R.I.P. Ray Manzarek

Ray Manzarek, keyboardist extraordinaire who co-founded The Doors with Jim Morrison in 1965 has died in Germany monday after a long fight with bile duct cancer. He was 74.
In 2002 Ray and former Doors guitarist Robby Krieger reunited in a new version of the legendary rock band called The Doors of the 21st Century that after some legal troubles with former Doors drummer John Desmore about the use of the name "Doors", it  was renamed as Raiders of the Storm.
Good friends Manzarek and Krieger  made several concerts and tours together (with contribution of different musicians) and in  2004 they  released the DVD The Doors of 21st Century: L.A. Woman Live.
Rest in peace sweet man....

Tolerantia

Tolerantia, an award-winning short animated movie by Ivan Ramadan. It was the first 3D animated film produced in Bosnia and Herzegovina (2008).

Kangna HD, Farid Ayaz & Abu Muhammad

Astounding mix of traditional music and modern arrangements at Coke Studio, Pakistan with Kangna HD, Farid Ayaz & Abu Muhammad. Simply mesmerizing....

The Surreal Worlds of Michael Sowa

Michael Sowa (born 1945) is a German artist known for his whimsical, surreal and stunning paintings often featuring animals. His works are titled in German and English. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Berlin for seven years, spent a brief time as an art teacher and then became a painter.  A book of 50 of his paintings titled Sowa's Art: An Enchanted Bestiary was published in 1996 and reprinted in 2006 by Image Connection, PA, USA.  His best known book is Esterhazy, The Rabbit Prince also published by Image Connection.

The New Science of Psychedelics

The following is excerpted from  The New Science of Psychedelics: At the Nexus of Culture, Consciousness, and Spirituality, by David Jay Brown, published by Inner Traditions.

In this book we'll be exploring a wide array of unorthodox ideas about the evolution of consciousness and the future. The New Science contains a collection of fascinating anecdotes from my many interviews with accomplished iconic thinkers, and discussions on how these interactions interfaced with the ideas, insights, and revelations from my numerous psychedelic experiences.
(...)

DJB Meets THC

My interest in meditation, and the writings of Robert Anton Wilson, led me to experiment with the cognitive-changing, sensory-enhancing properties of cannabis. In 1976 I purchased a small quantity of the illegal herb from a fellow student in my art class, and I picked up a small pipe with a wooden bowl at my local mall. I tried smoking the condensed, dried brown buds three times in the pipe without any noticeable effect. Then, on the fourth try, it finally worked. 

I was taking tokes from my pipe in an extra bedroom, downstairs in the home that I grew up in, while my mother spoke on the phone upstairs in the kitchen. I was listening to her voice and laughter seep through the ceiling, and it seemed to be unusually interesting for some reason--dreamlike and amusing--almost like it was a parody of her speaking in a cartoon. I was hearing these archetypal and strangely humorous qualities in my mom's voice when I suddenly realized that I was totally and completely stoned. I found the perceptual shifts, cognitive changes, and sensory enhancement that cannabis brought to be absolutely delightful and I marveled at everything around me.

Getting high for the first time felt like being let in on a great cosmic secret. As Timothy Leary exclaimed about his first cannabis experience, "Wow, how long has this been going on?"

... continue reading the full excerpt on Reality Sandwich 

The Visions of Simon Haiduk

Simon Haiduk (b. 1981) is a multi-media artist from British Columbia, Canada. You can share his visionary dimensions (fine art, motion graphic-art and music) on his mind-moving website...

Calling The Others from Simon Haiduk on Vimeo.

Suns of Arqa / "Miyan"

Suns of Arqa is an ambient/entheogenic/ethnic/esoteric (?) collective founded in 1979 by Michael Wadada. Since the band's formation over 200 musicians from around the world have played and recorded with them.
(For more info please visit them on myspace)   
"Miyani", from the 1999 album "SOA meet The Gayan Uttejak Orchestra".... very good for late night meditation/contemplation, entheogenic excursions, painting or...you choose....!