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Monday, 15 January 2007 |
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Discovering the writings of Corwainer Smith in the early 1970's was a
life-changing revelation. At that time, neither his one novel, Norstrilia,
nor any comprehensive compilation of his incredible short stories were
in print. For years, I would scour used bookstores in search of his
stories, finding one of his stories in this or that compilation, in
print, not in print, whatever. Needless to say, his writing had a
profound effect on me and I have striven to create worlds, in music and
art and words, as strange, as haunting, and, I hope, as full of love as
his works, amidst the weirdness. Not that I come close in that regard:
but one must aim high. Smith's stories do not grow old. Interestingly,
although he was almost unknown 25 years ago, he is regularly deemed the
most influential science fiction writer of all time now. I recommend
his books, Norstrilia and The Rediscovery of Man without hesitation.
Illustration: The Bulbous Worlds from my novel Flapping.
From 1950 to 1966, stories appeared in mainstream science fiction magazines by an author named "Cordwainer Smith". From the first to the last, these stories were acclaimed as among the most inventive and striking ever written,
and that in a field specializing in the inventive and the striking.
Their author was a very private man who did not want his real name to
be known because he did not want to be pursued by SF fans. It was only
after his death in 1966 that more than a handful of people knew that
"Cordwainer Smith" was in real life Paul M. L. Linebarger.
by James B. Jordan Copyright © 1991 Originally published in Contra Mundum No. 2 Winter 1992
Paul Myron Anthony Linebarger
Paul Linebarger was born in 1913, the grandson of a clergyman. His
father, an eccentric man, had served as a Federal District Judge in the
Philippines, but had left this post to work full time for the cause of
the Chinese republican reformer Sun Yat Sen, who became Paul's
godfather. Paul Linebarger grew up in the retinue of Sun Yat Sen, for
his father stayed with Sen during his exile in Japan and throughout his
career in China.
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Friday, 16 March 2007 |
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David Bowie sings Simon and Garfunkel's "America." "Changes" at rehearsal in 1976.
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Friday, 06 April 2007 |
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I forget how I found photographer Jordan
Matter's site, "Uncovered: Busting Out in the Big
Apple," but who cares, now that I think about it!? We just like pictures of naked girls ... uh ... I mean ... women.
One finds, much to one's delight, all shapes, sizes, and ages of women cavorting topless in various locales around the city.
Funny, sweet, and beautiful. All of them.
"I
had a meeting with a casting director from LA. Without a glance at my
headshot or resume, and not even a decent introduction, this stranger
looks at me, all 5 feet and two inches, 125 pounds ofme and says,'You
need to lose twenty or gain thirty because where you are right now, I
can't do a thing with you.' A bit thrown, but not wanting to be rude, I
asked,'Can you elaborate on that?' To which she replied,'Your face says
ingenue, but it wouldn't quite work, and I can't put you as fat best
friend because you are not exactly fat.'" --Katy, On Broadway
Jordan Matter on his work: "This is a collection of photographs featuring bare-breasted
women in public around New York City, often presented with
interviews exploring the issues of body image and sexuality in
America today. The informal and humorous nature of these images
celebrates women without sexualizing or objectifying them, while
creating the illusion of a tolerant world in which shirtless women
go casually about their lives."
"The
magazine racks are filled withwomen basically naked. When I get dressed
to go out, I wear things that are basically showing my boobs anyway.
It's not trashy. Everybody does it." -Julia, on the subway.
time to sing...
Start spreading the news
I'm leaving today
I want to be a part of it, New York, New York
These vagabond shoes
Are longing to stray
And make a brand new start of it
New York, New York
I want to wake up in the city that never sleeps
To find I'm king of the hill, top of the heap
These little town blues
Are melting away
Frank Sinatra, New York, New York
[more pics on the flip-flop]
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Sunday, 26 November 2006 |
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This poor girl is in for a big surprise ... or, looking at her body language, maybe she got the surprise last night.
Many years ago, I was the member of a club that met on Tuesday
evenings. Mutual friends introduced me to an attractive, tall blonde
woman, whom I shall call T. I was immediately smitten.
It turned out that T was the coffee and snack person for the weekly
gathering, but didn't have a car. Naturally, I offered to pick her up
and drive her and the goodies to and from the meeting.
Over the next few weeks, we got better acquainted and my hopes for a
more intimate relationship were bouyed by our conversations about
music, the seventies, her claims that she was a total pervert ... you
know, the usual.
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Saturday, 20 January 2007 |
The (song)Device
SunPopBlue salutes the visionary behind the (song)Device, embodying, as it does, our bizarro world Zeitgeist: the hyper-capitalist fundamental, planned-obsolescence, the Microsoft approach to digital rights management, and the eBay path to easy money via selling cheapo gizmos from China. "Bid with utter confidence" rather sums it up, doesn't it?
In the Artist's own words:
Disposable Pop Songs
"After carefully studying the works of Alex Chilton, Chris Bell, Stephin Merrit and
others (in case the business of writing pop songs is outsourced). The Artist has carefully and
finely handcrafted this song.
The wooden frame encloses a chip, on
turning a knob it dispenses an original pop song. Enclosed along with the song are (in no particular order): bills (paid and
unpaid), flowers from sidewalks, post-its, sketches, blue prints for
big plans, etc. These may or may not have
anything to do with the song being played.
After about four plays
the song degenerates into noise, thus rendering the (song)Device useless.
You can then use the (song)Device, as either:
- (song)Device for churning out Stockhausen like symphonies or
- Dispose the
(song)device, thus symbolically rejecting materialism and
therefore turning into some kind of Neo-Buddhist.
The (song)Device,thus functions as
some kind of swiss army knife of cool, the one
stone that kills many birds...etc. wholesome and educational
entertainment for the whole family-the perfect gift for
Christmas.
Bid with utter confidence.
[similar] items [from all eBay sellers] on the flip-flop
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