3.12.2004
now a more convenient breed of cattle 
Silent sounds hit emotional chords
Tim Radford, science editor
Monday September 8, 2003
The Guardian

Scientists have found a way to add a spine-tingling dimension to modern music. They played an experimental organ pipe too low to be heard and then collected reports of strange reactions - sorrow, coldness, anxiety and shivers down the spine.

They were playing with infrasound, the point at which an instrument resonates at an inaudible frequency. The experiment was conducted during concerts of contemporary music at the Purcell Room in central London. "Infrasound has been suggested as weaponry because it has potentially negative effects on people as it vibrates the. Some people have suggested the presence of infrasound is causing unusual experiences in sites that are allegedly haunted," said Richard Wiseman, a psychologist at University of Hertfordshire, who will outline the research at the British Association festival. "Some organ pipes in churches and cathedrals produce infrasound and this could lead to people having very weird experiences within church and attributing it to God. We wanted to try to assess some of these claims."

The guinea pigs were 750 concertgoers who turned up to listen to music by Philip Glass, Pärt, Debussy and more recent composers - including Sarah Angliss, who joined the scientists in devising the experiment. Humans hear at a range of frequencies from 20kilohertz down to 20hertz - lower than a bat's squeak, higher than a whale's rumble. But some organ pipes produce frequencies as low as 16.4 herz.

To test the theory that infrasound could trigger sensations, the researchers worked with physicists to add silent notes to parts of the music. They also handed questionnaires to the concertgoers to see if any unusual sensations
coincided with inaudible bass lines. One of the ghost instrumentalists monitoring the bad vibes was Richard Lord of
the National Physical Laboratory. "It was a double blind experiment. I didn't even know, before the concert, which pieces the infrasound was going to be in." The audience reported 22% more "unusual experiences" during those pieces accompanied by infrasound. They reported "shivering on my wrist, an odd feeling in the stomach, increased heart rate, feeling very anxious, a sudden memory of an emotional loss," said Prof Wiseman.

Natural sources of infrasound - wind, air conditioning systems and traffic for example - could possibly explain why there were persistent reports of hauntings in some buildings. But the environment would affect the attribution, he said. "If you walked into a modern building and suddenly felt sort of ill but didn't know why, it might be sick building syndrome. If you walk into an old Scottish castle with a reputation, that's a ghost."

Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2003

3.9.2004
two kinds of hell 
I sat in the same bar for 7 years, from 5 a.m.
(the day bartender let me in 2 hours early)
to 2 a.m.

sometimes I didn't even remember going back
to my room

it were as if I were sitting on the barstool
forever

I had no money but the drinks kept
arriving
to then I wasn't the bar clown
but the bar fool
but at times a fool will find a greater
fool to
admire him,
and,
it was a crowded
place

actually, I had a viewpoint: I was waiting for
something extraordinary to
happen

but as the years wasted on
nothing ever did unless I
caused it:

broken bar mirrors, a fight with a 7 foot
giant, a dalliance with a lesbian, many things
like the ability to call a spade a spade and to
settle arguments that I did not
begin and etc. and etc. and etc.

one day I just upped and left the
place

like that

and I began to drink alone and I found the company
quite all right

then, as if the gods were bored with my peace at
heart, knocks began upon my door: ladies
the gods had sent the ladies to the
fool

and the ladies arrived one at a time and when it ended with
one
the gods immediately--without allowing me any respite--sent
another

and each be.-an as a flash of miracle--even the bed--and the
good ended up
bad

my fault, of course, yes, that's what they told
me

but I remembered the 7 years in the bar, I hardly ever bedded
down with anybody

the gods just won't let a man drink alone, they are jealous of
his simple strength and salvation, they will send the lady
knocking upon that door
I remember all those cheap hotels, it were as if the women
were one: the delicate little rap on the wood and then:
"oh, I heard you playing that music on your radio...we're
neighbors, I'm down at 603 but I've never even seen you in
the hall..."

"come on in..."

and there go your balls and your sanctity, Men's Liberation,
they say, is not needed
and then you remember the bar
when you walked up behind the 7 foot giant and knocked his
cowboy hat off his head, yelling:
"I'll bet you sucked your mother's nipples until you were
12 years old!"

somebody in the bar saying: "hey, sir, forget it, he's a mental
case, he's an asshole, he doesn't know what he is
saying!"

"I know EXACTLY what I am saying and I'll say it again:
I'll bet you sucked..."

he won but you didn't die, not at all the way you died when the
gods arranged to get all those ladies knocking and you went for
the first flash of miracle

the other fight was more fair: he was slow, stupid and even a
little bit frightened and it went well for quite a good while,
just like with the ladies those gods
sent

the difference being, I thought I had a chance with the
ladies

Charles Bukowski
from "Third Lung Review" - 1992

3.1.2004
This will be explained soon. 

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