Bruce Sterling's Blog, page 220

Petition by Writers Against Mass Surveillance

http://www.change.org/petitions/a-stand-for-democracy-in-the-digital-age-3

A STAND FOR DEMOCRACY IN THE DIGITAL AGE

Petition by Writers Against Mass Surveillance

On International Human Rights Day, 562 authors, including 5 Nobel Prize laureates, from over 80 countries have joined  together to launch an appeal in defense of civil liberties against surveillance by corporations and governments. 5 Nobel Prize Winners have signed: Orhan Pamuk, J.M. Coetzee, Elfriede Jelinek, Günter Grass and Tomas Tranströmer. Also among the signatories are Umberto Eco, Margaret Atwood, Don DeLillo, Daniel Kehlmann, Nawal El Saadawi, Arundhati Roy, Henning Mankell, Richard Ford, Javier Marias, Björk, David Grossman, Arnon Grünberg, Angeles Mastretta, Juan Goytisolo, Nuruddin Farah, João Ribeiro, Victor Erofeyev, Liao Yiwu and David Malouf.

This global pledge was organized by an independent international group of authors –  Juli Zeh, Ilija Trojanow, Eva Menasse, Janne Teller, Priya Basil, Isabel Cole, and Josef Haslinger. On Dec 10 it is published in 30 news papers all around the world:

*********************************************

In recent months, the extent of mass surveillance has become common knowledge. With a few clicks of the mouse the state can access your mobile device, your e-mail, your social networking and Internet searches.

It can follow your political leanings and activities and, in partnership with Internet corporations, it collects and stores your data, and thus can predict your consumption and behaviour.

The basic pillar of democracy is the inviolable integrity of the individual. Human integrity extends beyond the physical body. In their thoughts and in their personal environments and communications, all humans have the right to remain unobserved and unmolested.

This fundamental human right has been rendered null and void through abuse of technological developments by states and corporations for mass surveillance purposes.

A person under surveillance is no longer free; a society under surveillance is no longer a democracy.

To maintain any validity, our democratic rights must apply in virtual as in real space.

* Surveillance violates the private sphere and compromises freedom of thought and opinion.

* Mass surveillance treats every citizen as a potential suspect. It overturns one of our historical  triumphs, the presumption of innocence.

* Surveillance makes the individual transparent, while the state and the corporation operate in secret. As we have seen, this power is being systemically abused.

* Surveillance is theft. This data is not public property: it belongs to us. When it is used to predict our behaviour, we are robbed of something else: the principle of free will crucial to democratic liberty.

WE DEMAND THE RIGHT for all people to determine, as democratic citizens, to what extent their personal data may be legally collected, stored and processed, and by whom; to obtain information on where their data is stored and how it is being used; to obtain the deletion of their data if it has been illegally collected and stored.

WE CALL ON ALL STATES AND CORPORATIONS to respect these rights.

WE CALL ON ALL CITIZENS to stand up and defend these rights.

WE CALL ON THE UNITED NATIONS to acknowledge the central importance of protecting civil rights in the digital age, and to create an International Bill of Digital Rights.

WE CALL ON GOVERNMENTS to sign and adhere to such a convention.

Initiators:

Juli Zeh Germany
Ilija Trojanow Germany
Eva Menasse Germany
Janne Teller Denmark
Priya Basil UK
Isabel Fargo Cole USA
Josef Haslinger Austria

       

Makers, Recyclers and Pop-Up Cities of the Great War

*An eyewitness account by Major E. Alexander Powell, an American foreign correspondent in World War One. By the way, the Great War’s first centenary year is about to begin. I rather imagine we’ll be hearing rather a lot about the Great War, and a lot of it will be grisly.

*****************************************************************

“In watching the operations on the British front I have always had the feeling that I was witnessing a gigantic engineering undertaking. The amazing network of rails which the British have thrown over Northern France, the endless strings of lorries, the warehouses bulging with supplies, the cranes and derricks, the repair depots, the machine-shops, the tens of thousands of men whose only weapons are the shovel and the pick, all help to further this impression. And, when you stop to think about it, it is an engineering undertaking. These muddy men in khaki are engaged in checking and draining off an unclean flood which, were it not for them, would soon inundate all Europe. And so, because I love things that are clean and green and beautiful, I am very grateful to them for their work of sanitation.

“Because most of the despatches from the British front have related to trenches and tanks and howitzers and flying men and raiding-parties, the attention of the American people has been diverted from the remarkable and tremendously important work which is being played by the army behind the army. Yet one of the most splendid achievements of the entire war is the creation of the great organization which links the British trenches with the British Isles. In failing to take into account the Anglo-Saxon’s genius for rapid organization and improvization in emergencies, Germany made a fatal error. She had spent upward of forty years in perfecting her war machine; the British have built a better one in less than three.

“I said in “Vive la France!” if I remember rightly, that the British machine, though still somewhat wobbly and creaky in its joints, was, I believed, eventually going to do the business for which it was designed. That was a year ago. It has already shown in unmistakable fashion that it can do the business and do it well, and it is, moreover, just entering on the period of its greatest efficiency.

“In order to understand the workings and the ramifications of this great machine in France (its work in England is another story) you must begin your study of it at the base camps which the British have established at Calais, Havre, Boulogne, and Rouen, and the training-schools at Etaples and elsewhere.

“Let us take, for example, “Cinder City,” as the base camp outside Calais is called because the ground on which it stands was made by dumping ships’ cinders into a marsh. It is in many respects one of the most remarkable cities in the world. Its population, which fluctuates with the tide of war, averages, I suppose, about one hundred thousand. It has many miles of macadamized streets (as sandy locations are chosen for these base camps, mud is almost unknown) lined with storehouses —- one of them the largest in the world — with stores, with machine-shops, churches, restaurant, club-rooms, libraries, Y. M. C. A.’s —- there are over a thousand of them in the war zone—Salvation Army barracks, schools, bathing establishments, theatres, motion-picture houses, hospitals for men and hospitals for horses, and thousands upon thousands of portable wooden huts.

“This city is lighted by electricity, it has highly efficient police, fire, and street-cleaning departments, and its water and sewage systems would make jealous many municipalities of twice its size. Among its novel features is a school for army bakers and another for army cooks, for good food has almost as much to do with winning battles as good ammunition.

“But most significant and important of all are the “economy shops” where are repaired or manufactured practically everything required by an army. War, as the British have found, is a staggeringly expensive business, and, in order that there may be a minimum of wastage, they have organized a Salvage Corps whose business it is to sort the litter of the battle-fields and to send everything that can by any possibility be re-utilized to the “economy shops” at the rear.

“In one of these shops I saw upward of a thousand French and Belgian women renovating clothing that had come back from the front, uniforms which arrived as bundles of muddy, bloody rags being fumigated and cleaned and mended and pressed until they were almost as good as new.

“Tens of thousands of boots are sent in to be repaired; those that can stand the operation are soled and heeled by American machines brought over for the purpose, and even the others are not wasted, for their tops are converted into boot-laces. In one shop the worn-out tubes and springs of guns are replaced with new ones. (Did you know that during an intense bombardment the springs of the guns will last only two days?)

“In another fragments of valuable metal sent in from the battle-field are melted and reused. (Perhaps you were not aware that a 5-inch shell carries a copper band weighing a pound and a quarter. The weight of copper shot off in this way during a single brief bombardment was four hundred tons.) The millions of empty shells which litter the ground behind the batteries are cleaned and classified and shipped over to England to be reloaded.

“Steel rails which the retreating Germans believed they had made quite useless are here straightened out and used over again. Shattered rifles, bits of harness, haversacks, machine-gun belts, trench helmets, sand-bags, barbed wire—nothing escapes the Salvage Corps. They even collect and send in old rags, which are sold for two hundred and fifty dollars a ton. Let us talk less hereafter of German efficiency….”

       

The latest NEXT NATURE Newsletter

Hello Bruce Sterling,

Blue Skies in Beijing, Google Ghosts, Delivery Drones, Spying in Online Games, NANO Supermarket product contest and Next Nature App giveaway. Welcome to another issue of the Next Nature Newsletter, from the website http://www.nextnature.net, where we explore how technology becomes nature.

Follow us on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/nextnature and Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/nextnature
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CONTENTS
- NANO Supermarket: Call for Products 2014
- Giveaway Next Nature iPad Appzines For All The Newsletter Readers
- Blog Highlights
- Thank You In Vitro Meat Cookbook Supporters
- Holiday Fun Pack
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NANO SUPERMARKET  – CALL FOR PRODUCTS 2014
After three successful years touring the globe presenting speculative products to over 50.000 people, the NANO Supermarket is now entering its third edition. We are calling upon designers, technologists and artists to submit their speculative nanotech products for the next round of the NANO supermarket.
Nanotechnology is an important emerging technology - it radically intervenes with our sense of what is natural - yet most people are still relatively unaware of its consequences.

The Next Nature NANO Supermarket is a physical “supermarket” that features debate-provoking visions on nanotech products that could be expected to hit the shelves between today and 2020.
A selection of the most innovative products will be exhibited in the physical space, and featured in the accompanying catalogue. The best product overall will win a 2500 Euro prize. Submission deadline 15 May 2014.
For information and updates, visit http://www.nanosupermarket.org/contri...
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GIVEAWAY: FREE NEXT NATURE IPAD APPZINES FOR ONE WEEK FOR ALL THE NEWSLETTER READERS
We are happy to give to all our newsletter readers the Next Nature Appzine free download for one week.
Just what is the Next Nature Appzine? This iPad app presents a fascinating selection of material from our lustrous Next Nature book, wholly re-designed for the iPad and upgraded with interactive specials and audiovisual content. It’s nature, but not as you know it.
Download it on https://itunes.apple.com/nl/app/next-... and leave your review!
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BLOG HIGHLIGHTS
Delivery Drones Are Coming

Could we employ drones for good? Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos certainly thinks so. He announced that Amazon wants to use octocopters to deliver orders within a half hour at any location you choose.
http://www.nextnature.net/2013/12/del...
Spy Agencies Infiltrate in Online Games

Gamers in on line environments like World of Warcraft and Second Life may have had encounters with secret agents. American and British spy agencies have infiltrated into major online environments, suspecting that terrorist were hiding among the elves and goblins.

http://www.nextnature.net/2013/12/spy...
Bizarre Retro-Futuristic Visions of Meat

Turns out that people have been concerned about the realities of meat consumption for quite a while. Click through to see some retro-futuristic predictions, including a miniature factory farm and fields sprouting with “fat plants” and “meat beets”.
http://www.nextnature.net/2013/12/biz...

Forward to the Dark Ages: Our Horrifying Post-Antibiotic Future

Thanks to overprescription of antibiotics, the massive overuse of antibiotics in factory-style farming, and stalled antibiotic research, we’re rapidly returning to the pre-penicillin era. Bacteria have evolved resistance to our best and, right now, our only, weapons.

http://www.nextnature.net/2013/12/for...

The Only Blue Sky in Beijing is Fake

Peculiar image showing the all-too-perfect contrast between a fake blue sky and the reality of air pollution in Beijing.

http://www.nextnature.net/2013/11/the...

Google Ghosts

Italian artist Paolo Cirio prints life-sized pictures of people found on Google’s Street View and posts them at the same spot where they were taken. By taking virtual identities out of the digital world and giving them a new life in three-dimensional reality, he reopens the debate about digital privacy.
http://www.nextnature.net/2013/12/fro...

DIY Body Modification to Hack Evolution

Nowadays it seems everyone can become a DIY cyborg. The latest experiment in body modification was made by the biohacker Tim Cannon. He implanted directly under the skin of his arm a computer chip that can record and transmit his biometrical data.
http://www.nextnature.net/2013/11/diy...

Mushrooms to Grow Surfboards, Shoes, and Even Your House

Gather mushroom spores, grow them in a mold with agricultural waste, and you’ve just created the newest alternative to toxic styrofoam packing.
http://www.nextnature.net/2013/11/mus...
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THANK YOU IN VITRO MEAT COOKBOOK SUPPORTERS: 100% FUNDED! (((Yum, etc)))
We thank all our supporters for making the In Vitro Cookbook possible. Our crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo reached 100% of its goal. Our team is talented, dedicated and working hard to present you a great book in a few months.
Be one of the first to own the In Vitro Meat Cookbook by pre-ordering your copy on http://www.bistro-invitro.com/
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GET THE HOLIDAY FUN PACK
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Next Nature Network is generously supported by TU/e, Doen Foundation, Creative Industries Fund NL, Prins Bernhard Fund and SNS Reaal Fund.
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Join Them in Building the Shareable Cities Network

*I’m kicking in for the sheer entertainment value.

http://www.shareable.net/contribute

“Hey Shareable reader!

“This is your invitation to be part of something big. It’s a plan to change the world together — while having a damn good time — and we want you to be part of it!  With your help, we’re going to start 100 local sharing movements for 100 sharing cities.
What’s a sharing city you ask?

“Imagine a city where everyone’s needs are met because people make the personal choice to share. Where everyone can create meaningful livelihoods. Where fresh, local food is available to all. Where affordable housing and shared transportation are abundant. Where the people decide how the city budget is spent. Where the people own the utilities and the banks, and even create their own currencies. Imagine a city where the more we share, the more we have.

“That’s a sharing city.

“Our dream is that everyone gets to live in such a place. While ambitious, we know it’s possible because everything that’s imagined above already exists. What’s missing is that there’s no single city where all these models have been brought together.
That’s why we’re asking for your support to build the Sharing Cities Network.
What is the Sharing Cities Network?

“The Sharing Cities Network will be a grassroots network for sharing innovators to discover together how to create as many sharing cities around the world as fast as possible. The network will knit together a community of local sharing movements.
Participants will be readers like you – people just getting started with sharing, as well as those founding, leading, and participating in sharing projects. These projects include coworking spaces, sharing startups, cooperatives, credit unions, tool libraries, hackerspaces, seed banks, community gardens, farmers markets, bike kitchens, and much more (((The “much more” oughta be pretty good. I’m thinking I’d kinda like to have my own shareable Ecuadorian Embassy.))) Participants will share a deep desire to turn their city into a sharing city and will collaborate with others in the network to turn that dream into reality.

“Shareable will facilitate the Sharing Cities Network and help set up infrastructure, but in order to succeed it will operate as an independent network – with a decentralized structure, shared leadership, and multiple communication platforms – and will rely on its members to take action in their cities. Shareable will amplify the creative actions that network members take so that others can re-mix, adapt, and reuse those ideas in their own cities.

“The Sharing Cities Network will scale up and replicate successful sharing models by…” (((etc etc)))

       

Augmented Reality: Tangible action figure 【初音ミク】触って動かせるARフィギュアを作ってみた【ぜかまし】

*Nice fiduciary marker hack.

Published on Nov 30, 2013
本物の可動フィギュアと同じように、手足を直接触って動かすことが出来るARフィギュ­アを作ってみました！電脳メガネ(OculusRift)と組み合わせて、本物のフィ­ギュアと同じように遊ぶことが出来ます。また、応用としてMikuMikuDance­のポーズ入力にも使えるに様にしてみました！
動画の作成には、今回もBGMやモデルデータ、ライブラリなど、多くの人が作られた素­晴らしい作品を使わせて頂きました。皆さんありがとうございます！

・BGM
　　【初音ミク】 おかしだいすき 【オリジナル曲】 by -K-様
　　http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm16287691
　　【初音ミク（40㍍）】 妄想スケッチ 【オリジナル曲PV】 by 40mP様
　　http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm13252011

Twitter:http://twitter.com/AmadeusSVX
Blog:http://d.hatena.ne.jp/Alcyone/

       

Yatakhayaloon

http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2013/12/09/can_science_fiction_survive_in_saudi_arabia#sthash.Z9t1cpKb.dpbs

“On Monday, Saudi authors Yasser Bahjatt and Ibraheem Abbas learned that their science fiction book, which shot to the top of the best-seller list in Saudi Arabia, had been banned from sale in Kuwait and Qatar. The episode was familiar: in late November, Saudi Arabia’s Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice yanked the book from shelves for a thorough examination in response to concerns over inappropriate content.

“The book, called Hawjan, is a fantasy/sci-fi story with religious themes that spurred rumors, particularly from parents, that it was promoting sorcery and devil-worship among young people, especially girls. For Abbas and Bahjatt, also the founders of a group dedicated to promoting Arab sci-fi, the suspensions have been a lesson in navigating the difficult literary terrain of a region that grapples with the genre’s intersection of science, religion, and modernity.

” “There is almost no science fiction in the region — it does not exist as a genre,” Bahjatt told Foreign Policy. After seeing the immense popularity of Hawjan, he stressed that the dearth can’t be attributed to a lack of demand and instead blamed it on the restrictions of conservative Islamic society. “In the past two decades in the region, imagination has been systematically shut down … I think part of it might be religious. Rather than go ahead and try to [understand] religion on their own, people started relying on scholars to tell them.”

“It was this “shutdown” of imagination — and its implications for progress and innovation — that initially compelled Abbas and Bahjatt to start their Arab science fiction group and publishing company, called Yatakhayaloon (roughly translated as “They are imagining”). The landscape for science fiction literature, a genre famous for its ability to test social boundaries and explore scientific limits, can be awfully bleak in the Middle East. In a 2012 TED talk, Bahjatt laments the current state of the genre in the region where “there are almost no science fiction writers.” In the talk, he points to regions with high concentrations of research and development and those regions’ comparatively robust science fiction scenes, suggesting there may be a correlation.

” “What we’re hoping is that once we get people to expand their imaginations, we hope it will cross over into the scientific imagination,” he said Friday.

“In 2013, Abbas and Bahjatt co-authored Hawjan, the English translation of which is known by the letters HWJN. While the authors were aware of the difficulties of pushing the envelope in Saudi fiction, they nixed the idea of using outside publishers because they wanted to establish science fiction as a viable, competitive genre in the Arab world. (That’s Yatakhayaloon’s mission, after all.)

“The book tells of a young girl, Sawsan, who moves into a new house with her family and befriends a jinni named Hawjan. According to Islamic tradition, jinn, or genies as they are known in English appropriations of Arab stories, were created by Allah and inhabit a parallel universe, able to see humans but invisible to them….”

- See more at: http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2...

       

An Open Letter to the Commoners and Co-operators of the World to participate in the Ecuadorian transition towards an Open Commons-based Knowledge Society.

*Do we get Bitcoins?

********************************************************************************************************

An Open Letter to the Commoners and Co-operators of the World to participate in the Ecuadorian transition towards an Open Commons-based Knowledge Society.

Dear Global Co-operators and Commoners,

In a speech on Sept. 19, 2012, President Correa of Ecuador appealed to the young people of his country to fight for and realize a vision of “good living” based on a commons-based and open knowledge society. The FLOK Society project (Free/Libre Open Knowledge) has been created to propose a transition plan and a policy framework to achieve this unique vision. In accordance with Ecuador’s National Plan, there can be no ‘good living’ policy that is not inspired by, and rooted in, free and open knowledge and a thriving commons.

The FLOK Society project is a joint research effort sponsored by the Co-ordinating Ministry of Knowledge and Human Talent, the Senescyt, (Secretaria National de Educacion Superior, Ciencia, Tecnologia e Innovacion) and the IAEN (Instituto de Altos Estudios del Estado). Our aim is to finalize proposals to be presented at a conference in April 2014, which will bring together the President, government officials, civil society participants, and global experts on the commons. The project received its impulse from IAEN Rector Carlos Prieto, Project Leaders Xabier E. Barandiaran & Daniel Vázquez, and Research Director Michel Bauwens.

Here is the link to the FLOK Society project: http://www.floksociety.org/en

The project seeks the involvement and input of local civil society, but also includes an explicit appeal to the global co-operative and commons movements to assist us with advice and policy proposals. It is our belief that the Ecuadorian people will be inspired by the best of what is happening abroad, in all countries of the world.

Hence our appeal to you, global co-operators and commoners.

If you are engaged in transformative social change that is inspired by open knowledge, co-operation, and the building of commons for the well being of all, we ask you to send us information and benchmark proposals on leading local or global initiatives in your area of expertise.

Imagine a society that is connected to open knowledge commons in every domain of human activity, based on free and open knowledge, code, and design that can be used by all citizens along with government and market players without the discrimination and disempowerment that follows from privatized knowledge.

Imagine an ethical and sustainable economy that is based on the creation of a co-operative commonwealth rooted in reciprocity, mutuality, peer-to-peer production, and the mobilization of an informed and engaged civil society.

Imagine the speeding up of social innovation and knowledge-sharing enabled by open knowledge commons in the fields of culture, technology, science, and every other field where local and global solutions can be shared and built upon.

Imagine that such open commons are linked to an ethical market and economy whereby individuals, community organisations, co-operatives, and commercial and social enterprises can freely co-produce such knowledge using enabling governance and property models that do not enclose the commons, but facilitate their growth.

Imagine an enabling and facilitating Partner State which encourages economic and social co-operation built on public/civil partnerships.

What would it take to achieve this? (((I don’t want to interrupt their peacenik shareable groove here, but the sourly cogent phrase “violent overthrow and comprehensive liquidation of the ruling class” leaps to mind.)))

Neither the Ecuadorian people alone, nor of course the FLOK Society research team, can offer full solutions. But together, in co-operation, we can envision and build proposals for a sustainable, open, and ethical society and economy which the Ecuadorian government could assist in coming into being, with concrete policies and support. (((Personally, I’d love to see even one bohemian district in Quito run on these principles. Build a “paradise for knowledge” the size of Christiania, Copenhagen or Montparnasse, Paris, and I can pretty well guarantee I’ll drop by. And I’ll bring a camera crew.)))

This is the first time that a nation-state and the President of a country has legitimized the desire of commoners and co-operators all over the world to create a more just and sustainable civilization, using commons-inspired principles. (((Got a Kickstarter? How about an Etsy site?)))

In the spirit of sharing and co-operation, we ask for your solidarity and support!

Our research streams focus on the following key areas:

Human Capabilities and Open Learning, Paul Bouchard
Changing the Productive Matrix, George Dafermos
Social Infrastructure & Institutional Innovation, John Restakis
Open Technical Infrastructures, Jenny Torres
Physical Commons, Janice Figueiredo

Help us turn vision into reality.

In Solidarity and Co-operation,

John Restakis, Research Associate, Co-operatives UK; Research Investigator, Legal and Institutional Frameworks Contact John

Michel Bauwens, Research Director; founder of the P2P Foundation and partner of the Commons Strategies group, Contact Michel

FLOK Research Team:

Daniel Araya, Paul Bouchard, George Dafermos, Janice Figueiredo, Jenny Torres
Co-signed by David Bollier and Silke Helfrich, Commons Strategies Group

For General Input, please send to Michel Bauwens; and Daniel Araya (Contact Daniel)

If you want to help us more concretely, check this page: http://en.wiki.floksociety.org/w/How_...

[regresa al menú]

KICHWA (((this is the best part, really. Imagine yourself becoming a Quito-based free software communard, and you leave fluent in the Quechua language. Truly a fantastic prospect.)))

Procomun del Mundo llankakkunaman paskashka willay

Kuyashka Procomún, Cooperativistas llankakkuna,

19 puncha, kuski killa, 2012 wata hatun rimaypi, Ecuador llaktamanta Pushak, Rafael Correa paypak Mamallaktamanta malta runakunata yanapachun mañarka, tukuy runakunapak yuyaypi hapirishpa “sumak kawsay” rikuy tiyachun paktana, makanakuna hatun willayta rurarka, paskashka.

FLOK Society (Free/Libre Open Knowledge) paktana yuyay, kayka yallichina llankayñanta rurankapa wiñachishkami kashka, shinallatak kay rikuyta paktankapa Mamallaktapak llaktayta rurankapami kan. Kayka Plan Nacional de Ecuador llankaywan kimirishkami kan, kishpiyrishka, paskashkapash yuyaymanta mana llukshishka, sapiyashka, tukuykuna kipaman alli kana, mana kashpaka, mana ‘sumak kawsay’ tiyankachu.

FLOK Society llankayka Ministerio Coordinador de Conocimiento y Talento Humano, la SENESCYT, (Secretaría Nacional de Educación Superior, Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación) & el IAEN (Instituto de Altos Estudios Nacionales) kamaywasikunawan tantarishpami sinchita llankashka kan, ayriwa killa, 2014 watapi, Mamallakta pushakkunata tantachinka, chaypi mushuk llankaykunata rikuchinkapami kan, hatun kamachikkuna, tantanakuykuna, procomún hatun yachakkunapash tantarinka. Shinallatak IAEN pushak, Carlos Prieto mushuk llankayta pushakkuna Xabier E. Barandiaran & Daniel Vázquez, Director de Investigación Michel Bauwens pushakkunapak, shukkunapak mushuk llankayka sinchi yanapaytami chaskirka

Kaypi FLOK Society: http://www.floksociety.org ashtawan riksina

Mushuk llankayta runakunawan kimirishpa kashpa, paskarishka, yanapay, tukukunaman procomún llankayta riksiman yuyakushpa yaykurina, chay hawa willayta kachachun mañanchik, ayllullaktapi, paykuna yachaypi hatun rikuchik mushuk kallarik hatun yuyaykunata kachapay.

Tukuy runa llankana karmakunapi procomún llankayman kimirishka runakunapi paskarishka yuyayta charipay, chayka unancha, kishpiyrishka wallpa, paskarishka yuyaypi tiksirishkami kanka, shinami tukuy llaktayukkuna, hatun kamachikkunantin, katunawanpash tantarishpa hapirishkami kanka. Chayka mana tsiknishka, shukpaklla kana yuyayta mana charinkachu.

Paktankapa imatak illan

Ecuador llaktamanta runakunapash paykunalla mana ushankachu, FLOK Society tantaripash tukuyta allichinata mana ushankachu. Tantarishpa, yanapanakushpami yuyarinata ushashun, runakunaman mushuk llankayta wallpashun, uni watapak kullkita charishun. Shinallatak paskarishka, sumak kachun. Ecuador llaktamanta hatun kamachikkuna mushukyarichun llankaypi yanapanata charin, chayka llaktaypi, ruraypimi kanka.

Ñukanchikpak kallpay taripaykunaka, kay ruraykunapimi tantarin, shina:

Mejoramiento de las capacidades humanas (Paul Bouchard)
Cambiando la Matriz Productiva (George Dafermos)
Marcos Legales e Innovaciones Institucionales (John Restakis)
Infraestructuras Técnicas Abiertas (Jenny Torres)
Procomunes Físicos (Janice Figueiredo)
Rikuykunata ruraypi churachun yanapaychik

Llakipi yanapay, llankaypi yanapay

Michel Bauwens, Director de Investigación; fundador de la P2P Foundation y socio del Commons Strategies Group. (email) o Daniel Araya (email),

John Restakis, Investigador Asociado, Co-operatives UK. (email)

Kaypi taripankapa mutsurishkakunapak shutikunata killkakatipay: http://en.wiki.floksociety.org/w/How_...

       

Meanwhile, in Free, Libre, Open Sourced, Shareable Ecuador

*Well, what with Chavez out of the way, this is probably the weirdest political development in South America. Open Source with Native American tribal values. Well, let’s see what kind of exports they come up with.

http://www.shareable.net/blog/how-the-flok-society-brings-a-commons-approach-to-ecuador’s-economy

“I recently had the pleasure of interviewing my colleagues Carlos Prieto del Campo, Xabier Barandiaran, and Daniel Vazquez from the FLOK Society, a project in Ecuador that aims to create a “free, libre, open knowledge” society. Read on to learn about our plan for influencing structural changes within the country’s economic model using the commons paradigm.

“Bethany Horne: What inspired the FLOK Society project? Can you describe its connection to the Ecuadorian government’s decision to embrace open knowledge?

“Daniel Vazquez: The idea for the FLOK Society—a “free, libre, open knowledge” society—comes straight from Ecuador’s five-year strategic plan called the Plan of Good Living, which was first published in 2009 (a second version was published this year, but is not yet available in English). The plan itself provides a path for transitioning away from Ecuador’s extractive, oil-reliant economic model toward one that is based on open and shared knowledge.

“More specifically, in 2012 a few members of aLabs, a free software company, were in Quito, Ecuador when Julian Assange solicited asylum at the Ecuadorian embassy in London. (((That figures.))) When the government responded positively, those individuals contacted The National Institute of Higher Education (IAEN by its Spanish initials), which is in charge of the collaborative academic investigation that will inform the transition I just described. Carlos Prieto, the director of IAEN, shared with them the Secretary of Science, Technology and Higher Education’s vision for changing Ecuador’s productive matrix and his strong belief that Ecuador needs to become a “paradise of knowledge.” (((That oughta be lively. Watch out for snakes.)))

“That was the starting point for FLOK. We created a proposal for an investigative process that would be carried out in conversation with the Ecuadorian public and the local, regional, and international scientific communities. At the end of the process, our goal is to create ten “base” documents from which policies can be drafted to enable Ecuador’s transition to a shared and free knowledge society for industry, education, scientific research, public institutions, infrastructure, etc.

I should also note that together with the government, civil society initiatives and social movements in Ecuador have a long history of contributing to a common, open knowledge society. This aspiration positions Ecuador within a global community of Internet activists, researchers, hackers, and commoners of all kinds who have long been waiting to join a political, social, and institutional commitment to designing a new economy and society based on the principles of a free knowledge commons.

Bethany Horne: Can you tell us more about the concept of good living and how it relates to the FLOK Society?

Daniel Vazquez: The concept of good living means harmony, equality, fairness, and solidarity. It’s antithetical to the accumulation of wealth or infinite economic growth that isn’t shared in common. The Plan of Good Living defines “good living” as a way of life that allows for happiness and cultural and environmental diversity. Good living is also an indigenous concept, known in Ecuador and other Andean countries as Sumak Kawsay, a Kichwa phrase. For us, Sumak Kawsay is a product of Sumak Yachay, which means good knowledge. Shared economic prosperity comes from the sharing of knowledge, effort, and technology. The Plan of Good Living establishes a clear framework for the creation of a peer-to-peer, knowledge-based economy in Ecuador….

       

The latest RE/Search newsletter

*Well, there’s nothing else like ‘em, let’s admit it.

WELCOME TO V. VALE’s RE/SEARCH NEWSLETTER #121, DECEMBER 2013
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TABLE OF CONTENTS:
1. MESSAGE FROM EDITOR: EBABZ Zine Fest, RE/Search Mentors, More…
1A. NEW FROM RE/SEARCH: BRAND NEW RE/SEARCH POCKETBOOK: Ed Hardy (interviews) – in stores soon! (We expect to have copies soon!) Also, TINY LIMITED EDITION of SURREALISM SHOW CATALOG (100 made) only available direct from RE/Search!
2. The Counter Culture Hour Sat Dec 14, 2013 – 6:00 PM PACIFIC TIME – SF cable channel 29, also simulcast on-line — Hidé from Japanese punk band Ultra Bidé

http://www.bavc.org/public-access-tv/... (simulcast only, not on demand )
3. **MEDITATION SPACE** [blank]
4. FORTHCOMING EVENTS:
5. What We’ve Attended/What We’ve Been Reading/Seeing:
6. MEDITATION SPACE No. 2
7. Recommended Links – send some!
8. QUOTE from J.G. Ballard, always more relevant than ever
9. Letters from Readers
10. Sponsors (Please check ‘em out! – they make this “free” newsletter possible!)
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1. MESSAGE FROM YOUR EDITOR, V. VALE: “Zine Publishing May Be More Relevant Than Ever; the same goes for ZineFests!”

[Order before Dec 25 & have your order gift-wrapped in special hand-silkscreened RE/Search wrapping paper! (limited supply; first come, first served! Made in the RE/Search office.) www.researchpubs.com ]

No matter how much time you spend in front your iScreen (laptop, cellphone, iPad, desktop (does anybody use desktop computers anymore?!), most people would agree that it’s actually a lot more fun to talk with someone a few feet away, in person. 3-D beats 2-D, for one thing—there’s more information. And 4D is even better—being with another human in the same room in linear time is a much fuller, richer experience and probably more memorable—is “remember-able” a word yet?

Saturday Dec 7 we woke up at 7:30AM and made it to the East Bay Zine Fest (EBABZ), put on by Tomas (Rad Dad zine and now book) and his friends RSP (Rock Scissors Paper) at 2050 Center St, Berkeley, close to the Farmers Market. The first person we talked to was Kelly Dessaint, whose zines we praised in our Sept 2013 Newsletter. He was setting up a table with his wife Irina (BTW, they are looking for a place to live in the East Bay that will accept a cat; if you know of any leads please email us at info@researchpubs.com – we NEED people like these to move to the Bay Area)(((man, that is Community Values at work; best of luck to the cat, etc))).

We had already felt we had lived the life described in Kelly’s autobiography/novel A Masque of Infamy (“a metalhead from L.A. moves to small town Alabama, discoveres Punk Rock, rebels against the rednecks and Bible-thumpers, deals with an abusive home life and winds up in a mental hospital”) (((with a cast of thousands)))), and thankfully we were the recipients of two more follow-up zines, Women Got Me Drinking, and The Detour Guide, which continued the life of the young narrator. Now, we instantly felt transported back to the days when novels were serialized in weekly (or monthly) pulp magazines and the reader could hardly wait until the next installment. Without giving anything away, WGMD gives a very funny lesson on how one’s perception of “reality” can easily be skewed by one’s hopes, or desires, or horniness, or…

The Detour Guide (Piltdownlad #5) had a beautiful silver-blue metallic cover (what kind of paper stock is this?!) and 64 pages of yet more compelling narratives virtually impossible to put down, the longest augmented by some almost drunkenly-weird drawings by Nick Knudson. Amused that Kelly refers to Irina as “The Wife.” Never wanted to visit New Orleans (it is The South, after all) but K.D. makes it sound at least tolerable. “The Detour Guide” story was funny. “Another Detour” was somewhat appalling—yikes! “Gettin’ Lost Downtown” was contemporary as yesterday, especially if one has walked around within 10 blocks of the neighborhood of The Last Bookstore in downtown L.A. All the zine reviews were, well, heartwarmingly-written while remaining hyperconscious of process, kinda celebratory of supposedly outdated, pre-computer technology which can still be deployed in the production of a paper zine today. Kelly Dessaint makes us want to go out in search of an Olympia typewriter… Never thought I’d ever have “typewriter envy” again, having produced Search & Destroy on a borrowed IBM Correcting Selectric II belonging to City Lights Bookstore, but… Love to see a sci-fi apocalypse movie in which computers and the Internet are long a thing of the past… Kelly Dessaint’s work can be found at kellydessaint.com

The next visitor was Youssef Alaoui Fdili, who gave us a selection of beautiful gold business card-size “conceptual artworks” whose subject matter reflected his obsessions or “likes”: a vintage balloon holding a sailing ship, an “alchemical” drawing of a man and woman lying together somehow merged into one body, and other imagistic voyages into past centuries. Then he presented to us The Blue Demon, with a cover drawing or engraving of an old sailing ship tumbling vertically downward over an enormous waterfall (actually, it’s the “Maelstrom” cover illustration by Alberto Martini 1902-1909 for Tales of Edgar Allan Poe). Somewhat casually we started reading this and practically before we knew it we had FINISHED THE ENTIRE BOOK! It’s been decades since we immersed ourselves in (literally) the horror fiction of William Hope Hodgson, Edgar Allan Poe and H.P. Lovecraft (plus others), but this short novel (with a definite original twist; the hero is a “Muslim”) ranks with the best writings of those ground-breaking explorers of the dark depths of psychological nightmarishness just on the borderlands adjacent to utter madness. We highly recommend this self-published book (zine): youssefalaoui.tumblr.com or write iuoala@gmail.com – also: facebook.com/iuoala

Jackson Quinn and Deborah B. furnished Weathergirl & Camera Two, who “discover a sinister worldwide conspiracy involving weather manipulation, mind control, human sacrifice, and the global elite, it could be the story of the century—if they could just stay sober!” “Chemtrails, fluoride, GMOs, vaccines and smartphones exist to break our hearts, poison our bodies, control our minds, and enslave our souls!” How about “Signs of an alcohol deficiency include: () increases muscle coordination () restoration of proper judgment () heightened memory & attention span () Alertness () Increased heart rate () Increased ability to operate motor vehicles, heavy machinery, aircraft, etc. () Successfully forming and expressing coherent thoughts without slurring () Weight loss () Absence of birth defects in offspring () Enjoying a proper night’s sleep () Healthy checking account balance [etc]… (((yeah, how about that, it’s exciting news, etc))) There’s plenty to ponder in this graphic design work. pavementpark.net

We overheard snippets of conversation like, “I’ve been reading so many zines, I’ve hardly been exposed to any corporate media in months!” The person next to us, a young man sporting a gi-normous beard, brought his own hand-hewn-out-of-scrap-doors-and-other-discarded-lumber “cabinet of curiosities” which unfolded to showcase all his handmade zines, graphics, booklets and whatnot on little shelves. This was REAL, not virtual!

It seems amazing when people come up and just give you their zines! Next time I must bring or make [or both] some zines specifically just to TRADE…trading seems like a slap in the face of the not-yet-dead capitalist dictatorship of our lives. What can kill capitalism? What will the economy of 200 years from now be like? (((like crickets chirping in an anthropocenic desert, etc)))

Kelsey W. gave us her zine Come Find Out #9 (made in several colors: yellow, blue, red, green; we chose the yellow cover) which was “printed on a Risograph in Emeryville, CA, at Come Find Out Press, Dec 2013.” This zine was “dedicated to Ferguson Fenool The Cat, long may he be remembered for his tricksome shoulder dances, agility and radness. Nov 1, 2012-Nov 23, 2013.” Drawings. Comics. At least two harrowing stories, maybe more. “Potato Orgy for One” is a particularly toothsome “confessional” for potato lovers (shades of Van Gogh) such as ourselves. comefindoutthezine.tumblr.com comefindout1934@gmail.com

A smiling young woman in a hat festooned with buttons gave us two mini-zines: “Small World Time Negating Apparatus” and “White Magick.” Elliptical! anathemalit.webbly.com fourthwaycomics.com … Another young woman gave us “Scriblings” [sic]: drawings, collages, text collage – mystere… kalamkan@comcast.net … A young woman with a exuberant vertical mop of black hair gave us PERV, a preview comic by Serena Noline. “The comics that changed me…” “Under the Sheets” (sad tale). Nice photo of Bette Page on the back cover. [no ordering information] … Who gave us NEGATIVE PARTY? It’s quite beautifully produced: cream cover stock, rich black comics inside. Sample: “Famous Pukes in Punk History: After two pints of vodka and a couple quaaludes Carby Crash was able to take the stage like a puzzled panther on a summer night in 1978. The legions of crazy Germs fans watched through puke flecked eyes as they closed their set with a fist fight.” Negative Party Press, 340 Capp St #1, SF 94110. Travis.Igler@gmail.com … Jack P. gave us a poem about his daughter. Lastly, Jacob McCann gave us his totally written-by-hand zine titled Heavy Lidded: Songs from the Bummer Punk Epoch (collages, poems). Much angst, social excoriation and faux humor (or is it irony) especially the closing comic featuring “Happy Rino” [sic] Actually, the more you look at these collage pages, the more you might like ‘em; they become more decipherable and little phrases leap out at you, then other images get foregrounded…

We played a CD from noisemetsound.com and liked track #4 featuring male vocals, violin (or is it viola?) and guitar… very musical. The other tracks were “avant-garde”-like…

As fallout from EBABZ, on Tuesday we received a surprise visit from A– (for “Anarchy” – a joke!), who wheeled her bicycle into our office. Right away we started solving the problems of the world: 1) roll back rents to 50 years ago. Unoccupied building space must be made available for low-cost housing or culture-making. 2) no more US corporate manufacturing overseas; bring the jobs back home! Everything used in America has to be MADE in America, including Apple products. 3) double the minimum wage; it won’t cost anything… 4) How can we imagine a future 200 years from now WITHOUT CAPITALISM (as it now exists)? ETC. Fun!

We were also given books by friends this month. Penelope Rosemont, a founder of the Chicago Surrealist Group, was in town to attend to the art show she curated at Emerald Tablet, 80 Fresno Alley, and participate in a City Lights reading/speaking event. (Incidentally, Marian Wallace produced a beautiful, all-color 8.5×11″ 16-page photo/text catalog in an printing of 100 copies; if you want one, write: info@researchpubs.com – hint: it’s a “rare collectible”!) Penelope kindly gave us the new hardback release of The Collected Poems of Philip Lamantia, a mentor of V. Vale (see more at the end of this newsletter). We’ve been reading it every night… [note from Marc P: "Archive.org has preserved some cool stuff! The poetry lecture i was trying to remember is a PHILIP LAMANTIA lecture from 1979, listen to it! https://archive.org/details/AM_1979_0...

Another book that promises to be slightly more than incredible has a fair amount of text in French that we will get to translating ASAP: a gorgeous 9x12" hardbound book focusing on JG Ballard and The Atrocity Exhibition (the RE/Search special edition, that is) is cited as inspiration. Full of surprisingly prophetic illustrations taken from little-seen "sci-fi" magazines such as New Worlds, Astounding Science Fiction and David Pringle's own Interzone (Pringle is the foremost Ballard historian/archivist, followed by Rick McGrath, Mike Holliday and others). THIS IS A MUST FOR BALLARD "COLLECTORS." A beautiful "achievement for the ages" by Director Alexis Georgacopoulos and his associates. Write alexis.georgacopoulos@ecal.ch for instructions as how to order your own copy of ATROCITY EXHIBITION ARCHIVE PARADOXE. Hard to recommend this book highly enough!

Now, longtime RE/Search readers will recognize that our main "trustworthy" inspirations are Ballard, Burroughs, Lamantia, plus the territories of Surrealism, Situationism, Dada and more—yes, there is a rebel-cultural-continuum reaching far back in time and embracing the entirety of Planet Earth. (((Really? Gosh, wow, tell me more, etc))) But, we do NOT include as a primary influence, say, Aleister Crowley... even though we tried to read everything by him and Austin Osman Spare, etc. It seems that as a matter of historical record all the Crowley devotees we've personally encountered are besmirched with unsavory ethics (yes, they will steal from you because, heh heh, "Do What Thou Wilt" is the whole of their law) (((What? scandal! unheard of! etc))) and a desire to CONTROL everyone they meet. Sure, this will arouse protests from a handful of our readers who are fans of the O.T.O. and its imitative subsidiaries, (((hang the lot of 'em))) but so be it. Any such occult groups are CORPORATIONS with mission statements—wise up! So, the first question to ask is, when encountering ANY media or member of any group: IS THIS A CORPORATION? (like, VICE magazine or amazon.com?! Ah-hum, YES.)

Here at RE/Search, we try very hard to "tell it like it is." And yes, we cherish an active hatred of gurus, cults and their larger, more powerful relatives: CORPORATIONS... CORPORATE media, hegemonies, hierarchies and their parasitical tentacles reaching out into the brains of almost everyone alive. But, corporate hatred can be fun! You say you like The New York Times—well, try hating it! We consider it aimed at the middle-class corporate-slave mentality. Again, corporate hatred can be fun... Try it some time… (((Do I have to read Crowley first? How about Jack Parsons? At least he was a sci-fi fan.)))

We hope that RE/Search readers are Marxists in the Groucho sense: "I wouldn't join any group that would have me as a member." Black Humor, Anti-Authoritarianism & D-I-Y = Our Muse! Our xmas wish is for everybody reading this to try to, this month, read a real book on real paper (preferably published by RE/Search, ha ha), thus insulated from the immersive 24/7 environment of advertising. Good luck!

1A. BRAND NEW RE/SEARCH POCKETBOOK: Ed Hardy (interviews) - in stores imminently! (We expect to have copies soon!)
ALSO: LIMITED EDITION of SURREALISM SHOW CATALOG (100 made) only available direct from RE/Search! 16 large color pages with art and bios on Winston Smith, Penelope Rosemont, Marian Wallace and others.

http://www.researchpubs.com/shop/surr...

2. Counter Culture Hour - Sat Dec 14, 2013 6pm: __

The Counter Culture Hour (aka RE/SEARCH TV) is also simulcast ON-LINE as well as on cable access San Francisco Channel 29 -- 6pm Pacific Time, Sat Dec 14, 2013. Hidé of Japan punk group Ultra Bidé. Hidé has some very interesting theories about music, sound and recording, and imparts his thoughts in a most intriguing manner, in conversation with V. Vale.
- see this link at broadcast time:

http://www.bavc.org/public-access-tv/...

You need a fairly decent internet connection and computer to "get it."
USA west coast: 6:00 PM Saturday, Dec 14, 2013
USA east coast: 9:00 PM Sunday, Dec 15, 2013
Tokyo: 10:00 AM Sunday, Dec 15, 2013
If you cannot get this online email us at info@researchpubs.com

See RE/Search channel on youtube: "researchpubs"

3. This is blank space a la John Cage aka "Meditation Space"!

4. FORTHCOMING EVENTS (San Francisco unless Otherwise Noted)

() FREE Thur Dec 12, 7pm SFAI party features Kal Spelletich, Chris Johanson and other artists...

() FREE Fri Dec 13, 4-8pm closing party for Electric Works Gallery, 1360 Mission/9th-10th St, SF

() **OAKLAND** $5 (All proceeds to Vinsent Anthony Soltero's funeral costs) Fri Dec 13, 7pm on **OAKLAND** One of our favorite living bands, NASA SPACE UNIVERSE, plays a rare show (RE/Search will TRY HARD to be there!) World Rage Center, 917 35th St., Oakland 94608! ALSO on bill: The Coltranes, Fossor House, Meathead, Fishbreath. http://nasaspaceuniverse.bandcamp.com/

() FREE Sat Dec 14 annual Santacon, SF (see our PRANKS 2 book!): https://www.facebook.com/events/72571...

() FREE? Sat Dec 14, 4-8pm, Canyon Cinema Pop-Up with Jonathan Marlow & Jeff Lambert: Clowns, Japes, Jokes & Other Funny Business from Canyon Cinema, at Kadist A.F., 3295 20th St/Folsom St (#12 bus!) , SF.

() FREE Sun Dec 15 11-3pm, XMAS LAST GASP Warehouse Sale!, 2948 20th St/Florida (use keypad to enter), SF. Support local San Francisco publishing! For Book Lovers Only!

() $5-15 Dec 17, 8pm, El Rio, 3158 Mission St, SF "A Fundraiser for Nick Knave's Puppetsploitation Project. "A GOLDRUSH CHRISTMAS" https://www.facebook.com/events/24574...

() $ Wed Dec 18, benefit screening for Internet Archive of Rick Prelinger's Short San Francisco Films presentation: http://ialostlandscapes.brownpapertic... (Internet Archive's scanning room burned down, hence this benefit)

() FREE Thur Dec 19, 5:30-7:30pm. Rena Bransten Gallery, 77 Geary, SF: Tracey Snelling, Marci Washington. Opening Reception.

() $ Thur Dec 19, 7pm: New People's Cinema, 1746 Post St, SF: Another Hole in the Head Festival presents The G-String Horror *Demon Cut* World Premiere! RE/SEARCH plans to be there! http://g-stringhorror.com/

() $18 Fri Dec 20, 9pm, Elbo Room, 647 Valencia St, SF: El Vez (Robert Lopez, founding member of The Zeros) and Rosie Flores present a Xmas Show. elbo.com elvez.net

() FREE **LOS ANGELES** Jan 31-Feb 2, 2014 L.A. Art Book Fair! RE/Search will have a table - visit us! Geffen Contemporary at LA MOCA, Japantown, L.A. http://laartbookfair.net/about

() FREE (?) Feb 14-16, 2014: International San Francisco Mail Art Conference titled Ex Postal Facto Conference - go to www.expostalfacto.wordpress.com, email inquiriers if you wish to participate to: redletterdayzine@gmail.com - RE/SEARCH will have a table at this gala! You are welcome to submit artwork, but please do not expect compensation - this is MAIL ART!!!

5. What We've Attended or WANTED to Attend/What We've Been Reading/Seeing/Listening to/What We've Been Sent/Given, or Seen

() We loved the Peter Brotzmann (drums: Paal Nilssen) free jazz concert at 55 Taylor St, SF (Center for New Music) - our first time at this venue. Sat Nov 23, 2013. Our friend from Hamburg Peter Sempel escorted us to this over-the-top and sold-out performance. Peter is a filmmaker from the 70s Punk days; google him and you may learn a lot! http://centerfornewmusic.com/calendar... …

() Rick McGrath of Canada has produced his own JG BALLARD Anthology book; - it features photos by Ana Barrado!

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED BY RE/SEARCH: JG Ballard expert Rick McGrath sent us his new 8.5x11" hardback on JG Ballard and it is beautiful (also rare, hard to find) and for us, totally engrossing. Every night we read ourselves to sleep with it. Fun to read the color reproductions (60 pages!!) of actual bibliographies, letters, an interview with additions/emendations/corrections by JGB himself - more challenging and fun than reading "normal" typeset words on pages. Also, the fact that this is not a corporately-published book but a labor of love, makes the experience of owing this actual physical object much more "poignant." In fact, we at RE/Search need to find out the nuts-and-bolts of how this book was physically produced, and how long it took.

Rick McGrath himself posted on Facebook:
"Tired of waiting for Amazon to properly list this? It turns out I can order & have the printer ship these beauties myself, so I've listed both on eBay and have been able to eliminate Amazon's somewhat greedy cut and flog the book directly to you... at substantial savings, it turns out, as I can print & mail this thing from both the US and the UK... from my computer to your hands... it's the future, folks! The JG Ballard Book. Hardcover. Color. 60+ pages actual JGB handwriting! New!

"Introducing The JG Ballard Book, an oversized collection of articles, ideas, interviews, insights and a travelogue... as well as uniquely featuring hi-rez reproductions of over 60 pages of handwritten and typed letters from JG Ballard himself. The JG Ballard Book is 192 (count 'em) full-colour large format pages of fun and fascinating insights into Da Man -- his life, his work and his planar intersections. The JG Ballard Book features contributions from some well-known denizens of the Ballardian universe: Toby Litt suggests Ballard’s political ideology may be as inverted as his plots; David Pringle offers up his thoughtful 1984 interview, J.G. Ballard: Psychoanalyst of the Electronic Age; Michael Bonsall cuts it open with JG Ballard in the Dissecting Room; Michael Holliday stitches together all the disconnected Atrocity Exhibition bits in Desperate Measures: A History of the Atrocity Exhibition; seminal Ballard bibliographer James Goddard contributes actual Ballard documents from his extensive collection, a total of 56 pages of Ballard’s handwritten text, interview corrections, lists and more from JGB's intense and experimental late 1960s and 1970s; Rick Poynor paints a picture of how Ballard has been treated by the visual media in What Does J.G. Ballard Look Like?; Sam Francis, fresh from his acclaimed study, The Psychological Fictions of J.G. Ballard, amuses us with an unpublished 2005 Ballard interview; Prof Peter Brigg clocks in with JG Ballard: Time Out of Mind; Jordi Costa, the creative force behind the JGB exhibition in Barcelona, takes a big screen look with Ballardoscope: Some Attempts at Approaching the Writer as a Visionary; Paul A. Green amazingly paints a pure Ballard pastiche with The Impossibility Exhibition; and Rick McGrath re-imagines his 2007 journey to Shanghai to visit the few remains of JG Ballard’s youth in the “wicked city”, with original letters, maps and drawings by Ballard. The book features original cover art by Luca del Baldo and 10 delicious photographs by Ana Barrado. The JG Ballard Book is a large format, must-have collection for any Ballard fan!"

Hear, hear! This is now one of our favorite books of all time! Beautifully produced; a rare "niche" item and object.
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trksi... BUYER FROM THE UK/EUROPE? PLEASE NOTE: email me for the exact delivery cost, as this also ships from the UK.

() intv w/John Waters. Sadly, we missed him at Yoshi's on Sat Nov 23 - nobody told us about this show, or we would have put it in This Newsletter! Here's an article: http://www.ebar.com/arts/art_article.... - Well, now we have a Google Alert on John Waters; maybe that might help...

() () FREE Sat Nov 30, 1-4pm Ralph Metzner at Emerald Tablet, 80 Fresno St. Signup at City Lights Books, 261 Columbus for this event.

() FREE Emerald Tablet presents
AND for Emerald Tablet's schedule of events: http://emtab.org/

() $ Open NOW through November: Thrillpeddlers' Shocktoberfest 14 Jack the Ripper, Horror, Madness, Spanking and Song! Grand Guignol Theatre commemorating the 125th Anniversary of the Jack the Ripper Murders. www.thrillpeddlers.com San Francisco is lucky to have the Thrillpeddlers here, in their own Hypnodrome Theater at 575 10th St, SF... You don't want to be one of those people who said, "I never saw the Thrillpeddlers; wish I had gone while they were still here!" Support worthwhile LOCAL causes…We saw the Jack the Ripper plays tonight and highly recommend them—did you know Jack the Ripper may have come to San Francisco?! The new cast features vocalists who can really sing (one is almost opera level), a live pianist (not Scrumbly Koldwyn), and some venerable faux-British actors with lengthy c.v.s. Amazing!

() FREE Tue Dec 3, 530pm, Union Square, SF. David Calkins/Ken Goldberg's Robot does a Chanukah Lighting http://billgrahammenorah.org/

() FREE Wed 7pm Dec 4, Caffe Trieste: V. Vale plays piano in a variety show curated by Fanny Renoir (she will do two original songs) along with the Ned Boynton band, guitarist Will Rogers, and other musicians.

() FREE Wed Dec 4, 7pm GARY SNYDER at City Lights Books, 261 Columbus, SF

() ) FREE Thur Dec 5, 6-9pm: Opening Reception. (Show stays up til Jan 4, 6pm.) Adobe Books Backroom Gallery, Folsom/24th St, SF. "Where science is stranger than fiction... Featuring: The Cyborgesses (Stephanie Mansolf and Jen Ontiveros), Stephanie Rohlfs, Amber Stucke, Hanhan Zhang. Curated by Katie Hood Morgan.
"In the tropical forests of Africa, Brazil and elsewhere, the devastating effects can be observed. Entire colonies have been known to be decimated by the disease. The infected carpenter ant climbs down from the safety of the canopy, finds a northern-facing plant 25 cm from the ground, latches its mandibles to the central vein of the underside of a large leaf, and waits to die. In time, a dark fungal stalk will emerge from the back of its neck and release spores, helping to propagate the Ophiocordyceps unilateralis fungus over great distances. The zombified ant’s purpose fulfilled, the shell of its body may cling there for a time before he crumbles into nothing.
"Humans imagine that they exist at the very top of a complex hierarchy of plant and animal life. We are blissfully ignorant of (or rail futilely against) the forces of nature acting on us both internally and externally. The artists here choose to relinquish this control and instead dig deep into the unknown--the edges of our knowledge, where biology meets imagination. They embrace the fungus among us.

"Stephanie Rohlfs grafts cacti with distant cousins and neighbors to create familiar yet unnatural forms.
"The Cyborgesses encourage a strange and colorful garden to grow. Forms both organic and fantastic creep beyond the gallery walls.
"Hanhan Zhang’s sensual ceramic flowers sprout from the walls, extending tentacles or perhaps sexual organs towards the visitor.
"Amber Stucke creates highly detailed scientific drawings which layer imagined forms with a close analysis of symbiotic organisms such as lichen and algae. She offers paper dusted with wild mushroom spores for viewers to take away.
"Anthropochory is the scientific term for dispersal of plant matter by humans. Please take one. Be our host.

http://www.adobebackroomgallery.com/?...

() FREE Thur Dec 5, 4-8pm: lighting of the gigantic xmas tree at McLaren Lodge, Fell/Stanyan St, corner of Golden Gate Park. More fun than you think!

() ** NEW YORK** $ NOW Oct 2-Jan 12,: Chris Burden at the New Museum! newmuseum.org () Mike Kelley Oct 13-Feb 2 at MOMA PS1 - momaps1.org

() FREE **BERKELEY** Sat Dec 7 10-5pm, 2050 Center St (near Shattuck BART), EAST BAY ALTERNATIVE ZINE Fest (EBABZ) organized by Rad Dad publisher Tomas Moniz (and friends SPR). http://www.eastbayalternativebookandz...

() $ Mon Dec 9, Castro Theater SF: I Am Divine - feature film on the John Waters film star & collaborator.

() FREE Tue Dec 10, 7pm Kenneth Rexroth Appreciation with Ken Knabb, David Meltzer, Kim Stanley Robinson at City Lights Books, 261 Columbus, SF

() $ Wed Dec 11, 9pm: New People's Cinema: "The Shining: Forwards and Backwards is exactly what it sounds like: a screening of The Shining with a (silent) reverse projection of The Shining screened on top. While I don’t believe the conspiracies that Stanley Kubrick hid secret messages in the movie, the man was a notorious symmetry junkie, and the structure of the film makes for some eerie moments, like the “Here’s Johnny” scene superimposed over a calm, pre-freak-out Jack Nicholson being welcomed to the hotel. You’ve seen lots of haunted-house movies, but have you ever seen a movie haunt itself?" http://anotherholeinthehead.festivalg...

6. MEDITATION SPACE No. 2

7. RECOMMENDED LINKS (send some!)

() from Mako: J.G. Ballard - High Rise | To the best of our KNOWLEDGE
ttbook.org/book/jg-ballard-high-rise‎ (NPR)
www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/books/book.... Donald Fagen mentions JGBallard

() http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XogCT2... - this is the first time I've heard myself (V. Vale) playing organ with Blue Cheer, thanks to Ben Van Meter's [?] sound recording! (& collage 8mm film, of course). THANKS, BEN – hope you’re still alive! – V. Vale

() Wanda Coleman, featured in the RE/Search ANGRY WOMEN book, has died; R.I.P. http://www.latimes.com/obituaries/la-...

() from Kimric S: http://www.flickr.com/photos/26639011...

() from Ralf: http://www.theguardian.com/world/gall...

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/...

() from Wolfgang Muller: http://www.hr-online.de/website/radio...

() from Steve B: http://capturefilmandvideo.com/282/

http://www.symmetrytheatre.com/symmet...

() from Karen M: http://archive.srl.org/2013/11/08/ass... from Hole Gallery

() from skot a: http://www.theguardian.com/music/2013... cultural ambassadors
http://moussemagazine.it/articolo.mm?... – It’s like Pop Art in reverse: Warhol took the content of mass culture and brought it into art, while they’re using “art” as content and spreading it through contemporary forms of mass media—but really they’re only producing a new form of kitsch, complete with mawkish sentimentality.

() from Greg L: http://gizmodo.com/5444850/rca-airner...

() W.S. Burroughs PHOTOGRAPHER: http://www.yareah.com/2013/11/10/2526...

() from Phil G: http://cachemonet.com/

() from Regan K: http://www.hitfix.com/motion-captured...
http://musicformaniacs.blogspot.com/2... Who knew?

() http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8efkE...

() from RU Sirius: http://stealthissingularity.com/2013/...

() from Michael S: http://www.sciencefriday.com/ Click on “When Water Flows Uphill”

() from Wolfgang Muller (Deadly Doris): Die Tödliche Doris: STOPP (der Information) 1983 – 2011
als 12inch Vinyl & booklet, limited Edition: http://www.squoodge.de/prestashop/
und Video-Clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEKAdj...

() from G.K.: http://www.thebolditalic.com/articles...

() from Dave S: http://www.thisiscolossal.com/2013/11...

() John Waters website: http://www.dreamlandnews.com

() from Mike D: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4l1gI7... Dave Brubeck/Ralph J. Gleason

() from V in London: http://mentalfloss.com/article/31932/... – internet scavenger hunt for “cyptohackers”…
https://medium.com/p/9f6896d92c79 (which side are you on?—Medium)

() from Amy J: http://www.odditycentral.com/news/det...

() from Ruby R: http://dangerousminds.net/comments/th...

() See Ron Turner, Last Gasp founder, get “roasted” – full video: http://fora.tv/2013/10/16/2013_Barbar...

() the gift that keeps on giving: a Google Alert on John Waters, once a week, the best of…

() support this Travis project: https://www.facebook.com/IndustrialSo...

() http://askbrock.wordpress.com/2013/12... (there are **2** parts)

() from Ken Goldberg: “This is a great opportunity for artists, please forward to anyone who might be interested in applying: Resurrecting 1967 #Art and #Technology program, @LACMA announces call for proposals: #ArtplusTech https://www.lacma.org/lab

() from “Ileana”: “One of your J.G. Ballard interviews was featured in the online version of the British fashion/culture mag, Dazed & Confused: http://www.dazeddigital.com/artsandcu... BTW, I came upon it by accident yesterday when I was reading my news feed on the bus!” – [V's reply: strange; I have a Google alert on "J.G. Ballard" and didn't get a notification... is Google "slipping"... ? Hmm...]

() photo of V. Vale taken 10 months ago: http://www.dazeddigital.com/artsandcu...

8. QUOTES

() “If it wasn’t recorded, it didn’t happen.”—J.G. Ballard

9. LETTERS FROM READERS:

() “Dear Friends — I want to invite you to the 8th edition of LOST LANDSCAPES OF SAN FRANCISCO, to screen Tuesday, December 17, 7:30 pm, at the wonderful Castro Theatre, San Francisco.

“I also want to invite you to a very different event: a four-screen video installation that’s a cousin, but not a clone, of LOST LANDSCAPES. It’s called BAY MOTION: CAPTURING SAN FRANCISCO BAY ON FILM, and it’s opening at Oakland Museum of California this Friday, November 9, and running through June 29, 2014. The Museum’s link is here: http://www.museumca.org/exhibit/bay-m...

“This year’s LOST LANDSCAPES will bring together familiar and unseen archival film clips showing San Francisco as it was and is no more. Blanketing the 20th-century city, from the Bay to Ocean Beach, this screening includes newly-discovered images of Playland and Sutro Baths; the waterfront; families living and playing in their neighborhoods; detail-rich streetscapes of the late 1960s; the 1968 San Francisco State strike; Army and family life in the Presidio; buses, planes, trolleys and trains; a selected reprise of greatest hits from years 1-7; and much, much more. As usual, you’ll be the star at the glorious Castro — audience members are asked to identify places and events, ask questions, share their thoughts, and create an unruly interactive symphony of speculation about the city we’ve lost and the city we’d like to live in.

“The link to buy LOST LANDSCAPES tickets is here: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/even...
“Here’s Long Now Foundation’s link describing the Castro event: http://longnow.org/seminars/02013/dec...
“Looking forward to seeing you! — Rick Prelinger”

() “V., I’ve been aware of, and a fan of your work for awhile now. If I had to guess it was probably 13 or 14 years ago that I was introduced to RE/Search. When I was in high school I got a job packing records for Elden M (Allegory Chapel Ltd. and former employee of Subterranean Records) and Debbie Jaffe (Master Slave Relationship) at their Blackmetal.com record label / distro. Needless to say it was a very interesting job and exposed me to many wonderful subcultures that I might not have learned about otherwise. I think the Industrial Culture Handbook was the first RE/Search book I picked up. Over the years I’ve accumulated about 10 books published by you. I must say, they never disappoint. I few years ago I bought some books and the wonderful Burroughs shirt from you at the Anarchist Book Fair, that is the only time before this I have bought your books directly from you.

“I had been meaning to read Ballard for awhile. I read The Drought about 2 months ago and was blown away. Not long after I was at a local used book store and found Super-Cannes, Running Wild, and Cocaine Nights. I tore through those and was still hungry for more. That’s where you come in!
“I am also aware of SRL and was fortunate enough to catch the show they did at the Shipyard in Berkeley back in 2003 (i think). It was the most amazing show / performance I’ve ever been to.
“Thank you and keep up the great work! — Mike Potter”

() “Hello ~ just wanted to tell you about a new book to experience –
“I was stunned a few months back when i went to City Lights Bookstore to see/hear Richard Hell and found out that the Philip Lamantia works were ‘out of print’ … i thought ‘how could this be??’ but now Philip’s entire published works plus other material are available in this one volume mentioned below, via city lights. With Philips wife, Nancy Peters as one of the editors – well … i know what i want for christmas but besides that it is a must, in my opinion, for anyone intrigued by Surrealism, symbolism, dream work and imagination. hey … he changed my life w/words. You can read about the new book below…

“I have hardly ever seen Patti Smith so transfixed (((me neither, etc))) and taken away by art as i did when i had patti on my pomo literati radio program on KUSF and i was playing Philip Lamantia reading his own work, she shused everyone in the room and asked if she could use my headphones. she sat back and closed her eyes and listened grinning from ear to ear. she later thanked me profusely saying ” thank you for bringing me the voice of Philip Lamantia, i have never HEARD him, it was MAGICK!!” and so it was. it was a moment. The book will have many. – Frank Andrick”

“Many poets have contributed to the greatness of City Lights, but few more so than North Beach’s own Philip Lamantia (1927-2005). Lamantia published his earliest work in avant-garde magazines when he was 15, then at 16 went to NYC to join the war-exiled Paris surrealists. Known as the foremost American surrealist, (((no offense to Philip, but how could anybody be more “foremost” than Man Ray, for heaven’s sake))) he also played a role in the Beat Generation, participating in the Six Gallery reading in 1955 and influencing Ginsberg’s Howl. From the ’60s onward, he was published by City Lights. Collected Poems gathers all of his published work and key unpublished poems and includes an extensive biographical essay—everything you need in one package.—Recommended by Garrett Caples, City Lights Books”

“The Collected Poems of Philip Lamantia represents the lifework of the most visionary poet of the American postwar generation. Philip Lamantia (1927-2005) played a major role in shaping the poetics of both the Beat and the Surrealist movements in the United States. First mentored by the San Francisco poet Kenneth Rexroth, the teenage Lamantia also came to the attention of the French Surrealist leader André Breton, who, after reading Lamantia’s youthful work, hailed him as a “voice that rises once in a hundred years.” Later, Lamantia went “on the road” with Jack Kerouac and shared the stage with Allen Ginsberg at the famous Six Gallery reading in San Francisco, where Ginsburg first read Howl. Throughout his life, Lamantia sought to extend and renew the visionary tradition of Romanticism in a distinctly American vernacular, drawing on mystical lore and drug experience in the process. The Collected Poems gathers not only his published work but also an extensive selection of unpublished or uncollected work; the editors have also provided a biographical introduction.”
Publisher University of California Press
Format Hardcover
Nb of pages 512 p.
ISBN-100520269721

https://secure.citylights.com/cart/?f...

V. Vale notes: Philip Lamantia was an early mentor, and the Search & Destroy/RE/Search publications would perhaps not have existed had it not been for Philip. Other mentors were William S. Burroughs and J.G. Ballard. Therefore, we highly recommend this hardback of Philip’s poems – there are interesting biographical details, too!

10. **SPONSORS** (Without them you would NOT be receiving this newsletter – Please go to their websites!)
If you would like to subscribe, we ask for a 6-month minimum of $66.
1. 47 Canal Street (Gallery w/events, NYC) – 47CanalStreet.com go visit & say RE/Search sent you!
2. Emerald Tablet (Gallery w/events), Fresno Alley (100 feet from RE/Search! in North Beach). emtab.org – lots of free or low cost local community events; check out their schedule! http://emtab.org/ – they’re open during First Fridays North Beach Art Walk…
3. Mrs Dalloway’s Catering (Bay Area) – We at RE/Search are fans of Mrs Dalloway’s delicious appetizers, which we have been lucky enough to have eaten many times! Low prices! Willing to do small events! Call to get specialty appetizers for your next party or event! www.mrsdallowayscatering.com
4. METASONIX: Since 1999, the world’s only maker of vacuum-tube music synthesizers. metasonix.com
5. From our friends Amy and Brian – they have a new software in the works, watch for it! tastysnakes.com
6. V. Vale’s RE/Search Newsletter is cordially sponsored by “Beyond the Beyond.”
Information Wants To Be Free WE MEAN IT MAN! $0$0$0$0$0$0$0$0$0$0 http://blog.wired.com/sterling
7. www.SOPHIAGASPARIAN.com “fine art about equal human rights worldwide”
8. Philip Lenihan. A founder of Sluggo magazine from Austin, Texas. Find him on Facebook?
9. Mal Sharpe, Jennifer Sharpe. Mal’s band plays the Savoy Tivoli Saturday (and Sunday?) afternoons on Grant St. in S.F.
10. Charles H. Kerr Publishing Company – Penelope Rosemont, Chicago Surrealist Group founder.
11. Kevin O’Malley+Christie Dames, the High-Heeled Anarchist: TechTalk/Studio: http://techtalkstudio.com + Commonwealth Club, San Francisco.
12. Emily Armstrong/Pat Ivers’ pioneering 1st generation NYC 1975-80 punk videos! http://gonightclubbing.com see ‘em yourself @ NYU Fales Library Downtown Collection, debut: Oct 2013
DECEMBER 2013 RE/Search eNewsletter #120 written by V. Vale & other contributors. RE/Search website powered byhttp://www.laughingsquid.com. Add us (“info@researchpubs.com”) to Your Address Book
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Physical Address since May 1979: RE/SEARCH | 20 Romolo #B | San Francisco CA 94133-4041 | 415.362.1465
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RE/Search Publications
20 Romolo Place #B
San Francisco, CA 94133-4041
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info@researchpubs.com
www.researchpubs.com

       

Dead Media Beat: zoetrope GIFs

*They live again!

http://www.wired.com/design/2013/12/these-150-year-old-gifs-are-insane/