books

1417 – Waste Tide (2013 novel)

For All Tomorrow’s Parties. 全为明日派对。


timespace coordinates: The Waste Tide depicts a dystopian China in the post-2020 era. (2040’s -2050’s) In the Guiyu island, the large electronic recycle industries are in full control of local lineage associations. The laborers who undertake dangerous work for the profit of the Chinese and foreign businessmen who employ them are depicted not as humans, but cyborgs whose bodies and minds have been altered permanently through bio-engineering.

wastetideThe Waste Tide is a science fiction novel by the Chinese writer Chen Qiufan.

The story takes place in the imaginary ”Silicon Isle”. The Chinese word ”硅屿” for Silicon Isle shares a similar pronunciation with Guiyu (Chinese: 贵屿) in Mandarin. In the real world, Guiyu is a town in the Shantou prefecture of Guangdong province in China. And it is Shantou where Chen Qiufan was born and grew up before he entered Peking University. Situated on the South China Sea coast, Guiyu got famous in the global environmentalist community for its reception of E-waste. The town held the record for being the largest E-waste site up to 2013. Though some residents got rich by electronic recycling, pollution became serious in the town. Talking about the background of writing the novel, Chen said: ”Choosing my hometown as background to write the story, is related to my thinking of China. To depict the pain of changing China, is just because I desire for she getting better gradually.’ (wiki)

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Uncategorized

1416

Joseph Needham’s sketchbook from his visit to the Buddhist grottoes at Chienfodong 千佛洞 (Qianfodong), Dunhuang, Gansu Province,… (NRI2/5/12/4)

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Joseph Needham



Mirroring the Master: Making Magic in a Nineteenth Century Tibetan Book of Spells

movies

1403 – Joker (2019)

timespace coordinates: Gotham City, 1981

Joker is a 2019 American psychological thriller film directed and produced by Todd Phillips. The film, based on DC Comics characters, stars Joaquin Phoenix as the JokerJoker provides a possible origin story for the character.

social commentary   /  future   /   wiki   /   imdb

movies

1398 – Code 8 (2019)

Code 8 is a 2019 crowdfunded Canadian science fiction thriller film directed by Jeff Chan, Based on the 2016 short film of the same name. (wiki)

Code-8-2019“Code 8 is an electrifying film featuring ordinary people with powers in a tough world. It’s a gritty and realistic take that’s a nice change of pace in the superhero genre.” John Nguyen / Nerd Reactor

In December 2019, a short-form spinoff series starring Robbie and Stephen Amell, written by Chris Pare, and directed by Jeff Chan was announced in development at Quibi.

imdb   /   rt

books, documentary, podcast, theory, Uncategorized

1393

Based on his pioneering work in the recent book High Weirdness: Drugs, Esoterica, and Visionary Experience in the Seventies, author and podcaster Erik Davis will explore the phenomenon of occult revivals, comparing and contrasting some of the factors that made the early 1970s and the late 2010s hotbeds of occultism, witchcraft, and visionary experience. Featuring films by visual artists Dustin Wong and Amanda Siegel.

youtube: High Weirdness Then and Now: The Occult Revival in the ’70s and Today


The Politics of High Weirdness: a Litquake talk with Erik Davis and RU Sirius

For Litquake 2019, Erik Davis spoke with RU Sirius about the politics of high weirdness, then and now.


High Weirdness By Mail  by Ivan Stang

This hysterical hobbyist’s guide belongs in every hip library. Coot cat Reverend Ivan Stang, high holy of the Church of the SubGenius, has compiled a bestiary of American creeps and crazies so that you can write to them and receive mail that is weird, horrible, wonderfully absurd, or a combination of all three.

goodreads   /  wikipedia

documentary, Uncategorized

1392 – Memory: The Origins of Alien (2019 documentary)

Memory: The Origins of Alien is a 2019 documentary film that traces the origin of Ridley Scott’s Alien franchise.  Directed and written by Alexandre O. Philippe, it focuses on the idea that film is “a collective art form – not just the wider circle of writers, performers and technicians beyond the director, but in the case of the truly great films, serendipitous access to a deeper collective unconscious …”, tracing the connections from H. P. Lovecraft to Francis Bacon to the Greek Furies. (wiki)   /   imdb   /   rt


30 Alien Poster Designs   /   Poster Posse Project   /   alternativemovieposters.com/portfolio

Uncategorized

1390 – The Universe of Keith Haring (2008 documentary)

univers of kh poster“The Universe of Keith Haring“, one of the most popular and significant artists of the 20th century, whose mantra was “Art is for everyone!” features interviews and archival footage of Fab 5 Freddy, Jeffrey Deitch, Kim Hastreiter, Grace Jones, Madonna, Yoko Ono, David LaChapelle, Kenny Scharf, Carlo McCormick, Andy Warhol, Ann Magnuson, Tony Shafrazi, and Junior Vasquez. Audio excerpts from original interviews with Keith Haring were conducted by Haring’s biographer John Gruen. (rt)

The Universe of Keith Haring is a 2008 documentary by the filmmaker Christina Clausen.

imdb