September 10, 2006
Hello All [an unsolicited, unpaid message] ...
"Tomorrow, Monday, September 11, 2006, Carlos Ramirez and several fellow poets and philosophers, and people like you and me, will convene at 7:30 pm. Chile, the U.S. and elsewhere, Labor Day and D.H. Lawrence commemorated and contemplated through song and poetry. Noemi Sohn, Walker Brents and Don Brennan will help Carlos shape the program, and all are invited to contribute, or just to listen and keep their own council...
"Tuesday and Thursday, there are conclaves of "regular folks."
"Tuesday is the monthly "Eminent Authors' Birthdays Open Reading." If you google "author birthdays waterboro september," you'll get the East Waterboro, Maine Public Library list of authors born this month... pick an author you adore, and go to your bookshelf to find a fragment you'd care to read aloud at the store. The group settles in at 7:30 pm over wine and soda water, and a dozen people or so share their predilictions in literature. It's one of the best things we do. Ask Marlene Aron (see paragraph #1 above) if you don't believe me.
"Thursday is the monthly "Political Book Discussion Group". We don't call it a book club, cuz it sounds more pretentious this way! The not-at-all-pretentious, just scathing and long-experienced Helen Thomas, she of the real Washington Press Corps & the Steven Colbert skewering of our Mr. Bush at the annual press corps dinner, has written Watchdogs of Democracy? about the lapdogs currently making up that reporting pool, and we'll be talking about it. Starting at 7:30 pm.
"Then, Friday is the weekly jazz session-- 5:30 to 8:00 pm. Don Prell's SeaBop Ensemble comprises Ray Loeckle on tenor sax, Ray Scott on guitar, Don on bass and Art Lewis on drums. SeaBop personnel shifts with the tides and Don's booking inspirations, so never make assumptions about who's in it. This aggregation will be fantastic. Ray Loeckle (pronounced 'lockly') lives close by but plays here only rarely, as he's a highly rated and much traveled pro... you're likely to know him better from joking around with him at Glen Park Station than hearing his blistering tenor work. Now's the time to hear him stretch out with sympathetic and skilled musicians in the intimacy of your neighborhood bookstore. Ray Scott and Art Lewis are no slouches. More on each of them another time...
"Next Sunday at 2 pm (that's Sept. 17), Tom Huber will play a little country jazz guitar. It'll be real nice. He lives around these parts...
"That's just this coming week, folks. Please check the website for the Sept. 18 poetry reading and future jazz dates, etc. (A hint, though: Walker's back, and Bird & Beckett's got him!)
"Here, I'll mention just two more scheduled events...
"September 25th, Monday, 7:30 pm. Nellie Wong is a hugely important poet from so many perspectives-- the content of her work, her skill in shaping her poems, her commitment to humanity, social justice, the commemoration of past struggles, the hope for a decent future... We'll celebrate her birthday at Bird & Beckett by having her in to share some of her poems. Nellie was born in Oakland and lives on Chenery Street. We're honored be part of her orbit. If you want to honor her, I want you to attend her reading here, yes, but also, go over to Modern Times Bookstore on Valencia at 20th and buy a book. They've supported her political work for years, and have given her so much in the way of context and information. Show them some appreciation as well, please!
"Lastly, October 22nd, Sunday, 4:30 pm. David Meltzer and Diane di Prima will hold a benefit reading for Bird & Beckett at the store. Tickets will be sold in advance and limited in number due to the size of the space. Fifteen tickets will be available at $25 each guaranteeing you a seat. Another 20 will be sold at $20 each for standing room. The room will be crowded. The poetry will be great. I'll try to have the tickets made up for sale by October 1st, but I'm always shaky on deadlines. No advance reservations, ok? Just wait for the tickets to be ready. I won't put them on sale without sending an email a few days ahead of time, promise!
"OK, that's it for now.
"You're wonderful.
"Don't change.
"Except for the better."
Eric
"P.S. Get your butt over to the Roxie now! The Arab Film Festival doesn't have much longer to run. I've seen three films, and they're beyond description. (In the best way.)"
Bird & Beckett Books & Records
2788 Diamond Street, San Francisco
415-586-3733 - www.bird-beckett.com
1 block from Glen Park BART station
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The Minus One
on slide show now playing
"The Minus One" is the name of the group Dana Alberts, Liam Hart and Mike Henry started in the eighties. The band released four singles through the "Skate Rock" series through Thrasher Magazine, and appeared on “One Giant Leap”, a compilation record released in England on Venture Records in 1983.
The next year, they recorded “Where A Man Was Made,” with Spencer Dryden on drums (Jefferson Airplane drummer) and Naomi Ruth Isenberg (Dan Hicks and the Hot Licks) on violin.
Minus One toured the U.S. in 1985 with the VKTMS, the punk band formed by drummer Louis Gwerder and featuring Nyna Crawford.
Later that year Alberts was approached by Danny Sugerman, the author and former manager of the “Doors, and Iggy Pop's manager, after Sugerman had heard a tape of the band.
This led them to an offer of a record deal from Geffen Records. The band, broke up before the deal could be consummated.
They reformed in late 2006, and are be currently rehearsing to play extensively in 2007.
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