Category Archives: Postcards fr. Gravelly Beach

spoken word literature from an international smattering of literary stalwarts from the Russians to the Beats – plus some of my original work, usually recorded somewhere lovely with music and a bevvie

Postcards fr. Gravelly Beach

What Love Might Be… – Postcard #82

Audio Leave a comment

Love in (most) all forms – from self to romance to heartbreak – explored through poems including: mis-quote from (probably not) Jack Kerouac, Khalil Gibran advising his son, Mary Oliver reminding to trust, (Angela) Anaïs (Juana Antolina Rosa Edelmira) Nin’s recklessness, Leonard Cohen recalling flowers to a shy lover, Katie Buemann picking up a sword – plus a variety of relevant freeverse and haiku by myself – while Jerry Garcia describes a Wonderful World and Tanya Donnelly pines for the Atlantic.

Fall headfirst for: What Love Might Be… – Postcard #82
(42MB, 25:30, 192k mp3, stereo)

Continue reading What Love Might Be… – Postcard #82 →

Consider Perusing:

Postcards fr. Gravelly Beach

Transient Cultural Riffs – Postcard #81

Audio Leave a comment

Podcover: Postcard Transient Cultural Riffs

Full of mis-spoken words, forgotten names and other sloppiness comes annotated thoughts (squished through time and space) for shut-ins, drifters and sufferers amidst erstwhile festive melancholy times of disruption and tumult, including poems – read alongside mosquito and rooster sounds – by:

  • Sohaib Ahmed
  • Alan Halsey
  • Charles Bukowski
  • David Smalley
  • Kat Code
  • Dave Olson
  • John Monroe
  • Allen Ginsberg
  • Unknown Urban Legends
  • Marc Zegans
  • Leif Baradoy
  • Evan Leeson
  • John Sinclair

For the shut-ins: Transient Cultural Riffs – Postcard #81 (70MB, 48:41, 192kbps mp3, stereo)

++

riffs about John Lennon and Ono Yoko and Marshall McLuhan

&

musical riffs by Chet Baker Quartet with Russ Freeman

Plus name checks for Neal Cassady, Jello Biafra, Dave Madden, Allen Ginsberg’s holy cock, dine and dash, Ken Kesey, Gary Snyder, Alan Watts, Beat Museum, City Lights, Grateful Dead, Beat Museum, City Lights Bookstore, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Jim Robson and more… (note to self: add links).

Continue reading Transient Cultural Riffs – Postcard #81 →

Consider Perusing:

Postcards fr. Gravelly Beach

Sensei Larry’s Wisdom – Postcard #80

Audio Leave a comment

Sensei Larry’s Wisdom

Upon turning 70 years old, Dave’s dear sensei (since a teenage Utah community college stint), Larry Harper (among various monikers) curated 70 items of advice (at request of Annie Dandelion).

As such, between licks by Grateful Dead and master potter Marty Kendall, he riffs the list – ranging from practical to mystical to almost comical, many including nudity and space. Oh, also includes his ethereal autoharp songs (rescued from a ca. 1991 Zzyxz Rd cassette).

Gather some wisdom with:  Sensei Larry’s Wisdom – Postcard #80
(45MB, 32:59, 192k mp3)

Continue reading Sensei Larry’s Wisdom – Postcard #80 →

Consider Perusing:

Postcards fr. Gravelly Beach

A Circumnavigation of Sorts – Postcard #79

Audio Leave a comment

Pod cover: Postcards circumnavigation

Float to Istanbul, Muscat and elsewhere, and check in with Cleopatra, Shakespeare, Francis Drake, Shah of Persia, Adam, Cain, Abel, Lawrence, Ataturk, Czars Nicholas and Alexander, Matt Harding, Russia oligarchs, well-fed stray cats, unidentified shortwave broadcasts, Abraham, Norman, Matt Harding, rowers, drummers, a blonde dog and you and me… finding the edges of the globe.

Set sail for: A Circumnavigation of Sorts – Postcard #79
(25MB, 18:09, 192k mp3, stereo)

Continue reading A Circumnavigation of Sorts – Postcard #79 →

Consider Perusing:

Postcards fr. Gravelly Beach

Disappearing for Invigoration – Postcard #78

Audio Leave a comment
Disappearing for Invigoration – Postcard #78
Disappearing for Invigoration – Postcard #78

Disappearing, invisibility, loneliness, depression, anxiety, being lost, trying to not be found, trying to find white space to invigorate… Sometimes these weave together, other times (perhaps) each remain exclusive.

Gord Downie, Jack Kerouac, Charles Bukowski and me all try to figure out the nuance in different ways atop Turkish street music, trains from Kerala and Moncton, and various ephemeral music snippets.

Prepare to vanish with: Disappearing for Invigoration – Postcard #78 (23MB, 16:25, 192k mp3, stereo)

Continue reading Disappearing for Invigoration – Postcard #78 →

Consider Perusing:

Postcards fr. Gravelly Beach

Hospital Letters and Flames – Postcard #77

Audio Leave a comment

In hospital with sedated Grandpa, Dave reads complete “Letters from Russia” epistolary literature project with frequent interruptions from visitors, nurses and medical apparatus. The letters address issues of class, revolutions, monarchy, war, trade, and love in the context of Napoleon’s foray into Russia in 1812 through letters from a cobbler to his fiancé in Paris. Then finishes with Walt Whitman heading on the open road (which ole Gramps was so fond of doing himself).

Featured music: Mark Olson (music, guitar, vocals) and Dave Olson (lyrics, drums) “Little Flame” – recorded to 4 track cassette, circa 1996. 

Breathe easy for: Hospital Letters and Flames – Postcard #76
(82MB, 1:00:05, 192k .mp3, stereo)

Continue reading Hospital Letters and Flames – Postcard #77 →

Consider Perusing:

Postcards fr. Gravelly Beach

Forward Momentum to Florida – Postcard #76

Audio Leave a comment

Pod cover: postcards from Gravely Beach - forward momentum to florida

Puffing along a trail recounting leaving cold, miserable London en route to post-hurricane Florida with flashbacks to working in Rheinplatz grade fields, gathering chestnuts to sell for beer and bread money, strange encampments at Oktoberfest, and hitchhiking to Amsterdam with gaggle of pals. To London by ferry and rapid exit via cheap flight Florida, quickly interjecting in chaotic domestic situations, meals with surly Hare Krishnas, sleeping on unglamorous beaches, and avoiding looting commotion, while plotting forward momentum, which eventually came in form of a dubious drive-away car situation to Dallas… and beyond (in 1992).

Features music by: “Brave Captain” fIREHOSE (recorded live in Ancienne, Belgique, March 12, 1991 – via Archive.org), “Florida” by Blue Rodeo (recorded live in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan), and “Crazy Fingers” by Grateful Dead (recorded live in Phoenix, AZ, 1993 – via archive.org). 

Brace yourself for: Forward Momentum to Florida – Postcard #75
(20MB, 14:50, 192k mp3, stereo)

Continue reading Forward Momentum to Florida – Postcard #76 →

Consider Perusing:

Postcards fr. Gravelly Beach

Thunderstorms in the Crash Years – Postcard #75

Audio Leave a comment

Pod cover - postcards from gravelly beach - thunderstorms in crash years

Amidst a thunderstorm at 4AM in Chiang Mai, Dave discusses – with excessive frankness and emotion – various medical conundrums (Fibromyalgia and CFS-ME) and details the physical feelings of “crash mode” as well as the mental strain in dealing with self de-identification and inter-personal relationships, confusion in seeking help, and various alternative treatments. No sympathy or advice requested.

Always be kind for: Thunder in the Crash Years – Postcard #75
(75MB, 37:09, mp3, stereo)

Continue reading Thunderstorms in the Crash Years – Postcard #75 →

Consider Perusing:

Postcards fr. Gravelly Beach

Listening to Sea – Postcard #74

Audio Leave a comment

Pod cover – Postcards from Gravelly Beach 74 – Listening to Sea (suez canal)

Ship-to-shore transmissions with shortwave broadcasts from elusive listening posts, soundscapes from slow ships, and freeverse poetry about unanswered communiques, transitory conditions, arbitrary citizenships, invented geography, de-identification, and intentional disappearance.

Features music: “Dream World” by Matt Harding from NYOSSS (New York, Orem, San Sebastian, & Shanghai), plus various shortwave broadcasts of dubious origin, and sound samples from oceans (recorded by Dave and others via BBC sound archive).

Tune the shortwave  receiver for: Listening to Sea – Postcard #74
(20MB, 14:50, 192k mp3, stereo)

Continue reading Listening to Sea – Postcard #74 →

Consider Perusing:

Choogle On, Postcards fr. Gravelly Beach

Eyes Towards Europe – Postcard #73

Audio Leave a comment

Postcards from Gravelly Beach - Sparrow Cottage Mailbox

On a forgotten forest walk, Dave riffs a story about first trip to Europe – starting with trying not to puke over an Amsterdam bridge after a meeting new temporary coffee shop pals – with flashback to Mexican desert trips with Grandpa, LSD trips with VW bus-fixing pals, and family Grateful Dead road trip to in Arizona.

Foreshadows future stories of an rapid exit from London to Florida then a (rather dangerous) driveway car to Dallas, bus to SLC, flight to Vancouver, then to Japan…

Stuff your rucksack for: Eyes Towards Europe – Postcard #73
(54MB, 37:18, mp3, stereo)

Features music by Grateful Dead in Phoenix, Arizona, March 6, 1994, (Desert Sky Pavilion) playing “Eyes of the World” and “When I Paint my Masterpiece” via Archive.org, (taped by Mike Darby, transferred by Keo).

Continue reading Eyes Towards Europe – Postcard #73 →

Consider Perusing: