First up, PROG BRITANNIA, an Anglo-centric (and thus, necessarily incomplete) history of Progressive Rock, which recently aired on BBC4. Absolutely essential viewing for one and all.
Not quite so mandatory but still quite instructive and illuminating is KRAUTROCK: THE REBIRTH OF GERMANY, which goes to great lengths to fit this particularly viral and enduring strain of prog into a holistic political and socio-cultural context. Very well done.
And, finally, SYNTH BRITANNIA, a revealing and encyclopedic examination of the history of electronic British music. I was, of course, very satisfied to see that Stanley Kubrick was given his proper due as a ground-breaking trend-setter in this case, having hired electro-musical maverick Wendy/Walter Carlos to produce the haunting, blazing score for his version of Clockwork Orange.
In 2003, German filmmaker Lutz Dammbeck released an independently produced documentary film entitled Das Netz, the English title being The Net: The Unabomber, LSD and The Internet. Since its debut, it has slowly been acquiring a reputation as a must-watch production among serious students of conspiracy, secret histories and parapolitics in general.
In my opinion, this is a film that deserves much more attention that it has been given, and it needs to be seen by a lot more people, for a long list of reasons that will become obvious once you've watched it, which you can either do here, using the embedded video provided below, or on Youtube.com, where the subtitles will probably be a lot easier to read.
Unfortunately, the film's official website is a German language only. Unless you're one of those lucky Fritzes and Friedas who speak it, that's too bad, because the site seems to have a pretty active forum section.
I am bringing this film to your attention now because I have nearly completed a lengthy "study guide" for it, which I intend to post here sometime during the next 24 hours. In it, I flesh out some of the concepts Dammbeck touches on only briefly, tease out some potential implications and offer my own, alternate explanations to some of the information presented in the film. I also offer suggestions for further avenues of research to compliment and broaden your understanding of the rich bounty of information presented in this remarkable film.
And so, in closing, I urge you to watch this film, and keep watching this space for my upcoming study guide!
Many of you Diasporans have been enjoying BasilPapademos's gritty/funky/hilarious revelations about his part-time gig as a chauffeur/bodyguard/babysitter to one of the Big Smoke's finer escort services (check out the DDD archives for a few choice examples and links to further information).
Well, Basil also happens to be the finest prose stylist whom yer old pal Jerky has the privilege of being able to call a friend. His latest novel, Mount Royal, is coming out soon, and it promises to be a scorcher. Check out this page for more information.
Quite enjoying the feedback you people have given his earlier efforts here, Basil asked me would I mind posting a series of videos he shot at the behest of his publisher, and with the able assistance of another one of yer old pal Jerky's trusted real-life cronies, the immortal Mel Rosedale. "Would I mind?!" I replied. "Free content for my stale, moribund site? And excellent content at that? Bring it on!"
And so, without further ado, here are three readings from Basil Papademos' upcoming novel, Mount Royal. Take it away, Baz!
You know how celebrity deaths always come in bunches of three? Well, it's too early to tell yet, but judging by the following three videos, maybe we're gonna have to come up with a similar law for iPhone apps.
See, in this first video, we have a demonstration of the iSnort "cocaine simulation" app, which delivers all the ritual - and none of the psychoactive fun - of chopping up and snorting fluffy white lines of Bolivian Marching Powder...
A-and HERE we have "the competition", a rather shoddy knock-off called the Nose Candy CocaineApp. The virtual straw is particularly crap.
And, finally, rounding out our Hat Trick Trifecta of Complete and Utter Uselessness, here is the nSnort, which is nothing more than a complete hack-tastic rip-off of the iSnort, which at least had originality going for it.
As for yer old pal Jerky, I think I'll hold out for the iSmack heroin injection simulation app. I mean, if you're going to fake indulge, you might as well fake indulge BIG TIME, right? Right.
