One of the reasons for not blogging too much is that I’ve been working on Sonic Acts XII The Cinematic Experience. The festival takes place from 21 – 24 February. Most of my time went into editing the book. Yesterday the book was delivered at the Sonic Acts office – I have not even seen it myself (will pick up a copy later today).
The book will be available during the festival, and can also already be ordered online at: http://www.sim-central.nl/detail.php?id=5757.
More info on the book and the festival at the Sonic Acts XII site: http://www.sonicacts.com/.
Video by Peter Cleutjens: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pe3C-B68aZ8, made in the basement of PostCS.
Two books I’ve read over the past few weeks I’d like to mention here:
J.G. Ballard: Miracles of Life, his autobiography, very concise, clear, and as I did not know too much about his background (not having read much on Ballard), very illuminating. He writes about his life – not his work. He does not interpret his own texts, nor does he take issue with criticisms. Yet exactly because of that it is illuminating. It gives background, it explains a life and a way of living.
Samuel R. Delany: About Writing. Without doubt the best book on writing that I’ve ever read. That is: the best book on writing fiction, and on writing as a craft. It’s a bunch of essays, a lot of tips and five interviews (only those are sometimes a bit long-winded), all informed by Delany’s wide experience as a writer and as a teacher of writing. I’d say: required reading on any ‘creative’ writing course. (And even when Delany’s might be wrong, or when you’d disagree with him, the disagreement will get you somewhere: further). Especially recommended for anyone who loves to blog and knows how important a good sentence is ;-)
It’s the book from which I learned to play chess: Bobby Fischer, Schaaklessen, geprogrammeerde cursus voor beginners en gevorderden (1974). It was a present for my 9th or 10th birthday. I still remember so much of it that I suspect it had a big influence on my strategic/logical thinking. (In so far as I am able to think logically/strategically…) Bobby Fischer – who became worldchampion in 1972, never lost the title according to himself – died this week. The most controversial chess champion.
The book, I now see, is originally from 1966, entitled Bobby Fischer teaches chess, the co-authors are Stuart Margulies, of Basic Systems Inc. (? Basic the computer language?) and Donn Mosenfelder, a leading figure in ‘programmed instruction’. It was published by Xerox. It’s still available at Amazon.ca: http://www.amazon.ca/Bobby-Fischer-Teaches-Chess/.
On the 25th of January (ah), Loudthings, the first 35mm film of Telcosystems will premiere at the Rotterdam Film Festival: http://www.telcosystems.net/index.php/projects/2008-loudthings/.
Screenings are scheduled on friday January 25 at 16:15 in Pathe 6 and sunday January 27 at 22:30 in Venster 2, both times as part of the programme Science and Beauty. Furthermore it will be screened saturday February 2 in the Short Marathon programme.
In some senses everything that happened in professional cycling this year – and in other sports too – is just a preparation for our future. Now Katharina Klüft, who won the women’s pentathlon gold in Athens 2004, is quoted as saying:
“”I have suggested earlier that you could operate a data chip under the skin on athletes on a certain level. Or maybe use a chain ring with a GPS transmitter on the training bag. Then everyone would know where to find us for tests. I wouldn’t complain. I think we are obligated to accept most things to stop doping. You are so supervised anyway so it wouldn’t make much of a difference.”
from: http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2007/dec07/dec29news.
What? Ah, Oorbeek has performed Cardew. It’s on our first CD Etos. (No, no I’m not going to say that it is not true. After all, we (at least me) have been carrying sheets with Cardew compositions in our instrument cases…)
Here’s the proof: http://www.vergemusic.com/cardew.htm.
Wow, what company…
Is the ‘quality’ of what you are doing reflected in the sites that Google sends you to, acting on your queries?
http://1010.co.uk/index.html
http://www.lfmc.org/
http://www.sensesofcinema.com/contents/directors/index.html
Gruppo Improvisazione Nuovo Consonanza, AMM, Musica Elettronica Viva, Earle Brown, Aphex Twin, John Cage (reading Finnegans Wake), Iancu Dumitrescu or Horatio Radulescu (or both?), COH, Eric Dolphy (Out to Lunch), Brian Ferneyhough, Charlie Parker (Parker’s Mood), Keith Rowe & John Tilbury, Clifford Brown (Delilah), field recordings from Uzbekistan from 1905, USA/USB, Carlo Gesualdo, Earth, Axel Dörner, Nass El Ghiwan, Sunn, Stockhausen (Kontakte), Kontakt der Jünglinge, Hanatarash (two pieces at random from Aids-a-delic), UFO or Die, Wiley Kat, Motorhead, Pierre Schaefer, Miles Davis (Get Up With It), The Ramones, Julius Hemphill (Hard Blues), King Tubby, and finally Julius Eastman.
This is what I remember I played, not necessarily in this order, as aa66 doing the music in the bar at last week’s DNK-concert.
A slideshow of the legendary Hanatarash-concert on 8 – 4 – 1985: http://www5a.biglobe.ne.jp/~gin/rock/japan/hanatarasi/hanatarashi2/hanatarashi2.html. With Yamatsuka Eye (Boredoms, Naked City) on voice and, well, bulldozer. (Thanks Maarten for the link).
Btw: the bulldozer was stolen, the owner of the venue did not know about it, and the entrance of the venue was destroyed: the bulldozer crashed right through it.