Archived News from the Poison Pie Publishing House.

News Updates From 2022:

 

On-going Blog Series

December 31, 2022
The Writing of Hebeloma's Abyssal Aria Is Complete
The writing of Hebeloma's Abyssal Aria, accomplished in approximately 100 words per day on each day of 2022, is now concluded. The full text of the completed score is available for viewing on a free, anonymous basis.

Several related documents have also been updated today, as described below.

The entirety of the Abyssal Aria, however, is not complete. The writings for the month of December have been delivered today to Julia Keffer, the artist creating the monthly chapter heading illustrations. This final illustration will appear sometime in the first month or two of the new year.

As described in the forward of the Abyssal Aria, the final two steps in the creative process, namely the reading of the score and the musical performance are intentionally left to undetermined dates.

 

December 26, 2022
New Issue of the International Journal of Exploratory Meta-Living
In observance of the tenth anniversary of the current electronic manifestation of the Poison Pie Publishing House, we post an interview with the editor-in-chief, Ms. Hebeloma Crustuliniforme, who has been with the publishing house since its renewal. In this issue she speaks on a variety of topics including her evolving role into workhorse artist at the publishing house.

 

November 25, 2022
September Chapter Illustration for Hebeloma's Abyssal Aria
The ninth chapter illustration for the month of September has been added to Hebeloma's Abyssal Aria. These illustrations are created by Julia K. Keffer of Bus Stop Art Show () for the musical score. Additionally, the Poison Pie Publishing House hosts a gallery of various works by Julia Keffer.

 

November 24, 2022
Musical Instrument Museum
Last week, some members of the staff of the Poison Pie Publishing House visited the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix, Arizona. We were not properly prepared to anticipate just how amazing and expansive the MIM is. We wandered leisurely through three galleries downstairs over the course of two hours, only to discover when we headed upstairs that there were separate galleries for each continent on Earth. We began in Africa and soon encountered installations not only for each country but, for example in the case of the Democratic Republic of Congo, separate installations for six distinct cultural groups within the nation. Each installation included numerous instruments as well as a television screen with a roughly five to ten minute video containing excerpts from two or three performances. To watch all of the videos in just the African exhibit would probably have taken four or five hours. This is a museum for which one needs many visits to fully appreciate. We had allocated one morning.


Footed Drum (Fante people, Ghana, 1940-1950; wood, animal skin, paint)
We report on only one of the many thousands of instruments in the MIM collection, a footed drum, shown here, quoting from the museum placard. "This artistically conceived, sculptural drum reinforces African concepts of anthropomorphism in musical instruments, often addressed as "living things" or human-like embodiments. Indeed, its female anatomical features may identify it as the "mother of the ensemble". The low-relief carved figures on its body relate to proverbial knowledge, and many reference concepts of ethnic or national identity. The flared goblet shape of this drum and symbolic ideals it embodies traveled long distances, reappearing in reinterpreted forms via African descendants in the Americas..."

Casual fans as well as connoisseurs of musical instruments will both find much to enjoy at the MIM. Should your travels take you to Phoenix, this is an attraction not to be missed.

 

September 10, 2022
Four New Chapter Illustrations for Hebeloma's Abyssal Aria
The staff of the Poison Pie Publishing House are pleased to announce that chapter illustrations for the months of May, June, July and August have been added to Hebeloma's Abyssal Aria. These illustrations are created by Julia K. Keffer () for the musical score. Additionally, the Poison Pie Publishing House hosts a gallery of various works by Julia Keffer, including one exhibit of exploratory works for the Abyssal Aria, some of which served as drafts for the final paintings selected as chapter headings.

 

August 27, 2022
A Scarf for Hebeloma's Abyssal Aria



The staff of the Poison Pie Publishing House are pleased to display a scarf bearing artwork created by Julia K. Keffer from the musical score, Hebeloma's Abyssal Aria. The Poison Pie Publishing House hosts a gallery of various works by Julia Keffer.

The adventures of Julia K. Keffer and the Bus Stop Art Show can be followed on .

 

August 12, 2022
First Four Chapter Illustrations for Hebeloma's Abyssal Aria
The staff of the Poison Pie Publishing House are pleased to announce that chapter illustrations for the first four months of the year have been added to Hebeloma's Abyssal Aria. These illustrations (as well as those for the forthcoming subsequent eight months) are created by Julia K. Keffer for the musical score. The Poison Pie Publishing House hosts a gallery of various works by Julia Keffer.

 

July 19, 2022
Exploratory Illustrations for Hebeloma's Abyssal Aria (continued)
The staff of the Poison Pie Publishing House post two new draft illustrations by Julia K. Keffer for the musical score, Hebeloma's Abyssal Aria. Interested visitors can view works in progress on the gallery page.

 

July 10, 2022
Cattleya M'Lisse Green
The staff of the Poison Pie Publishing House have posted a new gallery of shrinky dink renderings of Cattleya M'Lisse Green, a breed of orchid. These images are of orchids grown by Kay McGucken of Temple Terrace.

June 29, 2022
Symbols of Four Books from the Poison Pie Publishing House, written 2014 - 2016
The staff of the Poison Pie Publishing House have posted a gallery of signage for four books written from late 2014 through 2016. The graphics were created by Ms. Marie Poonawala in 2016. This translation into shrinky dinks occurs belatedly. The books represented include

  • The Augur in the Arbor Inn: A Tautological Myth of Evolution (2015)
  • The Portable Library of Hong Samud: a novel that grew as a vine grows, guided by an innate, phototactic sensitivity (2015)
  • Wouldn't the Wood Weird: Impractical Prayers from the Spindle of the Void (2016)
  • The Ornithological Collection of Uwetsiageyv: A Flight of Fancy in Two Hundred and One Parts (2016)
All of these books are classified as "post-existential fantasies" with the caveat that Wouldn't the Wood Weird is a "post-existential romantic fantasy". Three of the books are available electronically on a free and anonymous basis. See the gallery for more information.

 

June 25, 2022
Libraries from The Portable Library of Hong Samud
The staff of the Poison Pie Publishing House have posted a gallery of signage for a few libraries selected from among the infinite number connected to Hong Samud's library. All of these libraries appear in the novel, The Portable Library of Hong Samud (2015). The graphics were created by Ms. Marie Poonawala in 2016. This translation into shrinky dinks occurs six years after the fact. The portrait of Hong Samud is based on an original artwork painted by Mr. Nobuhito Tanaka in the late 1990s. In addition to the new gallery, the PPPH site contains both notes on the novel as well as access to the full text on a free and anonymous basis.

 

June 12, 2022
Exploratory Illustrations for Hebeloma's Abyssal Aria
The staff of the Poison Pie Publishing House post another exciting draft illustration by Julia K. Keffer as she prepares to create the monthly chapter illustrations for the musical score, Hebeloma's Abyssal Aria. Interested visitors can view works in progress on the gallery page.

 

June 2, 2022
Themes of Hebeloma's Abyssal Aria & Swamp Fantasy Overture
The staff of the Poison Pie Publishing House have received a request to provide a short statement regarding the differences between the musical scores, Hebeloma's Swamp Fantasy Overture (2021) and Hebeloma's Abyssal Aria (2022). This is a simple request to grant since the primary difference is already well documented on this site. The Swamp Fantasy Overture follows Periboea while the Abyssal Aria follows Eurymedusa, both of whom were ostensibly sacrificial victims offered by King Minos to the Minotaur. The respective scores relate the distinct adventures of these two young women, after their escapes from the labyrinth. That their experiences should be different is a result of their unique personalities. The primary trait that distinguishes Periboea and Eurymedusa can be found with a brief perusal of either the physical or electronic implementations of Horoscopes from the Oracle of Hebeloma, extracted from A Practicum on Divination via Cleromancy (2019).

 

June 1, 2022
Exploratory Illustrations for Hebeloma's Abyssal Aria
The staff of the Poison Pie Publishing House are excited to announce that Julia K. Keffer of Bus Stop Art Show has agreed to provide monthly chapter illustrations for the musical score, Hebeloma's Abyssal Aria. She has begun to explore the possibilities for these chapter headers. Interested visitors can view works in progress on the gallery page.

We feel compelled to append to this announcement a peripherally-related, explanatory note on the various asynchronous processes present in Hebeloma's Abyssal Aria. As we perceive it, there are at least five time elements, in which the musical, literary, artistic and various interpretative actions of the Abyssal Aria take place.

  • On one day, sometime many decades in the past, one or more musicians played the music, to which each daily passage in the Abyssal Aria is written.
  • The writing of a passage of the Abyssal Aria occurred on a second, different day.
  • The artwork for the Abyssal Aria was created on a third day.
  • The reading of the passages and viewing of the artwork in the Abyssal Aria occurred on fourth day, different for each visitor.
  • On a fifth day, perhaps many decades in the future, the musical performance of the Abyssal Aria takes place.
Some of the processes in this cycle have already concluded, while others remain underway and still others have not yet begun. The notion that all these actions should have transpired on the same day is, of course, absurd and contrary to the fundamental manner in which human beings experience time.

 

May 30, 2022
Cephalopod Cultists from Hebeloma's Abyssal Aria and beyond
The staff of the Poison Pie Publishing House have posted a gallery of cephalopod cultists rendered as shrinkydinks. Several of these characters make an appearance in Hebeloma's Abyssal Aria (2022).

 

April 15, 2022
Twelve Months from Hebeloma's Swamp Fantasy Overture
Without any special fanfare, the staff of the Poison Pie Publishing House announce an exhibit of the twelve monthly chapter illustrations created for Hebeloma's Swamp Fantasy Overture (2021). The original illustrations were created by Julia K. Keffer of Bus Stop Art Show and are posted in their own gallery on this site. This new exhibit features the same twelve artworks rendered as shrinky dinks by the staff of the PPPH.

 

March 20, 2022
Shrinky Dink Mobiles: Bird Faeries


In 2017, An Ornithological Grimoire of East Tennessee was published by the Poison Pie Publishing House. The book contains twelve bird-themed magic spells and is illustrated with felt fingerpuppets, designed by Ruth Marie Keffer. Each featured species of bird is found in the local environs surrounding the Poison Pie Publishing House. Today, the staff of the PPPH add shrinky dink renderings of the full complement of bird faeries. The link to the exhibit is here.

 

March 12, 2022
Shrinky Dink Mobiles: 4 Faeries
The staff of the Poison Pie Publishing House add shrinky dink renderings of four distinct species of faerie. These faeries appeared in The Faerienomicon, published in 2014. The link to the exhibit is here.

 

March 5, 2022
Shrinky Dink Mobiles: 4 Dwarves
The staff of the Poison Pie Publishing House add shrinky dink renderings of four distinct species of dwarf. These dwarves appeared in The Faerienomicon, published in 2014. One of them had previously appeared as a member of the main adventuring party in The Mushroomnomicon (2013). The link to the exhibit is here.

 

February 26, 2022
Shrinky Dink Mobiles: 4 Dragons
In their questionable quest to describe the world in miniature plastic, the staff of the Poison Pie Publishing House continue to generate shrinky dink renderings of characters and creatures lurking inside the pages of their books. This latest quartet includes four species of dragons, all of whom appeared in The Faerienomicon, published in 2014. One of these noble creatures had an earlier debut, playing the role of the villain in The Mushroomnomicon (2013). The link to the exhibit is here.

 

February 21, 2022
The Resurfacing of Moros & Adranís
Today's entry in Hebeloma's Abyssal Aria features the resurfacing of two friends of the Poison Pie Publishing House, long thought lost. Moros & Adranís, shown here rendered as felt fingerpuppets, originally appeared in the illustrated story, Tales of the Mushroom People II: Call of Cthulhushroom (2012), and later made a promotional appearance for the freely distributed short story, The Leg (2013), both published by the Poison Pie Publishing House.

 

 

 

February 19, 2022
Shrinky Dink Mobiles: 4 Robots
We add shrinky dink renderings of another quartet of characters from A Bestiary of East Tennessee, published by Poison Pie Publishing House in 2015. The link to the exhibit is here.

 

February 12, 2022
Hebeloma's Swamp Fantasy Overture: First Edition Hardcover
The first edition of Hebeloma's Swamp Fantasy Overture is published today in a numbered set of fourteen. The hardcover book runs 171 pages including indices. Hebeloma's Swamp Fantasy Overture is a post-existential musical score generated through a non-idiomatic, improvisational creative process. It was serially published on a daily basis in 2021 on the blog of the Poison Pie Publishing House. Hebeloma's Swamp Fantasy Overture recounts the adventure of Periboea, one of fourteen youths offered to the minotaur by King Minos, immediately after she escaped from the labyrinth. The score is illustrated by the Bus Stop Art Show and each book in the first edition is accompanied by a set of twelve postcards featuring all of the illustrations created as monthly chapter headings. The electronic version of Hebeloma's Swamp Fantasy Overture remains available via free, anonymous access.

 

February 12, 2022
Shrinky Dink Mobiles: 4 Nymphs
We add shrinky dink renderings of another quartet of characters from The Faerienomicon, published by Poison Pie Publishing House in 2014. The link to the exhibit is here.

 

February 5, 2022
Shrinky Dink Mobiles: 4 Elementals
We add shrinky dink renderings of another quartet of characters from A Bestiary of East Tennessee, published by Poison Pie Publishing House in 2015. The link to the exhibit is here.

 

January 29, 2022
Shrinky Dink Mobiles: 4 Demons
We add shrinky dink renderings of another quartet of characters from A Bestiary of East Tennessee, published by Poison Pie Publishing House in 2015. The link to the exhibit is here.

 

January 23, 2022
Shrinky Dink Mobiles: 4 Angels
To pass the cold days of winter indoors, the staff of the Poison Pie Publishing House is revisiting well-loved characters, who have made appearances in books published by the PPPH in years past, by rendering them as shrinky dinks. The first set to be showcased on the blog are 4 angels, who originally appeared in A Bestiary of East Tennessee (2015). The link to the exhibit is here.

 

January 22, 2022
Color Illustrations for Hebeloma's Swamp Fantasy Overture are Complete
In 2021, the Poison Pie Publishing House serially published in daily installments of one hundred words the musical score, Hebeloma's Swamp Fantasy Overture. Julia K. Keffer of the Bus Stop Art Show of Phoenix, Arizona created illustrations for each month. We have received the last three of these works and have added them to the freely available electronic version of the score at the top of each month. We have also collected the twelve artworks on a separate page in the PPPH gallery. Hebeloma's Swamp Fantasy Overture recounts the adventure of Periboea, one of the maidens offered to the minotaur by King Minos, immediately after she escaped from the labyrinth. A forthcoming paper copy of the score includes the same illustrations as black and white sketches.

 

January 1, 2022
2021: The Year in Review at the Poison Pie Publishing House
In the year 2021, the staff of the Poison Pie Publishing House produced exactly three books.

First, an epilogue was published to the tetralogy: How I Survived the Presidency of Douchebag J. Troglodyte: A Daily Account, which is comprised of one page written each day from January 1, 2017 through December 31, 2020. Because the tetralogy was intended to map onto the term of the forty-fifth president of the United States of America, whose time in office did not officially end until January 20, 2021, the epilogue to the tetralogy was published in daily installments for the first twenty days of 2021, until the inauguration of the next president. Who knew that the insurrection at the capitol building of January 6, 2021 would occur during the writing but, of course, it influenced the epilogue. Four brief explanatory notes as well as links to the full text of the entire tetralogy are available on the tetralogy page.

Second, Morning Commute & Other Poems contains twenty-four selected poems by Hippolyta Apesbury. The initial printing was a limited edition of fifty copies issued in celebration of Hippolyta's fiftieth birthday, October 25, 2021. The cover was created by by Julia K. Keffer of Bus Stop Art Show (@busstopartshow), who has a gallery on this site.


Third, Hebeloma's Swamp Fantasy Overture, a post-existential musical score generated through a non-idiomatic, improvisational creative process, was serially published on a daily basis in 2021 on the blog of the Poison Pie Publishing House. The score is also illustrated by Bus Stop Art Show. Hebeloma's Swamp Fantasy Overture recounts the adventure of Periboea, one of the maidens offered to the minotaur by King Minos, immediately after she escaped from the labyrinth.

Also of note in 2021, the PPPH blog hosted Balloon Materials, an exploration of chemistry, biochemistry and materials science by rendering compounds and materials as envisioned by balloon artist, Kay Balloonawala (@k_balloonawala).

Lastly, the staff of the Poison Pie Publishing House continued to sporadically produce music reviews.

The staff of the Poison Pie Publishing House is no longer setting annual goals. However, the daily blog will continue, with the intention of engaging in non-idiomatic improvisation. This work will take the form of a musical score and is titled, Hebeloma's Abyssal Aria (2022).

To our readers, we, the staff of the Poison Pie Publishing House, thank you for your patronage and support and we look forward to another mutually creative and unpredictable year.