So, Daniel Pinchbeck, the author who wrote the modern classic Breaking Open the Head: A Psychedelic Journey into the Heart of Contemporary Shamanism, is about to publish a new book entitled 2012: The Return of Quetzalcoatl. If you have any interest in contemporary urban shamanic practices, entheogens, or the possibility of a massive shift in consciousness in the near future, that just might save the planet, you might be interested in this book, if his last book is any indication. Obviously, this topic could lead one perilously close to New Age lala-land, but I ain't afeared.

Also, in other book news, Steven Berlin Johnson, the author who wrote Emergence: The Connected Lives of Ants, Brains, Cities and Software (where I got the inspiration for my moniker 'Emergent' for my abstract musical experiments), is currently writing a new book entitled The Ghost Map (he has a post about it on his blog right here). To quote him:

"It's the story of the Broad Street cholera outbreak that took place in London in September of 1854. The outbreak itself was arguably the deadliest in London's history -- it literally decimated the western side of Soho, killing more than ten percent of the population there in a matter of eight days -- but it is most famous for the map that the physician and epidemiologist John Snow made of the outbreak, a map that eventually helped convince the world that cholera was in fact a waterborne illness, and not transmitted via the air as the then-dominant miasma theory maintained."

And in yet more book news, my friend Sarah, wife of my friend Nick, has a blog, called Life in Books, about books, the publishing industry, and probably pretty much anything that strikes her fancy. You can find it here. Go pay her a visit. Soon to be added to my sidebar as soon as I get the urge to meddle with my template.

Want to hear something transcendently beautiful? Go listen to Airdrawndagger by Sasha. He does the most amazing job of fusing the whole glitchy IDM aesthetic into a more progressive trance/dance format. It's quite an album, quite ethereal while still remaining groovy. I'm also quite diggin' on some Monoceros lately, and some Proem.