Regarding the Next Counterculture

'The fact is that Generation X, which replaced the counterculture, and the “Me Generation” – also nicknamed Millennials –, those born in the eighties and who today constitute the majority of university students in the world, as studies reveal, possess more reactionary ideological positions. MTV was their Woodstock, and 1984 their 1968. Michael Jackson won the Cold War. The liberal and theophanic achievements generated by the counterculture are being replaced by the postures of these generations that are more retrograde, more cynical, that is, more integrated, more conformist. Whose irreverence is South Park. Even if it leaves the White House, Reaganism triumphed ideologically. Hardcore conservatism is eliminating the advances achieved by the counterculture. This is what our era is about. We are the retreat.' Link

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The Importance of Readings

'The space between how a reader interprets the text and how an audience hears the words is often vast—a canyon of blank page and intentional pauses. Shouldn’t we consider the poet’s performance? When I listen to Creeley read, the way he forfeited line breaks and rushed toward conclusions frequently changes my sense of the poem.' Link

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Scored piece for Helen, Olly, & Martin the Sound Man of Answer Me This!

--- We are poets, man. We are fucking poets. --- No we are not. I will not be described as a poet. It's an artform I do not enjoy --- --- Why? --- --- performance poetry, I'm sorry, it always makes me want to claw my own face off. Note on portable profession of performance poetry ... Mike Weller's scored banter between Oliver Mann and Helen Zaltzman on topic of poetry featured in "take two" Episode 63 (performed twice as Martin the Sound Man forgot to turn his track on) of their podcast Answer Me This!

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Call and Response

Following on from Alex Davies's post regarding the pre-emptive argument, I thought I would reply. Davies states: 'With the rise of eminently replicable text surfaces, I propose the following: the counter-argument should be posted first, with the original argument hidden from view until the counter-argument is formulated.' This is all well and good, but how can the counter-argument be mounted when its original source is hidden from all but the author? Unless the author was to presuppose a counter-argument before launching his own, already-in-his-head-invalid polemic, like playing chess against oneself.

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Bob Brueckl

Crot pointed us in the direction of this fine fettle. Condition him here: Google Search: bob brueckl Everyone sells out to Google in the end. 'I think we have all experienced passion that is not in any sense reasonable.' A bit of...

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More From my Inbox by Alex Davies

'pomposity sparta compile? commodore, arouse magisterial. psychopath sparta dorcas quadrangular porridge gallery, meredith laudanum meredith hogging charlotte digging. deformation thunderflower psychopath annum brandywine digging? hogging, digging laudanum. sforzando eluate homosexual homosexual laudanum roadster, junior homosexual rosenzweig dorcas liverpudlian midshipmen. commodore takeover midshipmen eluate liverpudlian psychopath? pomposity, funnel goer. meredith takeover.'

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Some Libretto Sketch, You Hairless

Too scared of all your possible intimacies The bumps on your tongue frighten The lawn mower burns a shock of yellow I know it is scanning the house It has found the gone off food The unpaid bills The crouch away from the doorbell Its constant ringing Death has entered My flaccid crotch You fundamental INCONVIENIENCE You have no head, All of you, Your necks whimper Can I take your hair? I will use it in a poem Does the investment of you into these words excuse all my possible actions, all the sickness that I indulge in, and all the ameliorated harmonicas - falling like corpses that are dead for a dozen weeks and have been a dozen weeks before that, One in ten. Good Joke

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From my Inbox by Alex Davies

This is transcripted exactly as it appeared in my inbox. It beat two spam filters. 'lathrop neuritis ghetto? bayonne, smucker revive. tulane bennett declination turgid downriver lathrop, placate heckle bayonne antigorite tangerine smucker. disquisition ri tool pinch snout bevy? snout, smucker verse. disquisition kit verse snout declination turgid, halo halo circumlocution gwyn gwyn physik. tabloid snout kit turgid smucker neuritis? circumlocution, lush ghetto. veto physik.'

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The Ampersand

The Ampersand 'I like the ampersand. I think it is often the most attractive character of them all. This blog is an attempt to give this humble ligature the respect it deserves.' This kind of cataloguing of language is taking place all over the net, take here as another example about the ampersand, as an instance. The proliferation of fonts is another instance of ongoing shifting concurrences that can breed remarkability. Things like colour and random typographical intrusions can now be produced with little to no effort, and should be employed as such. The traditional notion of thinking within the page now needs to move from where we are now, which is thinking without the page, to thinking without the undecorated letter, or the letter as it would be without decoration, and I mean that not in terms of prettiness or implication, but simply because it should be such as that.

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