Emo Nemo

Mily

Sarah

Shaidrian Rios

Jimmy Beans

miCCwatreSSop

Julie Wynne - videos

Kapuster

Nicky Tallon

Harini Sen

Vastralaya

Evan Shively (Perseus271)

In The Universe Next Door, the President of Unistat is Furbish Lousewart V; in that universe, a terrorist organization known as Purity of Essence (named after General Ripper's obsession in the film Dr. Strangelove) threatens to detonate nuclear devices in major cities all over Unistat. Also mirroring Dr. Strangelove, Unistat has an automated device that will send nuclear missiles to Russia in the event of such an attack. Russia has a similar device to bomb China, and so on.

I'd totally forgotten about this book.Background: I was a student at a conservative Quaker college in 1998. During mid-semester break in the fall, I went out to Enterprise, Oregon with my friend Chris, a copy of my college’s lifestyle agreement, and a sharpie. The Challenge issued me by Chris was to spend the weekend with old and new friends away from the school just being myself instead of the person I was trying to force myself to be. He, in turn would mark off each lifestyle agreement I violated by simply behaving like Clack. First, I met Chris at his Mom’s house. She is a minister of the Church of Inner Light and reads auras. She read mine as a preparation for the trip (violation 1- “no member shall participate in cult or occult activities”). I told her that I thought her “reading” of me was a crock of cr*p (violation 2- “avoid mean-spirited behaviors”). She took it well though because she’s cool like that. So, Chris and I set out. Once in Enterprise we stayed with my former boyfriend (ehem. violation 3- “we believe that only marriage between a man and a woman is God's intention for the joyful fulfillment of sexual intimacy”). However, he and I had split on terms that weren’t the best so we were actually quite angry with each other (still violation 3- “this should always be in the context of mutual compassion, love, and fidelity”. Also violation 4- “avoid abusive or manipulative actions”). Afterward, I got to meet his more recent ex (violation 5- “regard each person with love and respect” and 6- “avoid discrimination”). She was pretty p*ssed off because of course she was trying to get him back. She tried to make sure that I understood just how much better she was for him than I by showing me a tape she’d convinced him to make while they were together (violation 7- “we avoid giving attention to what is obscene and pornographic”). Frankly, I couldn’t see why she thought that’d convince me she was better. The next day we went to Ex’s buddy John’s house where everyone was sitting around creating characters for an epic-level D&amp;D game, drinking, and smoking. I joined in all activities listed (violations 8, 9, &amp;10- “the use of alcohol by traditional undergraduate students is not allowed at any time they are enrolled at the university”, “presence or use of illegal drugs is not tolerated”, and “the use of tobacco is not permitted”).John asked me how things were going and I gave him a few juicy details (violation 11- “avoid gossip”). When Ex asked what we were talking about, I said “nothing”, because I didn’t want him to know what a crotch his other ex had been to me (violation 12- “tell each other the truth”). I’m glad that I talked to John though, because he was a big help to me in creating my character for the game. He let me fudge the numbers to get a more powerful setup (violation 13- “do honest work”).We played in the smoky room until early the next morning and then stumbled back to Ex’s place. I tripped on the way and hurt my leg. When we got back, he gave me some Percocet that he had left over from an old car accident (violation 14- illegitimate use of prescription drugs is not tolerated). It helped but I was dragging when it was time to get up. Fortunately for me, Ex was ADHD and had some stuff to perk me up too (violation 14 again). We just sat around that day playing cards (violation 15- “we avoid gambling”).When Ex and I parted, we promised to keep in touch more, try to get together more often, etc. (violations 16 &amp; 17- “honor each person” and “keep our promises”). All in all, it was a fun, albeit personally instructive, weekend. Oh yeah, about the book that I’m reviewing… Ex’s buddy John was ordained a minister of the Church of Subgenius and sent me home with a copy of the book. 

Wow! Absolutely jam packed with information for us consciousness expanding truth seekers with a side of open-minded experimental rebel who may he confused as being a crazy person. Lol.This definitely isn't a book for everyone. One may wish to have a background in quantum physics, science fiction, conspiracy theories, strange synchronicities, mind altering substances, a few dances with a variety of different beLIEf systems, and perhaps a little contact with other worldly beings in order to fully understand as well.as appreciate the information contained within this book.A great book to gain a wider picture and greater understanding, the crazy potentials that exist, and a validation of your being stalked by the number 23 and your future self from Sirius.

Throughout human history, thoughts, values and behaviors have been colored by language and the prevailing view of the universe. With the advent of Quantum Mechanics, relativity, non-Euclidean geometries, non-Aristotelian logic and General Semantics, the scientific view of the world has changed dramatically from just a few decades ago. Nonetheless, human thinking is still deeply rooted in the cosmology of the Middle Ages. Quantum Psychology is the book to change your way of perceiving yourself—and the universe—for the 21st century. Some say it's materialistic, others call it scientific and still others insist it's mystical. It is all of these—and none.

WAS IT LUCIFER Saul Goodman was after? He was beginning to almost believe it was.But Goodman was a New York cop; only juries believed in fairy tales.And this crazy case that had fallen in his lap—the Iluminatus; did it really exist, a great and dreaded secret cult, counting kings as members over the centuries, a colossus of crime and occult conspiracy?Witchcraft or world blackmail, it was Saul Goodman's baby now, and even the President saw it his way, holding back the National Guard to give Goodman time to track down the evil behind Illuminatus—before it unleashed the anthrax plague that threatened to destroy all creatures great and small....As weirdly wonderful as the best of Vonnegut, as suspensefully off-beat as Casteneda, here comes Part II of ILLUMINATUS, a vulture's eye view of the dark side of human comedy.

I first read this while I was still in High School, I believe, and I would have given it at least one more star at the time. An older and more experienced person reads it today with sort of a tolerant smile, and occasional nods at how right or wrong Wilson's predictions have been, but it still has some interest.This was Wilson's first published book, through Playboy Press, at a time when writing and editing for Playboy was his full-time job. It wasn't especially successful, nor even as controversial as his later books, in spite of the eye-grabbing title. It has the hallmarks of a "first book:" Wilson hasn't quite found his voice, he's not sure how far he should go in pushing some of his more outre theories, and it lacks a lot of his familiar jargon. It's clear enough that he has a good opinion of Tim Leary, for example, but their close personal friendship is in no way represented. That's not to say that it comes across as "conservative," especially considering the generally anti-drug climate of the publishing world of the early 1970s, but it does seem stilted in places.Wilson's essential argument is that sex is something good that humans do, and it can be even better with judicious use of mind-altering chemicals. He's especially interested in those which introduce a "spiritual" level to the experience. He's not a fan of drugs, like amphetamines and heroin, which are dangerous and often lead to bad sexual experiences. He doesn't tell anyone what they should or should not do, and there's a good deal of cautionary information about the possible legal consequences of getting caught with controlled substances. Nevertheless, it's pretty clear that he thinks legislating people's brain chemistry is a form of totalitarian thought-control.If nothing else, the book is interesting because that argument is so rarely made with any coherence or intelligence. Also, some of his historical and anthropological data about different cultures' attitudes toward getting high and having orgasms is interesting, although it is not well-organized or reliably sourced (the lack of an index also makes it harder to track down specifics). Actually, I think his case studies or "interludes" are some of the most interesting insights into late-60s and early-70s drug culture. Each of these could have been a book unto itself. The book has dated in some respects. There are no entries in his glossary for "angel dust," "freebasing," "crack," or "ice." His observation that heroin is the most feared drug sounds odd in a world where methamphetamine has taken on that title. The entry for MMDA (XTC) obviously comes from a time when not many people were using it. Of course, the most outlandish predictions are those of the chemical futurists, who thought that by the year 2000 we would have a wide array of consciousness-altering drugs at our disposal for things like memory enhancement and alertness. Instead, what we have is an array of government-approved "anti-depressants" and other behavior modification drugs that do not address consciousness per se. Wilson's more pessimistic predictions about future legislation, alas, have tended to be more accurate.

Sex, Drugs &amp; Magick can be considered a "scholarly" appraisal of both the historical and modern use (an misuse) of drugs in conjunction with sex and "occult" practices. But don't let the word "scholarly" put you off. Done in Wilson's inimitable style, this is a book filled with humor, cynicism, wonder and essential information for those who would pursue what can be an immensely rewarding path, potholed with a array of social and physical dangers.

This, the long-awaited third volume of the Cosmic Trigger series, includes Wilson's witty and humorous observations about the widely spread (and, happily, premature) announcement of his demise. And, of course, what Wilson masterpiece would be complete without synchronicities, religious fanatics, UFOs, crop circles, paranoia, pompous scientists, secret societies, high tech, black magic, quantum physics, hoaxes (real and fake), Orson Welles, James Joyce, Carl Sagan, Madonna and The Vagina of Nuit.

A clever metaphysical detective story masquerading as a Gothic horror, this book casts James Joyce and Albert Einstein as its super-sleuths, with the two trading off the roles of Sherlock Holmes and Watson as the plot demands it. The sinister Aleister Crowley is also integral to the plot, acting as their Moriarty-like foil.Though set in pre-WWI Europe, this novel shares many themes and concepts with Wilson's other works (generally set in the mid-to-late twentieth century.) There is the familiar fascination with secret societies and magickal rites, conspiracies and manipulation, the benevolent hidden within the frightening, and scientific illumination masquerading as the supernatural. And, while occasionally dry and drawn out, most of it is also extremely funny.

Dostoevsky’s most revolutionary novel, Notes from Underground marks the dividing line between nineteenth- and twentieth-century fiction, and between the visions of self each century embodied. One of the most remarkable characters in literature, the unnamed narrator is a former official who has defiantly withdrawn into an underground existence. In complete retreat from society, he scrawls a passionate, obsessive, self-contradictory narrative that serves as a devastating attack on social utopianism and an assertion of man’s essentially irrational nature.Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky, whose Dostoevsky translations have become the standard, give us a brilliantly faithful edition of this classic novel, conveying all the tragedy and tormented comedy of the original.

Louis-Ferdinand Celine's revulsion and anger at what he considered the idiocy and hypocrisy of society explodes from nearly every page of this novel. Filled with slang and obscenities and written in raw, colloquial language, Journey to the End of the Night is a literary symphony of violence, cruelty and obscene nihilism. This book shocked most critics when it was first published in France in 1932, but quickly became a success with the reading public in Europe, and later in America where it was first published by New Directions in 1952. The story of the improbable yet convincingly described travels of the petit-bourgeois (and largely autobiographical) antihero, Bardamu, from the trenches of World War I, to the African jungle, to New York and Detroit, and finally to life as a failed doctor in Paris, takes the readers by the scruff and hurtles them toward the novel's inevitable, sad conclusion.

Foucault's Pendulum is divided into ten segments represented by the ten Sefiroth. The novel is full of esoteric references to the Kabbalah. The title of the book refers to an actual pendulum designed by the French physicist Léon Foucault to demonstrate the rotation of the earth, which has symbolic significance within the novel.Bored with their work, and after reading too many manuscripts about occult conspiracy theories, three vanity publisher employees (Belbo, Diotallevi and Casaubon) invent their own conspiracy for fun. They call this satirical intellectual game "The Plan," a hoax that connects the medieval Knights Templar with other occult groups from ancient to modern times. This produces a map indicating the geographical point from which all the powers of the earth can be controlled—a point located in Paris, France, at Foucault’s Pendulum. But in a fateful turn the joke becomes all too real.The three become increasingly obsessed with The Plan, and sometimes forget that it's just a game. Worse still, other conspiracy theorists learn about The Plan, and take it seriously. Belbo finds himself the target of a real secret society that believes he possesses the key to the lost treasure of the Knights Templar.Orchestrating these and other diverse characters into his multilayered semioticadventure, Eco has created a superb cerebral entertainment.

This Hugo Award-winning graphic novel chronicles the fall from grace of a group of super-heroes plagued by all-too-human failings. Along the way, the concept of the super-hero is dissected as the heroes are stalked by an unknown assassin.One of the most influential graphic novels of all time and a perennial best-seller, Watchmen has been studied on college campuses across the nation and is considered a gateway title, leading readers to other graphic novels such as V for Vendetta, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns and The Sandman series.

Thus Spoke Zarathustra is a foundational work of Western literature and is widely considered to be Friedrich Nietzsche’s masterpiece. It includes the German philosopher’s famous discussion of the phrase ‘God is dead’ as well as his concept of the Superman. Nietzsche delineates his Will to Power theory and devotes pages to critiquing Christian thinking, in particular Christianity’s definition of good and evil.

Twenty-Five Hundred years ago, Sun Tzu wrote this classic book of military strategy based on Chinese warfare and military thought. Since that time, all levels of military have used the teaching on Sun Tzu to warfare and civilization have adapted these teachings for use in politics, business and everyday life. The Art of War is a book which should be used to gain advantage of opponents in the boardroom and battlefield alike.

In this stunning new book, Malcolm Gladwell takes us on an intellectual journey through the world of "outliers"--the best and the brightest, the most famous and the most successful. He asks the question: what makes high-achievers different?His answer is that we pay too much attention to what successful people are like, and too little attention to where they are from: that is, their culture, their family, their generation, and the idiosyncratic experiences of their upbringing. Along the way he explains the secrets of software billionaires, what it takes to be a great soccer player, why Asians are good at math, and what made the Beatles the greatest rock band.

Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9780062457738In this generation-defining self-help guide, a superstar blogger cuts through the crap to show us how to stop trying to be "positive" all the time so that we can truly become better, happier people.For decades, we’ve been told that positive thinking is the key to a happy, rich life. "F**k positivity," Mark Manson says. "Let’s be honest, shit is f**ked and we have to live with it." In his wildly popular Internet blog, Manson doesn’t sugarcoat or equivocate. He tells it like it is—a dose of raw, refreshing, honest truth that is sorely lacking today. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F**k is his antidote to the coddling, let’s-all-feel-good mindset that has infected American society and spoiled a generation, rewarding them with gold medals just for showing up.Manson makes the argument, backed both by academic research and well-timed poop jokes, that improving our lives hinges not on our ability to turn lemons into lemonade, but on learning to stomach lemons better. Human beings are flawed and limited—"not everybody can be extraordinary, there are winners and losers in society, and some of it is not fair or your fault." Manson advises us to get to know our limitations and accept them. Once we embrace our fears, faults, and uncertainties, once we stop running and avoiding and start confronting painful truths, we can begin to find the courage, perseverance, honesty, responsibility, curiosity, and forgiveness we seek.There are only so many things we can give a f**k about so we need to figure out which ones really matter, Manson makes clear. While money is nice, caring about what you do with your life is better, because true wealth is about experience. A much-needed grab-you-by-the-shoulders-and-look-you-in-the-eye moment of real-talk, filled with entertaining stories and profane, ruthless humor, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F**k is a refreshing slap for a generation to help them lead contented, grounded lives.

The procession that crosses Chaucer's pages is as full of life and as richly textured as a medieval tapestry. The Knight, the Miller, the Friar, the Squire, the Prioress, the Wife of Bath, and others who make up the cast of characters -- including Chaucer himself -- are real people, with human emotions and weaknesses. When it is remembered that Chaucer wrote in English at a time when Latin was the standard literary language across western Europe, the magnitude of his achievement is even more remarkable. But Chaucer's genius needs no historical introduction; it bursts forth from every page of The Canterbury Tales.If we trust the General Prologue, Chaucer intended that each pilgrim should tell two tales on the way to Canterbury and two tales on the way back. He never finished his enormous project and even the completed tales were not finally revised. Scholars are uncertain about the order of the tales. As the printing press had yet to be invented when Chaucer wrote his works, The Canterbury Tales has been passed down in several handwritten manuscripts.

Renowned as Shakespeare's most boisterous comedy, The Taming of the Shrew is the tale of two young men, the hopeful Lucentio and the worldly Petruchio, and the two sisters they meet in Padua. Lucentio falls in love with Bianca, the apparently ideal younger daughter of the wealthy Baptista Minola. But before they can marry, Bianca's formidable elder sister, Katherine, must be wed. Petruchio, interested only in the huge dowry, arranges to marry Katherine -against her will- and enters into a battle of the sexes that has endured as one of Shakespeare's most enjoyable works.

One of George Bernard Shaw's best-known plays, Pygmalion was a rousing success on the London and New York stages, an entertaining motion picture and a great hit with its musical version, My Fair Lady. An updated and considerably revised version of the ancient Greek legend of Pygmalion and Galatea, the 20th-century story pokes fun at the antiquated British class system. In Shaw's clever adaptation, Professor Henry Higgins, a linguistic expert, takes on a bet that he can transform an awkward cockney flower seller into a refined young lady simply by polishing her manners and changing the way she speaks. In the process of convincing society that his creation is a mysterious royal figure, the Professor also falls in love with his elegant handiwork.The irresistible theme of the emerging butterfly, together with Shaw's brilliant dialogue and splendid skills as a playwright, have made Pygmalion one of the most popular comedies in the English language. A staple of college drama courses, it is still widely performed.

A couple's big dreams give way to a life full of unexpected sadness and unexpected joy.

A woman is asked to spy on a group of Nazi friends in South America. How far will she have to go to ingratiate herself with them?

A retired jewel thief sets out to prove his innocence after being suspected of returning to his former occupation.

A self-conscious woman juggles adjusting to her new role as an aristocrat's wife and avoiding being intimidated by his first wife's spectral presence.

After a wealthy man finds out his wife is a gold digger, he meets and falls for a widowed mother, and complications ensue.

An uncompromising, visionary architect struggles to maintain his integrity and individualism despite personal, professional and economic pressures to conform to popular standards.

A faded movie star and a neglected young woman form an unlikely bond after crossing paths in Tokyo.

Young Esteban wants to become a writer and also to discover the identity of his second mother, a trans woman, carefully concealed by his mother Manuela.

Mathilda, a 12-year-old girl, is reluctantly taken in by Léon, a professional assassin, after her family is murdered. An unusual relationship forms as she becomes his protégée and learns the assassin's trade.

A young New York socialite becomes interested in a young man who has moved into her apartment building, but her past threatens to get in the way.

A frustrated son tries to determine the fact from fiction in his dying father's life.

Central Europe, 1968: A Czech doctor with an active sex life meets a woman who wants monogamy, and then the Soviet invasion further disrupts their lives.

A Polish Jewish musician struggles to survive the destruction of the Warsaw ghetto of World War II.

2002 biographic film on the Warsaw Ghetto directed by Roman Polanski

A criminal pleads insanity and is admitted to a mental institution, where he rebels against the oppressive nurse and rallies up the scared patients.

1975 drama film based on the novel by Ken Kesey

A bored and sheltered princess escapes her guardians and falls in love with an American newsman in Rome.

1953 American romantic comedy directed by William Wyler

Two friends on a summer holiday in Spain become enamored with the same painter, unaware that his ex-wife, with whom he has a tempestuous relationship, is about to re-enter the picture.

Maverick teacher John Keating uses poetry to embolden his boarding school students to new heights of self-expression.

1989 American film directed by Peter Weir

Five years after their summer together in Barcelona, Xavier, William, Wendy, Martine and Isabelle reunite.

Two neighbors form a strong bond after both suspect extramarital activities of their spouses. However, they agree to keep their bond platonic so as not to commit similar wrongs.

A weatherman finds himself inexplicably living the same day over and over again.

1993 comedy film directed by Harold Ramis

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