Pranks, Punk and Industrial Culture from V. Vale

WELCOME TO V. VALE’s RE/SEARCH NEWSLETTER #110, Nov 2012 Add Us to Your Address Book! You are Receiving this Email because You or Someone You Know Signed Up to Our Newsletter in the Past. Scroll to the Bottom of this Email to UNSUBSCRIBE. Are you receiving this newsletter (annoyingly) TWICE? PLEASE tell us which address to delete.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS:
1. MESSAGE FROM YOUR EDITOR, V. VALE: Theory of an Ideal Daily (Male) Uniform.
2. Counter Culture Hour Sat Nov 10, 2012 – 6:00 PM PACIFIC TIME – SF cable channel 29, also simulcast on-line (see below):
3. **MEDITATION SPACE** [blank]
4. FORTHCOMING EVENTS -
5. What We’ve Attended/What We’ve Been Reading/Seeing:
6. Paul Addis: R.I.P.
7. Recommended Links – send some!
8. QUOTES
9. Letters from Readers
10. Sponsors (Please check ‘em out! – they make this “free” newsletter possible!)
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1. MESSAGE FROM V. VALE: “THEORY OF AN IDEAL DAILY UNIFORM.”

(Please note that this essay ONLY applies to human males; human females [who are smarter than the rest of us] are advised to skip this!)
Even though our philosophy has morphed from “Platonic Idealism” to “Skeptical Empiricism” (thanks to Nassim Taleb), nevertheless, old habits of thinking die hard. The part of us that wants to identify with “pure Zen Buddhist practice of non-attachment to the material plane” is congruent with the inquiry, “What are the least amount of possessions we could happily survive with?” And we recall the uniform of Buddhist monks through the ages: a cloak (wear it; sleep in it), a staff, sandals (or shoes?) and a begging bowl.
And what would be the characteristics of an “ideal daily uniform”? 1) Widest temperature range (wind/water/sun resistant) 2) Most useful pockets 3) Lightest weight 4) Minimalist design emphasizing function, to resist “becoming dated.”
Decades ago, after much discussion with friends, we adopted the “artist’s uniform”: wear all black. Consequently, wherever we go in the world, people ask, “Are you an artist?” This question did not offend; au contraire. We wondered why so many clothing designers seem to be photographed wearing all black—and still don’t know the answer, but think it has to do with dealing with so many colors in their work, that black offers a respite and a haven of reliable security.
Why ALL BLACK? 1) I, personally, have black hair, so it’s an “animal” thing. 2) Ninjas wear all black and can disappear in the night; I like the ideal of the Ninja camouflage and mobility. 3) Everything matches; one never need ask in the morning, “What shall I wear? Does this shirt “go” with these pants?” Etc. 4) Maximum social mobility; one can talk with gutter punks or wealthy art collectors… 5) Minimalist inscrutability and non-flamboyance (if you wanna be flamboyant, wear a red scarf or hat or shoes). Red is the second preferred color. White is the third. 6) Black is protective; wearing black can be fear-inspiring. Ideally, criminals are hopefully less likely to want to f– with you if you wear all black.
This kind-of Platonic Ideal of wearing all black had other immediate attractions: first of all, the desire to Simplify Life (as Thoreau said). We don’t like the idea of spending inflated amounts of money on clothing. With this in mind, we could enter any thrift store, rapidly cruise the clothing racks, and exit happily with very little in hand: namely, black cotton shirts with a regular collar and at least one chest pocket (for holding a small digital recorder, a bus transfer, et al). Rarely could we find a black wool coat with enough (and large enough) pockets and a high collar that buttons all the way to the top; generally, we avoid zipper closures on coats (they’re hard to “deal with” while sitting in a chair or car). Black suits can be found, but they have not been adopted by us (yet, even though several of our oldest friends wear ONLY black suits these days — rumpled, of course. We are still thinking about wearing black suits, as they can be thriftily found in, yes, thrift stores).
Our socks are the 6-for-$12 90%-cotton type (all-black, of course) from JC Penney or from Mervyn’s, R.I.P. Boxer shorts (cotton): who cares what color they are, as no one can see ‘em, normally, and they’re economically-priced at JC Penney or Costco. Shoes are ankle-high waterproof Rockports with added $25 innersoles, which could be resoled or reheeled—very important. (Like, save the planet…)
Pants for the last few decades were “classic” Lee regular fit black jeans (hate “relaxed-fit”), made of a heavy denim, with deep pockets made of long-wearing cloth, and most notably, a functionally-large change pocket which could hold a ring of 8 keys plus 5 quarters, a dime, three pennies and a nickel. Sadly, Levis brand and most designer brands feature change pockets which are laughably too small. (FUNCTION first, please!)
But, some years ago we went to London in February and was forced to walk around late at night—and for the first time encountered bone-chilling, windy cold. And our legs froze. So for the first time we thought about finding warmer pants, and we wondered: is there a fabric that’s lightweight, not wool (which is scratchy); water-resistant, wind-resistant, yet BREATHABLE? Historically, we had avoided polyester-type artificial fibers because they were clammy and gross.
We became interested in “technical clothing” made for mountain climbers, professional bicyclists, policemen, armed forces, miners, welders and other real-world professions encountering extremes of climate and temperature. After reading numerous reviews, the most amount of praise centered on Schoeller fabric. But, we didn’t like the design of any pants we found (cargo pants are not our cup-of-tea).
Finally, after years, we thought of googling: “Schoeller fabric jeans.” Now, the invention of “jeans” (originated by Levi-Strauss company) is one of the greatest, classic designs ever seen. (We find it too annoying to get at cargo pants pockets.) If you put your wallet into a right front pocket, it’s practically impossible to lose it. A diary/notebook fits into the left front pocket. Receipts/bus transfers can go into the left rear pocket. We never used the right rear pocket, but more on that later…
To our surprise, we found that someone was thinking exactly like us: they too, for years, had been meditating on the THEORY OF IDEAL PANTS, and had been driven, in a DO-IT-YOURSELF spirit, to import Schoeller fabric from Switzerland, get a sewing machine, and teach themselves how to make jeans made of what may be the best fabric in the world for wind/rain-resistant pants. Yes, this is another Platonic Ideal, but … can one be both a Platonic Idealist AND a Skeptical Empiricist in the same body? Perhaps…
We contacted the maker of these Schoeller fabric jeans and had a small email conversation. First discovery: they were made by ONE PERSON (plus maybe a few friends on call) living in a small city in Oregon on the West Coast of America. Our main concerns were: 1) is the THREAD used all black [we don't like yellow thread so much on black jeans]? (Yes.) 2) Is the change pocket big enough to hold a small camera? (Yes.) 3) Are all the pockets DEEP, and made of extra-long-lasting material? (Yes.) 4. Is the zipper long enough? [We hate low-rise jeans]. (Yes.) 5. The best discovery of all was: the right rear pocket is ZIPPERED, and can hold a USA Passport… Wow!
The trouble with San Francisco buildings is that all of the ones we have lived in have been inadequately insulated for interior living during the colder Bay Area months. None of our apartments have ever had central heating, and they’ve all been cold. So, for several months of the year, we find ourselves wrapping a fleece blanket (African style) around our waist so we can work long hours at the computer—it’s annoying when your legs get cold. Yet we dislike wearing long underwear; it’s too bulky and feels inconvenient; so for decades we lived with cold legs covered with a blanket.
We ordered a pair of these Schoeller-fabric jeans, expecting the worst. The jeans arrived bearing some beautifully-designed labels (hmm…) and were sealed in a waterproof ziplock bag. They were surprising lightweight; less than half the weight of our trusty Lee jeans. We tried them on and—ah, blissful warmth. Measurably warmer than our old standby Lee Jeans in our cold apartment. Great! Next: the pockets: even BETTER than our Lee Jeans; deeper, a harder, more long-lasting fabric, we thought. The change pocket: large! Best of all was the right rear zippered pocket; nothing could be worse than losing a passport while overseas. We wore the new jeans all night till 2AM when we finally finished editing a certain interview project and decided to “hit the sack.”
We also realized that the Schoeller fabric will stay blacker, longer. Even though we washed our Lee jeans in cold water, nevertheless, they faded—and we like our black jeans BLACK, not gray… We will continue to wash these Schoeller fabric jeans in cold water, and hang them up to dry (so as to minimize shrinkage; no dryer, definitely).
Seems hard to believe—in this day and age where, universally, profit comes first—to find what we now consider THE WORLD’S GREATEST BLACK JEANS, bar none. They are made by an individual who consciously set as a goal: To Make the Best Black Jeans in the World. And we feel he has succeeded, in every single detail. The jeans are meticulously detailed, immaculately tailored—a Work of Art. They are hand-made by a real human individual of rare integrity in a small town in America. Will the world beat a path to his door? We fervently hope so. This is the uncompromising spirit that Americans formerly had in droves, before our cojones were cut off by lack of willpower, vision, ethics and integrity.
We hope that the individual behind this start-up can sustain for the long haul, and not compromise on quality, no matter how tempting. These jeans are not cheap; they are made in America and America is expensive to survive in, these days. But, we expect them to outlast any previous jeans we’ve ever owned, and to give us years of faithful service and yes, pleasure. There is a great satisfaction in owning something that you know is of the highest quality, that is made by a genuine idealist (a real person, not a slave laborer), that has been thoroughly thought-out in every detail; a garment whose minimalist functional beauty is unquestionably present in every molecule of its practical being.
Can’t remember when we’ve been so happy with a “mere” article of clothing, but we know that these jeans will help us survive the coldest London winters and being caught in the rain, mists, fog and wind on bicycle rides over the Golden Gate bridge and beyond. My old Lee jeans would get soaked right away on rainy bike rides. This is a major, measurable improvement in the technology known as clothing: that which protects us against the vagaries of weather and challenging environments. These pants have such a soft, brushed interior, you can easily sleep in ‘em if you have to… they’re ideal for world traveling! I think it’s kind of a miracle that they exist, cuz they are exactly what I’ve wanted for literally years! And unlike cargo pants, they are invisible enough to be acceptable at a cocktail party at the top of the Tate Modern…
If you are intrigued, write ThunderboltSportswear. Apologies for the “obsessiveness” of this editorial, which is definitely the most “personal, subjective and confessional” of any yet to appear in a RE/Search Newsletter. Next time: Back to Objectivity… — V. Vale

**** We want everyone to pay attention to this word on our forthcoming new book!
RE/Search’s new book is DATING AI: A Guide to Artificial Intelligence, written by a brilliant Russian scientist named Alex Zhavaronkoff. Finally, here is an easy-to-read, engaging, clear explication of what Artificial Intelligence (AI) **IS.** Almost all questions dealing with how ÅI will impact humanity in the future are explicated and explored, leaving, nevertheless, an immense territory on which all of us can speculate and bring our imaginations to bear.
Here is a NEW brief excerpt from DATING AI, which can now be pre-ordered on the RE/Search website: http://www.researchpubs.com/Blog/pre-orders-soon/     All pre-orders will be given a free RE/Search book (pick one): Punk 77 or Modern Pagans

**NEW EXCERPT** From “Dating AI” by Alex Zhavaronkoff, PhD:

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WHY ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIPS?
It’s a common perception that computers are the epitome of logic, calculation and rigid execution—which they certainly can be. This perception carries over to artificial intelligence, which people often associate with logic and massive amounts of data. In science fiction it’s common for any form of AI to be depicted as cold, logical, humorless and frequently hostile. Dating AI has a different perspective: Since human beings will create artificial intelligence and this intelligence will be modeled on human behavior, AI will start out with all or most basic human capabilities. This will include emotion and the ability to socialize.
It is almost a certainty that the first relatively autonomous AI, robotic or otherwise, will be created to serve or collaborate with human beings. If this is the case, then personal relationships with AI are not only to be expected but will be built into most forms of artificial intelligence.
I can go further: If it is possible to have relationships with AI at all, which I think likely, then it is probable that one of the greatest of human capabilities—the capacity for love—will also be important to our relationship with AI—and not just for the human. For human beings love is mysterious, difficult, complicated, ephemeral, profound and persistently important. I think it will be equally so for AI, if from a different and instructive perspective. Considering personal, romantic relationships with AI provides an avenue of access, a portal of sorts, into aspects of perception, intelligence, emotion and other elements of what we call ‘the mind.’ It’s a means of looking at the subject in a more familiar and sometimes humorous way, like the dating experience, which I hope will make some ideas about a relatively neglected aspect of artificial intelligence not only approachable, but more understandable.
DEFINING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
There has been so much research done in fields that are relevant to AI (for example: robotics, computer science, neuroscience, nanotechnology and communications), that it’s easy to undervalue the first 100 years of work. I won’t be covering AI history in any detail, but it’s helpful to remember that AI and all its many contributing elements are relatively new fields of study. Over the decades, AI research has had its ups and downs, which should not be surprising considering the diversity of subjects involved and the complexity of the endeavor. But, what exactly is that endeavor?
It’s probably not surprising that there is no single definition for AI, or any universally accepted description of what can or should be accomplished with AI. Fortunately, there is a common perception of artificial intelligence that will do for most purposes. Creating artificial intelligence means using computers to perform at least some aspects of intelligence. Most people think of this as human intelligence, although animal intelligence should also be included. Intelligence, itself one of the most difficult concepts to pin down, is conveniently understood to mean (among other things) the ability to communicate; setting and achieving goals; perception of the environment; and problem solving.
The process of developing AI leads researchers into many aspects of intelligence, and much work is done in specialized areas. Also, there is a pull toward a goal of achieving what is often called Artificial General Intelligence (AGI). This is the kind of higher intelligence we associate with ourselves and perhaps a few animal species. Ultimately, the goal is to achieve a level of artificial intelligence that is conscious, self-aware, independent and sentient. For the most part, that means intelligence like our own.
TURING’S TEST
Since AI is an evolving field moving in tune with many other disciplines, it’s quite likely that over the next several decades there will be many stages of AI, exhibiting a variety of intelligence capabilities—sometimes integrated, sometimes not. As this kind of AI develops, how will we know when we’ve arrived at a functional level of AI—not necessarily a self-aware version, but one that at least can integrate with human society?
Alan Turing, one of the forefathers of computing, cryptography and artificial intelligence, theorized about AI even before the era of modern digital computers. In 1950 he published an abstract work, Computing Machinery and Intelligence in which he proposed an experiment that he called the ‘imitation game’ to assess the intelligence of a machine. It is now known as the Turing Test.
The test is straightforward: A human judge carries on a conversation for five minutes, mainly question and answer, with an unseen person and a supposedly intelligent machine. In the original Turing version, the test uses computer terminals with text only so that visual and aural cues are not involved. If the judge cannot tell the difference between the responses of the person and the machine, then the machine has passed the test.
Modern versions of the test are a little more sophisticated. For example, the best-known variation, called the Loebner Prize, is a contest held annually that uses a panel of judges and is open to text-only and voice-only conversations. So far no machine entry has won the Loebner Prize.
The Turing Test was and is controversial. Even its defenders concede that an AI machine could pass the test and still not be independently functional. This is another way of saying a computer intelligence could sound human but not get things right. It also depends on the subjective opinion of the judge(s), which amounts to something like U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stewart Potter’s test for pornography: “I’ll know it when I see it.” However, subjectivity was part of Alan Turing’s intent. He felt that when machine intelligence could operate in an interview setting and be accepted as if it were another human, that would be enough to qualify the intelligence as ‘thinking.’
“May not machines carry out something which ought to be described as thinking but which is very different from what a man does? This objection is a very strong one, but at least we can say that if, nevertheless, a machine can be constructed to play the imitation game satisfactorily, we need not be troubled by this objection.” —Alan Turing, Computing Machinery and Intelligence.
In the context of Dating AI, it’s helpful to keep in mind Turing’s notion of ‘play[ing] the imitation game satisfactorily.’ I always think of the statement, “On the Internet, no one knows you’re a dog” as an indicator that only a certain level of intelligence and responsiveness is needed to strike up an online relationship. This could also apply to AI.

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Please preorder today!

http://www.researchpubs.com/Blog/pre-orders-soon/

Order now and get a free book: Punk 77 or Modern Pagans, please indicate your 1st choice.

2. Counter Culture Hour –  Sat Nov 10, 2012 - 6:00 PM PACIFIC TIME.

Once again we’re postponing – ’70s PUNK REUNION at LENNON STUDIOS Sept 14-16, 2012.
Watch for it next month! We still haven’t had our “Surrealism Panel” with Penelope Rosemont play!
(due to station tech mixups). So please, once again, tune in to see Penelope Rosemont, Dennis Cunningham, and V. Vale discussing “surrealism & secrets of creativity” at Winston Smith’s studio, in front of a live audience!
Edited/filmed/produced by Marian Wallace;  interviews by V. Vale.
The Counter Culture Hour (aka RE/SEARCH TV) is also simulcast ON-LINE as well as on cable access San Francisco Channel 29 — 6pm Pacific Time, Sat  Nov 10, 2012
- see this link at broadcast time:

http://72.47.201.244/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1881&Itemid=1801

You need a fairly decent internet connection and computer to “get it.”
USA west coast: 6:00 PM Saturday, Nov 10, 2012
USA east coast: 9:00 PM Saturday, Nov 10, 2012
London: 2:00 AM Sunday, Nov 11, 2012
Tokyo: 10:00 AM Sunday, Nov 11, 2012
If you cannot get this online email us at info@researchpubs.com
Would you like to have a Counter Culture Hour showing in your town? Please write & ask us how you can do this. (write:  info@researchpubs.com)

See RE/Search channel on youtube: “researchpubs”

3. This is blank space a la John Cage aka “Meditation Space”!

4. FORTHCOMING EVENTS (San Francisco unless Otherwise Noted) (sorry, some have already happened!)

() $ Through Nov 17th, Shocktoberfest at the Hypnodrome “The Bride of Death” and other plays.
http://thrillpeddlers.com/ This appropriate for ages 12 and up…

() $ **SAN JOSE**: NOW through Dec 8: ZERO1Biennial: Seeking Silicon Valley. www.zero1biennial.org Facebook / Twitter

() $? Thur Nov. 1, 715pm Cara Vida & Sal host an open poetry mic: 490 Linden St (Octavia-Laguna, 415-789-8203).
() $ NOW/local. The Eye Must Move — film on Diana Vreeland, playing now at a theater near you! Get out to your local theater, or before you know it, it won’t be there anymore
() FREE Fri Nov 2: “Light a candle for someone you’ve lost … this year or in the past … honor all the ancestors and recently departed. SF candlelight procession departs from 22nd and Bryant around 7pm, south on Bryant to 24th, east to Mission, north to 22nd and back to Bryant. Last year’s had wild sense of direction. Festival of Altars at Garfield Square (Harrison at 25th) open 6 – 11 … info on both at www.dayofthedeadsf.org ALSO: Calling on the Spirits to Face the Future – Dia de los Muertos 2012 at SOMArts Gallery closes November 10 … open today … www.somarts.org has the hours and details on special events … always worth the time, particularly good this year … - from Mike Dingle”
() $$  Sat-Sun Nov 3 5-10pm, THE GALA Return to SFAI Party: Carlos Villa, KAREN FINLEY, Penelope Houston, Debora Iyall (RomeoVoid), 800 Chestnut/Jones, SF  www.sfai.edu/Return2SFAI
() FREE  Sun Nov 4, 11-4pm, Return to SFAI Winter Art Festival, 800 Chestnut/Jones, North Beach. www.sfai.edu/SFAIWinterArtFest This FREE art festival transforms SFAI’s breathtaking Russian Hill campus into a winter bazaar featuring the exhibition and sale of new art by up to 200 students and alumni.
() FREE Sat Nov 3, 6-9pm Varnish Gallery, 16 Jessie St #C120, presents Isabel Samaras opening – ’nuff said!
() $ Wed Nov 7, 7pm: Steven Cerio’s debut film, “The Pigtail Shadow,” at Roxie Thtr, 16th/Valencia, SF. http://roxie.com/events/details.cfm?EventID=6BEC1B77-1143-DBB3-C6B780F9FDE58D8D&View=weeklist&linkDate={ts%20%272012-11-07%2000%3A00%3A00%27}
() () Nov 8-21 in SF and Berkeley: SF Docfest — lots of great films! May be your only chance to see them! Get out to the Roxie (SF)! The Brava (SF)! The Shattuck (Berkeley) ! See what’s going on in the world! http://www.sfindie.com/ SF DocFest: Because Truth is often Stranger than Fiction. The film festival that provides a manageable amount of the truth.
() $ HIGHLY RECOMMENDED: Fri Nov 9, 8pm LYDIA LUNCH (lydia-lunch.org; new album “The Need to Feed”) at Verdi Club, 2424 Mariposa/Potrero, SF. With Algis Kizys (ex-Swans), Bob Bert, (drums, Sonic Youth, Pussy Galore) Weasel Walter (Flying Luttenbachers, gtr): A harrowing cross section of aural schizophrenia from No Wave skronk to bludgeoning Hard Rock and sleazy Jazz Noir to propulsive Psychedelia. The show is titled “RETROVIRUS: You either get it…or you don’t.” RE/Search will be there. Lydia Lunch lives in Barcelona now, so this is a rare opportunity to see her! Set includes songs from Teenage Jesus and the Jerks, 13.13, 8-Eyed Spy and Shotgun Wedding. (Sun Nov 11 Lydia will be in Los Angeles at The Echo; Thur Nov 15 at Brooklyn’s Knitting Factory. Thur Nov 8 Lydia will be in Los Angeles at FIDM Grand Hope Park. Nov 12 Toronto Wrongbar; Nov 13 Hamilton This Ain’t Hollywood.) tickets: http://verdiclub.net/events.html
() FREE? Fri Nov 9, 7-11pm. thru Sun Nov 11. iSFair 2O12 // infOcalypse, Balazos Gallery / SUBmission – 2183 Mission St/17-18th St, SF. A Science Fair-ISh exhibit of conceptual and socially engaged art on tri-fold displays, One-man bands, and a matinee screening.
Friday 11.09: Art Exhibit Opening 7-11
Saturday 11.10: Art Exhibit open at 1, One Man Bands 8-11: Disposable Thumbs, Employee, Rakehell
Sunday 11.11: Exhibit open 1 – 5 Matinee Screening 3-4
Since 1996 The Sociometry Fair has followed the quadrennial Presidential Elections & Olympiads. is agents document guerilla sociometry – social-artist propaganda, pranktivist action, and interventionist art on tri-fold displays – documenting is’s perpetual theme: “individuals and their relationship to groups”. iSFair 2O12 in San Francisco will complete the pentathlon of five fairs convened since the previous century culminating in the coming infOcalypse when is will go analog.
http://www.sociometry.com http://isfair2012.tumblr.com/

() FREE **LOS ANGELES** Nov 11, 10-5pm, Track 16 Gallery “final sale” (our favorite gallery in L.A., R.I.P.?)
http://www.track16.com/exhibitions/2012-10-11-bloodonthetracks/index.php – Serving PBR all day…

() FREE Sun Nov 11, 1:30-4:30 p.m. San Francisco: Medea Benjamin, Cindy Sheehan, and David Swanson – On the traditional Armistice Day, the War and Law League (WALL), http://warandlaw.org, presents a forum on the theme, “U.S. Wars — Are They Lawful?” Main Public Library, Koret Auditorium (basement), 100 Larkin Street at Grove Street, SF.

() $ Fri Nov 16 Laurie Anderson at Mills College

() ? **BERKELEY** Sun Nov 18, 2-5pm, Berkeley Art Museum, RE/Search will host a ZINE WORKSHOP. Everyone attending is invited to make a “zine”; materials will be provided! Title: “Make Your Own Zine with V. Vale.” http://www.bampfa.berkeley.edu/events/education

() FREE? Fri Nov 30, 7pm Xtreme Futurist Festival pre-party in San Francisco; RE/Search will give a presentation & have a table. Google & check FaceBook for details: where, when, et al. Try http://extremefuturistfestival.com/ for more details.

() $ Fri-Sat Dec 7-8. Benefit for Carole Lennon; many bands will play. Stay tuned!

() FREE Tue Dec 11, 730pm, Green Arcade Bookstore, 1680 Market/Gough Sts, SF – Homage to Etel Adnan.

() $ Fri-Sat Dec 21-22 **LOS ANGELES** Xtreme Futurist Fest. RE/Search will present, and have a table. Dec 22 special event… http://extremefuturistfestival.com/

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

() Michael Shamberg sent us his DVD of ps. beirut chapter I + II. Writer: Etel Adnan. Players include Emmanuelle Riva (voice), Bernard Sumner from New Order singing “Procession,” Margarethe von Trotta, more.

() The Eye Has To Travel, bio-pic on Diana Vreeland. Highly recommended! A compendium of some of the most important images from the ’60s! (and earlier) – certain images “create the future.” Check it out!

() Alternative Press Expo (APE). So much to see, so little time (only 15 hours) – nice to see friends from L.A.!

() Steven Parr’s Oddball Cinema featured Mark Pauline in interview with Gerry Fialka. Certainly not your everyday conversation, as Gerry delved into brain-patterns and practical-psychological areas. Mark paused for a few seconds after each question was posed, but then produced illuminating anecdotes, which even occasionally answered the quirkily-abstract questions! Mark Pauline also gave a lecture at the S.F. Art Institute auditorium…

() PiL at the Regency. Thanks to our pal Ed K– from the old days, and his charming pal Hans. Johnny Lydon sang (?) and spit for over two hours! There simply was no time to have a warm-up band. For the first time ever we saw a front-line entertainer suddenly exclaim: “I’ve got to go to the f**-ing toilet!” and leave the stage for two or so minutes while the band kept the rhythm going…

() Hassel Smith (whose son, Bruce (born in San Francisco) plays drums for PiL’s current lineup) at the Weinstein Gallery. We were lucky to attend the round-table discussion on Hassel Smith — and see his great (mostly abstract) art retrospective. There’s still time to see this at 291 Geary Street. Hassel Smith is an under-appreciated Bay Area artist. Painter Lucas Reiner flew up from LA for it! Check out HIS paintings at http://www.lucasreiner.com/

() Penelope Rosemont (Chicago Surrealist Group founder) in town for the 4-day Alfred Jarry Celebration (www.citylights.com)

6.  Paul Addis: R.I.P.

Hail to the Prankster who lit the Burning Man on fire early (2007). He always carried firecrackers in his backpack, fearlessly practiced urban exploration, and probably was “framed” when he was unfortunately arrested and charged with trying to blow up Grace Cathedral. (“He LOVED that cathedral”—Kevin M.)

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I can’t give justice as a write up to the latest death and tragedy, Paul Addis was complicated (who isn’t?), but he was extra… a friend that I pulled pranks with, and was pranked by. He saved my ass at least once on a billboard prank I pulled years ago – ironically on Apple’s campaign “Think Different” — Paul was a side thinker (a lateral thinker?), and challenged authoritarian clichés in the box we call life.
He fought, he pranked, he challenged, he died. He was dangerous and had been tipping over the edge as of late. I wish otherwise, but I simply could not figure out a way to advise and guide Paul.
He mocked all of us, and especially those that attempt to control and guide this society and bubble we call life. Mr. Addis created a brilliant example of what truly being “fearless” is, and he paid for it with years of his life in a Nevada prison, among other ways.
He gave me once, after he got out of the pen, the highest compliment, as odd as it might sound: “When I was in a dodgy situation in prison, I would think, ‘What would Kevin Mathieu do in this situation?’, and it was always the right answer to get me out of the jam.” What does one say to that?
He pissed me off and many others at his chosen end. Suicide is cheating and wrong. I’ll never be able to ride BART again without thinking about him now. Thanks, a–hole! He did not go softly into that night. He did good, he did slightly bad.
He called for help to me by ripping off my LEGOJeep license plate (I know; it’s an odd way to reach out – I now realize far too frigging belatedly) and I did not call him on it. I should have, when I figured it out weeks later. I have failed when it counts. I was weak, I just wasn’t able to reach out and say, “Hey man, I believe in you, you can get it back together, go take a break – get away – do something different.” Dammit. He was Too alone and Too different. The Man always wins, but Paul meanwhile gave the Man some serious indigestion.
He made people think and re-examine the difference between talk and action. Or may have – I would like to think. What more can one ask for? He served his time and paid the bullshit debt to society for the best prank ever.
There will be an altar at Dias de Los Muertos in SF (tonight) for him. I will be there for that.
I will try and not mull (impossible), I have to do what survivors do: “Just keep moving, just keep moving. ” It isn’t really that bad, just frustrating. It is both less and more that he is gone. It is simply over, and a grand run he took and gave. He is laughing at all of us for our precious conceptions and acceptance of what is OK and viable as a trade-off in society, vs., the right thing to do.
Paul was flawed, he made mistakes, he as of late had especially poor impulse control, and did not know how to control his strength—literally. When you burn inside, sometimes the fire will consume you. And so it has. I wish him satisfaction – now that the pain and injustice of the fire has now gone out. No one else will get burned by his fire that he put out in the only way he could think of. Dammit.

+++++
From Kevin’s Mathieu’s FB page (repost [edited] from Sean Kelly):

“A better explanation of Paul Addis than I could possibly offer, by one who knew him well. “— Kevin

“I first met Paul in Mahoney Hall, University of Miami campus in 1988. We were both 18. We’d sweat and laugh and drink and talk philosophy and ethics and cultures and about all the great stuff we were learning. It was electric. His eyebrows were always high. He was always excited by ideas. He was energy.

“Even then Paul was Paul. He’d walk around campus with a fake pistol in a shoulder holster. As a Miami native I pulled him aside several times and suggested he not carry around a fake gun because Miami is a crazy place… Every time we had a punk rock party, Paul would volunteer to run parking and security. He negotiated with the [a-hole] Dade County police: ‘These are college students, they’re OK.’ He ran interference for his people. Kitchen Club… Churchills (the only punk club in Miami for, like, 5 years?) He was always there. Even if it was crap jam-band stuff. He supported…

“Here is what I will remember: Paul always greeted me with a wide smile and hearty hug. Brains. Fun. He believed that things could, should and would be made better. Paul, this hurt us all really bad. We understand. We still love you.” —Sean Kelly
++++++
And another write-up for Paul, & another:

http://burners.me/2012/10/31/monday-is-the-new-saturday/

https://www.facebook.com/events/415621988487466/permalink/416472038402461/

7. RECOMMENDED LINKS (send some!)

() URGE (reunion) video of “Bit by Bit” http://www.myspace.com/video/rid/111631183
video by Marian Wallace

Look for Mary Lawler’s myspace page and hear all of her songs! An unsung songwriter (so to speak).
Search myspace for: “marylawler” (no space) to find her page.

() from Andrew in Europe: The October Gallery is hosting an exhibition of art by Burroughs in December: http://www.octobergallery.co.uk/exhibitions/2012bur/index.shtml
Genesis P-Orridge exhibition, film in Canada: http://www.festivalphenomena.com/phenomena/fr/festival/2012/invite/

() JG BALLARD-related:
- http://thequietus.com/articles/10226-ballard-extreme-metaphors-simon-sellars-interviewed
- http://thequietus.com/articles/10265-toby-litt-jg-ballard-interview-extract
- http://www.newstatesman.com/culture/culture/2012/10/j-g-ballard%E2%80%99s-immersion-catastrophe

() “Have an animation film to submit to a film festival? I have just posted a short piece about my very eventful trip from Kosovo to Serbia on my AWN blog. http://sprockets.animationblogspot.com/ There’s a call for submissions for the [great] Trickfilm Festival in Stuttgart, German. – Nancy Denny-Phelps

() from our pal in Greece: JG Ballard inspired radio show: http://www.behance.net/gallery/FUCK-YOU-BWANA/5376089

() from Hokan: (old lady vs. car; funny) http://dave6.posterous.com/dont-honk-at-old-people

() from Chris T: Genesis P-Orridge: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XosnPckF-kc&sns=fb
empty San Francisco: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=jDaAo63bivc#!

() Mark Pauline/SRL: http://www.theverge.com/2012/10/9/3408030/mark-pauline-spine-robot-machines-robots-terrorism-as-art

() from V in London: m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=9JIwKd8EClY&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D9JIwKd8EClY&gl=GB
Burroughs-by-Brookner film: is.gd/1irDD1

() from Ralf: http://kissenger.lovotics.com/

() from James: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pb01vAth1EI&feature=context-cha

http://fineartamerica.com/art/paintings/barcelona/originals

() from Phil G: “dangerous meme merging”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=_tILqds7-jg
- http://www.amazon.com/Avery-Durable-Binder-EZ-Turn-17032/product-reviews/B001B0CTMU – “I was originally going to rate this only 1 star. You see, I’m a big girl and I can only squeeze about 53% of myself into this binder. But then I decided
that I’m not going to worry about the other 47%.”

() from David A: “It may be a rubbish world, but this is real acting quality: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8Gkes9CDBk

() from Graham R: “http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnDPabg2-MY&feature=related

() futurist speculations: www.mg-lj.si

() from James Mc: “You have seen a lot of this in OTHER docs, but NOT ALL scenes.  I haven’t seen much of the extended stuff on parts 3 and above including the Nuns @ Winterland greeting “all the Mabuhay crowd gathered here tonight”  High Times’s Tom Forcade financed this for $400,000 just months before he suicided himself in 1978.  Some interesting images and audio indeed!!!” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDlpwfTj_34&feature=list_other&playnext=1&list=SPEC0E57E03D03BD64

() Sept 5, 1981 SRL show 2nd/Folsom, SF, “An Unfortunate Spectacle of Violent Self Destruction.” Carol Detweiler photos posted by Matt Heckert: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150158940787694.291268.706757693&type=1

() from Bruce Fletcher: “A month of Film Club. Tuesdays in November.” – http://youtu.be/xT5qhPoRS9g

8. QUOTES (taken from our forthcoming RE/SEARCH book, DATING AI: (preorder; pub. date Nov. 18, 2012)

() “I tried to be patient, but it just took too long.”
“I’m not conceited. I’m just unbelievably good.”
“I’m a unique individual, just like everyone else.”
“I never make predictions. I never have and I never will.”
“With enough preparation I can be quite spontaneous.” (p. 85)

() “Behind every budding relationship that goes through a rocky patch there lurks the thought, “Maybe there’s something better out there.” And you both know it. “There are lots of good fish in the sea.” – Gilbert & Sullivan (p. 236)

() “Old joke: What do you get when you cross a gorilla with a parrot? Nobody knows for sure, but if it wants to talk, everybody will listen.” (p. 255)

() “When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often, we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one that has been opened for us.” – Helen Keller (p. 27)

() “When it comes right down to it. all you have is your self. Your self is a sun with a thousand rays.” – Pablo Picasso.
“Thoughts become words. Words become actions. Actions become habits. Habits become character. And character becomes your destiny.” (p. 86)

() “Be careful the environment you choose for it will shape you; be careful the friends you choose for you will become like them.” – W. Clement Stone
“Amici, diem perdidi” [Victory loves preparation.] (p. 75)

() “Respect all kinds of creativity, and expect the same from people.” (p.196)

() “Cyborg: a cyborg is humanity’s attempt to meet AI halfway, or more. A cyborg starts with a human being, adds cybernetic technology and typically some kind of brain-computer interface (BCI), and finishes with an electronically enhanced person that is, hopefully, better prepared to join in the activity of AI.” (p. 118)

9. LETTERS FROM READERS:

() Please vote Yes on Props. 30 and 38 in San Francisco – our schools need this funding.

() “Not sure if you’ve heard of this but in case not, Audible.com (a downloadable audiobook site run by Amazon) has a lecture of The Modern Scholar series on science fiction. The professor singles out Ballard as one of the great science fiction writers and discusses a number of his books: http://www.audible.com/pd/ref=sr_1_3?asin=B002V57U1O&qid=1349631794&sr=1-3 Best,
John Johnson” — [John Johnson is one of our favorite zine creators of all time - V. Vale]

() from Ed H: “Golf club employees in San Juan Capistrano (Orange County) came to the rescue when a shark dropped out of the sky and flopped around on the 12th tee…It had puncture wounds where a bird had apparently snagged it from the Pacific Ocean. An employee rushed the shark to the ocean, and it swam away a few seconds later.” WTF!?

() “Do it. I love ‘em. I think of you as one of the remaining denizens of San Francisco – easily confused with the San-Francisco-themed theme park that most live in. I love your stuff. You’re the best link I know to a broad web of real cultural events. So hell yes.”

() “Yes, I read your editorials. I also share them. – S. from Toronto, Canada (“If you see a job to do, it’s yours!”)

() “Dear V. Vale, Have you seen this? There’s a neat anecdote with Burroughs… cool photographs! http://www.gerardpas.com/library/memoirs/burrough.html I hope all’s well. Best, Sean”

() “Good Evening, RE: http://www.researchpubs.com/Blog/?category=4&product_id=2 Just wondering if you have any signed copies of Daniel P Mannix‘s Memoirs of a Sword Swallower left? That guy rules. Thank you, Phoebe of Australia

() “Hi Vale, There are a couple of Burroughs & Gysin related events coming up in London. The first is a celebration of the anniversary of Final Academy, this Saturday: http://www.thehorsehospital.com/now/final-academy/ The next is the “launch” of a run of Dreamachines: http://briongysin.com/?p=1684 Terry Wilson is a “guest of honour” at the second event…” – from Andrew in Europe

() “Hi! Russ Forster of “8-Track Mind” [featured in our ZINES Vol. One book] told me you all may be into this show. There’s a lot of collage art deploying letterpress, activist art, pseudo science/religion and One Man Bands! ~Thanks! Peter Bergman” http://www.sociometry.com http://isfair2012.tumblr.com/

() [sent Oct 23, 2012] “Hi Vale, There are a couple of Burroughs & Gysin related events coming up in London. The first is a celebration of the anniversary of Final Academy, this Saturday: http://www.thehorsehospital.com/now/final-academy/ The next is the “launch” of a run of Dreamachines: http://briongysin.com/?p=1684 Terry Wilson is a “guest of honour” at the second event, but I’m not sure what that involves. Hopefully I’ll finally be able to get a copy of his book Days Lane (another of his books about time with Gysin). I think it was limited to 50 copies, and I’ve frustratingly never been able to find a copy anywhere, after a few years of searching and emailing various people. I suspect that all remaining copies were sold at the Naked Lunch 50th anniversary festivities in Paris. At this point my accumulated obsession with finding a copy no doubt outweighs my actual interest in the book itself. But I dimly remember a time before the internet when this was the type of behaviour required to find rare books, so I’ll pursue it… Best, Andrew”

() from Sandra D: “Charlie Rose episode of Nov. 2 airing now on KQED World channel 190 digital cable is having a roundtable on publishing airing at the end of the hour with Ken Auletta, Jane Friedman and Jonathan Safran Foer – discuss the future of the book. I’ll try and take notes, but I’ve had a long week so I’m not sure how much I’ll get in writing. It will be online sometime in a week, or longer if they’re still having technical issues with the site. www.charlierose.com

() from Richard M’s friend “Vinnie”: “Media not reporting story on ground. Sporadic gunfire and wide spreading looting in beach communities in Queens Brooklyn and Staten Island. Gas riots in Nassau County. Estimate 72 hours until Walking Dead/Escape from New York. Unsubstantiated report of nuclear reactor in Susquehanna PA going to level 3 alert. Believe me people aren’t going to be lined up Japanese style, boys. [New York Governor] Cuomo, [New York City Mayor] Bloomberg and fat [New Jersey Governor] Christie putting positive spin so as not to cause widespread panic.”

10. **SPONSORS** (Without them you would NOT be receiving this newsletter - Please go to their websites!)
1. 47 Canal Street (Gallery w/events, NYC) – 47CanalStreet.com
2.  Emerald Tablet (Gallery w/events), Fresno Alley (100 feet from RE/Search! in North Beach). emtab.org - lots of free or low cost local community events; check out their schedule! http://emtab.org/
3. Emily Armstrong‘s blog: www.gonightclubbing.com (last button on the left, scroll through the posts!)
4. Contribute to (& Order copies of!) “OUT OF OUR” – Steven Gray & Sarah Page’s San Francisco Poetry Magazine:  outofour.com
5. From our friends Amy and Brian: check out their  ”simple business software for art galleries: gallerystar.com
6. V. Vale’s RE/Search Newsletter is cordially sponsored by “Beyond the Beyond.”
Information Wants To Be Free WE MEAN IT MAN! $0$0$0$0$0$0$0$0$0$0 http://blog.wired.com/sterling
7. www.SOPHIAGASPARIAN.com “fine art about equal human rights worldwide”
8. Mrs Dalloway (Catering, Bay Area): Holly Erickson’s catering/foodblog/cookbook
www.mrsdallowayscatering.com and lightscameracuisine.foodblog.com
9. Ryan Shepard – thank you!
RE/Search THANKS (3) SPONSORS who Wish to Remain Anonymous – you know who you are! And yes, we NEEDED Your Support! (B.H., D.S., V.V.)

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NOV 2012 RE/Search eNewsletter written by V. Vale & other contributors. RE/Search website powered by http://www.laughingsquid.com.  Add us (“info@researchpubs.com”) to Your Address Book
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Physical Address since May 1979: RE/SEARCH | 20 Romolo #B | San Francisco CA 94133-4041 | 415.362.1465
http://www.researchpubs.com | http://www.myspace.com/researchpubs | info@researchpubs.com  facebook: “RE/Search Fan Page”    twitter: @valeRESearch

RE/Search Publications
20 Romolo Place #B
San Francisco, CA  94133-4041
(415) 362-1465
info@researchpubs.com

We are saddened to hear of the untimely death of Japanese filmmaker, Koji Wakamatsu. Our associate Yoshitsugu Yubai had interviewed  Wakamatsu for RE/Search’s forthcoming new edition of Incredibly Strange Films [which is still in production]. Here is part of that interview.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-==

— How did you enter the movie world?—

(Wakamatsu)   I entered the movie world by accident. When I was 20 years old, I was a juvenile delinquent. At 17, I ran away from the country to Tokyo, then  entered the world of Yakuza when I was 20 years old. Then I got arrested and went to jail at 22 years old. There in jail, I was bullied by cops – it was raw deal. The cops treated me inhumanely. Therefore, I meditated how I could best get revenge on them. If I used violence on them, I would have to go back to jail, so, I thought the best way to get revenge on them would be in an imaginary world, by writing novels or making movies. I thought about my abilities. Then, I decided to leave Yakuza world to be a movie director. I started out by carrying lunches for TV productions, and when I was 25 years old, there was an offer to be a director. I directed my first movie in 1962. In a word, if I kill people in an imaginary world, it is just imagination and I am not guilty of killing cops – as many as I want! So, I thought it was the best way to take revenge against authority. I had never planned to work in movies – I just thought it was the best way to get revenge against cops and authority.

— In my image, the Yakuza world is not connected with art. When you were Yakuza, were you interested in art? —

(Wakamatsu)  No, not at all. If I had not been arrested, I have no idea what I would be doing. I might be in jail, might be dead, or might still be Yakuza, maybe would have become a Yakuza boss. Now, when people shoot a film on location, they must pay their respect to the Yakuza who control that area, for example Shinjuku. My [Yakuza] boss had ordered to me to guard the camera, and that’s how I discovered filmmaking. My entry into filmmaking was  as a bodyguard of cameras, protecting equipment from crowds. Besides that, I had only watched movies on my time off. But I resented the power of cops who had bullied me, and I could kill cops in movies. I am not an artist.

— When you started shooting film, did you start it by yourself or with friends? —

(Wakamatsu)  At the time, the field of movies and television was absurd. I quarreled with an actor but I could not hit him because I was on probation. If I hit him, I would have to go back to jail. While I was thinking about leaving the filmmaking – going home and starting to farm, someone asked me to direct a movie. I did not think I had  talent, but I wrote screenplay and shot the movie. The last scene of the movie was killing cops -  it was a great hit. From then on, I got many commissions. I was lucky. My break into directing came from my anger – and a lucky meeting with the right people.

— How do you get ideas? —

(Wakamatsu)  Anger and questioning of affairs of the world. I have shot over a hundred movies and written most of the screenplays.

— Your movie titles are very beautiful.—

(Wakamatsu)  I deceive audiences by titles.

— Were the 60s a very special period for you? —

(Wakamatsu)  In Japan, campus activism was getting big. In America, the assassination of Kennedy, the U.S. -  Japan Security Treaty, and Vietnam War. The world was chaotic and there was no end of material for movies.

— Did you get along with the underground  scene and hippies in 60s? —

(Wakamatsu)  Yes, I was invited to an underground film festival in Brussels, and attended it. I had visited N.Y. to see underground scene during 1967 – 68 and I became acquainted with Andy Warhol. I mostly hung out with people from underground scene.

— Are you acquainted with Tadanori Yokoo? —

(Wakamatsu)  I have often drunk with Yokoo in Shinjuku. The colors of Yokoo’s posters are like a rainbow. I would call his posters images of LSD.

— The psychedelic movement – Love and Peace and Yakuza seem so opposite. Did you feel discomfort or a gap? —

(Wakamatsu)  No, not really. I have many friends who are extreme left wing, extreme right wing and foreigners who live in Japan. I do not discriminate – Yakuza and hippies are same for me. I do not like discrimination.

— Please tell me about Yakuza. Foreigners are interested in that. —

(Wakamatsu)  Yakuza is not cool at all. When I had normal job, a friend died in the field. His parents came to get him. If it happened today, they would receive life insurance. But after that happened, I decided to become a Yakuza – to live thick and short. I started out becoming a gangster. For example, I would bodyguard the cameraman or  the prizes of a Pachinko parlor. After 2 years, I had a follower, but he was beaten by another group of Yakuza. I went to seek vengeance, to beat them up. But the gangsters told the police about it and I was caught. Yakuza is terrible because they disturb you. Yakuza fashion is different from other people. They show they are Yakuza by fashion. I have never made a Yakuza movie because it is wrong to think Yakuza is cool.

— Are there any movies or genres you’ve influenced by? —

(Wakamatsu)  I have never been influenced. This was not an influence, but Godard taught me that my movies do not need to be realistic. The movie can be a mess, but if the idea is strong, it will be a good movie. Godard’s movies are a mess, too. That’s why I shoot movies based on my own thoughts.

— Are you interested in painting? —

(Wakamatsu)  No, not really. I just started to go to art museum, first to look at paintings when I visit foreign countries. I am not interested in scenery at all.

— Do you have any favorite painters? —

(Wakamatsu)  I like the Goya paintings in the Prado museum. I especially like his painting “Saturn Devouring His Son”. I thought it was incredible. I have visited the town where Goya was born. It’s 2 hours from Madrid.

— You treasure the element of Eroticism. —

(Wakamatsu)  Everybody has eroticism. Appetite, sleep, sexual desire… and violence. Therefore, eroticism is not shameful, and it is an important desire.

WELCOME TO V. VALE’s RE/SEARCH NEWSLETTER #97, SEPTEMBER 2010
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RE/SEARCH | 20 Romolo #B | San Francisco CA 94133 | 415.362.1465
www.researchpubs.com | http://www.myspace.com/researchpubs | info@researchpubs.com
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**TO RECEIVE LAST-MINUTE LOCAL S.F. BAY AREA NEWS OF RE/SEARCH-recommended EVENTS, reply to this newsletter & in subject line write “local subscribe” // If you’re receiving multiple eNewsletters let us know WHAT to delete from our list!

TABLE OF CONTENTS:
1. MESSAGE FROM YOUR EDITOR, V. VALE: “Could there be an Internet Apocalypse?”
2. “Modern Primitives” excerpt now on aerbook website!
3. Counter Culture Hour with APP: 6 PM Pacific Time, Saturday September 11 – also simulcast on-line
4. FORTHCOMING EVENTS
5. What We’ve Attended/What We’ve Been Reading/Seeing
6. Public Image Limited Concert Review by John C. Sulak
7. Recommended Links – send some!
8. QUOTES
9. Letters 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!
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[COMMERCIAL:] Since 1977, we are a small independent book publisher who needs your support! Call to Order, or Visit (for the personal touch)…

ORDER the DELUXE 20th Anniversary MODERN PRIMITIVES HARDBACK LIBRARY EDITION on Glossy Paper! Retail orders
– Paperback (List $25) $21.25 + shipping
15% discount
– Hardback limited edition (List $50) $42.50 + shipping
15% discount
Order (including payment) by September 30, 2010 – ORDER FROM WWW.RESEARCHPUBS.COM or: order by phone 415-362-1465 (& receive additional free book of our choice)
Please contact us for wholesale ordering prices and terms!
There are 17 testimonials from APP (Association of Professional Piercers) Conference 2009 on YouTube now — see what these body modification professionals have to say about our “Modern Primitives” book:

http://www.youtube.com/user/researchpubs

go to link to see “our” channel with these and other videos!

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1. MESSAGE FROM YOUR EDITOR, V. VALE — Could there be an Internet Apocalypse?
Follow me on Twitter!
(ValeRESearch — http://twitter.com/ValeRESearch?utm_source=follow&utm_campaign=newfollow20100706&utm_medium=email&utm_content=profile)
or watch my videos on youtube and facebook.
Note that Meri St. Mary (new album on Subterranean Records – her 2nd LP under the group name “Housecoat Project” – titled “Girlfiend”) interviewed V. Vale on her radio program, now available at http://audio.kvmr.org/podhawk/index.php?cat=The%20Underground%20Sound
——

In the Bay Area, the San Bruno conflagration (37 homes blown to kingdom come, et al) remains a “hot topic,” igniting countless discussions along the lines of “It could happen here.” How precarious our complicated post-industrial society may well be, liable at any moment to unanticipated apocalypse or cataclysm! Nobody wants to be reminded that the supply of natural gas, oil/gasoline, or even pure water may be finite… or maybe everybody is suffering from “peak-oil-warning” fatigue.

What produces the ubiquitous electricity we take for granted? Supposedly at least one-third is derived from “cheap” oil, and when that oil reaches two hundred dollars a gallon — well, what next? Water wheels installed on rivers and windmills on windy hills — will they take up the slack? How about harvesting electrical power from ocean tides? (warning – unpopular view coming up: We’ve already dismissed biodiesel as not practical on a global usage scale — it’s okay if only a few are utilizing it, but if EVERYBODY starts, then…)

Needless to say, if electricity becomes unaffordable, then Kiss the Internet Goodbye!

How many assumptions is our current life based upon? That cars and freeways are eternal? That the number of Internet connections can continue multiplying forever at the current indexes of expansion? That the Internet is eternal? That cloud computing storage can expand infinitely? With so many on a daily basis converting to GoogleDocs stored on cloud computing, will there one day be a “data meltdown” when massive quantities of terabytes just vanish forever?

Being of a black-humor outlook, I find it easy to imagine a virus that infects the entire Internet and all cellphone text-messaging networks, turning everything into scrambled-up gobbledygook. Imagine all human DNA suddenly, inexplicably, producing two-headed babies or hydrocephalic infants or lobster children. Could there be a virus that attaches itself to every word and mathematical formula, inverting the letters and digits randomly? How about a virus that attacks all linearities in images, fracturing and rearranging maps, photos and graphics higgledy-piggledy? A virus that repaints and randomizes all surfaces, or that imposes insane, macabre facial patterns where none previously existed?

Twenty years ago somebody I once knew predicted that AIDS would become airborne (and, you guess the rest). Well, it hasn’t happened yet, has it? Maybe just imagining/predicting apocalypse or catastrophe is enough to keep it at bay … keep it from actually occurring. William Burroughs once said, “The best way to keep something bad from happening is to see it ahead of time.” Let’s hope that Uncle Bill is once again “right,” as he has been so often in the past… – V. Vale

2. Modern Primitives excerpt now on aerbook website.

http://www.aerbook.com/modernprimitives/

Here is a way to get a taste of the book: read part of Ed Hardy’s interview on your computer, iPhone, iPad, or Android phone — try it out and let us know your experience.
We are inching our way to having RE/Search available as eBooks — this was a step in that direction –

3. Counter Culture Hour – Sat September 10, 2010 – 6:00 PM PACIFIC TIME.
ASSOCIATION OF PROFESSIONAL PIERCERS CONVENTION 2009 – Interviews from the conference floor with: James Weber, Raelyn Gallina, Steve Joyner, David Hahn, and a dozen others. They talk about their experiences in the body-modification world and how they first heard about “Modern Primitives.”
Eedited/produced by Marian Wallace; interviews by V. Vale.
The Counter Culture Hour (aka RE/SEARCH TV) is also ON-LINE as well as on cable access San Francisco Channel 29 — 6pm Pacific Time, Sat September 11, 2010 ALSO on-line (simulcast) – at this link:

http://72.47.201.244/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1881&Itemid=1801

You need a fairly decent internet connection and computer to “get it.”
USA west coast: 6:00 PM Saturday, Sept 11
USA east coast: 9:00 PM Saturday, Sept 11
London: 2:00 AM Sunday, Sept 12
Tokyo: 10:00 AM Sunday, Sept 12
ETC.
If you cannot get this online (we have heard some complaints about this), please write us to get a DVD copy. ($20 postpaid USA domestic, $25 overseas – to cover expenses)
Would you like to have a Counter Culture Hour showing in your town? Please write and ask us how you can do this. (write: info@researchpubs.com)

The new management of the Public Access Station is working towards having all shows available all the time in an archive, and we are looking into other hostings for the show, also as an audio MP3. Or, contact us for a DVD now! ($20 postpaid USA domestic, $25 overseas – to cover expenses)

4. FORTHCOMING EVENTS (San Francisco unless Otherwise Noted)

() $8 Mon Sept 13, 7pm (early show) at Hemlock Tavern, 1131 Polk St/Sutter-Post Sts, SF: Vibrators, Poison Control. Vibrators were a First Wave U.K. Punk band and it seems unbelievable they will be playing at the tiny Hemlock Tavern. A word to the wise…

() FREE Wed Sept 15, 6pm — SF Main Library, basement auditorium – 100 Larkin St, SF – V. VALE RE/SEARCH A/V Presentation! Library production with Michele Tea, the founder of RADAR Productions, a literary non-profit which produces the monthly RADAR Reading Series at the San Francisco Public Library. This week, Sept. 15th the presentations will include comedienne GINA GOLD, culture-sparker LARRY-BOB ROBERTS, independent publisher V. VALE + renowned poet/writer EILEEN MYLES. Free! With cookies! Hosted by Michelle Tea. Ask a question, get a cookie!

() $ Sun Sept 12, 6:30pm: IT CAME FROM KUCHAR will screen at the Rafael Film Center in Marin County. George Kuchar will attend this screening with his brand new video diary. He will host a Q&A with me after the screening… so it should be LOADS of fun! Marin County natives should be especially thrilled about this screening. Please tell your Bay Area friends! Rafael Film Center info: http://www.cafilm.org/rfc/films/1423.html
Also… IT CAME FROM KUCHAR will screen throughout England on Monday, September 13th at Apollo Cinemas. This is through the Raindance Distribution Tour, so please tell your UK friends!
Raindance info: http://www.raindance.org/site/index.php?id=524,6205,0,0,1,0
AND… just making sure that EVERYONE knows that the DVD with 45 minutes of extras (more outrageous than the film) and a Kuchar-Kroot commentary is available at amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Came-Kuchar-John-Waters/dp/B00346I950/ref=sr_1_1?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1283224600&sr=1-1

() FREE Fri Sept 17, 6-8pm, Electric Works Gallery/Bookstore, 130 8th St/Mission St, SF. Opening for Ana Teresa Fernandez’ large-scale photorealist paintings on a “water” theme, plus Elaine Buckholtz’s painting-moving light installation(s?) plus sound by Floor Vahn. Looks intriguing!

() $ Fri Sept 17th at Noon, Commonwealth Club, 595 Market St/2nd floor, doors open 11:30AM: (This program is free for Commonwealth Club members.) Social Capital: Put Your Money Where Your Meaning Is https://tickets.commonwealthclub.org/open.asp?show=2022 More than 1,000 people from more than 35 countries are coming to San Francisco in October, intent on showing the world that there is a real market at the intersection of money and meaning. Experts in areas as diverse as mobile food systems, philanthropy and international development will introduce and explain the growing social enterprise investment movement. Join us for an exciting and informative preview of the ideas and issues of SOCAP 2010 in conversation with the team leading the upcoming conference. Program Organizer: Kevin O’Malley. **Note that on Wed Sept 22, 6pm, the Commonwealth Club will also host: “The Power of Pull: How Small Moves, Smartly Made, Can Set Big Things in Motion. This program sounds very interesting! Commonwealth Club, 595 Market St/2nd St, SF. https://tickets.commonwealthclub.org/open.asp?show=1924

() Donation Sat Sept 18, 10:30pm, HYPNODROME, 575 10th St (Bryant/Division), SF. Rumi Missabu of the Cockettes presents an evening of films and performances, directly following the award-winning PEARLS OVER SHANGHAI, the Hypnodrome’s longest-running hit live theatre performance – it’s a hit for good reason. Some people have seen it 4 times!

() FREE Sun Sept 19, 1-4pm, SF Main Public Library, Koret Auditorium, 100 Larkin St/Grove, SF. American Book Awards 2010.

() NEW YORK CITY Sept 23,24 – Alejandro Jodorowsky IN PERSON with films at Museum of Arts and Design, 2 Columbus Circle, New York, NY http://gold.madmuseum.org – we wish we could be there! Jodorowsky is definitely one of the world’s greatest living filmmakers…

() FREE. Fri Sept 24, 7pm – The Specious Species Magazine Release Party at Viracocha, 998 Valencia St/21st St, SF (415-374-7048 or viracochasf.com. NOTE: RE/SEARCH will be here with some books for sale – come meet us! Evening will include “surreal videos by Ed Jones, readings by John Shirley, Alvin Orloff and others, and the bands Happy Idiot and Blowie (a really good Ziggy Stardust era David Bowie cover band), plus much more — Joe Donohoe” Note that Joe Donohoe has been a RE/Search intern and supporter for years, so we hope you will support him and buy his latest issue, which (disclosure) includes an interview with V. Vale, and an interview with Jello Biafra, plus much more…

() $ Fri-Sun Sep 24-26, Yerba Buena cinema, SF: Totally Ridiculous: The Lost Films of Charles Ludlam The visionary behind the notorious Ridiculous Theatrical Company, Ludlam’s densely-layered queer satires embraced the ridiculousness of high culture and the seriousness of the low. (These films are difficult to see… and Ludlam inspired the HYPNODROME.)

() FREE Sat Sept 25, 10-5pm. Expo for the Artist, Cellspace, 2050 Bryant / 18th-19th Sts, SF. RE/SEARCH will have a table here – come talk with us! Certain titles will be discounted for you or your gift-giving impulses.

() Some Free/$ The Buckminster Fuller Institute will be in the Bay Area Oct-Nov with a bunch of events, starting Sept 15th. Buckminster Fuller was a forward-thinking “architect” for the future — far ahead of his time. “Buckminster Fuller was a renowned 20th century inventor and visionary, who dedicated his life to making the world work for all of humanity.” — http://www.bfi.org/
– BFI at Long Now Foundation – September 15th, 2010 6 – 8 pm (time subject to change) Long Now Foundation – San Francisco, CA (map)
Meet members from Bioneers, The Long Now Foundation, and BFI for an evening reception and preview of the upcoming BFI intensive at the Bioneers Conference entitled “Architecting the Future”. The event is free and open to the public; please rsvp here.
– Zero1 Festival September 16-19, 2010, Reception: Sept. 17, 5:30 – 8 pm. 360 South Market Street, San Jose, CA – Entries to the Buckminster Fuller Challenge and Idea Index 1.0 will be featured in an exhibition in conjunction with the Zero1 Festival. Held in the heart of Silicon Valley, the Biennial seeks to inspiring creativity at the intersection of art, technology, and digital culture. With this year’s theme being “Build Your Own World” the featured exhibition is a perfect match. The event is free and open to the public, please rsvp here.

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

() HOWL. We saw an advance screening and recommend this “biopic” for all too young to experience firsthand the real “Beat Generation” (which includes practically everyone still alive on the planet). We need more films about poets and poetry! There are great courtroom moments here. See review below:

() REVIEW of HOWL by Maya Riebel (our former intern from Canada)

Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman make a concerted effort away from the conventional “biopic,” and towards the raw energy from the Beatnik era. The directors are responsible for award-winning documentaries such as The Celluloid Closet (1995) and Common Threads: Stories From the Quilt (1989).
James Franco will probably bring the most attention to this film, he of latest Pineapple Express fame. In a career-changing role, he tackles both Ginsberg’s speaking mannerisms and inner struggle with his homosexuality. Is he too handsome for the role? Maybe; the portrayal appears a bit contrived at first, but Franco brings enough energy to convince us of his sincerity and manages to carry the iconic figure. Other notables include David Strathairn as the prosecutor, Jon Hamm (Mad Men) as Ferlinghetti’s lawyer Ehrlich, and a fantastic turn by Jeff Daniels as the supercilious and slightly ridiculous English professor David Kirk (a far cry from the hippy “Dude” Lebowski).
Clocking in at a square 90 min for a “short and sweet” effect, the film centers itself on Ginsberg’s Howl poem, alternating between three major scenes: Ginsberg’s 1955 first reading of Howl, in a hipster hangout in the Fillmore, the trial for public obscenity (which took place without the poet), and a fictional interview of Ginsberg in his home, two years after his newfound fame.
Most unexpected is the animation which illustrates the poem as Franco, in voice-over, gives a passionate reading with Ginsberg’s idiosyncratic cadence. At times it resembles rough computer animation, almost cheapening the subject. At others it achieves enough grandeur and artistry to effectively express what might have been the genius poet’s visions, with a nod to the psychedelic effects of marijuana and peyote. Movie-goers will no doubt be divided over whether this section of the film was necessary, but it must be noted that Ginsberg’s eloquence shines best in these highly visual, drugged-up scenes of apocalyptic violence.
Ultimately, despite the great acting and the ambitious animation sequences, the film feels a bit slow, and may be dull for some. Those expecting the typical Hollywood biopic, rife with drama, pseudo-scandalous gay sex, or more of Ginsberg’s youth experiences as a rebellious Beatnik, will be disappointed. For Franco, “the most important thing was if the film could capture the poem the way it was in 1955 – so incredibly raw and new” (Larsen Associates’ “Press Notes”). The animation is a commendable effort in this direction, reaching for the heart of the poem.
Chances are that with the sharp focus on the text of Howl, audience members will want to read the poem all over again – or for the first time, if they haven’t yet. You can’t quite condemn a film that worships poetry and uncensored literature these days. – by Maya Riebel

() Sat-Sun Sept 4,5, 9th annual SF Zinefest. This FREE event perhaps elicits the most wide-ranging, interesting demographic attendance imaginable, as the majority of people attending are DIY zine publishers or artists or… Certainly SF Zinefest could happen TWICE a year, it seems! We thank François Vigneault & friends for putting together a most interesting/inspiring line-up of panels and speakers, and for allowing RE/Search a moment in the sun on both days… Food was cheap and excellent — and, of course, when everything else is FREE, how much better can the world be?! We met some of the BEST people there, we think. And, Goteblud proprietor Matt Wobensmith mounted the first-ever exhibition of complete runs of SEARCH & DESTROY, DAMAGE, and ANOTHER ROOM magazines (this must have been an archivist’s nightmare to compile). We thank him for his dedication and achievements…

() Thur Sept 9 – “Hugh Brown: Allegedly” art exhibition at Robert Koch Gallery, 49 Geary St, Room 550, SF (note: exit elevator, go right). After some searching we finally found the gallery (no name or room number visible) and spent over an hour (with the art-for-sale list) examining the extremely diverse and amusing, not to mention thought-provoking, amazing array of art all produced by one-time Bay Arean Hugh Brown, whom RE/Search met around 1979. During the past decades Hugh has produced a huge array of all kinds of art in seemingly every possible medium, culminating in the show we saw last night. Hardcore Situationists would have been pleased! A gallery catalog was available, too: “Allegedly: the Hugh Brown Chainsaw Collection.” We highly recommend “checking out” the work of Hugh Brown on the Internet. This show will be on display through October 31, and another show was just on display in Los Angeles at the Robert Berman Gallery, Bergamot Station, Santa Monica…

() NEGATIVE TREND, one of the only surviving First Wave San Francisco Punk Bands, played two shows in the past month – the first at Submission Gallery (with Goat Fluffer, an all-female band we particularly like), at a space we like (2183 Mission/17th-18th Sts, SF), and the second at 924 Gilman Street in Berkeley, CA.
The Gilman Street evening (Aug 28) featured SEVEN bands! Opening trio was from Japan (what was their name? – they were very cute). We liked Last Round Up (esp. the singer’s sense of humor), You Die (“funny” name) and Circle One featuring early Punk guitarist Mike Vallejo from L.A. Was it Mental Cancer that featured a mohawked female singer who tried hard to engage the audience, mostly singing at people (in their face) on the “dance” floor?
Look for an upcoming episode of the Counter Culture Hour featuring an hour-long interview with N.Trend guitarist Craig Gray (who, BTW, was in an early incarnation of the ’77 Punk band GRAND MAL, along with your editor V. Vale on bass, and OFFS singer Don Vinil on vocals). Negative Trend’s songs are classic and the lyrics are more relevant than ever. Look for them on facebook and MySpace as well…

() THE BIG TAKEOVER 66: Special 30th Anniversary Issue. Founder Jack Rabid & his wife Mary were our funny, generous Brooklyn hosts during our brief trip to Manhattan beginning of August. Jack curated The Big Takeover 30th Anniversary Festival/Party at Bell House, Brooklyn, with 17 bands including S.F.’s The Avengers! Despite being super-busy he managed to look after us and others in his home office, staying up til 4 AM on Saturday night after the show playing us one amazing record after another — now we are fans of the very first BeeGees’ recordings (the Australian Beatles). Somehow, Jack has kept going, without ceasing, his publication which now must be reckoned the BEST and ONLY recommended magazine for figuring out which new bands and records are worth checking out (in the current information overload). In issue #66 (!!) Jack’s retrospective-editorial is particularly compelling as it barely hints at the financial problems of keeping an independent publication going and NEVER GIVING UP! We advise supporting Jack by SUBSCRIBING – email jrabid@bigtakeover.com, or send $20 to The Big Takeover, 356 4th St, upper fl, Brooklyn NY 11215.

() TO DIE NO MORE by Herbert Pfostl & Kristofor Minta, from Blind Pony Books, New York – Seattle.This beautifully produced chapbook (handmade brown cardstock cover; sepia ink texts and two-tone sepia-black-and-white illustrations) was gifted to us by Herbert at the New Museum (235 Bowery, NYC) which on floor two is hosting a BRION GYSIN RETROSPECTIVE through October 31. Herbert’s book is filled with anecdotes and quotations dealing with death, and if death is your subject matter, your book will never become obsolete or outdated! Apparently, most of the text is from a diverse selection of writers, some little-known to us, and others more “classic” such as Herman Melville and Michel de Montagine. (We recommend this beautiful limited edition.)
The BRION GYSIN RETROSPECTIVE took us a full three hours to appreciate, as there was so much text to read on the walls, plus classic Anthony Balch films to re-experience in the “film room.” We also re-experienced the Gysin Dream Machine in a small dark room, sitting on cushions around it. The show also offered rare audio recordings and several video viewing stations with headphones whereby one could view, say, an interview with William S. Burroughs (who collaborated with Gysin on a number of the artworks on view), or — did we miss a video interview with Gysin himself? We got kicked out at 6pm before we could take in the entire show to our satisfaction. So, RE/Search highly recommends that anybody within hailing range of Manhattan set aside time to see this rare retrospective, and also pick up the beautiful hardback show catalog: BRION GYSIN DREAM MACHINE.

() MEDIA JUNKY $1 or Stamps from Jason Rodgers, POB 8512, Albany NY 12208. This is a handmade zine trying to provide interconnections between actual paper underground publishing points. His mission statement includes “I consider underground publishing to be an entirely different monster from the Internet. For that reason I will only review material with a physical mailing address. Too bad if you don’t like it. Underground publishing should, in my opinion, aim to transform the world. Destroy the control machine.” Couldn’t agree more!

() “Yummy” books from Last Gasp – support local publishing at its highest production values!
– Scott Musgrove Postcard Set of 12 postcards. Looking at these gorgeous cards, it’s difficult to imagine how color printing could become better. The photography is so sharp and three-dimensional in depth that one feels oneself floating into the paintings…
– Camilla d’Errico: postcard Set of 30 cards. Pure, beautiful escapism into an infantile eternal childhood where all creatures are your friends, even army ants, octopuses and snakes. Looking at these images is like eating cotton candy painted with the entire rainbow of pastel watercolors, and living in an Eden where birds and butterflies no longer fear humans but hug them, occasionally watched over by machines of loving grace (to paraphrase Richard Brautigan). Camilla d’Errico’s world may also be the prequel to Barbarella (not only the movie, but the original book)…
– Startling Art: Revealing the Art of Dennis Larkins. Truly “great” art is always ahead of its time, yet we live in a “chronocracy” as this book’s “introduction/dossier” alerts us. The past we choose can create the future we want — at least in the other-worldly dimension of ART — and immersing oneself between the covers of this endearing hardback, one smiles at virtually every pair of pages. A production like this makes one sincerely doubt the lasting satisfaction of experiencing a book on even a colorful gadget like the latest iPad… There’s something about the reflectiveness of certain glossy illustrations, certain muted B&W vintage photos — all the variety of textures, some almost three-dimensional — which only high-quality paper and printing can provide. Right away, one sees images one has ALWAYS WANTED TO SEE, but never quite realized until one actually sees them! Page 13 is a great, albeit sub-x-rated, example…. Paintings can often be much “better” than real life, or even the technically “best” photography, in the sense that they communicate a dreaminess and evocativeness, a sense of longing, that perhaps arises from curves and shadows that instinctively romanticize hard-edged architecture, objects, and signage from our American heritage. In this book, so many utopian visions from the past have been captured and consolidated by paintings which imbue the subject matter with a powerful emotion of hoped-for social perfection. Most of the major technological icons of the 20th century landscape are herein immortalized for future generations to wonder at, and speculate about… This book is a beautiful gem of Memory and Mystery…
– Mark Ryden: The Snow Yak Show. This hardbound book is so large that, fortunately, it will NEVER be captured by an iPad, future or present — unless said device is capable of instantly projecting gigantic images on the nearest white wall. Even then, just turning the pages, and examining the imagery at a close distance, is a pleasurably engaging experience not translatable to the digital/virtual realm… Each page turning elicits the subvocal response of “Wow!,” beginning with the mysterious endpapers printed on thick cardstock. The Japanese kanji add another dimension of geographical transcendence — tiny subtle gray lettering hints that the artwork to follow is from a higher plane: “Spirit is a land of high, white peaks and glittering jewel-like lakes and flowers. Life is sparse and sounds travel great distances.” (The Dalai Lama)… The next image presents deep, unfathomable eyes — you could never bear to look into any human’s eyes for an hour straight — but you could look into THESE EYES with impunity. What a beautiful world we live in — or could live in — if only there were about 9,999% fewer people, at the minimum… Painters like Mark Ryden create worlds for us to live in — their visions captured on canvas constitute a temptation which, if indulged in extremis, can surely lead to madness. Or perhaps the world we live in NOW is the true madness… (reviews dashed out by V. Vale)

6. Concert Review of Public Image Limited by John C. Sulak

I saw Public Image Limited (Pil) play in San Francisco on Saturday, April 17th, at the Regency Center on Van Ness. I almost didn’t go; advance tickets were fifty bucks and there were an additional 12 or 13 dollars in service charges. But at the last minute I decided to buy a ticket at the door. The show was billed as “An Evening With Public Image Limited,” which meant that there was no opening act, PiL started on time and they played for a full two hours. It ended up being a fantastic experience that exceeded any expectations I had for it.
John Lydon, singer and founder of Pil, looked and sounded great. There are all sorts of clips of thisreunion tour on Youtube, including the SF show, but there is nothing like being there in person. Public Image was LOUD, clean and tight. This is Pil’s first tour in 17 years. They played extended, and often danceable, versions of songs from all phases of their career. As I watched Lydon I thought about how he used to look when he was younger, with his spiky hair and sneer; He was sarcastic, insulting to audiences and always seemed angry about what was going on. His hair is now even spikier. But he has a friendly, if impish, grin and seemed happy to be on stage singing again, working with talented musicians and in a town that loves him.
Lydon, of course, has a long history with San Francisco. On January 14, 1978, as Johnny Rotten, he played at Winterland at what ended up being the final Sex Pistols gig. (Winterland is gone now but was located just 8 blocks west of the Regency Center.) At the end of that night he famously asked the audience, “Ever get the feeling you’ve been cheated?” No one felt that way at the Regency Center – this time he thanked the crowd for being so respectful! There were moments when he even encouraged them to sing along.
Lydon has returned to the City many times since then, most notably in 1984, when Pil played at a book release party for “RE/SEARCH 8/9: J.G. BALLARD.” It was in one of the dock warehouses at Fort Mason. There were live S&M scenarios (featuring Fakir Musafar, Monte Cazazza, Noni Howard, Kristine Ambrosia, Luna Discussion, et al) for people to check out as soon as they walked in. Further inside there were two wrecked automobiles that V. Vale had procured from a junkyard and mounted on top of each other like copulating bugs. It was a tribute to Ballard’s novel “Crash,” and was complete with a nurse and car crash victims covered in blood. Later a ram-car constructed by Survival Research Labs was brought in to assault the vehicles. The whole time there were multi-media projections of horrific images of forensic pathology on the walls. A TV showed a homemade video of car crashes montaged with porn in-and-out close-ups. There were huge, beautiful B&W blowups of images from RE/Search #8/9 on the walls. And then, after all that, Public Image came out and played their set.
Malcolm McLaren’s recent death revived the discussion of the early days of Punk, and of who really deserved credit for the Sex Pistols’ sound and image. But at the Regency Center on April 17th, all that mattered was that Lydon has survived and continued to grow as a person and an artist, and has remaining true to his punk roots and aesthetics. And for those who were there to experience it, this was yet another historic concert in San Francisco.
For more info about this and other Pil shows, including live videos and interviews, check out the band’s website: http://www.pilofficial.com/info.html

7. RECOMMENDED LINKS (send some!)

() from phil g:
– Lenny lives! – http://www.glatz.com/blog/al-and-lenny-brothers-under-skin

() from Mako Sano:
– Uncyclopedia, the content-free encyclopedia
– www.cddc.vt.edu/bps/rexroth/sf/1964.htm
– Brotherhood of Eternal Love: www.druglibrary.net/schaffer/lsd/books/bel5.htm

() from Karen: www.wimp.com/catbag

() from Moritz C, Germany: http://congress.nskstate.com
And I found the anti-religious text, which really is a good read:

http://www.stephenjaygould.org/ctrl/flew_falsification.html

8. QUOTES

() “Talking Is Not Thinking. Talking Is Talking.” – V. Vale

() “Every minute on your cellphone/computer is one minute less you could be talking and gazing at someone you love. Change your priorities!” – V. Vale

() sent by Mako Sano: Ambrose Bierce’s definition of “ART, n.
This word has no definition. Its origin is related as follows by the ingenious Father Gassalasca Jape, S.J.
One day a wag — what would the wretch be at? –
Shifted a letter of the cipher RAT,
And said it was a god’s name! Straight arose
Fantastic priests and postulants (with shows,
And mysteries, and mummeries, and hymns,
And disputations dire that lamed their limbs)
To serve his temple and maintain the fires,
Expound the law, manipulate the wires.
Amazed, the populace that rites attend,
Believe whate’er they cannot comprehend,
And, inly edified to learn that two
Half-hairs joined so and so (as Art can do)
Have sweeter values and a grace more fit
Than Nature’s hairs that never have been split,
Bring cates and wines for sacrificial feasts,
And sell their garments to support the priests.

9. Letters from Readers:

() “Hello friends, I can’t tell you how happy I am that after seven long years, ATOMIC MOM is officially done!! The World Premiere will be at the Mill Valley Film Festival on Sun, Oct 10, 5:45pm. I hope to see many of you there!” (support local filmmakers)

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SEPTEMBER 2010 RE/Search eNewsletter written by V. Vale & 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!
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RE/SEARCH | 20 Romolo #B | San Francisco CA 94133 | 415.362.1465
http://www.researchpubs.com | http://www.myspace.com/researchpubs | info@researchpubs.com facebook: “RE/Search Group”

WELCOME TO V. VALE’s RE/SEARCH NEWSLETTER #96, AUGUST 2010
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RE/SEARCH | 20 Romolo #B | San Francisco CA 94133 | 415.362.1465
www.researchpubs.com | http://www.myspace.com/researchpubs | info@researchpubs.com
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**TO RECEIVE LAST-MINUTE LOCAL S.F. BAY AREA NEWS OF RE/SEARCH-recommended EVENTS, reply to this newsletter & in subject line write “local subscribe” // If you’re receiving multiple eNewsletters let us know WHAT to delete from our list!

TABLE OF CONTENTS:
1. MESSAGE FROM YOUR EDITOR, V. VALE
2. Isaac Bonewits RIP
3. Counter Culture Hour with SINAN REVELL: 6 PM Pacific Time, Saturday August 14 – also simulcast on-line
4. FORTHCOMING EVENTS
5. What We’ve Attended/What We’ve Been Reading/Seeing
6. Mini book review from Bryce Frackas
7. Recommended Links – send some!
8. QUOTES- next month!
9. Letters from Readers
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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!
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[COMMERCIAL:] Since 1977, we are a small independent book publisher who needs your support! Call to Order, or Visit for the personal touch…

ORDER the DELUXE 20th Anniversary MODERN PRIMITIVES HARDBACK LIBRARY EDITION on Glossy Paper! Retail orders
Paperback (List $25) $20 + shipping
20% discount

Hardback limited edition (List $50) $40 + shipping
20% discount

Order (including payment) by August 31, 2010 – ORDER FROM WWW.RESEARCHPUBS.COM or: order by phone 415-362-1465 (& receive additional free book of our choice)
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1. MESSAGE FROM YOUR EDITOR, V. VALE —
Just came back from NYC – more on that next month. Now we’re all in a rush getting the brand new Modern Primitives 20th Anniversary Edition out!
Tonight you can come see us at Great American Music Hall — see below –
_________________
Vale is off at the SM Flea Market today – a quarterly event in San Francisco — so here is an extremely abbreviated (unfinished) eNews letter. He promises more next month, and in the meantime, follow him on Twitter!
(ValeRESearch — http://twitter.com/ValeRESearch?utm_source=follow&utm_campaign=newfollow20100706&utm_medium=email&utm_content=profile)
or watch the his videos on youtube and facebook.
Here are some links to get you started — shot by Richard Wylde at the RE/Search office.

Just came back from NYC – more on that next month. Now we’re all in a rush getting the brand new Modern Primitives 20th Anniversary Edition out!

Tonight you can come see us at Great American Music Hall — see below —

2. Isaac Bonewits (featured in “Modern Pagans”) RIP (1949-2010)
Neopagan author Issac Bonewits passed away Thursday, August 12, after a short struggle with cancer. Born Phillip Emmons Isaac Bonewits on 10/1/1949 in Royal Oak Michigan, Issac Bonewits was a druid priest, writer, teacher, and psychic, as well as a self proclaimed ne’er-do-well and trouble-maker.
One of his most influential contributions was the Advanced Bonewits Cult Danger Evaluation Frame (the “ABCDEF”), developed in 1979 as a response to the Jim Jones People’s Temple tragedy. It has been translated into many languages and used around the world to evaluate how dangerous or harmless an organization might be. It was the first such scale to use theories of mental health and personal growth to judge rather than theological or ideological standards.
Obituaries:

http://witchescupboard.info/famous-pagans/author-isaac-bonewits-passes-over-to-the-summerland-2010/

http://neopagan.net/blog/

http://witchfulthinking.wordpress.com/2010/08/12/isaac-bonewits-died-of-cancer/

http://cosettefromjupiter.blogspot.com/2010/08/isaac-bonewits-crosses-veil.html

3. Counter Culture Hour – Sat August 14, 2010 – 6:00 PM PACIFIC TIME. (We hope to air this at its listed time this month. Due to a mix-up, the June’s show was shown in July … Sorry for any confusion.)
SINAN REVELL, visual artist, photographer and vocalist of industrial pioneers SPK, discusses her career and the multicultural environment in which she was raised. The Counter Culture Hour is edited/produced by Marian Wallace; interview by V. Vale.
The Counter Culture Hour (aka RE/SEARCH TV) is also ON-LINE as well as on cable access San Francisco Channel 29 — 6pm Pacific Time, Sat April 10, 2010 ALSO on-line (simulcast) – at this link:

http://72.47.201.244/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1881&Itemid=1801

You need a fairly decent internet connection and computer to “get it.”
USA west coast: 6:00 PM Saturday,August 14
USA east coast: 9:00 PM Saturday, August 14
London: 2:00 AM Sunday, August 15
Tokyo: 10:00 AM Sunday, August 15
ETC.
If you cannot get this online (we have heard some complaints about this), please write us to get a DVD copy. ($20 postpaid USA domestic, $25 overseas – to cover expenses)
Would you like to have a Counter Culture Hour showing in your town? Please write and ask us how you can do this. (write: info@researchpubs.com)

The new management of the Public Access Station is working towards having all shows available all the time in an archive, and we are looking into other hostings for the show, also as an audio MP3. Or, contact us for a DVD now! ($20 postpaid USA domestic, $25 overseas – to cover expenses)

4. FORTHCOMING EVENTS (San Francisco unless Otherwise Noted)

Saturday Aug 14th
Jello Biafra and the Guantanamo School of Medicine @ Great American Music Hall, 859 O’Farrell St/Polk, SF. 8pm Sat 8/14/10. Tel 415-885-0750.
RE/SEARCH will have a small table there – come talk to us! Our new 20th Anniversary Deluxe MODERN PRIMITIVES HARDBACK is just in. Alternative Tentacles will also have a table of hard-to-find vinyl, their latest releases, plus, of course, Jello Biafra & his band’s New CD — Have him autograph it. Support bands are ZOLAR X and LA PLEBE – 3 bands total for a full night of music!

Thursday August 19, 2010 (through October)
There is a brand new market coming to UN Plaza for local artists.
The kick off date is Thursday, August 19, 2010 and will run through October. They are looking for local artists who are interested in applying for tent space at these markets.
12pm-8pm every Thursday. Early Bird tents run a mere $25.
They will also be looking to book local musicians for the noon and 5pm hours.
Apply now at www.artsmarketsf.org

() FREE – through through Saturday September 25, 2010
Art at the Dump: Twenty Years of the Artist in Residence Program at Recology at Intersection 5M. This exhibition celebrates the twentieth anniversary of the art and education program at Recology San Francisco, a one-of-a-kind initiative that enables artists to work with materials taken directly from the city of San Francisco’s waste stream, while teaching the public about recycling and resource conservation.
Art at the Dump presents a sampling of work made by some of the more than eighty artists who have participated in the program. Work in a variety of mediums – sculpture, photography, painting, drawing, performance, video, textiles, and musical composition – is represented, and often runs counter to traditional notions of what art made from found materials should look like. http://theintersection.org/calendar/index.php?op=view&id=2943
Location: 925 Mission Street at 5th Street, In the historic San Francisco Chronicle building.

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

NYC Subways – get you there … eventually! It’s a bigger city than it looks on the map.

Brion Gysin show at New Museum in the Bowery– well worth seeing.

David Byrne’s “Bicycle Diaries” has some thoughts for a future without cars. Great chapter on San Francisco featuring a visit to SRL.

6. A recent book from Last Gasp: “Onikage” by Toshio Saeki
Mini-review by Bryce Frackas
A transgressive take on the traditional Japanese “floating world erotica” style, lovingly drawn. Of particular note are the beautiful overlays. This oversized hardback production contains the stuff of erotic nightmares of extreme fetishes, whose redeeming value is assured by the gorgeous technique and artistry. The most extreme fears and paranoias are unblinkingly depicted. Virtually every conceivable taboo has been breached, even the most outlier fantasies are wondrously depicted. This 12 x 15 inch hardback belongs in the rare book libraries of the most discerning collectors worldwide. Sumptuously produced red hardback.

7. RECOMMENDED LINKS (send some!)

() http://www.glatz.com/blog/operating-system-dare-not-speak-its-name

() www.streetlevels.blogdrive.com

() http://www.pwhole.com/zoomify/Aladdin3.html
I’ve just added the first Zoomify version of my Treak Cliff Cavern panoramas to the website, if anyone’s interested. The actual finished image is close to 2 metres across when printed out at photo-resolution, so it’s quite a beast, and may pay off viewed slowly for best results. I’ll add more as time (and server space!) allows, but I hope you like it, and can hopefully see where this project is heading…;)
Phil Wolstenholme, Digital Art and Design

8. QUOTES Next Month!

9. Letter from a Reader:

Hi there,
I first wanted to say thanks for keep doing what you are doing. I am currently reading your Ballard collection of quotes as a writing/inspiration tool. I pick up the book, find a chapter, read a few quotes until one really sticks with me and then sit about writing my thoughts/experiences/grapples with it. An awesome exercise!
Here is a link about Burroghs on Magikal practices: http://pop-damage.com/?p=5393GENERAL SEMANTICS MEETS EXPERIMENTAL LITERATURE: THE LIFELONG EFFECT OF ALFRED KORZYBSKI ON WILLIAM S BURROUGHS : http://realitystudio.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=9907&sid=0992344419efd82c1405e220729446da#p9907
you have probably seen both, but always nice to read more. take care! –Dave L –

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AUGUST 2010 RE/Search eNewsletter written by V. Vale & 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!
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