Category: Bibliography

This is a series on architecture, building and urban planning, subjects I’ve always liked. It’s more than that, though, because it’s about how humans live and build and how they fit in and repair the man-made and natural environment. It also defines a way of looking at and designing and building interrelated and interacting systems of varying scales-pattern languages. These are books for the ages. Software developers have recently found out about pattern languages, but haven’t yet come up with a good pattern set…They ARE trying, though… I also read the Nature of Order, a difficult and complex quartet of books. Basically, he says that everything is living, and that things can be made more living by getting them closer of the essential “I” in everything. This is done by applying simple principles over and over until it’s right.

I found out about Laurie Anderson (and Philip Glass) in 1984 while taking an electronic music class. She has a great way of using her voice. Basically, she’s a performance artist/storyteller, but her music is intriguing, and she’s rather funny…I’ve seen her several times and I think she’s enchanting. This album is 4 CDs long, and can be difficult…get Mr. Heartbreak for something more accessible.

This band was popular in the ’80’s, and I was really into them for a while. The EDM (electronic dance music) crowd rediscovered them, so they were 10 years ahead of their time… This album is still the best of theirs-good textures, innovative use of samples, sequencing, and production-a highlight of the Fairlight art. I put it on as part of my EDM shuffle set.

I read Jonathan Livingston Seagull when I was a kid-it’s still an enchanting story (short, too!). Illusions presents much more substantial spiritual material in the guise of a story, and it doesn’t have the mush and fluff of his later books (IMO…) Read it if you get a chance-it’s an easy way into this area of spirituality…

Well, this is source material… It’s the Hindu gospel of love (bhakti yoga). It comes as part of a huge epic called the Mahabharata, and is a dialogue taking place just before a huge battle. I read it when I was young, in college, and I still read it occasionally. If you’re into spirituality, read it-it’s very good and rather short.

If you write software, or are involved in huge projects with a lot of people, read this book. The author was head of one of the largest software projects of the ’60’s-the IBM 360 OS-and this book is what he learned. Basically, the premise is that you can’t throw people at a project to get it done sooner. A classic in the genre.

This one is SF, and what got me started into computers. It’s set in the near future-now, basically, since Brunner wrote it in the early ’70’s-and it’s eerie (his others-in particular Stand on Zanzibar and The Sheep Look Up-are similarly eerie…). This guy has an ID that enables him to change his life at will-he’s also a hacker genius. This book details his implosion and how he finds himself and saves the world.

I was a fan of Talking Heads, and this album is another one of those ahead of its time recordings. I’m also a fan of Eno, and this album is very strange and surprisingly danceable. There’s an excerpt from an exorcism…More good EDM stuff. You can get the tracks for 2 of the songs on this and remix it.

This is the latest in a series that started with The Tao of Physics. The author is a physicist who advocates a wholistic worldview (as opposed to a reductionist, materialistic POV). He takes this from the latest discoveries in physics, math and biology. There’s also a film, Mindwalk, that goes with his previous book. It’s a good introduction into some of my current areas of thought.

I read this series of books when I was a teenager-I was fascinated by the descriptions of altered perceptual states, the exercises and the ritual drug use. It’s a weird combination of fiction and reality-the best stories always are, right? I now find it to be funny exercise in cultural blindness, and I like the concept of assemblage points.

Crowley is one of those fascinating characters-reviled by some, worshipped by others. Whatever his character flaws, he sure knew his stuff-Thoth is a description of Tarot, and extraordinarily complex Kabbalah, mythology, and the kitchen sink of spiritual relationships. A must if you’re into Tarot.

Another software book-but it also is great for those who have anything to do with people at work. DeMarco & Lister are giants in the systems development field, and this book is one of the reasons why. It’s practical, funny, and useful-lots of tips, traps and examples. It’s about what they’ve learned about managing people-specifically in programming, but it can be generalized to anyone.

More source material-this time from Buddhism. This is the original Buddhist text. What to do to eliminate the source of suffering in our lives is the crux of Buddhism-all the rest is commentary and embellishment. These aphorisms give a framework for the process of eliminating suffering.

Ambient music is fascinating-music that isn’t supposed to be listened to…but is supposed to be in the background. These three form material that will fill a space with sound that you can live in.

This film is stunning-images and music-no narrative, story or characters-just images and music. It’s a relative of the Reggio material-Fricke was the cinematographer-but expands the language. I think it’s much deeper and less strident. Some of the images are staggering. Watch it in the theater if you can-it’s not played very often. There’s a sequel: Samsara.

Fuller is one of the most original thinkers of the 20th century-he invented geodesic domes and the word synergy. This book is thick, complex and difficult, but valuable to understand, as Fuller builds systems and geometry from first principles. It took me a whole summer to read…and I haven’t even touched the sequel yet.

Gabriel has a storied career-he was with Genesis, left, got popular, and now champions world music and human rights causes. He’s a cool guy. I like his soundtracks more than I do his pop stuff. Passion is the soundtrack to the film The Last Temptation of Christ. It’s amazing, deep, rhythmic, spiritual. I used one track to fly my ballet kite routine to… IV is more of a pop album, but has some great tracks on it-his storytelling is fantastic…as is the music. Birdy and Rabbit-proof Fence are good too.

If you like repetition, get Einstein on the Beach. It’s a 4 CD long opera…very much an acquired taste. I watched the opera online in ’15. Powwaqatsi is a soundtrack and much, much better-I think it’s his best work. FYI, Glass is a modern composer-he works by combining repetition and arpeggios that slowly mutate and change over a piece. It’s trancelike… There’s a DVD of the piece performed in Paris in 2014-I watched it online.

This is early Dead-strange & spacey-there’s not a lot of “songs” on it-just long strange jams. Great for getting away from it all into another space. That’s what I use it for…

This is from the Tibetan monks of the Gyuto monastery. These chants are part of a religious ceremony. It’s NOT music, but worship. Use it to meditate to-you’ll go somewhere else (I did when I saw them, a wonderful experience-they’re really friendly people too). Kudos to Mickey Hart for this!