Henry Miller Memorial Library

Big Sur, California
We do not talk - we bludgeon one another with facts and theories gleaned from cursory readings of newspapers, magazines and digests.

Archive for February, 2011

Philip Glass establishes annual arts fest in Carmel – and will play the HMML!

Posted on: by hmmler

Philip Glass, one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century, will launch an eclectic annual arts festival in August, with music, dance, theater, poetry and film offerings at Hidden Valley, an arts training center near Carmel. 

But it gets better: his very-first “Days and Nights Festival,” which runs Aug. 19 to Sept. 4, will also include a poetry evening and a concert at the Henry Miller Library in Big Sur!

We can’t say when exactly, yet.  But man.

Philip, you may recall, is a friend to us at the Library.  He played our 2008 benefit concert, which is memorialized on a lovely poster, available at our online store, for a mere $20.

Mr. Glass = BFF!

Announcing 2011 Vinyl in the Woods! Best Vinyl Fair Ever! (BVFE)

Posted on: by hmmler

Yes it’s true.

We are now accepting vendor registrations for 2011′s Vinyl in the Woods at the Henry Miller Library! Saturday, May 28th, from 11 am (ish) – 4 pm.

It’s the coolest vinyl fair ever.  And it’s free to the public.

Last year’s inaugural event was a smash.  

This year is gonna be ever better, as it will be sandwhiched between amazing Memorial Day weekend event-bread:

Friday, May 27th – Screening on the “Wrecking Crew” movie (8 pm)

Saturday, May 28th - Vinyl in the Woods (11 am-ish – 4 pm)

Saturday, May 28th – Chris Robinson Brotherhood! (8 pm)

Sunday, May 29th - Chris Robinson Brotherhood again (3 pm daytime show!)

So.  Between that stuff and general Memorial Day traffic, it should be epic.  So, vendors, if you’re interested, tables are $60 each; max of two tables per person.

To reserve your spot, call us: 831-667-2574, or send the cash via Paypal to magnus@henrymiller.org

It will sell out.

Now for a quick trip back in time….



Friday May 27th – "The Wrecking Crew" movie. Bigger (better?) than the Beatles

Posted on: by hmmler

Sometimes the blogs just write themselves. We can’t imagine our good fortune. We won the blog lottery!

On Friday, May 27th, we’ll be showing “The Wrecking Crew.” It’s a documentary about, yep, “The Wrecking Crew,” a loose group of about 20 to 30 studio musicians used in the LA recording industry during the 1960′s.

They recorded more number one singles than the Beatles and cut records with Elvis Presley, Herb Alpert, the Beach Boys, Sonny and Cher, Frank Sinatra, Nancy Sinatra, Phil Spector and the Wall of Sound, and the Monkees among many others. The film asserts that they provided “the soundtrack to our lives”.

They are the best.

In the run up to the event, we’ll be posting critical and timeless Wrecking Crew tracks. Yes, they rocked “California Girls” and the Phil Spector stuff, but here are just a few deeper cuts:

Mamas and Papas, “Midnight Voyage.”
This tune gives me goosebumps everytime. Check out Mamas Cass’ delicate, restrained vocals, the beautiful quasi-ragtime piano of keyboard genius Larry Knechtel, and the stunning Gregorian chamber-echo vocal majesty towards the end. The swansong of the Mamas and Papa’s career (ignoring their yucky comeback” album in 1971), the melancholy vibe here is viscous. The Wrecking Crew is playing with incredible softness and restraint!

Buffalo Springfield, “Expecting to Fly”
A no-brainer. Jack Neitzche’s at the producer’s desk, the reverb is cranked, and soft heavenly bliss is achieved. Neil is ruling.

Monkees, “Porpoise Song”
The Monkees are totally amazing. Mickey Dolenz is the greatest American singer of the pop era, and here he shows why. This Goffin/King tune was included in their amazing ’68 film “Head,” and, keeping with the floating-on-a-cloud-like vibe of the previous two tunes, it does not disappoint. In the film, they jump off a bridge while this song plays – they are committing artistic suicide! It’s high mass in some infrared psychedelic church.

Don’t miss this movie!!

Bored? Become a walking HMML billboard with a nice t-shirt

Posted on: by hmmler

I was driving through Santa Cruz the other day and there had one of those dudes on 41st Ave. “wearing”  one of those full-body flip-signs advertising Little Caesar’s pizza.  It was sad.  Just staying on the highway all day, trying to get people’s attention.  God gave us all this goodness, all this splendor, and this is what we do with it?

That said, the guy had earbuds in and was rocking’.  He did these flips with the sign, and was flouncing around, and was just so silly and kooky.  Man!  To this day, I wonder what he was listening to.  Maybe rap?

Anyway, while a decent promotional tool, it likely eviscerated his pride.  As they say, “Sometimes its better not to work than to have to pimp out Little Caesear’s gnarly ‘za.  The crust tastes like linoleum.”

Ladies, take a number

We respect your pride.  We’re not asking you to flip anything, much less do the Running Man on the highway.  But should you buy a t-shirt from the Henry Miller Library Store?  That’s something we’d get behind.

Rather than be pride-eviscerating, it’d be pride-uhh…un-eviscerating.  Its the kind of promotion you can tell you grandkids about.

We have many t-shirts to choose from at our online store, and our models, Keely and Trevor (left), are fine, upstanding citizens.  Keely, for example, is our ex-volunteer-turned-archivist at the (non-profit) Henry Miller Memorial Library.  Trevor, meanwhile, once thought about Tweeting about post-modernism while driving past a soup kitchen.

The Henry Miller Library Stage is Dead; Long Live the Henry Miller Library Stage

Posted on: by hmmler

As you may have heard, the Henry Miller Library stage bit the dust.

It was a great stage whose time had sadly passed.  To paraphrase The Lion King: it was some “circle of life” stuff.

You see, when the stage was first constructed, about a decade ago, utility was the operative word.  The Library was sewing its wild oats and the number of performances was growing exponentially.  A stage was needed, sooner rather than later.

So, working with local builders, we put one together using wood that was basically lying around – something quick, simple, and durable.   Looking back, we succeeded.  See?

Spunky lil' guy

The stage was one tough cookie, withstanding torrential winter storms and countless bands, festivals, and weddings.

But now a new opportunity presents itself.

Remember: the Henry Miller Library is located in a redwood canyon; the aesthetic possibilities for a new stage are staggering.  Which is why we are very excited for our new stage, a stage of 100% recycled redwood that will blend function and artistic elements to create a fully integrated whole.

We want the new stage to essentially stand alone as a piece of art in and of itself.  Who wouldn’t?

The concept isn’t new; the official term is “organic architecture.”  Hey, I saw your eyes glaze over; bear with me here – the concept states that the structure should…

“…promote harmony between human habitation and the natural world through design approaches so sympathetic and well integrated with its site that buildings, furnishings, and surroundings become part of a unified, interrelated composition.”

The old stage. Reduced to rubble. Bummer.

Now, we admit, this wasn’t a conscious thing.  No one really consciously aspires to be Frank Lloyd Wright.  But it makes sense.

The Henry Miller Library stage, more so than the storefront itself, is the “face” of the Library.

I mean, just imagine if we put some some big, ugly, metal structure, totally aesthetically disconnected from the towering redwoods behind it, the earthly folk art strewn across the grounds, the avocado and persimmon trees, the constant flow of music, art, and cool people.  It’d be gross!  You’d hurl.

So of course a stage – like any other structure – can be viewed as a piece of art, especially in the integrated context of its immediate surroundings.

So we’re building a new stage.  That’s the short and long of it.

We’ll keep you posted!

Film discussion & appreciation class tomorrow at the Henry Miller Library!

Posted on: by hmmler

We’re excited to be kicking off our weekly film discussion and appreciation class tomorrow, Feb. 21st at the Henry Miller Library, 6-10 pm.

The class will be taught by the esteemed Mike Harrington.  He’s the guy you saw at the bar.  Consider him the coolest professor ever.  But please, no Facebooking during class.  And keep the cell phones on vibrate.  He’s cool but that’s just bad manners.

Tomorrow’s topic will be “The Great Hollywood Epic: Historical Film as Mass Entertainment,” with a focus on Spartacus.

Of course, “Spartacus” is a 1960 American epic historical drama film directed by Stanley Kubrick and based on the novel of the same name by Howard Fast.  The film stars Kirk Douglas as rebellious slave Spartacus and Laurence Olivier as his foe, the Roman general and politician Marcus Licinius Crassus.

Some of the questions that’ll be addressed include:

  • How does the time in which a film is made reflect itself in and influence the film?
  • In what ways can/will films serve as historical records?
  • In what ways do historians and filmmakers differ in their approach to documenting history?
  • How do filmmakers rely on historians? Do historians, or will they someday, rely on filmmakers and the films they’ve made?
  • What is the difference between examining ancient history vs. modern history?
  • Why all the loincloth?
  • What’s the plural form of “loincloth”?

See you there!

The Henry Miller Library Stage, synonymous with wonderful live music for over a decade, burns down to a smoldering, ashen pile in Big Sur, CA

Posted on: by hmmler

The Henry Miller Library Stage, the fabled stage that hosted over 10-years worth of incredible live performances, including Arcade Fire, Yo La Tengo, Phillip Glass, Band of Horses, Animal Collective, and countless others, methodically ascended to the great fire pit in the sky in Big Sur on February 15, 2011, according to Magnus Toren, the Library’s Executive Director.

It was 1,745 years old.

The Stage was born in 266 AD as a redwood seedling (sequoia sempervirens) in Sunny Brae, CA, a small town just east of Arcata.  It’s father owned a local hardware store; its mother was a seamstress.

Library staff and Executive Director Magnus Toren pay their final respects

In the early 1965, inspired by the Beat Movement and Kerouac’s “Big Sur,” the Henry Miller Library Stage hitch-hiked to Big Sur, California, where it got a job washing dishes at Nepenthe.

It was also during this self-described “experimental phase” where the Stage first ingested psilocybin mushrooms.

Soon after, the Stage began studying transcendental meditation at Esalen, where it eventually taught a series of workshops on “Salsa-Spirit Rejuvenation,” a therapeutic spiritual healing program that incorporate elements of Eastern mysticism, a gluten-free diet, and Afro-Cuban salsa dancing.

The HML Stage's "Glamor Shot" circa 2007: candle-lit, utilitarian, a little beat-up

In the summer 1972, the Henry Miller Library Stage left Big Sur to follow the Grateful Dead on their US tour.  By this point, the Stage began drinking quite heavily while also developing a $200-dollar-a-day addition to amphetamines.

“What people don’t realize is that ironically enough, ‘American Beauty,’ the Dead’s most mellow album, was actually made while they were all on speed,” the Stage remarked to no one in particular.

The Stage reached its nadir in the spring of 1974, after it was arrested in the parking lot of a Dead show in Tallahassee, Florida for selling pure Vietnamese heroin out of its van.

It was during its fourteen-month jail stint that the Stage had a “personal experience” with the risen Jesus Christ in the prison shower.  Upon release, the Stage opened a road-side ministry just south of Gainesville.

Happier Times: The Stage supporting Arcade Fire. "The Arcade Fire show was the best," the Stage would later remark

But by the late 1990s, Big Sur beckoned.

The Henry Miller Library Stage migrated back west, and seeking to “give back” to the community which provided so much to it in its formative years, it was installed at the Henry Miller Library, a non-profit art space.

From the 1998 to 2011, the Stage became known as “the hardest working stage in Central California,” hosting dozens of summer concerts, weddings, and food and wine festivals.

“Sure, the stage had some personal demons, but haven’t we all?” Mr. Toren remarked.  “At the end of the day, it was an amazing stage.  And as I stand here, speaking to you, I sincerely believe it’s hosting a killer super-sesh in heaven with Jimi, Jim, Jerry, and Janis.”

The Stage is survived by Henry Miller Library staff and Theo the cat.

Tonight at the Henry Miller Library! CJ Boyd!

Posted on: by hmmler

Aural alchemist CJ Boyd plays a rare indoor show tonight at the Henry Miller Library in Big Sur. A suggested donation of $10.

It’s an early-ish show – 7:30 pm – so plenty of time to go out afterwards and get crazy on a wild winter night on the Central Coast.

We are particularly stoked because the show is indoors. As such, the “house show” vibe is severe. Which is why we’re passing along this fan video:

Very hypnotic and trance-like, in the style of many of those Kranky bands; I sense a Godspeed You Black Emperor vibe too.

The most intense mosh pit I was ever in was when Tool played Lolapalooza in, like, 1995. It was terrifying. Couldn’t even appreciate the music. This show – indoors, seated, kinda spooky, very cozy – is like, the opposite of seeing Tool at Lolapalooza. For starters, moshing would damage our precious books.

Henry Miller and Scott Walker: Awkwardly forced comparisons

Posted on: by hmmler

I’m a huge fan of Scott Walker.

Former Ohio-boy-genius-turned-Righteous Brothers-wanna-be and English pop sensation, via the Walker Brothers, Scott Walker is amazing!  He quit the Walker Brothers and went on to make a series of strange, terrifying, surrealistic MOR-y, and outlandishly beautiful pop records in the late 60s.  He’s Frank Sinatra on acid – but with a better voice and comparatively negligible Mob ties.

Scott Walker 4 is his iridescent masterpiece.

On the surface, he and Henry Miller have little in common.  But a “deeper dive” will reveal a set of very, very tenuous and ignorable similarities.

Similarity #1: Tacky usage of the “eye as an artistic image.”

Any artist or drug-addled musician will tell you: never, ever, super-impose your eye inside a cloud.  It’s super-corny.  It’s like some Goldman Sachs hedge fund manager got stoned and thought, “Whoa!  What if you super-imposed an eye on a cloud?!”

Well, Miller’s editors did it for his Cosmological Eye.  It hasn’t aged well.  But what’s done is done.

Scotty-boy took it a step further.

On the cover of Scott 3 – an album that boasts no songs in 4/4 time; they’re all really weird waltzes – our hero is contemplating life’s mysteries - or staring at the neighborhood cat? – inside someone’s (his?) pupil.

Does he pull it off?  Just barely, if only for the harrowing tension of “Rosemary,” in which our bummed out, upper class, tightly-wound protagonist has an rapturously out-of-character fling with Jim, a traveling salesman:

He smelled of miracles
With stained glass whispers
You loved his laughter
You tremble beneath him once again

Whoa boy! (Dabbles sweat from forehead.)  It’s like “Eleanor Rigby” poured through some Hitchcockian prism of lust (see Similarity #3 below.)

So to re-cap: pretty weird regarding the eye stuff, eh?

Similarity #2: Both found fame in Europe

Miller embraced Paris with open arms.  While “fame” is kind of pushing it, he was published there, naturally, and retains a demi-god-like status.  Walker, meanwhile, left Ohio for LA , then fled to London, where the Walker Brothers became the second-biggest band in the land, right after the Beatles!

Similarity #3: Both were vulgar guys

Miller’s nasty streak is well-documented, but did you know Walker dropped the “w”-bomb (that’d be “whore”) in 1967′s “Hero of the War?” How about that?

I could go on, but it’s pretty indisputable: the similarities are numerous, eerie, and irrefutable.

Now please check out these three stunning Walker compositions, “Plastic Palace People,” “Boy Child,” and the best vocal performance of the rock era, “Dutchess.”

Is arrogance a prerequiste for being a good writer?

Posted on: by hmmler

Or, is “arrogance a prerequisite to being a good artist?”  The answer, of course, is “no.”

But it doesn’t stop people from asking that question.

Actually, um… no one explicity asked that question.  I just did, because I was reading this nifty exchange on the forum via Strange Famous records.

In it, a poster noted how Henry Miller, when he gets going, is the greatest writer of all-time.  Other times, however, Miller:

…just falls back on his ego, talks of how he has all the answers… thinks he is a more evolved person, and yet fucks over everyone he supposedly cares about in real life….

Damn.

Henry Miller: Arrogant guy

Of course, the poster is correct.  Miller certainly had a chip on his shoulder.  I attribute this to a few reasons:

1.  He did think he had the answers.  And maybe he did: he grew up in a highly corporate-ized, commoditized, and buttoned-up culture, and discovered – lo and behold – people were utterly miserable.  (See The Air-Conditioned Nightmare.)  He took the road less traveled, and all things considered, things worked out pretty well for him.

2.  He had a brutal, doting mother.  The fact that he became a moralizing narcissist is no surprise to us professionals in the world of therapy.  Classic case of projection.  (Further analysis explored in separate blog.)

3.  To be a novelist – or any artist – you have to think, at least on some level, you’re the bees knees.  How else can you sell yourself – hustle, as it were – if  you don’t feel it in your gut?

Point #3 is the gist of another commenter’s response:

but isn’t that essentially what a writer is? part-narcissist, part-insecure-freak?  i think as a writer you’ve got to be somewhat arrogant when you write because you got to tell yourself “Is what I’m writing important enough for others to read?”‘

Emily Dickinson: Not arrogant

Who knows?  A lot of the great writers out there (Faulkner, Kesey, Melville spring to mind), at least from what I can tell, from their public personas, aren’t/weren’t offensively arrogant.

Perhaps it’s also because Miller’s working in the autobiographical/confessional form.  Hard to toot your own horn within the confines of fiction.

Peace!

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