hope to see you at Evan Lee's opening at Presentation House Gallery (333 Chesterfield Ave. North Vancouver) this afternoon--

"Evan Lee's photographs are explorations of the extraordinary within the ordinary. He has continued the research strain of Vancouver practice that seeks meaning in detail, an idea that goes back to the 1950s work of Fred Herzog and has been continued by Roy Arden, Karin Bubas, Scott McFarland and Jeff Wall, among others. Lee�s work specifically addresses the presence of "the phenomenal" in the detritus of our secular world. The exhibition is an overview of all of Lee's projects since 1998, and will debut a new body of work focussed on the forms of the ginseng root. 64-page catalogue with texts by Christopher Brayshaw, Peter Culley, Jeff Wall and William Wood will be available at the opening. Curated by Bill Jeffries.


Artist Talk: Saturday January 21, 3:00pm followed by a reception from 4 - 6pm at PHG."

 

(interior of the Ovaltine Cafe on Hastings St, best known in recent years as a frequent location for "Da Vinci's Inquest", where Gerry and I have often dined, me on Pork Cutlets w/applesauce, him generally oolichans on toast, liver and onions, something in that line...)


three daily sonnets from last November by Canada's Top Poet Gerry Gilbert; the remaining 362 of 2005 available as BC Monthly 55, PO box 48884/Stn Bentall/Vancouver BC Canada V7X 1A8, 20 dollars should cover it--


cornwall provence amsterdam landed us
radiold music hourly stops w'news
eager new buildings hide meagre old ones
beach pee in sea splash still flashes music
yesterday & tomorrow frame bedtime
sameness-seized season's spit sky's seasonings
viruses & bacteria need us
years come to some ventures in centuries
winter wanders with worrisome weather
we look before during after ourselves
staple gets paper's talkatures together
traffic splashing past amusing futures
hands give thighs that relax all over
pools & creeks filling with waternity

BEAUTIES LET NEED'S BOUNCING GREED COUNT ON FREE
STANDING GIVES BALANCE A LIVING LANDING
NOT ANSWERING AVOIDS AN ARGUMENT
DIGGING GLIB DITTIES DIGNIFIES GIDDY
JAZZ HAPPY NOT THAT MUSICIANS ARE
DAYS IN BED SLEEP ME AWAY FROM TOWN'S CROWDS
HIDING A TIDY IN NORMALADY
NOWHERE TO GO GROWS BECOMING HERE WON
WATER'S WET WEALTH WITH WARMTH WELCOMES WASHING
REST BUILDS STRENGTH FROM DIGESTION OF STILLNESS
EACH OF US ROUND-WORLDLINGS WINNING A RACE
FISH DON'T NEED SHOES RAINCOATS WHEELS OR MOUNTAINS
SOME THINGS APPEAR BIG JUST BECAUSE THEY'RE NEAR
SMELLING WELCOMES ELOQUENT ELEGANCE

when music has been played say thanks to it
a stretch portrays a direction of daze
autobios graphic presentiments
lined up big birds' flight wrote writing on sky
recording ends then might still hear singing
pub crowd enjoyment a pleasing quick glimpse
certain daylight leaks through bedroom curtain
heedin' readin' flies people high as flies
rafters rhyme before & after laughter
roots trunks branches barks & leaves form forests
clock's alarm returns nearly to early
each time's arrival a hopening cope
not spottin' a clock keeps the timin' thine
eyes mouth ears & mind find wording fitting





 

farewell to the wicked Wilson Pickett, here with Percy Sledge, Don Covay, King Curtis, Esther Phillips and some Atlantic execs. My favorite hit: Engine Engine #9, where the cowbell sounds like its floating a foot away from the bridge of your nose, and the guitar causes the dust mites to pulse themselves through the screen door.
 

via Bookslut some very big Moomin news: the years of comic strips Tove Jansson did are finally going to be collected and translated! This is something I've hoped for for many years.



 

lots more about Jimmie Rodgers here...
 

greatly enjoying the immortal 1969 Same Train, A Different Time: Songs Of Jimmie Rodgers by Merle Haggard & the Strangers

WAITING FOR A TRAIN
words and music by Jimmie Rodgers
1929


All around the water tank
Waiting For a train,
A thousand miles away from home
Sleeping in the rain,

I walked up to a brakeman
To give him a line of talk,
He says "If you've got money
I'll see that you don't walk."

I haven't got a nickel
Not a penny can I show
He said "Get off you railroad bum",
And he slammed the box car door.

He put me off in Texas
A place I surely love,
Wide open spaces 'round me
The moon and stars above.

Nobody seems to want me
Or lend me a helping hand
I'm on my way from Frisco,
Goin back to Dixieland.

My pocket book is empty,
And my heart is filled with pain,
I'm a thousand miles away from home
Just waiting for a train.

 

excellent Jeff Wall site from the Tate Modern
 

a nice Birgit Nilsson remembrance from Seattle Opera star Jane Eaglen

farewell Birgit Nilsson


"In 1959 at the Met, she famously "outsung" three different Tristans, who all pleaded illness but were prevailed upon to take her on for one act apiece so that the performance would not have to be cancelled. Once asked what was the chief requirement for singing the role of Isolde, she replied: "Comfortable shoes.""

 

Banana Nutrament has mp3's of Chicago House giant Mr. Fingers beautiful "Can You Feel It (Martin Luther King Mix)" and Coltrane's "Alabama".