Does anyone know if Brian Eno's _Oblique Strategies_ card set is still available? If it's not in print anymore then would any owners out there care to type out the text of the cards and share them with me? My interest has been piqued again. Wouldn't Oblique Strategies make a nice hypercard stack?
In article <rogalsky.706291...@sfu.ca> rogal...@fraser.sfu.ca (Matthew Rogalsky) writes: >Does anyone know if Brian Eno's _Oblique Strategies_ card set is still >available? If it's not in print anymore then would any owners out there >care to type out the text of the cards and share them with me? My >interest has been piqued again. Wouldn't Oblique Strategies make a >nice hypercard stack?
I have the cards typed into a text file, one per line, and a small VAX FORTRAN program that "draws" one for you randomly. Anyone who wants a copy should contact me via Email. I would like to find a set of the original Peter Schmidt cards, though....
WARNING: One or two of the lines in my file have been edited to get them to fit in less than 80 characters. If anyone has the full text of all of the cards handy (I accidentally deleted mine), I'd like them. Thanks.
-- What shreds your cones, makes wonderful drones, leaves digitoids in a fog? _______________ What weighs a ton and is oodles of fun? It's A-- na-- LOG! metlay@minerva.| It's Ana-LOG, it's Ana-LOG, it squashes your neighbor's cat; phyast.pitt.edu| It's Ana-LOG, It's Ana-LOG, it's better than thin, it's FAT!
Can somebody post a description of this card set? I am completely unfamiliar with them, but they sound interesting enough to find out what everyone's talking about. Thanks. -- | Vincent Kargatis | "...it was more really like, | | Dept. of Space Physics and Astronomy | here are some Ginsu knives - how | | Rice University, Houston, TX | many can you hold in your bum?" | | [v...@spacsun.rice.edu] | -- Nigel Tufnel, Spinal Tap |
rperk...@NeoSoft.com (Rodney Perkins) writes: > In the Whole Earth Catalog "SIGNAL", they reprinted the Oblique > Strategies cards. You could probably find that at your local public > library.
I like the card set in "Signal", but purists should note: the Whole Earth folks edited it somewhat for their purposes. As I recall it was smaller than the original Eno set and somewhat less specifically oriented toward music. I know it included some strategies which Eno's didn't (I think one of them was "Call your mother and ask her advice.").
Personally I like the idea of the cards mutating into other forms. I think they could be for the 21st century what tarot cards were for the middle ages. :-)
(True trivia fans get this: The Oblique Strategies cards also make an appearance in the cult movie about Austin marginal life, "Slacker".)
-- Prentiss Riddle ("aprendiz de todo, maestro de nada") rid...@rice.edu -- Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of my employer.
From ecf_...@jhunix.UUCP (John Lorch) Wed Mar 29 12:37:00 1989 Path: caen.engin.umich.edu!mailrus!csd4.milw.wisc.edu!lll-winken!ames!haven!aplce n!jhunix!ecf_hjl From: ecf_...@jhunix.HCF.JHU.EDU (John Lorch) Newsgroups: rec.music.misc Subject: Re: ENO'S Oblique Strategies Message-ID: <1269@jhunix.HCF.JHU.EDU> Date: 29 Mar 89 17:37 GMT References: <5639@archie.UUCP> <133000093@inmet> Reply-To: ecf_...@jhunix.UUCP (John Lorch) Organization: The Johns Hopkins University - HCF Lines: 174
Ok, here's my copy of the posting from some while ago of Brian Eno's oblique strategies cards. Each line was printed on a playing card sized card, black on one side, white on the printed side. They come in a small black box that says "Oblique Strategies" on one side in gold lettering, and the artists names are on the other side. They were developed by Brian Eno and Peter Schmidt, who was a painter friend of Eno's (he did the cover for Taking Tiger Mountain (by Strategy)). The first little bit there descibes the basic ideas behind the cards and their recommended use. I bought my set in 1980 for $11.00. It was a second, unsigned edition. A friend of mine has offered to sell me his first edition, signed by both artists, for $100.00 Those are the only two copies I've ever seen. I have no idea where you might find a copy of the set.
Enjoy. -=- -=- -=-
Here are the ``Oblique Strategies'' cards that have been mentioned/requested: (this first bit is the introductory card)
OBLIQUE STRATEGIES Over 100 worthwhile dilemmas by Brian Eno & Peter Schmidt
These cards evolved from our separate observations of the principles underlying what we were doing. Sometimes they were recognized in retro- spect (intellect catching up with intuition), sometimes they were formulated. They can be used as a pack (a set of possibilities being continuously reviewed in the mind) or by drawing a single card from the shuffled pack when a dilemma occurs in a working situation. In this case the card is trusted even if its appropriateness is quite unclear. They are not final, as new ideas will present themselves, and others will become self-evident.
[First published 1975, slightly revised edition 1978. Unauthorized transcription by Rob Stanzel 1985 of unauthorized transcription by M. Skoner 9/79 (hi, Mark)]
Remove specifics and convert to ambiguities Don't be frightened of cliches What is the reality of the situation? Are there sections? Consider transitions Turn it upside down Think of the radio Allow an easement (an easement is the abandonment of a stricture) Simple subtraction Be dirty Go slowly all the way round the outside A line has two sides Make an exhaustive list of everything you might do & do the last thing on the list Into the impossible Towards the insignificant Ask people to work against their better judgement Take away the elements in order of apparent non-importance Infinitesimal gradations Change instrument roles Accretion Disconnect from desire Emphasize repetitions Faced with a choice, do both (given by Dieter Rot) Children -speaking -singing Lost in useless territory A very small object Its center Dont be afraid of things because they're easy to do Dont be frightened to display your talents Breathe more deeply Honor thy error as a hidden intention What are the sections sections of? Imagine a caterpillar moving Only one element of each kind Is there something missing Use `unqualified' people How would you have done it? Emphasize differences Do nothing for as long as possible Bridges -build -burn Always give yourself credit for having more than personality (given by Arto Lindsay) You don't have to be ashamed of using your own ideas Tidy up Do the words need changing? Ask your body Tape your mouth (given by Ritva Saarikko) Water Simply a matter of work Make a sudden, destructive unpredictable action; incorporate Consult other sources -promising -unpromising Use an unacceptable color Humanize something free of error Use filters Fill every beat with something Discard an axiom Not building a wall but making a brick What wouldn't you do? Lowest common denominator Decorate, decorate Balance the consistency principle with the inconsistency principle Get your neck massaged Listen to the quiet voice Do the washing up Is it finished? Put in earplugs Reevaluation (a warm feeling) Give the name away Intentions -nobility of -humility of -credibility of Abandon normal instruments Use fewer notes Repetition is a form of change Give way to your worst impulse Reverse Trust in the you of now Imagine the piece as a set of disconnected events What would your closest friend do? Distorting time Make a blank valuable by putting it in an exquisite frame Feed the recording back out of the medium Convert a melodic element into a rhythmic element The most important thing is the thing most easily forgotten [blank white card] Ghost echoes You can only make one dot at a time Just carry on (Organic) machinery The inconsistency principle Don't break the silence Idiot glee (?) Discover the recipes you are using and abandon them Cascades Courage! Spectrum analysis What mistakes did you make last time? Consider different fading systems Mute and continue Be extravagant It is quite possible (after all) What are you really thinking about just now? Don't stress on thing more than another [sic] State the problem in words as clearly as possible Assemble some of the elements in a group and treat the group You are an engineer Remove ambiguities and convert to specifics Look at the order in which you do things Go outside. Shut the door. Disciplined self-indulgence Do we need holes? Cluster analysis Always first steps Cut a vital conenction Do something boring Define an area as `safe' and use it as an anchor Is the information correct? Overtly resist change Question the heroic approach Accept advice Twist the spine Work at a different speed Look closely at the most embarrassing details & amplify them Mechanicalize something idiosyncratic Emphasize the flaws Remember those quiet evenings Take a break Short circuit (example; a man eating peas with the idea that they will improve his virility shovels them straight into his lap) Left channel, right channel, center channel Use an old idea Destroy -nothing -the most important thing Change nothing and continue with immaculate consistency The tape is now the music -------
-- John Lorch UUCP: ecf_...@jhunix.UUCP Johns Hopkins University ARPA: ecf_...@jhunix.hcf.jhu.edu Homewood Computing Facilities BITNET: ecf_...@jhunix.BITNET
Matthew Rogalsky writes: >Does anyone know if Brian Eno's _Oblique Strategies_ card set is still >available?
The last time I checked [the occasion was Eno's birthday show last year], there weren't any more copies of the OS left with Eno's OPAL people in L.A., and what copies were still around could perhaps have been ordered through OPAL in London. This was before OPAL was folded by Warner Brothers last November, so all bets are off.
The set being offered for sale was the third printing of the deck. There were no plans for another set. At one point, a group of us were hunting about trying to compile a correct and annotated listing of all three editions [what was added, what was dropped] of the sets. We had real trouble finding a second printing. I'll have to go rooting around in my old computer tapes and see if I can recover the dump of my stuff from long ago to see if it might be archived. Don't hold out much hope....
I'll see if I can manage to type them in when I have some time [whenever *that'll* be].
On another note, I spent a pleasant Friday chatting with one of those record company folks who keeps an eye on Eno now that Opal's dead. For those of you who've followed this, the chronology goes something like this:
Initially, there was an Eno album called "The Shutov Assembly" of newer instrumental work, and a "Song" album to follow later.
Next, the decision was made to fold the two together [after the relative success of the Eno/Cale album]. The title was to have been "My Squelchy Life." This project was close enough to being finished that review copies were produced, and several reviews of the album appeared in the British press [Q, Wire].
Then "MSL" started to slip and slip and slip. Then OPAL records had its tent folded.
So, here's the story NOW:
In the interim, Eno decide to ah...'rework' stuff. He and Fripp have just crawled out of the studio, having redone all Fripp's guitar parts for the upcoming project. Rumour has the guitar playing being "as revolutionary as it was hearing the leads for "Baby's on Fire" the first time".
There should be a CD5 out in July. No title given.
August is the release date for the new rechristened album, to be called "Nerve Net".
An additional instrument/ambient album is scheduled for an October/Nov. release. No title given as yet.
Additionally, Eno has some material produced which should appear on the soundtrack to the upcoming Ralph Bahkshi film "Cool World."
I hope this is of some use to you. -- Nothing but an assemblage of cylinders, it rests on the sidewalk at dawn. He sees it easily enough as the crowd parts, giving him shy looks and shuffling back as if unveiling a monument. Only a few minutes late the police come by to draw a white outline around the important corpse before spiriting it away.
In article <1...@heurikon.heurikon.com>, gtay...@vme.heurikon.com (Gregory Taylor) writes: |> Matthew Rogalsky writes:
||> |> August is the release date for the new rechristened album, to be called |> "Nerve Net".
Is anyone aware of a recent album that Eno and Gabriel produced. I believe the artist was originally from Kenya?
jeff
-- We threw the empty frame of reason out the cabin door As we won't be needing reasons anymore" --- Eno/Cale | Jeffrey Needham | Yet Another Oracle Performance Group | Control Data - Santa Clara, CA - INTERNET j...@hawk.svl.cdc.com
j...@hawk.svl.cdc.COM writes: >Is anyone aware of a recent album that Eno and Gabriel produced. I believe >the artist was originally from Kenya?
Not so recent, really. The album is on Real World. Gabriel makes a brief, non-producerial appearance. Eno did the production. David Rhodes is also on it a bit. And the singer's *Ugandan*, not Kenyan. His name is Geoffrey Oryema [his father was terminated in a prejudicial manner by Idi Amin Dada while serving as....I used to remember.... head of the air force?], and the album is called "Exile." It's very lovely - Eno really doesn't get in the way of the basic performance at all. It reminds me a bit of the feel and the acoustic space of Danny Lanois' "Acadie." Very quiet and introspective. I just played "Piny Runa Woko" as a part of the annual "Brian Eno Birthday Party" on my radio show last Sunday.
I hope this is of some help.
-- Still, the world that is or was the person shimmers uneasily at him, in the blank frame that waves at nothing (one arm up, legs bent) like an exuberant bit of graffiti. Stenciled on the damp ground, it's as pure and inviting as a footprint: he's ready to hurl himself into the mold and test the fit.
