Memphis Wrestling and the Art of Improvisation

Gentlemen prefer blondes.
I have never been a gentleman.

- Joseph Nolan (Twenty Ought Six, The Year of Our Lord)

Hey what up yo?

Ok so I am at the library and fixin' to drop a few lines on the free and the brave from this third floor vantage point here at ground-zero N'ville in the T-see.



First, big shouts to my boy Aaron for his advice on where to get the best pig in M town. Unfortunately, Richard and I had a semi-hectic day and had to grab lunch at the most convenient spot while we were waiting for our rendezvous at Powerhouse gallery.

We ended up scarfin' yummy burgers at the Arcade diner. This is the same diner featured in Jarmusch's film "Mystery Train." The hotel in the film was also called Arcade and stood across the street, but has been torn down since then.



While we were at the Arcade, we found out that there was a special booth in the back where Elvis used to sit when he would come in. Also, there was a guy who looked just like "Classy Fred Blassie," eating lunch in a pressed white shirt with some big-ass rings on his fingers.

Memphis is a big wrestling town and I thought it might be the man himself. However, I just did a bit of sniffing about and it turns out that Mr. Blassie died of a heart attack in 2003. God speed.



Read a cool bio on the legend himself here.

In the meantime check out the new Nashville Arts for some more writing. I interviewed a talented N'ville photographer Hollis Bennett and reviewed Greg Pond's video show at Cheekwood. That show is great by the way. Also, the new issue of our zine Radically Shifted is hot off the presses and I think it's the best one yet! Check it out at Davis Kidd or Rhino books.

The trip to Memphis resulted from an invite I received from Number journal to do a gallery "round up" for their next issue. There are some great shows right now at U of Memphis, Powerhouse and Rhodes College. Check 'em out if you can.

On one last note, rest in peace Robert Altman. A true legend among celebrities, a visionary among hacks, and a magician among crafts-people, Altman helped create an actor's cinema and bucked the system at every turn.

I salute you sir. If only every artist was so brave.



"I was a heavy drinker, but the alcohol affected my heart rather than my liver. So I stopped. I smoke grass now. I say that to everybody, because marijuana should be legalized. It's ridiculous that it isn't. If at the end of the day I feel like smoking a joint I do it. It changes the perception of what I've been through all day." - Robert Altman (Member of the NORML Advisory Board).


Be humble in your sleepy hands on this world.
Be a killer in Heaven.

Love, Joe Nolan

Yes and Everything

Today the the sun was
shining through a week
weak of ambivalent grey.
I called the guitar player
to inquire about amplification.
He laughed and said there
is never enough
enough.



On my way to Memphis next week to search for galleries and words and the best bar b que in the nation. Elvis was heavy in more ways than one.



Work on the album continues. Making one last effort to have it done by Christmas, despite calls for my resignation and the cut and run contingent that says I have mismanaged the project: awarding no-bid credits on the CD sleeve, employing mercenary gunslingers in the place of legitimate "musicians". Damn the torpedos! Stay the course!



In the meantime check out the new Nashville Arts for some more writing. I interviewed a talented N'ville photographer Hollis Bennett and reviewed Greg Pond's video show at Cheekwood. That show is great by the way. Also, the new issue of our zine Radically Shifted is hot off the presses and I think it's the best one yet! Check it out at Davis Kidd or Rhino books.




Be humble in your sleepy hands on this world.
Be a killer in Heaven.

Love, Joe Nolan

Weavers for the New Dream

Today the rain fell
and I called
the photographer to cast
a light on the future.
He stared at the wet-slate
sky through a hole
in the wall
of his hole
in the wall
and talked about how a thing
needed to stay open
to let the light in.



There is a lot of chatter on the wire about the sell-out Dems. Does anyone despise Lieberman more than I do? Such a total loser. I would rather hunt with Dick Cheney than drink with that fool. Oh my Jehova, but every floppy wiggle of his hound dog face fills me with revulsion.

Am I the only person who finds it ironic that a Zionist Jew has been put in charge of "Homeland Security?"

You should know better sir.



Ok, so,

I don't intend these questions to be purely rhetorical. I need some comments dear reader. The worst part of feeling like a lone voice in the wilderness is the "lone" part. Send me a signal and let me know that y'all are on board.

Ok a few words about the state of the psychedelic nation.

I would love to hear from some Daniel Pinchbeck fans. I don't get it. Mr. Pinchbeck is becoming the heir-apparent of Terrence McKenna - the heir of Tim Leary. However, where Mr. Mckenna was a scientist whose inspired writing voice was full of humor and warmth and mind-bending insight, Mr. Pinchbeck - to me - has nothing unique to say and is saying it in an unremarkable way.

I hesitate to write this as I understand that he is a kind of darling of the alt-set and I want to believe that there is a good reason for it. On the other hand, I have read a bunch of his articles/book excerpts and listened to/read several interviews and I am still waiting for the light. What I find - mainly - is a lot of intellectual rhetoric - suprisingly lacking in reason - married to a bunch of drug-age double talk.

The whole thing ends up reminding me of talking to my friends who love jam bands: much ado about nothing.

Here is a link to a discussion between P'beck and Douglas Rushkoff

Check out the video links and also read the comments on R'koff's page. They are far more lucid than the "discussion" at the bookstore.

I am not a big fan of Rushkoff either. He tends toward the kind of self-indulgence that you find generously sprinkled over the public radio airwaves. Every now and then he shows up at an event or publishes a comic book to create a bit of street-cred. Although in this discussion, he provides some much needed clarity - playing foil to Pinchbeck's self-styled Fool.

Again, I really don't mean to attack either of these men who have been able to create an audience and build bodies of work at the edge of mainstream culture. No easy task and kudos to both.

My intention is to bring a bit of objectivity to the work of a couple of dudes who are not really bringing the fire to the tribe as far as I can see, not so much to defame them and their work, but to point out a dirth of ideas and thinkers on the fringes and the need for new dreams and heads to weave them.



In the meantime check out the new Nashville Arts for some more writing. I interviewed a talented N'ville photographer Hollis Bennett and reviewed Greg Pond's video show at Cheekwood. That show is great by the way. Also, the new issue of our zine Radically Shifted is hot off the presses and I think it's the best one yet! Check it out at Davis Kidd or Rhino books.




Be humble in your sleepy hands on this world.
Be a killer in Heaven.

Love, Joe Nolan

Victory is for Babies! Fight On!

Ok,

so now we have a lot to catch up on.

First of all, the Detroit Tigers imploded and lost the World Series in spectacular fashion. Although the Cards played solid ball, they were playing the role of witness to a tragedy more than executioner to a victim. Not the clearest analogy, but you get the point.
In the meantime I am pumped about the season and really happy about that there penant.

Great job guys!



The Ford/Corker Senate race in TN ended with a win for a moronic fool whose only claim to the position is having been MAYOR of Chattanooga. Chat is a great little town, but running for Senator on his record as it's mayor is a bit like applying to be head of NASA because you really enjoy bottle rockets!

Corker is a typical example of politics for sale to the highest bidder.

In the meantime I was no fan of Ford either. However a point about the national coverage of this story needs to be made. Race was not really an issue in TN any more than it is in any other state that has no Black Senator...oh yeah...there are no Black Senators...except for the big O up in Illinois.

It's really more of a national trend than a Confederate one.



In the meantime what about that election and the step down of Mr. Rumsfeld? I must admit that I was shocked and happy and pleased to see that my fellow Americans had finally had enough.

However, there is no rest for the weary...

Pelosi, Conyers and Dean are already backing off the question of impeachment and are very likely to throw open the borders by passing Bush's "guest worker" plan which is just one more step in his overall scheme on behalf of the North American Union.

Here is a wake-up call to all of you liberals: Wake Up!

You have gained nothing other than this one brief moment to catch them by the throat and demand justice and truth, which they have just as many reasons to avoid as their Red allies across the aisle...bait and switch...

Here is a list of demands I think every American should make sure the new Congress and Senate address:

1. Impeachment of George W. Bush based on lying to the American people in order to go to war with Iraq.

2. Investigation of no-bid contracts in the Iraq war.

3. An INDEPENDENT investigation of the 9-11 attacks including public hearings and Bush and Cheney testifying under oath. This is the lynch pin issue. Once the truth of 9-11 is known everything else on this list will sort itself out instantly.

4. Repeal of Patriot Acts one and two.

5. Challenging of the Supreme Court's recent decisions regarding Eminent Domain.

6. Shut down the Southern Border, crack down on all illegals and create crippling penalties including imprisonment for anyone hiring illegal workers. I know you liberal types like to bleed all over this one, but the fact is your wonderful Dems who are behind this kind of legislation - Kennedy etc. - are really interested in protecting a slave supply for their wealthy constituents. No one feels more empathy for the poverty stricken masses of S and C America than I do, but this is no solution. America can't raise the bar in this part of the world by lowering the bar within our country. This is the great fallacy of all the plans to unite the Americas and Canada in an economic union.

7. Immediate plans to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq and replace them with an international peace keeping force to prevent even worse civil in-fighting.

8. Investigation of military torture policies.



In the meantime check out the new Nashville Arts for some more writing. I interviewed a talented N'ville photographer Hollis Bennett and reviewed Greg Pond's video show at Cheekwood. That show is great by the way. Also, the new issue of our zine Radically Shifted is hot off the presses and I think it's the best one yet! Check it out at Davis Kidd or Rhino books.




Be humble in your sleepy hands on this world.
Be a killer in Heaven.

Love, Joe Nolan