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In the early 1970s the personal computer was just a wild dream shared by a small group of computer enthusiasts …
A call to action for the creative class and labor movement to rally against the …
An excellent explanation of the issues that face us and how to systemically dismantle these power structures that stifle and exploit creativity. Lots to unpack in this book.
A call to action for the creative class and labor movement to rally against the power of Big Tech and …
A little birdy told us you needed to know more about Mastodon
Ready to escape …
Liking the first chapter.
A little birdy told us you needed to know more about Mastodon
Ready to escape the drama of existing social …
This has been in my "fiction" pile for a while, so in the interest of "read it or pitch it" (the mantra for my book decluttering) I decided to give this a spin. I've never seen the movie (though I have a copy of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: Not the Screenplay that I also have not yet read. So I went into this book with the following expectations: 1) It's a book by a famous "gonzo" journalist. 2) It's considered a cult classic, and 3) It was so influential that Hollywood made a movie about it. I've been down this road before trying to read books like "Naked Lunch" by William S. Burroughs, "Clockwork Orange" by Anthony Burgess, or "The Illuminatus Trilogy" by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson. Each one of those books reached my "Did not Finish" pile, so I was expecting the same thing: a …
This has been in my "fiction" pile for a while, so in the interest of "read it or pitch it" (the mantra for my book decluttering) I decided to give this a spin. I've never seen the movie (though I have a copy of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: Not the Screenplay that I also have not yet read. So I went into this book with the following expectations: 1) It's a book by a famous "gonzo" journalist. 2) It's considered a cult classic, and 3) It was so influential that Hollywood made a movie about it. I've been down this road before trying to read books like "Naked Lunch" by William S. Burroughs, "Clockwork Orange" by Anthony Burgess, or "The Illuminatus Trilogy" by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson. Each one of those books reached my "Did not Finish" pile, so I was expecting the same thing: a generational version of Moby Dick that folks regard as a classic but was an unreadable mess for anyone who wasn't at the right age at the right time to appreciate it. What I discovered was way more breezy and readable than any of those tomes. It reminded me of the travelogue style of what I remember of "Travels with Charlie" by John Steinbeck if Steinbeck wrote like a Rolling Stone columnist and had a head full of acid, mescaline, and ether. What I thought would be a crepuscular plodding book was actually kind of funny, kind of surreal, and (dare I say it) readable. Sure, I wasn't around for the majority of 1971 so I couldn't relate to the shift from the 1960s to the 1970s, but I could relate to the feeling of days gone by and the coming of the Nixon conservatism that was my background radiation growing up.
I won't go into too much depth for what is in the book because there are likely two folks reading the review: those who have read the book or seen the movie, and those who have yet to do either. There's a boat-load of drugs in this book, but you probably already knew that. It's not the kind of book that I would recommend for anyone who is squeamish about drugs, alcohol, or (waves hands at 1960s counter-culture) but it is an interesting book with sharp writing that just draws you in. That it didn't hit my "Did Not Finish" pile makes it the rare cult-classic in a sea of other "classics" that made the cut.
Recommended with caveats. It's definitely not for everyone.
For four decades, J. Michael Straczynski has been one of the most successful writers in …
This book should be required reading for any aspiring creative person. J Michael Staczynski's work is both humanizing for how he made it into professional work, but also so god-damned honest in what tolls to the human soul the creative process can extort and how approaching it with determination is the only way through. This is a powerful work, and my blathering isn't going to convince you one way or another to read it, but if you trust the opinions of a stranger on the Internet then trust me when I say that you must read this book. I didn't go nearly through what the author went through, but if he can make it through hell and come out positive and radiant then my excuses are dry crackling crepe paper by comparison.
Create a personal plan to become the best, most competent, most unique writer you can be. I wish someone had …
Create immersive solo RPG experiences with this dedicated guide from the acclaimed host of the …
Seems like this is more geared towards D&D and F20-style games than the games that I gravitate towards. Some useful tips, but overall I'm not certain if I got everything I should out of it. I did like the advice about skipping character creation, but the systems propose in the book feels pretty weak when compared with systems like Mythic, Push, or any of the other myriad of solo systems.
Create immersive solo RPG experiences with this dedicated guide from the acclaimed host of the …
Seems like this is more geared towards D&D and F20-style games than the games that I gravitate towards. Some useful tips, but overall I'm not certain if I got everything I should out of it. I did like the advice about skipping character creation, but the systems propose in the book feels pretty weak when compared with systems like Mythic, Push, or any of the other myriad of solo systems.
Former insider turned critic Wendy Liu busts the myths of the tech industry, and offers a galvanising argument for why …
Former insider turned critic Wendy Liu busts the myths of the tech industry, and offers …
Have to blame Jacky Alcine for this one. He posted it in his newsletter and it just stuck out as the perfect thing to read right now.
