1. |
The Cubhood of Wahb
03:23
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Down towards the Meteetsee, the bearcub carries on
There's no food on the Graybull, the berries are almost gone
For the man who hunted his family, the price of peace is war
The Bobcat, the Range-Cow, the Coyote, Wahb despises them all
Living is ugly and hard
The grizzly cubhood of Wahb
He finds the little granaries where the squirrels hoard their nuts
for Winter in great quantities, for Wahb it is good luck
He reaches out towards them then hears a sudden clank
One of his paws is caught in the steel of a beaver trap
Wriggling up through the barbs
The grizzly cubhood of Wahb
---
source: 'The Biography of a Grizzly' by Ernest Thompson Seton
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2. |
Stop... Listen
01:35
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3. |
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Four filter channels from seventy to five hundred hertz
Rejecting the second harmonic and isolating the first
The intonation curve is traced on the screen as the speaker speaks
from a tape of a conversation on a busy Parisian street
Vous nous avez tous vus dans la rue?
A perfect reflection of the fundamental frequency
To the elements of melodic perception, reacting accurately
Phonemes explode from parted lips, aperiodic
Vibrating chords, the rise and fall of speech, melodic
Overlapping vocal overtones above the din
The fundamental underneath when we speak and when we sing
Vous nous avez tous vus dans la rue?
A perfect reflection of the fundamental frequency
To the elements of melodic perception, reacting accurately
The Melodic Analyser of the University of Toronto
---
sources: 'Intonation' (1972) - essays edited by Dwight Bolinger, mainly 'Machines and Measurements' by Pierre R. Leon and Philippe Martin (1970)
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4. |
Chaise à Porteurs
03:46
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Carried across the alps on my Chaise à Porteurs
A seat of matted bark and rope with a pole either side of me
Carried across the alps on my Chaise à Porteurs
upon the shoulders of several men into Italy
Carried across the alps on my Chaise à Porteurs
Epic scenes to awe a hardened sceptic into belief
Carried across the alps on my Chaise à Porteurs
Terror mixed with pleasure, the full effect of sublimity
Be aware, learned men,
of what Samuel Johnson says
Turn all care out of your head
as soon as you mount the chaise
Carried across the alps on my Chaise à Porteurs
Indifference to life the source of my intrepidity
Carried across the alps on my Chaise à Porteurs
Neither hurt nor frightened by The Vast Profundity
---
source: 'Ladies of the Grand Tour' by Brian Dolan
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5. |
The Lyrical Schopenhauer
03:21
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The lyrical Schopenhauer of prose and poetry,
his eyesight and his hearing all but gone before he was fifteen
(Oh Lord,
snatch him from evil with your sword)
The lyrical Schopenhauer accepts his fate,
invents a tactile alphabet with which to communicate
Heinrich Landesmann, Heironymous Lorm
or whatever you’re called right now,
your tiny hand is nice and warm -
the translation glove is a wow
The lyrical Schopenhauer won’t know what’s coming next,
fabric pressure-sensors turning touch into digital text
Heinrich Landesmann, Heironymous Lorm
or whatever you’re called right now,
your tiny hand is nice and warm -
the translation glove is a wow
---
sources:
- Jewish Virtual Library (www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org)
- 'The Glove that Transmits Touch over the Internet' by Lesley Evans Ogden (www.bbc.com)
- 'Ein Zögling des Jahres' by Heironymous Lorm (1848)
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6. |
Rise of the Grontoths
02:11
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7. |
Everybody Big Up B-Wing
03:09
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October, Sunday evening, shortly after seven o'clock
I note the commotion of the convicts kicking off
Errant echoes exit over prison walls,
to bounce around the houses like potty-mouthed volley balls
Everybody big up B-Wing
Lie still my tiny one and settle down to sleep
Everybody big up B-Wing
The induction and first night centre for your time in custody
I grab the nearest gadget, a Handy Zoom H4
With one arm out the window, I point and press record
Abusive and threatening language, most of it profane
No need to complete consent forms, it's all in the public domain
Everybody big up B-Wing
Who knows if you'll be able to get some rest on your first night
Everybody big up B-Wing
Sir Nicholas on the lower bunk will teach you how to read and write
---
sources:
- HM Prison Exeter (found sound)
-'A Prisoner of Birth' by Jeffrey Archer (2008)
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8. |
The Floating Republic
03:05
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They go in great numbers from their ships to Sheerness
in all the pomp of parade.
Long have they laboured to find themselves men.
Have they not a right to complain?
The Floating Republic
Ho-howa-hey-howa-hey-ho-har
Ho-howa-hey-ho-har
From the masts of their barges red flags are flying
as they take to the ramparts and the streets.
Their heads are embellished with blue paper saying:
"Success to the Delegates of the Fleet."
The Floating Republic
Ho-howa-hey-howa-hey-ho-har
Ho-howa-hey-ho-har
Contagions that can't be cured on board
The faith of the nation must be restored
Far from the thought of subverting their sovereign
and his government's beloved country,
their endeavours depend on the laws of humanity,
honour and national safety.
The Floating Republic
Ho-howa-hey-howa-hey-ho-har
Ho-howa-hey-ho-har
---
source: 'The Floating Republic: An Account of the Mutinies at Spithead and the Nore in 1797' by G.E. Mainwaring (2004)
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9. |
The London Clay
05:02
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On the Isle of Sheppey,
in the London Clay.
Ancestors of ducks and geese from the early Paleogene,
found in the London Clay Formation of the Lower Eocene.
On the Isle of Sheppey,
in the London Clay.
Pelagathornid craniums, partially complete.
Bony tooth-like prominences along the jaw and beak.
Maximum possible span of wings: 5 metres or even more.
A fashion for gigantism that echoed the pterosaurs.
On the Isle of Sheppey,
in the London Clay.
---
sources:
-'When giant Prehistoric Geese Roamed the Earth' by Andrea Thompson (2008) (www.nbcnews.com)
-'A Skull of the Giant Bony-toothed Bird Dasornis (Aves: Pelagathornidae) from the Lower Eocene of the Isle of Sheppey' by Gerald Mayr (2008) (onlinelibrary.wiley.com)
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10. |
Around the Houses
03:18
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11. |
The Petrograd Astoria
03:16
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She's brandishing her sabre
She's Maria Bochkareva,
the leader of the Women's Death Battalion
A seasoned First World Warrior,
Emmeline Pankhurst is her companion
Tonight their pad is the Petrograd Astoria
They decide to share some starters, a plate of pirozhkis
and a salad with traditional sprats from the Baltic sea
They've both been invited to dine at this hotel
with the Allied Representatives - Kerensky's here as well
No more exile or forced labour
for Maria Bochkareva,
the leader of the Women's Death Battalion
A seasoned First World Warrior,
Emmeline Pankhurst is her companion
Tonight their pad is the Petrograd Astoria
A risotto with Gorgonzola is Maria's main course
Emmeline orders the salmon steak with tartare sauce
They've both had a gutful and can't fit into their jeans,
yet still they scan the menu for the selection of ice creams
So many unusual flavours
for Maria Bochkareva
She's brandishing her sabre
You wouldn't want her for a neighbour
---
source: 'Yashka: My Life as Peasant, Exile and Soldier' by Maria Botchkareva (1919)
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