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.

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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

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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.