Sean @ Paganarchy

When John Denver first sang Shanghai Breezes, and I quote:

And the moon and the stars are the same ones you see

it's the same old sun up in the sky

And your voice in my ear is like heaven to me

like the breezes here in old Shanghai

he must have been staying on the outskirts of town. It is sad to say that because of the constant smog, there are no visible stars and I can't see the moon either. On Sunday, when she was full, there was not a speck of lunar love above this city due to the constant blanket of grey. I have come down with a nasty lurgy which is really quite sad as it really is dilapidating to the point that I can't muster the energy to get out there and explore during my spare time. gutted.

Well the good news is that my local area (west shanghai) is really wonderfully friendly, with loads of delicious food places and smiley people. I have learnt kung fu, and about 8 other chinese words.

My throat feels like some uber-domme (lady pinque?) has stuffed a handful of vacuum cleaner dust down it! congested and full of grey matter. I hope it'll clear out pretty smartly! My free time here is really limited what with a heavy work schedule.

Hopefully my lungs and throat will be clear tomorrow, just like the breezes here in old shanghai.

xx Sean

Update 1/May/2008: There will be another round of auditions in late June. Phone the number below if you are interested in working with the Nomadic Academy of Fools, or come see us in Brighton. I'll announce the details shortly.

People who know me personally will know I'm a part of the Nomadic Academy of Fools. Auditions for next year are taking place next week and so applications close this week.

See the attached email for more details and to get involved:

Applications for Jonathan Kay's Nomadic Academy of Fools closes this Friday 25th April

After a highly successful first year, applications are now being invited for the year beginning September 2008. For more information on the application process please go to www.jonathankay.co.uk and to apply please download and complete the form on the Nomadic Academy page.

NAF is a travelling centre of creativity with a unique approach to developing an invigorating and concentrated training that explores the relationship between the performer and the audience for people who have already developed a body of professional work in which they have regular contact with the audience and who are interested in developing and crafting this relationship.

The Academy is run by the Jonathan Kay, who draws from a tremendous range of skills and experience, but more importantly with an unparalleled enthusiasm, passion and commitment to the value of this work and its impact on the performer's work.

PLEASE NOTE WE HAVE CHANGED OUR NUMBER. FOR ENQUIRES PLEASE CALL JOYCE ON 01903 501 262

I have had a truly amazing year in the academy learning the art and science of the Fool. It's very challenging exploring some of the darker recesses of my inner world - and often exposing them to an audience. JK's Fooling system is a kind of cross between shamanism, improvised theatre, self-exploration and appreciation for the many archetypal forces that are with each of us all the time. The audience (both inner and outer) are perpetually of prime importance.

If this sounds interesting to you, please give Joyce a call on the number above.

The controversial legislation banning "extreme porn" will become law on May 9th, but there is still time to stop it. This law would stop me and my lover taking photos or films of ourselves in some of our favourite erotic positions - with a prison sentence of up to THREE years for possession of said photos. This new legislation makes no difference between consenting adults filming the BDSM fun, and actual acts of violence which is already illegal.

But there is movement and a growing wave of people opposing this thought-crime legislation. MPs and Lords are being lobbied and I urge you all to write to your MP to help put some sense back into this thing.

Full info on the Backlash UK website.

Watch Deborah Hyde from Backlash speak out the new legislation on youtube:

I was asked by a good friend why Liber Malorum is not yet on Amazon. This is what I told her.

The full story is this:

I was using lulu.com at first, before I registered for an ISBN and stuff, and I still use lulu for their lovely hardcover versions but they have nothing to do with my distribution to amazon.

I went to a local printer in cardiff and organised my print run of 1000. they cost me about 4 quid each. expenses add up to about 2 quid each so i called my cost price 6 quid.

i though, hey, i will need to make it double that price. [I assumed that it would cost that much to organise everything] so i put the RRP on to £12 quid. BIG MISTAKE!!! i hadn't done my research. as you might know, amazon (and many large chains) require a 60% discount on books... plus they expect me to pay for postage. effectively if i had my book on amazon i would be losing about 3 quid per copy!!! i registered Liber Malorum on Amazon and had to immediately withdraw because of this. [This is why it still says "temporarily out of stock"].

so in another window, i hooked up with a distributor AK Press. AK told me that Amazon were great to do business with, once it was set up and they were great at dealing with small independent presses and distributors. AK told me i should change the RRP to something manageable otherwise i would never get on Amazon - and i should do it sooner rather than later because it would be harder to change later. i figured out what was the minimum i could have the RRP for - it is now £14.99 (which coincidentally adds up to 23). that covers costs and i still make a few pennies if i end up posting books to amazon myself via royal mail. [As a side effect of this, the book is for sale at many different outlets all at different prices. happy bargain hunting!]

But amazon hasn't (yet) accepted the price change. well amazon said they will accept it, and they said my price change is being processed, but that was over a month ago, and they are a very hard organisation to talk to. i'm still waiting for the RRP to change on the site, and then i (or my distributor) can finally start placing books there. meanwhile, we are all waiting to see what happens and hopefully the amazon behemoth will finally get it together.

phew!

with that in mind, if you have any ideas i would love love love to hear them! i don't expect you to stand on your head or anything drastic! but feel free to if you think it will help

and are you doing distribution at the moment? if you are able to help me get Liber Malorum out there, either via distribution or clever ideas or contacts at amazon or friends in the spirit world then that would be really appreciated. all pointers and tips are very very graciously welcomed!

love and apples (and probably some chocolate blessings too) from sean

(ps - i will post this on my blog coz others might be wondering just the same thing you asked)

x x x

Yesterday was fantastic - I'm spending the Easter few days in and around Brighton, and when I heard that the White Owl posse was hosting a sweat lodge, I went along. I've had a sweat with this crew before, and it was intense. This time around, I went in feeling much more grounded and managed to hold my ground even during the most vicious and hot rounds.

For anyone who hasn't been to a sweat lodge, it is a kind of ceremonial sauna in which there are several rounds of ceremonial sweating. Basically rocks are heated on the fire, brought in to the blessed enclosed space and then splashed with water. It can get very hot in there! The more grounded I'm feeling, the more bearable the heat is though it is always a challenge in one way or another.

Yesterday's lodge was incredibly beautiful and cleansing. It's as if so many of my angsts and bothers are stored in my pores and there's nothing like a good old sweat to banish them. It's like a wicked magical cleansing and purifying ceremonial and I am feeling fantastic now! So next time you give me a call and I invite you to come get sweaty, you'll know what I'm talking about.

Sweaty hugs to all from Sean