The wave
Gut had been playing on the last session for the day and after everything was finished up, he said to Dagge are you heading off now?
Right this very minute, Dagge said, as he opened the door.
Gut said, I have been listening to a science book about energy. Did you know all energy in the universe involves a wave? Heat, light, sound, somewhere, there will be a wave. Back in the old days there were these televisions that had valves like my bass amp and when, they were off a channel, there would be a grey fuzz on the screen going geeeerrrric. Well, that is radiation, the whole universe is full of it. It is energy. I cannot understand why they stopped making those televisions, that would be very interesting watching and listening to the universe.
Dagge said, the media corporations probably couldn’t figure out a way of making a profit from people watching and listening to the universe.
Gut said, I would really like to experience that. Living in a city probably isolates you from a first-hand experience of the universe. Except for the sun and the moon, of course. I have made up my mind that one day I want to go somewhere, where you can look at the night sky and see meteors and stars. It would have to be for a while in case there are clouds.
Dagge said, I have never had a thought like that Gut. I mean about looking at stars.
You can’t see them in the city because of light pollution, Gut said.
Dagge stopped, did you say light pollution?
Yes, all the artificial light masks the night sky so you cannot see very much of what is there, Gut said.
That is incredible, said Dagge as they started walking again. Our culture is so blind, deaf and of course out right dumb. We get bombarded all the time with how clever we are and yet, here I am an adult and I know zilch about any of this.
I thought pollution is smelly exhausts of gridlock monster trucks and rubbish that didn’t make it into a bin. Dagge came to a stop again. I had no idea about light pollution.
Dagge, I am sorry to say, if we were birds, other birds would be saying, oh, they are so filthy, they shit in their own nests, did you know that. Another bird would probably respond, they have lots of things though, still, I cannot imagine why they go into their house to empty their bowels.
Dagge’s job at the recording studio requires him to be attentive, quiet and patient. He and Gut had left the studio only moments before and he is still being, attentive, quiet and patient. So, it was up to Gut to keep the conversation going. Gut likes telling a good listener a story.
Have you noticed how often Bic refers to transmissions of information? Information in, behaviour out, He says.
I have been thinking about that a fair bit lately, said Gut, and when I was watching a football game the other day it struck me. Two football teams have a game of football, for them it is all real. They run, kick the ball, give the opponents a good shove, the occasional, kick in the shins. Ouch, that hurts, I will try and get a penalty.
Depending on the teams, there could be millions of people watching the game at very different times to when it is played. Millions more having a bet on it. Then, there could millions more who talk to others about the game before it is played and after and they will probably be repeating what was said by the media.
My point is this, thirty people have a real experience, they play football, millions of people relate to that football game in their heads. It is all in their minds, nothing more, it is all happening in their neural pathways triggering all sorts of reaction. Firing off messages, releasing some dopamine. Bombs away with the testosterone.
Between the football game and one of those millions of brains are cameras, directors of the camera, commentators. Plus, all the electrical charge to power the transmissions. Sorry about the Co2 emissions. The really interesting question for me though, is this. How many containers of sweet fizzy drink have to be sold to make all that possible?
Dagge, instantly snapped out of his of his attentive, quiet and polite studio manner, Gut, he said, that is the second thing in minutes I have never considered before in my life. What goes on in the mind of people, Football! That’s it, football and what is all for, sugar and fizz.
Did you know Dagge, you have to be a physicist to put the bubbles in the bottles.
There must be
Yit was taking a break when Dagge appeared and said, how are things going Yit.
Good Dagge, I am floating along on my little cloud of optimism, hoping no ill winds will blow it all apart.
Good for you, I would like to invent some sort of hat or hood that I could wear that blocks out all external interference from entering my neural pathways.
I seem to know several people that believe they have such a thing, only they ingest it and they do not wear it. Then again, they do wear it in a way I suppose, said Yit.
I simply do not have sufficient funds to be a voluntary Zonker, even if I did, I would probably get bore with it quickly, said Dagge.
The Zonkers I know all want to get to the magical sweet spot and hover there indefinitely. Their main problem, they tell me, is keeping the balance perfect. They all say as they top up, bang, too much, Zonk, down and out.
I think my hat is a better solution, Dagge said. Put it on, perfect equilibrium, take it off, back in the known universe. Well, a tiny little part of it.
How do you like it here at the studio Dagge, asked Yit.
I think Tingles is very good at keeping what could be complete chaos running smoothly, including myself. She is also good at keeping the agency people at a safe distance from the musicians and convincing them they are in total control. She would have made a good doctor; her bedside manner is so good, Dagge said with a reflective smile.
I have yet to see anyone as competent as her. She is the heart of this place. She must finish every day completely exhausted. Captain Tingles, I call her, said Yit. Not to her face, though, I mean it is only my little joke, don’t repeat that Dagge.
Mums the word, it is a good description Yit, said Dagge.
No wonder they make advertisements here, there is a really good vibe about this place.
When the bands come in at night to record, it is not always a smooth show. They can get agitated when things are not going well and clock keeps ticking on the money machine. If you get an offer to work at night or on the weekends, do it for work experience interest only. Tingles get offers all the time; she tells them her diary is full. The pet food advertisements may not be glamorous, but they are a much safer gig than the glam.
It feels good when you find yourself in a little sanctuary in this dog-eat-cat world, we are part of. The last few weeks have been a real eye opener for me. There is life after birth after all and it is mainly a result of being lucky enough to not to have many external demands. Single young adult male with a good education in a wealthy western country, who is currently taking only what he needs to get by on and has given up on cultural aspirations.
Yit said, I don’t believe I would survive five minutes as a dad, with kids going to school and being indoctrinated to become big consumers who are encouraged to have massive ambitions to be the best football player and earn millions and to sit in a monster truck in gridlock traffic. What about the poor parents who have kids who take in all that nonsense. All they can do is feed them and give them a safe environment to grow up in and then, watch them become clones of themselves.
Dagge said, the poor children of the people entrapped by a mortgage. I suppose they do grow up to be optimistic slaves like their parents who devoutly follow the teaching of the Business School monks. Bless them, the chiefs of capital probably say as they sit in their mansions counting their wealth.
Yit said, we are very strange animals aren’t we. Sometimes so clever and then, equally dumb and I mean, dumb.
I don’t talk about these things often Dagge, because I have had many experiences of questioning something about the world and some pontificating pounce will say, I see your point, however, let me be the devil’s advocate. Ah get stuffed you grovelling apologist, I am sure any self-respecting devil would absolutely not want anything to do with the likes of you claiming to speak on his behalf.
When you realize you belong to a minority in a society, it is best to wear social camouflage and only poke your nose out when you are sure it is safe to do so. You may not get burnt at the stake anymore, but you get treated like you are a threat to the survival of whatever it is that people are currently worried about losing.
Dagge had never seen Yit talk so strongly.
All I ask for Dagge, is to get from the birth canal to the crematorium with the least amount of discomfort to myself and all those I share my time with on this oblate spheroid. Gut told me that the planet earth is an oblate spheroid because it is not a perfect sphere. That is interesting isn’t it. I would have assumed it had to be a perfect sphere because God made it. I suppose he took only seven days though, a bit of a rush job. Sometimes, I think he stuffed lots of things up.
A steady stream
Bic was getting a steady stream of visitors at the library, which he appreciated. His visitors would sit there in the reading room with smiles on their faces looking around and saying things like, thanks Bic for inviting me to your place, it is a really good place to be in. Watt was the most frequent of these visitors and he said very little. He sucked up the words off the pages of books like an industrial vacuum cleaner. He started to bring a notebook and he would briefly pause from reading to jot something in it. He said to Bic, I know I can do this on my phone, but phones are not so important in here.
Bawd came in one day and said he couldn’t stay long, but something had been bothering him. He said, how did a public library with free access happen, Bic. How come it doesn’t belong to some corporation that charges you to use it?
Bic said, it almost does belong to a corporation now, that uses a very similar model of a library system, it is called, google. Their business model is to skim off earnings through advertising and commercial subscription to the search engine/catalogue.
Libraries have probably existed as long as written text. The most famous ancient one was the Library of Alexandria, in Egypt.
When nation states or countries as they are better known, started to replace the empires of kings and queens over one hundred years ago. These new countries quickly became aware that they required the population to have a common language. So, they established universal education for children and in one generation, you had a population that believed since the beginning of time they were devoted members of a country that spoke the language of the country and were protected under its flag. Almost as quick as the adoption of the internet happened.
With all these people being able to read, they wanted access to information to read. Books were very expensive for common folk, so they formed Mechanics Institutes to share books. This caught on quickly and lots of social groups starting providing free access to books and education. No radio or television existed at this point. Governments require record keeping systems, which are really libraries. Information stored with a cataloguing system to manage and access it. The public library was probably originally an access point to information that was seen as an important thing for a civilized society to have.
Bawd said, so public schools and many countries have not been around for very long?
Bic said, yes, fairly recent. I could tell you lots more about that, but we would be here for hours.
I fear the public library is under threat with the advent of the internet, Bic said. It happens, the very thing that gives life to something new disappears, because of it.
The public library is far superior to many internet searches for the average person. The internet will provide direct answers to a query, but it will take an expert and a long time to find the information to put it into context.
When you come here to the library, start at the desk with a query, that leads you to a book, which will have an index and a bibliography, and off you go on your search. The culture of the library is established to do this in a good environment.
Why do you think people have become so attached to their phones Bic?
I don’t really know the answer to your question Bawd, but I do have an opinion. That is a major social problem, especially with phones. So much information is really Transmissions of Opinion. Dagge would say, oh that is a ToO.
The popular belief in western society is, we are all individuals. This is only a recent idea with humans. Before, God made all the decisions and these decisions were transmitted through the church, then, through the local warlord or king they would ensure God’s directions were carried out.
So, for most of human history people have been social creatures and they behave that way. The trouble with being an individual with free will, in my opinion, is they haven’t got a clue whether they are sane. They live in constant fear of being deemed crazy, not the brightest button on grandma’s coat. Some think that when they think, there is a voice in their head. When they are simply having a little internal conversation. This is not to say that there are not plenty of crazies among the eight Billion.
So, once again, “my opinion”, people frantically tapping away on their phones are trying to determine if they are socially acceptable and do they make the grade.
When people are not the slightest bit interested in whether they are good and acceptable members of the species, then, they might well be one of the crazies.
Bawd said, sounds to me like people place conformity as high priority.
What a Service
As Dagge found peace with a significant part of the world he moved in, he also found himself being more and more suspicious of the Business School and its teachings. The more he juxtaposed the teaching of the Business School with the old religions, the more similarities he believes, exist. He did not have much exposure to religious indoctrination as a child. His parents were great believers of embracing the maximum mortgage they could bear without defaulting. Therefore, the status of obtaining and maintaining a massive mortgage, was the primary concern of their lives.
Once as an adolescent, his introspection led him to conclude that he was a total drain on his parent’s aspirations. He wished himself dead and gone, however, with a caveat. There was to be no remains, because a funeral would be a further drain on his parent’s already stretched finances.
Most of their conversations, he thought, are more heated arguments about budgetary matters. His mother would sometimes mention the prospect of more children. His father would roar back, you have a calculator, do the maths.
Dagge would run for shelter when he heard the calculator word. He would retreat to his room and plug into Michael Jackson. It was a very old CD his grandmother had given him.
Dagge was given a calculator for his fifth birthday. He remembers clearly what his father said when he opened the present. That is the only thing you will ever be able to trust in this world Dagge. Dagge got really excited, not with the calculator though, but with his farther using his name, he called me Dagge. His mum quickly left the room looking as though she was going to cry.
The interest in the connection with the old religions and the Business School teaching, Dagge believed was the result of a conversation he had with Yit one Day. Yit had been sent to a religious school as a child and he told Dagge that the religions in their early days did not like the money people. He said he did not remember that much about the reasons, but he thought it had something to do with profits.
Jesus and his friends had been developing an anarcho-syndical-movement that wanted to eradicate poverty and redistribute wealth. So, they went down to the market and started a serious fight with the accountants The accountants were not really psychical types and Jesus and his mates were carpenters and fisherman and beat up the accountants.
What happened after that was, Jesus became a cult hero of the poor. The poor were for some reason the majority of the population. The accountants were really pissed off about this, because they said without us you won’t know how to manage your wealth. The poor said we don’t have any wealth. Exactly, the accounts said, you spend it all because you haven’t got enough. The reason you haven’t got enough is because all you care about is food, warmth and shelter. Learn to save, we offer attractive interest rates.
Ever since this heated debate started, the accountants have been trying keep their tables upright at the entrance of the market place.
The anarcho-syndical-movement, through raffles and social events began to grow very successful and ended up having to engage a few accountants to keep track of the surplus wealth that began to grow with their popularity.
The Romans began to get cranky with the anarcho-syndical-movement because they made jokes about the Roman’s sexual preferences, especially because their whole military dictatorship was seen as burly men wearing miniskirts.
They decided enough is enough and they said to Jesus who really wasn’t their leader because of ideological reasons, seem you are the son of God, no hard feeling, but we have to make a statement. Up the cross he went and that was that for the time being.
Well, with Jesus out of the way, the accountants set about re-establishing what they believed was their rightful place at the entrance of the market place.
They adopted many lessons learnt from their encounter with the anarcho-syndical-movement and the Romans and to this day, have invested a calculated percentage of their profits in bread and circus.
Dagge told Yit at the time, he is extremely impressed with his knowledge of history.
Yit said to Dagge, some of what I told you maybe a little bit or even possibly totally wrong. I was not a very good student academically. For me it was all about the singing and the songs were all hymns. It maybe be possible, that while I was hyperventilating, while singing, a few things may have got a bit mixed up in my mind.
Dagge said, Bic talks about, how so much of what we think is real, is only information that has somehow got into our minds, then, through neurological activity, it has been all jumbled up because of poor connections with our neural transmitter’s.
Yit said, Dagge, some of those scientists should invent a spray, similar to what Tingles uses to clean the connectors at the recording studio.
Dagge had an image flash in his mind of someone with mental health issues reading the instruction on a spray can of neural transmitter contact cleaner, do you spray it in the nose or in the ear, ouch, he thought.
Tingles
Sav had known Tingles Chimes for a long time. She is the best sound engineer he has worked with; he would always say when ever her name was mentioned. In all those years he assumed her name was a professional name she used because she is totally committed to her work.
One day while Sav was talking to Tingles, he couldn’t explain why, he said, what is your real name Tingles?
Tingles made a funny face at Sav and said slowly and clearly, Tingles Chimes.
Sav did not know whether to apologise or ask how she came to have such a name.
Tingles realized Sav’s dilemma, mainly because her name had been a difficulty for her, her whole life.
Well Sav, the answer to the question you would like to ask is, how did I get my name?
My grandmother, who looked after me through my childhood and teenage years was a Hippie. She had a daughter who went feral from the commune. This feral daughter gave birth to a daughter while nearby chimes rang in the breeze. The feral daughter had been smoking gunga constantly and she keep saying to those in attendance, how the chimes made her tingle. When asked by the midwife, what she was going to call her new baby, she replied Tingles Chimes.
Tingles said, unlike others, Sav, you don’t seem amazed.
Oh, my mum is a bit feral. She is a long-haul truck driver and she has often forgotten she has a son. That is how I learnt to play guitar, my mum took me to a guitar lesson one day and did not come back to pick me up for over two years.
At that moment, Tingles and Sav realized they were fellow travellers and as adults they finally had someone, they could open up to who might understand them.
Tingles said, Sav I was very lucky, my grandmother is the best person on this planet. She told me, when I had your mother Tingles, I was a young, easily impressed kid with little understanding of the world. Like most of the children around here, your mum, simply went feral. Controlling children was simply frowned upon. Then, she would say, isn’t it funny, in a way we were controlled, to not control our own children.
Anyway, it didn’t take long evidently for Gran to intervene and to become responsible for me. I don’t think my Mum even remembers having me, she thinks I am her little sister. Anyway, that is how it is, my grandmother is my mother and my mother is my big sister. She is still fairly feral and we tolerate each other. She will turn up at my place unannounced, sit there looking at the walls for a couple of days and disappear again. She is harmless, it is only herself that she damages.
Sav said, my Mum has almost completely covered herself in tattoos. Now, she wants to give me tattoos for my birthday and Christmas presents. She never remembers either date, so I have managed to escape being tattooed so far.
Since I was a little fella, she had me cleaning our home. Her truck is always the cleanest sparkling truck on the road. We live on take away, so I did not have to cook. Bill taught me how to cook eggs and baked beans. He told me to always carry a can of beans in my guitar case, you just never know. He is correct, the beans in my case have saved me on many occasions and I am not even a touring musician.
Tingles said, Granny must have said to me a thousand times, Tingles, never get carried away with fashions. Fashions change all the time, because that is how most of our society operates. When you are young, it is easy to be misled by something that is really only a fashion and you will pay a huge price for the rest of your life through buying into it. It is funny how I have ended up in one of the epi-centres of fashion, the recording industry, when Granny had been so adamant about the troubles it creates. I suppose I am on the professional side of it and not the consumer end, though.
Sav said, you should meet Bill. He has told me that the recording industry has changed so much in the last few decades, that, you would think it is driven by fashion.
Tingles said, the music is fashion Sav, pure fashion. What I am talking about is the technical side of it, what you and I do doesn’t change that much.
Tingles said, that is why I do not like working with the bands. They come in here thinking they are so original and they are going to show the world how to go to another level. They all look the same, they all sound the same and they all blame the engineer when they don’t sound like whoever is the flavour of the month. At least the pet food advertisements are a total formula, usually correct fashion, wrong decade.
Tingles went on, My Granny once said, she would like to know, if the whole fashion and non-essential package industries were removed from a well-run community, what it would that community look like?
She often answers her own questions, she would answer, the planet would be in a lot better shape than it currently is in, that is what it would look like.
Sav said, I think my Mum’s tattoos are a fashion, I only hope she doesn’t tire of the fashion, because she would almost need a completely new skin.
Tingles went on, I think it is not that far away that the technology will change so much that our little world here will all be gone. Young males will walk around with some sort of sub-bass attachment on them with a steady boom-doom-boom-doom pulsing and flashing from it, the more masculine will have really big dooms.
The females will probably have much more elegant ones with lots of colours that can be interchange. Everything will probably be preprogramed in a factory somewhere, but the marketing will state clearly that the sound was captured in the rarefied atmosphere of the mountains, where, when the citizens fart, beautiful buttery flies emerge from their backsides.
A dark day
On a cold, dark, wet morning, Bic made his way to the public library. He enjoyed this type of weather and found a dry shelter where he could sit and watch how people behaved when the elements come to town to stir things up a bit. Well, he was sure the weather had no intent to upset anyone, it was simply a lot of natural factors that interact and the result is, a cold, dark, wet morning, a nice change. Living in a large city, Bic often thought, one day he would like to go and experience a more natural environment. Here I am he thought, getting excited over a stormy morning.
After he had settled in the reading room, he thought, it is always the same in this controlled environment, maybe I should go back out and watch the weather. While this debate raged in his mind, Sav appeared at the door with a cheery grin. Great morning, Sav said, nothing like a good stormy morning to clean the city up a bit.
Bic thought, I am not the only one who enjoys a good morning storm. How are you Sav, asked Bic.
Good, I have no complaints today, said Sav. The pair of them went into lots of details about their favourites storms over the years and agreed that when someone living in a city cannot enjoy a storm, they must be doing it tough.
Bic, Sav said, last time I was here, we were talking about how we take in information, then, what we do with. Well, I went and saw Bill and had a talk with him about it from a musician’s perspective. He had a lot to say on the matter. He said, most of his life, he has been learning music and no matter how much he learns, as soon as he feels comfortable with something, something new pops up. He said it took him a long time to realize that, there is no end, as long as you are learning, it is interesting, because you feel you are going somewhere. The last thing he said on the matter was, when you stop learning, kaaaput, that’s it, no more.
Bic said, I am not a musician, but that is how I would describe my life here in the library. Over the years I have read lots of books written about the same subject. Some of the books are written hundreds of years apart. The opinions of the authors vary dramatically, sometimes about the same events. However, some things everyone agrees on and I assume it is safe to believe, that could be a fact. Some of these books are someone’s lifetime of study, that does not mean for one minute, they are worthwhile historically, however, they are valuable in that it is the culmination of a lifetime’s effort. Who knows what that person or their efforts inspired in others?
Ah, Bic, do you do a bit of mind reading, enquired Sav. Sav went on, that is what I wished to ask about, your thought on this matter. When you feel that you have thought something through and you think you have an answer, does it matter if it is correct or not?
Bic froze up for a while. He then said sorry Sav. I feel your question came down upon my poor simple mind like a ton of bricks. At this moment there are stars and little birds flying around in there.
There is very little thought that happens in our minds that could be regarded as original. Every entertaining thought our mind has is a result of something we have been exposed to. I try and be careful to some extent, the types of things I exposed myself to, because, I simply don’t want that sort of nonsense in my mind. However, when something has no ill intent and is simply a different perspective, that can be interesting for many reasons.
The way someone rationalises the world they are exposed to is going to keep on changing. Some of those changes are from your own ongoing learning, some from social changes that you feel are appropriate to adopt and some of the big ones are totally about your circumstances.
I would say that if you are not standing up in a social institution with some badge of authority, or you are not trying to influence vulnerable people and you are simply expressing ideas to friends, then say what you like and be prepared to get a variety of reactions.
There have never been so many humans alive at the same time in history, that is a fact. We know that because we can count.
There has never been so much transmission of information before in human history. We know that because of digital data collection. The quality and validity of those transmissions is all guess work.
Food is consumed by the body and what has western wealth managed to achieve, obesity in a large percentage of the population.
Transmissions, sometimes misrepresented as worthwhile information and what have we achieved?
Sorry, Sav, but I have not got a clue. I am not sure what we have achieved.
Bic, from a musician’s point of view, when sound is not music, it is noise. I suppose when transmissions are not information, they are also noise and as I see it, we are subjected to a lot of noise. An awful lot of noise entering our minds.
This is beginning to get scary. My mind is getting bombarded with far too much noise, how can I protect my psychopolis, said the usually calm and relaxed Bic.
Tingles Chimes has many pieces of equipment at the studio she employs to reduce noise in the signal chain. I wonder if it would be possible to develop something that could do the same in the cultural world, said Sav with a contemplative tone.
Bic began, I read a book by an anthropologist, who study a primitive group who indulged in regular intoxication with substances that reduced inhibitions. They would place a staff in the centre of the group as they would partake in the substance consumption. This staff was called “a rant stick” and only one participant could hold it at anytime and most importantly, only that participant could talk while holding the staff. The stick could not be taken from another participant, it could only be access from the centre after it was placed back there. The author wrote that there was no scientific evidence to be gained from his extensive research, but he thoroughly enjoyed himself during countless hours of observation. Sometimes taking the rant stick himself while testing the aforementioned substance.
Sav said, I wonder how that could be adapted to social media.