Author: playhaus2015

Visual poem in H& journal

A still image from one of my recent video poems appeared on March 30 in the poetry journal H&. This visual poem is titled “Static-1”. You can see it here.

The text on the image reads: “static/crushed bits/another meme ends.” It’s taken from one of a new group of works centering on lost civilizations, and the fragility of cultures, languages, and nations. The source video was created using a long chain of glitch video devices and other old video effects processors. Some of that footage can be viewed on the Bionic Eyes YouTube channel.

“Ouija’s Revenge” in Your One Phone Call

Poetry blog Your One Phone Call posted my poem “Ouija’s Revenge” today. You can check it out here.

Like its sister publication In Between Hangovers, YOPC is one of my favorite poetry rags at the moment. Underground, “anti-academic” and pretty wild in flavor. Lots of stuff for people who don’t like poetry to enjoy.

This is one of a series of poems I wrote about a character named Ouija, kind of an actual Ouija board that has a life and character of its own. And its one of many written in my “surrealist rant” style.

Work published in Empty Mirror, In Between Hangovers

More work hitting the Internet this week. Empty Mirror published four poems, “A lost message of kings,” This Ancient Night,” “Breaking the Gold Mask,” and “New Bronze Age.” You can read them here. These are some of my most recent pieces, all written on the theme of lost civilizations, and the first of that new batch to see publication. Under the current regime here in the U.S., it seemed important to deal with the fragility of cultures, languages, and nations.

An online journal, Empty Mirror starts with a focus on Beat Generation literature and arts, moving on from there to explore similar tendencies in the contemporary scene.

Poetry blog In Between Hangovers also published one of my pieces today, “Zodiac of the Damned.” You can read it here. They only have one other poem in the queue, then I’ll have to ship them out some more.

Lots of new stuff coming up through Spring and Summer in Chiron Review, Clockwise Cat, H&, and Otoliths.

“Art of the Deal” in Your One Phone Call

Today, poetry blog Your One Phone Call published my poem “The Art of the Deal.” You can read it here. This is the second of three of my poems the journal will publish this month.

Although the title references Trump’s book, the poem doesn’t really deal with him or his businesses. And this piece was written in the 90s, back when a Trump presidency was just a joke. Nonetheless, the poem describes a phantom Washington, DC, which is kind of prophetic, looking at it now.

One poem in Your One Phone Call

On New Year’s Day, literary zine Your One Phone Call accepted three of my poems, to be published in March. Today, the first one appeared on the site, “Heroes Fly for Free.” You can read it here. The photo they used one of a series of stills taken from a video self-portrait I made. You might notice that the flying saucer is a little closer to crashing into the US Capitol dome in this one.

The other two poems should be released later this month. Naturally, I’ll have posts about those when it happens.

Another fine WordPress publication, Your One Phone Call is affiliated with In Between Hangovers. I sent YOPC five poems and they took three, passing the remainder to IBH. Thanks to complications on the WordPress platform, neither journal could use the first batches of poems I sent, which used considerable indenting for visual appeal and to add to the meaning and rhythm of the words. WordPress doesn’t “do” indenting, as many users probably discover too late (like I did). Because I have poems of all different varieties around here, I just sent them some stuff without the pesky indents. Happily, they were able to accept that work, which is why I’m writing this post.

Bionic Eyes YouTube channel ready to view

Experimenting with glitch video is one of my current passions. I finally established a YouTube channel called Bionic Eyes to publish some of my video work. A sample video, “Negative Mermaid,” is up now. The images were created using VHS footage run through a BPMC Touch Deluxe circuit bent device. I’ve created several video poems using the Touch Deluxe along with a Kaos Pad Entrancer, which will be released as soon as I add some music to them. The same set up was used to create film stills used as self-portaits posted on this blog. I used a Tachyons+ Optiglitch circuit bent video effects unit to create the cover for my poetry collection, Savage Magic:

Product Details

Flashback: Article on the Bride of Frankenstein’s singing career in Cool and Strange Music magazine

bride-sings

That time my article on Elsa Lanchester’s Bawdy Cockney Songs LPs appeared in Cool and Strange Music #28. You know Ms. Lanchester best as the titular star of Bride of Frankenstein, James Whale’s 1935 horror masterpiece.

Later in her career, she took up a kind of cabaret act where she sang silly ditties full of innuendo and double entendres. Many songs from this act ended up on two LPs, originally titled “Songs for a Shuttered Parlor” and “Songs for a Smoke Filled Room.” (Reissued as “Bawdy Cockney Songs” and, naturally, “More Bawdy Cockney Songs.”) Both are great examples of weird and strange thrift store scores.

Cool and Strange Music no longer has an online presence, but you can read the “director’s cut” of the article in my own archive here.

lanchester-LP

c&smusic28