Category: .

Postopolis: a city of (blog) posts, touching down, realtime.

nearly two years ago, I participated in the first Postopolis event, held at Manhattan’s “uniquely awesome perforated space” Storefront for Art & Architecture, and hosted by a quartet of architecture/urbanism/design blogs BLDGBLG, Subtopia, City of Sound, and Inhabitat. Great concept and interdisciplinary execution. Now it’s time for round 2 –

I’m very pleased to announce that the 2nd Postopolis will happen daily from 5pm to 11pm on Tuesday, March 29 through Saturday, April 4. In Los Angeles. And it’s free .

…and yrs truly will be one of the hosts/organizers. It was an honor to be asked. I’ll do my best to keep things muddy.

To quote Geoff: “we’re bringing art, architecture, music, film, design, planning, politics, sci-fi, special effects, geology, history, lost rivers, futurism, and archaeology to Los Angeles, that city of tar pits and movie stars, of beaches, landslides, and mountain lion attacks, of universities and parking lots, of real estate speculation and individualized automotive fractality, city of black magic, mass murder, and abandoned swimming pools, military simulation labs, Die Hard and plate tectonics. City of the Center for Land Use Interpretation, of ecologies, gravel pits, and infrastructure.”

I’m particulary excited because I’ve only been to LA once – for less than 24 hours. My friend’s brother had just been sideswiped by a drunk TV celebrity and everything felt magic.

So I mostly imagine it as a city of (now) cumbia sonidera and (then) Raymond Chandler’s investigative social landscapes. A place of built & naturalized transformations, where the American dream hemmorrhages or feeds itself or simply looks at the weather . But down to business–

Location and preliminary names of guest speakers/presenters/artists coming soon. In the meantime, here’s who’s involved on our end:

—David Basulto from Plataforma Arquitectura and ArchDaily (Santiago, Chile)
—Jace Clayton from Mudd Up! (New York City, USA)
—Régine Debatty from we make money not art (Paris, France)
—Bryan Finoki from Subtopia (San Francisco, USA)
—Dan Hill from City of Sound (Sydney, Australia)
—Geoff Manaugh from BLDGBLOG (San Francisco, USA)

Big shout to our LA sponsors For Your Art and Storefront for Art & Architecture. Without these kind, dedicated folks greasing the wheels, a realtime ‘meatspace’ event like this would go nowhere.

So. See you in LA?

For further reasons to come through – Postopolis is part of LA’s Art Weekend.

…have been busy. About to announce a very exciting collaborative project/event but until then – on Feb 24th the very great band Telepathe will be guests on my radio show. (here’s tonite’s episode, made on Vince’s couch)

can’t wait! here’s a video for Telepathe’s “So Fine.” Choreographed Bushwick realism:

EDIT: I just had a long, slightly surreal phone conversation with Charles Holgate, the original topic of this post. Charles requested that I take down this blog entry & associated comments and wait until the end of the month, by which time my core concerns should have been resolved. I’m happy to oblige and hope everything works out.

Thanks and sincere apologies to the commentors – should this discussion re-open, your comments will be intact. I feel awkward truncating an open discussion, I never delete comments on here; in the years of Mudd Up! this is the only time a post has been put on pause.

the second time i post this image, now feels geopolitical.

Jamás is Spanish for ‘never’. It sounds the same as Hamas.

More specifically, you use jamás after or in place of nunca to intensify the never-ness. Like a serious ‘never-ever’, it deals with things that can’t, or won’t happen. It’s a stubborn word thick with the powers of negativity.

* someone send me Scud & Nomex’s ‘Total Destruction’ & I’ll post it here.*
[audio:DJ_Scud+Nomex_TotalDestruction.mp3]
DJ Scud & Nomex – Total Destruction (thanks Clobbersaurus!)

& here’s an anti-war New York cumbia tune about the gringo response to the World Trade Center attack, from 2002. There’s a classic rock riff I recognize but can’t ID right now from The Beatles’ ‘Get Together (thanks Googlefritz).

2nd de la Cumbia Bin Laden

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Franco is Spanish for ‘dead dictator’. It sounds the same as Franco, one of Africa’s most famous guitar players, also dead. A new compilation, FRANCOphonic, commemorates his life work with 2 CDs and copious liner notes. I’ve got some Franco vinyl but these CDs are better.

Franco & Le TPOK Jazz – Ku Kisantu kikwenda ko

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Spanish seasonal joke from Cruz y Raya: Instead of holiday classic Que Bello Es Vivir, we now have Que Bello Es Sobrevivir.

It’s time to get our Babel on: Mudd Up! will now be available (sometimes) in French!! You might have noticed the version française link on the last two posts…

Please give a big ongoing merci to Vince. In addition to being a full-time super-hero, he is a great translator and our Parisian point-man (hold tight for some Maga Bo/Soot parties over there in early 09).

[map of Francophone world]

version française

I’d already designed the watermelon bullet icon when, years ago now, the Washington Post sent me an advance copy of Elizabeth Alexander’s Antebellum Dream Book to review. (Once upon a time I wrote about poetry.) That book floored me…

Years later we would meet, and out of that collaboration came the 1st track on my ‘Special Gunpowder’ album, which featured Elizabeth reading her poem ‘Overture: Watermelon City’.

The city is burning and watermelon is all that can cool it…

and now… Elizabeth Alexander will be reading her work at the inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama – AMAZING!!!! I don’t have enough exclamation points. I should dig up the Post review…

suffice to say the Elizabeth is one of those rare poets whose work you live with, phrases and verses remain in memory and keep transmitting long after the book is closed. She’s great. The fact of her reading real poetry from a platform like this is simply fantastic, I hope she sells a million books. gObama! go Elizabeth! Go poetry! (thanks, Carol, for the tip)