I remember W S Burroughs quoting someone who said: "Writing is, of course, 50 years behind painting." Or was it 30 years. Or does it matter. Cant remember who said what. Seems true enough though. Recent fuss about what happened at White House Poetry Reading recently...K G read from the Wall Street Journal did he? Humm.......not new that. If so called conceptual poetry has everyone including renowned Stanford critics declaring the latest stuff conceptual all that...humph. NOT. Come on now. NO not begrudging K G or anyone else there time in the spotlight or best sellers list...but jesus call me jaded. Or maybe call anyone jaded who has been around long enough to know that Will Rogers read the paper in public and Lenny Bruce used to read his trial transcripts on stage too...both had audience rolling in the aisle. And maybe I can say that like me, anyone who was charmed enough to swallow some Oswley acid in the 60's has known for some time know how funny anything and everything was...remember that time mid trip someone picked up a phone book and started reading outloud and next thing you know everyone is on the floor laughing. Or goddess forbid someone turned on the TV...holy fuck! Blah blah blah. Conceptual for a good friend was, while peaking on sunshine finding a plastic dog toy shaped and colored exactly like a pork chop. Whew....that was conceptual. Oh well. That was then and now is now. If bad is good than flarf is old. Ditto concept. Ditto someone trying to make poetry out of there own genes. P.S. Someone else is trying to clone W S B from a turd a Lawrence plumber swiped from his overflowing crapper one day many years ago. The'artist' even got a grant from some outfit in Kansas City. Good for him. Stay tuned and keep reading The Weekly World News for updates.
Again...I enjoy a good joke as well as next guy...and if you can keep it up...do so. Why not. I am certainly not in a race with anyone. For better or worse trying to keep up just wears me out. Just sayin.
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the WEEKLY WORLD NEWS is, alas, no longer printed. i miss that rag. i think there's still a website up and running with columns by ed anger and the batboy but print is dead.
ReplyDeletebut yes old is new is old again then refound. i admit that i'm fuzzy on the whole conceptual thing. and flarf. i'm sure i'm missing out but like you 'i'm not in a race with anyone' so i'll just make my little barbaric yips my way, for bad and good.
george carlin was such a talent that i think if he read from the newspaper he could make it profound and hilarious too. andy kaufman was a comedian he never uttered a joke. just did these odd conceptual pieces, such as playing a record of mighty mouse theme song and when the chorus came he would lip sync HERE I COME TO SAVE THE DAY! so yeah, conceptualism is not new. but what the hell, if kenny g publishes a book that synthesizes the new york times sunday edition, and if people want to read it, bully for them. i might be missing something but isn't that the poetical equivilant of watching grass grow? if that's the point of publishing such a book, okay, but then what about it all that causes such a stir. sign me, 'who fucking cares, just make mine a double'.
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