EYEBALL HATRED: June 2008

MILITIA SCHMILITIA

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

Labels: born

TONIGHT

Anni M Svilar is a Bay Area fiction writer and music journalist. She moved to California in 2005 to pursue an MFA in Writing from California College of the Arts and graduated in 2007. Most recently you can find Anni's journalistic work on Jambase.com where she is a contributing writer. She is also working on her first novel.<br /><br />Chris Stroffolino is a poet, essayist & musician living in Oakland. He has published several books of poetry and his new album Slave to the Weather is forthcoming. Stroffolino is currently teaching a local community workshop. For info about his new album or joining his workshop check out Stroffolino's myspace music page.<br /><br />C. S. Giscombe teaches at Berkeley (having taught previously at Penn State, Naropa, Illinois State, Cornell, Poets-in-the-Schools, etc.). Recent poetry books are Here and Giscome Road; new book, Prairie Style,will be out in September. He lives in Oakland and is a bicycle commuter. His fashion sense has been described (this evening, by friends) as a combination of luau and Fidel Castro.

Labels: BAY AREA READINGS

FILMMAKER ALEX BECKSTEAD:

Own your own building. “It's why Cody's moved off of Fourth Street; it's why Kepler's closed in 2005—a big hike in your lease can put you out of business.”

Hire experienced staff. “Bookstores that work have people that have been in the business for six, eight, 10, 20 years. That's a big part of why Green Apple Books and Moe's Books have survived in San Francisco.”

Sell used books. “There's an art to knowing how to buy and sell used books. The margins are good, but it is a deep pond to jump into.”

Figure out some way to sell books online. “Stores need to find a way to break their geographical boundaries. A corollary to that is to sell books outside your store—at school events, local film festivals. Kepler's has been really successful in that regard.”

Pegasus Books Downtown As it's located just two blocks from where the first of the Pegasus and Pendragon stores opened in 1971, Pegasus Downtown is the closest thing the three-store local chain has to an

Jim Lehrer returns tomorrow.

I'd been dozing. You shouldn't.

TAQUERIA SINALOA AND OTHER TACOS AT INHUMAN EATING MACHINE

James Dobson vernacular

i feel old already

WONDER WOMAN
LITE BRITE
HÜSKER DÜ
EXPLODING HEAD
DR. ZAIUS
45 PLAY/STOP
BILLY BLASTOFF
GROOVY DESIGNS
SPIN THE CONTROL KNOB PRESS THE BUTTON
SUPER ELASTIC BUBBLE PLASTIC
I GOT A FRESH PACK WHEN I GOT THE CHICKEN POX and scratched a scar in my forehead
BEATLE HAIRCUTS
POLITER SOCIETY
KNIT A NECKTIE
WGBH NUKE
UP LATE UNSUPERVISED having watched something inappropriate like Going Places
KEEP AMERICA BEAUTIFUL, INC.
THEN AGAIN, MAYBE I WON'T
RESPONSIBLE SPOKESMEN
FREEDOM LET RUNG
HOLY DISCONTENT
TWIN SWEATHOGS
REFRESHING SHIELDS & YARNELL
WACKY RACES
YOU'LL SEE
NB SEE US
TOMA
ALL-FOR-YOU
ROYAL MOTORCYCLE
WORKS BAR didn't work
COOL AS A GREEN GLADE
FAR OUT
MUNCHY NEW TWIST
BIG G LITTLE O
WET, WILD, ALL THAT
7
LIBBYLAND DINNERS
SOFT TO CHEW
SUCK SLOW/FAST
FOR A BAG OF ROCKS
HANDY (AND HEARTY)
THE ONE WITH FRUIT
IF THEIR MOTHERS ONLY KNEW
TOO SWEET/CREAMY
MOZART USED IT ALL THE TIME
I'VE NEVER SLEPT AWAY FROM HOME
HOW MANY LICKS
STRETCH A DOLLAR
LOOK FOR THE REAL THINGS before disco and Star Wars
USED TO FEEL ALONE IN A CROWD
WORKING PLAYING
GREAT BUY IN BRIEFS
MAGIC
OH SAM WHAT CAN I DO
WET NASTIES
GERM CARRIERS
PEOPLE USED TO FIX THINGS
IT'S A FLUFFIER FEELING
CUM GUM
CTW
MUSIC ALBUMS
FRIENDSHIP AND JOY
EARTH ANGEL (granddaddy of them all)
ONE CAN WRITE ON IT
EVERYBODY'S FAVORITE STUDENT BODY
TONSURES
GOOD FOR YOUR HIDE, CLYDE
MAYBE YOUR GAME IS REALLY TENNIS HAHAHAHAHA
BENNY HILL ET AL
NO
VEAL
CRISP/RESIST/DISH I never saw this before today but did eat a few
HEY³
ADORED THIS ONE Jimmy's long dead
ANOTHER PBS AGO
MY COUSIN HAD A LUNCHBOX AND I HATED HIM
EVERYBODY WAS A DEMOCRAT (except the guy in charge at the bank)
THERE WAS A TV MOVIE WHEN HE WAS LITTLE WHERE HE FELL OFF A CLIFF IT TERRIFIED ME (which reminds me)
TOTALLY WATCHED IT Randolph Mantooth made me feel fat
I WANTED STRAIGHT HAIR
I WANTED STRAIGHT HAIR
SOMEWHERE I HAVE AN EXPENSIVE UK COMP CD WITH THIS THEME (and doubtless like "Apache")
SOMEWHAT CONFUSED ME
DIRTY
I THOUGHT IT WAS KIND OF DUMB thus missing the current middle-aged tales o' comics windfall
ALWAYS SUPERB moved to the States in his early 20s and lost his accent and apparently not dead
EVERYDAY BEATLEMANIA STILL KICKING
MISSED SOMETHING
I MOCKED
I WANTED TO BELIEVE
BILL BIXBY WAS MY IMAGINARY DAD
COST A FORTUNE IN MAKEUP thus canceled and cheap looking
BEGINNING OF MY CRUSH ON BILL BIXBY AND HARRY
GOOD SATURDAY NIGHT WITH THE SATURDAY NIGHT BABYSITTER different from the Saturday day babysitter but she was good too
TOO DUMB FOR ME TO LIKE but then Mark got tight with Ringo and I didn't
I TRIED BUT UNLIKE MY FATHER AND BROTHER NEVER GOT IT [plus] [and]
CMDF
SAW WAS PROBABLY TOO YOUNG
SAW WAS PROBABLY TOO YOUNG
SAW IN A THEATER IN CALIFORNIA WHEN I WAS TEN AND FREAKED AND LOVED IT the only R-rated movie I was ever taken to my grandmother regretted
SAW WAS PROBABLY TOO YOUNG
BRING MORE DISASTERS

Labels: died

If boiled for a shorter time than usual, one gets the spreadable version Prim, or Messmör in Swedish.

It's hot. As I was in the neighborhood, stopped in Black Oak Books in north Berkeley. Black Oak has always had a different idea from me about the value of used books. In their poetry section I've always found steeply priced out-of-print chapbooks and slim volumes by Conrad Aiken, Gary Snyder, Robert Bly and the like. Who are those for? (I don't know.) But then today I found Bernadette Mayer's Midwinter Day, Barrett Watten's Decay, and Nicanor Parra's Emergency Poems all told 20 and tax. (Mayer's is the only title in print, and that they priced a near fine used copy below the conventional—Berkeley's and Black Oak's—60% of list is frankly frightening.)

Re the now actual death of Cody's: Berkeley could have used a new bookstore of such a size at such a location, smartly stocked. Sometimes the worst thing you can say about a bookstore is, "In business since 19XX." Because bookstores aren't brands. They are one or two or seven passionate, obsessive bibliophiles with excellent taste, intelligence, and mortality. In a dream, a new new bookstore would open in Berkeley. Remember that old song, "Your Legacy Is Killing Me"? For my scratch, the long-lived Berkeley general bookstore that's had and has maintained the very best method of operating is Moe's. All else is pretty good + endurance + no new newcomers.

Will Rigby is left-handed.

Cody's Books closes. Another lucky break for Pegasus Books Downtown (beloved, erstwhile, etc.). Seize it.

It's hot. I wish somebody would publish or republish a book of 20th-century Polish poster art. We can't get cold water out of the tap. J and I watched The Buddha of Suburbia these last two nights. It was all right. We had to watch on my MacBook in the front room (because of the heat). I'm on vacation. I'm not doing anything. I went to Moe's yesterday. Moe's is a great bookstore. I'm getting my hair cut tomorrow. I have to clean the fridge. Working at a bookstore is a good gig. A bookstore has a possibility of greatness. I am drinking plenty of water. I like Michelle Obama. I have mixed feelings about my father. It's forecast to reach 94 degrees Friday. I'm getting my hair cut.

Mama zbiera wszystkie materiały związane ze mną i bardzo się cieszy z mojego sukcesu.

PERSONAL DAYS ED PARK RANDOM HOUSE PEGASUS BOOKS DOWNTOWN

ED PARK
editor of The Believer
reading from his debut novel

Personal Days

TOMORROW NIGHT
@ PEGASUS BOOKS DOWNTOWN

7:30 + FREE

Labels: PEGASUS BOOKS DOWNTOWN

London Times article on "Obamacons"

Stan Apps
Stephanie Taylor
Kathryn Andrews
Michael Ned Holte
Sawako Nakayasu
Mark Wallace
Andrew Maxwell
Marie Jager
Therese Bachand
K. Lorraine Graham
Christopher Russell
Emmanuel Hocquard
William E. Jones
Ian Monk
Scoli Acosta
Daniel Tiffany
Ben Doyle
Sandra Miller

Labels: born, PEGASUS BOOKS DOWNTOWN, received

An aesthetic definition cannot define the hunger.

Cannibal seeks submissions of poetry for issue four. We are focusing on longer poems for this issue, but we will gladly read shorter poems. Send as much work as you think we’ll want to read. Submissions close at the end of August, or when we have enough work for the issue.

Send poems in line text or attachment to
flesheatingpoems@yahoo.com.

Cannibal is hand-sewn in signatures w/ a screen-printed cover. To see past issues and contributors, visit
flesheatingpoems.blogspot.com.

Labels: submit

Gilbert and George Ubuweb No Surrender BBC

Nonconceptualist Manifesto Part I
Manifesto of the Disabled Text
Poets in Need
Fight the Smear
Herman Dune and Jeffrey Lewis
Missing Peet's People
CP and Its Os
Trouble
Dear Dad

tonight

BRENT CUNNINGHAM & GINA MYERS
The (New) Reading Series
415 25th St @ Broadway, Oakland

Labels: BAY AREA READINGS

Thanks to everyone who ever came out to share my fun, who ever bought a book and was happy to find it, because I was happy to have it.

Labels: banes, BAY AREA READINGS, confessions of a bookseller, euphoria, fashed, forward, jollity, me/me, on its way, PEGASUS BOOKS DOWNTOWN, recommended

Labels: died

TONIGHT
TOMORROW
SUNDAY
eyeball pie

A not incidental by the way: thanks to everyone who sent condolences about my dad.

This Thursday night after work I'm joining colleagues and friends for beer and that at Lanesplitter in Temescal. It's a Clay-is-leaving-us thing, so I'm not bringing any money. You are welcome. Kickoff is at 10:30. After the store's been closed.

4799 Telegraph Ave.
Oakland
653-5350