THE GREAT REVERBERATOR ~

THAT HIGH LONESOME HILL ~

recorded by legendary John Lomax when he traveled to Natchez in 1940

to make field recordings, and let's thank our lucky stars he did.

Lomax cut  his wonder discoveries into 12-inch acetates. 

It was one Saturday he came upon Lucious Curtis

who supposedly never recorded again.

BILL PORTER RIDES ! ~

 C O P P E R     C A N Y O N     P R E S S    2016

49

Woods and springs make me smile

no kitchen smoke for miles

clouds rise up from rocky ridges

cascades tumble down

a gibbon's howl makes the path clearer

a tiger's roar transcends the world

pine wind sighs so softy

birds discuss singsong

I walk the winding streams

and climb the peaks alone

sometimes I sit on a boulder

or lie down and gaze at trailing vines

but when I see a distant town

all I hear is noise


Shih-te

 B I L L     P O R T E R     R E D     P I N E



A book like no other, but then Bill Porter/translator Red Pine (one in the same fellow)
is like no other. A treasury of a book that will take the reader many readings to fully hold as we travel with Bill on his pilgrimages throughout China, paying visits and homages with cups of Kentucky whiskey, perhaps a poem read at the site, certainly a bow, to dozens of China's greatest poets. He will break some bones getting there, wait with good healing and patience months to return on his journey, but finish and completeness there is. You will feel it with him. There is no translator, or even a living poet I know of, who brings you fully into the embrace.

[ BA ]

 

SANDY DENNY ~

http://www.sandydenny.co.uk/

ROBERT LAX ~

Duke University, 2015

Yes, the new Lax biography by Michael N. McGregor is very good, if not a bit tedious in how the author has to work through so many personal passages of his own but after a bit of time I started to fall into his affection for Lax, which I already have, and now we are one happy family as I come to the home stretch. The period when Lax was publishing little strips of publications with Emil Antonucci I was living through as he was sending them to me and somewhere I have a few of those, and elsewhere I have picked them up and sold them as a bookseller. Sometimes what we have sold has paved the way for publishing a new book by another poet. It’s the balancing act. And it isn’t so much just the poetry of Lax that gets to me, many poems are wrung our twists of things, it’s simply his look (wiry and odd and gentle) and his way of living and just how he went about writing and living his poetry that greatly grabbed me from the start. These three small Greek islands — Kalymnos, Patmos, and Lipsi — long his home. Who would suspect he had been great friends with the Trappist monk Thomas Merton, had his poems highly supported by John Ashbery and James Laughlin, that he had run away with the circus for a time, worked on scripts in Hollywood, was on the staff at The New Yorker and through it all kept his head? Today many of his thin booklets of poems fetch hundreds of dollars, whereas he lived a spartan and seemingly joyous life. By the way, may the author repair the typo to John Martone's publication "tel-let" (and not "tel-net") on page 387. Lax would encourage that repair since he so believed in the smallest of the small poetry journals.

[ BA ]

R O B E R T     L A X

 

FOR SUSAN ~

Headwaters of the Middle Fork San Joaquin River

valentine's day 2016

CLIVE JAMES ~

N O R T O N   2007

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/08/books/review/Schillinger.t.html

PENDERICKI THRENODY ~

 

THEME SONG ~

  T H E M E     S O N G     F O R     U S A     P O L I T I C S

HENRI CARTIER-BRESSON SPOTS ALBERTO GIACOMETTI ~

Paris, 1961

 "The week after Giacometti's death, Paris Match published a remarkable

photograph of him which had been taken nine months earlier. It

shows him alone in the rain, crossing the street near his studio in

Montparnasse. Although his arms are through the sleeves, his raincoat

is hiked up to cover his head. Invisibly, underneath the raincoat, his shoulders 

are hunched.

. . . He has the air of a survivor." 

J O H N     B E R G E R

Portraits

John Berger on Artists

Verso, 2015

One of the gem books of 2015

GREAT HORNED OWL ~

THE PORNOGRAPHER ~

C H R I S    O F F U T T    A M O N G S T    T H E    S T U F F

My wife called me on the phone from town on this cold winter day and asked me what I was doing.

I said, I'm reading about the pornographer.

She laughed knowing the book I was reading.

I then said, when I'm not reading about the pornographer, I'm shoveling the big driveway. Then I read more about the pornographer. I go out with all the wood ashes and get them on the long pathways I've shoveled and all the ice that is again showing. I shouldn't have removed the snow. I want things neat. I'm starting to sound like the pornographer.

I had some furniture delivered. This is only the second time in six decades where I have received furniture being delivered. It never happens. I build all our furniture, but this time we saw something we liked. We did it up middle class all the way. The two delivery boys came along, on my guide of wood ash over ice, and in we were together unwrapping the furniture. Then they left, but not before we talked a bit about the Super Bowl. Me in the open doorway, the guys stalled. One won a betting pool of $250. The other chimed in he nabbed $75. I have no idea what they are talking about. They also told me the showroom where we just bought our new piece was down to a crawl for business. The owners have to talk to these guys. They're supposed to say, so I feel great when I sit on our new piece, "Business is booming." "Can't keep up!"

They leave. I read more about the pornographer. You know a serious study of the pornographer and his craft really doesn't take off in the book until 2/3rds of the way through; like old style pornography, you have to wait. Pages and pages of drivel. No drivel here. The book is really about the author, son of the pornographer, oldest son, and his mother, and his siblings, and the pornographer. Like all pornographers, he's notorious.  This son writing the memoir is also good enough to be notorious.

This author has written more than one memoir but this one may be his best. I read them all as the books appeared, and his novel. Remainder stamps on most of his books.

In his other books he was circling all around himself.

In this book he circles his father, the pornographer, and this gets him closer and closer to himself.

I read some more of the new book. It has a dust jacket illustration mimicking another book about a pornographer once published by Grove Press. I read that book too in the day. I went and split a night load of stove wood. Carried it in, piled it neat by the stove, waited for my wife to return from town so we could continue the fun we were having on one of our rare phone calls, since we are rarely apart, now at home.

I plan to finish the book on the pornographer tonight during the Democratic debate. Stump speeches don't compare. Even when it's Bernie.

A T R I A     B O O K S   2016

http://www.indiebound.org/author-interviews/offuttchris

 photo of chris offutt

william mebane for the new york times

ELVIS TALKS ABOUT HIS CAREER (1969) ~

"From my side of the story"

August 24, 1969

(1970)

"Elvis Presley will never be solved"
Nick Tosches 

DIE LAUGHING ~

http://www.funnyordie.com/slideshows/94b53afd14/9-very-classy-photos-from-the-fodtrumpmovie?_cc=__d___&_ccid=a01419e51aed0f20

The Art of the Deal

 

MICHAEL MOORE INVADING ~

MY NEW LETTER: "Sidelined by a visit to the ICU, I could use your help" - Please read & Share! http://michaelmoore.com/WhereToInvadeNextArmy/
Friends,

Thank you to all who have written to me about my stay this past week in the intensive care unit. Unfortunately, as you may have heard, I came down with pneumonia. Truth be told, it was pretty serious, and other complications arose. But then, five days later, I was still alive — thanks to a combination of Directors Guild insurance, two I-V drips of alleged legal drugs, and a hospital TV that only got FOX News. I was released on my own recognizance, which I tried to explain may not be the best idea. I am now at home resting and binging on the Real Housewives of The Walking Dead. All my appearances this week and last week supporting the release of my brand new movie, “Where To Invade Next” (Conan, Bill Maher, Charlie Rose, NPR, etc.), plus a special primary eve screening tonight in New Hampshire, were and are cancelled.

Needless to say, I’m pretty devastated. This film means a lot to me. To be sidelined – I can’t fly, I can’t travel, I can’t leave the house – in this, the most important week before it comes out… well, you can imagine what I’m going through. Trying to get back to just breathing is enough of a burden. To think that my film may now not reach the audience I made it for, let’s just say that doesn’t help the healing process.

Many of you have asked if there’s anything you can do to help me. I have thought about it – and, yes, actually, there is something you could do to help me.

I need you to be part of a quickly cobbled-together “army” of grassroots “ambassadors” who can do the work I was going to do this week to let people know abut the movie and convince as many as possible to go see it. I realize you haven’t seen “Where To Invade Next”, so I’m asking you to do this based upon my past work and your hope that I’ve made a compelling film that might affect change in this country, that will inspire people to think about things in a different way. I believe that’s exactly what I’ve done, and many who’ve seen it agree (LINK). I also believe this movie can have a huge impact on the elections this year. It’s won a bunch of film festival prizes, it’s made the Oscars shortlist, and some have called it my best film ever. Possibly, just possibly.

But forget all that. Here’s what I will tell you: You are going to be seriously f***ed up by this film. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever done. It will truly make your head spin for two hours while you “laugh AND cry — in the same exact moment,” as an audience member said to the cameras on the way out of the movie’s premiere.

Last week, laying in the hospital, I watched one Presidential candidate attack the candidate from Vermont for his ideas being “unrealistic,” “pie in the sky,” and “ideas that sound good on paper, but aren’t going to happen.” The truth is, all these great “ideas” – free universal health care, free university, free day care, taxing and policing hedge fund millionaires – have already happened in nearly every other industrialized country in the world! And I have the evidence – and the film — to prove it! Throughout “Where To Invade Next”, I invade a whole bunch of nefarious countries, from Slovenia to Germany to France to Norway, and pry loose from them the tools they’ve been using to make their countries happy, shiny places. My goal: to show millions of Americans what these countries have been hiding from us so we can catch up and be #1 again! Remember “WE’RE #1!!”? Don’t you miss being #1 and waving those big foam #1 fingers at patriotic rallies? In my invasions, I don’t use any weapons, and no one gets droned. I show how to actually make all universities free (and great); how to give all workers five to eight weeks PAID vacation (which increases productivity and betters the economy); how simple and easy it is to give mothers (or fathers) up to a year of PAID maternity leave (which in turn benefits the company overall); how in the societies where woman have achieved true equality and power, everything just seems to get better for everyone; how to reduce the crime rate by ending the war on drugs and having a humane prison system (our recidivism rate is as high as 80%; theirs is 20%); how the economy bounces back faster and is safer when bankers are put in prison; how students in countries without standardized tests and needless homework perform better than our students (and that countries which have more arts and music in their schools do better in math and science)… and on and on and on. By the end of the movie, you’ll want to go live in one of those countries. But instead, I’ll show you how we can make all of that happen right here in the USA, right now.

So, what do you think? Can you be a virtual ambassador for “Where To Invade Next”? I know you can’t go on “Good Morning America” for me, but there are a few easy things you could do right now from your computer or mobile device.

Here’s how you can help “Where To Invade Next:”

First, go see it! Text some friends right now and say, “hey, let’s go see this Friday night!” Commit now to go to a theater that’s playing it this coming weekend. It’s opening in every major and mini-major city in the country. If you live in a place the size of Binghamton, NY, or Grand Rapids, MI, then they’re going to be playing “Where To Invade Next.” The final list of theaters will be out later tomorrow, but here’s a partial one for now http://wheretoinvadenext.com/.

Right now, you can TWEET the following: “.@MMFlint’s 1st film in 6 years is coming out and he needs our help with #WhereToInvadeNext! Read & RT! http://michaelmoore.com/WhereToInvadeNextArmy/

Right now, you can FACEBOOK the following: “Michael Moore’s 1st film in 6 years is coming out and he needs our help with #WhereToInvadeNext! Read & Share! http://michaelmoore.com/WhereToInvadeNextArmy/

At the bottom of this letter is the hi-res version of the film’s poster! Feel free to send it around, post it on your social media, download it and print up some flyers, or use it graphically any way that you want.

Send the trailer to everyone on your contact list: (https://youtube.com/watch?v=r4JJvfrkH3M)
Over the next few days I’ll send you other things you can do, like organizing screening parties for this weekend, sending me photos from your theater that I can post, and sharing with your friends exclusive clips from the film which I’ll send you.

If a few thousand of you suddenly became champions and ambassadors for “Where To Invade Next”, then maybe we can pull this off. I certainly would be forever in your debt. Thanks for being there for me.

All my best,
Michael

P.S. – Please forward this letter to everyone! Or share it on Facebook.

OTIS SPANN (1963) ~

AMIRI BARAKA ~

C H A M B E R     M U S I C



There might be someone you love, some one you
wanted to be with, and then, found your self
with, there were such things, such lives and
lovers. I am like that sometimes, I think, some
distant romantic wrapped in music. I wanted to know
myself, and found that was a lifetime's work, the
twists and zig zags, dips and turns, all could
disorient you, that you were no longer you but
somebody else masquerading as yourself's desire.
Rain could come. The sky grow light. It could even be
twilight, in a foreign town. Where you walked under
far noises of invisible worlds. But when you remember
all of your faces, blown now gone forever in the wind,
you'll see that you were always wanting to be you,
you were always wanting to know and love yourself, and you
found a few faces, a few names, that extended your life
into other lives, and as time marches, hours, days, decades
dance, you'll find your hand in someone else's hand, you'll
hear yourself thinking about some person other than you
and then look up and yes there will be some other person
some closeness and echoed tenderness, that makes us more than dots
under the far away, that make us more than split seconds of
light



___________



I' M    N O T    F O O L E D



This is still Slavery

Not fooled at all

This is still Slavery

Even with OBAMA, I'M NOT FOOLED 

THIS IS STILL SLAVERY, NOT FOOLED AT ALL

IF IT WASN'T SLAVERY OBAMA COULD FIGHT BACK

HE'S DONE THINGS, GOOD THINGS, BUT

I'M STILL NOT FOOLED, THIS IS STILL SLAVERY.

So what you gonna act like Miles, tellin me "So What?"

Out yr brains closed mouth, and on the open streets

Not only so what but bump me, chump me, chump us all, you say

Actin like Miles but you ain't Miles, you the dressed up slave master ghost

Just as you always was. I ain't fooled. It's still slavery still is still is. I ain't fooled.

Excuse me

The fone ringing.



________________



A L L    S O N G S    A R E    C R A Z Y



Some are beautiful.

Who could sing

All the songs we know?

How many of us that can, know

How many of those who sing know

What singing is.

So I who have sung and have heard song

Want to know the singers

And the song

I who have learned singing from the oldest singers

In the world and have sung some songs myself

Want to create that song that everybody knows

And that everybody will sing one day.

So what is left to do? That is how the song

Begins.



________________



O N    T H U R S D A Y    I    F O U N D    T H I S
I N    M Y    N O T E B O OK



When love is perfected, when love

           is understood.

        When love is the law

                   & the measure

           The ruler & ruled & body of

                   of what is body mind of

                   what is mind

            When love & the Soul

                    are uncovered

                then you will always

                     sound like

                           Duke Ellington.




A M I R I     B A R A K A

S  O  S
Poems 1961-2013
selected by Paul Vangelisti
Grove 2014 

SUSAN COMES UPON A WOODCHOPPER ~

once in vermont films



 

LOU REED MEETS DION ~

Full  D I O N

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ! ~

H A P P Y     B I R T H D A Y     J A N I N E   ! ! !