Pranks, Punk and Industrial Culture from V. Vale

Wed Aug 27, 730pm FREE RE/Search party. RE/Search books will be on sale and we will show a Counter Culture Hour video on the topic of “Punk Rock .” Million Fishes Gallery, corner Bryant / 23rd St, Mission district, S.F. — hosted by Ulrika Andersson. Come meet us and “hang out”!

WELCOME TO V. VALE’s RE/SEARCH NEWSLETTER #74, August 2008. HERE’S THE NEWS FROM SAN FRANCISCO… ALL READERS ARE INVITED TO SEND CONTRIBUTIONS AND FEEDBACK! And subscribe to our blog at www.researchpubs.com and MySpace
(Sorry about there being NO July eNewsletter!)

**IF YOU LIVE IN BAY AREA, PLEASE **REPLY** TO THIS NEWSLETTER IF YOU WISH TO RECEIVE LAST-MINUTE LOCAL NEWS OF RE/SEARCH-recommended EVENTS! In subject line please write “local subscribe”

CONTENTS:
A.  Please contribute (that means YOU) to Todd Blair’s “Gear Wall.” (Todd was an SRL member badly injured AFTER the SRL Amsterdam Show Sept 07.) If you contribute $50, you get a signed copy of Industrial Culture Handbook or Pranks **HARDBACK**; $25 gets you a “Louder Faster Shorter” or SRL-V1 DVD. Actually, any amounts welcome - you will receive RE/Search “stuff” and all money goes to Todd - just call me at 415.362.1465 to make a “custom contribution” and arrange your “reward” - it could include the not-for-sale SRL’s V1 DVD (3-minute) features the V1, brought there on a flatbed truck and fired off on 16th Street in the Mission District of San Francisco. Send paypal payments to info@researchpubs.com, checks to RE/Search, call or email for credit card contributions. Thanks very much in advance! Go to www.toddblair.wordpress.com for more details about Todd and go to http://www.toddnow.org/1wall25g_hp.html for details about the “Gear Wall.” Todd went home last week; hooray! Now a long recovery stretches ahead and he and wife Alex needs all your support…

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1. SUN AUG 3, 7-10pm free! Winston Smith Art Opening at 417 S. Van Ness/15th St, S.F.
1A. THUR AUG 7, 7:30PM: the San Francisco debut of “FLICKER” starring Brion Gysin, W.S. Burroughs, Genesis P-Orridge, Iggy Pop, etc. See it on the big screen at Yerba Buena Arts Center, Howard/4th St, S.F.! “THIS IS A “MUST - BE THERE!” - V. Vale!
2. Sat AUG 9, 6:30pm: RE/Search’s “COUNTER CULTURE HOUR” (with host V. Vale). S.F. Cable Channel 29, 2nd Sat of month, 6:30pm (set your recorder). Or go to http://www.accessf.org - link to “access 1″ at showtime. Tonight: “Punk 77 Panel Night” at Beyond Baroque, Los Angeles. NOW simulcast on-line - You can see it wherever you are. http://www.accessf.org - click on “channel 1″ - September begins our new season of programs!
2A. Sun Aug 10 6pm, FREE. SFAI main auditorium: V. Vale on “Creativity” panel, PAHFEST.
2B. Mon Aug 11 8-11pm. FREE. V. Vale plays piano at HOMESTEAD, Folsom/19th St. Email what songs you want to sing and i’ll try to learn ‘em (no Bartok please!) to info@researchpubs.com, or call 415.362.1465. Bring your friends! Bring song lyrics!
3. Aug 27, 730pm. Meet RE/SEARCH at Million Fishes, 2501 Bryant/23rd St. FREE! A party featuring a Counter Culture Hour episode of our Punk 77 Panel at Beyond Baroque, L.A. Guaranteed fun! Beverages; RE/Search books on sale, too.
4. Wed Aug 6, 730pm - V. Vale plays piano accompanying a 55-minute silent film debut by Lanny Baugniet at HYPNODROME, 575 10th St/Bryant, S.F. Vale also plays piano at HYPNODROME’s “THEODORA SHE-BI-TCH OF BYZANTIUM” play Fri nights, Aug 8 and 15, 7:30pm. Lots of free parking!
5. OTHER FORTHCOMING EVENTS.
5A. Stephane von Stephane column
6. What We’ve Attended…
7. What We’ve Been Reading/Seeing/Listening to/What We’ve Been Sent…
8. RECOMMENDED LINKS - thanks to our friends Phil G, Ferrara, James McN-, Derek B. & Others
9. Quotes
10. Feedback from Readers
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If you’ve signed up but have not received the eNews: Please send your email address again! We had a not-so-good typist adding the email addresses. ALSO:
please add info@researchpubs.com to your ADDRESS BOOK. If you change your email, update us (and give us your “old” email address to delete). Lastly, forward this 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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PRE-ORDER OUR NEXT 2 RE/SEARCH BOOKS AND RECEIVE A DISCOUNT - 1st Copies hot off the press sent to you ASAP:
() BURNING MAN LIVE! $25 - preorder only $20 plus $5 domestic shipping ($15 overseas)
This is a 13-year collection of “P*ss Clear” zine, which was actually produced, printed and distributed right there on the playa during Burning Man! Gives a great feel for the event, whether you’ve ever been there or not. With sarcastic wit the editor/producer guides you through the sand-filled cacophony of stimulation, madness, fire and frenzy.
() LEARY ON DRUGS $20 - preorder only $15 plus $5 domestic shipping ($15 overseas)
Years after his death, Leary’s writings are still insightful and refreshing. This is a fully-authorized, from-the-official-archive- collection of writings and transcribed presentations. It was edited by Hassan I. Sirius, under the guidance of Leary friend and sometime co-conspirator, R.U. Sirius, who also wrote an introduction. Over a dozen seldom-seen photos from Leary’s life also included.

BUY A RE/SEARCH GIFT FOR SOMEONE:

() RE/Search LOGO T-shirt - Two styles: Red Logo $25, and Red/White Logo $25.
() NEW: PRANKS **HARDBACK beautiful yellow endpapers LIMITED EDITION $40** - Paperback on glossy paper $25
() NEW: BURROUGHS, GYSIN, TG beautiful w/red endpapers, HARDBACK 500 made $40
() NEW: INDUSTRIAL CULTURE HANDBOOK beautiful w/purple endpapers $40
() To order: info@researchpubs.com, call 415-362-1465, or order on-line from http://www.researchpubs.com. V. Vale will autograph/inscribe/personalize upon request.

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1. SUN AUG 3, 7-10pm free! Winston Smith Art Opening at Glamarama, 417 S. Van Ness/15th St, S.F. Nuff said! www.glamarama.com

1A. THUR AUG 7: Thanks to Joel Shepard, YBCA Curator: the San Francisco debut of Nik Sheehan’s “FLICKER” starring Brion Gysin, William Burroughs, Genesis P-Orridge, Iggy Pop, Marianne Faithfull, Ken Anger, DJ Spooky, etc. See it on the big screen! Super-highly recommended by V. Vale. THIS IS A MUST! See full reviews at http://www.sfweekly.com/events/flicker-1107519/  and http://www.flickerflicker.com/flash/TheStory/TheStory.html  http://www.ybca.org/tickets/production/view.aspx?id=6833

Here’s a little paragraph sent by Joel: “The dream machine looks simple enough: A light bulb, a motor, and a rotating cylinder. Just close your eyes, and wait for the visions to come. The dream machine offers a drugless high that its creator – poet, artist and mystic Brion Gysin - believed would revolutionize human consciousness. With a custom-made dream machine in tow, director Nik Sheehan takes us on a journey into the life of Gysin – his art, his complex ideas, and his friendships with some of the 20th century’s key counterculture figures.  Featuring luminaries like William S. Burroughs (in archival footage), Marianne Faithfull, Genesis P-Orridge of Psychic TV, Iggy Pop, Kenneth Anger and DJ Spooky, FLicKeR is a hypnotic documentary. (2008, 72 min, digital video)”

2. Sat AUG 9, 6:30pm: RE/Search’s “COUNTER CULTURE HOUR” (with host V. Vale). S.F. Cable Channel 29, 2nd Sat of month, 6:30pm (set your recorder). Or go to http://www.accessf.org - link to “access 1″ at showtime. Tonight: “Punk 77 Panel Night” at Beyond Baroque, Los Angeles. NOW simulcast on-line - You can see it wherever you are. http://www.accessf.org - click on “channel 1″ - September begins our new season of programs!

2A. Sun Aug 10 6pm, FREE. SFAI main auditorium: V. Vale on “Creativity” panel, PAHFEST.

2B. Mon Aug 11 8-11pm. FREE. V. Vale plays piano at HOMESTEAD, Folsom/19th St. Email what songs you want to sing and i’ll try to learn ‘em (no Bartok please!) to info@researchpubs.com, or call 415.362.1465. Bring your friends! Bring song lyrics!

3. TBA. Meet RE/SEARCH at Million Fishes, 2501 Bryant/23rd St. FREE! A party featuring a Counter Culture Hour episode of our Punk 77 Panel at Beyond Baroque, L.A. Guaranteed fun! Beverages; RE/Search books on sale, too.

4. Wed Aug 6, 730pm - V. Vale plays piano accompanying a 55-minute silent film debut by Lanny at HYPNODROME, 575 10th St/Bryant, S.F. Vale also plays piano at HYPNODROME’s “THEODORA SHE-BI-TCH OF BYZANTIUM” [great play; can’t say enough good things about this one] Fri nights, Aug 8 and 15, 7:30pm. Lots of free parking! Support local, independent theater — it’s as if RE/Search were to come alive onstage! For advance tickets: brownpapertickets.com or 1-800-838-3006. See visuals/reviews on their website: http://www.thrillpeddlers.com - a Bay Area Local Treasure, so support it and keep it here alive and well. They’re taking this show to NYC (the Living Theater) for four days…

5. OTHER FORTHCOMING EVENTS:

() AFTER-CRASS, independent documentary by RE/Search’s Marian Wallace has been accepted to the Raindance Film festival in London for its premiere in October 2008. Watch for details of tickets if you’re in that part of the world this fall. The 35 minute film/video documents Crass members Gee Vaucher and Penny Rimbaud’s 2008 trip to California. www.raindance.co.uk is a great resource for independent film makers as well as having festival information for filmmakers and attendees alike. Our personal fave - “10 Stupid Mistakes Filmmakers Make.” Last years judges included Iggy Pop and Mick Jones.

() AUGUST 2008 “Free Theater in Bay Area Parks” - by John C. Sulak

In August there are five different plays being performed in different Bay Area parks, and they’re all free! You can bring your family and friends, sit under a tree, have a picnic, and see a great show. And most are easy to get to by public transportation.

– Woman’s Will, who usually perform Shakespeare in the parks, are doing Bertolt Brecht’s political satire “The Good Person of Szechuan.” They feature an all female (and very talented) cast:  http://www.womanswill.org/

– Berkeley’s Shotgun players are doing “Ubu for President,” which is adapted from Alfred Jarry’s “Ubu Roi.” (The band Pere Ubu also took their name from the original play.): http://www.shotgunplayers.org/index.htm

– “Romeo and Juliet” is Curtain Theatre’s summer play. They’re up in Mill Valley, but it’s worth the effort to go see them because they perform in a beautiful redwood grove. If you only know “Romeo and Juliet” from the movies or from reading it in school, you’ll be amazed at how great it is to see it live: http://curtaintheatre.org/

– The San Francisco Mime Troupe is doing an original production called “Red State.” As usual it’s political and funny. They’re traveling all over the place with it, including a stop at the Democratic Convention in Denver. But there will be plenty of opportunities to see it in local parks: http://www.sfmt.org/index.php

– The San Francisco Shakespeare Festival will be bringing “Pericles” to San Mateo in August and San Francisco’s Presidio starting on Labor Day weekend. “Pericles” is not one of the Bard’s best plays, but it does have some great dialogue and can be very entertaining. And, hey, it’s free! So check it out: http://www.sfshakes.org/  Have fun! - John Sulak

() WANNA MAKE A 6-MINUTE FILM? DO YOU HAVE A SCRIPT? Check out www.PAHNATION.org  PAH Nation, a new media festival founded by Christopher Coppola, is coming to the Bay Area next month (August 10-17), and are seeking coaches for our Mobiflicks competition, where 10 teams from the Bay area are selected to turn their stories into 6 minute short films. The festival will provide the teams with everything to make their films: coach, camera/sound equipment, editing software/computer, and technical staff. Coaches will mentor and guide their respective teams to develop, shoot and edit their stories. Festival will provide coaches with an HONORARIUM of $750, and coaches must be available from August 10-15. Traveling across the US and abroad, PAH Nation is a new media festival that empowers every day people from the local community to tell their stories using digital tools. For more information on the festival, please visit www.pahnation.org. For consideration to be a coach,  please e-mail your resume to Moon Cho @ moon@pahnation.com or call 213-284-2269. Sun Aug 10, 6pm V. Vale will be on “Creativity” panel at S.F. Art Institute, main auditorium.

5A. Stephane von Stephane’s column on IRON MAN (movie):

When I first heard they were making a film based on Iron Man, I thought, “Oh great, this could be a military propaganda film for sure,” since the Iron Man’s real self is a weapons manufacturer, billionaire industrialist, etc. It would be just like certain types in Hollywood to turn out a pro-war piece to boost the military agenda.

Then I saw that Robert Downey Jr. was playing Tony Stark/Iron Man, and I hoped that he would not be in THAT film. Thankfully, it is not THAT film. Not so sure about the possible sequel, though. At the end of the credits (for those film freaks like me who wait around till the very end) we got a sneak peek at Tony Stark coming home to find a mysterious intruder (played by Samuel L. Jackson) from the secret government agency S.H.I.E.L.D. Some Homeland Security type thing. Who knows what’s gonna be up with that?

Now, I have to admit, as much of a comic-book geek as I am, I was never into Iron Man (more of a Daredevil type), so any geekier geek-a-zoids than me feel free to fill me in on the backstory. I also have no idea what the politics are of the writer/creator of the comics Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and those guys. I can’t really comment on this film based on whether or not it follows the  original intent or events of the comic book or not. All I asked myself is; is it worth the price of 2 and half gallons of petrol? And the answer is Yes. Yes, it is.

Just to watch Robert Downey Jr. do anything is worth the price of admission. Tony Stark starts out as a selfish, egotistical, brilliant, mechanically creative engineer international playboy type convinced that the weapons his company makes are for the good of world peace. Circumstances force him to change his idea of his place in the world and of what his legacy will be. Classic. We get plenty of the before and after behavior and it’s handled with perfect comic/tragic touches. For instance, he sleeps with a hot magazine reporter who interviews him and then he wants nothing to do with her the next day, so his longtime assistant Pepper Potts (played by Gwyneth Paltrow, whom I never think is going to reel me in as the love interest in any film, yet somehow she always does) is charged with showing her the exit. The catty reporter says; “So, you’re still JUST his assistant after all these years…” or something like that, implying that she hasn’t played her cards right to land the guy. Pepper replies; “I do anything Mr. Stark asks me to do, including take out the trash.” Zing! Gotcha.

And; selling an insidious mega-weapon to the American military in Afghanistan with an operatic display of himself framed in front of the gigantic explosion arms raised in a power & glory stance. Followed by him being escorted out of the war zone by some young soldiers in a hummer, he in his natty power suit, chatting up the female soldier smooth as the scotch he’s drinking. The soldiers get out the digital cameras to have their photos taken with him and are rudely interrupted by bombs blowing the whole thing to shreds.

He wakes up in a cave with an electro-magnetic device crudely implanted in his chest to keep the shrapnel from piercing his organs and killing him. The co-captive surgeon who saved his life turns out to be the voice of conscience cluing him that maybe his life to date wasn’t what he imagined. Now he must re-create his newest w.m.d. for the terrorists, they’ve collected enough Stark Industries products to make this possible. Instead he creates a prototype Iron Man suit in order to escape with a chance to change his destiny. The suit propels him airborne and into the middle of the desert where he wanders in a daze till his company hovers by in helicopters and picks him up. The company wants to hush the whole thing up, but Stark wants to call a press conference immediately to announce the change in direction away from weapons production. First, though, he needs an American cheeseburger. Who wouldn’t want that after such an ordeal? He has all the reporters sit on the floor to be more casual just as he is whilst eating the burger. Excellent product placement for Burger King — even made me want a cheeseburger. (Damn, I hate it when that stuff works.)

Naturally everyone is aghast that he’s done a 180 and from then on we don’t know for sure who is with him, or who is against him. We’re pretty sure Pepper Potts is with him, and in love with him. Nice little love story amidst all the special effects. As he creates a sleeker more powerful Iron Man suit and tests it, we get better and better effects. Particularly fun are the robots he has created to help him with his inventions, and all the hi-tech junk in his super bitchin’ Malibu house. He becomes the mad scientist down in the lab, obsessed. Very convincing. His new plan is to destroy all his own companies old weapons, in the meantime working on a new type of energy, which powers his suit. We are not really clear what this is but it is meant to be the new income source for Stark Industries, the larger version of the implant in his chest and without it he cannot live. Along the way, there is the inevitable nemesis and showdown, all of which are highly entertaining. Is it worth 2 and half gallons of petrol? Yes, and what is taking so long for that new energy source? — Stephane von Stephane

6. What We Attended (reverse order): See V. Vale’s blogs at www.researchpubs.com

() Fri Aug 1 Vale played piano at Hypnodrome, watched The Girl’s Guide to Dating starring Eric Tyson Wertz, THEODORA SHE-BI-TCH of BYZANTIUM, sexy film shorts, JACK IN THE BEANSTALK (Adult/”Socialist” version), OOMPAHPAH by Jef Valentine, and a great mini-concert by JILL TRACY, plus the terrifying blackout with ghosts flying everywhere. Fun! As Val Wallace remarked, “I love the Hypnodrome!” Saw Mary Lawler’s sister “Therese” - have hardly seen her since the Punk Rock Seventies…

() Thur July 31 Naut Humon & Babalou over - discuss pros/cons of moving to Berlin. Found out “the hard way” that the North Beach Police Station public garage closes at 10pm, and doesn’t open til 10am. Overnight parking costs $26. So beware! Naut stayed over in a guest room.

() Wed July 30: Ulrika Andersson hosts RE/Search Party; shows RE/SEARCH video w/Jerry Casale, Johanna Went and Graeme Revell. Free. “John” (robot maker) helps project the video.

() Sat July 26: PIONEERS OF PUNK at Fillmore, Program order: Target Video (Joe Rees + Jill Hoffman - Jackie was unfortunately unable to attend), Negative Trend, Mutants, Avengers, Flipper, all emceed by Neil Hamburger. Great evening, from 7PM til 3AM. Too bad it wasn’t sold out, because Sally Mutant remarked that she didn’t think she’d do any more “Mutants reunion” shows (she comes all the way out from NYC). Our response: “NO — Never Say Never!” 65 Minutes of Flipper’s music was called by Ted Falconi “Ouroborous” and by RE/Search: “Trance Churn.” Also videotaped Joe, Jill, & Sally Mutant earlier in the day for future episodes of The Counter Culture Hour. Look for a fuller report by Stephane von Stephane, next newsletter.

() Fri July 25 Cliff Roman (Weirdos guitarist) and V Vale play QUEENS NAILS art opening (after Vale plays piano at Hypnodrome). 4 Songs: Search & Destroy, Holiday in Cambodia, Blitzkrieg Bop and Mongoloid - sung by guest vocalist BEE. Very DADA, as we don’t think BEE had ever heard any of the songs before. Very Punk Rock, too. Tentative new band name: DESTROY ALL MUSIC. Thanks to curator, Julio.

() Sat-Sun July 19-20 SF ZINES FEST at 9th Ave/Lincoln Way. AIDSWALK traffic jam. Fun! SUN 3PM went to TODD BLAIR BENEFIT at Rhythmix in Alameda - great event, super crowd. Beautiful Todd Blair Gear Wall actually works! Matt Heckert DJs. Too much to detail right now, but photos on Flickr.

() July 16 Ben and Susan from Chicago visit. Very smart and fun folks - gives hope to meet souls like them. Finally someone visited! You can have the specialty one-to-one bookfair experience if you come by the office!

() Sun July 13 Crafts Fair at Fort Mason - see the incredible, dazzling, wholesome, fun MUCCA PAZZA “Astounding Circus Punk Marching Band” from Chicago. (google ‘em) 20-30 people! imagine keeping a group of that size together… They pay homage to our local, pioneering EXTRA ACTION MARCHING BAND, and deliberately try to be different… Funny, another marching band from Providence, R.I. was here recently: What Cheer Brigade. And, Hot Pink Feathers now boasts their own mini marching band. Is this a micro-movement?

() Tue July 8 Eneko from Spain, punk band NCC, visits. His band played with the ZEROS a few years ago in Spain. His encyclopedic knowledge of the early SF bay area punk scene belies his youth! He is a huge LEWD fan.

() Read in New York Times about 2 (separate) couples who had sex Every Day for 100 days / a year (to spark the marriage, presumably) …and then wrote books about it. Now here IS something to try at home!

June 29-July 1 Take the great, fabulous, cheap ‘California Shuttle Bus” - http://www.cashuttlebus.com/ - to Los Angeles and stay with our friend David C. Next day visit Laurie Steelink at Track 16 and see the very impressive art of MONDONGO from Argentina being installed. It’s hard to get the impact from a still photograph, but they are making huge scenic mosaics using all order of “pieces” from pin-sized strips of plasticine to mirrors,  crackers to disney-stickers.  See images here:
http://www.track16.com/exhibitions/2008-07-05-mondongo_gaslighting/photos_installation.php
That night Gary C, David & Cousin Gail drove us to the Disney Hotel for an independent publishers exhibit, American Library Association Convention. Great desserts. Next day we take the California Shuttle Bus back to S.F. It only cost us $12 each way per person, and is described as an “upscale bus” which was way more fun than driving OR flying. Recommended for your next trip between SF and LA. Advance booking and more than one traveler all subtract from the list price of $45 per ticket per way…

7. What We’ve Been Reading/Seeing/Listening to/What We’ve Been Sent: see V. Vale’s blog at www.researchpubs.com

() COMING SOON: JEAN JACQUES PERREY’s new CD (w/Dana Countryman), DESTINATION SPACE. Order it from www.jean-jacquesperrey.com, or go to http://tinyurl.com/6onkkl Again, we at RE/Search have played his CD “Circus of Life” at least 100 times - it’s a total classic; in fact, all of JJP’s work is “classic.” The Hypnodrome plays it regularly, too, after hours. OCT 1 **Jean-Jacques Perrey (w/Dana Countryman) will play one live show in NYC at le Poisson Rouge, 158 Bleecker St, NYC 11205 (18+), 7pm. Contact Justin Kantor AT 212.796.0741, or info@lprnyc.com. OR CALL 212-505-FISH. OCT 3 MONTREAL SHOW!!

() Cut-Outs and Cut-Ups: Hans Christian Andersen and William Seward Burroughs, ed, by Hendel Teicher - artbook (google to find it)

() ALLAN KAPROW new big artbook thanks to Charles Gatewood, who met him. Cliff Roman, WEIRDOS founder/guitarist, took a class from him. (google to find it)

() THE BIG TAKEOVER #62 with V. Vale interview (part one), Michael Stipe, and MORE: www.bigtakeover.com. Jack Rabid continues his decades-long zine production. He’s now gearing up to interview DEVO-founder, Jerry Casle for the next bi-annual release.

8. RECOMMENDED LINKS - thanks to our friend Phil G, Ferrara, James McN-, & Others who sent us the below:

() the long awaited (?!) new moju-video is here: http://www.moju-video.com/untitled3project.html but it is still mute…so, please have a look and feel free to do your own soundtrack. just get in touch to know more and don’t hesitate to forward the link - hope to hear from you soon - thanks & greetings
michel. http://www.moju-video.com - http://www.youtube.com/mojuvideo - moju@moju-video.com

() “John Waters was guest on Wait, Wait: http://www.npr.org/programs/waitwait/
PS - I just saw the new “Hairspray” (good, but lacks the charm of the original). Waters made a Hitchcockesque cameo of about ten seconds; Tracy is walking down the street singing, and you see him walk by in a trench coat, and flashes people. I keep trying to explain to my wife that he’s not really a per-vert in real life, but it gets difficult sometimes.” - Phil G

() Book burning: http://www.bookride.com/2008/06/tall-tales-from-trade.html

() Attack Ad:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuQD4-QjV0o

() “Novelty rap metal band, indeed: http://www.viruscomix.com/subnormality.html

() TV News Oopsies, pretty funny: http://gawker.com/tag/clips/?i=396651&t=the-best-of-tv-news-lip-slips

() Oliver Stone takes on G.W. Bush: http://tinyurl.com/5kx5sx - should be an interesting film

() “early Gondry: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5HOsnq_2j4 - my favorite surrealist director”

()”iconic image of the 21st century: http://gawker.com/tag/deep-thoughts/?i=395324&t=photo-of-britney-

() http://biggestdrawingintheworld.com/ - “It really is the biggest drawing in the world.”

() “The more you weigh, the more you pay: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080606/ap_on_fe_st/philadelphia_newspapers_fake_ads

() From Ferrara Pan: “America!”  http://www.youtube.com/v/sWS-FoXbjVI&hl=en

() From Suzy Prince - “Check out Nu-de magazine, Poke-in-the-Eye publishing ltd, Po box 587, London, WC1H 9WB  - +44 (0) 20 7833 0050 - info@nudemagazine.co.uk - www.nudemagazine.co.uk ”

() “George Carlin - another good man down (died June 23, 2008) - Here two of his best stand ups, brilliantly mixing truth and comedy, hitting the nail on the head. George Carlin on “The American Dream” - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJ4SSvVbhLw - George Carlin on “Voting”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0u6lCBnRoHQ  - http://greylodge.org/gpc/?p=1468

() from James McN: “You’re gonna love this kid/tyrant: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBVmfIUR1DA “Oops, this was all acting - I thought it was for real.”

() from Johnny S: “School officials pull insane prank and then deny it was a prank” http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25123570/

() from Derek B: http://www.wyff4.com/news/16570947/detail.html

() From SM Gray: “German TV commercial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZJ8-v7LdIo

() From Primal Jules: “This video is simply amazing!  It takes a minute to hit its stride, so be patient at first, but then it’s pretty much guaranteed to make you smile… It was sponsored by NASA .. and it’s a lovely testament to the beauty of our planet and the people and life on it!  Paz! http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap080722.html

() from Bruno R: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080606/ap_on_fe_st/philadelphia_newspapers_fake_ads
http://www.ninachildress.com/

() Great Bo Diddly doc: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qs8FJergjas

()”Iggy’s rider” - pretty funny: http://www.thesmokinggun.com/backstagetour/iggypop/iggypop1.html

() from Gil Hanson:   www.moviemusicplastic.com  - “Dedicated to ost’s and out of mainstream and curious records on vinyl…..and more!”

() from mako sano: http://wild-bohemian.com/

() from THIERRY NOIR: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Einst%C3%BCrzende_Neubauten

BerlinNow.part 1.rar
95.77 MB
http://yourfiles.biz/?d=48BEDF0B24

BerlinNow.part 2.rar
95.77 MB
http://yourfiles.biz/?d=CD24ADDF2

BerlinNow.part 3.rar
95.77 MB
http://yourfiles.biz/?d=6F5606FA4

BerlinNow.part 4.rar
95.77 MB
http://yourfiles.biz/?d=FAD23F5D4

BerlinNow.part 5.rar
05.30 MB
http://yourfiles.biz/?d=14394ABC15

http://www.galerie-noir.de

() from ROY CHRISTOPHER: http://roychristopher.com/summer-reading-list-2007

9. QUOTES:

() “You can fake intelligence, but you can’t fake wit.” - Oscar Wilde

() A disturbing bit of news: “Australian doctors have raised concerns about clinics offering vaginal cosmetic surgery, warning the trend towards so-called “designer vaginas” may be exploiting vulnerable women. The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists said procedures being offered included “vaginal rejuvenation, revirgination, designer vaginoplasty and G*spot amplification.”

() recent Chinese fortune: “Uncover secrets not supposed to be seen - this is your quest.”

() “The secret of eating less is to eat what you don’t like.” - M.W.

() “Be true to your teeth or they’ll be false to you.” - dentist met at a party

() “You’re not sick - you’re just in love.” - Ethel Merman song

() “He who knows how to be poor, knows everything.” - unknown

() “By dint of not following our nature, we have no nature to follow.” - John Stuart Mill

() “When you feel good, you feel nothing.” - Buckminster Fuller

() We’re greatly enjoying FRANKLIN ROSEMONT’s JACQUES VACHE & THE ROOTS OF SURREALISM from Charles H. Kerr, Publisher - given us by Tammy Smith. Here are some quotes from it:

() “All excellent things are as difficult as they are rare.” - Baruch de Spinoza

() “It is in the essence of symbols to be symbolic.” - Jacques Vache

() “…the grandeur of silence.” - ibid

() “…Vache conceived of an infinitely changeable model of the cosmos, not unlike the “pluriverse” that Benjamin Paul Blood proposed as an alternative to what he called “the parochial and suburban notion of the universe.” - quote from the Vache book cited above

() “All negation is also affirmation.” - Hegel

() “…contradiction is inseparable from being free.” - Jacques Vache

10. FEEDBACK FROM READERS:

() “Dear V. Vale - just fyi, i mentioned RE/Search in an interview here:
http://www.sf360.org/features/sfai-festival
http://www.sf360.org/features/sfai-mordake-and-week-two-reviewed-previewed
actually, i told the chronicle in their interview as well but that particular fact didn’t make the cut. Two of my operas have come from things i saw first in RE/Search: Mordake and Queer (the Burroughs’ Queer).  So thank you.” - Erling Wold, S.F. playwright/writer, Search & Destroy subscriber (so many years ago), and friend of singer Jill Tracy

() “FREE 411 DIRECTORY ASSISTANCE: “An occasional 12 second ad pays for the service. Check it out on the Snopes link and program it into your cell phone.When you need to use the 411 Information option, simply dial 1(800) FREE 411, or 1 (800) 373-3411 and you will incur no charge. This works on your home telephone as well. http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/nothing/free411.asp” from Mako Sano

() “DEVO SUES MCDONALD’S OVER HAPPY MEAL TOY - Quirky rockers Devo are suing the bosses of fast food chain McDonald’s over the use of the band’s likeness in a Happy Meal toy. The hitmakers claim the “American Idol” tribute figure, New Wave Nigel, was based on their famous image, as seen in their “Whip It” video. Devo bass player Gerald Casale, who came up with the band’s odd jump-suited look, says, “We’re in the midst of suing them. They didn’t ask us anything. Plus, we don’t like McDonald’s, and we don’t like American Idol, so we’re doubly offended.” - sent by Michael S. Pawloski

() sent by Hokan: “The Zen of Sarcasm
01. Do not walk behind me, for I may not lead. Do not walk ahead of me, for I may not follow. Do not walk beside me either. Just pretty much leave me alone.
02. The journey of a thousand miles begins with a broken fan belt and leaky tire.
03. It’s always darkest before dawn. So if you’re going to steal your neighbor’s newspaper, that’s the time to do it.
05. Always remember that you’re unique. Just like everyone else.
06. Never test the depth of the water with both feet.
07. If you think nobody cares if you’re alive, try missing a couple of car payments.
08. Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticize them, you’re a mile away and you have their shoes.
09. If at first you don’t succeed, skydiving is probably not for you.
10. Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish, and he will sit in a boat and drink beer all day.
11. If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, it was probably a wise investment.
12. If you tell the truth, you don’t have to remember anything.
13. Some days you’re the bug; some days you’re the windshield.
14. Everyone seems normal until you get to know them.
15. The quickest way to double your money is to fold it in half and put it back in your pocket.
16. A closed mouth gathers no foot.
17. Duct tape is like ‘The Force’. It has a light side and a dark side, and it holds the universe together.
18. There are two theories to arguing with women. Neither one works.
19. Generally speaking, you aren’t learning much when your lips are moving.
20. Experience is something you don’t get until just after you need it.
21. Never, under any circumstances, take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night.”

() “I wore my new Mr. Death T-shirt today and people loved it!” - Tim Macys, back East.

() “ARTIST CLEARED OF ALL CHARGES IN PRECEDENT-SETTING CASE
Department of Justice Fails to Appeal Dismissal”
Kurtz Speaks about Four-Year Ordeal - Buffalo, NY–Dr. Steven Kurtz, a Professor of Visual Studies at SUNY at Buffalo and cofounder of the award-winning art and theater group CriticalArt Ensemble, has been cleared of all charges of mail and wire fraud…” “Email: media@caedefensefund.org
Dr. Steven J. Kurtz: (716) 812-2968. Lucia Sommer, CAE Defense Fund: (716) 359-3061. Edmund Cardoni, Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center: (716) 854-1694

() RE: GORGEOUS SPK BOX SET from “Vinyl On Demand” of Germany: “That Frank is really ”Ultra-German” - meaning  perfectionist, fastidious, finicky and particular  to an almost anal degree about every little thing to do with his precious  babies. He is a really nice guy, too. That boxed set is an amazing document… It looks  great! A wooden box — very classy & w/ 7 live albums + 3 singles inside plus a booklet. Looks  great, too — typeface, production impeccable, etc. Hope you are all well & have a pleasant summer… - Sinan Revell”  To buy the SPK limited box, go to WWW.VINYL-ON-DEMAND.COM, write Frank at Frank Maier, Hochstrasse 25, 88045 Friedrichshafen Germany or email frank@vinyl-on-demand.com.

() FROM TED OLIPHANT: “Mabuhay Records Best of Vol #2″ will be out this summer after we relocate to New Orleans. Vol #1 will be off to you this week, ted@mabuhayrecordscom

() FROM JOHNNY GENOCIDE: “Hey Vale, I wanted to touch bases with you and simply say Howdy. No Alternative is working on a new CD and auditioning a new bass player (I’m doing all the bass work for the recordings). However, of greater interest (well, at least to me) is my current business: Rogue Chemist Labs. Essentially RCL is a design, prototyping and fabrication studio my wife (Jennifer) and I run. My background in chemistry allows us to take standard materials used in metal and plastic fabrication and make them do amazing things. We turned the first floor of our house into a research lab and digital workshop. I always thought music would be the only career for me, even though I tried my hand at teaching, but this business allows me to work with 90% of the knowledge I’ve gained over the last 20 years. My health is holding up and the cancer business I dealt with last year is still in remission. We’re going to build a website with some of our fabrications (I am currently building some stuff for some of the folks over at Dolby Labs. I do a lot of computer-aided drafting and illustration for my work and would like to show you some of the stuff. I am also doing a bunch of soundtrack music in my home studio. There’s no rest (or sleep) for the wicked. I look forward to seeing you one of these days. In middle age I’m more interested in those who are breathing than those in the obituary pages. Jennifer wanted me to ask you if you had a chance to see or speak with Chuck Palahniuk (she loves his writing). You always get to meet the really neat people in life (I’m currently sick of the word cool and thus use the word neat in it’s place). Sincerely, Hugh Patterson aka Johnny Genocide (jgenocidepatterson@yahoo.com)”

() FROM DALE HOYT: “Look at getty.edu and follow the links to my video excerpts. Mine inexplicably warranted a parental advisory. I’ve just finished packaging a 4-disc DVD collection. It’s called “The Remastered Dale Hoyt, 1991-2006″ and is $50, $35 artist discount. Shalo P  produced it. Order from: Dale Hoyt, 150 9th St. Suite 304, SF, CA 94103.”

() From RANDY GREIF:”Hey, did you ever get around to watching The Three Trials DVD I sent a while back? — Randy Greif”  RANDY, it’s on our “shortlist” to watch the next time we get a spare 90 minutes without guilt. Google Randy Greif The Three Trials” to order a copy…

() FROM  RICK STINSON:  “Hi Vale!

How’s it going?  This is your circa 2000 intern Rick (wow, that was nearly a decade ago). I’ve been living in Budapest for the last couple years, being financially minimal and traveling around Eastern Europe whenever I get the chance.

So, I was reading through your blog—which is great, but the way—and got all excited when I came across your December 4 2007 entry where you mention Goran Bregovic.  If you’re into that kind of music, I wanted to recommend this incredible CD comp of Balkan brass bands called Golden Brass Summit:

http://www.cdroots.com/hm-brass.html

Which documents bands that play at this huge Balkan brass festival in Guca, Serbia. I think it stretches back to the 1960s and maybe even earlier.  Tens of thousands of people show up, and there’s dozens and dozens of bands playing all over the place.

I actually managed to get to Guca twice, and it’s insane. I wrote an article about it at my blog (with pictures!) if you’re interested: http://thelittleblackegg.blogspot.com/2007/10/power-and-glory.html

I was gonna go this year too but the current political situation there has made me rethink that plan.

Personally, I’ve got mixed feelings about Goran myself—-he’s really talented, but many of his songs are just arrangements of traditional tunes that he slaps writing credits on.  I’m not so high-fiber that I can’t still enjoy his stuff, but some of my Serbian acquaintances have had pretty horrible experiences with him, claiming that he’s stolen stuff they’ve composed.  (Copyright law isn’t priority number one in Serbia right now.)  That being said, the Underground soundtrack RULES, and if it hadn’t been for that music I probably wouldn’t be out here right now.  And when I saw him at Guca in 2007, the crowd went nuts.

OK, I’ve gone on too long.  Just wanted to say hello.  I hope all is well! — Rick”

() A set of 8 SEARCH & DESTROY tabloids from 1977-79 are STILL AVAILABLE for only $30 from www.researchpubs.com - info@researchpubs.com, or 415-362-1465. Complete set of 11 issues (a few left) are $100 plus shipping. (C’mon; they’ve been archived for 30 years; imagine those storage charges alone!)
_____________________________
AUGUST 2008 RE/Search eNewsletter written by V. Vale & contributors. Newsletter and website powered by http://www.laughingsquid.com.
DISCLAIMER RE: V. Vale’s eNewsletter - If you’re receiving this newsletter, it’s because you **or someone you know** has sent your address to us, or signed our mailing list at an event!
RE/Search Publications, 20 Romolo #B, San Francisco, CA 94133. Tel (415) 362-1465  Email: info@researchpubs.com  website: http://www.researchpubs.com  MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/researchpubs
–

We received the book “Grave New World: The Decline of the West in the Fiction of J.G. Ballard” by Dominika Oramus, published by the University of Warsaw, and we strongly urge you to pick up a copy!

Here are some quotes that we found interesting:

“Ballard’s fiction depicts what I am calling a “Grave New World,” a civilization in decline that, disturbingly, resembles our own reality, and whose days, despite its seeming affluence, are numbered…alluding to Freud’s late theses, Ballard shows that, subliminally, we indeed long for the end of civilization, as its demise is in accordance with some higher logic of the Universe.” (p.191)

“Ballard emphasizes the interaction of the landscape and the narrator’s mind-scape: his memory, fears, repressed thoughts. The allusion to Wordsworth introduces the idea that once the world used to be better, more beautiful and magical, and we felt united with it, belonging in nature. As in Wordsworth’s poem, in Ballard’s story, too, the lost splendor of reality (now regained in the beauty of crystal forests) is rendered in metaphors of light, transparency and clearness. In romantic poetry, the lost paradise is forgotten childhood, while Ballard uses this reference to describe the psychoanalytical concept of the pre-civilized paradise of the very beginnings of time. We lost it as a race in the processes of evolution, civilization, etc., but sometimes, a persistent feeling of deja vu makes us subliminally long for ancient epochs.

The beginnings of time and its approaching end are similar…Coolness and the progressing stillness of the affected entropy, the heat of death in the Universe, will occur at some point in the remote future, when all the energy of the universe will be spent: with no differences in temperature, no more work will be possible and all space will become equally cool and motionless. Ballard’s forests anticipate this state; they represent what awaits all life in the universe - inescapable death. This death is beautiful and peaceful as it is, in fact, a cosmic art of restoring the long-forgotten past from before all evolution.” (p. 214-15)

“The end of one particular civilization, the affluent West, turns out to be only a part of the universal decline: a gigantic, cosmic clock unwinds itself, the human race ends together with life on Earth and the universe itself. Whatever begins also ends and people, who, because of the anti-metaphysical character of our civilization, are estranged from the rest of creation and unaware of it’s rules, suffer their traumas - ones which will end when we complete the cycle and dissolve painlessly.” (p. 87)

“Another theorist whose works have had great impact on Ballard is Oswald Spengler. The characters of early disaster stories Ballard wrote in the late fifties and early sixties read Spengler’s The Decline of the West and are fascinated by his determinism in describing the inevitable end of every social structure. Such a biological view implies that civilizations behave like living organisms or species and their life span is pre-determined: at the moment the last days come, nothing can be done to save them from extinction. History is but a blind force and despite what people may do, they cannot overcome the inevitability of historical processes. The technological progress Western civilization has made and all the inventions and discoveries of science will most definitely not save the West from the fate of earlier great civilizations. Indeed, the opposite is true: material welfare and technological marvels are part of the great historical design and will “help” the West reach it’s end. “Machines,” Spengler argued, “simply proliferated, whether or not they actually benefited those whose lives they ostensibly enriched; they made servants of those who had once been their masters.” (Spengler 1991: xii)…According to Spengler, the moment a civilization turns into an empire, that marks the beginning of the extinction of this culture, closes the period of expansion and growth and introduces rigidity into its social and intellectual life.” (p. 46)

–Blog by Emily, RE/Search intern

V. Vale on BIAFRA’S 50th Birthday Party, Mon-Tue June 16-17, 2008, Great American Music Hall

June 17, 2008 - JELLO BIAFRA’S 50th BIRTHDAY (Okay, so he must have been born in 1958).
Woke up after seeing the Biafra Five-Oh spectacular (JELLO Biafra’s 50th birthday celebration) at Great American Music Hall, a work of interior art so beautiful as to now appear “steam punk” in all its art nouveau detail. We got in early and grabbed seats at the stage right balcony right next to the 2nd huge support pillar - perfect visibility for all the musicians — especially the drummer(s). Funny, we share two interns with Alternative Tentacles now (Jared Power and Emily) and Jared displayed our Search & Destroy Vol Two, Punk 77 and Louder Faster Shorter DVDs on the Alternative Tentacles “merch” table. I noticed that Biafra Five-Oh t-shirts were on sale for only $10, plus the whole hard-to-find catalog of A.T. CDS, etc. Funnily enough, there was also a petition urging San Francisco voters to approve renaming San Francisco’s sewer processing facility the “George W. Bush Sewage Plant.”

Went out on the main floor to talk to Meghan, Rick Prelinger’s (google him/them) wife, and was hailed by Mickey Creep, who now sports a shaven head instead of black curly hair. He was wearing a t-shirt. I hadn’t seen Mickey “Creep” for years. He told me he still got my monthly RE/Search newsletter, and especially enjoyed the “personal” stuff — what I read, did, etc. There’s a “lesson” there, I suppose, having to do with the rise of biographies/confessionals and neologisms such as “memoirist,” “diarist,” etc.

Around 1980 he had started “Creep” magazine (editors: “Mickey and Deirdre Creep”), and had once lived with Jello Biafra. Mickey had become a radical lawyer years ago — lived in Auburn (the home of Clark Ashton Smith, one of America’s greatest imaginative fiction writers) and a few years ago moved to Sacramento with his wife and two kids. He told me that he still has quite an archive of early “Punk” material — zines, posters, records, including a complete set of SEARCH & DESTROY tabloids — and deplored the seeming death (now occurring) of independent tangible media (books, records, videos): “There’s a lot fewer bookstores now, especially used book stores. I read about 3 books a week — that’s 150 a year, and in 40 years that’s only 6,000 books. But think of all the books that have been written.” I told him that last year alone almost 450,000 new titles had been printed just in America — how can anyone read them all, and how can they all be “good”?

Well, if in your entire lifetime you can only read 6,000 books, they had better be “good” if not “the greatest” — full of “eternal truths” and “lasting inspiration.” Which ones are they? The ones that urge you to pay attention to your dreams, to chance, to “do what thou wilt” without distraction and faltering, to cultivate your imagination, to nurture your obsessions, to think dialectically, to always extract what is the “justice” of a given social situation, to always be questioning the idea of “freedom” (with “responsibility”), et al. Using all these quote marks reminds me of where I learned not to be afraid to liberally use quote marks — which quickly function as a “distancing device” reminding you that you don’t really know what words like “Copenhagen” mean, even if you’ve actually been there. Guess where? From Babs Gonzalez’s great, classic book, “i, paid my dues.” His revisionism of the English language toward the goals of clarity, reflection and meditation, are both anti-authoritarian and definitely humorous.

But on to the show. First were the 1983 incarnation of The Melvins as a power trio (original bassist, drummer)  — they played only 20 minutes, but were “great” — a bit of a shock when they left the stage so early, but I realized “they” would be playing later on, with Biafra. (Actually, a different incarnation played; guitarist Buzz Osborne was the constant. Later met him backstage; he said he had the RE/Search #4/5 on Burroughs; Incredibly Strange Films; and the RE/Search PRANKS book.)

Next were LOS OLVIDADOS, who began circa 1982. Immediately I was impressed by drummer Matt Etheridge’s compelling rhythms and “beats” — which of course must have been augmented by bassist Ray Stevens II — drums and bass always provide an interactive foundation for a song. At first I thought the leader singer was Joey Shi-head of D.O.A., but his name is Mike Voss and he has stage presence equal to Joey S. As he wore a white shirt hanging out and tie, he “stood out” on the dark stage. The shaven-headed guitarist, Mike Fox, nimbly jumped around while savagely attacking his guitar and occasionally drinking almost a full bottle of beer, toasting the audience. The set was over all too soon. My overall impression was: again, great rhythms/beats. Good lyrics. So to sum up: the lead vocalist is a genuine character, and the band is outstanding — the kind of musicians who make playing instruments while jumping all around look effortless, easy, liquid-smooth. Their short set left you wanting more, which is a highly desirable reaction… It turned out that Alternative Tentacles has released a CD of LOS OLVIDADOS — it sounds great and my only regret is that it doesn’t have lyrics, as I like to “sing along” when I listen. And these are original recordings from 1981-1983, equal to or reminiscent of the Dead Boys or Heartbreakers, and some songs are evocative of the best of Iggy Pop.

Next up was DRUNK INJUNS — part of their personnel overlapped with LOS OLVIDADOS. The 10-year-old son of Mofo (Los Olivados founding member, not on their A.T. CD; and Thrasher magazine founder) came onstage in a Mohawk mask and throughout the set shook two maracas. The other five members also wore great masks. Their set began with a tape of “Indian war chants”… then the rest of the band joined in … again, just “great” songs and beats. Wearing ceremonial masks gives a lot of freedom to express yourself and also, like the Residents, you could have a career until you’re 90 years old and nobody would know it. And when you started “getting up there in years,” you could just hire younger people to “be” you… I noticed Mofo onstage videotaping a song with one of those handy new Flip Minnow videocameras — records one hour on a built-in solid state drive, and includes a USB plug which slides out of the thin case and plugs right into the USB outlet of a computer, simultaneously downloading video and recharging the battery at the same time. Under $200. (I would like one!)

Then JELLO BIAFRA came onstage with his new band, the AXIS OF MERRY EVILDOERS. Don’t want to jinx matters, but maybe for the first time in some 20 years Biafra may have a REAL BAND, able to quickly come up with seven new songs and arrangements, with everybody having enough “space” to express themselves with freedom while preserving a kind of “group unity.” Great musicians: Victims Family’s Ralph Spight on guitar, Faith No More’s Billy Gould on bass, and Sharkbait’s Jon Weiss on drums. Really, the whole set was quite mesmerizing. And with the Melvins the songs “Holiday in Cambodia” and “California Uber Alles” seemed even better than the original recordings.

Some people (who paid for both nights) got a special giveaway: a 7-inch of Biafra and members of Zen Guerilla covering Rev. Horton Heat’s “Speed Demon” and Frankie Laine’s “Jezebel.” The second night beautiful large silk-screened posters arrived and were selling quickly (maybe they’re still available from http://www.alternativetentacles.com ?). Also second night, MATT GONZALEZ appeared to introduce Jello Biafra — and his appearance reminded us to check out all the YouTube videos showing Ralph Nader and Matt Gonzalez. Those two will bring some genuine integrity to the Obama vs. McCain presidential race, showing us again how lack of information (as well as too much information) are the chief enemies of informed decision-making. Oh, did you not know that Ralph Nader was running for President with Matt Gonzalez as his Vice-President? Check out those YouTube videos…

Monday night Biafra appeared onstage dressed in a long crazy-patterned coat, cowboy hat, a long crazy-patterned shirt underneath, and a black T-shirt that may have said “The Meek Shall Inherit S–t.” Tuesday night Biafra appeared in a beautifully tailored “pimp suit” with “pimp hat” which he “bought in Philadelphia, although there is a pimp clothes store on Market St near 7th St in San Francisco.” Both nights, near the end of the show he bravely stripped down to no shirt — not many fifty-to-sixty-year-olds would dare to do that.

BIAFRA’s “AXIS” set almost seamlessly morphed into Biafra’s “MELVINS” set, with seemingly less than a minute for the changeover. For an hour the audience was swept along on a tide of one compelling song after another. There were some great beats and rhythms and guitar work. In the balcony, it was difficult to decipher the lyrics, so — can’t quote song titles. There was at least one genuine “hit” amongst the new songs. Second night Biafra was possibly inspired by an over-the-top performance by TRICLOPS’ lead vocalist Johnny who was in the audience 50% of the set. So, Biafra was also in the audience, being passed overhead while singing. As our intern Emily put it, “Biafra outdoes many performers in their twenties.”

TRICLOPS! did an intense set of progressive jazz / punk rock fusion music centered around the machine-gun-rhythms of drummer Phil, who (for good reason) performed in his boxer shorts. Vocalist Johnny performed with two bright flashlights, illuminating both the audience and sometimes his face — very strange, low-tech but arresting special effect. TRICLOPS! is Johnny (vocals), Phil (drums),  Christian Beaulieu (guitar), Larry Bothroyd (bass).

Another Alternative Tentacles band, AKIMBO, sported matching big frizzy hair — a power trio performing a short but powerful set of very intense, complicated-punk arrangements. Lots of head shaking on the part of the drummer and guitarist — fun to watch. Personnel are: Jon Weisnewski - Bass, Vocals, GameBoy; Nat Damm - Drums, PBR; Aaron Walters - Guitar, Vocabulary (from their MySpace page). There’s a very detailed, fun blog detailing the Biafra Five-Oh show (and the band’s contextual tour) on their MySpace page, written by Jon W.

Seeing Biafra deliver a set easily as exciting as any ’70s Dead Kennedys show was a kind of affirmation, especially in the context of that despicable lawsuit Ray/Klaus/Darren filed against Biafra; as someone put it Monday night, “Biafra won!” What indeed have those other three “Fake Kennedys” done that’s as blisteringly creative as Biafra’s new songs? If those three are so original, where are their new songs??! Biafra and Iggy Pop are role models for all “rebels” who reject the “live fast / die young” cliche, and want to ride off into the sunset having never given up or lost a certain kind of “edge.” (And never retired to the suburbs, or O.D.’d. either.) Biafra’s fiftieth birthday, Iggy Pop’s sixtieth — two of the best birthday concerts the world has yet seen. You only live once, and certain experiences are beyond monetary valuation, so if you missed them… Both Biafra and Iggy symbolize a kind of triumph over adversity and the mortal human condition — a triumph of the will, to protest against our brave new 21st century world headed, seemingly, straight toward apocalypse…

Alternative Tentacles staffers Jesse, George, Maiko, Jared, Emily, Patrick, Erica and others pulled off one of the best celebrations of this decade: BIAFRA FIVE-OH at Great American Music Hall. Funny how many of our best social events are made possible by people invisible and unknown to most of us! We think of the Andy Warhol prediction, “In the future, everyone will be famous for fifteen minutes,” and think how now that is virtually happening in the world of MySpace, FaceBook (and other social-networking sites still to come). Maybe everybody has an interesting life, if they could only express it and we could only read it…

An aside: for five days June 10-14 we were graced by the presence of Adrian from Montreal, Canada, who helped us on Internet matters. Thanks, Adrian! (www.thepopulation.ca)

The below was so worthwhile I felt compelled to post it as a blog or message. — V. Vale
1) Refuse false binaries, such as ‘yes’ or ‘no’. Opt instead to linger between opposed absolutes in gray areas, shadows, interstices, and soft underbellies. Mysterious and volatile, vagueness and abstraction can be provocatively uncooperative, resistant, and reticent. Abstraction’s simultaneous address and non-address of its subject, the latency and seeming illegibility of its meaning make it a model of agency and autonomy. One need not be readily understood nor immediately useful. Don’t expect to get anything right away. Easy answers are no fun. Understanding takes time, developing in quiet and often unrecognizable ways.
2) Claim and occupy time (and space) according to your OWN terms. Open it up. Question regimented notions of time that perpetuate social expectations of increased speed, productivity, efficiency, consumption, and cyclical obsolescence. The ineffable, often invisible and intangible, process of conceiving and making art alone in the studio can be a way to reconfigure one’s experience of time. Re-commit to abstraction that testifies to an interrogated logic of decision-making. Maximize time given to looking and thinking, minimize gratuitous spectacle and budgets. Art promises continual questioning, mutability, and delayed fulfillment.
3) As with time, so with space. Look for relationships to locality, particularity, and difference, as well as absence. Generate heterogeneity as a form of defiance.

4) Beyond announcing a political platform through slogans, physically embody a politic in posture and attitude. Find political agency in unlikely places and gestures. Consider softness, sponginess, resilience, limpness, looseness, exhaustion, collapse, wear, and being-used-up as rich political conditions. Prolong the recuperation and convalescence that follows exhaustion as a period of fascination and potential when so much is still possible. Represent the possibility of latent possibilities.

5) Dispense with the antiquated notion of ‘political art’ as separate from art. All art either advances or betrays a political climate and position. The question of politics is one of perception and recognition. Will you know it when you see it?

Compelled by vague convictions, I articulate these guidelines to myself. In doing so, I draw heavily on the ideas and words of Jan Verwoert and Bruce Hainley. I don’t presume to know their relevance to you, though I hope and trust you can identify that for yourself. We look forward to seeing you.- forest and brent, little tree gallery 3412 22nd St @ Guerrero San Francisco, CA 94110 415.643.4929 www.littletreegallery.com - info@littletreegallery.com - wednesday - saturday - 12pm - 6pm

Corrections/Additions TO 6/08 V. VALE RE/SEARCH NEWSLETTER 6/9/08

() CORRECTION: Wed June 11, 8pm (early show), DNA Lounge, 375 11th St, S.F.: CD Release Party for one of our favorite singers, JILL TRACY. Her new release: “The Bittersweet Constrain.” Uberviolinist Paul Mercer will accompany her, too! If you’ve never seen Paul, you’re in for a huge treat - imagine conjuring up an entire symphony orchestra and chorus with just one violin. www.dnalounge.com; www.myspace.com/jilltracy music.  The day was listed wrong in the eNewsletter– this is the correct date!

() Thur-Sun, June 12-15, Fort Mason, S.F. “RoboGames (curated by David Calkins, Simone Davalos, et al)  is the world’s largest open robot competition (even the Guinness Book of World Records says so!) “We invite the best minds from around the world to compete in over 70 different events. Combat robots, walking humanoids, soccer bots, sumo bots, and even androids that do kung-fu. Some robots are autonomous, some are remote-controlled - but they’re all cool! As an open event, anyone can compete - this means you.” http://www.robogames.net  - to see videos go to http://robogames.net/videos.php

() Mon June 16, 8pm, Great American Music Hall, S.F. Meet RE/Search and V. Vale - we’ll be there - at Alternative Tentacles’ Fiftieth Birthday Party for JELLO BIAFRA, Dead Kennedys’ founder/conceptualist, and Spoken Word Wizard of Truth. Jello Biafra will play with THE MELVINS and also with his new band, whose new recording our intern Jared Power described as “white hot.” Hard-to-find Alternative Tentacles records will be available. Come help Jello Biafra celebrate! NOTE, this program will be “repeated” Tue June 17 8pm at Great American Music Hall - so either go both nights, or if you can’t make it on Monday, go on Tuesday. A great time is promised. The Great American Music Hall is one of the most beautiful venues on the planet.

() Thur June 19, 8PM: Meet RE/Search at the PUNK FILM NIGHT at PFA, U.C. Berkeley. Location: Bancroft Way, above Telegraph Ave, across the street from Urban Outfitters. A limited selection  will be for sale (Search & Destroy Vol 2, Punk 77, 8 issues of 1977-79 vintage Search&Destroy tabloids, mint condition, for only $29; and Louder Faster Shorter DVDs); you can have V. Vale autograph them on request. And if you want us to bring something else, email us at info@researchpubs.com). This particular night will feature Target Video mastermind Joe Rees in person showing a selection of his classic Target videos from the ’70s. Series curated by Steve Seid, a member of the team that put out New Wave magazine (just one issue) back in San Francisco, 1978. We haven’t seen Joe Rees for nearly 30 years, and are looking forward to “catching up.”

() Thur June 26, 7-10PM: Vale on keyboards! Edinburgh Castle, 950 Geary/ Larkin St. SPECIOUS SPECIES #2 Magazine launch party. Free. A punk band, plus V. Vale’s “band” tentatively named BANKHEIST will play a largely improvised session with flautist/laptop musician Jun Ishimuro and as-yet unconfirmed guests; hopefully vocalist Talullah Bankheist will be present, or if not, theremin wizard “Barney.” Editor Joe Donohoe (who wrote the introduction to RE/Search’s J.G. BALLARD CONVERSATIONS book) has packed the new issue with highly readable interviews with Winston Smith and others; support local independent publishing! Beautiful apocalyptic silkscreen poster by Mats? Stromberg also lists on bill: Jennifer F, X Bennett, John Shirley [wow!], Charlie Getter, Happy, DI, Spiegelman. Come and meet us!

() Mon night 7-9pm June 30, American Library Association, Anaheim, CA: RE/Search will have a table. If you want to attend, email us at info@researchpubs.com

() Please help us to help Todd Blair!  RE/Search has pledged $500 to decorate a gear on the “Wall of Gears” for Todd Blair (injured SRL member and CCA teacher). This will be a kinetic sculpture made by Todd’s many friends and admirers. YOU can help support this community effort by contributing to RE/Search’s gear.
- $25 donors will receive a VERY limited SRL DVD — never before available — of “SRL AT THE LAB,” made by Marian Wallace (3 minutes). This is a documentation of a very funny SRL ART Installation prank).
- $50 donors will receive the SRL DVD plus a RE/Search “Pranks!” or “Pranks 2″ book (your choice of paperbacks, both printed on superior coated paper so photos are much sharper).
- $40 donors will receive a lim. ed. hardback of our Industrial Culture Handbook, on better glossy paper.

We are accepting paypal, VISA/Mastercard, check or money order — just write “Todd Blair Gear Wall” on payment. Our PAYPAL address is: info@researchpubs.com

Please help us to help Todd!

The unveiling of the Gear Wall will be July 20th, so more on that next eNews, or see link:  http://srl.org/shows/events/toddwall/
–
RE/Search Publications  20 Romolo Suite B  San Francisco, CA 94133
(415) 362-1465  info@researchpubs.com  www.researchpubs.com

WELCOME TO V. VALE’s RE/SEARCH NEWSLETTER #73, June 2008 - UPDATED 6/2/08! HERE’S THE NEWS FROM SAN FRANCISCO… ALL READERS ARE INVITED TO SEND CONTRIBUTIONS AND FEEDBACK! And please subscribe to our blog at www.researchpubs.com and MySpace
**IF YOU LIVE IN BAY AREA, PLEASE **REPLY** TO THIS NEWSLETTER (or write us at “info@researchpubs.com”) IF YOU WISH TO RECEIVE LAST-MINUTE LOCAL NEWS OF RE/SEARCH-recommended EVENTS! In subject line please write “local subscribe”

CONTENTS:
A. VOTE **NO** on PROP. 98** - forward to all your friends in California!
And VOTE **YES** on PROP. 99**! This is supremely important!
Save RE/Search! If rent control ends, RE/Search and many artists may be evicted from S.F.!
B. Funds asked for Todd Blair’s “Gear Wall” to be unveiled July 20th. We have pledged $500 (which we are directed to collect from our network of friends). RE/Search will have a gear on this “wall of support” for Todd Blair of SRL. We would be happy to accept paypal funds, checks or any of the usual payments to “share” our contribution, which will be a RE/Search logo-emblazoned gear in this giant artwork. More information: http://www.srl.org/shows/events/toddwall/
“Please join a world wide community of artists, machinists, adventurists, educators, purveyors of life and all that is yummy to build The Wall and to help support the immediate financial needs of Todd Blair and his incredible wife Alexandra Ismerio who is at his side.”
To contribute: paypal payments to info@researchpubs.com, checks to RE/Search, call or email for credit card contributions. Thanks very much in advance!

___________________________________________
1. TODAY! Sat MAY 31, 9pm-2am, 110 Capp St/16th St. Live bands Los Banos, SugarButtTiger and Telepathik Friend, DJs Zeljko, Pedalnoise, Deadpdal, dance performance by Derailleurs. $5.
2. Sat June 14, 6:30pm: RE/Search’s “COUNTER CULTURE HOUR” (with host V. Vale). S.F. Cable Channel 29, 2nd Sat of month, 6:30pm (set your recorder). Or go to http://www.accessf.org - link to “access 1″ at showtime. Tonight: Lydia Lunch/Genesis P-Orridge.
2A. Thur June 5, PFA Berkeley: LFS punk film by Mindaugis Bagdon
3. Wed June 18, 8pm, Meet RE/SEARCH at Million Fishes, 2501 Bryant/23rd St. FREE! A showing of Counter Culture Hour episode w/Lydia Lunch & Genesis P-Orridge, plus a live interview with TBA. Guaranteed fun! RE/Search books on sale, too.
4. Sat June 14, 6:30pm (pacific time), Cable Channel 29, San Francisco. RE/Search’s “Counter Culture Hour” (with host V. Vale interviewing Lydia Lunch and Genesis P-Orridge). 2nd Sat of the month. NOW simulcast on-line! You can see it where ever you are. Currently we will are having a rerun season, since now, finally, EVERYONE can see the show. http://www.accessf.org - click on “channel 1″
5. OTHER FORTHCOMING EVENTS.
() THRILLPEDDLERS.COM HYPNODROME plays through May 31 - support them! Fri-Sat Nights, 8pm, 575 10th St/Bryant. Lots of free parking! New program of plays start Fri June 13…
5. Stephane von Stephane column
6. What We’ve Attended…
7. What We’ve Been Reading/Seeing/Listening to/What We’ve Been Sent…
9. RECOMMENDED LINKS - thanks to our friends Phil G, Ferrara, James McN-, Derek B. & Others
10. Quotes
11. Feedback from Readers
————–
If you’ve signed up but have not received the eNews: Please send your email address again! We had a not-so-good typist adding the email addresses for a while before realizing (i.e. there is no address “@mindsprind.com” etc). ALSO:
To ensure receipt of our newsletter, please add info@researchpubs.com to your address book today. If you change your email, please update us (and give us your “old” email address to delete). Also, please forward this to your friends! If you are on aol, please make sure you can receive our newsletter; we get many returns from aol and yahoo!
—————

**NOW AVAILABLE**

() RE/Search LOGO T-shirt - Two styles: Red Logo $25, and Red/White Logo $25.
() NEW: PRANKS **HARDBACK LIMITED EDITION** Paperback: $25
() BURROUGHS, GYSIN, TG HARDBACK 500 made $40
() To order: info@researchpubs.com, call 415-362-1465, or order on-line from http://www.researchpubs.com. V. Vale will autograph/inscribe/personalize upon request.

() TUES JUNE 3 VOTE JUST TO SAVE RENT CONTROL! VOTE **NO on PROP. 98**! This evil Proposition ends Rent Control, and RE/Search & many Artists will be forced to leave San Francisco. This proposition masquerades as “emminent domain legislation” but some sneak (isn’t this illegal- it should be!) has tagged on a little sentence ending rent control for all of California. This will affect any and all rent control measures for renters, trailer park inhabitants, etc — Enough said. ALSO, for this victory to happen, you must vote **YES** on PROP. 99!! As they attempt to put conflicting legislation into law, whichever “wins” more than the other will happen… so NO on 98, YES on 99 — remember: no then yes.
————
SAVE RENT CONTROL, TENANT PROTECTIONS & AFFORDABLE HOUSING

Vote No on Prop 98, Vote Yes on Prop 99

Prop. 98 is an Attack on Renters
Prop. 98 Eliminates Renter Protections and Rent Control

Wealthy landlords/real estate moguls are spending millions on a deceptive campaign to pass Prop. 98 for their own financial gain. These landlords want voters to believe that Prop. 98 -dubbed the Hidden Agendas Scheme - is about eminent domain. But their hidden agenda is to eliminate rent control so they can make hundreds of millions of dollars by raising rents on seniors and working families.
– Click below to get the facts and information you need to share with your friends and neighbors…

http://www.no98yes99.com/go/get-the-facts/

**************
Statewide Campaign to Save Rent Control

No on Proposition 98, Yes on Proposition 99
If passed, Proposition 98 would: Eliminate rent control and other renter protection laws.

The measure would gut renter protection laws, such as laws requiring the fair return of rental deposits and laws requiring 60-day notice before forcing tenants out of their housing.

Click below for full details on how you can get involved…
http://homepage.mac.com/davegun2/SFSaveRentControl/
Statewide Campaign to Save Rent Control
——————————————————-

1. Sat MAY 31, 9pm-2am, 110 Capp St/16th St. Live bands Los Banos, SugarButtTiger and Telepathik Friend, DJs Zeljko, Pedalnoise, Deadpdal, dance performance by Derailleurs. $5.

2. Sat June 14, 6:30pm (pacific time): RE/Search’s “COUNTER CULTURE HOUR” with host V. Vale. S.F. Cable Channel 29, 2nd Sat of month, 6:30pm (set your recorder). We are accepting underwriters for the Counter Culture Hour. We have a backlog of interviews but are short on resources for editing. Please consider becoming an underwriter! You would get on-screen credit. The channel is beginning on-line streaming now! Please check http://www.accessf.org - link to “access 1″ at showtime. And Reuben — where are you? — email us: info@researchpubs.com. Tonight: Lydia Lunch/Genesis P-Orridge.

2A: Thur June 5 7pm: PFA Berkeley presents Mindaugis Bagdon’s punk film, Louder Faster Shorter.

3. OTHER FORTHCOMING EVENTS:

() FRI-SAT May 30,31, 7:30pm Patronize San Francisco’s very own Grand Guignol! HYPNODROME’s new hit “Flam-ing Sin” has been extended through May 31 (that’s tonight)! Fri/Sat 8pm, every weekend. 575 10th St, SF 94103. tel 415-377-4202. www.thrillpeddlers.com presents FLAM-ING SIN: LONDON’S GRAND GUIGNOL. Eddie Muller directs Noel Coward’s only Grand Guignol play: “The Better Half.” Christopher Holland’s “The Old Women” or “A Crime in a Madhouse” PLUS “The Blue Hour,” an After-glow Floorshow. Guaranteed greatness! Support local, independent theater — it’s as if RE/Search were to come alive onstage! For advance tickets: brownpapertickets.com or 1-800-838-3006. Great visuals/reviews on their website: http://www.thrillpeddlers.com

() Thur June 5, 8:30pm. PUNK FILMS at BAM PFA, Berkeley, CA– in conjunction with Bruce Conner exhibition. Mindy Bagdon’s LOUDER, FASTER, SHORTER, Richard Gaikowski’s DEAF/PUNK, and AMOS POE’s THE BLANK GENERATION. A must-see. Mindaugis Bagdon in Person, RE/Search Punk Books available. We hear Penelope Houston (Avengers) will be there in person, too! www.bampfa.berkeley.edu/filmseries/punkfilm - SERIES:

() Thur June 12, 8:30pm. PUNK FILMS. Lech Kowalski’s D.O.A. and Residents
short HELLO SKINNY.

() Thur June 19, 8:30pm. TARGET VIDEO with JOE REES IN PERSON. A must.

() Thur June 26, 8:30pm. Decline of Western Civilization with Penelope Spheeris
in person. Devo short MONGOLOID.

() Fri June 6, 6-8PM: Opening party for ROBOTICA: Machines and Motion: Toys. Industrial machines. Household helpers. Pop culture archetypes. Art. Who can be all of these and more? Robots! Artists will include Mark Pauline of Survival Research Laboratories, Al Honig, Kal Spelletich, Alameda artists Christian Schiess and Michael Schiess, Amy Jenkins, Simone Davalos and many more. Rhythmix Cultural Works ( www.rhythmix.org ) 2513 Blanding Ave, Alameda, CA 94501 (510) 845-5060
From SF to Alameda: take 880 toward Hayward, Fruitvale exit, right on Blanding Ave to 2513…

() Fri June 6, Dusk, Wienerschnitzel, 800 Soquel Ave, Santa Cruz: “Jan Švankmajer meets the Brothers Quay at Der Wienerschnitzel - A collection of short stop-motion animation films projected on the yellow roof of the abandoned and decaying Der Wienerschnitzel. Švankmajer is a Czech filmmaker whose stop-motion films are often surreal, nightmarish and yet comical at times. His movies often involve inanimate objects coming alive. Most of the Brothers Quay’s films feature dolls, often partially disassembled, in a dark, moody atmosphere. Their films can also be surreal and haunting.
– URBAN WASTELAND LOCATION Der Wienerschnitzel at Soquel Ave. and Caledonia St.- from Ocean Street turn onto Soquel Ave. (away from downtown) and the yellow peaked monstrosity that was Der Wienerschnitzel is a street past Branciforte Ave. on the right.
– BRING blankets, pillows, anything you need to be comfortable in the great outdoors, friends, food and drink to share. Donations to support the project are more than welcome. (We are currently paying for new equipment.)
– BREAKING NEWS, a new website, updated summer schedule, discussion, a GDI blog, do-it-yourself, email list, the works: www.guerilladrivein.org
– SANTA CRUZ GUERILLA DRIVE-IN is an outdoor movie theatre under the stars that springs up in the fields and industrial wastelands. Beyond showing great movies and bringing a broad community together, part of our mission is helping reclaim public space and transforming our urban environment into the joyful playground it should be.” This is a great idea for cities and towns all across America, just like the idea of making every city “dump” into an artist’s materials supply source for future art-making.

() Wed June 11, 8pm (early show), DNA Lounge, 375 11th St, S.F.: CD Release Party for one of our favorite singers, JILL TRACY. Her new release: “The Bittersweet Constrain.” Uberviolinist Paul Mercer will accompany her, too! www.dnalounge.com; www.myspace.com/jilltracy music

() Thur-Sun, June 12-15, Fort Mason, S.F. “RoboGames (curated by David Calkins, Simone Davalos, et al) is the world’s largest open robot competition (even the Guinness Book of World Records says so!) We invite the best minds from around the world to compete in over 70 different events. Combat robots, walking humanoids, soccer bots, sumo bots, and even androids that do kung-fu. Some robots are autonomous, some are remote controlled - but they’re all cool! As an open event, anyone can compete - this means you.” http://www.robogames.net - to see videos go to http://robogames.net/videos.php

() FRI-SAT June 13-14, HYPNODROME premieres new plays! Go to thrillpeddlers.com for details.

() SAT JUNE 14, 2:30 & 4:30pm, MEXICAN BUS RIDE presented by the amazing VIOLETTA LUNA and narrated by the charismatic/splendiferous GUILLERMO GOMEZ-PENA. Meet at Galeria de la Raza, 2857 24th St/Bryant. Reserved tickets $25 include tequila! 863-2441. GREAT! A guided audio tour of San Francisco’s Mission district onboard the Mexican Bus, Highly recommended. After Guillermo’s sardonically provocative history/culture lesson, you will have been “educated” to “see” much more when you revisit the Mission district.

() Mon June 16, Great American Music Hall, S.F. Biafra Five-0. Also Appearing: Jello Biafra w/ the Melvins, Jello Biafra without the Melvins, Drunk Injuns, Los Olvidados, Melvins play “Mangled Demos.” Presented by Alternative Tentacles. Word is that Jello’s new band sounds “hot.”

() Tues June 17, Great American Music Hall, S.F. Biafra Five-0 (Tuesday) Also Appearing: Jello Biafra w/ the Melvins Jello Biafra without the Melvins, Triclops!, Akimbo, Melvins play “Mangled Demos.” In case you didn’t know, this is Biafra’s 50th birthday celebration — time sure flies…

() Wed June 18, 8pm, Meet RE/SEARCH at Million Fishes, 2501 Bryant/23rd St. FREE! A showing of Counter Culture Hour episode w/Lydia Lunch & Genesis P-Orridge, plus a live interview (TBA). Guaranteed fun! RE/Search books on sale, too.

() Thur June 26, 7-9PM: Edinburgh Castle, Geary/near Larkin St. SPECIOUS SPECIES #2 Magazine launch party. Free. A punk band, plus V. Vale’s “band” tentatively named BANKHEIST will play a largely improvised session with flautist/laptop musician Jun Ishimuro and as-yet unconfirmed guests; hopefully vocalist Talullah Bankheist will be present. Editor Joe Donohoe (who wrote the introduction to RE/Search’s J.G. BALLARD CONVERSATIONS book) has packed the new issue with highly readable interviews with Winston Smith and others; support local independent publishing!

() Meet RE/SEARCH IN ANAHEIM, CA: Mon night, June 30, 7-10pm, “annual conference of American Library Association, Anaheim, CA: LOCATION: Wisteria and Terrace Rooms of Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel, 1600 S. Disneyland Drive, Anaheim CA 92803. We will arrive an hour early (6pm) for set-up. RE/Search will have a table! Alternative Media Reception. Join your colleagues (AK Press, Cultura Latina, CounterPoise, Library Juice, etc) for the annual exhibit of local independent publishers and alternative media, formerly known as the Free Speech Buffet, now in its 17th year. Browse or purchase selections focusing on local, regional and major alternative publishers that may not be found in the main exhibit hall. Sponsored by SRRT’s (Social Responsibilities Round Tale) Alternative Media Task Force (AMT). Enjoy desserts and a cash bar while you celebrate media diversity.
AMT provides a venue for small, progressive and independent publishers to showcase their materials and mingle with like-minded librarians who have come to the conference from all over the country (and who have library collection development, on their minds).” For more info go to: www.ala.org , http://libr.org/SRRT/ , www.libr.org/amtf/
Or contact Carol Gulyas, tel 312.344.7072 or Gary Colmenar, tel 805 893-8067. Or write info@researchpubs.com for more info.

() SAT JULY 5 BBQ Block Party/TRIBUTE to SPIKE and OLGA DE VOLGA (bassist from OFFS, VS, LEWD) at LENNON STUDIOS, SF, 12 noon-midnight, with bands AcuFunkture, Bad Posture, Fang, the Lewd, Society Dog, Urban Assault, etc.

() SAT JULY 12, 3-8PM: www.mechanicrawl.com presents an amazing-sounding event. “Spend a summer day exploring the mechanical marvels along San Francisco’s North Shore! See giant running steam engines, turn of the century automata, mechanical computers, an 8-foot-high planetary display, and more. Local experts will guide you on special tours & exhibits from the Mechanicarawl partners including Musee Mecanique, The Long Now Foundation, SS Jeremiah O’Brien, USS Pampanio - www.mechanicrawl.com

() On SUN July 20, 3-9PM: Rhythmix will host a special event to benefit injured SRL member and CCA teacher TODD BLAIR. For information on how to support Todd please go to: http://srl.org/shows/events/toddwall/

4. Stephane von Stephane’s column:

What follows is a brief excerpt from an interview with Nicholas Dobson, 34, co-author (with Karl Coryat) of “The Frustrated Songwriter’s Handbook,” subtitled “A Radical Guide to Cutting Loose, Overcoming Blocks and Writing the Best Songs of your Life.”

The lengthy title doesn’t begin to describe the concepts in this book, which is a guide to the Immersion Composition Society (a worldwide group of music-writing lodges) which uses the Immersion Music Method for writing songs. The IMM includes the Day Session (12 hours to write as much music as you can), 20-Song Game (a marathon of writing 20 songs in one day), amongst other tricks to force one out of writer’s block and into the company of other frustrated songwriters. Check out their MySpace page and official site: ics-hub.org

Filmmaker Annmarie Piette is making a documentary on the Society, focusing on music, creativity and the brain. She will be following Nicholas Dobson to Europe as he visits the Lodges there.

S.v.S.: Besides helping frustrated songwriters, this book could help anyone who has a creative block of any kind–

N.D.: There was a book called “The Mental Game of Tennis” that people from all types of disciplines use — people who do any type of performance. I almost wish my book were about fly-fishing; then it might be more likely for people to use it in different disciplines. But actually, people have adapted it for different methodologies. A guy is using [our book] for comedy writing; another group was inspired to create video games.

Our book arose out of my attempt to persuade Michael Mellender (Sleepytime Gorilla Museum) to form a band with me called Dobson Psuedostra — a small group of people who’d make a big orchestral sound. Michael is an amazing multi-instrumentalist — a musically prehensile berserker ecstatic maniac. He’s my hero, really. I met him at a show I was doing about 8 years ago where he and my future girlfriend were the only ones there! We started talking and — we’re both into heavy mathematical music. He later gave me a tape where he had recorded my band on one side and material he had recorded on the other. We started talking about doing an experimental metal band.

All my life I’ve had a tendency to expand everything into a system or federation or organization.

S.v.S.: What does that stem from?

N.D.: I have really intense A.D.H.D. — I basically can’t do anything without creating a system in order to make myself do it. I have a tendency to make everything into some ambitious global system [laughs], so I thought, “Why not have this entire giant organization of crazy angular math death-metal bands?”

We were batting around acronyms and came up with “Concept Thrash League” (CTL), and “Nerd Thrash for a Better Tomorrow” (NTBT). Michael does microcassette field recordings; he uses cheap band instruments like glockenspiels and weird stuff for percussion, and layers them to build music around… We were talking about using your mouth to make music into a microcassette recorder — have that write the song. Then later we were talking about our federation of bands.

S.v.S.: [laughs] An entire global federation!

N.D.: Right… and I remember just laying in my bed and imagining this vision of salons where people meet and make music together. Not bands per se, but just groups of people who pro-actively get together to have really productive parties. This future society would be spread out all over the place, where a whole culture of people were constantly getting together to be crazy and creative and prolific. I imagined all these people in a room together…

But then I thought, “What are we doing?!” I want some kind of assembly-line way of making music; I never want to THINK again! I never want to wonder where my ideas are coming from, or who I am, or question the meaning of what I’m doing. I just want to make music all day long, forever. And Michael responded that we would improvise. He’s really good at that, but I’m not. I began to realize that I thought about making music all the time.

S.v.S.: In your head?

N.D.: Yes, and doing nothing about it. I would drive to work writing great different types of music in my head, way more ballsy and interesting than what I was doing in my band. I was being so cautious in real life. I was being a sissy. I would wake up in the morning and realize that nothing ever got done. I had ground to a halt; I was running in place on a giant hamster wheel totally exerting myself, but nothing got done.

It was at that point that I figured out the 20-Song Game. So I e-mailed him this idea. And Michael responded all wild-eyed at the thought of trying to write 20 songs in one day. This became a major obsession with us for a couple of years.

For that first year we would meet twice a month, and that’s still part of the fabric of our lives. Michael really helped set the tone for a lot of the rules of the games we came up with, the ideas for what to do when you’re stuck, the rules you can break, ways of declaring war on your mental rules, your fears and reservations.

S.v.S.: So, in order to get him to make music with you, you created a Society of Music lodges, a world wide–

N.D.: –self-help cult!

S.v.S.: Clever of you. [Google to find out more about the book and its authors]

5. What We Attended: See V. Vale’s blogs at www.researchpubs.com

() May 2. Saw George Kuchar’s ORPHANS OF THE UNIVERSE - great music, cast and retro-futurist style. Underground masterpiece by the master of underground filmmaking (600 to date?).

() May 8. Aaron Rose, artist, curator, musician and photographer interviewed V. Vale for a forthcoming issue of ANP Quarterly. Google him!

() May 9-10, 13. Met with monochrom members Johannes and Daniel who were in town planning the next Arse Elektronika event this fall in San Francisco. They did performances at Maker Faire, and staged a mini-Roboexotica at a very interesting art space on 5th Street near Folsom St. http://www.monochrom.at/english/ to read up on monochrom.

() May 10 (daytime) attended the Pagan Festival at Martin Luther King Park in Berkeley, which is always inspiring on various levels. Went to Amoeba in Berkeley and scored a VHS copy of “Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea” for $3.99.

() May 11, Mother’s Day evening, saw Ralph Nader / Matt Gonzalez at Tony Serra’s law office, thanks to Marc Powell (featured in our PRANKS 2 book). There is a photo of Ralph Nader holding our PRANKS 2 book on our website. We are now supporters of their “tell the truth” presidential campaign, and have acquired yet more distaste for all the compromises, half-truths, evasions and just plain lies being marketed by the two-party system which has become, as Lawrence Ferlinghetti put it, “a bird with two right wings.” Who else is blatantly anti-corporate, anti-stock-market-gambling, anti-Bear-Stearns bailout, anti-real-estate developers, anti-lobbyist, anti-arms-manufacturers, pro-environmentalist, and pro-voting reform?

() May 17-18. Attended Mission Bazaar — beautiful huge auditorium with transcendent lighting. Met some intriguing people.

() May 19. Monte Cazazza visited - too many ideas to list! John Law visited. We bicycled to view the Shepard Fairey billboard at corner of Washington Square Park, Union/Columbus.

() May 20. SRL’s Doug Sutton and Sandra Oh visited - more ideas!

() May 21. Went to Hypnodrome and saw a shocking, riveting, preview performance of Charles Busch’s “Theodora, She-Bit-ch of Byzantium. Perfectly cast. Extremely memorable. Funny. Naughty. Hypnodrome is also preparing a play version of “Jack in the Beanstalk” which we’re looking forward to seeing.

() May 22. Ulrika Andersson hosted a live interview for The Counter Culture Hour, with tattoo artist/painter Tanja Nixx, originally from Germany. Screened a Counter Culture Hour episode featuring the highly amusing and super-tattoo-literate Lyle Tuttle.

() May 24, attended the Mexican Bus Ride featuring Guillermo Gomez-Pena’s mesmerizing narratives - what a privilege to be in the company of someone who thinks! Inspiration and illumination from a genuine poet who reveals that the true soul of San Francisco resides on 24th St (bet. Valencia-Potrero Sts) and, a bit attenuated, on Valencia and Mission Streets in the Mission District. Should be required experience for every San Francisco resident. The beautiful performance artist Violetta Luna provided memorable, haunting guidance, furnishing incandescent (and erotic) epiphanies every few minutes. There will be another Mexican Bus Ride on June 14 — reservations recommended.

() Sun May 25: PAUL CESEWSKI’s Carnival of Scraps. Tinkerer and kinetic artist Paul Cesewski recreated an old-fashioned carnival midway at the S.F. Dump. His motto is “Fun is the universal language” - we saw his Duchamp-like bicycle-powered kinetic sculptures and other games of chance. It was a fabulous and free closing reception, complete with popcorn, soda, and all kinds of sausages and hot dogs (including tofu-dogs) all complements of San Francisco’s trash-pickup company. The rides and games were built of former discards, with a highly alternative-energy bent to the attractions. It is a little known fact that San Francisco Scavengers awards grants for artists-in-residence, supplying a large workroom and all the raw materials you can dig out of the dumpsters AND a stipend.

() May 25, earlier in day: went to CARNAVAL by Ulrika Andersson’s artspace, 23rd/Bryant Sts. This corner is the start of the parade featuring Mardi-gras-like costumes, musicians on most floats, unbelievably perfect early American (now low-rider) cars.

() May 28. An amazingly resourceful antiquarian book dealer (and “cat” of many colors), Jeff Maser, visited — www.detritus.com. He stocked up on some RE/Search offerings, including our 30-year-old Search & Destroy tabloid issues and a couple of the new hardback deluxe reissues. We’re planning to visit his warehouse in Berkeley in June, where he sells his collectible books, and also has a letterpress!

() May 29. Went to an underground film show and saw the filmmaker LES BLANK present two of his classic documentaries on American musicians. In “Sprout Wings and Fly” (1983, 30 min) one of the best moments is when the 82-year-old fiddler, Tommy Jerrell, talks about being so old that most of your friends are dead, yet occasionally you have dreams that they’re alive and you’re actually talking to them. Insight: even when you’re really old you can still play lightning-fast music. I realized anew that friends are people who give you gifts that help you become who you want to be, only more so. They encourage you, help you realize your dreams, your projects, and bring out your inner potential(s). They help you get through life less vexatiously.

The next film was “In Heaven There Is No Beer?” (1984, 60 min) which is a documentary of Polka music in America. The dancing rivals the best of the “Swing” movement and looks like a lot of good clean drug-free (but sometimes beer-enhanced) fun. One film-participant states confidently that the lyrics “in heaven there is no beer” are merely poetic, but in reality “…of course there’s beer in heaven!” If this film is an example, I’m guessing that all of Les Blank’s films are worth seeing: www.lesblank.com offers a large array of his quirky-social documentaries, many music-related — now on DVD.

Could there be anyone who followed independent film in the ’70s who was not aware of Les Blank’s, “Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe,” which was REALLY DONE publicly, after a lost bet. Shoe prepared for consumption by Alice Waters, now of Chez Panisse fame.

Many thanks to Doug Katelus and Rock Ross for making this happen! And thanks to Les Blank for this free showing!

6. What We’ve Been Reading/Seeing/Listening to/What We’ve Been Sent: see V. Vale’s blog at www.researchpubs.com

() Today we received in the mail the incredible SPK “Document III0″ black wooden BOX package from the quality-obsessed, Germanic, Frank Maier http://www.myspace.com/vinylondemandrecords. V. Vale contributed an essay on S.P.K. This box is the contemporary equivalent (almost) of Marcel Duchamp’s limited edition “Valise” which I’ve always wanted to “own.” Sinan Revell has included a small portfolio of her recent color photography. This SPK box is highly recommended!!
Frank has a unique manifesto illuminating his one-man enterprise: “Vinyl-on-Demand (VOD) is a unique music-label, specializing in experimental / minimal-electronics and avant-garde artists and their old and long deleted cassette-releases, as well as their new, so far unreleased material. It will furthermore provide a platform for new innovative artists on VOD’s sub-label, called “Pripuzzi Records.” VOD has recognized, that very innovative and creative music (usually released only on tapes) of the early eighties has become highly sought-after, but almost impossible to get. With the VOD concept, this material is now available in better quality than the original tapes and on a better medium, Vinyl! Every month VOD is releasing a vinyl in a limited edition of 500 copies for 14 Euros and Double-LPs for 19 Euros or 3-5 LP-Box-Sets between 49 and 59 Euros. Furthermore, VOD will also offer the unique possibility to release most of the artists works in individually handmade and pressed editions of less than 50 copies ON DEMAND. Feel free to order them now and ask for our other releases or simply become a member to our VOD-Club and get all 12 monthly releases with lots of bonus material, inserts and many current and future discounts. For more Information about the releases, just go to: WWW.VINYL-ON-DEMAND.COM” - write Frank at Frank Maier, Hochstrasse 25, 88045 Friedrichshafen Germany or email frank@vinyl-on-demand.com.

() The truly-big-bargain (224 glossy pages of quality content, 8.5×11″) BIG TAKEOVER Magazine #62 has Part 1 of an interview with yours truly, V. Vale. Subscribe from bigtakeover.com, or send a check for $20 made out to the Big Takeover, Jack Rabid, 1713 8th Ave Room 5-2, Brooklyn NY 11215. Jack does his usual attention-to-details, compressed (and in this case, flattering) presentation. Here’s a chunk of the life of your RE/Search founder…

() The 9×12″ glossy NERO magazine has an interview with V. Vale by Francesco de Figueredo. Order from www.neromagazine.it (write info@neromagazine.it), or send money to Nero Magazine, Via Degli Scialoja 19, Roma 00196, Italy. Beautiful production; Italy may have the best designers on the planet.

() Johnny Strike’s A LOUD HUMMING SOUND CAME FROM ABOVE — book of short stories. Some are so good they should be expanded, maybe into a novel. Write RE/Search for more info RE availability.

() HI-FRUCTOSE Vol 7 out! 4 issues for $26 from Hi-Fructose Magazine, 909 Pierce St, Albany CA 94706. Send submissions/inquries to info@hifructose.com - Attaboy and Annie Owens persevere with another all-color, glossy paper, compendium of “contemporary art on the edge…” Funny, disturbing, pessimistic!

7. RECOMMENDED LINKS - thanks to our friend Phil G, Ferrara, James McN-, & Others who sent us the below:

() “Vale — Here’s my new series. Just completed the website tonight. — Gary” http://www.thepsychictvrepairman.com/

() dig it (from s. yablon)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jotsFVJPHIk&feature=related

() Battle at Kruger: Cape buffalo herd vs lion family http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Battle+at+Kruger&search_type=

() Julie Lawler of The Urge [70s all-female band] has a new song on MySpace, recorded at Hector Penalosa’s [Zeros] house in San Diego. It’s playing online here:
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=194968939

() Photo of Ralph Nader holding RE/Search’s PRANKS 2 book:
http://www.michaelrauner.com/nader_gonzalez/content/nader_gonzalez025_large.html

() from Phil G: “my favorite of the EC Mad artists”: http://www.observer.com/2008/will-elder-illustrator-and-prankster-dies-86

() Fugs: http://youtube.com/watch?v=q2AGqlf8J9g (also part 2)

() prank: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=4×1UjDLFB3Q

() beyond “CRASH”: http://eatliver.com/i.php?n=3134

() “Check out http://www.onthemedia.org/ — this week’s program is about publishing on demand and ebooks, very interesting. This one of my favorite shows - I listen to a lot of public radio, but don’t like having to be by my radio when shows are on. Fortunately, many now have podcasts, so I load them into itunes and listen whenever I want. The ones that don’t are often broadcast many times a week, so I look for them at www.publicradio.com — dig it - radio on demand! This is truly revolutionary, total separation of time/space. We started using Tivo years ago, and now watch tv when we want, and without commercials — this is one of the brighter aspects of the “brave new world” we are in!”

() From James McN: PYREX WARNING!
Pyrex is no longer made out of the heat resistant material it used to be. Now, since 1998 when Corning sold off their kitchenware business the new company decided to make NON heat-resistant glass and sell it under the name ‘Pyrex.’ Read about the thousands of exploding casseroles and “Sorry kids, the pork and potatoes are now embedded with millions of micro glass particles — guess we’ll have to go to McDonald’s for dinner.” Check out some of these crazy exploding dinners and even ones that were sitting there over night spontaneously exploding into micro death slivers from hell.
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/homeowners/pyrex.html

() from Lydia Lunch: Ghosts of Spain solo live Portugal
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pcatrlqXDU

() from Ferrara Pan: “Ferrara has just read and signed the petition: Stop fumigation of citizens without their consent in California
You can view this petition at: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/tell-a-friend/609109 ”

() from Johnny Strike, a podcast recommendation: humming sound/crime
http://trashotron.com/agony/news/2008/05-19-08.htm

() TURA SATANA NEWS: www.turasatana.com, www.shocktillyoudrop.com/news/topnews.php?id=6267

() Google Sonia Rykiel, Agnes b talking about May 1968

() recommended video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CV4i7dWeu0c

() from Babalou: Press Release: http://www.escapefromberkeley.com/?page_id=9
Website: escapefromberkeley.com <http://escapefromberkeley.com>

8. QUOTES:

() May ‘68 Situationist slogan: “Live without limits and enjoy without restraint!” (in original French the word for enjoy, “jouir,” had the double meaning of org-asm)

() from our pal Dean overseas: “Doctor jokes as “quotes”?! I’m surprised you didn’t mention the retired gynecologist who liked to keep a hand in… Here’s a dozen I’ve collected since i started thinking of just how well quotes fit the 21st century attention span and how grand ideas can sometimes be tightly coiled…” [Here’s a website:] http://youtube.com/watch?v=kcAVM7P04uw&feature=related — “be very amused. Be well, Dean”

1.”To be stupid, and selfish, and to have good health are the three requirements for happiness; though if stupidity is lacking, the others are useless.”– Gustave Flaubert

2. “Which is more musical: a truck passing by a factory, or a truck passing by a music school?” — John Cage

3. “Imagination is the real and eternal world of which this vegetable universe is but a faint shadow.” –William Blake

4. “Those who restrain their desires, do so because theirs are weak enough to be restrained.” — William Blake

5. “Science is the opiate of the suburbs.” — John Keats

6. “Our psychological reality, which lies below the surface, frightens us because it endlessly surprises us and drives us in directions which society’s rules and organizations define as wrong or dangerous.” -Anais Nin

7. “Lottery: A special tax on people who are bad at math.” –Edouard Archinard

8. “Genius may have its limitations, but stupidity is not thus handicapped.” — Elbert Hubbard

9. “Don’t be so greedy that you break your fingernails.” — Japanese proverb

10. “Either you think… or else others have to think for you and take power from you, per-vert and discipline your natural tastes, civilize and sterilize you.” — F. Scott Fitzgerald

11. “I declare, once and for all, I will not be civilized.” -Arthur Cravan

12. “The highest purpose is to have no purpose at all. This puts one in accord with nature, in her manner of operation. ” -John Cage

13. “If at first you don’t succeed, try again. Then quit. No use being a damn fool about it.” — W.C. Fields

() QUOTES BY GABRIELLE “COCO” CHANEL:
• Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening.
• A fashion that does not reach the streets is not a fashion.
• Fashion is made to become unfashionable.
• There is no fashion for the old.
• Elegance is refusal.
• Luxury must be comfortable, otherwise it is not luxury.
• Fashion is architecture: it is a matter of proportions.
• Legend is the consecration of celebrity.
• My friends, there are no friends. [sad thought]
• There is time for work. And time for love. That leaves no other time.

9. FEEDBACK FROM READERS:

() “Hi Vale, The [8 issues of S&D for $30 — good deal; write us at info@researchpubs.com] arrived today. I can’t wait to get stuck in; thank you very much for forwarding them onto me.

Crass & the DK’s: My 2 favourite bands of all time.

“I can’t believe that you met Gee Vaucher and got the inside track on what makes her tick. I am a massive Crass fan, and I have to say that the visual impact that they/she produced as a band was just as powerful as the lyrical & musical content.

“Jello is the man; the 1st time I played ‘Fresh Fruit’ I knew that this is the guy that can make a difference. Listening to both of these bands back in the early 80’s defined the person I am today, and I wouldn’t change it for anything. (However, if you get the chance to talk to Jello again, tell him that us Europeans are pretty much up to speed as to what the U.S. government are up to with their ‘Silly Games, etc…’ I got into so much trouble when I brought my ex girlfriend to one of his ‘Spoken Word’ tours a few years ago here in Ireland, not helped by the fact that he ordered the bouncers to eject two girls from the show!!) ‘Keep On Keeping On’ — Colin.
PS I will probably [order] a copy of a few of your publications. I’ll be in touch.”

() “Please tell Stephane that her musical taste is guiding her true, and Acid Mothers Temple is one of the great bands. Kawabata and all those people have musical histories she will have fun getting gummed up in.

“Regarding the silent rave: The first silent rave I ever heard of was at the second 24 Hour Community Spacewalk … Warrior Girl, a wall-scaling superheroine performance-art person from SFAI, had two of these large events, with different art happenings on every block over a period of 24 hours. The first was in the Mission — 16th-24th and Dolores to South Van Ness, I think. The second, ‘98, was in South of Market …

“Now I only heard of this, but never saw it, but, the second Spacewalk in SoMa featured a silent rave in which attendees wear headphones w/ *radios* (walkman or something) tuned to a pirate low-fm band, playing music, to which they’re all dancing in time. That’s a whole different thing, eh? I wouldn’t mind stumbling upon one of those some time! A crowd of people dancing silently, but in perfect synchonization. “See ya later! — Josh Wilson, Indy Arts & Media”

() “Hey Vale,
“Where Camp is this weekend at the google plex. I sort of suspect that our geowanker ‘revolution’ had its day, in about 2003-2005, and it was cool, and now is hanging on the way rock stars with walkers hang on, but that is what I am doing with myself. That and taking gigapan images on gigapan.org. (my ‘anything for a buck’ gigapan page is at: http://geocoder.us/gigapan/

“The gigapans are a new form of media. Not photographs, exactly, and obviously not film. Let me know if you have something cool to take gigapans of. I did a few of Treasure Island, but when I went with my gigapan they had tightly closed the holes in the fence of the graffiti pool - I got to go on the ‘cold war ruins’ tour with Todd Lapin and Karen Marcelo, before I had the gigapan. Here is a where camp page: http://wherecamp.pbwiki.com/ — “Cheers, Rich”

() “Hi Vale,
“I had bought a copy of MODERN PRIMITIVES in 1990 or so - found it on a book stand. I’m a graphic designer (mostly retired except for my own stuff) and was interested in tattoos as an art form…..have none myself.
“Being from India, I’m used to sadhus with all variety of piercings, hanging fruit etc, etc. In Kerala - during some festivals, men in altered states are suspended from flesh hooks raised high above chariots and taken in a procession….some Native American tribes have the same ritual of flesh hooks. Anyway it was interesting to see it in print, here in the US.
I recently met this young couple who have various piercings and lent them my MODERN PRIMITIVES book a few times. Now they will have their own copy, signed by you! Thank you.
“……I went online after I left you a voice message this AM and placed the order - thought it would be fun to read about bodily fluids too!!
Best regards, Usha”

() A set of 8 SEARCH & DESTROY tabloids from 1977-79 are STILL AVAILABLE for only $30 from www.researchpubs.com - info@researchpubs.com, or 415-362-1465. Complete set of 11 issues (a few copies left) are $100 plus shipping.
_____________________________
JUNE 2008 RE/Search eNewsletter written by V. Vale & contributors. Newsletter and website powered by http://www.laughingsquid.com
DISCLAIMER RE: V. Vale’s eNewsletter - If you’re receiving this newsletter, it’s because you **or someone you know** has sent your address to us, or signed our mailing list at an event!
RE/Search Publications, 20 Romolo #B, San Francisco, CA 94133. Tel (415) 362-1465 Email: info@researchpubs.com website: http://www.researchpubs.com MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/researchpubs
–

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

() “MAKER FAIRE AND PUNK ROCK” by V. Vale

The first, quintessential principle of “Punk Rock” was (obviously) “DO-IT-YOURSELF”… meaning Create All Your Own Culture: music, recordings, record labels, distribution, “Punk Rock” stores, art, graphic art, collages, drawings, interior decor, your clothing, hairstyles, sculpture/installations, social gatherings, community centers, squats or shared housing, art studios, shows — everything that makes your life “meaningful” and “fun.” And this “principle” made EVERYONE at least a naive or “outsider” artist, if not more…

Note that this is a kind of D-I-Y de-emphasizing the profit motive — instead of capitalist-think, “Do whatever it takes to make maximum profit as fast as possible,” think, “How can what I do benefit everyone else too?” Another word for this might be “Collective” — but with “Responsibility.” The CRASS are a 43-year-old example of this; not only are they still a shared-housing collective, but they were the first to put on their LPs stickers saying “Pay no more than…” [a minimal, low price at the time]. They grow their own food, are vegetarian, are the first to do the dishes or clean the bathrooms, and aggressively try to improve their personal environments wherever they go.

When you’re “poor” (even if it’s “voluntary poverty”), you have to co-operate with other humans, to survive — i.e., practice “MUTUAL AID.” In fact, Mutual Aid is possibly the best principle of interacting with others. In the beginnings of Punk Rock in San Francisco, there was a lot of this practiced out of necessity: shared housing, food, automobiles…

The CRASS founders Gee Vaucher and Penny Rimbaud apparently practice “Financial Minimalism” — which doesn’t preclude buying the occasional chocolate-chip cookie or excellent cup of coffee. And sometimes expensive art supplies are bedrock essentials. But furniture can almost always be found on the streets of a major city. So perhaps another Punk Principle is just that: FINANCIAL MINIMALISM — which is a bit at odds with today’s “hip, indie” media [examples: Vice, Swindle, et al] promoting knowledge of expensive “Designer” brand names plastered on everything high-profit/ low-manufacturing-cost under the sun, such as sunglasses, handbags, and jeans… Probably the Punk Gold Standard was: “I got this for free.” Or, “I found this on the street.” Or, “I got this at a flea market or thrift store.” As early Punk Rocker Bob Basile once said, “My favorite designer is St. Vincent de Paul.” [a chain of thrift stores in San Francisco — are they still around?]

The second