|
Spring//YOU
UPGRADEmag// march 20 2001
The UPGRADEmag is a global edutainment round-up ‘broadcast’ weekly to =[9267]= Trance// New Age// Alternative// Activist folks who have been recommended to the Parallel YOUniversity/ Megatripolis Dance Dept as "showing signs of life". Since many choose to forward it to their own lists, we estimate 18,600+ recipients. And, because of its less 'specialist' content, it's increasingly being posted on a variety of sites worldwide, making a total ‘readership’ of, conservatively, 155,000+
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Today is Spring Equinox, when light and darkness, in both northern and southern hemispheres, are in balance.
We begin a new season, in which relationships will need special attention to balancing and growth. Finances will be changeable.
YOU 2258
WARNING, HOAX!
"The sun oozed over the horizon, shoved aside darkness, crept along the greensward, and, with sickly fingers, pushed through the castle window, revealing the pillaged princess, hand at throat, crown asunder, gaping in frenzied horror at the sated, sodden amphibian lying beside her, disbelieving the magnitude of the frog's deception, screaming madly, "You lied!"
The above is being falsely reported as the winner of this year's Bulwer-Lytton Awards for embarrassingly bad opening paragraphs. In fact, it was the 1983 runner-up.
spyder
YOU 2259 "Theirs was a love that transcended time, ran roughshod over moral dogmas, guffawed in the face of adversity, rent asunder the shackles of social convention and took a sledgehammer to the crumbling walls of religious doctrine: a passionate love, a tender love, a selfless love, an undying love: not bad for two gerbils born on opposite sides of the glass partition." Winner: Bulwer-Lytton Awards /Romance.
los angeles
FRI MARCH 23 SHAMANIC RITUALS
presented by Stardust & Sergio [SparK] DJs Lorin [Santa Cruz], Tree [S. Francisco], more TBA. L.I.V.E. performance by SparK. [United Tribes-Europe] Fire Ritual-performance by Stardust [Fairy Tribe] Visual A.R.T. Projection by...Magikal Mystery Lab. Tribal Art/Photography show. Free Body Painting ...Smart Drinks. Bring your Didj or Drum and join us for the Circle. Contribution $8 [we need your L-ov-E not your $$]
Costumes HIGHLY encouraged.
@ The Spiral Gallery
xybershaman@hotmail.com
YOU 2260
i don't know about you, but this unstoppable foot and mouth epidemic keeps reminding me of some future panic when genetically modified grain is suddenly discovered to be giving babies convulsions and they start trying to stop the spread. it would OBVIOUSLY be totally impossible because of the wind factor. is this a lesson then?
fraser.
YOU 2261 "Becky Flatbush was the quintessential Girl Cop: wisecracking, shrewd, prone to PMS-inspired shooting "mistakes," yet tender, compassionate, and actually very good with criminals when she was not feeling bloated and cranky and like she wanted to kill someone just to relieve her monthly depression." Winner: Bulwer-Lytton Awards/Detective
london
FRI MARCH 23 The Dubliners live in concert
Irelands legendary folk band.
Lewisham Theatre, Catford Road, Catford, SE6: £11.50 0208 690 0002
YOU 2262
> COMPUTER GAMES DO NOT AFFECT KIDS
> Lissen, if PacMan had affected the Rave generation as kids, they'd all be
> running around in darkened rooms, eating pills and listening to repetitive
> music.
....and don't forget to eat the fruit, it earns you points and is good for you!
Michael Vazquez
YOU 2263
SUN MARCH 25 Nubient
Mixmaster Morris with top ambient guests from around the world + Ninja Tune artists too. FREE + FREE food too if you get there early enuff.
Glow Rooms, 58 Camberwell Church Street, SE5. 6-12pm.
morris@space.demon.co.uk
YOU 2264
"I'm very encouraged that someone is once again illuminating the true depths of the underground and showing the heights the human spirit can soar to when freed"
Wavy Gravy when informed about launch of The Den of Enlightenment.
YOU 2265 "The night (like every night on Beta Forensis Epsilon (known to the members of the Star Guard ground station as BFE) where the 30-degree axial tilt, 12-hour rotation and ferocious radiation from Beta Forensis' F5 perpetual thermonuclear blast churned the atmosphere like a rookie's stomach during zero-gee training, was dark and stormy". Winner: Bulwer-Lytton Awards/Science Fiction
DEN OF ENLIGHTENMENT / BREAKING NEWS
RECENT REVIEWS OF SOUTHWARK MYSTERIES 11pm-3am
“a unique event in the annals of libertarian art… Blakean verse that resonates with modern life… first hardcore rap in an English cathedral.” Steve Ash, Freedom
‘… a heady brew of ritual drama, dance, song and tantric sex, this beguiling production blends the odd and eclectic into a fascinating philosophic and theatrical whole, offering a radical communion between the sacred and the profane. Constable strikes an attractive figure, charming his audience with tales told by The Goose, spirit of a medieval whore displaced by London Underground engineering works. The overall effect is humorous, alluringly artless and yet erudite.’ Alexa Baracala, The Stage
‘… a present-day prostitute took the spotlight and told us, to righteous, warm applause, about her progress from massage parlour to tantric enlightenment’ Sebastian Faulks, Evening Standard
‘A great performer. You listen to him and think, I don’t care if it's bollocks, it's very entertaining.’ Rory McGrath, Hot Tickets
‘A religious play staged in an Anglican cathedral has provoked fury after it featured a swearing Jesus and Satan wearing a phallus. The Southwark Mysteries… mixed bawdy medieval scenes with modern imagery and referred to bishops engaging in homosexual sex with altar boys and priests visiting prostitutes. The character of Jesus, who rode onto stage on a bicycle, was shown apparently condoning a range of sexual activities, while Satan, played by a female actor, strapped on “a huge red phallus” before using it to beat his sidekick, Beelzebub. The author John Constable said that he had deliberately wanted to challenge Christians. “Profanity is a theme of the play,” he said. "The point of it was to explore the sacred through the profane.“ But one member of the audience has condemned the play as “disgustingly offensive”, saying that it “revelled in the glorification of vice.”’ Sunday Telegraph
‘Constable’s Southwark Mysteries kick serious theological ass!’ Sasha Selavie, QX Magazine
YOU 2266
The UP is always one of the highlights of my week, I absolutely love it! All the best!
Paul Francis
YOU 2267
london
momo
SAT MARCH 24 samuel pepys, hackney, london
SAT APRIL 7: rai on stage @ liquid, wandsworth, london
SUN APRIL 8: hubble bubble @ union chapel, islington, london
momoband@hotmail.com
YOU 2269
US RAVE CRACKDOWN CONTINUES
500,000 UK RAVERS SUFFER SEVERE MEMORY LOSS NOT!
I read in the papers (no I don't buy the crap, it was lying in my parents' house and I spotted an article saying) how half a million ecstasy users in the UK have "severe memory loss". This has got to be more media lies, right? Sounds like such bullshit to me.
tsdfg@zxcv.net
It's impossible for the UK to interview, test, and collate that number of users (one in four of your own friends?). This is pure hype from the USA where they're having a concerted attack on MDMA.
Why? Because they hate the idea of a LOVE drug, dancing all night at raves where no threat of violence and no alcohol sales exist.
Should we create the Headline- "100 MILLION CHRISTIANS RIPPED OFF FOR 2000 YEARS"?
PSI
YOU 2270 "We have created a monster, Doktor Frankenstein!" screech Igor, the doktor's right and left hand man, his little body quivering with delight, and before the good doctor could stop him Igor waved various human limbs and organs in the patchwork face of the giant, howling, "Tell me, stranger, are you from these parts?" Vile Puns (co-winner)
dear fraser (and you are),
thanks again for the recent enlightening edition. I've been following the US RAVE news avidly. I only came to the UK scene two years ago after a gradual awakening, I'm still only a young'un. The best way we can help, as a movement and as individuals, is by sharing some of our knowledge. The fight against legal prohibition must be fought tooth and nail but, almost inevitably, it will be futile, at least in the short term.
very wise, ed!
We can use our experiences to teach the Americans to prepare to go underground. The US is full of wide-open spaces where anyone with a rig could set up a good party. People should be preparing for this now, collecting their pennies and trying to come by equipment so that, as soon as the crackdown arrives, they can spring up again instantly. I'm sure you'll agree that a night in a secret location out in the wilds is far more spiritually rewarding than a thousand between four walls.
u gottit!
On another matter, what should the responsible sound system do in the light of the foot and mouth crisis? I know its not a lethal disease, and the methods of controlling it are quite insane, but spreading it would be most unwelcome by the people whose land we borrow from time to time.
Love, peace and happiness
Ed Lynch-Bell /UK
hmm. leaving aside all the obvious alternative questions, we should be at least as careful as the toffs with their horse-racing - people should have to walk through disinfectant.
come to think of it, that would make a great media statement!
YOU 2271 "It was the night before Christmas when Santa Claus's sleigh team became one member short because of a sudden illness, and when an inflatable plastic reindeer was used to fill the void in the team so no one would take notice the missing animal, Regis, Chief of Elves, asked Santa, "Is that your vinyl Prancer?" Vile Puns (co-winner)
US RAVE CRACKDOWN THE FIGHTBACK CONTINUES
The American Civil Liberties Union has come out in opposition to the new orleans and such prosecutions on constitutional grounds.
"Holding club owners and promoters of raves criminally liable for what some people may do at these events is no different from arresting the stadium owners and promoters of a Rolling Stones concert or a rap show because some concert-goers may be smoking or selling marijuana," said Graham Boyd, Director of the ACLU's Drug Policy Litigation Project. "If the government is successful in shutting down raves, what's to stop them from applying this tactic to other music genres, such as
hip-hop, heavy metal and jazz, where drug use is known to exist?"
[or how about anti-pipeline protests, demos, benefit gigs for the wrong cause]
you
SCARED TO BECOME AN ACTIVIST?
CAN'T BELIEVE IT'LL BE GREAT FUN?!
DON'T KNOW WHERE TO START?
THEN ASK THE EXPERTS WITH YEARS OF EXPERIENCE!
Could your group (start one!) benefit from free direct action videos?
Undercurrents, the UK alternative media group, want to give them away to non-profit groups, youth, community and prison workers, resource centres, radical libraries and progressive educational organisations who can use them to bring about positive change.
Undercurrents grew out of the Rave Crackdown in the UK and has been training activists since 1993 to create their own documentaries. The resulting series of Alternative News Videos (editions 1-10) challenge the mainstream media's reporting on issues such as DIY culture, road protest, CCTV & police surveillance, genetics, black deaths in custody, animal rights and other global campaigns close to Rave Culture's heart.
UP THE EVOLUTION!
Send them your details (plus generous postage costs per video) and start spreading this priceless, hard earned, cultural consciousness-dynamite around! Donations obviously also welcome!
One set of videos per org (except eds 5 & 10 - sold out) Offer ends March 31.
Undercurrents Give Away Offer! 16b Cherwell Street, Oxford OX4 1BG, UK
+44 (0)1865 203662 underc@gn.apc.org
www.undercurrents.org
you
US RAVE CRACKDOWN THE FIGHTBACK CONTINUES
ORIGINAL NEW ORLEANS CHARGES DROPPED
FIRST CRACKS IN THE 'CRACK'DOWN?
the original federal "crack house" charges have been withdrawn in the new orleans case against the promoters and owners of a venue used for electronic dance parties.
the federal government appears to be edging around somewhat uneasily, perhaps shocked by the upsurge of national and international raver indignation, and looking for a safer angle or a step back from the Abyss. Latest word is that they are now "planning" to bring even worse charges - "operating a continuing criminal enterprise."
will this hold any more holy water than the first charges? probably not. It sounds more like they're shifting their case to more general grounds, involving conspiracy.
nevertheless, this will certainly not be the end of the Final Cultural Struggle, which is clearly just beginning. as one almost activist statement of many in america last week put it: "we cannot allow our culture to be scapegoated for problems that exist throughout society. we MUST defend our music and our right to gather and dance!!"
[the issue comes down to this: do people have the goddess-given right to dance barefoot on the grass whenever the whim takes us or DO WE NEED A FOOKIN LICENCE?"]
"as a community, we must gather our resources to defend ourselves against these attacks. forward this email to your friends and the electronic music lists you're on. write a story or get some publicity. do a benefit. whatever you can do will make a difference.
one thing we have learned in the sflnc is that every voice counts, and that unless we speak up, we'll never have a chance. our focus is to protect, preserve and promote late-night options in san francisco. if you would like to start a late night coalition in your own city, visit our website for info that will help you get started"
san francisco late night coalition
www.sflnc.com/Pages/start_coalition.html
you
"The prosecution by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is part of a novel - and entirely unconstitutional - strategy to curtail use of the drug Ecstasy, which has been associated with raves, by using federal 'crack house' laws," said an attorney for the defendants this week.
you
Congress specifically rejected using the crack house tactic when it passed the Ecstasy Anti-Proliferation Act. Passed in October 2000, the Act strengthened penalties for those caught trafficking in the drug and provided money for educational programs. Significantly, however, lawmakers eliminated a controversial provision that would have limited speech about
ecstasy and other drugs.
you
message from EMDEF:
Charges of "operating a crackhouse" brought January 11th against Donnie Estopinal and Robert and Brian Brunet have been withdrawn by the prosecution. Unfortunately, the DEA has been interviewing people in New Orleans, and has threatened to reinstate the charges listing multiple counts (that is, accusing the men of throwing multiple parties). The new charge, "Operating a Continuing Criminal Enterprise", would carry a mandatory sentence of 20 years to life in prison.
The Electronic Music Defense and Education Fund (EM:DEF) is raising
money for these three men and others who are targeted by the growing war
on clubs and electronic music. Please visit our web-site:
www.emdef.org
You can click here to go directly to our donation page.
www.emdef.org/donate.html
EM:DEF is very grateful for all of the offers to throw benefits, print flyers, perform at events, and otherwise publicize the efforts we are making. Please e-mail Will Patterson if you would like to donate money, time or services to EMDEF. Will can be reached at will@emdef.org.
EM:DEF is also very grateful to the magazines, newspapers and television shows providing unbiased coverage of the events in New Orleans, and Electronic Music in general. If you are interested in doing a story, please contact Susan at Green Galactic. Her e-mail is susan@emdef.org. We have received many positive wishes for Donnie, Robert and Brian.
Their decision to fight the charges brought by the DEA was not an easy one. While it helps prevent a precedent from being set nationally, it will likely result in more criminal charges being filed. The decision to fight has helped our community, and deserves all of our support.
Please visit the EM:DEF web-site, and support the fund.
Thank you for supporting the fund.
YOU 2272
_______________________________________
T O P I C A -- Learn More. Surf Less.
Newsletters, Tips and Discussions on Topics You Choose.http://www.topica.com/partner/tag01
------------------------------------------------------------------
DEN OF ENLIGHTENMENT / BREAKING NEWS
Stefan G.
Stefan G, who designed the Den of Enlightenment flyer (now checkable on the ParaYOU site) will also be providing multi-media visual enhancements at the club. He's been promoting & enhancing Underground Dance & Ritual events in fields & warehouses since the early '70s, pioneering many `soundsystem', beatmixing & live video techniques.
He's done DJ & VJ residencies at many notable clubs & underground events including: New York's Peppermint Lounge, Studio 54, Mudd Club, Wetlands, Interferon, MilkyWay, BigHaus, PayDay, Danceteria, and Negril - the first club to showcase Hip-Hop in Manhattan - Ibiza's Amnesia, San Francisco's The Stone, Kennel Club, Fillmore, 1015 and Townsend..
He's designed & performed live video for George Clinton, Cabaret Voltaire, the Beastie Boys, the Dalai Lama, Mantronix and Jerry Garcia.
He's also a prominent activist/futurist involved with the San Francisco Late Night Coalition, Project Open Hand & Hemp legalisation issues.
YOU 2273 "With mighty, gargantuan, and somewhat overdeveloped thews, the barbarian chieftan raised his titantic sword ever higher over his fallen, but unsubdued, adversary, and, with a grunt equal to his gigantic frame, reversed the course of his upwardly mobile blade to send it whistling its lethal four-foot, six-inch length through the body of his prostrate foe and into two feet of protesting soil, rock, and assorted particles of humus." Winner: Sword and Sorcery
Hello Fraser,
I've been receiving your UPGRADES for a while. Sounds like you're doing a lot for the planet and for rave culture. I'm very interested at a more personal level in find out how we can connect. It's important that I am in touch with other peace ravers on the planet.
We can all do our part to help. I am a strong force on the planet. Keepin' it real in la. From '96 to '98 I was in part responsible for organizing three protest parties in La at the federal building. Another one is due very soon. It is so needed. The message needs to be spread as much as possible. My main focus is music and djing at the moment. My heart my being my essence know another one needs to be organized. Its just a matter of when.
Your email has inspired me greatly. Thank you very much. The last protest party we organized got a little mixed up in the blood vessels of many people who attended. Taking my top off didn't help matters. I helped to wedge a space in their minds to let go of the old tapes people still play in their minds.
I would like to know more about how we can connect strong force so we can womanefest the word of truth. i start with loving myself and taking care of my spirit by cultivating my energy. Kundalini Yoga, super blue green algae and a vegetarian diet keep me sane so I have the strength to stay positive in all this mayhem. Recently through the practice of yoga all need for the use of drugs (i mean all of them no pills alcohol or anything) have shed off of me like old skin. it was not forced it was an effortless transition for me. i have learned the lessons I need to learn with drugs I don't need them any more. It is all for a reason or it wouldn't be happening. Its our Karma we need to work through and then go directly to the source.
There are people I'm am in touch with who can and will help the cause.
love is the truth. through sound we can achieve enlightenment. let's help each other to go through the transition.
I love you
hollylovecat
YOU 2274
"In a world where most every authentic expression of youth culture is
commodified by a media conglomerate and sold back to teens at the mall, rave culture stands as one of the few, relatively uncorrupted outposts for America's kids."
Douglas Rushkoff
[whose book Cyberia has several pages on me chekkitout)
YOU 2275 "With killer apps, high-speed penetration rates, and a way with the customer premises equipment, she was no plain old telephone service provider, thought Bob, plugging and praying for a next-generation, real-time wireless connection." Winner: Modern Romance Novel
YOU 2276
HEALING EFFECTS OF MUSIC, WOW!
If someone as smart as Stravinsky observed years ago that 'the percussion and the bass...function as the central heating system' then why must scientists spend endless money proving the bleedin' obvious? Ravers must have been mindblown by these excerpts from Don Campbell's book 'The Mozart Effect' on music's healing effects (reported in the Times last week).
"Loud music with a strong beat can warm the body slightly" - anyone in the traveller's field that cold and drizzly Monday after last year's Glastonbury could have told them that, and to find the field we surely followed our ears.
"Soft music with a weak beat and abstract feel has a cooling effect" - sound kind of like chilling on the beach to a bit of ambient trance, which ravers have known for years?
"Listening to relaxing ambient music can reduce the level of stress hormones in the blood" - well, well, and how did they think it came to be defined as 'relaxing ambient music'?
"Joyful music increases the level of endorphins - the body's natural painkillers" - well, blow me down with a 50K rig!
Of course Campbell's book could be an interesting read when it comes out next month, but couldn't scientists put their resources into proving stuff people don't already know (and maybe give it a rest with mixing up elements that weren't meant to be together, and experimenting on animals too.
paul francis
YOU 2277
TELL GEORGE BUSH WHERE HE CAN PUT HIS
CARBON DIOXIDE EMISSIONS!
US President George W. Bush backtracks on pollution commitment! In a letter sent on Tuesday to Republican Senators, Mr Bush has stated that he will backtrack on his election campaign pledge to treat carbon dioxide as a pollutant and cut its emissions from US power plants.
To read Bush's letter:-
http://www.globalclimate.org/BushLetter.htm
Carbon dioxide is the most important greenhouse gas affecting our climate. Just this year the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the world's most respected body of climate scientists, have issued alarming new findings that 'there is new and stronger evidence that most of the [global] warming observed over the last 50 years is attributable to human activities'. They warn that human activity is increasing the atmospheric levels of greenhouse gases and could raise global temperatures by up to 6oC by the end of the century - a rate of warming unprecedented for at least 10 000 years - with major consequences, such as an increase in extreme weather events, which will hit less developed countries hardest. They note, however, that through adoption of appropriate technologies greenhouse gas emissions can be cut with little economic impact.
EMAIL THE US PRESIDENT!!!!
To remind President Bush of the findings of the IPCC, and of the need for the US, as the world's biggest polluter, to cut CO2 emissions, write to:-
president@whitehouse.gov
YOU 2278 "Jasper Tourmaline III was obsessed with thoughts of the lovely Coral Olivine--the toss of her amber hair and the sparkle of her sapphire eyes whenever she flashed her pearly whites through those pouting ruby lips that so starkly contrasted her opalescent skin--but her peerless beauty belied her diamond-hard heart, for Coral had told Jasper that she could never love a jeweler". Winner: Purple Prose
DEN OF ENLIGHTENMENT / JUST BREAKING NEWS
DAVE GOODMAN/NOW AGE RADIO (formerly NEW AGE RADIO) have committed to running the Tribadelicatessen at the Den of Enlightenment, with Pok of The Space Goats and other guests, launching Saturday April 7th. Details in next issue.
|