Author Spotlight
Happy Birthday, Dennis Cooper!
Today we celebrate the birth of the inimitable, incomparable, and indispensable Dennis Cooper–one of our absolute favorite writers and a true brother-in-arms. How will you celebrate Dennis’s big day? You could:
– Order yourself a copy of his most recent book, the story collection Ugly Man.
– Pre-order yourself a copy of Smothered in Hugs: Essays, Interviews, Feedback & Obituaries, his forthcoming nonfiction collection, which according to Amazon will be published on 6/29, which happens to be my birthday. Neat, right?
– See if there are tickets left for any of the remaining performances of JERK, Dennis’s latest collaboration with Gisele Vienne, starring Jonathan Capdeville. JERK is running through January 17th as part of the Under the Radar Festival. I saw the show last night, and it was just stunning–unlike any other theater-going experience I’ve ever had. (See above photograph.)
– Visit Dennis’s blog, which this weekend has an incredible feature on the Winchester Mystery House.
– Blast some Guided by Voices. Here’s a fan-made video for “Smothered in Hugs” the nonfic collection’s namesake song. Happy Birthday!
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlvn9LfRETM
PS- Here’s a live version that has the embedding disabled for some reason, so you have to watch it on the Youtube site.
Tags: Dennis Cooper, smothered in hugs
And while you’re in San Jose, check out some other nifty local attractions:
(from wikipedia):
…the statue of Quetzalcoatl (the plumed serpent) in downtown which was controversial in its planning because some religious groups felt that it was pagan, and controversial in its implementation because many felt that the final statue by Robert Graham did not closely resemble a winged serpent, and was more noted for its expense than its aesthetics. This has resulted in a common joke among locals, who insist it closely resembles a pile of feces. (It does.)
In 2006, Adobe Systems commissioned an art installation titled San Jose Semaphore by Ben Rubin, which is located at the top of its headquarters building. Semaphore is composed of four LED discs which “rotate” to transmit a message. The content of the San Jose Semaphore’s message remained a mystery until it was deciphered in August 2007. The visual art installation is supplemented with an audio track, transmitted from the building on a low-power AM station. The audio track provides clues to decode the message being transmitted. The San Jose semaphore has been broadcasting the full text of Thomas Pynchon’s 1966 novel, The Crying of Lot 49.
And while you’re in San Jose, check out some other nifty local attractions:
(from wikipedia):
…the statue of Quetzalcoatl (the plumed serpent) in downtown which was controversial in its planning because some religious groups felt that it was pagan, and controversial in its implementation because many felt that the final statue by Robert Graham did not closely resemble a winged serpent, and was more noted for its expense than its aesthetics. This has resulted in a common joke among locals, who insist it closely resembles a pile of feces. (It does.)
In 2006, Adobe Systems commissioned an art installation titled San Jose Semaphore by Ben Rubin, which is located at the top of its headquarters building. Semaphore is composed of four LED discs which “rotate” to transmit a message. The content of the San Jose Semaphore’s message remained a mystery until it was deciphered in August 2007. The visual art installation is supplemented with an audio track, transmitted from the building on a low-power AM station. The audio track provides clues to decode the message being transmitted. The San Jose semaphore has been broadcasting the full text of Thomas Pynchon’s 1966 novel, The Crying of Lot 49.
Oh, I like Quetzalcoatl mythos. I wonder, who he was…
Oh, I like Quetzalcoatl mythos. I wonder, who he was…
‘sluts’ is in the mail. can’t wait.
‘sluts’ is in the mail. can’t wait.
“Jerk” is must-see.
People are walking out, fainting–it’s that polarizing, that powerful.
I’ve seen it twice already and still need to see it again.
This is a central text of Cooper’s, distilling his major themes into a dozen pages. But if you think you know it already just from reading it, you don’t.
And even if you don’t give a shit about Cooper or modern literature, you need to see this for the performance at the center of this production. It’s like nothing you will ever see it a theater. You will not believe what’s going on in front of you, and you will never be able to forget it.
Don’t miss this rare chance to see this soon-to-be-legendary piece for yourself.
Here’s an early review.
There may still be tickets available here. Snap them up before the Times review comes out tomorrow.
“Jerk” is must-see.
People are walking out, fainting–it’s that polarizing, that powerful.
I’ve seen it twice already and still need to see it again.
This is a central text of Cooper’s, distilling his major themes into a dozen pages. But if you think you know it already just from reading it, you don’t.
And even if you don’t give a shit about Cooper or modern literature, you need to see this for the performance at the center of this production. It’s like nothing you will ever see it a theater. You will not believe what’s going on in front of you, and you will never be able to forget it.
Don’t miss this rare chance to see this soon-to-be-legendary piece for yourself.
Here’s an early review.
There may still be tickets available here. Snap them up before the Times review comes out tomorrow.
[…] And now, for something complete different courtesy of HTMLGIANT: In 2006, Adobe Systems commissioned an art installation titled San Jose Semaphore by Ben Rubin, […]