I s s u e 1 . 1

S l I n k s t e r

CONTENT >> LIFE

Home beats creative politik erotik threads life global village film artscene out

ABOut SLInksTer < philosophy> <contact> <submit> <contributors>

FEATURE ARTICLE <critique, opinion, love>

[ A VAGUE HISTORY OF THINGS THAT EXPLODE ]

In the beginning there was nothing but deep, black, infinite darkness. It was the kind of darkness that makes a rainy day in Antarctica feel like a stroll on the sun; It was the kind of darkness that only people who were born without eyes could understand;

It was really fucking dark.

* archives > view past featured articles

NEWS <read, inform, know>

[ TRAVEL SHOWS ‘PORTRAY PARADISE AND HIDE REALITY’ ]

Matt Wells

Travel shows such as the BBC's Holiday and ITV's Wish You Were Here too often portray a vision of paradise when the reality of life in the countries they cover is grim.

[ EMBRACED BY THE NEEDLE ]
Gabor Maté

Addictions always originate in unhappiness, even if hidden. They are emotional anaesthetics; they numb pain. The first question is not ''Why the addiction?'' but ''Why the pain?'' The answer is scrawled with crude eloquence on the wall of my patient Anna's room at the Portland Hotel: 'Any place I went to, I wasn't wanted. And that bites' large.''

[ DUMMY HANGS HIMSELF ]

SLIDELL, LA.- Several people called 911 to report a man hanging precariously from a ladder attached to a billboard, but police and fire-fighters quickly discovered it was nothing more than a dummy

[ MY LATE CASE OF PENIS ENVY. MAYBE FREUD WAS ON TO SOMETHING ]
Leah McLaren

This week, I developed a severe case of late-onset penis envy. While I have no conscious memory of coveting an organ like my father's during early childhood (as Freud suggests all little girls do), it was probably because he never took the time to show me all the fantastic tricks you can do with a penis.

[ THE HOTTEST PLACE ON EARTH ]
Ian Brown

In Djibouti, in the Horn of Africa, the daytime heat is often in the 50s- the kind of heat you sleep through, because moving around will kill you. In the middle of a record-scorching Canadian summer, IAN BROWN visited this planetary Hibachi for a preview of what life might be like in a globally warmed future. What he found scared him half to death

[ THE TIMES THEY ARE A' CHANGIN'.....EVENTUALLY ]

Something has shifted in the drugs debate. In the past few weeks, a procession of politicians (including members of the government), senior police officers and opinion formers of every stripe have endorsed the de facto decriminalisation of soft drugs.

[ LINING YOUR POCKETS ]

Just as heroin addicts never look as bad as you think they should, it's surprising to learn that there is a black market in Toblerone.

* archives >> view past news

EXPERIENCE <trends, memories, perception>

[ IN PRAISE OF MODERN LIFE ]

If you see it on TV it must be true, either that or it’s all a conspiracy. If you believe it’s all lies you’re an idiot, and if you believe none of it is you’re kidding yourself. And if you think no-one tells you what to think you’re a fool.

[ TO PEE OR NOT TO PEE ]

Perhaps the most disconcerting thing about driving across this great country of ours is finding a toilet seat that I’d be willing to place my lily white rear-end on. You know the drill, eight hours of driving, clenched teeth; you take an exit ramp and pull into a gas station. You ask the station attendant in a harried fashion where you can find the restroom. He hands you a key attached to a two-by-four that thousands, perhaps millions, of toilety hands have handled in the past. In addition, your

scheme to steal the bathroom key is now foiled.

* archives >> view past experience

ARTICLES <chat, learn, hype>

[ WORKING SUX ]

Day after day we get up early and trudge to work. We swallow our pride and put up with being ordered around by the boss. We sweat and toil at jobs we hate, wasting away our lives. Why do we do it? Because we have to? Because we need the money? Or because we don't know how to live any other way?

[ THE DANGERS OF BEING CERTAIN ]

In this incredibly complex and chaotic world we have a strong innate desire to be sure of things. We want a rock to hold onto in the sea of incomprehensible forces that move us. Because of this fear of uncertainty we create belief systems that put the world in order so we can feel comfortable.

[ I JUST WORK HERE ]

Human beings are not robotic by nature but have become that way through force of habit. The force of habit is a very strong force and should not be underestimated for it can propel itself and live on its own long after it has been created and forgotten.

[ NEO PAGANISM ]

There are a lot of misconceptions about the earth religions. Paganism, witchcraft, and Wicca are considered by Christians to be heretical and evil. Christianity’s standard propaganda campaign against all other religions has taken its toll.

[ WASH THIS ]

The big question: to wash or not to wash. It really boils down to checking whether anyone is watching. And really, what's a little dabbling under the cold water tap going to do?

* archives >> view past articles

REPORTER <keeping an eye out>

[ FILTH IN FOOD ]

TSG recently reported on the allowable levels of "filth" in grain products like rice, wheat, and rye. Now here's the sickening skinny on some items you'll find at the corner store.

* archives >> view past reporter

CULTURE <people, places, near & far>

[ THE FIRE TEMPLE ]

Fire is the symbol of Ahura Mazda, the one supreme, all-knowing god of Zoroastrianism. Zarathushtra, known to the Greeks as Zoroaster, was a prophet born in Persia at least around 600 BC and possibly as early as 1500 BC making Zoroastrianism one of the oldest

monotheistic world religions

[ NEWARS OF THE VALLEY ]

Newars, who used to be almost the entire population of Kathmandu Valley before the invasion of the Shah dynasty in 1768, are inheritors of a rich history and culture

[ COMMUNICATING WITH SPIRITS ]

I am fairly certain that this method of communication with spirits can be done by anyone, so long as they have a little patience. What makes this method so simple is that you don't need any candles, crystals, incense and you don't need to get yourself into a special state of mind

[ ITALY’S CULTURAL UNDERGROUND ]

Though it may be hard to imagine in America, in Italy, communists, anarchists, ravers, punks, hackers and artists have seized vast, abandoned factories, forts, boarded-up schools and churches and transformed them into cinemas, concert halls, bars, squats and art galleries.

[ PSYCHEDELIC/ETHNEOGENIC CULTURE ]

When scientist Albert Hoffmann inadvertently discovered LSD about 50 years ago he planted the seeds of a new sub-culture built around the use of psycho-active substances for the purpose of spiritual and psychological growth.

* archives >> view past culture

SLINKSTER RECOMMENDS <where to now?>

[ ADBUSTERS- CULTURE JAMMING AT ITS CYNICAL BEST ]

ADBUSTERS is dedicated to reinventing the outdated paradigms of our consumer culture and building a brave new understanding of living. More than anything, they seek compelling ideas that further the critical perspective and offer activist solutions. The adbusters language is culture jamming: the new activism.

* archives >> view past links

ABout SLInksTer < philosophy> <contact> <submit> <contributors>