Allister Thompson
@allistert.bsky.social
"Amateur" musician, "Professional" editor/author from “Canada.”
thegatelessgate.bandcamp.com
http://www.allisterthompson.com
https://editorattheendoftheworld.wordpress.com/
thegatelessgate.bandcamp.com
http://www.allisterthompson.com
https://editorattheendoftheworld.wordpress.com/
Pinned
Allister Thompson
@allistert.bsky.social
· May 29
‘Birch and Jay’ is not just another post apocalyptic adventure novel. It’s also about how we can heal instead of destroy, which is all modern human beings have ever done. We created this situation that will cause so much suffering, but do we have the courage and honesty to learn from our mistakes?
Not surprised that Canadian ‘celebs’ are taking advantage of tariff-driven nationalism to write vapid books about how great Canada is, and publishers are happy to waste trees on them.
November 25, 2025 at 3:49 PM
Not surprised that Canadian ‘celebs’ are taking advantage of tariff-driven nationalism to write vapid books about how great Canada is, and publishers are happy to waste trees on them.
The people of Ontario voting in Doug Ford’s criminal gang - and they will again and again - is like walking up to your schoolyard bully and asking him to punch you then hold you down and scoop dirt in your mouth. People of this era are beyond messed up.
November 25, 2025 at 3:07 AM
The people of Ontario voting in Doug Ford’s criminal gang - and they will again and again - is like walking up to your schoolyard bully and asking him to punch you then hold you down and scoop dirt in your mouth. People of this era are beyond messed up.
Just start the Christmas season in June and get it over with. Clearly you want to.
November 25, 2025 at 1:25 AM
Just start the Christmas season in June and get it over with. Clearly you want to.
At jury selection in Ontario, before you’re under oath, you get to give a reason why you shouldn’t have to serve. You can basically say anything, but when a guy says, “I don’t like or trust women,” (this was for a sexual assault trial) I feel there should be legal repercussions for that behavior.
November 24, 2025 at 6:43 PM
At jury selection in Ontario, before you’re under oath, you get to give a reason why you shouldn’t have to serve. You can basically say anything, but when a guy says, “I don’t like or trust women,” (this was for a sexual assault trial) I feel there should be legal repercussions for that behavior.
I can tell you all that despite what the authorities claim, no one ever looks honored to be selected for a jury in a criminal trial. They just look totally deflated. Spending all day waiting to find out if I’ll be on one this month.
November 24, 2025 at 4:36 PM
I can tell you all that despite what the authorities claim, no one ever looks honored to be selected for a jury in a criminal trial. They just look totally deflated. Spending all day waiting to find out if I’ll be on one this month.
Didacticism is a charge frequently leveled these days at fiction that is trying to express something important.
November 24, 2025 at 12:44 PM
Didacticism is a charge frequently leveled these days at fiction that is trying to express something important.
Another must-listen for fans of contemporary choral music. Downright spectal.
youtube.com/playlist?lis...
youtube.com/playlist?lis...
Aletheia - YouTube
youtube.com
November 24, 2025 at 1:57 AM
Another must-listen for fans of contemporary choral music. Downright spectal.
youtube.com/playlist?lis...
youtube.com/playlist?lis...
Got my first copy of ‘The Young Person’s Guide to King Crimson’ at age 16, someone nicked it, then it took me about 30 years to replace it. Great photos in the booklet.
November 23, 2025 at 10:50 PM
Got my first copy of ‘The Young Person’s Guide to King Crimson’ at age 16, someone nicked it, then it took me about 30 years to replace it. Great photos in the booklet.
Continuing to revisit olde favorite albums, Roxy Music’s ‘Avalon’ is still absolutely beautiful. Highlight of their sophistipop years by far. It transcends that, though.
November 23, 2025 at 7:39 PM
Continuing to revisit olde favorite albums, Roxy Music’s ‘Avalon’ is still absolutely beautiful. Highlight of their sophistipop years by far. It transcends that, though.
A handy little tip I gave myself came to me when I realized even if you’ve bought someone’s album on Bandcamp, it might still be better to stream it elsewhere so that artist can make some extra cents. Except on Spotify because no matter how much you play it there, the musician will get bupkis.
November 23, 2025 at 3:42 PM
A handy little tip I gave myself came to me when I realized even if you’ve bought someone’s album on Bandcamp, it might still be better to stream it elsewhere so that artist can make some extra cents. Except on Spotify because no matter how much you play it there, the musician will get bupkis.
Ambient, new age and modern classical
Playlist - Ambient, new age and modern classical - 243 items
tidal.com
November 23, 2025 at 3:28 AM
These COP conferences sure achieve a lot. Of nothing.
November 23, 2025 at 2:30 AM
These COP conferences sure achieve a lot. Of nothing.
If we don’t ease off on trying to build some Cyborg Tech Hell for kids of the future to inhabit, ‘A Clockwork Orange’ is going to look mild in comparison.
November 22, 2025 at 5:26 PM
If we don’t ease off on trying to build some Cyborg Tech Hell for kids of the future to inhabit, ‘A Clockwork Orange’ is going to look mild in comparison.
Getting close to December and almost time for all the articles about whether beloved classic ‘Love Actually’ is actually very creepy in most of its scenarios or not (it is).
November 22, 2025 at 1:35 AM
Getting close to December and almost time for all the articles about whether beloved classic ‘Love Actually’ is actually very creepy in most of its scenarios or not (it is).
Just listened to “12 Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus” for the first time in about 10 years. This thing is still totally outta sight!
November 21, 2025 at 8:14 PM
Just listened to “12 Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus” for the first time in about 10 years. This thing is still totally outta sight!
People who love Shakespeare, writers, actors, and filmmakers of course, constantly make the mistake of thinking the rest of us want to see and read stuff about Shakespeare. Blergh.
November 21, 2025 at 6:40 PM
People who love Shakespeare, writers, actors, and filmmakers of course, constantly make the mistake of thinking the rest of us want to see and read stuff about Shakespeare. Blergh.
Interesting article. I’d wondered why so many classic Brit folk albums weren’t available any more, and now I know: one scummy label is hoarding them all.
www.theguardian.com/music/2025/n...
www.theguardian.com/music/2025/n...
‘I never wanted to sing into a vacuum’: Scottish folk pioneer Dick Gaughan’s fight for his lost music
A skilled interpreter and social justice champion, Gaughan is a hero to the likes of Richard Hawley and Billy Bragg. Yet much of his work has been stuck in limbo for decades – until a determined fan s...
www.theguardian.com
November 20, 2025 at 4:11 AM
Interesting article. I’d wondered why so many classic Brit folk albums weren’t available any more, and now I know: one scummy label is hoarding them all.
www.theguardian.com/music/2025/n...
www.theguardian.com/music/2025/n...
Profoundly stupid, shamelessly greedy people have been given the keys to planet Earth and are driving us headlong over a cliff.
November 19, 2025 at 10:23 PM
Profoundly stupid, shamelessly greedy people have been given the keys to planet Earth and are driving us headlong over a cliff.
Reposted by Allister Thompson
Here's an excellent article that was just shared with me about the latest scams aimed at writers. Read on, "great author"...
#aspiringwriter #authorlife #amwriting #writingcommunity #writerscommunity
annerallen.com/2025/11/update...
#aspiringwriter #authorlife #amwriting #writingcommunity #writerscommunity
annerallen.com/2025/11/update...
Update on those flattering AI book marketing scams
Those AI book marketing scams are proliferating like Tribbles. Here are the new variations authors are getting now.
annerallen.com
November 19, 2025 at 1:27 PM
Here's an excellent article that was just shared with me about the latest scams aimed at writers. Read on, "great author"...
#aspiringwriter #authorlife #amwriting #writingcommunity #writerscommunity
annerallen.com/2025/11/update...
#aspiringwriter #authorlife #amwriting #writingcommunity #writerscommunity
annerallen.com/2025/11/update...
It's always an "old man yells at cloud" moment for me when I see people who do something like a craft, or bake, or knit or whatever referred to as a "maker." Just like I hate being called a "creative." Get outta the sky, cloud!!
November 18, 2025 at 5:03 PM
It's always an "old man yells at cloud" moment for me when I see people who do something like a craft, or bake, or knit or whatever referred to as a "maker." Just like I hate being called a "creative." Get outta the sky, cloud!!
Loser tech worshippers think the future with AI will be sentient spaceships with cuddly personalities shuttling us on tours around the universe, having engineered our immortality out of the goodness of their hearts — while all future signs actually point directly to Skynet.
November 17, 2025 at 8:34 PM
Loser tech worshippers think the future with AI will be sentient spaceships with cuddly personalities shuttling us on tours around the universe, having engineered our immortality out of the goodness of their hearts — while all future signs actually point directly to Skynet.
No offense to all the good guys with big, bushy beards, but why is it now a significant look of choice for far-right dudes? Some remnant of a survivalist thing? Or they think it makes them look primal?
November 17, 2025 at 5:35 PM
No offense to all the good guys with big, bushy beards, but why is it now a significant look of choice for far-right dudes? Some remnant of a survivalist thing? Or they think it makes them look primal?
The best way to iron out the kinks of AI as a writing tool is not to use AI at all and instead give your brain and some effort a go.
November 16, 2025 at 2:24 PM
The best way to iron out the kinks of AI as a writing tool is not to use AI at all and instead give your brain and some effort a go.
To me, the first 1:20 of Sigur Ros’s ‘#4’ are still the best 1:20 in the history of post-rock.
November 16, 2025 at 1:47 PM
To me, the first 1:20 of Sigur Ros’s ‘#4’ are still the best 1:20 in the history of post-rock.
A sports-related book may not seem important, but in a country where ice hockey is far bigger than religion, an exposé about how the culture of the sport breeds brutal, misogynistic little shits could not be more important. It doesn’t have to be that way.
www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/775299...
www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/775299...
We Breed Lions by Rick Westhead: 9781039012936 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books
A hard-hitting and powerful look at hockey's moment of reckoning in Canada, and the ways in which a game that is so universally loved has been rocked in recent years by court cases involving sexual as...
www.penguinrandomhouse.com
November 15, 2025 at 3:27 PM
A sports-related book may not seem important, but in a country where ice hockey is far bigger than religion, an exposé about how the culture of the sport breeds brutal, misogynistic little shits could not be more important. It doesn’t have to be that way.
www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/775299...
www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/775299...