WELCOME TO V.
VALE's RE/SEARCH NEWSLETTER #65, October 2007. HERE'S THE NEWS FROM SAN
FRANCISCO... ALL READERS ARE INVITED TO SEND CONTRIBUTIONS AND FEEDBACK!
CONTENTS:
1. Support
RE/Search: Visit Our Office! New WEBSITE!
2. Sat Oct
13, 2007, 6:30pm: COUNTER CULTURE HOUR: LYLE TUTTLE Cable Channel 29
3. Feature: V.
Vale's blog on ARSE ELEKTRONIKA Oct 5-7, curated by "monochrom"
4. What We
Want (and Wanted) to Attend: Jello Biafra at Hypnodrome Oct 12-13, Filthmilk,
etc
5. What
We've Been Reading/What We've Been Sent: Vale's blog on S.F. Zine Fest
6.
RECOMMENDED LINKS -
thanks to our friend Phil G, James McN-, & Others who sent us the below
7. QUOTES
8. Feedback
from Readers
--------------
1. Support RE/Search: Visit Our
Office!... Not only can you get your books autographed by V. Vale; you can
experience the "legendary" office which only "foreigners"
visit. You can pick up the new **DVD**: LOUDER FASTER SHORTER (classic 1978 punk documentary). Or the
dazzling PRANKS 2 -
a follow-up to our first PRANKS book - which isn't in many stores. Or the
J.G. Ballard Conversations and J.G. Ballard Quotes or rare out-of-print books,
only at our office!
Plus, INDUSTRIAL CULTURE HANDBOOK limited edition hardback (RE/Search's edition 1000 copies on
gorgeous, glossy paper; Amazon list price $60. Order direct for Special price
$35 (plus $6 shipping
U.S.; $15 Air Overseas). To order: info@researchpubs.com, call 415-362-1465, or
order on-line from http://www.researchpubs.com.
() RE/Search
is on MySpace: If you
would like to be "our friend" - receive bulletins, etc, please Join
Us! http://www.myspace.com/108198017
() NEW WEBSITE (still being augmented) thanks to Elie,
our wonderful and creative intern from France. Check it out:
www.researchpubs.com - it has a blog by V. Vale now, and more...
2. Sat Oct 13, 6:30pm:
RE/Search Counter Culture Hour (with host V. Vale) featuring Lyle Tuttle,
president of tattoos.com
talking about death, conformity, the coming tattoo renaissance in China, etc.
Cable Channel 29 (S.F. only) RE/Search's Counter Culture Hour airs 2nd Sat of month, 6:30pm;
set your "VCR." Please write us if you're interested in collecting
CCH episodes on DVD - we'll burn one custom for you, for a donation...
3. V. Vale's blogpost
on ARSE ELEKTRONIKA Oct 5-7 - due to infernal laziness, we are posting this blog in this, our
monthly newsletter - it's on our NEW website, too...
"There are
certain events (temporary autonomous zones or TAZs) where you feel like you're
living in a future society, or a future world. I often had this feeling during
70s Punk Rock Shows, or talking to J.G. Ballard and William S. Burroughs, and
always at Survival Research Laboratories (SRL) shows. People say they experience
this at Burning Man. I definitely got this feeling attending ARSE ELEKTRONIKA,
curated by the Vienna art group "monochrom," hosted by kink.com (and
others) at a no-sign location on Jessie St between 5th and 6th Sts.
"It was
relatively easy to find parking (because the area is rife with homeless and
crazies), especially on the smaller alleys. Concentrated urine smell everywhere
- this area is definitely not going to be the next yuppie takeover YET. Went
into a small grocery store to purchase a banana (35 cents) and it was an armed
/ caged camp. Walked down Jessie Street holding my breath til I got close to
the doorway of the P.P., guarded by a tall, heavyset, bearded man wearing a
watchcap -- he searched my backpack, looking for alcohol. I told him I didn't
drink. At least he had a twinkle in his eye.
The black
painted interior led to a bar area on the left, a bathroom on the right
(patronized by both sexes simultaneously) and straight ahead was the main
audience room, with the stage to the left. Decor was authentic medieval castle,
with iron rings everywhere. The ceiling had dozens of light fixtures -- this
was a film set. Behind the "auditorium" were authentic-looking prison
cells, a community shower, and horse stables (sans horses). The audience was
mostly dressed in dark clothes, with at least three people sporting neon
magenta or bright red hair. Two young people had mohawks (more on them later).
The beginning
of the Arse Elektronika was introduced by Johannes Grenzfurthner, a very
amusing off-the-cuff speaker who is capable of instant improvised oblique
responses to any question. The conference's focus was on por-nography and its
role in catalyzing/inspiring/leading the invention of new technology. As J.G.
Ballard put it, "Sex times technology equals the future" (1972?) and
the A.E. event fleshed out this prophecy, literally. There were new ideas
introduced every hour, and some of them may have fallen into the category of
"too much information." As this is a "family"-appropriate
newsletter, much of what was witnessed will have to be withheld until later...
A beautiful
female mannequin christened "Moaning Lisa" (pun; get it?) not only
contained a Mac laptop, but was fitted with sensors (back of neck, back,
crotch, nip-ples) which, upon appropriate stroking, emitted moaning sounds.
Rich, the only man present wearing a tuxedo, went onstage to demonstrate. Lots
of nervous laughter from the audience - in fact, nervous laughter was the major
audience response throughout most of the entire conference. "Lisa" was
on display and available for audience fond-ling all three days. Then the
"Por-n Tub Punch" - a simulation of sperm dissolved in water - which
had been prepared in a huge tub on a table, stage right, was brought to stage
center and the audience was invited to sample it. Our intern Elie and his
girlfriend May bravely accepted a glass, as did dozens of others. Well, this is
San Francisco, after all.
Next up was The
Electric Orifice Orchestra who demonstrated a kind of "sound
innovation" not experienced in most nightclubs or art musems. Two
beautiful women (wearing a blue and a red dynel wig styled a la Charlie's
Angels) and a buff young man, mostly nu-de, demonstrated how the sensors
attached to their crotches emitted a full range of sounds when the appropriate
kegel (and other such) muscles were contracted. Very interesting. Fortunately
there was a constant stream of charming, witty, narrative patter from the two
women. Definitely worth seeing; they have to be a group on their way up...
Finally, the
climax (literally) of the evening drew near as a large robot (aptly christened
F--zilla) was pushed to the center stage. It bore a wheel of pink
self-lubricating tongues. Also present was a power tool sporting an
overly-large dil-do. Brilliantly magenta-haired Jake the Enabler pulled on
disposable gloves, someone else fitted a con-dom over the dild-o, and a call
was made for a volunteer from the audience. Amazingly, the female half of the
mohawked duo (those "Punk Rockers" have guts and courage) raised her
hand and climbed onstage. (I don't think she was a "plant.") As the
event was being webcast live to Vienna, a gauzy modesty screen was hung in
front of the stage. What we saw must be left to the imagination, and I
personally did not see the one-meter perpendicular spray of female ejaculate -
must have blinked, I guess. This was one of the most intense experiences ever
witnessed by yours truly, and the sheer volume of the demonstratee's expressive
sounds was somewhat eye-popping and ear-shattering. At the end, everybody
seemed slumped in their chairs and avoiding eye contact, although there was
wild applause. Unbelievably, there was yet a second demonstration. Reportedly a
video of this "marathon" was posted on YouTube and pulled down almost
immediately--albeit after a huge number of viewers had logged on - word spreads
quickly in cyberspace, apparently. No wonder various folks have predicted that
"robots shall inherit the earth"...
The next
(Saturday) morning Mark Dery (pompadour, trim dark suit, dress shoes with thick
rubber heels, red patterned shirt and gold patterned tie) proved what a
professional speaker/theorist he is, with an "awesome" Powerpoint
demonstration encompassing stills and movie clips. Title of his talk was
"Paging Dr. Moreau: 'Humanimal' Po-rn in the Age of Xenotransplants and
Genetic Chimera." Reportedly his Q&A displayed his amazing
improvisatory flair at crafting complicated, academically-inflected compound
sentences bursting at the seams with innuendo. Here memory betrays me; was it
his presentation that showed American G.I.'s laughing, giving thumbs-up and
high-fives while pointing at a dead, blackened corpse of an Iraqi at their
feet? Did he show us some darkly sinister rarely-seen prison photos taken at
Abu Ghraib, or was it in someone else's presentation? Must wait for the video
which, it is promised, will be uploaded later to the monochrom website.
Had to dash to
the second day of the S.F. Zine Fest, and returned barely in time (7pm) for the
educational art-history presentation of Stefan Lutschinger: "The
Re-Judgement of Paris: How 'Ob/scenity' Gave the World Modern Art in 1863"
- featuring, of course, Manet's "Luncheon on the Grass" painting, and
its remake by Malcolm McLaren featuring Annabelle from Bow Wow Wow - this photo
did not make it to the U.S. LP pressing. It turned out that Annabelle was only
fifteen when the nu-de art photo of her was snapped (but really, you couldn't
see a thing). Next two clips from a movie, "W.R.: Mysteries of the
Organism" were shown -- highly recommend this film which mixes footage of
a copulating couple with post-Marxist slogans, footage of a million-person
rally in Chairman Mao's China, and other amusing-yet-political scenes... Sex
and radicalism is (almost) always a good combination!
Had to miss
David Dempsey's "Po-rn and Personal Development" presentation, but
the word was: it was good. Ditto for Autumn Tyr-Salvia's "How Po-rn &
Tech Change Sexual Discourse" - heard that a lot of beautiful vintage
po-rn photos were projected, along with the accompanying text on the theme of
"the invention of the camera and the movie camera immediately led to
production of p-orn photography" -- no surprise there!
Sunday morning
at 10 AM is too early - but that's when Arse Elektronika screened Peter Asaro's
"Love Machine" feature documentary on small-town inventors of
"love-making machines" along with interviews featuring the likes of
Manuel De Landa, Ken Goldberg, and many other inventors, scientists, and
engineers. This is a work of depth and substance, and must be viewed at least
three times to be comprehended. It's amazing that such a professional,
thorough, in-depth production can be shot and then finished on a laptop,
self-funded. Wow. Next followed one of the best Q&As of the conference,
with questions asked by Katie Vann of Oakland, California. Peter and Katie
discussed "Pornomechanics: Sex Robots and the Mechanisms of Love."
Elegant discussion, indeed.
A funny
presentation by Annalee Newitz (clad in a baggy man's suit and tie, with Doc
Martens look-alikes): "A Futurist's History of Sexual Technology" was
followed by Thomas Ballhausen's "Push It! Fragments from the History of
Adult Remakes" (of Star Trek, Pirates of the Caribbean, etc). Great film
clips and almost Dr Freud-style dispassionate narrative. Too much, almost!
Unfortunately, at this point I had to leave...
The Arse
Elektronika Conference was an amazing challenge to American Puritanism -- which
yet survives. What a contradictory country this is! We saw a full spectrum of
demonstrations / evidences of Yankee technological ingenuity harnessed to
over-the-top, obsessive sexual inventiveness. What was "synthesized"
at the Arse Elektronika weekend conference was "proof" that there are
no limits to the extremes of human conceptualizing and subsequent uninhibited
behavior. We experienced a full demonstration of the power of human thought, in
the absence of moralizing censorship and without value judgments - just naked
reality and super-reality being made manifest in the privacy of one's own home
or home laboratory or home theater. Truly, the imagination is what creates the
future, like it or not... - V. Vale, founder of RE/Search & Search &
Destroy, www.researchpubs.com "
http://www.xlterrestrials.org/plog
- from pod; more forthcoming
Photos of http://www.monochrom.at
's Arse Elektronika available at laughingsquid.com, http://www.flickr.com/photos/metaphorge/sets/72157602287647175/show/
and other sites - google "Arse Elektronika" to find a lot more!
4. What We Want (&
Wanted) to Attend:
() (Tonite!)
7pm, Oct 12, 2007,
SOMARTS, 934 Brannan/8th St: Digital Offerings for the Altar of Life opens
tonight at SomArts at seven! A Day of the Dead celebration, dedicated to Jack
Davis (R.I.P.). Video tribute to Art Harris made by Peter McCandless and Mike
Dingle. <http://www.somarts.org>www.somarts.org
() Oct
12-13, 8pm: Jello Biafra
in a Grand Guignol play at the Hypnodrome, 575 10th St/Bryant. http://www.thrillpeddlers.com
- support live theatrical art at the edge of madness!
() "Oct
13-14, 1pm, Bunny Meadow (next to Conservatory of Flowers), Golden Gate Park,
S.F. LAST FREE PLAY IN THE PARK FOR THE SUMMER SEASON - There is one more free
summer outdoor play still being performed this weekend: Moliere's "Don
Juan." It was originally written and performed in France in 1665, but you
can see if for free in Golden Gate Park in a really beautiful grove. The Pangs
Theater Ensemble does a great job with it and there are only going to be two
more performances, on Saturday and Sunday, October 13 and 14, at 1pm. The
acting, costumes, and music are all excellent, and the play itself is quite
funny. You can bring a blanket and sit on the grass to watch, and while you're
there you can have a picnic and enjoy the fresh air and sunshine. For more
information, including directions: http://www.pangstheater.com . - REVIEWED AND
RECOMMENDED BY JOHN SULAK"
() Oct 20,
Midnight: midnight showing of "Suspiria" Oct with a live musical
tribute to Goblin by S.F.'s Sabreteeth, at Clay Theater, Fillmore/Clay St, S.F.
We're going! Dario Argento is one of our favorite living filmmakers, and this
is one of his masterpieces... Besides, Goblin (who created soundtracks for
Argento films) was one of our favorite bands ever... http://landmarkafterdark.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=208&Itemid=1
() Tue Oct 23,
2007, El Rincon, 2700 16th St/Harrison, 7:30pm. FILTHMILK (one of our favorite
new "industrial" bands, locally based, featuring Pranks 2
"prankstar"/drummer Marc Powell, and Erich Fendler, synthesist; plus
a cellist (google failed to find his name). www.ratskin.org for more info, or
google "Filthmilk"
() "Next
time they come to town definitely go see HOLLY GOLIGHTLY (Oct 6 at Bottom of
the Hill). She was with Billy Childish. They were great!" - Robert, from
TJ's -
() PENELOPE: we
wish we could have seen Penelope (Avengers vocalist) at Bottom of the Hill Wed
night (Oct 10, 2007) but alas, we were teaching a class on Punk Rock History at
New College. Penelope is starting a major tour - go to http://www.penelope.net
for complete details!
() TERESE
TAYLOR ("deliciously miserable music" -- NYTimes) has a new CD out,
Good Luck Investigationship - please google her and find it! http://www.teresetaylor.com
- sadly, we missed her at Cafe du Nord Oct 2.
() Oct 4, 2007:
Kal Spelletich with Chris Johanson at Jack Hanley Gallery, 389 Valencia St,
S.F. Google for photos, etc - we missed it :(
() Oct 10,
2007: the first of many SRL benefits for Todd Blair, SRL crew member. To know
Todd is to love him, and if you ever met him, you'd know why. Go to http://www.srl.org
for more info. Also, Sept 22 '07 SRL Amsterdam show photos - google to find
even more.
5. What We've Been
Reading/What We've Been Sent: Vale's blogpost on the S.F. Zine Fest Oct 5-6, 2007
Friday 2-7pm.
ÒWorkÓ the San Francisco Zine Fest at WomenÕs Building, 18th St bet. Valencia
& Guerrero (actually, it feels more like ÒplayÓ). At 1pm meet Charles
Gatewood (charlesgatewood.com) whoÕs sharing my table. Because itÕs Friday
afternoon, the place remains kinda dead until around 5:30-6pm.
Oh well, it was a chance for me
to play the battered grand piano in the corner, so old there isnÕt a brand name
on it and the ivory keys have been worn down to the brown wood underneath.
Nevertheless, itÕs reasonably in tune, so I play it, and this is the largest
audience IÕve ever played to. The people nearby actually applaud, led by a tall
woman whoÕs with a tall man (wish I knew their names) who came all the way from
Michigan to sell his huge exquisite corpse spiral notebooks - really
beautifully executed. The pages (high quality thick paper) divide into three
parts, and you can recombine them into whatever combinations you select - truly
seems amazing. Apparently his friends collaborated on making all the drawings.
Andre Breton would have smiled -–no, applauded -–from his grave...
Next to my table was a woman,
Carmen Ogden, who was selling her zines and color prints taken at Santa Cruz
Boardwalk - a pack of five cost $5 (not a huge profit there, I fear). John Marr
gave me the newest "Murder Can Be Fun" - canÕt believe it, but heÕs
done another one; been doinÕ it since around 1984. It is even more humorously
written than his earlier zines, if thatÕs possible [$4 from POB 64011, SF
94164). Mari Naomi came up to me and gave me her new per-zine, ÒKiss and TellÓ
(Estrus Comics 5 from marinaomi.com) about her [puzzling] early history of
relationships with boys. Near the piano was another pianist, Andrew Goldfarb
and his wife, who gave me a piece of chocolate cake and clapped every time I
played piano. At the end of the next day we gifted each other with books and
things. Andrew has produced the most beautiful Òincredibly strangeÓ book ÒOgner
StumpÕs One Thousand Sorrows,Ó [wonderella.com] plus a CD with great artwork,
Òthe Slow Poisoner: Roadside Altar.Ó Our kind of sensibility...
Saturday showed up at 1:30pm and
that day seemed much like Friday. Just in from New York City was Fly, a tall
woman with blond-and-black-streaked hair slicked back so she looks like sheÕs
permanently in a wind tunnel. We gifted each other with zines and other items:
Profane Existence 54 (!), Peops 3, Dog Dayz, and a DVD release of The Peops
Show, presented by Killer Banshee Studios (killerbanshee.com). She was once in
God Is My Co-Pilot, the ÒRiot GirlÓ band, and is currently playing in several
bands (including Zero Content), teaching at a girlsÕ ÒschoolÓ and other places.
She draws full-page profiles of people {google Peops], with little biographies
handwritten around their faces - Soft Skull published a 200-page book of hers
which was recently heavily discounted, she said. She was with a friend with a
purple mohawk, riding a high powered wheelchair, who lives in the Bay Area.
Next to me a woman who is a
pastry chef (with burns, scars on her arms to prove it) brought in a chocolate
cake. I got a piece and it was rich, delicious, different, scrumptious. I gave
her a copy of Modern Pagans as a kind of exchange. Other piano applauders
included two twins from Bellingham, Washington, and a pair of girls dressed as
futuristic girl scouts (you know who you are).
Although hardly
anybody bought books, nevertheless I felt like I was part of some kind of
post-capitalist gift economy. It looked like almost everybody was trading
rather than spending money, although most folks were making change. People were
wearing T-shirts that said slogans like ÒThis is what feminism looks likeÓ and
ÒThe Revolution Begins With You.Ó There were raffles every two hours, and real
prizes were given out.
At the last minute my friend
Chris Cobb showed up and ÒguardedÓ my "stuff" while I went to get the
car. Next stop was Arse Elektronika, at Jessie St between 5th and 6th St... -
by V. Vale"
() Another
Pagan "classic" by Diana L. Paxson: Ravens of Avalon, an expansion of
Marion Zimmer Bradley's Avalon series. A feminist fantasy and vision quest
adventure.
() Two gorgeous
books: 1) Sordide Sentimental: Lumieres & Tenebres, by Jean-Pierre Turmel.
Available from www.camionblanc.com
2) Jean-Francois Jamoul: Temps Incertains, Hommages et Essais. To order
write sordide.sentimental@wanadoo.fr - website: http://perso.wanadoo.fr/sordide.sentimental/
() Joachim
Montessuis: the beautiful black-on-black CD and book package of "sound
installation" music "Errances: 1993-2005) available from http://www.lara-vincy.com
- email: contact@lara-vincy.com - Also, Erratum #4/Sound Reveige/Art + Noise +
Poetry 3 CD Digipak, available from www.erratum.org - black is the color of all
the true culture we love... - brought to us by the very interesting
environmental sound recordist Gael Segalen, visiting from Paris...
6. RECOMMENDED LINKS - thanks to our friend Phil G, James
McN-, & Others who sent us the below:
() "This
one makes the movie look like a direct to video movie. Although to be honest,
for most of the world it will be direct to video so...I dunno, does this look
watchable to any of you? - Derek"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TOjHDEMQqc
()
www.alternativetentacles.com - very witty descriptions of records - who writes
such good text? Site is admirably well organized - although I couldn't find the
Alternative Tentacles Bike Messenger Bag - was it discontinued? - Vale
() "Gotta
hand it to aussies for a sense of humor! - James"
<http://glumbert.com/wii/view.php?name=chaserapec>http://glumbert.com/wii/view.php?name=chaserapec
()
"TRANSGRESSION CONFESSIONS: INTERVIEW WITH RICHARD KERN - this & below
sent by graham_rae@hotmail.com"
http://www.filmthreat.com/index.php?section=interviews&Id=1157
Also: http://www.filmthreat.com/index.php?section=features&Id=2032
- New Cinema of Transgression doc...
Additionally:
You might find this interesting: http://www.laurahird.com/newreview/fark.html and
http://www.filmthreat.com/index.php?section=reviews&Id=10267
() Sex Pistols
Reunion Tour:
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gbHVt-nOYkX6q43jZoffW7Rq-RRQ
() I like gay
troublemakers: http://www.indyweek.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A160709
()
"Beat" is old carny slang:
http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/atlarge/2007/10/01/071001crat_atlarge_menand
() lobotomy
prank: http://blogto.com/arts/2007/10/cheap_lobotomy_services_in_toronto/
() busted for
prank: http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071006/NEWS01/710060356
() sick: http://seemikedraw.wordpress.com/
() from Simon
S: Mexican 'writer & poet', author of something called 'Cannibalistic
Instincts', who's just been arrested for eating his girlfriend:
http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/horror-novelist-boils-girlfriends-flesh/2007/10/12/1191696123095.html
() Here's our
8-minute video trailer: http://www.independenteye.org/stage.html
() We must get
back to Oakland at once: http://www.watchfilms.com/movies/tribune-american-dream-picture.html
"the fist
were unwelcome passengers"
() Bukowski: http://adwinans.mysite.com/article_3.html
- Phil
() Amy Wallace
& Handsome Dick Manitoba'sThe Official Punk Rock Book of Lists. Celebrities range from Nick Tosches' "10 Who Were Punk Before There
Was Punk" to Debbie Harry's "People I'd Like to F ***"
plus Jim Carroll's
list of people who died...
() <http://thankyouandywarhol.com/>http://thankyouandywarhol.com/
- sent by chris t.
() j.g. ballard
interview: http://www.ballardian.com/kafka-with-unlimited-chicken-kiev-jg-ballard-on-cocaine-nights
7. QUOTES
() "Smash
the control images. Smash the control machine." - abby normal, myspace
(W.S. Burroughs is not dead...)
()
"Imagination is the one weapon in the war against reality." - Jules
de Gaultier
() "Fear
no foe. All will be well." - W. Churchill
() "Write
about what you know. Follow your love. Tell the truth. Develop your character
through action - show, don't tell." (advice to writers)
() "The
mind always mirrors the body in some way, and just as the predominant bodily
condition of Americans today is obesity, so the predominant mental state is:
information constipation."
() Taken from
V. Vale's 5th Punk Rock Class handout:
ARTHUR RIMBAUD.
1854-1891. died at 37. forerunner of Surrealism & Punk. Poetry includes
hallucinations, deliriums, free verse, vivid dark imagery. Best poetic works:
"Illuminations," "The Drunken Boat," "A Season in
Hell." Thought that poetry could lead to mystic revelation and that
per-version and dissolute behavior could lead to transcendent visionary
insights. Had a "bad" effect on older poet Paul Verlaine - stabbed
him, perhaps. All poetry written before he was 20. Then he became an arms dealer
in Africa.
LAUTREAMONT, LE
COMTE de. Real name: Isidore Lucien Ducasse. 1846-1870. Died at age 24.
forerunner of Surrealism & Punk. Inspired by reading Edgar Allan Poe
(1809-1849) and the Marquis de Sade (1740-1814) author of "The Philosophy
in the Bedroom" (great essay, btw). Wrote "The Songs of
Maldoror" and "Poesies" (aphorisms). Born in Montevideo,
Uruguay, educated in Paris, lived off coffee, wrote extreme black humor prose
poetry (making love to a shark?!) as well as accessible maxims.
"Poetry
must be made by all" - Rimbaud
"...the
subject, which is a painful one for every being who belongs to the race which
has imposed its unjust dominion on all the other animals of creation." -
Lautreamont, Maldoror
"The hawk
tears the sparrow to pieces, the fig eats the ass, and the tapeworm devours
man." - Lautreamont, Maldoror
"When I
write down my thoughts, they do not escape. This action reminds me of my
strength which at every moment I forget. I learn as I link my thoughts
together. But I am only moving towards the realization of one thing: the
contradiction between my mind and nothingness." - Lautreamont, Poesies
"Reason is
the source of all great thoughts!... I shall write my thoughts methodically,
according to a clear plan. If they are exact, each one will be the consequence
of the others. This is the only true order... I would be debasing my subject if
I did not treat it methodically." - ibid
"Sleep is
a reward for some, a torture for others." - ibid
"Love is
not happiness." - ibid
"Ideas
improve. The sense of words takes part in this process."
"Plagiarism
is necessary. It is implied in the idea of progress [which] eliminates a false
idea, replaces it with a truthful idea." - ibid
"Poetry
cannot do without philosophy. Philosophy cannot do without poetry." - ibid
"Poetry
must have for its object practical truth. It expresses the relation between the
first principles and the secondary truths of life...The mission of poetry is
difficult... It discovers the laws by which political theory exists, universal
peace.. the psychology of mankind." - ibid
"The mind
rebels against rubbish, mystagogy/mysticism." - ibid
"i know of
nothing which is beyond the reach of the human mind, except truth."
8. Feedback from Readers:
() http://www.boingboing.net/2007/10/12/lady-jaye-breye-porr.html
- (thanks, David P.) Miss Jackie Breyer, Genesis P-Orridge's wife, suddenly
died of a heart attack Tue Oct 9, 2007. We're stunned, especially since I just
talked to her two months ago at the PTV3 gig at the INdependent Club, S.F. -
she gave me a hug, we joked around, talked about her triggering of samples
during the live show, etc. Seems unbelievable. Sudden death will always be a
shock...
() "My
wonderful [Pranks 2] book arrived a couple of days ago... I have enjoyed your
books since I stumbled upon Pranks #1 about a decade ago in a small record shop
in Kansas City, MO. I have collected a few other books since then and always
enjoy them. This second Pranks book is my sixth Re/Search book and I hope to
have them all one day. I appreciate everything you've done to bring some light
to many topics that my friends and I are interested in. I have used the first
Pranks book as a resource to find other topics and people of interest...Joe
Coleman is one that comes to mind. Anywho, thanks for everything... -Todd"
() "Hi
Vale, I just wanted to know if you got that print of the kitty-mask girl
holding the Pranks 2
book that I sent you. the other package I sent to the states the same day
hasn't yet arrived at its destination. If you could let me know if you got it
or if there is some vast canada/u.s. Border conspiracy against creepy
kids-in-animal-masks photos, that would be great. Oh -- and I finished my
website. It's not fancy but it does the trick. It's www.pamelaklaffke.com. -
Have a swell weekend! Pam"
()
"...around 12 years ago, i was reading RE/Search #14: Incredibly Strange
Music" (still available from www.researchpubs.com) on Bob Moog. It said
Moog was currently making theremins... I ordered one right away, and 5 weeks
later my musical life became corrupted forever." http://www.thereminworld.com/forum.asp?cmd=p&T=2881&F=557
()
"...RE/Search #6/7: Industrial Culture Handbook: You should totally buy
one. I've been reading it during my lunch breaks and it's pretty
ground-breaking stuff (even though it's originally from '83). RE/Search is
going through rough times as their distributor was PGW who famously went
bankrupt in the past 6 months... So, if you were thinking of picking it up
direct via their site, now would be a good time :) [ http://www.researchpubs.com/books/ichprod.php ]
it's like---
REQUIRED READING, you know? - RYAN"
() "I was
just a psychotic 7th grader trying (with little success) to stay out of the
loony bin when I first laid eyes on Modern Primitives, The Atrocity Exhibition,
and a handful of other RE/Search titles. Now, I run my own ritual performance
S&M circus and pal around with Jean-Louis Costes and Z'EV. THANK YOU
RE/Search - Noah"
() "Those
books came today and they're beautiful. Thanks very much... this semester is my
final semester
of grad school,
culminating in a 45 minute lecture. The title at present is
"Counterclockwise: Writing Against the Trend," beginning with Dada,
Huck Finn, Situationism on, and will conclude with a lengthy consideration of
indie publishing as a cause (with quotes from you, Paul Krassner, Rennie Sparks
of the Handsome Family, Michael Hathaway of the Chiron Review, and others, to
show precedence and lend that concept weight)--and the whole thing is little
more than a re-framing of the notion that Pranks are beneficial, as prescribed
in your excellent anthologies. Yow! Gut 7 is in production now [with a funny
interview w/V. Vale - ] Here's to you, Zack"
()
"Radiohead's new album is available downloadable on a "pay what you
can afford" basis - apparently, the record industry is disturbed by this!
You can also buy a limited edition vinyl box set w/extra tracks, or a CD"
- sent by Gary C.
() "Highly
recommended: the new Throbbing Gristle album, especially for two tracks" -
Naut Humon
() Just met
"Rich" on the telephone and while I was talking to him he was using
Google Maps (and the new "Street View") and could see my neighborhood
- weird! - Vale. You can do things like zoom in on the Tenderloin and see the homeless
people and almost take photos without being in the actual place. - Elie
() sent by
David P: "Photo of J.G. Ballard's room: http://books.guardian.co.uk/graphic/0,,2030530,00.html
text: "My room is dominated by the huge painting, which is a copy of The
Violation by the Belgian surrealist Paul Delvaux. The original was destroyed
during the Blitz in 1940, and I commissioned an artist I know, Brigid
Marlin, to make a copy
from a photograph. I never stop looking at this painting and its mysterious and
beautiful women. Sometimes I think I have gone to live inside it and each
morning I emerge refreshed. It's a male dream.
"There are
photos of my four grandchildren (one, along with a picture of my girlfriend Claire, is just out
of shot). The postcard is Dali's Persistence of Memory, the greatest
painting of the 20th century, and next to it is a painting by my daughter, which is the
greatest painting of the 21st century. On the desk is my old manual typewriter, which I recently found in my stair
cupboard. I was inspired by a letter from Will Self, who wrote to me on his
manual typewriter. So far I have just stared at the old machine, without daring
to touch it, but who knows? The first drafts of my novels have all been
written in longhand and then I type them up on my old electric. I have resisted
getting a computer because I distrust the whole PC thing. I don't think a great
book has yet been written on computer.
"I have
worked at this desk for the past 47 years. All my novels have been written on
it, and old papers of every kind have accumulated like a great reef. The chair
is an old dining-room chair that my mother brought back from China and probably
one I sat on as a child, so it has known me for a very long time. A Paolozzi screen-print is resting
against the door, which now serves as a cat barrier during the summer months.
My neighbor's cats are enormously affectionate, and in the summer leap up on to
my desk and then churn up all my papers into a huge whirlwind. They are my
fiercest critics.
"I work
for three or four hours a day, in the late morning and early afternoon. Then I go out for a walk and come back
in time for a large gin and tonic. - JG Ballard"
() Notice:
October 2007 issue of SPIN magazine focuses on 30 years of Punk, with photos...
______________________________
OCTOBER 2007
RE/Search eNewsletter written by V. Vale & contributors. Newsletter and website powered by http://www.laughingsquid.com
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& PROMISE -- RE: V.
Vale's eNewsletter - If you're receiving this newsletter, it's because you
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- or call 415-362-1465.
-----------------------
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