I recently watched Life off the grid—a film about disconnecting on the public library streaming service Kanopy. It tells the stories of people across Canada, from BC to PEI, who for various reasons and in very diverse ways opted to live off the electricity grid. That meant of course solar panels and small wind turbines, and storage devices, but also adapting all energy consumption to the low-power and small-scale generation of electricity. Necessarily it meant that electricity is no longer something that magically comes out of a couple of little holes in the wall and all you need to know is how to plug something into them and how to flick a switch.

This in turn caused significant changes in lifestyle. But that's the whole point. You move some place remote, you build a house with very little capital, you generate your own electricity, you grow your own food or most of it, you pickle and can and make jam, and you find yourself working for yourself instead of working for someone else to make money to buy all those things.

One common characteristic of all these people was their willingness to learn whatever was needed to make their systems work. It's not that they knew a lot about electricity generation or battery storage or water pumps before they started. It's more that they were generally curious and willing to try out new things. They learned as they went along, and their systems grew organically as needed.

Now the reason I'm telling you this is that there is something in me that always likes to generalize new ideas and push them further, and in this case it occurred to me that the electricity grid is not the only one we are hooked up to and that we might consider going off.

My previous post about smart tvs is an example of this. I put it to you that the vast majority of us are plugged into a consumer technology grid, and all we need to know is what aisle in the store the thing is that we're looking for, and how to tap a credit card on a screen.

The problem is that increasingly the thing costs way too much, it spies on you and it feeds you advertising and propaganda to entice you to buy even more stuff. See also smart phones, smart cars, “artificial intelligence”, and anything with the word Google in it.

Let's continue with the example of TVs. Television takes off shortly after the end of World War 2, when all the electronic technology was ready. The business model for commercial television was simple: advertising. The primary purpose of television programming was not to provide entertainment or information; it was to hook the viewer and capture their attention long enough in order to feed them advertising. The world's first TV ad appeared in 1941, just before a baseball game, and it was just ten seconds long. You like baseball? That's great; here's a game, which in return will greatly increase the probability that you will go out and buy a Bulova watch.

(By the way, if you want to avoid all the surveillance and the ads that come with watching something on Youtube, here's a great desktop app with which to watch that ad.)

This has been the business model for television from day one. Now for this to work, the technology has be cheap enough, but no cheaper, for a large number of people to afford it, and the technology must satisfy two requirements:

• It must be so simple that absolutely anyone can use it without any training; and

• it must be incomprehensible, so that you have to buy it in order to use it. It must be, in engineering jargon, a black box. Like the electrical supply.

Returning to the question of whether we can disconnect from the (corporate) grid: yes, we can, if we are able to overcome those two requirements for successful, i.e. profitable, consumer technology. Just like the off-grid folks learning to set up solar panels, we have to be open to learning new things. The good news is that you don't have to go and live in the Yukon to do it, it's not incomprehensible, there is actually a lot of information out there, and a large and friendly community. Also, it's not all-or-nothing: every time you liberate yourself a bit from the corporate grid counts. Rest assured I will be writing a lot more about this in the future.

Thoughts? Do drop me a line at leastaction.rescuer598@passmail.net.

#ConsumerTechnology #OffTheCorporateGrid

Adventurers

Character	Class	Description
Gomm	Thief level 5	Swarthy, good looking, dark-skinned thief. Sweet opium-like aroma is his fragrance of choice.
Zhoron Trisrie	Elf level 2	Always frowning and morose; sporting thick handlebar moustache down to his chest and a black top knot.
Ambros	Cleric level 5	Follower of Aniu, Lord of Time.
Ignaeus	Elf level 2	A slightly weathered looking elf with dull blonde hair and chiselled features. Seeks wealth and knowledge.
Nesterin Sylpetor	Elf level 2	An avid lover woods and jungles.

Harvestime 12th, Waterday

“I will sneak around and climb on top of the rubble. Bakaru will come with me. Once we are above the guard you can approach him and see how he responds. In case he is hostile, we will jump him from above.”

Gomm presented a plan, and once again had everyone agree with him. Zhoron, Ambros, Ignaeus, and newly found Nesterin, all had enough of entertaining tireless witch Ah'sas, so Gomm found them a task that would give them an excuse to leave.

“Well, you could get me a necklace made of shadow. Here, I'll draw you a map to the place where you can find one.” the witch explained.

“How do I pick up a necklace made of shadow?” Gomm inquired.

“With your hands.” the witch retorted, annoyed.

Adventurers heeded her advice to make a dugout and paddle downriver, instead of marching through the thick jungle. And so they found the described sunken fort. More a collection of stone rubble destroyed by overgrowth, and consumed by soft soil.

Double iron gates were the only visible entry point. An armoured guard marched left and right in front. His moves were stiff and repetitive. Moments before the party had arrived, they spotted the doors opening, a group of figures entering, and then the doors closing. It was difficult to make out exact numbers due to limited visibility from all the trees and foliage.

The plan was executed perfectly. The guard remained unaware of the thieves' presences while others hailed it. The moment it spotted approaching Nesterin, the guard raised its greatsword and charged the elf.

Proving most unresponsive, the guard had been met with violence and dispatched in mere two rounds of melee. Zhoron delivered the killing blow with his massive Oathkeeper. As he cut through the plate mail, black ooze splattered all over other adventurers. The armour collapsed to the ground, empty.

No bones; nothing but coating of slimy, inky black ooze.

Inspecting the large iron doors hadn't revealed any traps, nor raised any other suspicions. Four adventures had to join forces in order to pull them open. Nesterin readied himself at what he had believed to be the safe distance.

Three puffer-fish-like, barely airborne, bloated bat-abominations flew out into the sun, and approached the elf. Their pathetic flight and low mobility was amusing. It didn't help that they couldn't hit Nesterin at all.

Alas, it stopped being funny after one of the adventurers cut right through one of the bloated monsters and was rewarded by flaming liquid spraying himself and others. Luckily, remaining two did not explode, having been killed with less pointy sides of the weapon.

Moving forth, the party entered a massive antechamber, sixty feet wide and seventy feet deep. Six girthy stone columns, three on each side, held the chamber in place. The middle column on the left had several holes around the circumference, all by the bottom rim.

A grotesque horned devil protruded out of the north wall, vile smelling liquid leaking from its orifices down into the fountain beneath it. Oh, how bad it smelled. Oh, how flammable it smelled too.

There were two doors leading out of this chamber, both at the north wall. One was in the northwest, and one in the northeast corner. Adventurers choose the latter.

Smashing it open revealed a long corridor to the right. Two doors were visible, both on the left wall; one thirty feet down, second another fifty feet down.

Listening at the first doors revealed sounds of clashing metal. Adventures set up the marching order and Zhoron forced the doors open, surprising two armoured figures fighting each other in the sand pit. One was armed with mace and shield, while the other had long sword and shield.

Zhoron stepped forth, knelt down, and held Oathkeeper in his hand.

“Paladins of the Sword! Protect me from evil and constructs!”

His fellows attacked two plated figures with missile weapons. Mostly missing. Plated guards stopped fighting each other and stumbled towards the doors blocked by Zhoron.

Mace wielding one missed his swing. On the other hand, the sword wielding one loped off Zhoron's head with a single swing.

Shocked, the party held the bottleneck whilst trying out everything at their disposal.

Holy water?

Didn't work.

Hold person?

Didn't work.

Wrestle the plated guards and stab them to death?

That worked!

Illustration by kickmaniac.

After having plundered Zhoron's beheaded the corpse, the party searched the room. Besides the sandpit in the middle, there were weapon racks hanging from the walls. Most of the weapons were rusted and barely usable. Gomm found a secret cache of jewellery hiding behind a loose stone at the rim of sandpit.

Next obstacle were the doors in the north-east corner. Six attempts to force them open. All failed. Then a helpful trio of plated guards opened the doors and charged into the chamber swinging their greatswords.

Three rounds of mad wrestling and the guards were no more but slimy ooze stains on adventurers' clothes.

Moving on, next chamber looked like dinning quarters. Long oak table, flanked by benches, dominated the center. The table was set for dinner, with three table cloths on which two plates rested. Although nice, they were made from baked clay, making them worthless. Utensils were rusted steel, hence equally worthless. Ambros and Gomm inspected the tables. When Gomm flipped one of the tables, the whole room flashed with blind light, making everyone blind for half an hour.

Once everyone could see again, the party resumed exploration. Opening east doors led them down a short corridor, which opened up in an open chamber reeking of military oil. Adventurers closed the doors and opted to go through north-west doors instead. This time they forced them open on a first try, surprising two plated guards in their cots.

Bakaru killed one in his sleep, while Gomm wrestled the other one, allowing others to execute it. After ransacking the room they found a tarnished metal key in one of the rotten pillows.

Opening the south-west doors revealed a smaller chamber full of discarded armour pieces—hauberks, pauldrons, gauntlets, chain shirts... Scrap armour piled as high as human's thigh!

Spending half an hour to rummage through crap, Bakaru found a pristine left-hand mailed fist. Unwilling to try it on, despite Gomm's repeated assurance, young thief passed it to one of the elves.

“The runes on it say “Iron Claw” in hobgoblin.”

So far they have found only oozes. No sign of shadow necklace yet. Will Gomm be able to deliver? Or will he stumble once more?

Discuss at Dragonsfoot forum.

#Wilderlands #SessionReport

#fotoensayos #fotos2017 #fotos2015 #calles

Le monde nazi : 1919-1945 est un ouvrage co-écrit par les historiens Johann Chapoutot, Christian Ingrao et Nicolas Patin et publié en septembre 2024 chez Tallandier.

Le 30 janvier 1933, Adolf Hitler est nommé chancelier du Reich. Les nazis avaient développé, depuis 1919 et le traumatisme de la Grande Guerre, une vision du monde qui n’avait d’original que sa cohérence raciste et son élan utopique. Ils surent exploiter le contexte d’une crise majeure, celle de 1929, pour subjuguer les consciences et accéder au pouvoir.

Le pouvoir leur fut donné, avec une inconséquence sidérante, par les élites en place qui pensaient que Hitler ne tiendrait que quelques semaines et que ses partisans seraient « domestiqués ». Or les nazis prirent immédiatement le contrôle du pays avant de le conduire à la destruction, réduisant finalement le continent tout entier à un immense charnier. Le monde intérieur nazi, cet imaginaire politique pétri de haine, d’angoisse et d’utopie, avait donné naissance en l’espace de douze années à un monde infernal ; un monde qui impliquait la mort de dizaines de millions de personnes, dont la majorité des Juifs du continent.

Dans cet ouvrage, trois historiens du nazisme proposent un récit inédit, une histoire totale du national-socialisme, de sa naissance en 1919 à son effondrement en 1945. En se fondant sur les renouvellements de l’historiographie internationale de ces trente dernières années ainsi que sur une pratique constante des sources, Johann Chapoutot, Christian Ingrao et Nicolas Patin analysent le nazisme de l’intérieur : le système de croyances, les émotions fanatiques et la culture militante des années 1920 ; la nature du « Troisième Reich » comme « dictature de la participation » fondée sur un consentement massif de la population ; enfin, la « guerre génocide » de 1939-1945, apocalypse raciale qui réalise les potentialités de l’eschatologie nazie.

En s'appuyant sur l'historiographie des 30 dernières années et bien sûr sur leur propre expertise, puisqu’ils sont tous trois spécialistes du nazisme, les co-auteurs proposent une histoire totale du national-socialisme, de sa naissance en 1919 à son effondrement en 1945.

L’ouvrage se compose de trois grandes parties, dont je vous présente brièvement le sommaire :

Partie 1 : La conquête du pouvoir

1. Une « vision du monde » à l’histoire longue
2. De la Grande Guerre à la défaite : une radicalisation de l’Allemagne ? (1914-1920)
3. Un parti politique sans importance (1920-1928)
4. La fin de la démocratie et le basculement dans la dictature (1928-1933)

Partie 2 : Anatomie d’une dictature

1. La « mise au pas » et l’émergence de l’État nazi (1934-1939)
2. Terreur et résistances (1933-1939)
3. Une « dictature de la participation » ? La société allemande (1933-1939)
4. La politique extérieure nazie (1933-1939)

Partie 3 : Une guerre génocide

1. Combattre (1939-1944)
2. L’Europe des abîmes (automne 1939 – été 1944)
3. Détruire
4. L’effondrement (1944-1945)

C’est un gros pavé qui peut sembler intimidant au premier abord : 640 pages de texte proprement dit, et plus de deux-cent pages d’annexes. Pourtant, très vite, j’ai trouvé la lecture plus aisée que je le craignais. Je dirais même que cela se lit presque comme un roman. C’est absolument passionnant, c’est précis et accessible, nuancé et tranchant.

Les auteurs développent un récit clair, une argumentation convaincante, et mobilisent des exemples, des sources et des points de vue variés sans noyer le lecteur sous les détails. Ils réussissent à la fois à décrire le spécificité du nazisme et à le resituer dans le temps long, y compris après son effondrement en 1945.

A mes yeux ce livre constitue à ce jour la meilleure synthèse sur le nazisme, de ses origines à son effondrement.

Welcome to my annual “best of” roundup! Which is of course actually “favorite” of 2024 because there are no objective criteria for art!

Favorite TV of 2024: “A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder”,” Netflix 2024: Here’s my original review:

absolutely top-notch noir mystery in which a quiet, teetotaling good student turns into a relentless obsessive while investigating a five-year-old murder in her town. Emma Myers, who was great in Wednesday, is great here too. Why did they cast an American actor as a small town British gal? I don’t know! Why did Tom Friggin’ Hiddleston play Hank Williams, for chrissakes? Ahem. Anyway, great performances top to bottom, one twist I saw coming three episodes away, a couple of others I did not, and a lot of great moral ambiguity as protagonist Pip is challenged about her motivations for pursuing a case whose resolution is going to harm a lot of people. Oh yeah, great queer representation too, and, like most noir, this is concerned with the abuse of power. Riveting—my highest recommendation.

Honorable mention: Elsbeth, CBS 2024. Okay, so this is not prestige TV. What is is, though, is an absolutely fantastic update on the Columbo formula. Every week there’s a guest star who we see commit murder, and then Carrie Preston, a lawyer kind of inexplicably working with the NYPD (I mean, the phrase “consent decree” is thrown around a lot, but it’s never fully clear exactly what she’s doing there, and who cares?), solves it in part by being both underestimated and annoying. Carrie Preston is great, there is no annoying will-they-or-won’t-they element (lookin’ at you, High Potential), and it’s an utterly charming, fun series. The guest stars seem to be having a lot of fun as well. Jesse Tyler Ferguson was a standout. Copaganda factor is medium—Elsbeth is not a cop and is far more competent than the cops she works with, but the cops she works with are all good-hearted and caring, but as long as you remember my Middle Earth formula*, you’ll be fine.) *It’s okay to watch shows with elves in them as long as you don’t start thinking elves are real. So it is with shows that feature diligent, caring, hardworking cops with a passion for justice.

Favorite Book of 2024: Silver Nitrate by Sylvia Moreno-Garcia. (2023, but I read it this year) Cursed old film? Occult cults? An actually beautiful friendship between two deeply flawed protagonists? I’m all in! So yes, I love the whole “somebody unearthed this cursed piece of media and complications ensue” trope, but what really made this one a standout (and what really helps sell the supernatural elements) is the fact that everything in this book happens to characters who feel very much like real people. Their motivation for continuing to investigate when things start to get dangerous is realistic, and I actually found the friendship at the center of the novel quite moving, as these two fuckups don’t have much, but they’ll always have each other. Great stuff.

Honorable Mentions: Secrets Typed in Blood and Murder Crossed Her Mind by Stephen Spotswood. Have I mentioned how much I love the Pentecost and Parker mysteries? Okay, well, I really love them. In post-WWII New York, World’s Greatest Detective Lilian Pentecost has MS and wants to train up a successor, so she hires circus roustabout Will (but girl Will) Parker to do legwork she can’t really do anymore. The mysteries always resolve in satisyfing fashion, but, as in all the best mystery series, the deepest pleasure is in spending time with two delightful characters. Great queer representation too!

Favorite Movie of 2024: Wicked, 2024. Movies have the power to completely transport us to another world, and they very rarely use it. (Indeed, Fellowship of the Ring was the last time I felt like a filmmaker created a world that felt completely immersive.) Great music, great performances, and despite its staggering 160-minute runtime, it never drags or feels long. Believe the hype!

Honorable Mention: Late Night with the Devil, 2024. Despite a plot hole you could drive a Ford F-250 through, the 70’s aesthetic and the performances made this a very enjoyable horror movie that was actually creepy.

Favorite Album of 2024: Couch Slut, You Could Do it Tonight. I’ve written about this at least once this year, but got-damn this is a great record. It’s not conventional or easy to listen to, but it is an incredibly powerful, challenging work of art. A lot of “extreme” music is actually very conventional and safe—some heavy riffs, some incredibly treble-y solos, and some lyrics about Satan or Vikings or some shit. Couch Slut is not conventional or safe, and it’s thrilling to encounter a band reanimating the corpse of rock and roll to make something weird and difficult and transformative.

Honorable Mentions:

Zombina and the Skeletones, The Call of Zombina

Teen Mortgage, Teen Mortgage

The Edge, From the Middle of Nowhere

Nick Lowe and Los Straightjackets, Indoor Safari

X, Smoke & Fiction

Favorite Concert of 2024: Three-way tie!

X at the Wilbur Theater, Boston

Nick Lowe & Los Straightjackets, Brighton Music Hall, Boston

Stevie Wonder, United Center, Chicago

Favorite Meal of 2024. Actually Ever: Dirt Candy, New York City, NY.

A splurge—went to celebrate my older daughter’s completing her master’s degree. Chef Amanda Cohen creates stunning works of art out of vegetables. They’re not just stunning visually, but taste-wise as well, and there’s a really impressive degree of creativity on display in each of the 10 (!) courses. I approached the manager at the end of the meal and said, “I am fifty-five years old, and I just want you to know that this is the best meal I have ever had in my life.”

Favorite Things By Me of 2024: All available for free!

I dropped sentimental favorite heist story “Cookie Heist” here on this very blog!

How I Found Her, a novel about how a middle-aged woman’s life falls apart when she’s falsely accused of killing the woman her husband left her for.

I See Red, a high school noir about a kid who’s good at violence but doesn’t like it taking on rape culture in his high school.

I'm selling part of my Necrotic Gnome collection. All books are mint, unused, and some of them are still shrink-wrapped. Shipping from EU; bank transfer preferred within EU, otherwise PayPal is fine.

I'm selling four different lots:

• LOT A: Old-School Essentials Box with Classic and Advanced Fantasy (Kickstarter edition), 160 EUR
• LOT B: Carcass Crawler zines (Kickstarter editions), 60 EUR
• LOT C: Necrotic Gnome adventures (Kickstarter editions), 80 EUR
• LOT D: Old-School Essentials Classic Game Set and Advanced Expansion Set (Kickstarter editions), 140 EUR

Lists and photos below.

LOT A: Old-School Essentials Box with Classic and Advanced Fantasy (Kickstarter edition)

160 EUR

NG-0008SE1 Old-Shool Essentials box NG-0002 Classic Fantasy: Core Rules NG-0003 Classic Fantasy: Genre Rules NG-0004 Classic Fantasy: Cleric and Magic-User Spells NG-0005 Classic Fantasy: Monsters NG-0006 Classic Fantasy: Treasures NG-0009 Advanced Fantasy: Genre Rules NG-0010 Advanced Fantasy: Druid and Illusionist Spells (with “Advanced Fantasy: Genre Rules” misprint on the spine) NG-0015 Advanced Fantasy: Monsters NG-0016 Advanced Fantasy: Treasures

LOT B: Carcass Crawler zines (Kickstarter editions)

60 EUR

Carcass Crawler Issue Zero (Kickstarter exclusive) Carcass Crawler Issue 1 Carcass Crawler Issue 2 Carcass Crawler Issue 3

LOT C: Necrotic Gnome adventures (Kickstarter editions)

80 EUR

NG-0011 The Hole in the Oak NG-0001BX Winter's Daughter (uncensored version) NG-0020 The Incandescent Grottoes NG-0021 Halls of the Blood King NG-0022 The Isle of the Plangent Mage NG-0023 Holy Mountain Shaker

LOT D: Old-School Essentials Classic Game Set and Advanced Expansion Set (Kickstarter editions)

140 EUR

#Sale #NecroticGnome #NG #OSR #OSE