Illustration by Andrei Castanha on Unsplash
Here is a sentence I liked from Michael Johnson's latest Substack piece, "On the 'Simulation Hypothesis':
“You and I and that wall, that empty bowl of cereal in the sink, the lava lamp, the ‘69 Mets, and Krakatoa, are all just in the mind of God.”
Many people joined me in thinking Michael's latest was mind-expanding, judging from the large number of comments that it drew. And there's some good stuff on Robert Anton Wilson's theory of perception.
Oz Fritz has written a long blog post on Thomas Pynchon's latest novel, Shadow Ticket, "Magic Realism in Pynchon's Shadow Ticket." ("This post will inevitably contain spoilers," he warns).
Here is a bit to give you an idea:
"Common knowledge in the Pynchon universe holds that his historical novels include some subtext on the present time. Shadow Ticket is set mostly in 1932 when Fascism appeared in the ascendent around the world including the United States. Fascism plays a dominating role in the novel both in the macro geopolitical aspect and with the individual experiences and encounters by the characters. The story's timeline finishes around Christmas 1932. Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany in January, 1933. The Hitler movement in the U. S. first comes into the picture at the start of chapter 4. Hitler gets blended with Charlie Chaplin's humorous caricature of him from The Dictator followed by a serious portrayal that seems accurate until he's described as someone who "says whatever comes into his head." The real Hitler did not have that trait, he never went off script in his meticulously crafted speeches. This kind of verbal diarrhea clearly fits a contemporary American politician."
I can't summarize everything in the review, but there's an interesting comparison between Pynchon and the likes of Robert Anton Wilson and Vladimir Nabokov. The post ends with "To be continued ..." so keep an eye out for more.
See also Eric Wagner's review at this blog. And you can read Peter Quadrino's review, too!
When I was recording the podcast that I wrote about yesterday, Rasa held up a book for me to see during one of the commercial breaks. It was called Forrest Trump: The Half-Wit and Wisdumb of America's Last President and First Fuhrer. Rasa explained the book is by Scott Apel and told me the introduction was hilarious.
The book, which I'd missed when it came out, is attributed to "Tom Asspain," so I wrote to Scott and asked if I could name his as the author. He gave me the go-ahead.
"When the Cheeto Benito was re-elected in 2024, I felt like I had to perform some act of civil disobedience, not that it would do any good. I decided if I could throw a book like that together in a weekend, I'd do it. My writer/editor/publisher persona took over, however, and I insisted it look good and list all the sources, so it took about a week to assemble. I'm happy with it, but it makes zero difference to the state of politics in Amurikkka today.
"I even sent print copies to Colbert, Kimmel, Fallon, Meyers, Bill Maher and Jon Stewart (and every Daily Show host), hoping to get some mention or traction, but all I got is...silence. No response from anyone. C'est la merde."
He added, "When I first published it, I was worried that jackbooted Trumpenazi stormtroopers would track me down and shoot me. But seeing as how that's only happening in Minnesota, I guess I can let my guard down a little.
"I just hope Thomas Paine approves of my stealing his name."
The book is on Amazon (just $1 for the Kindle) and on iBooks.
Art Bell was a popular nighttime radio DJ who hosted the Coast to Coast AM late night radio talk show for many years. In one of his episodes, he interviewed Robert Anton Wilson.
Carl Richardson -- Art's Bell's brother-in-law -- is the host of a current podcast, Midnight Frequency Radio, that functions as kind of a tribute to Bell. And on a recent show, he had Rasa and I on to talk about Robert Anton Wilson. I've put up a YouTube video but you should also be able to find it on many podcasting apps.
The artwork, above, is “The Buzz” by creationtrip. It was posted on X by Lucid Dreams, with this quote from Illuminatus! by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson: “Synchronicity is as universal as gravity. When you start looking you find it everywhere.”
I have two Hilaritas podcasts to mention this time.
The newest, above, is with John Zerzan, here's the description: "Hilaritas host Mike Gathers chats with John Zerzan about anarchist Max Stirner, and John's interest in Anarcho-primitivism, in episode 53 of the Hilaritas Podcast."
With the excitement over Maybe Night, I managed to miss December's podcast announcement, but it sounds like an interesting one: "Hilaritas host Mike Gathers chats with Nick Tharcher, publisher at The Original Falcon Press, about his many years in the publishing of occult books, in episode 52 of the Hilaritas Podcast." Listen here. I liked Tharcher's first appearance on the the podcast, I'll bet this one is good, too.
Not too late to listen to the November podcast, on Robert Shea, featuring Mike Shea (with me in a supporting role). Mike tells great stories about his father.
I've linked to the Hilaritas Press podcast pages, but you should be able to find these episodes on your favorite podcasting app. Fifty three episodes and counting, browse them here.
We are kinda astounded at the popularity of our audio books. We've created audio books for Prometheus Rising, and the three Cosmic Trigger books. Now, you have the opportunity to enjoy an audio book of RAW's Quantum Psychology: How Brain Software Programs You and Your World.
Professional voice actor and narrator Zane Acord spent a good part of the last year recording this new audio book. There's a family connection that brought us to Zane. One of the benefits of all the help we get from our RAW Trust Advisors. Click here to see our whole list of Advisors. [Blogger's note: Zane is the son of Gary Acord, a member of the RAW Trust Advisors].
Quantum Psychology is one of the more popular titles from RAW. We are always amused by writer John Higgs' comment when asked about his favorite RAW book. He said,
“O man, favourite RAW book? That’s a shifting target. Although it’s clearly Cosmic Trigger. But occasionally, Prometheus Rising. When it’s not being Cosmic Trigger. Which it always is. Unless it’s Quantum Psychology.”
Click here for more info and links to purchase the Quantum Psychology Audio Book
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British writer James Burt announces a public event:
"I’m performing on February 28th at In a Land Gallery in Hebden Bridge. Also appearing is Rosy Carrick, reading from her new collection; Halifax poet Toria Garbutt; and our friend Lou-Ice, coming from Sweden to perform River love/Ecosexual, which is about “feeling attracted to nature and having sexual or romantic relationships with it”. Lou’s piece is about being in love with a river, wild-swimming, passion and protecting our world.
"I’ll perform a new piece The Haunting of Wuthering Heights, which I am currently working on. It’s about a book that’s also a haunted house.
"Tickets are £5, which is a bargain. You’ll get four performers and Swedish treats. After the show, we’ll pack away the gallery then head down the pub.
The Wetwired podcast had Chapel Perilous author Prop Anon/Gabriel Kennedy as a guest for a podcast on the Illuminatus! trilogy. Listen here.
See the website for Chapel Perilous: The Life & Thought Crimes of Robert Anton Wilson for other interviews and podcasts, including an interview with Grant Morrison.
In a previous post, I referred to Scott Adams as "my Ezra Pound," noting that I wasn't on board with many things he said or did but that I remained a big fan of Dilbert up until Adams' death. That post in turn linked back to an earlier one, about an excellent Robert Anton Wilson essay about Ezra Pound.
The blogger Scott Alexander has now weighed in with a long piece on why he loved Adams, and the ways in which Adams went off the rails. And today, that was followed up with highlights of the comments about the piece, with Scott Alexander's replies.
The video and the game link are via RAW Semantics on Bluesky.
I have already done a blog post on Hellenistic Philosophy by John Sellars. As I mentioned earlier, it focuses on three main philosophical schools of the period: Skepticism (which sheds light on RAW, himself a philosophical skeptic), Stoicism (currently having a moment) and Epicureanism (a philosophy I am very interested in).
RAW had many interests and a complex philosophy which can't be summed up in a few words, but it is also fair to observe that he was simultaneously interested in currents of Western philosophy but also knew a lot about Eastern philosophies and religions, including Buddhism. As I finished Hellenistic Philosophy, I noticed a nice bonus: A brief but fascinating appendix, "Looking East," which explores contacts between Greek philosophers and their counterparts in India.
I had known that the Greek skeptic philosopher Pyrrho had traveled with Alexander the Great's army and reached India (there's a book about this, Greek Buddha by Christopher Beckwith, that I've been meaning to read, as I'm a Beckwith fan), and Sellars mentions the book, and many others that also sound very interesting.
Sellars is careful and cautious, and he isn't convinced that Indian philosophy influenced Greek philosophy in a substantive way, but he also shows there were more contacts between the two groups than one might think.
He mentions, for example, that Ashoka, the famous Indian Buddhist ruler, "send Buddhist envoys to the land of the 'Yonas' (from 'Ionians,' i.e. Greeks), and it goes on to name the Mediterranean rulers to whom they were sent. Some of these envoys were themselves Greeks who had embraced Buddhism. Indeed, the inscription not only says that these envoys were sent, but also claims that these areas were successfully conquered by Dharma, Buddhist teaching. In exchange, some of these Hellenistic kings, notably Ptolemy II of Egypt, sent envoys to India. Some have claimed that Buddhist communities developed in the Mediterranean world, with a text by Philo describing an unusual and otherwise unknown monastic community cited as evidence. Others have claimed to have found Buddhist gravestones in Alexandria." There are other possible encounters cited.
All of this seems fascinating to me, and Sellars names plenty of other books to explore.
Circling back to RAW, Sellars' book toward the end has this quote from Sextus Empiricus, a famous Skeptic philosopher: "Skeptics are philanthropic and wish to cure by argument, as far as they can, the conceit and rashness of the Dogmatists."
John Higgs' latest book is about David Lynch.
As I mentioned recently, John Higgs has announced that his Substack will have a paid tier that includes substantial essays and an annual book. There will still be a free newsletter devoted largely to his latest books.
The newsletters with the substantial essays are known as "New Moon Letters," and John has just issued "New Moon Letter 1." As John is still trying to get the news out about his new offering, that first issue is free for everyone to read in full. John's essay is about the modern counterculture, and how it can function as an alternative to the online world. See also Ted Gioia's recent "state of the culture" newsletter.
