Six Degrees of Sauerkraut--Part XXXVI: The Sound of Arrows

A couple of months ago a couple of Swedish dudes, Stefan and Oskar, were walking the nighttime streets of Düsseldorf when Stefan fell through a crack in the sidewalk. Oskar yelled down to his fallen comrade, asking if he was alright. Stefan said he was fine and asked Oskar to climb down through the crack to check out something really cool. Oskar climbed down through the crack, joining his friend.

"Look!" said Stefan, pointing deeper into what looked like a tunnel at a faint purple light in the distance. "Let's go check it out."

So the two Swedes walked deeper into the tunnel until they came to a cliff in a vast, indeed endless, chamber. They peered over the edge to look at what appeared to be the source of the purple light. They were clouds emitting a purple glow, and illuminating a universe of stars above. Little did the two Swede's know that they were witnessing the remnants of the glimmerlight, but they felt the power of the fading crystals even in these days of late-history.

They sat and gazed for quite awhile, like Tron and Flynn at the blue pool. Finally, Oskar remembered he was hungry and said "let's go get some pickled herring and crackers."

When the Swedes emerged from the tunnel below Düsseldorf, they purchased some herring and had a hearty snack. A couple of weeks later they had a shared dream of the purple chamber, and when they woke they formed a synth pop duo called The Sound of Arrows to honor the memory of the fading glimmerlight. Maybe they could bring the crystals back to life and we could all live as synthetic beings once again! Hear their attempt by clicking on the title of this post.

Blasphemous rumour has it that Harald Grosskopf heard this tune, "And Beyond", up on his off-world colony and liked it so much he might beam down to meet Oskar and Stefan and take them up to where the glimmerlight now resides, on the off-world colonies of Rother, Adelbert and the others. I await the day of their return with great anticipation.

So say we all!

Six Degrees of Sauerkraut--Part XXXV: Lessons in the Tempel

Every year, Manuel Göttsching would hold a gathering to choose an apprentice. All the hopeful androids would travel deep into the Glimmerlight to the halls of the Ashra Tempel and present themselves to Göttsching where he floated in the Quasarsphere in his glittering blue robes and his favorite scarf - holding his sacred guitar.

By the early-70s, Manuel had not chosen an apprentice in over 50 years, and an attempt to attain the position was seen as somewhat of a hopeless quest. Yet, that did not stop young Michael Rother and the others from journeying to the halls of the Ash Ra Tempel in early 1973.

I still vividly remember as we all gathered below the floating Göttsching. He played his soft guitar tones that sounded like a synth and he asked us the riddle that would determine our destinies - "The power to control the Universe is in which finger?"

Of course , Schulze stepped forward first, pointed at Göttschings pinkie and said "that one!" Göttsching slowly shook his head, and Klaus stepped back, crushed.

Then Roedelius stepped forward and said, "that is a trick question," and holding out his bare foot he said, "the power to control the universe is in my big toe!" Again, Göttsching shook his head, and stepping back, Roedelius began to weep.

Finally, young Rother stepped forward with his guitar of blue fire and holding up his own index finger proclaimed, "the power to control the universe is in my own finger!" Beaming, Göttsching stated, "I believe I have found my new apprentice." And soon after that, Rother moved into the Quasarsphere to learn how to make his guitar sound like a synthesizer. He emerged later as the super-hero we all came to know and adore - The Flaming Hawk.

Hear some of the sweet sounds of Göttsching's Quasarsphere by clicking on the title of this post. And remember, he dwells there still, looking for his next apprentice.

Immer wieder!