After exploring the newest science of cultural evolution in her last book, The Meme Machine, Susan Blackmore returns now with twenty interviews with some of the world’s biggest minds. What does one talk about with the world’s biggest minds? Well, minds of course. Continue reading “Conversations on Consciousness Edited by Susan Blackmore”
My Mother Was a Computer by N. Katherine Hayles and Shaping Things by Bruce Sterling
There’s been a lot of chatter, books written, and hand-waving about the merging of humans and machines ever since the computer reared its digital head. From artificial intelligence and humanoid robots to microchip implants and uploading consciousness, the melding of biology and technology has been prophesized far and wide.
Humans are indeed merging with machines, but don’t believe the hype: It’s not happening in the way those old science fiction books would have you think. Continue reading “My Mother Was a Computer by N. Katherine Hayles and Shaping Things by Bruce Sterling”
Bomb the System Directed by Adam Bhala Lough
With its focus on graffiti and a lackluster storyline, Bomb the System (Palm Pictures) can be described fairly accurately as an update of the 80s graffiti classic Wild Style, which also rode a thin plot through the streets and walls of New York City. Its real value is in the visuals. From the nighttime shots of The City to the many pieces themselves, Bomb the System is a beautiful film. In spite of the story itself, BTS also manages to capture a sense of the energy involved in outlaw street art, a sense of the camaraderie of the crews that do it, and a sense of why they do it. Continue reading “Bomb the System Directed by Adam Bhala Lough”
Twentieth-Century French Philosophy: Key Themes and Thinkers
Alan D. Schrift has hereby done a great service to anyone interested in French thinkers and their thought. Twentieth-Century French Philosophy (Blackwell) chronicles the lineage, the history, and the context of all of the major thinkers and thought of France in the last hundred years. This includes a succinct chronology, brief biographies, and a lengthy historical narrative — the latter of which might seem anathema to most French thinkers, but helps glue everything together here. And when we’re talking about Derrida, Deleuze, Foucault, Barthes, Blanchot, Sartre, Bataille, Bourdieu, Althusser, de Beauviour, Levinas, and Kristeva, among many others, we need as much cohesion as we can find. Continue reading “Twentieth-Century French Philosophy: Key Themes and Thinkers”
Recurring Themes, Part Two: Loss
I don’t normally comment on such things, but watching news coverage of the horrible scene in New Orleans got me thinking about loss. I pictured my house underwater and realized that I don’t own much of value. Continue reading “Recurring Themes, Part Two: Loss”
Lori Damiano: Getting Nowhere Faster
Lori Damiano has been skateboarding and making stuff for so long that I can’t even remember when or where I was first introduced to her work. Somewhere among her involvement in the zine Villa Villa Cola, her animation (she did the menus for the Spike Jones DVD, for one example), and skateboarding like a madwoman, she recently earned a master’s degree in experimental animation from The California Institute of the Arts and helped VVC get the Getting Nowhere Faster DVD out. Continue reading “Lori Damiano: Getting Nowhere Faster”
Robert A. Moog: In Memorium by Hans Fjellestad
As I’m sure you all know by now, Bob Moog passed away this past Sunday afternoon at the age of 71. This morning I returned home from Asheville, North Carolina, where I was honored to attend the funeral services for Dr. Robert Moog on Tuesday, and a public memorial the following day. Speeches and memories were shared by Bob’s son, daughters, and wife, Ileana… as well as Wendy Carlos, Herb Deutsch, Steven Martin, David Borden, Tom Rhea, John Eaton, Wayne Kirby, Keiichi Goto, David Van Koevering, Joel Chadabe, David Mash, Mike Adams, and many others. Letters and emails poured in from all over the planet. It seems like Dr. Moog’s passing was felt in every corner of the world this week. Continue reading “Robert A. Moog: In Memorium by Hans Fjellestad”
Brian Coleman: Nostalgia is Def
“Why the hell didn’t hip-hop albums ever have liner notes?!!??” quoth journalist Brian Coleman, “Hip-hop fans have been robbed of context and background when buying and enjoying classic albums from the Golden Age: the 1980s.” With his self-published book, Rakim Told Me (Waxfacts, 2005), Coleman set out to fix that problem and to fill a void in the written history of hip-hop. That, and where a lot of writers who acknowledge the influence and importance of hip-hop tend to focus on its sociological implications, Coleman stays with the music, how it was made, and where these artists were in the process. He brings a breath of fresh air to the study of hip-hop, just by dint of focusing on the music itself. Continue reading “Brian Coleman: Nostalgia is Def”
Binge Therapy
Some of the sand has settled from our time in the desert, but we keep kicking it back up again.
Last Sunday night, Doug Stanhope was in town for a show, and we kicked it up again. That’s not the point. The point is that after being in the desolate climes of Panamint Springs with Doug and friends for five days, one comes away with a new sense of so many things. On my two-day trip home from there, I wrote and wrote, trying to record and remember all the magic that had transpired. To no avail. The magic is in the people. And I’ve talked to many of them since. Just seeing Doug again (the only one of our crew that I’ve seen in person so far since) and trying to help him explain it to others proved pointless and inspiring simultaneously. Continue reading “Binge Therapy”
Planet Panamint
Ok, so I just returned from Panamint Springs and Doug Stanhope‘s annual Death Valley desert party (pictures). I rode down with Andy Andrist. We took a tent that, during five days in the desert, never made it out of the car. We slept where we fell. And there was lots of falling. Continue reading “Planet Panamint”