orbific weblog – Page 100 – Strange stories and interesting things

Come to the Komedia on the 18th: Trailer Trash presents Beetlejuice

On Saturday there's a new club night at the Komedia, whose organisers include my friends Rosy Carrick and Miss Kitty Peels. The night takes a different movie as its theme each week and is starting with Beetlejuice. There will be clips, great music, performances; including aerial, a fire act with Miss Baby Bones and, um, I'm man-propping for Kitty. And zombie popcorn usherettes! Come along because it will be awesome. Click on the flier below to see it at full size:

The latest incarnation from cult movie-themed club extravaganza TRAILER TRASH!

Film
scenes spliced up with twisted cabaret, circus sideshow and aerial live
acts, plus rock 'n' roll, dirty electro, neo-swing and classic 80's
hits from our resident DJ Mr Grinel, and special guest DJ The Future
Sound Of Elvis.

Hosted by the effortlessly effervescent ROSY
CARRICK, and featuring the delectable delights of MISS KITTY PEELS with
THE FLIRTINIS, BABY BONES, BEX MARKS THE SPOT and MIZ JUZ SQUIRE, with
live music from JOE BLACK.

Fire!

Hoop!

Silks!

Trapeze!

Fucked up Burlesque!

Undead Popcorn Usherettes!

Winona Ryder!

AND
YOU – Dress to Distress in your very best Tim
Burton/Beetlejuice/Redneck/ Zombie/Conservative Ghosty/ Oddball Goth/
Ballgown/ Formal/ Fetish/ FUN attire!

PLUS:

The first 50
people through the door on the night will have thrust into their
glittery hands a special event cd featuring songs from the night mixed
by guest DJ, The Future Sound Of Elvis!

Tickets cost £10.00/£8.00

Go to:

http://komediabrighton.ticketsolve.com/shows/702631/events

to book your tickets.

Appearing at Short Fuse Leicester on April 21st

I will be appearing at Short Fuse Leicester on April 21st at Leicester's Y Theatre. It's a very exciting night for me as it will be the first time my parents have heard me read in public.

The theme for the night is "Sweetbread, Bitter Bread". Headlining is Tara Gould, reading her story 'Little Birds'. I'll be reading a story called 'meat'. Also appearing are Kate Niland, Jo Cannon, Bead Roberts and my friend Rosy Carrick. Tickets cost £7, or £5 concessions, and can be ordered online or by calling 0116 255 7066.

Full details on the forthcoming event, as well as last month's, are available here. Do come along if you can as this will be awesome!

Now blogging on literaturenetwork.org

I was recently invited to write some blog posts for literaturenetwork.org. Over the next 12 months I'm going to be writing about the limitations and opportunities of creative writing. The first post, How Many Readers Do You Need? is now up:

"Every creative writing course hints: it could be you. They
promise access to agents and the chance to break into the world of
publishing. After years of perseverance, of writing in coffee shops and
cold flats, your novel might be published and become huge. You too
could be as big as JK Rowling."

Please do visit the original post and leave a comment if you like it. Ian Hocking posted an interesting response, raising the questions "What would motivate a person to contribute financially? How would the writer get in touch with these people to start with?"

Since writing the original post I've discussed the issues involved with a few people and the main question I'm left with is how many people am I a true fan of? Is there anyone I've given 1/2000th of a living wage to in the last year? How many people are ever likely to be supported by true fans?

Some of those questions might be answered in some later posts. Meanwhile I'm drafting a post for May on why the novel is almost dead, and why that doesn't matter.

Killer Tease

Last night I finished reading Killer Tease ("Burlesque was her life but, in the seedy underbelly of Brighton, it might be the death of her"), the new book from Brighton's Pulp Press. It's one of the most enjoyable books I've read in ages. The prose is fast-paced and clean, the action violent and it's set in Brighton, name-dropping places with glee. It's not a perfect novel, with a few mistakes ("North Laines" rather than "North Laine" being a notable local one), but it's so exuberant. This is a book that doesn't care whether you like it or not, just gets on with its job.

I picked up my copy for a fiver from the Punker Bunker in Sydney Street and I'm now looking forward to the next Pulp Press book. Here's an interview with Danny Hogan, the writer (I love his attitude to books) and a more in-depth review.

Short Fuse: Erotic fiction night

Last Sunday I read at Short Fuse's erotica night. I was more nervous than normal since the material was very different – I don't often stand in front of large groups saying words like 'clitoris'. It was less stressful than I expected and I was happier with the reading than usual. In fact the only problem was the intro I wrote, which was evidently less amusing than I'd thought.

I really enjoyed the other readers too, but best of all was Catherine Smith. Her reading of a filthy story called Telepathy was a revelation, one of the best readings I've seen. All in all a lovely and inspiring evening. I want to write some more erotica in the future.

The problem with this weblog is that I don't always have exciting things to talk about but when too many things are happening I don't have time to post. Consequently the weblog documents the moderately exciting times in my life.

Life has been pretty good lately, apart from a disastrous trip to the park this afternoon. First a bird used me for a toilet and then I feel over in the playground. Somehow I avoided swearing and was very brave and didn't cry, but – MY KNEE HURTS!

I'm going to spend the rest of the evening sulking.

Resisting the resistance

Sven Birkerts has written a lovely essay, Resisting the Kindle, which questions the idea of e-books. Birkerts wrote the fascinating Gutenberg Elegies and, while I disagree with most of what he says, I think his critiques are important.

Birkerts "[perceives] in the move away from the book a move away from a certain kind of cultural understanding", with the e-book reader exchanging access for context. Birkerts sees literature as "deeply contextual and historicized", giving an example of what he means:

"Somebody referenced a poem by Wallace Stevens but couldn’t think of the line. Her neighbor said “Wait—” and proceeded to Blackberry (yes, a verb) the needed words. It took only seconds. Everyone bobbed and nodded—it was the best of all worlds. My response was less sanguine. I imagined an info-culture of the near future composed entirely of free-floating items of information and expression, all awaiting their access call. I pictured us gradually letting go of Wallace Stevens … as the historical flesh-and-blood entity he was, and accepting in his place a Wallace Stevens that is the merely the sum total of his facts… Turning up a quote by tapping a keyboard is not the same as, say, going to Bartlett’s—it short-circuits all contact with the contextual order that books represent."

Derrida claimed "the end of the book is the beginning of literature". Technology threatens a certain type of reading. But it also ushers in new forms of literature, new forms of writing and understanding. I imagine e-book readers will, in time, provide their own forms of association and context, without being bound by the physical constraints of books or libraries. Imagine being able to follow Steven's life and work through every book published on him and not needing to wait for inter-library loans to check citations. Birkerts' essay outlines some risks of electronic books, but doesn't make the case that they outweigh the possibilities and opportunities of escaping the book.

Some things I’ve done this week

One thing I love about Brighton is how many things there are to do. I've been out to three very different nights this week and had a great time at each:

On Tuesday flashbrighton hosted a showing of Sita Sings the Blues. The film was as good as I hoped, a series of overlaid retellings of a traditional Indian story, the Ramayana. It's remarkable that such an inventive and well-produced work is freely distributed. The folks at flashbrighton were lovely and I wished for the first time that I was a flash coder. Thanks!
Wednesday Waterstone's hosted a reading by Vanessa Gebbie and Alison MacLeod. Vanessa read a fantastic story from her new collection, which is apparently going to have two fronts like the old Ace Doubles, one side funny and the other more serious. It was lovely to hear Alison's reading, an extract from a story about the Ikea riot which persuaded me to give the collection a try. Vanessa's account of the evening is here.
Last night was Hammer&Tongue. Abi Curtis was the local poet, reading some fantastic pieces from her forthcoming Salt collection. Also appearing was Spliff Richards. It was the longest set I'd seen from him and very impressive. His work is intricate and uplifting with an incredible delivery. There was also a great atmosphere, which made it worth the late night.

I'm also very happy because of my run yesterday. I didn't have much time and ended up running faster than usual, cutting over a minute off my best time for 4 miles. I've definitely got my speed back. At the weekend I'll find out if I have the endurance for the marathon.

Why I won’t be watching the Watchmen

One of my favourite books is American Psycho. The constant bored tone Ellis uses is stunning. I've never seen fiction handle boredom and disconnection so well. When the film came out I decided not to watch it. I couldn't see a movie replicating the things I admired about the book. The requirements of a Hollywood movie would sensationalise a book I loved for its lack of sensationalism. I didn't want this completely different work to alter the way I thought of a novel I liked.

I feel the same way about Watchmen. I love the book. I remember arguing for hours with friends about which characters were the most moral, who was 'right'. Then I watched the first trailer and heard Rorscach's voice. In my mind Rorscach speaks in a weasely voice, closer to his secret identity than the figure he cuts in costume. In the clip I saw he sounded more like the trailer-man.

I love the novel Watchmen. I love the way it's paced, the speed at which it unfold when I read it. I love the details in the background, the detours the story takes. Like Alan Moore I can't see these things working in a movie.

A couple of links from LinkMachineGo sum up two other reasons I don't want to see the film: the tacky associated merchandise ("we're society's only protection"?) and that it's not likely to be a good adaptation.

I hope everyone enjoys the film, it's just not for me.

But everybody knows that…

One of the most useful things I learned on my masters was the importance of citation. It's not enough to provide a fact: you need to be show where it came from.

I once spent a few hours in the University library tracing William Burrough's assertion that Tristan Tzara caused a riot by performing random poetry on stage. I'd seen the fact quoted in various places but ended up fairly sure it was an exaggeration on Burrough's part (as unlikely as that sounds). By a process of repetition the story had gained an academic credence.

Another important thing I learned was to be suspicious of common sense. If 'everyone knows' something it's worth figuring out where that belief comes from and what its limits are.

David Aaronovitch has written a brilliant article in the Times investigating the statistic that we are caught on CCTV 300 times a day. It's a fantastic demonstration of how 'everyone' can come to know something. (via As Above)

I’m reading an “erotic story” at Short Fuse, March 8th

What did I do at the weekend?

Well, I spent Sunday revising a story, which involved reading a great deal of Anais Nin. Reading industrial doses of erotica is a strange thing. After the first hundred pages or so it all blurs together. You turn the page, hoping for a surprise and… Oh wow, people fucking again.

Still, I persevered, finished the story, and sent it off. I received an email this morning to say it's been accepted and I will be reading The Dirty Bits at Short Fuse's erotica night this Sunday.

The story is on it's 3rd title, having previously been called Dirty Books and Madrugada. I originally wrote it back in 2007 and it's waited on my hard drive since then. The revised version is much stronger, and features excerpts (samples?) from Anais Nin and Georges Bataille. It's going to be an interesting piece to read aloud, a little showier than my usual pieces.

Short Fuse is on March 8th in the Komedia's Studio Bar and costs £4 entry. The night also features short stories from Tom Rice, Afsaneh Gray, Naomi Foyle and the poet Catherine Smith. It should be quite a night.