One of my favourite human beings who I never met passed away on the 21st of November. What I loved about him was not only his art itself, but the extraordinary vision behind it. He’s also interesting, because his combination of talents
I must admit that when I say it simply, it still sounds like a silly bit of dinner party wit, even to me, but I actually was part of a socialist comics collective way back in the late 1980s (my early twenties).
Hello folks – time for some full-strength politics once again! It is such a strange moment right now – I’d really like to be able to link directly to my most passionate friends on the right, middle and left and ask them
What is reality, really? This is one of those strangely tricky questions humans have been asking for a very long time. On an emotional level we often feel as if the answer should be obvious, or at least very clear and stable
Hello friends! I am overjoyed to announce my latest book – Stymie and Toffel – a whimsical Toronto tale of dystopian uplift for older kids and especially imaginative adults, with 19 superb illustrations by Andrew (Rewfoe) Foerster, has finally arrived, is utterly
Image from the brilliant game artists at Ubisoft Montreal(the startlingly beautiful – Assassin’s Creed: Origins – to be specific) There are a few tough themes which I have been working on steadily ever since I was a teenager, but I have to
Hello my friends – time for a podcast once again. Afghanistan is the subject of the hour – but I haven’t heard a single word said yet, which reflects context or memory. Never in my own living memory has the professional news
Here’s an example of a very old idea with clear sharp modern relevance. The idea comes from Rumi’s father Bahauddin (apologies to my Persian friends if I got that wrong – spelling varies here for almost all of the greats). Very little
Loring, by Wyle (top photo) One of the biggest problems with so many oversimplifying explanations of how society ‘really’ works is that these theories always seem to leave out one of the most interesting and important parts of any society – its
Simple sigh, man. Are you done yet, dad? Can we go now, dad? (top photo) Had a nice Six K jaunt today – and though I turned my ankle twice (not at all normal), my main distance-walking muscles felt absolutely delighted to
Who is a rebel – what is the system? What is oppressive conformity, and what is heroic resistance? Where is corruption? Who and what holds real power? When is knowledge dangerous, who gets to decide? How free are we really willing to
Reopening and vaccinated at last. It is time to get the world-engaging side of my productivity-engine chugging again. So I’ve been cleaning out the boiler, checking gaskets, reviewing supplies of coal and water on hand and scouting new tracks, routes and customers.
Top photo – One part Osiris, two parts Horus Hello my friends, time for another podcast. This time some ideas about how we all got here, to this rather fraught moment. By ‘we’ I often mean western civilization in general, but I
What is a person? What is a statement, a critique, an opinion? What is the value of a very loud and egotistical person screaming about a petty injustice? What is the weight of a modest and self-effacing person’s quiet sober testimony? What
I was seventeen years old when I first met Catherine and her sister through a friend from my work. I was in my full club kid phase, and also working in a super-straight and strict corporate office as the “administrative services clerk”
Do you have a “Luminato” festival in your town? A urban art festival full of light sculpture and insomniacs? I’m starting to wonder if it might be time to introduce a ‘Fulminato’ festival as well – one night every year dedicated to
Hello my friends – I have something truly nifty to share with you today – a product of play and learning both. Some of you already know that I spent a quarter of a century as an expert audio technician for both
One of the strangest revolutionary problems, is how to broaden the membership enough to give the movement political weight, without overly diluting, or even completely losing the original principles and message. Considering how complicated and intellectual many revolutionary theories are, this has
For a long time, I considered the exquisite contrast drawn by the following to be the subtle but crucial thing the right didn’t understand about the left. I now often find myself wondering if this is the thing which the left no
My friends, this podcast is a sh1t kicker, but needed – I apologize and you’re welcome in advance. I can’t tell you how weird it is for a guy like me to be put in the position of talking about the value
I talk a lot about unconventional learning – getting philosophical insights from biography, or finding life-hacks within innovative and courageous approaches to music. But I don’t want to sound pompous or fancy – nor is my sincere atheist spiritual-seeking merely a trick