Q2|2010 5¢ daily ARkive[r]

June 2010

¢ «For fools, you see, admire and love all things / that they spy lurking under twisted words, / and they call true all that can deftly touch / the ear and is distempered with sweet sound»—Lucretius, The Nature of Things ||

¢ the full account of our fURNishing ||

¢ this is the life ||

¢ «Black is like a broken vessel, which is deprived of the capacity to contain anything.»—said Leonardo da Vinci—almost 400 years before the ultraviolet catastrophe led Planck to quantify the emissions from Black Body Radiation | last night [like many other nights] i was standing on a tropical beach with huge but beautiful waves & a brother that couldn't resist swimming in them was drowning [or had disappeared] & [physicist] i rationalized jumping in after [artist] him as being just as rash or twice as stupid & this was all probably because i was listening to & thinking about Jeff Buckley yesterday [or more specifically Buckley taking Morissey to another level: «Oh Mother, I can feel the soil falling over my head. See the sea wants to take me, the knife wants to slit me, do you think you can help me?» | Buckley's choice of covers was really quite telling in retrospect [here's him doing When the Levee Breaks ||

¢ the door is open to the next sleepingfish ||

¢ 5 recent posts/excerpts/translations from GAMM worth checking out [or better yet subSCRIBE to their FEED]: { «from ARC / michele marinelli» [english|code] | «ANIMAUX NOIRS / Pascal Leclercq» [french > italian] | «da YOU ARE A LITTLE BIT HAPPIER THAN I AM / Tao Lin» [english > italian] | «something red / tracciamenti» [english|art] | «da SENTENCES AND PARAGRAPHS / Gertrude Stein» [english > italian] ||

¢ walk-thru of our new home in rome [a.k.a. the Swedish vampire ark] ||

¢ collage of collages from Masters: Collage [L to R: { Donna Watson | Cecil Touchon | Stephanie Dalton Cowan | Dennis Parlante | Kim Printz | Janet Jones } | i guess it's time to find out how reliable/expensive Amazoning to Roma is ...

¢ Gladiator/Roman soldier types standing behind me last night were learning how to be gladiators [for the conTemporary coliseum] by reading the hiStory on touristic plaQues | one of them was trying to make tortillas but problem was he was frying the corn MASA before putting it in the PRESS | i didn't bother to exPlain to him [that it was like putting your shoes on before your socks] ||

¢ the [auguring] SEAgull & BlackBird CHATter throUghout eveN the nights is inducing me to [sort of] REMember my dReams for the 1st time in a long spell | it's either that or falling aSleep to Fellini | last night j said "this is how the urchins live in Rome" thoUgh what she meanT [the vis-à-visual corresPONDence] were mallards living in Spain | books are shelved & acCumulated [bunched-up on itself] inFORMation begINning to get into it's right place ||

¢ the aCCumulation of all our worLdly posseSSions in the house ||

¢ COMposted images from our trip to Viterbo & my ruminating linguinal thoughts on reading The History of the Decline... || j posted some more pics of Viterbo here ||

¢ got my italian foreign ministry identity card today which i guess makes it all official & allows me to do [unl]awful things & get away with it | P saw my photo & said all i needed was an eyepatch to look like a pirate | i had no IDea ||

¢ ran along the east side of the Tiber for 15 bridges in a [much-needed] steady drizzle all the way to the Mussolini-sh Olympic Stadium—vuvuzelas still wailing in my ears from last night's 1-1 defeat | got sort of lost north of the Vatican zig-zagging between Vespas on wet cobblestone making my way back never retracing a single footstep [16 km] ||

¢ sourcing Ben Marcus:

¢ «As I report in my new book, The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains, other scholars of the mind also believe, or at least worry, that our use of digital media is having a deep, and not necessarily beneficial, influence on our ways of thinking. I quote, for example, the distinguished neuroscientist Michael Merzenich, who has been studying the adaptability of primate brains since the late 1960s. He believes that human brains are being significantly "remodeled" by our use of the Net and other modern media. Maryanne Wolf, a developmental psychologist at Tufts, fears that the shift from immersive page-based reading to distracted screen-based reading may impede the development of the specialized neural circuits that make deep, richly interpretive reading possible. We may turn into mere “decoders” of text.»—Nicholas Carr [thx SS—haven't read it yet but intrigued] ||

¢ came back «home» to Rome for the 1st time | almost finished The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire along the way | went running along the Tiber & tripped over a dead snake | the Tiber is at least 6 feet lower than it was when we arrived ||

¢ saw a dead body on the riverbank then bought a bike | tomorrow we're going to Viterbo just because we can ||

¢ saw Le Quattro Volte last night to learn italian but scarcely a few words were mumbled [by humans] during the entire film—one of the more beautiful films i've seen in a long time—such brilliance can't be scripted | i posted the trailer on our Goat Rodeo site which i've been neglecting but hopefully not anymore ||

¢ teaching ourselves Italian by watching Il Grande Lebowski nightly | somehow «il drugo sa aspettare» doesn't have the same ring  as «the dude abides» ||

¢ back on the grid [courtesy of Silvio Scaglia's Fastweb money laundering ring that finances the corrupt activities of the 'Ndrangheta—«a crime syndicate from the toe of the Italian boot that has spread throughout Europe.» ||

¢ faJita of ZiNc-binding motif [the oreGins of whitch got us here]:

¢ how they roll here on the day Italy shed it's fascist monarch ways to become a republic ||

¢ this is the first time we've ever had 2 toilets [& also a bidet]—such a choice sets the mind working in strange wolf-life ways | here's more graphic details on our toilet situation [not suitable for 5cense] ||

¢ in light of David Markson's passing [& my continued lack of connectivity] my past reflections on Markson ||

¢ we have electricity & gas now [after the electrician electrocuted himself & i almost blew up the water heater] & i cooked our first homecooked meal in a month [bastard mexican] but still no internet in house | amazing how much reading you can get done without it [chugging through The History of the Decline...  & also «Agrodok»s on composting & soil fertility] ||

¢ observed some sort of freaky military parade & now posting the dispatch of our expatriation over a panino ||

¢ in our new digs but no furniture or utilities [posting this from free wifi at Boca di Veritas [courtesy of city of Rome]] | will post more once we are hooked in [who knows how long that will be] | suffice to say we still can't believe we are here ||

May 2010

¢ been blogging some on clusterflock while the rest of the flock is indulging in clusterflockstock II ||

¢ l'inchiostro è asciutto & we have a new [3-year] lease on life & j iniziato il suo nuovo lavoro questa mattina | working on a full dispatch now ||

¢ ink takes a spell to dry here ||

¢ «The annual powers of vegetation, instead of being exhausted by two thousand harvests, were renewed and invigorated by skillful husbandry, rich manure, and seasonable repose. The breed of domestic animals was infinitely multiplied. Plantations, buildings, and the instruments of labour and luxury, which are more durable than the term of human life, were accumulated by the care of successive generations. Tradition preserved, and experience simplified, the humble practice of the arts: society was enriched by the division of labour and the facility of exchange; and every Roman was lodged, clothes, and subsisted, by the industry of a thousand hands.»—Edward Gibbon [The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire] ||

¢ «Certo che non ci credo, ma queste storie mi piace raccontarle, mi piaceva quando le raccontavano a me, e mi dispiacerebbe se andassero perdute. Del resto, non ti garantisco di non averci aggiunto qualcosa anch'io: e forse tutti quelli che le raccontano ci aggiungono qualche cosa, e le storie nascono così.»—Primo Levi, Lilìt ||

¢ found a place to call «home» [via Scarpetta 28] | still pinching ourselves with each meal & every corner we go around not knowing the difference between reality & dream ||

¢ PINEal reCALibrated [have Roman SIM & digits eveNing] | ran aRound & in CIRcus maXimus [x5] ora cercando un posto per denominare a «casa» ||

¢ Holy S.P.Q.R.!!!

¢ blast off! Eyjafjallajökull ash cloud permitting [Aer Lingus 1-way via Dublin]...

¢ «Language is the house of the truth of Being»—Heidegger ||

¢ 3 more days! last call for NYC tapwater ||

¢ i nostri giorni sono numerati—ark-ticking qualCose from our NYC bucketlist prima che andiamo morire a Roma | comPlete shipping LOG per seGue AFTer the fAct ||

¢ +hey are rappelling & arc welding beNeath the Manhattan bRidge as we sPeak ||

¢ all our stuff packed into 98 boxes & dispatched to port | camping on the [cold] floor of our empty loft | now all that remains is to enjoy these last days then fly the coop [volcanic ash permitting] ||

¢ «La prima idea sbagliata che si sono fatti di me è che la mia attenzione non possa seguire per più di pochi minuti una successione coerente d'immagini, che la mia mente riesca a captare solo frantumi di storie e di discorsi senza un prima né un dopo, insomma che nella mia testa si sia spezzato il filo delle connessioni che tiene insieme il tessuto del mondo. [...] Io sono convinto che un senso negli avvenimenti del mondo ci sia, che una storia coerente e motivata in tutta la sua serie di cause e d'effetti si stia svolgendo in questo momento da qualche parte, non irraggiungibile dalla nostra possibilità, e che essa contenga la chiave per giudicare e comprendere tutto il resto.»—Italo Calvino [from «L'ultimo Canale»] ||

¢ «...that in New York to hesitate means to cause others problems./J: Yeah, since continuity remains the norm./A: Now now do you think continuity can include fits of tension or violence, flare-ups, frustration? I for example, the other day, and I've been meaning to ask if—I gave a mom the finger...»—Jon Cotner & Andy Fitch [Ten Walks/Two Talks ] ||

¢ first non-Latin URLs roll out [left to right & in Arabic script with more to come] ||

¢ abbiamo soltanto 10 giorni rimanere in America! & 3 nuovi giorni fino a che non spediciamo tutte le accumulazioni delle nostre vite & oggi è l'ultimo giorno di lavoro per j | i can't sleep straight & my dreams consist of reams of scrolling words in italian 3/4 of which i don't understand ... tuttavia ||

¢ «ASA NISI MASA»—Fellini ||

¢ clip of Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti from last night's show at Mercury Lounge:

¢ final dispatch from Brooklyn before i box up this iMac to ship overseas ||

¢ only 1 week till our stuff ships & 2 weeks till we fly 1-way to Roma! ||

¢ «Everyone has reversible linings and concealed pockets and a way to pass a pet from one pocket to the other thus foiling the searches which are now routine at the door of any gathering.»—William Burroughs The Wild Boys: A Book of the Dead ||

¢ «20 [as a se[a]man] Noah be]came experienced in the ways of ani[mal husbandry & he planted a vineyard | 21 & he d]rank of the wine & drunken [& hot] & he lay uncovered [in his [nameless] wife's] tent | 22 & [Cunning]Ham saw the nakedness of his father & told his two brethren without to fetch clothes by the river [whilst he engaged with his [nameless mother] | 23 & after] Shem & Japheth returned & laid a gar[ment] upon both their should[ers & walked backward]s to cover the nakedness of their father & their faces were contorted backward & they saw not their father's nakedness [nor the carnal actions of Ham] | 24 & Noah awoke from his wine & knew what his younger son had done unto him [behind his back]» | [GENESIS 9] ||

¢ 10 days till our poSSessions ship off over the Atlantic! pulling the pLug on calaMari liSquidation così oggi è prima l'ultima opportunità till P.O.D. [w/gLossy covers as that's the only way they roll off the press— otherwise more or less the same besides a bump in the sPine] | oh & there's this piece of Ark Codex that ran on Everyday Genius ||

April 2010

¢ going to the Natural History Museum today for some sort of biodiversity lecture & to see dioramas one last time & after that to Cabrito to eat Mexican & celebrate with our friend Matt Berg for making The 2010 Time 100 list ||

¢ a «sentence on a sentence i love» on Big Other:

¢ a slice [flipped 90°] of «Lichtmalerei 180.18.2003» by Karl Martin Holzhaeuser:

¢ «... ma tutti le volte si scontrò in un muro di parole, al tempo stesso mobile e invalicabile.»—L'Angoscia da Alberto Moravia ||

¢ for what it's worth [«real» or fake] the shround of turin is currently making a rare public appearance—if anything consider it art:

¢ AFTer a 13-hr tRavel day throUGHH 2 cities not in our original travel plans [Denver & Richmond][amazing how a bit of rain can cRipple American airspace] back in Bklyn for the last fortnight push before overseas SHIPment || |  |    |  |  || |  ||| ||

¢ posted lastING impressions [some rubbed off] of Brooklyn | headed to OK city domani presto—nessun spedizioni per il fine settimana ||

¢ where old American ships go to die & be deconstructed ||

¢ William Kentridge's Stereoscope up on UbuWeb with accompanying interview: «Re the cat and blue line. I never start with a meaning, so cannot tell you what the cat symbolizes, if anything - I simply knew that I needed a cat at that moment of the film. Blue lines are simply a literal drawing of different lines of communication in the film.» ||

¢ «An image may have depth and layers; it can reveal its content gradually, from one viewing situation to another, but ultimately the image is a flash that condenses and crystallizes, and above all halts the viewer.»—on Hannu Väisänen's role-reversal from illustrating books to writing them [& allowing his friend to illustrate] | this from his illustrating of the Finnish epic Kalevala:

¢ Muphry's Law: [a] if you write anything criticizing editing or proofreading there will be a fault of some kind in what you have written [..] [d] any book devoted to editing or style will be internally inconsistent ||

¢ eXactly 1 month till Roma & 3 weeks till ∀ll our worLdy poSSESSions ship | last call for calaMARi liSquidation before prices elevate to P.O.D. rates—at this point sono quasi liSquid che voglio rePlacing eXcess inVentory with libri da leggere & masa de maìz & canned chilis & other Herdez & Maseca SURvival necessità ||

¢ last night i jumped ship in some Mediterranean place—seemed like Turkey | i wandered into a foreign town only wearing a bathing suit | a suspicious pet store van was dumping a bunch of water-based animals { fish | lobster | octopus | seahorse | eel | etc. } onto the side of the road in the middle of the night | some bleeding heart types were scrambling to save the animals & put them in the sea & i went to help initially but as an octopus was reaching out to cling to me the pet store mafia told me they were dumping the animals because they were infected with some disease they got from mice or other mammals | i was trying to stop the people from saving the infected fish & consequently contaminating all the animals in the sea but they couldn't understand me because i didn't speak their language ||

¢ picking up our long-term Schengen visas today—sort of the Italian equivalent of a green card | after that hope to catch Josh Cohen reading his Witz out at Bookcourt ||

¢ Tao Lin's a little bit happier than i am in italian: «...e non riesci più a diventare un’altra persona perché hai più di vent’anni e le persone a questa età non cambiano a meno che non cadano dal fienile e si prendano una lunga sbarra di metallo attraverso il cervello al ché cambiano drasticamente e vengono studiate dagli scienziati e non devono più avere un lavoro vero ma appaiono...» ||

¢ immergendosi in italiano—le lettere ‹J› [i lunga] ‹K› [cappa] ‹W› [vi doppia] ‹X› [ics] & ‹Y› [ipsilon] ufficioso sparirà dal mio alfabeto—quale significa che cambia il mio nome al «DERE   HITE» & e la mia moglie sarà conosciuta nell'ambito della lettera straniera «long i» | ciò è niente di confrontato alla lingua del Mohawk che [dovuto ‹clustering›] soltanto usa 12 lettere [e.g. /dʒ/ è scritto /tsy/ così 7 [sette] sono «tsyá:ta» o «dʒaːda»] ||

¢ while the party rages on downstairs scientists upstairs have isolated & sequenced caterpillar DNA from mezcal without even reaching the «worm» at the bottom of the bottle—demonstrating that «DNA extraction is a superfluous step in many protocols and that preservative ethanol can be used as a source of genetic material for non-invasive sampling or when no tissue specimen is left for further DNA analyses» [flask chink to Diamond Dave]:

¢ this was all NEWS to me [where «NEWS» is only new to the JOURnalist in the A\V/Ant FrONT of an imMEDIAte EVEnt] eveN thoUgh it hapPENed to ME—not «NEWS» in the former sense of the worLd [as in «THIS» is all nothing «new»] but in conSEQUENTial terms of the imMEDIAte DIREction of the DISTRESSed signal SiNEWed TogæTHER with CATGUT [\∀/RK Côd∃X 3:8] |

¢ styll CHugghing throghe The Ancestor's Tale | thees swnipets from «The Gibbon's Tale [rendezvous 4 of 39 [yes—39]]» [scainned to kNot unnesseccarily interduce eVe[n] muore trainSCRIPTtion errours]:

¢ overSEAs shipping date for ∀ll our poSSeSSions set for 5|10|10—eXactly 10 years & 5 days AFTer we signed our first lease in nYc |

¢ «Poets and artists live on frontiers. They have no feedback, only feedforward. They have no identities. They are probes.»:

¢ getting inked on my sPine today to honor TENure in nYc | the deSign's changed a bit from the orIGInal—here's a X-sectional sWipe rotated 90° – 29° [amount Manhattan deviates from true north]:

¢ learning italian by reading parallel text short stories—today i read «Lo Sgombero» by Vasco Pratolini which is about a grandmother & grandson who get evicted from their apartment & have to move to another one so lots of relevant lingo to know for our arrival |

¢ l'oggi è giornissimo—ottenere il nostro visto italiano per «missione di lunga durata» questa mattina |

¢ finished Pastoralia by George Saunders—not sure i liked it as much as his CivilWarLand in Bad Decline or The Brief & Frightening Reign of Phil [which i go on about here] |

¢ how to count to 5 in Munduruku: pug > xep xep > ebapug > ebadipdip > pug pogbi | beyond that there's nothing more you need to know [even 4 & 5 are iffy] | not only does this Amazonian language have no need for numbers past 5 [or plurals or verb tenses]—they think logarithmically not linearly—which makes more sense if you stop to think about it |        |    |   |  | ||

¢ Marvin Sackner got some of my Roman collagic-rubbings today—can't think of a better place for my art to live than the Sackner Archive | |  |   |        ||             |||                     |||||

¢ «Next morning I go to the Big Slot and again find it goatless. Again no note... After lunch she goes to the doorway and starts barking out sounds meant to indicate that a very impressive heard of feeding things is thundering past etc., etc.»—George Saunders, Pastoralia |

¢ what at first was thought to be ancient rock art etched by the Picts of ancient Scotland is now believed [using a mathematical analysis called Shannon entropy] to be a new lexigraphic [rooted in speech] language: Pictish |

¢ finished James Wagner's GEISTTRAUM this morning—a chap of prose vignettes mostly about being schooled in the shadow of a Capuchin seminary in a German-Catholic community in Wisconsin rocked by a molestation scandal | creepy good stuff—not sure how you'd get a copy except to contact Wagner himself since he published it [isn't that how it should always be?] |

¢ we have the damn Romans [by way of the Etruscans] to thank for giving us one of the few alphabets in the world that for whatever reason mixes miniscule [lowercase] & majuscule [uppercase] glyphs | most other alphabets stick to one or the other within a given text | e.g. here's a snippet from an ancient Greek text [the Codex Ebnerianus] that is purely miniscule:

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