Great news for people living in NYC, Bjork is bringing her phenomenal Biophilia live experience to the city next month. The shows will be taking place over two different residencies; one at the New York Hall of Science (six dates in all, between February 3rd and 18th) and one at the Roseland Ballroom (four dates there, between February 22nd and March 2nd).
While the Roseland Ballroom is more intimate, the grapevine tells me the Hall of Science will be better as it will facilitate the whole 360 degree stage show, which should hopefully incorporate giant tesla coils, homemade instruments, a large female choir and the full surround sound PA and plasma screens. I was lucky enough to catch a Biophilia show last year in Manchester, and it ranks as one of the best live shows I have ever seen. I reviewed it for Dangerous Minds, and you can read that here.
There have also been Biophilia shows announced at various European and South American festivals over the summer - for more info on the shows (and links to buy tickets for individual performances), visit the Facebook page for Bjork events.
Here’s an inkling of what you can expect:
Bjork “Joga” (Live at Manchester International Festival 2011)
A very interesting talk here from two of the more credible voices to comment on the 2012 phenomena (who I think need no introduction). As you would expect though from Hancock and Pinchbeck (both names together have a nice ring, eh?) the conversation covers much more than that, and takes in crop circles, drug consumption, 2012, the future, and the “freedom of consciousness”. The talk is opened up to the floor for some very interesting questions two thirds of the way through. This was recorded Baltimore late last year, and is here presented for the first time in its entirety, lasting just over 70 minutes. Perfect background listening while you are doing some dishes and washing some clothes:
The technique is called Fear Selling, it’s how sales and marketing can seal deals by focusing “on the negative consequences of not buying [a] product / service.” A good example of “fear selling” is to be found on The Vivos Underground Survival Network for Surviving 2012 and Beyond, “a privately funded venture, with no religious affiliations,” which wants to help you “survive” the forthcoming catastrophe:
Millions of people believe that we are living in the “end times”. Many are looking for a viable solution to survive potential future Earth devastating events. Eventually, our planet will realize another devastating catastrophe, whether manmade, or a cyclical force of nature. Disasters are rare and unexpected, but on any sort of long timeline, they’re inevitable. It’s time to prepare!
Yep. Time to prepare, and boy is Vivos is preparing by “building a global network of underground shelters, to accommodate thousands of people...[to] provide a life assurance solution for those that wish to be prepared to survive these potential events, whether they occur now, in 2012, or in decades to come.” All for a first down payment of $25,000.
Vivos is in a race against time to complete construction and commissioning of a global network of underground community shelters prior to the predicted December 21, 2012 Mayan date. While this date is the impetus for completing Vivos, the envisioned catastrophic events can happen without notice, this year, next, in 2012, 2029, 2036, or even 100 years thereafter.
Nobody knows if the prophecies will happen, or not. Scientists understand that the Earth has had a number of catastrophic, periodic events that repeat on a somewhat predictable, or even random basis. Many current events, both natural and political are pointing to potential a disastrous change. The process may already be unfolding. NASA reports that 2012 could bring powerful solar storms, at the peak of the solar cycle; while it is also tracking the Apophis asteroid for what may be an Earth devastating collision in 2029, or 2036. What if one of these events happens? We cannot predict, but we can prepare. Time before the storm!
I know they’re hedging their bets here, but I know you know deep down something, somewhere, is going to happen to somebody, sometime, someplace. And that somebody might just be you.
And before you say this sounds like the kind of crap you’d expect from Glenn Beck, wait, Mr Snake Oil himself is on the Vivos site:
Learn about the 10|80|10% rule from a recent Glenn Beck show featuring the author of the Survivors Club. Which group are you in?
Okay, using Glenn Beck’s probably a bad idea, but look, they’ve got some stuff from the History Channel. Yep. The History Channel, or History as its now known, that channel famous for such historical programs as…er, Ice Road Truckers, Ax Men, Pawn Stars and all those documentaries about Hitler.
Many have predicted events around 2012. Vivos is not about 2012, but rather preparation for potential catastrophic events, whether they are in our near future or decades beyond. This History Channel presentation is one of the best on chronicling the Mayan prophecy.
I wonder if History know they’re being associated with this site?
Of course it’s not just the Mayan calendar you have to be worried about, as Vivos points out, there’s various “threat scenarios” from “a pole shift, super volcano eruptions, solar flares, earthquakes, asteroids, tsunamis, nuclear attack, bio terrorism, chemical warfare and even widespread social anarchy.” To help with your decision, they even have a selection of videos that:
...portray many of the most viable threat scenarios that make Vivos necessary for the security and life assurance of your family.
Still not convinced? Well, don’t worry, you have 637 days left to make your mind-up.
Where would we be without a good conspiracy theory? Here’s one that’s currently circulating the web, from a Doctor of Inter-Stellar Anthropology (no really), who was allegedly hired as a “special consultant” to the CIA, on the project “dubbed Red Rock,” to locate and operate a mysterious “device” that emitted all-powerful sound waves, which the Doc had to get working before 2012, otherwise we’re all dead. This, according to the voice on the video, is the reason America invaded Iraq. Hm…so that explains it..eh?
The people controlling our planet DO NOT WANT YOU TO HEAR what this guy has to say, but he is a respected academic and has first hand knowledge of the real reason the US invaded Iraq and ancient, alien tech - ET disclosure in imminent, we may as well know the truth. This video explains why everyone is trying to buy up the gold, the stuxnet virus, the NWO’s plans to attack China, the real reason behind the September 11th attacks and what is going to happen on December 21, 2012.
Make your own mind up, but just remember, this guy gets to vote.
In what seems like something out of J.G. Ballard, Scientology, and the final act of Roland Emmerich’s 2012, like, combined, a number of billionaires are taking to the high seas for their Plan B. I can see their point. You’ve ravaged the planet and trashed the economy, if that possibly results in pitchforks and flaming torches at your door, a thousand miles of ocean makes a better barrier than a gate or concierge.
Thus, Utopia, a floating, billion-dollar luxury liner now being built by Samsung of Korea (you can tour the ship below). Its 200 or so cabins run anywhere from $4 million (that gets you a small condo), to $160 million (that secures you a home of 40,000 feet). Prices aside, what kind of people would choose such a lifestyle? A fascinating article in today’s Alternet provides the answer:
The floating castle is a longtime dream of libertarian oligarchs—a place where they can live their lives in peace free from the teeming masses of starving losers and indebted parasites and their tax demands. Since they’ve grown so rich off of America, they have enough spare change to fund projects like the Seasteading Institute, run by Milton Friedman’s grandson, Patri Friedman, and financed by the bizarre right-wing PayPal founder, Peter Thiel. It couldn’t have come a moment sooner for Milton Friedman’s grandson, who was best known until recently for running a grotesque advice blog for married swingers, PUA4LTR (Pick Up Advice For Long-Term Relationships).
Thiel is also the person who last year wrote, “I no longer believe that freedom and democracy are compatible.” Maybe it’s also not surprising that he does believe America’s decline started with women gaining the right to vote? Unfortunately, Thiel and Friedman are the more benign tip of the iceberg here.
The article continues by listing the far graver misdeeds of the other players in the flee-to-the-sea movement. They include former Carlyle Chairman and Donald Rumsfeld crony, Frank Carlucci, as well as financier Danny Pang.
Pang, along with Carlucci, are founders of the Frontier Group (the backers of the Utopia). Pang died, though, back in September under mysterious circumstancesfrom possible suicide. And perhaps not a moment too soon. He’d recently been accused of the execution-style murder of his wife, as well as the embezzlement of hundreds of millions from his private equity firm, the PEMGroup.
Pretty scary Ad Creepage currently up in Rio de Janeiro for the Mayan calendar Apocalypse flick, (I hope Woody Harrelson bites it hard) opening here in the States on Friday the 13th, of course. First off, when the Evil Doers next blow up and flood an underground tunnel somewhere in the world, my bet is, that ‘somewhere’ will be ‘here.’ Secondly, our tunnels already leak just fine, thx.
Last night I almost hit a bus crossing in front of me with a giant 2012 sign on the side. Doesn’t get much funnier than that.
Aaaaand OK, I might as well throw in my 2 cents about this one since it’s a hot topic: 2012 is a transition and demarcation point past which our culture will hit a certain no-return-point in shifting towards spirit and away from matter (read, on one level, as: life becoming almost completely Internet-mediated, while economy and physical infrastructure continues to fall apart by dint of being less exciting than Twitter). It is NOT the end of the world and one of the more productive things to think about around the whole issue is why, exactly, people are so addicted to apocalyptic thinking (as Alan Moore pointed out somewhere?
