Saturday Music Club: some music documentaries

Lennie Tristano


John Cage


Doc Watson


The Go! Team


women in jazz


US folk music

(part two, in small increments beginning with this one--copyright challenge on the full episode, though pt. 3 is available in one chunk)

Miriam Makeba
 

FFB: Semiotext(e) SF, edited by Rudy Rucker, Peter Lamborn Wilson and Robert Anton Wilson (Autonomedia, 1989; issue 14)

There have been impressive special issues of magazines over the decades, not least such numbers of good little magazines as TriQuarterly or Conjunctions or even the too-often precious McSweeney's, but few have been as good a snapshot of the changes happening in a field of literature as the hefty (384 pp) Volume V, Issue 2 (#14) of the pomo, largely Situationist journal Semiotext[e]  (ISSN: 0-093-95779), issued in 1989. Editors (for this issue) Rudy Rucker, Peter Lamborn Wilson and (not kin, I believe) Robert Anton Wilson were almost unsurprisingly able to draw in some of the most "bleeding edge" writers in speculative fiction, and some of their great inspirations in sf, horror and fantasy writing (such as Philip José Farmer, Colin Wilson, Barrington J. Bayley, Robert Sheckley, J. G. Ballard  and William Burroughs...and editor RA Wilson) and mix their often playful work in with that of the newer folks advancing the form in various ways. This issue's "Burning Sky" was one of the first two or three stories I read by the brilliant Rachel Pollack, who has produced good novels and comics scripts but is best (I'd say) in the short story genre, Michael Blumlein is similarly swinging (or is that slashing?) for the fences, and Bruce Sterling's contribution is one of his key stories.  Not everything here is top-shelf ("Solitons" is probably the worst single story I've read by Paul Di Filippo, and sadly one of the first), but one of the problems with art, particularly art that is trying not to Play It Safe, is falling on one's arse or otherwise looking foolish while striving, even more than when doing more conventional work (not that certain talents can't look foolish in that compass as well).  Some of these folks have damned near fallen silent since (such as T. Winter-Damon), and that's probably a pity...others have certainly gone through a variety of modes (such as John Shirley, like Ian Watson a writer who had begun establishing himself earlier in the '70s than Shirley's eventual "Movement"/"cyberpunk" cohort including Rucker, Sterling, Di Filippo, Willam Gibson, Lewis Shiner and Richard Kadrey, the last represented here with visual rather than literary work); others, such as Thom Metzger, seem to have been more Semiotext(e) regulars than contributors to other outlets (though latterly in Rucker's webzine Flurb, as well as having published several books) . All told, an issue (though some would like to insist it's a stand-alone book) worth seeking out, with some brilliant, a lot of good, some slight and only a bit of terrible work, all of it helping to limn the radical tradition in fantastic fiction writing, and making clear the links to other radical traditions (and radical artists) in a way that is too easy to overlook otherwise. 

From ISFDB:

• Cover: Mike Saenz
• 11 • Introduction (Semiotext[e] SF) • essay by Peter Lamborn Wilson and Rudy Rucker
• 15 • The Toshiba H-P Waldo • shortstory by Mike Saenz
• 16 • Acknowledgements (Semiotext[e] SF) • essay by Peter Lamborn Wilson
• 17 • Preface (Semiotext[e] SF) • essay by Robert Anton Wilson
• 23 • Metamorphosis No. 89 • shortstory by Don Webb
• 27 • We See Things Differently • novelette by Bruce Sterling
• 44 •  Portfolio • interior artwork by Freddie Baer
• 49 • America Comes • poem by Bruce Boston
• 53 • Frankenstein Penis • shortstory by Ernest Hogan
• 61 • Six Kinds of Darkness • (1988) • shortstory by John Shirley
• 71 • More Subatomic Particles • shortstory by Nick Herbert
• 75 • Burning Sky • shortstory by Rachel Pollack
• 87 • Day • poem by Bob McGlynn
• 91 • Rapture in Space • shortstory by Rudy Rucker
• 103 • Quen Wimpel Meets Bigfoot • shortstory by Kerry Thornley
• 109 • Hippie Hat Brain Parasite • (1983) • shortstory by William Gibson
• 115 • The Great Escape • shortstory by Sol Yurick
• 129 •  Portfolio • interior artwork by James Koehnline
• 133 • Jane Fonda's Augmentation Mammoplasty • shortstory by J. G. Ballard
• 135 • Report on an Unidentified Space Station • (1982) • shortstory by J. G. Ballard
• 141 • Solitons • shortstory by Paul Di Filippo
• 153 • Is This True? Well, Yes and No • shortstory by Sharon Gannon and David Life
• 159 • Genocide • shortstory by Richard Kadrey
• 167 • The Antarctic Autonomous Zone: A Science Fiction Story • poem by Peter Lamborn Wilson [as by Hakim Bey ]
• 171 • Vile Dry Claws of the Toucan • shortstory by Ian Watson
• 177 • Shed His Grace • shortstory by Michael Blumlein
• 187 • All Right, Everybody on the Floor! • shortstory by Thom Metzger
• 193 • The Gene Drain • shortstory by Lewis Shiner
• 205 • The CIA Register • shortstory by William S. Burroughs
• 207 • The New Boy • shortstory by William S. Burroughs
• 211 • Another Brush with the Fuzz • shortstory by Daniel Pearlman
• 217 • You Can't Go Home Again • shortstory by Ron Kolm
• 219 • Georgie and the Giant Shit • shortstory by Greg Gibson
• 233 • Delphic (Projection #5) • poem by Lorraine Schein
• 235 • The Sex Club • shortstory by Terry L. Parkinson [as by T. L. Parkinson ]
• 245 • Your Style Guide • shortstory by Marc Laidlaw
• 251 • Maslow, Sheldrake, and the Peak Experience • shortstory by Colin Wilson
• 257 • Amsterdam Diary • shortstory by Robert Sheckley
• 271 • I Was a Teenage Genetic Engineer • shortstory by Denise Angela Shawl
• 275 • Chapter One, the Novel • shortstory by Luke McGuff
• 277 •  Portfolio • interior artwork by Richard Kadrey
• 281 • Saint Francis Kisses His Ass Goodbye • novelette by Philip José Farmer
• 297 • Gnosis Knows Best • shortstory by Hugh Fox
• 307 • The Beer Mystic's Last Day on the Planet • shortstory by Bart Plantenga
• 313 • Visit Port Watson! • (1985) • shortstory by Anonymous
• 333 • Lord of Infinite Diversions • shortstory by T. Winter-Damon
• 337 • Project Parameters in Cherry Valley by the Testicles • shortstory by Robert Anton Wilson
• 345 • The Scepter of Praetorious • shortstory by Ivan Stang
• 357 • Louie, Louie • shortstory by Jacob Rabinowitz
• 365 • Cling to the Curvature! • novelette by Barrington J. Bayley
• bc •  Semiotext[e] SF • interior artwork by Steve Jones

Please see Evan Lewis's Davy Crockett's Almanack of Mystery, Adventure and the Wild West for the rest of this week's choices, and apparently Patti Abbott is scheduled to return to tend to this weekly roundelay next week, a week earlier than Evan and I were reporting previously.

new links: Tuesday's Overlooked Films and/or Other A/V: the links

Near Dark

As is usually the case, there might well be further additions over the course of the day to this list of links to reviews, citations and brief essays about the a/v presentations (and particularly today, the folks behind and in them) cited below. Thanks, as always, to all the contributors, and to all you read (and, of course, those who comment on) the contributions below...and if I've missed your, or anyone else's, posts, please let me know in comments, below. Thanks very much.

From Here to Eternity

Bill Crider: From Here to Eternity [trailer]

Brian Arnold: Atari 2600 Videogame Ads

BV Lawson: Media Murder

Elizabeth Foxwell: "Spellbound" (Theater 62; 1962 television)

Evan Lewis: The Case of the Howling Dog (1934 Perry Mason film)

"Maria" (Alfred Hitchcock Presents:)

George Kelley: Stella Adler (and Anton Chekhov)

Iba Dawson: Near Dark

Jackie Kashian: Sean Cullen and Debra DiGiovanni

Jack Seabrook: John Collier (and John Wyndham) on Television: "Maria" (Alfred Hitchcock Presents:)

James Reasoner: We've Got Each Other

Jerry House: Battling with Buffalo Bill

J. Kingston Pierce: A Very Missing Person (one of three pilots for The Great Detectives)

Warning from Space

John Charles: Warning from Space (aka Uchujin Tokyo ni arawaru)

Kliph Nesteroff: Howard Storm

A Cry in the Night

Laura: A Cry in the Night 

Lucy Brown: Party Girl

Mark Hand: Promised Land

Martin Edwards: Dream House

Patti Abbott: The Dick Van Dyke Show

Philip Schweier: What's Up, Doc?

Prashant Trikannad: Two Mules for Sister Sara

Two Mules for Sister Sara

Randy Johnson: Tribute to a Bad Man

Rick: the Best Courtroom Films

Rod Lott: Detention

Ron Scheer: Nevada Smith

Scott Cupp: The Bride of the Gorilla

Cleopatra

Sergio Angelini: Douglas Slocombe

Stacia Jones: Gloria Swanson; Ingmar Bergman et al.

Stephen  Bowie: Kathleen Murray and Circle in the Square

Yvette Banek: Cleopatra (1934)

Saturday Music Club: some younger jazz bands

Regina Carter: "Reverse Thread" (excerpts)


Darcy James Argue's Secret Society: "Transit"

Gregory Porter: "1960 What?"


Jamie Baum Septet: "Solace"


Gilfema + 2: "Question of Perspective"


Black Gardenia: "Caravan"


The Jazz Band of America, 2007 (first of an annual talent concentration of HS musicians): "Groove Merchant"

Friday's "Forgotten" Books: more links

This week's collection of links to reviews and citations of the books (and other literature) listed below; other items might be added over the course of the day. Next week, Evan Lewis will be hosting FFB at his blog, Davy Crockett's Almanack..., then it comes back here the following Friday, and then on home to Patti Abbott (nee Nase)'s Pattinase the subsequent week. Please let me know if I've forgotten your or someone else's post in comments...thanks, as always, to you readers and to all the contributors.


Phil Abbott: The Time It Never Rained by Elmer Kelton

Walter Albert: A Killing in Comics by Max Allan Collins

Sergio Angelini: Doll as by Ed McBain

Yvette Banek: Breakfast at Madeline's by Matt Witten

Joe Barone: The Round House by Louise Erdrich

Fred Blosser: The Burglar by David Goodis

Brian Busby: Artists, Models and Murder by Tedd Steele

Bill Crider: The Empty Trap by John D. MacDonald

William F. Deeck: Death of a Deserter by Lynton Lamb

Martin Edwards: Sinister Crag as by Newton Gale (Muna Lee and Maurice Guiness)

Curt Evans: Death by the Lake by Leo Bruce

Josef Hoffmann: 12 Important Essays on Crime Fiction (translated by Pauline Cumbers)

Jerry House: The River Pirates by Manly Wade Wellman

Randy Johnson: Coyote Wind by Peter Bowen

Neer: The Body on the Beam by Anthony Gilbert

Nick Jones: The Jugger as by Richard Stark (Donald Westlake)

George Kelley: P. G. Wodehouse: A Life in Letters by Sophie Ratcliffe

B. V. Lawson: The End of Solomon Grundy by Julian Symons

Evan Lewis: The Beasts of Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs

Steve Lewis: Dirty Deeds by Mark Terry;  After the Deacon Was Murdered by Cornelia Penfield

Francis M. Nevins: The Second Street as by Edwina Noone (Michael Avallone)

John F. Norris: The Black Camel by Earl Derr Biggers

Richard Pangburn: The Dogs of War by Kem Nunn

James Reasoner: So I'm a Heel as by Mike Heller (Arnold Hano)

Karyn Reeves: The Theory and Practice of Gamesmanship by Stephen Potter

Richard Robinson: Death in the Old Country by Eric Wright

Gerard Saylor: Power Ballads by Will Boast

Ron Scheer: The Grafters by Francis Lynde;  The Buffalo Commons by Richard Wheeler

Michael Slind: Call the Next Witness by Philip Mason; The Sound of Sirens by William Brasse

Dan Stumpf: The Undying Monster by Jessie Douglas Kerruish

Kevin R. Tipple: Songs of Innocence as by Richard Aleas (Charles Ardai)

"TomCat": the novels of Jan Ekström 

"Trent": Downtown as by Ed McBain

Prashant Trikannad: Buchanan's Siege as by Jonas Ward (William Ard); Blade: The Navajo Trail as by Matt Chisholm (Peter Watts)

a handful of Bok cover illustrations (and a Wesso)

cover by H. W. Wesso? ISFDb says so...but Hannes Bok did all the interior art n the issue.

Featuring stories by founding editor Frederik Pohl ("James MacCreigh") and Robert Heinlein ("Lyle Monroe") and Pohl's fellow "Futurian" Walter Kubilius...and such older hands as Neil R. Jones and Ray Cummings. Not on the cover: Robert Arthur, "Futurian" Richard Wilson, and one Joseph Gilbert, who published a handful of stories, along with two "Probability Zero" tall-tale humor pieces, in a range of the sf magazines publishing in the early '40s. The human figures are definitely not Bok-ish...but the flying lizard creature strikingly resembles Bok's kind of creature...presumably, Wesso's, as well! (Bok might've taken more care to have the door fit into its jamb...)

A Bok cover for a novel by the famously inept Mullen. All Bok images below: