Munster Cathedral Bells

 

https://x.com/theflateartherr/status/1905842899712983361?s=46

Lyva Vamity

 

Lyva Vamity 

just dropped a debut album

It’s a beast 

A voice of the 21st-century reminding us people do still think, in terms of albums. This one is definitive. A statement of our times. 

A seasoned studied pro ecstatic with achieving goals most of us can’t even dream of, says it all for all of us better than we know. 

100% proof distillation, roots of South Wales Bristol music scene, rock jazz electro rap dub drum and bass.

Spinning our collective cultural references, deftly handled, making the impossible seem easy. 

Takes us “beyond hip-hop”

A voice of our generation. 

A generation piece. 

I intended to do a review for each track individually 

but I got caught up with it 

The album is a portal of high octane creativity. 

It tells it as it is. 

After this album, the world is reset 

into a different trajectory. 

It needs to be played

on a loop. 

~SnakeAppleTree

Reverent Silence

Reverent Silence

I asked God why my life had to take a different direction than promoting my music career and my development as a musician. 

God showed me. 

My music is influenced by a fusion of east and west. 

The politics over the decades of my life has been increasing segregation of East and West, with both hemispheres at war with one another. 

The ancient ‘Christianity versus Islam’ debate is an example, from the Gulf War of the 1990s to the mass-migration invasion of Europe by Islamic ‘refugees’ during the 2020s.

Islamic extremist nations banned music altogether. Western democratic nations shit on me because my music is not British enough, not Western enough, due to its Arabic, Indian, Oriental, African, influence and content. 

The Western way would be to defensively say; I make MY music from all the sources which stir me, from sounds, vibrations, feelings I love. The truth is it’s music. It flows through us and sounds however it feels, to the best of our ability to bring it through.

““We have fallen into the place where everything is music.” Jalal Uddin Rumi

“If music be the food of Love, play on!” William Shakespeare 

“[She] charmed their ears and made them forget their cares, ravishing their minds with wondrous tales, just as the musicians do with the sweetest airs.” Shaharazade, ألف ليلة وليلة  Alf Layla wa Layla, The Thousand and One Nights

“And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music.” accredited to Friedrich Neitzsche 

God showed me that my path was to stop making music to protect me from the consequence of persecution from both the east and from the west. 

A handful of humanitarians who simply love music no matter what its historic source, are unlikely to hear it anyway unless I go epic-scale with promoting the ideology along with the music. 

It would become a symbol both for that which is universally repressed simultaneously that which symbolises freedom from all forms of dogmatic repression. 

I weighed it that my music would have to be sufficiently good, to convey such lofty idealism. 

I battle constantly with imposter syndrome and low self-esteem largely due to the overwhelming volume of trauma abuse I receive anyway, simply from living in a culture of repression.

Whenever I have done anything good, other people take it, reshape it, rebrand and market it has their own invention with no accreditation to me whatsoever.

My music is not in the public domain. Some experiments, b-sides, snippets and offcuts of it is, simply to leave a record. 

I still have some master copy discs which were not stolen or destroyed by sociopaths. They will likely end in a land refill. 

I stand at a juncture in my life. I have less decades ahead than I have formative experiences in the past. I must decide what to do with the time I have left. 

I am once again, thinking of music at least.

But they have a machine for that now. I am  become redundant. 

The struggle seems a pointless endeavour.

PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT

PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT 

On the basis that during 2024 I have experienced several separate counts of people * copy-pasting my original writing into chatGPT and claiming it as their own work, without consent and in defiance of the convention of international copyright legislation, I will no longer release any new content for public observation. As of this time my original output is a commercial enterprise. The associated moniker SnakeAppleTree is a trademark commercial vehicle. 

SnakeAppleTree 

2024.11.11 

©2024 Ordo Octopia. All Rights Reserved. 

* eg; 

Procrastinatrix (Toby Godden) 

* eg; 

   Sylvia Woodham 

   (I have evidence to verify this) 

(the evidence on the hyperlink is a different evidence for another of Sylvia’s manipulations). 

Station to Station

Station to Station

The ArtStation and AI protest, 2 years later.

The digital art platform Artstation was launched in 2014. 

It’s stated goal is “to empower artists so they can be independent and successful.” 

In 2021 Epic games purchased Artstation which many digital artists were using as their showcase gallery to seek employment within the games and media industries.  

In December 2022 anti-AI art campaigners organised and spammed Artstation with the now famous No-AI logo in a protest against ‘stealing other peoples art’. Unfortunately for the protestors the No-AI logo itself is copyrighted material since 2007. Effectively the protestors have collectively stolen a piece of original design by replicating it identically and spamming Artstation and other platforms with it to make their statement. Individual members of the anti-AI movement decided that it was worth taking the risk of hypocrisy and legal theft by seizing private goods for the greater good of the protest. 

Fortunately for the protestors the owner of the infringed copyrighted No-AI logo has a sense of humour and understands how using art in this way has a historical precedent and is necessary for cultural reform. That this awareness goes beyond personal prejudices and opinions regardless of any legal situation during any given generation. The extent to understanding and appreciation of the power and value of not censoring art is evident in the education the copyright owner of the No-AI image provides for his own child. This is evidenced by having taken the child to the Art And Protest exhibition in the nations capitol, an exhibition which featured zero digital art. It did have a Banksy. 

The visit to the national gallery occurred simultaneously to an actual protest occurring between the trainstation, government headquarters and BBC headquarters. Although that particular protest was against the government endorsed syllabus of promoting and normalising pedophilia in state schools, not directly about art until some of the images and accompanying text printed in the schoolbooks are called into question. That is entirely another matter to the T&C of Artstation which prohibits such content but does not prohibit imagery generated by an AI. 

Artstation resolved the conflict by installing a ‘see AI content yes/no’ toggle on their website which is widely regarded as a form of commonsense compromise, an easy solution. While the platform did continue to come under criticism by the most hate driven of the protestors for not outright banning AI within their domain altogether, it did satisfy most people that AI content should be labelled as such, the onus for doing so reliant on the platform user, the uploader of the imagery which benefits Artstation by exonerating them from any involvement with third party misuse of the platform. Likewise, the artists retain full copyright of any work uploaded to Artstation. 

In 2024 I discovered Artstation Magazine website which is in addition to and a separate platform than Artstation. It is also owned by Epic games. The copyright on Artstation Magazine website says 2024. I have been unable to determine if it existed prior to this as the information ‘when did art station magazine start?' is not available on google so far as I have been able to ascertain. 

It features four main categories; 

Develop Art Skills. Career Opportunities. Discover inspiration (triple-A games showcase). Industry News. 

There is not an AI thing in sight. Artstation Magazine seems entirely devoted to ‘digital art pre-AI’ which means they are doing a lot to keep people in employment with skills which developed in the 25 years since the Millennium Y2K and which hardly much existed before then to the contemporary accepted standard, certainly not in the practicality of the style-houses which have emerged since the dawn of high-resolution digital art.  

My generation of art training came from artists who lived and trained before computers. I was trained in the traditional art techniques from the academy allegedly founded by Da Vinci. At the time there was no differentiation between 'machines which replace the painting-with-real-paint with buttons and a mouse or graphics tablets', and 'machines which replace the painting-with-real-paint with using buttons and text prompts'. It was all considered computer art, put in the same box. It is not 'painting' if no actual paint is involved. 

It is digital art. None of it is ‘real art’ to the understanding of the last living generation of real artists who determined collectively that computer art will be the death of traditional art skills. This is comparable in the same way graphic-tablet-and-mouse digital artists have determined that text-prompt digital artists will be the death of art or more specifically of their income stream. Which as time has showed, if the short space of two years is sufficient to measure it by, was incorrect. It was nothing more than panic-based fear-mongering and targeted hatred. 

When I look at platforms such as Artstation and see no evidence at all of any actual paint or charcoal, nor the skills required to create what continues to be described by the majority as ‘real art’, I wonder at the intensity by which digital artists employed by a thriving industry have in defending their own generations unique method of creating visual imagery against all others, past and future. 

TheLatestHype

Nobody starts as a Professional.

People start as Amateur, progress through Adept and toward Master.

What makes a person progress beyond Amateur? 

Skill. Study. Experience. 

What do you get if you allow a machine to replace the development of 

Skill, Study and Experience? 

You get: no further development. 

You remain amateur for ever. 

When the market is flooded by amateur efforts created by machines, 

there is a demand for a separate, traditionalist market 

for people who are Adepts and Masters.  

“It evens the playing field” 

Says the pro-AI-writer lobby. 

So would giving amphetamines and anabolic steroids to Olympic athletes. 

There is a reason it is disallowed. 

“It dehumanises and reduces Human potential.” 

Says the anti-AI-writer lobby. 

“What if it is all we are capable of after having been dumbed down?” 

Ask the observant social commentators.  

If giving up on doing what is necessary, to become Adept and Master, 

is considered all you are capable of; 

you have not faced and overcome the very struggle 

which is a part of what develops a writer from amateur to adept and adept to master. 

“But I want to write a book and I am not a professional writer.”

I want to win the Olympics but I have to concede it is not my natural purpose.

‘I Want’ does not equate to developing any ability to achieve a certain benchmark. 

‘Professional’ is a word which means ‘in exchange for money’. 

THAT IS ALL IT MEANS.

It has less to do with Ability or Quality than ‘Professionals’ will confess to.

And yes, it is very obvious when writing is created by an AI. We can tell. 

Now if you will excuse me, 

I have to go back to writing ’5318008’ upside down in my calculator 

to convince myself I am a professional mathematician. 

Here is some stuff about The Latest Hype ™ ;

https://nanowrimo.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/29933455931412-What-is-NaNoWriMo-s-position-on-Artificial-Intelligence-AI

In short: 

While you do have a right to make badly forged paintings if you are unethical, 

most of us do not want to look at that crap anyway. 

https://nanowrimo.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/29929627478804--I-can-t-believe-NaNoWriMo-is-endorsing-a-person-company-who-does

In short: 

It is not up to us what you write and we refuse to discriminate against anyone. 

Fair enough. Good call.

‘AI is coming for the amatuer novelists. Thats Fine.’ By Gold Beckerman: 

https://www.theatlantic.com/books/archive/2024/09/ai-is-coming-for-the-amateur-novelists-thats-fine/679696/

CagesOfTheMind

Cages of the Mind 

for the people who don't get it

‘transhumanism’ is everybody 

who left the forests, 

went to the plains, 

ate the mushrooms

learned how to 

rub sticks together

to make fire, 

transhumans are the ones who are using cars, 

transhumans are clothes wearers and hunters, 

transhumans are dishonest to hide magic in books 

so unborn people can be influenced by their vile ego, 

transhumans are the ones who reach for the stars 

instead of staying in the sea to feed the sharks, 

transhumans brush their hair and clean their teeth with tools, 

transhumans are characterised by their use of tools 

to expand potential latent in the original amoebic seed, 

transhumans is a very new word for a very old thing, 

we used to call it adaptation to improve the human condition. 

This is not the loss of humanity. 

We are only as human in the new land as we were in the last land. 

The humanity is that which we contain and bring with us. 

Those who fear the changes 

we will experience as we enhance 

and expand our potential, 

those who stay watching shadows in caves, 

we respect those too 

but sooner or later we realise, 

those are the ones 

who are only alive 

because we keep them in zoos

the cages of the mind

For the record,

I do not advise people to get a chip in your head 

The people who associate that with transhumanism

are asking for SnowCrash

Global Dreadlock

"Hair are our aerials, man. It is through them we receive messages from the cosmos." 

Danny, Withnail & I 

The Global Dreadlock is One Dreadlock. We are all connected.

I have got around to researching some evidence that Dreadlocks are not a uniquely African hairstyle reserved only for African people, but are in fact found all over the world in many different civilisations.  As far as archeological evidence goes to prove anything much at all, some of that even predates African use of dreadlocks. It also reveals how different peoples wear dreadlocks for different purposes.

I am asking you to think about all of our common ancestors who did not yet have the technology combs.

Blogger is to uploading any pictures for me at this time so I will have to put the links instead. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreadlocks

https://www.noireonaturel.com/le-blog/hair/the-history-of-dreadlocks-a-journey-through-time-and-culture/

https://icareifyoulisten.com/2020/04/out-of-context-4-muddy-ownership-dreadlocks/

https://www.esquire.com/uk/style/grooming/a34465402/history-of-dreadlocks/

https://www.dreadlab.co.uk/pages/dreadlocks-history

https://lionlocs.com/blogs/dreadlocks/history-of-dreadlocks

dreadlocks-myths

https://lionlocs.com/blogs/dreadlocks/what-is-the-spiritual-meaning-of-dreadlocks

https://theculturetrip.com/europe/greece/articles/does-the-origin-of-dreadlocks-stem-from-ancient-greece

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indigenous_Australians

[insert picture of the Gorgons here]

[insert picture of aboriginal Australians here]

[insert picture of Celtic bronze coins here]

Twmbla

TWMBLA

There is a mountain in Wales which the Welsh call a hill, the way it do. It is tall enough to be seen above the city from many leagues around. On top of the mountain is a man-made hill which also can be seen standing proud like a pimple from many leagues around. The tribes who built it were known to the Romans whose capitol city in Briton, Caerleon, fort of the legion, is in the shadow of the mountain. 

The hill on top of the mountain is a 'twmp', Welsh for 'little hill' but more directly relating to the English word 'tomb' given that tumps are man-made, artificial mounds, Barrows like the ones in Skyrim, a burial chamber predating the Bronze Age. I have been up there, of course. The ancestors would put the bodies of the dead as high in the sky as they could, unlike we postmodern people who typically burn them. The mountain is called Twmbarlwm, ‘an ancient Welsh word’, quite unlike most modern Welsh words which the elder Welsh called ‘English’. Modern Welsh is like English, a creole language. Some of its roots go deep enough to remain and retain their poetry. 

A standing stone in sight and in alignment with Twmbarlwm is called Langston which means in the ancient language ‘ancient stone’. The word ‘lang’ means ancient, that is what it meant to the people who we consider to be the ancients. That’s how old these places are. That’s how old the language is. A gauge is a measurement, in this case of time. 

Before anybody invented written languages we had spoken form which phonetically mutate into regional dialects. By tracing a combination of ‘the same word’ associated with ‘the same or strongly related meaning’ we can trace cultural roots. It is important to be aware how ‘culture’ and ‘bloodline’ are two different elements. 

When you ‘see and can not un-see’ it, you begin to understand how we are all talking the same language. In traditional British mythology, ‘see’ and ‘un-see’ are concepts associated with the Faerie courts, the Seeley and un-Seeley are the light and shadow courts; ‘those who accept, those who live in delusion and fantasy who are not ready or not willing to accept’. 

There is another historic group which associates the word Twmbarlwm with the spirits of the ancestors. It is not Welsh. Its roots are West African. 

Dambala the Sky Father is one of the most important of all loa, who are spirits in West African diaspora religious traditions. Traditionally he is a great white or black serpent, sometimes a rainbow. Dambala originated in Benin, from the city of Ouidah (Wedo). 1 

It is said about Damballa “he represents a continuum which is at once the ancient past and the assurance of the future.” Damballah is a Rada, guardians of order, morals and principles. In this sense it relates to Dharma the concept of 'everything in its right place' (compare 'karma' things seeking their right place), ruler Damusz of the city of Damascus. A phonetic and conceptual link to Dahomey. 

Damballah ‘whistles and hisses like a snake’ instead of speaking, 2 

A description which practising spiritist’s associate with ‘tinnitus-like tones’ revealing the presence of a communicable entity. Therefore It is associated with a ‘gate’ or ‘opening’ when communicating with spirits (alternately translated as ‘worshipping ancestors’). 

Timbale, a specific, recognisable drum rhythm used to ‘open the gate’ to communicate ceremoniously with spirits. Differs from the ‘closing the gate’ drum rhythm, and several others for various ritual stages and purposes. 

A shallow double-headed drum called timbal may be used when the dance kongo is performed. 3 

“A Latin American / Cuban dance of African origin with a repeated pattern of three steps followed by a kick, to each bar: the dancers typically form a single file winding line, following a leader.” 4

Konga is a different rhythm to the Tumbala, it is included here for associative purposes. 

The Boula is the smallest of the three drums that form the Rada battery used in Vodou ceremonies. Painted white with red and green bands near the bottom.  5

White, Red Green. Also seen in the national flag of Wales and of Mexico where the modern Santeriá form of African diaspora religion officially has millions of practitioners. 

“Enslaved Africans brought the batá tradition to Cuba during the mass migration of the transatlantic slave trade. Añá is believed to communicate with these deities when the consecrated batá are played, their musical sounds transformed into aché—spiritual energy or life force. Añá facilitates divine communication and helps to “bring down,” in the form of spiritual possession, other orichas (deities in human form) during ritual ceremonies or tambores. Aside from these spiritual attributes, a musical ritual using fundamento can bring social prestige to the host of a tambor and purpose and unity to the religious community as a whole.” 6 

The Cuban Santeriá ceremony derived from Yoruba is called Tamboure. 

Tambourine is a hand-held shaker related to the Egyptian Temple sistrum (rattle). 

“A sistrum is an ancient Egyptian percussion instrument that was shaken during religious ceremonies and when coming into the presence of a deity.” 7

“U-shaped sistrums existed by 2500 bc in Sumer and have been excavated near Tbilisi, Georgia.” 8

Sumer links the practise-and-purpose to Damascus. 

Phonetic 'Tbl' (say it out loud). 

The suffix -ina means ‘eve’ the same as ‘All Hallows Eve’ is called also ‘Halloween’. 

Eve is a variant of Ewe. 

Tumbalá is a town in Southern Mexico, the Chiapas region. 9

Ba is Sanskrit / Egyptian Hieratic for a "spiritual entity seen as a human-headed bird hovering over the deceased or exiting the tomb in the hieroglyphics, and was the part of the soul that could travel between the worlds of the living and the dead." 10 

This description is an indicator, with admiration of the symbolism and association. The italic is my own emphasis. 

SOURCES

Although for practicality I have referenced internet sources to compose this article, 

branches I work with are not mentioned here with respect for their not openly existing 

in accordance with the lineages’ tradition. 

 

1  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damballa

2  https://steemit.com/vodou/@arrrados/haitian-vodou-damballah-the-primordial-serpent

3 http://www.lameca.org/publications-numeriques/dossiers-et-articles/vodou-music-in-haiti/2-the-musicians-of-vodou/

4  https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/conga

5  https://music.si.edu/object-day/rada-drum-boula-vodou-ceremonies

6  https://folklife.si.edu/magazine/gender-taboos-cuban-bata-drumming

7  https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/553814

8  https://www.britannica.com/art/sistrum

9   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tumbalá

10 http://myweb.usf.edu/~liottan/theegyptiansoul.html

FURTHER ACTION

I should send this blog to these people, really. 

"Have you got a pet theory on the origins of Twmbarlwm – real, fantasy or humorous. Then write it down and we’ll publish the best stories in the next Newsletter and put them online too."

https://www.twmbarlwm.co.uk/what-is-the-twmp-on-twmbarlwm/

twmbarlwmsociety@gmail.com

Why did it take so long? 

Because I had to verify it as true before telling people about it, 

which took a lot of specialist training which I dedicated my life to. 

And now the work is done.