Going Up

Peter Christopherson died in his sleep last night. I've been listening to a lot of Coil lately anyway, but his death has me reflecting much more than usual on the impact that the music of Christopherson and Balance has had on my life.

Coil was a band that touched me personally and inspired me both musically and spiritually. I had been creating sound collage before I had heard them, at a point before the internet became taken for granted or was even understood by the general public at all. I developed my own musical tastes by hopping through electronic BBSs, Telenet, and Gopher, eventually stumbling upon the likes of Skinny Puppy, Coil, Throbbing Gristle, Psychic TV, Bauhaus, The Sisters of Mercy, KMFDM, Ministry, Einsturzende Neubauten, and so on and so forth. Through the electric veins, siphoning at 1200 baud, I also explored the worlds of Aleister Crowley, the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, and the Rosicrucian Manifestos. Coil straddled these two interests and spearheaded my obsessions with music and magick. How to Destroy Angels was my introductory textbook, a compendium of fundamentals to which I return again and again with reverence and fervor. This album  carried me through the darkest nights of my soul. The tracks may sound terrifying to some, but in them I find the hope of seekers.

I did not know Peter Christopherson or Jhonn Balance, but I wept at their deaths. Their music will continue to inspire many who make love with the moon.

From Coil's "Fire of the Mind" -

"Does death come alone or with eager reinforcements?
Death is centrifugal / Solar and logical
Decadent and symmetrical / Angels are mathematical
Angels are bestial / Man is the animal"

Mother Russia Rain Down

I'm about to head off to St. Petersburg; I'll try to update this while I'm there. In the meantime, I'll let you all know what I've been up to. I've been seriously considering law school, and I'm taking the LSAT in October. My practice test scores have been in the 165-176 range, so I'm confident that I'll do well and may even get into a decent school. I'm leaning toward international and environmental law. I've been learning Mandarin Chinese, which will be my fifth language, although I don't know if I can still count Hindi since I'm very rusty at this point. I still have the basics swimming around in there; it just needs a little practice. I've been taking acting classes for fun, and played in Animal Farm. I've also been writing again, and started what may turn into a longer work, perhaps even a novel someday. I haven't been hanging out or talking with very many friends, which I'm not thrilled about, but I blame that on my withdrawal since coming back from India. I've gone to some concerts recently with my youngest brother and my girlfriend: Covenant, which was decent, and Project Pitchfork, which was awesome. Before that I saw Baby Venom a couple of times before they broke up. I've been trying to get into photography, but have not had much time. I've.... also been reading some.... analytic philosophy.... *shudder*....