The TPR Stream - January 2013
21.01.2013
Chivas, Dunhills, and Coke: The Daily Routine of Hunter S. Thompson By The Editors
We at TPR don’t like to fall into the habit of routine. It’s the best way to make sure your brain goes soft and your midsection becomes a gelatinous slush that only resembles human abdominal muscles. No, we like to wake up to the wide-open possibilities the short time we spend on this Earth provides us. Routines are just so limiting. For instance, as we type this the snow falls outside of our window. We’re dreaming of a tequila on the golden sands of Tulum, Mexico. If we were in the habit and routine of having a real job then making Tulum a real possibility just wouldn’t happen. We’d have to sit at our desk, typing up expense reports or something as the clock agonizingly drained away second by second in tedium for the rest of our relative youths. The only thing that limits us now is the horde of cash it would take to properly enjoy all the amenities Tulum provides, but that’s just another broken scam that we refuse to take part in. So, alas, no Tulum, but no routines either. We’ll take it. If we were to fall to routine however it might look something like Hunter S. Thompson’s following daily routine, which isn’t really a routine as much as it is Spartan training for your nasal cavities. Now, if we could somehow combine that with Mexico.
18.01.2013
Burying people in graves seems a pointless pre-historic tradition to us. From burials to the Christmas Tree, so much of what we do today is just mindlessly carrying on pagan traditions of the past. It’s also a waste of space and a hell of a way to treat a body. That’s why when we go, we want to be cremated and launched into space. Who knows? Maybe a speck of our ash will travel across the eons, find a planet situated in the Goldilocks Zone, and start some weird bookish culture with an adherence to Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Arthur Rimbaud, and wholly appropriate amounts of whiskey. We’re not sure if that’s how evolutionary biology works, but we’re willing to give it a shot.
17.01.2013
The Rock Star Writers By Anne Brechin
Sometimes rock stars get bored with being rock stars. We know, crazy right? How could they get bored with all that? The crowds, the adoration, the prancing around playing rock music on a stage (more often than not in some whacked out costume) being your actual job… not to mention the booze, the drugs and well, hey, the thousands of semi-naked young women (and men… depending on your proclivities) willing to subject themselves to your every whim simply for the sheer joy of being within spunking distance of you. Who could ever get tired of that? We’re pretty sure we couldn’t…although we’d be willing to try, given the opportunity and enough class A substances. Well, maybe it ain’t all it’s cracked up to be. Maybe you had a bad trip, or got a less-than-stellar write up on Groupie Dirt. Or maybe you’re simply too damn talented for one oeuvre to contain, as with Tribes’ Johnny Lloyd who’s just published a book illustrated by TPR’s own Artist-in-Residence, Hayden Kays. In any case, here are five musicians who put aside their rock superstardom for five minutes in order to put pen to paper.
16.01.2013
Ed. Note-The fabulous Johnny Lloyd of the equally fabulous UK group Tribes and our very own Artist-in-Residence Hayden Kays have teamed up for a new literary endeavor in the form of a novella entitled 'a journey through the heart of a pig'. No, it’s not a fictional account of the dissection of Dominique Strauss-Kahn’s left pulmonary artery, but rather a soaring adventure through space and the human condition in search of heaven and the hope for salvation. It's penned by none other than Johnny Lloyd with art work provided by the always deft hand of Hayden Kays. A rocker we respect teams up with an artist we admire in the almighty name of literature? TPR not only fully endorses, we endorse with whiskey in hand. Mr. Kays sat down with Mr. Lloyd on a January evening this past weekend to have a little chat about art, literature and, of course, the end of the world.
15.01.2013
Remembering Anna Politskoya In Her Own Words By The Editors
Anna Politskoya was murdered on the way home from the grocery store. The killing was likely ordered by Putin-supported Chechen strongman Ramzan Kadyrov, whom Ms. Politskoya railed against in her reporting from Chechnya. In the following essay, Ms. Politskoya writes touching of her experiences in Chechnya. She writes of beheadings and threats against her life. She writes about the dignity of a people under assault, of which she is included. It details her dealings with both Mr. Kadyrov and the government of Mr. Putin, which had labeled her as a pariah and enemy. It’s a painful reminder of the gross atrocities that remain in this 21st century, and highly recommended reading for anybody with an interest in human dignity. Ms. Politskoya deserves to be remembered for the incredible bravery she showed in the face Mr. Kadyrov’s death threats. But more than that, Ms. Politskoya deserves to be remembered for the incredible bravery she displayed in telling story of a suffering people. It was a bravery that required the ultimate sacrifice.
14.01.2013
They're Murdering Journalists in Russia By The Editors
Dmitry Kholodov picked up a briefcase in a Moscow train station. He was investigating military corruption and had been told the briefcase contained evidence. It did not. It contained a bomb that exploded in his office and killed him. Natalya Skryl was investigating an ownership dispute at a local metallurgical plant. Returning home, she was bludgeoned over the head a dozen times and died the next day. Anna Politkovskaya was found in her elevator shot four times. She had two gunshot wounds in her chest, one in the shoulder, and one in her head cause by a bullet shot at point blank range. At the time, Politkovskaya was investigating alleged Russian misconduct in Chechnya. She was known as a vocal critic of the Kremlin. Since Mr. Putin’s election in 2000, only post-invasion Iraq has seen more slaughtered journalists with at least 43 journalists going back to 1993 having been killed in Russia as a direct cause of their work. The attacks are brazen and the target is clear. The free media of the Russian people is under assault.
11.01.2013
Because It’s 5 O’clock Somewhere: This Is Where the Wild Things Dance By Shaan Joshi
This simple fact is we’re all scared of death. It looms over us not like the Sword of Damocles but the sky that holds the sword and everything below it. There are those, however, without fear who discover from within the terror a fantastic insight and wisdom that gives us not only understanding of death, but draws clear roots to the fears and anxieties that bind our daily lives. These are to not be afraid. To be joyous. To dance around the fire wildly as long the fire burns. Maurice Sendak danced, and hardly alone. He danced with a great deal of very wild things in a completely fantastic way. We want to be fantastic. More importantly, we want you to be fantastic. Here, in that effort, are the wise words contained in Maurice Sendak’s final interview. They are words on life, death, and the beyond. Won’t you come dance with us?
10.01.2013
The Verses of Battle (Rap) By Anne Brechin
Ah, the rap battle. Once considered the pinnacle of the rapper’s expertise, the appeal of battle rap has fallen foul of the bigger appeal of making songs about gross commercialism. Not that these were ever excluded from battle rapping, but there was at least the inevitability that someone was going to try and puncture your braggadocio. Classic live freestyle battles are still being fought, of which the recent showdown between Marvwon and Math Hoffa is a shining example, but they’re even allowing British people to do it, and not just that, but they’re letting English teachers chastise students via the medium. So much for rap’s anti-establishment image. All we’re saying is we long for the halcyon days of battling, back in the mists of time, when Jay-Z and Nas were lobbing shots at each other (figuratively), Biggie and Tupac somewhat less figuratively; back when Kool Moe Dee went up against Busy Bee Starski, and Dunbar challenged Kennedy.
09.01.2013
The Last Poets: Walt Whitman Was Right About Rap Music By Shaan Joshi
Walt Whitman was a firm believer that America was a land of poetry, and would continue to be for its history. Of course, this is true of so many countries. The Czech Republic’s founding president was a man of letters and the country is better off for it. For so many years this was true of America as well, but the past few decades would seem against that. The poets and writers have faded from the television screen on which they represented art and good reason in political and cultural debate. They largely faded from the newspapers, where a poet named Edgar Allen Poe first gained public foothold. Poetry became something one had to seek out, not something so interwoven in the American tapestry that it was as evident as the stars and stripes that adorn the American flag. But is that really true? Perhaps poetry has been there all along, just shifting against our expectations like so many times in the past. The tone may have changed. The tenor may have changed. Even the color of those writing it has changed (and changes again), but one thing has remained the same. The soul of poetry still enraptures the public eye, and, in fact, still demands its focused attention to this day. It’s as mainstream as any other part of culture. That’s right; we’re talking about rap music. Not only that. We’re talking about the Last Poets. Appreciate.
08.01.2013
Whitman's When I Heard The Learn'd Astronomer, Paneled By The Editors
We separate science from so many things. From wonder. From magic. From the arts. You know the saying. It’s not a science. It’s an art. The implication being that science is technical and precise, whereas art is vague and unquantifiable. We wholly disagree. There’s an art to science. Without great, sweeping strokes of creativity, great scientific discoveries would have stayed hidden in the shadows of mystery for many more centuries. As John Dewey said, “Every great advance in science has issued from a new audacity of the imagination”. So we appreciate when the arts and sciences are connected à la Walt Whitman’s legendary When I Heard The Learn'd Astronomer. Especially when The Learn'd Astronomer is paneled in beautiful comic illustration.
07.01.2013
The Ten Most Expensive Books of 2012 By The Editors
They say books are a wealth of knowledge, but they can also be a wealth of money. Not just for those who write them, but for those who collect them as well. Things that are rare on this Earth tend to make human beings want to spend perceived value (aka money) on them. Take shiny rocks for example. Human beings love shiny rocks. They will kill for shiny rocks. They will exploit nations for shiny rocks. They will force children to toil their youth and lives away for shiny rocks. Why? Because human beings like to use shiny rocks in their marriage ceremonies. Also, when they get caught sharing their private parts with other human beings they’re not supposed to be sharing their private parts with, shiny rocks are a good way to apologize (see: Kobe Bryant). Diamonds are a girl’s best friend. If that’s true, so is genocide. Much rarer than shiny rocks is the true knowledge that the very best books contain, but even with that books themselves are not immune to the economic concept of scarcity. So won’t you go with us on a journey, dear reader, to discover 2012’s most expensive books.
04.01.2013
Do people write fan mail anymore? With the possibilities for engaging with celebrities through Twitter, Facebook and other social media, it’s hard to see the attraction in actually putting pen to paper (or even writing an email). The likelihood is that if it’s read at all, it won’t be by the object of your adoration but by their agent or PA. And if the sleb in question does receive your missive, they are more likely to be weirded out than to want to meet you – especially if, as happened to poor little Justin Bievers, you send them golf clubs or cereal. It’s not often that a simple fan letter results in years of close friendship with its recipient. However, that was the case with writers Lawrence Durrell and Henry Miller.
03.01.2013
South Park and Titus Andronicus By The Editors
Titus Andronicus (besides being an amazing name and title) hasn’t historically shared the same luster as some of Shakespeare’s other works. Some question if it was even written by Shakespeare at all. By all accounts it was indeed written by The Bard, but suffered from the honor of being one of Shakespeare’s early plays. Hey, even the greatest athletes have rookie seasons. The hallmarks of greatness to come are there, including a fantastic closing scene that inspired what many consider to be the greatest South Park episode of all time. You know the scene we’re talking about. Yes, the one where Titus, stuck in an endless cycle of revenge against Tamora, feeds the empress her own children. Now, we remember why we actually liked Titus Andronicus. It displayed the morbidity and the gore for which Shakespeare would come to be known.
02.01.2013
Paging Lord Xenu By The Editors
We want to like you Tom Cruise. Really. You bring a method actor’s fastidious attention to detail, regardless of the part. It’s what led Bill Simmons to call you “the Daniel Day-Lewis of shitty movies”. You're known to be meticulous in your approach to your craft, no matter how silly the premise of the film. The same can unfortunately be said of your devotion to Scientology. Scientology – better known as the promulgated belief of a science fiction writer that a space overlord named Xenu traveled intergalactic space in DC-8s to chain alien life forms to an exploding volcano in Hawaii thereby engendering the negative floating spirits that would come to occupy and infect mankind’s ancestors while also conveniently allowing the religion to explain (and sell a solution to) all of the supposedly inherent unhappiness inside of us all — in the end is probably not any less batshit than any other organized religion, but when we see revelations about Scientology in a new book by BBC reporter John Sweeney it makes us, well, snicker and wonder how anybody could believe such things. Then, we remembered the sacrament.
01.01.2013
It is now New Year’s Day. The sun rises on a new year and ambition is all the better for it. We hope you found as much love as you could last night in between the many shots of well rum that made your New Year’s Eve. Here’s to hoping you’re taking a cold, hard stare at that love this morning wondering how the appropriate way is to shepherd somebody off before breakfast (the answer is lie). Ah well, no rose can forever find its bloom and not every love can last. It is a great tragedy in this life, but also provides so much of its fun. Just don’t be old and looking over the stern at the past events of your life and wish that you should have fallen in love more. Human beings are always the best when they reach for the beautiful things. So, dear reader, won’t you let John Steinbeck treat you to some lovely advice on that most beautiful of things.
22.01.2013
The Voice of America: A History of Inaugural Poets By The Editors
Cuban-American Richard Blanco made history yesterday with his inaugural poem, being the youngest, first gay and first Hispanic reader of a poem at a presidential inauguration – and the first to raise a twitterstorm of complaints that his effort didn’t rhyme (spot the tweeter with more vitriol than accuracy promoting the hashtag #BeLikeSuess). You can watch Blanco’s live performance after the jump or for those who still vaguely remember those blocks of pulped tree we used to carry around, read the full text here. But perhaps somewhat surprisingly, the actual history of official inauguration poems is fairly scarce.
23.01.2013
Drone On: Six Short Stories From Teju Cole Regarding the U.S. President’s Ongoing Shadow War By The Editors
Even the most ardent detractors of U.S. President Barack (Hussein?) Obama mostly concede their grounds of criticism when it comes to this president’s foreign policy successes. This much was on display in the third debate of the U.S. election – the one that deals with foreign policy – where Mitt Romney mostly just nodded in agreement and squinted unassuredly at Bob Scheiffer. The debate stood out for another reason. Mainly, its blank discussion on the Predator drone shadow war currently carried out by the United States in three countries.
24.01.2013
Lurching Towards a Hobbesian Era By Vishwas Gaitonde
Humanity faces a great deal of challenges in the next century. What’s lost in that are the immense challenges facing animal life in the coming years. Author Vishwas Gaitonde explores an impending contraction in biodiversity and what it means to us all.
25.01.2013
Because It’s 5 O’clock Somewhere: Billie Holiday Sings a Poem By The Editors
There are few things we at TPR enjoy more than Sundays, sun beams and Billie Holiday. Preferably, we like to combine all three with a mimosa and a tightly wrapped “cigarette” of our particular choosing. It sounds nice just thinking about. We just have to survive the next two days to get there. Ms. Holiday’s rendition of Abel Meeropol’s Strange Fruit might just be strong enough to compel us to spend a Sunday morning on a Friday afternoon.
28.01.2013
A Study in Mug Shots By The Editors
There’s a few different ways to approach the mug shot. There is no wrong way as the injury already been committed. There is a right way, however, as evidenced by none other than a young and incredibly handsome Jack Kerouac. So those are the sad eyes girls of bebop past always accused you of having before taking care of you and undoubtedly cooking you soup. Subterraneans, indeed.
29.01.2013
Don't Let Your Cowboys Grow Up To Be Poets By Anne Brechin
Gun fights, Stetsons, saloon bars, cattle ranches… and rather more recently, rodeos, line dancing and country music. All concepts you would instantly associate with the stereotypical denizens of the American West, cowboys. Rather than, say, painting watercolours or deep sea diving or, for example, writing poetry. But the world is a strange and surprising place, which is why we were delighted to stumble across the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering.
30.01.2013
The Future of Libraries By The Editors
The internet, of pornography and cat pics fame, has changed many aspects of the publishing industry and not just for the publishing houses. The U.S. is left with one national retailer of books who no doubt survives on vampire stories, books starring Jennifer Lawrence, chosen-one books (see: Harry Potter and Jesus) and the pent-up libido of sexually frustrated housewives in their quest to find the 51st shade of grey. For all the swan songs warbled in the name of physical books and the businesses that rely up upon them, few question what will happen to the library. A new infographic from OpenSite reveals a future for libraries that’s not only intriguing but surprisingly robust.
31.01.2013
Max McGee Goes Out Drinking: The Story Of A Super Bowl Legend By Shaan Joshi
Wherever men meet in skill and competition legends arise. Legends who stand out above the others and become enshrined in our collective memory as something beyond human. Someone who proves we can be better than our extremely limited selves. Men who have to come to represent the very highest ideals. Sometimes those same legends show up at the team buffet the morning of the championship game reeking of booze and no sleep. Sometimes as they make their way to that very same buffet they give off the delicate yet distinct odor of cocoa butter. Sometimes that legend comes off the pine and dominates with a raging hangover. Sometimes legends have a name. This legend’s name is Max McGee.
