Illustration from a recent Make magazine article on Parsons.

Source and details here

(Thanks Bill)

[Read more →]

Jennifer Stevenson is the author of “Trash Sex Magic”, and most recently wrote a trilogy of sexy, funny, romantic fantasy, the first of which was recently released called “The Brass Bed” (Ballantine Books). She’s been writing for 25 years and lives in the Chicago area with her husband of 30 years and her two cats.

The Brass Bed begins with the heroine, Jewel Heiss, a tough fraud cop investigating a fake sex therapist, Clay, who has been using an antique brass bed to lure his customers. Trapped inside the bed is Lord Randall (Randy), who in 1811 was cursed and turned into an incubus by his magician-mistress for being lousy in bed. The curse was this: satisfy one hundred women or be trapped in the bed forever. Lucky Jewel was number one hundred, and Randy becomes her personal sex slave. The choice: Clay or Randy? This is where the fun really begins.

I don’t usually read much fiction, but found myself flying through all three books (“The Velvet Chair” is the second [coming out in late May], and “The Bearskin Rug” is the third). There’s plenty of humor, sex and magic to keep anyone reading into the wee hours. The ending in the last book (“The Bearskin Rug”) was a bit of a surprise. If you like funny romantic fantasy, you’ll love this series.

I sat down with Jennifer to discuss her new book, and to get some of her views on magic, and sex demons.

See also:

Trash Sex Magic review by Wes Unruh

 

 Jennifer Stevenson interview by Tiamats Vision [13:35m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

[Read more →]

"Um… Ia? Ia? F’thagan?" by Harris O’Malley (or on deviantART). Brings a smile to me face.

[Read more →]

From: Unspeakable Vault of Doom.

(Thanks Dug!)

[Read more →]

Fox News. It’s hard to talk about greatest hits without mentioning their war coverage or their coverage of racial issues. As a political and cultural propaganda machine, there’s little outright funny about Fox News’s persistent distortion of reality. Or, if there is, the jokes on the people of the United States and the world.

But occasionally they have a real zinger. Some “hard hitting” piece of “journalism” where the joke really is on them. Here are Fox’s 5 journalistic masterpieces, after the fold.

(more…)

[Read more →]

Many many more: Popped Culture.

(Bill Whitcomb sent me this, watch out for his pop culture tarot essay in Immanion Press’s forthcoming pop culture magic anthology, and the revised and expanded edition of his book The Magician’s Reflection)

[Read more →]

There are many people out there who belong to this church and don’t even know it exists. So here’s an introduction:

“This site won’t help you do anything. I’m not trying to help you become more focused, motivated or confident. As the most happily apathetic, bitter and cynical person possibly inhabiting the planet, I’m not qualified to do so, and furthermore, I couldn’t care less. If you’re deluded enough to think your life could be made meaningful if only you might happen across the right website to assist your personal development into something other than the aimless, insignificant conglomeration of matter you are, fine; but this isn’t the one. Like life itself, there is nothing meaningful to be found on this site. The Church of Apathy is a place for those enlightened enough to understand that there is no god, meaning to life, or such thing as free will to enjoy our indifference and the failure it inevitably breeds, because it is easier and, within the context of the big picture of the impermanent universe in which we reside, holds the same value as trying and “succeeding” - absolutely zero. That’s it.*
- Reverend Bob

(Chuurch of Apathy)

[Read more →]

“Robert Delford Brown is the strangest pastor I know.

And I don’t think he’d mind me saying that. (I checked, by the way.) In fact, being different from all the rest was part of why he founded the Church of the Exquisite Panic, Inc. in 1964.

Entrenched in the high experimentation of New York’s art scene in the 1960s, Brown wanted a way of marrying his modernist art with his need for a religion without barriers that would allow him as well as his art to be ever-questioning and ever-evolving.

So he came up with Funkupaganism, an Orthodox Pagan religion.”

(via Star News Online)

(Funkupaganism via Funk Up)

[Read more →]

Link to this image’s Flickr page. There are more on raingirllori’s page, too.

[Read more →]

What is Dudeism?

“While Dudeism in its official form has been organized as a religion only recently, it has existed down through the ages in one form or another. Probably the earliest form of Dudeism was the original form of Chinese Taoism, before it went all weird with magic tricks and body fluids. The originator of Taoism, Lao Tzu, basically said “smoke ‘em if you got ‘em” and “mellow out, man” although he said this in ancient Chinese so something may have been lost in the translation.

Down through the ages, this “rebel shrug” has fortified many successful creeds - Buddhism, Christianity, Sufism, John Lennonism and Fo’-Shizzle-my-Nizzlism. The idea is this: Life is short and complicated and nobody knows what to do about it. So don’t do anything about it. Just take it easy, man. Stop worrying so much whether you’ll make it into the finals. Kick back with some friends and some oat soda and whether you roll strikes or gutters, do your best to be true to yourself and others - that is to say, abide.

Incidentally, the term “dude” is commonly agreed to refer to both genders. Most linguists contend that “Dudette” is not in keeping with the parlance of our times.”

(via Dudeism.com)

[Read more →]

Happy Equinox everyone!

“Despite evidence that the planets are aligned in his favor, local pagan Jeff Birch, 27, said Monday that he would “rather have a peaceful weekend at home” than attend his family’s Vernal Equinox celebration on March 21. “I realize it’s supposed to be a festive time of conception and new growth in the womb of Mother Earth and all,” Birch said. “But I just know that within an hour of arriving, things will get so bad that I’ll be reverting to my 12-year-old self, hiding in the rec room downstairs, wearing my Iroquois false face mask and fingering my runes for comfort. It’s not worth it.”

“Anyway, wasn’t I just back home for Mabon?” Birch added. Most pagans look forward to marking the Vernal Equinox, when the hours of sunlight equal the hours of darkness. Yet for some, like Birch, this sacred springtime celebration of balance and harmony means contending with family infighting and undue stress.”

(via The Onion)

[Read more →]

More: Mightygodking.com.

(via Zenarchery).

[Read more →]

God sure does work in mysterious ways…

[Read more →]

The question was asked, “Is there anything going on astrologically that can explain why people have been so bitchy lately? They seem to be acting crazier than usual. What the hell is going on?” My general answer to this question would be that there are some people who are bitchy every day of their lives. And that there are some people who are just completely freakin’ nuts.

Astrologically, there are some intense things going on. We had a solar eclipse two weeks ago and we’ve got a lunar eclipse today. According to the blog Astrological Musings, “Lunar eclipses occur at the Full Moon when the Moon and the Sun are in opposition, and when the lunation conjuncts the lunar nodes. Because the lunar nodes signify the evolutionary journey of the soul, the astrological symbolism of an eclipse is very significant. These are times of reckoning; of course correction.” (An eclipse of a planet signifies an eclipse of the energy it symbolizes.)

As for the Mars/Pluto opposition AM says this: “Mars is preparing for its third and final opposition to Pluto where it tends to foment rage and inspire explosions, and one might think the opposition has already happened. School shootings, mall shootings, shootings in the city council - people are clearly under stress. Although the opposition will not be exact until the new moon on March 7, we are clearly in its shadow now.”

As for aspects to the House of Bob: The 12^th house is generally considered the House of Slack. The House of Chaos is the 13th. According to astrobobical expert Kaos829: “the 13^th house is the house of the unknown. Spirit beyond our ken. The cumulative effect of the process of life delineated in the chart”. For all those who were wondering, I hope this clears things up. Just remember if things start to get intense, be sure and give people some slack.

(Thanks to Smoking Pigeon, Kaos829 and Astrological Musings!)

[Read more →]

Full Strip: Something Positive.

(via Grimnir).

[Read more →]

http://www.google.com/group/Atheism-vs-Christianity/web/christians-tips-to-doing-battle-with-evil-atheists?hl=en

Funny and self-explanatory. I like #2, as posted on reddit.

[Read more →]

[Read more →]

Sorry, this is three weeks old. But it’s a gooder. Missed it over the holidays. More hilarity ensues over at the great We the Robots comic strip.

[Read more →]

“On the heels of the RIAA’s recent decision to criminalize consumers who rip songs from albums they’ve purchased to their computers (or iPods), the association has now gone one step further and declared that “remembering songs” using your brain is criminal copyright infringement. “The brain is a recording device,” explained RIAA president Cary Sherman. “The act of listening is an unauthorized act of copying music to that recording device, and the act of recalling or remembering a song is unauthorized playback.” The RIAA also said it would begin sending letters to tens of millions of consumers thought to be illegally remembering songs, threatening them with lawsuits if they don’t settle with the RIAA by paying monetary damages. “We will aggressively pursue all copyright infringment in order to protect our industry,” said Sherman.

In order to avoid engaging in unauthorized copyright infringement, consumers will now be required to immediately forget everything they’ve just heard — a skill already mastered by U.S. President George Bush. To aid in these memory wiping efforts, the RIAA is teaming up with Big Pharma to include free psychotropic prescription drugs with the purchase of new music albums. Consumers are advised to swallow the pills before listening to the music. The pills — similar to the amphetamines now prescribed for ADHD — block normal cognitive function, allowing consumers to enjoy the music in a more detached state without the risk of accidentally remembering any songs (and thereby violating copyright law).”

(via NewsTarget)

[Read more →]

“Santa Claus (also known as Saint Nicholas, Father Christmas, Kris Kringle, and Santa) is a historical, legendary and mythical figure and a dick. In Western cultures, Santa Claus is thought of as bringing gifts on Christmas day, or, as it’s now known, The Day Before The Day After Christmas Sales. One legend associated with Santa holds that he lives in a land of perpetual snow. The American version of Santa Claus lives at the North Pole, while Father Christmas is said to reside in Finland. Other legends say that he is married and lives with Mrs. Claus, while still another says that Santa and Mrs. Claus had a bitter separation over what Mrs. Claus said was a “serious drinking problem,” which Santa Claus maintained was just being “jolly.”

Many accounts of Santa Claus say that he delivers presents to all of the good boys and girls in the world in one night, and that he accomplishes this feat with the aid of magical elves who make the toys and the flying reindeer who pull his sleigh. Such a thing is, of course, preposterous, much like, say, a country invading another country that never attacked it and then being greeting as liberators. But myths such as these are entertaining to children, and, on occasion, adults, who are commonly known as “simpletons” or “half-wits.”

(Dickipedia via 23/6)

[Read more →]

Santa Claus (Just in time for Xmas!)
Spend your holiday free from elfin magic!

Every year like clockwork he waits until you’re asleep, breaks into your house, and leaves things lying around.

God
Never fear The Lord’s wrath again!

“In the fire of his jealousy the whole world will be consumed, for he will make a sudden end of all who live in the earth.” …except you.

More info and order.

(via Miss Patti).

[Read more →]

“Streaking is the act of taking off one’s clothes and running naked through a public place. The act itself is pretty awesome, but throw in a live television event watched by millions and millions of people, and the act becomes performance art. Many have tried, but few have been as successful as these brave soles who turned some normally poised and collected newscasters, sports announcers and rock stars into laughing, confused — and sometimes appreciative — spectators. Here now, the top 10 live television streakings.”(NSFW)

(via YuppiePunk)

[Read more →]

“This is one of the funnier things I’ve read recently. It turns out that 1962 Nobel laureate, James Watson, who recently made some disparaging comments about the intelligence of Africans, probably is of African descent himself.

Watson, whose genome was completely sequenced, is the second person whose entire genome was published on the internet. As a result, it is freely accessible to the public. So, because scientists will be scientists, an Icelandic company, deCODE Genetics, carried out an analysis of Watson’s genome and found that 16 percent of his genome is likely to have come from an ancestor of African descent. In contrast, the genome of the average person of European descent has only one percent that is consistent with African ancestry.”

(via Living The Scientific Life-Scientist, Interrupted)

[Read more →]

Awaken the terrifying wrath of the Great Olde Ones during the holiday season with Cthulhu-themed solstice songs! A Very Scary Solstice and its new sequel, An Even Scarier Solstice, are available now from the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society. The albums feature gloriously disturbing songs like “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Fish-Men,” “Awake Ye Scary Old Ones,” “I’m Dreaming of a Dead City,” and “I Saw Mommy Kissing Yog Sothoth.”

cthulhulives.org/Solstice $20 for holiday goodness. Site has free samples!

[Read more →]

A documentary about Brother Theodore is in production, directed by Jeff Sumerel. According to the official web site: “over 15 hours of interviews have been shot, with additional interviews scheduled in New York, Los Angeles, and Berlin. A brief sample of interviews has been compiled and will be presented to potential executive producers.”

View trailer here.

See also:

Clips of Brother Theodore on YouTube.

Torrent collection of Brother Theodore material.

Brother Theodore is Dead by Nick Mamatus.

[Read more →]