Portfolio 1 Column

The interview 1. On rice putting. 2. Vivian’s art (painting and drawing). 3. The book The Beatles: A Celebration. 4. How are the Benzo’s doing? On Rodney, Roger, Larry and Neil. 5. On friend and author Geoffrey Giuliano. 6. Vivian has no interest in the past. 7. Stanshall’s thoughts on the music of the 1990s. 8. On Vivian’s writing. 9. On punk and rap. Vivian’s ultimate disappointment with these emerging art forms. 10. Vivian respects people who simply “do it”. 11. Rupert enjoys listening to Cream. There was depth to the group. 12. Vivian listens to Link Wray and Dan Beefheart. 13 Vivian’s surprise at the continual rereleasing of the Bonzo dog band’s catalog. 14. Vivian’s worries concerning formula music. 15. Vrnda: “the Bonzos were different and very special.” 16. A brief discussion on the B-52s. 17. On Pete Brown, the inventive lyricist for Cream. 18. Vrnda on Ginger Baker finally cleaning up from drugs. 19. Vrnda meeting Jack Bruce for an interview at the Savoy in London. 20. The tragic death of Conor Clapton. 21. Vivian’s relationship with Cream. Tales from a 1966 gig. Ginger is a terrifying man. Roger Ruskin Spear accidentally blows up Ginger’s kit. 22. Riding in Cream’s car when a half-naked Ginger attacked a lorry driver. 23. The Bonzos playing with Cream. 24. Many groups did not enjoy following the Bonzos. 25. Eric Clapton would often decorate various shirts in the dressing room with fabric pens. 26. Cream was “dreaming” together on stage. 27. Vivian was closer to Clapton than the rest of the group. 28. Teach yourself Swahili. Vivian and Ginger discuss Africa. 29. On Keith Moon and other drummers. 30. Ginger was in reality an abstract drummer. 31. Art cannot really be translated into words. 32. Vivian is not really interested in synthetic music. 33. On Vivian’s personal drug problems. He never took LSD or heroin on the advice of Steve Winwood. He comments on his addiction to Valium.

A REMARKABLE GUIDED MEDITATION BY A 50 YEAR YOGI “Sripad Jagannatha Dasa guides us into the sacred heart of Bhakti yoga in this life-changing work as only a dedicated lifelong Krishna devotee might.” The Yoga Journal One of the first pieces of Krishna conscious literature widely distributed in the western world, this work inspired many to investigate the spiritual dimension of their lives. This is the opportunity to understand the deepest truth of devotional yoga. If you miss this opportunity in the human form of life–the developed consciousness–you will slip again into the cycle of 8 million, 400 thousand species of life one form after another. We are still within the evolutionary process, but that evolutionary process should be forward, progressive. Bhaktivedanta Swami entreats us; “Don’t go downward. By your many years of endeavor, you have come forward to this stage of life. Now, make further progress. Progress toward Sri Krishna. Don’t go back!”

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu appeared as a devotee of Krishna in Mayapur, West Bengal, India in the late fifteenth century. He introduced sankirtan, widespread congregational chanting of the Supreme Person’s names, as the most effective means by which anyone can achieve spiritual perfection. By His influence, many of India’s leading religious scholars and their followers became devotees of Krishna themselves. In His youth, Mahaprabhu started a Sanskrit academy in Navadvipa—one of India’s top centers of learning at the time—and earned a reputation as an excellent scholar. But at age twenty-four he renounced everything to travel the subcontinent encouraging everyone he met to chant the Hare Krishna mantra. He is considered by disciples, scholars and followers to be the latest avatar of Krishna Himself, based on extensive evidence found in Vedic literature. The International Society for Krishna Consciousness, ISKCON, is a continuation of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s sankirtan movement. Chaitanya’s humble, saintly demeanor and knowledge of Vedic conclusions persuaded prominent impersonalists that Krishna consciousness, worship of the Supreme Person, is life’s highest purpose. On Mahaprabhu’s instruction, the Six Goswamis of Vrindavan made a thorough analysis of the Vedas to show that Krishna bhakti, devotional service to Lord Krishna, is the essence of all Vedic teachings. Mahaprabhu’s extensive conversations with His devotees such as Ramananda Raya and Sanatana Goswami form the philosophical and scriptural basis of Gaudiya Vaishnavism, or Krishna consciousness. Chaitanya himself left only eight written verses, the Siksastaka, in which he teaches that chanting God’s names is the most simple and sublime spiritual practice for everyone, everywhere.

Longfellow Stanshall is the brilliant, and yes, controversial, author of several internationally best-selling books. She is also a prolific playwright, screenwriter, theatrical producer, soldier for women’s rights, world traveler, and oh by the way, the second wife of the late Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band’s iconic, singer, composer, and front man, Vivian Stanshall. In this one-of-a-kind audio encounter between Ms. Longfellow and actor, author, and music historian Geoffrey Giuliano, the listener is afforded the rare opportunity to go deep inside the head and the heart of one of the most important and forceful female voices of our time on the subjects of art, culture, her turbulent life and times, and oh by the way, her amazing, almost otherworldly relationship with the great poet laureate of the 1960s, ’70s, ’80s and beyond renaissance man, Vivian Stanshall. This is not to minimize the fact the obvious direction of this unexpected audio documentary is Ki’s decades long love affair with Vivian, rather, to truly enter into the deeper level of these remarkable conversations you must understand that Ki and Viv are both, in their own way, important and timely artists. Take heed, Ms. Longfellow is no airhead rock groupie, or pop band hanger-on, but rather an important voice in her own right. To experience this sometimes rough and ready interview is to come away knowing far more about Vivian Stanshall as a man, lover, father, and artist than any fan, follower, acolyte, or devotee might ever hope to expect.