WFMU's Beware of the Blog

Elvis To KLF: The Train I Ride Is Sixteen Coaches Long

Life with a three-year-old can find you focusing on on forms and representations of transportation you wouldn't otherwise. Trains, for example, hold a particular resonance with the developing mind that challenge their relative rarity compared to cars and airplanes. We've found ourselves meeting constant demands for all things trains by discovering the online world of obsessive documentarians of all things locomotive. Watching this narration-and-music-free modern footage of old-fashioned steam engines has caused us to consider the sensual impact the advent of train travel would have on the rural blues men who would incorporate the sound of trains into their music and use the eeire whistle of the coming train as a metaphor for all great changes in life, love and death.

A Rev. J. M. Gates Holiday Side

Today a visit with the Rev. J. M. Gates, known for his beautifully-delivered sermons, recorded between 1926 and 1941, which vary widely in theme, tone and intensity. He can caress you on one 78 and then scare holy hell out of you on the next. He was one of the biggest-selling recording artists there ever was.

A Germs Whisky Christmas: Cruising For Oki-Dogs

December 23, 1979, Germs play the Masque Christmas Ball at Whisky-Au-Go-Go, performing what would be dubbed on-stage "art" by singer Darby Crash, self-proclaimed "Manimal" and possessor of "television and supervision," who read "every Bible story," and was educated in mind-control by public school Scientologists, an A+ hustler whose world-famous catchphrase was "buy me a beer" and whose demands for "beer and damage" do not go unheeded this night. Watch as Darby, spolight directly in his eyes, eats a lit book of matches, transforms into a panther, demands each audience member "hit the person next to you," sets fire to his (A+) lyrics (balls-on-fire-great teenage Blake) all before guitarist Pat Smear kicks a bouncer in the head (several times+) for crossing number one invisible line in rock n roll: the artists own the stage.

A Carla and Linda Christmas, 1958 (Exploring My Reel-to-Reel Catacombs, Volume 23) (MP3's)

On an ancient Scotch brand seven inch reel of tape, I found a series of recordings by Carla and Linda, made in late 1958 (and either on or just before New Year's Day, 1959), taking about their Christmas presents, and mostly, singing songs.

Oddly enough, the recordings labeled last in chronological order come first on this tape - the writing on the back of the tape, and the contents confirm this, although why that would be I can't imagine. The girls announce that it is New Year, 1959, then sing Christmas songs and carols, and briefly talk of what they got for Christmas.

Then it's back to Thanksgiving, for a few Thanksgiving related songs and what the box describes as "Camp Songs". The last of these, which is sung partially in German, has the same melody as a song called "I'm Dressing Myself", which I offered up as part of the first 365 days project, back in 2003!

Then, for the final segment (and fully half of this 30 minute tape) it's Christmas, 1958, and we're again treated to carols and songs. One is again sung in German. I get a kick out of the fact that the girls are clearly reading some of these songs out of a book, as they misread and mispronounce many words, as they get into the later verses of familiar songs, sometimes to humorous or even ironic effect.

Here's to Carla and Linda, wherever they are today, 53 Christmases later!

1.) Carla and Linda - New Year’s 1959: Christmas Songs and Carols (MP3)

2.) Carla and Linda - New Year’s 1959: What We Got for Christmas (MP3)

3.) Carla and Linda - Thanksgiving, 1958: Thanksgiving Songs and Camp Songs (MP3)

4.) Carla and Linda - Christmas, 1958: Christmas Songs and Carols (MP3)

Tape Box (JPG)

Storytelling In Japanese Art at the MET

Up through May 6th at the Metropolitan Museum of Art is an exhibit entitled "Storytelling In Japanese Art" with a main focus on the Emaki, or Emakimono hand scrolls; some dating as far back as the 12th century. What's interesting about these pieces is that they are physically lengthy, so only certain portions of the scrolls are available for viewing at a time. The scrolls will be advanced during the length of the exhibition, so if you visit more than once, chances are you'll see different sections of the scrolls, which contain illustrations as well as japanese character text. Some are faded and reflective of their age, and some are in phenomenal shape considering the fragility of the medium. The exhibition also includes full views of some of the handscrolls on iPad displays in the beautifully crafted reading room. The current of the presentation of the pieces is very fluid - literally, with a fountain by Isamu Noguchi in the center of the route and a study/bamboo mat room.

When visiting the exhibition, we learn narrative was not only told on the medium of the scroll; visitors will see illustrations on screens, fans, cards, hanging banners, books, kimonos and porcelain as well. Some are showing one or two ideas as a story, and other pieces have multiple scenes and many utilize the stylized cloud formations to separate panels or sections of the stories that is present in Japanese art through the years. Take a look at some of the details of this show in the photos after the jump and see if it doesn't pique your interest!

The Ecstasy Of Break-Up Psychosis: Possession (1981)

We are all the same, but in different words,
In different bodies, and different versions.

These words above (especially the dub-science word, version and the ultimate word, words) called out to me from the media feed of fellow sub sub Jason D. Bigelow, subtitling what seemed to be a still from one of the only 70s/80s Occult Horror Films Starring Moon Eyed Brunette I hadn't seen yet. The web search for the phrase brought only one return, an ancient message board movie-quote stump game for which this phrase proved successful in obscuring its source, the Andrzej Zulawski film, Possession 1981.

Come Alive At Christmas with the Sacred Heart Singers of Ewen, Michigan (MP3's)

Today marks the beginning of Advent. Although this is technically the season for Advent music, rather than Christmas music, it’s been a long time since that distinction was recognized (if it ever really was). And so, today I’m offering up my new favorite Christmas album.

The Sacred Heart Singers were a group of young women - all but a few of them teens and younger girls - from the small town of Ewen, Michigan, in the Upper Peninsula. They made a handful of records, and were popular enough to have made a number of appearances on local and regional TV, and, if the text on this album is to be believed, were internationally known, for a time. A friend of mine shared their first album with me, “Come Alive”, which has some wonderful moments, and this put me on the lookout for their other material, which brought me to the “Come Alive at Christmas” album.

As much as I enjoyed the first album, this Christmas album is even better. I adore the sound of children singing naturally (as opposed to Broadway, Pop, Classically or otherwise “trained” singing children), and the addition of the sweet acoustic instruments, simple, direct harmonies and great, timeless songs adds up to something very special.

But there’s something else, too. The accent heard in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan is a wonder to hear, with a lilt and rhythm that is unique and which I find hard to describe. But one feature that crops up in the singing here is a tendency to seemingly race through vowels in order to get to certain consonants, ending sounds which are then held onto for a longer period than is the case for most English speakers. This can be heard on many words ending in “M”, “N”, “R”, and particularly, “ING”. Heard here, sung by a large group, there a ringing, resonant sound to those words, and I find the effect magical, even sort of intoxicating in places. It’s heard on almost every track here and there, but most obviously in “Silver Bells”. This a song which I’ve never even liked, but here, all of those lovely "ING's" bring me back for repeated listenings.

The album starts of slowly, with an odd choice, a Perry Como song called “C-H-R-I-S-T-M-A-S”, which I find to be one of the lesser tracks. But keep listening, because that’s followed by “O Come Little Children”, easily my favorite on the album – maybe my favorite “new to me” track that I’ve heard this year – and (except for a version of the fairly awful song “My Two Front Teeth”) the high quality remains for most of the remaining tracks.  

This album fairly well defines “Guileless” for me, and that’s one of the best things I can say about an album, particularly a Christmas album. Maybe there’s something in the air up there – this album was made about an hour’s drive away from Rhinelander, Wisconsin, where another singularly guileless, even more magical album, “Musical Memories of Camp Bryn Afon” was created.

Incidentally, you can find a posting of the Sacred Heart Singers best song of all, a track from their first album titled “Once Upon Eternity”, posted at my friend’s blog here.

I hope you find some of the same joy in this record that I've experienced:

1.) The Sacred Heart Singers - C-H-R-I-S-T-M-A-S (MP3)

2.) The Sacred Heart Singers - O Come Little Children (MP3)

3.) The Sacred Heart Singers - Silver Bells (MP3)

4.) The Sacred Heart Singers - Silent Night (MP3)

5.) The Sacred Heart Singers - Angels We Have Heard On High (MP3)

6.) The Sacred Heart Singers - All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth (MP3)

7.) The Sacred Heart Singers - Christmas Bell (MP3)

8.) The Sacred Heart Singers - Jingle Bells (MP3)

9.) The Sacred Heart Singers - White Christmas (MP3)

10.) The Sacred Heart Singers - Little Drummer Boy (MP3)

11.) The Sacred Heart Singers – Children’s Hymn to the Holy Child (MP3)

12.) The Sacred Heart Singers - Away in a Manger (MP3)

13.) The Sacred Heart Singers - Joy to the World (MP3)

Front Cover (JPG) - Back Cover (JPG) - Label Side A (JPG) - Label Side B (JPG)

Cyrillic Tiny-Voice Death Metal Techno

Sluggo sent me these, and that's all I know about 'em, except that they're amazing.

 

It Takes a Nation of Billions - Adam Curtis' The Century Of The Self

By Scott Tienken

Watch more on Network Awesome (Plus the other 3 parts of this doc!)

Adam Curtis’ 2003 Documentary The Century of the Self  gets right to the business of reminding us what a mass of consumeristic sheep we have been molded into.

He provides us with the story of Edward Bernays(1), the nephew of Freud who adapted his uncle’s theories concerning animalistic drives and deeply-sunken baser motives for the purposes of propaganda and, far more pervasively, advertising and politics. We are relentlessly reminded of our tendency toward self-interest, vile competitiveness, shallowness, and weak-minded caprice.

This is not unfamiliar territory in that we’ve been reminded of our tendencies towards conformity, self-gratification, and egoistic drives well before Freudianism put the whammy on our way of thinking about ourselves. What makes this a very valuable document is that the level of conversation is a bit more

O, The Humanity: "The Door" starring Dr. Jack Kevorkian

By Jake Goldman

Watch more on Network Awesome

Being human is tough business. From the moment we’re born, expectations are hung heavily around our necks. Parents dream of what their children might amount to and years of anxious hand-wringing begins. The pressures don’t get any easier as we grow older, either. Perhaps there’s a peak as we enter whatever one might consider life’s “twilight,” but up until that point societal pressures of finding success, starting a healthy and wholesome family, and generally being an impressive human being poke at us constantly like little needles breaching our skin. There are constant reminders too, like the people around us that seem to be more successful or happier or put together. Shit is hard, man.

But, what we often forget is that so much of our lives are wildly out of our control. You may be gunning for a promotion, busting your ass staying late at the office, taking on extra tasks but the CEO may have always had his nephew in mind. You might have the most astonishing singing voice anyone’s ever heard but the agent you audition for is more interested in finding a hot piece of ass that can only sing okay but will look amazing sprawled out on a velvet couch for a Maxim photoshoot. You can only do so much, it turns out.

That isn’t to say that hard work gets you nothing; of course it does. But, when it comes down to it, we humans have very little control on how our lives might turn out. We can make decisions, sure, and steer ourselves down certain “paths,” but what happens along those paths might surprise the hell out of us.

Jack Kevorkian believed in this. You might know him as Dr. Death, the man who helped upwards of 130

Child Guidance / Rosicrucian Sleep Progamming Record

   
Sleep, sleep, my little one;  adrift in your replica solar ark, sweet dreams carry you closer to the western lands;  and while you're at it, I'll just slip this lovely little ruby-colored ten-inch record onto your baby turntable and let it whisper Rosicrucian knowledge into your shell-like tiny ears.

One of my all-time fave ten-inchers, this one is loaded up with phrases you'll be repeating for some time. Many of the recordings that came out in the early 1960's from San Jose's Rosicrucian Temple are still in print and available from them in some fashion, but I imagine that this one is a little hard to find. Perusing the entire recording will give one a capsule description of some basic tenets of Rosicrucianism; their concepts of Universe, Prayer and Deity itself are superficially presented here to linger in a sleepy child's ear. All this and a large slice of particularly sepulchural organ music on delicious red vinyl have kept this ep around when many others had to go away in my last two moves. It is indeed a mighty strange thing to want to have on mp3, but I imagine that producer/sampler/cut-up monkeys like me as well as peculiar and bold DJs will hear something on this disc to use and love. Those of you like me who are big fans of all things Ancient Egypt-related will also enjoy visiting the Rosicrucian Museum and Temple in San Jose, California, although it can't compare with the fantastic collection of mummies and things in the Vatican Museum in Rome - so visit both if you get the chance!

Their other records made contemporary to this one (and for adults, as this appears to be their only Child Guidance disc) have delerious titles like At One-Ness With the Infinite; a record of music played in their temples around the world, such as: Ah, Sweet Mystery of Life, and the ritualistic Colombes' march, Secreto Eterno; and of course the essential platter of:  Sanctum Rituals and Exercises.

 
The full back and front cover art in high resolution is reproduced here, and there's a Rosicrucian publication displying an ad for the record I'm presenting today here.

The first side:    Wonders of Nature     The second side (two cuts):       Preparation for Sleep      and           Sleep Guidance (the subliminal cut- designed for listening to after the little buggers have gone under)

Apocalypto-a-go-go: Looking Forward to The Ende Tymes Noise & Liberation Festival

Bringing word of the Ende Tymes here... not the radio preacher last month, his gospel was false. This is the good news about next weekend, where hundreds of sound weirdos from across the planet will descend on The Silent Barn and bring warnings of plagues or whatever the hell else they do...

Here I am doing my part, asking three of the Ende Tymes prophets a few questions, first Bob Bellerue because this is his creation, second GX Jupitter-Larsen, who has performed as or with The Haters since the dawn of time, and Chicago's Jason Soliday.

Bob Bellerue

When you were first exposed to experimental music was it in a live setting or via recordings? Do you remember what it was?

i think it was "Reality Asylum" by Crass off of "The Feeding of the 5000" which was the first extended music techniques i'd heard (around 1984).  i'd been exposed to much of Jimi Hendrix' catalog by then too, and the Electric Ladyland became sacrament to me (it was released the same month i was born).

the first live experience of real out-there music i had was Crash Worship (1988) when i was in San Diego.  i got turned on to some amazing music down there, and scored my first Merzbow record around 1992, and was heavily influenced by running sound for extreme bands like Zeni Geva, Crossed Out, Man Is The Bastard, and Drive Like Jehu. but i don't think i saw any true noise performances until 1998 when i moved back to LA and started witnessing Damion Romero, Bastard Noise, etc.  i'd been making noise starting in 1992 but hadn't ever been to a thinking-person's noise show until then

Have A Nice Day: An Interview with Boyd Rice

article by Arvo Zylo

  In a round about way, Boyd Rice has led a charmed life. But in a lot of ways, maybe not always a charming one. He's been called a Nazi, a Fascist, a Social Darwinist, a Satanist, a misogynist, a misanthropist, an abusive alcoholic, and in no uncertain terms, an asshole. He's been appointed to high ranks while also harboring a strong friendship with Church of Satan founder Anton La Vey, and he's visited Charles Manson on a daily basis at one point in the 80s, also rallying, if only symbolically, for the lifer's release from time to time. Christian Radio Televangelist Bob Larson interviewed Rice in the early 90s, where he faced the mother of Sharon Tate in favor of Manson and Satanism.

He's got an ex, Lisa Carver, the mother of his child, that wrote a book where nearly half of it portrays him in a, let's just say, a highly unfavorable manner. Earlier in his career, he encountered a fair amount of protest, especially regarding his collaborations with the neofolk band, Death In June, whose lyrics and art allude to Nazi imagery. Rice has appeared in a teen magazine with a member of the American Front and on a racist television program called Race and Reason. Some of his recorded material employs ideas akin to Social Darwinism, and even in some cases, he describes people in general as a “stupid, lifeless, shuffling horde”. An album called Hatesville details a fun loving kind of sadistic mind state, a single by his one-off side project The Tards mocks the less fortunate, and a song called Alone With The Calm describes a peaceful place away from disruptive noise and “unruly niggers”. Some of his writing, even if, perhaps in jest, portrays women as a species of people who are only in power because a man allowed them to be. And in the face of a world oozing with political correctness, disillusioned by American culture's omnipresent lip service to equality and diversity, as well as a pervasive onslought of “professional victims”, as Adam Parfrey put it, Boyd Rice refrained, more or less, from apologizing or explaining himself in any kind of empathetic manner. To be fair, he has casually mentioned that he would prefer to hang out with a dominant black person than a dull one of any race, and when he describes fascism, he speaks of it as if it is something that happens in nature, not something that needs to be enforced by a group of idealists. Rice, at one point,said that women are often too emotional (to say the least), but he also said that, like people in general, he gets along well with plenty of women who stand apart from the rest. And further, all of the aforementioned has happened over 15 years ago, some of these views have clearly morphed over time. Still, it might seem like this is an introduction to a brooding sociopath on the surface; surely a person who is brutally honest, for good or ill. But speaking to him on the phone, both on and off the record, he's a soft spoken gentleman with a strong sense of humor. Almost every account of meeting him comes with a resounding: "He's the nicest guy you could ever meet.". Where most people see two sides to every coin, Boyd seems to see 3, 4, or 5, and overall, it is because of making this observation that I decided to write a letter to Boyd Rice, asking him to grant me an interview on my radio show close to 5 years after his last one, and more than a few years after his proclamation that he would no longer grant interviews outside of personal inquiries.

Continue reading the full interview below...

[Excerpt from e-flux Journal] Hans Ulrich Obrist, In Conversation With Julian Assange, Part I

HUO: Do you have dreams for the future?

JA: Yes, many. I’ll tell you about one, which is interesting. Orwell’s dictum, “He who controls the present controls the past, and he who controls the past controls the future,” was never truer than it is now. With digital archives, with these digital repositories of our intellectual record, control over the present allows one to perform an absolutely untraceable removal of the past. More than ever before, the past can be made to completely, utterly, and irrevocably disappear in an undetectable way. Orwell’s dictum came about as result of what happened in 1953 to the Great Soviet Encyclopedia. That year, Stalin died and Beria fell out of favor. The Great Soviet Encyclopedia had a page and a half on Beria from before he fell out of favor, and it was decided that the positive description of Beria had to go. So, an addendum page was made and sent to all registered holders of this encyclopedia with instructions specifying that the previous page should be pasted over with the new page, which was an expanded section on the Bering Straight. However, users of the encyclopedia would later see that the page had been pasted over or ripped out—everyone became aware of the replacement or omission, and so we know about it today. That’s what Orwell was getting at. In 2008, one of the richest men in the UK, Nadhmi Auchi—an Iraqi who grew rich under one of Saddam Husain’s oil ministries and left to settle in the UK in the early 1980s—engaged in a series of libel threats against newspapers and blogs. He had been convicted of corruption in France in 2003 by the then magistrate Eva Joly in relation to the Elf Aquitaine scandal.

(read the rest...)

The Wondrous World of Bosch or Welcome to Hell!

Recently I went to The Netherlands for the Roadburn Festival. Thanks to Duane Harriot for running the Fun Machine for a week and not wrecking the gears! Last weeks episode was a full three hours of music and photos from the most enjoyable fest I have ever been to, and if you haven't checked it out, I highly recommend it (not because it's my program, mind you - it is my taste, but it was really programmed by those who put Roadburn together- thank them, not me)!

Since last year's festival was disrupted by a pesky volcanic eruption, I thought it would be wise to take an extra day ahead of the festival and eliminate the stress factor. I made my ever important sleeping bag connection ahead of time, and decided to head over to the town of 's-Hertogenbosch to check out the Jheronimus Bosch Art Center.

All of Bosch's works are in name museums, so I was not sure what to expect. This town probably would have no one paying attention to it except for their famous, intensely talented son. I'm not going to even go into describing his artwork here; if you are unfamiliar, go check out a link or two and get the scoop on this man.

The Art Center is housed in what had once been a church. It looks like a church, but when you step inside, all your senses tell you nearly right away (there's a large red curtain that separates the entrance from a lot of the exhibit area) that you may have actually stepped into a delightfully quirky version of hell. There is a telltale sculpture outside as well to tip you off, that in most ways, this was not going to be a religious experience, at least of a churchgoing nature.

The helpful women at the desk were concerned with the size of my backpack and could see I was being taxed by it's weight. They took it off my hands immediately although there was no coat room. The entrance fee was laughably cheap and I was given an audio guide to boot.  It was when I got to the other side of the curtain that I thought to myself "I'm going to be here for hours and hours"...

 

 

Angels Watching Over Me (MP3's)

Here's a sweet record I picked up many years ago, featuring a group with the unwieldy but very descriptive and specific name of The Medical Missionaries of Mary Choral Group. All I know about this record is that it was recorded in Ireland. The attraction for me here is on the A-Side, "Angels (Watching Over Me)",

Over a very simple but beautiful accompaniment of acoustic guitar and bass, the Choral Group sing their equally pretty song, featuring appropriately heavenly harmony throughout. The song, probably because of how it is presented here, quickly wormed its way into my head, and has stayed there for all these years since.

This record was promoted as a potential hit at the end of 1965, and actually charted for a two weeks on the "Bubbling Under the Hot 100" chart in Billboard in early 1966, peaking at #117. The flip side, also included here, is called "Spring".

The parent organization that led to this group continues to provide a wide variety of services around the world, but their website contains no references to a Choral Group, or to this record

1.) Medical Missionaries of Mary Choral Group - Angels (Watching Over Me) (MP3)

2.) Medical Missionaries of Mary Choral Group - Spring (MP3)

A-Side Label (JPG) - B-Side Label (JPG)

Reverend Billy Hawks WFMU Miracle Soap

You thought you couldn't get any cleaner, BUT THINK AGAIN! Reverend Billy, of The Church of Life After Shopping, works himself into a FREEFORM FAITH LATHER. And for a minimum pledge of $15, YOU CAN TOO! Call 1-800-989-9368, or pledge online and contribute to WFMU's 2011 Marathon. Scrub yourself on us!

Because Physical Wounds Heal

I felt like Ernie Anastos after he told the weatherman to "Keep fucking that chicken" during a live broadcast. Externally I had to just keep smiling through, while inside my mind was screaming that whatever madness had just passed my lips had the potential to devastate all that I held dear. And all I had said was, “Yes, sir.”

Rather than further contemplate this horror, however, I snapped a salute to Lt. Gen. William Caldwell, spun on my heels, and exited his tent into the smothering Afghani heat. Until now, I had barely seen the general, let alone spoken with him. All orders passed from Caldwell to Lt. Colonel Michael Holmes, my CO, and then down to me. But it seemed that the general and the colonel weren’t seeing eye to eye lately, so Caldwell had sought me out as a potential ally in his private campaign.

"Operation Four Star," Holmes had derisively nicknamed it. Caldwell wanted to use our psyops team against visiting Congress members to prop up flagging support for the war. There was no threat Congress would move to actually end the occupation, but attention would shift back to Iraq, the boys in Baghdad would start getting all the headlines and funding increases, and the next thing you know our $20 billion-a-year air-conditioning budget would be slashed.

It'd take three or four years before Iraq would start feeling hopeless again, the press would start screaming about the great Taliban threat, and we would get our AC back. Nope, that wouldn't do at all; the generals, with their promotions depending on AfPak s continued prominence, were not going to lose this pissing contest, even if it meant some Senators needed a little light brainwashing. And I'd just agreed to help with the scrubbing.  

Sex Explained for Children / on Event/Carapan Records

Perhaps some of you may fondly recall at times a favorite venue for magically finding unusual old vinyl on a regular basis. A treasure trove/mother lode of incredibly cheap wonders to delight the ear and eye. For me, still in my earlier collecting days,  aside from salivating over big trunks of old, unbagged comic books at the Skyview Flea Market, one of my most magical places for vinyl excavation during my early 1980's days in Santa Cruz was going to the Goodwill Bargain Barn, where my girlfriend would peruse the clothing by the pound, under the watchful eye of the unforgettable 'Ray' the proprietor (for which priviledge people lined up way before they opened the doors), while I would troll the newest cardboard barrels of records that had come in that week, often digging crazily through a whole barrel full of lps, before they even made it out onto the rough table that they would be 'displayed' on.

   Many a wonder flowed into that big old barnlike building, and for a mere twenty-five cents each, the records were often in remarkably good condition after their journey through the barrel and worse. Today's goodie is one of the more powerful DJ tools in my kit back in those protean radio DJing days, and must have messed with many episodes and sets over the years, later to be sampled and cut up even more. It struck me the other day while transferring it that the lead male child actor's voice reminded me of TV's Charlie Brown, who was actually voiced by several boys over the years, it turned out I was wrong, but it made for a fun search speculation. The kids are obviously pros (it was made in LA, where there's plenty of voice talent), as the dialogue is not the easiest to comfortably act by kids.  Many of us collectors over the years have sought the elusive third volume of this set of sex-ed records: Sex for Adults. I've never seen it. Who has it? Did it ever even come out, I wonder? Many times lps are announced on the back covers of small label records that don't necessarily get released in the form in which they're shown. The second volume, Sex for Teens, I did get, I believe also from the Bargain Barn, and it has appeared here on WFMU already here, courtesy of Otis Fodder. Since there was a good response to that post I've meant for a long time to transfer this baby in it's entirety so that the two known volumes can hang together here in a nice warm place. But it's not a record that one plays a whole lot, and I've certainly slowed down on using it as a DJ anymore. So it took a while to finally play through the whole sexy thing. Tangentally, I like how the authors (Nathan Leichman, PhD, and Stanley Z. Daniels, MD) created a publishing entity (Magic Medicine) for the A.S.C.A.P. rights to the dialogue on the record, so if you wanna do a cover of it, be sure and asign the rights properly! Fun how even a spoken word educational project can be buried deep in the A.S.C.A.P. files.

  Sex Explained for Children is a very well produced product, however, and deserves some better modern exposure (why? I dunno, I guess...because I'm a nut for albums, mainly). The first side is a bit dry, going over the basic mechanics of reproduction, but on side two things get fun, as the little boy and the two little girls get down to the making sweet love aspect of it all.

As a side note, some wag who owned the disc previously had added a very clever piece of dialogue to the mouth of the little boy on the cover, written in pencil, which I later inked in for more clarity, as it fits the expression of the boy in the picture SO well.  So buckle up your training pants, pour a libation, set up the romantic mood lighting and enjoy some fine sex ed smoothness.

SIDE ONE        SIDE TWO

OO-EE-OO, or My Chat with Timothy Wyllie About Angels, Cults, the Multiverse, & the Entheogenic Impulse

Check it, my Q & A with Timothy Wyllie, ex Process Church art director, general cosmic fellow, writer of new age books about communicating with dolphins and angels. I was going to run this interview on my Temple of Pei blog but thought better of it: WFMU's Beware the Blog gets around 5000 times the traffic, and this is a voice which much be heard. This is a guy that really lives to the beat of his own drummer. Hope you dig, and remember: As it is, so be it.

During the Process salon at the Anthology Film Archives right around when Love Sex Fear Death came out you mentioned that cults could be a good thing, that there were many benefits to you spending time in one. Could you describe examples of what a good cult experience would be?

The biggest benefit is that one gets to experience a kind of life that isn't available under normal circumstances. This especially applies to reincarnates, who require an accelerated learning curve. Most western societies these days are both risk and pain averse. Cults allow those who need to go through their own pain and anger to do it in a safe situation. Cults can become a microcosm of society, so people in cults can experience a far wider array of possibilities like service, obedience, leadership, as well as what it's like to live without personal possessions, money, and personal freedom. Celibacy for a period is also a necessary psychic/emotional antidote in an over-sexed society. Possibly the greatest gift a cult bestows is when one leaves it. One emerges back into life with the opportunity to follow one's own drummer--free of parental etc influences, and understanding the dire consequences of ever giving away one's power again.

If you were involved in the start of a new cult now in 2011 what would change compared to the Process? What would you focus on?

I wouldn't. I feel cults have had their day. At this point in time and in a spiritual sense, it's every person for themselves. Cults in the sixties and seventies were a kind of clean-up contingency. The were so many reincarnates who needed to work on themselves (and be worked on). The kids these days are different--they don't really need cults the way we did.

Over the years you probably have met hundreds of people influenced by The Process. Any surprises there, was there any indication that you were part of something so huge at the time?

At the beginning, for at least the first five years, we all felt we were onto something big and important. I doubt if any of us could have anticipated its importance as it has been emerging recently.

What teachings of The Process have you retained?

Although TP probably took the concept of personal responsibility too far--it's your responsibility if you are under the wheel of an airplane if it falls off; everything you do, or is done to you is your responsibility--I find it's a very useful POV since it returns the power to you. Blaming an outside force essentially renders one powerless to change it. One can of course always change one's response to it and in that way one regains one's personal power.

The concept that the Universe is responsive to individuals. And that reality is mutable in ways yet to be understood. And that the intuition is a far more trustworthy way of approaching the ineffable, than that of seeking hard evidence.

A line that George Clinton picked up from us: "If you don't like the effect, then don't produce the cause."