Daniel Pinchbeck on Enlightenment and the Occult

Here’s a nice piece by Daniel Pinchbeck at Reality Sandwich. It examines the oft-supposed mutually exclusive areas of Enlightenment reasoning and the existence of the occult. It’s interesting stuff, though perhaps a bit short and underdeveloped. 

I frown at the thought of being a New Agey freak or otherwise creepy, but I do feel that we are, as a society, partially cut off from something fundamental and human. Spirituality is as good a word for it as any, I suppose. It’s nice to see that other people wonder about it, too. I wouldn’t say ours is the worst of times for spiritual thought, but I am interested in the attempt to unify rational faith in the sciences with the more nebulous and sadly, under-investigated world of the psyche. I suppose now I would view us as mechanics of the mind, capable of rudimentary repairs and patching, but perhaps in time we could be engineers, able to build and innovate. Who knows. It’s late and I’m tired. 

Good night. 

Virtual Piano

This is a pretty cool device, I imagine, for the digital producer on the go. Sure, it’s a bit over the top and unnecessary; but what the hell! I wonder how quickly the sensors respond, and if there’s any kind of velocity sensor like on an MPC. The future is supposed to be crazy like this. I’m excited.

In other news I’m headed to Myrtle Beach at some point this week, so I will most likely be out of contact for the next several days. Also I am a ridiculous ball of anxiety for no particular reasons. Also I cannot sleep at night. Perhaps it is my lifelong fear of vampires, camouflaged as a psychological disorder. Blasted insomnia! You may protect me from vampires, but you certainly don’t do me good. 

Now I’ll just wait for these mysterious chest pains to pass and then it’ll all be great. 

Mythos: free MMORPG from the Creators of Diablo

UPDATE: Flagship Studios, the company that was developing Mythos, laid off most of its employees recently. The fate of Mythos and Hellgate: London remain unclear, but my guess is we won’t see any new content or offerings for those games any time soon. Which sucks, ’cause I’ve been getting into Hellgate: London. Anyhow, the original post is below. 

 

I just signed up for the closed beta of Mythos. I hope I get in! I’m more and more interested by this game.  There’s not a lot on the main page, but if you read the manual, you get a better sense of what kind of game it is. Let me summarize, therefore, my favorite aspect of all RPGs: the character creation system. 

Michael Moorcock Named SFWA Grandmaster

I write this small note with a happy grin. Michael Moorcock, in my mind, along with Fritz Leiber, is one of the greatest science fiction writers I have ever read, if not the. I grew up reading the Elric novels, the stories of Dorian Hawkmoon and Count Brass, Erekose and Corum, and I cannot explain how deeply I love his work; I’m delighted that this often-honored man is being honored yet again. He deserves the title. Cheers, Mr. Moorcock. Thank you.