so, i got through the 7 part podcast as i tried to force my iron levels up and, as i said at the start - this is an old standard. it's truly the greatest story ever written, and i can't claim i learned much while watching it, even as i enjoyed listening to it. 

what i was really doing was reconnaissance on the guy to see if it's worth checking out his other stuff or not, and i'm going to give it a go, although i might not stick with it. he seems to talk a lot of confederate history, and i'm not sure if that's because it's what he likes or if it's because it's what he knows.

what i'll say is this, though: if we're going to talk about this kind of history, i actually insist on a western bias underlying it, and there seems to be one here. i just want it to be fair in it's analysis. you don't have to be a racist to be on the west's side, and that's what i want - somebody that tells the story from a eurocentric perspective, without going overboard on it.

so, i'm cautiously continuing, and we'll see if i stick with it or not.

https://www.youtube.com/c/FlashPointHistory/videos

i haven't watched this yet, but i'll bite first and then watch it after - the truth is that history did go the other way in the end, it just took another thousand years to get there. what was the eventual arab empire in northern africa if not a neo-carthaginian empire? there were invasions of sicily, eventually undone by a byzantine-norman alliance. and what was the reconquista if not a repetition of history? so, what happens in the end is that carthage is not destroyed after all, but is merely put into hibernation, to return with the arab migration. there's some bias in seeing the world as it is and declaring that history is over (something i generally tend to avoid, as per the famous and often misunderstood quote by fukuyama), but there seems to be stability here in allowing carthage dominion over africa and rome control over europe. so, is there a historian that argues that geography is destiny, the way that marx argues for the role of class and technology in the unfolding of history? i'm not aware of one, but i'd suppose it's probably the unavoidable truth of it - you can fight over the islands if you insist, but the continental shelf decides the outcome, in the end.

somebody living in a future where tunisia joins the eu, or spain joins the arab league, may disagree. but, i think the point is that both potential outcomes are relatively remote - and unstable should they develop in the short term.

so, let me watch this, now.

"just wait until eric idle hears of this!"

ok.

1) might pyrrhus have tried to use the substantive existing presence of greeks in france and spain to build an alliance with the celts? massalia, for example, was at this point a somewhat ancient greek stronghold. and, that's something you sort of glossed over - that the greeks were definitely in spain before either the carthaginians or the romans. if so, it opens up the other side of the map, and it puts pyyrhus, rather than rome, in charge of the first western empire.

2) i'm going to go with you with the romans as carthaginian mercenaries, but i'm going to finish the thought - this kind of thing is frequent in both roman but especially in arab history, as they frequently hired northern mercenaries and then watched them revolt. so, you ended up with the mamlukes in egypt, for example, which then took over the ottomans from the inside, as well. it's entirely plausible on it's face that the carthaginians may have hired romans to fight, but it would have no doubt backfired and let the romans take them out from the inside.

3) nonetheless, that map you present is essentially the map of medieval europe, except that carthaginians/arabs get spain and the romans/europeans get turkey. both those positions are untenable, but that configuration may have existed at some point, sure. i don't suppose that this observation is coincidence.

in the end, i think you get that continental stability, regardless, and nothing much really changes in terms of outcomes.

- i don't think second-guessing hannibal's decision to avoid attacking rome is worthwhile. he went for naples instead, and couldn't do it. i see no reason at all to think that he had any realistic chance invading rome whatsoever, and his decision to avoid it was no doubt the correct one.

- the idea of archimedes meeting up with hannibal is interesting, but i think you want to look at how einstein reacted to hitler to get an idea about what he would have really thought of hannibal. the histories of antiquity aside, hannibal was, of course, a horrible war criminal. there is more than a tactical issue separating the moral questions of defense from offense within war, and i suspect that the learned archimedes would have seen hannibal as a monster rather than as a would be collaborator. i don't think he would have willingly worked with the romans either, and have long suspected that the story about him being slain is really a gloss over his refusal to work with the invaders, rather than a foreshadowing of the death of anton webern.

- likewise, i can't imagine hasdrubal doing much more than drawing the process out. so long as the carthaginian senate was what it was, the details are mostly irrelevant - and it's just a matter of time before the punic forces starve to death.

you also have to wonder if the brothers might have quarrelled amongst themselves, as the normans did when in the same scenario centuries later.

there's a giant shit coming though, let me tell you - a movement so profound, as to move mountains.

so, it happened again, and, this time, i'm going to force myself to eat my evening meal early - and probably fall asleep as soon as it's done.

so, all i've been doing for days is eating and sleeping it off....

under normal circumstances, i probably would have skipped 30-50% of those meals and spent 2-3x the time working, instead. but, you saw my iron levels. i have to figure this out.

the moment of truth will be monday or tuesday and i'll be able to figure things out from there.

for now?

i still need to finish what i was doing. but, i'll be done these eggs fairly soon, and ready to sit down and do it.

exciting news...

brown shit.

if i'm bleeding, it's not constant.

today's post is inri013.

====

this was not initially constructed as a standalone work, but it became one almost the moment that it was constructed. there was always an intent to combine the sexuality themed tracks together at the front of my first record, but the initial idea was something more like frontloading the disc than building a cohesive work. it just happened to build itself up that way, and was truly apparent as such on the very first listen. even the phantom of the opera cover in the middle of the track became topical in a sort of subversive way. 

i first broke the piece off into a standalone file in the spring of 2014 as a mirror image to the sequence that ends my second record, which actually *was* consciously written as a single work all the way back in 1996 (and appears that way at the end of the very first demo tape). i thought that if the second record was going to have an epic then the first should as well. as the first six tracks had long been a subset in my mind, this was a natural thing to do. the title of the track was first published as an upload to youtube in mar, 2014 on the deathtokoalas channel, which is now deleted. 

i did not initially number these tracks as symphonies due to their incorporation of childish vocals, although i had planned to include them on any symphonic compilation discs, nonetheless. i saw them more as proto-symphonies - or just as beginner epics, where i was finding my feet but ultimately still working out ideas. 

it wasn't until i finished reclaiming my 1998 demos from tape at the end of 2015 that i realized that i could resequence my first two records from scratch and republish them as instrumental works. the ability to reclaim these two epics as instrumental works, and consequently as full symphonies, followed as a corollary of this. it was consequently not until january, 2016 that i finally elevated the instrumental reconstruction of this recording to the level of my first official symphony, which is where it will now exist into perpetuity: eternally, finally. 

the focus in reconstruction was to erect a final version rather than conform to the original mix, so later versions were prioritized over earlier ones. the first through fourth sections are very similar to the original album mix, whereas the fifth and sixth sections have been replaced with expanded mixes. 

once the instrumental version had been constructed for the record, i felt i had lost something by removing the vocals - or at least some of them. in the context of the improved master, i felt an edited vocal take could actually elevate the symphony to a different and surreal level, if presented in the right context. this context could not be on the record, though, which had to be fully instrumental. instead, i decided to place the vocal reconstruction as a standalone single, with the instrumental as a flip side to it. 

this is an incredibly dense piece of music that i'm proud to finally place in the serious part of my discography. 

written and demoed from 1994-1998. initially constructed in this form in june, 1998. a failed rescue was attempted in 2013. sequenced on jan 6-7, 2016 from parts that were rebuilt over 2013-2016. released jan 7, 2016. finalized on july 29, 2016. this is my first symphony; as always, please use headphones. 

section one: initially written & recorded in 1997. re-recorded in 1998. a failed rescue was attempted in 2013. remastered from various sources on jan 6, 2016. 

section two: initially written in 1994. first full recording in 1996. recreated in mar, 1998. a failed rescue was attempted in 2013. reclaimed on july 18, 2015. sequenced jan 6, 2016. vocals added on jan 7, 2016. 

section three: initially written by andrew lloyd webber. recorded in 1998. a failed rescue was attempted in 2013. remastered from various sources on jan 6, 2016. 

section four: originally created in jan, 1998. a failed rescue was attempted in 2013. reclaimed on july 5, 2015. expanded on jan 3, 2016 & sequenced on jan 6, 2016. vocals added on jan 7, 2016. 

section five: written june, 1998. reimagined june, 2001. slightly rearranged and re-rendered at the end of july, 2014. rearranged again at the end of may, 2015. remastered from the 2014 & 2015 sources on jan 6, 2016. 

section six: initially written in 1997. recreated in feb, 1998. a failed rescue was attempted in 2013. reclaimed july 5, 2015. remixed july 12, 2015. vocals and electronics added on july 16, 2015. sequenced on jan 6, 2016. 

the album version of this track appears on my first record, inri (inri015): jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/inri-3 

this recording is a part of the following collections: 

1) inriℵ0: jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/flac-dvd-disc-volume-1 

2) inriℵ1: jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/inri-box-set 

3) inriℵ4: jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/mp3-dvd-disc-volume-1 

4) inriℵ6: jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/period-1 

5) inriℵ12: jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/symphonic-works-volume-1 

6)) inriℵ17: jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/flac-bd-disc-volume-1 

this release also includes a printable jewel case insert and will also eventually include a comprehensive package of journal entries from all phases of production (1996, 1997, 1998, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016).

released june 6, 1998 

j - guitars, effects, bass, synthesizers, vocals, drum programming, orchestral & other sequencing, cool edit synthesis, sampling, found sounds (washing machine), metronome, digital wave editing, production 

the rendered electronic orchestra includes piano, electric guitar, orchestra hit, pizzicato strings, synth pads, violin, viola, cello, contrabass, electric bass, tubular bells and flute.

for the rest of the morning, i'm still trying to finish that mega "where was i?" post, and one thing i want to add to it right here and now and that i've tended to ignore is the medium of film.

i stopped watching movies roughly 20 years ago and never talk about them anymore. but, i used to watch lots and lots and lots of them, and if i'm doing this, i should add it in as a review category - not just music and books, but films, at least of a certain age, as well.

and, while i expect to be exceedingly judicious in moving forwards with deciding on what sorts of films i may want to catch up on, the truth is that i've got 20 years worth of media in front of me to sort through, and i should make some attempt to pull out the ones that are worthwhile - even if my opinions are wildly divergent from those of the people around me.

if i'm going to watch a film, i want it to be a profound drama with a good psychological twist. i don't have time for macho action flicks, i don't have time for flashy sci fi movies and i don't have time for vacuous rom coms. that scratches 98% of the blockbuster films off of the list. but, there was a time when i liked a good robin williams or jim carrey film.

i don't even know where to look in trying to catch up on stuff like that but i should make some kind of an effort, and i'll want to take note of release dates for this third media item, at least through the 90s when i tuned out due to a lack of interest.

remember when white women burned their bras?

it would be nice to see muslim women burn their veils.

that's where i am ideologically - and not in some backwards space of cultural relativism, that inevitably just leads to the return of a conservative autocracy.

is the fact that i keep falling asleep evidence that i'm not absorbing iron?

no - because digestion is energy intensive. it's certainly suggesting that all this eating is taking a lot out of me, but that's jumping to conclusions. it's not looking good, though. we'll find out next week.

it's dry and dusty in here and i'm going to need to vacuum again - that seems to be a daily task in here if i want to really keep it clean. but, the smell is much better than it was previously, and i don't smell any drugs right now, nor did i last night.

so, let me do some cleaning and drink some coffee in order to wake up a little and then try to get back to work.

so......no.

i tried to stay up all night and get some work done, and i just fell asleep around 23:00 instead.

here we go again - i have a huge amount to eat and we'll go from there.