InDigest is seeking submissions focused on Hurricane Katrina

InDigest (indigestmag.com), a literary magazine that seeks to create a dialogue about and between the arts, is interested in submissions focused on Hurricane Katrina. Why Katrina? Why now? We at InDigest were extremely troubled by the politicizing of events surrounding Hurricane Gustav—the photo ops, the self-serving talk of doing good for others, et al.—while people affected by Katrina are still living in FEMA trailers three years after Katrina hit. We feel that, unlike another national tragedy—9/11—Katrina has been dismissed, forgotten. We have our own opinions about why, but we seek artists’ and writers’ response to this national scar.

Please refer to indigestmag.com/submit.htm for guidelines to submit poetry, fiction, nonfiction, art, and music. Submissions can be sent to indigestsubmit@gmail.com.

Go Away, Bomb

I just finished reading the Gone Away World, the new book by Nick Harkaway, not that new is relevant, it's his first book. Anyhow, it's fantastic, and I'm recommending it. It's one of the best books I've read in so long. It's like the first time you hear Bob Dylan's Self Titled album on vinyl, or Bitches Brew on vinyl, when you prairie dog for a bit and then flat out poop. It was kind of like that and I loved it.

More Business

Here is some cool stuff:

Guernica Mag has some new stuff up.
This is a little behind but there is a great live recording of Nico Muhly up on the WNYC website.
Brandon Scott Gorrell has a good story up on InDigest (Did I already post that?)
Michael Azerrad wrote a beautiful, glowing review of the Signal Performs Steve Reich at LPR this weekend. It was awesome, I was there, I've fallen in love with Music for 18 Musicians.
Brad Liening wrote a poem that I like.
Meggie Elder also wrote a poem that I like.
Meakin Armstrong thinks Esquire sucks now. I do too.

I've been writing

There is a new issue of InDigest on screens today! Some good stuff in there. Articles from me, David, fiction from Brandon Scott Gorrell, Art from Pamela Kirton, and lots of other stuff.

Also I've been writing a little in these places...

here (InDigest) (Interview with Reverend Billy)
here (Guernica)
here (guernica)
here (Film-Forward)
Something over at Rift
a bunch of stuff over at the Favorite 10 Blog

You've got to be kidding me.

Is this a trick somehow? Or is the world just a beautiful place? A painting elephant has restored my faith in humanity, but I'm not sure why. It'll fade soon. David? You know what I'm talking about.

Radiohead live MP3s

Vin over at Favorite 10 spiced up my post on Radiohead's final performance of their American trek (in Santa Barbara, CA) being turned into a free podcast by NPR. He is now offering free, individual track downloads of every song of the performance here>>>>. I've been listening to this all morning, pretty great. Though I'd share the free downloads with you too.

One of my last photos from St. Paul...

I think I was watching the Stanley Cup with Colin that night...

Sarah Palin...

It's a pretty intense claim that the Daily Kos is currently making about Trig Palin not actually being Sarah Palin's son. It sounds like the kind muck-raking BS that is a hallmark of American elections. I wasn't ready to buy into this at all. But they build a case that is pretty airtight, and frightening. It seems as though the kid is actually her granddaughter and she has been lying about it.

I won't claim that it's absolutely true, because I didn't do the research. But this is a tough case to argue against it.

You can read the article here.
Also here is a photo of Sarah Palin when she was actually pregnant with one of her earlier spawn.

Help Save Cinema Revolution

For readers in the Minneapolis area:

If you are like me, you enjoy a good cup of coffee, a nice tumbler of whiskey, rain storms, and movies. Particularly movies that are not going to be found at your local Blockbuster. Also you probably enjoy all of these things at locally run businesses (damn those FOXNEWS sponsored thunderstorms...).

This isn't just a random rant about something that pissed me off so stick with me here.

I frequented Cinema Revolution for many years, it's easily one of the best video stores (if not the best) in Minneapolis/St. Paul, and they are in trouble. The store is having some financial difficulties and I thought I'd throw something up in hopes that you value what John and Cinema Revolution do for the community as much as I do. The store is run by volunteers who support film screenings around town, host cinema discussion evenings, allow you to rent local filmmakers (often for free) and have a selection that no one else in town can compare to. So here's a little bit of an e-mail John Koch (owner) sent out to some today, about why Cinema Revolution is important:

We believe that a local store run by live local people is something of value - a store that curates film as a gallery would curate any other form of art, a store that actively promotes film in the community, a store with a real, tangible personality. Cinema Revolution creates an artistic context for your DVD rental experience; we help guide you through innumerable choices, and celebrate films that otherwise are marginalized or ignored. We are active in the community as well. Through the nearly five years of our existence, we have shot a feature film using all local talent, we have held dozens of film screenings through Cinema des Artistes and our Film Society, commissioned new original short films from local artists, held weekly live film discussion groups, started a local record label, and have helped actively promote countless festivals, performances and screenings by local producers. It is a major part of our mission to connect, support and inspire our local artistic community. If you value what we do for the community, we ask you to please help us continue in these endeavors.

So, if you can donate a little bit to help them out, if you can't do that, make an effort to rent some films from there, go to a screening hosted by Cinema Revolution, or participate in one of their weekly film discussions.

Here are the details sent out about how you can help out:

We are seeking to raise $5,000 by September 15th to help make our move to a new location a reality, as it cannot be done without this additional support. The suggested donation is $20 (and if 250 people can do this, we will make our goal), but please feel free to give at any level you can afford. With your collective help we can make this happen.

We are also seeking volunteers to help in this fundraising effort. If you are interested in helping out, contact john@cinemarevolution.com. We are also open to any suggestions or advice anyone may have to help us along.

In just the past two years we have lost legendary video stores Discount Video and Box Office Video. We have seen the Oak Street and Bell Auditorium film programs vanish, we have watched the entire film editorial staff at the City Pages lose their jobs, and Hollywood fare is now seeping into our beloved Lagoon Cinema. Please help keep an active, inspiring film culture alive in the Twin Cities and donate securely via PayPal today at www.cinemarevolution.com (Click on the link below).

Please note that if for any reason we do not achieve our financial goal, your generous donations will be refunded directly through PayPal. If we should raise more than our goal, the extra money will be applied to growing our movie collection to help fill our new space. Also be aware that we are not organized as a non-profit organization for tax purposes, so your donation is not tax deductible.

That's all I've got, it's well worth a little bit of your time or money to help keep filmmaking in the city alive. Adios.

Takes a Good Hard Look at Randy

Whoo-hoo. New Randy Newman tomorrow (it's so good) - and he's playing the entire album live on NPR tomorrow

inlur Slovenian street art bon iver

That shouldn't have made much sense.

Just linking a few articles I just finished up. Did something about the unmasking of Banksy, a review of a recent Bon Iver show, a piece on the new Slovenian cinema, and a piece for Intentionally Urban on films that will make you want to save the world (or go hmmm...I guess) (that one you have to dig into the PDF to find that one).

that's all more later

Here I am

I've been missing for a while, but the move and starting a new job has left little time for writing (though more time for writing than for unpacking boxes). I'm going to post an update on what's going soon, and some pictures of Le Poisson Rouge, but I just wanted to throw up a link. this one

I'm writing for the Favorite10.com blog right now. I've been doing some posting pretty regularly and I think it's kind of a cool site. Just thought I'd share, if you want to check it out go look at it, comment (I'll respond - it's just like talking). Join the RSS feed and get updates, because sometimes we post some pretty cool stuff, and who'd want to miss out on "some pretty cool stuff?"

Anyhow, something about life soon.

InDigest Issue 6

Issue 6 has arrived, finally, and it's a grand one. We've got all sorts of new content up. New poetry from Canadian poet Ryan Bird. New in the narratives section is an excerpt from Frederick Lane's new book The Court & the Cross. The book focuses on the influence of the religious right in American politics and the often-tenuous relationship that has developed between organized religion in America and the legal system.

Donald Van Auken presents a series of paintings focusing on an imaginary circus full of odd dark characters.

In Erratica there are is a new column from Ashleigh Lambert and Bedside Stacks, reviewing the new novel from Tom McCarthy Remainder, and the newest Susanna Moore novel The Big Girls. The new Is That Cowardly? takes a look at the new collection from poet Dorthea Lasky titled Awe. Also in Erratica is a piece but occasional contributor Charles Greene covering the global celebration of James Joyce's Ulysses called Bloomsday.

Keep checking back as there will be more updates this month, a new column, some interviews and some new music from some of our favorite artists.

As always, thanks for reading.

Wild update

So the Wild did sign Andrew Burnette today during the first moments of the UFA signings. They also acquired defense-man Marek Zidlicky from Nashville for a third round draft pick and forward Ryan Jones. Maybe there is a little hope for the 08-09 season. They are picking up some solid defense-men, and the addition of Burnette starts to make up for the loss of Rolston, Demitra, Radio, and Fedoruk. Radio and Fedoruk are replaceable, but I'd like to see Fedoruk stay. He's a better enforcer than Boogey, and has the ability to score (unlike Boogey who threw up a donut last season after missing the first half with back problems).

What I don't understand is why they can't offer Rolston more. Rolston made somewhere in the neighborhood of 2.43 million last year, while Demitra made over 4. Demitra had the worst season of his career last year, and barely made an impact. While Rolston has always been a better player and a better leader than Demitra. Why can't they offer Rolston more and drop Demitra, they would still have enough money to pick up a lower "B" class forward or a solid "C" class.

GM Doug Riseborough tries to shed some light on the situation in a blog post today at the Wild's website. He makes a good point point about this being the most important day of the off-season. "You can't win the division on July 1st, but you can lose it." Fair enough, but is the signing of Burnette going to keep the Wild competitive in the northwest, arguably the most competitive division in the NHL? last season only ten points separated the Wild in first from the last place team. That's five games. Burnette is good, but he doesn't even begin to replace the very versatile Rolston. Hopefully there will be more pick ups in the coming days.

Goodbye Brian Rolston

Last season was a tough year for any Wild fan. They won the division and then got knocked out in the first round. After a few days mourning, though, most fans recovered and were ready for the coming year. It seemed promising. We knew they'd lose a few players in the off-season, but they are young. There was the potential for the team to get even better. Young players like Bouchard and Burns proved themselves over the year and were sure to be stars in the coming season.

But today the Wild traded away their rights to resign Brian Rolston to the Tampa Bay Lightning. It was really a good move, they get a third or fourth round draft pick (depending on whether or not Rolston actually signs with them) and he wasn't going to sign with the Wild today anyhow. This is a tough day. Rolston toyed with us, he said he wanted to play in Minnesota, and that his family had no intention of moving anywhere (though he did say today that Minnesota isn't out of the picture, but let's be realistic). Then Rolston and his agent quit responding to the Wild. They were given four separate offers and never made so much as a phone call to say no. So, he's gone. In Rolston they lose a leader, a veteran who is still getting better, a key player on the power play and a big scorer.

He needs to be replaced. But it's really not possible this summer. The free agent market is weak, and the best players are sure to be scooped up tomorrow when teams are allowed to formally begin offers to free agents.

The market is weak and getting weaker.

The Wild acquired a couple of young defense-men that are sure to be a great addition as the defense was really the weak spot throughout the year, and especially in the playoffs, when it was revealed how shallow their defense really was by the loss of a couple of key players. Now it looks like the offense is starting to thin out. Rolston is gone, and the Wild has made no effort to resign Pavol Demitra (which puts a big question mark over their negotiations with Marion Gaborik whose contract is up at the end of next season). The big question is whether or not, in this weak market, they can replace such key players and come back a better team next season.

Riseborough has talked a lot of about Andrew Burnette, who played for the Wild up until the lockout. he is a free agent and has been vocal about his approval of a return to Minnesota. No doubt, he's a good player, and would be a great asset to a team losing some key players. He also helps out with the Gaborik question. Burnette and Gaborik were close and that may help influence negotiations as we find out if Gaborik really will become a franchise player. But Burnette doesn't replace Rolston, maybe Demitra, as Burnette could potentially play wing on Gabby's line, but he cannot take Rolston's spot as a defense-man with a shot on the power play.

There had been some talk about signing the Penguins Ryan Malone, who is also a free agent. But under new ownership, management and coaching staff, the Lightning are out to rebuild this year and have already signed Ryan Malone and former Penguin Gary Roberts (for peanuts). So there go two more forwards off the market, and in Roberts a vet with a shot who is tough as nails. There doesn't seem to be a player on the market who can replace Rolston. There is still the possibility of a trade, but the Wild don't really have the ammo to pull off a big trade and don't have any players they seem willing to lose. Burns and Shultz just got new contracts, and are young and integral to the future of the team, as is Bouchard, who is likely to receive an extension offer this summer. Koivu is a centerpiece of the offense along with Gaborik. And there aren't really any other players that are worth a Rolston caliber player. Hopefully they will be resigning Fedoruk, as he proved to be a tough guy with hands after the Stars haphazardly dropped him from the team.

As far as the free agent market goes Brooks Orpik is still available, and on a team that is trying to rebuild it's defense with Burns and Shultz as the franchise there, Orpik would be a great acquisition. Tough in front of the net, he has hands, a great shot. But that is all speculation. What isn't speculation is that they need to find another high scoring forward, someone who can hit twenty plus goals a season, now. The Wild are not a high scoring team and losing a player like Rolston hurts.

The Current Song of the Day

Hey

Look at The Current's Song of the Day today. It's Chris Koza ("Straight to Video"), it's a great song, he's cool, listen to the song.

The Waste Land

I've got a video installation going up in the Shoebox gallery tomorrow. Just a note that the opening is tomorrow night at 4:00. I showed an unfinished version of this film at a screening in the JRS theater at UST last year. This is the first part of a five part series to T.S. Eliot's "The Waste Land." I don't have the address of the Shoebox Gallery handy, but you can find on MNArtists. Most eeryone is going to Rock the Garden at 4:00 but if you aren't check this out, I'll be at Rock the Garden shortly afterwards...

The primary problem with finding my glasses is that I need my glasses to see them.

BREAKING NEWS FLASH: How the terror fist jab has led to the discovery of Nazo/Hezbollah laughter

After hearing that Fox News anchor E.D. Hill call Barack and Michelle Obama's infamous fist pound a "terrorist fist jab" (and that this is somehow a gesture connected to Hezbollah) i realized that this premise frightened me. If terrorist hand signals can get into a building I can enter (I was there) what other horrible terrorist elements are creeping into my everyday life? It's disturbing, think about it. Hezbollah terror fist pounds just twenty or thirty feet from god fearing, freedom loving iPhone, how horrible.

I decided I need to do a little research and see how far this minutia of terror had seeped into my life. I am terrified but what I have found. Please, take a look at this video.



Now maybe I'm wrong, I don't know German, but do you notice anything suspicious around the 22 second mark? That's right. Those people are clapping for Hitler. I was further shocked to find this video.



That's right. You can hear it briefly near the beginning, if you listen closely. But at the 1:02 mark it becomes quite prominent. Clapping. Have Nazi's infiltrated the Republican party. I hoped not. Dear God. I hoped it wasn't so. Then I found this:



A whole stadium of potential Nazi's at a democratic rally. Even the Obama's can be seen clapping there hands. Their Hitler loving hands smacking together, repeatedly. I said, "say it ain't so. Say it ain't so."

Could it be that the Nazi's still exists and they are in cahoots with Hezbollah terrorists who have infiltrated both the Republican and Democratic parties?



Now this. Laughter. On the surface this would seem innocent. But if you listen closely to the second video, just as the video starts, a one two punch of clapping and laughter. Could these gestures of human emotion be related? Experts say yes. Yes, they can. Laughter is part of the potentially malicious Nazo/Hezbollah signal. It has not only infiltrated Comedy Central but our unbiased media as well. I will continue my research and report back as this story develops.

This is pretty damn beautiful

my recent interest in the intersections of dance and film has led me to this clip that was put up on YouTube, which is incredibly beautiful

there isn't a whole lot to this in terms of the intersection of film and dance, but it is a beautiful dance piece