Refurbished Machines, Recycled Vinyl, Analog Sound Quality...Heaven!

CNN recently did a nice piece on Brooklynphono!  The PAST is the FUTURE of music!

E-Prime Week: E-Prime and Non-Violent Communications

Some here in the US of A get together with family and friends today for Thanksgiving. Many enjoy it. Some...do not. This obligatory face-time can be stressful, and can lead to conflict, or worse, creepy, smiley passive aggressive behavior. It's a great time for relatives to take cheap shots at your non-traditional lifestyle. But you don't have to take part in the weirdness!  Break the cycle of snark!!

E-Prime Week gives us the opportunity to start the holiday season off with just a little less conflict, and Non-Violent Communication  (NVC) can be a good addition to your semantic toolkit. Here are links to a couple of links to articles to help you tune up your communications skills and invite a little less ire, and a little more "irie!

Solar Values = American Values

“By the way, if you want to have a war over oil, leave me out of it- because I don’t think we need it. All I have to say is, go solar! Go wind! Let a little freedom into your life, and help your neighbors stay free, too.”
Richard Perez, Publisher, Home Power Magazine- keynote address, I-Renew Energy Expo, Sept.8, 2001

Home Power #1: 1987

Just three days before the terrorist attacks that rocked the nation, Richard Perez, the publisher of the independent renewable energy publication Home Power addressed a packed audience at one of the nations oldest gatherings of wind and solar power enthusiasts. He inspired the audience with a talk about the importance of freedom. Freedom to make one’s own choices, and accepting the responsibilities that come with that freedom. It has been more than 13 years since Perez gave that speech and the solar landscape has changed immensely. Solar is no longer primarily the purview of off-grid survivalists and back-to-the-land hippies. The installed price of solar has dropped from above $10 per watt to under $4. More states around the nation are encouraging solar development, and the economic benefits of solar are becoming more obvious by the day. And yet, there remains a strong anti-solar contingent in the United States. But why? In post-911 America, isn’t freedom still an American value?

E-Prime: It's not for (Semantic) Wimps! OR E-Prime: (Semantic) Wimps may not find it to their liking!

 Okay! Speaking E-Prime for a whole week can be harder than one might think! Yes, it may be! Or maybe it really is!

"To Be" in Their Bonnets

A matter of semantics  

Cullen Murphy Feb 1 1992

The Atlantic 

A few days ago I opened up a recent issue (Volume 48, Number 2) of Et cetera, the quarterly journal of the International Society for General Semantics, and within a few minutes of doing so got a bit of a surprise. The surprise came from an article by Emory Menefee, a former president of the ISGS, which bluntly calls into question attempts by many society members to promote something called E-Prime, a form of English that has for years ranked extremely high among the interests of the general-semantics community. Advocates of E-Prime, for reasons I'll come to, favor the elimination in English of every form of the verb "to be"—be, been, is, am, are, was, were, 'm, 's, 're, and all the rest. They not only promote E-Prime as a theoretical proposition but also try in daily life to erase to be and its inflections from everything they write. The most committed advocates use E-Prime even when they talk. Given all this, to see the E-Prime endeavor criticized in an official organ— to see that endeavor, indeed, termed "quixotic"—naturally raised an eyebrow. When I queried the International Society for General Semantics about the matter, the executive director, Paul Dennithorne Johnston, assured me that the society never did, and does not now, regard E-Prime as tantamount to some sort of "party line." Well, fine. But it has strong support among the nomenklatura, and I do not expect them to hold their peace.

Happy E-Prime week, Everybody!!!

(Hey Everybody! If you haven't already read it, you must get a copy of this book. Along with RAW's other writings, this one really redecorated my reality tunnel. Enjoy it, and please, help spread the word about National E-Prime Week!)

 

From Quantum Psychology 

by Robert Anton Wilson

published by New Falcon Press

E and E-Prime

In 1933, in Science and Sanity, Alfred Korzybski proposed that we should abolish the "is of identity" from the English language. (The "is of identity" takes the form X is a Y. e.g., "Joe is a Communist," "Mary is a dumb file-clerk," "The universe is a giant machine," etc.) In 1949, D. David Bourland Jr. proposed the abolition of all forms of the words "is" or "to be" and the Bourland proposal (English without "isness") he called E-Prime, or English-Prime.

A few scientists have taken to writing in E-Prime (notable Dr. Albert Ellis and Dr. E.W. Kellogg III). Bourland, in a recent (not-yet-published) paper tells of a few cases in which scientific reports, unsatisfactory to sombunall members of a research group, suddenly made sense and became acceptable when re-written in E-Prime. By and large, however, E-Prime has not yet caught on either in learned circles or in popular speech.

Let's Celebrate National E-Prime Week!

I hereby declare the fourth week in November... NATIONAL E-PRIME WEEK!

HIP-HIP...!!...I said...HIP-HIP...hoo-ray.....

Okay, so maybe I'm alone in this endeavor, but I think that the fourth week in November is the perfect time to do a little annual semantic experiment. Hear me out! You may actually agree with this. But first, I know you may wonder: “What the FUCK is E-Prime?”

Alfred Korzybski. One cool cat.

E-Prime emerged from the study of General Semantics in the early 1960s. Alfred Korzybski, the “Father of General Semantics” found that the word “is,” and all of the other derivatives of “to be,” suffer from structural problems and lack validity. For instance, the statement “this song is horrible” can be completely subjective. Even the statement “The sky is blue” may not necessarily be accurate.

David Bourland, a student of Korzybski, suggested that a more accurate method of communication might completely eliminate be, am, is, are, was, were, been and being. Bourland pointed out that by using this method, which he called “E-Prime” or “English Prime,” language can become less dogmatic. “This song is terrible” becomes “I don't like this song” and “the sky is blue” becomes “the sky looks blue to me,” therefore, inviting discussion rather than conflict.

So, why do I think that we need to celebrate this obscure academic exercise each year during the fourth week of November? THANKSGIVING, yo! Because, this week, due to some societally enforced ritual, many of us find ourselves occupying the same space for an extended period of time with other spawn of our hereditary genetic pool, some of whom may have very different outlooks on life than we do. Let's face it, “IS” can be a semantic chip on our shoulder, one that invites alcohol-addled ancestors, cro-magnon cousins and other kooky kin to knock it off. What better time to practice a little non-confrontational thought experiment?
 

"Futurists" and the Future of Solar Energy

"Their predictions range from near-term to long-term, from the mundane to the fantastic, but many futurists, regardless of their focus, see solar power in our future."

  In the realm of science fiction, solar has long played a role as a primary energy source in imaginary futures. Ever since Dr. Hans Zeigler outfitted satellite Vanguard 1 with photovoltaic panels back in 1958, solar energy has sparked writers imaginations. From the solar space-yachts of Aurthur C. Clarke's Sunjammer to the horrific solar-powered swarms of killer “nano-bots” in Michael Crichton's Prey, solar energy production is a technology that speculative fiction writers have always seen as part of our future. But what about the people who's job it is to PREDICT the future, rather than imagine it? What do “Futurists” think about the role solar energy will play in the coming century?

 Futurists, sometimes called “Futurologists” are those social scientists, economists and others analysts who spend their time examining current trends and studying future scenarios. They may work for governments, corporations and other organizations. They may be academics, business consultants, journalists or bloggers, and their focus may vary from economics to technology to human relationships, but most take an interdisciplinary approach to predicting the future. Their predictions range from near-term to long-term, from the mundane to the fantastic, but many futurists, regardless of their focus, see solar power in our future.

Read the entire article at Solar Tribune. 

Libertarianism, Anarchism and Ecology!!!

I had the distinct pleasure of being a guest on the Sovryn Tech podcast, with Brian Sovryn and Dr. Stephanie Murphy. We talk energy, agriculture, and why Statism isn't helping to save the planet...

AnarchoSF: Pre-Order Your Copy!

Obsolete Press announces the upcoming release of the long-awaited first volume of the new publication, AnarchoSF. The book/zine will the first in a series of Obsolete Publications to explore the themes of anarchy, anarchism and the stateless society through the work of science fiction writers and artists, both contemporary and classic.

AnarchoSF v.1 hits the streets this month! Until April 15^th you can pre-order your copy for the special price of $6.99 ($7.99 after the 15^th) with free U.S. shipping. AND, you will get some free Obsolete Press swag along with the book!

AnarchoSF v.1 is the first in a series of Obsolete Publications to explore the themes of anarchy, anarchism and the stateless society through the work of science fiction writers and artists, both contemporary and classic.

The collection is edited by Obsolete Publisher Rich Dana and includes recent work by Tobey Anderson, Davi Barker, Ben Beck, FJ Bergman, Chris Bird, Ricardo Feral, klipschutz, Nicholas P. Oakley, Ursula Pflug, Alou Randon, illustrations by Tobey A. Anderson and Chris Bird and cover art, book design and illustrations by Blair Gauntt. It also features classic stories by Philip K. Dick and E.M. Forster. This premiere volume of AnarchoSF is dedicated to the late, great anarchist prankster and SF writer Mick Farren and features a salute to Mick, along with one of his last short stories.

Digital copies will be available for review by journalists, zinesters, bloggers, and podcasters. Send a request for a review copy to anarchosf@riseup.net. A limited number of hard copies will be available for reviewers as well.

A limited edition of AnarchoSF #1 including a special cover and extra material will be available for readers who pay with Bitcoin and other select crypto-currencies.