Tower 1
Tower 2
----
Friday, July 10, 2009
p.s. Hey. So, today's post is one of those occasional ones where I make something visual and ground it in the public space of the blog to help me think something through about the novel I'm working on, and it's likely rather oblique in addition to containing guro, which I know is somewhat unpopular around here, so don't feel obliged to respond to it. Also, if you're in LA at the moment, Derek McCormack's North American LHotB book tour-ette begins at Book Soup tonight, and, naturally, I highly recommend being there if you can. And I'll throw in another reminder-slash-request to please give some time over to building and sending me your SPD contributions. Thanks. And thanks for answering Pascal's question. I didn't do a head count on the answers to be sure, but didn't 'penis' win? It sort of feels like that to me. Anything else that's of interest on my end today will probably come out in the wash of the rest of the p.s., so I'll proceed. ** Tomkendall, Great, true words and much kindness from you re: your thoughts to Postitbreakup, man. Hug. ** Stan_cz, My headache yesterday gradually seeped out of my skull and disappeared into wherever it is that headaches go to die too. Yeah, automatic transmission helps on the driving as relaxation front, no doubt. Plus, drivers in LA are as polite and respectful as writers get, so the undangerous vibe helps too. You'll see. Excellent news about the returned money, obviously. Seen any films you liked lately? I'm jonesing to see a film in a theater, but Paris seems to be between interesting candidates at the moment. ** _Black_Acrylic, Yeah, I think 'God Jr.' is the only option for one's mum when it comes to my stuff. One of these days I'll have to do something about that. What's Leeds like? Never been there. In fact, I have no mental image of it at all. If someone played word association with me and said 'Leeds', I'd say 'The Who Live at ...'. Yeah, send or post a link to the new issue when you can. I'm excited, and I definitely want to help spread the word here in whatever way I can. ** Oscar B, Well, the word snuff has become pretty loose, I guess, or was always loose maybe, but when I see the word 'snuff', I think of a murder committed for the thrill of doing it, usually with an erotic impetus attached, and usually due to a very strong interest of some kind in the victim by the snuffer, but the sight of people blowing their brains out or jumping off of tall buildings or whatever doesn't really count. That's just filmed death. Oh, can you tell me the name of the foundation or whatever that's granting the residency? I looked for it yesterday and couldn't find it, and I think I need to know that when I bring up the residency thing with the Recollets higher ups. Oh, that new photo and the new drawings of yours are wonderful. Let me ... Everyone, the very fine Oscar B. has some new work (photograph and drawings) newly up on her blog, and it's characteristically gorgeous, and you should have a look. ** NB, Glad you got back home all safely and everything. Man, get that laptop fixed. The blog ain't much without your 100% active eyeballs. Yeah, you should write more. Did you, or did you dance? Tough choice, I agree. How was the job's first day? What is Christopher's favorite color, food, band, astrological sign, etc. ... ? I will never leave my child with you. Or my boyfriend. Same thing, right, ha ha? So, for the SPD, are you going to do some romantic number about Christopher, or are you going to be fantasy-unfaithful to him and pick a handful of famous studs? Either would be acceptable. The back is as fine as it's going to be. The novel is progressing okay. Thanks mucho for the virtual hug, and here's one for you: mmrhmmmh. ** Alan, Or maybe have one's cake and eat it too and use 'pennis'? Nah, that's too e.e. cummings or some shit, I guess. ** David Ehrenstein, Yeah, Mike Myers is on a ... roll of some sort. He should move to Europe and only make avant-garde films for a while like Joe Dallesandro did. Oh, not that I've had many or any meaty in-persons with Keanu in the last years, but he still seemed plenty charming when I saw him across rooms. I mostly just meant I miss the loose-limbed, extroverted Keanu on film a la 'Bill & Ted', 'River's Edge', 'Prince of Pennsylvania', 'Parenthood', etc. Re: your FaBlog: that motherfucking racist Fox News guy, Jesus fucking Christ! ** Katsim, The time you were there definitely flew by at high speed to me. Which is odd because my own life hasn't seemed to have passed any more quickly than usual. Hm. I suppose there's probably an LA me and a Paris me, but I don't feel a difference. I thought that living over here for four years would have changed me in some way, but I asked a bunch of my LA friends if I seemed different in any way the last time I was there, and they no, not at all. And I don't feel any different, which is strange. Shouldn't I be slightly someone else by now? Maybe not. Anyway, fully soak in and enjoy your last day(s) there, pal. ** Tonyoneill, William Castle Day, no, I haven't. Good idea. Let me what's out there to use. If I can figure out a way to make the post as fun as his work, it'll happen. Great about the reading's goodness, and no surprise on that front. Wow, you're doing the final edits on your novel? Awesome, and excuse my envy, ha ha. 'Sick City' is very catchy and a good imagination tugger, I think. ** Empty Frame, I like Actionism. It's fun. I can't say it effected me or what I do, probably because of the ritualistic/ Catholic thing you mentioned. I was raised without religion, and that stuff in art and music seems kind of too heavy and laborious to me a lot of the time, and I can't enter it. I'm more drawn to the, I don't know, more personal and maybe aesthetically chillier 'action' guys like Chris Burden or whoever. With guys like Nitsch and Muehl, I keep wishing that religioso stuff could be drained off the work a little, although I suppose that would wreck their art. Borderline missing link type guys, interesting. Well, you should really do an SPD entry so I can have a look and so people around can have a break from all the sad-eyed ghost guys I tend to lionize. ** Kier, Hey, pal! ** Bernard Welt, Well, you know a ton more about culinary stuff than I do, for sure, and you'd be fun to bat ideas around with in any case. Yeah, I'll figure it out on the talking front, and we'll do it. There's no huge rush, and I'll catch you either before or after you get back. On the Corcoran thing, when you say little money, how little? Can they pay airfare, lodging costs, etc.? There are some LA people I'd totally recommend, but I'm not sure whether their distance away makes the gig unfeasible. Me, I'd totally love to do the gig if we can figure it out. The money isn't a big deal to me as long as I can get there or whatever. Anyway, I'll have a think about people. How about Wayne Koestenbaum for instance? He's in NYC, and he can be such a blast. He has a really good piece on the great Ryan Trecartin in the current Artforum, btw. ** Kiddiepunk, Hey, neighbor. Did your stuff arrive yesterday in one piece? Let's talk in a bit and meet up later or something, yeah? ** SYpHA_69, I hugely prefer intimate social things too. One on one, if I have a choice. I think it's hard to put a finger on one's own limitations. I don't know that I would know what mine are if people writing about my work hadn't pointed them out with a certain consistency. I still don't really understand them exactly. I always try to write as though I can do anything I want, and when I hit walls I just go, Okay, I guess I can't do that. Anyway, maybe what you describe as a lacking of your own style is in fact your strength and your gift. Having a distinct style can be as much of a burden as not having one, I think. I wish I could move my voice around and far away like you're able to do, but I can't. Do you think that, like Postitbreakup, external or artificial deadlines would help you finish things? ** Frank Jaffee, Hey. Well, you know, doesn't it seem like really interesting films often get really divided reactions at first? I feel like most of the films I love did, and then a few years pass, and the naysayers either come around or are drowned out by a growing positive consensus. But I like challenging films as I think you do too, and a challenge is a challenge, you know? Oh, have you seen 'Pornography: A Thriller'? It seems to be playing a lot of queer festivals right now, and the director David Kittredge is a longstanding member of the community around this blog, and I so want to see it. Wow, it's that hard to see 'The Salivation Army'? Hm. Scott's away in Italy right now on an artist's residency, but I'll ask him if he has any viewing tips when he gets back. So is independent film distribution and publicizing kind of your ideal future job? That's an awesome and noble goal. No, I've hardly seen any films lately. One of the few problems with living in France is how it cuts down the film possibilities if one is mostly into indie and/or foreign films like me. A lot of the American indie films don't get released here, and, with foreign films, since my French is piss poor and there aren't English subtitling here, I mostly have to wait for the DVD to be able to see things. Plus, it's summer, and while I usually like seeing the summer blockbusters for cheap fun, this year's crop isn't exciting me very much, although I have a weakness for the Harry Potter films, so I guess that'll be my next theater trip, and then there'll be the movie I want to see most of all, Gaspar Noe's 'Enter the Void', about which I'm jumping out of my skin in anticipation. Have you seen any films recently that you recommend? ** Postitbreakup, My pleasure, man. And, as I hope you saw, you've got a bunch of fans and supporters around here. Anosmic: I'd never heard of that, but I looked it up. That, well, sucks. Too bad you aren't one of the 'X Men' 'cos it could be your superpower or something. Interesting and vivid report on 'Bruno' Wow, it sounds complicated. I still think I'm going to skip it unless I'm completely at a loss about what to do some night. ** Pisycaca (Xet, M), Well, I'll be honored to be your birthday accompanist. 24th to the 26th, got it. Perfect. Very nice that you're staying in the Marais. Yes, that's the best place to be in Paris, no question. That hotel name rings no bells, but I'll google it. I'll go to the Pompidou with you, if you like. I haven't trawled that place in a couple of months. I'll also keep an eye out for other things to recommend. ** Misanthrope, So Justin's probably reading these very words? Hi, Justin. I think the getting fat post-smoking thing is biological and fated or whatever, but fight fight fight anyway. A pumpkin head ... wait, VK kind of has a pumpkin head sort of vaguely. I'd be down for VK ass scent depending on how recently he'd showered. And Jesse Starr's well fucked hole scent would be okay considering that it would probably smell like douche. ** Jose, Coolness, I'll keep a close eye on the old email box. So, if you're not going to write, what are you going to do? Oh wait, I remember: watch a lot of TV and play video games, right? Did you play the new Resident Evil yet? I haven't, and it's killing me softly with its song. ** Steevee, I'm really sorry you're feeling bad, man. Anything it would help to talk about? I'm all ears, my friend. ** JW Veldhoen, Bringing up blood? Like 'Bringing up Baby', I hope? Shit, man, take your medicine and eat a lot of ice cream or something. Bear hug. ** Uli, Yeah, I was kind of thinking you'd have a ton of vinyl to move. I used to have thousands of records stored at my childhood home, and when my mom moved into a condo, the idea of having to move all those records into my apartment was so daunting that I just abandoned them, and I've been hating myself ever since, so don't do what I did. Sure, if you don't mind looking for more on that Absurd thing, please do. I'll do what I can from here as well. Take care, man. ** Flit, I don't have cable either, not because I wouldn't pay for it but because this ancient building I'm living can't get cable TV, or rather the powers that be don't want to pay to change that situation. I get four channels, period. It's hard, but I watch anyway. Last night it was MJ night on Arte, the kind of artsy French channel, and I watched that. The best thing was this so-so documentary comparing the careers of MJ and Prince. Shit, Prince used to be so good. I forget that sometimes. Anyway, apparently MJ and Prince were hugely jealous of each other and mutually paranoid and stuff, no surprise. But then MJ made a friendly gesture to Prince and asked to appear in the 'Bad' video wherein he wanted them to have a dance off to prove who was the baddest. And I guess MJ played the song' Bad' for Prince, and Prince told MJ it was a stupid, crappy song, and that was the end of that. You were high? I couldn't actually tell until you said so. Anyway, you were charming and great, so have no morning guilt, okay? ** Craig, Hey, Craig, my old pal! Lovely to see you, man. I've been tracing you as best I can via Facebook while you were away, and I noted that it's almost your birthday. What the heck: here's an early and very happy Happy Birthday to you! Lots of love from me to you too. ** Math t, Hey. Oh, yeah, okay, I'll send you some links. They'll probably be to these free sites full of pix and vids of mostly but not always sad boys, so you can pick and choose, okay? You have an awesome memory, do you know that? I don't remember much of any of those favored object picks. Or I didn't until you reminded me. ** Blendin, Yeah, totally weird about the NL West being the god division. Who'd have thunk? Wasn't it the shithole division as recently as last season? I miss Dusty Baker, although I guess he didn't work magic with your boys. I just like him. I don't miss Jim what's-his-butt, that crappy Dodgers manager for forever, who I think is or was until recently trying to turn the Pirates into somebodies to no avail. ** Inthemostpeculiarway, Oh, yeah, I was wondering where you'd gotten to yesterday. No big, of course. What's a day in a life? Yeah, I hear those Harris books are kind of godawful. I feel so left out of the 'True Blood' phenomenon, It's sad. All my friends with whom I used to get together every week to watch 'Buffy' now get together without me every week to watch 'True Blood'. Wow, you mentioned a show I've seen: 'LA Ink'. I watched a couple of episodes when I was in LA. Yeah, kind of fun. Partly 'cos I know the shop where it's filmed, I guess. Tattooed friends often get inked there. Me, I intend to die without a single tattoo. Do you have any? King ... you mean Stephen King? If so, no, I'm not so into his books, no. I prefer the based-on movies. Anyway, I liked the more detailed than usual report on your day. As for mine, uh ... I finished putting together my non-fiction book and sent it off to my agent. I worked on my novel a little. I talked to a couple of friends on the phone. I received via mail and then started reading this novel 'Light Boxes' by Shane Jones, which I really, really like a lot so far. Man, there are so many really good new fiction writers around right now. It's craziness! I had a double espresso at the Recollets' charming cafe while (trying to) read yesterday's edition of Liberation, the kind of most left-leaning of the daily French newspapers. I put together two future blog days. Ate, smoked, watched the aforementioned all-MJ night on Arte. I think that's the long and short of it. So, well, now it's your turn again. ** Paul Curran, I think I'm kind of where you are with your novel. Maybe it's slightly better for me because I am going in and targeting parts and fiddling for a few minutes at a time, but, yeah, building up momentum and concentration is the story over here too, but with green tea nearby instead of coffee. ** Pascal, Hey. Yeah, I assumed penis was winning. Knowing this lot, I kind of figured it might. I can't compete with a schlong. My choice ... well, I jestingly suggested 'pennis' up above, but that's really an annoying choice. I guess -- and I hate to be in the majority -- but I guess I'd say 'penis'. Semen scented laundry is ... hm, maybe more of a gag reflex thing than yum thing for me. I'd go for a semen scented egg salad sandwich. I just ate an egg salad sandwich a moment ago, and it was doable, but it lacked a certain referentiality or something. ** You-x, Oh, I've been to Morro Bay. I even camped there for a couple of days once years ago. With the esteemed poet Amy Gerstler even. She wasn't as esteemed back then. Those rocks are swell. It was a fun time, I think. I think I went to Hearst Castle one day too. It's nearby-ish, right? Anyway, that sounds like a very nice trip. My non-fiction book is basically my idea of the best of all the essays, reviews, interviews, blah blah, I've done over the years. There's nothing really, really recent because ever since I started this blog, I hardly ever write non-fiction stuff 'cos I have no time to. It's a pretty fat book right now by my usual standards, but it'll probably get cut down some by my editor, or that's a guess. I have to think of a title for it. I can't come up with anything I like so far. Blah blah. Rock on, man! ** Must split now. Need to buy cigarettes. Uh, yeah, re: the post today, whatever, self-explanatory. SPD contributions, please? Yeah, that's it. See you tomorrow.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Scratch and Sniff Day
----
These tiny glass capsules contain a liquid scent and are glued onto paper. When the paper is scratched, some of the capsules are ruptured and the scent is released.
These tiny glass capsules contain a liquid scent and are glued onto paper. When the paper is scratched, some of the capsules are ruptured and the scent is released.
______________
The origin
'Scratch and sniff was born of the noble endeavor of making copies. In the dark ages before word processors, inkjet printers, and the Xerox machine, copies of documents were made by placing carbon paper between the sheet you were typing on and the sheet that would become the copy. In the early 1960s, an organic chemist at 3M named Gale Matson developed a way to make ink copies without carbon paper, using a process called microencapsulation.
'The Matson process uses two sheets of paper – one for the original document and one for the copy – on top of one another. The top sheet of paper is coated with microcapsules of colorless ink. When someone writes or types on the paper, the capsules break and release their ink, which mixes with a developer chemical on the second sheet to create a copy.
'Not wanting Matson’s technology to be a one trick pony, 3M began to search for alternate uses for micro-encapsulation and found that it could be applied to scented oils as well as ink. Scratch ‘N Sniff debuted in 1965 and is found in various forms, from stickers to pull-apart perfume sample strips and beyond.' -- mental_floss
The origin
'Scratch and sniff was born of the noble endeavor of making copies. In the dark ages before word processors, inkjet printers, and the Xerox machine, copies of documents were made by placing carbon paper between the sheet you were typing on and the sheet that would become the copy. In the early 1960s, an organic chemist at 3M named Gale Matson developed a way to make ink copies without carbon paper, using a process called microencapsulation.
'The Matson process uses two sheets of paper – one for the original document and one for the copy – on top of one another. The top sheet of paper is coated with microcapsules of colorless ink. When someone writes or types on the paper, the capsules break and release their ink, which mixes with a developer chemical on the second sheet to create a copy.
'Not wanting Matson’s technology to be a one trick pony, 3M began to search for alternate uses for micro-encapsulation and found that it could be applied to scented oils as well as ink. Scratch ‘N Sniff debuted in 1965 and is found in various forms, from stickers to pull-apart perfume sample strips and beyond.' -- mental_floss
_____________
Further
Further
_____________
13 notable scratch & sniff things
1.
'"Scratch and sniff" cards impregnated with the scent of anhydrous ammonia could be distributed to Illinois teachers and other school employees to familiarize them with the smell of a key ingredient in making methamphetamine. The goal: to help educators and staff at schools and daycare centers ID children who have been exposed to meth. "Most people haven't smelled meth," which smells like cat urine, said bill sponsor Rep. Michael P. McAuliffe (R-Chicago). "Not too many people know about this drug, and it's everywhere ... The teacher might say, 'How many cats do you have at home?' The student could say, 'We don't have any cats.'" Thus alerted, educators could inform police about their suspicions, leading to an investigation or a search of the child's home.' -- The St. Louis Post-Dispatch
2.
'Here's another product from SolidAlliance. This iCool. It's an MP3 player with 256MB of internal memory and an SD slot and they smell like chocolate, roses, lemon, strawberry, raspberry, or blueberry. Rather, they smell like any other plastic container until your hand rubs against them in use. This triggers the sophisticated scratch and sniff technology, and the smell appears and grows stronger the more you touch the player. If you're interested, for a much higher cost, you can request a version with the smell of your choice and it will be custom made for you.' -- akihabaranews.com
3.
'For his 1981 feature POLYESTER, John Waters, a fan of tacky movie gimmicks, bypassed the complicated technology of Smell-O-Vision and relied on the low-tech (but more reliable) method of a simple scratch-and-sniff card. At certain points in the movie, a number would flash on the screen and you’d scratch and sniff that number on a card you were given before the show. I still have my card (signed by Waters when he visited my alma mater, Kent State, back in the mid 1980s), but the smells don’t work anymore. I do, however, remember to avoid scratching and sniffing No. 2 at all costs. If you get the DVD (which I think has some version of the card), I’d suggest you follow that advice as well.' -- The Movie Man
4.
'Heavy rock group THE COUNTY MEDICAL EXAMINERS are using the latest scratch-and-sniff technology to give their new album the whiff of rotting meat. The US trio's album, OLIDOUS OPERETTAS, will come with the aroma of decaying flesh. Frontman MORTON FAIRBANKS explains, "It will be a scented-face CD, which essentially means it will be scratch-'n'-sniff-able... Our CD will smell like rotten meat."' -- Fark dot com
5.
'Today, we had a county municipal court judge come to our high school to talk about driving laws and consequences. At the end of his talk, he gave all of us scratch and sniff stickers that say "underage driving stinks" and smell like vomit.' -- pianoforte, KCATM
6.
ScenTeck Technologies’ Scratch-N-Sniff Pro software and System Scent Card replace the standard vibrating sound waves coming from computer speakers with unique vibrating tones that the brain recognizes not as a sound, but a scent. Hriful’s team developed a System Scent Card that reacts to normal auditory sensors generated from a computer’s hard drive. These sensors, once triggered, are combined with Hriful’s proprietary Scent Waves, and then broadcast from computer speakers, replacing the standard vibrating sound waves with a unique vibrating tone.
7.
DigiScents Inc. in Oakland, California, created the iSmell scent synthesizer. You insert a scent cartridge into the iSmell, which is connected to a computer or video game console, and it releases the scent in short bursts at appropriate times, i.e. when you’re playing a first person shooter and get into a firefight, you’ll actually get whiffs of gunpowder as you fire rounds. PC World named the iSmell one of the 25 Worst Tech Products of All-Time.
8.
SCRATCH N SNIFF CINEMA February 2009, the UKs first Scratch ‘n’ Sniff Cinema for Valentine's Day: The UK’s first Scratch ‘n’ Sniff Cinema showing Peter Greenaway’s classic, The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover opened for Valentine’s Day this year. Bompas & Parr created aromas including ‘rotting meat’ and ‘dusty books’ that captured the scent of key moments of Greenaway’s film. These aromas were micro-encapsulated and printed onto special scratch ‘n’ sniff cards for everyone in the audience.
9.
'There have been many attempts to improve the revenue-generating power of the postage stamp. Some countries will do almost anything to sell postage stamps, especially to hoarders or collectors, who in turn will never use them. This represents a nearly 100% profit for the postal administration. In the last 35 years, there has been a growing number of scratch and sniff stamps being issued. From the first smelly stamp through to the most current olfactory offering, the use of scratch and sniff stamps are a novelty that are becoming more and more prevalent. Below are Brazil's scratch and sniff coffee stamp, Switzerland's chocolate stamp (which comes in a foil wrapped booklet), China's sweet and sour pork stamp, and Brazil's stamp that smells like a burnt forest, issued to increase awareness of forest fire danger' -- Stamps of Distinction
10.
Spiff, designed by Japanese model Mayuko Asano of the Elite modeling agency, is a clothing line that has incorporated “Scratch and Sniff” into their outfits. All of the products have a different natural scent, from suntan lotion to grapes. Their Spring 2009 collection is a Love Collection, the theme being “LOVE RULES”, with the scratch-n-sniff scent for the outfits being Romantic Floral.
11.
'Predicting the onset of mental illness could soon be as simple as smelling a scratch-and-sniff card loaded with the aroma of roses or a whiff of petrol. Scientists have taken the same technology popular in children's books and designed a test to help diagnose brain disorders before the onset of any symptoms.
'The test can be used for Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, obsessive-compulsive disorder and schizophrenia, as well as some illnesses affecting adolescents. The test was born in a University of Melbourne laboratory where researchers discovered a link between the illnesses and a poor ability to identify smells.
'To test their theory, they developed a set of 40 scratch-and-sniff cards and asked people to identify smells from a list of four possibilities, like coffee, roses, oranges and petrol. Professor Warwick Brewer, from the university's Orygen Research Centre, said the people who later went on to develop a brain disorder had demonstrated difficulty correctly answering more than half the questions.' -- News.com.au
12.
Chicago Cubs Watermelon Scratch-n-Sniff Cap: Scratch the watermelons embroidered on the visor of the New Era “Watermelon Smoothie” cap to release the scent. The underside of the bill is the dark red of a freshly carved watermelon and is decorated with seeds that when scratched exude the more sugary smell hidden in the watermelon's depths.
13.
'Another great British invention has been filed at the Patent Office. Benjamin Simon has made a dual-purpose toilet roll -- it also deodorises the air. Building on the technological advance that made scratch and sniff stickers possible, he has coated the inside of the cardboard inner tube with a substance full of capsules containing a perfumed chemical. When you pull sheets from the roll the holder bashes against the inner tube, releasing the smell.' -- Times Higher Education
----
13 notable scratch & sniff things
1.
'"Scratch and sniff" cards impregnated with the scent of anhydrous ammonia could be distributed to Illinois teachers and other school employees to familiarize them with the smell of a key ingredient in making methamphetamine. The goal: to help educators and staff at schools and daycare centers ID children who have been exposed to meth. "Most people haven't smelled meth," which smells like cat urine, said bill sponsor Rep. Michael P. McAuliffe (R-Chicago). "Not too many people know about this drug, and it's everywhere ... The teacher might say, 'How many cats do you have at home?' The student could say, 'We don't have any cats.'" Thus alerted, educators could inform police about their suspicions, leading to an investigation or a search of the child's home.' -- The St. Louis Post-Dispatch
2.
'Here's another product from SolidAlliance. This iCool. It's an MP3 player with 256MB of internal memory and an SD slot and they smell like chocolate, roses, lemon, strawberry, raspberry, or blueberry. Rather, they smell like any other plastic container until your hand rubs against them in use. This triggers the sophisticated scratch and sniff technology, and the smell appears and grows stronger the more you touch the player. If you're interested, for a much higher cost, you can request a version with the smell of your choice and it will be custom made for you.' -- akihabaranews.com
3.
'For his 1981 feature POLYESTER, John Waters, a fan of tacky movie gimmicks, bypassed the complicated technology of Smell-O-Vision and relied on the low-tech (but more reliable) method of a simple scratch-and-sniff card. At certain points in the movie, a number would flash on the screen and you’d scratch and sniff that number on a card you were given before the show. I still have my card (signed by Waters when he visited my alma mater, Kent State, back in the mid 1980s), but the smells don’t work anymore. I do, however, remember to avoid scratching and sniffing No. 2 at all costs. If you get the DVD (which I think has some version of the card), I’d suggest you follow that advice as well.' -- The Movie Man
4.
'Heavy rock group THE COUNTY MEDICAL EXAMINERS are using the latest scratch-and-sniff technology to give their new album the whiff of rotting meat. The US trio's album, OLIDOUS OPERETTAS, will come with the aroma of decaying flesh. Frontman MORTON FAIRBANKS explains, "It will be a scented-face CD, which essentially means it will be scratch-'n'-sniff-able... Our CD will smell like rotten meat."' -- Fark dot com
5.
'Today, we had a county municipal court judge come to our high school to talk about driving laws and consequences. At the end of his talk, he gave all of us scratch and sniff stickers that say "underage driving stinks" and smell like vomit.' -- pianoforte, KCATM
6.
ScenTeck Technologies’ Scratch-N-Sniff Pro software and System Scent Card replace the standard vibrating sound waves coming from computer speakers with unique vibrating tones that the brain recognizes not as a sound, but a scent. Hriful’s team developed a System Scent Card that reacts to normal auditory sensors generated from a computer’s hard drive. These sensors, once triggered, are combined with Hriful’s proprietary Scent Waves, and then broadcast from computer speakers, replacing the standard vibrating sound waves with a unique vibrating tone.
7.
DigiScents Inc. in Oakland, California, created the iSmell scent synthesizer. You insert a scent cartridge into the iSmell, which is connected to a computer or video game console, and it releases the scent in short bursts at appropriate times, i.e. when you’re playing a first person shooter and get into a firefight, you’ll actually get whiffs of gunpowder as you fire rounds. PC World named the iSmell one of the 25 Worst Tech Products of All-Time.
8.
SCRATCH N SNIFF CINEMA February 2009, the UKs first Scratch ‘n’ Sniff Cinema for Valentine's Day: The UK’s first Scratch ‘n’ Sniff Cinema showing Peter Greenaway’s classic, The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover opened for Valentine’s Day this year. Bompas & Parr created aromas including ‘rotting meat’ and ‘dusty books’ that captured the scent of key moments of Greenaway’s film. These aromas were micro-encapsulated and printed onto special scratch ‘n’ sniff cards for everyone in the audience.
9.
'There have been many attempts to improve the revenue-generating power of the postage stamp. Some countries will do almost anything to sell postage stamps, especially to hoarders or collectors, who in turn will never use them. This represents a nearly 100% profit for the postal administration. In the last 35 years, there has been a growing number of scratch and sniff stamps being issued. From the first smelly stamp through to the most current olfactory offering, the use of scratch and sniff stamps are a novelty that are becoming more and more prevalent. Below are Brazil's scratch and sniff coffee stamp, Switzerland's chocolate stamp (which comes in a foil wrapped booklet), China's sweet and sour pork stamp, and Brazil's stamp that smells like a burnt forest, issued to increase awareness of forest fire danger' -- Stamps of Distinction
10.
Spiff, designed by Japanese model Mayuko Asano of the Elite modeling agency, is a clothing line that has incorporated “Scratch and Sniff” into their outfits. All of the products have a different natural scent, from suntan lotion to grapes. Their Spring 2009 collection is a Love Collection, the theme being “LOVE RULES”, with the scratch-n-sniff scent for the outfits being Romantic Floral.
11.
'Predicting the onset of mental illness could soon be as simple as smelling a scratch-and-sniff card loaded with the aroma of roses or a whiff of petrol. Scientists have taken the same technology popular in children's books and designed a test to help diagnose brain disorders before the onset of any symptoms.
'The test can be used for Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, obsessive-compulsive disorder and schizophrenia, as well as some illnesses affecting adolescents. The test was born in a University of Melbourne laboratory where researchers discovered a link between the illnesses and a poor ability to identify smells.
'To test their theory, they developed a set of 40 scratch-and-sniff cards and asked people to identify smells from a list of four possibilities, like coffee, roses, oranges and petrol. Professor Warwick Brewer, from the university's Orygen Research Centre, said the people who later went on to develop a brain disorder had demonstrated difficulty correctly answering more than half the questions.' -- News.com.au
12.
Chicago Cubs Watermelon Scratch-n-Sniff Cap: Scratch the watermelons embroidered on the visor of the New Era “Watermelon Smoothie” cap to release the scent. The underside of the bill is the dark red of a freshly carved watermelon and is decorated with seeds that when scratched exude the more sugary smell hidden in the watermelon's depths.
13.
'Another great British invention has been filed at the Patent Office. Benjamin Simon has made a dual-purpose toilet roll -- it also deodorises the air. Building on the technological advance that made scratch and sniff stickers possible, he has coated the inside of the cardboard inner tube with a substance full of capsules containing a perfumed chemical. When you pull sheets from the roll the holder bashes against the inner tube, releasing the smell.' -- Times Higher Education
----
p.s. Hey. I haven't done a question of the day for a while, but here's a question not from me but rather from the distinguished writer and local Pascal in his own words: 'The question is whether I should use the word 'penis' or the word 'dennis'. It's obvious where in the poem I mean as I've left an underlined blank. I've used the blog as a spring board into new ways of writing over the last year while I was heavily involved in really dry academic stuff for my course. So thanks to everybody really.' So, everybody please answer this guest-hosted question of the day and help Pascal out. Answer somewhere amidst your comment today, if you don't mind. Thanks a lot from me, and here's the poem, whose original line breaks and intricate layout will appear before you in a no doubt heavily squashed and distorted form if I know my Blogger:
#3---a figure is starting to appear seated----there is starting to appear seated figure----Lex, my mother lives in Hackensack she says when I wake in the night I pray for other people and then go back to sleep---I take no pills nor cut nor hang myself nor shoot my brains out---I sleep and dream and God sometimes exists
---O Great Wardrobe, I have not bought clothes for 8 years. I starve. I feed. the great anorak Anne said was lovely and I said I’ve had it for ages like I’d said the wrong thing like she was disappointed.---she says she will consider me her painting next time in Dublin.---she says poetry is ‘enchanting’ self-obsession.---an island with an hotel abandoned.---a road rising into the clouds.----I am sorry everybody I am not evil I am full of praise for the ancient farmhouse, sorry, hotel
----------smoky beams, wind, scary voices:
-------------Home
-------------is corridors.
-------------Sexual
-------------the breath
-------------of rooms.
----------Rooms
----------we are
-------------leaving.
---dear ______,
---the story you told me is haunted and has destroyed me----you said the difficult.----it is hard to forgive the inability to care or communicate with others
----and yet observe the shadowy------for you have made it bearable in the following ways:
---inhale------------ghost
-------------and then
exhale
-----------stars
however, in this instance, I am writing to you, mon cheri, regarding an hotel where lost boys and girls fall down dead I am waiting for the part where I cannot wait to expose myself fully------and to all of you I say: Herd these Tremulous Fingers into the Valleys:
-----a tree a rock a book a shed a forest a blanket a coat a mattress a knife a map a cave a river a leaf a song a flame a cloud a plane a city a building a light a window a room------a figure is starting to appear seated a kind of mystery shopper a kind of rollercoaster-----falling masonry and so on and so forth
---------------“I would like to point out that I am writing this not from memory rather I am holding my own legs in my own arms”
o great wardrobe, what silences you contain, what textures
heap of cloth---bird mistaken for leaf
room with figure sitting on edge of bed in pale light
occasional car passing and something barely audible---voices possibly neighbours possibly television.
-----a tree a rock a book a shed a forest a blanket a coat a mattress a knife a map a cave a river a leaf a song a flame a cloud a plane a city a building a light a window a room------a figure is starting to appear seated a kind of mystery shopper a kind of rollercoaster-----falling masonry and so on and so forth
---------------“I would like to point out that I am writing this not from memory rather I am holding my own legs in my own arms”
o great wardrobe, what silences you contain, what textures
heap of cloth---bird mistaken for leaf
room with figure sitting on edge of bed in pale light
occasional car passing and something barely audible---voices possibly neighbours possibly television.
Otherwise, mm, I'm in heavy work mode and sans much excitement or gossip. Oh, yesterday d.l. Mark noticed that there's a little video clip newly loaded onto youtube that shows two fragments from the French version of 'Jerk', if you're interested. It's here. Yeah, I think that's it for now. I have a headache. It's not too brutal, though. ** Pisycaca, (Xet) Yeah, we got heavily Spanish around here for a short while. It's about time, right? The Tour de France is coming to Barcelona? What's that about? Well, bands play all over the place, so why not bicycle races, I guess. Oh, Montse will have her birthday in Paris? Very cool. Anything event-specific and specifically Parisian planned out for the occasion? I'm really looking forward to meeting you guys. (M.) Oh, ugh, about the crying baby stuff. My writing's going okay right now. I'm feeling fairly upbeat. My back is totally normal, I think, I hope. It's leaving me alone for now. Like I said, it'll be so awesome to see you guys. You come on the ... 27th? Is that right? Where are you staying? ** Stan_cz, My fingers will remain crossed until the month's end then. Why do you read English translations over German ones? Is there a specific reason? Yeah, driving becomes second nature, and a car starts to feel like a gas powered suit of armor pretty quickly, or that was my experience. I find driving relaxing like few other things. ** David, I forgot all about that 'Day the Earth Stood Still' remake, and yet it wasn't so long ago. Keanu, wherefore art thou? In putting together my non-fiction book, which includes an interview I did with Mr. Reeves just prior to 'Idaho', I was struck yet again by the charming, spazzy goofball he was but no longer is. ** Erik, When you go to the beach, you really go to the beach. Me, I wear my snowsuit. Nice towel, ha ha. ** David Ehrenstein, Well, that's just too bad about 'Bruno'. And yet, one should have guessed. Remember when Mike Myers preemptively pulled the plug on his 'Dieter' movie because he realized the gag was too thin to be sustained for ninety minutes? I can't believe I'm suggesting that Cohen maybe should have taken a page from Mike Myers' book, but I guess I am. ** Empty Frame, I have baby Ubuweb aspirations too. Shoot for the moon, I say. I haven't watched the Melies yet, but I hope to today. Let me try to coax people over there. Everyone, our new friend Empty Frame is quickly creating a killer storehouse and thoughtful compendium of video goodies for brainiacs like ourselves over on his blog, and won't you join me in frequenting it? A friend once baked me a cake in the shape of an ass too. Being a good friend who was well aware of my favorite variety of asses, he made it a sheet cake. I bet yours was multi-layered. Congrats on the demise of that bar, and here's hoping it doesn't reopen as a late night hang out for Dixieland aficionados. ** JW Veldhoen, Oh, ugh, JW. Get a zillion times better in the blink of an eye. Wait, you and NB have/had strep at roughly the same time. Very ... interesting. ** Flit, You make me want to do a Self-Portrait Day: My Speaking Voice. You know, load the blog up with home recorded mp3s. Wouldn't that be fascinating and sexy and so on? I think it would. Interesting about the posh accent thing. It made me realize that although there is a variety of LA accents, none of them are either posh or the opposite. I guess maybe Valley Girl talk would be the lowlife version, if there is one. I'm like you: reading Acker and Guyotat and that kind of writing is like floating down a stream on my back drinking a cool glass of lemonade. ** SYpHA_69, Yeah, but maybe living by yourself would de-romanticize what it's like to live alone so thoroughly that it would harm your book's premise. But then I almost never seem to be able to write about my current circumstances. It took me almost four years to get so used to France that I could figure out how to write a novel set here. ** Frank Jaffe, It gets really cold in Tallahassee in the winter? I don't know why that surprises me. Florida = excessive sunshine to me. But then the only part of Florida I've ever been to is the ... pan handle? What do Floridians call that little strip of Florida that extends to the west? I love your love of films and books, and that festival you organized looks really nice. Cool you showed that wonderful Christophe Honore film. He writes novels too, which are apparently very, very good, but none of them have been translated into English. Oh, that Scott Treleaven book is beautiful. His visual art is terrific. I think you'll like it. He lives in Paris in the same building where I live, and he's a great guy, as is his boyfriend, Paul P, who's also an interesting artist. What courses are you taking? Anything particularly interesting to you? ** J. Campbell, Hey, man. How are you? What are you working on? What's new? ** Pascal, Well, you see what became of the poem when it sat down in Blogger's strangling grip. I hope you get a lot of responses to the question today. I'm quite curious as to what people will pick too, naturally. Sometimes rest is just the thing. It's hard to accept that though, if you're like me. I tend to force myself to power through the laziness, which isn't always the best route. ** Toniok, Thanks a lot for yesterday, man. It was awesome. Yes, I did see the video you sent, and I thought it was kind of amazing, and I've been meaning to write you about it, and I will, by hook or crook. ** Steevee, Yeah, best to go ahead and know the deal rather than nurse a secret. I think so. No, I don't know Woods of Infinity. Sounds interesting. I'll go try to hear something. Yeah, curious to hear your thoughts on 'Antichrist', of course. I wonder if the US version was edited. I heard it might be. ** Jose, You finished the novel, excellent. Yeah, send it to me. Email's okay. I'll likely be a little slow getting to it, but you know my problems on that front. But, yeah, I've been looking forward to reading it for, gosh, ages. I have your same positive (?) sleeping habits, although I usually wake up at 7, so maybe I'm just a bit more something or other. I'll post 'Strange Landscape', okay. But it'll have to wait until my next trip to LA in probably September because that's where my copy is. ** Blendin, I wish I could eat great French food. It's so full of meat. So it's crepes and baguettes for me. Sorry about the Giants, man. Sorry about the Dodgers too. I can't explain their ongoing goodness. It's quite unlike them. Have you seen Randy Johnson pitch yet? I want to see him pitch even if he isn't quite the god he was, oh, two years ago even. ** Tomkendall, Man, this time off has been good for you. You just stink (in the good way) of life. I hope the job's return doesn't dash your writing stint and your positivity about it too much if at all. I'm absolutely sure you're not deluding yourself. I'm absolutely sure that wood you knocked said, 'That was highly unnecessary, Tom'. ** Uli, Hey. Oh, yeah, the Absurd murder thing. I forgot about that. I need to reinvestigate. Maybe I can get a post out of it. I don't think I've done a Black Metal post since Gaahl is Gay Day. Only a week to go? Do you have a ton of stuff to move? That's exciting: the move. If I can get myself to Berlin, we'll have to hang out. ** Kier, A cold Paris isn't Paris at its best, but coming from where you are, it might feel refreshingly temperate, so, yeah, try to visit then. That's my vote. ** Alan, Hey. Thanks a lot for the gallery of Bresson posters. I was suitably drooly. I have two of them -- the 'Four Nights of a Dreamer' one, which is gigantic, and the 'Une Femme Douce' one with the blood splatter, which is normal sized. That 'UFD' one with the head wrapped in hair is a weird one. I've never that before. Yeah, thanks, man! ** Chris, Oh, man, you're not pushing hard and fast on 'Them'. I'm raring to go and getting more excited and curious by the second. I know Vijay Iyer's stuff just a little bit, and I liked what I heard a whole lot. That bill is fantastic. I still wish you could play in Paris. If we can get this 'Them' thing going, we need to get it to play here too, which, duh, would be the perfect occasion for your playing here. Yeah, I guess we need to sort out what to do next and when re: 'Them'. Maybe I can come through NYC on my way to LA, and we can watch the tapes and get concrete on the future building of it. Yeah, downtime is kind of a foreign idea to me. It's nice not to have to travel for a while, but the near-overload of work is ongoing. ** Math t, I didn't do an object of desire last time? I guess I don't usually participate. I'll knuckle down on the lust front and add my two cents this time. Oh, wasn't it you about the 'confab' thing? Hm. I remembered you telling me that was a very gay word for me to use or something, but maybe it was someone else. In any case, the term is happily/basically out of my repartee now thanks to some kind someone or other. ** Bernard Welt, You're someone I should talk to about culinary stuff for my novel. I'm entering the phase where I need to get a grip on that stuff so I can use it. Maybe we can sort out a time when I could call you? Would that be cool? You're right, I love me some Magic Castle. I'll leave Mr. Forehead and Mr. Unit to you and Mr. E. ** Misanthrope, How is Justin, btw? I see he still hasn't joined in the fray here unless he's pseudonyming it. Hm. You can bet I'm 100% behind the no smoking move. Seriously. The sugar intake increase seems like part of the deal. You quit smoking, you get fat, you go on a diet once you're through the biological changes. Goes with the turf, I think. Yeah, I hope people pony up and brave the imaginary catcalls or whatever for the SPD. We're all in this crotch unmasking together. I guess I'll participate, yeah, just to make sure there are some actual skinny, pale objects in there and not just the faux-sickly twinks that you seem to like, ha ha. ** Mark, Hey. Thanks for the alert about the youtube 'Jerk' thing. I didn't know it was there. It's a really early version of 'Jerk' when it was a bit more tentative than it is now, but it's better than nothing. Those Barbieque pix are swell and even kind of, err, sexy in a weird way. Maybe that's just me. Oh, ... Everyone, you want to see what Barbie and Ken dolls look like after they've been tortured into art in a microwave by our own Mark? Need inspiration for the SPD Day? If the answer to either of those questions is yes, click here. ** Winter Rates, You're a great man, WR. ** Postitbreakup, Hey. Hm, well, I don't know about quitting TV and the internet. But I'm kind of strange about that stuff maybe. When people start talking about how bad and sad and ominous it is that young people are so glued to the internet and TV and iPods and stuff these days, I just think that that's no less of an interesting, rich life than anything else. I don't romanticize the outdoors as much as most people seem to do, and I've always hated parties and big social settings like that. So, you know, I guess I think you should do what's interesting to you, and if what you're doing honestly troubles you, stop, but it's all okay as far as I'm concerned, speaking as someone who spends a fucking ton of my life at my computer these days. And if you're interested in the showrunner for HBO job, then all the TV watching and exploring is nothing but research and preparation, right? All that might be bad advice, I don't know. I just think the pressure to be social on people who don't enjoy being social is thoughtless and lazy. Personally, of course I wish you'd find a way to write more and get your writings finished. Maybe you should find and join a writer's workshop to give you deadlines and feedback and stuff. And, as a writer, you need to work with what you have and who you are. My writing is very limited by my many limitations as a person. There are lots of people who think my work is too narrow, but I don't think so, and I don't care, to be honest with you. I just try to make my limitations into my strengths and do what I do as thoroughly as I can, and you can do the same thing. You've got a ton of stuff inside you to work with just like I do. You just have find where the ton is located and not feel pressure to be the kind of writer that you're not. That's my thought to you for today, at least. ** Oscar B, Yeah, I've seen a couple of those 'Faces of Death' videos. I find them very depressing, and I really don't get anything from them other than a feeling of ugliness and a feeling of being emotionally and intellectually shut down. That kind of stuff is just nihilist porn to me. I know people get all 'ooh' and 'ahh' about them, but I don't. I haven't found a thing I can learn from those kinds of images. It's just a parade of misery to me. I don't find any poetry or insight or beauty in that stuff at all. Does that make any sense? ** Jheorgge, Hey! Yeah, it was way too short, but it was really great seeing you, and, you know, thanks a lot about 'Jerk'. The Friday show was weird, good weird. I think the fire had an effect on Jonathan and maybe even on the audience, but it really is a slightly different show every night, and it's Jonathan's call, and he definitely does read the audience and sort of try to work with what he feels like their mood and expectations are. Oh, for 'Jerk' images, I guess you should write to Bureau Cassiopee, which is Gisele's management company. Try this: write to Anne Cecile Sibue at this address -- annececile@bureaucassiopee.fr. If you have problems, let me know, and I'll sort something out. Oh, gosh, I'm so grateful about the movies on disc. Gosh, send me whatever you like in addition to 'Four Nights ...'. I have 'Paranoid Park'. Yeah, just add whatever you think is best. Fucking amazing of you to do that, man! That's so nice. You can send it here: c/o Centre International des Recollets, 150 rue du Faubourg St, Martin, 75010 Paris, France. Recent listening? Mm, Christian Marclay, Hecker, Mad River, Dirty Projectors, Rhys Chatham, Ovmujyo, Pacific Blush. ** You-x, Dude, happy early birthday! 26 is a good one. What are you going to do for it? Where did you and that whole gaggle of fellow superstars go on your trip? Oh, I'm really loving the Ovmujyo albums. In fact, I just mentioned them by coincidence a few sentences ago. I'm early in my enjoyment and compiling thoughts and superlatives, but, yeah, gorgeous, and more details as the music invades the inner sanctum. I fucked up and haven't pulled your book off the shelf yet though. I'll do that today. I'm in the middle of doing this non-fiction book right now, and that's eating my eyes and brain. I tend to smoke just under a pack of cigarettes a day, I guess, on average. If I could smoke in this apartment, the intake would go up, for sure. All right, man, get that b'day cake baked and astral project the taste to me, okay? ** I'm outta here. Today's post: I had a day-long fascination with Scratch and Sniff the other week, and that's the explanation. Please give the word choice question from Pascal some thought and make your pick. I have a bunch of work to do today. You probably do too, right? Life's weird. See you tomorrow.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Toniok presents ... The Cartoons of Miguel Ángel Martín
----
Miguel Ángel Martín (León, 1960). Comic artist, scriptwriter, illustrator and poster creator.
He has received an infinite number of awards, including the prestigious Yellow Kid for the Best European Comic Artist (1999) or the Attilio Micheluzzi Grand Prize awarded by Comicon in Naples (2003).
Few authors have achieved such recognisable graphics, such translucent reading and such a controversial and particular thematic world. He declares that he is influenced by the most radical and underground electronic music scene and his work betrays a fondness for technology, science and pornography.
COMICS
KEIBOL BLACK
Psychological violence for European youth.
PSYCHOPATHIA SEXUALIS
Adults only! The most violent and repulsive komik ever made. It was banned in Italy.
BRIAN THE BRAIN
Brian the Brain is the story of a child born without skullcap, he's the result of a genetic experiments lab. Brian's an outcast because his brain sticks out of his head, but his brain is also the symbol of his intelligence.
RUBBER FLESH
The hardcore mix of full-color brutality and pornography, along with a heavy dose of sci-fi conspiracy, still makes for a very good-looking book.
SNUFF 2000
25% Psycho Sex - 75% Ultra Violence. The sex choice for a New Generation.
PLAYLOVE 'where the streets have no name'
Graphic novel. A story about love and self deception. The story of a girl who falls in love with an alpha male. A different point of view about the human relations.
BITCH
Bitch, a graffitist girl who lives in a "social centre" (squatter) gives us a new point of view about the globalization, the xenophoby, the hip-hop, the tatto and piercing culture, the conspiracy theories and the homosexuality.
Illustrations
Calendar
+
MORE
The studio
Atolladero, trailer. Comic by Oscaraibar/MA Martín
Snuff2000, trailer
Toy
Toy
Cover
Cover
----
Miguel Ángel Martín (León, 1960). Comic artist, scriptwriter, illustrator and poster creator.
He has received an infinite number of awards, including the prestigious Yellow Kid for the Best European Comic Artist (1999) or the Attilio Micheluzzi Grand Prize awarded by Comicon in Naples (2003).
Few authors have achieved such recognisable graphics, such translucent reading and such a controversial and particular thematic world. He declares that he is influenced by the most radical and underground electronic music scene and his work betrays a fondness for technology, science and pornography.
COMICS
KEIBOL BLACK
Psychological violence for European youth.
PSYCHOPATHIA SEXUALIS
Adults only! The most violent and repulsive komik ever made. It was banned in Italy.
BRIAN THE BRAIN
Brian the Brain is the story of a child born without skullcap, he's the result of a genetic experiments lab. Brian's an outcast because his brain sticks out of his head, but his brain is also the symbol of his intelligence.
RUBBER FLESH
The hardcore mix of full-color brutality and pornography, along with a heavy dose of sci-fi conspiracy, still makes for a very good-looking book.
SNUFF 2000
25% Psycho Sex - 75% Ultra Violence. The sex choice for a New Generation.
PLAYLOVE 'where the streets have no name'
Graphic novel. A story about love and self deception. The story of a girl who falls in love with an alpha male. A different point of view about the human relations.
BITCH
Bitch, a graffitist girl who lives in a "social centre" (squatter) gives us a new point of view about the globalization, the xenophoby, the hip-hop, the tatto and piercing culture, the conspiracy theories and the homosexuality.
Illustrations
Calendar
+
MORE
The studio
Atolladero, trailer. Comic by Oscaraibar/MA Martín
Snuff2000, trailer
Toy
Toy
Cover
Cover
----
p.s. Hey. Today the cultishly revered (by me, et. al.) photographer and distinguished local Toniok shares his love for Miguel Angel Martin, an artist I only knew via his work with the band Whitehouse until my eyes were thusly opened. Please allow your eyes to widen, check out the goods above, and report something back to our kind guest host. Thanks a lot, Tonio! Me, I don't have a lot to report to you today. My head is basically down trying to organize my upcoming non-fiction collection, and the tiny thrills and chills of doing that are not really translatable. So I'll just give you the first of many upcoming urges to get to work on your SPD contributions, if you don't mind, and now I'll head south. ** Esther Planas, Hey, Esther! Oh, yeah, I'm really sorry we missed each other in London too. Fate was in a bad mood or something what with your disappearing keys and my temporarily missing phone and so on. I'll go check out that link, dying to see your new work as I am. Take care, and we'll figure out a meeting point if it's the last thing we do, right? ** Erik, I second your advice to SYpHA, with the added tip that with 'Juliette' as well as with, well, Sade in general, if you need to skim sometimes, go ahead. Sade is god, but his wind can be very long. ** Pascal, Yeah, I saw 'Suz/O/Suz' back when I was living in Amsterdam, and it was one of the most scary, intimidating theater experiences I ever had. Someone literally could have gotten killed, at least in the version I saw. I'll ask the poem question here tomorrow, so heads up. ** Stan_cz, Any news on the school front yet? Oh, someone told me once about Celine living there, but I forgot. I'll have to go stroll by there. Yeah, you were staying not too far from there the last time. Are you reading Celine in French or English or German or ... ? ** October, Yeah, hoping I get my Halloween LA trip this year as is my dream, let's make a plan, spooky houses included. Very cool. And very cool too if you can get in on the SPD. Thanks a lot, man. ** David Ehrenstein, True about the lack of conflict in 'Juliette'. It's probably Sade's blabbiest too. Did you see 'Bruno'? The more I hear, the less I feel I need to see it so far. ** Empty Frame, Oh, yeah, even in my home country of the States, the chances of finding my books in Borders or Barnes & Noble aren't so hot. And of course the monstrous chain store fall out, ugh, although, at least in the US, those two big chains are having their problems, and in NYC and LA at least, new little indie bookstores seem to be springing up more frequently than they have in years. We'll see. I'd love to go to Berlin with 'Jerk', but it's rare that the venues will pay to bring me along, and I'm always too low on money to spring for that kind of trip on my own, and I've been x'ed out of all of our previous theater shows in Berlin, but I'm fishing for an invite. Mm, I don't think I've seen Melies' 'La Melomane'. If I have, it must have been a long time ago and subsequently blurred out, but I don't think so. Oh, it's on your blog? Awesome. I just popped over and spied it there, along with the Tiger Lilies! I'll give it as well as the other great clips a long look a little later on. Thanks a lot! ** Tonyoneill, Title related head scratching, yeah. Me too. I have two titles I'm trying to perfect or even figure out at all, ugh. Your reading is tonight, yes? Blow everyone out, and tell me what happens. ** Frank Jaffe, Oh, hey, Frank, welcome. Ha ha, yeah, it was you who I'd spotted joining that Araki group. Well, the group's name is eye-catching, that's for sure, and why not? Many more posts from you would be great, obviously. So, what's going on? What are you doing, working on, etc.? ** Paul Curran, Heavy ditto on the loveliness and inspiration caused by seeing you, and thanks so much for the good words about 'Jerk' too. Means a ton, obviously. So have you headed into the writing yet? ** Pisycaca, Hey, Xet! I was wondering if you'd know La Fura dels Baus. My summer's not so bad so far. Yours? The heat was really ugh here for a while, but it feels more like fall here this week, and I feel more like prancing about. ** SYpHA_69, Your new car sounds kind of tasty and serial killer-esque. ** Blendin, You'll get there. To LA, I mean. Don't worry. I can sense it. So, I wished you happy birthday on the sort of dreaded FB, but here's another HB after the fact for good measure. How did you spend it? ** Jose, There used to be big scale mind-fuck theater in the US. Robert Wilson is one of the few left standing, and he mostly shows in Europe these days. Raising the money is the problem. Europe's just a lot more generous to its artists, period, and there's a long tradition of giant experimental theater works over here (LFdB, Castellucci, Fabre, Bausch, Peter Brook, etc., etc.), unlike in the States, so younger artists here who want to make that kind of work aren't viewed as unreasonable. Yeah, LIES/ISLE looks awesome, doesn't it? Great to sec your piece there. What's up with you right now? ** Alan, As of today, I'm at 39,401 words. It grows and shrinks daily, of course. Ideally, that's about 2/3 of the eventual length, but we'll see. Figuring out the last 1/3 is really flummoxing me right now. So I'm refining and chiseling what's already there until I break through. ** Marc, That makes sense. I mean worrying about dullness and things being blunted. But you know me: I work my fingers to the bone on my stuff because I can't do it any other way. Instinct is big. Keeping one eye on the old instincts. Not easy. But, yeah. ** Kier, Really, really great to meet you, absolutely! No, I'd be surprised if I go along to Germany for the 'Ktl' show, but you never know. I haven't seen it with the new performer Jonathan yet, so I might try hard. But you should come to Paris sometime too, you know? Yes, the new untitled piece we're working on is going to be performed in Bergen. I think that will be the second gig after Avignon. Fall 2010, I guess. God, a long time from now. Oh, that's so sad about MBV-3D. I had hopes for it, I don't know why. Damn. Oh, well. Shit, the Printed Matter video is a treat, and the hospital photos are stunning. Let me ... Everyone, the great Kier has a video on his blog from the NYC 'Voidoid' event that was chronicled here the other day plus some really beautiful new photographs. You simply must go see for yourself. They're here (scroll down). ** Steevee, Sucks about all the waiting on your end. Here's hoping for a quick domino effect. ** Rigby, Wolf would look so right in plastic, so beyond the young Avenging Diana Rigg. Oh my gosh. You're really onto something there. ** Postitbreakup, Nice playlist. A little of almost everything. I've just scrolled through it so far, but I'll play while I'm dong my grunt work today. You're right, I should do one too, and I will, and I'll lodge it in the blog soon. Playlist.com, got it. I love making playlists, but I usually just do them on paper and then imagine them playing in my head. Doing a playlist SPD would probably murder too many people's computers, I fear. Anyway, thanks for the idea, Josh. ** Chris, Saw the Facebook thing. Awesome that all those 'Them' versions exist. Time to start making a plan. I'll write you over there, and let's get on this thing in some initial way at least. Did Ish ever get any poz or neg from the New Museum, do you know? How's tricks otherwise? ** Misanthrope, Oh, you and Justin should so do some big mindfucking theater piece. Oh, I saw that MJ ambulance photo already on a newsstand here or something. I'm not sure that counts as corpse. Maybe it does technically. I'm going to pretend he was just taking a little nap. ** NB, Your lack of accent is well known to me, yes. It's probably well known to you that my Texan parents fought theirs to a draw. I wonder if there isn't a teentsy weentsy bit of Texas accent in my voice. No one's ever said anything. So the boy's waiting for you. You guys need a fireplace, and maybe a bear rug, or a tofu bear rug. Have a big or rather small and very safe trip back to Loveland. ** Math t, Wow, you remember the original objects of desire SPD better than I do, but when you describe the entries, it all floods back. I can't remember mine, if I did one. Vincent Kartheiser maybe? Duh, maybe. I wonder whatever the heck happened to Garrison. I wonder if he's still working in TV. I miss him. I miss them all. Remember when you made fun of me for using the word confab? The good old days. Sigh. In France there aren't any 18+ stickers on or plastic wrapping around the AA ensconced Butts. But that's France for you. ** Flit, I've never really been wildly into theater as a general rule either. Just the experimental stuff. Here is a million times better for that stuff than there. There being where you are. I'll check my email for SPD, and if it's a mess, which I'm sure it isn't, I'll let you know. Awww, you have a Boston accent? I like them. They're as posh as American accents get, right? I think so. ** Christopher/Mark, Yeah, when I was at the SLG, I was looking through their archives a bit. Pretty amazing place long term. And that room, the exhibition space, is such a beaut. There are places to eat in Camberwell, but you have to walk for twenty minutes to a half-hour from the SLG to reach them. Being in London always makes me really, really appreciate the Paris metro or maybe I mean how cozy Paris and easily walkable is. Yeah, you're the third person to give high marks to 'Public Enemies'. I really want to see it. Michael Mann is always a genius with camerawork, framing, and all that if nothing else. ** JW Veldhoen, Okay, understood, on the no SPD from JW news, but the theme is there is twisted beyond all recognition if anyone likes, fyi. ** Oscar B, I just saw LFdB that one time in the mid-80s in Amsterdam. They don't seem to play Paris much if at all. I was told by someone that French don't think they're sufficiently 'high brow'. (?!) Next week, Recollets, talk, schmooze, it's a done deal. ** Orestes, Hey. Gosh, well, this SPD can be awfully simple. All you have to do in send in a picture or five. Easier said than done, I know. I'm a perfectionist too, so I understand. IKEA is so universal. Wow, whoever runs that company must be so rich, yikes. Oh, your blabbering (which you weren't even doing really) is a lovely thing, fear not. My back is ... I guess it's back to normal since I haven't noticed my back in a couple of days. Vacation plans: well, Yury has his work vacation in early August, and I think we'll probably go away somewhere for part of that, but I don't know for sure. He really wants to change jobs, so he might decide to stay here and seek new employment instead. How about you? Vacation stuff on the horizon for you? 'Philosophy of the Bedroom' is pretty good. It's short, which is a bonus. But I still think one should just plunge into '120 Days' since it's the best by a significant margin, I think. ** The Dreadful Flying Glove, Oh, get well, man. Sounds like a change of seasons/weather sickness. Do you get those? I do sometimes, or often enough to kind of half-believe such an illness exists. ** Inthemostpeculiarway, Oh, you can interpret the theme of the SPD any way you like. If you don't want to pick humans, pick anything else you heart or wherever desires. Fuck any rules and have fun, basically. My day ... mm, really just more work on that non-fiction mss. That ate 90% of the day. I had coffee with my pal Kiddiepunk. I walked to the normal supermarket (Monop) and the health food store (Naturalia) and came home with two small bags of food items. I phoned my best friend and LA roommate Joel. I also talked via phone to my (and the blog's) friend Jesse Hudson. I declined an invitation to see Lars von Trier's 'Anti-Christ' because my friends Gisele and Jonathan C. said it was tiresome and irritating, and I hate von Trier's films anyway. I watched the Madonna 'Truth or Dare' movie on TV because it was already on the TV, and my eyes seemed to want to rest on it for some reason. I paid my rent. Smoked almost a pack of Camel Blue cigarettes. Uh, is that it? Maybe. Your turn, pal. ** Okay, I'm off now to look at art for a while to clear my head before I buckle down to some work. Please explore Toniok's kind and wonderful post. And, yeah, have the obvious good days, every single one of you. Bye.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
La Fura dels Baus Day
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La Fura dels Baus is a Catalan theatrical group founded in 1979 in Barcelona known for their urban theatre, use of unusual settings and blurring of the boundaries separating audience and actor. From 1979 to 1983, La Fura dels Baus performed street theatre, these efforts evolved towards a concept of theatre that combines a wide range of stage resources based on the classical idea of an all-round show. The main contribution of La Fura was to approach its shows by encouraging the audience take an active part in areas traditionally reserved for the public and adapting its stage work to the very architectural elements found in the spaces in which each performance takes place. This blend of techniques and disciplines crystallized into the term “Furan language”, a term that has also been used to define the work of other theatre companies.
Since the early 1990s, La Fura dels Baus has diversified its creative efforts, moving into the fields of written drama, digital theatre and street theatre, performing contemporary theatre projects, opera or producing major corporate events. La Fura dels Baus has created its own record label, with a catalogue of 14 recordings; it has also published its work on other labels, including Dro, Virgin and Subterfuge. Naumon is a la Fura's ship, a floating performing arts center that has been to ports like Barcelona, Sardinia, Portugal, Beirut, Taipei, Newcastle or Haifa carrying various artistic, educational and cultural containers including the la Fura shows Naumaquia, Sub, Terramaquia and Matria. Currently, the Company is in process to create “Boris Godunov”, a new theatre piece, to be performed on stage and that will premiere next March. -- text collaged from various sources
La Fura dels Baus Website
Suz/O/Suz
Furan language performances
Opening: 30/08/1985
'Suz/O/Suz is an abstract show containing one idea: man. From that axis comes a fiction about human nature, about a man anguished by his own conscience. In order to develop this idea scenically, La Fura dels Baus devised a set which took advantage of the architectural elements offered by the different performance spaces, but which incorporated an entire complex and intricate series of scenic elements created by the company, which were able to modify the space and the audience’s participation. Poles, carts and moveable platforms, bathtubs and pools, scenic pieces which contained their own meaning and allowed the group to develop their language in order to express their vision of life.' -- LFdB
Tier Mon
Furan language performances
Opening: 10/06/1988
'Tier Mon explores the always delicate territory of the relationships between the individual, humanity and power, which in this case is represented by three conflicting characters –the white god, the cripple and the dwarf– each struggling to dominate the other characters who symbolise the human race. The narration of this confrontation is articulated this time by a more complete and intricate dramaturgy than in the previous shows. The characters are described, they are uniquely identifiable and they establish a whole system of hierarchies within the show.' -- LFdB
MTM
Furan language performances
Opening: 10/03/1994
'MTM is an allegory about the manipulation of information carried out by major political, economic and social forces through the mass media. MTM aspires to reproduce the news process, which is modified based on specific objectives. Here the truth appears as the result of the thousand different ways of relating an event or transmitting an idea. In order to achieve this goal, the show creates a web of fake images, fictions that the audience confuses with reality.' -- LFdB
La condemnació de Faust
Opera
Opening: 19/08/1999
'This staging of the opera by Hector Berlioz, for the Salzburg Festival, established La Fura’s prestige in international opera circles and was the company’s second take on the Faustian myth.' -- LFdB
TIM-e
Special events and large-scale performances
Opening: 18/10/2004
'La Fura’s starting point was the Prometheus myth, in which he steals fire from the gods to give it to man, a metaphor of science and scientific thought. From this they designed a performance that recreates an increasingly technological world, where a network of total knowledge is established thanks to communications.' -- LFdB
Le Grand Macabre
Opera
Opening: 24/03/2009
'A singular staging for a singular opera. With music by Ligeti and libretto by Ghelderode, Le grand macabre has the carnal body as the thread that runs through this extraordinary tragicomedy, where laughter is the only magical spell to conjure up the fear of death.' -- LFdB
----
La Fura dels Baus is a Catalan theatrical group founded in 1979 in Barcelona known for their urban theatre, use of unusual settings and blurring of the boundaries separating audience and actor. From 1979 to 1983, La Fura dels Baus performed street theatre, these efforts evolved towards a concept of theatre that combines a wide range of stage resources based on the classical idea of an all-round show. The main contribution of La Fura was to approach its shows by encouraging the audience take an active part in areas traditionally reserved for the public and adapting its stage work to the very architectural elements found in the spaces in which each performance takes place. This blend of techniques and disciplines crystallized into the term “Furan language”, a term that has also been used to define the work of other theatre companies.
Since the early 1990s, La Fura dels Baus has diversified its creative efforts, moving into the fields of written drama, digital theatre and street theatre, performing contemporary theatre projects, opera or producing major corporate events. La Fura dels Baus has created its own record label, with a catalogue of 14 recordings; it has also published its work on other labels, including Dro, Virgin and Subterfuge. Naumon is a la Fura's ship, a floating performing arts center that has been to ports like Barcelona, Sardinia, Portugal, Beirut, Taipei, Newcastle or Haifa carrying various artistic, educational and cultural containers including the la Fura shows Naumaquia, Sub, Terramaquia and Matria. Currently, the Company is in process to create “Boris Godunov”, a new theatre piece, to be performed on stage and that will premiere next March. -- text collaged from various sources
_____________
La Fura dels Baus Website
_______________
Suz/O/Suz
Furan language performances
Opening: 30/08/1985
'Suz/O/Suz is an abstract show containing one idea: man. From that axis comes a fiction about human nature, about a man anguished by his own conscience. In order to develop this idea scenically, La Fura dels Baus devised a set which took advantage of the architectural elements offered by the different performance spaces, but which incorporated an entire complex and intricate series of scenic elements created by the company, which were able to modify the space and the audience’s participation. Poles, carts and moveable platforms, bathtubs and pools, scenic pieces which contained their own meaning and allowed the group to develop their language in order to express their vision of life.' -- LFdB
______________
Tier Mon
Furan language performances
Opening: 10/06/1988
'Tier Mon explores the always delicate territory of the relationships between the individual, humanity and power, which in this case is represented by three conflicting characters –the white god, the cripple and the dwarf– each struggling to dominate the other characters who symbolise the human race. The narration of this confrontation is articulated this time by a more complete and intricate dramaturgy than in the previous shows. The characters are described, they are uniquely identifiable and they establish a whole system of hierarchies within the show.' -- LFdB
______________
MTM
Furan language performances
Opening: 10/03/1994
'MTM is an allegory about the manipulation of information carried out by major political, economic and social forces through the mass media. MTM aspires to reproduce the news process, which is modified based on specific objectives. Here the truth appears as the result of the thousand different ways of relating an event or transmitting an idea. In order to achieve this goal, the show creates a web of fake images, fictions that the audience confuses with reality.' -- LFdB
_______________
La condemnació de Faust
Opera
Opening: 19/08/1999
'This staging of the opera by Hector Berlioz, for the Salzburg Festival, established La Fura’s prestige in international opera circles and was the company’s second take on the Faustian myth.' -- LFdB
_______________
TIM-e
Special events and large-scale performances
Opening: 18/10/2004
'La Fura’s starting point was the Prometheus myth, in which he steals fire from the gods to give it to man, a metaphor of science and scientific thought. From this they designed a performance that recreates an increasingly technological world, where a network of total knowledge is established thanks to communications.' -- LFdB
_________________
Le Grand Macabre
Opera
Opening: 24/03/2009
'A singular staging for a singular opera. With music by Ligeti and libretto by Ghelderode, Le grand macabre has the carnal body as the thread that runs through this extraordinary tragicomedy, where laughter is the only magical spell to conjure up the fear of death.' -- LFdB
----
p.s. Hey. (1.) So, we haven't done a Self-Portrait Day in a while, and I think it's time. For those of you who might be new or newish to this blog, an SPD basically works like this: Usually at the suggestion of someone from around here, I pick a theme or topic and then ask both people who comment here regularly and those who read silently to send in an entry that both conforms to the chosen thematic and is revealing of themselves, and then I collect all the ones I've received into a giant, single gallery style post. So, sans further ado or whatever, I hereby announce 'Self-Portrait Day: Objects of Desire'. I think I held a very similar SPD here quite a while ago, years ago even, but when someone here recently suggested the topic, it seemed like a no brainer, and a lot of you weren't around when that earlier version was done, and tastes change, and blah blah. So, I'm asking everyone out there to pick no more than five objects of their desire and send the evidence of these choices to me. You can send jpegs (as attachments), imbeddable videos, links to elsewhere, text, artworks, etc., or any combination thereof. (Text explanations of your choices, short or long, are always a plus but not in any way required.) I guess by desired objects, I'm thinking desired humans, although only you can choose what's hot, so you may choose whatever you like. Obviously, your objects can be famous, people you know, strangers, imaginary, dead, whatever. Please send your entries to dcooperweb@gmail.com. The deadline for sending in your entries is your bedtime in your time zone on Monday, July 13th, but if you can send them to me earlier, that would help me out on the post construction front. Understood? Please do participate because these SPDs are always most successful when they're jam packed. Any questions, just ask. I'll post this SPD info in a box in the blog's right hand column tomorrow. Thanks a lot. (2.) Oh, and I want to highlight and announce this important news: The long awaited, already legendary online experimental literary journal LIESISLE, co-edited by the blog's own Magick Mike, is finally up, and it's an amazing thing with excellent work by, among others, a bunch writers who will be well known to those of you who frequent this blog, including Antonio Uridales, Alistair McCartney, Michael Karo, Mike Kitchell, Jose a., Pascal O'Loughlin, and Lawrence w. Seriously, this first issue of LIESISLE is a total knock-out, so do click this link and take a look. And now, seeing as how the Tuesday cleaning crew is hot on my trail, I'll get to it. ** You-x, Your albums' absorption got delayed to today due to a ton of away from home time yesterday, but listening is my first post-p.s. order of 'business'. I didn't get to the Japan Expo, sadly. I had no time, it turned out, and I'm still grr-ing about that. Yeah, I read and loved your book, and let me fish it out and talk to you about it tomorrow when I'm not doing my Tuesday scrambling, but, yeah, I thought it was fantastic. Thanks a lot for talking back to everyone yesterday. You're the best, man. ** Orestes, Hey, man. How have you been? What's new? Thanks a lot about the recent posts. London and the 'Jerk' experience was very cool, apart from the fire, of course, which was quite haunting and awful. ** Erik, Well, as you can gather, Yury's and my interests are pretty different. The thing is, our place here is so utilitarian and feels so temporary even if it actually isn't, that our quarters is just kind of an organized mess. The table where my computer sits is basically my turf, so it's piled with all my stuff, and Yury has most of the rest of the place, apart from some bookshelves, to himself. When I'm in LA, I accumulate a lot, and I tend to keep things for many ages longer than I really should rather than eliminate them once I'm over the hump of my interest, but here, I try not to gather things as best I can, and Yury's stuff is mostly clothes and cosmetics and that kind of thing. So, basically, our little messes get along fairly well. I'll try to take some photos or something so you can see. So far, not a lot of local beach stories to add to yours. Interesting. I'd guess we'll get some stories before the summer ends, right? I'll probably even hit a beach before fall rolls around. Paris sets up a temporary fake beach along part of the Seine every summer, importing sand and everything, so there'll be my report of seeing that if nothing else. ** Stan_cz, It's so great to find a writer soul mate, as it were. My favorite Celine is -- using the English title -- 'Death on the Installment Plan', but I don't think he ever wrote anything that wasn't top tier. ** Alan, Okay, I'll pass things along when I know of them. I mean, I think there are a lot of things out there, but I just don't seem to get in the habit of consulting them for some reason. You're writing in Text Edit too? Interesting. I like it because it's so extremely basic, although I'm going to use that link you posted because word count is one thing I do miss. Right now, when I want to know how long my thing is getting, I have to copy and paste it in a Word doc to find out. Oh, ha ha, yeah, the 'S.C.A.B. 2' thing. The great genius, to my mind, of the queer zine era was this guy Johnny Noxzema who did a number of incredible zines, and who had a vendetta against Burroughs due to his misogyny among others things. Johnny and I were buddies, and I must have contributed to his works in some way, I'm sure, even if I don't remember the specifics, and JG, who was already antagonistic towards me by that point for various reasons, was not happy at all. I'd be surprised if there aren't quite a few unpleasant letters from JG to me scattered through my archives. ** Katsim, Wow, I can't believe you're already finished with your trip. It does seem like you only just got there. Time is scary. Oh, I'll go look at your Facebook pix today, for sure. I'm most curious to see Fraser Island not to mention any visual evidence of your time there. ** Kier, Hey. So, so great to meet you! More, more. Yeah, it was nice yesterday with the post(s) and everything, right? So how was that 3D 'Bloody Valentine' movie. I've been very hot to see that since forever, and it still hasn't opened in France, which is pretty weird. ** David Ehrenstein, Thanks, David. I hope we'll get to do a 'Jerk' post from LA one of these days or years. Palin is definitely pathetic, I more than agree, and here's hoping the media loses interest asap and facilitates her quick devolution into the female Joe the Plumber or worse. ** Davidc, Yeah, really good to see you, and you seemed utterly lucid to me, although I was enslaved to the heat as well, so perhaps a playback of our visit would find us peeking through our fingers, but I doubt it. ** Squeaky, Word has it that they didn't end up needing the SLG as a shelter after all. A more shelter-like space was found nearby. Just hearing about your lengthy SF trip makes me giddy too. I wonder if it won't make you want to move back there? ** Tonyoneill, You're incorrigible, ha ha. Oh, wait. Everyone, If you happen to be in the NYC environs tomorrow, the extraordinary writer and d.l. Tony O'Neill will be reading with a guy named Rob Plath at KGB tomorrow evening, and being there is a must. More info here. Oh, Sebastian Horsley came to see 'Jerk' in London with HP's Carrie, and I chatted with him for a bit, and he is such a totally charming guy. That was cool. ** SYpHA_69, Before you give up on Sade, you owe it yourself to try '120 Days of Sodom', which is, in my opinion, his best by light years. 'Justine' is easily my least favorite of Sade's major works. But do give '120 Days' a shot at some point. I think that might be the best way into Sade for you as it was for me. ** Kiddiepunk, Nice weather out, eh? Talk to you in a bit. ** Oscar B, Paris is all spring-like today, sigh. I hope you got some spring simulacra after your rain. Oh, okay, on the deadline. Mm, I think I'll talk to the powers that be here early next week because I'm sure it'll take a few days for the process to even begin. Fingers heavily crossed, and I'll let you know what I find out, even if it's only a vibe. Excellent on the MJ documents, yum, and I'll go look at the new drawings very happily in a bit. ** Pascal, Hey, pal. Got the email, and I'll post the poem with accompanying posed question in a couple of days. Should be very interesting. How's the novel reworking going? Thanks so very much about 'The Anal Retentive ...' Very kind of you, man. ** Empty Frame, As much as I'm determined and jonesing to move back to LA, I think I'll be here at least most of the time for another year. At the moment, the desired situation would be getting my bf a tourist visa so we could start spending more time in LA and living sort of half here and half there, but we'll see. So kind of you about helping me get to Berlin. Gosh, I don't know, anything would be okay. I've never read or done any kind of event anywhere in Germany. I've never sensed that my work is very well known or liked there, but I don't know, and Berlin doesn't seem like it's very typically German. 'Jerk' is playing in Berlin in December, which might be a good occasion except that I think that's before you're there. I'm game for anything and grateful for any possibility. So what are you doing and working on right now? You're still in England for a while yet, yes? Maybe some bookshops in London or somewhere sell imported copies of 'Ugly Man', but I don't know. I don't have a UK publisher at the moment, so importing it is the only way to go. Weird that my name isn't even in the system, though, since I think seven or eight of my books were published there and are in print as far as I know. Hm. ** JW Veldhoen, Well, yeah, totally, on the NYT review and more precisely re: your general point. Apart from Bookforum and maybe the NYRB and oddities here and there, I expect to learn so little from print coverage of books now. Print reviews are just opinionated press releases for the most part. Sometimes the negative reviews are cheap fun or mildly infuriating, but that's about it. I find almost everything, and I learn what I need to learn in advance about books, online and almost nowhere else now, which is actually just A-okay and preferable. ** Steevee, I hope you get some encouragement or decent tips from your friend of a friend. Mm, that's what I pretty much expected about 'Bruno'. Oh, well. ** Blendin, Uh oh, I'm getting this vibe that the LA move might not be panning out? Is the sad state that drastic? Hope not. What's going on? ** Math t, Hey. Um, you know, I did detect a certain difference in the UK Pizza Hut pizza. It had more ... substance maybe? More heft? More in the bread/crust than in the toppings. Not to say it was good, of course, but my stomach didn't feel as lonely with it inside as when American Pizza Hut splashes down. I might be tripping, though. Oh, shit, I'll go make the change in the post right now. Hold on. There, done. Sorry about that. What's the deal with American Apparel and Butt Magazine? Someone was just asking me the other day why AA is so gung-ho on Butt? Maybe it's just over here, but every AA store in Paris has the magazine on heavy display and with much pushing customers to buy it attached? ** Uli, Oh, yeah, I guess the cryogenics thing was too much to hope for. Not that I was hoping for it. I mean, who cares? It just seems like MJ's death is finally running out of weird twists and turns, and I was hoping for a new one. ** Chris, Oh, let me know what you see/find. I'm surprised there isn't more 'Them' stuff in my archive. I thought I remembered giving them a lot of things, but maybe they're still in my LA apartment somewhere. Anyway, it's awesome of you to take on the role of 'Them's' scout and foot-soldier and investigative reporter. ** Marc, Novel ... you're writing a new novel? Or do you mean the one you sent me, because I thought that was finished? (Btw, I haven't started reading it yet, ugh, sorry, due to LHotB submissions being backed up and my usual slowness re: everything except the blog.) Anyway, I don't know, man, about the novel. My policy is always to put things aside when they get like that. I never really abandon anything because it's amazing how things that look like shit can attain a golden glow over time. Very cool about the remix. Comanechi: yeah, I like what've heard of them, which is mostly the 'Death of You' and 'My Pussy' 45s. Let me know if your EP gets a UK release. Awesomeness on that possibility. ** NB, Well, howdy there! Thanks for coming in from what I imagine to be the scalding summer Texan heat. Strep is not good news. Nor is your laptop screen breakage. Mm, dude, it doesn't sound to me like you've had the best ever trip. Although learning that Shai talks like a TV game show announcer is revelatory if strangely appropriate enough news that I think it was probably all worth it. Do your parents have Texas accents? Do your friends? What else? Oh, it's so good to see you, pal! ** Flit, Oh, I should, uh ... yeah, let me ... Everyone, Flit, who is a rather sublime visual artist and d.l., has a question for anyone out there: 'So, I have been thinking about flypasting, wheat paste and graffiti; my work so far has been insular and implosive, I kinda want to take it into the street. Does anyone know anything about flypasting on a semi-large scale ... hints on achieving textures ? Oh, and if anyone wants to model for me. Feel free to email. No ideal models. I more interested in mirrors, if that makes sense, and I am hardly ideal.' Please, whoever and wherever you are, if you have some relevant knowledge or wish for photographc immortality, help Flit out via the comments area or elsewhere. Thanks. ** Magick Mike, Yeah, as I said in the announcement above, the first LIESISLE turned out incredibly well! What a wealth! Great, great work, man! I read a bunch of it this morning with my coffee, and I'll be all over it for days to come. Yeah, thanks a million, Mike. ** Inthemostpeculiarway, Tough choice there between 'Poultrygeist' and 'Empire of the Senseless', ha ha. I have a soft spot for Troma. I don't know that I would actually spend money on a Troma DVD, though. That might be a difference. I noticed on Facebook this morning that one of my friends there just joined a group called 'Gregg Araki is more talented than David Lynch', which kind of a weird, defensive name for a group, I thought. Why not go whole hog and call it, oh, 'Gregg Araki is more talented than God' or something. Okay, V. it is. Isn't there some scifi film thing called 'V.'? My day? I was kind of spaced out, but it was okay. I had lunch with the Jonathans, and that was very nice. My pal Gisele had her wisdom teeth taken out, and that wasn't very nice. I was barely home. The weather was ace. I worked on my non-fiction book. Uh, eating and so on. That was it. Today remains a mystery apart from more work on my non-fiction book, seeing Kiddiepunk, and getting kicked out of here by the cleaning crew any minute. And your day? Pray tell. ** Postitbreakup, Two days in a row here, nice. Keep it up, man. Tell me what's going on with you right now. Tell me what you did today in every detail. ** Misanthrope, Yeah, you should have been there. London, I mean. You should come to Avignon next summer. That should be a shebang. No, I don't want to see the MJ corpse picture. Things like that just make me feel bad weird. It just doesn't hold any interest for me at all. Don't know why. I think I told you I mistakenly looked at the picture of River Phoenix in his coffin years ago, and if I could take that back, I would. ** Panda?, Hey, man. Yeah, I got the pic, thanks a zillion. Everything's cool and on course. I wrote to my publisher to find out where that interview was for because I just can't remember. I like doing in-person and phone interviews because I just talk and don't care or think about what I'm saying. Email interviews aren't so much fun because I end up spending way too much time trying to say exactly what I want to say. I'm very glad your headache finally died. Probably one good night's sleep will take care of the afterburn, right? ** October, Hey, man. Gosh, that October possibility might really work out. I always do everything I can to go home to LA in October so I can have a real LA Halloween with lots of spooky house visits. So that might well be the thing. You want to hit some spooky houses? I can show you the best ones. I'm kind of an expert on that stuff if I don't say so myself. ** Okay, that's it. If you don't know the work of La Fura dels Baus, today's your chance to check them out initially at least. Start thinking about your SPD entries, please. I'm out of here now for the next 24 hours as per almost always, and I'll see you again at the usual time tomorrow.
Monday, July 6, 2009
Slideshow Double Header: (1) Math t presents ... Kier in NYC, June 27, 2009; (2) DC presents ... 'Jerk' in London, July 1 - 3, 2009
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The inside of 38 St Press looks like
Josh and Todd have made a lot of books
Kier is drawing individual original covers for the limited edition Japanese bound edition of the book. He is very kind to let me take some photos
Josh binds the limited editions in a simple manner that's sexy as shit. He calls it Japanese binding, evoking a certain type of bondage; plus it involves needles, slurp. Through research that night I learn the technique is originally Chinese and has also been widely used in Korea.
Josh binding the books
A finished copy
During this time I also attempt to draw something; however the faces become garbage. I am inspired by the allstar gang who did the Voidoid and I think I'll burn the faces out
The view from here. Let it be known that everything naughty depicted above was brought into 38 St Press by me. Josh, who hopes to design the Olympic mascot one day, was not involved whatsoever.
Next we go to Printed Matter. Inside
I only get one picture of Richard
Zachary German comes
So do JW Veldhoen and Nb, but inconveniently, I get too drunk to want to keep my camera in hand.
The last thing I manage to snap on 27 June are these zines by Kier onsale at Printed Matter, both bought by me both amazing
Bonus- next day, after pride, I take these pictures of Kier's tattoo
xx
your humble photographer
Buy The Voidoid, written by Richard Hell in 1973, illustrated by Kier Cooke Sandvik in 2008.
2.
The South London Gallery where 'Jerk' was performed is located in the Camberwell area of London and has been around for eons, as you can tell by the building's facade. In recent times, it's been an important venue for contemporary art -- showing big names like Tom Friedman, Brian Eno, Alfredo Jaar, Chris Burden, Gilbert & George, Steve McQueen, and Tracey Emin and young, emerging artists -- as well as film and performance art (or Live Art as they call it in England), which explains why our piece received an invitation courtesy of the SLG's awesome associate curator Anne-Sophie Dinant. Here are images of some previous events and shows at the SLG:
And here's our gang taking over.
This is Gisele Vienne, Jonathan Capdevielle, our lighting designer Patrick Riou, Anne-Sophie Dinant, the unpictured me, and some of the SLG's staff and curators setting up the space, rehearsing, and applying Jonathan's make up on the afternoon of the first performance.
A small boatload of UK based distinguished locals * saw the show over the course of the three nights. I snuck out to meet with most of them for a little while before the performances, usually but not always with camera in hand. Since the SLG is rather isolated, no pubs or cafes were within easy walking distance, so we either stuck to the front of the building or walked down to a nearby gas station for snacks and bad coffee.
* in attendance but not pictured: Blake Wood, James, Chris Goode, Roger Clarke, a.o.
Wednesday, the 1st: (l. to r.) Kier, Thomas, Tomkendall, Oscar B, Rigby, Tender Prey, Wolf. (For a closer look, see: below)
Also on Wednesday: Jheorgge
In an ideal situation, and the SLG provided it, the room where 'Jerk' is performed should be completely empty apart from Jonathan and the audience. This means that Gisele, Patrick, and I are sitting in an entirely different room during the show, running the lights and sound with a video monitor of what's going on in the performance space as our guide. So, below you see how the London shows looked to me. First you join me in spying on the audience as they file in, and then, when everyone is seated and has been handed their 'fanzine', which includes two pieces of writing that they are asked to read at designated points in the show, Jonathan, who is already sitting in his chair 'onstage' when the audience enters, waits for a prearranged secret signal that tells him it's okay to begin. By then, we're in the control room. For the London gigs, after the performance ended there was a ten minute break followed by yours truly reading four pieces from 'Ugly Man' followed by a discussion of 'Jerk' with the audience. On the first night, the theater maker Chris Goode conducted a formal interview with Gisele, Jonathan, and myself. On the other two nights, the three of us fielded questions on our own. Here are a few links to British press about the shows:
The Times: 'Jerk: puppetry with blood on its hands', by Joseph Galliano
'Jerk' @ Things I Want You to Know About
'Jerk' @ The New MT
A squib @ Time Out
The first night, we went out for dinner after the show, but between the late hour and the extreme sparsity of places to eat in the area, we ended up spending more time wandering around looking for restaurants than eating. After that, we just gave up and ordered in from Pizza Hut. Below you see some of the SLG curators and staff digging in.
On the last day and night of the performances, something strange and quite terrible happened. It's even possible you saw it on the news. Just behind the SLG are two very large low income housing towers, and when Gisele, Jonathan, and I arrived at the venue on Friday, one of them was experiencing a very serious fire. The not very clear picture below was taken from the SLG's backyard area. We all watched the building burn, people clinging to their balconies screaming for help, desperately and hopelessly trying to lower themselves on tied together bed sheets. After several hours, the fire department seemed to have the situation under control, so we went ahead with the show. But as the q&a was coming to an end, the fire department entered the SLG asking to use the building as a hospital for the wounded. The staff quickly broke down the bleachers and cleared the gallery space. By then six people had died in the fire. The paramedics didn't end up needing the space for medical reasons, but the burnt building was declared uninhabitable, and when Gisele, Jonathan, and I left late that night, the SLG staff was preparing for the likelihood that the space would need to be used as shelter and housing for the residents who had been left homeless.
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1.
The day of the Voidoid release party, Kier calls me and says he's burning holes in books with Richard [Hell], Todd and Josh. Do I want to come over. I've taken the day off and I'm already quite stoned but I get my shit together in record time and arrive at 38 St Press in under 45. Unfortunately, by the time I arrive the burning is over, fortunately having produced 1000 approximate replications of this
The inside of 38 St Press looks like
Josh and Todd have made a lot of books
Kier is drawing individual original covers for the limited edition Japanese bound edition of the book. He is very kind to let me take some photos
Josh binds the limited editions in a simple manner that's sexy as shit. He calls it Japanese binding, evoking a certain type of bondage; plus it involves needles, slurp. Through research that night I learn the technique is originally Chinese and has also been widely used in Korea.
Josh binding the books
A finished copy
During this time I also attempt to draw something; however the faces become garbage. I am inspired by the allstar gang who did the Voidoid and I think I'll burn the faces out
The view from here. Let it be known that everything naughty depicted above was brought into 38 St Press by me. Josh, who hopes to design the Olympic mascot one day, was not involved whatsoever.
Next we go to Printed Matter. Inside
I only get one picture of Richard
Zachary German comes
So do JW Veldhoen and Nb, but inconveniently, I get too drunk to want to keep my camera in hand.
The last thing I manage to snap on 27 June are these zines by Kier onsale at Printed Matter, both bought by me both amazing
Bonus- next day, after pride, I take these pictures of Kier's tattoo
xx
your humble photographer
Buy The Voidoid, written by Richard Hell in 1973, illustrated by Kier Cooke Sandvik in 2008.
2.
The South London Gallery where 'Jerk' was performed is located in the Camberwell area of London and has been around for eons, as you can tell by the building's facade. In recent times, it's been an important venue for contemporary art -- showing big names like Tom Friedman, Brian Eno, Alfredo Jaar, Chris Burden, Gilbert & George, Steve McQueen, and Tracey Emin and young, emerging artists -- as well as film and performance art (or Live Art as they call it in England), which explains why our piece received an invitation courtesy of the SLG's awesome associate curator Anne-Sophie Dinant. Here are images of some previous events and shows at the SLG:
And here's our gang taking over.
This is Gisele Vienne, Jonathan Capdevielle, our lighting designer Patrick Riou, Anne-Sophie Dinant, the unpictured me, and some of the SLG's staff and curators setting up the space, rehearsing, and applying Jonathan's make up on the afternoon of the first performance.
A small boatload of UK based distinguished locals * saw the show over the course of the three nights. I snuck out to meet with most of them for a little while before the performances, usually but not always with camera in hand. Since the SLG is rather isolated, no pubs or cafes were within easy walking distance, so we either stuck to the front of the building or walked down to a nearby gas station for snacks and bad coffee.
* in attendance but not pictured: Blake Wood, James, Chris Goode, Roger Clarke, a.o.
Wednesday, the 1st: (l. to r.) Kier, Thomas, Tomkendall, Oscar B, Rigby, Tender Prey, Wolf. (For a closer look, see: below)
Also on Wednesday: Jheorgge
Thursday, July 2: (top to bottom) Oliver w/ Jonathan; Paul Curran; Pascal & Andra
Friday, July 3: (top to bottom) Colin, left, with Reuben and Caroline; Dominic and Davidc.
In an ideal situation, and the SLG provided it, the room where 'Jerk' is performed should be completely empty apart from Jonathan and the audience. This means that Gisele, Patrick, and I are sitting in an entirely different room during the show, running the lights and sound with a video monitor of what's going on in the performance space as our guide. So, below you see how the London shows looked to me. First you join me in spying on the audience as they file in, and then, when everyone is seated and has been handed their 'fanzine', which includes two pieces of writing that they are asked to read at designated points in the show, Jonathan, who is already sitting in his chair 'onstage' when the audience enters, waits for a prearranged secret signal that tells him it's okay to begin. By then, we're in the control room. For the London gigs, after the performance ended there was a ten minute break followed by yours truly reading four pieces from 'Ugly Man' followed by a discussion of 'Jerk' with the audience. On the first night, the theater maker Chris Goode conducted a formal interview with Gisele, Jonathan, and myself. On the other two nights, the three of us fielded questions on our own. Here are a few links to British press about the shows:
The Times: 'Jerk: puppetry with blood on its hands', by Joseph Galliano
'Jerk' @ Things I Want You to Know About
'Jerk' @ The New MT
A squib @ Time Out
The first night, we went out for dinner after the show, but between the late hour and the extreme sparsity of places to eat in the area, we ended up spending more time wandering around looking for restaurants than eating. After that, we just gave up and ordered in from Pizza Hut. Below you see some of the SLG curators and staff digging in.
On the last day and night of the performances, something strange and quite terrible happened. It's even possible you saw it on the news. Just behind the SLG are two very large low income housing towers, and when Gisele, Jonathan, and I arrived at the venue on Friday, one of them was experiencing a very serious fire. The not very clear picture below was taken from the SLG's backyard area. We all watched the building burn, people clinging to their balconies screaming for help, desperately and hopelessly trying to lower themselves on tied together bed sheets. After several hours, the fire department seemed to have the situation under control, so we went ahead with the show. But as the q&a was coming to an end, the fire department entered the SLG asking to use the building as a hospital for the wounded. The staff quickly broke down the bleachers and cleared the gallery space. By then six people had died in the fire. The paramedics didn't end up needing the space for medical reasons, but the burnt building was declared uninhabitable, and when Gisele, Jonathan, and I left late that night, the SLG staff was preparing for the likelihood that the space would need to be used as shelter and housing for the residents who had been left homeless.
----
p.s. Hey. Since the blog was already in a self-reflective mood this weekend, I thought I'd go ahead and blow the mood out with one more here-centric post before the whole world seeps back into the front page again. My sincere thanks to Math t for capturing Kier's NYC days with her classic panache. Me, I'm back in Paris where it's refreshingly cool and rainy after the medium swamp that was London weather. D.L. and artist sublime Kiddiepunk moved into the Recollets yesterday for a living stint of indeterminate length. I'm just easing back into the local routine of writing and the rest of whatever it is that I tend to do. Since I have a fair amount of comments to catch up with this morning, I'll head that way now, beginning with the accumulated comments from last week that I didn't catch in Saturday's post. ** Pre-Saturday: Jesse Hudson, I'm no fan of Boyd Rice either. I think his music is rinky dink and so-so at best, and I think his ideas are pretty half-assed, and I think his provocations are just slight variations on overly trod 'offensive' themes. I don't hate what he does particularly, I'm just not interested. ** Thomas, Hey, man! A real pleasure to finally get to meet you and talk to you at least a little. Thanks for the good words on 'Jerk', and of course for the stuff you gave me. I haven't had the chance to enjoy it yet, but it's angled in for later today. Hope I get to see you more lengthily before long. Take good care, my friend. ** Stan_cz, Hey. My back is edging ever closer to hardly feeling like it's there at all, which, of course, is the goal. London was a good thing. Oh, I'm really glad you liked the Celine so much. I forget: was that your first first hand experience with Celine? ** Rigby, Greetings, thank you, hug, cheek kisses, and more. ** Pascal, Ah, hey, man. Very, very good to meet you at last, and I'm glad 'Jerk' sat well with you. Thanks a lot. Oh, sure, of course it's more than cool to have the blog folk vote on your poem question. Stuff like that is what the blog is here to do. What's best? I could post it in the p.s. and make your word choice question the question of the day, or you can post it in the comments yourself. Whatever suits you best. Sounds like fun to me. ** _Black_Acrylic, Hey, Ha ha, wow, gay photographer. That's a first. They probably said 'pornographer' in some accent that the journalist couldn't quite interpret clearly? ** Oliver, Hey. I wish I'd had a chance to meet up. I didn't realize you were there until I saw you in that photo up there. Yeah, the meet and greet plans were made very imperfect in many cases by the limited set up at the SLG. Drat. But thanks a lot for coming, and of course I'm really happy that you found the piece interesting. I'm totally with you on Rice. ** Bill, I hope Ohio is treating you well and not scorching you. Yeah, seeing Bausch's early works had a huge impact on me too. 'Cafe Mueller', among them, and her production of 'Rites of Spring' was mindbogglingly good. Take care while you're there. ** SYpHA_69, Yeah, on Rice. I'm there. Thanks so much for the kind words on 'UM'. That means a lot to me. Yeah, thank you. ** Bernard Welt, I found you clear as a bell. ** Steevee, That Shaviro MJ piece was quite interesting, yeah. Thanks, man. ** Flit, Hey, pal. ** David Ehrenstein, The Palin resignation feels very ominous to me, but who the fuck knows, I guess. Weird, weird, weird. ** Derek McCormack, My extreme honor, Mr. McCormack. ** Colin, Hey. Man, so nice to get to meet you. A real and total pleasure. Well, like I said above, we didn't know how bad the fire was at that point either. It had seemed to have been under control that afternoon from our vantage point, and the post-show news was a real shock. Anyway, thank you a lot, and I hope we'll get to meet up and spend a lot more time visiting in the future like ... in Paris? Know you've got a tour guide if need be at the drop of a hat. ** Chris, Hey, man. Yeah, I'll get caught up on Facebook today, and I'll check for your message and write to you pronto. Hope your weekend was swimming. ** Inthemostpeculiarway, Glad your nose started treating you more politely. Still, the ongoing sickness isn't good. You've consulted a decent doctor and everything? I've never really gotten into McInerney's work. I read a couple, and I tried a couple more, but there's just nothing much there for me. I've never been a huge Fitzgerald fan, and that seems to be the model for him, so maybe that's it. Well, I hope your crappy sounding weekend ended with a bang in a good way. I liked London. Sometimes I go to London, and I don't like the place much at all, but this time I got the goodness and charms of the place. I think it was all the cool people, and maybe the fact that we were lodged in South Kensington, which is a pretty sweet, very high English looking/seeming area. ** You-x, London was quite nice, like I said. The heat and humidity sucked, but otherwise, yeah, all good. Shows went great. I possess your albums finally, having downloaded them last night, and today they'll make their grand entrance into my permanent experience. Can't wait. And thank you again so much for the awesome and humbling and charismatic weekend post, man. I like Death in June okay. ** Panda?, Hey, pal. Oh, you know, ha ha, I don't remember where the interview was for, which sounds weird, but I've been doing a bunch so I'm kind of confused. I'll find out. Did you get my email about needing that one missing image from the post? I hope the headache fled hours and hours ago. Oh, and thanks a lot for your major part in yesterday's post. So incredibly nice of you. ** Uli, Hey. Oh, Allroh, interesting. Yeah, I'll bet that was really good. My limited understanding of the Black Metal relationship to White Supremacy leads me to think that, well, it's hard to tell. Obviously, some of those bands are really into it, but the image of that music is so thick and so rendered into so much showmanship and confined mostly to graphics and lyrics and iconography that I do wonder whether it's not, in many cases, just used as scary ballast to help make the music and its vibe feel grounded. I don't know. Others might know more, and I thought Oliver's comment just below yours made a lot of sense in terms of how that offense is best processed if nothing else. Very interesting question. ** Saturday: David Ehrenstein, 'The Split', wow, there's a film I haven't thought about in a long time. Yeah, I didn't know Wenders was making that 3D Bausch film. Shit. I wonder how far along it was? My guess is he'll do a Terry Gilliam in some way or another, but ... ** Bernard Welt, Two days after the Palin announcement, and I'm already nostalgic for the MJ news overkill. ** Tomkendall, Super great to see you, and awesome that you're excited about writing right now. Yes! The Kathy Acker doc was shown on the French/ German TV channel Arte about two weeks ago, although it was past my bedtime, and I don't have Tivo unfortunately. But I'm guessing people recorded it, so maybe it'll end up as a torrent if it isn't already. I still haven't seen it, and I'm supposedly interviewed in some cut of it. ** Winter Rates, 95 degrees in Portland? I didn't think that was possible. I missed Wimbledon, but I could hear the collective UK's groans about Murray losing all the way across the channel. ** Marcus Whale, Hey! Yeah, I wandered downstairs yesterday morning to hand AMT/ Kiddiepunk his key and help him into his new home, and he was raving about the recording you guys did, and I saw the cover on his computer. I think he's going to sneak me a listen in the next day or so. Oh, that Cole Mohr thing ... did you alert me to that on Facebook? I think I saw an alert. If so, I'll go read it. Thanks, man. ** Mark, Yeah, I think you're just too classy for Model Mayhem. Not that I've ever looked at that site, but the name says it all. Actually, the name isn't so bad, I guess, in and of itself, but it just seems kind of obvious that their definition of mayhem isn't ours. Oh, let me try again on the pass-along front. Everyone, the superb and multi-talented artist and DL Mark is looking for models for a photographic project. Here are his words: 'Do any of you DC’ers in the SF Bay Area have the nude modeling bug? I prefer young women, but I am willing to work with men, TS, anything. We can shoot wherever you feel most comfortable, indoors, outdoors, at home, -- you name it.' Give it a thought and chance, you people in SF, and I guess let Mark know either here or via some more private means. ** Oscar B, Hey! Oh, yeah, our little first meeting was just the tip of the .... iceberg would be a weird term to use although it might feel just right considering your current weather conditions du jour, so ... iceberg on the hanging out front. A complete pleasure. Thank you a lot about 'Jerk'. Oh, I think you absolutely must post pix or video from your Michael Jackson performance. I think it's kind of imperative, no? ** Pisycaca, Hey, hey. Yeah, I should be pretty around and doing not too much (apart from, you know, the blog and my novel and the usual) while you're here. I'm greatly looking forward to your trip too, naturally. If you're not in the mood or right state of mind for 'Infinite Jest', then wait. It's a seriously great novel, and best to tackle it when it makes you hungry. ** Empty Frame, Hey. Good, I'm glad you decided to dive in. It was great meeting you, and you completely blew my mind reminding me about those films I sent you. I had spaced on doing that. And just knowing Mark E. Smith laid eyes positively on something I something to do with is a victory I'll treasure forever. Yeah, do try to come to Paris, if you can. That'd be great. And, like I said, I'd love to come to ultra-mysterious and forever tempting Berlin, so if you can think of any good reasons, that'd be awesome. And I hope you'll stick around here when you can. That would be a real pleasure. Take care. ** Dan, Hey, Dan. Oh, okay, I'll have a think about LA people and tell them to get in on the screening asap. That's exciting, and I'll go look at the new press on the site. Great, great! Thanks a million as ever, Dan. ** SYpHA_69, Yeah, this place has occasioned some pretty amazing friendships, right? I'll be forever hugely grateful to the blog's existence for that alone. Exactly, plug away on 'Grimoire' but keep working and moving forward. That's the ticket, and that's my modus operandi too. Mm, on the Burroughs obit ... I kind of decided crossed with agreed not to talk about that issue anymore because it just got me and others in a bunch of hot water, and this is way too public a place to go into it, but I stand by what I wrote, and if you can't get a copy of 'All Ears', I'm pretty sure that piece will be in the non-fiction collection I'm putting together. ** Misanthrope, I have seen one decent pic of MJ's oldest son, and I did think he was an adorable looking kid, yeah. I suppose we'll be seeing a ton of him for the rest of our miserable lives. ** JW Veldhoen, Mm, I think I like exactly the thing you don't like about T. Rex, but I guess I don't really think of him as overly associated with Bowie. It's just two different animals with the same timing like, uh, The Ramones and Television or something. Anyway, all that said, going in the further direction of Bowie would be my pick too. When do you guys start making music and jamming and all that? Elton John rocks?! Surely, you jest. If I were God, I'd probably wipe the slate clean of every song he's ever recorded. The black of that Ryan White joke was too black for me. That's the softy side of me showing, I guess. ** Flit, I know, Elton John, yikes. ** JoeM, My three worst rock deaths, off the top of my head: Nick Drake, Gram Parsons, Brian Jones. ** No more teenagekicks, Hey. It's so true about youtube comments. They're otherworldly, and so is their strange glue. ** David, Howdy. ** Math t, An in-person, as it were, thanks again for documenting the Kier takes Manhattan experience for all of us. Yeah, granted that LSD hasn't been what I remember LSD being for a long, long time, but that doesn't sound like LSD to me, or else it was heavily cut with something somehow. Strange. But you were pleasured ultimately, yes? Oh, I think I caught the edit. I hope so. If not, alert me in the comments, and I'll make the change as soon as I see it. Have you read or do you know what the deal/story is with Tao's 'Shoplifting ... American Apparel' novella? ** Kiddiepunk, How trippy to be talking to you here when you're all but walking on my ceiling as I type. ** Jesse Hudson, Good celeb deaths. Can't argue with a one, as imaginary deaths go. Although maybe the Jonas Brothers should die from massive heart attacks caused by the overwhelmingly great sex they'd just had with Misanthrope? ** Bacteriaburger, Hey, man. How's it, the writing, you, etc.? ** Alan, Hey. Yeah, I liked the last line of that Times review too. Otherwise, you know, it could have been a lot worse, but I've gotten that same review a hundred times, so there was no interest there for me. I'll let you know if I find any 'UM' reviews that excite me, yeah. Thanks a lot for asking. ** Erik, Oh, yeah, that's a strange thing, right? I mean sharing a space that was originally the other person's. In my relationships, it's almost always been boyfriends moving into my apartments rather than the other way around. I think the only time I moved into a boyfriend's place was with my ex Richard in Amsterdam actually. And that worked out very poorly. I go to the beach mostly if not always after the sun goes down. That's my kind of beach. When I visit my dad in Hawaii, he lives on the beach, so I have no choice in that case, and getting brown/tan is kind of interesting. You like the beach, don't you? I feel you're the blog's official beach going guy. ** Squeaky, Did you get the big cool off today like we did? Wow, what a relief. It's only like 20 outside today. I might even wear my coat when I go out. You'll like Derek's book, I'm pretty damned sure. When do you go to SF again. This fall? ** Uli, Michael Jackson buried without his brain? Oh, wait, he was probably a cryogenics -- or whatever you call it -- loving guy like Walt Disney, I bet. So his brain will be in one of those frozen cans. Maybe. Hm. ** Wolf, Dude, thank you, such a pleasure to be your presence. I think I'm not going to Avignon next week. Not for sure on that, but that's a guess. If southern France bores or cooks you excessively, you know where Paris is, right? ** Tender Prey, Hey, Marc. Yeah, sorry again for that fuck up. My phone was indeed at the SLG, but it was weird because, like I said above, when we arrived, that building right behind the SLG was on fire, so we all just stood in the SLG's back yard watching that in horror until show time. Anyway, it was really great to see you even a little, and, you know, thank you a lot about 'Jerk'. Interesting and beautiful thought re: the body idea and my work. I've forgotten what the other name was in that equation Gisele constructed with Riefenstahl. Sade? I'll have to ask her. Yeah, Riefenstahl is a big reference point for G. in the new piece we're working on. Anyway, yeah, take care, man, and, as I always say, come to Paris! ** Jesse Hudson, Ah, thanks, Jesse. Yep. ** Rigby, Thanks, mate, cheers. (Wow, I'm so not English). Oh, I'm like that excited pop corn eating MJ? But my excitement is more internalized, isn't it? Maybe not. I try to avoid mirrors and photos of myself like the plague. ** Chilly Jay Chill, Stephen and Sunn0))) are on their mid-west tour, but I think he gets back here in a couple of weeks, which might be too late for you, but, if it isn't, I'll definitely ask him, no problem. Oh, I have to get that 'Treasures ... ' DVD then. Thanks! I'm back working on the novel again. I was completely stuck in terms of going forward, and so I'm reworking and refining and polishing, etc. what I've written, and that's helping a lot and going well so far. Anyway, I need to finish the non-fiction book mss. in the next two weeks, so the novel will have to wait a bit yet again. I don't think I'll be traveling much until early August when Yury has his vacation, at which point I assume we'll go somewhere for a week or something. ** Steevee, Really hope you score the Toronto Fest gig. Yeah, how was 'Bruno'? I want to see it, but my expectations are pretty middling. ** October, Hey. Yeah, toughing it through is probably the only way to go, but of course talk about it as much as you need to because, yeah, that always helps, and I'm always interested in how you are. I hope one of these days I'll get to a do Slideshow post with you in it. Maybe when 'Jerk' plays Fresno, ha ha, or else you'll just have to get yourself to LA when I'm there sometime, okay? ** Postitbreakup, Hey, Josh. It's really nice to see you. I wish you'd come around here more. You're always missed. And even though I'm the slowest correspondent in history, I will read your piece you sent and write to you as soon as I can. ** Pascal, Hey, hey, my friend. ** Okay, that's that. We're caught up, and now it'll be smooth sailing around here for a while. Enjoy the local photo show. I'm off to buy cigarettes and then have lunch with the Jonathans (Capdevielle and Schatz) and subsequently powwow with them and Gisele about theater stuff. Have good Mondays. See you tomorrow.
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