Haus der Luege : Noli Evocare Quod Reprimere Non Potes

Iron Maiden's "The Trooper" on the harp? Aw, hell yes.

So, Æqo got off the tie last night and was gone for about 4 hours. There was much panicking and running about hunting for her. Boat load of fail, but a lot of exercise was had. The results were... expensive.

I’ve been rereading Illuminatus! for the 3rd or fourth time. What I’m finding interesting about the experience is that there’s always more in the book than I previously realized. My focus this time is on the way that the characters develop through initiatory processes.

One observation is that the kinds of initiatory shocks the characters receive are fairly traditional in their intent, if not always in their particular forms. When I compare this to the kinds of experience that I’ve had both in formal group initiation and the times initiation has manifested in my life, it leaves me wondering if I started from the wrong point. The characters, and many of my friends have had very strong emotional reactions to initiation; it ‘is’ a transformative experience for them. My own experiences have always been taken in stride. The patterns have always been recognizable to me, and there is a sense of inevitability and frankly, a rather jaded, passionless engagement with the process- and indeed, when a cycle has played out, I’m left often left with a vague sense of disappointment that there wasn’t more to it. It’s almost like there’s some of Taoist at the controls who simply accepts the even, processes the experience, and then lets it go until the next one comes along. The IAO cycle plays through very quickly for me. There’s a sense of “Is that seriously all you had for me this time? Well, it’s a nice t-shirt, at any rate.” Is there such a thing as being too far over on the h. neophilus side?

Ran Across this article on DailyKOS. I have mixed feelings about this case. On one hand, I feel bad that someone had to die. On the other hand, I know for a fact that the Census Bureau is not above sending anyone from the local sheriff to SWAT teams to escort census takers to the homes of citizens reluctant to complete the forms.

While the data collected has been historically pretty innocuous, the simple fact is that some of the questions are pretty invasive from certain standpoints- many of these, are, of course, optional to answer. Unless the census taker comes to your house, in which case you are expected to answer the Extended Dance Remix, which DOES get pretty nosy.

The problem is not the Census as such. It's the fact that non-participation is not an option for protest. In light of that, the application of resistant force in the face of Government force is inevitable. The only question in my mind is whether the reaction is proportional to the action.

I've been up hellishly late 2 nights in a row. First was Tuesday, when I decided to damn the torpedoes and truck my ass to Salem to see my KTO brothers. It was a pleasure and privilege to see them again.

Spent last night working on hexagram ritual analysis with E. Not a bad night's work.

Les Paul, originator of the solid body electric guitar, multi-track recording, and a master of the instrument, celebrated his Greater Feast on August 13th.

His legacy is immense.