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eNews Archive list
eNewsletter #45, February 2006 |
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WELCOME TO RE/SEARCH eNEWSLETTER #45, FEBRUARY 2006! HERE'S THE NEWS FROM SAN FRANCISCO... ALL READERS ARE INVITED TO SEND CONTRIBUTIONS AND FEEDBACK! **Please note that the Sat Feb 11 SRL Benefit announced here last month is being rescheduled for a later date--see more information below** CONTENTS: 1. Sat, Feb 11, 2006, 6:30pm Cable Channel 29 San Francisco. CounterCulture Hour featuring Billy Hawk of the Offs, 70s Punk band. 2. Fri-Sun, Feb 3-5: Beat & William S. Burroughs Celebration in So. California desert 3. Fri Feb 3, 7pm, Charles Gatewood 40-Year Retrospective; V. Vale introduces. CSE, S.F. 4. Sat, Feb 4: Mutants ('70s Punk Band) Reunion Show at Cafe Du Nord 5. Fri, Feb 10: Bay Area Premiere of Newest SRL Video at SF Indiefest 6. Wed, Feb 15: Minutemen documentary; V. Vale does introduction, 7. Punk '77 New Expanded Edition: Taking Pre-Orders 8. Web-site Recommendations from our pal PHIL GLATZ... 9. What we've been Reading, Listening to, etc. 10. J.G. Ballard News: Interviews with V. Vale & J.G. Ballard on the web. 11. Another event: How to Destroy the Universe festival... 12. SRL's triumphant L.A. Show 1/21/06: A report ----------------- First, the commercial: if you want to give a rare gift to someone special, we recommend our limited edition **AUTOGRAPHED** flexibind J.G. Ballard Quotes book! (only 250 made)...not in stores. Order from http://www.researchpubs.com Of course, you can also order the new **J.G. Ballard Conversations**, too--paperback only. Our other rare autographed RE/Search books include J.G. Ballard's Atrocity Exhibition, and Daniel P. Mannix's Freaks. Secondly, our classic William S. Burroughs T-shirt ("We intend to destroy all dogmatic verbal systems") is now available in S-M-L-XL sizes -- another great gift... not in stores; impossible to find elsewhere. --------------- 1. Sat, Feb 11, 2006, 6:30pm Cable Channel 29 San Francisco. CounterCulture Hour featuring Billy Hawk of the Offs, 70s Punk band. Singer-guitarist-songwriter-world traveler & man of mystery Billy Hawk founded the Offs in 1977, San Francisco. One of the first Punk bands to feature a saxophone and a unique Reggae-Punk fusion approach, the Offs gave us memorable songs like "Blacks Are Bigots" and a "working-man-turns-psycho" song, "624803." (Sorry, San Francisco only, but watch for future releases on our website.) This program gives a unique, inspiring perspective on "How to Start Your Own Scene," no matter where you live. Watch it with a friend! 2. Sun, Feb 3-5, 2006: There will be a Interzone Beat Festival and William S. Burroughs Birthday Celebration. The WSB Birthday Party will be Sun, Feb 5, 11-1pm, at The Beat Hotel, 67840 Hacienda Ave, Desert Hot Springs, California 92240 760-288-2280 beathotel@adelphia.net "Celebrating the birthday of renowned American writer William S. Burroughs, The Beat Hotel will present the First InterZone Beat Festival at the Beat Hotel in Desert Hot Springs, California. (Burroughs's heir James Grauerholz is slated to attend.) "The Festival will feature in association with OMC Gallery an exhibition of photographs of the original Beat Hotel in Paris by Harold Chapman. This is a rare opportunity to see ³behind the scenes² during the formative years of the Beat generation. This will also be the first exhibition of Chapman's work in America ... Beat-related videos will be shown." 3. Fri Feb 3, 7-10pm, Charles Gatewood 40-Year Retrospective; V. Vale introduces. CSC, 398 11th St/Harrison, 415-255-1155. Free! Recommended! At Carol Queen's new gallery/performance site--check it out! From Charles' press release: "I will show highlights from my career as 'family photographer of America's erotic underground.' The show will include 45 silver prints, several large silkscreen images, and recent collage work. There will be light refreshments, erotic readings and a ritual performance. Books and photos from Charles Gatewood & RE/Search will be for sale. The show will be on exhibit February 3-28, during hosted events, or by appointment. For more information, see www.sexandculture.org and www.charlesgatewood.com, or call 415-267-765 < br> [The award-winning] Charles Gatewood's striking phot phs have bee blished in n ous books an gazines, and shown in exhibitions throughout the world...Don't take him for granted just because he lives here in town! "Charles Gatewood's pictures are so scary. He may be the only person who can make me feel nostalgia for theHellfire Club."-- John Waters. 4. Sat, Feb 4, 9pm, Mutants (70s S.F. punk band) plays a reunion show at the Cafe Du Nord, San Francisco. The Mutants were one of the best San Francisco '70s Punk bands, and it's a small miracle they will be playing a live show at a great venue, Cafe du Nord, 2174 Market near Noe St. Along with the descendants of Frightwig (now named Graywig). Vocalist Sally Webster will be flying out from NYC for this, and hopefully Fritz from Colorado, too. Recommended you buy tickets online: www.cafedunord.com 5. **HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!** Fri Feb 10, 9:30pm, SRL Video Premiere/Party at the SF Indiefest, followed by a conversation between RE/Search founder V. Vale, SRL founder Mark Pauline, and filmmaker Dave Scardina. A Q&A, and small party, will follow. Women's Building, San Francisco, 18th St near Valencia, 9:30 pm. Half the ticket price will go to benefit the forthcoming SRL move to new quarters. Hard-to-find SRL videos, T-shirts as well as RE/Search books & our W.S.Burroughs T-shirt will be on sale. "You will be treated to generous demonstrations of flame-throwing! Prepare to witness much manic machine mayhem! Thrill to the destruction of a Trojan Horse! Gaze in wonder at the unrehearsed special guest appearance of the Los Angeles Fire Department! The video shoot was directed by Dave Scardina and edited by Mark Pauline." **And please note that the Sat Feb 11 SRL Benefit is postponed--the owners of the Hayes Valley Market building precipitously closed the gallery on Jan. 10! Yes, it was a shock! But we are looking for another venue. SRL has to move from their legendary shop... 6. Wed, Feb 15 - Minutemen documentary introduced by V. Vale. SF Art Institute (SFAI), 800 Chestnut/Jones, SF, 7pm & 9pm (2 separate showings). Independent Arts & Media presents this event - highly recommended by our intern Kiowa for fans of hardcore '80s music. Jello Biafra & others are interviewed. $7; no one turned away for lack of funds. You can also purchase "Punk" publications from V. Vale here as well. 7. Punk '77 New Expanded Edition: Taking Pre-Orders. "Punk 77 is a candid, shocking and mind-altering confessional that, while true to the Punk spirit, carves its own style of vandalism across the veneer of consumer culture. PUNK '77 is told in a mosaic of anecdotes, rants, gossip, and self-aggrandizement by the prototypical punks, scenesters, musicians and artists who actually lived it. From filth and fury to gritty glam, the outrageous theatrics and devious antics are artfully captured in the nearly 200 photographs of both Punk luminaries and unusung heroes alike."--Leslie Hodgkins. We are just sending the new expanded edition of Punk '77 to the Hong Kong printer and are offering a special pre-order price: just $15. (List price will probably be $19.99) We've added a 24-page appendix of yet more photos, which includes a recent interview with photographer James Stark, for this very limited printing. RE/Search books are hard to find, and you would be advised to reserve your copy now. Order from: http://www.researchpubs.com 8. Web-site Recommendations from our pal PHIL GLATZ--thanks, Phil! () http://www.roadsideamerica.com/attract/MDNEWmum.html () subject: Magritte...meeting of the minds http://www.worth1000.com/emailthis.asp?entry=254582 () In Hoc Signo Vinces: http://www.users.cloud9.net/~bradmcc/IHS.html () Into the valley: http://www.toddschorr.com/Home/index.html () And lastly, a blog from Mike Ryan, our assistant editor on the J.G. BALLARD QUOTES project: http://mikeryan.typepad.com/ 9. What We've Been Reading, Listening To, etc... () Nothing Is True Everything Is Permitted: The Life of Brion Gysin, by John Geiger. www.disinfo.com - This biography is assembled in an "ideal" fashion -- every quotation has a footnote giving source at the end of each chapter. For this project, the author has read almost every possible source, and interviewed people like William S. Burroughs. So yes, we consider this an essential book for anybody who is a fan of Gysin and Burroughs, who together promulgated the Cut-Up principle for literature and visual art. I found only one typo; I believe it should read "Michael Emmerton" instead of "Michael Emerson" on p. 321, acknowledgments. So, the book is produced with care! Consider the below excerpts: "J.G. Ballard understood the cut-up method as a means to address 'the recurrent in all communication, fixed at the points of contact in the webs of language linking everything in our lives.' " In an interview broadcast by the BBC, Ballard expanded on his argument that Burroughs' narrative technique is 'an immediately recognizable reflection of the way life is actually experienced.'"-- p. 140 "The cut up method is a tool which I am learning to use after a year of intensive experiments. There is no reason to keep cut up material that is not useful to the purpose. Often from a page of cut ups I will use one or two sentences." -- Burroughs quoted, p. 136 "Cut ups allowed writers to use words in the manner that the painter used paint, as raw material. The surrealists claimed to be practicing stenography from the unconscious. The cut-up experiments seemed to produce a similar result. The first cut-ups were assembled from textual fragments from the London Observer, Daily Mail, and the New York Herald Tribune." - p. 129 "Gysin said painters and writers should strive to challenge 'fate in their lives and in their art.' " - p. 123 An interesting Burroughs quote on painting: "A painting must be as interesting in two dimensions as it is in three. It must be all paint and all spirit...Both the surface and the depth must be so organized that the eye is seduced further and further into the picture then back in counterpoint to the rhythms of interest over the entire surface...I demand what might be called a spiritual dimension in painting." -- p. 123 () Yet another plug for NO Magazine publisher Bruce's new novel: Bruce Caen's SUB-HOLLYWOOD - order from 323-222-2211 or email dustyjacks@yahoo.com for ordering info. (Or send $30 to cover postage/handling for this beautiful flexi-bind production, to Yes Press, POB 31369, Los Angeles CA 90031-9998.) This is one of the only authentic post-punk narratives, covering approximately 1979 through the early 80's. Bruce was **there,** photographing SRL in the early 80's for his NO magazine, and "living the punk life." Not many books like this out, and it's independently published--take some trouble to order it! I doubt you'll ever see it in any store you visit... () Our pal John Shirley's new "alternative apocalypse" novel THE OTHER END is complete and will be out in its first edition from Cemetary Dance in 2006. THE OTHER END repudiates the "left behind" best-selling novels which depict a Christian-right inspired judgment day. THE OTHER END describes a judgment day as imagined by progressives... Shirley's novel John Constantine, Hellblazer: War Lord will be out from Pocket Books in February 2006. () Balloon Man - Bill Morrison's comedy CD $10 plus $3 shipping from Mal Sharpe's SharpeWorld, POB 1804, Santa Monica CA 90406 www.sharpeworld.com () MANWOMAN (featured in RE/Search's Modern Primitives) has written a new book, Midnite Freak Show: Poetry, Art and Dangerous Mysticism, published by Flyfoot Press. To get a copy of this limited edition independent production, go to www.manwoman.net () At age 83, Joe Sarno, the visionary director interviewed in Incredibly Strange Films, recently came out of a 20-year retirement to direct a new movie, Lust for Laura. For this alone he should be celebrated! There's more info at wwww.RetroSeductionCinema.com 10. J.G. BALLARD NEWS: () J.G. Ballard has just finished a new novel! Ballardiana collector Rick McGrath quotes Ballard: "I've just finished a new novel and will be fleeing south [to Spain] as soon as the [Mediterranean] warms up -- then back July/August for the PR treadmill." Ballard archivist David Pringle (interviewed in our J.G. Ballard Conversations book) adds: "The new novel is] scheduled for September, although proof copies may well be available to reviewers by early July -- or even sooner than that. What JGB means is that the big build-up of pre-publicity, interview-giving, etc., should begin for him in July/August, preparatory to official September publication. Hence, before all that begins, he's intending to take an early summer holiday this year, in May/June. Anyway, I'm very glad to hear he's still in a fit state for travelling and soaking up the Spanish sun!" () Interviews with V. Vale and J.G. Ballard, as well as book reviews can be found on Laura Hird's site: www.laurahird.com/newreview/jgballardinterview.html "It's a good Ballard resource, and RE/Search resource too, and Laura Hird has done a creditable job in putting it together, putting in a great deal of unpaid work. Her email address is hirdlaura@hotmail.com if you ever want to write to her about anything. There is a link at the top of the links to the left on the page of another Ballard review (Gasiorek's critical volume) of mine on the same (forthcoming) issue of the site; you might find it interesting. But I'm proud of the way things turned out from start to finish. Thanks once again for the books and giving me my most stimulating reading this year."--Graham Rae There's also a V. Vale interview by R.U. Sirius on his blog - You can go to iTunes and search for "J.G. Ballard" and find it, then download it to your iPod and listen to it whenever... **IF YOU GOT THIS FAR, YOU SHOULD GET THE JGB QUOTES BOOK (MSRP $19.99 or available in a **rare autographed flexibind edition**--yes, signed by the U.K. visionary himself... There's also a rare unsigned Library edition available ($35). Email us at info@researchpubs.com or telephone 415-362-1465 to order! 11. Coming Event: () Mobilization presents HOW TO DESTROY THE UNIVERSE, PART 5 Featuring: BLIXA BARGELD, JARBOE, and others... Jan 26 - Feb 6, 2006. Press and ticket information is available at http://www.mobilization.com. Tickets are on sale now at http://www.BrownPaperTicket.com If you have any questions, please email us at destroy5@mobilization.com or phone 650-619-3695. Note that T-shirts are available also. 12. SRL (Survival Research Laboratories) staged another triumphant show January 21 in Los Angeles at Susan Joyce's new Fringe Exhibitions gallery. Approximately 1000 people viewed the mayhem. Photos and various reports can be found at www.srl.org. Fringe Exhibitions can be contacted at 213-613-0160. info@fringexhibitions.com www.fringexhibitions.com. Below is our report from our L.A. correspondent, V. Vale's cousin Gail aka Aurore A. Borealis, plus a tiny report from Laurie Steelink. () "We got there at 4:00 pm and got a great parking space, after the Chinatown shopping crowd and before the dinner crowd, and certainly before the word-of-mouth crowd. We brought and ate something to eat and got ready to start out on an outdoor adventure. "The gallery wasn't open until 6:00 pm and we were told the performance event would not start until 8:00 pm and would probably last only 15 minutes. And Mark Pauline was "stressed" about tonight's performance and was setting up at the end of the Chung King Road in the parking lot. Chung King Road runs along the top of Chung King Court and isn't a road at all but both are an extension of the old Chinatown "outdoor mall courtyard complex" across the street where the old wishing well-coin fountain-pools have always been. All have deteriorated since their heyday, so the periphery of the old Chinatown "mall" has been revived with the empty spaces now occupied by little art galleries in a row on Chung King Road and Chung King Court, certainly revived with SRL's presence attracting their in-crowd and passers-by. "When we got to the parking lot, we kept a respectful distance from Mark Pauline and busy crew. The small parking lot is on Hill Street where Hill Street doubles as the off-ramp for the southbound 110 freeway...pedestrians beware crossing the street! The back quarter of the parking lot and performance area was barricaded off by a short plywood wall with an arrow pointing to the left and "Galleries" spray-painted in the middle of the barricade. "We went back to the gallery before 6:00 pm and in the gallery's small basement watched the riveting Long Horn Speedway film of the SRL performance-event in Austin, Texas, then went back up the basement stairs to the gallery to see the April 2, 2005 film of the SRL performance-event in downtown Los Angeles on the flat screen next to the 5-6 SRL color photo blowups of the same performance. "When we returned to the parking lot we observed there were no viewing-advantage points. We walked around the block and the balcony of the building on the right side of the parking lot belonged to a church and was closed and locked. The rest of the buildings were old apartments that surrounded the parking lot with apartments on the second floor of the galleries on Chung King Road. (Towards the end of the show, some people ran out on the roof of the second-story apartments above the galleries.) There was open access to an apartment building behind the chain-link fence at the back of the performance. People watched the performance from there, seeing the show backwards--mostly curious residents. "But just before the performance began, we later discovered, someone trespassed, jumped a not-so-short fence, entered the church's locked grounds and opened the gates (which must not have been locked from the inside) and propped the gates open with small orange traffic cones. "We could have been in the front row, behind the plywood barricade, but from past experience we chose to watch from across the street from the second floor of the building complex, which also had people viewing from the 3rd and 4th floor level parking lots. We were approximately 100 feet from the performance area, and binoculars helped us see the show from our above-vantage point. Other viewers watched from a dumpster, and stood on a pipe that supported the chain-link fence, as well as a church balcony overlooking the right side of the show. The show itself went over a half hour. "The metal tower in the center of the performance area had a T-Rex head and "erector set" type arms with front T-Rex hands. The right T-Rex hand held a giant metal wok that started the show with an "Olympic Torch"-like flame before 8:00 pm. Attracting everybody's attention, the Walking Machine with a Nessie-type neck and head came out from hiding behind a 10-foot photo barrier on the left side of the performance area. It approached the audience and walked to the right side of the performance area where the flame thrower and smoking machine on wheels was parked. A square box machine moved about the center of the performance area where we later found two sneaky soldiers we couldn't see from our viewpoint. "Then in about the middle of the show, the T-Rex head started to droop when the flame thrower-smoking machine moved from the right towards the center of the performance area and torched the T-Rex head with at least 3 huge flames that looked 35 feet long, with 30-foot clouds of smoke that followed. After it was sure T-Rex would disintegrate, the flame thrower-smoking machine retreated back to the right where it had come from, throwing a few good flames in and some more smoke for good measure. "All along there were loud industrial noises in the background, but then the photo barriers on the left fell down. Hidden behind the barriers the twirling hovercraft machine announced itself with such loud industrial noises that the freeway-off-ramp traffic on Hill Street stopped. I have seen this hovercraft machine before, but this time it seemed to be missing its pontoons that made it look like a hovercraft. But hover it did around the performance area, exploding water bombs with slime and dead sardines on the audience on the right and left, until the flame thrower torched everything for a grand finale to everyone's applause. "Upon which the barricades were overcome and the audience participated in the smoldering remains of the machines and conclusion of another great, unique show and experience. This true art's gift of free primal scream therapy and a cathartic release gave this spectator a clean sweep with which to start anew the battle of living in the world today. You are too generous, SRL--Thank You's are inadequate--send money, lots of it, is appropriate." -- Aurore A. Borealis Yes, SRL will definitely need contributions of money to help move from their legendary "shop" (with an estimated 100,000 pieces of inventory) to a new location. Patrons of true art please donate - see the website, www.srl.org () "Saw the SRL show over the tops of many heads. Unfortunately I couldn't get there early. Parking is a b-tch there, too. Anyhow, what I did see was great and the aftermath was also a sight to behold. Exchanged pleasantries with Mark after the performance and dropped in the gallery space to see the photos. The performance took place in a lot at the end of Chung King Row in Chinatown. There's a number of small galleries back there and some were having openings with oblivious posers crammed in tiny quarters. My experience down there was short and sweet! Best," Laurie Steelink Again, go to www.srl.org for directions to find photos and texts about the show. FEB 2006 RE/Search eNewsletter written by V. Vale & contributors. Newsletter and website powered by http://www.laughingsquid.com DISCLAIMER & PROMISE -- V. Vale's eNewsletter is a free service to our esteemed customers, 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 -- |