Arts & Letters

Not too long ago I recieved a book of Ghost Stories as a gift. The book introduced me to M. R. James, who is known as one of the originators of the modern ghost story, and I must say, he is quite talented. I stumbled across this gem, containing a few of James’ short stories in their entirety, including my favourite: Count Magnus. An excerpt:

‘So he sat there, and two or three men with him, and they listened. At first they hear nothing at all; then they hear someone–you know how far away it is–they hear someone scream, just as if the most inside part of his soul was twisted out of him. All of them in the room caught hold of each other, and they sat so for three-quarters of an hour. Then they hear someone else, only about three hundred ells off. They hear him laugh out loud: it was not one of those two men that laughed, and, indeed, they have all of them said that it was not any man at all. After that they hear a great door shut.

It is not so much the scream that evokes fear, but rather the laugh at the end. Why is that? I’m not really sure… As for the other stories, I have only read Casting the Runes, which I enjoyed as well.

The Delivery of a Lifetime describes an exchange of emails between Daniel Arp, a Pittsburgh high school teacher, and the customer-service department of Amazon.com. Daniel fervently proclaims his love for the corporation with a verbose fanaticism worthy of psychological study. I wonder what he thinks of Amazon’s new logo? Personally, I like the new logo, and in my opinion Amazon is the best company in the history of American business. Uh, yeah.

Letter about Philadelphia, by Neal Pollack: The good Neal describes why he actually likes living in Philadelphia, and does a decent job describing the good and bad aspects of mine beloved city. If anything, he captures the curiously fun characteristics of living in a city that is teetering on the brink of collapse. [via metascene]

An interview with Dean Koontz in which he discusses lots of interesting things like Freudian characters and governmental regulations. Koontz is one of my favourite authors; he writes enjoyable fiction that is easy to read and well thought out. My favourite aspect of Koontz is that he seems to have a genuinely optimistic view of the world around him, despite all the bad things that are going on, and that is a feeling I can relate to (I’m a naive optimist). Some excerpts:

“…it makes sense to say that moral behavior is an evolutionary choice. If doing the right thing wasn’t a survival tool, then none of us would do the right, decent thing and there would be no civilization. Civilization rests on the fact that most people do the right thing most of the time.”

“One day I realized my whole life has taught me Freudianism is nonsense. My father was a sociopath and an alcoholic, and I had a terrible childhood. I didn’t grow up to be a criminal or have any of the problems that I’m supposed to have.”

People compain that his characters aren’t deep enough because they don’t know why they are the way they are. Koontz explains that “In Dickens, the idea was that character is what you do, and that’s what defines you. I think that makes sense. I believe in free will and individual choice and that we make our own lives as we go along.”

DyRE noticed some thematic similarities between Theodore Stugeon’s classic novel More Than Human and Tool’s song 46+2. Sturgeon’s novel shows humans coming together to evolve into a single consciousness. Basically, as the song goes, humanity has 46 chromosomes, and 46+2 (a new pair of chromosomes) represents the next step in human evolution. The song is a lot more involved than that, drawing from Jungian theories (about the shadow) and the teachings of Drunvalo Melchizadek.

“According to Melchezedek, our planet is covered with geometrically constructed ‘morpho genetic grids’. These grids extend from about 60 feet under the Earth’s surface to about 60 miles above the Earth, arranged in geometric patterns (see ‘Sacred Geometry’). Each species has its own grid, which supports life, and connects the consciousness of its particular species. Before any species can come into existance or make an evolutionary step, a new grid must be completed. When a species becomes extinct, that particular species’ grid dissoves. A new grid was completed in 1989 – the ‘christ-consciousness’ grid. This grid will allow humans to evolve into our next version. We’ll develop two additional chromosomes (which are really ‘geometrical images’ designed to resonate with our specific grid) for a total or 46 + 2.

The main change will be a shift to the “unity consciousness”. Every cell in your body has its own consciousness and memory. You, the higher being that occupies your body, make the millions of different consciousnesses in your body work together as one being. How does this relate to this grid? Think of yourself as a cell and the grid as the higher being. We will still have individual consciousness, but will be united in the form of a higher being in order to work as one entity.”

For more, scroll down towards the bottom of the Tool FAQ. Fascinating, though I’m unsure of the scientific veracity of these claims. Mayhap I’ll look into it more. [thanks DyRE and Toolshed]

I’ve never put much stock in astrology, but my horoscope from The Onion this week is somewhat accurate:

Virgo: (Aug. 23–Sept. 22)

You will be mortified to realize that you misspelled the words “fiery,” “dynamite,” and “vengeance” in your letter to the president.

Heh heh. J/k, of course. A good headline from The Onion: Man Reading Pynchon On Bus Takes Pains To Make Cover Visible. LOL. I could actually see that happening…

Ironminds is simply one of the best online zines I’ve ever read. Its a never-ending source of humorous articles and commentary. Take, for instance, the groundbreaking stupid article I Duct-Taped Bull Ice Malt Liquor to My Hands or the confession of the simple pleasures taken in Best-of Lists (such as my lavish listing of Christmas Movies or my definitive Top 10 of 1999). Another Ironminds masterpiece: Joel Shitmaker. Its always nice to note that there are people out there who still recognize the galactic horror of movies like Batman and Robin…

I finished Theodore Sturgeon’s More Than Human tonight, and I was extremely happy with it. It is a book about a group of social misfits who band together to suvive, only to discover that their combined existance composes a single organism, possibly the next step in human evolution (Homo Gestalt). Sturgeon displays a poetic lyricism rarely seen in science fiction and explores what it really is to be human. Expect a review at Kaedrin soon…

Theres going to be a live action Tick TV series? Why wasn’t I informed? I’m a bit worried that its going to be live action (I absolutely love the old Comics and Animated Series), but from the people involved, it seems like they are taking the right approach. The Official Site is sparse, but it has a cool Haiku of Justice. Spoon!

For the uninitiated, The Running Man was a cheesy 80s Schwartzenegger action flick that is generally considered something of an abomination by film critics and even most fans. However, the author of this hilarious review of The Running Man thinks otherwise:

“Did we watch the same film? The unedited version? The one with all the swear words and the scene where the head of a fleeing prisoner explodes like a chinchilla in a convection oven?”

LOL! Go and read his madness. Now