The nominees for the Prometheus Hall of Fame Award have been announced: James Blish, Aldous Huxley, C.S. Lewis, Adams Roberts and Charles Stross. Full announcement here. As I've mentioned before, the connection to this blog is that this is the only literary award Illuminatus! ever received.
In the interview which is included in the Hilaritas Press edition of Coincidance, Robert Anton Wilson praises the mystery writer John Dickson Carr, noting that Carr lacks the "literary values of Chandler or Dashiell Hammett" but is good at puzzles. "But I don't think one always wants literarature; one wants to relax sometimes," RAW says, declaring he has "read almost all of John Dickson Carr's books."
Brian Dean remarked on RAW's comments in a recent Bluesky post, asking, "Any recommendations for his novels?"
As it happens, when I saw's Brian's post, I was reading The Crooked Hinge, a novel featuring Carr's best-known detective, Gideon Fell. I thought it was a good read, and the introduction by Charles Todd says the book is a "good place to start" in reading Carr. The Wikipedia article on John Dickson Carr says that The Hollow Man is usually considered Carr's masterpiece. I would guess that most of the Gideon Fell books are worth reading.
In an earlier post, I noted that RAW had recommended The Crooked Hinge in Sex, Drugs and Magick: "Before dropping witchcraft and the solanaceae drugs, it is worth mentioning that John Dickson Carr has written a detective thriller, called The Crooked Hinge, revolving around a revival of witchcraft in which the members drink belladonna and imagine they are flying around on broomsticks or copulating with demons. Carr cooked this plot up before the current occult revival -- his book was published in 1937! It's still reprinted frequently in paperback and is worth your time. The surprise ending is a lulu."
I just wanted to remind everyone that Maybe Night, the celebration of James Joyce's Finnegans Wake organized by Bobby Campbell, is now a week away.
Full details here. The deadline for submitting material to Bobby is tomorrow.
At the end of every year, film buff Jesse Walker lists the best movies of ten years ago, 20 years ago, etc. He's resumed this year with 2015 and 2005 so far.
Jesse's list includes TV series, and his 2015 list is topped by The Americans, one of my all-time favorite TV series, along with Twin Peaks and Devs.
Above is the excerpt from an interview in Mondo 2000 posted on Bluesky, here for your convenience is my transcript:
M2: What are some of the other games in the SJ Games line?
SJ: Well, of course therer's Illuminati.
M2: How did that come about? Where you a fan of the Illuminatus Trilogy?
SJ: Oh yes! That came about when Dave Martin [the guy who did the cover art for the game] and I were drinking wine and talking about life, the universe and everything.
M2: One of my favorite drinking conversations!
SJ: Right. Anyway, the subject got around to how you could make a game out of the Shea and Wilson books. I didn't think you could do a game based on the actual characters and events ... what with yellow submarines, Discordians and a giant octopus running all over the place. It would be too tough. A few days later, I was driving someplace when it occurred to me that you could build it all around a deck of cards. After I got the car under control ....
M2: (Laughs)
SJ. No really! I sat there in the front seat and started taking notes. I realized that rather than trying to use the world that Shea and Wilson had envisioned, I would go back to their source material.
M2: You mean basic fear and paranoia?
SJ: Yeah, right. No, I mean the Principia Discordia. Did you know that it actually exists?
M2: Oh, yes.
SJ: A lot of people don't. Anyway, we decided to focus just on the conspiracy theory aspects of Illuminatus. After that the creation of the game became absolutely simple.
With Mr. Jackson's permission, my new Robert Shea book has a short piece that Shea wrote for the Illuminati game.
Arthur D. Hlavaty at Lunacon 45 in 2002. (Mark Olson photo via Fancyclopedia 3).
I am sorry to have to report that prominent science fiction fan Arthur Hlavaty, 83, has died. Here is the announcement from Bernadette Bosky on Facebook. And also here is Kevin Maroney on Bluesky. The death also has been announced on File 770 (seventh item). Writer Jo Walton has posted a new poem, "On the death of Arthur Hlavaty and Sophie Kinsella."
Arthur was a twelve time nominee for the Hugo Award for best fan writer. He published many fanzines and also was a prominent blogger. This article at the Fancyclopedia lists much of his fannish activity and you can follow the links to online versions of his zines.
Arthur founded The Golden APA, which counted both Robert Anton Wilson and Robert Shea as members. He often wrote about how Illuminatus! had influenced him. His support of this blog was much appreciated.
When Arthur had to post about an obituary on his blog, his headline would be, "Another Good One Gone." Hence my own headline.
Robert Anton Wilson advanced the idea of a "Guns and Dope Party" (originally suggested, if I recall correctly, by writer Bill Helmer) to bring together "gun nuts" and "dopers" into a libertarian alliance.
I have cited writer Jacob Sullum quite a few times in this blog, as he is very good about writing about the "war on some drugs," as RAW called it. I recently noticed that Sullum has a new "guns and dope" book out.
The book is called BEYOND CONTROL: Drug Prohibition, Gun Regulation, and the Search for Sensible Alternatives. From the publisher's blurb:
"Decades of research have produced scant evidence that popular gun control prescriptions, such as assault weapon bans, universal background checks, restrictions on ownership, and red flag laws, work as advertised. Research on the impact of the war on drugs likewise provides little reason to believe that its doubtful benefits outweigh its myriad costs. In both cases, the burdens often fall on peaceful individuals who pose no threat to public safety, and the policies seem ill-designed to reduce the problems they aim to address.
"Sullum notes that critics of gun control and critics of the war on drugs make similar points, complaining that these policies are unfair, invasive, poorly targeted, and ineffective. But because these two sets of critics tend to come from opposing political camps, they usually overlook their common ground. Beyond Control surveys that territory, showing that conservatives and progressives share concerns about overcriminalization, overzealous law enforcement, draconian penalties, and the erosion of civil liberties."
My local library doesn't have his book so I submitted a request for it to be purchased.
James Joyce photographed by Man Ray.
The Scriptorium Philosophia Substack written by "Hilarious Bookbinder" has Christmas stories in the latest issue, parodies of famous writers. Here is the James Joyce parody:
Snowrun sleighrun river crack with ice then came St. Nicholas before the bells but after the hooftrod down through Dublintown. Aye, but blown cold through the pub where Stephen Daedalus sat rapping for his pint.
—Well, says Joe, he’ll be down the chimney and all.
—What of? says Stephen, pay my five pound to the barman then?
—May ask for the English to leave as well.
The voice of Jenny behind, the lilt of a jig in 6/4 time, the loop, the warm soft joygush lickflow of the music sneaking past, invading. The hard notes behind the sound. Masters in This Hall on uilleann pipes.
—No, says Joe. The pack is the thing, all full of wallets, inkpots, olive branches, swords, daisies, Turkish lamps, knocker-uppers, buckshot, tin whistles, shiny Irish pennies, cakes and cream, puppies, beehives, medals for bravery, winedrunk from an auroch’s horn, wheels, keys, wax candles, stars plucked fresh from the firmament, oilskin coats, snails, Russian stamps, and tweed flatcaps.
—That so for gifts? says the barman. I’ll nae get paid afterall.
Tom again: I especially liked the Raymond Chandler and Scott Alexander parodies. There are also parodies of E.L. James, Cormac McCarthy, Tom Clancy, H.P. Lovecraft and Lee Child. The comments have parodies of Olivia Nuzzi and Philip Roth.
As I mentioned in a recent post, Jukebox Musical by Danny and the Darlings is a soundtrack album for Bobby Campbell's Tales of Illuminatus No. 2. It is available as a free digital download at Bandcamp.
The album consists of ten covers of 1950s era rock and roll tunes. As this sort of music was considered "old" even when I listened to it in high school in the 1970s (I was a weirdo because I would play Elvis Presley songs on the jukebox), it seems to me that for many listeners today, the songs on the album might seem rather obscure, although I recognized many of the song titles.
Here is the track listing for the album, with brief explanations and links for more information. (These are rather punk rock versions of the song and the resemblance to the originals varies somewhat, although I commend the attempt to bring these tunes into the present. But try some of the originals.)
1. That's All Right. The tune dates to 1946, but is remembered as Elvis Presley's first single in 1954.
2. Rip It Up. A 1956 hit for Little Richard.
3. You Can't Catch Me. A 1956 single for Chuck Berry.
4. Breathless. A 1958 hit for Jerry Lee Lewis.
5. Pretty Thing. A 1955 Bo Diddley single.
6. Oh, Boy! A particularly great song by a particularly great band, The Crickets (i.e., Buddy Holly and his band). Holly's 1959 plane crash death may be rock music's greatest tragedy ever.
7. I'm Walkin'. A 1957 single issued by Fats Domino.
8. Nervous Breakdown. An Eddie Cochran tune. (He is probably most famous for other songs such as "Summertime Blues." Cochran died age 21 in a 1960 car crash in Britain.
9. Be-Bop-A-Lula. 1956 Gene Vincent tune.
10. Rock Around the Clock. This 1954 hit by Bill Haley & His Comets helped launch rock and roll. The song is mentioned in Illuminatus!
I don't have detailed music credits for the album, but "Danny" is Dan Robinson of Wilmington, Delaware. I will try to find out more.
From The Mgt.? (Source)
Conservative writer argues, 'We Are Repaganizing."
"They need to make you hate some group." By Noah Smith, compare with RAW's "Shocking Hidden Facts About Male Non Violence" in Email to the Universe.
Tyler Cowen's top classical music of the year.
What Mark K. Brown read last month (reads and re-reads)
Another Roadside Attraction by Tom Robbins 11/21
Buddhist Scriptures ed. by Edward Conze 11/24
Wasp by Eric Frank Russell 11/25
The Little Sister by Raymond Chandler 11/26
The Man Who Japed by Philip K. Dick 11/29
As usual, there is considerable overlap between what Mark reads and what I read. I've read the Conze, or a Conze edited book that is very similar. I've read Russell, Chandler and Dick, but not those particular titles. Mark is reading The Magus by John Fowles, as he mentioned in the comments recently, I may ask for a brief report when he finishes.
What I read last month:
Melmoth the Wanderer, Charles Maturin.
For Emma, Ewan Morrison.
Operation Wandering Soul, Richard Powers.
A Non-Euclidean Perspective: Robert Anton Wilson’s Political Commentaries 1960-2005, Robert Anton Wilson. (Mark already read it).
Vanishing World, Sayaka Murata.
As usual, everyone else is invited to say in the comments that they have been reading.
Artwork by Brian Dean at RAW Semantics
RAW Semantics has a new blog post up, "RAW political #5 – global / local / po," which further wrestles with RAW's politics in the light of the new book. Some of it discusses globalism versus local control, but there is also an interesting section which suggests how to reconcile Robert Anton Wilson's praise for Scandinavian style social democracy with RAW's interest in anarchism. One excerpt:
"Returning to anarchy for a moment – if you see anarchism in terms of no government, no tax (and perhaps no regulations), then RAW’s liking for the Swedish model seems to contradict his anarchist ideals. But if you think of anarchist societies as decentralised, egalitarian, cooperative, communicating in flatter hierarchies, etc, then the seeming contradiction dissolves. Even the anarchistic preference for contracts – voluntary agreements rather than top-down enforcement – factors historically in the Swedish model (eg resulting from a relative absence of both feudalism and tyrants as kings).
"The Scandinavian system has succeeded on a large (national) scale over decades, unlike the mostly unimplemented alternative systems RAW held as anarchist ideals. From that POV, it looks “global” next to, say, the 120-person voluntary-contractual community. But next to the international Neoliberal order, it looks (or looked) 'local' – an eccentric exception to universal 'laws'. The Scandinavian countries finally had to adapt to some global shifts (eg changes to international financial markets), but even before those periods (eg 1990s) they were never really insulated from the 'inexorable forces of the market'. On the contrary – Sweden, for example, had to export 40% of its manufactured output and had been, since the late 19th century, 'a world economy highly exposed to trends in international trade.'
"You can see the Swedish model as workable on both local and global levels. At least for that type of culture."
Bobby Campbell's latest newsletter had a couple of announcements about music releases that deserve a signal boost.
"Fresh from its staring role as a pivotal plot device/magical MacGuffin in Tales of Illuminatus!, Danny and the Darlings’ Jukebox Musical cassette tape has escaped the limits of fiction and entered our true and real reality, a transcendental object of unprecedented heart and soul, THE ROCK OF AGES!"
The link is to Bandcamp, where the cassette tape is on sale. But a digital download of the album is free! All of the song titles I recognize are from the 1950s, probably an underrated rock music decade at this point. I have downloaded the album and will be checking it out.
The second album is from Steve "Fly" Pratt and it's K9 Rapture, also on Bandcamp.
Fifteen songs with dog-related titles. As usual with Bandcamp, you can check out the tunes before buying. Steve also has a special on a bulk sale of all of his albums.
