This Omnibus is brought to you by The Soaring Twenties Social Club. Everything you want to know about our community and why you should join is contained within this post ⬇️⬇️⬇️
Letter From The Founder
Right. Lesser (or perhaps more sensible/commercially savvy) operations would have made this weeks instalment a spooky Halloween special and marched down that extremely well trodden road. But not us (at least not this year). No instead we simply and humbly offer you an absolutely unmatched selection of brand new essays, stories, poetry and visual arts, all to your inbox all for free.
We have seasoned regulars doing their thing, mainstays dipping into new genres (Trilety with fiction, Oleg with poetry) as well as brand new contributors presenting their debut works here (art by Shiny Designs and a statement of intent from Robin). Something for everyone as always.
Plus on Tuesday we send out the November edition of the Symposium. The theme is on Work and I can promise you it is going to be outstanding.
So enjoy your weekend and enjoy what we have created for you,
Live well,
Tom.
Essays
Driving in the Dark by Yardena
A short piece on night driving plus music, links and more. Evocative.
Atlantic Canada Mondays - Neither British Nor USian by Mark
I would argue that the u in flavour and neighbour rather than being a flourish is in fact an essential component which my cousins from across the pond omit out of laziness. But then I’m biased. I’m also biased towards Marks work however and this is yet another excellent, entertaining piece from our man from Canada.
Skull Wisdom by Pr0ph3t
I love this field notes from the future series, I love Pr0ph3ts insight and vision and as a result I loved this latest essay of his. Essential reading for the present moment and beyond.
The Existential Horrors of Middle Age: A Haunted House Experience!
Middle age as Halloween horror complete with audio narration and vintage Halloween illustrations. Incredibly well observed stuff here. This stood out:
Watch your partner shower the baby with goodbye kisses, repeating over and over “I am going to miss you so much!” then turn to you, quickly say “k bye,” and walk out the door.
ouch.
Give Yourself the Chance to be Blessed by Charlie Becker
Build. Join. Share. A simple but powerful reminder from Charlie. In an age where it is easy to default to being a spectator, it’s always good to be reminded of the importance and rewards of participation.
Reflection #16 by Clint
This is how my day began, unique and beautiful, as all days are, in reality, and I cherished this one in my heart, recognizing that, for this day anyway, I noticed.
This, friends, is what this business of living is all about.
Everyone Deserves An Advocate by Luke Burgis
If you’re not already a member of Luke’s community, I highly, highly recommend you give it a go. This post gives you an insight into Luke’s vision and direction for it. I’m a big advocate (ahem) for Luke’s method of leadership for his community.
bookmark #559 by Deepansh
the more years pass, the more my appetite for silence and peace grows. i want to devour the calm on a regular day, and i wish to drown in the banal conversation that seems to go nowhere and everywhere all at once.
Hugely relatable for me. Yet another great, great piece from Deepansh.
One Year Of Addiction by Vanya
I’m not going to take any credit for what Vanya has achieved with his fiction to date, I’ll simply say that I’m proud of what he has managed to create and share with us here. A unique talent.
Possible Paths for AI Regulation by Stephanie
Some hugely important questions are asked and considered here in the depth they deserve. Expect such ideas to become way more mainstream among those having serious conversations about where we are going.
Language Distinctions by Charles Schifano
On distinctions, abuses and the changing nature of the English language. And fortunately Charles walks the walk here by being a fantastic prose stylist. Another essential, extremely readable piece from out man.
How to Learn Things (Like Sheet Music) By Heart by Yuelian
I’m just gonna call it how I see it- This is Yuelians best essay to date. It’s as simple as that.
What This Is by Robin
Say hello to new contributor Robin. And sign up to her Substack and leave her a comment too. I have very high hopes for this publication, I must say.
Fiction/Poetry
IN TOO DEEP #4 by G K Gaius
This series just keeps getting better and better. Has a real way of reeling the reader in.
Quick Fiction on Working by Trilety
After a decade off, Trilety gets back into fiction writing. This seems to be what the STSC does to people. And hopefully we will see a lot more of Trilety the fiction writer here. Great stuff.
Soured-struck, with lippers pucked, scored & sore, by James Maynard
You know how they say someone has a way with words? Well James is that guy. It’s amazing how hard it is to write poetry as controlled yet free as this.
Sun and Cloud by Adam Kozak
Absolutely beautiful, lyrical work from Adam here. There’s so much evocative imagery packed into this verse.
Poems, October 2022 by Oleg
Oleg enters the poetry fray here. And as well as being a prolific essays and now STSC mainstay he also proves himself to be an extremely capable poet as well. A real talent.
Visual Art
Mixed Media Orbs by Shiny Designs
Another first time submission here from Shiny Designs. Welcome to the STSC!
10 more photos on Fuji 200 by Sam Bartol
I’m partial to #7 here but you should definitely click the link and check out all of Sam’s new shots.
Podcasts
Methodist Acting and Dickensian Childhoods (Tragedies of Modernity #22) by Thomas J Bevan and Craig Burgess
So that’s two episode recording back to back. That might be a record for consistency for us, and the recording later today is also still ago touch wood. Matchless professionalism. Anyway, enjoy this glimpse into our grim Victorian childhoods.
Expired Podcasters (The Wednesday Audio #76) by Craig Burgess
He’s only gone and turned it into one of those narrative non-fiction crime documentary podcasts they have now, hasn’t he? What a world.
TJB Film Recommendation
Night of The Hunter (1955)
D. Charles Laughton
W. James Agee, Charles Laughton, Davis Grubb
S. Robert Mitchum, Shelley Winters, Lillian Gish
With Halloween nearly upon us the temptation for a film recommender such as myself is to use this space here to point you in the direction of a gory, campy slasher film or a brutal and neglected video nasty.
But I’m not going to so that, instead I’m going to champion (yet again) our man Robert Mitchum by highlighting the classic American gothic masterpiece The Night of The Hunter. Now, this is no horror film per se- although Mitchum’s incredible performance is at times down right chilling- but it does have a dark fairytale quality to it.
Further I would argue that this is one of the greatest films of all time, and though it was sadly the only film directed by the actor Charles Laughton, Laughton was I hope consoled by the fact that the one film he helmed was about as flawless ad you can get.
The cinematography, the direction and the central performances all combine to create a work that truly transcends its genre. Essential viewing.
Thanks as always for reading/listening and thanks in advance for pressing all of those various buttons at the bottom which help the Omnibus spread further.
Also I can again confirm that Craig and I will be recording a new episode of the Tragedies of Modernity podcast tonight at 8pm GMT. We’ll host it and record it live from the STSC community and then post it via this Substack tomorrow.
If you want to join us live and listen in and post questions/comments/heckles in the podcast channel chat you are more than welcome. You simply have to sign up to the community first.
I look forward to seeing you over at the Social Club.
Cheers!
Hi, I'm a visual and verbal artist. I saw the marvelous visual artwork below and am wondering if I might be able to post an artwork, too? My website is: lynnyounginsanantonio.com
Thanks bunches for your assistance, Lynn Young