Henry Miller Memorial Library

As much as it pains me to say it, summer is winding down. Less walk-in tourists frequent the library. There’s that vague autumnal crispness in the air. And, of course, the days are shorter.

All of which leads to the black cloud that is winter, and with it, decay, misery, and regret.*

But not yet!

We and our partners in crime ((folkYEAH!!)) are not going gently into that good night; we’re raging against the machine that is the dying of the light with four more shows, three of which still have tickets available.

Those shows are Twin Shadow (Sept. 24), Thurston Moore (Sept. 29th), Ryan Adams (Oct. 13 – sold out; sorry ladies!), and Jenny Lewis (Oct. 20th.)

Click those hyperlinks above for tickets. And here’s a nice video courtesy of Twin Shadow.

* Of course, these things are relative. Winters in California are easy and fun!

Much like the Kennedy assassination or the Obama election or hearing “Welcome to the Jungle” the first time on the radio, everyone remembers where they were during the great 2008 Big Sur Basin Complex Fire.

We’ll be taking a multi-media trip down memory lane tonight at the Henry Miller Library by projecting a fascinating slideshow on our big screen, along with accompanying soundtrack, showing some of the most compelling photos from the fire.

There’ll be coffee, tea, *and* space heaters a plenty (though my spider sense tells me today’ll be a warm one.)

For locals, it’s a no-brainer. Re-live those heady days, reflect, and thanks the courageous firefighters who kept the fire at bay. And for everyone else, it’ll be a great piece of Big Sur living-history. Oh, and the pictures are totally amazing.

The event is by donation. Doors at 7:30. We’re located a 1/4 mile south of Nepenthe.

See you there!

Thurston Moore will be performing here at the Library on Sept. 29th, courtesy of the fine folk(s) – pun intended – at ((folkYEAH!!)) and it reminded me how Christmas came early for those of us weaned on the flannel-clad teat of 90s alterna-rock.

September, specifically. That’s when, after 20 (!) years, The Year Punk Broke was finally released on DVD.

It’s the coolest thing ever. It’s a movie documenting Sonic Youth’s tour of Europe, right before “Dirty” came out and features a pre-”Nevermind” Nirvana, full of vim, vivaciousness, and, dare I say it, a soft innocence. Remember when Kurt dives into the drum set during the “Lithium” video? That’s from this tour!

And check out Thurston beat-boxing with Kurt and Kim interpretive dancing!

It also features Dave Grohl drunk and rambling about crepes, Steve Shelly complaining about paprika balls, and a cameo by Iggy Pop.

So, now that you’re sufficiently intrigued – and perhaps hungry – mosey on over to the Library’s link for the show and solidify your plans for Sept. 29th. Who knows, maybe Thurston will beat box too (?)

And for those not in the Central California radius, check out all the other amazing ((folkYEAH!!)) shows planned for the indefinite future.

Peace!

ps – for those looking for another awesome testament of these early-90s salad days, check out Hype!

Fun fact #1: Tonight at the Henry Miller Library we’ll be having brilliant comedic theater, courtesy of MAD Magazine’s Joe Raiola. Not to be missed! Doors at 7:30. We’re 1/4 south of Nepenthe. More info here.

Fun fact #2: Joe’s awesome and brilliant stand-up performances have received rave reviews across the US. Some folks even call him “Carlin-esque.” Not bad.

Fun fact #3: For some people, “Carlin-esque” is preferable to “Kafka-esque.” I’m not so sure.

Fun fact #4: Freedom of speech is the first amendment in the Constitution. Numero uno. The Big Enchilada. There’s profound symbolism in that. Founders were, like, really into it.

But as anyone who’s absorbed the Socratic ruminations of George W. Bush can attest, “freedom is not free.” Freedom has its boundaries.

No where is that more evident than in the realm of free speech.

And it’s implications have been interwoven across America lives ever since.

We can’t, for example, yell fire in a crowded theater. That’s a no-no, straight from the judicial lips of my main man Oliver Wendell Holmes.

And then there’s a bunch of politically correct stuff you can’t say. And though it may not cause heartburn amongst the authorities of the state, it can nonetheless get you fired (or severely fined; one ill-timed Swedish joke cost me a week’s worth of vacation.)

This is interesting stuff, I think, which is why we’re stoked about Joe Raiola’s performance here on Friday. It’s at 7:30 and it’s free. BUT YOU ALREADY KNEW THIS.

Joe has a show called “The Joys of Censorship,” and I did some cursory Web searching, and found some really interesting nuggets.

Take the FCC for example. “I call them the Federal Censorship Commission,” said Raiola. “It seems to me now that you can get free speech if you pay for it. On XM satellite radio, on HBO and Showtime. But if you can’t afford that, then you’re stuck with what the FCC gives you and we have to live by their rules. Something about that is fundamentally wrong.”

And then there’s the Orwellian “free-speech zones” into which protesters are herded, and until recently a ban on photographing the coffins of U.S. soldiers.

“The Joy of Censorship” has been performed to rave reviews in over 41 states, and now it comes to the Free and Soveriegn Town of Big Sur, CA. (Note: after the event, the Big Sur Secessionist Association will have their bi-annual meeting. Donuts will be served.)

Last week, Austin’s own instrumental spacey-mathy rock dudes Explosions in the Sky played a mesmerizing show at the Library, courtesy of – who else? – (((folkYEAH!!))

Perhaps it was because I still had Philip Glass on my mind, but the show had a wildly expressive and symphonic quality to it, ebbing and flowing like a…I dunno, like a fierce magenta wave!

Folks were sitting down, in rapt attention; a few brave and hearty souls ventured to dance in a protected cluster, but all in all, it was an audio and visual experience that focused on your brain and a little bit of your heart, unlike your typical rock n’ roll show, which focuses almost exclusively on your groin.

Sumaya took this cool photo.

Fun fact: during the set, shit got so loud Keely went ahead and bought and industrial-sized box of ear plugs. So, should we, say, book Motorhead in the immediate future, we got you covered.

(Leans back in chair and exhales from pipe) Ah yes, I recall the 2008 Basin Complex Fire. Boy oh boy.

I wasn’t in Big Sur at the time. I was down the road, in Capitola, and could see the red-black devil smoke emanating from the mountains as I looked south from the surf spot The Hook.

It was some Book of Revelation stuff. It was also national news and it also spawned three-dozen regrettably predictable Dead references.

We at the Library will be commemorating the fire this Sunday, Sept. 18th, at 7:30 pm, with a slideshow showing some of the most incredible and moving photos of the fire you’ll ever see. The slide show will also be accompanied by a wonderful soundtrack compiled by Mr. Magnus Toren. Info here!

When we say the fire is very near and dear to us, we mean that in a literal sense. Gaze out from our back deck and you’ll see the fire line and charred redwoods no more than 40 yards away. It came that close.

In fact, we took every single item out of the Library – even Theo’s cat food – threw it in a U-Haul and braced for the inevitable.

Yet the inevitable didn’t come, thanks to the heroism of the firefighters, which is also great reason to come to this event. Many of the photos – culled from about 40 local photographers – brilliantly capture their courage and awesomeness.

So come on down, sit back, and re-live the terrifying magic!

It makes me sad, sometimes, when I see religious-types trying to make sense of their inherently weird, confusing, and often times brutal faiths.

You can see the wheels turning in their heads. You can see the profound collision of their refined, post-Enlightenment ethics versus the medieval carnage and sheer silliness of, say, the Old Testament.

How can a God of love, for example, kill thousands of innocent children in the Flood? And since Jesus is 1/3 of the Godhead, he had a hand in it – or 1/3 of a hand in it — too. I thought Jesus was a hippie? I thought he’s jamming with Jerry and Jimi in heaven?

Bottom line: if you think about it all deeply and honestly, it can, y’know, drive you nuts. Makes you feel all yucky inside.

And this confusion would be ok if it were just relegated to the steaming tormented swamps of individual minds. Unfortunately, it ain’t; those with the tormented minds – or those sedated by blind faith – just can’t keep that stuff to themselves.

And since people, by their nature, want to control others, if they can’t do it by the sword, they’ll do it by other means. Y’know, Nietzsche-stuff.

Where am I going with this not-exactly-rocket-science diatribe? Good question.

Oh yeah, I’m setting up our show this Friday. That’d be the “American Heretic” himself, Joe Raiola, of MAD Magazine, who’ll be ruminating on God, religion, censorship, and so much more. Info here.

Unlike religion, it’s free, and it’s sure to be an enlightening and provocative evening under the redwoods!

The last two weeks have been kind of intense down here at the Henry Miller Library. But a “good” intense.

For example, our pal Sumaya took some epic pics at the Little Dragon show. They brought the propulsive 80s dance rock heat!

The first one is particularly stunning I think, in that it accentuates what has now simply become known as “The Tree.” You may recall “The Tree” from some of the iconic shows of the Chili Peppers show.

The marketing possibilities are endless.

And here’s another one, of singer Yukimi Nagano.

A few nights ago, we had a big ol’ party at the Library. Levi Strom and friends celebrated the release of his new disc, the Lone Wolf.

Vibes were good, the beer was lukewarm, and the BBQ’ed ribs were tender.

Missed it? Ahh, don’t beat yourself up over it. Better yet, you too can experience the awesomeness thanks to this great video quasi-documentary of the event.

It’s really hard to write a good song. It’s darn-near impossible to write a great song. It’s really really hard to compile many great songs to make a great album. It’s statistically impossible to make a classic album.

And it’s like, way, totally, no-way-in-hell impossible to release, like, four classic albums in a row. But that’s exactly what Sonic Youth did, starting with 1985′s “Bad Moon Rising.” “Bad Moon Rising, “EVOL,” “Sister,” “Daydream Nation.” A murderer’s row of masterpieces (masterpie?)

Only three other bands have done this: REM, Guided by Voices, and the Stones. (Beatles miss the mark because “Rubber Soul” isn’t, technically, a masterpiece.)

In fact, the only thing I love more than crazed and confrontational hyperbolic rantings is “Bad Moon Rising,” the greatest album of all time, a stark, terror-infused nightmare song cycle of unparalleled guitar savagery and strange, uncomfortable beauty.

So naturally I’m pretty pumped that one of it’s main architects, Thurston Moore is performing here on Sept. 29th. Info here.

You know Thurston, aka Rolling Stone magazine’s 34th greatest guitarist of all time, right? (He beat out Steve Cropper!)

[That said, can you really trust anything Rolling Stone says. They gave Mick Jagger's "Goddess in the Doorway," like, an A-.]

He’ll be performing his new, kinda-acoustic, yet equally brilliant stuff.

But that still won’t stop me from calling out for “Society is a Hole.”