Check out the article and video on AskaNewYorker.com
Link: http://www.askanewyorker.com/garrett-robinson/cirque-eloize-bookclub/
Friday, December 13, 2013
Coolest Book Club in the World
I bumped into the coolest book club in the world yesterday. I asked if I could join and in the nicest way, they promised that they would put me on the top of the waiting list.
Check out the article and video on AskaNewYorker.com
Link: http://www.askanewyorker.com/garrett-robinson/cirque-eloize-bookclub/
Check out the article and video on AskaNewYorker.com
Link: http://www.askanewyorker.com/garrett-robinson/cirque-eloize-bookclub/
Wednesday, November 27, 2013
A fun little poem for the day
Street Performer
Talk about peculiar, but there is
a guy who sits all day on the curb
at the world’s busiest corner.
As people dash to avoid each other
the rush of the mob will often converge
and mash against him with frumpy faces.
As the crowd stands captivated by the light,
he entices them with a country smile
and opens a divertimento piece
with the little lyric he recites.
Extending this gentle gift he sings,
the melody in the song he breathes,
he charms the crowd until the changing light
releases the winged poems into flight.
a guy who sits all day on the curb
at the world’s busiest corner.
As people dash to avoid each other
the rush of the mob will often converge
and mash against him with frumpy faces.
As the crowd stands captivated by the light,
he entices them with a country smile
and opens a divertimento piece
with the little lyric he recites.
Extending this gentle gift he sings,
the melody in the song he breathes,
he charms the crowd until the changing light
releases the winged poems into flight.
****
A fun little piece I made up yesterday on a rainy day.
Saturday, November 16, 2013
Thursday, November 7, 2013
The National Writers Union
People are writing more now than ever.
There are more open mic poetry readings than ever before. MFA
programs are popping up everywhere. Some people believe the market is over-saturated I disagree. As our means of communication increase,
there is a greater need for people to express themselves with greater clarity
and precision. Most conflicts arise through misunderstanding. The
better we communicate, the more benevolently and productively we may interact
as a species.
On a regular basis, people approach me and ask how they can start their writing career. The answer is easy: join the National Writers Union.
The publishing industry is going through a radical transformation and the National Writer's Union is more important than ever.
In the past, the exclusive means for a writer to address the public was through the main publishing houses. With the establishment of Print On Demand (POD) companies and the marketing tools at the public's disposal, this is changing dramatically. The stigma for self-publishing is vanishing.
The industry’s transformation will impact human culture with an equivalence to the invention of the Gutenberg Press. Just as the movable type press allowed the dissemination of literary works through the general population, our current communication networks are providing writers with direct means to reach the general public in unprecedented ways.
This presents two major challenges: how writers will use the media for self-promotion and how writers can protect their work.
This is how the National Writers Union is perfectly positioned. The local branch in New York Union also has a presence at literary festivals where members may display their books.
Some people believe this transformation will spell the doom for the major publishing houses. I disagree. In a similar vein, the introduction of cable television did not end broadcast networks. The major broadcasters remained, but the public is also able to access more channels that offered greater variety.
Everyone can benefit in the new developments in the publishing world. The public will gain more literature, the writers will have more control over their work, and the major publishing companies will have the opportunity to sign authors who have demonstrated public appeal. This is also an excellent opportunity for the unions to strengthen through the transitions in this field by performing their designated tasks, that is protecting and promoting individual workers and artists.
I am a firm believer in the free market, and the unions provide an invaluable service to preserve the free market by ensuring that workers and artists are not exploited.
New Posts on AskaNewYorker.com
Quite a number of new reviews I posted on AskaNewYorker.com
Here are the links:
Review of the play, Becoming Dr. Ruth http://www.askanewyorker.com/garrett-robinson/becoming-dr-ruth-review/
Post for "Move It! with Marcella": http://www.askanewyorker.com/garrett-robinson/move-marcella/
Review for SISTAS: a Musical: http://www.askanewyorker.com/garrett-robinson/sistas-music-heart-soul/
Post "The Span of Poetry": http://www.askanewyorker.com/garrett-robinson/span-poetry/
Here are the links:
Review of the play, Becoming Dr. Ruth http://www.askanewyorker.com/garrett-robinson/becoming-dr-ruth-review/
Post for "Move It! with Marcella": http://www.askanewyorker.com/garrett-robinson/move-marcella/
Review for SISTAS: a Musical: http://www.askanewyorker.com/garrett-robinson/sistas-music-heart-soul/
Post "The Span of Poetry": http://www.askanewyorker.com/garrett-robinson/span-poetry/
Wednesday, October 2, 2013
Möbius Sphere, reissued
Reissued from 2004, my first publication of poetry, Möbius Sphere. This is a short book composed of 23 poems with my own illustrations. I have also included a concrete poem that was not included in the original edition. Currently available on Amazon: Möbius Sphere
Thursday, September 5, 2013
Mentalese and Music: A Harmonic Correspondence
The other day, I had a fascinating conversation with a wonderful family where one member was a musician, another an actor and a third a linguist/artist. The conversation touched upon an broad range of topics, as one may imagine, but I had an opportunity to explain one of my theories and I was pleased to find them thoroughly intrigued.
The theory I mentioned is presented in my novel Nunatak. I admit without hesitation that I simply use the story line as a thread upon which I string a number of beads of ideas. This is typical for all of my stories, particularly my novels. Among the numerous ideas I present through the character Tuesday Paz, this family found one particularly interesting.
For most of my life I have been intrigued by the means of communication, both in humanity and other organisms. Regarding humanity, I have enjoyed clarifying for people that our spoken and written language is the second most important means through which we exchange information. The first being the genetic code which is exchanged principally through sexuality, although technology is allowing us to exchange this information through other means.
In Nunatak, I present what I propose will be the successor for the second most important means of communication between human beings, and this successor will be music.
There is a mystery as to why instrumental music is one of our most powerful means of evoking emotions. Neurologist, psychologist and cognitive theorist have not been able to pin-point a reason for this. I have long proposed that the reason for this is because instrumental music has the closest resemblance to the processes of thought which occur in the neurological network of our brains.
The rhythms of music correspond with the oscillating activities of neurological processes. The harmonics of music correspond with the simultaneous and synchronous activities of numerous specialized regions of the brain.
In this, when we are "listening" to music, we are actually sharing the process of thought with the composer and musician through one of the most direct means. Most of our means of communication are actually symbolic referencing system. In fact, even the genetic code is a type of symbolic referencing system which we do not completely understand. The information represented in the code provides the instruction for the performing of various physiological processes. Music is in fact a means of directly sharing physiological processes between human beings, and other organisms, as they occur in the most complex systems of interaction between energy and matter in the known universe, that is our brains.
In time, we will be able to refine and develop our abilities to compose music which will allow us to increase the complexity of our interactions so that they more closely resemble the complexity of activity that is occurring in every individual mind. Then through this, there will be a continuity of the processes of thought from one individual to another, not only facilitating greater understanding, but also facilitating greater complexities which will allow us to increase our understandings of the boggling complexities of the universe in which we exist.
Of course formulating this type of music would not be easy. A comparison that I could draw upon is considering the complexities and dynamics of harmonic correspondence which Bach composed for his Fugues. Then multiply this by at least a billion, and then we will be beginning to reach the complexity which will allow us to achieve this in a sophisticated basis which will not only evoke primordial emotions, but also the subtle and intricate sensations of thought which allow some of the highest abstractions and arrangemetns such as those capable by people such as Einstein, Mozart, Euler, Marie Curie or countless others. In fact, every single one of us are capable of some of the most astonishing complex activities within our own minds that our simple day to day activities confound our greatest technologies.
Some of the implications of this are truly astounding too. By bypassing the symbolic systems of most of our languages and directly communicating through a continuity of the processes of thought, we would achieve a more universal comprehension of thought. That means, not only would we able to directly communicate with every person of every culture without need of a translator, we would be able to communicate with every living organism on the planet, and quite possibly other planets as well.
There are many other implications of this, which I have explained to some extent in the novel, and illustrated through various events of the story. There are countless others which I have not mentioned as of yet in either. But I thought some people may find it interesting to consider.
The theory I mentioned is presented in my novel Nunatak. I admit without hesitation that I simply use the story line as a thread upon which I string a number of beads of ideas. This is typical for all of my stories, particularly my novels. Among the numerous ideas I present through the character Tuesday Paz, this family found one particularly interesting.
For most of my life I have been intrigued by the means of communication, both in humanity and other organisms. Regarding humanity, I have enjoyed clarifying for people that our spoken and written language is the second most important means through which we exchange information. The first being the genetic code which is exchanged principally through sexuality, although technology is allowing us to exchange this information through other means.
In Nunatak, I present what I propose will be the successor for the second most important means of communication between human beings, and this successor will be music.
There is a mystery as to why instrumental music is one of our most powerful means of evoking emotions. Neurologist, psychologist and cognitive theorist have not been able to pin-point a reason for this. I have long proposed that the reason for this is because instrumental music has the closest resemblance to the processes of thought which occur in the neurological network of our brains.
The rhythms of music correspond with the oscillating activities of neurological processes. The harmonics of music correspond with the simultaneous and synchronous activities of numerous specialized regions of the brain.
In this, when we are "listening" to music, we are actually sharing the process of thought with the composer and musician through one of the most direct means. Most of our means of communication are actually symbolic referencing system. In fact, even the genetic code is a type of symbolic referencing system which we do not completely understand. The information represented in the code provides the instruction for the performing of various physiological processes. Music is in fact a means of directly sharing physiological processes between human beings, and other organisms, as they occur in the most complex systems of interaction between energy and matter in the known universe, that is our brains.
In time, we will be able to refine and develop our abilities to compose music which will allow us to increase the complexity of our interactions so that they more closely resemble the complexity of activity that is occurring in every individual mind. Then through this, there will be a continuity of the processes of thought from one individual to another, not only facilitating greater understanding, but also facilitating greater complexities which will allow us to increase our understandings of the boggling complexities of the universe in which we exist.
Of course formulating this type of music would not be easy. A comparison that I could draw upon is considering the complexities and dynamics of harmonic correspondence which Bach composed for his Fugues. Then multiply this by at least a billion, and then we will be beginning to reach the complexity which will allow us to achieve this in a sophisticated basis which will not only evoke primordial emotions, but also the subtle and intricate sensations of thought which allow some of the highest abstractions and arrangemetns such as those capable by people such as Einstein, Mozart, Euler, Marie Curie or countless others. In fact, every single one of us are capable of some of the most astonishing complex activities within our own minds that our simple day to day activities confound our greatest technologies.
Some of the implications of this are truly astounding too. By bypassing the symbolic systems of most of our languages and directly communicating through a continuity of the processes of thought, we would achieve a more universal comprehension of thought. That means, not only would we able to directly communicate with every person of every culture without need of a translator, we would be able to communicate with every living organism on the planet, and quite possibly other planets as well.
There are many other implications of this, which I have explained to some extent in the novel, and illustrated through various events of the story. There are countless others which I have not mentioned as of yet in either. But I thought some people may find it interesting to consider.
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