Dying Planet Living Dream

With humor, pathos and absurdity, Dying Planet Living Dream chronicles life on the edge during the last half of the 20th Century in America. A host of off-beat and often damaged characters populate these twelve stories of addictions and obsessions with food, sex, drugs, death, and dreams. Stories of murder, redemption, passionate love affairs, parental neglect, pathological mother worship, fatal diseases, miraculous cures, idealism and anarchy. Stories of little boys who lose their mother抯 love and spend the rest of their lives looking for a substitute. Stories that wander all over the country, and even into the future. From the teeming multi-ethnic suburbs of Los Angeles to the moss-draped woods of the Pacific Northwest to the smoky bars of late night New York to the redolent cemeteries of New Orleans and the empty horizons along West Texas highways. Many of these stories read as if they were written on cocktail napkins, odd scraps of paper, on the backs of notebooks, in the pink light of dawn and in the middle of the night. Take this book to bed with you. It may keep you up laughing out loud. But when sleep comes, these stories may come alive in your dreams. Barry Gremillion lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Linda. He writes, produces and hosts the Firehead Mythological Radio Theater, was a Location Manager for 16 years on films like The Doors and the Twin Peaks television series. His other books include I Killed Charles Bronson's Cat and Magasun Hall. author photo for back cover: authorphoto.tif

These authoritative lectures, delivered during a period of deep crisis and conflict in world history, present a comprehensive spiritual teaching for contemporary humanity. Despite the raging world war, Rudolf Steiner was still actively touring Central Europe whilst simultaneously completing work on his architectural masterpiece, the first Goetheanum, in neutral Switzerland.The building of the Goetheanum – undertaken by a community of people from seventeen nations at war – forms a thematic backdrop to the lectures. In speaking of the walls in the new building, for example, Rudolf Steiner describes how their forms are not confining, but rather express an openness to the surrounding cosmos. Likewise, the carved motifs on the architraves of the wooden pillars are not fixed 'symbols' but are alive and continually metamorphosing . These observations are reflected in Steiner's broader discussions. He speaks of extending and deepening our connection with the world and the cosmos, going beyond our usual narrow limits and definitions to engage in 'community with the realities of existence'. We can do this, for example, with the so-called 'dead', who find it difficult to relate to sense-bound thinking. Rudolf Steiner explains how we can connect with them, greatly enriching our lives and 'making an enormous difference to their souls'. The distinction between fixed symbols and living motifs takes us to the core of anthroposophy, striving never to rest in inert forms of thought. In the field of education, Steiner thus warns about 'external measuring' of pupils and linear models of cognitive learning.Throughout the three lecture courses included here – which together form a kind of compendium of anthroposophy at the time – Steiner touches upon a wealth of absorbing themes, including the 'discovery' of America, the contrast between East and West, the qualities of European 'folk souls', Valentin Andreae's Chymical Wedding, and Darwinism. Regardless of his topic, however, Steiner consistently makes the urgent appeal that we 'grasp reality', looking further than abstract schemes of all kinds – such as social and political 'programmes' – to participate in the cosmos as conscious and fully human co-creators.'

How the utopian tradition offers answers to today’s environmental crises In the face of Earth’s environmental breakdown, it is clear that technological innovation alone won’t save our planet. A more radical approach is required, one that involves profound changes in individual and collective behavior. Utopianism for a Dying Planet examines the ways the expansive history of utopian thought, from its origins in ancient Sparta and ideas of the Golden Age through to today's thinkers, can offer moral and imaginative guidance in the face of catastrophe. The utopian tradition, which has been critical of conspicuous consumption and luxurious indulgence, might light a path to a society that emphasizes equality, sociability, and sustainability. Gregory Claeys unfolds his argument through a wide-ranging consideration of utopian literature, social theory, and intentional communities. He defends a realist definition of utopia, focusing on ideas of sociability and belonging as central to utopian narratives. He surveys the development of these themes during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries before examining twentieth- and twenty-first-century debates about alternatives to consumerism. Claeys contends that the current global warming limit of 1.5C (2.7F) will result in cataclysm if there is no further reduction in the cap. In response, he offers a radical Green New Deal program, which combines ideas from the theory of sociability with proposals to withdraw from fossil fuels and cease reliance on unsustainable commodities. An urgent and comprehensive search for antidotes to our planet’s destruction, Utopianism for a Dying Planet asks for a revival of utopian ideas, not as an escape from reality, but as a powerful means of changing it.

"'The Beast' is a graphic novel set against the backdrop of Canadian oil industry advertising. It tells the story of two creative millennials working in Edmonton on opposite sides of the energy debate. Important ideas about advertising, energy politics, and sustainability are raised as they grow to understand their relationship to their work, the climate, and each other."--

For more than a century, Mars has been at the center of debates about humanity’s place in the cosmos. Focusing on perceptions of the red planet in scientific works and science fiction, Dying Planet analyzes the ways Mars has served as a screen onto which humankind has projected both its hopes for the future and its fears of ecological devastation on Earth. Robert Markley draws on planetary astronomy, the history and cultural study of science, science fiction, literary and cultural criticism, ecology, and astrobiology to offer a cross-disciplinary investigation of the cultural and scientific dynamics that have kept Mars on front pages since the 1800s. Markley interweaves chapters on science and science fiction, enabling him to illuminate each arena and to explore the ways their concerns overlap and influence one another. He tracks all the major scientific developments, from observations through primitive telescopes in the seventeenth century to data returned by the rovers that landed on Mars in 2004. Markley describes how major science fiction writers—H. G. Wells, Kim Stanley Robinson, Philip K. Dick, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Ray Bradbury, Robert Heinlein, and Judith Merril—responded to new theories and new controversies. He also considers representations of Mars in film, on the radio, and in the popular press. In its comprehensive study of both science and science fiction, Dying Planet reveals how changing conceptions of Mars have had crucial consequences for understanding ecology on Earth.

To honor the magnificent career of Jack Vance, one unparalleled in achievement and impact, George R.R. Martin and Gardner Dozois, with the full cooperation of Vance, his family, and his agents, have created a Jack Vance tribute anthology: Songs of the Dying Earth. The best of today's fantasy writers to return to the unique and evocative milieu of The Dying Earth, from which they and so many others have drawn so much inspiration, to create their own brand-new adventures in the world of Jack Vance's greatest novel. Half a century ago, Jack Vance created the world of the Dying Earth, and fantasy has never been the same. Now, for the first time ever, Jack has agreed to open this bizarre and darkly beautiful world to other fantasists, to play in as their very own. To say that other fantasy writers are excited by this prospect is a gross understatement; one has told us that he'd crawl through broken glass for the chance to write for the anthology, another that he'd gladly give up his right arm for the privilege. That's the kind of regard in which Jack Vance and The Dying Earth are held by generations of his peers. This book contains original stories from George R. R. Martin, Neil Gaiman, Dan Simmons, Elizabeth Moon, Tanith Lee, Tad Williams, Kage Baker, and Robert Silverberg, along with fifteen others--as well as an introduction by Dean Koontz. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

A harrowing, captivating firsthand history of the rise of the radical environmental movement the Earth Liberation Front (ELF). Since 1997, the ELF has inflicted over $100 million in damages on entities they believe to be causing environmental destruction, mostly through brazen arson attacks on timber companies, ski resorts, and car dealerships. Former ELF spokesperson Craig Rosebraugh charts the history and ideology of the ELF and explores its tactics, successes, and limitations. Rosebraugh examines the question of whether or not violence is justifiable, along with the short- and long-term political benefits and drawbacks of using violence. He also offers a primer on the tactics of state repression and strategies the US government uses to destroy activist movements.Whatever your view of direct action or violence, Burning Rage of a Dying Planet is an illuminating read for anyone seeking to understand radical environmental movements and the government's response to them.This revised and updated edition has a foreword by Extinction Rebellion co-founder Tamsin Omond.

Resources running low, the population exploding, the planet is in danger: are we masters of our own destruction, or have we been invaded by aliens bent on mass extinction? Is this a pattern across the entire universe, or just our small sector of cosmic life? This new title in our successful Gothic Fantasy Short Stories series explores the theme of a dying planet, written by a fabulous mix of classic, ancient and brand new writing, with contemporary authors from all over the world. For the first time we’ve made a conscious effort to reach beyond our usual submissions seeking a broader voices. This book offers a glorious mix of American, British, Canadian, Italian, Indian, Spanish and Chinese writers with contributions from Elizabeth Rubio, John B. Rosenman, Francesco Verso, Marian Womack, Zach Shephard, E.E. King, Raymond Little, Ken Liu, Shikhandin, Alex Shvartsman and many more. In these pages too, first-time contributions jostle with the work of Camille Flammarion, Clark Ashton Smith, Stanley G. Weinbaum, Jack London, William Hope Hodgson, H.G. Wells and, stretching back much further, to the Norse Eddas and Sagas, and an Ancient Egyptian Myth on the death of humankind.