The blog of author Dennis Cooper

Month: July 2011

Bill Hsu tips … 8 audiovisuals

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Just thought I’d put together a little sampler of some audiovisual work that I came across more or less recently, and really liked.
Brian O’Reilly’s collaborators include Eliane Radigue, Luc Ferrari, Matmos, and Garth Knox. His work has a range of approaches and “looks”; I think it’s just fantastic.
This collaboration with granular synthesis pioneer Curtis Roads reminds me a little of Stan Brakhage:
A piece with a more retro analog video look:
Alexander Schubert is a young Hamburg-based composer who works a lot with improvisers. His audiovisual pieces combine gesture, video and sound in very effective and creative ways. Here’s an excerpt from Laplace Tiger:
The youtube video of Weapon of Choice (doesn’t look great, but easier to embed):
A much higher-resolution version here
More on Alexander Schubert: http://www.alexanderschubert.net/
Tarik Barri is an Amsterdam-based audiovisual artist who does beautiful things with light, space and perspective. A recent piece:
Barri works regularly with Monolake/Robert Henke. Their collaborations have a more minimal look:

Monolake Live at Sonic Acts 2010 from Tarik Barri on Vimeo.

A longer Monolake/Barri clip: http://thewire.co.uk/articles/3493/

More on Tarik Barri: http://tarikbarri.nl/

Earlier this month I saw Jacob Sello’s Licht and Hiebe, a piece with many intriguing and magical moments. It’s written for Sello’s Hexenkessel (Witches’ Cauldron), basically a modified tympani with interactive electronic sound and projection. Here’s a demo of the system; the flow of the actual piece is a little different:

Farbraum is a German group that builds multi-projector installations that interact in fascinating and disorienting ways with 3-D structures. A recent project:
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p.s. Hey. Today you get some fantastic videos and related info from d.l. Bill Hsu, who’s the opposite of a slouch as a audiovisual artist himself, needless to say. Watch them ‘cos there’s some amazing stuff up there, and speak to Bill, please. Thanks! And a whopping thanks to you, B! ** Killer Luka, Hey. Yeah, you said it, basically. I would imagine the ghosts chose to follow someone who wasn’t going home to a rather unopulent hotel in Tours. In any case, not a trace that I can tell, no. ** Jax, Intrigue upon intrigue. Tough choice there for Lord Rigby. Being that it’s fiction and all, I vote for him feasting, but if he follows his heart, I understand. Yes, a table all prepped for a different kind of feast involving fake madeleines. Nice touch. The pool looked blah but it had a bunch of cool bubbling and whooshing and so on effects, I’ll give it that. Ha ha, actually I wrote more on my vacation than I had in weeks. 10 1/2 train rides and nights in a very shut down little village will do that to you. All right now, you make Lord Rigby do the right thing, you hear? ** David Ehrenstein, There was some Marienbad going on in a few of those castles, you bet. John Moulder-Brown circa ‘Deep End’, ‘Ludwig’, etc. is some kind of total physical ultimate. ** Empty Frame, Hey. Cool, glad the tips helped. More when or if you wish. Lucky you to have the Ashbery/Rimbaud in hand. It’s taking its sweet fucking time to get over here to Paris. ** Tosh, Well, when I finally do get home to LA for real, I’ll miss France like crazy for completely sure. I need your nagging, believe me. Yes, yes, I’ll finish that up. Damn, I’m sorry. ** JoeM, Hey, Joe! A sadly rare but ever great pleasure to see you! What you said to Misa is great and thoughtful and really kind of you, of course. Words from the wise. How are you doing? Any chance for of-late news of and from you? ** Chilly Jay Chill, Hi, Jeff. Thanks! No, the gardens are much more impressive in person than in the photos. I was sorely disappointed that their big effect and grandeur didn’t translate into my camera. I’m interested in the castle/ chateaux thing in general, but I have been particularly trying to get to the Loire Valley since I started ‘TMS’, originally thinking I’d do novel research, so yes. I … don’t think I’ve heard Albert Ayler’s psych-funk record. Hm. I’ll be all over that in a bit, though. Great birthday gift! Everyone, d.l. and writer and ‘Destination: Out’ maestro Chilly Jay Chill is celebrating jazz supremely great Albert Ayler’s birthday by offering D:O site visitors the chance to hear two tracks from AA’s legendary psych-funk ’68 album ‘New Grass’. That’s a serious treat if you don’t know it, and I highly recommend you click this and accept the gifts. Awesome, Jeff, thanks! ** Frank Jaffe, Hi, Frank! ‘Possession’ … hm, I … don’t think I saw that, no, although, hm, it does sound awfully familiar. I’ll check for the trailer, watch it, and watch the film probably too if a download is to be had and either way. Cool. Not much news is good news, right? ** A.r., Watch what you wish for, ha ha. No, sir, it is, was, and shall always be an honor. ** _Black_Acrylic, Hi, Ben. Ha ha, the French do kind of have the aristocracy thing down. Or used to. ** Tender prey, Late ‘tomorrow morning’ means … now! So, I think you’re here. Dude, I am so sorry about the weather. Yes, yes, call me as soon as you feel like it. I can’t wait to see you guys! Call asap or anytime! Unless they extended the show, and I don’t think they did, the Kapoor closed about three or so weeks ago, I’m afraid. But there’s other stuff. Great! Talk to you today, I hope! ** Steevee, I don’t know that show you’re simulating in your script, but it sure sounds curious and American. I’m sure there’s a way to get a Slava Mogutin type artist on the show realistically. Work denounced by the Republicans or Evangelicals or … ? I read the Pitchfork rave about the Araabmuzik album and wondered. Hm, I’ll stream a bit. ** Chris Cochrane, We got nominated for a Bessie! Wowzer! But, I mean, if we hadn’t gotten a Bessie nod, it would have been a little weird, not to toot our horn while I’m tooting our horn. Anyway, that’s great news! ** Statictick, Hey, N. Mysterious about the be-limbo-ing thing. I didn’t really understand what’s going on there, but if you’re pissed, I’m pissed! Fuck the major dick! ** MANCY, Hey. So you’ll be in Seattle for a month? I hope you find the living spot fast so you can, I don’t know, go boat out to all those pretty islands around there and stuff and … what does one do for a blast in Seattle these days? The Space Needle, the best cafes in the US as I recall, … How is the Seattle music scene these days? I should know that, but I don’t seem to. ** Sypha, There was a surprising and disappointing lack of secret passages in those chateaux. A few. Or else tourists don’t get the pleasure. ** Alan, Damn straight! ** Misanthrope, No cameras allowed in the spa. Well, they’d die pretty quickly in the steam, I think. There were some ‘things’ you would have liked to see, trust me, heh heh. I had to steal those two images I used from the internet. Exactly, on the failure thing. Late happy birthday to Justin! Sounds like you guys did it up so to speak. I don’t mind country music. Weird, right? Not that I listen to it very much. I kind of like the way the lyrics are both totally cornball and really crafted. I don’t know. ** Chris Dankland, I always go, I want a castle, but then I go, it would cost millions to keep it up and heat it properly, and then I go, well, if I could have a castle, I’d probably be really rich and it wouldn’t matter, and so on. Thanks for the links! I just sampled each of them a little, and I’ll go dive in when I’m not p.s.ing. I liked all of them actually. I didn’t know Kreayshawn before, and I like them. Is the blond girl with the big glasses the dj/music maker of the duo? And the V-Nasty around town video was cool too. Yeah, good stuff, much appreciated! My initial reaction is totally poz. They seem totally charming to me, but I’ll listen closer to the lyrics and stuff and get a more thorough feel for their work. I’ve been kind of getting into Lil B lately, very late, I know. I got ‘I’m Gay’ a couple of days ago and really like it. I’d only heard/ gotten tracks here and there before. Anyway, yeah, great, and tips are very wanted anytime. I mean, the posts on the blog are basically me sharing stuff I’m interested in day after day, so the sharing thing is definitely called for, I say. Oh, I jut caught your late comment with the blog/Lil B link! I’ll get to that shortly. The Aerial Pink of rap: very interesting. Yeah, hunh, that’s cool. Thanks one more time, Chris! ** Gregoryedwin, Hey! Yeah, don’t push it with the leg, man. Vegging out is the byword. My favorite(s)? Mm, well, Chambord is so massive and crazy, it would be hard not to say it was the best. The Villainy gardens are up there. The grounds of the Leonardo daVinci house were gorgeous and wandering and a highlight, although the house/ chateaux itself was good but not out there great. Okay, indies, gotcha. Thinking cap goes on. ** Schlix, Hi, Uli. How’s it going? I guess I kind of see the bad reviews of ‘Tree of Life’ as badges of honor being pinned onto its genius. I guess I like it that critics who’ll lavish praise on stuff like ‘Source Code’ can’t handle ‘ToF’. I saw this Stanley Kubrick retrospective exhibit here recently, and they had a display of the reviews at the time of ‘2001’, and most of the critics didn’t get it at all and gave it bad reviews. And where are they now, ha ha? ** Inthemostpeculiarway, Hey. Well, whatever happens with Eyebrows, I think your attitude towards it is really good. It won’t prevent whatever from happening, but you’re enjoying what’s happening now rather than anxiously looking for more, and that’s both sensible and just generally sane, I guess. I like rain. I do. But, for instance, it’s been pouring heavily since I woke up, and I kind of wanted to get out of this room at length today, so, at the moment, I’m not the big rain fan that I can be. No, ‘Potter’ later this week, I think. Give the crowds a few days to thin out just a little. Oh, while that trip does sound really nice for your friend, five weeks without your friend is understandably sad-making, yeah. I’m sorry. I hope she brings you weird, cool stuff. I’ve never been to Hong Kong, but I imagine weird, cool, buyable stuff abounds there. My day: It didn’t rain. That was good. This guy James called me up to interview me for Another Man Magazine about Pierre Clementi. Basically when I discovered him, why I like him, what he means, why he’s special, how and why he’s a big part of my novel, and stuff. It was fine, I think. I worked on the fiction and maze things a fair amount. D.l. Bill suggested I should this French filmmaker friend of his named Frederic Vaesen, and I wanted to, so I met up with them and d.l. Bernard at the Recollets cafe for a long visit. It was very nice. I’m going to go to Frederic’s studio and look at his work when he gets from an imminent vacation to … oh, the Canary Islands. Bernard agreed to go have dinner at Hard Rock Cafe with me tonight, and, given that he’s a serious culinary/food guy, I thought that was positively noble and very friend-like of him, and now I’m looking forward to that. I think we’re going to see ‘Transformers 3’ too if the rain doesn’t stop us. Then I did my food and cigarette shopping. Then I worked some more. My sister called to fill me in on her latest, and she’s in the middle of a big complicated mess/law suit thing that would be lengthy and boring to explain. I worked on blog posts for a while. I hung out with Yury, and he was supposed to go back to work today, so he felt ugh about that, but his work return ended up being delayed until tomorrow, so I guess he’ll have to feel ugh again today. Uh, I think that’s it for Monday. I’ll see what I can do today, and maybe I’ll have a dinner and movie report for you tomorrow. I hope your Tuesday is happier than your Monday was. Tell me in any case. ** Bernard Welt, You can smell me smoking? Oops. Uh, get used to it? No, I’m sorry. You’re right: I’m just finishing up the blog whereupon, after a polite interval, I will call you re: rainy day plans. Great words to Misa. Misanthrope, if you missed Bernard’s late comment, read it, bud. All right, talk to you in a short time. ** Please go discover the marvels that Bill is offering to you today. Thank you. I will try to stay semi-dry, and I will see you tomorrow whatever my fate may be in that regard.

Gig #10: Steevee presents … Underground Hip-Hop Day

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Big K.R.I.T.: ‘Mississippi’s Big K.R.I.T. is a sort of Southern Rap traditionalist. Where his colleague and buddy Jay Electronica looks to Nas, Rakim and other New York formalists, Big K.R.I.T. revives the seminal 1990s Southern hip-hop of Pimp C and 8Ball, casually intricate rappers more invested in mood than density. Where these throwback styles thrive is on the Internet, where dedicated if modest fan bases can champion all sorts of outsiders, even traditionalists. He’s unconflicted about his heritage. “Mississippi, what? He don’t sound Southern,” he rapped at the end of “Children of the World,” parroting what others have said to dismiss him. But that’s not true: he’s unmistakably of the region, legato with the syllables, clipped in tone and with an intoxicating melancholy streak.’ — Jon Caramancia

“Children of the World (Live)”:

“Return of 4Eva/R4 Theme Song (live)”:

“R4 Theme Song”:

“Hometown Hero”:

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Hail Mary Mallon: ‘After years of performing live together and appearing on each other’s solo albums, critically acclaimed mc’s/producers Aesop Rock and Rob Sonic, along with DJ Big Wiz, come together as Hail Mary Mallon. The name is inspired by Mary Mallon aka Typhoid Mary, the first person in the U.S. identified as a healthy carrier of the pathogen associated with typhoid fever. Mary Mallon was presumed to have infected 53 people, three of whom died, over the course of her career as a cook. She spent three years in quarantine, which is where she died.’ — Rhymesayers

Hail Mary Mallon-“D-Up”:

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Lil B: ‘Is Lil B, as the New York Times claims, “a folk hero of the rap counterculture”? Is he, as Vice Magazine put it, “the most revolutionary MC of the last 15 years”? Or is he, as one YouTube commentator reckons, “a grotesque testament not only to the current state of rap music but also to the steady, inevitable decline of western society”? If splitting an audience can be a by-product of creative risk-taking, Lil B is out there on the edge. Born Brandon McCartney, he debuted as part of teenage San Franciscan crew The Pack, who scored a 2006 US hit with their sneaker anthem “Vans”. But it’s as a solo artist that McCartney found his niche. Over the past 18 months, he’s marked himself out as an inexhaustible online presence, releasing a never-ending stream of songs and homemade videos, collaborating with ringtone rap merchant Soulja Boy and comedian Andy Milonakis, all the while extolling his hippyish, think-positive “Based” philosophy.’ — Basedworld

“Justin Bieber” video (this says official but looks fan-made):

“Wonton Soup” video:

“Base For Your Face” (just audio, but it might be his single best song, out of the sample I’ve heard):

“Pretty Boy” video:

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G-Side: ‘G-Side, the rap duo of Yung Clova and ST 2 Lettaz, come from Huntsville, Alabama, a mid-sized city that has produced more than its share of great and buzzed-about rappers lately, including Paper Route Gangstaz, Jackie Chain, 6 Tre G, and Kristmas. The Block Beataz production crew has given the city’s rap scene its own sound: a woozy, synth-based, bottom-heavy crawl that treats big-room trance the way OutKast and UGK records used to treat 70s soul. G-Side might be the perfect complement to Block Beataz’ glimmering funk. Both ST and Clova are warm, conversational rappers who talk about drug-dealing histories and future ambitions with grace and perspective.’ — Pitchfork

“Money In The Sky” video:

“Run Things” video:

“Inner Circle” video:

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Das Racist: ‘Das Racist, based in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, is composed of Queens-born Himanshu Suri (aka Heems), and San Francisco-born Victor Vazquez (aka Kool A.D.), joined by hype man Ashok Kondabolu, known as Dap, for live performances and in music videos. Das Racist’s unique style has a strong polarizing tendency; their set at the Pop Montreal festival was described as “the most divisive show seen at the festival.” They describe their approach to music as “‘deconstructionalist’: sawing the legs out from under hip-hop as they celebrate it.” The New York Times wrote “Das Racist’s lack of piety has become an aesthetic of its own, with songs that are as much commentary on hip-hop as rigorous practice of it.” The Root said Das Racist could speak for both “the ‘hood or the nearest gated community.” Playboy called the duo “equal parts hip-hop and Cheech & Chong.”‘ — Wiki

“Who’s That? Brooown” video:

live in Amsterdam:

“chicken and Meat” video:

“Rainbow in the Dark” video:

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Angel Haze: ‘There’s a self-described Native American bi-sexual girl called Angel Haze in California. She’s got a massive crush on both Tupac and Andrea Gibson and she’s already the master of not giving a fuck and telling her gospel. Talking about broken love on her YouTube channel, she advises that if it’s not working out with your lover and you are feeling burned by them you should probably just feel set free and take some pride in that. If we didn’t say so, she’s also a pretty sick rapper, has two mixtapes (one is Twilight themed!) of practice behind her.’ — The Fader

Angel Haze’s “The Show Goes On” (She’s posted a bunch of freestyles, recorded over other artists’ instrumentals, on YouTube, illustrated by stills – as far as I can tell, she’s never made an actual video. I think this is actually a big improvement over Lupe Fiasco’s original.):

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Odd Future: ‘A rap group made up of ten or so skateboard rats from L.A., ages 16 through 19(ish). “Odd Future” is short for “Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All,” which usually gets abbreviated as “OFWGKTA.” The leader of the group is a 19 year-old named Tyler, or Tyler The Creator. The second-most prominent of the group is a rapper named Hodgy Beats. The rest of the group splinter off into sub-groups. The youngest member is Earl Sweatshirt, who was recently sent away to boarding school by his parents. Imagine the most belligerent, psychotic, damaged, and mischievous teenagers you’ve never wanted to meet. Pair them with ounces of charisma, an SAT-ready vocabulary, and rap records. You end up with their mixtapes, which have involved raps about drugs, sex, rape, anarchy, Freudian damage, epic self-consciousness, and a purview of the world mostly involving nihilism, anarchy, and obscenities as vocally nutritious content.’ — Esquire

Mellow Hype-“64”:

The concept version of Tyler the Creator featuring Frank Ocean-“She”:

Here’s a live clip of Odd Future performing “Sandwiches” in New York, with somewhat distorted sound:

Here’s a TV clip of Mellow Hype (featuring Bass Drum of Death) performing “64”:

A fan-made video for Mellow Hype’s “Loco”:

Tyler the Creator’s “Yonkers”:

And the infamous drug smoothie clip for Earl Sweatshirt’s “Earl”:


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p.s. Hey. The honorable writer, filmmaker, and d.l. Steevee mans this latest of the blog’s gigs, parsing and selecting high points from a genre too rarely tracked and celebrated around here, and, not surprisingly, there’s a wealth of great stuff up there, so imbibe and get your feedback back to your host du jour, please. Thanks, and supercharged thanks to you, Steve. So, this afternoon I’m setting off to the Loire Valley for a mini-vacation with the intention of trespassing on and in as many chateaux and castles as time allows. I’ll be re-hooked to the internet — and the blog will go live again — on Saturday, and, in the meantime, you’ll be getting golden, not-that-oldie posts every day, some requested by d.l.s and some cherry picked by me, and I’ll catch up with any comments you leave today, tomorrow, Thursday, and Friday when Saturday rolls around, so don’t go anywhere, etc. ** Todd Colby, Greetings, sir! Always a great pleasure and honor to have you here, maestro! ** Jax, You’re back from Alaska! The bears and Republicans didn’t get you! Dude, jetlag, hugs. Yeah, it’s definitely good to do those things, right? And awesome about the London agent possibility. Toes crossed. And you closing in on the closing of the Lord Rigby saga sets my anticipation a’flutter. Nice! Pompidou festival should be something, budget bosses allowing. You should come over for it. Other than that and the fanzine? Mm, I’m trying to finally get the expanded mss. of ‘The Weaklings’ finished. Getting back to work on this graphic novel kind of thing that Oscar B. and I are collaborating on. Making notes re: the big Gisele maze piece. Starting to do some press re: ‘TMS’. That’s enough, I guess. Great to see you, Jack! Let me know about the agent and about how the final chapters are treating you. ** David, You’re live. Well, you’re always live, but DS is. Everyone, remember how I told you, uh, yesterday about the imminent dawning of d.l. David’s new site/blog Dirty Story? Well, it has dawned with a short piece on Hal Hartley’s film ‘Henry’s Fool’ and go read/welcome it, yes? Here. ** Bollo, Hi, Jonathan! I’m good, packing my backpack. Excellent about the show acceptance! Really heartening to think that the Five Years show might have made a difference. Oh, Limerick pix, cool. Everyone, the awesome artist Jonathan Mayhew sometimes known as Bollo had some of his work in a show in Limerick, Ireland, and since the bulk of us aren’t in Ireland, as much as we would wish to be, please join me in seeing said work/show in the only way we are allowed, i.e. by clicking this. Only had a quick glance so far, but the work looks terrific. Love that ghost. ** David Ehrenstein, Acid in graveyards was my cup of tea. Those were good times, those were bad times. ** MANCY, Hey. I slipped over and watched your new video once. I’ll view it more thoroughly asap. Really like it. Really charismatic. Great rhythm. The ‘bang, bang, … ‘ thing is great. Yeah, beautiful. If you don’t mind, I’m going to embed it at the bottom of the p.s. as a way of encouraging people here to check it out. Everyone, artist Steven Purtill aka d.l. MANCY has made a terrific, spooky new video collage work. He’d love your thoughts and feedback. It’s on one of his blogs, but I’m also going to embed it down below to make access to it even easier. Thanks! ** Oscar B, ‘Twas indeed! See you before I go, right? ** Paul Curran, Tricks are … not half-bad. Yours? ** Kiddiepunk, No, thank you! All I did was clear the table. ** Pisycaca, Let’s just say the weather will feel … very familiar. Thanks for the trip well wishes. I’m hoping that, what with the focus being castles and the like, I’ll end up with a heck of a blog slideshow for you guys, but we will see. Lots of love from me. ** Thomas Moronic, Ah, the man. I now have my own personal copy of ‘GRAVES’, and it’s my designated train fare for this afternoon. Excited! Really happy to see all the love and purchases from the gang. Super nice about the NYC trip! It should be starting to cool down around then, if NYC still has the summers that it used to when I was imbedded there. And nice for your bro too. Yeah, great, T! ** Steevee, Hey. Really, thanks so much for curating and assembling the gig. I love it. It taught me stuff. I’ve bought some of it. Really liking your idea for the film, needless to say. The hung jury seems like a pretty good solution to that problem, and I can’t recall a film that has ended on that exact note. So, will you get started on the screenplay right away? ** Chilly Jay Chill, Hi, Jeff. The weekend sounds perfect. Yeah, a post-reading Skype chat sounds really great. Being able to talk about it would be much better than just jotting down my thoughts. Yeah, let’s do that. I’ll try to read it asap. Enjoy the mountains if I don’t check in with you before you leave. ** Jheorgge, Hey, man! Really good to see you! And I’m really happy to hear about your breakthrough on the writing front. ‘A living, breathing text that despises the reader’: fascinating. I’d love to hear how you’re doing that and about the process and stuff when you’re surer about how it’s going and comfortable with revealing stuff. Yes, I saw the ghost tattoo on … Facebook? Must have been. Super trippy to see my handiwork on you. It’s an honor, man, for sure. It also looks really cool, I must admit. If we’re talking about the same new Prurient album, and I guess we must be, yeah, I’m really loving it too. I just downloaded it a couple of days ago. I’m good, busy, you know. It’s awfully nice to see the excitement in your voice, G. Can’t wait to see the things you’re up to! ** Stephen Tully Dierks, Thank you, Stephen. As a fan of yours, it’s really nice to make your acquaintance. Big respect to you! ** Chris Cochrane, Hi, C. Oh, Bastille Day? Mm, big parade, partly military, down the Champs Elysee to Concorde where it ends/passes by a grandtand full of dignitaries who, I guess, wave at it and nod approvingly or something. Big fireworks display near/over the Eiffel Tower. Sometimes a giant free concert at the same locale. I saw Johnny Hallyday do one a few years back. Drinking, etc. Not so very different than the US thang really. No need for bugging ‘cos you’ll know as soon as I know. ** Postitbreakup, Howdy, J. Those are gorgeous photos. Thanks! Everyone, courtesy of Postitbreakup, here are some cool, eerie photos of the New Orleans Six Flags theme park post-Katrina. You’ll like them. ** Jesse Hudson, Hi, Jesse! It really was an excellent set of questions you posed to Mr. M there. You good? I’m good except for the obvious current deprivation. ** Frank Jaffe, Hey, Frank! Sight for sore eyes, you are. I’m glad you’re feeling better. Jeez, about that apartment key snafu. Wait, can’t his roommate just make you a copy of the key? It’s probably not that simple, right? Nice about the food, home, and parental love. And meeting Mr. Hannum! I have yet to have that honor. Tell him hi for me, if it’s easy. Pride Student Union is a non-profit agency? Well, I guess that makes sense. I’m a total know-nothing when it comes to anything business-related or money making. I hope they pick you, obviously. Do you get a fancy office with a sexy, sassy secretary? I had me some yummo Hard Rock Nachos last week, and I’m almost ready for another round. ** Oliver, Hey. Some publishers require agent intervention? I never realized that. I suppose it’s just a hassle-relieving move, but it seems awfully elitist. Is getting an agent an unlikely prospect? It’s sadly true about the novella problem, I think. In some cases, at least. There’s always the idea of combining it with some short fiction pieces as a way to thicken the mss. Or, yeah, trying to expand the novella, but, obviously, only if you find a way that isn’t just adding padding. Maybe keep trying with the novella as is for at least a while and see what happens. You might well find a publisher that’s completely cool with short books or that likes the novella enough to suggest that it be lengthened or combined with other works. Let me know what happens, and, yeah, I’m at your disposal. ** Misanthrope, Bushy tails inside, okay, but bushy tails outside? Uh-uh. ** Inthemostpeculiarway, Hey. You may know this, but Rupert Grint’s stated dream is to act in a David Lynch film. I can imagine Lynch thinking that was an okay idea. And, if that happened, Grint could be the new Jack Nance, which isn’t a bad fate except for the getting beaten to death in a donut shop part. We’ll get to the Loire Valley at, like, 7:30 pm or something, so I think we’ll just eat, crash, and start touring tomorrow morning. Your dream sounds scarily paranormal. You’re a good friend to leave the house without showering first. I find that really hard to do. Your friend was nice to treat you to In ‘n’ Out. Yeah, I was reading about In ‘n’ Out opening in Texas and how wildly popular it is there. I haven’t eaten an In ‘n’ Out burger since I went vegetarian at 16, but I do remember that their burgers were about as good as burgers get. Watching fireworks while sitting on a car hood sounds so nice, sigh. I’m going to try that on Bastille Day. Marti Noxon wrote the ‘Fright Night’ remake? Wow, now I actually want to see it. The song of the day was nice. It didn’t sound scary like I thought it would. It sounds like it would play over the end credits maybe? My day: First, I worked on the chapbook/zine until I thought, okay, this is finished, but I decided to let it sit for a few hours to be sure. During that time, I ran a few errands, and then d.l. Bill Hsu arrived for his happy 3 1/2 week stay at the Recollets! We did the hugs hello and stuff, and then we went to the cafe here and had coffees — or I did; he had a Perrier — and caught up and talked about Paris stuff that we want to do together. Kiddiepunk and Oscar happened by. Kp had an armload of copies of freshly ordered ‘GRAVES’ and was headed to the post office to send them to their buyers. Also, his visiting brother from Australia was there, so I met him. Then the cafe thing continued until K&O; returned and joined us for a communal blab fest. Then I walked Bill around the ‘hood a little bit to show him where the supermarket and health food store and newsstand and farmers market are, and then he went back to his room to settle in, and I came back here. I opened the doc of the chapbook text, went through it, did a last fiddle and polish then sent it off to Kiddiepunk hoping he will like it enough to turn it into one of his beautiful zines. I’m awaiting his decision. I ate, made a list of things I need to early today to be ready for the trip, watched a bit of the old TV, blah blah, and hit the sack. So, now you have … what is it … four days, I guess, to live to the fullest and then report on, and so do I. Let’s make the best of our respective times and promise to remember the best parts to hand over to each other in text form come Saturday. You down for that? I’ll take your inability to answer my question as a yes! Have a great most of the week! ** Schlix, Hi, Uli. Yes, I’ve heard of Karlsruhe, and I think because of that very reason you mention. Well, I’m hoping you’re okay with the move. You seem like you might be. Yeah, I’m going to go overdose on French castles for a couple of days. Could be worse, right? ** Tender prey, Hi, Marc! How are you? When do you guys arrive in Paris again? ** Right, so hang out with Steevee and crew today and please watch and say something about MANCY’s video (see: below). Tomorrow and the following two days, you’ll get blog post reruns with quick hellos and intros from me, and then I will be your greeter and fresh content provider again on Saturday. Stay gold, and see you then.

New video work/collage by the artist Steven Purtill aka d.l. MANCY. Please watch and share your thoughts with him in the comments arena. Thanks!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFhsFqS5OUI]
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