The Liminalist # 177: Certain Unknown Forces (with Gib Strange)

The invisible audience, interacting with listeners, the lurkers, aesthetic dissonance, the measure of a connection, Kafka and Van Gogh and the tortured artist, fear of the internet, sleep paralysis nightmare, certain unknown forces, the bad grandmother, I am the camera, a collective disembodiment project, movies and TV changing places, the cinematic universe, the Disney empire, Marvel comics, the secret wars, Wes Anderson’s bow-tie, the evolution of movies, Ted Hope at Amazon, how the industry revitalizes itself, the architecture of illusion, the big picture, computer-resurrected actors, Peter Cushing’s return, back to uncanny valley, Sean Young’s simulacra, the nostalgia industry, regurgitated childhood, suspension of disgust, seeking to recapture the first high, science advisors in Hollywood, the promise of superpowers, autists and traumagenesis, the midwives for A.I., William Burroughs on transhumanism & space travel, Crowley and Christianity’s slave gods, the astral body, Terence McKenna on the earth-womb, pushing for Mars, archetypal yearning and psyop, making a counterfeit current, a collective possession, a lineage of vampires, mythic generation, Carlos Castaneda, the old seers, the vampire and reptilian metaphors, ancestral iterations, belief in possession, Answer to Lucifer, meaning and meaninglessness, atheists with a leaning to the occult, a hawk story, Crowley & micromanaging a relationship to the universe, body knowing vs. mind concepts, different perspectives on possession, the middle zone, avoiding the poles, the conspiracy spectrum, the shadow of Sandy Hook, the desire to believe, self-help & conspiracy industry, the grand scheme of the herd, loops of self-sabotage, an innate sense of how to be, distrust of cultural figures, a cultural control system, a reassuringly paranoid worldview, from selling out to selling the soul, artistic integrity and audience indifference, erasing the middle, speaking about love, Notes from Uncanny Valley, Garbanzo, love receptacles, caretaking, the reluctant philanthropist.

Gib’s site.

Songs: “Slouching Towards Bremen” by Geoff Berner; “The Great Plains,” & “You Go First” by Krestovsky; “Hey Here Comes the Light” by Art of Flying; “These Words Are Yours,” by Hazelwood Motel

5 thoughts on “The Liminalist # 177: Certain Unknown Forces (with Gib Strange)”

  1. One of the things I really like about your conversations with Gib is the weirdly perfect comic timing that occasionally crops up between you two. For instance, that bit at the 1:03 mark where Jasun talks about people allowing themselves to be possessed “by something that transcends them,” which then lets them possess others via the power of “charisma and whatnot… and then you can possess others. And then you realize the dream, sort of. Well yeah, you do, but it’s a nightmare, ‘cuz uh, it’s… it was just a dream.”

    “Because you’re part of a lineage of vampires?” Gib asks, joking.

    “Well, yeah,” Jasun deadpans.

    And then to follow that up with a new song from Art of Flying—PERFECT!

    Reply
  2. Jasun, was struck by your point about giving love compared to being loved. Always thought the proverbial ‘better to give than receive’ was just to be taken on faith. Build up those altruistic credits for a future something or other. A death-bed half-smile perhaps. But it’s more immediate. That transference is also a stronger buzz. Especially as unworthiness hang-ups often queer the feeling when someone tries to give us love.

    Thanks for the insight.

    Like Darren said above/below. Love the flow when you two guys get together.

    Reply
    • Good to hear and thanks; I agree with you & Darren that Gib is a valuable asset to this space and as good a talking partner as I have had. Regular convos opens the possibility of a steady deepening of attention (along with trust and affection and yes, humor)

      Reply
  3. The “flying camera” dream culminating in the text repeating on a computer screen reminded me of The Shining (lots of flying shots, plus “all work and no play…” repeating on a typewriter). I wonder if Gib had seen The Shining yet by the time he had that dream.

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