8 june 2005
about 750 words
d a f f o d i l f o r t y - t h r e e
monthly news of experiments in public writing at
http://www.softopia.demon.co.uk
w h a t ' s n e w ?
There were 12 new items in May and 2 so far in June.
The new items can be seen at
http://www.softopia.demon.co.uk/2.2/whats_new.html
b e y o n d f a b r i c a t i o n
This is the title of a somewhat mysterious piece (originally nonsensical) that i found myself writing and rewriting, several times - until it reached its present form on 6 june:
http://www.softopia.demon.co.uk/2.2/beyond_fabrication.html
It is 'the prelude to something' not yet written, a fictional presence of 'life without work' or some other such rethinking of the culture that we inherit and inhabit and which surely must change form under the pressures of climate change and other disasters that seem to face us now.
For the moment i have no clear idea of the text that will i hope follow this prelude but i know one thing that inspires it (and has inspired me for decades):
the redefined concepts of labour, work, action and contemplation in:
Hannah Arendt's book 'The Human Condition', University of Chicago Press, Chicago, London 1958, isbn 0-226-02593-4 (still in print isbn 0-226-02598-5).
This is to me the most interesting and profound book of culture criticism to have appeared since the 1950s. It is not as well known as the other books of Hannah Arendt - i imagine that it arouses profound resistance - for in it she criticises not only Karl Marx but the whole tradition of industrial culture from Plato to appearance of the first artificial sattelite. But she does so in such a surprising and yet sensible and informed way that (to me at least) there is no disputing what she writes! Please read it!
d i g i t a l d i a r y
I have been trying for several days to read and to take in the variety of things that appeared this month but today it is too much for me!
I am surprised to see what i wrote - on the heath, in hospital, and elsewhere. The words seem to have jumped from the things remarked upon to my writing hand with little conscious thought and so i barely remember them!
r a d i o (dates of broadcasts AND HOW TO LISTEN ANYWHERE*)
The weekly broadcasts of the Late Late Breakfast Show from the
Foundry** (the London art pub or bar*) on Resonance FM are continuing at
104.4 FM between 12.00 and 13.00 London Time (at present British
Winter Time) on Fridays.
I expect to be reading from the digital diary every other Friday - my
next reading may be broadcast on 17 june 2005 (I missed one or two while in hospital or while recuperating.)
*TALKING TO SEVERAL SUBSCRIBERS LATELY I FOUND THAT NONE OF THEM REALISED THAT YOU CAN LISTEN VIA THE INTERNET TO FUTURE AND PAST BROADCASTS ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD IF YOU CLICK:
http://www.foundry.tv/radio.html
and then click 'live radio' or 'archives'.
**The Foundry is at: 84-86 Great Eastern Street, London EC4 a short walk from Old Street Tube Station, exit 3, phone 020 7739 6900.
pictures of what's on at the foundry appear if you click
http://www.foundry.tv
s u b s c r i b i n g :
There are still about 210 subscribers. The web counter tells me
that there are now about 8 visits a day (varying from about 30 to
zero) ... just over half of these are people who have not visited
before and just under a half are repeat visits ... visits are recorded from about 76 countries.
You can receive daffodil monthly if you send me an email with
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SO BEFORE YOU CHANGE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS - PLEASE LET ME KNOW!
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good wishes
john chris