Former Technoccult guest editor pens a guest article at Brainsturbator:

High school is, along with prison, the military and VA hospitals, on the short list of the more disgustingly oppressive institutions of America. A brief glance at the architecture of learning facilities (and their resemblance to the aforementioned contemporary concentration camps) should make this abundantly clear to anyone with doubts and a brain. The people who have to occupy the structures are tertiary concerns after how to keep students inside and how to stuff as many bodies as possible into a given space. But most importantly, anyone who still thinks that this institution exists to educate the youth of America is almost laughably naive. While elite private institutions do a bang-up job of training the next ruling class public education is strictly for the masses. High school is little more than social regimentation. Learn your place, fall in line and shut up.

Thinking youth have always sought to undermine, subvert and ultimately destroy their institutions of ‘learning,’ but materials on how to do so are scant. Brainy kids generally fall into one of two categories; those who realize the impossible odds and decide to just skip class and get high and those who make futile and failed attempts at attacking the power structure, often causing themselves more trouble than their meager sense of retribution was ultimately worth. Fortunately, I have some experience in fighting the powers that be and have, in my infinite magnanimity decided to share a few trade secrets that I picked up back in the days that dinosaurs roamed the Earth.

Full Story: .

So, what made Mondo 2000 so special? It was, in my opinion, the best alternative culture magazine that America ever had. They wrote about smart drugs, brain implants, virtual reality, cyberpunk, Cthulhupunk and cryogenics. They covered Laibach and Lydia Lunch in the same issue. The pantheon of writers was a force to be reckoned with: Bruce Sterling, Robert Anton Wilson, and William Gibson all lent their talents, and there was even a Burroughs vs. Leary interview face-off. Then there was the famous U2-Negativland interview, in which Negativland, disguised as reporters, interviewed U2 into a corner to reveal the band’s hypocrisy over their lawsuit against Negativland over sampling. All in all, the magazine took risks. ‘The good dream for me and Mondo,’ said editor R.U. Sirius in an interview with Purple Prose, ‘is overcoming the limits of biology without necessarily leaving sensuality or sexuality behind.’ Issue after issue, Mondo 2000 threw a sexy dystopian bash and invited the decade’s best thinkers.

Full Story: Coilhouse. And be sure to read Joshua Ellis’s comment!

See also: My 2002 interview with R.U. Sirius.

Okay, this is a post for all the Canadians out there. Americans have their own problems.

Apparently the Calgary Sun is okay with flagrantly propagating un-researched Christian gobbledygook. Licia Corbella (email: licia.corbella@calgarysun.com) has this to say about how much the world apparently just adores us. Please, my Canadian friends, take the time to write her with some corrections. And then write a Letter to the Editor. Please. I am.

And after, go cleanse your brain with Joe Rogan or something.

Last year as my family and I toured the federal Parliament buildings we took note of the numerous Bible verses and Christian symbols literally carved right into the rock or wood walls.

My husband facetiously said: “I’m surprised some nitwit hasn’t demanded it all be sandblasted away.”

Luckily, however, our magnificent Parliament buildings are declared National Heritage buildings and can be restored, but not altered. Hallelujah! Read the rest of this entry »

Bob Greenberger, an editor with Weekly World News, reports on his blog that he and the rest of the staff were called into a meeting about noon on Friday where they were “told the Board of Directors has chosen to close Weekly World News. The reasons given make no sense. We’re stunned and shell-shocked. We’re to stay on through August 3, finishing the reprint issues and then we’re done. A glorious, funny, odd publication, born in 1979, will go out with a whimper and all I can think is that something’s going on that they’re not telling us because it just doesn’t make sense.”

Full Story: SF Scope.

(via Hit and Run).

Speaking of R.U. Sirius, the new underground culture site Alterati (founded by James Curcio) has a podcast interview up with Sirius, conducted by Technoccult guest editor Jason Lubyk.

R.U. Sirius interview.

Alterati.

Way cooler than Yahoo! Underground.

Update: Alterati was not technically founded by James Curcio. It is an evolution of Grey Lodge. Jason and another Technoccult guest editor, Wes Unruh, are the editors at large.

(Image swiped from Chris Noeth).

Been slacking on your holiday shopping? We’ve come up with a list of great gifts for the mutants in your family or social circle.

Klintron:

The God That Wasn’t There.

Psychopedia of Slack.

Paul Laffoley posters.

Lost Girls.

Fell the Don:

Titillation Lip and Nipple Balms, by Agent Provocateur

Seriously, if your gonna play it up this winter season, get your better half these little gems (bundled as one) from this popular European lingerie company. Use it wisely.

Viva Pi?ata, for the Xbox 360

I hate console games and the only game I like on the PC is Company of Heroes, but this gem has the perfect balance or addictiveness and appeal that anyone can enjoy. It’s like crack for kids and anyone that hates video games.

Spectacle, by David Rockwell & Bruce Mau

We’re all obsessing over Second Life and virtual communities, but it’s worth remembering the universal power of the town square, the arena, and the other very real places where we come together. The book to read about why we love to experience things together and publicly is David Rockwell and Bruce Mau’s Spectacle. It’s a coffee-table-size exposition of NASCAR, Burning Man, Hindu religious rites in the Ganges, and other glorious spectacles that people experience together.

Baraka, by Ron Fricke

Baraka is an incredible journey through 6 continents, 24 countries. It is a collection of high quality images, presented in a moving and compelling manner. Hopefully everyone you know has seen it, but, if not, smoke a joint and sit down to one of the most beautiful pieces of cinema ever made. It’s a nice reminder seeing as how Fricke’s next piece – the spiritual successor to Baraka – called Samsara, is set to be released in 2007.

The Griffin & Sabine Trilogy Boxed Set, by Nick Bantock

Few books are more romantic than this trilogy, nor more surreal. The legendarily popular trilogy of books containing the Griffin-Sabine correspondence literally contains the correspondence: postcards, front and back, and letters in envelopes pasted into the book, which the reader must open and read. Nick Bantock’s story was way ahead of the computer game Myst, with which it shares a moody allure. His artwork is gorgeous, and countless romances have been intensified by exposure to that of Griffin and Sabine.

Brenden Simpson:

Barry Sautner Tree of Life Sculpture Vessel Vase.

KJB Security Omni Spectral Correlator.

Val Saint Lambert Crystal Bateau Ivre – Caviar Bowl.

TrekStor i.Beat organix Gold MP3 Player (1 GB).

Grizzly Bear Coffee Table.

Technoccult graphic designer Danny Chaoflux:

The Cone.

Ball Chair.

Somatron Clinical Recliner.

Former guest editor Nick Pell:

Bargain priced Disinfo hardcovers (Check your local Barnes and Noble)

The Da Vinci Enigma tarot deck

Peep Show DVD.

Grab a drink and fill that pipe full kids, this week the Vikings indulge themselves in the greatest Science Fiction writer of our time and a modern day christian/gnostic prophet, Philip K. Dick. While you may be familiar with the many films adapted from his novels (Blade Runner, Minority Report and A Scanner Darkly among others) you may not be aware that in February of 1974 – around about the same time R.A. Wilson was having some strange visits from the Sirius star system and Tim Leary was busy bouncing his ethereal body up over the walls of San Quentin – PKD believed that a satellite, V.A.L.I.S, which might have been part of a Russian covert operation, part of a nervous breakdown, or perhaps even God itself, blasted a pink laser into his head. The subsequent effects of this experience left Dick speaking languages he did not know, accurately diagnosing illnesses he should not have been aware of, and living in two realities simultaneously…one as PKD, the other as an early christian under prosecution from the Roman Empire. What resulted for the rest of the world were two of the most unique and important science fiction novels in the history of the genre, “VALIS” and “The Divine Invasion”. AJ was our editor, satellite Viking Channel Null offers up our closing hymn.

MP3 (on Viking Youth Power Hour).

This week the vikings unfold that warm, fuzzy blanket that is the U.S. government’s black ops programs. Travel with viking Mat, Alex and Thomas Shade as they tip toe through some of this empire’s most auspicious moments of dehumanizing disgracefulness. Who says freedom isn’t fun? The Vikings have a new, prettier editor this week. Everyone rub your stomach muscles together for AJ our new samurai! The Liars close up our show for this week.

MP3 (on Viking Youth Power Hour).

R.U. Sirius interviews Zack Lynch, Managing Director of NeuroInsights and Editor of Brain Waves.

Breaking occulterati gossip, from the Disinfo newsletter:

At the end of last week, Disinfo Books editor Jason Louv decided to leave us to focus on some new Ultraculture projects, which will include animation and a new collaborative book. Many of you know Louv as the editor of Generation Hex, the influential anthology on next generation magicians. It’s a book that TDC co-founder and ‘wicked warlock’ Richard Metzger raved about for months as one of the most alchemical we’ve released. I agree and want to thank Louv for bringing some inspiration and renewal to the TDC team at an important transition. I’ve posted some thoughts on Louv’s Disinfo stint here, also check out his Viking Youth Power Hour podcast, and visit the Ultraculture site. Given Louv’s emphasis on real-world projects and physical manifestations of magick, we’ll be no doubt hearing from him soon.

Update: I e-mailed Jason, and he’s mum on the details of what’s he’s working on now. But I consulted my tarot deck, and it says that whatever Jason’s working on, lots and lots of crunk juice is involved. That is all.

This week we talk to Jason Louv editor of “Generation Hex” a new anthology from the Disinformation Company on magic and initiatory experiences. We talk to Jason about his book, his new website Ultraculture, what happened in the ’90’s, what didn’t happen in the 90’s, how magic and the development of magic has changed in a post-9/11 world, and where we might be carried by the currents of the new magical renaissance taking seed world wide. Oh yes, we also discuss the magical efficacy of Aquaman.

51 minute MP3 38 megs.

R.U. interviews Jay Babcock, editor of Arthur Magazine.

Mp3.

(which reminds me, I need to figure out why I subscribed and only got one issue… update: they responded to my e-mail within minutes… they’re sending me the issues I missed, and extending my subscription).

I indirectly linked to this a week or two ago, but finally got arounded to listening to it. Former Technoccult guest editor Melissa Gira shares sexy stories, muses on the Internet as a tool for sexual education and liberation, and shares a simple sex magick ritual to try at home.

Yet Another Sex Magic Social Network.

Traffic magazine has an interview with Technoccult pal Kirsten Anderson about the “pop surrealism” movement.

Now Pop Surrealism – did I explain to you why the book is called Pop Surrealism? When I decided that I wanted to do a survey of this art genre, a big chunk of the artists didn’t want to be in a book called Lowbrow Art because they felt it was it would be misconstrued as being insulting, and that it implied a lack of sophistication or skill. . . . They thought it just sort of sounded like a downgrade term, and that it didn’t really capture the spirit of the work anymore.

So that meant that I had to come up with another title for the book, which was incredibly stressful because who am I to say what this is genre is going be called?

[...]

So I spent six months talking with everybody from Robert Williams to Billy Shire (who owns the La Luz De Jesus Gallery in Los Angeles) . . . and asked them what they thought it should be called. No one really wanted to go there. And I wrote up lists of, you know, fake movement names. Something that could encapsulate everything. And I couldn’t come up with anything. But there had been this term floating around called Pop Surrealism [and] . . . that . . . was the one term that everyone felt okay about. And I notice it’s being used pretty extensively.

Traffic Magazine.

Disinfo Books editor Jason Louv has an open thread on his new blog asking for suggestions for books for them to publish.

Link.

I haven’t been doing a good job at keeping up on this excellent newsletter.

A message from the editor

As we approach the end of this highly politicized year, I look back on this period of NeoFiles reports with an intense sense of personal satisfaction. This gig has forced me to look at an alternative stream of data. Yes, I remain cognizant of the crimes of state, particularly those of the current administration. But working on these technologically progressive issues consistently reminds me that the human experience isn?t a zero sum game. Artistic creativity, invention, and future forecasting shares the same space and time as war, repression, and Donald Trump?s hit TV series. As H.L. Mencken might have said today, ?neo-Puritanism is the haunting fear that somebody, somewhere, might be having an expansive thought.?

Link.

“Welcome to Reptilian Watch, a repository of images related to Reptilian/Masonic symbolism. Send your finds to me, the editor. I don’t pretend to understand all of this stuff, but it certainly seems odd to me.”

Link (via Thumbmonkey)

If is a new docu-drama series from the BBC dedicated to “scenerio planning.” Episodes aired so far include:

If… the lights go out
If… things don’t get better
If… the generations fall out
If… women ruled the world
If… we don’t stop eating

The editor had this to say:

We’re not trying to predict the future, we’re war gaming the future, working out what – based on current trends, technological developments and the decisions of today’s politicians – our world might be like in five, 10 or 20 years time.

Program’s web site

A message from the editor

(via Creative Generalist)

To furthur demonstrate my insanity, I’ve decided to start an mp3 format lit mag.

Obviously, this is still in very early planning stages. The basic idea here is to publish spoken word stories and slam poetry on Mperia. There’s a lot to be worked out still.

1. I’d kinda like to do only stories, fiction and creative non-fiction. But I do like the idea of having lots of stuff: interviews, essays, slam and/or spoken word poetry. If I include poetry, I’d like to have another editor dedicated strictly to poetry.

2. I think it would be fun to have perhaps one track of music per issue. But I’m not sure.

3. There’s the matter of recording standards and so forth. One person I talked to about this wants to include music with his submission. Others probably won’t. Should I prohibit music in order to keep the tracks consistent? Or should I try to compile a large amount of music that the voice tracks can be mixed with so that all tracks have music.

4. Will I take text submissions and try to match them with voice talent? Or only take submissions in which the writer does their own reading? Or require writers who don’t want to read themselves to find their own voice talent?

5. Mastering. I don’t really know much about mastering, or how difficult a process this will be. Is it really necessary for a project like this? Is it such a difficult project that no one would volunteer to do this for free?

6. Money and copyright. Ideally, I’d like to offer most of the money from mperia sales to the writers and voice talent. Keep a small percentage for operational costs. Leave the copyrights to the creators, so long as they agree to a Creative Commons license that allows for the mp3s to be freely distributed. There’s the kicker there, though. I’d like to encourage people to share the mp3s once they’ve downloaded them, maybe even link to free mirros of the tracks. Not sure if anyone would go for this, though.

7. “Cover art” would be nice to have for each issue.

There’s a few lit mags that already publish stuff in audio on the web: here are a few. The Corpse also has an audio section (probably the closest thing to what I’d like to do). But I think this will be something different and new. An edgy collection of works by new and newish writers, purely distributed through audio tracks that can be used anyway the listener would like (on an iPod, on a CD, on their computer, etc.).

So. What do you think?

Another Technoccult pal and former guest editor Michael the Mad Ghoul interviews Disinfo figurehead Richard Metzger

He [Paul Laffoley] is becoming better known. There’s not really a short answer to that question. He should be hailed as one of our greatest geniuses, I think. It takes a long time for Paul to do a painting, and they’re really quite big. They’re six by six. They might take him about a year to finish, and by the time you’d have enough collected paintings for a one man gallery exhibit, you’re talking about ten years worth of work, so very often the paintings are sold as part of like a group show. He has had several solo shows and there have been books published on Paul, two of them. You know… because of things like my show, because of the [Disinformation] Interviews book, his own books, the big museum show he had in Texas, and most importantly, the Kent Gallery in NYC and its owner Douglas Walla being so completely behind Paul, his profile has been rising in recent years

Link.

Technoccult pal and former guest editor, Philip Shropshire, interviewed RU Sirius for Better Humans.

Self-enhancement in general is common sense. But I would say that when it’s taken into the realm of the transhumanist project it is uncommon sense. There’s an element of the grail quest in there that I wouldn’t sell short. I think it’s a sort of mythic adventure?this attempt to overcome the perceived limitations of biology, or gravity, or the brain, or what-have-you. I think it’s romantic as well as rational, and that’s a good thing. It’s logic but it’s not just logic. We know that inspiration, invention, great hacks tend to emerge. It seems that when we get the fullest possible picture of how our brains and nervous systems work at their peak, what we call logic will be a useful subset of a larger gestalt.

I’ve got to say that I don’t personally subscribe. I’m an issue-by-issue philosophic purchaser. I don’t embrace any belief systems. I’m a fuzzy believer. I might say that I 95% believe that humans will achieve a lifespan beyond the current biological limits; I 50% believe that this will work out well on a social-political level; I 95% believe that we will get really precise control over our minds and moods; I 60% believe that the future of most of humanity is pretty well fucked; I 10% believe that something very much like the singularity will actually occur; I 1% believe that it will happen in my lifetime. I could go on.

Link (via New World Disorder)

Eugene Mallove, editor of Infinite Energy magazine and the leading advocate of cold fusion research, was murdered Friday, apparently over a rental property dispute. …

He embraced many controversial claims, among them evidence for artifacts on Mars, UFOs, new energy sources, cosmic ether, and refutations of the Big Bang theory. Infinite Energy magazine is one the rare publications to explore such “fringe” topics. source:Erik Baard

eulogy page

Philip Shropshire of Three River Tech Review, Majic 12, and Better Humans is joining us as guest editor for a couple weeks while I look for housing and work in Seattle. I can’t wait to see what he posts!

Demitria Monde calls it “This SubGenius-inspired anonymous match-up device for entities allows for a more diverse spectrum of psychology and physiology than your merehume “champagne walks on the beach” dating service.” Hint for lady mutants: this editor is single.
Link (via Stare).

Hacker and former Mondo 2000 editor St. Jude passed away this morning at 3am.

I was going to try to contact her sometime this week to try to get permission to post an old article she wrote in Mondo. I hadn’t heard that she had cancer. Her work was brilliant, and it will be sorely missed.
Link.