gentrification - the death of art...the inevitable postponed as long as possible...

so i've been really excited
about how the neighborhood is growing,
but the inevitable is happening
in this previously unfavorable part of melrose...
i guess mondo video closing down
was the first sign that fringe places
might not make it...

if you've been here you know that
this place is filled with holes
and held together with tape and hope.
the literal structure is two separate buildings
that had an alley between them
and someone decided to put a roof on it.
not the best structural integrity
to be sure.

but now we fight for what has been built
out of this sweatshop

we have a new roommate
who is eager to help
redo the place, make it more organized
so i have great hope..

i despise commerce, and money
and logistics, but i have put forth
my greatest effort to sustain this place
as well as within our means.

i am sure that our new roommate maty,
though i am very sad to see lilly leave,
even though i know she is going back to school,
and pursuing the next part of her life...
i think this new blood in the family
will be good for il corral.
and i will work as tirelessly as possible
to ensure that this place can adapt
and thrive...

we have been through so much,
violence, betrayal, factioning,
evolution not without scars,
and it is a miracle that we're still here...
but we are,
and i refuse to accept the tenets of
gentrification,
though i am aware of it's painful inevitability
and the tenuous nature of our endeavors...

so what...
at any given point in our history,
this could have ended, but it didn't...
i am proud of the people who love this place,
and i knew that what we were doing was rare.

that we have been sustainable for more than
a couple years,
is proof that experimental music has value,
and our defense of the fringe has not been in vain.

i am lucky that i have lived this long,
and though i do not feel that i have accomplished anything,
i have helped others reach their dreamy realities,
and that has to count for something.

this beast upgrade of the neighborhood,
this taking over of real estate by the mobile endowed
may be eventually unstoppable,
but we knew that from the beginning,
and ride the tides
as a body calm,
almost dead, so calm
to be carried not crushed
by the vast ocean

i reserve my profanity for the depth of feeling
and this is deserved.

september brings school for us all...

saturday, to mark the first day of september...
we have a great show.

we will be having a new contributor soon
the space is interesting to a couple people now
thinking about it and the
possibilities

i think it will be the best for all
whatever happens.

things are going well i think.

it will be nice to be dark for awhile.

theatres have it right.
venues never get a rest...

the white that glows in the black

last night was the blacklight art show
and crime scene cleanup

we sent lumper-splitter on their way with gas money
and a smile

it was an ecclectic mess of blood
and a necrophiliac's dream

the show went well
except for someone trying to steal stuff
(they got caught, by the police no less who knew the guy,
and were hanging around)
so that was a depression start,
though we were happy to have the things returned.

the music was great from the other bands
and a good time was had.

we are still open to bands / artists rehearsing
or using the space for fabrication etc.
so just email me ilcorralvox@gmail.com
with any interested parties.

i miss the ocean...
being inland is claustrophobic sometimes

it began to rain a bit today though
which added some cleanliness to the accumulation of dirt
and smog air
i think drinking tap water has aggravated the natives...
that amoung other things.

but our next show should be good.
something for your ears to delight in.

and it will be great to have a rest for awhile.

shadows and the inside mind

this weekend's show is going to be insane.
i wonder what will occur...
i am glad to be going last

i believe the noise will become the silences
over which more noise must be made
that becomes the inverted pattern
resonating into itself to
provide blank space again.

we are getting back to function
in some alignment at the center of the
hurricane, i wonder,

i have been talking to dave
from shadowcircus
and we will be hosting them again
late fall or early winter.

i will be glad to have back such
wonderful people
and their puppets.

absurdly good times

so much has gone on since shadow circus was here...

they are returning in november,
so that is momentous.

NOISEPOLLINATION was a festivity
that is counted among my favorite experiences now.

it took a great deal of recovery,
simply because it was such an undertaking,
but steve really created something extraordinary -
i just held on for the ride.

our relationship with the theatre next door:
sacred fools
is burgeoning in fine form.
the exchange of spaces is quite remarkable,
and i feel it is a mark of passage
that we have now been able throw a fest
which had two venues to host it.

tonight they are holding auditions here again;
part of the ongoing barter.

pancake - the new resident canine friend -
almost two months old,
is ineffably charming
(though with piranha teeth)
and i think she will grow up to be a fine
corral member...

we are hosting an experimental night
of recycled music
not-real-time collaboration through recordings
this saturday
which i am highly interested to see the evolution of...
starting the night will be our three residents
georgia, scott & lilly
'spartacus'
whose sounds are melodic and sweet
but a force to be recokoned with for sure...

the harsh noise v. metal show was mind.blowing.

we are having visitors from portland on a wednesday soon,
a duo i am glad to host, childhood friends
and howardamb will be playing to compliment the scene
i am looking forward to seeing them again.

and i am bravely stepping into the realm of curating words
out loud
with music
probably written then performed
in collaboration with a local poet
b. constantine
who is a mentor to a dear friend departing
(omega)

i will do a night devoted to this art
soon,
and have already found interested music people/writers/speakers
which i am talking with.

if we are an experimental venue
- what of words -
they are archaic in origin yes,
but can they be dealt with in new light as well?
i believe so...
though not by me...
no,
but i am glad to host.

i enjoy letting others
paint a bill
then i listen/watch
rapt...
i can know that someone has put all their
extra energy into it,
where it seems i have none,...

how much this place has been thru,
the neighborhood is so rich now,
with a vegan restaurant right across the street,
but it is sad to see
the 'for lease' sign over mondo rob's place
...mondo video has been there for so many years,
long before we were here,
and they have hosted many many things,
quite different from an all-ages existence,
a bit out of my range of aesthetics,
but that place marks land
and has a section called "musicals from hell"
among other fascinating nomenclature for videos...
and now the rent is too much,
i know what he talks about...
"foot traffic"
the feeder of retail,
is non-existant here in many ways...
despite the vibrance of the community,
it is ironic,
but i do wonder what will go in his place,
he is going to make a documentary of his times.
he is leaving at the end of september.

who will be our new neighbors i wonder?
what strange space to make new...

talking to him reminded me what we are doing here...
it has always been a challenge
though these days our troubles are so much less violent...

after the recent burlesque part of the puppet show
sparked conversation about "all-ages"
and what we expected to do about more "adult"
"art"
i realized that the fear of getting shut down
for doing anything is reason to think,
but within reason...

frank moore is coming for two days in a row
as the folks from dung mummy (curating the show)
ran into some controversy concerning the content of his performance
in the other scheduled venue.

i am not one of the people in this fine world
who is unabashed regarding nudity.
i am painfully shy,
and feel awkward, possibly more than most,
feel inundated by the sexuality of this city,
so these shows challenge me in part of my mind,
but i had never thought of saying no to the work itself...
that did not seem an option.
that did not seem right.
this is a different context,
and especially regarding frank moore's performance,
is a revelation unfolding,
a peeling back of the psyche...

"art" is a reflection perhaps, the piece of moving glass
for us to look in and see all these reactions
the triggers of our brain.
the human body is - and always will be -
a controversial site.
the fluids of the body,
the acts done with it,
are surrounded by cultural significance.
personal experiences fetishize or fatalize the processes...
few aspects of it are left neutral...

i think it is because i have spent so much time
thinking of myself as energy,
that i cannot fathom relating to the body
in any other way that i do.
i delight in the transcendent,
and i know i am in the minority truly,
but my relation to living is different from most.

what of all this,
?

it is of no consequence really,
but is my devotion to the all-ages reality
stronger than any art?

lucky for us we are subterranean
and under the radar of such concerns.

there are so many places in this seedy city
distracting illegalities
far more important than us.
let us hope it remains that way as long as possible,
for these are the magic times,
and though i partially resent the spark
(an innocent and well-meant comment)
which forced me to regard all this,
i know that those choices are far.
i simply cannot bend under the thought of it,
and must go forward strong.

the whole world could end tomorrow...
it feels that way,
as it has for everyone
since the beginning of everyone i guess,
but i try to focus on where i am
and what i can do in this short span,
in these absurdly good times...