This is a beautiful interview with Lewis Gordon, scholar of the work of Franz Fanon. Gordon contends that many people mis-interpret Fanon, especially around his views of political violence. Gordon’s reframing of Fanon is succinct and captures a side I didn’t get before.
Here are couple of choice quotes, but the episode is short and I encourage you to listen tot he whole thing. Dr Gordon is a great speaker.
As a psychiatrist:
[The book] Black Skin White Masks is the argument that there is such a phenomenon as a sick society. Sometimes the people who suffer the most in a society suffer from actually being healthy. Fanon argues that colonialism produces what he calls sociogenetic, and this means socially produced forms of disorders that take the form not only of mental disorders, but forms of suffering that are political. As a consequence, if there are politically induced forms of suffering, then one has to develop political solutions for them.
(my emphasis added… just look around!)
As an activist:
In other words, Fanon argued that if you’re in a war, your goal should be to end a war to start a struggle for coexistence. Whereas there are people who are in a war who are onlly focused on one thing: the elimination of the enemy. So for them, even if they win, they keep fighting because their ultimate goal is noncoexistence, the absolute elimination of the other. And that’s what Fanon was against.
and:
The issue was the liberation of humankind. He was a radical humanist.
As an existentialist:
Well, here’s the thing. There are varieties of idealism. There are idealisms that are based on the notion of absolute perfection, but there are other idealisms that are based on the notion of reasonability and maturity. For instance, if you think about being a parent, what is an ideal parent? An ideal parent is a parent who is reasonable enough to enable their children to grow up and have room to live their lives. However, an ideal perfect parent in some models is like a god. A parent so perfect that there’s no room for the subsequent generations to grow, to emerge because daddy or mommy were absolutely perfect.
I like to think that this is the sort of idealist that I strive to be: one that can welcome others and co-create a pluralistic utopia. See: “we all can’t be Buddhas”
Really appreciate @mikerugnetta.com’s audio essay on Neverpo.st about the aesthetics of US Fascism and AI slopaganda/agit slop. He asks: “Is there something inherently fascistic about these technologies as many of these takes and headlines seem to suggest?” and takes a deep dive into media theory, coming away with a nuanced understanding of AI, its usage, and its relationship to a hollow power.
Some choice quotes (with my emphasis):
[Walter Benjamin] declared famously that fascism seeks to give the masses expression, but nothing else, thus compacting those masses into a frenzied block. No rights, no change in property relations, just feelings of power and feelings of dominance through available imagery. No actual political agency is granted. No self determination is awarded.
Talking about the Trump administration:
They are knowledgeable about, maybe even obsessed with, the media. How it’s made, how it’s useful, the social and economic position it occupies, and the power it commands. Slop, sludge, slopaganda, and agit slop included. They are posters at heart more so than they are leaders. They would appear to put more effort, effort into creating the appearance of a fascist state, a state itself all about appearances, than anything beyond that.
And finally the kicker:
artificial intelligence is not a tool of this administration, but a crutch for a group of people who otherwise don’t really know how to do much of anything… what happens when you find a way to take away that crutch? Would they not stumble?
We cannot afford cede this technological ground, we must seize the means of compute.
Upon arrival the leaves on poplar trees surrounding the vihara were about half green and half yellow. By the time I left they were mostly coloured gold, glowing with the rays of the early fall sun. There have been many changes at the monastery since my last visit: a new flower garden, three new rock gardens, a series of tiered decks, a covered walkway between the main house and the office/recording studio. Much of this and more was done during 2021 in the early part of the COVID pandemic when there were no guests. The monastery also installed Starlink which gave them a much faster Internet connection allowing Ajahn Sona to do Sunday livestreams on YouTube, answering questions from around the world.
Those global live streams have had an effect. One of the guests at the retreat was an Ajahn Sona YouTube fan coming all the way from Belgium! He was very excited to see Ajahn Sona during Tea Time, which happens twice a week in the intimate setting of the tea room. (He is always better up close and in person when he can really feed off the crowd! 😄). The kitchen steward was from Ithica, New York, also attracted to the monastery via Internet broadcast. Other guests came from the Vancouver area, Kelowna, Calgary, Edmonton, and of course nearby Kamloops. There were 10 of us in all. Most were staying for the week, but some were 3 weeks into a month-long retreat.
Four monastics live at the monastery full time, as well as three stewards. The monastery is a bit short-staffed right now (and is hiring for a few positions if you are interested.)
This week was for personal retreats, each person moved at their own pace. Everyone would get together at 5:30am for a 45 minute seated meditation session in the sala (meditation hall), and then again at 7pm for some chanting and meditation. We would meet for a light breakfast together at 7am, and then again at 11:30 for the main meal of the day (I have to say that of all the temples and monasteries I have been to, Birken has the best tacos! 🌮). At 5pm we would gather for some tea (and maybe a chocolate or two) and ask questions of the monastics. I gained many insights into wisdom during these discussions.
Other than that everyone was left on their own to do walking or sitting meditation, reading, yoga, or hiking — which a lot of people did because the weather was so fantastic. The pre-autumn air is so crisp, and the gold poplar leaves danced in the wind against brilliant clear blue skies. The closes neighbour to the Birken Forest Monastery is 10km away, so there is plenty of space to wander through the woods contemplating life, or walk with new dhamma friends talking through one another’s journey on the Buddhist path.
Some scenes from around the monastery by resident monk Ajahn Jotipalo
There was stress at the monastery when one day we had a bit of a COVID scare. A couple of people had been exposed outside the monastery the previous week. Immediately they masked up and took tests. After a while Ajahn Sona came down the stairs into the dining hall where the rest of us waited: “Here is the announcement!” he said, raising his arms, “There is a lot of negativity in here! As in, the tests were all negative. Excellent!” he broke out in a big grin, and we knew we could continue on in silent calm.
The last time I was at Birken was 2019, a very stressful time as I was planning to end my career in edtech and an out to embark on a journey living on a remote island between Japan and Korea. In the intervening years I completed the Upasika Program (through Birken) and maintained a meditation practice (I am currently on a 552 day streak, but probably have only missed about 7 or 8 days in the past 3 years). My home and work life have both relatively settled. So I was not anywhere as stressed out as back then. Even so, I basically slept for the first two days as my body relaxed, of wringing out all of my stress.
For me, this retreat was about settling my mind to consider next steps. 2025 is the Year of the Snake, when you are meant to explore this way and that, and not make any big commitments. It is a time for re-invention, to shed your skin. This advice has served me well this year as we have been settling into our new house and I started consulting for a few different businesses. We have been exploring our new community to determine exactly where best to commit in the near future.
Spending a week at the monastery has let my mind calm. Like the proverbial pond after a storm: the muddied water gently floats to the bottom and the pool is clear again, allowing me to better see my options. It has also energized me to continue my study and participation in this community. I really appreciate being at the monastery, able to interact with others on the same spiritual journey, and getting advice from the monastics.
In the preface to Steven Erikson’s notoriously “difficult” novel Gardens of the Moon the author describes the first book of his Malazan series as beginning “halfway through a seeming marathon — you either hit the ground running and stay on your feet or you are toast.” The world-building of Malazan is rich and lived-in, full of character gems, jaded by a grimdark world of warfare:
I’m writing a history and fictional or not, history has no real beginning point
Fantastic realism.
And sometimes, on midnight afternoons, I ask myself: what if I’d picked up that fat wooden ladle, and slopped the whole mess down the reader’s throat, as some (highly successful) Fantasy writers do and have done? Would I now see my sales ranking in the bestseller’s lists?
No Steven! Don’t sell us short!
One last word to all you nascent writers out there. Ambition is not a dirty word. Piss on compromise. Go for the throat.
That’s right! 💪 Talk yo sh✻t!
Medium matters
To be honest, when I first read Gardens of the Moon in 2017 I bounced off the book. From my original review:
This is the first in 10 novels, but reads like it is about novel number 6. About halfway through he finally settles on a group of characters to follow — at least, it seems that way, but he keeps introducing new characters and even new unknown baddies right up to the final chapters! I don’t know who edited this book, but that person needed reinforcements. Erikson has a million ideas for world-building, and every time I was about to give up on the book, he would keep me around for some intriguing concept or set piece. However the lack of any narrative build just renders this story as overly complex and disorienting. I am not likely to pick up the second.
Why did I bounce so hard? I think it was because of the medium. The nice thing about listening to audiobooks is you can do other things while you are “reading”… but some books cannot be given just a portion of your attention.
This time around I got the book in dead tree format so I could keep things grounded.
Supplements
For this marathon you gotta be in shape, so my friends got me some supplemental material to help me along the way.
First, this useful blog series originally from Tor which features two people reading a couple chapters at a time and writing down their commentary. One person is a new reader and the other is a veteran who is careful not to give any spoilers from the future. More than once they caught things that I missed, which helped me feel like I wasn’t falling behind.
Another useful aid is this set of companion guides. Each scene from the book is captured on a single slide with important bits you are supposed to remember conveniently highlighted. This is great for when you need to refresh your memory a bit, say after having put the book down for a few days.
Reading tips
The Malazan series is consistently rated up there with the best fantasy series of all time. And like most things that are difficult but worth it, going in with the right mindset can be a game-changer. Gardens of the Moon is not a lazy book, and you gotta be an active reader. Here are some tips to help you lock-in:
Read it “scene by scene”
Browsing YouTube before reading the book I came across this complete random short:
What amazing advice! So thankful that the YT algo surfaced this for me. There is a lot going on in GotM, but with aid of the supplements and this guy’s advice, I enjoyed it so much that I ordered the sequel before finishing it.
Read it like you read Shakespeare
The first draft of GotM was a film script. Erikson writes a lot of snappy dialogue, but you still have to read between the lines. By combining the supplemental material and the technique of reading scene by scene, reading GotM is almost like reading a Shakespeare play. The clues are right there on the page, and it is rewarding to feel like you are an audience member in the know. Oh, and there are laughs everywhere, too.
Read it like you are listening to your rapper’s favourite rapper
Erikson is a writer who loves a bit of wordplay. Like a talented rapper (eg Avelino or Ghetts or the Coast) he’s got bars. Doubles and triples all over the place! Be prepared to catch the punches.
Is this even a book review?
Hell no! I don’t want to spoil anything. I am merely preparing you for your own journey. Once you are done, then we can talk about the book.
The past few weeks have seen a lot of travel and I am well backed up with uploading photos. I may not get the opportunity to write any in-depth travel reports, so I thought I would just make some quick notes.
Quebec and Ontario
This September my oldest daughter will enter Grade 11. Things are starting to get serious on the academic front. Next year will be prepping for university, with campus visits and the like. So this summer’s vacation was probably our last big one as a family.
Originally we thought we would do the Grand Canyon, but with the situation in the US, we decided to stay in Canada. My oldest went for a 5 week French language program in Quebec City at Laval University, so we made the Belle Province our summer destination.
I won’t got into all the gory details, and I still have over 2000 photos to process and upload to Flickr, but here are just a few highlights from our 16 days of travelling In Quebec and eastern Ontario:
Montreal
After having our plane cancelled, put on a new flight redirected through Toronto, we finally got to our McGill University dorm hotel only to have the fire alarm go off after midnight… three times
Saw the Notre Dame Basilica, met with Vincent from Hypha, ate lobster poutine and went to Just for Laughs pics →
And even though I have been to Ottawa a bunch of times in the past, this was my first time walking down the locks and crossing the river. No wonder it is a world heritage site! (Photos and vids coming soon)
Quebec is a must-go for Canadians like me from the West. There is just something about seeing historical spots that help you really understand the history. It was also interesting to see how they present indigenous history… or the lack thereof. I think in BC we have come a long way in recognizing the victimization of indigenous groups, but in Quebec with the spotlight on the Quebecois (and Acadians), the indigenous experience is still left in the shadows.
One other note: the pedestrian streets in Montréal are amazing. Vancouver really needs pedestrian streets and a nice walkable shopping and food area like the Montréal Old Town.
Quick drive to the Okanagan
After we got back from Quebec we quickly jumped in the car and drove to Kelowna for a couple of days for a friend’s baby shower. Not much to report from this trip other than we spent time with my family and with a bunch of friends, ate loads of cake, and it was great.
”Concrete jungle where dreams are made of” 🗽
Once back from Kelowna I had a day to pack and prep for a week in New York. I stayed in Manhattan, worked out of betaworks, ran a 2-day event with publishers like WaPo, ProPublica, Semaphor and many others (I will write this up in the future but here is some coverage already) and then attended an atproto hackathon in Brooklyn. It was pretty packed but on Saturday we did a walking tour of Manhattan hitting a lot of the famous parts, like:
The Highline, the Shed, the Foot Fountain and Grand Central pics →
Times Square, St Patricks, got rainbow bagels and then Central Park pics →
It was a great experience. I hadn’t been there since 2006. I spent most of my spare time just walking the streets, moving from movie set to movie set.
Next up?
I am holding still in Surrey for the next few weeks with no travel plans until I go to Birken Monastery for a week-long meditation retreat at the end of September. Until then I am just happy to be still for a while, in my comfortable home office… it will give me a chance to process all these photos!
