ive been up in san jose for the long weekend visiting with steve and martha. a quick trip to chuck and stacys for the coconuts birthday party at fairyland in oakland then back to san jose. everyone doing well. a little drama with logan and joanne but they will find their way through it all. we played cards and i didnt lose! and i met their (l and j) daughter amber who may do some work for me animating some of my work. she is at school in laguna.
i didnt get to work on the new feng shui book i hope to have out for a workshop at the summer solstice... but i can work on it tonight.
the application for the urban screens exhibit of my film body of water is fine and in the works. final touches are being put on the film and should be finished soon.
meditation class tomorrow (wed) night in culver city.
i heard from bob ~ he read two of my pieces at the sunday salon and an encore was demanded. ive been asked to come myself to teach and read and whatever. bob is in salem now sulking in the rain and the weeds instead of building an ark.
and im back to it all...
to see my work: http://royanthonyshabla.com
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
update
my short film and handmade book body of water are nearing completion. it is details and signing that are left...
as a command performance, bob will read a couple of my new poems for the film house of my heart at jeannies salon in mendicino this weekend...
tina at busters is proposing to stage my short play dear this summer... possibly with short films outside...
and i may be showing button paintings at an event next month at busters ~ we shall see what gets completed...
on the other hand, i still have not called armando to order the canvas for the jazz poem paintings...
and the karma cookbook is stewing in my head more than on the paper...
a new photo of me looking like emily dickinson or virgina wolfe is just posted to the website...
enjoy!
as a command performance, bob will read a couple of my new poems for the film house of my heart at jeannies salon in mendicino this weekend...
tina at busters is proposing to stage my short play dear this summer... possibly with short films outside...
and i may be showing button paintings at an event next month at busters ~ we shall see what gets completed...
on the other hand, i still have not called armando to order the canvas for the jazz poem paintings...
and the karma cookbook is stewing in my head more than on the paper...
a new photo of me looking like emily dickinson or virgina wolfe is just posted to the website...
enjoy!
Friday, May 9, 2008
poets and writers
a dear dear old lady, vera hickman, took me while i was still in high school to the soroptimist house on campus at long beach state for the monthly literary club meeting. (as an aside, it is the old ladies of the world who keep societies balanced. they are the militant supporters of the arts, of social projects, of fairness and peace. it takes their efforts to balance the general inertia and apathy of communities at large, at least in the united states. sadly, vera died many years ago after i had been out of touch for quite some time. the world is certainly missing her.) the literary club at that time consisted of the more conventional poets and writers on campus and they would meet and read and discuss their work. after several months i was going alone to the meetings and making friends. at one point, someone suggested we put together a literary magazine. the general question was raised: does anyone know how to do this? i said i did. and so separate meetings for what would become "riprap" followed and i found myself at the csulb campus even more often. one night after a production meeting, a guy told me that some poets were meeting at a bar across the street from campus and asked if i wanted to go. the forty-niner. im sure he had no idea i wasnt a student in college but high school, that i was underage to go to a bar, that i lived with my parents in downey... i followed him into another world!
these poets were not sophisticated. two tables of mostly scruffy men sitting haphazardly askew and talking about anything but literature... this was a dark, smoky, delightful shock after leaving the riprap meeting where what was published had to be suitable for church. this was a beer club! and the beer was definitely an interesting aspect of it all. i knew what tap beer was ~ no high school is that isolated ~ but i guess i had never appreciated the fact of large pitchers of beer that seemed to appear on the table, spill on the table, disappear into the men... and someone put a mug in front of me and filled it. (a couple years later, when the bar began using smaller pitchers, the poets left for a different bar in protest!) i noticed that one guy, fred voss, didnt drink the beer from the pitchers like everyone else but instead went to the bar to get bottles of beer, one at a time, for himself. i asked him why and he leaned forward and said softly that that beer didnt taste good. i leaned forward and said, "none of it tastes good." young as i was, i knew you didnt drink for the taste. i guessed if you were, you would be drinking girlie drinks.
i was mostly a fly on the wall that night. since i wasnt a student, i didnt know anyone except the guy who invited me, i especially didnt know the teachers... but i quickly saw how this hive of bohemians swarmed around a particular queen... and that was gerry locklin.
gerald locklin was the center and the reason for the long beach movement in creative writing and the father of the long beach style of poetry. he remains its finest example.
i became friendly with and published gerry in several projects, both academic and private, and when i was kicked off the campus literary magazine a couple years later, he said, "now you can do what you want." (i began editing and publishing with vera and isabelle ziegler, a grand dame of letters, while i was still in high school ~ a proposition which both got me started with and removed from the literary group at the soroptimist house and riprap magazine). gerry only showed up at my apartment door at 2 or 3 in the morning a couple times, a bottle of cream sherry and a tale ~ both of which are now forgotten ~ and i never had a bad time with him.
but most stories from that time are forgotten...
i moved to europe for a couple years and lost touch with everyone. that was 25 years ago. now i just saw gerry and the circle of writers at gerrys retirement party in long beach and it was like being underwater, in a dream... i searched the memory banks for references to these people, grasping for a buoy in a sea of amnesia... i drank with these people, i published these people, i left these people behind.
but gerry himself and his work remain strong. he is still unpretentious, generous of spirit, and talented. he no longer drinks (for health reasons) but his personality was never predicated on alcohol. everyone else from that period was a shock ~ some lines had changed... waistlines, hairlines, laughlines... and some hadnt... the writing which was read as a tribute to gerry had the familiar voice of the past... (as a gift, i gave gerry a copy of child harold at the zoo ~ the closest my work comes to the long beach style.)
millie, my dear friend from that period who has evolved along similar paths to mine and remains close, invited me to go to that west coast writers tribute and retirement party for gerry. she looked fabulous and i cleaned up well. maybe we looked better (inside and out) than we did 25 years ago. there was a new group of young writers there, some the sons of our original group... ahh the deliciousness of youth, the vitality, the eager soul disguised as aloof , pretty in bum jeans ~ millie and i had a delightful time visiting with dave alvin and others of the old garde and enjoying the scent of the next... and left the evening reveling in the quirky justice of time and the undeniable cycle of karma.
best wishes gerry!
to see my books: http://royanthonyshabla.com
these poets were not sophisticated. two tables of mostly scruffy men sitting haphazardly askew and talking about anything but literature... this was a dark, smoky, delightful shock after leaving the riprap meeting where what was published had to be suitable for church. this was a beer club! and the beer was definitely an interesting aspect of it all. i knew what tap beer was ~ no high school is that isolated ~ but i guess i had never appreciated the fact of large pitchers of beer that seemed to appear on the table, spill on the table, disappear into the men... and someone put a mug in front of me and filled it. (a couple years later, when the bar began using smaller pitchers, the poets left for a different bar in protest!) i noticed that one guy, fred voss, didnt drink the beer from the pitchers like everyone else but instead went to the bar to get bottles of beer, one at a time, for himself. i asked him why and he leaned forward and said softly that that beer didnt taste good. i leaned forward and said, "none of it tastes good." young as i was, i knew you didnt drink for the taste. i guessed if you were, you would be drinking girlie drinks.
i was mostly a fly on the wall that night. since i wasnt a student, i didnt know anyone except the guy who invited me, i especially didnt know the teachers... but i quickly saw how this hive of bohemians swarmed around a particular queen... and that was gerry locklin.
gerald locklin was the center and the reason for the long beach movement in creative writing and the father of the long beach style of poetry. he remains its finest example.
i became friendly with and published gerry in several projects, both academic and private, and when i was kicked off the campus literary magazine a couple years later, he said, "now you can do what you want." (i began editing and publishing with vera and isabelle ziegler, a grand dame of letters, while i was still in high school ~ a proposition which both got me started with and removed from the literary group at the soroptimist house and riprap magazine). gerry only showed up at my apartment door at 2 or 3 in the morning a couple times, a bottle of cream sherry and a tale ~ both of which are now forgotten ~ and i never had a bad time with him.
but most stories from that time are forgotten...
i moved to europe for a couple years and lost touch with everyone. that was 25 years ago. now i just saw gerry and the circle of writers at gerrys retirement party in long beach and it was like being underwater, in a dream... i searched the memory banks for references to these people, grasping for a buoy in a sea of amnesia... i drank with these people, i published these people, i left these people behind.
but gerry himself and his work remain strong. he is still unpretentious, generous of spirit, and talented. he no longer drinks (for health reasons) but his personality was never predicated on alcohol. everyone else from that period was a shock ~ some lines had changed... waistlines, hairlines, laughlines... and some hadnt... the writing which was read as a tribute to gerry had the familiar voice of the past... (as a gift, i gave gerry a copy of child harold at the zoo ~ the closest my work comes to the long beach style.)
millie, my dear friend from that period who has evolved along similar paths to mine and remains close, invited me to go to that west coast writers tribute and retirement party for gerry. she looked fabulous and i cleaned up well. maybe we looked better (inside and out) than we did 25 years ago. there was a new group of young writers there, some the sons of our original group... ahh the deliciousness of youth, the vitality, the eager soul disguised as aloof , pretty in bum jeans ~ millie and i had a delightful time visiting with dave alvin and others of the old garde and enjoying the scent of the next... and left the evening reveling in the quirky justice of time and the undeniable cycle of karma.
best wishes gerry!
to see my books: http://royanthonyshabla.com
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
wright or wrong
did hilary clinton start the reverend wright controversy? she should be ashamed. or was it john mc cain? he has plenty to be ashamed of... bill moyers hosted jeremiah wright on his pbs talk show a couple days ago and showed clips from the "offensive" sermons. the sermons were not offensive ~ i have said much worse... they were inflammatory, they were righteous, but they were not hateful, unamerican, or lunacy. the man himself presented as very intelligent and compassionate. he was a good preacher. he was literate (besides the bible) and charitable. he may come from a place of anger (a result of the american history of slavery and racism) but it was not blind anger nor illogical.
one sound bite the media has embraced is wrights comments on aids as a government engineered disease to decrease the undesirable and surplus population. an indictment of our media is that no one has mentioned the fact that this idea did not originate with wright. theories such as this have been around since the 1980s and have some plausibility. the media never researched the history of the theory to understand where wrights ideas come from. he is not a lunatic, he just has an unconventional point of view. like einstein or (insert your favorite revolutionary here).
charlie rose hosted a panel on his pbs show last night to try to understand reverend wrights impact on america and the presidential election. it was inadequately stated that right or wrong reverend wrights words are not barack obamas thoughts and it is a shameful example of dirty politics to try to tie them together. and a shameful example of the stupidity of the american public to believe it. no one blames hitlers mother for the holocost.
barack obama who started the campaign as a light and hope has turned into a politician. his disowning of reverend wright was a brillant and necessary political move that should clear up this problem and alleviate the damage. it was however not a brilliant nor necessary spiritual move. while reverend wright could have behaved with a little more dignity and charity when this situation came to a head (and i think in retrospect he will wish he had taken the higher road), the great flaw, the great disappointment, the great tragedy is that obama put politics before loyalty and friendship. a good man abandoned a good man for the "higher good".
the making of the candidate (think robert redford) that is barack obama has also caused him to back pedal on issues like the war. he had been opposed to the war. now, pope benedict and ted turner are the only ones who do not waffle on this. and im not voting for the pope.
now you see why im not political ~ the whole process is full of politicians!
one sound bite the media has embraced is wrights comments on aids as a government engineered disease to decrease the undesirable and surplus population. an indictment of our media is that no one has mentioned the fact that this idea did not originate with wright. theories such as this have been around since the 1980s and have some plausibility. the media never researched the history of the theory to understand where wrights ideas come from. he is not a lunatic, he just has an unconventional point of view. like einstein or (insert your favorite revolutionary here).
charlie rose hosted a panel on his pbs show last night to try to understand reverend wrights impact on america and the presidential election. it was inadequately stated that right or wrong reverend wrights words are not barack obamas thoughts and it is a shameful example of dirty politics to try to tie them together. and a shameful example of the stupidity of the american public to believe it. no one blames hitlers mother for the holocost.
barack obama who started the campaign as a light and hope has turned into a politician. his disowning of reverend wright was a brillant and necessary political move that should clear up this problem and alleviate the damage. it was however not a brilliant nor necessary spiritual move. while reverend wright could have behaved with a little more dignity and charity when this situation came to a head (and i think in retrospect he will wish he had taken the higher road), the great flaw, the great disappointment, the great tragedy is that obama put politics before loyalty and friendship. a good man abandoned a good man for the "higher good".
the making of the candidate (think robert redford) that is barack obama has also caused him to back pedal on issues like the war. he had been opposed to the war. now, pope benedict and ted turner are the only ones who do not waffle on this. and im not voting for the pope.
now you see why im not political ~ the whole process is full of politicians!
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
earth day
happy earth day! happy birthday hadley (my little monster)! elizabeth has gotten off the sofa and is cleaning the kitchen cupboards. im sure shell be back to napping soon. im writing bad checks to pay bills (its kinda fun!)... and we are going to do more cleaning in the garage and make spiritual remedies and maybe a little work on the art projects. then i will visit dorothy for a bit before going off to have dinner with my daughter. that is how my earth day is planned. maybe sitting in the garden for a few minutes. and leaving some food for the fairies. i already recycled and feng shui-ed this morning... its a beautiful day in these times of war.
http://blesstheworld.com
http://blesstheworld.com
Monday, April 21, 2008
papas got a brand new bag
pope benedict came to america, specifically the united states of america, this past week and i have to give him a lot of credit for showing up here and addressing the current issues. im not a fan of religion and have little time for medieval irrationality, but the last pope stopped coming to the usa because of the protests. he was afraid. and that was long before the sex with young boys issue blew up in the churchs face. the last pope went repeatedly to mexico where his popularity was a slam dunk. but protests in america (the usa) over keeping the church in the dark ages ~especially by the catholic nuns~ were too awkward for him. and the sex with young boys issue was always swept under the altar cloth. unlike his predecessor, pope benedict showed up in the united states and addressed the churchs responsibility for the sex with young boys issue. he was brave. he was forthright and clear. and i think he helped a lot of people in their healing processes. if only he would wear a fashionable hat and dress, something from this century, something fitted... maybe then he could be sold to the american (lapsed) catholics like obama is to the american youth. clothes make the man. and the bag makes the outfit.
make wood, not war
tomorrow is earth day. and i havent heard from al gore. isnt that always the way? once they steal the recognition for all your hard work, they dont even know you. i bet if i ran into him on the street in front greens he would put his hand up and say no autographs. well im not bitter! much! but it would be nice to get a phone call once in awhile. tomorrow is also hadleys birthday. my darling monster of a daughter. she will be seven. going on thirty. she had a party on saturday ~ a small party ~ she didnt want any kids from school BECAUSE SHE SEES THEM ALL THE TIME. there was the requisite jumper. there was the requisite pinata. there was the requisite crying. everyone had a lovely day with a view of the ocean. yesterday i cleaned a small area of the front part of the garage and sold eleven boxes of great stuff to a junk dealer. and hauled about as much back into the house... i will take progress any way i can get it. at least when it comes to cleaning up my stuff. re-using is the best recycling. today i am paying bills, running errands, getting details out of the way so i can go forward into my week. onward ecological soldiers! make wood, not war! plant a tree, save the world.
for peace shirts: http://royanthonyshabla.com
for peace shirts: http://royanthonyshabla.com
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