CoreyWdeVos.com

(r)evolutions

CoreyWdeVos — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 04:59:46 +0000

A five-part soundtrack for evolutionaries. Sixty songs, two hours. Wake up. Rise up. Right click to download (r)evolutions.zip Includes: Five 320kbps MP3s/265 MB (r)evolution I 19:52 (r)evolution II 28:28 (r)evolution III 25:32 (r)evolution IV 27:46 (r)evolution V 18:30 TRACK LIST (r)evolution I Awake – The Doors Revolution (STR Part 1) – DJ Z-Trip Build This [...]

Top 40 Albums of the 00’s (#21-30)

CoreyWdeVos — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 23:03:13 +0000

#30: EL-P – I’ll Sleep When You’re Dead (2007) Definitive Jux has in many ways helped to define the past ten years of hip hop underground with artists such as Aesop Rock, Mr. Lif, Cannibal Ox, RJD2, and many others. Def Jux founder El-P released his fourth album in 2007, I’ll Sleep When You’re [...]

My Own Private Zeitgeist: Top 40 Albums of the 00′s (#31-40)

CoreyWdeVos — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 02:36:44 +0000

“No longer do we share a single centrally-controlled cultural zeitgeist, at least insofar as music is concerned. There is now a different zeitgeist for every iPod.” Here’s mine. #40: LCD Soundsystem – The Sound of Silver (2007) We’ve heard a lot of experiments in genre fusion during the past 10 years of pop culture, some [...]

An Ode to Pop. Part II: A Zeitgeist for Every iPod

CoreyWdeVos — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 02:06:02 +0000

Through the fish-eyed lens of tear stained eyes I can barely define the shape of this moment in time -Roger Waters – The Final Cut In an effort to make my pop-culture subject into an observable object, I’ve become obsessed with trying to determine the overall shape and flavor of the past 10 years of [...]

An Ode to Pop. Part I: Mysticism Wrapped in Cellophane

CoreyWdeVos — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 23:28:08 +0000

I love pop culture. Sure, I know I'm biased. How could I not be? This is the only culture I've ever actually known. But still, allow me the ethno-centric space to proudly proclaim: pop culture is the most amazing cultural force the world has ever seen. Never in history have we had such a comprehensive reflection of the human condition—whether you'd like to wade in the bubble-gum shallows or dive into the deepest esoteric waters, pop culture has it all, and it's waiting for you. Pop culture does not seek transcend the superficial, it revels in it. It is mysticism wrapped in cellophane, sprouting from seeds planted deep in the heart of the American Tantra, and blossoming in recent decades as the world's first truly global culture. The ancients have descended from Olympus and taken up residence in the Hollywood Hills, trading their togas for the new regalia: blue jeans, black leather jackets, and black sunglasses—the perennial vestments of cool. Make no mistake: these archetypal deities are alive and well in the 21st century, they're just a little bit harder to see. The gods of pop continue to shape our world and shape our thoughts, invisible patterns shining through a perpetual parade of actors, actresses, and musicians, enveloping us in a warm blanket of shared symbolism that ensures that we will always have something to talk about. Pop is more than a culture; it is a religion. It is my religion. I am a proud pop evangelist. But I wasn't always so in love with pop culture....

Empty Spaces: Adventures in Beat Yoga

CoreyWdeVos — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 20:12:35 +0000

Well, my post-ISE high has spilled over into a bit of a creative obsession for the past week, the fruits of which i am so happy to share with you all! Empty Spaces: an 80-minute musical meditation on silence, featuring Sally Kempton, Alan Watts, Alex Grey, and Ken Wilber. This is what my Dark Night of [...]

Live at Dharmapalooza ’09

CoreyWdeVos — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 22:50:23 +0000

I had the honor of playing the Dharmapalooza 2009 afterparty this past weekend (11.14.09), taking the stage after a gorgeous music and spoken-word performance by Stuart Davis. After driving through a nerve-racking snow storm from Denver to Boulder, and then realizing that there were only about 25-30 people at the studio, it initially did not [...]

2012 and the Inevitable End of Everything: An Integral Perspective

CoreyWdeVos — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 19:49:18 +0000

With so much end-of-the-world hype spreading through our digital nervous system—especially in the wake of the new film 2012 (which i have not seen yet, but would like to….)—i thought i would compile a few clips from the Integral Life archives that offer Ken Wilber’s own perspective about 2012, the apocalypse, and the future of [...]

The Life of an Artist: Bryce Widom and the 1000 Views of God

CoreyWdeVos — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 20:49:38 +0000

It’s not easy being an artist—especially if you are trying to make a living. It can seem at times as if the entire world is stacked against you, forcing you to compromise your vision or surrender it altogether in order to put food on the table. And while the internet has proven to be wonderful [...]

Dead Words: A Haiku

CoreyWdeVos — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 22:08:22 +0000

A little haiku that jumped into my head this morning, which pretty much sums up everything you will find on this site: Hollow keystrokes and Empty verses, they are all Dead words in Hearses

Two Kinds of Religion: Inside and Out

CoreyWdeVos — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 17:37:25 +0000

ex·o·ter·ic Pronunciation: \ek-sə-ˈter-ik\ Function: adjective Etymology: Latin & Greek; Latin exotericus, from Greek exōterikos, literally, external, from exōterō more outside, comparative of exō outside Date: 1660 1 a : suitable to be imparted to the public <the exoteric doctrine> b : belonging to the outer or less initiate circle 2 : relating to the outside [...]

Things That Go BUMP In The Night

CoreyWdeVos — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 01:52:26 +0000

A monster mashup for all you trick or treaters: Things That Go BUMP In The Night right-click here to download Running Time: 66 minutes, 6 seconds Complete tracklist below the fold…. Enjoy! *UPDATE* I just uploaded a new version, having thrown out a mix i wasn’t particularly happy with and adding a better closing song—all [...]

1000 Views of God and the Rebirth of Cool

CoreyWdeVos — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 01:36:29 +0000

I have been looking forward to this week’s launch for a long time, eagerly awaiting the opportunity to invite you to check out a new monthly installment here on Integral Life: the debut of the Integral Life Art Gallery. As many of you already know, art, creativity, and aesthetics have always been an essential part [...]

In Hot Water

CoreyWdeVos — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 16:07:00 +0000

It is said that if you drop a frog in a pot of boiling water, it will jump out immediately and without hesitation, as any self-respecting amphibian would—but if you put it in a pot of cold water and slowly turn up the heat one degree at a time, the poor thing will eventually boil to death, fatally oblivious to the increasing threat its environment portends. Though fairly macabre (no frogs were harmed in the making of this blog post), this analogy pretty aptly portrays the condition of our current place in history, in which our entire world seems to be coming to a boil right before our eyes—a slowly culminating but inevitable transformation of history from one state to another. And we have, until recently, been largely oblivious to this—but now we are beginning to take notice, and like the frog who suddenly realizes that it’s getting just a bit too warm for comfort, we are collectively faced with an existential ultimatum—either jump out of the pot, or boil alive.

Announcing the Integral Bazaar

CoreyWdeVos — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 20:21:26 +0000

I spent the weekend integrating a fully-stocked Amazon marketplace here on CoreyWdeVos.com (or PokingWholes.com, if you prefer a less me-centric way to refer to this site.) As far as i can tell, this is the first and only one-stop shopping extravaganza for Integral materials anywhere on the web—or is at least the most comprehensive Integral store i've seen yet, with new additions being pulled in every day. As of right now, there are over 200 books, audiobooks, and multimedia offerings available, separated into a handful of categories....

Making the Case for Sustainable Business

Corey W. deVos — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 18:42:15 +0000

Hunter Lovins, President and Founder of Natural Capital Solutions and author of Natural Capitalism, spoke with Jim Garrison on Integral Life about some of the real-world solutions to climate change that are already taking effect around the world. While many people condemn big business and big industry as anti-ethical to the environmental movement, Hunter helps makes the case that these sorts of large companies are actually in a better position than most to deal with the bulk of the ecological problems we are all aware of. Sound too idealistic? What if we told you that many of these companies have already begun cutting carbon emissions, reducing waste, and increasing efficiency, without any sort of major incentive from the governments of the world.

Flirting With Disaster

CoreyWdeVos — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 19:19:58 +0000

"The planet," Jim Garrison is fond of saying, "is on a collision course with itself." The monumental challenges of the 21st century seem dire indeed, almost insurmountable in many ways. And to make matters worse, only a portion of the population has the developmental capacity to fully recognize the complexity of our collective problems, while the majority of the world remains blissfully unaware of the impending catastrophe we seem to be heading toward. And many of those who can see feel utterly helpless to do anything about it, unable to find their own ecologically sensitive values reflected in the culture at large. And so they anxiously await what many perceive as the inevitable, a tsunami of global crises to wash over us all, rendering the fruits of human civilization undone in a single fell swoop....

The Integral (R)evolution

Corey W. deVos — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 21:07:32 +0000

At this very moment, there is something of a revolution occurring around the world, sweeping through almost every facet of the human condition--psychological, spiritual, cultural, political, technological, ecological, etc. All the old and partial approaches to reality are being questioned, and new and more integral responses are being explored, laying the foundation for an entirely new era in human civilization. It is not the first revolution the world has ever seen, and it will certainly not be the last. But it is the first that does not insist that everyone adopt a new philosophy, a new worldview, or a new monolithic way of being—even while new philosophies, new worldviews, and new ways of being are constantly laid down as we speak. It is a revolution that fully embraces us wherever we may be in our own development and allows us to be who we already are—even while it points out all those aspects of our lives where we still need to grow....

The Climb: Part V

CoreyWdeVos — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 20:33:40 +0000

We step onto the massive stone body of the Sioux, what appeared to be the ruins of an age-old epic battle between titan and medusa. We sense a profound air of sacredness as our feet plant themselves on the monument—talk about standing on the shoulders of giants; they don't get much more giant than this. Looking up, his visage towers above us. It is indescribably massive—we had just seen Mt. Rushmore before coming here, being only a twenty minute drive away, and felt the obligatory awe and wonderment and pseudo-patriotism that comes along with seeing the forefathers staring off into the horizon.

The Climb: Part IV

CoreyWdeVos — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 18:22:34 +0000

Here we are, still as the petrified Sioux we are perched upon, waiting to see what will become of us. I look down to my companions. Sean is directly behind me, Nena (a squat Russian hippie girl who was accompanying our cross-country journey) a few yards behind him. We exchange exhilarated grins. None of us can believe we are where we are. I think of the absurdity of it all, sharing such an intimately pivotal and defining experience with people I hadn't known before a few days ago. It was another string of oddly threaded circumstance that brought us together to share this experience, commencing with Kate's decision not to move to Oregon with me. In so many ways she had been the hinge of my decision—I would not have been able to make such a drastic decision alone. I was too accustomed to fear to do something so bold. But she had come to the conclusion that it would be in her (and my) best interest not to come with me. She broke my heart. I was hoping that, after nearly two years of unilateral desire, this would finally bring us together, forcing our two souls to merge in the crucible of a single big experience....

The Climb: Part III

CoreyWdeVos — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 19:17:27 +0000

I had paid twenty dollars to see this monument, which I first became fascinated with while watching a documentary about its construction on the Discovery channel. It was a privately funded tribute to Crazy Horse, a massive statue carved from an entire mountain. I remember hearing that the United States had offered the family in charge of its construction however many millions of dollars it would require to finish the project within the next ten years. The family declined the offer, however, as they did not believe it was appropriate for the U.S. government to front money for a tribute to the Native Americans....

The Climb: Part II

Corey W. deVos — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 20:16:29 +0000

Note: This piece was originally written almost ten years ago. Though my voice, my style, and my realization were still fairly immature, this piece is a celebration of one of the most sacred experiences of my life, and wanted to share with you all. This is the second installment. If you haven’t already, please begin [...]

The Climb: Part I

Corey W. deVos — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 20:10:19 +0000

Note: This piece was originally written almost ten years ago. Though my voice, my style, and my realization were still fairly immature (compared with the ever-so slightly less immature voice, style, and realization i now possess), this piece is a celebration of one of the most sacred experiences of my life, and wanted to share with you all. The full piece is rather long, so i have decided to serialize it into six consecutive installments, which will be published here throughout the week.

Got ILP? (LOLsage #4)

Corey W. deVos — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 19:33:55 +0000

Previously:

Pearl Jam: Restoring Idealism to Rock and Roll

Corey W. deVos — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 06:00:38 +0000

Every now and again, pop culture is forced to reinvent itself. Like an epic drama among Hindu deities, our collective tastes are born, destroyed, and reborn again, swinging like a massive pendulum from one aesthetic extreme to the other. As a new cultural niche becomes more and more popularized, what typically begins as fierce artistic independence eventually devolves into reckless overindulgence, and creative novelty slowly bleeds away until all that is left is a formulaic husk used to manufacture tomorrow's next fads. It is usually at this point, when a particular scene becomes so over-saturated that it can no longer support the weight of its own excess, that the entire scene will die an often-humiliating death, bloated and alone on an unflushed toilet....