Henry Miller Memorial Library

That’s when the Kickstarter fundraiser ends.

Fun fact: we intentionally made it so the fund raiser ended on April 20th (4.20, get it?)  We thought that was a very innovative idea.

But then Kickstarter’s server went down or something, I dunno, so they gave us an extra day.

So while the deadline is now 4/21, 11:44 am, the irie spirit lives on!

Indeed, we have shattered our original goal, and we’re still pretty flabbergasted about it.  Sven was walking around the other day, straight-up drooling.

And I mean, look at the thing.  God.  You’d drool too.

But if you have the even slightest urge to donate, please satisfy those urges.

It’s been a hard spring financially for us, what with the road closure – literally no one comes in the store for hours on end. (Except for Sven.  Did I mention he drooled?)

And now the Alder (sp?) Creek slide happened to the south – no cars from the south for another month!

So, of course, your donations would be helpful, and of course, they’re tax-deductible, and you get a nifty reward for doing so.

That said, we don’t want to run the risk of the dreaded “donor-fatigue,” so I’ll leave you with a parting image, and that is of Sven drooling.

 

 

Here at the HML, we like blogs.  They’re so nice.

In today’s installment of “Blogs We Like,” we’d like to suggest “Eat America.”

We have a personal interest in this, because the nice folks behind the blog visited the library, but it also helps that the blog itself is rad.

It also helps they donated some dank Whole Foods coffee and now I feel like I can lift a truck and drive to Mexico.

It is a bunch of lil’ portraits about how Americans eat.

Books about food are all the rage now a days – we have a whole shelf devoted to ‘em here, like “Ominvore’s Dilemma,” “Microgreens,” etc – and it’s encouraging to say that folks are becoming a bit more conscious of what they put in their bodies.

Eat America takes it a step further, profiling real-live Americans, from coast to coast, and exploring their eating habits, their relationship with food, their kitchens – all kinds of neat stuff.

The authors are from Montreal, and having ventures south to Miami, west to SanDiego, north to Big Sur (and up to Vancouver), and back east to Quebec, are living out of their van.

Now those are my kind of people!!

Ladies and Gentlemen, hold onto your hats/skirts/petticoats/ties because what I am about to tell you is going to Officially Rock Your World.

Well, that may be an exaggeration, because it is possible that you were expecting it (and if you live in Big Sur, I think you are).

The Big Big Big Sur Fashion Show is May 19, 2011!!!

Alright, maybe you already knew that. But get this: The theme is Back to the Future!!!!

Maybe that’s not news to you either. There are a TON of ways to take part in this event! There. Maybe that’s news for you.

Sure you all know that you’re welcome to attend, perhaps you’ve already got the date marked on your calendar, maybe you took the night off work, maybe you’re having friends come into town to share in the glory of the event.

But what you might not already know is that there is still time to participate in an even more in-depth ways! There are tasks still to be handed out to interested and capable hands, and we are, of course, always looking for more designers.

Make sure that you “like” the event on Facebook here.

This is a great way to keep up with the daily goings-on of the behind the scenes planning of The Big Big Big Sur Fashion Show, and to get excited views of what you should expect to see on the night of the 19th, as well as more details as the night draws nearer.

If you would like to receive more information about how to help, or how to get involved in any fashion, please email Keely at keely.richter@gmail.com

Interspersed in this here blog, as you see, are a bunch of fine photos from 2010 and 2009′s fashion show, all taken by the wildly talented Rachael Short, to get you in the mood for this year’s big gala!

As always, keep posted here for more information about the show, as well as getting in touch with us on the Facebook.

First things first: Happy Record Store Day!

Your instructions are as follows:

Come to Big Sur Memorial Day Weekend.  May 28th, Saturday, we’re holding our second-annual Vinyl in the Woods record fair.  Vendors like Amoeba, Vinyl Revolution, Metamusic, and many more will be here.

For would-be vendors wondering if it’ll be worth their while, the answer is yes. there will be incredible foot traffic.  Because it’s a holiday weekend – Big Sur will be full – and we’ll be having additional,  amazing events all weekend, like two Chris Robinson shows, and a sold-out Gillian Welch show on that Monday!

It’ll be huge.

If you are a record store looking to sell your wares – this is still room left.  Call us at 831-667-2574.

Your additional instructions are to go buy a record at your favorite record stores.  Ideally a used Bread record.

Nothing is for certain in this world, and we musn’t assume record stores will always be around.  They may not be.  They may go the way of Sam Goodie.

So go support ‘em.

And if you’re within the vicinity of Central California, do visit these fantastic spots:

• Amoeba in Berkeley, LA, and San Francisco
• Metamusic in Santa Cruz
• Boo Boo Records in San Luis Obispo
• Vinyl Revolution in Monterey

Vinyl Isle in Morro Bay

Happy Record Store Day!

 

I never really found Henry Miller to be an attractive fellow.

I’m well-aware of his way with the ladies, but I simply attributed it to his winning personality.  And being a good listener.

I mean, if you look at pictures of him from the 30s, he looks like a creepy lab technician.

Clark Gable he wasn’t.

Then I saw our new, awesome t-shirts.  Manufactured just down the road by American Apparel, the shirt find a middle-aged Henry, cigarette in hand, lustily leering in the camera.

I felt things inside of me I cannot explain.  Nor do I want an explanation.

Tingly things.

At the bottom, all subtle-like, it says, “The Henry Miller Library – Where Nothing Happens.”

These t-shirts are hot off the presses and can be yours for a $50 donation to our Kickstarter project!

Yes, we’ve completely and totally demolished our goal thanks to y’all, but given the highway washout and the general absence of customers – it’s so lonely – any little bit would still help.

And if you’re wondering if we’ll be selling these in the store and online later on, yes we will.  They’ll of course be cheaper than $50, but your purchase won’t be tax-deductible.

We are a transparent bunch!

Anyway, do consider buying a cool t-shirt.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go dunk my head in a bucket of ice water.

Personally, I have little use for the IRS.  Never bought into the idea of “paying taxes,” especially for building B-12s and bridges to nowhere.

And don’t get me started on the Department of Education.

Here is Big Sur, you’re pretty safe from their slimy, spindly tentacles.  We live in a libertarian bubble of freedom.  I mean, the IRS literally can’t getcha out here; for starters, the highway washed out.

So color me unimpressed with tomorrow’s tax deadline.

Who cares?

What really gets me terrified is the idea that someone out there will miss out on an opportunity to spread their art-wings and fly like an art-eagle over the San Lucia mountains here in Central California.

Art, people! – not taxes – is where it’s at.

Fact: the deadline for a summer internship at the Henry Miller Library is tomorrow.

Fact: the deadline to submit your short film to the Big Sur Big Sur Short Film Screening Series is tomorrow.

These deadlines are more important than the tax stuff.

I mean, so you”forget” to pay taxes for, what, nine years?  Big deal.

Or your PO Box gets stuffed with IRS notices and you decide to close the box and move into your van just south of Gorda.   No harm, no foul.

And so what if you, just as an example, say, fail to report “earnings” generated from an “activity” in Mendocino Country had provides “medicinal” benefit to the community – so what?  What are they really gonna do?

The fact is, the film and intern deadlines, unlike the tax business, will affect your life forever.

Take the internship for example.  What if you fail to apply?  Then you won’t spend the summer at the coolest place in the world.  And you won’t see lots of cool bands.  And you won’t fall in love with Natasha, the new, very cute 22-year old Russian cashier at Fernwood.

You don’t need me to tell you that true love doesn’t come around very often.

Don’t blow it.

 

 

 

 

One of the coolest events last year was Vinyl in the Woods. It’s a – you guessed it – record fair here at the Henry Miller Library.

Last year it was packed.  We had 20ish vendors from San Fran to San Diego to anywhere in between.  The vendors even made money!

We also had an “open turntable” session where DJs get up there and “spin the jams.”

Well, it was so successful, Vinyl in the Woods is returning, Saturday May 28th, as part of our “Best Weekend Ever!!”

So vendors, if you’ve yet to register (it’s $60 for a table), give us a ring, cuz time is running out!

Check out a rad write up about VITW here, as well as this cool video from last year’s event:


 

 

Plan on another magical night under the redwoods, July 30th, by donation!

“My Suicide” is a teen dramedy feature film directed by David Lee Miller and starring Gabriel Sunday. It won the best feature film prize for the 2009 Berlin International Film Festival’s youth film section Generation 14plus.

Socially inept media geek Archie Williams becomes the most visible kid in school when he announces he’s going to kill himself on camera for his final video class project.

As word spreads, Archie’s classmates, parents, the most beautiful china escort girl in school, Sierra, and a “Shady Bunch” of teachers, shrinks, doctors, pill-pushers and counselors bombard him – some hoping to save him, some wanting to imitate him, others trying to push him over the edge. (Check out the dizzying amount of awards its won at the end this blog.)

Legendary Music Supervisor Karyn Rachtman (Pulp Fiction) passionately signed onto the project to secure the rights to the prodigious amount of music and pre-existing media, sound and images featured in the film. She helped My Suicide to secure the music it dreamed of featuring. Check this…
Musical artists include:

• Bright Eyes
• Radiohead
• Devendra Banhart
• My Morning Jacket
• Animal Collective
• Third Eye Blind
• Mark Mothersbaugh
• Blue October
• Daniel Johnston
• Wolfmother
• MGMT
• The Eels
• Tim Kasher (Cursive, The Good Life)
• The Pixies
• TV On The Radio
• Joanna Newsom

And here are the awards its won!

• Crystal Bear Best Picture Generation 14plus — Berlin International Film Festival 2009
• Grand Jury Award for Best Feature — GenArt Film Festival 2009
• Audience Award for Best Feature — GenArt Film Festival 2009
• Jury Grand Prix for Best Picture — Giffoni Film Festival 2009
• Special Jury Grand Prix, Golden Gryphon for Best Picture — Giffoni Film Festival 2009
• Audience Award for Best Picture — Giffoni Film Festival 2009
• MyMovies Award for Best Picture — Giffoni Film Festival 2009
• Outstanding Achievement in Filmmaking — Newport Beach Film Festival 2009
• Youth Jury Award for Best FutureWave Feature — Seattle International Film Festival 2009
• Grand Jury Prize for Best Dramatic Feature — Edmonton International Film Festival 2009
• Peoples Choice Award for Best Feature Film — Edmonton International Film Festival 2009
• Best Film — Buster International Film Festival 2009
• Jury Award for Best International Feature — Raindance International Film Festival 2009
• The Camerio International Jury Award for Best Feature Film — Carrousel international du film de Rimouski 2009
• Grand Youth Jury Award for Best Feature Film — Exground Filmfest, Weisbaden, Germany 2009
• Best Editing (Gabriel Sunday) — Downtown LA Film Festival 2009

They grow up so fast, don’t they?  Too fast.

As we head down the home stretch of our new stage Kickstarter fundraiser (and don’t be shy; we’re still accepting donations, and amazing rewards are still available!) it seems like only days ago when the new stage was but an empty plot of baby-like gravel with its teeny-weeny proverbial fingers in its mouth, drooling dirt, and making the middle-age ladies swoon.

Now, suddenly, the new stage is complete, and before you can say “summer camp,” “puberty” and “awkward headgear” it’s going to be exposed edgy, lascivious fashion shows, decadent rock n’ roll singers, and…God help us…John Waters.

In a way, it makes us sad.

So much lost innocence; gosh darn it, the stage never had a chance to just be a kid!

Look at this picture here, to the right.  The stage’s foundation is set, and there are some strings running across it.  All the new stage wants to do is open Christmas presents, splash around in puddles, and play catch with its (unknown) dad.

But it wasn’t meant to be.  To paraphrase a wise sage:

My stage turned a week-old just the other day
He said, “Thanks for the ball, Dad, come on let’s play
Can you teach me to throw”, I said “Not today
I got a lot to do”, he said, “That’s ok”

And it’s not just us who think that they grow up fast (too fast):

“The two-to-three week-old stages of yesterday are the one-to-two week old stages of today,” says Terry Blanchard, a Berkeley-based sociologist.  “By the time a redwood stage reaches two weeks old, they describe themselves as ‘flirtatious, sexy, trendy, athletic, cool’ and already begin exhibiting deviant behavior commonly associated with two-to-three week-old stages.”

Among the products targeted at these one-week old stages are cosmetics, body paints, fake tattoos, and “extreme” and “sexy” water seal.

I don’t mean to come across as an old fuddy-duddy, but I’ll say it again: they sure grow up fast these days. 

Too fast.

 

The deadline for applying to be an archives intern at the Henry Miller Library is drawing rapidly nearer.

If you are a student in need of easily the most awesome summer job in the world, read on.  If you have a younger cousin who doesn’t quite know how to fill that summer between their semesters, read on.

If you are interested in helping the library out by finding someone who foots the bill, read on.

You can find out more information from a pdf available.  Please submit your cover letter and resume to keely.richter@gmail.com before April 15, 2011.

In the meantime, take a second to read this testimonial by last year’s intern, David Kauffman, who we love dearly and miss tremendously here at the library. He was a dry guy – in the best sense – and is the author of this budget travel in India book.

David, if you’re reading this, please come back to us – we need you.

(OK, so now the rest of the blog is David speaking):

I first came to the HML on a thoroughly wet and soggy day in December. Standing under the drippy redwoods, surrounded by so many wonderful books, I knew that I needed to find a way to come back.  I signed on to spend the summer helping the library upgrade the electronic collection. This included making an accurate and reliable database along with scans of every document in the archive.

Pretty much every aspect of being at the library was wonderful:

• Big Sur is spectacular

• The Pacific Ocean is mere steps away

• The people at the library are awesome

• Living in a tent under the redwoods can’t be beat

• Every couple of nights there is some amazing concert or film event

• All day long interesting people stop by to browse and take in the setting

• There is tons of ping-pong to be played whenever the mood strikes

• You’re surrounded by more books than you know what to do with

For me the small closet in the library annex was a mini-Mecca, the actual letters and papers that made a straight line from Miller to the books he wrote to the flashes of bliss and transcendence that those pages brought into my own life.

Every single time I opened the door to the archive my palms got sweaty because I knew that whichever green box I happened to pull down from the shelf that day was going to be filled with some kind of treasure – a letter from Henry to Emil written on the back of a Paris restaurant menu; Henry’s original outline to Tropic of Capricorn; notes written from Cockroach Hall in the Bronx where he was living with June; pages from the rough draft of Black Spring.

I left Big Sur at the end of the summer happy for so many reasons and I feel very fortunate that I had the chance to be a part of things at the Henry Miller Library even for a little while and that I was able to contribute in some way to perpetuating Henry’s song to the world, which Erica Jong said better than I can:

“Henry’s ‘message’ was the message of all Zen masters and mystics: that there is no stability, only flux. Henry’s very message is that life is formless, and that creativity partakes of the divine chaos.”

-          The Devil at Large: Erica Jong on Henry Miller