I’m on a trip to Germany this weekend, so sadly I’m going to miss the philosophically nomadic and ever-engaging Erik Davis as he whizzes through London for a couple of fascinating gigs.

On Friday May 20th at 6:30pm he will be on a panel at the British Library as part of their new Science Fiction show.

And on Sunday May 22nd he will be reading from his new book Nomad Codes and the new edition of Strange Attractor Journal at the Horse Hospital, Russell Square, along with sonic and other contributions from Dreamflesh contributor Stephen Grasso, Christos Fanaras, and the Raagnagrok Allstars.

So of course I have a background rosy feeling about the guy. But, while I found his recent books Life Inc. and Program or Be Programmed to be well-written, sound advice, none of it comes close to this closing keynote talk he gave at a social media conference. He says:

I got really tired of listening to brand managers talk about their “Twitter strategies,” and by the time my closing keynote came around, it felt like I had watched the corporatization the net recapitulated over the course of the afternoon.

Please watch this if you’ve not come across Douglas’ recent ideas.

The comfy crust of semi-hibernation got pleasantly broken last night at the positively bustling opening night of the Strange Attractor Salon. It’s an exhibition ably curated by SA guru Mark Pilkington, showcasing art from contributors and allies. Needless to say, the obscure, the psychedelic, the devilishly fascinating and the bizarrely seductive are thoroughly celebrated.

That much was clear, even though the exhibits were lost behind the thick crowd for most of last night—a quiet afternoon of proper contemplation beckons. I did manage a leisurely perusal of the excellent venue‘s basement collection of skeletal oddities, pickled puppies and cultural emphemera. This assembly of strangeness is a fine companion for the exhibition, and another good reason to head there.

Also on the cards are a few performances, salon discussions and film screenings. Check out details and buy tickets.

For now, I’m glad to offer everyone who couldn’t make it both an MP3 download of the talk (with thanks to Mark Pilkington for tech duties), and a slidecast. This is a version of the slideshow I did, synched with the audio recording—which has come out pretty well.

If anyone’s interested in me doing this presentation in their neighbourhood, or in doing an interview on the subject, do get in touch.

Patrick Harpur, the essential guide to Hermeticism and alchemy, author of Daimonic Reality, Mercurius and The Philosopher’s Secret Fire, is breaking his customary seclusion with a series of courses next year to be held in the heart of West Dorset.

Together with Jules Cashford (co-author of the excellent The Myth of the Goddess) and others, Patrick will host talks, discussions, films and field trips exploring soul, magic, Forteana, folklore, mythology, dreams, and other byways of the imagination. Full details can be found at The Mythic Imagination website.

At first it was a part of a talk given early this year at Metageum in London. Then I thought I’d develop it into an essay. Then it seemed long enough to print as a nice pamphlet. It’s ended up being a slim book.

It’s my effort to analyze and contribute to the recent debates about the “Noble Savage”. Are pre-civilized cultures more peaceful than we are? Do they live in greater harmony with the environment? Of late, people such as Steven Pinker, Lawrence Keeley and Steven LeBlanc, who aren’t overt bigots—indeed, who generally seem to be fine, well-meaning liberal folks—have been answering these questions with a resounding “no”. In War & the Noble Savage I’ve surveyed this recent literature, and tried to dig beneath the polarized surface of the debate using some less popularized anthropological and historical scholarship.

It went to the printers just today, and should be ready to send out by the end of next week. I’m taking pre-orders now if anyone wants to dive in. (Please note that I’ve also revamped my PayPal integration, and I’ve included options to buy different Dreamflesh publications together and save money on postage.)

October Gallery talk

Coinciding with the release of the book, I’m pleased to have been invited to speak in the October Gallery‘s ‘Ecology, Cosmos & Consciousness’ lecture series on Tuesday 27th October. For more details and booking information see the October Gallery website. I’ll be presenting the book’s main ideas there, and leaving plenty of time for discussion—please bring your questions and ideas along! Copies of the book will of course be on sale, at a specially reduced price.

Review copies

If anyone’s interested in reviewing this, please get in touch.

Related material

At the bottom of the book’s page you’ll find a compilation of related material—my book reviews and blog posts covering similar area, plus a collection of links to the websites, articles, and videos I drew on in my research.

Feedback

If anyone who reads the book wants to respond to anything in it or ask questions, please use the comments here…

For anyone who hasn’t seen the comments on the previous post, Dale Pendell’s talk at the October Gallery next Wednesday 22nd July has been confirmed. Dale’s visiting the UK for various reasons, and a quick-thinking Strange Attractor quickly led to an impromptu addition to the gallery’s excellent “Ecology, Cosmos & Consciousness” lecture series (facilitated by Dr Dave). The talk will be at 6pm for a 6.30pm start, entry will be £7 / £5 concessions. You can book through the gallery (though I don’t think their website has been updated with the details so far).

There’s no set blurb for the event, we just have the title: “Imagination and Fire: New Work and Conversation with Dale Pendell”. Anyone who knows Dale’s work will know what to expect and will already be on the phone booking a ticket. If you’ve not encountered him before, next week will be a great introduction to this unique exploratory scholar. A poet, software engineer, ethnobotanist, psychedelic anarchist, Burning Man veteran, and former student of one of my favourite writers, Norman O. Brown, Dale will surely range widely and philosophize lyrically. Check out his website, this interview, and my reviews of his books.

‘Ecology, Cosmos & Consciousness’ continues with its regular schedule next week with rock art scholar Dr Robert Wallis, with a talk on ‘Animism, Ancestors and Adjusted Styles of Communication: Hidden Art in Irish Passage Graves’, which should be another great evening.

This just in… We’ve yet to confirm details, but hearing that psychopharmacological poet and occult anarchist Dale Pendell was visiting these isles, we had to pull together an evening for him to warp our minds with his words. It looks like the time and place will be the evening of 22nd July (a week on Wednesday) at the October Gallery in London.

If you’ve not encountered Dale’s work before, check out this interview.

Stand by for further information and confirmation, but pencil the date in your diary with a big thick 9B!

If you want to link to the event, please use this URL. You can also reserve tickets there (we expect it to be busy); plus, it looks better on black.