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Dante

    Harvard Ups Its Game for Sports Broadcasts

    Cambridge, Mass. (May 12, 2025)—Harvard University, which produces approximately 325 live varsity team sports broadcasts annually, has integrated Studio Technologies’ Dante-enabled audio equipment for its commentators. In recent years, Harvard Athletics has centralized its production operations, shifting from on-site setups to a remote production model. Two central control rooms, located at the basketball and hockey facilities, now manage nearly all Harvard sports broadcasts. This shift has been aided by the implementation of Studio Technologies’ Dante-enabled audio equipment, including the Model 204 and Model 205 announcer’s consoles. These devices allow commentators to connect from any location on campus utilizing the university’s network infrastructure. “In the past, setting up for a swim meet or any other event required transporting massive amounts of gear to the site,” says Imry Halevi, Harvard’s senior associate director of athletics. “Now, with Studio Technologies’ Dante-enabled commentator stations, we simply plug in and everything integrates effortlessly. Whether it’s fencing, volleyball or football, the system is flexible and reliable.” A key improvement in Harvard’s setup has reportedly been the introduction of Studio Technologies’ Model 5205, which provides microphones with both phantom power and conversion to Dante digital. This eliminates previous challenges associated with capturing ambient audio, including allowing remote gain adjustments via Studio Technologies’ ST controller software. “We used to have to send someone to manually adjust mixers on-site,” Halevi adds. “Now we can do it remotely, saving time and effort.” Harvard has also enhanced its communication capabilities with Studio Technologies’ beltpacks and intercom solutions, enabling seamless communication between directors, camera operators, and commentators. The adoption of the Model 5422A for both intercom support as well as serving as a Dante leader clock has resolved previous network stability issues, further streamlining operations. Harvard’s broadcasts are available on ESPN+ as part of the Ivy League’s agreement with the network, as well as select broadcasts on NESN, the New England Sports Network. Beyond traditional sports like football, basketball, and hockey, Harvard takes pride in producing broadcasts for lesser-covered sports such as skiing, sailing, water polo and fencing. The athletic department has also experimented with innovative formats, such as a social media-focused vertical broadcast for tennis, leveraging Studio Technologies’ Dante audio solutions for a smoother production experience.

    The Game of Favourites

    I no longer trust the urge to classify. Still, now and then, a fragment or scene from a book returns with unexpected force. I wonder whether the books that occupy this not entirely mental space are the ones we might call favourites. Recognition does not always imply affection. One looks for patterns—certainly for narratives that hesitate, or seem unsure of their own necessity. Writing that maintains a distance, even as it draws you in. This evening I found myself circling the question of favourites again. New shelves arrive tomorrow. As I removed books from storage, I felt that familiar longing to discard all but what might be essential. Just a small shelf of favourites. King Lear, always Beckett’s “Trilogy”, no The Divine Comedy, yes Herodotus, yes The Lighthouse, no Proust, maybe Pilgrimage, probably My Struggle, yes Dickinson, yes Ulysses, no Tristram Shandy, yes Septology, no What endures in a long list of other works is something more elusive. A tone, perhaps, or a current of thought that bypasses intellect and settles somewhere harder to name. A voice that feels intimate. A world built not on detail but on atmosphere. With thanks to an eudaemonist.

    RME M-1620 Pro Overview: High-End Converters for Studio/Live/Install

    Take a tour of RME’s updated reference-class converter The M-1620 Pro is the latest versatile AD/DA and format converter from RME. Featuring 16 channels of A to D and 20 channels of D to A (including the headphone outputs), the M-1620 Pro combines high-end audio conversion with flexible digital connections; powerful control and routing options; and RME’s renowned, rock-solid reliability. An update to RME’s M-1610 Pro converter, the M-1620 Pro expands RME’s range of cutting-edge AoIP devices, offering high-precision line-level I/O for use with the next-generation of audio networks, as well as providing ADAT and MADI-based systems with additional reference-level I/O. Watch our video below for an introduction to this classy, transparent new AD/DA from RME Audio. See more videos at Synthax TV Overview Designed for professional recording studios, live sound, installation and broadcast setups requiring the utmost in audio precision, the M-1620 Pro comes in two models – one featuring MILAN-certified AVB, and another for use with Audinate’s Dante networking protocol. Additional features include SteadyClock FS clocking technology, dual on-board headphone connections, and fully DC-coupled outputs, allowing the M-1620 Pro to be used as part of a high-end modular synth setup. A selection of built-in redundancy features ensures seamless operation and reliability for use in live music, events and broadcast, including dual network and optional dual MADI connections, as well as a secondary DC input for power redundancy. Front Panel The newly developed front panel features LED level metering for all 16 analogue input and output channels, which can be set to show either Peak or RMS levels. Another new addition to the M1620 Pro is an extra ¼” headphone port, doubling the available headphone monitoring outputs. Both headphone connections can also be used as balanced mono outputs – or as pairs of unbalanced mono outputs – with individual routing and gain control. The front panel also features a simple control interface for configuration of device settings, routing and choosing a clock source, similar to that of other RME AoIP devices such as the 12Mic and M-32 Pro Series. All of the device’s settings are accessible through a simple 4-part menu system, making it ideal for use in standalone applications such as installations, with status alerts any time an issue is detected, such as loss of sync or power. Rear Panel The back panel houses all of the M-1620 Pro’s inputs and outputs, for interfacing with a wide range of other professional audio gear. Any line-level device can be connected, such as audio interfaces, mixing consoles and microphone preamps; other studio hardware including monitors, headphone amps, signal processors and FX units; instruments such as synths, samplers and drum machines; and keyboards and guitar amps that feature line or direct outputs. The 16 balanced analogue inputs and outputs are available on D-Sub 25 connections, with individual reference levels adjustable between +13, +19 and +24 dBu, for matching with other pro gear. All of the outputs are fully DC-coupled, allowing the M1620 Pro to be used for sending control voltages to devices such as analogue sequencers, synthesizers and Eurorack modules. The RME M-1620 Pro has DC-Coupled outputs for working with modular synthesizers and other analogue outboard in the studio. On the digital side, 4 x ADAT I/O allows for the bi-directional transfer of all 16 channels at common sample rates such as 44.1, 48 and 96 kHz sample rates, or 8 channels each way at 192 kHz. Coaxial MADI comes as standard on BNC connectors, allowing all 16 inputs and outputs to be transferred at up to 192 kHz sample rates in both directions. When fitted with one of RME’s optional MADI optical SFP module, the available MADI channels are increased to 128 in each direction. Alternatively, this second MADI connection can be set to mirror the first, providing a backup MADI stream with automatic switchover in the case of a failure. Redundant power supplies are provided via an IEC mains connection and a 12V DC input, both of which are internally monitored, with warning lights that will trigger if the unit detects a problem. Finally dedicated Wordclock I/O connections are available on BNC, with a USB port for firmware updates and remote control. AoIP Alongside the ADAT and MADI connections, the M1620 Pro also features dual RJ45 network ports, allowing for the transfer of audio over IP. On the standard M-1620 Pro model, up to 128 audio channels can be sent and received via a single network cable using Audio Video Bridging, aka AVB. This includes MILAN certification, a subset of AVB created by the AVnu Alliance, which ensures reliable communication with other MILAN-certified devices on the network. The Milan Manager software, a free application developed by L-Acoustics and d&b audiotechnik, can be used for control over the M-1620 Pro’s AVB and network settings (much in the same way that Dante devices use Dante Controller). For Dante users, the M-1620 Pro D model offers 64 channels of Audinate’s popular networking protocol in both directions, making it a powerful addition to any Dante-based recording studio or live sound setup. The Pro-D’s dual ethernet ports are designed for Redundancy by default, but can also be set to a ‘Switched’ mode if required, which allows for several units to be daisy-chained via Ethernet. The optional MADI SFP module adds MADI optical connectivity, alongside the ADAT, MADI Coax and Ethernet ports. Remote Control Options Remote control is available via the browser-based RME Web Remote, which allows the M1620 Pro to be controlled from any location attached to the network, or directly via USB when connected straight to a Mac or PC. For users of RME’s TotalMix FX, this controller will feel very familiar – select one, or multiple inputs along the top of the interface, then drag the virtual connection to an output to complete the routing. Other settings such as clocking, firmware updates, and the saving and loading of presets can also be managed here. Pairing with other RME devices Whilst the M-1620 Pro can be used with hardware from any manufacturer, pairing it with one of RME’s audio interfaces also allows users to benefit from TotalMix FX. A lightweight yet powerful control centre, TotalMix offers a number of advanced routing capabilities, as well as a dedicated Control Room section, saveable mixer states, Talkback, Fader Groups and more! Any physical input or software playback channel can be routed to any output – making it simple to send channels to and from the M-1620 Pro via ADAT, MADI or analogue – as well as offering a route for other channels to be brought onto a Milan or Dante network. And for AoIP-based setups, the M1620 Pro can be combined with one of RME’s network interfaces – such as the Digiface Dante, AoX cards or Firenet AIO – providing the building blocks of a powerful, reliable and flexible, next-generation audio network. See the full range of RME AD/DA Converters See the full range of RME AoIP devices Want to know more about RME audio interfaces and sound cards? Give us a call on 01727 821 870 to speak to one of our team, or contact us here. The post RME M-1620 Pro Overview: High-End Converters for Studio/Live/Install appeared first on Synthax Audio UK.

  1. Citation (80)

    On successive days he would study Cicero side by side with Boccaccio, Virgil with Dante, and Horace with Petrarch, being curious to see and judge for himself the differences between them. And he learned how far in all three cases the Latin tongue surpasses the Italian, by reading their most cultivated writers always three times each on the following plan: the first time to grasp each composition as a whole, the second to note the transitions and the sequences of things, the third in greater detail to collect the fine turns of thought and expression, which he marked in the books themselves instead of copying them into commonplace or phrase books. This practice, he thought, would lead him to make good use of them as his needs recalled them to mind in their contexts: which is the sole measure of effective thought and expression. —Giambattista Vico (Autobiography, trans. Max Harold Fisch and Thomas Goddard Bergin, Part A, p. 120)

    Why no Super Mario Iliad or Aeneid though?

    These are in fact the basis for the two Mario Galaxy games. It's not well known that every Mario game has its roots in mythology. While Mario 3 is well known to be based on several works of Greek Theater, and Mario 2 is clearly inspired by The Arabian Nights, the original Super Mario Bros. is the least known to have been based on, quite exactly, Dante's "Inferno." The nine circles of hell in Dante's work are the inspiration for each set of 4 side scrolling levels, with each of Bowser's castles being collectively inspired by the ninth circle and transition into purgatory. The first circle of Dante's hell is "Limbo" where he meets each of the virtuous but unbaptized poets who inspire him along his way. All of them Roman "friends," or in Italian, "cumpà," the origin of the English slang "Goomba." Each of them becomes a literal stepping stone toward his goal of finding his Princess Beatrice, flattening for him to walk through the stone abyss. In the second layer of hell, Dante encounters the punishment for lust, in which a "whirlwind of lovers" manifests the sinful as fish attempting to swim aimlessly through a windy sky. Dante continues ever downward. Gluttony in the third circle of hell is punished in eternal darkness, where bulbous white trees thrive, containing the damned within them, eating them as they feasted in life. The fourth circle, Greed, is full of gold coins atop unreachable mushroom growths. Only a vine from Minos allows Virgil and Dante to climb away. Deeper still flows Styx, the river of the wrathful. It holds ferocious sea beasts and damned alike who attempt to swamp Dante as he travels ever onward toward the city of Dis, where heretics dwell. Dis, a tower made of squares and bottomless pits reveals The Beast Geryon, depicted as riding within a cloud, tormenting heretics with spines and impaling them on flagpoles bearing the names of their fraudulent beliefs. The seventh circle is a wasteland for the violent where canons fire forever. Those who committed violent acts are shot, devoured by flying turtle beasts, or turned into trees like the gluttonous before them. Hell's worst common sinners lay in ten walled ditches called "Bolgia." The ten great walls in Mario's penultimate level are a direct reference, as are the Brotherhood of the Hammer who built the walls referenced by the "Hammer Brothers." These hold gamblers, liars, and lazy authors who write excessively long jokes instead of working on the story they were commissioned to write. At the end of each layer, Virgil explains to Dante that Beatrice is in another place. Urging him to keep going even beyond where he and other righteous dead may wander. All the way toward the final central circle, the castle of Hell itself. Finally in the circle of traitors, Dante meets the devil on a bridge over troubled lava where he breathes flame from under his spiked shell upon the three worst traitors in history, Judas who betrayed Christ, Brutus who betrayed Caesar on an unknown date, and the "Traitor to Come," who is said to be a grotesque orange antichrist who will "sell out his nation" for a "Faulty carriage that travels on the power of lightning." Finally, Dante finds Beatrice, his princess, who takes him to purgatory beyond the core of the Earth, where he ascends to heaven after touching the emblem of her name, the letter "B." He begins his new quest in Dante's "Purgatorio," which holds the Donut Plains, Chocolate Islands, Vanilla Domes, and Butter Bridges of what would be adapted into Super Mario World for the SNES.

    UA Apollo E Series, Aimed at Live Sound, Debuts

    UA Apollo E Series. Scotts Valley, CA (March 18, 2025)—Universal Audio has launched the UA Apollo E Series, based around a pair of peripherals for the Apollo x16D audio interface and Dante-networked audio systems, helping to enable using UAD plug-ins in live sound scenarios. The Apollo x16D is an 18 x 20 audio interface with HEXA-core UAD processing that works with digital mixing consoles and networked audio systems over Dante, providing access to more than 200 UAD plug-ins including Neve, API, Lexicon, SSL, and Auto-Tune, as well as compressors like the Teletronix LA-2A and UA 1176. Universal Audio Apollo x16D Audio Interface Debuts Augmenting the Apollo x16D, the Apollo e1x Remote-controllable Unison Preamp ($399 MAP) provides Unison mic/line preamp sounds via plug-ins when paired with the x16D audio interface. Users can link multiple Apollo e1x units with its included coupling bracket and integrated mic-stand mount. Meanwhile, the Apollo e2m Stereo Headphone Amplifier and Line Interface ($499 MAP) provides stereo headphone monitoring and line level I/O on a Dante audio network. Users can connect headphones, IEMs, powered monitors or wedges, as well as external outboard gear, analog mic preamps, synths, drum machines, and playback devices anywhere needed. Both Apollo E Series devices feature mic stand mounting for live, broadcast, and networked studio use, and are compatible with any Dante audio system, adding network “endpoints” using Power over Ethernet (PoE) for all users, with or without an Apollo x16D interface. The Apollo E Series is now available to pre-order through select local retailers, and shipping worldwide in May 2025.

    Alumni Day at Princeton

                  I am an alumnus of Princeton University and have been for more than sixty years, though for most of those years the matter went virtually unmentioned.  That is because the degree I have is a doctorate.  When someone tells you he (or occasionally she) is a Princeton grad, he means that he graduated from the undergraduate college, F. Scott Fitzgerald and all that, except of course that Scott never graduated.  After all, the Graduate School is very much a Johnny-come-lately.  It didn’t even exist before 1869, and didn’t seriously exist until the beginning of the twentieth century.  The fact that its alumni in several scientific fields keep winning Nobel Prizes doesn’t necessarily count for all that much, locally.  But my late dear friend John Wilson, who was graduate dean from 1994 to 2002, made a special effort to raise its institutional profile.  He vigorously encouraged doctoral graduates to participate in alumni affairs, which mainly involves attending selected events while wearing a distinctive costume that is at least considerably less absurd than those worn by alumni of the individual undergraduate classes.  Of course having taught at the institution for nearly half a century I do find it pleasing to connect with former undergraduates of many student generations.   two eminent alumni   There are only two events for which Dean Wilson sought out our participation, and which I still try to attend in fealty to our ancient friendship.  One of these is Alumni Day, which came around last Saturday.  Alumni Day mainly features a few award ceremonies, but at its center is a large sit-down lunch which includes brief speeches by the President of the University, the President of the Alumni Association, and sometimes one or two others.   There are always more  ad hoc brief ceremonies, and the special awarding of a prize to two alumni,  special honors bestowed upon one undergraduate and one graduate alumn(a/us).  This year the undergraduate alumna was Elena Kagan.  Everybody already knew who she was: an associate justice of the Supreme Court.  Some of us had to read the program to identify the graduate alumnus: David Card, an eminent Canadian Nobelist economist teaching at Berkeley.  I actually chatted with him a little as we sat next to each other for the “class photo”.  You can tell from a mile away that he’s a really nice guy.   My saintly friend Frank, who is unstintingly solicitous of his aging friends, transported me to the venue of the lunch—the vast Jadwyn Gymnasium, or “Cage”, as it is sometimes called.  My mobility is not good; I am unsteady on my feet.  And I tire pretty quickly if I have to stay on my feet too long.  A lengthy stand-up gab-session followed by a luncheon for several hundred people on the basketball court floor is a bit of a challenge.  This was apparently obvious to the general observer.  Three different deanlets approached me during the crowded non-alcoholic pre-lunch nibbles to ask me if I needed a wheel chair.  After thrice rebuffing the suggestion with muted indignation, I had finally to agree that that was exactly what I needed.  After succumbing to this reality, life became considerably simpler.                                                                                       full court press luncheon The lunch, a cold salmon steak, was above average for such events, and I enjoyed the conversation at my table.  There was also an engaging talk by the suave Director of our University Art Museum, which has for several years been being transformed into a much larger and more architecturally imposing space—of which he gave us a detailed slide-show preview.  What one sees under construction from the outside may look like a mud wall to the uncharitable, but the new interior is obviously going to be very classy.  The next stop was the Memorial Service in the University chapel.  In recent years this solemn event has been for me the main attraction of Alumni Day.  A shuttle bus dropped us off near its venue, where we repaired after lounging briefly in overstuffed chairs in the nearby library.  The University is a big operation—not merely students and faculty but a very large number of support staff in many fields.  So the number of people who die each year and are individually remembered in this impressive service—I would describe it as semi- or crypto-religious—is quite large.  The Princeton chapel is manifestly a Christian house of worship.  In fact it is a mini-Cathedral.  But the ecumenical ceremony, acknowledging the considerable religious diversity of the campus, makes room for prayers and chants from all the principal world religions.  The printed necrology always includes several members of the faculty and staff, as well as increasing numbers of the alumni personally known to me.  Dean John Wilson’s own name appeared in the list in the last two years.  The individual memorialization of the recently dead is achieved by means of a very moving march of living members from all the classes which still have living members.  The participants, in pairs forming a solemn flow,  march down the cathedral’s long central aisle from the narthex to the top chancel steps.  There each marcher places a single flower blossom against a specially prepared board.  These bright blossoms—this year of a pure white color--gradually increase to the number of classes with still living member to become as it were a single huge flower.  And this year I realized, as I should have done years ago, that this ceremony has all the allegorical energy of the various parades and processions of Dante’s Paradiso and was was very probably inspired by that divine poem.   Furthermore the procession echoes the words of the service music. The hymnody always includes the classic Watts hymn “O God, our help in ages past…” with its poignant lines “Time, like an ever-rolling stream, bears all its sons away…”   The word sons is naturally updated to recognize more explicitly than does the English of the early eighteenth century the equal-opportunity mortality that reckons neither of sex or social status.                                          

    My Tears’ review of Philip Terry’s Dante’s Purgatorio and my own Dante project revived – plus thoughts on reviewing

    I have just published a review of Philip Terry’s Dante’s Purgatorio in the 81st edition of Tears in the Fence. I have published poems quite regularly in the magazine for a long time now, but I think this is the first time I have written a review for them. The review section is very good and it’s a nice place to appear. Despite having published a new book of (kind of) critical pieces in the last six months (The Necessity of Poetics) I have not written many reviews for a long time. (Pages: The Necessity of Poetics - out now! ) Partly, this is the result of having moved from an early policy of book reviewing for magazines small and large (including New Statesman, TLS, PN Review) to writing academic literary criticism, which resulted in several books (not so much The Necessity of Poetics which largely collected disparate materials) but like The Poetry of Saying and The Meaning of Form. (Believe it or not I’ve only recently noticed that ‘The X of Y’ structure of these book titles! ‘I thought it was deliberate,’ Patricia opined. It wasn’t.) Somehow, the thrill of writing reviews wore off. Perhaps I could do it in my sleep. Perhaps I regret not being paid (the New Statesman stuff was vital to our survival, I seem to remember, even though I had a full time job in FE). But I’ve seldom returned to it. Of course, my disenchantment with academic publishing is pretty high, too. A system where you’re lucky if you receive a pdf of your book title instead of the whole book, or where you have to buy a copy yourself is difficult to explain to friends in the pub. One said, ‘You need a better agent.’ (I didn’t like to tell him.) I don’t mind paying a bus fare but I don’t expect to have to build the bus first before I travel! Another reason why I think I should review new poetry books (in particular) is that there is a shortage of reviewers out there (as I have discovered with my own latest, British Standards; I am thankful for Billy Mills’ tracing of its trajectory here: Two by Robert Sheppard: A Review – Elliptical Movements). And I feel I need to do my bit. Now I have, with my account of Philip Terry’s Dante’s Purgatorio which you will not be too surprised to hear is his follow-up to his masterful Dante’s Inferno! In short (and without repeating the review) it’s great fun and serious at the same time, an Oulipo wonder, using the constraint ‘Up to Date’, which he operates in a much more systematic way than I did in my ‘English Strain’ project; I have collaborated with Philip and have observed him at work. See here (Pages: Twitters for a Lark launch at Bangor University 6th April 2018 (set list)) and here (Pages: 'My' Quennets from A TRANSLATED MAN published in The Penguin Book of Oulipo) for our meetings, over the remains of my ‘fictional poets’ project (something close to Philip’s own heart!). Details of Tears in the Fence 81 here: Tears in the Fence 81 is out! | Tears in the Fence Anybody reading this blog carefully (is there such a being out there?) will perhaps notice that I was advancing my own ‘Dante’ project, which I rather flagrantly ‘abandoned’ in this post here: Pages: On abandoning my transposition of Dante: thoughts and extracts.   For the moment, the old text shall remain there but I might remove it, since I have (as I thought I would, and said so, on the post itself) found a way to ‘treat’ the text, submitting it to a ‘coherent deformation’, daily working through the 80 pp of notes with a method, not (it should be recorded) an Oulipo method. In fact, today yielded, probably roughly, and in need of further work, these lines:    Lower down the proscribed Covid stairwell, very finely done, ‘Oh, you know, the plague!’ says Blake. ‘Let’s watch “this metamorphosis of a malefactor.” Everything’s one day about this man. You’ll write other dimensions, you already have.’ The riding figure disintegrates before any masks. The Poet muffles his nose in human decomp, arriving like an olfactory fester. He acts to bloat and gloop the great naked blasphemer, knocking, who blasts flames, sequenced backwards like this story, which is, admittedly, unambiguous and coiled with serpents.   Blake is my Virgil, and Dante is ‘The Poet’. Blake was my Virgil, since I used his very lopsided coverage of the Commedia, for the object of the original ‘writing through’, which I have now returned to, partly because I’ve forgotten the ‘abandoned’ text (and have not looked back at it); I have, however, kept its title, Stars: a Comedy Machine, and one of its epigraphs is                                     Thus the cause                         Is not corrupted nature in yourselves,                         But bad government that has turned the world                         To evil.                                                 Purgatorio XVI   which I mention in my review of Philip’s work, plus his own version of these lines. I say, ‘In a version of lines in Dante from Canto XVI that I think of as central to the Commedia, Terry has:                                       What I’m saying is that the             Present state of the world is caused predominantly By one thing and one thing alone: bad leadership.’   Interestingly, he keeps this in focus as a major theme.   Talking of epigraphs, mine, to the third, HELL, part of my ‘commedia’ (it’s narrated in reverse, ‘sequenced backwards like this story’ as I ‘wrote’ this morning) is taken from Terry’s Inferno:    Capital divides                                                             and rules     its kingdom                                                 Like a greedy spoilt dictator,   though I might choose another from his Inferno. My own version is thus much taken with Terry’s. In fact I might have abandoned my version much sooner, since the very existence of his version threw mine into doubt. But Philip encouraged me to continue: as an Oulipean there can never be enough versions of the text for him (so long as he doesn’t have to write them all, I suspect!).  I agreed to review the book in order to deal with it (and I knew it would be as funny as I found the first volume, though more poignant). I’m glad I did. It’s been useful for seeing what he’s up to, what I’m up to, and it might very well propel me to write further reviews for whoever wants them. It gets the news out there. There is always this blog, too, for further thoughts.   * Previous appearances in Tears in the Fence are recorded here, the first 2 links carrying details of poems printed from the aforesaidmentioned ‘English Strain’ project, with videos of me reading some of these poems. Thanks again to editor David Caddy for taking these works and the new review!  Pages: Two new poems from British Standards published in Tears in the Fence 73 Pages: Two more sonnets from British Standards (from Keats) in Tears in the Fence 75 Pages: Robert Sheppard: 'Between' a poem for Roy Fisher published in Tears in the Fence

    Inferno of Vanity, Cupidity, and Derangement

    The real estate transaction that enabled White settlers to colonize Manhattan was in reality an ethnic cleansing operation. Trump, whose first real estate grifts were perpetrated in Manhattan, knows deep in his High Dollar criminal class DNA that ethnic cleansing is part and parcel of doing the business of the ruling elite. Hence real estate inhabited by the Palestinian people, to appropriate the ugly, soul-defying lexicon of business insiders, is transactional. Genocide and ethnic cleansing are just business as usual under capitalist despotism. Nothing new under the sun here, including The US military acting as a mafia-grade enforcer arm of the criminal enterprise. Once again, Trump, by his inherent criminal character, exposes the death-rancid essence of empire. The US/Zionist land-grab amounts to gentrification by militarist imperium. Stateside, the criminal enterprise operates by means of life-defying rent increases and court ordered evictions of longtime residents of “transitional neighborhoods.” In a just universe: “We are only conducting business,” the damned, condemned to Business Class Pit Of The Inferno, would snarl in protest. Yet despite odious act upon odious act, pushback against Trump’s agendas, as waged by so-called resistance liberals, has been crushed to shit-dust. Elon Musk, resembling a dancing bear in a meth house, has had his victory dance. Trump swagger/waddles in front of presscore cameras on a daily basis and issues more crackbrained mandates as he continues his dance of domination with the corpse of human decency. As, per always, Democrats retreat to the shadows, even as Trump promises he intends to inflict ethnic cleansing and unprovoked military adventurism. Forcing the perennial question, if the Democrats, as they have proven dismal time and miserable time again, are incapable of acting as an viable opposition party — why does the party even exist? All transpiring as the peace candidate (guffaw) Trump continues banging his little, tin wardrum. He demands the polar ice surrender and melt away in retreat. He gropes and grabs southwest ward, as if the nation of Panama is a Miss America contestant, believing all he surveys is his birthright. Trump will pussy-grab the canal until it submits. The Terror of Tiny Town on the Potomac is having his moment. “Thy soul is by vile fear assailed, which oft so overcasts a man, that he recoils from noblest resolution, like a beast at some false semblance in the twilight gloom.” ― Dante Alighieri, Inferno, The Divine Comedy The proto-fascistic transgressions of duopoly-based High Dollar rule has made MAGA authoritarianism all but inevitable. Why? Because, in regard to the citizenry of the US, the conception of what it means to be a human being, while enclosed in cultrual atomization thus not possessing the capability of meaningful engagement within the polis, has been incrementally defined downward. The platitudes of the republic remain…as muttering ghosts as the billionaire class yawp in unimpeded ascendancy, “If we weren’t brilliant how then did we become billionaires? Just let go and let the tech-gods guide the course of your little lives.” “These dwell among the blackest souls, loaded down deep by sins of differing types. If you sink far enough, you’ll see them all.” ― Dante Alighieri, Inferno, The Divine Comedy Even before the rise of tech-authoritarianism there had been a significant measure of discourse regarding what was termed the “dumbing down of American life.” But little examination has been directed at the pervasive corporate blandification (with its underpinning of building angst) of daily life in the nation e.g., the manner by which the tones and textures of every day existence within the declining nation both attenuates the personality of an individual and renders the nation’s landscape (and mindscape) monotonous, stressful, and ugly. Even within the perpetual thrall of the present hyper-commercialized, pixel-generated, collective mindscape, earthbound libido is crucial to survival. Envelopment within a tech-generated simulacrum causes the thoughts of the heart to wither. The human psyche, deracinated, loses crucial aspects of its humanity. A vital agora is not a luxury; the eros evinced therein makes humans human beings – as opposed to merely, tragically, a series of limbic system reactions beholden to electronically generated stimuli. “My thoughts were full of other things When I wandered off the path.” ― Dante Alighieri, Inferno, The Divine Comedy …Wandered, fuckwitted, to invidious places to which the mind is prone to go. Given the prevailing mindset of the present, there is no need for fascist-minded leaders to stage mass rallies replete with bonfires and torches blazing against the totalitarian darkness: The techno-corporate junta (waged by the power inherent to vast wealth inequality) has established and retrenched its reign by colonization of the psyche. Dopamine enhancement as bribe; in extremus, homelessness as punishment. Corporate oligarchs, and their political bagmen, perched atop the present order do have a need for reeducation camps or the ever-vigilant gaze of neighborhood block captains. The citizenry have become our own, ever-vigilant minders; within us, we have in place vast networks of secret police informers — our own personal bully boy enforcers of corporate blandness and internal propagandist promulgating misdirected rage — whose predatory presence within renders the citizenry as empty as the blandifying architecture of the corporate nothingscape. All as the political class grows bloated with the defacto bribes proffered by the moneyed class. The Democrats, displaying their cringe-inducing combination of fecklessness and smugness, continue to retail their grift of “sensible centrism” yet, concurrently, displaying extremism in their cupidity. In short, playing their part in the perpetuation of one party rule i.e., Money Party domination of every aspect of existence within the empire. There is not a leftist voice in play in any manner in present day discourse, either cultural or political basis. Leftward perspectives (e.g., anti-genocidal) are not allowed entrance into the closed club of mainstream (now christened, legacy) punditry. The alleged center has moved further and further rightward as the right has marched into the territory of discernible fascism and theocracy. Mainstream Democrats and centrist pundits have adapted to the despair-inducing criteria of the era by appropriating the mandatory mode of mind when dominated by authoritarianism — self-annihilation by fecklessness. “So many times a man’s thoughts will waver, That it turns him back from honored paths, As false sight turns a beast, when he is afraid.” ― Dante Alighieri, Inferno, The Divine Comedy How then is it possible to maintain the fantasy that voting every two to four years can alter the course of the ship of state, even when treacherous shoals are sighted on the horizon line? And this arrives at the (heartless) center of the tragedy of corporate hegemony: The manner in which the system’s monomaniacal drive for excessive profits and the habitual consumerism mandatory to sustain the system serves to usurp our essential longings and passions. The absence, in contemporary life, of (non virtual) public space, wherein human to human discourse can flourish has created the social conditions inherent to the rise and pernicious influence of anti-democratic institutions such as the seething totalitarianism on display within the nation’s archipelago of megachurches. The loss of communal connection, in confluence with unrepentant consumerism and soul-defying materialism has wrought, within the US populace, a desperate longing for group involvement — even for those ecstatic states involving the immersion of the rational mind found within the excesses of a totalitarian mob, even though most of the activity transpires as a sofa bound, social media Nuremberg rally. Amid the terror and grim comedy of it all I am not going to cease resisting, therefore calling out, the hideous acts of terrible people and their denial-prone enablers. But I will do so by attempting to reach the reachable. Zombie capitalism and empire-as-colossus are belligerently obtuse and outright hostile in regard to gaining a sense of self-awareness hence evincing humanity. The empire, authoritarian by nature, is careening into runaway train mode. My advice, knowing the histories of nations gripped by hyper-authoritarian proclivities…stop, look, and listen and get the living fuck off of the tracks. This train is not bound for glory but to the junkyard of imperialist wreckage. The question is, will it even be salvageable by way of parts. For example, the parts being, the nation’s legacy of music, a divinely mutant soundscape, its ecosystem engendered by a polyglot culture resistant to the hysterical dictates of tone-deaf nativist shitheels. These are the regions of the national soul we on the left must reclaim. Traditionally, music has aided progressives in the struggle. Woody Guthrie posited, all songs are political. Songs take up residence in our hearts and in the non-verbal areas of our minds where we harbor our deepest longings. There, they inform our perceptions of the world. It is this sublime terrain, existing beyond the material, that progressives have abandoned to frauds and flimflammers. Lost, in our retreat from cultural resonance, has been our affinity with the spirit of defiance as evinced by Jim Crow era African Americans’ deep and penetrating longing for release from hard labor beneath an unforgiving Mississippi sun that found voice during late night, crossroads barroom freedom freighted in the Delta Blues and northeastward, urban dwellers found refuge from the dehumanizing, daylight demands of mid-twentieth century, Industrial Age existence by getting lost in the sublime of midnight transcendence delivered by Bebop and Free Jazz. Also missing in (ecstatic) action has been an atmosphere (cultural and personal) of creative risk and abandon, whereby Jimi Hendrix would conjure and fuse the urban and rural spirits of Robert Johnson and John Coltrane, plus toss some Malcolm X into the mix then, a short time later, and further down a southbound road, Duane Allman would resurrect a redneck hippie, guitar Jesus who fed the post-honky tonk multitudes Orange Sunshine as he delivered an electric guitar Sermon On The Georgia Red Dirt Mount by fusing the spirits of Tim Leary, Martin Luther King, and the Carter Family. A few years later, across the Atlantic, the Sex Pistols would howl like Post-Industrial Age demons, trapped within the detritus of the crumbling British Empire . . . much like, nearly a decade and a half later, Kurt Cobain would have his short, Icarian flight across the flaming-out sun of the American Empire. In order to restore humanity and its concomitant full-spectrum of numinous experiences to American life, we must wrest back the embrace of ecstatic states from brown shirt-prone, bible-caressers, and humor back from retrograde, rightist punch-down artists whose soul joke goes, my pronouns are…asshole. For pride and avarice and envy are the three fierce sparks that set all hearts ablaze.” ― Dante Alighieri, Inferno, The Divine Comedy In conclusion, we are advised to live with the same degree of passion and fervor as fundamentalist Christian preachers … when they’re seeking out converts and, covertly, navigating grinder for apostles of the flesh and Trump on a late night X-binge. Or Musk’s ardor to be the sperminator of Mars. “Soon you will be where your own eyes will see the source and cause and give you their own answer to the mystery.” ― Dante Alighieri, Inferno The post Inferno of Vanity, Cupidity, and Derangement first appeared on Dissident Voice.

    272: “Normal Ruskin”

    Good Friends, For some time now–indeed, since the inception of this blog – I have been encouraging my readers to read Ruskin!! The central feature of all but a handful of our previous posts has been to present at least one passage from his works, passages highlighting not merely his consummate ability to arrange words delightfully and inspirationally on a printed page, but which throw into high relief what I regard as his always laudable concerns about the world in which we live. It has been my hope that these selections might inspire some to get copies of his books for their own and read them for their own pleasure. Alas, the ways of cyberspace being what they are (often unfathomable!), I have no way of knowing how many of you have been moved to do this. And so, with that mystery uppermost in mind, I dedicate today’s post to illustrating what I regard as “normal Ruskin” (!)–that is, to giving you a pair of examples not of his most famous passages, but passages representative of what you would be likely to encounter if you are reading on your own any of his lectures, essays, or books. Today’s passages have been chosen, intentionally, from works written at some distance from one another in order to suggest that, as I know to be the case from my own extensive reading, no matter where you read in Ruskin, you will find such lovely bits to enthrall your hours regularly, “Normally.” His genius was such that he simply could not write as one of we mere mortals would! He didn’t write to impress his readers with his grandiloquence (although he would often spend long periods composing passages he deemed as being particularly important to what he was trying to communicate); he simply wrote from his heart about things he had seen and registered, things he hoped he could help his readers see and register. Our first passage is taken from the third volume of The Stones of Venice (1853), from a section where he is considering what one needs to do if he (she) truly wishes to appreciate and understand a magnificent piee of great art: We have just seen that all great art is the work of the whole living creature, body and soul–but chiefly, the soul. But, it is not merely the work of the whole creature, it speaks to the whole creature. That in which a perfect being speaks must also have a perfect being to listen. I am not to spend my utmost spirit to give all my strength in life to my work while you, spectator or hearer, give me only half your attention or half your soul [in return.] You must be all mine, as I am all yours; that is the only condition on which we can meet each other. All your faculties–all that is in you of greatest and best, must be awakened in you, or I [painter or creator] have no reward. The painter is not to cast the entire treasure of his human nature into his labor merely to please a part of the beholder; not merely to delight his senses, not merely to amuse his fancy, not merely to beguile him into emotion, not merely to delight his thought; but to do all this! Senses, fancy, feeling, reason, the whole of the building spirit, must devote dedicated attention… else the laboring spirit has not done its work well. The second passage–more personal– is from his wonderful autobiography, Praeterita, written in the 1880s. He is describing, remembering actually, a visit, one evening, to the public, acquaduct-fed fountain of Branda in Siena. (Image below. Note: I have been to Siena, visited its justly famed fountain, and drank from it, and, later, passed through the gate where the quotation he rehearses can still be viewed carved deeply in stone above. It was a most moving experience. (Very roughly translated, the quotation can be read: “More than her gates, Siena opens her heart to you.”) The mentioned Charles Eliot Norton was a Harvard professor of Fine Art, and, for many years, one of Ruskin’s greatest friends and confidants. Fonte Branda I last saw with Charles Eliot Norton, under the same arches where Dante saw it. We drank [there] together, and walked together that evening on the hills above where the fireflies among the scented thickets shown fitfully in the still undarkened air. How they shown!–moving like fine, broken starlight through the purple leaves. How they shown through the sunset that faded into thunderous night when I entered Siena three days before, the white edges of the mountainous clouds still lighted from the west and the openly golden sky calm behind the gate of Siena’s heart with its still golden words carved above it–“Cor magus tibi Sena pandit’. With the fireflies everywhere in the sky, and the clouds rising and falling, and mixed with lightning–and more intense than the stars! “Normal Ruskin”! Until next time! Please do continue well out there! Jim

    RME M-1620 Pro and 1620 Pro D Now Available in the UK

    RME M-1620 Pro and 1620 Pro D Now Available in the UK RME has officially launched the latest high-end audio solutions, the M-1620 Pro and 1620 Pro D, now available to purchase from selected retailers across the UK. Designed for audio professionals seeking exceptional sound quality, these cutting-edge multi-channel AD/DA converters combine advanced features, premium build quality, and unparalleled sonic performance. M-1620 Pro (ADAT MADI Milan/AVB) The M-1620 Pro combines high-end A-D and D-A conversion with the popular ADAT and MADI formats, and AoIP technnology courtesy of AVB/MILAN. Offering seamless conversion between formats, the M-1620 Pro is an incredibly versatile solution for studios and live audio environments, whether integrating with existing systems or functioning as the hub of a new setup. The M-1620 Pro is particularly suited for complex audio workflows where multiple connections and format conversions are essential, making it ideal for modern studios handling both recording and playback in various formats. MILAN-certification – a subset of AVB that ensures interoperability between different manufacturers- ensures the M-1620 works flawlessly with other MILAN-certified devices. M-1620 Pro D (ADAT MADI Dante) The M-1620 Pro D features the same exceptional audio conversion capabilities of its sibling for prioritising Dante-based workflows. Dante has become a leading standard in audio-over-IP technology, allowing for reliable, low-latency audio transmission over standard networks, making the M-1620 Pro D perfect for broadcast, live sound, and large-scale studio setups where Dante networks are already in use. Both models come equipped with built-in headphone amplifiers for precise monitoring, as well as remote control capabilities for added convenience. The headphone amps ensure detailed and accurate playback, making critical monitoring tasks easier for audio engineers, whilst remote control functionality allows users to make adjustments to routings and settings from anywhere on the network. Perfect expansion for RME Audio Interfaces The M-1620 Pro is the perfect addition to RME’s Fireface range of premium audio interfaces. Even if you’re not planning to delve into the flexibility offered by AoIP, the M-1620 Pro Series can be connected to any RME interface via ADAT (or MADI) for additional high-end analogue inputs and outputs. And if you are looking for away to bring channels from your Fireface 802, UCX or UFX on to a Dante or AVB network, the M-1620 Pro offers a seamless method in combination with RME’s latest generation of high-end converters for the finest audio quality. Give your music and clients the quality they deserve with one of RME’s premium line of AD/DA converters. The RME M-1620 Pro and M-1620 Pro D are now available at select UK retailers. See our list of Authorised UK RME Dealers See the full range of RME Converters Want to know more about RME audio interfaces and sound cards? Give us a call on 01727 821 870 to speak to one of our team, or contact us here. The post RME M-1620 Pro and 1620 Pro D Now Available in the UK appeared first on Synthax Audio UK.

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