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‘Future Now’: A brilliant portrait of novelist J. G. Ballard, from 1986
12.20.2012
06:39 pm
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J_G_Ballard_portrait
 
Writers need stability to nurture their talent and unfetter their imagination. Too much chaos dilutes the talent and diminishes the productivity. Writers like Norman Mailer squandered too much time and effort on making his life the story - when in fact he should have been writing it. J. G. Ballard was well aware of this, and he had the quiet certainty of a 3-bed, des res, with shaded garden and off-street parking at front. Yet, Ballard’s seeming conformity to a middle class idyll appeared to astound so many critics, commentators, journalists, whatevers, who all failed to appreciate a true writer’s life is one of lonely, unrelenting sedentary toil, working at a desk 9-5, or however long - otherwise the imagination can not fly.

That’s why I have always found suburbs far more interesting places than those anonymous urban centers. Cities are about mass events - demonstrations, revolution, massacre, war, shared public experience. Suburbia is about the repressed forces of individual action. It’s where the murders are planned, the orgies enjoyed, the drugs devoured, the imagination inspired. Suburbia is where dysfunction is normalized.

And J. G. Ballard was very aware of this.

Future Now is a documentary interview with J G Ballard, made in 1986 not long after he had achieved international success with his faux-biographical novel Empire of the Sun. Opening with a brief tour of his Shepperton home, Ballard gives an excellent and incisive interview, which only reminds what we have lost.

Simon Sellars and Dan O’Hara have edited together a brilliant collection of interviews and conversations with J G Ballard 1967-2008, in one volume called Extreme Metaphors, which is a must-have for anyone with an interest in Ballard.
 

 
Previously on Dangerous Minds

Postcards from J. G. Ballard


 
With thanks to Richard!
 

Posted by Paul Gallagher
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12.20.2012
06:39 pm
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HTML for Babies: The book to get your baby started on coding
12.06.2012
08:38 am
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HTML for babies
They’re just going to put it in their mouths
 
The things humans purchase for their babies are usually meant to say more about the parents than the child, but who cares?!? They’re cute little human waste machines you get to adorn with cute little accessories, like HTML for Babies until they get old enough to listen to Justin Beiber and roll their eyes at you all day!

It’s never too early to be standards compliant! Show your little ones HTML markup code along with letter forms to get them started on the visual patterns and symbols that make up the essential building blocks of the Web. The first in a three-volume set, originally designed by a NYC Web Designer for his baby, this beautiful book is a fun and colorful introduction to the world of web design for babies.

And of course the whole thing is in Helvetica…

Posted by Amber Frost
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12.06.2012
08:38 am
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‘George Orwell A LIfe in Pictures’: Essential documentary on the author of ‘1984’
12.05.2012
07:00 pm
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There is no footage of George Orwell, no recordings of his voice, just assorted photographs, and of course, his writing, his brilliant writing, which forms the basis of this Emmy award-winning documentary George Orwell - A Life in Pictures.

This documentary recreates Orwell’s life through a series of imaginary film clips, fictional archive news stories, and the sort of documentary films Orwell may have made. Chris Langham is Orwell and he brings a warmth, intelligence and humanity to the role.

Best known for his star performance in The Thick of It, and his work with Spike Milligan and The Muppets, Langham has become a controversial figure of late as he was sent to gaol in 2005 for downloading hard core child pornography. He said he did it for research, for a character he was playing on a TV series. Well, you would, wouldn’t? You’re not going to say it was just for the hell-of-it or, you wanted to knock one out, are you? But Langham has served his time and accepted responsibility for his actions. However, this knowledge can make this excellent documentary problematic to watch, though Langham’s performance is superb, and the content of this documentary - George Orwell’s writing -  essential viewing.

Though this all perhaps raises a bigger question, as to whether creative works can be viewed separately from the lives of its creators? Can we read William Burroughs without considering the senseless murder of his wife, or his use of young boys for sex? Can we read Philip Larkin’s poetry without thinking about his racism? Or, look at Eric Gill’s vast output - from religious sculpture to typeface - without thinking he sexually abused his daughters and fucked the family pets? Unlike these reprobates, Langham has served his time, and all we can do is to be aware of what has happened, before choosing our own response to it.

Ultimately, the issue is perhaps subverted by the importance and quality of Orwell’s writing, which Langham brings brilliantly to life.
 

 

Posted by Paul Gallagher
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12.05.2012
07:00 pm
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Elvis Died For Somebody’s Sins But Not Mine
11.26.2012
11:54 am
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What a great title, right?

Just in time for the Aztec calendar to run out (and let’s not forget Christmas, of course) comes Elvis Died For Somebody’s Sins But Not Mine, a collection of Mick Farren’s primal ‘up against the wall, motherfucker’ style of rock and roll polemics. One man’s literary life spent railing against the machine lives between these covers. The hidden history of the twentieth century and beyond. He was there and you weren’t. Listen up, children!

Within these pages you’ll meet the likes of Frank Zappa, Johnny Cash, Chuck Berry and Gore Vidal, and steam open correspondence between the author and Pete Townshend. And, much more importantly, you’re about to go one-on-one with a world-class raconteur… If this kind of mess-around seems like your cup of meat, then prepare your relaxant of choice, kick back and dig in. The greasy ’oodlums are at your door.”

—Charles Shaar Murray (from his foreword)

About the Author:
Mick Farren was born on a wet night at the end of World War II. During his long, occasionally hallucinatory, and sometimes hell-raising career, he has published twenty-two novels (including The DNA Cowboys Trilogy). He has also published more than a dozen non-fiction works on topics that range from music to drugs to conspiracy theory (including Give The Anarchist A Cigarette). An unreconstructed rock & roller, he continues to function as a recording artist and songwriter. He has also made detours into anarcho-agitprop like editing the underground newspaper IT, and defending both his liberty and the comic book Nasty Tales through a protracted obscenity trail at the Old Bailey.

He was part of what is now called (by some) the NME golden age, during which time he helped explain punk to people who still thought Rick Wakeman had merit. As a lyricist, Mick’s words have been sung by Metallica, Motorhead, Hawkwind, Brother Wayne Kramer, the Royal Crown Revue, and the Pink Fairies.

Publisher Headpress are offering a very limited stamped, numbered and signed deluxe edition hardback of Elvis Died For Somebody’s Sins But Not Mine, only available from their website, and for the special price of £28 until December 3. There’s also an unsigned hardback edition selling £20, but I sez get yours autographed. Why regret not getting it signed?

And just in case you were wondering, here is a list of the drugs found in Elvis’‘s body when he died, included in the book as a piece of found poetry:

Codeine—at a concentration ten times higher than the toxic level

Morphine—possible metabolite of codeine

Methaqualone—Quaalude, above toxic level

Diazepam—Valium

Diazepam metabolite

Ethinamate—Valmid

Ethchlorvynol—Placidyl

Amobarbital—Amytal

Pentobarbital—Nembutal

Pentobarbital—Carbrital

Meperidine—Demerol

Phenyltoloxamine—Sinutab (a decongestant)

Below, Mick Farren talks about the underground press in London with John Peel in 1967.
 

Posted by Richard Metzger
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11.26.2012
11:54 am
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Embroidery of Iggy Pop, Hunter S. Thompson, Freddie Mercury, and more
11.19.2012
08:45 am
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Iggy Pop
Domestic, no?
 
If you’re like me and want to replace your extensive poster collections with something slightly more grown-up, you may want to go with these awesome embroidery hoops of your favorite pop culture icons. They might be a bit twee, sure, but I figure this is a nice compromise between decorating like I’m still in college and actually developing mature taste in art, which frankly, sounds like a lot of work and money.

I’m common and vulgar, but I’m common and vulgar with a Bachelor’s Degree, dammit.
 
Hunter S. Thompson
 
Freddie Mercury

Posted by Amber Frost
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11.19.2012
08:45 am
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Why Things Are Falling Apart and What We Can Do About It
11.13.2012
01:56 pm
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With the holiday shopping season about to shift into high gear (I’m sure I’m not the only one who heard Christmas carols prior to Halloween… what’s that all about anyways?) here’s an early tip for that thoughtful, philosophical type on your list, the newest book by our esteemed, super-smart pal Charles Hugh Smith, Why Things Are Falling Apart and What We Can Do About It:

Things are falling apart—that is obvious. But why are they falling apart? The reasons are complex and global. Our economy and society have structural problems that cannot be solved by adding debt to debt. We are becoming poorer, not just from financial over-reach, but from fundamental forces that are not easy to identify or understand. We will cover the five core reasons why things are falling apart:

1. Debt and financialization
2. Crony capitalism and the elimination of accountability
3. Diminishing returns
4. Centralization
5. Technological, financial and demographic changes in our economy

Complex systems weakened by diminishing returns collapse under their own weight and are replaced by systems that are simpler, faster and affordable. If we cling to the old ways, our system will disintegrate. If we want sustainable prosperity rather than collapse, we must embrace a new model that is Decentralized, Adaptive, Transparent and Accountable (DATA).

We are not powerless. Not accepting responsibility and being powerless are two sides of the same coin: once we accept responsibility, we become powerful.

This week only there is a 20% discount on the Kindle edition: $7.95 (normal retail $9.95). There is also a print edition of Why Things Are Falling Apart and What We Can Do About It.

Read daily essays from Charles Hugh Smith at his Of Two Minds blog.

Posted by Richard Metzger
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11.13.2012
01:56 pm
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‘Gone and Forgotten’: Amazing anthology of comic book failures
11.13.2012
07:29 am
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Mothman
You haven’t heard of him, and that’s probably for the best

Even if you’re not a comics fan, you can appreciate the steady stream of train wrecks featured in Gone and Forgotten.

Many of the pieces are simply characters that never made it past a couple issues, like “Dash Dartwell, the Human Meteorite,” who has super-human speed, but eschews the cool superhero garb for a fancy suit. There’s also “Minimidget,” whose power is… being very small. That’s really it. It makes sense; there’s sort of a finite amount of superhuman powers one could have, and when the writing ran a little thin, introducing a new character might have seemed like the way to go.

What’s more interesting for comic fans though, are the horrible plotlines, spinoffs, and projects of our old favorite characters and canons. For example, did you know there was a Spider-Man musical? Oh no, not that one. We’re talking a 1975 rock opera album, Spider-Man: Rock Reflections of a Superhero, that makes that U2 detritus look like La Traviata. It’s clearly one of Stan Lee’s more experimental projects, and while this sort of daring creativity is the reason the man is a genius, we’re talkin’ about some very dated stuff, to put it kindly.

In fact, why don’t you play us out, Spidey?
 

Posted by Amber Frost
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11.13.2012
07:29 am
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‘50 Shades of Chicken’ gives new meaning to the phrase ‘food porn’
11.09.2012
08:56 am
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slutty chicken
Dirty bird
 
I’ll spare you any more bad puns, but this is legitimately the best thing to come out of Fifty Shades of Grey. I never thought I’d say this, but without a doubt, I will be buying this parody cookbook. Fifty Shades of Chicken: A Parody in a Cookbook, is exactly what it sounds like, with spot-on imitations of the horrible prose that got so many lonely housewives all aflutter.

A sampling:

The way his apron hangs from his hips already has me all wobbly. But as he coats my thighs with sticky liquid I can hardly contain myself. Is it the wine, or is my aroma starting to drive him crazy too? He heats me up fast, it won’t take much too?

He heats me up fast, it won’t take much to finish me off now. His lips quirk up to a smile. My own juices are mixing with the coating and running all over the place. I get the strangest, sweetest, hedonistic feeling up and down. It’s epicureanism run wild!

He spreads my thighs out on a plate. Sticky hands and at least five wet napkins. What will the housekeeper think? Who cares?

The recipe looks good, too!
 

Posted by Amber Frost
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11.09.2012
08:56 am
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After Man: The post-human art of Dougal Dixon
11.07.2012
09:58 am
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predator bat
In the future, everything will be terrifying
 
Since people are starting to take notice of our most recent natural disasters (at least, when they happen to Americans in large urban centers), it seems the perfect time to start talking about all the cool stuff that could happen evolutionarily, should we kill ourselves without killing all other life, or survive in some adapted form, despite the havoc we’ve wreaked on the planet.

Dougal Dixon’s 1981 book, After Man: A Zoology of the Future is a work of speculative fiction that explores how life on earth might change over millions of years in the absence of humans. Dixon studied geology and anthropology, and is as much a scientist as an artist and writer. His beautiful, eery imaginings of what might be have garnered a cult following among science geeks and artistic types alike

The little darling above is called a Night Stalker, a “flightless predator bat,” that comes with this charming description:
 

He still uses his hind limbs for grasping, but his wings have evolved as legs. Being blind, he uses echolocation to find its prey, therefore his ears and nose flaps have been strongly developed at the expense of his eyes. He is 1.5 meter high and wanders in groups through the the forests at night. Screaming and yelling they hunt mammals and reptiles, which they attack with their pointy teeth and claws.

 
Not everything is so grotesque though. Check out various breeds of Rabbuck, the adorable bunny/deer hybrid!
 
Rabbuck
In the future, there will still be cuteness
 
Dixon’s expertise on dinosaurs may be the root of his focus on aquatic life. We’ve seen animals crawl out of the water, it makes sense that eventually they might go back in. I’m not actually sure he thought through the whole aquatic anteater thing, though. Are there aquatic ants, as well? Or do the anteaters surface?
 
aquatic animals
In the future, there will be slightly different hippos
 
But, if you’re one of those crazy people that finds the prospect of the extinction of man off-putting, Dixon has some speculative fiction for you, too. Dixon’s book Man After Man: An Anthropology of the Future considers our own evolutionary trajectory, in the unlikely event we don’t doom ourselves.

As for us, Dixon seems particularly interested in exploring ideas of dependency. This one focuses on the potential symbiotic lives humans may lead, mind-blowing when you consider how deeply we’ve ingrained the psychological dichotomy between man and animal.

 

future man

In the future, we’ll all have yeti companions to chill with. Or maybe we are the yetis.

 

This one is some straight Cronenberg body-horror, which is probably why I love it.

 

Medical technology has developed ‘soft’ forms of the backups that keep alive the weakening human form. Replacement organs, grown synthetically, are grafted onto the body. Eyes, ears, mouth and nose still function. The fingers work only as organs of touch. Lifting or handling is left to arms grown artificially. Fashion plays a part in such surgery..

 
future man
In the future, we’ll be super goddamn gross and vain.
 

As disconcerting as it may feel, the idea of our own extinction has a strangely soothing effect on me. Right now, it’s difficult to imagine a future that isn’t of the Bladerunner/Brazil/Robocop dystopian variety, and I think the thought of non-human life surviving in spite of us eases my anxiety that we might be a truly toxic species.  And if we do survive, Dixon’s final vision for humans was that we eventually made the earth so unlivable that we adapted to live in the vacuum of space. See? A bit if hope on the horizon! The future’s so bright, I’m wearing shades!

Posted by Amber Frost
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11.07.2012
09:58 am
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In Search of the Count: The Dracula Society tour Whitby in 1977
10.31.2012
08:26 pm
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A suitably whimsical report for Halloween on the Dracula Society‘s day trip to Whitby in 1977, to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the publication of Bram Stoker’s classic novel, Dracula.

The Society was originally set-up in 1973 by actors Bernard Davies and Bruce Wightman, to offer fans the opportunity to visit locations from the book, and re-enact certain scenes. Whitby, of course, was where Dracula arrived in England from Transylvania as a dog, and continued with his vampiric deeds.

Almost 40 years on, the Dracula Society continues to:

‘...cater for lovers of “the vampire and his kind” - werewolves, reanimated mummies, mad scientists and their creations, and all the other monsters spawned by the Gothic genre.’

For more information about the society check here.
 

 
With thanks to Nellym
 

Posted by Paul Gallagher
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10.31.2012
08:26 pm
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