From L.A. Record:

“I don’t remember a whole lot after the face-melting set Entrance
performed on Wednesday night. The trio walked on stage and played
their signature fuzzed-out blues-rock. It was at times distorted
beyond recognition and at other times so tightly locked in grooves and
riffage that the entire theatre was entrenched in full-on head
nodding. But let’s back up for a second… Wednesday night’s benefit
was exemplary of what makes Arthur so great. In one of L.A.’s offbeat
landmarks, a host of noise makers and poets and outsider freaks paid
tribute to the best magazine that’s been in existence of late, and
with any luck we’ll be getting a new Arthur issue next month! Arthur
(and L.A. RECORD) stalwart Oliver Hall spent the evening introducing
acts, offering bits of musical wisdom and hodgepodge, and occasionally
staring into the crowd causing patrons to squirm uncomfortably in
their seats. The line-up featured the old, the young, and a few
performers of indeterminate age. Forever youthful Ruthann Friedman
took to the stage and amidst plucks on her guitar reminisced about the
’60s, spending time with the Association, and reminding the crowd why
she is a folk legend by playing her hit “Windy.” The evening began
with Lewis MacAdams reminding the young ‘uns about the simplicity of
poetry. The founder of Friends of the Los Angeles River read several
brief and sweet selections from his book before making an early
getaway. Other younger poets and musicians would take the stage and
noise and dissonance and a singularly magical typewriter would add
entertaining affectation to their performances (and there was that
overwhelming Entrance set). It was a prolonged evening of
entertainment and a beacon of hope from an already legendary magazine.
(AG)”

All photos by/courtesy Ned Raggett unless otherwise noted.

Humorist Oliver Hall (E.S.P.S.), the evening’s emcee, surveys the full house…

…accompanied by Lavender Diamond‘s Steve Gregoropoulos on electric keys.

Poet/author/Friends of the L.A. River co-founder Lewis MacAdams reads from his latest collection, The River.

Singer-poet-action hero Paloma Parfrey in performance…

…accompanied by Tamala Poljak (right) on guitar and treats.

Timeless ’60s/now singer-songwriter Ruthann Friedman.

The Entrance Band (pictured: Guy Blakeslee and Paz Lenchantin; not pictured: drummer Derek James) in electric power trio formation by JENNIE WARREN

Entrance, again.

Elisa Ambrogio (Magik Markers) reads.

Author Joseph Mattson reads.

Six Organs of Admittance, featuring Ben Chasny at center, with Steve Ruecker (left) and Joseph Mattson (right).

Elisa Ambrogio and Ben Chasny, in their USA performance debut as a duo.

Venue: Silent Movie Theater (thank you Dan Harkham and Hadrian Belove!)

Poster by Alia Penner
Stage production by Zach Cowie
Back patio deejays: Buzz and Chad Brown (Small Town Talk)
Special thanks: Mandy Kahn, Laura Copelin, Sammy Harkham, dublab

Bedtime reading for Fox News commentators.
(Well, it’s cheaper than a sexual harassment lawsuit.)

"O'Reilly Factor" claims lesbian gangs taking over America

by Sarah Warn

Attention all AfterEllen.com readers: the jig is up! Our secret "national underground network" of violent lesbian gangs aimed at criminal activity and recruiting girls into the homosexual lifestyle has been exposed, and we must now move to Plan B (colonizing Mars).

Yes, that’s what Fox’s The O’Reilly Factor actually suggested last week (except for the Mars part, although I’m sure someone will suggest shipping us all there any day now) in a segment they aired about the growing problem of lesbian gangs terrorizing heterosexuals by stabbing and beating them, and brandishing pink guns (as if any self-respecting lesbian would carry a pink gun).

The claims were made by host Bill O’Reilly and "Fox crime analyst" Rod Wheeler (picture above, right), a former homicide detective who is clearly either mentally unbalanced, confused, willing to say anything to get on camera, or thinks every woman who isn’t interested in him is a lesbian (or D, all of the above).

I could analyze how ridiculous and unsubstantiated Wheeler’s claims are, point out their similarity to the outrageous stories the Nazis made up about the Jews back in the day, or question how such clearly inflammatory and inaccurate assertions based on distorted information got past even Bill O’Reilly’s fact-checkers, but other bloggers have already done so quite handily (see here, here, here, and here, plus check out this gay male take, and this well-researched rebuttal).

Instead, I’ll just make fun of it. Because what else can you do in the face of such insanity? (Well, besides telling Fox what you think about these outlandish claims, boycotting companies that advertise on The O’Reilly Factor, and reading more about O’Reilly’s record of distortion, all of which I plan to do shortly).

Here are a few of the choicer statements made in the segment:

O’REILLY: In Tennessee, authorities say a lesbian gang called GTO, Gays Taking Over, are involved in raping young girls. And in Philadelphia, a lesbian gang called DTO, Dykes Taking Over, are allegedly terrorizing people,
as well.

Yes, and here in my New York apartment, we have regular meetings of LSOC (Lesbians Sitting on the Couch), where we brandish hard plastic remotes menacingly at our television set while cruelly biting down on popcorn kernels. Quick, catch us before we strike again!

O’REILLY: When they recruit the kids, are they indoctrinating them into homosexuality?
WHEELER: Yes, as a matter of fact, some of these kids have reported being forced into performing sex acts and doing sex acts with some of these people.

That’s right, don’t be mislead by the fact that 97% of pedophiles are male — it’s lesbians who are the real danger to your children!

O’REILLY: …it makes sense that, if you had lawless gay people, they would do this kind of thing, but you don’t associate it, you associate homosexuality more with a social movement, not a criminal movement, but you’re saying this is all over the country, detective?
WHEELER: It’s all over the country. It’s mainly in your larger cities, you go from New York to California to wherever you want to name, you can see these organizations.

Um, hate to break it you, Ron, but those "movements" happening "all over the country" are called "pride parades," and the only thing criminal about them is the sports bra-only look some lesbians try to pass off as actual outfits.

WHEELER: "We’ve counted, just in the DC area alone, over 150 gangs or crews or networks."

Yes, it’s true, we’re just one cell short of being a full-fledged terrorist network. Don’t bother asking us where bin Laden is — we’ll never tell!

(Read the full transcript).

Book jackets from Strange Sisters. For the male equivalent, see Gay on the Range. For more egregious bullshit, just switch on your TV.

Opening + Performance + Out of traction and back in action + Others

“Time Writers from the Mirror Horizon”
Opening and Performance – this Saturday, July 7th, 7-10pm

“Friends,

Join us this Saturday, July 7th (07/07/07!) as we host a reception for “Time Writers from the Mirror Horizon” a show curated by LA-based artist Gabie Strong. The exhibition will feature the work of Andy Alexander, Kent Familton, Wendy Heldmann, Kathleen Johnson, Alice Konitz, Tracy Nakayama, Gina Osterloh, Sean Sullivan, Kristine Thompson and Jeremy Yoder who will be using the gallery located at 5006 ½ York Blvd. as a starship for explorations of time and space. Some might consider the word “landscape” as a proper painterly term to describe some of the work presented in this show, as an analogy for the curious rub between past, present, and future; others will just say, “far out!” We’ll also have an opening sound performance by Sharon Cheslow and Steven Kim.

The show will run from July 7th until August 4th. We have another set of performances planned for the closing featuring LA based New Zealander Helga Fassonaki as well as the musician Tom Watson.

After a short break where we attended to the delivery of a future gallery intern (future like in say, 16 years) David Patton Los Angeles will resume regular business hours (after the opening ‘natch) on Thursday the 12th of July. Those hours are Th-Sat. 12-6pm.”

Simon Münster, First Map of The New World, 1540
depicting Tokyo, Mexico City & LA in extraordinary proximity

Beyond Sunshine Quoi?: Connecting Parallel Universes

A presentation by Mizuki Endo & Mauricio Marcin.

July 5, 2007, 7pm

Monte Vista Projects
5442 Monte Vista St. (at Ave. 55)
LA, CA 90042

How can we share resources, create networks and develop opportunities for the exchange of ideas and projects internationally?

Instigated by Japanese curator Mizuki Endo, who is researching ways that alternative projects and spaces in LA can connect with similar ventures in Asia, this event is intended to open up a discussion that will form the basis of a publication on people and organizations wanting to create independent international networks.

Endo will present two alternative spaces he established in Fukuoka, Japan and Manila in the Philippines that highlight the different situations of the art system in Asia. He will be joined by Mauricio Marcin, an independent curator based in Mexico City, who will additionally talk about a range of projects that are currently operating in the metropolis.

A discussion will follow, coordinated by Danny Orendorff, curator-in-residence at ART2102.

Beyond Sunshine Quoi?: Connecting Parallel Universes is the first event in the new season of ART2102 exhibitions and projects. Throughout the summer, fall and spring, artists, writers and curators from Israel, Lithuania, Japan, Mexico and the U.S will be presenting projects that place research and inquiry at the heart of art practice.

Previous Sunshine Quoi? Events
Part 1: Sunshine Quoi?: Temporary Contemporaries
Part 2: Sunshine Quoi?: Common Sense
Part 3: Mapping Sunshine Quoi?

Mizuki Endo is a curator, art critic and organizer based in Fukuoka, Japan. Through long-term research on cultural systems in the city, he has organized various projects such as exhibitions, concerts, film screenings, symposiums, and magazines, which raise awareness of the Do-It-Youself culture that underpins the cultural life of the city. He established two alternative art spaces in Asia; Art Space Tetra (Fukuoka, 2004) and Future Prospects Art Space (Manila, 2005.) He was awarded the 3rd Lorenzo Bonaldi Art Prize (2005), has been the networking curator of ‘Singapore Biennale 2006,’ and is currently the recipient of the Japan-US Arts Program fellowship, with the Asian Cultural Council (2007.) He recently became the director of ARCUS, an international artist-in-residence program in Ibaraki, Japan.

Mauricio Marcin is an independent curator and writer based in Mexico City. From 2006-07 he was the Director of Celda Contemporanea, where he initiated a program of exhibitions that placed emphasis on the reinterpretation and reevaluation of artists’ practices during the 1960s and 1970s, focusing on artists who were pioneering in performance art, video art, and non-objective art in Mexico. Marcin’s last exhibition for this series was a retrospective of Juan José Gurrola, one of the most influential Mexican artists in the past four decades. From 2004-6 Marcin was visual arts journalist for the newspaper La Crónica de Hoy. He has also published articles and essays in magazines such as Curare, Fahrenheit, Generación and others. Currently he is developing Virus, a project which involves commissioning 40 artists, musicians, composers and writers to make a sound work, which will be broadcast as interventions into the regular programming of Ibero 90.9FM, a major radio station in Mexico City.

Danny Orendorff is an independent curator, researcher and writer currently living in San Francisco, California, pursuing a M.A. in Curatorial Practice at the California College of the Arts. He has assisted on projects and exhibitions occurring at the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art in Phoenix, Arizona; SFCamerawork in San Francisco, California; and at the Berkeley Art Museum in Berkeley, California, where he will be co-teaching a course on ‘Digital Culture’ this Fall. Orendorff is also Project Manager for a traveling exhibition of artist source materials, the backroom. His research interests revolve around crowds, behavior and the introduction of live-elements into exhibition, including Performance, dance, experimental music and architecture, as well as digital, net-based or New Media artistic practices.

Monte Vista Projects is a new artist-run space in Highland Park that will stage regular exhibitions, conversations, events and performances. Their inaugural show First Kiss will open on Saturday, July 14 from 7pm-10pm. Visit www.montevistaprojects.com for more information.

This event is made possible in part by the generous support of the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.

“Well I get an email submitted to Ubu anonymously– it says, “Here is a site you might like to look at. It’s called Understanding Duchamp dot-com.” Anything that is sent I look at, although most things don’t get on the site. I’m hit very hard with submissions, but I look at everything–everything is viewed or listened to. And this is a nice little site about Marcel Duchamp done well in flash. I wrote him a little note back and say, “Hey man thanks that’s cool. Good luck thanks for doing that.”

“He sends me another note that says, “Well if you like that you might like this.” And he gives me the URL to Aspen Magazine that is online and password protected. And I look at it and go, “Oh my god!” I write him back and say, “What is up with this? This is absolutely incredible!” He said, “Well, I spent years digitizing the entire contents of the Aspen Magazine boxes and put them online. But what happened when I put Understanding Duchamp online I got a legal threat from the estate of Duchamp. Who evidently have a copyright on his name, and used Duchamp in the URL, and they really wanted to shut me down. I figured if that was the problem I had with Duchamp imagine the problem I’m going to have with six hundred other artists when I put them up on the Web.” And I said to him, “Look you know what, why don’t you give it to me. I’ll take the risk, no problem, I know how to deal with cease and desists. You know I deal with them all the time.” I explained the mission, “It’s usually okay.” Whatever, whatever, whatever…

“So he gives me the whole thing and it’s absolutely incredible. And on Aspen Magazine there are fucking files by John Lennon and Yoko Ono! We have never heard from Lennon and Ono’s people. And those real–you know who has more–but again this is the avant-garde, it’s John Lennon’s radio play, it’s him twittering a dial and Yoko singing. Then the New York Times wrote up Aspen Magazine and they said to Merce Cunningham, who has an mp3 interview on there from one of the old records; “So Merce Cunningham, how do you feel about the fact that you were not asked permission but your work is up on UbuWeb?” And Merce said, “The educational value of having my words up on UbuWeb far outweighs any financial remuneration. I am thrilled that it’s there.” So that is the attitude, that’s the attitude. That is basically what Robert Wilson was saying as well. Now of course we have people like that coming to us that want their works up there. The Robert Wilson guy said, “Hey you know we’d like to talk to you about putting more stuff up.” And after this letter. [laughs] They understand the value of this site.”

Kenneth Goldsmith of the awesome UBUWEB interviewed at Archinet.

“Mitragyna speciosa – Premium Kratom Leaf

“There is much controversy with this plant due to a crop of fake Kratom from France that was distributed worldwide in the recent past. It was part of the Rubiaceae family of plants, but it had to Mitragynine in it. Our Kratom has been verified as authentic by 2 independent sources, including Daniel Siebert.

“Kratom is legal everywhere except Thailand, and is known to ease the mind and energize the body in smaller amounts, while creating a vivid meditative repose that lasts 4-6 hours in larger amounts. Typically, 14 grams of Mitragyna speciosa was extracted into water, and drank in one gulp as a tea, or made into a resinous ball, then swallowed.

“This very rare herb is found only in very remote areas of South East Asia, Thailand, Malaysia, Myanmar, and elsewhere. Its botanical name is Mitragyna speciosa and is in the same family as the coffee tree Rubiaceae. Kratom leaves have long been used for medicinal purposes to treat diarrhea, worms and in Bangkok tuk-tuk drivers consume Kratom as an amphetamine substitute. In Malaysia an other parts of the world its used to help heal opium addiction.

“Over 25 alkaloids have been isolated from Kratom. The most abundant alkaloids consist of three indoles and two oxindoles. The three indoles are mitragynine, paynanthine, and speciogynine – the first two of which appear to be unique to this species. The two oxindoles are mitraphylline and speciofoline. Other alkaloids present include other indoles, and oxindoles such as ajmalicine, corynanthedine, mitraversine, rhychophylline, and stipulatine.

“Alkaloid content varies from place to place and at different times. Within each location, there is a quantitative variation in alkaloid content from month to month. While indole content seems to be fairly stable, oxindole content shows tremendous variation.

“Mitragynine is the dominant alkaloid in the plant. It was first isolated in 1907 by D. Hooper, a process repeated in 1921 by E. Field who gave the alkaloid its name. Its structure was first fully determined in 1964 by D. Zacharias, R. Rosenstein and E. Jeffrey. It is structurally related to both the yohimbe alkaloids and voacangine. The alkaloid content of the leaves of Mitragyna speciosa is about 0.5%, about half of which is mitragynine. An average leaf weighs about 1.7 grams fresh or 0.43 grams dried. Twenty leaves contain approximately 17mg of mitragynine. All leaves appear to contain mitragynine, speciogynine, paynanthine, and small quantities of speciociliatine. Oxindole alkaloids usually occur only in small or trace ammounts.

“Kratom has quickly become our top selling item here at the shop, and we hope that responsible use of this beautiful plant will help keep it legal indefinitely.

“But, we offer this extracted plant material strictly for external use only as an exotic incense. Not for human consumption.”

“This Friday, July 6th The Tatamimats will be doing an encore performance of Dark Side of the Uke, their ukulele-only version of Pink Floyd’s classic album Dark Side of the Moon. The show takes place at The Knockout in San Francisco and is in celebration of The Knockout’s 2nd anniversary. The Knockout is in the venue that was previously Chicken John’s infamous Odeon Bar.” Via Boingboing.