I’ve only recently discovered this pop psychedelic creation of Guy Peellaert, and haven’t seen any of the actual comics yet. (great, another expensive hobby no one needs: collecting vintage European comics…) And sadly, I sense none will add up to be as cool as this animated sequence, a slow load but well worth it! I especially love the lampoon of the three major western religions included.

So here’s my take: this guy is simultaneous trying to build buzz for his soon to be published memoir and giving a big “Fuck You” to the corporation that previously employed him.
I met an Aussie who claimed to be writing for LP in N. Italy in ‘04, but this very well could have been a cover story to try to curry favor from dining/lodging establishments and women. Someone had recently stolen his laptop and he was in a spot of trouble, at least in the short run. I’d take a crack at this sort of gig myself of course, but the guide I wrote wouldn’t be for recently graduated students trickling down their parents cash in other countries…

Arthur C. Clarke

This will only be news to certain devoted, and many will smirk ’so what’ as you read, but it just might add a little poetry to your day. Double interest to me, as it was discovered at Reed College, many of whose trustifarian students used to annoy me at parties when I lived out there. From the Reed press release

Portland, OR (February 11, 2008) – On a February night in 1956, Allen Ginsberg stood in front of a group of students in a dormitory lounge at Reed College and read from a manuscript that a few months later would be published as Howl and Other Poems. “Howl” is Ginsberg’s most famous and controversial poem, and a seminal work of the Beat Generation. The book sparked censorship debates that are credited with broadening First Amendment protections.

The February 1956 recording at Reed was duly labeled, cataloged, and then overlooked in the college’s library for more than 50 years. Literary scholar John Suiter rediscovered the tape last summer while researching a biography of poet Gary Snyder (Reed Class of 1951, winner of the 1975 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry); Snyder and Ginsberg were on a hitch-hiking trip to the Pacific Northwest at the time the tape was made and spent February 13-14 on campus giving poetry readings. Suiter concludes in a forthcoming article in the Reed alumni magazine that this is the earliest-known recording of Ginsberg reading “Howl.” On the recording, Ginsberg reads to the conclusion of Part I, but ends before completing Part II, saying, “I don’t really feel like reading any more. I just sorta’ haven’t got any kind of steam.”

The pristine recording of “Howl” caught on tape that night at Reed differs in numerous ways from the legendary first public reading of the poem at San Francisco’s Six Gallery in October 1955. It predates by approximately five weeks the previous earliest-known recording of “Howl,” made at the Town Hall Theatre in Berkeley on March 18, 1956.

And the recording. It’s strange to me when these things are discovered after half a century: unknown sketches from great painters, previously unheard demos from famous rock bands etc. hidden and decaying in “archives”. But then I’m someone often with too much time on his hands who would relish access to certain caches.

Wow! What a satisfying film. Great soundtrack; animation with occasional intricate layers, amazing use of negative/positive space constantly, at times simplistic, then lush and detailed at moments that point to a Persian pride. I was unfamiliar with the graphic novel but was completely drawn into the tale: Marjane Satrapi’s story, and a first hand account of the history of Iran over the end of the 20th century. A testimonial of The Individual against varying forces of ideology, repression, unsatisfying relationships, depression, and the rest. No bullshit Hollywood ending either. See a trailer at the main site which is a bit small, or a larger version on IMBD after sitting through an inane commercial - you know, American style… I urge everyone to see this film.

I stole this from Jasonaut, but feel no guilt, as I’ve always been something of a word-nerd myself. Wordsmith.org has this Anagram generator. The following phrases all come from arrangement of the letters (but not all of them in many cases) of my full name.

A Mystical Prickle/ Space Talk Lyricism/ Misty Space Call/
Slimy Space Rack/ Kill My Space Racist/ Risky Space Cat/
Space Mail Trick/ Space Liar Cyst Milk/ My Slick Space Trail/
Slim Space Lark City/ Space Ark City Mill/ Icy Space Mall Skirt/
My Salty Space Lick/ Space Ram Kill City/ Space Arm Lily Trick/
Space Ram City Skill/ Space Army Licks It/ Icky Space Tsar/
Space Satyr Licks ‘im/ Slimy Space Rat/ Slick Space Art/
My Space Rack Till/ Track My Space/ My Sick Space Art/
Kill Creamy Spastic/ Slim Pastie Crack/ Kill Pastie Mac/
Typical Mescal Risk/ Lacy Pi Mescal Skirt/ Silk Pity Mescal Arc/
Silky Pit Mescal Car/ Piracy Mescal Talk/ Mescal Pal City/
Sickly Mescal Rap/ Sickly Rat Mescal/ Lily Mist Carp Cake/
Kill A Ecstasy Crimp/ Kill Camera Cyst/ Icy Sarcasm Kill Pet/
Ceramic Spa Kill/ Mass Kill Icecap/ My Icecap Tsar/
Kill My Icecap Rats/ Sitar Spy Kill Mecca/ Mecca Kill Party/
Mecca Kill Rats/ Ram Pity Kill Access/ Acme Kill Satyr/
Acme Crispy Kill/ Kill Racist Mace Spy/ Mace Kill Party/
Kill Spicy Mace Rats/ It’s Spacy Kill Cream!/ Pa City Kill Screams/
Creamy Kill Cat Piss/ Scary Mist Kill Pace/ Mass Recap Kill City/
Yam Carpet Kill/ Mars City Kill/ Icy Kill Aspects/
Mystic Kill Acre Spa/ Kill City Race Spasm/ Spicy Kill Races/
Amp City Kill Caress/ Icy Actress Kill Map/ Kill React Scam/
Car Imp Ecstacy Kill/ Ream Cyst Aspic Kill/ Spastic Ram Kill/
Pastie Kill Cam/ Epic Satyr Kill Cam/ Racy Kill Camp Site/
Airy Sects Kill Camp/ Campy Tsar Kill Ice/ Piracy Kill Scams/
Milk Piracy Castle/ Slick Piracy Metals/ Slack Piracy Melt/
Clam Silk Piracy/ Elks Piracy Cam/ Elk Slit Piracy Scam/
Mall Piracy Sect/ Sick Piracy Alms/ Lick Em Piracy Salts/
Mass Cell Piracy Kit/ Piracy Lick Ass Melt/ Satyr Claim Pickles/
Satyr Lisp Milk/ Satyr Lip Silk Mecca/ Satyr Lace Milk Pics/
Sick Satyr Place/ Slack Satyr Epic/ Slack Satyr Epic/
Satyr Smack Ice Pill/ Calm Satyr Lick Pies/ Silk Satyr Ice Clamp/
Epic Skill Satyr Cam/ Lick Isle Satyr Camp/ Lame Satyr Lick Clip/
Maple Satyr Lick/ Slick Satyr Ice Lamp/ Satyr Lice Map/
Sick Satyr Pie Call/ Mystical Ski Parcel/ Mystical prick Ale/
Slick Mystical Rape/ Mystical Splice Ark/ Mystical Silk Cap/
Milk Cyst Replica/ Sky Clam Replica/ Silt Sky Replica Cam/
A Mecca Kills Stripy/ A Scarce Milky Split/ A Catlike Sly Scrimp/
A Carsick Smelly Pit/ A Classic Perky Milt/ A Metallic Sick Spry/
A Metallic Cry Skips/ A Silk Malice Crypt/ A Campsite Cry Kills/
A Slackers City Limp/ A Caskets Crimp Lily/ A Caskets Lyric Limp/
A Scalpels Icky Trim/ A Callers Sticky Imp/ A Callers Mystic Kip/
A Camel Licks Stripy/ A Camels Tricky Lisp/ A Calmer Sickly Spit/
A Camels Crispy Kilt/ A Mescal Tricky Lisp/ A Calmest Lyric Skip/
A Mac Prick Let Is Sly/ Rack A Spicy Millets/ Track A Slice Simply/
Clip A Smiley Track/ Rack A Systemic Pill/ Stack A Spicy Miller/
Tacky Crime Pills/ Call A Mystic Picker/ A Calm Rye Lipstick/
Clamp A Silkier Cyst/ Sticky Calms Peril/ A Clams Tricky Spiel/
Clap A Tricky Smile/ Scalp A Sickly Timer/ Clasp A Milkier Cyst/
Crystal Lime Pickles/ Trick Plasma Ice/ A Classy Lick Permit/
A Scaly Tickle Prism/ Trick Salsa Mice/ Trick Llama pics/
Trick Llama pics/ Trick Ice Pals/ Trick Salsa Pals/
Trick Malice Spa/ Trick Lace Yams/ Play Mescal Trick/
Slay Trick Places/ Acme Trick Silly Spa/ Mass Trick Pace Lily/
Cape Slay Trick/

A new theory how Bob Pollard gets song titles… Also, possibly a good place to get passwords.

In no way do I mean to discredit global warming, or human influence on earth’s weather patterns in mentioning 1816, The Year Without a Summer. If anything, it calls attention to how relatively fragile the entire system is: volcanic activity in the South Pacific can have startling influence on Europe and North America. And makes you think further how weather effects humans - how a botched vacation could lead a young goth chick to get involved in a writing contest. Humanity is certain to enjoy many future innovations as the “the world outside” becomes less hospitable.