Vale James Gleeson

21/10/8

It came to our attention today, Parishioners,
that surrealist, critic and charming pessimist James Gleeeson [sic, The Australian Online] has passed away, just short of his 93rd birthday party.

He was drawn to surrealism as an artistic language capable of articulating the violence and unreason he saw overtaking the world; like many surrealists, he was also fascinated by the world of the unconscious mind revealed by Freud and Jung.

Gleeson travelled to Europe in 1947-49, sharing a studio in London with Klippel, who became a lifelong friend. From there he proceeded to Italy, where the revelation of humanism and classicism turned him away from the grim vision of Citadel. For the next two decades he produced relatively few works, most of which were small and in a distinctive idiom combining elements of surrealism and symbolism with prominent male nudes that were rather closer to bodybuilders than to figures of the classical canon.

Although Gleeson often expressed deep pessimism about human nature, he was in person a gentle, charming and distinguished man, probably the most widely read and cultivated of Australian artists. In 2006, he and his partner Frank O’Keefe pledged all their assets to a foundation intended to help the Art Gallery of NSW.

Many works viewable at the Eva Breuer site

Here are some “Recent Drawings” (late 2007) from The Watters Gallery

More images here

James Gleeson: Beyond the Screen of Sight (18 March – 13 June 2005) includes 120 paintings and works on paper from public, corporate and private collections throughout Australia. Many of these works have not been seen since their initial exhibition and several have been recently repatriated to Australia.

Travelling abroad for the first time in 1947, Gleeson absorbed the works of old masters and key figures in the history of twentieth century art. His monumental image, Italy, 1951, celebrates the extraordinary cultural achievements of the Western world, but also alludes to the sense of loss and destruction caused by the Second World War. Gleeson’s paintings of the latter 1950s reveal an increased interest in showing the unconscious in abstracted forms. Admiring the distinct surfaces of the paintings by Max Ernst, Gleeson experimented with pressing sheets of polythene onto wet paint in order to achieve effects that provided infinite possibilities and increased tactility. Occasionally he combined this process, referred to as decalcomania, with the palm of his hand and finger-tips to provide additional passages of heavy impasto. During these moments, Gleeson came closet to merging Surrealism with Abstract Expressionism.

Blessings, Brother James

DON’T LET JOE THE PLUMBER BE MY ONLY FRIEND!

I found this by accident, Parishioners:

Hey folks, now these giant American rubber icons have myspace pages and are dying for you to join their inner circle. Now’s your chance to flirt with them, worship them and hob nob with someone who holds your future in their hands.

It was just after this:

Blessings,

Le Rev Dr

Barfly

18/10/8

While checking out grumpy Ringo, Parishioners, I recently ran across this:

Mickey Rourke has always been Our Favourite Barfly

Anybody can be a non-drunk. It takes a special talent to be a drunk. It takes endurance. Endurance is more important than truth.

Philip Andre “Mickey” Rourke, Jr. (born September 16, 1952 in Schenectady, New York) is an American actor, who has appeared primarily in action, drama and thriller films. Trained as a boxer in his early years, Rourke had a short stint as a pro fighter in the 1990s.

Rourke’s acting career eventually became overshadowed by his personal life and seemingly eccentric career decisions. Directors such as Alan Parker found it difficult to work with him. Parker stated that “working with Mickey is a nightmare. He is very dangerous on the set because you never know what he is going to do”. He is alleged to have turned down a number of high-profile acting roles, including Eliot Ness in The Untouchables, Axel Foley in Beverly Hills Cop, Jack Crawford in The Silence of the Lambs, Tom Cruise’s role in Rain Man, Nick Nolte’s part in 48 Hrs., Christopher Lambert’s part in Highlander and a part in Platoon. In a documentary on the special edition DVD of Tombstone, actor Michael Biehn, who plays the part of Johnny Ringo, mentions that his role was first offered to Rourke.　 In the early 1990s, Quentin Tarantino offered Rourke the part of Butch Coolidge in Pulp Fiction. Rourke declined.

Despite having withdrawn from acting at various points, and having made movies that he now sees as a creative “sell-out” (the action film Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man), Rourke has stated that “…all that I have been through…[has] made me a better, more interesting actor.” Rourke’s renewed interest in pursuing acting can be seen in his statement that “…my best work is still ahead of me“.

In November 2006, during an interview, he called Tom Cruise “a cunt” for his attacks on Brooke Shields and psychiatry.

In February 2007 he was in South Beach, Florida, protesting against a puppy store he claims sells dogs with parvo. (spread, Parishioners, by contact with an infected dog’s faeces. Symptoms include lethargy, severe diarrhea, fever, vomiting, loss of appetite, and dehydration)

Dr. Who?
By 2002, Mickey Rourke had begun to look like a surgically revised version of his old self. Rumors spread of face-lifts and drug and alcohol use.

Wanda: I hate people…do you hate them?
Henry: No…but I seem to feel better when they’re not around

Mane event
Who did your hair, Edward Scissorhands? In 2003, a dark, wild-haired Mickey Rourke looked a lot like director Tim Burton.

Old Fart: Now look. Twenty bucks for that kind of head is outrageous.
Grandma Moses: I did ya good, old fart. I did ya good. I oughta bit your champagne cork off.
Old Fart: I’m givin’ ya fifteen bucks.
Grandma Moses: Twenty bucks. Nobody in this neighborhood can swallow paste like I can.

Bang up job
In the mid-1990s, at Johnny Depp’s New York birthday party, Depp was dating Kate Moss and Mickey Rourke was trying to get back with his estranged girlfriend, Carre Otis. Both volatile relationships were destined not to last. Thankfully, neither did Rourke’s piece-y fringe bangs.

He will also appear alongside Ray Liotta in John McNaughton’s The Night Job.

Here’s another guy who’s not lookan so good…

Ode to Josh

8/10/8

Parishioners – Josh has a new site!

It is called Wiretap Follies

she wields the razor with the bold confidence of a dominatrix, but also with the tee-hee-I’m-naughty vibe of a schoolgirl swigging an airplane bottle of vodka on her way to EPCOT for the first time

I found it by going to his *MAGNIFICENT!* Twitter site

• Ever have someone burst into your bathroom stall and catch you rubbing lipstick all over your face and crying? Yeah, I thought that was you!

• It’s not that I have a FAVORITE rectal thermometer. I just think the Hannah Montana one is the most accurate.

Josh could also be found at the house of wigs / the diary of a copywriter, written on company time, billed to the client.

It documents his move to a new job and, just like me, a new Life and years & years in a hotel..

I spent maybe 20 minutes on the toilet yesterday. Dude, I totally just wrote the quintessential weblog opening line. I was just sitting there, wanting to spend time somewhere beside my desk.
There’s some Nicholson Baker book where he’s a temp, maybe? And he describes how going to the bathroom when new on the job is an important time, a time of respite and quiet contemplation — the only time you can really be yourself, letting your work-face slip off?
This is absolutely true, although Mr. Baker neglects to mention (I think … he hardly ever neglects to mention anything) how you have to sit and listen to other people go to the bathroom, which is a real mixed bag. The highlight yesterday was the guy who peed for so fucking long that I was convinced he was pouring something out of a barrel or large urn. Also there were like three or four false endings which made the whole experience seem even longer.
The good news is that someone prints out pages from the current day’s ESPN and/or Ad Age websites and scatters them on the floor of the handicapped-friendly stall for all to read. They’ve been there every time I’ve visited. It’s sort of the closest our sad, modern world can get to a Johnny Appleseed.

However, I first discovered Josh on Fireland, in one of its many incarnations.

I’m Scouting The Local Delis

I’m scouting the local delis for contenders. Yesterday’s had five steel shelves embedded in the walls but maybe four Cup [o'] Noodleses, ten boxes of Jell-O, and a half-dozen bars of soap carefully spread out in a vain attempt to take up space. Like maybe they were going to make the leap into Convenience Store Territory but realized, too late, that they couldn’t swing it. Also, photos of Frank Sinatra and Al Pacino and a GoodFellas poster. Even as the question “Why are there no brothers on the wall?” blazed through my head I noticed a framed painting of Jimi Hendrix behind me. Taped to the front window, however, were cardboard cut-outs of George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, and Jim Carrey, so I guess we know what gets the people in the door. The place was empty except for me and the person who made my sandwich, which ended up being a wrap, which I guess I ordered by accident because the kid here isn’t about the wraps, OK, I moved away from California for a reason, OK, and I certainly didn’t expect an allegedly Authentic Italian Deli with a photocopied photo of the proprietor with James Gandolfini over the cash register to put my sandwich in a tortilla and use some kind of too-sweet apple spread as a condiment. But nevertheless I’m going back there today because it is conveniently located and I have the sneaking suspicion I panicked when met with that huge chalkboard filled with tiny, crazy, Se7en-ish writing describing the “celebrity” sandwiches and chose poorly, which happens a lot.

TWENTY THINGS I’VE LEARNED FROM RUNNING A WEBSITE FOR EIGHT YEARS

10. I can keep the white-hot fires of geniusness burning indefinitely.
12. There’s good sexual harassment and there’s bad sexual harassment.
19 . Time rots with each passing second and so by now it’s pretty haggard, on its last legs.
20. Every day I should create a little and destroy a little.

CURRENT PROJECTS

A novel called Chokeville

June 28, 2005
Chapter 1
I have been asked to not quote anything from the story directly and I don’t know if that includes even the chapter titles so I will just number them. Chapter 1 begins with a young man named HUGO washing up on a beach. (I think later we know that he is 17-18 years old?) He is unconscious and there is a chain attached to his ankle that goes back into the ocean (Atlantic? Pacific??).

and a beverage-review site called The Knowledge For Thirst.

Unfortunately this sudden love affair with Mike’s Hard Lime is turning out to cause major problems: I’m having a hard time reconciling my love for it with my normal, non-alcoholic beverage drinking tendencies. When I was checking out at the supermarket, I was like Oh man, I am drinking two of these as soon as I get to my car. No. Bad. Every morning I see them in the fridge and think: OMG I definitely need to have one of those before work. Also very bad. I seriously want to drink these all the time”while holding the baby and operating heavy machinery and writing on my blog and everything! I’m just saying please keep a close eye on me. You don’t suppose Mike’s Hard Lime is a gateway drug, do you? Watch there be a pomegranate-and-açai-infused meth. That’s all I need.

WRITING / 1995-2006
A great deal of typing is collected in the Archive

WRITING / ELSEWHERE
Articles and whatnot for other sites, including The Morning News, Wired, and McSweeney’s, can be found in External.

Also, I have a copy of MANUAL!

An anthology of new work from seventeen writers with websites. It is available as a downloadable PDF. You probably already have it. Feel free to forward, print, share, discuss, deconstruct, and/or cherish.

Bless you, Brother Josh!

I’m Baaaa-aaaack…

Yauz, Parishioners,

I’m back!

Just to kick things off,

a quick post

tending to your carnivorous needs and enjoiment -

click “next!”

These are also (mostly) carnivores:

Blessings,

Le Rev Dr