Saturday, August 29, 2009

Cabinet Experiment

Gowanus Pigs



On Saturday May 23, 2009, I went to the offices of Cabinet Magazine to take part in an experiment. The reason for the trip was an email Michelle forwarded to me headed "Fearless Cabinet readers needed for special project" (with that precise capitalization). Michelle said she didn't know anything about it.

I read the email. The email stated:

"Cabinet needs 20-30 intrepid readers to volunteer for a special project for our forthcoming issue with its themed section on “Testing.”

I do not know what it is to be an intrepid reader. I am not a Cabinet subscriber. I knew nothing else about this "test." Toting three sharpened number-two pencils to Gowanus, I crossed a river. A man tapped me on the shoulder. Following him in through an iron door, I was taken into a room where people already had their heads down.

The results of the test are in the latest issue.

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Props for You Don't Know Me

Gigantic, Opium and Bomb Beat Back the Summer



The New Yorker, The Daily News, Black Book , HTML GIANT and The Rumpus (okay that was me) have all been writing about the benefit end-of-summer extravaganza being hosted by Gigantic, Opium and Bomb. It's sure to be a blast.

Where:
Bowery Electric
327 Bowery (bet. 2nd and 3rd St.)

When:
Wednesday August 26th
7pm - midnight

Why:
Because we like you

Sunday, August 23, 2009

More Good News

Benefit Party Countdown...


A couple of things. It was just announced that my friend Sasha Fletcher's novella is going to be published by mudluscious. You can read about it on his blog, an ice cold coca cola. Congrats Sasha.

Some other great news is that the summer soiree in benefit of Gigantic, Opium, and Bomb magazines is three days away (VIP performance $10 in advance, $6 general admission at the door). We have a stellar line-up that includes:

-Short plays directed by The New Yorker's Ben Greenman and author/comedian Bob Powers!
-The Dog House Band, featuring bluegrass musician/writers David Gates and Sven Birkerts and special guest John Wesley Harding!
-Joseph Keckler's psychedelic fusion of blues, classic opera, text and film (Keckler pictured above).
-A DJ set by Catherine Pierce of the Pierces!
-A special VIP performance from Kalup Linzy!

Friday, August 21, 2009

Interview with Adam Robinson

"Can I make a t-shirt that says, "I read Light Boxes before you"?"




In an interview for The Faster Times, Shane Jones's former publisher, Adam Robinson of Publishing Genius Press, shares some details about the process of publishing Light Boxes, the excitement that came with its rapid-fire successes, and finally the relief of getting out from under its new found weight.

Picture courtesy of HTML GIANT

Monday, August 17, 2009

Postcards of People I Don't Know, IV

Self Possession



My mother often dressed me as a boy.

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Shane Jones's Little Book that Could

Light Boxes


Shane Jones's Light Boxes, which is set to go celluloid by Spike Jonze who bought up the rights, was just picked up by Penguin. To read more about it, see the piece I published today for The Faster Times. I also wrote
a review of the book for The Rumpus when the book was first published.

What is great about it is that it was an indie book, published by Publishing Genius Press, that got around through word of mouth and Jones's die hard determination. If you happened to have been at the Gigantic launch party, you may have picked up a copy of it. Shane, whose fiction was in Gigantic's debut issue, gave us a few copies to hand out. He's true blue.

Monday, August 10, 2009

You Don't Know Me

Gigantic, Opium and Bomb Party


On August 26, beginning at 6:30 and going on late into the night, Gigantic, Opium and Bomb Magazines will be hosting a summer soiree. In honor of the combined aesthetic of the magazines, it will be a night of short programs, readings, video presentation and musical guests. Some highlights are short plays directed by The New Yorker's Ben Greenman and a bluegrass band with musician/writers David Gates, Sven Birkerts and special guest John Wesley Harding.

Tickets on sale today. To purchase tickets or for more information, go here. If you buy tickets in advance, they're only $10...

Saturday, August 8, 2009

Friday, August 7, 2009