Norval G./Mark Null and Vanessa by R.Gabrielson, copyright2009
Mark Schultz, aka Norval G. Schultz, aka Bre-X Veal, aka Mark Null, aka Charm Flop, used to find African statues behind his house in Red Deer, where he grew up as a child, like a scene in a scene in a movie about psychotic murder and in it he becomes a red deer. You can see the strap from my camera in a photograph I have of him that I took on a recent visit to my home town, where he now lives. I took the photo of him, and on the way out of his building he gave me a copy of an old Wonder Woman comic. He terrifies me. Walking over a bridge one night, in another place and another time, he made me feel like he was going to push me into the icy pacific below, not out of enmity, since I am one of the 5% of humanity Mark would find worth saving. I agree with him about me, at least. Mark's menace to me has to do with his gigantic imagination. I've never confronted an artist with the same capacity for producing utter, hallucinatory brilliance. Every idea I have in his presence contorts into another form. Everything that comes to him shifts this way, gliding on the surface of percept, rushing past the held lines. Looking at his work you say Guston or Oehlen, Stockholder, Duchamp, but then he's past it, doing it in a new way, a re-invention of recognition that chastens the impure gaze.
Everything he said was a threat to me, and the other day a man was killed in front of his apartment. Below is a photograph of it from his Facebook, which is better than my Facebook. Mark didn't commit the murder, I don't think. I don't think he murders. It would be murder to find out... The rest of these images are from the same source, except for the photograph that I've taken, petrified in fear, but as fear relates to elation, or so the poet says. I have not linked to his musical products as Bre-X Veal, choice cuts. I don't care how meat sounds. I would recommend a listen with your own meat, go seek it on myspace or whatnot. If you can't find it, or he takes it down, you should kill yourself.
It is form that comes first and that makes Mark mark, some shitty internal mixture of need that compels the repetitive slop. His father died in a car wreck. He was also in the car. He has an artwork in his kitchen of a crash, a beautiful object of grief, but in the way of uncertainty, in the forensic play of the material world, this coincidence has no narrative structure, the linkage is not held for me as truth. I never asked if there was a connection, but only quietly took in whatever he meant by showing it to me, along with the other amazing things he has collected, unlike anyone else I know, a shocking collection of art that constitutes an artistic trove not unlike Bacon's studio. I have been to few places as fantastic as his apartment, a monument to hail. Driving together we see some girls eating through the window of a McDonald's, "They like to eat meat," one of us says. The girls are very young. We talk about Manson. He is reading "Cosmos" by Gombrowicz, one of my favorite books, and we talk about why we love everything, everything, and about our mutual acquaintance with Robin Blazer, drugs, having regrets about the things that we haven't done, as opposed to the things we have done. And we talk about the first book that I read on Mark's recommendation, many years ago, God. Jr. by Dennis Cooper.
One night Mark sends this sequence to me:
"23 August at 06:12
intransigent
I dig ants
23 August at 06:13
FLYMAN !
23 August at 12:17
FUCK FYCUCK CUCK FUCK
tou lost many mad words
maddend sworwds"
What else can you say? After I finish this writing I let him know I plan to send it to DC's.
Schultz writes:
"WOW,
That's fantastic! I really appreciate the encouragment John.
Ya, let's get this shit going. brew up a new pepsi generation (of squid),
the penis mightier than these words.
CHENGG_GA !!"
And then,
"by the way, 4 or five nights ago I took a few sleeping pills with beer (great combo) and during the evening i was doing some art project out on my balcony. I dropped my swiss army knife over the edge onto the ground. I forgot about it until a couple days later when I look over the edge and see it lying on the ground below, it's blade out.I didn't get around to retreiving it for the next couple of days, although I do spy it numerous times. Yesterday I get home and go out on the balcony and there is a shirtless rubby lying on the ground a few feet from my balcony... my knife is gone. I assume he took it. And today i get home and there is a fatal stabbing... Huh?"
News details on the stabbing:
http://calgary.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20100827/CGY_stabbing_Bankview_100827/20100827/?hub=CalgaryHome
It surprises me to this day to look at the press photograph of the event as compared to the one that Mark has taken. Ever since seeing it I have paid little to no attention to the details of the case. To me there is no value in explanation.
Mark's new blog:
http://charmflop.blogspot.com/
----
*
p.s. Hey. This weekend, the blog leaves you in the very capable and singular hands of writer, artist, and d.l. JW Veldhoen who has an artist on his mind whom you should know about and hold within your tastes and heart forever after. JW explains everything just north of here, and please follow his lead, talk back to him and so on until Monday rolls around at minimum. Thanks to you, and more thanks still to our mutual friend in charge. I'm still wrestling my cold towards the nearest cliff, and there's not much else to forefront this morning. ** Plexus, Hey, Gabisimo. You should read Denton Welch, actually. He might grab you. I say start with 'In Youth is Pleasure' if you do. Your poetry is addictive to read so it's only fair that you're pouncing all over it. Hm, actually, I don't think there's a single bathtub in 'Homme us Bain', now that you mention it. I never look in the mirror either or hardly ever. Mostly only when people say, 'There's something on your ... '. Ha ha, okay, well, I do intend to write my ass into nonexistence this weekend, and I've cleared almost all of the deck. What about you? But you should have fun too, I think. I mean non-writing generated fun too. I don't think it's possible to eat too many olives. Black or green? ** David Ehrenstein, Yeah, I tried to skip the most obvious unfinished guys and books except when they had a good story to tell like Capote, Foster-Wallace, etc. I even skipped Sade, which I thought was very grown up of me. And Nabokov because I thought everybody would bring him up anyway, but then nobody did, which is exciting. I especially like the late period Capote story 'Handcarved Coffins' and also a bunch of other things in that flighty but nice collection 'Music for Chameleons'. I've been reading that the new Malick is finally ready. Optimistic goss had it as coming out as soon as October, but I knew that was too much to ask. But, yeah, I'm living for that new Malick. I think you that, as far as living filmmakers go, he is it, God, etc. to me. ** Tonyoneill, Hey, Tony! Most of the novels I start and never finish end up getting turned into short fiction pieces. 'Introducing Horror Hospital' was going to be a novel. The story 'Wrong' was going to be the first chapter of 'Closer' originally, but then I changed my strategy. I thought 'The Anal Retentive Line Editor' was going to be a novel at first. And others. For a long time, I was pretty sure 'The Sluts' would never be finished. I went off and on it for almost ten years before I figured out how to do it right. How's your new one going? Are working on it right now? ** Allesfliesst, Very interesting. You've made me totally determined to read that Novalis novel. You know how something just screams 'read me'. It did to me within your sentences. Thank you. That link didn't work, but I'm sure I can find the Novalis portrait, so I will. ** Bernard Welt, Oh, no wonder no one knows Bourdain over here. I had a flight of fancy with no flight path. I must have seen him on US TV or something and probably a lot. The French 'Master Chef' is really elegant and chilly compared to the US cooking shows I've seen. The contests cook at these Philippe Starck-y portable kitchens/ very long tables, and every week the show is set in a different place, always in some gigantic, architecturally amazing space -- think the Grand Palais or the hull of a massive, Geiger-y spaceship -- and it's often filmed in these long shots that make the contests and hosts/ judges look like hyperactive specks. When people lose, they don't get dismissed with a catch phrase, but they have to run through the giant, now empty spaces in which they and their fellow contestants had been cooking toward a huge, barely cracked door through which the light of the real world scarcely leaks. They throw the door open, the intense lights fucks up the camera's light meter, and they are bleached into nonexistence. It's quite weird, but I'm kind of getting into it. Moussaka: yum, of course. Yeah, tell your students to think of my blog please, thanks. More good SPD ideas. I've done the dls as kids one, but that was ages ago, so ... Thanks, B. ** David, Did you get it scheduled before the weekend intruded? You saw Bernard Welt's comment to you, yes? ** Rigby, Hey. I've seen some of the unfinished Basquiats. Not the Dali though. I'll see if Google helps. Wow, that map to the Italian place is amazing. I think I know the initial spot/cafe where your map begins, I'm pretty sure. I'm definitely going to print those instructions out, go there, and see if I can find the place via you. What fun! Seriously. Me and mazey things go way the fuck back. Thanks a lot, Rigs! ** Sypha, Ha ha, yeah, I'm having 'what if I die first' worries about my novel-in-progress. Weird, Well not as weird, I guess, since it feels like I'm never going to finish this mind destroying thing. I remember your fantasy trilogy and you recent attempt to reenage with it very well. ** Tosh, Hey, Tosh! Trust your bones, clearly. You saw 'Killer Instinct'. So curious to see that. It's playing here any minute. And, wow, total congrats on scoring the first Mesrine book! That's joyous news for everyone, man. Awesome! ** Alan, I read a little bit of Dick's wife's version of 'The Owl ...' , and it seemed pretty faux-Dick and quite awful. I read 'Bouvard and Pecuchet', but not for years and years. I loved it when I did. It's so short, I think I'll try to sneak a reread in soon. I left Kafka out 'cos he just seemed too obvious a case or something. How's the polishing and refining going? ** Bill, 'Pale King' got delayed until next April? Ugh. Is there a film based on some DFW story or other coming out then or something, I wonder? Excellent about your progress on the new piece. A departure, interesting. Have an excellent weekend with it and with your real world life components too. ** Pilgarlic, Hey. I haven't read any of Delaney's sci-fi books. I could probably count the number of sci-fi books I've read on both hands. Or I could if PK Dick and W. Gibson were taken out of the running. Good question about the 'Bull' and Burroughs and so on. I have no idea. Someone out there online has surely reported whatever is known or even speculated re: that. Anyway, a fine weekend to you, sir. ** Jose, We're fast friends again already and never haven't been. Yeah, I mean, tell me what happened whenever the time feels right. Honestly, I couldn't see differences between the two images. I hunted them, but I couldn't see distinctions, which is to say you can't go wrong and that I pick #1 only because it was the first of the two that I clicked. Not much help. I love, love the image. What's it for? ** Slatted Light, Hey. I'm so happy that you're with me on 'Enter the Void'. Staggering. I'm still running through it my head a lot all these months later and learning continually from it. The most impressive, inspiring, game changing film I've seen in as long as I can remember. Just yesterday, Gisele and I were meeting to discuss our new theater piece, which I think I've mentioned will in the form of a walkthrough maze/ spooky house/ video game level/ installation, and as we were batting ideas around, we realized that 'EtV' is deeply influencing the way we're both conceptualizing it and how we hope it will function. Your thoughts on it are brilliant. Yeah, it's really fucking something, and I feel changed in some in-progress way by it, and I can't recall the last time something that was made in the name of art did this to me. Awesome, D. Your enthusing makes me very happy. ** _Black_Acrylic, Hey, Ben. Thanks a lot. How are you doing? What are you working on this weekend, or are you just enjoying the unscheduled time for what it is? ** Misanthrope, Aw, thanks, George. I'm really glad you liked the Day. There are far, far worse writers to have in the back of your mind than Mann. You know I love his stuff too. Yeah, for me, as I'm sure I've said a lot, my intro to reading literature was so weird 'cos I went straight from reading the worst shit to reading intensely experimental, mostly French fiction and poetry only. I mean, I read the classics a bit in school, but I wasn't interested in them. I came to more narrative literature later, by which time I saw literary conventions as a strike against the books that had to be transcended for me by the writer's style, voice, structuring, etc., which had to be experimental enough to make up for the books' more normal centers that I just wasn't interested in. I think that growing up as a music listener with Rap and Hip Hop around must have made the experience very different than it was for me. I feel like the shift when Hip Hop became the most pervasive music form was a such major one. ** Chilly Jay Chill, Fuck, as luck definitely would not have it, your October gig is at the exact time/day of my reading at the New Museum, so I definitely won't have that privilege, which sucks. Oh, right, that lost Bruno Schultz novel. I forgot all about that. I'm going to google that. Maybe there's enough known about it to occasion a post. Yes, there is a work Guyotat abandoned when he went into the coma. I don't know the story of it or what if anything will become of it, though. Thanks, Jeff! ** Steevee, Yeah, word has it that Malick is shooting a new film in ... November, I think. Crazy. I know just a little of that Ivory Coast Hip Hop because you hear it here occasionally. I'll seek out that collection. Thanks, Steve. Any news or progress on your glasses/eyes? ** The Dreadful Flying Glove, The 'OinD' is written entirely by Dick's last wife who claims to have helped Dick write a novel or two. Anyway, like I said to someone, I found a little excerpt, and it is so not a Dick novel. Me too, about looking greatly forward to the Herte book. Totally. Fine weekend, mister. ** JW Veldoen, Hey. It's the man of the hour or the next forty-eight of them rather. Gosh, John, I don't know what advice to give re: your question. Going is just different than staying. Less expensive than? I don't think you'll lose either way. I don't know. Wow, The Rosy Crucifixion. I haven't thought about in ages. I think I only two of those novels. I always think Miller's big novels lose something or their way or something else after about 25 to 50 or so pages, but I haven't read him in forever. I think I get to do what I please a lot because I really like pleasing people whom I think deserve to pleased by something or someone, and I think I'm just lucky enough to happen to be around them. That's probably the secret of my pleasure. ** Paul Joseph, Hey, man. Very interesting. I feel that way about unfinished novels in the world but not about my own, but I guess that's probably just my neuroses acting up, ha ha. But, yeah. Just for me, and to use the most obvious example, had Sade finished '120 Days of Sodom', I'd be different writer and probably a different person too. And if those who think the unfinished form of '120 Days' was one of the most important progenitors of avant-garde or experimental fiction are right, well, the impact speaks for itself. Beautiful thoughts from you, my friend. ** Inthemostpeculiarway, Hey. Yeah, 'Psychic Teens' or whatever it's called is a cable reality/ documentary show about real or 'real' psychic teenagers. I saw a couple of episodes, and it was really interesting. I don't remember what channel it's on. TLC, TBS, Lifetime, Chiller, Scyfy ... ? I can't recall. Korine's poem was probably the best thing in the show, yeah. They were showing videos in the basement of Korine installing his art shows and reading his writing to David Blaine and so on, and they were nice too. 'The Last Exorcism' opens here next week. I should see it, right? I'm thinking I should. "Myra Breckenridge' on TV, that's cool. Oh, I like Nancy Sinatra. One my ex-boyfriends was obsessed with her, and I learned to appreciate her coolness, etc. through him. 'Sugartown' was his favorite. That apartment sounds nice, yeah. They still make Virginia Slims? Yuck. Thanks for the movie news. That 'Breathers' movie sounds promising. I always watch Stephen King movies even though about 8% of them are bad enough to be good. Obviously, 'The Shining' and 'Carrie' and etc. are another thing. Well, I can't watch the VMAs live 'cos I'l be dead asleep then, but I'll try to find a replay/stream or something if one exists. My Friday: Worked on novel. Decided after two days of thinking the new Google instant search option was cool that it's extremely annoying, and I turned it off. I found out my agent is coming through Paris in a couple of weeks and wants to hang out, which is nice. I like him. I decided I need a haircut, so I guess I'll coerce Yury into giving me a trim on one of his days off, Sunday or Monday. I walked over to Republique, met Gisele, and we had coffee and talked about our new theater piece-slash-maze or whatever. We made some good headway. It's going to have about ten life-size dolls as the stars, and they'll be animatronic, so they'll move and cry and talk and shiver and whatever else we want them to do. I'm going to start making notes, and then I'll write the structure and dialogue of the piece which we'll work from. I've never written a script for a maze/spooky house before, so I'm excited. After that, we went to the offices of the publishing house DisVoir who are putting out our 'Jerk / Through Their Tears' book/CD next March. They said we have to figure out a way to cut eight pages from the book, which sucks, but whatever. And the 'Jerk' radio play, which will be on the CD in French and English versions, is 11 minutes too long for the CD format. We refused to cut it, so I guess maybe there'll be two CDs instead, or I don't know. Anyway, the meeting was fine, I guess. I came home afterwards, ate, started making a blog post (about Catherine Breillat), ate stuff, smoked the usual, visited with Yury, thought about my novel but didn't write anything, watched a documentary on TV about the history of the helicopter, which was more interesting than you might think. Not much else. Sleep. How was your weekend, my Texan friend? ** Paul America, Wow, hey there! I haven't seen you in ages. What a nice surprise. You mean magazines from now that are like Index was then? Hm, guess not. Actually, France still has a lot magazines, and some of them aren't bad. 'All Ears' went out of print like ten years ago or something. Stray copies have just been drifting around since then. The new book, whose title is not cheesy, motherfucker, is about 10 times bigger or longer or more full of stuff or whatever. I did a mid-year best-of list a while back. I'll start working on my year end list in a month or two, I guess. No, I think it was a great year, actually. Ton of great books, music, and a few genius movies. One of the best recent years, I say. You like Robyn? I've been meaning to try her, Okay, I will. I'll trust you about the greatness of the Courtney/Hole show. My Courtney obit? Uh, Courtney Love was better than she ended up being. How's that? Love back to you. What are you up to these days? ** Eli Jurgen, Wow, awesome, about the party. 'Noise Control', interesting. I wonder if I can watch that online somehow. What channel is it on? I have this app that lets me watch certain international TV channels. 'Aarons Party', cool. That was before his jaw got totally scary/ prominent. Nice haul there on the gift front. Ah, the great Jean Rhys! Very cool about your friend's novel much less about your illustrations. I'll try to order that when the time comes. So, what's your weekend? Do you need post-party recovery time, or are you barreling forward? ** Oliver, Hey, Oliver! Great to see you! That's funny because I'm trying not to feel like an unfinished novelist right now. But tell me, just case, how does it feel? ** Bollo, Hey, man! Great to see you. Oh, right, 'Jerk' on Sunday, gulp. Hope you ... you know ... like it. I don't have SOMA's tape, but he was mixing it over the theater's loudspeakers every chance he could while we were in Avignon, so I heard it at least. It's very good. I'm sure I can squeeze an mp3 out of him. Giuseppe Andrews ... I don't think I know his work unless I'm spacing. Let me know how the films are. You're sick too? Fuck. Mine's taking its unsweet time getting the hell out of my body. I hope your cold is friendlier. Bon weekend. ** Pisycaca, Hey! Wow, amazing if you could come to Paris, obviously. I won't get too excited about that for now. There's a hostel near Republique that everyone I know raves about. I don't remember its name, but I can find it if you wish. Yeah, if you think you're going to get here, let me know, obviously. I'll cross my fingers, if you don't mind. Lots of love to you and to the X. ** Okay, you're all JW Veldhoen's kids now. Enjoy the experience, have fine weekends, and I'll see you on Monday.
"WOW,
That's fantastic! I really appreciate the encouragment John.
Ya, let's get this shit going. brew up a new pepsi generation (of squid),
the penis mightier than these words.
CHENGG_GA !!"
And then,
"by the way, 4 or five nights ago I took a few sleeping pills with beer (great combo) and during the evening i was doing some art project out on my balcony. I dropped my swiss army knife over the edge onto the ground. I forgot about it until a couple days later when I look over the edge and see it lying on the ground below, it's blade out.I didn't get around to retreiving it for the next couple of days, although I do spy it numerous times. Yesterday I get home and go out on the balcony and there is a shirtless rubby lying on the ground a few feet from my balcony... my knife is gone. I assume he took it. And today i get home and there is a fatal stabbing... Huh?"
News details on the stabbing:
http://calgary.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20100827/CGY_stabbing_Bankview_100827/20100827/?hub=CalgaryHome
It surprises me to this day to look at the press photograph of the event as compared to the one that Mark has taken. Ever since seeing it I have paid little to no attention to the details of the case. To me there is no value in explanation.
Mark's new blog:
http://charmflop.blogspot.com/
----
*
p.s. Hey. This weekend, the blog leaves you in the very capable and singular hands of writer, artist, and d.l. JW Veldhoen who has an artist on his mind whom you should know about and hold within your tastes and heart forever after. JW explains everything just north of here, and please follow his lead, talk back to him and so on until Monday rolls around at minimum. Thanks to you, and more thanks still to our mutual friend in charge. I'm still wrestling my cold towards the nearest cliff, and there's not much else to forefront this morning. ** Plexus, Hey, Gabisimo. You should read Denton Welch, actually. He might grab you. I say start with 'In Youth is Pleasure' if you do. Your poetry is addictive to read so it's only fair that you're pouncing all over it. Hm, actually, I don't think there's a single bathtub in 'Homme us Bain', now that you mention it. I never look in the mirror either or hardly ever. Mostly only when people say, 'There's something on your ... '. Ha ha, okay, well, I do intend to write my ass into nonexistence this weekend, and I've cleared almost all of the deck. What about you? But you should have fun too, I think. I mean non-writing generated fun too. I don't think it's possible to eat too many olives. Black or green? ** David Ehrenstein, Yeah, I tried to skip the most obvious unfinished guys and books except when they had a good story to tell like Capote, Foster-Wallace, etc. I even skipped Sade, which I thought was very grown up of me. And Nabokov because I thought everybody would bring him up anyway, but then nobody did, which is exciting. I especially like the late period Capote story 'Handcarved Coffins' and also a bunch of other things in that flighty but nice collection 'Music for Chameleons'. I've been reading that the new Malick is finally ready. Optimistic goss had it as coming out as soon as October, but I knew that was too much to ask. But, yeah, I'm living for that new Malick. I think you that, as far as living filmmakers go, he is it, God, etc. to me. ** Tonyoneill, Hey, Tony! Most of the novels I start and never finish end up getting turned into short fiction pieces. 'Introducing Horror Hospital' was going to be a novel. The story 'Wrong' was going to be the first chapter of 'Closer' originally, but then I changed my strategy. I thought 'The Anal Retentive Line Editor' was going to be a novel at first. And others. For a long time, I was pretty sure 'The Sluts' would never be finished. I went off and on it for almost ten years before I figured out how to do it right. How's your new one going? Are working on it right now? ** Allesfliesst, Very interesting. You've made me totally determined to read that Novalis novel. You know how something just screams 'read me'. It did to me within your sentences. Thank you. That link didn't work, but I'm sure I can find the Novalis portrait, so I will. ** Bernard Welt, Oh, no wonder no one knows Bourdain over here. I had a flight of fancy with no flight path. I must have seen him on US TV or something and probably a lot. The French 'Master Chef' is really elegant and chilly compared to the US cooking shows I've seen. The contests cook at these Philippe Starck-y portable kitchens/ very long tables, and every week the show is set in a different place, always in some gigantic, architecturally amazing space -- think the Grand Palais or the hull of a massive, Geiger-y spaceship -- and it's often filmed in these long shots that make the contests and hosts/ judges look like hyperactive specks. When people lose, they don't get dismissed with a catch phrase, but they have to run through the giant, now empty spaces in which they and their fellow contestants had been cooking toward a huge, barely cracked door through which the light of the real world scarcely leaks. They throw the door open, the intense lights fucks up the camera's light meter, and they are bleached into nonexistence. It's quite weird, but I'm kind of getting into it. Moussaka: yum, of course. Yeah, tell your students to think of my blog please, thanks. More good SPD ideas. I've done the dls as kids one, but that was ages ago, so ... Thanks, B. ** David, Did you get it scheduled before the weekend intruded? You saw Bernard Welt's comment to you, yes? ** Rigby, Hey. I've seen some of the unfinished Basquiats. Not the Dali though. I'll see if Google helps. Wow, that map to the Italian place is amazing. I think I know the initial spot/cafe where your map begins, I'm pretty sure. I'm definitely going to print those instructions out, go there, and see if I can find the place via you. What fun! Seriously. Me and mazey things go way the fuck back. Thanks a lot, Rigs! ** Sypha, Ha ha, yeah, I'm having 'what if I die first' worries about my novel-in-progress. Weird, Well not as weird, I guess, since it feels like I'm never going to finish this mind destroying thing. I remember your fantasy trilogy and you recent attempt to reenage with it very well. ** Tosh, Hey, Tosh! Trust your bones, clearly. You saw 'Killer Instinct'. So curious to see that. It's playing here any minute. And, wow, total congrats on scoring the first Mesrine book! That's joyous news for everyone, man. Awesome! ** Alan, I read a little bit of Dick's wife's version of 'The Owl ...' , and it seemed pretty faux-Dick and quite awful. I read 'Bouvard and Pecuchet', but not for years and years. I loved it when I did. It's so short, I think I'll try to sneak a reread in soon. I left Kafka out 'cos he just seemed too obvious a case or something. How's the polishing and refining going? ** Bill, 'Pale King' got delayed until next April? Ugh. Is there a film based on some DFW story or other coming out then or something, I wonder? Excellent about your progress on the new piece. A departure, interesting. Have an excellent weekend with it and with your real world life components too. ** Pilgarlic, Hey. I haven't read any of Delaney's sci-fi books. I could probably count the number of sci-fi books I've read on both hands. Or I could if PK Dick and W. Gibson were taken out of the running. Good question about the 'Bull' and Burroughs and so on. I have no idea. Someone out there online has surely reported whatever is known or even speculated re: that. Anyway, a fine weekend to you, sir. ** Jose, We're fast friends again already and never haven't been. Yeah, I mean, tell me what happened whenever the time feels right. Honestly, I couldn't see differences between the two images. I hunted them, but I couldn't see distinctions, which is to say you can't go wrong and that I pick #1 only because it was the first of the two that I clicked. Not much help. I love, love the image. What's it for? ** Slatted Light, Hey. I'm so happy that you're with me on 'Enter the Void'. Staggering. I'm still running through it my head a lot all these months later and learning continually from it. The most impressive, inspiring, game changing film I've seen in as long as I can remember. Just yesterday, Gisele and I were meeting to discuss our new theater piece, which I think I've mentioned will in the form of a walkthrough maze/ spooky house/ video game level/ installation, and as we were batting ideas around, we realized that 'EtV' is deeply influencing the way we're both conceptualizing it and how we hope it will function. Your thoughts on it are brilliant. Yeah, it's really fucking something, and I feel changed in some in-progress way by it, and I can't recall the last time something that was made in the name of art did this to me. Awesome, D. Your enthusing makes me very happy. ** _Black_Acrylic, Hey, Ben. Thanks a lot. How are you doing? What are you working on this weekend, or are you just enjoying the unscheduled time for what it is? ** Misanthrope, Aw, thanks, George. I'm really glad you liked the Day. There are far, far worse writers to have in the back of your mind than Mann. You know I love his stuff too. Yeah, for me, as I'm sure I've said a lot, my intro to reading literature was so weird 'cos I went straight from reading the worst shit to reading intensely experimental, mostly French fiction and poetry only. I mean, I read the classics a bit in school, but I wasn't interested in them. I came to more narrative literature later, by which time I saw literary conventions as a strike against the books that had to be transcended for me by the writer's style, voice, structuring, etc., which had to be experimental enough to make up for the books' more normal centers that I just wasn't interested in. I think that growing up as a music listener with Rap and Hip Hop around must have made the experience very different than it was for me. I feel like the shift when Hip Hop became the most pervasive music form was a such major one. ** Chilly Jay Chill, Fuck, as luck definitely would not have it, your October gig is at the exact time/day of my reading at the New Museum, so I definitely won't have that privilege, which sucks. Oh, right, that lost Bruno Schultz novel. I forgot all about that. I'm going to google that. Maybe there's enough known about it to occasion a post. Yes, there is a work Guyotat abandoned when he went into the coma. I don't know the story of it or what if anything will become of it, though. Thanks, Jeff! ** Steevee, Yeah, word has it that Malick is shooting a new film in ... November, I think. Crazy. I know just a little of that Ivory Coast Hip Hop because you hear it here occasionally. I'll seek out that collection. Thanks, Steve. Any news or progress on your glasses/eyes? ** The Dreadful Flying Glove, The 'OinD' is written entirely by Dick's last wife who claims to have helped Dick write a novel or two. Anyway, like I said to someone, I found a little excerpt, and it is so not a Dick novel. Me too, about looking greatly forward to the Herte book. Totally. Fine weekend, mister. ** JW Veldoen, Hey. It's the man of the hour or the next forty-eight of them rather. Gosh, John, I don't know what advice to give re: your question. Going is just different than staying. Less expensive than? I don't think you'll lose either way. I don't know. Wow, The Rosy Crucifixion. I haven't thought about in ages. I think I only two of those novels. I always think Miller's big novels lose something or their way or something else after about 25 to 50 or so pages, but I haven't read him in forever. I think I get to do what I please a lot because I really like pleasing people whom I think deserve to pleased by something or someone, and I think I'm just lucky enough to happen to be around them. That's probably the secret of my pleasure. ** Paul Joseph, Hey, man. Very interesting. I feel that way about unfinished novels in the world but not about my own, but I guess that's probably just my neuroses acting up, ha ha. But, yeah. Just for me, and to use the most obvious example, had Sade finished '120 Days of Sodom', I'd be different writer and probably a different person too. And if those who think the unfinished form of '120 Days' was one of the most important progenitors of avant-garde or experimental fiction are right, well, the impact speaks for itself. Beautiful thoughts from you, my friend. ** Inthemostpeculiarway, Hey. Yeah, 'Psychic Teens' or whatever it's called is a cable reality/ documentary show about real or 'real' psychic teenagers. I saw a couple of episodes, and it was really interesting. I don't remember what channel it's on. TLC, TBS, Lifetime, Chiller, Scyfy ... ? I can't recall. Korine's poem was probably the best thing in the show, yeah. They were showing videos in the basement of Korine installing his art shows and reading his writing to David Blaine and so on, and they were nice too. 'The Last Exorcism' opens here next week. I should see it, right? I'm thinking I should. "Myra Breckenridge' on TV, that's cool. Oh, I like Nancy Sinatra. One my ex-boyfriends was obsessed with her, and I learned to appreciate her coolness, etc. through him. 'Sugartown' was his favorite. That apartment sounds nice, yeah. They still make Virginia Slims? Yuck. Thanks for the movie news. That 'Breathers' movie sounds promising. I always watch Stephen King movies even though about 8% of them are bad enough to be good. Obviously, 'The Shining' and 'Carrie' and etc. are another thing. Well, I can't watch the VMAs live 'cos I'l be dead asleep then, but I'll try to find a replay/stream or something if one exists. My Friday: Worked on novel. Decided after two days of thinking the new Google instant search option was cool that it's extremely annoying, and I turned it off. I found out my agent is coming through Paris in a couple of weeks and wants to hang out, which is nice. I like him. I decided I need a haircut, so I guess I'll coerce Yury into giving me a trim on one of his days off, Sunday or Monday. I walked over to Republique, met Gisele, and we had coffee and talked about our new theater piece-slash-maze or whatever. We made some good headway. It's going to have about ten life-size dolls as the stars, and they'll be animatronic, so they'll move and cry and talk and shiver and whatever else we want them to do. I'm going to start making notes, and then I'll write the structure and dialogue of the piece which we'll work from. I've never written a script for a maze/spooky house before, so I'm excited. After that, we went to the offices of the publishing house DisVoir who are putting out our 'Jerk / Through Their Tears' book/CD next March. They said we have to figure out a way to cut eight pages from the book, which sucks, but whatever. And the 'Jerk' radio play, which will be on the CD in French and English versions, is 11 minutes too long for the CD format. We refused to cut it, so I guess maybe there'll be two CDs instead, or I don't know. Anyway, the meeting was fine, I guess. I came home afterwards, ate, started making a blog post (about Catherine Breillat), ate stuff, smoked the usual, visited with Yury, thought about my novel but didn't write anything, watched a documentary on TV about the history of the helicopter, which was more interesting than you might think. Not much else. Sleep. How was your weekend, my Texan friend? ** Paul America, Wow, hey there! I haven't seen you in ages. What a nice surprise. You mean magazines from now that are like Index was then? Hm, guess not. Actually, France still has a lot magazines, and some of them aren't bad. 'All Ears' went out of print like ten years ago or something. Stray copies have just been drifting around since then. The new book, whose title is not cheesy, motherfucker, is about 10 times bigger or longer or more full of stuff or whatever. I did a mid-year best-of list a while back. I'll start working on my year end list in a month or two, I guess. No, I think it was a great year, actually. Ton of great books, music, and a few genius movies. One of the best recent years, I say. You like Robyn? I've been meaning to try her, Okay, I will. I'll trust you about the greatness of the Courtney/Hole show. My Courtney obit? Uh, Courtney Love was better than she ended up being. How's that? Love back to you. What are you up to these days? ** Eli Jurgen, Wow, awesome, about the party. 'Noise Control', interesting. I wonder if I can watch that online somehow. What channel is it on? I have this app that lets me watch certain international TV channels. 'Aarons Party', cool. That was before his jaw got totally scary/ prominent. Nice haul there on the gift front. Ah, the great Jean Rhys! Very cool about your friend's novel much less about your illustrations. I'll try to order that when the time comes. So, what's your weekend? Do you need post-party recovery time, or are you barreling forward? ** Oliver, Hey, Oliver! Great to see you! That's funny because I'm trying not to feel like an unfinished novelist right now. But tell me, just case, how does it feel? ** Bollo, Hey, man! Great to see you. Oh, right, 'Jerk' on Sunday, gulp. Hope you ... you know ... like it. I don't have SOMA's tape, but he was mixing it over the theater's loudspeakers every chance he could while we were in Avignon, so I heard it at least. It's very good. I'm sure I can squeeze an mp3 out of him. Giuseppe Andrews ... I don't think I know his work unless I'm spacing. Let me know how the films are. You're sick too? Fuck. Mine's taking its unsweet time getting the hell out of my body. I hope your cold is friendlier. Bon weekend. ** Pisycaca, Hey! Wow, amazing if you could come to Paris, obviously. I won't get too excited about that for now. There's a hostel near Republique that everyone I know raves about. I don't remember its name, but I can find it if you wish. Yeah, if you think you're going to get here, let me know, obviously. I'll cross my fingers, if you don't mind. Lots of love to you and to the X. ** Okay, you're all JW Veldhoen's kids now. Enjoy the experience, have fine weekends, and I'll see you on Monday.
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