New Writings, New DJ Mixes

February was crazy busy.

With all the trappings that come with getting promoted also came a lack of anyone being hired to replace me in my old position and it seems like we got hit with twice the work. I've had quite a few 60-hour weeks just trying to help us get caught up. It's been exhausting, but a good learning experience as well. I went from *maybe* 5 emails from writers a day to about 40 from writers, higher-ups, and outside contacts.

A lot of office fires have been put out since my last post almost a month ago.

Sales of "Scaring the Stars into Submission" have....let's say, dwindled. It's not surprising, but it's mildly disappointing. There was a 10-day stretch where nothing shipped. That was rough, especially since I bought ads hyping the book to show on three sites: Goodreads, Facebook, and Instagram.

I started with the Facebook ad. Figured it would reach the most amount of people, and it did. But I found that the most action came from the Instagram ad. Something like 15,000 people physically interacted with the ad (liked it), while only about 400 of them actually clicked the link to check out the book. There was zero bump in sales.

So I moved over to Goodreads, a place full of nothing but readers and authors. To date, 45,232 people have seen the ad; 17 have clicked on it. Maybe 2 or 3 people have added it to their reading queue. No idea if they've bought a copy or not.

But as of right now, 177 copies of the book have sold since it's debut on New Year's Eve; 8 kindle copies and 169 paperbacks. That's a pretty damn good number two months out considering I don't have the backing of a publishing house or anyone else to really help me hype the book in other markets. Response to it, thus far, has been overwhelmingly positive, which is great considering how strange a book it will be for most people.

And honestly, I'm just really happy it's out there. I hope it gets a small cult-ish following of rabid fans ready for the next collection (which is done, but won't be released until the end of the year or early next year).

In the meantime, as I wait for the foreword and cover art to be completed for "The Machinery of the Heart: Love Stories," I've been working on a few new pieces for the third collection. At the moment, it's tentatively titled "Trying to Prepare for a Life I'll Never Have." Where TMotH:LS ventures into more realism in most of the stories, I'm actively trying to bring out the weirdness that made StSiS such a fascinating read, both as a writer and as a reader.

After all, if I'm not excited about what I'm putting on the page, why should the readers get excited? If there's no passion there, people can tell. In writing, in cooking, in art - people know when something's been done half-assed. It's often easy to tell.

Currently, I have 22 stories in various states of completion for TtPfaLINH. I'm most excited about the ones that have come quickly and decisively, the ones that actively tried to claw their way out of my brain onto the page.

"Dust" - The story of a woman who has lost interest in her marriage, but finds a kind of exhilaration every Tuesday when she cleans her house from top to bottom in a very unconventional way.

"The Museum of Mirrors and the (Mostly) Dead" - I started this one a week before reading Millhauser's story "Miracle Polish" and decided after that I'd throw in a little homage to his piece. 10 mirrors from different historical points in time are on display in a nondescript museum. Each has a wild story to tell, showing the viewer different things.

"Terroir" - The story of a man's morning ritual being turned on its head while he recounts the way in which he ended up in his current situation. This one is very Kafka-esque in a few ways. I'm curious to see how it plays out.

And now, for some music news. I've got a few gigs coming up in the next few months, so I've been trying to put out new mixes again post-back surgery. Sometimes a mix just doesn't want to be made, which sucks, but then other times a mix HAS to be made and comes out far better than you originally expected. Below are two of my latest mixes along with links to where you can hear them over at Mixcloud.

Upcoming Gigs: 

Gate 89 @ Niche, Kansas City, MO. - 03.16.17

Selekta & Friends Present: Warehouse Revival, St. Louis, MO. - 04.15.17

Hit Squad Reunion, Topeka, KS. - 04.29.17

Escape in the Beats @ the Kirkwood Lodge, Ozarks, MO. - 05.26-05.29

Wet Hot Electronic Summer @ the Kirkwood Lodge, Ozarks, MO. - 07.21.17

(I've not been booked for this one yet, but I'm hoping it happens. I'll be going regardless.)

New Mixes:

(Click on the title of the mix to head to the streaming site)

Funk/Electro-Funk

19 Tracks

85 Minutes

117 BPM

Guaranteed to shake the junk in your trunk and put a hobble in your wobble.

All eras of caboose juice ready to let loose.

Rumpalicious

Kashif - Don't Stop My Love

The Temptations - Treat Her Like a Lady

Gino Soccio - Try It Out (Instrumental)

Discotron - Disco Ballin'

First Light - Daybreak

Rockers Review - Walking on Sunshine

Newcleus - Jam On Revenge (The Wikki Wikki Song)

Evelyn Champagne King - Your Personal Touch

Kashif - Stone Love

The Pointer Sisters - Automatic

Dayton - The Sound of Music (Extended Version)

Curtis Hairston - I Want You (All Tonight)

Newtrament - London Bridge is Falling Down

Roger Troutman - West Coast Poplock

Dam-Funk - Boogie Slyde

Delegation - You and I

Midnight Star - Wet My Whistle

Aurra - Such a Feeling

The Detroit Experiment - Think Twice

Jazzy, heavy on the basslines, and plenty of horns.

The soundtrack to the spy movie you never seen,

but maybe the one you wanted to act out.

19 Tracks

75 Minutes

90 BPM

Espionage at Night

Kool & the Gang - Messenger of Wisdom

Beanfield - Breeze

Rae & Christian - Catch a Rude Awakening

Coffee Shop - If You Got Soul

George Pallikaris - In Search Of...

Alex Cortiz - Afterworld

Ingrid Schroeder - Paint You Blue (Muggs Instrumental Mix)

Guardner - N.Y.C. (Edit)

Air - Modular Mix

David Axelrod - House of Mirrors

Omega One - Body Double

Anitek - Chamomile

Sven Van Hees - Ocean Jive

Towa Tei - Technova (La em Copacaban)

3582 - Early Morning

Alex Cortiz - Room 505

Anitek - Fixation

Menahan Street Band - Karina

Dj Cam Quartet - Tribute to J. Dilla

Things are about to get busier on a personal level, what with gigs, this new writing momentum, and all the traveling and pool time that comes with summer, but hopefully I'll have more to update with soon.



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Rachel Nagelberg's Debut Novel "The Fifth Wall"

The Fifth Wall

by

Rachel Nagelberg

(Black Sparrow Press, 176pgs)

Available for Pre-Order and Released on May 15th

Purchase Link

There are horror stories that come out of MFA programs, stories that talk of unscrupulous and catty authors-to-be. That was, as I've said before, not a thing I experienced during my time at the University of San Francisco. My philosophy has always been "support other writers" since not one of us will ever know how our books will sell, if they'll sell, or how they'll be critiqued by readers. It makes zero sense to *not* lift up the other writers around us and wish for their success.

So when a former classmate puts out a book, I like to do my best to help hype their work since we are often relegated to hyping our books on our own. An extra voice is always good and welcomed and I am always stoked to be able to help out my former classmates and friends.

I didn't have any classes with Rachel during my time at USF, so I never had a chance to read her work in class, but we interacted often and I know a little about what and who she reads, so I have a decent take on her literary aesthetic. I would be lying if I said I was not super excited to dig into her debut novel immediately.

You can read an excerpt at 3AM Magazine: 

http://www.3ammagazine.com/3am/fifth-wall-rachel-nagelberg-excerpt/

Another excerpt should be forthcoming from The Brooklyn Rail. 

She currently has two readings scheduled to promote the book: 

Tuesday, May 16th w/Stephen Beachy @ Skylight Books in Los Angeles

Thursday, May 18th w/TBD @ The Booksmith in San Francisco

About the Book

"In this debut novel by Rachel Nagelberg, conceptual artist Sheila B. Ackerman heeds a mysterious urge to return to her estranged family home and arrives at the exact moment of her mother’s suicide. In an attempt to cope with and understand her own self destructive tendencies, Sheila plants a camera on the lawn outside the house to film 24/7 while workers deconstruct the physical object that encases so many of her memories. Meanwhile, as she begins to experience frequent blackouts, she finds herself hunting a robot drone through the San Francisco MOMA with a baseball bat, part of a provocative, technological show, The Last Art, and resuming a violent affair with her college professor. With a backdrop of post-9/11 San Francisco, Sheila navigates the social-media-obsessed, draught-ridden landscape of her life, exploring the frail line between the human impulse to control everything that takes place around us and the futility of excessive effort to do so. The Fifth Wall allows readers to explore from a safe distance the recesses of their own minds, leaving the haunting feeling of depths that yet remain unknown."

Blurbs

"Set into motion by an inexplicable, traumatic and violent real-life event, Rachel Nagelberg’s 

brilliant first novel begins at the limits of contemporary art, as it attempts to reflect the 

ungraspable present.  Born in 1984 into a familiarly frayed American family, her protagonist Sheila B. Ackerman, a former art student, is neither especially likable or unlikeable: that is, she’s incredibly real.  A close artistic cousin to Joni Murphy’s Double Teenage and Natasha Stagg’s Surveys, The Fifth Wall is a new kind of novel.  Female and philosophical, emotion flows through the book across a dense and familiarly incomprehensible web of information, from satellite selfies to awkward sex to internet beheadings and shamanic tourism in the third world. Nagelberg's engrossing narration is littered with stunning perception: We look into the distance to be able to see what’s right in front of us. She writes without affect, and with unselfconscious acuity. That is, she writes really well."  

– Chris Kraus, 

author of I Love Dick

"Nagelberg has a true gift, able to write gorgeously on the line level with unctuous images. And simultaneously, there's a readable page-turner here. Most of us are lucky to do one of those, which is a testament to the singular talent.  This book cascades beauty and meaning and truth."

– Joshua Mohr, 

author of All This Life and Termite Parade, a New York Times Editor’s Choice pick

"The Fifth Wall crackles with braininess and sex. It's hallucinatory and interactive and funny and sad and it has something incandescent to show you." 

– Stephen Beachy, 

author of The Whistling Song and Distortion, and professor at the University of San Francisco

About the Author

Rachel Nagelberg is an American novelist, 

poet, 

and conceptual artist living in Los Angeles. 

The Fifth Wall is her debut novel. 

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Four New Live DJ Mixes

The last year has been a solid one for me in terms of DJ-ing gigs across the city and the state. I played a couple spots at the Kirkwood Lodge in the Lake of the Ozarks. Luckily, I've been fortunate to have been booked for the more beat-oriented, jazzy hip hop stuff more suited for a martini lounge or a poolside afternoon as it's not only my favorite stuff to listen to, but to play as well.

The below mixes are mostly that kind of vibe. The first one, from the Lake of the Ozarks, was from a gig called Wet Hot Electronic Summer: Hot Miami Nights, which was a weekend-long party with some friends from both Kansas City and St. Louis and a TON of strangers that became friends later that weekend. There is, unfortunately, no tracklist.

The three mixes following that are from a night here in Kansas City run by my long-time DJ partner Mr. Nuro. He calls the night "The Listening Room" and works as a kind of spotlight on music that doesn't always get played on dance floors across the city. The weird, the abstract, the dark, the bizarre...it's a good venue for experimentation.

The first mix of the three is a more jazzy hip hop/instrumental/lounge vibe. The second mix is a more uptempo/funk/boogie style made for a more dance-centric crowd. The third mix is a blend of older 80s & 90s retro stuff that I love playing when the vibe is right. There are tracklists for all three.

You can find the link to stream this mix here:

Bucho - Live @ Wet Hot Electronic Summer VI: Hot Miami Nights

You can find the link to stream this mix here:

Bucho - Live @ The Listening Room, Pt. 1 (09.24.16) / Minibar, KCMO

24 tracks, 83 minutes

FloFilz - Gitdown

Galimatias - Sunlight Reigns Supreme

FloFilz - Keepitreal

Galimatias - Major Crimes & Unicorns

Vanilla - The Winter

Miguel Migs - Give Me Something

2Pac - Old School (Cookin' Soul Remix)

Alexis Davis - The Lift

Mono Massive x Vertual Vertigo - Can't Let Go

Brandy - I Wanna Be Down (Grades Remix)

Muneshine - Venus & Mars (Freddie Joachim Remix)

P.SUS - Midnight Thoughts (Breezewax Remix)

Dam Funk - I Wanna Thank You For (Steppin)

Austin Brown - Groove 92 

Chris Malinchak - So Into You

Q-Tip ft. Busta Rhymes - For the Nasty (Freddie Joachim Remix)

She Said Disco - Ocean Love

Bondax - Gold (Snakehips Bootleg)

Duck House - Flaw

Willie Hale - Groove On (Snakehips Edit)

Dam Funk - 10 West

Kartell - Two Step

Gang Starr - Skills (Oll-Zen Remix)

Banks - Warm Water (Snakehips Remix)

You can find the link to stream this mix here:

Bucho - Live @ The Listening Room, Pt. 2 (09.24.16) / Minibar, KCMO

18 tracks, 63 minutes

Kraak & Smaak - Money in the Bag

JT Donaldson - Leave Your World (Hydro's Disco Dub in the Hour of Chaos)

Kenny Dope - Can You Handle It (Pt. One)

Tuxedo - So Good

Michael Tello - Black Thought

Jazzanova - The One-Tet

Dj Cam Quartet - New York New York

Cassius - See Me Now

Amp Fiddler - Faith

A Tribe Called Quest - Luck of Lucien

Ohmega Watts - What's It Worth (Instrumental)

Paolo Archenza Trio - Mondo Cane

Jazzanova ft. Vikter Duplaix - Soon (A Touch of Jazz Mix)

Dwele - Let Your Hair Down

Up, Bustle, and Out - Compared to What (Chase Mix)

Ohmega Watts ft. the Procussions - That Sound

Coolio - Too Hot

Dzihan & Kamien - Airport

You can find the link to stream this mix here: 

Bucho - Live @ The Listening Room, Pt. 3 (09.24.16)

15 tracks,  60 minutes

Joe Jackson - Steppin' Out

A-Ha - Take on Me

Billy Idol - Dancin' with Myself

Berlin - Riding on the Metro

Shabba Ranks - Mr. Loverman

Hall & Oates - Maneater

The Cure - Close to Me

Soul II Soul - Keep on Moving

New Edition - Mr. Telephone Man

Hall & Oates - Method of Modern Love

Tears for Fears - Head over Heels

Howard Jones - What is Love? 

George Michael - I Want Your Sex

Stereo MC's - Connected

Bob Marley - Could You Be Loved?

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The Weekend Collective: Adaptive Skate Kollective and Janet Cardiff's "Forty-Part Motet"

A quick update on a couple things:

Just had a story called "The Same Night Waits for Us All" picked up for publication in Bluestem Magazine. It's part of the second short story collection I completed during the first half of last year while I was dealing with a work injury in San Francisco. It's been good to start shopping these unpublished pieces again, even though the only writing I've been doing has been less fictional.

Which leads me to two new articles of mine that have been published over at the Weekend Collective recently.

The first is about another upcoming exhibit coming to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in November. Janet Cardiff has done some crazy interesting audio installations over the years and this current one has a pretty interesting history, both musically and in terms of some of its early showings in NYC. No lie, I'm pretty stoked to sit in this room for awhile and just soak up the exhibit for a good hour. You can read more about that here.

The second article is one I really enjoyed writing as it involved a long-time friend of mine who lost his right leg years ago and turned his accident into a pretty phenomenal opport, unity for others with adaptive wants and needs. He and others have traveled across the country trying to remove the stigmas and social stereotypes associated with amputees or those originally born without limbs. You can read more about that article here.

For now, the hustle continues. I'm hoping to get a few more articles knocked out this weekend, but I've been laid up with a back injury (again), which has put a crimp in many of my plans. That back injury stemmed from a DJing gig I had this weekend, but out of that gig came three solid recordings which I'll post in a future entry.

Until then...

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The Weekend Collective: The Dark Tower, Kansas City Poetry, and Photography at the Nelson-Atkins Museum

I've been busy.

Crazy busy. And while there's plenty of updates to give, I will simply pop on here briefly to hype the latest work I've been doing, which is writing up news articles and profiles about things and people happening around Kansas City. The site is called Weekend Collective and I got to meet most of the crew this week, all of whom seem incredibly down to earth and fun to kick it with.

Luckily, the bosses want us to write about things that we're passionate about; if you're bored with your own story, chances are good the reader will get bored with it pretty quickly too. That's the nature of not loving what you do. The finished product suffers and it's obvious to EVERYONE. So in this way, I appreciate the approach.

Poetry Slam in KC

The first article I got published was about at monthly poetry slam contest held at the Uptown Arts Bar downtown. I went to the show that night, had a blast, and did a write up on the crew putting the event on. You can read that here.

Photography Exhibit at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art

My second article was about an upcoming exhibit of photography at the Nelson-Atkins. The theme of the show is "Surveillance," and contains a mix of collections from various photographers around the globe, but I found one whose life story was simply too interesting not to write about in more detail. You can read that one here.

The Dark Tower, or O, Discordia!

The third article was definitely a more personally interesting piece for me as I've been a fan of Stephen King's "Dark Tower" series for many years. It's currently being adapted into movie form and the nature of the narrative (which has changed from the book) has completely changed, so it's not just a straight up adaptation. I make the argument that this is a VERY good thing for superfans of the series here.

That's all for now! I'll keep posting up new articles as they go live, especially since my name isn't attached to the articles on the site. Happy reading!


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2 Deaths, 3 Weeks

John Stone

1976-2016

Two deaths in three weeks. That’s how my first summer

back in KC has started. Both separate instances, both with assumed different

circumstances, both leaving me a little emptier than before. Both people were

unbelievably friendly and giving and completely undeserving of such a young

passing.

But the great world turns, never stopping for a moment

to grieve for each member it loses. We as individuals get that luxury, but

still…time does not stop, it does not yield its momentum on our behalf. It’s up

to us to carve that time out and steal it, make it our own to do with as we

please.

I personally have been making an effort to reach out

to more people, to let them know I’m thinking of them randomly, to let them

know I have not forgotten about them, to let them know that they still exist in

someone else’s memory and history, that they matter, that they are important,

that they are loved.

It’s worth saying that many of us have fallen down on

that particular job over the years. Life gets in the way and we become

unselfishly myopic. Our own problems tend to take precedence over those of

others' sometimes. It’s an easy trap to fall into; shouldering the weight of

someone else’s problems, even for just an hour, can be exhausting.

But sometimes I wonder if we don’t all exist *because*

of our ability to help those around us handle the things they cannot handle on

their own, like it’s what we’re actually built to do but we lost the

instruction manual several generations ago. I personally have been the

beneficiary of a ton of immeasurable love and support over the last several

years from family here in the Midwest and from family out on the West Coast.

What that kind of outpouring can do for someone's mental is unbelievable until

it's experienced.

22 years ago, when I first moved to Kansas City from

Oklahoma City, I found myself on the precipice. I was 15, I was losing every

person I’d ever known, and moving to a city I knew nothing about. I went to a

very dark place where ambivalence took over; I could jump out the window of my

top floor bedroom. If I lived, I could run away. If I didn’t live, it didn’t

matter.

Now this may have been the overly dramatic results of

being a hormonal teenager, but the emotion was real and it had a suffocating

hold on me. I’m glad things turned out the way they did and that I can be here,

22 years later, writing about my experience personally rather than having

someone else convey their sadness over how things may have potentially gone.

So take this message as a welfare check, something

police officers do when a family member is concerned for the safety or

well-being of a loved one. Whether we’ve talked once or a million times, if you

find yourself moving into that dark place in the brain that won’t allow for

rational thought, that won’t allow you to see the sun shining while you stare

right up into it, unblinking…call me. Send me a message. Tell me you need help

and I’ll be the first person on your doorstep. Never let anyone or anything make

you feel “less than”…

Because I can assure you that you are not. You are most certainly more.

Cheri Jean Sweaney

1982 - 2016

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Settling In to the New Version of the Old Life

So. Kansas City. I made it back amid some interesting hurdles and yet, here I stand, about as pleased as one could be after being unemployed for two months in their home town. And the Royals are in the World Series, so...that's pretty damn rad as well. This city is straight up electrified right now and the vibe is awesome everywhere you go.

The journey back was tough. Issues with low bank accounts and overly heavy luggage caused some minor stresses, but , as things tend to do when I'm forced into a corner, it all worked out. I made it out of San Francisco and into Phoenix where I got some really solid family time in with my father, step-mother, brother and sister. I really can't say enough good things about my times spent in the desert climate. Pops and I travel down to the bottom of several bottles of vodka, talk politics, and basically just rap while out on the patio for pretty much the entire time. Weirdly, I really only spend time inside the house when sleeping.

That week in Phoenix was a good way to clear my head before getting back to my hometown of Kansas City. Ease into the new manifestation of my present, if you will. I started off with a job, then landed and found the job had been given to someone else. Weird, but okay.

Went back into job search mode. Some 300+ resumes sent out during my last three years in San Francisco and I get no response from any of them. Somewhere near 50 sent out in the two months I've been back in the Midwest and I've had 14 interviews (!), one of which culminated in a job that I'm very much looking forward to, a job that requires all the skills I learned in both grad school and undergrad. I cannot tell you the absolute joy I feel at finally being out of the blue-collar industry, at using my brain rather than my brawn for once after working so hard on my education. I start that job on November 2nd.

Meanwhile, I've done a reading since I've been home. A great experience put on by an old friend at his wife's pop-up art salon surrounded by other word nerds who contributed some great conversation on all the pieces read by the spotlighted readers.

I've also done some dj-ing. Riot Room, MiniBar, Ruins Pub...and more to come at those places with another Thanksgiving themed party in St. Louis next month at The Upstairs Lounge. Playing records has been a good release while I rectified my job situation. It's also given me the chance to reconnect with a lot of the old crew, who are many and spread out across the entire city.

I will soon have my own place, an apartment I share with no one where the messes are my own and the solitude a perfect place for my future creative endeavors to start brewing again. It will be the first time I will live on my own as an adult and the amount of art I have to hang in order to make the vibe entirely my own is ridiculous.

The transition back to the land of seasons has not been without its struggles, but each struggle seems to be easily overcome either by luck, chance, or simply my years of being prepared for the worst and planning ahead. Whatever the solution, it's becoming clearer every day that my move back was absolutely the right decision and that my original hypothesis of finding work in my particular field being easier here has been proven correct in a short 8 weeks.

I miss my West Coast degenerates, without a doubt. But I'm at the point now where I need to be selfish about my career goals and follow them wherever they may take me. This is simply the first step of many more I expect will come in the years to follow.

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Update: A Reading, Some Publications, A Move

My exit from the hills of San Francisco looms ever closer. It's been a solid 6 year run wherein I've moved my entire life across the country, earned an MFA in Writing, found an amazing crew of friends, and found some success in getting publishers of journals and reviews to like my writing. All in all, I'd call my West Coast growth experiment a success. But it's time to press on to other pastures and cultivate other experiences, despite the righteous view from my back patio (see: picture above).



A READING:

I was nominated by a dear graduate school friend for a reading series here in the city called Under the Influence. I was chosen and got to read from a book by an author who influenced me. I chose Blake Butler's "Scorch Atlas" as his prose and stories turned me completely on my head and made me re-examine language in some really fun ways. You can find the video of my reading below.

SOME PUBLICATIONS:

I've recently had the good fortune of having a couple stories picked up for publication later this year. I made mention in a previous post about two upcoming publications ("Leonard & Marj" in the Serving House Journal and "The Dinner was Lovely," which can currently be read in Cahoodaloodaling's "He Said/She Said" Issue), but here are four new pieces that have been picked up since then.


"Black Crush" - picked up by Ginosko Literary Journal. The story of a crowd of people hiding in silence from the onslaught of a military coup passing by their darkened basement. Publication sometime in September or October.

"Racking Focus" - a blending and bending of the supernatural and the classic detective story trope. A little tongue-in-cheek, but a fun read, I think. Picked up by The Poydras Review for publication sometime in September or October.

"Welcome to the Fireworks" - the story of a wife tilted sideways by the paranoid thought that her husband is cheating on her with another woman. This is her journey through the midnight streets, knocking on the doors of every hotel room she comes in contact with, hoping to catch him in the act. Picked up by Sediments Literary Arts Journal and should be published around September or October.

"The Forgetting Muse" - this piece originally began as a kind of Gattaca-influenced bit of writing and turned into something completely different. It turns the idea of a date based on a dating website on its head, giving the woman all the information about her date except for the truly important things that can't be quantified by numbers, percentages or graphs. Picked up for publication by Five Quarterly and will be published sometime in August.




A MOVE: 

And then there's this, my move back to Kansas City. My time here in San Francisco has run its course. There is plenty to love about the west coast; the food is varied and delicious, the coastlines gorgeous, and the proximity to pretty much any kind of climate within an hour's drive. Makes it a little hard to leave.

San Francisco is a hard city to make it in. Or maybe I'm just old and bullheaded in ways that don't jive with the city's younger, more tech-savvy residents. Whatever the reason, I did what I came out here to do and then some. As a writer, I've grown and experienced exponentially since my arrival six years ago, but after multiple attacks by random strangers in the street and the steadily increasing rent that makes living here harder and harder to do, it's time to go back to a place where the dollar stretches further and where my roots remain deep and labyrinthine.

What I could not do for employment out here is something I hope I'll be able to achieve upon my return to my hometown. I can only think that this city is over-saturated with intelligent, creative people the way Kansas City, thankfully, is not. I say that not as a jab at my hometown, but simply as a matter of fact - San Francisco is overrun, to its credit, with brilliant and talented people that constantly try to add to and preserve large swaths of culture in myriad ways. I hope that my aspirations and expectations are not only met, but exceeded in the same way by moving home and trying to achieve that same exaltation of arts and culture in Kansas City to higher levels.

After all...I can write anywhere.

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Philipp Striebe's "45 Seconds" Exhibition

Philip Streibe

For those of you that follow the blog, you’ve probably already picked up on the fact that I like hyping up and promoting the work that friends or friends of friends do in any artistic manner. Whether it’s teaching at the Writing Salon, doing collage work in their spare time, or seeing the world through the eye of a camera lens, I’m all about helping out my fellow artists of any stripe if I can, even if it means simply writing a blog post and pestering the hell out of people with promoting it.

Having said that, my friend Philipp Striebe has a project I’ve been following for awhile through his Facebook posts over the last several months. I’ve seen some of the sample photos and they’re straight up fantastic. I dig the concept as well. I've seen some of his other work and Philipp has got a great eye for imagery. 

In order to cover the costs of curating his show, Philipp has started a Kickstarter campaign in order to raise money to put on the exhibition. You’ll find a link to the Kickstarter page at the bottom of the post. Here’s a little explanation of the project:

“45 seconds...the time it takes a 664 Polaroid to develop at room temperature. These 45 seconds command you to relax and be present. There is no reason to rush and no possibility of expediting the process of shooting the desired photographs. The 'common sense' of shooting portraiture in our shiny and bold digital age of photography is being de-programmed. The usual vast volume of produced images is purposely diminished, but the promised delivery of an instant proof, an image to observe, still remains. This project is the result of my venture into Polaroid portraiture and my vision of photographic aesthetics in capturing people. 

The initial foundation for the Polatrait Series and this project was set in 2005 when I came across a 1937-built Zeiss Icon Nettar Camera at a flea market in my hometown of Bonn, Germany. After this (unknowingly significant) purchase and the first wave of photographic excitement – expressed in exposing the incredible amount of 3 rolls of 120 film - the camera was set aside and forgotten. Life went on and I went strictly digital for the majority of my photography and forgot about this camera.

At some point I bought a Polaroid back for my Hasselblad and started to use Instant pack film, made by FUJI. It was the beginning of what you will witness in the essence of this book. This acquaintance finally initiated the creation of the Pola-Zeiss Camera I used throughout this entire project to photograph my models. 

What transpired next? After using the Hasselblad with the Polaroid proofing-back for a bit, I finally had the idea to merge my old Zeiss-Ikon with this particular film back. The result was the birth of a unique instant camera, paired with original old Polaroid 664 b&w pack-film – the perfect tool to create soulful imagery. The confluence of the flaws and rather soft qualities of the over 75-year-old Ettar-Anastigmat lens / Zeiss-Ikon Telmar shutter birthed a unique portraiture style that captured both the beauty and imperfections of each subject in an organic way. The unpredictable textures and distribution of chemicals in between the Polaroid sheets created photographs that were (and still are) like the purest fix for any addict to this medium.

I decided to use this unique creation exclusively for portraiture. Due to technical facts and fixed parameters - such as an extremely narrow focusing range due to the set back focusing plane and an un-adjusted prism viewfinder - I was working completely outside common expectations. I was able to interact with each participating model on a new, different, and more intimate level. The set would primarily be an authentic reflection of their personality through which they could express themselves organically. The use of a simple white background in combination with b&w film was chosen to highlight the true, unadulterated form of each individual.”

Philipp also sent me an email describing the setup of the exhibition and his reasons for starting the Kickstarter campaign to raise funds:

From December 8, 2012 - January 13, 2013 I have the incredible opportunity to exhibit this work in a solo show at Photobooth, a well-known gallery in San Francisco highlighting the work of artists who do Tynotype and Polaroid portraiture. In order to fully curate this show I've developed a Kickstarter campaign to help raise $2500 to fund this project and help to make this show at Photobooth happen. But here's the catch: I must raise all of the $2500 in only 10 days. If I do not raise the total amount, I'll receive none of the contributions.

To learn about my project and make a contribution, please visit my Kickstarter project page here: 

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1204310950/45-seconds-the-exhibition

All those who contribute will receive a special Polaroid Portraiture gift in return! Also, my show's Opening Night Party will take place on Saturday, December 8th from 7-10pm at Photobooth in San Francisco. All are welcome!

I reach out to you with tremendous gratitude for any monetary contribution you can offer. Also, the more exposure the better, so please also feel free to forward this to friends and family and/or post to you Facebook, Twitter, etc. pages!

Thank you again!
Sincerely,
Philipp Striebe

So, really, you probably want to support this. You should be able to tell through the video on his Kickstarter page that Philipp takes his craft and the viewing of his craft seriously. Show some love, spend some dough, get some fantastic art in the process. Passion begets art, art begets passion...and the whole world keeps spinning 'round because the two work in tandem. Get you some. 

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ZyFez 2012 - SF & Oakland

Sometime back in 2006 or 2007, some friends of mine at Offbeatpulp.com and Kill Poet Press threw a week long debauchery fest of poets and writers in Kansas City. I got to meet tons of great people, almost all of them writers in some way, from across the entire country. From as far away as San Francisco and Boston and as close as a four-minute drive from my house in KC. Now, quite a few of them are making the trek out to the Bay Area for another week-long debauchery fest put on by the collective efforts of Red Fez and Zygote In My Coffee.

Here's the list of events and performers at their specific locations both here in SF and in Oakland. The events start on July 3rd with a grand finale on Sunday the 8th.


Jeanne Lupton’s Poetry Series
Tuesday, July 3.
Bread Workshop, 1398 University Ave., Berkeley, CA. (corner University Ave. and Acton St.)

This poetry series is hosted by Jeanne Lupton. The featured reader is Lynn Alexander, followed by an open mic.


Toxic Abatement
Thursday, July 5, 7:30pm
Viracocho, 998 Valencia St., San Francisco, CA 94110-2322

Spoken Words, Contaminated World. Full Of Crow Press/Fashion For Collapse present TOXIC ABATEMENT on July 5, 2012 7:30-10 at Viracocha, 998 Valencia, San Francisco. Hosted by Paul Corman-Roberts and Lynn Alexander. Featuring The Three Times Bad Band and Youssef Alaoui-Fdili, Zarina Zabrisky, Cassandra Dallett, Sharon Coleman, John Swain, Tim Murray, Joel Landmine, Shali Nicholas, Amy Glasenapp, Jezebel Delilah X, Missy Church, Frankie Metropolis, and Brian Fugett. 



Punk Hostage Press Reading
Friday, July 6. 4-6pm Pacific
The Baltic Restaurant
135 Park Place, Point Richmond, CA 94801

this a non-salon, casual, open air reading brought to you by Iris And Razor to celebrate the fruition of Punk Hostage Press with all our friends in the bay area. The reading will feature Iris Berry, A. Razor, Frank Reardon, Lindsey Thomas, Frankie Metropolis and more TBA …
For more info visit: https://www.facebook.com/events/250333931738112/



Morrigan Wars
Friday, July 6. Berkeley

Performance art by Lynn Alexander and Paul Corman-Roberts. For more information please contact Lynn here.


Beast Crawl
Saturday, July 7, 5-11pm
Beast Crawl is the East Bay Literary Pub Crawl. This year will be hosted by a variety of Bay Area curators who have chosen to feature many fabulous writers in venues located in the 19th St. BART vicinity between 25th St. and 15th St.

Performance times are 5:00, 6:30 and 8:00. Readings to begin simultaneously at those times in all the different venues. There will also be an afterparty at 9:30.
For more information visit their tumblr page here.


Red Crow @ Beast Crawl Leg 2
Saturday, July 7 6:30-7:30
Inwell Tattoo, 2400 Broadway Ave. Oakland, CA

Hosted by Michele McDannold and Lynn Alexander, performers include Jason Neese, Aurora KillPoet, and Frank Reardon, for Full Of Crow, and Bill Gainer, Lynn Alexander, and Paul Corman-Roberts reading for Red Fez. Special guest Puma Perl will bring her ink from the East- coming all the way to Oakland from New York!


Crawling Zygote @ Beast Crawl Leg 3
Saturday, July 7. 8-9pm
Xolo, 1916 Telegraph Avenue, Oakland, CA 94612 (across from Fox Theater)

Hosted by Brian Fugett, performers include Tim Murray, Cathleen Daly, Frankie Metro, Lindsey Thomas, Rob Pierce and Youssef Alaoui. 


Beast Crawl After Party
4th leg of the Beast at Club Paradiso, located at 2272 Telegraph Ave, Oakland (#27 & #28 on the Beast Crawl Map, between 23rd and Grand, next to Rock Paper Scissors).

The after party is FREE and open to everyone (21+). We have the private upstairs room reserved for drinking, dancing, and schmoozing. 




Zyfez 2012 – Oakland (Finale)
Sunday, July 8th. 3-8pm
The New Parish, 579 18th Street (at San Pablo), Oakland, CA

Schedule of Performances

3:00 Brian Fugett	4:00 Paul Corman-Roberts	5:00 Shali Nicholas	6:00 3x Bad Band	7:00 intermission
3:10 Lynn Alexander	4:10 John Swain	5:10 Jason Neese	6:10 3x Bad Band	7:10 Puma Perl
3:20 Tim Murray	4:20 intermission	5:20 Aurora KillPoet	6:20 Bill Gainer	7:20 David Smith
3:30 Frankie Metro	4:30 Steve Goldberg	5:30 Zarina Zabrisky	6:30 William Taylor Jr	7:30 Jason ‘Juice’ Hardung
3:40 Lindsey Thomas	4:40 Leah Angstman	5:40 Jesus Angel Garcia	6:40 Iris Berry	7:40 Frank Reardon
3:50 Luis Rivas	4:50 Melissa Hansen	5:50 intermission	6:50 A. Razor	7:50 Cathleen Daly

For More Information, go to the ZyFez 2012 Website

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Hum in Kansas City @ The Record Bar (11.04.11)

These cats have been a favorite of mine since I first heard their (only) radio song "Stars" back when I was a sophomore in high school. Densely layered, effects-heavy guitar work mixed with some pretty strange, and often cryptic, space-essenced lyrics made for music more interesting than a lot of what was being played on the radio at the time. I was fortunate enough to be living in a city that got reception from the indie-rock station near the campus of the University of Kansas (R.I.P. 105.9 the Lazer), so I got plenty of Hum, Soul Coughing, Morphine, Elastica, early Deftones, and I think I even remember hearing Quicksand once or twice, which shocked me.

"Downward is Heavenward" - 1998

 

This album quickly made my top 10 favorite albums of all time. From front to back, this album gets listened to in one complete sitting. No tracks get skipped and all get turned up very loud. Some of my favorite memories are attached to this album, but specifically driving late at night on Highway 10 heading back into Kirksville, MO, my old college town. I'd be driving with Ben and Scott (or even alone sometimes) and we'd put this album on during the hilliest, darkest highway I've ever been on. Perfect album for driving on a star-lit roller coaster of a backwoods highway.

"You'd Prefer An Astronaut" - 1995

Released the year I moved to Kansas City, this was Hum's breakout album. Their song "Stars" was all over the radio at the time and, typically, it's the only one that ever gets played on the radio despite them having a solid discography of songs to choose from. It took me awhile to really get into this album as it was my first taste of them and the style of music, but eventually became a mainstay as well. While I prefer their last album more, this one has some great tracks on it regardless.

"Electra2000" - 1993

I used to cruise the local Best Buy for new music all the time. Every once in awhile I'd find a new album or early EP from a band that I'd just gotten into and this was one I stumbled across during one of my forays through the music section. A very different and earlier style, it's heavy and chunky, but damn good. You can definitely see how the band's sound progressed from 1993 to 1998. They kept the heaviness, but cleaned it up, made it pristine, made it louder and fine-tuned everything from top to bottom. A solid album despite it being less meticulous and more gritty compared to their last two.

"Fillet Show" - 1991

To this day, I still haven't listened to this one all the way through, I'm ashamed to say. We (my friends and I) didn't even know this one existed until we came across a cassette version on eBay. Ben bought it, but I don't know if he's still got a copy or not. The beautiful thing about the digital age is that someone else had a copy, uploaded it, and now the rest of us can enjoy the early works of the band too. I should probably give this one a spin for the flight home this weekend.

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Litquake 2011 - San Francisco (October 7 - 15)

http://www.litquake.org/

Probably one of the cooler things that happens in this city, Litquake is a week-long celebration of the written word. It happens in New York and Austin, Tx. as well, but SF has been my first real experience with it. There are hundreds upon hundreds of places in the city that do something for Litquake. I've had most of my professors read from their current books or books in progress at a few events and the greatest part is that it feels like the entire city turns out purely to hear people read.

It's one of the many reasons I dig this city. On any given weeknight there is a reading of some sort going on in the city. I've been to a few places (see: bars) where the entire establishment full of a couple hundred people are completely silent for the readers on stage. At a bar. Where everyone has already been drinking for an hour or two. This would never happen back home - the bar would be loud and unruly and most patrons wouldn't care. But this city is steeped in literary history and the people that live here know that. There are placards of literary "did you know"s scattered throughout the metropolis like the one on the apartment building across the street from my work:

I was never much of a hard-boiled detective novel fan, but this is still a really fantastic way for a city to show its cultural heritage. EVERYONE knows about "The Maltese Falcon" even if they've never seen the movie or read the book. They're conscious of it...and Litquake keeps up the tradition of making sure we remain conscious of the new authors and poets coming out of the city year after year.  It's an absolute guarantee that most of these events will be PACKED within minutes, which pleases the hell out of me. A list of events and times can be found below.

Friday, October 7

8:00 PM: The Devil’s Lexicon: Litquake’s Nod to the Dark Side of Literature, Verdi Club

Saturday, October 8

12:00 PM: Writing in California Prisons, Variety Screening Room

1:00 PM: Rhyming or Not: Bay Area Poetry, Variety Preview Room

2:00 PM: Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid: Science Fiction in a Real World, Variety Preview Room

3:00 PM: Indie Publishing: Is Self-Publishing the New Black?, Variety Preview Room

7:00 PM: Barely Published Authors, Make-Out Room

7:00 PM: Cross-Border Diatribes, Mission Cultural Center

8:00 PM: Litquake Presents Thomas McGuane In Conversation With Jack Boulware, Delancey Street Screening Room

Sunday, October 9

12:00 PM: Golden Gate and Beyond, Variety Preview Room

1:00 PM: Golden Gate and Beyond: Hour Two, Variety Preview Room

2:00 PM: The Word Extended: Voices from UC Berkeley Extension, UC Berkeley Extension Art & Design Center

2:00 PM: Thinking, Believing, Living: The Human as Being, Variety Preview Room

2:30 PM: Inside This Place, Not of It: Narratives from Women’s Prisons, Contemporary Jewish Museum

3:00 PM: Writing the Wild, Variety Preview Room

4:00 PM: “That’s My F*cking Stool!”—Writers at the Bar , Vesuvio

4:00 PM: “The Great Night” in Buena Vista Park, Buena Vista Park Summit

4:00 PM: The Secret Life of Metaphor, Z Space

4:30 PM: Voices of North Beach: A Literary Tour, The Beat Museum

5:00 PM: Pitchapalooza, Variety Preview Room

6:00 PM: These Mean Streets: Reality and Fiction Collide, Tosca Cafe

7:00 PM: Litquake Presents Jane Smiley In Conversation with Karen Joy Fowler, Variety Preview Room

7:00 PM: Adam Mansbach In Conversation with Lyrics Born, Jewish Community Center of San Francisco, Kanbar Hall

7:00 PM: Being Human: Litquake Presents Brian Christian In Conversation with Thomas Goetz, Delancey Street Screening Room

8:00 PM: His Dark Places: Litquake Presents James Ellroy In Conversation with Janis Cooke Newman, Z Space

Monday, October 10

3:00 PM: New Writers Toolkit: “First-Time Authors Reveal All” and “Want That Book Published?”, Foundation Center

6:00 PM: The Best Novels You Haven’t Read, The Book Club of California

6:00 PM: Christopher Moore in Collision: Whales, Comedy, and The Impressionists, Z Space

6:30 PM: The Intersection of Medicine and Literature , Heart Wine Bar

7:00 PM: Litquake in the Bookstore: Micah Ballard and Alli Warren , Bird & Beckett Books and Records

7:00 PM: Teenquake: Not Your Mother’s Book Club, Books Inc. Opera Plaza

7:00 PM: Original Shorts: Failure to Commit, The Lone Palm

7:00 PM: San Francisco Conservatory of Flowers and Quiet Lightning Present: The Greenhouse Effect Summer Reading Series, V.3 , San Francisco Conservatory of Flowers

8:00 PM: Are We Good? An Evening of Stories about Apology, Redemption, and Outright Begging For Forgiveness, Verdi Club

8:00 PM: MFA Body Slam! The First-Ever Litquake and San Francisco Bay Area MFA Mixer , Swedish American Hall

Tuesday, October 11

12:00 PM: Lit & Lunch, 111 Minna Gallery

12:30 PM: Words & Voices at Yerba Buena Gardens Festival, Yerba Buena Gardens Esplanade

5:30 PM: Litquake presents Karen Russell in Conversation with Carolyn Cooke, Z Space

6:00 PM: Lit in the Hills: Scaling The East Bay’s Literary Heights, Monaghan’s on the Hill

6:00 PM: 10 Years Later: A Granta Conversation, The Book Club of California

6:00 PM: Got Soul? Science and the Quest for the Ephemeral, Mechanics' Institute Library

6:00 PM: Re Write: An Evening of Prose from Writers in Recovery, Delancey Street Screening Room

7:00 PM: New Directions Publishing 75th Anniversary: A Gala Celebration of a Quintessential American Publisher, City Lights

7:00 PM: An Evening with Melanie Rae Thon: A Litquake South Bay Event , Martin Luther King, Jr. Library, Rm. 225

7:00 PM: Litquake in the Bookstore: Donia Bijan at Kepler’s , Kepler's Books

7:30 PM: Litquake Presents Julia Glass in Conversation with Katie Crouch, Z Space

7:30 PM: Litquake in the Bookstore: Chuck Klosterman at The Booksmith, The Booksmith

8:00 PM: Young Ireland: Emissaries from a New Literary Renaissance, Swedish American Hall

9:00 PM: Barbershop Reading: A Little Off the Top and Over the Top, Joe's Barbershop

Wednesday, October 12

9:40 AM: Kidquake: K-2, Koret Auditorium, San Francisco Public Library

7:00 PM: Litquake in the Bookstore : Daniel Woodrell at Books Inc. in the Marina, Books, Inc. in the Marina

7:00 PM: Litquake in the Bookstore: Anne Enright at Book Passage, Book Passage, Corte Madera

7:00 PM: RADAR at the Luggage Store, Luggage Store

7:30 PM: War of the Worldviews: A Debate with Deepak Chopra and Leonard Mlodinow, First Congregational Church of Berkeley

7:30 PM: Litquake in the Bookstore: Mary Roach at The Booksmith, The Booksmith

7:30 PM: The Fighter and The Writer: Litquake presents The Barbary Coast Award to Ishmael Reed, Z Space

Thursday, October 13

9:40 AM: Kidquake: Grades 3-5, Koret Auditorium, San Francisco Public Library

4:00 PM: Religious Renegades, Koret Auditorium, San Francisco Public Library

5:15 PM: Writing Human Rights: Literature as a Window Into Iran, Koret Auditorium, San Francisco Public Library

6:00 PM: Serving It Forth: A Feast of Food Writing, Chronicle Books

6:30 PM: This Just In…Local News Makes Headlines, Koret Auditorium, San Francisco Public Library

6:30 PM: VIP Reception with Chelsea Handler—SOLD OUT!!, undisclosed location

7:00 PM: Flight of Poets, Hotel Rex

7:00 PM: Stories on Stage: Family, Delancey Street Screening Room

7:00 PM: Bird & Beckett Books And Records presents David Meltzer, Neeli Cherkovski, Latif Harris, Julie Rogers, Jerry Ferraz and Walker Brents at Kaleidoscope , Kaleidoscope

7:30 PM: Lit Flicks: Screening of Doc, Oddball Film+Video

8:00 PM: Subterranean SF Reading Series: The Litanies of Noir, undisclosed location

8:00 PM: Literary Death Match: Litquake Rumble, Beatbox

8:00 PM: Are You There, Litquake? It’s Me, Chelsea!, Z Space

Friday, October 14

1:00 PM: When Pictures Speak Louder Than Words, Z Space

5:30 PM: Murders, Mayhem and Moxie: Litquake’s Women’s Night 2011 , Bubble Lounge Champagne Bar

5:30 PM: Tonga at Tosca: The Launch of Tonga Books, Tosca Cafe

6:00 PM: Numina Femenina: The Voice of the Feminine in Mexican Literature, Tres

6:30 PM: Teenquake: Word for Word “Off the Page” Staged Reading of Selections from The Sky Is Everywhere, Z Space

7:00 PM: Jeffrey Eugenides at Books Inc. Opera Plaza, Books Inc. Opera Plaza

7:00 PM: Kafkaesque: SF in SF, Variety Preview Room

7:00 PM: Rock Out with Your Book Out: Music Writers and Musicians Who Write, Make-Out Room

7:00 PM: Figure Four Caps Lock: Pro Wrestling Memoirs from Classy Freddie Blassie to The Fabulous Moolah, Hemlock Tavern

8:00 PM: Teenquake and Figment.com present Teen Writing Awards, Z Space

8:00 PM: Nordic Noir: A Dark and Stormy Night of Scandinavian Crime Fiction, Swedish American Hall

Saturday, October 15

10:00 AM: Kidquake at USF: Monsters in the Bookshelf, Thacher Gallery at University of San Francisco, Gleeson Library | Geschke Center

1:00 PM: The Art of the Mystery, Z Space

1:00 PM: Words on the Waves, Private Houseboat Pier

2:00 PM: Invisible City Audio Tours: Everywhere Man, Cable Car Turnaround

2:30 PM: The Art of Short Fiction, Z Space

4:00 PM: The Art of the Novel, Z Space

6:00 PM: Lit Crawl San Francisco, Various locations

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