Snakes and Ladders read by Alan Moore (excerpt)

[johnmburt1960]

"One by one, without any fuss, the stars were coming on."

[Juliarrest]

GRIPPING

[StevenErnest]

Thanks!

[LINEAGETUBE]

hey we have a song with this name too!!

[cha5]

No one can do a reading like Moore.

[StevenErnest]

I agree. And his words are so resonant. Thanks for commenting.

[hoboboxerjoe]

Thank you for posting this! I absolutely adore Alan Moore! He is one of the inspirations for me to become a writer after I became disabled and couldn't box anymore.

[StevenErnest]

Yes, Moore is wonderful. Have you read his Promethea series?

I'm sorry about your disability. Some time ago I broke my neck in a car accident, so I know how fragile we are.

Thanks for the feedback, I really appreciate it!

[AmygdalaMarie]

@StevenErnest promethea is amazing.

[StevenErnest]

@AmygdalaMarie Yes, Promethea is! ^_^

[SameFatCrow]

i've searched for audiobooks of his and i can't find a thing. i could listen to his readings all day. i have mindscape of alan moore and i love it. thanks for posting.

[StevenErnest]

Hi, thanks! Yes Mindscape of AM is great. There are around 3-4 CDs of him reading his stuff. You can sometimes find them on eBay... that's where I found the one I used here.

[SameFatCrow]

Cool, thanks for the tip! I'll check it out.

[Eldritchard]

Monsters Maniacs and Moore is up on here somewhere thats well worth a watch if you like AM. There are also Comics Britanica sections on here which are good. The mindscape was on Google and then it was on here but theyve been taken down i think.

[SameFatCrow]

Great! Thanks, I'll check that out too.

[StevenErnest]

Thanks for the AM tips!  ^_^

[Eldritchard]

Gr8 stuff

Magick Uplaod.......thanx

[hail_eriS]

[StevenErnest]

Thanks! As Terence McKenna used to say, "Take it easy, but definitely take it."

[catalyst8]

I met Moore when he performed this at Ananke nearly ten years ago. It was utterly brilliant. The best bit was him describing turning around in a shop only to be met with John Constantine.

"What's the secret of Magick?" Asked Moore.

"Any cunt can do it." Came the reply.

Inspired!

[StevenErnest]

Wow, that's cool to have met Moore in all his hirsute glory... I'm envious that you saw this live!

Yes, I like that part, too. The whole piece gives me goosebumps. I hope I did service to his powerful words here -- trying to turn people on to it.

The next best is The Birth Caul piece, and Eddie Campbell's comic version, too.

Let me recommend a loooong interview with Moore, published in an American paper, Arthur. It's all about his interest in Magick. Google it and see if it's online.

[catalyst8]

Yes, it was cool. He came across as quite a humble chap too, really down to Earth. It was a great performance, & I congratulated Moore on it afterwards, but he was typically calm and unimpressed. Heh heh.

Thanks for posting this extract, & the additional info. I had no idea there was even a recording of this until I stumbled across your video just now. I shall indeed hunt down that interview, & order a copy of the CD.

[StevenErnest]

Very cool; he's a hero of mine.

I think the Snakes & Ladder piece is the best recorded. If that's not enough for you, there's also: The Birth Caul, Angel Passage, and The Highbury Working. But Snakes and Caul are the best. I liked the comic versions 'cause sometimes I miss a word by his accent -- what accent? lol -- and also appreciate the many layers of his words.

[BrokenChair88]

Very intresting theory but... wait just a coton pickin' moment... How dose Godless chaos create order to the point where molecules become complex enough to produce a simple cell?

[StevenErnest]

His whole piece is a meditation on the wonder and mystery of existence, I don't see it as a debate on theology, as you do.

He says, "The author, if there is one, has no track record...." i.e., this is the only univeres we know of. In the full work, he mentions the emergence of life, and DNA... the amazing mystery of it.

[warwolf5]

I under stand how the bigbang formed the solar system but how. how did this world start... very intresting

[StevenErnest]

Yes, that's the mystery of existence. We can understand right up to the big bang, but before that is still unknown -- if not unknowable.

[KojiroDangerous]

Arguably the scariest piece Alan Moore has ever made. Massively atmospheric, very haunting, and all-round good time.

[KojiroDangerous]

Man my head completely ground to a halt with that last line. D: I meant to say "and an all-round good track" or something equivalent.

Bah. Makes you wish you had the option of editing posts on Youtube that's for certain.

My previous comments before the unscheduled brainhalt stand.

[StevenErnest]

Hey, thanks, I got what you were saying. :D

This is one of my favorites of his massive works. I recommend you look for the full CD on eBay, etc. It's 50 minutes more of this amazing imagery; I excerpted only 3 mins.

He talks about snakeing coiled DNA, the emergence of life, magick, the history of Red Lion Square. Thanks again!

[bubonicnate]

wow glad you told me about this. thanx, I've never heard this before! What is that image at 2:00-2:04?

[StevenErnest]

Hi, thanks, Nate, I'm glad you liked it. :)

That image shows the ultimate forces of the universe at work... actually, it's some cool animated thingy I found somewhere on the internet. But, shhhh.

[MsDiscord]

Can't believe I missed you posting this...

It was pretty darned nifty!

[StevenErnest]

Yeah, I haven't posted anything in ages, so I guess I fall off people's radars. Thanks, I'm glad you liked it!

[babybambambumkin]

Eddie Campbell Is amazing as well! Have you read from Hell?

[StevenErnest]

Yes he is! I mentioned his work on "From Hell" in the sidebar. Have you read the loooong notes at the end? Moore put in a lot of Masonic stuff. Campbell's work on the "Snakes and Ladders" comic adaptation is great.

[babybambambumkin]

I love Alan Moore! Thanks Steve!

[StevenErnest]

You're very welcome, baby! ^_^

[noliketoregister]

Deep. This is assuming the inflationary model is correct, or course, yet it possess interesting questions. Is this the best of all possible Universes? If the Universe started with a Big Bang, and there was no one there to here it, did it make a sound? And of course the ever popular question; why?

Thanks Steve, always thoughtful.

[noliketoregister]

...or course... duh, OF course, I mean.

[StevenErnest]

Thanks! Well, this doesn't necessarily require the inflationary model, he's only really describing the Big Bang. And the universe is still expanding, now at an increasing rate thanks to dark energy.

He gives a sense of the mystery and wonder -- of how -- (and why) -- something came from nothing. My favorite theme. ^_^

[petermaquire]

I like that narrative. Nicely done!

[StevenErnest]

Thanks! :)

[Floweraven]

Beautiful poem, but a bit over my head. Trying to dumb it down right now, in order to grasp the meaning. Is it about balance, cause and effect? It speaks of the begining of the universe. And perhaps continual growth? Blank, nothing written in stone. Limitless possibilies. I am not a scientist. ;) Oh you with big brains, how I miss understood the concept. Or have I? Enjoy your weekend, and hope to see more videos in the future. Safe Journey

[StevenErnest]

Well, whatever you get out of it is what's important. But essentially, it looks at the wonder and mystery that is the origin of the universe. How tenuous it is that it could support us.

His main metaphor is that of an new and unseen theater play, author unknown -- we don't know what to expect. Poetry mixed with physics.

I suggest you read the text of it in the sidebar, and watch it again -- there's a lot to perceive in it, more in his powerful words than my images, I admit.

[StevenErnest]

Yes, it sounds like you understood it -- you should trust your impressions!

[StevenErnest]

It certainly sets the mood. ^_^

[Dunky1962]

hi Steven, i enjoyed this, with Alan's speaking and the graphics by you, it was a very interesting piece 5*

[StevenErnest]

Thank you!

[particleion]

That was cool.. Have you looked into metatrons cube, yet? The weak force the strong force gravity and eletro combined acting as one is what makes our universe possible. Hence "Unification" This is my fascination.

Seek Truth

[StevenErnest]

Thanks. :) Yes, I'd heard of the cube before, but I read some more about it.

Ironically, the first force we "discovered" -- gravity -- is still the least understood.

Alan Moore is heavily into magic/magick -- see his description of it in a vid on my channel. This Snakes and Ladders is actually a part of a live magical event. Elsewhere, he's talked about an evocation he did, and summoned the serpent Glycon. He also took a ride with Asmodeus, appearing as an inter-dimensional spider.

[Boucrate]

Thanx Steven for that Très cool editing of this far out scientific Poem! For a while about twenty years ago, i got to imagine too vividly that merging out of the Univers every morning on my lift to work with a friend, Half awake delirium maybe, but it sure did something to my perception of reality. You always have a way to bring us closer to our indescribable self..Well that we can imagine. You're the Why man! Merci!

[StevenErnest]

And thank you, Guybou! Sounds like you had quite a mystical experience there; once that happens, reality never looks quite the same.

Air Boucrate also sends us flying to these many realms of the mind! ^_^