Fiat Flux

Q. How many Guardianistas does it take to change a light-bulb?

A. In terms of an initial / preliminary response around this obviously loaded question, I’d like to begin by problematicizing the notion that it is possible to erect an overt illuminational hierarchy whereby notions of “light” are privileged over notions of “darkness” through deployment of an “objective” and/or “value-free” modality of environmental interrogation via soi disant “sensory” channels. Next, it will (of course) be vital to undertake an in-depth consultation-exercise / impact-assessment with any and all vulnerable minority-communities of ethnicity, sexuality, gender-fluidity and/or other alternate ontology. We must ensure, on a keyly non-negotiable basis of absolute core non-negotiability, that their “fringe” inputs are prioritized on an on-going basis in terms of the decision-making process taking place around the problematicized notion of “changing” the allegedly “dead” so-called “bulb”. Issues around adequate resourcing of the consultation-exercise / impact-assessment must be addressed as a matter of urgency, with ring-fenced contingencies in place safeguarding provision of all necessary trauma counselling for vulnerable communities and/or individuals adversely impacted on a negative basis by the “bulb”-transitioning procedure and/or (indeed) the consultation-exercise / impact-assessment it/them/self/ves. Furthermore…

Go Fig, Carr

“What they will find is a clear look into the molten core of a certain mind-set, a place where conspiracies are legion, victims are portrayed as perpetrators and so-called news is a fig leaf on a far darker art.” — “Sowing Mayhem, One Click at a Time”, David Carr, The New York Times, 15/xii/2014, viâ Steve Sailer.

Performativizing Papyrocentricity #31

Papyrocentric Performativity Presents:

• Nor Severn Shore – The Poems of A.E. Housman, edited by Archie Burnett (Clarendon Press 1997) (posted @ Overlord of the Über-Feral)

• Knight and Clay – The Riddle of the Labyrinth: The Quest to Crack an Ancient Code and the Uncovering of a Lost Civilisation, Margalit Fox (Profile Books 2013)

• Goal God Guide – The Secret Footballer’s Guide to the Modern Game: Tips and Tactics from the Ultimate Insider, The Secret Footballer (Guardian Books 2014)


Or Read a Review at Random: RaRaR

Get Your Tox Off

There’s only one word for it: toxic. The proliferation of this word is an incendiarily irritating abjectional aspect of contemporary culture. My visit to Google Ngram has confirmed my worst suspicions:

Toxic in English

Toxic in English

Toxic in English fiction

Toxic in English fiction

“Feral” isn’t irritating in quite the same way, but has similarly proliferated:

Feral in English

Feral in English

Feral in English fiction

Feral in English fiction

Noxious note: In terms of majorly maximal members of the Maverick Messiah community (such as myself), it goes without saying that when we deploy such items of Guardianese, we are being ironic dot dot dot


Previously pre-posted (please peruse):

• Septics vs Dirties
• Ex-term-in-ate!
• Reds Under the Thread
• Titus Graun…

Performativizing Papyrocentricity #30

Papyrocentric Performativity Presents:

• Ai Luv Yew – The Bonsai Bible: The Definitive Guide to Choosing and Growing Bonsai, Peter Chan (Hamlyn 2014)

• Starway to Heaven – Guide to the Pyramids of Egypt, Alberto Siliotti, preface by Zahi Hawass (White Star Publishers 2000)

• Escape and Essence – The Wooden Horse, Eric Williams (Pen & Sword 2013)

• Aspects of the Annihilator – Sub-Machine Gun: The development of sub-machine guns and their ammunition from World War I to the present day, Maxim Popenker and Anthony G. Williams (Crowood Press 2011)

• Northanger Abyss – Jane in Blood: Castration, Clitoridolatry and Communal Cannibalism in the Novels of Jane Austen, Dr Miriam B. Stimbers (University of Nebraska Press 2014)


Or Read a Review at Random: RaRaR

Hip-Hop Hermeneuticized

The Guardian undertakes a close hermeneutical analysis of some respected figures in the rap community and their complex and challenging lyrical interrogation of issues around neo-liberal capitalism:

In contemporary America, success in overcoming adversity (and often systemic racism) is most often represented in financial terms, and it’s a recurring theme in hip-hop. Consider Kanye West:

I treat the cash the way the government treats AIDS
I won’t be satisfied til all my niggas get it, get it?

Or Dr Dre:

Get your money right
Don’t be worried ’bout the next man – make sure your business tight
Get your money right
Go inside the safe, grab your stash that you copped tonight
Get your money right
Be an international player, don’t be scared to catch those red eye flights
You better get your money right
Cause when you out there on the streets, you gotta get it – get it

Or even TI himself:

Regardless what haters say I’m as real as they come
I’m chasin that paper baby however it come
I’m singin a song and movin yay by the ton
I bet you never seen a nigga gettin money so young.

• Hip-Hop Hermeneuticized

Vibe Alibe

“The recent election of Syriza in Greece offers a vibrant glimmer of hope for the future of social and economic democracy in Europe.” — from a letter to The Guardian by Judith Butler, Slavoj Žižek, Jacqueline Rose, et al.

Performativizing Papyrocentricity #24

Papyrocentric Performativity Presents:

• Mud Feud – Trench: A History of Trench Warfare on the Western Front, Stephen Bull (Osprey Publishing 2010)

• Sycamores and Satan – Danger UXB: The Heroic Story of the WWII Bomb Disposal Teams, James Owen (Abacus 2010; paperback 2011)

• Four to Three – Nailed to History: The Story of Manic Street Preachers, Martin Power (Omnibus Press 2010)

• Blue is the Killer — Eye Bogglers: A Mesmerizing Mass of Amazing Illusions, Gianni A. Sarcone and Marie-Jo Waeber (Carlton Books 2011; paperback 2013) (posted @ Overlord of the Über-Feral)


Or Read a Review at Random: RaRaR

Performativizing Papyrocentricity #22

Papyrocentric Performativity Presents:

• Plates from the Great – Shots from the Front: The British Soldier 1914-18, Richard Holmes (HarperPress 2008; paperback 2010)

• Math for the Mistress – A Mathematician’s Apology, G.H. Hardy (1940)

• Sinister Sinema – Scalarama: A Celebration of Subterranean Cinema at Its Sleazy, Slimy and Sinister Best, ed. Norman Foreman, B.A. (TransVisceral Books 2015)

• Rick Pickings – Lost, Stolen or Shredded: Stories of Missing Works of Art and Literature, Rick Gekoski (Profile Books 2013/2014)

• Slug is a Drug – Collins Complete Guide to British Coastal Wildlife, Paul Sterry and Andrew Cleave (HarperCollins 2012) (posted @ Overlord of the Über-Feral)


Or Read a Review at Random: RaRaR

The Verm Terms

“Our relationship with Saudi Arabia is vitally important for our country in terms of counter-terrorism, in terms of the broader Middle East, in terms of helping in respect of Israel and Palestine.” — Tony Blair hits back at criticism…, BBC News, 15/xii/2006.


Elsewhere other-posted:

• Ex-term-in-ate!