Here’s the scoop:
“FAITHFUL FREADERS, do not forget that there is an online, Zoom-based version of my beloved comedy show, The Internet Read Aloud, happening THIS SUNDAY, November 15, at 1 pm Pacific! It features show favorites Patrick Susmilch and Sammy Mowrey, Rifftrax writer Conor Lastowka, and show newcomer Nina Butterly! Here’s the Zoom link, for future reference, and here’s the Facebook event, if you find that helpful!” Metapost
“50 students and graduates from the animation department at Lodz Film School have mobilized their medium to protest Poland’s Constitutional Court ruling that forces people with uteruses to carry pregnancies to full term, even if the foetus won’t survive outside the womb. Co-founder of the Law and Justice (PiS) party, Jarosław Kaczyński, said in 2016 that ‘We will strive to ensure that even in pregnancies which are very difficult, when a child is sure to die, strongly deformed, women end up giving birth so that the child can be baptised, buried and have a name.'”
“Responding to the visceral sensation that accompanies the prospect of losing bodily autonomy, animators from Lodz have united under the banner of #sprzeciwpolek (Polish women defiance) and released the video below within four days of the Constitutional Court ruling. This is quite a feat. Given that animation is typically 8 to 12 frames per second, this means that between 3 840 and 5 760 images were drawn by 50 artists within four days to make the eight minute film.” Polish Animators PiS Off Law and Justice Party, by Amanda Barbour, Senses of Cinema, November 2020
This is is magnificent and not easy to watch, in the way powerful protest art usually is.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Asking voters to repeal or overhaul a law passed by the Democratic-controlled Legislature is becoming a common strategy for corporations financially threatened by progressive policies coming out of Sacramento. Ride-hailing companies succeeded at it this week, too, convincing voters to pass Proposition 22 and exempt Uber and Lyft from state labor law.” Corporations Don’t Like A Law? Just Pay Millions For A Ballot Measure, by Laurel Rosenhall/CalMatters, LAist, 05 November 2020
“Comics and graphic novel sales had their best year ever in 2019, according to the annual report just released by ICv2 and Comichron, with sales topping $1.21 billion.” Comic Sales Report, by Heidi MacDonald, Comics Beat, 02 November 2020
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Given the attitudes of the day, it may not have seem strange, then, that Los Angeles County appointed an official witch in 1968. Louise Huebner was born in 1930 in New York City. In the 1960s, she moved to Los Angeles, where she began making regular appearances on KLAC in 1965. In 1968, Huebner was hired to help promote a series of concerts called Twelve Summer Sunday Concerts at the Hollywood Bowl. The first concert was Folklore Day, and after casting a spell, Huebner was presented with a document certifying her the Official Witch of Los Angeles County. It was stamped with the seal of the county and signed by then-Chairman of the Board of County Supervisors, Ernest Debs.’ Los Angeles Gothic, a Holloween and Dia de los Muertos Fantasia, by Eric Brightwell, 28 October 2020
I never thought about LA County having an official witch. Huh.
Could LA sports fans please stop rioting when our teams win? Please?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Now, the lost letters of JM Barrie to Robert Louis Stevenson – missing for over a century – have been found in a cardboard box in a library archive and will be published for the first time in a forthcoming book. The letters reveal how ardently the young Barrie both adored and admired Stevenson, who was an older and more established writer. A year into their friendship, which was initiated by Stevenson, Barrie wrote to him: ‘To be blunt I have discovered (have suspected it for some time) that I love you, and if you had been a woman…’ He leaves the sentence unfinished.” Lost letters reveal JM Barrie and Robert Louis Stevenson’s mutual affection, by Donna Ferguson, Guardian, 25 October 2020
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Democrat Joe Biden defeated President Donald Trump to become the 46th president of the United States on Saturday, positioning himself to lead a nation gripped by a historic pandemic and a confluence of economic and social turmoil.” Biden wins White House, vowing new direction for divided US , by Jonathan Lemire and Zeke Miller, AP, 04 November 2020
BIDEN WINS!
Yes, I know, it’s not over, and it’s not going to be pretty until after the inauguration, but 290 on the dreaded Electoral College. BIDEN WINS!!!
God bless Arizona, Nevada, and Pennsylvania… for now. BIDEN WINS!
The banana bread will ease the Meddle-ophatic(TM) procedure.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Katharine, a 14ft-plus great white shark with a Twitter following, appeared again off the US east coast this week. A transmitter attached to her dorsal fin had not sent out a definitive message for a year and a half.” Katharine the great white shark resurfaces off US east coast, by Martin Pengelly, Guardian, 07 November 2020
“Past, present, and future on view in a wondrous machine. Everything everywhere in every universe. Better than YouTube, but can this device bring happiness to a young slacker looking for love and life’s meaning?” Storylandia, Issue 32, Drunk on Time, by J. H. Malone
“Haunting and harrowing in its portrayal of supernatural creatures, “A Route Obscure and Lonely” explores the road less traveled by restless ghosts, sexually curious aliens, cunning vampires, transgressive angels, regretful mermaids, defiant witches, surly goddesses, mysterious phantoms, fearless fortune tellers, and “goth’s Mr. Goodbar” himself — — Edgar Allan Poe. The boroughs of the dead invite you to approach the gate guarding their abyss.” Poetrylandia, Issue 2, A Route Obscure and Lonely, by LindaAnn LoSchiavo
Storylandia, Issue 33, short stories, by Jim McCullen, Jason Feingold, Alice Wickham, Chip Jett, and Arthur Davis
“Nopalito, Texas—1965, 1985, 2005. An aging liquor store proprietor faces the confines of small-town life 5,000 miles from the one place that offered happiness. A young man evades attraction to his charismatic but erratic cousin. An elderly widower is beset by visits from the dead in the aftermath of a near-fatal heart attack. Albert, Dusty, Berndt—each one faces a wordless question: how to live with an impossibility that cannot be changed.” Storylandia, Issue 34, The Distance Between Here
and Elsewhere: Three Stories , by David Meischen
Finding the late Mrs. Taggart’s missing jewels had made Freddie Babington famous. People with problems began to come to him, hoping to engage his services as a private detective. Freddie expected his new career to involve thrilling cases such as restoring diamond necklaces to Duchesses and secret plans to government ministers, perhaps rescuing a kidnapped heiress or two. Most of his cases were more mundane–but every once in a while, a client with a truly strange and interesting problem came to his door.
Publishes in November 2020 Storylandia, Issue 35, Odd Goings-on at Ferndell Farm and other Stories, by Kathryn L. Ramage
“Screams from the Balcony” first collection of C Bukowski’s letters
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Watching:
“Queen’s Gambit” Netflix, okay, could have been half as long, I mostly ignored the self-destructive woman stuff, but I see why the fanboys like it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Listening:
“You’re wrong about” podcast, Princess Diana episode 1 and 2 so far, very entertaining.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Quotes:
No change in musical style will survive unless it is accompanied by a change in clothing style. Rock is to dress up to.
Frank Zappa
No change of circumstances can repair a defect of character.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
No great man ever complains of want of opportunity.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
No man ever prayed heartily without learning something.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
No matter how cynical you become, it’s never enough to keep up.
Lily Tomlin
No matter what cause one defends, it will suffer permanent disgrace if one resorts to blind attacks on crowds of innocent people.
Albert Camus
No one is more arrogant toward women, more aggressive or scornful, than the man who is anxious about his virility.
Simone de Beauvoir
Nobody can bring you peace but yourself.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Nobody realizes that some people expend tremendous energy merely to be normal.
Albert Camus
Note, besides, that it is no more immoral to directly rob citizens than to slip indirect taxes into the price of goods that they cannot do without.
Albert Camus
“Zumthor is seventy-seven, and oversees a thriving boutique architecture practice, with three dozen employees and projects on three continents. Though he has never built in the United States, he is known throughout Europe as the creator of exquisitely stern structures with jewel-box proportions; in 2009, he won the Pritzker Prize. lacma belongs to a vast public—the ten million people of Los Angeles County—and sees a million visitors each year. It shares a park with the La Brea Tar Pits paleontological site, and occupies a position at the midway point between downtown and the coast. Because of the building’s prominence, scale, and cost—some six hundred and fifty million dollars—Zumthor’s lacma is poised to be the most significant architectural addition to Los Angeles since Frank Gehry’s Disney Hall opened, two decades ago.” The Iconoclast Remaking Los Angeles’s Most Important Museum, by Dana Goodyear, New Yorker, 05 October 2020
We. Are. So. Fucked. Also, if LACMA isn’t the largest encyclopedic museum west of the Mississippi, what is it?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Asked recently at a dinner party what he thought of the new building design, Frank Gehry simply draped a napkin over his head.”
~snip~
“The second is the demolition of the museum’s very mission. LACMA’s director, Michael Govan, has officiated over an aggressive proposal that will dismantle and relegate to storage collections that for decades have distinguished the museum and established its standing. Govan’s plan is at once grandiose and diminishing—and, above all, needless. The institution didn’t need fixing because it wasn’t fundamentally broken.” The Demolition of LACMA: Art Sacrificed to Architecture, by Joseph Giovannini, NYR, 02 October 2020
Govan’s plan makes it so that going to LACMA won’t be like going home (as it’s always been) and finding a few new items. It will be like going to whatever carnival has just blown into town. Why did this grifter get a hold of our beloved LACMA? Why did not one with power stop this? Also, is a museum the building or the collection? Seems America has gone swanky building mad, and needs to get some perspective.
So many great artchitects who not only understand LA and like it, and we got Zumthor. Oh were have we sinned? Oh why must we suffer?
Well, too bad about LACMA. Even the best of friends have got to part one day.
I’m trying out Imperfect Foods in hopes if I buy vegetables that are delivered, I’ll eat them. Yeah. Sure. Help a gal out? Referral link: http://imprfct.us/v/ginger_788 $10 credit for me; $10 credit for you!
“I have a show in the adorable KAFN café in east mid-Glendale, Adams Square area, 1019 E Palmer Ave, Glendale, CA 91205. If you can, please stop by to support this brave little café, to buy a coffee/tea or a slice of really evil chocolate cake. Oh, and you can see the show in 1.65 minutes; there’s only 14 pieces on the long wall.” People of Glendale, and the rest of the Universe, KAFN show in Glendale, CA
Yes! I STILL have a show at the adorable KAFN café in Adams Square in Glendale. And they have awesome lavender lattes, iced or hot. And there’s an adorable art park across the street to socially distant sit in while enjoying your beverage. 🙂
“Through free massages, decompression capsules, and limitless nitro cold brew, San Francisco’s tech companies spent the last decade making their offices considerably comfier than the average cubicle farm. Beyond making the workday pleasant, they attracted workforces whose six-figure salaries altered the city’s demographics, spurring widespread displacement and years of head-scratching over the exact moment San Francisco lost its bohemian soul.” ‘Rich people leave, artists and queerdos return’: is San Francisco’s tech exodus real or a fantasy?, by Peter Lawrence Kane, The Guardian, 12 September 2020
“I started reading science fiction when I was a teenager in the 1980s, and I subscribed to as many magazines as I could afford. What I liked about science fiction then was that it was both distracting and engaging. It distracted me from what was often a very painful time for me, dragging me out of the present tense and into the future where I could see myself as heroic, and it engaged me with the kind of intellectual and philosophical concepts that science fiction discusses as well as any other genre. This kind of engagement is one of the dragons that I, as a reader, have been chasing my whole literary life, and this is exactly what J. H. Malone’s novella, Drunk on Time delivers in the most recent issue of Storylandia.” Storylandia Issue 32, J. H. Malone’s “Drunk on Time”, review by John Brantingham, Cultural Weekly, 29 July 2020 Continue reading Let us be silent, that we may hear the whispers of the influencers.→
“Ready for some exciting news? ‘Loving Vincent’ producers once again will bring paintings to life to tell a powerful emotional story. Watch the concept trailer of ‘The Peasants’!” The Peasants, by Break Through Films, 28 August 2020
“I started reading science fiction when I was a teenager in the 1980s, and I subscribed to as many magazines as I could afford. What I liked about science fiction then was that it was both distracting and engaging. It distracted me from what was often a very painful time for me, dragging me out of the present tense and into the future where I could see myself as heroic, and it engaged me with the kind of intellectual and philosophical concepts that science fiction discusses as well as any other genre. This kind of engagement is one of the dragons that I, as a reader, have been chasing my whole literary life, and this is exactly what J. H. Malone’s novella, Drunk on Time delivers in the most recent issue of Storylandia.” Storylandia Issue 32, J. H. Malone’s “Drunk on Time”, review by John Brantingham, Cultural Weekly, 29 July 2020 Continue reading Keep a blog, and someday it’ll keep you.→
I have a show in the adorable KAFN café in east mid-Glendale, Adams Square area, 1019 E Palmer Ave, Glendale, CA 91205.
If you can, please stop by to support this brave little café, to buy a coffee/tea or a slice of really evil chocolate cake. Oh, and you can see the show in 1.65 minutes; there’s only 14 pieces on the long wall.
I’m accepting bids on the work in KAFN and all the work I still have on the website www.Collage.GingerMayerson.com. Bids can be sent to kafnshowATgmailDOTcom with the title or as clear a description as possible.
Usually, KAFN gets 10% of each sale, but in order to support this brave little café (or I said that already), I’m bumping the commission to 20% on EVERYTHING on the website and in the show. I’m also happy to ship the collage or collages, framed or unframed, wherever and whenever, although the work at KAFN might need to stay there for a little longer.
I’m happy to conduct personal tours at KAFN when they’re open. There’s a cute park across the street to socially distantly sit in after the tour. Just let me know.
Anyway, if you can get to KAFN for great drinks, really evil chocolate cake, and extremely interesting collages you’ll be glad you did.
“I have a show in the adorable KAFN café in east mid-Glendale, Adams Square area, 1019 E Palmer Ave, Glendale, CA 91205. If you can, please stop by to support this brave little café, to buy a coffee/tea or a slice of really evil chocolate cake. Oh, and you can see the show in 1.65 minutes; there’s only 14 pieces on the long wall.”