Greets, Fellow Red Roomies!

I've been AWOL from this site for some months, but not idling away, instead working very very hard on the launch of my new project, The Manga Man, which can only be described as "meta-multimedia" since it's the first of its kind ever, and I suppose I get to call it whatever I want, there being nothing else to compare it to. It's the wave of the future, in my opinion. It's also a first baby step, a growing seed.

Check out the first link for a sample of videos that are embedded in the Manga Man T-shirt. There are literally HOURS of video in the tee, not to mention (ahem) the full text of my alternative fantasy noir novel Manga Man that's formatted for the mobile phone screen (any brand of phone).

Below please find more info on the project via relevant links. But first and foremost, I'm taking the opportunity here to invite my fellow San Francisco and Bay Area Red Roomies to the launch night party this Halloween, Oct. 31, 6-9 p.m. (timed so you can swing by on your way to other scheduled events you might have, a BART friendly spot you never imagined existed in the Mission). This will truly be a night to remember, the night that the Titanic was resurrected, floated to the surface, and turned into a space ship and launched into Eternity.

ADVANCE PRAISE FOR THE MANGA MAN

“A hidden SF master.”—Rudy Rucker, Philip K. Dick Award winning author of Postsingular, Spaceland, and The Ware Tetralogy (great-grandson of Hegel!) . . .“Pure Superfuture cooked down in sf’s last mad scientist’s lab. Enough ideas for thirty other books blistered down into a sharp little drug that’ll reengineer the front of your head. You want a hit of this. Trust me.”—Warren Ellis, author of the Transmetropolitan and Global Frequency series of graphic novels . . .“Fascinating! Great!”—China Miéville, author of Iron Council and Perdido Street Station, winner of the Arthur C. Clarke Award and the British Fantasy Award . . . “This book would make Philip K. Dick delirious with joy. Nobody else in science fiction has ever pushed the envelope this hard—or with better success.”—Spider Robinson, best selling novelist and Robert A. Heinlein Estate-appointed completer of sequels to Heinlein’s novels.

Here's the invite (HOPE YOU CAN MAKE IT!):

Butoh Without Borders
A multimedia party and launch for Alexander Besher's QR Code sentient T-shirt novel THE MANGA MAN this Halloween. All proceeds to benefit Doctors Without Borders.

Date: October 31, 2008
Time: 6 - 9 pm

Location: Arte Movimiento SUB Mission, 2183 Mission at 18th Street

A true Mission alternative space w/stage, AV sound system, back patio with historic murals on 150-year old towering brick walls! Easy BART access at 16th & Mission. Paid parking lot between 19th & 20th Mission.

Admission: $15 or sliding scale (free to Red Roomies, just identify yourself, unless you want to make a contribution to Doctors Withour Borders)

Attire: Costumes, especially Butoh or cyber-fetish, are encouraged but not required

Website(s):
http://harper.wirelessink.com/2008/10/18/the-manga-man-premiere-winksite...
http://mangaman.mobi (premieres Oct. 31)
http://www.newmancom.com/mangaman
http://www.newmancom.com/mangaman/Mangaman_background.aspx
http://www.alexanderbesher.tv (see "The Manga Man")

Sci-fi novelist and futurist Alexander Besher is releasing his latest novel "The Manga Man" via QR/2D barcode on a limited edition T-shirt, in partnership with mobile platform pioneer Winksite.com.

Multimedia available through the barcode includes a link to the full text of the novel (for mobile phone or web browser), a reading selection from "The Manga Man," neo-silent film inspired by "Manga Man" directed by Nara Denning, videography by Maria Karpoukhina, original tracks by composer William Collin Snavely aka Diagram of Suburban Chaos, and more.

View a premiere of the video book trailer, live electro-techno music by Best Friend, a fashion show happening of Butoh-inspired wear by Picky Studio, sales of the limited edition "book on a T-shirt" (American Apparel, design by prize-winning Italian graphic novel artist Daniele Serra; $30 value retail), Butoh-themed video installation by Maria Karpoukhina, a QR Code scanning demonstration on mobile phone, and a special reading from "The Manga Man" lip-synched by Mystery Guest. Soft drinks and light refreshments including La Meditteranee-catered Middle Eastern hors d'oeuvres will be served. Bar, first drink on the house courtesy of Arte Movimiento, they charge afterwards for wine and beer so they can continue to offer free art lessons to the homeless in the Tenderloin.

Special guests:
Butoh dance performance featuring Javier Cordoba, the Bares Bones Butoh and SF Butoh Lab collectives. Event to be videographed for future documentary.