Saturday, November 29, 2003 "I happen to think that you are perfect exactly the way you are- the problem is that people get stuck acting the way they were, instead of being the way they are." Werner Erhard -- "It is a very big thing when the sex center works with its own energy, but it happens very seldom." Georges Gurdjieff -- "The basic sexual impulse is the instinct for completion" Samuel Bercholz -- We have built us a dome On our beautiful plantation And we all have one home, And one family relation. Oneida Community Song -- Woman and Tree To love one woman, or to sit Always beneath the same tall tree, Argues a certain lack of wit Two steps from imbecility. A poet, therefore, sworn to feed On every food the senses know, Will claim the inexorable need To be Don Juan Tenorio. Yet if, miraculously enough, (And why set miracles apart?) Woman and tree prove a stuff Wholly to glamour his wild heart? And if such visions from the void As shone in fever there, or there, Assemble, hold and are enjoyed On climbing one familiar stair...? To change and chance he took a vow, As he thought fitting. None the less, What of a phoenix on the bough, Or a sole woman,s fatefulness? Robert Graves -- Robert Graves - His Life and Work By Martin Seymour-Smith - Hutchinson 1982 -- NUDE at T Confronted by an ever increasing barrage of nudity and sexually explicit prompts and images, I checked some resources related to aspects of nudity, sex and the socio-psychology of human bonding as expressed in infatuation, art, spirituality and sexual relationships. Robert Graves's poem above, written in 1956 testifies to a period in Graves' life when he vowed he would never deliberately court unhappiness". Graves, renowned love poet and restrained Don Juan, looked upon woman as Goddess- muse and consort combined. The apprenticeship of nudity and sexuality is a long and enduring one. Poets and painters- porn kings and prelates- politicians and inquisitors alike have been pitted against eachother in a constant battle over the definition of virtue and the uncontainable urge of sexual desire. During the last decade the autocue of sexual consciousness has been exploited as never before- exemplified by the excessive use of nakedness and sexuality in global advertising, music clips, fashion and the internet. The resume of conscientious personal enlightenment as expressed in the book that I used for the main source for this post lies under siege. Reading it- my recollection of the 70s is stirred again through the book's compassionate account of anti-authoritarianism, sexual liberation, esoterica and the quest for cosmic rapprochement. The chapters listed in the Catalog are instilled with the untainted drive of human curiosity, sexual liberation and experimentalism. Meanwhile, the nude- innocent and frail as ever before- may rest assured. Her icon is destined for permanence- be it in the privacy of the bedroom or molded to the ever changing and passing mores of fashion, grace, or human awe. Imagine a new kind of domestic scene (;). Let me paint your picture (in the nude - naturally). And while you strike the pose I will be serving tea, while we're listening to whatever music we agree to. Let's re-enact the wonder that Manet's "Dejeuner sur L'herbe" so eloquently speaks of. And while we may- attest to a contemporary version of chivalry that will never die. -- TRANSMUTATION "Sexual abstinence is necessary for transmutation only in certain cases, that is, for certain types of people. For others it is not at all necessary. And with yet others it comes by itself when transmutation begins. I will explain this more clearly. For certain types a long and complete sexual abstinence is necessary for tranmutation to begin; this means in other words that without a long and complete sexual abstinence transmutation will not begin. But once it has begun abstinence is no longer necessary. In other cases, that is, with other types, transmutation can begin in a normal sexual life-and on the contrary, can begin sooner and proceed better with a very great outward expenditure of sex energy. In the third case the beginning of tranmutation takes the whole of sexual energy and puts an end to normal sexual life or the outward expenditure of sexual energy." From: In Search of the Miraculous- by P.D.Ouspensky Harcourt, Brace Jovanovich 1949 -- THE ACT of SUPPRESSION "Soon, I had a multitude of facts which could be summoned up in the formulation: Sexual energy can be bound by chronic muscular tensions. The same is true of anger and anxiety. I found that, whenever I dissolved a muscular inhibition or tension, one of the three basic biological excitations made its appearance: anxiety, or sexual excitation." "It is sexual energy which governs the structure of human feeling and thinking. Sexuality (psychologically speaking, the parasympathetic function) is the life energy per se. Its suppression means disturbance of fundamental life functions, not only in the medical field, but quite generally. The most important social expression of this fact is irrational human action, mysticism and readiness to engage in wars, etc. The starting point of sexual politics, therefore, must be the question, What is the reason for the suppression of human love life?" Wilhelm Reich -Selected Writings - An Introduction to Orgonomy Farrar, Straus and Giroux -- BODY HEAT William Irwin Thompson at the Esalen Baths "Time passed in the penetrating heat of the baths. When finally I rose to dress. I discovered again that the hot springs had put my body to slow motion. As I moved out to the railing at the cliff's edge, I stopped. A towel seemed a harsh way to dry, so I stood in the sea wind and let the air dry me off. Every pore came alive as individually each tingled and dried in a random succession all over my body. The change from the springs to the sea wind was a rebirth, a rediscovery of the sheer sensual quality of being alive in a body. I could see why in the old creation myths the primordial sea was female and the sky was masculine: the baths assuaged you like an amniotic fluid, but the wind astonished every nerve to consciousness. My skin became an independent animal, and the sexuality locked in the crotch grew along the tendrils of my nerves." From: At The Edge Of History -Speculations on the Transformation of Culture By William Irwin Thompson - Harper & Row -- SISTER ACT "Betty Dodson's Bodysex Workshop-for women only-is a month-long program which meets once a week for four, three-hour long sessions, held in the nude. The group is limited to approximately 15 women of all ages, and is conducted, alternately, in New York and San Francisco. If the workshop had a subtitle, it doubtless would be: Know Your Body, Love Your Body, Develop Your Body. It is a feminist in orientation in that it celebrates woman's body as an instrument of her own pleasure and power, and dismisses the notion that women should beautify or adapt themselves solely for the attraction and satisfaction of men. Exercises are strenuous and exhilarating and include yoga, breathing, bends, stretches and movements (to music) which can enhance coital satisfaction. Dodson demonstrates a posture she considers will give maximum freedom and sensation to the genital area (buttocks in, pelvis forward) and urges masturbation as a means of getting to know an pleasure one's own body. One of the most innovative contributions of Dodson's work is her slide show of women's genitalia. She points out that since women's genitals are enclosed, most women have never explored their organs, or seen other women's, and for the most part, have not regarded them as aesthetic. The color slides demonstrate the great variety of women's genitalia-a sort of travelogue through the secret territory of women's bodies-and are intended to promote a sense of wonder and acceptance of what it means to be female." BodySex Workshops For Women - Betty Dodson -- THE WAR AGAINST PORN "Several weeks ago, the National Commission on Obscenity and Pornography - appointed in a previous administration - presented its findings. I have evaluated the report and categorically reject its morally bankrupt conclusions and major recommendations as I am in the White House, there will be no relaxation . So long of the national effort to control and eliminate smut from our national life. The commission contends that the proliferation of filthy books and plays has no lasting harmful effect on a man's character. If that were true, it must also be true that great books, great paintings and great plays have no ennobling effect on a man's conduct. Centuries of civilization and ten minutes of common sense tell us otherwise. The commission calls for the repeal of laws controlling smut for adults- while recommending continued restrictions on smut for children. In an open society, this proposal is untenable. If the level of filth rises in the adult community, the young people in our society cannot help but also be inundated by the flood. Pornography can corrupt a society and a civilization. The people's elected representatives have the right and obligation to prevent that corruption. The warped and brutal portrayal of sex in books, plays, magazines and movies, if not halted and reversed, could poison the wellsprings of American and Western culture and civilization. The pollution of our culture, the pollution of our civilization with smut and filth is as serious a situation for the American people as the pollution of our once pure air and water. Smut should not be simply contained on its present level; it should be outlawed in every state in the union. And the legislatures and courts at very level of American Government should act in unison to achieve that goal. I am well aware of the importance of protecting freedom of expression. But pornography is to freedom of expression what anarchy is to liberty: as free men willingly restrain a measure of their freedom to prevent anarchy, so must we draw the line against pornography to protect freedom of expression. The Supreme Court has long held, and recently affirmed, that obscenity is not within the area of protected speech or press. Those who attempt to break down the barriers against obscenity and pornography deal a severe blow to the very freedom of expression they profess to espouse. Moreover, if an attitude of permissiveness were to be adopted regarding pornography, this would contribute to an atmosphere condoning anarchy in every other field- and would increase the threat to our social order as well to our moral principles. Alexis de Tocqueville, observing America more than a century ago, wrote: "America is great because she is good- and if America ceases to be good, America will cease to be great." We all hold the responsibility for keeping America a good country. American morality is not to be trifled with. The commission on Obscenity and pornography has performed a disservice and I totally reject the report." Statement of Richard Nixon -The New York Times Sunday Oct 25, 1970 -- COUPLING of the GODS "John: An hour after taking the tiny orange pills our fucking became tumultuous. Along the jagged slopes of steep mountains dark thunder clouds churned with the immense energy of a Barogue painting. Gigantic male and female figures, the gods and the titans, battled, the energy of their twisting muscles equal to that of a storm. Boulders were hurled and bodies and rubble tumbled down the slopes. Centaurs and primordial bulls were among the struggling figures. I could feel all of the energy in the swollen and pendulous testicles of the bulls. Then, without warning an explosion like a bolt of lightning erupted through the struggle, striking order into the chaos. I came back into myself and found my body over Mimi's. I rolled off and described what I had experienced, the overpowering sensation of order being struck into the world. I asked Mimi what her experience had been. "The creation of the world," she said, smiling." From: Realms of the Human Unconscious- Stanislaus Grof. M.D. Viking Press -- HERO WORSHIP "As I watched Bjorn Borg beaten at Wimbledon for the first time in six years by John McEnroe, I was considering what part is played by beauty and style in the acceptability of heroes, and heroes to me are winners, not losers, on the whole. Since beauty and style are intrinsic to dress you will see where I am leading. By nationality if not by nature inclined tosupport the loser- thus being the exact opposite of the American dream, where nobody talks to the runner-up. Was it because he lost that I found Borg, for once quite sublimely attractive and sexy: the drooping, Christ-like head with the oft-auctioned bandeau no more now than a crown of thorns, that extraordinary face which makes him look so like Holman Hunt's insipid interpretation of another great winner/loser in the "Light of the World", and under the insipid ness that amazing strength and endurance, the knowledge that even in defeat there is a certain victory." "Rumour has it that the codpiece of the armour belonging to King Henry VIII, on display in the Tower of London, continually has to be replaced or re-hinged because it acts as a fetish-touch object just as irresistible as a rock star's shirt. To touch is to imbibe some trace of the power and the glory of the worshipped idol." "Another hero given in dress in America to the rest of us has been the doctor. The moment that I noticed my dentist in white, short-sleeved, high-necked gown, with his strong muscly forearms so densely covered with dark fur, I thought - well, what I actually thought was, I hope to God he's not going to tell me that I have to have a filling. But I could quite understand the allure of TV hospital soap operas and of the school of medical light literature for which love among the bedpans has proved a winning formula." From: Skin on Skin- Eroticism in Dress- by Prudence Glynn George Allen & Unwin Publishers- 1982 -- NUDITY The brooding clouds of summer wear A luminescent crown; But when they show their colors off They wear an evening gown. The rainbow dons a summer wind And sits astride a hill; A model posing for the paint, Breathless, nude, and still. Moses Hochstetler http://prose-n-poetry.com/display_work/10014/ -- DISROBED "When I first sat for Jonathan, four years ago, I wasn't involved with him. But we were very good friends. Still, it took him a long time to persuade me to pose nude for him. I objected for all the obvious reasons, but at the same time I was intrigued by what the final result might be. But I trusted Jonathan and I knew he wasn't at all sleazy or slimy. When I finally came to sit for him, it was strange. There I was, after all, lying on a sofa in front of a male friend with no clothes on. For the first 10 minutes or so I felt rather uncomfortable but as time went on the situation became quite normal. It was as if I was having a chat with Jonathan and I just happened not to be wearing anything. It helped that Jonathan wasn,t at all awkward-he talked while he painted and we also watched films and listened to music. In the end it was an incredibly enjoyable way of spending a couple of hours, and I was happy to sit for the two other sessions that it took to complete it." Shebah Ronay 27, Actress From: The Art of Being Naked - ELLE October 1999 -- PICTURE PERFECT "SCENE ONE: The locker room of an expensive Notting Hill gym after a popular lunchtime yoga class. Three models, stork-like in proportion, are standing in front of a mirror sharing a tube of MAC concealer and chatting inanely about their boyfriends. Two are bare aside from Celtic tattoos and jewelled belly rings. The other has just had a baby and has an extra five kilos on the others. She is wearing a flimsy sky-blue thong for the sake of modesty. The models are not the only people in the changing room. The other women, who are trying to pull on their laddered tights and zip up their too-tight jeans, are silent and self-conscious. They are yielding to these strange creatures, these women who feel no shame at wandering naked from the shower to the mirror without the reassuring aid of a towel wrapped around the waist. There is a distinct air of great discomfort in the room. So much so that one can feel the relief when the three models pull on their combat trousers and leave for "coffee at Toms". Suddenly, all the women who had faded into the background as the models dominated the room spring to life. One woman, who had been drying her hair quietly on a bench, stands up and hooks her bra. "Thank God," she says, grinning at her friend, who has also been silently dressing, head down, as if ashamed. "I feel normal again." Her friend also appears relieved. The room no longer feels claustrophobic. "At least it wasn't Kate Moss," she laughs. It is as though the uncomfortable spell in the room has been broken. Everyone can relax: we are now in the presence of mere mortals." Janine di Giovanni From The Naked Truth - Vogue June 2000 -- THE PORN MYTH In the end, porn doesn't whet men's appetites - it turns them off the real thing. "I recall a conversation I had at Northwestern, after I had talked about the effect of porn on relationships. "Why have sex right away?" a boy with tousled hair and Bambi eyes was explaining. "Things are always a little tense and uncomfortable when you just start seeing someone," he said. "I prefer to have sex right away just to get it over with. You know it's going to happen anyway, and it gets rid of the tension." "Isn't the tension kind of fun?" I asked. "Doesn't that also get rid of the mystery?" "Mystery?" He looked at me blankly. And then, without hesitating, he replied: "I don't know what you're talking about. Sex has no mystery." Naomi Wolf http://www.newyorkmetro.com/nymetro/news/trends/n_9437/index1.html -- Main Source: Catalog of Sexual Consciousness - By Saul Braun and contributors Grove Press 1975 -- posted by Walter at 11/29/2003 Wednesday, November 26, 2003 IN THE DARK -- Power up Switch to (People are starved for leadership) Boot Logon Check Check Check Incorrect Initialization Reboot Logon Up (Nothing beats a straight-backed wooden pew) Press Check Diagnostic Leds Check Audible Codes Orange Led Flashing (I was a quiet kid- observant and well prepared for the media tank) Reconfigure Remove If Recovery Fails Press To debug Turn Up Use Caution Check Check Check (My audio Nirvana- Barber’s Knoxville) Plug And Play Connect To Wan Check Scan Read Respond ( A sudden nostalgia for conversation in German) Switch Source Return To default Backup Drive Add Drive Respond (I’m in the wrong genre- doubt should be a luxury) To system Replace Libs Unlock Vault Repair Configs Enable Device Switch Utility Administrator Privilege (Had lunch with my youngest brother yesterday- we both agreed- Europe is clueless) Only Defragment Cleansweep Check Led Switch To Hires Suspend Expand Mem (Us Mem- Frysian for Mother) Ensure Vents are Unblocked (Return of the Gamine) Remove Disks Insert Smart card Slide and Release (A resume of falling) Check Power Status Activate Supervisor Authentication Check Monitor Output On Air>> Lyme Star The Crusades El Tahrir Fly Share-Air Halloween Cinderella Fossile Rock Villa Santai Slack Booty Retrophile The Manhattan Schlepper The Kong of Kings Genteel Love Iconic Timberflake The League of Wives A Chomsky Variant Soothing Saudis A Page Fortress Moronic Mormons Crotch Culture A tragedy in Greek Laws of Pascal Steadfast at Kinko’s Matrix of Mantras Speaking Thom Leveraged Broadcasting A pedigree Pisser Baghdaddy Trench Pants Why of Because Ex of the City Phantasmagoria Avenue The Gaul 60 Proof The Stateside Man Arc of Fontana Neo-Urbane The Girl from Elite An illegal Albanian 4 Times Square The Outsider within >>Suspend EA keeps me guessing- Her image scorches my mind -- (C) Walt 2003 posted by Walter at 11/26/2003