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Free Places to Post a Press Release
2/8/2009 8:17:53 PM
Here's a list of places where you can submit a press release about your book for free:
24-7 Press Release
http://www.24-7pressrelease.com/create_account.php
Pressbox
http://www.pressbox.co.uk/index.html
PR.com
http://www.pr.com/promote-your-business
PRLog
http://www.prlog.org/
1888 Press Release
http://www.1888pressrelease.com/
ClickPress
http://www.clickpress.com/releases/index.shtml
eCommWire.com
http://ecommwire.com/
Express Press Release
http://express-press-release.net/
FreePressRelease.com
http://free-press-release.com/
Free Press Release Center
http://www.free-press-release-center.info/
I-Newswire.com
http://www.i-newswire.com/
Newswire Today
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PR9.net
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PR-Inside.com
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PR Compass
http://www.prcompass.com/
PR Urgent
http://prurgent.com/
Press About
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Press Method
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The Open Press
http://www.pressmethod.com/
AddPR.com
http://addpr.com/
BizEurope.com
http://www.bizeurope.com/pressrelease.htm
Free News Release
http://www.free-news-release.com/
BigNews.biz
http://bignews.biz/blog/?page_id=9&gclid=CLeV5Jyn-5YCFQtZHgodxzRXYg
Free Press Index
http://freepressindex.com/
Free Press Release
http://www.freepressrelease.co.cc/
Free Press Release UK
http://www.freepressreleases.co.uk/
India PRWire
http://www.indiaprwire.com/
Media Syndicate
http://www.mediasyndicate.com/index.php
MyFreePR.com
http://www.myfreepr.com/
Page Release
http://www.pagerelease.com/
PrZoom
http://www.przoom.com/index.php
Press Flow
http://www.pressflow.co.uk./
Press Release
http://www.pressrelease.com.np/submit-release/
Press Release Point
http://www.pressreleasepoint.com/prpage
PMW Press Media Wire
http://www.pressmediawire.com/article.cfm?articleID=19596
Widespread PR
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MB Publishing
http://www.malebits.com/
Press Release Circulation
http://www.pressreleasecirculation.com/
The Gothic Is Dead: What Can We Do to Make It Live?
11/9/2008 12:46:20 PM
Dr. Thanatos of Ann Arbor
The Autumnal Equinox
(September 22, 2008)
The Gothic can be traced back to the beginning of human culture. That's because the essence of The Gothic is a "fascination with death". As long as there has been death (obviously forever), the living have feared, respected, and toyed with it. Over time, groups of people who were unusually concerned with death have assembled and celebrated the fragility of life. An early example of this phenomena occurred in 16th Century France. At that time, the King regularly killed off competing property owners to keep the others in line. After a peer was murdered, the remaining Lords would gather and compete for the right to wear the bloody clothes of their fallen friend. Following this competition, a celebration to honor the living would begin and last throughout the night.
Loosely related to the subculture found in Mediaeval France, Goth as a music style developed in 1970's England. Artists like Joy Division and Bauhaus added “sad” elements (e.g., minor key structure) to Punk Rock as a rebellion to “happy” Disco Music. Over the years, Goth has--somewhat strangely--become closely associated with a completely separate lineage: Rivet Culture. The latter style draws from the Futurist Manifestos of the Early 20th Century which called for a "noise symphony" to replace classical orchestras. Goth's fascination with the "beauty of decay" and Rivet's focus on "noise as music" thus merged to create the modern Industrial Music scene. This scene can be easily found across the world. In fact, international databases listing local “Goth Nights” in almost every metropolitan area are readily available on the internet.
Industrial Music, in turn, has been greatly influenced by Cyberpunk Fiction. This form of Dystopian Literature places a heavy emphasis on technology with the new quickly replacing the old. In addition, technology is used both to oppress and to liberate in these stories. Cyberpunk Fiction has brought this focus on technology to Industrial Music. This change is most evident in the use of modern production techniques. Originally, Industrial Music was largely acoustic (e.g. banging on cans). However, now it heavily relies on synthesized sounds (e.g., computer-generated noises). This change has significantly diminished the influence of The Gothic as the “cold” synth lines of Modern Music seem unrelated to the vampires and gargoyles of the Victorian Era. As a result, Gothic tracks are rarely played at modern Goth Nights.
Changes in subcultures often reflect (or lead to) changes in cultures. And the reduced influence of The Gothic in Rivet Culture is mirrored by our present society. In Mediaeval Times, many epigrams included the line "memento mori" meaning "remember thy death". This pithy saying was meant to remind people that life is fragile and that we should make the most of it today. One of the reasons The Gothic has been removed from the Industrial Scene is because modern life is so long. Many diseases are almost eliminated or are readily treatable. And, In general, infant mortalities have decreased and life expectancies have increased. Thus, there is now a greater focus on life.
This change--a loss of The Gothic--is a tremendous blow to our subculture as well as to our society. And members of the Gothic Scene have, therefore, an obligation to revitalize Goth for the betterment of both groups. Fortunately, there are two easy ways to bring Goth back to life. First, we should remember what Halloween is really about. Many people consider this ancient holiday a remnant of the time when death was more respected. Yet, like Christmas, Halloween has been "Hallmarked" in that it’s now about buying costumes and eating candy instead of celebrating the thin veil connecting life and death. Second, we should emphasize the few Gothic elements which remain in our club scene. Although scarce, Gothic staples like remote settings, supernatural events, and an aura of mystery remain present in the lyrics of modern Industrial Music tracks.
Synth Pop is a music style which may be uniquely positioned to save Goth. That’s because Synth Pop is an unusual combination of The Gothic (thus it respects the past) and Electronic Music (thus it respects the future). To demonstrate how we can use Synth Pop to improve our subculture and our society, this article will close with a few lines from “No Atmosphere” by Syrian. This group uses Cyberpunk Fiction themes like the exploration of outer space and modern Electronic Music techniques to produce inspiring--yet still dark--music. Most importantly, Syrian fills the dance floor with club kids! Thus, modern Goth Nights can still maintain the ancient tradition of death celebration if we choose our tracks and make our requests wisely.
Sadness into all my flesh
Into this grey sky and around my body
Walking through the obscurity
In this dark forest I will free myself
http://www.noveleditor.com
Dystopian Art: Finding Tomorrow in Today's Culture
9/24/2008 3:32:34 PM
Dr. Thanatos of Ann Arbor
A “reciprocal interaction” model of our culture suggests that it is possible to predict historical developments by closely studying the current line of “products”. A product can be viewed as disposable items bought by consumers. Unfortunately, books and tracks are included on this list as consumers are constantly searching for the next “big thing” and frequently discard yesterday’s “hits”. Two popular products─cyperpunk fiction and industrial music─ are purposely prophetic as they are meant to serve as a warning about the bleak future ahead. Yet, these products from the “dystopian genre” reflect our present as well. This article reveals the future by defining the elements which constitute a dystopia and calls for action to prevent it.
If the dystopian genre can be summarized by a single plot line, it would be as follows. A small government (e.g., a fascist state) controls their large populace (e.g., poor and uneducated masses) using a rare technology (e.g., retinal scans). Abuse of the system (e.g., greed) causes a societal decline to the point of apocalypse (e.g., global warming). A group of “rebels” arise from the masses with the aid of an outside hero. These rebels often re-vitalize an under-used technology to overthrow the totalitarian state.
The role of technology is crucial in the dystopian genres. Not only is technology used by the leaders to control the masses, it is ultimately used by the rebels to overthrow the state. The importance of technology reflects the time period in which most of these artworks were created─the industrial revolution. Early in that era, technology was considered a sign of “cultural progress”. Many amazing inventions such as the telegraph, the phonograph, and the telephone were discovered during this time. These inventions eventually became consumer products in high demand. This increase in demand then generated a need for greater efficiency in their production. Assembly lines were created, and jobs once requiring skills became simplified to the point of routine. When workers were stripped of their skills, they felt dehumanized and viewed technology in a different light. The “cultural machine” increasingly came to be feared as was predicted in the earlier legend of “John Henry”.
Art typically mirrors life, so creative endeavors during the industrial revolution followed a pattern similar to that of the culture: an initial embracement of technology followed by a betrayal. Futurism was an early artistic response to mass production. Artists such as Pratella and Russolo declared that art should reflect society, and since society was becoming a machine music should as well. Music thus became increasingly similar to noise. Related movements such as constructivism also celebrated the “machine aesthetic” with references to technological developments like search lights and projector screens omnipresent. However, subsequent art styles like dada and surrealism took a more negative view of the “machine metaphor”. In fact, these styles often mocked the “logic” of futurism by introducing random elements. Poems were made with words drawn from a hat (q.v., Tristan Tzara, 1976) and music was made with balls dropped into toy railroad cars (q.v., Dr. Thanatos, 2007).
Because tanks and guns were used to prolifically kill, disenchantment with machines increased during the great depression and both world wars. And post-war artworks continued to attack the “rationalization” of modern times. Science fiction films introduced space aliens and other elements outside the realm of conventional theory as an “escape” from machine-induced monotony. Outer space themes also allowed the re-appearance of utopian works. Life on earth had become automated, so the only way to escape this drudgery was to visit some far-off realm.
Two dystopian subgenres collided with this development of “ethereal fiction” as insipient industrial music became the soundtrack for the first outer-space films. The “cold” sounds of primitive synthesizers offered a perfect accompaniment for the appearance of machine-like robots. These early synth lines paved the way for artists such as Kraftwerk to establish industrial music as the force it remains today. And with industrial music, the machine metaphor remains prevalent.
Yet the apocalypse has not occurred, so what history has been revealed by modern dystopian art? As noted, a consistent dystopian theme is alienation by machine and fear of technology. Why should we fear technology? The future is clearly visible if we stop and look around us. Yet, the machine has become so powerful that we’ve started to forget we are its cogs. And we ignore or rationalize away the evidence for this fact. It’s almost like we already live in “The Matrix” and we’re oblivious to a “secret world” happening above us as we lie paralyzed below in our beds.
The machine has accomplished this feat using the exact same model outlined in dystopian arts: A totalitarian elite controls their un-informed masses. Today, 60 world leaders control 6,000,000,000 obedient people! And while we have the internet as a powerful tool to educate and unite, we fail to take advantage of the technology and thus remain ignorant and alienated. This situation has not occurred by accident as the machine hides many secrets from the populace by using obscure texts (e.g., scientific journals) written in arcane language (e.g., legal documents).
Continuing the dystopian plotline…it is now time to start thinking about introducing the rebels aided by an outsider. That change could begin with us as we can make a difference. And we can do it today! It starts with education and continues with action. I’ll close with brief review of a trend found in some of those obscure texts written in arcane knowledge. Please use this “dark secret” as motivation to demand changes in our society before it collapses as predicted by dystopian fiction.
Xenotransplantation is a rapidly growing area of biomedical research. The relatively new field even has its own eponymous journal which is based in Denmark. The xenotransplantation technique involves medical grafting of tissue from one species to the body of another. The most common transfer is from pigs to humans. Such procedures have quietly occurred in Russia, Sweden, Mexico, and China. Interestingly, these xenografts will be allowed in the United States sometime in 2008. The rational for these unusual transfers is typically something like “we must pursue the creation of novel organisms because the demand for organs is so much greater than the supply”.
Today, a theoretical paper by C. Moran was pre-released to the subscribers of Theriogenology, a journal concerned with reproduction which is based in the United States. The author of this article called for an increase the use of pig-human organ transfers to enhance human reproduction. The author’s rationale was that (1) the risk from the xenograft procedure was low and (2) the pigs used often have reproductive difficulties and thus would make a good research model.
Obviously, the arguments for xenotransplantation do not justify either the unknown risks of creating “medical cyborgs” or the ethical dilemmas resulting from the untoward treatment of both humans and nonhumans. Yet, this research quietly continues in obscure laboratories around the world.
Notes
Tristan Tzara, 1976. Primele Poeme/First Poems. New York: New River's Press
Dr. Thanatos, 2007. http://www.frequencymutineers.org/words/Duchamp.pdf
New Podcast: Experimental Noise
9/24/2008 3:20:09 PM
the first podcast of a show that will premier
every week has just been released
Experimental collage of mangled voice and electronics.
Shut-Up-A-Thon
9/24/2008 3:05:12 PM
The Real Fight for Freedom: Shut-Up-A-Thon shows clips of the 2004 protest against Fox News that took place during the Republican National Convention in New York City.
The film includes footage of Code Pink, Jello Biafra, Paper Tiger TV, and Reverend Billy.
produced by A4Mation, Dystopia, Flesh from Ashes, and Unacceptable Refuse