A Century of Racing at Isle of Man

J. Guthrie, Norton Racing, Isle of White, 1937 Well, its that time again, The Quail Motorcycling Gathering is upon us. A rather classic day in the sun this gathering should hold out to be, lest I get a sunburn or some kind of dizzy spell from the quail salad, like last year. Held at the Quail Lodge in Carmel, California, the resort is graciously offering the "pristine lawn" of its driving range on May 14th for a display of a tremendous smorgasbord of classic sports and racing bikes. This year's event theme will feature "A Century of Racing at Isle of Man", while also showcasing the finest motorcycles from the past, present and future. And you can bet your bottom dollar there'll be music and barbecue.  If they let us in this year we'll promise to behave.  www.quaillodgeevents.com

On The Press: Pablo Neruda's Odes, New Translation

The atom, a tuna, laziness, love—the everyday elements and essences of human experience glow in the translucent language of Neruda's odes. Chilean poet Pablo Neruda (1904-1973) wrote three books of odes during his lifetime.Odas elementales was published in 1954, followed in subsequent years by Nuevas odas elementales and Tercer libro de las odas. Margaret Sayers Peden's selection of odes from all three volumes, printed with the Spanish originals on facing pages, is by far the most extensive yet to appear in English. She vividly conveys the poet's vision of the realities of day-to-day life in her translations, while her brief introduction describes the genesis of the poems.  To write simply of simple things was a task the poet undertook consciously, following his experiences in the Spanish Civil War, the "social conversion" that resulted from a visit to Macchu Picchu, and the writing of his epic Canto general(California, forthcoming). The odes are arranged in brief, sinuous lines that flow down the page and connect the poet to the animal, mineral, and vegetable world, to people and objects, and to the landscape of history. "Chile," Neruda once said in reference to the work of sixteenth-century poet Alonso de Ercilla, "was invented by a poet." In accepting the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1971, he declared that "We [writers from the vast expanse of America] are called upon to fill with words the confines of a mute continent, and we become drunk with the task of telling and naming." The odes reflect what Neruda saw as both an obligation and a privilege—the naming and defining of his world. Selected Odes of Pablo Neruda of Pablo Neruda will be released in May on University of California Press.

LAST WEEK: WILLIAM E. JONES SHOW IN LOS ANGELES

From Ooga Booga in Los Angeles, where tonight William E. Jones will be signing some of his books: “William E. Jones is an artist and filmmaker who grew up in Ohio and now lives and works in Los Angeles. He has made several amazing films including the feature length documentary Is It Really So Strange? (2004, about L.A.’s Latino Morrissey fans); and many video installations. The blog Amber Waves of Brain is a collection of his writings. He has worked in the adult video industry under the name Hudson Wilcox, and he currently teaches film history at Art Center College of Design under his own name.” This is also the final week of his exhibition in culver city: www.davidkordanskigallery.com

Sad Lover's Eyes

William S. Burroughs looking serious, sad lover’s eyes, afternoon light in window, cover of just-published Junkie propped in shadow above right shoulder, Japanese kite against Lower East Side hot water flat’s old wallpaper. He’d come up from South America & Mexico to stay with me editing Yage Letters and Queer manuscripts. New York Fall 1953. ~ Allen Ginsburg

Openings: Artist, Syd Barret, Man of Letters, Acid Casualty?

Despite what you've heard about Syd Barret if you bet against your life it was all true you would certainly lose. If you asked Syd Barret why he was famous he probably couldn't answer you - despite the fact that he was the founding member of the legendary band Pink Floyd. But who is the real Syd Barret? If you asked Syd, who is now dead, he would certainly say artist before musician. A new show opens today at the Idea Gallery in London that explores the enigmatic inner life of Syd Barret. For the first time, the largest collection of unseen photographs, personal love letters and original artworks will go on display offering an unprecedented insight into the inspired life of this rock legend. gallery.ideageneration.co.uk

Required Reading: Lautréamont's Maldoror

"The deadly uses of this book will lap up his soul as water does sugar." In 1917 French writer Philippe Soupault discovered a copy of Comte de Lautréamont's manuscript Les Chants de Maldor in the mathematics section of a small Parisian bookshop, near the military hospital to which he had been admitted.. Lautréamont, which was the pseudonym of Isidore Lucien Ducasse, born in Uruguay 1846 and died in Paris in 1870, was immediately canonized as a surrealist god - in the pantheon of Baudelaire, Rimbaud, and Mallarme.  "Chants de Maldoror unveils a world, half vision, half nightmare, of angels and gravediggers, hermaphrodites, and homosexuals, madmen and strange children."  Right now at the Galerie Anais in the Bergamont art space in Santa Monica, California a small exhibit of inspired drawings by the the similarly morbid artist Hans Bellmer - The Songs of Maldoror and Erotic Series is on view until March 31st. www.galerieanaisla.com

[ The Will to Power as Art ]

drawing of Friedrich Nietzsche by Hans Olde

"Beauty is for the artist something outside all orders of rank, because in beauty opposites are tamed; the highest sign of power, namely power over opposites; moreover, without tension: - that violence is no longer needed: that everything follows, obeys, so easily and so pleasantly - that is what delights the artist's WILL TO POWER."

~ Friedrich Nietzsche - IV "The Will to Power as Art"

Joan Jett Flips Me The Finger

1977: Joan Jett is not pissed off at me. She is just being Joan! We were all hanging around backstage waiting for Joan and the rest of The Runaways to take the stage. In a thousand years when a historian finds this photo they will be able to pinpoint the exact location by looking at the hieroglyphics on the wall of The Whiskey.

Photo and text by Brad Elterman

The SIP Interviews Oliver Maxwell Kupper

Adarsha Benjamin + Shot by Oliver Maxwell KupperPhotography by Oliver Maxwell Kupper

A wonderfully fascinating institute, The SIP "a research institute that aspires to facilitate, promote, initiate research, open debate and creative work in the field of photography and related media," conducted an interview with Oliver Maxwell Kupper, publisher of Pas Un Autre. View interview here.