[maxim]

the cooking analogy is the one i fall on most if i'm thinking of a lateral approach to a mix (like, is this track a bowl of curry or a single green pea on a giant white plate?)

as for the question, i reckon it's like any other skill, there is a long-term ?subcortical/cerebellar habituating process, whereupon one is able to reproduce a visualised abstract idea into reality without thinking which finger is moving which fader

and i also reckon, wiggy, that tools, while being great facilitators, are varied and numerous, and totally subservient to the brain vision of the beholder

for instance, at the moment, i'm working in oenpelli, which is in arnhem land in northern territory, and this place is actually run by the traditional owners of the land (what? in australia?)

i've just discovered a local method of cooking a dish of mud oysters (something between a mussel and an oyster)

what you do is take a branch of gum leaves, put it over the mud oysters and light it up

in a couple of minutes, presto, a hot, steaming, perfectly cooked dish

of course, some people eat bush oysters (ram balls, for those who ever make a trip into the australian outback)

i'm sure there was a point to this story

oh yeah, good to read you again, mcsnare