Thomas Woodruff's Freak Parade
Lovely little freaks. Go see all the freaks in a row. Or get the book.

I can't believe I've not posted any of his work here before because he's one of my favorite artists. (Must have been posted before on my SU or Tumblr website.)

Harmony Korine On His New Collected Fanzines

The Collected Fanzines, released today, compiles eight long-gone booklets from 1992 to 1999, a period that spanned Korine's graduation from high school, Kids, and his first two features, Gummo and Julien Donkey-Boy.

link

I've always been intrigued by Harmony, especially as a director, and think he's way ahead of his time.

The young generation: Burroughs and Kerouac - an unpublished collaboration

In 1944, two aspiring writers named William Burroughs and Jack Kerouac were implicated in a murder that scandalised New York. The episode inspired a collaboration, a debut that remained unpublished – until now. John Walsh gives the lowdown on the novel that set them on the road.

Fans of the Beat generation have known for years about The Novel That Kicked It All Off, but they've had to wait until the death of a journalist at United Press International for it to be published. The appearance in print of And the Hippos Were Boiled In Their Tanks by William S Burroughs and Jack Kerouac is a literary event, not only because it drew two of the three leading Beat writers into confederacy, but because the book told a story – of male friendship, gay obsession and murder – that came to fascinate a score of American authors.

[Read More »]

Stripping Down the Comic With Alan Moore

Most writers are boring, and the less they're allowed to talk about what they do behind closed doors, the better. But some writers are verbal rock stars, able to tear off entrancing philosophical riffs or to lay down a hypnotic anecdotal solo upon request. One of the few modern writers who can entertain a general audience is Alan Moore, Britain's bard of the industrial wastelands of Northampton, and the man whom people call the world's greatest living comic-book writer. (Mr. Moore has made it clear in the past that he writes comic books, describing the term "graphic novel" as "something some idiot in a marketing department came up with.")

link | photo via: comicvine

Radical Simplicity:
Small Footprints on a Finite Earth
by Jim Merkel

Imagine that you are first in line at a potluck supper. The spread includes not just food and water, but all the materials needed for shelter, clothing, healthcare, and education. How do you know how much to take? How much must you leave for your neighbors behind you - not just the 6 billion human beings, but our fellow creatures and the yet-to-be-born?



Some believe that recycling and use of energy efficient appliances is sustainable living. In Radical Simplicity, Jim Merkel argues that to live in a sustainable manner requires a complete rethinking of our way of life. If the world's total bioproductive area is divided by the world's population, each of us gets a 4.7-acre share. Right now Canadians use up on average 22 acres of natural resources a year. To close this gap truly requires radical solutions.

Another thing I heard him say once was to think in terms of NEED and WANT when you're met with a consumer issue.

"Do I NEED this item, or do I simply WANT this item? Try to stick with just what you NEED."

This book came out about 5 years ago, but it's been crossing my path recently and followed me here to Easy Bake Coven.

Buy Book | Order Film | Global Living Project

This post is a little out of sync for Easy Bake Coven, and at the risk of sounding like an infomercial, I wanted to turn my readers on to this opportunity to work from home on their computers.

Little White eBook - Your complete guide to virtual call center jobs in the US and Canada.

Would you like to work from home as a customer service representative, telemarketer, reservation specialist, or other virtual call center agent?

You shouldn't make another move without reading and consulting the Little White eBook. A few of my friends never finished reading the 218 page book because they found a good job soon after thumbing through it. I don't usually recommend anything on my website career and job related but I've seen this book yield excellent results and wanted to pass along the information.

Not only do you get most all the WAH leads via names of companies hiring, you get additional information such as their BBB report, the salary paid, who's hiring now and everything you could possibly need to know to apply and get a job from one of hundreds of virtual employers.

Homeshoring is the latest trend to sweep the corporate world - in fact, hundreds of employers have brought their call centers home to the U.S., literally. Rather than outsourcing to India, many call centers have found that it's more economical and customer-friendly to outsource right here at home.

Many companies require you to have a particular headset, high speed internet, a land line telephone and you're on your way. Go check it out for yourself and tell me how it works out for you.

Buy Little White eBook at Google checkout.

Disclosure: One of the companies I work for is highly regarded in this book.

Rev. Billy Graham: A Prince of War Exposed

The propaganda machine of the Evangelical Christian Right will soon be in counter attack mode. One of its darling preachers is about to take it on the proverbial chin. The Rev. Billy Graham, who has created a multimillion dollar media empire, that a Rupert Murdock would envy, is the subject of a shocking expose’ due out on Nov. 15, 2007. It’s entitled, "The Prince of War: Billy Graham's Crusade for a Wholly Christian Empire". The author is Cecil Bothwell. He hails from Asheville, North Carolina and is an award winning investigative reporter. Bothwell’s unflattering portrait of Rev. Graham shows him as a wily warmonger and a lackey for the Establishment. He describes Rev. Graham as a public figure who: "Undermined the Founders’ skeptical Deism and sought to rebrand the U.S. as a Christian nation, [and] its armies [as] the rightful instruments of [a] Christian crusade and empire."

Read the Review

Asheville's Cecil Bothwell's compelling book sure has people talking. I can't wait to read it.

Generation On Fire

There's no shortage of books, films, and accounts of the Sixties. Some of the protests and the pioneers are reasonably documented, but I believe there's still an important element of the early sixties and civil rights movement that's underreported so I'm thrilled when I see a book like this gaining the attention it deserves.

In his new book, Generation On Fire, Jeff Kisseloff highlights those voices of revolutionary civil rights activists by applying an extraordinary voice of his own.

Kisseloff profiles 15 people who had the courage to stand up to social injustice in the 1960s and continue to fight against racism, sexism, pollution, and other social ills. Among his subjects are Freedom Riders Bernard LaFayette and Gloria Richardson, peace activist Daniel Berrigan, Vietnam vet turned protester David Cline, gay rights activist Frank Kameny, and feminist Marilyn Salzman Webb. Kisseloff precedes each interview with a brief historical overview and includes photographs of the activists in the 1960s and currently. Interview subjects explore their personal development as activists and the convictions that have carried their activism into their middle and later ages.

Generation On Fire

Lucid Dream Lounge Presents The Plucker: A Book by Brom

The Plucker leaned down until its face hung a kiss away from Angel, peeled back its black lips, and exposed the most sincere smile its rotting teeth would allow. "You will be such a treat," it whispered.

The Plucker is a 160 page hardbound illustrated novel. Original story/artwork by Brom.

link | via

I CAN SEE FOR MILES

The Who's Pete Townsend is sharpening his writing skills online for his upcoming autobiography. I'm enjoying the details of his early years. Below is an excerpt.

"On March 20th 1966 an Observer magazine story about The Who phenomenon was published; on its front page was Colin Jones’ unflattering iconic portrait of the band. The story inside was a puff by their buddy John Heilpern for Kit and Chris; we were represented as lightweight braggarts, spendthrifts, vain Dandies and ugly scumbags. My depression deepened. I began to drive to the Scotch of St James nightclub whenever I had free time, to drink Scotch and Coke, and hang out with stars like P.J. Proby, Brian Jones, John Walker and Gary Leeds of the Walker brothers and others. It was not like me at all, but I was pleased to be feted, and built up a friendship with Brian Jones that meant a lot to me. Together we saw one of Stevie Wonder’s first London shows there; Stevie got so excited he fell off the stage."

"May 1966. Car crashes, several. A fight with Keith Moon on stage (he was threatening to leave and form a band with the stupid name of Led Zeppelin, such a stupid name would never have caught on)..."

"Keith Moon had been through something even more powerful in his early relationship with his wife Kim, who had been a professional photographer’s model once pursued all the way down to her home in Bournemouth by Rod Stewart. It was this kind of paranoid, unhinged thinking that spurred me to write I Can See For Miles, one of the best songs I produced in the period... About the sick and viciously jealous intuitions of a cuckolded partner."

Well, here's a poke at you
You're gonna choke on it too
You're gonna lose that smile
Because all the while
I can see for miles and miles

A perfect "fuck you" to a broken love affair.

Pete Townsend

FREAK SHOW
by James St. James

Billy Bloom is gay, but it's mostly theoretical, as he hasn't had much experience. When he has to move to Florida, he can't believe his bad luck. His new school is a mix of Bible Belles, Aberzombies, and Football Heroes, none of which are exactly his type. Billy's efforts to fit in and stand out at the same time are both hilarious and heartrending. In this novel from adult author and media personality James St. James, readers are in for a wild ride as he tells Billy's fascinating story of bravado, pain, and unexpected love, inspired by his own experiences. - Penguin Publishing

The very fabulous James St. James rose to popularity in the late 80s/early 90s Manhattan club scene. One of the dynamic socialites who defined the underground scene and inspired the Club Kids movement, he also penned the book Party Monster, which told the story of the scene's premier event promoter Michael Alig who was convicted of murdering fellow scenester, Angel Melendez. A documentary was made about the events, followed by the feature film Party Monster which starred Seth Green as St. James and as Macauley Culkin as Alig.

The Hippie Narrative:
A Literary Perspective On The Counterculture

Mount Vernon’s Scott MacFarlane examines the key works of prose of the hippie movement of the 1960s and early 1970s and how the works are reflective of the counterculture.

He mentions that "Siddhartha," written in 1922, and "Stranger in a Strange Land," published in 1961, were very instrumental because these narratives shaped the formation of a hippie counterculture and were written before the sixties movement.

And he covers Kesey, Brautigan and Wolfe. Nationally influential. link


That leads me to the Foxfire Books, which is one of my favorite books of all time.

Regionally influential in the South were the Foxfire Books. Especially to those of us living on communes and/or outdoors.

Firefox has branched off to teaching and workshops now, but originally it was the communer's bible here in the South, where you could find sections on hog dressing, log cabin building, basket weaving, preserving foods, making butter, planting by the signs, snake lore, hunting tales, faith healing, and moonshining, which we left to the pros. We made blackberry wine.


Read FOXFIRE Series 1 - 6 (PDF)
**UPDATED: JUNE 22, 2007 - Caution: Not all of these are working links, but these are the only online FOXFIRE books I could find and for the links that ARE working you will almost certainly be able to get a feel for what the FOXFIRE series were about. Thanks. --Editor

PARADISE LIFE

A Stunning Memoir about Recovery from Addiction

Author Christopher Keeley offers hope for drug addicts to get clean, to start over, and have a wonderful life

Addiction to drugs is like a lover that you crave for, the more you give in to it, the harder it is to let go. This unhealthy obsession can cause horrible consequences, not only to yourself, but also to your family and the people you care about. Author andaward winning photographer Christopher Keeley shares how he quit this nasty habit through Paradise Life, a profound collection of personal stories and photographs that inspire a spirit of recovery.

link

As a recovering addict myself I find his book very interesting. His other web presence is also entertaining-- displaying art, activism, photographs, etc. Go have a look around.

Related:
From the Book
Daily Dreamtime
Intervention Organization
Secret Surrealistic Society

ULTRACULTURE - JOURNAL ONE
Era Vulgaris 2007
Editor: Jason Louv

The issue includes: Genesis Breyer P-Orridge on the holographic Garden of Eden, Brion Gysin's travelogue of his journey to Alamut, the citadel of the Assassins, The psychedelic rantings of Ganesh Baba, the world’s most tripped-out guru, and much more.

So many good articles to read I don't know where to begin. It's in beta now but you can buy it for a small price.

[via: dreamflesh]

Finally in print - the official companion volume to Dr. Sketchy's Anti-Art School!

"Dr. Sketchy's Official Rainy Day Colouring Book" is one part DIY handbook, one part activity book on acid, and one part history of the Sketch Revolution. To sweeten the broth, we've added dozens of photos, paper dolls, colouring book pages and puppets of Amber Ray, Lolita Haze, Little Brooklyn, Audra Gwarskitty,and all your other favorite Dr. Sketchy's models.

"Dr Sketchy's has gone from New York treasure to international phenomenon in a handful of months: a little piece of imaginary Twenties Paris where anyone who can hold a pencil may sketch beautiful burlesque models while sinking booze or sipping coffee. It's a wonderful thing: and only the Brooklyn Renaissance Woman that is Molly Crabapple could tell you about it this well."
- Warren Ellis. Author of Transmetropolitan

Molly Crabapple, founder

More tripped out goodies from artist, Larry Carlson.

NORTH VALE - Interactive pictures - Take a trip to the strange and spooky land of North Vale. (2007). Enjoy your visit and be sure to click around the pictures to uncover hidden worlds.

This collection of six new interactive pictures was created by taking photos of the Vermont landscape and other subjects which were processed and animated digitally. The pictures also feature an original soundtrack by Larry Carlson.

And Z.Q. - is an art book that features a collection of surreal back and white images. (2007)



Visit his MySpace site for more interactive fun.

Lucky for us this versatile visionary stays busy making his art and showing his art.

W E B T R A I L | Flurb, Anarchy, UFOs, Junky's, Orwellian

Have you FLURBed lately? Rudy Rucker's The Third Bomb is a good article on the latest Flurb and don't miss Cul-de-Sac by John Shirley. Actually, they are ALL good articles on the Flurb.

At Anarchist U, it's all about structure. (wtf?) The four-year-old free school has survived partly because it's, um, well organized. The mere fact that it's entering its fourth year without an address or a registrar, and with total operating expenses of about $50 a year (most of which is the fee for hosting its website, http://www.anarchistu.org), is something of a milestone. [via]
Read More

"If it wasn't for my girlfriend sighting the objects first, I would concede the possibility that it was a hallucination. She knew nothing of my silent request to show me something, and pointed out the objects before I saw them." Professor Pan expounds on the attempted manipulation of UFO manifestations, the concept of UFOs as egregores, and the probability that UFOs are a multidimensional phenomena with a nod to Jacques Vallee, Brother Blue, RAW, Crowley and with more great links to explore. link

:: I missed The Junky's Christmas again this year, (and for the past 15 years) Originally produced in 1993 and presented by Francis Ford Coppola, the film has just been released on DVD. [via]

CHILDREN OF MEN - Fans of progressive rock know Battersea from the cover of Pink Floyd?s 1977 concept album "Animals," the one with the floating pink pig and a playlist that includes songs like "Pigs" and "Sheep." The album seems to have been inspired by George Orwell?s 1945 allegorical novel, "Animal Farm" (the book?s money quote: "But some animals are more equal than others"). [via]
link

Whether there's an Orwellian spin or an artistic approach, the reviews for Children Of Men are kind. On NYTimes.com below the article there is a list of similar movies that lists Brave New World, The Stand, THX 1138, Gattaca, and In the Country of the Last Things. Now THAT should be included on the banner.

George Bush Quote
"See, in my line of work you got to keep repeating things over and over and over again for the truth to sink in, to kind of catapult the propaganda."

The American kirtan movement is alive and well in Asheville, NC.

Bhagavan Das, one of the central figures in Ram Dass' Be Here Now, returned to Asheville this week to lead kirtan at the Namaste Center on Saturday, Jan. 6. (Virato interviewed him on his radio program the last time he was in town.)

And there's Sangita Devi, a group that holds kirtan Namaste every Tuesday @ 7:30 p.m., for a donation. Info: sangitadevi.com.

MUSIC | STUFF

* I have Leary surrounded. Interview with John Higgs. link

* Former Mega City Four singer Darren "Wiz" Brown died from a blood clot on the brain on December 6, 2006. Condolences are being received here.

* These swinging dicks have the 'I Got The No Pussy' blues.

* Bob Dylan Live on WBAI. mp3

* You are MOG-ing, aren't you? link

* Dealhack Holiday Shipping Deadlines at Popular Online Stores

* Garrett County Press asked favorite artists to "color in" pages from Kevin Stone's latest project, The Pat Robertson and Friends Coloring Book.

* Hack This: Decorate a glass block from House Hacker. [via]

* How many blue and red people live in your zipcode? Following The Dollars, a Google Maps mashup that points out election donations in your zipcode.

whew! goodnight...

Webtrail | November 28

Thich Nhat Hanh's Walking Meditation - Can you walk your way to a calmer mind, more resilient heart, and kinder soul? Walking Meditaion, a book CD/DVD set featuring Zenmaster Thich Nhat Hanh, and dharma teacher and principle author Anh-Huong ushered readers into becoming "fully present and alive with every step, filling each moment with peace and joy." link

* Syd Barrett - A public look (You Tube) at the now-for-sale home of the late Syd Barrett, at 6 St. Margaret's Square in Cambridge. This link probably won't be up much longer, but you can check out the array of his possessions up for bid this Wednesday; includes a variety of his bright colored, hand-painted furniture, a fake Christmas tree, notebooks and more. [via]

* President Bush Promises To Kill More American Troops, Ejaculate Into Iraqi Vagina: link

* Protest News - Police are to demand new powers to arrest protesters for causing offence through the words they chant and the slogans on their placards and even headbands. link

* Absinthe Spoons might be a nice gift for someone this season. Or the whole set of glass, spoon, sugar cubes. I may snap some up for myself. I have several absinthe glasses and zero spoons. link

* Quote Of The Day: What's the last thing you saw on Broadway? (the Dylan musical) "The Times They are A-Changin'. Very Cirque du so Lame." --Michael Musto (gotta love that queen)

* George Bush Quote: "The problem with the French is that they don't have a word for 'entrepreneur'."

* Today in Radical History: Nov 28 - 1944: Birth of San Francisco Digger, author Emmett Grogan.

Pissing in the Liberal Punchbowl -- Again: The Democratic Conga Line in the American House of Lords

by Joe Bageant

Democrats are dancing around the head of Donald Rumsfeld like a scene from Lord of the Flies, heating up the tar buckets and plucking the goose in eager, nay, wild anticipation. Personally, I love the smell of tar and feathers in the morning and am quite willing to march on the White House as we speak. I like revenge as well as the next guy. But I also consider myself a compassionate man, one perfectly willing to let Bush's cabinet choose whether they wanna play the mommy or the daddy in the Big House, then move on to the real problems, such as the fact that a gallon of Old Grandad is nearly 50 bucks here in Virginia, or the fact that we are still a nation of people, half of whom were happy to elect a bunch of war criminals -- TWICE! -- and still are.

Ah, but lo and beshit, the Democrats have rescued us. If you can call running around like chickens with their heads up their asses while the Republicans did what they always do -- get caught stealing the national silverware, while bombing the hell out of some miserable piece of dirt as a distraction, thereby self-destructing in 12 years as usual, but getting obscenely rich in the process.

Pardon my cynicism, but the view is pretty damned sorry from here in the cheap seats. From down here it looks like every Yankee liberal north of Virginia seems convinced they are now shitting in such tall cotton that all they need do from here on out is foist Hillary Clinton on the many poor miserable bastards unfortunate enough to be called heartland Democrats because we don't have the balls to become heavily armed libertarians. Nominating Hillary might just drive us to it.

Meanwhile, we watch the only woman who can give the ambitious Hillary a run for the money when it comes to "the sneer behind the smile," Nancy Pelosi. Then it's on to the main act, in which we watch Honey Boy Obama "pass" in elite liberal society as a goddamned "negro", for chrissake! Will wretched wonders never end? Read More »

Very funny. I found Joe at Dissident Voice and I really like what he has to say. He has a book coming out Spring 2007.

Richard Brautigan's Please Plant This Book (1968) is a sweet little book with 8 poems inside 8 packets of garden seeds. I don't think you can buy it anyplace unless it's from a private collector now.

Although he died in 1984, he is still very much a celebrated cult figure today. Sure would be nice to find one in decent condition.

link

In her new book, A Photographer's Life, Annie Leibovitz, our most famous photographer, places celebs side by side with surprisingly personal images of love and loss. An exclusive.

Sitting in her Greenwich Village office, wearing jeans and sneakers, Leibovitz explains how Sontag's death in December 2004—followed only weeks later by the death of Leibovitz's father—propelled her to make this book. "It totally came out of a moment," she says. "I had already done some looking at photographs of Susan—that was very hard—for a little memorial book. I had never taken the time to see what I had, really." She would weep and pin the pictures up on the long walls of an old barn at her country place in upstate New York. "And then, I got very excited, trying to look from 1990 to 2005, as if Susan was standing behind me." Leibovitz tears up and reaches for a box of tissues.

Photographer Annie Liebovitz does Newsweek, and shoots her own cover. What may be the most controversial aspect of Leibovitz's book is the intimate pictures from her relationship with Susan Sontag, and particularly the painful images of the writer when she was seriously ill with cancer. Don't miss the photos, especially the one she took the day after Sontag died. Just a very tender and beautiful piece.

link

The Dreamers Book of the Dead
by Robert Moss

EXCERPTS:
In most dreams, the departed appear to be living, and very often the dreamer is unaware that the person he or she encounters is "dead" until after waking. The reason is that the departed are indeed alive, though no longer in the physical realm.

The departed may appear as the dreamer remembers them from their last days of physical life, especially in the first dream encounters. But over time, it is quite common for the departed to alter their appearance, to shrug off signs of age and bodily ailments, and to present themselves as healthy and attractive. People who died in later years frequently reappear looking around 30 years old.

Robert Moss website

I just ran across this book and thought it was something some of the EBC readers and I might like to read.

News from Patti Smith

Musings

August 9 full moon. This is the day Jerry Garcia died. He was born on the first of August and passed away on the ninth, so it's nice to think of that span as Jerry week. It certainly seems that he well deserves a 9 day week. So it's winding to a close. I lit him a candle, listened to him singing Palm Sunday, and looked at his paintings in a big Jerry book.

August 2, the birthday of my sister Kimberly, was the anniversary of William Burroughs' passing. While in my old house in Michigan I found my seventy year old bottle of Chartreuse squirreled away. I bought it in the eighties with him in mind. We promised each other we'd share a drink one day, but we never got around to it. I reread his Port of Saints and looked at a catalogue of his gun shot paintings. I traced my son and daughter's names written in his hand on an old Christmas card. Then I cracked open the Chartreuse and poured us each a shot. The green sugary liquid put me in mind of nineteenth century absinthe, so while I had my ritual drink with William, I kept in mind the likes of Paul Verlaine, Baudelaire and Arthur Rimbaud.

August 3, on the birthday of Beverly Lee, a member of the wondrous Shirelles, Arthur Lee passed away. I met him a long time ago. He was just a little older than me. He was soft spoken with a vague criminal air. Forever Changes left its mark. I was in Michigan when he died and I walked down to the end of my dead end street and sat on a bench beneath a weeping willow. It was at least one hundred degrees but I still had my trusty black coffee, steaming fresh from Seven Eleven. I played back Amoreagain and Orange Skies in my mind. These songs of Love are so deeply rooted I can hear them as clear as if they were wafting from a turntable.

My son's birthday rolled around. August 6 was the anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima. Over one hundred thousand people were massacred in that drop. Too many candles for one to light. I was back at my post on the bench looking out at Lake St. Clair. A huge Monarch brushed my cheek. I figured the butterfly, symbol of immortality, served to evoke them.

A few weeks ago I was in London. I visited a small bar painted green and lit with a green light. William used to frequent this joint some years ago. You can only enter through private subscription. I wasn't drinking. I was just visiting. It was three in the afternoon. There were a few old-school characters nursing their whiskies. Suddenly, in the center of the friendly yet oppressive silence, one of them cried out "Syd Barrett is dead." This took me off guard. But the fellows spontaneously raised their glasses, issued a " here! here! Syd!" and then retreated into their private worlds. For that one moment they were of one mind. And I was with them, saluting someone I never knew. Someone who made music. Someone who loved Arthur Lee.

Today is my friend Betsy Lerner's birthday. It's the day the United States dropped an Atomic Bomb on Nagasaki. It's the day Hermann Hesse died. The day Jerry died. I have returned to the city. Children are racing up and down my street. We humans keep in mind. That's what we do. Tonight is a full moon. Guess when it sets, I will get me a cup of black coffee, sit on the stoop, and contemplate the bombing of Qana, the miracle of love and Dark Star.

Patti Smith

A love letter to Ann Coulter from Henry Rollins



link

From the Betty Bowers site: This week, sweet Ann Coulter released her latest in a series of pre-rehab books, entitled Godless. Naturally, the title led me to believe that it was an unexpectedly candid autobiography. Alas, she may be saving that book until after she's been strapped to a bed at Hazelden for a month. Instead of using this book to dabble in the bracing novelty of introspection, Miss Coulter turns her two-setting mind ("off" and "off her rocker") to hector us about religion.

Forget the Haight and Woodstock

A new book makes a compelling case that Laurel Canyon, home to Joni, Zappa, Mama Cass and many more, was the true center of '60s rock.

The '60s were all about neighborhoods. Haight-Ashbury, Greenwich Village, Berkeley’s Telegraph Avenue, Watts, Tu Do Street, Harlem, Woodstock -- for Americans, at least, the decade was divided into a series of remarkable communities, some utopian and others nightmarish, each with a strong claim to being the epicenter of that turbulent epoch.

link

Greg Palast on His New Book "Armed Madhouse : Who's Afraid of Osama Wolf?, China Floats, Bush Sinks, The Scheme to Steal '08…"

When Greg Palast speaks, I listen. This investigative journalist is a voracious researcher with a thirst for the truth.

Link

GAIAN MIND SUMMER FESTIVAL

June 22nd-25th, Four Quarters, Central PA, USA

Just added! Daniel Pinchbeck is one of the leading voices in today’s counter-culture and is the author of Breaking Open the Head: A Psychedelic Journey into the Heart of Contemporary Shamanism, which has given him a higher profile among those interested in alternative religion and spirituality. He will be speaking at GMSF2K6 in support of his forthcoming book, 2012: The Return of Quetzalcoatl. more…

The Pig Book
2006 Congressional Pig Book Summary, "the little pink book Washington doesn't want you to read". From America's #1 taxpayer watchdog. The Congressional Pig Book is CAGW's (Citizens Against Government Waste) annual compilation of the pork-barrel projects in the federal budget. The 2006 Pig Book identified 9,963 projects in the 11 appropriations bills that constitute the discretionary portion of the federal budget for fiscal 2006, costing taxpayers $29 billion; 6.2 percent more than last year’s total. To qualify as pork, a project must meet one of seven criteria that were developed in 1991 by CAGW and the Congressional Porkbusters Coalition.

The 2006 Congressional Pig Book is the latest installment of Citizens Against Government Waste’s (CAGW) 16-year exposé of pork-barrel spending. This year’s list includes: $13,500,000 for the International Fund for Ireland, which helped finance the World Toilet Summit; $6,435,000 for wood utilization research; $1,000,000 for the Waterfree Urinal Conservation Initiative; and $500,000 for the Sparta Teapot Museum in Sparta, N.C.

Link

Pigs indeed.

Monday WebTrail | - Acid + Gong, Mind Hacks, Flying V, Obey Dude, Harmful Books, Coloring Cunts, Stones' Bassist

Mind Performance Hacks is a new book by Ron Hale-Evans, maintainer of the Mentat Wiki. I call it brain exercise. Tips and tricks for your head. It's a fun read that I borrowed from the Captain. Link

Gong + AMT = Acid Mothers Gong - Live in Nagoya. Rating: ****_ (four out of five microdots)

Replicas of the Hendrix Flying V have been authorized and ready for $7999.00 with a limited run of 300. To me he was synonymous with the white Strat which he played when I saw him. [MORE...].

Shepard Fairey's latest exhibition at White Walls in San Francisco. [via]

Right Wing's Ten Most Harmful Books of the 19th and 20th Centuries. #1 on their hit parade? The Communist Manifesto - Link

Who knew a little ol' coloring book could cause such a commotion. The Cunt Coloring Book has been continuously in print since 1975, although in 1981, following a flash of cunt-roversy, it was briefly retitled "Labiaflowers". Back to the original title now, it still sells fairly well. [More...]

Rolling Stones' bass player, Darryl Jones has a blog now.

John Halpern: an informant for the DEA?

-- by Jon Hanna

"I've recently penned the article "Halperngate" for the current issue of The Entheogen Review."

"Since this article deals with a lesser-known snitch, John Halpern, who has also been a psychedelic researcher largely supported by the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, and who still frequents underground events (he will be part of a team at the 2006 BOOM Festival's crisis tent), I feel that it is important for the psychonautical community to have the opportunity to read about Halpern's past choice to repeatedly provide testimony to the DEA related to the arrest and trial of Leonard Pickard and Clyde Apperson, who were ultimately both convicted of LSD manufacture." A PDF of the article is posted at:

www.entheogenreview.com/halperngate.html

"Information about the availability of the hard-copy of this issue of The Entheogen Review will be posted at their main site after 4/12/06; this issue (Vernal Equionox 2006) also contains some reviews of the LSD conference in Basel, the H.R. Giger museum, and a Swiss absinthe bar. As well, there's an ayahuasca article from Peter Gorman, and network feedback notes on the psychoactivity of Pedicularis species, Kaempferia galanga, Atropa belladonna, and DOC. Plus there's an events calendar, my "Sources" column reviewing the latest in psychedelic art, entheobotanical vendors, and book dealers, and a remembrance for Carla Higdon, who passed away earlier this year. See www.entheogenreview.com for more information on the journal."

Interesting.... and probably not the only one in the psychonautical community.

2012: The Return of Quetzalcoatl. May 4 release date. Pre-order from Amazon.

Throughout the 1990s, Pinchbeck had been a member of New York's literary select. He wrote for publications like ArtForum, Esquire, and The New York Times Magazine. Critics acclaimed his first book, Breaking Open the Head, as the most significant contribution to psychedelic literature since the work of Terence McKenna.

But the unexpected occurred: Pinchbeck found himself increasingly pulled into the shamanic and metaphysical realms he was reporting on as a journalist. As his mind opened to new and sometimes threatening experiences, disparate threads and synchronicities made new sense: Humanity, every sign suggested, faces an imminent decision between greater self-potential and environmental ruin. The Mayan "birth date" of 2012 could herald the close of one way of existence and the beginning of another, symbolized by the prophesied return of the Mesoamerican deity Quetzalcoatl, the mysterious "Plumed Serpent" of ancient myth. In just the nick of time, the skeptical modern mind can reclaim the suppressed psychic, intuitive, and mystical dimensions of being, and institute a new planetary culture. But it is only - and by no means assuredly - possible if we confront the environmental catastrophe staring us in the face.

Something is in the air: many, if not most, of us feel that real change - for good or ill - is afoot. Pinchbeck's journey - a metaphysical opus that takes the reader from the endangered rain forests of the Amazon, to the stone megaliths of the English plains, to the Burning Man festival in the Black Rock desert of Nevada - tells the tale of a single man in whose trials we ultimately recognize our own secret thoughts and unease over modern life. And a redemptive vision of where we are heading. [via]

Quite possibly the most beautiful lyrics ever written.
Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah"

HALLELUJAH

I heard there was a secret chord
That david played and it pleased the lord
But you don't really care for music, do you
Well it goes like this the fourth, the fifth
The minor fall and the major lift
The baffled king composing hallelujah

Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah ....

Well your faith was strong but you needed proof
You saw her bathing on the roof
Her beauty and the moonlight overthrew you
She tied you to her kitchen chair
She broke your throne and she cut your hair
And from your lips she drew the hallelujah

Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah .... .

Baby i've been here before
I've seen this room and i've walked this floor
I used to live alone before i knew you
I've seen your flag on the marble arch
But love is not a victory march
It's a cold and it's a broken hallelujah

Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah ....

Well there was a time when you let me know
What's really going on below
But now you never show that to me do you
But remember when i moved in you
And the holy dove was moving too
And every breath we drew was hallelujah

Well, maybe there's a god above
But all i've ever learned from love
Was how to shoot somebody who outdrew you
It's not a cry that you hear at night
It's not somebody who's seen the light
It's a cold and it's a broken hallelujah

Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah

--by Leonard Cohen, 1988 lyrics

The original recording from 1984 is noted for containing explicit Jewish references in the lyrics, alluding to David's harp-playing used to soothe King Saul (I Sam. 16:23), and his later affair with Bathsheba after watching her bathe from his roof. The line "she broke your throne and she cut your hair" is likely a reference to the source of Samson's strength from the Book of Judges. The third verse mentions "the name" (Tetragrammaton).

Singer-songwriter Jeff Buckley's copy has eclipsed Cohen's original in popularity. Rufus Wainwright also does a great job of covering it and so does John Cale. [More::]

WebTrail - Thunderbolt Pagoda, NCAA, Droopy C**k, Used Condoms, Magick, Tantric Popart

"...so High '60s that you emerge from its 20-minute vision perched full-lotus on a cloud of incense, chatting with a white rabbit and smoking a banana." The ultimate comic-book attraction, however, is Ira Cohen's 1968 Invasion of Thunderbolt Pagoda—part "Dr. Strange," part Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome. Directed by Ira Cohen Link

Did you burst your bracket yet? Watch the NCAA Tournament live at work.

Tantric Pop-Art by Julian Murphy

From the page: "Do you mean Droopy C**k?" "It was as if I'd been smacked with a right hook. I started repeating 'Drew Peacock' over and over again. Then I thought - what have we done?" Link

AOL had this link on their homepage today about "The Cheapest Person I Know". One person washes and re-uses paper plates. One person orders water at a restaurant, adds lemon and sugar that's already on the table to make lemonade -- all for the price of a glass of water. Someone glued a quarter to the floor to razz their co-worker who finally bought a $2.00 device to pry it up. But the worst frugal item so far has got to be the one that re-uses condoms. Washes them out and re-uses them. That ain't frugal. That's just plain stupid.

Today's Quote
"It's far too late for anything but magick, as the future is clearly up for grabs." - Antero Alli

THE DEATH OF KEVIN CARTER

An Oscar nominated film with a South African connection is the short documentary "The Death of Kevin Carter", by Dan Krauss.

Carter was a member of the "Bang-Bang Club" of photojournalists who became (in?)famous in the early nineties for their work covering violence in the townships.

*In 1994 Carter won the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography for this image of a starving child in the Sudan.

For a more complete description of Carter's dark but fascinating life visit this link, or buy the book "Bang-Bang Club" (highly recommended).

[via: South Africa Blog]

*I guarantee that you'll never forget that photograph.

HAPPY FRIDAY!
Bring 'Em Home
Devendra Banhart, REM frontman Michael Stipe, Bright Eyes, Public Enemy frontman Chuck D and Rufus Wainwright will perform in the Bring 'Em Home concert in New York's Hammerstein Ballroom on March 20th, the third anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, to plead against the war in Iraq.

The singers will join activist Cindy Sheehan in her effort to bring the American soldiers home from Iraq and to stop the war.

Among the celebrities expected to attend the event are Jane Fonda, Alec Baldwin, Margaret Cho and Janeane Garofalo, while Steve Earle, Fischerspooner, and Peaches will be among the other performers. [MORE...]

I applaud these people who lend their time and expertise to the cause of bringing 'em home, but I can't help but feel there are many people too apprehensive to speak out against the war. Their silence is deafening.

~:|:~ ~:|:~ ~:|:~ ~:|:~ ~:|:~ ~:|:~ ~:|:~ ~:|:~ ~:|:~

Wolfgang's Vault is the online site of the vault contents of rock promoter Bill Graham's estate. Fortunately, Graham was a pack rat and kept everything from the Fillmore East and West. Vintage tickets, posters, and reels of performances. The recent buyer of his extensive estate has catalogued and priced most of the items for sale. Link

~:|:~ ~:|:~ ~:|:~ ~:|:~ ~:|:~ ~:|:~ ~:|:~ ~:|:~ ~:|:~

Friday Random Ten - Why? Because I feel like it.

1) In The Sun - Michael Stipe w/Joseph Arthur
2) Blackout - Lovedrug
3) Dancing With Mr D - Rolling Stones
4) All The Young Dudes - Mott The Hoople
5) Bull In The Heather - Sonic Youth
6) Presence Of The Lord - Blind Faith
7) Cracking Up - The Jesus And Mary Chain
8) The Bottle - Gil Scott-Heron And Brian Jacks
9) Book of Saturday - King Crimson
10)The Antler of the Midnight Sun - Comets on Fire

WEBTRAIL - Top 100, PETA, Ivins, Boomer, Mancuso, Garden of Delights, James Frey

Garden Of Delights is a good vintage vinyl site. One of 7 or 8 good ones I've found lately. Freaky Lady posts mostly rare 60s music. Not as rare in the weird sense as Cake & Polka Parade, which has it's own fun, but informative niche.

‘Love Saves The Day’, an essential new book, which charts the development of New York (and subsequently worldwide) club culture, takes it’s name from a party held on Valentines Day 1970 at the home of David Mancuso, a loft space at 647 Broadway & Bleeker, in NoHo, NYC. (via Autopoiesis & Cognition Conversations)

Please Sign This Petition if you agree that James Frey, Author of "A Million Little Pieces", Random House & Nan Telese,the Publisher of these lies should offer a refund of his book considering the controversy surrounding it.

Were you born between 1946 and 1964? Boomer Baby is asking you to send in your childhood toy memories. I enjoyed the "Easy Bake Oven" because YUM!, those little cakes that you baked by a lightbulb were seriously good eating. I also liked paper dolls. Betsy McCall came in a magazine each month with different outfits to cut out and put on. Try getting a small child today to get interested in paper dolls. Not going to happen. (via mousemusings)

Molly Ivins, 61, is again battling breast cancer. [More »] (via labkat)

China's Shocking Cat and Dog Fur Trade - Trent Reznor slams killing of cats and dogs for fur in shocking new PETA video.

2006 Q Magazine Readers' 100 Greatest Albums Ever. These lists are always subjective but always interesting.

WEBTRAIL - Born, Explore!, Crispin, Cohen, King, Lovelock & Blangha

'Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man' is a low-key and impressive music documentary that screened at Sundance on Saturday. Australian director Lian Lunson builds her film around a recent Australian concert at which musicians from Rufus Wainwright to Jarvis Cocker, Beth Orton and Nick Cave covered a set-list of Cohen numbers. We see Cohen performing for the benefit of her film, and after a minute, the camera pulls back to reveal his backing-band. It's U2. Rufus doing 'Hallelujah' is a fucking masterpiece. So good it hurts [MORE...]

Chapter One of the new book, 'Cell' by Stephen King

Born Magazine - Exquisite Art & Lit Collaboration. Link

Flickr: Explore! - Flickr labs have been hard at work creating a way to show you some of the most awesome photos on Flickr.

News on the uber imaginative Crispin Hellion Glover and his long time project, "What Is It?" which prompted one reviewer to exclaim, "Like Fellini on psychedelics-- wildly creative but completely twisted." He's been working on this project f o r e v e r. Link from the excellent insider's film news CineMadMag.

The current 'Reality' of Gaia - Thirty years ago, the scientist James Lovelock worked out that the Earth possessed a planetary-scale control system which kept the environment fit for life. He called it Gaia, and the theory has become widely accepted. Now, he believes mankind's abuse of the environment is making that mechanism work against us. His astonishing conclusion - that climate change is already insoluble, and life on Earth will never be the same again. Link

What is Blangha? Blangha is a contraction of the words "blog" and "sangha." The Blangha is an aggregator of news feeds from a community of Zen-oriented Buddhist bloggers.

This website looks best when viewed on company time.

US Military 'Shuts Down' Soldiers' Blogs

"Something I cannot reiterate often enough is how monumentally misbehaved Iraqi street kids are," Hartley's blog continued. "But some of them are just so darn cute, you can't help but want to squeeze their little faces - until they suffocate."

The Army took him literally, even though Hartley said he was aiming his satire at those who believe Iraqi civilians' lives have little value.

Some of Hartley's readers got the point. Others did not.

One of Hartley's Web entries on April 24, 2004, carried a photograph of an Iraqi man's partially burned corpse clothed in a bloodied white tunic. Hartley's photo caption was a take on the "I [heart] New York City" slogan. His version: "I [heart] Dead Civilians."

In response, a visitor wrote: "Is this a joke or what? This whole blog gives a bad taste in the mouth."

Hartley replied, "It leaves a bad taste in your mouth? That's sorta the point."

Link [via]

This guy should have be free to write what he wanted, no matter how offensive. Perhaps he is now. His book is on sale at Amazon.

Black & White & Red All Over

* She Prefers Black Men - "Black men have something white guys don't have anymore: confidence in their masculinity, their sexuality. They clearly know they're men. White men appear to be waiting for the latest sociological research study to let them know if they are men or not. Yet black men are gentlemen, something else white men no longer are."

* White Cop On Dope - "I bought drugs in uniform. I had been doing drugs my whole life. So I learned the ins and outs of the alleyways. Just because I put a cop uniform on didn't change that. I would shoot dope five minutes before roll call when I was a cop. No one knew I lived this double life. Just my wife knew."

* Why Are Your Reading the Little Red Book? - Quotations from Chairman Mao Tsetung, also known as the Little Red Book, a book once rivaling the Bible in circulation. To really monitor its readership would involve watching all internet access to the text, purchases of the book, and library loans of it. A formidable task and insane waste of FBI time, surely. But these are mad times.

How to Serve the Ministry of Reshelving

1. Select a local bookstore to carry out your reshelving activities.

2. Download and print "This book has been relocated by the Ministry of Reshelving" bookmarks and "All copies of 1984 have been relocated" notecards to take with you to the bookstore. Or make your own. We recommend bringing a notecard and 5-10 bookmarks to each store.

3. Go to the bookstore and locate its copies of George Orwell's 1984. Unless the Ministry of Reshelving has already visited this bookstore, it is probably currently incorrectly classified as "Fiction" or "Literature."

4. Discreetly move all copies of 1984 to a more suitable section, such as "Current Events", "Politics", "History", "True Crime", or "New Non-Fiction."

5. Insert a Ministry of Reshelving bookmark into each copy of any book you have moved. Leave a notecard in the empty space the books once occupied.

6. If you spot other incorrectly classified books, feel free to relocate them.

7. Please report all reshelving efforts to the Ministry. Email your store name, location, # of 1984 copies reshelved, and any other reshelving activities conducted, to reshelving @ avantgame.com. Photos of your mission can be uploaded to Flickr, tagged as "reshelving", and submitted to the Ministry of Reshelving group.

Our goal is to relocate one thousand nine hundred and eighty-four copies, and to complete successful reshelving of 1984 in all 50 United States. Global contributions are welcome.

I missed The Ministry Of Reshelving when it occurred in August 2005. But many did not as the 97 comments will certainly attest before they were closed down and the BBC also reported on it. So why did people get bent out of shape? Looks like fun to me.

URLS GONE WILD
Several mini-posts follow below for those of you reading this through Bloglines, Feedburner, etc.

Zombie Claus was celebrated in Michigan last night. [via]

* My favorite quotes: "...you've never seen the likes of it. A whole bunch of Santa Clauses, drunk as lords, cussing and cursing and scraping, all in broad daylight..." and "...Santas were brawling, swearing & falling about..."

* For Seattle, Denver, Nashville, Detroit, and More

* University Of Michigan newspaper does an online parody of Windows XP. Nicely done.
Link

* Skirt-chasing playboy Daniel Anceneaux spent weeks talking with a sensual woman on the Internet before arranging a romantic rendezvous at a remote beach -- and discovering that his on-line sweetie of six months was his own mother!
Link

* LSD Story Causes Flashbacks

* Reverend Billy exorcised the building, while the security guards looked on, wondering just how much damage control their PR people would have to do if they arrested a preacher and a gospel choir.
Link

* Howard Stern's free speech ride signs off.
Link

* Neil Young to keynote SXSW 2006

* A Celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the publication of Allen Ginsberg's book as well as the American book launch for the 2005 publication of The Baby Beat Generation (The 1970s San Francisco Renaissance)
Link

Why is Christmas just like a day at work? You do all the work and the fat guy with the suit gets all the credit?

Interview with Stephen Gaghan, Director and Writer of Syriana

"… and they’re all back! Just look at them! They’re all like a hundred and ten years old, they cut their teeth under the first Nixon administration ... they hang upside down like vampire bats when they’re out of power and they wait around. It’s the same guys: ‘Hey, don’t conserve energy! There’s no problem! Party on!’"

"... and I’d noticed some times when you could be in somebody’s house, and it could be a totally genteel type of drug dealer, or it could be a more gangster-y drug dealer, but whatever – there was often something similar about them, which is they have children, and the children are staring at violent television, cartoons or some shit, and they’re eating sugar-coated breakfast cereal and they look malnourished, there’s a handgun on the table – there’s always a handgun on the table, like on a coffee table or a table, and it’s so unsettling, and the TV’s going and you’re looking at the handgun and the children are over there and you want to say, 'I’ve got this great parenting book by Mary Hartsell and I just want to give it to you, because I think you could use some advice on parenting. …' But you don’t say that – because that would be breaking an unwritten code. And the unwritten code is the guy has something you need, and you really need it, and you’re not going to fucking bum him out."

It's a very compelling and raw interview and I'm anxious to see if this movie follows his vision.

[MORE »]
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Did you know.......?

...that Andy Warhol created his version of A Clockwork Orange...SIX YEARS BEFORE it was even released? He called his movie, Vinyl; both are taken from Anthony Burgess' novel.

Mellen Thomas Benedict has some wonderful insights on after-death communications with departed loved ones through dreams and synchronicity.

I remember waking up one morning at home about 4:30 am, and I just knew that this was it. This was the day I was going to die. So I called a few friends and said goodbye. I woke up my hospice caretaker and told her. I had a private agreement with her that she would leave my dead body alone for six hours, since I had read that all kinds of interesting things happen when you die. I went back to sleep. The next thing I remember is the beginning of a typical near-death experience. Suddenly I was fully aware and I was standing up, but my body was in the bed. There was this darkness around me. Being out of my body was even more vivid than ordinary experience. It was so vivid that I could see every room in the house, I could see the top of the house, I could see around the house, I could see under the house.

There was this light shining. I turned toward the light. The light was very similar to what many other people have described in their near-death experiences. It was so magnificent. It is tangible; you can feel it. It is alluring; you want to go to it like you would want to go to your ideal mother's or father's arms.

As I began to move toward the light, I knew intuitively that if I went to the light, I would be dead.

So as I was moving toward the light I said, "Please wait a minute, just hold on a second here. I want to think about this; I would like to talk to you before I go." [Read More »]

Since losing my sister Robin last week, we've been discussing dreams from loved ones on the other side. Our favorite cousin Ray had a very strange, vivid and fun dream of Robin at the exact same time she crossed over. He's never had anything like that happen to him before and has been extremely moved by it. I said he should feel honored. It's a privilege to receive a 'visit'.

The first book I read about NDE (near-death experiences) was Betty J Eadie's Embraced By The Light. Extremely powerful and poignant.

(website via Clifford Pickover's 'don't miss' Godlorica)

Happy Birthday Emmett Grogan?

Some say today is Emmett Grogan's birthday. Some say there never was an Emmett Grogan and that it's a compilation of characters.

OR...
The word 'Emmett' means 'tourist' in 20th century Cornish. Grogan means 'hairy' in Gaelic. So Emmett Grogan means 'hairy tourist'. Is this the belief you subscribe to?

OR...
The multiple-use name Emmett Grogan was used by San Francisco Diggers in the 1960s. The book Ringolevio is a biography of several members of the diggers merged together as the autobiography of one 'person', Emmett Grogan.

OR...
Dylan backup singer?

Anyway, today I say Happy Birthday to the spirit of Emmett Grogan.

Diana Darby’s album, The Magdalene Laundries, is inspired by the Irish social institution of the same name, which is in the long tradition of the Medicant movement founded by Francis of Assisi. In the Laundries women are sentenced to a life of slavery under the supervision of nuns; forced to work six days a week in the laundry of the Church, in an attempt to wash away their sins.

The album was recorded and mixed on a 4-track device in Darby’s home--its malfunctioning was the impetus to end the album. Diana sings in hushed tones, lost among the strings and strums of a muted electric guitar.

The opening ballad, "The Magdalene Laundries," sets the stage. It is a voice we all recognize, the plaintive tones of someone whose soul is naked before god.
"Pretty Flowers" is a lullaby to the women, with their cracked and bleeding hands, calloused elbows dripping soapy water, to give them succor through their long, bitter meditation on the nature of virtue.

A black swan appears in the fourth track, lovely, lonely and terrified that someone will come to her small pool and see just that.

"Kierkegaard" is a track where nothing is what it should be, cat in the trees, birds on the porch a dead girl resting in bed with her book, bringing us to the edge of reason and the leap of faith. This is Kierkegaard’s Choice, which once you realize exists, are left with none but to continue to pound on the doors to the monastery in the pouring rain, already three days at your task. It was this image which Francis choose for his mediation on the true nature of happiness, which brings us to track 10, “there’s no leaving now,” and Ms. Darby’s own words on her composition, “it was me slamming the door on me. Telling myself that I couldn’t escape/run from the feelings and sadness I live with. There comes a point where you have to just sit
down and feel what you’re feeling. I wanted to take my audience with me. I wanted them to know that they can’t run away either. They’re on this ride with me. And there’s no leaving now.” (Richard Schave) [via]

The Gospel According to Anne
The queen of the occult has been gone awhile. What's Anne Rice been up to? Getting healthy, finding God—and writing her most daring book yet.


Go listen to an excerpt from the audiobook of 'Christ the Lord, Out of Egypt'.

Wow, if that isn't an intriguing tease for a new book by Anne Rice, there's never been one.

Link

Art, Myth, and Spirit
Phoenix & Arabeth have been creating fantastic and mystical works since 1973. These striking images glow with a reverence for the earth, an awareness of the god/goddess within every individual, and the natural magic of the complete human: body, mind and soul.

Site features artwork, tattoos, henna, and body art from Iraq and the Middle East, a book on Tribal Bible, henna and tattoo galleries - all by Phoenix and Arabeth.
Link

LORDS OF ACID
How the Brotherhood of Eternal Love Became OC’s Hippie Mafia

Leary’s mantra—Tune in, turn on, drop out—had already led countless disaffected middle-class kids to quit their jobs or classes, head to California and drop acid. The Brotherhood’s bible was Leary’s Psychedelic Prayers, his idiosyncratic translation of the Tibetan Book of the Dead. Mystic Arts sold copies of Leary’s book, along with incense, candles and imported countercultral paraphernalia. Behind a bamboo-covered wall, church members gathered in a secret meditation room decorated with a massive Taxonomic Mandala, a technicolor spiral depicting the evolution of life, from primal ooze to Homo sapiens.

But Mystic Arts was more than a head shop or meditation center. And although it didn’t start out that way, the Brotherhood of Eternal Love wasn’t just a church. It was also Orange County’s first major international drug smuggling network. [more »]

Magic Comic Ride
In his fantastical "Promethea" series, Alan Moore indulges his fascinations with tantric sex and the tarot -- and reveals his take on kabbalistic philosophy.

When "Promethea" began its 32-issue comic-book run in 1999, it looked like it was going to be British writer Alan Moore's riff on Wonder Woman: a story about a superheroine with mythological connections, one of the flagship titles of Moore's whimsical America's Best Comics project. By the time it ended a few months ago (the final sequence is collected in "Promethea Book 5," to be published in a couple of weeks by ABC), it had turned into something very different: a rather wonderful excuse for the 51-year-old Moore to explain his version of hermetic Kabbalistic philosophy.

Link

The Daily Om is good today. (For those of you that only read EBC through a feed, Daily Om is featured on the right side of my website.) Today's topic is Tonglen Meditation: Transforming Negative Into Positive. I'd never heard that term before.

Just as pain can grow exponentially, so can compassion and love be inspired in countless others. All it takes is a single individual who chooses to transform negative energy into goodness. One method of doing this is the Buddhist practice of tonglen meditation, wherein you consciously draw suffering into yourself and release positive energy with each focused breath. In the Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, it is described as breathing in that which is to be healed and transforming it through the power of your own heart and the heart of Buddha. Then, in breathing out, you project that which was transformed in your heart into the hearts of others. [more »]

Link

About Terry Gilliams's Tideland, Jennifer Tilly says, "Jeff Bridges is a burned-out rock musician addicted to heroin, and I'm an ex-groupie addicted to methadone - and we have this little neglected and abused girl who is living in a fantasy land."

"This movie is very surreal. Terry describes it as a cross between Alice In Wonderland and Psycho. Tideland is done, says Gilliam. Just tell me when to show up at the theater.

The Mars Volta to curate next ATP (All Tomorrows Parties). Bands so far confirmed to play alongside The Mars Volta include The Kills, Diamanda Galas, Cinematic Orchestra, Blonde Redhead, Jaga Jazzist, Weird War, and more. What makes ATP events so fun is that they have chalets available for weekend rental with the shows.

The Ayahuasca-Alien Connection. Excerpts from:
Ayahuasca Visions: The Religious Iconography of a Peruvian Shaman

Advance Tom Robbins book, Wild Ducks Flying Backqards already sold on eBay. (Thanks, Madison)

More banned cover art from Freeway Jam. Comprehensive listings in Taboo Tunes. For being against the war, (Dead Kennedys, Barry McGuire) having a misplaced appendage, visual pubes (Black Crowes cover), teeny boobs flashing (Blind Faith), and more.

Weirdness Quotient: Country Porn - NSFW and Ice Cream Truck songs from WFMU.

Sisters of the Extreme

Women Writing on the Drug Experience:
Charlotte Brontë, Louisa May Alcott, Anaïs Nin, Maya Angelou, Billie Holiday, Nina Hagen, Diane di Prima, Carrie Fisher, and Many Others

An anthology of writings by some of the most influential women in history on the often misunderstood and misrepresented female drug experience.

This is the first collection of women's writings on their experiences with psychoactive drugs. The original of this anthology was published under the title Shaman Woman, Mainline Lady in 1982. The title of this new edition comes from a remark in a letter Grace Slick wrote us upon seeing the book in its original form: "I didn't know I had so many sisters of the extreme."

via

Death of the King of the Rainbow Warriors
Perhaps more than anyone else, Bob Hunter invented Greenpeace. His death on March 2nd 2005, of cancer, marks the passing of a true original, one of the heroes of the environmental movement.

In 1971, the word "Greenpeace" hadn't yet been coined. Bob was a hippy journalist in Vancouver, a town which he described as having "the biggest concentration of tree-huggers, radicalized students, garbage-dump stoppers, shit-disturbing unionists, freeway fighters, pot smokers and growers, aging Trotskyites, condo killers, farmland savers, fish preservationists, animal rights activists, back-to-the-landers, vegetarians, nudists, Buddhists, and anti-spraying, anti-pollution marchers and picketers in the country, per capita, in the world."

Among Hunter's stock stories was the tale of how he'd stumbled on to the Cree Indian myth of the "Warriors of the Rainbow" -- a legendary tribe of spirits who would rescue nature when the Earth became sick. The story involved a gypsy dulcimer maker, an old set of fenceposts, and the gift of a book which Hunter claimed leapt into his hands -- quite literally -- when The Greenpeace dropped down a steep swell on its way to Amchitka. The story itself was magical and mythological, and over the years Hunter would embellish and polish it into a hilarious and inspirational piece of campfire folklore.
Memorials & Photo Tribute

The last time I had a big ol' reach around, hair pulling, ass slapping, belly laugh? While watching Bill Maher read his New Rules segment this weekend.

Ready. New Rule: If you need to shave and you still collect baseball cards, you're gay. If you're a kid, the cards are keepsakes of your idols. If you're a grown man, they're pictures of men.

New Rule: If you have to tell me what fraction of you is Native American, you're not really an Indian. There's a word for people who claim to be one-quarter Indian: Puerto Rican.

New Rule: Ladies, leave your eyebrows alone. Here's how much men care about your eyebrows: do you have two of them? Okay, we're done.

New Rule: I don't need an annoying little sticker on each individual piece of fruit. Let me get this straight: our borders aren't secure, but we're still going through the plums by hand? You know, those stickers are the opposite of appetizing, especially the one on kiwis that says, "Don't these kind of look like your balls?"

And finally, New Rule: Pharmacists have to fill prescriptions. As our audience seems to already know, more and more American pharmacists are refusing to fill prescriptions for birth control because of their personal moral objections. Hey, you know what would really teach us a lesson? If you took off your pretend doctor jacket and got another job.

Or maybe I'm wrong. Maybe cutting off the pill doesn't even go far enough. Yeah, it's high time activist drugstores stopped coddling sluts on every aisle. Let's not sell any more makeup either. A good woman doesn't paint herself. And no more deodorant. You should smell bad. Keep the boys from getting ideas. And no suntan lotion. I've seen what happens at the MTV Beach House, you whore. You want to avoid melanoma, buy a veil.

Why is this country becoming Utah?! You know, I know the conservatives are always saying that the coastal elites don't really get it about them because we just fly over. Okay, maybe. But, you know what? You guys don't get us either. We need to fuck. Refusal to provide birth control threatens our economy and our very way of life here in Southern California. There's a lot of hot chicks out here, man. We need birth control! I mean, seriously, how do you think movies get made?

Now, of course, I know the other side is saying, yes, but this is a moral issue. Yeah, but the problem is, not everyone gets their morals from the same book. You go by the book that says slavery is okay but sex is wrong until after marriage, at which point it becomes a blessed sacrament between a husband and the wife who is withholding it.

In conclusion, let me say to all the activist pharmacists out there, the ones who think sex is bad probably because sex with them always is. Fellas, a pharmacist is not a law-giver, not even a doctor. In the medical pecking order, you rank somewhere in between a chiropractor and a tree surgeon.

You don't answer to a law above the laws of men. You work for Save-On. The doctors are the ones who make medical decisions because they went to medical school, whereas you were transferred from the counter where people drop off film.

Between a chiropractor and a tree surgeon. Get over your righteous self.

Alice Cooper and Jefferson Airplane singer Grace Slick discuss their struggles with drug dependency in The Harder They Fall. The book, which was co-authored by Gary Stromberg and Jane Merrill, features extensive interviews with 21 celebrities who have overcome addiction to lead "more successful [lives], free of drugs and alcohol." The Harder They Fall hits shelves April 1.

March 18-20: Global Days Of Protest on the two-year anniversary of the Iraq war. End the war. Bring the troops home now. Visit United For Peace to find an action near you. On Tuesday, March 15th the House of Representative is scheduled to vote on the president's request for an additional $82 billion for the war in Iraq. Just a few days later the 2nd anniversary of the beginning of that war will be marked by protest activities in at least 300 cities around the country, and scores of other places around the world.

J. Lo has a nasty habit of shamelessly flaunting furs, from her mink eyelashes down to her rabbit-fur footwear. Read more for the lowdown on the gruesome, bloody fur trade. "Many of the great designers, including Stella McCartney, Vivienne Westwood, Todd Oldham, and others have turned their backs on fur and created synthetic alternatives that are hip, humane, and easily available and don't turn animals into fashion victims."

Today's Quote: "Wal-Mart puts down roots in the shadow of the Pyramid of the Sun in San Juan Teotihuacan. Is the global leviathan any match for Quetzalcoatl?"
~~ John Ross, Wal-Mart A La Mexicana

What happened? I thought I posted this Saturday.

PICK A CARD - Osho Zen Tarot Reading - The Osho site has lots of goodies-- meditation, music, shopping and more.

KEYBOARD CONFESSIONAL, by Tamara Wieder, Boston Phoenix. A programmer's 'little' side project of anonymous confessions, GroupHug.us, (remember them?) received over 13 million hits in its first three months. The best are now collected in a book: 'Stoned, Naked, and Looking in My Neighbor's Window.' Those who registered their love at GroupHug may be feeling ripped off right about now. [more...]

Sadly, DW Cooper, one of our blog friends, and part of the great Chapel Perilous family, has passed on. (via sauceruney & ollapodrida)

You can wait here in the sitting room or you can sit there in the waiting room. -- Firesign Theatre

Messenger of the Law of Time, José Arguelles aka Valum Votan, will be on Virato's new radio show, The Revolution, this coming Saturday, Feb 26, to speak about Nature's Calendar and more.

Perhaps best known for his role in initiating the world famous Harmonic Convergence global peace meditation of August 16-17, 1987, José Argüelles was also one of the originators of the Earth Day concept and is recognized as the “father of the Whole Earth Festival,” now in its 33rd year at Davis, California.

Written a book? Have something to contribute? Virato is always looking for interesting guests to phone interview during his 10:00 am to 12:00 noon programs and I know of several interesting EBC readers that may be perfect candidates. Visit the website and see if it works for you.

Today's Webtrail: The 13Moon website has a Galactic Signature, or date decoder, that's kinda fun. Click over to the Planet Art Network. And finally, to the cosmic music page, to hear Musicians of the New Time.

Today: 2-22-2005
Moon 8 Day 16. White Lunar Dog
Week: 31 of 52 week year

{Hating On The US - #659}
Greenpeace activists, supporters, and volunteers around the world celebrate the coming into force of the Kyoto Protocol yesterday. This landmark UN treaty on global warming, took effect after an agonising gestation, supported by 141 nations but boycotted by the world's biggest polluter, the United States. The US pulled out in 2001 when President Bush said that Kyoto was too costly. An historic first step, to be sure, and it only requires a 5.2% reduction in emissions by 2008-2012. Obviously, the US is pandering to their polluters instead of their people. see demonstations...; 10 Arrested After Protestors Storm IPE Trading Floor.

{Literature} - A Nation Of Rebels: Why Counterculture Became Consumer Culture. Does counterculture=consumer culture? The success of viral marketing which is currently all over the place.

{Pharmaceuticals} - 2C-B. This party drug comes with disclaimer. Many so-called designer drugs fall under the umbrella term of "ecstacy" when they may be something entirely different. more...

{Art}Ronnie Wood (Rolling Stones) has a new art showing. These are much better than the older works I've seen of his. more... Particularly this Dylan painting.

{Condoms} - Musical Condoms - Different lovemaking positions determine what tune is played by the condom, which also works like a normal contraceptive.

Paul Krassner's Wrapping It For Christ -"...I'd buy other stuff to avoid being embarrassed. "I'd like a Batman comic book, and this candy bar-(whispering) and a pack of prophylactics..." more...

{Film} - Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy Trailer @ Amazon

Don't squat with your spurs on.

In her new book, Lux Artillery, San Francisco poet and writer Zora Von Burden profiles women with exceptional lives and exceptional talents through their own words.

These women are the light bearers in the darkness, passionately carrying burning torches through the Underground, each for their own message and medium. These women are married to the world, to changing the face of global culture, who we are and how we think about ourselves and society. (Zora has been a critical part of the San Francisco underground scene for nearly 20 years. Her work is available in City Lights Bookstore and she writes for the SF Herald.) more...

Morning Tunes
Elliott Smith - King's Crossing
Tom Waits - How's It Gonna End
Joanna Newsom - Peach Plum Pear
Komeda - Frolic
Lambchop - All Smiles and Mariachi
The Flaming Lips - Feeling Yourself Disintegrate
The Soft Machine - Dada Was Here
**Sly & The Family Stone - Sing A Simple Song


**Every now and then I gotta break out with something funky. It's in the rule book:

"Play sumpin' funky"
"Don't piss on the fire" and
"Don't make no rules".

Two notable men both born on the same day in 1915. Alan Watts was born on Jan 6, 1915, in Chiselhurst, England. The original California guru, polymath, liberationist. He become widely recognized for his Zen writings and for The Book On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are. He died in 1973 at his home in California, and is survived by his second wife and seven children. {Deoxy Link}
~ ~ ~
And John Lilly who was born on Jan. 6, 1915, in St Paul, MN. A physician and psychoanalyst specializing in biophysics, neurophysiology, electronics, computer theory, and neuroanatomy. Inventor of The Isolation Tank Method of exploring consciousness. Which led to research projects between man and dolphin. Specifically a research program dedicated to interfacing dolphins and whales through music, art, and ceremony: Interspecies Communication.

Weekend Webtrail

New article on Chilean-born director Alejandro Jodorowsky, who is best known for his psychedelic, violent movies (El Topo, The Holy Mountain), but he has also been, at one time or another during his 75 years on Earth, the mime protégé of Marcel Marceau, a surrealist performance artist, an esoteric comic-book author, and a tarot card reader. He recently spoke about "Psychomagic," a healing practice developed by Jodorowsky that "uses the language of the subconscious to undo our deepest knots, phobias, fixations, and obsessions." more »

Keith Richards and Johnny Depp hire CREEM hacks to polish first draft of Pirates Of The Caribbean: Treasures Of The Lost Abyss? more »

How to use a hand puppet to get dates. Hey, guys, you may have been doing it all wrong. Link via jwalk

Watch Me Turn 30 - is a photo documented blog that's nicely executed.

James Lee Burke - One of my favorite authors with a new article in January Magazine. more »

Pool betting on Dylan's setlists. 60 Minutes interview Sunday night was good. link

Haiku For You
I've been abducted
And replaced by a geezer
Though she wears my clothes

Today's Quote
One must still have chaos in oneself to give birth to a dancing star. ~Nietzsche

Finally. My server was down over the weekend to move from MA to NY and is due to be up and running today by noon.

For some reason, woman oriented politics are especially likely to give rise to silly labels, from the "soccer moms" of yesteryear to the "security moms" of today, and cringe-worthy catch phrases like the Bush campaign's "W Stands for Women." A few years ago, Republican pollster Kellyanne Conway spoke of "the three 'magic M's'—marriage, mortgage, and munchkins" that move women toward conservative politics. This year, a concert/political event in New York intended to galvanize young women's vote in support of the Democrats was titled "Chicks Rock, Vaginas Vote." In the presidential election, the candidates in their urgency to garner the women's vote, sometimes do more harm than good. Neither one of them has reached out for the women's vote that I can see. Link

Long Trip For Psychedelic Drugs - Psilocybin for headaches? A proposal for testing MDMA as a treatment for anxiety in terminal cancer? Link


Dave’s addiction - Red-hot rock guitarist Dave Navarro talks about his latest project: A book documenting his road to recovery, among other big changes, Don’t Try This at Home: A Year in the Life of Dave Navarro.

Free Speech Movement @ 40 - Veterans plan commemoration in Berkeley in October.

So long, Hurricane Jeanne. Thank you for missing me.

Tuesday Web Trail

President urges world community to put differences aside and turn attention to fighting terrorism and meeting humanitarian concerns. That's like Bush fucking "World's" girlfriend, and then later asking "World" for a loan. [more »]

Methane On Mars: Aliens or farts in a jacuzzi? [more »]

Adbusters Blackspot sneakers made from hemp. They hope to eventually reduce marketers' influence over culture. [more »]


October Surprise!
Submit Your October Surprise Prediction - Winners appear live on Air America to bask in the gratitude of a skeptical nation...and will receive a signed copy of The Book on Bush and cool Air America gear.

Michael Moore's 'No Balls, No Babies' rant to Dems: Quitcher Whining, all ye doomsayers! "My friends, it is time for a reality check." [more »]

New details about the forthcoming biopic The Wild and Wycked World of Brian Jones have been announced, which documents the guitarist's 1969 death in a mysterious drowning incident. The flick is expected to begin filming Sunday in London, although no actor has been chosen yet to portray Mick Jagger. Who could play Mick? Good question.
[more »]

Fender Stratocaster guitar's 50th anniversary show will feature Paul Rodgers, David Gilmour, Joe Walsh, Jeff Beck and others, and will benefit the Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy UK charity. [more »]

Rock legend Bob Dylan's life story is to be released in audio book form - courtesy of actor Sean Penn. [more »]

Ecology experts are predicting better than average fall color in the Great Smoky Mountains near Asheville, N.C. The area boasts one of the most diverse range of microclimates and tree species. Elevations range from 1,500 feet in the valleys to 6,684 feet at Mt. Mitchell, the highest peak east of the Mississippi River. There's also the famous 6,030-foot peak of "Cold Mountain," made famous in the book and movie. Experts are predicting a promising harvest of color, based on late summer weather patterns. Yellow birches, red sourwoods, red to yellow maples, yellow pin cherries yellow poplars will show first. [more »]

Welcome to Spread Firefox. You are our marketing department. Download this very small, additional browser and try it for yourself. See why many have switched.
(via - fusion anomalog)

GOP documentary, "Celsius 41.11," is a reference to the temperature at which the human brain begins to die from exposure to heat -- or, in this case, what the filmmakers regard as overheated left-wing rhetoric. 'T'would be funny if 't'weren't so sad. Potential movie-goers may find the "Undies" Link below helpful. [more »]

Undies for those afflicted with cranial-rectal-inversion, more commonly known as head-up-your-asstitis. (Link - safe for work)

Easy to make favicon from a pic you have on your hard drive or website.
(Link via: fishbucket)

{Web Trail}
solipsistic
The Zero Boss
The Daily Bleed

{Quote For Today}
Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter. ~Martin Luther King, Jr.

When all the area counties are out of school because of rain, you know you've had your fair share of it. Tennessee, SC, NC, Georgia, Alabama and more have been slammed from the aftermath of Hurricane Frances. We've had area evacuations, power outages, curfews, and traffic lights are out; people are going to shelters. There is 6 feet of water on the road in front of the Biltmore House. We're still under a flood watch, tornado watch and a high winds watch and it will continue today and tomorrow. I'm a little squirrely from all the moistness.

"Hey Rube reads as if Thompson dusted off his own style template, plugged in basketball or football terms, then hit send. The rest is a double-parked Bush-bashing bandwagon and rich-guy-in-the-mountains caterwauling about the post-9/11 police state." One review of the new Hunter S Thompson book. Someone should speak to him about growing old gracefully. Lose the ESPN gig, HST, and go back to the cabin and write. I miss the old independent HST.

The new Black Keys, cd, Rubber Factory, came out yesterday.

John Cleese opened his website to announce that it will officially open sometime this Fall.

OVERHEARD: So many right wing Christians; so few lions.

Osama could be arrested soon says US official. Not yet, doofus. We're going for an October Surprise. Surely there's a bookmaker taking bets on the date of his capture. "Find him" on an October Monday and the talking heads could goober it up for an entire week and close it out on the Sunday talk show circle jerk circuit. Link

Former Senate Intelligence Committee chairman Bob Graham contends more than a year before the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq that Gen. Tommy Franks was told to prepare for invasion of Iraq. Link
And...
Sen. Bob Graham alleges Bush administration cover-up of Saudi ties to 9-11 hijackers. Link
These allegations and more are in Graham's new book coming out this Tuesday. Going full court press, balls to the wall, isn't he? The more I read about it, the more credible it appears. via: war and piece

Undecided voters want less smearing and flag waving and more debates. Do you know that the Bush team still hasn't given confirmation on the Presidential debates yet? First one is up Sept 29, I think. Link

As the Bush family has risen to dominance, so too have they been master orchestrators of their own public image, acting and operating under the shield of privacy their money and status have always afforded them. Until now. Juicy details on the book here »
via: dailykos; Amazon Link

You can send a Get Well message to President Clinton, if you'd like. Link

One of comics’ most acclaimed voices is back at the drawing board for the next two years. Publisher’s Weekly recently broke the news that Robert (R.) Crumb has signed with W.W. Norton for his next nonfiction project in graphic novel format. It's based on a 'literal' interpretation of Genesis, the first book of the Bible or, in sound byte form, "The Passion of the Christ for the NPR Crowd."

If he stays true to form, how can he have sassy, big-legged women and horny guys without overwhelming public outrage? Or maybe he's going to put a different slant on it. Stay tuned... Link

Sending warm regards to those of you enjoying a long holiday weekend.

Fruit in suggestive positions. How fun. Where do you find them? Link

Join My Cult - Online book by James Currio and interactive website. [more »]

She's working the Strip Club. And the Convention Delegates. [more »]

Those Purple Heart bandaids were clearly hitting below the belt. via: Sisyphus Shrugged

By entering a 2-digit code in a hidden location, a second set of votes is created. With vote fraud by Diebold, you can vote early and vote often -- and it still won't be counted. [more »]

My television news ran out and Martha Stewart came on. She was in her back yard holding a "Mary Had A Little Lamb" stick and saying, "When I go out for a nice invigerating walk, I like to take along my favorite walking stick. It helps you with your stride, and was hand carved from buffalo dicks in Northern Wales....blah blah blah...."

"After the break, I'll show you five uses for this handmade "crook".

No. Please. Let ME. She can't not know how obscenely pretentious she is.

Dylan is set to focus on significant and influential periods of his life in the first of three books called simply Chronicles: Volume One. Now, in a book his publisher describes as "extraordinary, revealing and surprising" and "a beautifully written, singular achievement", he is going to speak for himself.
The 304-page tome is due out on October 12, published by Simon and Schuster and will be followed about a week later by an updated edition of Lyrics: 1962-2001, a compendium of lyrics to nearly every Dylan song. Link

Created in Darkness by Troubled Americans: The Best of McSweeney's Humor Category, edited by Dave Eggers et al. (Knopf, 239 pages, $24.95). Anyone who ever loved Bob and Ray or Mad magazine in its heyday or Lenny Bruce will revel in this den of satirical-to-bizarre humour. Typical entries: Lefty icons Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn provide (unused) audio commentary for a DVD of The Lord of the Rings; Ezra Pound reviews the worst films of all time on Italian radio ("Bambi: Filth."). Most of the 50 entries are very short. Some are very funny, others a bit flat; none suffers from the great McSweeney's dread -- drabness.

Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) Needs Funding For Research - Did you know that Hepatitis C killed twice as many people as AIDS did last year in the US. Go to Petition and Sign Here

John McCleary's, "The Hippie Dictionary" book is chock-full of pointed editorializing, slang and swear words culled from the vernacular of the 1960s and 1970s hippie youth, who questioned authority and created their own counterculture. I particularly liked this statement of his:

In his entry on Presiden John F Kennedy's assassination, he wrote, "It is interesting tonote that liberals are the ones who are killed in their prime, and conservatives die old in their soft beds. This world would ba a better place in which to live if John Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, and Martin Luther Kind, Jr, had lived to die in their soft beds." more »

NY Post Claims Weather Underground To "Wreak Havoc" During the RNC. A number of extremists with ties to the 1970s radical Weather Underground have recently been released from prison and are in New York preparing to wreak havoc during the Republican National Convention, The Post has learned. (via RNC Watch)

All Stresses Out And No One To Choke? - Unload that gun and Check out the 35 Symptoms of Menopause first.

Generation S.L.U.T
A Brutal Feel-up Session With Today's Sex Crazed Adolescent Populace. (was released Feb 2004) S.L.U.T. is author Marty Beckerman's acronym for Sexually Liberated Urban Teens, and in this outrageous, chilling blend of fact and fiction, the 20-year-old author characterizes his view of his generation: hypersexual, emotionally vacant, and disturbingly tolerant of abuse.

This isn't in the book, but speaking of promiscuous girls, let me tell you about one thing that clued me in early on: I found it a little odd, as the parent of a 16 yo daughter, that all of the young girls wear thongs when they're 12 years old. Later I was relieved to learn it wasn't just my daughter and friends, but my nieces and friends' daughters all over the world. Maybe I'm just old and in the way, but no one wore thongs when I was young. And it doesn't equal promiscuity, but I see why some young girls may be mis-lableled.

The more I think about it, maybe I should read this book. And everything else I can get my hands on. No matter how great a relationship I may think we have, we're still a generation apart which is another say of saying 'I don't know shit'. It's going to be one long-ass ride. Link

Bjork's extraordinary new album, Medulla, is her seventh solo studio work, and first since 2001's "Vespertine." Produced and arranged by Bjork (with co-production on four tracks by her frequent associate, Mark Bell), "Medulla" represents another landmark recording for one of modern music's most ingenious and inventive artists. August 30, 2004 is the release date. {via: slatch}

The Yes Men follows a couple of anti-corporate activist-pranksters as they impersonate World Trade Organization spokesmen on TV and at business conferences around the world. See The Yes Men Trailer. Disinfo will release The Yes Men book September 8. And United Artists will release The Yes Men movie September 24. {via: Movie City News}

Bush's Brain: How Karl Rove Made George W. Bush Presidential. Bush's Brain portrays political adviser Karl Rove as the true brains behind President Bush's administration.

The film by Joseph Mealey and Michael Paradies Shoob, based on the book of the same name by Texas journalists Jim Moore and Wayne Slater, is scheduled to open Aug. 27 in New York and Los Angeles and expand to more cities in September.

("Outfoxed" opens wide this Friday, too. Since the success of Fahrenheit 9/11, political films are being rolled out as quickly as possible, which will be interesting.) Link

DARK ART
(RIGHT) Good art, to me, is not only visually pleasing, but moves the viewer or stirs up emotions. David Ho is one such artist. The Abortion piece is raw and impressive, no matter how you feel about the issue. His Infected Mushroom is alternately beautiful and creepy. Visit Gallery »


DARK PHOTOGRAPHY
(LEFT) NSFW -not safe for work- (May be offensive to some.) Disturbing, yet titillating and erotic. Beautiful photos from John Santerineross, the leading dark art photographer of our time; although they could be viewed as misogynistic or controversial, can be found in his new book, Dream, available Oct 1. I met him years ago in NY and he's so gifted. He and David LaChapelle are two of the best photogs out there, in my opinion. Dave is whimsy/sexy, John is dark/erotic.

**Personally, for non-manipulated photos, I enjoy looking at the world thru my friends' eyes. Kane's view of Hawaii, Marie's of the Blue Ridge Mtns, and Lynn's days in Halifax. Photographs, like other art forms, are very revealing.

Reading about Julian Schnabel on the internet I see he's currently working on a new movie which stars Johnny Depp, in the role of editor Jean-Dominique Bauby, who, in 1995 at the age of 43, suffered a stroke that paralyzed his entire body. The film, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, is from his book of the same name, in which he used the only tool available to him--his left eye--with which he blinked out its letters and someone typed the words. What a challenging role this will be from a man who maintained his dignity after suffering such a severe stroke. (He has since passed.) The film is tentatively scheduled for a 2006 release.

**Schnabel also directed the delightful Jeffrey Wright in his portrayal of Basquiat.

{Monday Quote}
Waking up this morning, I smile.
Twenty-four brand new hours are before me.
I vow to live fully in each moment
and to look at all beings with eyes of compassion.
~Thich Nhat Hanh

Oh, cool. My Prozac fits into my Pez dispenser.
have a beautiful Monday

{In The News}
Like Jimi Hendrix coming onstage before The Monkees, Bill Clinton is scheduled to be the first speaker at the Democratic National Convention later this month; now to be introduced by wife, Hillary. Molly Ivins agrees: "Get the 'big dog' on first." She describes him as a great politician with a zipper problem in her new book, Who Let The Dogs In?

I saw "The War Room" this week. It's a behind-the-scenes at command central for Bill Clinton's 1992 election campaign with George Stephanopolous, James Carville, and others. They were all balling (uh, crying) the night Clinton won. It's really a genuinely very moving piece of film. It reminds me of how optimistic I was then in the 90s.

If you're a Blogger user, you can now add an audio link to your Profile page. They've also improved the 'Edit' page.

{Overheard...}
"Martha Stewart can lick my scrotum ... do I have a scrotum?" ~Sharon Osbourne

"Martha Stewart may soon experience culinary changes. Say, what wine goes well with vulva?" ~Graham Norton

Enjoy your Friday. I insist on it.

The Tom Robbins book signing was filled with lots of energy. It was held at City Lights Bookstore in Sylva, NC, and also extended outside into a street party. A band was playing, vendors were set up, and a long line of mostly women was waiting to get their books signed. Everyone who already knew the drill had assigned numbers before leaving the house.

He was introduced to righteous squeals of delight which seemed a little odd for an author's reception, and more appropriate for a rock concert. He was wearing sunglasses, (which he only took off when he read from Villa Incognito,) jeans & a tee and sporting a neatly trimmed beard. A nice-looking publicist lady lingered nearby.

He also told about being from Blowing Rock, NC, and said he was dragged kicking and screaming across the VA/NC border when he was 12. He said he sits down to write every single day, and even though his muse doesn't always show up, she knows where to find him. That is one lucky muse.

Keith Richards: Before They Make Me Run is the new book by Kris Needs, who has interviewed Keith Richards regularly for 25 years. Although it has a June 1, 2004 release date, Amazon doesn't have it in stock yet.
I don't see any reviews on this book yet. I'm up for a good, revealing book on Keef. Will this be the one? Link


Currently: Raining
Tonight: Thunderstorms and flood watch
Tomorrow: Thunder and lightning
Forecast: Wash, rinse, repeat

"This just in....." Ronald Reagan is still dead.

In "Can't Find My Way Home: America in the Great Stoned Age, 1945-2000," by Martin Torgoff, he refers to his own drug use and abuse throughout the book. Besides using his own story, he fuels the book with a polyphonic spree of supporting characters, among them storied beats Neal Cassady and Jack Kerouac; psychedelic superheroes Timothy Leary and Terence McKenna; fallen jazz greats Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie; tragic rock stars Jimi Hendrix and Jim Morrison; cult figures Ram Dass and Wavy Gravy. The result is a sweeping epic that bounces between orgiastic nostalgia trip and cautionary tale -- and, at times, like the drugs themselves, can assault the senses.

Mixing oral history, autobiography and a large dose of firsthand sources from High Times to Foreign Policy, the book moves across time and culture, starring one drug after another, from marijuana to MDMA.
Salon Link; Amazon Link
War stories that are worth a look...

{Weekend Web Trail}
Unbrand America time again July 4th. Link

Grey Lodge Occult Review, Issue 11

"Dylan's Visions of Sin", new book by Christopher Ricks, the great British literary critic and newly elected Oxford Professor of Poetry, is reviewed in Sunday's NYT. Looks to be pretty academic, cerebral. Link

World Naked Bike Ride in Asheville was a big success with approximately 60 riders participating. A beautiful hot June day saw people lining the streets with cameras at the ready and the police gave the riders an univited escort in their cars and on their bikes. With the exception of two topless ladies, some clothes stayed on in the beginning, and halfway thru began peeling off. More riders joined the procession at different junctions and by the end of the ride, many were freely riding in the breeze with strategically placed foilage or body paint. Here are just a few Asheville pics; still for hoping more to show up.

Business as usual for Robert Smith and the Cure? Not at all. Link

DIG! is the feature-length documentary shot over seven years about musicians Anton Newcombe, leader of the Brian Jonestown Massacre, and Courtney Taylor, head of the Dandy Warhols. Getting great reviews and currently doing the Film Festival circuit; scheduled to go wide Oct 1.

Eddie Van Halen on upcoming tour, cancer & being a father. Link

And your fun links of the day: 9 Reasons Not To Drink and Twang The Monkey.

Too many freaks, not enough circuses.
...still editing...

{My Morning WebTrax}
Defective Yeti sez: "Help a brother out -- another Wellstone Memorial would be awesome." The Democratic National Committee, citing the "unfair advantage" accrued by the Bush campaign in the wake of Ronald Reagan's passing, today called on Bill Clinton to perish in late September or October of this year. "Oh c'mon, you finished your book. What do you have left to live for, Hillary?" DNC Chairman Terry McAuliffe suggested to Bill Clinton that he die by "running into a burning building to save a child" or "getting the shiv while thwarting a mugging" for maximum effect. He implored Clinton, however, to assiduously avoid those fatalities that in any way involve oral sex.

COUP D'ETAT: The Real Reason Tenet and Pavitt Resigned from the CIA on June 3rd and 4th.
Both resignations, perhaps soon to be followed by resignations from Colin Powell and his deputy Richard Armitage, are about the imminent and extremely messy demise of George W. Bush and his Neocon administration in a coup d'etat being executed by the Central Intelligence Agency. The coup, in the planning for at least two years, has apparently become an urgent priority as a number of deepening crises threaten a global meltdown. I'm still looking over the link and the references, as I'm not familiar with the author's work or the website. But the story's intriguing, if true. More »
Friday Fun
Online Tarot Reading from the Déja Deck.Or how about an 8-Ball reading? Click on the graphic.
But, probably of the many True Oracles, none are more profound than the Mystical Smoking Head of 'Bob'. Click on 'Bob' for a reading.

Enjoy your Friday. I'm currently overmedicating the ass-end of a 3-day migraine. So please shut the door, walk softly and turn out the lights when you leave.

The Corporation. Winner of the Audience Award @ Sundance and many more honors. Based on Joel Bakan’s book The Corporation: The Pathological Pursuit of Profit and Power, the film is a timely, critical inquiry that invites CEOs, whistle-blowers, brokers, gurus, spies, players, pawns and pundits on a graphic and engaging quest to reveal the 4corporation’s inner workings, curious history, controversial impacts and possible futures. Featuring illuminating interviews with Noam Chomsky, Michael Moore, Howard Zinn and many others.

Also The Corporation would like to invite you to join the Reclaim The Commons Mobilization. (Pertinent G8 Summit in Georgia info.)

Honest Bloggers Quiz
1. Which political party do you typically agree with? Democrats.
2. Which political party do you typically vote for? Democrats
3. List the last five presidents that you voted for. Al Gore 2000, Bill Clinton 1996, Bill Clinton 1992, Mike Dukakis 1988, Walter Mondale 1984.
4. Which party do you think is smarter about the economy?Democrats
5. Which party do you think is smarter about domestic affairs? Democrats
6. Do you think we should keep our troops in Iraq or pull them out? Set an agreed upon date, pull out all military and contractors. Give Iraq their country back in full control; not pseudo control. If it runs in the ditch, it's theirs to fix. If it flies, great.
7. Who, or what country, do you think is most responsible for 9/11? We've always been hated and it was almost inevitable, but international relations were worked on diligently to keep us safe. Most helpful? I think Carter and Clinton. Most destructive? Bushes 41 & 43.
8. Do you think we will find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq? Let me consult my 8-Ball. It says, "Fat chance, motherfucker."
9. Yes or no, should the U.S. legalize marijuana? Yes.
10. Do you think the Republicans stole the last presidental election? Yes.
11. Do you think Bill Clinton should have been impeached because of what he did with Monica Lewinski? No.
12. Do you think Hillary Clinton would make a good president? I'd have to hear more about her plans.
13. Name a current Democrat who would make a great president: Bill Clinton
14. Name a current Republican who would make a great president. I don't think there is one.
15. Do you think that women should have the right to have an abortion? Yes.
16. What religion are you? Currently a practicing Buddhist.
17. Have you read the Bible all the way through? No.
18. What's your favorite book? Even Cowgirl's Get The Blues, Tom Robbins.
19. Who is your favorite band? Rolling Stones.
20. Who do you think you'll vote for president in the next election? Kerry.
21. What website did you see this on first? Post Human Blues

"Dee Rimbaud is the Siddhartha of the Chemical Generation. 'Dropping Ecstasy With The Angels' is a testament to those who have taken the narrow path through the highest mountains: to those who fell off; and to those who flew away with the angels." (Poetry collection)

'Stealing Heaven From The Lips Of God' which should be released around September 2004, is Dee Rimbaud's first novel. It's a drug-fuelled, roller coaster ride through heaven and hell, a modern-day love story, and a fairy tale for people who don't believe in fairy tales. While you wait, you can read it online. Click on the book graphic. Stroll through her site for her artwork and much more from her. Link

via: Stew Albert

:: Why Rumsfeld Should Go
A few years ago his Pentagon ruled that the United States would no longer be bound by the Geneva Conventions; that Army regulations on the interrogation of prisoners would not be observed; and that many detainees would be held incommunicado and without any independent mechanism of review. Abuses will take place in any prison system. But Mr. Rumsfeld's decisions helped create a lawless regime in which prisoners in both Iraq and Afghanistan have been humiliated, beaten, tortured and murdered -- and in which, until recently, no one has been held accountable. Lead Editorial May 6, 2004, from the Washington Post. [more...]

:: Taboo Tunes
A history of banned bands and censored songs. Filled with raunchy sex ditties, morbid murder ballads, blasphemous satanic songs, paeans to intoxicating substances, and radical political anthems, Taboo Tunes lays the censors' stories bare.

Far from merely recounting dusty history, Taboo Tunes casts a much-needed spotlight on current concerns over civil liberties and artistic freedom in the post-9/11 world. Looks like an interesting book. I remember when Louie, Louie was considered obscene, although I couldn't understand the lyrics, and was surrounded by many rumors. It was even investigated by the FBI. See this Smoking Gun link. [link]

:: We're going to LEAF this weekend. Lake Eden Arts Festival. All types of music and fun improv troupes as well as sufi meditation chanting, tribal belly dancers, a lake, camping facilities, and more.

Oh, cool. My Prozac fits into my Pez dispenser.

Canada Seal Hunt Begins
2,500 men and 150 trawlers to gather for intensive 36-hour phase of cull on April 12, TODAY. Up to 10,000 seals to be killed per daylight hour. The cull of the seals has always been controversial as many have been clubbed to death, but new guidelines mean more will be killed using guns. This is so obscene i don't know where to begin. As I understand it, it's done because too many seals are eating the fish that so many fishermen/women depend on.link

:: Alright, everybody else is doing it....I probably should have cheated and reached for something more ethereal, but this is what I was re-reading last night.

1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open the book to page 23.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the sentence in your journal along with these instructions.

"Of course, junkies don't as a rule die from the withdrawal of junk."
Junky - by William S Burroughs

:: George Says - A George Bush comic generator. Tell him what to say. via Chapel-Perilous and btw if you've never been to bsti's Chapel-Perilous group weblog, you may be missing out on something mighty fine from the Chapelers. It's been in my "Cool as Shit/Hip as Hell" favorites file forever.

:: April 13, 2001 - My weblog/journal anniversay #3 today.

April 12, 1989 -- Abbie Hoffman, Yippie peace activist of the 60's, dead at 52. Fifteen years ago. Murder or suicide? Read about Abbie on Stew Albert's website as he describes Abbiestock, the day Abbie took over the NYSE. Stew and Abbie had many adventures together.

His Steal This Book was a must have. Another ode to Abbie at the Pax Acidus site. (also a great read)

{Abbie Hoffman Quote}
"Avoid all needle drugs, the only dope worth shooting is Richard Nixon."

::: ::: ::: ::: ::: ::: ::: ::: ::: :::

:: New York Dolls, (most of them) reunite at Morrissey's request - [link]

:: David Bowie has teamed up with carmaker Audi for a "mash-up" contest for a chance to win a 2004 Audi TT coupe. Enter the contest here. Who is NOT doing a car ad?

Moshes to Yanni.

{bush's vietnam?}
What can you say about Iraq? That it's 'George Bush's Vietnam'? What's wrong with Ted Kennedy's statement?

Iraq is not war lite like Kuwait, Bosnia, Granada. It's shaping up to be a war of Vietnam proportions, Vietnam atrocities. Not a between-meal-snack or an Atkins or South Beach diet kind of war. A main course war with real butter and oil. A deep-fried, stick to your ribs, chicken-fried steak with gravy, mashed potatos, salad, mamma's homemade biscuits, and a glass of sweet tea kind of war.

{let the revolution begin}
After Steven Soderberg finishes filming Oceans Twelve, he'll reteam with Benicio del Toro (he directed him in "Traffic") for Che, the film about Cuban revolutionary Che Guevara. Filming scheduled to begin August 2005. [link]

{rumors of war}
The opposition is now rumored to have some of the coalition troops captured. [link]

{blog site of the week}
The Spiraling Cycle website has long been a major player and is divided sections with loads of great links. Social change, blogs/journals, book lists, and websites.

{Politics} Bush Dominatrix, Karen Hughes, has been summoned back from domesticity to the White House to whip the troops back into submission, while peddling her new book. "Jeez, this place has gone to shit without me. "Get over here, George, and lick my boots....NOW! Then we'll go over the 9-11 Commission interview scenarios for Condy. Fuckin' Dems are squealing for her head. If absolutely necessary, we'll prop her up and send her back out for public scrutiny." "Now, who wants to take Mama to lunch?"

Veep Stakes - Pick the Vice-President candidate you'd like to see with Kerry. [via: celestial offerings]


{The Final Four} - Duke, Oklahoma State, U-Conn, and Georgia Tech, I bet The Varsity was hopping Sunday night. (two ACC teams-- GA Tech & Duke). Three out of four's not bad. I guessed all but OK State and for March Madness, that's pretty good, she says patting herself on the back. But how many more nail-biting, lead-changing, down-to-the-wire games are we supposed to endure? Every. damn. one. of. them.

{Films} I finally got to see The Salton Sea, starring Val Kilmer and Vincent D'Onofrio, on IFC this weekend. It was a pretty good mystery with a few major plot twists which may require repeat viewing.

The movie, Ned Kelly, is now remade with Heath Ledger in the Mick Jagger role. But... why? Also stars Orlando Bloom, Naomi Watts, and Geoffrey Rush.

{Quote For Today} Treat the Earth well. It was not given to you by your parents. It was loaned to you by your children. - Kenyan proverb

Bush: I'm not a war hero; but I play one on TV.

We came. We bombed. We fucked up. Top 30 Reasons to Vote Bush - Cheney '04. [found @ youliveyoulifeasifitsreal]

Anybody with a giant vagina tattooed on them and 4 spikes in their dick is extremely ballsy in my book. And speaking of balls, he just happens to have 3 of those. The shady life and uncertain future of a legendary roadie. [link]

Spain didn't waste time planning and organizing after their recent tragedy. Their leader encouraged them to show their solidarity and they hit the streets en mass. [photo] Bush sent regards to Spain about the tragedy: "If it makes you feel any better, we can attack a country that had nothing to do with it." [via: bill maher, hbo]

New Ronnie Wood Interview - After a physical, if he doesn't stop smoking now, he'll develop emphysema in a year. Also sets the record straight about recent claims of falling off the wagon. [link]

AIR AMERICA RADIO NETWORK (Liberal Radio) TO LAUNCH MARCH 31, 2004 - They've got a great line-up of on-air talent. Janeane Garofalo, Al Franken, and more.

Wanna Ride Naked? Bicyclists uniting worldwide to show their protest of oil dependency on June 12. Asheville's trying to organize a group. There are many bike riders, bike tours, bike races, and bike clubs in the Asheville, NC area.

If you can't laugh at yourself, allow me.