He pulled off some of the greatest hacks in history, he was once one of the F.B.I.’s most wanted, hell, they even made a crappy movie based on a crappy book about him. Finally, in Ghost in the Wires, we can finally get Kevin Mitnick’s side of the story. 

In the early to mid nineties Kevin Mitnick, basically, wrote the book (no pun intended) on hacking and social engineering. His exploits were notorious world-wide, and his achievements legendary. He skilfully  hacked his way into the security systems of some of the worlds biggest, and most respected software companies, getting his hands on some of the most sensitive data imaginable. He infamously hacked the phone companies SAS system that allowed him to basically listen in on anyone, including the NSA (if only for a few seconds), and successfully vanished into new identities, eluding the law enforcement agencies trying relentlessly to track him down. Mitnick has become somewhat of a folk legend in the hacker community. He’s done what so few have achieved; actually beaten ‘the man’. Several times in fact. Ok, so he eventually got caught, and sentenced to jail with no trial (as you do), but it almost seems worth it for the sheer brilliance of his exploits.

What becomes clear early on in the book, is that Mitnick is not criminally minded, he’s just curious. His fascination in the inner workings of Houdini magic quickly turns to technology, and from there, trouble. I guess we all want to know what’s ‘behind the curtain’, Mitnick was just a little more determined to actually find out, and this is where the moral quandary lies with the reader. Technically, what he does is a crime, and he’s as bound in social contract as the rest of us; so yes, technically, he should be punished. However, whilst reading the book, you’ll possibly find yourself cheering him on as he turns the government’s own technology against them, and essentially wire taps the wire tappers. You may find yourself unable to not crack a smile when he hacks the ‘worlds leading security expert’ Tsutomu Shimomura. It all seems so unreal, and so outrageous, he seems untouchable.

But, on the flip-side, I couldn’t help but think to myself “this guy needs help”. I would consider myself a very low-level ‘hacker’. I’m writing this review on a Hackintosh, on my desk is a PSP that runs old Amiga games, and my Canon 550D runs software that lets it do stuff the manufacturer didn’t design it for; I guess what I’m saying is, I understand the fun in pushing technology outside of it’s specified boundaries, and getting inside the box. Mitnick, however, appears to have an addiction to it. he literally can’t stop himself, to a point that he ended up spending an unhealthy amount of time in prison – with no phone access – a result of getting the government so wired, they believed he could hum nuclear missile launch codes into a phone, and begin the apocalypse. I did find myself questioning why his incredibly patient – and clearly very loving – parents, never sent him to a addiction councillor.

What makes this book so brilliant is it’s honesty, and the fact that Mitnick’s life was just so damn exciting. It also acts a warning to future would-be Mitnick’s. If you have any interest in hacking taken to the extreme, then this genuinely exciting and unique tale is a must-have.

Ken Eakins

Let me paint a picture for you. It’s your day off from work, you’re relaxing at home. All of a sudden, you hear a knock at your door.

On your doorstep is a ‘roofin’ salesman, a pizza delivery guy, an angry neighbour, and a law enforcement agent – all after just a little bit of your time. You explain to them, that you just had your roof done last week, you didn’t order any pizza, you don’t have your neighbours welfare cheque, and no, it wasn’t you singing over the superstore paging system all day.

Confused and angry you slam the door shut, then you notice something else. Your answer-phone is beeping and it has reached it’s maximum amount of messages. You nervously press the button, only to hear 99 people saying “Cactus” to you over and over and over again, and wait…who disconnected your telephone line?

Sound Familiar? Well take that pistol out of your mouth sir, you’re not losing your mind. It’s actually highly likely that you’ve just been served by the Phone Losers of America.

That’s right folks, Brad Carter – mighty overlord of the PLA – has released a book of choice moments from the PLA’s long and illustrious existence.

Follow Brad on from his humble routes as a homeless phone-phreaker, to the dizzying heights of credit-card fraud, and remotely taking over Walmart’s paging system. Recoil in horror as they encounter legendary ‘Super-Hacker’ Curtis Lee Jones, and his infamous ‘central computer’ that is ’999 straight out of hell’. Fondly remember the glory days of Red-boxing, when a few beeps guaranteed endless phone conversations.

Whichever way your moral compass points, you’ll find something that will make you chuckle – or just plain gasp – in this excellently narrated journey through the world of the PLA.

Ken Eakins

Get the PLA Book directly here.

There will always be more to learn about the long history of human civilisation than what we may find in the collected records bequeathed to us by the victors of battles past. In fact one only has to scrape away the loose topsoil of any period of accepted history to expose rich seams of lesser-known information that often serve to shed fresh light on the age-old questions surrounding who we are and how our cultures have evolved.

‘Western’ culture, just as we find with its counterpart in the east, is inextricably bound to a set of religious and spiritual doctrines that have exerted a profound and far-reaching influence over society. Sometimes this influence is overt and all too easy to spot; for instance, no one could deny the overweening influence of the Roman church on the last two thousand years of western civilisation. Yet at other times, certain other religio-spiritual influences may have been just as strong, even though their origins have appeared far less obvious – perhaps even from being deliberately hidden from plain view.

From the shamanic, animistic proto-religions of the early European hunter-gatherers to the highly developed spiritual systems of the druids and the ancient Egyptians, not to mention the two thousand years of social domination by the church of Rome, it cannot be denied that religion has exerted a profound influence over the way literally millions of people have thought and acted over millennia. It’s an influence that continues to this day, even if the front-and-centre position of the main western spiritual hegemony appears to be largely on the wane.

Despite the obvious links between western culture and its native branch of spirituality, the notion that there may be an ancient and living western esoteric tradition every bit as deep and essential as that found in the east has, until relatively recently, been largely the preserve of the crank or the religious maverick. In the last few years however the so-called ‘western mysteries’ have begun to gain more ground within academic circles as a legitimate area of study. Various universities in Europe such as Exeter and Amsterdam now run respected courses in Western Esoterics and slowly but surely the hidden spiritual traditions of the west are gaining the respect so long afforded to their eastern cousins.

Hidden Wisdom is a noble attempt to set out the story of what is usually referred to as the ‘Western Mystery Tradition’; an umbrella term encompassing all manner of spiritual, religious and mystical systems that fall outside the purview of the accepted dogma sanctioned by the church, from ancient Greek philosophy and early Gnosticism through to alchemy, occultism, freemasonry, alchemy and magic. Here we find the tale of the other spiritual tradition of the west; a tempestuous tale of direct contact with the divine, of beauty, suppression, torture and courage. For it is undoubtedly true that many spiritual traditions of the west have remained obscure – at least in part – due to their often violent and bloody suppression on the part of the competition.

In the battle for the hearts and minds of the faithful, the book argues, there has been remarkably little to be found in the way of compassion exhibited by those professing to embody that divine gift through the practising of the Christian faith. In point of fact (we are reminded constantly) more death and destruction has been meted out in the name of the ‘gentle Jesus’ than by any other religion. A jealous God, it would appear, begets a jealous faith and in its quest to remain the sole religious authority in the western world, the church has historically stopped at nothing to ensure the silencing of any voices which may offer an alternative to their own particular brand of salvation.

In this book the author Tim Wallace-Murphy presents an alternative viewpoint on the long and fascinating history of the western world by focusing on its mystery traditions and leading the reader on a tour through hidden history – one that wasn’t written by the victors. In a way, this is both the book’s greatest strength and its greatest weakness. The reader is left in no doubt whatsoever of Wallace-Murphy’s standpoint, whose near shrillness in his frequent condemnation of the church eventually serves to weaken his case – even to those readers who may agree wholeheartedly with his viewpoint.

While on the whole the book is pretty well-written and researched, the grinding of Wallace-Murphy’s personal axe is a just a little too overbearing a little too often. The reader is left at times with little or no room to draw their own conclusions since one is already being presented so strongly; ie: that the hidden traditions of the west are more beautiful, profound and ultimately legitimate than anything that can be offered by the villainous and morally corrupt church. While this may or may not be true, Wallace-Murphy frequently spends more time engaged in invective against the persecutor than actually explaining why he holds the opinion that he does about those who have endured so much persecution for their beliefs.

There is also the issue of misappropriated terminology. For instance, in an early chapter the reader is introduced to the concept of ‘gnosis’ in a discussion of ancient druidism – a tradition which used no such term as far as is known, yet when the author begins to discuss the early Christian Gnostics, no explanation of what the term ‘Gnostic’ actually means is offered. We are left then, wondering exactly who this book is aimed at since specialised terms are used but never satisfactorily elaborated on, while little or no new information is being offered that could not be found elsewhere in books that frankly render this volume largely redundant. Had The Elixir and the Stone by Richard Leigh and Michael Baigent, or Jonathan Black’s Secret History of the World not already been written, there might be a real place for Hidden Wisdom, but in the opinion of the present reviewer, these two other books treat the same subject in a much more balanced and dare I say it, scholarly fashion.

That is not to say that Hidden Wisdom is not without its merits. It offers an easy to read and in places fascinating look at one of the most neglected subjects in western culture and any additions to the body of work exploring western esoterica are to be applauded. If however you want a primer on the subject, it has to be said that better books already exist. If on the other hand, matters hermetic are your thing, Hidden Wisdom may well prove worth a look. But if you’re searching for – as the book’s strapline boldly announces – the Secrets of the Western Esoteric Tradition, you may find yourself rather disappointed at what you find within its pages.

Adrian Dobbie

http://hidden-wisdom.com

Buy ‘Hidden Wisdom’ at Amazon

No future my eye...bet there's more

The second instalment of Season 8 (in comic form) finds us re-acquainting ourselves with some of the characters who didn’t make much of an appearance in “The Long Way Home” ie: Giles, Faith and Robin “Principal” Wood. We discover that they have not moved far from their former lives, and all are still struggling in a world where they find themselves in the outer circle of Buffy’s trust. The issues that placed them at odds with the Slayer (to greater and lesser degrees) remain largely unsolved but they are still “fighting the good fight”.

urban!

In terms of the TV show, I guess this episode would rank as a “the plot thickens” kind of thing. The threat established in “The Long Way Home” does not surface but is alluded to, and lines are drawn to extend the story arc to the point where one can have some tantalising guesses at where this is all going. One of the high points of this volume is the increasingly warm relationship between Giles and Faith. Now some may argue that as their relationship not so long ago was that of torturer and tortured, that they seem a little chummy, but they began working through some of these issues before the end of Season 7. There is also the unspecified (but obviously relatively lengthy) time period that has elapsed since Sunnydale imploded, during which bygones have obviously become bygones. Anyway, I can tell you now that if I was going to be tortured by anyone I would want it to be Faith, who has been superbly rendered in terms of both dialogue and art in “No Future For You”. It’s great to have her back. Faith is like a Terminator on a tea break, companionable and witty but still ready and willing to kill literally anyone and everyone that she has to.

My only complaints about “No Future For You” are very slight and very specific and while I have managed to avoid spoilers in these reviews so far, I will have to reveal the two small details that made me upset. Firstly, Joss Whedon has always been pretty keen with his pop culture references, but when I found myself listening to Faith discussing Amy Winehouse in a positive fashion (albeit briefly in an otherwise fascinating piece of story) my bile duct instantly exploded and showered my heart with acid.

I always did like Faith!

How can I put this in a genteel fashion? Amy Winehouse is a twat. I don’t want her to exist in the Buffyverse. I don’t want her to exist in the Me-verse. I also didn’t take particularly kindly to a throwaway remark about the Stone Roses; but that’s just because I hate them. What I will say in Joss Whedon’s defense though, is that music was never well represented in the world of Buffy; with the Bronze regularly hosting some of the lamest bands in all available dimensions. You can’t be good at everything I suppose.

One final criticism would be that Genevieve (the “baddy” in this episode) is a little unconvincing, and is also the most ludicrously stereotypical “English” person to appear in Buffy since the “Cor Blimey” Slayerette who turned up at Buffy’s house in Season 7. Thankfully it never quite hits the same level of farce that arose with the utterly ludicrous Kendra (the Jamaican Slayer).

Daddytank

]]> http://sittingnow.co.uk/2009/06/23/buffy-the-vampire-slayer-no-future-for-you/feed/ 0 http://sittingnow.co.uk/2009/02/22/countercomics-buffy-the-vampire-slayer-the-long-way-home-joss-whedon/ http://sittingnow.co.uk/2009/02/22/countercomics-buffy-the-vampire-slayer-the-long-way-home-joss-whedon/#comments Sun, 22 Feb 2009 20:32:24 +0000 Kim Monaghan http://sittingnow.co.uk/?p=540

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I have never been a member of a cult. I was never a Trek-kie or a Star Wars knob. I have never really attached myself to any cultural (or sub-cultural) trend in earnest, unless you count an unholy devotion to the forces of heavy metal between 1988 and 1995. One might assume then that I would manage to successfully side step the whole issue of fanboy-ism and progress in a mature and responsible fashion to adulthood, without getting sidetracked into conventions and the whole sick sad world that this entails.

But I hadn’t bet on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Slavish devotion followed. Total emotional dependence on the scoobies led to a crushing sense of defeat when both Buffy and Angel were cancelled within a year of each other. The sense of loss when I watched the final episode of Buffy was tangible and space was cleared for Buffy in the small box of things I take seriously in my heart.

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Yes, I signed petitions, and sure I felt a small start of excitement when the rumour went around that there was going to be a Season 8 movie, but it all came to nothing. Until 0ctober 2007. Now, because I am an ill-informed chap I didn’t find out about the Dark Horse comics continuation of the Buffy saga until Christmas of 2007 but the good news was like an aneurysm of joy in my brain. Dark Horse, the uncompromising comic-publishing heroes of my youth, had teamed up with Joss Whedon to bring the story to fruition. Maybe there was a God after all ?

But anyone who knows the mythology of the resurrected cult icon knows that failure is a more commonly travelled road than success. Think Doctor Who, Aliens vs Predator, Terminator 3, Jason vs Freddy. Maybe not the most lucid selection but all epic fails in my eyes. So does Buffy measure up ?

Oh yes. Volume 1 of the Long Way Home is an absolute success in every respect. The art is fairly standard comic book fare, but when dealing with such a well established Buffy-verse, anything too experimental or abstract would only be a distraction. So it knuckles down to taking us from the point at which we last saw the gang (at the edge of the smoking black pit formerly known as Sunnydale) to “the present”. Most of the major characters make an appearance in a pleasingly low key style, rather than the reader being smacked in the face with a succession of “…look it’s X …haven’t you missed them…” scenarios. But that doesn’t mean it’s all low key, after all it’s not a “weepy episode” of Buffy, it’s the triumphant return, and as such there are there are an assortment of surprises, some great fights and dialogue so in character that I wanted to hug Joss Whedon for being so very good at what he does.

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The most compelling thing about this first installment though, for me, is how close this comic feels in spirit to the TV show. The dialogue, art and early plot all merge into an experience that is very close in spirit to the TV show. It is primarily this which made me want to write the review, because I suspect that there are Buffy fans out there who haven’t discovered “The Long Way Home” on the basis that they are not comic fans. Indeed, a couple of close friends (and fellow Buffy gimps) who are just as obsessed as me, have still not read “The Long Way Home” a year after I got hold of it. I can only put this down to a distrust of the medium of comics, or maybe it is slightly more complex. Maybe it is the niggling worry that a mere comic can’t possibly hope to carry the weight of the Buffy-verse or accurately convey the warm wit of Whedon ? If these worries are afflicting you, fellow Buffy nerds, cast them aside, and re-immerse yourself. Satisfaction is guaranteed.

Daddytank

]]> http://sittingnow.co.uk/2009/02/22/countercomics-buffy-the-vampire-slayer-the-long-way-home-joss-whedon/feed/ 0 http://sittingnow.co.uk/2009/02/05/book-review-the-pop-culture-grimoire-taylor-ellwood-et-al/ http://sittingnow.co.uk/2009/02/05/book-review-the-pop-culture-grimoire-taylor-ellwood-et-al/#comments Thu, 05 Feb 2009 14:37:11 +0000 Ken Eakins http://sittingnow.co.uk/?p=418 The Pop Culture Grimoire

An Anthology of Pop Culture Magic

Taylor Ellwood (Ed.) et al

Megalithica Books/Immanion Press

The etymology of the term ‘Grimoire’ is as interesting as its contents. Deriving from the old French term ‘grammiere’, which in turn originates from the Greek word ‘grammatikos’. These terms have later been the influence for more contemporary phrases such as ‘grammar’ and ‘glamour’. So it is no surprise, taking the latter into consideration, that the mysterious text has made its way into pop-culture. Dating back to medieval times, the Grimoire was often a way of concealing Magical text from the eyes of the Christian church, who would have made issue with its very existence. Grimoires were basically what we now know as magical texts; they would contain astrological correspondences, spells, elemental callings, talismans etc etc.

Grimoires have been highly influential in latter-day magic also. The Golden Dawn and Aliester Crowley’s O.T.O. and Argenteum Astrum, would not have been as we know them, without the influence of some very key grimoires discovered in the Renaissance periods. One such example is the Greater Key of Solomon, who’s secrets contained such conjurations as invocations, curses, and purifications spread across two books. Another, perhaps more important example, is the The Book of Sacred Magic of Abra-Melin the Mage, which had a profound effect on Crowley and his Golden Dawn tutor (and later magickal enemy) S.L. MacGregor Mathers.

So, with some interest, I dipped into this grimoire for the 21^st century to see how Taylor Ellwood and his magical kin would present their own modern example of this mysterious tomb. The Pop Culture Grimoire is, put basically, a collection of different authors offering up different examples of how to practically conduct ‘Pop-Culture- Magic’. Ellwood, the editor of the book, has championed this practice in earlier texts, such as the excellently written ‘Pop Culture Magick’. But in this case, we get to meet a whole new cast of Magicians, and get their take on the subject.

As with any text that compiles different writers interpretations of a subject, I found the book to have its ups and downs. This is healthy though, as I feel it allows you to help shape your own interpretation of the subject matter, with a myriad of examples to source from. One example I didn’t resonate with particularly, was Lisa McSherry’s offering, which to me seemed more like a discussion of an iTunes playlist than any real magical instruction. However, there is some great stuff on offer here. Lupa’s interpretation of the amazing Manga series Neon Genesis Evangelion is very well considered, and I think excellently interpreted within the Pop Cultural context. Jackie Schmitt also offers a great tale of how an online vampire character took on a role in an awkward potential legal problem, to seemingly great effect.

I think what will appeal to readers is the familiarity with some of the ‘entities’ on offer. Ellwood and co really do take on a broad range of pop-cultural archetypes, and cleverly reinterpret them into tried and tested magical systems (Bill Whitcomb’s Tarot being a great example). You’re probably not going to be moved by all of the writers however, but that’s the joy of critical thought. I would also recommend getting your hands on the aforementioned ‘Pop Culture Magick’ by Taylor Ellwood, as this book seems to me to be a perfect companion, broadening the subject further. Overall then, a good read, especially when in tandem with it’s predecessor, but I would say this still stands out on its own merit as an essential text for the experimental practitioner.

Ken Eakins

When Scott offered up his first review, and it turned out to be Preacher, I cursed the skies for not calling shotgun on reviewing that classic series first! However, not to be outdone, I eyed up my own collection of oddball comics and imediatley landed on Lucifer….must be the devils work (drumroll please).

Now, you may be suprised to hear that I actually do not like Neil Gaimen’s Lamented goth-fest Sandman, in fact, a mere glimpse of it’s ‘Sisters of Mercy-esque’ covers bring bile to my throat. I might have to re-read the series, however, as my hatred spawns not just from the work per se, but more from the pretensious idiots that idolise it! I swear to god, if I see one more girl trying to dress like ‘Death’ from the book, I will actually go insane!

Anyway, bearing this in mind, I naturally avoided this long-running spin-off for many years, but the devil got the better of me (ow! they keep coming), and a couple of years ago I found myself flipping through the first book whilst trying to kill some time.  An hour, and a dirty look from the comic-shop’s manager later, I decided that I should probably invest in my own copies of this amazing series, and purchased books one to four.

Lucifer, somewhat obviously, made his first significant DC appearance in the aforementioned Sandman, resigning his lordship over hell due to what he felt was unfair treatment at the hands of God. So where would the Prince of the Darkness, the Morningstar, the Fallen Angel goto next? 

The story of Lucifer picks up with our anti-hero running a piano club in the heart of Los Angeles with his ‘lilim’ (a race born of ‘Lilith’) assistant ‘Mazikeen’, whos beautiful features are scared along one-side by hideous deformities. Everything seems fairly tranquil for the horned-one, until a messenger of God appears to make him an offer he cannot refuse. It appears that an unseen force has begun granting peoples wishes, which on the face of it, appears to be a good thing. The messenger argues, however, that human desire is a dangerous force, and that the humans will begin ripping themselves apart if left wallowing in it. Lucifer accepts the offer and, when asked to name his price to God, states that creator of all things will know what his former serf desires. This favour soon opens the gateways to a series of brilliantly told stories that do not slip as the series progresses.

The ‘theme’ of the series centres around Lucifer’s disdain with the universes predetermined nature, and gradually as the series unfolds, his rebellion against this fixed concept. The character of Lucifer is actually quite likeable, his relationship with Mazikeen is actually quite touching, you get the impression that she is the only charecter that he truly ‘likes’ in the entire series. However, some instances are thrown in that make us remember exactly who it is that we are relating to; often in some quite disturbing ways.

Essentially, the series is a tale of rebellion. Lucifer playing the Timothy Leary to God’s mainstream oppressor, and the attempt to steal a new, undetermined universe from the hands of the original creator. Heavy topics, yes. But told through some very entertaining plot devices and with a wicked sense of humour, that lifts the saga above some of its peers in my opinion.

Ken Eakins

Nextime: The Walking Dead

Charles Fort, the Grandfather of anomalous-research, really does have to be respected, if for nothing more his influence on alternative thinkers, and Paranormal researchers bearing even the minutest quantity of wit.

Fort gave an antiquarian middle-finger-salute to the almost cult-like scientific community of the time, by daring to docment that which was virtually ignored by the mainstream.

You may recognise his name, well, at least part of it from such great longstanding publications as The Fortean Times, which still exists today as a testament to the mans influence.

Fort, basically, took it upon himself to catalouge the weird happenings of his time, and publish them in a almanac-style . He occasionally injected his own opinions, though often preferred to remain impartial (much like the magazine of his namesake).

This book, a complete collection of Fort’s writings, makes it clear very early-on why Fort’s work has remained the staple of so many bookshelves. The man’s wit must be commended; whilst dedicating his life to such a bizarre topic must demand a degree of seriousness, Fort doesn’t forget to laugh at it from time to time.

Considering the vast compendium of strangeness on offer in the book, one of the oddest things on offer is the mans frankly baffling writing style. On several occasions Fort will run with an idea, probably added merely to challenge or annoy the popular (and sometimes clearly stupid) opinion of the time; he will then, however, discard the idea, only to pick it up again almost randomly and with little reference back to the original dismissing.

All in all this volume is a must for any fan that wants a handy all-in-one Fort reference guide. It’s well indexed and unabridged (unlike some other prints of this work), and affordable at only £12.99. The joy of a volume like this is the lastability. The book is huge, literally a thousand-plus pages, and in my opinion serves as the perfect strange coffee-table book, which can be dipped into when looking for bizzare inspiration.

5/5

Ken Eakins 

The Book of the Damned is availble on Amazon here … get it!

In Enochian Vision Magic, Duquette attempts to not only document the fascinating story of Dr John Dee and Edward Kelly’s quest to make contact with spiritual entities, but also to instruct the reader in the practical application of their findings in the modern environment.

Readers not already familiar with Duquette’s writings will feel instantly at ease with this book, while regulars will appreciate his attention to detail/yet solid conveyance of the topic at hand.

What I feel separates this work from others on the subject, is the intensive research and notation of the original Dee texts. Duquette doesn’t just present the reader with a ‘how-to’ textbook, he painstakingly explains all the symbology and application of each element. At the same time he also provides the reader with a pretty concise historical document, which I think will also appeal to the more casual reader interested in simply understanding the topic.

This book is a great blueprint for those interested in becoming practitioner’s of Enochian magic, as well as being a well written, and hugely accessible text for those just wishing to study the subject at an arms-length.

5/5

Ken Eakins

Check our exclusive audio-interview with Lon Milo Duquette on episode 5 of our podcast here. Lon’s website is also a great resource for those wishing to check out the author.