There is a slough of lit events coming up involving or related to really cool music peoples. Not all are necessary punk rock, but it's a catchy title, innit?
Saturday November 21st - How Many Fingers Am I Holding Up book release at Quimby's.
Andy Slater, more well-known as Velcro Lewis, is a highly respected and recognizable musician in Chicago. I've seen him perform only once, as lead singer for the funky and psychedelic Velcro Lewis Group, but there was that one time he did a karaoke version of STP's 'Plush' at Cafe Mustache. Now the legally-blind musician has drafted Steve Krakow to draft a graphic novel about Lewis' experiences with visual impairment. Lewis will read from the book, share stories, and do a Q&A. Free, all ages, 7 PM, Quimby's 1854 W North Ave; for more info on the band go to Velcro Lewis Group's website.
Sunday November 29th - Empty Bottle Book Club: Hunger Makes Me A Modern Girl
You don't need me to tell you who Carrie Brownstein is. If for some reason you've made your way to this blog and have never listened to Sleater-Kinney or Wild Flag, or have never seen Portlandia, then do those things now. Brownstein's new memoir has already received high praise and I can't wait to get my hands on it. Free, 21+, 4:30 PM, Empty Bottle 1035 N Western Ave.
Thursday December 3rd - My Kind of Sound: The Secret History of Chicago Music Compendium release party
Speaking of Steve Krakow and speaking of the Empty Bottle, Krakow has his own release show at this swell swill of a venue. You've no doubt seen his illustrations about little known bands in the Chicago Reader. Krakow's dedication to uncovering tunes that time and dirt have piled on top of is impressive and inspiring to every writer no one's read and musician no one's heard of. The compendium finds a home for 200 such columns. $8 or free w/RSVP, 21+, 9 PM, Empty Bottle, 1035 N Western Ave. Bobby Conn, ONO, Athanor, and VCSR perform.
Saturday December 12th - Joe Carducci and Spot of SST in Conversation
Black Flag, Minutemen, Meat Puppets, Husker Du. All are canon when it comes to punk rock and you'd have no idea who they were if it weren't for these two guys. Carducci, co-owner of SST, and Spot, the label's house producer, both have books out. This afternoon, they'll read a bit from their respective works, interview each other, answer questions, "and lie only when absolutely necessary." Oh yeah, ONO, as you may recall, released their first two albums on Thermidor, also ran by Carducci. The more you know. Free, all ages, 3 PM, Permanent Records, 1914 W Chicago Ave.
Alrighty, now that you know what to do, go on and get out there. This is all assuming you've already read new books by Patti Smith and Richard Hell, right RIGHT ?!
11.19.2015
11.16.2015
A Passage from The Designated Mourner
Reprinted without permission. I believe this is an important passage, especially given recent events in the world, where people are quick to judge good vs. bad, good vs. evil.
JACK: Well, what Martin did was very cowardly. Tom spoke out, and Martin just kept quiet and tried to protect himself.
HOWARD: But you see, there you're judging another human being. Aren't you? Jack?
JACK: Well, yes, I'm -
HOWARD: That's the thing that doesn't make sense to me. Because you're saying in effect - you're saying, in effect, that Tom behaved the way he should have behaved, but Martin didn't. Martin ought to have behaved differently from the way he did behave. So you're implying - what? - that you think you'd have behaved differently if you had been Martin?
JACK: No, I don't say I would have - maybe I would have, I don't know - but that's not the point.
HOWARD: It isn't?
JACK: No - I -
JUDY: What he really means is -
JACK: I mean, I'm simply saying that Martin might have acted in a better way.
HOWARD: But you see, that's where I become incredibly confused. Because I mean, if you were Martin, or if someone were Martin, and they'd had Martin's life and Martin's experiences, then why wouldn't they perceive the whole situation around them in exactly the way that Martin did, and act accordingly? And in that case, what's the point of condemning Martin? Because he couldn't help being what he was - and since he was what he was, he saw things the way he saw them, and he did what he did.
This is all I should really post without diving too deep into copyright infringement. And I'm sure I could argue Wallace Shawn's own point about identity against him to say that the Wallace Shawn who wrote this play and the Wallace Shawn now are two entirely different, unrecognizable people (as he expanded on in a BOMB magazine interview). Either way, this is one of my favorite plays of all time. As poignant today as when it was written twenty years ago.
JACK: Well, what Martin did was very cowardly. Tom spoke out, and Martin just kept quiet and tried to protect himself.
HOWARD: But you see, there you're judging another human being. Aren't you? Jack?
JACK: Well, yes, I'm -
HOWARD: That's the thing that doesn't make sense to me. Because you're saying in effect - you're saying, in effect, that Tom behaved the way he should have behaved, but Martin didn't. Martin ought to have behaved differently from the way he did behave. So you're implying - what? - that you think you'd have behaved differently if you had been Martin?
JACK: No, I don't say I would have - maybe I would have, I don't know - but that's not the point.
HOWARD: It isn't?
JACK: No - I -
JUDY: What he really means is -
JACK: I mean, I'm simply saying that Martin might have acted in a better way.
HOWARD: But you see, that's where I become incredibly confused. Because I mean, if you were Martin, or if someone were Martin, and they'd had Martin's life and Martin's experiences, then why wouldn't they perceive the whole situation around them in exactly the way that Martin did, and act accordingly? And in that case, what's the point of condemning Martin? Because he couldn't help being what he was - and since he was what he was, he saw things the way he saw them, and he did what he did.
This is all I should really post without diving too deep into copyright infringement. And I'm sure I could argue Wallace Shawn's own point about identity against him to say that the Wallace Shawn who wrote this play and the Wallace Shawn now are two entirely different, unrecognizable people (as he expanded on in a BOMB magazine interview). Either way, this is one of my favorite plays of all time. As poignant today as when it was written twenty years ago.
11.03.2015
Asymptote Fall 2015 Issue
The newest issue of Asymptote Journal came out a couple weeks ago. I haven't made it through the whole issue yet. It can be hard to get through a full issue sometimes. I'm generally unfamiliar with many (read: all) of the author so I find myself reading a story (or poem or whatever else) and then falling into a blackhole of research about the author and if they have a twitter or what other works they've written and where they're from and who their translator is and if they have a twitter or what other works have they translated and...you get the point. And that point is these stories, these interviews, these essays, these are all great jumping off points to learn about new ideas, new works of art, new cultures, all around the world.
Take for instance, the poem 'Common Night' by Uyghur poet Merdan Ehet'éli. The Uyghurs are an ethnic group from Eastern and Central Asia, primarily in the far Western region of China called Xinjiang. Their culture isn't typical to what one normally thinks of Chinese as they are traditionally an Islamic group, and tend to have more in common culturally with neighboring countries (Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Kyrgyzstan) than with Beijingers and Shanghainese.
Merdan (born 1991) is already an accomplished writer and translator, having translated works from Chinese to Uygher (and vice versa). He's part of what's called the Nothingism school of Uygher poetry. Take the opening lines of the poem for example: "This is a night made from words" and contrast those with a later line: "This is a night that no elegy, ode, rain, or beam of light shall ever reach." This seeming contradiction is just another facet of a common night. The Xinjiang region that is home to Uyghers is fairly isolated from the rest of China, but as translator Joshua Freeman notes in an interview, "a lot of what’s really vibrant and interesting in Uyghur poetry right now is happening primarily on the web, and even on phone messaging apps."
Take for instance, the poem 'Common Night' by Uyghur poet Merdan Ehet'éli. The Uyghurs are an ethnic group from Eastern and Central Asia, primarily in the far Western region of China called Xinjiang. Their culture isn't typical to what one normally thinks of Chinese as they are traditionally an Islamic group, and tend to have more in common culturally with neighboring countries (Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Kyrgyzstan) than with Beijingers and Shanghainese.
Merdan (born 1991) is already an accomplished writer and translator, having translated works from Chinese to Uygher (and vice versa). He's part of what's called the Nothingism school of Uygher poetry. Take the opening lines of the poem for example: "This is a night made from words" and contrast those with a later line: "This is a night that no elegy, ode, rain, or beam of light shall ever reach." This seeming contradiction is just another facet of a common night. The Xinjiang region that is home to Uyghers is fairly isolated from the rest of China, but as translator Joshua Freeman notes in an interview, "a lot of what’s really vibrant and interesting in Uyghur poetry right now is happening primarily on the web, and even on phone messaging apps."
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