Postcards from Gravelly Beach – Global literature pod dispatches

Along his namesake trail on banks of Lynn Creek comes story of Group of 7 bohemian painter Frederick Varley’s 10 wild years in Vancouver teaching and founding art schools, developing new aesthetics and shacking up in an $8 mountain home with mistress.

Bring your own brushes: Upon the Varley Trail – Postcard #83
(30MB, 20:50, mp3, stereo)

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Love in (most) all forms – from self to romance to heartbreak – explored through poems including: mis-quote from (probably not) Jack Kerouac, Khalil Gibran advising his son, Mary Oliver reminding to trust, (Angela) Anaïs (Juana Antolina Rosa Edelmira) Nin’s recklessness, Leonard Cohen recalling flowers to a shy lover, Katie Buemann picking up a sword – plus a variety of relevant freeverse and haiku by myself – while Jerry Garcia describes a Wonderful World and Tanya Donnelly pines for the Atlantic.

https://archive.org/download/postcards-82-what-love-might-be/postcards-82-what-love-might-be.mp3

Fall headfirst for: What Love Might Be… – Postcard #82

Dave poems: 

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Full of mis-spoken words, forgotten names and other sloppiness comes annotated thoughts (squished through time and space) for shut-ins, drifters and sufferers amidst erstwhile festive melancholy times of disruption and tumult, including poems – read alongside mosquito and rooster sounds – by:

https://archive.org/download/postcard-81-transient-cultural-riffs/postcard-81-transient-cultural-riffs.mp3

For the shut-ins: Transient Cultural Riffs – Postcard #81 (70MB, 48:41, 192kbps mp3, stereo)

++

riffs about John Lennon and Ono Yoko and Marshall McLuhan

&

musical riffs by Chet Baker Quartet with Russ Freeman

Plus name checks for Neal Cassady, Jello Biafra, Dave Madden, Allen Ginsberg’s holy cock, dine and dash, Ken Kesey, Gary Snyder, Alan Watts, Beat Museum, City Lights, Grateful Dead, Beat Museum, City Lights Bookstore, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Jim Robson and more… (note to self: add links).

Errors & Mishaps

Another fact check via @Marczegans: poet & @CityLightsBooks founder Lawrence Ferlinghetti is 99 (100 March 24), not 90 as mentioned. Crafting poetry, looking great, an all time champ!

Fact-check via M. @scales / confirmed! Charles Bukowski & me indeed share a birthdate Aug. 16 (him 1920, Andernach, Germany m; me 1970, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada). Merci! —

Not exactly a factcheck but i did stumble up poet @leif’s name / meant to gracefully say “Leif Baradoy” – sheesh i’ve only known him for 8 years… Anyhow, listen to his SMS-sized poems.

John / Yoko + Marshall McLuhan interview transcript at Beatles Interviews

“On a snowy day in Toronto in December 1969, John Lennon and Yoko Ono sat down with renowned Canadian media theorist Marshall McLuhan to chat about their ‘War is Over!’ billboard campaign, which had seen huge proclamations of “War is over! If you want it. Happy Christmas from John & Yoko”erected in 12 different countries.

While John and Ono were undoubtably one of the most talked about pop culture figures of the time, McLuhan was no stranger to the spotlight either. He is known for coining the expression “the medium is the message” and for predicting the internet almost 30 years before it was invented.”

John & Yoko with Marshall McLuhan: Ontario, Canada 12/19/1969

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Upon turning 70 years old, Dave’s dear sensei (since a teenage Utah community college stint), Larry Harper (among various monikers) curated 70 items of advice (at request of Annie Dandelion).

As such, between licks by Grateful Dead and master potter Marty Kendall, he riffs the list – ranging from practical to mystical to almost comical, many including nudity and space. Oh, also includes his ethereal autoharp songs (rescued from a ca. 1991 Zzyxz Rd cassette).

https://archive.org/download/postcard-80-sensei-larrys-wisdom/postcard-80-sensei-larrys-wisdom.mp3

Gather some wisdom with:  Sensei Larry’s Wisdom – Postcard #80

More Larry

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Float to Istanbul, Muscat and elsewhere, and check in with Cleopatra, Shakespeare, Francis Drake, Shah of Persia, Adam, Cain, Abel, Lawrence, Ataturk, Czars Nicholas and Alexander, Matt Harding, Russia oligarchs, well-fed stray cats, unidentified shortwave broadcasts, Abraham, Norman, Matt Harding, rowers, drummers, a blonde dog and you and me… finding the edges of the globe.

https://archive.org/download/postcard-79-circumnavigation-of-sorts/postcard-79-circumnavigation-of-sorts.mp3

Set sail for: A Circumnavigation of Sorts – Postcard #79

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Disappearing, invisibility, loneliness, depression, anxiety, being lost, trying to not be found, trying to find white space to invigorate… Sometimes these weave together, other times (perhaps) each remain exclusive.

Gord Downie, Jack Kerouac, Charles Bukowski and me all try to figure out the nuance in different ways atop Turkish street music, trains from Kerala and Moncton, and various ephemeral music snippets.

https://archive.org/download/postcard-78-disappearing-for-invigoration/postcard-78-disappearing-for-invigoration.mp3

Prepare to vanish with: Disappearing for Invigoration – Postcard #78 (23MB, 16:25, 192k mp3, stereo)

Line-up:

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In hospital with sedated Grandpa, Dave reads complete “Letters from Russia” epistolary literature project with frequent interruptions from visitors, nurses and medical apparatus. The letters address issues of class, revolutions, monarchy, war, trade, and love in the context of Napoleon’s foray into Russia in 1812 through letters from a cobbler to his fiancé in Paris. Then finishes with Walt Whitman heading on the open road (which ole Gramps was so fond of doing himself).

Featured music: Mark Olson (music, guitar, vocals) and Dave Olson (lyrics, drums) “Little Flame” – recorded to 4 track cassette, circa 1996. 

https://archive.org/download/postcard-77-find-a-flame-in-a-hospital/postcard-77-find-a-flame-in-a-hospital.mp3

Breathe easy for: Hospital Letters and Flames – Postcard #76

Read the “Letters from Russia” project in whole – including illustrations plus dossier of background notes, lectures, interviews etc.

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Puffing along a trail recounting leaving cold, miserable London en route to post-hurricane Florida with flashbacks to working in Rheinplatz grade fields, gathering chestnuts to sell for beer and bread money, strange encampments at Oktoberfest, and hitchhiking to Amsterdam with gaggle of pals. To London by ferry and rapid exit via cheap flight Florida, quickly interjecting in chaotic domestic situations, meals with surly Hare Krishnas, sleeping on unglamorous beaches, and avoiding looting commotion, while plotting forward momentum, which eventually came in form of a dubious drive-away car situation to Dallas… and beyond (in 1992).

Features music by: “Brave Captain” fIREHOSE (recorded live in Ancienne, Belgique, March 12, 1991 – via Archive.org), “Florida” by Blue Rodeo (recorded live in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan), and “Crazy Fingers” by Grateful Dead (recorded live in Phoenix, AZ, 1993 – via archive.org). 

https://archive.org/download/postcard-76-forward-momentum-to-florida/postcard-76-forward-momentum-to-florida.mp3

Brace yourself for: Forward Momentum to Florida – Postcard #75

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Amidst a thunderstorm at 4AM on a balcony in Chiang Mai, Dave discusses – with excessive frankness and emotion – various medical conundrums (Fibromyalgia and CFS-ME) and details the physical feelings of “crash mode” as well as the mental strain in dealing with self de-identification and inter-personal relationships, confusion in seeking help, and various alternative treatments.

No sympathy or advice requested.

https://archive.org/download/postcard-75-thunderstorms-in-the-crash-years/postcard-75-thunderstorms-in-the-crash-years.mp3

Always be kind for: Thunder in the Crash Years – Postcard #75 (75MB, 37:09, mp3, stereo)

Features music by:

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Ship-to-shore transmissions with shortwave broadcasts from elusive listening posts, soundscapes from slow ships, and freeverse poetry about unanswered communiques, transitory conditions, arbitrary citizenships, invented geography, de-identification, and intentional disappearance.

Features music: “Dream World” by Matt Harding from NYOSSS (New York, Orem, San Sebastian, & Shanghai), plus various shortwave broadcasts of dubious origin, and sound samples from oceans (recorded by Dave and others via BBC sound archive).

https://archive.org/download/postcard-74-listening-to-sea/postcard-74-listening-to-sea.mp3

Tune the shortwave  receiver for: Listening to Sea – Postcard #74

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