for latest updates on Hurricane Katrina

New Orleans WWL-TV has an up to date blog/website that's much more accurate & timely than the non-news they've been showing on CNN all day. & for the genius who sent me an email earlier stating that, "New Orleans really didn't get hit that hard," please read some of the damage reports & remember, they're just waiting for that levee on 17th Street to go...

here's one bit of news that makes me so incredibly angry:
Some six-thousand National Guard personnel from Louisiana and Mississippi who would otherwise be available to help deal with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina are in Iraq.
Even so, Pentagon spokesman Lawrence Di Rita said the states have adequate National Guard units to handle the hurricane needs. [quoted from WWL-TV]

make your own bullshit protector!

http://www.wiseass.org/bullshit.html

The "Bullshit Protector" flaps are a great way to protect yourself from GOP bullshit and spin, when spewed by the likes of George W. Bush or even your local home-grown GOP wingnuts. It was inspired by Bill Moyer, a 73 year old vet, who was seen wearing "Bullshit Protector" flaps over his ears while Bush addressed the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Salt Lake City, Utah.

US troops fight to bring Iraq back to the 12th Century!!

Sure, I know for the most part I'm "preaching to the choir" here but this stuff just pisses me right off...
having a "democracy" without full and equal rights for women is NO democracy...but then again, I've noticed that most men (politicians or otherwise) when discussing "human rights" don't include women in that category either & it's not like we have equal rights for women here in the U.S. these days either....

[quotes pulled from various emails including one from democrats.com]

What Noble Cause Did Casey Sheehan Die For?

"Islam is the official religion of the state and is a basic source of legislation. No law can be passed that contradicts the undisputed rules of Islam."- Iraqi Constitution supported by Iran-backed Shiites and the Bush Administration (but opposed by Sunni leaders)

"Fortunately, after years of effort and expectations in Iraq, an Islamic state has come to power and the constitution has been established on the basis of Islamic precepts. We must congratulate the Iraqi people and authorities for this victory."- Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, head of Iran's powerful ultra-conservative Guardian Council

"This is the future of the new Iraqi government - it will be in the hands of the clerics. I wanted Iraqi women to be free, to be able to talk freely and to able to move around. I am not going to stay here."- Dr. Raja Kuzai, an obstetrician and secular Shiite member of the Assembly who met President Bush in the White House in November 2003.

U.S. Casualties in Iraq & Afghanistan 08.29-08.30

reported in DOD releases 08.30.05

Spc. Joseph L. Martinez, 21, of Las Vegas, Nev. , died on Aug. 27, 2005, in Tal Afar, Iraq, where his dismounted patrol was engaged by enemy forces using small arms fire. Martinez was assigned to the 2nd Squadron, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, Fort Carson, Colo.

Sgt. 1st Class Obediah J. Kolath, 32, of Louisburg, Mo. , died on Aug. 28, 2005, in Landstuhl, Germany, of injuries sustained on Aug. 25, 2005, in Husaybah, Iraq, where an improvised explosive device detonated near his position. The incident involved three other soldiers whose deaths were announced on Aug. 27, 2005. Kolath was assigned to the U. S. Army Special Operations Command, Fort Bragg, N. C.

reported in DOD release 08.29.05

Staff Sgt. Damion G. Campbell, 23, of Baltimore, Md. , died on August 26, 2005, in Khayr Kot, Afghanistan, where an improvised explosive device detonated near his HMMWV during a combat patrol. Campbell was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 508th Infantry Regiment, Vicenza, Italy.

Hurricane Katrina - How to Help

The following URL will take you to a listing of different organizations providing relief for victims of Hurricane Katrina.

http://www.networkforgood.org

quotes for 08.29.05

"The wealth of the world is here unworked gold in the ore. The paradise of the South is here, deserted and half in ruins. I never beheld anything so beautiful and so sad."—Lafcadio Hearn, Life and Letters, 1877.

"I came down here about a month ago and am living in the old French Creole Quarter, the most civilized place I've found in America, and have been writing like a man gone mad ever since I got off the train."—Sherwood Anderson, Letters, 1922, published 1953.

“the French Quarter…was a place to hide. I could piss away my life, unmolested… there was something about that city, though it didn't let me feel guilty that I had no feeling for the things so many others needed. it let me alone… being lost, being crazy maybe is not so bad if you can be that way undisturbed. New Orleans gave me that."—Charles Bukowski, Young in New Orleans

"I liked it from the first: I lingered long in that morning walk, liking it more and more, in spite of its shabbiness, but utterly unable to say then or ever since wherein its charm lies. I suppose we are all wrongly made up and have a fallen nature; else why is it that while the most thrifty and neat and orderly city only wins our approval, and perhaps gratifies us intellectually, such a thriftless, battered and stained, and lazy old place at the French quarter of New Orleans takes our hearts?"—Charles Dudley Warner, "New Orleans" in Harper's New Monthly Magazine, January 1887.

"Outside the window New Orleans, the vieux carré, brooded in a faintly tarnished languor like an aging yet still beautiful courtesan in a smokefilled room, avid yet weary too of ardent ways."—William Faulkner, Mosquitoes, 1927.

"I alight at Esplanade in a smell of roasting coffee and creosote and walk up Royal Street. The lower Quarter is the best part. The ironwork on the balconies sags like rotten lace. Little French cottages hide behind high walls. Through deep sweating carriageways one catches glimpses of courtyards gone to jungle."—Walker Percy, The Moviegoer, 1961.

"Much distortion of opinion has existed... respecting public morals and manners in New Orleans. Divested of pre-conceived ideas on the subject, an observing man will find little to condemn in New Orleans, more than in other commercial cities; and will find that noble distinction of all active communities, acuteness of conception, urbanity of manners, and polished exterior. There are few places where human life can be enjoyed with more pleasure, or employed to more pecuniary profit."—William Darby, A Geographical Description of the State of Louisiana, 1816.

"Here one finds the narrow streets with overhanging balconies, the beautiful wrought-iron and cast-iron railings, the great barred doors and tropical courtyards. Many of these fine houses are more than a century and a quarter old, and they stand today as monuments to their forgotten architects. For it must be remembered that New Orleans was a Latin city already a century old before it became a part of the United States; and it was as unlike the American cities along the Atlantic seaboard as though Louisiana were on another continent.—Federal Writers' Project, New Orleans City Guide, 1938.

"The houses’ chief beauty is the deep, warm, varicolored stain with which time and the weather have enriched the plaster. It harmonizes with all the surroundings, and has as natural a look of belonging there as has the flush upon sunset clouds. This charming decoration cannot be successfully imitated; neither is it to be found elsewhere in America."—Mark Twain, Life on the Mississippi, 1883.

2nd photo for 08.29.05

abandoned police car on Canal Street (New Orleans) this morning.

photo for the day 08.29.05

not in a mood for entertaining photos today... this is the New Orleans Superdome earlier this morning...

U.S. Casualties in Iraq reported 08.26.05

The following U.S. Casualties in Iraq were reported in DOD releases dated 08.26.05 and 08.27.05

Master Sgt. Chris S. Chapin, 39, of Proctor, Vt. , died on Aug. 23, 2005, in Ar Ramadi, Iraq during combat operations when he was attacked by enemy forces using small arms fire. Chapin was assigned to the Army National Guard's 2nd Battalion (General Studies), 124th Regiment (Regional Training Institute), Colchester, Vt.

Spc. Hatim S. Kathiria, 23, of Fort Worth, Texas, died on Aug. 22, 2005, in Baghdad, Iraq, where an enemy rocket impacted near his position. Kathiria was assigned to the 703rd Forward Support Battalion, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, Ga.

Three soldiers died on August 25, 2005, in Husaybah, Iraq, of injuries sustained when an improvised explosive device detonated near their position.
Killed were:
Sgt. 1st Class Trevor J. Diesing, 30, of Plum City, Wis. Diesing was assigned the U. S. Army Special Operations Command, Fort Bragg, N. C.
Master Sgt. Ivica Jerak, 42, of Houston, Texas. Jerak was assigned to the U. S. Army Special Operations Command, Fort Bragg, N. C.
Cpl. Timothy M. Shea, 22, of Sonoma, Calif. Shea was assigned to the Army's 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, Fort Benning, Ga.

today's denis johnson links

first to respond to the emails both pro & con...sorry there haven't been any denis johnson related links in what...a day? okay, maybe it was 2...and as for those who complained, when your writing is as sexy as denis johnson's, maybe I'll pay a little more attention to you, in the meantime, stop denigrating your betters...

a quote on Frank Wright's poetry:
"These poems break me; they're like jewels shaped by blunt, ruined fingers--miraculous gifts. At any one time only a handful of genuine poets reside on the planet. I consider Franz Wright to be one of these, and I'm grateful that we have him among us."

sweetney's blog quoting "out there in the morning" http://www.sweetney.com/archives/000421.html
& remember...when that day job's & the ex are getting you down..."each cookie contains a joke. "

talking about Tree of Smoke (will it ever come out...is it out & I've been too busy watching that hot older guy on CSI to notice?) http://maudnewton.com/blog/?p=4936

and not really so much for the denis johnson reference but because it's another good timesuck
http://ireadashortstorytoday.com/2005/06/denis-johnson-lucky.html

and this one's not at ALL dj related but has FREE short stories from some great writers I like & other writers too...
http://books.guardian.co.uk/originalfiction/0,13773,1007506,00.html

and an old article from Willamette Week on Tin House...it's old but it has a good quote & a photo. whoo.
http://www.wweek.com/story.php?story=4157

and this blog, http://theperiscope.blogs.com/nipposkiss/2005/08/denis_johnson.html
which refers to him as (and this is a direct quote so all typos, etc. are theirs...not mine):
"He's an old hippy who's suffer many of the drug and political agonies of old hippiedom. I remember him in Iowa City as a political anti-war in Viet Nam guy who wrote so well he made everyone jealous. He wrote poetry then. Gorgeous stuff."

j. stefan cole writing about, perhaps one of my favorite books of all time but not for any of the quotes he uses in his self-described "non" review: http://www.freewilliamsburg.com/july_2001/books.html

yet another writing contest...

for those of you who enjoy inflicting pain on yourselves by entering writing contests...

Thursday Nov. 17 is the deadline in the 21st consecutive New Millennium Writing Awards Competition. In keeping with NMW tradition this deadline may be extended once only. $3,000 in Prizes, Plus Publication in our next anthology and online at www.newmillenniumwritings.com are at stake. Winners of this contest will be announced in March or April. Everyone who enters will receive a copy of our 2006 anthology, as will those who entered the NMW 20 contest.$1,000 for best Story; $1,000 for best Poem; $1,000 best Nonfiction(nonfiction includes humor, memoir, interview, profile, travel, essay, opinion, journalism, creative nonfiction, etc.)To Enter, follow these Guidelines:1. No restrictions as to style or content. 2. Winners & selected finalists published in the Year 2006 Issue, which you will receive for entering, and also on the NMW Website, at www.newmillenniumwritings.com. 3. Send any time between now and midnight of Nov. 17. 4. Simultaneous & multiple submissions welcome. 5. Each Fiction or Nonfiction piece is counted as a separate entry and should total no more than 6,000 words. 6. Each Poetry entry may include up to three poems, not to exceed five pages total. 7. Include name, phone, address & category on first page or cover page. 8. Manuscripts not returned. (Send SASE for list of winners, or provide email address, or simply await your book. Winners also posted at our website. 9. Include $17 check payable to NMW with each submission. 10. Send to: "NMW," Room EM, PO Box 2463, Knoxville, TN 37901. We at New Millennium Writings strive to keep our emails up to date and free of unauthorized addresses. If you believe you have gotten on this list by mistake, please let us know and we will remove your name from our database.Our best,Don Williams

Slamdance 2006 call for entries

for your filmmaking types...from indiewire (of course):

The 12th annual Slamdance Film Festival will be held January 19-27, 2006 in Park City, Utah. Slamdance is the number one Park City alternative to the Sundance Film Festival. Located at the same time and place, Slamdance offers a leg up to first time filmmakers. Slamdance is currently accepting submissions. The early deadline is August 29th for all films. The final shorts deadline is October 11th. The final features deadline is October 17th. Go to http://www.slamdance.com for more information or to download an application.

jimmie dale gilmore & lesley gore?

checking out the latest email from Joe's Pub I discovered they actually have a few shows coming up that don't suck:

Jimmie Dale Gilmore: Come On Back CD Release / Tues, October 18
Marshall Crenshaw: Solo / Sun, November 27
Lesley Gore / Tuesdays: January 31, February 21 and March 7

weinstein's move in

http://blogs.indiewire.com/thereeler/archives/005577.html

today's rock star birthdays...

ROB HALFORD, 54
ELVIS COSTELLO, 51
BILLY RAY CYRUS, 44
DJ TERMINATOR X of Public Enemy, 39 [I think he's lying...]

pearl jam...pretty hard-rocking...

from rollingstone.com

PEARL JAM have been recording material for their new one, due in early 2006...Produced by ADAM KASPER (SOUNDGARDEN), the follow-up to 2002's "Riot Act" will be the band's first studio album for J Records. "It's a classic Pearl Jam record -- it's got the excitement of 'Vs.' to it," guitarist MIKE MCCREADY told Rolling Stone. "There's some powerful singing, and the music is pretty hard-rocking." The band, currently on tour, has eight songs in the can including "Severed Hand" and "Worldwide Suicide."

personally, I can't wait...

urine battery...ew.

"turning pee into power"...

"Urine is one of a number of bodily fluids rich in ions—electrically charged atoms. Researchers in Singapore leveraged this fact to produce a credit card-size battery (bottom) powered by urine. The device produces about 1.5 volts, the same as a standard AA battery, and can last for 90 minutes." for the whole article go here:

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/08/0818_050818_urinebattery.html

& you know...someone got a grant to study this...

today's word 08.26.05 "schlemiel"

schlemiel \shluh-MEEL\ noun: an unlucky bungler; chump

"Schlemiel," from the Yiddish "shlemil," has sometimes been associated with Peter Schlemihl, the hero of a story about an unlucky man who sold his shadow to the devil, by German writer Adelbert von Chamisso. While this story may have helped to popularize "schlemiel," the word probably has much older roots. The Hebrew name "Shelumiel" is mentioned in the Bible (Numbers 1:6), and the Talmud describes Shelumiel as a man whose behavior earned derision and an unfortunate fate. A "schlemiel" in modern English usage is a chronic blunderer or loser, and is sometimes paired with the less common "schlimazel," another Yiddish word for an unlucky or bungling person.

"at night, the ice weasels come"

Love is a snowmobile racing across the tundra and then suddenly it flips over, pinning you underneath. At night, the ice weasels come. -- Matt Groening, "Life in Hell"

blog w/info on MFA Programs...

http://creative-writing-mfa-handbook.blogspot.com/

[from maudnewton]

HOWL! Festival Bowery Poetry Club

entirely subjective list of events happening at Bowery Poetry Club as part of the HOWL! Festival

Friday 08.26
8:00pm 3rd Party's Fourth Friday: With very special guests THE LAST POETS $7/5

Sunday 08.28
10:00pm White Trash Debutante by Jennifer Blowdryer $16 inc drink.

There's lots more but I skipped the rest...

benefit for ABC NO RIO

from an email I just got - all band descriptions, etc. are theirs, not mine...

**A Benefit for ABC No Rio Saturday, August 27, 2005, 8 p.m.FEATURING:Hiretsukan(lyrically incendiary, raging, dissonant, melodic hardcore!)The Stockyard Stoics(energetic, good-humored, politically aware, 85% chance of pogo!!)God is My Co-Pilot(infamous free-jazz punkers!!!)World Inferno Friendship Society(NYC's vaudevillian, circus-related, red wine-infused, punk orchestra!!!!)
Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey Street at Bowery, $13 in advance, $15 day of show, 16+Tickets/
Directions/Info:212 533-2111, www.boweryballroom.com**

IN SUPPORT OF A CULTURE OF OPPOSITON For twenty-five years ABC No Rio has been host to exhibitions, performance art, poetry readings, film and video screenings, punk shows, open mics, experimental music performances and free drawing, photography and filmmaking classes for neighborhood kids. We've developed new facilities - a darkroom, printshop and computer center - increasing our ability to serve artists, activists and the community at large. Our Zine Library is one of the largest collections of its type. We provide a home to Food Not Bombs and to Books Through Bars. Thousands of artists, performers, poets and musicians have found a supportive home for their expression and experimentation at ABC No Rio. ABC No Rio has meant many things to many people. But our commitment to political and social engagement has remained consistent. We need your help to continue this tradition. Proceeds from this benefit will go towards ABC No Rio's Building Renovation Fund.For the latest on our situation as well as up-coming events, check out:www.abcnorio.org

quote for the day 08.25.05

Confusion is always the most honest response. -- Marty Indik

word for today 08.25.05 "expatiate"

expatiate \ek-SPAY-shee-ayt\, intransitive verb
1. To speak or write at length or in considerable detail. 2. To move about freely; to wander.

After one too many beers, he tended to expatiate upon his favorite subject--himself.

Expatiate is from Latin expatiari, "to walk or go far and wide," from ex-, "out" + spatiari, "to walk about," from spatium, "space; an open space, a place for walking in."

U.S. Casualties in Iraq reported 08.24.05

U.S. Casualties in Iraq reported in DOD releases dated 08.24.05

The following soldiers died on August 22, 2005, in Samarra, Iraq, when they were conducting patrol operations and an improvised explosive device detonated near their HMMWV. Both soldiers were assigned to the Army National Guard's 3rd Squadron, 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment, Sparta, Tenn.

Staff Sgt. Victoir P. Lieurance, 34, of Seymour, Tenn.
Sgt. Joseph D. Hunt, 27, of Sweetwater, Tenn.

1st Lt. Carlos J. Diaz, 27, of Juana Diaz, P. R. , died on Aug. 23, 2005, in Baqubah, Iraq, when enemy forces detonated an explosion near his position. Diaz was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 69th Armor Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Benning, Ga.

NY Protest Email List

sign up for a limited time via http://lists.riseup.net/www/arc/nyprotest

photo of the day 08.25.05

WHY YOU SHOULD OPPOSE ROBERTS

excerpted from moveon.org email which cites sources: Washington Post, Fox News, LA TIMES

"He's been caught falsely denying his active membership in the far-right Federalist Society and hiding his work as a corporate lobbyist doing things like blocking honest labeling requirements for skin care products. Over 50,000 pages of information released from his time as a political appointee in the Reagan administration have shed even more light on his efforts to thwart fair treatment for women, minorities and the disabled.Meanwhile, the White House is refusing to turn over public records on Roberts' time as Deputy Solicitor General in the first Bush administration.Just this morning, People for the American Way, a major civil rights and civil liberties advocacy group, joined the dozens of organizations officially opposing Roberts' nomination. Their new report gives an excellent overview of the ways Roberts threatens basic civil rights, privacy, the environment and workers. Here's an excerpt from the executive summary: John Roberts has spent much of the past two decades in political and legal positions of great influence. The public record that has been revealed over recent weeks demonstrates that Roberts has consistently advocated positions that would undermine Americans' fundamental rights and liberties under the Constitution and federal law. The confirmation of John Roberts to replace Justice Sandra Day O'Connor would bring dramatic change, move the Supreme Court significantly to the right, and shift the balance of the court to the great and lasting detriment of Americans and the constitutional principles and legal safeguards that protect their families and communities. We urge senators to vote against his confirmation.
You can read the entire report at SaveTheCourt.org:
go here for additional info.

kristin hersh's blog

one of my all-time favorite people & singer/songwriters, kristin hersh, has a blog now - good reading!

http://www.throwingmusic.com/blog/

Fig Leaf Man!

http://jonathanlethem.com/
though, as with many things in life, I'm a late-comer to this one...still, it's nice to see the Fig Leaf Man action figure in full effect.

random links - free CHEKOV & more

2001 of Chekov's short stories in order online and FREE...
http://chekhov2.tripod.com/

more free books to read (mostly classics) http://www.readprint.com/

I could spend the next month here: http://www.williamgaddis.org/

and of course, http://www.todayinliterature.com/ wherein we discover that today is Jorge Luis Borge's birthday...some quick reminders for those of you who haven't had your essential daily dose of caffeine yet, "Ficciones is now regarded as one of the essential postmodern texts" and a quote you should never try to reference at 3am after too much of that demon alcohol, "No one is anyone, one single immortal man is all men. Like Cornelius Agrippa, I am god, I am hero, I am philosopher, I am demon and I am world, which is a tedious way of saying that I do not exist" ("The Immortal")."

today's denis johnson links

that piece on Bikers for Jesus (or whatever...) that DJ wrote for salon.com a few years back...makes for interesting reading though, as anyone who knows me can surmise, the thought of being surrounded by that many born-again Christians makes me break out in hives...ew. http://www.salon.com/10/features/bikers1.html

SF Weekly article about Campo Santo, including the quote: "I'm kinda like Ozzy Osbourne..." [he means in the organizationally challenged sense...not in the bad outfits, bad hair and only speaking in monosyllables sense]
http://www.radiofreemike.com/johnson.html

a fairly decent review of SEEK,
http://archives.nashvillescene.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?story=Back_Issues:2001:September_13-19_2001:Special_Section:Fall_Guide:Books

and one of ALREADY DEAD which includes not only the premise that "in the current cultural climate, the novel is not just the preferred literary genre; for all practical purposes, it may as well be the only one..." but also employs the word VERISIMILITUDE (c'mon now...when's the last time you even THOUGHT about that word?)...as in, "...Johnson sacrifices verisimilitude in the name of higher pursuits and it is this, as much as the sheer density of the language, which makes the novel a difficult read...", though I have to interject that in my humble opinion, Already Dead is a much LESS difficult read for some of us than the usual waste of paper passed off as a novel these days...of course, I thoroughly enjoy reading & re-reading Finnegans Wake so what the f**k do I know about what qualifies as a "difficult read".
http://www.eye.net/eye/issue/issue_01.08.98/plus/books.html

photo of the day 08.24.05 "SATAN'S KINGDOM"

U.S. Casualties in Iraq reported 08.23.05 part 2

The following U.S. casualties were reported in D.O.D. releases dated 08.23.05

2nd Lt. James J. Cathey, 24, of Reno, Nev. , died Aug. 21 of injuries caused by an improvised explosive device while conducting combat operations near Al Karmah, Iraq. He was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N. C.

Pfc. Ramon Romero, 19, of Huntington Park, Calif. , died Aug. 22 when the vehicle he was in was struck by an improvised explosive device while conducting combat operations near Fallujah, Iraq. Romero was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Twentynine Palms, Calif. As part of Operation Iraqi Freedom, his unit was attached to the 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward).

Spc. Joseph C. Nurre, 22, of Wilton, Calif. , died on Aug. 21, 2005, near Samarra, Iraq, where an improvised explosive device detonated near his M916 tractor during convoy operations. Nurre was assigned to the Reserve's 463rd Engineer Battalion, Weirton, W. Va.

today's word is..."mitigate"

sure...you THINK you know what it means...but try using it correctly in a way other than "mitigating circumstances"

mitigate \MIT-uh-gayt\ verb 1 : to cause to become less harsh or hostile : mollify *2 : to make less severe or painful : alleviate 3 : extenuate

Example sentence: She was determined to help mitigate the suffering of the people in Darfur.

Would it be correct to say, "His boyish appearance mitigated against his getting an early promotion"? Most usage commentators would say "no." They feel such examples demonstrate a long-standing confusion between "mitigate" and the look-alike "militate." Those two words are not closely related etymologically ("mitigate" descends from the Latin verb "mitigare," meaning "to soften," whereas "militate" traces to "militare," another Latin verb that means "to engage in warfare"), nor are they particularly close in meaning ("militate" means "to have weight or effect"). The confusion between the two has existed for long enough that one commentator thinks "mitigate against" should be accepted as an idiomatic alternative to "militate," but if you want to avoid criticism, you should keep "mitigate" and "militate" distinct.

[some info from dictionary.com]

quote for 8.24.05 bill nye (the science guy)

Humor is everywhere, in that there's irony in just about anything a human does.
-- Bill Nye, Interview with Wired.com, April 2005

"Bullets in the Hood -- A Bed-Stuy Story"

- Brooklyn Premiere of "Bullets in the Hood -- A Bed-Stuy Story"The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) will host the Brooklyn premiere of the short film, "Bullets in the Hood: A Bed-StuyStory," an award-winning, teen-produced documentary on Tuesday, Sept. 6, at 7:30 p.m. Produced at New York City's Downtown Community... [posted to indieWIRE Shorts] http://blogs.indiewire.com/shorts/archives/005498.html

NYC Horror Film Festival call for entries

The 2005 NEW YORK CITY HORROR FILM FESTIVAL The Call For Entries for the 2005 New York City Horror Film Festival is officially underway, and this year promises to be bigger, badder, and the most exciting and important genre film festival in the world! This year, we will expand yet again with more nights, more films, more parties, and an even bigger venue! Held at Tribeca Cinemas and presented by MooDude Films.
http://www.NYCHorrorfest.com

link(s) for today 08.23.05

don't say I didn't warn you about this one...
http://www.viceland.com/issues/v9n4/htdocs/touching.php

and in more "Courtney's at it again" news...apparently, she's pregnant...She's also claiming to be 41...does this mean she's perfected a way of aging backwards?

http://news.scotsman.com/entertainment.cfm?id=1821582005

U.S. Casualties in Iraq & Afghanistan announced 08.23.05

from DOD releases dated 08.23.05

Lance Cpl. Phillip C. George, 22, of Houston, Texas, died Aug. 18 from enemy small arms fire while conducting combat operations near Taleban, Afghanistan. George was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force, Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii.

The following two soldiers died on August 21, 2005, in Mosul, Iraq, where their M915A1 tractor pulling a 7,500-gallon tanker accidentally rolled over. Both soldiers were assigned to the Army's 360th Transportation Company, 68th Corps Support Battalion, 43rd Area Support Group, Fort Carson, Colo.
Pfc. Elden D. Arcand, 22, of White Bear Lake, Minn.
Staff Sgt. Brian L. Morris, 38, of Centreville, Mich.

The following four soldiers died on August 21 near Baylough, Afghanistan, when an improvised explosive device detonated near their HMMWV during patrol operations. The soldiers were assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade, Vicenza, Italy.
Killed were:
Spc. Blake W. Hall, 20, of East Prairie, Mo.
1st Lt. Joshua M. Hyland, 31, of Missoula, Mont.
Sgt. Michael R. Lehmiller, 23, of Anderson, S. C.
Pvt. Christopher L. Palmer, 22, of Sacramento, Calif.


Sgt. Willard T. Partridge, 35, of Ferriday, La. , died on August 20 in Baghdad, Iraq, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle. Partridge was assigned to the 170th Military Police Company, 504th Military Police Battalion, 42nd Military Police Brigade, Fort Lewis, Wash.

and in today's useless celebrity news...

[from rollingstone.com]
COURTNEY LOVE appeared in court on Friday to answer charges that she violated her probation for offenses committed in 2003 and 2004 by being under the influence of controlled substances. Once the singer admitted to committing the violation -- at an event last month for LIZ PHAIR at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel -- the judge sentenced her to "long-term" drug treatment at a chemical dependency center. "I believe Courtney has every intent of complying with the court order," said her lawyer Howard Weitzman. "She had a relapse, [but] she's serious, she's sincere, she's tenacious." Love must return to court on September 16th to update the court on the progress of her treatment. [um...okay. sure...]

Fireworks containing the ashes of HUNTER S. THOMPSON were fired into the sky above his home near Aspen, Colorado, on Saturday night in a farewell ceremony to the late author and "gonzo" journalist. His family and guests including actors Johnny Depp and Bill Murray were in attendance . . .

Country star GARTH BROOKS has made Wal-Mart and Sam's Clubs the only retailers where fans can purchase his music. [let's hear it for Garth - supporting the retail outlets that are destroying every small retailer in the U.S. & arguably most responsible for flooding the country with Chinese imports...but hey, at least the rest of us won't have to be subjected to giant standups of the world's least attractive celebrity.]

Celebrity most in need of a reality check: "I can't call myself a genius, but I am on my way." -- R. KELLY
I think, perhaps, MENSA would disagree...

another word for 08.23.05 schadenfreude

schadenfreude \SHOD-n-froy-duh\, noun: A malicious satisfaction obtained from the misfortunes of others.

Schadenfreude comes from the German, from Schaden, "damage" + Freude, "joy." It is often capitalized, as it is in German.

Und now please to use it in a sentence...

photo for the day 08.23.05

word for the day 08.23.05 "soi-disant"

soi-disant \swah-dee-ZAHNG (the final "NG" isn't pronounced, but the vowel is nasalized)\ adjective :
self-proclaimed, so-called

Example sentence: He is a soi-disant post-modernist, but his writing doesn't approach the quality demonstrated by the writers he is so quick to criticize.

"Soi-disant," in French means literally "saying oneself," & is one of hundreds of French terms that entered English in the 17th and 18th centuries, during The Enlightenment. Even as political antipathies between France and England were being played out on battlefields in Europe and America, English speakers like Lord Chesterfield were peppering their correspondence with French. "Soi-disant" first began appearing in English texts in 1752 as a disparaging term for someone who styles or fancies him- or herself in some role (for example, a "soi-disant expert"). "Crepe," "vis-a-vis,""etiquette," and "sang-froid" are a few of the other French terms that became naturalized in English at that time.
[from dictionary.com]

quotes for the day 08.23.05

Both the cockroach and the bird would get along very well without us, although the cockroach would miss us most. -- Joseph Wood Krutch

Faith is, at one and the same time, absolutely necessary and altogether impossible. -- Stanislaw Lem

52 books in 52 weeks - updated 08.22.05

updating my little list of books read this year...striving to read 52 books in 52 weeks...[re-reads marked with * and ** if I've re-read more than once] only 12 books to go...is there some kind of prize??
1. denis johnson: jesus son* 2. stars at noon 3. resuscitation of a hanged man 4. name of the world**
5. jeanette winterson: passion 6. lighthouse keeping 7. sexing the cherry 7.written on the body*
8. chris offutt: out of the woods** 9. no heroes* 10. kentucky straight** 11. the good brother*
12. nick flynn:another bullshit night in suck city 13. ian rankin: resurrection men 14. knots & crosses 15.let it bleed 16. black & blue 17. haruki murakami: the wind-up bird chronicle
18. eugenides: middlesex (or as much of it as I'm going to read...)
19. the DaVinca Code: dan brown (as a part of my promise to myself not to condemn what I have not yet read...it takes about 2 hours to read & yes, it's as bad as you might think)
20. gould's book of fish 21. john koopman: McCoy's Marines: darkside to baghdad
22. evan wright: generation kill* 23. secret society of demolition writers 24. elizabeth gilbert: the last american man
25. phillipa gregory: the queen's fool (okay...read it for work) 26. gregory maquire: mirror, mirror
27. emile zola: nana 28. bastard on the couch (daniel jones, ed.)
29. men seeking women (mainly for the chris offutt piece
30. JA Jance: name withheld 31. tony hillerman:sacred clowns 32. tony hillerman: sinister pig
33. tony hillerman: hunting badger 34. james lee burke: cimarron rose 35. james lee burke: bitterroot*
36. bill bryson: a walk in the woods
37. aimee bender: the girl in the flammable skirt 38. Best American Non-Required Reading 2003 39. Best American Non-Required Reading 2004 40. Larry Brown: rabbit factory

cloisters, wim wenders, aimee bender

this past weekend was disgustingly humid (a/k/a NYC in august) so we opted out of more rigorous adventures in favor of a trip all the way uptown to Fort Tryon Park and the Cloisters. Met at Ghandi at noon & the neighborhood was already packed with screaming children, obese sweaty tourists and those annoying people who feel they're getting a slice of culture by coming down from the Upper West (or Upper East) to shop at the Union Square Farmer's Market. Just go home people...Off to the always unsexy L train & onto a highly under-airconditioned uptown A...too many sweaty stops later, we got off at 190th Street, followed all the other white people to the elevator, discussing on the way the time we'd opted for the stairs (never again...) and made our way into the hazy, sweaty, humid afternoon. Fort Tryon Park is beautiful & we saw lots of gorgeous flowers & other growing things (a nice change from most of Manhattan where the only thing that grows is that questionable looking black sludge in the subway tunnels)...and of course, the haze lying across the hills of NJ, the GW Bridge, and the Hudson. We lasted about 15 minutes (?) on our walking adventure, stopped at the Leaf Cafe (or whatever it's called) had a nice cold beer though why is it that NYC restaurants think it's a good idea to leave doors/windows open to "enjoy the weather" when I think we can all agree that 98% humidity is not enjoyable for anyone...After sitting and sweating, we walked up to the Lynden Terrace (Linden?) and had a nice long conversation about the similarities between patterns in programming language/coding html and writing poetry. (oh shutup...)...there was also some discussion of baby names (& no, no one in the near vicinity was even remotely expecting or planning to be expecting)...some agreement was made that Ruby is a good name for a girl and Dylan is a questionable name for any child at this point in history...we then moved on to a discussion of English people, their weird names, their odd sense of humor and so on...Onward to the Cloisters where we were subjected to yet more lack of a.c. (what is WRONG with these people?!) and of course, enjoyed the beautiful artwork. My usual penchant for devouring hills, cliffs, walkways on weekends was completely lacking...my big goal seemed to be to find various different locations where I could sit, hopefully not be smoked at/on and attempt to find a breeze. The Unicorn Tapestry is still as beautiful as ever though I think we all know how I feel about the subject matter & this brought an odd parallel to my day with the section of Denis Johnson's "Resucitation of a Hanged Man" I'd just re-read that very morning with the detailed description of the animal testing lab and the tortured dachsund our sensitive protagonist is forced to operate on...just shoot 'em all (the hunters & torturers that is...not the animals)...okay, a bit extreme but I think you get my point. The Cloisters is also home to one of the only depictions of Christ that has ever achieved anything resembling an emotional response in me (other than say, El Greco or some of the exquisite altars I saw in Spain - though that could've just been the extreme hot weather). It's a life size wood carving from Bavaria (?) circa 1500's and the carving is done so well, the suffering so realistically that for once, I can get past my ingrained (forgive the pun) block against most things Christian & can truly see the human element of Christ's suffering. Though it's beyond comprehension how anyone in their right mind could see such suffering and then take up arms and go make others suffer in the name of the original suffering...okay, that was really unclear...After that brief semi-religious experience, we stared at more art & then sat out in the gardens staring at the Hudson...we walked some more, relatively lethargically & then back to the A Train and the long ride down to civilization again...dinner at Cedar Tavern where the food's not that great but the atmosphere is exactly what was needed - dark booths, nice waitresses, and ice cold a.c. though perhaps in keeping with the odd unintentional parallels of the day (think: Dylan)...On the way downtown, I subjected my companion to some of Aimee Bender's stories - these from her first collection, "the Girl in the Flammable Skirt"...nothing like reading a large dose of magical realism outloud on a crowded A Train...Saw some movies over the weekend too including finally sitting all the way through (well almost...) Wim Wenders' "MILLION DOLLAR HOTEL" - odd and annoying (why oh why did he cast Mel Gibson?) but ultimately, worth the time...Spent some time at a very different CLOISTERS on Sunday - this being the cafe on 9th Street, and again, no air conditioning but at least it was a bit more bearable...St. Mark's Books had some passable choices on their sale table (because once again, I just can't afford to pay $25 for a book) and I picked up Ursula Hegi's "Hotel of the Saints" and a copy of Vernon God Little which I'd read a chapter or 2 of last year but never finished.

yet more denis johnson links

this from belief.net (of all places) an article entitled, "Mysticism, Mind-Alteration, and Jesus' Son"
http://www.beliefnet.com/story/38/story_3877_1.html

and Brad Hirn heavily referencing johnson in his article, "When We Pass Him: Everyday Visions Into Social Change". The article's not very well written, but the dj quotes are nice...
http://www.lefthook.org/Culture/Hirn081005.html

and this from Psychiatric News,
http://pn.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/37/8/33
"Writing is like dreaming," said Denis Johnson, after reading his short story, "Emergency." "Is dreaming therapeutic? Looking back at it helps, but dreaming itself is not therapeutic. The same is true of writing."

this from snackfight.com on "psychos never dream"
http://www.snackfight.com/archives/000102.html

and shana compton's blog discussing dj's poetry (scroll down)
http://www.shannacompton.com/9_03_blog.html

photo of the day for 08.22.05

beware of giant car-eating cows?

another word for today "funambulism"

funambulism \fyoo-NAM-byuh-liz-um\ noun
1 : tightrope walking
2 : a show especially of mental agility

In ancient Rome, tightrope walking was a popular spectacle at public gatherings. The Latin word for "tightrope walker" is "funambulus," from the Latin "funis," meaning "rope," plus "ambulare," meaning "to walk."The extended sense of the word has been around since at least 1886, when British academic and writer Augustus Jessopp described the act of diagramming sentences as "horrible lessons of ghastly grammar and dreary funambulism."

"vicissitude" word for 08.22.05

vicissitude \vih-SIS-ih-tood; -tyood\, noun:
1. Regular change or succession from one thing to another; alternation; mutual succession; interchange.
2. Irregular change; revolution; mutation.
3. A change in condition or fortune; an instance of mutability in life or nature (especially successive alternation from one condition to another).

Origina: vicissitude comes from Latin vicissitudo, from vicissim, in turn, probably from vices, changes.
Synonyms: alternation, inconstancy, fluctuation.

quotes for the day 08.22.05

Read, every day, something no one else is reading. Think, every day, something no one else is thinking. Do, every day, something no one else would be silly enough to do. It is bad for the mind to be always part of unanimity. -- Christopher Morley

An intellectual snob is someone who can listen to the William Tell Overture and not think of The Lone Ranger. -- Dan Rather

US Casualties in Afghanistan & Iraq announced 8/19-8/22

From DOD release dated 8.22.05
The following soldiers died on August 18, 2005, in Samarra, Iraq, where an improvised explosive device detonated near their HMMWV following a mine assessing mission. The soldiers were assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 69th Armor Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, Ga.
Killed were: Sgt. Nathan K. Bouchard, 24, of Wildomar, Calif. Staff Sgt. Jeremy W. Doyle, 24, of Chesterton, Md.
Spc. Ray M. Fuhrmann, II, 28, of Novato, Calif. Pfc. Timothy J. Seamans, 20, of Jacksonville, Fla.

From DOD release dated 8.19.05
The following soldiers died on August 18, 2005, in Kandahar, Afghanistan, when an improvised explosive device detonated underneath their HMMWV during ground assault convoy operations. The soldiers were assigned to the Army's 864th Engineer Combat Battalion (Heavy), 555th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade (Provisional), Fort Lewis, Wash. Killed were: 1st Lt. Laura M. Walker, 24, of Texas. Sgt. Robert G. Davis, 23, of Jackson, Mo.

52 books in 52 weeks?!

quick rant for the day...read on a few different sites/blogs/etc. about various & sundry people striving to read 52 books in 52 weeks...sounds a little silly to me but I thought I'd sit down and try to count or at least estimate how many books I've read since January '05...not going to count comic books or "graphic novels" or screenplays or plays in general or books I had to read for work or literary journals or poetry just so I won't have to hear from you annoying purists out there but I am going to count "re-reads" just because I want to though I will mark them with a little * or a **if I read 'em twice...here goes in no particular order...denis johnson: jesus son*, stars at noon, resuscitation of a hanged man, name of the world**/jeanette winterson: passion, lighthouse keeping, sexing the cherry, written on the body*/chris offutt: out of the woods**, no heroes*, kentucky straight**, the good brother*/nick flynn:another bullshit night in suck city/ian rankin: resurrection men, knots & crosses, let it bleed, black & blue/haruki murakami: the wind-up bird chronicle/eugenides: middlesex (or as much of it as I'm going to read...)/the DaVince Code: dan brown (as a part of my promise to myself not to condemn what I have not yet read...it takes about 2 hours to read & yes, it's as bad as you might think)/gould's book of fish/john koopman: McCoy's Marines: darkside to baghdad/evan wright: generation kill*/secret society of demolition writers/elizabeth gilbert: the last american man/phillipa gregory: the queen's fool (okay...read it for work)/gregory maquire: mirror, mirror/emile zola: nana/bastard on the couch (daniel jones, ed.)/men seeking women (mainly for the chris offutt piece)/gould's book of fish (half in '04, finished in '05)/JA Jance: name withheld/tony hillerman:sacred clowns, sinister pig, hunting badger/james lee burke: cimarron rose, bitterroot*/and that's all I can remember right now...will add more as I trip over them at home or remember them during that special time between 4 and 6 a.m. when I lie away thinking about things like this...total so far is 34 which leaves 18 more books to read by December 31st...just in case this is some kind of secret contest that no one's told me about since it seems to be all over the web...somehow I thought it would be much more than only 34 books? I guess I'm spending too much time reading every damn literary journal that shows up in my P.O. Box...it's just that they're so much easier to read on the subway and I don't care if they get battered or someone idiot who's apparently riding the subway for the first time EVER in his f**king LIFE spills his morning coffee (replete with fake milk of course) all over me and the book I'm reading and then of course looks at me like somehow it's my fault and I shouldn't have been sitting in that particular spot, minding my own damn business, reading a literary journal in the first place...ahem. so...only how many weeks to read 18 more books? apparently I'm going to have to read a book a week if I want to meet that silly goal...somehow though, I think Zola should count more than say, Dan Brown or JA Jance (sorry...it was my mom's and I was stuck for a book)...

screenplays online

great small site with screenplays to some great films (Barton Fink, Fargo, Wild at Heart, Blue Velvet) http://www.pumpkinsoft.de/screenplay451/

photo of the day 08.19.05

word for the day 08.19.05 porcine

porcine \POR-syne\ adjective : of, relating to, or suggesting swine : piggish

Example sentence: My ex-boyfriend was regarded as porcine not only in size but in appetite, and rarely did he leave any food on his plate.

"Porcine" comes from the Latin word "porcinus," meaning "swinish," and ultimately derives from the Latin "porcus," meaning "pig." When "porcine" was first used in English in the mid-17th century, it joined similarly formed animal-related words, including "leonine," "canine," "asinine," "vulpine," and "aquiline."

more denis johnson stuff

But everything is like we think it is, don't you get it? Out of the million little things happening on this beach, you can only be aware of seven things at once, seven things at any given time. ... We never really get the whole picture. Not even a microscopic part of it. ... Our delusions are just as likely to be real as our most careful scientific observations. - Denis Johnson

an old one from Salon.com talking about why he home schooled his kids:
http://archive.salon.com/mwt/feature/1997/10/01school.html

and here writing about a boy scout camp in the phillipines...
http://www.salon.com/dec96/jungle961223.html

in the New Yorker a long while back writing about his "lowest ebb" which is a pretty good read (though short), including the following which holds a certain nostalgic resonance to some of us....
"My highest ambition was to put together enough capital to get a quart of beer, a joint, a sandwich, and some kind of room for the night, all in the same day. On one occasion, I did grub up enough change to get drunk on discount beer and still pay for lodgings at a youth hostel, but its atmosphere felt very much like a jail's—homoerotic and quivering with suppressed violence. Still, as a young man convinced that everything that happened to him was something he'd someday write about, one night in such an atmosphere wasn't too horrible."
http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/?020422fa_FACT5

and a decent i/view from the SF Reader that includes this piece of genius:
"A recent review in the New Yorker about writing under the influence describes the whole genre of drug literature as remarkable only in its mediocrity—with one exception: Jesus' Son. I was straight when I wrote that; I didn't write it under the influence. I don't know how you can. I mean, your hands get real big. How could you type? Did they say I was under the influence? I think it's silly for anyone to think you could write under the influence, but if they'd like to think that, I'd like to keep the legend alive. Maybe I was under the influence when I wrote Jesus' Son and I just didn't know it. "http://www.sanfranciscoreader.com/interviews/denis%20johnson.html

and here's a girl who's on "hot or not" and like denis johnson.
http://meetme.hotornot.com/?pickNew=1&state=vote&votee=926851&vt=36&kwMode=1&rand=896&keyword=denis%20johnson&kw=462295

RIP Art Collins one of the few decent people in rock'n'roll

Though this is much belated, here's the Reuters piece on the death of Art Collins. I only worked with him for a little while [iggy pop's "American Caesar" press campaign] but found him to be intelligent, respectful, kind, and very good at his job. If there were more like him, maybe the music industry wouldn't be the sinkhole full of pondscum that we all know it is.

Longtime Iggy Pop manager dies suddenly
Sat Jul 30, 2005 02:25 AM BST
NEW YORK (Billboard) - Art Collins, who managed Iggy Pop for the last 20 years, died suddenly Wednesday at his home in Pine Bush, N.Y. He was 52. Cause of death was not revealed, pending the outcome of an autopsy.
Collins entered the music business in 1975, working in Atlantic Records' promotion department, and then joined Rolling Stones Records where he eventually became president. In 1982 he turned to management; over the years his roster included Joe Jackson, Marianne Faithfull and Marshall Crenshaw.
In a statement, Iggy Pop commented: "Art was a big sweetheart. He was a marshmallow. This very down-to-earth guy was a kind of tonic for everyone he met, and he really loved rock and roll. He was immensely proud of his tenure with Atlantic Records, his work with the Rolling Stones, and I hope with me as well. He was my best friend."
Reuters/Billboard

some links...

interesting blog/sites stumbled across recently:

so wrong and yet so right... http://www.bpninc.com/evideo/video_mac_hi.mov

lots of good info though at times annoying: http://www.largeheartedboy.com/blog/archive/2005/08/

good band: http://www.drivebytruckers.com/

http://www.bookslut.com/ especially check out the comic book slut section

Suicide Girls have an interview with Richard Hell (my first crush after Robert Plant/Jimmy Page, Adam from Bonanza and um...Lord Byron....) http://suicidegirls.com/words/Richard+Hell/

and again, so wrong...and yet...so right: http://www.ourdailydead.com/oddArchive.php

John Loder (Crass Recds/Southern Studios) RIP

http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/news/obituary/0,12723,1552086,00.html?gusrc=rss

John Loder, record producer, born April 7 1946; died August 12 2005.

2nd word for the day 8.18.05 "parley"

because it's so much cooler than "meme"...

parley \PAR-lee\, noun: A conference or discussion, especially with an enemy, as with regard to a truce or other matters. [as any good pirate knows...]

Parley comes from Old French parlée, from parler, "to speak," from Medieval Latin parabolare, from Late Latin parabola, "a proverb, a parable, a similitude," from Greek parabole, "a comparison, a placing beside," from paraballein, "to throw beside, hence to compare," from para-, "beside" + ballein, "to throw."

fellini @ Museum of Moving Image 8/27-8/28

Saturday + Sunday, August 27 + 28 3:00 p.m.FEDERICO FELLINI LA DOLCE VITA 1960, 175 mins. Restored 35mm print from Paramount Pictures. With Marcello Mastroianni, Anita Ekberg, Anouk Aimée. A bored gossip columnist wanders through the hedonistic spectacle of modern Rome in Fellini's dazzling epic. [perhaps one of my all time favorite films...I still wanna be Anita Ekberg when I grow up...]

Saturday, August 27 7:30 p.m.Sunday, August 28 6:30 p.m.FEDERICO FELLINI 8 1/2 1963, 135 mins. Imported 35mm print from the British Film Institute. With Marcello Mastroianni. Fellini's autobiographical fantasy is a portrait of the filmmaker as a circus ringmaster.

Museum of the Moving Image is located at 35 Avenue and 36 Street in Astoria.Trains: R, V (R, G on weekends) to Steinway. N, W to 36 Avenue.

photo of the day for 08.18.05

quote of the day - for all you "talented" slackers

"Don't go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first. "
Mark Twain

yeah...I'm a little cranky today...

word of the day for 8.18.05 meme

meme \MEEM\ noun : an idea, behavior, style, or usage that spreads from person to person within a culture

Example sentence: "Blogs are an interesting way... of seeing which ideas, memes, trends and news events are getting the most comment." (Clive Thompson, quoted in the _Sunday Tribune_, February 6, 2005)

In 1976, British scientist Richard Dawkins wrote "The Selfish Gene", and in which defended his new creation, the word "meme." Having first considered, then rejected, "mimeme," he wrote: "'Mimeme' comes from a suitable Greek root, but I want a monosyllable that sounds a bit like 'gene.' I hope my classicist friends will forgive me if I abbreviate 'mimeme' to 'meme.'" The suitable Greek root was "mim-," meaning "mime" or "mimic." Dawkins's "mimeme" was formed from "mim-" plus "-eme," an English noun suffix that indicates a distinctive unit of language structure (as in "grapheme," "lexeme," and "phoneme"). "Meme" itself, like a good meme, caught on pretty quickly, spreading from person to person as it established itself in the language.

bid to get your name in your favorite author's next book...

through an auction for the First Amendment Project, you can bid on ebay to get your name included in your favorite author's next book...though if I catch you bidding for Dorothy Allison or Neil Gaiman against me, I'll have to come find you and kick your small, bony a** (you know who you are...)

http://cgi3.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewUserPage&userid=auctioncause

Michael Chabon, John Grisham, Stephen King and America’s most prominent authors hold eBay auctionto raise money for the First Amendment Project

--For Immediate Release--
Michael Chabon and 16 of America's most prominent authors, including John Grisham, Rick Moody, Nora Roberts, Stephen King and Amy Tan have banded together to raise money for the First Amendment Project (FAP) through eBay Giving Works, the dedicated program for charity listings, starting on September 1st and running through September 25th, 2005. The authors will auction off the chance to name a character in their upcoming books, and donate the proceeds to the FAP, a nonprofit organization that is dedicated to protecting and promoting freedom of information, expression, and petition. After 12 years of assisting activists, journalists and artists, FAP is struggling financially and in serious danger of closing. Michael Chabon, a member of FAP’s Advisory Board, turned to his colleagues in the literary world and enlisted them to rally to FAP's defense.
The authors participating in the eBay FAP auction at www.ebay.com/fap include: Dorothy Allison, Michael Chabon, Dave Eggers, Karen Joy Fowler, Neil Gaiman, Andrew Sean Greer, John Grisham, Stephen King, Jonathan Lethem, Rick Moody, ZZ Packer, Chuck Palahniuk, Nora Roberts, Lemony Snicket, Peter Straub, Amy Tan, and Ayelet Waldman.
The idea of holding a group auction came from Neil Gaiman, who recently auctioned off the name of a cruise liner in his upcoming novel, Anansi Boys, for 3.5k on eBay. The proceeds from it were donated to another First Amendment defender, The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. “It just made sense to apply this on a grander scale,” says Chabon. “If one of us could raise that much for a non profit on his own, what could a dozen or more authors pull in for the First Amendment Project?”
“First Amendment Project is the only nonprofit organization in the country devoted to providing free legal services with respect to free speech and free press issues” says David Greene Executive Director and Staff Counsel for FAP. “The authors who are helping us with this auction understand how fundamental First Amendment rights are and how without organizations like FAP being vigilant in preserving them, our nation's democratic and creative cultures will suffer.”
Last year, FAP was involved in a case before the California Supreme Court that raised important issues for poets, writers and all of those dedicated to the craft of the written word. Julius, a student new to his high school, gave a poem he wrote to some of his classmates to read. The page on which the poem appeared was labeled "Dark Poetry." Julius testified that he used that label so that a reader would understand that his writings were fictional. The issue was whether the distribution of the poem to some of his classmates constituted a “criminal threat” under California Penal Code §422. The juvenile court and the Court of Appeal ruled that it did, interpreting the poem as demonstrating a serious and real intention to commit a crime. However, on July 22nd, 2004 , the Cal. Supreme Court reversed Julius’ conviction, relying heavily on a friend of the court brief. Co-authored by FAP (with the ACLU of Northern California) on behalf of Michael Chabon, JM Coetzee, Peter Straub, Harlan Ellison and others, the brief urged the court to consider the historic and important role violent imagery plays in poetry and literature, and to consider how the nature of poetry makes it an unlikely vehicle for the delivery of a threat.
Conducting the auction is Auction Cause, a premier online auction management agency specializing in high impact and high value eBay auctions for nonprofits and their corporate partners.
About Michael Chabon
Michael Chabon is the Pulitzer-Prize winning author of The Amazing Adventures Of Kavalier & Clay. His other books include The Mysteries Of Pittsburgh, Wonder Boys, and The Final Solution. His work has appeared in The New Yorker, Harper's, Esquire, and The New York Review of Books and in a number of anthologies, among them Prize Stories 1999: The O. Henry Awards. He lives in Berkeley , California , with his wife, Ayelet Waldman, and their four children. http://www.michaelchabon.com/
About the First Amendment Project
The First Amendment Project is a nonprofit advocacy organization dedicated to protecting and promoting freedom of information, expression, and petition. Since 1992, FAP has provided advice, educational materials, and legal representation to its core constituency of activists, journalists, and artists in service of these fundamental liberties. Providing over $400,000 in free legal services every year, FAP is the only nonprofit organization in the country to offer direct, free and low-cost legal representation exclusively on First Amendment matters in three primary areas:
Defending those sued for exercising their First Amendment rights.
Representing those challenging laws and governmental policies that infringe on First Amendment rights.
Representing those seeking access to governmental records & meetings and court records & proceedings.

interesting denis johnson related stuff

in my ongoing denis johnson obsession (oh hush...) I came across the following:

http://www.cultureport.com/cultureport/artists/messer/messer_johnson.html
interesting piece by denis johnson on Sam Messer

and here you can read an excerpt from the absolutely pull out your heart and stomp on it, "Already Dead"

http://www.pw.org/mag/wwr_alreadydead.htm

and Maude Newton writing about denis johnson, here [apparently, I'm not the only one with this particular obsession]
http://maudnewton.com/blog/index.php?p=3274

there's also a great list of free or semi-free events in NY on this blog that may be of interest to some of you...though saying that there's "nothing good scheduled" for 8/18 is just plain silly. John Irving's reading for FREE at barnes & noble on East17th street. Maybe he's not cool amongst the nyc literary cognescenti but he's a f**king great writer...so there. and back to the denis johnson obsession theme of this post, there's also mention of one ring zero's "as smart as they are: the author project" premiere at the pioneer theatre on Saturday the 20th...it's also at Anthology on September 14th which will probably be less full of annoyingly gag-inspiring hipsters of the ilk that make me wanna stay home with my remote & 400 channels...

US Casualties in Iraq Announced 8.16.05

From DOD Releases dated 8.16.05

Spc. Michael J. Stokely, 23, of Sharpsburg, Ga. , died on Aug. 16, 2005, in Baghdad, Iraq, where an improvised explosive device detonated near his dismounted patrol. Stokely was assigned to the Army National Guard's 1st Battalion, 108th Armor Regiment, 48th Brigade Combat Team, Griffin, Ga.

The following three soldiers died on August 15, 2005, in Al Mahmudiyah, Iraq, when their HMMWV accidentally rolled over into a canal. All three were assigned to the Army National Guard's 1st Battalion, 108th Armor Regiment, Calhoun, Ga.
Sgt. Thomas J. Strickland, 27, of Douglasville, Ga.
Spc. Joshua P. Dingler, 19, of Hiram, Ga.
Sgt. Paul A. Saylor, 21, of Norcross, Ga.

Spc. Jose L. Ruiz, 28, of Brentwood, N. Y. , died on August 15, 2005, in Mosul, Iraq, when he was conducting security operations and enemy forces using small arms fire drove by his position in a civilian vehicle. Ruiz was assigned to the Army's 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division (Stryker Brigade Combat Team), Fort Lewis, Wash.

BOYCOTT EXXON

yeah...I know...2 soapboxes in one day is a bit much but hey, just got this from Sierra Club.

"Dear Sierra Club Supporter,
Every year, the destruction caused by the drilling, production and use of oil and gasoline gets worse. Instead of advocating changes which will decrease our reliance on oil, the petroleum industry is looking instead to drill for more crude, no matter the location, no matter how damaging.
To add insult to injury, these same companies are reaping huge profits while Americans must cut deeper into their families' budgets to pay for the rapidly increasing price of gas.
Of all the Big Oil companies, Exxon is the worst. Let me tell you why:

Exxon is leading the lobbying efforts in Washington, D.C. to open the pristine Arctic Refuge in Alaska for drilling.
After more than a decade, Exxon has still not kept its promise to pay for the extreme damage that resulted from the Exxon Valdez spill in Prince William Sound.
And while you and I are being gouged at the gas pump, Exxon is reaping record high profits...over $25.3 BILLION in 2004...money that is paying for junk science designed to stop and stall action on global warming.
This needs to stop.
I'm asking you to join our boycott of the ExxonMobil Corporation by helping us to "Exxpose Exxon" -- our campaign to force ExxonMobil to reverse its anti-environmental policies -- policies which exploit our natural environment and the pocketbooks of the American public.
Please consider making an urgent donation to support the Sierra Club and its efforts to send a strong message to the executives at Exxon with this boycott: Keep your hands off the unspoiled Arctic Refuge and stop funding junk science with the profits you make gouging Americans at the pump!
While it is easy to feel hopeless during these difficult times, and unable to fight back against a mighty behemoth such as the Exxon Corporation, you can do something about it -- work with us to EXXPOSE EXXON. We urge you to do the following two things right now:

First, please sign the petition to the Chairman and CEO of ExxonMobil, Lee Raymond, expressing your outrage at this company's irresponsible actions and pledge to participate in this boycott.
And second, make an urgent donation supporting the Sierra Club and its efforts in organizing this campaign, in addition to our many other efforts to preserve our environment and natural treasures.
Your action today is critical -- unless we "Exxpose" Exxon's disgraceful environmental record, we can not expect to achieve our goal -- to force Exxon to change its policies and practices and become a responsible business -- or even to admit that the problem exists!
Your urgent donation will provide the resources we need to organize this boycott campaign and also support all of the Sierra Club's other important efforts to protect our land, air, water and wildlife.
Please sign our petition and make a contribution today.
Sincerely,
Carl PopeExecutive DirectorSierra Club
[end letter]

"Book World Laments Lack of Great Fiction"

in today's news, "Book World Laments Lack of Great Fiction" http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050817/ap_en_ot/fall_books
my suggestion to the members of the "Book World" quoted in this article - try getting out of your respective offices once in a while & seeing what's actually out there...I've read more good books this year by NEW writers than I can remember in the past several years...not to mention the great manuscripts ACHING to be published & great writing going on in the small press/lit journals, etc. Sure, not everyone's writing "The DaVinci Code" (thank god!!) but then do we really need another rehash of RA Wilson's Illuminatis Triology mixed with a little Foucault then dumbed down for the American public? As far as the comment about the public not buying books...how about charging a little less for new releases? $25 for a book is outrageous...last night, I made the mistake of stopping by Barnes & Noble to see if they have the new Aimee Bender...there on the shelf was a PAPERBACK of "Willful Creatures" which on closer inspection turned out to be a GALLEY and NOT FOR SALE...being stupidly honest, I handed it to the very nice sales guy & after expressing his shock that someone had put it on the shelf, pointed me downstairs to the hardcover edition. $23. Sorry, much as I love her writing, that'll be another ebay/half.com purchase for me. I should've just been as dishonest as the publishers who charge that much for a book & kept the galley edition. Speaking of Aimee Bender, she'll be reading at the Astor Place Barnes and Noble on September 7th at 7pm. She's a GREAT reader so don't miss this one!!!