Rebecca Solnit's Hollow City is a coffee table book which describes the loss of San Francisco culture and identity to a young, corporate, urban, pop America. Solnit argues that the original occupants of San Francisco are being displaced and the prices of housing are being marked up as young corporate white people begin to infringe upon cultural districts. Parts of San Francisco, Hollow City argues, were originally designated for poor artists, and with this youthful consumerist takeover, the whole bohemian aspect of San Francisco is being lost. San Francisco's multicultural and diverse image is being lost to an internet generation. Those who are to blame are an upcoming class of capitalistic opportunists, Solnit claims. Starbucks and luxury condominiums are paving over the classic image and product of San Francisco. With the rising price of housing, the artistry of the city is being lost to gentrification.
In Maxine Hong Kingston's Tripmaster Monkey, a 60s San Francisco of multicultural revelry and adventure is on display. Our protagonist, Whittman Ah Sing, searches for his identity among this multi-ethnic city. In a case of double-consciousness, Whittman Ah Sing struggles to identify with the Chinese of San Francisco while identifying with the American of his country. He explores the places which are Chinese and the places which are American, but struggles to find a part of San Francisco that is not a stereotype.
Friday, December 5, 2008
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
3) How is the world of MMA fixed into the San Francisco Contado?
In Imperial San Francisco, Gray Brechin describes the contado as the countryside, territory and surrounding cities of a dominant city. The contado filters resources back to its host city. Let us examine how San Francisco and the SF county's largest city, San Jose, have contained and exchanged information and wealth with the MMA phenomenon in America. To understand this, let's understand some of the history of MMA.
In the 1960s, Rorion Gracie moved to the Los Angeles area of California and began establishing Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in Southern California. In 1993, Rorion opened the floodgates to free exchange between martial arts in the US and the World with the creation of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. In the following years, this highly technical fighting sport would grow at an outstanding rate and facilitate the creation of gyms at the major crossroads in America where these techniques could be taught.
The largest city in the Bay Area, San Jose, became a player in the MMA world. It is currently a host to important gyms such as Frank Shamrock's Shamrock Martial Arts Academy and the venerable American Kickboxing Academy, which Sherdog.com rates as the fifth most dominant MMA gym in it's all-time ranking. Several of the aforementioned Gracie family also moved to the Bay area, setting up gyms. Cesar, Ralph and Carley Gracie have had noticeable effects on the Jiu Jitsu and MMA world while based out of the Bay Area.
However, it is another Gracie whose gym has made the largest impact on the MMA world out of San Francisco. Cesar Gracie's gym based out of Pleasant Hill in the East Bay hosts world renowned fighters Gilbert Melendez (14-2), Jake shields (21-4, the Elite XC welterweight champion, former Shooto champion), Nick Diaz (18-7), and Nate Diaz (10-2). From this point in the SF bay area, Cesar Gracie makes an impact upon grappling in MMA with his significant San Francisco area fighters.
San Jose also became a host to major MMA events when in 2007, Elite XC's event, Shamrock vs. Le was hosted there. The event showcased Frank Shamrock and Cung Le, two of San Jose's own, in a bout of extreme fisticuffs. But more importantly, San Jose has become host to it's own MMA promotion known as Strikeforce. Strikeforce's first event was held in March 2006. Since then they have had 14 more events with another planned for later this month. Strikeforce draws the world MMA community into the Bay's contado - their heavyweight champion is a Dutchman, Alistair Overeem. Strikeforce also contributes to the San Francisco area's fame, having drawn the largest paying entry crowd into it's first event, Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Gracie. The main fight for this event was a bout between the aforementioned Frank Shamrock and Cesar Gracie. The paying audience for this fight was 17,465. That number edges just above UFC68s paid attendance of 17,358, an event which took place in Columbus, Ohio.
Apart from the gyms and fighters who bring students, money, and fans into the San Francisco region, Fairtex LLC is an important combat-sport gear provider based out of San Francisco. Originally an enormously important company in its homeland, Thailand, Fairtex grew into an important producer of high-quality pads, gloves and other gear for Muay Thai practicioners and MMA fighters. It's Thai founder, Phillip Wong relocated his Fairtex gym to San Francisco in 1996 to spread the influence of Muay Thai Kickboxing to America. Today, many MMA fighters and some promotions are sponsored by the Fairtex brand. An enormous number of American MMA fighters cite Muay Thai as one of their primary styles partially thanks to the improvements made to the sport by Mr. Wong's efforts when he introduced improved Muay Thai safety gear to the American market.
Drawing large crowds and famous fighters into its midst and sending famous fighters to spread their styles into the MMA world, the San Francisco area contributes to and receives interest and capital from the MMA phenomenon. It lays claim to multiple top-ten ranked MMA fighters, to one of the most dominant MMA gyms, and one of the most important companies in MMA.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jake_Shields
Jake Shields is the Elite XC welterweight champion and on the verge of transitioning to another MMA organization. Fighting out of Cesar Gracie's academy, he is a significant force in the welterweight division in MMA today. MMAfighting.com ranks him as the 7th strongest fighter in the world in the welterweight division.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilbert_Melendez
Gilbert Melendez and his stablemate, Jake Shields are the most significant MMA fighter who fights out of San Francisco. He is internationally known and the subject of challenges issued by acclaimed Japanese fighter Shinya Aoki.
http://www.akakickbox.com/
American Kickboxing Academy is the most significant MMA gym within San Francisco's contado. Sherdog.com currently rates it as the 5th most dominant MMA gym in its all time rankings of fighter stables.
http://www.strikeforceusa.net/index2.html
Strikeforce is a significant MMA promotion that is growing strong out of San Jose. It keeps the money within the contado by favoring local fighters and bringing national and international fighters into the SF contado.
http://www.graciefighter.com/
Cesar Gracie's gym in Pleasant Hill, in the East Bay, has very influential grapplers in the sport of MMA today. Perhaps beginning to outshine American Kickboxing Academy's glory, this gym is making a significant impact on the MMA world out of San Francisco.
http://www.fairtex.com/history.php
Here is Fairtex LLC's own page on its history and how it moved from being an important company in Thailand's Muay Thai scene to an international promoter of improved standards in combat-sport safety gear based out of San Francisco.
In the 1960s, Rorion Gracie moved to the Los Angeles area of California and began establishing Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in Southern California. In 1993, Rorion opened the floodgates to free exchange between martial arts in the US and the World with the creation of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. In the following years, this highly technical fighting sport would grow at an outstanding rate and facilitate the creation of gyms at the major crossroads in America where these techniques could be taught.
The largest city in the Bay Area, San Jose, became a player in the MMA world. It is currently a host to important gyms such as Frank Shamrock's Shamrock Martial Arts Academy and the venerable American Kickboxing Academy, which Sherdog.com rates as the fifth most dominant MMA gym in it's all-time ranking. Several of the aforementioned Gracie family also moved to the Bay area, setting up gyms. Cesar, Ralph and Carley Gracie have had noticeable effects on the Jiu Jitsu and MMA world while based out of the Bay Area.
However, it is another Gracie whose gym has made the largest impact on the MMA world out of San Francisco. Cesar Gracie's gym based out of Pleasant Hill in the East Bay hosts world renowned fighters Gilbert Melendez (14-2), Jake shields (21-4, the Elite XC welterweight champion, former Shooto champion), Nick Diaz (18-7), and Nate Diaz (10-2). From this point in the SF bay area, Cesar Gracie makes an impact upon grappling in MMA with his significant San Francisco area fighters.
San Jose also became a host to major MMA events when in 2007, Elite XC's event, Shamrock vs. Le was hosted there. The event showcased Frank Shamrock and Cung Le, two of San Jose's own, in a bout of extreme fisticuffs. But more importantly, San Jose has become host to it's own MMA promotion known as Strikeforce. Strikeforce's first event was held in March 2006. Since then they have had 14 more events with another planned for later this month. Strikeforce draws the world MMA community into the Bay's contado - their heavyweight champion is a Dutchman, Alistair Overeem. Strikeforce also contributes to the San Francisco area's fame, having drawn the largest paying entry crowd into it's first event, Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Gracie. The main fight for this event was a bout between the aforementioned Frank Shamrock and Cesar Gracie. The paying audience for this fight was 17,465. That number edges just above UFC68s paid attendance of 17,358, an event which took place in Columbus, Ohio.
Apart from the gyms and fighters who bring students, money, and fans into the San Francisco region, Fairtex LLC is an important combat-sport gear provider based out of San Francisco. Originally an enormously important company in its homeland, Thailand, Fairtex grew into an important producer of high-quality pads, gloves and other gear for Muay Thai practicioners and MMA fighters. It's Thai founder, Phillip Wong relocated his Fairtex gym to San Francisco in 1996 to spread the influence of Muay Thai Kickboxing to America. Today, many MMA fighters and some promotions are sponsored by the Fairtex brand. An enormous number of American MMA fighters cite Muay Thai as one of their primary styles partially thanks to the improvements made to the sport by Mr. Wong's efforts when he introduced improved Muay Thai safety gear to the American market.
Drawing large crowds and famous fighters into its midst and sending famous fighters to spread their styles into the MMA world, the San Francisco area contributes to and receives interest and capital from the MMA phenomenon. It lays claim to multiple top-ten ranked MMA fighters, to one of the most dominant MMA gyms, and one of the most important companies in MMA.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jake_Shields
Jake Shields is the Elite XC welterweight champion and on the verge of transitioning to another MMA organization. Fighting out of Cesar Gracie's academy, he is a significant force in the welterweight division in MMA today. MMAfighting.com ranks him as the 7th strongest fighter in the world in the welterweight division.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilbert_Melendez
Gilbert Melendez and his stablemate, Jake Shields are the most significant MMA fighter who fights out of San Francisco. He is internationally known and the subject of challenges issued by acclaimed Japanese fighter Shinya Aoki.
http://www.akakickbox.com/
American Kickboxing Academy is the most significant MMA gym within San Francisco's contado. Sherdog.com currently rates it as the 5th most dominant MMA gym in its all time rankings of fighter stables.
http://www.strikeforceusa.net/index2.html
Strikeforce is a significant MMA promotion that is growing strong out of San Jose. It keeps the money within the contado by favoring local fighters and bringing national and international fighters into the SF contado.
http://www.graciefighter.com/
Cesar Gracie's gym in Pleasant Hill, in the East Bay, has very influential grapplers in the sport of MMA today. Perhaps beginning to outshine American Kickboxing Academy's glory, this gym is making a significant impact on the MMA world out of San Francisco.
http://www.fairtex.com/history.php
Here is Fairtex LLC's own page on its history and how it moved from being an important company in Thailand's Muay Thai scene to an international promoter of improved standards in combat-sport safety gear based out of San Francisco.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
SFLit Study Guide IDs
This is all continued off of Max's blog at downmobileur.blogspot.com/
I'm just working on filling it out and posting more so here is mine, I will try to continue to update this.
1) "Westward the course of empire takes its way ..."
• George Berkeley
Westward the course of empire takes its way;
The first four acts already past,
A fifth shall close the drama of the day;
Time’s noblest offspring is the last.
The City of Berkeley was named after Bishop Berkeley who composed these lines in the late 17th century.
2) Gray Brechin's concept of "the contado"
Contado is an Italian word which refers to the territory commanded by a dominant city. The contado provides essential resources and labor to power the capital.
3) "A Walden Pond for Winos"/ Washington Square in SF
• Brautigan, Trout Fishing in America. p17
Walden Pond for Winos is a vignette about Brautigan’s relation to the hobos in Washington Square in SF, where they drink port wine and discuss making money off a flea circus.
4) Tony Bennet, "I Left My Heart in San Francisco"
Tony Bennet released this song on a 1962 album of the same name. It is one of the two official anthems adopted by the city of SF. It is played after SF Giants home game victories.
We were shown Union Bank of California’s 2001 use of the song in a promo video where SF local hula dancers emote the words with hand gestures.
5) Moloch
Moloch is the name of a figure in the Old Testament which was worshiped by a tribe. Moloch was a god who required great sacrifices in a fiery manner. Allen Ginsberg employed Moloch in Howl, part 2. Moloch is used as a metaphor for the American city, thus aligning McCarthy-era America with the demon.
6) "I was certainly surprised to be named Poet Laureate of this far out city on the left side of the world"
7) "Such was life in the Colden Gate:/ Gold dusted all that we drank and ate, / And I was one of the children told, 'We all must eat our peck of gold.'"
(a peck is a 2-gallon volume of any dry substance)
A Peck of Gold
by Robert Lee Frost
Dust always blowing about the town,
Except when sea-fog laid it down,
And I was one of the children told
Some of the blowing dust was gold.
All the dust the wind blew high
Appeared like god in the sunset sky,
But I was one of the children told
Some of the dust was really gold.
Such was life in the Golden Gate:
Gold dusted all we drank and ate,
And I was one of the children told,
'We all must eat our peck of gold.'
We should look at the two central images in this poem, Dust and Gold. Dust is representative of the poor and lower class of San Francisco, with gold representative of dreams of the riches. We see the juxtaposition, poverty and wealth, dust and gold.
8) North Beach
9) "Coming Into the Watershed"
10) Citizen Kane / William Randolph Hearst
11) Hetch Hetchy Reservoir
This is a reservoir in Yosemite national park. 65mi northeast of Merced, this reservoir is formed by a concrete dam. It’s primary purpose is to supply drinking water to San Francisco.
12) Alcatraz Is Not an Island
13) "The Day They Busted the Grateful Dead"
• Brautigan's The Pill vs. The Springhill Mine Disaster p. 104:
The day they busted the Grateful Dead
rain stormed against San Francisco
like hot swampy scissors cutting Justice
into the evil clothes that alligators wear.
The day they busted the Grateful Dead
was like a flight of winged alligators
carefully measuring marble with black
rubber telescopes
The day they busted the Grateful Dead
turned like wet breath of alligators
blowing up balloons the size of the
Hall of Justice
• Brautigan operating in the prophetic mode, evoking images of injustice and the mechanism of the state imposing its will against one of the greatest symbols of 1960s counter culture, political freedom, etc.
14) Turtle Island
• Gary Snyder, p. 243: Concept of North America as "Turtle Island," de-familiarization of 18th century to present day understanding of USA
• Marks a return to the naturalist/native concept of the land and its creatures
• Criticizes the "discovery" discourse describing the colonization/founding/expansion of America and "frontier" mentality
• Deconstruction of modern concept of the community centered around urban and suburban spaces - return to the wild
• Introductory Note from Turtle Island (1969):
Turtle Island - the old/new name for the continent, based on many creation myths of the people who have been living here for millennia, and reapplied by some of them to "North America" in recent years. Also, an idea found world-wide, of the earth, or cosmos even, sustained by a great turtle or serpent-of-eternity.
A name: that we may see ourselves more accurately on this continent of watersheds and life-communities - plant zones, physiographic provinces, c ulture areas; following natural boundaries. The "U.S.A." and its states and counties are arbitrary and inaccurate impositions on what is really here.
The poems speak of place, and the energy-pathways that sustain life. Each living being is a swirl in the flow, a formal turbulence, a "song." The land, the planet itself, is also a living being - at another pace. Anglos, Black people, Chicanos, and others beached up on these shores all share such view at the deepest levels of their old cultural traditions - African, Asian, or European. Hark again to those roots, to see our ancient solidarity, and then to the work of being together on Turtle Island.
15) beatitude/ The Beats
• Tied to St. Francis, love of all things; fostering the unity of people, animals and the environment that we share
• In Beat context, has to do with getting out of an individualist mindset and exploring the universal connectivity of life, living
• Could have to do with the contrast between beatitude (love of life) and downbeat, which can be seen as (one of) the human struggle(s)
16) "...our beautiful but lethal Golden Gate Bridge"
• "Reclaiming San Francisco" p. 121 - Suicide in the City by Ann Garrison. Discusses the Golden Gate Bridge's symbolic appeal as a mechanism for suicide, citing the city's large population of at-risk groups (elderly people, unmarried people, Caucasians and Asians, substance abusers, upper and upper-middle classes and terminally ill) as a possible reason for SF's status as a suicide capital.
• Specific appeal for the bridge attracting these cases could have to do with its symbolic location as mouthpiece to the Pacific, end of the Western frontier, etc.
17) City Lights Bookstore in North Beach, SF
• Bookstore popularized by Lawrence Ferlinghetti, first paperback bookstore in country and backing publisher (City Lights Foundation) for much of the Beat literature
18) "Franciscan" San Francisco
• Referenced in Brechin preface, p. xxxii - most noted as the contrast between St. Francis of Assisi, patron saint of animals and the environment, and Brechin's image of Poe's Maelstrom which sucks in animals and resources from the surrounding waters.
• Highlights the city's idealistic foundation and the ways it now poses an urban dichotomy
• from You Are Here (You Think), p. 138 - "... noting the resemblance of this ultra-urban site to natural landscapes of canyons and gullies replete with migrating falcons." ... make your own connections
19) The concept and role of "metatourists" in "You Are Here (You Think): A San Francisco Bus Tour"
20) legacies of the Beat Generation as portrayed by Nancy J. Peters
21) Bayard Taylor
22) "angelheaded hipsters"
The third line of Alan Ginsberg’s Howl uses the words “angelheaded hipsters”:
“I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked,
dragging themselves through the negro streets at dawn looking for an angry fix,
angelheaded hipsters burning for the ancient heavenly connection to the starry dynamo in the machinery of night,
who poverty and tatters and hollow-eyed and high sat up smoking in the supernatural darkness of cold-water flats floating across the tops of cities contemplating jazz…”
23) Timothy W. Drescher's concept of "street subversion"
• Reclaiming SF, p231
• “the political geography of murals and graffiti”
24) "[ ] created a spontaneous bop prosody and original classic literature. Several phrases and the title of Howl are taken from him."
Jack Kerouac, as featured in the dedications of Alan Ginsberg’s poem, Howl.
25) "Subterranean Homesick Blues"
This is a video by Bob Dylan shown in class in which Dylan holds up cards for the emphasized words in the songs. It is taken from D. A. Pennebaker's film, Dont Look Back (a documentary on Bob Dylan's tour of England in 1965)
I'm just working on filling it out and posting more so here is mine, I will try to continue to update this.
1) "Westward the course of empire takes its way ..."
• George Berkeley
Westward the course of empire takes its way;
The first four acts already past,
A fifth shall close the drama of the day;
Time’s noblest offspring is the last.
The City of Berkeley was named after Bishop Berkeley who composed these lines in the late 17th century.
2) Gray Brechin's concept of "the contado"
Contado is an Italian word which refers to the territory commanded by a dominant city. The contado provides essential resources and labor to power the capital.
3) "A Walden Pond for Winos"/ Washington Square in SF
• Brautigan, Trout Fishing in America. p17
Walden Pond for Winos is a vignette about Brautigan’s relation to the hobos in Washington Square in SF, where they drink port wine and discuss making money off a flea circus.
4) Tony Bennet, "I Left My Heart in San Francisco"
Tony Bennet released this song on a 1962 album of the same name. It is one of the two official anthems adopted by the city of SF. It is played after SF Giants home game victories.
We were shown Union Bank of California’s 2001 use of the song in a promo video where SF local hula dancers emote the words with hand gestures.
5) Moloch
Moloch is the name of a figure in the Old Testament which was worshiped by a tribe. Moloch was a god who required great sacrifices in a fiery manner. Allen Ginsberg employed Moloch in Howl, part 2. Moloch is used as a metaphor for the American city, thus aligning McCarthy-era America with the demon.
6) "I was certainly surprised to be named Poet Laureate of this far out city on the left side of the world"
7) "Such was life in the Colden Gate:/ Gold dusted all that we drank and ate, / And I was one of the children told, 'We all must eat our peck of gold.'"
(a peck is a 2-gallon volume of any dry substance)
A Peck of Gold
by Robert Lee Frost
Dust always blowing about the town,
Except when sea-fog laid it down,
And I was one of the children told
Some of the blowing dust was gold.
All the dust the wind blew high
Appeared like god in the sunset sky,
But I was one of the children told
Some of the dust was really gold.
Such was life in the Golden Gate:
Gold dusted all we drank and ate,
And I was one of the children told,
'We all must eat our peck of gold.'
We should look at the two central images in this poem, Dust and Gold. Dust is representative of the poor and lower class of San Francisco, with gold representative of dreams of the riches. We see the juxtaposition, poverty and wealth, dust and gold.
8) North Beach
9) "Coming Into the Watershed"
10) Citizen Kane / William Randolph Hearst
11) Hetch Hetchy Reservoir
This is a reservoir in Yosemite national park. 65mi northeast of Merced, this reservoir is formed by a concrete dam. It’s primary purpose is to supply drinking water to San Francisco.
12) Alcatraz Is Not an Island
13) "The Day They Busted the Grateful Dead"
• Brautigan's The Pill vs. The Springhill Mine Disaster p. 104:
The day they busted the Grateful Dead
rain stormed against San Francisco
like hot swampy scissors cutting Justice
into the evil clothes that alligators wear.
The day they busted the Grateful Dead
was like a flight of winged alligators
carefully measuring marble with black
rubber telescopes
The day they busted the Grateful Dead
turned like wet breath of alligators
blowing up balloons the size of the
Hall of Justice
• Brautigan operating in the prophetic mode, evoking images of injustice and the mechanism of the state imposing its will against one of the greatest symbols of 1960s counter culture, political freedom, etc.
14) Turtle Island
• Gary Snyder, p. 243: Concept of North America as "Turtle Island," de-familiarization of 18th century to present day understanding of USA
• Marks a return to the naturalist/native concept of the land and its creatures
• Criticizes the "discovery" discourse describing the colonization/founding/expansion of America and "frontier" mentality
• Deconstruction of modern concept of the community centered around urban and suburban spaces - return to the wild
• Introductory Note from Turtle Island (1969):
Turtle Island - the old/new name for the continent, based on many creation myths of the people who have been living here for millennia, and reapplied by some of them to "North America" in recent years. Also, an idea found world-wide, of the earth, or cosmos even, sustained by a great turtle or serpent-of-eternity.
A name: that we may see ourselves more accurately on this continent of watersheds and life-communities - plant zones, physiographic provinces, c ulture areas; following natural boundaries. The "U.S.A." and its states and counties are arbitrary and inaccurate impositions on what is really here.
The poems speak of place, and the energy-pathways that sustain life. Each living being is a swirl in the flow, a formal turbulence, a "song." The land, the planet itself, is also a living being - at another pace. Anglos, Black people, Chicanos, and others beached up on these shores all share such view at the deepest levels of their old cultural traditions - African, Asian, or European. Hark again to those roots, to see our ancient solidarity, and then to the work of being together on Turtle Island.
15) beatitude/ The Beats
• Tied to St. Francis, love of all things; fostering the unity of people, animals and the environment that we share
• In Beat context, has to do with getting out of an individualist mindset and exploring the universal connectivity of life, living
• Could have to do with the contrast between beatitude (love of life) and downbeat, which can be seen as (one of) the human struggle(s)
16) "...our beautiful but lethal Golden Gate Bridge"
• "Reclaiming San Francisco" p. 121 - Suicide in the City by Ann Garrison. Discusses the Golden Gate Bridge's symbolic appeal as a mechanism for suicide, citing the city's large population of at-risk groups (elderly people, unmarried people, Caucasians and Asians, substance abusers, upper and upper-middle classes and terminally ill) as a possible reason for SF's status as a suicide capital.
• Specific appeal for the bridge attracting these cases could have to do with its symbolic location as mouthpiece to the Pacific, end of the Western frontier, etc.
17) City Lights Bookstore in North Beach, SF
• Bookstore popularized by Lawrence Ferlinghetti, first paperback bookstore in country and backing publisher (City Lights Foundation) for much of the Beat literature
18) "Franciscan" San Francisco
• Referenced in Brechin preface, p. xxxii - most noted as the contrast between St. Francis of Assisi, patron saint of animals and the environment, and Brechin's image of Poe's Maelstrom which sucks in animals and resources from the surrounding waters.
• Highlights the city's idealistic foundation and the ways it now poses an urban dichotomy
• from You Are Here (You Think), p. 138 - "... noting the resemblance of this ultra-urban site to natural landscapes of canyons and gullies replete with migrating falcons." ... make your own connections
19) The concept and role of "metatourists" in "You Are Here (You Think): A San Francisco Bus Tour"
20) legacies of the Beat Generation as portrayed by Nancy J. Peters
21) Bayard Taylor
22) "angelheaded hipsters"
The third line of Alan Ginsberg’s Howl uses the words “angelheaded hipsters”:
“I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked,
dragging themselves through the negro streets at dawn looking for an angry fix,
angelheaded hipsters burning for the ancient heavenly connection to the starry dynamo in the machinery of night,
who poverty and tatters and hollow-eyed and high sat up smoking in the supernatural darkness of cold-water flats floating across the tops of cities contemplating jazz…”
23) Timothy W. Drescher's concept of "street subversion"
• Reclaiming SF, p231
• “the political geography of murals and graffiti”
24) "[ ] created a spontaneous bop prosody and original classic literature. Several phrases and the title of Howl are taken from him."
Jack Kerouac, as featured in the dedications of Alan Ginsberg’s poem, Howl.
25) "Subterranean Homesick Blues"
This is a video by Bob Dylan shown in class in which Dylan holds up cards for the emphasized words in the songs. It is taken from D. A. Pennebaker's film, Dont Look Back (a documentary on Bob Dylan's tour of England in 1965)
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Zen for Beginners
You touch a doorknob and it is sticky
You touch a chair and it is sticky
You touch a desk and it is sticky
You touch a pen and it is sticky
You touch a cup and it is sticky
It is not these things which are sticky
But you who are sticky
You touch a chair and it is sticky
You touch a desk and it is sticky
You touch a pen and it is sticky
You touch a cup and it is sticky
It is not these things which are sticky
But you who are sticky
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Two Short Poems
"Sir, have you been drinking tonight?"
--------------------Yes, how nice of you to ask.
Dead Baby Jokes
--------------------Does not "break the ice"
--------------------Yes, how nice of you to ask.
Dead Baby Jokes
--------------------Does not "break the ice"
The Musings of someone completely out of their mind
Her name is Hilary
She is tall and gaunt
But she has a small ribcage
a distinctly feminine feature
It makes her B-cup breasts
look good on her slim frame
And she's got a big butt for a skinny girl
And good legs
I had struck up a conversation
a week before
Now she sees me
as the room fills up
She sits in a vacant seat
rows ahead of me
I dream of
throwing a book at her head
She is tall and gaunt
But she has a small ribcage
a distinctly feminine feature
It makes her B-cup breasts
look good on her slim frame
And she's got a big butt for a skinny girl
And good legs
I had struck up a conversation
a week before
Now she sees me
as the room fills up
She sits in a vacant seat
rows ahead of me
I dream of
throwing a book at her head
Outside
Sitting outside,
the flies don't buzz your ears.
The outside flies accept
that their parents did the best they could
to raise them
with what they had.
Not like the psychologically frustrated flies
who buzz your eyes and nose
in sticky and uncomfortable
hot classrooms.
Those tiny black bastards,
with angst from their repressed desires,
take the rage out on you!
Fly in low, buzzing
right inside the ear canal
so the sound magnifies
like a Metallica amp turning on suddenly
next to your ear
and recoil like an idiot
like all those times you walked into spider webs
Not even the best fly psychologist
could change these neurotic fuckers.
Impossible to relieve their stress!
they also
sick of
being in this
fucking room.
the flies don't buzz your ears.
The outside flies accept
that their parents did the best they could
to raise them
with what they had.
Not like the psychologically frustrated flies
who buzz your eyes and nose
in sticky and uncomfortable
hot classrooms.
Those tiny black bastards,
with angst from their repressed desires,
take the rage out on you!
Fly in low, buzzing
right inside the ear canal
so the sound magnifies
like a Metallica amp turning on suddenly
next to your ear
and recoil like an idiot
like all those times you walked into spider webs
Not even the best fly psychologist
could change these neurotic fuckers.
Impossible to relieve their stress!
they also
sick of
being in this
fucking room.
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