Michael Brownstein's blog

Surging through the streets in uncountable thousands, burning policestations to the ground, convincing army troops of their commonality, spontaneously organizing themselves to protect property, direct traffic, and deal with emergencies, smoking out Mubarak’s attempt tocapitalize on the inevitable looting and violence, they are revealing to the world a new national template: self-organization.

Let’s burn the flags of all nations
No more nation-states
No more patriotism
Try it, you’ll like it

Remember Obama's campaign slogan? "Yes we can." Yes we can what? Stand the robot of monoculture up on its wheels again? Our challenge goes beyond universal health care, economy, and environment. It is no less than pulling the plug on 8000 years of Empire.

What will the word "human" mean/in 2025, not that far away, really/when everybody will be in possession/of one little room the size of their heads/dreaming revelatory dreams?

Over the past year, Reality Sandwich has serialized Must Not Sleep, a new novel which takes place in shamanic space, a realm of shapeshifting and trance. Here are all 18 episodes in a single post. What better way to usher out the Bush Administration?

[Must Not Sleep] • "My mouth touching his chest, I started sucking out the garbage trapped in his heart. I sucked out one image after another and spat them into space until finally nothing remained." The final episode of the novel Must Not Sleep, a transformative ride through shamanic space.

[Must Not Sleep] • "Don't forget that Osama's a product of our greed. He and all his fabulously wealthy in-laws would still be herding camels in the desert if we hadn't upended their cosmos by grabbing for oil and sticking our air bases in their holy land." Episode 17 of the novel Must Not Sleep, a transformative ride through shamanic space.

[Must Not Sleep] • "So it's all mixed up together," she said. "My father, 9/11, you, me... And Osama... Nothing comes before anything else, there's no cause and effect, it's all out there simulataneously. Everything at once. Throughout the entire universe." Episode 16 of the novel Must Not Sleep, a transformative ride through shamanic space.

[Must Not Sleep] • "In a way, you could say that it's impossible to know who Dick is, or how many Dicks there really are. Maybe there are endless Dicks in the universe, morphing from one tyrannical father figure to another." Episode 15 of the novel Must Not Sleep, a transformative ride through shamanic space.

[Must Not Sleep] • "A lot's gone down since we were separated from each other. For one thing, I came across a very dark project involving humanity's future. The person -- or entity, I don't know what to call him -- who's at the center of it is the one you called Papa." Episode 14 of the novel Must Not Sleep, a transformative ride through shamanic space.

[Must Not Sleep] • "Stark naked, I wondered what would happen when I was spotted, but the military police made way for me as if I belonged. I paused, looking up at a banner which hung above the entrance: 'GRAB WHOM YOU MUST, DO WHAT YOU WANT.'" Episode 13 of the novel Must Not Sleep, a transformative ride through shamanic space.

[Must Not Sleep] • "All this is for your own good. You need to go on a vision quest, baby boy. You need to firm up, become a man. You've been coddled for too long." Episode 12 of the novel Must Not Sleep, a transformative ride through shamanic space.

[Must Not Sleep] • "Fundamentalism is fundamentalism, regardless of the fine print. . . . Combining two claustrophobic visions is a masterstroke. We'll come at the public from both sides. They won't know what hit them." Episode 11 of the novel Must Not Sleep, a transformative ride through shamanic space.

[Must Not Sleep] • "The upcoming war in Iraq was just another red herring. The real battle came down to a struggle between light and dark. Between, on the one hand, whoever among us on Earth was still awake and, on the other, inhuman entities needing to take over the planet for their own reasons." Episode 10 of the novel Must Not Sleep, a transformative ride through shamanic space.

[Must Not Sleep] • The hair rose off the back of my neck as I blurted out, "Don't you get it? Dick is an alien. An extraterrestrial! Wow, don't you see? He's acting from a place way beyond vested interests or political agendas. He must be stopped before it's too late." Episode 9 of the novel Must Not Sleep, a transformative ride through shamanic space.

[Must Not Sleep] • "'What if you could open your heart, not only to me but to whoever's brave enough to let go of their need to own another person?' 'I'm telling you it's not possible!' she yelled. By now she was steaming. 'You're just living out some adolescent male fantasy,' she said, 'screwing whoever you want. It's a joke...'" Episode 8 of the novel Must Not Sleep, a transformative ride through shamanic space.

[Must Not Sleep] • "I'll tell you, it was a lesson in humility for us to accept that for the really sexy stuff we needed to rely on stone-age techniques of barefoot jungle shamans. The little guys with the shiny black hair and plugs in their noses.... Clairvoyance, telepathy, precognition, they're all transformations of energy. They can be used by whoever's sufficiently attuned." Episode 7 of the novel Must Not Sleep, a transformative ride through shamanic space.

[Must Not Sleep] • "'You and your tree hugger pals go on about economic globalization.' He gave me a long-suffering expression and rolled his eyes. 'It's as if you can't see what's coming. Have you ever heard of the Rapture? Try that on for size. Talk about globalization!'" Episode 6 of the novel Must Not Sleep, a transformative ride through shamanic space.

[Must Not Sleep] • "It was like Mardi Gras on the streets, everyone giddy with the sudden release from winter's grip. After days of fasting we floated through the city, drifting without destination. Luminous beings, the light streaming from our eyes, we drew riveting stares from passers-by." Episode 5 of the novel Must Not Sleep, a transformative ride through shamanic space.

"'I AM the Cosmic Christ,' I announced as I climbed onto the eagle’s dark brown shoulders, my newfound soul blazing inside me. Fearless and invincible, we returned to this world." Episode 4 of the novel Must Not Sleep, a transformative ride through shamanic space.

"Omigod, there it was, smack on the front page. The lead article in the upper right-hand column read: ROCKET, NOT AIRLINER, SAID TO HAVE STRUCK THE PENTAGON ON SEPT. 11." Episode 3 of the novel Must Not Sleep, a transformative ride through shamanic space.

"Five minutes after sitting down in the noisy, crowded Thai restaurant we decided without hesitation not to eat but instead to go up to her apartment, which was nearby, and take Ecstasy." Episode 2 of the novel Must Not Sleep, a transformative ride through shamanic space.

"Before I knew what was happening, my life buckled and warped and blew itself open. Isaac the son of Abraham. The implications of that. My impressive pedigree, going back to before Jesus even. A hill of fucking beans." A chapter from Must Not Sleep, a novel that takes place in shamanic space.

Miracles CAN happen. Shamanism has been practised on this planet for a hundred thousand years. It’s a radical new/old way to effect political change. Listen up and you’ll hear the sound of Dick Cheney healing. Because obviously Dick’s possessed by a demon. But deep inside him there’s a little boy who wants to laugh and sing and play. It’s up to us to set him free. Pick up a drum and join in. [mp3]

Here's the story... A long, long time ago—just as the mountains were turning into buildings and the animals were turning into people—a dickbrain ruled the Earth with an iron thumb.