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Straight Up | Jan Herman

Arts, Media & Culture News with 'tude

BETTER THAN LE PETOMANE?

April 26, 2006 by Jan Herman

Here’s one fer da books: “Naked Lunch” and tales of one to make your hair stand on end. Remember Karl Böhm, beloved German maestro at the Met?” PPS from another friend: “A

MUSIC TO MY EARS

April 24, 2006 by Jan Herman

new Neil Young album (due out in May)? I haven’t. But the song title sounds catchy. [April 28: written here, during the 2004 election campaign: On the third anniversary of 9/11, the best way for Americans to honor the dead is to look to the future by realizing that the upcoming presidential election will be […]

‘I AM ME AND RUMMY’S HE …’

April 21, 2006 by Jan Herman

Brazen arrogance + abysmal incompetence = “I’m the decider.” An old story by now. But the

BIT OF NEPOTISM

April 18, 2006 by Jan Herman

'Summer Blooms and Reflections' © 2004 by Carol Edelson [oil on linen 24" x 60"]

Taking a break from the blog, but before I go . . . I figured I’d mention a cousin o’ mine — Carol Edelson — cuz she’s got a show of recent work goin’ up soon at the Martucci Gallery in Irvington, N.Y. Actually, this bit of nepotism is just an excuse to post an […]

ARTIST AND REVOLUTIONARY

April 14, 2006 by Jan Herman

Now that Repulski has his And the answer is: In a The artist’s son writes that his father “started out as a Cubist under the influence of his friend, Juan Gris.” Quintanilla was reluctant to engage in politics, but in 1934 he hosted a committee of the October revolution in his studio and was arrested […]

REPULSKI’S REVENGE

April 13, 2006 by Jan Herman

Apparently prompted by yesterday’s Dear Repulski — You are a man of strong intuition or ESP, maybe both, because I just re-read

ANCIENT PAPYRUS SPEAKS

April 12, 2006 by Jan Herman

Mining the files has uncovered a text from Sept. 23, 1971. The original, typed out on seven pages of orange graph paper with photo illustrations, includes this little potboiler: A LIBERATIONIST PLOT The Pacific Railroad Station was marked for destruction. It sat between two hills adjacent to an old farm. The morning was cool and […]

MINING THE PAST, AGAIN

April 5, 2006 by Jan Herman

“Cut Up or Shut Up,” “Twinpak” (with an illustration), “la poésie visuelle politique,” and so on. Sorin’s article is part of a two-page spread, “LA ‘LITTÉRATURE’ SAUVAGE,” which also includes Jean-Michel Palmier’s essay, “Quand Lénine devient Mickey,” about Abbie Hoffman, Allen Ginsberg, and others. Ain’t dat a kick in da head? EmailFacebookTwitterReddit

BLOWIN’ IN THE WIND

April 4, 2006 by Jan Herman

First he made “Old Glory” condoms that came in red, white and blue. Then he got them patented as a patriotic anti-AIDS device after a fight with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Now he’s submitted a formal proposal to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for a Disneyfied Vegas-style Resort & Theme Park in […]

QUARTERBACK MORNING

April 3, 2006 by Jan Herman

Several points to make before signing off for a while: 1) Dontcha just love Paul Krugman’s anti-McCain columns? “The Right’s Man” on March 13 was tasty. “It’s time for some straight talk about John McCain,” Krugman began. “He isn’t a moderate. He’s much less of a maverick than you’d think. And he isn’t the straight […]

MINING THE PAST

March 31, 2006 by Jan Herman

Looking through my files, I see more than a dozen videotapes hidden away in the dark recess of a book shelf. Off the top of my head, I didn’t recall making as many. But there they are, most of them dating from 1971 and 1972. They document the works and views of a handful of […]

FOREVER AND A DAY

March 28, 2006 by Jan Herman

Flyer for Second City tribute to Nelson Algren

Today is Nelson Algren’s birthday. A

NO. 1 WITH A BULLET

March 27, 2006 by Jan Herman

The American viceroy in Iraq has changed his tune about the death squads. Zalmay Khalilzad “is now saying that militias are Iraq’s No. 1 security threat,” Jeffrey Gettleman reported in his striking front-page story on Sunday in the print edition of The New York Times, And again in another front-pager this morning, reported here: When […]

GROCK!

March 26, 2006 by Jan Herman

Ever hear of Grock, the Swiss circus clown? I never did, until composer friend Bill Osborne filled me in. As another friend of mine says, “Swiss clown? Normally a contradiction in terms, like Swiss Navy. But this guy’s brilliant.” video clips of Grock, beautifully reproduced and posted by Osborne on his and musician-actor-artist Abbie Conant’s […]

EHRENSTEIN SINGS OUT

March 19, 2006 by Jan Herman

I shoulda known not to recommend

THE GOOD OLD BAD OLD DAYS

March 15, 2006 by Jan Herman

Long ago in San Francisco — the year was 1969 — John Bryan and I put together an issue of Notes From Underground³. As you can see, it had a self-mocking cartoon cover (by Gary Grimshaw, our “art director”), which showed a newsie shouting, “REVO LOO-SHUN!!” while hawking the Daily Grind. I don’t know if […]

THE COPYCAT AND THE ORIGINAL CAT

March 13, 2006 by Jan Herman

Norman O. Mustill

Is there a difference between appropriation and exploitation? Interpretation and imitation? Real live originality and gold-plated copycatting? Even in a postmodern world where the difference is sometimes hard to figure, I’d say there is. Do you see any similarities in the images below? Three are by Norman O. Mustill, from “the onus of plagiarism.” That […]

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Jan Herman

When not listening to Bach or Cuban jazz pianist Chucho Valdes, or dancing to salsa, I like to play jazz piano -- but only in the privacy of my own mind.
Another strange fact... Read More…

About

My Books

Several books of poems have been published in recent years by Moloko Print, Statdlichter Presse, Phantom Outlaw Editions, and Cold Turkey … [Read More...]

Straight Up

The agenda is just what it says: news of arts, media & culture delivered with attitude. Or as Rock Hudson once said in a movie: "Man is the only … [Read More...]

Contact me

We're cutting down on spam. Please fill in this form. … [Read More...]

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