Tag: cyberpunk

Evil Genius Chronicles Podcast for Dec 19 2020 – Idle Hands are the Devil’s Workplace

In this episode, I play a Jill Sobule song for that season that is a tradition on this show; I don’t owe anyone productivity on any given day; universal basic income is making more sense to me; we are in our own hospice; inexplicably I am smitten with Cyberpunk 2077; cyberpunk remains my favorite genre of fiction; I still love Sage Walker’s novel Whiteout; I love the beginning of projects and hate the middle and end; I need a formal project parking lot in my personal life.

Here is the direct MP3 download for the Evil Genius Chronicles podcast, December 19 2020.

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Talk Geek with Cheap Truth

I got an email from the host of the Talk Geek to Me podcast. He’s doing an interesting sub-project on his main show, periodically doing some episodes that are an audiobook style reading of the seminal Bruce “Vincent Omniaveritas” Sterling edited cyberpunk zines Cheap Truth. I downloaded and listened to this episode and really liked it. His plan as I understand it is to record all of these eventually and put them together as an audiobook. I find that a fine goal and will be looking forward to listening to them. It’s fun to listen to these nearly 30 year old missives from Cousin Brucie and hear the snarky commentator that we’ve all gotten to know so well the last few years getting formed.

Cyberpunk Rumblings

I’ve been thinking a lot about cyberpunk lately. No matter what its current fate in the literary fashion sweepstakes, I always had a great affinity for the genre and always will. No matter that its original young turks are now all too old and respectable to wield the crowbar with proper leverage. Sadly, the Ramones and the Sex Pistols are in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. It’s the fate of all punks to mellow or die, and they tend to do some of each.

William Gibson will be in my little town tomorrow accepting an honorary doctorate. It makes sense as he was born in this town. I’ve heard smatterings of outrage because apparently he speaks unkindly of Conway SC. He’ll be getting a “Doctor of Humane Letters” which leaves me wondering of they’ve actually read his books. His work has many wonderful virtues but humane is not at the top of the list. They may not have the option to give a “Doctor of Inhumane Letters.” I have Spook Country but haven’t read it yet. I’ve fallen off the Gibson pace in recent years but I still count him as equal influence with JG Ballard and William S. Burroughs in shattering my patterns of thinking and leading me somewhere new.

Bruce Sterling posted a link to a bit wondering if “cyberpunk is dead.” He has some analysis that I love and find applicable in our ongoing food fights as to whether “podcasting is dead” or “vlogging is dead.”

Just for the record, nothing can be “dead” when people have to anxiously declare it “dead.” Once it’s REALLY dead, nobody publicly frets about its deadness. Broadway theater’s been dying for about a century, “belle lettres” has been dying for, gosh, maybe 250 years now. You have to get used to that.

Right on, brother Brucie! Rather than getting pissed off, I’ll just treat the declarations of things I care about as “dead” as a sign of their vitality. From henceforth, such things will be considered self-contradictory just by existing. That was easy. Staples easy button easy, in fact.

Rudy Rucker is so far from a young turk that he’s retired now, which gives him more free time to post weird shit on his blog and blow my mind. He seems like a true case of someone with no off switch. I’m still subscribed to his audio feed and get whatever he chooses to post on it.

And just now I noticed something in common with all three of these guys: all grew up in the south and no longer live there. Gibson: South Carolina and Virgina and now in Vancouver BC. Sterling: Texas and now in Beograde. Rucker: Kentucky and now in California. If only the south made more people weird like these guys, we’d really have something!