The Night BookThe Night Bookart, poetry, painting, literature, love, lust, night, dream, desire, body, sex, death, surrealism, eros, duende, humanism 
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R.I.P. Max Roach - The Greatest Drummer of All Time
2007-08-17 03:17:00 .flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; }.flickr-yourcomment { }.flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; }.flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } MaxRoach , originally uploaded by levari. It seems every day another trailblazer of the power that was 20th Century art is leaving us behind. For those who are curious - and perhaps have never heard it - Max Roach 's "Garvey's Ghost" is an incomparable and unsurpassed drum solo in the history of music. You can find it on the "Red Hot on Impulse" album available for download on I-Tunes. I was fortunate enough to also see Roach play once while I was in school in Massachusetts and his power and daring, even in his seventies, was awing. Roach is not very heralded now by pop culture standards, but without him there would be no Funk, R and B and Hip Hop as we know it today. Dare I say John Bonham and others would not have been the drummers they were without him either. Roach was a giant step, fearless, opening... More About: Time , The G , Greatest
Tragedies of The Technological Age Vol. II
2007-08-15 13:28:00 No boywill ever againknowthe thrillit once wasto stealyour firstdirtymagfrom the localdrug storeand thenpeddle awayin broaddaylightwith the secretsof the universetucked into your pants. More About: Childhood , Logic , Tragedies , Dies , Logical
Suspended Animation
2007-08-14 12:02:00 Shattered into stiffness.Broken into frame.Constructed centuries and generations,at first it was an innocent game.The sculptor had his assistantsstrike the plaster from the castand set what remained atop the city's steps.Now you believe you could be anyonebecause you are no oneall atthe same time.Korea Town, Los Angeles - 5/23/05 More About: Animation , Imation
The Come Down
2007-08-13 11:57:00 I've been on a writing jag lately. I'm always writing, but this one is very different. I'm experiencing something I haven't in many, many years wherein I can spend eight - ten hour stretches strapped to my desk just tapping away, or re-tapping away, as it were (this is what most of writing is for me) on things that haven't quite taken form yet but seem to want to. Notes and papers piled everywhere, bottles of juice, lighters, cigarettes everywhere, the whole place is a mess (I forgot how my housework goes right out the window when my one track mind gets going on a bigger project.) I have no idea if these labors will bring me to anything substantial, but the ride has been interesting and it's nice to know that I'm still capable of "returning" to this state of being when it's called for and I have the time. Although I wouldn't want to live in this way all the time, sunlight is important(!,) I've been taking more conscious notes on this strange process of reclusion and "... More About: Writing
R.I.P. Thomas "Tangier" James, 1941 - 2007
2007-08-11 11:47:00 .flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; }.flickr-yourcomment { }.flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; }.flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } R.I.P. Thom as "Tang ier " James , 1941 - 2007, originally uploaded by levari. Arguably the greatest "unknown" Jazz trumpeter who ever lived, I was deeply saddened to hear this news. Saw him play once when I was seventeen at two a.m. in Philadelphia's Ortlieb's Jazz Haus...He was obviously suffering from years of horrible addiction, but for the few people who were there, he was unforgettable.--------------------------- -------------------From L'ExpressThomas "Tangier" James, Jazz Trumpeter, Dies At 66By Damon GrykaPublished: August 7, 2007Thomas "Tangier" James, known as a "the trumpeter's trumpeter," passed away yesterday at his home. Mr. James, 66, had been suffering for sometime with heart trouble, his wife said. A bridge between the be-bop tradition of Miles Davis and Charlie Parker, and the Wo...
Rescue The Dead
2007-08-10 10:21:00 .flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; }.flickr-yourcomment { }.flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; }.flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } 11/19/05, originally uploaded by levari. To love is to be led away?into a forest where the secret grave?is dug, singing, praising darkness?under the trees.To live is to sign your name,?is to ignore the dead,?is to carry a wallet?and shake hands.??To love is to be a fish.?My boat wallows in the sea.?You who are free,?rescue the dead."Rescue The Dead " - David Ignatow More About: Drawing , The D
II - 12/06
2007-08-09 11:41:00 .flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; }.flickr-yourcomment { }.flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; }.flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } II - 12/06, originally uploaded by levari. More About: Drawing , Charcoal , Myers
HOME RUN king
2007-08-08 12:45:00 .flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; }.flickr-yourcomment { }.flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; }.flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } HOME RUN king, originally uploaded by levari. creature of my age...now you stand alonealonealoneon the mountain(hank)top. More About: Barry Bonds , Home , King , Hank Aaron , Home Run
Melodious Funk
2007-08-08 09:03:00 .flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; }.flickr-yourcomment { }.flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; }.flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } Melodious Funk , originally uploaded by levari. Timothy Leary: Did you take the LSD I gave you?Melodious: Yeah, man, I took it last night.Timothy Leary: And how did you like it?Melodious cleans his fingernails. Without looking up...Melodious: You got anything stronger? More About: Lodi
Kate Coe Plays The "Pass The Blame Game..." And Then Takes The Moral High G
2007-08-08 07:03:00 First Kate posts this on Fish Bowl L.A. web site at 10:40 this morning. Somehow she manages to blame both The New York Post and Google(?!), by implication of course, for all the shitty reporting...From Fishbowl L.A.Tuesday, Aug 07NY Post Will Correct Theresa Duncan StoryThe New York Post will be running a correction to their Theresa Duncan/Jeremy Blake story by Cathy Burke, after she gets done figuring out which quotes came from where. The LA Weekly got credit for quotes from the Washington Post,and so on and so forth.FBLA wonder why Google doesn't have a quotes feature? So much easier.Earlier:NY Post on Theresa Duncan/Jeremy BlakePosted by Kate | 10:41 AM | NewspapersThen, in what I'm assuming was later in the day, she posts this letter to (http://modernkicks.typepad.com/modern_ki cks/2007/08/follow-up-there.html to the blogger) for misinterpreting her article in the Weekly."It's a bit harsh to say Theresa Duncan lied--she did write some wonderful things that could have been or ... More About: Game , High , Plays , Pass
An Open Letter To Kate Coe And The L.A. Weekly
2007-08-07 09:31:00 An Open Letter To Kate Coe and The Editors of The L.A. Weekly RE: "The Theresa Duncan Tragedy"Dear Kate, et. al., Like many I've been following the tragic story of the double suicide of Theresa Duncan and Jeremy Blake since the news broke of her death, and then, just as tragically, his own just ten days later. One reads their story with deep regret for two people who were obviously extraordinarily talented - Blake through his breathtaking visual art and Duncan through her witty, acerbic and intuitive writing, especially on her blog, The Wit of The Staircase (http://theresalduncan.typepad.com/). Admittedly, it's hard not to become a complete voyeur when news like this breaks. "How could two such incredibly gifted people who seemed to have it all cut short their lives like this?" is only one of the many questions one asks. Of course we search for clues and want answers, lets' face it, more for ourselves and our momentary entertainment then for them. But after reading your a... More About: Open Letter
Homage to Antonioni
2007-08-06 07:49:00 I watched a lot of his films as teenager. I had no idea what I was watching, although I loved the house blowing up at the end of Zabriskie point. Blow Up? Confusing, but the women were beautiful and David Hemmings sure seemed to be having a good time for a guy who was growing more paranoid by the minute. La'Ventura, loved the clothes - and I'm a sucker for black and white, sunglasses and smooth hair - but how could these people be so unfeeling and narcissistic to simply not care that their "friend" had virtually disappeared without a trace?The Passenger, what an idea. A spiritually dead international reporter fakes his own death, takes on the identity of a dead man in his hotel room, and later finds out he's become an arms dealer. Jack Nicholson is the coolest thing on two legs and he's got Maria Schneider along for the ride...But it seems to go nowhere.Much later, I saw "The Eclipse." Fascinating images, slightly boring, Alain Delon and Monica Vitti, what a couple. But ... More About: Antonioni , Onion , Toni , Homa
The Haunting
2007-08-04 09:51:00 Let me come to you tonight.Let me come between the sirens,between the clouds,between the earth and the moon.Let me come to you betweenthe bodies ofyour lover and you.Let me come to youbetween your lonelininessand your sleep.Let me come to you betweenyour memoryand your forget.Let me come to you betweenyour dreams of what wasand your regrets(of white)what should have been...Between your chains and your skin,your desire and your sin,don't be afraidtonight.Trust me one last time,even if this is thelast breathof your faith.Let me come to youtonightwherever you arein this endlesslyendinginfinity,the only thingwe ever had to call ours.Let me come to youone last time, I promise I'll be done with thishauntingand gonefor foreverby dawn.No trace.8/4/07
Mr. Bergman and Mr. Antonioni
2007-08-03 07:08:00 I must admit, the deaths of Berg man and Antonioni have stifled me. Strange in a way considering they both lived incredibly productive and long lives, and yet, on some level, I feel as though I lost two of my grandfathers, and if not grandfathers, then favorite uncles who were very different but gave me so much. The Prince of Passion and The Prince of Cool...I've read a lot about these two over the last couple days, a lot of recollections, synopses, surveys, etc. etc. etc. etc. etc...And, well, they've been interesting, and have said mostly nothing that I can relate to on any personal level. They use words like "trailblazer, " "personal," and "art film," but mostly, I don't know, it's all heartfelt and most of it could probably be said about any of the masters of that era. I don't want to be unduly harsh as I'm still trying to get my head around their deaths, but I can only say that for those who don't like either/or, one or the both, it took me a long, long time to fall i... More About: Onion , Toni
Lust - January, 2004
2007-08-01 14:09:00 .flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; }.flickr-yourcomment { }.flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; }.flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } Lust - January , 2004, originally uploaded by levari.
Heaven Is A Playground
2007-07-25 21:57:00 Driving L.A.from the oceaneast into the cityand back againat 4:19 a.m.No cars on the road,no copter blades in the sky,high and peaceful -the phone is finally off - No one screwing youand no one you're trying to screwin broad daylight -just don't let us, the descendants of theforked tongue fool you;the real vampires sleep just fineat night - and as theempty streets blow by,the memories of youfade out and in,for that single moment,I disappear,and the onlything that ever really mattered,matters nowlike it never shouldhave stopped:justthe street lightsdotted greenas far as the eyecan see and thesterey- erey-oooooooohhhhhhhhhhh!Blazing the trailto everywhereI long ago forgot.Los Angeles - 7/25/07 More About: Heaven , Round , Playground
R.I.P. Sherman Torgan, Owner and Operator of The New Beverly Cinema, The Be
2007-07-24 01:10:00 .flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; }.flickr-yourcomment { }.flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; }.flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } R.I.P. Sherman Torgan, Owner and Operator of The Best Movie Theatre In The World - 1944 -2007, originally uploaded by levari. Thank you, Sherman, for everything. Your run down little theatre has given me an education a livelihood and sometimes even a home in this mad city. You also let me pay in change when that was all I had.I will never forget you.LSherman Torgan, who turned an adult movie house in Los Angeles into the New Beverly Cinema , an arty repertory theater that screens classic, independent and foreign films, died Wednesday. He was 63.Torgan suffered an apparent heart attack while on a bicycle ride in Santa Monica. He was pronounced dead at St. John's Health Center in Santa Monica, said Jeff Rosen, a longtime friend. From the time "the Beverly" opened in 1978 with a Marlon Brando doub... More About: Herman
Girl
2007-07-23 10:40:00 You look into the set of eyes across from youand do not notice the color,the hue,if they blink,or whether they match the blouseso carefully chosen,Only that they do not look away,Do not even thinkaboutit.Is itthe sheer bravadoof that gazethat makes your mind spin,your palms sweat,that makes you look aroundsuspiciouslyto see if anyone else has noticed?Is itthe total fearlessness in this girl's 1000 yard gazethat makes you wonder?Is itbecause she doesn't know how to smoke yetno matterhow hardshe triesto inhale?Is it because her book is unmarkedthough she clutches the pen in her handas if waitingfor someone to tell herit's okayto begin?Is it because this is who she isfor one last moment?All you know isright nowshe can take it.Take everything,Take it all,or, at least,she thinks she can. Los Angeles - 12/22/05 More About: Girl
L.A. - Spring, 2003
2007-07-19 23:28:00 .flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; }.flickr-yourcomment { }.flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; }.flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } L.A. - Spring , 2003, originally uploaded by levari.
Never Sent To Spain
2007-07-18 04:42:00 Every day they were there.For weeksI came homein the afternoonpretending to haveany sort of purposeother then smokingand working as a telemarketerin that dingy23rd floor officein Grammercy Park.I was sending out color-coded tickets to free screenings of new TV showsto retired couplesin Pebble Beach.When I came homethe two of them were always sittingon the top stairwhether it was raining or sunny,warm or cold.They looked about fourteen years old,and though I rarely saw them touch,nor even hold hands,the obvious feelingsthey were trying so hard to hidefrom this city and each other,the fact that two kids couldfind one another,was only one more sign of my utterincompetence and despair.I hated them for this,hated their guarded happiness,hated his Jets hat cocked perfectlyto the side,his bleached white turtleneck beneath his Sprewell jersey,and the gold link chain he wore proudly over top.I hated her hair in tight braids,hated her clear pale skin,hated those expressive, ancient, blue eyes... More About: Spain
DVD
2007-07-16 02:02:00 The bandits attackedin the woods.They took nothing,merely cut out the eyesof the children.They did not touch the adultswho lay cowering in fearpretending not to see.Now, the only paintersleftwork in timewith no apprentice.The poets?They draw secretly,using the teeth of the dead for pens,pull themout one by oneafter composing.The sounds of herrage across paper,a foreign language can be spoken butnever felt.Her secrets are greater than yours,and her emptinessmore than youcould ever be.In black and whiteI watchher flickerasshe weepsperfectly.The cries of our neighbors'love echobetween windowstonight. Los Angeles - 10/27/06
Spoiled Rotten
2007-07-13 09:42:00 Never had to fight a war(bought your way outjust like you born your way in),but lucky little rich boys still get to declare oneanyway. 3/27/03 More About: Rotten
The Joke
2007-07-13 00:21:00 When you're poor and a failureyou're just anotherpain in the ass...When you're suddenlysuccessfulyou've becomean iconoclast!7/07 More About: Joke
China Moon
2007-07-10 02:19:00 summer moon yellow night restlessly dreaming movement in her forever chair watching the screen flicker what is never there summer moon coward night coming for us i wish wouldn't let go money that slips through fingers turning into bills piled on the floor spiders fall from the ceiling instead of walking through the doors summer moon fearless night she breathes you in and memories out only to be drank in again, gargled and spit like my home like my home like everyone i've known like the house i was born in so far away from summer moon day becomes night i shake rise anoint thy self mythologize when you dare to sleep for me7/7/07 More About: China , Moon
Fingers
2007-07-05 21:48:00 when I was a childfor reasons I still don't completelyunderstand (is it because I was sickand alone came so easy, oris becausethere was nothing left to do)i made a dealwith somebodyor something,anything out therei could not namethat might be listening...(i never believed in Godor anything that could benamedthere was nolisteningto namesin me at all)the deal i madein fourth grade:i'd trade everythingfor the moment of my fingers,everythingfor whatever formthat moment took,tradeeverything,all of it,myself,and promised to live by this vowno matter where my fingers drove me,what cornerlit or unlit,to what peoplecruel or shy,criminal or priest,to what streetin no matterwhat part of town,to what checking account,to what family,to what lover,to what death,what deathwhat is deathif notthe momentof my fingers...and i've alway livedup to myend of the deal. (it was never feet,it never couldbe with mefor there isno negotiatingwith ... More About: Finger , Fingers
1st ride across the good ol' U.S.A - 8/17/95
2007-07-04 02:39:00 .flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; }.flickr-yourcomment { }.flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; }.flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } 1st ride across the good ol' U.S.A - 8:17:95, originally uploaded by levari. Cue the Springsteen... More About: Ride , Good , Ross , The Good , The Go
You know...
2007-07-04 02:28:00 ...that perhaps it's time to get out of town when you've lived in a city for eight years and you're still asking strangers if they know a good, quiet bar.
Time Trickster
2007-07-02 09:06:00 "I just had the longest day..."Why is it the longest day can never, ever be the best day, but more than likely the worst? When's the last time someone walked in and said: "I just had the longest day! Man, it was the best. I want to do it all over again."It's not bad enough that the moment's bad, but on top of that a minute seems to turn into hours, and hours into weeks within the blink of an eye...Time is a nasty little trickster that way.
Heatwave, Echo Park - 2003
2007-06-30 05:54:00 .flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; }.flickr-yourcomment { }.flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; }.flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } Heatwave, Echo Park - 2003, originally uploaded by levari. More About: Wave
BUDDY - "ALTERATIONS AND REPAIRS"
More articles from this author:2007-06-28 23:24:00 I don't often believe in kismet, but lo and behold on the week that I decide to play "the pusher man" the most promising, unique and innovative new singer and songwriter in the country has just released his first full length album on I-Tunes, Buddy 's "Alter ations And Repair s."ALTERATIONS AND REPAIRS on I-Tunes (copy and paste):http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects /MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?id=257365143&s= 143441 If you'll allow me for a few moments to divert my energy away from LIT-RA-TURE, as my favorite anti-semite poet Ezra Pound once called it, and dive into the world of music, I must take the time to write a few words about Buddy's music... Passionate, honest, and unflinching emotion...If you do not want these qualities from your art and music then stay away from Buddy because there's nowhere to hide. Buddy's music is, in two words, fearlessly naked, and yet with his near telepathic backing band of Will Golden on bass, Michael Jerome and Al Sgro on percussions, and Percy Mam... More About: Tera 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 |
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