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Monday
Dec102007

This man is giving away free books

Sunday
Dec092007

Stephen Gill

Here's the aforementioned mateyboy's website. Link

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Saturday
Dec082007

The Guardian's Triple-Threat Match

Meanwhile, over at The Guardian, Pigsy lookalike mainstream arts programming despot Mark Lawson continues his quest to expunge deep insight: 'Lord Lucan, a 70s news sensation, could not plausibly have been the subject of his hyper-real reporting for the practical reason that, at the end of chapter one, the storytellers couldn't answer the simple question of where he went next.' Quite. The paper maintains form by decrying the lackadaisical nature of teachers teaching poetry to disinterested small people: 'The most popular "classic" in primaries is William Blake's The Tyger, with a small minority also using poems such as Daffodils, The Ancient Mariner and The Pied Piper of Hamelin. Poems by Benjamin Zephaniah are the most likely contributions to understanding other traditions.' Thank fuck for Carol Ann Duffy, that's all I can say. Speaking of whom, Iain Sinclair is nothing like Carol Ann Duffy because she is a lesbian. Robert Mcfarlane has the pleasure of his company in a traipse through a segue of London. They talk of many things, including five intertwined rings that look like rip-off novelty loo rolls. Also they talk of the man Stephen Gill: 'Gill's new book is Archaeology in Reverse, and its 100 uncaptioned images were taken on the same cheap camera. For about a year - between the beginning of work and the completion of the fence - Gill haunted the Lower Lea on bike and on foot, watching as the first stages of the Olympic vision were rolled out. The result is a remarkable book that, in Gill's phrase, records the "traces and clues of things to come". His subject is the imminence of mass construction, rather than its realisation.' Mcfarlane does well, except for naming the piece London fields.

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Thursday
Dec062007

Batman on Language and Foreign Policy

Superintendent Watson: Well, I think this calls for a cup of char at venerable Ireland Yard. Robin: Char? Batman: Yes, Robin, a colloquialism for tea. Bruce: Don't dip your oar in this sordid sea, Dick. You might be besmirched. Batman: Cattail Lane and Nine Lives Alley. The Grimalkin Novelty Company is on that corner." Robin: Grimalkin? What kind of a name is that? Batman: An obscure but nevertheless acceptable synonym for cat, Robin. Robin: You can't get away from Batman that easy! Batman: Easily. Robin: Easily. Batman: Good grammar is essential, Robin. Robin: Thank you. Batman: You're welcome. Batman: Nobody wants war. Robin: Gee, Batman. Belgravia's such a small country. We'd beat them in a few hours. Batman: Yes, and then we'd have to support them for years. Batman: [After being buzzed by Joker] Another...practical joke, Joker. Joker: Not exactly Batman, it's my deadly joker buzzer, one by one your five senses will leave you. Then your lungs will collapse, and certainly you'll be GAPUMP, FINI, DIFUNCT. ... Joker: [shocked] No, you're GAPUMP, FINI, DIFUNCT. Batman: We're very much NOT difunct Joker. Neither is Batgirl. ... Batgirl: Joker: That's the first time I've ever heard a cat purr in French. Dick: Awww, heck! What's the use of learning French anyway? Bruce: Dick, I'm surprised at you! Language is the key to world peace. If we all spoke each other's tongues, perhaps the scourge of war would be ended forever. Dick: Gosh, Bruce, yes. I'll get these darn verbs if they kill me! Robin: "Ghoti" is "fish"? Batman: See here. English phonetics. GH becomes F, as in "tough" or "laugh". O becomes I as in "women". TI becomes SH as in "ration" or the word "nation". Robin: Holy semantics, Batman. You never cease to amaze me! Batman: He's from Philadelphia. Dick Clark: How did you know? Batman: You dipped your diphthong. People from Philidelphia are known for that. Batman: I know. Hieroglyphics self-taught are a chore, Robin; but, it is a surefire way to unravel the secrets of the ancient mystics. Batman: Robin, the Constitution provides that a man is innocent until proven guilty. And the Constitution is the cornerstone of our great nation. We must abide by it. Robin: Gosh, when you put it that way... Dick: I thought Lima was the capital of Equador. Bruce: As you can see, I was right. It's the capital of Peru. Aunt Harriet: Oh, I just love this game of capitals. It's just so educational! Bruce: Not only that, if we don't know all about our friends to the south, how can we can carry out our good neighbor policy?

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Tuesday
Dec042007

Atlas Shrugged

'Is everything great? how great is everything? Survey on resentment Angel Exhaust publishes only good poetry - and so obscures the ghastly truth about the poetry scene in which almost everyone is Deeply Irritated most of the time. In issue 20, we intend to redress the balance by covering the Dark Stuff. In the cause of public health, AE is gathering survey material on What is Really Wrong with This Great Scene of Ours. What is wrong with the poetry scene? what irritates you most about it? down-dumbed cultural managers acting up? idiotic sociological theories? a Jurassic machine park of obsolete techniques? fundamentalist progress theories? space cadet spam surges? Donny Osmond figures who think they’re Rimbaud? pious veneration of paranoid Dead Masters? enthusiastic hops of Anglican shamanism? Would the poetry world be different if the 500 most unpleasant people inside it were somewhere outside it, say on Venus? Should the song change from time to time? This is your invitation to participate in a special Angel Exhaust survey on the failings of the scene. We expect the most rigorous objectivity. Only malice can free you from rage. Reply in 10-500 words and in total confidence to aduncan@pinko.org. Please indicate if you wish your views to remain anonymous. Deadline is 15 January 2008. Results will be published in issue 20.' Pinko.org

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Monday
Dec032007

Openned, meet opeNned

Okay, so this is how it works: Openned is run by myself, Alex, and my cohort, Steve. Recently I moved to Wigan, leaving Steve in Whitechapel all on his lonesome. Instead of drawing a dotted line under Openned, we've decided to take what we once thought was very difficult and attempt it in two places at once. So while Openned is still alive, screaming, and something of a hub in London, we are now also taking a piece of it up north and calling it opeNned, which will be based in Manchester. Most of what Openned is and could be will remain in London. However, we will be looking into what we can do with the new city in our midst and arranging some pleasant collaborative enterprises. While we find our feet in the great north it would be of immense help if any of you who reside in the land of Manc could help us out with ideas for venues and/or people to check out/contact that/who you think could be of the Openned persuasion. Please leave your advice in the comments and we will be eternally grateful. Watch this space. After Christmas obviously, when the shops are quieter and stuff. Steve & Alex

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Sunday
Dec022007

Glyph 1a - This Impossible Machine

Work in progress: (click image for full version 145kb) - Alex

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Saturday
Dec012007

* HOT WHITE ANDY *

Barque Press is positively *Arts Council funded* to announce the British publication of * HOT WHITE ANDY * a poem by Keston Sutherland in which the reader will find it established by means of dogmatic verse drama that: * There's no time like the present * Life begins at forty * Good fences make good neighbours * A woman's work is never done * Hindsight is always twenty-twenty * The cobbler always wears the worst shoes * Love is blind * To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive * You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar * It takes one to know one * Failing to plan is planning to fail * Boys will be boys * A new broom sweeps clean * Good talk saves the food * Into every life a little rain must fall * Money talks, and, finally, that * Youth is wasted on the young "mindblowing, facesucking...irresistibly inspiring" -- Chris Goode [http://beescope.blogspot.com/] The edition has for its cover a terrific painting by Anna Ilsley, 'Lovers'. Available now from www.barquepress.com for 5 pounds plus postage. Free performance rights and erratum slip.

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Friday
Nov302007

Habitual line-steppers

xing the line- dec 7th!!!! The Horseshoe Inn, 26 Melior St, London Bridge nearest and dearest underground. 8pm chris paul and phillip kuhn aftertastes of dartington, hackney, and buenos aires

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Thursday
Nov292007

jamesmatchbox's videos