WELCOME TO V. VALE's RE/SEARCH
NEWSLETTER #62, July 2007. HERE'S THE NEWS FROM SAN FRANCISCO... ALL READERS
ARE INVITED TO SEND CONTRIBUTIONS AND FEEDBACK!
CONTENTS:
1. Louder Faster Shorter punk
film now on DVD!
2. Sat JULY 14, 6:30pm:
RE/SEARCH presents the COUNTER CULTURE HOUR featuring San Francisco Poet
Laureate Jack Hirschman, to publicize his new San Francisco International
Poetry Festival July 27-29, free admission!! Cable Channel 29 (S.F. only), 6:30pm. See Counter Culture Hour shows online (free for now!) at:
http://www.veoh.com/videos/v316630GefJq73s
http://www.veoh.com/videos/v316647rCCRPG3H
We will continue to post at least
one episode per month until we've caught up with the two+ year backlog!
3. "Catastrophism" -
RE/Search's current "theme"
4. COMING EVENTS: Cyclecide
Rodeo July 15. July 27-9 SF Int'l Poetry Fest.
5. PAST EVENTS...
6. Stephane von Stephane...
7. What We've Been Reading/What
We've Been Sent: James Howard Kunstler, of
course! The City in Mind...
8. Recommended Links - thanks to: You Know Who You Are
9. Quotes...
10. Feedback from Readers
11. *Help Save Net Neutrality!
This is VERY IMPORTANT to ALL READERS!!
---------------
1. RE/Search's newest offering: Now on **DVD**: LOUDER
FASTER SHORTER (classic 1978 punk
documentary). See the Avengers, Dils, Mutants, Sleepers, UXA, and Dirk Dirksen,
in their heyday, and marvel at how little the bands' songs have dated). $20
plus $4 shipping. If you pay $6 for shipping, we'll send you a free book of my
choice - write in "free" book in order blank.
Also, out-of-print for years,
RE/Search's INDUSTRIAL CULTURE HANDBOOK is back! limited edition hardback (RE/Search's edition 1000 copies
- V. Vale will autograph on request), gorgeous, glossy paper. Amazon list price
$60. Order direct from our website for Special price $35 (plus $5 shipping U.S.; $15 Air Overseas). To order:
info@researchpubs.com, call 415-362-1465, or use our on-line order blank at
www.researchpubs.com.
Also, we have posted (4) Counter Culture Hour episodes at veoh.com - please check them out! The newest
one features Billy Hawk of the Offs; also up is Bambi Lake.
Here's what's up now:
-Jonathan Moore at Roboxotica in
Vienna, also with "The Candy Film" by Marian Wallace
http://www.veoh.com/videos/v316630GefJq73s
-Ryoichi Kurokawa, electronic filmmaker
AND painter Masami Teraoka
http://www.veoh.com/videos/v316647rCCRPG3H
-Billy Hawk of the Offs, 70s
original punk band
http://www.veoh.com/videos/v5268609RH3MxKs
-Bambi Lake, life-long
entertainer, cross-dresser, San Francisco character
http://www.veoh.com/videos/v480491RdyCQQBd
AND - not a Counter Culture Hour,
but somehow related:
-V.Vale plays
"Mongoloid" for Jerry Casale, DEVO original (3 minutes)
http://www.veoh.com/videos/v443333PHEfKjTG
More online offerings will follow!
Please give us your feedback as well as letting us know how your on-line
experiences with these are! We're open to suggestions!
Last but not least, RE/Search is
on MySpace: If you would like to be "our friend" - receive bulletins,
etc, please Join Us! http://www.myspace.com/108198017 - thanks, v. vale & cohorts
----
NOTE:
RE/Search still seeks either
non-profit donations, patrons, or fiscal partners to publish the next title (a
book involving old tapes and photos of William Burroughs, Brion Gysin, John Giorno,
et al) and to bring back in print Incredibly Strange Films, Pranks, and Real
Conversations 1.
2. Sat JULY 14, 6:30pm: RE/SEARCH presents The Counter
Culture Hour featuring San Francisco Poet Laureate Jack Hirschman, answering questions like "What is poetry?" and
"What does 'underground' mean anymore?" Cable Channel 29 (S.F.
only) RE/Search's Counter Culture Hour
airs 2nd Sat of month, 6:30pm; set your "VCR." A few Counter Culture
Hour episodes are available at www.veoh.com, as stated above. DVDs will be
available soon for ease of viewing, chapters, higher quality video and sound,
etc.
Jack Hirschman is publicizing
his new San Francisco International Poetry Festival July 27-29, free admission. Fifteen poets from other countries will appear and
read/talk for free, and you can meet them after the readings. Actually, the fun
begins Thur July 26 at 6:30pm at an
outdoor reading in the alley next to City Lights Bookstore, 261 Columbus,
hosted by Lawrence Ferlinghetti.
Friday July 27, 7pm at Palace of Fine Arts
Theatre (next to the Exploratorium), 12 poets including Lawrence Ferlinghetti,
will read - again, for free. Sat & Sun July 28-29 there will be a host of
readings, including figures such as Matt Gonzalez, at various
branch libraries and North Beach venues - again, go to http://sfinternationalpoetryfestival.org for a full listing. This is hopefully the first of many
annual San Francisco international poetry festivals.
3. "Catastrophism" - RE/Search's current
"theme." Recently we struck up
an email correspondence with Claudia R-- from Italy (who ordered all 4 of our
J.G. Ballard books) on the theme of "Catastrophism" or "Future Noir."
Here are our emails...
-----
"Dear Vale, All your books
are famous in Italy, especially in Florence. We love underground culture...
Maybe you can help me to find other books about this particular kind of Science
Fiction, so psychological - if you have any suggestions. All best, Claudia"
-----
"Claudia, I pretty much focus
still on re-reading J.G. Ballard and
W.S. Burroughs (whom I regard as partly sci-fi)
and, i enjoyed The Wasp Factory by Iain
Banks (but not his other books), Pattern Recognition by William Gibson, but i am still looking for
"genius" writers like Ballard but am not finding them! If you have
some "genius" recommendation please send it to me!
thanks & best, - vale
ps There are old books i once
enjoyed, like Bug Jack Barron by
Norman Spinrad - I need to compile a list.
But those are from 25+ years ago!!... so maybe they have dated..."
-----
"Vale, that's very kind of you. I'll look for the books by Banks
and Gibson you suggest (can't remember at the moment if I've still read the
second one). A genius like Ballard around? Hard to say. Amongst Italian writers
of last generation I like Tullio Avoledo:
someone has spoken about "Quantic Realism", very near to SF as
concept and postmodern in a new, different sense. I'll look for an English
version to send you. All best, Claudia"
-----
"Claudia, There's a U.S. writer I've been reading (non-fiction) who
predicts a United States/world
without oil/gas/natural gas much quicker than most of us think. He predicts
that only small towns/cities with sufficient local water supplies and nearby
food-producing farms/agriculture will survive.
"The car (and with it, the
freeway system and parking lots that destroy rich farmland) and high-rise
buildings - all of which require oil to maintain them - will just be a little
blip in the big continuum of history.
"His major book is The Long
Emergency and his website is kunstler.org - name is James Howard Kunstler. His first major book was The Geography of Nowhere - huge critique of America with its car ownership and
proliferation of boring suburbs.
America doesn't produce anything anymore - its economy is just hype and
facade. His ideas definitely form a basis for plenty of future science
fiction imaginings, dovetailing
with Ballard's High Rise & Crash, but in a different way. Best, Vale"
-----
"Hi Vale, I found in my library the Gibson's one, translated as
"Accademia dei Sogni" (forgotten and maybe never read, now it's
time), that means Dream's Academy. I'll ask for Kunstler's books: in Italian
there's the illuminating title "Collasso." Is it something like
Mike Davis' catastrophism? I love him. You
must absolutely read "L'Archeofuturisme" by Guillame Faye, if you didn't (in French Les Editions de L'Encre, but I
don't know the English one). He's a theorist of the French New Right, but has
many things in common with catastrophism of left theorists. He's very
disturbing, you can't miss it. Of course I hate the fact he predicted a future
where women must turn housewives because of the lack of job opportunities in
west, like some others curious theory. Anyway, I forgive him. Best, Claudia"
-----
"Claudia, sorry for late reply - yesterday was fireworks day here in
Amerikkka. Kunstler is more "citation/quotation/paraphrasing happy"
than Mike Davis - i.e., a lot more "facts" and "hard
statistics" -but he is NOT boring somehow - he makes the material as
sardonic/funny as it is possible to be.
"Thanks so much for the
recommendations below - I'll start tracking 'em down under the new category
(new to me) of "catastrophism". I was just calling it
"predicting the future" but that's kind of boring... RE FAYE: On the
contrary, I think women will "own" the future, just like they
invented agriculture which created the present. I'm glad you have a sense of
humor RE Monsieur G. Faye Best, vale
"ps: just remembered a "great"
book from awhile back: ON THE BEACH. It
was such a big seller, perhaps it was translated into Italian? Definitely
"catastrophism" i think. Best, vale"
-----
"Thanks Vale, "catastrophism" is the category much similar to
my mood since I started working in politics! Anyway, is the one most loved in
Europe, esp amongst French and Italian in the '90s. I suppose some authors here
miss something like the post-atomic phase in literature and cinema, so they try
to do like Americans, even if they are a bit late. I asked for English version
of Tullio Avoledo in a library but got
no response. So I wrote to the editor, but still got non response: THAT'S
REALLY CATASTROPHIC. We'll see. About Faye: Maybe he's right. Now I could be in
a beauty farm and have a young lover, like a desperate housewife. -
Claudia"
---
"to Claudia, sent by Vale:
a review of Black Mass: Apocalyptic Religion and the Death of Utopia by John Gray
Allen Lane, 242pp, £18.99 - ISBN
0713999152. published New Statesman, June 28, 2007
"Everything is getting
worse, we are doomed and the only good news is that it scarcely matters because
humanity is not worth saving anyway. John
Gray's new book Black Mass ... is a
critique of human pretensions and the analytical rubric that underpins it ...
Gray draws on the works of Hume and Hayek, Popper and Berlin, yet uses them as
sledgehammers, even against his closest allies. The result is the darkest
possible assessment of our current situation and our hopes for the future ...
whenever we dream of a better world, we inexorably create something far more
terrible. The intimate connection between
utopianism and dictatorship was first formulated by Isaiah Berlin and Hayek ...
"According to Gray, it was
Christianity which introduced the idea that the world can be redeemed and born
anew. He rather curiously absolves Judaism of any responsibility for this
concept, though all orthodox Judaic interpretations of the Torah have avowed
that the world is broken and will only be redeemed and healed at the end of time.
Yet his basic point has merit: at a certain point in history, we began to think
in terms of "eschatology", a logic devoted to the end days...
"The bulk of Black Mass is taken up with an often rollicking, sometimes
bone-crunching history of medieval barbarism, millennial cults, the rise of
totalitarianism and the nadir of fascism, ending with a precise account of the
lies and self-deceiving hopes that hurried on the invasion of Iraq. Without
devaluing Gray's account of the religious inspiration behind these events, it
is clear that his own work is also swept along by spiritual motifs: the
"fallen" state of creation, the spirit of history as a force that
aims towards destruction and the fallibility of mankind. Gray even states that
man is essentially fallible - which rather jars with his stated view that
humans are simply a peculiarly violent animal.
"He has many interesting
ideas - most of all, his insistence that there never was such a thing as a free
market because the grounds of the market-place were always fashioned by
government legislation... "capital" is nothing but a poetic image of
a subterranean black force, raging without end. Faced with this excessively
gothic image, we might follow Gray's advice to read Aldous Huxley, Philip K
Dick, William S. Burroughs and J.G. Ballard..."
http://www.newstatesman.com/200707020045"
-----
"That's very apocalyptic! I ordered the book. There's a Kurtz (Heart of
Darkness) in everyone. Thanks for the precious analogies you found. Did you
read the essay by R. C. Zahner, "Rot in the Clockwork Orange" in
Rapid Eye 3?
Ask you an info: when have you
first published the Ballard's book? On the website I found just 1984 of
"J. G. Ballard". - Claudia
-----
"To Claudia from Vale,
The Sunday Times, January 29, 2006
Richard Mabey reviews The
Revenge of Gaia by James Lovelock
...Although [James Lovelock's The
Revenge of Gaia] reads at times like the Book of Revelation, his vision of the
planetÕs ÒrevengeÓ isnÕt one of a spiteful, smart attack against homo sapiens,
but of a comprehensive collapse of the systems that have kept earth habitable
for billions of years. If Gaia means the interdependence of all organisms on
earth, then its breakdown implicates all organisms, though it is our fault,
exclusively...
"Global heating was not much
more than a rumour in 1979 when Lovelock launched the Gaia hypothesis, an
audacious vision of the living earth as an organism, whose geology and
life-forms had together evolved ways of maintaining a climate and an atmosphere
congenial to life. He seemed confident that GaiaÕs intricate connections,
linking forests and oceanic algae to cloud formation, would be able to counter
the earthÕs warming from man-made carbon dioxide. Now, as global temperatures
creep relentlessly higher and climatic disasters proliferate, he believes we
may have already gone beyond the point of recovery...
"What affects Lovelock
profoundly is evidence that we may be approaching Òtipping points,Ó when
heating suddenly escalates because of feedback. At the current rate, global
temperatures will rise by nearly three degrees in the next 50 years. At this
point, the rain forests begin to die, releasing vast new amounts of carbon
dioxide. Algae fail in the ocean and stop generating cooling clouds and
absorbing carbon. The Greenland glacier goes into meltdown, releasing enough
water to flood many of the worldÕs cities. Crop failures, human migrations, the
emergence of Òbrutal war-lordsÓ follow. We know the story, but not in our Òreal
worldÓ minds. Global heating is not yet part of our collective unconscious
in the way the bomb was.
"What can be done? Lovelock
is a passionate advocate of the rapid expansion of nuclear power to cut
fossil-fuel emissions, which has won him few friends among his natural
constituents. HeÕs dismissive of wind-power and biofuels as woefully
inefficient and wasteful of wild land better reserved for GaiaÕs ancient arts
of regulation ... Biosphere IIÕs modest experiment in creating a mini-earth the
size of a football pitch ended in farcical collapse. But Lovelock isnÕt averse
to technological fixes: giant reflectors in space, the solidification and
burying of smoke emissions (the same result could be achieved by allowing huge
areas of cultivated land to revert to forest, but oddly isnÕt mentioned), Òsustainable
retreatÓ into cities and synthetic foods to give the planet a chance to
recover. If it came to the worst, the remnants of humanity could move to a
newly balmy Arctic, where the rich could sail about in solar-powered yachts and
the poor amuse themselves with virtual travel.
"This is the familiar,
no-holds-barred territory of apocalyptic science fiction, and I fear this is
how The Revenge of Gaia may be read. ItÕs a powerful book but disablingly
depressing... shackled by our reflexes, by craven and short-sighted governments,
and by the hard fact that totalitarian planning simply doesnÕt work for complex
living systems, we seem to be stymied. But perhaps GaiaÕs model of success, so
eloquently described by Lovelock, might be a better spur than its impending
demise. ItÕs a federation not a monolith, and maybe an unplanned accretion of
obdurate local communities, visionary businesses, and nations prepared to act
on their own rather than wait for the lowest common consensus — something
truer to our organic origins and our present psychologies — might just
turn things around... ÒRenewable energy sounds good, but so far it is
inefficient and expensive. It has a future, but we have no time now to
experiment with visionary energy sources: civilization is in imminent danger and
has to use nuclear energy now, or suffer the pain soon to be inflicted by our
outraged planet.Ó
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/science/article718922.ece"
[the end, ha ha, for now...]
4. COMING EVENTS:
() CYCLECIDE PEDAL MONSTER, Sun
July 15, 2007 2-10pm. Ace Auto, 2255 McKinnon Ave, SF. (415) 385-0411. $10
sliding scale; no one turned away.
"If San Francisco is the
World Capital of Weird, then CYCLECIDE BIKE RODEO is the cityÕs most notorious
and hard-working ambassador for its two-wheeled, junk-rescuing lifestyle. The
worldÕs only bicycle-themed circus/rodeo sideshow and pedal-powered
carnival-ride midway, Cyclecide has wowed audiences from Brooklyn to Mexico
City with its pedal-oriented, drunk-clown-heavy, mayhem-tastic live act and
death-defying carnival rides made primarily out of Òpre-cycledÓ bike and auto
parts." Cylecide was featured in RE/Search's PRANKS 2 book [ http://www.researchpubs.com ]
"PEDAL MONSTER, the annual
gathering of the tribes: CyclecideÕs got about six or seven full-scale
pedal-powered carnival rides on the midway now ... but wait! thereÕs more ...
The Mousetrap! ... Audiences will marvel as one lucky participant turns the
crank to set the whole shebang rolling, sending bowling balls careening in and
out of 16 gi-normous interlocking pieces fabricated from found objects, steel,
and wood. No telling what the MousetrapÕs sexy mice and surly clown-gineers
will push under the 30-foot hand-built crane to be SMASHED under the 2-TON BANK
SAFE...
"So. To sum up. PEDAL
MONSTER 2007, July 15, at Ace Auto Drunkyard...
-complete CYCLECIDE PEDAL-POWERED
CARNIVAL MIDWAY
-MUTANT BIKES of DEATH,
DESTRUCTION, and/or RIDICULOUSNESS for all to ride
-BIKE RODEO SIDESHOW with punk
rock mariachi band LOS BANOS
and the
-LIFE-SIZE GAME OF MOUSETRAP (at
least 2 shows with sexy mice and one-woman band ESMERELDA STRANGE performing
her original score)
"Also: Barbary Coast
Shakedown (exquisite dance straight outta the saloon), Connie Francis Tribute,
Strip Mall Seizures, Nurses, Lloyd and Micheal, Hammer Horror Classics, Chrissy
Lux and the Cowboy Girl (contortion and BB guns) and Some Australian Band...
() WOMAN'S WILL PERFORMS IN PARKS
FOR FREE - by John Sulak
"I'd like to invite everyone
who lives in the Bay Area to go see the great theater company Woman's Will this
summer. They will be performing for free every weekend from July 7 to August
12, and they'll be moving around from park to park so there is a good chance
that they might be near you on one of those dates. They'll be doing "Romeo
and Juliet" by William Shakespeare, and all the characters are going to be
played by females. (When the plays were originally written and performed the
characters were all played by males.)
You might be wondering why a play
is being included in the RE/Search newsletter, but I've seen Woman's Will in
many previous summers and it's clear to me that their core values fit right in
with what V. Vale and his books have always been about. They're independent and
they "do-it-themselves," in the true d.i.y. spirit that was a part of
early punk and other subcultures... Every play I've ever seen them do has had
first rate acting, directing, music and choreography. The best part is that
it's free. Here is the website which lists all the
locations for the summer
"tour," and also has pictures and lots more info: www.womanswill.org
- John Sulak (co-author of RE/Search Pubs' "Modern
Pagans" [ http://www.researchpubs.com ]
5. PAST EVENTS: Next time...
6. STEPHANE VON STEPHANE will return after
her computer becomes reborn...
7. What We've Been Reading - just a little
bit
() Our favorite recent
"discovery" STILL continues to be the visionary author JAMES HOWARD
KUNSTLER. About Kunstler, our pal Curt G.
from Oregon writes:
"Hi Vale, Thanks as always
for the newsletter. I'll have to try some of Kunstler's novels... I've liked
his non-fiction [The Long Emergency, Geography of Nowhere], and saw him speak
last year at a talk here in Portland. Some found him arrogant, but I don't mind
a little arrogance in people with **ideas**! I keep an eye on his weekly blog
entry, Clusterfuck Nation.
"You might find the book
"The Black Swan" by Nassim Nicolas Taleb interesting. In a nutshell
it's a look at the nature of risk and uncertainty. Taleb apparently made a
bundle of money in the 1987 stock crash, and has since devoted increasing
amounts of time to reading/thinking/empirical philosophy. He has little but disdain for most
academics, particularly economists and statisticians. There's small portions of math in the book, but it's largely
about skepticism and trying to understand how little we know about a lot of
things (despite having to listen to lots of stuffed shirts talking as if they
know!). Black Swans are the unpredictable events that change the course of
things (sometimes good, sometimes bad). Peak Oil and the Long Emergency may
be the black swan that most "know-it-alls" can't see coming. Taleb wrote an earlier book called "Fooled by
Randomness" that's good as well. Hope you are recovering. - Curt"
() During an extended illness
we've read mysteries/novels by James Crais (funny! - only 3 more books left to
go), Naomi Hirahara, Walter Mosley (like him much better this time; sometimes
he really shows you what it is to be "black"), and James Howard
Kunstler.
8. RECOMMENDED LINKS - thanks to our friend Phil G, & Others who sent us the below:
() theremin jam: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mW0B1sipLBI
() 220 magic tricks: http://magicuproar.blogspot.com/2007/06/top-20-magic-trick-tutorials.html
() Steve Ward's Singing Tesla Coil
- video: http://www.milkandcookies.com/link/63317/detail/
() Cost of Living Index for
Expatriates: 1. Moscow (most expensive) 2. Seoul 3. Tokyo 4. Hong Kong 5.
London, etc: http://www.mercerhr.com/costofliving
() Reviews of Gil Ray's I AM
ATOMIC MAN album: http://www.125records.com/press.html
() Chuck Palahniuk insult story: http://www.laurahird.com/newreview/chuckpalahniukreading.html
It pertains to this review in
part: http://www.laurahird.com/newreview/haunted.html
I actually had one of his teenage
fans threaten to KILL me (seriously) online (oooh! Scary!) because of these
links... - Graham Rae
() References about Phoenix Punk
Rock: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mighty_Sphincter
() Laurel Aitkin is truly amazing:
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yN_x24P_LKk>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yN_x24P_LKk
() Linder (Secret Public fanzine;
Buzzcocks album art) is having an art show at PS1. [thanks, Eva Lake!] Google
her! And Go to <http://evalake.blogspot.com/2007/06/linder.html>http://evalake.blogspot.com/2007/06/linder.html
() Warhol film (sent by Sandra): http://www.awalkintothesea.com/film/synopsis.html
() New book by our pal Bruno
Richard / Elles Sont De Sortie #80 "Sangs divers". Here is a link to have some more details <http://lartpenultieme.blogspot.com>http://lartpenultieme.blogspot.com and
another one to our archives <http://lartpenultieme-archives.blogspot.com>http://lartpenultieme-archives.blogspot.com.
Highly recommended!
() From Christian Ristow: "three new posts! With 2 videos! Robochrist
Industries
Site: <http://www.christianristow.com>www.christianristow.com
Blog: <http://robotaos.blogspot.com/>
http://robotaos.blogspot.com/ "
() [sent in] "V. Vale is the
legendary underground publisher behind Re/Search Publications, a series of
zine-like books on the counter-culture.
Click for show notes, audio and bonus audio! link straight to the
audio:"
http://archive-c02.libsyn.com/podcasts/8bb871d5cd4e7b8a5c7307b6d80d6fed/46846f75/tsoya/
() Shanghai Jim [J.G. Ballard]: http://www.ubu.com/film/ballard.html
9. QUOTES - sorry, next time!
10. Feedback from Readers:
() "I recently got a book
called "Beat Writers at Work"
(1999) - a collection of interviews from the Paris Review, including one with
W.S. Burroughs in 1965. These are very good, cutting through a lot of the myth
and hype about the "beats". There is a photo of Burroughs in 1978 on
the Brooklyn Bridge - he is aiming a rifle at the NYC skyline, including the
World Trade Center." - SM Gray
() "Vale, I was out of town
the week of Dirkfest. Reading your
thoughts on the event literally brought me to tears. 1978 – 1981 were the
most enjoyable years of my life. I came into the scene a little late, but I
caught just enough of the original scene to have it burned into my soul forever
(my first show was the Avengers at Mabuhay). Thank you for keeping it alive and
well; little did we know at the time how profound the influence of those short
few years would be on music and society. I will always be a Punk in my heart.
Thanks for including me in your e-mails, Cheers, Keith Zygote" (Fried
Abortions founder - they were one of Jello Biafra's favorite groups)
() "Heya Vale - good to see
you at Dirkfest - you sure described it right about how the great, original
scene at the Mab died when the teenage jock/frat boy element came in, coinciding
with the coming of the SoCal surf-punk bands; they're the ones who TRIED to
knock people down in the pogo-pit up front and took delight in causing aggro
and starting fights - it didn't used to be like that. It was great while it
lasted, though. I guess we know what the original SF hippies felt like when the
Haight/Ashbury scene made it onto national TV and Life magazine and the scene
was ruined [by thousands of kids pilgrimaging to the Haight']. My favorite
bands at DirkFest were the Mutants ... and Ginger Coyote and the White Trash
Debutantes, who were only about 1000 times better than I had any reason to
believe they could be. I so totally agree with your description of them - you
nailed it. I hope they and the Mutants continue to gig. - Larry S."
() We missed Matt Gonzalez's college art opening because we already had tickets to
Iggy Pop that night and Matt wrote back:
"...Iggy is more important than collage!!! The [below] review is too kind,
i think, nevertheless... it's always nice to be propped up..."
http://www.artltdmag.com/article.php?subaction=showfull&id=1182557814&archive=&start_from=&ucat=32&do=category
SAN FRANCISCO: Matt Gonzalez at LINCART - review by our pal Mark Van
Proyen
"Here is the relevant
information: In 2003, Matt Gonzalez was the president of the San Francisco
Board of Supervisors, and at that time he also made an insurgent, under-funded
run for mayor as a Green Party candidate, coming alarmingly close to winning
the office... Now Gonzalez is back in the public eye... as a self-taught artist
who makes intimate, witty and charming collage works... sophisticated in their
evocation of the collage works of the Beat era, as well as the more canonical
precedents established by collage artists such as Kurt Schwitters and Robert
Motherwell... as would be found in one of Schwitters' Merzpictures from the
1920s and '30s. The difference lies in Gonzalez's elegant lyricism, which gives
his work a more introspective character. This attribute is particularly evident
in one of the smallest works - a particularly spare composition titled "Is
That It?" No bigger than a postcard, this work's precise arrangement of a
very few visual incidents proves that a big experience can come in a very small
package. - MARK VAN PROYEN"
() "Dear Vale, thanks for the
latest newsletter... One of the things I loved about being a Punk was mostly it
gave a lot of people who were not the cookie cutter [ideal?] physical or
mentally, a chance to be accepted - unlike so much of the rock and roll venues...
- Georgia"
() "Hi ... I appreciated that
version of 'Mongoloid' by you and Gerald V. Casale [aka Jihad Jerry] ... I've
always felt that song had a nice progressive/humanist kind of lyrical take
contained within, and that version brought that forward, I thought. -
Stanley"
() commenting on
"Mongoloid" by Jerry Casale with V. Vale on piano ([veoh.com]
"'Mongoloid' was so beautiful. It was like seeing 50-year-olds playing
things with tenderness..." - Judy Gittelsohn, Pink Section founder
() "That Jihad Jerry album is
great - you can play it over and over!" - Jared Lastname ( http://www.jihadjerry.com
)
() Very funny / illuminating / and
substantial blog from Jihad Jerry at: http://www.mineisnotaholywar.com - highly
recommended to read, in reverse order!
() "review" of new
INDUSTRIAL CULTURE HANDBOOK
(http://www.researchpubs.com ] hardback: "Immense influence - what an
amazing book - Industrial Culture Handbook - this book has changed my life
forever in a lot of ways. - Vern Vermon O'Dreary Scavenger, from the middle
wastelands, Indianaecropolis"
() "review" of PUNK
77, a RE/Search book ( http://www.researchpubs.com
) from FLAUNT, sent by James Stark:
"Long before T-shirts
emblazoned with the sequined likenesses of Johnny Rotten appeared in Hot Topic
stores, Punk was a reaction to the commodified rock'n'roll culture of which,
ironically, it is now a part. In 1977, punk was anything but mall fodder, or at
least that's what James Stark's book PUNK '77 wnats us to believe. Juxtaposing
black-and-white photos with personal testimonies, Punk '787 is a lot like a
yearbook, an open-faced memoir that lifts the safety-pinned tartan skirt on a
San Francisco Punk scene struggling with its identity at the convergence of
aging hippies, lamee disco suits and teen ennui. Stark's photographs illuminate
the architecture of a developing scene in which torn denim, exposed clavicles,
and padlocked chokers were de rigueur. Images of a young Debbie Harry, looking
coy behind oversized sunglasses inside a dark, dilapidated club, Darby Crash,
on stage, clenching a fist and holding a snarling note, and Joey Ramone's
kneecaps peeking through ripped jeans, act as details of a larger picture of
artistic revolt against an emerging empire of consumer culture. In the spirit
of prototypic street photographers Mary Ellen Mark, Diane Arbus, and Weegee,
these Punk images show adolescence as that fleeting time of malleable identity
and experimentation. "Hopefully," Stark writes, "Punk '77 will
give some insight as to why and how people create an identity for themselves
and their time." Review by Drew Tewksbury, Flaunt Magazine, February 2007
11. Net Neutrality - PUT IN YOUR WORD!! THIS IS DUE NOW!!
"Dear MoveOn member,
Last year, we defeated a bill in
Congress that would have gutted Net Neutrality—the principle that makes
sure Internet providers like AT&T, Verizon, and Comcast can't determine
which websites are accessible on your computer.
We are still pushing Congress to
permanently protect Net Neutrality. But for now, the issue is before the
Federal Communications Commission—and they have invited the public to
give our opinion. The deadline for public comment is four days away. We need to
send a clear message that the public cares passionately about protecting
Internet freedom.
Can you sign this petition to the
FCC today, and send it to your friends? We will send your petition signature,
and any comments you write, directly to the FCC.
"The FCC must keep the
Internet a level playing field for the little guy by voting for meaningful and
enforceable Network Neutrality—the Internet's First Amendment"...
Sign here:
<http://civic.moveon.org/save_the_internet/fccpetition/?id=10807-2943266-SqTBQy&t=3>http://civic.moveon.org/save_the_internet/fccpetition/?id=10807-2943266-SqTBQy&t=3
Here is a background document
about Net Neutrality:
<http://civ.moveon.org/save_the_internet/background.html?id=10807-2943266-SqTBQy&t=5>http://civ.moveon.org/save_the_internet/background.html?id=10807-2943266-SqTBQy&t=5
______________________________________
JULY 2007 RE/Search eNewsletter
written by V. Vale & contributors.
Newsletterand website powered by http://www.laughingsquid.com
DISCLAIMER & PROMISE -- V. Vale's eNewsletter is a free service to our esteemed
customers-supporters-patrons-backers, comrades and critics. If you're receiving
this email, it's because you **or someone you know** has sent your address to us here. We will NOT make your
address available to anyone else, EVER.
-----------------------
RE/Search Publications, 20 Romolo
Suite B, San Francisco, CA 94133. Tel (415) 362-1465 Email: info@researchpubs.com website: http://www.researchpubs.com
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/researchpubs