That's Art!

NaNoWriMo

2008-11-02T15:07:00.000-08:00

- Written by Jordan Smith

No, that title is not a typo. NaNoWriMo, meaning National Novel Writing Month, is a fairly new contest in the category of “Timed Artistic Contests.”

When the night of October 31st comes to an end at 11:59, contestants will have their pots of coffee hot, their carpal muscles relaxed and their notes strewn about like a maniacal genius. For they will be writing furiously by the seat of their pants every minute of their spare time to complete 178 pages of an original, fictional narrative in just 30 days. They will compete against an estimated 150,000 other contestants. Only 16% will actually finish.

Chris Baty, a UC Berkeley and University of Chicago graduate and now a journalist for the SF Weekly and East Bay Express, started the contest in July 1999. It started with just 21 Bay Area participants. By, 2000, NaNoWriMo had a website. Since then, the number of participants has grown so significantly that National Public Radio and CBS Evening News have done stories on the phenomenon.

Last year, 101,767 people registered. This year, the site is expecting 150,000+ participants. And you can include me, Jordan Smith, the senior editor of “That’s Art,” as one of those contestants.

As far as any other rules go, there are none. The suggested pace for contestants is 1667 words per day. It can be of any genre or length. It can even be the beginning of an even longer novel. The magical number of 50k is to distinguish the novel from the 40,000 word novella.
To make the most of one’s participation in NaNoWriMo, pick up Chris Baty’s book “No Plot? No Problem!” from any local book store. It will help the writer to improvise and write as much as possible and maintain a story. One of the objectives of NaNo is to help writers get started and have a deadline or goal as motivation.

The “Quantity Over Quality” philosophy plays in heavily in a Hemingway manner. As the late, great writer said, it is a successful day of writing when you have written one good page. If you write enough, something is bound to sound good. So write as much as you can. Afterwards, go through and take out what does not work and then edit what you want to keep.

For all things Nano related, including guidance, news, other writers’ work and processes, visit the official website at http://www.nanowrimo.org/. Stay creative and watch out next month for my much-hyped novel.

In Alameda, The Frank Bette Center for the Arts will be hosting weekly write-ins at Peet’s Coffee, every Sunday night from 7-10pm. You can contact the new Literary Arts Director Xtina for more information at Xtina@frankbettecenter.org. See you there!

Temple Hill Symphony

2008-11-02T14:58:00.000-08:00

- written by Jordan Smith

The Mormon Temple in the Oakland Hills is not just a place of worship. The temple also has an opera house. Every couple of months, the house symphony, The Temple Hill Symphony (THS), comprised primarily of attendants of the Temple, put on a concert for the general public. Sometimes they collaborate with professionals such as Jenny Oakes Baker and Russell Hancock Attendees are allowed to discuss the events after the fact with outsiders.

On October 11th and 12th, Lafayette pianist Randall Benway performed the Brahms Piano Concerto No. 1 with the THS. As always, John Pew was the conductor. The first on the program was the William Tell Overture by Rosinni and then the Bacchanale by Saint-Saens.
At times, there were some noticeably out of tune stringed instruments. Brass sections occasionally hit too high. But these were barely noticeable and only so for the first two pieces.
Beforehand, Pew told the audience the history of The Brahms 1 and what it meant to him. He paused a few times during this intro, holding back his tears of joy. It was always his dream to perform the piece in front of a live audience. He carried that dream out and it was executed flawlessly.

Overall, it was remarkable, particularly for what Pew humbly considered an “amateur” symphony. All three movements had excellent percussion: on time and thoroughly driving the energy. The accompaniment of Benway added more to the soloist section for Brahms. Pew was able to show what a group of passionate musicians can do.

To check out any upcoming events of the symphony, visit their website at http://thsymphony.org/. The next event will be February 7-8, 2009 at 7:30, with the theme of “Silver Screen Serenade.” All events are free and open to the general public. There is no dress code, but this writer suggests semi-formal attire.

The symphony is also always looking for volunteer musicians to contribute their talents. More details can be found on the aforementioned website.

Profile of Will Blank

2008-11-02T14:34:00.000-08:00

- written by Jordan Smith

The Rootclip.com project is a web-based film contest. The makers of the site begin a segment (or “chapter”) of a film. It is then up to contestants/filmmakers to complete the film chapter by chapter. The only rule is that the film must follow the theme of the first chapter and preserve the lead characters. Viewers of the website then vote to decide which entries become an official part of the film.

The winner of the last two chapters of the most recent film was Smash & Grab Productions (S&GP), an amateur film company headed by Alameda resident, Will Blank (24), Jake Bradbury and Blake Anderson. All three met at UC Santa Cruz their freshman year in 2002. Since then, the trio has made countless music videos and short-length films. Some have even won awards.
Before filming, Will was always artistically inclined; he painted and sketched, played the piano, wrote and did photography. He saw all of these artistic venues coalescing into the medium of film. “I could decide where the art went,” he says, “what kind of music belonged where and could write the scripts.”

Will started filming in the 10th grade while attending Arthur Andersen Community Learning Center (AACLC), now Alameda Community Learning Center. Will was obsessed with early 90’s rap and, as a joke, decided to superimpose himself into a montage of hip-hop videos. This was made possible by AACLC’s availability of a green room and editing and recording equipment to the students.

This may have been Will’s first dabbling in film but he considers his first real project a short he made to the theme of the Andy Griffith show. “The story was of my friend swinging a golf club against a green screen and hitting someone with a golf ball,” he recounts. ”That’s it, really. It was actually a pretty stupid movie.”

The payoff would not be stupid. From there, Will embarked on a long, creative evolution. He got into acting, even starring in a majority of his films, learned more of on and off-screen techniques, visual effects and editing programs. He now works at NBC Universal as a post-production assistant for the show “Heroes.”

Jake Bradbury has been making films since high school. He first started out on a lot of projects, directing family members or friends. His first big project was his movie “Disconnected,” which starred his dad and a neighbor. The film won “Best Thriller” at the Berkeley film festival. It was then that Jake knew he wanted to make film his life.

Blake originally wanted to be an actor, having done roles in a few of Jake’s productions while at Santa Cruz. The two became friends and then housemates. When not in front of the camera, Blake works on cinematography. He was responsible for the camerawork on both of the Rootclip videos. Right now, he works as a location's manager at the Veteran's Memorial Hospital where “Gray's Anatomy” is filmed.

One can only call S&GP an amateur film company because they do it all on their own budget. Despite not having lighting equipment or an HD camera, the quality of art that the team makes is far from amateur.

In the music video for the song “Bird Island,” by local band Roman Ruins, Will created a bittersweet fairy tale of a little girl and her adventures to the namesake location. All the special effects were done with paper and cardboard sets, reminiscent to the playful visuals of Michel Gondry.

In “Ghost,” Jake and Will are able to make their college into an unrecognizably eerie and dark world. It was shot in one night using only props, lighting and costumes that were immediately available. It was practically filmed by the seat of their pants, even a majority of the lightning being done with a stolen construction lamp. The results are stunning and effectively creepy.
All of S&GP’s video prove that ideas are more important than budget and that a team can “work well with limited time and resources.” Will says that the necessary equipment is a digital camera and a computer with a good editing program. Though Will says he personally has the most fun with editing, it is also the most important for a filmmaker. He says that “editing is what you have the most control over and it allows you to see what is worth keeping or throwing away.”
Editing proved to be particularly important for “Ghost,” a film that was shot in two days. Will describes their process as the team coming up with an idea and then assembling a team of volunteers who want to help. They then focus in and get as many needed shots, edit that footage, re-shoot parts that need to be and then edit again.

Will describes his editing as “butchering,” where he will cut anything and everything extraneous. “With editing in regards to ideas and how we do stuff, we just make sure there is a beginning, middle and end,” he Will. “The movies that people don’t respond well with are those without end, so we really stick to the story. At first I didn’t want to stick to form, but there is a reason why form exists: it works. Every video we do, we pay attention to form and edit out whatever is unnecessary.”

Will sites S&G’s film “This House is Haunted” as a good example concise storytelling. “It was shot on whim,” Will confesses. ”While editing, I thought it was terrible. But when we put in the sound effects and music, people thought that it was the best thing we ever did. And that is the most clear story we had done. There was a lot of crappy visuals but the story was solid and it carried. Editing made this possible.”

For all other production, S&G sends for others with the particular equipment and complementary tech they need. This allows them to focus on what they do best, learn from their collaborators, network and learn how to run a crew. “We got a friend of a friend, Alejandro Wilkins (also of Alameda), who lives here in L.A. to take care of cinematography and lightning, both of which he is really good at. We then got a guy from my work to do the sound on these last two videos; they both brought a whole other dimension to our work.”

Where certain equipment or specialized personnel cannot be obtained, the team learns to be resourceful with what they have. For their movie on rootclip, the lightning for the interrogation room scene was all natural. “Blake shot that particular piece,” Will says. “He had access to an amazing location that looked like a dungeon and we made sure we went in when the lighting was perfect and shot at different locations in the room that had the right light.”

The work in these chapters show moments of immaculate visual clarity and simulate big-production quality. The chapters also execute Hollywood clichés so naturally that they feel like the trio’s own ideas. Their interpretations of chapters five and six were made in just 10 days and won the 500 and $2000 prizes respectively. The money went toward buying professional lightning kit, an investment that Will says “will step (their) game up.”

Recently, Will Blank and Jake Bradbury entered a Logitech commercial contest on the theme “liberate your laptop, liberate your life.” Jake’s has a journalist message, telling of how information access can raise awareness of global social and economic issues. Will’s is humorous, showing how Logitech hardware can get you a hot date to a red carpet event. Ultimately, S&G wants to make feature-length films. If you check out there website and send them your support, this may very well happen sooner.

Both Logitech commercials use the team’s new lighting equipment. You can compare and contrast the new videos to the older ones at the following links:
:http://www.smashandgrabpro.com/films.html
http://www.youtube.com/user/smashgrabpro

For S&GP’s prize-winning rootclip.com chapters 5 and 6, visit:http://rootclip.com/stories/chance-encounter/

Connecting the Art with the Spectator

2008-10-01T15:19:00.000-07:00

Want to know what it’s like to be a part of the artistic process while viewing it at the gallery? It sounds as impossible as two objects occupying the same space. Leave it to a handful of San Francisco artists to find a way.

Starting September 30 at 4:30 p.m. through November 1st, SF Cameraworks will be opening their newest exhibit “I Feel I am Free but I Know I am Not (Parts 2).”

Founded in 1974 San Francisco Camerawork is a photo gallery for emerging and mid-career artists exploring new directions in photography and related media. Essentially, SF Camerawork is fringe photography, i.e. interesting. Since it’s inception, the gallery has had more than 400 exhibits, showcasing the works of artists from all around the world.

Curated by Chuck Mobley, the concept of “I Feel Free…” is to turn the spectator (you, the viewer) into a factory girl and the artist (who is present for all of this) into, well, the person still doing the art.

For example, Tim Sullivan is one of the artists. He is known for his use of grey-heavy photographs of playful images with one or two outstanding colors. His exhibit allows one to replace Tallulah Bankhead via bluescreen in Alfred Hitchcock's Lifeboat (1944). Sullivan actually brings a boat into the gallery for reenactment of the movie’s trademark scene. Haven’t seen the movie? No problem: participants are allowed to throw away the script and improvise.

Also present is Roger Sayre. Sayre is an enthusiast of daguerreotype, which what he says is “an early type of photography, in which the image is exposed directly onto a mirror-polished surface of silver bearing a coating of silver halide particles deposited by iodine vapor portraits.” The earliest photographs are all mostly daguerreotypes. The process is time consuming, yet Sayre, for his exhibit, actually takes the hour to develop pictures of – yes – you. Of course, you must set reserve a time slot for this.

Guillermo Gómez-Peña and Violeta’s piece is to take a volunteer from an audience and begin assembling an identity for them. The artists assign an ethnic identity and supply the props. It is the audience members who bring identity to life. The objective is to see what other people’s perception of ethnicity is as they change the person. The remaining audience members then take instant photographs which are then put up in the gallery. Multitask, a bay area collective, puts you in the set of an impromptu reality TV show. First they assign you an objective. Once completed, the audience members must make their own and complete it. Think Fear Factor or Road Rules gone gonzo.

The gallery hours are Tuesdays through Saturday from 12 until 5 p.m. It is located 657 Mission St. on the second floor in San Francisco. General admission is $5.00 and $2.00 for students and seniors. It is free for all Camerawork members. For information, call (415) 512-2020 or visit them at http://www.sfcamerawork.org/ or send an e-mail to info@sfcamerawork.org.

Photo courtesy of TimSullivanArt.com

Sprint, Jump, Roll - Traceur

2008-10-01T14:55:00.000-07:00

We’ve all seen Casino Royal, the most recent installment of the James Bond franchise. For the sake of giving this article a great lead, we’ll also assume that your favorite part of that movie was the beginning chase sequence. Bond’s target was able to swiftly and cunningly jump to and from narrow platforms, swing through narrow gaps between obstacles and fall from twenty-foot heights at great speeds.

It turns out that this chase scene’s style is commonly practiced. Going by the name “Parkour,” meaning “the art of movement,” it stems from French firefighter Raymond Belle’s lessons with colleague and physical educator, Georges Hébert. Belle and Hébert developed “Free-running,” a way to best overcome obstacles fluidly in a natural environment. Hébert later published his and Belle’s methods in the former’s book “Méthode Naturelle.”

Parkour developed after Raymond’s death, when his son David and his friend Sébastien Foucan (the acrobat who played Bond’s target in CR[1]), altered free-running’s fundamental principle. Where free-running was allowed more opportunity for acrobatics, David developed Parkour to focus on efficiency. He says that “parkour is getting over all of the obstacles in your path as you would in an emergency…(to) move in such a way, with any movement, as to help you gain the most ground on someone or something, whether escaping from it or chasing toward it." Kerry Folan of the Washington Post says that “as martial arts are a form of training for the fight, Parkour is a form of training for the flight.”

I thought I had never met any acrobats (or “traceurs”) for this sport, but then I ended up meeting one over this previous summer. The entire sport fascinated me and I needed to know more about. After talking to this traceur, named Austin Gall, I had to get it into writing for this newsletter.

But how does Parkour pertinently connect with art and make it worthy of “That’s Art?” When I first asked Austin, he responded with this allegory: “Parkour is like the Rennaissance sculptor who receives whatever lump of rock he can from the supplier; it’s up to him, based on the size and shape of it, to think of something that he can carve from it. With parkour, you are likewise given a random urban landscape to figure out how you’re going to maneuver in it.”
The philosophy of Parkour varies between each traceur, much like art. Generally, Parkour is about overcoming obstacles both physically and mentally, testing the limits of your body and facing fear. “First there's the fear of the unknown; doing something you've never done before in a new place you've never been to.” Austin says. “Then of course is the fear of injury since the sport can be a little risky at times.”

Parkour is also about conquering your environment and deviating from the everyday route to forge your own path. “You don't walk in a straight line, holding your briefcase with your head permanently fixed straight ahead like everyone else,” Austin says, “you find a new way to move around and use it as a way to express yourself.”

Like the filmmaker who is never without their camera or the writer who is constantly jotting down ideas, Austin is always examining his environment. When he passes a brick wall with divots, he tests it to see which way he can climb over or along it. Or if he sees a ledge and some rails at a school, he remembers it for future use.

For Austin, that it was is the most attractive part of the martial art. “Its an outlet for all my energy; it is a way of getting back to the tree-climbing days of youth,” he says. “It's a form of play and experimentation with your body and with everything around you. For me it's just doing different, difficult things. Can I climb up that tree and jump from there to that wall, and then swing around that lightpole and land on the handrail over there? Why not try?”

For anyone who is interested in Parkour, Austin says that all of the people with whom he traces with have different backgrounds. Austin was a gymnast and coach; he is also a weightlifter. For the others in his group, there are those with experience in martial arts, football, dancing, and so on. Though there are plenty for whom Parkour is their first real form of exercise or sport.

Despite these differences, all traceurs choose Parkour for one common reason. “You’ll be walking through a park and see all of these crazy guys doing pushups on steps, doing pulls up on a branch, and then get up and sprint off to somewhere,” Austin says. When he first started doing Parkour, Austin found himself as one of those “crazies.” He then realized that these guys weren’t so crazy after all; this was a gymnasium without rules. It’s a kind of experience that makes one realize that you don’t have to be in a gym to get exercise. It was especially liberating for Austin since gymnastics had been too riddled with scores, a competitive nature from judges, coaches and even other gymnasts.

I then ask Austin what the most daring stunt was that he ever did. He laughs and says that, “Although I have seen and done a lot of crazy things, that’s not the essence of Parkour.“ There is a short pause. I’m a little embarrassed about my question. “But if you must really know,” he continues, “I love big running jumps across gaps.” I perk up a bit. “There's nothing like launching your self into space like that; running at top speed, seeing the drop in front of you, and then flinging yourself out, sucking your legs up and flying. As you come down you extend your legs and get ready for impact. The ground or rooftop flies up into you but you use a roll to deflect the impact. It's something that you need to work up over a long time, physically and mentally.”

I ask Austin if one of the problems with transitioning from the padded surroundings of a gymnasium is the safety. This would then affect the ability or willingness to take from what you do in the gymnasium and apply it to concrete. But to Austin, the streets are more real and challenging since there is more at stake. It forces one to be absolutely positive of what they’re doing instead of just being reckless. Again, this is also what Parkour teaches: to think scenarios through.

Otherwise, Parkour is practiced just about anywhere: business parks, schools, and crowded cities. Austin says that the Bay Area and San Fransisco are perfect training grounds. Even If one lives in a rural area it's possible to find a high school or college campus that will have enough obstacles to train on.

Best of all, anyone can do Parkour. The supposed basic necessities for Parkour (agility, flexibility, strength, speed and problem-solving) can be trained and improved upon or even developed when first taking on Parkour. In Austin’s opinion, “a positive mindset is what's key…you need to trust yourself and be willing to push your body.”

To catch Austin in action, he is on youtube at the following links:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADruhn8JXWs

[1] Quite a twist, huh? Bet you didn’t see that one coming.

Photo Courtesy of MarkMadeo.com

Laughter: Tom Papa, Joe Klocek and Alex Koll at the Punchline

2008-10-01T13:46:00.000-07:00

I was not having a particularly good day before I went to 444 Battery Street in San Francisco. With my only experience with stand-up being Comedy Central, I was especially not looking forward to my evening. This particular night filled in the pieces for why these CC specials were not funny: they are censored.

During the week of the 22nd through the 26th, the club had Tom Papa, Joe Klocek and Alex Koll on its stage. Though not the main act, Klocek could have easily been the big font on the marquee.

Coming to the stage with long hair and leather jacket, Klocek was the night’s beacon. None of his material sounded rehearsed. A lot of it was his interactions with the audience, at one point describing it as “frosted mini wheat”: one side of the room laughing and the other not. His approach was more of a way of talking instead of orating.

Klocek’s comedy is perfectly equipped for an SF audience: he frequents the bus system, just gets by, looks like a drug dealer, and is liberal yet can’t stand other liberals. Because of this, his material is much more meaningful and specialized for a Bay Area performance.

He lampooned Marin County’s ostentatiousness; “the only time Ramen was ever delivered to (MC), it was mistaken for a loofah,” he says with deadpan disgust. He chronicled the whacky conversations one overhears on the bus (“…I guess that’s why I like being peed on”) and how hate brings people together in The City.

His most magical line of the night was his idea for a new drug; “half Viagara and half Vicodin, called ‘Viking!’”

Klocek’s first experience as a comedian was similar to my first night watching it: “a complete accident,” as he describes it. “I had had just come out of a bad relationship,” he recalls. “I was working at a restaurant with another waiter who did stand-up. He suggested I try an open mic to vent and it ended up being a rush…I never stopped chasing that high.”
Joe sees comedy as a great way of speaking one’s mind. “It’s much easier to make people laugh, lose their defenses and then sneak in new ideas or different viewpoints,” he says. Its comedians like Klocek that make comedy a sophisticated art and not just low brow humor; no topic is taboo, allowing for discourse.

Tom Papa, the official headliner, got his big break in 2001, landing a half hour special on Comedy Central. He was then hand-picked by comedian, Jerry Seinfeld, for the opening act of his most recent tour. Papa’s filmography includes Bee Movie (also with Seinfeld), The Haunted World of El Superbeasto, The Life Coach and Analyze That. Even if he had background, Papa was still phenomenal.

He came to the stage with a bitter, condescending smile like he had had enough of George Bush “imploding the United States.” The only thing to do now was laugh. His relaxed, self-assured approach was perfect for pulling off fake-out jokes. Just before you thought he was about to say something serious, he pulled a curve.

Papa also breathed new life into the tired “life as dad” material. The brilliant part about this segment was his experience with getting a drunken girlfriend in a car: he compared it to doing the same for his kids except after a day at the carnival.

There were hilarious anecdotes about his visits in the Southern U.S. His notable misadventures were at the restaurants where all meals came with an optional slice of cheese – even for pancakes!

Koll, the pre-opening act, was able to pull of many laughs and a memorable “five second rule” sexual joke. He was a little quick-paced and seemed anxious, unlike the other two. Otherwise, he has good, relevant material and the potential for becoming a terrific showman. With the economy in shambles, the war with no end in sight, and everyone’s house being foreclosed, there is no better time to head to the Punchline. You will be on the brink of tears in one way or the other. Why not make them happy tears?

Kahlo at the SF MOMA

2008-08-29T16:56:00.000-07:00

The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) has a unique system for vending tickets for their August main exhibit.

Originally, tickets were bought at the main box office at the MOMA’s entrance. Through the dates of June 14 until September 28, patrons will have to reserve tickets for the main exhibit either by phone or online. The MOMA made this decision based on the exhibit’s anticipated popularity.

Frida Kahlo, the subject of the 2002 namesake film starring Salma Hayak, is, in fact, a real person. The events of the film are all based on this otherwise anonymous surrealist painter, whose career spanned from 1926 until her 1954 death.

Seriously, though, what else could I possibly tell you about Frida that you don’t already know? The MOMA displays this legend’s entire career and more. Paintings aside, Kahlo at the MOMA is not just an exhibition; it’s a history of this painter’s colorful, exciting and unfairly short life.

The organizer of the event was able to obtain never before seen photos. There are those of her globe-trotting expeditions, encounters with other renowned artists, intimate moments with lifelong lover Diego Rivera and their friend Leon Trotsky.

There are also Kahlo’s personal writings, mainly of her relationship with Rivera, during her European travels. The journal entries are very personal, detailing her last days and pivotal points in her life that influenced her monumental work. There are also brief histories of the paintings themselves, theorizing occurrences in her life that drove her to make the creative decisions she did.

After you have seen Kahlo’s trademark nightmarish, barren landscapes, gruesome depictions of human anatomy and self portraits with a faraway look in her eye, the other rooms have some of her lesser known work: still life, made in her late years. They are not consistent with her other work, but they are vibrant and just as beautiful.

Complimenting Kahlo, on the second floor is the works of Lee Miller. Miller, known mostly for her fashion photography, also focused on surrealism. Though not as impacting as Kahlo, Miller is able to orchestrate some memorable scenery in her work.

Mostly in black and white, Miller photographed for Vogue and many other fashion magazines. In the 1930’s, she rediscovered solarization, a technique for making black and white photos into negatives. Her photos with solarization made up the bulk of her surrealism era. She collaborated with and befriended such artists as Pablo Picasso, Paul Éluard, and Jean Cocteau. These essential works are at the exhibit.

Lee Miller’s pivotal works are her detailed coverings of World War II. When friends and family told her to return to the U.S. when the bombings started, Miller stayed in London. She was the correspondent for the Condé Nast publications. Her photography of WWII became some of the most important images captured during the event. One such photo is that of the piano peaking out from under building rubble in London. This image is the main attraction at the exhibit.

After World War II, Miller bought a farm in Sussex. It became an artistic haven for Picasso, Man Ray, Henry Moore, Eileen Agar, Jean Dubuffet, Dorothea Tanning, and Max Ernst. Like the Kahlo exhibit, rare photos are abundantly showcased with Miller’s biography.

“Half-Life of a Dream,” the Chinese art exhibit, is an attraction in the spirit of this year’s Olympic games.

“Half-Life” explores the relatively new Chinese surrealist movement that started in 1987. The underlying theme of this exhibit is the dream state in the post-Mao era.

One of the biggest pieces to look for is The Sleep of Reason, the room-sized project of Sui Jianguo. The piece depicts Mao, covered in a peasant blanket, sleeping above a spiraling landscape of thousands of toy dinosaurs. From a distance the dinosaurs resemble the continent of Asia.

The other is Yue Min Jun’s sculpture of The Last 5000 Years (2000), a group of life-sized figures with exaggerated, stereotypical Chinese facial features. They all have the artist’s signature “laughing” expressions.

“Half-Life” blends in perfectly with the preceding exhibits but is much more lighthearted. Save this one for the end and children.

For those of you who have not been to the MOMA, now is the time. Reserve your tickets by calling 1-866-99-FRIDA (1-866-99-37432) or visiting the box office. Lee Miller will be at the MOMA until September 14th and “Half-Life” until October 5th

A Spoken Word Artist

2008-08-28T11:44:00.000-07:00

Kevin Holmes, a native of Walnut Creek and a student from UC Santa Cruz, is locally famous as the senior member of his campus’ Kinetic Poetics Project (KPP), an intercollegiate poetry team and slam organization.

Kevin’s talent has gotten him invited every year of college to a collegiate national. His first year, he got to go to Albuquerque; second, Michigan; third, Austin; and fourth, Pennsylvania. He has even competed against Poet High in the semifinals with the Berkeley team, consisting of Christian Drake and Steve Needs. Kevin has even competed in events that had Jamie DeWolf, a poetry slam legend legend, as the host.

So what is slam poetry? Kevin says it is a question that he gets asked in every interview. The slam itself is a semi-formal competition; the amount of contestants is unlimited and they all compete in the first round, each given three minutes for their poem. Judges are randomly selected out of the audience members and are given score cards. The scores range from 0 (the worst) to 10 (the best). The top 5 scoring first round contenders move on to the final round, where each is given five minutes. 1st, 2nd and 3rd place rankings are given. Props, music and costumes are not allowed.

After these formalities, the form of the spoken word performance is limitless and “democratic,” as Kevin puts it. The idea originated from the beatnik poetry scene of the 1950s and the Def Poetry Jam that started in the 80’s. The former thrived on a Dada approach while the latter featured hip-hop oriented deliveries. Nowadays, any type of spoken word can be named slam poetry. Kevin says he has seen people perform a dialogue as one person; switching from voice to voice. “Others do monologues, some do a hip-hop delivery over a human beat box, others do it completely deadpan,” he says. “Sometimes it rhymes, sometimes its stream-of-consciousness.”
The poetry slam is also not just an art form – it’s a type of therapy. Kevin asked me “where else can you go to with a room full of strangers and say whatever is eating you and just pour your guts out over a microphone and it be applauded?”

This is what makes a Poetry Slam different: anyone can perform however they want to. There are no sanctions for content or structure. The slam stage is where Tristan Tzara is more of a figure to poetry than Keats. “I saw a girl get up on stage once, and you could tell she had never done a poem before,” Kevin says. “She used a lot of clichés but you could tell it was on a subject she had never actually spoken to anyone about before. But she was from the gut and she blew away the competition.”

This was not the case for Kevin. When he went to his first poetry slam during his second week of college in 2004, Kevin had only ever casually written poems in high school. He did not plan on reading. Conveniently he had his poetry notebook and he decided to read one of his works aloud. Kevin says he “was terrible, but was instantly hooked and started practicing and writing rigorously and attending as many slam as possible from then on.”

He describes his earlier work as personal, almost like “journal entries,” except too “lyrical” and “poetic” to be categorized as either. Their content dealt with general shortcomings of the world, love, politics and identity.

Recently, Kevin has been writing unstructured, surreal poetry. He attributes this mainly to reading Tristan Tzara, one of the founding fathers of the Dada movement and later a follower of the surrealist movement. Kevin has also been listening to Nismoj Ghni, another local poet.
But Kevin describes the creative process as a combination of many things. “If you go to a slam regularly,” he says, “you get inspired by your peers and team members. We do have teams that go and compete and when you’re on one, those poets are going to influence your writing style. When I write with my friend, Jen Gigantino, I end up writing stuff more abrasive and graphic. Even the venue itself has an influence.”

The slam styles even vary regionally. Kevin, who has competed in Los Angeles, says that there there is a lot more hip hop influence. “I’ll walk into a room and be the only white male and one of the oldest…there are a lot more high schoolers than in Santa Cruz scene. Because of this, there are a lot of different issues that are dealt with. And these will all have an effect on how and what you perform…it’s interesting to test out the social atmosphere by seeing people’s reactions to certain subject matter.”

As an example of this, Kevin was honored this year when dozens of his peers at UC Santa Cruz requested that he perform a poem at graduation. “David Evan Jones, the college provost, was afraid of having my original poem read to old people since it had a mention to abortion as a metaphor,” Kevin says, “and it had various awe-inspiring double entendres about being f***ed. The message was ‘you’re going to get out into this world, it’s going to suck so deal with it but don’t forget the things you promised yourself here today and keep aiming high.’”
Originally, Kevin had dropped the expletives from his edited poem. Then graduation happened.
“I got so into it and audience’s energy, so I swore a couple times, dropping the f-bomb,” he says. “It showed how naïve I am and what four years can do to you. Sometimes when you’re reading a poem, you’ll add or cut a line, depending on the audience; I improvised a derogatory line about Bush. After the ceremony, I got a lot of compliments. But then Jones said he felt ‘betrayed.’ In an e-mail I got from a parent, I was called a ‘twisted psychopath.’ I learned a lot from that particular performance; you have to, especially when outside of a poetry slam, take more into consideration. I never thought about how the audience might take it but I was not inspired by the parents: I was inspired by the students. It was invigorating to read in front of my peers, particularly with people who had never been to a poetry slam. I made a rash decision that I would never repeat again.”

Before this, Kevin became known for his spoken word performances through the KPP, a campus group that organized bi-weekly poetry events. Yearly, KPP holds a contest of slam poets from around the Bay Area that compete in a five day tournament. The contest brings world-famous poets to host the event as “pallet-cleansers” for in between the rounds. In 2005, André Gibson hosted, 2006, Katy Worthsing and 2007 the Ammo Trio. This year’s tournament was able to nab the biggest name in modern slam poetry: Saul Williams.

The idea started while Kevin and his KPP poets were tabling. They were brainstorming ideas about possible hosts. They then started joking around about the improbability of getting as big of a name as Saul Williams. Then Kevin actually pursued it with an e-mail to Williams’ Blog, which got him a contact number for Williams’ agent. The phone call to the agent turned into two weeks of persistent follow-up phone calls, tracking and communications. Kevin’s effort got Saul Williams as their host for competition’s third night, though also at a monetary cost. KPP had to raise “a lot” of money and request some from the campus’ senate. But to Kevin, “nothing is impossible if you have a community that agrees with you and can back you up.”
Kevin is currently in L.A. interning with a production company. “Originally I was going to stop doing poetry in order to focus on the internship, which I am pulling more than fifty hours a week on. But poetry makes me happy and I can’t stop.”

Kevin says that the Bay Area poetry scene is amazing and you should check it out by googling the “Northcal Poetry Update.” It posts news about shows and events. There is a show by Jimmy DeWolf and the Suicide Kings that is getting national attention and just got nominated for the Best of the Bay Area Theater. The Bay Area is home to such poets as Mark Bathumie, Mike McGee, Jimmy DeWolf, Laura Yes Yes, Lucky 7 and Abraham and Isaac Miller.

Enough by Kevin Holmes

And the house band calls themselves the log cabins Our commotion rises into their cover song They had a banjo, an accordion, a washtub bass Couldn’t sing like the boys on MTV So we sung in tongues Out there the air stings like whiskey Out there our Polaroid memories age like wine Out there we’ve been possessed by demon called life

So in here tonight We sing exorcisms like salvation hymns We sacrifice yesterday like it was a sheep at the alter The alter is a keg We’re partying like we’re 17 again I am only 21 It is funny how 4 years can make these arms feel like a galaxy On a planet called earth where There are more arms than I can count There are more galaxies in the universe then human beings on this planet And this bottleIt tastes like pulpy orange juice when compared to the stuff That out there in the real world I’ve been sipping from these lungs Because out there We all have jobs and staplers and girlfriends and steering wheels and telephones and Styrofoam and that is the shit that will really get you fucked up

I swear That vodka will never be as potent as painting our goals And calling them a self-portrait I swear That if Jesus had said this is my wallet it is my body take it as communion We would have remembered that I swear That friendship and family look so much sexier when hope and breakfast and the inevitability of death are worn like beer goggles I swear The Angels spiked the atmosphere I swear You can’t get a ticket for breathing under the influence can’t get help for human beings anonymous And I swear I have seen something divine in the goofy grin refracted off of empty beer bottles Me I am an empty beer bottle Me I am standing in the middle of a room I have never been to before Trying to piece back together my first pre-teen kiss Because if I meet you here and you kiss me Can it be like the first pre-teen kiss again?

Wedding bells? Can you hear them The distant sound of beer bottles Clinking Clinking Like shovels Like knives As we re-open the scars of our childhood to the air And it stings Like fucking whiskey As we shout will you love me now Will you love me whole And quite possibly the holy trinity is me and the two friends I came to this party with We are holy because I saw you across the party’s mosh pit in a drunker stupor often mistaken as breathing Drunk on air We are nothing but rust Nothing but incomplete riddles with wholes naked And if there’s something more human then me standing here now and telling you -I am a worthless piece of shit and I’m okay with that
and -I love myself then show it to me

our mortality chug-a-chug-chugs along behind us like an aging car engine ‡ drown it out ﬂ raise our voices like shot glasses and toast then ‡ fuck it all ﬂ let’s go out on Pacific Avenue and ghost ride the reaper Let his scythe, chug-a-chug along behind us like an aging car engine As the days roll like wheel down an empty road to nowhere And get out and dance And dance And dance in the headlights like they were spotlights and this road This nowhere It is somewhere It is enough And if the air, didn’t sting so sour What would remind us to take a Polaroid memory of this nowhere has developed Into such a beautiful place To be aliveAnd us log cabins We’ve mistake ourselves for a house band The way our commotion rises Into a cover Song of blankets Song of goodnight

Woolyhoodwinks at Books Inc in Alameda

2008-08-27T13:22:00.000-07:00

Books Inc. is disputably the oldest, independent book retailer in the United States. Without dispute, it is at least the oldest on the West Coast. Aside from book retail, this Bay Area chain attracts the biggest names of the literary world.

Books Inc. has recently started alluring famous political, sports and movie moguls. Last November, the company’s San Fracisco location on Van Ness acclimated thousands of people when Hillary Clinton made a surprise visit to endorse her new biography, A Woman in Charge. In the coming month, the same store will showcase Dean Karnazes, world-class endurance athlete, and his new book about his North Face Endurance 50 (50 marathons in 50 days in 50 states). The San Francisco store will also have a visit by Tommy Chong, who will talk about his movie career as part of the duo “Cheech and Chong” and his new namesake book.
This month in the Alameda store, the big event coming up on Saturday, September 20th at 11:00 a.m. is the Woollyhoodwinks story reading.

You may know the winks as the obscenely cute, woodland creature plush toys. The designs are simple; they resemble rabbits and have a confused or bewildered expression stitched on to their face and wear little skirts. But the fabrics are soft and make for a fun or comfortable bed time as a toy or pillow.

Books Inc. will bring Jeff Root and Scott Runcorn, the creators of the toys, to read from their very first winks book. The story introduces the winks: a group of unique forest dwelling creatures, each with their own personality and skill. Their talents come in handy when their forest starts being overrun by a dark patch; a metaphor for taking care of our environment.
As always, the creators will stay behind for autographs and a Q&A panel. This is an event that neither children nor parents should miss.

For more upcoming events at other Books Inc. locations, check out the website at http://www.booksinc.net/

39th Annual Comic Con in San Diego

2008-08-13T16:02:00.000-07:00

Across the country, tumbleweeds fluttered through the aisles of every 7-11. Video stores shut their doors early with declining anime and video game sales. Dominoes had to expand their delivery routes to meet their weekend sales. Throughout suburbia, basements were vacant and computer monitors on screen savers.Meanwhile, the San Diego Convention Center was hosting the 39th Annual International Comic Con, a yearly comic book fan event that attracts the biggest names in the comic book, sci-fi, fantasy and cartoon industries. This year headlined sci-fi author Forrest J. Ackerman, Sergio Aragonés and Al Jaffee (Mad Magazine), Ralph Bakshi (American Pop), Ray Bradbury (Fahrenheit 451) and Matt Groening (The Simpsons, Futurama) among hundreds of others.

The first floor of the convention was for merchant’s booths. DC, Dark Horse, Marvel, Bongo and Aspen were present and retailing regular as well as rare collector’s items. An exclusive $220 bronze statue of Hellboy at the Dark Horse booth was the event’s sought-after item. Other booths of interests included Todd McFarlane (Spawn, toy manufacturer/designer), the Sci-fi Channel, Capcom (video game company), Cartoon Network and Playstation. The latter had an ongoing video game tournament for Sing-Star, a karaoke game, with every hourly winner receiving a Playstation 3 and copy of the video game.

The second floor was dedicated to artist panels and workshops.

Thursday

In Ballroom 20, Stan Lee (Iron Man, Spider-man, Hulk, X-Men and co-founder of Marvel Comics) gave his insights on the world of comics and presented never-before-revealed hints of his new superhero universe with Virgin Comics. Prolific creator Grant Morrison (New X-Men, All Star Superman, Final Crisis) discussed his new Virgin Comics animated online series MBX and offered his own insight on comics. Lee and Morrison engaged themselves and the audience in discourse on comic books’ history and future.

Room 6CDEF, director Robert Rodriguez, actress Rose McGowan and Doug Aarniokoski (2nd unit director) spoke about their upcoming project: a movie adaptation of the retro comic book Red Sonja. Rodriguez spoke about his love for comics and the challenges and ideas for adapting from pages to film. McGowan talked about her training and journey from “the girlfriend” role to “(butt)-kicking heroine.”

Friday

At 1:30-2:30 in Room 5AB, Steve Breen (San Diego Union Tribune), Mike Peters (Dayton Daily News), Signe Wilkinson (Philadelphia Daily News), Michael Ramirez (Investor’s Business Daily), Mr. Fish (LA Weekly, Village Voice), and Bill Schorr (United Media) enlightened an audience on their job as political cartoonists. They showcased their favorite works, citing the events surrounding them and criticism of their work.

DC’s commemoration for the minds that brought Batman to life took place in Room 6A. Senior Editor Grant Morrison and Michael Marts, Paul Dini and Dustin Nguyen (Detective Comics) and Brian Azzarello (Joker) discussed the mythos of the Dark Knight, this summer’s blockbuster and what the future holds for the hero.

Saturday

Ballroom 20 had a back-to-back panel for the shows Futurama and The Simpsons. Futurama brought together the whole voice cast and creator Matt Groening. The actors spoke in their fan’s beloved characters’ voices, answered questions, discussed the new movie series on Comedy Central and the possibility of the show’s revival.

The Simpsons’ writers for the newest season did not speak but rather gave previews of upcoming episodes, including a 20th Halloween Special. The Simpsons is the longest running show on prime time with 21 seasons. The show is scheduled for another 4 seasons.

All panels had fan Q&A sessions at the end. Artist signings were done on the first floor.

But you did not have to be sitting behind a desk with a microphone to be recognized as an artist. Thousands of attendees showed up in elaborate, home made outfits. The most impressive example was the Steampunk workshop held on Saturday afternoon. Hundreds of fans of the obscure subgenre of sci-fi came dressed up in Victorian and Wild West attire except with technology and instruments based on brass, analogs, cogs, gears and steam. The duo that hosted the panel came as Ghostbusters with steam-powered equipment.

Despite the festivities, this Comic Con ended on a somber note. Last month, iconic Aspen author and artist of Fathom and Witchblade died of chrondocarcoma, a type of bone cancer. A memorial was held for Turner on the Con’s final day. Marc Silvestri, a fellow Aspen artist and Turner’s close friend, delivered a eulogy. Jeph Loeb, writer of Smallville and close Turner collaborator, made speech about how Turner was the only man to give him a chance in the industry through Aspen. Loeb has lost his son to the same disease two years ago. Dedications can be made to Turner through the Aspen Comics website.

Comic Con Website

Keeping "Cool" at the Oakland Museum

2008-08-13T15:57:00.000-07:00

The Oakland Museum of California’s Birth of the Cool exhibition will close on August 17th. The exhibit that began three months ago on May 17th explores the 50-60s era. A time when a man was daddy-o, a woman a dolly and asbestos safe. The show stresses the visual arts, painting, architecture, furniture, design and photography. Its main attractions are the jazz lounge, media bar and art galleries.

Musical archives include the genres of Doo-Wop, Mo-Town, jazz and bebop. The media bars will allow patrons to indulge in the music of The Kingston Trio, Elvis Presley, Dave Brubek and Miles Davis. THC is strictly prohibited.

The media bar plays music, documentaries, old TV footage, animation and movie clips and has an interactive timeline that highlights examples of California, National, and International culture and history of the Cool era.

The art exhibit includes the then-contemporary art of Jackson Pollock, Archibald Prize and other arising pop artists. Selected works of Chet Baker, Gerry Mulligan and other founders of high modernism are displayed.

The architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright and his protégés are heavily featured. Wright invented Usonia: the iconic, swank, straight-edged homes of the likewise 1950s middle-class. Wright’s work that best displays this style is the Darwin D. Martin House in Buffalo, NY. However, the city of Orange, CA, is the best example of the middle class version of Usonia houses.
Fitting inside of the Usonia houses are the trademark retro styles of furniture. Juan Garcia Esquivel, composer and the inventor of lounge music, said this was of the “space age bachelor pad” aesthetic. Think of the Jetsons’ mod house minus the self-awareness. There will be many real life pieces on display.

The title for the exhibit comes from the Miles Davis album of the same name. As the title implies, the album marks a major development in post-bebop and lays the foundation for cool jazz.

Orange County Museum of Art is the event’s organizer. The Birth of Cool will not be shown again until February 27th, 2009 at the University of Texas’ Blanton Museum of Art. So hurry up and catch the kitsch.

The Passion of Cynthia Weyuker

2008-08-13T15:46:00.000-07:00

I head down to Julie’s Coffee on Park Street after stealing some notebook paper from Walgreen’s. A mere hour before my interview with saw player, Cynthia Weyuker, my tape recorder broke. It’s Friday evening on July 18th. Aside from the two baristas and one man on his laptop, Julie’s is empty.

No sooner do I sit down in the leather couch but a woman walks past the window with a large, black case and an outfit to match. She enters through the door and immediately spots me. This must be Cynthia.

“Are you Jordan?” she asks.
“Yes,” I say, shooting up on my feet. We shake hands and then sit down on the couches surrounding a knee-high table. I start our interview by telling her that it’s going to be slow and awkward because I have to write everything by hand.

“That’s okay,” she says, her hand on her black case that sits on her right.
“So is that it?” I ask looking at the case. I know the saw is in the bad – this is my way of asking her to take it out.

“Oh yes it is,” she says, as she starts to unzip the bag. “You look excited about it.”
My eyes must be as big as satellites – how they are most of the time; I’m easily excited.
“It’s actually a big deal right now,” she says, fumbling through the bag full of effects pedals and loop boxes. “Charlie Blacklock actually died a couple months ago.”

Blacklock was a very prominent saw player around California. He started the California Saw Players Association (CSPA) in 1991, and produced the annual Saw Festivals in and around Santa Cruz. He also started his own line of “musical saws,” called “Blacklock Saws,” the brand that Cynthia is using. Her’s is a C Special.

Cynthia sits down on a chair with the saw’s handle between her legs, the teeth facing toward her. In her left hand, she uses a “cheater,” a wooden, triangular-shaped handle that fits snugly on the saw’s end. The cheater cuts down on overuse injuries to the carpus by allowing the user to comfortably hold the saw’s end. The user is able to play notes simply by bending the saw’s end. The more acute the bending, the higher the note goes.

To make the saw resonate, one either slides a violin bow across the smooth side or by other means. Cynthia uses a cello bow, which makes a “thicker” sound. Some people use their fist to knock out notes. Dr. George, another notable saw player, uses a hammer.

Once she is set up, Cynthia plays me some notes. The sound that the saw produces is similar to that of a Theremin but with feedback and eerie moments of high frequency that sound freakishly like an alto opera singer.

“What kind of music do you make with a saw,” I ask her.
“The music I make with my duo, Vox Maids, is a lot like ambient music: creating loops and progressively adding more layers,” she says. “But in OperaSaw, the group with multiple saw-players and occasionally classical guitarists, we play pop tune covers.” She continues to occasionally croon out notes, occasionally playing something familiar. “But,” she continues, “the saw is so different that I don’t think it can be linked to a genre.”

Cynthia doesn’t even like being known as a saw player. The Vox Maids, for their show, are the musicians, actors, narrators and writers of a fairytale musical about two children searching through the woods for a box of full of music. The duo uses an accordion, percussion, bass and ordinary objects.

“What is your favorite cover to play?” I ask her as we’re talking about her many side-projects.
Without any response, she starts playing “Somewhere over a Rainbow.” The boa resonates with the thin metal so well that she is able to ride each stroke for a long time. It’s like the saw was the instrument for which the bow was originally intended. With each slide, I’m certain that everything is going to turn black and white and the Earth will stand still. The saw is campy but there are genuinely creepy moments when I can almost hear Judy Garland.

The baristas keep running back and forth from the counter to the back. The rest of Julie’s is motionless and made of wood.

The song ends and Cynthia says, “That and ‘Twist and Shout’ by The Beatles. I know a lot of songs just because I practice with my music collection.”

I inquire of Cynthia’s musical inspirations, hoping for the musical “Stomp” and jug bands. Instead, she lists the gothic/industrial bands Nine Inch Nails and The Cure and classical Irish singer/songwriter Larry Beau. The former two mainly because her music is done in the same style: a repetitive melody but with constantly adding layers.

Cynthia first became interested in the saw while attending a small show for another Bay Area saw player. Months went by and she couldn’t get her mind off of the strange instrument. In Christmas of 2005, her boyfriend presented her with a new Blacklock. For the next two weeks, Cynthia tortured her neighbors, cat and boyfriend in trying to get acquainted with her new gift.

Cynthia’s was always musically-inclined, having obtained a BA in Musical Therapy from the University of Pacific. The major is a combination of music, education, special education and psychology. While attending school in SF, Cynthia was required to learn classical guitar and piano. But after college, she fell out of practice. She would still sing with the SF Lyric Opera, Goathall Productions, Marin Contemporary Opera and SF Punk Rock Opera.

Cynthia has even constructed her own instrument called the styroblade. Made with a piece of saw-shaped metal, except thinner and without teeth, it is then placed in a Styrofoam ice chest that acts as a natural amplifier. Sound is then amplified through a PCB pipe when it is held up to the blade. The range is very small but can make noises like a sick cat or banshee.

It’s Friday and Cynthia and I are both done with our week and ready to relax. We pick our stuff. I put my papers in my pocket and she puts her saw away. We both bid farewell and then leave.

As I am walking down the street, I look through my notes and spot Cynthia’s description of Nine Inch Nails and The Cure’s musical formula. It is the same as Kevin Shields of My Bloody Valentine’s description of “pink noise;” a white noise but with one or two outstanding frequencies. I just walked out of pink noise: an interruption of a lifeless ordinary by way of Cynthia’s haunting caterwauls.

You can hear Cynthia’s music on the VoxMaids and Operasaw myspace pages.

Though this author highly recommends seeing the saw live.

Up Close and Personal With Spencer Owen

2008-08-13T14:58:00.000-07:00

Tolstoy said that the best art is made while still wearing one’s dirty work boots. Today, Spencer Owen, Alameda musician, would have been Tolstoy’s muse. On tour at a jazz club in Sweden they had a grand piano, not common to the venues Owen usually plays, so he decided to open the show with an improvised ten minute jazz composition that seamlessly segued into the Andrew W.K. song, “One Brother.” His improvisation was received as tightly composed and well rehearsed by an attentive audience.

On top of the lyrics, musical writing and singing, Owen plays every instrument on his tracks. Even with over 300 songs to his name and 19 albums, he has not gone full time with his music career. When he’s not at his office job, he’s listening to new music, composing original works or contributing his instrumental talents to other bands.

Owen confidently covers the gamut of music genres, even coining the term “artpop” to describe his own more eclectic, unclassifiable music. His autodidactic approach to the guitar may explain why he plays it like a steel pedal guitar: on his lap, facing up, his left hand holding the frets and his right strumming.

“iTunes Saved my Life,” Owen’s nineteenth album, is a collaboration with friends Morgan Spencer Klein and Johnny Thomas. This is his first album since touring Iceland, Spain and Sweden last November with local band and artist, Bird by Snow and Sean Smith. Currently Owen is working with Theresa Rife on another collaborative album to be released in August, entitled “The Light Touch.”

Owen debriefed The Frank Bette Center on his newest projects, European tour and his creative journey and process:

Jordan Smith: Tell us a bit about “iTunes Changed my Life,” with Morgan Klein.

Spencer Owen: Yeah, this one is totally illegal –I sample everything from Johan Sebastian Bach to Usher, Robbie Robinson and Elvis Costello. There are 11 tracks but the 12th is a remix. The whole idea is that sometimes I hear a part of a song that could go on for quite a bit longer with my estimation. And not only can it go on a bit longer but it could also use some musical ornaments or percussive ornaments. I took that idea and started noticing the parts of songs that I wanted to go on for much longer than they do in the originals and separated them, made them into loops and decided that they were going to be new songs. I was going to write them but the loop would be the foundation for the song. So I thought it was interesting as well to keep the old sample in there as opposed to writing completely new ones on top of them because there is something interesting about taking a sample from another studio, time, world – essentially breaking down the fourth wall – and making it the central point for a new song. I have always prided myself on, if anything, a certain kind of imagination involving what might sound good to go on top of something else. Whether it’s something already written and I am layering with new melodies or percussion parts or an older song by someone else, I’ve always trusted that if they had added my vocal or harmony part, it would have been a better song. Not to say that they didn’t do a fine job on their own, I like to hypothesize what would have happened if I were in control. So that’s what inspired that. It’s blatant theft in order to use as a stepping stone to create new music out of.

Jordan Smith: Are the samples easy to pinpoint?

Spencer Owen: Yes, in fact, where the song is unrecognizable with effects, sometimes I even sang something from the sample on top just to make it clearer that I was stealing from that source. But that’s okay with me because I don’t play big time – I’m not owing a label this album so no one is asking for money for this album because I’m not selling it.

Jordan Smith: What was it like working with Morgan?

Spencer Owen: Morgan was the one who had told me that something he had missed about my music in the last couple years was an extreme sonic field where all kinds of reverb and effects and strange frequencies were used in the music. I had lost touch with how best to use it so I told him that if he wanted to hear it he should just come over and put it on my music. So I let him do that and he showed me the ropes of the equipment he had and eventually I got comfortable to the point that I started making decisions on that too. He co-produced and played bass and my friend Johnny Thomas played drums. They played those instruments on a few songs and that’s the first time anyone played any of the instruments on one of my albums. I still played most of the instruments but they made some valuable contributions. It was a positive experience working with Morgan and hopefully we’ll release a dub/reggae album sometime this year.

Jordan Smith: What are the benefits of working solo?

Spencer Owen: For me, working solo means I get to do whatever I want. If I ever have to set a deadline it’s always self-imposed and if I do something I don’t have to argue with anyone. It has helped me hone my chops on the instruments because I play all the instruments on my records, so that is the best practice anyone can get. First to play along but also when I’m recording I get practice playing and its fun because I’m always creating each aspect of the process. Since high school, I’ve thrived as my own auteur. Only recently am I collaborating on my music. I have been working with Theresa Rife, who has access to the UCSC sound studio. I put a lot of my trust in Theresa’s hands when it came to getting all the instruments to sound right. She’s also going to mix it and I trust her more on those things than I trust myself. It’s a really good working relationship. I got so use to it that I think in the future I will pay to have someone record the music for me and I’ll just be the guy who plays the music and creates the songs.

Jordan Smith: Tell us a little about your current album in the works, “The Light Touch,” with Theresa Rife.

Spencer Owen: Well, that one is a little more interesting to me only because I’ve been working on it since April and it won’t be done until August. I rarely take that much time on a project. I’m all about instant gratification – “iTunes Saved my Life” was recorded within two days (laughs). This one has been really rewarding to take it slowly because it’s something to fine tune and it is my first high fidelity studio production with nice equipment. Theresa has a minor in electronic music and has been raised around music. She also listens to a lot of different genres and has even made music herself, so she has a good ear and a lot of enthusiasm. She’s very conscientious and serious about music. I’m really glad I have someone who is mindful of what will sound good and basic concerns for clarity and quality and will say, “You should do another take of that.” Initially I would resist but eventually give in and that second take would end up being better. So it’s all about the time taken and how it sounds so much clearer than anything else I’ve recorded. My ambitions to create songs with layers and sophistication outgrew my low-fi set up. It became apparent that that was the case a couple of years ago, but I didn’t act on it until I had this opportunity to do it for free with a friend. Now I’m really benefiting from it. All the songs are also completely written on piano for the first time in my career. I’ve never done that before even though the piano was my first instrument so I got back to my piano roots for every song. It’s a very clean, playful, sophisticated pop album: there are only seven songs and it’s just over 40 minutes long and it’s both personal and abstract. My last album was a sensual R&B album that was very lovey-dovey in content. This album has none of that but it’s very philosophical and personal at the same time and it has more talking on it as opposed to singing. There is one song that is entirely spoken word instead of having any vocal melodies.

Jordan Smith: What was the inspiration for this new approach?

Spencer Owen: Getting back to the piano was one inspiration for me but I am also extremely inspired by any of the music I have listened to from age 1 to now. But recently I have been getting into Steely Dan and you probably will be able to hear a little bit of influence on the music itself. You may also notice it sounds a little bit like Jim O’Rourke, especially his album “Insignificance.” That was a big influence and there are a lot of ideas – abstract and otherwise – that parallel that album. Then, Laurie Andersen has been my favorite musician/artist since age 4. I never really used her as an influence in my music but there are a few deliveries and a tiny bit of orchestration on the album that is reminiscent to her work. There is also a marimba on a few songs, which she has used to great effect as has the band Tortoise, Stereolab and Steve Reich.

Jordan Smith: Compare your drum and bass playing with John’s and Morgan’s; how are they different, how are they the same?

Spencer Owen: They’re different because they are very skilled in a very traditional but practiced kind of way; both are extremely technical and gifted in a way of constantly practicing their instruments and can only get better. If you could ask them to play certain things, they could do it almost every time, even something difficult, they could learn it in a few days and have it down. I, on the other hand, am a very instinctive musician and self-taught in almost every instrument except the piano, but when it comes to guitar, drum and bass playing, I arrive at solutions my own way. So there is a lot I can do, in terms of my own thoughts and ideas, but I can’t do a lot of other things because I don’t play the instruments correctly. But I have been able to come up with a lot of creative ways to get pretty much most ideas that please me out through my fingers on those instruments even though I don’t know the right way to play them. You may say I limit my ideas subconsciously by my abilities. That’s a less charitable way of putting it, but probably true.

Jordan Smith: How did this last tour go and where did it go?

Spencer Owen: This last tour went well and it went to Spain, Iceland and Sweden and this was due to the kind efforts of my good friend Fletcher Tucker who runs a record label in Northern California called Gnome Records. He put out my last album, Logic, on vinyl, so he decided that as a run up, we should go on tour in Europe. He decided the three countries because in Spain they put his band, Bird by Snow, on a festival bill and he had already performed in Iceland and Sweden so he had connections. It was me, Bird by Snow and Sean Smith and it was an interesting experience. Of all three countries, I loved Iceland the most, Spain loved my performance more than any crowd I ever played in front of and Sweden was an overall pleasures with some great shows and good vibes. My favorite part of the tour may have actually been in Sweden when we played at a jazz club called the Nefertiti in a city called Gothenburg. At this show they had a grand piano, so I decided to play the piano with improvisation, because usually there aren’t any pianos at the venues I play at. The piano improvisation then seamlessly segued into the Andrew W.K. song, “One Brother.” I then did the rest of the set as my karaoke set with my backing track, live singing and dancing. It was the show that I enjoyed most because of the wide variety I covered. I especially got a kick out of the mere fact I was playing at a jazz club, of which I don’t think I had ever been booked. Everyone was seated, the sound was really immaculate and the acoustics in the room are designed for quiet or dynamic music that only uses one or two microphones per instrument as opposed to rock miking or coffee shops which have no microphone at all. It’s just a particular vibe at a jazz club that you just get the sense that the people at this place are serious about pure music like jazz. So I thought it was pretty perverse that I was doing my show there, which has nothing to do with jazz. But I thought I would bend the occasion by doing the opening as jazz improv.

Jordan Smith: Did you play mostly songs off of Logic for this tour?

Spencer Owen: Most of the set was from Logic, but there was also a Fleetwood Mac cover and a couple of old songs. Anticipated rowdy sets ended with “The Middle” which has me screaming and falling on to the floor and leaping around. With more conservative, attentive crowds, which most of them were, I went for more focused endings. And that’s what is great about being solo – I can do whatever I want and go completely on my own whims. The worst thing, though, is that everyone tells me I need to get a band, but in my opinion, I will get one when I want to. To do something that captivates me and the audience, even if it’s just one person, to say “that was really different and I am glad I got a chance to see a musical performance like that,” or meet eyes with someone and know they’re thinking that it’s a good show.

Jordan Smith: So did you have an international fan base in any of these countries?

Spencer Owen: Fletcher did with Bird by Snow because he’s been there before. And he uses his myspace like a businessman with his rolodex: he will make constant connections through myspace and always be persistent to play a show anywhere in the world and he will fly anywhere and perform there. So, because of that, Fletcher created a fan base in those areas. As luck would have it, he decided to start a record label with Sean Smith and me on it. As a result, when he goes on tour, he wants to bring us with him. By using his small fan base for a relatively unknown artist in these countries, he gets us people at the shows to see our act. Before the last show of the tour in Stockholm, I was in a record shop called Larry’s Corner. This show was somewhat bittersweet because it was the last one and I thought it went well. A woman came up to me and said how much she loved it and how moved and pleased she was to see the show. Since then, she has messaged me on myspace twice to tell me again how much she loved it. The second time was around the New Year, she and her boyfriend were talking about the best shows that they had seen in 2007. She said that the favorite that kept coming to mind was my show. This happened just because she was a woman who had gone to see “Bird by Snow” before. And people always ask me why I’m not craving a bigger audience and I think it’s because I’m already feeling relatively blessed just by these random encounters I get from people. To enter the machine of the music business and turn my music into a career would put to much negative energy, sweat and stress into the project for me to feel like it would be really worth it.

UC Berkeley's Pacific Film Archive (PFA Theatre)

2008-08-13T14:26:00.000-07:00

There are plenty of ways to avoid the derelict teens at the summer blockbuster bum rush of major cinemas. The only problem is that it’s summer and even you want to just watch mindless action. Luckily, you live in the Bay Area. This means you are in reasonable proximity of UC Berkeley’s Pacific Film Archive (PFA) Theater.

Used mostly for classes in the UCB film department, the theater is also screens films – not to be confused with movies or flicks – for the general public. In the past, they have shown Eraserhead, 8½, Yojimbo and many other titles that neither you nor I have heard of. Continuing on July 5th, PFA will run all of what they deem to be the cornerstone films of the United Artists (UA) movie distributor for the past 90 years.

Founded by Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, D. W. Griffith, and Charles Chaplin in 1919, UA functioned primarily as a distributor without the enormous overhead of a conventional Hollywood production/distribution/exhibition conglomerate. By the mid-fifties, UA was one of the most important forces in American cinema. The company formed fruitful partnerships with independent producers like Samuel Goldwyn and the Mirisch brothers, and released films by such independent-minded artists as Buster Keaton, Billy Wilder, Stanley Kubrick, Robert Altman, Woody Allen, and Martin Scorsese. This anniversary tribute surveys UA’s illustrious and diverse roster from the silent era to the eighties, sampling everything from low-budget gems to blockbuster classics, including many restored/new prints.

This is the schedule for the screenings:

Saturday, July 5, 2008
♥ 6:30 p.m. Some Like It Hot Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, and Jack Lemmon in Billy Wilder’s outrageous cross-dressing comedy.

♥ 8:50 p.m. Dr. No The debut film of the world’s biggest blockbuster character, James Bond, comes complete with double lasers, double martinis and Sean Connery as the suave 007. Sunday, July 6, 2008

♥ 5:00 p.m. Steamboat Bill, Jr. A recent college grad (Buster Keaton) becomes a steamboat captain to follow in his father's footsteps. Watch for the famous hurricane scene where Keaton does his own stunts, one of which an entire building façade falls on top of him but with the attic window fitting neatly around his body so as not to crush him.

♥ 6:30 p.m. Scarface Howard Hawks’s direction drives this godfather of all gangster films. In 1994, Scarface was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."Tuesday, July 8, 2008

♥ 7:30 p.m. Stagecoach John Ford’s first film with John Wayne and his first shot in Monument Valley. It is a western adventure with a Mark Twain spirit and is hailed by Orson Welles as one of the most influential film ever made.

Full Schedule Here

Sam Shepherd's Buried Child at Actor's Theatre

2008-08-13T14:17:00.000-07:00

Buried Child could be a requiem for Edward Albee not winning the 1963 Pulitzer Prize for Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf. Like Albee, Shepherd explores the repercussions of trying to forget the past and bury secrets. Shepherd mixes elements of Southern Gothic for a more lighthearted version of Albee’s masterpiece. In 1979, Buried Child was the first off-Broadway play to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and deservingly so.

Directed by Christian Phillips & Jennifer Welch, the script is eclectic, gripping and barely lucid, but also surprisingly funny. The cast for the Actors Theatre does justice to Shepherd with excellent leads and a resonating atmosphere.

Jack Halton portrays Dodge, the main character, languishing in the basement drinking whiskey and watching TV. When the curtain goes up he’s coughing violently between arm exercises. Halton plays Dodge like a “what if” scenario of Randle McMurphy, if he’d stayed in the Cuckoo’s Nest without a lobotomy. Dodge is a broken man, but Halton allows the likable, blue collar wise-ass to show for a few genuinely humorous moments.

Meanwhile, his smug wife Halie, played by Margel Kaufman, is carousing with the town’s equally demoralized pastor Father Dewis, played by John Krause. Dodge and Halie communicate by yelling at each other through the doors and walls of their degrading house.

Dodge’s son Tilden is a local hero-turned imbecile. Dean Shreiner characterizes Tilden like a recovering amnesiac. In somnambulist meandering, eyes half open, Tilden cradles the vegetables picked from the family’s forbidden backyard. He interacts with others like they are the phantoms of his dreams. Shreiner is the real talent here.

After a four year absence Tilden’s son, Vince, performed by Michael Carlisi, stops by the house with his girlfriend Shelley. He’s shocked that no one recognizes him. To get on Dodges good side, Vince runs off to buy whiskey. Shelley, played by Phaedra Starr, stays behind reveling in family antics you’d expect at Bellevue Hospital. Everything spirals out of control as Shelley tries piecing together what has happened to the household in Vince’s absence. The rest of the cast delivers, though they may not be as fun to watch as Dodge or Tilden.

Local band, Howells Transmitter, provides music to the production. Their songs are sparse and sonic in eerie anachronism with the old house and post WWII era. Piano is the primary instrument and there is no apparent harmony. It’s haunting and perfect. Shepherd’s writing is at its peak. Dark veins run throughout the dialogue blurring fact and fiction. It is one big crescendo: it has a patient, humorous beginning and keeps picking up momentum until Shepherd ultimately drops the bomb.