Symbiosis Gathering 2009

Yes, Burning Man’s a blast. However, for some of us Bay Area folk, getting gas money and time off from work to make a long trek up to the harsh Nevada desert can be a little impractical. That’s why this year I’m opting for the 2009 Symbiosis Gathering in Yosemite’s Camp Mather. It’s a synaestesia of mind-blowing artwork, transformational learning, and sustainable living with a huge lineup of musical guests. They’ll have daily yoga classes, loads of dancing, nature walks, ancient rituals, and workshops on everything from ‘Learning from Leonardo DaVinci’ to ‘Shamanic AstroDrama.’

North Atlantic Books’ own Alex Grey, author of Art Psalms, will be holding workshops and creating art right before our eyes. He does some pretty far-out, cosmic pieces creating bodies out of grids of fire and infinite galactic swirls.  Click here to check out his website and artwork.

Bob Frissell, rebirther, teacher, and author of several underground spiritual classics, is getting ready for the September 29th release of the 15th Anniversary edition of Nothing In This Book Is True, But It’s Exactly How Things Are, exploring the celestial battle between internal and external knowledge. Attendees will have access to Frissell’s workshops as well as exclusive information from his upcoming release that is, in itself, worth the 3 hour drive from San Francisco (6 hours from L.A.).

Even if you somehow survive this year’s Burning Man, take a couple of weeks to recover and saddle up for the slightly tamer, but just as amazing Symbiosis Gathering, September 17-21.

For lineup and Symbiosis Gathering homepage click here, or follow Symbiosis Gathering on Twitter!

Imagination & Fire: Dale Pendell

On Wednesday July 22, 2009–at the October Gallery in London–The Ecology, Cosmos and Consciousness Lecture Series presents:

Imagination And Fire:
New Work and Conversation with Dale Pendell

Dale Pendell is the author of the award-winning Pharmako trilogy on shamanic ethnobotany (Pharmako/Poeia, Pharmako/Dynamis, and Pharmako/Gnosis), Inspired Madness, a book about Burning Man, and Walking with Nobby, a book of conversations with the philosopher Norman O. Brown. Works in progress include The Great Bay, a futuristic novel of a post-collapse society, and Stealing Fire, a new book of poems.

Plant student Dale Pendell established himself as one of the foremost popular exponents of shamanic ethnobotany with the first release of his unprecedented Pharmako trilogy. A noted poet, he was the founding editor of the avant-garde magazine Kuksu and a co-founder of the Primitive Arts Institute and has led workshops on ethnobotany and ethnopoetics for the Naropa Institute and the Omega Institute. Pendell’s performance group, Oracular Madness, most recently appeared at Burning Man. Also an experienced computer scientist, he lives in California’s Sierra foothills with his wife Laura.

This lecture is part of a series to be held at the October Gallery, 24 Old Gloucester Street, Bloomsbury, London on the last Tuesday of each month (excluding August).

Arrive at 6pm for a 6:30pm start. Please reserve your place by emailing rentals@octobergallery.co.uk or calling 44 (0)20 7831 1618.

Obama’s First 100 Days…and Nights

Last week the Obamas hosted their first White House Poetry Jam to celebrate the power of words. Poetry and music warmed the East Room as playwrights, actors, writers, and musicians joined in an appreciation of American arts and culture.

During his campaign, Barack spoke of his Platform In Support Of The Arts, and since his presidency began he has allotted $50 million in stimulus money to the National Endowment for the Arts. Michelle has been deemed an “arts ambassador,” and in a recent speech at the Metropolitan Museum of Art she explained, “The arts are not just a nice thing to have or to do if there is free time or if one can afford it. Rather, paintings and poetry, music and fashion, design and dialogue, they all define who we are as a people and provide an account of our history for the next generation.” Quite the dynamic duo, artists and art lovers across the country eagerly await what the Obamas will do next.

At a recent poetry workshop, Charles Barasch (Dreams of the Presidents, 2008) asked participants to craft dream poems for Barack Obama. Here’s what they came up with:

Barack Obama’s Dream

At first light
I could feel the beautiful day
Driving hard at the basket
And me going up and over
Back and forth
I was the whole team
Passing to myself
Trying to steal my own ball
The game goes into overtime
With no end in sight

-Jim Finney

Barack Obama’s Dream

I am standing in the middle of a dance floor
where they are playing The Twist.
An older man around sixty warns
a little girl age seven whose hand he holds
not to dance to the music
but she pulls from his grasp
and runs to the other side of the dance floor.
She grabs the hand of a man
in a baseball uniform.
It’s Jackie Robinson.
They do the twist all around
the dance floor and
he suddenly disappears.
The girl asks me to take his place
but I am reluctant to dance.
The dance floor becomes
a cornfield. I run through
a maze of stalks that seem endless
but I find my way free and
come to a clear beautiful stream.
I see a baseball bat at my feet
and pick it up, walk to a batter’s box.
Dick Cheney is the pitcher,
Lincoln catching,
behind him a million umpires.

-Peter Lord

Barack Obama’s Dream

I sit there saying what have I gotten myself into?
Michelle is playing and teaching a bunch of kids,
the dog comes in and pees on my leg.
I wipe it up myself and think again –
what the hell kind of mess have I gotten into?
Joe Biden comes in and tells me everything will be fine.
Nancy Pelosi comes in and says she’ll help.
Cheney comes in and pisses all over the floor.
“This is what it’s like,” he says.

-Barbara Balaban

Barack Obama’s Dream

I’m walking the dog
From the copter to the house.
It’s quiet – no crowds – yet I’m waving
At the trees and the plants.
They wave back – they bow – they tremble.
I worry – do they fear me –
Have I gone too far?
I turn to Michelle – the dog is gone –
The leash is around Michelle.
She smiles – shakes it loose
And flies away – I awake.

-Al Balaban

Barack Obama’s Dream

I am standing on the African steppe. The sun is coming up and warms my bare shoulders. I begin to run. I am running across Kenya at the speed of light. I am focused on the figure whose silhouette glitters with the rising sun. My father is calling me from somewhere, but I cannot see him. I only hear his voice (though I can hardly remember what his voice was like). It’s a chant he’s calling out: CAN CAN CAN CAN CAN CAN CAN CAN. The figure before me raises her arms in victory. She is a woman, a very tall woman, and she is now beckoning me.

-Mary Weldon

Barack Obama’s Dream

I dreamt I was in church with
Michelle, Malia and Sasha
And heard the preacher say from the pulpit
From now on
We will be incorporating features from the Muslim faith
And the women will sit upstairs.

I dreamt I was driving across the country
Wind turbines as far as the eye could see
But there were ghost towns
With signs of the life that was,
The families had migrated to Asia
Where the economy still worked
And people could breathe the air.

I saw signs in the yards
Elect Obama
He will save us from ourselves
And the need to have everything.
“Yes we can,” whispered Hillary. We still can.

-Carol Montgomery

Barack Obama’s Dream

There is a hand over my mouth.
A towel blocks the air from entering.
Then someone drips water
slowly and continuously until I am
drowning with Buchatta in the background.
Harry Potter saves me and I am
suddenly weaving, dribbling around
Putin and Sadaam Hussein,
soaring to dunk over George W.’s open mouth
but the basket fades into a casket
surrounded by hibiscus.
And there is Grandma peaceful
with American flags billowing around her.

-Rachel Steward

Barack Obama’s Dream

Logistics and law
No patience in security and negotiation
Details at the Oval Office
Minutia of staff and public relations
Chafe my neck and fry my patience
My smile hurts

-Teresa Delaney

CLICK HERE to read our other posts about Dreams of the Presidents.

It Began with the Blues…New Book Covers Rock’s Greatest Myth

I can remember hearing about the myth of the “27s” at some point. Many people have, as some of rock’s biggest names are on the list: Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and Kurt Cobain, just to name a few. Later I discovered (through Wikipedia) that some of my favorite and more obscure artists died at the age of 27. The long list of tragedies made me realize that the “27s” was more than an urban legend, and there seemed to be something larger at work.

Luckily I was not the only one who came to this realization. Eric Segalstad and Josh Hunter have created a comprehensive and visually stunning investigation into the 27s phenomenon with their new book, The 27s: The Greatest Myth of Rock & Roll. The book offers a full account of the lives of thirty-four musicians who, through their legacies, have constructed rock’s greatest myth. The coverage spans from delta-blues legend Robert Johnson to Minutemen headman D. Boon to Jeremy Michael Ward of The Mars Volta, weaving together interviews, facts, philosophy, astrology, and numerology. All of this combined with Hunters unique artwork makes The 27s more like a graphic novel of rock history than a isolated look at the 27s phenomenon.

The 27s will be released on April 7th, 2009. I have included some sample spreads below for your viewing pleasure. For more information, be sure to check out The 27s website and MySpace page.

Click here and here for more information on The 27s

New Children’s Book by Artist Ruby Roth Introduces Veganism and Vegetarianism to Early Readers

Not sure how to explain to your child why you choose not to eat meat? Then be sure to check this new release by L.A.-based artist Ruby Roth. That’s Why We Don’t Eat Animals is a groundbreaking new children’s book that uses colorful illustrations to introduce the basic concepts behind veganism and vegetarianism to early readers (ages six to ten). Roth shows animals in both their natural state—rooting around, eating, cuddling, grooming one another, generally being adorable—and in the terrible conditions of the factory farm. The result is a touching, entertaining (and not too frightening) book that is perfect for parents who want to inform their children of this increasingly important subject.

Here is a sneak peak at a few of the spreads from That’s Why We Don’t Eat Animals. Ruby has also put together a brief video introducing the work, included below. For more information on the title, check out wedonteatanimals.com.

CLICK HERE for more information on That’s Why We Don’t Eat Animals
CLICK HERE for to visit the That’s Why We Don’t Eat Animals website
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CLICK HERE to watch Ruby Roth talk about her new book