Saturday, July 10, 2010
Vignettes #52
I've already mentioned before attending an interdisciplinary seminar at the university on the topic of censorship, which included professors and students from the psychology, law, art, theology and German literature faculties. I also told you that the psychology professor there was a quite awkward person.
With my activity as a cinema owner and my work with Lyssa humana I was very experienced with many aspects of censorship and able to participate quite actively with the discussions, which most of the professors very much appreciated - but not the psychology guy who seemed to dislike me, but then he apparently wasn't liked by his own colleagues either. I think he was self-opinionated, quite ignorant of the achievement of others and a bit scheming.
One day he announced that he had an extraordinary case he wanted to discuss with the group bypassing the schedule for that day. It was immediately obvious that it was meant to be a provocation in my direction. He described the contents of the German horror and splatter movie Nekromantik 2 in all its bloody details trying to shock us listeners. Then he expressed his own disgust about 'this hideous trash' and his shock that a German court had ruled the movie to be 'art' and was therefore not banned.
Since I actually knew the director, Jörg Buttgereit, personally, and had so far played all his movies at the cinema including Nekromantik 2 I explained that despite the summary the director had rather made the attempt to create a more artsy film than part 1 had been, and when I had screened it at my cinema there were flocks of disappointed fans leaving the movie midway for the simple fact that they thought it was boring.
So, after having said that, one of the law professors addressed his psychology colleague with the words: "If a German judge says it is art, and Mr. Kretschmer here says it is art, then we have all means to believe that it is truly so."
First Lines: Jack London - The Call of the Wild
Buck did not read the newspapers, or he would have known that trouble was brewing, not alone for himself, but for every tidewater dog, strong of muscle and with warm, long hair, from Puget Sound to San Diego.
Friday, July 9, 2010
William S. Burroughs: The Cat Inside
My lease at the Stone House was about to expire and I purchased a house in East Lawrence. Situated on an acre of wooded grounds on a quiet street, it is ideal for cats. A month before I moved, the white cat disappeared. Otherwise I would have taken him with me, since Ruski and the white cat coexisted in perfect harmony. I was sorry to leave Horatio behind, but he couldn't get along with Ruski and the female and the kittens needed him. The new tenant, Robert Sudlow, a well-known Kansas painter, promised to look after the cats who were staying.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Bill Dixon R.I.P.
Sad news, his death did come unprepared, since he was to appear at the Saalfelden jazz festival next month.
“When I play,” he told the journalist Graham Lock in 2001, “whether you like it or not, I mean it.”
Eulogy:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/20/arts/music/20dixon.html?src=mv
Begotten (1990)
A creation myth brought to life, the story of no less than the violent death of God and the (re)birth of nature on a barren earth.
Fascinating and visually stunning abstract epic which is, however, difficult to decipher.
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
New Stuff: Hank Kirton
This is a collection of short stories by my online pal Hank, you can find him here:
http://www.facebook.com/reqs.php#!/hank.kirton
I'm very much looking forward to reading this book!
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
New Stuff: Batwoman Elegy
Sometimes I do read comics, and I was a bit curious to see what kind of adventures a Batwoman might have...
Monday, July 5, 2010
First Lines: Marquis de Sade - Justine: or 'Good Conduct Well Chastised'
To My Dear Friend
O thou my friend! The prosperity of Crime is like unto the lightning, whose traitorous brilliancies embellish the atmosphere but for an instant, in order to hurl into death's very depths the luckless one they have dazzled.
Sunday, July 4, 2010
New Stuff: Anthology of Noise & Electronic Music
My enthusiasm for this series knows no bounds, and I'm slowly working through every volume title by title. There's a lot to be learnt from these tracks.
New Stuff: Laurie Anderson
I've always been a great admirer of Laurie Anderson's work, but haven't kept up with it lately, but it seems her last regular release was 8 years ago. I'm very much looking forward to listen to this new album.
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