Author Archives for Jay Babcock

Today's Autonomedia Jubilee Saint — IOAN CULIANU

culianu
May 21– IOAN CULIANU
Martyred Romanian historian of religion, philosopher, magic.

MAY 21, 2009 HOLIDAYS AND FESTIVALS
*Feast of the Triple Scoop.

ALSO ON MAY 21 IN HISTORY…
1471 — German artist Albrecht Dürer born, Nuremberg, Germany.
1690 — John Eliot, “Apostle to the Indians,” dies.
1844 — “Douanier” Henri Rousseau born, Lavalle, Mayenne, France.
1886— Universologist Stephen Pearl Andrews dies, New York City.
1904 — Jazz musician “Fats” Waller born, New York, New York.
1926 — Black Mountain, Beat poet Robert Creeley born, Arlington, Mass.
1935 — Hull House founder, social activist Jane Addams dies, Chicago, Illinois.
1956 — First aerial test of H-Bomb makes Bikini Atoll unlivable.
1991 — Romanian religious historian Ioan Culianu assassinated, Chicago, Illinois

Excerpted from The 2009 Autonomedia Calendar of Jubilee Saints: Radical Heroes for the New Millennium by James Koehnline and the Autonomedia Collective

MAY 21 —

A DEEPER SHADE OF DOOM: Sunn 0)))) and Earth, profiled by author Brian Evenson (Arthur, 2005)

A Deeper Shade of Doom
How do the drone-metal bands Earth and Sunno))) get something out of nothingness?

By Brian Evenson
Photography and layout by W. T. Nelson

Originally published in Arthur No. 20 (Dec 2005)

EARTH: BLACKING OUT
In 1993 the Olympia, Washington-based band Earth released their second album, Earth 2. No drums, no voices, two guitars, nothing else. It was ambient music done by a demon on downers—highly lugubrious, with slowed-down underwater metal riffs. Earth 2 traded in the glam, stagy evil of classic heavy metal for a brooding darkness, simultaneously a descent into hell and a sort Buddhist chant pushing you toward either Nirvana or nothingness (you choose). It was the kind of wandering super-vibrating music that makes your leg tingle where you’d broken it ten years before. Not only was it something you couldn’t dance to, it was something you couldn’t move to. It slowly shut you down. And with each of its three tracks over fifteen minutes long, by the time you’d finished the album you felt like you’d never start back up again.

Earth 2 is the ur-album of drone metal (it’s probably not a coincidence that their name is the same one originally used by Black Sabbath). It’s nothing at all like the grunge stuff—Nirvana and Mudhoney for instance—that their then-label Sub Pop was putting out then. But after Earth 2, the band—really just guitarist Dylan Carlson and whoever he wanted to partner with at the time—moved in different directions. Phase 3: Thrones and Dominions, a hard-to-find album from 1995 that you can pick up on disk for around $90 (or at itunes for $9), added one more guitarist and, for one track, a drummer. 1996’s Pentastar (In the Style of Demons) was still drone-y but just a hair away from being a rock album: cleaner sound, drums on all the tracks, deliberate shapes to the songs (most of which ran around five minutes), and even some vocals.

Continue reading →

Sickness Fighter

A lot of people I know have recently fallen victim to head colds, cough, flu and other maladies that keep us all back from doing what we need to do every day. After fighting off a bad cold for the last few days, I thought it would be helpful to share a recipe I put together to combat it, because nobody wants to be sick. This just might keep you from falling to the wayside…

Apple Ginger Mint Juice

2 apples, chopped (I recommend Fuji, but use whatever you want)
1 heaping tablespoon ginger paste (found at most Indian grocery stores, helps with consistency)
1 handful chopped mint (cheaper if you grow it yourself, great in the summer)
1 teaspoon Maca Powder (If you’re into that sort of thing…)
1 big squeeze of lemon juice
2 cups orange juice (or substitute part water until liquidy enough to fit your taste)
1 cup ice

Blend it all together – and voila! Your immune system will be better equipped to fight anything that crosses its path.

Today's Autonomedia Jubilee Saint — ISRAEL KAMAKAWIWO’OLE

kamak
May 20– ISRAEL KAMAKAWIWO’OLE
“Bruddah Iz,” the Bob Marley of Hawaiian activism.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZFkXQKCuBc

MAY 20, 2009 HOLIDAYS AND FESTIVALS
*Old England: Beating of the Bounds, ceremonial perambulation of Parish boundaries.
*Wicken, England: Love Feast under the Gospel Elm.
*Florence, Italy: Festival of the Chirping Crickets.

ALSO ON MAY 20 IN HISTORY…
1844 — Wisconsin’s Fourierist Phalanx commune established.
1873 — Levi Strauss awarded U.S. patent for his blue jeans.
1907 — British acting great Laurence Olivier born, Dorking, Surrey.
1927 — Charles Lindbergh flies solo across Atlantic Ocean.
1932 — Amelia Earhart flies solo across Atlantic Ocean.
1959 — Hawaiian protest singer Israel Kamakawiwo’ole born.

Excerpted from The 2009 Autonomedia Calendar of Jubilee Saints: Radical Heroes for the New Millennium by James Koehnline and the Autonomedia Collective

MAY 20 — ISRAEL KAMAKAWIWO’OLE

June 9, L.A.: PFFR in person at Cinefamily

From Cinefamily…

6/9 @ 8:00pm
PFFR Night
“Wonder Showzen” and “Xavier: Renegade Angel” are simply two of the funniest and most psychedelic shows to have ever aired on American television. Their creators are the team known as PFFR, and the Cinefamily is havin’ them on down to present a night of their high-voltage, slap-happy stuff, including the theatrical premiere of their psychosexual porn prank film, Final Flesh!. From the desk of PFFR: “Multi-hyper shine collective, and thrice acclaimed electro funk outfit PFFR (Vernon Chatman, John Lee, Alyson Levy, and Jim Tozzi) are the award-caressing creators of such comedical zaz as MTV’s Wonder Showzen, [adult swim]’s Xavier: Renegade Angel, Snoop Dogg’s Doggy Fizzle Televizzle and production entitty behind Jon Glaser’s Delocated and Ben Jones’s (Paperrad) Neon Knome, among other laughular atrocities. On this night of wonderment, the belly of their colossus will be sliced open, allowing the hilariously writhing guts of their yucks to sluice out and stick your visual ribs. Good luck.”

Today's Autonomedia Jubilee Saint — MALCOLM X

malcolmx
May 19 — MALCOLM X
Petty criminal, prisoner, convert to Islam, one-time spokesman for Elijah Muhammad. Embracing a more enlightened orthodox Islam, he was assassinated by either the FBI or Black Muslims. Revolutionary genius and martyr.

MAY 19, 2009 HOLIDAYS AND FESTIVALS
*Britanny: Pardon of the Poor. Pilgrimage of poor to shrine of St. Yves.

ALSO ON MAY 19 IN HISTORY…
1864 — American novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne dies.
1890 — Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh born, Kim Lien, Vietnam.
1895 — Cuban revolutionary José Marti dies, Dos Rios, Cuba.
1928 — First annual Frog-Jumping Contest, Calaveras County, California
1925 — Malcolm X born, as Malcolm Little, Omaha, Nebraska.
1935 — T. E. Lawrence (“of Arabia”) killed in motorcycle accident.
1954 — Modernist composer Charles Ives dies, West Riding, Connecticut.

Excerpted from The 2009 Autonomedia Calendar of Jubilee Saints: Radical Heroes for the New Millennium by James Koehnline and the Autonomedia Collective

"On September 24, 1968, fourteen men, including five priests and a minister, removed approximately 10,000 1-A draft files from Milwaukee's Selective Service boards and burned them with home-made napalm in a nearby square dedicated to America's war dead."

“On September 24, 1968, fourteen men, including five priests and a minister, removed approximately 10,000 1-A draft files from Milwaukee’s Selective Service boards and burned them with home-made napalm in a nearby square dedicated to America’s war dead. After being arrested, they spent a month in prison, unable to raise the unusually harsh bail set at $415,000. Trial was set for the following year, and most members served jail time. Protesters marched on every court date, and Father Groppi came to their aid, co-chairing the Milwaukee 14 Defense Committee. Their actions became legendary, along with other groups at the time, such as the Chicago 7 and the Catonsville 9 lead by activist Daniel Berrigan. Google milwaukee 14 to learn even more about these historical events”