Dreamflesh

As decades rather than years began to roll by, I sometimes thought that my lack of real comprehension of our financial systems—mortgages, inflation, interest and other such oddities—might be amiss. Surely I should have a good grasp of the basics of the society I lived in? Of course the basic mechanisms seemed clear enough when spelled out. But the “a-ha!” part of me just never got it. I could see how they worked, in a flat, literal sense; but some essential part of my understanding just glazed over and reached for a nice cosy book on occult philosophy.

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Many, many thanks to everyone who came along to our Day of the Dead celebration last night. We were temporarily beset by technical and practical nightmares, but it all came together in the end in its own spontaneous way.

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In the wake of his splendid Black Sheep album, inspired by the Clash’s 1986 busking tour, Julian Cope’s undertaking a brief, bold tour around England this week. Starting at 10am tomorrow, Monday 27th October, at the ancient law hill Swanborough Tump in the Vale of Pewsey, it sweeps through a fascinating array of landmarks in the history of British protest, ending at the C.G. Jung statue in Liverpool at the end of Wednesday.

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I saw my old mucker Merrick at the Anarchist Bookfair—he has more stamina for selling wares than me, bless him. He seems to still be shifting the odd copy of Neither Work Nor Leisure here and there. He’s been photocopying from old copies, so it seemed like a good time to resurrect the fusty old Quark files and get some new, slightly up-to-date masters to him for future copies.

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It’s with a little sadness that I’ve decided to suspend Dreamflesh Journal.

Publication of Volume 2 got pushed forward by Archaeologies of Consciousness, and now was the time I’d slated to get things moving again. As it stands, the economy’s slowing (if not collapsing completely, disguised by short-term measures and wishful thinking). And while I’ve a number of exciting things ready for the next one, being non-profit and non-paying, it’s always a case of chasing and tracking down contributions rather than getting any great unsolicited material. I could make things work with some extra effort, but actually I find myself drawn ever deeper into some research and writing that I want to devote more time to.

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The Art Monastery Project, a new artistic community in Umbria, Italy, is calling for “proposals for projects and proposals from individual artists interested in collaboration from all disciplines—including dancers, instrumentalists, singers, actors, designers, directors, stage managers, theater technicians, and visual artists—to collaborate and participate in the First Annual Art Monastery Festival from May to October 2009.”

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So the stock markets are responding well to the vast sums of money being funnelled from ordinary people into the system that makes millions for the few, which we’ve been made reliant on. Phew. The world’s richest people (and I’m including most “ordinary” people in the West here, too) may not become as not-quite-as-rich as we feared.

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Via Reality Sandwich, a reminder that hardcore free-marketeers were not the only ones resisting the bailout in the States:

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Come along to our Day of the Dead event! Music, talks, and an altar of cultural ancestors…

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Still no Library RSS feed… So here’s a quick roundup of my latest book reviews:

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