There are times where calling someone a collaborator is so much more than an insult. “Collaborator” has been a dirty word in many countries – when at war or simply when the fear of state secrets being pawned is high. However, “collaborator” doesn’t only mean someone who works with the enemy.
I’m sure most of us have heard the question in an interview “are you better working alone, or are you a team player?” In the past I always insisted I was a team player – and always ended up in a team where one member would bully me and the rest would look down on me. I rarely got a top job, and I was rarely happy. It has taken decades for me to be able to say, with confidence “I work better alone.”
I don’t hate people… well, not all the time, anyway. I am simply a control freak. I get frustrated when people choose what I consider to be a long route to get something done, or cannot see the need to be timely, as I do. I hate relying on someone else to produce part of something that I need to complete my bit; because invariably they take too long, but I get the blame because I couldn’t start mine on time as I was waiting for them. I want to interfere, I want to tell them to do it “this way” – and I can’t because I don’t like confrontation and others seem to sprinkle it liberally in all their dealings and revel in making me feel uncomfortable, because I don’t. It’s rare for me to find someone I can successfully collaborate with, although there are a few people that can manage it – and for those I can work with, it’s a beautiful thing.
Despite my obvious failings, I recognise the beauty of a successful collaboration. Strawberries and cream, fish and chips, Sonny and Cher, Penn and Teller… the whole is greater than the sum of its parts and there’s no denying that collaborations can offer something truly magical. That is why tonight’s theme was “collaboration” and tonight’s set was composed entirely of collaborations. Even those of us that prefer to work alone or live alone will reach out to others somehow, and in the stretching out of that hand can be wrought something special. In a few weeks I fly out to New York to meet up with people I collaborate with – colleagues from Recording magazine. In that meeting is another collaboration, one you’ve been part of by listening to the show.
We love to tease each other and I will continue to argue that UK English is the only true English – but there is still something greater than the sum of the parts when a little bit of Old Blighty (Teresita, that comment was for you) and Uncle Sam come together. At least, that’s my belief. I’d ask you for yours, but I prefer to work things out on my own…
…
Snerk.
And here are tonight’s tracks, in the order in which they were played.
Lucette Bourdin and Darrell Burgan – Meru
Numina and Caul – A Brief Reprive
Michael Sandler and Musir von Vidalia – Fantasia For Star Hopping
Sylvie Walder and Phillip Wilkerson – Frostbitten
Tony Gerber and John Rose – Time Totems
Cousin Silas and Jack Hertz – Entangled Realms
Phillip Wilkerson and Tange – Ege Denizi Part 1
Gypsy Witch and Spiral – Spiral Around the Campfire Theme
Team Metlay – Loremarie
Zenith and Mikrokristal – Phase 2. 470
Robert Rich and Steve Roach – Soma
Labrathisattva – A World Beneath the World
Dave Luxton and Aaron Gates – The Rise and Fall of Civilizations
This week’s poem is short, but believe me, it took a lot longer to produce than some of my many versed efforts. It is a cento. For your enlightenment (or to jog your memory), a cento comes from the Latin word for “patchwork.” The cento (or collage poem) is a poetic form made up of lines from poems by other poets. Though poets often borrow lines from other writers and mix them in with their own, a true cento is composed entirely of lines from other sources. Early examples can be found in the work of Homer and Virgil.
With lines from Charles Wright, Marie Ponsot, Emily Dickinson, Sylvia Plath, and Samuel Beckett, the staff of the Academy of American Poets composed the following as an example:
“In the Kingdom of the Past, the Brown-Eyed Man is King
Brute. Spy. I trusted you. Now you reel & brawl.
After great pain, a formal feeling comes—
A vulturous boredom pinned me in this tree
Day after day, I become of less use to myself,
The hours after you are gone are so leaden.”
http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/5771
“Better With you”
A true Cento compiled by Gypsy Witch (D Smethurst). Lines from: “Daffodils” by William Wordsworth; “A Farewell to the World” by Ben Jonson; “An Epitaph” H Vaughan; “On Time” by John Milton; “On A Fly Drinking Out Of His Cup” by John Gay; “Old Age” by John Milton
My tender, first, and simple years,
In this age loose and all unlaced;
They stretch’d in never-ending line,
Fly envious Time, till thou run out thy race.
Life is short and wears away,
Both alike are mine and thine,
Stronger by weakness, wiser men become,
With Truth, and Peace and Love shall ever shine.
Around the Campfire 