Robert Anton Wilson and Robert Shea. Blog, Internet resources, online reading groups, articles and interviews, Illuminatus! info.

Saturday, August 31, 2024

Notes on 'The Sex Magicians'

 


I finished The Sex Magicians. I won't write a long review, but here are a few comments.

Some of you probably are wondering if the book is merely a pornography book written for money, or a real "RAW book." Well, it's both. It was clearly written for a porn publisher -- it's a short book, filled with long sex scenes -- but it's also a kind of Illuminatus! variation. Markoff Chaney is a major character, for example, and Simon Moon turns up at "Simeon Luna."

As Gregory Arnott mentions in the Hilaritas podcast, much of The Sex Magicians was reused in The Trick Top Hat, the original second volume of the Schrödinger's Cat trilogy. Much of that reused writing apparently was cut when RAW made cuts in all three books for the more commonly available one volume omnibus volume. 

This reuse of material may explain why RAW never  got The Sex Magicians republished during his lifetime; perhaps he felt that reusing quite a bit of it was an alternative to bringing it out again. In any event, it's a situation similar to The Starseed Signals, which never came out during RAW''s life but which has sections recycled into Cosmic Trigger 1. 

There are some Markoff Chaney jokes that I don't remember from Illuminatus! and quite a bit of Crowleyan sex magick. So you may want to read it if you want to be an Illuminatus! completist or if you have a particular interest in sex magick. 

I'll have a couple of other blog posts soon on the book. 

Friday, August 30, 2024

A memorable worldcon panel

 


Philip Jose Farmer at Chicon V, the worldcon held in 1991 in Chicago. Photo by Frank Olynyk. Source. 

Convention reports are a long tradition in science fiction fandom, and Robert Shea wrote one, "Hasta La Vista, Chicon," about the 1991 worldcon in Chicago, that appeared in the journal of the Libertarian Futurist Society. Here is an excerpt from that report I thought many of you might enjoy -- The Management. 

That afternoon I was on a panel entitled "High Weirdness Update" with Philip Jose Farmer, Timothy Leary and Bob Wilson. Again I had that "m" next to my name [indicating that Shea was to be the panel's moderator], and I welcomed it because I expected that the other panelists would be talking about their encounters with consciousness-expanding software, brain machines and virtual reality, whereas I've just been sitting home writing books. It was scheduled for Grand Ballroom A, the largest of the conference rooms, and people told me they expected it to be the best attended of any of the panels.

Wilson and Leary were in town primarily to speak at the Libertarian Party convention, which was happening several blocks away at the Marriott, and I wondered how aware they were that they were expected at the science fiction convention. I figured Farmer would show up, since I was told he'd asked to be on the panel. And another last minute addition to the panel at his request was Jim Frenkel, editor and erstwhile publisher, who had long ago worked on Illuminatus! and whose Bluejay Books had published two of Wilson's Historical Illuminati Chronicles. But the panel might consist only of me with no weirdness to talk about and Frenkel and Farmer, whose weirdnesses were an unknown quality to me.

So I was relieved to see Bob Wilson standing by the door to Grand Ballroom A. We hugged each other and he told me Leary, who is about 70 years old, had tired himself out the day before and might or might not come.

The room was packed, with people standing in the back. At 10 after 2 Leary still had not shown up. I decided to start the panel and announced that I would introduce each panelist with a superlative. I called Farmer "the best science fiction writer in America" and Frenkel "the bravest editor of all time." As I was about to turn to Wilson a voice from the rear shouted, "Dr. Leary is coming!" and a moment later another voice called, "Dr. Leary is here!"

Leary strode up the center aisle and by the time he had reached his seat everyone was standing, clapping and cheering. I introduced Leary as "the most important and revolutionary figure of the twentieth century," which he took with becoming modesty, and finally Wilson simply as "a genius."

Weirdness, as expounded by the panelists, turned out to be mostly their observations of domestic and international politics. Wilson declared that he was not anybody's idea of a sound, wholesome American. Farmer said, "I am a sound, wholesome American. I never met anybody else who was, so that makes me the standard."

Leary was full of cheerful energy and kept turning to make warm eye contact with the other panelists as he talked. In his view the USSR was saved from a hard-line Communist takeover by Russian youth, inspired in part by the ideas of the counter-culture that are still reverberating around the world. The three young men killed trying to stop armored vehicles menacing the Russian Parliament were hippies, he declared, and one of them, llya Kreshevsky, had spent his life questioning authority.

After the panel Wilson's fans swarmed around him, and he asked me if we couldn't somehow disappear. I didn't feel critical of him for that; once when overwhelmed by too many admirers Jesus himself vanished. We ducked through a back door that led to the empty hall next door. Thence, moving fast, we headed for Stetson's, a bar in the hotel, where we raised and lowered a few pints of Guinness  and had a good talk for a couple of hours.





Thursday, August 29, 2024

Bobby Campbell 'Tales of Illuminatus' world tour! (in Maryland and Delaware)

 

In his latest Tales of Illuminatus newsletter, Bobby Campbell announces September dates in Maryland and Delaware where you can meet Bobby and his collaborator, artist Todd Purse, at a series of events promoting the release of the first issue. The events are Sept. 6 in Wilmington, Delaware; Sept. 14-15 in Rockville, Maryland, at the Small Press Expo, and Sept. 18 in Wilmington. Please see the newsletter for more details. 

Wednesday, August 28, 2024

SNAFU principle corollary? And Paul Krassner's FBI file


Jesse Walker (with his friend, the gecko). Jesse is an editor at Reason magazine, but he also takes time at X.com to come up with material for this blog. 

On Twitter,/X.com, Jesse Walker suggests a corollary to the SNAFU principle:

"- The SNAFU Principle: 'Communication is only possible between equals.'

- Schwarz's Corollary to the SNAFU Principle: 'Having huge amounts of power is like being hit in the head with a baseball bat every day'." 

He's referring to this item from Jon Schwarz: "Some people believe Elon Musk cannot possibly be this stupid & so he's consciously spreading disinformation. But I think having huge amounts of power is like being hit in the head with a baseball bat every day & will make even smart people 'stupid.' "

Possibly related: A Gene Healy classic, "Why Politics Are Bad For Us." 

Jesse, busy on X.com coming up with possible items for this blog, also noted that the FBI has been posting its Paul Krassner files.  (As editor of The Realist, Krassner published much of RAW's early writings, giving RAW a foothold as a writer). Jesse writes, "The FBI is digitizing and posting its Paul Krassner files, so I know how I'll be spending probably much more of this afternoon than I should."

That's probably enough for this blog post, so  I won't even mention Jesse pointing to the UFO cult compound being for sale. 

The Guardian on five good books about conspiracy theories, includes four books not written by Jesse. 

Tuesday, August 27, 2024

Reading groups: Moby Dick, The Sex Magicians


Illustration for Moby Dick from a 1902 edition; source. 

We haven't had an online reading group in awhile. In a comment Rarebit Fiend makes a suggestion:

"If y'all would like this, we could do Moby Dick here -- I imagine it will be a lengthier book group. On Jechidah we can do a reading group for The Sex Magicians here in a month or so tandemly. (It's a pretty light-while-hot-and-heavy read. It won't do much to distract from Dick.) I need to make my Bumper Book "preview" post and then I can make an announcement if that sounds good."

I think it makes sense to do both reading groups, Moby Dick here and The Sex Magicians at the Jechidah blog.  Eric Wagner commented that Schrödinger's Cat is closely related to The Sex Magicians. The latter also is closely related to Illuminatus!, and there's bound to be renewed interest in Illuminatus! because of the Tales of Illuminatus project. 

There's quite a bit of interest from people who took time to comment in doing a Schrödinger's Cat reading group, and I think it would be logical to do that next. 

Give me a bit of time to figure out a reading schedule for Moby Dick and reach out to the folks who have expressed interest in helping me post about it. 

Monday, August 26, 2024

Why is Ireland such a literary hotbed?

 


The latest issue of The Stinging Fly, apparently an important Irish literary magazine. Website here. 

Irish writers such as James Joyce and Jonathan Swift are famous the world over,  and apparently Ireland remains a literary hotbed. 

"‘We all read like hell!’ How Ireland became the world’s literary powerhouse" is an interesting article from The Guardian. 

Science fiction is my particular interest; apparently there aren't many Irish science fiction writers.  But I liked this sentence in the Wikipedia piece: "The following 23 pages are in this category, out of 23 total."

Sunday, August 25, 2024

Sunday synchronicities


Wills House in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, with a sign explaining that President Abraham Lincoln completed the Gettysburg Address there. 

Like many RAW fans, I enjoy synchronicities. A couple lately that I ran into:

1. Thursday I bought The First Trip, Steve Pratt's companion album for Tales of Illuminatus.  Friday I hit the road for Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, for a reunion of my wife's relatives. (My wife grew up about half an hour away from the famous battle; Confederate troops passed through her small town.) I drove much of the day. Friday evening I walked past a building in Gettysburg where a sign informed me that it was the location where President Abraham Lincoln had finished writing the famous Gettysburg Address. Friday night in my hotel room in Gettysburg I finally got to listen to Steve's album and found a "The Gettysburg Address" track (track no. 10). (It's a good album, by the way; more soon.)

2. I know a bunch of science fiction fans who are current and former members of APA-50, and this week we have been sending emails on an email list. When writing about my old science fiction club at the University of Oklahoma in the 1970s, I mentioned that famed fan artist Teddy Harvia probably was the best known member. An old friend of mine, Ken Gammage, responded, "I just sent a long LoC to Bruce Gillespie praising Teddy Harvia! Jung and Sting are right!"


Saturday, August 24, 2024

'The Sex Magicians': New book, new podcast

 


Michelle Olley with Bob Guccione. Photo from latest Hilaritas Press newsletter 

The Sex Magicians by Robert Anton Wilson has been published and as customary, Rasa has issued a new Hilaritas Press newsletter announcing the book and providing relevant details. You will want to read the whole thing, but here is part of what Rasa wrote:

"There's been a lot of speculation about Robert Anton Wilson's first published novel. With elements that will be found in books yet to come, it is not simply a quick attempt to make money off of an explicit erotic ride informed by RAW's time as a writer/editor at Playboy. No, it's more than that, but was it a deliberate act of sex magic to help get Illuminatus! off the ground, as has been suggested?

"To try to suss out the nature of this odd and entertaining tale, we were fortunate enough to find two writers who have considerable expertise to bring to the subject. Michelle Olley, part of the famed Discordian crew that has done so much to keep RAW's spirit alive in the UK (and reverberations well beyond!), has written an introduction that focuses on the sex in The Sex Magicians. I'll let her impressive biography introduce her (see the note after her introduction in the book), but I do want to include a cool photo. Michelle had been recruited to 'help reinvent Penthouse UK (a men's magazine) for the 90's.' The photo is of Michelle at a dinner with the famed Penthouse kingpin, Bob Guccione.

"With a deep dive into the magick of The Sex Magicians, we asked magician, writer and teacher Gregory Arnott to explore the text in an afterword, and bring some understanding of the magical principles in the book into some perspective. Gregory did a magnificent job."

Here is a link to the new Hilaritas podcast, featuring Michelle, Gregory and host Mike Gathers, although you should be able also to get it on your favorite podcasting app. 

Thursday, August 22, 2024

Tales of Illuminatus Kickstarter ending, publication will be soon

 


The weekly Tales of Illuminatus Substack came out today, and as usual Bobby Campbell has an update to the comic and also some news:

"The kickstarter ends tomorrow, though there’ll be a brief 'late pledge' period for last minute orders, because we don’t actually go to press until Sept 8th. TBH I kinda eased up on screaming about it, because I kinda hit a point of diminishing returns on yelling “BUY MY BOOK!” at strangers, and thought that energy was best spent making it a book worth hollering about. I guess we’ll see!

In any event, BUY MY BOOK!"

In the newsletter, Bobby also reveals what he published about the project in The Magnet, Mark Fraunfelder's newsletter, and offers another track from The First Trip by Illuminati Records Ltd. (e.g. Steve "Fly" Pratt). I just bought it. Find it at Bandcamp. 


Wednesday, August 21, 2024

What to do about a reading group?



Augustus Burnham Shute illustration from an early edition of Moby Dick 

A couple of days ago, I floated the idea of a new reading group: "What would make sense? Schroedinger's Cat? Cosmic Trigger 2? Moby Dick, maybe?"

So far, I've gotten feedback in the comments from Eric Wagner (who wants to do Moby Dick), an anonymous commenter (who voted for Schroedinger's Cat) and from Spookah, who suggested a number of other books and who pointed out that if we did the SC trilogy we would have to decide which version. I like the longer version but it seems to me we'd have to do the one-volume omnibus, as that's the edition that is generally available.

I am still busy with the Robert Shea anthology and don't really need another project, but it's been awhile since we did a reading group; would anyone else be willing to help write blog posts? And does anyone else want to weigh in?


Tuesday, August 20, 2024

Some Discordian documents


Grouchogandhi, KSP has continued to post Discordian documents on X/Twitter, many of them related to the subject of this blog. Here are some recent ones that caught my eye. Above, a headline from an Andy Borowitz piece, I think from the New Yorker.


A Robert Anton Wilson form letter from 1976.


Robert Anton Wilson's prank letter to to an official in the Christian Crusade about the threat posed by Beethoven. (This refers to the Christian Crusade publications about the Beatles being a Communist threat, referenced in Illuminatus!) When I mentioned the letter had no date, Adam Gorightly commented, "No exact date, but seemed clear to me this was among the OM letters RAW sent out at the time he and Shea were working on Illuminatus. These letters started in '68 and it was kind of a short-lived phase around the same time that the Garrison investigation was in full flight."

Follow Grouchogandhi, KSP for more. 



Monday, August 19, 2024

One more 'Tales' reminder


The Tales of Illuminatus Kickstarter will finish on Friday. The goal has been met -- $2,616 of the $2,300 goal -- so that's not an issue. But you can still support Bobby Campbell's efforts and get yourself a copy at the best price if you use the Kickstarter to preorder.

More information here. 

Sunday, August 18, 2024

How many books do you read at once?


I belong to a book club, called the Omni Book Club, based in Huron, Ohio. It's an unusual book club. We don't have assigned reading; the idea when we meet once a month is to simply go around and each person says what he or she has read recently. 

I remember at one meeting, a fellow who has since passed away advised us to read only one book at a time if we want to finish books. 

I have to admit that I seldom follow the advice. I am currently concentration on My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante, but I also have been dipping into Selected Poems by James Tate, a re-read of Robert Anton Wilson's Cosmic Trigger 2: Down to Earth and and the Collected Stories of Arthur C. Clarke. Is this odd behavior? What do other people do? 



Saturday, August 17, 2024

All of the online discussion groups are still here


I moderate the comments for this blog. I don't censor anyone, but it's either do moderate or allow lots of spam, some of it pretty vile, to be posted to the blog entries.

The comments pop up for moderation regardless of whether they are commenting on a new blog post or one that went up years ago. That's how I know that someone named Louis Taylor has been reading Prometheus Rising and posting to the blog posts, dating back to 2020, for  the Prometheus Rising online reading group I hosted here. For example, Louis posted to this episode. 

I am quite pleased about this, as I've been careful to maintain links, on the right side of this page, to the various  online reading groups hosted here over the years. When you are reading or re-reading a Robert Anton Wilson book, in many cases you can use this blog to compare your thoughts and impressions with others from folks in the RAW fandom community.

I  have online reading  groups archived for Prometheus Rising, the  Hilaritas Press version of Natural Law, Nature's God, Illuminatus, The Widow's Son, The Earth Will Shake, Email to the Universe, Cosmic Trigger 1, Coincidance, Masks of the Illuminati, and Quantum Psychology. There have even been a couple of reading groups for non-RAW books: Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov and The Beethoven Quartets by Joseph Kerman. 

Note also the Jechidah blog has had a couple of reading groups. The Lion of Light reading group begins with this post.  The Sex, Drugs & Magick reading group begins with this post.  Ishtar Rising starts here. 

Speaking of which, we haven't done an online reading group for awhile. What would make sense? Schroedinger's Cat? Cosmic Trigger 2? Moby Dick, maybe? 


Friday, August 16, 2024

Friday links

 


Cover of an issue of Factsheet Five addressed to Kerry Thornley. From the Discoridian Achives. On Twitter, Grouchogandhi KSP says that Thornley "had a recurring column published in the zine as 'Conspiracy Corner'.”

 Stonehenge Has a Scottish Heart

New space launch startup. 

Thread on the Albigensian Crusade,  the subject of Robert Shea's All Things Are Lights. 

Eric Wagner reports that Joyce scholar Shelly Brivic died four  years ago. "Bob Wilson made reference to Brivic's work. I got to meet Brivic at the North American James Joyce Conference in 2011. I've read and enjoyed most of his books, and his talks really impressed me," Eric says. 

Google map of horror movie  locations. 



Thursday, August 15, 2024

News: Tales of Illuminatus, Magick Show

 


Bobby Campbell has followed his schedule and released a new bit of his Tales of Illuminatus project. Go here for all of the comic so far. 

Bobby also has put out a new Tales of Illuminatus newsletter.  Please see it for all of the news. In one item, Bobby notes that although the Kickstarter project for the comic book project has made its goal, you might want to make  pledge, anyway:

"Speaking of which, just about 1 more week left on our pre-sale! First edition print copies of TOI #1 are likely to be hard to come by after we do KS fulfillment and SPX, so LMK if you want me to save you a copy by pre-ordering here." 

In other Kickstarter news, another project I've been mentioning here, Richard Metzger's "Magick Show" documentary project, has made its goal.  As of Thursday morning, there were $71,870 in pledges, exceeding the $65,000 goal, with four days to go.

The Dangerous Minds website has come back to life in connection with the Kickstarter, so if you are interested in magick, check it out. For example, on Sunday there will be a free online "WITCH-A-THON," featuring Metzger and various guests. 

Wednesday, August 14, 2024

Wanna buy the former Tim Leary mansion?

 


Photo from the realtor listing, if you want to buy it, go here. 

The New York mansion made famous by Timothy Leary is up for sale. It can be yours, if you have $65 million available. From realtor.com:

"A stunning New York estate that houses a dark and sordid history just hit the market for a staggering $65 million—five decades after it became home to 'the most dangerous man in America.'

"The historic Hitchcock Estate in Milbrook, NY, looks like an idyllic and upscale escape at first glance. Set on a lush 2,078-acre plot, it features two lakes, rolling fields, manicured lawns, and several ponds.

"But while the 10-bedroom, eight-bathroom property is now hailed as an “exceptional, rare, valuable” estate in its Realtor.com® listing, it also comes with the intriguing and risque story a former resident: Harvard professor and psychedelics enthusiast, Timothy Leary."

More here. 

Hat tip, R.U. Sirius on X.com, who writes, " It's kinda great that ol' Tim can still inspire tabloid headlines &  lines ... 'stunning New York estate that houses a dark and sordid history'."



Tuesday, August 13, 2024

RAW movie club update: 'All That Jazz'



My last announcement for the RAW movie club, i.e. the ongoing project to watch the movies on Robert Anton Wilson's 100 favorite movies,  has hit a delay. I did mean to watch it earlier, but did not get around to trying to start it until Sunday. Then I found that it was not on Tubi after all. It is currently listed as "coming Sept. 1." I can't find it available for streaming anywhere else in the U.S. I have put the DVD on hold at the local library. 

I'm not sure what I did wrong. Was it there in July or did Tubi take it away for a month? In any event, I will finally watch it one way or another in the next few weeks, blog about it here, and then announce the next movie. 

At least I have plenty of other things to read and watch. I am reading the Collected Stories of Arthur C. Clarke, re-reading Wilson's Cosmic Trigger 2: Down to Earth, rewatching Twin Peaks and will read The Sex Magicians, which I expect will be out soon. 


Monday, August 12, 2024

Bobby Campbell on Wayne's Comic Podcast


Bobby Campbell has begun a podcasting tour to promote Tales of Illuminatus and the Kickstarter project to support it. He has just appeared on episode 653 of Wayne's Comic Podcast., explaining the Illuminatus! trilogy and how he is adapting it into a comic book. He also talks about the RAW community which has tried to keep Robert Anton Wilson's work alive. Bobby's interpretation of the characters and and the scheme of  the work is interesting. 

The host, Wayne Hall, is an active and engaged interviewer, and he talks about spotting the statue of Tlaloc the Rain God mentioned in the book during a visit to Mexico and getting a copy of the statue. "It's a perfect example of how people get into this stuff," says Bobby, who said a picture of the statue reminded him of Jack Kirby. 

Lots of other podcasts available from  Wayne. "Wayne Hall creates the Wayne's Comics Podcast. He’s interviewed Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo, John Layman, Kyle Higgins, Phil Hester, Jimmy Palmiotti & Justin Gray, David Petersen, Christos Gage, Mike Grell, and Matt Kindt. On this site each week, he writes his 'Comics Portal' column (general comics comments and previews) and reviews comics."

Sunday, August 11, 2024

What books have you read over and over again?


Cover for the Standard Ebooks edition of Moby Dick. 

Tyler Cowen recently estimated that he has read Moby Dick five times. Cowen  named it The Great American Novel back in 2006. 

I have been thinking of re-reading Moby Dick (I think I've read it only once.) Robert Anton Wilson told Eric Wagner to read James Joyce's Ulysses more than 40 times.

All of this made me think about what books I've read over and over again.

Illuminatus! would be a good example for me. I read it for the first time in the 1970s, probably not too terribly long after it came out, and I have read it many times since then. In fact, I've read all of Wilson's novels more than once (except for The Sex Magicians, which I will finally read when Hilaritas releases it soon), and I've read other RAW books more than once, too; I am re-reading Cosmic Trigger 2 now. 

Other works of fiction I have read more than once: The Book of the New Sun, Gene Wolfe; Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen; The Lord of the Rings, J.RR.. Tolkien; All Things Are Lights, Robert Shea; Pale Fire, Vladimir Nabokov; I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream, Harlan Ellison (short story collection), The Gold Bug Variations, Richard Powers, Cryptonomicon, Neal Stephenson. 



Saturday, August 10, 2024

Legal weed comes to Ohio


Photo by Ndispensable on Unsplash

I live in Ohio, where Robert Anton Wilson also once lived. I live in the Cleveland area; RAW lived in or near Yellow Springs, a community near Dayton. His former Ohio home is mentioned in Illuminatus!; the character Simon Moon, for example, is a student at Antioch College in Yellow Springs. 

Wilson died in 2007,  and so he has missed the ongoing revolution in legalizing cannabis in the U.S., which began in 2012. (I mean legalization for any adult who wanted to legally buy it,  not just medical marijuana users.) The first two states to approve legalization were Colorado and Washington,  in 2012, and other states have followed, including, as far as I can tell, all of the states where Wilson once lived. While there are still holdouts, particularly in the south and midwest, 24 states have legalized marijuana and most of the population now lives in a legal marijuana state. Unless you live in the Deep South,  i.e. the former Confederacy, most people can at least drive to a legal state. (Many states in the South where marijuana sales are illegal, such as Texas, allow Delta 8 THC sales). 

Legalization finally came to Ohio last year; it was blocked by Ohio's Republican controlled legislature, but approved by voters in fall 2023. Recreational sales in dispensaries began Tuesday, August 6, 2024. I linked to one of my articles about it yesterday.

Of course, I could not help thinking about Wilson, and all that he had to say about the "war on some drugs" and I wished I could know what he thought about recent developments.

There are no dispensaries within a few minutes of where I live, but yesterday I drove to a dispensary in Elyria and made my first Ohio purchase. I brought a small package of flower home. I was curious where in Ohio it was grown. (Because weed remains illegal nationally, in spite of the fact that Democrats who control the White House and Senate supposedly favor legalization, at least until they have to actually do something about it,  marijuana must be grown in the same state where it is sold.) 

I could not find a location on my flower package, but it said it was from Cresco Labs. So I looked on the Cresco Labs website, and what do you know? The Cresco Labs facility for cultivation and processing is in Yellow Springs, Ohio. It's a synchronicity that amuses me. 

Friday, August 9, 2024

Friday links [UPDATED]


 Another track from Steve Pratt's  Tales of Illuminatus album, The First Trip. 

Video of @amoebedesign RAW book covers. 

Link between RAW writings and the New Right? I've seen similar arguments before. UPDATE: On Twitter, Ong's Hat (i.e. Joseph Matheny) writes, "I can't even begin to point out the errors in the RAW/REW thread, including the mislabeling of "Augmented  Reality Game." Augmented Reality is something entirely different from "Alternative Reality Gaming," and Wilson worked with Leary at Playboy. Feh!"

David Lynch health update. 

Drug trafficking at U.S. borders is done by U.S. citizens, not immigrants. 

Marijuana sales  have begun in Ohio,  here is my article about one dispensary. 

Thursday, August 8, 2024

'Tales of Illuminatus' update

 


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

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

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


Wednesday, August 7, 2024

New RAW Semantics blog post: 'TSOG 2025'


The RAW Semantics blog has a new blog post up: "TSOG 2025 -- & other scenarios." The main focus is on certain eccentric, wealthy right wingers in the U.S., but it's also a bit of a roundup, with great anecdotes about shopping for RAW books, including a possible encounter with Eckart Tolle. I still try to be a kind of techno optimist, but there's no denying Brian has found some depressing aspects of Silicon Valley. There's also a heartfelt defense of the National Health System. An interesting blog post, you'll have no trouble reading the whole thing. 

Probably related: Brian also  has left X/Twitter and you can now find him at Bluesky (@rawsemantics.bsky.social).


Tuesday, August 6, 2024

'Tales of Illuminatus' Kickstarter succeeds [UPDATED]

 


As I wrote the other day, there is an element of drama in Kickstarter campaigns -- if you don't meet the goal, the project is not funded.

Well, that's not an issue for Bobby Campbell's Tales of Illuminatus Kickstarter, which met its $2,300 goal Monday. As of Tuesday morning, $2,363 had been pledged by 75 backers, with 17 days to go.

I'm very happy the RAW community rallied behind this project. And if you haven't pledged yet, pledging to buy a copy in advance is probably your cheapest way to get a copy of the first issue. 

UPDATE: Bobby has posted the above image on X and writes, "The TALES OF ILLUMINATUS! pre-order campaign on @kickstarter has met, and now surpassed, our funding goal :))) Can't thank everyone enough for their support, it is so very much appreciated, and now onward to making this dream a reality. Excelsior! <3<3<3"





Monday, August 5, 2024

Aleister Crowley's old mansion is being restored


 Boleskine House in 1912, when it was owned by Aleister Crowley (public domain photo). 

Boleskine House, closely associated with former owner Aleister Crowley and also once owned by Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page, is currently being restored with the aid of money from lottery funds.

Wikipedia has an article on Boleskine House's colorful history. 


Sunday, August 4, 2024

Update on 'Magick Show' Kickstarter


I've been hitting the Kickstarter for Tales of Illuminatus pretty hard, but there's another Kickstarter I have also been writing about and it's time for an update.

Kickstarter provides an element of drama; if the campaigns don't meet the goal, the project fails and isn't funded. The Magick Show Kickstarter launched by Richard Metzger is now $40,648 toward a goal of $60,000, with 15 days to go. (Tales of Illuminatus has $2,182 pledged toward $2,300 with 19 days to go).

Both projects obviously still need support. For more on the Magick Show documentary project, see the link to the Kickstarter, but see also the daily updates and features at Dangerous Minds. 


Saturday, August 3, 2024

This still seems like good advice

 

Photo by Duncan Shaffer on Unsplash

"I also read at least one periodical every month by a political group I dislike -- to keep some sense of balance. The overwhelming stupidity of political movements is caused by the fact that political types never read anything but their own gang's agit-prop."

Robert Anton Wilson, from this interview



Friday, August 2, 2024

New 'Tales of Illuminatus' material


As promised, Bobby Campbell posted a new update to the Tales of Illuminatus comic book project, which is being posted as a webcomic before being published in paper and digital editions. New additions to the comic will be published on Thursdays, so the next bit will come out August 8. To preorder, please see the Kickstarter. 

Bobby also has put out a new Tales of Illuminatus Substack newsletter, with new music from Steve Pratt and various news. 


Thursday, August 1, 2024

Timothy Leary biography by John Higgs available in U.S. again


News from John Higgs, in his latest newsletter:

"As of yesterday, I’m delighted to say that I Have America Surrounded: The Life of Timothy Leary is back in print in North America - and available for the first time as an audiobook, read by me. You’ll find it in this new, none-more-groovy cover [pictured above]."

It's a really interesting biography, and one that many readers of this blog would enjoy. Also, John ruminates on "the moments in the cultural outpouring that stick with you and have long-term significance" and mentions recent podcasts he was on.