A Longhouse Birdhouse

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Monday, February 10, 2014

DROP OUTS ~

_________________________________________________________________________________

BAGHDAD — A group of Sunni militants attending a suicide bombing training class at a camp north of Baghdad were killed on Monday when their commander unwittingly conducted a demonstration with a belt that was packed with explosives, army and police officials said.

The militants belonged to a group known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, which is fighting the Shiite-dominated army of the Iraqi government, mostly in Anbar Province. But they are also linked to bomb attacks elsewhere and other fighting that has thrown Iraq deeper into sectarian violence.

Twenty-two ISIS members were killed, and 15 were wounded, in the explosion at the camp, which is in a farming area in the northeastern province of Samara, according to the police and army officials. Stores of other explosive devices and heavy weapons were also kept there, the officials said.

__________________________________________________________________________________

nytimes

10 Feb 14

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/11/world/middleeast/suicide-bomb-instructor-accidentally-kills-iraqi-pupils.html?hp

ROBERT BRESSON ~

Donald Richie

(17 April 1924 – 19 February 2013)

http://www.criterion.com/current/posts/2418-sight-sound-poll-2012-au-hasard-balthazar

Au Hasard Balthazar:
(dir: Robert Bresson)
"The world in an hour and a half"
Jean-Luc Godard

Sunday, February 9, 2014

HAL ASHBY ~

The great Ruth Gordon standing beside the great Hal Ashby

director on the set of the film Harold and Maude

Ashby passed away at age 59 after a tumultuous career in Hollywood

releasing at least six classic films beginning with his first film The Landlord (1970),

followed by Harold and Maude (1971), The Last Detail (1973), Shampoo (1975),

Bound For Glory (1976), Coming Home (1978), Being There (1979) and his documentary of the Stones tour Let's Spend the Night Together (1983).

Every single independent film director today owes a debt to this ground breaker.

Some have, thankfully, said so.
I'm sure the late Philip Seymour Hoffman would have been one of them.

Go read more about Hal Ashby in Al Kooper's marauding music memoir Backstage Passes & Backstabbing Bastards (the updated version from Backbeat Books, 2008). Kooper made his musical score debut with Ashby's cinematic debut The Landlord (shown, in full, below).

Saturday, February 8, 2014

15 BELOW & HOLDING ~

photo © bob arnold

Friday, February 7, 2014

MAXINE KUMIN ~

(1925 ~ 2014)

Maxine Kumin
After Love

Afterward, the compromise.

Bodies resume their boundaries.

These legs, for instance, mine.

Your arms take you back in.

Spoons of our fingers, lips

admit their ownership.

The bedding yawns, a door

blows aimlessly ajar

and overhead, a plane

singsongs coming down.

Nothing is changed, except

there was a moment when

the wolf, the mongering wolf

who stands outside the self

lay lightly down, and slept.

_____________________

Maxine Kumin

Selected Poems, 1960-1990

(W. W. Norton and Company Inc., 1998)

MALCOLM RITCHIE ~

small lines on the great earth

Poems by Malcolm Ritchie
A film by Ed O'Donnelly
Scotland

http://longhousepoetryandpublishers.blogspot.com/search/label/Malcolm%20Ritchie

http://longhousepoetryandpublishers.blogspot.com/search/label/Malcolm%20Ritchie%20%282013%29

http://longhousepoetryandpublishers.blogspot.com/search/label/Malcolm%20Ritchie%3A%20Village%20Japan

Thursday, February 6, 2014

THROWAWAY BOY ~

Overlook Duckworth

2013

http://longhousepoetryandpublishers.blogspot.com/search/label/Henry%20Darger

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JANINE! ~

Birthday cheer to our friend walking the wild blue yonder

Karen Dalton was a friend of Janine's

So was Tim Hardin

Today, the friends, are together as one

photo: Janine Pommy Vega
© bob arnold

POSTCARD 26 (WILLIAM S. BURROUGHS) ~

William S. Burroughs
February 5, 1914 (St. Louis, Missouri.) ~ August 2, 1997
Happy Birthday
You would be
100

artist : al rossi
1953
william burroughs as "william lee"

"Burroughs never managed to recover from his addiction at all, and died in 1997 physically dependent on the synthetic opiate methadone. I find this a delicious irony: the great hero of freedom from social restraint, himself in bondage to a drug originally synthesised by Nazi chemists, and dubbed "Dolophine" in honour of the Fuhrer; the fearless libertarian expiring in the arms of an ersatz Morpheus, actively promoted by the federal government as a "cure" for heroin addiction. In the prologue to Junky and the introduction to The Naked Lunch, Burroughs writes of his own addiction as if it were a thing of the past, but this was never the case. In a thin-as-a-rake's progress that saw him move from America to Mexico, to Morocco, to France, to Britain, back to New York, and eventually to small-town Kansas, Burroughs was in flight either from the consequences of his chemical dependency, or seeking to avoid the drugs he craved."

— Will Self, "William Burroughs - the Original Junkie"
The Guardian, UK, 31 Jan '14

(Twelve, 2014)
736 pages

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

BALTHUS 4 ~

Balthus
The Mountain (1937)

Vanished Splendors
(Chapter 103)

I believe that at the end of human life, one reaches something unadorned and essential, a kind of simplicity that eschews convoluted intellectual questioning. Romanticism and the anguish resolved and simplified, assembled as in Chinese ideograms. Henceforth one day breeds another, that must be given to painting, the pursuit of work until God finally wants to summon you to Him. It's as simple as that. God provides for you. You must not worry about tomorrow. Continue to relish the sweetness of evening that falls on Rossiniere, listen to Mob's soft whistle as it snakes along the mountain, and drink at Mozart's source. With time, things lose their harshness and asperity. They are seen differently, and sometimes vanish from view. Time's shrinking of the little that remains is to be fully accepted; one knows that time is limited, yet it is vast and infinite. This is the whole paradox of life. Perhaps the infinity that one glimpses more clearly is already a premonition of God's infinity, another idea of time that is necessarily ushered in. Now, despite the vicissitudes and constraints of old age, many things become minor, making room for what is essential. It's a sublime impoverishment that clarifies the dross of human life and the hazards of our condition. One should die amid the sweet promise of meeting God, in the splendor for which, I'm convinced, painting always sought to pave the way. To paint means to approach. Close to a light. The light.

_____________

Balthus (Balthasar Klossowski)
Vanishing Splendors
Ecco, 2001
translated from the French by
Benjamin Ivry

http://www.nytimes.com/2001/02/19/arts/19BALT.html?pagewanted=2

Monday, February 3, 2014

MOURNING POEMS ~

The bulk of the poems in this anthology were first published from New Directions which has a deep and nurturing trough to draw from. Well chosen by a bright editor who has divided the poems into forty-nine days as you look over the table of contents, "or stations, of grief," as described by Jeffrey Yang. "Each day consists of a poem or a series of poems for the reader to slowly read, re-read, and dwell upon. Its structure echoes a simplified Buddhist calendar of mourning — the forty-nine bardo days of chants and ritual meditation that assist the dead on their journey to the next life. These imperative words are spoken not only to the dead, but to the living, directed to one's self, words bearing both memento mori and the promise of rebirth." On further reflection, the editor discovered another 49-day period of mourning, observed in the traditional Jewish calendar, "outside of the week-long shivah, between Passover and Shavuot, called the Counting of the Omer." Both of these traditions hold guidance. I also put the book before a young poet's eyes who skipped the editor's introduction, could care less about the table of contents and just started reading, locating poets or even forms of poems that instantly meant something to him. I, on the other hand, reached for my glasses because the type font is too small. That is my only negative remark about a book that fits nicely into the palm of your hand.

[ BA ]

______________________

Rest in Peace

sure — rest in peace
but what about the damp?
                         and the moss?
                                     and the weight of the tombstone?
and the drunken gravedigger?
and the people who steal the flowerpots?
and the rats gnawing at the coffins?
and the damned worms
crawling in everywhere
they make death impossible for us
or do you really think
we don't know what's going on. . .

fine for you to say rest in peace
when you know damn well that's impossible
you just like running off at the mouth

well for your information
we know what's going on
the spiders scurrying up our legs
make damn sure of that

let's cut the crap
when you stand at a wide open grave
it's time to call a spade a spade:
You can drown your sorrows at the wake
we're stuck at the bottom of the pit.

                                                         Translated from the Spanish by Edith Grossman

____________________

NICANOR PARRA
from Time of Grief:
Mourning Poems
edited by Jeffrey Yang
New Directions 2013

in memory of philip seymour hoffman

Sunday, February 2, 2014

SUPER BOB DURING THE BOWL ~

a super bowl commercial at a cost of 16 million dollars, thank you

Chrysler has since removed the commercial —
because what's the point in sharing?

POSTCARD 28 ~

mostly postcard

DOWN IN THE VALLEY ~

The Head and the Heart

(2011, Sub Pop)

Charity Rose Thielen - vocals, violin, percussion
    Josiah Johnson - vocals, guitar, percussion
    Jonathan Russell - vocals, guitar, percussion
    Tyler Williams - drums
    Chris Zasche - bass
    Kenny Hensley - piano

SNOW LEOPARD ~

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/02/opinion/saving-more-than-just-snow-leopards.html?hp&rref=opinion

Saturday, February 1, 2014

SUGARLOAF ~

We went to climb Sugarloaf today, down there in the Pioneer Valley of Massachusetts.

This time of year we usually steer by the tar road to the summit that is closed off to traffic, but the roadway was blitzed with ice on its western side, so we thought the climbing was shutdown for at least today.

Then we took a look up through the oak trees on the face of the mountain and all looked pretty clear, sunny. We headed up the foot trail and found, sure enough, things were fairly clear, and what's more — extensive trail work had taken place while we were away. Smart trail work, including new cut-ins for a better trail, at a more moderate climb, with built-in timber cribbing and steps right where the trail asked for these.

I didn't at all mind the moderate climb, at least for today, having smashed my tailbone while sledding a few days earlier.

The trail held half ice, a little side snow, and even an early spring mud showed as we neared the summit. Someone choreographed the new part of the trail wisely, cutting it across the whole face of the mountain and taking advantage of the full day sun sliding east to west across the valley, the climber's back to the tobacco, corn and potato fields down below.

When we reached the summit, and more full sun, no one was around. We saw a few recent boot prints in the mud so someone had been around over the last few days. Just a snowman was waiting for us up there. Sticks for arms, eyes, nose, mouth, and one snow shaped ear had fallen off. So I reshaped a new ear and put it into place.

Everyone should have ears.

[ BA ]

malibu dress
photo © bob arnold

HARLEY ~

I was finishing up musician Charlie Louvin's autobiography when I had a letter from a friend speaking almost the exact same wish that Charlie Louvin had. It has to do with a Harley motorcycle.

Above is from the closing page of Louvin's book Satan Is Real: The Ballad of the Louvin Brothers.

Two good ol' boys from Alabama, Ira and Charlie Louvin's music influenced wide and mighty: from The Beatles, Everly Brothers, The Byrds, Emmylou Harris, Handsome Family, just for starters.

In 1964, Charlie split professionally with Ira and started a solo career. While traveling between solo engagements the following year, Ira was killed near Kansas City, Mo., when his car was struck by a drunk driver.

(Harper Collins 2012)

The same design on the book, and title, was used for the brothers 1959 Capitol Records release.

An album coveted by record collectors today.

Friday, January 31, 2014

BALTHUS 3 ~

Balthus in his studio

Vanished Splendors

(chapter 58)

I deeply believe in the genius of painting, which parallels that of childhood. I've used painting as a language without really having decided to do so, because it suits me better than writing. Writing tries to be too explicit and go directly to a meaning. That's why I could never be a writer like many of my friends. Some aspects of my life might be clarified by the present short texts, similar to letters. My son Eustache found a packet of letters I'd sent my first wife, Antoinette de Watterville, the mother of my two sons. All these years later, he thought they were worthy of publication, which he is arranging now. For me, writing can only be in the ellipses, where I express myself, painting conveys this magnificently, sometimes unbeknownst to the painter himself.

_____________

Balthus (Balthasar Klossowski)
Vanishing Splendors
Ecco, 2001
translated from the French by
Benjamin Ivry

http://www.newrepublic.com/article/115658/balthus-cats-and-girls-met-review

SHINING, THEN & NOW ~

34 YEARS LATER

Lisa and Louise Burns were 12 when they filmed their spooky scenes in Stanley Kubrick's horror classic The Shining. The Burns sisters never returned to the big screen, instead the former Overlook Hotel dwellers went on — Lisa earned a degree in literature, and Louise has become a microbiologist.

Thursday, January 30, 2014

SEND ME AN ANGEL ~

Frank Arce is lucky to be alive after he was pulled into a wood chipper at his workplace in Longview, Wash. A tattoo across his chest reads, 'Send me an angel.'

I was never a big Warren Zevon fan, but when he had a song, it was all his. This was such a song and right now seems as good a time as any to let it roll.

I just read about a young man working in a Washington state wood products plant who survived a horrifying accident in a wood-chipper. 23 years old. He had climbed down inside the monster to dislodge some bark. He must have been very quiet in there because another worker came by and saw the machine turned off, so he turned it back on. Should one have not climbed down into the machine; or should another have first called out to see if the coast was clear? Good question.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/washington-man-sucked-wood-chipper-survives-report-article-1.1596511#ixzz2rvWhB1cT

A CORRESPONDENCE ~

Shepard & Dark
( 2013 )

http://www.sam-shepard.com/shepard&dark.html

Directed by Treva Wurmfeld

that is — sam shepard & johnny dark

An intriguing film showcasing this long term friendship between two pals and love affairs, family, mutual times, and a companionship through an extensive paper correspondence.

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

A LOST CLASSIC ~

Hold onto your hat — Beach House — one more tribal collection of musicians: Robin Pecknold, Hamilton Leithauser, Victoria Legrand, Daniel Rossen and Jenn Wasner — have built themselves a short tribute tour to the late, great Gene Clark from his commercial flop solo album No Other (1974). The band with perform the album in its entirety. If you can't claw your way into one of the concerts, here's the original album, with a bunch of alternative takes and other prizes which isn't on my original and prized LP. We couldn't, but the young will make the album their masterpiece.

_____________________________________________

M U S I C I A N S
Gene Clark - guitar, vocals
    Chris Hillman - mandolin
    Jesse Ed Davis - guitar
    Stephen Bruton - guitar
    Bill Cuomo - organ
    Craig Doerge - keyboards
    Howard "Buzz" Feiten - guitar
    Danny Kortchmar - guitar
    Russ Kunkel - drums
    Joe Lala - percussion
    Ted Machell - cello
    Jerry McGee - guitar
    Lee Sklar - bass
    Butch Trucks - drums
    Michael Utley - keyboards
    Richard Greene, Beryl Marriott - violin
    Sherlie Matthews, Cindy Bullens, Ronnie Barron, Clydie King, Claudia Lennear, Venetta Fields, Timothy B. Schmit, Carlena Williams - background vocals

length: 43:01
Asylum Records, 1974
producer: Thomas Jefferson Kaye

above photo from the documentary film
The Byrd Who Flew Alone
directed by Jack Kendall, Paul Kendall
2013