“Middletown, NY” (c) 2020 Gary Rosen
A partial list of cultural references mentioned in full or in passing during the course of the Project.
David Byrne, “Psycho Killer” & “Once In a Lifetime”
Charles Dickens, “A Christmas Carol”
J.M. Barrie, “Peter Pan”
Lazarus of Bethany, “John 11:1-44”
Robert Heinlein, “Stranger In a Strange Land”
Frank Zappa, “Over-Nite Sensation”
John Lennon, “Instant Karma”
Robert Fripp, Frippertronics
Jimi Hendrix, “All Along the Watchtower”
Pink Floyd, “Wish You Were Here”
Balm of Gilead
Mary Poppins
Lingchi (“Death of a Thousand Cuts”)
Ken Kesey & the Merry Pranksters, “Nothing Lasts!”
The Ring of King Solomon—“This Too Shall Pass” (“این نیز بگذرد”)
Nikola Tesla’s experimental wireless transmission station—Wardenclyffe Tower
Horah dance (typically done to “Hava Nagila”)
Yes, “Close To the Edge”
The Vapors, “Turning Japanese”
Wars and Rumors of War, “Matthew 24:6”
Indra's net (also called Indra's jewels or Indra's pearls, Sanskrit Indrajāla)—used to illustrate the concepts of Śūnyatā (‘emptiness’), pratītyasamutpāda (‘dependent origination’), and ‘interpenetration’ in Buddhist philosophy.
Monty Python, “The Spanish Inquisition”
The Beatles, “Love Me Do”
Martin Buber, “Ich und Du”
Morihei Ueshiba, Aikidō (合気道)—The way of unifying [with] life energy/harmonious spirit
Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī (جلالالدین محمد رومی), “In the Arms of/Whispers of the Beloved”
Ho’oponopono (‘correction’; i.e. ‘manage’, ‘supervise’)—Hawaiian practice of reconciliation and forgiveness
“And Frith called after him, ‘El-ahrairah, your people cannot rule the world, for I will not have it so. All the world will be your enemy, Prince With A Thousand Enemies, and whenever they catch you, they will kill you. But first, they must catch you: digger, listener, runner, prince with the swift warning. Be cunning and full of tricks and your people shall never be destroyed.’ And El-ahrairah knew then that although he would not be mocked, Frith was still his friend.”