Tomorrow evening I'm playing solo for my first time EVER at the Rosebud variety show. I JUST finished crafting a guitar riff that I will play while reciting an unrecognizable version of No Bra's 'Motorcockhead' (mp3). Gah! I hope I can pull this off smoothly, or at least be so terrible that the audience leaves traumatized.
In other nerve-racking news...
I'm convinced that this week was delivered to me straight from the devil's hands! Please, somebody send me a clone and a security alarm system! Too much full time job work, art+music deadlines work, and scary robberies makes me a nut job with anxiety!
Hunx and His Punx are going on tour with Shannon and the Clams! Dates: 4/2 San Francisco, CA - Bottom of the Hill 4/8 Los Angeles, CA - The Echo 4/9 San Diego, CA - Tin Can Ale House 4/10 Tucson, AZ - Club Congress 4/12 Austin, TX - Emo's (Indoor) 4/13 Houston, TX - Fitzgerald's (Downstairs) 4/14 New Orleans, LA - Spellcaster Lodge 4/16 Nashville, TN - The End 4/18 Durham, NC - Duke Coffee House 4/19 Baltimore, MD - Golden West Cafe 4/20 New York, NY - Cake Shop 4/21 Philadelphia, PA - Kung Fu Necktie 4/22 Swarthmore, PA - Olde Club 4/23 Brooklyn, NY - Glasslands 4/24 Cambridge, MA - T.T. the Bear's 4/26 Montreal, QC - La Sala Rossa 4/27 Toronto, ON - The Legendary Horseshoe Tavern 4/28 Detroit, MI - The Old Miami 4/29 Chicago, IL - Empty Bottle 4/30 Milwaukee, WI - Cactus Club 5/1 Minneapolis, MN - 7th St. Entry 5/3 Fargo, ND - The Aquarium 5/4 Omaha, NE - Slowdown Jr. 5/5 Kansas City, MO - The Record Bar 5/7 Denver, Co - Hi Dive Hunx and His Punx - Lover's Lane (mp3)
Shannon and the Clams will be bringing Vancouver-based musician Daniel Pitout (of Nü Sensae and Eating Out) to be their drummer on all dates.
Jesus Christ!!! I almost ate an entire bag of Ketchup chips while laying in bed internetting. I need an intervention. Someone please save me from myself!
I wanna be on that show I Used To Be Fat. Then all of you could watch me sweat through my t-shirt as I ran up and down stairs for the duration of a TLC special. Doesn't that sound like a win-win situation!?
Cheeseburgers for dessert ...of course.
Oh and, I don't actually care so much about my consumption of a whole bag of chips. That's basically the only enjoyment I got from this experience. The pesky crumbs under my bum's what I'm groanin' 'bout!
And for the record. I've never not been fat according to my memory.
Dennis Cooper is one of the few writers living today who is not only transgressive, but has a distinct style of writing that is completely his own. He is dichotomous - his voice is lyrical and poetic, yet stripped down and succinct, unembellished sentences cutting through to naked meaning. Cooper smears his brain across the page, giving us a glimpse inside, as he explores his fascination with the lines between sex/murder, worship/torture, obsession/indifference. He penetrates the mechanics of human desire and motivation through a drug-induced/evolved clarity via ob/subjective observation of others in relation to his personal madness.
Dennis Cooper's books about predatory males who hack up beautiful boys, or dream about it, intimidate some people. Alex James of Blur pulled out of an interview with him, and Queer Nation issued him with a death threat. Even Marilyn Manson refused to let him write a cover story on him for an American music magazine.
But Cooper's books are more than gorefests. They're also romantic. The men take the objects of their desire apart in a bid to understand the awesome power they have over them. The Guardian hit on it when they said that a desire for love infects the carnage. In Cooper's novel 'Try', the central character Ziggy says to his foster father: "If you loved me you wouldn't rim me while I'm crying." Perhaps his work unsettles some people because it unflinchingly dissects his own dark fantasies.
At the age of 11 sex and violence linked themselves, quite literally, in the writer's head when a friend he had a crush on split Cooper's head open with an axe. At 12 he hiked to a place in the mountains behind his house where three boys had been raped and killed. Upon reaching the spot, Cooper found himself gripped by a feeling of eroticised fear and fascination. And in the ninth grade Cooper met his beloved friend George Miles. Miles had deep psychological problems and Cooper took him under his wing. Years later, when Cooper was 30, he had a brief love affair with the 27-year-old Miles. The cycle of books (Closer 1989, Frisk 1991, Try 1994, Guide 1997 and Period 1999) were an attempt by Cooper to get to the bottom of both his fascination with sex and violence and his feelings for Miles. This project, which took Cooper nearly twenty years to realize, would later become known as The George Miles Cycle.
Cooper was an outsider and the leader of a group of poets, punks, stoners, and writers. After high school he attended Pasadena City College, and later, Pitzer College, where he had a poetry teacher who was to inspire him to pursue his writing outside of institutions of higher learning.
Das Racist is a weed edge/Hare Krishna hard core/art rap/freak folk music trio based in Brooklyn, NY. Comprised of Queens-born Himanshu Kumar Suri, San Francisco-born Victor Vazquez, and Queens-born Ashok Kondabolu. Suri and Vazquez met at Sarah Lawrence Bard Pomona Wesleyan Art College in Massachusetts where Victor was Himanshu’s resident advisor in a ‘Students of Color for Social Justice’ themed freshman year dormitory. The duo later added Kondabolu as a hype man and spiritual advisor. Das Racist - Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell (mp3) Das Racist - Fake Patoi (mp3) Das Racist - Jungle Fever (mp3)
Sled Island is an annualindependent multi-venue music and arts festival in Calgary, Alberta.
The music part of the festival will happen in Calgary from June 30 to July 3, 2010. There is also a Film 'festival of festivals' that will take place from June 24 to 29. Music shows will take place in venues around downtown, with the main outdoor site taking place the weekend of July 2nd and 3rd at Olympic Plaza.
I was in rainy Winnipeg this past weekend with Riki and Tiffany. The main event that brought us east was the release of the 12" Lipstickface/Slattern split.
You can order a copy of the vinyl by emailing:
lipstickface@hotmail.com or julia.ryckman@gmail.com
My internet addiction is increasingly taking up more of my leisure (and non-leisure) time. Not even bike rides in the hot prairie sun is substantial motivation to explore other realms of life.
M.I.A's new track, 'Born Free' is sampled from Suicide's 'Ghost Rider'.
I'm anxiously awaiting the arrival of this: A cassette release of recordings Nathan "Brace Paine" Howdeshell did in Arkansas. Most of the songs were recorded using tools and weapons stored in his father's barn. Limited to 35 because these motherfuckers are a pain in the ass to dub! This is a split release between Fast Weapons (Nathan's tiny record label) and Radical Documents.
There's a lot of hype going around now that Coachella has come and gone for another year. One group that I am particularly interested in is Die Antwoord. The band self-identifies as a mélange of several diverse cultures all mixed into one. A Zef-Rap act from Cape Town, South Africa, consisting of three members, Ninja, Yo-Landi Vi$$er and DJ Hi-Tek.
Vacations are so wonderful but admittedly, I always miss home when I'm away, and when I'm home I'm always dreaming of greener pastures. The conference was good, the hotel stay was great, and chumming with Ryan has been a delight! Ryan
Some memorable events that took place but are not limited to:
Meeting many crush worthy girls! I had some really fun and sexxxi flirty nights on ze trip. I won't kiss and tell cuz that would be distasteful, but I was reminded of the 'butterflies in the stomach' feeling again. Total crush on the drummer! RAWRRRR
Ryan had to work some evenings which sometimes left me exploring on my own. One of the places I braved was this 'participant-facilitated discussion' put on by ShOUT – Queer West Young Adult Program & Unconferences @ Masaryk-Cowan Community Centre. It was small event in which there were four speakers who spoke on a wide variety of topics. It was interesting to learn of peoples involvement in the Toronto art and activism scene. This was definitely the point in my trip where I REALLY fell in love with Toronto. Go to Queer In The City if you'd like more info. on the event.
Seeing Marilyn and Diana was a real treat! We went for drinks to the Henhouse, and for dinner to The Lakeview.
Met with Carley and Heather, two of the people I did Katimavik with back in 2005. We went to a smoking lounge and then for all you can eat sushi. So nice to catch up with them!
My wallet was lost/stolen at a landromat. So basically the last couple days in Toronto were STRESSFUL for me. I was stuck with no ID or money. We missed the Miike Snow show that I'd pre-bought tickets for because I had to file reports with the police, and make travel arrangements to get home. BLAH! My Mom was able to wire me some money so I could get by, but the guilt and stress that is still hanging over my head sucks. This is an identical picture of the wallet I had.
The only two items (that weren't food or party favours) I was able to purchase before my wallet left me we were:
