Zenglop The Podcast

In an interview with Claude Samuel, Olivier Messiaen gives some insight into how he thinks about writing for piano.(hint - it's more than three easy steps...)Send me a note at zenglop@gmail.com.I'm making a push to build up my youtube channel.  Here's an easy link to subscribe.  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoOlX6NXyQBABYljo1vAuHA?sub_confirmation=1subscribe to podcast on Apple iTunessubscribe to podcast on Android

The answer is to seek authenticity in both our actions and our thoughts.Send me a note at zenglop@gmail.com.more notes on meditation here: https://www.zenglop.net/zenglop/meditation/I'm making a push to build up my youtube channel.  Here's an easy link to subscribe.  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoOlX6NXyQBABYljo1vAuHA?sub_confirmation=1

I was listening to some lectures by Malcolm Gladwell where he is talking about the craft of writing.  I'm a Gladwell Fan, an enthusiast.  But he makes some disparaging remarks about the semi-colon that I could not leave un-remarked!  (I refer to one of my videos about the semi-colon in Annie Dillard's writing: https://youtu.be/bOgTFa_87Qs.)

Ley lines are visual alignments of neolithic monuments; mystical earth energy; deliberate alignment of occult architecture; any/all/other/none of these.  Either way, in the modern city the natural ley line is overwhelmed by the electrical grid.  In this episode, we listen to  and comment on a recent field recording where I am walking down by the river sampling the VLF electromagnetic hum of the city power grid.

I use Lions Mane in my morning coffee.  An adaptogen is a supplement intended to de-stress the system.  Wouldn't it be great if we lived in a adaptogenic society?

"Lincoln in the Bardo" is a remarkable piece of writing.  The characters speak in epitaphs throughout, which makes reading the book a deeply involved experience.  .   The final the sensation, having reached the end of the book, is one of a generous and compassionate recognition of our condition.  Letting go of grief.  Yes, really remarkable.  

Time to check in and see what's going on at the piano.  Updates on practicing and composition...perhaps a live feed of some new music?Send me a note at zenglop@gmail.com.I'm making a push to build up my youtube channel.  Here's an easy link to subscribe.  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoOlX6NXyQBABYljo1vAuHA?sub_confirmation=1

Garth Brooks tells a story in this song.  The story teaches us what it is to look  for the authentic moment and have the wisdom of compassion to react with skillful means.  Send me a note at zenglop@gmail.com.I'm making a push to build up my youtube channel.  Here's an easy link to subscribe.  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoOlX6NXyQBABYljo1vAuHA?sub_confirmation=1

We are blessed as humans to be surrounded by a poetic halo filled with objects of our choosing.  Today I was reading this beautiful memorial poem written by James Fenton.  For Andrew Wood by James FentonWhat would the dead want from usWatching from their cave?Would they have us forever howling?Would they have us raveOr disfigure ourselves, or be strangledLike some ancient emperor’s slave?None of my dead friends were emperorsWith such exorbitant tastesAnd none of them were so vengefulAs to have all their friends wasteWaste quiet away in sorrowDisfigured and defaced.I think the dead would want usTo weep for what they have lost.I think that our luck in continuingIs what would affect them most.But time would find them generousAnd less self-engrossed.And time would find them generousAs they used to beAnd what else would they want from usBut an honored place in our memory,A favorite room, a hallowed chair,Privilege and celebrity?And so the dead might cease to grieveAnd we might make amendsAnd there might be a pact

What is it that's there right now?  a physical sensation?  A thought?  A thought about a physical sensation?  Anxiety about a future reaction?  Becoming familiar with asking that question opens a field of awareness.Send me a note at zenglop@gmail.com.more notes on meditation here: https://www.zenglop.net/zenglop/meditation/I'm making a push to build up my youtube channel.  Here's an easy link to subscribe.  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoOlX6NXyQBABYljo1vAuHA?sub_confirmation=1

M. Grand is a bureaucrat in the city offices of Oran.  He has a secret literary ambition. When we finally see his manuscript, it appears that 50 pages of careful notes work and re-work the same opening sentence in hundreds of similar variations.  I read through all variations mentioned in the narrative.  

We are bathed in electromagnetism...some from the terrestrial atmosphere, some from galactic radiation but mostly from the human electric grid.  What would this very room I'm sitting in right now 'sound' like to an alien with radio telescopes for ears?   Let's have a listen when I turn on the 'Very Low Frequency' receiver.

Early notes on a work in progress.  A piece where I use small samples of TS Eliot reading from his poem "Burnt Norton".  I'm using those vocal sample to exaggerate and ornament the vocal content,  and to create new harmonies, textures and timbres...'fricative flowerings'.  I was early influenced by Luciano Berio's composition 'Omagio a Joyce' and occasionally return to work in that similar style.Send me a note at zenglop@gmail.com.I'm making a push to build up my youtube channel.  Here's an easy link to subscribe.  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoOlX6NXyQBABYljo1vAuHA?sub_confirmation=1

Having a routine in the morning is important.  Drinking coffee is essential.  Send me a note at zenglop@gmail.com.I'm making a push to build up my youtube channel.  Here's an easy link to subscribe.  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoOlX6NXyQBABYljo1vAuHA?sub_confirmation=1

If someone asked you why you write music, what would your answer be?  Here's my take....Send me a note at zenglop@gmail.com.more notes on meditation here: https://www.zenglop.net/zenglop/meditation/I'm making a push to build up my youtube channel.  Here's an easy link to subscribe.  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoOlX6NXyQBABYljo1vAuHA?sub_confirmation=1

Organization reflects the underlying objective - the point of doing.  True for music, true for youtube videos; even true for stream of consciousness podcast episodes.  There's a cool trick in Youtube to make it very easy for viewers to navigate through long (meandering) content. I'm making a push to build up my youtube channel.  Here's an easy link to subscribe.  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoOlX6NXyQBABYljo1vAuHA?sub_confirmation=1

I have some specific goals around learning French ( to read Messiaen's "Treatise" is one).Send me a note at zenglop@gmail.com.I'm making a push to build up my youtube channel.  Here's an easy link to subscribe.  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoOlX6NXyQBABYljo1vAuHA?sub_confirmation=1

Terrence McKenna is a great influence on my work - how I think; how i think about what I think; and how i express those thoughts.Send me a note at zenglop@gmail.com.more episodes about Terrence McKenna here: https://www.zenglop.net/zenglop/mckenna/I'm making a push to build up my youtube channel.  Here's an easy link to subscribe.  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoOlX6NXyQBABYljo1vAuHA?sub_confirmation=1

Everything can be a lesson on the path of meditative awakening ( even my terrible, sloppy social media habits).Send me a note at zenglop@gmail.com.more notes on meditation here: https://www.zenglop.net/zenglop/meditation/I'm making a push to build up my youtube channel.  Here's an easy link to subscribe.  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoOlX6NXyQBABYljo1vAuHA?sub_confirmation=1

What is the 'It' that we're letting 'Be'?  What is the 'Be'? Some thoughts on the direction to 'just let it be as it is'.Send me a note at zenglop@gmail.com.more notes on meditation here: https://www.zenglop.net/zenglop/meditation/I'm making a push to build up my youtube channel.  Here's an easy link to subscribe.  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoOlX6NXyQBABYljo1vAuHA?sub_confirmation=1