'The Sex Magicians' reading group has begun

 

Michelle Olley illustration by Bobby Campbell. 

The online book discussion of The Sex Magicians has begun, so head on over to the first posting at the Jechidah blog. 

This is a good description of what Michelle Olley does in her introduction to the Hilaritas Press edition of the book:

"Michelle Olley contextualizes and absolves The Sex Magicians. Olley is in a unique position of being a pioneer in sexual expression and one who has come out on top of the game. As far as I know, Olley hasn't declared any extraordinarily ugly sentiments about any groups, peccadillos or ways of being. Instead, she applies her myriad and extraordinary experiences to a multi-fold (multi-folderol?) interpretation, framed in empathy and understanding. Having Olley as our barker and initial interloper with the raw material of Wilson's first published novel is a very good thing, and very apropos, for our clarity-by-convolution century."

'Tales of Illuminatus' update

 

A new Substack newsletter from Bobby Campbell: He follows the Thursday schedule of adding another bit to the Tales of Illuminatus, and explains why you might want to pledge to the Kickstarter even though the goal has been met:

"Pre-orders remain open until August 23rd, after which prices jump up a bit for both digital and print editions, and it looks like we’re going to pretty much sell out our initial print run, so if you want a proper first printing of issue #1, don’t delay! Act now!"

Bobby also thanks everyone who pledged, adding, "Extra special thanks this week are due to Jim O'Shaughnessy & Michelle Olley, whose most kind and very timely interventions pushed us over the finish line in style."

British Discordian news

Lots of news in Michelle Olley's December 2023 Mycellium Newsletter, which you can read here. 

There's an announcement on a publication John Higgs also recently mentioned:

"The best place to find out all about 2023’s bountiful harvest of books, events, podcasts, dramatic tributes, vision quests, must-read newsletters, free libraries, people’s pyramids, porcine plays, gong baths, pop operas, poetry, metaprogramming courses, dream symposiums and more is in Dan Sumption and Orbific’s annual almanac, Mycelium Parish News - a lovely new tradition bursting with heart and art - out now and available for a bargain £2.30 via Etsy HERE."

Also: Daisy Campbell is teaching an online writing course, an event featuring music and comedy, The Great Imagining is "a real world attempt to boost eco-positive initiatives and manifest replicable green future practices in the here and now," and a new The Lost Doctor Annual. 

New podcast on reality tunnels

 

The new David Bramwell podcast in Britain has a new episode on reality tunnels, featuring some rather prominent writers and figures in RAW fandom. Here is the announcement, translated a bit from Twitterese:

"Episode 2 of David Bramwell's Adventures in Nutopia is out now. This one's on Robert Anton Wilson's Reality Tunnels and is based around a chat with Daisy Eris Campbell, John Higgs and Michelle Olley from Journey to Nutopia. Available wherever you get your podcasts including here: 

https://open.spotify.com/episode/1s3BfW9j85I6bIGZL29OGE?si=2b9ef19675914d05&nd=1.

Michelle Olley's big news roundup

 

Michelle Olley (the Bobby Campbell remix)

I expect news when I get the Mycellium Newsletter, but the May issue just issued by Michelle Olley is exceptional; it has a ton of events in Britain for Discordians to consider attending, and new products that everyone around the world can access. Much is going on in Liverpool, in London and in Brighton and many projects and new releases are available, so scroll down for all the news. Note that the Liverpool event is Monday, so you need to scramble if you didn't get the memo earlier. Probably a good idea to sign up for the newsletter. Daisy Campbell, by the way, is busy writing something, but Michelle isn't ready to reveal anything yet; "more on this when we get it," she says. 

Some of these announcements deserve a separate blog entry -- well, maybe all of them do, but I will at least cover some in the next couple of days. 

Halloween event announced in London for reissued RAW book

 The new Mycellium Newsletter written by Michelle Olley announces a big Halloween event in London to promote the Hilaritas Press edition of Robert Anton Wilson's Sex, Drugs & Magick: A Journey Beyond Limits. 

For details, news about more interesting events in England and other news, please see the newsletter. 

'Nutopia' RAW show is a must watch

Clockwise from top left, Michelle Olley, Rasa, Daisy Eris Campbell and Christina Pearson in a globe-spanning show. 

I didn't get to see the Journey to Nutopia "RAW Power" show when it was live last Sunday; when I converted the time to my time zone in the U.S., I realized it would be in the middle of a busy workday, so I reluctantly refrained from buying a ticket. But the Nutopia folks have kindly posted the video (about one hour, 47 minutes) and it's a must watch for RAW fans. 

The broadcast's host is Michelle Olley (it was nice to finally see her). It features Kate Alderton performing the poems of Arlen Riley Wilson, an interview of Rasa by Olley explaining the background of the RAW Trust and how Rasa came to know RAW, Daisy Campbell on her new Cosmic Trigger the Play book, Claudia Bolton as Eris, Tom Baker in performance of a song from the play, Christina Pearson on growing up in RAW's family, and (maybe most exciting of all for us Americans who missed out) performances from the play by Oliver Senton and Kate Alderton. So much good stuff, sorry if I missed anyone. 

Robert Anton Wilson (Oliver Senton) takes a call from Timothy Leary to explain that he's not dead as Arlen Riley Wilson (Kate Alderton) looks on. 

Music, arts festival to feature John Higgs, Michelle Olley

Michelle Olley (and friend). Twitter account photo. 

Lunar, a music and arts festival scheduled for July 27-29 in north Warwickshire, will feature bands such as the Stranglers and some speakers who include names familiar to the RAW community, such as John Higgs and Michelle Olley.

The Lunar website's summary of John's work is pretty good:

John Higgs is author of The KLF: Chaos, Magic and the Band who Burned a Million Pounds; I Have America Surrounded: The Life of Timothy Leary; and Stranger Than We Can Imagine: Making Sense of the Twentieth Century. He also writes fiction under the name JMR Higgs, including The Brandy of the Damned and The First Church on the Moon.

John is a writer who specialises in finding previously unsuspected narratives, hidden in obscure corners of our history and culture, which can change the way we see the world. The KLF: Chaos, Magic and the Band who Burned a Million Pounds, was described as “Adam Curtis brainstorming with Thomas Pynchon” by The Guardian. Ben Goldacre (Bad Science, Bad Pharma) called it “By far the best book this year, brilliant, discursive and wise.” The leading music website The Quietus said it “Might well be the best music book of the 2010s” and it was named as one of the top ten music books of 2013 by The Guardian, The Independent and Mojo.

About Michelle Olley, the site says,

Michelle Olley is a RAW-inspired writer, editor, filmmaker, Cosmic Trigger play and event co-producer. In the 1990s, she was a director of Skin Two magazine – the world’s leading fetish lifestyle and culture magazine, and instigated their charity event, the Skin Two Rubber Ball.

She spent her twenties and thirties herding cats and scraping deadlines on various magazines, including Attitude, fashion quarterly P.U.R.E, and pioneering gay lifestyle title, Fable. She spent her forties monkey butlering in TV, principally with the European arm of late-night comedy mavericks, Adult Swim, where she championed a number of shows, not least, the criminally under-rated Venture Bros.

Much more at the Lunar site. 

Of course, if you can't make it to England that weekend, you can come to Confluence instead!

Via the latest John Higgs email newsletter, which has lots of other news.