I don’t spend a lot of time talking about the FarSide behind-the-scenes stuff. I figure who cares, as long as the posts are interesting and engaging, and occasionally entertaining. Once in a while, though, I think it’s worth a few words to catch up with things.
First, I have to thank Greg, Jac, bigfatpop, and Lynnie for their incredibly generous tips. Mrs. FarSide can’t believe anyone, much less her husband, makes money writing. That’s not something many Indonesians do. Whenever I get a tip, she gets all excited and runs off to the local pasar to buy some rare and interesting coffee from some obscure island with names I can’t pronounce and flavors I can’t describe.
If you like a jolt, though, look for Toraja, an Arabica bean from the highlands of South Sulawesi. It’s low in acidity with a full body and chocolaty aftertaste. It’s one of my favorites. If you’re a coffee fan who hasn’t tried it, you’re in for a treat. Eat my grounds, Starcucks. If you want full native, get espresso grind and mix the powder directly with boiling water. Stir well and steep for 5 minutes. It’s called tubruk and it’s the only way to go, as far as I’m concerned.
Now, a lot of folks have noticed that I’ve started a short story in five parts, called Sulang: A Story. You’ll see a link at the top of this page in the nav bar. If you are a subscriber and didn’t see it in email, then check your spam. A couple of folks mentioned their email watchdog buried it.
Anyway, it is already scheduled to post every Friday at 7am CDT/7pm WIB into early September, so if you get hooked fear not. You’ll get the whole kit and boodle even if I’m abducted by Zeta Reticulans and forced to drink urine from a gourd.
I’ve been stewing on this and other short stories for a long time. Sulang takes place in Central Kalimantan (Borneo) in a small Dayak village. These are the folks I lived with when I first arrived and was staying at the coal mine for several months. The setting is authentic in flavor and tone to what I experienced, though the story is a fanciful romp.
The initial feedback is very positive, thank you. If it turns out folks like my fiction, I’ll make serialized stories a regular feature. Up in the nav bar you’ll see Packin’, which I’ve intended to use for stories about my backpacking adventures in the early 80s. Many of the stories are already written, I just need to motivate and post.
Be sure to give me your feedback, good, bad or indifferent. I can take it.
Speaking of fiction, I’ve been working for years on my first novel. It currently stands at 550 pages and 108,000 words, and I’m about two-thirds of the way through first pass. If I’m allowed to say so, I think it’s the best thing I’ve ever written, by far. I may even take it to a major publishing house. I can’t reveal the title or plot yet, but it spans 25 years and takes place in Texas, Guam and Indonesia. If none of the majors want it (definitely not “progressive”), then I’ll self-publish through Amazon, but either way I’m getting this done, by golly.
I’ve got four other novels in various states of repair. One is sci-fi and the other three are a mystery trilogy with a detective like no other. God willin’ and the creek don’t rise, I’m going to drive myself to finish them, even though it’s an incredibly lonely and painful process. A juicy offer from a publisher would certainly motivate me (hello Random House/Penguin).
In other news, there are rumors of a CIA-led color revolution beginning on the 17th—Independence Day. By the time you read this, we’ll know whether anything actually happened or whether everybody merely frightened themselves into gastric distress.
The story making the rounds is that Washington wants an air base on the Malacca Strait to help choke off China, Jakarta isn’t interested, and certain Very Serious People have therefore begun contemplating the traditional American remedy for non-compliant governments: Our Democracy!
Then it gets weird.
The alleged organizers are supposedly moving protestors into cities where they don’t live, which would make identifying the locals, outsiders, provocateurs, police, intelligence boys and freelance lunatics considerably more entertaining.
Meanwhile, Indonesian police reported finding 996 weapons at the Harapan Ibu Islamic School Foundation in South Jakarta. The later clarification was that 995 were air guns, plus one genuine Franchi SPAS-15 12-gauge shotgun. Ah. Well. That’s different.
Nothing suspicious about nearly a thousand imitation firearms in a concealed room, along with ammunition, accessories, pellet-making equipment and assorted other goodies. Probably a school project. Shop class has changed since my day. Still, the photographs don’t look much like toys to me, and I know a thing or two about guns.
Naturally none of this proves anything. Unless it proves everything. At this point the corkboard comes out. Red string appears. Somewhere in Northern Virginia a pale young man named Brad is moving tiny Indonesian flags around a map while another fellow in khakis explains “organic civil society” into a secure telephone. Unmarked vans begin idling outside university campuses. NGOs spontaneously discover oppression. CNN locates an anguished student who speaks flawless English and somehow already has a portable ring light and wireless lavalier—
Okay. Enough. I’ve clearly been staring at this too long.
Maybe it’s all exactly what they say it is: a pile of air guns, one shotgun, some nervous rumors and the usual August political fever.
Curiouser and curiouser.
Anyway, more intrigue: after 13 years, my TwiX account was suspended on August 12th for “inauthentic behavior”. You know as much as I do what that means, because there were no definitions or examples of such. As of this morning (August 15th), my appeal was successful and my account appears to be fully restored. I guess I’m behaving authentically again. Any thoughts, Elon?
In related news, YouBoob has been slowly whittling away at my channel. They’ve deleted a dozen or so videos that have been up for years, particularly one that went viral and got over a million views, and the interview with the late great Jon Rappoport on vaccines that even survived the Black Death Purge.
Google demonetized Radio Far Side back in 2010 or 2011, and every few years they pop up and erase more of my stuff. Don’t know what I did to incur the wrath of Mount Digitalis (well, I can guess), but the Rumble and BitChute channels are still going. In fact, BitChute does really well.
Unfortunately, due to a hard drive crash 6 or 7 years ago, the master files for some of my best stuff were lost forever, especially the interview with the late Wal Thornhill, which I truly regret losing. He died a couple of years later.
I haven’t done much video work of late, other than some music collaborations with reader Eddie which I really enjoy. The novels are consuming all my creative juices, but once in a while I pop up with some fresh “content”. I’ve been working on a weekly FarSide news report. The opening titles are nearly done and I’m really happy with the results. I’ll give you an exclusive sneak peek.
So that about wraps it up for news from the Far Side. I see Mrs. FarSide left me a heaping bowl of her famous Java Fried Rice before she bounded off to church. Also, the Fabulous Fury FarSide Felines are demanding attention and today is bath day for two of them.
Life in these parts is always fun and exciting—for everyone else. Meanwhile, I’m stuck slaving over this hot keyboard, trying to keep up with the overwhelming demand for more quality “content”. Mrs. FarSide is a merciless taskmaster, even when my fingertips are bruised and bleeding. I can brass it out, though. I am Texian, hear me roar!
Thanks for being an integral part of the FarSide. Your readership means the world to us, and your support is invaluable. Be sure to send out links to the stuff you like. We’re always happy to welcome new folks to these parts. We have one of the best comment sections around, and that’s your fault, not mine.
Keep the home fires burning and we’ll catch you on the Far Side!
=====
We have a couple of great writerly selections for our daily film fest. The first combines the legendary mania and drug-fueled paranoia of Hunter S. Thompson, with the unique visual genius of Terry Gilliam, and the acting chops of Johnny Depp (pre-divorce) in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998). Another unique outing combines William S. Burroughs with David Cronenberg’s direction and a brilliant turn by Peter Weller in Naked Lunch (1991). Not all writers are sociopaths, but it helps.
Slaving over the hot dispatches on the Far Side:
Home Site / Old Blogger Site / LinkedIn / Farcebook / IMdB
E-book: Paper Golem: Corporate Personhood & the Legal Fiction
Contact Bernard Grover: bernard (at) radiofarside (dot) com
Radio Far Side, published (mostly) every Sun/Wed at 7a CST/7p WIB, is a labour of love. We don’t use a paywall, and we don’t sell stuff. We just create things to inform and entertain. Like any good busker on the digital mean streets, we put our hat down and if you feel inspired, drop a coin in to show your appreciation:
BTC wallet: bc1qth6drgzcyt7vlxxpvqh6erjm0lmaemwsvf0272
XRP wallet: rMSQzLyE3RHacCLwYPADBbq4RHQ71HpCzw
Comments
Nothing yet. Say the first thing.
Sign in to join the conversation.