The Flaming Lips

So the other night I was introduced to a new release that an alternative band called The Flaming Lips had produced, which just so happened to have a very special, very limited edition version made. The very rare (only 10 made) LP was made from a clear vinyl, and due to some new technique in production contains the actual blood of some of the contributing artists that helped collaborate on the album.

More information about the album, as well as who is featured on (and in) it can be found in this video here.

This is a bit farther than stories of Angelina Jolie having blood in a vial on her necklace, this is the offering of one’s blood (a very intimate part of oneself) to the general public. It’s beautifully metaphorical by putting actual blood into the recording, along with the general sweat and tears of creative endeavors. It’s also a show of an amazing amount of trust and faith on the part of the band and the other artists that helped to make this a reality. This to me is indicative of the fact that people are finally becoming more understanding that blood in and of itself is not the huge taboo thing to not be dealt with ever, a position that no doubt originated from the high level of restrictions that are featured in a good portion of Judeo-Christian and Islamic culture. It will be a nice change for the stigma surrounding blood (especially when it is found outside of the body) to be removed, so that greater strides to understanding the true nature of it could be made.

To be perfectly honest, if there weren’t only 10 created (although I can completely understand why), and if the bidding price didn’t start at $2,500, then I most certainly would have been interested in purchasing one of these. I’m curious as to how they have included the blood in the packaging, how they have kept it liquid so well (although rumor has it that after a couple of years it will in fact coagulate, causing the record to possibly become unplayable), and what will happen after a while? Is it better to store that record flat on its side, so the blood is evenly distributed for maximum efficiency in playing? Will it being all laid in one end of the record warp the sound? What does the blood look like as it spins on a turntable? How did the band approach the contributing artists to give so much more of themselves than they already were? I have so many questions, none of which will probably be answered, but it sure was a nice surprise to find.

Accepting Articles

This morning I had the wonderful pleasure of encountering an article that was actually written quite well. This article from The Daily Beast was written as a result of the new release of Johnny Depp and Tim Burton’s remake of the Dark Shadows idea, but goes on to discuss some of the more pertinent aspects of literal blood consumption in a way that I have… really never before encountered outside of the Community itself. The article is entitled “A User’s Guide to Drinking Blood” and addresses many of the concerns in a very calm manner, not the typical knee-jerk reaction that often accompanies an idea that in the US is still considered exceptionally taboo amongst the general populace.

Rather than going into a huge uproar over the idea that someone would ever consume any blood, the writer goes on to examine the potential risks involved in hematophagy (blood consumption), and remove some of the strange associations that often follow the act. From discussing how chances are everyone has tasted blood at some point in their lives, to the fact that blood is a typical component of food in almost every culture the world over (save the US), to going as far as finding research and evidence of medical tests regarding the consumption of blood from the WWII era, this article is one that surpasses much of the information that the average sanguinarian has or has had access to before now. Many times I have found discussions regarding the digestive and emetic effects of blood consumption, but without any access to any actual medical journals or studies to backup the concepts thrown about (concepts such as how much will cause gastrointestinal discomfort, or how much will cause nausea and vomiting [in non-vampiric individuals], which is usually estimated at around a pint). The fact that this author took the time to locate any medical study on the ingestion of blood and its effects is outstanding for what probably amounts to a throwaway article tied into the fleeting world of the newly released movie. Now, whether the medical information found is valid or not is a whole other matter that would take some time to determine. A search for another day perhaps.

The main reason why all this is striking to me, aside from the fact that it goes into balanced details more than most ever even try, is the fact that this author really did try. He did not have to craft such a well researched and unbiased piece (at one point, the author actually says “We are not here to judge anyone.”), nor did he have to present a topic many feel is quite serious and disturbing in such a humorous and respectful manner. The fact that he did speaks volumes to the distance that the Vampire Community (VC) has come, however. The author clearly saw that there is an audience that wants to know as much as vampires in all forms as they can, but chose to address the actual ramifications in a very rational manner. There were no impassioned pleas to never consume blood, nor were there any trumped up implications of medical risk associated with it. The risks discussed were handled quite reasonably, even going so far as to outline the rarer cases where there may still be a heightened risk (such as stomach ulcers, certain higher risk infections, etc.).

Sure, the story is still written as though it is addressing vampires that are hundreds or even thousands of years old, but that is part of the enjoyment of the entire thing, to poke fun at the enduring image of the vampire, both in popular culture and as it is presented in that same pop culture. In addition, even though he jokingly addresses the longevity of vampires in a move that seems to maintain a distance between the speaker and the vampiric subject, he also directly addresses vampires with all seriousness in a move not unlike the information most find upon their first encounter with the OVC “here’s my recommendation, vampires: limit your contacts and pick your partners well, including assessing a target’s HIV status pre-blood-meal”. This sincere expression of health concerns and advisement lends to the article a feeling of understanding and acceptance that is very rarely seen outside of the Community.

Perhaps it is just because this writer also happens to be an infectious-disease specialist (which would probably explain his knowledge of the study from 1939). Maybe he does not actually feel that any will take his writing seriously. Maybe he just approaches all topics with a certain level of unbiased factual information mixed with a calm and relaxing approachability. Or maybe this is actually signifying a trend amongst the general populace that means those who are in some way vampiric in nature are being better understood. Maybe it’s just directed at whomever may take to drinking blood (fetishists, LARPers, etc.), or maybe we have finally come to a time when there will be greater understanding of people with different lifestyles due to no fault of their own. Only time will tell.

Rock and a Hard Place

I can feel the rumbling and pull very strong today. It is well past time. That is quite alright, I am accustomed to waiting too long. That doesn’t make the pangs so strong they could be considered pains go away, but I know I can withstand them. I know I won’t do anything rash, but it’s still there. Gnawing, twisting, wheeling around my head, contorting my body to match. It’s not fun, but it’s a strong reminder that it’s there.

Over a month it has been now. It’s usually a month or more. Lately though the feelings of Hunger are more pronounced. Perhaps due to the supply. I hope to have more luck obtaining donors in the new town. I think it will be more friendly to out-of-the-norm behaviours there, and I do believe the scene (as it were) is larger there (in a sense) as well. I look forward to the opportunity to meet new potential donors greatly.

In the meantime, I have two more months to endure the great surging, burning pain in my chest. Two more months to feel positively famished. Two more to try not to snarl, growl, and act on an instinct that seems almost alien to my otherwise pleasantly stoic personality. Or settle. I’m not a fan of settling or starving. It’d certainly be a lot harder to relocate if I take ill however. We’ll see what happens.

Proper Training

I still have yet to sign up for a single phlebotomy class. What might be taking so long, you might ask? Well, my travels are not yet complete, and having only another two months in my present location, there’s no point in signing up for classes here. I may as well wait until I am fully relocated to pursue that avenue of study. Any training I could get in less than two months is not anything I would feel comfortable using on another person.

I’ve had people offer to teach me drawing techniques, even the professional and certified. Because I expressed an interest in learning some of the techniques, take note, not because I make it widely known the purpose of my desire to learn. While I have never fully turned down an opportunity to learn, I have also never taken anyone up on the opportunity. Of course I think it’s a useful thing to learn, but I don’t want the bulk of my expertise to have come from “this one friend of mine”. In addition, I don’t want to have accidentally taught myself a bad habit based on someone else’s idiosyncrasies when it comes to something this important.

Until I receive some form of formal training through a program or institution, then I will not engage in practices that call for special equipment. Many types of extraction methods can be dangerous if performed incorrectly, and one should always keep safety first and foremost at all times. Let me take this opportunity to officially endorse only engaging tested and verified fully healthy, consensual and respectful, discreet and stable individuals over the age of majority for your region. This goes both ways.  Both parties should fall into all of those categories prior to anything else.

Topics

So hooray! I just found a bunch of writings I had mocked up for inclusion on my old Post Awakening website. Essays, articles, topics to touch upon, and other lovely things that I hope to be able to use for this site!

I haven’t been able to bring over any of the old articles from the original site due to the hard drive that I had used to build that site crashing hard (years later I still haven’t been able to recover anything, and am to soon be seeking professional assistance in obtaining the files off of that drive) and I lost everything from those 5 or so years, including Post Awakening. In light of that, having located hard copies (possibly even of stuff that never got published initially) is wondrous to me!

Some of the topics that were addressed in the notepad I found include things like an in-depth look at Awakening, and other things that never got fully fleshed out. Hopefully I’ll be able to have some time in the near future to rewrite these things for the benefit of everyone who reads this. If there are any topics that anyone would like to see addressed, please feel free to either comment or send me a message and let me know!

 

Sick

So I finally did it. i made it all the way to cold/allergy-like symptoms. While out of town no less. I forgot to take any supplements or substitutes with me. Maybe I’ve been secretly wanting this. To remember that this is really what happens. To let it go just long enough to remind myself what I’m trying to avoid, in miniature. No one needs unnecessary trips to the hospital.

I tried taking all sorts of allergy and/or cold medication, all to no avail. I’m sure this ill period will pass in due time. At some point however, now that whatever subconscious point has been proven, I will have to redouble my efforts to prevent a subsequent relapse. Bah.

Poland

No longer the stuff of hyperbole and symbolism, a small town in Poland had an actual occurrence of their streets running with blood. It apparently oozed up from the manhole covers, until it started just kind of flowing along the road. This article features a tiny clip of the substance.

Blood bubbles from drain in Polish town

According to reports, the liquid was supposedly proven to have been actual blood, and the culprit was the local meat processing plant. Perhaps. It might have been a clogged drain, because the meat processing plant is just flushing everything down the toilet, you know. Or it might have been the most convenient explanation to keep the people from having a good old end-of-days freak-out over something that seems uncannily meaningful, in many contexts. Whether it was foreshadowing, an omen, or simply indicative of severe public health issues that should be addressed, I most likely will never know. I certainly have no more plausible explanation than the giant abattoir plugging up the works with enough blood to flow out of the sewer, but I can’t help but wonder a lot of things. For example, how did they determine that it was in fact blood? How did they determine it came from the slaughterhouse? Was that manhole the closest one to the plant in town for the necessary direction? What got backed up so bad that raw untreated blood was running out like that?

Delays

I haven’t been posting regularly anymore, which I don’t like. It’s not due to a sudden lack of interest in the blog, it’s from the mad chaos that is everything else. When one is primarily without internet for a week or more at a time, that prevents posting. I do have a new Android phone that allows posting, but if I’m only on my phone with no netbook, chances are I don’t have time to post. It all started with the move I had to make. I’ll catch it all up at some point. I at least finally have my internet at home stable, now all I have to do is actually be home more.

Recently, I stumbled across someone who is in the community. I did not know of their community involvement in advance, much less their association with a certain type of Otherkin. It’s nice to run into community members, whatever the self-identification, who are not someone from whom you’d want to disassociate yourself. Turns out we both know a lot of the same people, which was also funny. Considering the discovery was made right before a spiritual weekend workshop that I attended (I’ll have to discuss that at some point), it sure made it a lot easier to attend that weekend fully comfortable with myself, which is a good thing to be when one is seeking spirituality.

Also, random tip. It’s probably not a great idea to consume Therian essence right before their moon time. The side effects were what had me feeling off the first half of the month, even though it was only really one or two days that were difficult to manage. At least it’s still better than being ill.

Update

I got a phone that fnally allows me to post on the go. I’m on the go now a lot lately. Feeling rather twoofy off and on as well. It is odd, for I should be sated. I should also be asleep. Things are interesting lately.

Blood for Dracula

I was unable to watch the end of Andy Warhol’s “Blood for Dracula” this evening. It stops about 44 minutes in. I thought it was an interesting interpretation from what I did see, and it felt closer to the portrayals that followed in subsequent decades of sympathy for his plight rather than the typical monster feature. Gratuitous pretty though, and none of those girls looked like teenagers to me.