Genesis P-orridge's favorite psyche folk songs (as seen in Arthur Magazine)

1. “Meet Me on the Ledge” by Fairport Convention
(from What We Did On Our Holidays, 1968)
When I was at Hull University this song was on the student-picked juke box. The in-joke amongst we flower children/soon-to-be-drop-outs was that when we wanted to score hash from the University dealer we’d put this record on as a buying signal and meet outside by the “hedge.”

2. “When I Get Home” by Pentangle
(from Light Flight compilation double CD, 1971)
This is amazing! Bert Jansch, John Renbourn, Richard Thompson and the crew evoke the most immersive sense of melancholy. I saw all the guitarists individually in the Hall of Residence cafeteria so this always makes me smell gravy and roast potatoes instead of think of alcoholism. A whiskydelic song as Lady Jaye would say.

3. “A Very Cellular Song” by the Incredible String Band
(from The Hangman’s Beautiful Daughter, 1968)
Probably my equal favorite song of all time. Full of whimsy, weirdness, surreal lyrics that insist they are profound when you know they are more likely just found. When it gets to a sequence which describes the feelings of an amoeba you know that you are, after all, in the presence of genius!

4. “Strangely Strange But Oddly Normal” by Dr. Strangely Strange
(from Kip of the Serenes, 1970)
I can’t imagine life without this band. They always bring joy to my heart. Rumor has it the main singer split to become a full-on Zen priest so they only made two albums. Both are total classics of British pre-Raphaelite fairytales. No other people can pull off this nonsense poetry so authentically. The genius Joe Boyd brought them from Eire to record their masterpiece. You do not love words if you cannot love this song which has the silliest chorus ever written.

5. “Sign On My Mind” by Dr. Strangely Strange
(from Heavy Petting, 1970)
I used to have this on vinyl and the cover unfolded as intricately and dadaistically as the music and lyrics. Gnomic hippies peer from insubstantial cut-out trees as we are led a merry frolic into the surprise of a guitar solo by Gary Moore of Thin Lizzy fame! I have seriously considered doing a cover version of this song with The Master Musicians of Jajouka playing the flute parts.

6. “Time Has Told Me” by Nick Drake
(from Five Leaves Left, 1969)
The myth says that Rizzla rolling papers had one paper that said “Five Leaves Left” to warn stoners of impending doom. Of course, I could have chosen ANY song by Nick Drake. The intensity of melancholia drenching the analog tape, the sheer PRESENCE of his voice is an honor to share, as is the raw intimacy with which he describes turmoil, creating confusion in us by delicately flecking every edge of his words with guilty beauty.

7. “My Father Was a Lighthouse Keeper” by the Incredible String Band
(from Earthspan, 1972)
Here I am duty bound to confess I have at least 20 ISB CDs and albums! Never, ever, on any day, in any mood do I feel less than joyous to hear their voices and humor, their grand metaphysics and acid-drenched morality plays. At first I wasn’t sure about this era. L. Ron Hubbard supposedly wanted to guide their parables. But there is something in the violin—as an electric violin player since 1966 myself, I am a sucker for them. Now, I bellow along and feel the sea spray soak my mediaeval hose as I witness a murderous foam.

8. “Translucent Carriages” by Pearls Before Swine
(from Balaklava, 1965)
Tom Rapp is one of the great undiscovered poet songwriters from Eastern USA. Originally on ESP Disc alongside the Fugs and other neo-Beat nutters he occasionally lets slip a seductive lisp. I have never figured out the meaning of this song (which was first played to me by Annie Ryan in Liverpool in a post-acid glow) even though I did record it for the Psychic TV Pagan Day album. Answers on a dog-tag please. He is a lawyer now. Sensible man saw too much of the larval nature of mankind for his own peace of heart.

9. “War in Peace” by Alexander “Skip” Spence
(from Oar, 1969)
Skip was a Canadian bass player who switched to drums for the Jefferson Airplane during the acid madness until he was dropped in 1966 for missing a rehearsal! He turned up like a mad penny in Moby Grape next, still erratic and enigmatic. There’s the touch of Syd Barrett tragedy in the implosion and incompleteness of many of his songs. His deranged inspiration sneaks him in as folksy acid.

10. “Ducks on a Pond” by the Incredible String Band
(from Wee Tam and the Big Huge, 1968)
Yes, I know, there are so many others and where DO you draw the psychedelic line? By its very natyre it meanders and has no beginning, edge or point. I wanted to include the Blossom Toes’ “We Are Ever So Clean”; Nirvana’s “All of Us”; anything quirky by Syd Barrett (which means everything he did). Why I even toyed with Kaleidoscope from the USA and Dantalian’s Chariot (whose guitarist went on to play in The Police!!! Oh Andy Summers, ouch!). But “Ducks” is the 1968 masterpiece. A total artwork. A monster that will not shut up or stop spiralling around and around as

"Cease trying to work everything out with your minds. It will get you nowhere. Live by intuition and inspiration and let your whole life be Revelation."

- Eileen Caddy

Awesome gravy found on VegWeb

I Can't Believe It's Vegan Gravy!

Ingredients (use vegan versions):

    1 vegetable bullion cube
    2 cups water
    1/2 teaspoon onion powder
    few good dashes garlic powder
    2 heaped tablespoons nutritional yeast
    few good dashes soy sauce
    1/2 teaspoon mustard
    1/4-1/2 cup flour, as needed (I use brown rice flour)
    1 tablespoon vegan butter
    sea salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients in pot, and bring to boil.

2. Cook on medium low heat until done.

I sometimes like to add a little pinch of sage as well. This goes great over everything! My Dad (avid meat eater) says that this gravy is delicious!

Serves: Enough for a dinner with several people, Preparation time: 15 minutes
'

More Tama J Kieves

When you're between worlds you may need to sample new lives. Start taking classes, reading books, seeing what hooks you now. Invite curiosity with you, but keep decisiveness on a short leash. Visit the cult, don't join it. Play, sample, and dabble. Don't be concerned that you are not committing, incorporating or building a website, hiring staff, and appearing on the Today show within the week. That's the point. I don't want you to grab at anything. I want you to be grabbed by it. That's when effortlessness enters the room.

Roasted Acorn Squash . . .

Found this on vegweb, must try it soon!

Roasted Acorn Squash Stuffed with Wild Rice, Pecan and Cranberry

Ingredients (use vegan versions):

    3 acorn squashes, cut in half and seeded
    2 tablespoons + 1 tablespoon olive oil, divided
    2 medium yellow onions, diced
    3 stalks celery, diced
    1/2 teaspoon dried sage
    1/2 teaspoon salt
    2 cups mix of whole grain rice varieties (I use Lundberg Wild Rice Blend)
    3 cups vegetable stock
    3/4 cup pecans, toasted and roughly chopped
    1/2 cup dried cranberries
    1 cup scallion greens, thinly sliced on a bias
    salt, to taste
    pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Brush acorn squash halves with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and place cut-side down on a parchment-lined baking sheet and set aside.

2. In an oven-safe saucepan, heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Add the onions, celery, sage and salt; cook over medium-high heat until onions are translucent, stirring frequently. Add the rice; cook for a few minutes to toast. Add the broth and bring to a boil.

3. Cover saucepan with oven-safe lid and place saucepan. Place both the saucepan and sheet of squash in the oven. Bake rice mixture for 45 to 50 minutes, or until liquids have absorbed. Bake acorn squash for 45 minutes, or until squash flesh is soft and surface is browned.

4. Let rice sit, covered, for 10 minutes. Uncover and toss rice with pecans, dried cranberries, and scallion greens. Add salt and pepper.

5. Stuff each squash half with a 1/2 to 3/4 cup of rice mixture and serve with side of Roasted Brussels Sprouts and a liberal amount of Cranberry-Pecan Sauce.

This recipe is courtesy of Chef Jesse Miner: http://chefjesseminer.com/

Vegan Buttery Rolls

Vegan Butterflake Rolls

Posted on November 15, 2010 | 10 Comments

Thanksgiving is right around the corner, and I’ve decided to take a quick break from my mostly healthy recipes and bring you something quite the opposite. I spent the better part of the day perfecting these vegan butterflake rolls, and they came out of the oven more buttery, flaky, and delicious than I could have hoped!

Not only do they look great, but once you peel back a few layers and slip in a bit of fresh Earth Balance, they’re downright perfect!

Ingredients (18 rolls)
1 tablespoon yeast
1/8 cup warm water
1 egg replacer (I used Ener-G Egg Replacer)
1/6 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons unsweetened, unflavored almond or soy milk
1/2 cup hot water
4 tablespoons Earth Balance at room temperature, plus more for serving
2 1/2 – 3 cups all-purpose flour

A standard sized muffin pan and your preferred rolling device (such as a rolling pin or wine bottle) will be necessary.

Method
In a small dish, mix yeast in warm water until dissolved. In a mixing bowl, Add sugar and salt to pre-mixed egg replacer. Beat in milk and hot water until well-mixed. Add dissolved yeast and beat.

Using a wooden spoon, mix in about 2 1/2 cups of flour, adding more (up to 3 cups) as necessary to make a soft dough. Knead dough a few times.

Roll out dough to 1/2 inch thickness and spread with a thin layer of butter (it should be about 1 tablespoon). The back of a tablespoon or your fingers work well for spreading. Repeat this 4 more times.

Finally, do not butter after the last fold, but roll into 1/2 inch thickness and cut 1×1 inch squares, and place 3-4 squares upright in each non-stick sprayed muffin tin. Let rise about 45-60 minutes, or until well risen.

Bake in middle rack at 400° F for 15 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm with a dish of Earth Balance.

Gary Snyder reposted by Arthur Magazine

“Things That Really Work”
by Gary Snyder

DON’T MOVE!

Without further rhetoric or utopian scheming, I have a simple suggestion that if followed would begin to bring wilderness, farmers, people, and the economies back. That is: don’t move. Stay still. Once you find a place that feels halfway right, and it seems time, settle down with a vow not to move any more. Then, take a look at one place on earth, one circle of people, on realm of beings over time, conviviality and maintenance will improve. School boards and planning commissions will have better people on them, and larger and more widely concerned audiences will be attending. Small environmental issues will be attended to. More voters will turn out, because local issues at least make a difference, can be won—and national scale politics too might improve, with enough folks getting out there. People begin to really notice the plants, birds, stars, when they see themselves as members of a place. Not only do they begin to work the soil, they go out hiking, explore the back country or the beach, get on the Freddies’ ass for mismanaging Peoples’ land, and doing that as locals counts! Early settlers, old folks, are valued and respected, we make an effort to learn their stories and pass it on to our children, who will live here too. We look deeply back in time to the original inhabitants, and far ahead to our own descendants, in the mind of knowing a context, with its own kind of tools, boots, songs. Mainstream thinkers have overlooked it: real people stay put. And when things are coasting along ok, they can also take off and travel, there’s no delight like swapping stories downstream. Don’t Move! I’d say this really works because here on our side of the Sierra, Yuba river country, we can begin to see some fruits of a mere fifteen years’ inhabitation, it looks good.

From the Upriver/Downriver newsletter Number 10, circa 1991…

On Fear and not speaking from it via The Dreaming Cafe

Fear is a natural part of life. It helps us stay alert and is a self-preservation state of being, but fear that rises up and stops us from doing what we want to do and need to do and stops us from becoming who we were meant to be needs to be moved through or worked around. We need to act despite the fear.

When I find her words falling out of my mouth, I apologize to whomever I just spoke them to and then try to replace them with my own voice.

I don’t want to dictate to others, to force my way of being onto them or stifle their own uniqueness. I don’t want to let my fears become their fears.

I want my voice to offer support, kindness and unconditional love and acceptance.

Ernest Holmes on Letting Go . . .

She Let Go
She let go. Without a thought or a word, she let go.

She let go of the fear. She let go of the judgments. She let go of the confluence of opinions swarming around her head. She let go of the committee of indecision within her. She let go of all the ‘right’ reasons. Wholly and completely, without hesitation or worry, she just let go.

She didn’t ask anyone for advice. She didn’t read a book on how to let go. She didn’t search the scriptures. She just let go. She let go of all of the memories that held her back. She let go of all of the anxiety that kept her from moving forward. She let go of the planning and all of the calculations about how to do it just right.

She didn’t promise to let go. She didn’t journal about it. She didn’t write the projected date in her Day-Timer. She made no public announcement and put no ad in the paper. She didn’t check the weather report or read her daily horoscope. She just let go.

She didn’t analyze whether she should let go. She didn’t call her friends to discuss the matter. She didn’t do a five-step Spiritual Mind Treatment. She didn’t call the prayer line. She didn’t utter one word. She just let go.

No one was around when it happened. There was no applause or congratulations. No one thanked her or praised her. No one noticed a thing. Like a leaf falling from a tree, she just let go.

There was no effort. There was no struggle. It wasn’t good and it wasn’t bad. It was what it was, and it is just that.

In the space of letting go, she let it all be. A small smile came over her face. A light breeze blew through her. And the sun and the moon shone forevermore.

By: Ernest Holmes

Vegan Thanksgiving Dessert

Chloe Coscarelli’s
Chocolate-Pumpkin Bread Pudding

This warm pumpkin bread pudding has a dash of spice and is studded with chocolate chips. It’s a rich and creamy dessert that’s free of dairy and eggs but will leave everyone feeling indulged.

1 cup coconut milk
1 15 ounce can organic pumpkin
1/2 cup brown sugar (can use maple syrup)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon cloves
10 cups cubed day-old bread of your choice (about 10 to 12 slices of sandwich bread, depending on the thickness of slices)
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips (Guittard and Ghirardelli are among those that are nondairy)
2 tablespoons brown sugar
Powdered sugar for dusting (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 14 4-ounce ramekins (single-serving ceramic dishes) or a 9-by-13-by-2-inch baking dish.

2. In a blender, process coconut milk, pumpkin, brown sugar, salt and spices until smooth. In a large bowl, toss the bread cubes with the pumpkin mixture and chocolate chips until each bread cube is coated.

3. If using ramekins: Evenly sprinkle about 1/2 teaspoon brown sugar into the bottom of each greased ramekin. Fill each ramekin to the top with the mixture and lightly press it down with the back of a spoon. If using a 9-by-13 baking dish: Fill the baking dish with the mixture and lightly press it down with the back of a spoon. Evenly sprinkle about 2 tablespoons brown sugar over the top of the bread pudding. The brown sugar will help the pudding to caramelize on the edges. (Steps 1 through 3 can be done up to three days in advance; store covered in the refrigerator.)

4. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until top is lightly browned. If using ramekins: Let the pudding cool a few minutes, then carve around the edges with a knife to loosen and unmold. Garnish with powdered sugar if desired and serve warm. If using a 9-by-13 baking dish: Let the pudding cool a few minutes before serving. Cut into portions, then garnish with powdered sugar if desired and serve warm. The pudding can be baked right before serving or earlier that day and then reheated for 8 to 10 more minutes right before serving.

Yield: Serves 14.