Ginsberg & HST: Now in Skin Format

Ok, I'm a book nerd. You know this, I know this, let's get over it... I have two tattoos and both of them are nerdy bookish things... See below...

This is my newest tattoo and isn't a great photo. I had it done in Daegu, S. Korea, and it reads: "I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness". Makes a great lesson starter for my kids. "Teacher, everyone is crazy?" "Yes, Little Timmy, they are all fucking batshit bonkers!"


This is my first tattoo. Again, the photo sucks. It looks better after all these months in the sun, strangely. It's Hunter Thompson's Gonzo Fist emblem and it's my simple way of wearing what I believe on my skin. I don't care about all the madness and drugs and such... I care about the truth and dignity of his goals as a writer.

Wayne Ewing's Vodcast

My old friend and Hunter S. Thompson documentarian, Wayne Ewing, has started up a vodcast on his website - www.hunterthomsonfilms.com.

Ewing directed ‘Breakfast with Hunter’, ‘Free Lisl’ and ‘When I Die’, and was Thompson’s friend, neighbor, and chosen biographer for many, many years. His films have continued the legacy of a great American writer, offering visual images that help animate the letters and books that made Thompson famous.

Now Ewing has a vlog (I’m not sure what that means, but I like it…) that offers text, images and videos combined to explain moments in the later stages of the life of Hunter Thompson.

I suggest, nay, demand, you go and visit the vlog at: http://hunterthompsonfilms.com/vodcast/

Call for Papers

Whitman & The Beats

March 26-28 2010

St. Francis College Brooklyn, NY

The English and Communication Arts Departments at St. Francis College calls for papers that celebrate the influence of Walt Whitman on Beat writers including but not limited to Allen Ginsberg, William S. Burroughs, and Jack Kerouac.

We seek papers that break new ground in addressing Whitman's presence in the works of Beat writers, the reception of Whitman's poetry by the Beats, and papers which address how the legacy of the Beats, their perspectives of their era and artistic innovations, may be traced to Whitman’s influence on American literary culture. Topics may include (but are not limited to) areas of inquiry such as “the road”, “gender and sexuality”, “mysticism”, “religion and spirituality”, “America”, and “transcendentalism”. Examples of possible papers include (but, again, are not limited to)

“The Beats and the Search for Authenticity”

“Forging a New American Language”

“The Spontaneous Yawp: "New" Writing Styles in Whitman and the Beats”

“Cultural Minutia Found in Whitman and the Beats”

“Whitman's and the Beats use of New York City”

“The Beat's (Sub)Consious Rewriting of Whitman”

“Whose America? The Idea of a Nation in Whitman and the Beats”

“Homosexuality in the Beats and Whitman”

“War in Whitman and the Beats”

“Poetry for (and about) the People”

“Autobiographical Influences in the Poetry of Ginsberg and Whitman”

“Not Ready for Prime Time: the “Forgotten” Works of Whitman and the Beats”

“Nationalistic Drum Banging in Whitman and the Beats”

To submit, please send a 500-word abstract to Dr. Scott Weiss at sweiss@stfranciscollege.edu by January 31, 2010. Finished papers should be 8-10 pages, capable of being read in 20 minutes or less. Please note on your abstract your technological needs for your presentation.

718-489-3487

Email: sweiss@stfranciscollege.edu

Scott Weiss, PhD

Department of Communication Arts

St Francis College

180 Remsen St

Brooklyn Heights NY 11201

718 489 3487