Happy Birthday King~!!

Religious Right compares Santeros to NAZIs. Wait, what?

The Lingering Damage of the Satanic Panic Scare by Jason Pitzl-Waters

Jason Pitzl-Waters wrote on the Wild Hunt Blog,

We’d like to think that the age of dangerous life-destroying rumors concerning “Satanic” and “occult” practitioners is long over, but a quick look at the Austin Chronicle’s recent examination of the “Satanic Panic” scare of the 1980’s and 90’s (aka “Satanic Ritual Abuse”) shows how some people are still suffering from the after-effects of this madness.

On Hip Hop and Homophobia, “If You Are Homophobic, Then You Are Probably Gay?”

Editor: Below is a compelling yet whimsical article by Johann Hari for the Huffington Post.

“…Listen to any album and a list of homophobic howls will hit you: Eminem squeaking “Hate fags? The answer’s yes!”, or Masse saying “I be wastin’ em. That’s what you faggots get!” The music’s mood was summarised in a 1992 Ice Cube hit: “True niggaz ain’t gay.”

This boom-boom-boom of homo-cidal hate has a crushing effect on gay kids. It sends out the message: you are so repulsive you should be killed. It’s one of several reasons why gay teenagers are still — after all the amazing progress we have made — six times more likely to commit suicide than their straight siblings.

Why do they do it? Why do hip-hop artists — often the victims of bigotry themselves — incite this hatred? For ten years, Terrence Dean was at the heart of the hip-hop scene as a producer at MTV and Warner Brothers. His life is as ghetto as any of the big name artists. His mother was a heroin-addicted, AIDS-infected prostitute whose ‘clients’ held Terrence hostage at gunpoint. His drunken grandmother raised him in the slums of Detroit, and he eventually ended up in prison. When he was released, he headed for Hollywood – and he was amazed to stumble into a gay underworld stocked with some of the biggest names in hip-hop”

Read more.

Green Eggs and Bob?

Editor’s Note: Yesterday, two years ago, on January 11, 2007 at 4;50 AM PST, Robert Anton Wilson left this life.  I wrote some words to remember him by, last year.  Interestingly, Jason Pitzl-Waters, a premiere blogger of the Pagan community reviewed Green Egg Omlet, An Anthology of Art and Articles from the Legendary Pagan Journal, which contained artciles Rev. Bob wrote for the celebrated peridodical.  From reading the review, and gleaming inside the TOC, I think I might get a copy from Borders.  It would look nice next to my copy of Drawing Down the Moon in my bookcase.  What were the first forty years of the modern Pagan movement like? Here is an an excerpt of Pitzl-Waters’ review of this collection from a bygone era.

The print medium is changing irrevocably. Any clear-eyed assessment concerning the state of magazines and newspapers would see a widespread and unforgiving culling taking place. So many magazines are going under that a regularly updated blog has been created to keep track of the carnage, while digital-age pundits predict that the surviving niche publications will soon have to make hard choices about their future. While I’m no futurist, I’ve seen some of these changes coming for some time now, the struggling economy only hastening a transition already underway. It is part of the reason that the bulk of my writing is focused on this blog, rather than in the more “traditional” outlets for a writer/journalist (though I do admit to a certain romantic attachment to being in print, and I currently write for Pagan publications like PanGaia and Thorn).

Given these shake-ups in the world of print, I think it is entirely timely that I recently received a review copy of “Green Egg Omelette: An Anthology of Art and Articles From the Legendary Pagan Journal”. This book, a compliation of excerpts from one of the most influential Pagan magazines ever printed, shows just how vital and necessary the format once was. While books published for Pagans usually stuck to the “101-isms” of Wicca and other Pagan faiths, it was in the magazines that this loose network of Witches, Pagans, magicians, free-thinkers, and philosophers started to communicate, hash out ideas, argue, and push the boundaries of what they knew. It was a place where Pagan filk could rub shoulders with treatises on magic(k) by Robert Anton Wilson, and initial attempts at describing a Pagan theology could have a place next to explorations of polyamory. It is little wonder that even today Green Egg is remembered fondly by almost all who came across it in their journey.

Read more.

Right Where You Are Sitting Now! EPISODE 21 – 2008: Obama, Anonymous and the State of Neo Paganism with DisInfo.com’s Raymond Wiley and Austin Gandy

(C) 2008 Right Where You Are Sitting Now!

Ken wrote:

This week we mark the end of our holiday break by discussing some of our ‘favorite bits’ of 2008. Topics covered in this show include Anonymous, The end of Neo-Paganism as we know it?, Patriots and the Georgia Guidestones and of course Obama (or in this case OBAWWWWMA).

Joining me for this episodes banter is Sir Raymond Wiley and Lord Austin Gandy from ye olde Out There Radio and the all new Disinformation The Podcast.

Download now.

YuleTide: The Twelve Deities of Solstice #9 – BERTHA (PERCHTA)

(C) Wikimedia Commons

” There were beautiful Perchten with colorful clothes and glittering ornaments, and the Schiachperchten – bold forms, ghostly apparitions with masks of wood or bark, enveloped in furs, moss, lichen…demons represented by the inhabitants. ” (Michael Moynihan and Kadmon, Lords of Chaos New Edition, “Oskoriei,” 382)

YuleTide One Shot: Of SANTA and ODIN (KNIGHT RUPERT and BELSNICKEL too)

With 86% of Americans having a belief in Santa Klaus until age 8 (AP-AOL, 2006), Jolly Saint Nick is perhaps one of the most recognizable figures in the USA. The story goes that from the North Pole, Santa emerges from his House each year to dispense gifts to children who are obedient to their parents each year. His house according to North American lore is located in the North Pole, where he lives with his wife “Mrs. Klaus.” In workshop hidden from the world, meek elves in his employ make toys and other presents to the believing, which are delivered to Jolly Old Sat Nick some time before Christmas. When Christmas Eve arrives, Santa and his team of eight reindeer fly across the world. Santa enters home through chimneys and eats cookies left by children.

As written in the past few days, this tradition is not universal; i.e. reindeer do not live in the North Pole, factually, so many European traditions locate the Reindeer of Santa in Lapland, Finland. Originally, the figure celebrated for bringing holiday cheer for the British whom would colonize the US, was traditionally Father Christmas, whose origin was the 17th Century when The Protestant ban on Christmas feasts was lifted. He was a man draped regally as if he was royalty. The modern interpretation of Santa Klaus, a large jolly man full of spirit was only popularized in the mid 19th Century, but was iconized by the drawings of former Playboy illustrator Haddon “Sunny” Sundblom as ads for the Coca Cola Company in the 1930s. This was after Father Christmas and the legendary Bishop of Lycia, Turkey, Saint Nicholas of Myra were syncretized. Nicholas was a holy man reputed to have resurrected three children butchered and paid for the dowry of three women, thus preventing them from entering a life of slavery.

Knight Rupert, or Knecht Ruprecht, as he was named originally in German folklore, protects Santa Klaus with staves. He also uses his rod to discipline “misbehaving children.” Contrasting with Santa, Rupert wars dark colored clothes and has generally uncouth hair and facial hair. Due to his strong resemblance to Odin, he is believed to be a modernization of the Highfather so much to the extent that the NAZIs attempted to replace Santa with Rupert believing him to be a corrupted form of the ancient deity. In some traditions, Rupert and Santa have been merged (something like the fusions in Dragon Ball Z and the combining in Transformers I guess) into one entity: Ru Klaus (Eng: Rough Nicholas), who is both the giver of gifts and the dispenser of punishment. Knight Rupert is also linked with Saint Rupert in Switzerland.

YuleTide: Santa Klaus and His Companions #6 – La BEFANA (and STRENUA?)

There is a story about a woman.  On one night each year she goes searching for her lost child. Sounds like La Llarona? It isn’t. It is the tradition gift giver of rural Italian winter holiday celebrations: La Befana. La Befana is described as a frightening crone whom “is as kind as she is ugly.” She wears a scarf and has a large mole on her nose. On Epiphany, January 6th, in Urbania (of Central Italy) and other towns in Southern Italy, she flies into homes on her broom stick (through keyholes where there are no chimneys) giving “good” children a “bag of goodies,” which include but is not limited to candy. She also gives children coal (and perhaps a bop with her broom). In return, families leave her a stocking filled with fruit (oranges, again?) and a glass of vino.

The name La Befana first appeared in a poem in 1594.  Legends of La Befana place the woman to the Biblical Era. In one tale, the three magi who were searching for the soon-to-be born Jesus receive shelter and food from her when she cannot provide directions to Bethlehem, or her accompaniment on the journey due to the need of sweeping. She realizes her mistake too late, and thus wanders the world searching for Jesus to this day. In another variation she continually searches for Jesus due to sadness in losing her own child. Yet in another version, she is a widowed Princess who retreats to the wilderness and becomes a witch. In this telling, Jesus searches and finds her and offers her the role of “the Mother of All Children,” which she accepts.

YuleTide: Santa Klaus and His Companions #5 – REINDEER(and the YULE GOAT)

The Santa Klaus’ most renowned companions are the reindeer who make up his team. This was not always the case as the official animal mascot of the Winter Solstice in most of the Euro-Western world was the Yule Goat. Originally two goat whom were named Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjostr were the mounts of Thunder God, Thor and his hammer Mjonir. It is theorized that these two are the origins of the Yule Goat (note I do not claim Santa is Thor). The function of the goat is to signify the coming feast when a goat (suprise~!) would be sacrificed to diners via roasting. The iconography of the goat lost its prominence since supposedly the tradition of men dressed as a goat for the Yule celebration, knocking on doors to sing carols, spooked small children. Thus the goat is mostly an ornament or a straw effigy to be burned nowadays.

And he whistled, and shouted, and call’d them by name:
“Now! Dasher, now! Dancer, now! Prancer and Vixen,
“On! Comet, on! Cupid, on! Dunder and Blixem;
“To the top of the porch! To the top of the wall!
“Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away all!”
excerpt from “A Visit from Santa Klaus (aka, Twas the Night Before Christmas),” Anonymous (1823)

The above poem marked the rise in the reindeer as Santa’s steed of choice in popular culture. As stated yesterday, as there are no reindeer to be found in the North Pole, in Europe, many traditions hold that Santa’s reindeer reside in Lapland, Finland.  In Australia, the traditional story is that Santa unreins the reindeer for  a team of kangaroo as reindeer would overheat in sub equatorial running.

YuleTide: Santa Klaus and His Companions #4 – FATHER WHIP (PERE FOUETTARD)

There are legends of a man long ago who lead lost children into his meat shop in France. Even though it is not explicitly stated in all versions of the tale, it needn’t be said of how these kids ended up the Christmas dinner of Pere Fouettard.

In one modern version of the story, Fouettard and his wife lead three children they believed to be rich enrollments to the local seminary into their shop where the boys were drugged, had their throats slit, stripped naked, put in the camel clutch (OK I made that part up), seasoned, and stewed. The wife would soon answer a knocking on the door which revealed itself to be the workings of Father Christmas. Enraged, he resurrected the three lads whole, and chained the Butcher. Hence that day Pere Fouettard was a servant to Papa Noel, and became analogous to the Boogeyman in France.

In a Medieval variation to the story the three kids were hungry, poverty-stricken, and lost in a field until they were attracted by the single Pere’s house lights. In this version, he cooked them because pork meat was scarce and in demand (whereas he and his wife were cannibals in the other version). Apparently this version took place recently after Saint Nicholas’ death as he was scared shitless when the old man forced his way into his home shortly after the kids were salted and thrown into the brine. After resurrecting the three whole in this version, Pere Fouettard throws himself at Santa for repentance, which the Jolly One offered as “God allows all to redeem themselves.” From that point on, he assisted Santa in dispensing spankings to the “weak of spirit.”

Domo Arigato Miyamoto Shigeru-kun 56 times

I am at a loss for words at time so I will just have to say what I feel.

Domo arigato Miyamoto Shigeru-kun.

(C) Tina Fineberg/AP

Almost two  decades ago in the last Saturday of December of 1990, my dad was excited because he was going to give me what otehr kids have: happiness through my very first video game console.  I did not know what the fuss was as I was going to miss the latest episode of Friday the 13th: The Series.  After three hours and assistance from my near genius cousin, we finally got the damn Ninetndo Entertainment System hooke dup on our old Zenith TV.  I did decently on the first three or four levels of Duck Hunt.  However, around mdnight, my brother and I decided to switch the console system on restart to finally play the crown jewel of console gaming at the time: Super Mario Bros.   After two minutes we were cruising along, stomping Goombas and Koopa Troopas until we reached the first pit.  That night neither of us could make it.  A few weeks later my dad played it and explained to my brother that he needed to do a running jump to cross over.  I was never able to cross that first pit without sweating bullets (think about level 8-1 now Mario afficionados0), and if I did the first Goomba would do me in.  I fared better with Super Mario Brothers 3 though.  I still have fear of side scrolling platforms and jumping was hell for me in Final Fantasy X and Rogue Galaxy.

Thank you Miyamoto for bringing joy to millions of children with the story of your Italian Brooklynite plumber chomping down on psilocybin shrroms and brutalizing turtles.   You are in fact a great man.  Belated 56th birthday (November 16, 2008) wishes to you~!

Christopher Coats has the scoop on the game maker’s life and works at Finding Dulcinea.

Street Fighter IV and the America Without an Arcade Scene

(C) Capcom

By Kris Pigna, 11/16/2008 (for 1Up)

Capcom confirms the latest entry in the legendary fighting series will skip U.S. arcades.

We recently learned that Street Fighter 4 will be released February 17 on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC. But if you’re still wondering whether you might be able to get your hands on it at your local arcade any earlier (or even any later), the answer is no — Capcom has confirmed the game will not officially be released in U.S. arcades. We’re pretty sure everyone assumed this would be the case anyway, but hey, now we know for certain.

“At this point, it does not look like Street Fighter 4 arcade machines will officially hit the U.S. arcade market,” said Chris Kramer, senior director of communications and community for Capcom Entertainment, speaking to Edge-Online. The reason, as Kramer explained, is unsurprisingly the nearly non-existent state of U.S. arcades. “There’s not really an arcade business in the U.S. anymore. It’s sort of like an ‘amusement’ business that sometimes has arcade games in it,” he said.

Read more here.

Blather.net’s Map of the Weird

damien wrote for Blather.

“For the last eleven years (yes, that’s eleven) we here at Blather have been keeping track of every lake monster, UFO sighting, satanist, pornographer, ghost, exorcism, banshee attack, ABC sighting, religious quack, police state action, alien abduction and friendly neighbourhood Kangaroo that we can scribble down in this here site. But the truth is, there’s such an abundance of these bloody things that keeping track of them has become somewhat problematic. Until now.

So allow us reader dear, to present ‘Blather.net’s Map of the Weird’, a first public presentation of what will become an ever-growing, all-encompassing cartographic apocalypse of filth, depravity, smut and forteana.”

Read more.

Online Predation An Exaggerated Problem

By Larry Magid for CBS News

CBS Tech Analyst Breaks Down The Stats; Drugs And Alcohol A Much Bigger Risk

CBS) A survey of 1,000 moms of teenagers commissioned by McAfee and conducted by Harris Interactive reached the surprising conclusion that “about two-thirds of mothers of teens in the United States are just as, or more, concerned about their teenagers’ online safety, such as from threatening emails or solicitation by online sexual predators, as they are about drunk driving (62 per cent) and experimenting with drugs (65 per cent).”

That might be how moms feel, but it’s not reflective of the real world. While moms have good reason to be concerned about how their teens use the Internet, online dangers pale compared to the risks of drunk driving. In 2007, 6,552 people were killed in auto accidents involving young drivers (16-20), according to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration. In 2006, nearly a fifth of the 7,643 15- to 20-year-old drivers involved in fatal traffic crashes had a blood had a blood alcohol concentration of .08 or higher.

Perception of Internet danger has been heightened thanks to the TV show “To Catch a Predator” and inaccurate reports stating that “one in five children have been sexually solicited by a predator.” That statistic is a misquote from a 2000 study by the Crimes Against Children Research Center. The data (which, based on a 2005 follow-up study, was revised to one in seven) is based on a survey that asked teens if they had in the last year received an unwanted sexual solicitation.

But many – possibly most – of those solicitations were from other teens, not from adult predators. What’s more, most recipients didn’t view them as serious or threatening. “Almost all youth handled the solicitations easily and effectively” and “extremely few youth (two out of 1,500 interviewed) were actually sexually victimized by someone they met online,” reported the authors of the study.

Other studies have shown that “the stereotype of the Internet child molester who uses trickery and violence to assault children is largely inaccurate” (Wolak, Finkelhor & Mitchell, 2004). In a survey of law enforcement investigators of Internet sex crimes, it was reported that only 5 percent of offenders pretended to be teens when trying to meet potential victims online.

Read more.

Yokai Attack and related Synchronicities

Last Sunday I purchased the book Yokai Attack from the Borders at Penn Plaza. It is a very interesting book in itself with details on 42 plus yokai and their variations. Yokai, 妖怪, as pronounced Yaoguai in Chinese Mandarin (sort of that way in Cantonese also) are entities akin to “the good folk” i.e. fairies, ghouls, and elves to Nordic and Celtic culture, though some appear as bestial creatures. Within the pages of the book include: the ever popular Karakasa (umbrella ghost), Japan’s fastest growing legend Kuchisaki O-nna (the slit mouthed girl), and a frightening entity I never knew of before hand the O-dokuro (demonic skeleton). A profile would include the original Kanji or Katakana spelling, places of sightings (or attribution to where the legends begin), descriptions, and accounts themselves. A must for fans interested in Sino-Japanese legends and the Occult, as well as anime/video game fans.

(c) Kodansha International & Tatsuya Morino

**** 1/4

With that said, on that Sunday night right after I purchased the book, I heard whisperings in my sleep. The next night, I felt teeth clamped on my arm. The next two nights, despite it being Autumn in NYC, I was accosted by numerous mosquitoes, (whom old time Japanese believe were jealous spirits).

With that said, I am still fighting the flu and I dunno when it really began so take my word for a grain o salt.

Right Where You Are Sitting Now Episode 14 – Conspiracy 101 up now, plus new reviews section live!

WE ARE BACK! After some hefty technical problems, a brief spell of sickness and some general booking of awesome new guests…and I mean awesome, we finally return!

This week me and our returning guest/co-host Raymond Wiley chat about The culture of Conspiracy belief! We decided the subject was so large that we would wax about some of our own experiences, some key theories and funny ones to boot!

There is no music this week, mainly because we have been rushing around to much to find anything in time.

Expect a total change of format in the coming weeks! We have sorted all the techy glitches and now we are adding a new audio version of the Weird Weekly News into the show. We’ve done a dummy run with Claire and it sounds cool, so that will start as of episode 15 next week!

Also, keep your eyes peeled to this site for a really cool announcement of a new show featuring some of Sitting Now’s staff!

http://sittingnow.co.uk

Save the House Superman Was Born in~!! The Estate of Jerry Siegel Needs Help

By Brad Meltzer of DC Comics:

For the past two years, while researching Jerry Siegel’s life for my new novel, I asked my friend Mike San Giacomo to take me to the actual house in Cleveland where Superman was created. I wanted to see the exact spot where young Jerry Siegel sat in his bed on that rainy summer night…where a seventeen(!) year old kid stared at his bedroom ceiling and gave birth to the idea of Superman.

And so we went. (You can read that whole adventure here and watch the video here).

But the one thing I quickly realized was that this house was in…well…it was in bad shape.

The house where Google was created is saved. The farm where Hewlett Packard was founded is preserved. And Richard Nixon’s house is a museum. But the house where Superman — one of the world’s most recognized heroes — was created? It’s a wreck. It’s actually a great old house — painted bright red and blue (really) — and owned by one of the kindest elderly couples in the world. But as the neighborhood sank, so did the house. When you walk inside, you feel like your foot might go through the floor. The roof is flawed. The paint is a mess. When you look up at the ceiling, you see the exposed rafters overhead. It’s a mess. Worst of all, the city of Cleveland let it happen. As the owner told me, “They won’t even give us a plaque. Not even a plaque to say, ‘This is where Superman was created.’”

Exactly.

Read more.

Daleks = African Grey Parrots~?

Daleks, entities so near and dear to me have entered the news recently:

By Aislinn Simpson for the Telegraph.

An African Grey parrot already adept at warbling tunes as diverse as Beethoven’s symphonies and the Misson Impossible theme has added an imitation of a Dr Who Dalek to his repetoire.

Exterminate: Leonard the African Grey parrot has mastered the Dalek expression

Leonard, an African Grey parrot, imitates noises made by people and things around him and has developed perfect comedic timing, say his owners, Maya and Ian Brandt.

The couple run an antique shop in Bristol and the loud-mouth bird often has customers in stitches.

Mrs Brandt, 50, said: “We have taught him certain things, but other things like music he picks up – he just likes to imitate what he hears.

“We listen to Radio 4 a lot and he always joins in the pips before the news. He also copies noises before you even realise you are doing them.”

She said the eight-year-old parrot has mastered the characteristic “exterminate” of Dr Who’s enemy the Dalek thanks to coaching from one of the couple’s nephews.

Read more.

Cracked Declares Mas Oyama among 7 with Real Mutant Superpowers

Real Name: Choi Yeong-eui, later changed to Masutatsu Oyama

Superpower: Super-Karate!

Masutatsu Oyama was born in Korea in 1927 and later moved to Japan, where he studied karate. Unlike most famous martial artists, Oyama is not famous for his movie roles, where stunt men and clever editing can make anyone look like a badass.

No, Oyama preferred a different sort of theater. He used to have live public demonstrations where he would fight and kill a bull with his bare hands. Just because it bears repeating, let’s write that again: He could kill a bull with his hands. If you want to know how idiotically hard that is, we cordially invite you to go out and punch a bull in the face. Go on, we’ll wait here. OK, we’re not really waiting since whoever just went out to try that isn’t coming back.

Read more.

The Invisible Web Episode 17 (2.08) (Re)[V]Amped

An update on my so-called life, Alvarez and Meltzer merge (Melvarez?), Street Fighter IV, Metal Gear Solid IV, Friday the 13th, and more.

The Invisible Web Season Two Episode 8 (2.17)(Re)[V]Amped

Notes:

Capcom: New Street Fighter IV Boss Character! Concept Art For New Old Characters.

WELCOME TO THE NEW WRESTLINGOBSERVER.COM/FIGURE FOUR ONLINE

Two good news from Art of War FC (China)

Shoot Boxing Standing Vale Tudo’s official site is revamped

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (PS3)

Bronx 8th-graders boycott practice exam but teacher may get ax

Support for Doug Avella Builds

Friday the 13th Phobia Rooted in Ancient History

Young Jason Voorhees Cast in Friday the 13th

OP and ED are once again Unlie Airraids and Midnight Mescaline Midnight by Beat Frequency UK.

Segues courtesy of The Freesound Project

Image courtesy of Open Photo

The Invisible Web Series 2 Episode 6 (15): Chica: The High Cost of Audio

(C) Barbara or Rob Harris ?

While combating audio nightmares and the lack of meals, Alexandra Chica Bruce, a long-time writer for DisInformation journeys through time and space (three-time zones to be exact) to shoot on various subjects in the second part of our story on Retro UFO 3. Who is Chica Bruce? Where is she currently? How did Chica get involved with DisInfo? Why is she Beyond the Bleep and Beyond the Secret? And what is her role with RETRO UFO 3, not your average UFO convention? We talk about those subjects and wine on this episode.

Listen or download here.

Retro UFO 3, Not Your Average UFO Convention

Chica Bruce’s official MySpace Page

Alexandra Bruce’s official FaceBook Page

BEYOND THE BLEEP~!

The Invisible Web Series Two Episode Five (14): The Last of the Space Rangers

The Invisible Web Series Two Episode Five (14): The Last of the Space Rangers

(C) Barbara or Rob Harris ?

In the first of a two part miniseries on the events to occur at the Giant Rock in Landers, California on April 26 and 27, 2008, Captain Adam GoRightly of the Starship Psychopath returns valiantly to the Invisible Web in a race against time. What is Retro UFO 3? How did Captain Adam meet Louise Lacey and Chica Bruce? Who is RUPERT THE ANTi-CHRIST, Presidential Candidate? Where has Adam been since last time and what path shall he take for his future? Another exciting episode on the Invisible Web. Stay tuned for the second part of this cliffhanger with guest Chica Bruce on an upcoming edition ~!!

Listen/dl to Adam’s previous sojourn to our podcast.

(C) Rupert?

Retro UFO 3, Not Your Average UFO Convention

Get Inside the Head of Adam GoRightly

Untamed Dimensions~!

Rupert the AntiChrist!!