Friday, January 13, 2006
1/13
These days of clerical work are exhausting, and are quite frankly – though the end is (sort of) in sight –wearing me out (& can’t imagine that reading about the completely unglamorous routines of a scholar is all that interesting to anyone). Today, like so many others during the past two weeks, spent reviewing the manuscript, checking quote formation, &c.: not what I came here to (and will) do, which is creative multimedia. I found two or three more “fact checking” type problems that I had to hit up friends back in the states to assist me with. Pedro Barbosa reports that the translations of his & other works from the great anthology/program SYNTEXT have to be redone, etc. Fortunately, I was able to get through 4 (of the shorter) chapters of the book over the course of the week, which means I have about 6 to go; the bibliography will be toughest…
This should not be read as complaint, even if it sounds like that’s what it is. I’m/we’re blessed to be here, and are being treated very well in all respects. Another point of perspective: Today we had to make a quick trip back up to Stella’s school, to pick up her gear and deliver a check, and on the way home we passed by a terrible motorbike accident on the highway near Putrajaya, someone covered up dead by the side of the road, his friend weeping, and that type of agony is real pain (even if, in the Buddhist sense a release from suffering, as Allen Ginsberg was always quick to say).
A great email from Lucio Agra did come in, as did some other wonderful, friendly notes. Agra had finally received, and promptly reviewed, the CD-ROM that is going to be included with Technopoetry Rising, which I sent to him many weeks ago before our departure. He said it was weird to be getting a letter that was pre-Malaysia and commented on “how snail snail is” (which was quite coincidental since the clothing store I shopped at yesterday at Mines was called Snail, not to mention that such a pace is about how fast I seem to be moving much of the time). Anyway, his comments were encouraging and helpful. I was glad to hear him say that some of the audio files (perhaps my forté) had “busted me out,” and his opinions about what should be removed (particularly the lengthy interview and lecture that are in English) were spot-on. About a year ago at this time I put together a small pamphlet of poems while we were in Brazil (kindly translated by Marcus Salgado) called God Bless South America, and I meant it!
So, it will be nice to settle in to a sound studio, begin to mix some media files, and get on with database exploration. The back and forth between so many of the artists whose works are discussed in the book is cool, but I’m itching to make something new. One aspect of all the correspondence is the 13 hours time difference between where we are now and “home.” I’m writing, you/they are sleeping, & vice versa. And since the clock on my computer and web browser haven’t been reset, time strangely confused. But hey, the title of this (b)log is aisyalam, after all. Our life is not at all backwards here but it is full of (non-oppositional) opposites. And, somehow, turned at least on its side, if not upside down: more than I can say at the moment is different, skewed, reversed (and beautifully so).
I did post the Pangkor entry on travelpod, and must admit that doing the blogs is a great way to communicate and document what we’re up to here. This pursuit it is new ground for me, and a discipline unto itself which I am enjoying. Though it seems (sometimes more than) a bit self-indulgent, at least I’ll be able to easily recall what happened on a day-by-day, week-by-week basis. I’ve always liked broadcasting, making nets of action/activity, and so on, & I’m sure maintaining these documents will prove to be worth the effort.
Well, it is about to be the weekend here & that means a little downtime. We’re still awaiting the arrival of George T., which seems a bit up in the air but I’m hopeful. I’ll be glad if the mysql access issue is resolved by then Maybe Sunday, if it is clear we’ll go out to Batu Caves or up to the top of the communications tower in KL for a different point of view.
Cheers, friends: time to sign off and sleep, CF
These days of clerical work are exhausting, and are quite frankly – though the end is (sort of) in sight –wearing me out (& can’t imagine that reading about the completely unglamorous routines of a scholar is all that interesting to anyone). Today, like so many others during the past two weeks, spent reviewing the manuscript, checking quote formation, &c.: not what I came here to (and will) do, which is creative multimedia. I found two or three more “fact checking” type problems that I had to hit up friends back in the states to assist me with. Pedro Barbosa reports that the translations of his & other works from the great anthology/program SYNTEXT have to be redone, etc. Fortunately, I was able to get through 4 (of the shorter) chapters of the book over the course of the week, which means I have about 6 to go; the bibliography will be toughest…
This should not be read as complaint, even if it sounds like that’s what it is. I’m/we’re blessed to be here, and are being treated very well in all respects. Another point of perspective: Today we had to make a quick trip back up to Stella’s school, to pick up her gear and deliver a check, and on the way home we passed by a terrible motorbike accident on the highway near Putrajaya, someone covered up dead by the side of the road, his friend weeping, and that type of agony is real pain (even if, in the Buddhist sense a release from suffering, as Allen Ginsberg was always quick to say).
A great email from Lucio Agra did come in, as did some other wonderful, friendly notes. Agra had finally received, and promptly reviewed, the CD-ROM that is going to be included with Technopoetry Rising, which I sent to him many weeks ago before our departure. He said it was weird to be getting a letter that was pre-Malaysia and commented on “how snail snail is” (which was quite coincidental since the clothing store I shopped at yesterday at Mines was called Snail, not to mention that such a pace is about how fast I seem to be moving much of the time). Anyway, his comments were encouraging and helpful. I was glad to hear him say that some of the audio files (perhaps my forté) had “busted me out,” and his opinions about what should be removed (particularly the lengthy interview and lecture that are in English) were spot-on. About a year ago at this time I put together a small pamphlet of poems while we were in Brazil (kindly translated by Marcus Salgado) called God Bless South America, and I meant it!
So, it will be nice to settle in to a sound studio, begin to mix some media files, and get on with database exploration. The back and forth between so many of the artists whose works are discussed in the book is cool, but I’m itching to make something new. One aspect of all the correspondence is the 13 hours time difference between where we are now and “home.” I’m writing, you/they are sleeping, & vice versa. And since the clock on my computer and web browser haven’t been reset, time strangely confused. But hey, the title of this (b)log is aisyalam, after all. Our life is not at all backwards here but it is full of (non-oppositional) opposites. And, somehow, turned at least on its side, if not upside down: more than I can say at the moment is different, skewed, reversed (and beautifully so).
I did post the Pangkor entry on travelpod, and must admit that doing the blogs is a great way to communicate and document what we’re up to here. This pursuit it is new ground for me, and a discipline unto itself which I am enjoying. Though it seems (sometimes more than) a bit self-indulgent, at least I’ll be able to easily recall what happened on a day-by-day, week-by-week basis. I’ve always liked broadcasting, making nets of action/activity, and so on, & I’m sure maintaining these documents will prove to be worth the effort.
Well, it is about to be the weekend here & that means a little downtime. We’re still awaiting the arrival of George T., which seems a bit up in the air but I’m hopeful. I’ll be glad if the mysql access issue is resolved by then Maybe Sunday, if it is clear we’ll go out to Batu Caves or up to the top of the communications tower in KL for a different point of view.
Cheers, friends: time to sign off and sleep, CF
# posted by chris funkhouser @ 6:00 AM 
