The new issue of Trevor Blake’s OVO Magazine has many names familiar to Technoccult readers and/or Esozone attendees (and some not so familiar): Anonymous, Dmitry Babenko, Johnny Brainwash, Klint Finley, Witta Kelssling-Jensen, Vincent Al Ken, Ruggero Maggi, Mail Art Paul, Willi Melnikov, Thom Metzger, Emilio Morandi, No Institute, Wes Unruh, Carlos Valdez and Edward Wilson.
In my article I explore the politics of alternative currencies, which is sadly more relevant now than I realized when I wrote it in October.
For those not in the know, OVO has been published by Trevor Blake since 1987. Trevor says of his work:
When I started publishing OVO I was just a self-important hayseed living in a small town making a dumb little zine among thousands of others. But OVO did accomplish a few things in the first fourteen issues. OVO was the first to publish several essays by Hakim Bey that later appeared in his book T.A.Z. The Temporary Autonomous Zone. OVO published work by Mike Diana long before his work drew the attention of State and Federal employees. Photographs of body piercing appeared in OVO two years before the Modern Primitives issue of Re/Search. The phrase ‘phone tag’ appears in print for the first time in the first issue of OVO. ‘Liberating Wednesday’ by PM, author of bolo’bolo, appears in OVO for the first (and only) time; this is nearly a decade before and fifty-two times more radical a suggestion than ‘Buy Nothing Day.’ Crop circles and the Men in Black are referenced at a time when they were still obscure. The first appearance of Ride Theory in print occurs in Ignatz Topolino’s contribution to OVO. And OVO was aware enough of the outer edges of scientific ethics to mention gene patents in the same year they first were granted.
I am honored to be a contributor to such a worthy publication.
The tone of this article is annoying (tin foil hat jokes? how original), but I liked reading what the editors had to say:
Hidell and D’Arc represent different wings of the conspiracy theories movement. “She’s more into the speculative paranormal end of things,” he said. “I’m more of a meat-and-potatoes politics, international relations and secret societies kind of guy.”
Together, they attempt to publish a “provocative, unpredictable mix” of conspiracy theories. “We try not to have a house conspiracy style,” he said.
Hidell admitted that he doesn’t believe all the conspiracy theories advanced in the pages of Paranoia. For instance, he’s a little skeptical of Icke’s theory that the queen of England and the Rockefellers are really shape-shifting Satanic reptiles from outer space. But then he adds this about Icke: “For all we know, he’s putting all that in purposely so people think he’s just a nut and he can keep publishing.”
The second installment of my column for Alterati is up:
Does alternative culture still exist? Coilhouse, an excellent web magazine that calls itself “A love letter to alternative culture, written in an era where alt culture no longer exists” obviously doesn’t think so. Neither does Warren Ellis, who wrote on the topic in his Suicide Girls column. I disagree, but we may have to challenge our notions of what alternative culture is.
Larry Lessig gets TEDsters to their feet, whooping and whistling, following this elegant presentation of three stories and an argument. The Net’s most adored lawyer brings together John Philip Sousa, celestial copyrights, and the “ASCAP cartel” to build a case for creative freedom. He pins down the key shortcomings of our dusty, pre-digital intellectual property laws, and reveals how bad laws beget bad code. Then, in an homage to cutting-edge artistry, he throws in some of the most hilarious remixes you’ve ever seen.
EDIT — Couple links I thought might be noteworthy in regards to Lessig’s talk: BBC’s “The view from The Pirate Bay” and Boing Boing’s current coverage of the upcoming Draconian copyright laws being pushed forward in Canada (similar to the ones already enacted in the U.S.).
OVO, a zine that’s been published by my friend Trevor Blake since 1987 (home to Hakim Bey’s first published works and later became part of The Temporary Autonomous Zone), now has a blog. If the annual OVO issues and Trevor’s regular contributions on American Samizdat don’t quench your needs for hatred of religion, obscure counter culture gems, DIY projects, and, well, other stuff, then check it out.
I find this remarkably interesting, hence why I am posting it here for your lovely, little eyes to peruse:
In this modern, post-–Bretton Woods world of “monetary order” and coordinated central-bank inflation, many who are otherwise sympathetic to the arguments against central banks believe that the elimination of central banking is an unattainable, utopian dream.
For a real-world example of how a system of market-chosen monetary policy would work in the absence of a central bank, one need not look to the past; the example exists in present-day Central America, in the Republic of Panama, a country that has lived without a central bank since its independence, with a very successful and stable macroeconomic environment.
The absence of a central bank in Panama has created a completely market-driven money supply. Panama’s market has also chosen the US dollar as its de facto currency. The country must buy or obtain their dollars by producing or exporting real goods or services; it cannot create money out of thin air. In this way, at least, the system is similar to the old gold standard. Annual inflation in the past 20 years has averaged 1% and there have been years with price deflation, as well: 1986, 1989, and 2003.
Panamanian inflation is usually between 1 and 3 points lower than US inflation; it is caused mostly by the Federal Reserve’s effect on world prices. This market-driven system has created an extremely stable macroeconomic environment. Panama is the only country in Latin America that has not experienced a financial collapse or a currency crisis since its independence.
This comes right after me acquainting myself with Larry Hannigan’s document, “How the money system really works,” a good parable on how the banks create credit to lend out of, essentially, nothing.
As a special bonus for anyone who buys a weekend pass, we will include an exclusive reprint of the Akashic Record of the Astral Convention zine edited by Hakim Bey. In 1987 Hakim Bey invited several friends and allies to astrally project to Antarctica for a convention. Afterwords, visitors sent their accounts to Bey and he compiled them into this zine. This collection was originally sent only to the contributors and has never before been reprinted. It features lost works by:
Coil
Hakim Bey
Shirley MacLaine
James Koehnline
Ivan Stang
Feral Faun (aka Apio)
Reverand Crowbar (aka Susan Poe)
Trevor Blake
Is it a coincidence that the very same day I read this article in Forbes about the book as a networked object (and Cory Doctorow’s article on giving away your books for free) that Danny Chaoflux sends me a link to an online re-mix of Paul D. Miller (aka DJ Spooky, that Subliminal Kid)’s book Rhythm Science?
The new issue of Reconstruction is on blogging. I’m featured in the “Why Blog” section along with bloggers from all over the world, from Montana to Iran. Douglas Rushkoff, Mickey Z, and Rebecca Blood are some of the bigger names featured.
According to MIT’s Neil Gershenfeld, the digital revolution is over, and the good guys won. The next big change will be about manufacturing. Anyone with a PC will be able to build anything just by hitting ‘print.’
(Fortune Magazine) — Imagine a machine with the ability to manufacture anything. Now imagine that machine in your living room. What would you build first? Would you start a business? Would you ever buy anything retail again? According to MIT physicist Neil Gershenfeld, it’s not too early to think about these questions, because that machine, which he calls a personal fabricator, is not so far off - or so far-fetched - as you might think.
Gershenfeld is director of MIT’s Center for Bits and Atoms (CBA), an interdisciplinary outfit studying the intersection between information theory and industrial design. He also teaches a course called How to Make (Almost) Anything.
Five years ago the National Science Foundation awarded the CBA $14 million to build a manufacturing lab full of futuristic hardware. That includes a nanobeam writer that can etch microscopic patterns on metal, and a supersonic waterjet cutter that generates 60,000 pounds of water pressure, enough to shear through almost any material. The CBA factory can churn out anything, from the tiniest semiconductor to an entire building.
This audio footage comes from a very special field agent, currently stationed somewhere in Texas. Our agent somehow managed to contact Bart Black, a contemporary of Alex Jones among others, for an interview regarding Bart’s own TV show based in Houston, “Frequency Clear”. “Frequency Clear” is a source for alternative news geared towards fighting the information war, guerilla media activism, and advocating for the First Amendment. Bart was gracious enough to accept our correspondent as a personal guest in his office and workspace, and the resulting interview touches upon the pending police state, the mother of all conspiracy theories, and life on the frontline of the information war.
My good friend Punk Elf has started a new blog centered mostly around comic book creation and self-publishing, with a particularly high tech focus. Check it out if you’re interested in comics, DIY media, and the intersections of technology and creativity.
Wes is brilliant. I haven’t read this whole article yet, but from what I’ve read this promises to be a great insight into his work.
It is my intention that these tracks represent the most available Philip K Nixon tracks, as they form the materials out of which I have hopefully constructed a weapon. This weapon works to destroy conditioning.
To understand why I believe this construct is important, I’m going to need to get into some depth. I’ve dug into my files and bookshelves and pulled together the sources listed at the end of this article to help me articulate what has been until now mostly a metalinguistic experience. Working with collage and cut-ups does something seriously uncouth to the analytical brain. Coming down from this neurolinguistic high required serious grounding, and reading through what others have said has proved to be an excellent form of psychic reintegration.
I was kind of tripped out reading this article about Jorn Barger - blog pioneer and man behind the great Robot Wisdom blog - a while back. Jorn as a homeless blogger wearing a Google cap and carrying a panhandler sign that reads “Coined the term ‘weblog,’ never made a dime.” This scene signifies something, but I don’t know what.
Keep forgetting to mention this: R.U. has launched a podcasting network, including the R.U. Sirius show, an audio version of NeoFiles, and other shows.
The new big thing in DIY media is machinima, 3D animations created in real time using video game engines. These “zero-budget” films are shot in virtual reality and then distributed online. Link (via Street Tech).
Last week the hackers working on The Freenet Project corrected the Windows installer.. so now anyone
with Windows and Java should be able to use it. For those who don’t know, Freenet is a decentralised information storage and retrieval system. It
works by chaching and mirroring content and allows people to distribute data without fear of censorship. Currently in the works are a Freenet based e-mail
program, a music sharing program, and the system can be used to serve web sites.
