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Wednesday, August 31, 2005 ::
12:36 PM ::
more on literary "risk"
So I've been trying to clarify, in my own head, just exactly what constitues literary "risk."
For me, there are two axes involved. The first is essentially the axis of "predictability" vs. "unpredictability": I think it's safe to say that a "predictable" piece of writing is less risky than one that's unpredictable. In order to assess what constitutes a "predictable" piece of work, I've relied on the concept of genre conventions: the more a piece of writing adheres to the typical standards of its genre, the more predictable it becomes. (This gets slightly tricky when you're dealing with a genre like language poetry where a certain level of "unpredictability" is, in fact, part of the genre, but that's really a discussion for another time.)
The other axis has to do with subject matter: "risky" subject matter being all things taboo or esoteric, anything that's antithetical to subject matter that we could describe as "mainstream." Somewhere in the middle of this spectrum we'd find stuff that is mildly scandalous, vaguely "controversial," stuff that would seem "edgy" to an NPR listener.
For me, for a work to be genuinely "risky," it be found in the quadrant where "risky" subject matter meets the formally unpredictable. Someone like William S. Burroughs, writing in his fragmentary cut-up style about junk addiction, pederasty, and erotic death scenes. Or Kathy Acker.
Risky subject matter with an adherence to genre conventions yields someone like Stephen King; writing about topics which are nominally taboo in a format that's been proven to be crowd-pleasing.
Something like the book I'm reading now, Helene Cixous' The Book of Promethea, is formally experimental but thematically it's essentially a book about love, a pretty mainstream topic. It drifts up towards the more "taboo" regions because its take on love is that love is essentially indistinguishable from agony and slavery, not exactly the conventional take (although probably more so in Cixous' native France).
Stuff that's both thematically safe and formally safe would be something like, I don't know, a Bond film, adhering diligently to the format of its genre while not exactly providing subject material that's especially challenging to anyone.
Scatterplot time!
My own personal tastes tend to gravitate to "risky" work in the top right section, followed by the "genre books on esoteric topics" in the top left. But stuff in the lower left can certainly be fun at times.
Note: "physics textbooks" in the top left are esoteric, not taboo; if you want something totally genre-bound yet which also deals with the culturally taboo, insert "Penthouse Letters." Labels: writing
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Tuesday, August 30, 2005 ::
9:42 AM ::
some things I never thought I would say
Now that we're running Rebis more like an actual record label, I've taken it upon myself to learn the intricacies of Excel and do most of the label bookkeeping.
I detest thinking about money and I'm not good at math, so I don't intuitively feel like I'm a good candidate for "label accountant," but once I started to think of the bookkeeping as a data-management / archiving puzzle the geek part of my brain seized upon it, and now working on it actually gives me a substantial amount of pleasure.
In an e-mail I just sent to my label-mate Chris, I wrote the words "You should see this spreadsheet. It is slowly becoming a thing of beauty."
In other news, I'm still thinking about exactly what constitutes "literary risk," and I'll write up a post on that, possibly with Venn diagrams, sometime this week.
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Monday, August 29, 2005 ::
9:09 PM ::
life in america file
1. On August 7, Fox Network News television gives out the home address of a Middle Eastern man, with commentator John Loftus claiming that he is a terrorist connected with the July 7 bombings in London (despite the fact that said man has not been charged with any illegal activity nor has any law enforcement agency or official identified him as a terrorist).
2. Actual residents of said address are Randy and Ronnell Vorick and their three children.
"'I was driving home and my neighbor called saying that some guy on Fox said a terrorist lives at my house and gave out the address,' Randy Vorick said."
LA Times story on the incident. (Username: latimesdotcom@spam.la, password raarraar; thanks to Angela and BugMeNot.)
Via Boing Boing.
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Saturday, August 27, 2005 ::
5:31 PM ::
the trouble with litmags
Why are most literary magazines so bad?
[Note: I speak here as a former litmag editor and as a person who's investigated (I can't legitimately say "read") at least a hundred different litmags.]
1. Lack of editorial focus or stance
1a. Obeying the oft-issued edict to "read a few issues of our magazine to familiarize yourself with the kind of writing we publish" more often than not reveals no information greater than "this litmag publishes the same kind of writing that all the other litmags publish"
1b. Submissions guidelines that say things like "we are committed to publishing the best contemporary fiction and poetry being produced today" in practice tend to really be saying something like "we will publish 1% of whatever comes in through the mailslot, although what those pieces share by way of similarity is anybody's guess"
1c. More magazines need to produce guidelines which function as statments of genuine editorial purpose, like this one, courtesy of Diagram: "We value the insides of things, vivisection, urgency, risk, elegance, flamboyance, work that moves us, language that does something new, or does something old--well. We like iteration and reiteration. Ruins and ghosts. Mechanical, moving parts, balloons, and frenzy."
1d. Even half of that suffers from vagueness: "work that moves us" is especially onerous in this regard
1e. Part of the problem: university-associated litmags afflicted with revolving-door editors. Even those who have an editorial 'vision' (a comparatively small percent) have little time to build it into the magazine before they, too, move on
2. Preference for "safe" stories / poems
2a. "Safe" can also be read as "tasteful," "bourgeoise," "liberal" or etc.
2b. Most litmags want to publish the same sort of New Yorker / Iowa-Writer's-Workshop-type lit that MFA programs tend to want their students to reproduce. This system works harmoniously insofar as each half of it answers a need of the other half, but the end result is a madenning blandness and predictability
2c. Fiendish corrolary: literary material that makes a point of being quote-unquote "risky" runs an equal danger of falling into bland and predictable patterns: you can only read so many heroin stories, "dirty realism," neo-noir pieces or intentionally shocking or squalid pieces before they, too, begin to seem like they're "safe" in their own way. Same goes for pieces that express "risk" through the means of formal experimentation
2d. Questions for further consideration: here at the outset of the 21st century, what constitutes genuine literary "risk"? Who is a genuinely "risky" poet working today? A genuinely risky novelist? [Note: First person to answer Will Self or Bret Easton Ellis gets punched.]
2e. More questions: Is "safe" / "risky" even the right question? Is it the same as "predictable" / "unpredictable?" Is an "unpredictable" literary magazine something the world really wants? Is it something I want? Is it compatible with my desire for a magazine with a coherent editorial focus, or is this a paradox? What happens if you try to exert a consistent desire for unpredictability? (See also: Novelty and Habit.) Labels: writing
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Friday, August 26, 2005 ::
1:05 PM ::
linkfarm XXII
1. Julie Shapiro's radiophonic arts blog
2. "Rural Decay" group at Flickr
3. Secret mix-tape drop-off points in Chicago
4. Kabbalistic themes in William Blake's The Four Zoas
5. Is the key to data organization to keep everything in one big file?
6. Fabulous art-damaged psychedelic drawings from Finnish "drawing club"
7. Titus Books, a publisher interested in "urban culture, thought-streams & the supernatural"
8. Concept: Continuous Partial Attention
9. New image-matter daily
10. Momus' LiveJournal Labels: linkfarms
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Tuesday, August 23, 2005 ::
11:36 AM ::
the theology of trash II
So I was sniffing through the archives of Khaela Maricich's great blog/journal The Touch Me Feeling, and still thinking about PKD's idea that God is in trash, and in a much longer post I stumbled upon the following:
"Garbage is never really garbage, you know, it's just too much information, it's just whatever people can't deal with using all the way (you know, with the vision that every thing could ultimately be used and used until it combusted into a new substance, which could then be used in some other new way, which adds up to the vision that everything in the end really is everything, that we are one matter in a psychedelic cycle of change and movement, and that nothing is ever truly disposed of, like water, and freak out man, I actually believe what I just wrote up there.)"
Go Khaela!
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Monday, August 22, 2005 ::
2:14 PM ::
a theology of trash
Earlier this summer, I eBayed a copy of In Pursuit of Valis, an out-of-print collection of writings from the Exegesis, a 35,000-page heap of notes and journalings that Philip K. Dick worked on from 1974 to the time of his death in 1982. As one might expect, it's an extremely interesting piece of reading.
I've always admired Dick as a spiritual thinker, in part because of the way he tempers his deep faith with a skeptic's suspicion of totalizing systems:
"Probably the wisest view is to say: the truth—like the Self—is splintered up over thousands of miles and years; bits are found here and there, then and now, and must be re-collected; bits appear in the Greek naturalists, in Pythagoras, in Plato, Parmenides, in Heraclitus, Neo-Platonism, Zoroastrianism, Gnosticism, Taoism, Mani, orthodox Christianity, Judaism, Brahmanism, Buddhism, Orphism, the other mystery religions. Each religion or philosophy or philosopher conains one or more bits, but the total system interweaves it into falsity, so each as a total system must be rejected, and none is to be accepted at the expense of all the others (e.g., 'I am a Christian' or 'I follow Mani')."
As a conspiracy-eater, I'm also attracted to his esoteric interpretation of Scripture:
"Mark 4:11 says that the parables were intended to confuse and not inform everyone except the disciples, the latter understanding the esoteric meaning, the outsiders getting only the exoteric meaning which would fail to save them: this was especially true regarding parables about the approaching Kingdom of God."
not to mention the topsy-turvy worldview that comes from believing in a hidden (yet immanent) salvific Christ:
"Our whole reality is a hologram-like fake, and into and onto it in the guise of fakery, [Christ] substitutes the (truly) real. So the nonsense phenomena are real, the substantial & normal & expected & sensible are not. Our criteria for distinguishing the real from the irreal are totally reversed: to us, the real is the solid, the heavy, the serious and the irreal is St. Elmo's fire, will-o-the-wisps."
Perhaps as a result of this kind of thinking, PKD begins to develop a theology of the cast-off, wherein God is found in "trash":
"A random assortment of trash blown by the wind & there is God. Bits and pieces swept together to form a unity."
The Exegesis notes are a less polished and more fragmented "behind-the-scenes" version of the ideas found in PKD's great novel Valis, but anyone who's enjoyed that novel would also get a lot out of reading this book. I know I've enjoyed it. Labels: spirituality
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Tuesday, August 16, 2005 ::
1:07 PM ::
tour photos
A selection of photos from the UK tour and the accompanying Yorkshire walks can be found here. Click on a thumbnail for a full-size shot, etc.
I've also got them put up as a pair of Flickr photosets, for those of you who would prefer to check 'em out that way.
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Monday, August 15, 2005 ::
10:49 AM ::
linkfarm XXI
1. Summary of the current status of the narratology / ludology debate in the game studies community, via Greg Costikyian
2. How to make a daily planner / task organizer from an old Zip disc case
3. Tips for mastering audio in Adobe Audition
4. Department of the Obvious: Challenging masculinity makes men act macho
5. Decoding Incan twine computers (one, two)
6. Geek decorating: house mural based on a satellite photo of the neighborhood in which the house can be found
7. 50 People See: numinous aggregates made of 50 blended Flickr photos with the same tags
8. "Something between insect artifact, jewel and sculpture": collaborative objects made by Hubert Duprat + Trichoptera worms
9. Witty, geeky Wikipedia article on the "Bacon Number"
10. Related: The Oracle of Bacon at Virginia
Thanks to Angela (#4), CJO (#5), Boing Boing (#6), and Test (#7 & #8, which is included in a particularly good article on archives, scrapbooking, intimacy, and dust). Labels: linkfarms
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Friday, August 12, 2005 ::
8:42 AM ::
validation(s)
Well, I'm safe and sound back in the US, and almost re-accustomed to Central Time.
In my ego-driven web-surfing this morning I was pleased to notice that someone did a thoughtful and generous write-up of the Number None / Jazzfinger / Espers show we played in Nottingham.
In other validation news, the new Wire contains a positive write-up of our new release, Urmerica, and also one of the Time and Relative Dimensions in Space compilation. If anyone's curious, I've posted the full text of these reviews on the product pages (Urmerica; Time and Relative Dimensions in Space; scroll down).
And finally, I picked up the new Chicago Reader and learned that the Number None / Keenan Lawler / Mike Tamburo show coming up on Tuesday is a Critic's Choice this week. (We'll also be playing shows this week in Madison (Wed 17) and Bloomington (Fri 19); if there are any Raccoon / sleepingjpb readers out in either of those cities, stop by and say 'hello.') Labels: number_none, personal
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Wednesday, August 10, 2005 ::
12:09 PM ::
the secret crannies of yorkshire
The last two days have been an amazing coda to an amazing trip. Phil has been a wonderful host and guide, taking us around on long day-hikes to a bewildering variety of sites: tor formations, druidic sites, flowering abysses, moors, eerie pine forests, etc. Today I was in both a cave and an abandoned mineshaft.
None of these trips would have been possible without the UK convention of "permissive routes," trails by which hikers can cross privately owned land. I'm not sure how the rule of the permissive route came to exist or why there is no real equivalent in the U.S., but we've really found it to be a blessing.
I've taken tons more photographs--over 300 in all.
We've had an opportunity to play a bit more music: aside from jamming with Phil on flutes in the pine forest, we also went over to the apartment of another Phil, Phil Todd (of Ashtray Navigations), and had a little hour-long four-man jam in his basement. It's been really good to get the experience of improvising with new people, and I've been pleased with how successful it's been. Labels: personal
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Monday, August 08, 2005 ::
6:35 PM ::
london & newcastle
The tour, as such, is officially over: we played our final two shows and have parted ways with the Jazzfinger team.
The London show was great fun--although the crowd wasn't as large as the crowd in Nottingham, it was pretty clear that just about everybody there was coming because they wanted to hear some scouring drone-noise, whereas I think a lot of the crowd in Nottingham, drawn by the Espers name on the bill, wanted to hear gently-stoned acid-folk. I felt that most of the people at the London show left happy, whereas some of the Nottingham people probably just didn't know what to make of us.
The London show was also good because we got another chance to play with Luke and Steve, the two great blokes in noise act Birds of Delay (who we also played with in Leeds). Nice guys, and a powerful set each time-- I'm hoping to keep in touch with them for sure.
Nothing could really have prepared me, though, for the show in Newcastle (back on Jazzfinger's home turf). We played a set as part of the Distraction Weekender festival, a two-day festival divided into an "overground" day and an "underground" day. We played on the "underground" day (duh) and it was a day full of sets of drone, noise, and experimental metal acts. So many fantastic acts on that day-- I don't have the time to do a full write-up now, but I will say that I would have never dreamed that Newcastle would have such a thriving scene with so many talented artists making fucked-up damaged sounds.
The rest of the time we were in Newcastle we just relaxed at the home of Ben Jones, one of the Jazzfinger blokes, spending most of our time watching DVDs of contemporary British TV comedy (Spaced, Brass Eye, The Day Today--all top-notch, hilarious stuff).
Now we're back in Leeds, with Phil-- he's going to take us around to look at cool stuff tomorrow; I'll try to update at least once more before going home.
PS: The tour made a profit
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Friday, August 05, 2005 ::
5:50 AM ::
manchester, leeds, nottingham
All is still going well with the Number None / Jazzfinger Mobile Action Unit—better than I had hoped, even. We're not selling a ton of merchandise but each show has been increasingly well-attended (playing with Espers last night definitely helped) and there's always people who want to come up afterwards and talk, which I take as a sign that there's at least a segment of these crowds that are enjoying what we're doing.
Last night I saw someone sending a text message on their phone at the show; I looked over their shoulder and read the message "Just watching Jazzfinger ... amazing." Score!
In Leeds we were joined onstage by Phil Legard of Xenis Emputae Travelling Band, which may have been the highlight performance of the tour for me. He has a homemade theremin which is all Day-Glo and organic-looking, super-cool; he also has the Line 6 Modular Delay pedal, which I covet most egregiously.
There seem to be no tensions among the main group of travellers, which is great, considering all the other ways that it could go, this business of five people in the same van all week. And we're not too rushed—each morning we've been able to lounge around wherever we've stayed, getting showers, eating good vegetarian food and watching DVDs (I just got done watching Bill Hicks).
Chris and I are both attempting to work UK slang and phraseology into our daily speech, which always sounds hilariously wrong coming out of my mouth somehow.
Taking tons of photos, although people expecting a normal roll of holiday snaps will be disappointed; I'm mostly doing the normal sorts of texture-collecting that I like to do, taking close-ups of crumbling walls and toilet graffiti.
Two more tour performances: London tonight and then a festival on Saturday, where we'll be performing with Jazzfinger as a noise quintet. Can't wait! Labels: number_none, personal
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Tuesday, August 02, 2005 ::
6:13 AM ::
anxiety pays off
Well, our anxiety about the first show was not necessarily for naught: we got started on stage only for Chris to learn that his amplifier (loaned to him graciously by the guys from Jazzfinger) was producing no sound. I played on my own while he took a frantic couple of minutes figuring out what the problem was—it must have been miserable for him.
Once both of us were in play, the set went well: we played a little noisier than usual (almost certainly driven by the frustration regarding the equipment confusion). It was a good audience: sort of a low turnout (no more than a dozen paying customers) but everyone was extremely attentive and seemed to be enjoying themselves. The small numbers actually made it less nerve-racking to get up there and perform.
All in all, I'm chalking this one up as a success. Today we go down to Manchester again to join Campaign. More later.
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Monday, August 01, 2005 ::
11:02 AM ::
glasgow day II
Day Two in Glasgow. Stayed up late last night drinking beers and watching Dr. Who DVD (Spearhead from Space, a Jon Pertwee four-parter, was perhaps the highlight here (hooray Autons), although I also got to watch a fine episode from the new series (Unquiet Dead) and then a few old black-and-white Troughton-era episodes (Tomb of the Cybermen, yeah). All the Auton and Cybermen action led to strangely eroticized dreams about inhuman figures—
Spent the morning walking through a lovely park and botanical garden, then shopping for props for tonight's show. (We ended up finding a tall candle stand in some roadside rubbish: trashpicking, as usual, is the best answer.)
Both C. and I are fairly anxious about tonight's show, although everything went well at yesterday's equipment check. Everyone seems to have great faith in us, which somehow makes me even more nervous. Playing music is so intimate and personal that, to me, preparing to play live feels exactly like what I would imagine preparing to have sex on stage would feel like.
Okay that's it~ check back later and I'll update more if I can. Not sure what lodgings from here on out will look like, but we'll see.
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