Review by salishianantihero@riseup.net
Review by Coco Dunbar
This books was foundation in my research on art activism. It is accessible for how dense the concepts are and uses examines from both artists and theorist.
Review by Nick Vassallo
Came into the library and found this small, simple-looking book on the member's favorite shelf. I was really sucked in and surprised by how emotional and personal and resonant it was for me--it unfolded with such awesome subtlety, and I found myself really connecting with the sketch-like drawings, understated naturalistic emotions and intimate personal storytelling. It is a quick and easy read for how deeply rich and special it seems. It is a gem.
Review by Jacob Samuelson
As I have said in my review of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, this is a very hard film to like. I believe in the artistry of Stanley Kubrick, and I believe in the message of this film. The film I feel describes the lurid illusion of choice and the unfocused morality behind it. Would it be better to allow Alex his free will and spread pain and chaos where he goes, or do you eliminate his choice and turn him into a mindless slave of impulse? It's through the tragedy and violence of the film that the message may be seen clearly. Stanley Kubrick in my eyes has only made one mistake and that was A.I., but aside from creepy Haley Joel Osment robots haunting my waking hours, Kubrick has done nothing but shock and amaze, and this film is a perfect example of his raw talent. The revolutionary and iconic film score permeates the richly layered atmosphere magnifying the sick joy of our lead character or the fragile insecurity of the world around him. Malcolm McDowell's performance as Alex is perhaps one of the scariest things I have ever seen put to film, to be such a hardcore psychotic at such a young age disturbs me to no end. A Clockwork Orange is one of Stanley Kubrick's best, violence and all.
Review by Jacob Samuelson
Bar none the greatest sci-fi film ever made. The visuals and and music amaze the senses more and more every time I see it. What people need to understand is that no one should go into 2001 for the developed story or characters, but one should watch it purely for the great visuals and atmosphere. The scene with the space station and the Blue Danube is one of the best musical moments in the history of cinema, I would recommend this to any fan of sci-fi and just movies in general.
Review by Jacob Samuelson
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is a very hard film to understand, let alone enjoy. And if any viewer here was disgusted and appalled I understand completely. But I really must commend this film for it's inexorable message of madness begetting madness and trying to find something that has never even existed. A dark twisted and sometimes calmly visceral look at the disillusions of American culture and how willing we are to accept shallow mediocrity and the almost cannibalistic avarice of western society. Darkly comical and subconsciously tragic, I can't help but love this film.
Review by JJ Valentine
Review by Calhan Ring
The book purports to “clarify some of the problems that can come up in groups that strive for openness and equality” and is a quick and easy read that does just that.
Vannucci and Singer highlight what is at stake:
“… the most disillusioned activists whom we have encountered did not become disillusioned for the typically cited reasons of state oppression, loss of basic ideals, or an increase in “adult” responsibility. Mostly these activists got discouraged by the things that they saw and experienced within their own activist groups… These problems actually raise fundamental questions about whether egalitarian collectives can be sustainable…”
As the authors raise issues and bad behavior that undermines the good work of collectives, the book can feel a bit like a chronicle of horrors with mostly negatively framed recommendations of things not to do. The book does have a small list of suggested practices in a final section called “Codifying the Process” which supplements the overarching theme of practices to avoid. I would love to see another edition of this book with best practices sprinkled throughout as remedies to the numerous bad practices it condemns.
I recommend this book as an important cautionary read for folks who work in collectives, but with the warning it is weak on specific recommendations and solutions. For the most productive read of this book, read the last 10 pages first, then the first one hundred with notebook and pen in hand, noting ideas for addressing potential and existing challenges in your group.
Review by Colin Decker
Review by Future Man
Fascinating, thought provoking, and sometimes horrifying. I find Chester Brown's writing to be very clinical and removed, and seeing him talk about sexuality in this way is sometimes frighteningly unemotional, but still incredibly compelling to read. Once I got into this book, as with the last of Brown's books I'd picked up, I tore through it in an afternoon.
Upon completing the bulk of the book, there are extensive notes of Brown's research and personal anecdotes outside the main narrative that informed and adjuncts with the cartoon segment.
One of the most interesting parts of this book is the development of the author's ideas around paying for sex as they change over time. This book chronicles a 10+ year period of the author's life and many of his experiences and related conversations with friends.
In the end, this book has made me think about the business of prostitution more than anything else I've read and while I haven't come to any conclusive stance myself, it has raised my awareness to the grey spaces of legality. The conversation between the author and fellow cartoonist, Seth, regarding the difference between legality and decriminalization (and the role of regulation) was very interesting and something I'll have to let sit for a while.
Review by Kyle Beckhorn
This book is wonderful!
Explore the makeup of our solar system, the many kinds of stars, galaxies, nebula, the history of the universe, the history of space exploration, and more. There are even guides to viewing the night sky, in this huge, beautiful hardbound.
If you're interested in anything "Space", you've got to check this book out.
Review by Kyle Beckhorn
Thoughtful and funny. Celebrated Summer catches the wanderings of two acid tripping youngsters, as they experience frustration, joy, and all of those other things life hurls at us.
Review by Colin Decker
Review by Harper Stone
Yes, replace it!
Review by Joel Kenworthy
This was one of the first books I encountered in my early exploration of the steampunk genre, so I really didn't know what to expect. Other works in the genre tend to over-build the world where the story takes place before anything actually happens, but Steven Hunt throws the reader into a massive, bizarre world of his and unravels the details for us as they occur to the character. This creates a feeling of being pulled along through increasingly chaotic episodes of an epic adventure, the kind of read that feels like it may be moving to quickly in the first third of the book, but then maintains intensity beautifully and takes the characters farther and deeper through a fascinating post-apocalyptic multiverse than one would think possible. Any fans of fantasy and adventure will love this series. 5 stars
Review by Jacob Jensen
So rad. The imagination that went into drawing this book is just astounding.
Review by salishianantihero@riseup.net
So, you know how they say that when you do too much LSD, it gets deposited in your vertebrae; and sometimes when you crack your back, it releases a small hit of acid. This book is essentially if one of those 'flashbacks' happened while you were sleeping, resulting in a freaky, post-apocalyptic lucid dream.
Review by salishianantihero@riseup.net
Yeah. What Future said ^^
Review by salishianantihero@riseup.net
An excellent resource for those who live or work in a cooperative setting. Suggests many alternatives to debauchery and battles-to-the-death in settling disputes. A short read, and definitely something anyone new to consensus-based decision making should read.
Review by salishianantihero@riseup.net
-Don't be so open-minded that your brains fall out.
-Pursue the White Whale, but don't harpoon it; catch its song instead
-Cultivate dissidence and critical thinking. First thought may be worst thought.
-Secretly liberate any being you see in a cage.
-Don't fiddle with your mustache in hopeless cellars, writing incomprehensible drivel: Why live in the shadows? Get yourself a seat on the Sunboat.
-Unless you have an urge to sing, don't open your mouth.
-Don't lecture like this. Don't say don't.