brentley.com

Over christmas in 2007 RETORT MAGAZINE was hacked and damaged by someone for reasons unknown, the entire year of content was deleted including the backup logs directly from the server. That was very discouraging. This year the new and improved phpBSS forum was regularly flooded with hardcore pornography, I banned a range of IP addresses in an attempt to prevent this from happening. The hacker retaliated and broke into the administration GUI of the forum and deleted my admin account thus preventing me from logging in to delete the porn. My host was unable to fix this so I had to remove the forum entirely. My apologies, I will rebuild the forum as time permits. I think it is a bit of a coincidence that right now in Australia websites are being banned for linking to illegal content and that the majority of said porn in Retort’s forum was of females of questionable age and that the texts links pointed to beastiality and other illegal to view material. Is someone trying to get RETORT blacklisted for containing links to prohibited content? Over the years some people, usually those in a position of ‘authority’ have asked me why I publish Retort Magazine, considering that it costs me money and lots of time and I have never made a cent of profit. Here is my reply, I’ve said something like this before: Jack Kerouac, arguing with a hippy on a talk show, said that he had made himself famous by celebrating life, by writing songs and lyrics and poems about the beauty (and the ugliness) of the people he knew and the things he did; in turn he said that the hippy had made himself famous by protest and protest alone. In reply to this, during the same documentary which contains this footage, our literary grandfather William Burroughs said that Jesus Christ stated that it is by the fruits of their labour that you shall know them, not by their disclaimers. Poets, writers and artists have inherited a very messy canvas, the fruits of the Baby Boomers labour, oppresive fascist government and paternalistic intervention in our daily lives, authorised ads on television… RETORT is literally a hybrid of beat and hippy philosophies. On one side of the coin we are a celebration of the creative and experimental human spirit but like a Magician in the streets who palms the coin, it becomes a canon with a thousand literate and angry mouths shouting at the oppressors.

Nearly all the original beats are in their grave, the hippys (my parents generation) have completely ruined nearly everything and retired to sell crystals and dolphin mementos in beachside tourist resorts. Contemporary literature is dominated by corporate directives and opportunities given only to those who can be exploited to join the party on the floor of the boardrooms. Retort Magazine is a direct descendant of the traditional writer published magazine. Retort exists primarily to provide a formal publication opportunity with a large established readership. I believe that despite the fact that this project has cost me thousands of dollars and just as many hours with zero financial return, that it has developed into a powerful and effective tool of communication. Many thanks to everyone who has been involved and intends to become involved. And long live RETORT. (up yours hacker).

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