Today's Autonomedia Jubilee Saint — GUILLERMO CABRERA INFANTE


April 22 — Guillermo Cabrera Infante
Biting, innovative Cuban novelist, social critic.

APRIL 22, 2009 HOLIDAYS AND FESTIVALS
*Earth Day
*U.S.: Secretary Day
*Festival of Fabulous Androgynes

ALSO ON APRIL 22 IN HISTORY…
1526 — First New World slave revolt occurs, Haiti.
1724 — Philosopher Immanuel Kant born, Konigsberg, East Prussia.
1870 — Bolshevik Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin born, Simbirsk, Russia.
1893 — Italian-American anarchist Nicola Sacco born, Tarremaggiore, Italy.
1904 — Nuclear scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer born, New York City.
1922 — Jazz great Charles Mingus born, Nagales, Arizona.
1970 — First Earth Day environmental celebrations observed.
1995 — Gray Panthers founder Maggie Kuhn dies, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

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

April 23, Listen to Rhys Chatham and Robert Longo on WNYC Radio

guitar_trio_with_longo_l
No doubt about it. At $40 a ticket, the “Downtown Comes Uptown: The Pictures Generation, 1974-1984” concert showcase at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York this Friday is a little more than most of our bank accounts can handle, even if seeing visual artist Robert Longo‘s “Sound Distance of a Good Man” multi-media piece (1978) and composer Rhys Chatham‘s “Guitar Trio” (1977) is not something that most fans of New York No Wave would want to miss. More than an epic evening of music and visuals, the event is a document of the artists’ storied collaboration, with Longo returning as one of the original guitarists in Chatham’s piece and resurrecting “Pictures for Music”, a slide projection he created for “Guitar Trio” in 1979.

Luckily, people interested in learning more about Longo and Chatham’s work together can do so for free, by listening to a live interview on John Schaefer’s “New Sounds” program on WNYC, this Thursday at 2:30 pm. Even better, people who tune in to the radio interview can get a $15 discount on tickets for the show, by mentioning that they heard Rhys and Robert on the radio when they reserve spots at the Met by phone, online, or at the box office. Students and artists who mention that they are one of these things when they order the tickets are also eligible for a $15 discount.

Rhys Chatham and Robert Longo radio interview
Thursday, April 23, 2:30 pm
FM 93.9, AM 820, or streamed from the WNYC website

Shawn Mortensen

ethiopia-with-teeth-front-final-ready

Above: “Shawn Mortensen visiting Ethiopia, feeding Hyenas, and living life.” (http://blog.fuct.com/?p=2241)

From Chris Mortensen:

“We are overwhelmed by the outpouring of love for our brother Shawn. We always knew he was a special human being and we loved him dearly. We now know the full impact he had on everyone he met. We are working hard to preserve his legacy and we his siblings, myself, Melissa, and Joe will be dedicated to continuing his humanitarian work. He loved you all, and you all loved him. Please check his website shawnmortensen.org on announcements regarding his celebration of life and other details of his funeral. There will be an open viewing Wednesday 4/22 at 1-8 PM at the McNearney Mortuary, 540 Fifth Street in San Pedro, California. Thank you all again for your love, warm wishes and prayers.”

M.I.A. shout-out to Shawn at close of “Paper Tigers” (around the 3:58 mark) at Coachella last wknd:

More on Shawn:

http://www.arthurmag.com/2009/04/17/rip-shawn-mortensen-1966-2009/

Today's Autonomedia Jubilee Saint – JEAN-FRANCOIS LYOTARD


April 21 — Jean-François Lyotard
French philosopher, critic of the postmodern condition.

APRIL 21 2009 HOLIDAYS AND FESTIVALS
*Festival of Sacred Groves
*Baha’i Ridvan

ALSO ON APRIL 21 IN HISTORY…
1816 — British novelist Charlotte Bronte born, Thornton, Yorkshire
1828 — Noah Webster publishes two-volume dictionary of “American” English.
1879 — Javanese feminist Raden Adjeng Kartini born.
1910 — American writer Mark Twain dies, Redding, Connecticut
1914 — U.S. invades Veracruz, Mexico, try to halt German weapon imports.
1998 — Socialism au Barbarie editor, postmodern critic Jean-Francois Lyotard dies, Paris.

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

Rushkoff defends the Dark Ages tonight on WFMU, 7pm EDT

Provocative thinker/Arthur columnist Douglas Rushkoff will be doing his weekly radio show, “The Media Squat” live tonight at 7pm EDT on WFMU. Streams at wfmu.org.

Doug tweets:

StreetsBlog Aaron Naparstek joins me on MediaSquat: WFMU.org, 7pm, and itunes WFMU. I plan to defend the so-called Dark Ages.

Should be interesting listening, especially for folks who were intrigued by Doug’s recent essays on the economy (“Let It Die,” “Hack Money, Hack Banking”) when he touched on current scholarship regarding life and commerce in the late Middle Ages.