ISSUE 58 FREE Star Maps: Lamoureux and Lin Explore Varying Cosmos

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ART Dapper Chap Quarterly POETRY Shira Dentz, Kate Hall URBAN FOLK Julia Douglass, Michael Jackson, Brownbird Rudy Relic, Alan Semerdjian, BOOG CITY Alexa Woodward, Kathy Zimmer A COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER FROM A GROUP OF ARTISTS AND WRITERS BASED IN AND AROUND NEW YORK CITY’S EAST VILLAGE ISSUE 58 FREE Star Maps: Lamoureux and Lin Explore Varying Cosmos

BY TIM PETERSON field of the page for composition in a manner book has to do with how questions of authorship space which, as the previous quotation suggests, Astronomy Orgonon not unlike Robert Duncan, with the movement and space are somehow larger—more unknown is an intertwining space. Mark Lamoureux of language sometimes initiated by a visual and mysterious—in the age of infinite digital In this strange book, which doesn’t often BlazeVOX Books imperative, sometimes a function of where it falls media and with Lin’s recognition of ituated at the intersection of science within a musical phrase. At other moments the how someone might approach this and religion, Mark Lamoureux’s poems form is driven by anaphora, employed in acts of question through the personage of Sin Astronomy Orgonon are odes to naming and renaming as a function of desire. The Heath Ledger. outmoded belief systems, provisional acts of book is conceptually thinking-through that perversely, and provisionally, rich too; in the best Mark Lamoureux’s formal and conceptual resurrect such systems, exploring their usefulness modernist tradition, in an almost pragmatist way. In this cosmology, the poet attempts ingenuity are a pleasure. Constantly each poem, a riff or improvisation upon the name a preposterous creating his own organic forms, he employs of a star, narrates the poet’s own experience as exfoliation of existing somewhere in a middle distance of affect, concepts that the field of the page for composition in a combining romantic yearning for heavenly bodies collapse upon with self-wounding pastiche like a “bleeding themselves in the manner not unlike Robert Duncan. thing” that “lies down / in marble arms.” The attempt to carry out writing engages in acts of beseeching or prayer their mutual contradictions. Lamoureux’s writing There is, of course, the need to mourn which evoke intimacy and awe, yet at other is informed by a sensibility both erudite and the death of Heath Ledger, and as times it sounds like a late version of Baudelaire’s autodidactic, and his copious, Wasteland-like members of the spectacle there is no way disgusted cultural critique. Such volatility and “Notes” sections at the end of each segment we can avoid doing so. Nevertheless, ambiguity are the result of Lamoureux’s signature in the book are almost as good as the poems. Lin’s mourning is a strange and productive strategy: a way of employing lush, archaic diction Between their bizarre titles and the sense of tribute indeed, since it implicitly plays upon in clotted paratactic arrays: “jumbo shrimp boat humor that informs many of the observations, they the actor’s name to address questions of plasticine: festive camphor votive / denies egress don’t illuminate references so much as complicate space and inscription. If writing is, at the to the ibis.” or obscure things further, offering a glimpse into end of the day, always about archiving or The speaker we can hear in the writing a background of connections the poet is making keeping a ledger, then Lin shows us how corresponds to the author’s voice yet is between different discourses. I get the sense this bookkeeping can only take place sometimes also possessed by external presences from some, like the extensive quotation about on the “Heath,” that place of wandering in the act of naming or describing. On the one how to construct a homunculus from semen, where King Lear went mad and declared himself look like poetry except in a few places that Lamoureux’s sense of humor includes an a “bare, forked thing.” where “whiteness could not be memorized” enjoyment of their oddness and in some cases Yet, rather than putting things forth in traditional or “BECAUSE IT OR HE WAS YOURS, you also their excessiveness. theoretical or poetic terms, Lin detours online are purple / although nothing purple was Understanding this humor is, I think, central to space back onto the page, presenting something distilled,” Tan Lin has momentarily attuned us to understanding the odd but extremely valuable that is simultaneously a collage and simulation of the Heath of inscription without celebrating or lyric affect of Lamoureux’s poetry, which at the “Heath” writing both produces and wanders condemning it. Instead he has given us a mood times displays a quality that might come across through. Samuel Pepys, the famous 17th-century for what cannot be mapped, or what can only as dramatically narcissistic or moping (by way diarist who recorded The Great Fire of London in be mapped endlessly, and shows us what of James Wright) if one did not also understand what today would be called “real time,” appears poetry (unlike exposition, critique, or praise) upon the Heath in the Project Gutenberg does best—poses situations as a question. Electronic archive only to disappear under What is the thing we live and write in today? It Lin’s mourning is a strange pages and pages of Gutenberg disclaimers, is the Heath, but what is the Heath? and productive tribute indeed, urls, and access protocols. These “functional” Alan Ramón Clinton is the author of the brambles are strangely echoed by the book’s scholarly monograph Mechanical Occult: since it implicitly plays upon screen shots of Heath Ledger, Jackie Chan’s Automatism, Modernism, and the Specter of the actor’s name to address Green Tea, J. Crew, copylefts and copyrights, Politics (Peter Lang) and a volume of poetry, search results, HTML code, and RSS buttons. Horatio Alger’s Keys (BlazeVOX Books). He is questions of space and The oscillation between high and low tech a lecturer at the University of Miami. continues with a section of inscription. handwritten notes on pieces of paper and index cards how influenced he is by the pathos of someone from students in Lin’s poetry Douglas Piccinnini like Morrissey. The overall impression one is left workshop—they are condensed Bushwick, Brooklyn hand, Lamoureux’s speaker becomes like an with after reading this book is of a sensibility biographies, the opposite of the My Notebook is in Your Car orgone cloudbuster, attempting to influence with enormous performative range, a voice with sprawl which comes from the the mythic and emotional polarities of now- impressive dexterity donning a feather loa. minute by minute recounting of unreachable entities from a distance “As though Tim Peterson is a poet and critic living in Heath Ledger’s death which the ionosphere were that wall/ you once Prospect Heights, Brooklyn, and editor of ends the book. One is led blasted humans from.” On the other hand, EOAGH: A Journal of the Arts. Peterson’s book to wonder here what is more Few things you can do over it attempts to narrate in a visceral way the Since I Moved In received the Gil Ott Award mysterious, the proliferation of that you can do over experiential process of what Wilhelm Reich from Chax Press. A new chapbook of poems is a life/death beyond previously to reach completion. calls the “individual who is unarmored and forthcoming from 2nd Ave Poetry. unimaginable proportions, in a therefore in contact with nature inside and sort of Muybridgian blog, or a Say, like a drop from this cup added outside himself.” Lamoureux accomplishes this B Y A L A N gnomic biography which merely from some other cup which is no longer our friend. by filtering experience through a colloquial, lists the cities one has lived in? anonymous “you” (“try to walk when you have But this is a false opposition RAM Ó N C L I N T O N But continuing to wave the broom at darkness. no legs”) reanimating this anonymous pronoun Heath since, for Lin, all inscription is as placeholder for, alternately, the star being Tan Lin infinitely variegated yet also part We re-live the feel the cool the air the park addressed, a beloved, a reader, and the Zaesterle Press of the Heath, which is equally sliding over the stone wall, for it is night speaker himself, where “up in/ your throat the y autographed copy of Heath, which everywhere and nowhere. The god/ hovers.” At any given moment it’s difficult was addressed to me and sent through “Disco” Operating System is this and sweating through the last year of life. the discern the direction of address, “No words Mthe mail even though I have never met “disco but what I mean by this This quiet, distilled by a sudden honk, for the speech in/ the light as it falls on you.” Tan Lin, is signed “Tan w. Heath.” I point this out is an orphanage in Australia drags its thick hair over our baldhead. Throughout the book, Lamoureux’s formal and because it deliberately places the authorship of or a homeless shelter club in conceptual ingenuity are a pleasure. Constantly the text, and authorship in general, in question. New York in the meat packing creating his own organic forms, he employs the What makes this question worth exploring in this district.” We all dance in this SCHWERVON’S new CD low blow out NOW on olive juice music!

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2 BOOG CITY WWW.WELCOMETOBOOGCITY.COM Kate Hall POETRY Greenpoint, Brooklyn Variation

Fat

Shira Dentz My therapist asks what I think of my looks. “I could lose a little weight,” I tell her. Salt Lake City The next thing I know, I am in the basement of a church talking about my eating. if it were rep-re-sent-a-tion-al “I had a hamburger for lunch,” I tell them. grate sunflowers slice worm into salad ohright bread would be better “Maybe you should change your hairstyle,” seal eyes with their envelopes black seeds furry centers the woman to my left says. “I like my hair,” I tell her. must say lookin good at a banister eye again pins hillseverything “I was just thinking you could maybe layer the back,” she goes on. rolling no chance of rhyme black covered with ash climb perhaps I get up to leave. “Do you have a sponsor?” not this far stop thrill me will you will we climb birds fauna seafoam algae a woman in the back row asks. fall back onyx eyes roll up sleeves olives pare the echo open a tamale Thin

I weigh eighty five pounds. It hurts to have sex. My boyfriend puts me on my stomach so my bones buds don’t hurt. Someone in my class talked about a set of rules aching. I wonder what it is that governs this. just buds pressing on thick black light made of holes My mother calls to tell me I look like a concentration there are crocuses starting to bloom; camp victim. “Do you want everyone to know you’re Jewish?” she asks. maybe in your head Fat not mine lucky “You fluctuate, don’t you?” my boss asks me one day what do you when we are working on his expenses. He is as overweight think as my father, as heavy as someone who takes up two strike seats on the bus. “Maybe a pound or two,” I offer. should we dive for it or I imagine him at night, working his way through a box of cookies. are you? the day is supposed Thin sunny too straightforward let’s lean My sister is jealous. “Maybe I should go off Prozac so I’ll look like a magazine,” she says. She is always comparing herself happy go lucky now wouldn’t that be to something that doesn’t exist. I am standing in her kitchen don’t want it all to get to you eating a carrot. She tells me I look French. “Kind of exotic, kind of like you are about to starve to death,” she says. well then let’s mushroom in the silence no one can Fat

what’re you waiting for? I vow never to eat in front of the mirror. I often eat standing load em on up i say up. Also, not when I am in the bathroom. The rules grow target i like to make sense, misser, thick in me like a tongue you do not want bud i also like to sing. no air, to be kissing. My boyfriend refuses to touch no nothin. me anymore. “Call me when you stop eating,” he says. My therapist asks if I have gone to the Tuesday night why don you fetch me a rockin chair? group. “They told me to change my hair,” I tell her. I do not think she believes me. The bell to end our session rings. I walk down the hall, my teeth like sugar cubes in my mouth.

About the Poets Laynie Browne is the author of seven collections of poetry and one novel. Two collections are forthcoming: Roseate, Points of Gold from Dusie Books and The Laynie Browne Desires of Letters from Counterpath. She is teaching creative writing at the Poetry Tucson, Ariz. Center at the University of Arizona, where she is developing a new poetry-in-the- schools program for K-5 schools. Shira Dentz’s poems appear in many journals, Ps(alm) for a Boy Reading Lying on his belly including The American Poetry Review, Field, American Letters & Commentary, Denver Quarterly, Colorado Review, jubilat, and Lungfull!, and have featured on Poetry Daily legs kicking up absently behind him and NPR. Her chapbook Leaf Weather is forthcoming from Tilt Press. Kate Hall Boy of seven, reading The Hobbit is a former poetry editor for Stirring: A Literary Collection. Her poetry and stories have appeared in such journals as The Antioch Review, In Posse, Mudlark, Poetry Magazine, Perihelion, Mississippi Review, and Rattle. Douglas Piccinnini’s work has most recently appeared, or will be forthcoming in, Lana Turner: A Journal of Poetry Ps(alm) for Transformational Silence and Opinion, elimae, Scapegoat Review, Verse, and Jacket magazine. He curates How will you comfort me? Read to me from a book of ps(alms) the CROWD at Café Orwell reading series in Bushwick, Brooklyn.

Submission Guidelines Email subs to [email protected], with no more than five poems, all in one attached file with “My Name Submission” in the subject line and as the name of the file, ie: Walt Whitman Submission. Or mail with an SASE to Poetry editor, Boog City, 330 W. 28th St., Suite 6H, N.Y., N.Y. 10001-4754.

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�� U��RBAN�� FOLK�� state of anger in the final lyrics: “I one day, then wrote about it for similar style of fun at aspects of family songs on the album (“Right This Time” recognize each others pyres.” These There are some similarities between he same visionary tendencies strong piece; and who wouldn’t want column Costello’s Web close to a Semerdjian�� Doesn’t �� Let �� know you suck, I know you suck, I Urban Folk. A few months later that life. “I know there are people much and “Amuse Me,” respectively) offer lines resonate for the artist as well; these works: small productions�� that that influence Semerdjian’s to ride a tricycle built for you? year ago, but he doesn’t think the Art�� Get in the Way of �� know you suck; I do.” same AntiFolk star wrote to me asking braver than me,” Douglass sings, up uninhibited hope for the future. they serve as the legend for entry into use New York City as their stage, album The Big Beauty also raise name Berger’s Web has the same �� T �� a Good Time “When There Was Something if I’d like to review her albums. She “Out there doing it, raising beautiful There is still darkness in her Woodward’s website. live action that feature the songwriter their heads in the first video from ‘Lonely When You’re Here’ ringtone to it. �� The Big Beauty Wrong With You” is reprised from the sent them to me, for free. families,” but the workings of the suburban idyll. In “When You Kiss She sings sad, extended, as star, an attempt to interact�� with the the album. Described as a “music Brownbird Rudy Relic �� Alan Semerdjian album of the same title, referencing in The name of that artist? Julia society that she describes serve as Me,” Douglass asks her paramour, harmonized notes over mostly simple vibrant cast of the city. How do these video/mini-documentary/short film,” Directed by Colin Mulholland �� By Jonathan Berger its own way, Elvis Costello’s “Almost Douglass. Yes, THE Julia Douglass, the best prophylactic. “Do you think of her?” “The Gift Of” picking with tasteful additional three differ? Read on. the visuals complement and contrast From Anti-Stereo Acoustic Holler Blues �� Forever Came Today: ow do I describe The Big Blue,” released only some months who you shamefully have never The album ends� with a haunting speaks of how the neighborhood instrumentation. The words and voice the song. While the lyrics deal with www.youtube.com/user/brownbird �� Beauty? Let’s go to the after the album Almost Blue (there are heard of. reading of Bobbie Gentry’s “Ode ‘Summer’ the specific things that Armenian- uch closer to a pure Disingenuous Lines of ��source. On his �� website, �� Alan �� H other Semerdjian songs also making Douglass has had brushes with to Billie Joe.” It is one of four songs Kathy Zimmer American Semerdjian hopes will �� performance video, Thought Provoked Since �� fame, usually from a very safe that make a return appearance from Decay Directed by Holly Moore come to pass, many of which deal this was shot on the �� M �� Michael �� Jackson’s �� Death

distance. She was working for a mid-’90s demo cassette. (Several�� looms From Spare Key with the poetry that is another one of innumerable New York streets and �� By Paula�� Carino ��Semerdjian �� produces �� such exciting the record label that signed Dave of those songs also were available �� www.youtube.com/user/ his artistic outlets (“I can’t wait for the subways where�� Brownbird Rudy �� everywhere �� ots of people died yesterday, Matthews way back in the day on 1998’s Fetish for the Underdog. kathrynzimmer2 day my mouth will have something Relic has been occasionally known not just celebrities. I don’t get and�� bracing �� pop �� music, �� filled �� with �� a �� in �the�� songs �� (instead of her), and right before she Again, Douglass is not prolific.) It �� eleased days before to say/ I can’t wait for the time to perform. �� A non-traditional busker, �� on �Speck�� , but �� ‘Lwhat the big deal is.” range of was let go she had to stay late to is also one of her best. Along with the eponymous season when I won’t be relying on rhyme”), Relic is filmed exclusively “guerrilla �� True, lots of normal folks died on �� update Matthews’ contract. Life is not “Free Pancakes” and “Thank You” ��the last two �� (but some fair amount the visuals include the following: style,” with �� a concealed �� camera, �� influences. �� R �� June 25, and the people who loved fair for Douglass, but I did get some songs about friendship, they make a songs, like the of time after 2007’s EP), Holly blank giant index cards, an adult presenting natural reactions, or �� them will �� mourn �� those people. �� And free albums, so it all worked out. core of resonate, beautiful material Moore’s envisioning of Kathy size tricycle, its rider, Semerdjian, their absence, from his many many you will be, too, when your time �� first, present�� repeated appearances, Douglass is not a prolific that makes her an incredible artist Zimmer’s song “Summer” voyaging through various parts of audiences. While not specifically comes (I suspect that this may be �� a sense of �� but none others share that songwriter, which is why it was to experience. “Thank You” is a places Zimmer, carrying a New York City (The East Village, seeking to interact with the public, his the anxiety behind that complaint). �� distinct titling characteristic). such a treat to receive her last two remembrance of a long-lost friend. “I ��optimism.�� jaunty parasol through the Rockaway, and Union Square performance�� allows those near him �� Meanwhile, you gotta let people �� “Melody” sounds albums, 2003’s In Scarsdale and the never ever thought that I’d be one to city. It is a friendly city, where appear to be visually referenced). a natural opportunity to pay attention have their grief. Shared grief brings �� like something from the new Poor People on TV, in one fell be quoting that Long Island son,” she she meets old friends upon What is Semerdjian hoping to to, and appreciate, his special kind people together. �� Gershwin brothers (with swoop. It’s enough music to get me sings.�� “When all is said and done the street and has a variety accomplish? He asks a series of of show. Your car mechanic’s great uncle �� a very �� interesting �� read of ��through the production drought that only the good die young.” ��thinks �� of the �� narrator: �� “I �� know I’ve �� got, ��are positioned prominently. Her songs of conversations with new friends strangers to fill in the blank in “I can’t�� It’s shocking�� how little attention � was a fine person, but he didn’t �� the line, “Hoping that she will no doubt follow. Even so it has a “Free Pancakes” may well be the gift of, the gift of … but one thing’s frequently speak of love and death, who seemed charmed by her curious wait for _____.” Writing on the cards Relic generates on and under the sing the songs that defined our �� might just hear you building�� limited number of songs, totaling 16 another view of that same friendship, true: I don’t talk about�� you.” perhaps the most storied of lyrical personality. All scenes are peppered such �� answers as “Equity,” “Peace,” streets of New York. A dynamic live youth. �� castles in the sand/ Never�� originals and one cover. The cover before tragedy struck. They are We should be �� talking about topics. The aforementioned “Boston” by sporadic animation of birds and “Babies,”�� and “Time Together,” the performer with a very unique image • �� close enough to let you�� is stellar, hell, just about all of the excellent companion pieces. Julia Douglass, though. She’s�� a fine and “Mary” consider and challenge keys that open up opportunities for public�� makes their Utopian dreams (dark, dapper, hair slicked up, looking “It’s not like he was Elvis.” �� trace the geography of�� her�� songs are. By far the strongest song on the singer and has an excellent�� stage ��conventional �� notions �� of destruction, �� our ��protagonist. �� known�� to Semerdjian, and, of every inch the traditional blues-man, I cannot think of an entertainer �� Semerdjian attempts to describe land.”), while “Everything (She’s�� The more recent Poor People on album, and perhaps in her entire presence. But her greatest�� strength while “Spoon” discourages death Zimmer walks through parks course,�� the viewing public. It is sweet performing an exciting, jumped up who was more like Elvis: the �� his latest musical project (one of The Best)” starts very jazzy,�� and TV makes the most of Douglass’ catalog, is “My Boyfriend is a is her songwriting, and�� she’s never at the hands of an allusional dragon and streets of midtown Manhattan and sometimes�� searing: the card for version of traditional sounding songs), godlike fame; the genre-crashing, �� his numerous avenues of creativity). quickly builds into the manic energy�� biting wit. The title song speaks of Genius.” The title says most of what better than on these two�� documents. “who holds all your secrets, but he while singing of multitudes in the city, “Peace”�� is accompanied by Hebrew Relic dances, stomps, shimmies, and multi-generational hit songs; the �� According to him there’s a big vision and vocal style of some mid-period�� the curious cast watching trashy talk you need to know, but the execution— www.juliadouglass.com��can’t take your pain away. Pain, finding happiness and an inadvertent text, �� calling to mind better-known hollers—almost always from a seated weirdness; the narcissistic isolation; �� behind the 14 tracks comprising the Cure. ��shows from the safety of their home the delicate line readings, the howl ��it doesn’t go away. We just give quest to seek someone special.�� Is she genocides than those suffered by position. He is electrifying, even when the tragic end. And Michael �� album. Here’s what he has to say: “It’s Make no mistake: these songs�� theaters. Experiencing poverty as a of frustrated dedication, the lonely ��it different shapes.” This song is a on the quest as she sings? Perhaps, Semerdjian’s grandfather. The coda acoustic, and throughout this visual Jackson wrote his own songs and �� a group of songs that explores what are their own, but hint at classic�� spectator sport, the narrator sings, electric guitar—all make this song ��subtler way to say, “Just say ‘no,’” but though her final destination, bearing has a sweet, romantic build, with a document, the city he calls home danced better. �� Young Girl, Old Soul: �� it means to be in a relationship—the works of pop, and classic �� pop a testament to ��is far more persuasive. a remarkable resemblance ��to Grand visual that counterpoints the music virtually ignores him. Even his virtuoso • �� Denying Decay Through �� good, the complex, and, of course, singers. Semerdjian is an able singer-��s o n g - c r a f t . ��“Spoon” is immediately followed Central Station, is perhaps not where beautifully,�� though indirectly. kazoo playing and mid-line guitar “He was a child molester! We �� the beauty. We’re all a part of The songwriter, and his players, including�� The minimal the Power of Song��by the tale of “Jimmy,” described as most people find the one who will I’m not sure what makes this a turns garner barely any attention. shouldn’t be sad that he’s dead!” �� Big Beauty in one way or another long-time associates Philip Jimenez�� a r ra n g e m e n t Speck ��“a wayward man,” who had “pulp “let me be your everything—anything “mini-documentary/short film,” and As the song ends, Relic is alone, OK, Grief Police, duly noted. �� and, in fact, we’re all big beauties.” and Mike Bloom, have developed�� of the track Alexa Woodward ��fiction littering his bed, lonesome to worth the giving, and whatever’s left not just a video. This seems to support no one paying him any mind, and No one is praising his (alleged) �� So the big vision behind the album? excellent, appropriate arrangements�� make this one By Jonathan Berger��the point of death,” until that time that’s not.” the impression that Semerdjian takes he looks near the camera, but not molesting talent, they are �� Love songs. of the material. This is a very�� fun a far superior lexa Woodward’s big album when the unrepentant�� Jimmy dies. In fact, the frame shows an ever himself much�� too seriously. For what �� it into it (he may �� not know �� exactly remembering all of the �� joy that he ��Semerdjian, �� it �� seems, �� takes ��album, �� though �� some �� of the�� tracks�� version to the release (it was preceded ��Decay looms�� everywhere in the diminishing Zimmer at �� the Grand �� himself�� a little �� too seriously. �� It ��needn’t �� may well �� offer �� something �� more.�� prior decade’s Aby the lo-fi, home-made An ��songs on Speck��, but �� the last �� two Central �� Terminal, �� looking�� more ��and �� stop�� him �� from �� generating �� some�� “Bad �� Dreams,” �� with its chorus�� of ��attempt on Early Dream) is still pretty primitive. songs,�� like the�� first, present �� a sense �� more �� lost in the �� dizzy �� abundance�� of ��Brownbird Rudy Relic dances, good�� music, �� though, �� and �� in fact it “She �� cries �� at the �� movies when�� the �� Fetish�� for the ��Everything� �� about �� Speck ��, from the �� slight �� of optimism, of ��hope that �� offers some �� New York. �� For a moment,�� it seems �� doesn’t.�� Considering the pomp and hero slips … I tell her � not to�� worry�� Underdog. packaging to the almost exclusively ��necessary relief�� from the pervasive possible that she may experience�� an ��stomps,�� shimmies, and hollers— importance�� of his mission �� statement, ��her sweet head,” �� awash with�� banjo�� The eight monosyllabic song titles, and the ��melancholy. “Plants”�� features the epiphany, and present that �� glorious �� it’s�� a relief to hear �� the �� huge pop and �� delicate �� keys, �� sounds like�� a �� tracks on subtle instrumentation, is minimal; chorus of “A dove�� moved onto our moment in some exciting way. Will �� almost always from a seated sound�� of this release. sweet ode to a very gentle�� girl. �� the earlier In small and shy but still something fire escape three�� months ago, and she throw her parasol into the air, a �� It also comes as something of a Closer inspection suggests that�� the �� Scarsdale are, special. The twentysomething banjo fourteen days.�� Now she’s sleeping modern-day Mary Tyler Moore? But �� surprise.�� Considering Semerdjian’s subject is mentally ill and potentially�� for the most player sounds like an old soul. Her in the flowerpot—I�� wouldn’t know, no; she is alone in the city in summer. ��position. He is electrifying, recent�� free jazz forays and his history delusional. “What starts with a simple�� part, happy songs are �� traditional, except she ’cept that she leaves�� this �� little ��spot in ��Zimmer gives the camera �� a jaunty �� with�� ’90s band Surreal, which were, suspicion turns into hyperventilation.”�� gems from a seems to have written them all herself, the middle. Hey!�� Plants �� are growing �� thumbs up �� before �� the �� credits roll, �� so �� even when acoustic. according�� to the artist, “too indie Relationships can take many different�� woman who and her ageless subject matter seems in the city!” Out�� of the dirt and maybe she will find her soul-mate in �� ‘Thank You’ is a remembrance for the hippies and too hippie for forms, and Semerdjian does �� what �� has achieved as current as can be. filth, something�� bright is coming up, that train terminal. The city may well ��where it is, either). contributed to the world through �� the indies,” it’s amazing that he can he can to explore as many variants�� of a long-lost friend. ‘I never ever � a state of “Boston” is about a couple killing something that ��may soon loom large be, as Zimmer sings, “full of carnies ��He picks up his his music. � �� produce such exciting and bracing as possible. Now if only he �� didn’t �� satisfaction. The themselves with carcinogens in the before Woodward.�� and sharks; brandishers of water ��things, and enters I hated pop music in the ’80s, �� thought that I’d be one to be quoting pop music, filled with such a range of take himself (and his art) quite�� so title track refers Northeast, traveling �� between New The final track,�� “No �� Telling,” ends ��guns, �� and little �� dogs with�� great �� big ��yet another train, to with the kind of scathing contempt �� influences and direct rip-offs. seriously. ��that Long �� Island �� son,’ �� she �� sings. �� to an expected York and the titular town.�� with “When I ��die lord, when �� I die, �� barks,” �� but hope �� remains. �� She �� may �� begin yet another in that only a teenage punk�� snob can ��“I Can’t Tell You How” references www.alansemerdjian.com ��‘When all is said and done only the emigration to “Mary” presents the details�� of one give my ashes�� to the soil.” Even in �� make it after �� all. �� his marathon session muster. And still … I know all the Big�� Star in all the right ways, at ��the suburbs from kind of a soul mate for�� the �� narrator, ��the �� oft-mentioned �� death, �� there �� is ��Good �� luck �� with �� that, �� Kathy. �� of jams. Recording �� good die young.’ songs from Off the Wall and Thriller the�� same time name checking Walt �� a long-time New while obliquely referring�� to another hope. But even�� in hope, it seems, And good work from animator Rob ��the video took word for word, through osmosis. I Whitman�� (Semerdjian �� once �� worked �� New �� and �� Old: �� York resident (it kind of soul mate entirely.�� It’s the tale there is death. ��Jones, who builds thematic links with ��eight hours, and his even bought the “Wanna Be Startin’ as�� curator at �� Whitman’s �� birthplace). �� of a young and old woman�� meeting, �� 21st Century Output “The cops burst in a house; the folks turns out the song was prescient; www.alexawoodward.com the original album art, making this energy is high from Somethin’” single cuz it’s just a cool ��“Stephanie,”�� a quiet-loud-quiet�� there are really high. They beat each soon after writing it, Douglass’ family and the commonalities�� between �� an effective �� promotional �� tool for �� start to finish. The song. And don’t even get me started song�� of a �� love affair �� gone ��wrong, �� from �� Julia �� Douglass �� other up—it’s pretty low/ their skin is moved up to Westchester. They’ve them, and how some�� people share �� Zimmer’s �� latest ��release. �� man’s a dynamo. on The Jackson 5. starts�� as a romantic �� accordion �� ditty Poor �� People �� on TV inescapable bonds. The harmonies � �� really bad, they drop their I-N-G’s. since rescinded that decision). ��Costello’s ��Web: �� The video gives That’s what people are grieving— then�� builds �� into �� one �� of those �� big �� In ��Scarsdale �� It’s like an economic minstrel show.” There is less of the irony and humor on the chorus, along ��the final verse, �� a good sense of his Traveling Bands ‘Can’t Wait’ their own youth, and the tragic loss Beatles’�� symphonies from Abbey Julia Douglass �� Like Randy Newman at his best, of Poor People. The earlier album present the song’s underlying�� current. �� live performance, but By Jonathan Berger Alan Semerdjian of a very talented guy who died too Road��. �� It presents �� a �� strange �� view �� of �� By �� Jonathan �� Berger �� Douglass points one finger out at her seems to have caught Douglass Even when people grow�� distant, they ��nothing can really hree videos, all available on the Directed by Haik Kocharian young and too lonely. an�� obsessive �� coming�� to terms �� with ��f ��anyone ever �� tells you that fanzine�� nominal topic, and three more back at a more contemplative point. can still recognize the�� significance ��compare to it. See interwebs, all from local acts, all From The Big Beauty Paula Carino is a singer- the�� end �� of a relationship, �� showing �� writing �� doesn’t �� pay,�� tell them about�� at the real object of her disdain. Several songs (“Good for You,” “So of one another: “when�� I am dirt is—an ��artistic expansion of the sweet this, then see him. presenting local environments www.youtube.com/user/ ��songwriter and yoga teacher based different�� states �� of grieving ��before ��this: I saw, �� from a �� distance, one�� of “Scared to Have Kids” and Lucky”) present congratulations for and stars, and you�� are dirt and T pop song that closes The Big Beauty— Jonathan Berger started pinch- in Brooklyn. She self-medicates with I and the meeting of artist and non-artist. AlanSemerdjian finally�� culminating �� in the sweet, �� simple �� my favorite �� AntiFolk �� stars on the�� train “Would you Remarry?” poke a accomplishments. The first and last stars, the old soul children�� learn to the video for “Can’t Wait” is a pretty hitting on Dan Costello’s new media kettle corn. �� WANT TO WRITE A REVIEW (OR�� BE ��REVIEWED �� ) ��IN B ��OOG ��’S� ��URBAN�FOLK�MUSIC SECTION��? �� EMAIL �� U ��F�EDITOR �� JONATHAN BERGER, [email protected] ��

WANT TO WRITE A REVIEW (OR BE REVIEWED) IN BOOG’S�URBAN�FOLK�MUSIC SECTION? EMAIL UF�EDITOR JONATHAN BERGER, [email protected] The Big Beauty URBAN the new collection FOLK Want old issues? of songs by nyc www.scribd.com has pdfs.

Want the ink on songwriter/poet your fingers? [email protected] Alan Semerdjian has the copies. Two dollars each. Want to be reviewed? Send discs to Jonathan Berger now available 1119 Longwood Ave. Bronx, NY 10474 through iTunes Want to review discs? Write about shows? Artists? Scenes? and CDBaby Contact [email protected] Want to hear stuff? alansemerdjian.com myspace.com/urbanfolkzine

3 HANGING LOOSE PRESS POETS Advertise in BOOG CITY Joanna Fuhrman (Moraine) Sharon Mesmer (The Virgin Formica) Elizabeth Swados thanks (The One and Only Human Galaxy) Sat. Aug. 29, 5:00 p.m.-6:30 p.m. [email protected] Bowery Poetry Club 308 Bowery 212-842-BOOG (2664)

www.hangingloosepress.com www.welcometoboogcity.com/ad_rates.pdf

copy editor First printing, July 2009, 2,250 copies. BOOG CITY Joe Bates Send a $3 ppd. check or money order BOOG CITY Issue 58 free [email protected] payable to David A. Kirschenbaum to the 330 W. 28th St., Suite 6H art editor address below for additional copies. Paper N.Y., N.Y. 10001-4754 Cora Lambert is copyright Boog City, all rights revert to [email protected] contributors upon publication. Boog City is www.welcometoboogcity.com poetry editor published monthly. T: (212) 842-BOOG (2664) Joanna Fuhrman Boog always reads work for Boog City editor/publisher [email protected] or other consideration. (Send SASE with David A. Kirschenbaum printed matter editor no more than five poems or pages of any letters to the editor [email protected] Paolo Javier type of art or writing. For email subs, urban folk editor [email protected] put Boog City sub in subject line and Jonathan Berger counsel then email to [email protected] or [email protected] [email protected] Ian S. Wilder applicable editor.)

6 BOOG CITY WWW.WELCOMETOBOOGCITY.COM Dapper Chap Quarterly ART Bushwick, Brooklyn

About the Artists Dapper Chap Quarterly was established in 2006 by Neal Iannone, Mike Freiheit, Alexander Khan Hemming, Chris Duffy, and Gregory Hedderman while attending the School of Visual Arts. We all formed the idea from our mutual love of comics and our love of booze. The idea lay dormant like a lion waiting for a gazelle, when, after graduation, we published the first issue, which featured work by Neal, Mike, and Alex. We were all young pups then. Now we have grown into beasts with golden manes. Dapper Chap Quarterly issue 4 was just released, while issue 5 is being readied for print. With each issue our members have grown tenfold. Soon we will be in the millions and inhabiting a small part of Africa close to Mali. The Dapper Chap Headquarters is located in the rural area of Bushwick, Brooklyn, where the grass is greener and the hills seem smaller compared to the size of our beautiful, sensual dreams.

Artists’ Statement We Dapper Chaps strive to create an anthology comic book of the highest quality possible. We seek out people whose work we enjoy, although everyone is free to submit. Comics that try and break into new areas of sequential storytelling are welcomed, although your standard comic strip is also at home in the pages of Dapper Chap. Most of us are located in the New York area, although we have members and contributors as far away as the very end of the West Coast to the very middle of Germany. While most comics anthologies seem to recycle the same, very well established creators over and over for each volume, we strive to show the world work from new emerging talent, artists who are still trying to get their comics out into the world. Our books are available at most comic shops in New York City as well as ones in various other states, for the time being. The best way to find information and buy your very own issue is to check out www. dapperchapquarterly.com. All issues are published by M.A.N. Publications, which in the future will be releasing many new comics and other various, diverse forms of printed matter.

WWW.WELCOMETOBOOGCITY.COM BOOG CITY 7 Join the RISE! REV. BILLY TALEN HELP KEEP OUR NEIGHBORHOODS: IS THE GREEN PARTY CANDIDATE FOR MAYOR LIVABLE OF NYC Instituting locally based, sustainable solutions that will not only see us through As Mayor of New York, Reverend Billy our current crisis but allow us to live in stable, viable communities for the Talen will continue the work he has long term. Thoughtful urban planning, managing growth, and preserving done for more than a decade as the local physical and built environment will be a priority. a champion of local ingenuity and neighborhood know-how. United as he already is with the city’s many VIBRANT communities, his administration will be the connecting force reaching out Promoting vibrant communities by improving education and expanding to all New Yorkers, to create a city that programs that enhance quality of life for everyone. is sustainable, just and free; defending public space, self-determination, and the right for every New Yorker to earn an honest, independent living. HEALTHY

TO JOIN THE RISE OF NEW YORK’S The right to health is the fundamental cornerstone of community. The thriving FABULOUS 500 NEIGHBORHOODS: city must be healthy on all levels and in every neighborhood.

�� Sign up to volunteer on our website at www.VoteRevBilly.org/join-us �� Come to one of our weekly campaign SAFE meetings, every Wednesday from 7-9pm at 250 Lafayette Street Guaranteeing all New Yorkers in every neighborhood the right to walk down �� Donate to the campaign at their streets without fear of harassment or violence regardless of race, creed, www.VoteRevBilly.org class, or sexual orientation.

I NEED YOU UPCOMING EVENTS! TO PUT ME ON THE BALLOT! JULY 7th until AUGUST 18th PETITION DRIVE to get Billy on the ballot We need 20,000 signatures to get Billy on the ballot and you can help! Go to www.VoteRevBilly.org/petition to get everything you need and come to one of our petition trainings so that your signatures count!

JULY 27th Beneﬁt Concert with JOAN BAEZ! REV BILLY and the LIFE AFTER SHOPPING GOSPEL CHOIR and Very Special Guests At the Highline Ballroom Tickets are $17.50 Balcony/$35 Floor/$50 (per person) VIP Booth Buy tickets online at www.highlineballroom.com

ONGOING : Sundays WEEKLY SUNDAY BBQ REVIVAL TOUR - 5 to 8pm Join Rev Billy Talen and the Life After Shopping Gospel Choir for a weekly celebration of New York City’s fabulous public spaces. Stay tuned throughout the summer to ﬁnd out when we are coming to your neighborhood! www.VoteRevBilly.org/events

8 BOOG CITY OCTOBER 2003