Jesse Walker double feature

According to Jesse Walker, THE BIRDS was the best movie of 1963. 

Most Americans still have a couple of days of "Christmas vacation" left, and if you need some ideas for a movie watch, Jesse Walker has you covered. He's been following his usual end-of-the year tradition of listing the best movies of 10 years ago, 20 years ago etc. at his website.

Also, he has a new article up. "Earlier this year I visited Zora Neale Hurston's hometown of Eatonville,Florida, and used that as a launching pad for a long story on the forgotten history of the self-governing black towns that emerged after Reconstruction." 

My Christmas book haul

My main Christmas gifts this year were books (and Amazon gift cards to buy books), making this holiday similar to my past holidays. As this is by definition a blog for people who like to read, I thought I would share what I got. 

The first book, above, is Austin Osman Spare: The Life & Legend of London's Lost Artist by Phil Baker. If you don't know him, Spare was an English artist and occultist. 

The book looks very interesting and is illustrated with color plates (so that you actually can see what his art looks like), but I also mention it first because it's a book that has a connection with the usual content of this blog. The book is published by Strange Attractor Press. I also own another book put out by Strange Attractor, Somnium by Steve Moore, an excellent fantasy novel. What these books have in common is that they are both very attractive volumes, obviously put together with care.

Strange Attractor also is the publisher of the upcoming Robert Anton Wilson biography, Chapel Perilous: The Life and Thought Crimes of Robert Anton Wilson by Gabriel Kennedy, aka Prop Anon. The book's publication date has been postponed a couple of times and is now listed for August 6, 2024. I'm choosing to be positive and to assume that Strange Attractor wants to make sure the book will be extra special.

I had my wife give me the 10th anniversary edition of the John Higgs book that is most directly about RAW, The KLF: Chaos, Magic and the Band who Burned a Million Pounds. It has more than 10,000 words of new footnotes; I look forward to reading the latest edition.

Ravenna by Judith Herrin, the other book I asked my wife to give me, is about a city that was the last capital of the western Roman Empire, as well as the local capital when the Eastern Roman Empire temporarily reconquered Italy from the Ostrogoths. Visiting it was a highlight of my trip when I got to visit Italy in 2001.

A couple of people who apparently know me well gave me Amazon gift cards, and I've already used the credits to buy two new Kindle books.

I liked Christopher Beckwith's book, The Scythian Empire, so well I wrote a long review and entered it in the Astral Codex Ten book review contest. I didn't do well, but I posted my losing review on this blog.  This book looks like it's going to be great, too.

My favorite mystery writer is Lawrence Block, particularly for his books about the New York City private detective, Matthew Scudder. The above is the latest book in the series, which just came out this year.

In his Transitional Technology newsletter for Substack, musician and writer Ethan Iverson mentioned that a couple of years ago, he re-read all of the Scudder books in order. I am tempted to do the same thing, once I've finished reading the latest. 

I hope everyone else got something to read, too!

Hilaritas Press has been quiet of late, but I am hoping for new releases soon. 

Article on childhood trauma cites RAW

Nicole Dominique

An article in Evie magazine, "10 Subtle Signs In Adulthood That Someone Had A Rough Childhood," written by Nicole Dominique, has a quote from RAW many of you might recognize: “Under the present brutal and primitive conditions on this planet, every person you meet should be regarded as one of the walking wounded. We have never seen a man or woman not slightly deranged by either anxiety or grief. We have never seen a totally sane human being.”

I like to see quotes from RAW from writers I am not familiar with, as it helps reassure me RAW isn't being forgotten. 

About Nicole Dominique, the bio at Evie says, "Nicole (Nikki) is known for her commentaries on culture, politics, and theories. She has many hobbies and interests ranging from ancient civilizations and their practices to anime, video games, psychology, and herbal remedies." @ateenyalien on X/Twitter. 

The Lost Doctor Annual

 The Lost Doctor Annual, currently being offered here, is a new hardback book. Here is part of the blurb: "In this beautifully produced 164-page hardback book, in the style of old Christmas annuals of the 1960s, 70s, and 80s, we bring you stories, games, facts, and fun, from The Universe Next Door.

"In 1987, the contenders for the role of the Seventh Doctor had been narrowed down to two people: Sylvester McCoy, and his mentor Ken Campbell. Sylvester got the role, when BBC decided that Campbell (whose audition channelled Doctor Manhattan from the recently-published Alan Moore comic Watchmen) was too scary for children. Yes, this really happened.

"But what if Campbell had got the job? In the universe next door, he did. Join us for the adventures of... The Lost Doctor."

See the link for a discussion of the contents, and there are contributions from the likes of Tom Calderbank, Ben Graham and Bobby Campbell. 

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. 

John Higgs on the Hilaritas podcast

 

 

Catching up on some news, on Dec. 23 the Hilaritas podcast released a new podcast featuring John Higgs. I have not listened to it yet, but I expect to listen to it this week. For Christmas, I had my wife give me a copy of John's updated KLF book, and I also bought a copy for a friend of mine as a Christmas present.

The Hilaritas blurb for the podcast says, "In this episode, Mike Gathers chats with writer John Higgs about the KLF, William Blake, and Robert Anton Wilson."

Merry Christmas

 Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays! Thanks to everyone for reading the blog. 

John Higgs and I both love 'A Christmas Carol'

Cover art for the Glen Halstrom version of free audiobooks of A Christmas Carol. 

 The latest John Higgs newsletter includes  a section where he writes about his interest in Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol:

"Tomorrow I’m seeing Christopher Eccleston in A Christmas Carol. I make a point of reading, watching or listening to a version of A Christmas Carol every midwinter. The Muppet version is the best, obviously, but every version has something to offer. It is a miraculous story - a man enters the world of the spirits, sees the past, present and the future together, and experiences a transformation of the soul. It’s blatantly shamanic, but that’s easy to miss under all the Dickensian Victoriana.

"It’s also a tale of good things happening to a terrible and undeserving person - which is not a very common story! Yet it tells us that, if even someone like Scrooge can step into the light, then there is hope for all of us. I intend to write about A Christmas Carol at depth, hopefully sooner rather than later."

I can't quite match John aa I don't know that I've taken in a version every winter, but in fact I've read A Christmas Carol over and over again and consumed it in other forms. In fact, in past Christmases I've been so  hungry for Christmas Dickens that I've read some of his other attempts at holiday short novels. Dickens in fact wrote five Christmas books; among what I've read, I like The Cricket on the Hearth the best. 

If you want to spend today or tomorrow reading A Christmas Carol, the Standard Ebooks version is likely to be a good one. If you would rather listen to a free audiobook, Librivox has 14 versions of it.  Version 2, by voice actor Glen Hallstrom, is a good one. 

There is no Standard Ebooks version of The Cricket on the Hearth, but Project Gutenberg has you covered. 

The Standard Ebooks collection of Dickens has six titles so far, including a favorite of mine, Bleak House. 

News from John Higgs

The John Higgs newsletter arrived yesterday. You can read all of it here, but if it's more convenient, here is some of his news: 

"The East Sussex Psychedelic Film Club - ESP FC - is something I’ve been putting together with Andy Starke of Anti-Worlds and musician Richard Norris. It starts on 26 January with a screening of Performance plus Kenneth Anger shorts at the Westgate Chapel in Lewes. Tickets are available here but be quick, it’s not a big venue and will sell out soon.

"Other cult classics, obscurities and wonders will follow, including director Q&As. There will be a bar run by local brewers BEAK, a DJ and a little shop. If you’re in the area, keep an eye on its Instagram page for details of future screenings. Should be fun!

"The end of the year also means that the latest edition of The Mycelium Parish News is now available. If you’ve yet to see one of these wonders, it’s a yearly compendium of books, events, podcasts, interviews, music etc that originated from, or is of interest to, the Discordian-adjacent counterculture. If you’ve missed any great stuff, basically, you’ll find it listed here. Available from Etsy for £2.30.

"And finally - I don’t do a lot of interviews specifically about The KLF but I could not resist talking about them to Mark Ellen on the Word In Your Ear pod recently - you can find that here."

John also has an update on his new book: "Currently, however, I’m writing about Doctor Who. If you missed the announcement, my next book is EXTERMINATE/REGENERATE: THE STORY OF DOCTOR WHO. It’s a book about change, mystery and the role of fictional characters in our lives - there’s more details here, along with a pre-order link."

John also writes about Christmas, but I want to write about that bit tomorrow. 

Number 23, the guy who was introduced with the 'Sirius' song

 Basketball great Michael Jordan, who wore No. 23 on his uniform as a Chicago Bull. (Public domain photo).

On Twitter, Prop Anon spots something amusing: Basketball superstar Michael Jordan wore No. 23 when he was helping the Chicago Bulls win NBA championships, and the song "Sirius" by the Alan Parsons project was  used to introduce the starting lineup of the Chicago Bulls during Jordan's heyday with the team.

LeBron James, who replaced Michael Jordan as arguably the greatest basketball player in the NBA, also has worn the number 23 on his uniform for most of his career. Above is James with the Cleveland Cavaliers. (Creative Commons photo by Keith Allison). 

Happy Maybe Night!

Maybe Night, Bobby Campbell's new event that's a spinoff of his annual Maybe Day celebration on July 23, is today! See what's available here.

Here's Bobby's explanation for Maybe Night when I interviewed him: "(Joseph Campbell claimed that the dream that comprises James Joyce's Finnegans Wake takes place on December 21st, and that also coincides with Terence McKenna's proposed Novelty Wave singularity, that may or may not have occured on 12/21/2012, making the winter solstice very fertile ground for maybe logical workings!)."

The available material includes a Maybelogues discussion.  It features Bobby, Eric Wagner, Vincent Murphy, Oz Fritz, Prop Anon and Peter Quadrino. 

Is 'Illuminatus!" a 'real' book?

Nassim Nicholas Taleb (photo from X).

A quote from Nassim Nicholas Taleb (The Black Swan, etc.) on X/Twitter: "To see if a book is real, ask 10 people of different backgrounds & professions to summarize it. If the summaries are similar, the book will not survive as it can be shortened to a journal article.

"The more the summaries diverge, the higher the dimensionality of the book."

It seems to me that under that definition, Illuminatus!, which is about many things, would be a "real" book. 

United States of Paranoia ebook on sale again

Jesse Walker, the Reason magazine books editor who sometimes pops up in the mentions and the comments on this blog, is the author of two books, Rebels on the Air: An Alternative History of Radio in America, a history of pirate radio, and The United States of Paranoia: A Conspiracy Theory, a history of conspiracy theories in the U.S. I like the radio book (I believe I mentioned my interest in radio yesterday) but the conspiracy book, which I  highly recommend, is the one many RAW fans would enjoy (there is chapter on RAW, Discordianism, etc., and how writers such as RAW played with conspiracy theories.)

Anyway, I wanted to pass on that the Kindle for Jesse's book is on sale for about $4, for a "limited time." The book got a lot of good reviews, so I am apparently not the only one who liked it. As I understand it, the latest Kindle version is updated with additional material from the original hardcover. I assume that most people know you don't need a Kindle device to read Kindle books, just a Kindle app on your phone. 

https://www.amazon.com/United-States-Paranoia-Conspiracy-Theory-ebook/dp/B00BATIIZY/ref=sr_1_1685?qid=1702693454&s=digital-text&sr=1-1685