Pranks, Punk and Industrial Culture from V. Vale

V. VALE RE/SEARCH BLOG 6-26-09 THE ZEROS at GILMAN STREET, plus NEGATIVE TREND and THE LEWD

Sometimes when a band comes to town, memories get activated so strongly that decades (in this case, three) seemingly get instantly erased. It’s magic when a band not only plays an entire set of what now appear to be the “classics” they must have always been – where every song seems simple, minimalist, perfect – but everyone still looks great. And now, the playing seems effortless and sometimes blazingly fast while barely looking at the guitar fretboard. Thirty-two years! A real band, the Zeros play fully in synch — instinctual choreography without prior rehearsal — very captivating yet not contrived — just people playing together in harmony and intuitively doing what’s “right.”

Gilman Street itself is a marvel of Punk Countercultural longevity. For the first time I noticed the facade — the tan corner building at 924 Gilman Street proclaims itself to be a “Caning Shop” – Chair Caning – Rush – Splint – Wicker – Repairs and Supplies – How-To Books – Basketry Classes.” What a perfect cover for a Punk Rock Club. Outside at 8:30pm three men had set up two BBQ grills and were serving both meatatarian and vegetarian burgers and hot dogs, prepared on separate grills with separate spatulas. Unbelievably, they were free, no strings attached. I had two vegetarian patties with catsup, served on a napkin (I’m avoiding anything made from grains). Amazing.

Craig Gray, Negative Trend guitarist, came up and and I mentioned how, back in ‘77, he had been an amazing guitarist while still a teenager in the band Grand Mal, which I had briefly played bass in. He talked about how nowadays kids learn how to play guitar in “rock class.” You go to a rock ‘n’ roll school and in one room you hear Led Zeppelin, the next room the Beatles.” I said, “Well, maybe they can learn how to play much faster.” Craig said, “But, I’ve always been someone who stayed in my room and played guitar — I still do that. But I’ve gone out with women who were amazing piano players, playing very difficult classical music, but I ask them to play something THEY wrote and — they can’t. I’d much rather be able to play AND write songs … come up with tunes. Sometimes it seems that musicians who aren’t quite so good are the ones who can write the songs. Well, it seems better to be able to do BOTH.” I agreed, and indeed, find it difficult to understand why people who are so technically proficient just can’t write original songs. Weird…

Made it inside the dark club and Javier Escovedo came up (Zeros guitarist). I don’t think I’d seen him for thirty years, but he looked good. He said, “My younger brother Mario came up and he’s working our ‘merch’ table.” I said, “Alejandro (guitarist for the NUNS, 1977 S.F. Punk Band)  is your older brother, right? How much older is he?” “He said, “Oh, I think he’s six or seven years older.” I said, “Aren’t you related to Coke Escovedo?” “Yes, he and Pete (Escovedo) are my half brothers. Their sister is Sheila E; she’s worked with Prince and others.” I said, “All the Escovedos are musicians; that certainly must be genetic.” He said, “I did an interview with the L.A. Times yesterday, and told ‘em that my mother said she would be ashamed if everyone in the family WASN’T a musician.” Wow … that sounds like a better way to raise kids…

Ricky Williams, legendary Sleepers vocalist (one of the best rich male voices during Punk, anywhere) had a son Zach, and he got up and sang two songs with Negative Trend. Penelope Houston (Avengers vocalist) was there and she whispered, “It’s so weird seeing him sing — some of the facial expressions are just like Ricky’s — but Zach has long hair. Very strange.” I talked to Zach before the show and he said he was gonna try to sing more from the diaphragm … this saves your throat from being damaged.

Negative Trend has a new vocalist who is full of fire and passion, and tonight featured on drums Tony Sales Jr (the son of TONY SALES, who I had interviewed thirty years ago when he and his brother Hunt backed Iggy Pop on tour). Tony said he had lived thirteen years in Wisconsin on a farm, and had recently moved to Berkeley. In Wisconsin he had a Country Music band, and in Berkeley he’s also playing jazz (and hopefully will play more Negative Trend concerts). He certainly is an amazing drummer, just like his dad…

We also saw the last part of the set by the Lewd, and it was pile-driving, just like the band was thirty years ago.

The Zeros’ powerhouse set raced against time, with only a few seconds between each song. Great sound balance, vocals totally decipherable, Simply a great band, highly underrated, with world-class songs and stage presence — but nobody is “full of themselves.” A handful of people from the Seventies were in the audience, and some had brought their kids, including Baba Chenelle, who drove up from San Diego with his wife, 15-year-old daughter and younger son (?). We talked to an older Hispanic woman, dressed in stylish black, who said she had seen the band in the old days and liked them because she too is Hispanic — she thought of them as “the Mexican Ramones.” After tonight’s set of A-list songs, I’d have to agree that the Zeros deserve much wider, international appreciation. Maybe they’ll get it; it’s not too late… We drove home to San Francisco over the Bay Bridge with their beautiful songs reverberating in our memories… Time is a mystery, isn’t it? [The End]

V. VALE RE/SEARCH BLOG 6/25/09 Topic: FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA’S “TETRO”

Last Friday night 10pm walked to the local Embarcadero Landmark Theater to see what surely must have been the “best” film of the year, and one of Francis Ford Coppola’s stellar achievements. He dared to release it in black-and-white, but what beautiful, masterful lighting — every frame becomes 3-dimensional, with haunting shadows and angular compositions hearkening back to the best of Film Noir and early Orson Welles deep-focus cinematography (”Citizen Kane,” “The Magnificent Ambersons”). Faces and bodies become living sculptural tableaus, and certain environments seem to embody visual contradiction — loved the use of mirrors in the principal apartment setting to provide “impossible” views. This epic film (242 minutes; no intermission) seemed to be over in a half-hour, and with a sudden “happy” ending which certainly took this viewer by surprise. The movie was so beautiful I wanted it to go on and on, and the next day I was disobeying the Zen dictum to “Be here now” and instead was still living in the world of the film.

Actually, the flashbacks of the film were in COLOR so you could easily tell what was happening “now” as to opposed to what happened back “then.” Coppola has always had an ear for providing music you want to hear over and over. This film also contained dance sequences you want to see again and again, just to analyze the choreography, lighting and sets. Supposedly every object and building in a film functions as a kind of “actor,” and there were so many scenes that projected a panoply of intense emotionality that there wasn’t time to appreciate every detail of a scene before a new scene appeared to hypnotize the enquiring eye. A film isn’t just a series of photo stills, however; time and motion provide the simulation of life itself. At a certain point a gorgeous, wide-screen view of Buenos Aires appears and you suddenly take a deep breath, realizing that what you’ve been immersed in is just one of many stories in a huge, world-class city filled with beautiful streets and architecture, just like in Vienna or Paris.

Showing a play or video or ballet or work of art being made inside of the “real” film you are watching is a favorite structural advantage which only cinema can embody, and this potential has been employed in some favorite films of the past (”Children of Paradise,” “The Golden Coach,” “Crime of Monsieur Lange,” etc). “TETRO” exploits this in a very satisfying way. How many enthralling female actresses are also first-rate dancers? There are TWO of them in this film, and the major female role is played by what must be a major actress of our time, Maribel Verdu. It certainly looked like one of the main actors was really playing the piano in a certain pivotal scene. There are enough richly-detailed minor characters to evoke a slightly dismaying confusion as to whether one is dealing with Western Europe or South America here … Europe transplanted to Argentina equals international cultural sophistication, seemingly superior to America’s general cultural literacy. Best of all, there are some gorgeous, genuinely SURREALIST sequences — all too rare these days.

There are some dazzling scenes filmed in Patagonia … no wonder it’s a desirable destination for postmodern tourists… Actually, films are a way of armchair traveling, and this is one “trip” that will prove richly rewarding, unlike so many films being made today. This is a modern classic, an epic. We hope San Francisco and the world will support this fully-independently-produced, total 100% artistic control, theater release by one of the only masters of the cinema alive today. The film HAS to be seen in a movie theater with a large screen, so see it while it’s still at a theater near you. [The end.]

V. Vale RE/SEARCH blog 6-24-09. Themes: 1) Meditation 2) Music-Making

2 “themes”: “Meditation in Theory and Practice” – “Making Music for People”

This “blog” arose out of a morning discussion over tea with our intern Alex.

The word “meditation” sounds to me like a “New Age” word — meaning, it provokes that same sense of aversion I instinctively feel toward anything that smacks of “trendiness.” To me — and this is going to offend some people — Buddhism is diametrically opposed to being an artist. The emphasis on clearing the mind, making the mind blank, renouncing all desire, non-attachment to things and people and “delusions,” holding forth as an ideal the ownership of nothing — personally, I’m an advocate of Dada/Surrealist theories of creativity, in which dreams, the subconscious, the unconscious, chance, desire, all are resources for poetic metaphors arising, sometimes unbidden. We are here to channel. The imagination and dreams create the future. All that is “culture” was once only “imagined.”

Anyone playing improvisatory music must keep their mind “blank” to “go with the flow” of whatever instantly arises demanding expression. And especially when one is playing “jazz” with other musicians. Any artist, poet, writer, musician worth her/his salt knows the value of giving free expression to that which arises out of the subconscious — we’re animals, let’s instantly heed our instincts and intuitions, not repress them with faulty systems of “logic” and “rationality.” At the same time, we’re aware that “science” arose out of “necessity” — there seem to be invisible LAWS behind all phenomena. And we’re far from having discovered ALL the laws behind all phenomena. What is most important is what we DON’T KNOW. And why not be afraid to admit that we DON’T KNOW something…

I’m almost a fan of “mistakes” – in fact, a major reason to go hear musicians play live is to hear “mistakes” — and any “good” musician is adept at instantly converting the “wrong” note into a transition toward a more “correct’ note…

For a musician playing for other people in a room it is interesting to try to “channel” everyone in the room — the zeitgeist in the room — or listen to the people present and try to improvise or play something which enhances their collective “mood” — not just play whatever YOU feel like playing. At the least, it’s an interesting game to play: to try to channel somebody or the collective social body. Sometimes it’s interesting to try to come up with something “beautiful.” Other times the impulse arises to play something that “rocks out” and gets people dancing or at least moving their bodies rhythmically. Sometimes it feels “right” to play an old song and have people sing along. But once that starts, it’s often very difficult to think of ANOTHER song to follow up with, especially if some “good” singers have appeared. Write a list of songs for these occasions, and always have that list with you — you never know when you might need it. Maybe categorize the songs by genres: blues, Beatles, 50s, 60s — whatever you know and love.

Actually, it’s always good to ONLY play songs that you truly love… songs that have a lot of potential for “hidden harmonies” to be revealed, or alternative melodies to be improvised. Some songs have bridges or choruses that were obviously “tacked on” at a different time than when the original inspiration for the “hit melody” appeared. Great melodies just “show up,” and sometimes this only happens once, or a few times, during an entire career. Many songs that are “hits” have forgettable bridges or choruses or even verses … just one “hit” section may be enough to make a song memorable and popular.

And don’t feel guilt about coming up with a melody that sounds “beautiful.” The hardest “thing” to come up with is a simple melody that’s never been heard before, like “Happy Birthday.” Simplicity is underrated, both in music, art, and in life… “Simplicity” as a goal in life — you could do far worse…

V. Vale’s “blog” written Tue, June 23 (ah, that number “23″), 2009, 9:30AM

Read two quotations last night which made me feel just “lucky” to be alive:

” We are quick to forget that just being alive is an extraordinary piece of good luck, a remote event, a chance occurrence of monstrous proportions. Imagine a speck of dust next to a planet a billion times the size of the earth. The speck of dust represents the odds in favor of your being born; the huge planet would be the odds against it. So stop sweating the small stuff. Don’t be like the ingrate who got a castle as a present and worried about the mildew in the bathroom. Stop looking the gift horse in the mouth…” – Nassim Taleb, The Black Swan

“To give [my wife] Mary a break, I often heaped the three toddlers into their huge pram, a stretch limousine of the perambulator world…We spent hours with little fish nets, hunting for shrimps, which were always taken home in jam jars and watched as they refused to cooperate and gave up the ghost… Shepperton Studios were easy to enter in those wonderful summers nearly fifty years ago, and I would take the children past the sound stages to the field where unwanted props were left to the elements: figureheads of sailing ships, giant  chess-pieces, half an American car, stairways that led up to the sky and amazed my three infants. And their father: days of wonder that I wish had lasted for ever. I thought of my children then, and still think of them, as miracles of life, and I dedicate this autobiography to them.” – J.G. Ballard, Miracles of Life

Looking back, “luck” is probably the key factor that brought me to “where I am now” in San Francisco. Oh, and desire. My beatnik uncle brought me here years ago and I found the Bay Area so beautiful — and with the perfect year-round climate — that as soon as possible I moved here. I liked the idea that I wouldn’t have to own a car to get around. Best of all, there were other wanna-be poets and musicians and artists and writers, and places to meet like coffeehouses and small clubs, often run by eccentrics and “characters.” San Francisco at night was a beautiful place to just walk around and admire the old architecture and streets and little alleys of mystery.

My favorite streets in Chinatown are those little alleys, and I recently toured them again at twilight last Wednesday night when Magnus Werzer (excellent photographer) of Skifz came to town from Vienna. Machine artist Kal Spelletich drove him to the RE/Search office and we improvised an off-the-map, walking, alternative tourist tour. It’s simple, really — avoid the mainstream streets and seek out the unusual, the “strange,” the “marvelous,” off the beaten path. Just like in life itself… Trust your intuition…

And, as William S. Burroughs once said, “Avoid the UNLUCKY, the accident-prone, and the mentally ill…”

 I particularly hate it when “rebels” die — there are already so few of them/us. Sometimes it seems like virtually everyone you meet these days in the world is a slave to the profit motive/capitalist imperative: “What’s the meaning of life?” “To make money!” J.G. Ballard, and another of my relatively recently deceased role models, W.S. Burroughs, both refused to prostitute their writing, and they both refused to shmooze and “network” merely to further their “careers.” Both had a hatred of bourgeois hypocrisy and phony politeness, while at the same time being deeply polite and courteous, almost to a fault …

But for now, let us think of ways to publicly mourn one of the greatest thinkers and poets of the past century. By some irony, “The Complete Short Stories of J.G. Ballard” is reportedly soon to be published in the United States, complete with two additional stories not included in the U.K. edition. Short stories, more than novels, may appropriately suit the trend of the increasingly shorter attention span of the human populace, who demand more flash ads, tiny videos and music quotations as they read their two-minute, two-page articles on the Internet. I suggest that for the next month (or year), readers shut out everything else and read ONLY J.G. Ballard novels, short stories, essays, interviews and reviews. Your mind, language, and outlook are guaranteed to be permanently altered…

“Death always presents the face of surprised recognition,” wrote William S. Burroughs. He also advised all of us to “Stay out of hospitals,” and “Avoid Doctors.” Well, even though I had been concerned about J.G. Ballard’s health after hearing two years ago that he had been diagnosed with “advanced” prostate cancer, I still felt a kind of unthinking complacency mixed with my concern: “Almost every human male has prostate cancer when he dies; it acts very slowly and can take decades to kill a man.” To be honest, having seen him recently in October 2008, I really didn’t think he would die THIS SOON. And when I found out he had died — I had arrived home from a 9-hour bus trip today to hear the news on our answering machine — well, my first thought was, “There’s no thinker left alive that I can totally trust. They’re all dead.”

For the past two or more years Ballard had been undergoing state-of-the-art, high-tech treatment from a young doctor who reportedly was trying every new medical breakthrough remedy or procedure which promised “hope” for Ballard’s condition. Recently, however, Ballard had been rushed to a hospital, and after sustained care there had returned to the home to his longtime (40-plus years) companion, Claire Walsh. The latest word was that he had recently required around-the-clock care by visiting professional nurses, which sounded somewhat alarming. Still, I maintained calm. Now I wish I had tried to telephone him and talk one last time, even if just for a minute. I think I expected Ballard to live at least as long as Burroughs, who reached the age of 83, even after having been “a junkie” for years of his life. By a strange logic, I felt that since Ballard hadn’t been a junkie, he should live even longer than 83. Well, I was wrong. And now the world will miss his unique, witty, and sometimes acerbic commentaries on itself. We miss him and are grateful for his dark sense of humor and generous output.

– V. Vale, RE/Search founder back in 1977, San Francisco

V. Vale’s RE/Search newsletter March oh-nine

++ “WE LOVE YOUR SUPPORT – FINALLY: “BURNING MAN LIVE” is HERE! NEWEST RELEASES: DRUGS! SEX! TECHNOLOGY! are NOT IN MOST STORES – ORDER DIRECT & RECEIVE FREE GIFT(S) ++WILL AUTOGRAPH UPON REQUEST

WELCOME TO V. VALE’s RE/SEARCH NEWSLETTER #80, March 2009
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
RE/SEARCH | 20 Romolo #B | San Francisco CA 94133 | 415.362.1465
www.researchpubs.com | http://www.myspace.com/researchpubs | info@researchpubs.com

**IF YOU LIVE IN San Francisco BAY AREA, PLEASE **REPLY** TO THIS NEWSLETTER IF YOU WISH TO RECEIVE LAST-MINUTE LOCAL NEWS OF RE/SEARCH-recommended EVENTS! In subject line please write “local subscribe”

TABLE OF CONTENTS:
___________________________________________
1. MESSAGE FROM YOUR EDITOR Re: Bay Area Anarchist Book Fair, Annie’s Social Club, etc
2. Counter Culture Hour featuring Eric Debris from Metal Urbain, 1977 French Punk Band.
3. What We’ve Attended/What We’ve Been Reading/Seeing/Listening to/What We’ve Been Sent..
4. FORTHCOMING EVENTS
5. Stephane von Stephane on traffic tickets, “Enemy of the State,” “Dark Angel”
6. Ian Webster on Shows at Annie’s Social Club, The Uptown
7. Recommended Links
8. Quotes
9. Feedback from Readers
————–
please add info@researchpubs.com to your ADDRESS BOOK. If you change your email, send it plus your “old” email address to delete. Lastly, forward our newsletter to your friends! If you are on aol, please make sure you can receive our newsletter -  we get the most returns from addresses at AOL, Hotmail and Yahoo!

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+AT LAST: our BURNING MAN LIVE book has arrived here 48 hours ago! Our thanks to all who pre-ordered — we’ll ship ‘em out ASAP next week!
+IN STOCK/Now Shipping: PRONNOVATION: P0RNOGRAPHY & TECHNOLOGY, some color photos (”A  must!” – Charles Gatewood) $25 plus $5 ship  (only 1000 printed! – blame it on “the times”…) Printed in Austria.
+ IN STOCK: LEARY ON DRUGS – recent RE/Search book $20 plus $5 shipping – www.researchpubs.com  (only 1500 printed)
+BRAND NEW, JUST IN: Noir Satanist JIMMY VARGAS’s new CD: BLACK HALO 5 & 6, 2005-2008 $16 plus $5 shipping (15 copies)
+WILLIAM S. BURROUGHS T-shirt in SIZE LARGE almost sold out! If you’ve ever wanted it, order it now; who knows if it will ever be reprinted, in this economy!
+ RE/Search LOGO T-shirt $25. S,M,L,XL. Red logo on 100% cotton Black T-Shirt. Only 100 made.
+ INCREDIBLY STRANGE MUSIC VOL ONE – has “the best” LUX INTERIOR/IVY interview!  Last copies $25 plus $5 shipping.
+INDUSTRIAL CULTURE HANDBOOK HARDBACK deluxe paper $40 plus $5 shipping ($60 on amazon)
+PRANKS 2 deluxe paper $25 plus $4 ship – AUTOGRAPHED BY YES MEN! (ask for it) – newsletter special
+PRANKS deluxe hardback printed on glossy paper $40 plus $5 shipping (not available elsewhere)
+SEARCH & DESTROY- 8 original issues (1977-79) only $40 plus $10 shipping (includes one 1987 reprint).  Experience  Punk Rock as it was happening…
+ IN STOCK: BURNING MAN LIVE! FINALLY, DUE BACK FROM THE PRINTER AND SHIPPING OUT TO YOU THIS WEEK (or, ASAP).

1.  MESSAGE FROM YOUR EDITOR: It’s always amazing when a person turns out to have touched the lives of hundreds, even thousands of people. And when that person is in need, and people turn out in droves to help, that reaffirms how even though we may be all interconnected and interrelated on an apparently solid social platform, that connectivity is really as delicate as gossamer, because life itself is proven to be truly fragile. Such a person is the dancer/doer/Last Gasp worker/enthusiastic all-around artist Hollis Hawthorne, who suffered a brain injury in a motorcycle accident in India. Big fundraiser Thur March 12, 7:30pm at SLIM’s, featuring Extra Action Marching Band! For more information see http://friendsofhollis.blogspot.com/ or donate to her safe return: Paypal: elizastrack@gmail.com

We hope to see you at the (FREE) Anarchist Book Fair Sat-Sun March 14-15 11-6pm at County Fair Building, Lincoln/9th Ave. This is one of the great social gatherings of the year, with visitors from all over the world, and RE/SEARCH will be selling books at discounted prices, along with Charles Gatewood, City Lights, Manic D, and Ken Knabb of Situationist International renown. For schedule and other information see http://sfbookfair.wordpress.com/

If you live in the Bay Area and have never been to the Tonga Room at the Fairmont Hotel (California/Powell St, SF) we urge you to go there during Happy Hour (food used to be free, but now they charge) and experience the every-20-minute rainstorm, the Tikis, and the general ambience — walk around and appreciate all the details! We hear that the Tonga Room may soon be closed, so please sign this petition to Save the Tonga Room  http://www.thepetitionsite.com/tell-a-friend/3372869

We are, like everyone else, soliciting feedback as to the “true” state of the economy now. Walking around North Beach and San Francisco, we see all these expensive restaurants filled with — tourists? — and life seems to be proceeding as “normal.” Yet we feel like we’re living in the days just before the Fall of Rome, or before the Black Plague hit, or before the Great Depression launched its Slow Motion Apocalypse [thanks, Joe Donohoe]. Should we be hoarding water purifiers, rice and beans, and flashlight batteries? We notice that cornflakes are very hard to get at Trader Joe’s — next time they come in (if they ever do), we’ll buy ten boxes. We feel the end of all the cheap Chinese-made staples we rely on is nigh; when China finally wakes up and stops sending us “merch” on credit, everyone will wake up and realize that nothing is manufactured in America anymore, and  further, nobody remembers how to manufacture anything. The de-industrialization of America by global corporations (saying Eff You to labor unions) has left us citizens staring around dazedly in a false economy, then going back to our web surfing. The whole country is like a hospice full of mental patients who no longer know how to do anything that requires skill (besides consume) in the real world. The future heroes will be machinists, plumbers, welders, electricians, sewer workers, mechanics, and construction workers. Please send us your thoughts, especially if you live in some place other than San Francisco!

Just got the mail (Wed, March 4) and discovered a new favorite, all-color, beautifully designed art book: ROBERT DELFORD BROWN: MEAT, MAPS AND MILITANT METAPHYSICS. Now, we at RE/Search have long considered Robert Delford Brown to have been, like Duchamp, one of the most varied and comprehensive “predictors” of what future culture would look like, and we featured him in our first PRANKS! book (still available from us). Briefly, he crossed more barriers between art and non-art than almost any other artist, and his output still remains challenging, outrageous, and thought-provoking — not to mention, inspirational. We can’t recommend this book highly enough (the production by Mark Bloch is “perfect”), and, probably like our RE/Search books, you will need to order it direct — in this case, from Cameron Art Museum, 3201 South 17th St, Wilmington, NC 28412. (Disclosure: this book contains an interview with WALTER HOPPS by V. VALE, on the creative output of Robert Delford Brown.)

We’re looking forward to the THROBBING GRISTLE concert in San Francisco April 23 — seems impossible it could really happen — and hope that most of our readers will support this ultra rare occurrence, like seeing Hailey’s Comet. RE/Search put Throbbing Gristle’s Genesis P-Orridge in Search & Destroy #6, RE/Search #1, RE/Search #4/5: William S. Burroughs, Throbbing Gristle and Brion Gysin; the INDUSTRIAL CULTURE HANDBOOK, MODERN PRIMITIVES and MODERN PAGANS.We guarantee you that the evening will be “interesting.” For us the reunion concert will function like a kind of historical / biographical marker… stages along life’s way.

2.  Counter Culture Hour – V. Vale talks with Eric Debris of METAL URBAIN about the early French Punk Scene, etc.  NOW ON-LINE AND on cable access San Francisco 6:30pm Pacific Time, Sat March 14, 2009 on-line (www.accessf.org – channel 1) as well as cable Channel 29, San Francisco.
Would you like to have a Counter Culture Hour showing in your town? Please write and ask us how you can do this!
Now, if you live near Albany, New York, you can check the March schedule for VALENTINE’S Club. Evan Keller will screen our Counter Culture Hour interview  featuring JIHAD JERRY (Gerald V. Casale, DEVO). Write us for more details – info@researchpubs.com

3. What We’ve Attended/What We’ve Been Reading/Seeing/Listening to/What We’ve Been Sent

() Another ineffably poignant, memorable evening at our favorite club in San Francisco, Annie’s Social Club, Folsom/5th St: Sat, Feb 28, with Naked Lady Wrestlers (featuring Max Volume), No Alternative (Max Volume on bass), and Negative Trend (with guest vocalist Zach Williams (son of Ricky Williams, Sleepers vocalist) doing a Sleepers song — “he sounded like a teenage Ricky Williams.” For some reason, seeing Ricky Williams’ son singing (at age 21) was particularly moving…

Best of all was the opportunity to talk with five musicians from the 1977 San Francisco “Punk Movement” and revel in their rebelliousness (still sustained), mordant wit, acute memories, and especially to discover how their musicianship has grown quite naturally (despite Punk’s critique of musical virtuosity for its own sake)  — well, after all, evolution is an inevitable consequence of sustained exploratory improvisation, play, practice, and sheer creative inventiveness.

Refreshingly, there were no monster-size egos present. Johnny Genocide coaxed haunting, beautiful, echoing, feedback guitar sounds out of his amp, in his version of Link Wray’s “Rumble.” Michael Belfer (Sleepers/Tuxedo Moon guitarist) told a hilarious story of being present when Mark Pauline detonated a birthday cake for Steven Brown of Tuxedo Moon, spraying and temporarily deafening sisters Janie and Jerry when they jumped INTO the cake as some kind of “Punk Theatre.” Max Volume played amazingly rapid-fire bass as well as he plays guitar, and talked about what he brought to the Bay Area Punk Scene. Bruce Loose of Flipper, as sardonic as ever, discussed philosophy and crime, and how some of the best stories that happened in the 70s Punk Era could not be told, as certain individuals are still alive. Flipper has began rehearsing with a girl bassist. Craig Gray, Negative Trend guitarist, clearly remembered a conversation I had had with him back in 1977 on “how to write songs,” and delivered a particularly scathing critique of Facebook, MySpace, and the Internet in general — very funny. (Guess you had to have been there…) Chris Olson, original OFFS drummer, gave me his CRUELSWEET FOLIO #3 CD (www.cruelsweet.com). If only all of us could be in the same room more often, rather than once every thirty years…

() Last month we attended the celebration for Rene Daalder’s film on Timothy Leary at 111 Minna St and met a woman who gave us some advice: “Whenever anyone asks you to do anything, tell them NO. No matter what it is. Just say NO. NO. You have to practice saying this. NO. That gives you time to walk away and deliberate about the request. Otherwise, you simply don’t have enough time, solitude and calmness to THINK…”

4. OTHER FORTHCOMING EVENTS:

CALENDAR FOR MARCH NEWSLETTER

FREE, Thursday, March 5, 8 pm. Gomorrah, movie about La Camorra crime tribe in Naples, Italy, now more powerful than Sicily’s Cosa Nostra. The book (which the movie was based on) was so popular in Italy that the author, Roberto Saviano, remains under permanent police protection. New Nothing, 16 Sherman, SF.

FREE, Thursday, March 5, 7pm. John Law signing his new book, The Space Between, a collection of 3 stories inspired by Law’s obsession with bridges. City Lights Bookstore, 261 Columbus Ave, SF. “I’m also presenting a slide show with stories of various Bridge adventures over the years. After the signing/reading/slide show at City Lights, we may have yet another ‘adventure’…” – J. Law. RE/SEARCH WILL ATTEND!!

FREE: Thur March 5, 6pm, SF Public Library, Main Branch, “Evolution of San Francisco” lectures by Rand Richards, Chris Carlsson, Peter Booth Wiley. Followed by book signing and sale.

FREE, Friday, March 6, 6 pm. Visit Andy Warhol’s 1960’s New York @ Amoeba’s 3rd Annul Art Show. Dress in ’60’s clothes. The event will be a recreation of Warhol’s Factory. If you bring a Campbell’s soup can for donation, you’ll be entered in a contest to win prizes. Featuring Velvet Underground cover bands. 1343 Powell Street  (@ Doyle St.), Emeryville, CA.

Friday March 6, 7 pm. Poetry & Pizza. Monthly event featuring local poets and free pizza. The event is usually held at Escape From New York Pizza in the Financial District but it’s in Potrero Hill this month. San Francisco Center for the Book. 300 De Haro. St (@ 16th St.), San Francisco. $5,

Saturday March 7,  8 pm. Monochrom Presents: Soviet Unterzoegersdorf release party. “The computer game is a tribute to the proud yet imperiled republic of Soviet Unterzoegersdorf (pronounced «oon-taa-tsee-gars-doorf»), the last existing appendage republic of the USSR.” Special Non Player Guest Characters: // Jello Biafra, Bruce Sterling, Cory Doctorow, Emmanuel /Goldstein, Mitch Altman, Bre Pettis, David ‘DaddyD’ Dempsey, Kyle Machulis, MC Frontalot, Eddie Codel, Irina Slutsky, Christian ‘plomlompom’ Heller, Jason Scott Sadofsky, Hans Bernhard, Robert Stachel (maschek) — and many more. Ticket Info: $5 entry, display passport for free Vodka shot. Chez Poulet, 3359 Cesar Chavez Street, San Francisco. RE/SEARCH WILL BE PRESENT – monochrom’s new PRONNOVATION book will be available for autographing!!

FREE, Sat March 7, 7pm-midnight. Serpent Mother Art Opening On Treasure Island.
“Join us for a special art exhibition of the Serpent Mother. There has never been a sculpture like the Serpent Mother. The warmth of her embrace and her coiling design create an atmospheric space in which over a thousand people can stand. Her 168′ long stainless steel spine coils around the massive space, while her 20′ long neck and head tower over her audience.

“The audience takes control, however, by directing her movement, raising her hydraulically- actuated neck and opening her fanged mouth. Full audience participation makes each installation a singular experience – come make it happen. We hope you will join us for this fun and free gallery reception. Links: http://flaminglotus.com 200 California Ave., Treasure Island, San Francisco, CA, 94130 See http://www.flaminglotus.com for directions.”

Sat March 7, 8pm, World Premiere of The Paul Dresher Ensemble Production of Schick Machine Collaboratively created by: Paul Dresher – Composer, Instrument Inventor and Builder, Steven Schick – Performer/Percussionist, Rinde Eckert – Director/Writer, Matt Heckert – Mechanical Sound Artist, & Others. The mysteriously-packed subterranean workshop of the (possibly mad,  possibly genius) inventor, sound collector and audio philosopher Lazlo Klangfarben. His invention: the Schick Machine – an uber-algorhytm, a logic instrument made from a giant motorized hurdy gurdy that produces heavenly sounds, a deconstructed pipe organ played with electrical mallets, and indescribable metal machines that seem to be alive. You ask:  “What IS this stuff? DINKELSPIEL AUDITORIUM, 471 Lagunita Dr, Stanford University PALO ALTO. FOR TICKETS PHONE: 650-725-ARTS (2787) Or on-line at http://livelyarts.stanford.edu

Sunday, March 8. Indie Mart. Local  designers, vintage, music, good times. The Independent, 628 Divisadero St. (@ Hayes St.), San Francisco, $2 suggested donation.

Sunday, March 8. 7:30-10:45 pm. Lupino Noir. At 7:30pm: The Bigamist (1953). At 9:45. Outrage (1950). Ida Lupino, who has been called “the poor  man’s Bettie Davis,” left Warner Bros and started her own production company with her husband, making low-budget films, including the two noir films shown at Lupino Noir. PFA Theater, 2575 Bancroft Way, Berkeley. $7.

FREE. Thur, March 12, 5-8pm Opening, The Art Gallery, 1650 Holloway Ave, SF 94132. 415.338-2580. Mgr Daniel Paez. www.sfsustudentcenter.com/artgallery – DON ED HARDY (”From his passion for tattoo…filled with layeres of visual references and an ecstatic spirit, his mixed-media objects are very personal.”) Also artwork by Beiing artists Huang Yan and Liu Xiaodong, and Korean-American artist Debbie Han. Curator: Daphne Fang.

FREE, Friday, March 13, 7 pm. Independent Erotic Film Festival 2009 Party. DJ, Panel Discussion, free cocktails, presented by Good Vibrations. Center for Sex and Culture, 1519 Mission Street (@ 11th St.), San Francisco.

FREE, Sat March 14, 11 am-6 pm and Sunday, March 15, 11 am-5 pm. 14th Annual Bay Area Anarchist Book Fair. Presented by Bound Together Anarchist Book Collective. Speakers include Diana de Prima, Roxanne Dunbar Ortiz,  among others.  RE/Search will be there with Charles Gatewood. We’ll have a few promotional copies of various RE/SEARCH books at half price! This is possibly the best free event of the year! SF County Fair Building, 9th and Lincoln in Golden Gate Park. Delicious Vegan food, too.

Pay-What-You-Can, Thursday, March 19, 8 pm. The Symmetry Project performance. “A journey through perception, two naked bodies interact through a highly structured improvisational score. Revealing the body’s awkwardness, it’s monstrosity, its potential failure & finiteness, they create space for the unknown, the ecstatic, & the infinite.” CounterPULSE, 1310 Mission Street, San Francisco.

$$$: March 27-29: writing weekend workshop with Beat Legend/EtAl DIANE DI PRIMA FOR WOMEN ONLY in a beautiful heated cabin near Sebastopol. TUITION $350 (includes accommodations) $100 deposit required in advance. INFO: GERI DIGIORNO (707) 763-4271

FREE, Noon. April 1 (April Fool’s Day!) 2009. The 31st Annual St. Stupid’s Parade. Embarcadero Plaza. Market/Embarcadero streets. Bring pennies, socks, dead lottery tickets, signs, tar, feathers, and a stupider-than-thou attitude. We think that the parade will end at North Beach Playground. Columbus/Greenwich. That nite there will be a bash with numerous bands at the Elbo Room, 647 Valencia St. Details at www.saintstupid.com – thanx, Bishop Joey.

FREE, April 9, 6 pm. Underground music legend Dex Romweber live. Made famous by “psycho-surf-rockabilly -garage-punk” combo Flat Duo Jets. Was in 1987 cult classic film Athens, GA Inside Out with B-52s and REM and now has a new album out, which includes guest appearences by Neko Case, Cat Power, Exene Cervenka, and Rick Miller of Southern Culture on the Skids. Amoeba Music, 2455 Telegraph Ave, Berkeley.

FREE, Sunday, April 12. 2 pm. Dance Salon: Performance and Talk with Emerging Choreographers, featuring Bare Bones Butoh revisiting childhood experiences with Southern Baptist tent revivals in rural Oklahoma; Boathouse & Co. Productions merging a classic story with present-day themes; Jennifer Gwirtz exploration of birth & the mother/child relationship; & work from Kendra Kimbrough Dance Ensemble. CounterPULSE, 1310 Mission Street, San Francisco.

Thurs, April 23. Throbbing Gristle. TG will play a 75 minute set. Only 200 tickets left! Grand Regency Ballrooom, 1290 Sutter Street & Van Ness, San Francisco. $30.  Don’t miss this once-in-a-lifetiime event. www.throbbing-gristle.com (Throbbing Gristle were featured in our RE/Search #4/5 and our Industrial Culture Handbook)

April 24, 2009: Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s 90th Birthday! Send him a card c/o City Lights Bookstore, 261 Columbus, SF CA 94133.

5. Stephane von Stephane  Memo from Meta-center; state of things, recently; as bizarre as always. Channeling Lenny Bruce; What the fcuk, how did Cheney and cronnies get away with bleeding the country dry and padding their pals’ wallets with military Iraq destruction/ reconstruction contracts? How the fcuk do we let that happen? The 9/11 excuse to take away our civil liberties is p-ssing me the hell off lately.
I got a traffic ticket in Oaktown; cruised partially through a right turn on red, stopped, but not long enough or in the right place according to the surveillance tapes of myself which I had the pleasure to view a month later at the police station. It was late at night, no traffic, extremely dark corner off a freeway exit in a sketchy area of town. I just wanted to get the hell around the corner and to Jack London Square to spend money at the movies in Oaktown. After this I no longer want to visit Oaktown for any reason at all. $381 for a kind-of, but-not-really, Moving Violation? That’s a load of cr*p! It
was so damn dark until suddenly 3000 flashes of light! I was so stunned and blinded I could have run over anyone or anything in my path. Absurd and dangerous! So, I get pretty pictures of me in the mail and the surveillance tape makes it look like it’s mid-day sunshine, you can see every detail, when in fact, one could barely see the crosswalk at the stoplight!!!
I think people would actually feel safe to stop there in the appropriate place and for the appropriate amount of time if there were a few light standards there and a person could actually see a few feet ahead of their vehicles. But, NO, the city likes the income from these surveillance tickets too much. I feel like going into the courthouse with 50 cameras attached to my body and taking flash photos of the judge. “How do YOU like it, huh?” Stunned??? Blinded??? Of course I wouldn’t make it past the metal detector in a camera ‘art’ statement outfit. I’d be in contempt of court if I tried to take a photo, no doubt.
I just watched ‘Enemy of the State’ (director Tony Scott) on the TV yesterday. Great film. Came out in 1998 and is about sneaky government plots and spy satellites. Predates but is prophetic of a post 9-11 world. Rent it. This reminded me of one of my favorite TV shows, ‘Dark Angel’ (by James Cameron). Came out in 2000, was canceled the next season (after 9-11). Rent it. It is about a slightly future world where communications systems are blown out of whack and the U.S. has become 3rd-world-ish. A group of genetically engineered (very pretty) assassins are being trained in a top secret government facility. Some have escaped and are trying to lead ‘normal’ lives. This show also pre-dates but prophesizes a post 9-11 world, and was replaced by FOX with the show ‘24′; a perfect propaganda piece to make us learn to love the rogue Counter-Terrorist agent who breaks all the rules (and infringes upon people’s civil liberties). What perfect timing that was, now that I think of it. Big Brother IS watching us.
War is Peace. Love is Hate. Etc. Etc. Turn your neighbor in before they turn you in. It’s here. It’s fear, get used to it. Maybe things will change with Barry O. Bam-Bam in office. One thing is certain: Hillary looks hot in her Secretary of State travelin’ togs. ~ Stephane von Stephane

6.  Ian Webster on Shows at Annie’s Social Club, The Uptown:

Dec 27, 2008, Annie’s Social Club. The Jack Saints (myspace.com/jacksaints) opened with a fast and furious Punk set, followed by a minimalist, PETA, fluffy furry duo called Lost Puppy. Horror-X then brought their slightly over-modulated brand of Punkabilly to the stage (moustache and fedora). The headliners, Unko Atoma, straddled the precarious line between Pop and Punk, ranging from unison/harmonic vocals on some numbers to a cover of “The KKK Took My Baby Away.”
Jan 4, 2009, Annie’s Social Club. Clodhopper is one of the angriest bar bands I’ve heard in recent times. Next were the TOILING MIDGETS, whose heavily chorused minor chords occasionally rose to intense peaks. Saw Meri St-Mary, Ronnie Guitar, Paul Draper (ex-Sleepers) and the late Ricky Williams’ son ZACH, amongst others.
Jan 31, 2009, The Uptown, Oakland. The Pleasure Kills (thepleasurekills.com) opened the evening with edgy Pop-Punk. Lydiot’s excellent voice and Jeffrey Ject’s showmanship on the keyboard were especially entertaining. Next The Disciples (myspace.com/disciples) presented a more raw emotionality, with savage, nihilistic rage. Finally, Punk Rock veterans THE AVENGERS played a set of their anthemic classics. In the audience were Alan Korn (ex-Catheads), Meri St-Mary (Housecoat Project, Sex Is A Witch), Carol Detweiler (Pink Section), Dominique leslie (Animal Things), Jimmy Crucifix, Carol Lennon and Nicki Sick (Verbal Abuse), among others.
Feb 13, Rock-it-Room. on a tip from Mia (Frightwig)’s daughter, I went to see Maniac Martys (myspace/maniacmartyrs) perform at a Battle of the Bands contest — and they were the most original band of the evening. The theremin/synthesizer played by Gremeleon (aka Greg Burger) complemented Mia d’Bruzi’s psychedelic guitar. Britannic Zane (vocals, programming), Doctor Sparrow (drums) and Rachel Thoele (bass, ex-Sex Is a Witch and Mudwimmmin) provided a rhythmic base for the vocals of Deadsey McAllister, Dick Fitzwell, and Bonnie Bess (the Opera wench). – Ian Webster

7. RECOMMENDED LINKS – thanks to our friends Phil G, Ferrara, James McN-, Derek B. &  Others who send us links.

()  from Jon Sarriugarte: http://pro.sony-asia.com/product/spec/brochure/hxr_mc1n.pdf

() from Johnny Strike: http://www.savetonga.com/

() from gary c:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7sbfNIemF0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8o9aHVzD-ng
..http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOCDiKiO8Vo
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gustav_Metzger

() from Bruno R: http://www.laquadrature.net/fr/taxonomy/term/3
http://www.cs.utexas.edu/~field/holzer/living.txt

() from Phil G: <http://www.businessinsider.com/dumping-phelps-over-bong-rip-damages-kelloggs-brand-reputation-2009-2>

() from Alan K: “1976 Santa Cruz Poetry Festival I mentioned that featured Burroughs, etc.   It’s at “”http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http://www.collectingbukowski.com%2Fmisc%2Fsc_festival.html

() from Margaret T:  http://flavorpill.com/sanfrancisco/events/2009/2/14/curt-mcdowell  – Curt McDowell: an uneven dozen broken hearts. Feb 15 – Mar 29, 2009, Sundays (noon–5pm)  [ 2nd floor projects ]

() from Ken Knabb: “Kenneth Rexroth’s review of Harold Gilliam’s “San Francisco Bay” http://www.bopsecrets.org/rexroth/essays/gilliam.htm
The site also presents a rich selection of Rexroth’s San Francisco newspaper
and magazine columns — http://www.bopsecrets.org/rexroth/sf . Sometimes
chatty, sometimes scathing, but always provocative, Rexroth examined every
facet of San Francisco’s cultural and political life as it was happening during the pivotal period from 1960 to 1975.

() from Robert Turman: new radio show started this week Wednesdays at midnight EST http://wobc.org

() from Karen M: smoking baby: http://www.examiner.com/x-300-Fatherhood-Examiner~y2009m2d19-Shocking-Video-of-Two-Year-Old-Smoking-Cigarette

() http://afeitealperro.blogspot.com/2009/02/sudor-hardcore-es-punk-radical.html
http://afeitealperro.blogspot.com/2009/02/c-utter-urban-hermits.html

() from James McN: http://www.theonion.com/content/video/sony_releases_new_stupid_piece_of
http://www.notbored.org/townsend.html (Pete Townsend)

() from Lena S: http://www.theonion.com/content/video/sony_releases_new_stupid_piece_of   “Toxicology Lyricists” and “Dro-oling Hillbillies” are my particular favorites from the Official Proceedings.

() from Winston S: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyyjU8fzEYU

() from Michel Pennec: : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVVooFdl02s , a video I shot at last year’s Lausanne Underground Film & Music Festival.

() from Terese L: http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http://www.timothylearyarchives.org%2F”

() from Robert H: http://www.thepunksite.com/articles.php?page=anthony/index  “Nice survey. Anything comparable in S.F. or LA?”

8. QUOTES:

() “If you look at a thing long enough, it loses all of its meaning.” – Andy Warhol

() “If you look at a thing long enough, no matter how beautiful it is, it becomes ugly.” – Anonymous

()  “Rogue state” is a term for a state that threatens world peace. Usually a rogue state meets specific criteria: it is ruled by an authoritarian regime that severely restricts human rights, sponsors terrorism, and seeks or utilizes weapons of mass destruction…and [deploys] the suspension of law in a state of emergency—branded “the war on terror.” – received email, no URL

() “The challenge is to not become cynical; for the artist, cynicism is death.” – Robert Fripp, recent diary entry

()  “The stock market and the International Banking System are all a kind of Ponzi scheme…”

() “We buy things. We wear them or put them on our walls, or sit on them, but anyone who wants to can take them away from us. Or break them… Objects survive us and go on living. It’s stupid to believe we own them… and for them to be so important.” – Donna Leon, “Quietly in Their Sleep,” p.74 (US paperback)

() “The important trail to follow was the one left by money.” [Where did Bernard Madoff's $50 Billion end up?] “The place where it began was usually a given: the person from whom the money was taken, either by force or by craft. The other end, where the trail finished, was the difficult one to find, just as it as the more vital one, for it was there that would be found the person who had practiced the craft or the force. CUI BONO?” [Who gains?] … “find the end of the trail.” ibid, p.30

() “If you put people on a diet, they start thinking about food. Or if you make someone stop smoking, all they think about is cigarettes…” ibid, pp.184-185

() “The Voyage of the Beagle … It’s an important book, probably one of the most important books of the modern world. That and The Origin of Species.” … It would be a lovely book to read on vacation, I think. All those beaches. All those lovely animals.” ibid, pp.105-106

() “In the future Internet landscape, free writers and musicians will replace paid writers and musicians. Quantity will replace Quality.” – Andre Peret

9. FEEDBACK FROM READERS:

()  “I used to work with Timothy Leary in the 80’s and early 90’s and I was googling something and stumbled on the RE/Search site. Of course, I’ve known your publications for many years but didn’t know you had released LEARY ON DRUGS! [So I ordered it.] I miss Timothy terribly…I would love to hear Tim’s wisdom and wit at a time like now. Hope you are well. Best – Andrew in Europe”

() “Dear V. – Thank you for your William S. Burroughs birthday party Feb 5 at Beat Museum, it was nice and quiet evening with good energy, thank you for Charles Gatewood and thank you for photos and stories…
“I know you did not have time to read some material by W.S.B. you prepared  (you had those piles of papers;  I wondered what healthy virus was there). Here is the question: maybe you could put some of those materials on the web?!!  I would be delighted to read it. Thank you for your spirit and things you’ve done and still doing.
“I am a little guy from Poland who lives in Oakland and learns English (and American culture) from guys like you and my favorite American writer: William B. Burroughs. – dziekuje  (thank you… in Polish)”

() from Kimric Smythe: ” I am ashamed that I was not aware of this till now.
“Bob May, 69, died in Lancaster, CA on January 18th from congestive heart failure. The actor performed on many TV shows but is best known for performing The Robot on Lost in Space. Though May didn’t perform the voice (Dick Tufeld did that), he took the role very seriously and made a point of learning all of the other actors’ lines so that he’d be ready to respond. May and his wife lost their home in November when wildfires destroyed an upscale mobile home park in the San Fernando Valley.”

() “The Genius Of The Crowd – Charles Bukowski

“there is enough treachery, hatred violence absurdity in the average
human being to supply any given army on any given day

“and the best at murder are those who preach against it
and the best at hate are those who preach love
and the best at war finally are those who preach peace

“those who preach god, need god
those who preach peace do not have peace
those who preach peace do not have love

“beware the preachers
beware the knowers
beware those who are always reading books
beware those who either detest poverty
or are proud of it
beware those quick to praise
for they need praise in return
beware those who are quick to censor
they are afraid of what they do not know
beware those who seek constant crowds for
they are nothing alone
beware the average man the average woman
beware their love, their love is average
seeks average

“but there is genius in their hatred
there is enough genius in their hatred to ki-ll you
to kill anybody
not wanting solitude
not understanding solitude
they will attempt to destroy anything
that differs from their own
not being able to create art
they will not understand art
they will consider their failure as creators
only as a failure of the world
not being able to love fully
they will believe your love incomplete
and then they will hate you
and their hatred will be perfect

“like a shining diamond
like a knife
like a mountain
like a tiger
like hemlock

“their finest art” – sent by Graham Rae

()  “SNOW PIECE by YOKO ONO:
“Think that snow is falling.
Think that snow is falling everywhere all the time.
When you talk with a person, think
that snow is falling between you and
on the person.
Stop conversing when you think the
person is covered by snow.
– Yoko Ono, summer 1963″

()  from Graham Rae: “Ben & Jerry created a “Yes Pecan!” ice cream flavor for Obama. They then asked people to come up with a name for a George W. Bush ice cream flavor. Here are some of their favorite responses…
•    Grape Depression
•    Abu Grape
•    Cluster Fudge
•    Nut’n Accomplished
•    Iraqi Road
•    Chock ‘n Awe
•    Wire Tapioca
•    Impeach Cobbler
•    Guantanamallow
•    imPeachmint
•    Good Riddance You Lousy M-therfucker Swirl
•    Heck of a Job Brownie
•    Neocon Politan
•    RockyRoad to Fascism
•    The Reese’s-cession
•    Cookie D’oh!
Nougalar Proliferation
•    Chunky Monkey in Chief
•    George Bush Doesn’t Care About Dark Chocolate
•    WMDelicious
•    Chocolate Chimp
•    Caramel Preemptive Stripe”

() from Graham Rae again: “CONGRATULATIONS TO EVERYBODY WHO WERE BORN IN THE 1930’s 1940’s, 50’s, 60’s and early 70’s !

First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they carried us and lived in houses made of asbestos.
They took aspirin, ate blue cheese, raw egg products, loads of bacon and processed meat, tuna from a can, and didn’t get tested for diabetes or cervical cancer.
Then after that trauma, our baby cots were covered with bright colored lead-based paints.
We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets or shoes, not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking.
As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags.
We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle.
Even though all the shops closed at 6.00pm and didn’t open on the weekends, somehow we didn’t starve to death!
We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this.
We could collect old drink bottles and cash them in at the corner store and buy Toffees, Bubble Gum and some firecrackers to blow up frogs with.
We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank soft drinks with sugar in it, but we weren’t overweight because……
WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!!
We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the street lights came on.
No one was able to reach us all day. And we were O.K.
We would spend hours building our go-carts out of old buggies and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. We built tree houses and dens and played in river beds with matchbox cars.
We did not have Play stations, Nintendo Wii, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 999 channels on SKY, no video/dvd films, no mobile phones, no personal computers, no Internet or Internet chat rooms……….WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!
We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no Lawsuits from these accidents.
Only girls had pierced ears!
We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.
You could only buy Easter Eggs and Hot Cross Buns at Easter time…
We were given air guns and catapults for our 10th birthdays,
We rode bikes or walked to a friend’s house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just yelled for them!
The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!
We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL !
I can see you all nodding your heads and saying, “Yes, that’s right!”
And YOU are one of them!
CONGRATULATIONS!
You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated our lives for our own good.
And while you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know how brave their parents were.”

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
MARCH 2009 RE/Search eNewsletter written by V. Vale, Ilana Fried & other contributors. Newsletter and website powered by http://www.laughingsquid.com.
DISCLAIMER : If you’re receiving V. VALE’s newsletter, it’s because you **or someone you know** has sent your address to us, or signed our mailing list at an event!
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
RE/SEARCH | 20 Romolo #B | San Francisco CA 94133 | 415.362.1465
http://www.researchpubs.com | http://www.myspace.com/researchpubs | info@researchpubs.com
–

++ “NEWEST RELEASES: LEARY ON DRUGS, and PRONNOVATION – NOT IN MOST STORES – ORDER DIRECT & RECEIVE FREE GIFT(S) ++

WELCOME TO V. VALE’s RE/SEARCH NEWSLETTER #80, February 2009
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
RE/SEARCH | 20 Romolo #B | San Francisco CA 94133 | 415.362.1465
www.researchpubs.com | http://www.myspace.com/researchpubs | info@researchpubs.com

**IF YOU LIVE IN San Francisco BAY AREA, PLEASE **REPLY** TO THIS NEWSLETTER IF YOU WISH TO RECEIVE LAST-MINUTE LOCAL NEWS OF RE/SEARCH-recommended EVENTS! In subject line please write “local subscribe”

TABLE OF CONTENTS:
___________________________________________
1. MESSAGE FROM YOUR EDITOR Re: HYPNODROME BENEFIT Feb 12,13,14 – V. Vale does Live interviews; Hypnodrome offers fabulous plays, skits, and surprises. Jill Tracy, Winston Smith, Jello Biafra and Steve MacKay  (Stooges) are featured live, onstage interview subjects.
2. Counter Culture Hour with guest: V. VALE talks about “Art,” Sat Feb 14, 2009, 6:30PM (www.accessf.org – channel 1) – download it!
3. What We’ve Attended/What We’ve Been Reading/Seeing/Listening to/What We’ve Been Sent..
4. FORTHCOMING EVENTS
5. Stephane von Stephane on the film “MILK”
6. John Sulak on The Edwardian Ball, S.F.
7. Recommended Links
8. Quotes
9. Feedback from Readers
————–
please add info@researchpubs.com to your ADDRESS BOOK. If you change your email, send it plus your “old” email address to delete. Lastly, forward our newsletter to your friends! If you are on aol, please make sure you can receive our newsletter -  we get the most returns from addresses at AOL, Hotmail and Yahoo!

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+BRAND NEW, JUST IN: Noir Satanist JIMMY VARGAS’s new CD: BLACK HALO 5 & 6, 2005-2008 $16 plus $5 shipping (15 copies)
+ RE/Search LOGO T-shirt $25. S,M,L,XL. Red logo on 100% cotton Black T-Shirt. Only 100 made.
+ INCREDIBLY STRANGE MUSIC VOL ONE – has “the best” LUX INTERIOR/IVY interview!  Last copies $25 plus $5 shipping.
+ IN STOCK: LEARY ON DRUGS-  newest book $20 plus $5 shipping – www.researchpubs.com
+INDUSTRIAL CULTURE HANDBOOK HARDBACK deluxe paper $40 plus $5 shipping
+PRANKS 2 deluxe paper $25 plus $4 ship – AUTOGRAPHED BY YES MEN! (ask for it) – newsletter special
+SEARCH & DESTROY- 8 original issues (1977-79) only $40 plus $10 shipping (includes one 1987 reprint)
+IN STOCK/Now Shipping: PRONOVATION: P0RNOGRAPHY & TECHNOLOGY, some color photos (”A  must!” – Charles Gatewood) $25 plus $5 ship  (ed.1000)
+BURNING MAN LIVE book is stuck at the printer, sadly requiring some complicated future negotiations before it’s “liberated.” But many thanks to all who pre-ordered and don’t despair, you will get your book!

1.  MESSAGE FROM YOUR EDITOR.

Someone asked us what our newsletter was “for”! Yes, it is to communicate RE/Search ideas and philosophy, but also to promote selected events, media, websites, and a countercultural attitude in general. We hope readers will investigate our books, especially the ones they haven’t seen, but perhaps the day of “book-lovers” is long gone. As a salutation, we hereby express gratitude to all who have supported us over the past 32 years, and who recognize that we are not like 99% of other publishers … (or people, for that matter).

Your editor, V. Vale, will be doing live onstage interviews to support the Hypnodrome’s 3-night benefit Thur-Fri-Sat Feb 12,13,14. Thur: live interview with JILL TRACY. Fri: live interview with WINSTON SMITH. Fri: live interview with JELLO BIAFRA, plus special guest STEVE MACKAY talking about RON ASHETON, STOOGES guitarist, R.I.P. Hypnodrome will showcase special skits, plays, and routines just for this celebration. V. Vale will also play piano from 7-7:30pm each night. Also, the events will be videotaped for The CounterCulture Hour — you may be on TV!  The Hypnodrome only holds 49 seats, so each event is extra special. Remember, this is a BENEFIT for our favorite San Francisco Theater Group. If you’ve never experienced Grand Guignol live theater (replete with blood, gore, black humor, and eroticism), you will definitely find out why this is like RE/Search Onstage! For tickets go to: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/55084
Hypnodrome, 575 10th St/Brannan St, S.F. tel 415.377.4202. In our opinion, all nights will be highly rewarding to the cognoscenti.

2.  Counter Culture Hour – V. Vale talks about “Art” with SFAI student Lola Bee.  NOW ON-LINE AND on cable access San Francisco 6:30pm Pacific Time, Sat Feb 14, 2009 on-line (www.accessf.org – channel 1) as well as cable Channel 29, San Francisco.
Would you like to have a Counter Culture Hour showing in your town? Please write and ask us how you can do this!

3. What We’ve Attended/What We’ve Been Reading/Seeing/Listening to/What We’ve Been Sent

() Emmanuel Todd’s “AFTER THE EMPIRE” is required reading for wannabe-futurologists.

() Penelope Rosemont’s DREAMS AND EVERYDAY LIFE. In a word, wonderful.  (As if a “Surrealist” could HAVE an “everyday”  life…) I love this book; it offers a strange comfort, a la “friends are a parallel existence.” Our thanks to Tamara Smith for our copy .

() 9th Annual San Francisco Film Noir Festival at the Castro Theater, Jan 24: We had an unparalleled evening featuring Arlene Dahl in person, star of “Wicked As They Come.” Our hats off to Eddie Muller and associates. Couldn’t have been better. Loved the newsboys outside hawking papers!

() Track 16 Gallery Exhibition by  the Institute for Figuring (I.F.F.) in Santa Monica, CA. We urge you to experience the  I.F.F. show of crocheted coral environments (through Feb 28) — everybody likes this installation, and you will, too. We were “wowed” by the precise eloquence of one of the twin sisters responsible, Margaret Wertheim, who happened to be there on Saturday Jan 31. After this visit, we met Dave Fifer who is launchingVacation Vinyl Record Store, half a block from WACKO in L.A. More news on this later!

() Celebration of Timothy Leary film by Rene Daalder at 111 Minna St, 2-8-09. A rare reunion of 60s psychedelia pioneers.

() William S. Burroughs 95th Birthday at Beat Museum, Feb 5, featuring yours truly and Charles Gatewood, with personal stories about WSB, illlustrated by seldom-seen slides.

() Winston Smith Opening at 50 Bannam Alley, Jan 27. Great gallerists; saw work we’d never seen before.

() Feb 9: Meri St-Mary played us her new EP called “I’m Back.” It will be distributed by Subterranean Records.

() Jan 20, Obama Inaugration Day: Mal Sharpe and his band played the Savoy Tivoli. Euphoric.

() Jan 14, saw amazing photographs from Tasmania (now we want to go there), curated by Mikkel Aaland, at S.F. Art Institute.

() Received 2 VOLCANO SUNS CDs (nice artwork) from www.mergerecords.com – we will play them, because we like the descriptive text.

() Started reading “A Field Guide to Hyperbolic Space” by Margaret Wertheim, available from www.theiff.org – we like new ideas!

4. OTHER FORTHCOMING EVENTS:

() Again: Th-Fri-Sat Feb 12,13,14: HYPNODROME benefit featuring Grand Guignol entertainments. Each night features a different live interview by V. Vale:  Jill Tracy (Thur), Winston Smith (Fri), and Jello Biafra with Steve MacKay from the Stooges paying a tribute to Ron Asheton, R.I.P. (Sat). Tickets at  http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/55084 Remember, only 49 seats per night! Very intimate.

() FREE: Matt Gonzalez Art Show in Berkeley: Westside Cafe, Parker/9th St, up now through March 27. Mon-Fri 7am-3pm; Sat Sun 8am-2pm.

() FREE: Wed, Feb 11, 7:30pm, Counterpulse, 1310 Mission/9th St. Rick Prelinger presents Lost Landscapes of San Francisco, Year 3, plus some new material. This will be a 90-minute screening of archival film clips showing vanished SF neighborhoods and public life of the past. Come early (by 6:45 or so) to get a seat. http://www.counterpulse.org/fall-winter-talks.shtml

() FREE: Sat Feb 14 2PM, Amoeba, 1855 Haight St S.F.: MASTER MUSICIANS OF JAJOUKA!  — inspiration for Brion Gysin, etc. (Feb 11-12, they’re at Yoshi’s for $$).

() $$ Feb 13-16, Ancient Ways 15th Annual PantheaCon at the Double Tree Hotel in San Jose. http://pantheacon.com/09/index.php

() FREE: Feb 15, 11pm, 50 Bannam Alley, Closing Reception for Noah Ptolemy. Five Points Arthouse.

() FREE: Feb 17, 7pm, UC Berkeley Art Museum, 2621 Durant, Berkeley CA. Bring and donate your Analog TV! Funeral for Analog TV, withspeech by Paul Saffo,  video projection of Bruce Sterling delivering Eulogy.  http://bcnm.berkeley.edu/tvfuneral

() FREE: Feb 19, 6-9pm Thursday, Feb 19, BABYLON FALLING, 1017 Bush/Jones, SF 94109, tel 345-1017. Hours: Tu-Sat 12-9pm. – An Exhibit of Radical Underground Newspapers from the Sixties & Seventies in the U.S. Radical underground newspapers exhibit. Billy X Jennings, who has graciously opened up his archive for Babylon Falling, will be leading a brief discussion on the history of the radical underground press in America. Emory Douglas, the former Minister of Culture for the Black Panther Party, will also give a short talk on the role that art played in these papers. Check their website for EVENT TIME: http://www.babylonfalling.com/Events.html

() FREE: Fri Feb 20 7-10pm Eleanor Harwood Gallery opening, 1295 Alabama St/ , 282-4248: Lauren Dukoff photos of Devendra Banhart et al; Matteah Baim (of Hecuba), Adam Tullie, and more.

() FREE: Thur Feb 26, 7:30pm: RE/Search screens The CounterCulture Hour featuring JIHAD JERRY. New Nothing, 26 Sherman St, S.F.

() FREE: Sat Feb 28, 7:30pm, Makeout Room: John Shirley, Johnny Strike, Charles Gatewood read excerpts from their books!

() FREE: March 5, 7pm, City Lights Bookstore: John Law book signing for “The Space Between,” a collection of hair-raising stories in the H.P. Lovecraft tradition, published by Julia Solis.

() FREE: March 5, 6pm, SFPublic Library, Main Branch, “Evolution of San Francisco” lectures by Rand Richards, Chris Carlsson, Peter Booth Wiley. Followed by book signing and sale.

() FREE: March 14,15: Anarchist Book Fair, 9th Ave/Lincoln Way, S.F. RE/Search will be there with Charles Gatewood. Possibly the best!

() $$$: March 27-29: writing weekend workshop with Beat Legend/EtAl DIANE DI PRIMA FOR WOMEN ONLY in a beautiful heated cabin near Sebastopol. TUITION $350 (includes accommodations) $100 deposit required in advance. INFO: GERI DIGIORNO (707) 763-4271

() “Throbbing Gristle (all 4 original members)will perform April 23 at the Regency Center Ballroom, Sutter/Van Ness, in San Francisco.Tickets go on sale at www.ticketmaster.com on Sunday February 15 at 10:00 am.Price is $28.50 before service charge. My bet is tickets WILL sell out for this one…” (Ferrara Pan)

5. Stephane von Stephane reviews “MILK.”
Film review: MILK. San Francisco, 1970s. Sean Penn: “My name is Harvey Milk, and I’m here to recruit you!!” Wild cheering from the large crowds of gay folks. This was one of the scenes the commercials for the film MILK used. I cringed when I saw it because of the ridiculous claims by the religious right that part of the so-called ‘Gay Agenda’ is to recruit youngsters to the ‘gay lifestyle’. That word ‘recruit’ is controversial because of this. The other advertisement used a more intimate scene of Milk talking about how you have to give people ‘hope’. I wondered: why not use this scene solely in the ads, as it tied in nicely with the identical and popular mesmerizing message of Barack Obama. Of course the type of recruitment Milk was talking about was to political activism, not ‘gay lifestyle’. Hard to believe that political activism was a “new” idea at that time. We are now so used to the Act Up folks chants of “We’re here, we’re queer, get used to it” from the late 80’s, early 90’s. But back then, activism was the last thing on most gay people’s minds. I probably don’t need to mention what the first thing on our minds was…this was before AIDS put a damper on the freedom of unbridled physical expression. (oh, the good old days!)
In retrospect it seems that Harvey Milk almost singlehandedly invented the Castro as a gay mecca and epicenter of a political movement. He had transplanted himself from the East coast, after being closeted and stifled for most of his life, for the promise of openness and acceptance in San Francisco. But, after being discriminated against by other business owners when be opened his camera shop on Castro Street, he realized that San Francisco as a whole was not so accepting. He organized the neighbors to boycott non-gay-friendly businesses. That seemed to work, and soon those businesses thought the gay dollar was just as ‘legally tender’ as the straight dollar. Then he moved on to a boycott of Coors beer in the gay bars and gained the trust of the Teamsters Union. Then he decided to run for supervisor and really get things done. He failed every year until redistricting specified that candidates must live in the district they represented. And his district was mostly gay-friendly. He also hired a lesbian campaign manager.
Then, he got elected.
I lived in Harvey’s district back then, in ‘77, ‘78. I remember seeing him around the neighborhood. I remember my rolls of vacation film developed at his shop, and coming back with photos of naked men in provocative poses accidentally stuck in the envelopes. There is a scene in the film where a bunch of Harvey’s friends are sitting around the shop casually browsing through (probably) customers’ photos of naked guys. I had to laugh then as I recalled for the first time in years, those extra special vacation photos.
I voted for him as supervisor for my district. And when you vote, you get invited to be on jury duty. I was in City Hall, with a bunch of other potential jurors, waiting to be assigned to a court case the day that Harvey Milk and Mayor Moscone were murdered by the conservative Irish Catholic ex-supervisor Dan White. I am pretty sure it was Dan White who bumped into me in the hallway as I exited the restroom, having just ‘powdered’ my nose, bored from waiting around all morning to get put on a jury. Back in the holding room, shortly after my trip to the loo, the doors were being locked, and we were told to watch the TV screen in the corner of the room. Dianne Feinstein’s face came on the screen and she was explaining that the mayor and supervisor Milk had been shot and killed. People were shocked and everyone kind of gasped and murmured.
I was reading a book (which I can’t locate now) and I remember writing on the inside back cover the details of the day while we were held captive in the jury holding room. I guess they were sorting out the situation before they could let us go. After about an hour, they unlocked the doors. I walked down the steps of city hall into a mass of press people and was approached to be interviewed, but I cut out of there fast. I had to get to the U.C. Berkeley Campus Sproul Plaza to see the Talking Heads do a free show. The song ‘Psycho Killer’ seemed very appropriate. I wanted bass player Tina Weymouth’s autograph, and I had used my jury duty stub as a bookmark. I got that out and had her sign it (I still have it.) She examined it carefully to see just what she was signing. I told the band that I had just come from S.F. where the murders had occurred. They were stunned too. It just seemed unreal.
At that time I was as young as the character in the film played by Emile Hirsch (the fine actor in the Sean Penn-directed film ‘Into the Wild’) and I was about as resistant to the idea of anything political as he was. In fact, when I called my girlfriend to tell her I was spending the night in Berkeley, she encouraged me to come to the candlelight march that was about to start. I didn’t. I also did not participate in the riots the night Dan White got such a light sentence for the murders, due to his supposed sugar-overloaded unbalanced mind. It was called the ‘Twinkie’ defense, for his junk-food diet. What a joke. What a slap in the face of the people Harvey Milk represented. I am very much an activist now after a lifetime of seeing how gay people are STILL being treated as second-class citizens. The fact that Proposition 8 was passed, a voter-sanctioned discrimination of gay people in the year 2008, is astonishing. This film MILK may not deserve Best Picture (though I cannot think of a better film from this year), but it serves as an important lesson in the power of grass-roots politics, pre-Obama viral videos and YouTube.
Sean Penn does deserve Best Actor for his role as Harvey Milk. I hope he gets it. It might give us gays some hope. ~ Stephane von Stephane

6. John Sulak on the Edwardian Ball. The Edwardian Ball Weekend, Jan. 23, 24 and 25, at the Regency Center Ballroom, San Francisco.
The Edwardian Ball, which happens every year in San Francisco, is something that might be of interest not just to locals but to national and international RE/Search readers. It started nine years ago as a one-night performance in a small, dark Folsom Street bar, and has grown into a major social and theatrical event. The first one featured the band Rosin Coven playing, while actors and dancers performed a story from one of writer/artist Edward Gorey’s books. Every year since then the performances of the stories have gotten bigger and more elaborate, and so have the audiences. Somewhere along the way the “historical re-creation crowd” discovered the Balls and started showing up in real Edwardian clothing. Now almost everyone who attends dresses up in some way or another.
And it is surprisingly wonderful to be in a large crowd of people dressed in period costumes. Especially when they’re not all from the same period – some were from fantasies and alternative histories, some were characters from books (including Gorey’s and the science-fiction steampunk universe) and some seemed to having wandered in from Burning Man. The audience was as much a part of the show as what was happening on stage – kind of like it used to be in the early days of punk. The overall affect was of being in some other world. They were even serving absinthe! I don’t drink alcohol, but it was fun to watch the whole ritual that makes the absinthe turn green. And I got to meet the Green Faerie – she was mingling in the crowd and fit right in. It was that kind of weekend.
The Ball has been expanded to three nights, but the main event is Saturday, when Rosin Coven still plays and the Vau De Vire Society performs. This year there were three Gorey stories acted out. The first one featured the character of Edward Gorey himself, meeting (and killing) his imaginary ballet dancer muses. The second, “The Disrespectful Summons,” which had previously been staged at the 5th Edwardian Ball, was given a new interpretation by some guest artists. The third story, “The Tuning Fork,” took everything to a new level. This was the first year the Ball took place in an actual ballroom with a big stage. The Vau de Vire society are, among other things, talented circus acrobats, and they finally had room to show off what they can really do. They took Gorey’s 168-word story and brought it to life. I classify the experience as “theater,” but that’s kind of like calling the May 29, 1913 premiere of “Le Sacre du Printemps” at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées “a night at the ballet”; there was much more going on. The combination of acting, dance, music, costumes, computer technology, and the particular time and place, was radical, beautiful and unforgettable.
The Edwardian Ball was started, I’m guessing, as someone’s idea of a good excuse to throw a party. It still is that, but it has evolved into something much bigger and with that there are growing pains. On the last night, Sunday, the Weekend died a slow and painful death. The activities moved upstairs to a smaller ballroom in the same building. There wasn’t much room to move around, so everyone (and they were still all dressed up) ended up sitting on the floor in the dark to watch a weird bunch of nightclub acts. And yikes, some of the performers were just awful, and there was no way to escape!
And there wasn’t much ballroom dancing at the Edwardian Ball. That’s what a Ball is for, isn’t it? The producers of the Weekend, who are also performers there, did make the effort to encourage it. And there were a whole gang of people from the Victorian ballroom dancing scene ready to go. But it didn’t really happen. I think it was because there was just too much other entertainment going on, and too many people in a state of sensory overload. It was a weekend of extremes, and even if it didn’t all work, it was still pretty amazing. At the end of Sunday’s show I was worn out, but already looking forward to the 10th Edwardian Ball next year.
Till then, here are some other Balls that happen year round, with real 19th century ballroom dancing (and dance lessons!):
http://peers.org/
http://Gaskellball.com/
Youtube is already filthy with videos from the Edwardian Ball, but I’d recommend this one before any of the others. It’s an animated version of the original story of “The Tuning Fork” that’s short and sweet: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9t5a829z-4w
And here’s the official site, with lots of info and links: http://www.edwardianball.com/  [end]

7. RECOMMENDED LINKS – thanks to our friends Phil G, Ferrara, James McN-, Derek B. &  Others who send us links.

() http://www.endgame.org.uk/2009/02/10/well-never-be-happy-consumers-again-no-stimulus-package-can-bring-that-back/

() From Mark Bode: www.myspace.com/zarabode

() From Jean Jacques Perrey and Dana Countryman: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4FEet-mRXc
- beware, high res: http://www.funkylittlespacegirl.com

() Remember these days?http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WCTn4FljUQ

() http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/01/18/the-beauty-of-urban-decay/

() robot videos: <http://singularityhub.com/2009/01/12/a-review-of-the-best-robots-of-2008/>

() From Mako Sano:  Burroughs/Sontag: www.interpc.fr/mapage/westernlands/sontag1.html
- Bohemian S.F.: www.bopsecrets.org/rexroth/
- Historic S.F.: www.noehill.com/sf/landmarks/default.aspx.
- www.sffollies.com/follieshitlist.html
-  http://www.worldwidewords.org/weirdwords/ww-pul1.htm

() Don’t be fooled: http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2009/02/bad-bank-assets-proposal-worse-than-you.html

() from Michel Pennec, Lausanne, Switz (home of ART BRUT MUSEUM!):
- http://www.moju-video.com
- http://www.youtube.com/mojuvideo
- http://tochnit-aleph.com/dp/discog/deadpeni-2.html
- http://www.blossomingnoise.com/?q=node/468

() from Binky: Just put your mouse on a city anywhere in the world and the day’s
newspaper headlines pop up…  Double click and it shows the whole front page. About 580 newspapers from over 80 countries. Copy and paste to your browser: http://www.newseum.org/todaysfrontpages/flash/
also check out the “free magenta” web site: http://www.freemagenta.nl/

() from Karen Marcelo: “Can’t help thinking this is why cockroaches will survive humans someday”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TT4XO3Hjp7M
- http://flickr.com/photos/k0re/125406120/in/set-72157594143816699/
-  http://pro.sony-asia.com/product/spec/brochure/hxr_mc1n.pdf

() from Chris Farris: 3-D movie trailers etc online:
- http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Movies/02/06/review.coraline/index.html
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMlx33ov82c
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FM0SWbO_VxE
-    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jpoyd8VJC4o
-  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrBoni3LGo8
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7MUrcCivZI
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTTJi4GlzFk
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMlx33ov82c

() From Graham Rae: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMlx33ov82c
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXFuv7B-4lY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnP_m7-WnP8&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7SuJAgH7gI&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gx_naataHQc&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o46a_2hlN6Q&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCtauj1d748&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLUCFXcK0Oc

() From Chicken John: Stop Gentrification of Valencia St:
http://stopamericanapparel.wordpress.com/
http://therumpus.net/2009/01/kron-covers-the-stop-american-apparel-campaign/

() From Amybean: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTxW3GWZ5hI

() From Mary G: Did you attend the Deaf Club? If so, see this link: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=58990393573

() From John Trubee: http://www.piratecatradio.com/podcast.php

() From James M: “Watchphone”: http://www.google.com/search?q=W08+watchphone&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

() From Steven G: “Darwin Awards: proof of devolution.” http://www.darwinawards.com

() From Bruno R: http://flickr.com/photos/k0re/125406120/in/set-72157594143816699/
http://www.hoaxbuster.com/hoaxliste/hoax.php?idArticle=55579
http://niakissa.fr/eric/2008/12/08/pour-une-fois-deux-trucs-intelligents-a-faire-suivre-hoax/
désolé

() from Count Dante: blogs on the death of Bob Wilkins and Ray Dennis Steckler:
http://beerbloodandcornmeal.com/blog/index.php?blog=2&title=title_3&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1http://beerbloodandcornmeal.com/blog/index.php?blog=2&title=montalban_is_gone_and_some_words_about_t&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1

() from Improv Everywhere: No Pants Videos: http://improveverywhere.com/2009/01/14/no-pants-2k9/

() Ominous Detroit video: http://vimeo.com/2371774
() Peak Oil website: http://www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net/breakingnews.html
() From Phil G: Whole Earth! http://www.wholeearth.com/issue-electronic-edition.php?iss=2056

8. QUOTES:

() “You really get to know someone when you work with them.” – William S. Burroughs

() “You have to be charismatic to be truly evil.” – Ilana Fried

() “Time is a great teacher, but unfortunately it kills all its pupils.” – Hector Berlioz

() “If pleasure is the devil, then I live in hell.” – Charles Gatewood

() “Nobody makes a greater mistake, wrote Edmund Burke, than s(he) who did nothing because s(he) could only do a little.” – sent by Robert Delford Brown

() “People have to be told what it is they’re seeing.” – unknown

() “In this country you’re guilty until proven wealthy.” – Bill Maher

() “There will never be a nuclear war; there’s too much real estate involved.” – Frank Zappa

() “ALWAYS and NEVER are two words you should always remember never to use.”  Wendell Johnson

() “All of them had been illiterate for generations, and the only words they could read were the brand names…” – J.G. Ballard, “Hello America,” p.64

() “So this is New York – or was. Greatest city of the twentieth century; here you heard the heart-beat of international finance, industry and entertainment. Now it’s as remote from the real world as Pompeii or Persepolis.” – J.G. Ballard,  ibid, p. 28

() “Blog, blog, blog … and then you die.” – V. Vale

9. FEEDBACK FROM READERS:

() From ROBERT DELFORD BROWN, featured in our PRANKS book: “HELLO V. VALE,
WE ARE SEEING THE DISAPPEARANCE OF TRADEMARKS AND COPYRIGHTS. THE CHANGES THAT ARE TAKING PLACE TODAY ARE UNDER NO ONES CONTROL. THEY ARE TRANSFORMATIONAL.
POLITICIANS AND BUSINESS MEN HAVE NO CONTROL OVER THE CHANGES THAT ARE TAKING PLACE. THE ARE GOING TO CONTINUE TO TAKE PLACE INEXORABLY.
A NEW CIVILIZATION IS BEING BORN. RAPE AND PLUNDER AND DIVIDE AND CONQUER HAVE RUN THEIR COURSE. ALTRUISM WILL TAKE THEIR PLACE.
THE FUTURE IS SMALL AND FRIENDLY. THE PRESENT IS GROTESQUE. IT IS TERRIFYING. IT IS SUPPOSED TO BE THIS WAY.”

“WOW WOW WOW WOW!
I AM LOOKING FORWARD THE SACRED SOUND PARADE BY THE FUNKUPAGAN KAKAPHONIC KAZOO ORCHESTRA.
WOW WOW WOW WOW!
WE ARE WHERE IT’S AT SAINT 43!
6 BILLION ARTISTS/SCIENTISTS ARE SEEN IN TODAY’S SCHEME OF THINGS AS NOTHING MORE THAN 6 BILLION SUCKERS  WAITING TO BE FLEECED.
IT IS AN UGLY WORLD, BECAUSE IT’S SUPPOSED TO BE UGLY.
THERE IS NO ROOM FOR ALTRUISM. NO ROOM FOR COMPASSION. NO ROOM FOR MORALITY. PEOPLE ARE SICK AND TIRE-D OF NIHILISM AND HYPOCRISY.
BUT THE NEW WORLD IS BEING BORN AT THIS MOMENT.” [end]

() From Greg Leyh: “Numbers don’t lie.
Amount of CO2 produced per year by the average human being, in kilograms: 250
Amount of CO2 produced by firing a 9mm round with a 5 grain powder charge, in grams: 0.18
Amount of CO2 produced by the complete decay of the average human body, in kilograms: 59″

() FROM MAL SHARPE (featured in our PRANKS books):  “Blood Clots/Stroke – They Now Have a Fourth Indicator, the Tongue!”

[ STROKE: Remember the 1st Three Letters....S.T.R. ]

My nurse friend sent this and encouraged me to post it and spread the word. I agree. If everyone can remember something this simple, we could save some folks. Please read:

STROKE IDENTIFICATION:

During a BBQ, a friend stumbled and took a little fall – she assured everyone that she was fine (they offered to call paramedics) . She said she had just tripped over a brick because of her new shoes. [However...] she had suffered a stroke at the BBQ. Had they known how to identify the signs of a stroke, perhaps she would be with us today. Some don’t die; they end up in a helpless, hopeless condition instead.

A neurologist says that if he can get to a stroke victim within 3 hours he can totally reverse the effects of a stroke…totally. He said the trick was getting a stroke recognized, diagnosed, and then getting the patient medically cared for within 3 hours, which is tough.

RECOGNIZING A STROKE

Remember the ‘3′ steps, STR . Read and Learn!

Sometimes symptoms of a stroke are difficult to identify. Unfortunately, the lack of awareness spells disaster. The stroke victim may suffer severe brain damage when people nearby fail to recognize the symptoms of a stroke.

Now doctors say a bystander can recognize a stroke by asking three simple questions:

S *Ask the individual to SMILE.

T *Ask the person to TALK and SPEAK A SIMPLE SENTENCE (Coherently) (i.e., “It is sunny out toda.y”)

R *Ask him or her to RAISE BOTH ARMS.

If he or she has trouble with ANY ONE of these tasks, call emergency number immediately and describe the symptoms to the dispatcher.

New Sign of a Stroke ——– Stick out Your Ton-gue

NOTE: Another ’sign’ of a stroke is this: Ask the person to ’stick’ out his ton-gue.. If the tongue is ‘crooked’, if it goes to one side or the other,that is also an indication of a stroke.

A cardiologist says if everyone who gets this e-mail sends it to 10 people; you can bet that at least one life will be saved. [end]

() Leave an 80th Birthday (Jan 20, 2009) Greeting for Jean Jacques Perrey:
http://www.danacountryman.com/jjp1/guestbook/guest.html

() “Search & Destroy: Rebel Youth Culture,” No.10, 1978. The JGB interview appears on pages 20 to 21. Vale at Re/Search still has that issue of Search & Destroy for sale ($7)…[In it, Ballard extolls the movie "Vanishing Point."]

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
FEB 2009 RE/Search eNewsletter written by V. Vale & contributors. Newsletter and website powered by http://www.laughingsquid.com.
DISCLAIMER : If you’re receiving V. VALE’s newsletter, it’s because you **or someone you know** has sent your address to us, or signed our mailing list at an event!
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
RE/SEARCH | 20 Romolo #B | San Francisco CA 94133 | 415.362.1465
http://www.researchpubs.com | http://www.myspace.com/researchpubs | info@researchpubs.com
–

Fri Jan 30, 2009 PRESS RELEASE – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

THUR FEB 5, 2009, 7PM @ BEAT MUSEUM, 540 Broadway, San Francisco:

WILLIAM S. BURROUGHS 95th BIRTHDAY PARTY!

w/Charles Gatewood (”Beat Photographer”) & V. Vale (RE/Search Publications founder) in person

Join us on Feb 5th as the Beat Museum hosts Charles Gatewood and V. Vale (RE/ Search Publications founder)  in a gala tribute to Beat legend William S. Burroughs.  Acclaimed photographer Charles Gatewood will show classic Burroughs photos he took for Rolling Stone (1972) and Crawdaddy (1975). Charles will also read selections of Burroughs text from his 1975 photo book “Sidetripping,” and share William Burroughs stories from his forthcoming memoir, “Dirty Old Man.” Audience Q&A. Event will be videotaped for a future “Counter Culture Hour” episode — you can be on TV!
V. Vale will share photos and anecdotes from time spent with William S. Burroughs. His rare “Search & Destroy#10″ (1978) featuring W.S. Burroughs on the cover will be available for $5!
Rare William Burroughs books, prints, and collectibles will be available starting at $5 and up, & can be autographed by Gatewood/Vale. Happy Birthday, Bill!

Beat Museum, 540 Broadway/Columbus, San Francisco CA 94133, 1-800-537-6822

Charles Gatewood Contact info: charles@charlesgatewood.com / website: http://www.charlesgatewood.com
newsgroup/mailing list: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/flashvideo – Flash Productions, Box 410052, San Francisco, CA 94141, (415) 267-7651
V. Vale/RE/Search Contact info: info@researchpubs.com / website:  http://www.researchpubs.com/Blog/?page_id=13&category=22 – RE/Search Publications, 20 Romolo Place #B, San Francisco, CA  94133, (415) 362-1465

V. Vale’s RE/Search newsletter January oh-nine

++ “PLEASE SUPPORT US / ORDER RE/SEARCH BOOKS and T-SHIRTS! / BUY GIFTS!!” ++

WELCOME TO V. VALE’s [Abbreviated] RE/SEARCH NEWSLETTER #79, January 2009
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
RE/SEARCH | 20 Romolo #B | San Francisco CA 94133 | 415.362.1465
www.researchpubs.com | http://www.myspace.com/researchpubs | info@researchpubs.com

**IF YOU LIVE IN San Francisco BAY AREA, PLEASE **REPLY** TO THIS NEWSLETTER IF YOU WISH TO RECEIVE LAST-MINUTE LOCAL NEWS OF RE/SEARCH-recommended EVENTS! In subject line please write “local subscribe”

TABLE OF CONTENTS:
___________________________________________
1. MESSAGE FROM YOUR EDITOR – Dirk Dirksen book in-the-making, Ray Dennis Steckler, Bob Wilkins, and Ron Asheton R.I.P., and how about a James Howard Kunstleresque-future survivalism project?
2. Counter Culture Hour with guest: Jihad Jerry, Sat January 10, 2009 (www.accessf.org – channel 1)
3. What We’ve Attended/What We’ve Been Reading/Seeing/Listening to/What We’ve Been Sent..
4. FORTHCOMING EVENTS
5. Ian Webster on Meri St. Mary, White Trash Debutantes, Toiling Midgets
6. Steven Gray on Blixa Bargeld, Penelope Houston, Meri St. Mary
7. Recommended Links
8. Quotes
9. Feedback from Readers
————–
please add info@researchpubs.com to your ADDRESS BOOK. If you change your email, send it plus your “old” email address to delete. Lastly, forward our newsletter to your friends! If you are on aol, please make sure you can receive our newsletter -  we get the most returns from addresses at AOL, Hotmail and Yahoo!

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+ RE/Search LOGO T-shirt $25. S,M,L,XL. NEWSLETTER SPECIAL Free shipping – just ask for it.
+PRANKS HARDBACK deluxe paper – only 500 made – NEWSLETTER SPECIAL ONLY $30 plus $5 ship
+R/S #4/5 (Burroughs, Throbbing Gristle, Brion Gysin) HARDBACK deluxe paper only 500 made $40 plus $5 ship
+INDUSTRIAL CULTURE HANDBOOK HARDBACK deluxe paper NEWSLETTER SPECIAL ONLY $30 plus $5
+PRANKS 2 deluxe paper $25 plus $4 ship – AUTOGRAPHED BY YES MEN
+RE/SEARCH button, 1-1/2″ SQUARE $1 PLUS $1 shipping
+SEARCH & DESTROY BUTTON, 1-1/2″ ROUND, $1 plus $1 shipping
+SEARCH & DESTROY #1 (1st issue) $7 plus $5 shipping
+SEARCH & DESTROY- 8 original  issues (1977-79) only $32 plus $5 shipping (includes one 1987 reprint)
+PUNK 77 expanded 3rd edition $20 plus $5 shipping
+LOUDER FASTER SHORTER 1978 Punk Video – only 500 made- DVD $20 plus $5 shipping
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
NEW:
+NOW SHIPPING: LEARY ON DRUGS $19.95 plus $5 domestic shipping ($15 overseas). Includes NEW material from the Archives. Newsletter Special $15 plus $5 shipping (plus 8.5% Calif Sales Tax, if applicable)
Years after his death, Leary’s writings are still insightful and refreshing — he writes on freedom and liberty in the guise of writing on drugs (ed.2000)
+BURNING MAN LIVE! – almost! Coming this month! $24.99 – preorder only $20 plus $5 domestic shipping ($15 overseas). Finally At Printer – Will Ship in January
This is a 13-year collection of “P*ss Clear” zine, which was actually produced, printed and distributed right there on the playa during Burning Man! The sarcastic wit of the editor guides you through the sand-filled cacophony of hyperstimulation. Fun, sexy, druggy, and “real.”
+IN STOCK/NOW SHIPPING: PRONOVATION: P0RNOGRAPHY & TECHNOLOGY, some color photos (”A  must!” – Charles Gatewood) $25 plus $5 ship  (ed.1000)

1.  MESSAGE FROM YOUR EDITOR.

Your editor has been “hit” by  a  5-week (!!) cold, so this newsletter will also be succinct – another 4-hour (rather than the usual 10-12-hour) project. That said, I’m afraid I’ll have to start with some obituary material, of some noteworthy passings.

On Jan 7 2009, RAY DENNIS STECKLER, great filmmaker and creator of The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies (1963), Thrill Killers and many more low-budget DIY “classics,” died. We fondly remember visiting Ray at the Claremont Hotel in the Berkeley Hills on his last drive in his minivan to the Bay Area, and hanging out with his wife and children.

Jan 7 2009, Creature Features host Bob Wilkins died! Longterm Bay Area residents will fondly remember his late night TV show featuring memorable “B” movies. Google his name to find out more. Memorial service in Oakland scheduled. – news sent by Thrillville’s Will the Thrill Viharo, and John Stanley who inherited Bob Wilkins’ Creature Features as host. FYI, John has published some excellent film books.

R.I.P. RON ASHETON, Stooges guitarist, died January 6, 2009. www.iggypop.com  What a shock!

NOW, YOU can participate: Do you remember Dirk Dirksen, impresario behind the Mabuhay Gardens, the club which almost single-handedly incubated the early San Francisco punk movement? He died just a couple of years ago. JAMES STARK is working on a book about Dirk, and requests your anecdotes/photos/stories/etc. Contact him: james@jamesstark.com. (Note that James Stark’s book PUNK 77 is still available from us – www.researchpubs.com )

Still Alive and Kicking: Don’t know about you, but, having been under the spell of James Howard Kunstler and other Peak Oil prophets, we are hunkering down in anticipation of the greatest economic catastrophe ever seen in our lifetime. Would anyone be interested in a RE/SEARCH SURVIVAL GUIDE? That’s what we truly want to work on! Send us feedback, just to prove you actually READ this newsletter! Send us your favorite “future survivalism” links!

2.  Counter Culture Hour – with guest: Jihad Jerry NOW ON-LINE AND on cable access San Francisco 6:30 PM, Sat January 10, 2009 on-line (www.accessf.org – channel 1) as well as cable Channel 29, San Francisco.
You don’t have to be a DEVO fan to appreciate the acerbic wit and dark philosophical vision of DEVO founder Gerald V. Casale. Recommended for all who prize black humor.

A San Francisco event/showing of this episode for January is in the planning stages, so sign up for our “local subscribe” list for the details. Would you like to have a Counter Culture Hour showing in your town? Please write and ask us how you can do this!

3. What We’ve Attended/What We’ve Been Reading/Seeing/Listening to/What We’ve Been Sent

()  ANP Quarterly, Vol 2 #2, featured a huge interview with V. Vale. (Vol 2 No 2). http://www.rvcaanpq.com/?p=495 — we’re still basking in its afterglow. We even got an order for an 8-issue set of Search & Destroy…

() Gus Van Sant’s MILK. Beautiful black-and-white opening documentary footage. Great opera scene with fantastic music. History we missed, for the most part, even though we lived in San Francisco — unless you lived in the Castro district, you probably didn’t know about the last-minute parades, rallies, et al. Our ex-intern Zach was glimpsed in two scenes, too. A lot of San Francisco actors got work as extras — the film was good for the local economy, and in turn it is garnering a lot of local support. Photographer Dan Nicoletta is portrayed; he gave us photographs for our MODERN PRIMITIVES classic twenty years ago.

()  Last Saturday was our “movie marathon” day. Besides seeing the aforementioned MILK, at home we also watched INFERNO, CARNIVAL OF SOULS, and TERROR AT THE OPERA. Dario Argento is one of our favorite living film directors, and the music in his INFERNO and TERROR AT THE OPERA is  first-rate, worth focusing on (since we’ve already seen the films at least 3 times each). The music was also amazing in CARNIVAL OF SOULS, which had the largest, most complex pipe organ we’ve ever seen…

() “Ken Hollings’ WELCOME TO MARS: Fantasies of Science in the American Century 1947-1959. “Draws upon newspaper accounts, advertising campaigns, declassified government archives, old movies and newsreels… Hollings depicts an unsettled time in which the layout of Suburbia reflected atomic bombing strategies, bankers, and movie stars experimented with hallucinogens, brainwashing was just another form of interior decoration, and strange lights in the sky were taken very seriously indeed.” A U.K. book From Strange Attractor Press.

() Paul Fussell: Bad, or, The Dumbing of America.” Not as essential as CLASS, but still, easily read during an airplane ride.

() All five Eve Diamond mysteries, set in Los Angeles, and written by Denise Hamilton, editor of the L.A. Noir anthology. Focus: crimes in L.A.’s subcultures: Asian, Hispanic, Russian…

() Galatea’s Pants, Vol. 22, $5 postpaid from Lauren Eggert-Crowe, 1540 Merrill St, Santa Cruz CA 95062. This “zine” is mostly pure gold – that is, if your gold standard is “rebellion.” “Some talking points on the financial crisis” by Kate Griffiths and Isaac Silver is, well, uncompromising. Excellent reading for those few who hate any kind of compromise. Even essays I didn’t think interested me, did. It has been a great experience watching this zine evolve and grow over the past decade.

4. OTHER FORTHCOMING EVENTS:

() FRI  Jan 9, 8pm-12am, BIG DADDY BENEFIT hosted by KAL SPELLETICH at his fabulous studio. 1043 Marin. At 3rd and Cesar Chavez head toward bay, turn right onto Illinois St, go one block & you’re there. Interactive machines and robots from Kal Spelletich and the Seemen, pedal-powered amusement devices from Pauldaplumber, pedal-powered rides from Cyclecide, RAT-TAT-TOE (tic tac toe w/ rats), with performances by The Amazing Jarico Reesce, and SPY & MOSES! There will also be refreshments and tamales as well as some secret surprises!

() Fri Jan 23 at Elbo Roo m, Valencia/17th St.  INDYFEST Benefit/Launch Party. Bands include Shotgun Wedding Quintet, Ex-Boyfriends, Pollo del Mar. $10

() SAVAGE REPUBLIC will be touring Europe this spring – check  myspace.com/savagerepublic and mobilization.com. A new F-Space CD “Bleeding Rays of Dawn” is available from mobilization.com – sonic samples available at myspace.com/fspace

SAVAGE REPUBLIC EUROPEAN TOUR:

Jan 13 2009    8:00P LE KLUB    PARIS
Jan 14 2009    8:00P Son’Art    BORDEAUX
Jan 15 2009    8:00P SONIC    LYON
Jan 16 2009    8:00P TAGOMAGO    MASSA
Jan 17 2009    8:00P Arci Kroen    VERONA
Jan 18 2009    8:00P For Sale    PIACENZA
Jan 20 2009    8:00P Circolo degli Artisti (+ Carla Bozulich’s Evangelista)    ROMA
Jan 22 2009    8:00P SPAZIO OFF    TRANI
Jan 24 2009    8:00P TBA    BOLZANO

()Sat Jan 10, 8pm, OMNICIRCUS hosts Moth Nor Rust concert. 550 Natoma (6-7th St), 415-701-0686. $10

() Eddie Muller’s NOIR CITY film festival at the Castro Theatre. Highly recommended by Jello Biafra!

() Jan 31, Uptown in Oakland: the Avengers play a rare concert. Nota Bene!

5. Stephane von Stephane is on RE/Treat, so this month, guest writer Ian Webster writes on Lani Lithman, White Trash Debutan tes, Meri St. Mary , etc.
“Saturday, Nov 29, 2008, the glamorous Lani Lithman (the late Snakefinger’s daughter) opened the show at Bottom of the Hill in San Francisco, with her band, Girls With Guns (myspace.com/girlswithgunsrock). Lani’s material is both interesting and well-executed. She shouted out a birthday greeting to her mother who was in the audience. Next, Punk Rock veterans The Lewd performed a solid set, including my personal favorite, “mobile Home.” They were followed by the White Trash Debutantes, featuring Ginger Coyote, editor of Punk Globe, who appeared as a dirty blond — a Very dirty blonde. Kathy Peck of The Contractions joined the band onstage for a rousing rendition of “Let’s Do the Time Warp.” It seems that whenever the Debs perform, they bring a party atmosphere to the room. Finally the band Dr Know provided fuel for the mosh pit.
“Meri St. Mary performed at Salon de Etoile — she was about to cloister herself in a recording studio, and this was a last chance to see her perform for a while. Her new line-up featured Ronnie Guitar (myspace.com/RonnieSargentKustomGuitars) and Dominique Leslie (formerly Vince of Animal Things). Meri’s act might best be described as Folk-Punk. Her lyrics run the gamut from introspective to exuberant. I look forward to hearing the results of her current recording efforts, plus any recordings made with the Housecoat Project that may be released on Subterranean Records in the future. As always, Meri’s songs are both intriguing and intriguingly presented.
“Folllowing Meri’s act, some videos by Charles Brown (ex-Voice Farm) showcased an array of curious characters portrayed by Mr. Brown. I spoke with Michael Belfer (Sleepers/Tuxedo Moon guitarist) and he said he was working with Craig Gray (ex-Toiling Midgets, Negative Trend) and this new band under the name of Toiling Midgets played last Sunday at Annie’s Social Club, one of our favorite San Francisco meeting places… More later!” – Ian

6. Steven Gray on Blixa Bargeld’s latest live show at Project Artaud (Nov. 21, 2008): THE EXECUTION OF PRECIOUS MEMORIES
“We were in the front row at the Project Artaud Theater, with Blixa on stage.  He was speaking into a microphone, reading from an assortment of memories (whole or one-line fragments) which random people had filled out on a questionnaire and mailed back to him. He then cherry-picked the results and fit them into an ongoing format of choreography and musical composition (the Kunst-Stoff dance company and Nanos Operetta). He has taken this show on the road, from Berlin to Buenos Aires and New Delhi, with the recited memory content differing from town to town. He also sings a little.
“A woman emerges from the shadows and moves around a huge dark stage, while memories are recited amid idiosyncratic sound-effects from an ensemble with violin, cello, accordion, drums, and what appeared to be the use of a bow on the edge of some vibes. The side-lit bodies moving about onstage in unusual/abstract patterns seemed to be in a different dimension from the spoken word performance. Blixa was surprisingly subdued, and I missed a few words and phrases along the way. Two other voices (including Carla Kilhstedt) contributed now and then.
“It was odd to see this at Project Artaud. I used to live there many years ago (in a studio on a corridor called Alchemical Rhetoric) and there were ghosts lurking behind the walls. I also have memories of Einsturzenden Neubautenin the late ’80s, a show in an SF club in 1993 (now the Glass Kat), and talking with the band after a show at the Fillmore in 2004. During the ’93 show Blixa was trying to get the sound man to crank up his microphone, with mounting fury and frustration. This time he wanted more amplification as well, but only had to raise his hand.
“As for the memories being recited – they ranged from the vague and impressionistic (a lot of “nature” references) to the more explicit (sex and politics). Someone managed to include both Bush and donkey d-icks in the same line. Thanks for the memories.” – Steven

MERI ST. MARY AT THE VORTEX ROOM (Nov 6, 2008) – by Steven Gray

I met Meri St. Mary on a radio show and she invited me to see her perform at the Vortex Room, which resembles an undercover speakeasy in the 1920’s, except that time has stopped around 1965. Proprietor Dog Swan describes his lair thusly: “Full house party with classic car in front. The Bifurcated Library (TV, electronics, radio, film, photography, architecture and independent design, prison, medical, Russian, comix, beat-jazz-folk, art). The Latent Lounge with a view of the tiny creatures in the Vortex Room below, live performance, video, film and the Art Passe Gallery.”

I walked into the Vortex Room which has a huge vortex spinning slowly on a screen, part of the hypnotic process which detaches you from the present as you’re lounging with the retro-sexuals who are sipping their martinis and watching Penelope Houston video highlights from her career beginning with the Avengers. Penelope is an old friend of Dog’s and a veteran of his TV show, “The Doghouse.” Afterward, Meri St. Mary (once married to Flipper vocalist Bruce Loose) took the stage and revved things up with an acoustic set (accompanied by Dominique, the former Vince from Animal Things, on the keyboards). She strums a guitar with fierce determination and sings like a born songwriter. Twenty years ago she was in a band and made a record called WIDE EYE DOO DAT. Her life and her career derailed at some point, but now she is back, playing live and making recordings. What she does sounds better than a lot of other stuff out there, past and present. Courtney Love better retire, if she hasn’t already. ” [end]

7. RECOMMENDED LINKS – thanks to our friends Phil G, Ferrara, James McN-, Derek B. &  Others who send us links.

()  La 1ère WEBTV 100% consacré aux Musiques Electroniques ! www.22tv.fr

()  from Stephane von Stephane: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upT0JlmDQo0

()  from Sharon Leong: http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blgabe.htm
also, the latest issue of CARBON 14 features an interview on Sharon: http://www.c14.com/c1431.html

() from Hokan: http://www.aksalser.com/game.htm
http://www.raincitystory.com/flash/screenclean.swf

()  from Extreme Elvis aka Matt Cornell:  http://www.vimeo.com/2621788

() from Fly; her band Zero Content is on the soundtrack: http://www.vimeo.com/2621788

()  from Tim Chapman:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/2ubh/3110091225/

()  from MAL SHARPE:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4zq7gCJZoA
http://www.maximumfun.org/blog/labels/Coyle%20and%20Sharpe.html

() from Ferrara BP: http://download.yousendit.com/Q01FWGJPd0ExUUJMWEE9PQ

()  from Mexico: www.congeladadeuva.com

() from Ron Chornow: http://www.sockandawe.com/

() from Laughing Squid RE the RE/Search “Leary On Drugs” book: http://laughingsquid.com/leary-on-drugs-the-writings-and-lectures-of-timothy-leary/

() from Bruno R: http://lsont2.canalblog.com/
http://delicious.com/lsont2
http://lsont2sortie.free.fr
http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=nvlSAJ6Yc8g

() From Mako Sano: www.100abdominalexercises.com/
www.imdb.com/title/tt0125140/
www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love,_American_Style

() from Phil G: “r.mutt lives” – http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/12/15/the-world-of-art-museum-toilets-revealed

()  www.markryden.com

()  from Robert Turman (ex-NON): “…did a show the other night in Cleveland, here’s a video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=931GatlUjow&feature=channel

() from Rick McGrath: “I predict  we will be swept away by a time of hyper-inflation, as the world’s economies react to the trillions of freshly-printed dollars and devalue them accordingly – put all ya got into collectables now, kids… we’ll be pushing wheelbarrels of dough to buy books in the future.”

() from Mike Bonsasll, the COMPLETE (so far) JG BALLARD CONCORDANCE: http://mbonsall.homeserver.com/concordance/

() from Matt Gonzalez: “Ralph Nader’s remarks at Peter Camejo’s memorial:” http://vimeo.com/2333631

8. QUOTES:

() “Once you realize we are all mad, life starts to make sense.” – New Year’s card sent by artist Gee Vaucher, CRASS founder.

() “In times of war, first shoes, then food.” – El Greco

() “Money is just the poor man’s credit card.” – Marshall McLuhan, Understanding Media

() “The LACK of money is the root of all evil.” – Mark Twain

() “The key to failure is trying to please everybody.” – Bill Cosby

() “America has always grown by playing out its soils, wasting its oil, and by looking abroad for the people it needed to do its work.” – Emmanuel Todd, “After the Empire: The Breakdown of the American Order,” 2002, p.177

() “The European Union does a better job than America at following the biblical commandment, ‘Thou shalt not kill.’ Capital pun-ishment has been abolished, and the homicide rate is very low, only slightly more than 1 per 100,000 inhabitants. Executions in America are a routine affair and the homicide rate… remains between 6 and 7 per 100,000 inhabitants.” – ibid, p.176

() “[America's] dependence on foreign sources of investment capital is greater than ever. America’s real war is about economics not terorism. The country is battling to maintain its status as the world’s financial center by making a symbolic show o its military might in the heart of Eurasia, thereby hoping to forget and have others ignore America’s industrial weakness, its financial needs, and its predatory character…The war aggravated the global economic crisis that has been mismanaged by the world’s central power. The American economy itself is increasingly perceived as an unfathomable mystery. One no longer has any clear idea which U.S. companies are totally genuine. One no longer knows how this economy works…Financial institutions in Europe and Asia with heavy investments in the United States will lose a lot of money — the fall of the stock market being only the first stage in the disappearance of foreign holdings in the United States.” – pp xviii-xix, op cit, written in 2002 [!]

9. FEEDBACK FROM READERS:

() STACY’S BOOKSTORE is closing March 2009, unless San Francisco rallies to save it (a la Kepler’s Bookstore in Palo Alto). RE/Search got medical textbooks and a human skull from the basement back in the ’80s. News sent by Johnny Strike, CRIME founder.

()  “I’m enjoying the PrOnnovation book! (available from www.researchpubs.com) …Here’s the link to my fancy virtual tour of pencils, haunted parlours, and opium dens:  http://jainabee.com ”

()  from Johnny Strike: “As a prank, students from local high schools have been taking advantage of the county’s Speed Camera Program in order to exact revenge on people… students duplicate the license plates by printing plate numbers on glossy photo paper, using fonts from certain websites that “mimic” those on Maryland license plates. They tape the duplicate plate over the existing plate on the back of their car and purposefully speed through a speed camera, the parent said. The victim then receives a citation in the mail days later. Students are even obtaining vehicles from their friends that are similar or identical to the make and model of the car owned by the targeted victim…”

() from John Blades (bladesj@gmail.com): “Early SPK with an enlightening interview with founding member Graeme Revell. Also Nurse With Wound programming. www.anonradio.net

()  “dude – 3 new books at once? way to go!!!!! – david”

()  “Hi, Mr. Vale:

“Thirty years ago I shot a film about a punk rock concert held in Toronto called THE LAST POGO. This October I released it on DVD. I got a nice bunch of words in The Big Takeover (which had a nice Part 2 of an Interview with V. Vale). I’d love to send you a comp copy and I would love you to take a look at it;  I think you might like it.  Of course a review wouldn’t hurt, but honestly — I’d just like you to take 25 minutes out of your life and get a taste of what was happening in Toronto back in the day… At my site http://www.thelastpogo.net you’ll find that lately most of the posts are all about me shilling the product. The site is mostly a chronicle of the making of my current project, THE LAST POGO JUMPS AGAIN in which, using my original film as a reference and spine, I’m trying to explore why the punk scene started in Toronto — and what’s happened to everyone since, a retarded hybrid of Michael Apted’s Seven Up series and I don’t know what. Whatever. Thanks for all the fun over the years.Cheers, Colin Brunton .” Colin, we liked your film and feel anybody interested in 70s Punk Rock needs to order it from your website! – V. Vale

() From James McN: “I saw this great punk duo on Thursday at The Parkside.  They gave me a t-shirt and their CD.  Here is some of the music from the CD.  I particularly like ‘the welcome’ and ‘change it now!’ songs, but all of them are quite original and reminiscent of John Doe and Exene Cervenca and the original feeling of X with a dark side.” http://www.juanitaandtherabbit.com/music.html

() from Jenny Lens, 70s Punk Photographer in L.A.:
http://jennylens.com/ramones-ebooksample/ramones1976v1-jennylens-ebooksample.pdf
also, Ramones eBook highlighted on boingboing.net!
<http://www.boingboing.net/2008/12/05/ramones-photos-by-je.html>

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
JAN 2009 RE/Search eNewsletter written by V. Vale & contributors. Newsletter and website powered by http://www.laughingsquid.com.
DISCLAIMER : If you’re receiving V. VALE’s newsletter, it’s because you **or someone you know** has sent your address to us, or signed our mailing list at an event!
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
RE/SEARCH | 20 Romolo #B | San Francisco CA 94133 | 415.362.1465
www.researchpubs.com | http://www.myspace.com/researchpubs | info@researchpubs.com
–

Will ship in time for Xmas if you order THIS WEEK.

Order here