Joseph Matheny's Blog, page 28

A very interesting article/review of Legend-Tripping Online: Supernatural Folklore and the Search for Ong's Hat.

From The Chronicle of Higher Education: Now, from the you-can-learn-something-new-every-day files, comes Michael Kinsella's Legend-Tripping Online: Supernatural Folklore and the Search for Ong's Hat.

Read it here: http://chronicle.com/blogs/pageview/the-surprising-online-life-of-legends/29221

From the article:

The response of Joseph Matheny to Legend-Tripping Online suggests the success of Kinsella's read on the Incunabula Papers. On his Web site, Matheny wrote that Kinsella "did an excellent job and only missed the mark with two or three of his conclusions," which Matheny said he would clear up by writing a complementary account.

In the context of the Incunabula Papers and Ong's Hat, something about that statement echoes beguilingly. Is Matheny offering to perpetuate the project, despite closing it down?

Or perhaps he never did shutter it. In 2001, his announcement of the termination of the project said that he and a colleague "decided today to publicly announce in the near future that the Ong's Hat Project has now concluded." Not only do the tenses in his statement appear slippery, but he also tantalizingly mused that he did think the Incunabula Papers "would still make a good book from a cultural anthropology perspective."

Is Kinsella's Legend-Tripping Online not only that book, but also, unwittingly, another phase in the whole, crazy Incunabula Papers caper?

Kinsella allows: "When you're dealing with this…this thing, there are trickster qualities and pranks and hoaxes, and fact and fiction are so blurred that it's really hard to make sense out of it."

THE BUSINESS OF STORYTELLING: PRODUCTION OF WORKS, POACHING COMMUNITIES, AND CREATION OF STORY WORLDS

by Burcu S. Bakioğlu

Accepted by the Graduate Faculty, Indiana University, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.

A paper [PDF] that uses copious quotes from This is Not a Game: A Guide to Alternate Reality Gaming and has  section about the Ong's Hat project.

I found it rather interesting.

I'm cited as an "expert" in this article by my old friend David Jay Brown. It's about Bitcoin and Silk Road.

Read it here: The Silk Road website uses an anonymous browser, untraceable currency, shifting servers and an encrypted Web address to allow for a thriving illegal drug trade on the Internet.

To learn more about Silk Road, and about the Bitcoin economy that fuels it, I interviewed transmedia writer/artist Joseph Matheny, who is an expert on computer encryption and the underground Internet economy. According to Matheny, ordering from Silk Road is generally safe, if you know what you're doing and take the proper precautions.

Legend-Tripping Online: Supernatural Folklore and the Search for Ong's Hat

My review: I was expecting to hate this book, but I didn't. Michael Kinsella did an excellent job and only missed the mark with two or three of his conclusions. Of course, this is forgivable since he wasn't in possession of all of the facts from behind the scenes. As a remedy to those few slight errors, and in interest of keeping the record straight I will issue a free companion guide to this book in a few weeks.  Since the book is primarily about myself, my friends, my project and my methods, I do admit to being  somewhat close to the subject.  However,what colors my decision to release the guide is simply that I'd like the record to be as clear as possible if this is to become a subject of "study" by academia.

Other than a few forgivable gaffs (and I do mean a very few), this book is quite enjoyable, insightful and entertaining.  I'm glad someone in academia was able to decipher many of the the objectives and methodologies of this project and I highly recommend it (with the soon to be released companion guide, of course).  If you choke at the price of $55 USD, you may want to wait for the paperback (if they publish one) or the inevitable ePub that's sure to show up in the wild.

Description: On the Internet, seekers investigate anonymous manifestos that focus on the findings of brilliant scientists said to have discovered pathways into alternate realities. Gathering on web forums, researchers not only share their observations, but also report having anomalous experiences, which they believe come from their online involvement with these veiled documents. Seeming logic combines with wild twists of lost Moorish science and pseudo-string theory. Enthusiasts insist any obstacle to revelation is a sure sign of great and wide-reaching efforts by consensus powers wishing to suppress all the liberating truths in the Incunabula Papers (included here in complete form).

In Legend-Tripping Online, Michael Kinsella explores these and other extraordinary pursuits. This is the first book dedicated to legend-tripping, ritual quests in which people strive to explore and find manifest the very events described by supernatural legends. Through collective performances, legend-trippers harness the interpretive frameworks these stories provide and often claim incredible, out-of-this-world experiences that in turn perpetuate supernatural legends.

Legends and legend-tripping are assuming tremendous prominence in a world confronting new speeds of diversification, connection, and increasing cognitive load. As guardians of tradition as well as agents of change, legends and the ordeals they inspire contextualize ancient and emergent ideas, behaviors, and technologies that challenge familiar realities. This book analyzes supernatural legends and the ways in which the sharing spirit of the internet collectivizes, codifies, and makes folklore of fantastic speculation.

From the Inside Flap

How the Internet crystallizes fringe theories into amazing realities

I'm cited as an "expert" in this article by my old friend David Jay Brown. It's about Bitcoin and Silk Road.

Read it here: The Silk Road website uses an anonymous browser, untraceable currency, shifting servers and an encrypted Web address to allow for a thriving illegal drug trade on the Internet.

To learn more about Silk Road, and about the Bitcoin economy that fuels it, I interviewed transmedia writer/artist Joseph Matheny, who is an expert on computer encryption and the underground Internet economy. According to Matheny, ordering from Silk Road is generally safe, if you know what you're doing and take the proper precautions.

Joseph Matheny shows off his grumpy side again (maybe it was the beer?). Luckily it is all balanced out by co-host Julieta Randall adding some positive vibes to the scene. They ramble, chant, rail and chatter for your dancing and dining pleasure.

MUSIC BY Thomas Feiner & Anywhen

* Mesmerene

* The Siren Songs

Listen or download here

Legend-Tripping Online: Supernatural Folklore and the Search for Ong's Hat

My review: I was expecting to hate this book, but I didn't. I have to say, Michael Kinsella did a good job and only missed the mark or 2 or 3 of his conclusions. Of course, I can see why he came to those conclusions, not being in possession of all of the facts behind the scenes. As a remedy to those few slight errors, and in interest of keeping the record straight I will issue a free companion guide to this book in a few weeks.

Other than a few forgivable gaffs (and I do mean a very few), this book is enjoyable and accurate. I'm glad someone in academia was able to parse many of the the objectives and methodologies of this project and I highly recommend it (with the soon to be released companion guide of course).  As for the price, maybe wait for the paperback (if they do one) or the inevitable ePub.

Description: On the Internet, seekers investigate anonymous manifestos that focus on the findings of brilliant scientists said to have discovered pathways into alternate realities. Gathering on web forums, researchers not only share their observations, but also report having anomalous experiences, which they believe come from their online involvement with these veiled documents. Seeming logic combines with wild twists of lost Moorish science and pseudo-string theory. Enthusiasts insist any obstacle to revelation is a sure sign of great and wide-reaching efforts by consensus powers wishing to suppress all the liberating truths in the Incunabula Papers (included here in complete form).

In Legend-Tripping Online, Michael Kinsella explores these and other extraordinary pursuits. This is the first book dedicated to legend-tripping, ritual quests in which people strive to explore and find manifest the very events described by supernatural legends. Through collective performances, legend-trippers harness the interpretive frameworks these stories provide and often claim incredible, out-of-this-world experiences that in turn perpetuate supernatural legends.

Legends and legend-tripping are assuming tremendous prominence in a world confronting new speeds of diversification, connection, and increasing cognitive load. As guardians of tradition as well as agents of change, legends and the ordeals they inspire contextualize ancient and emergent ideas, behaviors, and technologies that challenge familiar realities. This book analyzes supernatural legends and the ways in which the sharing spirit of the internet collectivizes, codifies, and makes folklore of fantastic speculation.

From the Inside Flap

How the Internet crystallizes fringe theories into amazing realities

Joseph Matheny talks to Nick Tharcher of Original Falcon fame about all kinds of things.

Music by The Rolling Stones

Listen or download here

(I apologize for the echo, had some studio issues which are all fixed now so future shows will be back to normal)

Just an update: Some titles I wrote and/or contributed to are now available on Kindle.

Ong's Hat the Beginning - if you don't know this work, see info at incunabula.org
This is Not a Game: A Guide to Alternate Reality Gaming – I edited, sourced chapters, sourced contributors and contributed two chapters (the Ong's Hat chapter and a chapter about ARG team management)
Rebels and Devils: The Psychology or Liberation - Contributor along  with a bunch of my friends and influences.

Robert Anton Wilson Remembered [Unabridged] [Audible Audio Edition]

by Douglas Rushkoff (Author, Narrator), Antero Ali (Author, Narrator), Tiffany Brown (Author, Narrator), David Brown (Author), Zac Odin (Author), Joseph Matheny (Author, Narrator), Alan Meridian (Narrator)

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Product Details



Audible Audio Edition
Listening Length: 1 hour(s) and 17 min.
Program Type: Audiobook
Version: Unabridged
Publisher: Hukilau (May 2, 2011)
Language: English
ASIN: B00514VC98
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Editorial Reviews

Fond remembrances of the life and work of Robert Anton Wilson, featuring Douglas Rushkoff, Antero Ali, Tiffany Lee Brown, David Jay Brown, Zac Odin, and Joseph Matheny.