cyber text in a paper format
Paul Kimball from Redstar Books has just announced the publication of the first volume of a series of books. It's a collection of Mac Tonnies' blog posts from his Post Human Blues blog. This thing is 382 pages long, and there is gunna be multiple volumes coming out in the near future.
I am going to lobby that a volume is dedicated to transcriptions from some of his audio interviews. I think Mac was at his best when he was just verbally riffing on the this weirdness.
Posthuman Blues by Mac Tonnies
volume one 2003 - 2004
available thru Redstar Books
(or thru creepy the creepy corporate giant; amazon)
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Last night I dreamed I was an android. Someone told me, very casually. I wasn't particularly surprised, but the revelation left me with a vague sense of existential unease. Speaking of dreams: that's one very good reason for creating a blog that I hadn't thought of moments before, when it just seemed like a Cool Thing To Do. A dynamic medium like this welcomes dreams...in 30 years, we'll be carrying around personal dream recorders and thrusting them into the faces of friends saying "Watch this!" But everyone will be too engaged in their own half-forgotten Technicolor reveries to pay much attention.___________________________________________________________
Mac Tonnies
from January 26, 2003 (the first week of his blog)
Also: Paul Kimball talks about Mac, this book and lots more with Greg Bishop on a recent Radio Misterioso podcast (linked HERE).
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Thanks for the link Mike. Alas, when it comes to the radio shows, while I agree that a compilation would be great, it's a rights issue. I have the rights to PHB, but individual radio show owners would own the IP to their broadcasts.
ReplyDeleteNow if I can ever convince Greg Bishop to do a Radio Misterioso compilation, you can be sure that there will be a couple of Mac chapters!
Best,
Paul
A great idea Mike,I think I'll grab a copy of that and subsequent copies when they come out.
ReplyDeleteAnd here's a sync that you might like...or not.
I just came from posting a comment at Synchrosectrets.com on a post about Shakespeare called -
"Young poet speaks out…".
I used the quote from Hamlet
” Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him.."
I was just thinking when I wrote that quote about the word "alas" that there's a word you don't see everyday.
Then I see the comment Paul Kimball left,and he used it ?!
"Young poet speaks out…" reminds me of a line to describe Mac,as well.
@Paul Kimball, this may be an absolutely crazy question, but is there a plan for this to be converted to an ebook (any format)? I plan on buying this book ASAP but I would also enjoy a digital copy.
ReplyDeleteThe only right way to read this book will be as an ebook, to preserve the feel of the web! I will miss his posting of interesting photos (since they obviously would be a rights nightmare) in between his text posts. But I am glad this volume is assembled.
ReplyDeleteChris,
ReplyDeleteI abhor e-books, so the policy I adopted for my company is that every book will have a proper stand-alone print release.
However, I'm also a businessman, and I recognize that there are lots of people who prefer e-books these days, so yes, there will be a subsequent release for everything we publish in infernal e-book format. We have a deal with a major European e-book distributor for all of our books, so it will be available far and wide in that format... but not until early 2013.
Best,
Paul
I much prefer a physical paper book in my hands.
ReplyDeleteThat said, I am impressed by the ease of publication since the advent of the "reader" technology. I have books on my kindle that are only available electronically.
There is an immediacy from the authors inspiration to me reading it. I can now read books that no pragmatic publisher would touch. I am drawn to the UFO lore, and this is shunned by many paper publishers.
Now - My advice, make sure to properly format these offerings for a reader. If it isn't correctly laid out, the results are un-readable.
You're quite right about the formatting. A lot of self-publishers and small publishing companies don't pay attention to it, and think that you can basically just upload the same file. That explains a lot of the terrible reviews some e-books get, based solely on lousy formatting. It also explains, at least in part, why we went with a large mainstream distributor, who takes care of all that stuff for us. :-)
ReplyDeletePK
Giving Paul Kimball the rights to Mac's work is like Bill giving Roger Clinton the keys to Camp David for the weekend. YOWZA! RIP Mac.
ReplyDeleteThis is awesome, thanks Paul!
ReplyDeleteAlso wondering if you have (or know of anyone else who has) unreleased video footage of Mac? It'd be excellent to see some sort of video release at some point.
I know he mentioned in Podcasts that he was once flown out by Discovery Channel to interview for a documentary, did a whole day with them and was never used. How great would it be to successfully appeal to retrieve that footage from them? That is if they keep it.
Artilect,
ReplyDeleteI'm sure the Halifax company that did the episode of Supernatural Investigator that Mac was in would have lots of unreleased footage, as do I from the interview I conducted with him for Best Evidence. Someday I may get around to9 releasing some of it.
PK
RE:
ReplyDelete"I abhor e-books" and "I much prefer a physical paper book in my hands"
I agree.I'm reading Richard Martini's "Flipside" on Kindle and while it is better than nothing,it's like reading a communal copy that doesn't belong to me.
As I read through it I see little notes telling me this sentence has been highlighted 21 times,this sentence has been highlighted 19 times,etc.That kind of stuff bugs me,as I don't care what other people think about what sentences in a book are important.
To me e-books are like Facebook,I would only go there as a last resort...not even Chris Knowles shutting "The Secret Sun" will get me to venture over to Facebook though.
"Someday I may get around to9 [sic] releasing some of it."
ReplyDeleteSpoken like a man who sort of gives a shit about Mac's ideas and legacy.
It'd be great if Mac had more of a youtube presence in video form but it's not crucial... the podcasts are already great and this book will really help get the blog out there too.
ReplyDeleteHow does it work with Amazon.ca? Will the book eventually be made available there through after migrating from .com? Otherwise, I'll order direct, but I have a few other things in my cart right now.
Well, I'll probably have to wait until Bezos and his creepos start carrying it on Amazon ;)
ReplyDeleteIt's available on Amazon.com, now just waiting for Amazon.ca, if the plan is for it to land there.
ReplyDeleteHas anyone alerted The Daily Grail? That'd be a good place to get the word out... especially if they'll do a blog entry at the top of the page about it.
*Ahem* I'm a news admin at the Grail ;)
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, I did send an e-mail to Greg and the rest of my compadres. And Greg had already retweeted Paul's Tweet re. the release of the book.
If he hasn't post anything about by tomorrow on the top page, I might do it myself ;)
"Best Evidence" is the best evidence I've seen that Kimball's ego writes checks his ass can't cash. ZING!
ReplyDelete