism). He sometimes published under pseudonyms, and some of his publications were banned.

Intially attracted to Surrealism, Bataille quickly fell out with its founder André Breton, although Bataille and the Surrealists resumed cautiously cordial relations after World War II. Bataille was a member of the extremely influential College of Sociology in France between World War I and World War II. The College of Sociology was also comprised of several renegade surrealists. He was heavily influenced by Hegel, Freud, Marx, Marcel Mauss, the Marquis de Sade, Alexandre Kojève, and Friedrich Nietzsche, the last of whom he defended in a notable essay against appropriation by the Nazis.


The Acephale

Fascinated by human sacrifice, he founded a secret society, Acéphale, the symbol of which was a decapitated man. According to legend, Bataille and the other members of Acéphale each agreed to be the sacrificial victim as an inauguration; none of them would agree to be the executioner. An indemnity was offered for an executioner, but none was found before the dissolution of Acéphale shortly before the war. The group also published an eponymous review, concerned with Nietzsche's philosophy, and which attempted to think what Jacques Derrida has called an "anti-sovereignty". Bataille thus collaborated with André Masson, Pierre Klossowski, Roger Caillois, Jules Monnerot, Jean Rollin and Jean Wahl.


Illustration by Bellmer

Bataille drew from diverse influences and used diverse modes of discourse to create his work. His novel Story of the Eye (Histoire de l'oeil), published under the pseudonym Lord Auch (literally, Lord "to the shithouse" — "auch" being short for "aux chiottes," slang for telling somebody off by sending him to the toilet), was initially read as pure pornography, while interpretation of the work has gradually matured to reveal the considerable philosophical and emotional depth that is characteristic of other writers who have been categorized within "literature of transgression." The imagery of the novel is built upon a series of metaphors which in turn refer to philosophical constructs developed in his work: the eye, the egg, the sun, the earth, the testicle...



I read this book, when i was 21 and it opened a whole host of writers and styles to me i fell in love with the raw graphic emotional landscapes he sculpts with his descriptive prose., all with strong roots in the surrealist/subversive nature of the style, some of my other favourites are Alistar Crowley and early william burroughs straight through to the strong Beat style of Karouac and Ginsburgh. More to come on all these writers...

AGENT B

Wing..

Wing Han Tsang, popularly known simply as Wing, is a New Zealand singer of Hong Kong origin.

Having taken up singing as a hobby after immigrating to New Zealand, Wing gained an audience by entertaining patients at nursing homes and hospitals in and around Auckland. This prompted suggestions that she release a CD; the result was a debut entitled Phantom of the Opera, featuring the title song from the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, and a selection of other popular tunes to the accompaniment of a programmed arranger keyboard.

The recording proved a success, leading to a number of subsequent releases of cover versions that eventually gained her an international audience.

In recent years she has appeared on such shows as SportsCafe and Rove Live. She guest starred on South Park in an episode named for her that was first broadcast in March 2005. On the DVD commentary for this episode, series creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone explain that she had to approve her cartoon likeness before allowing her music to be used. Parker also says he received a letter of thanks from her for the sales boost she enjoyed as a result of the episode. Honestly to any one reading this, Wing is fucking awesome...probebly the funniest episode about an awesome little wing.

http://www.wingmusic.co.nz/

The triumphant far cries of the Bodies Of Work..

Bodies Of Work

Bodies Of Work are a new London four-piece who play big pop songs with a twisted nerve. A forum of mangled synths and pulsating rhythms play in and around distinctive and narrative vocals.They have just recently completed the recording of their first full length album. It was recorded in Copenhagen and mixed in London.


Martin

Ive been following them for around 4 or so years now, pretty much hitting every single gig. After meeting the band we all struck up a deep an lasting friendship based on respect and creativity (and some good old fashion debauchery)...I think the highlight for me was when Bodies of Work headlined this festival in Tenerife, they had just flown in from a gig in Berlin and i decided to meet them at the airport in, little known to me was the fact that Tenerife had two Airports they landed North I landed South...so with a little shrug I boarded the bus an took the 4hr ride listening to a mix of Arcade Fires album "Funeral" and Broken Social scene another amazing Canadian band..

A little smile on my face shades and sun what could go wrong....?!?.


liz

What followed over the next 3 days can only be described as a straight up exert from Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas "oh the horror oh the humanity"...They lived up to every inch of the rock start methos. Trashed hotel rooms, Broken glass everywhere, 48 hrs with no sleep, body weights of alcohol, free 5* buffets ( we''ll get onto that in a minute ) and me busting onto the stage at the end of the gig to something like 3000 screaming fans and ending the last song by screaming " Thank you, you Cunts" something i'm sure we can all agree is something not to be proud of or is it hmmmm...to be honest it all went down hill from there.


Andy

All I remember was waking up at 7am vomiting into a bin while trying to escape from the 5* hotel after staying there without paying for 3 days (plus the fucking gourmet buffet) mid escape I realise my flight isn't till the next day and the band we're flying off to another destination and audience (god only knows how they did it) we waved our fond goodbyes and they jetted off into the sunset whereas i ended up having to stay in the very room where most of the horror had been committed.

The day past with me in mortal fear for my life as i had about 40 odd euros on me and the hotel bill now that they realised i had been staying there was nearly 800 odd euros (that includes the mini bar....three days of mini bar). Strange that it was also the day that Korea tested their nukes. To top it off i'd recently landed a main part in a stage show at the Bristol Old Vic theatre (which in the industry is an honour) all I could think was, i'm not going to make it back.


Chris

7am the next morning I was bright and alert I slid down to the front desk to get my passport intent on slipping the noose that was definitely tightening, they left it on the side as I pretended to rummage for my money, to my absolute joy a large group of Italian tourists turned up diverted the receptionists attention. Leaping on the opportunity I took the passport got in the lift went into the garden climbed the fence and hitch hiked to the town centre. The bus trip down south was filled with dread, fear and terror. The sunglasses were no longer to filter the sun but to filter my level of guilt to any official I might bump into. Bob Dylan was blasting in my head phones and i had resigned myself to prison...in Tenerife. Now to dispel any sunny island image you may have this fucking rock was volcanic, it was almost the post card picture for retirement homes for those just waiting to die, it is a horrible place that natural disaster may have to consume and i'm also thinking they didn't take kindly to the darker skinned variety, I mean this island is right off the coast of Africa and there wasn't one black or mixed race person...probably because they'd all be incarcerated.


Tenerife

I arrived at the airport and made my way straight to the toilet and sat in the cubicle for, and i'm not lying or exaggerating for 5 hrs ( i was at the reception at 7am the flight was at 5pm )..I approached the check in desk resigned that the hotel had called the airport with my passport details and the police would swoop down at any given point, she had a maniacal grin that woman behind the desk and every fibre of my fear riddled soul screamed to just admit my guilt and shackle my self to the next passing chain gang...

"Passport and baggage Sir"

"Have a good flight Sir"

Now i've never felt such confusion and pure unadulterated joy, i'd done it i'd escaped from Tenerife. Infact I actually kissed the floor when i arrived in England, an i'm thinking i'm not really that welcome in Tenerife again....fuck it....Bothered.

Seriously to anyone reading this check this band out, they rock so much and believe me as awesome as their music is when played on c.d nothing can compare to the energy,truth and brilliance of them live. Their sound is fantastically original with serious through lines of Bowie and good ole fashion synth driven pop. There sound live is heart warming and the harmonies presented by Liz and Martin can at times be nothing short then breathtaking (Coup De Grace actually cried the first time she saw them).

Martins stage presence is a force to be reckoned with, his lyrics and energy are so infectious leaving most the audience screaming back at him. His voice is so versatile, soft yet commanding and definitely controlled leaving the bum notes for the Brandon Flowers of this world (Fuck Brandon Flowers)..

Liz and her keyboards always provide an interesting edgy through line of sound, creating soundscapes with her assortment of effects, and a voice so clear and controlled it cuts through the heaviest accompaniment.

Chris's drumming is surgically precise and his beat patterns relentlessly diverse ensuring you keep your feet moving. Shifting effortlessly through styles without ever throwing the flow of the rest of the band.

The whole sound is so smoothly held together with Andies driving bass rifts, he's an amazing guy so still yet you constantly are drawn to him, its almost like hes planning some grand attack. One look at the band when they first walk on and you know your in for a treat..

GET INVOLVED

AGENT B

Upcoming Shows

( view all )

31 Mar 2009 21:00	Barden’s Boudoir	London
10 Apr 2009 20:00	The Borderline	London
26 Apr 2009 20:00	93 Feet East	London
30 Apr 2009 22:00	The Wilmington Arms	London

www.myspace.com/bodiesofworkuk

An era comes to a close..

HOTEL BRIAN AMSTERDAM

My spiritual home has been bought by another company, the staff who have been there since my first visit to Amsterdam when i was 18 all have to leave, tis very sad (ive been there 9 times so i got close to them, ULTIMA i salute you brother).

The Hotel closes on the 1st of May so anyone with a mind to check it out before it closes haven't got very long. Me finks i can squeeze one last visit... :o)

AGENT B

Ain't no bloc party..

G8 clash

A black bloc refers to a tactic, developed in the 1980s by anti-nuclear activist autonomists, whereby participants attended protests and marches wearing black clothing, ski masks and motorcycle helmets with padding, steel-toed boots and often carrying their own shields and truncheons. The clothing is used to avoid being identified by authorities, and to theoretically appear as one large mass, promote solidarity, and create a clear revolutionary presence.

Tactics of a black bloc can include vandalism, rioting and street fighting, demonstrating without a permit, misleading the authorities, assisting in the escape of perpetrators arrested by the police, administering first aid to persons affected by tear gas in areas where protesters are barred from entering, building barricades, and attacking police.


police barricade starbucks

However such blocs are not inherently violent; participants often use peaceful methods of protest as well. Although black blocking is usually connected with some form of direct action, some black blocs also participate in wholly symbolic action, as well as actions that fall entirely within traditional definitions of nonviolent protest. Property destruction carried out by black blocs tends to have symbolic significance: common targets include banks, institutional buildings, outlets for multinational corporations, gasoline stations, video-surveillance cameras, and private property.


peaceful ?

There may be several black blocs within a particular protest, with different aims and tactics. As an ad hoc group, they share no universally common set of principles or beliefs.

This tactic was developed following increased use of police power following the 1977 Brokdorf demonstration by the German police in 1980, particularly aimed at squatters and anti-nuclear activists. These were social spaces occupied by dissidents, who preferred to create their own social institutions based on communal living and alternative community centres, seeking to create non-coercive, non-hierarchical social relations, as in anarchism. Key areas for this development were Hafenstrasse, Hamburg and Kreuzberg, Berlin.

In June 1980, the German Police forcefully evicted the Free Republic of Wendland, an anti-nuclear protest camp in Gorleben, Wendland. This involved the largest mobilisation of the German Police since the demise of the Third Reich in 1945. This attack on 5,000 peaceful protesters lead many former pacifists to become willing to use violent methods.

By December 1980 the Berlin City Government organised an escalating cycle of mass arrests, followed by other local authorities across West Germany. The squatters resisted by opening new squats, as the old ones were evicted. Following the mass arrest of squatters in Freiburg, demonstrations were held in their support in many German cities. the day was dubbed Black friday following a demonstration in Berlin at which between 15,000 to 20,000 people took to the streets and destroyed an expensive shopping area. The tactic of wearing identical black clothes and masks meant that the autonomen were better able to resist the police and elude identification.


to the point

In 1986 Hamburg squatters mobilised following attacks on Hafenstrasse. A demonstration of 10,000 took to the streets surrounding at least 1,500 people in a Black Bloc. They carried a large banner saying "Build Revolutionary Dual Power!" At the end of the march the Black Bloc then engaged in street fighting that forced the police to retreat. The next day 13 department stores in Hamburg were set alight causing nearly $10 million in damage. Later that year, following the Chernobyl disaster, militant anti-nuclear activists used the tactic, prompting the comment "In scenes resembling 'civil war' helmeted, leather-clad troops of the anarchist Autonomen armed with slingshots, Molotov cocktails and flare guns clashed brutally with the police, who employed water cannons, helicopters and CS gas (which has since been officially banned for use against civilians)."


Pamphlet used

When Ronald Reagan came to Berlin in June 1987, he was met by around 50,000 demonstrators protesting against his Cold War policies. This included a Black Bloc composed of 3,000 people. A couple of months later police intensified their harrassment of the Haffenstrasse squatters. In November 1987 the residents were joined by thousands of other Autonomen and fortified their squat, built barricades in the streets and defended themselves against the police for nearly 24 hours. After this the city authorities legalised the squatters residence.

When the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund met in Berlin in 1988, the autonomen hosted an international gathering of anti-capitalist activists. With numbers around 80,000 the protesters completely outnumbered the police.

DISCLAIMER:

THE OPINIONS OF THE POLITICAL PARTIES MENTIONED AND THE DIRECT ACTION TAKEN TO HELP MAINTAIN MANKINDS PERSONAL FREEDOMS WORLDWIDE IN OUR INCREASINGLY POLICE STATE LIKE GOVERMENTS , DO NOT WHOLLY REPRESENT THOSE OF AGENT B, THOUGH DIRECT ACTION IN SMALL DOSES FROM ALL ENLIGHTENED HUMANS CAN BRING DOWN THIS ROTTEN SYSTEM AND HELP GIVE THE POWER BACK TO THE MAJORITY...FUCK THE POWER HUNGRY MINORITY.

HELP THROW A SPANNER IN THE WORKS IN YOUR DAY TO DAY.

VIOLENCE IS NEVER THE ANSWER.



YOUR COMRADE

AGENT B

Crunch your Nut its the end of the world..

There are many concepts world wide as to why we're living in the time of the end and to why the global market has been wrecked all at the same time, some say that such a global collapse could only have been orcastrated with the co-operation of all other major economic big hitters within world trade and bank lending circuits...this particular explanation caught my ear




Or even perhaps



Personally i prefer the last one..

But i would

As I haven't slept for 27 hrs

I am le tired

AGENT B

Tigers and Bears oh my..

Tamil Tigers

My heritage stems like a twisted tree root spread wide and far beneath the ground, my father is from New York mixed with Native American and my Mother comes from a little Island called Sri Lanka or Ceylon (as the British named it), this little island long has been a jewel colonalists would love to wear as a crown (infact the Queens crown jewels are mainly found native in Sri Lanka)... I had the pleasure to travel throughout this glorious island on my own small pilgrimage when i was 19, its vastly diverse terrain mystified me and the people generoisty warmed my heart.
But truth be told though the beauty of the island pleased me asthetically there were bold parental/goverment/public health warnings clearly stamped over my true goal, to reach the birth place of my mother, and herein lies the problem. Trincomalee a small naval town in the north east has been at war for a long time, infact the whole North (predominately Tamil) is pretty much a no go area. an area where the Tamil Tigers and the Sri Lankan goverment have been at war with fierce bloody violence.

The conflict between Sri Lanka's government forces and armed Tamil rebels has raged for nearly 60 years. Thousands have died and many more have been made homeless by the fighting,

Since Sri Lanka's independence from Britain in 1948, the Tamil minority has felt increasingly marginalised and politically disenfranchised. In that very year, Solomon Bandaranayake, the country's first prime minister, made Sinhala, which is spoken by the majority of Sri Lankans, the official language.

After 1948, the Tamils also became the targets of numerous riots that swept through the island nation. Believing that these riots were instigated by the Sinhalese authorities, Tamils began calling for an independent state and for an organisation to protect their rights.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) was one of the many groups that came into existence to fight for Tamil rights.Formed in 1975 with its base in the northern and eastern parts of Sri Lanka, the group vowed to form a separate state called Tamil Eelam.

Sri Lankan Goverment soldiers

The death toll is estimated at 70,000 people since it began. 250,000 people have been

displaced within the country since the conflict began. Though, Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger fighters have announced that they are ready to comply with international calls for a ceasefire, but they would not lay down their arms, according to the AFP news agency.

But the offer has been rejected by the government, according to the Sri Lankan military.

The journey I took was definitely and experiance, 12 hours on a cramped bus 40 odd people hanging onto a 23 bus, sweating and excited i sat only watching the dense dusty undergrowth pass me by, only small breaks in the terrain revealed the expertly dug in Goverment heavy gun turrets. The constant on and off the bus for security checks towards the latter end of my journey let me know i must be close to the border between the green and red zone...


A temple near where my mother was born

By the time i reached Trinco (my Mothers birth place, a place i know she longs to see again) my eyes were red from silent tears, the towns were desolate, bullet ridden walls and families of 10 plus living in unicef tents. The naval base where she was born long abandoned and the people restless and paranoid. I knew i was in danger and it broke my heart to see how desperate the people were in need of aid.



I learnt many lessons on that journey, the richness of my heritage and the true nature of human suffering the classic, " mans own inhumanity to man "...this like so many other stories from around the world is the sad reality of the state this world is now in.

Is there a happy ending in sight for the people of Sri Lanka or even the world community in this time of Depression and Recession..

You tell me.

I know one thing though...i'm still holding the flag in hope of change.

AGENT B

Mj is black..?!?

Agent B and Agent White Hawk

The moral here is...don't smoke crack

AGENT B

Who's afraid of the big bad wolf..

Lupus in latin translates as Wolf

My life has been so intimately touched by this illness, watching one you love deteriorate over night victim to some wolf like stalker of the twilight, prowling in the darkness waiting for the right moment to strike...So few have heard of it, yet worldwide it's seen as more common than leukaemia, multiple sclerosis & muscular dystrophy.

Over 30,000 people have the disease in the UK of whom 90% are female. Men & young children can also be affected by lupus. The ratio of women to men(who are affected) being 9:1.

Lupus is an autoimmune disease, a type of self-allergy, whereby the patient's immune system creates antibodies which instead of protecting the body from bacteria & viruses attack the person's own body tissues. This causes symptoms of extreme fatigue, joint pain, muscle aches, anaemia, general malaise, & can result in the destruction of vital organs. It is a disease with many manifestations, & each person's profile or list of symptoms is different. Lupus can mimic other diseases, such as multiple sclerosis & rheumatoid arthritus, making it difficult to diagnose.

Currently there is no single test that can definitely say whether a person has lupus or not. Only by comprehensive examination and consideration of symptoms and their history can a diagnosis be achieved.

It's taken the lives literally and mentally of so many talented wonderful souls and only those soldiers of another kind seem to be able to push through the boundries and limitations it can present in their lives...to all of you that have stared the beast straight in the eye, i salute you, heres to the beautiful struggle and to more research and global awareness

As my Brother would say

" Fuck the big bad wolf ".

Agent Rage


AGENT B

http://lupusuk.com/

My only saving Grace..

Coup De Grace

My soul to yours

AGENT B

If only life was this easy...wait ?

Trailer Park Boys could be thee most well observed genius fucking comedy on this planet, the fact that this show is so off the commercial success radar goes to prove how fucked the politics behind televised shows have become.
or possibly..
Maybe our sense of humour is the first thing to have gone in our assimilation into the fetid stream of this advertised lobotimized global consciousness.
Wait..
Maybe the producers got it right, stay under the radar and save room on the Mothership.
A simple case of survival of the fitness ..

any-hoo

It's so fucking good it actually makes me want to move to Canada and become a pikey.

Fact.

Here's a smattering of my favorite snippets:

CONKY:



RICKY:



BUBBLES:



LAHEY:



JROC:




AGENT B

The unbearable question of Soul vs Reason

The Unbearable Lightness of Being

In describing the effect his idea of "lightness" has on a person's life, Kundera says Einmal ist keinmal ("what happens but once, might as well not have happened at all,. If we have only one life to live, we might as well not have lived at all"). By this logic life is, ultimately, insignificant; in an ultimate sense, no single decision matters. Since decisions do not matter, they are light - that is, they don't cause us suffering. Yet simultaneously, the insignificance of our decisions — our lives, our being — causes us great suffering. Hence the phenomenon Kundera terms the unbearable lightness of being: because life occurs only once and never returns, no one's actions have any universal significance. This idea is deemed unbearable because as humans, we want our lives to mean something, for their importance to extend beyond just our immediate surroundings.


Milan Kundera

Milan Kundera is a writer whom to me pose's many potent questions within his pregnant narratives, delicously bleak landscapes twist and turn from the czech history books, a history rich in revolution and triumph yet blighted with catastrophic defeat and surrender. The Prague he so colourfully describes is today but a shell of its former self, a land cursed by the spoilers, Easyjet and its gaggle of Hens and Stags.

Personal favorites of mine, Life is Elsewhere and Immortality are good ones to start with, but for the love of god dont watch the movie Unbearable Lightness Of Being before reading the book.

Enjoy

AGENT B

Angels that soar upon Hellish wings..

Hells Angels iconic shot 1960

They called themselves the Hells Angels because they flew on silk wings into hell itself, bringing a brutal hope for peace with 20 pounds of TNT strapped to each leg. The nickname was a badge of honor, a mark of invincibility, a wartime emblem indicating the toughest of the tough. It was a totem to ward off the worst.

There are three main international "outlaw" clubs: Hells Angels, the Outlaws and the Bandidos. There are many other lesser-known clubs, from the Bandits, Mongols and Satan's Slaves to the Outcasts and the Pagans, but the two main rivals are Hells Angels and the Outlaws.



Hunter S Thompson

Hell's Angels, Hunter S. Thompson's first book, published in 1966, is a highly involved, almost endearing, but highly critical account of the civil chaos, the police hysteria, political polemic and media hyperbole that trailed around after the Northern California motorcycle gangs of the mid-sixties. Rather than assuming the distant stance of the 'objective' journalist, Thompson spent a lot of time partying with the Angels, going on 'runs' (mass bike rides to various locations over holiday weekends) and just hanging out, talking about everything and anything.

Without every apologising for their behaviour - the rapes, or the riots, Thompson in his own singular gonzo style, does a convincing job of getting close to the soul of the biker outlaw, exploring the history and social status of 'white trash', and the influences that make them what they are.

'They are urban outlaws with a rural ethic and a new improvised style of self-preservation.

He was never a member - he was always under suspicion for being a writer, he didn't ride a chopped Harley Davidson (He rode a BSA, which he totalled one night, and almost himself with it), and he certainly didn't (un)dress the part. Despite this, whenever Thompson was at any mass meeting, he seems to have been between two stools - his association with the gangs almost got him strung up by local vigilantes, while he was always conscious of the Angels' potential for violence. Things came to a head when he was beaten up by them in 1966.

AGENT B

Breaking open the head..

Shamanism is a technology for exploring non-ordinary states of consciousness in order to accomplish specific purposes: healing, divination, and communication with the spirit realm. The characteristics of shamanism were defined by the religious historian Mircea Eliade: "special relations with 'spirits,' ecstatic capacities permitting of magical flight, ascent to the sky, descent to the underworld, mastery over fire, etc." Shamanism can also involve magical transformation of humans into animals, prophetic dreams, and interaction with the souls of the dead.

The belief system of shamanism posits, besides the dimensions of space and time that are tangible to us, other dimensions, accessible through heightened consciousness or trance. These other dimensions, which pass through every human being, are often represented by the Axis Mundi, or World Tree, with roots reaching down into the lower domains of ghosts and spirits, and branches stretching up towards the gods.

"The underworld, the center of the earth, and the "gate" of the sky are situated on the same axis, and in past times it was by this axis that passage from one cosmic region to another was effected,"

AGENT B