Where the wild pirates are
Superhero, pirate and robot supplies (courtesy of Wikipedia)
Pirates, time travel and Captain Najork
Towards the end of March this year the trailer for Spike Jonze’s ‘Where The Wild Things Are’ hit our laptop screens. I immediately scrawled a post with it being a favourite book from my childhood, and since read to my brood, brought my nephews, etc., along with being a fan of Jonze’s work. But I relinquished it to the draughts bin figuring it would be all over the internet already.
With it’s impending release the glossies are again filling with interviews and articles on Jonze, but with no mention of the reason I wanted to write it up. The screenplay is by co-authored with Dave Eggers. And it’s not even that he wrote it. It’s what he has done.
He is a hero, a superhero in fact. And pirate.
I have a pile of his books on my desk that I have brought but never read. So why is he a hero to me? Simple, in 2002 along with Ninive Calegari he founded 826 Valencia – a writing lab to help local students with free one-to-one literacy help. And sell pirate supplies.
The empty premises they rented in which to set up the writing centre and publishers office had only zoning for retail as SimCity as taught me to say: it could only be opened as a shop. So they decided to use the front as a front, selling pirate supplies. What takes this from being a good idea to brilliance is their attention to detail, aside from the fact that what their mission could genuinely be described as awesome, it is also a very splendid pirate suppliers, one of David Byrne’s top five in fact.
Which then inspired the Brooklyn Superhero Supply Co. or 826NYC, where a secret door between the invisibility potions and cloaks leads you into the writing lab. There’s 826michigan or Liberty Street Robot Supply & Repair, 826LA or the Echo Park Time Travel Mart, 826CHI or The Boring Store (which doesn’t have anything to do with spies), 826 Seattle or Greenwood Space Travel Supply Co., and 826 Boston better known as The Greater Boston Bigfoot Research Institute.
I could rattle on about the inspiring work they do and the fantastic stores they front the labs with but Dave Eggers does a much better job of it, here’s his TED talk on the project:
Or watch it at your leisure over TED –
www.ted.com/talks/dave_eggers_makes_his_ted_prize_wish_once_upon_a_school.html
The attention to detail and humour does not stop with the physical stores and the produce, each has a wonderful web site too.
www.826valencia.org/store
www.greenwoodspacetravelsupply.com
notasecretagentstore.com
And not to forget the fantastic work they do head over to www.826valencia.org and read up on forthcoming events, then onto onceuponaschool.org to find out how you can help your local school. In case that last part didn’t register: if you don’t live close enough to 826 to donate a couple of afternoons every six months, then Eggers has set up Once Upon A School, an organisation seeded with prize money from TED, offering support to people in volunteering at their local schools.
Don’t worry, I feel shallow and complacent after hearing him talk too.
But there is value in goofing off, fooling around and playing too, which is the moral behind “How Tom beat Captain Najork and his hired Sportsmen” by Russell Hoban, another favourite book of mine supposedly intended for children. Whilst Eggers re-imagined the picture book ‘Where the wild things are’ for adults, Hoban who is an award winning author best known for ‘Ridley Walker’ and ‘Angelica’s Grotto’ also writes childrens’ books, much like Roald Dahl, who also used Quentin Blake’s illustration skills.
His invented language skills seen in ‘Ridley Walker’ comes into wonderful play during ‘How Tom…’ where the protagonist has to eat his greasy bloaters and potato sog under the watchful eye of aunt Fidget Wonkham-Strong, who wears an iron hat. Highly highly recommended and like Antoine De Saint-Exupery’s ‘The Little Prince’ reminds us that play is as important as any business ethos.Track down a copy via www.abebooks.co.uk, or Amazon if you must.
Feed your inner child. Just not on cabbage and potato sog.
Peachy the fourth
Wasn’t going to mention it, but I find myself becoming, well not excited, but warmed by thoughts of the return of Peachy tonight…
David Gale’s Peachy Coochy Nites
The projector projects 20 images for precisely 20 seconds each. The Coocheur (or Presenter) speaks for precisely twenty seconds per image. Randomness is discouraged but narrative linearity is not automatically esteemed.
David Gale, having launched a nationwide performance must-have, continues to curate this series of Peachy Coochy events at ArtsAdmin’s stylish yet reassuring Bar. Each event features six Coocheurs, or Presenters, drawn from many walks of life. Each Coocheur will compose a verbal response to 20 images of their choice. Each presentation lasts 6 minutes and 40 seconds. There will be gaps between presentations for drinking and light conversation.
David, something of a Black Belt in these matters, will both compere and present the chippings that may not be reverse engineered towards an originating block.
Peachy Coochy Nites subscribes to the the National Belief System and is therefore committed to the provision of a wide range of contributors such as the wrangler, the wrestler, the trainer, the page, the maid, the surfer, the beachcomber, the collector, she who maintains a corral, he who mends fences, they who do windows.
The next Peachy Coochy Nite will be held, as usual, in the Bar at Toynbee Studios on Thursday November 26th at 7.30 pm. Tickets £5.00. Booking advised but walk up welcome.
More details here:www.artsadmin.co.uk/projects/project.php?id=211
A map here: www.artsadmin.co.uk/contacts/The Guardian catches some cooch: www.guardian.co.uk/stage/theatreblog/2008/nov/17/theatre-peachy-coochy-performance-art
Out of pixel
It is common practice for literary journals to request previously published stories are not submitted.
I think I have found a quandary of the digital age: what happens when a story is accepted and published by a very fine litzine (Insolent Rudder in this case) but then the online only publication goes out of pixel (for one can’t say print?).
Unlike a story that had been printed in traditional media, where copies would still be around even when the publisher were not, in the digital realm that story has ceased to exist, it has been unpublished.
Does it then still count as previously published if no-one can point to a copy?
(It is not lost like a fabled masterpiece, for I still have a copy. Although, since I wrote it I know what happens, there’s little point in my reading it.)
What is the etiquette for missing stories?
(Untitled)
The above is from the trailer for ‘(Untitled)’, a new comedy directed by Jonathan Parker (who I have never heard of before) set in the world of modern art.
I had a genuine laugh out loud moment when I saw the label. Then I thought why hadn’t I thought of that. Pure brilliance.
If it has just one other joke as good then the price of admission is money well spent. (The title doesn’t count).
Flood tide
Photo by Alison Baskerville
I missed it last time due to holidays, something I wont let happen again; it’s free, in a great setting and sounds fantastic. See you there.
Sat 12 September 2009
2pm – 4pm
London Bridge City Pier
Flood Tide, created by jazz trumpeter and composer John Eacott, is a unique open air musical performance generated by the movement of tidal water: a live sonification of tidal flow. A sensor placed in the Thames reads the river’s tidal movements which are then converted into musical notation and played live by an ensemble of 40 musicians. The piece will last for approximately two hours, and will include string and wind instruments, drums and voices.
Flood Tide is an ambient piece that aims to encourage a new kind of listening- the audience are invited to drift in and out of the music, listening for a while and then moving on, perhaps to return and hear how the piece has changed.
Polaroid impossible
Don’t throw away your old Polaroid camera. One of the causalities of digitalisation was the quiet demise of instant Polaroid film, mourned by the group of remaining enthusiasts. Photographers who use instant film to check lighting set-ups can still use Fuji’s rival, but I’ve yet to hear about many converts from those who loved their Polaroids.
There is a quality to the muted blurred tones of the Polaroid that can render the mundane beautiful, instant faded glamour. And the can-you-see-what-it-is-yet factor. It’s discontinuement was celebrated by a group of artists and photographers who started leaving old Polaroids scattered around a deserted house, creating an unpublicised shrine for those who stumbled upon it. The Flickr group Polaroid House chronicles the project (you may need to become a Flickr member for free and join the group to see them).
Aside from it’s distinctive hues the film is a square format, and the Fuji stock isn’t so doesn’t fit in Polaroid cameras, of course. But salvation is about to come to the millions of up till now defunct camera owners: Florian Kaps is Polaroid Impossible.
Raising $2.6 million in capital Kaps started The Impossible Project and has brought the old factory with it’s machinery from Polaroid, along with the rights to say Polaroid compatible on the new film. And he plans to have the first film out for Christmas. The initial offering will black and white, appropriately mirroring of the history of photographic development. I love that he says of his potential customers…
They are seeking the analog adventure. Just opening a film packet — the smell alone has something sensual to it.
Monochrome probably isn’t going to excite the leagues of home pornographers but less exotic devotees will be delighted to learn they reminiscent of early photography and Kaps is quoted as saying “this will be part of their charm”, so the company doesn’t intend to modernise it’s films to resemble standard photos.
Colour film is to be rolled out some time in 2010 so don’t throw out your Polaroid (600 format) camera. Unlike old cameras which take outlawed mercury battery formats making replacements different, the film pack itself and not the camera contains the power source so they should still function including the flash. Maybe even hit eBay and snap one up before instant film impossible hits the shelves this Christmas and their value rockets up.
Click. Whirrrrrrrrrrrrr.
Fail better
I had forgotten how much fun can be had typesetting with no brief: for my Peachy Coochy appearance I spoke on 20 typefaces that shaped our world, and had to illustrate each design.
Fail better. Such a fantastic sentiment. Samuel Beckett must have been pleased with it because he used it twice…
Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better.
and
Go on failing. Go on. Only next time, try to fail better.
So a chance to flush aimless typesetting from my system for a while and remind myself…
Fail better.
Slow Club a ‘coming
Music taste is a much too personal matter to post about. One man’s candy floss being another’s vinegar and all that. But sometimes, just sometimes, a band comes around who make you love music like you did before careers, mortgages and their ilk drag you into the half-light called responsibility. A band that makes you want to sing out loud.
Slow Club do that to me.
And they are playing my local this Monday. It’s sold out but I shall be haranguing the doorman till I get in. So this is just really an excuse to put up one of their tracks. Play it. If it sends spasms of joy through you then tickets are available for their shows at the Scala and the ICA later this year. It’s safe to mention as mine are already booked.
Bum Bum Train
One wheelchair, one rum cocktail, seventy costumed bum-bum-ers, one thrill making adventure.
For six nights You Me Bum Bum Train will be bringing their unique and hallucinatory wheelchair bound ride to Cordy House in Shoreditch. From what I hear the term bound is used in the strongest possible sense.
The only question that remains is do you want a surreal 25 minute ride wheelchair hurled excursion being regaled by 70 performers immersing you in micro-worlds from Mitzvahs to rescue by a fireman. And a free gift. Well, do you?
Get on board.
You Me Bum Bum Train
Nov 20th, 22nd, 29th, Dec 6th, 13th, 20th
Cordy House
87–95 Curtain Road
Shoreditch EC2 3SB
spiritual thievery
Bands are like buses.
You wait months for a good one to play live then two come along at once.
Add to the perils of internet shopping buying tickets for concerts on the same night. A likely event if you rush on the heads-up start the excellent www.tourfilter.com gives you with it’s early warning announcement service.
Yes, I have tickets for both The Thievery Corporation and Spiritualized. No, I can’t multiverse to both gigs.
But thanks to the joys of technology you can now witness what hearing both groups playing at once would sound like. An aside to any lawyers, if it offends I’ll remove.
PS What’s with venues stating a curfew time, have we all got ASBOs now?
peachy coochy the return
it’s back, book your tickets; the bar doesn’t hold many and it’s an evening worth catching…
David Gale’s Peachy Coochy Nites
Just a projector and 20 images. Just 20 seconds per image. Just Peachy!
David Gale’s irrepressible Peachy Coochy Nites return for another season in the Arts Bar & Café. Following a crowd-crushing first season in which dozens ofcoocheurs (see below) displayed poise, ingenuity, disdain, selfishness, charm and an intense desire for personal development, the merciless Peachy Coochyformat will be imposed on a fresh succession of showoffs on a monthly basis.
This is Peachy Coochy:
The projector projects 20 images for precisely 20 seconds each. The coocheur (or Presenter) speaks for precisely twenty seconds per image. Randomness is discouraged but narrative linearity is not automatically esteemed.
Book tickets at www.artsadmin.co.uk/projects/project.php?id=211
wisdom
www.wisdombook.org
“you don’t stop doing things because you get old; you get old because you stop doing things”
rosamunde pilcher
giant puppet invasion
in may 2006 royal de luxe performed “the sultan’s elephant” through the streets of london. the show featuring a giant wooden puppet girl and a 42-ton mechanical time traveling elephant, and without recourse to hyperbole, the event can only be described as “wondrous”. the company’s founder jean luc courcoult says his aim is “to bring out the child in every adult”, to which the sight of tens of thousands of people grinning inanely including the police presence can only testify.
artichoke, the arts group who brought the show to London are staging a new event “les mecaniques savants” on the 5th to the 7th of september in liverpool. although not officially billed as a Royal de Luxe performance it is likely to be very similar. the theatre company performing it, company la machine, is run by françois delarozière – the man who designed and built the giant elephant.
a message on the royal de luxe central flickr group reads…
For the past eighteen months, we’ve been working on creating a spectacular new commission for Liverpool 08 – a show on the same scale as The Sultan’s Elephant. The event comes to fruition in September when Francois Delarozière and his company La Machine will invade the streets and public places of Liverpool. An unmissable piece of free theatre will unfold against the landmarks of this great city, stopping the traffic and captivating everyone who sees it. The precise details are a still a closely guarded secret, but prepare to be astonished by a show that will make you believe in the impossible…
indeed, prepare to be astounded and delighted. i would post links to photos of their performances but they ask…
If you never saw an event by Royal de Luxe, Gran Reyneta or La Machine then first check them out live and look to the photo’s / info afterwards.
Let the surprise be with you !
instead sign yourself up to the mailing list at www.lamachine.co.uk and clear your diary. see you in liverpool.
the17 choir at derby
the17 choir (or an iteration of it) will ‘perform’ at the market place in derby on the evening of 22nd august at 6.30pm.
bill drummond, best known for burning a million pounds; having tammy wynette sing ‘they drive around in a ice cream van’; writing a how-to-have-a-number-one-record guide with a money back guaranty, could be described perhaps as a ‘pop-terrorist’, has been quietly working on a project called the17 for the last few years.
an accomplished media prankster, he has played both sides of the coin: mocking notions of celebrity within the music industry whilst having number one hits. the17 is a project to return music to the oral tradition, to an assembly where the ‘music’ is heard only by taking part. and anyone can take part, those with no musical experience are encouraged.
with music now sold as a lifestyle experience, a product, removing any element of participation, artists performing exact replicas of the definitive recorded version, the 17 seeks to readdress the balance. the scores are vague, and often locked to a particular location, drawing parallels to the art of richard long, whom drummond admires. it’s purpose is not to produce, but to experience.
drummond has experimented with this before, recording the red army choir signing a version of ‘k cera cera’ to be broadcast at the glastonbury festival, which failed due to the organiser michael eavis stating it was “simply dreadful”. a very ‘drummond’ outcome. by eschewing the notion of audience/performer the17 avoids the same pitfall.
it‘s roots could also be traced to carl orff’s schulwerk, with drummond taking the project to various primary schools, getting the pupils to create scores along with performances.
drummond states that he hates nostalgia, that the17 exists only in a transcendental moment. a commission by derby‘s quad gallery bring‘s it nearer the more modern interpretation of performance. Drummond has been busy recording 100 disparate groups of 17 hairdressers, or traffic wardens, or morris dancers… making non-verbal sounds. these 1700 voices will be mixed into a single five minute piece to be broadcast in Derby Market Square, Friday 22nd August, 6.30pm.
the recording will be destroyed immediately afterwards.
the sites don’t mention a time, but their response to an email enquiry confirmed it, signed appropriately “the 17”.
wether or not it becomes a modern “spem in alium” (temporarily at least) remains to be seen, but i for one will be making the effort to be there, to hear what glorious cacophony these massed voices make.
peachy coochie
thursday 26th June sees the last in the season of david gale’s sublime peachy coochie nights.
“Just a projector and 20 images. Just 20 seconds per image. During those 20 seconds the Presenter talks about the image. So simple. So precise. So demanding. This is the Peachy Coochy Way.”
“David Gale, ever keen to launch a nationwide performance must-have, is curating a series of Peachy Coochy events at ArtsAdmin’s new, stylish yet reassuring Bar. Each event features six Coocheurs, or Presenters, drawn from many walks of life. Each Coocheur will compose a verbal response to 20 images of their choice. The images need not be narratively linked but randomness is frowned upon. Thematic associations are embraced. Each presentation lasts 6 minutes and 40 seconds. There will be gaps between presentations for drinking and light conversation.”
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