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We spent some time at Big Sur.
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A new small piece of writing, “Hourglass Lens,” is up at the Northville Review . Thanks Erin!
I posted the two remaining pieces in this series, “not you” I & II, at the Other Work page .
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Recently been hella digging new photos by frickety fresh / rachel duffy / u000 / tenderloincloth
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Cowan’s Gap issue #3 is probably coming out in early January 2011… more info soon!
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Rachel Duffy’s photo show “OPQRST” opened last weekend at Actual Cafe in Oakland.
Most of the work from the show, plus a lot more is up at Rachel’s website. Check it out!
I shot some photos at the opening with my old camera and put them up here.
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Just finished a batch of poems for submissions — mix of old and new stuff — email if you want a copy!
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I added an Other Work page to this site, which I’m thinking I’ll use to post older stories etc. I have one story up there so far.
needles and pens is at the new york art book fair this weekend, nov. 5-7!
if you’re attending, definitely check out n&p’s unique selection of books and zines, including the new kyle ranson and daniel higgs morph traits book.
cowan’s gap issues #1 and #2 will also be available at the needles and pens table.
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i’ve been listening to Blood Sea Dream, the new LP from oakland grunge/art rockers Grand Lake, all the time.
you can stream the whole album for free at their bandcamp page, as well as grab some free downloads of cover songs (Pete & Pete theme!!).
my favorite tracks from the album are Riderless Horse and My Father as a Forest Full of Trees, but the whole thing is rad and definitely worth a listen or two.
“i don’t believe in anything but you and me”
mailed out a ton of zines over the past couple weeks, and handed a ton out in SF! get in touch if you don’t have your copy of issue #2 yet.
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working on a couple of short stories pretty hard — hopefully finished/edited in another week or so. stoked for these new ones.
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new work by j. at tenderloin is the night , including a few of the original photos from cowan’s gap issue #2! check out the non-photocopied versions here.
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new drawing series from sammy owen. check out the whole series (my favorite is “Show…”) at his website!
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rachel duffy just launched a new website for her photography!
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photo from frickety fresh — my new favorite sf street art blog.
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saw not one but two awesome art shows recently at needles and pens!
1. morph traits — daniel higgs and kyle ranson .
above photo from the raddest art blog, my love for you is a stampede of horses. full photoset here — check it out!
2. knock knock — group show curated by KRETS.
more photos at my love for you blog!
i was especially stoked for this show because it had photos from phil elverum, one of my favorite musicians (the microphones, mount eerie) who is also a super sick photographer. yee!
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richard colman and ryan travis christian at guerrero gallery was mindblowing. maybe my single favorite show of the year.
colman built this enormous stage structure out of intricately handpainted panels. it was outrageously huge and you could go stand on it, and then death cheetah performed a musical set on the stage. nuts town.
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also caught mark warren jacques at gallery hijinks !
we loved his free life center show earlier this year at needles and pens, and super dug his current show as well! the artist also has a great website showcasing his work here.
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read a bunch of excerpts from le morte d’arthur . gnar!
currently reading short story collections by isaac bashevis singer and haruki murakami.
and of course the new book collecting the first four issues of one of my favorite zines, Scam by erick lyle !
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and lotsa new music!
neurosis – souls at zero
amebix – arise
deerhunter – halcyon digest
coliseum – house with a curse
wolves in the throne room – black cascade
christian mistress – agony and opium
clair cassis – s/t
fell voices / ash borer split cassette
now in stock at Needles and Pens, RVCA in SF and Quimby’s. more pics and info here!
get in touch if you want one!
cowan’s gap issue #2 — the zine i do with j. macqueen — is done! we’re staplin/mailin/droppin-off copies — get in touch if you want one — full post/pics soon!
as of today they’re in stock at needles and pens
Two poems of mine were recently published by SoandSo Magazine — check out the whole issue here!
Also be sure to browse around SoandSo.org a bit; the project encompasses the magazine, a reading series in Raleigh, NC, limited edition prints, and a bunch of other rad stuff!
issue #2 of cowan’s gap zine is almost done, and should be ready to ship and in stores in a couple of weeks! Also, a couple poems of mine are forthcoming in the next issue of the gnar-bar SoandSo Magazine, which i’m super hyped about!
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Sam Owen had three rad pieces in a local group show last month, including this one:
check our more new work at his website !
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all of the work from the recent show Needles and Pens curated in Sweden is online! here are a couple pieces by Nick Mann (Doodles) and Kevin E. Taylor:
the rest of the show is super sick too and has TONS of your bay area favorite artists. definitely worth checking out!
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also, i’m not sure if i blogged about this yet but the doodles show/installation at needles and pens earlier this year was like my favorite art show in history.
pics here! look at those structures built into the walls… waa.
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we also saw the final stop of Mark Warren Jacques and Seth Neefus ‘s huge Free Life Center installation/tour, also at Needles and Pens!
The work was super fun, especially exploring the little house, and we also got an awesome free photo zine of their project. Overall a great opening — thanks dudes!!
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books that i read:
cormac mccarthy – suttree. seems like every book i read by this dude (five or six titles now) becomes my new favorite book. true romantic in our own century. certainly my favorite living writer.
rodrigo fresan – kensington gardens. total madness / weird writing style / very cool/circuitous/knife-edged meditations on the relationship between art and not-growin’-up and telling stories (to whom and for whom) and believing in them. thanks alex for the book!!
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new albums:
howl – full of hell. “that new relapse band” everyone’s talking about. super riffy kinda-doomy ultra-heavy awesomeness — stream the whole record at stereogum!
sleeping peonies – rose curl, sea swirl . dreamy/uplifting/get-lost-in-it shoegazey black metal. for fans of alcest etc. thanks a million to aQuarius for the tip on this awesome record!!
jay reatard – watch me fall. super poppy, hooky garage-rock for the most part, but with lotsa other weird/awesome stuff on the album that sometimes even sounds like deerhunter/atlas sound. one of my favorite albums in recent memory — have been listening to it on repeat at work, while working at home, and generally all the time. rad piece of art — really wish this dude was still around…
wavves – king of the beach. been a big fan of this dude since about a year-and-a-half ago when i discovered his first two LP’s. at first i wanted to hate this new one because he “broke into the mainstream” or whatever, but i actually ended up totally loving it (duhh) and we went and saw him play live at the rickshaw stop (for the second time! at that same venue! weird!) and it was awesome. so yeah despite my initial reservations i love this record and listen to it all the time. super energizing pop-punk! wavves 4-ever!!
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alright! and that was definitely the longest blog post i’ve ever written. if you’ve made it all the way through mega thanks!! -nate
1. tenderloin is the night is back with a vengeance
2. rachel duffy is a ripper
3. serious jacob shreds the gnar
woods – at echo lake
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ty segall – melted
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thee oh sees – help
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i read the 4th and 5th issue of No More Bummers by Jason File. Need to track down the first three now!
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i read the latest issue of Peaches and Bats — super-strong zine/lit-journal — so rad! Also looking forward to checking out some previous ones.
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in terms of zine news, Cowan’s Gap is now available at Revolver SF, a super rad clothing boutique in the Lower Haight. Check it out!
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new post soon with some new photos and stuff! thanks for reading y’all.
