An incredible act of kindness showed up at our door – dense and heavy, and maybe a little bit weary after a long journey across the Pacific – filled with this glorious assortment of records and CDs. So well selected and will be so savored in various circumstances.
Plus, loads of books for all of us, postcards, brochures, ephemera, artifacts, maple candies, fantastic hats… All of it. More to say about all of these, but for starters, got them taken out to the kura, snapshoted and will remark more thoroughly in video form at some point.
{Completely overwhelmed by the gesture. Truth is, quite struggling recently mentally so really appreciate this kindness // but I hardly know what to think I did to deserve this goodness.} Thanks N&J
Unrelated, but you know *related * are two other records by Canadian bard poets:
First, a special Leonard Cohen collection acquired in solidarity with others collectively humming Hallelujah in memory of a remarkable 18-year-old man who passed away under unwarranted circumstances. Peace to HT
The other is from my longtime acquaintance and occasional correspondent Dan Mangan, who just released a new album and with this completes my collection of his releases on vinyl – from his reissue debut “postcards and daydreams” and including the originals and 10 year anniversary additions of “nice nice very nice” and “oh Fortune” and several others in between.
Monday morning-ish, getting head spinning fluidly by riffing with ya
Just transcribing poetry notebooks, journals, diaries, and so on on a “typewriter-style” computer input device (a gift from Dome Wonderland) and date-stamping pages when done sometimes, while listening to The Matinée’s new album in kura barn studio in provincial Japan – sometimes squinting, something showing the notebooks (trying to maintain momentum).
Poorly lit, no narration, mediocre posture – working on poetry/musings book: “Circumnavigation, of Sorts” Nov. 2022, Tsuchida, Japan. That’s the full real deal.
Monday morning-ish, getting head spinning fluidly by riffing with ya
Working on establishing rhythm / maintaining momentum by not overthinking + rocking a routine (incense, meditation, tea, lighting, music) and staying on course by writing mantras, keeping great books (both form and content) at hand (Gord Downie, Jack Micheline, Larry Harper, Jason Emde, Isabella Mori, Jack Kerouac), recalling the importance of exploring new forms (recalling REM’s Fables of the Reconstruction), flashback to Grateful Dead, Eugene 1990, and remembering why i am doing this (for Stanley, for Me, for Pals / you) – not like anyone else is obliging me right? – whilst in the Kura barn studio, working on poetry/musings book: “Circumnavigation, of Sorts” Nov. 2022, Tsuchida, Japan.
Why yes, I am very official, thank you for asking.
Licensed to hug with Diplomatic Immunity (adding to passport collection)
Entered the TinTin phase of Ichiro’s life:
Well blistering barnacles, no internationally minded youth misses out on that goodness that is Tin Tin, I have a complete collection including the “rather awkward” ones written in that *cough cough* colonial European mindset.
Hergé’s leather satchel of supplies
We’re enjoying Tintin in Tibet right now (and I’m up playing the friendship angle and downplaying the plane crash angle considering our upcoming travel at his fascination with airplanes).
Yesterday, after seitai, we stopped at a secondhand shop to purchase a couple more dining room chairs, shelf and whatnot… The secondhand stores here are really fantastic and we furnished our house in our eclectic style thanks to these treasure troves, but the point is: There was a model ship, triple masted, vaguely like The Unicorn, on a shelf and while we were purchasing the other larger items I said “and I will take that as well!” (pretending I’m paying in US dollars so I’m getting a great deal – macro economic currency humour is great right?)
Brought it home and a little guy right away realized that it was “just like Tintin” and the Unicorn. He examined it very carefully, which was a relief because he’s at that stage were smashing things is a lot more fun :)
Speaking of: here at my “creative life archive” (fancy name for a blog) scheduled on the 31st is a photo of me doing my best to dress up as tin Tintin in the crappy suburbs in probably 1978, my glasses kind of ruining the whole thing and spent the night trying to explain to people who I was… people would say “Rintintin the dog?” I would roll my eyes and sadness/discussed and stumble away with my crappy candy wishing i could go live in some exotic land.
Also at this aforementioned “don’t call it a blog“ is field notes from a Hergé museum exhibit in Quebec city with loads of his original sketches but even better for me, ephemera, his supplies, kit bag, inspiration items all that kind of stuff. Have you seen it? I mean I expect everyone has seen every post that I put out there so I mean, you must have :-) geez, there is even a [TinTin Fun category]
Photographic Evidence
Picked up 2 family studio portraits (1 of the three of us and 1 of wife as a young girl with mother, father and younger brother) we had matted, edged (filleted?), framed and holy smokes, so great! Fancy times & so worth it. Going to make a gallery on a wood panel wall soon.
One is the three of us is from the “time traveler“ series a couple years ago / matted with burgundy, gold edge and carved up wood frame and looks quite Taisho era: mysterious and majestic.
Time Traveler Family, v. 1 (this pose with burgundy-ish mat an brown carved frame and gold edges, such fancy!)
The wife & in-laws photo has kind of a mirror image pose with “lost in Showa” beige vibes + kimono splash. Both F-i-L and I have rather “serious/neutral” expressions, both photos have baby feet and Mothers with Fujii-family trademark short-cut hair.
Will hang up soon and will look so great. Next up: photo shoot with Grandparents and us all together… so we go on #AxeHandles
Hospital Switcheroo
Not of particular interest to anyone but, for the record: Finished hopefully-last visit to the “big city hospital” it’s shiny and efficient however from now, the diligent if a-bit-worn Okayama University Hospital with their MECFS program is my primary point of contact and care.
Reminder of this article about MECFS in The Atlantic (i’ve printed it and taken to Doctors) by Ed Yong is really worth reading to understand a bit about the weird medical conundrums which me and many many deal with. Oh and a great recap by someone called Heather about “10 things i wish people knew about ME“.
Grateful Dead Dave’s Picks
Trying *not* to buy too many records of late due to impending trip (more later) but the new “Dave’s Picks” Grateful Dead is from the Eugene 1990 shows, ergo:
Seaside Chat: Dave's Picks 2023 Subscriptions https://t.co/Z4Ilm8Mk0s / these riffs from @lemieuxdavid about the Grateful Dead releases are so pleasant. Happy the archive is in hands of this curator (funny, he's my age and lives where i used to but we've never met) PS Hi Dave.
and next Dave's Picks is the legendary (for me and my pals) Eugene 1990 shows (day 1) and the next announcement is staying in #Cascadia from late 70s Portland. https://t.co/5eMZYHqA1N
Also Neal Casal “Illuminations for the Dead” which was made special for the set break music at the Grateful Dead 50th anniversary shows – instrumental, ethereal, atmospheric – but sadly Neal packed it in shortly thereafter :(
And Dan Mangan’s new offering “Being Somewhere” is en route, just missing “Postcards and Daydreams” to complete my vinyl archive including the 10 year reissues for “Nice Nice Very Nice” and “Oh Fortune”
“Television” is one of those bands who’s talked about in reverent tones by aficionados of a certain type / mostly as ‘the band that could’ve’ or ‘band that influenced that other band that became…’ / fraught with conflicting genius, specter of addiction, calamity of timing #sighhttps://t.co/1dy1D3NfTK
Aside: Need to re-up my cardigan stash with 2+ decent wool all-around-ers.
Current are a little bit too shabby (even for my “weary/eccentric community college prof” style) & cotton ones are quickly becoming inadequate for season.
i mean, who is even who here?
Now, how do I do this without leaving the house?
Note: I like “aged/classic“ communication methods but what I don’t miss: long distance phone bills (remember being stiffed so many times cause i was the sucker with a Sprint card). And my seitai Dr just gifted me a classic black rotary phone! Will sit like a noble buffalo in the studio so i can call you whenever i can’t.
(pending) Book project
Pals have namechecked for #NaNoWriMo( which is awesome National Novel Writing Month campaign) but I’m not attaching my star to it because I’m physically incapable of sitting at a chair and banging out 50,000 words // my head has the stories no doubt but the body won’t cooperate so instead I’m using the month to assemble poems like Lego bricks and hide out in the barn…
It’s really also a “mental reset“ from this year of endless paperwork, I mean so much paperwork and so many hospital visits.
The good news is: the recent medication/IV routine and seasonal weather changes here have given me a little bit of a spark / Summer was brutal, typhoon season crushed what was left of my head, but now it’s chilly, crisp and sunny. So aside from a neighbour (probably 3 km away) trimming their grass requiring me to close the window, I’ve managed to patch together a couple “good days” in a row. Just writing this though I feel like I’m jinxing it. But, I’ll eat my oatmeal and head to work at a standing bench desk with records playing and probably record somekind of meta-documentation (unsurprisingly) and see how we roll on.
So, recap: Planning on spending November in the barn assembling a book of poetry, with snippets of letters, maybe some musings, prose riffs… I’m not sure yet but… Importantly, I want the book to “look and feel beautiful”.
I’m not sure what I will do for publication whether that’s self/on demand, shop it out to a boutique publisher but it’s really important to me that it’s typeset to look timeless and dammit, gorgeous and be printed on paper stock with a nice hand.
I think I will add in some black-and-white Lomo images just for atmosphere in section breaks but stay away from color so it doesn’t become an unwieldy expense for people to collect/purchase.
Mostly I just don’t want it to look like that sort of “I made this book in Word and sent it as a PDF“ typography style if you know what I mean. Margins, gutters, typefaces are all very important but I don’t really have the true skills.
Anyhow, i’m making the book for Stanley (before he heads off to sea)
Jackpot! I’m not gonna bother with any kind of explanation about this photo any further (except this was between a Grateful Dead show and a wedding – in between there were hot springs, at least 1 911 call, dodgy taxis, a few conundrums, and hi-jinks galore). i mean keep it classy fellas, this *is* Vegas after all.
tainting the reputation of the fair & decent city of Las Vegas, breaking the sedate harmony & understated charm. They shan’t be welcomed back i suspect.
Note: not available as an NFT or signed glossy prints at this time :) Fanny packs mandatory.
(in reply to a deadhead’s note): 1991 was a heckuva summer for me – turning 21, retiring the fake ID, at shoreline. Squaw Valley, Ell river, Cal Expo, hostage incident in Taos New Mexico, been crashed by Bachelor party gone horribly wrong in Salt Lake City, all the reggae in Albuquerque, tripping in Arches, Telluride music festival learning to become invisible with Allman brothers & Blues Traveler, house parties in Boulder with emerging cheeseball rockers, meeting Allen Ginsberg, busking with the ghost of DH Lawrence , a rotating cast of hippie girls in the 74 turtle top bus, Arcata co-op, Seattle “grunge” at the offramp and living punk in U district, the hippie boys going to the dark side in the Haight, so many shakedowns by forest rangers, cops or just being parked where we really shouldn’t have. c/ Sooby Ahmed
{question accepted within reason}
PS soon after was east coast (such different) back to west, fixing mtn bike job, hitchhiking and grapes in Europe, somehow Miami post-hurricane, drive-away car to Dallas (danger!), SLC, Seattle, Vancovuer, (DLR at Marble Arch) and magically Tottori in the snow… some mushroom months, and then…
A rollicking rapid-fire, mixed-media introduction to The Beat Generation – made especially for youth (specifically, a 11th grade lit class at a DoD base school) – with topics including:
what made The Beats, the beats (ergo: time, place, circumstance, intentions, global mindset, searching for “holy”)
characteristics of style (freeverse, spontaneous prose, collaboration, diversity, art + craft + integrity)
notable writers and characters including: Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg William S. Burroughs, Gary Snyder, Neal Cassady, Lawrence Ferlinghetti
roots and branches extending from the Beats like: Merry Pranksters, folkies, hippies, yippies, punks, DIY and even “digital nomads”
riffs about censorship, “obscenity” trials, sexuality, religiosity
call to action about the importance everyone with something to say “saying it” – including YOU
plus more notable writers: Gregory Corso, Richard Brautigan, Ruth Weiss, Diane DiParma & currently working Ron Whitehead and Anne Waldman
namechecks and cameos for: The Clash, Tom Waits, Jello Biafra, Ken Kesey, Wang Ping, Masa Uehara, Nanao Sakaki many more…
Presented from a historic barn in provincial Japan with vinyl records, artifacts, ephemera, loads of books, postcards etc – by storymaker Dave Olson who invites you to ask questions via postcard (address included within).
Ken Babbs’ chapbook “We Were Arrested” a preview of “Cronies”
Here’s a hilarious fresh, sharp interview with Merry Prankster/Marine vet/farmer/writer and *the* Intrepid Traveler Ken Babbs talking about his new book “Cronies, a Burlesque” with basketballer/Deadhead Bill Walton (dialed up to 11 as usual) on a Powell’s (Portland) Book Store show with a cute young host holding on for the ride.
{Sorta continuation from my “hero dossier / meet the beats” video a while back with namechecks & stories with Neal Cassady, Jack Kerouac, Ken Kesey, Grateful Dead, Merry Pranksters on Furthur bus, Acid Tests etc et al & more#plug #notaplug.}
Note: I bought from Tsunami Books/Press in the “super early support pre-release” to score a signed copy… but the shipping to Japan is rather expensive, so I get stuff sent to a friend in Olympia who is/was planning to visit – I’ve sent so many books to him (I did a lot of support of the Beat Museum and Ken Sanders Rare Books during the pandemic that I’ve amassed a small medium-sized library at his house – so eventually will ask him (and another friend in Pacifica, CA) to send out via M-bag if the borders remain closed for another year or so. This is just a long way of saying “no I haven’t actually read the book but eventually I will“.
Aside: I’m just finishing up a literary critical biography of Hunter Thompson (David S Wills’ “High White Notes”), and a series called “Letters of Note“ which is compiled by Shaun Usher (beautifully in a hardback book) interesting correspondence from throughout history. [more: books recently] and its companion “Lists of Note”.
Update: Tuns out, I have *sort of* read (some of) it as, whilst going through my bookshelf to freshen up the bedside stock, I found an advance copy chapbook called “We Were Arrested” with one of the chapters, printed on hemp paper(!) and signed to me from Mr. Babbs himself along with a doodle of his face.
For Dave {insert face sketch} Ken Babbs – thanks past-Dave for ordering this
Was made by Tsunami Books/Press to generate interest/attention for the now finished book. It’s about Babbs (Intrepid Traveler), Kesey, Cassady, George Walker and others starting the Acid Tests, formation of the Warlocks>Grateful Dead and (obviously) getting arrested. It was really nice little artifact and journey that led me to finding it.
A rapid-fire introduction to the “Beat Generation” focused on the story of “6 Poets at Gallery 6” reading Oct, 1955 SF CA when Allen Ginsberg, Phillip Whalen, Gary Snyder, Micheal McClure, Jack Kerouac, Neal Cassady, Lawrence Ferlinghetti et al were all in the room for a reading hosted by Kenneth Rexroth that would go into legend and launch a poetry renaissance in San Francisco and the world.
Includes extended erstwhile members of the movement and “what happened” after that night as the poets and their friends scattered their influence globally (with, not surprisingly, a little bit of extra emphasis on Japan, Zen, India/Nepal) plus Merry Pranksters, Furthur bus, Grateful Dead and even the Simpsons. Whoa!
i really think you are gonna dig this story
Lots of the usual ephemera, show & tell, couple of vinyl records, loads of books, various digressions and asides, hats & homework.
Castles, Foundations and Pyjamas (from Saskatoon to Tsuchida)
Along with {amusing} ukulele meanderings, daveo recaps recent year including hot springs trip, nursery school colds, new pajamas, house building, legitimate emigration, stopping time, hospital visits, finding home, and various birthdays and gravesites, brain strain on new chords and kana, meditation & patience while waiting for sashimi and vanilla ice cream to arrive.
Plus musings about company advising (really), Kerouac exhibit (story pack forthcoming), gratefulness for “go bags“ and other treats in the mail, conundrums about “not doing enough“ and struggles with computer eyes, usual stuff about postcards & paintings but especially about being grateful for family and friends and you and life and perpetual motion while sitting still sheltered.
Gratefully and Fondly, daveo51
mixed-media art library, global diary, project dossier and whole life documentation
