Hauntology

smoke1.jpg

Dub is dup’ music.
—Lee “Scratch” Perry

Believers in Electronic Voice Phenomena hear ghosts in unrecorded audio tape. Lee Perry welcomes them as collaborators: blowing smoke into the tape heads, getting them high, letting resin condense, raising the noise floor, amplifiying their voices.

This is what hauntologists mean when they say digital media are soulless: the spirits have few footholds in RAM, no nutrients, little friction. They have to enter through narrow passages, scratchy larynxes and microphone diaphragms. Once in, they are frozen, sexless, latent. It is the job of the hauntologist to infuse data with heat, moisture, pheremones: aiming cameras at the smoke, generating seeds, scattering random numbers across the sterile fields of memory.

Image CC-BY by Vanessa Pike-Russell

Layered Soup with Caramelized Onions, Winter Squash and Freisago

Ray Rice Cutting Pumpkin with Samurai Sword

Caramelize some onions, roast some squash, grate some freisago and make a power of toast.

Purée the roasted squash with a little chicken stock and a little pepper and thyme.

In a buttered casserole, layer the onions, squash and toast. Pour in stock up to the top of the toast. Cover the soggy toast with grated cheese.

Repeat layers once or twice.

Bake at 375DegF until nicely browned on top. Don’t burn the hell out of it like I did a couple of times ago.