M. Ron Hubbard + Pet Set Rex

A hat? Really?

2011-09-21T17:27:00.000-07:00

It will all make sense later

2011-06-30T21:45:00.001-07:00

Stuff no one reads (& that's a good thing)

2011-06-08T16:13:00.001-07:00

Once again, I'm reminded of that porn where the woman says "I'm a businesswoman!" just as she's about to get... well, nevermind.

Pet Sex/Pet Set Rex/Facebook/Twitter/everything you ever need to know
Http://about.me/maren

Http://www.imdb.me/maren

Free Driving Lessons

2011-05-07T16:43:00.000-07:00

Elephants- Why Not?

2010-12-29T00:32:00.000-08:00

The setting: Spicy Thai BBQ. Early Tuesday evening. Sitting by myself, waiting for ma man. A Thai family came in and sat. They conversed in both English and Thai. I don't understand much Thai (but I do understand much English). At one point I overheard one of them say something about kids in Alaska riding polar bears to school. Then someone said something about kids in Thailand riding elephants to school. Then an older woman said something about how people there don't ride elephants much anymore, because "elephants have gotten too expensive."

Having a moral Christmas, and licking my fingers

2010-12-26T04:19:00.000-08:00

I should have had a second helping. I can't believe I didn't have a second helping. It's Christmas, and my goose hath been cooked. It was delicious and there was lots of it and I could have eaten more but I didn't. What's the matter with me?? I did have two pieces of pie, though. Yay! Gold star for me.

Subtext: I am trying to turn inside-out the popular way of thinking that holds eating very little equivalent to being morally superior to people who eat more. According to this way of thinking, eating less, or eating more healthily is considered being "good," an eating unhealthily "bad." A comparable standard is applied to exercise. The implication is that people (especially women, and especially white women) who eat less are better than other people. Part of this is feeling "guilty" for eating things like ice cream, or calling delicious, fattening foods "sinful."

There is also a similar morality that many vegetarians and vegans apply to their eating habits, not so much as it pertains to themselves, but in how it makes them "better" than people who eat meat or other animal products. Many of these veg-peeps don't think about this very deeply. I'm sure some of them have their hearts in the right place (I used to be one of these people, so I know a little about how they think), but considering yourself superior to people based on your consumption habits is itself morally fucked-up. You're not God, no one is, you can't see into anyone else's soul, and fuck you if you judge people that way.

Funny, I knew someone who was an extremely moralistic vegan, someone who definitely saw herself as superior to people who weren't vegans, and she wasn't afraid to express this publicly, either. The funny thing is that her attitude toward eating was eerily similar to people I have known who had eating disorders. I think there is a huge overlap in the thinking of one of these over-moralizing veggies and that of, say, anorexics, who consider shunning x, y, or z foods (fill in the blanks), or all foods, as the case may be, with being "good." Today, I am here to say: Fuck that.

My review of Bob's Holiday Party (it's a play)

2010-12-21T17:56:00.000-08:00

http://www.goldstar.com/events/hollywood-ca/bobs-holiday-office-party-2.html?p=F1127094SB"

Thoughts from Super-inventor Dr. Nakamats

2010-11-30T03:56:00.000-08:00

The great Dr. Nakamats, inventor of the floppy disc, the karaoke machine, and a few thousand other things (literally), gave an informal talk at Show Cave last week. It was more of a question-and-answer session than a lecture, and there seemed to be a lot of gems in what he said, though I had trouble understanding a lot of it-- he spoke quietly, he held the mic far away, and he has a heavy (but adorable!) accent.
I took a few notes on what I did understand, and I'll copy them here for you. I may provide more explanation later. Just ask.

Extraterrestrial life?
-yes, he saw some in USA but he's not supposed to talk about it. They were about 150 cm tall & blue-white. They looked "like octopus but also not like octopus." They had a wet surface.

The future- are you pessimistic/optimistic?
-it depends on you
-global catastrophe: probably not in the next 100 years

What do you think of 3D technology?
-avatar, etc use old 3D technology. The one he invented does not require glasses. So don't buy 3D TVs until his 3D tv comes out.

-Most people will always choose the easy way of doing things. Choose the more difficult way, but always w/ love.

The new screechiness

2010-11-11T01:13:00.000-08:00

Funny thing: got my ears deep-cleaned today (it's a long story), and now I'm hearing A LOT more high-pitched sounds than before. It's like the Dolby Noise Reduction has been turned off on everything. Crackle, crackle, hiss, everywhere I turn. Very irritating-- like something form a horror movie, in a way, but at least now I know I haven't lost my hearing (or at least not as much of it as I'd thought).

Here's to the imminent return of my earwax, my little red-orange friend...

Discovering new techniques

2010-11-08T17:07:00.000-08:00

--- of what? I'll let you know in a while. Must go to the laboratory now and try them out. Results to come later.

Mysterious progress report

2010-11-07T09:45:00.000-08:00

Things are happening, you fuckin' betcha.

The process of creating, and the thing created
Possibly painful, but definitely somehow good. Yep.

Trading my frustration for your exasperation!

Mood: (you know!)

2010-11-05T23:34:00.000-07:00

Cocktail time soon! Then genius time!! :)

--
To think on: who do you think's looking at you??

Pet Set Rex
Http://www.facebook.com/petsetrex

Http://www.imdb.me/maren

Http://www.twitter.com/mronhubbard

Le progrès

2010-11-04T22:50:00.000-07:00

Coffee strategy now being tried. By me!

Also, hotness (weather!) encourages nocturnalness, which encourages ME at NIGHT! To DO! It's self-therapy! I'll take it!

Preparing to outline + brainstorm, then come up with scenes with improv from my MIND. For the big story. The Bad Novel.

----

P.S. When "journaling" like so, I come off like the label on a bottle of Dr. Bronner's soap. But I thought this wasn't too embarrassing to share today.

Save the Echo Curio + other small venues??

2010-10-22T18:50:00.000-07:00

Mmmmaybe you saw the LA Weekly article about the closing of Echo Curio + Hyperion Tavern. They need savin.' The article suggests contacting City Councilman Eric Garcetti (councilmember.garcetti@lacity.org) about the issue, which I finally did today. I pasted the contents of my email below-- crib if you wish.

Dear Councilman Garcetti:

Recently, the city has been cracking down on small independent live music venues, such as Echo Curio and Hyperion Tavern, because of apparent permit issues. While no one is saying permit or license laws should not apply to these venues, it seems like a misuse of the city's powers to devote scarce police resources to shutting down such places when there is SO much violent crime going on that could use the police's attention. It is very hard to see what harm, if any, is being done by tiny venues hosting tiny performances.

Please do what you can to help these venues re-open. They are an asset to the community.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

[And den I put my full "real" name and city.]

P.S. The LA Weekly posted an article about this matter at http://blogs.laweekly.com/westcoastsound/2010/10/save_the_echo_curio_and_other.php

"The Progress"

2010-10-21T20:30:00.000-07:00

I could do some more writing right now, but that might require more thinking, which might require more energy, which probably requires more coffee. Which is a way to say: coffee time.

Later, liquor time. And more coffee.

New statistic to ignore

2010-10-19T23:01:00.000-07:00

What's the date before which we can say most (>50%) of the people alive today were not alive yet?

Hmm.

Pet Set Rex
Http://www.facebook.com/petsetrex

Http://www.imdb.me/maren

Http://www.twitter.com/mronhubbard

http://mronhubbard.blogspot.com

I Cant Read
Http://www.myspace.com/icantreadicantread

Businesses Vs. Tax Haven Abuse

2010-10-17T22:06:00.000-07:00

I'm so f***in' smart, I just had to share this thing I wrote when I signed a petition today for Businesses Against Tax Havens. I do business (Pet Set Rex! It's a recording studio as well as a band!) so I was eligible to sign. They ask for comments when you sign, + I though my precious words would just disappear into the ether if I didn't save 'em here for you:

If everyone pays their fair share of taxes, the revenues can be used to improve the US economy, promote jobs, and that will help everyone's bottom line in the long run.

Wow, thanks, me!

And now back to being totally un-self-indulgent. ;)

Mulling things over

2010-10-07T16:48:00.000-07:00

Dreamed about Snooki again the other night. I blame myself.

At a truck stop, I finally found the source of all those massively oversized tanktops that go so well with a mullet & a 'stache. Finally, I can rest.

--
Pet Set Rex
Http://www.facebook.com/petsetrex

Http://www.imdb.me/maren

All of this counts

2010-10-07T01:11:00.001-07:00

...something I need to remind myself.

Writing here and there (especially here) counts as writing. So I'm not doing as badly as I thought on this writing challenge.

Keep going, person.

More later.

Stopping Bullying of Queer Youth- Resources + a Rant

2010-10-06T12:43:00.000-07:00

Last night I tweeted this:

Mormon leader gives antigay sermon after recent teen suicides. Add yr name to the @HRC open letter http://bit.ly/bZAaPO

I was (re)posting it following an email I'd gotten from Human Rights Campaign, regarding a recent sermon by Boyd K. Packer, who is apparently some big cheese in the LDS church.

And this morning some beeyotch sent me an @ message on Twitter, saying "the HRC twisted his words to suit their agenda." The nerve! I'm not going to debate this female directly, as I generally find arguing with rightwingers to be a waste of my energies (especially online, + especially especially on Twitter). But this is too ridiculous to let slip by unchallenged, + I want this to be to everyone's benefit. :)

So I've got to say it:

1. The HRC didn't twist that Mormon assface's words.

2. After all the Mormon church has done to hurt LGBT people-- including torturing them with electric shocks to try to make them straight, and in addition to their other anti-queer campaigns-- I wouldn't care if HRC did twist that guy's words for their agenda, which they didn't. The Mormons think they have been wronged here?? Give me a break!

OK, I feel much better. Carry on.

Resources to Help Stop Bullying - The Ellen DeGeneres Show

Writing challenge progress & probs

2010-10-06T05:04:00.001-07:00

I say 'probs,' but what I'm thinking of now as a problem may actually prove to be something else. Like an "interesting thing," not necessarily a bad one. I'm figuring it out.

I've been stalling, putting off writing for any good chunk of time, or at least not making time for it.

I do come up with ideas, verbal and musical, and write down or record them all the time as always. But I haven't just sat and focused on creating or developing anything for as long as 10 minutes, at least not in recent memory (i.e., since August).

We've been invited again to submit a song for an LA Record compilation, this time for the Halloween issue. So we'll definitely put together a complete new song for that. That should help with my creative/productive momentum, and Geoff's, & our collective momentum. Yay.

Pet Set Rex
Http://www.facebook.com/petsetrex

Http://www.imdb.me/maren

Http://www.twitter.com/mronhubbard

Boo to everything.

2010-10-06T01:12:00.000-07:00

How do people do anorexia?? I freak the fuck out if I go 4 hours without a snack.

Like right now.

I might update this from jail later.

;)

--
Pet Set Rex
Http://www.facebook.com/petsetrex

Http://www.imdb.me/maren

Progress progress progress

2010-09-30T03:20:00.001-07:00

"Talking To Me, Talking To You"

I haven't been writing every day as I challenged myself to do. But hey, now I'm writing about how I haven't been writing, so there it is.
Progress.

More soon.

Http://www.twitter.com/mronhubbard

Http://www.imdb.me/maren

Pet Set Rex
Http://www.facebook.com/petsetrex

I Cant Read
Http://www.myspace.com/icantreadicantread

Don't Ask Don't Tell?

2010-09-24T15:38:00.000-07:00

I am against DADT on principle and have been signing all the letters and petitions I've been sent opposing it, but I don't usually repost them on Facebook or Twitter because I have trouble believing it should be a top-priority issue. And I have trouble believing it should be a top-priority issue because although it has to do with equal rights for gays, which I support 100%, it also has to do with the military, and although I agree we need a military for defense, most of what our military is deployed to do has to do with killing people, and it's not always for a good cause.

So I can't crusade 100% on this.

Doing it again

2010-09-23T12:26:00.001-07:00

...Whatever it is that I do.

Watch and watch.

Boo to everything forever.

2010-09-22T21:37:00.001-07:00

That is all.

:)

White-bearded old men on skateboards

2010-09-22T21:15:00.001-07:00

... make a Maren tired.

100 Day Writing Challenge

2010-09-22T18:35:00.001-07:00

... = what I'm doing, starting today. Writing more for 100 days than I have in any previous 100 days... Yay, myself.

It's ok.

2010-09-16T04:27:00.001-07:00

I can be ageist when it comes to corpses.

Crush videos

2010-08-01T15:23:00.000-07:00

Got this email the other day:

You received a message about "SUPPORT HR 5092-MAKE CRUSH KITTEN/PUPPY VIDEOS ILLEGAL"

-------------------------------------------
Greetings!

I am proud to report that the United States of America House of Representatives (Feds) has officially approved to ban crush kitten/crush puppy animal torture videos. The vote is official: 416 YEAS and 3 nays. HR 5566 (was amened from 5092) now must be approved by the Senate. President Obama supports this bill, as I have received a single line letter signed by the President of the United States himself, with a ball point pen, that he will keep this very animal cruelty issue in mind.

http://www.freep.com/article/20100721/NEWS15/100721068/House-OKs-bill-to-outlaw-animal-torture-videos

PLEASE-PLEASE SHARE this Petition. So far 7,500 signatures and growing. This Petition is working!

Please keep it going.

Sincerely

Luke

-------------------------------------------

My question is: who were the 3 nays??

How I write

2010-07-16T19:22:00.000-07:00

When I write, I like to lie in bed and pretend to be an invalid.

For music and TV and TV music nerds

2010-07-15T01:00:00.001-07:00

About 2 days ago, I figured out that part of the Dexter theme song is almost exactly like part of the Bosom Buddies theme song.

Hey, I think it's a big deal.

Review de la Mr. Opera

2010-06-13T04:12:00.000-07:00

I reviewed Das Rheingold on Goldstar: http://www.goldstar.com/events/los-angeles-ca/la-opera-wagners-ring-cycle.html?p=F1127094SB

A Very Special 1000 Ways to Die

2010-06-04T23:46:00.000-07:00

http://www.spike.com/video/wrin-killed/3339464

When they won't go away

2010-05-16T03:41:00.000-07:00

When the party's over but some non-friends still won't leave, play noise music!

Especially ours. It worked perfeck-ly. When I started screeching, imitating a mic feeding back, the peeps FINALLY got the picture & evacuated. Yay.

Best day yet!?

2010-05-15T16:28:00.000-07:00

Gorgeous drive through Hancock Park on the way to escort at the wimminz clinic. Then Geoff & I ate Spicy Thai BBQ; now in a great mood & Geoff & I both like our hair better now. Coincidence??

And then I saw a lady outside shaving her face right there on Santa Monica Blvd. I love Hollywood.

Then we drove to Sylmar & saw baby horses...

And got a show tonite! http://ow.ly/1LyQ2

My 2 cents for a letter from Population Connection

2010-04-13T14:41:00.000-07:00

Our country's support for international family planning is an investment in long-term economic growth and political stability around the world.

-----

Help defeat Stupak-- Sign NARAL's endorsement of Saltonstall

2010-03-30T17:17:00.000-07:00

Sign NARAL Pro-Choice America's endorsement of Connie Saltonstall. Help stop Bart Stupak from continuing to play politics with women's lives.

From NARAL:

Hey!

I found out that Bart Stupak - the member of Congress who almost defeated health-care reform in attempts to impose an abortion-coverage ban in the new health system - has a great pro-choice challenger. Her name is Connie Saltonstall, and I want her to win!

NARAL Pro-Choice America, a pro-choice political group, is supporting Connie. Check out the info they've posted about the race and add your name to their effort!

http://bit.ly/bkJU2l

Thanks! We need to stop electing people who don't trust women.

Marfa + Ne-af w/ Rubber 0 Cement Friday @ Show Cave

2010-03-29T16:35:00.000-07:00

Party to Protest Karl Rove!

2010-03-02T16:32:00.000-08:00

On March 29, Karl Rove is doing some kind of public hooha at the Saban Theater in Bev Hills. Anyone care to go stand outside and boo this unclefucker?

Karl Rove presents and signs Courage and Consequence

From the moment he set foot on it, Karl Rove has rocked America’s political stage. He ran the national College Republicans at twenty-two, and turned a Texas dominated by Democrats into a bastion for Republicans. He launched George W.Bush to national renown by unseating a popular Democratic governor, and then orchestrated a GOP White House win at a time when voters had little reason to throw out the incumbent party. For engineering victory after unlikely victory, Rovebecame known as “the Architect.”Because of his success, Rove has been attacked his entire career, accused of everything from campaign chicanery to ideological divisiveness.

Tickets: $40 with book / $25 without book
http://www.americanvoicesbeverlyhills.com

Feb 25 improv show- Facebook event page

2010-02-18T12:53:00.001-08:00

Click here to see the event page on Facebook.

Solidarity w/ Iran peeps

2010-02-09T22:39:00.001-08:00

Feb 25 improv show- Facebook event page

2010-02-08T15:30:00.001-08:00

Improv show Feb. 25

2010-02-08T00:41:00.000-08:00

$2 Butler

8 PM on Feb. 25

at Oneonta Campus

1515 Garfield Ave

South Pasadena, CA 91030

Watch + share these vids-- help women around the world

2010-01-25T01:45:00.000-08:00

YouTube - PathfinderInt's Channel

Trust women.

2010-01-22T03:39:00.000-08:00

So... what does "Trust Women" mean to me? It means that it makes more sense to trust a woman with her healthcare decisions than some self-righteous fetophile who really doesn't understand that woman's life, that woman's reality. Some of the righties MAY have good intentions (and I am giving them a HUGE benefit of the doubt here), but they just don't understand what women go through-- or kids, for that matter! If they understood anything about the lives of women and children, they'd be way more reluctant to engage in their anti-choice actions.

If a woman carries a pregnancy to term, whether by choice or not, there is never any guarantee that the child is going to be fully loved and taken care of. Let's face it-- a woman having a baby because she chooses to is much more likely to want, love, and try to do her best to care for the kid than a woman who has no choice.

What's so "pro-life" about forcing a woman to have a kid she doesn't want? Do any of the antichoicers have any idea what it's like to be a kid who wasn't wanted?? Not all babies automatically get adopted! There are some very tragic stories that happen to some people who were not "wanted" as kids.

I have seen many of these stories up close. My mother used to work in juvenile court, and often she'd come home crying because of some child abuse case she was hearing. She told us one story of abuse after another-- all atrocious, all unacceptable. No child should have to go through what any of those kids went through.

And my mom is one of the pro-choicest people I know. She loves kids, she cares about kids, and she has fought hard for the cause of making sure every child is a wanted child.

I could go on and on. There's so much more to this than the anti-abortion people want you to believe. Just trust women, and give them all the support they need to be mothers when, how, and if they want.

Vote for GLSEN to win a big contribution

2010-01-22T00:51:00.000-08:00

Experimental Theater? You'll have to wait

2010-01-07T14:43:00.000-08:00

The theater class I've been touting is being revamped and so on and suchandsuch.

So it ain't happening right now.

Stay tuned.

Free Xperimental theater class starts again January 4

2009-12-21T23:12:00.001-08:00

Every Monday starting again January 4: Our Free Experimental Theater class!

@ Franson Hall, 1539 East Howard Street, Pasadena, CA 91104 Franson Hall is Building C on this Map:

Update! Events coming up- Mon., Tue., and on...

2009-12-13T22:04:00.000-08:00

Monday, December 14:

See map way down below.

Tuesday, December 15:

Marfa And Ne-af @ Club Dingaling

1941 Hyperion Av

Los Angeles 90027

10pm. Free.

www.myspace.com/marfaandne-af

And every Monday starting again December 21: Our Free Experimental Theater class!

@ Franson Hall, 1539 East Howard Street, Pasadena, CA 91104 Franson Hall is Building C on this Map:

All immediate upcoming events!

2009-12-09T19:03:00.000-08:00

This Saturday, December 12:

Monday, December 14:

See map way down below.

Tuesday, December 15:

Marfa And Ne-af @ Club Dingaling

1941 Hyperion Av

Los Angeles 90027

10pm. Free.

www.myspace.com/marfaandne-af

And every Monday starting again December 21:

Our Free Experimental Theater class!

@ Franson Hall, 1539 East Howard Street, Pasadena, CA 91104

Franson Hall is Building C on this Map:

Spread Eagle this Saturday

2009-12-09T17:35:00.003-08:00

Btw, I'm in 2 of the videos screening at Spread Eagle this Saturday. Voice and/or image-wise, I am.

Pet Set + Show Cave grand opening Dec. 12

2009-12-06T02:41:00.001-08:00

AvantTheater Class AND...

2009-12-03T23:33:00.001-08:00

Even Gnuer Gnus about that TheAter class:

http://blogs.myspace.com/mronhubbard

Free experimental theater class (LA)

2009-12-02T18:24:00.001-08:00

http://blogs.myspace.com/mronhubbard

Yay.

Our cat is a genius.

2009-11-27T03:25:00.000-08:00

Our cat Buddy opened a drawer, pulled out my man Geoff's necktie, closed the drawer, and peed directly on the tie and nowhere else.

We need your story! - Planned Parenthood's MySpace Blog |

2009-11-18T16:38:00.000-08:00

We need your story! - Planned Parenthood's MySpace Blog |

End the global gag rule, save America & the world

2009-11-05T17:11:00.000-08:00

Full reproductive healthcare is key to ameliorating world poverty &, by extension, international political stability & the growth of new markets. This is a win-win for everyone!

For more info & to sign a petition to Congress, go to Pathfinder International.

The House That Hung Sarah Palin

2009-10-29T18:08:00.000-07:00

...does the darnedest Halloween decorations every year. Some details:

Not sure who the female is... Michele Bachman? Anyone?

And... On the guy on the left it says "Citizen Elder."

I don't know what it means, but I like it.
These pics are from my phone, but I'll try to get some better ones. Maybe.

Clinic defense in Pomona this Saturday, next Saturday + Sunday

2009-10-22T17:01:00.000-07:00

2009-10-21T18:09:00.000-07:00

Undies

2009-10-09T19:15:00.001-07:00

When you're married, it's bad to even think about leaving your dirty underpants out for some other party to sniff.

Nu recipe: EZ black bean soup

2009-10-09T18:11:00.000-07:00

Fill a soup bowl 2/3 or so full with Trader Joe's Latin Style Back Bean Soup.

Add:

--about 1/2 can black beans

--combination of green salsa, super-hot salsa, + pico de gallo to taste (I used leftovers from El Huarache in Highland Park)

Heat in on the stovetop or in the microwave to taste, but it works fine cold. Especially if you like cooking the lazy way, like me.

Ta-da.

Serves 1. Can easily be adjusted to serve more peeps.

Stop the Refunding of AbstinenceOnly Sex Ed

2009-09-30T20:13:00.001-07:00

http://capwiz.com/advofy/issues/alert/?alertid=14111556

Shared via AddThis

Slasher Jinks!

2009-09-29T23:12:00.000-07:00

Click here to see a new video of my Geoff and me slashering out for the forthcoming movie Write A Book About It.

Fresh Oct. 17 PDX Show Info 4 Your Tainment

2009-09-28T21:08:00.001-07:00

---------------- Bulletin Message -----------------

From: Leslie Q.

Date: 9/28/2009 8:23:38 PM

Subject: Come to my fabulous birthday par-tay on Oct. 17th!!!!!!

Disjecta Hosts

The Art of Noize

MUSIC..............

Curated by Leslie Q

Saturday, October 17th 2009 / 6pm to Midnight / 21+

Entrance Fee - $6 @ 6 pm, $7 @ 7pm, $8 @ 8 pm...you get the picture

Portland-..blooded, punk rock chanteuse Leslie Q has returned to her roots. Recently back on her home turf after a decade in LA, the musician, performance artist and experimental diva brings a taste of the vibrant SoCal noize scene to NoPo for an evening of eclectic sights and sounds not likely to be replicated anytime soon. High art, fashion, music and love! Does it get better than this?

Music:

6pm...Karen Army / www.myspace.com/fake_modern

(Majora Records/Menlo Park Recordings.....solo dance noise pop aerobic work out and art...Portland)

7pm...Rat Bastard / www.myspace.com/laundryroomsquelchers

(TO LIVE and SHAVE in L.A. and Laundry Room Squelchers performance and film....Miami)

8pm......Oscillator / www.myspace.com/osci11ator

(Ben Wolcott of TO LIVE and SHAVE in L.A. plays the oscillator and shows recent artwork....LA)

9pm....Marfa and Neaf / www.myspace.com/marfaandne-af

(model/actress quirk rock from LA)

10pm..... Rubber O Cement / www.myspace.com/rubber0cement

(Astronauts from SF)

11pm..... Sister Mantos / www.myspace.com/sistermantos

(Queer tribal disco from LA)

Visual Art:

LA punk photos 1980-85 by Vincent Ramirez / www.morphisstudios.com/photos-3.htm

Aluminum Micro/Macro art by Ben Wolcott

Films:

by HARD PLACE / www.hardplacemusic.com / www.myspace.com/hardplace

(Bizarre film shorts by LA pop fashion duo)

More about the Artists:

Rat Bastard

Rat Bastard is unquestionably one of the most ubiquitous presences in the Miami music scene. And he has been for well over two decades. When Rat's not fronting conflagrations such as Laundry Room Squelchers or Scraping Teeth, he's heading up The International Noise Conference or touring with To Live and Shave in L.A.

The Miami-based madman’s nebulous Squelchers unit is one of the most unpredictable outfits in all of noise’s underbelly. A founding member of the despicable To Live and Shave in LA, Mr. Bastard (Frank Falestra to Mom) has been cracking heads, bursting eardrums, and causing structural damage in shitty clubs for decades, most recently with his sprawling International Noise Conference, which touts: "No droning, no mixing boards, no laptops." Expect a burly man with black-rimmed glasses and beanie (Rat Bastard) hurling a static-spewing amplifier into the faces and chests of audience members.

Rat Bastard is known to hundreds of people, from fans of his band Laundry Room Squelchers to those involved in the annual International Noise Conference (INC) he's thrown in Miami since 2004.

Scraping Teeth one of Rat’s many projects has the ignominious distinction of being Spin’s worst band in America 1993.

John Hood, a Miami writer who did some time with the Swans, may have summed up Rat perfectly: "Completely unyielding, which in a world of sheer compromise is no small feat."

Sister Mantos: Blind Love

SISTER MANTOS (LA) - Coming to you hot off the LA scene that is centered around it’s much talked about, critically acclaimed venue the smell this young artist conjures up some of the most instantly listenable psychedelic electronica. Fused all together with ferocious sense of sugar coated accessibility and you have intelligent, thinking man’s dance music of the most mouth watering order. A Sister Mantos performance is an attack on all the senses. Videos accompany each song and serious dance moves are unleashed throughout. It is a self contained psychedelic experience. File under; Experimental Dance, Improvisational.. House, New Pop, Psychedelic Electro or Religious Experience...http://www.myspace.com/sistermantos

If Giorgio Moroder called Donna Summer right now, her ringtone would probably be Sister Mantos’ "SHPSHFTER." Since she’s hypothetically on the phone anyway, maybe Summer should call Sister Mantos to get her career back on track? I mean, Mantos sound like they could have written "I Feel Love."
LA performer Oscar Miguel Santos, the lead member of Sister Mantos, is an energetic lad spreading gobs of love over every stage he wears a weird costume on. Their myspace page says that Sister Mantos will play anywhere the vibes are positive: "venues, DIY, queer situations, house parties, squats, galleries, festivals, your kitchen…" Santos’ personal energy has his bewitching blend of house music playing kamikaze shows on LA street corners or humping walls in dark warehouses. Internet evidence suggests that Santos can make fun out of any situation, whether the PA can handle his bass or not. Which is refreshing, since entertainment skills do not always accompany brilliant electro beatmakers. Just ask a really boring electronic act like The Sight Below, recently booked at Le Poisson Rouge!
In an interview with Young Creature, Santos says that he wants to create music to fill up a club, as well as headphone music that a listener can take anywhere, to take Santos’ trip to different locations. Additionally, Santos says he often performs without his glasses on, so sometimes he doesn’t realize what he’s doing. Well, I say if you dance blind for music, you are music. -- Thomas Wilk

Rubber O Cement

Rubber-..O-Cement, a seven-..foot-tall squishy-headed thing-beast that plays a bass made from...I don't know what. Aluminum siding, maybe. And I think there's a castle on-stage that rattles around and makes noise as well.
Rubber 0 Cement are, depending on your definitions, Avant metal, a la Black Dice or Wolf Eyes, the latter of whom they tour with, or Musique Concrete, following in the traditions of 'found noise' artists such as Pierre Schaeffer and Karlheinz Stockhausen. Certainly their music is a sound collage of this ilk, although it is less 'Revolution No.9', more, to quote the name of their record label, 'Brutal Sound Effects' .
Their full sound of electronic feedback, echo and whine puts them in the bracket of Noise or Drone according to some, but the band themselves would have other ways of describing their noise, such as "cheap fibronitrogen, and expensive biliary sludge" - the band seldom mention anything outside of the chemical or synthetic. To further this modernist dystopia they dress as giant mutated robots.
Their only overt instrument onstage, other than a giant computer they claim is made of cardboard, is a seven foot "bass javelin" which is played by an aforementioned robot by being swung round, hitting and scraping anything in its path. Their love of found noise seems to extend beyond, er, noise. Some of their CDs are released in comic books "to make them attractive to the younger audience", they say. But these are not specially commissioned comics, they are old D.C. comics that they found in a skip. There is one person on OkCupid, a dating website, who lists Rubber 0 Cement as a favourite band. Rubber 0 Cement's first full length DVD, "Butyl RNA World, Solid City State, and Ratar Toilet Seat Cover" is out now.

Rubber O Cement was a spin-off of Bay Area avant-gardists Caroliner (aka Caroliner Rainbow), whose severely warped Americana bore a faint resemblance to the severely warped electronic noise of its offspring. Normally a trio led by enigmatic Caroliner frontman Grux (who founded the group during Caroliner's late-'90s hiatus), Rubber O Cement was most noted for its surreal stage shows, in which the bandmembers used cardboard, foam, and tin foil to dress up as robots and monsters, and cavorted around the stage in front of a large cardboard computer. Set against this backdrop, their equally oddball music relied chiefly on vintage analog synths, low-budget effects, and skronky noise guitar. Rubber O Cement shared Caroliner's penchant for found-object packaging; their debut album, 2002's High Speed Electronic Cardboard, was released in a limited edition by the Toyo label and packaged in an envelope stuffed inside different individual issues of Clive Barker's Hellraiser comic book.. ~ Steve Huey, All Music Guide

Marfa & Ne-af

Marfa And Ne-af are/is a Los Angeles-based group who play irritate-o electronic noise-pop. The music is heavily influenced by things like doorbells, movies, children's songs, and cartoons.

Vocalist/songwriter/drummer Maren M-Ron works as an actress and model, and is a former member of The Peppermints and AntiQuark. Multi-..instrumentalist.. Geoffrey Long works as a producer and recording engineer, and is a former member of Mr + Mrs Tribute To Ugliness. Both Maren + Geoffrey also now play in LA supergroup I Cant Read. And sometimes Mr. Don Bolles of Fancy Space People and The Germs plays in Marfa And Ne-af, too. And another sometimes-..person who is sometimes a person in Marfa And Ne-af is Jorge who is also Core Ogg: The Coal Man.

Marfa And Ne-af have already played in interesting places like "France" (in Europe, we are told), "Italy" (also in Europe), Europe, Japan, Mexico, and the western "US," and have shared the stage with artists like 2Up, Nora Keyes, Indian Jewelry, An Albatross, the Chromatics, Arrington De Dionyso & Cat Lamb, and Replicock. Those are artists or "bands."

40 Days For Choice-- in action with me... + you?

2009-09-23T22:43:00.000-07:00

Ok, so Geoff (my man!) and I clinic-escorted today in LA, + it was pretty low-key on our shift. The main idea is for nice people to be there for patients when they're coming into and leaving from the clinics. There was only 1 protester at the clinic where we were today, + he didn't try anything-- he just stood there on the sidewalk, looking like he was praying.

Anyway, if you want to volunteer to defend a women's clinic near you, see the 40 Days For Choice Facebook page for more info.

Love to you all, my pups.

Act local- Join me in defending women's clinics- 40 Days For Choice

2009-09-22T03:51:00.000-07:00

Doing it in LA this week... I'll post more info when I've had some sleep & I'm more fluffy. :)

SATURDAY OCTOBER 17th...

2009-09-20T18:50:00.001-07:00

SATURDAY OCTOBER 17th..."The Art of Noise" PDX/LAX! - Leslie Q.'s MySpace Blog |

Shared via AddThis

PDX October 17

2009-09-10T02:25:00.000-07:00

We (Marfa And Ne-af) will be playing at Disjecta in Portland, OR on October 17. Get ready 'n' shit.

Dodging bullets

2009-09-08T19:57:00.000-07:00

I just found out that an area (Filipinotown) where we once helped run a venue-- The White Slave Trade-- is part of an area called Westlake, + it turns out that Westlake has an extremely high murder rate! Or, at least, it comes up A LOT on The Homicide Report, the LA Times' blog that records every death by homicide in LA County. Yikes.

We actually moved out of that space after some Gs had a gun battle outside our front door one night during a show. So it's not like we were totally in the dark about it...

Now we're getting ready to reopen our venue and our new recording studio in Glassell Park-- a nice part of Glassell Park! We've been over to the space several times at all times of day and night, and have never seen Gs hanging out anywhere nearby. Lots of darling little old Mexican grandpas watering the hell out of their plants, though. :)

I'll keep you posted, my dears.

Organ Donation, Yes!

2009-09-01T02:40:00.000-07:00

I have just been reading an article in the July 27 issue of The New Yorker called "The Kindest Cut." (You can't tell me you read it all in a timely fuckin' fashion!) It's about stranger-to-stranger kidney donation. And I'm FURIOUS! Por que? Well, a huge part of the article centers on people who openly discourage and are hostile toward people who show willingness to donate their organs to strangers. Aaaaagh!

I can understand someone not wanting a close family member/"loved one" to donate, cause, you know, it's risky. Not super-risky-- they're doing a lot of these operations laparoscopically nowadays-- but it is major surgery, of course, and what if you need it someday, or... But discouraging someone you don't love from donating? This really pisses me off.

If those people had ANY idea of how bad the need is for organs, they'd be supportive. Or maybe they wouldn't; maybe they're just assholes. I understand it's a complicated issue, but if an adult "of sound mind" decides to donate, people shouldn't treat them like there's something wrong with them! Grr...

I can't explain here all the ins and outs of this... you should just try to find the article and read it if you're interested.

And...

Click here to get more info on how to become an organ donor.

Monkey Poo and More

2009-08-28T02:23:00.000-07:00

Oh, yeah, so some stuff to report from Wednesday...

Geoff (husband) + I went to Gabe (best friend)'s house, hung out w/ him + Caretaker Neil (also a best friend).

At 1 point, I described my eye color as "Monkey Poo." And Gabe said he wanted to call Neil's "Rotting Genital Holes." Wouldn't that make a good makeup color?

Modeling for free IF-- & ONLY IF--

2009-08-25T21:05:00.000-07:00

Here's my new testing policy. Just throwing this out there if anyone's up to the challenge. :)

TESTING? For the most part, No. In general, I take paid work or extremely wonderful opportunities (tearsheets? international fame? or...?) only. But I am always looking to make EXTRAORDINARY IMAGES. I mean REALLY EXTRAORDINARY. Life-changing. History-making. Museum-worthy. Never done before. If you want to work with me + think we can make something extraordinary, please contact me.

You can see a bunch of my photos here.

What came first, the stink or the dump?

2009-08-23T21:29:00.001-07:00

1 Marfa And Ne-af live Dingaling video

2009-08-22T16:12:00.000-07:00

Bird in the Trash

2009-08-18T21:01:00.000-07:00

-------

So deep in debt, she chops up all of her credit cards (well, maybe not all of them!) and in fact reduces them to a fine-ish powder. Bravely, she lines up this powder in one big line on a magazine cover (using her remaining credit card to shepherd the powder into a line) and snorts it through a straw. This is painful, though not as painful as cutting the cards up. But like getting a tooth pulled or doing any kind of exercise, she knows the pain is for the greater good.

Late that night, though, she wakes up in a sweaty panic, feeling as though she has committed a murder and the victim’s heart is pounding from beneath the floor. The last time she felt this way, she had just realized she had thrown a perfectly fine pet bird in the trash. Now, one thought glows in her dark mind-- I have only one credit card!

-----

(Fiction , my dears.)

Thousands of lesbian ones are abandoned every day on the road by their owners.

2009-08-17T15:43:00.000-07:00

So... I love free translations. Makes my foreign myspace spam so much more, well...

Ah yes this is the vacation, ah yes you are at the beach or to the sea or to the creek or in the office or with big mom... But this is not a reason to forget that of the thousands of lesbian ones are abandoned every day on the road by their owners.

Lesbian to that one had said I like you my love my baby my bichon my female one of love, my milky louve, my fairy handbell, my mushroom my tartouflette my flying quail my dear choute my blue angel sugar sugar baby my chantilly. And nevertheless. A bend of alarming growth shows that the lesbian ones are more and more abandoned in summer, especially on the A3bis in the middle of the cagnard.

React and be united while coming to meet lesbian abandoned others, AS YOU THIS ETE, if this not the was been last, if this not the will be been next, if this is not your better girlfriend, your aunt your mother or your own sister.

And buy starting now for only 14 Euros instead of 18, your place and the one of your friends, for the spectacle of Océanerosemarie, the invisible lesbian one, that racommodera the hearts and will bring together the rouflaquettes and will put back salt in the butter of the épinards and will obliterate the tears to transform them in laugh bursting eternal crystal of crystalline stalactiques of fire of ice of solar light of love!

Océanerosemarie, the invisible lesbian on vacation (not on the A3 encore I reassure you), getting ready for his hilarious and thundering return (as they say in the bios of One Woman Show) from September 17 to the "ramp fires", 2 streets Saulnier 75009.

On Blonds

2009-08-16T23:06:00.001-07:00

I realized recently I have quite a prejudice against blonds, + I'm probably not alone. This might seem Clarence Thomasesque coming from me (see picture), but the objects of my weird feelings are natural blonds... which I ain't.

I know it's bad to be prejudiced against people for something that's not their fault. But I'm trying to recognize my prejudice and maybe flip it around like a little ball or potato for a while.

I'm sure you understand.

But just so you know, this still means I'm prejudiced against "my own people"-- sortof. I'm partly German + Scandinavian, so really... well, I'll say it: I tend to think of natural blonds as way more likely to be dopey or douchey. There's no good reason for me to think this way.

I'll try to get better soon.

On a totally different subject, my band Marfa And Ne-af will play at Club Ding a ling at Hyperion Tavern this Tuesday. We're playing with a KICKASS band called Garbaj Kaetz. And it's FREE. Starts at 10pm.

1941 Hyperion Bl

LA CA 90026

Beware of blonds?

2009-08-15T13:19:00.000-07:00

Must write about my phobia of blond people soon. I will explain...

Movie review! Aaah'm steamed!

2009-08-14T04:51:00.000-07:00

My review of Sidney Lumet's Family Business for Netflix. So aggravated about it, I couldn't wait for them to post this. So you see it here first, you lucky people, plants, + animals.

Aargh!

Why on Earth was this classified as comedy?? Aside from how low this movie could make you feel-- especially when you're expecting some laughs!-- there are A LOT of problems with Family Business. The way it's written (doesn't seem like they knew how to adapt the story for the screen), the pacing (excruciating), the editing (see pacing-- were the editors asleep??), the music (sappy, innapropriate, jarring, manipulative)... it's hard to know where to start. And aside from how poorly it was made (given the incredible talent involved-- what a waste!), it just plain made me angry. We the viewers are supposed to feel sorry for some really despicable characters, while Dustin Hoffman's character (and the best performance of any here) is given short shrift. Other than Hoffman, this movie has a few very real-feeling scenes going for it... and one very charming old bearded Irish man. Maybe they should show this is in film-criticism classes-- it'd give the students plenty to chew on.

Say Yes More (But Do Some Other Things Maybe Only Once)

2009-08-14T00:28:00.001-07:00

Until I figure out some less-stupid way to do this, I'll direct you to my current (??) blog on myspace. If anyone has kind, helpful suggestions on how to do this in a less-stupid way, send 'em here. Like maybe I should start posting "real" blog posts here + sticking links to this blog on my myspace??

Ooo, ooo! You might (also) want to follow me on Twitter.