Strange Attractor Journal One

I’m mostly a pretty reliable type. To the extent that, every now and then, in fragile moments, I wonder if I can be reliable to a fault — namely, being taken for granted, or plain old boring.

Well, I’ve found that there’s at least one thing in which I’m lousy at coming up with the goods (you know, beyond all those other things I’m crap at, that I ignore to fuel the "reliability" self-image): writing reviews. I quite like writing them when I do so; but really, don’t count on me when you throw a CD or book my way.

So, it’s blogging to the rescue! Why review something when you can just informally mention it, mouth a couple of platitudes, and throw a link out there?

Such is my preamble to a little plug for Strange Attractor Journal One. Editor Mark Pilkington traded me a copy for a ticket to Amazonia Ambient the other week. Don’t let my non-review deter you, though. This is certainly the most interesting counter-cultural publication I’ve happened across in a good while. For a start, it’s a treasurable object, designed with loving attention to detail, full of curious old-fashioned etchings and Victorian illustrative flourishes. Articles range from a pilgrimage to H.P. Lovecraft’s old Rhode Island residence that tellingly clashes with the destruction of the World Trade Centre, to a rediscovery of ostentatious ladies’ hairdressing; and from an interview exploring the possibility of mind-control technologies being used at the Greenham Common protests in the 80’s, to an investigation of a cargo cult in the South Pacific. Touching on the ambience of vaguely illicit sideshows and retro-futurist technology experiments, it’s well worth checking out.

The impalpable nature of the net is presumably part of the reason for such nicely crafted physical creations like the Strange Attractor Journal feeling so refreshing (as hand-bound and individually illustrated publications did in comparison with mechanically printed works, I suppose, only more so). Still, the digital world of easy reproduction isn’t going away. Complementing this little paean to the printed word, here’s R.U. Sirius interviewing digital culture maven Cory Doctorow (via WorldChanging). Some fascinating insights into peer-to-peer networking, reputation- and trust-based systems, adhocracies, and other information age structural principles.