disutility function

I am starting up as a regular contributor to the blog Speaking of Art… and my first post is available for your reading enjoyment. I originally intended for it to be a review of the new audio release by Terre Thaemlitz, but I found myself rambling on abt historical context and things of that nature. In the end I think its a pretty decent starting point for me.

The plan is that I will have an article up abt once a month, with the obvious invitation to add posts at other times as the desire arises. I plan to write mostly abt audio art, crafty art, and Portland art, because this is pretty much where my main interests lie. So keep an eye out to that section of the internets, there’s definitely some fun discussion going on over there…

lately, and once again, i have been ridiculously obsessed with the writings of Jean Genet. and although i don’t want to get into the habit of name-dropping too much around here, this is one of those times we shall succumb to passing along a bit of it, and why not?

I do not know what I felt at the moment, but today all I need do is summon up the vision of Stilitano for my distress to appear at once in the relationship of a cruel bird to its victim.

i know its been a long time coming, but i’m finally getting back into the groove of recording again … and to commemorate this return to the goodness of audio, ive added a new post to the it’s on random audio-blog .

so dont forget to keep your ears leaning in that direction, if yr into that sort of thing (and you should be, refer to the title of this post as for why)

this is probably going to be a recurring theme in the coming weeks, months, and (hopefully not) years. the setting is a Marathon Oil Corporation headquarters. the reason for my being here is work related. the rationalization for my being here is something along the lines of personal and private humiliation; oh and the girls are generally very pretty, too.

i am currently typing from a little corner of the world, known to many as Flag City USA, yes, thats right, its Findlay, Ohio. just off I-75, an hour or so south of Toledo, which pretty much means the middle of Ohio, which then also pretty much means the middle of nowhere, or maybe too threateningly close to the bible-belt, depending on the sort of language you prefer.

sure, i can’t argue that the downtown itself, a whopping two or three blocks, is very much adorable; in that way that all super christian, borderline-poor-but-dont- -seem-to-care sorts of areas always are. but that doesnt mean that im not totally bored here.

… because i am …

there is always a sick facination, though, with the idea of what it would really be like to have grown up here; where the main intersection is a meeting of Main St and, yeah get this, Main Cross St. and you can stay on this obligatory Main St. for quite a while (believe me), traveling past the quiant Dairy Queen, the occasional ‘rich’ area with very huge, very beautiful old homes in one direction and a number of local restaurants, like The Down Towner, and the University of Findlay in the other. but, truth be told, you always know in your heart that all it takes is one quick turn off this daring Main St. in either direction and you’ll plunge headfirst into the depths of rural Ohio. and fast, too. not 500 ft from almost any intersection, you find yourself surrounded by, well, nothing. i will say though, that in this part of the world, no sunset can ever go unnoticed. and none are worth missing

. . .

Of their own volition, or owing to an accident which has been chosen for them, they plunge lucidly and without complaining into a reproachful, ignominious element, like that into which love, if it is profound, hurls human beings. Erotic play discloses a nameless world which is revealed by the nocturnal language of lovers. Such language is not written down. It is whispered into the ear at night in a hoarse voice. At dawn it is forgotten.

- wow, this is definitely going to take more than an hour.
- well then, i guess we’ll just have to keep feeding the meter.

and just like that, the DUCF began with the full force of an overactive gorilla driving some beat up pick-up truck across the barren wasteland of non-believers, or something.

the quote above was something i overheard while sitting poised at the .waitinglinetheory. sponsor table maybe only fifteen minutes after the doors opened to the first annual Detroit Urban Craft Fair at the Majestic Theater this past Saturday. Many folks, craftier and cleverer than i, will have posts, praises, pics and thanks-yous all over the internets these next few days speaking in surreal terms and appreciative phrases about how wonderful and successful the DUCF turned out to be. not that any of us were surprised that it would be great, but im pretty sure no one had expected it to be so so SO perfect in every way.

here’s another bit of eavesdropping:

i’m, like, overwhelmed. i think we have to go around once, and then come back through again.

lets not beat a dead horse here, but id like to reiterate the fact that all of us at .WLT. were so pleased all day long, and continue to be in awe of the many wonderful people attending, helping out, meeting new friends, etc that this was a day we dont plan to forget … even when the second annual DUCF totally fucking tops it next year :)

and so here is my attempt at giving a huge, gi-normous thank you to the wonderful women of Handmade Detroit who made it such a glorious day and are always able to put such warmness in our hearts just by doing what they love to do - ya’ll are the bestest of the best, and we hope you know it by now

(oh, and the title of this post was stolen from a collage piece by my new buddy, Creve … i hope he doesn’t mind)

. . .

and now for today’s appropriate stolen quote:

The revolution will not be apologized for.

i’ve been sitting on this story for a few weeks now, and i keep putting off mentioning it because i dont really have much to add to it other than i think this is hilarious.   hilarious and genius.

and very, very cool.

over at Threadless, there is a new t-shirt design to incorporate the all powerful blogger’s ego in one aggressively simple design. that’s right, bloggers now have their own gang-hand-sign.

honestly i think we all need to get one of these and wander town picking fights with other computer nerds who happen to not be wearing their blogger shirts.

now that i think of it though, i do like the fact that the right hand also incorporates another hand, um, gesture as well as the “blog” sign …

can you see that in there? i certainly think its appropriate for bloggers.

. . .

oh, and now for today’s appropriate stolen quote:

you are, we are seeds
seeking to walk unobstructed and redeem
scrape along the bottom
mimicking the alchemy of dreams

fair warning: here comes a bit of a MySpace Cross-Posting … ready? ok go!

well, for those of you following the exploits of Igor and my audio-blog, its on random, you may or may not have noticed that it, well, doesnt exist anymore

and not in the sense that we havent posted to it often enough recently(which is true), and therefore in a metaphysical sense it barely exists - you know like how Marty started fading out of his family picture because his mom was getting a “thing” for him when he went back in time before returning home by going … wait for it … Back to the Future!

wow, getting off the subject.

anyway, apparently we somehow got booted off MySpace for some abuse of the Terms of Service (sound of tympanis in the background):

this from an email i received

MySpace has deleted your profile because we received a credible complaint of your violation of the MySpace Terms of Services.

credible complaint? ok, a credible complaint is that my lawn hasnt been mowed since we had a respectable president in the White House (buuuurn!) but to say that we violated MySpace for something … that is something i just dont understand…

ok, so originally it was called “audiofuckoff” and i think thats what the official MySpace web address is/was … but i dont see anything like that being a violation … not that it isnt offensive, of course … not that that wasnt the idea, of course….

well, whatever… i had been meaning to erase it eventually anyway, and create a “real” “audio-blog” out on the real “internets” that would make me feel like it was more “official” or something, anyway…

so thank you MySpace for giving us some real street cred and a good couple rejection quotes to use on the new audio-blog… oh and thanks also for not deleting our porn page.

: : :

update not on myspace:

so here’s the kicker: i took time out of my busy work-days lately to concoct a lazy, template-based, shoddily-hacked, new-fangled audio-blog for all you crazy, music hungry kids out there, yeah i know theres a few still hanging around

so go check it out, although for now theres nothing but a re-posting of what was already up at the old MySpace.com/audiofuckoff page … it wont be long before we get back to what really matters, and thats throwing all the audio we can at the wall and seeing what sticks. and forgive me for the few things that might not work properly, like the audio player not always showing the artist/track info … i’ll get to it eventually

oh and theres one hundred and eight bonus points to anyone who can guess where we stole the name of the blog from.
and then an additional five points if you thought of a particular hardcore band simply from the number of bonus points offered …

here’s that link again, in case you missed it:
it’s on random

: : :

and now for tonight’s appropriate stolen quote:

i’m no art critic, but i know what i hate
and i don’t hate this…

oh, and thanks for not making fun of my genitalia

Updated 7.12 with photos by The Buddha, himself

to be fair, i am damn near speechless attempting to describe the wonderful wonderful time last night at The Buddha Lounge. but lets just lay it all out: i had a fucking blast. all of the amazing people that came and hung out made last night just an absolute ball. thankyouthankyouthankyou!

for those just tuning in, last night the forces of Handmade Detroit and .waitinglinetheory. teamed up and brought on the full-frontal nudity, i mean assault, of Detroit’s rising tidal wave of creative (and fruit) juices. we had stunning photography, paintings and mixed media up on the walls, and there were handmade crafts of all types for sale on the tables. i even unleashed the debut of my new book of writings, T’tle: Throe in the towel.

and i must mustmust mention the fact that Bryan, the owner of the Buddha, is easily the kindest and funnest [fuck off, journamalism losers!] person we could have imagined. as an example, lets just point out that on, count ‘em, three different occasions he turned UP the volume on the music we were playing over the soundsystem; and one of those times he actually made fun of Justin and I spinning records too quiet, and he said it right to our faces — and justin aint no push-over, what with his big burly facial hair and snoop dogg t-shirt. but apparently Bryan’s no one to mess with either, eh?

anyway, shit, we all met some amazing people last night: artists, family members, friends of friends, people we’d already met but were too cool to remember the first time, you get the idea

and to top it all off, like chocolate syrup on my favorite ice cream, the boys behind Detroit’s newest revolutionary art collective, Bittersweet Dream, came out and blessed us with their amazing drunk drawing skills. oh, and they let me trade them for two of their recycled notebooks, ha! i win on that deal, suckaz! but ok seriously, i am totally in love with these guys (dont worry, its in a manly way), and we’ve only just met. i’m almost afraid of finding out what this group of miscreants are capable of, but rest assured, i plan on us all pushing everything to every conceivable limit and theres no turning back this time.

well, for those who missed out, much of the art will still be up on display at the Buddha for a couple weeks, at least. and we are expecting to have recurring events here for a long time to come. we are all so super excited abt this new prospect for the Detroit area. and, of course, so many many thanks to everyone who helped set up, its more appreciated than my lame-ass blog could ever express

and yes, i definitely plan to go back there again soon to hang out, so who’s with me?

: : :

and for today’s appropriate stolen quote, im having a hard time deciding, so take these two and then go listen to all of your Silver Mt. Zion records.

The brightest night
I ever saw,
Across an empty parking lot
No stars

Let’s kill first the banker
With his professional demeanour
Let’s televise and broadcast
The raping of kings
Let our crowds be fed on
Teargas and plate-glass
‘Cause a people united
Is a wonderful thing

these are a few shots of the couple things i have been attempting to kill myself over the past few days (sorry they’re blurry, its late)

i have decided to make a book and a cd for the upcoming Detroit Urban Craft Fair this August. the book is a collection of my writings, some of which were originally posted on this blog and some are new. the cd is a ‘greatest hits’ of sorts collected from the past 7 years (sheesh!) of my MaybeRain project.

i plan to have them included as part of wlt’s goody-bag submission as well as selling them at our sponsorship table at the event … the prices have yet to be determined - but you can be sure they will be cheap enough for all you poor fools out there to own a copy or two (liberal arts degree?! ha!)

this is one the most intense crafty times ive had in a looong time, but as i am getting closer to the completion of these things, i am liking them more and more … so, to be honest, im actually going to have no reservations abt selling them for, gasp!, money at the event …

also, id like to thank Sassmouth and Yerba Mate for making all of these endless days possible … oh and a mean-spirited thanks to Handmade Detroit for inspiring me to do all this crap :)

anyway, this is the main reason for the lack of postings of late…. not that anyone noticed (jk, i can hear you purring out there)

…

and now for today’s appropriate stolen quote:

Lisa its your birthday, happy birthday Lisa;
Lisa its your birthday, happy birthday Lisa;

I wish you love and good will,
I wish you love and joy,
I wish you better than your hearts desire,
and your first kiss from a boy

i will have some photos up at a super sweet event in Detroit on July 8 with the Sirens of Handemade Detroit … i think i will even play a little music that night too…

The Press release:

Come hang out with Handmade Detroit and .waitinglinetheory. at The Buddha Lounge in Detroit on Saturday, July 8!

HD & WLT are joining forces in the ultimate quest for world domination this July to offer a night of Mitten Maker Madness!

Arts & Crafts from the Handmade Detroit All-Stars will be available all throughout the event: on tables, on chairs, we’ll probably sneak into your beer too

Music/Photography/Paintings/Drawings and more from the WLT team!

Come hang out with us for a night of great times and great drinks and great art too…
Art on the walls, crafts on the tables, music in your ears and fun in your heart.

The party begins promtly at 7pm!
21633 W. 8 Mile @ Lahser

Pass it on!

over at .waitinglinetheory. we are sponsoring the Detroit Urban Craft Fair and lending a hand wherever we can …
here’s the recent press release from .wlt.

… …

for those of you that may still be completely out of the loop, not that we condone the existence of said ‘loop’, it is officialy time to admit that the Detroit Urban Craft Fair (myspace nerds click here) is about to descend on this city whether you are ready for it or not.

hosted by Handmade Detroit (myspace nerds), the DUCF, as stated on their website, is defined thusly:

The Detroit Urban Craft Fair is a one-day alternative craft fair hosted by Handmade Detroit. Over 50 vendors from Detroit and the Midwest will set up shop from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturday, August 5, 2006 at the Majestic Theater in Detroit. The event is free and open to the public.

well, WLT has taken a sponsorship/promotion/all-around-moral-support position to help out however we can with the DUCF, because, well, we think this shit is the shit.

to begin, we have added a little link over there to the left to help support the DUCF, the link will allow you to purchase one of their totally totally sweet mitten pins, because as they say:

Why not show your support of Detroit’s DIY community by purchasing a Handmade Detroit mitten pin? All proceeds from our pin sales go directly to helping produce and promote the Detroit Urban Craft Fair. Each handmade pin is approximately 3 inches tall with a secure pin clasp and a tiny heart over Detroit. They would look super snazzy on your jacket, knitting tote or dashboard.

you may notice that the link takes you to a paypal page that sends the money to us, but please be assured ALL of it goes directly to the DUCF, its just easier for us kids to set it up that way, ok?

and yes, here’s what we think is the most important part:

I’d like to be involved, is there anything I can do to help?

Double Yes! We always need more people to pass out flyers, hang posters, post MySpace bulletins and do some good ole’ word of mouth advertising. If you’d like to help get the word out about DUCF, shoot an e-mail with the subject line PROMOTION HELP to promo@detroiturbancraftfair.com.

We’re also looking for volunteers to work the day of the fair as event staff. Event staffers will be used as runners and loaders for our vendors and with decoration and general set up. Because these people are such a big help on the day of the fair, they will receive special thank yous much like our vendors. If you’re interested, please send an e-mail with the subject line EVENT STAFF to info@detroiturbancraftfair.com.

seriously, we havent been so excited abt something in this city in a very long time.

so click the link, get yrself a few pins, and then head over to the DUCF site and send them a message that you want to help volunteer. there will be plenty of promotion and day-of types of chances to help out, so please please please lend a hand, you’ll want to tell your grandkids what you were doing the day detroit exploded onto the world with all the crafty creative force of a nation wide block party

i didnt write this, i only wish i had.
ten points for anyone who knows what its from without having to google it
… i know yr out there

Listen to the tales and romanticize,
How we follow the path of the hero.
Boast about the day when the rivers overrun.
How we rise to the height of our halo.

Listen to the tales as we all rationalize
Our way into the arms of the savior,
Fading all the trials and the tribulations,
None of us have actually been there,
Not like you.

Ignorant fibbers in the congregation,
Gather around spewing sympathy,
Spare me.
None of them can even hold a candle up to you.
Blinded by choices, hypocrites won’t see.

But, enough about the collective Judas.
Who could deny you were the one who illuminated
You’ll have a piece of the divine.

This little light of mine, the gift you passed on to me;
I’ll let it shine, to guide you safely on your way,
Your way home …

Oh, what are they going to do when the lights go down
Without you to guide them all to Zion?
What are they going to do when the rivers overrun
Other than tremble incessantly?

High as a wave, but I’ll rise on up off the ground.
You were the light and the way they’ll only read about.
I only pray Heaven knows when to lift you out.
Ten thousand days in the fire is long enough, you’re going home.

You’re the only one who can hold your head up high,
Shake your fists at the gates saying:
“I have come home now!
Fetch me the spirit, the son, and the father
Tell them their pillar of faith has ascended.
It’s time now!
My time now!
Give me my wings!”

You are the light and the way that they will only read about.

Set as I am in my ways and my arrogance,
Burden of proof tossed upon the believers.
You were my witness, my eyes, my evidence,
Judith Marie, unconditional one.

Daylight dims leaving cold fluorescence.
Difficult to see you in this light.
Please forgive this bold suggestion:
Should you see your Maker’s face tonight,
Look Him in the eye, look Him in the eye, and tell Him:
“I never lived a lie, never took a life, but surely saved one.
Hallelujah, it’s time for you to bring me home.”

- Maynard James Keenan

Updated 5/3 - Colbert reports on Colbert on the Colbert Repor(t)

ok, so in light of the recent media blackout on any good coverage of Stephen Colbert’s performance at the White House Correspondents’ dinner the other night, i’m going to take the advice of that always reliable Kossack, georgia10, and re-post for the blog-o-world what those of us in the blog-o-world already know, in the hopes of passing on to at least one new person this gem of civil disobedience in our near-stalinist modern america

link to full video

inspiration for this post comes from many conversations abt the internet’s ability (or lack thereof) to assist the progressive’s spread of ideas and actions and, more tangibly, georgia10’s diary post that, besides being insightful as always, ends with this call-to-arms:

No amount of calls to MSNBC or CNN or the AP will result in giving Colbert’s critique the coverage it deserved; the news is already in a new cycle, and while the rhetorical wounds inflicted by Colbert’s speech are still fresh, his wordsmithing is old news for the media.

Where the media fails, the citizens step up. The Colbert critique has gone viral, with internet users rapidly emailing it to thousands online … Email the video to your friends, your family, Republican, Independent, and Democrat alike. I have, and in doing so, I know that Stephen Colbert speaks for me.

if you havent seen it yet, this is one of those moments where the metaphor ‘the _____ was so thick, you could cut it with a knife’ is a bit under-appropriate. watching Colbert rip line after line into both the White House and the main-stream media’s crimes the past five years in front of a room full of, well, the White House and the main-stream media was serioulsy painful.

im not sure i need to go into another of my god-awful analyses of the performance or the lack of media coverage of it, when i would rather just point interested parties to much better discussions of the performance.

so here goes a few nods in a couple directions:

Billmon, over at Whiskey Bar compares Colbert’s performance to the recent “satire” movie American Dreamz (i didnt even realize it was supposed to be a satire, and i mean come on, its got Hugh Grant, what kind of satire stars Hugh Grant?).

In his analysis, Billmon points out the obvious fact that Colbert was quite simply telling everyone in the room they are not only complicit in the utter destruction of this country that is happening right before our eyes, but that he knows it, and they know it, and somewhere around 65 to 70% of the American people know it.

Colbert’s routine was designed to draw blood — as good political satire should. It seemed obvious, at least to me, that he didn’t just despise his audience, he hated it. While that hardly merits comment here in Left Blogostan, White House elites clearly aren’t used to having such contempt thrown in their faces at one of their most cherished self-congratulatory events. So it’s no surprise the scribes have tried hard to expunge it from the semi-official record — as Peter Daou notes over at the Huffington Post.

Colbert used satire the way it’s used in more openly authoritarian societies: as a political weapon, a device for raising issues that can’t be addressed directly. He dragged out all the unmentionables — the Iraq lies, the secret prisons, the illegal spying, the neutered stupidity of the lapdog press — and made it pretty clear that he wasn’t really laughing at them, much less with them. It may have been comedy, but it also sounded like a bill of indictment, and everybody understood the charges.

If things were going well, if Bush’s approval ratings were north of 60%, gas was 80 cents a gallon and the war was being won, I suspect Colbert would have gotten a different reception. His audience could have pretended to be amused — in that smug, patronizing way we all remember from the neocon glory days. But we’re long past the point where the Cheneyites and their journalistic flunkies are willing to suffer such barbs with good humor. The regime’s legal and political troubles are too serious, the wounds too open and too deep for the gang to smile while somebody like Colbert gleefully jabs a finger into them.

There were people at last night’s dinner who really could end up in jail — depending on Patrick Fitzgerald’s theory of the case and/or the results of the next two elections. Things have been done over the past five years that can’t be undone; crimes committed that can’t be uncommitted. If Colbert faced a tough crowd last night, it was probably because so many of them understand that the Cheneyites and the Rovians really are rearranging the deck chairs on the Hindenberg, and that if the airship goes down in flames their own window seats are going to get pretty toasty. Jobs are at stake. Careers could be at stake. For all we know lives could be at stake.

It’s an ugly moment, and expecting people like that to laugh at their own misfortunes isn’t very realistic.

and over at Think Progress, they’ve highlighted a little exchange on fox news in regards to Colbert going “over the line” and being “not very funny” … not that anyone ever accused that crowd of having a well developed sense of humor, or of irony in specific

Transcript: …

DOOCY: [Bush] was playing a good sport as his body double was there. But shortly after that, the paid performer, Stephen Colbert of the Colbert Report, took the stage and did about 15 minutes and it was very uncomfortable. Personally I felt like he went over the line. Today in Lloyd Grove’s column, he says that Colbert “bombed badly.” It was not very funny.

i personally like the little jab at his being a paid performer, you know, as if to make light of the fact that in george bush’s america, even Colbert has a job … or maybe im wrong and it was meant to, lets just say, make him sound a bit like a clown or performing monkey of some sort….

and, um, for the record, Lloyd Grove is a gossip columnist for the NY Daily News … ummmm, yeah…… thats the fox news facts support net for you.

oh and here’s a good update from our gray-haired friends over at Salon, its a good piece, i might recommend you read the whole thing

Make no mistake, Stephen Colbert is a dangerous man — a bomb thrower, an assassin, a terrorist with boring hair and rimless glasses. It’s a wonder the Secret Service let him so close to the president of the United States.
…
Colbert is not just another comedian with barbed punch lines and a racy vocabulary. He is a guerrilla fighter, a master of the old-world art of irony. For Colbert, the punch line is just the addendum. The joke is in the setup. The meat of his act is not in his barbs but his character — the dry idiot, “Stephen Colbert,” God-fearing pitchman, patriotic American, red-blooded pundit and champion of “truthiness.” “I’m a simple man with a simple mind,” the deadpan Colbert announced at the dinner. “I hold a simple set of beliefs that I live by. Number one, I believe in America. I believe it exists. My gut tells me I live there.”
…
It’s not just that Colbert’s jokes were hitting their mark. We already know that there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, that the generals hate Rumsfeld or that Fox News lists to the right. Those cracks are old and boring. What Colbert did was expose the whole official, patriotic, right-wing, press-bashing discourse as a sham, as more “truthiness” than truth.
…
Laura Bush did not shake his hand.

thanks for reading, please take one and pass it on

Update 5/3:

Crooks and Liars has a clip of The Repor(t) on Monday night in which Stephen recaps the success of his performance.

I think my favorite part is his mention of Ludacris being at the event. i wont spoil the timing of the joke, because as we all know, timing is everything.

so you should check it out for yourself …

…

I have shed this dry hard shell
Traded its comfort for your eyes

the Handmade Detroit kids are at it again, this time with a long awaited anouncement that they are taking applications for space at the much-anticipated Detroit Urban Craft Fair.

i’m super excited abt this event, not because i’ll have stuff for sale there (i probably wont) but simply because these kids are doing so much for Detroit DIY and it makes me so happy to see their love and support for the local peeps

and i expect it to be so much fun that day …

here’s some of the info for all you lazy ones out there:

Applications are open for the Detroit Urban Craft Fair! Deadline is May 15. Apply today!

Come check out the spankin’ new web site for general fair information, vendor answers, contacts and many more ways to get involved with us!

Detroit Urban Craft Fair
August 5, 2006
Majestic Theatre, Detroit
www.detroiturbancraftfair.com

go check out the announcement on their blog
and then be sure to visit the gorgeous DUCF website and fill out an application
(seriously, who’s doing your web design? that site is beautiful)

…

No I cannot forget where it is that I come from
I cannot forget the people who love me
Yeah, I can be myself here in this small town
And people let me be just what I want to be

just in case you aren’t already in the know, the wonderfully wonderful Handmade Detroit kids have a sweet ass blog that continues to provide some of the most interesting info on, well, handmade tidbits …

and in the name of (more) shameless self-promotion, i thought i’d point out that they have posted a submission of mine for their recent Mitten Maker Monday segment.

its part of a series of little dealies i had up at wlt’s event at the 555 Gallery last summer … and if anyone saw our table at the previous Dally in the Alley i had them displayed there as well.

(i hadn’t originally thought of them as being ’sale items’
but i sold one for $5 and another for a hug;
everyone has their price, you know)

…

and if i had a match to light,
i’d burn chicago down tonight.