Buddhafart: March 2007

brand new split 7 in from madison underground records!!!

MAN WITHOUT PLAN INTERVIEW (Summer 2003)

Lost entirely for nearly 4 years, found just 5 minutes ago an interview between myself and Barclay Mitchell! Enjoy.

1.) When and how can we North Americans get our grubby ears around the brand new Man Without Plan european release: FUTILITY METAPHORS!?

Let this serve then, as official notice that the Futility Metaphors 10-song CD (which features beautiful, insane artwork, as is customary for a MWP release, plus it's full-color!), is now available in the US for $11, postage paid. Simply email (info@manwithoutplan.com) and we'll help you out.

2.) Since most folk I know who are down in any way; celebrate Man Without Plan's full catalog, could you pick a song from any time, any record, and tell us it's secret orgins?

How To Scream. This song is a description of the struggle to figure out how it is possible to be a legitimate part of this cartoonish world.

3.) could i impose upon you the task of describing a day in your life?

It varies, but there are constants: Always playing, always writing...always reflecting, analyzing, refining, disseminating and replicating sentiment!

4.) could you name your favorite 3 philosophers?

1) George Carlin
2) Charles Bukowski
3) Steven Wright

5.) From what i've scrapped together it seems you have a "relationship" with the number 237...now i swear i ain't bullshitting you but i've got a thing with the number 238, could you tell me about 237? and the levels of synchronisity you generally tend to percieve?

I meet more people all the time who see the Mark of 237, and as with past APKWIAB news items, the reaction I get the most often is "I can't believe someone else noticed (sees/experiences/etc.) that!" "Seeing" 237 means seeing two or more of the digits, often all three, in any order (but usually 2-3-7), in the course of your daily life - license plates, phone numbers, headlines, etc. The idea is not that it is an uncommon or "special" number and appears often statistically, nor that it is strange to "see" a particular number routinely in viewing random sequences (especially if you're looking for it); it is that this number in particular "shows" itself far more often to certain people, and for no apparent logical reason. What separates mine (and others') 237 sightings from the behavior of a (true) obsessive-compulsive is only that I am ALWAYS uninvolved in the decision-making process that brings me to see this number. It is frequently, often comically shoved in my face. I only made notice of it once it had repeatedly made itself known to me.

A few days ago I pulled up to a stoplight outside the Westchester County Center, outside of which is a large clock display. The time, I was not surprised to find, read 2:36 (PM) and a certain amount of seconds...somewhere between twenty and forty. The light was red and I was the fifth or sixth car back. I at first assumed I wouldn't remain stopped at the light long enough to see what has become a comforting sign (2:37), but as the time advanced I became less sure. Presently, as the light changed, I realized that, unless I deliberately modified my course (by remaining stopped even though traffic was clearing), I was going to JUST BARELY miss seeing 2:37. When the clock did finally pass from my view (with natural, smooth acceleration), the time was 2:36:58. This explains perfectly the aesthetic of a 237 sighting; if you WANT or TRY to see it, you will not. It is of course possible to sit and wait patiently for the time of 2:37 to come, or otherwise make arrangements so as not to miss it. But as the stoplight example illustrates, to force the phenomenon represents an unnaturality in that it attempts to predict the future with certainty, which is anathema to forces at work (the certainty aspect, not the prediction itself).

23 is of course an important number in various mythologies, and if you ask anyone - ANYONE - to randomly pick a two-digit number, two different digits, an odd number, between 1 and 100 (say it just like that), they will pick 37 about ninety percent of the time. But 237 represents a culmination of more than simple statistical shenanigans. Save yourself the trouble of trying to calculate divisors and factors, attempting to link it in a linear fashion to conventional mathematics. The best way of explaining 237 theory is this: It's not that the number is 237. It's that there is a number.

As for 238: As a true believer of 237, when I see 238, I think of it as too much, and 236 as too little, which if you apply that to whatever you're doing (doing errands, cooking, or searching the wilderness for survivors) can tell you how your approach is working out (too slow/too fast, too cold/too hot, too far South/too far North). But to each his own!

6.) Whatever it is that you might call "magick", could you try to describe it?

Music! You think I'm just wasting my time and energy, flipping out at shows? I combine elements of Eastern religious frenzy techniques and the conventional Spaz Attack to achieve trances unheard of while playing. When I behave in this manner, I am often not consciously playing. During these moments of unconsciousness, I am often thrown deep into my subconscious, where my thoughts and desires gain special gravity...and often are acknowledged and gratified later! I believe these are the principles the "rain dance" and other tribal dances are based on. I hope to someday codify these idea(l)s. Don't believe me? Try it for yourself.

7.) and finally...
what are your fav techniques for altering consciousness/getting DOWN!?
(reworded from "yo, man you get high???")

I am most inspired lately by the story of Johnny Appleseed. Here is a fable of a man who enjoyed a plant. He enjoyed it very, very much. He enjoyed it so much, in fact, that he thought it was only right that that plant should be growing wild across the countryside for everyone to experience for themselves, and that it was his responsibility to save the seeds of every apple he ate and make sure that each and every one saw its way into the ground. He was so dedicated to this idea that he quit his job and assumed the guise of a beggar, travelling along the highways and byways, through the farmland of the local lords, across the open fields and through the forests, up and over the mountains and down to the river, tossing seeds from a giant sack he carried on his back everywhere he went. By the time anyone thought to ask him what he was doing, he had distributed these seeds evenly over hundreds of thousands of acres, and the wild crop that year was bountiful enough to supply every man and woman in the land. The king could not control the flow of apples any longer, and (after a brief and futile attempt to kill off all of the wild trees) they became free for everyone - all through the efforts of one dedicated man. But I don't see how that relates to your question. Contact us for information on the John Seed Project.