venice beach ? on the beach , on the web , and on paper . . . . ?: February 2005

Wednesday, February 23, 2005

so i went to san francisco from l.a. . driving in the rain most of the way . i stayed in north beach the first night with an old friend . the next day i went to see rick london the poet . we had lunch at this thai place close to his work . we taslked of the art world and the translateing business . of old times and new visions . it was just what i needed . after the lunch i took off for ROBERT ROCOLA and san leandro . this was a long awaited look at the new studio of the master maker of images . we had a long talk and he showed me many things that he is working on and i got to see the beginning of the rotting paper series . cut outs by the hand of god .
from there i went to the dinner at henry ` s hunan on bryant between 8th and ninth . mail art faces from the past and new talk of the future . driving around after dinner as i took some of the crowd home we stopped at the studio of john held jr . for a visit with dadaland .
the next day is the day of the comic convention at the moscone center . and i spent a few hours hanging around with the artist there . s . clay wilson and spain mostly . i stopped by the last gasp booth and saw baba ron turner , the publisher and victor moscoso and paul mavrides . i took the time to pay victor $10.00 to sign a comic book . the rest of the guys signed for free .
after the show i drove home to the sounds of the jazz masters cd .

robert rocola

from the studio visit with ROBERT ROCOLA in san leandro .

new space for art in culver city

now i sit at the keyboard in my bare feet and think how it came to be . the army taught me to type in 1968 and since then i have used their teachings a lot and if you are lucky you will have books instead of bullets to carry .i have carried both in my time and in my life i would carry books .
now i can remember how it was on the back of a bus with sandals on and how different it felt on the back of a truck with boots on . . . . . . . . .
. . . .I INVITE YOU TO THE PAGES OF THE PAST PRESENTED TODAY FOR THE FUTURE . WHILE HERE TRY TO REMEMBER THE TIMES YOU FELT GOOD AND SAFE AND THEN GET A PASSPORT AND A VISA AND LEAVE HOME AND SEE THE WORLD WITHOUT A HELMET AND BOOTS . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . SO WE WILL DISCUSS THE TRANSISTION FROM ASIA TO SAN FRANCISCO , AND THE ART UNDERGROUND OF THE CASTO DISTRICT . 232 SANCHEZ ST . WAS 2 BLOCKS FROM CASTRO AND IN THE LATE 70'S THE AREA WAS JUMPING . CHEAP RENT AND CHEAP RESTAURANTS . . . . . DICK'S BAR ON THE CORNER AND HAIGHT JUST UP THE HILL FROM THE CASTRO DISTRICT . MANY OF THE PEOPLE I MET ON THE ROAD TO INDIA ENDED UP IN THE BAY AREA IN THE LATE 70'S AND EARLY 80'S . AFTER ASIA IT WAS A GOOD PLACE TO READJUST TO THE WEST . SO I WENT TO THE CORNER BAR FOR THE FIRST TIME AND IT WAS THE HANGOUT FOR THE WHOLE NEIGHBORHOOD . OLD PEOPLE WITH CANES AND HEARING AIDS AND PUNKERS , TAXI DRIVERS , HOUSE PAINTERS , REAL ESTATE AGENTS AND OF COURSE POETS AND PAINTERS AND ROCK AND ROLLERS . . . . . .
. . . . . . and we did our share of damage to the day and night while we were there , and i pleade guilty to being a loud neighbor . . . . . . . . .

on the beach , on the web , and on paper . . .

Monday, February 14, 2005

the movie maker aaron waugh at venice beach . the sounds of jazz in the wind and the sand underfoot makes this a place to work and play in the great outdoors .