The Kingwood teenager’s story of decapitating a corpse and using the head to smoke marijuana was so outlandish that at first Houston Police Department senior police officer Jim Adkins did not believe it.

Yet, Kevin Wade Jones Jr., 17, appeared almost indifferent as he relayed the bizarre description of his and two friends’ activities at an Humble area graveyard, Adkins said.

Full Story: Houston Chronicle

(Thanks Gabbo!)

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A substitute teacher in Pasco County has lost his job after being accused of wizardry.

Teacher Jim Piculas does a magic trick where a toothpick disappears and then reappears.

Piculas recently did the 30-second trick in front of a classroom at Rushe Middle School in Land ‘O Lakes.

Piculas said he then got a call from the supervisor of teachers, saying he’d been accused of wizardry.

“I get a call the middle of the day from head of supervisor of substitute teachers. He says, ‘Jim, we have a huge issue, you can’t take any more assignments you need to come in right away,’” he said.

Piculas said he did not know of any other accusations that would have led to the action.

The teacher said he is concerned that the incident may prevent him from getting future jobs.

From: Local 6

OK, it seems there’s a lot missing from this story. Anyone have any more details?

(Thanks Bill!)

Update: in the comments Val points to another news story in which the school administration gives their side of the story:

Tampa Bay’s 10 talked to the assistant superintendent with the Pasco County School District who said it wasn’t just the wizardry and that Picular had other performance issues, including “not following lesson plans” and allowing students to play on unapproved computers.

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the most surprising discoveries so far have been Roman. In a small pit containing a small bluestone in the corner of the trench, itself cut into the main socket of one of the uprights, they found a Roman coin. Even more alarming, was the excavation of the large pit in the centre of the excavation, where right near the bottom they found a very small piece of what was indubitably Roman pottery. Was there a major reordering of the site in the Roman period? As Geoffrey Wainwright said, their small trench looked like an urban excavation, there were so many intercutting pits.

Full Story: Current Archeology

(via The Daily Grail)

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Remember me writing about the art of Fletcher Hanks? It’s been out since last November, but Trevor just pointed it out to me: Mike Allred drew a an all new Stardust the Wizard story for Fantastic Comics #24.

Sample images and interview at Newsarama

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(via OVO)

See also: Snake Vs. Baby

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Squirrel Attacks in Florida… a result of the Key 23 hyperwiki? (thanks Wes).

Update: Toxick Blogging features coverage ongoing coverage of the squirrel revolution.

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I do. I was sort of embarrassed at the time, but now I feel like bragging about it.

archive.org link.

I’m going to have to make myself some sort of “As seen on Weekly World News” graphic or something…

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Frqcast Chris Titan.

R.U. Sirius Show: Is Civilization A Mistake?

NeoFiles Show: Neo-Cyberpunk Part 2 .

RU Sirius Show: The Dot Com Zine That Went All the Way.

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But, since we’re completely paranoid here at Mozy, we not only used 448 bit encryption, but we also go the extra mile and carefully secure our data disks with aluminum foil, which approximates a Faraday cage. This protects them from electromagnetic radiation as well as potential telekinetic security breaches.

Full Story: moxy.com.

(via Zapato Productions).

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Messages received by Danny Chaoflux and me night before last.

Thee larger context.

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I’m just forwarding this on for my friend Trevor:

Greetings. My name is Trevor Blake, and I was part of TOPY in the late
1980s. I would be very pleased to hear from anyone I crossed paths with
from that time. box2321@yahoo.com or P. O. Box 2321 Portland OR 97208.

Anyone who remembers my zine OVO might be interested to know they are all
scanned and online for the downloading at http://www.ovo127.com. Issue
seven had TOPY content, and issue fifteen had a wee mention of TOPY.

Thank you to my friend for forwarding this message.

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I did a poll on this subject a while back, but I can’t find it in the archives. And I think more people read this site now, so I think it’s worth repeating.

Poll at Mister Poll.

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Your guide to what’s in and what’s out in the occultural world today.

Out: Gnosticism
In: EsoTech

Out: Cyberspace
In:Meatspace

Out: Disinfo
In: Lulu

Out: 23
In: 64

Out: Richard Metzger, Grant Morrison, and other magical celebrities/heroes
In: You

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Kylark is explains it thusly:

Sit in an alert but not uncomfortable position. I sit in a chair, feet flat on the floor, palms on my lap, facing east.

Set a timer for the amount of time you’d like to meditate. I recommend 12-15 minutes if you’re just starting.

Close your eyes.

Pay attention to your breath.

Notice your thoughts and sensations as they arise, but let them go. If you notice your mind wandering or your body becoming uncomfortable, silently name those states (”thinking,” “itching”) and gently return your attention to your breath.

That’s it!

Excellent!

Full Story: Dodging Invisible Rays.

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Reverend Magdalen is fighting to keep the New York court system from taking her children away from her because of her involvement with the Church of SubGenius. The Taphouse Cabal is doing some fundraising.

More details here.

(previously on Technoccult).

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Following this recent conversation at Occult Design and much of conversation in the occulture blogosphere, I want to ask: what is the one book you think occulture/counter culture/weird/underground/anarchist/whateva type people should read if they’re interested in starting a business? I’ve seen notes from Peter Carroll’s Chaos in Business class, and it’s a start, but I’m sure a few of you have suggestions for a good full book that will help beginners get an idea of the process. I have some familiarity with it all from having done it, and from being involved in start-ups, but I’m looking for a good beginner’s manual, both for myself and to recommend to other people. I’ve already found a good book on finding a job but I’d like something good on business. It doesn’t have to be written for an occult audience, just be a good, approachable book on how to turn ideas into reality by starting a business.

The rule, though: only suggest ONE book. This will be fascistly enforced. Comments with more than one book recommendation will be deleted.

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Buy it on Amazon.

(thanks Danny).

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Hey Isaac - where you at man? Your blog disappeared…

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The Church of Scientology, the religion for which actor Tom Cruise crusades, will attempt to spread its �Ignite Your Potential� message into auto racing through sponsorship of a race car in one of NASCAR�s lowest levels.

Kenton Gray, a 35-year-old Californian, will attempt to make the field for a late model race Saturday night at Irwindale (Calif.) Speedway. His No. 27 Ford Taurus will be sponsored by Bridge Publications, which publishes Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard�s bestseller �Dianetics.�

The hood of the car will say �Dianetics� on it, along with a volcano to mimic the book cover.

Details of the sponsorship agreement were sketchy Wednesday.

Full Story: MSNBC.

(thanks Bill!)

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And in these last few minutes of 6/6/06, I’d just like to say:

Hail Baphomet! Stop by my place for a beer anytime.

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The Egyptian authorities have given the go ahead for the underwater exploration of what appears to be a Roman city submerged in the Mediterranean, Egypt’s top archaeologist said on Monday.

Full Story: Reuters.

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After 9 years of e-mail and IMing, I finally met the infamous Brenden Simpson. Here we contemplate the important occult work Bowl Better Using Self Hypnosis.

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Go here to find a free copy near you, or read it online as a series of PDFs:

Part 1.
Part 2.
Part 3.
Part 4.

How nature droners GROWING found their flow. By Peter Relic. Photography by Eden Batki.

Swiss anthropologist-author JEREMY NARBY talks with Jay Babcock about what hallucinogens like LSD and the Amazonian drink ayahuasca have to teach us in the 21st century. Introduction by author Erik Davis, with a full-color illustration by Arik Moonhawk Roper.

How columnist DOUGLAS RUSHKOFF learned to stop worrying about current events.

Why power duo Al Cisneros and Chris Haikus reunited to make the meditation-suitable heavy metal sound of OM.

The life, work and astounding impact of North Indian vocalist PANDIT PRAN NATH, guru to Western minimalists La Monte Young and Terry Riley. By Peter Lavezzoli.

“New Herbalist” columnist Molly Frances on Lord Byron’s secret elixir and the Prophet Muhammed’s top condiment: VINEGAR.

How to recognize–and use–OCCULT FORCES, by the Center for Tactical Magic.

Notes from Mardi Gras in New Orleans, 2006 by the intrepid Gabe Soria.

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One of the pieces of writing I’ve got sitting in the back of my mind is a call for TAZ participants to treat the experience as a shamanic experience and bring something of value back to the real world. I may never attend Burning Man again. What I really want to do is bring the lessons learned from Black Rock City and apply them to the environment around me. Here are a group of Burners who are doing just that:

This week the Viking Youth Power Hour is joined by water department spokesman, and Burning Man Information Radio’s volunteer, Tom LaPorte.

Tom recently made a trip down to Pearlington, Mississippi where he spent a week with the victims of Hurricane Katrina and a group of Burning Man participants who, after the burn this year, picked up and moved their playa-based operation to Pearlington in order to help provide food, fire, demolition services and the unique burner sense of community service and dedication to work. Calling themselves Burners Without Borders, this group has dedicated the better part of the last 8 months to sharing the skills they have honed on the playa with the people of first Biloxi - rebuilding a Buddhist Temple - and now Pearlington.

We discuss the heartbreaking loss Tom witnessed while he was down there, but also the inspiring perspectives of people who were forced to rebuild their lives from amongst the rubble of what was once their beloved town.

We are offered a rare opportunity as Tom gives us the first chance to hear some of the interviews he collected while in Pearlington and that he will be using as part of his hour long radio documentary which will be published later this month.

It’s incredible to see the ethos and the elbow grease so many of us experience on the playa validating itself and coalescing in a kind of service that may become increasingly necessary in the coming years. Of all our work to date, this is perhaps the Viking Youth episode that has made me most proud. Our hearts and our hope go out to all the victim’s of Hurricane Katrina and all the wonderful people helping these people to put their lives together again stronger than it was before.

Mp3 on Viking Youth Power Hour.

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