This is Rumor Control.

Sorry I've been out of touch for a while. A lot has happened, but contrary to popular rumor This Plague of Dreaming is still operational.

Here are the facts: There has been a serious shakeup at the Plaguedream Institute. In brief, the Dept. of Exploration tried to take advantage of the Jane Guy situation to get this blog gagged and the Outreach program shut down--and This Plague of Dreaming with it. There was the usual drama, the furniture got kicked over, and I had to call in some heavy favors from some very strange and difficult people, but finally Central got around to granting us a provisional license to operate (pending the results of the Guy inquiry).

To Repel Ghosts put in a timely and unexpected reappearance at the height of the interdepartmental dustup and spoke eloquently (if ironically) about the need for greater transparency, both within the Institute itself and in our relations with the public. I admit that I am not entirely sure of their motives, but I can't fault their results: TRG are known, insofar as they are known at all, for their adherence to a strict policy of reticence and subterfuge, so their sudden clarion call for openness seems to have made a strong impression on Central, and may have been the deciding blow in the skirmish. Under the circumstances, it should hardly be surprising that, immediately following the council decision, these champions of accessibility retired to a lengthy closed-door meeting with representatives of the D. of E. (details classified, naturally), which culminated in the typically abrupt departure of one of the group aboard the Anodos (destination--need I say it?--classified). The remaining members of To Repel Ghosts, meanwhile, refuse to speak about their extended absence, or their arrangements with Exploration, and have simply returned to work as if they had never left.

This is what I have to put up with.

Anyway, back to business: we are currently in contract talks with an exciting new musical artist. Watch for updates in the near future! In the meantime, we continue to appreciate your patience and support.

Don't get caught.

=PD

News Flash!

Dear readers, the Plaguedream Institute has just received a radio transmission from the lost airship Jane Guy! The brief encrypted message cut unexpectedly into one of our regular communication channels shortly before 11pm last night, at the height of a powerful electrical storm, and was repeated at five-minute intervals until our antenna was damaged by the high winds. The auxiliary receiver was powered up as quickly as could be managed, but the signal could not be recovered.

The Dept. of Exploration, who continue to presume their sole authority in the case, have not yet released the decrypted message (to Institute-wide consternation), but new orders were immediately flashed to the Man-Cub, and the crew of the airship Anodos has been placed on alert (the D. of E. denies that there is any connection between these events, but you can guess what I think of that).

I will continue to report what I can, when I can.

=PD

New Release: Disvega - Idrosfera

Disvega - Idrosfera
[free download, 320kpbs mp3]

"Idrosfera is a journey through the continuous, infinite water cycle: from the rain to the water-bearings, from the rivers to the sea, the cycle constantly repeats itself. The whole musical project was realized for the pictorial works of Riccardo Ruberti and it was presented in 2005 during the painter's exhibition at the Bottega del Caffè of Leghorn."

01. La pioggia
02. Le acque sotterranee
03. Il ruscello
04. Il mare

Heads Up

Watch for the new album from Disvega, to be released very soon on this label!

Literature: A Buyer's Guide to Maps of Antarctica

Clarkesworld Magazine presents, for your reading pleasure, a lovely short story by Catherynne M. Valente: A Buyer's Guide to Maps of Antarctica.

The title is entirely accurate as to the form of the piece, through which device gradually unfolds a history of great delicacy and beauty, which evokes an almost Dunsanian elegiac whimsy. I do not wish to spoil the story by offering specifics, but there are images which will stay with me.



This Plague of Dreaming is not affiliated with either Catherynne Valente or Clarkesworld Magazine, and offers this link simply as a free show of admiration for a wonderful story.

Little to report.

My seasonal duties around the compound have required my full attention lately, and I have consequently been neglecting this blog - inadvertently leaving some of you, I am sure, hanging in suspense. I can reassure you that you haven't missed anything of substance, though the mystery continues to deepen merely as a function of passing time. The investigatory team on-board the air-clipper Man-Cub is pursuing some tentative leads, but it is too early for me to report on what they may have found, except to say that it was not the Jane Guy.

Spring is always a busy time at the Plaguedream Institute, even when we don't have a vanished airship not on our hands, as it were. Even with everything that's going on, I hope to be able to bring you some news more pertinent to our musical pursuits in the near future.

Lastly, I am relieved to say that we have received a message from To Repel Ghosts, informing us that they are well and will be returning to the compound as soon as they have completed their current activities (neither of which I doubted), and that they will be bringing with them a new musical artist for our roster (which is news to me, and remains to be seen).

Stay on the beam for news of upcoming releases!

=PD

when n. was in the army

Of late, our friend and colleague Fabrizio Torri has been sharing in his blog the recollections of the soldier N., and his unusual experiences in the military. To the sort of reader who finds something of interest in this our own humble blog, I can suggest that you may take similar reward from a perusal of N.'s strange history.

If you are moved to follow my recommendation, please begin here, at the bottom of the page, and follow the chronological trail of posts upwards to the present day (and, perhaps, beyond). It is a strange narrative, yet perhaps not so very unfamiliar. Did fear or prudence not seal our lips, how many of us could unlock hidden chapters in our own biographies?

when n. was in the army
he discovered that he could materialize small animals,