“Now What?” by Michael Brownstein

Now that I’ve figured out my life is a dream
Now what?
Now that I know I’ll be gone soon
My time on this planet drawing to a close
Now what?
What really matters to me?
Cause I don’t give a fuck about the Tribeca Film Festival
While so many plants and animals are disappearing
And I don’t give a fuck about Obama vs. Whomever
While the world’s third largest dam is being built in Brazil
Obliterating tribal cultures like a tsunami
Making the world safe for soybeans
And I don’t give a fuck about the new iPad
Or the hundreds of millions of people
Posting snapshots of themselves on Facebook
While the Great Pacific Garbage Patch
Turns a collection of plastic junk the size of Texas
Into tiny pellets ingested by the smaller fish out there
Which then are eaten by the larger fish
Caught in the nets of endless floating factories
Looking to satisfy the worldwide hunger for sushi
I turn my face away from this dumbshow and ask myself
Now what?
Now that I’ve figured out this life is a dream
The world as we know it a flash in the pan
Fool’s gold
Now that I understand
Now what?


More on Michael Brownstein: mustnotsleep.com

THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE (Arthur No. 34 shipping blues)

We had a shipping hiccup but it’s been righted, and the new issue of Arthur is now seeping into stores and mailboxes across Earth. Apologies, and thank you for your patience. We hope you dig what we’ve put together this time out.

Here is a list of stores that are stocking Arthur: The Arthur Retailers

And here is how you can order a copy delivered straight to you, direct from us, for $5 plus shipping and handling: The Arthur Store

NOW: ARTHUR NO. 34

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ARTHUR NO. 34 / APRIL 2013

Oversized broadsheet newspaper
24 15″ x 22.75″ pages (16 color, 8 b/w)
$5

CLICK HERE TO ORDER DIRECT FROM US

Now with 50% more pages, Arthur continues its comeback in the bold new broadsheet newspaper format that’s turning heads and drawing critical acclaim.

In this issue…

After 20-plus years navigating strange, inspiring trips across myriad underground psychedelic terrains with a host of fellow free folk, righteous musician/head MATT VALENTINE (MV & EE, Tower Recordings, etc) finally spills all possible beans in an unprecedented, career-summarizing, ridiculously footnoted epic interview by BYRON COLEY. Plus: Deep archival photo finds from the MV vaults, a sidebar wander through some important MV listening experiences with your guide Dan Ireton, and a gorgeous cover painting by ARIK ROPER of MV & EE at peace in the cosmic wild. Delicious!

Orange County, California psych rockers FEEDING PEOPLE left the church, entered the void, lost band members and returned to our reality to sing their tale in glorious reverb. Chris Ziegler investigates, with photography by Ward Robinson…

Everyone needs someone to love, and AROMATIC APHRODISIACS are here to help that lovin’ along (sans wack pharma side effects). From truffles to borrachero, author-scholars CHRISTIAN RATSCH and CLAUDIA MULLER-EBELING get in on the action. Illustrations by Kira Mardikes…

Gabe Soria chats with novelist AUSTIN GROSSMAN (Soon I Will Be Invincible) about the basic weirdness of playing (and making) VIDEO GAMES, with art by Ron Rege, Jr….

All-new full-color comics by Lale Westvind, Will Sweeney, Vanessa Davis and Jonny Negron…

Is there a way to examine the nature of existence at its very foundation? Esoteric mapmaker DAVID CHAIM SMITH says yes—but there’s a price. Interview by Jay Babcock…

Stewart Voegtlin on what (or: who) made MELVINS’ 1992 beercrusher Lysol the most unlikely religious record ever built, with art by Stewart’s Chips N Beer mag compatriot Beaver…

“Weedeater” Nance Klehm on BETTER HOME BREWING…

The Center for Tactical Magic on ANARCHO-OCCULTISM…

PLUS! Byron Coley and Thurston Moore’s essential underground review column, Bull Tongue, now expanded to two giant pages. Covered in this issue: New York Art Quartet, Don Cauble, Douglas Blazek, Rick Myers, Desmadrados, Century Plants, Richard Aldrich, Robbie Basho, Steffen Basho-Junghans, Bed Wettin’ Bad Boys, Michael Zacchilli, Pat Murano, Tom Carter, Les Conversions, Hobo Sunn, Decimus, Saifyya, Jeff Keen, Inspector 22, Yves/Son/Ace, Pink Priest, Smegma, Nouvelle Impressions D’Afrique, K. Johnson Bair, Major Stars, Endless Boogie, David Novick, Joe Carducci, Scam, Erick Lyle, Phantom Horse, Failing Lights, Tomuntonttu, The Lost Domain, George Laughead jr., Xochi, Sublime Frequencies, Barbara Rubin, Red Rippers, Linda King, Cuntz, My Cat Is An Alien, Bird Build Nests Underground, Pestrepeller, Painting Petals on Planet Ghost, Peter Stampfel, Joshua Burkett, Michael Chapman, L’Oie de Cravan Press, Genvieve Desrosiers, The Residents, Dawn McCarthy, Bonnie Prince Billy, Ensemble Pearl, Azita, Woo, Galactic Zoo Dossier, Mad Music INc., White Limo, Excusamwa, Little Black Egg, Dump, Jarrett Kobek, Felix Kubin, The Army, Bruce Russell, and Gate…

And more stuff too hot to divulge online!

Please keep in mind… Arthur is no longer distributed for free anywhere. Those days are (sadly) long gone. Now you gotta buy Arthur or you won’t see it. Our price: Five bucks—not so bad!

CLICK HERE TO ORDER DIRECT FROM US

ED SANDERS ON SPAIN RODRIGUEZ

Via The Comics Journal

Great American beat-hippie poet/Fug/Yippie/raconteur/inspiration-to-us-all ED SANDERS has posted a typically right-on salute to recently departed righteous underground comix artist SPAIN RODRIGUEZ, including great bits of history (with photos and flyers) about their interactions in the Lower East Side during the high points of the late ’60s…

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Click on the image above to go to Ed’s “Woodstock Journal” page, where you can download the 8-page PDF…

Two hours with Terry Riley, in the 1970s

The first hour of this program is a conversation with Terry Riley, outdoors on his land. The second half is performance.

More info on the series this is from, via Ubu:

Music with Roots in the Aether, an artwork by Robert Ashley, is comprised of seven two-hour programs featuring noted American experimental composers, created during the 1970’s.

Each program is two hours long and consists of one part Landscape / Interview (one hour) and one part live performance (one hour).