A Little East Meets West
tapping into the creative energies of your own inner being
I’ve had this little stack of media set aside for quite some time. Back in the winter, I was at one of those rare, cold weather garage sales on a Saturday morning —maybe the only one I came across until spring. The family had the garage and three rooms of the house open to shoppers and it was packed full of cool stuff. Along with what I have to present to you today, I picked up a cool HP digicam, a handful of old, low capacity SD cards, and a few select souvenir key chains from all over The States.
While it’s rare to find a yard / garage / estate / rummage sale in the winter, in my experience, they are always worth checking out. Maybe it’s the fewer shoppers early in the morning before it warms up to above freezing, or it’s just the fact that no one in their right mind would host a yard sale in the dead of winter without having something good worth selling.
So here’s a rundown of what I have for y’all today:
First up is “Singing Crystal Bowls” — an audio experience on IEC Type II chromium dioxide cassette tape. It is meant to be played at a high volume, with a listening position as close to the speakers as possible in order to allow the vibrations of the sound to enter the body and mind. I have digitized this in the highest quality I possibly can with the equipment I have and I am happy to report that the low and high frequencies are intact and tend to vibrate the whole house at the proper volume.
North Carolina Is My Home was produced for public television and given out on tape to contributors and patrons of their local PBS. Originally written as a long-form poem and love letter to the state, the tape we have here expands that into a full short film with historical footage, reenactments, live musical performances and more.
River Rising: TVA and the Town of Butler is a stage play adapted by Bobby Funk, a professor at East Tennessee State University. The performance shown here is from 1999. It follows the lives of the families living in Butler, Tennessee as they prepare to move to higher ground as TVA nears the completion of the dam system that will eventually flood the original location of their homes. There’s a wonderful article in The Tennessee Magazine about this moment in history, with a few of photos from the Butler Museum, which chronicles the events that took place in the 1940s.
Last up, we’ve got Inside Hong Kong —a souvenir tape straight from the leased British territory of China. I’ve always been fascinated with Hong Kong cinema, specifically from this period of the mid 80s- early 90s (The Killer from 1989, Lee Rock from 1991), so half an hour of uninterrupted footage of the beautiful city of Hong Kong during it’s most interesting phase of change on it’s way to an extremely modern city made for a really special viewing experience for me. I know you’ll enjoy it too!
Well, let’s get right into the tapes!
Singing Crystal Bowls
1989 | Runtime: 32 Minutes
To take full advantage of this tape, we suggest that you use a quality stereo system with excellent speakers capable of handling a broad range of frequencies. For maximum vibration of the body, sit or lie down in front of the speakers, or if the speakers can be separated, experiment with moving them in different configurations around the body. Use at moderate to high volume.
This tape should not be used while operating machinery or in situations where alertness is required.
INNER WORK
To open the energy centers of the body, sit or lie down comfortably in front of the speakers (as explained above). As the bowls sing to you, allow the sounds to enter your body. Relax and trust, simply being aware where the sounds go.
EMOTIONAL WORK
The bowls can greatly facilitate the releasing and clearing of suppressed emotions. Lie in front of the speakers with a pillow or blanket tucked under your knees. Breathe deeply, relaxing into the exhale. Allow the sounds to reverberate throughout different parts of your body. If emotions arise let yourself move or make sounds, being sure to keep the exhale fully relaxed. If you experience tension or tightness permit the song of the bowls to gently expand and relax the constricted areas.
MEDITATION/SELF-EXPLORATION
There are many ways to facilitate deeper states of altered consciousness using the song of the bowls. One way is to use the following breathing pattern just before listening to, and intermittently throughout, the tape. Inhale to the count of eight, then hold your breath to the count of eight, and finally exhale to the count of eight. Repeat this pattern seven more times for a total of eight (each count is approximately one second). This breathing pattern will move the brain/ mind into the receptive state of alpha. Enjoy the tape, and let the song of the bowls carry you into new experiences!
Allow your consciousness to soar as you feel the vibrations throughout your body. This tape vibrates your energy centers with the tones of five quartz crystal bowls, and aids you in meditation and the exploration of altered states.
The bowls can greatly facilitate the release of emotional energies. This tape must truly be felt to be believed.
Note: This tape is for the purpose of self exploration and education only. No medical or psychological claims are expressed or implied.
Acoustic Brain Research, Inc. is an organization dedicated to helping you realize and bring into expression your full potential in this dynamic and demanding period of human experience. Our purpose is to assist you to discover and trust the creative energies of your own inner being. In our tapes we utilize sound, language and music to facilitate this process.
North Carolina Is My Home
1991 | Runtime: 57 Minutes
In this unforgettable tribute to North Carolina, two of its most talented native sons, Charles Kuralt and Loonis McGlohon, create a lively, touching and occasionally humorous portrait of "The Old North State." North Carolina Is My Home" was written as a gift to North Carolina in 1984 in commemoration of the state's 400th birthday. First produced as a sound recording, it became so popular that a book containing its songs and narratives was published. An adaptation of the material for live performances took Kuralt and McGlohon not only to many Tarheel locales, but also to London, New York, Phoenix, Chicago and Canada. North Carolina Public Television also produced a television program taped at one of these performances.
Recently, Kuralt and McGlohon spent a year traveling throughout North Carolina, videotaping some of the places they had written about in 1984. Ranging from the grandeur of Grandfather Mountain to the tiny town of Tick Bite, the production celebrates the state's cities and rivers, crossroads and creeks, and — most importantly — its people. As Kuralt movingly reminds us, North Carolina is home to Whistler's mother, Billy Graham, Michael Jordan, Chief Manteo, three U.S. presidents - and you and me.
River Rising: TVA and the Town of Butler
1999 | Runtime: 108 Minutes
The original town is now known as "Old Butler." Old Butler, called “the town that wouldn’t drown,” is commemorated in a museum in Butler and by "Old Butler Days" which is an annual festival held each year in August right in the heart of the town. In 1983, a drawdown of the lake exposed the remains of Old Butler for a brief time, allowing former residents to visit the site.
Inside Hong Kong
1987 | Runtime: 30 Minutes
A stimulating half hour video tour of one of the World's most beautiful and vibrant cities. From the people, to cuisine, festivals, the islands and much, much more! Treat your family and friends to a look at "Inside Hong".
...A BARREN ROCK WITH SCARCE A HOUSE UPON IT."
Lord Palmerston's immortal words of a century are in stark contrast to the economic marvel that is Hong Kong today.
Hong Kong's development into a prosperous commercial centre began over a century and a half ago. It all started when a group of British merchants established a successful trading industry specializing in the export of tea from China. The industry was restricted to a small "warehouse" area on the bank of the Pearl River, near Guangzhou (Canton).
A shortage of silver bullion in India and Europe prompted the traders to pay for their goods using opium. This quickly became popular in China and the outflow of silver for the purchase of opium strained the Chinese economy. In 1839 the Chinese Special Commissioner enacted a law prohibiting such trade and sequestered all opium stocks. The British were furious and immediately dispatched an expeditionary force. This was to be the first Opium War and resulted in the Treaty of Nanking (1842) which ceded Hong Kong Island to the British. Further friction fourteen years later resulted in another war with the ensuing Treaty of Tientsin being made in 1852 (ratified 1860).
This treaty, amongst other things, ceded the Kowloon Peninsula to the British.
In 1898 the British leased The New Territories from China, claiming that the land was vital to the defense of Hong Kong.
This lease expires in 1997.
Agreements have now been made between the Governments of the United Kingdom and China which guarantee that Hong Kong's present capitalist system and lifestyle will remain unchanged for 50 years after China resumes sovereignty in 1997. In the meantime Hong Kong is under a 10 year transition period working towards what is known as the "one country two systems' policy. During this time its future basic law will be drafted and control of the government will shift from London To Beijing.
With the uncertainty of its future over, Hong Kong is now looking forward to what promises to be the most active and prosperous period in its brief and turbulent history.
Well, that’s it for this week! I hope you enjoyed the tapes! If you’re looking for more, please check out my page on Archive.org for the full list of digitized media. If you have any questions, feel free to send me a message right here or drop a comment below. If you haven’t already, please check out the one of my ocean-themed posts below, or all of my other previous posts here. Thanks so much for checking out this week’s edition of Diptych!
See you soon!
—Forrest
Two Tapes and a Tape: Diptych #23
This week has no theme. Well, at least no obvious theme. A couple weeks ago, I was at a thrift store in Johnson City, Tennessee and I came across all three of the pieces of media I have for you today stacked on top of each other. Sometimes I try to give these posts an arch or a motive as to why I would group them together, but this week I let fate decide and fate said planet mars, Deepak Chopra, and 3D roller coasters.
High Speed Rail Travel
This week’s virtual tour of North America is brought to you by Reader’s Digest Home Video, AmVet’s Thrift Store in Knoxville, Tennessee, and me! As I was sorting through the tapes on the media shelves, I came across all three of these Scenic Rail Journey releases from 1996. This is the exact kind of stuff I love to find. Each are nearly an hour long and are the kind of media that just isn’t created anymore.
American Odyssey
This week, I have for y’all a little (big) update! Back in November, I realized that I’d misplaced this box set of RV travel tapes, and I’ve been on the hunt for them ever since. Luckily, a friend had borrowed them, and I’d just forgotten about it. The original digitization of these (which is no longer on Youtube) wasn’t never really something I was happy with.
BOWLSZZ