John Travolta -- Humanitarian

Posted by pete at January 27, 2010 2:35 PM

Another Hair Balls cross-post...

The tragedy of the earthquake in Haiti has, as expected, brought out both the best and worst of humanity. As an example of the former, we've seen the nations of the world send supplies and relief workers to help the stricken Caribbean nation. As for the latter, well, the comments of colossal dickbags such as Pat Robertson and Rush Limbaugh pretty much speak for themselves.

But then, it's hard to blame Robertson. This is a guy whose capacity for honest empathy was completely wiped out by decades of belief in a merciless supreme being. He's so close to shuffling off his own moral coil it's rendered him incapable of seeing anything but the avenging Angel of Death in every natural disaster, economic downturn, or hangnail. Rush, of course, occupies that truly rarefied stratum of delusional hypocrisy reserved for those who not only lie about their own illegal/immoral activities, but who can still keep a straight face when calling for the punishment of others who behave identically.

And then there's John Travolta. As you may or may not have heard, the once and future Tony Manero flew his Boeing 707 into Port-au-Prince last Monday to deliver sox tons of MREs, doctors, and -- oh yeah -- several Scientology "volunteer ministers" to offer aid to the stricken.

This gesture of absolute selflessness by the Wild Hogs actor and Operating Thetan 5, amazingly, elicited some negative reactions:

There is a backlog of at least 800 aircraft awaiting permission to land at the overloaded airport, which can handle just 130 flights daily, prompting recriminations from some aid agencies

Some loser aid agencies, you mean. It's not the fault of the Church of Scientology's that it just happens to attract the best and brightest of America's celebrity population. Hey, Doctors Without Borders; sorry if you can't compete with the incandescent star power of Danny Masterson and Catherine Bell. Maybe you should set up some outreach centers in West Hollywood instead of spending all your money providing care to people who don't even own TVs.

One US doctor, who declined to be named, said it was more a credibility thing. "I didn't know touching could heal gangrene."

Obviously somebody hasn't been keeping up with the latest [CoS approved] medical literature. One look at this picture ought to set him straight:

The fact that the minister is wearing rubber gloves during the "assist" is not, as some cynics have said, to avoid touching the unwashed brown people. No, it's actually because the healing power of the Scientologist's touch is so potent that -- without a tactile barrier of some kind -- the recipient would be so thoroughly healed they'd become nigh-invincible superbeings. And I think we all remember what happened the last time we created a bunch of those...

I know we in the world of celebrity "journalism" are quick to view any apparently philanthropic act by a public figure with a healthy amount of suspicion. It's our way of living with ourselves after willingly regurgitating everything we're told by publicists and movie studios. But in Travolta's case, let us for once recognize his action for what it is: a charitable gesture from a man who sincerely wants to offer assistance to a beleaguered country, and not a desperate publicity ploy by an actor in an upcoming movie who hasn't had a legitimate hit since 1997.

From Paris with Love opens February 5.

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Flotsam (05/16/2010)

Posted by pete at May 16, 2010 6:25 AM

Our baby book -- which was consulted a half dozen times a day when She Who Shall Not Be Named was an infant and has been cracked exactly twice since the twins were born -- has some glaring deficiencies. For while there is a sub-chapter on nosebleeds, causes listed do not include Getting Head-Butted By Your Twin Sister. This barbarism is what passes for child care in America?

Murray is now officially more obnoxious than Elmo.

Our house now looks like something that should be featured on Hoarders, only instead of piles of old receipts and handbags, our goat paths wind through heaps of stuffed animals and Little Scholastic books.

It's been a year since my last movie review, and I don't really miss it. It hasn't hurt that very little has come out in the last 12 months that I've had any desire to see.

I'm going to punch the next person who Tweets/posts a Facebook update about the alleged death of Ronnie James Dio without citing a source more reputable than some Romanian metal blog. In the genitals.

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chloe manolo blahnik vibram five fingers sprint

Some government leaders give villagers relief bags; Thaksin Shinawatra gave them cash. Other leaders tell them to be satisfied with what they have; Thaksin encouraged them to climb the social ladder. The former telecom tycoon once said being indebted was okay,chloe, if the money was used to make a better life for themselves. He took his own case as an example. He quit his police career, started his business life with borrowed money and went on to fill his personal coffers to over-flowing.

Other leaders visit their villages to listen to the locals' plight and then go home; Thaksin went a step further by staying overnight with them in their villages.

Other leaders come up with policies which show no benefits to them; Thaksin launched ones like the universal healthcare and One Tambon One Product projects which directly benefited them.

What Thaksin did was something his predecessors had never done before. His political strategy was to project himself as a prime minister who wanted to really help the poor and, more importantly, was part of them. And it paid off when voters gave the then Thai Rak Thai (TRT) Party an overwhelming mandate to run the country in the Feb 6, 2005 election, when TRT won the poll for the second time with a landslide victory. The Thaksin-formed party comfortably commanded 377 seats in the parliament.

It is not surprising that many voters, including the rural poor, long for him to make a comeback. The military coup on Sept 19, 2006 has not dampened his popularity,manolo blahnik, and in fact subsequent moves have embarrassed the coup makers. The charter drafted by military-picked writers barely survived a public referendum and Thaksin's party, then legally dissolved and reformed under the name of the People Power Party (PPP), even won the post-coup election on Dec 23,vibram five fingers sprint, 2007. They did not vote for late PPP leader Samak Sundaravej as prime minister. They simply cast their ballots for any party which was supported by Thaksin.

Then, swarms of demonstrators travelling by pickup, buses and boats converged on the capital in April and May for the rally by the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) to oust the government of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva because they want Thaksin back.

Thaksin arguably has been the most popular prime minister in Thai politics ever, although he was in power for almost six years. His popularity is still deep-rooted today.

That is why it will be an uphill task for anyone else to lure the rural poor away from their loyalty to Thaksin after the rally.

What Thaksin did when he run the country was more than policies and tactics to please people living in the villages. His government used an excise tax on telecom services to protect his then telecom business. The Export-Import Bank loan to Burma to finance the use of satellite services from Thaicom also benefited his business empire. His overnight stays in the villages,christian louboutin evening, including in Roi Et province, were simply designed for public consumption to boost his image more than anything else.

These are among examples of the other side of Thaksin which led to growing opposition to him, which culminated in the coup. But those issues seem to be beyond the interest of people living in the villages when they compare them with things closer to their hearts like the village fund, cheap visits to hospital and the like.

The names of the people who took part in the two-month rally are in the hands of the authorities. The list is divided into three groups: hardcore red shirt members, UDD members (especially those who went through the UDD school of politics) and those joining the rally without no agenda at all,vibram five fingers kso, including those who did so for purely financial reasons.

Their homes will be visited by the authorities to give them the other side of the Thaksin picture. But in reality the real question for them,christian louboutin wedding, even today, is why? Why was Thaksin forced out of power by non-parliamentary means.

The question is a simple one, but the answer is not,manolo blahnik boots, even though four years have passed since the coup.

ABOUT:

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V. Vale RE/SEARCH Newsletter Feb twenty-ten – J.G. Ballard, etc

WELCOME TO V. VALE’s RE/SEARCH NEWSLETTER #90, February 2010
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RE/SEARCH | 20 Romolo #B | San Francisco CA 94133 | 415.362.1465
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TABLE OF CONTENTS:
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1. MESSAGE FROM YOUR EDITOR, V. VALE
2. Watch our Counter Culture Hour NEW TIME 6 PM Pacific Time, Saturday February 13, 2010 – also simulcast ON-LINE EVERYWHERE
3. FORTHCOMING EVENTS
4. What We’ve Attended/What We’ve Been Reading/Seeing
5. Stephane von Stephane column: interview with filmmaker Paul Clipson
6. Recommended Links – send some!
7. QUOTES
8. 3rd Request: Help commemorate the late Eva Pierrakos!
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:] If everyone receiving this newsletter ordered one book a year from us (how about as a gift for SOMEONE ELSE?!), we’d be survivable. Our classic books that are low in stock include MODERN PRIMITIVES, INCREDIBLY STRANGE MUSIC, BOB FLANAGAN, and more — get ‘em while you still can, brand new! Or maybe “collect” our 3 hardbacks: R/S#4/5: Burroughs-Gysin-Throb.Gristle; Industrial Culture Handbook, and Pranks – lim. ed. hardbacks that are beautiful.
THE NEWEST BOOKS TO APPEAR under the RE/SEARCH logo (for you elite completist collectors of RE/SEARCH):
() DO ANDROIDS SLEEP WITH ELECTRIC SHEEP by monochrom of Vienna, Austria, and
() BURNING MAN LIVE! A Collection of 13 Years of P*ss Clear, the “zine” published by Adrian Roberts AT THE PLAYA.
Please support RE/SEARCH and order them DIRECT from us, not an Internet discounter, from our website at http://www.researchpubs.com Or feel free to call us at 415-362-1465 … V. Vale will autograph upon request … Also available is a set of 9 issues of Search & Destroy 1977-79 for $40 plus shipping – that was V. Vale’s first publication, way back when — a bargain. Think.
Thanks to Yasmine Mehmet, who while picking up books for the Yick Wo Silent Auction (Live Worms Gallery 1345 Grant Street, March 11, 4-9PM FREE!) bought herself and family and friends a bunch o’ books from the RE/Search office in North Beach!
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1. MESSAGE FROM YOUR EDITOR, V. VALE, RE/SEARCH FOUNDER (and previously the founder of SEARCH & DESTROY magazine before that): Today, almost out of nowhere, we got a press release: “A Major Exhibition Celebrating JG Ballard titled CRASH. 11 February – 1 April 2010 at Gagosian Gallery, 6-24 Britannia Street, London WC1X 9JD T. 44.207.841.9960 london@gagosian.com Hours: Tue-Sat 10-6 – Opening reception: Thursday, February 11th from 6 to 8pm – Everything is becoming science fiction. From the margins of an almost invisible literature has sprung the intact reality of the twentieth century. –JG Ballard

“Gagosian Gallery London will present “Crash,” a major group exhibition which takes its title from the famous novel by JG Ballard.
Ballard’s novels stand among the most visionary, provocative literature of the twentieth century, with his ominous predictions regarding the fate of Western culture and his insights into the dark psychopathology of the human race. This exhibition pays homage to his work and cultural influence by highlighting his great passion for the visual arts, from the Surrealists to the Pop artists of the 1960s and 1970s. It includes examples of these specific inspirations as well as works by contemporary artists who have, in turn, been inspired by Ballard’s vision.

“His first published short story “Prima Belladonna” appeared in 1956, the same year as the celebrated Independent Group’s exhibition “This is Tomorrow” at the Whitechapel Gallery, which marked the birth of Pop Art in Britain. It was here, and in the work of Surrealists such as Salvador Dali and Paul Delvaux, that Ballard found the seeds of what he called a “fiction for the present day.” With its dystopian depictions of the future, its bleak man-made landscapes and the recounting of the psychological effects of technological, social and environmental developments on humans, his work has resonated strongly among other writers, filmmakers and visual artists. The exhibition “Crash” brings together works by artists who have been irrevocably influenced by the Ballardian universe, from his contemporaries such as Ed Ruscha, Richard Hamilton, Andy Warhol and Helmut Newton, to younger artists such as Tacita Dean, Jenny Saville, Glenn Brown and Mike Nelson. The exhibition is organized in association with the Estate of JG Ballard.

“List of artists: Richard Artschwager, Francis Bacon, JG Ballard, Hans Bellmer, Glenn Brown, Chris Burden, Jake & Dinos Chapman, John Currin, Salvador Dali, Giorgio de Chirico, Tacita Dean, Jeremy Deller, Paul Delvaux, Cyprien Gaillard, Douglas Gordon, Loris Gréaud, Richard Hamilton, John Hilliard and Jemima Stehli, Roger Hiorns, Damien Hirst, Dan Holdsworth, Carsten Holler, Edward Hopper, Allen Jones, Mike Kelley, Jeff Koons, Roy Lichtenstein, Vera Lutter, Florian Maier-Aichen, Adam McEwen, Malcolm Morley, Mike Nelson, Helmut Newton, Cady Noland, Claes Oldenburg, Eduardo Paolozzi, Steven Parrino, Richard Prince, Robert Rauschenberg, Gerhard Richter, Ed Ruscha, Jenny Saville, George Shaw, Cindy Sherman, Andy Warhol, Rachel Whiteread, Christopher Williams, Jane and Louise Wilson, Christopher Wool and Cerith Wyn Evans.

“For further inquiries please contact the gallery at london@gagosian.com or at +44.207.841.9960.” [end of press release]

Well, reading the list of participating artists certain piqued interest in experiencing firsthand this exhibition/installation. Strange how J.G. Ballard’s biggest influence may come AFTER his death on April 19, 2009. The idea that a writer who is not necessarily known as an “artist” may have a huge “art exhibition” within a year of his decease is kind of, well, mind-boggling. A multitude of questions are instantly raised. For example, whose idea was this? How did it happen so fast? Who did the work of “curating” this event? The amount of organization required seems somewhat daunting. Also, word has it that a substantial “catalog” is being prepared as a printed accompaniment. Gagosian Publications seem to have quite thorough production values, so we are hoping for the best…

We here at RE/Search can NEVER have enough Ballardiana in our lives, and if more writings and interviews and critical commentary and photos and letters and videos ET AL start surfacing, so much the better! Ballard-influenced art — yes! We are particularly looking forward to seeing Ballard’s own photos (recently discovered) of his own car crash, at the exhibition… — V. Vale

2. Counter Culture Hour – NEW TIME – NOW ON AT 6:00 PM PACIFIC TIME.
We are repeating this, as due to Channel 29 “moving house,” it was not online in January! Apologies to San Franciscans who saw it last month, but it is definitely worth a 2nd viewing!

LYDIA LUNCH talks at the RE/Search office, with clips from TEENAGE JESUS AND THE JERKS live in San Francisco Oct 8, 2009, at Slim’s. This is one of the most inspiring episodes yet! Edited/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 — 6:00pm Pacific Time, Sat Jan 9, 2010 ALSO on-line (simulcast) – at this link:

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

USA west coast: 6:00 PM Saturday, Jan 9
USA east coast: 9:00 PM Saturday, Jan 9
London: 2:00 AM Sunday, Jan 10
Tokyo: 10:00 AM Sunday, Jan 10
You get the picture! 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 is working towards having all shows available all the time in an archive, but this is mostly likely a ways off, so your best bet to see the shows is when they air: 2nd Saturday of the month at 6:00 PM PST.

3. FORTHCOMING EVENTS

() LONDON, U.K.: Thur Feb 11, 6-8pm. CRASH at Gogosian Gallery in London. Opening Feb 11, 2010. Artwork inspired by J.G. Ballard’s CRASH. Artists include: JGB himself as well as Chris Burden, Damien Hirst and many others. Through April 1.

() $ March 3, Wednesday – Dean Snider Birthday film screening. “A long time ago or so it seems, people made films just for the fun of it. Then someone got the idea that film had to hurt. No pain, no gain. Somehow film showcases decided they were right. Today people still make films just for the fun of it. And we show them at the No Nothing Cinema.”– Dean Snider
Dolby Lab Screening Room – A dual-cinema birthday celebration for the late legendary underground San Francisco filmmaker Dean Snider, featuring rarely screened 35mm works and newly preserved 16mm prints. Somewhere in-between we might find ourselves venturing from one venue to another on a large bus with several Mariachi. Between 1979-1992, Dean made over one-hundred films‚Äîmany produced in the early 1980s during the first years of the No Nothing Cinema, a free underground screening venue that Snider was instrumental in creating. His movies contain the feisty anarchistic sense of energy that No Nothing represented‚Äîsarcastic, funny, beautiful, sometimes fast‚Äîalways engaging, even down the very layers of celluloid in which he hand scratched those initials ‚ “D.S.” ‚All the while he created some of the most self-revealing personal films you may ever have the chance of experiencing. — DOUGLAS KATELUS http://www.sfcinematheque.org/#/calendar/201003030/

() $upport: Indy Film Fest: Feb 4-18 at the Roxie, 16th St near Valencia St, S.F. http://www.sfindie.com/ Many filmmakers, directors and actors will be available after their screenings to answer your questions! Can’t get that on a DVD. To find out where all the accompanying parties will be: http://sfindie.bside.com/2010/films/category/Party

() $ NOW THRU APRIL 24. Hypnodrome presents “Pearls Over Shanghai” featuring Cockettes Originals. John Waters attended in January! Hypnodrome, 575 10th St/near Bryant, tel 415-377-4202. The Hypnodrome survived the huge city flash flood, and is still red-hot! www.thrillpeddlers.com

() FREE. Fri Feb 5 is William S. Burroughs’s Birthday – if still alive, WSB would have been 96 today…

() $ Sat-Sun Feb 6-7, 10-5pm. SF Antiquarian Book Fair, SF Concourse, 7th St/Brannan. www.sfbookandpaperfair.com – click on dollar signs for discount ($7) ticket – save $3.

() $ Sun Feb 7, Balboa Theater: “If you have never had the wonderful opportunity to meet the great Russian animator Yuri Norstein do not miss this rare chance on 7 February at the Balboa Theater. Even if you don’t think that you care about animation (which is hard for me to imagine) you will enjoy his beautiful films.” – Nik & Nancy

() FREE. Sun Feb 14, 1-3pm, Cartoon Art Museum, 655 Mission St. Rob Reger & Buzz Parker book signing with Emily the Strange.

() FREE. Feb 16, 7:30pm, Moe’s Books, Telegraph nr Dwight, Berkeley. Chuck Stein, author of Persephone Unveiled and translator of The Odyssey will read. We are told that “Chuck is a terrific poet and performer” – see moesbooks.com

() FREE. Fri Feb 19, 6pm Diane di Prima is celebrated at MCCLA Theatre, 2868 Mission St, tel 821-1155. www.missionculturalcenter.org

() FREE. Fri Feb 26, 7:30pm, YBCA RBI Global Lives Project Opening Night Party FREE – rsvp at ybcafree.org

() $ Sat Feb. 27, 8:30 pm, Other Cinema/ATA Gallery, 992 Valencia/21st St, S.F – “Dear Vale, We met a few years back at Beyond Baroque when you were in LA w/ the PRANKS 2 book party. Just wanted to give you info on an event that I’ll be doing at Other Cinema: “Filmmaker/archivist Ross Lipman and the Billboard Liberation Front’s Jack Napier present an evening of secular magic; the alchemical act of transmuting everyday life into fiction–and vice versa” (sounds “Ballardian” to us.) … “includes films, performance essays… a PowerPoint performance on the birth of the TV Spectacle, Ferdinand Marcos hawking a tribe of cave people to feed his wife’s shoe habit, an enigmatic Butoh performance in the streets of Brooklyn (by SF-expatriate artist Leigh Evans), and the most recent breathtaking hijinx of the Billboard Liberation Front. Enjoy pranks, hoaxes, forgeries, and guerilla theater in a bewildering tapestry of transfigured reality! http://www.othercinema.com/ ”

() FREE. SATURDAY, 3-6pm every weekend. Savoy Tivoli, Grant Ave near Union St, S.F. MAL SHARPE (featured in our PRANKS book) writes: “We are still at the Savoy-Tivoli in San Francisco every Saturday from 3-6pm plus The No Name Bar in Sausalito every Sunday from 3-6pm. The winter has been cold and rainy but both these spots have been packed every weekend.See MAL while you can — he is a local treasure and rare role model.

() $ 10pm All Events: Sat Feb 27, March 6, April 3 – featuring DAN CARBONE (2/27/10 also with Rick Shapiro). The Dark Room, 2263 Mission (18th -19th Sts), tel 401-7987. See more about these events in the last section of this newsletter!

() $ NOW through April 11. Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft Ave, Berkeley. Ahmet Ogut: The Exploded City / Things We Count. We think JG Ballard would have liked this exhibition! http://bampfa.berkeley.edu/exhibition/231

() Tue March 2, YBCA Galleries are FREE. Other SF museums are free too.

() $Grey School of Wizardry launches new “Magister” Study Program. Master Wizard, Oberon is the real thing. If you’re interested in the occult, magic and wizardry, this is where to go. The Grey School of Wizardry (GSW) is a highly interactive online school specializing in occult magick, metaphysical arcana, and the “Wisdom of the Ages.” GSW is incorporated in the State of California as a non-profit Federally tax-exempt 501(c)(3) educational institution. This School is a progeny of the Grey Council, an alliance of several dozen renowned mages and sages. Members of the Grey Council follow many different paths, with differing orientations and perspectives, but they all hope to spark the imagination, beauty, and power of the minds of seekers everywhere.
$100/year for unlimited “non-matriculating” classes. Or enroll as Apprentice, Magisters, or Journeyman. resources@greyschool.com, oberon@mcn.org
Read about Oberon in our “Modern Pagans” book.

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

() Feb 1, Memorial Service for George Tsongas took place at Caffe Trieste in North Beach, S.F. – George’s favorite hangout. While self-avowedly NOT a “Beat” Poet, nevertheless George was well-known as a San Francisco Poet who happened to live during the Beat Generation and subsequent decades…

() Feb 2, SF Public Library. Diane di Prima has been crowned the 5th Poet Laureate of San Francisco for the next two years. The SFPL hosted a celebration and presentation (“Poetry as Spiritual Practice”) with Diane Di Prima on Feb. 2 for an overflow crowd. Hers is poetry with cultural -comment, -reaction, -hopes. Humanistic with revolutionary ideas. She’s been in San Francisco for over 30 years and saw it from the dreams of what could be to the shambles of how it fell to the real-estate interests. She almost cried on-stage while speaking about this, and the audience almost joined in the tears. You could have heard a pin drop during her talk and reading, punctuated by laughter and applause, of course. Watch for events with Diane this year and next. http://dianediprima.com/bio.html

() Eddie Muller’s annual FILM NOIR FILM FESTIVAL at the Castro Theater. Wish we could have gone EVERY NIGHT! Jello Biafra tries to see all the films, every year!

() BOOKS: 1. Science and Sanity, by Korzybski (highly recommended) 2. The Golem by Gustav Meyrink (Madge Pemberton translation, also highly recommended). 3. Nordic Noir.

() MOVIES (mainstream): 1. BOOK OF ELI (apocalypse film). 2. EDGE OF DARKNESS (conspiracy film)

() MUSIC: Nasa Space Universe new CD (find them on MySpace). When we need sonic adrenalin, NSU delivers the medicine! Great “Dark Side” artwork/collages, too, with Nietzschean aspirations.

() Attempted to visit the new, larger, dryer Survival Research Laboratories “shop” in Petaluma. Eavesdropped on funny pranksterish conversations featuring Kimric Smythe, Jon Sarriugarte and others on the topic(s) of sabotaging desert raves and other unwelcome music “events.” Heard the story of an amazing car parts collector who was going out of business and possibly becoming non compos mentis as well. Bram was in town — hence the get-together. Karen Marcelo, uber-documentarian, was sorely missed…come back, soonest!

() We at RE/Search have to salute Ed Woo, who got the RE/Searchmobile up and running (clutch and brakes went out at the same time). If anyone needs a 100% honest, reliable and extremely competent/efficient San Francisco car mechanic, please contact us at RE/Search (tel 415-362-1465; or email info@researchpubs.com . We are filtering calls as Ed asked us not to send him anyone who might be “a pain.” Hopefully there are none on this newsletter list, but…

() Verna Doherty from Seattle visited. She is looking to interview anyone who might have “known” Flipper, especially Will Shatter. Contact us and we will pass info along…

() Poet BRETT RALPH was in town, visited our office (very funny conversations) and we went to a jam-packed party in his honor in the Sunset District… V. Vale played piano…

() Poet/All-Around Beat Girl Reincarnated Stellar and friends hosted an outstanding poetry reading at the Beat Museum on January 23…

() Winston Smith threw what turned out to be an amazing art opening at his new gallery/work space at 50 Bannam Alley on Jan. 28. Saw Susie Bright, Ron Turner, Rob Reger, et al…

5. Stephane von Stephane Interview with Filmmaker Paul Clipson

Excerpts of a Conversation with Experimental Film-maker Paul Clipson Dec. 20, 2009.
“Watching a Paul Clipson film is like watching ‘2001, A Space Odyssey’; Kubrick’s film starts out trippy enough but once you enter the Monolith it gets even trippier. With Clipson’s films you BEGIN by entering the Monolith and go from there.” – Stephane von Stephane Born in Ohio, raised in Michigan, Paul attended the University of Michigan, and has been in S.F. since 1992. Since 2003, he’s made over 20 experimental shorts and a dozen 30-45 minute films. His work has screened in the past year at the Rotterdam Film Festival, the Cinémathèque Française in Paris and in the New York Film Festival Views From The Avant Garde program. He has two upcoming live shows: one for the the San Francisco Cinematheque’s Apparent Motion Festival with Jefre Cantu-Ledesma on February 20th, and another on February 26th at the Berkeley Art Museum in collaboration with electronic musician Gregg Kowalsky.

Stephane von Stephane: So, you make experimental film; obviously your goal is NOT to make a living making films?
Paul Clipson: Well, yes it IS my goal to make a living doing my films. I’m resistant to art in practical terms, that’s a very damaging notion, even though everything in our lives is reduced to practical terms. I think art is one of the few areas where there is a crossover to the irrational and impractical and the subconscious. So, it’s important to think that I might be able to make a living at it. [Ah, a fellow dreamer! Making art is at least nourishment for the spirit.]

S.v.S: When I first saw one of your films I was reminded of being a kid (6 or 8 years old) and being in church and not wanting to be there, so I’d turn around and just stare at the stained-glass windows and the colors were so intense and beautiful, I’d squint my eyes and blur the image, or just focus on one color or another, all the while listening to a language I didn’t understand (Latin) and smelling the incense wafting through the air.
Paul: Hmmn. That’s about a sense of a place and an experience and being a part of it or not being a part of it, or perhaps being MORE of a part of it because you’re applying some sort of perceptual awareness to your surroundings that’s in reaction to or against what’s going on with the purpose of that space. There are more parts of life that are like experimental films than people tend to be aware of. For me making films helps me to be a bit more connected to the abstract in the everyday. The rational mind is prone to siphoning and filtering out interesting visual phenomenon because our consciousness decides that it’s not important or useful to us for getting home at the end of the day to see layers of amazing light reflections because these are distractions.

For example, when you’re on a bus at night looking out the window and there are all kinds of incredible abstract layers of things to be seen that are happening naturally around you, but you don’t always notice, because you’re looking for a street sign to know when you’re going to get off the bus. But if you actually look at everything between your eyes and the sign you’re looking for, there are people in the foreground in and out of focus, there’s the inside of the bus that’s lit up so it’s reflecting the other people’s faces, there are reflections from the outside reflecting on the pane of glass which includes lights of cars going by in perspective, so that’s like already five layers of phenomenon occurring before one’s eyes in a single moment of sitting on a bus…which is kind of like what I’m doing in my films.

S.v.S.: How do you get ideas for your films? Are you constantly thinking about what scenes you’d make, being that you double and triple expose? Do you storyboard in advance? Do you note places to remember to come back to when you’ve been walking around the city or countryside or do you only shoot on the fly when you have camera in hand?
Paul: I don’t storyboard, I often go out on the fly and begin filming. I do think of places to go, and return to favorite places. The Botanical Gardens in Golden Gate Park is a great place to go for inspiration because it’s so dense. It’s not a natural space but it’s filled with natural elements. It’s humming with activity, it’s easy to get lost there. There’s water, there’s color. There’s foliage. In New York, I’m always looking for old spaces that are forgotten or not seen: train yards, train tracks, areas of overlapping time. Places where there’s a division of a time past existing right next to a time in the present tense. A combining of states of time largely unnoticed or even forbidden to most people that don’t live around them. In the film ‘Stalker’ by Andrei Tarkovsky where three men in a jeep drive onto train tracks and go into an area called “The Zone” which is a forbidden place and they’re fired on by security forces because they’re breaching this sense of time. Train tracks now have signs near them saying that you’re breaking the law if you even walk near the tracks. It’s like you’re going back in time and they’re trying to stop you, because you’re ‘endangering’ yourself, so they say…

S.v.S.: Let’s talk about your influences, some of your favorites are mine also: Orsen Welles, Michelangelo Antonioni are two of my favorite film directors. Giorgio De Chirico is one of my favorite painters. Kafka of course, but I’m not familiar with Morton Feldman…
Paul: He’s a 20th century composer…from the modern, avant garde school…who came out of New York in the 40’s & 50’s, and through John Cage associated with Jackson Pollock, Willem DeKooning, and appropriated what he saw going on in their work as painters. I love the idea of cross-pollination from one form of art to another. I think it strengthens the arts. From this influence of painters like Philip Guston, Feldman began drawing visual diagrams of scores where he gave the musicians specific parameters of keys or notes to play but not when or for how long. I find his approach to music and sound very visual, sculptural, volumetric, physical measurings of time as if you’re walking through a forest or past pillars of space.

S.v.S.: Reminds me of taking acid, like walking through music. I think everything can be registered in the brain on a chemical level. Watching your films has that kind of chemical registration for me. A happy accident?
Paul: It could be the result of several things happening at once. My interest is to create strokes or lines as one draws on a piece of paper, but because film introduces the element of TIME, these strokes and their position in time is not necessarily known when you make them. I work in a way that layers the images, like strokes of a brush floating in my mind as I make them. I don’t actually control the images I make. Because of the chemical process of film, you record things and then you process the film and see it a couple of weeks later, so it’s like you’re writing down collected experiences, putting them into an envelope and mailing them off…

S.v.S.: …to yourself in the future?
Paul: Yes, so it’s as if these present ideas are connected to ideas that you’ve already had: where each moment has a resilience and a gravity and when put together begins to create a kind of enigmatic activity. That’s why I think of De Chirico or Antonioni who are affected by associations of space and time of day and light and shadow. Welles is also a good example of the idea of layers of time. His films are narratives but they visualize a velocity of time in which he’s talking about personalities that have histories where the past and present are connected. I’m thinking of MR. ARKADIN where a character is going back in time through people who knew him in the past and he’s erasing that time. While MR. ARKADIN is a chaotic, disturbing film in terms of its surface textures, it’s also striving to connect art with memory, and its structure is very much like making collages with film, which is what I like to do.
[TO BE CONTINUED WITH PART 2 NEXT MONTH! -- MORE OF PAUL CLIPSON]
~Stephane Von Stephane
A DVD of short films made in collaboration with Jefre Cantu-Ledesma is coming out in a month or two called WITHIN MIRRORS. Here’s the site: http://www.studentsofdecay.com/homepage.htm and Paul’s website: http://www.withinmirrors.org/

6. RECOMMENDED LINKS (send some!)

() from jpm: “I found this as a starting point of a blog that some young girl wrote to defend her generation. I opened up her premise article and found it to be way more informative and to the point. I won’t bother linking you to the other article. It’s a waste of time. But this, the one she reacted to, hits the nail, I think, right on the head: https://www.adbusters.org/magazine/79/hipster.html

This young kid is one hell of an insanely able guitarist!!!!!!!!!

() from Babalou: http://www.technovelgy.com/ct/Science-Fiction-News.asp?NewsNum=2724 and http://www.alternet.org/media/144893/drone_porn:_the_newest_youtube_hit/

() from Steven Gray: “You’ll come for the decor and stay for the dolorous: http://unhappyhipsters.com/ ”

() blog on visiting V. Vale: http://isawyoushine.blogspot.com/2010/01/research-visit-with-vvale.html

() From Sharon Leong: Enjoy! A little old school but funny … http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xJWxPE8G2c

() From Mako Sano: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Dweller_on_Two_Planets

http://www.tslpl.org/spirituality/910428.htm

() 5 & 3 ways to protect yourself on facebook: http://www.nytimes.com/external/readwriteweb/2009/09/16/16readwriteweb-5-easy-steps-to-stay-safe-and-private-on-fac-6393.html?pagewanted=2&em

http://www.nytimes.com/external/readwriteweb/2010/01/20/20readwriteweb-the-3-facebook-settings-every-user-should-c-29287.html?em

() financial apocalypse website: http://covertress.blogspot.com/2010/01/optimist-or-pessimist-test-your-2010.html

() Wise Bread is a community of bloggers here to help you live large on a small budget. http://www.wisebread.com/

() V. Vale on NPR talking about JG Ballard: http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/wamc/.artsmain/article/11/1172/1597296/Radio/TTBOOK.Reality.

() Andrew Keen: After TV? http://andrewkeen.typepad.com/aftertv/

7. QUOTES -

() In 1998, Sony sold 700,000 camcorders that had the capability to see through clothing (“Night Shot” setting). But most people never knew…

() “Secrecy is the keystone of all tyranny. Not force, but secrecy–censorship. When any government or any church, for that matter, undertakes to say to its subjects: This you may not read, this you must not see, this you are forbidden to know, the end result is tyranny and oppression.” -Robert A. Heinlein, If This Goes On…

() “The pathetic truth at the center of the housing fiasco is that prices have to come down far further if any normal wage-earner will ever afford to buy a house again in America on anything like normal terms.” – James Howard Kunstler

() Thoughtcrime: “To the future or to the past, to a time when thought is free… to a time when truth exists, and what is done cannot be undone… From the age of uniformity, from the age of solitude, from the age of Big Brother, from the age of doublethink–greetings!” – George Orwell, 1984

() “Most people go through life dreading they’ll have a traumatic experience. Freaks were born with their trauma. They’ve already passed their test in life. They’re aristocrats.” – Diane Arbus

() “In order to be irreplaceable one most always be different.” – Coco Chanel

() “The love that lasts the longest is the love that is never returned.”- Somerset Maugham

() It’s not just the story, it’s the TELLING of the story that’s important.” – v. vale

() “Being late is an insidious form of disrespect for others…” – Nassim Nicholas Taleb

() “Happiness in many languages means “luck”.” – Taleb

() “The idea is far greater than the man.” – Taleb

8. 3RD & LAST Notice: Project by Eddie Ritter and Andrew Ness to commemorate the late Eva Pierrakos (70s Punk Scene). They write: “We are collecting mementos of the life of Eva Pierrakos, including her photographic work, graphic work, videos, writing and correspondence as well as corresponding work in which Eva served as the subject and use of which is not restricted by intellectual property rights considerations. Please contact Eddie Ritter at threeritters@bredband.net or Andrew Ness at Andrew.Oliver.Ness@gmail.com should you wish to submit materials for compilation into a memorial presentation album, for discussion of format of submission.”

9. Letters from Our Readers:

() “Article just published… Here’s the link (featuring Richard Peterson, Search & Destroy photographer, and V. Vale, Search & Destroy publisher/editor) http://www.mightymercury.com/home/366-where-theres-a-will-theres-a-way-diy-culture-vs-corporate-personhood.html
– Thanks again for helping. I’m likely to be in your area sometime this summer, not sure yet. – Z.K.”

() “Hi Vale, I’ve met you a few times through George and Mike Kuchar. I’ve appeared in many of their videos and they have documented a lot of my work. I’m doing a new series of shows a the Dark Room (on Mission and 18th Street). I’m a solo performer and I’ve gotten a lot of awards for my work including a Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Award and a Guardian Goldie… I feel that many people who are on your list would be very interested in my shows.My work has been described by the Guardian as “Jonathan Winters meets Cocteau.”

“Please have a look at my promo video “Debbie & the Demons!” by Mike Kuchar. This will give you a bit of an idea what I am up to on stage: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaRCfRFAG2s

“My website is dancarbone.net which will has bio info, past works, as well as critical analysis. There is more specific information on the upcoming shows at: darkroomsf.com I’d appreciate it if you could mention me on your list … – Dan Carbone” Well, we are definitely fans of George and Mike Kuchar, so we print this here. Please give us feedback if you attend, dear newsletter readers!” – V. Vale

() “Cleaning out my inbox… I love this paragraph you wrote. On 12 Nov 2009, at 23:39, RE/Search Publications wrote:

“We don’t have enough time to see every film, hear every musical recording, read every book and poem and essay written since the beginning of time (note: we’re not encompassing all the “live” human performances available these days). We need a guide who is reliable, trustworthy, free from vested interests — possessed of that rarest of all human facilities, DISCRIMINATION. Yet we want someone who is reasonably “encyclopedic.” We don’t have time to trust every person who passes themselves off as a guide, so we have to be exceedingly careful who we choose. And RE/Search has chosen just a handful: William S. Burroughs, J.G. Ballard, Surrealism, Situationism…” – sent by Little Shiva

() From Alexander Laurence: “Subject: “Gimme Something Better “- “How come you weren’t involved more with the book? You documented those bands, and had firsthand experience. This book seems vague and fuzzy and many people trying to remember what happened 30 years ago.” No comment needed!

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
FEBRUARY 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

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ROBERT PLANT ON THE RADCLIFFE & MACONIE RADIO TWO SHOW OCTOBER 11TH

Robert Plant is interviewed by Mark Radcliffe on the Monday October 11th edition of the Mark Radcliffe & Stuart Maconie show. It airs on BBC Radio Two from 8pm.

Also check out this months Record Collector for exclusive look at the forthcoming Jimmy Page book from Genesis Publications by Dave Lewis.

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ABC...easy as...4, 9, X

Posted by pete at July 21, 2010 12:01 AM

I apparently watch too much ABC News. For the last few weeks, I've been seeing promos for Christiane Amanpour taking over hosting duties on This Week from Jake Tapper. He's been doing a pretty good job since George Stephanopolapocetl moved over to Good Morning America, but I don't think anybody believed the gig would be his permanently. My point is, I can't see Amanpour sitting up there and telling me to stay tuned for the "Sunday Funnies."

Then there's Nightline. I asked The Wife last night how much she thought Ted Koppel had to drink in order to sit through the program's current incarnation, she said he was probably shooting heroin. Into his tear ducts. How do they pitch new episodes anymore? "Tonight on the program that made its bones bringing you updates on the Iran Hostage Crisis: Animal Hoarding!"

Whatever. I'm watching a lot more SportsCenter these days.

I wondered the same thing about the Sunday Funnies, but they have been a part of the show for so long I’m not sure how she can change them. I guess we’ll all find out soon enough.

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Kobo is available for free on Android smartphones through the Android Market. Kobo supports the ePUB standard including rich text and images,christian louboutin pumps, offering a top-quality reading experience. Existing Kobo users can login to their Kobo account and start reading their books right away. Additionally,giuseppe zanotti, there are over two million eBooks available for download through the Kobo store,vibram five fingers, including hundreds of thousands of free titles, classics, and today’s hottest bestsellers.

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Let's Never Fight Again, James Cameron

Posted by pete at February 3, 2010 3:25 PM

Yet another Hair Balls cross-post...

I finally managed to catch Avatar last weekend. I don't know if holding out this long was more because of the demands of infant children or my holding out hope that withholding my handful of dollars might keep the movie from steamrollering to the top spot in all-time box office. That last option turned out to be a lost cause, as James Cameron's latest took less than two months to achieve this, and has since become the only movie to gross $2 billion, the first to gross $1 billion internationally, and the first to gross $100 million in specialized IMAX theaters.

Okay, first of all...wow, was I wrong. I mean, I never said the movie was going to flop, just that it wouldn't make Titanic money. Clearly I underestimated the lethal combination of Cameron's Svengali-like hold on the moviegoing public, nerd OCD, and the insinuation of furry porn in our society. For that, I can only say mea maxima culpa.

And while it's easy to talk about stuff like "inflation-adjusted dollars" and inflated IMAX ticket prices, Avatar has been #1 at the box office since it opened, holding out against supposed contenders like Sherlock Holmes and The Book of Eli. Now that there's no longer a question of "if" the movie will shatter box office records, all that's left is seeing how high Avatar can go.

Oh, and of course there's going to be a sequel. And of course it will be in 3-D (which reminds me: congratulations, you assholes...because Hollywood studios are such exemplars of original thought, every other tentpole release from here on out will utilize the same eye-watering, migraine-inducing technology). Admittedly, it's hard to blame Cameron (who already has a couple sequels under his belt). The guy spend five years and a couple hundred million dollars designing the technology, after all. Hell, why not use if for all your next movies? Better yet, see if George Lucas wants to make any more Star Wars movies with it. I'm sure we all want to see an updated Jar-Jar.

Sorry, I'm just so giddy for Cameron...or "Jim," as his friends call him. Friends who may have spec scripts that wouldn't require anywhere near the time or money Avatar did, for example.

Having said that, Avatar really is the purest example of a "word of mouth" performer I've ever seen. There wasn't a built-in audience for it (like you see with franchises and sequels), you could pretty much guess the entire plot from the first trailer, and while the critical reception has been very good, critics don't affect box office (Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen grossed over $400 million, for example). Believe me, I used to be one.

And putting the critic hat back on last weekend, I saw a movie that was: visually stunning, technicaly flawless, and wholly derivative. Seriously, I stopped counting "influences" at 15, though I did come perilously close to leaping up and shouting "For he is the Kwisatz Haderach!" when Jake hopped on the Great Leonopteryx. There are also all the old Cameron chestnuts: the strong environmental message, a paradoxical combination of military hardware fetishism and intense distrust of the military, and Sigourney Weaver.

But aside from the technological advances on display, nothing about the movie screams "$2 billion!" I (sort of) understood Titanic: ladies love cool Leo, after all. But while I mostly enjoyed Avatar, I don't really get why people are going to see it five, ten, or twenty times. In a world where I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry can gross 120 mil, I guess anything's possible.

Seriously though, Jim...call me. I have a great treatment for a full-length Xenogenesis movie.

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If you’re carrying it yourself on a plane,manolo blahnik wedding, a gown with a slender silhouette will be easier to pack. You can always embellish your look with antique diamond-and-pearl jewelry, jeweled hairpins, brooches or even a belt ? all easy to tuck into a suitcase.

A destination wedding can add extra romance to a wedding. But if a knock-out bridal gown is also on your wish list,miu miu, plan accordingly.

Taking flight

? Don’t even think about packing a bridal gown in a suitcase.

? Some boutiques will pack it and send it ahead to your destination,moncler jackets, says stylist Wendy Norwood Patterson. If you must take it with you, carry the dress in a hanging rack ? and arrange with the airline early to stow it in the on-board closet, not an overhead bin.

? “Do not ever let anyone tell you they’re going to check your wedding dress,” advises Anja Winikka, editor at TheKnot.com.

? Any gown that’s endured a trip will need a little bit of touch-up before the ceremony. “Have a proper steamer and supplies, including a stain remover pack, ready,” says Winikka. “And take the time as soon as you arrive to hang up your dress.”

“There are a lot of types of destinations ? from a beach in Mexico to a cathedral in Italy,” says Houston-based stylist Wendy Norwood Patterson, “and they don’t call for the same types of dresses.”

If you’re carrying it yourself on a plane, a gown with a slender silhouette will be easier to pack. You can always embellish your look with antique diamond-and-pearl jewelry, jeweled hairpins, brooches or even a belt ? all easy to tuck into a suitcase.

Most importantly,christian louboutin, say experts, is finding a dress in a travel-friendly fabric. “Don’t think you have to sacrifice your dream dress,” Patterson says, “but a full ball gown of simple silk probably won’t travel well.”

Anja Winikka, editor at TheKnot.com, concurs. “Stay away from big ball gowns in heavy silks and satins,” she says. “You can still have that big skirt,Christian Louboutin Shoes, but choose the right fabric.”

Look for breathable, flowy fabrics like chiffon, any silk blend and charmeuses,christian louboutin wedding, she suggests.

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“Think about your theme,” Winikka says. “You’ve chosen a destination,christian louboutin evening, so let your dress celebrate that spot.”

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V. VALE RE/SEARCH JUNE 2010 Newsletter: Atrocity Exhibition, John Waters, Arthur Koestler, MicMacs

WELCOME TO V. VALE’s RE/SEARCH NEWSLETTER #94, JUNE 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 | Facebook: “Re/Search Publications” Fan Page

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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.  Meditation Space
3. Counter Culture Hour with JOHN SHIRLEY: 6 PM Pacific Time, Saturday  June 12 – also simulcast on-line
4. FORTHCOMING EVENTS
5. What We’ve Attended/What We’ve Been Reading/Seeing
6. Moritz reports from Germany  (Stephane von Stephane will reappear in future)
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!
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
[COMMERCIAL:] We are a small independent publisher- why not try supporting us ! Call or Visit for the personal touch…

PRE-ORDER the DELUXE 20th Anniversary MODERN PRIMITIVES HARDBACK LIBRARY EDITION! Retail preorders –
Paperback (List $25) $17.50 + shipping
30% discount

Hardback limited edition (List $50) $35 + shipping
30% discount

Order (including payment) by July 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, RE/SEARCH FOUNDER (and also the founder of SEARCH & DESTROY magazine before that): I started a Twitter Account to capture aphorisms, thoughts and quotes “on the fly.” It works! In just over three weeks there are now 367 “twits” – visit valeREsearch to see them all. I like the fact you are limited to 140 characters. I am posting a couple days’ worth below in lieu of the usual “Message from Your Editor.” You can “follow” me on Twitter (Twitter account: valeREsearch) or visit periodically to harvest quotes you like…I’ve also started posting more on Facebook: “Re/Search Group” and “Re/Search Publications” Fan Page…
The below “twits” are written in REVERSE ORDER – best to start at the bottom and work upward…

() “RADICALS FOR CAPITALISM?! If You’re FOR Capitalism, You Ain’t Radical- You’re CONSERVATIVE! Or BRAINWASHED, Stockholm Syndrome-style.”

() “CORPORATIONS vs. HUMANS = PERMANENT WAR. KILL THE CORPORATIONS & YOU KILL THE WAR.”

() “Each of Us Is OUR OWN Central Intelligence Agency, Magnetizing the Most Futuristic Ideas, Culture, Experiences & Pleasures…”

() “PROOF Your BRAIN Is Like SWISS CHEESE: Reread ‘WAR & PEACE’ & Discover Passages You Never Saw Before…”

() “There is NO SUCH THING as RADICALS FOR CAPITALISM – unless you think the entire world is just 100% privileged white fe/males.”

() “THE ECONOMY ALREADY: NO JOBS, NO MANUFACTURING. REAL ESTATE: 3000% OVERVALUED. RECOVERY: NEVER. THE DOLLAR/EURO: WORTHLESS.”

() “CAPITALISM = PERMANENT WAR: Against ‘Competitors,’ ‘Rivals’; For Control of Scarce Resources, Land, Commodities, Other Humans…”

() “Too bad there isn’t a TRUE Central Intelligence Agency where all the wisdom of the planet is centralized & downloadable FOR FREE.”

() “The most memorable moments in a prose work of fiction are POETIC. Everything else fades away…”

() “The ONE Piano Book to Take to a Desert Island: THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF KEYBOARD PICTURE CHORDS ($14.98 @ the Hated B&N Chainstore).”

() “Make the BEST Cupcake in the World & People Will Beat a Path to Your Door.”

() “CIVILITY — NOT SERVILITY.”

() “DOMINANT CELEBRITY CULTURE INJECTS US WITH: fear, inferiority complexes, trepidation, servility, despair, abasement.”

() “In a city, passing strangers can utter epiphanies (or dreadful cliches), then vanish forever out of your life…”

() “It’s so much fun to EAVESDROP & SPY on people while out in the world — WHY?”

() “20C ART MOVEMENTS: DADA, FUTURISM, VORTICISM, CONSTRUCTIVISM, SURREALISM, SITUATIONISM, FLUXUS, SEMINA, FUNK, PUNK, STREET ART”

() “LOOK, Don’t See. LISTEN, Don’t Hear.” – Lee Child

() “Form an Amateur “THINK TANK” and Brainstorm for Ideas! TAKE NOTES! In theory, it’s THE IMAGINATION WHICH CREATES THE FUTURE…”

() “What with the Economic Downturn & more “free” time — a perfect excuse to stay up with friends All Night, just talking!”

() “What ARE YOUR Top 100 Books? Recordings? Movies? Artists? Film Directors? Musicians? Actors? People?”

2. Visualize an empty room…

3.  Counter Culture Hour -  Sat June 12, 2010 – 6:00 PM PACIFIC TIME. (We hope to Air this at its listed time this month. Due to a mix-up, the April’s show was reshown in May, sorry.)
JOHN SHIRLEY, acclaimed founder of the CyberPunk “movement” in the 80s, a Punk Rock songwriter/singer/bandleader, and Futuristic Speculative Fiction Writer, is interviewed by V. Vale. 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 — 6:00pm 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
USA west coast: 6:00 PM Saturday,June 12
USA east coast: 9:00 PM Saturday, June 12
London: 2:00 AM Sunday, June 13
Tokyo: 10:00 AM Sunday, June 13
ETC.
If you cannot get this online (we have heard some complaints about this), please write us to get a DVD copy.

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!

4. FORTHCOMING EVENTS (San Francisco unless Otherwise Noted)

() FREE. NOW at San Francisco Main Library, 100 Larkin St, 4th floor: CLUB FOOT Exhibit of Photos, Posters, Artifacts from 1979-1986 S.F. performance space. RE/Search helped organize a Cabaret Voltaire performance there circa 1980! Most crowded event: when Diamanda Galas performed… http://sfpl.org/index.php?pg=1001317401

() ZINESTERS:  REGISTER by July 1&Save$ for table at SFZINEFEST  Sept 4-5  www.sfzinefest.com – V. Vale will be a Featured Speaker

() ARTISTS: $25REGISTER by June 15&Save$50  North Beach ArtWalk (Sell Your Art!)  www.northbeachartwalk.org

() $$ June 10-June 27 (thurs -8PM & Sun 7PM)- HOT GREEKS a Thrillpeddlers revival of the Cockettes classic, Hypnodrome, 575 10th St, SF- $30

() FREE. June 9- July 10, Dan Nicoletta Photo Exhibit, Electric Works,130 8th St, SF

() $. June 11, 9pm BOHEMIAN CARNIVAL http://CELLspace.org 2050 Bryant SF @ 18th 19th St. http://www.bohemiancarnival.net
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=112561795454997

() FREE. Sat Jun 12 World Naked Bike Ride SF http://sfbikeride.org
http://www.facebook.com/pages/World-Naked-Bike-Ride-San-Francisco/104135439628760?filter=2&v=wall

() $ Sat-Sun Jun 12-13. THE BURNING MAN FILM FESTIVAL-SF Red Vic Movie House (www.redvicmoviehouse.com) 1727 Haight St SF http://burningman-filmfest.com/home

() FREE Sun Jun 13 Haight-Ashbury Street Faire http://www.sfheart.com/sfStreet_Fairs.html

() $ Mon-Tu 7:30,9:30pm Red Vic, 1727 Haight St, SF. Jennifer Kroot’s IT CAME FROM KUCHAR (RE/Search is IN this film!) George will be there Monday? Mike will be there Tuesday with a new short video!

() $ Thu June 17, 7:30pm – Terese Taylor, The Blue Macaw (formerly 12 Galaxies), 2565 Mission St, SF  http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=125139850837140

() NEW YORK: June 18, 7:30pm, Prospect Park Bandshell, Brooklyn: JG Thirlwell’s 20-piece Steroid Maximus does the Ectopia album +  The Venture Bros (selections).  http://www.bricartsmedia.org/events/performing-arts/jg-thirlwell-s-steroid-maximus-dr-lonnie-smith-trio

() FREE Sat-Sun Jun 19-20 North Beach Festival http://www.sfheart.com/sfStreet_Fairs.html

() $ Mon June 21, 7:30pm Zeitgeist, 199 Valencia St, SF The Goat Family will again be playing for The Tamale Lady’s Birthday Party. Films, too.

() FREE Fri June 25, 7-10pm Mark Bode: Wizards Lizards & Broads, 1AM Gallery, 1000 Howard St/6th St, SF

() FREE. LOS ANGELES! Sat June 26, 7pm, Sinan Revell Show. http://www.cellagallery.com/Site_2/June_26,_Press_Release.html
Also: LOS ANGELES New Media FILM FESTIVAL  

() FREE Sun, June 27 “GAY PRIDE PARADE. Starts 10:30 a.m. at Market St/Beale & ends at Market /8th St to Civic Center. Sat-Sun  Noon -6pm SF Pride Celebration in Civic Center http://www.sfpride.org/ – to volunteer & help at this event, please contact Arlynne at arlynne@thepaganalliance.org or Amara at revamara@Comcast.net.  If you should have any questions, you can also call Arlynne at (510) 872-1188.  Please let us know your name, tee-shirt size, and what shift you would like to work.

() FREE Tu June 29, 7:30pm BILL BERKSON at Books & Bookshelves,  99 Sanchez/14th St, SF

() FREE Sat-Sun July 3-4,, 10-6pm, Fillmore Jazz Festival, Fillmore St/Jackson-Eddy Sts. – The largest FREE Jazz Festival on the West Coast  http://www.fillmorejazzfestival.com/

() FREE Sat July 10, 2-5pm ALTERNATIVE  ENERGY WORKSHOP. Noisebridge Hackerspace, 2169 Mission St, SF  http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=118604138157434&ref=ts

() $ July 15-18, Castro Theater, SF: SILENT FILM FESTIVAL (featuring restored METROPOLIS!) http://www.silentfilm.org/

() U.K. July 16-Aug 8.  MAGICAL MENAGERIE  http://artichoke.uk.com/events/magical_menagerie/ – WISH WE COULD SEE THIS!

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

() Photo of V. Vale : http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/green/detail?entry_id=65364

() RECOMMENDED:  * John WATERS’ new book, ROLE MODELS.
* THE COMPLETE STORIES OF J.G. BALLARD

() We stick our necks out and name Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s MICMACS “THE MOVIE OF THE YEAR.” Finally, a movie with SATISFYING CONTENT & Plot, beautiful shadowy style (like Brazil), and a group-bonding-role-model-family-ethos reminding us of Spider Baby. There’s a great set reminiscent of the old San Francisco Survival Research Laboratories’ “shop” x 10.. (SRL has moved to Petaluma). One of our new-favorite young actresses, capable of immense flexibility in a number of roles,  is introduced. It is a MUST to see this film in a theater, not on a TV set… We could easily see it again… And, we also saw GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO and recommend it for totally different reasons, like: it’s 2-1/2 hours, an EPIC, and the heroine is quite irresistible, while the hero is satisfyingly non-matinee-idol, what with his rough complexion. The flashbacks are gorgeously lit…

() Reading John McWhorter’s Our Magnificent Bast-rd Tongue…

() V. Vale played piano at the Silent Film Festival’s Press Party in May… (www.silentfilm.org)

() V. Vale’s review of JOHN WATERS Art Show at Rena Bransten, May 27, 2010: “John Waters made himself accessible to his “admirers” by continually circling through the crowds at his Art Opening at Rena Bransten Gallery tonight, posing with people for photos, and being generally gracious and personable. Great subtle-patterned-sharkskin jacket; positively oracular orange winklepickers. John’s taken Warhol-era Pop Art into New Territories, e.g., transmuting 70s Gay Underground Iconic Signifiers like RUSH into post-Oldenburgian sculptures. His deconstructions of favorite movie stars simultaneously celebrate and lacerate. There’s a lot to ponder here…deep waters below the surface froth; tragedy below the glam and glimmer. Remember that All Life Comes Out of Death! What fun!”

() May 14/June 4 Attended the opening & closing parties curated by Conceptual Artist Chris Farris at The Space Between Gallery, 1 Columbus Ave. (www.spacebetween.info) Saw a compelling trio led by “Emily,” Lance Burden (check ‘em out). Much fun – Monte Cazazza even attended the closing shindig! Monte has a brand-new album, definitely one of the best releases of the year: go to www.blastfirstpetite.com and click under “Monte Cazazza” – you will not regret it. The darkest lyrics, the most sunlit noir Italian Western soundtrack music…

() John C. Sulak’s Review of The Mutants: FORENSIC REPORT / Dirk Dirksen presents a Dirksen-Molloy production. This is a DVD of San Francisco punk band The Mutants. It includes a full reunion concert from 1989, featuring most of their classic songs, as well as clips from earlier shows. There is also some recent interview footage with band members and other people from the early punk scene (including V. Vale). So you can see the band members age over the course of almost 30 years. Personally, I think they all still look great. I enjoyed watching this a lot and anyone who is a Mutants fan will too. I felt a bit sad when it was over, thinking about people and places that are gone, including the late Dirk Dirksen (who directed the DVD and did the interviews.) But it’s an important documentary, and the Mutants still occasionally perform live – I saw them at the DeYoung Museum last year playing at a party for the Andy Warhol exhibit that was open at the time. Maybe this DVD will inspire people to go out and see them. I got it from the San Francisco Public Library, so if you live in town you can check it out for free. Sometimes DVDs from the library are damaged but this is brand new and I didn’t have any problems with it. (Go to http://sfpl.org/ to request a copy and have it sent to your branch library, or to see if it’s on the shelf.)

() Got a gorgeous, compelling small book in the mail, once again confirming that Intelligent Minimalist Design can produce a thing of beauty with minimal $$. BE READABLE! BE BEAUTIFUL! It’s titled Perversity Think Tank & is available from www.supervert.com – Basically this treatise explores the boundaries and borderlands of the territory called “perversity” — cultural relativism is important here — and cites examples from Amish & Mennonite neighbors… (BTW, I happen to think that THEY are better equipped to survive the coming Soft Apocalypse than most of us. Talk about “living off the grid”… Yes, in the not-so-far-distant-future there may not BE any “grid” (referring to availability of cheap electricity and natural gas). Sure, a few people may keep their netbooks going on solar panels, but… we’ll see. I might welcome the return of the horse-and-buggy, but…)

But back to “PTT” – this book is like being served a bowl of caviar. It’s best taken a few pages at a time, as its frequently shocking thoughts and notions demand reflection and even recovery time. The book lives up to its name, with varying and parallel “narratives.” There are a plethora of good “quotes” scattered throughout, like Kant’s “‘The beautiful in nature is a question of the form of object, and this consists in limitation.” In other words, there is a profound connection between beauty and boundary…” (p.93) Or, “The obsessive acts as though time does not exist.” (p.69) Without quotable quotes, a book cannot endure, and its author is highly suspect. Check out supervert.com’s other books…

() A complete run of Jack Rabid’s The Big Takeover (currently at #66) would give any cultural Rip Van Winkle a quick catch-up on the “best” body-shaking/head-bobbing music produced over the past 30 years. #66 contains an unreleased 1992 Ramones interview. Did you know that Steven King put on a Ramones concert, with Cheap Trick on the bill?! And that Joey campaigned in Kansas City for Bill Clinton? Order this encyclopedia-in-the-making (or better yet, SUBSCRIBE) from www.bigtakeover.com

6.  From Moritz, Greifswald, Germany (Stephane von Stephane will return…)

1. REVIEW OF The Book Of Eli: This is a late call to watch that movie. It seems like few people really like that movie. I can’t stop recommending it, but except for a small number of enthusiasts, everybody refuses to agree with me that this is an extraordinary film. I could start arguing by saying how nicely it captures that post-apocalyptic feel that most post-apocalyptic movies fail to represent: Vast stretches of a raped and abandoned landscape which still provides enough space for the characters to thrive and survive despite its superficial dysfunctionality. In that it is IMO better than Mad Max 2, a movie which doesn’t seem to be interested in depicting a sustainable world after the apocalypse. The soundtrack helps a lot to endow the imagery with that ring of hope that’s so very necessary to this kind of movies.
Anyway, some reject The Book Of Eli on the grounds that they don’t like this dark future setting. Fair enough. But totally unrelated to that, one has to acknowledge the deep symbolic references in it. (SPOILER WARNING. DON’T KEEP READING IF YOU HAVEN’T WATCHED THE MOVIE YET.) So Eli wanders around in the desert for 30 years with a book that obviously is meant to be the bible. Once you see the end of the movie and you find out that he is actually blind, you might say that his three-decade odyssey is caused by his blindness. But that is implausible if you take into account that everything he undertakes, he accomplishes in a skillful manner. Also he reminds himself to stick to the path and not to be diverted by helping those in need. But as it turns out, only when he gives up what is most precious to him in order to help another person he succeeds and finds the way to his destination. In one of the last scenes he crumbles under his injuries when he tries to cover the last couple of miles by navigating a small boat over the Bay to the island of Alcatraz. The iconographic impact is astonishing. Also without further ado, celibacy (as presumed by many religious leaders) is accepted from the outset. At no point you get the impression that the male and female leads engage in a relation that exceeds that of a leader towards his apprentice. There are many more points that need to be unearthed… You can complain about the apparently fideistic message of that movie but to do that you have to interpret it and that’s a task not to be underestimated.

2. REVIEW OF Sow: SOW is Anna Wildsmith with Boys. The Boys are Mike Watts (Pig), Raymond Watts (Pig, Psychic TV, the Foetus live band) and Rob Henry (Euphonic). DOG is Sow’s third album and was just released. Like its predecessors it comprises an eclectic assortment of instrumentations with outstanding spoken word-ish vocals. The genres and styles explored on this one are among others, Ambient, Jazz, Illbient, Trip Hop, Big Beat, Modern Classical and there are even some traditional elements. But the main reason for getting this CD are the strong vocals and deep, emotive lyrics by Anna Wildsmith. “The Kidnapping Of Anna Wildsmith” which might be considered the pivotal track on this album just illustrates that. In a surreal way it deals with the passing of Buster, Anna’s long-time canine companion to whom the album is dedicated. In contrast to this the other songs elaborate predominantly on interpersonal relationships, often with subtle sexual references. Take your time to listen to the free track VICTIM which can be downloaded here: http://www.i-absentee.com/sow/news.html (where you can also get the album. The track is jazzier than any track on the album but still gives a good impression of what mood to expect. Considering her forceful artistic output I feel Anna Wildsmith is far too unknown and deserves much more attention. – Moritz

3. The Atrocity Exhibition at Galerie Feinkost in Berlin. Here is a little note on that for the newsletter:

Just a short note: Recently The Atrocity Exhibition in Berlin Galerie Feinkost ended. This show was a rather small one. Nonetheless it is yet another example for the global and refreshing albeit posthumous interest in J.G. Ballard. A continuously inflating and deflating plastic bottle provided the aural background for a couple of paintings, photographs and short films. Among the artists some need to be mentioned:

Anetta Mona Chi?a & Lucia Tká?ová: http://www.chitka.info/ (See the last two items – great works reflecting (?) the setting and blocking in p-rnography.)
Steve Rowell: See the second row of photographs at the gallery’s page: http://tinyurl.com/y828rkt
Annika Larsson: http://www.annikalarsson.com/Untitledframeset-12.htm (A nicely done, sterile blood play video.)

4. The sports is called “Jugger” and there are leagues at least in Ireland, Costa Rica, Australia and Germany. Don’t know about the States. The movie they are referring to is “Salute To The Jugger”. Here is the vintage trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6qckMHp7wU
The new M.I.A. song “Born Free” – nice video, one censorship attempt by YouTube: www.miauk.com

7. RECOMMENDED LINKS (send some!)

() Our pal Jack Rabid has a radio show:

() DARK FUTUREWORLD: http://www.prisonplanet.com/austerity-fascism-is-coming-and-it-will-be-brutal.html

() They Are Purposely Killing the Gulf – J. Speer-Williams
http://dprogram.net/2010/05/17/they-are-purposely-killing-the-gulf-j-speer-williams
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/05/100504-science-environment-gulf-oil-spill-dead-zone
http://charleshkerr.com/images/oil-disaster-surrealist-response-v2.pdf

() from Chris T: this is maybe a lot annoying, but definitely recommended watching.
-  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FSsztwbRW0&feature=player_embedded
-  http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/23/movies/23durston.html?scp=1&sq=i%20drink%20your%20blood&st=cse
-  http://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/10/now-reading-a-warhol-tell-all/

() from Ian Webster: Self-Publishing http://news.yahoo.com/s/ytech_wguy/20100604/tc_ytech_wguy/ytech_wguy_tc2420 – I Drink Your Blood

() from Chris F: Throbbing Gristle SF http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjatUNc7YuQ

() from Graham Rae: A remake of Red Dawn w/Chinese foes? WTF?
http://www.dailyfinance.com/story/media/red-dawn-remake-has-cultural-critics-up-in-a/19498984/?icid=main|main|dl5|link5|http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dailyfinance.com%2Fstory%2Fmedia%2Fred-dawn-remake-has-cultural-critics-up-in-a%2F19498984%2F
- http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/education/os-53-year-old-virgin-05-19-2010-20100519,0,6120937.story

() from Kevin Binkert ( www.smpmachine.com ): http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/31/dot-shot-sinkhole-in-guatemala-city/

() R.I.P. PETER ORLOVSKY (& DENNIS HOPPER): http://www.thebeatmuseum.org/rip-orlovsky.html

() from Moritz: NEW release by CABARET VOLTAIRE!  “The Tivoli vs. Cabaret Voltaire”. According to open source database discogs.com (see http://www.discogs.com/Tivolivs-Cabaret-Voltaire-National-Service-Rewind/release/2275371 ) Richard H. Kirk is the remix artist. Anyway here is a link to the digital release: http://thetivoli.bandcamp.com/album/national-service-rewind-2?auto=mp3-320
Anja dug up a German preorder site for the PHYSICAL RELEASE of that EP: http://www.infrarot.de/cabaret-volataire-vs-the-tivoli/national-service-rewind/2006537

() from VV: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdTCeceKu-s (Bunny & Bull-enjoy!)
- http://www.boingboing.net/2010/06/08/crime-in-san-francis.html#mor

() From Eva Lake:  http://www.lovelake.org/target_photomontages.htm

() From SM Gray: http://www.pbase.com/lautreamont/revo_poets_brigade_anthology&page=1 www.telepoetic.com

() highly recommended: 72 Tehama/2nd St, SF: fivepointsarthouse.com and toughtimesmag.com

() John Waters CURATOR of PHOTOS: http://www.marianneboeskygallery.com/current/

() Jens Stoltze (S Magazine) Brazil Photos: http://dactylfoundation.org/?p=2125#more-2125

() WS BURROUGHS “WORDS OF ADVICE” DVD: http://blogcritics.org/video/article/dvd-review-words-of-advice-william/

() BRUCE KALBERG PHOTOS: http://reservela.net/2010/04/reserve-la-presents-bruce-kalberg/

() Beat Memories: The Photographs of Allen Ginsberg (Exhibition/Catalog)  – review at http://bigthink.com/ideas/20461

8. QUOTES – See “Letter from the Editor” earlier

So good we’re repeating it: “You never change things by fighting the existing reality.To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.” – Buckminster Fuller

() “I’m a fascist about my work habits and I expect you to be, too…Rigid enjoyment of planning can get you high. Militant time-management… Discipline is a lifestyle that breeds power.” – JOHN WATERS

() Even though “Writing/Art/Poetry/EVERYTHING Must Be Made by ALL,”  **NEVERTHELESS**: “Making a book(art) is a craft, like making a clock; it needs more than native wit to be an author(artist).”  – Jean De La Bruyere.

9. Letters from Our Readers:

() From Andrew Bishop of London: Here’s a link to the catalogue for the 1956 This Is Tomorrow exhibition, which Ballard described as “the most important event in the visual arts in Britain until the opening of Tate Modern”. Sadly the images are rather small. http://www.thisistomorrow2.com/images/cat_1956/cat_web/FrameSet.htm

Hi Vale, I had a lot of fun visiting you and Marian during my trip to the Bay Area a few weeks ago. Thank you for the wonderful books! I have not yet watched the CCH DVDs, but am looking forward to them.

Today I took a first look at Dead Fingers Talk — the tape experiments show at IMT. It seems to be a very carefully curated show with a few gems.

Highlights include Classic Verbatim (by Matthew Appleby, Stephen Cornford, The Human Separation). Blank CDs etched with spirals were placed next to a record player and headphones. Playing the CDs on the turntable revealed a glitchy recording of Burroughs reading, with lots of skipping. Making records from CDs seems like great idea to me.

‘Conversation’ by Alex Baker and Kit Poulson: occasional noises emanating from deep within two buckets of black liquid placed on the gallery floor, causing surface ripples.

‘Ghosts’ by Thomson & Craighead: sound from the gallery wall, detectable only with the supplied stethoscopes.

There were two unpublished Burroughs pieces, ‘Her Primrose Laundry’ and ‘WSB and IS Stereo Experiment’. The first was my favorite: what sounded like recordings from television, with lots of discordant stereo ‘hello yes hello’.

I’ll be on an exhibition tour with the curator Mark Jackson next Saturday, and will send a fuller report. (Maybe some photographs.) – Andrew

() From Maria of L.A.: “I re-read this great excerpt from a book I have called Strange Glory. I thought you might like it:

“Our ‘everyday’ awareness of life is so limiting that we are as sleepwalkers and our culture,rather than shaking us awake, serves to perpetuate this state of somnambulism. Our ethics, morality and value systems are based on the idea that it is more desirable to spend our lives enslaved by material possessions that to struggle up through levels of “being.”

We are defeated not only by the narrowness of our perspective and fear of the darkness, but by our excuses. We believe that without habits, social conventions, routines we could not exist and so we hide behind them, but what we think protects, in fact oppresses us. Circumstances become our prisons, other people our jailers. We live in silence and squander our birthright. Even our brain betrays us in the name of security. It becomes a “reducing valve,” shutting out stimuli that, in our pursuit of everyday goals, we have decided are unimportant and extraneous, and so we are denied the full richness, meaning and wonder of the world. Being less than we are, we fail to touch life. Insulated by our segregated and attenuated senses, we feel, we see, we listen, we taste within predetermined limits… ”
- Arthur Koestler: The Roots of Coincidence (1972)

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
JUNE 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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Alvarez's sacrifice fly lifts Bucs over Indians

Pedro Alvarez's sacrifice fly in the eighth inning today lifted the Pirates to a 5-3 victory against the Cleveland Indians.

Andrew McCutchen walked and Garrett Jones singled to begin the eighth against reliever Jensen Lewis (2-2). Lastings Milledge bunted the runners over.

Left-hander Tony Sipp replaced Jensen to face lefty-hitting Alvarez. After falling behind 0-2,giuseppe zanotti, Alvarez lofted a fly ball to right field, scoring McCutchen.

The Pirates got an insurance run when Bobby Crosby's single drove in Jones.

Pirates manager John Russell was ejected in the eighth inning after disputing the call by first base umpire Bill Hohn on Russell Branyan's double. Russell argued the ball was foul; a video replay seemed to show the ball landed on the line just beyond first base.

It was the fourth time in his career ? and second time in a span of 27 games this season ? Russell had been tossed.

Branyan's double gave the Indians runners on second and third with none out and the score tied,chanel, 3-3. Brendan Donnelly (3-1) got Jhonny Peralta to fly out to shallow center and Anderson Hernandez to ground out.

Jason Donald worked a full count,chloe, then grounded to short. After being called out emphatically by Hohn on a bang-bang play, Donald jumped into the air,christian louboutin, hollered and threw his batting gloves onto the dirt.

Pirates rookie right-hander Brad Lincoln worked six innings,vibram five fingers, gave up three runs on eight hits, and got a no-decision. It was his best outing of the season after allowing five runs in each of his first two starts.

Neither starting pitcher was efficient in the first inning ? Lincoln threw 32 pitches and Indians righty Justin Masterson threw 37 ? and each yielded two runs on three hits.

Cleveland rookie Carlos Santana clubbed a two-run homer to right. The Pirates tied the game on McCutchen's RBI grounder and Jones' RBI single.

The Indians regained the lead in the third. Shin-soo Choo was nicked by a 1-2 pitch. Santana followed with a run-scoring double to center.

The Pirates nearly blew a great scoring chance in the seventh, yet still managed to tie the game.

Jason Jaramillo singled and Bobby Crosby reached on a throwing error. Andy LaRoche's sacrifice bunt moved the runners to second and third,herve leger, but they had to stay put when Jose Tabata grounded out to relief pitcher Rafael Perez.

With Neil Walker batting,manolo blahnik shoes, Jaramillo scored on a wild pitch.

ABOUT:

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Who knew I would dig korean pop so much?

It's ridiculously as to how FAST my upload/download speed is. So I am uploading stuff to share on the variety of music communities I am and shall do some link dropping here as well.

Some of my favorite BoA English tracks. hxxp://www.sendspace.com/file/t1chbv
(I wish Meri Kuri had an English version!) Intro to SM Entertainment hxxp://www.sendspace.com/file/j7vs7a
(39 tracks of singles from f(x), Girls Generation, Shinee, SuJu, etc.) I was bored and wanted to update my playlist, out of the 500+ tracks I gathered, these are the 39 I enjoyed/stood out. TVXQ - 29 Japanese tracks hxxp://www.sendspace.com/file/wxqxbf
(That's basically it, 29 of their singles/some b-sides from their Japanese discography.)

Since I don't really know MUCH about kpop, I have to say:

#1. It's so DAMN annoying that bands can have multiple names/spellings/variations. I mean it took me a while to realize SDSN and Girl Generation AND Shoujo Jidai are the SAME group. And what is this tvxq with their 200000 names.

#2. The repackaging-thing. Once I think I have a complete album on my HD, I realize it doesn't even have the single track I want because it's on another version of another album. Not cool. I was mortified by all there is with the SUJU discography. I need to thin that out and tackle that. I can only imagine it's all quantity over quality.

#3. Korean counterparts are much more sexual than their Japanese rivals. I mean, I've seen more skin/abs/leg than I expected, which I don't have an issue with but it doesn't help that I feel I am getting a glance of a 8 year old's gams. O_O. (when infact she's really 18+, they all look SO YOUNG!)

On the PLUS side all the pop music is just SO DAMN GOOD and cheerful and gives me major nostalgia of the older days when jpop was SO EFFIN' GOOD and it wasn't all r&b-ish. I miss the sounds of Ami Tokiko, old ballads from Shizuka Kudo, the vocals of Minako Honda and mah boys SMAP. I could go on, but I like pop when it's upbeat and fun; so far these guys are filling the void.

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Carla Gottgens/BloombergA Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. airplane takes off from Melbourne Airport,jimmy choo, in Melbourne,christian louboutin boots, Australia,tory burch, on Friday,Louboutin, Sept. 11, 2009. Cathay Pacific Airways has introduced seat belt-mounted airbags on its planes

Cathay Pacific Airways and Air France-KLM Group have begun introducing seat belt-mounted air bags in their economy-class cabins as authorities tighten regulations aimed at reducing the risk of fatalities in plane crashes.

All aircraft built in the United States since October must conform to standards designed to keep passengers conscious through an impact involving deceleration at 16 times the force of gravity so they can escape any subsequent fire.

The same rules will be introduced in Europe by the end of next year, said European Aviation Safety Agency spokesman Jeremie Teahan.

While many seats comply with the so-called 16g rule without needing air bags,chanel, which are installed in about 2 percent of seats, manufacturer AmSafe Inc. predicts they’ll become standard by 2020 amid heightened awareness of safety issues. The devices cost about $1,christian louboutin sandals,200 apiece, versus $25 for a regular seatbelt.

"The problem with our economy seats is that they have rigid shells and a head impact is more difficult to handle,miu miu," Cathay Pacific Chief Executive Officer Tony Tyler said in an interview. "Therefore we need air bags."

About 80 percent of plane crashes are survivable, and a 2005 study of 25 impact-related accidents by Britain’s Civil Aviation Authority for the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration concluded stronger seats and better restraints could have averted 62 fatalities.

Safety rules for seats introduced in the United States in 1988 and Europe in 1992 applied to only new models, exempting planes including the Boeing 747 jumbo jet and Airbus SAS A320 that were introduced earlier but are still in production.

Under the stricter rules, all new-build planes must be 16g compliant.

AmSafe’s air bags are stored in the seatbelt and inflate within 90 milliseconds of a crash, expanding up and away from a passenger to accommodate head movement in all directions.

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JASON BONHAM’S LED ZEPPELIN EXPERIENCE LIFTS OFF.

The first night of Jason Bonham’s Led Zeppelin Experience kicked off at the Encana Events Centre in Dawsons Creek, British Columbia on the 8th October with an inspiring set list of Zeppelin classic that featured Immigrant Song, Celebration Day, I Can’t Quit You, Your Time is Gonna Come, Babe I’m Gonna Leave You, Dazed And Confused, Lemon Song, Thank You, Moby Dick. Friends, Since I’ve Been Loving You, Black Dog, Ocean, Song Remains the Same, I’m Gonna Crawl, When The Levee Breaks, Stairway To Heaven, Kashmir, Whole Lotta Love and Rock & Roll.

Joining Jason on stage was James Dylan on vocals, Tony Catania on guitar, Stephen LeBlanc on Guitar, Lap Steel, Keys and Michael Devin on bass.

The whole performance was interspersed with private family footage and John performing with Led Zeppelin on huge video screens. Jason also got to play alongside his father on Moby Dick and When The Levee Breaks via the screens. Other highlights also included I’m Gonna Crawl, Your Time Is Gonna Come and The Ocean. Adding a narrative between songs, a sometimes emotional Jason fulfilled his lifelong dream to show to the world not only the world’s greatest drummer but also his father.

He is a short sample.

The tour continues right across America in the coming weeks, anyone one attending any of the shows please send in your reviews, pics etc to the normal address or dirct to garyfoy@live.co.uk

Thanks to Terry S for the info.

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