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Saturday, September 01, 2007




days of wine and eclipse but something else was in the air
i keep getting caught in ontology

following from around 1994

DEATH ON THE NET

PING jefferson.village.virginia.edu: 56 data bytes

----jefferson.village.virginia.edu PING Statistics----

29 packets transmitted, 0 packets received, 100% packet loss

1 xenyn-eid-E0.nyc.access.net (198.7.0.126) 2 ms 2 ms 2 ms
2 sewer-S1-T1.nyc.access.net (166.84.64.10) 5 ms 4 ms 3 ms
3 transit.nyc.access.net (166.84.0.98) 5 ms 5 ms 4 ms
4 144.228.2.193 (144.228.2.193) 12 ms 12 ms 12 ms
5 sl-dc-8-F0/0.sprintlink.net (144.228.20.8) 18 ms 17 ms 15 ms
6 icm-dc-1-F0/0.icp.net (144.228.20.101) 29 ms 29 ms 13 ms
7 icm-fix-e-H2/0-T3.icp.net (192.157.65.122) 25 ms 109 ms 38 ms
8 sura9-fix-cf.sura.net (192.203.229.9) 17 ms 13 ms 18 ms
9 sura8-ext-cf.sura.net (192.221.252.8) 24 ms 14 ms 13 ms
10 wtn8-sura8-c3.sura.net (128.167.212.2) 17 ms 14 ms 15 ms
11 ctv-wtn8-c3mb.sura.net (128.167.3.2) 24 ms 22 ms 22 ms
12 uva-ctv-c3mb.sura.net (192.221.3.18) 41 ms 28 ms 27 ms
13 acc-router.ver.NET (137.54.200.12) 24 ms 24 ms 26 ms
14 garrett1-router.acc.Virginia.EDU (128.143.226.4) 26 ms 27 ms 25 ms
15 * * *
16 * * *

no answer from jefferson.village.virginia.edu

Packets spew into the space, absent themselves past any conceivable
timeout. Traceroute exhausts itself flailing uselessly at the doorway to
eternal hell, damnation of black-hole event horizon where bytes transform
into noise, heat, the far side of the chaotic domain. The bell tolls for
Thomas Jefferson who, refusing enlightenment, does not accommodate this
dark date in Cyberspace, this December of Cybermurder,
tinymurder, which shall be forgotten forever and ever.

Beforehand, there was mail-collapse, waves of temp files, waves of
exiting processes, long languorous waves-becoming-membrane, almost the
fluidity of space itself, wash-down of the wires, supplement of the
signifier. But not quite, as the gag covered the mouth, the machine was
raped, stuffed with anonymity, empty dark messagings, the gristle showing
through. If you read this, if it arrives, you're shape-riding, riding the
gristle, going for it; if you read this, there hasn't been a
resurrection, you're just not part of the chaos, destruction, tinymurders
and o lucky you.

oh this is just the older stuff that appears every now and then
you can find it just about the same time you can find other things
at the a.txt when you look past the Net.txts of various sorts


How to take the damn video out, it wouldn't render over ten hours.

3 comments:

Richard said...

Hi Allen

I like the layers on this Alan. I like the way you talk about yourself in mid flight so to speak. The ping test here - the technology and "language" of communications on the internet is incorporated - everything becomes (potentially) a part of your project - even your change to:

"...But not quite, as the gag covered the mouth, the machine was
raped, stuffed with anonymity, empty dark messagings, the gristle showing
through. If you read this, if it arrives, you're shape-riding, riding the
gristle, going for it; if you read this, there hasn't been a
resurrection, you're just not part of the chaos, destruction, tinymurders
and o lucky you."

This is then a part of your phenomenological method ? and your predominant pessimistic tone (and perhaps obsession - with ultimate heat death / personal death - extinction - and ontological terror? This transferred to your "pessimism" about the huge amount of stuff "disappearing" - or becoming noise etc - on the net post the (age of) "Monoculture") as in your last post ...(and your (good) concern for the loss of the environment - I also am as I love e.g. tigers and so on. But for me it isn't a big cause for despair - I may be wrong in that ...but - anyway - it's not about me);

But in this thing you then "flip" to 'addressing' the audience and almost dismissing what you have said (somewhat) with: "Oh this is just older stuff..." and then it comes to an "immediate" level - something is expleted about "the video..." The whole post is just right - brilliant stuff as usual!

This is my picture - to some degree - of what I "get" from what you are doing here.

But your Internet Meditation is obviously a huge "project" - if I take a few things you have done plus part of the introduction to the Internet Project as well as if you perhaps email me something explanatory of what you are doing - remembering that others have no idea -or may have - of what you are or have been doing -(I experience bafflement and misunderstanding of what I am doing all the time but I am o.k. with that myself!) (I do have two interviews with you I could use the, and a CD you sent and there is your site -...but once I get enough info - obviously I can only get a fraction of what you are doing - but I can show some of your different "styles" and so on and your greatly creative writing - much of it is beautiful (and often disturbing/challenging and or very interesting) - some of it modulates and 'jars' and perhaps one or two images - but it is always interesting, febrile, and is very inventive: e.g. "tinymurders" and "messagings" are great touches typical of your work) -

and see what my friend - the editor of the Auckland/NZ Mag Brief would be prepared to publish and ask him to send you his proposals - given that I give an intro - would that be good?

That would mean some people here in NZ via Brief would get to see something of what you are doing over there in Brooklyn.

What do you think - the latest Brief has just come out and my friend who edits it is pretty efficient so he will be accepting submissions fairly soon - but there is no panic - there will be quite a few months I would say.

But it would be good to get something even if my view is a 'response' and is way off the mark your could counter it so to speak and/or leave it as a response...whatever you feel is best and we can post links to wherever your works are - I would really like to see you contribute to each Brief (it's not online - it is hard copy - but it may go online one day...) if possible - from now on. Your thoughts?

Kind regards, Richard

PS What I have written here and my post about you on my Blog EYELIGHT might be a starting point.

sondheim said...

so many questions, I don't know how to answer, I would love to have something in NZ of course, your reading is always close it seems to me. I don't think I could do more of an introduction to the text than the text; how can one introduce what must be fifteen-thousand pages of writing or so at this point? or perhaps I'm exaggerating. I think in a way the text can speak for itself, one can open it up, read a few sections in order, get an idea of the 'long-waves,' 'short-waves' of the piece, that would be a way into it, or to look at much earlier then much later, etc. materials for the bridges and transformations...
- alan

Richard said...

Alan

Good points. The questions don't matter -everyone will have a different "take" on your work.

My point is to get your name to a wider audience so what I could do is to simply put up few "quotes" - indicate what I think of it (given that what I quote or sample is only fraction -I will say that) - quote your intro with long short waves and so on and some references that have influenced you and also give some links - that would be sufficient if you agree - I will emphasise exactly what you say -BTW I gain nothing from it except the pleasure of getting you (a fellow writer) some audience and my own pleasure in seeing your work which I value (if I disagree with some aspects of it but that is not relevant here) - I so have some criticisms but I will leave that for readers - I agree that your work is so large that piecemeal criticism is almost irrelevant - people will react in the usual ways - but you aren't being reviewed by a "big shot" and a lot of people will be interested - given they have time - I find th problem of an audience is not so much indifference or callousness or whatever - just that there is so much going on - not only on the Internet -but everywhere - I mean (to bring it down) - right now in NZ all most kiwis think about is the Rugby World Cup - all the rest except the sensational stuff is not interesting to the average person here...rugby and sport is or are the gods here (probably are mostly in the US also - baseball and so on)) - that said there are some cultured people (some also play rugby or are interested in rugby AND culture! - and - more essentially - curious people...

I can put something on about your project and a few 'quotes' - but more importantly (also) provide links to your Blog and you Project for a potential reader - as you say really they have to explore it on their own.

Are or is there anything similar going on on the net?

I put something up on My Space and also my Blog on Blogger and one person responded who knew you...but most others are locked into a relatively conservative kind of writing. Even the more "intellectual" writers... But there are a few isolated exceptions.

Alan - all this aside - keep well!!

Kind regards

Richard

PS Here it is just starting to get warm - I am struggling to pay my power bill (it used to be in credit) ... and it doesn't get anywhere as cold as the US in Auckland so we had a cold winter ( for me in any case!)...but it is a great spring day today! Whatever happens - my kindest regards to you in NY (or wherever you are if you move around a lot!)