Releasing the Floating World, or Happy New Year, Japan-style

All tatted up and no place to go.
Images of "The Floating World"
have always been popular 
themes  for Japanese tattoo 
artists.

In the Floating World, Yet Not of It

         Every winter before New Year's me and my mom used to thoroughly clean the house for the coming new year, what "spring cleaning" is to Western culture.  Then we'd sit around drinking green tea, eating rice balls, and we'd pretty much call it a year.   

        In fact, "cleansing" is a big theme in Japanese culture all throughout the year due to Japan's Buddhist and Shinto background.  The reason for this is the underlying theme in these spiritual paths is that individuals are not to get attached to "The Floating World" that surrounds them.

         The Floating World is just going to pass away, like waves of a river flowing past us, so we're advised to keep ourselves dry and safe on a spiritual river bank of mental/emotional "detachment" and "equanimity."  From that vantage point, we just observe wave after wave of the ephemeral phenomena of that world float by, without getting swept away by it, without getting drowned in it.

Song in the Key of Sting: The Lazarus Heart

Remake yourself.

 

Uploaded by Деян Желязков

For a friend.  Yay, you did it.  <3

The Lazarus Heart

He looked beneath his shirt today
There was a wound in his flesh so deep and wide
But from the wound a lovely flower grew
From somewhere deep inside. . . .

"Sirius" Film About Alien Disclosure, Trailer

From Neverendinglight Productions:

Friends and Supporters,

        We are contacting you today to personally thank you for all of your support and generosity throughout the campaign. It is because of your hard work that we have the resources to finish this ground breaking documentary.

Do It Anyway...

Found this floating around Face.

Frank Zappa at Work

Original article titled, "The Clonemeister Speaks"

Source:  http://www.science.uva.nl/~robbert/zappa/interviews/clonemeister.html


I stumbled upon this obscure article this morning about the late musician and composer, Frank Zappa (b.1940 - d.1993).  It provides a snapshot into the creative process of an artist who knew what he wanted, and didn't care what people thought.  I love studying process, how different people get things done.  May we apply this kind of uncompromising focus to all our endeavors.

Be a Maestro at Work

        Frank Zappa's daily work schedule was legendary, consuming nearly every waking moment.  Almost as grueling was the rehearsal schedule he set for his band, which amounted to eight hours a day when they were preparing for a tour.  After bassist Arthur Barrows' first tour with the band in 1978, Zappa bestowed upon him the title of Clonemeister, which carried with it the awesome responsibility of running rehearsals in Frank's absence.  Here Barrows recounts some Mothers stories and reveals his, uh . . . advanced rehearsal techniques: