Next time we’ll take a little breather from Vaneigem to consider Peter Lamborn Wilson’s essay “Marx and Proudhon Escape from the Nineteenth Century” (pg. 38). A bit longer piece than those we’ve been trying to limit ourselves to of late, but well worth the extra time. The book’s other essays are also fantastic so be sure to give those a look.

Deadline for proposals for next month’s BASTARD Conference is Friday, November 5th (next week). If you’d like to participate and haven’t already let us know, drop a line to birdsoffire [at] riseup [dot] net

Last week we were apparently so enthused in talking with each other that we completely forgot to resolve on our next reading. Accordingly, we press on with Vaneigem. I’m late posting this week, so let’s keep the reading especially brief and just do the final section of The Impossibility of Communication — “Mediated Abstraction and Abstracted Mediation” (begins on pg. 77 in the PM Press edition). That will set us up nicely to start the next section in subsequent weeks.

Reminder that if you’re planning on participating in next month’s BASTARD Conference (and you should be), presentation descriptions are due by Friday, November 5th. We still need one or two more presentations to fill out the schedule, so seriously consider taking part, even if you’ve not done so in years past. Only you can prevent familiar faces from beating dead horses!

Continuing with Vaneigem’s The Revolution of Everyday Life. We’ll discuss Part VII – The Age of Happiness all the way through Part X – The Reign of Quantity, stopping at Part XI.

The call for presentations for next month’s BASTARD Conference has been published. Check it out by clicking the link in the header menu. Share it around, tell your friends, and do what you can to drum up interest. If you have an idea you’d like to present, the deadline for proposals is Friday, November 5th. If you’ve never presented at BASTARD before, don’t be intimidated. It could be as easy as facilitating a discussion by coming up with some interesting questions you’d like to ask, sharing a skill you think others might find useful, or performing a short piece. Anything goes really, so seriously consider taking part if you’ve not done so before. birdsoffire [at] riseup [dot] net with any questions or ideas.

See ya Tuesday!

We’ll continue with The Revolution of Everyday Life in our gluttonous quest to devour the whole thing. Next time we’ll discuss Part III “Isolation” (pg. 23) all the way through Part VI “Decompression and the Third Force” (ends pg. 47). YUM