Henry Miller Memorial Library

Recently we looked at Miller’s 11 Commandments for Writing – pretty straight-forward, concise, and helpful stuff, right?

Well, our bro Kerouac also made up lists too (sometimes lists of lists, even), including his “30 Beliefs and Techniques for Prose and Life,” which you can read in its entirety here.

As you can see, it’s a bit more, err existential than Miller’s list, but pretty useful nonetheless.

Who needs Dr. Phil when you got liberating nuggets of wisdom like “Like Proust be an old teahead of time” and “Composing wild, undisciplined, pure, coming in from under, crazier the better.”

The list was allegedly tacked on the wall of Allen Ginsberg’s hotel room in North Beach a year before his iconic poem “Howl” was written—which is of little surprise, given Ginsberg readily admitted Kerouac’s influence and even noted in the dedication of Howl and Other Poems that he took the title from Kerouac.

First off, forgive us for the crass Occupy-related blog title. But sometimes the stuff just writes itself.

After all, it is true: the Henry Miller Library is packing up its stuff, driving north, and setting up shop at the Independent Marketplace, a new and cool art space in Sand City, CA, on April 5th. It’s located at 600 Ortiz Ave. Sand City, CA.

We’ll be there from 4-10 pm, doing what we do best, namely, showing some of the best movies from our Big Sur International Short Film Screening Series, starting at 8pm! In addition, we’ll bring some books, eat, drink, and hang out. But wait, there’s more!!

• * Grab dinner from hot food vendors like Babaloo Cuban Food truck and Aqua Terra, buy produce from artesian farmers like Serendipity Farms, enjoy fresh bread from Big Sur Bakery and confections from Sweet Elena’s and other wonderful treats catered to the entire family.
• * Enjoy organic biodynamic wines being presented by Monterey’s up and coming winemakers or beer selections presented by Post No Bills Craft Beer House.
• * Check out handmade art and artifacts from Big Sur Artists while listening to our live music and DJ sets Big Sur Spirit Garden’s Jayson Fann.

It all kinda reminds me of Lollapoolza, circa 1994. Minus a fierce performance by Ministry.

The event is free to the public with a $5 to $20 suggested donation to Henry Miller Library ($2 for students).

Bottom line: Come see us on April 5th in Sand City. (Even more information here.)

As you may have heard, there’s a new book out now examining Miller and “Tropic of Cancer.”

It’s called Renegade: Henry Miller and the Making of “Tropic of Cancer.” Reviews have been generally positive, but one, in particularly, caused a wee ado. A tiff. A brouhaha. A tempest. A wasp in the margarine, if you will…

It was written by Jeanette Winterson and was published in the New York Times in late January, and while it takes an more-or-less journalistic view of “Cancer’s” legacy, it lashes into Miller the person, attacking his character, etc. Fierce stuff, which you can read here.

But then Winterson’s piece was parried by Einar Moos, founding editor of Parisiana magazine, a Miller expert who also knew the man personally, in an essay called “The Gratuitous Trashing of a Literary Giant.” Money quote:

Above all he despised bores, and couldn’t stand to be in their presence. He could hold conversations with muscle-building lesbians and intellectual homosexuals. But he never really cared about ‘the world out there’, America per se, with its wars and delusions of grandeur. He disliked people whose mentalities were shaped by a country and what they thought was its culture; and whose sole object was to make money, have children, and retire happily. That he found frightfully boring.

Anyway, arguing about Miller the person is a minefield we won’t approach. But the argument above is nonetheless illuminating!

OK, one last Davy Jones tribute. Because we can.

1967′s “Headquarters” was first album in which the Monkees played their own instruments. It’s awesome! And don’t just take my word for it.

One of my favorite songs on it is “Mr. Webster,” a mini-quasi folk novella about Mr. Webster, the original 99%-er (forgive me.) Mr. Webster worked at a bank for 40 years in some nameless Midwest town and was a great employee. For example, he thwarted 27 robberies.

Each time his boss, Mr. Frisbee, promised him a raise (I’m re-printing the lyrics verbtim btw) but the raise never comes because Mr. Frisbee is a rich jerk. (Insert Mitt Romney joke here.)

Anyway, at long last, the quiet, reliable, and unflappable Mr. Webster is retiring after four decades of thankless service.

And what does Mr. Webster get for his 40 years of hard work? A retirement party and a watch. Whoop-dee-do.

But there’s more to the story than that.

I won’t spoil the ending, but it’s cool.

What’s also cool is Peter’s piano playing, Mickey’s vocals, kissed with some hall reverb, and, at the end of the song, what may be the longest tambourine flair/trill in pop music history, courtesy of – you guess it – Davy Jones.

Dude could really play the tambo.

Enjoy!

“Tropic of Cancer” and “Big Sur and the Oranges of Hieronymus Bosch” are our biggest sellers (you can order it on our online store here.) In a nutshell, it encapsulates Miller’s love affair with Big Sur.

The book continues to resonates with everyone who has read it, and for a simple reason: we all, at one point or another, have fallen in (platonic) love with Big Sur. So there’s an element of familiarity which, to the best of our knowledge, is less evident in a work like “Cancer” because, sadly, most of us haven’t whored through the gutters of Paris (though it’s on my “bucket” list.)

In fact, not only can we reflect upon Miller’s reflections on Big Sur, we can also reflect upon other people’s reflections of Miller’s reflections on Big Sur. Like this fantastic essay by Steve Heilig, entitled “Big Sur’s Best Ambassador: An Appreciation of Henry Miller’s Big Sur and the Oranges of Hieronymus Bosch.”

It’s a great piece on the emotional, artistic, and natural elements that conspired to bring Miller to Big Sur – and stay for 18 years. In particular, it underscores deep ruminations on happiness, and how one’s natural environment can lead to a “different” kind of happiness. Money quote:

I eventually came to think that Big Sur may have saved Miller’s life; and thus the elegiac, grateful-to-be-alive tenor of his Big Sur. Before his arrival there he, at least according to the books, was in constant struggle – with women, money, his muse, poverty, his own psyche.

He seemed to be protesting too much about how “happy” he was in those earlier decades, like one trying to convince himself of his own elusive joy in life. For all the artistic clamor of his famed earlier work, it seemed that happiness, or at least some sort of peace of mind, eluded him.

Read the whole thing!

So the word on the street is that the Oscars were kind of boring, except some wardrobe malfunction involving J-Lo, and the fact that when Meryl Streep won, and acted all surprised, everyone was like, “Why are you so surprised?”

If you ask us, the Big Sur International Short Film Festival is more fun.

More surprises, more wardrobe malfunctions, and yummy popcorn that may or may not have rosemary on it. We’re now excepting submissions for the 2012 series – more info here – and we’re stoked for another awesome summer. (Mark your calendars: we’ll be showing 5-6 films every Thurs. in June, July, and August; more or less.)

Which bring us to this question: Did you know that the Screening Series have selected and shown a ton of shorts that went on to be nominated for Oscars, including one winner? It’s true. Guess how many?

…

Time’s up: 15!

So here’s a list such movies – Oscar-nominated shorts screened in Big Sur pre- or post-award ceremony.

• Copy Shop — Virgil Widrich
• 7:35 in the Morning — Nacho Vigalondo

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ziqvcJsKUoE&w=420&h=315]

• Binta and the Great Idea — Javier Fesser
• Éramos Pocos — Borja Cobeaga
• Auf der Strecke (On the Line) — Reto Caffi
• Manon on the Asphalt — Elizabeth Marre and Olivier Pont
• Kavi — Gregg Helvey
• Miracle Fish — Luke Doolan and Drew Bailey

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cpKY2XI1NY&w=560&h=315]

• Pentecost – Peter McDonald and Eimear O’Kane
• Destino – Walt Disney Animation Studios – Dominique Monféry and Roy E. Disney
• I Met the Walrus – Josh Raskin

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmR0V6s3NKk&w=560&h=315]

• Lavatory – Lovestory – Melnitsa Animation Studio – Konstantin Bronzit
• The Danish Poet – Torill Kove – Winner!
• The Gruffalo – Magic Light Pictures, Studio Soi – Jakob Schuh and Max Lang
• Madagascar, a Journey Diary – Bastien Dubois

The Seventh Annual Big Sur International Short Film Screening Series at the Henry Miller Memorial Library in Big Sur, California is now accepting submissions!

Film-makers, agents, distributors, producers, film fans – your’re all invited to submit your film(s) for the 2012 series. Please go here: http://www.bigsurfilm.org

The screenings take place after dark, under the stars, using state-of-the-art equipment, in our outdoor amphitheater beneath the towering redwoods of Big Sur, California. June 7 – August 26, 2012.

Because of the amazing response we have received over the last few years from our community, both local and world wide, we are looking forward to making this year’s event even better than before!

As in years past we are again very grateful and excited about our Jury for 2012!

We sincerely hope that you will submit your film(s) for our consideration.

To submit go here and also visit us on Facebook!

Singer/songwriter Dan Bern is another cool member of the Henry Miller Library “Familia.”

Or to look at it another way, if Magnus is the Godfather, Dan is Tom Hagen. The consigliere. Mr. Fix-it. The sensible dude who sits in the corner, silent, for hours, listening to all kinds of ideas and propositions, and ultimately weighs in, saying things, like “Yeah, we can do that.”

Dan narrated our mini-documentary on the Big Sur International Short Film Fest, he’s written some amazing tunes, and he’s playing the Crepe Place in Santa Cruz on March 19th.

We’ll see you there, in the pit!

And here’s Dan holding court over a songwriting workshop held here at the Library in 2010.

As you may recall, it was about a year ago the Henry Miller Library, thanks to all of you wonderful, generous people, build a new stage using Kickstarter.

It was awesome! And, as a result, we have quite a kinship with the Kickstarter folks and the incredible work they’re doing. Would we call them, officially, part of the “Family?” Hmmm…maybe.

Ahhh, yeah, sure why not?

It’s doubly-amazing cuz about 10 years ago, one of the co-founders was was telling my friend about his idea to start a web-based fundraising site while buzzed in some Lower East Side bar, and now look at them – doling out more money per year than the National Endowment for the Arts!

One of the company’s three co-founders, Yancey Strickler, said that Kickstarter is on track to distribute over $150 million dollars to its users’ projects in 2012, or more than entire fiscal year 2012 budget for the National Endowment of the Arts (NEA), which was $146 million.

“It is probable Kickstarter will distribute more money this year than the NEA,” said Stricker in an exclusive phone interview with TPM. “We view that number and our relationship to it in both a good and bad way.”

As Strickler explained, the milestone is “good” in the sense that it means that Kickstarter may now reach a point where it will funnel as much money to the arts as the federal agency primarily responsible for supporting them, effectively doubling the amount of art that can get funded in the country.

Read the whole thing!

The Davy Jones tribute continues. We musn’t forget him!

Today’s post is likely old news to you, our sophisticated readers, but we’d like to take a second to give “Head,” the Monkees’ 1968 film, major props.

The movie is amazing. In it, the pre-Fab Four, with the help of Jack Nicholson, Dennis Hopper, Frank Zappa, and others, methodically decimate their clean-cut imagine, giving us a strange, pop-art fever dream-rumination on fame, disposable consumerist culture, and yes, the Vietnam war.

And the music is amazing.

The opening sequence is brilliant (you have to see the whole movie to get the whole circuitous vibe); in it, the Monkees more or less commit (commercial?) suicide by jumping off a bridge, thereby triggering one of the most psychedelic multi-sensory experiences I’ve ever seen (with the exception of Phish in Burlington ’92.) Check it:

The boys drown to the tune of the “Porpoise Song.” Written by Carole King and Gerry Goffin – one of the few Brill Building talents to seamless transition from the girl group era to the “60′s”* – and produced by Jack Neitzche, the song kills. Mickey provides his typically brilliant vocals (Bob Pollard called him, rightfully, the “Greatest American male vocalist ever”) and then Davy chimes in, wailing “Goodbye, goodbyeeee!!!” propelling us into the stratosphere!

Best lyric: “Clicks / clacks / Riding the backs of giraffes for laughs is all right for a while.”

* Check out Carole’s demo of the tune, plus this, this, and this.