LaBeouf and Gosling Join John Hillcoat’s Next, The Wettest County in the World…Maybe | /Film

LaBeouf and Gosling Join John Hillcoat’s Next, The Wettest County in the World…Maybe | /Film

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The Death of Bunny Munro

The long-awaited new novel by Nick Cave is now available for pre-order from Amazon...



http://www.amazon.com/Death-Bunny-Munro-Novel/dp/0865479100

Apparently the image above is for the UK edition. The US cover will appear thus:


An audio version will also be available on CD, as well as this intriguing mix of film, music and novel...

“Last week saw the launch of Limbo’s new IRREGULAR collaboration with Canongate Books [...] The lights went down for this bit; Nick Cave has made videos of himself reading passages from his not-yet-published novel, The Death of Bunny Munro, a hellish and madcap story about a salesman in search of a soul. Filmed by acclaimed directors, with custom-made soundtracks (never publicly screened before last Thursday), the projections show Nick in an unfamiliar guise – the novelist, but also the actor. Rolling Stone’s comment that ‘Nick Cave will obviously live forever, just because the Devil’s scared of him’ is called to mind – but even so, Bunny went down a storm and mesmerised us into thrilled, open-mouthed glee. It takes a lot to shock IRREGULAR people. ”

http://black-spring.com/limbo/limbo-065-come-on-gang-little-kicks-endor.html


“Canongate secured the British rights to publish The Death of Bunny Munro, a cult work of towering genius (I can already see the cover puff), last year. It’s due for release in September 2009, but Canongate, being the trendy publishing house that they are, have produced a filmed reading with ambient music from Cave’s Bad Seeds, and plan to release extracts in PR friendly lumps.

[...]The Death of Bunny Munro seemed pretty funny. There were some good lines about how hotels are dead brilliant because they have the tiniest soaps you’ll ever see – individually wrapped, which Cave tripped off with a fine sense of timing. A nice reference to bananas in f….g pyjamas was also appreciated, by me at least.

The Death of Bunny Munro focuses on a man who travels around the South of England with his son after the suicide of his wife. Maybe there are some shocking/amazing bits to come, but I quite liked the humour myself. It’s not often you get to laugh at someone with multiple ASBOs without looking uneasily over your shoulder. Bunny Munro junior has four separate ASBOs and has been banned from many fast food outlets. ”

http://textualities.net/hannah-adcock/nick-cave-and-byngs-irregulars/

Thanks to Caro and freethemillhaven1 from the Nick Cave forum for these links! Let's all pray to St. Jude for a US book tour and reading! Best case scenario, a combined reading with music from a few Bad Seeds... Graham Parker did this very well with his excellent book Carp Fishing on Valium some years ago, a solo reading of excerpts along with songs that illustrated and enhanced the stories. Couldn't find a video of that show, but here's GP doing one of the songs he wrote for the book...



And to whet the appetite for a reading by Nick, here's a clip of him reciting an excerpt from his first novel, And the Ass Saw the Angel:

Cultural Badassery

My wonderful, brilliant and beautiful 15 year old daughter recently shared some of these articles with me. (And came up with the title!) Thanks Holly, you make your old Papa proud! This stuff makes one want to get out and do something creatively badass.

First, the Pantheon clock. In November of 2005 a group of "cultural guerillas" called the Untergunther clandestinely entered the Pantheon in Paris, where for a year they hid behind a wall of fake crates and painstakingly restored the massive and decaying 1850 Wagner clock.





For all their hard work (which included the labor of Master clockmaker Jean Baptiste Viot and the fabrication of many new parts from scratch) they were dragged before the Court of Justice , but even the prosecutor called the charges "stupid", and the Untergunther were free to begin their next clandestine project.














http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2007/nov/26/france.artnews
http://www.urban-resources.net/untergunther.html

Next, underground cinema... Literally... A Parisian gang of artists and urban explorers have been busy reclaiming unused and decrepit spaces beneath the great city for "rock concerts for up to 4,000 people in old underground quarries; 2am projections in a locked film theatre; art and photo exhibitions in supposedly sealed-off subterranean galleries."














The work of La Mexicaine de la Perforation (The Mexican Perforators), to "reclaim and transform disused city spaces for the creation of zones of expression for free and independent art", was not revealed to the world until 2004, when police patrolling an area of supposedly unused tunnels along the Seine stumbled upon the underground cinema, complete with bar and restaurant, wrapping up a seven week summer film series.

Like the Untergunther, LMDP have faced criminal charges, none of which have stuck...















http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2004/sep/11/film.france
http://www.urban-resources.net/la_mexicaine_de_perforation.html








And lastly, the wonderful world of Reverse Graffiti... artists around the globe have been busily scrubbing the grime of polluted civilization off tunnels, cars, buildings and other public spaces and transforming crud into provocative beauty.










http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/featured/35-greatest-works-of-reverse-graffiti/1949
http://www.alexandreorion.com/ossario/images.html


OK, boys 'n girls, are you inspired to get out your wire brushes, industrial cleansers, power-sprayers, miner's helmets, sledgehammers, favorite movies, et les baquettes? Spring is here and what better time to begin exploring the gritty or forsaken hidden places in your neighborhood? Just be careful and bring a buddy!

I Dreamed I Saw Joe Strummer Last Night

Alive as you or me/Said I but Joe you're seven years dead/I never died said he...



I was saddened to realize that December 22, 2008 had come and gone and I had given no thought to the passing of Joe Strummer on that date in 2002. In the midst of moving, unemployment between jobs, the holidays, and other distractions, I allowed the day to pass without recalling Joe and all the great work he had done in his too short time on earth. So here is a belated tribute to the man and his work. Joe, we hardly knew ye...

I first heard the unique rasp of Joe Strummer's voice on a 45rpm record by the Clash purchased at a little record shop in Portland Oregon in 1977. It was the first single from the debut Clash album with Remote Control as the A side, later to be disowned in the scathing "Complete Control" single ("They said release Remote Control/We didn't want it on the label") and a live recording of London's Burning from the historic Victoria Park Anti-Fascism rally and concert as the B-side. I listened to that record repeatedly, electrified by the live side's relentless guitar crunch and incendiary lyrics, and fascinated by the A side, with its indecipherable, yet compellingly angry, vocals. I returned to that little import record shop many times and picked up numerous other punk 45s by the likes of the Adverts, the Sex Pistols and Generation X, as well as LPs by US bands like Richard Hell and the Voidoids and the Ramones, but nothing captured my heart and imagination like the passionate roar of the Clash, galvanized by the primal sneers, cries and whispers of one Joe Strummer.



From those early days on, I was a dedicated fan of the Clash, and was fortunate to have seen them a number of times over the years, including a Boston show during their first US tour, and the New York Palladium show in 1979 immortalized on the cover of London Calling. Unlike other bands, the Clash gave all to their fans, always playing with maximum positive energy, and one was left feeling that the world could be remade into a better, fairer and much more exciting place. The Clash, and especially Mr. Strummer, gave you the confidence to believe that anything was possible with a little hard work and a lot of heart. They gave their all and expected nothing less from their fans.



Joe and the Clash respected their fans and always treated them as equals; stories of the band spending hours after shows talking and listening to fans are legend, and Joe was known to drive fans home in the band gig rig or give them his hotel room keys if they had nowhere else to stay. And the Clash had a mission to not only entertain but to educate their fans, politically and musically, sharing the movies, books and most importantly the music that had shaped their lives and work by having classic roots artists like Bo Diddley, Burning Spear, Screamin' Jay Hawkins or Sam and Dave as their opening acts, music that thousands of young fans might never have heard if not for the Clash. It was exhilarating and always surprising to watch and listen to the band evolve over the years as their music became more complex and varied, bringing in reggae (right from the beginning with a cover of Junior Murvins Jamaican hit Police and Thieves on the first album). But their sound later became permeated with rockabilly, soul, zydeco, jazz, folk and world influences. It's no insult to the other band members, who all contributed enormous talent and energy to the Clash, to say that this genre bending and blending was primarily the influence of the omnivorous musical creativity of Joe Strummer.


Joe later tapped into this joyful appreciation for all the world's music in his post Clash career, in film soundtrack work, radio programs, solo projects and most notably with his last band, the outstanding Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros. In what were sadly to be the last years of his life, Joe seemed a man reborn, creating rich, exciting and complex new music with a talented band of young multi-instrumentalists and anchored by his long time friend from back in the pre-Clash squat and busking days, violinist, singer and composer Tymon Dogg.




As with the Clash, I was most fortunate to have seen Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros a number of times, most notably during their five night stand at St. Ann's Warehouse in Brooklyn NY, where I had the great honor and pleasure of meeting Joe, Tymon Dogg, most of the Mescaleros and a few other notable persons who were in Joe's New York entourage at the time, such as Steve Buscemi and Jim Jarmusch, with whom he worked on the wonderful film Mystery Train. It's not surprising that Joe always attracted the most creative and interesting people into his circle of friends, as he seemed to radiate enthusiasm and creative energy in his wide ranging artistic pursuits and in his heartfelt interest in people and their stories.


The story of my night of partying with Joe Strummer and the Mecaleros will have to be told another time, but for now let me just say that as a long time Clash and Joe Strummer fan, I was in my glory. It was an extraordinary experience to find my self belly up to the bar at the Three of Cups on the Lower East Side of Manhattan at 4AM, blood shot eyeball to bloodshot eyeball with the man himself, drunkenly conversing about all manner of things, from African pop music to the still raw 9/11 tragedy. All of the stories I'd heard about Joe being an easy going bloke, open, friendly and approachable, who enjoyed meeting and conversing with all manner of fans and friends proved to be true. And Tymon Dogg was and is one of the nicest people I've ever met; it was he who made sure I and another fan got a ride over to village bar where the after gig party ensued. Like Joe, he was a warm, friendly and approachable gentleman, who told me he had learned the music of "Minstrel Boy" while still in the womb, and I found myself frequently in his company, chatting as if with an old friend, over the ensuing night of singing, drinking and conversing. I will always look back on that time with warmth, affection and more than a little sadness.

Here's a couple photos from that memorable night (and morning) from the website of famed rock photographer Bob Gruen. I was sitting at the bar a few feet away when Joe took over DJing from legendary Clash show DJ Scratchy Meyers, and had been talking to Bob Gruen about his 9/11 photos and book of Clash photographs when Joe stumbled over and had Bob's sister take a picture of the two them. (Note the bartender is wearing a t-shirt with one of Bob Gruen's KISS photos on it).













I also got Joe's autograph (and that of most all of the other Mescaleros, except for Scott Shields who looked to be about 18 years old at the time, and did not stay long; the joke was that Joe's wife Luce had made him go to bed early) when he signed the cover of my copy of Global A Go Go. Joe got out his handy Sharpie pen, always ready for autographs or graffiti, and scrawled "TO ED FROM MOSHAC(H)USETTS, JOE STRUMMER", a nickname I've recently revived for this site. Thanks Joe!



Like so many millions of friends and fans around the world, I was shocked and saddened when I learned of Joe's passing on 12/22/02. That traditionally happy time of the holidays, and my younger daughter's 9th birthday one day prior, were terribly darkened by the loss of this great artist and exemplary human being. A night or so after his passing I received a call from my friend John Allen, a passionate and Strummeresque singer in his own right with the Celtic punk band Big Bad Bullocks, seeking to commiserate and console. As a way to cope with the loss and pay tribute to Joe, we came up with the idea for a benefit concert, calling on some of the many enormously talented musicians we're blessed with in our little corner of the world to come together for a concert of music by the Clash or Joe Strummer (or whatever, this was punk after all) with all proceeds going to AIDS and TB relief in Africa or reforestation in Scotland, two charities that Joe was involved with prior ot his death. That too, was a night to remember, thanks to all the great players, MC John Allen, stage manager Gollum and graphic designer Tom No Shadow Kick. All I had to do was show up, drink pints and listen to great bands playing great songs! And it felt good to do something to honor and celebrate Joe Strummer' life and music.

Though he may have left this vale of tears some seven years gone by now, Joe Strummer is truly still alive as you or me, if not more so. He lives on not only in the magnificent work he left behind to inspire unknown, even unborn, future artists and revolutionaries, but also in his unique spirit that still exists in this world. Wherever people are coming together to heal hatred, expose hypocrisy and corruption, speak the truth to power without fear, make human and humane connections with those around them, to somehow create a kind of positive force to better the world in the short and always unknown time given us, the spirit and energy of Joe Strummer is manifest. As Bruce Springsteen once sang of old Tom Joad (paraphrasing John Steinbeck and Woody Guthrie):

"Mom, wherever there's a cop beatin' a guy
Wherever a hungry newborn baby cries
Where there's a fight against the blood and hatred in the air
Look for me mom I'll be there
Wherever there's somebody fightin' for a place to stand
Or a decent job or a helpin' hand
Wherever somebody's strugglin' to be free
Look in their eyes Mom you'll see me."

I think many of us saw this same commitment in Joe Strummer's eyes, in his impassioned singing, and in his untiring example. In these difficult and dangerous times of massive, shameless corruption, deadly global inequality, ecological peril, murderous militarism and merciless violence, we all need to try and make these the qualities that we see when we look into each others eyes. Thanks for helping us along the way Joe! The future is unwritten.



Thanks youtube and all the people who posted these great videos!

The Threepenny Opera

Coming next month to a theater near me, and perhaps near you as well, a production of the Threepenny Opera by Bertold Brecht und Kurt Weill. The old G.W. Pabst film version has always been a favorite, but I've never seen a live performance of this great work, so look for me in the highest, cheapest balcony seats of the Academy come March. I'll be the guy with no earring and a nosebleed.


www.commonwealthopera.org/musical.html


Here's a glimpse of Pabst's 1931 film featuring Lotte Lenya (Mrs. Kurt Weill), and a couple of great videos from September Songs, a TV special of Weill's music that featured Tom Waits and Lou Reed among others, and here for your pleasure, Nick Cave doing Mack the Knife from the 3 Penny Opera and PJ Harvey with Ballad of the Soldier's Wife. Man, I wish they were in the show!

Song of Bernadette

Back in December I picked up a copy of the film "Song of Bernadette" on DVD out of the bargain bin at my local(?) Barnes and Noble big box media emporium. I had always liked the Leonard Cohen song of the same title (and recalled how the protagonist of his novel Beautiful Losers was horrified to discover that his wife and best friend were addicted to injections of Holy Water from the Lourdes grotto, not heroin) , and thought it might be worth watching. I found it a fascinating, ridiculous, and oddly beautiful can of corn, with a number of great performances by almost forgotten stars such as Vincent Price (priceless as the arrogant and egotistical Grand Prosecutor), Lee J. Cobb as the deeply rational doctor who is at loss to explain the phenomena of Bernadette, and of course the young and incredibly beautiful Jennifer Jones in her luminous and Oscar winning movie debut as Bernadette Soubirous. Jones radiated innocence, purity and holiness in her portrayal of the "stupid" Bernadette, the eldest child of an impoverished family living in a former prison cell deemed too decrepit for incarcerating criminals.

The visions of Bernadette began 151 years ago this month, 2/11/1858; this corny old movie compelled me to look into this strange and beautiful story, which I share here with you...


A concise history from the BBC's wiki-pages:


http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A803431






And a couple of videos: scenes from the movie Song of Bernadette with music by Charles Ives (much better than the overblown soundtrack)and Jennifer Warnes on the Smothers Brothers show singing (ok, lip-synching) the song she co-wrote with Leonard Cohen (I've never run across a recording of Leonard doing this one, unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, as he could never hit those high notes):








And don't forget to stock up on miraculously refreshing Lourdes Water. Stay hydrated in the coming end times!

http://www.lourdes-water.org/water/lourdewater.html

Happy St. Valentine's (Massacre) Day!

On this date in 1929, seven men sat talking in the SMC Cartage Company garage on North Clark Street in Chicago. Five of them were notorious gangsters, members of George ‘Bugs’ Moran’s gangland outfit. With them were Reinhardt Schwimmer, a wealthy optician who liked to be seen with gangsters, and John May, the garage mechanic. Two men, dressed as policemen, went into the garage. They lined the seven men up against the wall and took their guns.

Two hit-men - ‘torpedoes’, as they are known in Chicago - burst into the garage. One carried a sawed-off shotgun, the other a Tommy gun. They opened up on the seven unarmed men and twenty seconds later, it was over. One man’s head had been blown open. Another man was slumped over a chair; shreds of skin dangled between his splintered bones and shattered teeth. Four corpses, riddled with machine gun bullets, stared lifelessly at the ceiling. ‘My God!’ gasped Sergeant Fred O’Neill, the first real policeman to arrive on the scene, ‘What a massacre!’

Amazingly, one of the gangsters had survived the shooting. Frank Gusenberg was one of Moran’s top advisers. In the hospital, Sergeant O’Neill begged him to reveal who had shot him. ‘I’m not gonna talk,’ was all he could get out of the hardened criminal.

Then, at last, Gusenberg motioned to the officer. ‘I’m cold,’ he whispered, ‘get me another blanket.’ But Gusenberg was already covered with blankets. The cold he felt was the cold of death. As it swept over him, it carried away the only witness to Chicago’s worst gangland massacre, the last victim of Al Capone's valentine to rival Bug's Moran's gang..