Precis 10 2014 issue 4

pré·cis 摘要 issue four volume one

october.twenty fourteen

cargo: editorias - 2 gigs - 3,4 expat 9 ball - 5 kats window - 6~8 word on the street - 9 stepping up - 10 travel ~ sanya - 11,12 per.spect.ive - 13,14 hippies - 15~17 talk story - 18 teaching - 19,20 burning man - 21~38 cartoon. - 36 photo: melissa davis

pr茅路cis publisher & editor: chris stecher graphics: stech design photography: stech design, melissa davis, ben tang, symeon north, kaitlan murray, YPDR, contributing writers: symeon north, kat tosi, chris parizo, casey ray hunter, william griffith, edward hutchins, kaitlan murray content submissions and /or letters to the editor are welcome. please keep letters to 250 words and submissions to 750 words.

Photos and images need to be at least 200 dpi at size. contact : stech@outlook.com 01

photo: Katlyn Murray

pré·cis editorias

Burning Man Epilogue ...

And possibly the editorial.

You will find in this issue heavy on the festival in Nevada called

Burning Man, of course you will also find other interesting pieces as well.

I have spent five burns trying to write about burning man... And each time, I put the notes in a bag, hoping against hope to finally pull off the definitive piece on what Larry David and crew started oh so many years ago.

I review the notes from 2008 and onward, I look at the scribbles and scratched etchings that meant something meaningful at that period in time, although G-d only knows what it was.

I rack my brain to come up with words to describe the dawn of the first day when you first get in, the pride in getting the camp set up, the overwhelming emotion of meeting people you never met before who, like you, were absolutely stupid enough to take time out from the real world to truck

their sorry asses 16 hours, and in some cases, across the world, with box trucks worth of shit that never belongs in a desert and mostly will never get used, just to build a city for seven days. There are no words,

degrees for ten days, and then pour it over sixty thousand other idiots who had the same misguided idea you did.”

So I leave it at this... Adieu fat wood-

“Take one part Dr. Seuss, three parts grain alcohol, one part psychoactive materials, three parts Hustler Magazine, all the money you have in the bank and your brain. Throw it in a dirty blender, and bake at 350 degrees for ten days, and then pour it over sixty thousand other idiots who had the same misguided idea you did.”

en man. Adieu city of freaks.

Adieu the place that for so many years I have called home.

As has been pointed out, by the most special of people...

I am older now, and I should pictures, video, that can give insight know better than to put myself into into this world. Firsthand accounts positions such as this place. mean exactly... Dick all.

But very so much the wiser for havI have tried... And I have failed. ing known you. You are exactly like There are no words for the personal heroin. I will never get you out of toll doing something so incredibly my system, but I know better than insane does to you. The long drives, to go back. the dust, in some cases rain that turns the dust into cement around G-d help the weird. your feet, the absolute freakish nature of having a temporary city, As an addendum.. Whomever your unfettered by conventional norms, significant other is, be it spouse, boybombard your senses 24 hours a day. friend, girlfriend, or just anyone you care deeply about, never discount A place that has only once been de- those who let you go to the burn scribed well for me by one of my alone. They will worry, and rightly closest friends (although I para- so. They may never understand, but phrase)and even this doesn’t come ALWAYS remember the feelings of close: those who let you get your idiotic ass dusty, silly and drunk. Because “Take one part Dr. Seuss, three they are the ones who will be there parts grain alcohol, one part psycho- when you ultimately crash into the active materials, three parts Hustler mental wall that is decompression.

Magazine, all the money you have in You can bank on that. the bank and your brain. Throw it in a dirty blender, and bake at 350 Besides. It was always better last year.

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Beijing, October, 2014 @ temple bar

Mr. Honey

gigs.

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04

expat

by Chris Stecher

expat 9 ball

9 questions answered from an established expat Did you experience culture shock?

I experienced culture shock every day for a long time but not in a negative way. Everything was new, odd, difficult, amazing, and hilarious and I loved it.

In your opinion, what is the biggest challenge facing expats in china today?

Meet fellow Vermonter, Dave Bob Gaspar, the multi award winning bar manager and mixologist that was recently named Personality of the Year in the 2014 Beijinger Bar and Club Awards.

He is the Front of House Manager for Home Plate BBQ that was voted 2014 Restaurant of the Year for the Beijinger Restaurant Awards. Dave Bob is fearlessly creative with his cocktails and when he’s not behind the stick he’s winning handmade ice cream contests and entering chili cook offs. His passionate involvement with community events and hard work has slowly made him a household name in Beijing’s nightlife scene.

---------------------------You have worked in many places across the world.

Looking back, what was your first expat po05

sition, and how did you prepare for it?

I was an educator in public and private schools in Vermont before moving to China. I started teaching at a primary school and shortly after took a position at Shandong University in their advanced English program. Obviously I was bar tending part time at local bars in the city too.

When you first moved to China, what was your transition like?

My transition was awesome. It involved getting drunk on a train and holding a cops gun on the way to a city I would call home for 2 years. Initially I was all on my own, getting lost on buses, discovering new food and eventually finding a local expat bar. This where I met my wife and some of the best friends I have ever had.

Visas. Every year it gets more difficult to live here and do business.

When looking at hiring an expat what are the most important questions you ask in an interview?

Do you have a degree and can you provide transcripts. In all seriousness it depends on the company and position obviously and I don’t have a good answer really. Trust the CV and catch a good vibe during the interview I suppose.

Do you feel that the Chinese have been more or less inviting in granting or renewing Visas for foreign professionals in recent years?

I think ya know the answer to that Are you finding that the Air quality is making finding and keeping quality talent difficult?

I am sure in certain careers with people in specific high positions it’s more difficult to recruit. When it comes to business and imports it doesn’t matter how polluted it is. If someone thinks they can profit by bringing in a new idea or product they will do it no matter the pm2.5 What are your personal thoughts on living and working in China?

I love it. I was able to take a passion I had that was always a part time gig and turn it into a well-paid career over here. I love what I do and feel lucky to be surrounded by and collaborate with so many extremely talented people working in F&B in Beijing.

If you could give one piece of advice for someone considering coming to China to work, what would it be?

Be patient and know beforehand it won’t be easy because of the differences in communication, problem solving and work ethics. Be positive and go out of your way to create friendly and professional relationships with coworkers. It will be helpful down the road. Most importantly have fun and explore.

You’re in China!

You can see what Dave Bob is mixing up via Instagram @davesoftheweek or #homeplatebbq

music.

Kat’s Window ~ on China

By Kat Tosi

THE MODERN MUSICAL MAGI OF BEIJING Interview with Djang San

When I think of Djang San (Zhang Si’an) aka Jean-Sébastien Henry the first image is of a oneman band. Add to that image 8 hands instead of two. One hand holds a trilingual book, another grasps a bizarre instrument unknown to mankind, the third grips a miniature bridge, the forth supports an electrified piece of tofu, the fifth carries recording device, the sixth strokes his chin existentially and the remaining two hands, well they are just playing his zhongruan (a traditional Chinese plucked instrument) or strumming a guitar, of course.

This modern musical magi has his hand on a lot of strings, his head in many an esoteric thought and his eyes fixed firmly on the road of life.

We met up recently to chat about his most recent musical and mental adventures.

what is the point of it all ?

As a young idealist, after first coming to China in 2000, I wanted to create a bridge between cultures, I wanted to show it was possible to go beyond cultures, educational backgrounds, political issues, also beyond the idea of races. I don’t believe in the idea of races, there’s only one, the human race.

from a young age we think and behave in different ways because the place and society we grow up in has a strong influence on everyone of us. I believe our personalities are shaped by our parents, our environment, our culture, our school, what’s on TV, and what we know of our history.

In France the education most receive is about being all equal, so it doesn’t matter where you are from and what’s the color of your skin, we are all equal, on paper at least, which already is a good starting point I think.

My father was born in Spain and I grew up in Peru until the age of 6 or 7. I received some influence from Spanish and South American culture.

When in France I grew up surrounded by people from all regions of the world, people who had to adapt to the French culture, not always the easiest thing to do.

It wasn’t hard for me to adapt to France, but I have always felt a little bit on the outside of the mainstream because I had been exposed to different cultures at a young age. I have known

So here is the point of it all, showing the possibility of going beyond boundaries, building bridges between cultures, opening people’s minds both in Asia and in the West.

I chose China in 2000 because I saw the opportunity of creating something new. Beijing was also very cheap back then, so I thought I would easily have time to do music. When I first came to China, I felt people here were very open minded and very curious about the world, there was a need to know the outside world, a very strong thirst for understanding. That was also a strong pull for me to keep on coming back here. I think it all changed after 2008, after the financial crisis in the U.S, it’s as if all of a sudden Chinese people had lost faith in foreigners, as if we were not that interesting after all.

As a foreign artist in Beijing I am both an observer and an actor. I will never be from here, I can speak Chinese, write it and read it, but my face betrays me.

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It is interesting to be an observer. As I speak Chinese, I understand the conversations in the street, I know what people talk about in the subway and the bus, I’m also used to people’s body language here, so there’s a lot I understand now without even having to listen and speak.

I think I have become sort of a bridge between cultures myself, and I think my music and my thoughts on life through music are an echo of all this.

I wanted to call the latest release with Djang San + Band “Walls and bridges “, because I think it reflects the idea of this album. Unfortunately, I checked on Google and found out the name had been used by John Lennon.

I thought of a new name, “11 brides “, each of the eleven songs being a bridge on their own. The band wasn’t too fond of that new name so I joked and said “let’s call it electric tofu”, Carlo and Steno loved the idea, I changed the name to “Tofu électrique“, just to push the absurdity a bit further.

I also consider myself an existentialist, I deeply believe in the absurdity of life.

why do you think anyone should listen to what you have to say or what you have to play? what makes you special? is it your ego?

I consider my music as a result of my experiences in life, it is often about more than just the music, it’s a reflection on a lot of different things. It is up

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to the listener to read between the lines or not.

People should listen to the music just to listen to something different, there are other things in music besides MTV or what Rolling Stones magazine or some of these other medias talk about.

Why would people listen to what I say ? No one has to, but I hope to bring a different vision of life and culture. The idea is it is possible to do something different.

When I play in front of audiences that are all Chinese, or even when the room is full of foreigners, all the people get it, like it, dance to it, or travel into their imaginations. This shows it is possible to do music that is not standard pop and move people with it. It also shows you don’t have to be naked on stage to get people’s attention. When I see the video clips of Nicky Minaj, Miley Cyrus and the likes, I think their image is everything, who cares about what you sing as long as you show your ass right ?

My music mixes a lot of different styles and ideas. I don’t think there’s a limit to what is possible, I don’t like boundaries, I don’t want to feel like a prisoner, I want to feel free.

What makes me special? I don’t know, am I special? Who am I to judge myself? :-) My ego? What ego? Aha.

If you had a time machine, when

would you go?

If I had a time machine, I would go back to my childhood and tell young me to do as much music as possible as soon as possible and not waste time on anything else.

I would also go back to before the big bang and witness the beginning of the universe. I would finally know where we come from, maybe meet god, and end all wars before they even begin.

I would also travel to the future from now, but I might do that before I travel to the past and meet god and change the future, are you following?

An option would be to go live in the sixties, but it seems like a very chaotic time, very much like now actually.

On your album cover you plug some electrical stuff into a piece of tofu? Explain.

The electrification of the zhongruan and the name of the album « Tofu électrique » brought questions about the album cover, how should it be? I bought a few blocks of tofu in the nearest supermarket and started to experiment with the idea of an electric tofu.

The result was pretty ugly so at the end I changed the cover quite a bit, to make it something abstract. The title is sarcastic, and absurd, everything is electric and electronic nowadays. Electrifying my zhongruan to bring it to the 21st century is simple. I’m sure it’s possible

to solidify a piece of tofu and electrify it to make it some sort of new guitar, I’m sure it will sound great. Find the album here at: https://djangsan.bandcamp.com/album/tofu-electrique

Explain this Theory of Intelligence thing. where’d it come from?

I got the idea of the theory intelligence a few years ago, then I developed it little by little.

You can read it all here on my website www.zhangsian.com In the last three years I have read about the life of pioneers and inventors like Ambroise Paré, Galileo, Pythagoras, Da Vinci and many more. I realized that in order to make progress and discover things, all these people had followed their instincts and based a lot of their work on logic and observation.

I have always been a very sensitive person. This sensitivity has pushed me to do music, as music became a tool to communicate in another way in order to exteriorize emotions I often feel I can’t express with words.

The theory of Intelligence is a theory that comes out of pure feeling, observation and logic.

It comes from my perception of the world, and it’s a description of that perception.

I believe that as people, our understanding of reality is limited to our senses. We had to develop systems to quantify and analyze nature, systems to help us as interfaces to translate natural phenomenon. We have pushed those systems so far and discovered so much that we are now able to use those tools to transform reality, and even try to understand what goes beyond our senses.

and musicians.

In order to get closer to that idea, I decided to publish the theory of intelligence as both an album and a text. It’s a concept album; people have to listen to the music as they read the theory. (https://djangsan.bandcamp.com/album/a-theory-of-intelligence)

You have produced an amazing number of albums. what makes your album ‘Tofu Electrique” stand out? Or does it?

I have produced 26 albums, EP’s and live albums since 2003, composing has become very easy for me, but in each recording I try to push my boundaries further all the time.

When I started Djang San + Band in 2013, I wanted to play songs I had recorded on solo albums, but had never or almost never played on stage. I started with the songs I had composed using Chinese instrument zhongruan, and now I have extended the set with songs coming from electro albums, jazz, experimental, and rock albums.

The band now composes some songs together, and the arrangements have changed the songs so much that I saw a necessity into recording those songs as a band. Carlo V. Fuentes and Steno are both very talented musicians I am proud to play with.

“Tofu électrique” gives a new life to some of my old compositions such as “Shenme Dongxi” or “Mad Horses”, it

This album stands out because it is mainly based on the idea of getting the zhongruan into the 21st century. I have done a lot with the zhongruan since 2002 and this album is a good representation of how this instrument can be used and recorded in a rock band, in a progressive way, jazz way, blues way and rock way. I consider this album as a stepping-stone for how the zhongruan can be approached; it is also a stepping-stone for me and the beginning of a new direction in my music.

What reaction do you hope to get by sharing your music and your theory of intelligence and from whom?

I guess there are many different reactions I want to provoke. One of the things is that I want to transmit the idea that it’s possible to do something different in this world. We often have more possibilities than we think, but we often only look at what is in front of us, which limits our abilities. I hope my music can help creating a bridge between cultures. I hope it can open people’s minds. The theory of intelligence is something I needed to put out there. I wanted to know if my theory was right or wrong and to see what people would have to say about it. It didn’t really provoke any reactions yet, except from people closer to me that have really tried to understand it. I’m hoping people will take a look at it and challenge it, that’s what a theory is made for. This theory is my way to ask people to think and have a dialogue.

Music is for everybody…anybody who wants to give it a listen. The theory is for people who want to think. If you don’t want to think, don’t read it just listen to the music.

As for a good place to start, this writer invites you to check out this video by Ari Gunnarson:

I wanted to come back to the origins of science and philosophy, when everything was about observation, and create a system out of it.

Music is al so a system, the organization of sounds. In ancient Greece, philosophers were also mathematicians

version of “Two fishes” this year in the album “Love is a detention center for lonely people” but this version is so different it’s like a new song.

also presents some new songs such as “She’s a Witch”, “Ghosts”, “If you don’t know”, or “Two fishes”. I recorded a

Djang San + Band - Mad Horses - Mao Livehouse Beijing It captures the energy of the Beijing music scene and DJ

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word on the street @livebeijingmusic.com

by William Griffith Brad: I used my cell phone, Audacity and Ableton.

Junky: Various block of wood or metal, pick ups, turntables, vocals and so on.

I find these tracks akin to shock theory?

Are you looking for a particular reaction out of listeners or is this really just a freefor-all?

Interview:

Torturing Nurse / thruoutin A couple weeks ago, I was handed a split cassette from infamous Shanghai noise artist Torturing Nurse and our own local electronic guru thruoutin. Here were my initial thoughts It literally sounds like my walkman is tearing itself apart from the inside – a mechanical virus that eats away at the circuits, coils, and organs of the contraption. The fall of technology at its very foundation giving way. It’s horrifying, uncomfortable, and utterly captivating – a descent into aural hell.

Yeah, unsettling indeed – so much, I had to get in a few questions with the two artists just to assure the world, that everything is alright with these two.

Have a read….

Describe the first time each of you saw each other live? What stood out the most?

Junky: I would say the pipa and laptop combo. A non-native playing a Chinese instrument is interesting.

Brad: The first time I saw Torturing Nurse was at 696 Livehouse in Shanghai. Before the show I chatted with him and he came off as a regular, reserved guy. Shortly after he stood behind his table of gear, put on a ski mask and unleashed a sonic wall of terror. It was a tidal wave of noise with abrupt stops and starts with guttural screams. The contrast between his live perforce and the man I had just had a conversation with stood out immensely.

What’s your relationship with cassette?

Junky: I like to publish in analog formats. Tape has a special flavor.

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Brad: Early on I used cassettes to tape my own mixes off of the radio. My mom bought me a dictaphone when I was in middle school and me and my friends used to tape fake pro-skateboarder interviews with it. I would go back and forth between Ed Templeton and Tony Hawk talking about how high they could ollie. In high school and college my car still had a tape deck so I would often go to thrift store and buy cheap cassettes. I found out about a lot of bands that way. It wasn’t until recently when I released the split ‘Peak of the Moon’ with Noise Arcade until I started getting back into them.

What’s you approach to making music?

Junky: I just try and relax Brad: I like to sit down with a concept and work from there. With my half of this split I wanted to ‘misuse’ or ‘abuse’ the software to generate sounds that wouldn’t necessarily be produced by it. In other occasions it’s just sitting around with loops and seeing where song goes. Collaborating and improvisation is a different thing completely. Music making in those realms depends on the person and the environment.

Before recording, is it important to get into a certain mindset? How much preparation goes into these recordings – or is it mostly improvisation?

Junky: Yes, before recording I look at which material and equipment I want to use. When I’m recording though it’s all improv.

Brad: Mindset is important. You have to want to work on the songs. For this sort of noise release there’s less preparation as far as recording instruments or vocals, but a lot goes into the selection of the sounds. My half of this release was arranged piece by piece rather than improvising for a given amount of time.

What instruments/contraptions are you two fiddling with here?

Brad: For me they are quite pleasant. Some of the sounds have a washing of the ocean, static on the television feel to them. That relaxes me a little.

However, other parts less subtle. The listener can decide for themselves what to think. The sounds were really just made for me to play around with some new ideas and share with a couple friends.

I’d recommend that the listen give the split a full listen before turing it off just because it might be irritating at first.

Junky: I do it to adhere to people’s inner comfort.

Since you two started making ‘music’ – how was the harsh noise scene developed in your respective cities or elsewhere in China?

Brad: I would say the full-on noise scene in Beijing isn’t as big as in other cities around the world but it’s tolerated and allowed to function within the avant-garde and experimental circles. XP did a festival a few years back called “Sally Can’t Dance”. That was the first time for me to see so many noise artists performing in Beijing. I haven’t seen it growing too much independently but rather fusing with other genres. Although there are noise artists in Beijing, the guys I see making this kind of music are coming out of other cities like, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Changchun and Guangzhou.

Junky: There are more and more musicians and performances are increasing. _______________ Split between thruoutin(USA) and Torturing Nurse(China), thruoutin side is mixed experimental music/field recording and TN side is mixed harsh noise/field recordings, pro duo c60 cassette tape format, 50 copies made. If you interested, send payment to paypal:junkyyy@hotmail.com, 8 euros(included ship to all of the world) You can find a sample of the music HERE: http://thruoutin.bandcamp.com/album/thruoutin-torturing-nurse-tape-split

stepping up.

Bayanihan Spirit Alive And Well Post-Yolanda By: Katlyn Murray

It has been nearly one year since Typhoon Yolanda, known internationally as Typhoon Haiyan, ripped through the Philippines, tearing apart homes with its 315km/ hr winds and killing over 6,300 people. The strongest storm ever recorded at landfall, Yolanda left hundreds of thousands homeless and affected over 11 million people according to reports from the United Nations.

In the face of harrowing tragedy developed a fortunate silver lining.

In the days and months following Yolanda, the Philippines saw an outpouring of support from both the international community and pinoys living domestically and abroad.

Billions of pesos were donated by foreign governments, media outlets from around the globe cover the plight of people in the Visayas, celebrities hosted benefits, and a number of motivated individuals from far afield and from right here in the Philippines banded together to provide aid to people in need and repair the devastation caused by the storm.

This phenomenon has been dubbed locally as the global Bayanihan spirit.

The word Bayanihan is derived from the word bayan meaning town, nation, or community in general. “Bayanihan” literally means, “being a bayan,” and is thus used to refer to a spirit of communal unity and cooperation. It is said that the term originates from the tradition of neighbors helping to relocate families by getting enough volunteers to literally lift a house and move it to a new location.

This old tradition has taken on new life in the work of volunteers from the innovative, grassroots NGO Young Pioneer Disaster Response. YPDR began

in response to Typhoon Yolanda with four American friends living in China who decided to come to Bantayan Island and help rebuild one school in lieu of their vacation. Utilizing crowd funding websites and social media, they quickly realized that they were not alone in their desire to help.

They headed to Bantayan with 43,000 pesos of funding from private donors and a small army of volunteers who flew out from around the world. Upon arrival, they realized that their humble project would be a drop in the bucket in terms of recovery and that there were many local people on the island ready and willing to give everything they had to rebuild their disaster stricken community. Young Pioneer Disaster Response was borne out of the hard work and cooperation of 200 volunteers from around the globe and over 150 local employees and volunteers from Bantayan Island.

YPDR found partnership not only with individuals but also with local government units and other non-governmental organizations. Working in cooperation with the Municipalities of Bantayan and Madridejos, Polish Humanitarian Action, The International Labor Organization, SAMU Fundacion, and CarePoint Health among many others, YPDR has built 900 homes, trained 105 carpenters in stormstrengthening construction techniques, treated 3,357 patients, donated 11 million pesos worth of medical supplies to local hospitals and clinics, rehabilitated five schools including repairing 19 classrooms and constructing a brand new three classroom building, conducted hygiene promotion sessions for over 6,000 children, and deployed 80 marine domes as a part of their marine restoration program. The organization has recently expanded its shelter program to Eastern

Samar and is now a fully registered and accredited NGO in the Philippines committed to providing long-term, sustainable solutions to communities in need.

While it will take years to undo the damage caused by Typhoon Yolanda, fostering the Bayanihan spirit will provide the Philippines with an opportunity to build back better. Pinoys and willing members of the international community can continue to work together addressing not only issues that arose as a result of natural disaster, but also the alleviation of poverty, unemployment, and lacking infrastructure that existed before the typhoon. And, in a global context, that is what the Bayanihan spirit is all about.

Photos: Young Pioneer Disaster Response

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travel.

We have been to a number of places to escape the weather and or smog, but none has reminded me more of my college days in Oahu, Hawaii than Sanya bay.

travel.

Now don’t get me wrong.. Those who know me, know that I am not one to plug resorts of any kind I prefer the tiny little towns with the dive bars and good music.

by Chris Stecher

Sanya as free transport to and from the airport and local destinations.

You want this... Food and Drinks are expensive, and let’s face it ...you are going to eat and drink while you are on vaca. The last thing you want is to tally up at the end of the vacation, and find out the cost of consumption alone dwarfed your airfare and room cost by a factor of ten, I shit you not.

Getting off the five hour plane ride from But let’s face it... You want the beach, Beijing airport (AQI count 379 when where you can swim in blue water we left) the first thing you notice is the ocean, and sit around lounging with a total lack of smog. The first thing you drink... Which means you need a bar notice after exiting the hermetically close at hand. And the resort district sealed aircraft is the sweltering heat has their own beach zones with plenty and very high humidity level, which of places, either sanctioned or not, One beer, one small glass of house red wine and a small bottle of water will would be normal for an island such right on the beach. run you you about 60RMB. And that’s as this. Here is a tip.. Where light But resorts are not cheap, but chances a low-ball price. And I doubt very much clothing.. It will be soaked soon you will just be having two drinks enough. while trying to lure that bikini All the wait staff and lackeys of the resorts You can smell the sea upon clad hoochie mamma or bronzed arrival, a refreshing change are squirreled away for free language training, Adonis during your tenure here. from wherever you are coming learning Russian slang and code. A mistake Then there is the food. Even from. Sanya is one of only three after training ends, well you get the picture..... figuring on a 300 RMB lunch major cities on the Hainun island Get a drink wrong, spill borsch on someone, and dinner buffet, which again, located on the southern tip of and for some reason, you never show up to is conservative, will run your china in the South China Sea, work again. tab into astronomical figures. and from what I can tell is getting Most places will throw in a free all sorts of development money breakfast.. Which is the least from who-knows-where. There is high are, if you are already in China, you they can do seeing as the rooms itself level construction going on all around already spent a shitload of cash to get cost a small fortune, and some charge this part of the island almost all of it and be here, so let me offer some tips for internet service. resort oriented... Which brings me to to keep some of those hard earned the most important part... Where to greenbacks for the bar and hookers.

This run was a bit of a challenge, but stay.

As I have previously posted, my lovely she was able to find the best bang If you are here for the beach, or the wife Kat, while a word class professional for the buck at none other than the fishing, the best place to stay is in educator, missed her calling for the holiday inn resort. Now, the HIR in the Sanya bay Haipo resort zone, travel industry, because she will spend Asia is not your same brand as in the boasting dozens of hotels, some literally HOURS poring over travel US, that one down the street from you US some Chinese, and a couple of deals to save coin. Her ultimate goal in Rutland, Vermont with the empty Russian, all within spitting distances is to find the all in deals, which while swimming pool and the Styrofoam cup from the beach and about five miles paying a little more up front, will coffee. No no no... Make no mistake, from Sanya proper. include things such as comped meals, the HIR brand has spent a lot of drinks and spa treatments, as well Capitol, making sure that their resorts 11

rise to the top for non US business people and vacationers.

The one thing you must realize about Sanya bay resort strip is that almost all of the patrons are Russian mafia.

All the signs are bilingual, and not in the good way. Chinese and Cyrillic dominated every missive you see here, with a smattering of English, for those Americans who dare to venture to the southernmost part of china, away from any embassy, medical help, or for that matter, help of any kind. Beautiful as it is, for Americans or any English only speaking kind... This is the badlands.

You could be drinking Singapore slings one minute on the beach, fuck up the next and find yourself hog tied in the hold of an international freighter...

Never to be seen again.

All the wait staff and lackeys of the resorts are squirreled away for free language training, learning Russian slang and code. A mistake after training ends, well you get the picture..... Get a drink wrong, spill borscht on someone, and for some reason, you never show up to work again.

Everywhere you look there are buff balding, and sometimes bulging tough talking forty something Russian men with gang tattoos.. These men are invariably accompanies by hot 20 so minting supermodels, with kids in tow from yet another mistress who is 30 or 40 something, ten pounds overweight And would evermore never make the vacation cut.

The resort zone spans roughly about five kilometers, end to end.. Each beach has its own corresponding path that leads back to the corresponding hotel. Each sector of beach has its own demarcation, a semicircle of buoys that let you know how deep the water is..

All of them stop at about six feet deep.

Once outside that protected zone, the signs read, you are pretty much on your own. It is doubtful that the respective “Wyatt Earp’s” as call them on account of their wide brimmed ten gallon hats and nonchalant swagger will risk their necks once you leave the buoy zone.

It appears that these “lifeguards” sole purpose is to sit at their respective beach bars, occasionally change the warning flags, and intermittently blow their whistle.

Chinese and the wait staff.

My wife tolerates me because... Well let’s face it... We are married... In modern times this means nothing, but we met when married was an all or nothing campaign. An into the breach sort of thing. We married until both of us went in a hail of gunfire against screaming mole people. Our marriage is solid and we both know it. And I will stop a bullet than let the hungry angry hordes of CHUDS get us. Bank on that shit.

The Russians on the other hand are another matter.. I came close at the swimming pool to getting offed by one of the big Murmansk crime bosses by looking sideways at his eighteen year old daughter, who happened to look like Kate Moss. The only way I could get out of it was by promising to give him information on maple syrup production in Vermont and New Hampshire, well before it became common knowledge.

A weird request to be sure, but better than being stuffed into a trunk and dropped in the South China Sea. I do have my allegiances to maple, but a man can only be pushed so far.

The Chinese.. Well they don’t care about me down here.... As long as I am not taking pictures of soldiers in T-square... I am ok... They would rather me be working on my tan... A tropical gulag of sorts. Better I disappear here that them having to set up a bathtub in Sanlitun to harvest my organs.... Too many questions there. They welcome this.

The wait staff don’t care. The Russians nor the Chinese tip them. .. But I do. I am friendlier to them than anyone they have ever seen in their short lives. And I like them...

Genuinely... They bring me free drinks and I sign where they ask me to sign....

And we have that sort of mutual respect. And I tip them. Which no one else seems to do. It isn’t much, mind you, but to them it’s like Christmas in Aspen.

But they would not, nor would I expect them to go to the mat for me if I get stuffed in a trunk and shipped out for parts to Albania. For them, I was a one week sugar daddy.

A word about going for the All In deals......

I’m tolerated here, in this tropical paradise... Tolerated, but just by a gnats whisker. By my wife, the Russians, the

12

per.spec. tive.

~ by Casey Rae

I’ve told the story more times than I can count. Five or six years old, hanging out with my high school-age uncles in a town just a couple of clicks from Stephen King’s place and a few hurried steps through a creepy wooded path to the university where he once taught English (in the same department where my grandmother worked). Actually, “hanging out” with my uncles is probably an overstatement.

More like “invading the personal space of.” The adult me is grateful either way.

Book Review: Season of the Witch

by Peter Bebergal several books by legitimate occult scholars that make some attempt to trace these ley-lines; music scribes often hint at the witchier aspects of the rock Renaissance (roughly 19641982). But given that each camp has limited sightlines into the other, there is an opportunity for someone to bring focus to a topic that is too often tawdry or incomplete.

Peter Bebergal’s Season of the Witch: How the Occult Saved Rock and Roll [Tarcher/Penguin 2014], is an admirable attempt at uniting the tribes. First, we need a common vernacular. To Bebergal’s definition, Already a monster movie fanatic “the occult” is less a fixed system and on the prowl for anything scary, I more of a worldview that encompasses would pore through my uncles’ LP many spiritual traditions operating landscape beneath a cruel midnight collection looking for cool covers. outside of mainstream religious sky. I had no idea what any of this was this was the late 1970s; a golden practices. Bebergal’s interest in meant to symbolize, but I grokked its age for outré album sleeves. On this the subject appears to be fairly heaviness. particular afternoon, I recall pulling similar to my own—we both became out a pair of records—Alive enamored of rock music as a form From the first needle drop I was in love.

II by KISS, and Some Enchanted of escapism at a time when other “Godzilla” was my favorite, but I was Evening, a concert from Blue entertainment options were scarce also taken by “Don’t Fear the Reaper,” Öyster Cult. My parents had or unbearably straightlaced. Rock, which even in its live embodiment decent taste in music, so this wasn’t with its otherworldly visual language, possessed a haunted quality that I so much a rock ‘n’ roll epiphany as it coded lyrics, symbolic imagery and couldn’t put my tiny fingers on. Still was an opportunity to make choices strident musicality, provided a perfect can’t. based on my own interests—in vessel for the projections of prethis case, horror stuff. To be adolescents and teenagers— honest, I wasn’t even all that largely male, definitely To Bebergal’s definition, “the occult” curious about the music, but “gifted,” and lacking an is less a fixed system and more of a my uncle said we could listen. outlet for our own creative worldview that encompasses many impulses.

We constructed spiritual traditions operating outside of First up was KISS. I was elaborate mythologies around definitely impressed with band rock, populated by a pantheon mainstream religious practices. members’ demonic kabuki of musical heroes and villains, gear and sensational makeup. wizards and warriors. Record The music, not so much. Even as a albums became a kind of palimpsest, rock ‘n’ roll tadpole, I recognized what an (un)holy writ that only the My uncle and I subsequently had a a shitty band KISS are. Nothing in the initiated could hope to discern. conversation about what a “reaper” intervening years has changed my is (“he collects vegetables at harvest opinion.

And some of us never grew out of it. time”); later I went back to my own Which is why it’s great to encounter a burg to ruminate over the connections Blue Öyster Cult was next. To be fellow traveler like Bebergal, who between these uncanny sounds and honest, the cover was a little too scary, brings a scholar’s discipline to images. depicting a black-robed skeleton this esoteric quest. Bebergal is a astride a satanic steed, bony fingers lively writer who nonetheless resists And I’ve never stopped. gripping a scythe. Beast and beastie hyperbole—quite a feat given the canvassed an angry Martian breathlessness this topic tends to I’m not alone. I can name 13

elicit. Perhaps more impressive is the book’s comprehensiveness— from Delta blues to beatnik bluster to acid evangelists to metal overlords, Season of the Witch puts the hellfire in highbrow.

Season of the Witch is strongest in its examination of the history of African Americans as they endured the cruelties of slavery only to experience the anguish of segregation. Yet even under these injustices, black Americans preserved elements of their original musical and spiritual traditions, some of which were channeled through Christianity. It is difficult and often ill-advised for those outside a specific cultural group to construct a narrative around the real struggles of a people. Especially when the topic of investigation has been used by the socioeconomic and political elite to perpetuate harmful stereotypes. To his credit, Bebergal avoids many common pitfalls. His comparative analysis of early rock ‘n’ roll and its cultural and spiritual foundries compels examination of the AfricanAmerican experience. To sidestep these histories is to ignore America’s own troubled past and potential for a better future. Key to the latter is for today’s generations to become more familiar with America’s musical and cultural legacy, including its abuses.

Those who enjoy cultural anthropology and religious studies will find plenty to appreciate in Bebergal’s account of how West African trickster god and “guardian of pathways” Eshu connects to Papa Legba, the guardian of the spirit world in Hatian (and later Louisianan) Voudon.

When confronted with the allpervasive Christian dichotomy of good/evil, these spirits took on a more sinister shape, one that to Bebergal’s reckoning informs the devilish stereotypes found in Delta blues, and later, rock.

But this is hardly a singular ethnomusicology. For his next trick, Bebergal pegs Greco and European mythologies (Dionysus; Pan) to the

pagan urges present in 1960s American and European counterculture. This flowering—which ultimately inspired the civil rights agenda along with the LSD-soaked technolibertarians of Silicon Valley—paved the way for a fuller exploration of the occult by progressive rockers of the 1970s, some of whom made a serious study of such metaphysical thinkers as Paramahansa Yogananda and G. I. Gurdjieff, among others. Acting as an accelerant was The Beatles, whose fraternization with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi served as a cosmic permission slip for legions of seekers.

It’s clear that Bebergal has done real investigation; the ideas of such occult luminaries as Madame Blavatsky and Aleister Crowley are given more serious consideration than is common to your average rock tome. For example, Bebergal does not refer to Crowley as a “satanist”— an inaccuracy common to pretty much every book on Led Zeppelin I’ve ever read (and I’ve read them all). And even occult scholars make mistakes; a recent book on Crowley noted that the Zeppelin LP on which “Do What Thou Wilt” was inscribed was IV, not III. This may not seem like a big deal to the average reader, but if I can’t trust you to get a detail like that right, can I trust you to illuminate how Rosicrucianism came to Europe?

While it is clear that Bebergal has done his homework, he hasn’t fully soaked in the hermetic traditions of the West (aka magick and its many offshoots). That’s not necessarily a bad thing. There are other writers, such as Erik Davis, who hit that groove.

Bebergal is forthright about how he has less of an interest in the occult as a standalone topic than exploring how the symbols and associations found in rock got there to begin with. To me, this makes his occult research that much more impressive.

I’ll take Bebergal’s even-keeled examinations over dilettantism or pedantry any day.

My only real complaint with Season

of the Witch—besides jealousy over having not written it—is that its informational organization is a bit awkward. Not much of a gripe, given the difficulties in synthesizing and systemizing such a broad range of concepts and histories. Bebergal’s presentation is like a particularly awesome grad school lecture—it occasionally meanders, it’s not entirely concise, but is rich in context and conviction.

(Apparently, we also share a lecture style.)

Some may grouse about what the book leaves out, but let’s give Bebergal a break—it would be fundamentally impossible to catalog every tributary that connects such massive bodies of water. That said, it would be interesting to teach a class in rock and the occult in a manner that could capture even more correspondences.

If I were to design such a course, I’d readily assign Season of the Witch as the introductory text.

Kudos to Bebergal for taming the wily spirits of rock long enough to capture their essence in this fascinating book.

Casey Rae is a musician, public policy wonk and the editor/publisher of The Contrarian Media. An in-demand speaker, he gives frequent talks at conferences and campuses on issues at the intersection of creativity, technology, policy and law, and is a go-to source for major media outlets from NPR to the New York Times. He is an adjunct professor at Georgetown University and VP for Policy and Education at the Future of Music Coalition. He has served on the Board of Directors of the Media & Democracy Coalition and the National Alliance for Media Arts and Culture.

14

hippies. ~ by Symeon North

night at around midnight and every morning at about 5 I hear that Casey Whistle moan. These days the trains are becoming more frequent as the economy picks up. Cars full of lumber, and oil tankers.

When I started this article I proceeded with a few days of walking the tracks for miles, some of the people I encountered were unwilling to talk to me, one in fact said “I will not admit to committing a crime” Fair enough. I did get some good pictures and researched the people behind tales from the tour the tags...But it sucked for gathering first hand experiences. I went to the these days, although a lot slower; park where the “kids” hang out, and beats the pants off of airline travel) honestly I was treated disrespectfully.

(Perhaps my years on the road didn’t

show? Perhaps they thought I was a Or maybe it was because every time cop? Perhaps they were just fronting Jerry sang “I wish I were a headlight, and never had the courage to hop on?) on a northbound train” I got goose So, there went that plan…. bumps…..

My next avenue was to go to “Red Fast forward 20 some odd years later, Door” a local free lunch place. I and you can find me taking the Coach walked in and asked one of the staff if Starlight down to San Francisco any they knew of anyone who has hopped time I get a chance. (Sometimes with trains; he made a loud and semi all of my vending gear; quite the embarrassing announcement but it got spectacle.) When traveling alone, you results. A man even walked over to me can’t beat the price tag. with one of those small memo tape Train hopping became interesting recorders and said he had found it in to me when I watched David Cho’s the trash and he thought it could help “Thumbs Up” (If you haven’t seen me. This is where I had the pleasure to it, it’s well worth the watch) I talk to a few people both hoppers and proceeded to watch a few “Hobo/train former RR employees. hopper” documentaries and noted the I’ll start with Murdock Willy Will, similarity in our alternative cultures. who didn’t start hopping until his 40s (Maybe there is still hope for Two years ago I had the pleasure of me?) He hopped for 10 years, and I’m not entirely sure where and visiting my favorite coffee roaster the last time he hopped on was 3 ½ when my fascination with trains “Northbound Coffee Roasters” and years ago, from Chemult Oregon to began. Trains aren’t your typical their logo is a train. Located in Mount K-Falls (Klamath Falls, which later “girl” gender stereotype toy, and Shasta city, a stone’s throw away from on I find out has the meanest bulldogs I’m sure the only one we ever had The Dunsmuir Train Museum (in fact, along these lines, and Denver, CO went under the Christmas tree.. their personal home is located near having some of the nicest and helpful) But one summer day in 1992 I the tracks.) While my partner and I asked him my prepared questions, boarded an Amtrak from Boston I were visiting the roastery we got while we shared a smoke. It was a to Buffalo to begin a 4 month to talk trains and train hopping. The good feeling to finally get someone to cross country adventure. I quickly co-owner Keith, clearly had a love of actually speak to me in person. Willy found others who were headed to trains too. He regularly donates coffee Will was a breath of fresh tobacco Buffalo (Grateful Dead East coast to the museum, and often picks up filled air. summer tour opener) and although hitch hikers who have just hopped off. He said the danger never stopped under age, I proceeded to get shit (Dunsmuir is also home to the annual him, he learned the ropes from a faced drunk and not sleep a wink. train hopper/hobo convention!) good friend. He never saw any first We had a layover in Albany, NY hand accidents but he did meet a man where I got served in an actual While here in little old Bend, Oregon, who got his leg cut off and heard of real live bar! (But I also lost my I pass the train on a daily basis, and someone getting run over. But old favorite cardigan) I was hooked. admire some of the beautiful graffiti. dirty face never got him down.

Train travel was for me. (And Every day the pull gets stronger and stronger, to hear the rumble. Every 15

Train Hopping

One more internet bite I got was from the daughter of two sociologist who was very willing to share, although was busy with a newborn. But here is our dialogue verbatim. ~ I heard you hopped to the burn this year. How long did it take you, what lines did you take?

How close were you able to get to BRC? (I was mistaken on this, as this year she was with child) I didn’t make it to BRC, but if I did, I would have gone south from Eugene down to Colton (which is a town outside of LA) and East from there through the desert. ~What was your first trip and age?

My first trip, I snuck just down to Chicago, and I was 15 or so. I just went to Boy’s Town and then went home. Not a really big deal.

Then I spoke with Jack London, who was a yardman, and an engineer or “hog head” he lost his job over a DUI (he wasn’t working at the time, but I suppose the companies frown on this sort of transgression.) He told me his boss fought for him, but the company line was the company line.

So, two down, how many to go..?

I set off on the tracks once more.. This time I went right up to the Bull’s office and brazenly knocked on the door. (Mind you this is a highly illegal act within itself, as he didn’t fail to remind me) I asked him a few questions officially off the record, as he told me to direct my questions to the Seattle press office. He said they don’t have train hoppers here in Bend (I have photographic evidence to the contrary; Whistle Blower has been through in August, at least twice) and if they find anyone, they arrest them and I may have better luck getting statistics from the Bend PD. (With a looming deadline I did not have time to wait for a tangle of bureaucratic red tape that was sure to accompany any request from the Po-po) So,

that was a bust, no pun intended.

With feelers already out on the internet, I got a few bites. One unfortunately, had his mother pass on

~ What was your best trip, why, here and when?

The best trip I took was riding the HiLine with my husband before we got married. It’s an absolutely gorgeous ride, especially through MT and MN. I love that one the most, because it was when things really turned serious for Jeff and I and was my grieving period after the death of my father. I was able to release some of his ashes along the tracks in some of the most gorgeous, remote country and I know he would have loved that. Just that whole first summer with Jeff (2012) was really amazing once we finally got our butts out of Portland. ~Worst trip? (Same, where why when)

right as I was about to email him my questions. Hardly the time to impose on someone.

I think the worst was either when I was hitch hiking and got kicked out of the guy’s truck right across the highway from a state pen or when I got stuck in Chico and had to walk to Redding.

I don’t remember when exactly that happened, but both sucked just because they were hot, long, and no one picked me up hitchhiking. People are rude.

16

fights and overdoses) but my husband almost died because he misjudged a distance of less than two inches. It’s so rewarding in a lot of ways, but I have almost messed myself up a few times, and I’ve lost friends to trains who should still be here. My advice to someone who wants to see the country in an exciting way is to drive or get an open ended Amtrak ticket.

Safety first, y’all! (I’m totally full of shit, because of all the things I’ve quit in my life, trains is the hardest one to stay off of)”

~How long have you been hopping?

I have been traveling off and on since I was around 15, mostly weekend warrior status, but that’s okay. My earnest traveling started more around 18, and then I would get out of town for weeks or months at a time. And that’s when I started thinking about riding trains. ~How did you learn to avoid the dangers?

I learned to avoid dangers by shutting up when people more experienced than me were talking so I didn’t look like an idiot. Also, not lying about experience and being able to not feel like an idiot if I asked people questions. ~Worst experience with a Bull? Best experience with one?

Worst experience with a bull was not so bad. The guy just wanted to hassle me with some rape culture bullshit (you’re going to get assaulted out here, what are you thinking, etc) and write me a ticket and run me out of town.

The best is when I was in Pocatello and the bull (who is notoriously shitty) was really polite to us and told us we were on Union Pacific property (duh), but didn’t bother us beyond that and we were able to get out that night.

I really appreciated this dialogue.

Especially the rape culture bullshit.

I got it from my friends as I walked miles of track for days and I got it from the bull who I tried to interview.

There’s a gap in equality even in I hate riding out of major cities, to our subcultures, and if anyone can be honest. I prefer riding through change that, it’s us. One can be raped them or to the nearest crew change in their own home, they don’t need to because I hate, hate, hate getting stuck be on Union Pacific property to have in a 50 million track yard and being it happen. in a pickle. Or ending up going the I may never hop a train, aside from my wrong direction or something stupid. paid fair on the Coach Starlight, but for I’m super into the Hi-Line and the me, that even holds romance. There is Overland for a number of reasons, I’m nothing like feeling that rumble. I can not in the South (which is the sunset only imagine the adrenaline rush of line and it’s dumb), I’m in fairly freedom and courage one feels as they liberal areas for much of it, and the hop on and roll out. trains haul ass because they’re going through the most desolate places. I think the longest wait for a ridable train was in Minneapolis. The trains “I wish I were a headlight, on a there go back and forth a lot and we northbound train….. I’d shine my kept getting spotlighted and we ended light through the cool Colorado rain.” up just turning around and coming back to the west coast, because all the eastbound trains weren’t stopping.

Hah. ~Have you ever attended the hobo jamboree in Dunsmir?

I never have attended Train Days or the Jamboree in Dunsmir, but that town is the BEST hop out in the North West. Hands down. So cozy! The town is so friendly and the yard is easy to get in and out of and it’s generally a place with helpful workers. I do want to go to Train Days someday, though! (me too!) ___________________________

Riding trains was pretty awesome, and it gave me a lot of amazing ~Worst lines to ride? Best lines? memories and experiences, but it really isn’t worth the risk. I never Longest wait to roll out? personally saw accidents (outside of 17

Symeon North is 40 something a single mother of two children, living at the foothills of the Cascades; who somehow manages to sometimes gets things done.

Current ventures include her crafting business “Built to Last Outfitters” and when she isn’t taking it on the road; She runs an etsy shop that she stocks with her handmade wares and manages a facebook page, that updates with new products and new adventures : https://www.facebook.com/ builttolastoutfitters She has written and coauthored many articles for Knitty.com, is featured in Shannon Okey’s book “Spin to Knit” (interweave press 2006) and has published her own book “Get Spun” (interweave press 2010) She is currently enjoying busting out words for Pré·cis.

I’ve always felt like the US was too geographically big and too diverse in climate and culture to be one country. I used to like to play a game where I divide it up different ways. In my version, we keep the same currency but each country has the same level of autonomy and an equal say in the stuff that’s governed by the Unified Countries of North America (or whatever we call it). Texas is a country, California is usually 3 countries, and so on. You get the picture. Little did I know when I was playing at divvying up the states, that I would have the chance to see and experience many of them first hand all in one grand adventure.

After living in my beloved state of Vermont for the last 12 years, I decided to move to the island of Kauai. That required me to pay down all my debt and sell all my stuff. That was such a long and laborious process that I further decided that I would make the most of my move and drive cross-country visiting far-flung friends and relations. As a massage therapist and Zumba instructor I could set up work at each stop and keep the cost of travel to little or none. With no hard set time limit, I sketched out a route, packed up my rusty but trusty 14 year old Subaru Legacy sedan and hit the road.* *Yes, I’m aware that you can’t drive to Hawaii. The plan was to drive my own circuitous route to the West Coast (then up and down the coast as it suited me).

When the time came to make my move, I would sell or donate my dear sweet car (assuming she made the whole trip with all the important parts still intact) and hop on a plane to Kauai.

Talk Story

Taking the Long Way

By: Bridgette O’Connor

travel.

CA, San Francisco, CA, Sebastopol, CA, Berkeley, CA, San Francisco, CA (okay, I got a little comfy in the Bay Area and kept going back), Portland, OR, Olympia, WA, Bellingham, WA, and Seattle, WA. I spent another solid month in Berkeley and San Francisco, and finally flew to Kauai.

Here’s what I found- If you are kind, curious, relaxed, and genuine, people everywhere want to tell you about what they love about where they live. They want to know more about where you’re from

and where you’ve been, and tell you where they dream of going someday. Big bonus points if you have a sense of humor, love music, will try any new kind of food you’re offered, and buy a round now and then.

Sure there was some “Us and Them”- Hell, on the little island of Kauai the West side can hardly relate to the North Shore (so far away! so different!)- but there was much more just “Us”. And those bright green VT plates gave me a lot of latitude in traffic, even in L.A.- I highly recommend picking some up if you can swing it.

We have so much perceived regional “Us and Them”. North vs South, East Coast vs West Coast, smug jerks who call the central US “fly-over states”, Urban vs Rural, Good side of the tracks vs Bad. Tell a laidback Vermonter that Vermont and New Hampshire are basically the same thing and watch the veins in their neck pop out while they formulate a response that will make sure you never make that mistake again. I wondered how much of that vibe I would encounter as I went.

In two months I went from Burlington, VT to Rouses Point, NY, then Albany, NY, Kent, OH, Indianapolis, IN, Memphis, TN, Austin, TX, Las Cruces, NM, Scottsdale, AZ, San Diego, CA, Los Angeles, CA, Berkeley,

Maple Refined

Tonewood l Mad River Valley, Vermont l 802-496-5512 l www.tonewoodmaple.com l

Teaching

by Chris Parizo

The passing of Robin Williams It embodies that opportunistic, for teacher to be magicians in the was momentous to multiple idealistic first year teacher – it’s the classroom. generations around the world. perfect military recruitment booth The worst offender is Mr. Holland’s I had the unique opportunity for education.

Opus – Richard Dreyfus’ Forrest to be in the great city of Boston But I don’t want to turn this Gump-ian ode to a man who at the time of his death, and took my one-year old daughter opportunity into a lament or eulogy yearns to compose his symphonic to the Boston Public Gardens for Robin Williams – nor do I want masterpiece, but instead wastes to sit on the iconic bench to spew poetic over the greatest gift decades teaching scales to tonefeatured prominently in Good to a substitute teacher, Dead Poet’s deaf high schoolers. Through the film, he pushes students to reach Will Hunting. I was not alone – Society. people gathered around making Instead I’m going to seize the their personal bests and, in one of the most awkward moments it a shrine to the great in cinematic history, almost comedian, they wrote Have you non-teachers ever runs off and bones a student quotes from his films along thought of that? Children need as she’s leaving for Broadway the ground. People laughed to publicly ask another human (seriously, Richard… what the through tears as they read being for permission to take fuck?). long forgotten, but easily a shit. Why isn’t that in Mr. recalled quotes from films And the student he influences reaching back 40 years Holland’s Opus? the most becomes the governor, – perfectly reflecting the who personally cites him as actor’s career. day and write about Hollywood’s the catalyst for poltical career, who then sits in as his life’s work, his Williams’ impact on pop culture portrayal of the education field. has no measure, and his influence First off, there is no film that opus, plays his song, his opus. on education is the same. Ask an personifies education, as a matter She became the fucking governor.

English teacher under the age 45 of fact, I believe that film itself is what made them become a teacher responsible for many of the troubles Fuck Mr Holland’s Opus and fuck and they will reply either a book, or and tribulations that education everything about Mr. Holland’s Dead Poet’s Society. experiences. So many Hollywood Opus. The film depicts teachers in such a hyperbolic manner that Dead Poet’s Society is the epitome films depict teachers to be more it adds to the public’s utopian of the teacher movie – an open- magicians than educators that view of the role educators play. minded and truly revolutionary it skews the reality of education Any first year teacher will quickly teacher enters a stuffy private almost directly into fantasy to a near realize that his or her “symphonic school for boys and teaches his Columbine level – you’ve seen the student opus” will not gather as students to stand up for themselves films where the lost students who they were lead to believe – instead, and suck the marrow out of life have given up on life and themselves you will spend your days mind– his character embodied the until that magical teacher shows numbingly gather data used for spirits of the Transcendentalists them the way to truly live their life teacher-performance evaluations, whose mantra he repeated and (ala Dead Poet’s Society), that it has while writing permission slip after become the cultural expectations permission slip for students to be 19 paraphrased through the film.

able to take a shit.

Have you non-teachers ever thought of that? Children need to publicly ask another human being for permission to take a shit. Why isn’t that in Mr. Holland’s Opus?

And let’s not get into some of these Great White Hope films where the white teacher enters the toughminded, economically-challenged youths of color who only need a little cream in their coffee to emerge as the warm-hearted, gifted students their own surroundings never allowed them to become.

I’m not naming any actors in particular of the cinematic equivalent of Joseph Conrad, but I’ll tell you one actress who is guilty of this has a last name that starts with “P” and rhymes with “Fiefer”.

So what’s the opposite? Where are the films that honestly depict education for what it truly is?

The first one that comes to mind is the Spinal Tap-esque mockumentary called Chalk.

Chalk is genius. Chalk is so genius that I didn’t catch on that it was a mockumentary until the film went into a dream sequence. Had that dream sequence not been in the film, I would have been fooled.

Chalk follows three teachers through a typical school year and each character perfectly personifies teacher personalities found in every school building: the first-year, fumbling teacher trying to find his place and rhythm with minimum success, the five-year veteran whose ego pushes him to maniacal heights as he strives for the coveted Teacher of the Year Award (guilty), the easy going and natural gym teacher who gets every kid to dance-a-fool simply by being herself, and the first year teacher-turned-administrator who struggles with her newfound responsibilities as they contradict her friendships with her staff.

Chalk is so dead-on-the-mark its scary. You know these people. You

work with these people. You are these people.

embodiment of education and educators – and as Nolte delivers a passionate speech about their The other is Teachers. Nick Nolte crisis, two wardens from the looney plays a burned out teacher who bin enter and pick up Mulligan rallies himself to fight a pending – the escaped patient from the lawsuit from a former student psychiatric ward. who sues the district.

The brilliance of the Teachers is not Those two films use the formula the major plotline, but a smaller that Hollywood should use when one. Comedian Richard Mulligan creating accurate depictions of shines in the film as a long-term who we are, and what we do.: we substitute social studies teacher burn out, we bounce back, we burn whose classroom comes to life. He bridges, we fail, we succeed, we dresses as historical figures, he work our asses , we don’t what we becomes the people he is lecturing do, we don’t know why we do it, we about, and urges the students to get promoted, we get demoted. join him. The hilarious five-second shot of Mulligan dressed as George And we do it because we’re all a bit Washington with his desks and crazy like Richard Mulligan, and a students piled into the shape of bit like Robin Williams. a boat crossing the Delaware is O Captain, my Captain! one of my favorite out-of-context moments in film history.

But the jokes on the teachers in Chris Parizo is an eight-year veteran the school, and the audience. As English teacher having taught in Atlanthe school desparately attempts ta, GA and Boston, MA. to validate what they do, they constantly turn to Mulligan as the

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burning man 2014

stories & photos from the playa

10 Burn th

by Ronabell Vudu This year was my 10th time attending Burning Man. I’ve been going since 2005 (start counting from zero and do the math). A couple of my friends who have never gone questioned me about how they’ve heard Burning Man has become a rich person’s vacation. In truth, they are correct.

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My first year, there was about 35,000 attendees; artists from around the world. It was an explosion of sensory overload. Most vehicles were Trucks, converted buses and cars. 10 burns later I notice it has turned into a sea of RVs. With the exception of making exodus slower and camp sites a lot more boring, I don’t mind RVs too much. I understand for one reason or another some people need to camp in an RV. But with most of the RVs comes a different attitude.

wanting back pain during the week and being able to stand up in my tent.

Call me a softy. However, I expect to get injured, risk dehydration, sunburn, sleep deprivation, filthy (no matter how many evap showers or whores baths I take) and my skin all cracked and messed up. To me it’s a sign of a good burn.

I’ve watched the culture of Burning Man change over the years. It has started to turn into a rich person’s bucket list vacation. While I am not against the well off coming to the burn, they need to understand that Burning Man is not a comfortable vacation in Hawaii. They are going to come across art, music, people and situations they are not use to and are not completely comfortable with; people with very different ideas as to what the Burning Man experience is all about.

Attendees have slowly turned into people who want as comfortable an experience as possible out in the desert. Now admittedly, my tent situation has changed from something I had to either sit down in or be on my knees when changing clothes or primping myself to a 6’5” high tent. My sleeping arrangement has changed from a sleeping bag on the floor, to a blow up mattress, to a cot with a foam pad. I mark this up to not This happened to the camp I was in

this year.

Mayor, and I quote “I don’t mind the punk rock, but if I wanted to hear We were a first time camp, part of 404 gangster rap, I would have gone to Terminal City//Village Not Found. the ghetto”. Yup. So, the complaints “BAMBOOZLED!”: to be thrown off to the Rangers turned from the type or confused completely. To be tricked of music to the volume of music and or conned. To put it simple, we were time of day it was playing. Granted up to no good except a good time. A we were loud, but we were within the bar that strives to stay open 24/7 (very confines of volume a non sound camp difficult with only 8 camp members theme camp could produce. and only 6 interested in bartending), a giant steel rocking horse, a spanking Everyone but the 6 jackholes were horse, a stockade, a sea of beer and fine with what we were doing. Mind booze and a sound system that would you, 5 people pulled up their rebar make any club venue envious. and decided to camp elsewhere. Smart move. If you are a quiet, sober camp Everyone in our village dug us. and do a land grab next to a rowdy bar, Everyone in the village across the you probably need to look elsewhere. street loved what we were doing.... These 6 jackholes did what they could except for 6 jackholes. The whole all week to try to get us in trouble week they complained to the Rangers including complaining about music about the music. We played a variety being played during a morning when of music from Hank Williams III, to we had been silent since 1:30am.

Iggy, to Biggie, to Cohen. However, Everything came to blows when I I can sum up their complaints with decided to close the bar at 3:30am on one statement by them to our Village the night of Temple Burn. Sometime

between then and 5am when the Glow Skull art car showed up, one of those jackholes slashed four of our speakers, well over $1000 of damage to a custom sound system. Then they contacted one of their friends with the Rangers to come over and tell us we couldn’t play anymore music for the rest of the burn. When we told him about the crime that had been committed, most likely by his friends, Ranger...oh we’ll call him Ranger Fuckface said “well I’m not surprised with the complaints we’ve been getting”. Which Bender replied “Oh so you condone this”. With the Mayor and C.O. of our Village and the Mayor of the Village across the road where 6 jackholes camped having our back, we hope to fight the friends of the Ranger complaints, so that 404 Village will not suffer because some jackholes do not like gangster rap. (On a side note, I have Ranger friends and they are really cool jump to page 19 people. This 22

burning man 2014

Burning Man Terminology {a nowhere near comprehensive list}

*Evap Shower: a make shift

shower with a pool created for the water to evaporate.

*Whores Bath: cleaning yourself with a wet wash cloth or wet wipes. *Spanking Horse: a saw horse converted into bondage furniture used to put people on to dominate.

*Village: a reserved area

where theme camps approved by the village mayor set up for the burn.

*Mayor: a representative from a theme camp or village

*Jackholes: a nice way of saying fucktards. asshole didn’t listen to our side of the story before passing judgement) I go off on this extended tirade because I want to tie it back to the change in the burn culture. My first year, I was grumpy near the end of the week due to lack of sleep. Then I told myself “Of course you can’t sleep. It’s Burning Man you idiot. Deal with it.” I hated the reggae and jam band music playing 2 blocks down from us that would wake me up at 7am even if I had earplugs in, but I didn’t go squawking to the Rangers to ask them to turn it off. That is what you expect to deal with at Burning Man.

the fly. We are the uncomfortable urchins you didn’t want to come across. Because this is about radical self expression and if those of us who believe in that over a nice comfortable bucket list vacation stop going, then the jackholes have won and we are without one of the greatest events of all time.

*Rangers: Burning Man’s security.

*Sound Camp: a theme camp with a sound system that exceeds 90dbs.

*Theme Camp: a registered

camp that has a certain theme contributing to the Burning Man experience.

*Temple Burn: the night they burn The Temple (well duh)

*Art Car: a vehicle converted

to a piece of art but is still functional to transport people and items.

Unfortunately, the culture of Burning Man is changing: a burn where you don’t come across ideas you disagree with and everything is nice and perfect just as you planned.

*Glow Skull art car: the

I told one of my friends about what happened and he asked “Why do you still go? Why do you still support something like that?”. Because we 23 are the monkey wrench and

machine

coolest art car at the burn that looks like a giant skull and blasts death metal.

*Monkey Wrench: in the *Fly: in the ointment

Celebrating 50 years!

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burning man 2014 I have an uncle who is a devout Christian. He finds solace and redemption through his religion.

His path in life is highlighted by the trials set forth in King James.

He says he is “saved”. He is happy.

Once while visiting he asked me to tell him about this thing called “Burning Man”. I immediately began a grand attempt at explaining the unexplainable.

Cricket

“In the middle of a great expanse of alkaline flat in the Nevada desert people bring their hearts, souls and art. There are sculptors and interactive art. Giant vehicles shooting flames.

People leave their emotional baggage at the gate and for one extraordinary week they can be nothing more and nothing less than themselves. We build a community of 70,000 people from around the world, all walks

of life.” Why? “Because we can.”

I explain that this “experiment” in the desert proves the goodness and altruistic nature of people. That when faced with an economy that functions entirely off of good will, we find that we are able to be good to others, good to ourselves.

My uncle says that all these things can be inherited through his “Lord”.

25 He says that it sounds like these

70,000 people go there in search of something to fill their souls and that this can be found in his religion. I admit that I agree, many of these people are probably searching for something. However, the amazing thing is, is that they find it out there on that alkaline flat. He asks, “If they find it out there then why do they keep going back?” I smile and say, “That is exactly why they continue to go back.”

“In the middle of a great expanse of alkaline flat in the Nevada desert people bring their hearts, souls and art. There are sculptors and interactive art. Giant vehicles shooting flames.

People leave their emotional baggage at the gate and for one extraordinary week they can be nothing more and nothing less than themselves. We build a community of 70,000 people from around the world, all walks of life.” Why? “Because we can.”

Diaspora

A solo exhibiton

by Joel Fremming

Opening Party October 5th 3-9PM ＠the 6 space

Joel Fremming is an artist and writer that works off of imagination and interpretation. He now presents to you his show "Diaspora" which is a display of the entire world he's created for himself crammed into a small space. He will display his many "Face Zine" issues as well as his paintings. Joel Fremming enjoys creating characters that convey emotion on all levels. He believes that no face can ever be completely the same especially when it is created naturally without reference. His new "Machine Series" is a mix of the natural and unnatural world by appearing mechanized while showing a sort of self through emotion. There is no getting away from the self even while constantly creating more.

Joel Fremming 是一位藝術家兼作家，他的作品充滿想象力並富有意境。 這次的展覽名為 "Diaspora" 他即將在這小空間向大家展示他個人創作。 此次個展將會有他經典的 "Face Zine" 以及個人畫作，在他的創作中充滿各式表情， 他相信每個人的表情都是自然生成，獨一無二的，所以他喜歡利用表情作為創作靈感。 在他的新作品 "Machine Series" 以機器人為元素，作品中機器人是能感受充滿情感的， 來表達每個人都擁有不同特質，不管做再多的改變，都不能無視自己最原始的情感， 任何人都是獨一無二無法取代的。 開放時間 open：Saturday( 六 )-Sunday( 日 ) 1-10pm and Monday-Friday(Please call first.) by appointment only 歡迎預約 聯絡資訊 Contaca： Call Joel for English 0983826173 / Mary for Chinese 0955308529 地址 Ａddress： 台北市大安路一段 73 號 10Ｆ 信箱 Email： j.fremming@gmail.com 部落格 Blog：facezine.wordpress.com

burning man 2014

Bohemia Redux: A Bit of History Until fairly recently, San Francisco was a cheap place to live, full of artists, visionaries, writers, and eccentrics, who only had to work part time to survive. There was plenty of time for creative play and making art. From its real beginnings in the mid-19th century, the city attracted people in the arts, and the second half of the 20th century saw the emergence of one spectacular, global creative movement after another. Just a few of these are the Fillmore Jazz era, the Bay Area figurative painters, the Beat writers of North Beach, and the music scenes of the ‘60s Haight Ashbury and punk rock. The last great cultural scene to emerge from San Francisco creative underground was Burning Man.

The San Francisco Cacophony Society, a group of pranksters, culture jammers, and purveyors of oddball entertainments, was always in search of kindred spirits. In the late1980s, Cacophony went to Baker Beach to assist in the burning of a wooden figure built by Larry Harvey and his friend Jerry James.

Cacophony’s leaders were old hands at diffusing police obstruction to fantastic amusements, and so, among other things, they were “security,” the people who would make the case for art in the face of authoritative displeasure.

When the annual burning of the figure came around in 1990, we were experiencing a drought as serious as the one we’re having now.

Cacophony went to Baker Beach to help, as always, carrying sections of the increasingly larger Man down the cliffs and erecting the figure 27

Bringing Back What Brought You Burning Man

against the stunning backdrop of the Pacific Ocean. When the police arrived that year, they said there was too much danger from flying sparks, and under no circumstances could we burn it.

Three friends and I had been to another art event at the Black Rock the year before, and we knew it was the perfect place to take the unburned Man. There was already an event in the works, a Cacophony

By: P Segal

Zone Trip that Labor Day, which would take Cacophony members to the desert for something called “Bad Day at Black Rock.” It was clear that we should just take the Man along and burn it there.

The plans for the joint event were hammered out in the all-redwood back parlor of my somewhat derelict inner city flat in a ghetto mansion, which I shared with artist Kevin Evans, the auteur of the “Bad

Day at Black Rock” event, and a few other artist friends. After a long summer of planning, from Memorial Day until Labor Day, we headed out to the desert for Zone Trip #4.

“Bad Day At Black Rock” was different from other Cacophony Zone Trips.

The concept for these events was simple. Someone would plan an itinerary for a trip somewhere out of town, leaving on a certain day and time from a particular place.

Anyone who wanted to go showed up, with absolutely no idea of where they were being taken, what they would do when they got there, or with whom. It would probably involve jammed rooms at cheap motels and fast food.

But this time it was different.

There were n o motels on the p l a y a or corner s t o r e s .

People had to be prepared.

That first burn on the playa, devoid of the grandeur of Burning Man as we now know it, was the most spectacular vision any of us had ever seen. We knew we would do it again the following year. For the first three years, the planning took place in our back parlor. And then, suddenly, there were more people involved in planning than we could fit in that room, and the meetings moved to bigger quarters.

For years after that, our lives revolved around Burning Man. Cacophony more or less stopped doing events in the city and devoted their creative energies to one single, amazing, annual experience.

By 1995, our encampment in the desert had taken on all the signs of a world class city: available healthcare, helpful public servants, a social paradise, unforgettable entertainments, glorious art, new experiences, and the healing, powerful benefit of having no clocks, no status, and no money, except at the center camp café, which I started that year, and ran until 2000. Excellent coffee, we all agreed, was the exception to the nomoney rule.

In the Present While we spent years creating a culture of Burning Man, in the bohemian arty underground of San Francisco, the city we lived in changed radically. A world class industry sprang up around us. Our apartments were suddenly valuable commodities. Rents soared, people got evicted, and artists left the city.

San Francisco is now one of the most expensive cities in the world.

The arts underground seeped away

from the city quietly over time, as more and more high-end apartment buildings marked the skyline.

Artists who have achieved some measure of success—or also have a day job—remain here, hanging on to rent-controlled apartments.

But there is no “scene” any more, no longer thousands and thousands of creative people contributing to what could be another great movement in the arts.

We were able to make something like Burning Man happen when life was cheap here and we had time to create. Now the city has a whole new layer of polish, over its natural beauty and charming architecture, but very few emerging artists live here any more. There is no bohemia. And that is a very sad thing for San Francisco.

I’ve spent many hours talking to Larry Harvey about this drain of creative culture.

It’s clear to both of us that artists are an essential part of a healthy society.

Artists give us those things we love, like books, paintings, music, and the fantastic burning or interactive marvels at Burning Man. Their neighborhoods attract us, their energy stimulates us, and their works delight our senses. They are enhancements to our lives, and should be valued.

America does not really respect its creative class. We’re one of the few countries in the world that doesn’t have an arts secretary on the Cabinet. And even though San Francisco has dozens of arts organizations, museums, institutions of high culture, and Burning Man headquarters, the vibrant creative community that made this city so interesting since its inception is now, for the most part, gone.

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burning man 2014

A Burner-style Fix For the last year, I’ve wondered what could be done about that.

How can we bring the fascinating energy of the creative world back into this city? I’ve written at length about why it should be done, and come up with a solution to how it can be done, a plan that operates along the lines of the Burning Man Ten Principles.

Like the Cacophony Zone Trip concept, this plan is simple. I’m 29

proposing that donors buy property for artists’ residences in the city, and lease them my project, San Francisco Art Houses, for very nominal rents—and with very long leases. The buildings should be both residential and commercial, so that money from tenants’ very affordable rents can be used to open businesses that support the project: galleries that show resident artists, cafes that the community can enjoy, concert venues for resident musicians, and similar things. A donor continues to own the property, and has two tax benefits from lost market rate rents and depreciation. A donor also benefits from involvement in something remarkable.

There are about 35,000 apartments

in the city that are vacant because the property owners get those double tax deductions and don’t have to deal with problematic tenants. But they could still have those benefits, while making the buildings available to artists, and have the additional advantage of living in a much more interesting and stimulating city—the kind of place where things like Burning Man can still rise from a collaboration of many creative personalities.

If you are interesting in reading more about this project, you can look at the web site, http:// sanfranciscoarthouses.wordpress. com. The blog continues to explore the reasons why artists make our cities better places, and make our lives better with incomparable experiences like Burning Man.

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burning man 2014

Khrystina Pryani

She has been described as “ ”& “

spellbinding a complete musician

”

“Primarily known as a vocalist and songwriter, in the last ten years Khrystina has worked with Francky Moulet (Tony Allen), Fred Doumbe (Manu Dibango), Jojo Kuo (Fela Kuti), Jean-Claude the Funky Pirate, Grace Potter (pre-Nocturnals), Lee Buhaina, and Grupo Sabor. She was born and raised in NYC, and at an early age she immersed herself in the creative arts. She discovered a particular passion for music, from Jazz to Hip Hop, Rock to Latin.

A graduate of Goddard College (which produced the likes of Phish, David Mamet, Rob Brezny, Mumia Abu-Jamal), she first hit the scene in Long Island. An extremely versatile musician, she is comfortable in the studio, or on stage, rehearsed or improv. She mixes her influences to create an original soul sound, backed by her no-nonsense voice. She has established a loyal following, performing live at venues throughout Vermont and New York. In 2007 Khrystina started her own label, Free Soul Music, and independently dropped her LP, “Decade” and single “Alhamdulilah”, which are both available on iTunes.” ~ Precis Magazine

Click here for more 27

Khrystina

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burning man 2014

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images.

photo: melissa davis

Š 2014 Joel Fremming - http://facezine.wordpress.com