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“Only three brothers know the names of the 130 plants and how to blend and to distill them.”

“Chartreuse

 Monk Liqueur

“Chartreuse is made according to extremely complex secret formulae and contains about 130 different herbs. The monks control distillation, while bottling and sales are conducted
by a secular company. The considerable royalties accruing to the order finance much charitable work. It is the green Chartreuse that is the strong one; the yellow is slightly weaker and marginally sweeter. There is also the rare élixir végétal, nearly eighty per cent alcohol, which is probably very close to the original medicinal compound. The GREEN CHARTREUSE is the only green liqueur in the world with a completely natural color. It is powerful and different.

“Only three brothers know the names of the 130 plants and how to blend and to distill them. They
are also the only ones who know which plants they have to macerate to produce the green and yellow colors. And they alone supervise the low ageing in oak casks.

Price:  $45.83. To
order…”

From http://www.nycgoth.com/more/chartreuse/

“Chartreuse is an herbal
liqueur made by the Carthusian Monks near Grenoble, France. According to
the tale, the formula for chartruese was invented by a 16th century alchemist
as an attempt to create aqua vitae (the waters of life.) Aqua vitae was
believed to restore youth to the aged, endow animation to the dead, and
be a key ingredient in the creation of the philosophers stone. Though this
attempt at its creation seems to fall somewhat short of the legendary effects,
it was promoted as a heal-all tonic by the descendant of the alchemist,
and was bequeathed to the Carthusian Order upon his death. This formula
of 130 herbs has been secret for nearly 400 years. Today, only three brothers
of that monestary know how to make chartreuse.

    Charteuse
is made in three varieties; yellow chartreuse, green chartreuse, and VEP
elixir chartreuse. Yellow chartreuse is a pale golden color, extremely
sweet, and tastes roughly like plum wine with a touch of honey, or perhaps
a delicate version of Benedictine (which is probably related.) Green chartreuse
is fiery; the shade of green actually named for this liquor denotes an
intense herbal taste vaguely reminiscent of absinthe. Also like absinthe,
it has an extremely high alcohol content. VEP elixir chartreuse, the rarest
and most expensive kind, sacrifices a small amount of green’s intensity
for all of the sweetness of the yellow. Only 100 bottles of VEP elixir
are produced each year, and it is the variant closest to the original alchemical
formula. It is also, supposedly, the most difficult to create.

    Though
the precise herbs in chartreuse are not publically known, there is a
small quantity of thujone, the active chemical in wormwood (and consequently,
absinthe.) This considered, it is no surprise that the intoxication caused
by chartruese is both stronger than it’s alcohol content (110 proof) would
otherwise indicate, and slightly different because of thujone’s psychoactive
qualities.

    Green
chartreuse is particularly loved in the goth scene because of it’s efficiency;
a very small quantity can maintain a buzz for most of an evening, and a
larger quantity can take the sharp edges off of everything. For many, it
is the poor man’s absinthe; it has a smidgen of its psychotropic effects
because of the thujone, and it has an herbal taste and a sharp kick reminiscent
of absinthe experience. A few shots of green chartreuse, and you’re completely
wasted.

    VEP chartreuse
is loved for these reasons and more; its rarity, its remarkable taste,
and its fascinating and mysterious lineage.

    Yellow
chartreuse is not as popular in the goth scene as its sister liquors; there
is nothing particularly wrong with it, but the others outshine it in every
way.

    Nevertheless,
the popularization of Chartreuse within the goth scene can be attributed
to an additional source; Poppy Z. Brite. In her debut novel, Lost Souls,
she mentions (Green) Chartreuse eight times within the prologue alone,
and is the alcoholic drink of choice among the undead throughout the novel.
Bela Lugosi’s “I never drink… wine” be damned; the zing of Chartreuse
seems potent enough to get a rise out of the dead and the living. Well,
at least Poppy thinks so.

Commentary by Clifford Hartleigh
Low, Thursday, April 30, 1998.

“ABSOLUTE SOBRIETY IS NOT A NATURAL OR PRIMARY HUMAN STATE.”

THE PURSUIT OF OBLIVION
A Global History of Narcotics
By Richard Davenport-Hines.
Illustrated. 576 pp. New
York: W. W. Norton & Company. $29.95.

From the New York Times Sunday Book Review:

September 29, 2002

‘The Pursuit of Oblivion’: Drug Taking as Part of Human Nature

By CHRISTINE KENNEALLY

In a sunless room in Bengal
in the 1670’s, a group of English sailors enacted a scene that would, in
spirit, be repeated in basements, bedrooms and alleys of the Western world
for centuries. First, they each swallowed a pint of bhang, a local drink.
One of the sailors then sat and sobbed all afternoon, another began a fistfight
with a wooden pillar, yet another inserted his head inside a large jar.
The rest sat about or lolled upon the floor. They were completely stoned.

    Psychotic,
depressed or mirthful, the sailors’ behavior was induced by bhang’s crucial
ingredient — cannabis, also known as ganja, charas, grifa, anascha, liamba,
bust, dagga, hashish, hemp and marijuana. Their drug-addled afternoon,
reported firsthand by the merchant Thomas Bowrey, who sat sweating throughout
it, is the earliest account by an Englishman of recreational cannabis use.
With this report, the English writer Richard Davenport-Hines begins ”The
Pursuit of Oblivion,” a history of drug taking that is dense with scholarship
and, because it is a ”history of emotional extremes,” highly absorbing.

    Early on, Davenport-Hines presents with appealing plainness a radical idea: ”Intoxication
is not unnatural or deviant.” This small statement shapes his book. In
refusing to view drug use through the lens of the modern criminal justice
system, Davenport-Hines extends his focus beyond the ”drug problem” or
the miseries we bring upon ourselves (though it includes many examples
of that). Instead, he sees it as part of the repertoire of normal human
activities.

    He also states that ”absolute sobriety is not a natural or primary human state.”
Humans have always used drugs, a fact that underpins ”The Pursuit of Oblivion,”
a history of the controlled and uncontrolled use of substances that alter
consciousness, shift feeling and meet an immense range of human wants and
needs. Davenport-Hines, whose books include studies of Auden and the gothic
genre, notes that his view conflicts with a prohibitionist view of drugs.
He briefly categorizes the major drug groups (opium is a narcotic, cannabis
and LSD are hallucinogens, amphetamines and coffee are stimulants) and
points out that their physiological effects have been truly understood
only in the last 30 years. He presents a multitude of capsule biographies,
official reports, literary excerpts, government inquiries and medical histories
that provide overwhelming support for the idea that drug use is not deviant
and, moreover, that it often reflects the ideal of ”human perfectibility,
the yearning for a perfect moment, the peace that comes from oblivion.”

    The documentation of specific drugs and desires is dazzling. Opium is one of the oldest known
drugs. An Egyptian papyrus describing 700 different opium mixtures (including
one for calming bothersome children) dates to 1552 B.C. Cocaine is one
of the most recent. It was first extracted in 1860 by a chemistry student,
Albert Niemann, for his doctoral thesis. In between are betel, qat, pituri,
alcohol, chloroform, mescaline and tea, among others.

    History’s drug users have been rich and poor, despairing and lighthearted, educated,
unemployed and holders of political office. They have imbibed, inhaled
and injected to allay physical discomfort, increase sexual stamina, feed
addiction, soften coughs, take a mental holiday or just feel normal. Marcel
Proust was fond of the stimulant amyl nitrate before bedtime (it helped
his asthma). Arsenic-eaters in 19th-century Austria were in search of clear
skin and a good aphrodisiac. Civil War soldiers took opium to prevent malaria
and diarrhea.

    Crawford Long, a young doctor in Jefferson, Ga., was motivated by fun. In 1842,
he staged ”ether frolics,” riotous parties where the chemical was dispensed.
When Long noticed that his guests sustained wounds while stumbling about
drunk but did not seem to feel them, he began to experiment with the drug
as a medical anesthetic, thus shaping the course of modern surgery.

    Inevitably, the story of narcotics is closely intertwined with the story of the Western
medical establishment. Yet this connection has rarely been as uncomplicated
or benevolent as Long’s ether experiment. For hundreds of years, doctors
have been users and often addicts. In the late 1800’s, most of the male
morphine addicts in the United States were physicians. Through ignorance
or therapeutic intent, they also made addicts out of many of their patients.

    Similarly, no account of drug use is complete without a thorough analysis of commerce,
global trade, politics and antidrug legislation. Dozens of perfectly legal
drug products were once available, like morphine and heroin pastilles (available
through department store catalogs in England). In the 1930’s, according
to F. Scott Fitzgerald, airline stewardesses would regularly offer barbiturates,
asking, ”Dear, do you want an aspirin? . . . or Nembutal?”

    Davenport-Hines assembles strong evidence to support his belief that criminalization has
created the modern drug problem. Indeed, history offers few examples of
punitive legislation curing addiction or ending trafficking. He contends
that because risk is closely tied to profit, enforcing laws against drug
trafficking actually increases the economic reward for those willing to
run an illegal business. The facts he cites bear him out: world coca production
doubled between 1985 and 1996. Opium production tripled.

    Because the book spans continents, millenniums and subjects, from the opium habit
of Emperor Marcus Aurelius to the invention of hypodermic needles, the
sheer volume of detail in ”The Pursuit of Oblivion” makes it demanding
to read. But it is an extremely impressive work, not just for its common-sense
argumentation and encyclopedic breadth, but also because of Davenport-Hines’s
sharp eye for a good story. He skillfully weaves anecdotes into his analyses,
like that of the Derbyshire schoolteacher in 1911 who demanded that a pupil
tell him why the geography class was so sleepy. The reply: ”Percy Toplis
brought in a bottle of laudanum, Sir, and passed it round the class, Sir.”

    ”The Pursuit of Oblivion” follows a long trail of desire, despair and bad decisions,
and it is impossible not to feel a sense of connection with many of its
case studies. Whether or not the book’s readers are personally familiar
with the effects of narcotics, they will understand at least some of the
emotions that surround their use. After all, who hasn’t longed for oblivion
or dreamed of ecstasy? Who hasn’t wished for something, anything, to take
the edge off daily life?

Christine Kenneally is writing a book about the evolution of language.

WIRE, RE-ACTIVATED

From posteverything.com:

The legendary “art” combo
Wire was formed in 1976 in the midst of the first flush of punk’s youth
but immediately diverged from the “pogo” standard thrash with a combination
of a sparse aesthetic, obtuse lyrics and a much vaunted (but never charted!)
“pop sensibility”. Through the Seventies they released three classic albums
on EMI‚s Harvest label building a formidable reputation based on a rapid
evolution of style until one band could no longer contain the prodigious
output of it’s members and Wire went into one of it’s periodic hibernations.
During the eighties the band returned embracing a more electronic sound
and a series of albums for Mute records followed, the sound became even
more diverse as they became embraced by the indie generation. By 1990 phase
2 was complete and after one drummer-less album a second more protracted
hibernation ensued.

    It was not until the 2nd Millennium was almost complete that Wire were again curious
enough to venture abroad again. Physical temptation took the form of an
invitation to headline & curate a night at the prestigious Royal Festival
Hall. Wire now have their own imprint pinkflag through which they are
starting to release a series of increasingly adventurous items currently
taking the form of the “read & burn” series. Do not expect every read
& burn to appear in the shops. Always expect read & burns to
be available through posteverything!!

    Wire are Colin Newman, Graham Lewis, Bruce Gilbert & Robert Gotobed.

READ
& BURN – 02

WIRE 1 Oct 2002

PF5 [CD]

01  ‘Read & Burn (2:35)’
02  ‘Spent (4:43)’

03  ‘Trash/ Treasure
(5:07)’

04  ‘Nice Streets Above (2:50)’

05  ‘Raft Ants (2:05)’
06  ‘99.9 (7:38)’

Pinkflag proudly present the much anticipated follow up to WIRE‚s „Read & Burn 01‰ in the shape
of „Read & Burn 02‰.

Unlike „01‰ Read & Burn
02 will be available exclusively to posteverything customers (from 2nd
September 2002) and attendees of Wire‚s forthcoming shows in North America
& Europe this Autumn. This item will not be available in shops or via
any other mailorder service.

All posteverything mail
order customers will have the added bonus of an included special item.
This time this will be a sample of a WIRE designed fragrance „The smell
of YOU‰.

READ
& BURN – 01

WIRE 17 Jun 2002

PF4 [CD]

01  ‘In the Art of
Stopping’

02  ‘I Don’t Understand’

03  ‘Comet’

04  ‘Germ Ship’

05  ‘First Fast’

06  ‘The Agfers of
Kodack’

Pinkflag proudly unveil the
first wholly new wire release for over 10 years. This landmark release
marks the 1st shot in the „Read and Burn‰ series of sixpacks. In an offer
exclusive to mail order customers only, the CD will be dispatched with
a signed, limited edition print, featuring the band, excerpted from the
forthcoming video. Those unfamilar with Wire’s recent doings read on..

SEMINAL (ADJECTIVE) -CONTAINING
OR CONTRIBUTING THE SEEDS OF LATER DEVELOPMENT : CREATIVE, ORIGINAL.

REGROUPING FOR LIVE PERFORMANCE
IN 1999, THE HUGELY INFLUENTIAL WIRE HAVE ABLY DEMONSTRATED, VIA SELL-OUT
SHOWS EVERYWHERE FROM THE ROYAL FESTIVAL HALL TO THE GARAGE, THAT THEIR
FIRE STILL BURNS SOME 20 YEARS ON FROM THEIR FIRST ANGULAR BROADCASTS,
WOWING AUDIENCES MADE UP EQUALLY OF DEVOTED DISCIPLES AND CURIOUS YOUTH,
WINNING RESOUNDING CRITICAL APPROVAL OF THE “ELDER STATESMEN STILL ROCK
LIKE ANGRY YOUNG MEN” VARIETY.

READ & BURN 01 ? IS
THE FIRST PHASE OF A SERIES OF NEW WORKS AND STAGE APPEARANCES PLANNED
FOR THIS YEAR AND ON INTO 2003, MARKING A FIERCE RETURN TO RECORDING FOR
THE BAND, SETTING A STANDARD THAT MANY OF TODAY’S NEW CHASERS OF ART-ROCK’S
GOLDEN FLEECE WILL BE HARD PRESSED TO EMULATE (AND HOW THEY’VE TRIED IN
THE PAST!), AND SERVING EMPHATIC NOTICE THAT THE GAUNTLET IS DOWN.

COMMITTED FOLLOWERS WILL
NOD IN APPROVAL AT THE SLY REFERENCING OF ELEMENTS OF EARLIER MATERIAL.
THE KIDS WILL BE TOO BUSY RESPONDING TO THE DEMANDS OF THEIR ADRENAL GLANDS
AS THEY BOUNCE THEIR HEADS OFF WALLS IN UNISON WITH THE CARCRASHING DYNAMISM
AND DOGGED, UNYIELDING TEMPOS. THE SIX TRACKS OF READ & BURN 01 EACH
HITTING THE 3 MINUTE MARK WITH DEADEYE ACCURACY, RIDE THE LINE FROM PUNK
TO ROCK AND BACK AGAIN WITH NERVE-JARRING IMMEDIACY, DRESSED AND STYLISHLY
ACCESSORISED WITH STATE OF THE ART PRODUCTION VALUES. WHICH MEANS, IN SHORT,
LOUD AND CLEAR LIKE THE SOUND OF SHOUTING INSIDE YOUR OWN SKULL. (Capitalised
propaganda courtesy Bill Dolen)

WIRE will be taking part
in an evening of performances to launch Iain Sinclair‚s “M25 London
Orbital” which has a soundtrack composed by WIRE’s Bruce Gilbert at the
Barbican on Friday 25th October @ 7.30 pm. The Barbican’s website says
: “Based on and inspired by Iain Sinclair‚s ŒLondon Orbital‚, this extraordinary
performance brings together readings by Iain Sinclair, J.G.Ballard, Bill
Drummond and Ken Campbell; Chris Petit‚s specially shot and manipulated
M25 film and new music performed live by WIRE, Scanner and Jimmy Cauty.”

HOW CORPORATE GLOBALIZATION DESTROYS AND THEN ‘GREENWASHES’ ITS ACTIVITIES.

The Lacandon Jungle’s Last Stand Against Corporate Globalization

Plan Puebla Panama and the fight to preserve biodiversity and indigenous rights in Chiapas

By Ryan Zinn

Special to CorpWatch

September 26, 2002

Montes Azules, Mexico —
A battle is raging in Chiapas’ Montes Azules Integral Biosphere, Mexico’s
Garden of Eden. The last stand against corporate resource exploitation
is taking place in this remote, lush tropical jungle, home to Mayan communities.
Best known for ancient pyramids and endangered species like the toucan
and jaguar, this modern day “El Dorado” is now threatened by the search
for black and green gold: oil and biodiversity.

    Caught in the cross-fire are indigenous communities, many of them Zapatista supporters,
who are resisting the devastating effects of corporate globalization. The
zone has recently been marred by violence and plagued by paramilitary attacks
against these communities. Local residents believe the attacks to be the
latest stage in the Mexican government’s efforts to oust indigenous people
from the Biosphere.

Continue reading →

BUT WILL THEY TOUR?

“An elephant orchestra plays drums, wind instruments and a foot-operated gong at Thailand’s Elephant
Conservation Centre in Lampang, 600 km north of Bangkok, on September 8, 2002.

“Buoyed by the success of their first compact disc, Californian-born resident conservationist Richard
Lair and compatriot musician Dave Soldier are putting together a second CD featuring an ensemble orchestra of 11 elephants, some rescued from a brutal life on the streets of Bangkok, who play everything from xylophones to drums and wind instruments.”

Zen and axial-symmetry skeletons of stimulus shapes

from msnbc:

Scientists unlock Zen garden’s secret
Analysis reveals a hidden tree among rocks

Sept. 25 ˜  For centuries, visitors to the renowned Ryoanji Temple garden in Kyoto, Japan, have been
entranced by the simple arrangement of rocks. The five sparse clusters on a rectangle of raked gravel are said to be pleasing to the eyes of the hundreds of thousands of tourists who visit the garden each year. Scientists now believe they have discovered its mysterious appeal.

       
“WE HAVE UNCOVERED the implicit structure of the Ryoanji garden’s visual ground and have shown that it includes an abstract, minimalist depiction of natural scenery,” said Gert Van Tonder of Kyoto University.
      
The researchers discovered that the empty space of the Zen Buddhist temple’s garden evokes a hidden image of a branching tree that is sensed by the unconscious mind.

 “We believe that the unconscious perception of this pattern contributes to the enigmatic appeal of the garden,” Van Tonder added.

He and his colleagues believe that whoever created the garden during the Muromachi era between 1333-1573 knew exactly what they were doing, and that the placement of the rocks was “not accidental.“
      
Through the centuries, various meanings have been read into the rock placement — one view holds that the rocks symbolize a tigress crossing the sea with her cubs, while another contends that the pattern represents the strokes of a Chinese character meaning “heart” or “mind.”
      
However, such interpretations don’t explain the attraction the garden holds even for the uninitiated, the researchers reported in Thursday’s issue of the journal Nature.

To look for deeper patterns, the scientists used a concept called medial-axis transformation, a scheme for analyzing shapes that is widely used in image processing and studies of visual perception.
    
To understand the concept of medial-axis transformation, imagine drawing the outline of a shape in a field of dry grass and then setting it alight: The medial axis is the set of points where the inwardly propagating fires meet, the researchers explained. It has been shown that humans have an unconscious visual sensitivity to the axial-symmetry skeletons of stimulus shapes.
      
The analysis revealed what appeared to be a tree with branches that separated the elements of the rock arrangement. A widening trunk leads to a point in the garden’s main hall that is considered the prime viewing spot — as well as to an alcove containing a Buddhist statue.
       
Random changes in the location of the five rock clusters would destroy the image, the researchers said.
      
They said abstract art may have an impact similar to that of the Ryoanji Temple’s garden, which has helped earn Kyoto’s monuments the status of a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
   
“There is a growing realization that scientific analysis can reveal unexpected structural features hidden in controversial abstract paintings,” Van Tonder and his colleagues observed.

“PATIENCE HAS ITS LIMITS.”

AMMAN, Jordan (AP) Witnesses say a Jordanian woman ripped off her enveloping black cloak and veil ˜
to reveal a traditional long dress that was nearly as enveloping and punched and kicked into submission three young men who had been verbally harassing her.

    The official Petra News Agency reported Sunday that shopkeepers and passers-by believe the unidentified woman must have had martial arts training. In Friday’s incident on the main street in Zarqa 13 miles north Amman, the three men were too shocked to react at first and ended up knocked to the ground, screaming in pain. They then scrambled up and fled.

    The woman quoted the title of a song made famous by the late Egyptian star Umm Kalthoum
— “patience has its limits” — before continuing on her way as a crowd cheered her.

    Petra quoted witnesses as saying the three men had regularly directed obscenities at the woman as she walked in the area. It was not clear if they harassed other women as well.

THANKS: JB.

WHY WE MAKE WAR.

Agreement Reached on New Automotive Regulations

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Filed at 1:01 p.m. ET, Sept 19

WASHINGTON (AP) — Lawmakers negotiating a broad energy bill agreed on a modest measure Thursday that supporters said would reduce the amount of gasoline used by sport utility
vehicles and small trucks.

    But advocates
of tougher fuel economy efforts said the requirements were so modest and
contained so many loopholes that they are likely to produce little if any
fuel savings and have virtually no impact on U.S. dependence on foreign
oil.

    “The
compromise does virtually nothing,” complained Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass.,
who had argued for stronger measures, but acknowledged most lawmakers were
in no mood to go along.

    The compromise,
agreed to by Senate and House negotiators, would require that minivans,
sport utility vehicles and pickup trucks in models years 2006 though 2012
use at least 5 billion gallons less gasoline than the 2002 model year fleet.

    It is
essentially what the House had approved in its energy bill passed more
than a year ago.

    The fuel
economy measure is part of broad energy legislation that House and Senate
negotiators are trying to agree on and to give final approval. Prospects
for passage remains uncertain as major issues from expansion of ethanol
use to drilling in an Arctic wildlife refuge remain to be worked out.

    Rep.
Billy Tauzin, R-La., chairman of the House-Senate conference on energy
legislation, called the measure a significant step in curtailing fuel use
and characterized it as “a chance for the country to tell Saddam Hussein
`We don’t need your oil’.”

    But opponents
said the 5 billion gallons amounts to only about a 1 mile per gallon
increase in fuel economy for sport utility vehicles, minivans and light
trucks, which currently are required to meet less stringent fuel economy
standards than other passenger cars.

    The
gas savings amounts to about 20 million barrels, or as Markey said, just
a little more than one day’s consumption of oil in the United States.

    Rep.
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., argued that even those oil savings could disappear
because of a provision that continues to give automakers fuel economy credits
for making vehicles that can use corn-based ethanol. Waxman said only a
handful of those vehicles actually use ethanol, while most run on gas.

    But
Congress appeared in no mood for tougher requirements to curtail fuel use
in transportation, although motor vehicles are by far the biggest consumer
of oil.

    Both
the House and Senate had rejected more ambitious attempts to require automakers
to improve fuel economy when it passed their separate energy bills. The
House rejected a requirement for sport utility vehicles to achieve a fleet
average of 27.5 miles per gallon, the same as cars, when it passed its
bill in August, 2001..

    Last
summer, the Senate refused to go along with a proposal by Sen. John Kerrey,
D-Mass., to increase overall motor vehicle fuel economy to 35 mpg. Kerrey
called Thursday’s deal “a reasonable compromise” considering what both
chambers had approved previously.

    Senate
Democrats turned back efforts to include in the legislation requirements
that would have made it harder for the Transportation Department to develop
stricter fuel economy measures. Senate and House Republicans had wanted
the department to specifically take into account potential job losses and
overall safety in establishing fuel economy standards.

    Critics
of the government’s Corporate Average Fuel Economy program have frequently
argued that more stringent fuel economy requirements would force automakers
to produce smaller, less safe vehicles, and would force elimination of
some product lines, jeopardizing jobs.

    But supporters
of tougher standards argue that fuel economy improvements can be made through
technology, without making vehicles smaller, eliminating larger models
or closing manufacturing plants.