Beneath Marden Henge

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Mark
on 29 July, 2010
in Curiosities and Kulture
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[Photo English Heritage]

More on the discoveries at Marden Henge, between Avenury and Stonehenge:

The last revellers seem to have cleared up scrupulously after the final party at Marden Henge some 4,500 years ago.

They scoured the rectangular building and the smart white chalk platform on top of the earth bank, with its spectacular view towards the river Avon in one direction, and the hills from which the giant sarsen stones were brought to Stonehenge in the other.

All traces of the feast – the pig bones, the ashes and the burnt stones from the barbecue that cooked them, the broken pots and bowls – were swept neatly into a dump to one side. A few precious offerings, including an exquisitely worked flint arrowhead, were carefully laid on the clean chalk. Then they covered the whole surface with a thin layer of clay, stamped it flat, and left. Forever.

Full story at the Guardian, along with an interactive guide thingy

Mirage Men launch at The Horse Hospital

Published
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Mark
on 28 July, 2010
in Events, Happenings and Mirage Men
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mm-launch-flyer

All are welcome – copies of the book will be on sale for £5.

See you in space!

Anosognosia and the unknown unknowns

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Mark
on 21 July, 2010
in Far Out / Science and esoterica
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Film-maker Errol Morris asks whether Donald Rumsfeld’s infamous quote was a sign of his intelligence, or of his ignorance and talks to psychologist David Dunning, co-author of the 1999 paper ‘Unskilled and Unaware of It: How Difficulties of Recognizing One’s Own Incompetence Lead to Inflated Self-assessments’.

‘Is an “unknown unknown” beyond anything I can imagine?  Or am I confusing the “unknown unknowns” with the “unknowable unknowns?”  Are we constituted in such a way that there are things we cannot know?  Perhaps because we cannot even frame the questions we need to ask?’

Many of the issues raised here can be applied directly to our studies of the scientific and epistemological fringes, even to military and intelligence secrets – how can you come up with an answer when you don’t even know what the question is?

Read the piece over at the New York Times

28 July 2010: Huxley on Huxley

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Mark
on 20 July, 2010
in Events, Happenings and Kulture
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Laura&AldousOnTheBed

The Ecology, Cosmos and Consciousness lecture series, in association with the Scientific and Medical Network presents:

Huxley on Huxley: Documentary film and Q&A with Producer/Director Mary Ann Braubach

Laura Huxley’s candid recollections offer a compelling glimpse into her life with one of the greatest writers and visionaries of the 20th century. She was a teenage violin virtuoso who met Aldous soon after leaving the concert stage for Hollywood.  His 1932 novel Brave New World established him as an undisputed literary giant.  They married in 1956.  Sharing an interest in the evolution of human consciousness, the Huxleys pioneered the use of LSD.  Their lives and work impacted generations and gave shape to an important chapter of American cultural history.

The film is narrated by Peter Coyote and includes interviews with Laura Huxley, drummer John Densmore (whose band, the Doors, was named after Huxley’s book The Doors of Perception), spiritual leader Ram Dass, Esalen co- founder Michael Murphy, artist Don Bachardy, philosopher Huston Smith and actor Nick Nolte, star of the adaptation of Huxley’s novel The Genius and The Goddess.

Huxley on Huxley is an intimate portrait of a compelling personal and professional union.

Wednesday, 28th July , 2010
Birkbeck Cinema, 43 Gordon Square, Birkbeck University of London, WC1H 0PD.
Entry £10 /£8 Concessions, FREE WINE. Arrive 6pm for a 6:30pm Start – Wine available

Mirage Men at Litro, 22 July

Published
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Mark
on 19 July, 2010
in Events, Happenings, Kulture and Mirage Men
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I’ll be discussing the background to Mirage Men and reading an extract from it at Litro Live, Thursday 22nd July.

The event is at The Paradise,
19 Kilburn Lane
London, W10 4AE.

I’ll be kicking the night off at about 6.30-7pm, and the event continues until midnight. Tickets are £5.

Also on the bill are Joe Dunthorne, Siân Melangell Dafydd, Sabina Mahfouz, Brigitte Voutsa, Murray Lachlan Young

Litro is a free monthly literary magazine that publishes new, original short fiction that excites us and offers a creative alternative to disposable free papers.

Fortean Times 265: Weapons of Mass Deception

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Mark
on 16 July, 2010
in Kulture and Mirage Men
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Issue 265 of Fortean Times magazine features a cover article adapted from Mirage Men.

‘Weapons of Mass Deception’ looks at the events leading to and surrounding the great Washington DC UFO flap of July 1952, a turning point in America’s UFO history.

Drawing on political and cultural history, declassified government documents, emerging military technologies and the writings of Leon Davidson and Edward J Ruppelt, the piece asks whether the epoch-making sightings were deliberately engineered and, if so, why, and by who?

FT 265 is available in the UK on 22 July. You can also win copies of the book over at Fortean Times.com

Almias: 25 July 2010

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Mark
on 16 July, 2010
in Events, Kulture and esoterica
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almias

SAJ4 (yes, it’s coming!) contributor and English Heretic member Phil Legard and friends present what looks to be an intriguing rural mystical psychogeographical adventure: ALMIAS

You can download the accompanying PDF book and music from the Almias web site.

Calculating Plants

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Mark
on 15 July, 2010
in Far Out / Science
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Plants are able to “remember” and “react” to information contained in light, according to researchers.
Plants, scientists say, transmit information about light intensity and quality from leaf to leaf in a very similar way to our own nervous systems.
These “electro-chemical signals” are carried by cells that act as “nerves” of the plants.
In their experiment, the scientists showed that light shone on to one leaf caused the whole plant to respond.
And the response, which took the form of light-induced chemical reactions in the leaves, continued in the dark.
This showed, they said, that the plant “remembered” the information encoded in light.

Plants are able to “remember” and “react” to information contained in light, according to researchers.

Plants, scientists say, transmit information about light intensity and quality from leaf to leaf in a very similar way to our own nervous systems…

In their experiment, the scientists showed that light shone on to one leaf caused the whole plant to respond.

And the response, which took the form of light-induced chemical reactions in the leaves, continued in the dark.

This showed, they said, that the plant “remembered” the information encoded in light…

He said that plants used information encrypted in the light to immunise themselves against seasonal pathogens.

“Every day or week of the season has… a characteristic light quality,” Professor Karpinski explained.

“So the plants perform a sort of biological light computation, using information contained in the light to immunise themselves against diseases that are prevalent during that season.”

Full story at BBC

Moondog radio

Published
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Mark
on 12 July, 2010
in Kulture
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A treat from Speechification, a 30 minute BBC Radio 3 Jazzfile documentary about the legendary New York musician Louis Hardin, aka Moondog. Here’s what the producer has to say about the programme:

The budget for these 30min jazzfile docs was very low so it was basically an illustrated talk but we managed to find two people who had actually experienced Moondog on the streets of New York: Charles knew musician Patti Palladin from way back and I was friendly with composer John Zorn. I think their eye witness statements bring this piece alive alongside the incredible Moondog interview I found buried in the BBC archive. The hardest thing to source when we were making the show was the Moondog / Julie Andrews collaboration. It’s since been reissued but at the time it seemed as if someone had invented it just to give me something to search for. We eventually tracked down a copy via a Julie Andrews completist in Holland – the things we do for radio! Hope you enjoy Moondog – spread the word about him and if you’re going buy some of his music get the early stuff.

Get it here

Museum of Witchcraft, 1960s

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Mark
on 8 July, 2010
in Kulture and esoterica
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Fantastic footage of the Museum of Witchcraft in Boscastle, Cornwall in the late 1960s, under the ownership of Cecil Williamson.

The collection originally resided in Castletown on the Isle of Man, where Gerald Gardner, father of Wicca, could be found as Witch in Residence. From here Williamson moved it to Windsor, but after complaints from the locals (perhaps too close to the  royal reptilian neighbours?) he took it to Gloucestershire, where it was damaged in an arson attack, and finally to Boscastle in Cornwall, where it remains to this day.

[As an aside, the last time I visited Boscastle was the day before the terrible flood of 2004. The deluge swept away the fundamentalist christian shop just up the road from the Museum, which, while badly damaged, remained structurally sound.]