Queen of the Gutter by iServalan and Tale Teller Club

She was the Queen of the Gutter

The men they would want her

For the scent of her skin

In which they could swim

Skimming her dreams

For she, 

She was 

the Queen of the gutter

And the world watched her bleed

In her only good dress

And her face was a mess

A dirty goddess

But Always,

Always the Queen

Of the gutter

Her plinth of blue glass

Were shards of her past

Jacking up

Cracking up

Daily romance

But still

Still she was

Queen

Of the gutter

They were glass breakers

The haters of love 

In their beautiful masks

And they fingered her hard

Because she,

She was the Queen

Of the gutter

And when she was gone

More came along

Queens from the beach

From the hills and the streets

From the rains and hail

They rose from the drains

And these,

These are the Queens

The Queens of the gutter

©2024 Sarnia de la Maré

Esubalew Yetayew - Chaw Tilina | ቻው ትልና - New Ethiopian Music 2022 (Lyri...

🎹 Music by Ursula Creighton, Featured Music Books by iServalan™ #music #education #appreciation

Ursula Creighton, a pianist and piano teacher, left her mark in the world of music. Although not widely known, her passion for music shines through her work. Let’s explore some aspects of her musical journey:

1. LibriVox Recording: Ursula Creighton’s book titled “Music” is available as a LibriVox recording. In this delightful work, she shares her love for music, discussing various topics such as early music, Greek music, folk music, rhythm, melody, harmony, and qualities of sound. Her fresh and unconventional perspective makes this book an enjoyable read for music enthusiasts¹.

2. Background: Ursula Creighton studied and taught at the Royal Academy of Music. Her influence extended to the early 20th century, and she continued to inspire even in her later years, despite facing health challenges².

3. Other Works: Besides “Music,” Ursula Creighton authored other books related to music. For instance, her work titled “Music (The Simple Guide Series)” was published by Chatto and Windus in 1928³.

In summary, Ursula Creighton’s passion for music resonates through her writings, making her a cherished figure in the world of musical appreciation. 🎶📚

Music
by Ursula Creighton


LibriVox recording of Music by Ursula Creighton.
Read in English by Martha H. Weller.

"So many books are written for beginners on the appreciation of music that I can be thankful that advancing age makes it unnecessary for me to read them, and when I do have to look into any of them I wonder whether the young people of to-day derive as much pleasure from them as I did at eighteen from reading Sir John Hawkins’ History of Music. But I have read this book of Mrs. Creighton’s with much enjoyment, for she is a musician who enjoys music herself and has the art of conveying that enjoyment to others. She has had enough experience as a teacher of the pianoforte to understand the minds of youthful readers, but she has the good fortune to have had no experience of lecturing to appreciation classes. This gives her book a fresh and unconventional point of view. She does not trouble her readers with a mass of historical detail, but talks about the music which she has herself heard and enjoyed. She spares us the well-worn (and in most cases unauthenticated) anecdotes about the great composers ; she prefers to tell us things which help us to realize the social environment in which they lived and made their music. It is a book for those who enjoy music and like to read about it for their own pleasure rather than from fear of examinations ; and one advantage of its discursiveness is that it can be enjoyed by those who like to read comfortably, dipping here and there at haphazard." (from Preface, by Edward J. Dent)

Immersion V1 Strata 3, Flex and the Robo-Dog (Making Decisions)

  

Strata 3, Book of Immersion V1, Flex and the Robo-Dog (Making Decisions)

Welcome to Immersion

You have reached strata 3.

Decisions are the cusp between reality and possibility. Decisive actions create a continuously evolving universe for sentient beings where fate can immobilise actions and defeat progress. The decision-makers hold power over themselves, and, more often than not, over others.


Androids programmed to learn can aid decision-making when dealing with complex data, intricate parameters, and variables that surpass human understanding.
Often they excel at making accurate choices within their defined boundaries. However, an android will not excel in addressing intangible
aspects of human decision-making. Ethical dilemmas, moral considerations, and other human factors that significantly influence our lives and shape society are neither considered nor understood by a machine.

****

Maybeline was sitting on Renyke's shoulder cleaning herself. Renyke collected bugs from the alley and analysed their chemical and biological structure.

There was a bag next to where he had woken, a large backpack, beside a long leather coat. Renyke took some time to look in the bag attempting to remember how he had arrived in the alley. Nothing seemed familiar.

'What are all these things?' he asked the POS.

These are standard-issue SAS munitions from the 21st century.....

It occurred to Renyke that he could interrogate the POS for more information.

'Why am I here?
Where have I come from?'

There was a long pause before the POS answered.

...I do not have access to that information. My software was set to launch when we arrived. There is no accessible historical data at my disposal...

Catching himself in a window reflection Renyke put on the dark glasses he had found in the pocket of the coat.

'We look pretty good Maybeline,' he remarked, surprised by his unfamiliar vanity.

Mabeline nestled into Renyke's neck as they left the relative safety of the alley and entered the foreboding street.

They were in the centre of a busy metropolis. There was a lot of activity with people shouting, bartering goods and moving quickly about the place. There were small groups of brightly dressed individuals congregating around stationary vehicles. Some were smoking pipes. Small hazy clouds hovered above them trapping the weak rays of the sun. The towering semi-derelict buildings created shadowy corners where small fires provided more light and warmth.

The vehicles appeared to be a mix of old-fashioned motorised cabins from transportation systems and helicopters. There were some long-legged hybrids; electric solar-engine mashups that looked like menacing metal insects.
Renyke's detectors showed the air comprised mostly of oxygen with low levels of other chemicals: chlorine, sulfur, silicone, fluorine polymers and plasticisers.

'Hey, dude from the *Brightside, you want some *nibs?'

A man hovered expectantly, somewhat close for comfort. He looked dishevelled and alert as he checked all directions and avoided eye contact with Renyke.

Renyke checked his POS for 'nibs'.

......A drug used by nearly half the world's population that creates euphoria and doubles strength for a limited period. It can cause temporary and permanent coma. Long-term effects; brain rot......

'How much?' asked Renyke, whose algorithm was set to absorb all information about humans.

'I can do you a deal' said the man, '50 *bits.... Or the Rat'.

Renyke checked the POS for bits.

.....Bits: street talk for gold, silver, uranium and other metal nuggets used in the black and grey economy without government authority....

'I have no bits,' said Renyke.

'Hahahahahaha'.........' see you in hell brother!' shouted the man as he danced away on long legs and a demeanour that seemed at odds with his situation.

In the midcasts, happiness came with security and expectation. digital and technological lives were formatted for predictability and reliability. The present and the future were reliable and predictable. Although Renyke was struggling to remember details, he knew that this place was not what he was used to.

A fat man in a fur coat whistled.

'Hey girly, you want some dirty action? I'll take that rodent off your hands if you need some sexy time.'

A warning comes from the POS.

.....Danger! Immediate! Ground Level!....

A robot dog was barking loudly at Maybeline who was now snarling and making a shrieking noise.

For a fraction of a second Renyke analysed all the variables and consequences of his next actions.

The options were endless. The POS created a fleeting map of the most probable scenarios and outcomes that sprawled a multidimensional time map like a mathematical cobweb.

He could immobilise the robo-dog, tame it and use it, sell it, break it up and separate its useful component parts, analyse its database for information, absorb its operating system, or, he could ignore it.

Renyke began to ponder his skill set remembering that he was an excellent chess player. Single decisions about actions that he could make foresaw a million possibilities. Theoretically, this allowed for finely tuned activities and performance with very little or zero harm caused to his previous owners. Indeed, this forward-thinking ability had marked machines as superior in operation to humans who were narrow thinkers and only able to make selfish and immediate decisions based on emotional desire without reference to consequences.

The robo-dog opened its mouth and bit Renyke's ankle.

© 2023 Sarnia de la Maré

Links to episodes of Immersion written and illustrated by Sarnia de la Maré FRSA, published by Tale Teller Club

Strata 1
Strata 2
Strata 3
Strata 4
Strata 5
Strata 6
Strata 7
Strata 8
Strata 9
Strata 10
Strata 11
Strata 12
Strata 13
Strata 14
Strata 15
Strata 16
Strata17
Strata 18
Strata 19
Strata 21

Glossary
Buy Posters and Prints
Art by Sarnia

Songs of Innocence and Experience by William Blake, free lyrics and podcasts

“Songs of Innocence and Experience” is a collection of illustrated poems by William Blake1. The work compiles two contrasting but directly related books of poetry.

Songs of Innocence honors and praises the natural world, the natural innocence of children, and their close relationship to God2. It was originally a complete collection of 23 poems first printed in 17891. This collection mainly shows happy, innocent perception in pastoral harmony, but at times, subtly shows the dangers of this naïve and vulnerable state.

Songs of Experience contains much darker, disillusioned poems, which deal with serious, often political themes2. It is a collection of 26 poems forming the second part of Songs of Innocence and of Experience1. The poems were published in 1794.

Blake was also a painter before the creation of Songs of Innocence and of Experience and he engraved, hand-printed, and colored detailed art to accompany each of the poems in Songs of Innocence and of Experience1. This unique art helps tell the story of each poem, and was part of Blake’s original vision for how each poem should be understood.

The text of the poem and the accompanying illustration formed an integrated whole, each adding meaning to the other3. The Songs are now often studied for their literary merit alone, but they were originally produced as illuminated books.

For example, one of the poems from Songs of Innocence, “Holy Thursday”, describes the annual Holy Thursday (Ascension Day) service in St Paul’s Cathedral for the poor children of the London charity schools3. The poem is based on the contrast between the ‘innocent faces’ of the children and the authority of the ‘grey headed beadles’ and the other ‘aged men’ who act as their guardians.

In summary, “Songs of Innocence and Experience” is a profound exploration of the two contrary states of the human soul, as seen through the innocent and experienced eyes of children and adults respectively.

Strata 2 The Maybe Line, Friendship, Immersion V1