*

p.s. Good morning. Well, as of now, meaning my bedtime last night, there aren't too many comments, so I'll address those tonight/last night and maybe even get to the ones in morning. If not, I'll catch up with the ones I didn't get to on Saturday. ** Misanthrope, Weird how the brain can keep learning. Painful? I didn't expect that. But now you've got studly fingers. Always look on the bright side. ** David Ehrenstein, Hey. Well, he's quite the thing, that Miss Thing, isn't he? ** _Black_Acrylic, It's all gone pretty well here, thanks. A ton left to do, but we're getting there. That hotel you're staying looks totally okay. And it's in the Marais, which is a great location Yeah, it sounds good. Score! ** Changeling, Truckers surely do have a bad rap. Oh, 'Hogg', yeah, initially when I read it, I thought it was too relentless and samey and kind of ran out of gas after a while, but, on second reading, it didn't seem that way. That's a pretty simple explanation, sorry. I can say more when I'm not sleepy and about to go to bed. Writing the p.s. at night is kind of weird. I can see what I don't do it now. Ha ha, that's true about 'kind of's' effect on 'interesting'. Good one. I'll click over and read the blog stuff when I get back to Paris. Today -- or tomorrow technically to me at the moment -- is going to be a hellhole of plane to train to event to bed to train, etc., and I don't think I'll get a minute's peace. But I look forward to it greatly. Guacamole, yum. I don't know what 'American Mary is', hm, but I will soon. Have a great day and tomorrow. ** Dom Lyne, Hi, Dom! Yeah, having ... I don't comrades, or maybe just fellow passengers (?), I can imagine the hardness and the niceness. It seems like you're thinking really clearly about it. And about the importance of the decision being yours. Good question about how that (meds) is that best for you. I guess the logic, if there is one, is that the more comfortable they feel treating you, the better the treatment? Hm, I don't know. Anyway, onwards and upwards, and really great. Things are good with me, thanks. Hugs and love right back to you. ** Steevee, Hi, Steve. Very cool about the VV gig. That sounds real meaty and rich. Something you can, you know, sink your teeth into, etc. And fun too, no? Really fun material anyway. Great! Interesting: the Slate/Malick stuff. I think I did read once about that 'Dirty Harry' thing. I'd love to read that script or draft. ** 5STRINGS, Wow, hard to imagine you like you were. Trippy. I never got that into Gysin. I don't know. I don't totally buy his thing, I guess. He is pretty great painter though. I think Tarbes boys are probably pretty horny, but not for he likes of our kind, as far as I can tell, and from what Mr. Capedevielle says. Pink Emo looks pretty and complex inside. I'll have to peruse tomorrow, but ... Everyone, 5STRINGS' Pink Emo' is yours for the clicking. ** ASH, Hi, ASH! Thanks a lot. Trying to get a band on the go? Awesome. Veritable music to my ears. I like the Swans album. It was on my Top Whatever of 2012 list. Me too: super psyched for the new Iceage. No, still have not seen them. I've missed every gig. They're back in Paris again in a few months, and I refuse to be out of town this time. I'm still hoping bordering on planning to go to Euroheedfest III. The only thing that'll stop me is if I have to be here to work on the theater piece then. We'll see. Fingers very crossed. Really good to see you! ** Will C., Thanks so much, Will! It was/is really superb, and I really appreciate it. Here's hoping you find a job soon for sure. ** Bollo, Hi, J. Things are good. Long, hard work days, but we made the kind of forward movement we needed. Sick again? No, shit, this winter seems really rampant with contagion. Cool listening and curious reading, unknown to me in the latter case, except for, yeah, Patrick's first book 'Ablutions'. I think my approval was indeed stamped on its back. Feel better, kick that thing. ** Cobaltfram, France has its hardcore Catholics. A bunch of them made this big, media-splashy anti-gay marriage march the other day that you might even have read about, but, so far, they seem fringey. 'Amour' was on my 'best of' list, so, yeah, I seem to have to liked it. I'll email you my LA address when I get back to Paris tomorrow. Thank you again! Take care. ** Chris Dankland, Hi, Chris. Sure, quote whatever you like, yes. It would be an honor. Very happy if I was able to be helpful.  Exactly, about the connection to teaching. That makes total sense. When I took poetry workshops in college, the teachers said that all they hoped for was that the occasional young wanna poet would be helped and end up making a life as a poet. And, yeah, about Alt Lit, and I don't need to even say to you that it has the universal access and reach thing, which is one of the innovative and crazy things about it. I saw the Vice article and comment thing last night. Jesus, my first thought was that it was big shame that the first sort of overview of the movement was a skimmy, dumb, agenda-driven piece of shit like that, but, yeah, it's so obviously lacking in experience and understanding that it's really just an eye-roller. Really, it's such an unconvincing and unsubstantial rant of thing, it's not to be taken seriously. If it's riling up people in Alt Lit, hopefully it's just strengthening and solidifying or something. But, yeah, such a lame piece. Curious to see if there are interesting response pieces. It could provide a very useful opportunity, we'll see. So, yeah, get over to Paris sometime. That would be really cool. All right, take care until the weekend, man. ** Chris Cochrane, Hi, Chris! I'm good. Stuff's good. Today is going to suck, but I'll be talking up 'Them' to the Poitier folks, so hopefully I can make it sound like a must-see. I'm kind of literally in pain at having missed your piece with Rico, et. al. I really, really hoped it got videoed. Surely, it did, yes? I'll let you know what I'm listening to when I get back to Paris. I'm in a scramble to get the airport this morning, but I will. Lots of love, pal. ** Anonymous, I figured it was you. It's cool, trying to solve the mystery was fun. ** Trees, Hey! Nice day/night you had there, Mr. T. There kind of is nothing better in some weird way than a bad horror movie when you're in a good mood and relaxed. Not a provable theory, but, ... ha ha. Aesop: okay, I'll ask him tomorrow about Aesop. He's having his tonsils taken out today, but I'm sure he can blink once for yes and twice for no at the very least. Gotta zoom in the airport's direction now, but take care until next time, man. ** Right. I got this book thing for you today. Hope you like it. You'll get a hopefully nice rerun and greeting from me tomorrow and then I'll see you with a new thing, and I'll catch up with you too, on Saturday. Stay great until then.

----



'Should the artist be a man of the word? Paul Thek came up in the '50s and '60s, when it was hard to answer "no," when "avant-garde artist" became a profession, an idea that repulsed him. Wrestling with this question in 1979, Thek wrote to a priest, "I am OK, still trying to be 'an artist' in the secular world . . . as you know, the world is the world, very 'worldly,' etc., etc." He longed for recognition, but had little respect for posturing or artistic orthodoxies, retreating to Europe - and even, late in his life, to a monastery - for long periods.





'Curator and critic Richard Flood called Thek's career one of the great failures of contemporary art, and not-so-famous artists may cherish the nobility he confers on obscurity. But some famous artists (Mike Kelley, Robert Gober, Kiki Smith) seem to favor Thek as well, for providing an alternative to the abstraction/Pop/Minimalism bloodline, a source more idiosyncratic than Oedipal. Like Ray Johnson, Thek was an artist's artist - an insider rather than an outsider - despite the naive painting style he affected.





'Thek (pronounced "Tek") possessed a wide range of technical skills and an even wider range of aesthetic interests and intellectual concerns. His work was often in advance even of the avant-garde of the time, and though he sold some paintings and sculptures, he never enjoyed much success in his lifetime. (He died of AIDS at age 55 in 1988.) This may have been due in part to difficult, sometimes off-putting subject matter. But Thek himself was difficult, according to Carolyn Alexander of the New York gallery Alexander and Bonin, which represents his work: "Thek was not the easiest person, and his gallery relationships often foundered." Alexander's partner, Ted Bonin, elaborates: "He didn't really care if the art world liked his work, or liked him."' -- Katy Sigel, Artforum



Selected Works:

The Technological Reliquaries, late '60s








'Paul Thek began a group of "meat" pieces in the mid-1960s. They evolved primarily from two negative impulses: a reaction against the clean, cool forms of Minimalist and Pop Art and, more importantly, his revulsion with U.S. involvement in Vietnam. Both impulses positioned the artist in opposition to the mainstream current, where he continued to stand until his death from AIDS in 1988.

'The meat pieces suggest the fragile hold on life that is our shared human condition. Generally encased in vitrines resembling both an incubator and a glass casket, these pieces lead the viewer to contemplate the literal and spiritual mortification of the flesh that haunted Thek throughout his career as an artist.' -- Walker Arts Center

"I was amused at the idea of meat under Plexiglas because I thought it made fun of the scene--where the name of the game seemed to be 'how cool you can be' and 'how refined.' Nobody ever mentioned anything that seemed real. The world was falling apart, anyone could see it." -- Paul Thek, 1981


Arm, 1967




'Thek completed the piece Arm between 1966 and 1967. Encased in a Lucite box reminiscent of reliquaries that contain the bones of saints, the sculpture made of wood, wax, leather, metal and paint depicts, with startling realism, the arm of a soldier from the age of the Roman Empire, hacked off at the shoulder. e look at the larger-than-life statues of warriors whose names once stiffened the spines and lifted the hearts of all who heard them, and somehow they are just statues, no longer much more than bronze or marble. But in Thek's sad, disembodied arm, left on some ancient field of the artist's imagining, we see a monument that despite its ancient trappings, defies time. This is an unsentimental memorial to horror and loss—war's unrelenting companions—a grim reminder that even as the bands play on, some will no longer march.' -- Smithsonian Magazine


The Tomb - Death of a Hippie, 1967





'In 1967, Paul Thek made one of the great, lost works in American art. The Tomb — Death of a Hippie was a large pink ziggurat containing a body cast of the artist attired in pink clothes and shoes. The tongue lolls from an opened mouth as in a swoon, the fingers of the right hand have been severed, and scattered around the body are offerings for the afterlife. The installation presented the artist as an eroticized, victimized vagabond; a creature shaped by Vietnam and Altamont, Kent State and Hair—a martyred hero for a new lost generation. In 1970, The Tomb came to Minneapolis in the Walker-organized exhibition Figures and Environments, which was installed in the auditorium of Dayton’s department store during construction of the Walker Art Center building. Years later, a badly damaged cast of the “hippie” was returned to Thek after an exhibition, but he refused to receive it; after storing it without pay, the shipper presumably destroyed it.' -- Richard Flood, Walker Art Center


Dwarf Parade Table, 1969




Apfel, 1969




Document, 1969 (Paul Thek and Edwin Klein)





'At the installation stage of his career, and until the end of his life, Paul Thek questioned the validity of the idea of solo authorship: its negation was at the heart of his work. He was thinking, in the context of the time, of a group political ethos. Creativity, for him, was an essentially collaborative event somewhat relating to the pyramid and cathedral builders. He saw each one of his installations as the spontaneous result of a group with shared sensibilities, thinking as one mind.

'A work of art much in the same vein, the Document follows the Dutch artist Edwin Klein’s original concept of what a book should be and Thek’s wish to turn his diary into a catalog—a three-dimensional album, each double page a photograph of a still life with pictures, drawings, books, cards and objects laid out over newsprint. The “Document” has the dimensions of an open newspaper, actual size. Manipulated by both artists, the pictures and the objects change from one image to the next. As the various elements are placed at different spots on the double page, turning the pages keeps everything in a constant accelerating motion.' -- Janos Gat Gallery


Untitled (Baby), 1973


Papier maché, bemalt und gefirnist, 13.5 x 17 x 14.5 cm


Ark, Pyramid, Easter, 1973




'Thek began making spatial installations in 1970. They brought the viewer into a world full of declarations of faith and Thek’s private mythologies. The experience of an environment was shaped by a processional progression through different stops, as well as the opportunity to linger in various resting-places. Thek saw this as ‘human’ art, because ‘the first thing to be done is to make the environment more human; only then can you look at art. And you do that naturally by dimming the light, giving the people chairs to sit on and not allowing any other restrictions.’ ... Thek had so far removed himself from the idea of the artist as author that he not only tried to explode the spatial mass and in retrospect resolutely challenged the functionality of the museum, but also extended the process of the work’s origin to the artistic cooperative and the visitors to the gallery.' -- Paul Thek Research Project


The Personal Effects of the Pied Piper, 1975




'By the late 60s everyone knew the work of Paul Thek. Pictures of his work appeared in art magazines. Critics interviewed him. In 1966 Susan Sontag even dedicated her greatest book, Against Interpretation, to him. But then what? ‘He fell wounded,’ reads one of his notebook entries from 1979. ‘Some tried to help him up, but he was wounded to the core, they tried - then, one by one - they left him, drifted away into their own lives, their own hoped for successes, and failures.



About 'The Tomb'


About 'The Procession'


About 'The Meat Pieces'


About 'The Fish Man'


About 'The Last Show'



Further

Paul Thek Project
'It's About Time: Paul Thek'
'Paul Thek Revised: The Missing Years'
Book: 'Paul Thek: Artist's Artist'
'Peter Schjeldahl on Paul Thek: Audio Slide Show'
'Paul Thek, in Process - Documentation'
'Thek’s “As If”'
Paul Thek's Teaching Notes
'Finding Paul Thek's Tomb'
Paul Thek's “If you don’t like this book you don’t like me”
Paul Thek, in Process (Luzern)
A Document made by Paul Thek and Edwin Klein




*

p.s. Hey. So, I'm traveling from Poitiers to Paris this morning, and that strikes me dumb for today, so have a rerun post, enjoy hopefully, and I'll be back with a new post and my usual blah blah tomorrow. See you then.

What are Tutorial Diversions?

'Tutorial Diversions are composed listenings for you to perform at home. Each Tutorial is a specifically scored “way of hearing” – listening while moving, through specific media, with particular loudspeaker setups. Any recorded sound or piece of music can be “listened” with a particular Tutorial, but must first be “profiled” via a “profiling software” written to adjust a given sound to the structure of the given Tutorial. How exactly a “profiled” sound source is to be performed (listened) in a given Tutorial is described in detail in an accompanying manual (score).' -- Bill Dietz




_______________

Teasers



1.




2.




3.




___________________

from The Possibility of Improvisation/The Impossibility of Music
by Bill Dietz

The possibility of improvisation seems assumed—the possibility of a composerless, free music. & perhaps the possibility of it is ours: possibility being a condition affirming the state of things now—that is, if improvisation is the acceptance of one’s mind’s & body’s limits (how they can move, how they can know [an instrument]) & the sociality that defines both: possibility is always of a given (no matter how far in semblance a sound is from norms). When an improviser wants to contest or test or expand, doesn’t it then have to internalize the role of the composer—taking the state of division (critique), of thinking-doing-acting & acting-doing, of self-consciousness, into oneself—& then once again encountering the limit of the self (the other)? —& thus encountering the limits of (but not necessarily accepting) the possible, this always limitedness of improvisation? [so it’s an issue of ‘the composer’s’ location?]

Is the strength of what we call improvisation then a strength of metaphor? —its possible clarity of representing something we, composers & improvisers alike, are always facing, our “situation”?—of interaction w/ an other?

It may be—but insofar as this is recognized, it seems important to emphasize the confused, mystifiedness that seems to surround much of the talk about improvisation.

So then these comments serve to stand as something like a position of extremity (from which “jazz”, what’s possible for me to say about it, and “Tony Conrad,” are fixed in liberalism)—& to remind us that music, the impossible audible, as we know it (no matter how it sounds or appears), only reaches us when there is an us—whether the us of a single player (& sound) or the us of a composer & a page—a something that’s not just 2 (1 & an other, division)—a something, authorless (but not necessarily composerless), of neither, a 3rd—of interaction, togetherness, oscillation, audition—of always hearing some-thing (else), an else.

***

This is perhaps why at the current moment Morton Feldman is so much closer to us than Cage. The Morton Feldman who said in 1972: “The closer I came, on my own terms, to a really autonomous situation, the more I felt the first warning that a new dichotomy was about to take place...Something is being made. And to make something is to constrain it”—the Morton Feldman who insisted that we not give ourselves over to the blind belief that we could hear, that we could assume sounds, that the metaphor of music was its reality.

Put this way, in music, in composition, the metaphor of music (of a free space, sound itself, the object, nothing—the “music” of poets & painters & philosophers & politicians) is always and necessarily deferred: is always performed: put off: produced: delayed—that even in music, the metaphor of music remains metaphor: something that musicians themselves must also use, something to keep pushing, always, so that the metaphor is not the thing, & only the thing insofar as the metaphor.

Which is not in any way meant to suggest we (try to) abandon this metaphoricity. Sounds. Music. On the contrary, it seems the only way left to us to more than ever search for this space of sounding, ‘to pass over articulation without falling into the censorship of desire or the sublimation of the unspeakable” (says Barthes)—to more than ever affirm the power of the metaphor of music. But in its denial. In recognizing the effort of music. In realizing that the metaphor is this always-beyond, never something itself—by leaving no privileged ground mythologized—by realizing, saying, that this is not it and also always at the same time that it is: that, it will be.




__________________

Tutorial #1 (evidence): "22 Consonants for Andrew Smith" (2002-2003)
Performance by Andrew Smith







____________________

Tutorial #2: "Das Lird vom Wein" (to Peter Ablinger)

'In this Tutorial, you’re instructed to move back and forth at particular times between two listening positions with a particular loudspeaker setup. You’ll need to download the manual and profiling software, and you’ll need 2 moveable loudspeakers. “Das Lied vom Wein” cannot be performed with a laptop, boombox, or other stereo system with fixed loudspeakers.' -- Bill Dietz


DasLiedvomWeinManual




____________________

Tutorial #3: "Let the User Speak" (2012)
August 23rd, 2012 - September 2nd, 2012

'Let the User Speak examines the Berlin Corbusierhaus and the nearly identically constructed Cité radieuse in Marseille – two emblematic modernist buildings realized in the 40s and 50s by Le Corbusier.

'In 2012 and 2013, the American composer Bill Dietz (Ensemble Zwischentöne) and the German stage designer and director Janina Janke (Oper Dynamo West) explore these two massive “machines for living.”

'They collect sound and images in and around the buildings and interview inhabitants about their liveswithin them. Collected sound materials are restructured according to proportions of Le Corbusier’s“modulor” measurement system and are sent wandering throughout the architecture via a sounding network of inhabitants’ linked home stereos. Groups of visitors individually receive personal stereo systems forming a second audible network. Both networks describe the possibility of sonic community.

'Framing these sound pathways, two video installations contrast the individual narratives of residents with the buildings’ immediate urban surroundings: a triptych of video projections mirrors the Unités’ historical and topographical exteriors in Berlin and Marseille, a multi-monitor construction rolls through transcriptions of interviews with inhabitants.

'In August 2012, audiences will be led in small groups on guided tours through the various installationson site at the Berlin Corbusierhaus. These guided tours are accompanied by appearances by Ensemble Zwischentöne, encounters between inhabitants of the German and French Unités, introductory presentations by students from the Potsdam University of Applied Sciences, and an evening in the Deutschen Architektur Zentrum – DAZ.

'In a lecture performance and panel discussion around the Y-table at the DAZ, “performed architecture,” an extension of Le Corbusier’s own “promenade architecturale,” is the topic of interdisciplinary discussion for guests from the arts, architecture, music, and inhabitants of the Corbusierhaus. How can we re-function, intervene in, and stage architecture?

'In Fall 2013, presented by Marseille-Provence 2013 – European Capital of Culture, the French version of the project will take place at the Cité radieuse. In 2014, the German and French versions will be brought together in an exhibition and publication.' -- Deutsches Architektur Zentrum DAZ







__________________

Tutorials #4 - 7 (evidence)



"Stereo Pacing (Torn Curtain)" (2006-2010)


"3-Part Dances" (2009-2010)


"Rhythms Around the Chair" (2008-2010)


"Ma Première Claque" (2007)




_________________

Further

Tutorial Diversions Website
Bill Dietz 'Peter Ablinger sings Whitney Houston'
Bill Dietz 'Paragraph 7'
Bill Dietz 'After the Interval'
7hours HAUS 19 2010/1
PETER ABLINGER - english texts
Conversation: Bill Dietz / Maryanne Amacher




_________________




Bio

Bill Dietz, born in 1983 near in the US/Mexican border in Bisbee, Arizona, studied composition at the New England Conservatory (Boston) and Cultural Studies at the University of Minnesota (Minneapolis). He has lived and worked since 2003 in Berlin, initially as Peter Ablinger’s student and assistant. He has worked regularly with Christian von Borries, Catherine Christer Hennix, Chris Newman, and, through 2009, with Maryanne Amacher. Since 2007 he is the artistic director of Ensemble Zwischentöne.

His compositions have been presented by Happy Days Sound Festival (Oslo), MaerzMusik (Berlin), Incubator Arts (New York), the “Romanischen Nacht” (WDR),“Tbilisi 6. Never on a Sunday” (Tbilisi), and many others. As an interpreter of others’ music he appears regularly (Documenta XII, “Musikprotokoll” des Steirischen Herbsts, Tate Modern, Hamburger Bahnhof).

In recent years Dietz’ work has focused on the genealogy of the concert and the performance of listening. These concerns extend into his curatorial work with Ensemble Zwischentöne. Projects include: DAS WORT HABEN DIE BENÜTZER / LA PAROLE EST AUX USAGERS mit Janina Janke, Corbusierhaus, Berlin (2012) and Cite radieuse, Marseille (2013, presented by Marseille-Provence 2013 – European Capital of Culture); L’auditeur s’appelle Emma, 7hours Haus 19, Berlin (2010).




*

p.s. Hey. If not for an introduction to Bill Dietz's work from d.l. Allesfliesst, this post wouldn't exist, so big thanks to him. ** Bollo, We got lots of snow, more than has ever fallen in Paris since I've lived here, and more is on the way, they say, so, yeah, pretty great. The show's on the 15th? Give all the scoop on that, obviously. Thanks a lot for the Melgaard/Vimeo link. I didn't know of that. Useful, cool. David J. White, or anybody else out there who's interested, Bollo hooked us up with this Vimeo thing about Bjarme Melgaard, if you want to check it out. I will be in a bit. Really glad you're feeling better. ** Un Cœur Blanc, Hi! Oh, good, I'm glad my recommendation on that Rimbaud translation has paid off. Hope your weekend of work went really well. 2013 has been fantastic for me so far, so your vibes seem to have reached me deep down. Oh, cool, I got to see you twice. Sunday is a nice name. If I had a kid, I might name him or her that. Okay, obviously I need to get Mike's new poetry book. I knew that already, but now, thanks to you and Grant, it's clearly destiny. And thank you for sharing your great read on it and on his poetry. Love to you. ** Changeling, Yep, back in Paris. Definitely didn't get heatstroke in Poitiers. That's where the snowfall that has consumed most of the recent days started for me. Every French snowboarder I've ever seen or met seemed angry. Interesting. Yeah, your 'Hogg' reaction sounds kind of like my first reaction. I suppose I'm still not entirely sure. Delaney is a super smart guy, so there's definitely some assuming that the book is more meta than it can seem at first. I think maybe I decided that it's kind of singular in its transgressiveness, and that its odd tone plus relentlessness/ sameyness is very curious, and it became a book I admired, albeit from afar or something? I don't know. ** David Ehrenstein, I didn't know about The Joyce Society Ladies, and that's really interesting, so thanks, D. ** Cobaltfram, Hi, John. Okay, I'll give you a heads up once my next trip to LA is timed and figured out. Wow, that was a really awful night Chad had. Scary, interesting, ugh, etc. Mainly glad he's okay and presumably rested up by now. Even more reasons not to see 'Zero Dark Thirty'. Interesting. Yeah, I think that film has moved into the 'rainy distant day maybe' column. ** Scunnard, Hey. No, the snow has been dreamy so far. So far, its natural charms combined with its rarity is pretty sweet. I owe you an email. Soon. Thanks, J. ** Billy Lloyd, If you put that track up somewhere, let me know. I am surprised that the HP thing is that booked up. I mean, a zillion people are always wanting to go up the Eiffel Tower, and they always get to go. I want to see the 'Stranger' video. Your Google+ page, okay. I think I have a page there, but I don't think I've ever actually been inside Google+. I don't know what it looks like. Anyway, you'll devirginize me. Our city snow hasn't turned nasty yet, but it only just stopped falling, at least temporarily, in the middle of last night, so today might be the end of the love affair. Me, up to? Getting slowly back into working on my novel. Working on the new theater piece. Hanging out a lot and planning out adventures with my great friend Zac. Things are really good right now. And, now that you're hopefully no longer in danger of dying from a hangover, what's your life full of? ** Misanthrope, A week, or, well, less by now. Not bad. I don't pray, but I'm praying for you anyway. Discussing politics emotionally is the worst, and I can hardly remember the last time that I or anybody discussed politics without lots of emotional guitar soloing. Snow, yes! Haven't slipped or fallen or anything yet. Did you have the fun you thought you would? Were the band's covers excitingly chosen and loyally recreated? I'm so sorry to hear that about David K.'s mom. That's very sad, that's harsh. Poor David. Tell him if he wants a super warm group hug, to just drop back into his old home DC's. ** Sypha, I think it's safe to say that 'Dubliners' is the easiest or at least the 'easiest'. ** Bill, Thank you, Bill. Obviously, I hope that *little* time is enough. Oh, that is really great about the Schroeter retrospective. When I did the Huppert post and was reminded about 'Malina', it made me really want to watch a bunch of his films. I should check the Cinematheque schedule. Sometimes these retrospective things happen in communal waves. ** Alan, Hi. I got your email, and I wrote back to you this morning, and hopefully you got it. ** 5STRINGS, I tried the Dreamachine twice. I didn't do a thing for me. Same with Absinthe. It just gave me a headache. When I see Emos, I always wish I was their friend more than wanting to fuck them. I'm weird. Except maybe when they're escorts, in which case the friendship thing seems like a bridge too far. You're on your way to twinkdom? That's cool, congrats. Twinks run the world. They're the cabal behind the throne. And I guess they're draped all over it too. ** Grant maierhofer, Hi, Grant! The HTMLG thing was excellent. Is excellent. I still owe you an email. I will. I'm the world's slowest correspondent. There are email accounts all over the world full of tar and feathers with my name on them. Nice listening you had there. And, yeah, you're so nice about my stuff, thank you kindly. Right back at you. Thanks a lot for the link to 'A Cabana of the Mind'. Looks great. I've bookmarked it for steady attendance. And, obviously, it would be awesome and an honor if you wrote something about the Cycle. Thank you so much for wanting to do that. I haven't read Mike's new chapbook yet, no. I need to order that pronto. I see that the link that you provided has a sample, so I'll go pore over that to start with. Mike's great, so, yeah, I'm sure it must be awesome. Yeah, cool, thank you again, it's really great to have you here. ** Heliotrope, It was a good post, wasn't it? I'm luckiest blog-making guy ever, really. 'Secondhand Daylight', yum, that needs a spin on my end too. Been too long. For whatever unknown reason, I always kneejerk go back to the first album and to 'The Correct Use of Soap' the most often. Have no idea why. We saw that show together at the Whisky? Well, of course we did. I think John McGeoch was still in the band then, wasn't he? Man, he was a goodie. RIP. Romanticism, yes! Where would we be ..., etc.? As a nostalgia-phobe, I think I can assure you that was romanticism, because I glowed and didn't even consider wincing, man. Take a earthshaking heart beat/pound from me. And make some techno out of it. ** Jax, Hi, pal! The George book seems to be letting me dip my fingers back inside. I haven't grabbed it by the balls yet, but at least the balls are within my reach again. Snow everywhere, and a thick motherfucking blanket even, for the moment. I'd send you some, but, even by Fed Ex, I don't think it'd make it in time. Surely, you'll get your own natural turn. ** Steevee, Would be fantastic, obviously, if you and Chilly get to meet up! The Wakamatsu work I've seen is definitely tricky for the reason you suggest, yeah. But, yes, too, I'm with you about the refreshing thing. ** Unknown/Pascal, Hey! Man, what a gorgeous post that was. Really, really something. I'm so proud and grateful to you for it! Interesting about Cronenberg re: 'L'abbe C'. That never occurred to me, but, hm, you might really have something there. God knows Cronenberg must be more than quite familiar with Bataille's work. Yeah, thank you again, man, and, of course, thanks for talking to your d.l. fans. Love from me. ** Paul Curran, Hi, Paul. Back in Paris for a few days at least. I am way digging the snow. I should take photos. You snowed semi-under too? ** Rewritedept, Brain hurting busy? That's busy. Thanks, ha ha, for trying to clue in your mom re: my stuff's depths. That's awesome of you. Yeah, I kind of totally cut my work's own throat by working with the material that I do. Your mom's trepidation and reaction is the most common one. But, I don't know, it's not like I had a choice to work with that scary stuff or not. Either I wouldn't have been a writer at all, or I'm the writer I am. Anyway, yeah, I appreciate your attempt a bunch. Ah, I understand about why the dad thing bothered you, but, man, really, it's pretty sweet and meaningful that he wants you to finish it, you know? But, yeah, if keeping him in the dark helps your process, that's obviously the way to go. I'm back here, but I go to Strasbourg for one night on Thursday to do an event, and I'm going to do some at least daylong trip adventures with a friend soon. Haven't picked up the new Yo La. I will. 'A Bell is a Cup ...' is great, yeah. That 80s phase of Wire when they were kind of almost crossover big stars often seems to get overlooked, but there's some great stuff in there for sure. Is Reno cool? I've never been there. I've always imagined it wouldn't be so cool, I don't know why. Highly recommend that you hit the Winchester House, obviously. One of the world's great things. Hope you got all the sleep you needed. ** Armando, Hey. Wow, okay, I'll get that Neil Young. It's weird: the first reviews I read of it were really bad, but then it ended up being pretty high on a lot of critics' 'best of' lists, so I got confused. I'll just get it and find out for myself. Sorry for you about the DiCaprio hiatus, if that turns out to be. Maybe he just needs some months or so away to get the hunger back. Take care. ** Okay. I hope you enjoy discovering Bill Dietz's work like I did recently. In any case, see you tomorrow.

The Kids in the Hall is a Canadian sketch comedy group formed in 1984, consisting of comedians Dave Foley, Kevin McDonald, Bruce McCulloch, Mark McKinney, and Scott Thompson. Their eponymous television show ran from 1988 to 1994 on CBC in Canada, and 1989 to 1995 on CBS and HBO in the United States. The theme song for the show was the instrumental "Having an Average Weekend" by the Canadian band Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet. The troupe made one movie, Brain Candy, which was released in 1996. -- from Wikipedia.

strangely enough, my parents got me into this show. i remember watching episodes of kids in the hall well before i was old enough to understand most of the humor on it, which may be why it's always such a pleasure to revisit.

going through and collecting clips reminded me of how many great moments they had in their five season run. consider this a jumping off point (and for those of you who live in the states, the entire series is on netflix streaming currently).

here, then, are some of my personal favorite kids in the hall moments. enjoy.

































some of my favorite recurring characters...

the Sizzler Sisters




Mississippi Gary


this is a particular favorite of favorite's for me.


Francesca Fiore and Bruno Puntz-Jones




Buddy Cole




sidenote: there are seriously so many great buddy cole sketches that i strongly recommend just going on youtube and watching all of them. the following one is another of my favorites.





The Chicken Lady




Steps




The Axe Murderer




The Pit of Ultimate Darkness (Simon and Hecubus)




Bauer




Cabbage Head






*

p.s. Hey. Splendide musician, writer and d.l. Rewritedept would like to bestow the blog's blessings on those Canadian former wunderkinds The Kids in the Hall, which seems like a most reasonable request, and, hence, I suggest you honor his prioritizing with your full attention and comments, thank you. And to you, Rewritedept, I say 'good one, pal' and many thanks. ** Scunnard, Cool, glad you were intrigued. Dietz's work is pretty great. More good news yet? This thing of yours is getting nuclear, in the good way. Awesome. Sorry to be slow on writing back. I'm hopeless, but I won't be much longer, be assured. It is nice to be back in Paris, you betcha, even though the snow has entered its later life, shoe-drowning phase. But, yeah, Paris, yippee! ** Cobaltfram, Nice how you're blowing and perverting your friend's mind. May he never be the same again. No, the sex club scene at the beginning/end was filmed in the basement of Paris' biggest gay club/disco Le Depot. The only time I went there, it was specifically to check out the space where it was filmed, and it is nothing like in the movie. Totally fiction, that scene. ** Chris Cochrane, Good ... morning, Chris? It's morning here. We had great snow, but we might be done with it, sadly. It says on my weather widget that it's going to snow three out of the next five days, so hope is not entirely lost. I'm really, really not interested to see 'Argo'. I might even take a permanent pass on that sucker. Awesome that you got to see Young and Crazy Horse. You sure there wasn't some kind of Youngian wink in that star spangled banner thing? Strange, but it's all about the rock, in his case, ultimately. I'll get that new album, I imagine. Saw a slideshow of pix from 'or and animal' on FB, courtesy of Rico, I think. They looked great, and you even got one of those coveted reactionary, dumb ass reviews from that Alistair fucker at the Times, I think, no? I want to see video at least. I don't think you did tell me about that Paris gig, or I somehow spaced out on that. Wow! That's totally great! Definitely let me know when the specifics are known. I went to Poitiers to do a talk/ audience q&a, partly to promote 'Them', so I talked it up a bunch, and, when I wasn't doing that, I was talking about 'Jerk', which was being performed there at the time. Listening ... nothing really new and relentlessly, I don't think. I think I've mostly been raiding the gold area in my sonic archives lately: Pollard/GbV, et. al. Oh, I got off on an 80s 'power pop' jag for a bit: 20/20, The Shoes, The Records, The Pop, et. al. Might make for a related post. I'll pass along any great discoveries as they dawn on me. Yeah, talking with Ish re: that is obviously a good idea. I'm game pretty much whenever. Love to you, man! ** David Ehrenstein, Hi. Interesting Cale interview, thanks. Reed seems like he really has finished shooting his creative wad, and did so long ago, whereas Cale is still totally on his toes. I'm pretty sure I'll see 'ZDT' at some point. One of the problems with these late European releases is that you get sick and put off by all the controversy and blah blah that smothers movies sometimes before you have a chance to see them, and I think that movie is way too saddled already for me to want to see it for a while. I think the same thing has happened to 'Django', which is a film I actually really wanted to see. Oh, well. ** Paradigm, Hi, Scott! The ice of the novel is cracking, is probably more accurate, but it's definitely good. I know, yeah, true, about adding movement thing. So simple in a way, but so fresh/difficult. Yes, everything came through just fine on the post. It's so great, man, so extremely in my area of interest and revelatory too. Thank you so much! I've got it set to launch on Saturday, Feb. 2nd. Fantastic about the possible post on Jon Rose. No, I don't know of him, which makes it even more exciting. Unfortunately, the snow has done that slow, soggy death thing, but, if we get some more new layers, as is forecast, all will be forgiven. I think I will enjoy my day, thank you, and I hope your sleep was long and nightmare-free. ** Allesfliesst, I'm glad you thought it was okay. I will be forever grateful for your intro to his work. He and I exchanged emails too, which is exciting. He seems super nice in addition to his brilliance. Uh, yeah, sounds like running full speed in the opposite direction from that ultra-skimmed and rushed diagnosis is the wisest move you could make. Gross, really. Is that the only hypnosis center? I mean, I don't think New Agey hypnotherapists are the norm, but, hey, I don't know, maybe. What next? Have you decided? ** 5STRINGS, Uh, ha ha ha. Everyone, here is d.l. 5STRINGS' most unusual little celebration of MLK Day. I think you wish they had loose butts, man. I don't know. I like that generation, if it's a generation. It's not sexual at all. I just like them. They seem like teachers to me. I don't know who Rosalind is. I haven't read Shakespeare in for-fucking-ever. I probably should again. I hardly remember anything. I liked 'King Lear' the best by far. Nipple touching, hm, yeah, that sounds kind of nice. Not mine, somebody else's. That diet will skinny you out for sure. Be careful maybe. When I used to go hardcore vegan every couple of years, I would get unbelievably skinny, and I thought I looked awesome or something, but everybody thought I looked really scary and like death. 'God I so rock'. God you kind of so do. ** Steevee, Hey. Yeah, like I was saying David, there's just too much noise and pollution around that film right now for me. I don't think I would be capable of seeing it without mostly just going through the claims for and accusations against it and checking them off (or on) while I watched, and that prospect has taken the excitement out, so I'm just going to wait until it's at least a little in the past. ** Billy Lloyd, Hi, Billy! Okay, I trust you on the 'not letting anyone hear it' thing. The artist always knows best. The French are good at that except when you want something official like a visa or a statement from your bank or an insurance form or whatever, whereupon they turn into the most complicated labyrinth. Weird. Oh, awesome, I can see the vid without even really knowing what Google+ looks like. I find that exciting for some reason. I'm not going to subject your video to the pellmell attention span that I have when doing the p.s., but I'll watch as soon as this gets launched. Everyone, the great Billy Lloyd has put together a video for his most excellent music track/song 'Stranger', and you should go watch it, I think, because Billy's stuff is like the coolest ray of sunshine. Click here. Yeah, the streets are treacherous here too. I walk around like the sidewalks are the surface of a thinly frozen lake or something. If I had the courage to look up from my shoes, I'm sure I'd see smirking faces everywhere. The new theater piece, let's see. Well, as far as what you see onstage, it's basically a dance piece. It stars a woman and a 12-year old boy. They have some kind of complicated, fucked up relationship that isn't totally clear until the performance part of the show is over and when the text part of the show begins.  I.e., the piece ends with the audience being given a book written by me, which they take home or to a cafe or wherever and read, and the text in the book kind of fleshes out what the performance part has already shown. It takes place in this kind of crazy set, which is a sort of abstracted-out representation of an Eastern European-ish techno club -- it was built and designed by a company in, I think,  Bulgaria that makes and sells portable techno clubs -- with walls and ceiling completely covered with led lights, and a mirrored floor, which will be creating this pretty wild, complicated light show/display during the performance. The themes, hm: abandon, depression, hallucination, incest, death. I guess that's the basics. Your February adventures are the London trip? What have you got planned out so far? The EP sounds like a great idea, of course. And you feeling so inspired and motivated is great, great news! Good luck with whatever the College throws your way today. ** _Black_Acrylic, Hi, Ben. Oh, I'm afraid I have some possible bad news. This isn't confirmed, but I was told yesterday that the Pompidou has cancelled the Mike Kelley retrospective because of money problems, ugh. I'll find out for sure, but, if it's true, that's pretty fucking infuriating news. Oh, man, I'm so very sorry to hear about the worsening MS. Does winter/the cold weather have anything to do with that? Yeah, do your exercises, please. Shit, Ben, I hope everything gets righted for you again as soon as possible. I send you immense love and hugs, my friend. ** Misanthrope, Emotions are best left for love, indeed. It's become so difficult to separate politics and emotion now because the fucking media and the 24-hour news, etc. in the US presents political news in an emotional way, or with a heavy emotion bait/manipulation aspect, almost all the time. You don't see that here in France, and the difference in people's reaction to and discussions of politics, at least partly as a result, is so different. Okay, your Saturday doesn't sound nearly as fun as I had imagined, but I don't think I could watch a hockey match without pulling out my iPhone and surfing the web or something the whole time. Curious and weird about your friend and her non-fetching ex. I'm glad you got to talk to David K. That's so sad. I guess, I don't know, it's good that the funeral is past now, not that that brings the end of the pain 'cos it can just get worse. Yeah, keep sending him love when you talk to him if you think that would help or matter. ** Bollo, Hi! Haven't watched the Melgaard interview yet. It's on the dock or docket or whatever they say for this afternoon. I know Alissia Bennet, or I used to. She is or at least was good pals with my pal Sue de Beer. Awesome, I'll go get the zine post-haste. Great! Everyone, super treat from the mighty artist and d.l. Bollo aka Jonathan Mayhew in the form of, in his words, ' a zine i designed last year but never had the cash to do a print version so here's a pdf version for consumption'. If you know JM's amazing work, and I think many of you do, you know you need to click that link and download that zine pdf, like, now even. ** Sypha, Hi. I'm avoiding that DM Max bio of David. I've heard from too many people I trust that it's a slanted and distorted portrait. But, if you read it, tell me what you think. Yes, 'Snow Country', beautiful. What happened to your plan to keep a diary? Are you doing that, or did you abandon that idea? ** Rewritedept, The man of the hour and quite a number of future hours! Thank you, kind sir. I dig, about the stress of letting your dad peek into your mind. I let my parents peek into my work/mind early on, and one of them refused to ever read another literary word of mine again. And the other one said he read my books, but, I don't know, I think he was just jawing. I do think it's great that your dad believes in you. That's very precious. I'm with you, i.e. I'm not much of a DeLillo fan. We are few and far between. Strasbourg: I'm reading some of the texts from 'I Apologize' while Peter Rehberg plays some of the music from 'IA'. Could be a disaster, could be okay, can't tell. My adventures are with a new friend. Well, a recent, by this point, great new friend. Of the '80s Wire, I really like the 'Snakedrill' EP a lot, and there are great things on 'The Ideal Copy'. There's a very good compilation of the 'best of' Wire's 80s stuff called '1985–1990: THE A LIST' that I recommend. I was in Lake Tahoe once. Yeah, it seemed pretty nice. Lake and trees and the old 'Bonanza' set and all of that. Like Lake Arrowhead on a grander scale. All right, thank you again for today, buddy. ** Postitbreakup, Ha ha, your brackets plus space break was an unsuccessful dam. I hear you about the job hunting frustration. I mean, yeah. And at a horrible time, contextually and externally. Sounds maybe like your dad was just trying to scare you or kick your ass, though. I don't know. You have to find a way to psyche yourself into thinking that the looking and interviewing part is a subversive performance piece or something? Predictably, I will now say it's far, far too early for you to x yourself out of future cool kid scenes and writing careers, buddy. That's just moping. Anyway, hope typing that helped. Here and I are very happy to help, man. ** Paul Curran, Hi, Paul. Slowly, slowly, but sort of steadily getting back on track. I'm being patient, diligent, and avoiding worry as best I can. Very happy that yours is making progress. That's fantastic! ** Okay. The Kids in the Hall want to make you happy, as does Rewritedept, and, obviously, happiness is not a gift horse to be looked at in the mouth, whatever the hell that means. See you tomorrow.

'Ian North was born in Brooklyn in 1952. He received his first guitar at age 12, but being virtually tone deaf, could not play any songs other than those he composed. In 1973, North formed a power pop and glam outfit called Milk 'N' Cookies along Justin Strauss on voice, Jay Weis (replaced by Sal Maida, later in Roxy Music and Sparks) on bass and Mike Ruiz on drums (later in Paul Collins' Beat). While the album's release was initially delay and largely ignored upon release, it has subsequently become a cult classic.

'After the split of Milk 'N' Cookies, North dedicated to the then-new punk movement in Britain, forming Radio with Sparks bassist Martin Gordon and the Simon brothers, Paul and Robert. That group transformed to NEO after Gordon's departure (he joined Radio Stars) and changed line-ups, with North being the only remaining member until 1979, when his visa ended and returned to his native USA. The same year, 12 Neo tracks were released in Britain by Aura Records as North solo album (called Neo).

'Back in New York, North took to newly affordable synth technology and recording equipment, first on his debut full-length album as a solo artist, My Girlfriend's Dead, and then on his Rape Of The Orchids EP. From 1983 to 1993, North worked sporadically on the album Torch Songs & Arson. While the label originally slated to release the album folded in the decade over which it was created, it has since been made available for free download.' -- collaged





___________
Milk 'n' Cookies
'When Milk n Cookies recorded our album in 1974 there wasn't a name for the music. Our producer Muff Winwood was puzzled - he said to me "Ian this isn't rock and it's not pop, so what is it?" Since the label punk didn't exist at that time, I didn't know what to say. Unfortunately record companies need labels in order to know how to market a band. It wasn't until the Sex Pistols that the label "punk" came along and Island went "oh yeah we used to have a band like that" and so finally released it in '76.'-- Ian North



'Tinkertoy Tomorrow/Chance To Play/Good Friends' (1975)


'Just a Kid' live (1976)


____
NEO
'Same story as Milk 'n' Cookies - one NEO single then the album was shelved. Well not exactly; I got myself thrown off the label for behaving even worse than I had at Island. The label, Jet, actually wanted me to do a second NEO album and I refused! Dumbest thing I've ever done. The option period had expired without Jet exercising their rights. This was not intentional but it meant that both parties would have to resign the contract and I kept saying no. Finally by the time I realized that no one else would sign me as encumbered by the Jet contract being up in the air, they had changed their mind. Dave Arden said to my solicitor "Ian doesn't want to be on Jet - well then he's not."'-- Ian North



NEO 'Tran-sister' (1978)


Ian North/NEO 'If You Gotta Go/She Kills Me/Tran-sister' (1979)



__________
Ian North solo
'While NEO were on tour with Magazine our manager Raf Edmunson played us Kraftwerk - and I was hooked. I went back to New York and bought a drum machine and a monophonic synth and recorded the album My Girlfriend's Dead. It was minimal pop." Then I came back to London to try to sell it. Depeche Mode hadn't even come out yet and the record labels said "you can't make records with drum machines". Once again being one of the first to do a new sound can be dangerous to your career. It only just recently came out in the UK on Repressed.'-- Ian North



Ian North 'Remember My Name/My Girlfriend's Dead/Romance' (1981)


Ian North 'Sex Lust You' (1982)









'Earle Mankey met future Sparks maestros Ron and Russell Mael in 1967, after either of them responded to an ad. Earle Mankey had advertised for a recording studio and when Ron Mael and Russell Mael came over there he also convinced them to hire him as a guitar player for their new band Halfnelson at $2.50 an hour. Ron Mael, Russell Mael and Earle Mankey were a perfect combination. Ron Mael, who was also quite active as a composer in these days supplied the perfect melodies and lyrics for Earle Mankey to put into weird arrangements and several over-dubs, speed-up guitars and more refreshing recording gimmicks. After one album with Halfnelson and two with Sparks, Mankey quit the band.

'Earle Mankey launched his solo career with a nifty 1978 single "Mau Mau" b/w "Crazy". This 7" was issued on short-lived "J-J" label owned by John Hewlett and Joseph Fleury (Sparks' managers in the 70's). In 1981 Mankey performed, produced and engineered some of his sneakily brilliant music on a six-songs self-titled mini-Lp then three years later he issued another six-song : Real World. These two vinyl Ep’s : Earle Mankey (1981) and Real World (1984), which have not been available in a very long time, were made available on CD in 2003.

'Nowadays Earle Mankey is best known for producing and/or engineering recordings for other artists, including Beach Boys, Sparks, The Runaways, 20/20, Concrete Blonde, Leaving Trains, The Three O'Clock, The Dickies, The Nymphs, and countless others. Earle Mankey currently runs his own studio in Thousand Oaks, California and is known as "the pop guru" by generations of indy power-pop band fans.' -- http://graphikdesigns.free.fr







____________
Halfnelson/Sparks
'Earle Mankey played on the Halfnelson A Woofer In Tweeter's Clothing demo and was the guitar player on the first two Sparks' Bearsville albums and he penned songs "Biologie 2" and "Underground". During live gigs Earle Mankey would wear glitter suits, and attempted to be everyone's favourite English poof guitar player. Funny thing was, Earle Mankey's suits were always a size too small. His blond hair would hang in an exaggerated Rod Stewart shag. Earle Mankey knew every move in the book : the Marc Bolan pout, the Pete Townshend leap, the calculated pretty swish, and the aggressive Jeff Beck posturing but with a Gibson SG standard instead of a Fender Stratocaster.' -- Sparks: The Early Years



'Biology 2'


'Wonder Girl' and 'Do Re Mi' live in 1974



________
The Quick
'When The Quick came to making the album Mondo Deco we were in need of an engineer. I had two ideas: James Lowe and Earle Mankey. Not only did Earle say yes, he also worked at the Beach Boys’ studio Brother, where we spent a month recording. In 1977, when Mondo Deco was finished and a bit of time had passed, Earle contacted various band members as he had wanted to demo a song. We headed to Earle's home studio in Santa Monica where he showed us the epic “Bigger Than Life.” Earle, his brother Jim, and myself cut the track, Danny Wilde sang lead with Ian and Billy on harmonies and that was that.'-- Danny Benair, The Quick



'Bigger Than Life' (1977)



_____________
Earle Mankey solo
'Whether or not you enjoy this man's skewed world view or not, you have to give him credit for trying so hard to completely befuddle the listener, in a manner that doesn't cheap-out on the necessity for good ideas and musicianship. Fevered brains hatching obscure musical plots aside, Mankey's songs ran through a gamut of emotions the likes few CDs, good or bad, manage to do... His songs are scrappy, youthfully energetic, and devoid of self awareness...Sure, the 80's were a weird time, but I don't remember them being this far out!'-- The Big Takeover



'Crazy' (1981)


'Mau Mau' (1981)


'The Lion Sleeps Tonight' (1982)


'Black and Blue' (1982)









'Alejandro Escovedo began his music career as a guitarist and songwriter with The Nuns, a seminal but ill-starred mid-'70s punk band based in San Francisco. The Nuns are best known outside the West Coast punk scene as the band who opened for Sex Pistols’ last show at Winterland in January 1978. The band's popularity led to offers by Bill Graham to manage the band. However, this relationship soon turned to animosity touched off by Graham's offense at the Nuns song "Decadent Jew". The band also received overtures from CBS Records, but, by the time of the band's breakup, they had only managed to produce a few poorly-recorded demo tapes for the label and failed to secure a record deal.

'After his breakup with The Nuns, Escovedo formed the eclectic and pioneering roots rock band Rank and File with brothers Chip and Tony Kinman of LA punk band the Dils. The Kinmans' singing was distinctive; they weren't traditional harmony singers à la the Everly Brothers, but rather sang synchronized upper and lower octaves. The songwriting was wry, promiscuously genre-hopping, and defiantly cliché-free. They were so into cowpunk and so far from their hardcore punk beginnings that they even landed a spot on PBS's revered country music showcase Austin City Limits.

'After a lengthy tour supporting Rank & File's first album, Escovedo quit the band and formed a more rock-oriented project in Austin called The True Believers. The band quickly developed a potent reputation on the Texas club scene and were soon opening shows for Los Lobos, Green on Red, Love Tractor, and Rain Parade. In a stroke of bad luck, the band's album was pulled from the release schedule only two weeks before it was scheduled to ship. The band struggled on for a time, but in late 1987, Escovedo decided to quit the group. After True Believers broke up, Alejandro Escovedo went on to a career as a solo singer and songwriter, releasing a handful of critically acclaimed albums.' -- collaged







_______
The Nuns
'Formed in San Francisco, California, USA, in 1977, the Nuns were one of the city’s leading punk/new wave attractions, forerunning the rock and outrage antics of the Dead Kennedys. Their insubstantial progress was further limited by continual line-up problems, but such frustrations coalesced to astonishing effect in their ‘Savage’/ ‘Decadent Jew’ single. Their work appeared on several compilations, including Rodney On The Roq and Experiments In Destiny, but having split up in 1979, they re-formed the following year to complete an album, only to disband once more. Ritchie Detrick (vocals), Jeff Olener (vocals), Alejandro Escovedo (guitar/songwriter), Jennifer Miro (keyboards, vocals), Mike Varney (bass) and Jeff Raphael (drums) were among those passing through the Nuns’ ranks'-- collaged



'Savage' (1978)


'Decadent Jew' (1978)



__________
Rank and File
'Formed by brothers Chip and Tony Kinman after they split up their hardcore punk band the Dils, Rank and File were, at times, a dazzling roots rock post-punk band that stumbled early in its career, only to flame out much too quickly and finally collapse with an embarrassing thud. Their debut record, Sundown, was a gem of tuneful, Byrds-ian pop, with a healthy dollop of Gram Parsons and Merle Haggard to boot. The Kinmans' singing was distinctive; they weren't traditional harmony singers à la the Everly Brothers, but rather sang synchronized upper and lower octaves. The songwriting by the Kinmans and the immensely talented guitarist Alejandro Escovedo was wry, heartfelt, and cliché-free; the band rocked with gusto, but never bombastically, preferring nuance and subtlety over volume and simplicity.'-- collaged



'Rank and File' (1982)


'Black Book' (1982)


'Sound of the Rain' (1982)



______________
The True Believers
'If enthusiastic press and the praise of your fellow musicians were all it took to become a rock star, the True Believers would have been one of the biggest American bands of the 1980s. Blending a tightly woven three-guitar attack and passionate songwriting with a punk rocker's love of pure energy and the sonic firepower of a hard rocker, the True Believers were heroes in their hometown of Austin, TX, and often shared stages with some of the most-respected bands of their day. However, their unique sound was a bit tricky to translate to disc, and by the time they'd finally managed to make it work, the recording was fated to not see the light of day until years after the band's breakup.'-- allmusic



'The Rain Won't Help You', live (1985)


'She's Got', live (1986)





*

p.s. Hey. ** Misanthrope, It's funny or nice or something over here because it's still like it was when I was a kid in the US: half-hour or so of TV news just before prime time and then another half-hour or so post-prime time. Between that and online news sources -- as much I hate being a Google slave, i.e. gmail, Blogger, etc., I usually look at the google news page because it throws up a variety of mainstream news outlets/sites' items per each breaking story, and you can choose whatever one you want or read a cross-section in one spot. Nice: new TV. Yeah, I think post-funeral is when it hits the hardest and when the readjustment kicks in. Really hope he gets through that without too much pain. ** Scunnard, Hey. Yeah, he seems really nice, so I would think any email would be hugged. Awe is the best, sort of. Yeah, once I get through this Strasbourg thing tomorrow night, I'll feel less like my attention span is being torn limb from limb. The snow is just an emaciated, splattered, rotting corpse now. Hard to remember what I saw in it. ** Grant maierhofer, Hey. Really interesting piece on McInerney on HTMLG. I haven't thought about his stuff in more than a glancing way in ages, so, cool. Everyone, very interesting new piece by Grant on HTMLGIANT that reassesses the books of Jay McInerney. Recommended reading: here. Poetry chapbook, awesome! Yeah, I would love a copy, if it's no problem and if you don't mind. Great, and congrats, man! ** Allesfliesst, Hi, Kai. Okay, that 'sleep medicine' thing sounds initially quite promising, serious in the good way, etc. Let me know what results, for sure. I don't know about in Berlin, but here there's nothing left in the snow to enjoy. It just looks like psoriasis. ** Rewritedept, Dude, thank you for the Day. It was both awesome and popular, and, like, what else is there, at least when it comes to blog posts? On the blog thing on 'hey ma ... ', which I would love to do, I would need the post at least a week in advance. If you want it on a specific date, you should let me know that as early before the intended date as possible. If it makes a difference, the '80s Wire comp was assembled by the band, and the contents and order were decided via a poll of smart music critics re: 'the best' 80s Wire tracks, so the first track got the most votes, and the last track got the least votes. So, that's kind of an interesting thing about it. I would say that my mom had no interest in my writing at all and lived in fear that her friends would find out about my books and decide she was a bad mother/person to have birthed someone like me. My dad was proud of me, and that meant a lot, whether he read the books or not. I wouldn't destroy those tapes, but I'd put them under lock and key. I'm always suspicious of cover versions. and I am on the Boris/MbV one too, but Boris can delight, so ... yeah, who knows? Thanks a lot again, man! ** Billy Lloyd, Hi, B. The new ice slippage, yikes. You might have to ruin your outfit by sticking some hiking boots on your feet, although, if where you are is like where I am, hopefully the ice is politely making its presence less and less felt by the hour, which should take care of it. The theater piece is called 'The Pyre', and if you look in the right hand column of the blog, you'll see the premiere date and the tour locations/dates so far, and there'll be more added soon. Great idea, obviously, about contacting those Londoners to meet up with and strategize about the visuals around your work. Definitely!  I get you on the jones to travel somewhere on your lonesome. If you end up in Paris and want to break the spell of solitude for a coffee or anything, let me know. ** Sypha, Oh, good that you're doing the diary. I don't know, I think just the listing can be interesting and useful. I used to do that: note what I did, read, watched, what drug I took and how much, etc., etc., each day, and rereading that now is actually pretty informative, and the simple tags of what happened make the memories blossom, so, yeah. ** _Black_Acrylic, I'm still not 100% sure, but I'm about 90% sure that the Mike Kelley show is cancelled. It's so angering and disappointing. I'm going to try to talk to the head curator of the Pompidou, who G. and I worked with on 'Teenage Hallucination', to see what happened. It sucks on so many levels, and I can't personally get the emotional stuff out of it, given that Mike died, and the cancellation feels heartless and cruel to me too. Anyway, ugh. There'll surely be other cool things for you to see here, art-wise, and I'll look around and find out what's happening then. 'The Pyre' is definitely on, no worries there. I'm glad you're feeling more chipper, man. So, yeah, do your exercises and keep chipping away at the encumbrance. ** KYTE, Hey, Kyte! Great to see you! Good, good, about the game planning stages. That's so scary about the almost-loss of your cellphone novel. That story gave me the willies. I live in terror that, say, my novel will get deleted somehow. I email it to myself every day, or every day that I do decent new work on it, but if my gmail account got corrupted or destroyed, I'd be fucked, so, yeah, big phew on the recovery. I didn't know about Ouya. I'll go use the link and learn more. Interesting, yeah. Thanks for sharing that. Is the GDC open to the public, or is it an inter-industry kind of thing? Not that I'll get to go since it's obviously not happening in Paris. I know, or I know to some intense outside degree, about the hell of that kind of cycling. My dear George Miles had intense, rapid, unexpected cycling for years, and I know how incredibly difficult that is. The meds aren't tamping that down enough? So sorry, pal. Very nice tattoo image. Very nice. You figured out the right placement yet? My writing's going better, thanks. And, obviously, thank you a lot about 'TMS'. Take care, K! ** Steevee, Yes, I envied your having seen the film so early. You even got to post your review before the crosstalk had completely shadowed the movie. Soderbergh is such a strange talent. So hit and miss, and, I guess for me, more miss than hit of late, but it'll be sad if he really gives up movies. His work has a really nice liveliness around it. ** Cobaltfram, Hi, John. I don't know, but I would imagine the Le Depot higher ups are only thrilled to have had their joint upgraded into a Noe location. Last I heard, Noe is starting to work on 'Golden Suicides'. Let me see if I can find any info ... yes, here's something. I knew the people that the movie is about, so it's weird. Curious to see what it is. I trust Noe a ton. I'm a bit baffled why Gus Van Sant is co-writing the script because I don't think Gus's writing is one of his strengths. Anyway, that's what he's up to, last I heard. Sorry to hear about the pass by The New Inquiry. I hope the new possible place proves wiser. You're doing 'crime fiction'? Interesting. How are you doing it? ** David Ehrenstein, Morning, David. And yes re: TKITH. ** Postitbreakup, I had a strange, inexplicable lust-crush on Dave Foley back in the KITH days. Good that the typing helped and that, most importantly, you realized it helps. 'Cows' is quite something. He just finished a new novel, which is exciting. ** 5STRINGS, Hi. Hm, I really don't like that Emos cut themselves and suicide, so, yeah, we should probably stop talking about them now or something. I think I actually haven't read a ton of Shakespeare, now that I think about it. Just the big 'tragedies' and the sonnets and maybe one of the comedy-ish ones, I don't remember. I think I must have just faked it in my lit. classes. It seems totally possible to get really skinny eating meat, right? I don't know. All the skinnies out there can't be vegetarians, can they? And there are a lot of fat vegetarians. Don't think I've ever met a fat vegan though. I don't know if that's possible. ** Frank Jaffe, Hey Frank! Ha ha, yes, I posted you doing me. I can't remember how far it came in my search. No, wait, I had it bookmarked. Let it live, man. It's very cool. I'm so very pleased to hear that your memories of that shitty film have finally stopped acting like my novel's makeup and costuming and perfume. RIP: 'Frisk' film. Do I like interviews? Generally, I do, yeah. Especially face to face or talking ones. Email ones are hard 'cos I spend too much time trying to think up perfect answers. For me, I'm always far more into doing interviews for zines and curious sites than for big magazines or whatever. You tend to get much more interesting questions, and the interviewers tend to actually know and even like your work, and that's a lot better than being interviewed by someone who's just researched you online. So, I don't know how typical my feeling is about interviews, but I think maybe being asked to be interviewed for something like PYWSM is immediately fun and exciting. So, I wouldn't worry about bugging people or intruding on them at all. Any more clarity or whatever on where you're going to move? I'm glad your mood is lifted. A gloomy Frank is something that is both hard to imagine and just wrong, so wrong on so many levels. ** Bill, Hi, Bill. Oh, I'll get back to you about the great help you gave me re: Butoh once I'm back from Strasbourg and once that's out of my hair and my stress deposit. Karin Tidbeck ... hm, maybe I've read one piece or story? Not sure. I'll definitely pursue her work. Great, thank you a lot for the tip. ** Oscar B., Welcome, welcome, welcome! I think I'm seeing you today, yes! Oh, yeah, I'm going to the event, def. Unless I'm too fried from the train ride back from Strasbourg, which seems very unlikely, I'll come on Friday night. Worst case, on Saturday. Talk to you/see you in a while! ** Chris, Hey! Congrats on starting the PhD. That's big, right? Sounds big. Ouch, stomach ulcer, I had one in my 20s, shit, horrible, sorry, hugs. I don't have to do all that stuff that's coming up, thank god. I get to do whatever I want to do in Paris or wherever while the rest of the crew travels all over the place doing the thing itself. Huh, that is further weird/bad about the Borges translations. Luckily, the 'standard' versions are ultimately dust on the whim. It's just matter of long it takes for the denouncements to reach saturation point. Anyway, great to see you! ** Bollo, It was, is, and forever shall be very interesting and awesome, man. Thank you! Still need to see 'Looper'. Must be a rental or HD download by now. Later, bud. ** Right. You should maybe read/think about and watch/listen to the work by these underrated rock maestros today. That would be cool. Oh, I might be a little speedy in the p.s. tomorrow 'cos I'll be doing it just pre-trip to Strasbourg, but I'll see you then.

___________
Rose Menkman





Glitch first came into my life in 2005, when I visited the world wide wrong exhibition by the Dutch/Belgium artist collective Jodi (Joan Heemskerk and Dirk Paesmans) at Mon- teVideo/Time Based Arts in_Amsterdam (now known as the NIMK, Netherlands Media Art institute). An introductory text on the work of the artists by Annet Dekker went a long way in articulating the artists deconstructive methods._However, the work that made the biggest impression on me, untitled game (1996-2001), which was a modification of the videogame quake 1, seemed the most incomprehensible. I could only understand it as irrational and void of meaning, and so I walked away from it, confused and titillated. In hindsight, I learned about myself in that moment –about my expectations and concep- tions of how a videogame should work. The strange game seemed only to return me to my own perspectives and expectations around the medium that it was failing to be. A second text by Josephine Bosma usefull outlined Jodi’s active deprogramming of computers, and the paradoxes and tensions inherent to their working method. Even still, untitled game in particular remained for me under-articulated in theory, which increased my curiosity about this kind of art practice. I did not realize it then, but my taste for glitch, and for it’s potential to interrogate conventions through crashes, bugs, errors and viruses, was spawned by that initial and persistent critical evasion of untitled game from my theoretical grasp.

Excerpted from the introduction to The Glitch Moment(um)



Works

Collapse of Pal





Radio Dada





Poem to Mr. Compression





Dead people are less scary than live ones






_________
Barry Doupé





At the beginning there is a blonde girl, looking at us out of a picture frame. Black ink is flowing from her mouth and eyes. Surrounded by unnatural noises, the scene distorts. A female voice on the radio repeats the words “far away,” like a mantra. In his first feature-length animation, Barry Doupé creates a bewildering collage of rudimentary scenarios for his Sims-look-alike characters by stringing together loose sequences, without following chronological order. But even with a broken space-time continuum, the film follows a steady, covert process, parallel to the ocean, one of the film’s main settings. At points, flashbacks, sudden screen changes and rewinding of the film spool destroy the slow rhythm of the work, fracturing its unity, and making it difficult to follow a storyline. However, even if only a few scenes are consequentially connected you can sense a flow toward an undefined purpose.

Excerpted from Ponytail



Works

Ponytail




The Colors that Combine to Make White are Important




Thale




Whose Toes






___________
Christian Hidaka





Christian Hidaka paints fantastical landscapes in saturated, eye-popping color, filled with dreamlike vignettes. In his signature style, Hidaka combines Western and Eastern landscape painting conventions, also drawing influence from the psychedelic writings of Terence McKenna. History meets the contemporary and the futuristic in Hidaka’s works: he punctuates a biblical desert vista with square bodies of water that look like swimming pools, or mixes mountains and rivers with rainbow portals that suggest passage to alternate universes.



















*

p.s. Hey. Today, masterful writer, visualist, and d.l. Hyrule Dungeon offers you an entryway into the makings from three very terrific artists of his experience's acquaintance, and please follow his leads because, as you'll see, they're very smart and generous. Thank you, and thank you a ton, HD! I'm off to Strasbourg shortly where I'll be doing a performance thing and a talk re: 'Jerk'. What this means for you is that, tomorrow, when I'll be heading back in Paris's direction but even earlier in the day, the blog will launch a rerun post that I hope you'll like (again), and there won't be a living, breathing p.s. A new post and the full-bodied p.s. will be back here on Saturday, and I'll catch up with your comments then. ** Misanthrope, First I look out the window and see what the people walking in the park below are wearing. If their clothing isn't consistent in its density, I open the window and feel the air. Then I dress appropriately and walk out the door. So, I guess I'm a weather checker, ultimately. 14 degrees, yeah, cold, but we're at or below that level almost every day here, so, I don't know, shrug? Yeah, so tough, post-funeral, and, yeah, checking in with David for a while is a real good idea, you good guy. ** Scunnard, Exactly the story here except with Haribo bags instead of Kebab wrappers. Thank you re: Strasbourg. Hope so. May your everything stay smooth for the next 48. ** David Ehrenstein, Hi, D. As far as I've read, co-writing the new Noe film with your fave Bret is Gus's project du jour. We'll see. ** Tosh, Hi, Tosh. Thanks. Milk 'n' Cookies is a real speciality thing, I think. You have to get into the purposeful self-conscious and ick factor, but I like the artifice. You might try Ian North's solo stuff. It's less art-thick, and it can get pretty dark. Cowboys International, whoa, yeah. I haven't thought of them in ages. I'm going to do a revisit right away. Fantastic that you're through the third draft! And that you think you might spend more time here is, of course, completely musical to me. You're missed here too, T, muchly. ** Sypha, Congrats on reaching the back cover of IJ'! Oh, that's cool that you're noting the books you've read that are on my list. Or lists. Hunh, I should figure out the differences between the two lists. I forgot that I did a revision. ** 5STRINGS, Hey. Ah, yeah, I know you and your fantasies, no problemo and quite the opposite. I've got mine, as you and everybody knows, but they're NSFW, and I think that some part of me thinks of the p.s. as my W for some reason. Yoga's good for taking weight off, I think. And I think it's a good way to get exercised without grossing your body up with overt musculature. The best thing about vegan is that you feel like you're on speed but your teeth don't grind. Lemonheads, ha. There are, like, four songs of theirs I used to really like, and probably still do, but I can't remember their names. ** Chilly Jay Chill, Hi, Jeff. Welcome back. Awesome about the rehearsals. Just the idea of you rehearsing at the Performing Garage is so rich. Man, that place, so much genius-containing. I think the 'Pyre' book will be bilingual, in French and English, so, in France, they can read the French translation, and everywhere else, they'll have to make do with the English. It might be that if, say, there ends up being a healthy tour in, say, German speaking countries, we might print a German version. Don't know yet. Not sure how it'll be, length-wise, in print. In mss., it's 16 pp., single spaced, 12 pt. Apologies if I've explained this before, but the text/book for 'The Pyre' is also the first section of my George novel, although the two versions are quite different. I wrote it with the two goals simultaneously in mind, using the emotion and content of my relationship with George as the resource, and using the 'demands', i.e. the characters and storyline of the theater piece as a structuring device. In the theater version, the conceit of the text is that the boy in the piece wrote the text years later about his relationship with the woman in the piece, and in the novel version, it's me writing about George. So, there are deep similarities and surface differences between the two texts. Hard to explain, I guess. Anyway, the theater piece's goals definitely impacted the text's build and organization, and the novel's demands probably impacted the text just as much. Thanks for asking, man. ** Billy Lloyd, Hi. I own hiking boots, but I'm from California where people usually have them in their shoe arsenal due to the whole 'going out for hikes' thing occasioned by living near so much nature. But here, in the winter, I only pull them out when the sidewalks threaten falls and broken bones at every turn, which is almost never. Very happy to hear your feet were firmly planted yesterday. We might get 'The Pyre' to London. It's 'in discussion'. It's a money thing. It's always a money thing. Money for bringing in semi-expensive theater made by less than giant theater stars in the UK is hard to come by. Oh, cool, Paris might be on your agenda! Definitely let me know, if you come. I can do my best to show you or point you at the cool things I know and have found here, and, obviously, it would fantastic to meet. Really, really happy to hear about your hope and motivation. Those things are so totally key. Really key, and really important, and crucial even. Me too. I'm feeling all happy and motivated right now. So nice, right? Keep yours, and I'll keep mine. Deal? ** Steevee, Like I was saying to Tosh, Milk 'n' Cookies' thing is kind of demanding in its way, and they've always irked as much as attracted, which I kind of like about them, but yeah, I hear you. You found The Quick CD, I see. Their best stuff by far post-dated the LP, and has been gathered on a CD now. The LP is cool, but they evolved into quite a genius pop band, unfortunately too genius and too ahead of the curve to ever get signed up to a major label again. ** _Black_Acrylic, Hi, Ben. I didn't realize that MS could be treated with antibiotics. I guess it makes sense, but I hadn't imagined that. Yes, certainly, huge hopes that they help a lot. ** Cobaltfram, Hi, John. I knew Jeremy a bit, and, even though there's no physical resemblance per say, I think Gosling could play him pretty well. Gosling is quite a good actor. More edits, yeah. Sounds pretty normal for that kind of circumstance, based on the experience of friends who've sold books on proposal. I only did that once, as I'm sure I mentioned, and it was a trek getting the proposal to meet whatever standards that my agent thought were required of fishing Editors. Good luck, hang in there. No surprise to me that those 70s masters interest you so much. What's not to love and admire there, you know? On the novel, I'm very slowly nearing the end of the big middle section. Then I'll have to write the all-impiortant final part. So, I've still got a ways to go, but I'm further along than not. ** Anonymous, Yep, can't explain it, but yep. Oh, got your email. Great stuff! I'll get back to you once I'm through with the traveling/ performing madness. Thank you! ** Rewritedept, Thanks a lot, man! The Primavera line-up is really something, yeah. And it's not all that far away from me, so I'm definitely pondering attendance. You should get a passport. It's very useful to have, psychologically if nothing else. Thank you, bud, about 'TAGP'. That's a favorite thing of mine. Well, you need to make sure in your will that you pick an executor of your estate that will protect your work's best interests so you stuff doesn't fall under the control of someone like Courtney Love, basically. Burning your bad stuff, yeah, I get it. I keep everything. I'll find little jewels I can use years later sometimes even in the seemingly worst shit. ** Okay. I'll go zip my backpack shut and walk over to the train station now. Please enjoy the fruits of Hyrule Dungeon's superb taste in art. The blog will see you again tomorrow, and I will see you again on Saturday.

----






Excerpt: John Ford's 'They Were Expendable'


Mervyn Leroy's 'Madame Curie' (full movie)





It begins ... 'The last cable was off, the green lane between ship and dock widened. Emily kept calling and waving to the three below, Ben, a press photographer, her brother Amold and his wife Berry. Amold was twenty- three, two years younger than herself; Berry was twenty-four. Arnold was a dark fleshy man, sensual, self-confident, he fooled around, had never finished high school. From Seattle he came to New York after her and she had helped him out for a while. He now was working on a relief project for the WPA and earning about a hundred dollars a month. Berry was a teacher, soon to have a child. She was a big, fair girl, bolder than Amold. She had already had a child by Amold, when they were going together, had gone to Ireland to some relatives to have it. Arnold had never seen it, but Emily regularly gave them money for it. It was a boy four years old and named Leonard.'










It begins ... 'If you knew what happens in the hotel every day! Not a day passes but something happens. Yesterday afternoon a woman rang me up from Geneva and told me her daughter-in-law died. The woman stayed here twice. We became very friendly; though I always felt there was something she was keeping to herself. I never knew whether she was divorced, widowed or separated. The first time, she talked about her son Gerard. Later, Gerard married. There was something; for she used to telephone from Geneva, crying and saying she had to talk to a friend. I was looking for a friend too. I am always looking for one; for I never had one since I lost my girlhood friend Edith, who married a German exile and after the peace went to live in East Berlin with him. But I can't say I felt really friendly with this woman in Geneva; I didn't know enough about her. My girl friend Edith and I never had any secrets from each other; We lived in neighbouring streets. We would telephone each other as soon as we got up in the morning. On Saturdays we rushed through our household jobs to see each other; we rang up all day long and wrote letters to each other when we were separated by the holidays. Oh, I was so happy in those days. When you grow up and marry, there is a shadow over everything; you can never really be happy again, it seems to me. Besides, with the servants to manage, the menus to type out, the marketing to do, the guests to control and keep in good humour, the accounts, I haven't the time to spend half an hour on the telephone, as I used to. I used to dread this telephone call from Geneva. Still, if a person needs me I must talk to her, mustn't I? You never know. People live year after year in a hotel hke this. We have their police papers, we know their sicknesses and family troubles; people come to confide in you. They tell you things they would not tell their own parents and friends, not even their lawyers and doctors.'






* The above texts were extracted from 'A real inferno: the Life of Christina Stead', by Brooke Allen, Australian Authors @ middlemiss.org, Christina Stead @ Books and Writers, and 'A Steadfast Revenge: Dr. Duncan and Mr. Crow', by Stephen Holt.
----




*

p.s. Hey. Surprise. I woke up early, so I decided to do the p.s. after all rather than do a double-header tomorrow. Strasbourg is nice/pretty and freezing cold. The 'sounds of' 'I Apologize' gig with Peter Rehberg went unexpectedly well. Back to Paris in just a short while. Etc. ** Misanthrope, Even less sympathy today from sub-zero Strasbourg, but, nah, I still remember my thinner LA skin, so, hugs. And you got snow! Ours is barely a tiny detail now. Quit complaining, ha ha! I would think that at least explains things, yes. So, which was it, assigned or self-assigned? ** Kyler, Hi, Kyler. I did miss your comment, I guess, oops. I don't know, I guess this place's evil spell on you needs a double down on my end or something. Cool about the Betsey Lerner contest win. BL = legend. Sweet. ** Cobaltfram, Hi, John. Yeah, I guess I do, it's bad, but I also have the lucky habit of knowing a bunch of the happiest people too, so it's a mixed dealt hand or something. (I'm not quite awake yet, btw). Ira didn't force me, he just gave me his expertise and said something like, There'll be more bites, and they'll be bigger if you feel like following some basic rules. So, I kind of did. And, as you know, I got fucked because when the book I proposed and sold on proposal, 'MLT', ended up getting cancelled, and their justification was that the book I wrote didn't match the proposal perfectly. So, for me, for the way I write, it was a slippery slope. Crime writers of the day meaning today? Mm, maybe not. I really hardly ever read straight genre fiction nowadays. Can't tell about the revising. Usually, as you know, the revising is by far my favorite part.  I really can't predict right now. It won't be easy, for sure, but I can't tell at the moment how differently difficult it'll be. I'm not in that dark place I was in anymore, at least for now, so it doesn't feel as hugely daunting. See you soon too! ** David Ehrenstein, Hi, D. Yeah, crazy new twist thing in the cop cannibal story. ** Scunnard, Even in France where Haribo is inescapable, I prefer their bags as standard fare litter to Kebab droppings. I mean, the colors are better, and, I don't know, I'm still new enough to France, I guess, to see Haribo candy displays as doggies in the window. ** Empty Frame, Hi, Frame! Things are good. Can't complain, nope. Glad it's the same story plus the Rhys drug effect where you are. ** Hyrule Dungeon, Hi! Thank you, thank you, J! It's weird: right before I came to Strasbourg, I saw that BP's piece is playing at the Pompidou, yum. And then he showed up here! Holy shit! Magic! Everyone, a goof in the links yesterday deprived you of one of the intended destinations -- Menkman's 'Poem to Mister Compression', which is, in fact here. ** Okay, fuck, best laid plans. For whatever fucked up reason, Blogger decided to erase the rest of the p.s., I have no idea how, and now I don't have time to rewrite all of it, so ... all right, I will finish answering the comments from yesterday plus the ones that arrive here today when I will see you again tomorrow morning my time. Fuck. In the meantime, decide if my decision to pull out this Christina Stead post from the archives was a good one or not.

“The farther he goes the more good it does me. I don’t want philosophies, tracts, dogmas, creeds, ways out, truths, answers, nothing from the bargain basement. He is the most courageous, remorseless writer going and the more he grinds my nose in the shit the more I am grateful to him.
    He’s not fucking me about, he’s not leading me up any garden path, he’s not slipping me a wink, he’s not flogging me a remedy or a path or a revelation or a basinful of breadcrumbs, he’s not selling me anything I don’t want to buy — he doesn’t give a bollock whether I buy or not — he hasn’t got his hand over his heart. Well, I’ll buy his goods, hook, line and sinker, because he leaves no stone unturned and no maggot lonely. He brings forth a body of beauty.
    His work is beautiful.” – Harold Pinter on Beckett


We all know Beckett's work for stage and his novels. Few of us know his radio drama. Until recently, I didn't even know he wrote any. But in 1955 the BBC, intrigued by the international attention being given to the Paris production of Waiting for Godot, invited the author to write a play for radio. Beckett was initially hesitant, but wrote to his friend the shipping heiress and political activist Nancy Cunard:-

“Never thought about radio play technique but in the dead of t’other night got a nice gruesome idea full of cartwheels and dragging of feet and puffing and panting which may or may not lead to something.”

That ‘nice gruesome idea’ led to All That Fall—and four other plays specifically written for the radio medium between 1957 and 1962. There’s also a sixth – From an Abandoned Work, which I haven’t heard – and a French play, translated as The Old Tune, which comes bundled with the downloads below.

Neither Beckett’s work for stage or his novels, he’d be the first to agree, are exactly big on narrative and his radio drama is no different. Here’s a short synopsis of what does – or doesn’t - happen in those five plays:-

All that Fall: Maddy Rooney, seventy years old, “two hundred pounds of unhealty fat,” makes her laborious way to the Boghill railroad station to meet her blind husband, Dan, as a surprise for him on his birthday.

Embers: Henry sits on the strand, tormented by the sound of the sea. He talks to his drowned father, who doesn’t answer, and to his wife, Ada, who does. Throughout it all the sound of the sea weaves in and out, almost like a third character.

Words and Music: Words, called Bob and Music, called Joe are forced to collaborate by the club-wielding Croak. Under duress they produce two of the most exquisite lyric poems ever written by Samuel Beckett. The play is often understood as as being “about” the agonizing difficulties of the creative process itself.

Cascando: an Opener “opens” and “closes” two characters: Voice, who desperately promises “this time” to tell a story he can finish; and Music, who equally struggles to create a finished composition.

Rough for Radio I: the grumpy MacGillycuddy gets a female visitor then makes a phone-call, receives two in return, finally securing - or perhaps admitting - the information 'tomorrow...noon'.

Rough for Radio II: an Animator assisted by a Stenographer and the whip wielding mute character, Dick, has the task of eliciting from Fox some unknown testimony of unknown significance. If it could but be achieved then “tomorrow, who knows, we may be free!”

And thanks to the wonderful RTE (the radio and TV broadcasting company of Ireland), who re-recorded all five (plus The Old Tune) in 2006, as part of “Beckkett100”, they are now archived online and available to download as mp3s HERE.

‘All that Fall’ and ‘Embers’ are probably the most accessible, unless you’re a total Beckett freak, but I really like Rough for Radio II and Cascando – not because I understand them in particular, but because they’re really beguiling in an aural sense. Maybe he’s not big on conventional narrative but Beckett uses structure to poetic effect like no-one else, both in his other works and his radio drama.

So what's the deal with radio plays, I hear you ask? English-language-wise, both the US and UK have a rich history of radio drama, spanning the first 'soaps' on commercial radio in the US and Orson Welles' seminal adaptation of HG Wells' “War of the Worlds” (which used the medium so well, a nation was raised to the edge of panic). And by the mid-1940s, the BBC was producing over 400 radio plays each year. These days, radio drama has a minimal presence on terrestrial radio in the US, but the BBC's commitment to this most idiosyncratic of media remains strong. In the UK, Radio 4's daily 'Afternoon Drama' attracts an average audience of 500,000. That's half a million. Five days a week. Fifty two weeks a year. And most of these are not adaptations of novels, short stories or stage plays: they are works written specifically for radio – that is, they take full advantage of the medium.





So again, what's the deal with radio plays? For me, a good radio play is the next best thing to music, in that the content bypasses the eye and mainlines itself straight into your brain. Cos radio plays are all sound. So far, so obvious, right?

But what does ‘all sound’ actually mean? For the listener, compared with say watching TV drama or films, it means YOU get to create your own version of the characters and story in your own head because sound has to be, after smell, the most connotative of the senses.

What's the first thing we become aware of, in the womb? Our mother's heart. One could argue, therefore, that our ears are of primary way of engaging with our environment.

What differentiates homo sapiens from other animals? Speech – and how do we receive speech? Through our ears.

Sound is primal. Sound is personal and thus both subjective and infinitely ambiguous: the same sound will have as many connotations as it has listeners. Sound is intimate: the lover's whisper, the bully's hissed threat, the child's cry, the dog's howl. Yeah, I'm rambling a bit here, but that's purely because of the very special and unique relationship each of us has with any given collection of sounds, which in turn renders the aural experience difficult to describe.

Okay, I’ll admit it: there's something very unnatural feeling about sitting down and listening to radio drama as it is broadcast, whether it’s on an actual radio or via a website. There's nothing to look at. You (well, I do) start to fidget after the first five minutes. Worse still, I close my eyes in the hope this will let me focus – and I fall asleep. We're so visually oriented these days, we don’t know what to do with our eyes when we’re not using ‘em to take in information.

Listening is defo a skill. What I do – thanks my digital radio and its sd card – is record plays then transfer 'em over to my mp3 player and take 'em out with me. On walks. On train journeys. On the bus. With my eyes actively engaged in looking at nothing in particular, my ears are freed up to allow the drama to unfold somewhere deep in my brain. And if you've never listened to radio drama I urge you to take the plunge, cos at its best? There’s nothing like it.


Other Notable People Who You Might Not Know Have Written Radio Plays

Mr. Pinter :http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Slight_Ache

Mr. Orton: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ruffian_on_the_Stair

Mr. Behan:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brendan_Behan#Plays

Mr. Minghella: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Minghella#Selected_plays

Mr. Adams: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hitchhiker%27s_Guide_to_the_Galaxy

Ms. Carter:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angela_Carter#Radio_plays

More recently, one of my fav radio plays is Matthew Broughton’s wonderfully eerie The Rain Maker. Due to copyright issues, you can’t download it, but I have an mp3of it, if anyone wants to send me a flash drive. Here’s a link to the writer talking about The Rain maker process:-

http://matthewbroughton.wordpress.com/2012/06/28/the-rain-maker/

Another amazing piece of writing for radio is Jack Thorne’s People Snogging in Public Places. Again, due to copyright issues, this isn’t available to listen to right now, but keep an eye on the radio schedules cos it may be repeated.

Finally, in true Becketian tradition, let me end where I began, with himself. There’s been a recent vogue for ‘staging’ his radio plays: here’s a trailer for one:-





Here’s a Mexican version of Embers, in Spanish:-





Here’s the original 1957 BBC recording of All That Fall– as a bonus, you get to stare at a particularly craggy Sam as you listen.





And here’s a photo from his little known ‘buff’ period.







*

p.s. Hey. Major treat this weekend as the writer and d.l. extraordinaire Jax concentrates us on the radio plays of the unimpeachable lit-smith Mr. Samuel Beckett. There's amazing stuff galore up there for you guys, and I hope you'll enjoy the directive and the goods, and that you will speak back to your guest-host between now and Monday. Thank you, and thank you, Jax! Now, I'll go back and start by recreating the interactions I attempted re: the later comments from two days back that Blogger so rudely disappeared on me and then gradually get us up to speed. ** Thursday ** Sypha, Weird to see the changes I made to my 50 books list. The Agota Kristof wasn't a change, I just called the trilogy of novels by their overall name in one list and by their individual names in the other. Of course, if I redid the list again now, it'd be differently made yet again. ** David Ehrenstein, Hi. Wise Gore. ** Barry, Hey! What a true pleasure and honor to have you post here. Thank you! I was at the opening of Hors Piste the other day and saw that they're screening your work, and, if I'm in town, which I'm almost sure I will be, I'll be there. Everyone in or near Paris, Barry Doupé's 'The Colors that Combine to Make White are Important', which was featured in Hyrule Dungeon's post the other day, is being screened at the Centre Pompidou on February 1st at 8 pm in the Cinema 2 theatre as part of the Hors Piste festival, and I highly recommend that you attend if you at all can. Again, thank you, and, if you'll be there for the event, hopefully I'll meet you there, and, if not, somewhere somehow, I hope. ** Hyrule Dungeon, Hi, J. Thanks so much again! ** JoeM, Hi, Joe! Thank you so much about the video for my dad. That's really kind of you to say, my friend. The Seekers! Nice, thank you for that too! ** Anonymous/ postitbreakup, Hi, Josh. No, the 'Pyre' booklet will only be for the people who see the show. That's Gisele's decision, but, given its strong resemblance to the first section of my novel, I also prefer that it stay locked to the theater piece. Thanks about the 'Try' thing. ** 5STRINGS, Hi. I think I've long since 'fucked up' my 'career' to the point where selling out would not be technically possible even were doing that were the slightest temptation. It is technically possible to get rich off one's first novel, so go for it. I don't know that Ugly Joe-like new band. What an idea. I don't think any of my novels are bad, no. Some bad short fiction and poetry, for sure. Some weak chapters, but not bad necessarily, I don't think. I really don't think I'll see 'Argo.' 'Skyfall' I will certainly see, probably on a plane flight. Paris is good. You should be here, although it is a bit nippy. ** Billy Lloyd, Hi, Billy! If the London gig for 'The Pyre' pans out, I'll definitely let you know. I think I do know some pretty awesome Paris places that tourists don't get officially directed towards, so that's a deal, and, yeah, I hope you do get over here. That would be fun. Oh, no, the motivation spell wore off a bit? Temporarily though, right? Did the coffee work while not rumpling your stomach? How are you today? ** Friday ** Chris, Hi, Chris. Mm, it depends on what you mean by heal. Honestly, I didn't feel completely like my old self for at least a year, I think, or it felt like a year. I think that, after that long, I was eating and drinking most of what I had imbibed before, although I never ate onions or peppers and that sort of thing again. I was/am a vegetarian, and apparently that helped it go sort of smoothly, I was told. But I haven't had any recurrence of the ulcer thing since, and, obviously, it's been a long time, so hopefully you have internal peace to look forward to again. The theater schedule is pretty much a red herring, as far as charting my own schedule goes, but, that said, I don't post the behind-the-scenes work schedule, which is relatively intensive, or will be until late May. ** Misanthrope, Yikes: car, slippage. Did it snow more? We seem to be completely through with snow, at least for a while. It's even supposed to get contextually toasty -- 14 degrees C -- in the next few days. ** Un Cœur Blanc, Hi! She is tough, but her surfaces are detail-y and alluring. You're still beset with the flu? Ugh, I'm sorry. The flu is so imperialist this year. Of course I'm happy about your Blanchot reread. Wow, you're so right about the weirdness of Blanchot and a food space. How totally interesting. Yes, that feels wrong. Hm, I'm going to think more about that. That's so interesting. Thank you, and have the best weekend you can. ** David Ehrenstein, Oh, good, I'm glad you seconded my Stead post resurrection. She's talked about and read far too infrequently these days, I think. No chance in hell that I'll get invited to the Diderot reburial. It's interesting, though, 'cos they haven't buried a new body there in many decades. There was a campaign afoot to get Celine reburied there a short while back, but that got scotched by the powers that be for the obvious reason. ** Rewritedept, Coachella is like dead band reunion central this year. That feels weird or something to me. That said, now I really want to try to go because one of those reunions is of one of a fave, very under-appreciated band, The Three O'Clock. Although I'm hoping they do a warm up gig at some small, friendly LA club beforehand 'cos Coachella attendance just sounds like hell to me. With Stead, 'The Man Who Loved Children' is her masterpiece, probably. It's long, though, and I've only read a couple of the others, but they were both excellent. The Blur show should be pretty fun. The videos of their London reunion show look like a lot of fun. I was underwhelmed by the new Yo La Tengo. I mean, it's real nice, obviously, but I wanted something new to be happening in their sound, I guess. We were briefly linked, if you mean LinkedIn, but I got the hell out of here this morning. Nothing personal, of course, ha ha. Get through your non-off days as best you can, man. ** _Black_Acrylic, Hi, Ben. That Embassy show sounds like a lot of fun, as does the Orton sisters' installation. I hope it gets photographed or videoed or something. Excited for your Skinny review. 'Hello, Hello, I'm Back Again' looks spooky and great. So, steroids it is. Well, obviously, I hope they help you out a lot. ** 5STRINGS, It doesn't quite match to any of those connotations precisely. I guess I should see 'SLP'. Don't know if I will, though. Eventually, I guess. Inspired by Clapton? Why? I've never really gotten the Clapton as great/god thing at all. Must be a nice feeling to feel like your ass is 20 years old, congrats. Nice column, buddy. ** James, Hi, James! Nice to see you! Sorry to hear that you've been beneath the weather. You have plenty of company, although that knowledge never helps much. Cool about the Xmas time old friends hanging stuff. Any comparison between 'Closer' and 'Irreversible' is a very high compliment to me, thank you. Paris has been treating me very good when I've been here. Had great snowfall for a few days, and now its evidence is completely gone. Quite cold, but not deadly. I am back working on the George novel again, yes, slowly, but yes. You're into the editing phase, nice. I really look forward to getting there on my end, as violent as it may end up being. Have a lovely weekend! ** Bollo, Hi, J! Good, so it's fixed and ready to be your silent enclosure again, an architectural installation work titled 'Applause' or something. I had no clue about the Zorn/Rimbaud thing. He's like Pollard; either you commit fully to his trajectory or you get lost. Thanks, I'll go check out the video, cool. Is that new Grouper the one that's reviewed in the current issue of The Wire? Made me want it, not that I needed any encouragement really. ** Steevee, Hey. We disagree about The Quick, but then I'm familiar with their evolution. They were my very favorite band for about four years. I must have seen them live something like 30 times. The new Philippe Grandieux being 'White Epilepsy' or the documentary? Probably 'WE', I would gather. I heard a piece of the Pantha du Prince, and it did sound really tasty, and I'll get it, thank you. ** Kyler, Hi, K. Oh, God, ... I came home tired late last evening and saw that an old friend of mine whom I haven't talked to in far too long had 'invited' me to hook up with him on LinkedIn, so I blearily joined and then awoke this morning to find my email box flooded with LinkedIn shit and a few emails from friends asking if I had really invited them to join LinkedIn, which I hadn't, so I deleted my account there lickety-split. What a creepy place. Hm, interesting and mysterious about 'what went wrong'. I couldn't quite decode your message, but it was colorful and intriguing. Happy that laughs have pummeled the 'wrong' to some degree, man. ** Alan, Hi, Alan. She's pretty interesting. Unique voice. You might give her a try. Oh, thanks a lot about the 'Weaklings (XL)' cover, man. All the credit goes to Joel Westendorf. That photo is of the living room of the house I grew up in. Very melancholy image for me, and I'm glad to know that it works without attached memories. Have a great weekend. ** Okay. We're caught up. Be with Beckett and Jax as best you can this weekend, and I will naturally see you again on Monday.

'The thing about fiction is a lot of fiction isn't fiction. I can't blame people for wanting to know how much of a story is true. I make stuff up, but I steal my best stuff from real events. I guess the hardest part is gluing it all together with lies. That's also the most fun.

'One of my themes is the homosexual experience. I try not to normalize that experience. It's not normal. It's not hetero. It's not status quo. At the same time, it can be anything I want it to be. Still, I feel like a ghost sometimes, like every conversation I have is trying to apply something to my life that doesn't apply. ...

'I don't have an MFA. My undergraduate fiction classes were run like MFA workshops, though. I wrote some OK stories in undergrad, but that wasn't the point. The point was to learn how to read. My boyfriend and I are avid readers, and once a week we'll go out to eat at the Indian buffet and talk about what we're reading. Sometimes, I let my boyfriend read my stories before I send them out. I'm pretty proud, though, and my boyfriend hates confrontation, so I usually just send out the stories and wait for the rejections. Rejection sets me on fire to impress more than anything else. ...

'I was writing a novel. I loved the idea of writing a novel, but every chapter read like a separate story, and the characters weren't consistent from chapter to chapter. I only recently realized I'd been writing a collection of stories all along. Also, Tiny Hardcore Press came to me loving my stories. They've given me a lot of free reign, but it felt dumb to throw my first attempt at a novel at them.' -- Casey Hannan, from The Interview: Casey Hannan | Molly Laich



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Lifelike



Casey Hannan reads 'Worn Out' from 'Mother Ghost'


Mel Bosworth reads 'Other Sons' by Casey Hannan


Story Swaps: Casey Hannan reads Molly Laich



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Further

Casey Hannan's Vicious Cycle
Casey Hannan's GUYS + PIES
Casey Hannan interviewed @ [PANK]
Casey Hannan interviewed @ American Short Fiction Blog
'Smoking with Casey Hannan'
'Everyone in NYC Has A Crush on Casey Hannan'
Casey Hannan's 'Mother Friends'
Casey Hannan's 'Piano Hands'
Casey Hannan's 'Other Sons
Casey Hannan's 'Ghosts There'
Casey Hannan's 'Call You Back'
Casey Hannan's 'Ghost Water'
Casey Hannan @ Twitter
Preorder 'Mother Ghost' @ Tiny Hardcore Press



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p.s.
' ... to the coming out letter I wrote my parents when I was 15'






_____
Recipe
'the family recipe for my favorite pie'






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Gallery
Casey Hannan through the ages


















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Book

Casey Hannan Mother Ghost
Tiny Hardcore Press

'A gay man comes out of the closet every day of his life. His mother is the first to know. She says he’ll be lonely, but he’ll never be alone. The men who take his time are taxidermist veterans and autopsy pathologists, deer hunters and bartenders, museum directors and curators of contemporary art. They haunt each other on porches and beaches and in the back of trucks. They’re the places a gay man goes to escape his mother. She’s still there, though, in the air between them. She is Mother Ghost.' -- Tiny Hardcore Press



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Excerpts

TRIGGER SHY

Smoking on the porch outside the secret orgy, we keep looking over at each other, hoping one of us will say what comes next, or that it’s time to go inside and take off all our clothes. But then a deer moves down the street, tapping hooves on the asphalt so evenly, like the back of a head against a headboard.
    We both wonder aloud, “Must be time, huh?” Then we giggle, a little, before the demonic laughter takes us over from the inside out. Our faces are lit only by the matches we scratch—one cigarette after the other, after the other, after the other. We laugh so hard our cigarettes look like little boiled noodles.
    I say, “That deer walks like someone who’s worn heels all their life.”
    You howl as if you’ve just received bad news. I light another cigarette by making my cigarette kiss your cigarette.
    I say, “There’s a name for that, you know.”
    You say, “What, frot?”
    I laugh and cough at the same time.
    “Yeah,” I say, “the tips of our cigarettes are ‘frot’ with longing for each other.”
    I make our cigarettes kiss again. Ashes fall to the porch like a cindered emission.
    You love wordplay, so you howl until it transforms into a scissored cough, like your breath is caught in a rock tumbler. I realize this will be your last cigarette ever. You bleed your coughs onto the shoulder of your t-shirt in big, tacky blotches, and you say, “This is it, man. My only chance to do something like this before I die. I’m dyeing, God, how I’m dyeing this shirt right in front of you.”
    And then you scream, but the people inside can’t hear you. The music and the moaning are just that loud.
    You startle the deer, though, and it leaps into the intersection, hitting a car full of orgygoers just back from a beer run. Some of them are already naked because they can’t wait to taste a stranger, but the only thing they taste now is the blood and the glass and the shame that comes from being naked during a travesty.
    The deer is dying too, so it keeps kicking someone in the face through the windshield. Teeth crack like vibrating dishes. I keep smoking on the front porch. You never know what you’ll do when you don’t know what the fuck to do.
    Someone says, “Help. Me.” So I pull out my phone like I’m easing a gun, like maybe someone else will make the call first, but I realize, between puffs, there’s no one else around who isn’t slowly dying.



VIPER MISSING

Lee’s across the river on the stone where we clean animals. He’d be naked, but he has a beard. He’s got one hand going in and out of a dead deer like he’s trying to restart the heart. The other hand is lifting one of the deer’s legs. Lee runs his tongue over the leg like he’s sealing an envelope. He spits out a hair and does it again.
    I stand by the fire. I’m naked, too. Last night was the last night for us. I pee in the fire, and it hurts. A black snake out of season goes heavy across my foot. The snake wraps my ankle because I’m warm.
    I grew up with snakes. We kept them in the basement and pulled them out on Sundays. My mother prayed for her hair to turn into snakes so she could always be tested. She stuck her head in one of the snake boxes and yelled, and that’s how she lost her nose. My family has a lot of incomplete ghosts.
    I’m quiet, but Lee sees me anyway. He puts his tongue away and pulls his hand out of the deer. He stands, and he’s mostly blood. I try to make a face he can’t read.
    I fail.
    The river here is narrow where the big rocks come in on both sides. Lee strides the rocks like he’s closing the gap between two mountains. He’s wide and ginger and fat with old football muscle. I’m small and dark as a dog, so I run.
    The snake climbs to my thigh but sloughs off when I get too hot. It bites first, though. The sting of it spreads pink like thawing meat. It’s not venom. No black snake in this country has venom. I can still run.
    I get to the tall grass where I don’t know what’s inside. My mother sent me into our dark basement once after a flood. I found loose rattlesnakes with my feet. Now I only have a few of my toes. Lee likes to bite the air where my toes are missing so I feel it. It’s called a phantom sensation, like when you suffer in a dream. Lee’s had trouble with never tasting all of me.
    I try to climb the grass to get out. It’s a dry winter. There’s no snow and no ice. It’s cold, though, and Lee is loud behind me. He says the grass goes on forever, but it doesn’t. There’s gravel and a truck and a man reaching over to open a door orange and rusted as danger.
    He says, “Get in if you’re getting in.”
    He could be Lee like every man in a shadow could be Lee. I get in, even though.




*

p.s. Hey. I'm very happy to be able to celebrate the imminent arrival of superb writer and d.l. Casey Hannan's first book today. I've read it, and it's fantastic, and I very highly recommend it to you, and I hope you'll enjoy exploring it and its memorabilia. Also, an early heads up that there will be another interruption in the flow of the p.s. this week. I'm traveling to the French city of Lille on Wednesday morning for an overnight stay, so there won't be a full-fledged p.s. for the two days that I'm there. You'll get a rerun post on Wednesday and the monthly slaves post on Thursday. Then, normalcy will return when I'm back in Paris on Friday. ** Jeff, Hi, Jeff, welcome, and thank you a lot for being here and talking Beckett with Jax. ** David Ehrenstein, Hi. Very curious to see 'Upstream Color'. I've heard a lot of really good things about it. Not very interested whatsoever in 'Big Sur', but I've never been all that interested in the Beats. Ha ha, I'll direct Yury's attention to Julie Newmar's mother's stuff, but I guarantee you that he will cringe. So not his style, and I can't imagine he has the slightest idea who Julie Newmar is. ** Tosh, Hi, Tosh. Extremely interesting about your stint in the Beckett play, whether your part survived the cut or not. I just read somewhere that Dean Stockwall is starring in some new, very odd sounding film, I think, maybe with Jerry Lewis (?), but I can't remember the details. ** Rewritedept, Hi. I would guess Blur will at least do an East Coast show while they're already Stateside, but we'll see. Could be that the Three O'Clock reunion will get me to Coachella, but that kind of vast, field-based festival with undoubtedly anti-ideal viewing and hearing is not very appealing at all. Don't know. Time to think. ** JoeM, Hi, Joe. Beckett's 'Happy Days' is great. One of my very fave theater things by him, and maybe my favorite. Yeah, the period when that dad video was made was a rough, uncertain, very disappointing time, and then we gave up, basically, and now ... we'll see. But being locked out of the US like that was so incredibly unfair. It would be the same if he tried for a visa now. I don't know. Thank you, Joe. ** Steevee, Hi. There's an upcoming screening of 'White Epilepsy' here that I'm really hoping to catch. I was really into the Mothers of Invention when I was young. I haven't listened to them in yonks, but I used to really like pretty much everything by them/Zappa up through 'Weasels Ripped My Flesh' in, yeah, as you said, 1970. After that, I kind of couldn't stand what Zappa did. I think 'We're Only In It For the Money' was my favorite. ** Un Cœur Blanc, Hi! 'How It Is' is so good. Very interesting about the wrongness of 'Aminadab'. It's the only Blanchot that didn't stick deeply in my mind, and I hardly remember it, which is very strange. That may well be why. Thanks for the read and urge on the new Kitchell poetry book. I read the online sample, and I thought it was interesting, and I need to order that. Your enthusiasm will get me to do so almost immediately. Thank you. ** Misanthrope, Our weather is upwardly mobile here too. Might not even need a scarf today. Oh, God, LinkedIn ... as I was saying on Saturday, I got pulled in there while sleepy because I got an invite to join from ... well, Jonathan Sanders, whom you know ... and, not having talked to Jonathan in quite a while and missing him, I dove in, only to realize the invitation was generated not by him at all, and I quit, but not before everybody who's ever written me a fucking email seems to have gotten an 'invite' from me. ** Paradigm, Hi, Scott! Yeah, the Day shines a very bright klieg light up my alley. I didn't know that Franzen championed Stead. That's unpleasant. I think that post was made before his stamp of approval besmirched her. I don't think I know that Mark Cousins film. Sounds definitely worth a look. I'll see if it's uploaded somewhere, and, if not, I'll search further. My weekend was okay, yours? How's your work and everything going right now? ** Jax, Thanks so ultra-much, buddy! It was great, and it was a hit! ** Scunnard, Hi, J. Oh, right, that's what LinkedIn is. So people actually get jobs from that site? Trippy. I wonder what kind of jibs I would have been offered. I'm almost kind of sorry I deleted my account now. ** 5STRINGS, I wish that I could get so insanely rich that I could make everybody I know and like rich, and then we'd all be kind of rich, and life would be a perpetual spring or something. I've heard of Jesus, yeah. He's, like, Rimbaud for stupid people or something, right? Back in the halcyon days of my youth, I totally got and felt the 'god' thing about, oh, Page, Beck, Hendrix, Blackmore, Green, Iommi, etc., but I never got the Clapton thing. Saw Cream live three times, and saw Derek & the Dominoes live once, and I don't know. My ears failed me or something. A vampirish world indeed. You're so evermore mastering the stack form, and with text component! Everyone, without ado, 5STRINGS' 'The World is a Vampire' aka 'First World Problems' Skeedaddle! ** James, Hi, James. Glad to hear you're both more human and skinnier. Nice combo. There's still every chance the George novel won't work and will have to be deep-sixed, but at least I'm inside it again. I've heard the term 'ambient influences, yeah. With me, they're more than ambient because I'm pretty much always more influenced by the music and film and art and stuff I'm into than I am by literature. Always have been. If anything, I think the literature influence is more the ambient one for me. With music, art, film, etc., I really study that stuff carefully, and, with the lit influence, it's, like, 'hey, if you can get your influence into what I'm writing, cool, but I'm not asking'. Do I think it's possible that Titus Andronicus could be influencing your work? Well, absolutely! Like I've said before, music, especially, is a huge influence on how I write. So, yeah. Love to you. ** Kyler, Hi, K! ** Bill, Hi! I stay extremely far away from foie gras, yeah. Even the idea of a vegetarian version makes me feel nauseous. I kind of doubt there is one, but I don't know. Never heard of one. Oh, I finally dug into your generous Butoh stuff, and it helped enormously, and I've put together a post using it and supplementary stuff for the next couple of weeks, so thank you so much! ** Allesfliesst, Exciting about your proofs correcting, man. Very exciting. Oh, a hypnosis story for me, cool. Hold on while I read it. But ... but ... but ... what happened?!? Ha ha. I'm sure my particular imagination can fill out that blank adequately, and so it will. Thanks, Kai. ** Chilly Jay Chill, Hi, Jeff. Well, Gisele laid out the basics what she wanted to do -- the woman and boy performers, the setting in an abstracted-out Eastern European techno club, that the text would be separate from the performance and inform/create it via a book to be read by the audience after the performance part was over, etc. We discussed some of reference points she had for the piece -- Bertolucci's 'Luna', 'Lilya 4-ever', and others. And then she gave me complete freedom to make the text I wanted to make, to create the woman and boy character and their stories however I liked. As I had started working on the George novel and was very consumed by it and didn't think I could create something far afield from the material I was consumed by, I made the decision to tell the same story in two different ways. In the theater version, the boy is writing about his relationship with the woman in the future when he's older, and, in the novel version, it's me writing about George. The text is a strange, complicated text that only gradually finds a way to tell the actual and very difficult, painful story, so it was possible to work with it in both contexts. It was different for me in the obvious way, as I had never written something that was destined for a novel and a theater piece at the same time, and I doubt I'll do that again, but, in this case, it seems to have worked, although we won't know until the piece reaches the public, of course. Thanks for asking about that, Jeff! Superb news about the success of the open studio. God, that piece sounds like it's going to be so amazing! I so hope I'll get to see it somehow. I'll make every effort to do so. Crazy about the Matthew Barry-like boy given 'Luna's' presence in our work, and given the MB character's influence on our piece. Wow. ** Alan Hi. No, Joel picked the image. He took the photograph. I gave him complete reign over the cover, and I didn't know what he was going to do until he sent me the cover already designed. It was a total surprise to me, and I'm pretty sure the two interior scene covers are the result of pure coincidence. ** _Black_Acrylic, Hi, Ben. So good to hear about your great day! Good timing and hugely deserved, obviously. The 'Twister' installation looks even cooler than I imagined it would. Thanks a bunch for letting me see. Everyone, _Black_Acrylic has posted some photos of a show at the Embassy Gallery in Edinburgh, featuring a very cool looking installation work by Ortonandon aka artists/sisters Katie, Sophie and Anna Orton based on the game Twister, and you should check them out here. Look forward to your review! ** Sypha, Hm, maybe I will yet again update my 50 novels list. You know me and my list-making fetish. Thanks for tweaking it. Which McCourt novels did you get? ** Chris Dankland, Hi, Chris! I'm good, thanks. I haven't heard that Lish interview. I'll listen to it. Mixed feelings about that guy, as you know, but I'm always interested to hear what he says. Yeah, the last time I talked to Zach, he was way into Lish and was about to take a class with him, but I haven't talked to Zach since then. I wonder how it went for him, and, of course, I'm extremely interested to see what Zach's new work is going to be like. Interesting to hear that you liked 'ZDT'. I think I'm going to hold off on seeing that until the blah blah around it is hard for my memory to recall precisely because I feel like any viewing right now would be too interfered with by the surrounding noise. But I will see it at some point, and I'm really glad to know what you thought. How are you doing? How is writing going? How is everything? ** Marc Vallée, Hi, Marc! Awesome to see you! Yes, I do know that Larry Clark is here doing that film. Apparently, when he was here to install his retrospective, he fell in love, in a very Larry-Clark-like manner, with the skateboarders who hang out and skate around the Palais de Tokyo, and, hence, a film idea was born. I sure hope it's a lot better than that last online-only film of his. ** MMR, Hearty greetings, MMR! Glad that TKitH are still revamping you, and I'm well, thanks, and I hope you are very well indeed. ** Okay. Casey Hannan's book has your local day all mapped out for you, so get back up there and dig the fruits. See you tomorrow.

If you think you don't like Bright Eyes, well, you just haven't heard the Bright Eyes song that's right for you!

Here's two all-around/"mainstreamish" great ones:


"Lover I Don't Have to Love"




"Spent on Rainy Days"




*


or maybe you want to be totally emotionally devastated/amazed?


"Padraic My Prince"




"The Joy in Forgetting - The Joy in Acceptance" (this song is basically my soul, so dis it at your peril)




"No Lies, Just Love"




*


maybe you're into the whole lo-fi thing?


"Falling Out of Love at This Volume"




see also: "The Awful Sweetness of Escaping Sweat"& "Puella Quam Amo Est Pulchra"


*


maybe you feel a little bit folksy?


"Four Winds"




see also: "Road to Joy"& I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning (Full Album)& "Soul Singer in a Session Band"


*


or political?


"When the President Talks to God"




see also: "Napoleon's Hat"


*


maybe you're in love....


"First Day of My Life"




"Lua"




*


...or out of love?


"I've Been Eating (For You)"




see also: "It's Cool, We Can Still Be Friends"


*


maybe you like more of a beat?


"Down in a Rabbit Hole"




see also: "Hit the Switch"


*


spoken word?


"Firewall"




*


covers?


"Out on the Weekend"




see also: "Devil Town"& "Blue Christmas"


*


poems set to music?


"Nothing Gets Crossed Out"




see also: "Waste of Paint"& "From a Balance Beam"


*


other favorites of mine


"Drunk Kid Catholic"


"Happy Birthday to Me (Feb. 15)"


"I'll Be Your Friend"


"A Line Allows Progress, A Circle Does Not"


"Loose Leaves"


"Southern State"




"Sunrise, Sunset"


*


in closing,


"Take It Easy (Love Nothing)"






*

p.s. Hey. So, today wonderscribe and wonderd.l. Postitbreakup would like to indoctrinate you, if need be, into the Bright Eyes fan base. Will it work? Need it work? It behooves those of you who resist or are on the fence to approach the Bright Eyes oeuvre with an open mind and see what happens. Good luck and thanks to Mr. P, and the same goes to the rest of you. Now, as previously stated, this will be the last full-fledged p.s. until Friday. Rerun post tomorrow, slaves on Thursday, and then newness and completeness again. ** Jax, Hi, pal. Thank you re: Lille. I think I will. ** Billy Lloyd, Oh, yeah, me too, on the rushes and retreats of inspiration like, yeah, as you said, everybody experiences, I guess. No worries. The good stuff always comes back when you least expect it. Forcing it doesn't usually work, true, but surrendering to the fact that you are obliged to make stuff can work. It's weird. A lot of lack of inspiration is just stress and weird insecurities, I think, and sometimes knowing you have to do it can be nice kick in the ass or wake up call or whatever. Yeah, here in Paris, it's like it never snowed at all. Sad, kind of. Well, soon enough-ish, you'll be out of school and off on world tours all the time, and I'll be the one who's hella jealous. ** David Ehrenstein, Hi, David. Oh, yes, I got your email. Thank you so, so much! It houses one of my tippy top favorite movies of all time, as you know! And seeing you in the Welles film was great! I've got it set to launch on February 5th, and, yeah, just thank you a lot! ** Alana Noel Voth, Hi, Alana! So great to see you! Ah, the honor was all mine and the blog's vis-a-vis Casey's book, and you just wait until your book comes out. Don't think you're going to get away without a big celebration! ** Misanthrope, Wow, they're forbidding you from hitting the road, or they were. Nice that they care about you so much, or, err, care about their insurance or something? Wow, that was pretty swift -- the transfer from hand to type. You must have very nice handwriting. Awesome! ** xTx, Hey! And you were so right, weren't you? I'm well. Are you well? You seem well. I haven't gotten 'Billie' yet. The mail from the US into France is notoriously unpredictable. It'll probably be here when I get back from Lille. Can not wait to fondle that thang. Big love to you! ** Scunnard, Now I'm worried that I'm missing out on the hugest opportunity by having x-ed my LinkedIn thing. Not really. Well, maybe. I don't remember my Facebook password. It doesn't seem to be one of my usuals. If I ever don't get automatically welcomed into that place with a click, I'll be in trouble or liberated or something. ** Tosh, Hi, Tosh. I'll see if I can find that right state of mind. I loved festivals when I was druggie wannabe hippie teen. I have to find that love again, but where? Must still be there somewhere. Sparks is playing there too? Oh shit, this is starting to seem like an inevitability that I just have to make happen. You saw my comment, right? ** Dennis Cooper, Busy body. ** Rewritedept, Hi. I heard that live-in-concert version of the new MBV track. It did sound kind of great. I'm still sticking to a 'believe it when I see/hear it' policy about that album.Well, I did sign up to LinkedIn for about four hours, but I didn't invite anybody. They just milked me to try to swell their weird ranks. You did tell me all about Kimchi, and I still don't think I've eaten any since then. Got to get back on that hunt. It's raining here too. Blah. ** Un Cœur Blanc, Hi. Wow, that Cioran quote is kind of amazing. It confuses me, and you know how much I love confusion. Understood about needing to keep distance from poetic writing sometimes. Interesting need. I know that need too. My pleasure and honor to spotlight Casey's book. It's beautiful. My mailing address: c/o Centre International des Recollets, 150 rue du Faubourg St. Martin, 75010 Paris, France. Thank you so, so much for the birthday thing. That's so very sweet of you! Love from me. ** Tonyoneill, Tony! Tony, my man! Yes! How fucking great to see you, buddy! This is great! I'm good, I'm good, working, living the life, you know, the usual but in a good phase. That's great about 'Black Neon' getting Germany and France on board. I really had better get my French 1000% better in a hurry. Strange and really too bad about the US. What's up with the US on that? Weird place. Are you coming over to France for the release? New agent, okay, and a good one, nice! And, obviously, really exciting about the 1/2 done new novel! Much needed. I need my Tony time, man, and I'm extremely far from alone on that. A horror film? Fuckin' A! I mean, uh, can you say anything about what the horror is? No obligation, of course. I fear talking about my stuff in progress. Anyway, yeah, so terrific to see you, Tony! I'm glad you're doing way, way more than okay. Lots of love to you! ** 5STRINGS, I believe you. Aw, thanks. Aw, really thanks about the friend thing. Come on, man, you've got to be a friend magnet. I can feel it. Conversion ... how does that happen? Is it inexplicable like falling in love or something? Weird. Modern love. Iommi overrated, what?!? Ha ha. Your insanity would build a really cool boy. Don't ask me how I know that. ** Robert-nyc, Hi, Robert! Casey's book is great. You will not be sorry. Au contraire. Yeah, I think I read eBooks a lot more than I read books now, but you have to remember I'm living over here where English language book access is pretty tough, and I'd rather download than wait a month for Amazon or wherever to send me what I want. Yury's French citizenship is still in the early stages of whatever length process there will be. My novel got very stuck, and now I'm inching forward again ever so slowly, but still. The end is in sight, but it's still quite a ways off, I think. Have a blast at your reading! I wish I could be there, obviously. Let me know how it goes, if you remember. What is your boyfriend's band like? Apologies if you already told me and I've forgotten. Love to you. ** _Black_Acrylic, Hi, Ben. I do have hope for the new Daft Punk, we'll see. It's been ages since 'Discovery', but I do think that album is genius, and, if it's true they're working with Nile Rodgers, who was a genius way back when, I mean, you never know. Cool, I'll read your review in just a bit. Everyone, a review by the eminent _B_A re: the Embassy show I mentioned yesterday right here. Guessing it's a commanding read. Find out. ** Cobaltfram, Hi, John! Welcome back! Hm, yeah, interesting choice there: DC or Austin. I feel like Austin is a much more happening place culturally, but it's not almost next door to NYC, so ... Sort of seems like you won't lose either way. So, you ending up loving 'Amour'. I thought you might. Intense, right? I think the horror movie designation is clever and kind of a really good way to think about it, yeah. ** Steevee, Hi. Hm, well, since you think it's probably not a real conflict of interest, it's hard to imagine that your editor will. But let me know. I'm super curious now. ** Sypha, Oh, okay, those are very good McCourts to read. My favorite is 'Time Remaining', but it's very o.o.p. and hard to get. Aspergers? Yikes. Well, since I've been a list fanatic since I was a kid, I guess if I have the big A, I've survived this long. ** Postitbreakup, Hi, Josh. I'm glad you liked the post/book hints. Oh, the DFW post will appear here on the 9th. Heads up, and thank you again tremendously. ** Casey Hannan, Hey! Thank you, Casey! Thrilled to do my tiny part in the viral thing. Such a great book! Huge kudos and congrats and everything else to you! ** Okay. So, it's Bright Eyes via Postitbreakup for the next 24-ish hours, okay? Afterwards, the blog will do its very best to keep you happy and on the edge of your seat for the following two days, and then I'll come back on Friday to ice the cake again or whatever. See you then.

----






____________




Chapter One: How I Wrote Certain of My Books

'Raymond Roussel was born into an immensely wealthy Parisian family in 1877 (he died a suicide in 1933), the money surrounding him acting as a cocoon between himself and reality. The quotidian is notable by its absence from his work: this is not a literature with much appeal for anyone in search of a social conscience. But if one is magnetized by works of the imagination derived almost solely from linguistics, Roussel represents some kind of summation. How I Wrote Certain of My Books, the posthumously published testament in which Roussel delineates many--but by no means all--of his writing techniques, is, as they say, essential reading. As a vade mecum it doesn't necessarily make the books easier to penetrate, but it does provide some clue as to what lies beneath them (though no matter how knowledgeable these clues make us, as readers, feel, no amount of shouting "Open Sesame!" at the threshold of the books entices them to reveal all their secrets).' -- Trevor Winkfield, Context



Buy it





Excerpt:Locus Solus (Chapter I)

On that Thursday in early April, my learned friend the professor Martial Canterel had invited me, with several other close friends of his, to visit the huge park surrounding his beautiful villa at Montmorency.

Locus Solus, as the property is named, is a quiet refuge where Canterel enjoys in perfect intellectual peace the pursuit of his diverse and fertile labors. He is in this lonely place sufficiently safe from the tur-bulence of Paris, and yet can reach the capital in a quarter of an hour whenever his research demands a session in some particular library, or when the time comes for him to make, at a prodigiously packed lecture, some sensational announcement to the scientific world.

Canterel spends nearly the entire year at Locus Solus, surrounded by disciples who, full of passionate admiration for his unending discoveries, support him zealously in the completion of his life’s work. The villa contains a number of rooms opulently converted into model laboratories, which are run by numerous assistants; and the professor devotes his whole life to science, having from the start leveled all the practical obstacles met in the course of his strenuous application to the various goals he sets, through his vast, uncommitted bachelor’s fortune.

Three o’clock had just struck. It was warm, and the sun sparkled in a nearly flawless sky. Canterel had received us not far from his villa, in the open, under old trees whose shade enveloped a comfortable arrangement of various wicker chairs.

After the arrival of the last guest, the professor started walking, leading our group, which followed him obediently. Tall and dark, his countenance frank, his features regular, with a slight moustache and keen eyes that shined with extraordinary intel-ligence, Canterel hardly looked his forty-four years. A warm persuasive voice lent great charm to his engaging elocution, whose seductiveness and clarity made him a champion in discourse.

For a while we had been advancing along a lane whose slope rose steeply.

Halfway up, at the path’s edge, we perceived, upright in a rather deep stone niche, a curiously aged statue, which seemed to be composed of blackish, dry, hardened earth, representing, not unpleasantly, a smiling naked boy. The arms were stretched outwards in a gesture of offering, both hands opening towards the ceiling of the niche. In the right hand, where once it had taken root, rose a small dead plant in the last stages of decay.

Going on absent-mindedly, Canterel was obliged to answer our unanimous question.

"This is the santonica Federal seen by ibn Batuta in the heart of Timbuctoo," he said, pointing to the statue; whose origin he then revealed.



____________




Chapter Two: Impressions of Africa

'Such raiding of the nursery to conjure up adult myths produced Roussel's first indisputable masterpiece, the novel Impressions of Africa, published in 1910 at the author's expense (as were all his books) under the prestigious Lemerre imprint. It begins like a boy's adventure story: a group of shipwrecked passengers are captured and held for ransom by an African king, Talou VII. To while away their time and keep their captors entertained, each captive is allotted a theatrical task or test of mechanical ingenuity based on his inherent skills, to be performed at a gala before their release. But in a reversal of the plot of his early short story 'Among the Blacks' and in defiance of all the rules of detective fiction, Roussel first explains and then describes his mysteries, somewhat like the playwright who, in the opening scene, tells us who the murderer is and then spends the rest of the play explaining why he did it. Suspense is thus dispensed with at the opening of the adventure. But it remains one of his greatest triumphs as a storyteller that after all the mysteries have been unravelled and explained away, they become even more mysterious--hence his appeal to modernists and ourselves. A further aspect of his appeal resides in his manipulation of people. Not exactly as a puppet master, but one who shuffles his characters around to serve the same purpose as words, strictly to unfold the story. No one could be less interested in psychology than Roussel. The surface of things is paramount, characters being defined by their rituals and attributes, not their personalities. Their belongings as a result can be more animistic than their owners.' -- T.W., Context



Buy it





Roussel on his compositional method for IOA: "I chose two similar words. For example billiards and pilliards (looter). Then I added to it words similar but taken in two different directions, and I obtained two almost identical sentences thus. The two sentences found, it was a question of writing a tale which can start with the first and finish by the second. Amplifying the process then, I sought new words reporting itself to the word billiards, always to take them in a different direction than that which was presented first of all, and that provided me each time a creation moreover. The process evolved/moved and I was led to take an unspecified sentence, of which I drew from the images by dislocating it, a little as if it had been a question of extracting some from the drawings of rebus. For example, Les lettres du blanc sur les bandes du vieux billard/The white letters on the cushions of the old billiard table… must somehow reach the phrase, …les lettres du blanc sur les bandes du vieux pillard/letters [written by] a white man about the hordes of the old plunderer."



____________




Chapter Three: Locus Solus

'This notion of lives episodically unfolding "before our very eyes" is carried even further in Roussel's second and final novel, Locus Solus, first published on the eve of World War I (his sole comment on that conflagration--"I've never seen so many men!"--being a mordant example of his blinkered humor) and for many of us his greatest, most perfect narrative construction. Set in the spacious grounds of Locus Solus, the "solitary place" inhabited by Martial Canterel, a wealthy scientific genius living on the outskirts of Paris, the novel's form, even more so than that of Impressions, relies for its model on the travelogue. Here our guide actually is a professor, one who escorts his guests through his landscape of marvels. A partial tabulation of what his guests are asked to admire would include a curious, antique sculpture molded from dry earth of a naked child holding forth a wizened flower; an aerial paving beetle-cum-weather forecaster which builds a mosaic made from rotten teeth, guided thither and yon by the wind (whose movements Canterel has predicted days in advance). Further on, we come across a gigantic faceted aquarium containing a curious medley of objects and creatures, including a depilated cat who, aided by a pointed metal horn, galvanizes the floating remains of Danton's head into speech; a dancer with musical tresses; and a troupe of bottle-imps performing scenes from folklore and history as they rise and fall through the oxygenated water. The central marvel, however, involves what amounts to a glass-enclosed graveyard where eight corpses are reanimated (thanks to Canterel's preparations of vitalium and resurrectine) in order to relive the capital moments of their lives, attended by their ecstatically grieving (but still living) relatives.

'This précis barely skims the surface of the novel's layout, which, like that of Impressions, is delineated by descriptions, which in turn expand and engender other descriptions, followed by explanations of those descriptions. And such is the concision of Roussel's language that itemizing all the episodes and their ramifications would entail a tabulation almost as detailed as the books themselves, ending up with something very much like Lewis Carroll's lugubrious map, the one that's so detailed it's on a scale of one mile to one mile, thus completely covering the landscape it is intended to elucidate.' -- T.W., Context



The novel Locus Solus can be downloaded for free from Project Gutenberg here


*


Manuscript page from Locus Solus




*


Two of Roussel's graphs/drawings related to Locus Solus







____________




Chapter Four: New Impressions of Africa

'Roussel's penultimate opus, New Impressions of Africa, is not, as its name seems to imply, a continuation of the earlier novel. Rather it is one of the most complex poems in the French language, four cantos based loosely on four Egyptian tourist sites. Not only is the text complex, it looks impenetrable. The layout proclaims "No Trespassing" to the casual reader, with its thicket of brackets within brackets within brackets and attendant footnotes as austere and foreboding as any Rosetta Stone. But once inside it reveals itself as even more impenetrable! For instance, the opening of the third canto (ostensibly extolling the virtues of a column on the outskirts of Damietta which, when licked, cures jaundice) is brought to a halt after only five lines by the mention of hope, leading to a parenthesis dealing with an American uncle whose nephews have hopes of inheritance. But that touching scene is not completed for five or six pages, the word "American" having provoked a double-parenthesis dealing with "that land still young, still unexhausted" whose dog's cold nose triggers a trio of brackets and a brief revery on an ailing pup. Which in turn triggers a bracketed aside within four parentheses, then another within five. After barely one hundred lines, even the most astute and intrepid explorer is all at sea and gasping for air. This avalanche of interruptions is akin to that produced by a group of partygoers, with one conversationalist being interrupted barely after he's begun talking; meantime his interrupter is in turn cut short by the person across the table whose memory has just been jolted, so she in turn relates an anecdote, which reminds her neighbor of a funny story . . . and so on and so forth. This simplistic exegesis of the technique is, I hope, sufficient to show that it's not for readers cursed with a one track mind. But to those who persevere, this Everest of High Modernism donates rich comfort: like all truly great works of art, it is inexhaustible in its rewards. The density of the language--its pared-down compression--is such that each line could be ascribed a physical weight as well as length. As Roussel himself said of an earlier version of this poem, abandoned after countless revisions, an entire lifetime would have been insufficient to complete the polishing. Likewise (and I know whereof I speak) an entire lifetime is insufficient to fully disentangle (and understand--my italics) its myriad branches. The same, of course, may be said of Roussel's entire oeuvre.' -- T.W., Context



Buy it
Read the introduction by translator Andrew Hugill





Excerpt:

Canto I
Damietta
The House in Which Saint Louis Was Imprisoned

Serious reflection, weighing it up, brings the certain
Realisation that there, behind that door,
The Saint-King was imprisoned for three months! ...Louis IXth!
But how can it be that this seems tangible and new
In this place strewn about with crumbling marvels
Than which there are none older under the sun!
Evoking, as if it were yesterday:
That name whose bearer, though crushed, is so proud of
That he knows by heart, faultlessly,
- Roots, trunks, boughs, connecting branches -
His family tree; the cathedrals eroded by time;
Likewise the proud menhir, the first cromlech
The dolmen beneath which the soil is always dry.


Canto II
The Battle-Field of The Pyramids

This battlefield conjures up nothing but the memory of him
At the time of the overcoat - that full-length greatcoat -
And the little hat - from which we can deduce
Intimidating rays of power emanating in all directions -
Grey overcoat, black hat (the image of which irresistibly evokes
The era when Kings were brought low
And which historians cannot leave alone;)
Worn by him up to the point when, on his craggy rock,
It no longer exaggerated his silhouette,
A fact which causes one to forget for a moment, lost in meditation,
Egypt, its sun, its evenings, its sky.



____________




Credits, further:



Meet Trevor Winkfield,
Roussel scholar, artist, writer


* Context: A Forum for Literary Arts and Culture
* Raymond Roussel Resource (in French)




Francois Caradec Raymond Roussel (Atlas Press)
'The bizarre life of Raymond Roussel (1877-1933) had the makings of a Jules Verne novel, rivalling only his writings in outlandishness. His specially-constructed motorized caravan, his travels through Africa behind closed shutters, and his mysterious death in a Palermo hotel are among the numerous details of his extraordinary life. First published in France in 1972, Caradec's biography remains the definitive unraveling of the Rousselian enigma.' -- Amazon
Buy it




Mark Ford Raymond Roussel and the Republic of Dreams (Cornell University Press, 2000)
'Mark Ford's biography is a welcome introduction to both the man and the work. Ford offers both biography and a critical study of Roussel's unusual literary undertakings. Roussel's life and work were equally bizarre. They make for fascinating material, and Ford makes the most of them. Ford also has some fun with Roussel's efforts for the stage (put on at his own expense), spectacles that enjoyed some vogue mainly because of the strong and vociferous reactions by the audience ("There followed a scrum, as in rugby," Robert Desnos' wife Youki reports about the audience at one of the performances).' -- Complete-review.com
Buy it




Michel Foucault Death and the Labyrinth: The World of Raymond Roussel (introduction by John Ashbery, Continuum, 1963)
'Death and the Labyrinth was Foucault's first book, and the one focussed most specifically on literature. In it Foucault offers a thorough study of Roussel's work, paying particular attention to Roussel's special method, as outlined in his posthumous text, How I Wrote Certain of my Books. A bonus is translator Charles Ruas' interview with Foucault, shortly before his death. It offers some background about Foucault's interest in and understanding of Roussel -- and about Foucault himself.' -- Complete-review.com
Buy it
----


_____________

Homages


Tribute to Raymond Roussel


Tosh Talks


Locus Solus. Impresiones de Raymond Roussel


Olivier Greif 'Second Hommage à Raymond Roussel op37' (1971)


'La Vue' de Raymond Roussel


R. Roussel -Dokumenty mające służyć za kanwę (fragment)


Michel Foucault - Raymond Roussel Ecrivain - 1962


Literature Book Review: New Impressions of Africa




*

p.s. Hey. As previously stated, I'm off to Lille this morning for an overnighter, and the p.s. will return on Friday. I will address any comments left here in the meantime then. For today, please enjoy this old but, I think, maybe still up-to-the-minute post about the very great Raymond Roussel. The blog will see you again sans me -- barring a hello -- tomorrow.

________________

blackshadowslave, 21
I live in the future... my presence is the past... my presence is a present, kiss my ass.

I'm more than just a big dick (though it is pretty fucking hot!)

Make a case for why I should devote my life to YOU, slut.






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whoisdis, 24
Online: I ask you, " What schould I do?"......I´m so depressiv............

∫ 1/cabin d(cabin) = log cabin + c = houseboat





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reallylooseboy, 19
hook me up babe I really want to suck big feet I'm single don't like being single If youre an alcoholic ex con satanist that would be ideal.





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ParasiteEvil, 18
im a vegitarian student in a wheelchair i go to booker t high and i just want a od guy who will chas eafter me becaus emy last one w






__________________

LastTime, 20
It is a breath of fresh air for anyone who's looking for the lowest scum.

Until it got raped and beaten 6 weeks ago, it was a singer/ dancer. It had been on tv a few times and was trying to break into the industry. (It wrote this for an assignment in its English class): "Literature stirs my soul. Music drives my being into the corners of eternity. Beethoven lifts me to the loftiness of human pathos and existence. Brahms spreads my wings and drives me to hover above the earth."

It has a memory of that boy who can talk to you if you get tired of torturing the worthless faggot it is now and want to feel like you're not just fucking up one of a billion pieces of teenage shit in the world. (It had a stroke during the beating so its voice is slurred/ sounds drunk.)

If it wrote that assignment today it would write: "Own it. Make it Your punch bag/ doormat/ ashtray/ toilet/ slab of butcher's meat/ fertilizer for your flower bed. Make it lick spit and phlegm and piss and shit off the pavement. Make it suck on the dirty car exhaust pipes of idling cars while you stab it. Use a high powered rifle to blow off its legs, arms, genitals, ass and then its head."

Photos are of him (before) and it (now).






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throwmylegsintheair, 22
Dain bramaged






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Entirely_different, 25
I'm nulled - so no genitals but born male. I'm just out of fantastic slave contract to lovely master who had to finish with me when unexpectedly his wife got pregnant.

If you look like any of these guys, im interested already : Wolverine, Francois Sagat, Spencer Reed, Rafael Alencar, Leo Giamani, Antonio Biaggi, Alain Lamas.

Safe word only used to communicate that something is going wrong and you don't know about it.

You CAN TRUST in me. Honestly. My Bank Account Number is: 10718008-00000042-97660001 Unicredit Bank. Hungary





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Icanfaceitnow, 24
Pop-culture averse vegetarian minimalist from SF on the DL into stinky SGWM, SGLM, SGHM, SGAM, SGBM 4 O&A. Stopping for the night in SLC WED Jan 12 and again in early Feb. Got a room booked in WVC off I 215. Taking all cock wrapped or BB til check out time on Thurs. I'm HWP, DDF, (dual pipe-soda-soda) & Clean, IOW your basic SGWM GSOH OHAC DDF NS WLTM.






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MyBloodShed, 21
A LESSON IN THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF MASTERS

1. STRAIGHT: When you have an account on this site or any gay related sites you are not straight because straight masters do not browse on gays sites, so you are a gay.

2. TRIPPINGS: If a master goes on tripping, he would not choose the same sex. So, you want a slave blow your thing or to have sex with? A straight one would rather go out looking for whores (woman).

3. TOP: You would say that you’re position in bed is top. Are you sure of that? Alternatively, you’re just pretending trying to be top. This might not apply to you but there are lots of them trying to be top but they are versatile so to say. (I may be wrong, but I’m not).

4. CROSS DRESSERS: I’m proud and salute you! You are not ashamed of who you are, what you do, and what you have.

5. MACHO TYPE: Having a good physical built, a gym buddy, yes a perfect body. However, not all macho that you see around you are straight, they may be straight looking, but inside they are strange acting. They go on guys that same as them.

6. TRYING HARD TYPE: Don’t punish yourself acting like a master if you can’t. PLEASE, be yourself, if you try hard enough the more you look so suspicious…I’m telling you.

7. HARD TO GET: You look yourself more superior than others. You have the feeling that you don’t belong to them. Remember all gays are the same they still needs men. You always add in your profile NO PIC NO REPLY, Why? Are you that handsome enough? Does it hurt? No, it’s reality.

8. LONESOME: You are a type of master who pity his self it’s just because nobody likes you or dates you; maybe you’re not that good looking. You are not the type of the CHOOSEY ones. But you see, if some slave would want you even if his not your type, grab the opportunity. (Rather than nothing at all).

9. CURIOUS: Some masters are just curious what's going on this slave world, so they create an account on SM sites, are you sure you’re just curious? Or curious enough in finding guys like you do? Remember, curiosity killed the cat! (PLASTIC).

10. LOOKING FOR FRIENDS TYPE: HELLLOOO!!!! If you are looking for friends, you should be at FRIENDSTER, FACEBOOK and TWITER! What you mean to say is that....you’re looking for slave friends that I could have sex with??? ahahahaah! So, you are only interested in guys? How about the girls??

11. THE MR. SEARCHER: A typical type of guy who is looking for a boyfriend, a FUBU (fuck buddy) or a lifetime partner. The one who wants to be loved no matter what he is, what he has and what he does. They are hoping to find MR. RIGHT in this site for I believe that there are still true persons with real and good intentions....HAPPY SEARCHING.

12. THE INDIAN GAY: “Indian” a gay lingo word that means not showing up. Yeah, there are lots of master out there who sets an EB a.k.a. eyeball. So, you are prepared with your nice outfit (probably the best), adding do that a perfume that everyone can smell! Then you or he sets the time and place, finally the moment had arrived, so, you are standing on the meeting place waiting for your master, then, he sent you an sms (text message) telling, “I got an emergency” Or “Something came up” or “I have an errand to do.” THINK OF THESE REASONS: 1.) He had seen you, but he was hiding somewhere and you’re not his type so he hadn’t shown up and meet you.” 2.) He is expecting a lot more from you, a perfect slave as he wanted but he was dismayed because you are not. After that frustrating wait, you never had heard any word from him. Believe in the universal law of KARMA, what you give, you get return!

13. THE GAY ALL THE WAY: These masters never choose, not picky, they don’t mind the looks, as long as there is a ass that they could, fuck, lick, and savor on! Whew! My tips: If you ran into these masters, engage in safe sex or better else, just ignore them. Hold your urge and have self-control. Remember, they may have a contagious disease and YOU DON’T WANT TO BE WATAING FOR YOUR GRAVE, DON’T YOU?

QUESTION: Where do you belong?





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Steven, 20
Hi my beau.
my name is Steven I'm anglo-saxon.
I made your knowledge on the net;
I enjoyed this first conversation that I hope
will lead to fingering a beautiful
ass, eat it fully and ass it.






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FuckedMike, 22
After December 29th, I'll need cuffing, gagging, hard fucking and filling with cum and piss by a Black Owner or Owners. It is nothing but property to be acquired, enslaved, used, and abused for Black gain. Blacks are the ruling class of this world and inferior white meat the lowest of the low. Any drop of Black blood guarantees unlimited use of this inferior piece of white meat. I repeat: only after December 29th.






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smashmeup, 24
use me NO LIMITS, abuse me NO LIMITS then destroy me.

please i want to die! SOMEONE HERE HELP ME!!!!!!!!!!

When I'm on, it's now!





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LilSalo, 25
Hope your having a nice day for sure. Have always followed peoples agenda's. Friends say am autistic but I don't use labels.

Best friend bossy roommate and his crime lab boss friend are also CHARACTER REFERENCES with GOOD REPUTATIONS in the community that anyone can talk to about me IN PERSON BEYOND JUST A PROFILE. Bossy roommate was a HIGHLY RESPECTED BOSS of a company of engineers and scientists for years and best friend crime lab boss guy is part of a brotherhood of Masons and both of them can back me up as they are friends for life no matter where I might go.

I spent years since high school in Dedham, MA taking care of Mom till she died of Diabetes.

I like most music that's not rap (squeaked on violin in a horrible sounding youth orchestra), ROMANTIC COMPOSERS like Rachmaninoff and the heavy handedness of Beethoven, POP MUSIC FROM THE 80's to the present (U2, Abba, PET SHOP BOYS, ADAM LAMBERT with that little whip, BILLY IDOL) Vangelis, Enigma, MUSEUMS, THEATER, ART, SYMPHONY, Some country, etc.

DADDY BOY SISSY POOCH FEM BITCH MASTER SIR COLLAR LEASH OTK SPANKING PADDLING CUDDLES HUGGING SQUEEZES LAPSITTING VERBAL stuff ANYTIME ANYPLACE DADDY SEES FIT can be nice but not the total focus of stuff by any means.

Doesn't take much to make me BOUNCE, SQUIRM, whimper, BARK, SQUEAL, CRY, WIGGLE and GIGGLE due to sensitive skin.

BEST FRIENDS were smarty pants folks like youth orchestra director, understanding teachers, trusted professional bossy friends and stuff like that.





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Crazydoomed, 21
i cute me bisexual. im sample man to love me who believe in my love who love thats why from now on im slave, who try to hurt me please. no i deserving that's all. now im in roumania and I wait un answer.






_________________

YOURPREASURE, 19
hello hi hi hi helllllllo helooooo hello hello helooo every one yaaa my name is joery and i do best service to u complete with kisser and minimum screams so well you really enjoy






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blondANDsexy, 23
Sex contains all,
Bodies, Souls, meanings, proofs, purities, delicacies, results, promulgations,
Songs, commands, health, pride, the maternal mystery, the seminal milk;
All hopes, benefactions, bestowals, All the passions, loves, beauties, delights of the earth,
All the governments, judges, gods, follow'd persons of the earth,
These are contain'd in sex, as parts of itself, and justifications of itself.

So welcome in my sex life. It's unique because nobody else does it in this way.

It starts friendly, while both naked in bad, me tied up face down and you next to me.
We chat a bit and enjoy your hands getting to know my body roughly roughly.
You might use a whip or pee on me if you are happy with them after a while.
During this you may lay on top of me, your cock might touch my back skin, bounce up and down on my ass hole, even your fingers might feel inside my ass hole.
From this point the eroticism takes control, you will lay on top of me and rape my body with your own.
I can turn around after a while and enjoy a bit of your hard cock; you could cum at that stage, as I will enjoy it at the max.
It should all be covered in one hour, but I will never rush you.

I have the hottest ass in Bordeaux.






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fuckmeviolent, 20
Im Richard but just call me Ricardo.

I feel so close to people who scream..and shout for me to understand a freakin thng.

I dont have any idea what im talking about and i am n0t sure if my grammar is correct.





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blackeyedgiorgio, 20
This skater is ready to enter the adult world. Of course, I would prefer to do this all with my future eternal everlasting boyfriend, but for the time being, that twat is hiding himself incredibly well.

This skater is fairly well endowed, not that it is relevant, and I do not ever use it to fuck or have it sucked unless I'm sucking it myself in a summersault position as a reward perhaps.

Even though my hobbies include skating, friends, bro talk, random trivia, and reading how-tos, to me sex means being fucked with my back legs tied up over my head like a bitch so my ass is up in the air being pounded like an animal.

Weaknesses: I am a complete compliment whore. I have a nerdy fascination with SciFi and trains. Also, know that I am trained in self defense, so even with my arms tied behind my back, I can still dislocate your arms.







*

p.s. Hey. I'm still in Lille sans internet, etc. until tonight, so please enjoy your monthly slaves, and I will see you back here tomorrow.

*

p.s. Hey. Back in Paris. Anyway, there's a ton of comments to catch up with, so I'll just do that now. ** Tuesday ** Thissmallplanet, Hey, welcome, thank you, it's a pleasure to meet you! I hope you saw Postitbreakup's response, as he's the B.E. expert. But, yeah, come back anytime please. ** Misanthrope, Hey. Curious dream, obviously. Probably a good thing it was a huge fucking place. ** David Ehrenstein, As soon as Congress gets done with Gun Control, ha ha, maybe they should get going on Cannibal Control at this rate. God, I so want to see 'San Diego Surf'. A couple of friends of mine have seen it and say there are incredible things throughout. ** Paradigm, Hi, Scott. Trip went really great, thanks. Oh, cool, thank you for the link to the Story of Film thing! I'll, hold on, bookmark it, done. Slow, continued jottings are the most underrated part of writing, so that sounds good. ** Tosh, I just said that you can in fact preorder the Casey Hannan book directly from the press' site, and that the last ink in the little stack of links in the post was the way to do that. I don't know if the amount of vinyl on sale here in Paris has changed recently. My experience from the beginning is that there are only three or four actually good, cool record shops here, and I think that's still the case, and they've always stocked a lot of vinyl. One of them, which only sells vinyl, is literally across the street from the Recollets. Next time you're here, I'll take you there. You'll love it. ** Scunnard, Ha ha, I certainly hope you're right. ** Rewritedept, Hey. The Lille trip was really fantastic, thanks. Mostly explored the ins and outs and curiosities of the city and its surroundings with my great Zac, dedicatee of today's post, coincidentally. ** Sypha, Someone I know, can't remember who, just read the Wilde fairytales book, and really loved it as well. ** Cobaltfram, Hi, John. Austin seems like Texas in context only. Thanks a ton for trying indoctrinate people into my stuff, and, obviously, I'm really happy that Chad authenticates 'The Sluts'. ** Billy Lloyd, Hey. Exactly, about over-thinking things. There's a weird balance between intuition and thinking that's ideal, and it seems like that as long as you just relax and keep the confidence up, it occurs really naturally, at least once in a while. Aw, sad about the sled-less hill, That is a melancholy image. It really feels like the Paris snow has done its thing for this year, but then again February is notoriously the winteriest, I think? Or it was before global warming and all that. ** Grant maierhofer, Hi, Grant! Oh, yeah, the Paulhan essay is really helpful. I always forget about that one for some reason. The Blanchot is, I think, mostly really helpful if you're a huge Blanchot guy like I am. I hadn't heard about that 'either BE or ES' thing, but, yeah, a strange logic there. If so, I think I'm an ES guy too (so far). Mm, I ... maybe I've never actually read Exley. Hunh, I can't remember. Strange. I'll find out, and I'll check the article you linked to too, and, yeah, thanks a lot! ** Robert-nyc, Please do (about the reading). Teribalanamal: cool, I'll google that straight away. What a name! You take it easy too, man. ** Zack, Hi, Zack! How really great to see you! How are you? What's been happening! Really nice to have you chime in here, and to have you here, period. ** Steevee, Good. Very interested to see what this piece is going to be. ** Statictick, Hi, N! I'm really good, thanks! Man that is a fucker of a flu! Jesus. Good thing about the nurse/assistant. Are you noticeably better than when you commented, I hope? **  Postitbreakup, Thank you, Josh! And more thank you's below! ** _Black_Acrylic, Hi, Ben. How is the improvement going now? You're being really productive, and that's certainly a sign of something.  **  xTx, You're in the red lightbulbs issue too! Nice, right? Really cool piece of yours, obviously! Still no 'Billie', but it's not time to panic yet, given the messy postal line betwixt there and here. I'm chomping for it. ** Chris Dankland, Hi, Chris! Yikes, that Conor story was ... an eye opener? Great about the new poems. I'm so there. Everyone, if you click this, you'll get to read new poems by Chris Dankland, and that opportunity is quite obviously one that you should jump at now or asap. Huh, interesting, about that thing about the unprecedented book love among the Y-sters. That makes kind of total sense somehow, doesn't it? I'll go read that, of course. Thank you a lot, man. ** Polter, Hi, Polter! Oh, no, oh, I'm so, so sorry, my friend. I'm so sorry. Mine died a couple of years ago, and, oh, awful, ugh. Serious hugs. Lots of plans, yeah. Me too. I'm making tons of plans right now. In fact, one of them will, if it happens, which I'm pretty sure it will, could bring me up to where you are. A friend and I are trying to plan out a Scandinavian theme park exploration road trip. I'll let you know when it happens. Strange how different deaths have different effects, I know. When people decide to die, it's the very, very hardest, I think. Yesterday was the one year anniversary of the suicide of my dear friend the artist Mike Kelley, so, ... yeah. I think we're past the snow here, it's so sad. We had pretty good snow for Paris this year at least, if only for, like, a week. Love is so important. Sounds so dumb, but it's so important. I'm feeling a lot of it right now, and it's so amazing. I send you tons and tons of what I've got. ** Wednesday ** Postitbreakup, Hey! Thanks again so much for the post and your attentiveness to its followers. I actually haven't had a chance to go through the post and see if there's a clincher for me, but it's on the schedule for today or tomorrow at the latest, so I'll let you know. ** Misanthrope, Hey. I had an amazing trip, thank you. ** MANCY, Hi, S! Fantastic book, if you ask me. Picking it up should, I think, confirm that opinion maybe? ** David Ehrenstein, Hey! Ha, I remember that 'Time Bandits' thing. I had completely forgotten that. ** Sanatorium, Ciao, Santorium! Wow, hm, I can't remember what the video is where I talk about the paranormal. I'll try to remember. Hunh. I have a maybe idea, and I'll go check to see if I'm right asap. Thank you a lot for the interest! How are you? ** Rewritedept, Hi, R-ster. ** Tonyoneill, Hy, Tony! You're back again! Yay! Oh, thank you a lot for the directive to the short film by the director you're working with. I'll watch it just a bit later. Totally understood about it being too early to talk about the script. Sure, of course. Really, it's so nice to have you back, man. I missed you. ** Tosh, I assume it was okay to include that great video of you talking about Roussel. So cogent! ** Zack, Hi, Zack! ** Steevee, Cool, thank you for the review link! Everyone, please use this link to go read the eminent Steevee's no doubt definitive review of Dror Moreh's film 'The Gatekeepers' over at The Daily Beast. ** Un Coeur Blanc, Hi! So true about Roussel. He's just incredible, and I agree about Foucault on him. I'm excited for your gift. I'll watch for it. Thank you! I hope your work went well. ** Will C., Hi, Will! It's great to see you! Good, good, way better than good about you plunging back into the writing, and the progress that you had already made by your commenting time! I'm excited to see it! Congrats Feels so great, doesn't it? ** Alan, Hi, Alan. No, I don't think I know anything about those post-humously published plays. Wow, no, I don't think I've heard about them. I guess they must be published over here, but not translated? I'll ask around. ** Bill, Hi, Bill. Casey's book is really, really good. You'll like it. Lille was really great. Mostly just investigating the place with my friend Zac. Seeing what it has to offer, and luckily coming across all sorts of topnotch, strange things, both trumpeted and accidental. It was extremely happy-making. I think I'm good for the Butoh post, but I will give it another look and see if it needs more meat or anything, and I will ask you for more advice, if so. Thank you a lot again, Bill. Yes, very sad about Butch Morris. Big loss. RIP. ** Anonymous, That you, Josh? If so, gee, thank you! You're so sweet. Right back at you full on. ** Thursday ** Armando, Hi, Armando. Well, hopefully it'll quell your sadness to know that, in the great majority of cases, from my perspective/ experience at least, those slaves are mostly just playing out their fantasies harmlessly online. Most of them probably don't even look like that. ** David Ehrenstein, Ha ha, hi! ** Rewritedept, Well, I would assume that LilSalo at least knows 'Salo's' reputation. Miles Davis = good. Yeah, I think that, with the MBV album, best to put it out of our mind and wait to be surprised some day/ month/ year/ decade. Yes, Joel seems to be digging through my old photo stash quite healthily at the moment. I already talked about the Lille, but, yeah, it could not possibly have been more pleasurable. An island of sanity, if that suits your needs. Where are you with your book now? Dude, get your confidence up. You've proven that you have every reason to be cockadoodle-dooing. I'll find some kimchi somewhere and bite it. You've gotten me heavily intrigued. Or I'll wait until Vegas. No, I'll try some here as an appetizer. 50 isn't so bad. I guess the stigma of that age is probably heavier in advance for women. Hope the doctor gave you the all-clear sign. ** Dungan, Hi, Sean! Oh, man, I just put that link in another browser and opened it and, wow, yeah, that's some pictorial heaven right there. I'll be clicking like a hen pecks in just a minute. You know how in love I am with old Paris. Thank you, so, so much! You good, you great? I sure hope so. Love to you! ** Steevee, Happy post-dentist visit! ** Schlix, Hi, Uli! Man, I keep forgetting to thank you for that book you sent to me. It's so amazing. I showed it to Gisele, and she lost her mind. She 'demanded' to borrow it, and she's still scanning it, which is why I keep forgetting to thank you, but, yeah, what a total treasure. Thank you so much, man! You saw 'TIHYWD'! With the new dancer! Those were the very first performances with the replacement for Margret, with whom we made the piece, but who can't perform in it anymore. I haven't seen it with the new performer yet, but I will on Tuesday when it plays within a short RER ride from Paris. Awesome! Thank you again and for everything, my friend! My trip was great, and I'm doing really, really well. ** Kyler, Happy birthday! Everyone, it's d.l. Kyler's birthday today. Do something wild or very respectful or both on his account in the next 24 hours please! Exciting stuff? Excellent timing there. I haven't seen your FB message, but I'm really bad at checking my FB messages. When I read it, I'll backdate it. Happy happy happy! ** Bill, I thought they were an excellent bunch too. Multiple acronyms notwithstanding, ha ha. ** Ken Baumann, Ken! Whoa, weird, cool, about the 'Weak Species' connection. Yes, let's see .... This director Dan Faltz made a short film based on part of 'Closer' and some of my poems. It turned you really well, and there was interest in turning into a feature, and that's happening, although I don't know exactly what stage it's at right now. I think it could be quite good. I like him and his ideas/plans, and the short was real good. So, yeah. How trippy it would be if Aviva ended up in it. I love the Sator redesign. Everyone, Ken Baumann just did a redesign of the home page of his superb press Sator, and you really should go check it out. It's a serious beauty. Go! I did see that note on FB about Aviva's threat. That's really genius of her. And it's working like a charm, it would seem. So good! Super! Actually, my friend Zac, who I was in Lille with, and I are talking about doing a mutual self-imposed get away to some remote-ish place ere too long to kind of psych/force each other into finishing our projects, 'cos I need some kind of push to get my novel done since I'm working on it again, but not with the force I should. Maybe a threat on top would be good, hm, I don't know. Anyway, so glad you're hard at work on the novel, and even it being 'tough' sounds really good. I saw photos, again on FB, where else, of the actual Solip book! Yes, that was so exciting! This is going to be the best year ever! Cooking, nice. I don't think I have the patience. My hunger is like a kung fu move or something. Me? Oh, I think I covered that maybe? I'm really good. Things are great. Life is fantastic these days. Happiness is such a rare and gratitude-magnetizing thing. Yeah, I'm doing great, thank you, pal. ** Right. We're caught up. We're off and running, etc. I hope you enjoy the hopefully feast-like, flat, very long, probably very slowly loading (sorry) rectangle of grandes roués. See you tomorrow.

I have a complex relationship with cities. Growing up in a small rural town in Victoria, Australia the city, in this case Melbourne, was something big full of adventure in the distance horizon. On the other hand living in a city I find the noise, the volume of people overwhelming at times. Place me in the bush, surrounded by nothing but trees and the sounds/silence of it and I’ll feel at ease; place me on a busy street of a city and I feel myself shrinking into myself, retreating.

As a young man in my early 20’s, now living in Melbourne, I discovered urban exploration. In those drains, under those bridges, in those abandoned carparks, I found that silence. Lately,-partly out of inspiration for an idea brewing in my mind, partly out of reflection on graduating on a teacher and the responsibility that working in that field brings with it- I’ve been reflecting back on this period.

The following is a compilation of that reflection and research, starting with the local and moving to the global.



Cave Clan




The Cave Clan is an Australian urban exploration group that begun in 1986. The major branches are in Melbourne and Sydney although there is exploration in most major cities of Australia. It was through the Cave Clan that I got into urban exploration. A friend and myself met them outside the

Although the major exploration group exploration has been going on for longer then the Cave Clan has existed. On a number of occasions whilst exploring I have spotted graffiti dating from the 1960’s. So its fair to say that whilst Cave Clan has been around since the mid 80’s urban exploration in the drains of Melbourne has been around longer.



Personal Experiences (words)

Melbourne Underground




On the surface Melbourne is a lively metropolis, but you have to wonder what lurks beneath this city. When typical tourists enter the city of Melbourne, known for its culture, art and spectacular gardens, they are unaware of the fact that like most other large urban cities, there is a vast network of underground tunnels, drains and cavities, twisting and turning in all directions under the busy streets. A different world exists beneath the feet of those who walk the streets of the city and, like the tourists, most Melbournians who live on the surface on the streets are also completely oblivious to this underground drainage system and unused old spaces. What is not seen is often ignored. But this extensive network of stormwater drains and cavities capture the essence of cramped, dark and damp interiors that can be explored and discovered by anyone who dares to enter this underground world. read the rest here.


Ghost Platforms




Travelling on the escalators that lead down to platforms 24 and 25 at Central station, I always look out for the ghost platforms. They are visible in glimpses through the gaps in the striped panels that enclosed the escalators, but only for a moment, as the escalators keeps moving onwards, down to the Bondi Junction line, or up to the ticket gates.

While thousands of people pass by them every day, the majority without knowledge of their existence, the ghost platforms remain still and undisturbed. What is mostly visible from the gaps in the panels are the station’s lights, which continue to shine even though the platforms are unused read the rest here.


How do I find explorable drains?

To find drains you can use a number of methods, all of which are suited to different areas.

1) Get a topological map. 
Likely drains are where there are gullies but no evidence of a river per se; deduction: it has been buried (turned into a drain tunnel) or its headwaters have been `pirated'(diverted) to another river or into a drain further upstream. Melb Clan found Gobledox this way.

2) Obtain old street directories and compare them to their newer editions. 
Generally you find that when a creek shown in an old directory is no longer shown in a new edition, chances are that it has been entunneled. Also if you see a creek going along and suddenly disappearing, then reappearing somewhere else, you know pretty well what happened to it in between. I found the entrance to a whopping drain in Brisbane by looking in the Gregory's for wide creeks which disappeared adjacent to roads.

3) Check boundaries on cadastral maps.
Back in the good ol' daze, postcode boundaries were often delineated by prominent geographic features, like cliffs, rivers and the like. Thus you can look in street directories or maps of who-owns-what (cadastral maps) and occasionally see non-linear, erratic-looking postcode boundaries. Odds on it is where there once was a river. This is how The Loaf was located. read the rest here.)


Into the warren (photo gallery)

Melbourne




Hobart






Fremantle




She Becons: Brisbane




Sydney




Light Painted Tunnels










Around the World

Sleepycity: demolition of paris metro




Over the next few years we were enslaved like only those who grew up in a city deprived of metro could be. Week in week our we hit the tunnels, scouring our maps and coming up in the early hours smeared from head to toe in that thick black dust which never fully washes from your clothes. I would wake the morning after with that distinctive smell still hovering in my nostrils, for imbued was it into the fabric of all my clothes, my sheets and my hair. The thick slabs of scunge under our fingernails was like a badge of honour, the black tinge in the folds between thumb and index finger which never faded a symbol of dedication. The symptoms pervaded our appearance, our speech and our dreams. To us the system was an open slate ripe with possibilities. We could only oblige by beginning to dismantle it piece by piece….


Arsenal, Champ de Mars

The stations Arsenal and Champ de Mars are the easiest to visit as they can be reached from the topside so they're as good a place to begin as any. While situated at opposite sides of the city these two stations share a similar story. They were closed on the same day, 2nd September 1939, when the metro employees were recruited to join the war effort. Read the rest here.


Vanishing Point: Canadian exploration




At their root, most drains are just an abstract version of the watershed that existed before the city. It’s sort of this alternate dimension that you pass into, when you step from the aboveground creek, through the inlet, into the drain – especially once you walk out of the reach of daylight.

Even sanitary sewers often follow the paths of existing or former watersheds, because the grade of the land is already ideal for water flow – fast enough, but not so fast that it erodes the pipe prematurely – and because the floodplains are often unsuitable for other uses.

BLDGBLOG: How does that affect your attitude toward this, though? Do you find yourself wishing that all these drains could be dismantled, letting the natural landscape return – or, because these sites are so interesting to explore, do you actually wish that there were more of them?

Michael Cook: It’s an awful toll that we’ve taken on the landscape – I’m not one to celebrate all this concrete. If it were conceivable to set it all right, I’d be the first one in line to support that. And the marginal progress being made in terms of environmental engineering – building storm water management alternatives to burial and to large, expensive pipes – is a great step forward; unfortunately, its success so far has been limited.

Ultimately, you just can’t change the fact that we’ve urbanized, and we continue to do so. That comes with a cost that can be managed – but it can’t be eliminated completely.

Read the rest of the interview here or visit the vanishing point website


Under city: Steve Duncan new york explorations




    The hole I was digging was about three feet deep and halfway under the wall when I ran into a tarpaulin imbedded in the dirt. It caught at my shovel strangely, and I couldn’t tell what I’d run into in the nighttime darkness until I took out my flashlight. I knelt down next to the hole to see.
    The beam of my flashlight showed the dirty blue plastic and then, as I prodded it with the shovel, I saw a half-rotten shoe sticking out of the worm-infested folds. A dead body. The idea filled my mind with a sudden wave of revulsion and horror. For a moment I couldn’t move. Then I reached out and slowly pulled on a corner of the tarp. The shoe tumbled out, attached to nothing, and behind it there was only dirt.
    I let out a breath… read more here and check out some photos here.


The Post Office Railway




I had the same experience with the exploration of sewers. Back in 2005 I would crawl on my hands and knees squeezing my way up a 3ft, never-ending concrete pipes only to find a dead end or smaller tunnel, but I enjoyed it, going back for more week after week. Yet after discovering some of the Victorian lost rivers and storm drains, this once enjoyable activity instantly lost its appeal, in fact it became frustrating. I could do this now anyway because I’m fatter then I was six years ago and no longer fit in said 3ft pipes, but now I don’t even consider them an option or viable route. I guess I became a ”Sewer Snob”, if there is such a term, spoilt by bigger and better things. In fact it’s been the same across the entire board of exploration. Asylums, mills, bunkers, forts, all things I once enjoyed with equal passion, now nothing more then a space to kill some time. But then there was always Mail Rail, lurking in the background. Read the rest here.


Felix Nadar and the Paris Sewers

It’s not often that our explorations are more connected to people than places. However, on a recent trip into the Paris sewer system, we were chasing the ghost of the Parisian eccentric and urban photographer Félix Nadar. For urban explorers in London and Paris, the period between 1850 and 1870, when Nadar was doing his work, is a crucial one. During that time, both of the drain networks were built to the rough configuration in which they remain. This period was pwned by urban planners and engineers like Bazalgette and Haussmann; it was a time of radical urban reconfiguration. Nadar was fascinated by the changes and spent a great deal of time photographing the Paris catacombs and sewers (and taking aerial and erotic photos, but that’s another story), leading many urban explorers to think of Nadar, and his contemporary John Hollingshead in London, as the first drainers. The name Félix Nadar was even a pseudonym – clearly Nadar was part of our crew! Read more on Felix Nadar and the history of paris sewers here and here.


And some of his photos:









A short world gallery

Canada






France




England




Balkans







Videos














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p.s. Hey. If you're like me, and probably even if you aren't like me, this weekend's Paradigm-created and -hosted post is what oohs and ahhs are made of. Please join me in wishing I had a very strong flashlight and the city's underworld at my fingertips. Thank you ever so much, Paradigm! ** Misanthrope, The thing with ferris wheels, in my experience, is that when you look up at them and imagine yourself at the top, what you imagine looking down on is much further away than what you actually look down on when you're up there, which is kind of part of the genius thing about them, I guess? Assuming you made it home safely yesterday, and that today is some kind of day off, stay warm. ** Cobaltfram, Hi, John. Your ferris wheel fantasy sounds like one of those conceptually perfect ideas wherein time gets to be elongated and circumstances idealized, sort of like the slaves' fantasies, come to think of it. I've seen 'Kwaidan', yeah, but a long time ago. I think it was pretty great? I can't remember. Cool about the book about to go to market, but, yeah, don't think about it, and I'll try not to make you think about it by asking incessantly, if I can. Working on the novel is definitely better than doing whatever one does on Grindr, I'm sure. It's probably even better than Playstation. Wow, you're a Superbowl guy? I guess probably a lot of people whom I would never suspect are. Strange from the outside. Skype chat, sure, down the road, sure. No problem, cool. Thanks re: 'The Body'. Bon weekend. ** xTx, Hey. Yeah, actually, oops, I fucked up by posting the RL link, and I got a panicked-ish email from the editor telling me that the link he sent me was to the pre-release, not-yet-copy-edited version, so I had to erase it. But, pssst, the issue is really good. Right, it could be 'Billie's' first trip to France maybe? So, yeah, if it shows up all smudged with macaron goo and baguette flakes, I will be very understanding. Have an excellent weekend! ** Tosh, Thank you, sir. Oh, man, I'm really envious of you getting to go to the Art Book Fair thing at MoCA. I so wish I could check that out. It looks fantastic in the images I've seen. ** Rewritedept, Dana Point, nice. Memories. Yeah, I guess that's how it works, although I really don't think there's anyone who doesn't doubt themselves a lot. I guess it's a balance issue. 'Total' confidence. Layout, cool. I don't know, that night you had sounds really nice. Just being inside Mandalay Bay or one of those Strip hotels turns my imagination into a helium balloon or something. I never saw MoB live, either back then or nowadays. Strange. Maybe they didn't tour through LA very much back then, and now, I don't know, I get a touch of reunion-itis about that. Uh, I have to go look at the photo you mentioned to answer your question because I can't remember. Hold on. Oh, yeah, I think that jacket was my dad's old 'smoking jacket', as he called it. If so, it was wine red and ... maybe velour or ... I don't know what you call it. Velvet-esque. Happy weekend. ** David Ehrenstein, Howdy. ** Toniok, Hey, man! Oh, thank you about the post. It was made as a gift for a friend, so I worked especially hard on it because it had that extra worthiness issue. Thanks about 'Lead Singer' too. That's actually a little piece of 'Kindertotenlieder', but I liked it enough to let it loose on its own. I don't know that 'Dead Girl' book. Or any of those three. I'll go hunt round and find out about them. Thank you for your knowingness too, and have a great Saturday, Sunday. ** Robert-nyc, Hi! Great, great that your reading went so well. I've only read about the Bureau of General Services--Queer Division, but it really does sound like a super place, and I sure hope they can score permanent lodgings, and I hope it lasts at least long enough that I'll get to check it out. Oh, I watched a video of Teribalanamal live, and I really liked it. Very cool! And I'll go find the recordings of you reading on FB. Excellent! Nice weekend to you, Robert. ** _Black_Acrylic, Hi, Ben. Yeah, yeah, understood about the meds, and all hopes that they really help. Very nice about the great venue for the YnY spring launch. YnY really seems like it's entering this big new phase or something, no? It's really exciting. ** ASH, Hi, ASH! Great to see you! Thanks a lot about the post. Writing is going. I need to kick the progress up a good notch, but I'm not worried about that like I was for a while. Is 'You're Nothing' out? I've only heard the single. Shit, I'll go get it today, if it's gettable. I want to see 'Cloud Atlas'. Either it hasn't gotten here yet, which would be strange maybe, or I missed its run. I haven't seen any films lately. Been out of the habit for some reason. Still hoping and trying to plan for Euroheedfest. I just need to see what Gisele has in store for me and when. I'll enjoy my weekend, and you too, okay? ** Ken Baumann, Ken! It would trippy awesome in the majorest way if the big A was in 'WS'. Jeez! Makes sense about the financial threat. Hm. With Zac, I think we're thinking isolation plus mutual enthusiasm might be impetus enough, but a Plan B(lackmail) certainly won't hurt. Okay. May your spirits be as high as mine this weekend and way beyond. ** Schlix, Thank you again, big U! I think I'll be able to pry that book out of Gisele's hands shortly. But thank you, and I'll let you know if she puts it under lock and key. I know Gisele is really, really happy with the new'TIHYWD' performer. And if the birds behaved, that's sweet, 'cos that's always the thing that keeps me biting my nails the whole time I'm watching it. Take care, great weekend to you. ** Steevee, Really nice piece on 'The Caretakers', Steve. Really excellent work. I hope Slate bites on your Soderbergh idea. It sounds like a really swell angle to me. ** Zack, Hi, Zack! Never? I have a big fear of heights too, but ferris wheels seem to be okay. I get rattled while I'm waiting in line, but when I'm actually on one, the solidity of the machine itself, and maybe the comforting roundness, make it okay. The surgical scar guy got the scar from riding the ferris wheel in the background. I think he fell out and got impaled or something. Oops, I probably just reinforced your fear of ferris wheels many-fold, sorry. That's great news about the literary scene in Detroit. Yeah, the literary scene in the States just seems like it's spreading and strengthening and getting more exciting literally by the day these days. A very fine weekend to you! ** Alan, Hi, Alan. Holy shit, do those sound completely incredible! Good Lord. Thank you so much for passing that on. Somebody must be translating them into English. Roussel's body of work is so is so tight and precious, I mean, someone must be on that. Man, am I jonesing to read them. I don't know much about nonfiction book advances. I know ... what do I know, let's see ... I know that, if a book seems like it would have some kind of broad appeal, the advance tends to be quite a bit higher than with fiction. I think that with, say, collections of previously published essays or something, which isn't relevant, the advances tend to be lower than with fiction. Lower end, hm, the low-to-mid 4 figures, but I think that would apply to the essay collections thing. Seems like low-to-mid 5 figures maybe on the low end in other cases? But, yeah, I really don't know. I'm just speculating based on bits and pieces of info. On marketing stuff, I think if it's a 'big book', you probably get a fair amount of input/control. But I think in general that publishers' attitude is that they know the biz and that writers tend to be naive/utopian. I've never had real input into that with my books. They just tell me what they're going to do, and, if I object to something or have a creative idea that they think would only help without costing them much extra, they tend to say, Sure. Great weekend! ** Anonymous /Postit, That a good GbV song to know, if you only know one. Oh, yeah, I'll pick a Bright Eyes song by Monday. Sorry, I've been out and about a lot. Terrific next two days to you! ** Okay. You will have a superb local, i.e. blog generated weekend, I am sure, and I only hope that the rest of your time suits every one of your purposes. See you on Monday.

'Minimal techno is a form of electronic dance music (EDM) that is considered a minimalist sub-genre of techno. It is characterized by a stripped-down aesthetic that exploits the use of repetition, and understated development. This style of dance music production generally adheres to the motto less is more; a principle that has been previously utilized, to great effect, in architecture, design, visual art, and Western art music. The tradition of minimalist aesthetics in Western culture can be traced to the German Bauhaus movement (1919 to 1933). Minimal techno is thought to have been originally developed in the early 1990s by Detroit based producers Robert Hood and Daniel Bell.

'In an essay published in the book Audio Culture: Readings in Modern Music (2004), music journalist and critic Philip Sherburne, asserts that minimal techno uses two specific stylistic approaches, one being skeletalism, and the other massification. According to Sherburne, in skeletal minimal techno, only the core elements are included with embellishments used only for the sake of variation within the song. In contrast, massification is a style of minimalism in which many sounds are layered over time, but with little variation in sonic elements. Today the influence of minimal styles of house music and techno are not only found in club music, but becoming more commonly heard in popular music. Regardless of the style, minimal Techno corkscrews into the very heart of repetition” so cerebrally as to often inspire descriptions like ’spartan’, ’clinical’, ’mathematical’, and ’scientific’.

'In his essay Digital Discipline: Minimalism in House and Techno Philip Sherburne also proposes what the origins of Minimal techno might be. Sherburne states that, like most contemporary electronic dance music, minimal techno has its roots in the landmark works of pioneers such as Kraftwerk and detroit techno’s Derrick May and Juan Atkins. Minimal techno focuses on rhythm and repetition instead of melody and linear progression, much like classical minimalist music and the polyrhythmic African musical tradition that helped inspire it. By 1994, according to Sherburne, the term “minimal” was in use to describe any stripped-down, Acidic derivative of classic Detroit style.

'Los Angeles based writer Daniel Chamberlin draws parallels between the compositional techniques used by producers such as Richie Hawtin, Wolfgang Voigt, and Surgeon and that of American minimalist composer Steve Reich, in particular the pattern phasing system Reich employs in many of his works; the earliest being ”Come Out”. Chamberlin also sees the use of sine tone drones by minimalist composer La Monte Young and the repetitive patterns of Terry Riley’s ”In C” as other major influences. In recent years, the genre has taken great influence from, to the point of merging with the microhouse genre. It has also fragmented into a great number of difficult to categorize subgenres, equally claimed by the minimal techno and microhouse tags.' -- collaged







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Robert Hood 'Grey Move' (1999)
'Robert Hood makes minimal Detroit techno with an emphasis on soul and experimentation over flash and popularity. Having recorded for Metroplex, as well as the Austrian Cheap label and Jeff Mills' Axis label, Hood also owns and operates the M-Plant imprint, through which he's released the bulk of his solo material. As part of the original UR line up whose influential releases throughout the early and mid '90s helped change the face of modern Detroit techno and sparked a creative renaissance. Infusing elements of acid and industrial into a potent blend of Chicago house and Detroit techno, UR's aesthetic project and militant business philosophy were (and remain) singular commitments in underground techno.'-- mplantmusic.com






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Daniel Bell 'Baby Judy' (1996)
'Bell was influenced primarily by Chicago House as well as the works of the minimialist composers Steve Reich and Philip Glass. His productions are characterized by minimalist house grooves accented by blips and bleeps. Some tracks feature bizarre voice effects and eerie atmospherics. He was born in Sacramento, California, but grew up outside of Toronto, Canada, and later moved to Detroit where he collaborated with Richie Hawtin as Cybersonik for three years on Plus 8 records. In 1991, he started his own label, Accelerate, where he released a string of influential releases as DBX. In 2000, he relocated to Berlin, Germany, and released his first mix CD, The Button-Down Mind of Daniel Bell, on Tresor Records. 2003 brought a follow-up release on Logistic records, The Button-Down Mind Strikes Back and soon after a retrospective was released: Blip, Blurp, Bleep: The Music of Daniel Bell.'-- collaged






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Richie Hawtin/Plastikman 'Spastik' (1993)
'Richie Hawtin is an English-Canadian electronic musician and internationally-touring DJ who was an influential part of Detroit techno’s second wave of artists in the early 1990s. Hawtin is best known for his haunting, minimal works under the alias Plastikman, a moniker he continued to use into the mid 2000s. Hawtin is also known for DJing intelligent, minimal techno sets making use of high-tech electronics such as drum machines and digital mixing equipment. With fellow second-waver John Acquaviva he founded and still runs the Plus 8 record label in May 1990, and in 1998 he launched Minus, primarily for his own projects. Hawtin has recorded music under the aliases Plastikman, F.U.S.E, Concept 1, Circuit Breaker, The Hard Brothers, Hard Trax, Jack Master, and UP!. He also recorded and performed, in combination with other artists, under group names such as 0733, Cybersonik, Final Exposure, Spawn (with Fred Giannelli and Daniel Bell), and States Of Mind.'-- collaged






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Ricardo Villalobos 'The Contempt (Trip Through Tools Mix)' (1995)
'In the beginning it’s like a hobby. DJing paid something between one hundred and five hundred Euros. You couldn’t live out of it. I was studying at University and doing parties and stuff, but more or less doing this as something I just enjoyed. Then we started a little label in ‘93 called Placid Flavour… it didn’t go very well, so, we started again. I met the Playhouse people in ‘93 and made my first record for them in ’94. In ’95 and ’96 I started to be more serious, also with DJing. Since ’98 this has definitely been a career. I’ve only done this to earn money. I need to live, and I need to work hard. It’s quite late: some people get known at 22 and 23 for being DJs. This didn’t happen to our generation; our generation took a lot longer and it wasn’t that easy to get musical information and good records. Now you have high standards of production and a lot of people to learn from. You get your information in big packages, you get told a lot at once. Friends tell you now, whereas [people from] our generation were on their own.'-- RV






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Pan Sonic 'Urania' (1995)
'In the early eighties, we were very interested in industrial music like Throbbing Gristle, Einstürzende Neubauten and Suicide. Eventually our musical tastes turned toward reggae, hip hop and experimental music. When acid house began, that obviously heavily influenced us. We have a synthesizer which is one big box that has twelve oscillators on it; you can connect them to each other and modulate them together. We also have this small synthesizer which is built to an old typewriter -- we call it 'Typewriter'. We have several drum modules to make rhythmic sounds which we are using with an 808. Jari Lehtinen is also building us this large synthesizer that will have eight oscillators and a cross connection board, like the early 70s, late 60s synthesizers." Alongside Typewriter, also known as "Complex Sound Generator" there is also a self-built, approximately six metre-long infrasonic tube, called "John Holmes".'-- Mika Vaino






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Basic Channel 'Octagon' (1995)
'This is the key to Basic Channel. Where Techno hurls blinkered into the future, Mark and Moritz have turned their backs on it. Theirs is an archaeology of Techno, almost, which burrows beneath the future-shock debris to work up new geometric shapes from the music's original architectonic ground plans. Its a kind of Techno classicism, one best heard on vinyl, sure enough. The duo are so committed to vinyl that they have established their own cutting plant to ensure their records obtain the desired dynamic range. And on vinyl Basic Channel's minimalism does work a wholly other kind of magic. But the CD works well as an entity because Basic Channel has worked a singular groove over the nine records released since the label was founded in 1993. But what you don't get on compact disc is the same dynamic sense that the musicians are exploring every possible rhythmic permutation. Early tracks lock distorted, needle-dirt blocks of noise into hypnotic rhythm loops that gradually push out of phase, compelling minor changes that trigger seismic shifts in the sound layers.'-- The Wire






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Jeff Mills 'Gateway of Zen' (1997)
'Mills is credited with laying the foundations for legendary detroit techno collective, Underground Resistance, alongside ‘Mad’ Mike Banks, a former Parliament bass player. Just like Public Enemy did some years before in hiphop, these men confronted the mainstream music industry with revolutionary rhetoric. Dressed in uniforms with skimasks and black combat suits, they were ‘men on a mission’, aiming at giving techno more content and meaning. His albums and EPs are mostly separate tracks of his compositions, which Mills would mix into the live DJ sets for which he became a legend. Mills has been credited for his exceptional turntable skills. Tracks are almost chopped to bits to showcase the strongest fragments for his relentless sound collages. Three decks, a Roland 909 drum-machine and seventy records in one hour: at breakneck speed Mills manipulates beats and basslines, vinyl and frequencies.'-- lastfm






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Steve Bug '1303' (1996)
'Few German electronic producers are as versatile as Steve Bug. Starting off with a small residency in Ibiza in 1991, Bug enhanced his reputation and was invited to play the prestigious Love Parade later that year. His career in music production came two years later with the release of Bride & Bridegroom on the Superstition label. Several other releases on smaller labels followed, and in 1996 he started his first label, Raw Elements. This label, however, would be short-lived, as Bug would pull the plug and start up two labels -- Poker Flat and Dessous -- in 1998. Each label had its own aesthetic in mind, with Poker Flat concentrating on edgy dancefloor tech-house releases and Dessous focusing on deep house and downtempo sounds. Bug would continue to record singles for Poker Flat and Dessous as well as other labels worldwide, and he quietly established a reputation internationally for his DJ sets as well as his productions.'-- collaged






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Wolfgang Voigt '20 Minuten Gas Im November' (1999)
'Wolfgang Voigt is an electronic music artist from Cologne, Germany, known for his output under various aliases on a plethora of record labels, including Warp, Harvest, Raster-Noton and Force Inc. Although widely known as a tireless producer, he is best known for co-founding the influential German techno label Kompakt alongside Michael Mayer and Jürgen Paape. Wolfgang Voigt has never shied away from difficulty, of course. Typically, it's taken the form of minimalism, but his most revered minimalist records have been lush, even outright beautiful. Studio 1, Burger/Ink, Gas: None of these aliases trafficked in audience alienation. Quite the reverse, in fact. Some may have revealed their pleasures immediately, as with Gas's deeply affecting mix of mountain-sized melancholy and beatific calm. Others, like the proto-microhouse of Studio 1, required some acclimation time in order to hear the echoes of deep house warmth left after Voigt had gutted the genre of anything pop.'-- Pitchfork






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Carl Craig 'Science Fiction' (1995)
'Carl Craig may be known as one of Detroit Techno's "second wave" of producers, but probably no other Motor City artist has remained as relevant for as long, in quite as expansive a context. Born in Detroit in 1969, Craig was first exposed to Detroit techno in the late 80s via a cousin that ran the lighting for Jeff Mills. After early collaborations with his "first wave" mentor Derrick May, Craig struck out on his own in the early 90s. Recording as 69, BFC, Psyche, Paperclip People, Tres Demented and under his own name — as well as a slew of other aliases and collaborations — Craig developed an instantly recognizable (and oft imitated, if rarely matched) style, at once lush and economical, bursting and streamlined.'-- The Wire






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Regis 'We Said No' (1995)
'Regis (Karl O'Connor) began making music in the early 1990s and founded Downward Records with Sutton in 1993 in the Halesowen area of Birmingham. He set up the Integrale Muzique distribution company in 1996 with Sutton and Antonio Soares-Vieira.[4] Regis' debut EP Montreal included the hypnotic industrial track "Speak To Me". Other releases from the period include the Gymnastics 2x12", and the Application of Language EP, both featuring hard minimal electronica. The era was capped off by a remix of "Totmacher" by DJ Hell. Things came full circle in the late 1990s, when O'Connor went on to work with and produce his childhood heroes Robert Gorl and Chrislo Hass of Deutsch-Amerikanische Freundschaft, but by this time he was already developing a more layered and tonal sound that would become his trademark in the following years.'-- collaged






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Surgeon 'Syllables' (1996)
'Surgeon's musical style is characterised by his incorporation of the more cinematic and left field aspects of his musical background into his club-based material. His production, remix, and DJ repertoire are inspired by krautrock and industrial music bands such as Faust, Coil, and Whitehouse. In particular, the extent of Coil's influence is such that most of the track titles from Surgeon's Tresor album "Force and Form" are direct references to Coil recordings. Child also draws influence from Chicago house, Techno, Dub music, and Electro, and also from non-musical works by Mike Leigh, David Lynch, William S. Burroughs, Bret Easton Ellis, and Cindy Sherman.' -- collaged







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p.s. Hey. ** David Ehrenstein, Morning, David. ** Billy Lloyd, Hi, Billy! Iceland, totally, me too. I don't know that documentary -- thanks a lot! -- but, even before watching it, the music scene there seems ultra-inspiring. The performance scene too. A lot excellent performers come from there, including Margret, the star of Gisele's and my piece 'This Is How You Will Disappear'. And then there's the teeming, melancholy landscape, obviously. Summering there sounds good to me. Icelandic people I know say it can be quite boring there due to its size, but overfamiliarity can turn anywhere too cozy, I guess. So, you're in Leeds? Did you get any of the white stuff yet? Hopefully you'll get it over the viruses that you say are flying around there. My fingers are crossed on your health's behalf too, if that helps. ** Tosh, I hope one of your fears isn't Minimal Techno, ha ha. Oh, the book fair, sigh. Is it a one-time thing, or is the beginning of an annual shebang, I hope? Did you buy a bunch of stuff? ** Bill, Hi, Bill. I hope that small chance gets big. Yeah, 'Blank Generation' is pretty period-oriented in its pleasures, but Richard is great in it. I'm reading the galley of his forthcoming memoir, and it's pretty gripping and wild, as you can probably imagine. ** Steevee, Yeah, excellent work. I guess I'm not surprised that Daily Beast pays kind of shittily, but it is a good, much read venue. Haven't seen 'Infiltration'. I'll look for online evidence. I had a slight hope that 'Bullet to the Head' might be a lot of fun too. The two 'Expendable' movies were a total semi-guilty pleasure to me. And I did read that it's a big flop, and right after Arnold's comeback/flop. Kind of sad that their fans don't care or that there are so few fans left, sort of (sad). ** Sypha, Hi, James. I have read Dostoyevsky, yeah, a few books, but, as I so often seem to say, not in a very long time. People seem to tend to think 'Notes from the Underground' isn't such a great one by him, but I remember being pretty way into it. How are you liking 'BK'? ** Misanthrope, Little Eyes ... how little? If they weren't too little or else were very, very little, that sounds better. I envy even your squib of snow. I really think we're post snow already here. It just feels that way. I think I need to take a trip into the higher altitudes before winter is over, and, actually, I'm going to. I assume you watched the Super Bowl. You can assume that I barely even knew it was in existence. ** Cobaltfram, Hi, John. Oh, escapism from the dark side of being a writer, i.e. 'corporate' approval. Gotcha. So did your Austin-based, Superbowl-occasioning weekend go as planned or even transcendently? My friend? He's a visual and sound artist. I don't know what to say, really, except he's a really extraordinary person, and I feel very grateful to know him. My agent was pretty much like yours in terms of tight lips -- I have a new one, but I don't know what she's going to be like yet -- although he would tell me about the no's. He just wouldn't get into the why's unless I really wanted to know the why. I guess the whole publisher consideration period fills one with equal amounts of excitement and low grade terror. You've got to stay pragmatic. You've got to remember that publishers have agendas, quotas, specific tastes, etc., and not think of each one as a god who has your value as a writer and future in their hands. It's too easy to let each rejection feel like a sign of some kind of consensus when that's absolutely not true. Have not seen the new Knife video/song, and I haven't even heard the new MBV album yet. Today's the day. ** Paradigm, Thank you again and again so much for the incredible post/weekend, Scott! Headtorches, yeah, right, of course. I'm still determined to find the secret tunnel under the Recollets where I live. A friend and I are on the hunt, but other equally interesting adventures keep getting in the way. It will be done, though. I got a teeny bit of novel writing in, but I guess that's better than nothing. I've gotten way behind on blog post making, so that ended up being a big weekend user. Glad to hear you were able to write. ** Rewritedept, Hi. It seems like there must be all kind of secret tunnels and shit under those Strip hotels. But maybe not? Seems like there would be, though. Ouch, shit, about your ankle. I hope it's de-swelling or whatever. Still haven't gotten the MBV. Weird, I know, but for sure today. Reunionitis is, like, an advance condition. Pre-thing anxiety. Usually when I actually see a reunion show, I end up digging it, and even digging the kind of depressing 'we give up, we're spent, and will now mine our past and rationalize why that's okay' aspect. My weekend was okay. Went to a nice party on Friday, had a belated b'day dinner with pals on Saturday, and mostly worked on stuff the rest the time. ** MP Watkins, Mitch! Whoa, hey, buddy. Okay, that explains a text I got from you while I was in Lille that made no sense to me at the time. I almost never go on tour with the theater stuff, and I usually have no idea when things are playing where even. You didn't really take a bunch of kids to see 'Jerk'. I don't believe you, although, hm, I guess that does seem like something you might do, come to think of it. Ha ha, yikes, yes, imagining kids watching the Dean Corll puppet fisting the dead boy puppet ... I suppose that could have been a bit too much for them. But maybe it turned one of them into a genius or something? Anyway, shit, it would have been awesome to see you, not to mention watch the soul-destroyed kids. Let me know when you're headed here. I'll try not to be in one my reclusive modes. Big love to you, Mitchy-witch! ** Trees, Hi, T! Legal troubles, err, okay, sorry, but you're still online and typing, at least. Drones, yeah, nice. No, I didn't get the MBV yesterday. A bit of fear of the too long anticipated, I guess, but I'll score it today. Haven't heard the Knife track either. I need to step up my game. I'm doing well, thanks, man, and I hope you are too, majorly. ** Postitbreakup, Hi, Josh. Blocks come, blocks go. You just have to ride them out. A block due to the cutting of smoke intake sounds as natural and predictable as, I don't know, as French accents in Paris. Don't sweat it. It's the fault of your discombobulated senses, not you. ** _Black_Acrylic, Hi, Ben! ** Grant maierhofer, Hi, Grant! I got your email, and I'm glad things are better, and I will write to you. I'm horribly slow at email. It's kind of a real problem of mine, but I will. You have a pub date on the chapbook, great! I want to celebrate its birth on the blog, so let me know the scoop when the time is right, if you feel like it. And really cool about the collaboration too. Very exciting! Thanks a lot for the link to your publishing 'rant'. I'll go read that when I get done here. Everyone, superfine writer and d.l. Grant Maierhofer has a think/reaction piece newly up on the Open End site called '50 Thoughts Upon Receipt of Another Rejection Email' that I can guarantee you is really worth your time, so please do go check it out for your own sakes. Thanks a lot again, Grant! ** Statictick, Good, very good, about you feeling better now. Nice nurse. And I hope the uptick in your Lamictal intake goes okay. Is there an immediate physical effect or side-effect when you first up the dosage? Fun things from you, anytime. Love from me. ** Chris Cochrane, Hi, Chris! I'll be joining you and everybody else in the post-new MBV album altered world today. You sound good, and it's awesome that Ben's actually into negotiations with Yerba Buena. That would be hella sweet. Love to you, buddy. ** Chris Dankland, Thanks about the Ferris post, and your robbery of any bits and pieces is only the highest compliment. Whoa, so if I watch 'Yacht Rock', I'll be danger of binging on Loggins and McDonald vids. I don't know, man. On the other hand, that could be just what my creativity needs. Such a dilemma. My weekend was nice. Trusting yours was. I guess Mssrs Loggins and McDonald are nothing if not niceness spreaders. I don't know. Take care of your good self, pal. ** Grant Scicluna, Hi, Grant! Really great to see you! It goes real good with me, thank you. Oh, gosh, 'Wrong', thanks. There are things in there that were written so early in the development of whatever talent I have that I regret giving them book covers sometimes, but, luckily, you didn't mention them, ha ha. The title story, yeah. Writing that was kind of big for me. It was originally going to be in my novel 'Closer'. It was the piece where I found the form and voice of 'Closer', and, in a way, of the Cycle itself, so it was kind of a real breakthrough piece for me. But it ended up not fitting in 'Closer', even though it's the same George character. Anyway, thank you a lot. I don't remember where I was emotionally or psychologically. I wrote it during a period when my real friend George and I were painfully estranged, and that probably played into it. That's actually a really, really hard story for me now because it revolves around someone shooting himself in the head, which my friend George did just a few years later. If you mean things I wrote that made my gut tense, well ... there's a piece of nonfiction called 'AIDS: Words from the Front' that I later fictionalized and used as a chapter in 'Guide' that was very hard because it was about these HIV+ street kids in Hollywood whom I hung out with for a while in order to write the piece, and they were in rough shape, and it was very sad, and most of them are now dead. Generally, it's the most emotional pieces that are the hardest for me. Writing about violence isn't so hard because I processed that stuff when I was young, and my relationship to it is pretty established, and I can negotiate it without a lot of trauma. The hardest thing to write by far is this novel I'm trying to write about George. Anyway, thank you, Grant, and it's really good to see you. How are things with your script, film projects, life, and anything or everything else? ** Un Cœur Blanc, Hi! You're welcome to clone my heart, if you can do that somehow. It's in pretty good shape right now. Maybe I should interview myself with great formality. Hm, that would be an interesting challenge. I hope your Monday is the perfect starter to a great week. ** Okay. Go be in the presence of the Minimal Techno gods, if you will, and I'll see you tomorrow.

DAMN! I was going to feature Providence in this edition of Le Petit Mac-Mahon, but it's been taken down. So we'll go with another Alain Resnais masterpiece instead.










Written by science-fiction novelist Jacques Sternberg, Je t'aime Je t'aime concerns a decidedly shady group of scientists who rescue an attempted suicide (Claude Rich) and give him another chance at life through a machine that will operate on his memories providing him to relive his past. Chris Marker's La Jetee clearly comes to mind. But Resnais' vision is far more fragmented than Marker's, and far darker. It is, however, among other things the best film ever made about cats. Be sure to look for Alain Robbe-Grillet in a cameo.



(Je T'aime Je T'aime)






(Geraldine Chaplin in Remember My Name)


Remember My Name is the best albeit the most obscure film by ...



(Alan Rudolph)


... Alan Rudolph, a protégé of Robert Altman who over the years has constructed a cinema all his own in the often perilous fields of indie production.

Jonathan Rosenbaum has been among the most eloquent about the film and its evocation of both Joan Crawford and Jacques Rivette.



(Remember My Name)


A special poignancy proceeds from the fact that it's the only film Tony and Berry Perkins made together.



(Tony and Berry Perkins)

He died of AIDS in 1992, and she was in one of the planes that hit the World Trade center on 9/11/2001.








In 1981 Orson Welles screened his 1962 film version of Franz Kafka's The Trialfor an appreciative audience at USC. He filmed the Q&A that followed hoping to make a film of it along the lines of Filming Othello

Welles and his cinematic amanuensis Gray Grave died before the results could be properly edited. Nevertheless -- here it is. I can be seen (sitting next to Meredith Brody) commenting on the fairy tale aspect of the characters that Welles and Akim Tamiroff play in the film. IOW - I was in a Welles movie!



(Orson Welles' Filming The Trial)


And here's the movie we're talking about.







*

p.s. RIP: Reg Presley. Hey. Le Petit Mac-Mahon is back with one of its always killer line-ups, so please hit the lights and let the filmic wash over you. Oh, I can confirm that, until I did my usual pre-launch post maintenance check last night and found gray rectangles where there had been primed imbeds, you were set to see Alain Resnais' 'Providence' today, which I was excited about since it's one of my handful of favorite all-time films, but, oh well, and its replacement, 'Je t'aime Je t'aime', is no slouch. Anyway, blah blah, enjoy and talk to David, thank you, and thank you majorly, Mr. E. ** _Black_Acrylic, Ah, cool, great! A happy partner to your Acid House Day, indeed. Really glad you dug it, Ben. ** Misanthrope, So, like, kid-sized wheels sort of? I'm happy that you and the Bowl got along so well, and I hope your last night's bout of sleep wasn't anywhere near as shitty. ** David Ehrenstein, An in-person thank you and hugs across land and sea for the great post today, David. ** Grant maierhofer, Hi, Grant! Awesome that you dug the post, and, yes, if you're game for a zero-year birthday party for your book, I would only be honored to provide the house and home. I'm ready when you and it are. Great day to you! ** Cobaltfram, Hi, John. Cool, my pleasure. The marriage thing, right. Don't think Texas will be throwing parades for married same-sexers anytime soon. Publishing is just the vehicle. Its power structure, and its subjectivity that thinks it is objectivity, are a huge drag, but it's still just the car that gives your work a ride to where it's going. The gym, I've heard of that. It's kind of like a publishing world for your body except that, luckily, it's totally DIY. ** Billy Lloyd, Hi! Yeah, I have yet to find the state of mind where I would want to live outside a big, hopping city. The vacation home idea has gotten more appealing over time, but my bank account hasn't swelled enough to get the pipe dream aspect out of its allure. Hm, I guess some cliquey-ness would have be in operation in Iceland, but, on the other hand, when a place is small and tight like that, there's also the phenomenon of scenesters and artists being especially hungry for outsiders and for as much influence as possible, so, hm. Never read the 'PoBaW' book. It's good, eh? I'm looking forward to and excited about a lot of things right now. Too many to try to list, both in the arts and in life. It's a great and really front-loaded time, and I think this is going to be an especially incredible year. I'm going to Amsterdam soon to see the retrospective of the great artist and my friend Mike Kelley and have a blast in the company of a dear friend, and I'm really looking forward to that, as far as maybe the most immediate thing. You? ** Tosh, The book fair sounds so great, wow! What's the new project you're working on? ** 5STRINGS, Hey! Really good to see you! You doing all right? Really suave prose/comment there. Spontaneous or from something you're working on or ... ? Squidbillies, ha. Ockham's Razoir, whoa! You're reading 'Triptych'? Sweet! ** Sypha, Well, yes, if you want my opinion, more listening to Pan Sonic sounds like an excellent idea. ** Bollo, Hi, Jonathan! Yeah, I kind of thought of Pan Sonic that way, and I checked the 'experts' here and there online, and it does seem that they/he have been officially contextualized in the Minimal Techno arena.  That's cool of that artist to quote me on Bresson. Interested to check out his stuff. Let me know how it is. I didn't know that Nayland is up at Mathew Marks. That guy is everywhere at the moment. Nice. Still haven't listened to the MBV. I want to give it a bunch of time and peace of mind, and that didn't happen yesterday. Today, I think, probably, for sure. Thoughts when I have them. All is great with me, thanks. Would love to see you more, very obviously. ** Flit, Hi, Flit! Oh, absence is okay when necessary, you know. I'm kind of way into the soup we're dancing in at the moment, yeah. Porter Ricks, sure, you bet. Good add. It goes really well with me these days. And with you? ** Trees, Hi, T. Great, thank you, about the post's pleasure and relevance. Ian Loveday: hm, maybe I'm not familiar. The name just rings a bell basically. I'll hit those links ultra-shortly, and thank you a lot, man. I saw Kevin's pic of you and Mr. Hsu on FB yesterday. Lookin' good, ha ha. Ben Mirov is really terrific, so that's a good reading to have been at. Were you on your best behavior, and was there indeed a very good reason for you to have adopted that behavioral mode? ** Bill, I was just telling Trees that I saw that money shot of you and him on FB yesterday. Sweet. That Voight track is typical of some of his work. He's kind of all over the place. I think his 90s stuff is more interesting than the stuff he's doing now, which feels a bit more, I don't know, polluted or something? But his 90s Minimal period is mostly quite good and dark at its best. You're back into sound-based work! That's really exciting, Bill! I'm so curious to hear what you come up with. Do share when things feel shareable. Sound on its own, or sound in combination with visuals, or ... ? ** Chilly Jay Chill, Hi, Jeff. I've heard a track or two from the new Villalobos. It sounded pretty interesting, but I need to listen again and more closely. Kind of dense and romantic. As I told whoever, I haven't cracked the MBV yet, weirdly, I guess. Just trying to find the most receptive moment, probably today. Excellent about the excerpt! Everyone, the first novel by the master of many universes including fiction, Chilly Jay Chill aka Jeff Jackson, is coming out this fall, and you can get a taste of it by reading a just-uploaded excerpt on the Guernica site right here. It's a fantastic novel, and you'll see that for yourselves after you've had that great taste. I hope the edits, etc. are going well. My novel is still going pretty slowly, but I'm not worried about that like I was, so it's all right. It'll pick up any day, I think. ** Rewritedept, Make that limp work for you, man. Nope, still haven't heard the MBV. Any second now. If there's headline, I'll put it in the header. My belated b'day dinner was tasty. Nachos. They were a little stingy on the beans this time, and a bit too heavy on the onions, but, hey, Parisians can't be choosers. Definitely go for that story idea. I'm piqued. Under the Haunted Mansion? I always heard it was in the secret VIP nightclub hidden away in New Orleans Square. The club is definitely there, but I think the head is long since a skull or ashes, wherever it is. Genre writing can be really good. If that's your voice's natural inclination, might as well go for it. I talk like a Valley Girl too. Except it's the San Gabriel Valley instead of the San Fernando Valley. It's a softer sound. You can make LA-speak work for you. I have, I guess. I hope your layouts acquiesced to your every desire. ** Statictick, Dude, you were in the fucking beating heart of techno's outset. Crazy. Even outside of Detroit, that was a truly amazing time. Okay, mixed possible blessings on the Lamictal dosage increases, I guess. I get jetlagged just hearing about your insomnia though. God, shit, ugh. I obviously hope that the doc is right that the increases will eventually work some kind of wonder. Yeah, I'm totally interested and I care a lot, so vent/talk/etc. whenever you like, my pal. Love from me. ** Chris Dankland, Hi, Chris. I'll do 'Yacht Rock' right after I do the new MBV. Sounds like a curious enough combo. 'What a Fool Believes' is kind of a horrifyingly perfectly constructed batch of minutes. It's almost evil. I know McKenna to some degree, yeah. Actually, relevant sort of to the post yesterday, he was the go-to 'philosopher' during the Rave Culture era. You couldn't turn your ears without hearing his voice and lectures sampled in techno and ambient tracks. I think I thought he was kind of amusing. I think I thought he had some interesting ideas, and I think I thought there was some space cadet aspects to his thinking too. I know what you mean about 'religious feeling' re: LSD. I didn't get that, but I wasn't raised with religion, and I've always thought religion was kind of like a cartoon, so my mind didn't really go there on LSD because I thought religious belief was kind of, I don't know, too locked down and conventionalized. Metaphysical experiences, maybe, but I think that mostly, when I took LSD, I was hyper focused on my biology and my brain, and I think I was interested in seeing the experience as a situation in which my brain was being unlocked and decentralized and uncensored. I think I saw being on LSD in a kind of psychedelic practical way. Everything seemed much more complex, but I didn't attribute that to the metaphysical necessarily. It wasn't like having a truth about the world or life revealed that spoke of mystical or god-like forces or meaning. It was more like having everything that I already suspected about myself or others or nature or whatever being clarified. It was more like being unlocked from my habits and fear-based selectivity or something. I don't know that TED talk, but I will watch that video today, and thank you. I definitely got that 'lack of self and ego' thing when on LSD. I do think that LSD was hugely instructive to me about the importance and sanity of being or trying to be selfless in life. But, like I said, I guess I explained it to myself in a way that gave the human body most of the credit. I never really envisioned or believed that I was a vehicle of something metaphysical and all-consuming. That might have to do with how, even when I was really young, I always approached things as possible ways to learn things that would help me be a better writer. I often thought about that when I was high, about the inadequacy of language as a conveyer of the intensely personal, and about how to find a way to work with that huge problem as an artist. I don't know. Does that make sense at all? Great to talk with you about this. You're always very inspiring, man. ** Paradigm, Hi, Scott. Thanks for continuing to talk with the blog post-smitten folks. I'm getting a bit more caught up on blog posts. I managed to write some this morning, which felt great. I think I might know the name John Kinsella, but I don't think I've read him. I will hunt him down. Thank you a lot for that tip. I've heard that about 'Django', that it sticks too closely to conventional/genre structure. That could be why the masses seem to like it more than other Tarantino movies, based on its box office. Curious to find out. I will have a good day, I'm pretty sure, and I hope you will too. ** Armando, Interesting: two 'Django' reviews in a row. Thanks for the input. I'm ever more curious to see it. You are such a DiCaprio fan. I can't get there myself, but I totally get it theoretically. Good day! ** Right. Please file back into Mr. E's movie theater now, thank you. Enjoy the motion pictures until further notice, that being until tomorrow at minimum, I guess. See you then.

'My name is Rob Horrocks. I have lived close to Aston for nearly 20 years. I developed Crossroads of Sabbath over two years by testing it on friends when they visited me from other cities. I recently teamed up with Ben Waddington who has been running walking tours of Birmingham for many years to fine tune my efforts.

'The Crossroads of Sabbath walking tour is an opportunity to walk in the footsteps of Ozzy, Geezer, Tony and Bill and learn about the environment that shaped them. The tour lasts approximately 90 minutes. The route has been programmed to finish at one of the finest pubs in the country where excellent ales and Thai food might tempt you.

'Black Sabbath are unique. No other Rock N Roll Hall of Fame inductee can make the claim that all its original members grew up is such close proximity to each other. And no other Rock N Roll Hall of Fame inductee is as widely acknowledged by peers, critics and fans as having given birth to a genre that is still as relevant, vibrant and global in its reach as Heavy Metal is to this day.

'The route stops at 15 locations. You will pass the schools, homes, rehearsal spaces and hangouts of band members and hear stories associated with them. The commentary at each location recounts some of the popular tales about the band and their time growing up in the area. The narration has been developed using local history sources with the intention of presenting a fuller picture of life in the area during the period when our heroes roamed its streets.

'Much has been made of the influence of the band’s environment on the sounds they made when they first entered a rehearsal room together. On the Crossroads of Sabbath tour you see this environment and learn about it during the period when the Sabbs called it home. The tour ends at a pub they frequented which is just across the road from the room where they first played together.' -- RH











'The Crossroads of Sabbath booklet is an A5, 20 page, two colour publication produced to accompany the tour. It includes a map of the route and summarises the commentaries from the tour locations. A copy of the booklet is given to everyone who takes part in the tour. The text has been written assuming that readers have a background knowledge of the Black Sabbath story as it has been told in the various biographies, autobiographies and documentary films. Primary sources such as old maps and newspaper clippings are reproduced to present a history of the area as well as of the band. The booklet may be of interest to people who grew up in the area it focuses on.mThe booklet will not be made available to download. The first edition is of 200 copies. You may buy a copy of the booklet on this page.' -- RH











































CROSSROADS OF SABBATH IS NOT…

'About the music heritage attractions of Birmingham city centre or the areas of the city not mentioned in the tour description.

'An opportunity to spend time inside Ozzy Osbourne’s childhood home or inside any of the other locations visited… except the pub! And what a fine pub it is!

'Available in any language other than English unless by prior arrangement. Contact me before you make a booking and we’ll work something out!

'Formally: aligned with, authorised by, a partner of, endorsed by, funded or approved by any other organisation, public or private company, group or charity – yet.

'Conceived with toddlers in mind. One five year old boy did enjoy it recently but I think his dad wished he'd brought a push chair.' -- RH












Crossroads of Sabbath Website
Video coverage of the tour @ Vice
Crossroads of Sabbath @ Supersonic Festival
Crossroads of Sabbath Facebook page
Crossroads of Sabbath @ Google Maps
























*

p.s. Hey. ** Misanthrope, No, thank you. Yeah, happiness is precious and amazing, and I'm, uh, very happy that I'm happy too. So, how many downtime hours did you add tonight or last night, I guess, depending on how many hours you added, I guess? ** Grant Scicluna, Hi, Grant. Aw, thank you so much for saying that in general, man, and especially about that thing in 'MLT' 'cos that's second favorite novel of mine. That's great, great news that the financing on feature is going so well! That's no small thing at all, as you more than well know. Consider this your first reminder to tell me about the weird writing thing. I'm all ears. Love, me. ** 5STRINGS, Hey. Oh, man, I'm so sorry to hear that you're feeling bad. Smoking again ... yeah, I won't say welcome back. Having lots of sex when you're heartbroken never seems to be the magic answer. I think it can make the solidity and distance of other bodies seem even more apparent or something, but I don't know. Yeah, I say get yourself geared up to write while your parents are away. That kind of psyching up can help as long as you don't set quotas for how much you write or how good it has to be straight off. Things are good with me. If I can figure out a way to make some of that rub off on you through the net, I will. I'll get on that. ** David Ehrenstein, Thank you ever so much again, David! ** Scunnard, That is such a good, smarter, beautifully tinier than it seems gif. Thanks a bunch! ** Cobaltfram, So, I guess the proposal is finally out of your hands and tinkering by now, assuming the few hours passed as planned. Fingers extremely crossed, and probably unnecessarily. God, no, I'm not finished with my novel. Got a ways to go, and I'm just trying to get my speed and productivity up because I'm back to working but still trying to unlock whatever it was that was fueling my great momentum for a while. A friend and I are planning an isolated getaway somewhere so I can try to finish my thing and he can try to finish some things he's working on. If nothing else, that'll get me into the home stretch, I think for sure. Thank you, John! ** Un Cœur Blanc, Hi! Good morning! I hope all is really well! ** David J. White, Hi, David! Oh, goody, it's finished, wow, I'm excited! I'll go watch it when I'm out of this p.s. realm. Yay! Thank you so much in advance, and of course I'll let you know what I think. Everyone, the honorable filmmaker David J. White has just finished a short film based on my story 'The Boy on the Far Left' (from 'Ugly Man') if you want to go watch it. I'll be seeing it for the first time this afternoon, and, yeah, want to join me? If so, click this. Yeah, thank you so much! And it would be wonderful to have you around more. More soon! ** _Black_Acrylic, Hi, Ben. No, sadly, the MK retro @ the Pompidou really is cancelled. That's why I'm making the trek to Amsterdam. Grr. ** Chilly Jay Chill, Your novel is a serious kindness magnet, man. I'm just an early bird. In essence, the way it worked with the text re: the direction in 'The Pyre' isn't so different than our usual way of working. Basically, as I think I've explained, she and I talk for months off and on about what she's thinking of doing, and then there's a point where it's clear enough, and I start working on the text, and she starts working on the choreography and direction. I use what I know she intends to do as my guide, and she uses my ideas of how I think the text is going to work in theory as her guide. So, in the case of 'The Pyre', she developed some early choreography while I was working on the text, and we would check in during that time to see where we both were. Then I gave her the text, and she then fleshed out and refined and changed the direction/ choreography based on the actual text. This case is different than before because the text predates the live performance part but isn't read until after the performance part is over. So, the text is much, much more detailed and info-heavy and character-based and specific and stuff than the choreography, and I guess she needs to find a way to make sure the two elements are deeply connected. They're separate, but they have to seem very united, or the piece isn't going to work. Thank you for asking, Jeff. ** Billy Lloyd, Hi, Billy. I sometimes wonder if living in some huge mansion with giant grounds and a tall fence around the property is like a way to have the nature/isolation thing and the city thing too. I alway love how when you're in Disneyland, you completely forget that all around Disneyland is city. It just disappears. I'd like to have a cabin in the woods in the middle of a city, I think, and, well, good luck on that dream, I guess. Nice about the effect of that book on you. Yeah, I know what you mean. Such a good effect. That clarinet thing you want to make makes me happy, wow. I used to play clarinet when I was a kid. It has a really particular sound, warm and medium and ... I don't know, and I agree that it's vastly under-used, so that really does sound like an inspired idea. Cool. California, yes! ** Steevee, I can imagine that being difficult, but it's so easy to imagine that you're going to ace that dilemma like crazy. ** Grant maierhofer, Hi, Grant! Oh, great, thank you a lot. That's a total boon. I'll bookmark that and read it in just a while. Yeah, thanks a lot! Everyone, d.l. and multi-faceted scribe Grant Maierhofer has uploaded a collaborative eBook/chapbook called POOR ME I HATE ME PUNISH ME COME TO MY FUNERAL that he made with the tightly monikered Kil, and I highly recommend that you go up the ante on your literature-intake side by reading it by clicking this. ** Rewritedept, Hey. Maybe you can figure out a way to get more into what happens when you stare at them and decide that the things you want to do would never happen in the tactile world where those whom you desire have content and specific tastes and needs just like you do and that probably conflict with your wishes. The imagination can be a great brothel if you can stop thinking of it as a waiting room. Or something. Having spent a bunch of time in Hawaii, both when growing up and because my dad lived there, I can tell you that the surfer beach bum lifestyle exists only in fiction movies and maybe in surfing documentaries circa the 60s. But Hawaii is nice anyway. ** Chris Dankland, Hi, Chris. Sure, holding a mirror up to yourself, yeah. But looking into a mirror without a trace of self-consciousness or neuroses, which is the magic part, and I guess some kind of magic mirror with x-raying capabilities. The soul thing is interesting. I don't believe in the soul in the Christian/ religious sense at all, but I guess I think of it as maybe the thing that lets you transcend intellect and emotion sometimes, on rare occasion. I think of it as maybe this thing in you that knows more than you know. I really like the idea of soulmates. Like you know someone is your soulmate. I made this really great new friend not so long ago, and I totally feel like he and I are soulmates, so that's been on my mind. You have this amazing connection with someone, and it's not something that can basically be explained, and you end up with the idea that you're soulmates, and somehow that seems to answer it, as inexplicable as the idea and word soulmate are. The human body absolutely for sure is huge in my work. I mean, one of the overall structures of the George Miles Cycle is a human body being gradually dismembered, and, yeah, the body and the discrepancy between what a body means to the person inside it and what it means to people for whom the person's body is a major component of knowing and understanding that person, and the disconnect there, and, particularly, the horror that can result when people prioritize how someone looks and becomes too blinded and compelled by that, in the case of lust, to really know who they are or even care in the worst cases, is a constant, central thing of study or whatever in my work. You weren't rambling, what you were saying us very interesting. Great about your story in Everyday Genius. Yeah, I've been keeping up with STD's guest-editorship. Everyone, new story by the always fantastic Chris Dankland is newly up at the Everyday Genius site, and here's where you can check it out. Have a superb day, Chris. ** Right. Please consider spending a bit of day thinking about walking in the footsteps of Black Sabbath, and I'll see you tomorrow.

___________________




Do you ever feel like you’re simply too content with life? Do you ever sit in some majestic club, with the love of your life, with all questions answered, with a million dollar ride valet-parked outside, an estate valued in the millions awaiting your return, completely satisfied with your situation and who you are but you’re still asking, why am I so happy?

'These sentences form the beginning of an inner-narrative that weaves through the pages of Michael J. Seidlinger’s My Pet Serial Killer. The voice of an unidentified narrator asking: is there more? The question seems shallow on its surface, but it posits a concern that is a cornerstone of the human condition: the problem of abiding loneliness, a nagging isolation, and what to do of it? Do we temper it through adventure as the narrator seems to suggest––seeking a new experience or event meant to hold off the predictability and boredom that a life of complete contentment promises? Or does the question tap into something else altogether? Is this yearning for something beyond the banal, the ordinary, merely the first step in unlocking a desire that is at once darker and less opaque?

'With My Pet Serial Killer, Seidlinger has written a book that functions, in equal parts, as crime novel, meditation on the American thriller film aesthetic, and sly critique of intimacy and romance in the 21st century. Seidlinger creates a world where we are privy to a bevy of emotional stimuli: sensual text messages bounced through smart phones; courtships built around social media or in the clandestine recesses of darkened night clubs; the bubbly lift of designer drugs at the onset of an intimate encounter; the quick, sterile death as a substitute for sexual fulfillment; the joy attained after a blinking cursor in a chat room morphs into a message from a potential mate; the heartache of witnessing the total control of a person through the threat of harm as they inflict irreparable harm on another. These images mingle and converge unpredictably; Seidlinger crafts a landscape that can only be navigated viscerally, if at all.

'This is the story of Claire Wilkinson, a forensics graduate student, who is obsessed with staving off loneliness through the most direct means possible: through the utter possession––mind and body––of her mate. Claire isn’t looking for a potential partnership. Her aim is to take total ownership of another person, to discover them––at their most intimate and vulnerable––in hopes of gaining a proprietary access to them at their core. ... Throughout the work, Claire strives to remake her killer into an object of her desire––a perfect murderer. In objectifying the killer, she strips away his humanity, reducing him to a tool of flesh and blood, a workhorse for her greater agenda. She is “master” and he is “pet.” ... The lines between master and pet are blurred, erased, and sewn together––what remains is an altogether different animal. Michael J. Seidlinger has written a book that warps and upends human desire, taking it to places that defy categorization, until all that is left is mystery. And within the pages of My Pet Serial Killer, mystery is the only thing that is ever certain.' -- Kory Calico, The Fanzine







Michael J. Seidlinger My Pet Serial Killer
Enigmatic Ink

'This book defies categorization: A new kind of serial killer story that pushes and prods in all the unexpected directions. You’ve never read anything quite like this.' – Carlton Mellick III

'Michael Seidlinger’s swift-moving novel is an interesting addition to the genre, with all kinds of offbeat touches there for the connoisseur. He reminds me, in style, of some of the Swedish crime-writers we’ve seen. The narrative moves quickly towards a satisfying payoff.' – Todd Grimson

'‘And now they’re talking about media icons and murder’: Michael J. Seidlinger’s strange tale of Claire Wilkinson, forensics major, and her ‘Gentleman Killer’ is a wonderful romp through American wound culture, exploring the connection between art, media, serial killing, romance and anonymity. It reshapes the college romance plot as a wing of JG Ballard’s The Atrocity Exhibition.' – Johannes Goransson

'A rowdy menagerie of the unexpected, this book will delight and disturb even the bravest of readers; all preconceptions of what to trust and what to fear are masterfully upended within these pages.' – Alissa Nutting


Excerpt

being found defined as a number of
clever pickup lines.

1.

    Start with the first and the last.
    What is and will always be.
    I went to class. I listened to the lecture. I participated in the discussion, telling them my
side of the narrow story. I spoke of what might be something I’d like to study. It’s getting to be that time... it’s assumed I’ve learned enough and now, peers and professors, demanded that I teach them something in return. A thesis posited and presented; learn from me, learn about something.
    I went to class.
    Have I learned anything?


2.

    There’s always a party.
    Since there’s always a need to forget, there’ll be a party so that people can escape themselves while seemingly finding each other.
    It’s why I’ll be there. I have yet to find and be found. I hope there’s someone.
    It’s something I have to continually remind myself.
    Keep searching. Keep talking to people.
    Never know when you’ll find someone new.
    When there’s a serial killer living next door, the end is predictable. The end isn’t what’s
exciting. At the end, the killer will kill every single one of us. The end is boring and bloody. Where’s the fun in that?
    Life and death is boring but you got to keep going.
    That’s why I’m standing around, watching everyone as they arrive. It’s the “Who’s Who” party and things have yet to pick up so what else can I do?
    I’m watching people magnetically assemble into perfect conversation circles with the strict purpose being for – what else - gossip and gloating.
    And I see people sitting on the couch, leaning against walls and other fixtures, writing rapidly on white cards, and they’re hiding what they write from everyone else – no one can see – because it’s not their turn yet.
    And I’m looking at my card. My card is blank.
    It’s early and the frathouse hasn’t even begun to spillover but people are already playing the field. Some guy’s standing next to me with his back turned and he’s writing too and when he notices me looking at what he’s writing he doesn’t cover up with his other hand like everyone else does. This is where this guy would sense that maybe, just maybe, I’m interested to.
    But I’m not.
    I’m looking him up and down. There’s really no fight in him.
    He wouldn’t, couldn’t, shouldn’t... so often it’s the excuses that give them away and
leave me disinterested. So often they’re already tamed. Where’s the fight in them? Like, when I’m not interested, shouldn’t they try harder? Aren’t we all looking for the same thing?
    And then I’m looking back down at my card, pen in hand, and I don’t have anything to write down – I’m not going to write anything down... not my name, Claire Wilkinson; my age, 26; my real hair color, brown; my current hair color, blonde; my eye color, blue; my major, forensics; my turn-ons and turn-offs, you wish; my birthplace/hometown, yeah right – and there’s no use in trying because I probably won’t end up going anyway.
    Whatever I do is like whatever I drink: For appearance more so than approach. I know what’s going to happen.
    I’m a great observer. Key to any of these college parties is the fact that there’s really nothing more than an everlasting momentum slowly increasing until it meets its peak and then it’s all about letting it slide until just before dawn.
    If you want hard facts and a clear pickup game, you go to the clubs and bars downtown. Going to these parties, people get caught up in each other’s mistakes and murmurs. It’s always a momentum that leaves most feeling welcome but lost all at the same time. You’re only at these parties if you’re still new to the game we all play.
    Different night, different crowd, same intentions, same results. It becomes the same kind of game after a couple; these parties are practice and nothing more.
    There’s a gimmick just to get everyone started on the drinks and the smokes and the pills and the specialties and the thought that it’s okay to speak up and speak out because that’s what everyone believes this party, and every party, is for... but even if it wasn’t, after a drink or two no one’s going to care what is said and who’s saying it.
    People fall into each other.
    This is how they get lost.
    This is how anyone is found.
    Easy enough to get. Skip forward since I already explained the first couple hours of any
university party. Where we are now, they start talking and I’m thinking I should say something because, well, I’m standing close enough – my fault, I’m usually not this close – to make it look like I’m supposed to be in on their little chat and I’m in the circle but I’m not talking – not yet – and so I feel like I have to.
    I've got to say something.
    And what do I say?
    “I’ve heard Professor Derrick’s paper is going to be thirty pages.”
    It’s the perfect thing to say if you don’t want anyone to say anything back.
    They nod, “Yeah,” and that’s that.
    And their gaze pans across the party and now I’m supposed to feel out of place. I’ve
become uninteresting and unappealing. I’m free to leave them for another corner, another random spot at the party. Wherever I’m planning on going it’ll be precisely the same: the ten second attention spans, the desperate need to get drunk soon, now, now, ten minutes ago, and people trying to be found, wanting to effortlessly join in on whatever it is that’s going on.
    What are they talking about?
    Take it from me they aren’t talking about anything.
    People that don’t really know each other pretending they’ve known each other all along
are going around passing drinks, passing stories, passing around the tray of temptation because, inevitably, we’re all here wanting to be found.
    Person, find me.
    How about this person... will you find me?
    But it’s not that easy.
    Try this one for instance –
    Says he’s a Foreign Language major and goes on and on about the subtle differences of a
language, any language, but he gets the big things mixed up. He says Spanglish. He says Chinese when he means Japanese. He’s talking and talking and talking and I’m pretending to listen. I’ve already written him off as just another somebody.
    He might make someone happy... maybe not... but that person won’t be me.
    So what’s it feel like to be left out? I couldn’t tell you. I don’t feel I’m being left out. I don’t feel like I belong; you can’t really be left out if you never were brought in to begin with.
    I’m only here to observe. That’s what I do and I feel like I’m on the verge of something.
    I’m always looking and looking but I feel like I might figure it all out soon. I might find what I want to find. Until then it’s the more of the same where the same is kind of like the words and sentences running together, and the images too, but the worst part is when the sound is ever- so-slightly off and whatever it is I’m doing I end up doing either too early or too late.
    People are talking and I’ll never know who’s talking, much less becoming the one that talks and carries the entire circle. Circles always hold on for dear life.
    What I’m accustomed to: smiling, nodding and...
    Everything that’s done to hide the fact that I’m searching.
    That’s what I’m accustomed to and it’s probably not what you were expecting.
    I’m noting people are no longer writing on their cards. They’re all now laughing and
they’re turning to other people and laughing, forming even more premeditative party circles like this one. The music’s so loud I guess it’s impossible for anyone to feel like dancing. The music’s so loud it’s hard to hear the rhythm. Everything’s a bass-beat and an earthquake.
    People are quaking to get started.




How To Escape A Serial Killer


Serial Killer Exposed via Vedic Astrology (Part 2)


Serial Killer Rodney James Alcala on the Dating Game




________________________




'Pathmark’s own cigarettes and wine are made from the best stuff on Earth. Of course it is all chemistry. Midnight philosophers expect nothing less than chemistry’s best. Later at night many people transform their bodies into chemistry sets. Called ‘having fun’ it is a good way to figure out how to readjust the brain to life outside the teens and twenties, to prepare for the real life that exists beyond that suspended period of time. Good thing Moon Tzu points attention to those public places. Public toilets are the new squats. Without public toilets how else could countless numbers of people live? The world doesn’t need to be so private all of the time. Letting people in is part of being human.

'Urban legends make history alive. Future rebels are present-day malcontents. Life needs the malcontents to change the world. If everyone was satisfied what a boring place the world would be. They are everywhere. Some guy lives off the grid in the middle of nowhere. Another person decides to give up on money out of principle. Enough exists that there are rows and rows of empty abandoned houses. Scarcity doesn’t need to happen. Space is everywhere. People can take up these places to make the dilapidated new again. Decay isn’t inevitable. Bringing people into a wonderful world is possible. Supporting others is a noble thing to do with one’s life. Civilization requires it.

'City soundscapes are reminders that humanity can live anywhere even in gray slabs of concrete. Fog in a city adds little to the city ambiance. Usually the most appealing sight of a city is from afar, far away from how the city looks up close. Muck, junk, and cars are edited out from far away revealing a clean looking skyline. This is what people see on buses, on planes, on trains moving to and fro without a care in the world besides that one care of getting to the next destination. Empty streets attest to the fact that at some point everyone is where they need to be. If it is only for a short period of time it is a good period of time, the sleeping hour.

'The ocean of youth is a deceptively large one. At first youth seems infinite. It takes a long time for people to support themselves. One day is simply happens. No more floatation devices the person manages to see the ocean of adulthood. Unlike youth, adulthood needs bigger accomplishments, greater schemes to exist. Youth with youth is a terrible thing to waste. It is important to simply reach out and hug others. Cherishing other people is crucial in youth, for it means the most when people are young.' -- Beach Sloth








Moon Tzu autumn of my youth
self-published

Moon Tzu dedicates poems to the sad ones. Despite the outward appearance of loneliness people are more together than they could ever realize.






Preview










Everything Here Now.








____________________




'I don’t own a Kindle. I read a lot of blogs and appreciate the Internet for allowing anyone to go online and publish their thoughts, but yeah, books are holy. I always carry a few books on me at all times. I couldn’t imagine the world without books. I need books. There have been many points in my life where I’ve questioned whether to buy books or food. We crave knowledge just as much as we crave physical sustenance. And there’s something about a physical book that sort of captures both cravings. To hold a book and be able to touch the print and mark it is an entirely different experience then that of reading on a screen. There’s a permanence that doesn’t exist with a screen. It’s why I always force myself to write longhand and not limit myself to typing on a laptop, even though it’s so much easier. There is a magick to the permanence of ink on paper that is so quickly disregarded by a keypad and a screen. ...

'I have these moments while painting. I pick colors and as I use them they’ll seem so perfect, then obvious and then I’m bored. So I switch colors. And switch colors. Until I find a color so repulsive or so out of touch with what I was originally wanting, that I take up writing.

'Brushes with messy hairs make it impossible to direct the paint in a specific way: like I can dot an “i” but I cannot stop the dot from attaining non-circular characteristics. But I love these brushes and their imperfections. They’ve been with me in so many situations and painting for me, as one fond of the situationists, is therapy. It’s a way for me to talk to myself without using language. It’s always allowed me to forget grammar and punctuation. Paint is just a representation of color. I would hate to use a brush that didn’t seem to communicate with the paint. Nor can I ever seem to bring myself to cut my own hair.

'An artist has always seemed to me someone that doodles while smoking a cigarette. Something may (or not) be happening; the artist notices but doesn’t stop smoking and doodling. Even if not tolerated. It’s never about results, it’s about daydreaming… living in dreamscapes. It’s about exploring when foreign lands no longer exist. It’s a means to feeling alive. To sing without lifting a note.' -- Stephen Boyer








Stephen Boyer Parasite
Publication Studio

'Parasite, Stephen Boyer's debut novel is about a young 17 year old boy, Joshua Boyer, who runs away from his unaccepting Christian parents. Josh finds himself in San Francisco as a sex slave to an older man, but quickly tires of the abuse. He turns to working in the sex industry and searches for true love as he tries to figure out his new life.' -- P.S.

"If you're looking for a raw and slightly surreal missive from the land of poetic hustlers (and, really, who isn't?) Parasite is your book. Josh, the protagonist, is a queer teen with tranny tendencies and a psychedelic sensibility." — Alvin Orloff

"Josh is the sort of boy who experiences nearly everything through his ass, so he's not your usual sort of narrator, but if you've ever sat on anything weird, or anything splendid, this book will get to you just as it got to me." — Kevin Killian



Excerpts








Stephen Boyer reading at the Death Panel Press Reading Series


Stall Three: Meditation, Despair and Solitude


OCCUPY WALL STREET POETRY ASSEMBLY: STEPHEN BOYER




*

p.s. Hey. ** Grant Scicluna, Thank you so much, Grant. Your mention of 'MLT' got me to sit down and read it again for the first time in maybe 10 years. I never reread my older novels, or I can't remember the last time I did, so that was interesting. Yow, that is a weird writing story. I wonder if it's a normal reaction that, when you described that hair ripping scene, the first thing I envisioned/heard was the sound, and it was indeed horrifying. Ah, 'A Man Escaped' is one the very best Bressons, I think. Maybe my favorite of the early b&w ones, or one of my maybe two faves of that period along with 'Mouchette'. I think the Bresson film that completely blew my mind back in the days of my discovery of his work is 'Lancelot du Lac', which I think is a close second favorite of his films of mine after 'The Devil, Probably.' I hope 'AME' suited your needs. ** Misanthrope, Don't know if that term came from Burroughs. People give Burroughs cred for coining so many terms, I don't know. Wouldn't shock me. Only 4 hours more? Well, the dam is going to break any second, and you'll find yourself out for a conceptual forever, I guess. That's how it works, right? You awake? ** David Ehrenstein, Happy LA morning! ** Scunnard, Me too. If God existed, he would be a gif. ** Rewritedept, Oh, gosh, thanks. I think it's sweet that you tend to ultimately care most if the other person gets off. I think I'm kind of like that too. It's not a good goal if you ever get into renting prostitutes, though, unless you want to make them think you're totally weird. 'I'm too old to start making new friends and create a new life': You're joking, right? I've gone through phases where I 'ran away from home' and made new friends and a new life all my life, most recently this relocation to Paris. Having that 'too old' idea is how you grow old. I've always rejected that as crap, which is why I've ended up only looking old. ** Billy Lloyd, I was thinking about that Central Park idea too, nice. One of the reasons I love LA so much is that it's so big that you can kind of almost live in a faux-rural way in the city's semi-center. Great! You nailed down a Harry Potter World visit! I think you'll still get there before I do, so, yeah, you have to give me the whole scoop. I hated the clarinet too. I imagine 98% of kids do. It felt like studying ball room dancing or something, for one thing. Super impractical. It felt like I was being forced to fulfill the dreams of some earlier generation who liked music in which clarinet playing was normal or something. I learned to play the Recorder when I was a teen. That was even more impractical, but it was, I don't know, more fun, easier, sillier in a nice way? From the looks of those photos in the post yesterday, the Sabbath tour certainly didn't seem like something one would lose sleep wishing one could do. Bon day! They're saying we're supposed to get snow here in Paris tomorrow. How about you/Leeds? ** 5STRINGS, I had thought, or feared/hoped, that, if nothing else, you would appreciate that post, and, yeah, I think that thought or hope/fear was pretty much the case, ha ha. Someone beautiful saying you're crazy sounds kind of nice, actually. Maybe I'm thinking as a fiction moment. Writing like Scott Heim and Allen Ginsberg at the same would be both very difficult and quite innovative. Worth a try. I had Ke$ha's 'Die Young' stuck in my head yesterday. Well, then I bow even deeper than you do. A real nose scraper. ** Tosh, Very nice idea/point. Interesting. I think I never look for location initially. I wonder why. My novels are usually set in non-locations that are somewhat identifiable as LA. Interesting. I'm going to try your method. It's very fragrant. Your childhood memoir, yes! What a fantastic project for you to get back into and finish! That's is splendid and nail-biting news! ** _Black_Acrylic, Cool, thank you, Ben. Nice show that your cousin curated there. I wonder if that one museum-y pic in the post yesterday was of that. Is your cousin a curator as a general rule? ** Steevee, I'll trade you the semi-drear weather in Paris for that blizzard. Assuming you agree, I'll try to track down Mother Nature and put on my most winsome face. ** Cobaltfram, Hi, John. Good, I guess just try to psyche yourself into a state of mind where it's out of your hands now, 'cos that's the deal. What are the pieces that you've been asked to write? I've gotten as far as deciding that I definitely want to get in touch with George's brother, and my friend Joel says he will make the initial contact for me, which removes a lot of my terror at the prospect. So, right now I'm psyching myself up to give Joel the green light. But I've decided that it would be good for the novel if I talk to his brother, and I guess that's the excuse I needed. ** Un Cœur Blanc, Hi! Interesting: the 'somehow in love' with those features of Bacon, and that the love is maybe partially reminder-generated. Yes, George killed himself. He shot himself in the head on his thirtieth birthday. So, yeah, speaking of reminders.  Bon day to you.  ** Okay. With that, I usher you from the stomping grounds of Black Sabbath onto the pages of these three fine books that I hereby recommend to you. Please explore and enjoy, and I'll see you tomorrow.

* co-created with Bill Hsu




'Butoh is an avant garde performance art, that has its origins in Japan in the 1960's. After the second world war, Japan was a country in transition. It was a country still holding onto its old world traditional values while being forced into western democratic values by America's conquest. During this time there was much student unrest and protest. Theatre groups were performing socially challenging pieces, and there were daily demonstrations in the streets. Butoh was born out of this chaos. Its founders were a young rebellious modern dancer named Tatsumi Hijikata (1928 - 1986), and his partner Kazuo Ohno (b. 1906 - 1010).

'Hijikata was dissatisfied with the Japanese modern dance scene, feeling that it was merely a copy of the work being done in the West. He wanted to find a form of expression that was purely Japanese, and one that allowed the body to "speak" for itself, thru unconscious improvised movement. His first experiments were called Ankoku Butoh, or the Dance of Darkness. This darkness referred to the area of what was unknown to man, either within himself or in his surroundings. His butoh sought to tap the long dormant genetic forces that lay hidden in the shrinking consciousness of modern man.

'His first public performances were wild, primal and sexually explicit. They quite naturally shocked the conservative Japanese dance community, and he was banned from appearing at future organized events. This was the spark that gave birth to butoh. Many of Japan's dancers, poets, visual artists and theatre performers rallied around this exciting and dangerous new art form. Underground performances became increasingly popular, and soon there were numerous groups being formed in the Tokyo area. Musicians, photographers and writers including Japan's leading novelist, Yukio Mishima joined Hijikata to collaborate on spectacular underground performances.

'Butoh loosely translated means stomp dance, or earth dance. Hijikata believed that by distorting the body, and by moving slowly on bent legs he could get away from the traditional idea of the beautiful body, and return to a more organic natural beauty. The beauty of an old woman bent against a sharp wind, as she struggles home with a basket of rice on her back. Or the beauty of a lone child splashing about in a mud puddle - this was the natural movement Hijikata wanted to explore. Hijikata grew up in the harsh climate of Northern Japan in an area known as Tohoku. The grown-ups he watched worked long hours in the rice fields, and as a result, their bodies were often bent and twisted from the ravages of the physical labor. These were the bodies that resonated with Hijikata. Not the "perfect" upright bodies of western dance, or the consciously controlled movements of Noh and Kabuki. He sought a truthful, ritualistic and primal earthdance. One that allowed the performer to make discoveries as she/he created/was created by the dance.

'It is easy to see how this dance, done in a trance-like state, on bent legs with rolled up eyes was disconcerting to the conservative Japanese modern dance community. But the work was soon to sweep the imagination of many younger artists, and by the 1970's butoh began to gain world-wide attention, as groups such as Sankai juku and Dairakudakan were invited to perform internationally. Today there are a number of groups and solo artists performing in North America, with artists in Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles, New York, Vancouver and Toronto.

'Butoh has tremendous value as a training method for artists of other disciplines as well. In a year-long experiment at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Hollywood, I worked with 2nd year acting students using butoh training methods to help unveil their natural expressiveness. We stripped away the socially acceptable movements and gestures, and encouraged the students to find and embrace hidden movements that lie buried beneath years of conditioned behavior. We bent the legs to view the world from a lower level, as might be considered by plants, animals and children. We purposely distorted the face, to keep out the natural desire to make the right expressions, or to give a calculated appearance. When the body is freed of its social constraints ...... amazing things begin to happen. Hijikata often trained his dancers thru the use of images. He would use give the students surreal images and have them react to them, thus stimulating the body and the subconscious to respond. Examples would be: Butterflies are landing on your right arm, your left arm is covered with cockroaches. Or you are walking in mud and your eyes are on the back of your head. We used music or more specifically sound design creations by artists like Robert Rich, Tuu and Lustmord, to provide an other-worldly vista of auditory inspiration. The results we sudden and dramatic. Almost every student found within themselves a way of moving truthfully, and created many dramatic, original and emotionally charged improvisations. Hidden elements of ones personality also tended to surface during these experiments. These awakenings to the true nature of self proved extremely beneficial to their development as consciously aware human beings, and to the craft of acting as well.

'Another aspect of butoh, that I find especially appealing is that every "body" is a perfect body. Meaning we are not so concerned as to whether or not the student has a perfectly fit and lithe body of a trained dancer, but rather that s/he finds organic expression through the body they have now. Most ballet and jazz dancers are sadly sent to pasture in their mid-thirties, and are soon passed over for younger more physically capable models. With butoh the mature body brings as much or more to the performance as does the youthful body. A prime example is the afore-mentioned Kazuo Ohno, who is now 96 and still performing with a vibrant inner intensity. His withered, aged body is his canvas and he paints with great beauty upon it. Least it sound like butoh is less an art form, than a therapeutic exercise, one must consider that butoh does have its techniques; strength, flexibility and balance are vital components. We learn to become one with the "other". Butoh is a hybrid form of art, incorporating elements of theatre, dance, mime, Noh, Kabuki and at times the Chinese arts of Chi kung and Tai chi. It is up to the individual artist to find their own dance. But it should be a "dance" of discovery, rather than a calculated series of movements meant to manipulate the audience into a desired response.

'Hijikata's first dances were often grotesque, twisted, dark and perverse. Ohno's butoh is more ethereal and floating, ever reaching to the light. Sankai juku are highly refined and tightly choreographed with their polished, other worldly movements of cat-like aliens. Or the masters of pure spectacle ... Dairakudakan with their sensual, imagistic and highly theatrical happenings. Butoh is ever-changing, and is here to stay. Because it gives us a halted, reverberating picture of our muted struggle to be human in this technological age of the disenfranchised body.

'Butoh was formed by an amalgamation of influences. The German expressionistic dances of Mary Wigman and Harald Krautzberg gave butoh its creative freedom. Western writers such as Genet, Artaud and de Sade were read by butoh groups. Surrealism and Dada were another source of inspiration. Ohno was influenced by Marcel Marceau and especially by the passion of a Flamenco dancer named La Argentina, who he first saw in 1923 when he was a young boy. Some modern butoh performers have come from the dance world, others such as myself from theatre, or more specifically from mime. One the greatest butoh performers, and protege of Hijikata was Yoko Ashikawa, who had no previous theatrical or dance experience. Today a great variety of styles and aesthetics can be found in butoh. It has ceased being an exclusively Japanese art-form and is developing all over the world.' -- Don McLeod, 'An Art Form in Transition'



_____________
Dance of Darkness

'Director Edin Velez’s documentary study of Butoh includes archival footage of early Butoh pioneer Tatsumi Hijikata, who is credited as the form’s originator. Kazuo Ohno, another early Butoh performer, is shown performing his famous “Admiring La Argentina,” and other works. Other companies whose works are shown include Akaji Mori’s Dai Rakuda Kan, Isamu Ohsuga’s Byakko Sha, and Yoko Ashikawa’s Hakutoboh. These examples reveal the depth and diversity of Butoh as it has evolved. Many of these dancers worked directly with Hijikata at some point and all speak to his influence, as they are interviewed about the art form. One performer, Akiko Motofuji, explains, “Ballet and modern dance spring from the earth ... Hijikata created a dance, which crawls on the earth.”' -- Open Vault
















____
Books



'In Butoh: Dance of the Dark Soul, Ethan Hoffman creates virtually a new genre of photographic theatre and gives us an invaluable contribution to the literature of contemporary dance and theatre. The performers featured include Kazuo Ohno, Yoko Ashikawa, Akaji Maro and the group Dai Rakuda Kan, Min Tanaka, and many others.' -- ama



'In Butoh: Shades of Darkness, Jean Viala gives helpful timelines for a lot of the groups, and groups them based on approach. He covers all the groups in Hoffman's group, plus Akira Kasai, Teru Goi, Dance Love Machine, etc, with a quick overview of a number of younger groups. Some of these use very different imagery from the "classic" butoh. Most of the representative figures also wrote one-page notes on their approach.' -- Bill Hsu



'Steven Barber's Hijikata: Revolt of the Body is a good book on Hijikata. Lots of nutty details of Hijikata's life, and good photos from performances.' -- Bill Hsu



'Kazuo Ohno and Tatsumi Hijikata in the 1960sis the catalogue for the 2nd Kazuo Ohno Festival including the rare images of Kazuo Ohno, Yoshito Ohno and Tatsumi Hijikata in 1960s taken by American famous photographer William Klein and treasured photos from Tatumi Hijikata Archive at the Art Center of Keio University. It includes the interview with Yoshito Ohno as well.' -- Kazuo Ohno Dance Studio



Tempu-Tenshiki/Dairakudakan



___
Stills





































_________
Select artists

Kazuo Ohno


Mother


The Written Face


Tatsumi Hijikata


Hosotan (Part 1)


A Girl


Dairakudakan


Excerpt


Excerpt


Sankai Juku


from 'Tobari'


from 'Kagemi'


Yoko Ashikawa


Excerpt


A Dream of Calabi-Yau Fetus


Byakko Sha


from 'Tao Matsu'


Min Tanaka


"Min Tanaka & Maijuku" documentary Part 1/5


from 'Rite of Spring'


Akira Kasai


KYOTO EXPERIMENT 2011


Masaki Iwana


Excerpt from 'Magnetic Field'


Excerpt from 'Magnetic Field'


Eiko & Koma


Excerpt from 'Naked'


Eiko & Koma: My Parents 1/2



_____
Further

Kazuo Ohno
Tatsumi Hijikata
Dairakudakan
Sankai Juku
Yoko Ashikawa
Byakko-Sha
Min Tanaka
Akaji Maro
Akira Kasai
Masaki Iwana
Eiko & Koma




*

p.s. Hey. I want to thank d.l. Bill a lot for helping me gather the materials for this post. It's a fairly basic rundown for a form as big and amazing as Butoh, but maybe for those who aren't so familiar with the art, it'll be a decent intro. ** 5STRINGS, I'm more into Sabbath than Ozzy's solo stuff. I guess I miss the heavy doom or something. So, you're, like, old school about writing, or, like, modernist or something? Whatever feeds you and your stuff. I guess that's my motto. I think there's a lot of innovation going on in writing right now. The internet kind of fractured everything and made this new location for writing to mutate and stuff, and, I don't know. I feel like writing is more on fire now than it has been for ages or something. Depression breaking? Hope that's true, obviously. I know that song 'cos ... I heard it somewhere, I guess. It got stuck in my head because, when I was riding back in a car from the 'TIHYWD' show the other night, Jonathan Capdevielle was listening to it on his iPhone and hitting repeat, repeat, repeat, and singing along with it. Chains song is good, yeah. ** Misanthrope, 6 more, and the weekend is only hours away. Cool, I won't worry anymore. I did reject a guest blog post about six years ago because I thought it was misogynist, but ... I think that's the only time. Hm, interesting about the Chabon. I don't read him. Never really got into him. Read, like, the first one and the third one, I think, and then I felt done, but that's interesting, yeah. ** Grant Scicluna, Thank you so much again, man. Oh, in my memory, I thought 'MLT' was one of my best, and reading it again, yeah, I think it definitely is one of my two best, at least. It and 'TMS' are the closest I've come to writing an almost perfect book as far as my intentions go. I guess I was mostly thinking, wow, how did I do that, 'cos I couldn't remember or figure out how I got my writing to get that kind blurry but crystal clear, constantly high strung, etc. effect. And I had forgotten how much it was about George's suicide on an emotional level. And the weirdest thing was that, at one point, it made me cry, which felt, well, weird: crying at my own stuff. It was when Rand's mother and Larry are in the car, and she tells him Rand killed himself, if you remember that part. Anyway, I don't know, I guess reading it made me feel proud or something. It was nice. Well, I obviously really look forward to reading your feature film. Until soon indeed, and indeed x. ** David Ehrenstein, Hi, David. Hm, interesting. I can't remember if my youth felt oceanic and burning or not. ** Chilly Jay Chill, Hi, Jeff. No, I haven't done a Dave Hickey or MoJT post, I don't think. I think someone once offered to do a Hickey post but never followed through. Good ideas. I'll look around and see about doing that. And how did they take to John Waters? I always just kind of assume that everyone loves John Waters' films, especially the young, but, hm. Oh, absolutely about wanting to keep rewriting and revising. That's why publisher's final deadlines really help you let go 'cos it can be too easy to want to change everything, and sometimes you can forget the charm and power of what you've already written, and you can end up editing the life out of things if you're not careful. Mistakes and naiveté can hold some of the most beautiful stuff. ** Tosh, Hi. I feel like growing up in LA gave me a really vague sense of place for some reason. Or a differently organized sense of place, not that I know how other people's sense of place works. But I think one of the reasons I adore Paris so much because it has such a strong sense of place, and that's why it still feels so foreign and magical to me. It's so solid or something. That forthcoming DAP book couldn't possibly be more up my alley, wow. I'm very excited for that. That book is going to turn Amazon or wherever into a drug dealer. ** Rewritedept, Ha ha, okay, but I just thought it was important to say that age has nothing to do with changing your life or meeting and befriending really important new friends. I mean, I just met someone who feels like my best friend of my whole life a few months ago. Life stays really surprising and amazing, I mean. I don't know that you have to go out to get new material material for your art, but I think it definitely helps, depending on what you want to do with your art, I guess. I know Municipal Waste, yeah, and I like them. Haven't seen them live though. That should be really good. Hope you got your layouts done and that band practice was free of too much interpersonal drama or interference or whatever. No, haven't listened to it yet. It's getting ridiculous, but, nope. I will any second, I'm sure. I just haven't been home and without stuff to do. ** Steevee, Thanks for the link to your Soderbergh review. As ever, I'll read it in a bit. Everyone, here's the mighty Steevee's review of the new Steven Soderbergh film, and it's titled 'Second-rate "Side Effects" a tough pill to swallow as Soderbergh's swan song: Beneath the Valley of the Dolls', which sounds fun, no? Good luck with the blizzard. I'll try not to be too envious, just in case. ** Michael J Seidlinger, Mr, Seidlinger! How wonderful of you to grace my humble blog. Your book is amazing, and I'm super proud that this white space was/is able wear it! Much respect, sir! ** Postitbreakup, Hi, Josh. I guess I talked about 'MLT' up above, hopefully to your satisfaction. Thank you so kindly for loving it. No, I was never called Cliff. I've been called Dennis since I was born, I think. I like the sound too. I do kind of regret that I got stuck with the bleah name Dennis, but the dye was cast. ** Trees, Hi, Ted. Well, I was never very into drinking except for during a couple of bad depressive periods a long time ago. I'll drink a beer or a little wine or something every rare once in a while. That's to say, it wasn't hard at all for me to give it up because the effect of alcohol on me was never very appealing. The being relaxed thing is nice, but I was never so into the lack of clarity and kind of sluggishness.  I used alcohol to take the edge off of drugs I was on, or to kill my nervousness at times mostly. I really like being clear headed. I really like thinking of what my body chemistry does to me as a really subtle kind of drug effect. I don't know. You think it will be hard for you? I did check out Ian Loveday, and I liked the stuff a lot. I downloaded some work of his yesterday. Yeah, thank you a lot for that. ** _Black_Acrylic, Wow, that's a serious curatorial home base. That's very cool, even if it means being a roadie at this point. Is he hoping to move up in the ranks there? I've kind of liked Jutta Koether's stuff, at least some of it. Yeah, that could be good. Let me know what that new work is like. ** Sypha, Thanks, James. Well, there's so much new stuff you discover, it's really hard to keep up, but if you get into following the alt lit, etc. scene/ work, it's pretty exciting and excitingly non-stop. Yeah, same publisher for the Boyer and the Killian, Publication Studio, headed up the great writer Matthew Stadler. I get really junky stuff stuck in my head a lot. I'm a real sucker for a genius cheesy hook. Would be amazing if you don't mind doing a guest-post and have the time and find it fun, thank you! I'm a bit in sore need of outside blog help and input right now. I heard the blizzard is going to particularly sock Boston, and you're not so far from there, no? ** Billy Lloyd, Central Park is a real trek. Unless you're staying in Times Square or something. I always stay downtown, and it feels way, way up there. Putting the clarinet together, ha ha, right. I totally forgot about that, and, yeah, that was a total drag. I kind of liked the little suitcase, though. You like the Recorder? It's kind of sweet, right? I mostly play madrigals and that kind of thing on it. I was in a Recorder Consort group called Tag Rag with two other people, one of them my boyfriend of the time. He was really into the Renaissance period and all that, like a lot of hipsters were back in the early 70s. That video you linked to is awesome and funny. Nowadays, the Recorder always makes me think of the Zelda video games. We didn't get any snow either. False alarm. It's bright and sunny here, oh well. That present for your brothers' birthday sounds really great! You should scan it, no? Wait, your brothers are twins? Is that right? Did I know that, if so? That's trippy. What are they like? ** Un Cœur Blanc, There is wisdom and freedom in Stephen's book, yes! Mescaline, yum. I used to like that stuff a lot back in my heavy psychedelics taking days, but it used to be pretty hard to find. How was that book? ** David J. White, Hi, David! Listen, man, thank you so much! The film is very beautiful! I do have one question or confusion that obviously is strictly a writer-of-the-source-material question. That is: why did you decide to have the voiceover voice not be the voice of the boy on the far left? In the story, it's important that it is his voice, so I'm curious about the decision to make that voice and the things it says come from an outside perspective. I didn't really understand that, although it's not a criticism, just a confusion about the decision to do that and why you wanted the text to have that kind of distance? Thanks a lot! ** Stephen, Hi, Stephen! My great honor and pleasure, sir! I'm glad you thought it was okay. Lots of respect and love to you, man! ** Bill, Thank you again so very much for helping me out so much on the post. It totally made the difference. Ulli Lommel, nice! I should do an Ulli Lommel post, actually. I think I will. Great! I haven't seen 'Chronicle,' no, but I've been wanting to for a while. I'll try to track that down. Oh, what is the name of that kind of odd museum in Amsterdam that you went to? I'm blanking on its name, and I'll be going up there shortly, and I definitely want to visit it. Do you know the museum I'm thinking of? Thanks a lot again for everything, Bill! ** Okay. Butoh is on the agenda today. Check it out it. See you tomorrow.