......THE END IS NEAR......

SUMMER 2012 FOREVER (cuz it could be the last one ever)

dont let this summer die........

see also:


BLUES CONTROL

NOD AND SMILE

DEAD MAN DOWN

BETHLEHEM THIS SATURDAY / AUSTIN LAST SATURDAY

the reading in austin was fucking great. end of an ear is a cool shop. i read something from the record with DRAGON TURTLE, then jon vance read from Tulip Has A Room. and tonie played some drones during both our readings. met a bunch of cool people. (like colin seven who took that photo of me). and some kids drove 24 hours straight from california to make the reading ahead of the show. then MOSS ICON played like an american Joy Division. for the first time in years and years. and then those kids from cali got crushed by a kid from the upper balcony. 

see the kid jump:

~ ~ ~ : ~ ~ ~

but anyway, THIS SATURDAY night at Secret Art Space on the Southside of Bethlehem. you should come.

DRAGON TURTLE + ERIC de JESUS RECORD RELEASE. with JON VANCE / TONIE JOY of MOSS ICON and PLANETS AROUND THE SUN
{ this is an extremely rare and precious event }

Join us for the release of the Dragon Turtle and Eric de Jesus split 7" on La Société Expéditionnaire at Secret Art Space. Doors are at 6:30 and music will start by 7:30.

You can preview the 7" HERE

Jonathan Vance with Tonie Joy (both from Moss Icon) will be doing some sikodelic emo spoken word/guitar thing.

dont forget buy Jon's book on american type:writer. get him to sign it. you dont want to miss this.

PLANETS AROUND THE SUN (Herbcraft/Cursillistas/Tempera/White Light) are from Portland, Maine. They have been traveling around the country from nearly a year in their van. Their psychedelicly folky jams are not to be missed. They have a new tape out on Sloow Tapes (belgium).
http://planetsaroundthesun.bandcamp.com/

Secret Art Space

Bethlehem PA
All Ages / No Alcohol
email for directions to secret location

...AUSTIN TX THIS SATURDAY 06/02/12...

 me and johnathan vance (of MOSS ICON fame) are reading some of our writing down in austin texas at end of an ear this saturday at 6pm. if yr in austin for the big chaos in tejas fest stop in before that night's shows and listen to our stories and say hello. and buy jon's book, my book and the DRAGON TURTLE + me 7" before its officially released. get down to texas with us! and, after we read me and beth wanna high tail it to the deville to see our LV brother DAUGHN GIBSON. it'll be like a night at jeff the pigeon (i wish). but the next night is the big holy MOSS ICON reunion. oh man, where's my bead necklace and the post hardcore / grown-out-crewcut long hair of my yyyouth....

here's a photo of Vance and some info on the reading.

 JON VANCE & ERIC de JESUS reading at End of An Ear 2209 S.1st, Austin, TX 78704 6pm 06/02

jon vance wrote the coolest lyrics in the world while in the seminal MOSS ICON. and he is still kicking to this day. if yr in austin texas for MOSS ICON's big spiritual reunion communion at the Chaos in Tejas fest, please stop in the evening before their show at End Of An Ear and see him read from his book Tulip Has A Room. Tonie from MI will be doing the quiet-cool backing soundtrack.

eric de jesus from WHH wrote We Won't Be Here Forever (on Future Recordings label / soft cover edition on American Type:Writer). a new record of him reading 2 story/poems about the classic emo year of 1988, backed by DRAGON TURTLE, is soon out on La Societe Expeditionaire.

TULIP HAS A ROOM by Jon Vance:

WE WONT BE HERE FOREVER by Eric de Jesus:

MOSS ICON "gravity" (these have to be some of the best lyrics ever written by a young American male):

SPOKEN JAMS BY ERIC de JESUS

ERIC de JESUS w/ DRAGON TURTLE 7":


please come by and say hi! drink the red wine emo.........

STONY RUN

lots of interesting folks have lived in this house since 1841.

FROM THE LATE MALL BUILDER ERA TO THE NEW MIDDLE AGES

the art students who run the Eckhaus Gallery in kutztown pennsylvania asked me to curate a show. bless their little art student hearts. give them all A's. what with student loans and bleak job prospects in the new middle ages, theyre gonna need the blessings.

this is what i came up with, a group of creative folks, all of whom i admire. plus me....

old school LVHC thrashers BAD AMERICAN will be blowing out the opening on april 7th. try not to crash into any of the art while you slam dance the old fashioned way.
and there will be Black Flag wine by EASY for you to imbibe plus a new issue of SLEEP TIGHT commemorating the show for you to scarf up. it features a nice essay on all the artists by PHOTON BAND dude Arthur J. DiFuria, Ph.D, professor of art history at Savannah College of Art and Design.

its going to be a warm spring evening, come out.and buy a piece or 2.

2011 WAS A DECENT YEAR

THIS IS SOME OF WHAT HAPPENED THIS YEAR:

snowboarded lots of farm fields around kutztown with wayne miller.

went on a lot of hikes with beth and friends all year.

the WE HAVE HEAVEN record came out on caesar cuts and easy. and got nice reviews in vice and terrascope...

got to be included a cool exhibition at oxford, england. got to hang with lisa and john from SLEEPS IN OYSTERS who were the curators. and got to read from my book with john and ray playing the musical backdrop.

went to Paris again and read my writing at culture rapide for the 2nd time in 6 months. thats a nice high for any stupid american dude. and got to hang out with james and kara in the city of light!

was honored to help out with linda & rob's wedding! what a beautiful day and night that was, up on penny's hill in the magic realm of kempton, pa. as well as the next morning at robin hill campground.

so relieved and grateful that PJ let us hold the Virginville Film Fest at his place in 2011, after the original farm location fell through. and you know what, PJ's might be a superior spot!

was honored to be the bestest man at art & nancy's wedding. i got all teary and emo giving the speech. what a spaz...... but the choice of Glassbern was a sweet spot for a summer wedding for sure.

worked on some show for the NFL Channel. no one there even seems to like football....

swam in the creeks and went tubing a bunch, and picked a lot of tomatoes in the summer.

got to be in my brother's wedding too, and hang out with family on a perfect afternoon in early september. this was the summer of weddings.

got to hang out with my sister and her kids, all the way back in PA from australia. that was awesome.

worked on Silver Lining Playbook, another amazing cinematic creation starring de niro and cooper. got to spend a lot of time in the creepy norristown state mental hospital.

and to top it all off, my mom bailed and broke her collarbone so i've got to spend more time with her than i ever have. that put my excellent year in some sort of perspective.

and now today, the last day of the year, its like 55 degrees outside and beth and i are going hiking. before the big parties.....

.........................december 3 2011............................

12/3/11

BROTHER JT
PHOTON BAND

at
Independent Space Gallery


mod jams all night like this one

$5 dont be a tosser.

..............................F U R.......................................

furry friends.
Beth's is on the left, mine is on the right.
hanging at Blind Willow Books' gallery.
during the launch party for their press's newest issue of Fraktur.
Blind Willow is the coolest shop in Emmaus. go look and buy some books.

............#OCCUPY YR HOME............

we want to occupy yr shirt drawer, book shelf, record collection and mind.

click here now to help us

W,H,H // SHINJI MASUKO 10/5/11

WE HAVE HEAVEN
SHINJI MASUKO
(of The BOREDOMS and D.M.B.Q fame)

maybe another band?

GoodWeekend warehouse in allentown pennsylvania

10/05/11

never forget

~~~~~~~~~~BEACH CREEPS~~~~~~~~~~

BLISS WAS IT IN THAT DAWN TO BE ALIVE, BUT TO BE YOUNG WAS VERY HEAVEN

"Bliss was it in that dawn to be alive, but to be young was very heaven.
Oh! times, In which the meagre, stale, forbidding ways Of custom, law, and statute, took at once The attraction of a country in romance! When Reason seemed the most to assert her rights, When most intent on making of herself A prime Enchantress--to assist the work, Which then was going forward in her name! Not favoured spots alone, but the whole earth, The beauty wore of promise, that which sets (As at some moment might not be unfelt Among the bowers of paradise itself) The budding rose above the rose full blown..."

William Wordsworth 1888

____07 / 26 / 11____

* * * *


please click every line

D CHARLES SPEER & HELIX

BROTHER JT

DANGERBIRD

W,E H,AVE H,EAVEN

july 26

the burner's hall

(southside) bethlehem pennsylvania


* * * *

......................VIRGINVILLE 2011......................

***************

"OUT ON THE GRASS, UNDER THE STARS, AT PJ's FARM JUST OVER THE HILL FROM KUTZTOWN, USA."

* * * yes its at a new location this year! email for directions to PJ's farm!!! * * *

JUNE 25TH AT NIGHTFALL, BUT COME EARLY TO HANG OUT, EAT SOME GRUB, BUY A T SHIRT AND A DVD (OF 2010'S FILMS) AND SUPPORT THE COOL INDIE PROJECTS & BUSINESSES THAT SPONSOR THE FESTIVAL.
AND MEET SOME NICE NEW PEEPS OR DUDES YOU HAVENT SEEN SINCE LAST YEAR'S FEST.

ITS GOING TO ANOTHER BEAUTIFUL NIGHT OF
UNITY, PEACE, CREATIVITY & (UNDERGROUND) CULTURE

HIT THE VVFF MYSPACE FOR MORE INFO, OR EMAIL THE VVFF HONCHOS FOR SUBMISSION INFO + DIREX TO THE SECRET FARM

.............................( ( ( TOKYO ) ) )...........................

{click on each photo to see the whole picture. i dont know why they dont fit...}

beth and i contributed to this nice benefit show in Tokyo. it just opened on saturday. its curated by tetsunori tawaraya of the rad band 2UP. its to help out our fave country after the crazy earthquake and tsunami of 2011. if yr over in that part of the world, go check it out and buy some pieces. lots and lots of cool folks are involved, from all over. i wish i could be there. i would buy brian chippendale's cool drawings. and then i'd go and scarf down as much okonomiyaki as i could fit in my face and then stock up on as many SunKus's kombu onigiri as i could fit in my luggage....

these are brian chippendale's deals.
sorry but it looks like they were already scarfed up by someone....

these are beth's drawings:

cool little kids like this (and their loved ones) shouldnt have to be affected by stupid earthquakes, tsunamis and fuckin radiation!!!!!

check the show here

and check tetsunori's band on VICE TV here



****

LONDON TO OXFORD TO PARIS IN AVRIL 2011

the trip was so good. we got back 3 days ago. London to Avebury to Oxford to Paris, the weather was just so perfect. we felt blessed by the powers that run the atmosphere. (i mean, we went to London and got tans and sunburn?) even though when we went looking for Rob Ryan's studio in Hackney, no one was home when we got there.

beth and i even got to sit in on the planning sessions for the royal wedding. don't ask, but we were invited.

when i was at Temple U London a lifetime ago and living in Notting Hill, i used to walk this road down Kensington Hill every day to school, and then back up every night after hot knives sessions at Decolator's flat in Earl's Court. christ that was eons ago now.... and RIP Paul Decolator.

on the first night in London, we got to see Patrice Chaplin speak about her books. we got to meet and talk with her, at Watkin's in covent garden, right near where i used to work for a jazz mag. she is one cool woman who's lived a pretty ideal life. we want to our lives to be like hers in City of Secrets and we feel super fortunate to now call her a friend.

*******

i felt so grateful to be have been included in Editions Of You in Oxford. it was a really great day and we met lots of good folks and bought lots of artfully produced books and zines and cds and vinyl and tees. afterward, i felt so good and happy walking around that beautiful town and then up headington hill in the night, sleepily talking Dickens and books with john from SLEEPS IN OYSTERS. walking along leafy walks uphill toward Dial House, the pretty B&B where they put us up, complete with a sweet green english garden and CRASS records scattered everywhere, i wanted to stay there forever.....

roy DIASONIC on guitar and laptop electronix, John SLEEPS IN OYSTERS on drums

Oxford is so totally cool looking and pretty (coming from someone like me who grew up in late 50s beaver cleaver suburbs in eastern Pennsylvania).

'are you awake?' this is Dr Lisa Busby of the Popular Music Research Unit at Oxford Brookes. she curated and ran the whole Editions Of You shebang. check her out in SLEEPS IN OYSTERS of which she's one half

we stopped at Avebury on the way to Oxford and got blown away by the ancient stone circles that once pulled lightning energy out of the cosmos to fertilize the land, as well as powering up the testes & ovaries of the prehistoric dudes and dudettes that lived there. totally the best fertility machine forevz, so be careful while there.

*****

then we split to Paris and hung out with James and Kara and checked out their current lifestyle. and i read at Culture Rapide again. let me tell you how much i love Paris in the spring when flower petals fall to the streets in such numbers its like a snow storm of fragrance on a warm spring day. and hanging out with james and kara, and hitting spots together in the 13th where they live, and then Bimbo Tower to score recs and deliver Jon Vance's and my books, because Bimbo Tower is into American Type:writer even though the Am.Type books are in english, it was a sunny aweso day for sure.


this is the scene outside Culture Rapide at intermission. the Paris scene is currently blowing up.

james and kara and glasses advertisement in the City of Light

the first thing we did in Paris outside Gare du Nord station was take pics under that stupid space invader graff thats everywhere

below is the reading at Culture Rapide. i asked james to play a little acoustic accompaniment. he sounded good. i read bits from Return Of An Oldhead specifically for james and kara, because maybe they were feeling homesick for pa dutch country, maybe they'd wanna hear the words "hexen baerk" ring out in the night air of Paris, for old times' sake... this was the second time in 5 months i've read there. i dig that scene even more now. awesome people from all over who are into writing and literature, plays and poems, in cool Parisian surroundings....



good times.
good times forever. and kicks. and creativity. thats what i wish for everyone. Paris makes me feel so positive and true... and oh yeah, Francois at Bimbo recommended the new FEELING OF LOVE record and i must say that he was right because it is really really cool and good. go get it here. been jamming it nonstop since leaving Paris, you know how it is.............
because,
"life, life, life is the only thing worth living for...."
-FLIPPER

**********