My 'Ezra Pound' has died

 

Scott Adams (Creative Commons photo, source).

Robert Anton Wilson was famously able to see the good in reviled people, notably Ezra Pound; as I blogged last year, one of my favorite pieces in A Non-Euclidian Perspective was an early piece about Pound in which RAW wrote:

"To see Pound as he  is -- a man of genius and goodwill, of folly and rage, of love and integrity and hatred and dishonesty -- is to admit that such contradictions can exist in the human personality. That is not a comfortable thought -- it is especially uncomfortable to those of us who are, like Pound, idealists intent on changing the world -- so we prefer to brush it aside and go on playing our life-myth that the universe is one big Western Movie where the 'good guys' (us) are fighting the 'bad guys' (our enemies.)"

There's another good quote at my link to the previous post. 

I certainly didn't like Adams' politics or many of the things he said (this New York Times obit has a selection) but I always loved "Dilbert" and I even subscribed to the paid service offering a "Dilbert" relaunch, I am here posting a few of my favorites. I thought the strip remained funny and topical right up to the end, perhaps your mileage may differ. I also liked his book How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big. I haven't gotten around to his book on framing yet. 

Updates: Last year's reading and Michael Johnson's new RAW series

A couple of updates on recent blog posts.

My end-of-the-year list of the books I read in 2025 has been updated with links. In many cases, I wrote about a particular book, either here or elsewhere.

Michael Johnson has continued a  series on his Substack newsletter that all RAW fans should take a look at. As I mentioned in an earlier blog post,  it began with  "Robert Anton Wilson on Plant Intelligence, (Part One?".  Now we have, in rapid succession, "Robert Anton Wilson and Plant Intelligence: Evoluationary Views and Speculations Beyond Darwin," and then part three, "RAW's Erotic Panpsychic Cosmotheism." Don't skip the footnotes! 

It was nineteen years ago ...

 

I did not remember that yesterday was the anniversary of Robert Anton Wilson's death, at age 74, until after I did Sunday's blog post, but other folks remembered. On Bluesky, RAW Semantics, e.g. Brian Dean, posted the above artwork and wrote, "The incomparable Robert Anton Wilson died on this day (11 January) nineteen years ago. More than ever, read his books!"

Also on Bluesky, Klaster Chaosmos posted a thread which included a photo of a shelf of RAW books and a link to RAW's books at Hilaritas Press. 

Nineteen  years! Certainly RAW hasn't been forgotten, but what can we do to bring him more to the attention of the world at large? 

Sunday links

 

New art from RAW Semantics on Bluesky. Note he is active on Bluesky again. 

Texas A&M bans Plato. 

Bob Weir has died. 

Erich von Däniken has died. 

Tyler Cowen on the best art of the century, so far. 

New movie and book recommendations from Scott Sumner. I really like that guy's blog. 

An interesting philosophy book

I have been reading an interesting book that I had my wife give me for Christmas: Hellenistic Philosophy by John Sellars. 

If you aren't familiar with the term, "Hellenistic" doesn't simply mean "Greek." The Hellenistic period is a specific time of ancient history, from the death of Alexander the Great (323 BC) to the death of Cleopatra in 30 B.C. In other words, it covers the time after the heyday of the Greek city state and figures such as Pericles and before the complete Roman takeover of the Mediterranean. The period is when the successors of Alexander ruled a huge swath of territory in southeast Europe, northern Africa and Asia, imposing a Greek speaking elite.

As Sellars explains in his book, the Hellenic period saw the rise of Epicureanism and Stoicism, and a revival and reinvention of skepticism, also known as Pyrrhonism. There were other philosophies active, too, although Sellars concentrates on those three. Plato's Academy kept going during this period, although it went through a skeptical phase, Cynics were active and Aristotle also still attracted scholars. Sellars, if you don't know him, is an expert on ancient Greek philosophy who has written quite a few books. Most are about Stoicism, although he also wrote a good, short book about Epicurean ethics, Fourfold Remedy, which I read last year.

My main motive in wanting to read the book is my strong interest in Epicureanism; I wanted to learn more about the milieu from which it emerged. But the book also offers an outline of Stoicism, which has experienced a recent revival of interest, giving Sellars a market for  his books that goes beyond college students studying philosophy.

But a nice bonus for RAW fans is the focus on skepticism. Robert Anton Wilson had many influences, but in a sense he also was a modern skeptic. His model agnosticism and "maybe logic" was opposed to certainty and ideological dogmatism. 

So it's interesting to read about philosophers  of skepticism and how some of their thoughts seem to prefigure some of RAW's.

Here is one of the passages in the book, in the chapter  on "Knowledge," where Sellars is talking about how Metrodorus interpreted Carneades. (They were two figures in the Academy in this period, when it was going through its skepticism phase.) "On that view, Carneades was thought to have held that a wise person could hold opinions about some things so long as they do not assent to the truth of those opinions." To my ears, this sounds a bit like RAW's saying, "I don't believe anything, but I have many suspicions."

If you want to read a book that focuses solely on ancient Greek skepticism, Sellars suggests reading Ancient Skepticism by H. Thorsrud. 

Robert Anton Wilson (and Joseph Matheny) on Tubi

Most of my American readers should be familiar with Tubi, the website/app/TV channel which offers movies and TV shows. The programs are free and supported by commercials. 

Via Reddit's r/Robert Anton Wilson site, I recently learned that Robert Anton Wilson: The "I" in the Triangle, a documentary nearly two hours long, is available now on Tubi. 

The credits list Joseph Matheny as the director and one of the "stars," along with RAW, so I asked Joseph for more information, and he responded with helpful notes, as it his wont:

"That's the I in the Triangle talk I sponsored and had taped in my friend's occult bookshop in 90.  A younger me makes an appearance, doing a whimsical introduction. It is also available for sale on DVD, etc., on my friends' Original Falcon's website, and free to download from places like Archive.org and YouTube. 

"It was a lot of fun, and Bob and I hung out for a few days, and he taught me how to make a martini, using a method and formula he picked up from reading about W.C. Fields. I use that recipe and method to this day. This was before Bo moved to Santa Cruz. He was still living in LA. Of course, he and Arlen would move to Santa Cruz to be close to his kids. 

"Here's some pics of that visit. We're hanging out at Nina Graboi's, (my downstairs neighbor) smoking some hash I had scored."

'Finnegans Wake' reading group has begun

The Finnegans Wake reading group for 2026 on Reddit has begun. It's handy for people who have never tried a reading group and don't have one physically nearby. I am trying to get caught up, and as the organizers point out, it's not too late to join and get up to speed. (This is one of the two reading groups announced as part of Bobby Campbell's Maybe Night). 

Here is the information and schedule for the readalong. You can also access the schedule directly.  The actual reading group posts are at Finnegans Wake on Reddit. 

Talking with Dan Robinson of Danny and the Darlings

Dan Robinson

In an earlier blog post, I wrote about Jukebox Musical by Danny and the Darlings, an official soundtrack for Tales of Illuminatus No. 2. The album consists of punk rock style renderings of various 1950s rock and roll tunes. In that post, I annotated the songs and provided a link for downloading the album. The download is free, although a vintage-style collector's item cassette tape also can be purchased. 

But when I wrote the post, I was a bit frustrated because I could not find much information on the Internet about Wilmington, Delaware musician Dan Robinson, the Bobby Campbell pal who was behind the project. So via Bobby I got contact information for Dan, and he agreed to talk to me about his main rock band, The Headies, and his Danny and the Darlings side project. Read on!

RAWIllumination: Could you tell me a little bit about yourself and about your band?

Dan Robinson: My name is Dan Robinson and I’m from Wilmington, Delaware. I’ve been writing and playing my own music since I was 15 years old, back in the late 1990’s.  I’m both self-aware AND a punk rocker, a huge fan of super hero comics, old cartoons, and all rock and roll. 

I used to be evangelical about rock and roll.  I see it as the true American religion.  I spent my 20’s giving super-liminal instruction, intended to share the freedom that I felt that the music had given me… what I had seen.  But I realized that the subtleties of what I was shown are difficult to share, and like certain Buddhists who shall remain nameless I rejected dogma and moved into metaphor to express that which is difficult to express.  I called this Meta-Pop.

My main gig is singing and playing guitar in the Headies, a punk band with power-pop and bubblegum tendencies.  We’ve been playing together since 2008, and we’re all best friends.  All of us write and the sum of our albums reflects the interaction of five positive personalities.  We just finished recording our next full-length album, out this spring on vinyl LP from Bloated Kat Records.

But the Headies consists of real people with real lives outside of rock and roll.  I needed a little bit more… I needed 24 Hour Rock and Roll.

Danny and the Darlings is my solo project in which I write everything and play all the instruments.  This way every step I take is a rock and roll step.  I’m inspired by the sidewalks in my neighborhood, every sacred brick, every blade of grass so holy.  Sometimes I get so into writing I think god is telling me what to sing. 

RAWIllumination: Can you tell me how "Jukebox Musical" came about and became an official tie-in album for "Tales of Illuminatus No. 2"?

Dan Robinson: Bobby Campbell and I have been causing trouble together since ‘98, co-creating comics and general guerrilla rock, always with an eye towards the romantic and hopeful.  He asked me to record “Rock Around the Clock” as a plot device for issue two.  (We’ve always “soundtracked” our comics, an affectation lifted from Chynna Clugston’s “Blue Monday” and Jim Mahfood’s “Grrrl Scouts” etc…) 

The idea was that the song would appear in the narrative as well as on a somehow magical mixtape that’s circulating and exists BOTH in the story and in the world of the reader.  Earth Prime haha.

My background in rock and roll has led me to this moment.  I populated the cassette with first wave gems, not the biggest hits but meaningful numbers that spoke to me.  Fan fiction of the first chapter in a holy book.

The Headies 

From left: Grant Robinson - keyboards and vocals, Todd Purse - drums, Danny Robinson - vocals and guitar, Billy Frolic - guitar and vocal and Justin Vavala - bass guitar. "This was taken at our practice space (Todd’s garage) in North Wilmington, Delaware 12/24, before we played the Newark Punk Rock Flea Market."

RAWIllumination:  Is there a particular Headies album you want to recommend to someone new to the band?

Dan Robinson:  If I had to pick one Headies album to share I’d say Growing Up in the Multiverse… my overall favorite group of songs and we’re all very very in the pocket.  Meta-Pop has been our most popular record, but Multiverse could be our best.

RAWIllumination: You say that rock and roll is a religion for you. Who are some of the important "gods of rock" in your pantheon?

Dan Robinson: I used to say that I feel about the Ramones the way religious people feel about Jesus.  They were sent to save us.  The first album is a promise fulfilled, the ultimate modernist rock and roll album, utterly reverent towards what came before, what they were building on, but distilled, truer, spritely.  The world is a better place for it.

But what came before?  LITTLE RICHARD.  Without whom none of this is possible, but the entire first wave… sure Elvis, but Bo Diddley, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee, Buddy Holly, Johnny Cash, Gene Vincent and Eddie Cochran.  It didn’t need to be a phenomenon or the zeitgeist to have the value it presented…. a real freedom, not “won” by an army.  A freedom they couldn’t even imagine.  

Lou Reed said, “Rock and roll is so great, people should start dying for it. The music gave you back your beat so you could dream. A whole generation running with a Fender bass…”

The Velvets and the Stooges and the MC5 and the New York Dolls.

It was thick in the air back then.  More people could taste it.  But it never ever goes away.  And what’s the problem with being a true believer???

Best Lookout Records band - The Mr. T Experience.

Most formative band for me - Plow United 

DAN ROBINSON DISCOGRAPHY

ninja attak - “my first time” 7” (1996)

ninja attak/the Crash split 7” (1997)

Power of IV - “Walking Distance” LP (1999)

Power of IV - “Slight Rebellion Off Madison” LP (2002, rereleased 2024)

Power of IV - “Massive Psychic Damage” 7” lathe cut picture disc (2025)

Endless Mike Jambox - “Another Hot Freshy-Freshy” LP (2005)

THE HEADIES

“It's a Superman's World” EP (2008) 

“Sugar and Spice (and Everything’s Fucked)” LP (2008)

“Black Bubblegum” LP (2010) 

“Impostors” split 7” w/the Boys Club (2012)

“Meta-Pop” LP (2012)

“Last Show at My Parent's House” Live Album (2013)

The Headies/Plow United split 7” (2015)

The Headies/Wringer split 7” (2015)

“(Every Little Thing Breaks My) Punk Rock Heart” 7” (2015)

“Growing Up in the Multiverse” LP (2020)

“Meanwhile…” EP (2024)

 and upcoming!

“Contempo Casuals” LP (2026)

DANNY AND THE DARLINGS

“Heavy Cream” EP 2024)

“Operation: Golden Goose” LP (2024)

“Wilmington Optimist” LP (2025)

“Jukebox Musical” cassette (2025)

Michael Johnson on RAW and plant intelligence

Michael Johnson has a major new essay up, "Robert Anton Wilson on Plant Intelligence, (Part One?" which I recommend to everyone who reads this blog. Here is the opening bit:

A poor kid born three years into the Great Depression, near Brooklyn, who contracted polio as a child and was enamored of Weird Tales and mathematics and poetry, you might think Wilson would not be a good candidate to develop a pantheist, vitalist, panpsychist point of view. He was not a hiker (the polio), but in the 1970s in Northern California he and his wife Arlen were very much involved with modern paganism and definitely did magickal rituals in Berkeley and met other pagan artists and intellectuals in the redwoods in Northern California. What was the trajectory? How did he develop this mystical outlook?

The Allen Ginsberg centennial

Allen Ginsberg in 1979 (Creative Commons photo, more information). 

Allen Ginsberg was born on June 3, 1926, so as Eric Wagner remarked on Facebook, June is the Ginsberg centennial. 

The Wikipedia bio will fill you in on the writer RAW called "our major living American poet," in Coincidance.  

New books in public domain include 'As I Lay Dying'

Each year, a new batch of books (and other creative works) enter the public domain. This year works published in 1930 enter the public domain. 

This year, the books that go into the public domain include As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner (RAW was a Faulkner fan) and Standard Ebooks already has an edition out.  Here are 20 new books offered by Standard Ebooks, including The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett, The Castle by Franz Kafka and mysteries by Dorothy Sayers and Agatha Christie. 

'Non-Euclidean' in 'Reason' magazine

 

Reason magazine, in the March issue, publishes a review of A Non-Euclidean Perspective: Robert Anton Wilson’s Political Commentaries 1960-2005.

The short piece by Brian Doherty, a noted historian of libertarianism, begins, "The works of Robert Anton Wilson, especially the Illuminatus! trilogy, were an alternative path to libertarianism, in the late 20th century. His influence has been less appreciated than that of his fellow novelist Ayn Rand, whose apodictic certainty based in ancient Greek philosophy he hilariously lampooned via the made-up novel discussed within Illuminatus!, Telemachus Sneezed."

There isn't a posting yet at the Reason website I can link to, but Rasa has posted it on Facebook. 

Mark Brown's RAW-related reading

Mark Brown posts on Facebook what he read the previous month. Here is what he listed:

Reads and Rereads finished in December:

The Magus by John Fowles  12/6  

The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler  12/9

Every Day is a Good Day by Robert Shea, ed. by Tom Jackson  12/12

Venus Plus X by Theodore Sturgeon  12/18  

Dare by Philip Jose Farmer  12/21  

The Dead Man’s Knock by John Dickson Carr  12/24

I usually post what I read last month, but in a sense I have already done that; in December I read the last five books in yesterday's post.

Except for Fowles, I have read books by every author on RAW's list. But what I am struck by is that every author on Mark's list has a Robert Anton Wilson connection. The Fowles novel is one of Wilson's favorites. RAW was a fan of Chandler, Farmer, Sturgeon and Carr.  Sturgeon was a RAW fan. (This blog post has been updated to confirm that RAW was a Sturgeon fan.)

I am having to do this on my phone; I will update this later and fix the formatting. What did you guys read last month?