The 13th Floor

Puddles' incredibly atmospheric 2022 cover of Black Sabbath's iconic 1970 song War Pigs manages to make the song his own while preserving its greatness.

If we're being completely honest, Black Sabbath's 1970 classic War Pigs isn't the cheeriest of Geezer Butler lyrics, what with all that talk of war machines and burning bodies and Satan spreading his wings and stuff. But if you ever wanted proof of man's ability to take a sad song and make it sadder, look no further than Mike Geier, a.k.a. giant unhappy clown Puddles Pity Party, who's just released a cover version of the song that plumbs almost unparalleled depths of despair. - Frazer Lewry at Louder Sound](https://www.loudersound.com/news/watch-a-giant-sad-clown-bring-new-depths-of-emotion-to-black-sabbaths-war-pigs)

Lyrics:

Generals gathered in their masses
Just like witches at black masses
Evil minds that plot destruction
Sorcerer of death's construction
In the fields, the bodies burnin'
As the war machine keeps turning
Death and hatred to mankind
Poisoning their brainwashed minds

Oh, Lord, yeah

Politicians hide themselves away
They only started the war
Why should they go out to fight?
They leave that role to the poor
Time will tell on their power minds
Making war just for fun
Treating people just like pawns in chess
Wait till their judgment day comes, yeah

Now, in darkness, world stops turning
Ashes where the bodies burning
No more war pigs have the power
Hand of God has struck the hour
Day of Judgment, God is calling
On their knees, the war pigs crawling
Begging mercy for their sins
Satan, laughing, spreads his wings

Today I discovered the work of Miyu Kojima, a Japanese artist who makes beautifully detailed miniature dioramas of rooms in which people have died lonely deaths, a phenomenon called kodokushi.

The inspiration for her work has its origins in a cleaning company for which she worked:

The company was advertising its services at the trade show by displaying photos of the rooms they’d cleaned. “But the photos are gruesome to look at,” Kojima said. “I felt they lacked respect for the deceased and for their family to be exposed like that.” So she bought some glue, polystyrene board, knives and other craft materials, and got to work. - Chris Michael and Keiko Tanaka in The Guardian.

Some of her images are now in a book.

Discussion of the work of Belgian artist Berlinde De Bruyckere. I recently saw Arcangelo 1, which is made out of cast wax and animal hides.

Can't help quoting the "hmmm!" from this piece today. This is a track off Gil Scott Heron's first album, Small Talk at 125th and Lenox (though, it was actually recorded in an Atlantic Records studio with a small live audience).

Whitey on the Moon

A rat done bit my sister Nell.

(with Whitey on the moon)

Her face and arms began to swell.

(and Whitey's on the moon)

I can't pay no doctor bill.

(but Whitey's on the moon)

Ten years from now I'll be payin' still.

(while Whitey's on the moon)

The man jus' upped my rent las' night. ('cause Whitey's on the moon)

No hot water, no toilets, no lights.

(but Whitey's on the moon)

I wonder why he's uppi' me?

('cause Whitey's on the moon?)

I was already payin' 'im fifty a week.

(with Whitey on the moon)

Taxes takin' my whole damn check,

Junkies makin' me a nervous wreck,

The price of food is goin' up,

An' as if all that shit wasn't enough

A rat done bit my sister Nell.

(with Whitey on the moon)

Her face an' arm began to swell.

(but Whitey's on the moon)

Was all that money I made las' year

(for Whitey on the moon?)

How come there ain't no money here?

(Hm! Whitey's on the moon)

Y'know I jus' 'bout had my fill

(of Whitey on the moon)

I think I'll sen' these doctor bills,

Airmail special

(to Whitey on the moon)

Glorious hallucinations that are reminiscent of Calvino's Invisible Cities but also of Borges. Here's an extract:

"Even and perfect, the city lies amid green lawns, sunny hills and wooded mountains; slim, tall sheets of continuous buildings intersect in a rigorous, square mesh, one league apart. The buildings, or rather the single, uninterrupted building consists of cubic cells 5 cubits each way; these cells are placed one on top of another in a single vertical stack, reaching a height of a third of a league above sea-level, so that the relative height of the building varies in relation to the level of the ground on which it rises.

Each cell has two external walls. Cell walls are of opaque material, porous to air, rigid, but light. The wall facing north (or if this is an external wall, the wall facing west) is capable of emitting 3D images, sounds and smells. Against the opposite wall is a seat capable of moulding perfectly to the human body, even of enclosing it completely. Incorporated in this seat is an apparatus for satisfying all physiological needs. When not in use, this membrane and all apparatus withdraw and the wall reforms. The floor is a simulator, and can evoke all sensations of living things. The ceiling is a brain-impulse-receiver.

In each cell is an individual whose brain impulses are continually transmitted to an electronic analyser set at the top of the building, beneath a continuous semi-cylindrical vault. The analyser selects, compares and interprets the desires of each individual, programming the life of the entire city moment by moment. All citizens are in a state of perfect equality...

One remarkable ancient artefact, a Babylonian world map from the Sixth Century BCE, marks the beginning of this obsession. The map, inscribed on a clay tablet, shows how ancient people imagined the quadrants of the earth: it describes lands of serpents, dragons, and scorpion-men, the far northern regions “where the sun is never seen”, and a great body of water they called “the bitter river”.

But the map also makes one other curious reference. It describes “ruined cities… watched over by… the ruined gods”. By that time, the ruins of great cities like Ur, Uruk and Nineveh already littered the landscape, destroyed and abandoned due to natural causes or cataclysmic wars. These ruined places were thought to be places of magic, terrible warnings to living humans and the haunts of ghosts and evil spirits...

@13thFloor

I've been using this software for a long time, and thought the wider Fediverse might dig it. A tool for astrologers, Maitreya (formerly known as Maitreya's Dream) is a free, open source software released under the GNU license that charts both Western and Vedic Astrology, and has been in active development for over 15 years.

https://www.saravali.de/maitreya.html

Features:

- Many astrological objects (Upagrahas, Kalavelas, Arabic points, Uranian planets, planetoids).
- A lot of configuration options reflecting different schools and giving a chance for research
- Classic Dasas in text and graphical views (tree and bar diagram)
- Ashtakavarga, Shadbala, classic Yogas and their predictions from classic scriptures
- Solar (annual) chart, transits and progressions
- Various optical features like skins and highlight of aspects for charts and Sarvatobhadra
- Uranian astrology: sensitive points (midpoints, reflection points, sums, differences) and their events, annual predictions.
- Partner charts, ephemeris, eclipses, Hora.

#13thFloor #astrology #vedic #opensource #westernastrology #software #maitreya