‘Dave Muller creates paintings and installations that are rooted in his deep fascination with music, how it infiltrates and shapes our identities, and the communal dialogue it generates across cultures. Tapping into shared poetic moments and a collective dialogue, Muller depicts the myriad iconographies of his musical obsessions—album covers and spines, vinyl records, tapes, CDs, bootlegs, B-sides, disco balls, record labels, set lists, rare and popular instruments—sounds of all stripes, musicians, and singers, both beloved and unknown.

‘Muller appropriates album art in a painterly style that is both whimsical and factual. The paintings are autobiographical and expressive; adoring as well as historically referential. He is careful to include details such as hype stickers, anachronistic price tags, and extinct record shop labels, always attending to age, use, wear, and tear. These paintings tell idiosyncratic stories of politics, subculture, and atmosphere that have morphed through eras and cultures.

‘Muller’s engagement with a widespread sonic landscape offers fertile ground for portraiture, fandom, revised history, and cultural critique. As both deejay and painter, the artist plays a curatorial role of selection and remix based on playful intersections of imagery, sensibility, and language. Muller often incorporates his paintings into large-scale environments with wall paintings, multi-part installations, and sound.’ — B&P

 

___
Further

Dave Muller @ Blum & Poe
DM @ Anthony Meier Fine Arts
DM@ The approach
Dave Muller @ instagram
MEET DAVE MULLER: THE ARTIST WHO COULD PROBABLY GUESS YOUR FAVORITE SONG
Book: ‘I Like Your Music I Love Your Music’
Dave Muller: Connections
The Thing, Issue 34: Dave Muller
ART CITIES:N.York-Dave Muller
Raise the Bar: Dave Muller at The Mandrake
Edition: Dave Muller: Quiet Noise
VIDEO: ARTIST TALK DAVE MULLER
Dave Muller’s Three Day Weekend Playlist
Critic’s Pick: Dave Muller
Dave Muller Interview At Beautiful/Decay
Dave Muller: Everything Sounds Good Right Now

 

____
Extras

Artist Talk: Dave Muller

Dave Muller | The Artist’s Museum

Dave Muller, Now Where Were We?

Dave Muller interview

 

____
Interview

 

Tell us a bit about yourself. Where are you from originally and when did art first enter your life?
I was born in San Francisco. Grew up in Novato (Marin County). Was a science/math student/athlete in high school. As a chemistry major/college radio DJ, I took my first drawing class: an elective in what I thought was going to be my final term toward my chemistry degree. That class was so interesting that I stuck around and got a double major in Art and Chemistry.

From where do you draw inspiration?
Life. Reading. Nature. Films. Life. Other People. Music. The World. Life.

Music is a central theme in your work – if you could spend one day with any musician, who would it be?
I like to play music, so I’d like to spend it with the people I play music with in the Summer. The Bread and Puppet Theater Brass Band. Or Mike Kelley, whom I miss greatly. Music was a lot of fun with Mike.

What three words do you think best describe the work that you do?
Material-based Conceptual.

Is your work influenced by any art historical figures or movements?
Sure. I’m heavily influenced by my contemporaries, and African tribal sculpture, Diane Arbus, Michael Asher, John Baldessari, StephanBalkenhol, Robert Bechtle, Gene Beery, Lee Bontecou, D. Boon, Marcel Broodthaers, ChrisBurden, André Cadere, John Cage, Alexander Calder, René Daniëls, Ray and Charles Eames, Allen Ginsberg, Jack Goldstein, John Graham, David Hammons, Eva Hesse, Mary Heilmann, Barkley L.Hendricks, Roni Horn, Inuit sculpture and drawing, Neil Jenney, Larry Johnson, RayJohnson, Jasper Johns, Alex Katz, Mike Kelley, Ellsworth Kelly, Jack Kirby, Lucy Lippard, Robert Maillart, Kerry James Marshall, Agnes Martin, Gordon Matta-Clark, Marilyn Minter, ReeMorton, Bruno Munari, Bruce Nauman, George Nelson, Hélio Oiticica, Catherine Opie, Raymond Pettibon, Francis Picabia, Lari Pittman, Sigmar Polke, Jackson Pollock, RichardPowers, Richard Prince, Martín Ramírez, Charles Ray, Ad Reinhardt, Gerhard Richter, Allen Ruppersberg, Ed Ruscha, Peter Saville, Charles Schulz, Allan Sekula, Dr. Seuss, Ben Shahn, Jim Shaw, TheSituationists, Tony Smith, Robert Smithson, Paul Thek, Lilyvander Stokker, Daanvan Golden, Caetano Veloso, Andy Warhol, Lawrence Weiner, H.C. Westermann.

You are currently working with Blum & Poe curating their virtual exhibition space. How did you come into that role and what is your relationship like with the gallery?
I’ve been showing as an artist with Blum & Poe since 1996. In 1994 I started Three Day Weekend, an artist run project space. Over the years I’ve organized at least six TDW shows at B&P. By now they feel like family.

Has your work always taken on the style it currently embodies?
Pretty much. I mostly thought I was a sculptor when I was in school (UC Davis, CalArts). After grad school I taught myself how to draw things the way I wanted them to look.

What one thing would you never go into the studio without? What does your process look like?
I’m useless in the studio without a solid idea. That doesn’t mean that an idea must be fully formed. I just have to trick myself into action. A final object might barely resemble an initial idea. I spend a lot of time puttering outside the studio, searching for a grain of an idea.

What do you have coming up in the future?
Long Term: Some sort of survey show at the Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art (at UC Davis) in a few years. Short Term: Lots of painting.

 

____
Show

Personal Top Ten, 2019

 

Altogether Now (33 & 1/3), 2008

 

Apple Core, Nothing More. Who’s Your Friend (Ringo), 2012

 

Asideways, 2012

 

See You Next Lifetime, 2018

 

A Beatle in Mercury’s Clothing , 2012

 

Empty Drum Kits, 2013

 

Boombox, 2013

 

Purple Rain, Purple Rain, 2020

 

Noir and Sunshine, 2018

 

Red, Yellow, Blue (Sixth, Ninth and First Most Sampled Songs According to whosampled.com), 2018

 

KBD, 2018

 

She Signed Her Letter All Yours… …Ya-Ya, 2018

 

A Beginning, 1994

 

Glories of a Youth Misspent (in record stores) #1, 2, 2018

 

onetwothreefourtwothreefourthreefourfour, 2008

 

Prayers: Extended (medium), 2008

 

Music, 2001

 

January 2007, According to NY Times (Help), 2006 , 2007

 

The King Springs Eternal , 2009

 

Various artists , 2004

 

Various Artists: the nonesuch guide to electronic music (Beaver & Krause), 2005

 

W.W.S.R.D. in 2152 , 2004

 

White Noise (diptych), 2004

 

John Entwistle Meet Sol Lewitt, 2004

 

Connections, 2003

 

Little (Ed), 2012

Monochrome, 1998

 

So (detail), 2004

 

OtherMusic.com Star, 2004

 

Mullerpile, 2004

 

one and two (from three), 2008

 

cassettestack (A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You), 2007

 

B-1, 2003

 

AB, 2003

 

Queen Live Killers, 2009

 

 

*

p.s. Hey. ** David Ehrenstein, Hi. I’m slightly more than half-curious to see ‘Nightmare Alley’. I didn’t like his ‘water’ movie at all, which is where my trepidation comes in. ** cal, Hi, Cal! Sure, a Zoom editing talk sounds good. Let me know when it suits. You can email me about figuring it out if you want: denniscooper72@outlook.com. I really liked that Corrao book. Hm, it’s been a while since I read it, so I don’t have any special or detailed thoughts at my fingertips, but I’ll think back and get some thoughts together. Excellent day to you! ** David, Hi. Yeah, quite the story. Don’t shopping centers have beds? Wait, you mean useable ones. Bath bomb. That’s new to me. Sounds horrifically sexy. Chase the sunset. ** Dominik, Hi!!! ‘What the fuck are human beings’ must be the central question of our time or something, no? It feels big. Ethiopian food rocks. The bread … oh my god. Fuck work. I wish it was that easy. I hope you somehow came out the other end of yesterday’s unwanted work sparkling anew. Not impossible, I guess. Please thank your yesterday’s love for his kind generosity. Well, there is the possibility that things have  improved on the film front. I can’t say too much, but some funding might be about to come through, and, if it does, we’ll be on our way to having what we need. It’s an if, though, and fingers crossed, etc., but things are a little better in any case. Thanks for asking. Love transforming every 20 Euro bill into a guitar and very 10 Euro bill into an amplifier and every 5 Euro bill into a cord and every 50 Euro bill into an effects pedal, G. ** _Black_Acrylic, Hi. Yes, McCurdy is a classic American tale of the power of ingenuity except without his ingenuity. I’ve never seen the original ‘Nightmare’ film. Maybe I should watch that first. ** Bill, Hi, B. You know, when I was young, I used to go to the Pike in Long Beach once in a while, and there’s no way I would have gone without going through the dark ride, so I must have seen McCurdy’s corpse a number of times, but probably under a strobe light or something. I was very, very disappointed in ‘Memoria’. I could barely sit through it. Did you like it? There are certainly those with good taste who do. ** Jamie, Hi, Jamie! Great to see you, old pal! Yeah, my blog is sadly phone unfriendly, and yet I guess I don’t care enough about that to change its wicked ways. Thank you re: my b’day. I’m good, thanks. Glad you’re O-free. Me too, so far. I mean as far as I know. How are you? What’s going on, buddy? xo. ** T, Yeah, if there’s heaven, and, well, there isn’t, I would think McCurdy must be kind of a revered cult figure up there. The fucking robot was broken yesterday, so we didn’t get our robot pizza. Grr. I know nothing about the pizza in a bottle thing, and that is absolutely disgusting, wow. And that’s coming from someone who sometimes likes disgusting things like Kandy Korn. I’ll have to guess, but I think the robot pizza would win that contest. Heck, I can’t think anything that wouldn’t win that contest. Yuck. But a fascinated yuck. Hope your Wednesday makes every avalanche reverse course. xo. ** Misanthrope, No, you’re the only person I can think of who’s rude and cruel enough to have reminded me. Ha ha. Actually, others did too. Evil is afoot. Well, if I do outlive you, I’ll make sure your corpse is a stage prop on every future Judas Priest tour because god knows they’ll outlive both of us. ** Niko, Hi, Niko! I don’t know where you are in the editing, but, yeah, March is soon. You think you can buckle down and get obsessive enough over the next couple of months? Your novel sounds absolutely amazing, need I even say. Massively up the alley of my interests. Wow. Having just concentrated on working with emoting in ‘I Wished’, I found that the intensity counteracts or erases the sentimentality. Or maybe I mean locks it down to the point where it functions, has an effect, but doesn’t swamp the tone, which is the worry. It sounds to me like you’re going to be okay on that front. Most of the battle, at least for me, is recognising the danger and, thereby, never allowing it to control you. Or something like that. Creating something that people can’t immediately categorize/canonize is always paramount in my goals. It’s a matter of balancing that with readability. As long as I think what I’m working on is readable and employs the pleasure that readability requires, I feel pretty free to go as far afield as I want. But, yeah, you do end up with work that a lot of people find too difficult. Anyway, the way you think about your editing rings very true to me. That sounds quite exciting. Nice cover! Awesome! It’s terrific to talk with you about your work. Thank you! ** Paul Curran, Hi! Yeah, right? Wow, I don’t know that story about Kichizō Ishida’s genitals. Crazy. I’m going to look into that, naturally. Excellent that the writing goes well! What is the Apocalypse Party project? That’s very exciting. I like that press a lot. Very, very cool! ** Okay. I decided to give you a galerie show by the awesome IMO LA artist Dave Muller. See what you think. And then I’ll see you tomorrow.

* (restored)

 

‘Elmer McCurdy was born on January 1, 1880. He was the son of 17-year-old Sadie McCurdy who was unmarried at the time of his birth. The identity of McCurdy’s father is unknown; one possibility is Sadie’s cousin, Charles Smith. Sadie eventually told her son that she was unsure of who his biological father was. The news disturbed McCurdy who grew resentful and became “unruly and rebellious”. As a teenager, he began drinking heavily, a habit he would continue throughout his life.

 

 

‘In August 1900, McCurdy’s mother died of a ruptured ulcer. His grandfather died of Bright’s disease the following month. Shortly after his grandfather’s death, McCurdy left Maine and began drifting around the eastern United States where he worked as a lead miner and plumber. He was unable to hold a job for an extended period due to his alcoholism.

‘In 1907, McCurdy joined the United States Army. Assigned to Fort Leavenworth, McCurdy was a machine gun operator and was trained to use nitroglycerin for demolition purposes. On November 19, McCurdy and a friend were arrested for possessing burglary paraphernalia (chisels, hacksaws, funnels for nitroglycerin and gunpowder and money sacks). During their arraignment, McCurdy and his friend told the judge the tools were not intended for burglary purposes but were tools they needed to work on a foot operated machine gun they were inventing.

 

 

‘McCurdy decided to incorporate his training with nitroglycerin into his robberies. This often caused problems as he was overzealous and failed to correctly determine the proper amount to use. In March 1911, McCurdy and three other men decided to rob the Iron Mountain-Missouri Pacific train after McCurdy heard that one of the cars contained a safe with $4,000. They successfully stopped the train and located the safe. McCurdy then put nitroglycerin on the safe’s door to open it but used too much. The safe was destroyed in the blast as was the majority of the money.

‘In September 1911, McCurdy and two other men robbed The Citizens Bank in Chautauqua, Kansas. After spending two hours breaking through the bank wall with a hammer, McCurdy placed a nitroglycerin charge around the door of the bank’s outer vault. The blast blew the vault door through the bank destroying the interior, but did not damage the safe inside the vault. McCurdy then tried to blow the safe door open with nitroglycerin but the charge failed to ignite. McCurdy and his accomplices stole about $150 in coins that were in a tray outside the safe and fled. He stayed in a hayshed on the property of a friend for the next few weeks and drank heavily.

 

 

‘McCurdy’s final robbery took place on October 4, 1911 near Okesa, Oklahoma. McCurdy and two accomplices planned to rob a Katy Train after hearing that it contained $400,000 in cash that was intended as royalty payment to the Osage Nation. However, McCurdy and the men mistakenly stopped a passenger train instead. The men were able to steal only $46 from the mail clerk, two demijohns of whiskey, an automatic revolver, a coat and the train conductor’s watch. A newspaper account of the robbery later called it “one of the smallest in the history of train robbery.”

‘In the early morning hours of October 7, a posse of three sheriffs, brothers Bob and Stringer Fenton and Dick Wallace, tracked McCurdy to the hayshed using bloodhounds. McCurdy was killed by single gunshot wound to the chest which he sustained while lying down. McCurdy’s body was subsequently taken to the Johnson Funeral Home in Pawhuska, Oklahoma. The undertaker embalmed the body with an arsenic-based preservative which was typically used in embalming in that era to preserve a body for a long period when no next of kin were known.

 

 

‘As McCurdy lay unclaimed, the undertaker decided to exhibit McCurdy to make money. He dressed the corpse in street clothes, placed a rifle in the hands and stood it up in the corner of the funeral home. For a nickel, Johnson allowed visitors to see “The Bandit Who Wouldn’t Give Up”. “The Bandit” became a popular attraction at the funeral home and attracted the attention of carnival promoters. On October 6, 1916, a man calling himself “Aver” contacted Johnson claiming to be Elmer McCurdy’s long lost brother from California. He was in fact James Patterson, the owner of the Great Patterson Carnival Shows, a traveling carnival. McCurdy’s corpse would be featured in Patterson’s traveling carnival as “The Outlaw Who Would Never Be Captured Alive”, until 1922 when Patterson sold his operation to Louis Sonney.

 

 

‘Louis Sonney used McCurdy’s corpse in his traveling “Museum of Crime” show which featured wax replicas of famous outlaws like Bill Doolin and Jesse James.

 

 

‘In 1933, McCurdy’s corpse was acquired for a time by director Dwain Esper to promote his exploitation film Narcotic!. The corpse was placed in the lobby of theaters as a “dead dope fiend” whom Esper claimed had killed himself while surrounded by police after he had robbed a drug store to support his habit. By this time, the skin on McCurdy’s body had shriveled and hardened and reduced the size to that of a child’s. Esper pointed out the skin’s deterioration as proof of the supposed dope fiend’s drug abuse.

 

 

‘In 1964, Sonney’s son Dan lent the corpse to filmmaker David F. Friedman. It eventually made a brief appearance in Friedman’s 1967 film She Freak.

 

 

‘In 1968, Dan Sonney sold the body along with other wax figures for $10,000 to Spoony Singh, the owner of the Hollywood Wax Museum.

 

 

‘While being exhibited there, the corpse sustained some damage in a windstorm; the tips of his ears along with fingers and toes were blown off. The men eventually returned McCurdy back to Singh who decided that the corpse looked “too gruesome” and not life-like enough to exhibit.

 

 

‘Singh then sold it to Ed Liersch, part owner of The Pike, an amusement zone in Long Beach, California. By 1976, McCurdy’s corpse was hanging in the “Laff In the Dark” funhouse exhibition at The Pike.

 

 

‘On December 8, 1976, the production crew of the television show The Six Million Dollar Man were filming scenes for the “Carnival of Spies” episode at The Pike. During the shoot, a prop man moved what was thought to be a wax mannequin that was hanging from a gallows. When the mannequin’s arm broke off, a human bone and muscle tissue were visible.

 

 

‘On December 9, Dr. Joseph Choi conducted an autopsy and determined that the body was that of a human male who had died of a gunshot wound to the chest. The body was completely petrified, covered in wax and had been covered with layers of phosphorus paint. It weighed approximately 50 pounds and was 63 inches in height. Some hair was still visible on the sides and back of the head while the ears, big toes and fingers were missing.

‘On April 22, 1977, a funeral procession was conducted to transport McCurdy to the Boot Hill section of the Summit View Cemetery in Guthrie, Oklahoma. A graveside service attended by approximately 300 people was conducted after which McCurdy was buried next to another outlaw, Bill Doolin. To ensure that McCurdy’s body would not be stolen, two feet of concrete was poured over the casket.’ — collaged

 

 

 

*

p.s. Hey. ** David, Hi, D. Thanks a lot for the card, man. Awesome! ** Misanthrope, Thanks. And thanks for reminding me, urgh. Ah, yes, David … one of these … days … maybe? ** David Ehrenstein, Thank you, sir. Everyone, Mr. E’s new FaBlog entry is called Trump = Roadkill, and it’s here. ** cal, Hey, Cal! Awesome to see you! Thanks a lot! How are you? You’re doing really great, I hope? ** Niko, Hi, Niko! Thank you very much. Yeah, it was a nice enough day to qualify as a birthday. And thank you so much about ‘I Wished’. The second ‘Crater’ section near the end of ‘I Wished’ is definitely one of my favorite things I’ve written. I’m actually trying to figure out how to do more with that voice for something new. Really, thank you, Niko. I’m so happy to hear that. You doing more than okay? Catch me up on you and yours if you feel like it please. ** rav, Aw, thank you so much, rav. And thank your coming in here. Obviously, come back any time. Take care. ** David Fishkind, Hi. I’ll check out that song when I get done here. Yeah, 69, fucking freaky as hell in theory and kind of whatever in practice, I guess. ** KingDooDoo69, Hi, King. Really best of luck with your sobriety. Thank a lot for the really kind words. That’s, yeah, amazing, thank you. Your grandma?! Ha. I hope it goes with saying that I’d be happy to have you here and get to converse with you any time that feels good or useful on your end. All the best from me. ** _Black_Acrylic, Hi, B. Yeah, that Ride song is such a goodie, and it still kind of works as well as it did back in the day. ** Sypha, Thank you, James. Ha ha. You could have gone there, man, but thanks for being careful. ** h now jean, Hi! You made it! Thank you so much! ** Zak Ferguson, Hey Zak with a ‘k’. Nice to see you here, sir. Happy early birthday to you, with a shrug thrown in. I’m pretty shruggy about my b’days too, but they do get spookier and spookier as well. Luckily no one sang the birthday song to me. Shout out to Brighton (and you)! ** Dominik, Hi!!!! The Ethiopian food was completely amazing. I ate way too much, and I forgot how that injura bread expands in your stomach, so I had to waddle home in the freezing cold, but it was worth it. That would have been awfully nice: the Lips serenade. Thank Love for me. Love filling a piñata with 500 Euro bills, hanging it on your ceiling, and handing you a blindfold and baseball bat, G. ** Daniel, Thank you, dear Daniel! ** Andrew, Holy whoa! That’s crazy! Thank you ever so much, Andrew! I’m so there. Everyone, Saintly Andrew turned my fave songs post of yesterday into a Spotify playlist that you can listen to here, and, obviously, I so highly recommend doing that. Thanks so, so much! xo. ** Brendan, Hi, B. Possibly. Did you? Big hugs, man. ** Steve Erickson, Thanks, Steve. Yes, ‘Little Criminals’, the album right after ‘Good Old Boys’ is really good. I’m very fond of the two dark comedy albums ‘Born Again’ and ‘Trouble in Paradise’, and the fairly recent ‘Bad Love’ is up there with his best. It has one of his greatest songs, ‘The World Isn’t Fair’, on it. ** Ferdinand, Hi! Very good to see you, pal. Thanks, and you too re: ’22. Who knows, right? Take care. ** T, Hi, T! The restaurant is Adulis Cafe Abyssinien, and the food was very, very delicious, and it’s a nice place as well. Near Shakespeare & Co. Ginger nut biscuit sounds yum to me. I’m going to a pizza restaurant this afternoon where the pizza is entirely made by robots. I’ll let you know. Have a swell day. ** wolf, Yay wolf! Did you guys end up making it over to France for Xmas? Ultra-best wishes for the immediate future and everything else to you! And I hope I’ll get to see you flesh-to-flesh soon. Love, me. ** James, Thank you kindly, James. Love, me. ** Jeff J, Thank you, Jeff. My fave Drunken Boat album is ‘See Ruby Falls’. It was the band of the poet Todd Colby, if you know him. Airport 5 was a short-lived project of Robert Pollard and Tobin Sprout. They’re fantastic. They made two albums. I would start with the first one, ‘Tower in the Fountain of Sparks’. Mm, I don’t think ‘Blowback’ is great overall. I mostly just love that track. I’m fine, ha ha. The day was nice, hung with Zac and then had amazing Ethiopian food with some friends. Low-key and swell. Happy about the screening. It does seem like the Omicron wave will be short lived, or, well, ‘prayers’. Good to see you, bud. ** Bernard, Mr. Welt! Hi, B. Sight for sore eyes, you are. Deadline? More news forthcoming? Intrigued! Love from Paris where things remain strangely ‘normal’ and wonderful. ** Maria, Isabella, Camila, Malaria, Gabriela, Hello, giant you! You had very nice food? Me too! Yes, please do kill a 69, thank you very much. Or just the sex act, if that’s easier. Hugs. ** politekid, Hi, O! Thank you very much, man! And thank you for the list adds! I’ll be all over them when I’m freed up momentarily. Yay for disfunction apparently. *bites nails* xoxo. ** l@rst, Thanks, friend. A monster for fucking sure. I miss Eric Gaffney. Big up. ** Paul Curran, Hey, Paul! Thank you, thank you. And I’m totally thrilled that you liked ‘I Wished’. Means a vast amount to me. How’s your writing going btw? So nice to see you! ** schlix, Hi, Uli! Thank you very much! Yeah, that press that’s putting out my books in Germany is doing a beautiful job. I feel very lucky. You doing great, I hope? xo, me. ** Bill, Hi. Really? I’m big ABBA guy, and that’s their masterpiece song, if you ask me. It didn’t rain here yesterday all day or night, amazingly enough. Birthday gift from God? ** Billy, Hi, Billy. Thank you so very much. I’m happy you’re reading and liking ‘Hey Boy’. How are you? What going on in your world? ** Dalton, Hi, thank you! It’s excellent to see you. Lurking is the coolest. Well, commenting its slightly cooler, I guess. I go on Melvins kicks every couple of months. Nothing like them. Oh, yeah, Swans. I just spaced, although I don’t know which song I’d choose by them. Hm. Take care until next time. ** Gus CaliGirls, Well, hi there, Gus. This is a treat. Thanks for the Body Sculptures link. I don’t know them. I’ll hit it when I’m outta here. Paris is, relatively speaking, having fairly easy ride through this phase of the pandemic so far. Or it feels that way. Awesome that you read and liked ‘Fur’. She’s great. There should be more of her in English. That installation/stageplay involving a Darby Crash seance sounds pretty fucking exciting, so I hope it pans out. ‘Castle Faggot’s’ greatness is intimidating, for sure. I feel it too. I think ‘Permanent Green Light’ is POV on Vimeo. And there’s a DVD. Super nice to see you! Take very good care! ** Rafe, Aw, thank you so kindly, Rafe. I hope your year ahead makes mine, as great I hope it will be, seem like chicken feed. xo. ** Brian, Hey, Brian. Thanks a bunch, man. ‘Scouts’ is sweet. ‘Les Minets Sauvages’ is def. one of his best. Book Club is kind of a misnomer. We watch a film and either one of us picks a short fiction piece or two for everyone to read, or we all contribute a poem or very short story. Last time we read stories by Mishima and Chekov, and we watched Bunuel’s ‘Simon of the Desert’. Next time I was chosen to pick the writing selection, and I picked an Ingeborg Bachmann story. Cool about the essay! That’s intriguing. And that your bro liked the Bataille. He does sounds cooler and cooler. Thanks for the amazing birthday wish. That would have been … wow. The possibilities, ha ha. I hope your day is nothing but a whirling greatness spiral. ** Okay. I always liked the old post I’ve shared today, so I thought I would give it life again. See you tomorrow.